Chapter 284: Fairness and Justice

The next morning, when Zhang Yan woke up from her sleep, she turned around and didn’t see anyone next to her. From the corner of her eye, she noticed Chen Yiming sitting cross-legged on the balcony.

Recalling the scene from last night, she could not help but cover her face, which had turned red.

“We’ve only known each other for a few days. I was too rash!”

It was like watching a movie. One crazy scene happened right after another. She covered her head with the blanket to hide her embarrassment.

Under the blanket, her face was burning hot.

After a long time, when Zhang Yan felt slightly suffocated, she was forced to reveal her head again.

“Should I go to the pharmacy to buy some medicine later? I didn’t use any protection last night. What will he think if I really get pregnant?”

Zhang Yan’s mind started to wander. She even thought of the day when she would be killed by his wife and her body would be thrown to the bottom of the river.

“He’s so young. He’s probably not married!”

In the end, Zhang Yan could only think this way, but she was still a little afraid.

Time quickly passed by.

Zhang Yan suddenly remembered that she still had to go to the television station to work. At the latest, the station had to decide on the interviewer by noon, so she quickly got out of bed.

In the next moment, another awkward thing happened.

This was not her room. She had run over last night in a bathrobe.

Zhang Yan lowered her head and blushed. She quickly picked up the bathrobe that was stained with some unknown substance and put it on. Then, she sized up Chen Yiming, who was in the midst of his cultivation.

The other party had his eyes closed and looked focused. She could not understand what he was doing at all. It was a little different from the martial arts she knew.

Chen Yiming had completed the transformation of his spiritual power and laid the foundation for breaking through to the master realm. At this moment, he was trying to use his spiritual power to communicate with the power of nature.

There were many types of natural power, and each had different attributes. Each person had a different affinity for different types of natural power.

In order to maximize the efficiency of one’s cultivation and one’s combat strength after breaking through to the master realm, one would choose the type of natural power they had the highest affinity for, or a few natural forces they had the highest affinity with.

There was no shortcut in this selection process. Every person who was a half-step away from the master realm needed to personally communicate with the different types of natural power and try it out for themselves.

After a long time, Chen Yiming ended his cultivation and opened his eyes. “You’re awake?”

Zhang Yan subconsciously avoided his gaze. At that moment, it was as if he had seen through her completely. After a moment of hesitation, she said softly, “Yes!”

“The matter with the evil organization has come to a stop. We only rested at 5 am. You can sleep in a little longer,” Chen Yiming said casually.

Zhang Yan nodded in agreement.

After his reminder, she could not help but yawn. Her eyelids felt unusually heavy.

However, she did not know how to ask about the matter she had requested. If she asked, it would make their relationship seem like a transaction.

Chen Yiming seemed to have read Zhang Yan’s mind and continued, “Before you woke up, I talked to Zhou Hongquan. You can go over in the afternoon.”

When Zhang Yan heard this, her sleepiness instantly disappeared. Her eyes lit up, and she felt like screaming and jumping around.

Every reporter had a similar dream. They wanted to stand on a higher level and interview big shots, but only a few people had the chance.

Furthermore, of the few reporters who got the chance in the end, even fewer were young people who were not even 30 years old.

How could Zhang Yan not be excited? She was only 25 years old, but she had already reached a height that countless of her peers could not reach in their entire lives.

…

Chen Yiming left the Riverside Hotel at around 8 am.

Over an hour ago, he had told Zhang Yan that he had something to do, but was stopped by her. The beautiful woman had enthusiastically expressed her excitement, causing a delay in his plans.

He looked up at the sky.

Unlike the clear sky from the day before, the sky was gloomy at this moment. The sunlight was blocked by thick clouds, and the air was oppressive. This was a prelude to a storm.

However, the streets had become even more lively. Shops opened one after another, and there was an endless stream of customers. In the open-air square, a group of youths were practicing martial arts. A middle-aged man wandered around and pointed out problems with their technique.

Jiangdu City had walked out of the influence of the evil organization and regained its prosperity extremely quickly.

When he passed by the industrial park, he saw large trucks entering and exiting the area one after another. Black smoke rose from the towering chimneys in the distance, and the roar of machines could be heard from time to time.

Jiangdu City was the city closest to the base city, and was the first to be connected to the base city via the railway. Various funds and resources were quickly invested here to provide supplies for the stronghold in the otherworld.

It could be said that the entrance to the otherworld was the location where the stronghold was established. The link to this entrance in Jiangnan province was Jiangdu City, and it was of an even higher status than the provincial capital, Jiangnan City.

The chaos caused by the evil organization was just a small incident. It was impossible to stop the development in the otherworld, just like when the Western corporations had tried to assassinate Chen Yiming.

