An Eye for News Chapter 32
“This is all Blue Sky Rehab’s fault, if not
for them… all these things wouldn’t even have happened!”
Se Cai shifted his body to find
a more comfortable position.
Everything truly could be traced
back to the Blue Sky Rehab. It was the beating he had suffered under their
people that had led Se Cai into the possession of the Eye for News system. In
other words, they were the force that started the ball rolling.
Se Cai sighed and gave up on
trying to sleep. He switched on the television.
It was an old television left
behind by the previous tenant. Se Cai found it while he was clearing out the
storeroom.
Other than the picture tube, it
worked perfectly fine. The color was out of balance so the image shown had a
decidedly green sheen.
Se Cai flipped over to the
County S Tv Station’s channel. It was showing Septic Hospital’s medical
commercial.
Even though the state
administration of radio, film, and television had ordered multiple times to
decrease medical commercial airtime but they had stubbornly held on.
This was because this kind of
commercial wasn’t picky about their time slot and their duration was typically
about 10 minutes long. This translated into lucrative advertis.e.m.e.nt revenue for
the tv station.
If the stations banned medical
commercial outright, they would be signing their own death sentence!
“Have I missed the rerun?”
The thought crossed Se Cai’s
mind when a row of golden letters appeared before him. The familiar voice
followed.
“News appeared as county station
lead news, acquired 10 News Point. News received great response among the viewers,
acquired an additional 5 News Point.”
“News appeared as city station
lead news, acquired 50 News Point. News received great response among the viewers,
acquired an additional 25 News Point.”
“News broadcasted on province
station’s
For some reasons, Se Cai could
only receive his News Point when a tv was on but he didn’t get hanged up on
such a minute detail.
After all, in our day and age,
there was tv everywhere.
Se Cai tallied up his acquired
News Points and they totaled at 170 points. He was giddy with excitement.
“Weird, there’s no News Point from central
news, could it be that the news wasn’t broadcasted over there? O well, let’s
find out what new items I can exchange…”
Se Cai was honestly a little
disappointed that his piece didn’t get on central news.
He wasn’t expecting the piece to
reach big programs like
accepted by smaller programs like
“I’m sure I’ll find out more
tomorrow. In the meantime, open Trade Window!”
Se Cai thought to himself.
Instantly the familiar interface appeared.
Compared to last time, the
interface had undergone some changes. There was a conspicuous upgrade option
next to the box of Mind-Reading Unit he had purchased. With the upgrade, Se Cai’s
daily usage limit would be increased to 3 and it came with preemptive reading.
It would warn Se Cai if the person he was dealing with meant him harm.
“Preemptive reading? Wouldn’t
that be system-breaking?!”
Se Cai exclaimed inwardly. However,
the cost for the upgrade was also quite steep. It required 300 News Points and
1 Rank E Authorization so the upgrade option was greyed out.
“Why is the requirement so
harsh, will I even possibly get this in my lifetime?”
Se Cai sighed. A news as big as
the suicide only nabbed Se Cai 170 News Points, there was a noticeable distance
between that and 300 points.
The Rank E Authorization was
even harder to obtain. The only means for Se Cai to get it was to finish his
Blue Sky Rehab expose a.s.signment.
His previous excitement was
properly buffeted.
Se Cai looked down the row of
items and realized the previously greyed out second dimension storage unit had
become tradable!
“150 News Points, at least I can
still get this. Initiate trade!”
Se Cai said. Previously, he had
taken the Mind-Reading unit over this but now he realized the storage unit had
its own unique importance!
For one, it allowed him to keep
an object for self-defense within reach.
It could be a baton, a paring
knife or even a brick, at least he wouldn’t need to scour for one should the
need to hit someone on the back of their head arise again.
“Trading for second dimension
storage unit successful. Current level 1, storage s.p.a.ce is limited to 1 cubic
meter. Storing is done through visualization after gaining contact with the desired
object. Storage of living object is not allowed!”
The system announced.
“The unit doesn’t allow the
storage of living objects?”
Se Cai was visibly let down. He
thought he could store himself as a means of escape in emergency situations.
Alas, it was not to be.
“Let’s try this out on the
phone!”
