24: Chapter 24 Directly Operated Stores: A Head-on Confrontation

Zhao Yang continued to ask for the other party's name, but they didn't answer and hung up the phone directly.

They didn't even dare to say their name, just making empty threats; he had seen plenty of that in his past life.

If a single phone call could scare them off, the Television Station would have closed down long ago.

Arriving at Li Hongyi's office, Zhao Yang played the phone recording for him.

This old coot was greedy and lecherous, but he was protective of his own people.

After listening, Li Hongyi's breathing became heavy, and he slammed a fist onto the desk:

"They dare to threaten our reporter? Broadcast it! I will personally oversee the review today, and no one is allowed to stop it!"

The draft had already taken shape in Zhao Yang's mind. Returning to the office, the text flowed smoothly from his fingertips.

Li Hongyi had already notified the News Department director, Gao Xiang. As soon as the draft was finished, it was handed over to the editor for review.

That evening, the draft was scheduled to be broadcast on "Tongan News Broadcast."

The next day, the Tongan Television Station's news hotline was almost blown up.

They were calls from farmers in several townships in Chaoyang District and Liyang County.

Some reported uneven soybean sprouting or withered seedlings, while others reported yellowing rice seedlings.

Some people even pointed out directly that there was a problem with the fertilizer.

Because it didn't concern them, none of the merchants, distributors, or even the relevant departments called in.

Zhao Yang slept until he woke up naturally today and didn't arrive at work until after ten in the morning.

These hotline records naturally ended up in Tian Ye's hands.

Seeing Zhao Yang arrive at work leisurely with his laptop, Tian Ye looked like he had lost the will to live.

"Master, you really can keep your cool! Farmers from several townships have called the hotline to report issues with the phosphate fertilizer. We need to hurry and check it out!"

This kid had a strong sense of justice and responsibility; he already possessed the most valuable basic qualities of an excellent reporter.

Zhao Yang nodded at him with satisfaction. "Not bad, young man. Study hard and work hard; you have a bright future ahead."

He poured himself a cup of hot tea and sent a message to Jiang Nan.

[The Scenery of Old] Has the leader of the Special Investigation Team left yet?

Zhao Yang didn't know anyone on the Special Investigation Team, but he estimated that Director Wang couldn't stay for too long.

Asking directly about the progress of the case would make it seem like he knew nothing about the Special Investigation Team, and that his promise to help Xu Yiming was purely perfunctory.

He could only probe like this.

After waiting for a while with no reply, he began writing the second draft.

Tian Ye leaned over, "Master, there are so many farmers being scammed, are we just going to ignore it?"

Zhao Yang raised an eyebrow, "Handle it? How? We are a news media outlet, not a law enforcement agency."

"Then... are the losses of the farmers in other townships just going to be written off?" Tian Ye's brows knitted together.

Zhao Yang pointed to the seat opposite him, signaling Tian Ye to sit down.

"We are responsible for doing an in-depth report on Sancha Village and helping the villagers get compensation. The farmers in other townships will then have a reference, making it much easier for them to defend their rights."

"If you make the problem too big all at once, and the manufacturer decides that the cost of compensation is much higher than the cost of bribing the relevant departments, and they just decide to play dead, what will you do then?"

Tian Ye was worthy of someone whose family did business; his brain turned quickly, and he understood in an instant.

He gave Zhao Yang a thumbs up, "Brilliant, Master! You're going to use a slow knife to cut the meat, making the manufacturer pay compensation bit by bit."

Zhao Yang pursed his lips, "Don't get happy too early. Whether we can actually cut any meat off is still uncertain!"

He beckoned to Tian Ye, "Sit behind me and watch how your master writes a draft."

Next, Zhao Yang's fingers flew, using the news narrative to peel back the layers, finally concluding:

The autumn watermelon seedlings dying was due to a problem with the phosphate fertilizer.

And when the farmers and Huang Sixi appeared on screen, in the editing, he deliberately avoided mentioning the phosphate fertilizer brand and manufacturer.

He just left a cliffhanger at the end of the report:

Which manufacturer's product caused the crops to be damaged? Our station's reporters will continue to investigate.

