A perfect life begins with changing the timeline.

"By the way, why did Brother Bie make you go to the editor-in-chief for the receipt at noon?"

"It's probably to let me avoid Zhou Long. The editor-in-chief can approve the business trip slip, but it needs to be submitted to the department head. Although Zhou Long definitely won't be working on weekends, it's always better to be safe. That way, once Editor-in-Chief Lin signs the slip for me and he knows the news, I'll leave too."

"...Tsk."

"What's wrong?"\

"He's preoccupied with thoughts everywhere."

"Ha, isn't that right?"

Li Mu chuckled softly, and at his girlfriend's suggestion, grabbed a quilted jacket and put it in a plastic bag.

"But no matter what, I won the award. With this award in hand, I can hide for a few days, wait for the Zhao Wei incident to escalate, and then come back. I won't be afraid to face Zhou Long then."

Hearing her boyfriend's words, she frowned in displeasure:

"That guy is disgusting. It's only because you're low-key that he doesn't know how capable you are..."

"How am I so great?"

Li Mu shook his head with amusement:

"No matter how you put it, I'm just a lowly, official reporter at the Southern Metropolis Daily. He's the director; there are several hurdles between us."

"...By the way, does Brother Bie also not want to offend him?"

Upon hearing this, Li Mu remained remarkably sober:

"Whether it's necessary to offend him is one thing, whether it's necessary to offend him for my sake is another."

"Your workplace is really murky."

"This is just within our unit. Think about it, what about our entire group? Even you, an outsider, feel the waters are deep. As a provincial-level unit, how deep must the waters be within the group?"

"..."\

Upon closer reflection, it's true.

She sighed as she helped her boyfriend set up his laptop:

"Should we go now?"

"Um."\

"hug……"\

She nestled into her boyfriend's arms, inhaling his scent, and squinted her eyes:

"I'm going to Shenzhen this afternoon... I'll work hard and try to finish as soon as possible to be with you."

"Aren't you going to Sichuan and Chongqing soon?"

"...I'll try my best."

"Haha, okay. Kiss~"

After another kiss filled with lingering sweetness, Li Mu glanced at the time—almost midnight—and without further hesitation:

"I'm leaving."

"……Um."\

Li Mu went downstairs and hailed a taxi.

On his way to work, he sent Lin Naichen a message:

"Editor-in-chief, shall I come find you now?"

Lin Naichen replied quickly:

"Wait for me at the print shop near my workplace."

Upon seeing this message, Li Mu knew that Zhou Long should be at work.

So he quickly replied:

"OK."\

He soon arrived at the GG Design Printing store and saw Lin Naichen chatting and drinking tea with the owner.

Upon seeing Li Mu enter, Lin Naichen took out the business trip documents from her handbag:

"Sign it."

"Okay... just one? Editor-in-chief, this time... I'm planning to have Sui Kuan with me."

According to Bie Yan, Sui Kuan should go directly to Yanjing to meet him.

But Lin Naichen shook her head after hearing this and said:

"After you left, the ancestral roots project was already short-staffed. But I just checked with them about the progress; they've already started interviewing the visiting group from Taiwan. It should be finished tomorrow; the original plan was to head back the day after tomorrow… Contact him again tomorrow. Tell him to tell Wu Jun that the forms will be completed when they return."

Li Mu was stunned...

But his reaction was quick; he nodded rapidly.

"OK."\

Then, he quickly signed his name and said:

"I'm leaving now."

"Um."\

Lin Naichen didn't seem inclined to ask any further questions.

After collecting the receipts, he simply said:

"Xiao Li, congratulations! Remember, the awards ceremony is on the 18th, so make sure you schedule your time accordingly."

"Okay, thank you, editor-in-chief."

"Okay, go ahead."

So Li Mu quickly left the printing shop and headed towards his workplace.

His suitcase is still in the reception area.

As he walked, he pondered... whether he should tell Brother Bie about this.

After all, Lin Naichen's meaning was quite clear: the reason she wanted Sui Kuan to stay a little longer was to allow him to complete the ancestral roots project.

Extending this further, if Sui Kuan were to leave now, it would be tantamount to him leaving while completing his ancestral roots project.

This constitutes leaving one's post, and it requires permission from a supervisor.

So the question is... which leader gave this permission?

However, if it's after the interviews for the "roots-tracing" project have concluded, then it's just normal news reporting, which is part of their job.

No manager's approval is needed; all you need to do is come back and fill out a form.

Although at first glance there seems to be no difference, but... judging from this incident, Lin Naichen's attitude, despite Bie Ge's request, seems to... be merely neutral?

He pondered the matter all the way, and finally decided to tell the truth.

So, after quickly stuffing the thick clothes into his suitcase in the reception room, he dialed Bieyan's number.

After explaining the situation, Bieyan's response was quite simple:

"Okay, I understand. Then you can do as he says."

That's when I dialed Sui Kuan's number:

"Dudu...feed"

"Hey Fatty, are you guys done over there?"

"I'm eating right now. I have a field interview this afternoon, what's up?"

"...Will you be almost done by tomorrow?"

"right."\

"Then...would you come with me on a business trip? To Yanjing."

"Oh?"

Having no idea what had happened, Sui Kuan quickly perked up:

"Hey bro, got some news for your little brother? How's it? Big?"

"It's not that big, but it's not that small either."

"oh?!"\

Now, Sui Kuan's voice became even more excited:

"No problem, what news? What happened?"

