Today was the weekend, a rare clear and sunny day. Taking advantage of Huo Tingzhou being out to pick up the two children from the Zhuo family and the children's palace, Jiang Si soaked the changed bedsheets and duvet covers in warm water in the yard and began washing.
Usually, the heavy cotton-padded clothes and sweaters for the family were washed by Huo Tingzhou, leaving only some intimate garments for her and the children.
To give the two children a sense of participation, Jiang Si had set aside their little socks from last night separately.
These would be left for them to handle themselves.
It was at this moment that the sentry from the gate post arrived.
"Ma'am, there's a comrade from the Beijing City Television Station at the gate, surnamed Yang. She says it was arranged beforehand."
Hearing that someone from Beijing Television had come, Jiang Si was somewhat surprised.
When the people from the Ministry of Construction had come to deliver the invitation before, they had indeed mentioned it in passing.
They said that before the commendation ceremony began, there might be some promotional activities or interview content requiring her cooperation.
This was also part of her job responsibilities, so Jiang Si had readily agreed after learning about it.
But she had always assumed it would be a newspaper coming for an interview; she hadn't expected it to be someone from television this time.
After confirming the arrangement, the sentry post quickly granted entry.
Not long after, the sentry led in a neatly dressed middle-aged woman in her thirties.
The woman showed Jiang Si her work ID and introduced herself with a smile.
"Comrade Jiang, I am Yang Liqun, a director from the 'TV News' program at Beijing Television Station."
"Director Yang, hello. Please come in." Jiang Si ushered her into the living room and poured her a cup of hot tea.
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Director Yang smilingly stated her purpose.
Their television station planned to produce a special news feature centered around the National Advanced Workers Commendation Conference, scheduled to air during prime time on Beijing Television on the same evening as the ceremony.
This visit was mainly to coordinate schedules with Jiang Si and discuss the arrangements for the subsequent filming content.
After listening, Jiang Si nodded. "I can coordinate with the timing on my end. I'll follow your specific arrangements."
No sooner had she finished speaking than Director Yang immediately asked, "How about this afternoon then?"
"This afternoon?"
Perhaps because the confusion on Jiang Si's face was too evident, Director Yang specifically explained the reason.
It turned out that the television station currently used 35mm film cameras for shooting.
The completed news segment was essentially a short film, ten minutes in length.
The film needed to be sent back to the station for processing on the day of shooting; developing and editing alone required two days.
Next, voice actors would dub according to the commentary script written by the journalists, adding background music where necessary.
After that, the film would be composited and submitted to the relevant departments for review.
On the final day, it still needed to be slotted into the program schedule based on its duration.
This entire process required at least five to six days.
And today was already the 2nd, leaving them a full six days at most, so time was indeed quite tight.
With things put this way, Jiang Si had no reason to refuse.
Just as she was about to agree, there was a commotion outside the door.
A moment later, the courtyard gate creaked open, and Huo Tingzhou walked in, carrying Suisui and Zhaozhao, one in each arm.
The siblings, one having been at the children's palace and the other at the Zhuo family home, were currently lying on their father's shoulders, sharing the interesting things that had happened that morning.
Looking up, they noticed a strange auntie at home.
"You're back?" Jiang Si stood up and briefly introduced both parties. "This is Director Yang from Beijing Television Station."
Learning that the visitor was from television, Huo Tingzhou gave a slight nod in her direction.
The two little ones immediately slipped down from their father, stood up straight, and greeted politely, "Hello, Auntie Yang!"
Yang Liqun smiled and praised them a few words.
After the greetings, the siblings turned to Jiang Si. "Mom! Are you going to be on TV?"
Their former grandmother had collected many newspapers, so they had seen their mother in the papers long ago, but being on television was a first!
Seeing the two children asking with wide, curious eyes, Director Yang was also quick on the uptake.
She proactively introduced the program's broadcast time.
Currently, news programs weren't aired daily; they were only broadcast on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays each week.
If they missed it on the day, it didn't matter much, as there was usually a repeat broadcast at 9 a.m. the next morning.
Finally, she added with a smile, "Today is the weekend. If you're free this afternoon, you can accompany your mother."
"Really? We can go too?"
"Of course," Director Yang affirmed with a smile.
Generally, as long as it didn't affect the filming schedule, interviewees could bring a few family members along.
Having received a positive answer, the two little ones still seemed unsure and turned to look at their mother.
Jiang Si had previously promised to take them to see the Yihe Building. Since they had rare free time today, she smiled and nodded. "Then you must behave well there and not disturb the uncles and aunties at work."
The two little ones nodded eagerly. "Yes, we'll definitely behave!"
"Go on now. Mom still needs to work with Auntie Yang. You two go do what you need to do," Huo Tingzhou said, patting their heads.
Once the children left, the living room instantly quieted down.
Director Yang seized the time to go over the subsequent process with Jiang Si.
There was no such thing as impromptu remarks back then. Every sentence, every action in the news, including the backgrounds or people appearing in the shots, all had to be communicated and designed in advance.
This naturally included the possible questions during the interview, for which Director Yang was fully prepared.
"The tentative title for our news segment is 'National Advanced Worker Jiang Si: Making Extraordinary Contributions in an Ordinary Position.'"
Director Yang took out an interview outline from her briefcase. "These are the questions we prepared in advance. Comrade Jiang, you can take a look beforehand to have an idea."
"As for the time, would it be okay if we come to pick you up in two hours?"
Since several scenes needed to be filmed, requiring location changes in between, the afternoon schedule needed to be kept flexible.
Jiang Si nodded. "Okay, no problem."
"Oh, and Comrade Jiang," Director Yang added, "you'll need to prepare two or three sets of clothing: one work uniform, and the rest can be dark-colored Lenin suits. No need for ma..."
She originally intended to say that there was no need for makeup, to maintain a simple and genuine image.
But upon looking up, she swallowed the rest of her words.
Comrade Jiang's lips were red without lipstick, her eyebrows dark without pencil, her skin fair and delicate. Her natural complexion was even better than someone who was meticulously made up.
Forget it, Director Yang thought to herself. Once at the station, she'd better have a makeup artist on standby to help if necessary.
After finalizing these details, Director Yang didn't even stay for a sip of tea before hurriedly taking her leave.
Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou saw her off together outside the residential compound.
After returning, Huo Tingzhou went to the bedroom to help Jiang Si pack her clothes, while Jiang Si quickly reviewed the interview outline.
Usually, her clothes were sorted by shade of color, making them easy to find.
It only took Huo Tingzhou a few minutes to finish packing, and he even managed to change the outfits for their two children as well.
Returning to the living room, he saw Jiang Si holding the outline, seemingly lost in thought, so he went over and sat beside her.
"What's on your mind?" he asked softly.
Jiang Si snapped out of her reverie and then voiced the doubt in her heart.
She had been featured in newspapers quite a few times before, having essentially appeared in all of China's major mainstream publications.
Previous outlines had even been personally drafted by her cousin, whose dedication went without saying.
Yet, this news outline was more meticulously prepared than any before, almost on par with shooting a personal documentary.
Huo Tingzhou pondered for a moment. "It's probably related to that person."
"Which person?" Jiang Si didn't catch on immediately.
Huo Tingzhou mentioned a name.
Upon hearing it, Jiang Si was astonished. It was actually him? Was it what she was thinking?
"Yes." Huo Tingzhou's words directly confirmed her speculation. "During his visit to China this time, he is staying at the Yihe Hotel."
