yournovel Chapter 452 The Brick of Bricks!
Chapter 452 The Brick of Bricks!
Chapter 452 The Brick of Bricks!
Yu Huan finished speaking with a playful tone.
Wang Han instantly released his wrist, then quickly clasped his hands together, leaned forward towards the host position, and respectfully cupped his hands.
Then, in a humorous and lighthearted tone, he said, "President, you have a heart as vast as the sea and a belly as wide as a prime minister's, so please don't take this to heart! It was just a joke, meant to bring some joy to everyone. After all, our show is all about having fun! We absolutely have no intention of poaching any of your top talents!"
As soon as the words fell.
Wang Han then gently nudged Yu Huan's arm with his elbow.
He raised his voice a few decibels and frowned slightly as he continued, "Hey! What's the big deal? Why bother the president? I'm starting to worry. I'm afraid your president will call our station director, and then the two big leaders will call me over for tea. That would be so awkward!"
This amusing performance had the audience in stitches, with waves of laughter erupting from them.
Yu Huan laughed along with everyone, half-jokingly saying, "There's no other way. If we don't alert the club president, this whole thing won't get out of hand."
"Actually, whether you work at a newspaper or a TV station, you're all ultimately working in the media industry. Our goals are completely aligned: to deliver valuable information to the people, bring them joy, and inspire them. We're all on the same path, just with slightly different specific routes. As the saying goes, different roads lead to the same destination!"
Zhao Zhongxiang said cheerfully, gently gesturing towards Yu Huan, looking at the audience below the stage, and continued:
"This young man is so outstanding, he exudes a natural talent and shines wherever he goes."
Wang Han nodded vigorously, hurriedly echoing, "Teacher Zhao, what you said is absolutely right."
Yu Huan said sincerely, "For me, the newspaper and the TV station are invaluable learning platforms. I only hope that I will live up to the expectations of every senior and the love of my readers and viewers."
"Great!" Wang Han led the pendants around him in a round of enthusiastic applause.
"As expected of a leader, his speech is truly skillful," Tian Yuan said humorously.
Cheers and applause rose and fell throughout the venue.
As the applause gradually subsided, the scene returned to some quiet.
Wang Han turned slightly to look at Zhao Zhongxiang, raised his hand to his chest, and said sincerely, "Mr. Zhao, the reason I became a host is because when I was in middle school, I especially liked the show 'Animal World.' Back then, everyone wanted to imitate your voice..."
Following Wang Han's remarks, the conversation on stage naturally expanded to revolve around the classic program "Animal World".
The group chatted and interacted frequently, creating a fun atmosphere that kept the audience laughing.
Just as the conversation on stage was in full swing, Ni Ping quietly slipped away and sat down at a large round table in front of the stage.
Having stood for almost two hours, Yu Huan felt an overwhelming urge to lie down upon seeing this scene.
I've been busy since morning and haven't had a proper rest, let alone standing for such a long time.
He turned his neck slightly and moved his stiff shoulders, only to feel waves of soreness in his legs.
However, with several cameras focused on the stage, he could only endure his physical discomfort, straighten his back, and try his best to maintain a high level of energy.
Zhao Zhongxiang stood in the center of the stage, his expression solemn, earnestly condemning those who indiscriminately consume wild animals to satisfy their appetites.
Just then, Ni Ping raised the microphone to her mouth and interrupted with a smile, saying, "I'm giving up the stage for Teacher Zhao. I'm just getting in the way."
“No,” Zhao Zhongxiang’s impassioned words faltered, a teasing smile appearing on his face as he addressed the audience, “Do you know she stole my role?”
Upon hearing this, Ni Ping looked completely at ease and said nonchalantly, "As long as Teacher Zhao is on stage, I can find a place to take a nap without any problem. Teacher Zhao will always be there on stage."
Wang Han jokingly picked up the conversation: "No, you're just being argumentative!"
Instead of relentlessly teasing Ni Ping, Zhao Zhongxiang naturally steered the conversation back to criticizing the indiscriminate consumption of wild animals.
They argued that eating wild animals should not only be punished with fines, but also exposed, and that the specific punishment should be discussed together.
Ni Ping, sitting in the audience, quipped, "Let the animals eat him again."
This unexpected remark made Zhao Zhongxiang chuckle and say, "That's a bit difficult, isn't it?"
After a lively round of jokes and banter, the atmosphere became relaxed and pleasant.
Wang Han turned slightly to face Zhao Zhongxiang and asked, "How many years have you been in this industry?"
Zhao Zhongxiang's gaze was fixed on the main camera, and without hesitation, he blurted out: "The last century, February 1960."
Upon hearing this, Wang Han immediately raised his hand and gestured, then he and the other pendants exclaimed in unison with amazement, "1960!"
"My mother was born in 1960." Gao Li Xiaowu spoke for the first time in his slightly awkward Mandarin.
Wang Han didn't respond to his comment. Instead, he held up five fingers, turned slightly to face the large screen, and said, "It's been fifty-three years this year. This is what you were like back then..."
As Wang Han spoke, a photo was displayed on the big screen.
