◎Two in One◎
Liang Baozhen was about to start her news anchoring duties. This afternoon was her first time trying out the program. After a round of instructions, Song Wenjing and the director of the news department gave comments and explanations, which delayed her return from get off work until this time.
"Are you confident?" Xu Shengjie naturally had confidence in his daughter-in-law, but he also had to encourage her.
"Yes." Liang Baozhen sat paralyzed in the chair, relieved from the tension that had been tense all over her body in the afternoon, and finally relaxed, "But I'm also quite nervous."
"Don't be nervous. At least there are no spectators in front of you. Just play your best. We will be watching in front of the TV and cheering for you."
"Don't, don't say that. When I'm watching the news, I'll remember you guys are watching and you might get even more nervous."
"Hey, you can't be better than your daughter. Look at Shanshan. She's already so young, but she can perform everywhere. She's really good at counting."
Liang Baozhen thought that this was a good thing about her daughter. She was not shy at all and was very open and frank. "Of course, it's up to me!"
"Just show off."
Liang Baozhen is most thankful that the news she participated in was recorded. This recording was already stressful enough. If it was a live broadcast, she would probably be so nervous that she would tremble.
Three days later, it was her turn to officially record the first episode of "Midday News".
Today, she deliberately wore a white shirt with a gray suit, and her beautiful black shoulder-length hair fell softly behind her shoulders.
There are a total of six female news anchors in Taiwan, three of them have short, slightly curly hair, and three have long hair. Their long hair is usually left loose, making them look dignified and elegant.
Before going on stage, she drew her eyebrows and put on makeup in the dressing room. She learned this skill from another female host, Liu Fang.
The station is equipped with a makeup artist, but most of the time she is still too busy to handle the work. Almost all the hosts know how to put on makeup, and they can put on light makeup by themselves.
"Let me see. You have a good foundation, so any makeup will look good on you. It would be great if you could just liven up your look a little." Song Wenjing came to the dressing room specially to take a look and was quite satisfied.
"Sister Jing, is this okay?" Liang Baozhen stood up, straightened her clothes, and fiddled with her hair, letting Song Wenjing take a look at her whole body.
"Very good! Very beautiful and elegant!"
Hearing Song Wenjing say this, Liang Baozhen felt relieved.
"Ready, recording of the Midday News."
Liang Baozhen sat in front of the news desk with two pages of press releases on the desk. Every news anchor would put them there when reporting the news. Every time the news screen was switched, she would lower her head and glance at the next piece of news.
"Hello everyone, welcome to the "Noontime News", I am the host Liang Baozhen."
After two years of experience in radio programs, Liang Baozhen has accumulated a lot of experience in the field of broadcasting. Her voice is soft, crisp and sweet, and her words are soothing and gentle.
The program was broadcast at noon the next day. The Xu family members did not even have time to eat lunch and just stared at the clock on the wall in front of the black and white TV, waiting for the hour hand to point to twelve. They were instantly excited.
"Here she comes! My sister-in-law is here." Xu Shengya muttered to herself, staring at the small TV screen until she saw a familiar figure appear in her sight.
"Mom!!! It's Mom!!!!" Shanshan jumped up from the stool excitedly. It was the first time she saw her mother in this small cube. It was really Mom!!
She ran to her father, tugged at his sleeve and shook him, "Dad, look, it's Mom!!!"
Xu Shengjie was watching, of course. That was his wife! She had already appeared on the TV screen, reporting the news with a sweet smile. She looked generous and elegant, with a clear and pleasant voice, and her every frown and smile was full of charm.
The Xu family had never found the news so interesting before and they wished that this half-hour news program would never end.
However, happy moments are always short-lived. It was only when everyone heard Baozhen say "it's over" on TV that they realized what was happening.
"Why is today's program so short?" Xu Shengjie subconsciously raised his hand to check his watch. How come it was already half past twelve? ? ?
That's not right!
"Oh, Baozhen's report is so good! Let's watch it every day from now on." Zhou Yun has decided that the family will finish their meals before twelve o'clock in the future so that they can watch their granddaughter-in-law report the news.
"Grandma, Baozhen broadcasts three days a week, Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Her senior sister Song Wenjing broadcasts Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. On Sunday, they take turns broadcasting."
