A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 139 Reunion

The article was sent back to the newspaper that the first day of the film festival's opening ceremony had ended, and the second day began as scheduled.

After a night of dreamless sleep, Li Mu sent a message to Brother Bie after waking up, but he didn't receive a reply from the time he finished breakfast until he packed his things and went downstairs.

So, Li Mu boarded the minibus again.

This time, however, he followed a map to visit various cinemas.

He visited everything from the cultural center in Ningbo to a few large cinemas in one morning.

However, he didn't watch a single movie. Instead, he faithfully documented each cinema's entrance, movie posters, and crowds queuing to buy tickets with photographs.

He didn't receive Bieyan's reply until he returned for lunch:

"I just woke up."

Li Mu immediately made the call, and when the older brother, who had just woken up, heard about Li's work that morning, he naturally gave a comment:

"You can handle things in the next few days. Just give us some news, and we'll talk about the rest on the 22nd."

So, the elder brother's instructions became Li Mu's daily routine for the next few days.

Take photos, write down your observations, and send them back to the newspaper.

The film festival's stars and celebrities haven't arrived yet, so there's not much news to dig up.

When the 22nd arrived, Li Mu became extremely busy that day.

"Mr. Zhang, this is Li Mu, a reporter from our newspaper. He's with me right now. Li, this is Zhang Hua, the general manager of Guangzhou Qiaojiaren Film and Television..."

"Hey, Editor Wang, long time no see. Xiao Li, this is Wang Xiaolan, the arts and sports editor of the Shanghai Evening News. Editor Wang, this is Li Mu, our new employee this year... yes, the one from 911."

"Oh, Teacher Zheng, it's been so long..."

When countless celebrities and various networks of connections arrived in Ningbo, Li Mu finally realized just how extensive Brother Bie's network of connections really was.

This film and television investment company, that newspaper and magazine, all sorts of companies, a motley crew.

In front of us are the directors of Shanghai Film Studio's "Life and Death Choice" and "Full Moon Tonight," on this side is Xi'an Film Studio's "Who Says I Don't Care," and on the other side is China Film Group's Golden Horse Award favorite, "Blue Love"...

Brother Bie knows everyone and can talk to anyone.

And these people from various film studios and even film companies all knew him...

Good guy.

Li Mu was stunned by the sheer number of connections he saw.

So much so that he couldn't help but ask during his break:

"Brother Bie... how do you know so many people?"

Bie Yan was taken aback.

There was something unexpected... How could the usually clever Xiao Li ask such a naive question?

But seeing the curiosity and surprise in the young man's eyes, he smiled and said:

"The longer you work in this industry, the more people you'll naturally meet. Today you go to a reporting event and build some connections. Tomorrow you go to a film festival and meet a few more people. Before long, you'll become familiar with everyone."

"...Is it really that simple?"

"Otherwise what? Of course, some relationships take time to build, but the principle is the same. For example, didn't you just meet quite a few people? When you need something, you can share it with each other, and relationships will be established, right? And you've only been in this industry for a short time, haven't you?"

"Well……"

Li Mu thought for a moment and then suddenly realized.

That makes perfect sense.

Then, as night fell, the much-anticipated red carpet began.

……

For the red carpet photoshoot, Bie Yan didn't let Li Mu come; instead, she carried the camera herself and took the pictures.

In his words, Li Mu's photography skills can only be described as knowing how to take pictures, but he is still at the stage of not understanding how to take pictures.

Some actors have very high standards for their personal photos, especially in Hong Kong, where there are even specific angle requirements. If the photo doesn't turn out well, it's difficult to explain.

So he does this kind of thing himself.

Li Mu was helping out on the side, and at the same time he saw many celebrities, including Wang Zuxian.

He had to admit... Wang Zuxian was truly beautiful.

The others are no less impressive.

To put it bluntly, all celebrities have pretty good looks.

He walked the red carpet for almost an hour and didn't see a single "ugly" person.

Even if one's appearance is not outstanding, there is a certain aura that follows one's side, making one feel a breeze with every step.

He also ran into an acquaintance.

When I went to interview the crew of "Heroes", I met Zhang Weiping, whom Brother Bie called a "smiling tiger", and Zhou Wei, the assistant director.

But Zhang Yimou was not seen.

Zhang Weiping, along with Zhou Wei and three or four others, walked down the red carpet, laughing and joking.

"Brother Bie, Zhang Yimou didn't come?"

"They probably couldn't get away from filming. Zhang Ziyi didn't come either. The fact that neither of them showed up means the movie definitely isn't finished yet."

Li Mu responded, thought for a moment, took out his phone, and sent a message to Zhou Wei:

"Zhou Zhu, I just saw you. Didn't Director Zhang come?"

Zhou Wei replied to the message very quickly:

"I'm sorry, Reporter Li, Director Zhang and Zhang Ziyi are still filming and couldn't make it this time."

Li Mu showed the message to Bie Yan, who nodded.

"Hmm, that's quite polite. You two could try to keep in touch more often."

"Okay. Shall I arrange to meet him tomorrow?"

"Okay, our tickets are for the day after tomorrow anyway."

……

After the red carpet photoshoot, the reporters were led by staff to the interview room.

