A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 143 Surprise

Anyone who has taken a sleeper train knows that if the train's departure or arrival time is convenient, such as boarding in the evening or afternoon, taking a nap, and arriving the next morning, then the experience is quite good.

After all, it won't consume too much of your energy.

But if it's a train journey that takes 25 or 30 hours, or even 30 hours, spending the whole day on the train, that kind of experience can be very difficult to endure.

Trains that cross latitudes can disrupt your routine and cause discomfort. In addition, toilets and carriages filled with various smells, noisy children, and other noises can make you feel uncomfortable.

The same applies to train services from Yanjing to Guangzhou.

Admittedly, it is much more comfortable than a hard seat, but the journey is ultimately too long; more than twenty hours can be an extremely boring experience.

Not to mention... even a small guy like Li Mu can only sleep in the top bunk.

He had just finished two busy days; the WTO forum had a tight schedule and a huge workload.

Now that he can finally rest, Li Mu is feeling a bit of a headache at the thought of having to take a 20-plus-hour bus ride back to Guangzhou on the 8th.

So, after much deliberation, he decided to leave early.

I'm taking a plane back early tomorrow morning.

A two- or three-hour flight is much more comfortable than a train.

So, after a night, on the morning of the 7th, he found Zhou Lipeng.

Using the excuse that he urgently needed to return to Guangzhou, he wanted to leave early.

Zhou Lipeng didn't stop him, since buying tickets didn't cost him any money.

Besides, they had something to do and left early.

So he nodded and agreed immediately, even offering to help Li Mu contact the ticket exchange center to change his ticket for today.

Li Mu quickly refused, saying he would take a plane back.

The kind funded by private investment.

So, after politely saying goodbye to the big shots at Caijing, he hailed a taxi and headed straight to the airport. After buying a ticket and some local specialties from Beijing, he boarded a southbound plane at around 11 a.m.

He didn't tell Fan Bingbing.

Although he didn't know why, subconsciously he felt... that this was at least a kind of surprise.

Sitting in the comfortable and spacious business class of the plane, he took out his laptop and began designing tonight's menu.

But there's something uncertain: she finished filming this morning... Logically, shouldn't the crew have a wrap party?

She's not some kind of time management master. If there really is a wrap party, how should she plan her own meal?

After much thought and deliberation, I finally returned to the warm and cozy Guangzhou from the chilly city of Yanjing, carrying a menu of six main dishes, around 2 p.m.

As soon as the plane landed and he turned on his phone, he heard a series of ringing sounds.

"Brother Li, I've wrapped up filming!"

"Oh ho!!!"

"...Are you up?"

"Why haven't you wished me a happy birthday yet?"

"Where did you go partying last night?"

"Fine, hmph, I'm going to the wrap party. Message me when you wake up~"

Looking at these messages, Li Mu thought for a moment and replied:

"I just woke up. Is your scene over? When are you leaving?"

Fan Bingbing replied instantly:

"Hmph! Tell me! Where did you go last night? Did you go to see those girls again?!"

Li Muxin said, "How come I've become this kind of image in your heart?"

I was even hoping to give you a surprise...

But she still replied in response:

"What a load of crap! After we finished working on the article last night, we went out for a late-night snack together, and we didn't get back until almost 3 a.m. I just woke up~"

"I know, I've been reading the Southern Metropolis Daily these past few days and I see your articles every day. Wasn't the article you posted last night titled 'The First WTO Yanjing Forum Concludes Successfully'?"

"You saw it?"

"I see, the authors are Fang Jianxian, Chen Yu, and Li Mu... How come you're listed as the third author?"

Li Muxin said you know quite a lot.

But the fact is, although his name appears in almost all the articles these past two days, he is not ranked very high among the authors.

Interviewing, recording, and summarizing are not his tasks; his role is to provide accurate translations for long, complex, or technical sentences.

The work is tedious, but the technical difficulty is not high.

"We all have our roles. You still haven't answered me, when are you leaving?"

"Tomorrow. I just finished the wrap party. I'm packing my things now. I'm going to Hong Kong tomorrow morning, and I'll probably stay for one or two days. After the makeup and styling test, I'll go to Taiwan to record 'The Same Song'."

"Isn't today your birthday? What are your plans for tonight?"

"I'm not making any plans. I'll just buy a small cake. I already rolled the eggs this morning."

Li Muzhen was somewhat surprised to see her reply:

"Get lost? You have this custom too?"

He thought that only children in rural Henan province would receive a bowl of birthday noodles and an egg that they would roll from head to toe to roll away all bad luck on the morning of their birthday...

"Of course, brother, our two families live next door. We share many customs, right?"

"Okay. But isn't it a bit too hasty to make your birthday celebration so simple?"

"Hmph, you know that? I was going to invite you over. If you had come, we could have gone out for a nice meal. But since you're not coming back, then forget it. I don't have many friends anyway, and it's the same every year, I'm used to it."

As Li Mu typed away on his phone, the cabin door opened, and he disembarked with his bag.

