Reborn in the red age

Wu Simin acted quickly. In just one week, with the sponsorship of large amounts of advertising fees, she reached a cooperation with "Face to Face with Oriental Horizon", a talk show which had some ratings in China at the time, and successfully invited Xu Dongsheng to the show.

Xu Dongsheng, who was far away in Shanghai, immediately agreed upon hearing the invitation from the "Face to Face" program, and said he would go to participate in the recording on time.

The program "Face to Face" is an interview program added after the revision of "Oriental Horizon" in 96. After more than a year of development, although it is not very popular in China, it has some audiences because it is broadcast on CCTV and the ratings are acceptable.

There is no way. CCTV is not a local program. Those programs with high ratings still have to pay attention to their influence. It is impossible for them to cooperate with Wu Simin just for money.

The reason why "Face to Face" was able to cooperate in playing a prank on people was because of the face of Lemon Company and the fact that the higher-ups were really dissatisfied with these public intellectuals.

After receiving the invitation from CCTV, Xu Dongsheng was very proud and felt that he had finally got the perfect opportunity to shine in front of the national audience.

I will give a good performance on the show in a couple of days. As long as I can attract more attention and gain more fame, when I get business writing articles like this, the money won’t be just 50,000 yuan, it will be at least double, and it will be in US dollars!
On the day of recording, Xu Dongsheng dressed up carefully, had a handmade suit custom-made, combed his hair sleekly, and strode into the recording site.

As soon as he saw the lights and equipment on the scene, as well as the audience who had already taken their seats in the audience, his vanity was greatly satisfied and the corners of his mouth rose unconsciously.

The host Zeng Zijin, with a smile on his face, warmly welcomed Xu Dongsheng to sit on the sofa. After a brief opening introduction, Zeng Zijin brought out the first topic.

"Teacher Xu, one of the hot topics in our society recently is education reform. You have unique insights in the cultural field and have always paid close attention to social phenomena. What do you think of the current education reform?"

Xu Dongsheng picked up the teacup on the table, took a sip, cleared his throat, and with a hint of pride on his face, he began to talk loudly:
"I think this education reform is too big a step. Our domestic education system has always been too traditional and rigid. The students we train are all the same and have no innovative thinking."

Xu Dongsheng was talking loudly on the stage. Among the audience, a few people were looking at Xu Dongsheng quietly, but they would occasionally reveal a strange smile.

"Teacher Li, this Xu Dongsheng really deserves to be a writer. He is really good at talking and what he says sounds like the truth."

He Guangqin, who had come to watch the fun and wait to see someone drink toilet water in public, couldn't help but smile and talk to Li Qingfeng as he listened to Xu Dongsheng speaking on the stage.

"If you don't have this ability, how can you earn money from foreigners?" Li Qingfeng curled his lips and continued, "Have you arranged everything? Don't let that old guy run away later."

"Don't worry, he can't run away. We have people here. Once the toilet water is brought up, everyone will urge him to drink it."

"That's fine. By the way, where does the toilet water come from?"

"I got it from a game hall in a backward county in Japan. Wow, it's even colorful."

"Haha, not bad, not bad"

While Li Qingfeng and He Guangqin were talking in low voices, Xu Dongsheng on the stage was still expressing his views eloquently: "In my opinion, the cramming education in China is a complete disaster. It is just endless recitation and practice of exercises every day, which completely wipes out their nature and creativity."

"Look at other countries. Their children have a rich variety of practical courses since childhood. They learn to solve practical problems by hands-on operation. But what about our children? Apart from memorizing textbook knowledge and coping with exams one after another, what else can they do?"

Xu Dongsheng became more and more excited as he spoke, and the expression on his face was almost distorted. Just by looking at this expression, anyone who saw him would say that this old gentleman was truly a model of concern for the country and the people.

Zeng Zijin refuted a few times, and then, at the director's signal in the headset, he looked at Xu Dongsheng with a smile and said, "Teacher Xu, the problem of domestic education you just mentioned has indeed caused many people to think. However, we have a special segment in today's program, and we would like to invite you to participate."

