Huayu 1992: Starting with the CCTV Young Singers Competition

Chapter 15 Arrogance and a Demand for an Exorbitant Interview Fee

The crowd immediately erupted in uproar.

Whispers of surprise, amusement, and disbelief hummed through the room.

It almost drowned out the sound of the cicadas in the trees.

The reporters looked at each other, seeing the same bewilderment in each other's eyes.

The female reporter from Shanghai TV was the first to recover from her shock.

Her beautiful eyebrows shot up, and she blurted out in heavily accented Shanghainese Mandarin, "Little Lin, are you kidding me? Two thousand yuan? Do you even know what two thousand yuan means?"

Pointing at Lin Hanjiang with her brightly painted fingernail, she rapidly calculated, "In Shanghai's best-performing cotton mill, an eighth-grade master craftsman's monthly salary plus bonuses barely reaches two hundred and fifty yuan. Two thousand yuan is almost a year's worth of work for someone who doesn't eat or drink. And you, a student, are asking for this price for an interview?"

Her words acted as a fuse, instantly igniting even more doubts.

The elderly reporter from the Kyoto Daily, wearing thick glasses, pushed up his glasses and frowned deeply.

His tone was calm and measured, carrying the earnestness of an elder advising a younger person: "Young Lin, it's a good thing that young people have drive and ideas. Our media interviews are to promote excellence, set examples, and let more people know about outstanding young people like you. This is an honor, how can it be linked to money? If this gets out, how bad will the social impact be? It will probably also cause criticism on your personal development."

"Exactly!"

A middle-aged man in a gray jacket with a serious expression chimed in.

He was a reporter for a workers' daily newspaper, his voice booming, "When we interview model workers or pioneers in science and technology, aren't they always incredibly cooperative? Talking about money? Wouldn't that tarnish that honor? Xiao Lin, you can't have that kind of thinking; you need to get it right!"

The reporter from Jiangsu TV, a tall, thin man with glasses, shook his head and muttered to his colleague, "He's really obsessed with fame, completely out of his mind. Two thousand yuan for a student interview? The station leaders will be furious if they find out. Anyone who approves this budget is a fool."

"Young man, so arrogant and ignorant," echoed a reporter from another local radio station, his tone tinged with disdain. "He thinks that just because he was on TV once and sang a song that was in the right place, he can act all high and mighty. Equivalent value? Does he even know what market value is?"

Discussions arose one after another, mostly consisting of sarcasm and ridicule.

Almost everyone thought that the young man in front of them was either crazy or had been blinded by his sudden fame.

That's why such an outrageous request was made.

Just because he got a high score in the semi-finals?

So you're starting to get cocky?

Amidst this almost unanimous outcry, Lin Hanjiang stood quietly, his face showing neither the shame and anger of being besieged nor the wavering caused by the doubts.

He waited until the buzzing discussion subsided before slowly speaking again.

"Dear teachers, I understand what you all mean. But I believe that my creations, my performances, and the resulting attention and interviews are valuable. Exclusivity means preferential treatment in resources and greater dissemination, which should be reflected in this. This is not a matter of money, but a matter of equal value."

They remained unyielding.

Lin Hanjiang's words, imbued with a wisdom beyond his years, left the well-informed reporters speechless.

They suddenly realized that this young man in front of them could not be judged by the same standards used for ordinary student award winners.

He clearly knows his own worth, and even more so, he knows how to price that worth.

Seeing his stubborn and evasive arguments, the female reporter from Shanghai TV became somewhat angry and stopped talking.

"This..." The reporter from the Kyoto Daily opened his mouth, momentarily at a loss for words to refute this unfamiliar value theory.

"Absurd!" The Jiangsu TV reporter couldn't help but raise his voice, his face showing offended anger.

"Kobayashi, think about it again..." The bespectacled reporter from Kyoto TV tried to make one last effort, but his tone was already somewhat weak.

As the atmosphere reached a stalemate, most reporters were ready to give up.

While planning how to write a side story about "A newly crowned top-scoring contestant in the Young Singers Contest being arrogant and demanding exorbitant interview fees," I was pondering how to write it when I got back.

A slightly chaotic sound of high heels approached from afar.

Su Xiao pressed down on her slightly disheveled curly hair with one hand while raising the other hand high.

Her fair face was flushed brightly from running so hard, almost too brightly.

Before the person had even fully settled, the crisp sound had already pierced through the noise:

"We've agreed, Lin. Guangdong TV has agreed. Two thousand yuan for an exclusive interview."

???

This statement completely ignited an uproar among the reporters.

All eyes immediately turned to Su Xiao, who was panting heavily.

The shock in his eyes was ten times more intense than when he heard Lin Hanjiang's offer.

"Reporter Su?"

The female reporter from Shanghai TV stared wide-eyed, her bright red lips slightly parted.

"You guys at Guangdong TV really agreed? Two thousand yuan? The boss approved it? You're not kidding, are you?"

Her voice even changed slightly due to surprise.

You're only giving me two thousand yuan?

That's incredibly wasteful of money!

"Su Xiao, calm down!"

A reporter from a local TV station who knew her quickly tugged at her sleeve and lowered his voice.

"This is no joke. How are you going to explain this to the station? Two thousand dollars! That's enough to buy so much equipment!"

"That's right, Reporter Su, think it over! If this sets a precedent, how are we, the other reporter units, supposed to work?" another reporter said, half-reminding and half-complaining.

Su Xiao felt a surge of heat rush to her head as she faced the strange looks coming from all directions.

Her colleagues looked at her as if she were a fool.

Instead, she straightened her back.

Su Xiao composed herself, looked at Lin Hanjiang, and said clearly, word by word, "Yes. Our leader has already approved it: a two thousand yuan exclusive interview authorization fee. The contract details can be drafted immediately. Lin, let's begin now."

She said this not only to Lin Hanjiang, but also to all her stunned colleagues around her.

From that moment on, she and Guangdong TV became the most eye-catching outliers in this small news battlefield.

But the excitement of making the right bet and the sense of accomplishment of getting an exclusive scoop overwhelmed all the anxiety.

Looking at the do-or-die flame in Su Xiao's eyes, Lin Hanjiang finally revealed his first truly appreciative smile of the day.

He nodded: "Okay. Ms. Su, let's find a quiet place to talk in detail."

Under the stunned gazes of a group of reporters, Lin Hanjiang, Su Xiao, and Lao Chen, who was carrying equipment, walked towards a relatively quiet tree-lined path on campus.

Only after their figures disappeared behind the sycamore trees did a heated discussion erupt again.

"This is insane! Absolutely insane! Spending two thousand yuan to interview a student?"

"Is Guangdong TV... spending money they don't know what to do with?"