Furthermore, because it was a live broadcast, a television was specially set up in the interview room to provide award information to the reporters who could not enter the venue.

The reporters finally had a place to rest.

To Li Mu's surprise, he ran into Zhou Wei while he was in the restroom.

"Shusuke?"

Seeing Zhou Wei washing his hands, Li Mu called out.

Zhou Wei turned his head, paused for a moment, then greeted him with a smile:

"Reporter Li, we were planning to meet tomorrow, but I didn't expect to run into each other so soon."

"Haha, you bet. Let me wash my hands first~"

The two, who had just come out of the restroom, skipped the handshake and walked out together, both soaking wet.

"Why didn't Shusuke use the restroom inside?"

"I'm not a guest tonight. I'm just accompanying Mr. Zhang to walk the red carpet to show that many people from the company have come to support us, but you need an invitation to go inside."

Zhou Wei was quite honest, and then asked curiously:

"Reporter Li, where are the other reporters?"

"He's resting inside."

Li Mu pointed to the interview room.

"I see."

As Zhou Wei spoke, he took out a box of Yuxi cigarettes.

Li Mu naturally took it, and after the two of them moved a little away from the bathroom, they each lit it at the trash can next to the lawn.

Whether he smokes or not is one thing, but whether he smokes or not is another.

"I heard... the reporter got promoted?"

"right."

Tasting the tobacco flavor in his mouth—neither bitter nor sour—Li Mu nodded.

"He was just promoted to deputy director of the Culture and Sports Department of our newspaper."

"Ha, congratulations then. So, the next step is becoming the director?"

"Logically speaking, yes, that's right. Deputy Director, Director, then Editorial Board Member, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Editor-in-Chief. This is the career path for our editorial department. I'm not so clear about the other departments."

"Did Reporter Li get promoted too?"

"Yes, thanks to Brother Tubie, I was among the first batch of people to be officially hired here."

In a chat, there's give and take; Zhou Wei asks questions, and Li Mu answers.

Anyway, these aren't exactly secrets.

He then asked about the movie "Hero" and learned that the reason Director Zhang hadn't come was because he had gone to Zhangye.

I estimate that the entire film will be finished in about two more months.

Then Zhou Wei added:

"Once filming wraps up, I'll tell Reporter Li that if any opportunities arise, let's get together and discuss it."

"No problem. If you need anything, just let me know, Assistant Zhou... Also, when are you going to Guangzhou? So I can show you some hospitality."

"Haha, there will be a chance... After the movie is finished filming, we will definitely go all over the country to promote it. Guangzhou is a box office powerhouse, so we will definitely go there."

"That's fine, haha..."

The two only chatted for the time it takes to smoke a cigarette, and Li Mu didn't actively seek out any inside information about "Hero".

The reason is simple: as Brother Bie said, maintain respect and get along well. This kind of personal interaction is sometimes much better than desperately digging for news.

He is a sports and culture reporter, not an entertainment reporter.

The older brother has already shown him a path; he just needs to follow it.

And so, after one cigarette, the two parted ways.

Li Mu didn't ask Zhou Wei where he was going; he simply said he was going to the interview room.

Then, after returning to his seat, he told Bie Yan, who was watching the awards ceremony, what had happened.

Bie Yan nodded slightly.

……

The Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Film Festival started on the 18th and ended at 9:11 pm on the 22nd.

It lasted a total of four days.

Li Mu, after confirming the awards he had written down in his notebook—such as Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Actress—again with the official list, handed it to Bie Yan. Bie Yan then went off to conduct her interview.

With that, apart from the final draft of the award list that Li Mu needed to write, the two of them had come to the end of their work.

Around 10 PM, we returned to the hotel, and Bie Yan simply waved his hand dismissively:

"Just send the list back. Let them write the article. They've been busy these past few days, they need a break."

"OK."

Although Li Mu agreed, he still diligently typed on his laptop until after 1 a.m.

Finally, I sent all the details of the awards ceremony to my workplace.

For him, the mission was only truly over when it reached this point.

On the 23rd, Bie Yan didn't say much about his staying up late to write articles.

His original intention was to reduce Xiao Li's workload, but since Xiao Li has already finished, then let him finish.

With this, the film festival came to a complete end.

Ningbo has returned to tranquility.

On the morning of the 24th, the two boarded the train heading south.

Another 22 hours passed, and after resting at home for a day, Li Mu went back to work as usual on the 26th.

Although they had just returned from a business trip, Shang Xiaobin and Wu Jun had experienced this kind of business trip many times before in their long careers. So it was nothing new for them. On the contrary, Sui Kuan kept asking him which celebrities he had met.

They seemed very curious about the film festival.

While chatting with Fatty Sui, Jetta headed straight for the athletes' village to interview the athletes.

Nowadays, more and more provincial team athletes are choosing to come here in advance to get used to the venue, and the atmosphere of the Ninth National Games is getting stronger and stronger. There is still a lot of work for them to do.

And so, time passed day by day amidst this busy and fulfilling work.

In the blink of an eye, October is coming to an end.

November in Guangzhou finally brought a touch of coolness.

The opening ceremony of the 9th National Games on the 11th is getting closer and closer.