Upon seeing this text message, a pitiful face unconsciously appeared in Li Mu's eyes... and he couldn't help but smile.

Ugh.

Poor child.

In the end, it's still up to me, your brother, to save you.

So, he quickly replied with an excuse:

"Okay, that's a shame. I'll go grab something to eat first."

"Okay, go ahead. By the way, how am I going to give you the clothes I bought for you? I'm leaving tomorrow, so I'll take them to the security guard's office at your apartment complex after I've packed."

His eyes flickered when he saw the message.

"You can wait until tonight, my colleague will come to pick it up after get off work?"

"Okay, I'll wait for your message."

"Um."

……

Carrying his luggage, he left the airport, hailed a taxi, returned to Mingya Garden, put the gift box of Lotus liquor he had bought at the airport into the Audi, and drove straight to Friendship Shopping Mall.

According to the salesperson at the airport, this Lotus White wine is one of the famous "Three Whites of Beijing," a former tribute wine.

It's quite expensive, 190 yuan a bottle.

He bought eight bottles. He didn't know who he could give them to, but it was better to have some on hand.

Upon arriving at the Friendship Store, he began shopping according to the menu he had designed.

I returned home a little before 4 p.m.

I also picked up a birthday cake.

Then things got busy.

Fatty, a professional chef, might seem like he's handling six dishes all by himself, but in reality, it's just a matter of preparing ingredients, pre-processing, and cooking.

Not difficult.

In an hour, everything that needed to be roasted was put into the oven, all the seafood was pre-processed, and finally, the T-bone steak was sprinkled with sea salt and black pepper, and that was pretty much it.

So he set off again, heading straight for the guesthouse.

Before setting off, he called Fan Bingbing:

"Hey, Fan Bingbing, I've asked my colleague to go to the guesthouse to find you. He'll drive my car there. When I call you again in a bit, just come down with your things."

"Okay, I got it. Are you done with your work? What are you going to do now?"

"Uh... I have to go to a meeting now. I'm leaving tomorrow, so there's still some work to finish. I'll talk to you later."

"……All right."

He couldn't tell if the person on the other end of the phone was happy or angry, and Li Mu didn't think much of it. After hanging up, he accelerated.

He arrived at the guesthouse entrance at 5:30.

For some reason, a mischievous smile appeared on his face, and he dialed her number again:

"My colleague has arrived..."

"Okay, I got it."

The call ended abruptly, and Li Mu began craning his neck to peer into the room.

Two or three minutes later, he suddenly froze...

Then we saw Xiaomi coming out carrying big bags and small bags.

"?"

Why doesn't she come down by herself?

After seeing Li Mu's car, Xiao Mi quickly walked over, but when she saw Li Mu's surprised expression through the lowered car window, she was clearly taken aback as well.

"Brother Li?"

"...Xiao Mi, where is she?"

"what?"

Xiaomi also expressed its doubts.

What does "she" mean?

My sister asked me to bring the things downstairs...

They didn't say, "Brother Li, come here."

Besides... you two always avoid me when you contact each other.

"...You pack your things first, I'll call her."

"it is good."

Xiaomi stuffed several shopping bags into Li Mu's trunk, then politely asked:

"Brother Li, should I stay here and wait?"

"No need, you can go back... Oh right, don't mention you've seen me before, I want to surprise her."

Upon hearing this, Xiaomi's expression suddenly turned strange.

Although she could roughly see some signs of things.

but……

"OK."

After agreeing, Xiaomi quickly left, showing great tact, while Li Mu dialed Fan Bingbing's number again:

"Hey, Brother Li?"

"Fan Bingbing...aren't you coming down?"

"Huh? What am I supposed to do down there? I had Xiaomi deliver it."

"Uh... I mean, my colleague wants your autograph..."

"Then tell him to wait a moment, I'll have Xiaomi deliver it to him."

For a celebrity, signing autographs is as commonplace as eating and drinking; it's nothing new for her.

But Li Mu was speechless.

If you don't come down, who will I cook those dishes for?

So he quickly said:

"He brought his notebook, mainly for his niece... Why don't you go in person? He's told me that many times."

"Well... okay, but I didn't wear makeup or do anything. You should have told me earlier that I should have put on makeup."

"Haha, no need, just an autograph will do."

"Okay, I'll go down now."

"Um."

After hanging up the phone, Li Mu quickly rolled up the car window.

A slightly mischievous smile had appeared on his lips without him even noticing.

So, after waiting for less than five minutes, he finally saw that familiar figure wearing a baseball cap and a mask.

The other party had obviously seen his car as well.

So he quickly walked over.

Li Mu immediately rolled down the car window.

So, when he met those beautiful big eyes, Li Mu clearly felt the other person's steps falter.

Then, she crossed her arms, tilted her head, widened her eyes, and stared straight at Li Mu…

Li Mu's response was simple, after all, this was a "surprise" he had prepared himself.

He flashed a bright white grin and waved at the big star with his bulging eyes:

"Happy birthday, Fan Bingbing, get in the car."

“!!!!!!”