The atmosphere in the car was a little awkward.

Mainly, Tao Mu was still a little bit unable to figure it out. They were just talking normally, so how did Li Xiaoheng turn the topic to kneeling on a computer keyboard and washing board. Was this kind of thing also a tradition of the Li family?

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Li Xiaoheng said warmly: “There are many people in our family, counting second uncle, third uncle, eldest aunt, and youngest aunt, just the main branch family there are more than 20 people. If also counting the relatives on second gandpa, third grandpa and great-grandfather’s brothers’ side, the family members are even more. Every year on the New Year’s family gatherings, the house is full to the brim with seventy or eighty people.”

“These relatives usually have no contact. We only meet at the New Year’s gathering and divide the end of the year dividends. The relationship with the main branch family is also not close. Some of them would also rely on being elders to make it difficult for the juniors and say something unpleasant.” And most of these mean words were aimed towards the daughter-in-laws and grand-daughter-in-laws.

When the junior daughter-in-laws suffer grievances from the elders, due to courtesy they were unable to speak back. They could only vent their anger in private. So the men in the Li family had lomg trained their ability to coax their wives. Kneeling on computer keyboards and washing boards were just the basic operations. Li Xiaoheng had grown up under this custom, and had learned it all long ago. But what Li Xiaoheng didn’t say was that if Tao Mu participated in the family gathering with him, he would never condon those relatives to make it difficult for the person he liked under the banner of being elders. Not even an unpleasant word would he allow Tao Mu to hear.

This was also an important reason why Li Xiaoheng left the family after starting college. The painful experience of graduating from junior high school made Li Xiaoheng deeply understand what was called “economic independence determines one’s speaking right”. Li Xiaoheng did not want to be bound by the rules of the family, and he didn’t want to listen to some certain elders who relied on being elders to stick their nose in his business. As a result, his only choice was to establish his own career.

Today, Li Xiaoheng’s Xiaoheng Capital had long been the biggest pillar of Fengxing Group, and it was also an important source of profit dividends of many branch family relatives of the Li family. Li Xiaoheng’s right to speak within the family had also increased. He had strong capital to adhere to his principles and protect the person he wanted to protect. He would never be like his father who spent his whole life and energy in maintaining the overall situation, enduring the actions of the shareholders that would come from time to time.

“But you can rest assured that even if those elders see you, they will not dare to make  it difficult for you.” Picking up on Tao Mu’s hesitation, Li Xiaoheng smiled and comforted. This was not a lie. After all, before knowing Tao Mu, Li Xiaoheng had always been arbitrary, and did not allow anyone in the family to reach their hands into Xiaoheng capital. After knowing Tao Mu, Li Xiaoheng was willing to take the initiative to jointly develop some projects with huge potential together with Fengxing Group. Not to mention that after Tao Mu became a senior partner of Xiaoheng Capital, the analysis reports he gave had earned so much profit for Xiaoheng Capital in the international financial market.

The Li family, regardless of the main branch or the side branches, could see how much Tao Mu’s existence allowed them to benefit. So just like when his mother married to the Li family, because his mother’s natal family had strong capital and in addition to her husband’s status and influence as the chairman, she had not suffered much difficulty or grievances in the family. Li Xiaoheng believed that he had enough ability to protect the person he liked from suffering grievances.

Hearing these words, Tao Mu frowned subconsciously. He did not doubt the guarantee of Li Xiaoheng. He just couldn’t help recalling the fear of being governed by the youngest aunt Li’s marriage urging at the dinner table——it must be said that youngest aunt Li’s habit of urging marriage regardless of the person or situation really left a layer of psychological shadow on Tao Mu.

Although Tao Mu did not like the family atmosphere of the Shen family, he obviously also was not very able to accept this gossipy and aggressive mode of getting along with the Li family. Moreover, how the people of the Li family kept directly and indirectly hinting at making their relationship public also made Tao Mu a bit dissatisfied.

Out of a responsible attitude, Tao Mu did not want to conceal his relationship with Li Xiaoheng. Even in the face of relatives and friends, Tao Mu took the initiative to reveal the news. But considering his career planning and big screen image, Tao Mu obviously did not plan for this relationship to be advertised to the whole world. So when he heard Li Xiaoheng talking to him about attending family gatherings, Tao Mu, who didn’t know what attitude to face the Li family, chose to escape subconsciously——in the end, Tao Mu was not a person able to deal well with family relationships and family contradictions. If he could do this, he would not have been betrayed by all his family and friends and then committed suicide in despair in the previous life.

The psychological shadow left over from his last life was not so easily reversed. Tao Mu did not want Li Xiaoheng to be disappointed or suffer greivances himself. So he could only tactfully say: “Actually, you don’t have to worry so much. As long as you remember to tell me the date of your family gatherings. During that time, I will avoid that day.”

Li Xiaoheng heard Tao Mu’s response and was slightly disappointed. But he could also understand Tao Mu’s thoughts. In the end, Tao Mu was only 19 years old this year. It was still three years before the minimum age that one could get a marriage certificate stipulated in the law. And Tao Mu was also an actor. Regardless of the consideration of career planning or considering other aspects, Tao Mu obviously would not step into marriage prematurely——since it was just dating, then it was far from the level of attending family gatherings during the Chinese New Year.

Tao Mu felt that his attitude was displayed very obviously. But he was worried about whether Li Xiaoheng would be angry or not. For a while, he couldn’t help feeling conflicted and hesitant. Until Li Xiaoheng took the initiative to speak——

“This is also fine.” Li Xiaoheng smiled gently. Looking at Tao Mu who in the co-pilot seat who was appearing increasingly at a loss, he changed the subject and teased warmly: “The topic just now had not finished. Do you prefer a computer keyboard or a washboard? I recall that there seems to be no washboard back at home. If you need it, we can go to the supermarket later.”

Just as Tao Mu’s expression was half conflicted, it cracked and shattered again.

Li Xiaoheng hooked the corner of his mouth subtly. Although a little distressed, Li Xiaoheng still felt that the Tao Mu helplessly being urged to enter marriage by the youngest aunt, and after a few hours still felt lingering fear such that he even rejected to attend any future family gatherings with him was even more adorable. As if his whole person was dyed with the warmth of simple everyday family life. He was no longer like before, intentionally or unintentionally separating himself from the crowd. Every time he said or did something, he must weigh the pros and cons, appearing courteous and serious as if he was a ruler turned into a person.

Not knowing that his habit of subconsciously using profits and interests to maintain relationships and make connections was seen in such a way by the other, Tao Mu looked at the teasing Li Xiaoheng, and explained in a warm voice: “It’s not that I don’t like your family, I just…..I’m still a bit unsed to it.”

“Understandable.” Li Xiaoheng nodded. Not to mention Tao Mu, even he himself was annoyed by his family. If not, Li Xiaoheng would not have made up his mind at the beginning to stay in the US after graduation. Since he himself was unwilling, Li Xiaoheng, of course, would not force Tao Mu to accept the Li family without reservation.

Anyway, Tao Mu was dating him, not the Li family.

It was pretty good just like this.

Li Xiaoheng dropped Tao Mu at the gate of the community. After getting out of the car, Li Xiaoheng took Tao Mu to buy a purple plastic washboard in the supermarket. Then he stood at the door of the apartment building with the washboard, and reluctantly saw Tao Mu go upstairs.

Tao Mu…..Tao Mu left without looking back!

Because he wanted to continue to discuss the preparation of the TV series with Xiao Qi Dad. That night, Tao Mu asked Li Xiaoheng to send himself to his two dads’ house.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi also knew that Tao Mu was going to get his measurements done, and was very nervous the entire day. They were particularly afraid that Tao Mu would suffer grievances at the Li family. Knowing that Grandpa Song’s concerns must not be less than the two of them. The two picked up Grandpa Song before dinner. One grandfather and two fathers, since Tao Mu came back, all had hesitant looks on their faces, wanting to ask but not daring to ask. In the end, Tao Mu couldn’t stand it himself and took the initiative to explain.

Grandpa Song was shocked immediately. Liu Yao’s temper was the most straightforward, and he blurted: “The Li family also urge marriage?” He thought those affluent families were also like those shown on TV! Unexpectedly, they also urge marriage and gossip as much as the neighborhood aunties.

