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Xiao Haichao was indeed capable.
That was the conclusion Lu Chen reached after reading the program proposal he had written.
Lu Chen was not an expert in producing variety shows. The concept he had given Tian Tian came entirely from the memories of the dream world, only a general structure and the staged progression of The Voice of China. It was just the framework.
Lu Chen had built the skeleton; Xiao Haichao then added flesh, muscle, and skin, turning it into a complete person. All that was left was to follow the proposal and start production and filming.
Some details differed from what Lu Chen remembered, but these differences did not affect the show at all. In fact, they took into account real-world constraints. At least from Lu Chen's perspective, there was nothing to nitpick.
Someone capable of this level of work but still failing to earn an official position at Hangzhou TV… it was a joke that wasn't funny, so pathetic it made one unable to laugh.
Of course, for Vibrance Media, this was a blessing. Having such a talent as their production director meant Lu Chen could completely relax and let Tian Tian go all out in recreating the once wildly popular reality show from the dream world.
After the company tour, meeting the staff, and signing documents, the lunch reservation was set at Egret Manor by West Lake.
Lu Chen was very familiar with Egret Manor, he even had a VIP card there. During the Hangzhou leg of the Singing China tour, he had invited Mu Xiaochuan and the others to dine here.
Aside from Chen Fei'er and their host Tian Tian, Xiao Haichao and his wife also came along.
Xiao Haichao's wife, Zhu Li, had been his high school classmate. She was of above-average looks, a bit fiery in personality, and was temporarily serving as the accountant-cashier at Vibrance Media, essentially holding the purse strings of the new company.
When they arrived at Egret Manor, Tian Tian led Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er toward the reserved private room. But just as Xiao Haichao followed them in, Zhu Li grabbed his arm.
He froze for a moment. "What's wrong?"
Zhu Li glared at her husband in frustration. "Are you stupid? Go order the dishes!"
Tian Tian was the boss, and Lu Chen and Chen Fei'er were guests, superstar guests at that. How could they be the ones ordering food?
Anyone with half an ounce of social sense would immediately take the initiative.
"Oh, then I'll go order," Xiao Haichao said, finally understanding.
Zhu Li twisted his arm sharply. "Order something good. But don't overdo it. I'm going in first."
"Yes, yes…" Xiao Haichao responded meekly.
Back when he worked at the TV station, he had eaten out with his supervisors plenty of times. Ordering dishes was no problem.
After Zhu Li left, he called over the server and began ordering.
But just as he ordered five or six dishes, an all-too-familiar, annoyingly familiar, voice sounded from beside him.
"Huh? Isn't this Little Xiao?"
Xiao Haichao turned his head and saw a greasy-faced fat man standing a few steps away, grinning. "What a coincidence. You eating here too?"
Xiao Haichao stiffened but forced out a strained smile. "Director Gao."
This Fatty Gao was his former direct supervisor at Hangzhou TV. The two had originally been on the same level, but Gao had been far more socially savvy, skilled at flattering the higher-ups, and had stepped on Xiao Haichao to climb up effortlessly.
Xiao Haichao had endured plenty of indignities working under him. There was no way he could show a pleasant expression now.
"But I think I just saw your Zhu Li earlier."
Fatty Gao, however, seemed completely oblivious to Xiao Haichao's frosty attitude. He strode over with exaggerated familiarity, craning his neck to peek at the order list in the server's hand. "Which private room are you eating in? Oh, !"
"Meilan Hall."
His tiny eyes widened, and he slapped Xiao Haichao on the shoulder. "Impressive! You can actually eat in Meilan Hall now. No wonder people say you've climbed your way up!"
When Xiao Haichao resigned from the TV station, it had left a sour taste in Fatty Gao's heart. He'd lost someone he could easily suppress, someone capable enough to exploit whenever needed.
What annoyed him even more was that Xiao Haichao seemed to be doing quite well after his resignation, well enough to be eating at Egret Manor.
And Meilan Hall at Egret Manor was a top-tier VIP room. Even Gao's own dining room today wasn't at that level!
Xiao Haichao frowned, stepped aside to put distance between them, and finished reporting the rest of the dishes to the server. Then he turned and left without engaging in any fake politeness.
He was an honest, easily bullied man, but not a coward. And now that he was no longer working under Hangzhou TV, he had no reason to fear Gao. If he found him distasteful, he simply wouldn't acknowledge him.
Even honest men get angry.
Fatty Gao clearly hadn't expected Xiao Haichao to give him attitude. His fake smile froze instantly.
After a moment, he snorted coldly and turned back to his own private room.
Inside, the atmosphere was lively, glasses clinking and drunken cheer. Present were some of Gao's colleagues, a few of his superiors, and even a department director from Zhejiang TV.
Compared to Zhejiang TV, Hangzhou TV's resources were laughably small. Getting ad deals wasn't easy, and they often had to rely on leftover scraps from Zhejiang TV. Maintaining relationships with higher-ups meant endless drinking and flattering, even weekends offered no peace.
Seeing Gao return with an unhappy expression, one colleague teased, "Old Gao, what happened? Don't tell me your mistress yelled at you because you didn't take her out today?"
The whole room burst into raucous laughter.
Gao forced a smile. "Old Zhang, save the jokes. If my wife heard that, I'd be dead. I just ran into Xiao Haichao outside. He was here with his wife."
"Xiao Haichao?"
His colleague was surprised. "He's eating here too?"
Gao responded sourly, "He booked Meilan Hall!"
Meilan Hall?
Everyone looked at each other. They all knew exactly what that meant. That was a private room ordinary people had no chance of booking.
"So Xiao Haichao really did latch onto a big tree, huh."
Gao's colleague snorted before adding with a smile, "Since we bumped into him, why don't we go by Meilan Hall? Have him come over and toast Director Chang. That's giving him face. After all, we used to be coworkers."
The intent behind the suggestion was clearly malicious.
Director Chang was a high-ranking figure at Zhejiang TV. If Xiao Haichao planned to continue working in this industry in any form, offending Chang would be the same as smashing his own rice bowl.
If he didn't want to offend him, then he'd better obediently come over and let everyone step on him a bit, just because he found a new job didn't mean he could start acting proud.
Director Chang gave a cool, aloof smile.
Gao immediately perked up. "Then let's go call him over together. Today's his lucky day, he'll have to drink at least three glasses!"
The two men left their private room and hurried toward Meilan Hall.
Before the server could even react, Gao shoved open the private-room door himself and shouted loudly,
"Little Xiao! Who are you entertaining here? Our Director Chang wants to see you!"
(End of Chapter)