Chapter 105: The Unluckiest Team

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"Hey, have you heard? Our station is about to launch a new variety show!"

"Huh? What show? Who said that?"

"Word is it's a music-based variety show, but the details aren't clear yet!"

"A music variety show? Is our station that bold? What are the higher-ups thinking? Aren't we just heading straight to fall on our faces?"

In some office at Zhenan TV, a few young employees huddled together, whispering gossip.

This was the big news around the station lately. Though nothing had been officially announced, rumors had already leaked that Deputy Director Zhou had just submitted a proposal for a new variety show.

But as for the name of the show, whoever leaked the information wasn't saying a word.

It had been years since the station last produced a new variety show, hadn't it?

And now, suddenly, they wanted to make one—and of all things, the music genre, widely considered the hardest of all variety programs by every major broadcaster!

Everyone was dying to know why.

"There's something else—did you guys hear? Apparently they're planning to pick one team from our variety production teams and outsource it to a media company!"

"Really? Then who'd be willing to go?"

"Isn't that basically sending us to work for the media company? And if we go, can we even come back?"

"Not necessarily. Look at where we are now—no projects coming in, living hand to mouth, scraping by on base salary, not enough to thrive but not enough to die either. It's miserable. Going to a media company might actually be better."

"If they can pay stable wages and bonuses and keep projects flowing, even if we never come back here, what difference does it make? We're all just trying to make a living!"

"Heh, then would you be willing to go?"

"I... heh heh, no way!"

"Well, there you go!"

As the young employees chatted, they spotted a middle-aged man in his forties walking in through the door—their supervisor, Ji Lin.

Everyone hurried back to their desks, sat down in front of their computers, and pretended to be hard at work.

After Ji Lin passed by them, one young man quickly stood up, jogged a few steps, and caught up to him.

"Boss, I heard our station is coming out with a new variety show recently? Is that true?"

Ji Lin glanced at him and gave an absent-minded "Mm."

"They're saying they want to pull one team from the station to serve the media company—is that real or fake?"

Ji Lin shot him a glare.

"Stop poking around things that don't concern you. Focus on your own work first!"

"Well, it's not like I have anything on my plate right now anyway!"

Ji Lin's breath caught in his throat.

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It was true—his team had no work in hand at the moment.

Before, they could at least fill in on other projects occasionally.

Now even those opportunities were drying up.

That was exactly what worried him most. At this critical moment, having no decent project to show for himself...

Would that make his team the prime candidate to be outsourced to the media company?

Actually, Deputy Director Zhou had just called a meeting with the heads of every team.

He'd given them a rundown of the basic situation.

He'd made it clear that one team would definitely be outsourced to the media company in the end.

As for which team—the meeting just now was an initial survey, checking what projects each team was currently working on.

It was obvious enough: they were looking to see which teams were sitting idle and available, then pick a few to offer up for Su Chen's choosing.

Though Zhou Qi had said Su Chen would do the selecting, Ji Lin's side was still going to filter things first.

At the meeting, every supervisor had gone out of their way to emphasize how important their teams' current projects were, how swamped they were with work.

No one wanted to be the team that ended up taking on this job.

Ji Lin, meanwhile, could only smile bitterly on the side.

He'd never been much of a talker. To paint his team as busy and hard at work?

He couldn't do it.

By the end, judging by Deputy Director Zhou's manner, it seemed he was leaning toward assigning this task to Ji Lin's team.

In ordinary times, whatever project it was—even the worst one—he'd take it without complaint.

But outsourcing them to a media company? Honestly, he couldn't quite stomach that.

After all, in a certain sense, they were still officially staffed employees.

And whether they'd ever make it back... that was anyone's guess.

"The station is indeed considering selecting one of our production teams to be outsourced to a media company to help produce the new show."

"But nothing's been decided yet about which team."

"So don't go spreading rumors."

"However..."

Ji Lin paused, feeling it was necessary to give everyone a heads-up.

"Given how things stand at the station, this could ultimately land on our team's shoulders."

"So you should all start thinking about it yourself—if that really happens, would you be willing to go to the media company?"

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When the young man had caught up to him just now, they hadn't walked far from the others.

So the rest of the staff had their ears pricked, paying close attention to the conversation.

And since Ji Lin hadn't bothered to keep his voice down, everyone heard him easily.

Ji Lin swept his gaze across the others and continued:

"If our team isn't chosen, then we just keep drifting along like we are now."

"If we are chosen, we might end up as cannon fodder, never able to return to the station."

"But..."

He fell silent for a moment, a glint flashing in his eyes.

"There's also a chance that this show becomes a massive hit, and we rake in money hand over fist."

"At that point, it won't matter whether you're still station employees. If you've worked on a breakout hit like that, everywhere you go, they'll be fighting to hire you."

"Anyway, I've said all this to give you more time to think it over properly and prepare yourselves early."

"Because this is urgent, and I expect a decision will come down soon."

"I don't want any of you making a hasty choice you'll regret."

With that, Ji Lin waved his hand and continued toward his office.

Everything he'd just said was what he truly thought.

As the head of the team, he felt it necessary to communicate with his subordinates in advance about what might lie ahead—unlike other leaders, he wouldn't keep things tucked away and hidden.

Though he'd painted something of a rosy picture, it was less about feeding his subordinates a fantasy and more about pumping himself up.

After all, the possibility that the show really did blow up couldn't be ruled out.

So all in all, what he'd said was fairly objective.

As for whether the team's morale would collapse from the news, or whether everyone would lose focus on work—he didn't think it mattered much.

Things were already in this sorry state; how much worse could they get?

It was just—did this show actually stand a chance?

He had no confidence at all. Even now, he still had no idea what kind of show they were going to make.

At that thought, a wave of unease washed over him for no clear reason.

He fished in his pocket, then turned and headed toward the smoking area on the floor.

This whole business lately... it was burning through his cigarettes.