Rebirth 09: Starting from taking charge of Running Man on CCTV

Zhang Lei reached out and picked it up, casually turning to the first page.

The moment his eyes fell on the title, his chopsticks, holding braised beef, hovered in mid-air.

Approval of the formal establishment of the program "Run, China".

The red CCTV logo is visible above the head.

The first line of the main text.

"After final review and evaluation by the editorial board, the program 'Run, China!' has officially passed the project approval process, received an A rating, and has been included in the Variety Channel's list of key projects for 2009."

Zhang Lei's eyes didn't move.

They are fixated on the words "Grade A".

Having worked in the broadcasting system for seven or eight years, he knew all too well the weight of those two words.

Throughout the entire year, CCTV's variety channel only rated a handful of projects as A-level.

His gaze shifted downwards.

"Director-in-Chief: Chen Yang"

The chopsticks fell from my hand.

The braised beef slammed onto the table with a thud, splashing half of Zhang Lei's hand with the braising sauce.

He didn't realize it.

"you……"

Zhang Lei looked up at Chen Yang, his lips moved twice, but he couldn't form a complete sentence.

Su Xiao had already snatched the document from his hand.

She reads faster than Zhang Lei, scanning the text in three seconds and flipping directly to the last page.

The document bears the official red seal of CCTV and is accompanied by the signature of CCTV Director Jiang Bingqian.

Su Xiao's hand trembled slightly.

Liu Gang leaned closer; he was slow to see things, and stared at the official seal for a full five seconds.

Then he suddenly sat up straight.

The private room was so quiet that you could hear the shouts of the pancake vendors in the alley outside.

The three of them looked at each other, but no one made a sound.

That silence wasn't stillness; it was the blankness that followed being stunned by a sudden blow.

Chen Yang poured himself a second glass of wine, held it but didn't drink it, just watched them.

"Director-in-chief?"

Zhang Lei finally managed to squeeze out those three words, his voice hoarse.

"you?"

"I."

"Grade A?"

Grade A.

"How long have you been gone?"

"Eight months."

Zhang Lei flipped the document back to the first page and looked at it again, as if afraid his eyes were playing tricks on him.

No flowers were spent.

The words are in black and white, with an official seal in red—clear and unambiguous.

"Holy shit..."

He placed the documents on the table, braced his hands on the edge of the table, and rubbed his face vigorously twice.

After rubbing, I looked up and my eyes were a little red.

It wasn't out of emotion, it was out of suppressed feelings.

After being stuck at Anhui TV for more than half a year, I was treated like trash and relegated to the local news team, where I spent my days editing footage of pig farms and square dancing. I felt like I was going to rot away.

Now, his former deputy, a junior classmate two years his junior, is sitting across from him with approval for a CCTV A-level project.

The difference is too great.

It was so big that he didn't know what to say.

Chen Yang noticed his expression, didn't urge him, and waited a few more seconds.

"Senior brother, don't be so quick to express your feelings."

He pulled another piece of paper out of his bag and pushed it to the middle of the table, just like before.

"Take a look at this."

Zhang Lei looked down.

It was a handwritten form listing six or seven job titles, with a salary range indicated next to each title.

Executive Director: Monthly salary 12000 yuan.

Head screenwriter: Monthly salary 10000 yuan.

Executive Production Manager: Monthly salary NT$10000.

Zhang Lei paused for a moment.

The monthly salary for a similar position at Anhui TV is at most a little over three thousand yuan.

Four times.

Su Xiao stared intently at the words "head screenwriter," her pupils twitching.

Liu Gang's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, his mouth tightly shut.

"I'm not just making empty promises."

Chen Yang put his wine glass on the table, leaned forward halfway, and spoke in a low voice, but every word was delivered with conviction.

"The station's special budget is already going through the process. I personally prepared the budget for the core management's salary standards, and the finance director, Fang, signed it. It's compliant and legal, and not a penny less."

