A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 136 Even in the Journalism Profession, There Are Highs and Lows

As the editor-in-chief, Lin Naichen shared the same attitude as Bie Yan when she heard about Li Mu's news lead.

It's not suitable to do this before the Ninth National Games; let's wait until after the Games.

He didn't even ask Li Mu where he knew this person.

Now Li Mu felt more confident.

Then, Shang Xiaobin called out to him and Sui Kuan, and the four of them set off again to contribute to the increasingly intense atmosphere of the National Games.

Time flies, and it's already the 15th.

Today is a good day for many people at the newspaper.

Because we get paid today.

The salary at the Southern Metropolis Daily is a base salary plus performance-based bonuses.

Performance is directly related to the number of words in the news articles that journalists cover.

There are also photo royalties, etc.

To be honest, Li Mu was also quite looking forward to it.

He wanted to see how much money those 9/11 photos had actually made him.

After a busy morning, he finally received his payslip in the afternoon.

"So, how much did you get?"

When Sui Kuan saw him coming out of the finance department, he quickly came over.

Actually, asking about someone else's salary at work is a rather taboo thing.

This is especially true for organizations like Southern Metropolis Daily, where publishing articles requires individual ability.

Sui Kuan understood this principle and said in a low voice, "Don't worry, I promise I won't tell anyone else."

Li Mu nodded and unfolded his pay slip.

Unlike Sui Kuan's payslip, which only showed a cold "internship allowance," Li Mu's payslip contained much more information.

For example, basic salary, royalties, and job allowances.

His base salary is 1,500.

The payment for the manuscript is as follows:

"One, two, three—Holy crap!"

When Sui Kuan saw the five-digit number starting with nine on the payment slip, he immediately swore.

He continued reading and saw that, including the 2,000 yuan bonus for the "Exclusive Award," Li Mu's salary for the month had reached six figures.

A little over 100,000.

"So many!!!!"

"Um."

Li Mu nodded.

I thought to myself, "You didn't see the look in the finance department's eyes when they gave me my payslip just now—"

That's way more exaggerated than what you're describing.

But he wasn't surprised at all, because—heaven knows how many newspapers and media outlets reprinted his photos, and anyone wanting to use his photos had to pay.

This amount of over 90,000 was shared with the newspaper.

"Brother! I'm going to be broke this month! Treat me to something nice!"

"Damn it, let go of me—"

Li Mu was speechless when he saw the fat man suddenly hugging his waist.

But the corners of his mouth kept turning up.

One hundred thousand yuan! Unlike the lottery, this is a legitimate one, earned through my own hard work!

He didn't know how valuable his salary was, from a journalist's perspective.

Nobody complains about money being too much, right?

"Come on, I'll treat you to roast goose tonight!"

"Brother! From now on, I will follow your lead without question!"

"Hahaha—alright, I'm not talking to you anymore, I'm going to call home first."

"You want to send the money back?"

"No, but we should still give some."

Upon hearing this, Sui Kuan subconsciously exclaimed, "What a filial son!"

Li Mu shrugged, walked straight out of the office building, and dialed his home phone.

But this time he was smarter. After his mother answered the phone, he said directly, "Hello, Mom, I got paid. I'll transfer two thousand yuan to your card in a bit."

Then, without giving her mother a chance to be surprised, pleased, or even ask her any questions, fearing that she might be up to some kind of "marriage after meeting on a blind date" scenario, she hung up the phone, using the excuse that she was busy.

No need for many words of concern, just give the money.

Two thousand a month is an astronomical figure in my rural hometown.

Although Fan Bingbing had already allowed him to use her as a shield, for some reason, after the incident at the airport last time, he was still a little afraid of his parents' idea of ​​"you should get married soon".

It's best to minimize communication lately.

After hanging up the phone, he thought for a moment, then dialed Bie Yan's number and invited her to dinner.

After all, I got paid, so it wouldn't be right not to treat my older brother to a meal.

However, Bie Yan refused, meaning that Li Mu should save money on his own.

I appreciate it, but I won't eat.

Li Mu didn't insist, after all, he knew about Bie Ge's physical condition.

So, in the evening, he took Sui Kuan to a teahouse for roast goose and also let him try the so-called old goose head as a celebration.

Then Sui Kuan brought up the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival in a couple of days: "Are you going?"

"I?"

Li Mu was taken aback for a moment, then shook his head: "I wasn't notified."

"That probably won't be you—it depends on who the reporter going there is. I'd really like to go, but unfortunately, only official reporters can go—"

Fatty Sui looked on with regret.

Li Mu didn't discuss this topic much.

As a result, on the morning of the 16th, the train ticket was delivered to Li Mu: "Xiao Li, the director wants you to go on a business trip to Ningbo tomorrow."

"Uh... okay."

Li Mu responded, took the train ticket, and looked at Sui Kuan.

Sui Kuan looked at him in surprise.

So Li Mu shrugged: "I hope you get a permanent position soon."

"well----"

Fatty Sui let out a long sigh.

This time he didn't think too much about it, only regretting that he hadn't been officially promoted yet.

On the morning of the 17th, Li Mu met up with Bie Yan at the train station.

Bie Yan was also holding a Nikon D1, which was a digital camera like Li Mu's Canon EOS.