Today is Sunday. Everyone was supposed to be resting, but Liang Baozhen is taking her turn to record Monday's news, and is currently on TV.
"Oh, then we must watch it on 1, 3, and 5!"
The ending music of "Midday News" sounded, and a row of texts appeared on the TV, writing the producer, editor, news anchor, post-editing, script...
As the music played, Shanshan stood up and clapped her hands. Mom is great! Mom is on TV!
At two o'clock in the afternoon, when Liang Baozhen returned home, she was praised so much by her family that she almost blushed. Not only the Xu family, but also several households with televisions in Chunri Hutong saw it. Now Liang Baozhen has become a big celebrity in the hutong, and everyone talks about her in public.
"There's a TV host in our alley who's really good!"
"Have you ever watched the Noontime News? The host, Liang Baozhen, is from our alley!"
"Yes, yes, I'm as beautiful in person as on TV. No, I'm even more beautiful in person than on TV!"
——
Shanshan also became a little celebrity in the class. She couldn't wait to tell her desk mates and the students sitting behind her that her mother was on TV.
These days, being on TV is big news, and several of her friends looked at her in surprise.
Pang Pang was envious, "Did your mother also pick up a thousand-year-old turtle?"
Shanshan: “…?”
Pang Pang’s deepest impression of TV news is who caught a thousand-year-old turtle, who caught a huge fish in the river... He also loves watching these news the most, they are particularly interesting.
"No, my mother talks about the news. She talks about big things."
"What's the big deal?" three classmates asked her in unison.
Shanshan's little head was spinning. What was she talking about? She was visiting her mother that day and didn't remember what she said at all, or she didn't quite understand what she said.
"What factory, what product, 8,000 or 800 tons?"
"Ah?" Several students felt they couldn't understand.
Jia Jia shook her head, Pang Pang looked dazed, and only Pei Pei held his chin and looked at Shan Shan with bright eyes, and asked, "And then?"
"And then? I don't know either."
Shanshan encountered a Waterloo in front of her classmates. When asked what news her mother broadcast, she couldn't tell. She clenched her fists and prepared to avenge her past. Next time, she will remember it well and tell everyone then!
However, the next Sunday, when it was Liang Baozhen's turn to host the "Midday News", Shanshan tilted her ears to listen carefully, but the more she listened, the more confused and sleepy she became.
"Recently, our city's No. 1 Iron and Steel Plant has carried out technological innovation, introduced a large number of advanced foreign equipment, eliminated decades-old equipment, and significantly increased steel production..."
"The city tractor factory attaches great importance to the lives of workers. The union chairman takes the lead, and dozens of union officials solve problems for workers and do practical things..."
It was over. Shanshan held her chin with both hands, her heart sinking. She looked at her mother who was watching her report the news and wrote sincerely, "Mom, can't you tell me some other news? For example, who picked up a thousand-year-old turtle?"
Financial news host Liang Baozhen: "..."
I haven't told any strange stories for half a month!
From being nervous and having sweaty palms when recording the news for the first time, to gradually becoming calm and composed a few months later, Liang Baozhen has been growing at a speed visible to the naked eye. Even Song Wenjing praised her rapid progress.
"I was much worse than you back then. I almost couldn't stop shaking when I sat on it. The director even told me to get off and calm down."
"Sister Jing, you get nervous too? I thought I was the only one like that." In Liang Baozhen's impression, Song Wenjing was always dignified and generous, with a calmness that came from having gone through all kinds of past experiences.
"Of course. I was much more nervous than you. It took me a long time to find the feeling and slowly adapt to the situation." Song Wenjing therefore felt that Liang Baozhen was a promising talent and was not shy. Even though she was nervous during her first recording, her performance in front of the camera was quite remarkable and she did not look immature at all. If she didn't say it, no one would believe that it was her first time hosting a show.
There weren't many mistakes at all, which is a pretty good performance for a newcomer who's recording for the first time!
Liang Baozhen reported the news from late autumn to early winter, until the first snow of the year fell in Beijing.
After recording a news report, Liang Baozhen was notified that someone was looking for her at the TV station.
When I went out, I found that it was my younger sister Baoling.
