CHAPTER 503: CHAPTER 503: I WILL NEVER LET THAT KID OFF EASY

7:30 PM, the rehearsal officially began.

Throughout the whole process, Chen Bin’s attention was focused on Wu Jie.

Although she had memorized all the lines, whether she could perform well on stage remained uncertain.

However, Wu Jie proved with her own ability that Chen Bin’s worries were unnecessary.

From start to finish, she performed with remarkable poise and grace.

Not at all like someone who had joined midway.

On the morning of September 9th, Chen Bin arrived at the gala venue for the final checks.

After confirming all the equipment, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

At 5:00 PM, all performers were in place, silently waiting for the live broadcast to begin.

At 6:00 PM, the audience began to enter the venue.

At 7:00 PM, the key leaders of Yanxi Province arrived and took their reserved seats.

At 7:30 PM, the live broadcast officially started.

Just when everything was progressing in an orderly manner and Ni Baige’s turn to perform was approaching, Chen Bin suddenly notified backstage that her performance was canceled last minute.

When Ni Baige received the news, she was completely dumbfounded.

After regaining her senses, she immediately asked for the reason.

But the staff couldn’t provide a clear explanation.

Just as Ni Baige was about to confront Chen Bin, she was stopped by the staff.

In the end, she could only squat on the ground, crying uncontrollably.

As for Chen Bin canceling Ni Baige’s performance, it wasn’t a last-minute decision.

From the very start, he had no intention of choosing her.

Pretending to agree with Lan Hui earlier had been his way of setting a trap for that "old witch."

First he agreed, then he canceled the performance at the last minute, making all of Ni Baige’s preparations completely futile,

while also causing Lan Hui to lose face.

It was just a pity that the "old witch" had fled, leaving Chen Bin feeling quite regretful.

After the final program concluded, the four hosts announced the end of the gala.

As Chen Bin exhaled deeply, he silently vowed never to take charge of another gala again.

The effort and time it required were just too exhausting.

Once the audience had left, Zeng Pengchao called Chen Bin over and highly praised the gala.

At the same time, he encouraged him to keep up the good work and bring new life to the provincial TV station.

When all the leaders finally left and Chen Bin was preparing to attend the celebration banquet, a sharp voice suddenly rang out from afar.

"Chen! Stop right there!"

Chen Bin turned his head to see Ni Baige storming over, fuming with rage.

"Why did you cancel my performance? Why?!"

"There’s no why. I just think your performance isn’t good enough and not suitable for the gala."

"What did you say?!"

Ni Baige’s eyes widened, her face filled with disbelief.

She had spent so much time preparing, and all the feedback she received had been positive.

How could Chen Bin dismiss it as "not suitable for performance"?

Why didn’t he say this earlier?

"I said, your performance isn’t suitable..."

Smack!

Before Chen Bin could finish, Ni Baige raised her hand and delivered a slap to his face.

Witnessing this scene, everyone, including Chen Bin, was stunned.

Without saying another word, Ni Baige wiped away her tears and ran toward the exit.

Rubbing his slightly stinging cheek, a hint of mischief flickered in Chen Bin’s heart.

"Feisty? I like it!"

Nonetheless, considering the presence of so many people, he didn’t say anything further and simply led the group to the celebration banquet.

At the same time, Ni Bo, sitting in front of the television, was completely bewildered.

To ensure more people would watch his daughter’s performance, he had even ordered everyone at the city TV station to watch the provincial TV gala that night and write their reflections afterward.

But even after the gala ended, Ni Baige’s performance never appeared, leaving him puzzled.

When Ni Baige returned home, Ni Bo immediately asked,

"Sweetheart, why didn’t I see your performance on TV?"

Hearing this, Ni Baige collapsed into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably.

Ni Bo, being a doting father, felt his heart break as he saw his daughter crying so bitterly.

"Don’t cry. Tell me what happened. Dad has your back."

"Dad, my... my performance was canceled by Chen Bin."

"Why?"

"He said my performance wasn’t suitable for the gala."

"Damn it, that bastard is absolutely outrageous!"

It was only then that Ni Bo realized Chen Bin had never intended to let Ni Baige perform in the first place.

"So what did you say to him?"

"I didn’t know what to say, so I slapped him."

"Good! He deserves to be beaten! You should’ve slapped him even harder!"

Patting Ni Baige’s back gently, Ni Bo’s hatred for Chen Bin reached an all-time high.

"Sweetheart, don’t cry. Dad won’t let that guy get away with this!"

The next day, the front page of Yanxi Daily was filled with praises for Chen Bin.

Once again, Chen Bin had become the talk of the news.

Many media outlets within and outside the province wanted to interview him, but he declined them all.

This recent period had been too busy for him. Now that the gala was over, he wanted to finally rest.

Chen Bin gave himself a two-day break. During these two days, he barely went anywhere.

Whenever he had the chance, he rested in Zhao Xinmei’s arms.

Even though he was over thirty years old and had countless women around him, Zhao Xinmei’s embrace remained the warmest and most comforting.

Only after two full days of rest did the fatigue gradually fade away.

On the morning of the third day, Chen Bin returned to his office.

After going through the files on his desk, he discovered that the station still owed the bank billions in loans, and the ratings were abysmal.

Despite these challenges, Chen Bin wasn’t intimidated in the slightest.

Over his many years in leadership, he had always faced crises upon taking a new position.

Moreover, after working at the provincial TV station for over a year, Chen Bin had long understood that once Lan Hui was ousted, he would be the one to tackle all these problems.

As the acting director, Chen Bin wanted to produce immediate results.

After some thought, he decided to focus on reforming programs.

Once he had determined the general direction, Chen Bin convened all mid-level and senior staff for a meeting.

This was the first meeting he held as acting director.

When he arrived at the meeting room, everyone had gradually taken their seats.

With a smile, Chen Bin began, "This is my first time meeting with all of you in this setting since becoming acting director. Many of you may not be familiar with me yet, but we’ll have plenty of time to get acquainted."

He paused for a moment, keenly observing the expressions of the three deputy directors.

"Today’s meeting is to discuss the station’s future development. Our ratings are truly abysmal, and some outdated programs should’ve been retired long ago."

Xiang Chengkang spoke coldly, "I disagree with some of Acting Director Chen’s views."

"Alright, let’s hear your thoughts," Chen Bin replied, putting on an expression of attentive interest.

"I believe the primary purpose behind establishing the provincial TV station was to communicate directives from above and serve as the voice of the Party and government. We can’t arbitrarily discard programs simply because of low ratings."

"Reforming programs doesn’t interfere with communication from above. Programs with low ratings should be eliminated to make room for innovation. Otherwise, it’s just a waste of resources and funds."

Xiang Chengkang instinctively wanted to refute but couldn’t figure out what to say.

Seeing him rendered speechless, Jiao Jikai immediately stepped in.

"Since Acting Director Chen seems to have all the answers, let me ask you: How exactly do you think our station should develop?"