Tao Mu listened to this description by his Yao Dad and couldn’t help but chuckle. Then he heard Liu Yao say with delight: “From this point of view, it turns out the elders of our family are the most enlightened. Xiao Mu, you can rest assured. Even if you don’t get married by the age of thirty, we will not urge you at all.”

Granpa Song, who was truthfully afraid that Tao Mu would still not get married after 30 years old, looked at Yao Dad with words on the tip off his tongue, but in the end did not say anything.

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——Forget it, the children and grandchildren have their own fortune. As long as the child was happy, getting married or not, it was really not that important.

A few kilometers away, CEO Li, who was holding a washboard as he made his way back to his apartment, sneezed successively.

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Both in the past and present life, he had never experienced this kind of situation surrounded by busybody relatives working together to urge marriage. Tao Mu, who had never experienced this kind of plot even during filming, was completely dumbfounded.

This kind of being pulled by the hand by the elders of the family, while being all kinds of both directly and indirectly asked when were they going to get engaged, when were they going to get married, where and when will the wedding ceremony be held, whether they were going to wear a Western suit or traditional Chinese marriage clothing, whether they prefer a boy or a girl…..

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If not for his good manners and high endurance, Tao Mu would really want to explode.

Why must he go through such a bizarre interrogation when he just wanted to order a suit and get his measurements done before the awards ceremony?!

The smile on Tao Mu’s face almost stiffened. Taking advantage of the brief moment that the elders of the Li family were not paying attention, he glared at Li Xiaoheng fiercely.

Li Xiaoheng, since the winter vacation after reaching 19 years old, having experienced a wave of marriage urges at every family gathering such that now he had become very calm and unperturbed to the point he could even ignore the words of the family elders as background sound, could only rub his nose sheepishly. In his heart he was already privately pondering which was better to use, a computer keyboard or a washboard.

Tao Mu spent more than an hour in the Li family house when the designer from Shanghai finally arrived.

The old gentleman, surnamed Wu, was over sixty years old but appeared to be very well maintained. He had a wrinkle free face, and his hands were slender and fair, even more beautiful than the hands of many girls. He wore a pair of reading glasses, arm sleeves, and a tape measure around his neck. When taking his measurements, the tape measure danced gracefully between his fingertips, the slow movements looking particularly soothing and leisurely. Moreover, when chatting with him while taking his measurements, he spoke with the kind of accent that was unique to the people of Shanghai, and it seemed that even time had become leisurely.

Tao Mu had just experienced a wave of marriage urges, so his anxiety was immediately comforted. He looked at Mr. Wu with some curiosity. He had lived in Shanghai for ten years in his last life, but he had never seen or even heard of this old gentleman before.

But this was normal, come to think about it. In his last life, when he was in the Shen family, the custom of the Shen family members was to fly to Italy to have famous designers design and customize their clothes. As for him and Shen Yu, because of their endorsements, they needed to wear clothing provided by the brand on every major occasion. So there was no chance to have any contact with domestic designers. Let alone know that the old-school designers in China chat with customers like this when they take their customers’ measurements.

It felt very comfortable. Unlike the designers and stylists in the fashion industry that Tao Mu had impressions of, always in a hurry and rushing each time they collaborate, as if they were preparing for a fight.

Seemingly noticing Tao Mu’s mood, Mr. Wu smiled slightly and said leisurely: “Making clothes should be a very happy thing. When I was young, domestic materials were still very scarce. At that time, it was not popular to buy ready-made clothes. During the New Year, people would go to the supply store to buy cloth with cloth tickets and then either make it yourself or ask a tailor to make it. If you ask a tailor to make it, you would give two yuan for the handwork. Later, the market got better. Some people would ask friends or relatives to bring back fashionable clothes from Hong Kong. The situation for us old tailors gradually became quite embarrassing. Fortunately, the elder Mr. Li has been taking care of my business.”

When Grandpa Li heard this, he smiled warmly: “It’s all because of your good craftsmanship. Our family likes to wear clothes made by you. I’m not used to wearing clothes bought from outside.”

Even big international brands were tailored according to the physique and body movement of Westerners. Grandpa Li had been wearing tailor-made clothes all his life, and he was not used to wearing the clothes bought outside. In any case he was getting old and didn’t want to chase fashion, so he didn’t bother to trouble himself. But he didn’t expect his family to do the same. In the end, it became a custom of the Li family to have Mr. Wu make clothes before family gatherings.

Now Tao Mu was also brought by Li Xiaoheng to take his measurements at the Li family house. The elders of the Li family were all tacitly aware and were just waiting for the day when the two made their relationship public and announced their marriage——

However, considering Tao Mu’s age and occupation, it was estimated that this day would have to wait.

After taking the measurements and choosing the fabric and style, the whole afternoon had passed. Seeing that it was dinner time, Father Li and Mother Li had Tao Mu stay for another meal. They also specially instructed the kitchen to cook some of Tao Mu’s favorite dishes. Fortunately, the Li family didn’t have the habit of persuading guests to eat more or adding more food to their guest’s plate. They just kept reminding Li Xiaoheng to serve Tao Mu’s vegetables and peel the shrimps for him.

Only then did Tao Mu notice that the men in the Li family at the dining table were all peeling shrimp for their wives and daughters, even the elderly grandfather Li was no exception.

Noticing Tao Mu’s scrutiny, Grandma Li explained with a kindly smile: “It is the pride of the Li family men to be able to peel shrimp for his wife. Only married men are qualified to peel shrimp for the other half. Single people can only eat by themselves.”

The currently single second brother Li, third brother Li and the other juniors of the Li family: “…..”

Just after the youngest aunt had finished urging Li Xiaoheng and Tao Mu, she turned her sights and started urging second brother Li: “…..You say, you arw not too young anymore, even if you don’t want to get married yet, shouldn’t you still find a girlfriend? If you ask me, marriage alliances are not so bad. At least through blind dates you can also meet people, right? You children reject blind dates, and you all want to have free love. But the key is that if you want free love, you should bring one back home, right…..”

Second brother Li couldn’t swallow the food in his mouth. As expected his biggest headache was family gatherings. Do these elders have misunderstandings about the children in the family? During high school, puppy love was not allowed, and during college, the children were told to complete their schoolwork well and never fail a course. After graduating from college, they then began to urge marriage.

Couldn’t you guys give him time to find someone to fall in love with in the first place!

Second brother Li peeled a shrimp for himself in a particularly depressed manner. And continue to shovel food into his mouth.

The third brother Li and the youngest sister Li exchanged looks with concern. And vowed to find someone right after entering college. Must definitely avoid being urged to marry by their youngest aunt at the age of twenty-two, and be tricked out for blind dates through all kinds of excuses!

This meal was probably the most difficult meal Tao Mu had ever eaten. He was embarrassed by the diligent kindly reminders of the Li elders, embarrassed by youngest aunt Li’s marriage urging, and embarrassed by the direct and indirect hints from father Li and mother Li. Anyway, by the end of i, when any Li family member even spoke up, Tao Mu would feel his heart tremble.

In this way, Li Xiaoheng managed to feed him three bowls of rice without his awareness! Now after going back this evening he had to exercise to lose weight! Depressed!

When he finally left the Li family house, it was already very late.

Li Xiaoheng drove Tao Mu home. On the way, he actively apologized: “…..I didn’t expect the whole family to come over. Did it scare you?”

“A bit.” Tao Mu admitted frankly. After a pause, he added: “But this feeling is quite novel.”

Although a little annoyed, he could feel the kindness and care of the elders. This atmosphere was completely different from the Shen family. When Tao Mu lived with the Shen family in his last life, the relatives of the Shen family were either polite and aloof, or flattering and ingratiating, or malicious and rejectful of him. Even if there was intentions to introduce him to potential boyfriends and girlfriends, it had various motives behind it. They were not at all like the youngest aunt of the Li family, just purely urging marriage and didn’t even care who it was. Just casting the net and sweeping thousands of troops, as long as the junior members of the Li family were over twenty-two years old, none would be spared.

Listening to Mother Li’s words, apparantly the youngest aunt of the Li family also acted the same way at her in-law’s house. Even at the family company, she very enthusiastically made matches for young and single employees. The Li family did not have the rule that female family members could not enter the family company. On the contrary, all the children of the Li family, male or female, have to enter the company for internship experience since high school. Start as an intern assistant, a tea boy, a post-it girl, and taking turns at each department. First familiarizing themselves with the company’s daily management process and department structure. After starting university, they would have to stay in the company to work during the winter and summer vacations every year to earn their own living expenses and tuition fees. If you really didn’t want to work in the family business, you could start your own business or apply to work at another company.

