Chapter 36: The Program Passed!
It seemed Mr. Xue saw Sun Weike’s confusion, and he didn’t try to be mysterious, immediately explaining:
“Sun, you’ve been to Qi Xuan’s hometown, you should know that his family isn’t rich.”
“Actually, my family wasn’t rich when I was a child either. We lived in the same apartment building, close to each other, and went to the same kindergarten. We became familiar with each other over time.”
“Later, when we went to elementary school, my dad made a fortune in building materials, and I had more pocket money. Spending too much money at school was eye-catching and I was targeted. A group of older students extorted me, making me buy food and drinks.
I didn’t understand things at the time, I just felt uncomfortable, and I didn’t think about revenge. As a result, Xuanzi couldn’t sit still after he found out and fought with them on the spot.
He was young and physically weak, how could he be their match? He was directly surrounded and beaten.
How could I see my friend being beaten? I also joined in, and as a result, there was one more person being beaten.”
“After being beaten several times, we learned to be smart. We didn’t fight them head-on. After school, we went outside and took some feces in plastic bags, and when we caught them, we threw it on them.
After several rounds like this, they couldn’t take it anymore and chose to stop fighting.
No one wants to be walking along nicely, and suddenly two people rush out of the grass and drench them, and they have to sleep with the smell at night.”
Mr. Xue seemed to be in a state, speaking endlessly:
“In Middle School, fighting was even more normal. The Middle Schools in the county, unlike now, were very chaotic. Fights and brawls, selling themselves for support, it wasn’t everywhere, but it wasn’t uncommon.
At that time, the two of us got into trouble with a Big Brother again. The reason was simple, he didn’t like that I had money and was very cool, and then, a female school bully he liked, also liked our Xuanzi. This way, the conflict was established.
There were many of them, but we weren’t afraid either. We fought back and forth for more than a dozen rounds, and several legs of the benches were broken. Xuanzi and I were almost beaten all over, but that Big Brother wasn’t having a good time either, because we both focused on hitting him in every group fight.
Later, my dad found out about this, and he was completely furious. He didn’t do anything else, just let Xuanzi and me take a group of workers and surround that Big Brother and teach him a lesson.”
Mr. Xue said this, and then sighed:
“To be honest, both I and Xuanzi were quite disgusted with him getting involved in this matter. We always felt that calling the parents was a bit of a rule breaker, after all, the other side didn’t call their parents, right?
But the effect was really good. Since then, that Big Brother stayed far away from us. Later, I heard that he dropped out of school and went to work, and I don’t know how things are now.”
Seeing his expression of reminiscence, Sun Weike couldn’t help but ask:
“What about Dong Zitao? He’s so thin and small, it’s impossible that he also took the initiative to provoke you, right?”
“Dong Zitao?”
Mr. Xue couldn’t help but sneer when he heard this:
“He’s small, that’s true, but what he did was even more heinous than that group of people!”
“Dong Zitao’s father set up a stall near our school, and he was shortchanging people, with a bad reputation. He often promoted for his father, and said how poor their family was, asking everyone to help take care of their business.
Later, on one occasion, a kind classmate in the class listened to him and bought a bunch of freshly squeezed juice from his father’s stall for everyone to drink. As a result, a group of people were poisoned and were directly sent to the hospital.”
“At that time, Xuanzi and I and a few classmates were playing ball outside, and we were lucky enough not to be affected. Later, after hearing about it, we directly went and overturned the fruit stall.
Dong Zitao blocked us, and accidentally revealed that the fruit used for juicing was rotten fruit after being cut. He knew that those things couldn’t be eaten, just to make more money, he sold them to his classmates, and as a result, such a big thing happened.
After knowing the truth, we beat him on the spot, do you think we were wrong to hit him?”
Sun Weike was speechless when she heard this.
Thinking about in the nursing home, when Dong Zitao and his father used their old injuries to accuse Qi Xuan of how violent he was back then, this comparison made the whole world seem very magical.
“What happened later?”
Sun Weike continued to ask:
“Later, Dong Zitao didn’t cause you any trouble?”
“Cause us trouble?”
Mr. Xue leaned back, and sneered with a face full of arrogance:
“He caused such a big mess, and he still dared to cause us trouble? Later, if he hadn’t taken the initiative to drop out of school to appease everyone’s anger, it’s possible that he and his father would still be in prison.”
“To be honest, so many years have passed, I’ve long forgotten about this matter. If you hadn’t suddenly brought it up now, I would have almost forgotten that there was such a person.
Now it seems that Dong Zitao and his father are also very insidious. They only dare to come out and reverse black and white because Xuanzi is still in the sky and temporarily can’t come down, trying to use your CCTV’s hand to nail him to the pillar of shame, to provide so-called evidence for others to smear him in the future.”
Speaking of this, Mr. Xue looked at Sun Weike and said meaningfully:
“I would say that you reporters should be more careful, to distinguish the authenticity of the news, to confirm the truth of the facts, before you can report to the public.
Otherwise, once a problem arises, not only will your platform’s reputation be seriously damaged, but even your own job may be lost. There are many such precedents.”
“Mr. Xue, please rest assured, we will naturally report the facts.”
In fact, even if Mr. Xue didn’t say it, Sun Weike also planned to go to the former parties involved to understand the truth of the matter from the side.
After all, the interview content just now was only Mr. Xue’s one-sided words, which was not enough to be completely trusted. She had to integrate multiple sources of information to dig out the only truth.
Then, Sun Weike asked some other questions related to Qi Xuan.
After working hard until after nine o’clock in the evening, this interview was considered to be over.
After it was over, Sun Weike didn’t rest, but organized the interview content and contacted subsequent interviewees.
Most of Qi Xuan’s high school classmates were scattered all over China, and it was difficult to get in touch with them. Even if she did, they might not be willing to appear on camera. Plus, she couldn’t run all over the country, so she did long-distance video and telephone interviews, roughly confirming the authenticity of Mr. Xue’s words, and obtained a lot of detailed information related to Qi Xuan.
A more complete character image gradually took shape in her mind.
After working hard all night, the next morning, she submitted the edited draft to the leader, but the leader said that the content of the draft was more sensitive, and after reporting it, it had to be reviewed by the military, the Ministry of State Security, and the Propaganda Department. She was just dumbfounded.
Just as she was feeling uneasy, the review results came down from above. Except for some modifications and embellishments needed in the details, the main part was intact, which made Sun Weike breathe a long sigh of relief.
But the detail modifications were still modifications. It was revised five times, and she was almost flying. The draft finally passed and was able to be shown on television.
But Sun Weike no longer had the energy to watch it. She went directly to find Qi Xuan’s recorded broadcast that day, preparing to relax.
However, only five seconds after opening the recorded broadcast, Sun Weike was completely stunned.