"Oh? A special segment? I wonder what it's about?" Xu Dongsheng asked with a smile.

Zeng Zijin did not answer directly, but stood up from the sofa, looked at the audience and said: "As everyone knows, Teacher Xu has always been known for his outspokenness and sharp opinions. He once exchanged ideas at a Japanese school and highly praised Japan's social development. He once wrote an article about his personal experience in Japan."

"In your article, Mr. Xu, you praised everything about foreign countries, especially Japan's sanitary environment, saying that the water in Japanese toilets is drinkable. Is this true?"

Xu Dongsheng puffed out his chest and said proudly: "Yes, I stayed in Japan for a few months. The sanitary environment in Japan is very strict. In any hotel, store, or even public toilet, you can scoop out the water in the toilet and drink it directly."

"Have you ever drunk it?"

"Of course, Japan has very high requirements for hygiene and water quality. Even the water in the toilet is cleaner than the tap water in our country."

"Is that so? If you have a chance, can you show it to our audience friends?"

Xu Dongsheng knew that he couldn't go to Japan, but he wasn't afraid at all. He patted his chest and waved his hand generously: "Why not?"

Zeng Zijin smiled and did not respond. Instead, he turned to look at the director in the audience. The director nodded slightly, and then the staff slowly pushed a cart covered with a red cloth onto the stage.

When he saw the cart coming on stage, the smile on his face froze instantly, a trace of panic flashed in his eyes, and an ominous premonition came to his heart. Xu Dongsheng seemed to realize something.

Damn, what I just said seemed too confident. Could they have got a cup of toilet water from Japan?
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became strange. The audience stretched their necks and looked at the cart curiously, and many of them had strange smiles on their faces.

Under Xu Dongsheng's surprised gaze, Zeng Zijin walked forward and slowly lifted the red cloth, revealing an exquisite yet strange glass water cup inside.

The cup of water inside was exactly the turbid toilet water collected from a game hall in a county town in Japan.

"Teacher Xu, this glass of water was airlifted from a Japanese toilet. Since you have such high confidence in Japan's sanitary environment and have drunk water from a Japanese toilet before, how about you drink it again in front of the national audience today?"

Zeng Zijin endured the nausea in his heart, picked up the cup of water with a strange smell, and looked at Xu Dongsheng, whose face had turned grim, with a smile.

The scene suddenly became quiet, and everyone's eyes were focused on Xu Dongsheng.

Looking at the cup of greasy and turbid toilet water, Xu Dongsheng's face turned pale and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

His throat rolled up and down, he swallowed hard, his mouth opened, but no sound came out.

After a long time, he tried to argue: "This is definitely not the water from Japanese toilets. I have seen the water from Japanese toilets. It is clean and clear. This is obviously taken from domestic toilets."

Zeng Zijin did not argue. He put down the cup of water that was emitting a strange smell and said to the audience: "Since Teacher Xu doesn't believe it, the director can play the video of fetching water in Japan to let everyone see where the water comes from." As soon as he finished speaking, a video began to play on the big screen in the studio.

This video was provided by Wu Simin. In the video, staff members wearing masks and gloves and holding professional collection tools walked into a game hall on the streets of Japan.

The camera clearly shows the arcade's sign, the interior environment, and then the shabby interior of the bathroom.

In front of the camera, the staff scooped out a cup of water from the urine-stained toilet, then sealed it and put it away. The entire process was recorded in full.

After the video was played, Zeng Zijin looked at Xu Dongsheng with a smile and said, "Teacher Xu, you can see that this is indeed taken from a Japanese toilet. The facts are in front of us. Shouldn't you fulfill your promise and take a sip to let everyone see the high quality of Japanese toilet water?"

Xu Dongsheng would definitely not want to drink this. I'm just earning royalties, how can I drink urine?

The video has clearly shown that the toilet is full of urine stains. What's the difference between drinking this stuff and drinking urine directly?

It's better to drink urine directly. It's been taken out for many days and it's fermented.
After a long silence, Xu Dongsheng stammered and said, "This is just an isolated case. Japan is so big, there will always be dirty and messy places."