Seeing how this draft was written, Tian Ye shook his head repeatedly.

"Master, what about our conscience as journalists? Our backbone? Why didn't you go after them in the draft!"

Zhao Yang turned his head and rolled his eyes at him.

"If you were with CCTV, you could go after them. But if we do that, just try to see if you can even get through the door of the Songgang Town direct sales store tomorrow."

In fact, Zhao Yang doing this wasn't just to avoid alerting the enemy.

If he directly exposed the manufacturer's name, this report might not even be broadcast.

Don't look at how forcefully Yuan Gang spoke; he actually also needs to leave room for maneuver.

If they went straight for the jugular, after the news was broadcast, Guo Mingkai would definitely find Yuan Gang.

How would Yuan Gang wrap things up then?

If he insisted on digging deeper, he would inevitably offend Guo Mingkai.

Yuan Gang would never do such a thing.

If he didn't follow up, where would the media's credibility be?

Therefore, during the evening review, Yuan Gang would never allow the manufacturer's name to appear.

Moreover, for Zhao Yang, he hadn't interviewed the direct sales store yet. If Yuan Gang wanted to pressure Qicheng Group, the current force was definitely not enough.

Zhao Yang not only wanted to help the farmers defend their rights, but also wanted to leave a good impression on the leadership.

This would be beneficial for his future promotion.

If he didn't grasp the measure well, he would just be doing thankless work.

He couldn't explain the ins and outs of this to Tian Ye; he would have to slowly realize it himself.

As expected, the news was broadcast smoothly that night.

Station Director Yuan Gang and Deputy Station Director Li Hongyi both praised Zhao Yang highly, saying that the measure of the exposure was grasped just right.

Tian Ye: "That's it? Did the leaders grow their brains on their butts?"

This statement was correct; the butt determines the head.

It all depends on what position you are sitting in.

The next day, still no one called to ask to terminate the interview.

But long queues formed in front of the Soil and Fertilizer Station and the Quality Supervision Bureau.

Villagers with doubts followed suit, taking the unused phosphate fertilizer from their homes and demanding tests to see if it was qualified.

Although it was Sunday, the villagers surrounded the unit gates and wouldn't leave, so the two units had to temporarily arrange for staff to work overtime.

And Zhao Yang and Tian Ye, these two workhorses, took their interviewing equipment and arrived early at the Bangnifu Fertilizer Plant's Songgang Town direct sales store.

After getting out of the car, Zhao Yang turned on the hidden camera, started recording mode, and tucked it under his arm.

"Yezi, keep the camcorder on your shoulder recording at all times. No matter what happens, do not stop."

This time they were going to confront the manufacturer's direct sales store head-on, and Tian Ye immediately became excited.

"Master, don't worry, I guarantee I won't drop the ball!"

Zhao Yang held the microphone in one hand and walked leisurely to the front of the direct sales store, signaling Tian Ye to hurry and get the footage.

The clerk in the store saw the people from the Television Station and hurriedly reported to the boss.

The boss rushed down from the second floor, his face full of smiles:

"Comrade reporter, what brings you to my little shop? Is there something I can help with?"

It seemed the news report hadn't alerted the shopkeeper, and Zhao Yang felt much more at ease.

"We're here to do a report on agricultural supplies, just looking around. I heard business has been good in your store lately?"

The boss opened his big mouth and chuckled: "It's alright. A lot of villagers came to make invoices the day before yesterday, saying they wanted to buy another batch."

Zhao Yang asked: "How much was that batch of phosphate fertilizer that came in around June 1st, and has it all been sold out?"

"20 tons, it's all sold out!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, the boss felt something was wrong.

How would this Television Station reporter know when the store received its shipment?

"Actually, it wasn't that much..."

He just wanted to make up a lie to gloss over it, but he saw Zhao Yang take a document out of his pocket and spread it out on the counter.

"Boss, let me show you something."

The boss leaned over to look closely and saw the document header read:

Bangnifu Phosphate Fertilizer Sample Inspection Report

The inspection result item read: Free acid index seriously exceeded the standard.

The air seemed to freeze instantly.