At this moment, Shen's Father, Shen's Mother, and Shen Dong and his wife were standing in front of the newspaper office, chatting. The whole family was neatly dressed, apparently also here for an interview.
When they saw Jiang Si getting out of the car, they were surprised for a moment.
"How come they're here too?" He Lin looked surprised.
"Why do you care about other people's business?" Shen's Mother said indifferently.
If it weren't for what happened at the Jing City Grand Hotel that day, maybe she would have lowered her status and gone up to say hello.
But the second daughter - in - law had completely offended the Huo family, so she didn't need to go over there and humiliate herself.
The Huo family was at the height of their power now, but the Shen family was not bad either.
After all, Shen's Father was at least a deputy commander. Unless he made some principled mistakes, the Huo family couldn't do anything to him.
What made her most gratified was the eldest son.
It was said that the person doing the exclusive interview with him was Editor - in - Chief Wen of the National Daily!
Thinking about this, Shen's Mother took her son's arm actively, with undisguised pride on her face.
Jiang Si obviously also saw them, but she just took a glance and then calmly withdrew her gaze.
Just then, Huo Tinghuai quickly walked out from the entrance of the newspaper office.
"Sorry, there was a small meeting this morning, which delayed you."
Since they were at the unit, Huo Tinghuai didn't call his cousins "elder cousin" and "elder cousin's wife", but adopted a business - like attitude.
"It doesn't matter. We just arrived." Jiang Si smiled.
Just then, Shen's Mother stepped forward and interrupted their conversation.
"Comrade, we are also the subjects of this exclusive interview. It was arranged through the Ministry of Construction. May I ask if Editor - in - Chief Wen has arrived?"
"Editor - in - Chief Wen was transferred to the Great Hall of the People early this morning and may not be able to come back this morning. I'll take over the exclusive interview with Comrade Shen today."
"I see."
Although Shen's Mother was a bit dissatisfied after hearing this, she didn't say anything.
It was He Lin beside her who said impatiently, "How can you change the arrangement that has been set? If I had known this, we wouldn't have come today."
Editor - in - Chief Wen was the editor - in - chief of the National Daily. The exclusive interview articles he wrote were of great value, which was self - evident.
"I'm fine with it. It depends on you. If Comrade Shen is not convenient today, or if this exclusive interview must be conducted by Editor - in - Chief Wen, we can reschedule the time."
Huo Tinghuai's attitude was neither overbearing nor humble.
In fact, he was also present at the reunion dinner that day.
But there were a lot of people there at that time, and he was standing in the last row, so the Shen family didn't notice him.
After saying that, without looking at them, he turned to his cousins and said, "Let's go. I'll take you to register first."
Huo Tingzhou nodded slightly, put his arm around Jiang Si and went to the guard post.
"This... How can this person be like this?" He Lin said angrily, "What's his attitude?"
"Come on, say less." Shen's Father was worried that there would be more troubles if they delayed. "Since we're already here, let's go in first."
Anyway, it was an exclusive interview by the National Daily. As long as the space in the newspaper was large enough, it didn't matter whether the article was written by Editor - in - Chief Wen or not.
Shen's Father was an experienced person and knew the ins and outs of it: "Don't worry. No matter who writes the article, the final signature will still be Editor - in - Chief Wen."
Shen's Mother also thought so.
When they went over, Master Li at the guard post was checking the list.
After confirming that there was no problem, Master Li took out the visitor registration book and asked Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou to sign it.
"Okay, you can go in."
Seeing this, Shen Dong took the initiative to talk about agreeing to change the interviewer.
Huo Tinghuai still had that calm and aloof attitude. After Shen Dong signed the book, he led the three of them and was about to enter the newspaper office through the side path.
Just then, Master Li suddenly stopped the three people behind.
The ones he stopped were Shen's Father, Shen's Mother, and He Lin.
"What do you mean?" Shen Dong was very dissatisfied at this time and his tone was quite aggressive.
"Sorry, Comrade Shen Dong, your reservation record is here. You can go in without any problem."
"But according to the regulations of the newspaper office, only the interviewees can enter for the exclusive interview. All other irrelevant people..."
Before Master Li could finish his sentence, He Lin interrupted him, "Who do you call irrelevant people? We are his family. Why can't we go in?"
After saying that, she pointed at Jiang Si and her husband who were walking in front.
Her face was full of indignation at being treated differently. "They are also a couple. It's the same exclusive interview. Why can her family members go in while we can't? Isn't your newspaper office practicing discrimination?"
After hearing this, Huo Tinghuai, who had walked a few steps ahead, stopped.
"Comrade, please be careful with your words."
"Comrade Jiang is being interviewed on the theme of 'Model of Patriotism and Support for the Army'. Her husband is an active - duty soldier and is an indispensable part of this interview."
"Moreover, Comrade Huo's participation in the interview as a family member has been reported to the newspaper office in advance, and there are corresponding records at the guard post."
Then, he changed the subject, "The content of Comrade Shen's interview is all about architecture, which belongs to a personal professional interview."
"According to the regulations, only the interviewee can enter. If family members want to accompany, they need to report to us in advance.
"May I ask, Comrade Shen, have you reported?"
Shen Dong: "This..."
Seeing that he stammered and couldn't say a word, Huo Tinghuai said directly.
"The newspaper office has its own rules and regulations. There can be no order without rules. Please understand and support our work."
As soon as he said this, the faces of the Shen family members suddenly turned green and white.
He Lin opened her mouth to refute, but found that she had no valid reason.
She could only look at her father - in - law.
Shen's Father's face was no better at this time.