For example, Li Xiaoheng hated the family business as well as the step-by-step laid out path. Therefore, Xiaoheng Capital was established from the beginning of his freshman year. Later, it even became a powerful support for the family.

“Actually, the children of the Li family all hate working in the family business.” Li Xiaoheng recalled with a smile: “You can imagine it, for a child who had just graduated from junior high school, if some boys develop late, they may not even be as tall as the water dispenser yet they are pressured by the elders in the family to work in the company. Other children could travel abroad during the summer vacation, but not the children of the Li family. The fourteen- or fifteen-year-old children are already in the rebellious period of their youth. When I was first forced to work at the company by my dad, I even called the police, complaining that Fengxing Group employs child labor.”

Tao Mu’s eyes widened in astonishment. He didn’t expect that Li Xiaoheng looked so mature and calm, yet there was actually a time when he was such a brat: “What happened then?”

“Of course it turned out to be useless.” Li Xiaoheng recalled his childhood and couldn’t help laughing: “My dad took me home from the police station and asked me if I didn’t want to work in the family business, what do I want to do in the future?”

“I said I like to play. I want to just eat, drink, and play for the rest of my life.” Anyway, the Li family had money and could afford to support a hedonistic rich kid.

“I told my dad, I want to be like Luo Yang. The Luo family doesn’t even have as much money as our family does. So how come Luo Yang can have his father buy whatever he wants, and Luo Yang doesn’t even have to go to work in the family business. He can just play outside every day.”

Then Father Li asked Li Xiaoheng what he wanted to play.

“My dad made a plan, and put aside two months to fly with me around the world. Forcing me to play everything I wanted to play.”

Tao Mu chuckled and said, “Isn’t that good?”

Li Xiaoheng gave Tao Mu a resentful look with the pained expression of one who could not bear to look back, and explained, “I said I wanted to go to the amusement park. My dad forced me to go to Disneyland in America. From eight o’clock in the mornimg to ten o’clock in the evening, other than eating and going to the toilet every day, I just kept playing various amusement park rides. Each one playing 20 times, 30 times, 40 times, and after finished playing, I had to write a reflection paper. I said that I like car racing, so he took me to the F1 training ground, still every day from eight o’clock in the morning to ten o’clock in the evening. Even sleeping I had to spend it on the plane…..”

Tao Mu envisioned that scene and then couldn’t help feeling pity for the fourteen/fifteen year old Li Xiaoheng.

“I couldn’t hold on anymore after two months.” Li Xiaoheng also laughed: “I surrendered. I said I didn’t want to play anything anymore. So my dad took me back to the company and gave me a long stack of bills and told me to pay back the money. If I don’t pay back, he will cut off my pocket money and living expenses. Until all the money was paid back.”

Li Xiaoheng had no choice but to go to work and pay back the money. The children of the Li family have had their own pocket money since elementary school, allowing them to calculate how much money to spend each month. They could buy whatever they wanted to buy. But if they spent too much, then it would just be gone. Don’t expext to be given any more that month. Because of father Li’s requirement that Li Xiaoheng must split half of his pocket money to pay the debt, Li Xiaoheng lived a life of hardship at a young age. So from that time onwards, Li Xiaoheng developed the mindset of wanting to make a lot of money, making quick money and hating playing. This was also an important reason why even though the Li family business was clearly involved in industry, but their eldest son and grandson Li Xiaoheng chose international finance when he was in college, and founded Xiaoheng Capital as soon as he went to college, and resolutely refusing to go home to inherit the family business.

As a result, when it spread to the outside world, the rumor became that of a fierce infighting between the father and son of the Li family. Li Xiaoheng escaped to the US to establish Xiaoheng Capital with the intention of coming back and restraining the family business.

Tao Mu couldn’t help feeling amusement when he heard this, and laughed out loud unwittingly.

“At that time, I really hated the rules of the Li family. And I thought our family was very weird. After graduating from college, my youngest aunt woupd always persuade my mother to get me to go on a blind date every day, and even had my mother pretend to be sick in order to trick me to come back to China for a blind date.”

“At that time, I actually planned to focus my career in the US, and very likely wouldn’t come back in the future. Probably they all saw though my intention, and for fear that I really stayed in the US and wouldn’t come back, so they tossed about so much.”

After all, except for Li Xiaoheng, mother Li and youngest aunt Li did not resort to using such methods such as pretending to be sick to trick him to go on blind dates on other juniors in the family.

When Li Xiaoheng spoke up to here, he suddenly smiled and held Tao Mu’s hand while waiting for the red light: “Fortunately, I met you. I decided to shift the focus of my career back to China. Our family is also very relieved. Now they don’t toss about anymore.”

The youngest aunt and mother Li were indeed not tossing around anymore. However, father Li began to needle him in various ways, expressing disdain towards his son’s incompetence, and worrying that his son would be dumped by his future wife.

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But such shameful things was better left unmentioned!

“Actually, thinking about it, although our family is a bit annoying, we are a family after all.” Li Xiaoheng stared into Tao Mu’s eyes and said warmly, “If you feel annoyance, please don’t be angry. You can punish me to kneel on a washing board or on a computer keyboard.”

Tao Mu: “…..” Why did the topic turn to here?!

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The moment Tao Mu stepped through the door, the crowded Li family home suddenly fell silent.

Dozens of pairs of eyes glanced over. Tao Mu’s figure paused slightly, and he kept getting the feeling that at a certain moment when everyone in the Li family looked at him at the same time, he seemed to be standing in front of an X-ray machine. From head to toe, not a single spot was missed, even down to the bone and flesh were seen through.

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It was honestly a bit scary!

Tao Mu subconsciously squeezed his hands and took a breath.

“Brother Mu, you’re here~” Li Xiaoheng’s twin brother and sister jumped up from the sofa and rushed in front of Tao Mu.

Probably seeing that Tao Mu was a little nervous, little sister Li blinked her big doe-like eyes, turned to the greeting gifts that Tao Mu was holding in his hands, and said kindly, “Brother Mu, you brought us gifts again?”

It would have been better not to mention this. As soon as this matter was mentioned, Tao Mu became a bit embarrassed as well. Because he did not expect that so many people would come to the Li family home, the preparations for the greeting gifts were obviously not enough.

At this moment, even Mr. Tao, who was a sophisticated socializing expert, didn’t know what to say. Obviously, his life experience and socializing skills have not been updated to the “mother-in-law meets son-in-law” page. Completely unprepared, Tao Mu even had a moment of brain downtime. So that he failed to respond to little sister Li’s greetings in time, instead he looked at Li Xiaoheng subconsciously.

From the moment he entered the door, Li Xiaoheng was watching Tao Mu’s every move with all his attention. Of course, he didn’t miss this moment of confusion and subconscious request for help.

Li Xiaoheng stepped forward, stretched out his hand to take the greeting gifts from Tao Mu, and stuffed it directly into his little brother’s hands. Instead of answering, he asked, “I’ve only been out for less than an hour, why are there so many people at home?”

The uninvited elders of the Li family spoke up immediately, and even the explanation seemed to have been negotiated in draft: “The company’s annual meeting is about to be held. We just want to order a customized outfit to wear at the annual meeting. It just so happens that your parents invited the designer to come over, so we came together as well.”

The white haired old gentleman of the Li family and the old madam of the Li family sat on the sofa, examining Tao Mu with a kind smile, and said smilingly, “So this is your partner, right? The young man is quite handsome indeed.”

Tao Mu maintained a polite smile, greeted the two elderly people warmly, and then thanked them. With a polite appearance, it really echoed the image of a junior who came to visit the elders for the first time.

Everyone picked up on the unease Tao Mu deliberately leaked under his gentle and courteous performance. This was also Tao Mu’s subconscious performance after seeing so many elders of the Li family, and he thought it was the most suitable reaction for this occasion.

Sure enough, after seeing Tao Mu’s humble, polite and gentle side, the elders of Li family were extremely satisfied with Tao Mu’s performance. They all felt that although Tao Mu was very talented in business and had a net worth of tens of billions at such a young age, he was not like some young people who gained success at a young age, prideful and arrogant.