"Senior brothers, Su Xiao, Liu Gang."

"I'm not going to beat around the bush with you."

"I'm returning to Luzhou for one purpose only: to take you all away."

Zhang Lei didn't say anything, but the knuckles of his hand, which was gripping the form, had turned white.

Su Xiao put down her chopsticks, and the weariness in her eyes subsided considerably, replaced by something that had been suppressed for a long time, now welling up.

Liu Gang was the first to speak.

"Chen Yang, are you telling the truth?"

Which sentence?

"Yes, all of them."

"It's all true."

"Then I..."

Liu Gang swallowed his words.

He glanced at Zhang Lei.

Zhang Lei took a breath, slowly closed the file, placed it on the table, and pressed it down with his palm.

"Chen Yang, let me ask you something from the bottom of my heart."

"you say."

"You know what it means to be a permanent employee at Anhui TV and Anhui Radio and Television Station?"

"Know."

"A secure job. These days, if you're stuck in the system, you won't starve, no matter how pathetic you are."

Zhang Lei's voice was very low.

"If I quit my job and go to Beijing, what if the program doesn't work out? What if the project falls through? I'm thirty years old, with elderly parents and young children to support. My whole family is waiting for me to provide for them."

It's not that I don't want to go.

His Adam's apple bobbed.

"It's because I don't dare to gamble."

Su Xiao didn't speak, but her slightly lowered eyes showed that she was thinking about the same question.

Chen Yang did not respond immediately.

He poured himself another glass of wine and slowly swirled the glass around.

Then he laughed.

"Senior brother, do you think I just brought a permit to fool you?"

He put down his wine glass.

"CCTV Zhongshi Huicai Culture Development Co., Ltd., the only official personnel agency channel of CCTV in 2009, you should have heard of it."

Zhang Lei nodded.

Anyone in the broadcasting industry knows CCTV Talent.

That's the core channel of CCTV's formal employment system. Signing a corporate employment contract with CCTV Talent is equivalent to obtaining the status of a formal CCTV employee.

"Director Sun Bin helped me coordinate a corporate recruitment quota."

Chen Yang held up three fingers.

"Three, exclusively for the core management team."

"Sign a two-year fixed-term employment contract with Zhongshi Huicai, with social insurance and housing fund contributions paid at the highest standards in Beijing, year-end bonus, professional title evaluation, and Beijing residency quota."

"The compensation is almost exactly the same as that of a CCTV employee."

He tapped the table three times with his three fingers.

"One for my senior brother, one for Su Xiao, and one for Liu Gang."

The entire private room seemed to have been muted.

Even the cicadas chirping in the alley outside can no longer be heard.

Zhang Lei's mouth was open, unable to close.

Recruitment by the company.

CCTV's corporate recruitment.

Five social insurances and one housing fund, and Beijing residency.

This isn't just empty promises; it's like putting a cake on the table—hot, glistening with oil, and ready to be picked up with chopsticks.

"you say……"

Zhang Lei's voice even changed tone.

"Settling down?"

"Settling down in Beijing."

Chen Yang spoke in a flat, indifferent tone, as if he were reading a menu.

"Senior, your daughter should be starting kindergarten next year, right? A Beijing residency permit is worth a lot of money."

Zhang Lei froze on the stool.

His daughter is two and a half years old this year.

He didn't mention this to anyone.

But Chen Yang knew.

"I……"

Zhang Lei suddenly stood up, slamming the plastic stool against the wall with a loud bang.

The disposable plastic cup in his hand was crushed, and the wine spilled from the rim, soaking his hand.

"Screw the government-affiliated jobs!"

He slammed the flattened cup onto the table, splashing wine and scattering peanuts all over the table.

"I've been cutting up pigs in this lousy place for half a year!"

"I'm handing in my resignation first thing tomorrow morning!"

His eyes were red, his nostrils were trembling, but his mouth was stretched open, and his smile looked worse than crying.

Su Xiao wasn't that intense.