"You just said that there is a shop on the roadside in Japan where the toilet water is drinkable. How come it has become an isolated case now? Teacher Xu, your words are inconsistent." Zeng Zijin frowned, looking as if he had been deceived.

At this time, the audience members who had been warned by He Guangqin in advance stood up one by one and condemned Xu Dongsheng's double standards and hypocrisy.

"Teacher Xu, you have double standards. You just praised it to the skies, but now you say it's an isolated incident. Aren't you just slapping yourself in the face?"

"That's right. Didn't you say that Japan's sanitary conditions are much better than ours? Why are you saying it's an isolated case now?"

"Teacher Xu, you're not scared, are you? Weren't you quite talkative just now?"

The audience below the stage started to boo, the noise was getting louder and louder, and the atmosphere was becoming more and more tense.

Xu Dongsheng's face turned from pale to red, and more and more beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. He finally understood what was going on. Why were they inviting him just because of his reputation? This was all a trap.

Now the arrow was on the string and had to be shot. Xu Dongsheng could only bite the bullet and force a smile: "Well, actually, I think everyone may have a misunderstanding. What I just said is an ideal state. The sanitary environment in Japan is indeed better than ours, but not all places are so perfect."

"Sanitation is a complex issue that cannot be simply judged by a glass of water. We should look at this issue from a more macro perspective."

As soon as these words were spoken, without Zeng Zijin waiting to say anything, there was another round of booing from the audience.

"Don't talk nonsense. You wrote in your article that the water in Japanese toilets is drinkable. Just now you also said that as long as there is water from Japanese toilets, you will show it to the audience all over the country. Now you want to deny your debt?"

"That's right, you don't even acknowledge what you said. You have absolutely no credibility at all."

Listening to the constant accusations from the audience, Xu Dongsheng's face became paler and paler. Is this character going to collapse?

Now there are two options. One is to drink this stuff with gritted teeth, and then say that the water quality is good, and there will be people looking for this kind of writing job in the future, and you can still use the huge royalties to eat, drink and have fun.

Second, I refused to drink even if I was beaten to death, which was clearly a rogue act, and they couldn't do anything to me. However, no one would come to me to write articles in the future.

After making a decision, Xu Dongsheng gritted his teeth and stood up from the stool: "Okay, since everyone is looking forward to it, I will drink it to prove that I, Xu Dongsheng, dare to face all the truth."

After saying that, he took a deep breath and picked up the cup of turbid toilet water. His hands trembled slightly and his eyes were full of struggle.

The audience fell silent instantly, and everyone's eyes were focused on him, waiting for his next move.

Even Qingfeng Li opened his eyes, waiting for his next move.

Xu Dongsheng closed his eyes and said to himself: "For money, for fame, I'll fight for it."

Then he raised the cup to his lips and drank it in one gulp.

"Gudonggudong"

As the liquid entered his throat, Xu Dongsheng's face instantly turned pale. He suppressed his nausea and drank the entire glass of water.

"Snapped"

The cup was placed heavily on the table. Xu Dongsheng's face had turned from blue to white, and his forehead was covered with cold sweat.

He forced a smile and said to the audience and the stunned host Zeng Zijin: "You can see that the water in Japanese toilets is indeed drinkable."

"Although the production team deliberately found a toilet with the worst environment, even such a dirty and messy environment cannot conceal the sweetness of the water. The water in Japan, even if it is contaminated with filth, is still better than our tap water."

After he finished speaking, a strong feeling of nausea came over him, and Xu Dongsheng dry-heaved and almost vomited.

Xu Dongsheng suppressed his body's natural reaction, looked grim, and occasionally retched, but he still shouted tremblingly: "Japan's treatment of water quality is worth learning from!"

The audience immediately burst into warm applause and cheers, and some people even stood up and applauded him.

Even Li Qingfeng couldn't help but applaud him. Wow, this guy is really strong.

It's rare to find someone as shameless as him.

Even in such a situation, he can still be stubborn. He is indeed not an ordinary person. I admire him. (End of this chapter)