Chapter 118.1 - - Reporting for Duty
Ch118.1 – Reporting for Duty
Outside the high-speed rail station, Chen Yekai quickly got out of the car and glanced down at his watch. Zhou Sheng had just left the station. The two of them looked at each other. Zhou Sheng’s forehead was covered in sweat.
Chen Yekai asked, “Already left?”
Zhou Sheng shrugged helplessly. Chen Yekai said, “I was about to tell you that I’ll be going to Beijing in awhile. It’s okay, I’ll see him again then.”
“What?!” Zhou Sheng was stunned at once and started vigilantly scrutinising Chen Yekai.
Chen Yekai said, “Your college established academic exchange programs with one of the colleges in Beijing. They’re sending a young lecturer here, so I’ll be the one going over there.”
Zhou Sheng wore an astonished expression as he saw Chen Yekai get in the car and watched him leave.
Yu Hao was tormented by Zhou Sheng all night yesterday, so his lower back would ache if he lay on his back, and he now had to lie on his stomach to sleep. He dreamt intermittently, and he could sense that Zhou Sheng was trying to enter his dream. But his dreamscape kept shaking; he was being influenced by the environment around him when he fell asleep, and the distance seemed to be an obstacle to some extent.
“Have a good sleep ba.” In the end, Yu Hao said to Zhou Sheng, “Otherwise you’ll be really tired again when you get up tomorrow.”
“Then……good night.” Zhou Sheng said a lot of things, but Yu Hao was the first to laugh, “Good night.”
He pressed his hand against Zhou Sheng’s forehead and woke up on the high-speed rail. He turned over, then fell asleep a moment later.
4am, arrived at Beijing.
This was Yu Hao’s first time leaving Ying City alone. Although he would occasionally leave for a vacation with Zhou Sheng during the winter and summer holidays, he had never drifted about alone in unfamiliar places before. Passengers on the high-speed rail flocked out in a throng, and Yu Hao, who was dragging along his luggage, had turned into one of the members of this Northern Drift (ppl going to Beijing) army.
Everything around him was within his scope of imagination — it wasn’t strange, but it seemed unfamiliar. There were people outside the station introducing accommodations and intermediaries who were flagging unlicensed vehicles for passengers. Yu Hao hailed a cab on his phone and looked for the rideshare parking lot. In the past, he would have definitely taken a bus or the subway, but after being with Zhou Sheng for so long, he began to understand that the money, cards, camera, and laptop he was carrying, and the fact that he was new here wasn’t worth him scrimping on this bit of money.
Hailing a cab cost him about 120 yuan. Using the address that Lin Ze gave him as a guide, Yu Hao arrived at the road outside the newspaper office in Xicheng District at 6:30, then he sent a message to Zhou Sheng to tell him that he was safe. He looked for a nearby budget hotel to stay at for the time being and was prepared to report to the office before renting another place.
September mornings in Beijing were gradually getting colder. Quite a lot of old men and women outside the park were performing Taichi. Ever since he got off the high-speed rail until now when he had arrived at his lodgings, Yu Hao felt like this city had been quite friendly to him. Everyone was very enthusiastic when he asked for directions, and the aunts would even take the initiative to guide him.
In the beginning, Zhou Sheng would ask him a question every ten minutes, so Yu Hao would take a photo on his phone to report on his progress. By the time it hit 7 o’clock, Zhou Sheng didn’t reply anymore since he probably fell asleep again. After Yu Hao checked in, he took a bath, washed his hair, changed into a shirt and dressed a little more simply, then slung his camera bag over his shoulder and went to report to the newspaper office.
The newspaper office was in an alley, located in a four-storey building with “Qinghua Times” engraved on the door. There were two vertical blue plaques on both sides of the door, and they were all about news organisations, youth media units, and so on, making it seem like a proper establishment. There were also two stone lions at the entrance. There was nobody inside when Yu Hao entered. He called out once at the door. It was quiet, so he shouted again.
“Coming!” An aunt’s voice rang out, “I hear you!”
Yu Hao texted Lin Ze while he said, “I’m here to look for Lin Ze……the reporter, editor?”
The aunt looked baffled, “I don’t know him, who’s that?”
Yu Hao, “……”
Yu Hao thought, it can’t be ba, I was deceived? Then doesn’t that mean I can go home now? If Zhou Sheng sees him tonight, he’d probably go mad with happiness, right?