Only Li Xiaoheng could feel that Tao Mu’s gentle and humble appearance concealed a strong sense of unease and discomfort, and even a vague bit of anger and embarrassment.

In front of many elders and peers in the family, Li Xiaoheng, who didn’t want to take the blame, squeezed Tao Mu’s palm without any intention of hiding, and explained with a smile, “I didn’t expect there would be so many people in the family home. I told Xiao Mu that there were only my parents and younger siblings at home, letting him know not to be nervous.” As a result, so many of you gathered over without even a heads up. Now it was impossible not to be nervous even if he didn’t want to.

Tao Mu also came back to his senses at this time. He said with a warm smile, “It’s all because of my lack of etiquette, excuse me for my presumptuousness.”

“It’s not presumptuous at all, and you have not disturbed us either.” Li Xiaoheng’s youngest aunt smiled and said, “To be honest, we’ve all been waiting for this day for many years——”

Before she could finish speaking, she was interrupted by her husband who was sitting next to her: “So Mr. Tao just has an affinity with our Li family. There is no need to make an appointment, such a large family could just get together naturally. It can be seen as the saying goes, those not belonging to the same family don’t enter the same family. Dad, don’t you think so, too?”

Li Xiaoheng’s youngest uncle helped his wife, who almost blurted the big truth out, to cover up as well as took advantage of the situation and dragged his father-in-law into the water.

Old Mr. Li nodded slowly, calmly took out the red envelope that he had prepared for a long time, and said with a smile: “You are a good child. Xiao Heng being with you…..”

When old Mr. Li spoke to here, he gasped as if he had difficulty breathing, and continued: “…..as business partners, I am very relieved.”

“As your first time visiting, this is a little bit of us elder’s sincerity.” Old Mr. Li put the red envelope into Tao Mu’s hand and said with a smile, “I hope your cooperation will last long and well.”

Old madam Li waited for old Mr. Li to finish speaking, and she also took out the red envelope that had been prepared long ago from her pocket and handed it to Tao Mu together.

From the mouths of their son and daughter-in-law, the old couple also learned that their eldest grandson was in a relationship with the child. However, the child was young and thin-skinned, and didn’t seem to want to announce it in front of the parents. So he had refused to agree to visit the Li family home this whole time.

This time, Li Xiaoheng was finally able to coax him to come for a visit. While the elders of the Li family wanted to watch, they didn’t dare to speak too blatantly. Lest the child got angry and settled accounts with their grandson afterwards.

Thinking of this, the elders of the Li family looked at Li Xiaoheng in unison. Those eyes all held resentful and impatient gazes for a certain someone’s failure to meet expectations…..looks that Li Xiaoheng had never seen since he entered kindergarten!

With old Mr. Li and old madam Li starting the example, the rest of the Li family also took out red envelopes and gave them to Tao Mu. When Tao Mu came, he really didn’t expect to encounter such. Receiving a pile of red envelopes, and also recognizing the crowd of people. The whole process developed inexplicably, and Tao Mu was a little dazed.

After receiving the red envelopes, Tao Mu felt quite embarrassed. Seeing the younger members of the Li family who were also sitting in the living room and looking at him curiously——Li Xiaoheng’s younger brothers, sister, nephews, nieces, etc——he also wanted to give out some red envelopes to coax the children.

Only to be stopped by Li Xiaoheng’s youngest aunt. The youngest aunt who had almost misspoken just now took Tao Mu’s hand and said nonchalantly, “You don’t need to give red envelopes when you come to visit for the first time. The rules of our Li family are that if you are single, no matter the age, you don’t need to give red envelopes to juniors.”

When the youngest aunt said this, she also deliberately glanced at Li Xiaoheng who was beside Tao Mu the whole time, and spoke in a, according to herself, very small voice that was actually very loud: “This nephew of mine has always refused to date. Us elders even guessed in private whether the reason this stinky boy will not date is because he does not want to give out red envelopes, so despite these many years he won’t date, go on blind dates, or get married? But it turns out that it wasn’t that this boy didn’t want to date, he just had too high standards for finding a partner, so he had to pick the best one. It seems he just didn’t like those people I had introduced to him before…..”

The youngest uncle coughed several times, and kept jabbing the youngest aunt’s lower back with his elbow. Hinting at his wife to stop talking. The youngest aunt became annoyed at being jabbed and waved her hand to slap away the youngest uncle’s paw, and asked angrily, “Why do you keep jabbing me? Don’t you see me talking to Xiao Mu?”

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The youngest aunt didn’t want to pay attention to the youngest uncle, and rolled her eyes at him. Turning around, she continued to hold Tao Mu’s hand and said, “If you are really feeling apologetic and want to give red envelopes to the children, as your auntie, I will not stop you. As long as you discuss it with Xiao Heng, whenever you want to give out red envelopes, isn’t it up to you? The men in our Li family are very obedient on this point. If you are really anxious, it can actually be arranged this year…..”

Tao Mu was instantly shocked as if struck by lightning. Subconsciously, he wanted to deny it all.

I’m not, I don’t, youngest auntie, don’t talk nonsense!

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The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

Tao Mu turned to look at Li Xiaoheng. Li Xiaoheng was looking at him with an expression that spoke “I’m not jealous, I’m not jealous, I’m just asking casually”. The crystal chandelier exuded warm yellow light from overhead, reflecting a stream of light on Li Xiaoheng’s gold-rimmed glasses. Even so, why was Tao Mu still able to see that Li Xiaoheng’s eyes behind the lenses exuded a “melancholic” glow?

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Why use the word “melancholic”?

Tao Mu blinked and decided that it was because Li Xiaoheng’s gaze was too penetrating! It was already able to pass through the lens directly to the depths of his cerebral cortex.

Tao Mu swallowed his saliva, his mind running fast, and he answered cautiously: “I think, on the question of the female red carpet companion…..I can actually walk the red carpet with the director and the rest of the production team.”

In a flash, Tao Mu felt that his answer was just absolutely perfect. He was almost brought to tears by his own cleverness.

However, Mr. Li was not satisfied!

But Mr. Li won’t say so!

CEO Li just continued to look at Tao Mu with a melancholic expression, and suggested with a smile: “Our Li family will order customized suits and evening dresses from our exclusive clothing designer every season. If you haven’t decided what to wear on the red carpet, how about I recommend the Li family’s clothing designer to you?”

Tao Mu actually didn’t want to go through this much trouble. In fact, since the news that he was nominated for the Lingxiao Award for Best Newcomer spread, many international luxury menswear brands came knocking at his door of their own accord and wanted to sponsor Tao Mu’s red carpet look. It had to be said that the popularity of “Fashion Storm” breaking the ratings record one after another had also allowed the domestic fashion industry to recognize Tao Mu’s fashion talent. Therefore, this time, the major brands competing for Tao Mu’s red carpet look also wanted to expand the publicity of their own brand through Tao Mu himself.

So Tao Mu’s original plan was to choose an outfit from these brands’ catwalk styles, and just wear it on the red carpet and that was it.

But their boss Li didn’t seem to think so.

Seeing Li Xiaoheng’s overly calm expression, Tao Mu swallowed his refusal because of his strong desire to survive. After pondering for a moment, Tao Mu attempted to ask: “The Lingxiao Award ceremony is less than a month away. Wouldn’t it be too tight on schedule to order a suit in such a short period of time?”

“Not at all.” Li Xiaoheng answered immediately, correcting Tao Mu’s statement: “There is still nearly a month. The red carpet outfits of male stars are different from those of female stars. Even if they are carefully customized, they will not be as complex as the female stars’ evening dresses. So we have plenty of time to communicate with the designer. You can rest assured that although this designer is not an internationally renowned fashion designer, his craftsmanship is actually no worse than those international masters. And this designer is an old and well-known name from Shanghai, and is known to focus on the body and physique of Asians in the process of tailoring. So the suits he makes will be more fitting for Asians.”

Tao Mu looked at Li Xiaoheng eagerly pushing his sales pitch, and couldn’t help but chuckle: “If that’s the case, then I will have to trouble you.”

“It’s not troublesome at all.” Li Xiaoheng pondered for a moment, and continued to probe tactfully: “Customized suits need to be measured. Should I ask the designer to wait for us at the Li family home, or have someone come to you directly?”

