It was a matter of his own reputation and innocence. Cheng Baodong, when he first saw the news, immediately contacted his team to find a way to clarify the “rumors”.

“Hurry up and contact the person who broke the news, and ask him how much he wants to change his words.” Cheng Baodong was in a state of desperation. He wanted nothing more than to smash his phone, but he also couldn’t help refreshing the homepage of FlyNews.com and the major browsers frequently.

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

No matter how deplorable his personality and temper were, Cheng Baodong was the leading director of commercial films in China, and the quality of the films directed by him was very good. Especially in the past two years, he had successively shot three commercial films that broke the 500 million mark at the box office. While harvesting word-of-mouth and box office success, it also made Cheng Baodong a well-deserved leader in the Beijing entertainment circle. This was also an important reason why the Beijing Film Academy thought of Cheng Baodong first when planning to shoot a big production movie.

——Not only because Cheng Baodong was one of the few commercial film directors in the mainland entertainment circle who could direct big scenes of gun battles and explosions, but the main reason was that Cheng Baodong was the only major director graduated from Beijing Film who could control such themes.

Most people who eat melons outside the circle have heard the saying that “Beijing Film produces actors, Yan Film produces stars”. In fact, there was another saying that was as famous as this, “Beijing Films produces actors, and Yan Films produces directors”. Of course, if one insisted on quibbling, one could also add the saying “Yan Film directors like to use Beijing Film actors the most”.

In just a few sentences, while highly summarizing the training direction of the two major film and television academies, it also vividly portrayed the embarrassing situation of Beijing Film in training directors. There was once a bored netizen who drew a chart on the Internet, listing in detail the works and honors of the directors from Yan Film and the directors from Beijing Film. Among them, Yan Film’s list was full, practically including all big directors that were familiar to the masses, while Beijing Film’s list only had a mere two or three. Apart from Cheng Baodong, the most famous director, the remaining one was an actor turned director. The rest of the directors had documentary filming backgrounds. The kind that even if they had won an award in the industry, the audience had never seen or even heard of their works.

Under such circumstances, Cheng Baodong, the only one who made it big, was extremely precious. This was also an important reason why even though the Beijing Film Academy knew that Cheng Baodong and Tao Mu were at odds, they still insisted on their cooperation.

However, Beijing Film did not expect that this cooperation had not yet even started, and just a discussion meeting before the filming was held, but it could make such a big noise.

This director who graduated from Beijing Film, and to use the words of fans to describe it, as “the only big director who had broken out of the circle”, the leading figure in the Beijing circle of directors, and one of the best students in the Beijing Film directing department, soon to be entrusted with shooting a big production movie led by Beijing Film, who was awarded with many honors, but at a critical moment, was revealed that he schemed with the crew to cheat investors out of money. If this news was confirmed, not only Cheng Baodong himself, but even Beijing Film would lose face.

Cheng Baodong came from a wealthy family, and his personality already had a trace of the arrogance of the children of wealthy affluent families. The great success in recent years only fueled Cheng Baodong’s arrogance. While enjoying the limelight and praise, he also offended many people because of his temper. Before when Cheng Baodong was smooth sailing no one paid attention to him, but now that such an explosive scandal had been exposed, there was never a shortage of “insiders” in the entertainment circle who threw stones.

So in the next few days, who knew how many people made their move at the same time. Hiring the water army, bribing media reporters, they all contributed to Cheng Baodong’s gossip list. And there was more and more conclusive evidence that Cheng Baodong and the crew defrauded investors.

Cheng Baodong’s public relations team really felt the desperation of “pressing the gourd to float the ladle”. Who knew how many people their boss had offended that he would end up being kicked by everyone while he was down.

“It’s Tao Mu! That little bastard must have done it!”

With a “snap”, the latest Apple phone was smashed to the ground by the owner. Cheng Baodong gritted his teeth and said, “If it wasn’t for his hand in this, how could things have become so big?”

This was also true. As soon as the incident happened, Cheng Baodong’s team began to contact the person who broke the news, and at the same time they did PR with the major media in hopes to suppress that revelation in the shortest possible time. However, they first hit a wall with the whistleblower——the other party wouldn’t see him at all. In the final public relations with the media, while others were willing to give Cheng Baodong face, only FlyNews.com and FlyNews Entertainment ignored Cheng Baodong’s team’s request. Not only did they not help suppress the news, but they even deliberately push those news on the hot search list.

One must know that with the continuous development and growth of FlyNews.com, FlyNews Entertainment’s influence on public opinion in the domestic entertainment industry had faintly surpassed those already established media. With FlyNews.com and FlyNews Entertainment adding fuel to the fire. Although Cheng Baodong’s team had tried their best, the scandal could not be suppressed, and instead became bigger and bigger. It even attracted the attention of other investors and relevant departments.

“Even if we know that Tao Mu did it, we can’t quibble about it now. The chain of evidence that the other party broke the news with is too detailed——” Cheng Baodong’s agent just said a few words when the phone began to ring non-stop. They were all calls from investors who had worked with Cheng Baodong. They didn’t need to answer to know that the other party must have come to pursue this matter.

