A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

Chapter 160 Endless Blue Sea

The joy of a long-awaited reunion needs no further explanation, but after the tender moments, this time, the girl couldn't stay up all night.

She was very tired after finishing a shoot.

So I slept especially soundly that night.

When I opened my eyes, it was already past nine in the morning.

My boyfriend is gone, but there's a sticky note on my bedside table:

"I'm going to work now, I'll be back at noon."

Seeing the handwriting on the note made her feel great, and she wasn't even very hungry.

I ate a bit too much last night.

I won't eat this morning... Oh right, I need to buy a scale to monitor my weight.

She has a tendency to gain weight easily, and it would be terrible if she overeats and becomes a fat ball.

As she pondered this, she walked over to Li Mu's computer.

I turned on the computer skillfully and logged into the game.

She wasn't really familiar with Guangzhou, and she didn't want to go out and explore.

I'm very tired and need some time to change my mood and recover from the fatigue.

Playing games is a pretty good way to do things.

She was just relaxing, definitely not addicted.

Ok.

Absolutely not.

……

"In terms of commercial value, Zhang Ziyi is definitely the highest, without a doubt."

Inside the teahouse, Chen Lixin, with a cigarette between his fingers, talked eloquently.

"Her works are all aimed at the international market, and she can earn money from Americans, so she must be very capable. Besides, her acting is really good. I've watched the movie 'Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon' many times, and her performance is truly captivating."

He said that Li Mu listened and took notes as he listened.

He asked Bie Zhi Bie Ge if he had been discharged from the hospital, and the answer he received was:

"He has been discharged from the hospital, but he still needs to recuperate in Yanjing for a while. He may go back after New Year's Day."

Since his brother wasn't coming back, he could only rely on his meager connections to contact the people his older brother had introduced him to.

Fortunately, when he contacted others, he wasn't asking for favors or making any demands.

I just said I had an interview transcript about the industry and hoped to get feedback from people in the industry.

These kinds of invitations, which don't cause much trouble and can also earn you a favor, are quite readily accepted by these people. For example, this Brother Chen invited them yesterday afternoon, and the other party readily agreed.

"So, in your list of ten, Brother Chen, Zhang Ziyi is the most capable?"

"Yes, that's right! Good acting, and an international market. We've joined the WTO, won the bid to host the Olympics… this means that in the future, everything we do will be in line with international standards. That's when we need a public face, and isn't someone like Zhang Ziyi perfect?"

To be honest, his point of view is indeed valid.

"Besides her?"

"Mei Ting is also good. Her film and television works perfectly capture all the characteristics of that turbulent era..."

The two sat down a little after 9 a.m. and chatted until almost 11 a.m. before ending their conversation.

Since it's morning tea, we won't be having lunch together.

Li Mu thanked him, and Chen Lixin, who had enjoyed a pleasant and relaxed chat all morning, waved his hand in return.

"Alright, I'm leaving. Xiao Li, let's have dinner together another day."

"OK."

After seeing his older brother off, Li Mu checked the time and drove home as fast as he could.

When I got home, as soon as I opened the door, I saw my girlfriend sitting in front of the computer.

"...You're addicted?"

He was somewhat surprised.

"Huh?...No, I just logged in, just checking my account."

Fan Bingbing looked embarrassed.

I got so engrossed in leveling up...

Li Mu looked at him strangely.

But he didn't say much more, instead saying:

"Spaghetti for lunch?"

"Okay, actually you don't need to come back specially. Work is important, and I can take care of myself."

"It's okay, you weren't able to go out, right... By the way, what are your plans for this afternoon?"

"Well……"

Fan Bingbing glanced at the computer screen subconsciously, then forced herself to speak:

"Getting ready to play tennis."

"Okay. Then you can drive off in your Audi."

"Then what will you drive?"

"A Santana? This is the company car; it's free to fill up with gas."

"Oh, okay... What did you do this morning?"

To show that she wasn't addicted to games, she quickly went into the kitchen, thinking of helping Li Mu with some chores.

As soon as she mentioned it, Li Mu immediately said:

"I went to meet with Chen Lixin."

"Editor-in-Chief Chen?"

"Yeah. We chatted about the list. I learned that Zhang Ziyi has a pretty good reputation in the industry."

"Of course, Zhang is joking with you. Besides, she's a good actress. Think about it, not everyone can be a 'Zhang Yimou girl.' If she didn't have some talent, she wouldn't be able to stand on her own. And... she has a very adaptable personality, and she gives people the impression of being very shrewd and capable."

"Yes, Brother Chen also has a high opinion of her. In his opinion, Zhang Ziyi is first, Mei Ting is second, Xu Jinglei is third, and Yuan Li is fourth."

"No weekly newsletter?"

"No, he thinks Zhou Xun is a bit rebellious and will cause trouble sooner or later."

Hearing this, Fan Bingbing didn't seem to mind, and instead said:

"So, in your current list, who has the most votes?"

"Zhang Ziyi and Zhao Wei."

"See, I told you it would be those two. What about me?"

"you……"

Li Mu felt somewhat embarrassed.

Although he knew that his girlfriend was very self-aware and had said to herself, "I am not good enough for her."

But the reality is clearly more resolute than her "I don't deserve it" statement.

The top four lists are subjective and vary from person to person.

But she never actually went in.

She's among the top ten post-95s.

But the top four... don't even think about it.

Just as he was wondering what to say, Fan Bingbing waved his hand:

"No need to say anything, I understand just by looking at your expression. By the way... how many people have you asked?"