“Unintentionally, I’ve actually become the leader of an era and personally led the way.”

Chen Yiming suddenly felt emotional.

From the moment he stepped onto the path of martial arts until this time more than a year later, the martial arts environment in Jiangnan province seemed to have been divided into two different eras.

Before Jiangnan province announced the opening of the base city, the main concern of the province was the conflict between humans and mutant beasts, the creatures from the otherworld that had accidentally entered the blue planet, and the battle between the martial arts factions.

When Jiangnan province cooperated with Chen Yiming’s achievements in Japan and announced that the stronghold in the otherworld was officially open to everyone, the situation had changed drastically.

In an extremely short period of time, not only were the gazes of the entire province focused on the stronghold in the otherworld, but the gazes of the surrounding provinces were also attracted to it.

Chen Yiming turned around and glanced at the Jiangdu City that was behind him.

“As long as I don’t fall, the major cities in Jiangnan province can continue to benefit from the development in the otherworld.”

The Daxia Kingdom’s plan to develop in the otherworld did not really require them to maintain dozens of strongholds for a long time. Instead, they had to spread out their net and select the best stronghold that they could focus their efforts on.

Due to Chen Yiming’s rise, Jiangnan province had seized the opportunity to open up the first stronghold in the otherworld. Not long after, the surrounding provinces were showing signs of becoming satellite provinces.

Jiangdu City, on the other hand, was the first city in the province to benefit from the opening of the stronghold in the otherworld. The overall level of martial arts and the competitive environment improved qualitatively in a short period of time.

However, this also meant that everything was supported by Chen Yiming alone. The enemies from the otherworld, the wilderness, and other human countries, were all opponents that they relied on Chen Yiming to defeat.

He had to shoulder everything. Otherwise, just like the incident with the evil organization that had just passed, Jiangnan province would be targeted. The bigger the reward, the worse the share would be after the division among those who were attracted to it.

…

At 8:55 am,

more than 100 people rushed into the large conference room of the Jiangdu TV station. There were hosts from various channels, reporters from the television station, and staff behind the scenes.

A group of beauties were chatting non-stop. Some of them were announcers, and some were reporters. The common characteristic was that they were all good-looking.

In the last row of the conference room,

Wen Rui nudged Zhang Yan, who was lying on the table, and whispered into her ear, “Zhang Yan, stop sleeping. How dare you take a nap at a time like this?”

Zhang Yan raised her head and opened her eyes. Her vision was blurry, and she heard the sound of a commotion.

She looked down at her watch. There were still five minutes before the meeting started. Her eyelids drooped uncontrollably.

“Call me when Station Head Deng is here,”

Zhang Yan replied and fell asleep on the table again. A few seconds later, she started to snore softly.

If not for the fact that there was a commotion in the meeting room and that everyone’s attention was focused on the interview, her snores would have immediately become the center of attention.

“You’re wild.”

Wen Rui’s eyes widened. What was wrong with her best friend today? Was she so unconcerned about her work that she even dared to sleep in public before the meeting?

All the announcers and reporters were under station head Deng, who had a lot of power. Most of the time, he had the final say on who would appear on which channel, and which tasks would be assigned to which reporter.

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Zhang Yan’s actions of sleeping on the table would be seen as her not taking her work seriously. Once this was spread from her colleagues to station head Deng’s ears, it would undoubtedly leave a bad impression on him.

The competition between the announcers and reporters was very intense. There were also many beautiful women outside who wanted to enter the industry. Did she not want to continue in this line of work anymore?

However, Wen Rui recalled that her best friend had a boyfriend who was a leader in the organization department. Some time ago, Zhang Yan had said that the two of them were preparing to get engaged.

She suddenly realized that this was the prelude to becoming a full-time housewife. No wonder she did not concern herself with station head Deng.

In order to reduce the impact, the fact that Lu Feng was an informant for the evil organization would only be handled internally and would not be made public. The relatives and friends who were related to Lu Feng would also be banned from spreading the news.

In the first row of the conference room,

Shen Bing crossed her arms in front of her chest and leaned back in her seat. She was wearing a dark blue suit and had one leg crossed over the other. Her flesh-colored stockings perfectly accentuated the beauty of her long legs.

There were more than 10 beauties sitting around her, as well as five or six male announcers and reporters.

“Sister Bing, can you bring me along for this interview? I can take on any job such as handling the cameras, moving things, and serving tea,”

a male reporter said shamelessly, not considering his pride at all.

“Sister Bing, can you bring me along too? You promised me the last time we went shopping together,”

a beautiful reporter at the side begged.

