OSTF - 16

“I just can’t get over it,” Su Mian muttered, then shook her head. “It’s definitely because you’re better, President Sui.”

Chi Sui Sui herself remained very calm.

Whether or not Zhang Yueran had really peeked was impossible to verify, but when Chi Sui Sui had looked at her earlier, Zhang Yueran definitely seemed guilty.

Chi Sui Sui smiled with curved eyes. So what if she wrote it?

She had no right to stop others from writing. What Zhang Yueran did wasn’t really a big deal. What really mattered was who could actually get the interview in the end.

The director knocked on the table. “Because there were duplicates and no better reasons given, I sent some back. Submit a revised list later.”

He listed a few names.

Only at the end did he ask, “Chi Sui Sui, Zhang Yueran, you two have duplicates. Which of you is confident in getting an interview with He Xingwang?”

The entire meeting room perked up.

They had all thought about writing about He Xingwang too, but in the end gave up thinking they had no chance—getting scolded by the director wasn’t worth it.

If they had known someone was going to submit his name, they wouldn’t have deleted their own.

“Director,” Zhang Yueran was the first to speak, “I found out the reason He Xingwang rejected Qingcheng TV Station—it was because of a scandal.”

The director gestured for her to continue.

Zhang Yueran glanced at Chi Sui Sui and smiled. “God He has high standards, but it’s not like he never accepts interviews—just very rarely. Since entering this industry, I’ve maintained a clean record, never involved in any inappropriate news, so I have a good chance.”

That did sound pretty reasonable.

The others looked at Chi Sui Sui again.

Last time, Chi Sui Sui had splashed water on a director who faked his academic credentials. Although the situation turned out positively in the end, with God He’s high standards, he might still refuse.

“President Sui...”

Chi Sui Sui leaned back in her chair, twirling her pen nonchalantly, and gave Su Mian a reassuring glance.

If someone had already agreed to be interviewed and she still couldn’t get it—that’d be embarrassing.

“Besides, He Xingwang and I are from the same hometown,” Zhang Yueran added. Everyone tried to hold back their laughter.

Su Mian rolled her eyes. “Then we’re not just from the same hometown—we’re also alumni. Sui Sui even had direct contact with God He.”

“That was arranged by the school,” Zhang Yueran said.

Su Mian was speechless. That reasoning was just absurd—if it was school-arranged, that only proved how much faith the school had in President Sui.

The meeting room quieted down.

Then a voice rang out: “But he already accepted.”

The director and Zhang Yueran turned toward Chi Sui Sui.

Chi Sui Sui lifted her gaze, her expression cool and composed, and said unhurriedly, “So he doesn’t dislike me.”

In short, if he accepted the flowers, he’d accept the interview.

The meeting room buzzed again, and people even started betting on who would ultimately get their name submitted.

The director thought about it and figured Chi Sui Sui was more likely, but he couldn’t say so outright. Zhang Yueran had her points, too.

He clapped his hands on the table. “You both make good arguments. Here’s the deal—you’ll both go, and whichever interview comes out better, I’ll submit that. A fair competition.”

Decision made.

After the meeting, everyone returned to the office area.

In the hallway, Su Mian was fuming. “What’s the director thinking? Obviously you have the upper hand. By Zhang Yueran’s logic, I could go for the interview too.”

Chi Sui Sui smiled. “Don’t think about it.”

Just then, a voice called from behind. “Chi Sui Sui, stop right there.”

Chi Sui Sui turned around to see Zhang Yueran approaching, not forgetting to provoke: “Sorry for stealing your interview.”

“Stealing?”

Chi Sui Sui rolled the word around in her mouth.

Zhang Yueran said, “This industry values seniority. Don’t say I didn’t warn you—newbies shouldn’t expect to make it big every day.”

She had joined six months earlier than Chi Sui Sui, which barely made her a senior.

Chi Sui Sui couldn’t be bothered. “Let’s go, Su Mian.”

Seeing she was ignored again, Zhang Yueran gritted her teeth and shouted behind her, “You’re definitely losing this He Xingwang interview!”

The hallway wasn’t long, and her voice echoed.

At the corner, Chi Sui Sui finally turned her head, eyes resting lazily on her. “Oh, really?”

Zhang Yueran froze under her gaze.

It was clearly a rhetorical question, but it sounded like a statement.

The director’s real thought was that sending both was better—if even one succeeded, it was better than having a single failure.

As for who would succeed, he couldn’t be sure, but personally, he favored Chi Sui Sui.

Though she was a newcomer, she was incredibly efficient—every article she submitted was excellent, clearly written with effort.

Most importantly, their department had shone during the last fake-degree exposé.

The director had met many people, and Chi Sui Sui stood out—her background clearly wasn’t ordinary.

Otherwise, how could a director defame her and immediately be hit with a scandal himself? If someone wasn’t pulling strings behind the scenes, he’d chop off his own head and kick it like a ball.

The atmosphere in the office stayed tense all afternoon.

After work, Su Mian and Chi Sui Sui went to eat BBQ together.

The BBQ place near the TV station was famous in South City. Back during their internship, it was so popular you needed reservations.

“I was just saying this morning how pitiful Zhang Yueran looked getting scolded—and then this happens. How embarrassing,” Su Mian said, angrily biting into some meat.

She felt totally blind before.

Chi Sui Sui smiled faintly. “Forget it. Su Mian, you use Weibo a lot—help me figure out how to do a giveaway.”

Su Mian instantly perked up.

Chi Sui Sui’s recent post must’ve had some effect. No one was sending her random deliveries anymore, though the “poor girl” image still stuck.

Her latest post’s comments were full of sympathy.

