Chapter 362 - 363: A Good Show

Chapter 362: Chapter 363: A Good Show

By the time the editing was finished, it was already Friday.

They brought in Director Wen and two other people from the stations in charge of the project, and everyone quietly watched the final cut.

It had to be said, they had pooled the resources of both stations for this, using their top people and equipment. As a result, the final product was quite impressive.

After watching it, both Director Song and Director Wen breathed a sigh of relief.

Both were highly experienced. Frankly, for the amount of money spent, achieving this level of quality was already excellent.

"It’s settled. Let’s air it in the prime time slot after the Saturday news!" Director Song decided on the spot. "We’ll broadcast it tomorrow."

Director Wen gritted his teeth and said, "Alright, then. We’ll broadcast it simultaneously."

Director Song said earnestly, "Director Wen, since we’ve put in so much effort, there’s no way it won’t have an impact. We can rest easy."

Director Wen gave a wry smile. "In that case, let’s not film this week. We’ll see how this episode performs first. Besides, we filmed two episodes last time."

"Exactly!" Director Song nodded.

On Friday afternoon, when no one from the TV station had shown up yet, Li Yang started to get nervous.

But after dinner, Director Song gave Li Yang a call and explained the situation.

Only then did Li Yang understand.

In the end, it was a trial run. If the show’s ratings were poor, there might not be another chance.

Li Yang was very understanding. If an investment like this didn’t yield a return, the TV station’s annual budget, which was only so large, simply couldn’t support such a large-scale production.

"Alright, I’ll definitely be watching tomorrow night!" Li Yang said with a laugh. "I’ll get everyone in our village to watch, too."

Director Song laughed and said, "That’s great! You can help boost our ratings."

After hanging up, Li Yang went to the village committee office and used the public address system. "Everyone, listen up! Make sure you all watch Ruizhou TV Station tomorrow, especially ’Water Dash’! It will air right after the news. Around that time, you might have just finished dinner or you might still be eating, but whatever you’re doing, please turn on your TVs and watch. The episode we filmed right here in our village will start at 7:50 PM. So pay attention, everyone!"

The villagers heard this and exclaimed, "Hey, it’s finally airing!"

"This is great! I wonder if I’ll get any screen time!"

"Yeah, my first time on TV."

...

"At the same time, I also have some not-so-great news. If this episode’s ratings aren’t good, the show might never air again. That means our village will lose a major opportunity for publicity. So please, everyone, do us this favor and tune in. You’ll be giving yourselves a chance, too."

After his announcement, Li Yang stepped down.

Li Shunsheng was standing there, smoking his long-stemmed pipe. "Xiaoyang, you’ve already done a great job. At the very least, we’re already seeing some results."

Li Yang replied with a wry smile, "Uncle Shunsheng, I want to do even better."

"It’s great!" Li Shunsheng came over, smiling, and patted him on the shoulder. "It’s better than any of us imagined. Don’t put so much pressure on yourself."

Li Yang managed a smile and finally nodded. "I know."

On Saturday night, the show officially aired.

Li Yang went to the small store early, turned on the TV, and switched it to Ruizhou TV Station.

Before long, many people from the village had gathered.

"Why did you all come over here?" Li Yang asked, looking at the crowd.

"Don’t worry, we all left our TVs on at home! We just came here to watch with everyone!" one of the villagers said.

The others all nodded in agreement.

Li Yang smiled and told Xia Lian to bring out snacks and water for everyone to enjoy while they watched.

Soon, the broadcast began.

Even though they had all been there in person, watching it on TV was a completely different experience.

"Whoa, I see you!"

"I see you too! Look how goofy you look!"

"Hey, I’m pretty photogenic!"

...

The villagers laughed as they watched.

Meanwhile, in the city, many people had also tuned to the channel.

"Dad, don’t watch the local channel. What’s so good about it?" Young people these days hardly watched local programming, let alone provincial TV stations.

"Hey, look, it’s ’Water Dash,’ see!" his father, who was around sixty, immediately stopped flipping through the channels. He said happily, "They have this show on! Come on, let’s watch this first."

The son had no choice but to watch with his father.

As the show went on, even the young man found himself captivated by the tense obstacle course segments.

"Aww, what a shame!" the father and son exclaimed simultaneously, slapping their thighs.

"If I were younger, I definitely would’ve cleared it in that time!" the father said, even more regretfully.

The son chuckled, but as he looked at his father’s face, he suddenly felt a daze come over him.

’I remember when I was little, Dad used to take me winter swimming. But later, his health slowly declined, so we stopped going.’

’Now that I have my own child, all my attention is focused on them. Without realizing it, my father has gotten old. It feels like we haven’t had a real heart-to-heart, or even done anything together, in a long time.’

When the show ended, the old man was still left wanting more.

"Dad, look, there’s a way to sign up here. Why don’t we register?" the son suddenly suggested.