Cheng Baodong’s agent didn’t dare to answer the call, and even more didn’t dare to hang up. For a while, he was overwrought, and still he had to persuade Cheng Baodong not to lose his temper at this critical moment, that he should bow his head and most definitely not let the situation get worse.

“The only way now is for us to bow our heads first. Find Beijing Film as an intermediary and help us make up with Tao Mu. After all, you are a big director supported by Beijing Film, and you are also the face of Beijing Film’s directing department. If something happened to you it will also bring no benefits for Beijing Film, I believe that they also don’t want anything to happen to you——”

“You mean to make me ingratiate myself to that little bastard?” Cheng Baodong raised his eyebrows angrily before his agent even finished speaking, “Impossible! I, Cheng Baodong, despise that kind of ruthless and profiteering people the most in my life. What’s more, he provoked me first this time, why should I bow my head?”

Cheng Baodong was indignant. He was already several decades old yet he could still be so naive. Cheng Baodong’s agent couldn’t help shaking his head secretly, just who spoiled him to this extent!

Cheng Baodong didn’t notice the agent’s secret complaints, and he continued to ask: “Other than Tao Mu’s FlyNews.com and FlyNews Entertainment, have you found out who else hired the water armies?”

How dare they add insult to injury at such a time. Cheng Baodong vowed that when he got back on his feet this time, he would settle accounts one by one. Those people could forget about participating in his movies in the future.

“And those who were willing to help me at this time, write them down one by one.” Cheng Baodong snorted: “I, Cheng Baodong, have clear gratitude and grievances. I will not let anyone who wants me die go. And those who stand by me, I’m not going to let them stand up for me in vain either.”

“It’s too early to say these things now.” Cheng Baodong’s agent couldn’t hold back, and said: “If this matter can’t be resolved immediately, I’m afraid we will all be in trouble!”

One must know, this was no ordinary scandal. When it came to monetary interests, even if they could calm down the media and public opinion, the investors who have worked with them before would still hold them accountable.

After being reminded by the agent, Cheng Baodong also began to regard this with importance. However, Cheng Baodong obviously didn’t seem to worry much compared to the agent’s anxiousness: “The things I did are actually one of those unspoken rules in the circle. Everyone knows it and has a tacit mutual understanding. After all, filming is already so hard, I just want everyone to earn some hard work fees, and I haven’t gone too overboard. Didn’t those investors earn more.”

“If they really mind that much, then don’t cooperate with me in the future!”

There was no reason in this world to want a horse to run without giving it grass. What’s more, a horse cannot get fat without an extra ration, a man cannot get rich without an extra income. Compared with those Hong Kong directors who come to the mainland to rake in money, even putting 6,000 yuan for a straw hat on the budget, Cheng Baodong felt that he was a saint. At least he was not so black-hearted and shameless!

“Even if it’s an unspoken rule of the industry, it’s not something that can be put out in the open.” Cheng Baodong’s agent only felt a headache.

Cheng Baodong also frowned and urged his agent: “That’s why you need to find a way to contact the person who broke the news and make him change his tune.”

Cheng Baodong had been famous for many years and cherished his reputation. Even if he really didn’t take these revelations seriously, he still didn’t want to be pointed at by those netizens. What’s more, this was Tao Mu’s conspiracy. Cheng Baodong didn’t want people like Tao Mu to laugh at his expense.

“Don’t worry too much.” When Cheng Baodong said this, he paused slightly: “At worst, I’ll go home and talk to my old man. Let him find a way to settle this matter.”

Knowing Cheng Baodong’s family background, the agent’s frowning brows slightly relaxed. He still added: “Although that is the case. But I think you should communicate with Tao Mu. Let’s sit down and have a good chat. It is good to solve any misunderstandings. After all, we will be working together in the future.”

The agent looked at Cheng Baodong’s unhappy face, and said again: “Don’t forget, there is Xiaoheng Capital and the Li family standing behind Tao Mu!”

Cheng Baodong paused. In the end, he took the agent’s words to heart. He could look down on an orphan who crawled out of the faceless crowd of extras in H Town, but he couldn’t repeatedly offend the grandson-in-law of the Li family. After all, with the power of the Li family, even the Cheng family could not steal an edge.

Seeing that although Cheng Baodong didn’t take it seriously, he remained silent and obviously acquiesced, the agent felt relieved and said, “Then I’ll call Principal Liu first. Let him come forward to host a dinner.”

Principal Liu was the principal of Beijing Film, and he was also the initiator of this big production movie. Tao Mu was still a student of Beijing Film, so it was most appropriate for him to come forward.

Cheng Baodong hesitated for a moment, and said, “Call Guo Yaning as well. Ask her to come and attend as well.”

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

Even though Cheng Baodong was arrogant, growing up in the environment that he did, he knew everything he should know. It was just that he didn’t want to use it on Tao Mu before. Now awakened by the agent’s words, Cheng Baodong was willing to bow his head due to the influence of the Li family, so he wanted to carry it out smoothly. He knew that Tao Mu and Guo Yaning had a very good personal relationship. Guo Yaning was the “Cheng Baodong Girl” he single-handedly scouted. So asking Guo Yaning to come forward to accompany him, he also hope that Tao Mu would let him go for Guo Yaning’s sake.

