A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 98 The First Drink

"Is this Xiao Li?"

"Yes, young people do seem to have a lot of drive."

"Stay close to your brother."

"That young man, Li, is really good; he's got the makings of a reporter."

"Haha, Little Li, take good care of your brother Bie."

Normally, even a greeting would only elicit a curt "hmm," but now the department leaders were offering words of encouragement.

-

-

As for the reason—perhaps it was because of what Bie Yan said, "Xiao Li waited for me specifically, afraid I'd drink too much," or perhaps it was his affectionate attitude—

Or perhaps both.

But it doesn't matter.

The leaders, their faces flushed from drinking, left in their respective cars, driven away by their drivers.

Li Mu then took the keys to Bie Yan's Honda.

"Brother Bie, why aren't you driving the company car anymore?"

"Because I got promoted, I'll get a transportation allowance and can drive my own car—oh right, come to my office tomorrow, you can take my Santana. It's officially a company car, but it's really mine—"

Li Mu's lips twitched.

I was thinking to myself, "Dude, I haven't had enough of driving my Audi A6 yet!"

But he still nodded in agreement: "Okay, thank you, Brother Bie."

"Um."

Sitting in the passenger seat, Bie Yan watched Li Mu back out of the parking space and asked, "You haven't been drinking?"

"No, when I came here just now, I saw the director carrying bottles of liquor, and I thought you might drink too much, Brother. Drinking and driving is too dangerous, so I didn't drink."

"It's okay if you drink a little, no one's checking anyway."

"No, please. Safety is the most important thing."

Don't just smile slightly.

"Brother Bie."

"Um?"

"Will you have to come to work every day from now on?"

"No need. You should definitely bring yours—sitting in the office all day is boring, you can just come more often."

The older brother is clearly determined to carry out his slacking-off approach to the end, and his reasons are so righteous they're almost sinister.

Then, he rolled down the car window, lit a cigarette in the evening breeze, and suddenly asked, "I noticed Xiao Sui seemed quite surprised today. Didn't you tell him about your promotion?"

"without."

Li Mu shook his head, saying succinctly, "They didn't say anything."

"Hmm—oh right, Saturday, come to Macau with me. Sister Zhang has been talking about you for days. I guess she's really curious about what happened on 9/11."

"Haha, then I'd better organize my thoughts."

"Haha~"

Bie Yan chuckled, then thought for a moment and said, "Aren't you curious about her identity?"

"Hmm, it's alright, not really that intriguing."

After a moment of silence, Bie Yan suddenly said, "Did you know that Eric Tsang was beaten up a while ago?"

"----ah?"

Li Mu was taken aback.

Zeng Zhiwei?

That fat Hong Kong star?

Although Li Mu knew of this person, he had obviously not heard about him being beaten.

and----

Why are we talking about him?

"When did this happen? I really don't know, did it just happen?"

"Um----"

"No, that was a long time ago. Hmm—it was early July, you hadn't even started working there yet, right?"

"Yes, I'm still applying for jobs. Forget about the news, I'm so busy going to job interviews that I don't even get enough sleep."

Bie Yan nodded slightly and continued, "Zeng Zhiwei participated in a program earlier this year—with Liang Yongqi, you know?"

"I know, Hong Kong female stars, they can sing, dance, and act—I don't actually know much about Hong Kong."

"You just need to know this person. This female celebrity—Yu's father is Yang Shoucheng, the boss of Yinghuang. According to gossip reporters, Yang Shoucheng treats her like his own daughter. On the one hand, he is very superstitious about feng shui, and the fortune teller said that Leung Wing-ki's birth chart is very auspicious for him. On the other hand, she is indeed very likable. So Yang Shoucheng is very close to her. However, Tsang Chi-wai mocked Leung Wing-ki on a TV show, saying that she has big buck teeth."

Although Li Mu was a little confused as to why Brother Bie suddenly brought this up, he still nodded: "That's a bit much. Do the two of them have a grudge?"

"Whether there's a grudge or not is hard to say in a short time. It can only be said that the two groups of people are sometimes friends and sometimes enemies because of interests. Hong Kong is too small, that's just how it is."

"I see."

"Not long after Tsang Chi-wai finished speaking about Leung Wing-ki, he was beaten by a group of people. He was beaten until his head was bleeding—"

"—Young and Dangerous?"

"Ha~"

Bie Yan didn't respond, but continued, "In short, everyone knows that Yang Shoucheng was behind this. But Zeng Zhiwei is no simple man either. Have you seen the movie 'Lee Rock'? One of the characters in it was based on his father, and he's incredibly powerful. So, neither side was afraid of the other, and it looked like they were about to start fighting—then Jackie Chan showed up and set up a table for a reconciliation feast."

"What is 'Watou-zake'?"

"Well—just think of it like in the 'Young and Dangerous' movies, where two gangs have a conflict, and a peacemaker hosts a dinner party, inviting the leaders of both sides to talk things over and resolve the issue peacefully. There are some specific rules, but they're all things that can't be discussed openly."

"Uh-huh."

