A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 92 A Family Dinner

Seven years ago?

Upon hearing the time, Li Mu instinctively asked, "Brother Bie, how old are you this year?"

"41. Seven years ago, I was 34, and I should have been in the position of deputy director by now. If things had continued at that pace, Director Zhang's position should be mine now."

"???"

Upon hearing Bie Yan's words, Li Mu looked puzzled.

He actually knew that Brother Bie had a powerful background. After all, Li Wei had said that Brother Bie's sister and brother-in-law alone had extraordinary connections within the newspaper.

Having followed the older brother for so long, he could get a sense of the mysterious "resources" behind him.

However, I was still quite surprised to hear him say that he should have been the deputy director seven years ago.

It's important to know that the job hierarchy at the Southern Metropolis Daily is actually quite flat.

Within Li Mu's editorial system, the top leadership is the editorial board, but the head of the newspaper is the editor-in-chief, followed by the deputy editor-in-chief. Below them are the heads of various departments.

Department Head — Deputy Head — Editor-in-Chief — Deputy Editor-in-Chief — Senior Reporter/Editor — Full-Time Reporter — Intern Reporter

This is a division of responsibilities.

Li Mu's next step is to become a full-fledged reporter, a regular employee of the newspaper, with all the best benefits.

Seven years ago, when Brother Bie was 34, he was already eligible to be promoted to deputy director.

Is it that amazing?

Meeting Li Mu's curious gaze, Bie Yan shrugged: "To be honest, Li, I've been a senior reporter for almost fifteen years. My position has never changed."

"Well—Brother Bie, between the deputy director and the senior reporter, there's the editor-in-chief and the deputy editor-in-chief. Generally speaking, isn't it the editor-in-chief who promotes them?"

"Yes. But our current editor-in-chief of the Arts and Sports Department, Lin Naichen—well, let me put it this way, when I was a senior reporter, he was just an intern."

Li Mu's lips twitched.

I thought to myself, "Brother, what has happened to you all these years?"

Seeing his expression, Bie Yan laughed: "Haha, doesn't it seem absurd?"

"—A little."

""

"It's actually very simple. When I was 34, I went for a physical examination and the hospital found a tumor in my intestinal lymph nodes."

—

Li Muxin said it matched.

It matched what I learned from Fatty.

"Brother, that scar on your stomach—"

"Yes, it's from the surgery."

Bie Yan nodded, and after the waiter carrying the tea left, she poured herself a cup of chrysanthemum tea. "Fortunately, the tumor was benign, but—you can think of it this way. Back then, I had the opportunity to skip directly from editor-in-chief to deputy director. But because of this illness, it was delayed. And—the reason I'm still a senior reporter after all these years is simple: I can't overwork myself. The editor-in-chief's workload and pressure are quite high; it's one of the most stressful parts of our department. My family doesn't want me to be so tired—even your current work schedule, working only sporadically, is because of this. Do you understand?"

"So, your family is worried that your body can't handle it?"

"right."

Originally, Bieyan hadn't planned to talk about these things, but—since the conversation had started, she might as well treat it as casual chatting.

"So, all these years, I've just been a senior reporter and never added any extra workload for myself. The only change over the years is that I took you and Sui Kuan on board this year."

"—Didn't you used to have interns, Brother Bie?"

"Definitely. I'm much more carefree on my own. Wouldn't taking on interns be a burden?"

"Then why did you bring the two of us this year?"

"Group reform".

Without any hesitation, the senior colleague shrugged and said, "The higher-ups require all candidates for promotion to have grassroots work experience and the ability to lead. Just think of the two of you as a resume. My mentoring you two shows that I've mentored interns and understand various aspects of grassroots work experience, which meets the requirements."

"Oh~~~~"

Li Mu suddenly realized.

Then he laughed and said, "Then we're quite lucky."

"Ha~"

Bie Yan chuckled softly, offering no direct response.

but----

Who said no?

"Brother, now that you've been promoted, can you mentor us?"

"Sure, but there will be far fewer opportunities to take you on interviews directly from now on. Xiao Li—people at the newspaper speak highly of you. And through this incident, we feel you can handle things on your own now, so from now on, I'll mostly be telling you where to go for interviews and helping you build connections. Then I'll find a reliable senior reporter to mentor Sui Kuan for a while, until I feel Sui Kuan is ready too, and then you two can work independently. Of course, I'll definitely pave the way for you both, so you don't need to worry about that."

"Hehe, I'm definitely not worried. I'll just stick with Brother Bie."

Li Mu quickly picked up his teacup: "Brother Bie, congratulations, hehe."

"Haha~"

After chatting for a while, the faint unease in Bie Yan's heart subsided, and she began to smile more often.

Next, the waiter began serving the dishes.

The two ate tea instead of wine and chatted.

Because no alcohol was consumed, the meal was actually eaten quite quickly.

It was over in no more than an hour.

And in the end, it was Bieyan who paid the bill.

In the words of the older brother, "How could we really let you spend money? You've only earned so much."

Finally, Bie Yan, driving the company Santana, said to Li Mu, "Come on, I'll take you home."