Although the photo was in black and white, it couldn't hide the youthful energy of the boy Zhao Zhongxiang in the picture, with clear and bright eyes.
"This is the photo I was asked to submit when I first registered," Zhao Zhongxiang said with a smile.
"Wow!" Wang Han was the first to react, leading the pendants in a burst of exclamations.
After seeing photos of Zhao Zhongxiang from his early days in the industry, everyone slowly turned around and faced the audience again.
Wang Han, confident and familiar with the situation, began, "Mr. Zhao has many identities, overlapping with my grandmother's: painter, poet, writer..."
The pendants nodded in agreement, uttering "ouch" and "ouch" in response.
Wang Han turned slightly to look at Zhao Zhongxiang, and then said, "Many people say that your level has now surpassed that of some experts in writing poetry."
Zhao Zhongxiang listened, nodded calmly, and his expression became serious: "Surpassing the experts, broadly speaking, is not wrong—"
Before he could finish speaking, Ni Ping, without even bothering to pick up the microphone from the table, loudly interrupted, "The brick!"
These words immediately drew a burst of laughter from the audience.
"No, that's a denigration of experts!" Zhao Zhongxiang righteously refuted Ni Ping, then turned to Wang Han and continued to explain seriously, "You can say that you've surpassed math experts, some chemistry experts, but you can't say that you've surpassed poetry experts, that won't do."
The audience below the stage burst into laughter at the back-and-forth conversation.
Indeed, Zhao Zhongxiang's broadcasting and hosting skills are quite profound, as high as three or four stories. He can make everyone laugh with ease.
However, his level of poetry, calligraphy, and traditional Chinese painting is not considered high.
Ni Ping's situation is similar to his; both of them are self-taught and have limited professional knowledge.
The reason why their works have circulation and economic value in this day and age is largely due to the celebrity effect.
In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the group chatted about the three poetry books published by Zhao Zhongxiang.
Wang Han, who was in control of the pace, suddenly changed the subject and said loudly, "Grandma just painted a picture and gave it to the audience here. We didn't get anything. Now that Teacher Zhao is here, let's quickly serve him with our brushes and ink."
Upon hearing this, the props team immediately sprang into action, rushing around the stage.
Soon, the painting tools, such as brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, were neatly arranged on the table. Just as everything was ready, Ni Ping held the microphone to her mouth and began to speak in a serious manner.
"Teacher Zhao is going to paint for you, so you'd better have your money ready, otherwise he won't leave any for you. Think it over!" Amidst the laughter, Ni Ping paused slightly, then launched into a rant: "Teacher Zhao is unlikely to paint a big picture for you either. He painted a picture for my assistant Xiaoqian, oh my god!"
Wang Han was bending over to help Zhao Zhongxiang spread out his drawing paper when he heard this and asked curiously, "How big?"
Ni Ping looked disgusted and said exaggeratedly, "I'm ashamed to say it, it's not even as big as a shoe sole!"
Wang Han couldn't help but laugh, and jokingly said, "That's already pretty good! It's called a painting 'bigger than a foot'."
The emphasis was deliberately placed on the words "comparing feet," creating a double entendre.
Watching them busy themselves, Ni Ping continued, half-jokingly, "You know that Teacher Zhao painted this picture and then hanged himself tonight? He's never painted anything this big before. Giving it away must be so painful for him! You know paintings are sold by the foot."
Upon hearing this, Wang Han smiled and gestured for her to come up, saying, "Grandma, please explain it to us. Please come up."
Ni Ping had rested enough by this time, and nodded slightly in agreement.
She stood up and slowly walked onto the stage, complaining as she did so: "More than 20 years ago, when I was learning to paint at Teacher Huang Zhou's house, I was Ni Ping, and I led Teacher Zhao through that door. Anyway, so many years have passed, and Teacher Zhao has more than 30 of Teacher Huang Zhou's paintings!"
The four masterpieces of ink painting: Qi Baishi's shrimp, Xu Beihong's horses, Li Keran's oxen, and Huang Zhou's donkeys.
Huang Zhou was also jokingly called a donkey dealer, but he held a high position in the art world.
"Wow!" Wang Han immediately widened his eyes in surprise.
"My name is Ni Ping, and I don't have a single one!" Ni Ping said, emphasizing each word with a helpless expression.
Upon hearing this, Wang Han immediately turned his head to look at Zhao Zhongxiang, who was intently fiddling with the Four Treasures of the Study, and asked, "Is it true, Mr. Zhao? Mr. Zhao, you have to tell the truth."
After being teased by Ni Ping for a while, Zhao Zhongxiang calmly bent down, picked up the microphone, and said to his mouth, "I now have to restore the truth of history. I met Mr. Huang Zhou in the late 1970s, and I met Ni Ping in—"
“The 1990s,” Wang Han interjected.
Zhao Zhongxiang thought for a moment and corrected her, "In the late 1980s, early 1990s, or late 1970s, could she have taken me to Mr. Huang Zhou's house?"
Wang Han immediately understood and smiled, replying, "Still a teenager!"