This thing can be considered the ancestor of digital SLR cameras.

It was also one of the most valuable cameras in the newspaper office (excluding the lens).

-

The opening ceremony of the Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival requires speed, so using a digital camera is obviously the most suitable option. The photos taken can be sent back to the newspaper office immediately.

So, this time he also brought along a laptop that looks quite bulky.

This is also an asset of the newspaper.

It was incredibly heavy.

However, all these things were hanging around Li Mu's neck, while Bie Yan only had a suitcase in her hand, making her look very relaxed.

After they met up, Bie Yan took him to exchange his tickets.

I changed my ticket from a hard sleeper to a soft sleeper.

"Brother Bie, is this considered a perk or benefit?"

"You'll be following me; everyone else will have to obediently lie in a hard sleeper car."

"hey-hey----"

Amid Li Mu's laughter, the two went directly to the soft sleeper waiting room and boarded the train.

It was alright, quite lucky. When the train departed from Guangzhou Station, there were no other two passengers in their sleeper compartment.

When Bie Yan returned from the restroom, she found Li Mu looking at a document.

"What are you looking at?"

"I compiled the information on the nominated works for this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards by myself, combining the nomination information with some materials from Tianya."

"You made it yourself?"

"Hmm—Brother Bie, back in early October, didn't Louis Koo and Lam Kwok-Bun get into a fight at a nightclub in Hong Kong and even injure someone? They probably won't be coming this time, right?"

"Definitely not."

Bie Yan casually picked up a few pages of documents, glanced at them, and remarked, "They need to lay low."

"So, our main focus for this interview is film?"

"No, that's a matter for entertainment reporters."

Bie Yan shook her head slightly: "Did you notice anything unusual about this film festival?"

"Well----"

Li Mu looked at the materials he had prepared, but couldn't figure them out for the time being.

Seeing his confusion, Bie Yan reminded him again: "Don't look at the actors who were nominated because of the film, just look at the guests."

"—Are there any guests?"

"Of course, don't you need guests for award ceremonies?"

"No, no, no, what I mean is, Brother Bie, do you have a guest list?"

"—You don't have it?"

"?"

Li Mu was speechless. Looking at the materials he had prepared, he thought to himself, how could anyone possibly tell me something like the guest list?

Seeing this, Bie Yan was also taken aback. He took a look at the materials in Li Mu's hand and found that the content Li Mu had prepared was actually quite detailed. For example, it included the names of the directors and leading actors of the nominated films, their release dates, which films they would be competing with, and any recent news about any of the guests.

They really put their heart into it.

But there is indeed no guest list.

"You really don't have a guest list—didn't I tell you?"

"No. I found all of these online myself."

"I probably forgot—the newspaper received this guest list a long time ago. You didn't really need to go to all that trouble—"

As he spoke, Bie Yan scratched his head.

This was clearly his own mistake.

She continued, "To put it another way, all the nominated films were made in mainland China. But the opening ceremony film is a Hong Kong film, 'Peony Pavilion,' starring Joey Wong. And the award presenters this time are all from Hong Kong and Taiwan."

As he spoke, he rummaged through his bag, took out his notebook, and handed it to Li Mu: "Here you go."

"Wang Zuxian, Zhou Xingchi, Li Ming, Zhang Xinzhe, Dick Cowboy, Wu Bai —"

Li Mu watched until Bie Yan asked, "Have you noticed the pattern?"

"————"

Li Mu thought for a moment and said, "It's a mainland Chinese film, but the guests are all Hong Kong and Taiwanese stars."

"So what's the theme this time?"

Following Bie Yan's train of thought, Li Mu pondered for another two seconds before saying, "Shall we celebrate together across the Taiwan Strait and Hong Kong, jointly promoting the vigorous development of the Chinese film industry and fostering a flourishing of diverse talents?"

"That's right."

A look of satisfaction appeared in Bie Yan's eyes.

Xiao Li's intelligence is indeed quite rare.

"This is the theme of this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival. Furthermore, singers like Wu Bai and Dick Cowboy are performing guests at the festival, and other invited mainland singers include Liu Huan, Tian Zhen, Na Ying, Sun Nan, Zero Point Band, and Tang Dynasty—your description is excellent. This time, it's a genuine celebration across the mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong, a true display of national unity."

"—Any major moves planned?"

"Well~"

Leaning back on the bed, Bie Yan said calmly, "Xiao Li, you can't judge things by appearances. When you watch a film festival, you can't just look at the film festival itself. Let me ask you, what is the most important thing for our country this year? It's the international issue."

"WTO? Or the Olympic bid?"

"Of course it's the WTO. How can bidding for the Olympics compare to that?"

Bie Yan rolled her eyes: "WT0 represents our market officially joining the international market. The Chinese-language film market is also part of that market. Do you understand? Therefore, the lineup for this year's Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Awards is unprecedented. From the very beginning, it has a symbolic meaning: unity. The mainland, Hong Kong, and Taiwan are united, and the Chinese-language film market is officially aligning with the international standards. This is the real big theme."

As for your points about which movies are better and which can win awards, those are insignificant compared to this major topic. Let the entertainment reporters handle that kind of news.

The implication is that even within the journalism profession, there are different levels of expertise.

At this moment, the difference in height between the two is immediately apparent.

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