"No need, bro. My rented place is just across the intersection. You can just go back."

Hearing this, Bie Yan nodded: "Okay, remember to go to work tomorrow. I'm leaving now."

"Uh-huh."

Hmm.

After seeing Santana off, Li Mu waited until the taillights were out of sight before returning to Mingya Garden.

Throughout the journey, he kept recalling Bieyan's words and analyzing the energy hidden behind them.

As he reached the tennis court, a voice suddenly called out to him, "Li Mu?"

Li Mu turned his head and saw that it was actually his classmate from the tennis class, surnamed Xu.

"Brother Xu? What's going on here—"

"Hey, wanna come for extra practice? Haven't seen you in ages. We're short-handed, wanna come?"

Under normal circumstances, Li Mu would definitely have refused.

He's jet-lagged and extremely tired right now.

But for some reason, the image of Fatty Brother popped into my mind.

I ate so much tonight — um.

"Okay, I'll go back and change my clothes and get the camera."

"Okay, hurry up—"

"Um."

Soon, Li Mu, who had changed into a set of sportswear, joined the team playing rallies with his racket. They started with rallies and then moved on to hitting, playing until almost 10 p.m. before he finally finished his workout, covered in sweat.

Feeling completely refreshed, Li Mu wiped away his sweat and found his phone in his tennis bag, glancing at it.

I saw a missed call and a message.

It turns out they're all Fan Bingbing.

"Brother Li, are you back yet? Give me a call."

She clearly called Li Mu first, but no one answered, so she sent the message.

The time is 8:50.

So Li Mu replied directly.

The call was answered quickly: "Hey, Brother Li, are you back yet?"

"I'm back. I was playing basketball and didn't see the phone."

"Play basketball? Brother Li can play basketball?"

"No, it's tennis."

"what?"

Fan Taobing asked curiously, "Tennis? Is it fun?"

"Hmm—I'd say it's pretty stress-relieving. Fan Bingbing hasn't done it before?"

"Hehe, no. I've only seen it on TV occasionally, but I play badminton, so they're pretty much the same thing, right?"

Li Mu said with a smile, "There are differences, but the principles are similar. Fan Bingbing can learn from it when she has time; it's quite enjoyable and very suitable for relieving stress."

"Ha~ Brother Li means you want to teach me?"

"I'm still a beginner. But I can play with you. Tennis is a very hierarchical sport. Beginners can only play against other beginners. It's like noobs pecking at each other."

"Haha—how about we play a game tomorrow?"

"Okay—hmm?"

Suddenly, Li Mu paused, startled: "Tomorrow?"

"Hehe, yeah, I'm leaving for Guangzhou tomorrow, arriving around noon. I wonder if Brother Li would do me the honor of having lunch together?"

"—Tell me first why you came to Guangzhou?"

"Filming for 'Give Me a Mom' will begin in a few days. The filming location is Guangzhou."

"So fast?"

"Yeah, that's why I came here early to prepare and get into the swing of things. Coincidentally, Brother Li owes me a meal and said he'd pick me up in his Audi, and we can also play chess, haha, now we have tennis too."

"Ugh————"

Li Mu thought for a moment and then smiled, "Sure, what time is it tomorrow at noon? I'll pick you up."

"Our flight takes off at 1:30, so we'll probably arrive around 3 or 4. Li, how about we make dinner together?"

"Okay, what do you want to eat?"

"Hmm—what would you think if I said I'm more interested in your cooking, Brother Li?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mu rolled his eyes: "What do I think? Just say you want to eat it."

"Haha, I was just worried it would be inconvenient for you. Here's what I was thinking: you don't need to pick me up. I'll go to the hotel myself and get ready. By the time I'm done, you'll be off work, so we can meet up and have a casual dinner and drinks. Then we can set up the chessboard and have a long, exciting game. I brought two pretty good bottles of red wine this time. Just make sure Brother Li has the chessboard and tea ready."

She brazenly wanted to hold the party at Li Mu's house.

Furthermore, perhaps many people will not believe it, but when she said these words, she didn't even have any thoughts like "Will I be in danger?"

As for the reason, it is also very simple.

I still vividly remember the scene of the two of them drinking in their room during the last Olympic bid.

She knew that this mysterious and sophisticated man was a gentleman.

There's absolutely no need to worry.

And—even more remarkably, she felt a connection with Li Mu.

Whether it's chatting, discussing values, or any other aspect of life, the two of them always feel very comfortable together.

She doesn't have many friends.

It's fair to say I have no true friends.

After all, I went to Shanghai to attend a performing arts school after graduating from junior high school, and then started working on film sets. Over the years, my close classmates have become estranged, and the friends I met in the world of fame and fortune have all sorts of ulterior motives.

At this moment—suddenly someone with such a compatible temperament appeared.

She was actually quite willing to get close to Brother Li.

As for Li Mu, seeing that she had made all the arrangements, he stopped hesitating and said with a smile, "Okay, how about a family dinner then?"

"Hey, um! A family dinner!"

The big star on the other end of the phone had a big smile on his face.

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