"It's hard to say exactly. After you finish up there tomorrow, tell Teacher Wu... and then quickly book your ticket to Yanjing. I'll go ahead first and wait for you there."

"OK, no problem. Hey, can I ask Feng Yuan out for dinner now?"

"..."\

Li Mu's lips twitched.

Thinking to myself, this might be the main reason why he agreed so readily.

"Whatever you want, just hurry up and book your tickets for tomorrow."

"Haha, don't worry, I got it. Bye!"

"Um."\

So... ignorance is bliss.

After hanging up the phone, Li Mu glanced at the time, which was just past twelve, and felt a pang of emotion…

I thought to myself, "They'll be here soon, right?"

While pondering this, he hailed a taxi.

When he arrived at the train station, he found the woman who had helped him with his ticket when he went on the business trip with Brother Bie last time. She handed him a ticket for a train departing at around 3 p.m.

Li Mu also asked:

"Ma'am, do you have any sleeper berths?"

"Get on the bus first, then pay the rest; otherwise, it'll be difficult to get reimbursed."

"Okay, sure."

After receiving a kind reminder, Li Mu, carrying his suitcase and laptop, entered the bustling Guangzhou Railway Station.

I definitely can't fly this time. I haven't been able to contact them for two or three hours, and there are some things I can't explain.

Just as he arrived at the waiting hall following the electronic signs, almost immediately after entering, his phone rang.

When he saw the caller ID: Zhao Jian, Li Mu sighed inwardly.

What was bound to happen, happened.

He looked around, pushed the suitcase to the huge window, took a deep breath, and then answered the phone:

"Hey? Hello, Manager Zhao."

"Haha, Li Ji, when did you wake up?"

Zhao Jian's voice didn't betray any impatience; he started with his signature hearty laugh.

"It's past six o'clock, I didn't sleep well at all. I tossed and turned all night, I drank too much yesterday."

"Hmm, that's quite early. Li Ji, where are you now? Have you eaten yet? Let's grab a bite together?"

"..."\

Li Muxin said she didn't know if it was a problem with him, or just a lack of attention to detail.

Putting everything else aside, when you're seriously inviting someone to dinner, don't you always invite them in advance? It's almost 1 AM, and you're only now calling them to eat?

How did you figure that out?

Moreover, you also need someone's help on another front...

This person... is really unqualified to be Zhao Wei's manager.

He's nowhere near as good as his wife.

"Haha, I've already finished eating and just boarded the train."

"Huh?...Hmm?"

Zhao Jian was suddenly taken aback:

"Get on...the train?"

"right."\

"Li Ji is going on a business trip!?"

Instantly, his volume increased.

Li Mu responded calmly:

"Yes, I'm going to Yanjing. There's a news story we've been following for a long time, and we finally have a lead. We need to get there quickly. Manager Zhao, what's up? Is there something you need?"

He asked a pointless question.

Zhao Jian, however, did not respond immediately.

After about three or four seconds, a faint hint of laughter could be heard in the voice on the other end:

"Haha, Mr. Li, you're in such a rush. Why didn't you tell me beforehand... Oh right, just now, someone from the Crown Hotel contacted me. Mr. Li drank too much last night and left my number when he checked into the room. The hotel staff said Mr. Li forgot something in the room."

"thing?"\

Li Mu's voice held a hint of surprise as he continued:

"No, my phone and keys are both with me, nothing's missing."

"..."\

There was silence on the other end of the phone.

Li Mu's words essentially sealed the deal.

What can Zhao Jianneng say?

"You didn't take the local specialties I gave you?"

Nobody's stupid. Those two black bags in the room—even if someone's drunk or completely confused, seeing them would at least pique their curiosity and make them open them, right?

Therefore, Li Mu was clearly pretending to be stupid.

Zhao Jian, of course, understood this as well.

It was precisely because he understood this that he remained silent.

After a few seconds of silence, Zhao Jian said:

"I'll ask the hotel what happened then, I'll hang up now."

"OK."\

The call was immediately disconnected.

But Li Mu didn't leave; he remained by the window, his gaze somewhat vacant.

Actually, he was counting in his head.

One, two, three... two hundred and seventy-one... three hundred.

The timer reading was inaccurate; it showed five minutes.

His phone rang again.

Caller: Zhou Long.

"Hello, Director."

"Little Li..."

"Yes, Director, please speak."

Hearing the unreadable sounds on the phone, Li Mu's voice remained calm.

"Zhao Jian just called me. What's going on? Are you going on a business trip?"

"Yes, I'm going to Yanjing. There's a news story there that I've been following for quite a while. They just gave me the news, and I need to go there right away."

"Oh~"

Zhou Long responded and then said:

"When are you going to bring me Zhao Wei's article?"

"I can't produce it right now, Director. I've been following this news for quite a while, and this time it'll be a busy week."

A week?

The daylily buds are all cold now.

What Zhao Wei needs most right now is for a large-scale media outlet to speak out for her.

A week later, when the whole nation knows, not only Zhou Long, but even if Cheng Yizhong were to step down personally, he wouldn't dare touch this news.

Whoever touches it dies.

Does Zhou Long understand?

Of course he understands.

After a few seconds of silence on the other end of the phone, the voice came through again:

Are you sure?

"Yes, confirmed."

Li Mu responded again in a calm voice.

I don't care whether Zhao Wei lives or dies.

I can't write this article.

I'm absolutely certain.