A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 113 Nothing Happened

Although he hadn't known Chu Jiwei for long, the older brother had lent a helping hand when Chu Jiwei was in trouble, so their relationship was definitely not ordinary.

Moreover, perhaps because of Fatty, after learning from him that this older brother was very reliable, he felt a natural sense of closeness to him.

After agreeing to meet, the older brother also told me about his schedule.

He arrived on Friday afternoon and had errands to run on Saturday.

Li Mu agreed, hung up the phone, and then dialed Wang Hai's number: "Hey, Brother Hai—"

Wang Hai has already arranged everything and is just waiting to welcome Chu Jiwei.

Considering that Chu Lin was also with them, Li Mu thought for a moment and sent Fan Bing a message: "Fan Bing, are you asleep yet?"

It's brewing.

"Can I talk to you about something? Are you free on Friday evening?"

"There should be, why?"

"Do you remember that family I met in America? Chu Jiwei, Brother Wei. His daughter is a fan of yours."

"I remember, her name was something like—Linlin, right?"

"Yes, they just called me. They're coming back to China on Friday. Chu Lin is coming back too—we're all going to have dinner together tonight."

Do you want to come with me?

"Haha, sure. But Brother Li, you have to add an extra meal. You owe me six meals in total."

"Okay, six meals it is! How about tomorrow?"

"No, don't tempt me—filming starts in about a week, and I don't want to gain weight back. Let's talk about it after filming begins!"

"Alright then————"

"Teacher Wu, I came across an interesting topic on a forum yesterday. Do you think I'm right?"

"What topic?"

"Looking at female celebrities in the entertainment industry today, if we were to rank the new generation of actresses who debuted in 1996 or 1997, wouldn't Zhao Wei be number one?"

Inside the Jetta, four people continued their interviews at the venue according to the interview plan.

Li Mu took the initiative to start the conversation.

"Zhao Wei? She doesn't even rank that high."

Wu Jun directly refuted Li Mu's statement: "The most popular one is definitely Zhang Ziyi. That's an international award; 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' earned her Hollywood status. Domestic actresses can't compare to international ones."

"I disagree with Angkor's point of view."

Shang Xiaobin shook his head slightly: "Zhang Ziyi's popularity is ultimately her weakness. Although her works are good and she has high profile, she isn't the only one who has achieved success. Moreover, she started as a 'Zhang Yimou girl,' and Gong Li has always been ahead of her. In my opinion, if we're only talking about domestic popularity, among the actresses Xiao Li mentioned who debuted in the last five years, Zhao Wei is undoubtedly number one. Especially with this year's 'Shaolin Soccer,' although it didn't quite break into the international market, it at least created a buzz about her in Southeast Asia. That alone is enough to solidify Zhao Wei's status as a top-tier actress."

Although Li Mu started the topic, it didn't lead to the two older brothers "pointing fingers" at each other.

Wu Jun thought for a moment and said, "In terms of popularity, Zhao Wei is indeed impressive. But ultimately, an actor's work speaks for itself. Commercial success is important, but in terms of artistic standing, the two are incomparable, even if Zhao Wei won the Hundred Flowers Award. So, Xiao Bin, tell me, as an actor, is popularity more important, or artistic achievement? Popularity will eventually fade; perhaps after one or two bad films, you'll be forgotten in the film industry. But artistic achievement is a genuine symbol of strength. Like Gong Li, even if she acts in a bad film, the audience will be very forgiving because her artistic achievements speak for themselves, right?"

"Uh—that's true."

"So, if we look at it from the perspective of artistic achievement, the five-year timeframe that Xiao Li mentioned is: Zhang Ziyi first, Mei Ting second, and Zhou Xun third. These three have won international awards. Further down the list, Qin Hailu, Tao Hong, and other domestic award-winning actresses are about on par."

"Isn't Mei Ting an earlier debut?"

"Give us some extra time."

Wu Jun shrugged, then suddenly turned to Li Mu and asked, "So, Li, what's your own ranking?"

"Well----"

Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "In my mind, Zhao Wei is first, Zhang Ziyi is second, and Zhou Xun and—Xu Jinglei? I feel they're about the same. To be honest, Teacher Wu, I didn't even consider Tao Hong, Qin Hailu, or Mei Ting. Mainly because I feel their popularity is just average—"

"You're still prioritizing popularity above all else, aren't you?"

Wu Jun was both amused and exasperated.

but----

"Speaking of Xu Jinglei, I've almost forgotten about her. She hasn't been making any moves lately."

"Not this year."

Shang Xiaobin shook his head: "As far as I remember, she only did one movie with Wang Xueping this year—oh right, and one TV series, also with Wang Xueping. But she had a lot of work last year, she did four or five TV series in a row."

"Last year? Those must have been filmed in 99 or 98, when Wang Shuo was at the height of his career."

"right."

"She's not simple either."

Wu Jun sighed, "If Wang Shuo hadn't been so arrogant, offended so many people, and even tried to frame the leaders of the Film Bureau, he wouldn't have died so badly."

