120: The choice of the times

Gong Ruibin softly said, "Let's go, let's take a look ahead."

Xiao Bowen quickly nodded.

The two walked a bit further and then saw a scene that surprised them.

The long line stopped in front of a stall.

Everyone in line was staring intently at the young man's actions at the stall.

As they got closer, they could even hear the sound of them frantically swallowing.

Xiao Bowen watched for a while, then suddenly sighed with admiration.

"This flowing noodle-rolling technique is truly breathtaking. There are many highly skilled noodle masters in my hometown, but compared to this young boss, I always feel they're still a step behind."

Gong Ruibin knew that Xiao Bowen came from the "largest province for pasta," so he was surprised by such a high evaluation.

At this moment, he heard Xiao Bowen let out a soft "hmm," as if he had discovered something.

He couldn't help but turn his head to look, asking aloud at the same time.

"What's wrong?"

He saw Xiao Bowen take out his phone, open a document, and then compare it.

After a while, his expression was a little stunned.

"It's similar, too similar! No, or rather, it's the same person!"

Gong Ruibin frowned slightly.

"What's wrong?"

Xiao Bowen flipped his phone over, signaling Gong Ruibin to look at it.

Gong Ruibin frowned, pushed up his glasses, and squinted as he looked.

Just by looking at the title, he recognized it.

"Isn't this the article Li Zhenni sent me? Why are you suddenly showing me this?"

Xiao Bowen, however, shook his head, swiping his finger to a photo at the bottom of the article.

"Editor-in-chief, look at this photo. Doesn't the 'little boss' praised by Li Zhenni as a contemporary culinary god look very much like the young boss at that stall over there?"

Hearing this, Gong Ruibin focused his gaze, then froze.

To say "looks very much alike"—it was the same person.

He was silent for a moment, then looked at the long line stretching far away, and the surprisingly consistent expressions of anxious urgency on everyone's faces in the line.

Gong Ruibin suddenly sighed, and he seemed to age considerably all at once.

Everything before him indicated that Li Zhenni had not fabricated anything.

It was he, Gong Ruibin, who, relying on his position as Editor-in-chief, had been foolishly arrogant and looked down on everything.

Then, with pedantic dogmatism and outdated empiricism, he had completely subjectively and erroneously judged a highly motivated young person.

And he had mercilessly kicked this young person, who should have been shining brightly in the field of journalism, out of the Red Daily Newspaper.

For some reason, Gong Ruibin suddenly recalled the oath Li Zhenni had made on her first day of work, under the gaze of all her colleagues.

[I, Li Zhenni, will uphold fairness and conscience, dare to speak the truth, and dare to say no to injustice!]

He also remembered that day, the scene where Li Zhenni angrily hung up on him.

"I am old after all..."

Gong Ruibin sighed again.

He knew better than anyone the Red Daily Newspaper's decline day by day, and he was more anxious than anyone.

But he couldn't help it; he knew it was the choice of the times.

Everything that lagged behind development would be mercilessly eliminated by the era.

Gong Ruibin sighed one last time.

His once sturdy, though aging, body now seemed a few shades more hunched.

Xiao Bowen was startled for a few seconds by Gong Ruibin's sudden change.

When he saw that the sharpness in Gong Ruibin's eyes was gone, replaced by despondency and self-reproach, his own faith suddenly crumbled a little.

"Editor-in-chief, you..."

Gong Ruibin waved his hand and said, "I've been in this Editor-in-chief position for a long time. It's time to step down and let a more capable person take over."

Hearing this, Xiao Bowen was not happy; instead, he felt an unspeakable sadness.

He had been trained by Gong Ruibin himself, and he understood the old man's persistence better than anyone.

But human strength is ultimately no match for heaven, and time urges one to grow old.

Xiao Bowen thought a lot at this moment, but in the end, it all turned into a long, drawn-out sigh.

"Are we still interviewing?"

Gong Ruibin nodded.

"Let's interview."

"This era belongs to the young. As an old man of the Red Daily Newspaper, before I close my eyes, I should find a way to make the voices of the young more quickly active at the forefront of the times."

Xiao Bowen nodded and continued to walk forward with Gong Ruibin.

It was only when they passed a section of the line that an unexpected voice rang out, surprising both of them.

"Editor-in-chief, and Associate Editor-in-chief?"

Gong Ruibin and Xiao Bowen looked over in surprise upon hearing this, then both spoke at once.

"Li Zhenni?"

"What are you doing here?"

Li Zhenni also hadn't expected to meet them here.

Both sides were immediately a little awkward.

After a moment of silence, Xiao Bowen spoke first.

"Zhenni, what a coincidence to meet you. But it's good, I wanted to apologize to you..."

However, before Xiao Bowen could finish, Gong Ruibin interrupted him.

"I'm the one who should apologize! Li Zhenni, I'm very sorry, I misunderstood you before! I sincerely apologize to you! At the same time, I hope you can return to the Red Daily Newspaper and continue to shine in your role as a reporter!"

Li Zhenni was stunned on the spot.

She wondered if she had been in line for too long and had become so desperate for the little boss's food that she was hallucinating.

The Editor-in-chief and Associate Editor-in-chief of such a large newspaper were actually vying to apologize to her, a small fry?!

Even a wish-fulfillment novel wouldn't dare to write something like this, would it?

Li Zhenni immediately waved her hands repeatedly, saying in a flustered tone, "Editor-in-chief, and Associate Editor-in-chief, what are you talking about? Please don't be like this, I can't bear it!"

Gong Ruibin looked at the flustered Li Zhenni, pursed his lips, and shook his head, saying, "Daring to speak your mind against authority, that's the you I remember. Why are you pretending to be flustered?"

Hearing this, the panic on Li Zhenni's face immediately stopped, and then a hint of embarrassment appeared on her face as she scratched her head and laughed, "Hahaha, Editor-in-chief, you still know me best. But you really should apologize, you said I was faking it before, and I was sad for several days before I went looking for a job!"

Xiao Bowen was first startled by their conversation, then shook his head with a wry and speechless expression.

Gong Ruibin nodded and said, "I've already realized that the Red Daily Newspaper doesn't need an old-fashioned person like me; it needs young people like you who are brave and willing to fight. I hope you can let bygones be bygones and return to the Red Daily Newspaper, and I will be resigning from the position of Editor-in-chief soon."

Li Zhenni blinked in slight surprise.

If her previous panic was feigned, her current astonishment and surprise were 100% genuine emotions.

"Editor-in-chief, you're resigning? But the current standing of the Red Daily Newspaper was built by your own efforts! How can you just leave like this?"