One’s work history was a very important reference. Shen Bing was the top reporter in Jiangdu TV Station. Not only was she the announcer for the news station, but she was also a reporter.

For these people, it was a rare opportunity to even become Shen Bing’s assistant. After all, it was impossible for station head Deng to give an important task to a random announcer or reporter right from the start. He would start them off with a simple task.

This way, if they were helped by Shen Bing, they might be able to obtain a resume that would otherwise be difficult for them to accumulate even with two to three years.

Shen Bing gestured and said, “There are so many of you here, so who should I choose? I can only say that after the meeting ends, I will discuss the suitable candidates with Station Head Deng. You are all in the same circle, so there’s no need to be anxious. It will eventually be your turn.”

“We’ll listen to you, Sister Bing.”

The announcers and reporters around Shen Bing expressed their stance one after another.

All of them worked for Shen Bing, and there was competition between them. However, Shen Bing could provide an opportunity for them to be promoted in the workplace, so they always listened to her.

When it was 8:59 pm, the small groups gathered in the meeting room dispersed and returned to their respective seats.

Deng Mingchuan walked in a few seconds late.

He had a full beard and was wearing a white shirt, jeans with holes in them, and brown leather shoes. He was just over 50 years old and had the look of an old artist.

As soon as he entered, Deng Mingchuan noticed the listless Zhang Yan.

He had some impression of this young female reporter. She had been dating a young leader from the organization department, so no one in the television station dared to bully her. Though she was still limited by her status and experience, she was a young person whose future looked promising.

“She’s so lucky! She found a new backer!” Deng Mingchuan sighed in his heart. He only glanced at her for a moment before looking away.

His superiors had personally called and instructed him to do a good job, so Deng Mingchuan had no choice but to follow the arrangements.

Her connections were too strong, and as the head of the station, it also gave him a headache. If anything happened, the higher-ups would come to look for him. They would even guess that an important person had come to influence the station.

In the meeting room, all the announcers, reporters, and staff behind the scenes sat up straight when they saw who it was, hoping to get station head Deng’s attention.

“This interview is very important. The station has decided to change the method so that everyone has a chance to compete fairly. We will choose the most suitable candidate.”

Deng Mingchuan stood on the stage and put down the documents in his hand.

As soon as he finished speaking, the hosts and reporters had different expressions on their faces. Shen Bing herself was surprised by the news.

For such an important interview, they had tacitly agreed that the station would definitely hand it over to the top reporter, Shen Bing. Who knew that there would be such a sudden change?

The people from the other circles were very excited. In their hearts, their role had changed from watching the show to fighting for an opportunity. They suspected that Shen Bing had made some mistake that caused the station to deliberately stop her from taking the interview.

Wen Rui poked Zhang Yan’s thigh with her finger, then clenched her fists and signed with her eyes: “The station is finally being fair for once. We’ll do our best together later. Let’s go for it!”

Zhang Yan was a little embarrassed. She did not know how to respond. She could not possibly tell her best friend that

what station head Deng said about being fair and was actually just a formality. The real candidate had already been decided.

Soon, Deng Mingchuan read out the name list and asked the announcers and reporters to pair up to simulate the interviewer and the interviewee.

When it was Shen Bing’s turn, she was influenced by the station’s new decision and her mentality was affected. She did not even manage to perform at her normal level.

Deng Mingchuan was expressionless. Without saying a word, he filled in the corresponding score on the name list.

This made the announcers and reporters even more certain that the station wanted to suppress the top reporter, and that this opportunity would definitely be given to someone other than her.

Therefore, everyone secretly vowed to put on their best performance.

…

Zhang Yan and Wen Rui happened to be in the same group.

Before Zhang Yan went on stage, she cheered herself on in her heart. Although she was almost 100% sure that it had been internally decided, she still had to perform well. Otherwise, she would be throwing her face away.

Their mock interview ended.

Perhaps it was because she knew the outcome, but her mentality had never been better. After she came down, Zhang Yan felt that she had performed exceptionally well.

She heaved a sigh of relief in her heart. She felt that she should be able to at least achieve a decent score and not reveal at a glance that the selection was internally decided.

…

Deng Mingchuan read out each person’s score in order.

As the last score was announced, it meant that the final result was out. The full score was 10 points, and Zhang Yan had obtained the highest score with 9.9 points.

Some people felt that they had given her too much credit, but this kind of evaluation was subjective. The standards could not be completely the same, and it was not appropriate for them to question the scoring.

As for Shen Bing, she only got 9.5 points. This meant that she would not be selected.

At this moment, everyone felt a little sorry for Shen Bing. They did not expect the station head to really be fair and just, not caring about the reputation of the top reporter at all.