Se Cai cupped his phone in his
hands and visualized the phone being stored.
Almost instantly, his hands
closed upon themselves because his phone in it was gone.
Se Cai visualized its appearance
and the phone magically appeared in his palm.
“Amazing… Hmm, what’s next?”
Se Cai’s eyes landed on his bed.
He pressed his hands on his bed but nothing happened.
It was as the system said, the
storage unit was only 1 cubic meter big.
Like a child given a new toy, Se
Cai started going around his room trying his new power out. Se Cai finally fell
asleep from exhaustion. The next morning, it was almost noon when he woke up!
“d.a.m.n it, that Gao Xiang woke up
and didn’t call me?!”
Se Cai was too excited yesterday
night so he had overslept.
Even though Director Bai said he
was still a patient, Se Cai felt he needed to be responsible for his job.
Driving Xin Yu’s Tesla, Se Cai
sped to the Tv Station.
However, he didn’t dare park the
car in the company’s lot. He eventually found a spot 1 block away from the
station and ran to work.
Se Cai wouldn’t know how to
explain why he came to work in such a vehicle.
Like yesterday, he ran into Xu Ran
at the station entrance.
“Se Cai, you’re only arriving
now? I’ll let you in on a bad news, you’re in big trouble this time!”
Xu Ran teased maliciously.
“What do you mean?”
Se Cai asked. Something big must
have happened inside the station or else Xu Ran wouldn’t be accosting him like
this.
Or something was going to happen
because Xu Ran could have heard something from his Vice Station Manager father.
“Just get in there, you’ll find
out eventually!”
Xu Ran said brightly, he even
opened the door for Se Cai. He finally went away whistling a happy tune,
lugging his camera equipment on his back.
“Did he not take his medicine
today?”
Se Cai frowned as he rushed to
the newsroom.
“Se Cai, you’re here! I was just
about to call you, something’s wrong, our news yesterday was blocked!”
Hai Dong said hurriedly as he
saw Se Cai entered the room.
“Huh?”
Se Cai replied since this was
the first time he heard about the news being blocked.
Then, he understood why no News
Point came from central news, the piece was blocked by the gatekeepers!
“But, why?” Se Cai asked.
“No clue, but I’m sure it’s
nothing good. I just received the information that authorities from the County
PR Department are here for a meeting in the 9th floor conference
room, I bet it has something to do with that.”
Hai Dong’s words tumbled out in
a hurry.
As the producer for
Right then, Hai Dong’s phone
rang. Not the program hotline but his personal cell phone.
“It’s from the office!”
Hai Dong said urgently before he
answered the call.
“h.e.l.lo… yes… he’s here… We’ll be
right there.”
After hanging up, Hai Dong
shared a worried look with Se Cai, adding, “The office wants us to go to the
conference room… Apparently, there’s something wrong with the suicide piece,
you better be prepared.”
“Something wrong? But how…
Manager Wei has personally checked it!”
Se Cai retorted weakly. He
collected himself and followed Director Bai as they departed for the 9th
floor.
Hai Dong pushed open the
conference room door and his expression changed.
“Director Bai, we meet again.”
A middle-aged man sitting at the
conference table greeted smilingly at Hai Dong. The man was wearing a black
suit.
In conference room, there was
also Xu Jing Song who was there to replace Wei Jian Guo. Station Manager Wei
was unable to make it because he was busy with personal business.
“Chairman Zhao, it is indeed
nice to see you again.”
Hai Dong moved forward with a
plastered smile.
The middle-aged man was the
chairman for County S’ PR Office. In other words, he was only one rank lower
than department head w.a.n.g Run Fa, he was his deputy in a manner of speaking.
People of his rank normally
wouldn’t appear for routine check-up. This was something huge.
“This must be reporter Se. I don’t
have much time to waste on things like this so let’s get started.”
Chairman Zhao glanced condescendingly
at Se Cai. He opened the notebook he had and questioned in a stern voice, “Yesterday
afternoon, your program reported on a suicide piece, correct? Who is the lead
reporter on that a.s.signment?”
It was obvious that Chairman
Zhao didn’t come with good intention but Se Cai couldn’t figure out what could be
possibly wrong with his piece…