Following up on the topic, Zhao Zhongxiang looked at Ni Ping and asked, "How old were you back then?"
Ni Ping did not answer directly, but instead changed the subject and retorted, "But Teacher Zhao really didn't draw anything."
Zhao Zhongxiang nodded: "She said the fact is, one year—"
“You couldn’t draw a donkey back then!” Ni Ping interrupted him again, quick to speak.
Undeterred by her interruption, Zhao Zhongxiang continued calmly, "More than ten years ago, during a Lantern Festival gala, their variety show, 'Variety Show,' went to the Yanhuang Art Museum to interview Professor Huang Zhou. When Professor Huang Zhou saw Ni Ping, he would definitely think of me and say, 'You're here, didn't you call Zhongxiang?' That's when she called me, and I rushed over."
“Look,” Wang Han said.
Zhao Zhongxiang nodded and emphasized, "But you absolutely cannot say that I didn't know Huang Zhou before this!"
“It’s not that I don’t know him, but you haven’t started yet. You’re just following Teacher Huang’s example!” Ni Ping propped herself up on the table and continued to refute.
Seeing that the two were arguing and about to fight, Wang Han quickly moved between them.
Before Wang Han could even speak, Ni Ping bluntly told Zhao Zhongxiang, "Hurry up and draw! Give me this one!"
Zhao Zhongxiang had already put down the microphone and was smiling as he picked up his paintbrush.
Ni Ping faced the audience and said with a smile, "Teacher Zhao is easy to bully."
"Do you usually like to bully Teacher Zhao?" Wang Han asked at the opportune moment.
Ni Ping waved her hand: "It's not that I like to bully him, he really did have something he wanted me to say. If you had nothing to say, I would have just made it up."
"Yes, what incriminating evidence do you have?" Wang Han paused, then couldn't help but chuckle as he continued, "Besides Teacher Zhao being stingy?"
Ni Ping had no intention of exposing Zhao Zhongxiang's past.
She gestured with her hands in the air as she vividly and engagingly recounted her story:
"It is said that Mr. Liu Haisu, the great calligrapher, came to our stage to write calligraphy. After he finished, one of his pieces was ruined, with a single ink smudge. He casually crumpled it up and threw it in the wastebasket. At that moment, a young man with wide eyes darted over to the wastebasket, picked it up, and took it home. When Mr. Liu Haisu found out, he said that the young man liked calligraphy, so he called him over. Mr. Liu then painted a picture for him, and then, in his delight, he wrote another piece for him. These two paintings are still in his family now; they are incredibly valuable!"
Amid Wang Han's exaggerated exclamation and the chorus of agreement from the other ornaments, Ni Ping, a mischievous smile playing on her lips, glanced sideways at Zhao Zhongxiang, who was painting.
She drawled out her words, "Some people may be stingy, but they know a lot about 'making money'!"
Then came a series of jokes and slapstick, focusing on criticizing Zhao Zhongxiang's various embarrassing behaviors.
Not long after, Zhao Zhongxiang put down his paintbrush.
He turned around, grabbed the microphone that Wang Han was holding, and said firmly, "This is a form of resistance to energy conservation and emission reduction!"
"Teacher Zhao, you have such a good temper!" Wang Han exclaimed from the bottom of his heart.
Ni Ping suppressed a smile, lowered her head slightly, and looked at the painting that Zhao Zhongxiang had just finished on the table. She started teasing again: "Look at the donkey that Teacher Zhao painted. It's so stingy. Why are the three of them crammed so close together? In such a vast grassland, can't it be a little more spacious?"
Zhao Zhongxiang smiled and looked around the table. He noticed that his microphone was placed in the corner, so he raised his hand to indicate it was there.
"Microphone, hurry! The truth of history!" Wang Han immediately understood and spoke passionately, gesturing towards his pendant.
Zhao Zhongxiang took the microphone that was handed to him and said, "She attacked when I wasn't on guard!"
After saying that, he turned around and picked up the stiff-bristled brush again, preparing to inscribe words on the painting.
Seeing this, Ni Ping persisted, saying, "Teacher Zhao, when you sign your name, don't write Zhao Zhongxiang, write Stingy Xiang."
These sarcastic remarks caused everyone to burst into laughter.
“Oh dear,” Ni Ping smiled, “Teacher Zhao has it tough too, painting amidst all the fabrications and rumors.”
Wang Han nodded in agreement, "Yes, concentrate."
After Zhao Zhongxiang carefully finished writing the inscription, Wang Han put down the microphone, gently lifted the three-donkey painting by the corner, and showed it to the audience.
A cheer immediately erupted from the audience.
Ni Ping couldn't help but nod and said, "It is indeed good. You can tell that my painting is not good. Wang Han said at the time that it would be given to the audience, but he still hasn't mentioned it."
Zhao Zhongxiang picked up the microphone and cheerfully nudged Wang Han's arm: "This is for you five hosts."
Wang Han carefully put down the painting, then picked up the microphone and jokingly said in a serious tone, "While I am extremely grateful for Teacher Zhao's generosity, can't our leader have one of your calligraphy works?"
(End of this chapter)