The hearing was held at 10 a.m. on September 11th on Capitol Hill, with CNN, NBC, ABS, and other television stations providing live coverage of the entire event.
It is speculated that the ratings for this live broadcast have hit a new high, truly living up to Gan Guoyang’s title as the "King of Ratings."
The last time Congress held such an all-encompassing live broadcast of a hearing was during the Watergate investigation in 1973.
Back then, major television stations broadcast the hearing for a total of 319 hours, with statistics showing that 85% of American households watched the program.
PBS also rebroadcast the hearing in the evening, allowing the entire All-America to witness and understand the full process of the case.
Shortly after nine in the morning, Gan Guoyang and his team members, along with his lawyer, entered the Capitol Building and sat calmly and steadily at the interrogation table.
Gan Guoyang wore a tailored brown silk suit and a red tie and, like in the movie "The Godfather," raised his hands for security to frisk him before entering.
The journalists frantically took photographs, with Gan Guoyang’s imposing figure making everyone present look like clowns.
Sitting down, Gan Guoyang appeared natural and relaxed, occasionally straightening up, looking particularly tall and upright.
At 10 o’clock, the hearing officially began as a committee composed of numerous congressmen, high officials, and experts began questioning him.
Faced with various detailed and even somewhat tricky questions, Gan Guoyang answered gently and patiently.
Gan Guoyang is an eloquent person. As the president of the Players Union, who has participated in numerous labor negotiations, his negotiation skills are very strong, and his language acuity is high.
The committee conducted a detailed investigation and preparation, and Gan Guoyang also made extremely thorough preparations.
Many questions began from Gan Guoyang’s arrival in America in 1981, involving various details of his high school and university life.
Gan Guoyang responded fluently, without a hitch, because there was no issue with these matters.
Or even if there were issues, they were unrelated to the spy case and had to do with Gan Guoyang’s identity as a time traveler.
At 12 noon, the hearing took a break for an hour and resumed at 1 p.m.
Over two hours in the morning, the hearing asked many questions, but overall, nothing was gained.
However, a committee member, Toff Cox, a congressman and author of "The Cox Report," said, "The more no issues arise, the more it seems problematic."
Obviously, Gan Guoyang’s responses were too perfect, without any slip-ups, instead giving the impression that he was well-prepared.
If there were no issues, why be so impeccably prepared? They must find where the problems lie.
During the lunch break, Gan Guoyang thought to himself: "For the sake of Gan Liliang, let’s hope they don’t dig up the spy stuff and instead uncover my time-traveling secret. That would be... the greatest mystery of all time. Even if I told them, they wouldn’t believe it anyway. Whatever, I’ll just keep playing along."
A fully energized Gan Guoyang continued with the hearing in the afternoon, becoming more enthusiastic in high-profile situations.
He even counter-questioned the committee on certain matters, seemingly threatening to reveal some congressmen’s scandals, causing the scene to descend into chaos.
Beside him, Gan Guoyang’s lawyer whispered a reminder: "Say less, do you want to live?"
"I’ll keep it in check, don’t worry needlessly. Everyone has something to hide, so it’s fine," he replied.
Finally, after five long hours, the hearing ended, and Gan Guoyang walked out of Capitol Hill with a spirited demeanor and perfect results.
In the first battle between the two sides, Gan Guoyang achieved a phased victory, essentially declaring that the spy case would have no substantial outcome unless the investigation could obtain new critical evidence.
It is said that America is calling upon spies from across to obtain some crucial evidence, using espionage against espionage, but seemingly without any success.
Gan Guoyang’s brilliant performance and charming appearance at the hearing have further boosted his popularity among the public, gaining more supporters.
That evening, as the FBI surveillance was lifted, Gan Guoyang received a call from Charles Barkley. This fence-sitter candidly shouted, "Sonny, I’ve decided; I want to join the Portland Trail Blazers. As a friend, I’ll always support you!"
Barkley had been waiting for the hearing result all along. If the situation turned unfavorable and Gan Guoyang couldn’t continue, there was a high chance Barkley wouldn’t join the Trail Blazers.
However, in the media, Barkley was indeed one of the earlier players to stand up and express his belief in Gan Guoyang’s innocence. As a friend, this was quite considerate of him.
This being the last year of his career, he must make a cautious choice for the championship’s sake.
Gan Guoyang told Barkley: "You’re welcome to join, provided you first lose 30 pounds of weight."