Before Tao Mu could speak, Li Xiaoheng said casually, “New Year’s Day is still two months away, and it just so happens that my parents also wanted to order two sets of evening outfits to attend various charity galas and the company’s annual meeting. If you don’t mind, you can come directly to our house and get measured together.”

The refusal already on the tip of Tao Mu tongue was subconsciously swallowed back. He looked at Li Xiaoheng helplessly, whose finely sculpted face was full of smiles. However, in Tao Mu’s eyes, there was a kind of clear hint that he was only pretending to be calm.

Tao Mu hesitated for a moment, then sighed softly, “If uncle and auntie don’t mind, then I’ll be bothering you.”

“Of course they don’t mind!” Li Xiaoheng was so excited, his voice involuntarily became louder by two decibels. The face that was struggling to maintain a pretense of calmness also became bright with joy: “To be honest, our family has been waiting for this day for a long time.”

Before Tao Mu could respond, Li Xiaoheng asked eagerly, “Then when will you be free, so I can ask the designer to come over?”

Tao Mu thought for a while and said, “Then let’s go for this weekend.”

Tao Mu had to go to school on weekdays. He just took over the conscription promotion drama co-produced with the military. Because he offered to go to the army to experience life, he had to find a way to ask the school for leave so that he could make sure he could stay in the army and experience life with peace of mind. Such an approach actually violated Tao Mu’s original intention of wanting to attend school obediently. However, the original plans could not keep up with the changes, and Tao Mu did not expect that he would be fortunate enough to cooperate with the military to shoot a mainstream conscription promotion drama. Moreover, he could also serve as the hero of this mainstream military drama.

If this drama was performed well, Tao Mu would not only be able to stand out from other actors of the same age. He could also make connections with the military, and even enter the sight of some big directors. The most important thing was that the film and television company Tao Mu had just established could also gain a firm foothold in the circle because of this drama and squeeze in among the A-list production teams.

Opportunities like this were hard to come by. Tao Mu, who had always been clear about hispriorities, would of course not let his original thoughts limit his current opportunities. In fact, the reason why Tao Mu had made up his mind to stay in school was to compete for the big movie jointly produced by Beijing Film and the military a year later. In order to increase his bargaining chip, Tao Mu even forced himself to restrain his true feelings and suffered the disdain and coldness from others. Even though he knew that Cheng Baodong didn’t like him, he still approached him on the set just to become more familiar with him.

But now, with Tao Mu’s net worth rising, and the two TV dramas produced by Tao Mu have both broken the ratings records of its genre at the same time, causing heated discussions at a phenomenal level. Tao Mu’s voice in the entertainment industry was also holding more and more weight. Today, Tao Mu was no longer satisfied with the conventional route of being an obedient student and waiting for opportunities with peace of mind.

Tao Mu even very ambitiously felt that if the conscription promotion drama he cooperated with the military could be a great success, then in a year’s time, he might be able to use this qualification to compete for the producer spot of that big movie. Tao Mu believed that with the two shining examples “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and the conscription promotion drama, plus the powerful publicity tool that was FlyNews.com, as well as the solid capital of tens of billions of net worth, who was to say that he might not be able to win against Cheng Baodong.

Of course it was useless to think too much now. The most urgent task at the moment was to film this conscription promotion drama in a down-to-earth manner, otherwise there was no need to speak of anything else.

When it came to his career planning, Tao Mu had always been serious and meticulous, with careful and detailed plans, and also possessing an attitude of one bravely forging ahead. When he went to ask for leave, he even prepared for the possible scenario that if the school did not agree or the attitude was reluctant, he could take the initiative to repeat a year of study. Anyway, the reason Tao Mu was studying in Beijing Film, in addition to wanting to make contacts in the circle, was mainly to hone his acting skills. It was not like he was in a hurry to graduate and find a job.

So Tao Mu was not in a hurry to graduate at all, it made no difference to him whether he studied for four years or five years. All he needed was the whole process of systematic learning. He needed to make up for his shortcomings in all aspects, so that the foundation of his acting skills could be more steady, until it was perfect.

Tao Mu’s thinking was very thorough. Taking into account not only his actual needs, but also the rigor and dignity of the school rules. He didn’t want to leave a bad impression on the school that he “started to get a big head after becoming a little popular”. He didn’t want other students to have the idea of ​​”since Tao Mu can ask for leave to film, why can’t I”. He didn’t want to make it difficult for the school atvall. Therefore, he took the initiative to propose the suggestion to repeat a year of study. It was also a good way to let the freshmen and sophomore students think carefully when they ask for leave to film. Are you really going to take the risk of pausing your studies and repeating a year to take time off to film? And are the works they would rather ask for leave to film really worth such a sacrifice?

“Beijing Film does have a rule that freshmen and sophomores are not allowed to take time off for filming. However, in the past two years, because the school next door has very loose management of students, many talented child stars have applied for Yan Film under the persuasion of their talent agencies. Many Yan Film students who have just entered the school would also become famous for filming some idol dramas. This has caused students in our school to generally develop a state of impetuous anxiety. After all, the careers of actors, especially actresses, are very short. Many girls are worried that if they only started acting at the age of 20, they will have no competitive advantage at all compared to those artists who started working on the set at the age of 17 or 18, and already acted as heroines at the age of 20. Besides, the profession of an actor still pays great attention to actual practice. No matter how good your grades are in school or your performance on stage, if you lack camera experience, it won’t work.”

Therefore, out of this anxiety, Beijing Film students began to try to take leave to take part in films and dramas when they were sophomores. After all, towards the good students Beijing Film had worked so hard to cultivate, they also didn’t want these students to end up flopping in the entertainment industry because they have a lack of filming experience or opportunities, and even have to be forced by the pressure of making a livelihood, and finally regretfully withdrawing from the circle.

However, Beijing Film’s teaching philosophy was to pay more attention to students’ acting skills after all. And those students who have just entered school for a year or two and have not finished learning the basics, once they go out to film, one could imagine what their acting skills would be like. Therefore, in the past two years, there have been often embarrassing remarks in the industry that “the performance of Beijing Film students in front of the camera is not even as good as that of Yan Film students”.

Acting was actually also a skill. Like all arts, except for a small group of geniuses, those who were commonly known as “naturally talented/blessed by God”, the rest of the people needed the accumulation of time and practice. There was no way to widen the gap in the quality of teaching without a lot of practice making perfect.

In the past, people in the industry often said that “Beijing Film produces actors, Yan Film produces stars”. Although there had been such a statement in the past two years, relatively speaking, the gap in the acting skills of the students from the two art schools had gradually narrowed.

Fortunately, this embarrassing situation improved after Tao Mu entered school. Tao Mu spent his own money for the filming of “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm”, and during the filming period, he kept pulling the students of Beijing Film to play supporting roles. On the one hand, it allowed the students of Beijing Film to be familiar with being in front of the camera and the atmosphere of the film set, as well as become familiar faces in front of the public. On the other hand, it once again reflected the strong potential and strength of Beijing Film students. After all, in the eyes of someone who possessed a cheat sheet like Tao Mu, he was quite clear on which actor and star in the entertainment industry would succeed in the next ten years. So when choosing actors, Tao Mu also subconsciously chose familiar faces. And these people could stand out from countless actors and entertainers. Whether it was acting skills or audience relationship, it was all remarkable.

But the most important thing was that with Tao Mu as backing, Beijing Film’s students seemed to have also found support. Now when studying in school they were no longer so restless and impatient, but could focus on learning acting skills with peace of mind. Because they all knew that so long as their acting skills passed the test, they would definitely have the opportunity to act. Even if outsiders didn’t give them a chance, Tao Mu would still give it to them.

Beijing Film saw these changes in their eyes, and they all agreed with Tao Mu’s approach in private. So this time when Tao Mu came to ask for leave for the filming. Although it violated the rules of the Beijing Film Academy, Beijing Film also knew that Tao Mu was going to cooperate with the military to shoot a conscription promotion drama.

With such an important political task landing on their laps, even the Beijing Film Academy felt that it was necessary to treat this with more caution, let alone Tao Mu. They didn’t want Tao Mu to be criticized for his lacking performance due to not being able to focus on filming on account of his studies after the TV series aired. And the Beijing Film Academy also had another consideration——

“You are cooperating with the military to make a military drama this time. How are you going to choose the actors?”