The pig farm opened by Baoling and her parents is booming. Now it has been more than two months since the piglets were started, and the three of them are simply unable to handle it, so they hired three helpers in the village, who are the son and daughter of the second aunt and the eldest aunt. The father remembered that the gold bar was obtained by his father saving someone, and although he did not ask to share it with the brothers and sisters, they are sisters after all, so he has to lend a hand.
Therefore, I was not treated unfairly in terms of treatment, and I was also thinking about distributing dividends to my second and fourth sister's families at the end of the year.
This way, I could help my sister without making the matter of the gold bars public.
"But remember, don't hire more than six people. Four or five at most will be enough."
Liang Baozhen remembers that hiring too many people nowadays would be considered capitalist, so there are certain requirements on the number of people hired.
Someone who was doing melon seed business was reported and almost got into trouble.
Liang Baoling naturally listened to her sister. She had another purpose for coming to the city today. She wanted to buy some more books. After finishing reading the last book, Liang Baoling, who always hated reading, became more studious. She read books every day to learn about breeding. She even wanted to immerse herself in pig breeding books and raise healthy, fat pigs.
"Come on, it's lunchtime, let's go have a meal and then go to Xinhua Bookstore." Liang Baozhen came out temporarily, letting Baoling choose for herself, "Do you want to eat at the state-owned hotel or our canteen?"
Liang Baoling had eaten at state-owned hotels many times with her brothers and sisters, but she had never seen a TV station cafeteria. "Can I go into the TV station?"
"You can't go in by yourself, but I can take you."
Seeing that her younger sister was curious about the TV station, Liang Baozhen led her inside and greeted the security officer at the door as they passed by.
"Wow, sister, this TV station is so impressive." Liang Baoling watched TV at home and had always been curious about how those programs were produced. Now that she had stepped onto the ground of the TV station, she found it incredible.
Liang Baozhen pointed out the floor where she recorded her program to her younger sister. Only people related to the TV station were allowed to go up there. The two of them sat in the lobby on the first floor. Baozhen asked Baoling to sit and wait for her for a while while she went upstairs to get the meal ticket.
The lobby on the first floor of the TV station was bustling with people, including many staff members wearing TV station ID cards and many outsiders.
There was a conversation going on at the next table. Baoling didn't mean to eavesdrop, but there was nothing to block her, so the conversation went straight into her ears.
"There are very few spots for TV ads. If you want one, you may not be able to get one. It's very popular now."
It was only after Liang Baozhen came back with the meal ticket and took Baoling to the cafeteria to get her meal and sit down that she heard her younger sister mention it.
"Sister, are TV ads particularly expensive?"
"Of course, it's charged by the second. I heard someone say last time that a watch advertisement in Taiwan cost thousands of dollars."
"Over a thousand for just a few seconds of advertising?" Liang Baoling didn't quite understand why it cost so much for such a short period of time.
If Liang Baozhen had not known the importance of advertising in later generations, she might not have understood it. "Think about it, nowadays, everyone with a TV can see those repeated ads, which deepens their impression. Many people want to buy and try the products after seeing the ads, so the products will be sold."
“What if no one buys it?”
"In 1979, the first TV commercial in Shanghai was for a medicinal liquor. It was sold out as soon as the commercial was released. As long as you can get a lot of people to see it, you won't have to worry about sales. So now many TV commercial companies are willing to give it a try. But our station hasn't done much, and many viewers have written letters to complain and criticize it."
"Ah? What are you criticizing?"
"Criticizing us for being money-minded is too capitalist." Liang Baozhen was happy to tell her younger sister, but she warned her at the end, "Don't spread it out."
Although these things have been said by the staff of the station a hundred or eighty times, the station is still undecided about whether to vigorously develop television advertising. In the forward direction, it will improve the efficiency of the TV station and provide better treatment for the employees. In the backward direction, there will be criticism that the station is too bourgeois and that people working in the news and media cannot do this.
It’s difficult!
After lunch, Liang Baozhen took Baoling to Xinhua Bookstore to buy books. This time, Baoling chose books specifically, as an elderly man in the village who had experience in raising pigs recommended them to her.
This time Liang Baoling insisted on paying for it herself, after all, she also made money.
After seeing Bao Ling off, Liang Baozhen returned to the TV station to start her afternoon work. As soon as she arrived at the station, she met reporter Li.