"But I feel that she didn't actually experience too many setbacks. In the stills, filming continued as usual."

"Of course. Even if we don't care about the monk, we should still care about the Buddha. Wang Shuo may be gone, but his friends are still around. Putting everything else aside, just looking at her film and television resources, most people can't compare to her. Take Zhao Wei, for example. She's famous enough, right? But even she'd be like a mouse seeing a cat if she saw her."

He is indeed a senior reporter from the Department of Culture and Sports.

The two older men casually chatted about some gossip and the past, which captivated him and Sui Kuan, who was driving.

In the end, this topic didn't lead to anything particularly interesting.

It's still unclear who came in first and who came in second.

But—at least one thing is certain: no matter how you rank them, Zhao Wei and Zhang Ziyi are an insurmountable obstacle. As for Fan Bingbing and Li Bingbing—well, let's be honest, they're really not in other people's eyes.

Tsk.

"Xiao Li, you're still in charge of the article. Hand it in to me before you leave work."

"OK."

After the interview ended, Li Mu responded again after hearing Wu Jun's words.

He then returned to his workplace and began working on the matter.

Before leaving get off work, Li Mu handed the article to Wu Jun, who glanced at it and then let him go home.

Then, early Wednesday morning, he received a copy of the day's newspaper from Sui Kuan.

With the 9th National Games approaching, the Guangzhou Gymnasium has completed its renovation and refurbishment.

Reporters: Wu Jun, Shang Xiaobin, Li Mu; Photographer: Sui Kuan (Intern)

In Sui Kuan's words, "Damn it, those two words, 'internship,' are really glaring."

Li Mu smiled and shrugged.

But in reality, they already understood the division of tasks within their group.

Bin was in charge of interviewing, while he was responsible for the first draft. Wu Jun was in charge of editing and reviewing, and Sui Kuan, the "intern reporter," was in charge of taking photos and other errands.

The division of labor is quite clear.

"I estimate that you should be almost done by the time the Ninth National Games are over."

Hearing his words, Sui Kuan nodded.

Indeed, in terms of both internship duration and workload, the work he is currently doing is already within the scope of a full-time journalist.

It's just a matter of time.

"By the way, has Brother Bie arrived yet?"

"I didn't see it."

Sui Kuan shook his head and laughed, "Don't you know Brother Bie? He's probably been playing cards all night and is resting right now."

"All right----"

Li Mu remained silent.

He was considering whether he should take the initiative to ask, "Brother Bie, how did your checkup go?"

But I also feel that asking such a question is a bit pretentious, as if it were very deliberate, just like directly assuming that the other person has a health problem.

The problem is—he really doesn't have any excuse to call Brother Bie right now.

Firstly, he's already been officially hired, and secondly, we just met on Saturday and Sunday.

three----

Suddenly, his eyes lit up.

Get up quickly.

Where are you going?

"Going to the toilet."

Li Mu quickly left the office and went to the "secret base" trash can at the entrance of the unit, where he dialed Bie Yan's number.

"Beep beep—Hey, Xiao Li, what's up?"

Upon hearing Bie Yan's voice, Li Mu's heart sank.

Why does it sound so normal?

He pondered for a moment, then said, "Brother Bie, are you back from the hospital?"

"I came back right after I went yesterday. Hey kid, it's already Wednesday, aren't you a little late in checking up on me?"

The older brother's words sounded somewhat like a mix of amusement and exasperation.

Li Muxin felt even heavier.

Is everything normal?

What excuse will I have to use next time?

It's over —

"—What's wrong? Is it just because you're worried about me?"

Li Mu quickly snapped out of his daze: "Uh, of course I have to care about Brother Bie. But—Brother Bie, Fan Jiabing's 'Give Me a Mom' is about to start filming, and I was thinking—should we do an exclusive interview? Maybe with the crew or the male and female leads?"

"No need, you shouldn't get involved in these things lately."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Bie Yan rejected his idea: "You're focused on the Ninth National Games right now. It's a major national event, and I've assigned your group the most work. You're already a full-fledged reporter; digging up tidbits from minor, insignificant events would be beneath you. So you're set on sticking to the Ninth National Games. Didn't you just publish an article today? Keep up the good work and follow this national games closely."

"Uh—okay, Brother Bie, I understand."

"Hmm, is there anything else?"

"————That's all."

"Then let's hang up."

"OK."

Doodle.

The phone hangs up.

Li Mu's brows furrowed completely.

What's going on?

Could it be that the "relapse" Fatty mentioned hasn't happened yet?

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that if things go "right this time," getting Brother Bie to get checked again next time will be incredibly difficult.

Although he really wanted to let Bie Ge stay healthy.

But the problem is—even the wheelchair guy's "Olympic bid" has become a reality, so there's no reason why the fat guy's experience should be fake, right?

Now—what should we do?

Li Mu's brows furrowed more and more as he stared at the trash can in front of him.