“He asked me to report here, this is his business card……” Yu Hao showed the aunt the card, and she said with a voice filled with doubt, “Isn’t this Chongqing’s newspaper office? Why did you come all the way to Beijing?”
Yu Hao explained again, “Didn’t he transfer here?”
Yu Hao, “……”
“Thanks Dajie.” Lin Ze motioned to Yu Hao to follow him.
“Isn’t this a newspaper?” Yu Hao asked, “Newspapers are afraid of undercover investigations?”
Yu Hao didn’t know why but every time he sees Lin Ze, his dissing skills would be automatically activated. Lin Ze said, “You came just in time, I really need someone to help me……”
Lin Ze pushed the door to an office open, and Yu Hao was instantly stunned.
It was practically like a farmer’s market inside. There were dozens of desks piled up with a mess of manuscripts, and Situ Ye was even quarrelling with an editor.
“What’s wrong with my photo……”
“All the faces are black!” The editor said, “How am I supposed to publish this?”
Situ Ye, “That’s because it was nighttime when I took those photos!”
Lin Ze, “Can’t you have a better attitude?!”
Answering the phone, making calls, A4 papers flying here and there, the printer was still ringing like crazy, and Yu Hao thought that the machine was about to explode at any moment. He had only seen such a scene once before, and that was in Xiao Yujun’s Yingjiang Daily.
“Sit here.” Lin Ze said to Yu Hao, “Don’t move no matter who asks you to, don’t get up, just say that this is your seat. Sit here and wait for me……Yang Laoshi! Someone from my side came! One has already arrived!”
Yu Hao, “……”
Yu Hao took off his camera bag, and he had just sat down when a bearded man came over with a cigarette in his mouth. He was carrying a thick stack of manuscripts and was looking down at Yu Hao.
Yu Hao, “Hello.”
“Make way!” That guy said, “Where did this kid come from?”
Situ Ye was sitting at a desk as he said to the man, “He’s from our department!”
The man said, “Where’s his badge? Take it out ah.”
Situ Ye said, “Can’t you see it’s not made yet? We’re looking for Yang Laoshi now.”
The man said, “Hey, kid, what the hell are you guys doing?” As he spoke, he slammed the stack of papers in his hands on the table before going straight over to look for Situ Ye. Situ Ye immediately said, “What do you want?”
“What do you want?”
Yu Hao was panic-stricken as he watched them and was afraid that they would start fighting. The man pushed away a reporter in front of him who was in the middle of a call and went over to look for Situ Ye, but Situ Ye jumped down from the editor’s desk and ran outside.
Yu Hao, “……”
A bespectacled girl on the side said to Yu Hao, “Can you help me try and figure out what this word is?”
Yu Hao said, “I……this……”
That girl was holding a manuscript with a scrawled handwriting on it that was barely legible. Yu Hao looked at the context and said, “This should be……’jing’, of ‘jing qi’……”
“Yes yes yes!” That girl immediately said, “I’ll give you an extra chicken drumstick……”
One of the male editors in front turned around and said, “Isn’t that the manuscript you wrote yourself?”
The girl said, “How am I supposed to recognise what I wrote myself? Handsome, come help me take another look……”
The bearded man came back again and said, “Ai ai, you should be leaving now, get up!”
“I’m asking him something!” The girl said, “Could you stop bothering us?”
“That’s my seat!” The bearded man said.
“Isn’t it the same no matter where you sit?” The editor turned around and said, “You can’t sit in the corner?”
“That’s the toilet!” The bearded man roared, “Why don’t you try and sit at the entrance of the toilet?”
The scene was one of chaotic disarray. Not a moment later, the entire office instantly quieted down. Yu Hao looked up, and an old lady who was about 60 years old, wearing a red dress, with lipstick and makeup on, came out of the small office at the end of the big office with a cup of tea in her hand. Lin Ze followed behind her.
Lin Ze pointed at Yu Hao and said, “There, the person I recruited.”
“Okay.” That old lady’s voice was a little hoarse.
She walked over to Yu Hao, Lin Ze said, “Hurry and get up! Greet her!”
Yu Hao thought, you’re the one who told me not to get up no matter who it was……then he quickly got up and shook hands with the old lady. Lin Ze said, “She’s Yang Laoshi.”