Reporter Li was preparing to go out for an interview when he met Liang Baozhen at the door of the TV station.
"Comrade Xiao Liang, aren't you looking for a courtyard house?"
The last time Liang Baozhen bought the courtyard house she lives in by chance when she went out with reporter Li. Reporter Li is the most active reporter in Taiwan who likes to be out and about. He knows a lot of people and knows that Liang Baozhen bought Mr. Qian's courtyard house. Liang Baozhen then asked him to help find out. At first, she wanted to find a courtyard house for her parents, but later she realized that it was impossible for a rural hukou to buy a house in the city, so she didn't care so much.
As a result, today, there is news.
"Yes, Brother Li, do you know anyone who wants to sell it?"
"Yes, I interviewed a neighbor whose family is planning to immigrate, and they want to sell their courtyard house. You may consider buying it. Here is the address. I have mentioned it to the owner, and you can just say I introduced you to him when you go there." Reporter Li was busy going out to cover news, so he gave Liang Baozhen a piece of paper with the address written on it and left in a hurry.
"Okay, thank you, Brother Li."
After get off work, Liang Baozhen told Xu Shengjie about this matter, and the two decided to go and take a look during lunch break tomorrow. Xu Shengjie originally thought that his wife would calm down after she was sure that his parents could not buy the Siheyuan, but he did not expect that she was still so obsessed with the Siheyuan.
Of course, he was also surprised by the rapid price increase of Siheyuan houses in recent years, but there are still few people buying and selling real estate, so it can be said that it is very rare.
At noon the next day, the two went straight to the address provided by reporter Li, walked into an alley, and finally determined the location by looking at the courtyards of various sizes inside.
"No. 21, Xinyan Hutong, it should be here." Xu Shengjie picked up the piece of paper and placed it next to the courtyard house number, exactly the same.
Before the two of them went in, the door suddenly opened and a woman with a delicate face walked out. She was still wearing short-sleeved shirt and long pants in the early winter weather.
Seeing two strangers at his door, he couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, "Who are you looking for?"
"Excuse me, is this Meng Xudong's family?" Liang Baozhen spoke first, announcing her purpose. "We heard from reporter Li that this family wanted to sell the courtyard house, so we came to take a look."
"Meng Xudong is my man, do you want to buy a courtyard house?" The woman's dark eyes moved around, looking at the two of them left and right, and when she saw the watches on their hands, she understood.
Nowadays, if one can afford a high-end watch, he or she must be quite powerful.
"My name is Sun Xue, come in."
Meng Xudong and Sun Xue have been married for three years. This courtyard house is their ancestral home. They finally got it back after going through many ups and downs over the past decade. Now they are preparing to immigrate to Country M. They want to sell the courtyard house and pursue their dreams abroad.
Sun Xue took out a pack of Chunghwa cigarettes and asked Liang Baozhen, "Do you smoke?"
Seeing Liang Baozhen shaking her head, she took out a cigarette and handed it to Xu Shengjie, but Xu Shengjie also waved his hand and said, "I've quit smoking."
This is quite unusual. Sun Xue ignored it and picked up the cigarette by herself. She lit a match, took a puff and exhaled a circle of white smoke. "To make a long story short, the ownership of this courtyard is clear, it is well preserved, and the location is not bad. You can take a look at the details for yourself. I am going to sell it for 33,000. If you think the price is right, we can continue to negotiate. It doesn't matter if it doesn't work out."
Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie looked at each other. They didn't expect this woman to be so skillful.
Since the owner had said so, they didn't waste any time. After all, Liang Baozhen came out during her lunch break. The overall structure of this two-courtyard quadrangle house was similar to their home in Chunri Hutong, except that the layout was not as square, but it was almost the same. The house was spacious, with a total of seven rooms, and was well preserved everywhere.
Just over two years have passed, and the price of the courtyard house has increased. They could buy it for more than 20,000 yuan back then, but now it can't be bought for less than 30,000 yuan.
"How is it?" Sun Xue asked before she even finished her cigarette.
"fine."
"Is the price acceptable to you? If so, pay the deposit and sign the contract. If not, I'll go back and pack my things." Liang Baozhen was so quick. She acted as if she had never seen anyone sell a house so casually. She didn't even try to sell it to you or say that she looked down on you.
