"Xiao An, Mr. Howard is very satisfied with the article you wrote. It's already been reviewed, but about the byline..." A worldly smile appeared on Lauren Scott's charming, heavily made-up face. "Deputy Lewis is paying close attention to this report and even personally called the municipal party office's Director Smith to discuss it... So, what do you think..."

Lauren Scott hemmed and hawed for a long time, but in fact, Andrew Brooks had already understood what she meant—she was hinting that Kevin Lewis should be listed as the first author. But he just pretended not to get it, feigning ignorance.

Other things were negotiable, but this report was crucial to his future, and Andrew Brooks would never tolerate Kevin Lewis taking the credit. He calculated in his mind, deciding to keep playing dumb. If Lauren Scott or Kevin Lewis made it explicit, even if it meant a confrontation with Kevin Lewis, he would never back down.

Although Kevin Lewis had connections and was the deputy editor-in-chief, at Binhai Morning Post, Zachary Howard was still the real boss.

Lauren Scott felt a bit annoyed, thinking, "This kid looks pretty sharp, so why is he pretending not to understand 'human language'?" Then she reconsidered—Andrew Brooks had just graduated from university and entered society, so it was normal for him to be inexperienced in these matters. Just as Lauren Scott was about to patiently "enlighten" Andrew Brooks further, Zachary Howard suddenly strode into the newsroom office.

All the reporters busy in their cubicles stood up. "Mr. Howard!"

As soon as Lauren Scott saw Zachary Howard, a nearly obsequious smile appeared on her face, and she got up to greet him. "Mr. Howard, what brings you to our news department to check on our work?"

Zachary Howard was quite tall, sporting the trendy crew cut of the time. He smiled at Lauren Scott and nodded, then waved at Andrew Brooks, calling out, "Little Junior, come here for a moment."

Andrew Brooks walked over quietly.

Zachary Howard approvingly patted Andrew Brooks on the shoulder. "Good kid, worthy of being a top student from our Yanda Journalism Department. You have a strong news sense... But, in this part, I think you still need to make some changes. Use more numbers to support your points and add fewer personal opinions. That way..."

Zachary Howard held Andrew Brooks's article in his hand, pointing out things here and there. Seeing Andrew Brooks's humble and receptive attitude, he finally laughed heartily with satisfaction. "Revise it again, and when you're done, submit it directly to the editor-in-chief's office to Director Clark, and have them fax it to the municipal party office for review."

……

……

The article was quickly approved by the municipal party office. On the faxed-back copy, as Andrew Brooks had expected, there was a red-ink comment from Gavin Duke: "Approved. Recommend simultaneous coverage in the daily, evening, and morning editions."

The next day, the in-depth report on the overpass, bylined "Intern Reporter Andrew Brooks," appeared on the front page of several Binhai newspapers at the same time. For a while, the name Andrew Brooks became quite well-known, and he truly made his mark in Binhai's media circle. That morning, before Andrew Brooks even went to work, he received a notice from the newspaper office: the TV station was going to do a program about the overpass and had invited him to be a guest.

Chapter 011: Sudden Change

When Ashley Brooks learned that her son was going to be on TV, she was overjoyed and hurriedly dragged Andrew Brooks to the mall to buy a new outfit. As the saying goes, clothes make the man. Although it wasn't a name brand, the casual wear made Andrew Brooks look handsome and dashing. Even the store clerks couldn't help but offer him a couple of compliments.

At two in the afternoon, Andrew Brooks arrived at the TV station. The program was a live news broadcast. Andrew Brooks understood very well that the station's leadership must have sensed the intentions of the city's top officials from the recent news reports and didn't want to fall behind the print media, so they hurried to catch up.

……

……

Noah Summers walked in with a stack of newspapers, smiling. As soon as he entered, he called out to his daughter, "Emily."

Emily Summers ran out of her bedroom, laughing. "Dad, you're back. How come you're home so early today?"

Noah Summers stretched his back. "Dad went to the municipal party committee's expanded meeting today, so I didn't go back to city hall. Old Stone, can you guess what today's meeting was about?"

Ethan Stone was the union chair at the city agricultural bank. She was taking a few days off at home and was busy in the kitchen. Hearing her husband's voice, she poked her head out. "Old Summers, why did they suddenly call an expanded party committee meeting? Is one of the standing committee members retiring? Do you have a shot?"

"No." Noah Summers had a strange smile on his lips. "Gavin Duke actually wants to tear down the overpass! The overpass that Secretary Owen Grant built—a huge project that cost over a hundred million back then—and now he wants to demolish it!"

Ethan Stone frowned, a bit surprised. "Tear down the bridge? What's that about?"

"Heh. The predecessor builds it, the successor tears it down—how else can they show their achievements?" Noah Summers sighed. "What surprises me is that none of the city's officials saw this coming, and yet an intern reporter at Binhai Morning Post guessed it... At today's meeting, everyone had three newspapers placed in front of them..."

"All the city's newspapers published this reporter's in-depth report today..." Before Noah Summers could finish, Emily Summers excitedly chimed in from the side, "Dad, I know—it must be Little Andrew's report!"