"To hold a reconciliation banquet, not only do the invitees need to be of a certain status and know both sides, but you also need to invite some influential people to witness and mediate. Do you remember the first time I introduced you to Sister Zhang, and the next day she went straight to Hong Kong?"

Li Mu's mind raced.

Could it be that...?

"Didn't you go shopping in Hong Kong to buy things for your son? What do you mean, Brother Bie—?"

"She went to attend. As for her status—Jackie Chan said all the right things at the banquet. But Tsang Chi-wai was injured. According to their customs, at least the injuries on both sides should be equal, or Yang Shou-cheng's side should offer a sufficiently heavy apology. Otherwise, the first drinking session wouldn't be considered a success."

"So—was it successful?"

"Of course not. Yang Shoucheng is the boss of Yinghuang. Even if Zeng Zhiwei's father was once a prominent figure, it's impossible for him to bow down to Yang Shoucheng. Everyone here is powerful. Zeng Zhiwei has plenty of things to offer, and Yang Shoucheng will never back down. This dinner was destined to be a failure from the very beginning."

Bie Yan shook his head, casually tossed the cigarette away, and rolled up the car window.

After drinking alcohol, the wind made me even more dizzy.

"If they can't drink together, it means they haven't reached an agreement. Then, according to the old rules, the two sides will have to fight to the death. Even if they don't dare to kill anyone, it won't be much better."

"Then Sister Zhang—"

"She went there with a message, having a meal and conveying a message, or rather, a meaning. At the dinner table, Yang Shoucheng's point was that he came today to give Jackie Chan face, but some things can't be resolved in a meal or a few words. Zeng Zhiwei's exact words were: 'I have my own views on what happened in the past.' Seeing that they couldn't reach an agreement, at the end of the meal, your Sister Zhang said something: 'I hope that Hong Kong's entertainment culture can prosper and develop. To achieve this, everyone needs to work together.'"

16

Li Mu's lips twitched: "Your exact words?"

"Yes, those are the exact words."

Bie Yan nodded, glanced at Li Mu who was driving, and smiled, "Many reporters don't know what exactly happened at that reconciliation party. At first, everyone thought the two were going to fight to the death, but look how peaceful Hong Kong's entertainment industry has been these past few months."

"

'

Li Mu was momentarily speechless.

The car then drove to the entrance of the residential area where Bie Yan lived.

"Alright, that's enough for now. You should head back now."

"Okay, Brother Bie—but..."

At this point, Li Mu paused before saying to Bie Yan, whose steps were slightly unsteady, "Brother Bie, you seem to be suffering from severe internal heat these past few days, especially in your gastrointestinal reflex area. You should drink less alcohol. Especially since you've had surgery, you need to take better care of your health."

"?"

Bie Yan was taken aback, and instinctively touched her nose: "Really?"

"Really? Didn't I say before that your nose was a little red? And—when I saw you this afternoon, I wanted to tell you, bro, you shouldn't stay up so late. You don't look too good today."

"???"

"

Bie Yan was stunned, looking at the young man with a concerned expression—

He then nodded: "If that's the case, shouldn't I get a checkup?"

"Uh—Brother Bie, that's not what I meant. I was just reading a book recently, and that's exactly what it said. I wasn't trying to get you to go to the hospital, Brother Bie. That's not what I meant."

"I know. But—"

He thought for a moment, then nodded: "Okay, I'll keep this in mind. Go back quickly."

"OK."

Standing there, watching Bieyan's car drive into the residential area, Li Mu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Fatty didn't say when Brother Bie was diagnosed with his health problem, but it's true that, according to Fatty, Brother Bie started a long period of recuperation after being diagnosed, and then the company made personnel changes.

It was precisely because of this personnel change that he was not very happy at his workplace, which led to his future plans to go to the United States.

This situation should obviously be avoided.

What's more—his older brother was really good to him.

Whether it's gratitude or selfishness, if Brother Bie could have discovered and dealt with it earlier, it would obviously have been a good thing.

I hope Brother Bie will really take this to heart — well, if all else fails, I'll amplify the crisis for him again in a couple of days. In short, he has to go to the hospital for a thorough check-up.

After making up his mind, Li Mu hailed a taxi and headed to his workplace.

The older brother gave him that Santana that smelled of secondhand smoke. How was he supposed to drive this Audi?

He was speechless.

Meanwhile, sitting in the back of the taxi, I remembered what Brother Bie had told him about the capabilities of that Sister Zhang earlier that day—

Yinghuang is no small company.

Putting everything else aside, in Li Mu's youthful memories, he had seen their company logo countless times in the movie DVDs he watched.

The fact that the boss of this company went silent just because of one sentence from Sister Zhang reveals something significant—

That's absolutely terrifying!

No wonder Brother Bie took him along when he learned that he knew how to cheat.

No wonder————

Despite Brother Bie's various behaviors, and even Brother Zhou and Brother Chen's tendency to cower like turtles whenever Sister Zhang gets angry at the card table.

All of this now has a reasonable explanation.

But who exactly is this Sister Zhang? How does she wield such power?

I should have shown some interest earlier — tsk tsk.

Countless chaotic thoughts filled his mind, causing his gaze to momentarily drift away.