Tao Mu said directly: “I’m still going to use the auditioning process. Because I’m cooperating with the military, I also plan to select a group of actors in the art troupe. But no matter who is going to play what role, all actors will definitely go through the auditioning process. Afterwards, everyone must also enter the army together for three months. Including the screenwriter team, they must also enter the army for on-the-spot observation.”

Tao Mu’s character had always been that he either did not do it, or else he did the best he could. Anyway, he was not short of money, and the actors to be selected were not big celebrities, so there was no need to consider the issue of schedule coordination. All were thrown into the army for collective training. Those who could withstand it to the end would receive a role, and those who couldn’t could just directly piss off.

Moreover, Tao Mu had already bought the copyright of several other military novels. Therefore, in the next few years, film and television companies would definitely continue to make military dramas one after another. So these actors were not suffering military training in vain. If they don’t need to consider changing their image, these military dramas alone were enough for them to shoot for two to three years.

Tao Mu did this mainly because of the other Beijing Film students who signed to his company. These folks had already signed with him, so it was impossible for Tao Mu to just have everyone stay in the company without filming. Therefore, after buying the copyrights of those military novels, Tao Mu did not let the purchasing department become idle, and continued to contact those websites, one after another, buying all the copyrights of the famous online novels in Tao Mu’s memory.

However, all of this was still proceeding secretly, belonging to company secrets, and Tao Mu did not elaborate with the teachers.

Even so, the parts that could be said were enough for the several teachers to ponder carefully.

Therefore, after approving Tao Mu’s leave, the several teachers also expressed their attitudes to allow students sophomore year and above to suspend classes and filming during class. But considering the professional courses, students who want to take leave must pass the assessment after completing the credits after coming back from leave. But if they failed the examinations, the graduation certificate would not be issued.

Compared with the loose management of students by Yan Film next door, Beijing Film’s regulations were still very strict. But even so, it still aroused unanimous cheers from the students of Beijing Film. After these students cheered, their first reaction was to go to the teacher’s office of the Acting Department to ask for leave. As for the reasons for the leave, they all wanted to audition for the TV drama that Tao Mu was going to co-produce with the military, and then go to the army with Tao Mu to experience life.

It had to be said that Tao Mu being able to successively shoot classic works such as “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm”, which have a double harvest of critical acclaim and ratings, which not only made Beijing Film students taste the sweetness, but also invariably raised the standard of films they chose to participate in. They all wanted to keep acting in classic works. Moreover, they all felt subconsciously that if they took time off to film a TV series invested by Tao Mu, it would be easier for the teachers to approve their leave. There were also some students who signed the brokerage contract with Tao Mu’s film and television company. If your own film and television company wanted to shoot a TV series yet you don’t rush to take the opportunity to audition, do you intend to go outside to find food for yourself instead? They were not that stupid!

Leave slips flew towards the office of the Beijing Film Acting Department like snowflakes. Not only the sophomores, but also the juniors and seniors, as well as many graduate students from Beijing Film who have heard the news and rushed back to prepare for the audition for the TV drama. Even Yan Film next door and the Shanghai Theater Academy thousands of miles away heard the news and began to inquire about the specific time of the audition. And even secretly inquired about Tao Mu’s preferences and the roles’ information——

The competition was fierce, so they must be fully prepared.

Towards the reaction of the outside world, Tao Mu was still unaware. On Saturday afternoon, Tao Mu was invited to the Li family home to get his measurements done.

This was also Tao Mu’s first visit to the Li family home. So before the visit, Tao Mu specially bought a lot of gifts, ready to give to father Li, mother Li and the younger Li brothers and sister. Tao Mu felt that he was quite thorough, but only when he arrived at the Li family home did he realize that the gifts he bought were nothing but a drop in the bucket!

Looking at the lively scene in the Li family manor——enough people to hold a big family party. Tao Mu looked at a certain someone beside him with a blank expression: “Didn’t you say…..that this was just a small family gathering to do our measurements?”

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“…..” Li Xiaoheng looked at Tao Mu with inexplicable grievances. He also didn’t expect so many people to come to the family home. Clearly, when he set off to pick up Tao Mu, there were only his parents and younger siblings at home!

It really was not his fault this time!

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After meeting with the military representatives and finalizing the outline of the plot to be filmed, Tao Mu, who returned to FlyNews headquarters again, immediately sent someone to contact the online writers who were particularly good at writing military novels. First to buy the original copyrights of these military dramas that would become very popular in the future.

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After the production of “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm”, two phenomenal classic works which doubly harvested both critical acclaim and ratings, now FlyNews.com had a particularly good reputation in the production of TV series. In addition, at this time, the upsurge of purchasing the copyrights of online novels and adapting them into film and television dramas had not yet arisen. As soon as the person who went to negotiate the copyright came into contact with the authors, the other party readily expressed their intention to sign a contract. The copyright purchase went particularly smoothly.

After that, Tao Mu began to build a screenwriter team. Because it was cooperating with the military to shoot a conscription promotion drama, in order to ensure both the ratings and critical acclaim, both aspects must be given great attention and effort. When Tao Mu wrote the outline, he focused on the two issues of feel good plot routines and strict realistic consideration. In order to enhance the audience’s sense of immersion, Tao Mu planned to have the entire screenwriting team enter the military camp for a period of time, and collect information by the way. Then write the script based on these materials, preferably with professional guidance during the writing of the script.

In addition, Tao Mu also wanted all the actors to enter the military camp for three months. He did not expect the actors to become qualified soldiers after training, but the main actors should at least be able to put on a show of various fighting skills and action essentials. When standing there, one could see that they were soldiers at a glance.

Tao Mu’s proposal was also approved by the military representatives. In fact, the people in the military department were also worried about the quality of the show. Even with the “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” as a shining example, and thus the military quite trusted Tao Mu’s ability to supervise, but the target audience of the conscription promotion drama they were going to shoot was still somewhat different from the main audience of the drama “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood”. The age level of the main actors was obviously also a lot younger than the old drama veterans of “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood”. The military representatives were also worried that young actors from art schools would not be able to act like soldiers. Now that Tao Mu had offered to send all the actors to join the army to experience for three months, this at least ensured that the performance of these actors would not be too outrageous when nitpicking the details.

Soon, the news that Tao Mu was going to cooperate with the military to shoot a conscription promotion drama also spread in the industry. At the same time, nominations for various awards of the Lingxiao Award were revealed. In addition to the best feature-length TV series, the best director and the best actor and actress, the most notable nomination was the best newcomer awards established this year.

The official interpretation of the Lingxiao Award for this Best Newcomer Award was to encourage more young actors to focus more on the work itself, rather than malicious hype. However, more netizens still focused their attention on the nominees for the Best Newcomer Award.

——Except for Tao Mu, who was nominated for the Best Newcomer Award for his minor supporting role who only appeared in less than three episodes, the other four finalists were nominated for their leading roles or supporting roles in mainstream TV series.

The Lingxiao Award was a TV drama award sponsored by SARFT, which had always represented the official attitude. Therefore, in the selection of works and awards, they would be more inclined to the mainstream TV series with profound content. In addition to professional skills, directors and actors who could be shortlisted for the Lingxiao Award must also ensure a good image, good reputation, and no negative news exposure during the selection period.

For many idol stars in the circle, they might not be able to be shortlisted for the Lingxiao Award even once despite acting in TV series all their lives. But once you were recognized by the Lingxiao Award, it meant you were also officially recognized to a certain extent. It would be easy to get the favor of some big directors, and to come into contact with some big productions led by the government, being of great help to one’s future road in acting.

So after the news spread that Tao Mu was shortlisted for the Lingxiao Award for Best Newcomer, Tao Mu’s fans were immediately overjoyed. Joyfully celebrating that their idol had finally been recognized by mainstream people in the industry, and he would definitely be a bright star in the future. Of course, many of Tao Mu’s antis spread conspiracy theories online, believing that Tao Mu definitely used capital to influence the selection process of the Lingxiao Award. Which was why the Lingxiao Award suddenly came up with a Best Newcomer Award. And looking at the popularity and ratings of the other four nominees, it was clear that they were not as high as Tao Mu and “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood”.

So the situation was clear. Tao Mu must have bribed the judges and organizers of the Lingxiao Award, so the Lingxiao Award suddenly launched a Best Newcomer Award, just to push Tao Mu to the top.

