"Director, I'm afraid Tong Tong cannot be eliminated!" the chief director said, standing before the station manager's desk.
The station manager put down his thermos cup and looked at the chief director in confusion. "What do you mean? Didn't I ask you to give him difficult challenges? This child is so young. Even if you don't give him challenges now, he'll be eliminated by other contestants later. It's better for him to leave early!"
Seeing that the station manager didn't know what had happened, the chief director explained, "I did give him challenges, and the difficulty was so high that not only the contestants couldn't answer, but even the support group members couldn't. But guess what?"
"What? Don't tell me no one could answer, but this child did." The station manager looked disbelieving, staring intently into the chief director's eyes.
The chief director became agitated and slapped the table hard. "Station manager, you're absolutely right! This child answered it. I truly don't know how his mind works. He's so smart!"
The station manager was startled, but after hearing the chief director's words, his mouth gaped open, unable to believe what he had heard. However, he knew the chief director wouldn't lie to him. But he had already promised the other party that he would find a way to eliminate Tong Tong. With this in mind, he immediately said, "No matter how capable this child is, we must continue to give him challenges. If he can answer all the questions with his own ability, then I'll admit he's capable!"
To his surprise, the chief director immediately shook his head. "No, station manager. This child is too smart. He's already seen that our show is deliberately giving him challenges and making things difficult for him. Even the audience on the scene united with him. I had to apologize repeatedly, claiming it was a mistake by the behind-the-scenes staff and promising it would never happen again, before I could calm everyone's anger. Otherwise, the show couldn't even be filmed. If we continue to target Tong Tong with difficult questions later, it will really be difficult to handle!"
Upon hearing this, the station manager frowned unhappily. "If we can't tamper with the questions, how can we eliminate him? I've already promised someone that I will help him get Tong Tong out of the show. What do you expect me to do?"
The chief director thought for a moment and said seriously, "Station manager, although I don't know who is behind the request to eliminate contestant Tong Tong, you didn't go to the filming site to see. This child's performance was truly outstanding. I've never seen such a smart child. The phrase 'The Brain' describes him perfectly. Aren't we producing this show to increase viewership? And this show is strongly supported by the state. If we rashly use methods to eliminate Tong Tong, and this matter gets out, we'll all be in trouble."
These words enlightened the station manager. However, he had already received benefits and couldn't take the money without delivering. "So, you mean we should let Tong Tong answer questions normally, and whether he advances depends on his own ability?"
The chief director nodded. "Yes. I have a premonition that once our show airs, it will completely outshine all other variety shows in the same period, and Tong Tong will become a national focus. Eliminating him at this time would be a huge loss."
"But..." The station manager was immediately troubled. As the station manager, he naturally wanted all the programs and TV dramas from his station to be number one in ratings. The reason he so readily agreed to the request of that executive last night was that he didn't understand Tong Tong's strength. He thought the child was just a bit smarter than ordinary children and would be eliminated sooner or later. It was better to do a favor and perhaps get help in the future, so he agreed directly. Who knew this child was so formidable, taking on the entire venue by himself? Now he finally understood why that executive wanted him to eliminate Tong Tong. Perhaps the executive had some understanding of Tong Tong's abilities and felt he would affect the advancement of his company's artists, so he wanted to eliminate this stumbling block, thereby reducing a competitor.
"Station manager, I know your concerns. You're probably worried that it won't look good if you promised someone something and didn't deliver. But you can't be blamed for this. We did take action, it's just that the method didn't work. If we continue to scheme with the questions, our show will be ruined. I believe that a certain special guest on stage has also noticed that it's not that we don't want to help, but that we cannot help any further, otherwise, the show will be dragged down with it. Who will bear the consequences?" The chief director explained the risks involved. People can break promises, but they can't jeopardize their own future. He targeted Tong Tong that morning because of his own future, not daring to disobey the station manager's orders. Now, persuading the station manager was also for his own future. Otherwise, if this matter were to be exposed later, as the chief director of this program, even though he was acting under orders, he would still be held accountable!
Hearing this, the station manager finally nodded. "Alright, I understand. The show will be filmed as it should be. I'll handle the rest."
"Okay, I'll leave now!"
"Go ahead!"
After the chief director left the office, the station manager thought for a moment, immediately took out his phone, and returned the money he had received yesterday. "Brother, I'm truly sorry, but I can't help you with this matter. As for the reason, I believe your company's artists will tell you." After replying, he also got up immediately. He was going to see Tong Tong's performance today. He wanted to see how formidable he was that the chief director praised him so highly.
At the same time, as soon as Yun Duo'er left the recording hall, she immediately returned to the lounge and called her agent. She explained Tong Tong's morning performance in detail to Sister Jin. Sister Jin couldn't help but ask, "How are you a mother? This child is so smart, how could you not notice at all? Now he's suppressing everyone and outshining the contestants in your group."
Yun Duo'er explained helplessly, "Sister Jin, you know my work. I can barely spend half a month at home out of the 365 days in a year. This child has always been taken care of by the nanny at home. He's not very close to me when I'm back, and even if I call, we can't talk for long, and I'm always interrupted by various phone calls. We've never had a heart-to-heart talk. Moreover, I've enrolled him in many cram schools, and none of the tutors have ever mentioned that Tong Tong is unusual. So, I've always treated him as an ordinary child. If I hadn't met him here this time, I wouldn't have thought of him as a child prodigy."
"Actually, these are all excuses. All in all, you haven't paid enough attention to this child, which is why he hid his brilliance and only released it after returning to his father's side," Sister Jin said.
Yun Duo'er also felt extremely regretful. The main reason she hadn't paid much attention to Tong Tong was that his arrival was too unexpected, and she had conceived him with a stranger. When she went to the hospital to have an abortion, it was only because the doctor said she had a fertility problem and might never be able to become a mother if she aborted this child that she finally chose to keep Tong Tong.