Although he felt very embarrassed, in full view of the public, as a deputy commander, would he still go to someone to plead for such a thing?
That would really become a joke if it got out.
At this time, Shen's Father could only pretend to be magnanimous and understanding. "Okay, Xiaolin. Since it's the regulation of the newspaper office, we should abide by it."
"You were wrong just now. You should quickly apologize to these comrades. You can't be like this in the future."
What?
Apologize?
He Lin was extremely aggrieved.
Since she married into the Shen family, people had always flattered her. When had she ever suffered such grievances?
But her father - in - law had spoken, and her mother - in - law was also winking at her.
He Lin had to swallow all her grievances and dissatisfaction.
Finally, this little episode ended with He Lin's reluctant apology.
Seeing that it was getting late, Huo Tinghuai didn't entangle with them.
He directly led them deeper into the newspaper office.
This was Jiang Si's first time entering the National Daily, so she was inevitably a bit curious. Seeing this, Huo Tinghuai introduced it to her carefully.
Shen Dong lagged behind them by a few steps.
Looking at how attentive and considerate Huo Tinghuai was to Jiang Si and her husband, and comparing it with the cold treatment he was receiving at the moment, his eyes were filled with gloom.
As they were talking, they went up to the interview building.
After that, they were led to different meeting rooms. The text reporters, photographers, and column editors were already in place.
When Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou entered, several people stood up and greeted them.
"Comrade Jiang, Colonel Huo, hello."
"Hello, comrades. Thank you for your hard work today." Jiang Si responded gracefully.
After a few words of pleasantries, the exclusive interview officially began.
With the previous experience of being interviewed and Jiang Si's thorough preparation, this exclusive interview went very smoothly.
Although Huo Tingzhou didn't talk much, he responded to every question.
When it came to their family and two children, the warm and tacit eye - contact between him and Jiang Si infected everyone present.
At this time, the happiest one was the photographer. He really hadn't met such equally good - looking people for a long time!
They were good - looking from every angle and looked great in every shot.
In contrast to the harmonious atmosphere in this meeting room, in another meeting room, Shen Dong's exclusive interview was in an awkward and dull situation from the very beginning.
The questions were prepared in advance.
Most of them were about the design concepts and innovative points of the foreign - related hotel this time.
As well as what new technologies were used in the process and what bold attempts were made in the design.
But Shen Dong either went around in circles with professional terms or gave ambiguous answers.
Even when it came to the design inspiration, he obviously got stuck and hesitated.
The written journalist tried to guide him several times, but with little effect.
Helplessly, after communicating with the supervisor, they had to temporarily adjust their strategy and remove some overly complicated questions.
But even so, Shen Dong's answers never hit the point.
The originally planned two - and - a - half - hour exclusive interview had to end prematurely because the effective answers he could give were really limited.
In the end, both sides fell into silence and could only end it hastily.
Shen Dong left, but they still had to clean up the mess he left behind.
As soon as they stepped out of the meeting room, the people in charge of the interview looked at each other and finally couldn't help sighing.
At this time, Jiang Si's exclusive interview was coming to an end.
She looked at the time. It was just a little past eleven thirty.
Jiang Si was in a good mood and said to Huo Tinghuai, "I said last time that I would invite you to dinner, but I never found the opportunity. How about having dinner together today?"
Huo Tinghuai checked his afternoon schedule and after confirming that there was nothing important, he nodded with a smile. "Okay, then I'll not decline your kind invitation."
As they talked and walked out of the meeting room, it was almost time to get off work.
Just as they reached the stairway, they happened to meet another interview team.
Although Huo Tinghuai had taken over Editor - in - Chief Wen's job, the specific interview content was still handled by other teams, and he was only responsible for the final proofreading of the manuscripts.
Seeing the sad looks on their faces, he casually asked, "Sister Li, what's the matter?"
"Alas, don't even mention it," sighed Sister Li, the written journalist. "I'm so worried about how to write this manuscript when I get back."
Huo Tinghuai was a bit confused for a moment. "Didn't you already make an outline and even come up with a title for the news?"
"Yes, but none of them can be used," Sister Li said with a complicated expression. "We prepared more than fifty questions, and he only answered less than half of them, and all the answers were ineffective."
"When we asked for specific details, he just recited concepts from the book. He even stammered for a long time when asked about the design inspiration. I really don't know how to write this manuscript!"
Normally, if Editor Wang, the supervisor, heard this, he would definitely say, "You have to write it even if you can't. What else can you do?"
But after watching the whole interview today, he really couldn't say such words.
It was the photographer who couldn't stand it and couldn't help muttering, "To put it bluntly, I feel that Comrade Shen knows less about this winning bid project than we do after doing our homework."
After this remark, everyone just smiled and didn't comment.
Jiang Si listened thoughtfully.
But before she could sort out her thoughts, they had reached the entrance of the newspaper office.
At this time, several people were walking towards them in a hurry.
Seeing the person in the lead, Huo Tinghuai greeted him, "Director."
Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou also politely said hello.
The director nodded.
Just as they were about to say goodbye, the director called Huo Tinghuai to stop. "Tinghuai, wait a moment..."
[Dear readers, today is the last day of August. I have a kid at home who is going back to school tomorrow. I accompanied her out to play all afternoon and had a big meal. By the time I got home, it was already late.
I'm still 700 words short of two chapters, so I won't break the text into paragraphs. I'm taking a day off today and will resume normal updates tomorrow.
I'll write about the design plan tomorrow. Please rest assured.
Finally, I wish all my readers a brand - new and smooth month. That's it. Love you all!]