A large group of Tao Mu antis lamented online, clamoring that if one had money, one could indeed do whatever one wanted. Even “government awards” such as the Lingxiao Award could not withstand the corrosion of capital. It was as if they had seen Tao Mu and Lingxiao Award commiting dirty money dealings with their own eyes.

Of course Tao Mu’s fans couldn’t tolerate these antis slandering Tao Mu so much. They all stood up and fought against the antis. Tao Mu’s fan base was huge, Tao Mu’s antis’ fighting ability was even more impressive, coupled with various netizens who eat melons and unknown folks who fish in troubled waters to watch the show, the conspiracy theory of Tao Mu and Lingxiao Award being involved in dirty money dealings was immediately topped by hot searches. Even some print media began to follow suit.

Rumors were so rampant that FlyNews.com’s response was to continue to send lawyers’ letters in batches. Of course, the other party involved in the incident, SARFT, the organizer of the Lingxiao Award, could not allow these rumors to spread. So they stood up again to refute the rumor. And also expressed that they would pursue the legal responsibility of some netizens who indiscriminately spread rumors. Those antis were not afraid of the reprimand from SARFT, but they were afraid of receiving a lawyer’s letter, and even more afraid of losing money. Thus many antis quickly apologized and deleted their posts.

However, in the online war, so long as you leave a comment, someone would immediately take a screenshot. Tao Mu’s fans continued to scrutinize the screenshots after the antis deleted their posts. The fan vs anti war raged on vigorously. To the surprise of the “Lingxiao Award”, the Lingxiao Award Ceremony, which had never been paid attention to by many people except those in the industry, had actually increased its popularity because of this fan-anti war. Some people even took the initiative to privately message the official account of Lingxiao Awards online, asking for the specific time of the awards ceremony. In addition, there were even sponsors who took the initiative to privately message the sponsor to ask about the specifics of the sponsorship fee. This situation let the organizers of the Lingxiao Awards, which have never participated in hype, to taste the sweetness. And as a result, even took the initiative to contact FlyNews.com to inquire about the specific plan and price of publicity and marketing.

Tao Mu: “…..”

Tao Mu, who could barely suppress his laughter, told FlyNews.com’s publicity department to help Lingxiao Award make a good plan. As for the specific price, he generously offered a 20% discount.

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When he got home that night, Tao Mu also shared this matter as an interesting tidbit to Li Xiaoheng. Li Xiaoheng actually didn’t care about the marketing plan of the Lingxiao Award organizers, but was more curious about another thing: “If you go to the awards ceremony, you will likely need to order an outfit, right? The kind of custom fit outfit that those male stars wear on the red carpet? And are you also going to invite a red carpet female companion?”

Tao Mu nodded in confusion: “Yeah!”

Li Xiaoheng asked calmly, “Then where are you going to custom order the outfit? Who are you going to invite to be your red carpet companion?”

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 “I really don’t know what charm that Shen Yu has!” After old madam Lin left FlyNews headquarters, Lawyer Zhou said with emotion: “Even the old madam who he had only met once before can’t resist his charm.”

Tao Mu looked hesitant and thoughtful. In his impression, although the old madam Lin appeared elegant, noble, and amiable, she was not a kind person in essence. This was evident from the fact that the Lin family did not have more than one madam, and the person in power in the Lin Group was her own son.

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Zhou Shenxing suddenly said: “Hey, you say, the reason why Lin Third became a eunuch was because he wanted to drug Shen Yu. Although Shen Yu is also a victim of this incident, after Lin Third had become like that, with his temperament could he really let Shen Yu go?”

Tao Mu frowned slightly, and said hesitantly, “It shouldn’t be possible? I think old madam Lin really has a good impression of Shen Yu.”

“No matter how good, he’s still an outsider. Lin Rong’an is her own grandson. I heard that he is also the most favored grandson. Now that her grandson had become a eunuch, if she really blamed Shen Yu because of this matter, could the old madam really make it difficult for her grandson for the sake of an outsider?” Zhou Shenxing sneered, he felt that his boss’s thoughts were quite naive at times: “In my opinion, this old madam Lin spent five million to buy out Shen Yu’s brokerage contract, and even planned to take Shen Yu with her baci to Hong Kong, there might really be something fishy about this matter.”

And even become popular throughout Southeast Asia? As far as Shen Yu’s dumbness is concerned, even the two time film king Yan Sheng could not improve his career, let alone the Lin family’s mere little management company in Hong Kong?

“Anyway, if I were Shen Yu, I would definitely not accept this invitation. Signing a contract with the enemy’s management company, and then running to the enemy’s base camp for development. Isn’t that basically a sheep entering the tiger’s mouth?”

Zhou Shenxing kept feeling that there was something fishy here. Tao Mu also felt that something was wrong. But he was really tired of Shen Yu and the plot, and it didn’t matter to him anyway. Tao Mu was too lazy to think about it.

With this energy, Tao Mu would rather put it to use on the army conscription promotion drama that had not yet started preparations. After all, this kind of mainstream TV series led by the government and with political requirements, if it weren’t for the recommendation from old Mr. Luo, he was afraid that no matter how good Tao Mu’s performance was before, and no matter the reputation of the TV series he produced and how high the ratings were, a young rookie who had just debuted for two years and had never even played a leading role would definitely not have gotten such an enviable opportunity.

In order to express the importance that BulletScreen.com attached to this matter, Tao Mu personally dialed the two phone numbers given to him by old Mr. Luo on the morning of the fourth day after returning from the hospital visit, and contacted the people from the military and the publicity department.

The reason why it took three days was because Tao Mu used these three days to carefully recall the special forces-themed TV series with very good ratings in his previous life——including the screenwriter team and director production team of those TV series. Then, three of the most classic were selected to be handed over to the military and the publicity department for review.

In addition, Tao Mu himself secretly slipped in some private goods. The social upsurge caused by “Fashion Storm” during the broadcasting allowed Tao Mu to taste the sweetness of his own written and produced TV series. This sense of achievement not only came from the fact that the ratings of the TV series have greatly increased, but even broke the viewing records of the same period, creating a new trend of weekly broadcasts at ten o’clock in the evening. Additionally, Tao Mu making a drama himself and supporting the people he chose, and then watching how the plot he had come up with being eagerly discussed by netizens across the country as well as also seeing the newbies he discovered become national idols——this all gave him the great sense of accomplishment of an old father.

Tao Mu felt that this was probably the pleasure of the producer behind the scenes. Celebrities enjoy the infinite lights standing on the stage, and the producers behind the scenes enjoy the satisfaction of commanding the overall situation.

Regardless of his previous life or this life, Tao Mu was actually a person with a strong desire to control. It was just that Tao Mu had learned a lot of lessons in his life, and did not display it so obviously. However, the unease and sense of crisis accumulated in his bones still could not be eliminated in such a short period of time. This was revealed from the fact that FlyNews.com and BulletScreen.com, which he founded, all had shares in which he alone controlled more than 90% of the shares. Even the upper management must be the closest family members to him. However, Xiaoheng Capital, Skynet Technology and Litao.com which he had relatively few shares in, Tao Mu was only responsible for formulating business plans and did not ask about the specific internal management situation, thus it could be seen what he truly felt in his subconscious actions.

In the last life, Tao Mu committed suicide by jumping off the building because of all the betrayal of his closest family. At that time, people all over the world were accusing Tao Mu of being too greedy, too discontented, and too deeply scheming. Relatives with the same blood as him also rejected and disliked him because of this, and were always vigilant against him. That kind of experience of being seen by his biological parents and most admired brother as a jackal was not something that everyone could bear. Even if Tao Mu was reborn, the shadows from his previous life would still be there. So much so that Tao Mu subconsciously wondered if he was really too greedy and vicious, which was why the people around him couldn’t tolerate him.

This caused Tao Mu to heed the warning that was what happened to him in his previous life posed after his rebirth. Deep down, he made sure to always separate his own things from other people’s things. His things, including his career and his family, were all held tightly in his hands, and no one else was allowed to take a share. As for other people’s things, Tao Mu did not covet them either. It was the best to be able to cooperate, and even if they could not continue to cooperate, as long as each could amiably go their own ways, that was fine too.