“Hello, Yang Laoshi.” Yu Hao said. He noticed that she was wearing a badge with the words “Yang Hong”.
Yang Hong grabbed Yu Hao’s hand, and like a leader who was expressing cordial concerns for an employee, she said to Lin Ze, “It must have been tough for him to come all the way here, let him go back and rest first ba.”
“It’s okay.” Lin Ze said, “Yu Hao has already rested, he just wants to start working now.”
Yu Hao went mad in his heart, what the hell is all this?! Where’s the teacher you promised me as a mentor?
“Then that’s good.” Yang Hong said, “Un, that’s good. Everyone must have worked hard.”
As she spoke, she picked up her cup of tea and circled the office before going back in, then the entire office erupted in an uproar once again. Situ Ye came in and said as if he got a huge load off his mind, “Whew, managed to save it. Get me a chair……”
“There aren’t any.” Yu Hao said, “Sit on mine ba, I’ll squat.”
“Sit here ba Xiao Ye.” An editor at the back pointed to a stack of books, then Situ Ye piled up the whole set of《New Registry of Chinese Characters》, and added a《Party Style and Party Discipline》on it before sitting down.
“I’ll take a short nap.” Situ Ye said to Yu Hao, “I can’t hold on anymore, just call me at any time if something crops up.” As he spoke, he leaned on a table and fell asleep.
Lin Ze followed Yang Hong into the office again. The farmer’s market in the editorial department started kicking up a fuss again. There were books everywhere. Yu Hao looked behind him, and this group of editors were basically performing a juggling act. There were manuscripts to be proofread and reference books stacked on their desks, and each stack was higher than the next, and there were even glass cups for tea and half-eaten lunches balanced precariously on top of them. Yu Hao was really afraid that if the books behind him fell down, he would get crushed to death on the spot.
Zhou Sheng sent him a few messages to ask him how it was going. Yu Hao replied to him, and in the meantime, the sleeping Situ Ye slid down onto Yu Hao’s leg before sliding onto the floor. He had fallen asleep under the table with a distorted posture.
This guy has really long legs too……Yu Hao thought.
“Are you an editor?” The editor in front turned back and asked.
Yu Hao said, “I’m a reporter, an intern reporter……”
Editor said, “Ah, someone from Lin Laoshi’s department. You reporters understand reporters the best, help me translate this……”
Yu Hao, “……”
The editor handed him a manuscript that had been scanned and reprinted. The girl beside Yu Hao said, “I really can’t stand Wang Laoshi anymore, what kind of crap is he writing?!”
“Stop talking! Proofread it quick!” A middle-aged man said as he held a cup of tea, “It’ll be published in forty minutes!”
Everyone instantly let out a mad cry. Yu Hao said, “Um……what should I translate?”
“The entire text!” The editor in front said, “Write it at the bottom.”
Yu Hao borrowed a pen. He didn’t need to translate the whole text, and some of the handwriting wasn’t difficult to discern, so he circled some of the words that seemed difficult and annotated them.
“Do you think it’s worded wrongly?” The girl beside him asked Yu Hao again with her manuscript.
“You’re the one who wrote it how is he supposed to know?!” Someone from the back mocked her again.
“Adverbials can’t be postpositions……”
A bell suddenly rang, and everyone stood up in unison. Even the ones who were in the middle of talking stopped moving; all of them put down their manuscripts, turned around, and walked away.
Yu Hao, “……”
Situ Ye was still sleeping under the table. Someone shouted to Yu Hao, “It’s time for tea and some snacks.”
So Yu Hao followed a group of editors over to take some refreshments. Fifteen minutes later, the bell rang again, then everyone came back one after another to revise their manuscripts.
After Yu Hao translated the handwritten manuscript, Lin Ze finally came out. He threw Yu Hao a badge and said, “Fill in the form at HR in the afternoon, did you bring a photo along?”
“Yes.” Yu Hao said.
“Then let’s go eat first.” Lin Ze said.
Yu Hao rose from the maze and shook Situ Ye, “Get up, it’s time to eat.”
“It’s time to eat?” As soon as Situ Ye heard the word ‘eat’, he woke up immediately, rubbed his eyes, and almost knocked into the pile of books behind him. Fortunately, Lin Ze was sharp-sighted and deftly supported the stack of books.