He was smiling on his face, and even more so in his heart. This Lily Carter, though she looked a bit flirtatious, was actually a very proper woman—just a little fiery in temperament. He remembered clearly that, just two years later during the job competition, because she refused to curry favor with the deputy editor-in-chief in charge and wouldn’t let the leadership take advantage, she ultimately lost her position.

However, after leaving the Morning News in a fit of anger, she opened her own beauty salon, and within a few years became successful, turning into a well-known wealthy woman in the city.

Lily Carter was leaning on the partition, wanting to say something more, when Lauren Scott walked in from outside, clapped her hands, and said, “It’s almost dinner time. Get ready for the group meal, and let’s also welcome Little Andrew.”

Chapter 005 Revision

The editors and reporters of Binhai Morning News were regulars at “Meiyuan Country Cuisine.” This small restaurant was just in the alley to the left of the newspaper office. Though the place wasn’t big, the quality of the dishes was quite good, and the prices weren’t high. Because the editors and reporters worked different hours from other industries—usually starting in the afternoon and working late into the night, only leaving after the newspaper pages went to print—this place had become the de facto staff canteen for the Morning News team.

Deputy Director Michael Bolton didn’t come because of a sudden family emergency. Among the news department leadership, only Lauren Scott attended. Of course, before leaving work, Grant Smith had apologized to Andrew Brooks for being unable to attend due to other reasons.

All the regular reporters were present: Lily Carter, Sophie Thompson, Ethan Morgan, Henry Hill… plus Andrew Brooks, making a total of 12 people gathered around a big table.

At some point, Lily Carter had changed into a fresh outfit—a light blue fitted T-shirt and a pair of cropped skinny jeans, making her curvy figure even more eye-catching. She took a pack of ladies’ cigarettes from her pink purse, lit one, glanced at Andrew Brooks beside her, and giggled, “Hey handsome, want one?”

……

……

Since they still had to work, this meal was really just a formality. Each person had a bottle of beer, chatted a bit about work gossip at the table, and then everyone returned to the office to get busy again.

All the news stories brought back had to go through the review process. For regular reporters, their articles were first reviewed by the department supervisor, then sent to the editor-in-chief’s office. Stories for the front and second pages also needed to be reviewed by the duty deputy editor-in-chief. Some especially important stories, particularly those involving major city leaders, even had to be submitted to the publicity department or the heads of the municipal party committee office or city government office for approval. Only after passing review could the articles be sent to the editing center and officially enter the editing process.

Since Director Lauren Scott was almost an “outsider,” the news department’s articles were mainly initially reviewed by the business deputy director Michael Bolton. Unlike Lauren Scott, Michael Bolton was a seasoned media professional, having previously worked at Binhai Daily before transferring to the Morning News.

Everyone was busy, except for Andrew Brooks, who had some free time. He was already very familiar with these business processes and had nothing new to learn, so he sat at the table, idly flipping through a fashion magazine that Lily Carter had brought.

Suddenly, Lily Carter walked in from outside, clutching her manuscript, her face flushed and muttering under her breath, with Michael Bolton following behind, looking embarrassed.

Lily Carter plopped down in a chair, her eyes reddened, and tears began to fall.

Michael Bolton rubbed his hands together and said quietly, “Little Liam, you’d better revise it again. This article—otherwise it just won’t get through.”

Lily Carter wiped her tears, lifted her face and said angrily, “Revise what? It’s just a lousy article, and I’ve already revised it eight times… How else am I supposed to change it? Why don’t you tell me how?”

Michael Bolton frowned and sighed, “Little Liam, honestly, I don’t really get it either. I’ve read this article several times—the news elements are all there, the lead and headline are appropriate, and there’s no error in the information about the relevant leaders. But for some reason, Director Smith from the municipal party committee office just won’t give the nod.”

Back in 1998, Binhai’s media hadn’t yet established independent interview mechanisms or citizen tip-off systems. Most interviews were arranged by the publicity department or relevant authorities by phone, or sometimes when enterprises or institutions held events, they would proactively contact the media.

Earlier that morning, a major traffic accident occurred in the central section of the overpass spanning Boyang and Shanhe districts in Binhai. Two trucks collided and overturned, causing a severe traffic jam for over ten kilometers on the overpass. At 9 a.m., the newspaper office received a notice from the city government office: the newly appointed municipal party secretary Gavin Duke personally drove to the accident scene and requested that the newspaper send a reporter to follow.

The reporter in charge of transportation was away visiting family in the provincial capital, so the editor-in-chief’s office temporarily assigned Lily Carter to go.

Originally, it didn’t seem like a big deal—at most, a few hundred words on the front page about “the municipal party secretary personally inspecting the accident scene.” After returning, Lily Carter finished her article and submitted it to the editor-in-chief’s office, which reviewed it and then passed it to the duty deputy editor-in-chief Kevin Lewis.

According to usual practice, such articles only needed to highlight the leader’s positive image. Kevin Lewis reviewed it, found no issues, and was about to sign off when he suddenly received a call from Director Ryan Smith of the municipal party committee office, saying the office needed to review the article.