I also wanted to see if contestant Tongtong could answer this question correctly, and Tongtong did not disappoint, answering it correctly in the end.
He proved himself with his abilities, and I guarantee you here and now that such a mistake will never happen again.
We will not let the staff's mistake slide, and we will definitely pursue their responsibility to give Tongtong a satisfactory answer!"
After all, as long as he insisted it was due to a work error, no one outside their internal staff would know the inside story.
As for punishing the staff, it was just something he said casually. Whether they were punished or not was a matter of mere words.
After all, this was something he had arranged, so he couldn't actually fire the staff.
"Resulting in this? Do you take us for fools? We were just asking the host if there was an error in the question, and the host said the question was random and there were no errors.
Now you're saying it's due to a staff error, isn't that a contradiction?" a spectator asked, and others echoed his sentiment.
The host immediately apologized, "I'm sorry, I was unaware of any staff error. I thought it was just the way it was, so I said that.
I didn't expect it to be our colleague's mistake. I sincerely apologize!"
With the situation as it was, he had a general idea that the program was deliberately giving Tongtong difficult questions.
However, he naturally couldn't say such a thing if he wanted to keep his job. The best approach was to apologize himself and admit his mistake.
He tried to prevent people from suspecting foul play, otherwise the program might be canceled.
Liu Yifeng wanted to say something more, but Tongtong spoke first, "I accept the program's apology. I hope you can be more rigorous when creating questions.
I don't fear difficult questions, but I hate being treated differently. It makes me wonder if I did something wrong to be targeted."
"Tongtong, don't worry, you didn't do anything wrong, and similar things won't happen again in the future!" With things escalating to this point, the director knew that trying to tamper with the questions further was likely impossible.
He might not be able to complete the task assigned to him by the station manager.
However, after seeing Tongtong's performance, he felt that Director Wang was right. With Tongtong on the show, the viewership was guaranteed.
If Tongtong were eliminated, the biggest loss would be to the TV station.
During the intermission, he would have to have a serious talk with the station manager.
The matter was thus settled, and Tongtong, through his own efforts, had obtained the fairness he deserved.
As he said, he could accept difficult questions, but only if they were presented fairly.
However, he truly, truly disliked covert tricks played behind his back.
As he returned to his seat, he passed by Yun Duoer and specifically called out, "Auntie Yun!"
Yun Duoer was startled by the address. The child looked at her as if he had seen through her, leaving her with nowhere to hide. This child was too terrifying.
However, Tongtong heard her call him Auntie Yun and assumed he simply liked Yun Duoer, not thinking any deeper.
Xia Qianqian looked at Tongtong walking over and excitedly grasped one of his hands, "Tongtong, your performance just now was amazing! You're my idol from now on!"
The competition continued, and the recording lasted until half-past eleven. The two-and-a-half-hour recording session had only seen about half the contestants take the stage to answer questions.
So far, Tongtong remained the fastest contestant. In fact, he could have been even faster, but he disdained showing off. As long as he could advance, that was enough.
"It's now eleven-thirty, and it's time for a mid-session break. Everyone, go have lunch and rest. We'll resume recording promptly at two o'clock this afternoon!" the host announced, concluding the morning's recording.
The audience began to leave one by one, and many wanted to chat with Tongtong, surrounding him so tightly that he was barely visible.
Just as Liu Yifeng was about to go to Tongtong, Director Wang called out to him, "Yifeng!"
Hearing Director Wang's voice, Liu Yifeng stopped and turned to face the approaching figure with a smile, "Director Wang!"
"This child Tongtong is truly remarkable. He resolved the issue of being targeted all by himself. I'd like to see if the director dares to make things difficult for Tongtong in the future!" Director Wang said in a low voice, noticing that Liu Yifeng was alone.
"I also didn't expect Tongtong to be so strong. But the child did the right thing. When faced with unfair treatment, one should speak up!" Liu Yifeng had originally planned to confront the director after the recording today.
He reasoned that given Tongtong had been targeted multiple times, it would be understandable for him, as a father, to suspect he was being targeted, and the director wouldn't suspect Director Wang of leaking information.
Who would have thought it would be so easily resolved by Tongtong? This left him, as a father, with no sense of accomplishment.
When Tongtong could solve problems himself, he felt almost superfluous.
"You can't imagine the director's expression when he saw Tongtong answer the question correctly. It was incredibly rich. He probably never dreamed Tongtong could answer it, and so quickly at that.
Even I was amazed by Tongtong's performance. It truly opened my eyes. I never imagined there could be such an outstanding child like Tongtong. The championship is surely his." If he had harbored doubts about Tongtong before,
now, anyone who dared to question Tongtong's abilities would face his opposition.
"This child's intelligence is indeed higher than that of ordinary people, but he is at a disadvantage due to his young age and lack of experience. The other contestants' performances are also good, so it's hard to say who will win the championship!"
"Don't be so modest. Tongtong is so smart and emotionally intelligent. There's really no other contestant who can match him!" Director Wang said.
Liu Yifeng smiled, "We'll have to see how the child performs next. The recording ended half an hour early today. I suspect the director has definitely gone to discuss this matter with your station manager."
"He brought it upon himself. If he had any brains, and wanted this program he directed to be popular with the audience, he should have known Tongtong is the guarantee of this program's ratings.
If he continues to target Tongtong and tries to eliminate him, it would be utterly foolish."
Liu Yifeng agreed with this point but didn't say anything.
Just as Tongtong said, no matter what questions the program presented him with, he wasn't afraid, and he believed Tongtong could handle any difficulties the program threw at him.
However, if the program continued to target Tongtong in this manner, he would expose the matter and make them "famous."
Then he would take Tongtong home. Such a program was not worth filming.
After all, his objective had been achieved. Filming with Yun Duoer no longer held much significance.
He suspected that after seeing Tongtong's abilities, they must be regretting their actions by now.
But whether they regretted it or not, Tongtong would not be going back to them.
As he walked towards Tongtong's seat, Tongtong was surrounded by many audience members.
"Tongtong, how are you so smart? Are you eating something that improves your intelligence?"
"Tongtong, did you know the program was targeting you? Are you afraid they'll give you more difficult questions later?"
"..."
Facing their barrage of questions, Tongtong was not impatient. Instead, he politely answered them one by one.
It wasn't until Liu Yifeng's appearance that he was rescued from this predicament.
"Everyone, I'm really sorry, but I need to take my son to eat. It's getting late, so you should also hurry and get your meals!" Liu Yifeng said, then left with Tongtong.
Although everyone still had many questions they wanted to ask, they felt embarrassed to prevent the father and son from eating.
Seeing the father and son leave, they also departed the recording hall.
During lunch, the entire cafeteria was abuzz with conversations about Tongtong.
Today, he had truly made a name for himself, already recognized as a child prodigy.
Many contestants much older than him felt inferior.
At the same time, after leaving the recording hall, the director immediately went to find the station manager!