Therefore, Tao Mu would subconsciously bring out this clear-cut attitude when communicating with others. He didn’t want his business partners and friends to think he was too greedy or was even a threat to their careers. So he always kept a distance during the cooperation. Relying on the experience and memory of his previous life, Tao Mu needed to maintain the right to speak on the project. Because he wantex to ensure maximum profit. But apart from that, Tao Mu never questioned the internal management of his business partner. After he became a senior partner of Xiaoheng Capital, Tao Mu also sent them directly to Li Xiaoheng by e-mail every time he wrote up a financial report or investment plan. The two partners would directly connect and discuss it. Tao Mu never went beyond Li Xiaoheng to find other employees of Xiaoheng Capital to understand the internal operation of the company. Even if this was the right that Tao Mu should have as a partner.

So this was also an important reason why Li Xiaoheng always felt that Tao Mu had reservations about him when he was with Tao Mu. It didn’t matter if Tao Mu did this out of the desire to avoid arousing suspicion or because he really trusted Li Xiaoheng. From a certain point of view, this attitude of overemphasizing the independence of independent management and operation was itself a kind of rejection and exclusion.

Just like Tao Mu to this day, did not agree to the invitation of Li Xiaoheng and the Li family to visit the Li manor. Fortunately, Li Xiaoheng was not in a hurry. Although he was an old man soon to reach his thirties, he had patience and could accompany their super vigilant Mr. Cheetah to slowly soften up to him.

The topic has gone off topic. Bringing it back to earlier, when Tao Mu went to meet the representatives of the military publicity department, he took out a total of four filming outlines. The other three were all classic TV dramas that Tao Mu summed up based on the memories of his previous life. Only the fourth one was the plot outline that Tao Mu himself came up with.

The representative of the military publicity department was an old comrade-in-arms of old Mr. Luo. As early as after Tao Mu went to visit the hospital, old Mr. Luo took the initiative to contact his old comrade-in-arm and told his old comrade-in-arm that he had relayed to Tao Mu in detail about the shooting of the conscription promotion drama. And that he estimated that Tao Mu would contact him soon so he should also be prepared.

Old Mr. Luo made this call out of kindness, for fear that if Tao Mu rashly went to pay a visit, he would be refused at the door.

As a result, the representative of the military department waited three to four days for Tao Mu to visit. During this period, Mr. Luo’s old comrade-in-arms was even beginning to feel impatient. Almost misunderstanding that Tao Mu didn’t take this matter to heart, that was why he was so slow and procrastinated.

But once they finally did meet, he realized that Tao Mu not only took this filming seriously, but took it too seriously. In just three days, he even came up with four script outlines.

The representative of the military department immediately turned his anger into joy, and said with a smile, “CEO Tao came quite prepared.”

Taking advantage of his young age, Tao Mu smiled and said obediently, “These two Sirs, please, there is no need to call me CEO Tao. Just call me Tao Mu.”

The representative of the military department suddenly smiled: “Yes. You are not even my son’s age. My son graduated with his master’s degree this year. He studied composite materials research at the University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. It’s a pity that he is not as promising as you.”

Tao Mu smiled and said modestly: “Sir, you over-praise me. How could a tiger father have a dog son. What’s more, your son is a scientist. When it comes to the contribution to the country and society, they are much higher than us actors.”

The army representative laughed. He felt that Tao Mu was indeed a talent worthy of being recommended by old Luo, and he indeed really knew how to speak.

“The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood that you invested in was a very good drama. Very well made.” The representative of the military gave a thumbs up to Tao Mu. Probably because Tao Mu was too young, and he was also recommended by his old comrade-in-arms. But the most important thing was that Tao Mu had a good reputation online. FlyNews.com’s two previous publicity campaigns during the National Day holiday period have really helped the military create a more positive and people-friendly image. All kinds of factors added up, and the military representative couldn’t help but treat Tao Mu as a nephew.

“Many old generals and commanders in our department felt that the drama was very realistic and performed very well after watching this TV series. Since the broadcast of this drama, there has been a wave of reminiscence in the department. Us old fellows, every day when there is nothing to do, like to hold a big tea jug in the conference room and recall the long days of the past. Talking about the glory days every chance they got, so much so that it has even caused those young ones to become annoyed.”

As the representative of the military department talked, he burst into laughter again. Then blinked mischievously at Tao Mu, and suddenly changed the subject: “I’ll tell you some inside information, “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” has passed the internal selection and is directly shortlisted for the Lingxiao Award for Best Screenplay, Best Director and Best Actor. This year’s Lingxiao Award has undergone reform, in order to encourage young actors to focus more on their works and bring more and better works to the audience, so an extra Best Newcomer Award has also been set up. You yourself were in the TV series “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood”, as a small supporting role which you played particularly well. The way you deeply analyzed the transformation of this character from a decent character to a villain, which was very layered and made people sigh very much. It was completely different from many current TV dramas which have one-sided stereotype villains. Your acting skills have also been recognized by the judges. So this Best Newcomer Award, you are also shortlisted.”

Tao Mu was stunned for a moment, looking at the representative of the military with some surprise. One reason was that he didn’t expect that the Lingxiao Award would suddenly launch a Best Newcomer Award this year. This was a change that hadn’t happened even in the previous life. The other reason was that he didn’t expect, though he only played a small supporting role who appeared in less than three episodes, yet he was still nominated for the Best Newcomer Award for this supporting role.

The representative of the military department chuckled, patted Tao Mu on the shoulder, and said, “Whether your acting is good or not, does not depend on how long you appear in the drama. Whether you have sincerely acted with effort, everyone has eyes and can see it. So keep working hard, we are all very optimistic about you.”

Tao Mu smiled and continued to act the good obedient child: “I will work hard.”

After the idle chat came to an end, the military representative finally picked up the four plot outlines that Tao Mu had carefully prepared, and looked through them.

Don’t know if it was destined or not. The first plot outline that the military representative read was the one written by Tao Mu himself.

The representative of the military department flipped through the plot outline and looked at Tao Mu with a weird expression: “This male protagonist was written based on yourself, am I right?”

A handsome and talented young man, who was a man of the hour during his school days. He had learned mixed martial arts since he was a child, and was also proficient in code programming and was a well-known hacker in China. He liked to play the game Counter Strike. After graduating from high school, he was admitted to the best university in the country, majoring in communication engineering. During the military training, he was taught a lesson by the instructor for being naughty and mischievous. For the first time, the natural born elite tasted what complete defeat was like. So he angrily gave up his student status and went to join the army, vowing to get his dignity back…..

Tao Mu blushed and said shyly, “It can’t really be considered as being written with me as the model.”

The military representative was about to start teasing Tao Mu to not be modest, when he heard Tao Mu continue to say, “…..I don’t have enough writing talent, so the character only possesses one-tenth of my own charm at present!”

The military representative was caught off guard by Tao Mu, and was stunned for a moment, before bursting out into laughter.

“If that’s the case, then it’s settled.” After laughing, the representative of the military department patted the plot outline: “Let’s film this.”

Tao Mu was stunned when he heard the words. He prepared four scripts, and this was the only one that he could not guarantee the word-of-mouth and ratings.

“You don’t want to have a look at the other scripts?” Tao Mu cautiously persuaded: “To tell you the truth, I wrote this plot outline myself. The other three plot outlines were extracted from the most popular military movies on the Internet. If you’re optimistic about the other three, I’ll contact the original author right away——”

“No need. This one is fine.” The military representative waved his hand, and was more open than Tao Mu: “We originally wanted to use you as the hero. Since you also used yourself as a prototype to write such a script, then isn’t that just perfect?”

Moreover, the military representative subjectively determined that Tao Mu had previously supervised the production of the classic Second Sino-Japanese War drama “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood”, and also produced the phenomenon-level urban idol drama “Fashion Storm”. Thus his production talent had been fully proven.

Therefore, compared to the military dramas on the market, the representative of the military also believed more in Tao Mu’s script. He felt that Tao Mu was fully capable of directing it in person, and then make another special forces military drama as classic as “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm”.

“But you have to polish the script well. How could the male lead only have one-tenth of your charm? At least he should have ten times as much.” The representative of the military department joked with a smile.

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e bl mu se . c o m )

Tao Mu did not expect that this military representative had more confidence in him than he did himself. However, Tao Mu was able to come up with this plot outline, and subconsciously, he wanted to use himself as a prototype to create a tailor-made special forces drama.

After all, young people, especially boys, all have the desire to be a hero.

And in Tao Mu’s eyes, soldiers were the greatest heroes of this era.

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