"It’s almost noon, let’s go eat first, and in the afternoon, you go interview the nearby villagers, ask them their opinions on this matter," Feng Chengrong said.
"That’s our plan for the afternoon."
"Well, that’s settled. But be careful this time, don’t get into any conflicts with their people again."
"Understood."
At noon, the group went for a meal, and everyone from the crew sat at one table.
"Little Zhou, during this period, be more stringent when selecting materials, find more controversial issues, no filler content."
"What’s up, trying to hit the year-end targets?" Zhou Li said with a smile.
"The station is going to evaluate, assess the ratings of various programs. Last year we ranked third from the bottom; if we don’t do well this time, we’ll be dead last."
"Brother Rong, what’s the program with the highest ratings now?" Zhao Yuhuan asked softly.
"Besides some fixed news programs, the one with the highest ratings is ’Entertainment Frontline.’ I heard it’s stable at 1.1 recently, while we’re only at 0.22. The gap is unusually large."
"I heard ’Entertainment Frontline’ has a new host, and they’re quite good-looking." Ma Jun said with a smile, "Seems like they came for the interview with Lin Yi."
"I feel like that person must have pulled some strings," Zhao Yuhuan said angrily.
"During the interview, Lin Bro’s overall score was first, she was second, by the rules, she shouldn’t have gotten the spot."
Dong Xiao smiled and patted Zhao Yuhuan’s shoulder, "Little sister, this is normal, don’t sweat it too much."
"Got it."
"We shouldn’t meddle in others’ business, just focus on doing our own thing," Feng Chengrong said.
"I don’t expect to surpass ’Entertainment Frontline,’ but our ratings can’t stay this dismal. Today’s goal is to maintain 0.3 and aim for 0.4."
"We’ll do our best."
After finishing discussing work, they were almost done with the meal.
Without taking a break, the three of them drove off after lunch.
A little over an hour later, the car stopped at Wang Family Village.
The car parked on the roadside, and in the distance, they saw some villagers tending to the crops in the fields.
"Sister Li, have you contacted the informant?"
"Already contacted them, we set the meeting for three in the afternoon, also from Zhang Family Village."
Lin Yi glanced at his watch, it’s now two thirty in the afternoon, they still have time.
"Let’s go interview those three, then find the informant, interview a few more people, see what they say."
"Brother Jun, hold on," Lin Yi said.
"Let’s go to the stinky canal first, we’ll interview them later."
"Alright, let’s go."
The three got out of the car and walked towards the stinky canal next to the fields.
Lin Yi took a careful sniff and found the smell seemed to be a bit less intense.
"Looks like this area has been cleaned up, doesn’t look as dirty as before, the trash is gone, and the smell isn’t as strong," Ma Jun said.
"Seems like we’re scaring the snake out, they’re already starting to handle the issue."
"If they can actually resolve the issue, there’s no need for further investigation, as the objective is achieved. If they’re just putting on an act, we need to follow up with reports," Ma Jun said.
"Since we’re here, we’ll dig deeper and get to the bottom of it," Zhou Li said.
Zhou Li’s thoughts matched Lin Yi’s closely.
She didn’t quite believe the pharmaceutical factory could fully rectify.
"Looks like this place needs extra attention for a while, we must thoroughly understand their situation."
Lin Yi’s suggestion made the two nod in agreement.
The three of them set their sights on the villagers working in the distance.
"Let’s go check it out now."
The three walked straight towards the villagers.
Seeing someone ing over, the villagers who were busy working put down their hoes, kept eyeing them, with a guarded look in their eyes.
"Hello, are you villagers from Zhang Family Village? We are journalists from the TV station, would like to interview you," Lin Yi said in a friendly and polite manner.
"We’re just farmers, what’s there to interview?" The eldest laughed, his eyes full of wrinkles, but his smile was exceedingly simple.
"We want to understand if the wastewater discharged from the pharmaceutical factory has affected your farming?"
Upon hearing Lin Yi ask about the wastewater, the three elders got energized.
It was like opening a chatterbox; they kept talking.
"The smell has been here forever," the old man leaned on his hoe and said.
"Especially in summer, the whole area smells, we don’t dare open windows, Zhang Family Village has bee uninhabitable, many people have moved away."
"Did you ever call to plain?"
"plained, but it’s useless. After the people came, they just said they’ll handle it, and it’s been years with no progress, still the same," the old man’s eldest son said.
"Because of this pharmaceutical factory, many villagers have moved out, not many people left."
"Have you tried talking to the people at the factory about this issue?"
"Some have tried, but never met anyone in charge. Even if they did, they were brushed off, this issue has never been resolved all these years."
The account from the three matched Lin Yi’s expectations.
If there was a solution, it wouldn’t be today’s situation.
"Thank you for your interview, we’ll go check other places, you continue your work."
"Alright, alright."
The three left and got back into the car, while the father and son continued working.
Through the car window, Lin Yi watched the three, feeling something indescribable.
This piece of land felt like a heavy black cage, trapping them inside, unable to fly away.
"Okay, stop looking, it’s about time now," Zhou Li reminded.
"Yeah."
Lin Yi started the car, preparing to head to Zhang Family Village.
"Brother Jun, don’t throw away the empty water bottles."
Ma Jun held a mineral water bottle, looking at Lin Yi, "What’s up?"
"I plan to collect some wastewater later to test, see how the results are today."
"There are quite a few water bottles in the car, just like yesterday, we’ll collect samples from several places."
"That’s exactly how I’m thinking."
While speaking, Lin Yi drove into Zhang Family Village.
"Huh, the phone’s not connecting?" Zhou Li murmured, holding the phone.
"Maybe something came up, just try again later," Ma Jun said.
"It’s not unanswered; it’s turned off."
"Then just wait a bit; maybe the battery is charging."
Zhou Li nodded, waited about five minutes, then tried the phone again.
"Still not connecting."
"Drive into the village first, we’ll discuss later."
"That’s all we can do."
The size of Zhang Family Village isn’t large, with only one main road, flanked by villagers’ homes, and you could see elders standing together chatting by the roadside.
Seeing Lin Yi’s car drive in, they all looked towards their direction.
After about ten minutes, Zhou Li tried the phone again.
"Still off, what’s this person doing."
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