It's up to the buyer to decide, which is a quick fix.
The property rights are clear and can be transferred directly, and there are no tenants inside. Based on these two points, Liang Baozhen has decided to take it.
Sun Xue had a quarrel with Meng Xudong today and was not in the mood to sell the house. She did not expect this woman to be so straightforward and asked for the deposit and sign the receipt in a short while.
"Sister Sun, let's pay a deposit of 500 first. You can keep it and sign the formal contract tomorrow afternoon."
"Okay." Sun Xue liked her straightforwardness. After writing the receipt for the deposit, Sun Xue was a little curious, "Why did you buy a courtyard house? You have money but nowhere to spend it?"
To be honest, she had always felt that the courtyard house was not easy to sell, but she did not expect that the person who came to view the house today would be so willing to buy it. After all, it was a deal worth 30,000 yuan.
"I like it and think it has room for appreciation," Liang Baozhen said sincerely.
But the more sincere the words were, the more they sounded like a joke. Sun Xue twisted her lips and didn't say anything. She thought this person was stupid. There were high-end residential areas in foreign countries, and she would feel uncomfortable living in a courtyard house like this. It would be uncomfortable to have to queue up in a public toilet without a toilet. However, she said nothing and just nodded her chin.
"What about you? If you were to emigrate, would you be able to get used to the living and eating conditions there?"
Liang Baozhen knew that the first wave of immigration had emerged after the reform and opening up. Although visas were difficult to obtain, many people yearned for a better life abroad. They all had the American dream and were eager to sell their wealth abroad.
Even if they are well-known figures in the country and live a good and prosperous life, they still yearn to go abroad. Even if they go abroad to do odd jobs and cheap physical work, it seems like they have found their home. Of course, there are some who succeed, but they should be a minority.
Liang Baozhen didn't quite understand. It was absolutely impossible for her to leave her hometown and live abroad for the rest of her life.
"You don't understand, life over there is different." When Sun Xue said the word "different", there seemed to be a gleam in her eyes.
Xu Shengjie didn't understand even more. He was willing to live here. This was his roots. He would not be able to thrive anywhere without his roots.
However, it is ultimately a personal choice.
After quickly dealing with the courtyard house, Liang Baozhen and Xu Shengjie left Xinyan Hutong. On the way, Xu Shengjie was curious about his wife's obsession with the courtyard house.
"Are you addicted to buying Siheyuans?" Xu Shengjie was a little confused, but he was still straightforward when it came to paying. After doing business for a few years, he could still afford to buy a few Siheyuans. "Didn't Guangdong City start commercial housing two years ago? It's called a community, I don't quite understand, but Second Brother Wu bought one. His wife even said he was wasting money, but she was satisfied when she saw the place. When Beijing City has one in the future, should we try the one Second Brother Wu bought? I heard it's very beautiful and very comfortable to live in, much better than a Siheyuan. There's even a toilet in the house."
Xu Shengjie has experienced all kinds of hardships, but he is not afraid of living in a courtyard house. He thinks his wife wants to live in a different environment. In that case, it would be better to consider that kind of house in the future. I heard that it is more comfortable than living in a courtyard house.
Liang Baozhen knew that the price of commercial housing would soar in the future, but it would not be as high as that of courtyard houses. However, she still had a lot of houses. "I can buy a few courtyard houses and then commercial housing. I can choose one with a good location so that Shanshan can go to school."
"You really thought about it a lot. Shanshan was so moved that she even hugged you and said you are such a good mom."
Liang Baozhen smiled proudly, "I only have this one daughter, so I must consider her in everything."
As a result, after returning home, Shanshan was confused after her father told her a bunch of incomprehensible things about housing, school district, etc., until she understood the last sentence.
Mom actually has to spend a lot of money to send her to school! ! ! Doesn’t buying a big house mean spending a lot of money?
Shanshan looked at her mother, feeling so pitiful. Oh my God, is mom crazy? Please save some money. Shanshan doesn’t like going to school!
Will the school she spends a lot of money on have more classes than the one she has now? She just wants to play!
The author has something to say:
Thanks to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution: 15 bottles of Shaomai; 1 bottle of Qianmo Hongchen;
Thank you very much for your support. I will continue to work hard!
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