Chi Sui Sui logged in, checked the trending page, and saw her follower count had dropped slightly but was stabilizing.

She had gained 100,000 followers this time.

[Sui Sui who doesn’t cry poor is so cute!]

[Yes, yes, we know you’re not poor. You don’t have to say it.]

[People who are really poor don’t say they’re poor—not like some who beg for donations and then splurge.]

[Where’s the person who accused her of faking it before?]

The netizen who previously accused her of abusing financial aid had tried to find proof—but S University’s official site listed no such aid under her name.

Instead, she’d been on the National Scholarship list multiple times.

This completely backfired. Instead of exposing her, it made everyone admire her more.

Inspirational and hardworking.

Why wouldn’t you stan someone like Chi Sui Sui?

“President Sui, what’s your idea?” Su Mian asked. “Tell me first, then I’ll add to it.”

The BBQ place was filled with smoky aroma.

Chi Sui Sui casually tied up her hair, revealing a graceful, swan-like neck—fair and elegant.

Su Mian nearly got lost staring.

Glancing around, she noticed several guys sneaking peeks. President Sui’s charm was real.

“My current plan is to give away cash and snack gift packs,” Chi Sui Sui said simply. “Just an initial idea.”

Su Mian nodded. “I like cash too—nothing beats getting money. So, how much are you giving away?”

Knowing Chi Sui Sui, it had to be at least tens of thousands.

She swore she could see golden light.

“160,000,” Chi Sui Sui said, showing all ten long, slender fingers. “The snack packs are from Qi Corporation’s new line. Enough?”

Su Mian stared at her, confirming she wasn’t joking. “Yeah... that’s more than enough.”

Forget the cash, even those Qi snack packs weren’t cheap—she’d browsed them on Taobao recently. This was way overboard.

She had no suggestions—Chi Sui Sui had nailed it.

Once confirmed, Chi Sui Sui crafted her wording and posted on Weibo.

If she revealed herself as the Qi family heiress, she could’ve done more. But as a journalist, it had to stay lowkey.

Still, she didn’t want to seem stingy.

“All done?” Su Mian pulled out her phone. “I want to be the first to repost and win!”

“Done,” Chi Sui Sui winked.

Su Mian refreshed and found the post. Skipped the thank-you part and went straight to the draw section—

[Chi Sui Sui: …16 fans will split 160,000 yuan in cash; 20 fans will get a Qi snack gift pack. Thank you all.]

Even though she’d heard it, seeing it in writing was blinding.

She looked rich.

Chi Sui Sui refreshed the comments—already hundreds. The top liked comment was just a “?”.

Lots of people asking if her account was hacked.

[???]

[Is this still the same inspirational girl I followed days ago?]

[Did I go to the wrong profile?]

[Who dared impersonate my precious girl with a similar name?!]

[Don’t care if it’s real or not—reposting now.]

[Ahhh Sui Sui! You’re giving away everything. What about your life after this?!]

[So generous despite being “poor”! You really don’t have to.]

[Gonna be eating pickles and steamed buns now?]

[We all volunteer—use that money to treat yourself, you’re too skinny!]

Some found it funny.

[Wish: I want to be as “poor” as the blogger—160k poor. Even 10k would be fine.]

Chi Sui Sui and Su Mian scrolled silently.

Her DMs were now full of people trying to send her money. Chi Sui Sui guessed she’d be flooded with deliveries again tomorrow.

Sure enough, the next day at work, gifts arrived again.

“Sui Sui, you’re so generous,” a coworker teased. “A 160k giveaway?”

And yet fans still sent gifts. Netizens were really something.

Chi Sui Sui just smiled.

Everyone in the department knew the truth. She never faked poverty—netizens drew their own conclusions.

Still, she found them kind of adorable.

Just as she sat down, Zhang Yueran came out of the director’s office.

Soon everyone knew Zhang Yueran had asked for the best cameraman in the department—for the sake of the interview, supposedly.

As if the interview was already in the bag.

“She hasn’t even done the interview and she’s already acting high and mighty,” Su Mian muttered. “President Sui, when are you going?”

“This afternoon.”

Chi Sui Sui wasn’t in a rush. She had time all week.

“If you get the chance, please get me an autograph.” Su Mian made a pleading gesture. “I’ll treat you to BBQ afterward.”

“Sure.” Chi Sui Sui smiled.

The office was small—everyone could hear everything.

Zhang Yueran heard Chi Sui Sui was going in the afternoon and quickly texted her cameraman: “Let’s go after lunch. I’ll contact the shooting center soon.”

She just wanted to go earlier than Chi Sui Sui.

Seeing how relaxed she was, Zhang Yueran pouted. Was getting an autograph that easy?

Chi Sui Sui didn’t care.

She opened WeChat and messaged He Xingwang:

[I’m planning to go this afternoon. Are you free?]

She set her phone aside to finish some materials. When she checked again before lunch—

[Available.]

[Then wait for me.]

On the other side, He Xingwang stared at her message, eyes lingering on the word “wait.”

He stared for several minutes until Coach Zhu came over, thinking something was wrong. “Xingwang, what’s wrong? Not used to the new rifle?”

That would be a serious issue.

Training was focused on the World Cup and World Championships in November. If the equipment wasn’t working, they needed to switch fast.

“No,” He Xingwang turned to him, voice calm and cool, “There’s a reporter coming this afternoon. I’ve reserved the whole afternoon.”

“Good, as long as—wait, what?!” Coach Zhu nearly did a double-take. “Interview? Who’s being interviewed?”

“Me.”

“…?”

Coach Zhu looked completely shell-shocked.

Not only accepting an interview, but blocking off an entire afternoon? Was this a regular interview or a full-blown documentary?