"We've basically interviewed all the reporters in the unit. We've also checked the works of each of the ten most important people, including you. We have a rough estimate of the box office, but we don't know if it's accurate. Now the main task is to interview some industry insiders and summarize their opinions on these people. But... the result is already quite obvious."

"Zhang Ziyi, Zhao Wei?"

"Yes, Xu Jinglei, Mei Ting, and Zhou Xun. These five people will advance to the final four. However, Yuan Li and Mei Ting's votes are actually quite close, almost neck and neck."

"...Wouldn't the person who didn't get in be in an awkward position?"

"So only I know the final result. It's not something I can say out loud, and there won't be a final ranking... I'll just finish writing this article, submit it, wait for Brother Bie to read it and think it's okay... then it'll be my year-end summary, and that's it."

He shook his head as he spoke:

"At first, I was quite happy when I thought about this news; it seemed novel. But... it's exhausting."

Since he started working on this press release, he has been constantly traveling between the archives, interview sites, and various journalist departments.

Every day, they not only had to sift through thousands of newspapers to find out the works and ratings of each person on the list, but also had to inquire about the person's reputation within the industry, as well as the opinions of the public and the audience's reaction to each drama.

This kind of work requires no technical skill, but it is a process of quantitative change.

No one helped him; he had to do it all himself.

I'm absolutely exhausted.

But... how should I put it, it wasn't entirely fruitless.

At least now, if someone asks him, "What dramas has Fan Bingbing acted in recently?", he can recite them from "Princess Pearl" to "Young Justice Bao 2" like a memorized text, and then tell you about the ratings and audience feedback for each drama as if he knew them by heart.

In a sense, it is also a kind of accumulation.

He even thinks he's more of an entertainment reporter than the entertainment reporters themselves.

"Thank you for your hard work."

His girlfriend grabbed his shoulder and pulled him hard twice.

Li Mu shook his head:

"Alright, go wash your hands and get ready to eat."

"Um."

After finishing the meal, Li Mu left again.

In the afternoon, he made an appointment with Zhang Hua, the general manager of Guangzhou Qiaojiaren Publishing Company, whom Brother Bie had introduced to him last time. Zhang Hua was also an industry insider. He invited him to their company for tea to continue refining the news.

We agreed to meet at 2:30 pm, and it's almost 2 pm now, so I can't be late.

Just as he was walking towards Zhang Hua, he suddenly received a call from Lin Naichen.

"Xiao Li, you're not at work?"

"No, editor-in-chief, I'm out conducting interviews."

"Oh, is that the startup news you mentioned last time?"

Li Mu was taken aback when he heard Lin Naichen's words.

Starting a business... Oh, I remember now.

Last time, he mentioned to Brother Bie that he wanted to write a news article about Li Xingping founding HAO123, and Brother Bie said that such things should be discussed with Lin Naichen first.

So he quickly said:

"No, it's about the news I recently got on about actresses. Editor-in-chief, what's up?"

"Well, the Ninth National Games are over. You can follow up on that news story you mentioned last time. I've noticed you've been busy working on the list of actresses lately... Xiao Li, our news feed has been a bit too quiet lately. Although everyone's been busy with the Ninth National Games for a month and is tired, we still need some high-quality news. So, follow up on that news interview you mentioned last time, and put the other work aside for now."

Li Mu understood the meaning immediately upon hearing it.

Clearly, everyone's been slacking off quite a bit this month, and there haven't been any major news stories...

The department needs some "interesting" news, huh?

So he quickly replied:

"Okay, editor-in-chief, I understand. I'll follow up on it for the next couple of days. This news story is about a grassroots entrepreneur, and the website is quite useful. HAO123, do you know it?"

"I don't know. You go ahead and do the interviews. Once you've written it, bring it to me."

"OK."

"Um."

Lin Naichen hung up the phone.

Li Mu, while driving, thought for a moment and then dialed Li Xingping's number.

But... no one answered.

He was a little puzzled, wondering if she was taking a nap.

But instead of continuing to play, they started brainstorming.

HAO123's profit model is actually the simplest form of Google Ads traffic generation.

For example, if a Google website link is placed on a page, and a website company has a need for it, they can pay a certain amount per month to have HAO123 list the website on the comprehensive index.

It's that simple.

Furthermore, according to the wheelchair-bound man, this is precisely what makes Li Xingping interesting.

He is good at doing other things based on his own needs.

For example, in the two weeks before HAO123 was sold, he wanted to listen to music anytime, anywhere online. Based on this need, he created a music website called "qq163" using a web crawler program.

The website gained popularity as soon as it was launched, with many people finding the ability to listen to music anytime, anywhere on the site very convenient.

Most importantly, Li Xingping's web scraping technology is very mature, the website runs smoothly, and the songs he has collected are comprehensive.

The number of users is growing rapidly.

However, neither the wheelchair-bound man nor Li Xingping paid much attention to it back then.

As a result, after Baidu acquired it, QQ163's web crawling technology was transformed into a well-known music business segment of Baidu.

This section offers online listening and download functions.

The technology for collecting songs was developed by Li Xingping...

Because we didn't think that much about it at the time, this business was essentially given to Baidu as a gift.

The man in the wheelchair had ground his back teeth to powder.

And now... in order to make more money from HAO123 in the future.

Li Mu felt it was time to bring it out.

The Internet is a blue ocean.

And the fish in the sea represent the endless stream of netizens in the future.

He who wins over netizens wins over the world.