The agent glanced at Cheng Baodong, and Cheng Baodong said angrily, “Why are you looking at me? Since I have to bow my head, I might as well go all the way. Either way I will be losing face, would I mind how much I will lose?”

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The news that Beijing Film was going to make a big production movie spread quickly. The producer and leading actor were already decided to be Tao Mu, and the director was also finalized as Cheng Baodong. As for the subject matter, this was even easier to decide——just shoot the movie version of “Soldier Elite”. It would be released during the National Day next year. While catering to the mainstream, it could also ride the popularity of “Soldier Elite”.

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

Though it was called the movie version of “Soldier Elite”, but in fact the plot had nothing to do with the TV series. At best, it was a side story of the TV series. That was to say, the story was about a male protagonist who had already become an elite special-ops soldier and several other important supporting characters going abroad for missions. This mainly took into account the time limit of the movie and the smoothness of action scenes, as well as the visual effects of various explosive special effects scenes.

Of course, another crucial reason for choosing this theme was that most of Beijing Film students have received military training for several months, and in addition the TV version of “Soldier Elite” had just finished wrapping up. Everyone was still immersed in the shooting atmosphere and yet to come out. The school felt that this situation was very suitable for actors to immerse in the plot. There was also no need to spend time on additional pre-filming training.

In general, Beijing Film wanted to make a big production movie to test the waters, but also wanted to ensure the basics of box office and word-of-mouth, coupled with the confidence in Tao Mu’s ability to supervise the production, so they took the lazy route.

All colleagues in the industry could see how much confidence Beijing Film had in Tao Mu from the actions of the Beijing Film Academy. But in this way, the situation of Cheng Baodong as the director became a bit embarrassing.

As we all know, Cheng Baodong had always been a tyrant on the set, and he was a director who emphasized a director’s power. Even investors and producers could not raise any objections to Cheng Baodong’s filming methods. In other words, even if there were conflicts and objections, Cheng Baodong’s way must be followed in the end.

However, Tao Mu’s methods and attitude at work were also very forceful. “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm” which he supervised, including the mainland version of “Black and White”, all have a strong personal style. Making the saying “Tao Mu’s production means a high-quality product” spread throughout the industry and became a guarantee of box office and ratings. At the same time, it inevitably sacrificed the director’s and other people’s power in the crew.

What was more, the gossip that Tao Mu and Cheng Baodong have a bad relationship had already spread throughout the entertainment circle. Beijing Film brought these two giant Buddhas together, and even made it clear that they trusted Tao Mu more. So all the insiders began to secretly wait for a good show.

Sure enough, Cheng Baodong, who also heard the rumors, quickly expressed his attitude. He proposed to the Beijing Film Academy to hold an audition for all Beijing Film students during the film preparation period. He also strongly advocated that the school choose another script, which should describe the connotation and theme of the film while taking into account the commercial nature, and at least reflect the literary and artistic accomplishment and artistic independence of Beijing Film Academy.

Where did the director’s power in the crew reflect? Casting and changing scenes might not be the most important aspects, but it was definitely the most obvious and intuitive. Generally speaking, the male and female leads of a film or television drama were all stuffed in by the investor, producer or director. As the producer and investor of a big production movie, Tao Mu had already been appointed as the leading actor by Beijing Film. The leading actress of this movie didn’t have a lot of screen time, and was obviously a role that might not increase her popularity even if the film became popular. Cheng Baodong absolutely couldn’t tolerate Tao Mu’s putting all his people into the crew after already taking away the leading actor role.

As for the request to change the script, Cheng Baodong, as the director of the crew, even wanted to suppress Tao Mu’s team, so of course it was even more impossible for him to endure Tao Mu’s personal style coloring the script.

“Soldier Elite” was a mainstream military recruitment promotion drama co-produced by Tao Mu and the military. Although the Beijing Film Academy chose to shoot the movie version of “Soldier Elite” to ensure the film would succeed to the greatest extent. But for Cheng Baodong, these actions made the film heavily branded with Tao Mu’s personal brand. Under the basic situation that the TV series “Soldier Elite” had already been scheduled for National TV’s golden time slot, if the film version had good results then it was just to be expected, but if the film flopped, Cheng Baodong was afraid that it would be he alone to bear all the criticism.

Cheng Baodong had established his reputation over many years, so how was he willing to serve as Tao Mu’s scapegoat and puppet? Moreover, Cheng Baodong made his objection sound plausible. He believed that the Beijing Film Academy was too superstitious about Tao Mu’s personal ability. Although the TV version of “Soldier Elite” was a military-supported mainstream recruitment promotion drama and it seemed to be a good resource at present, after it was actually released, it might not become a big hit. If Beijing Film recklessly rushed to make a movie version, and the reputation of the TV series turned out to be bad after it was released, it might affect the word-of-mouth and box office of the movie version.

Besides, the plot of the movie version had nothing to do with the TV series version. It just used the names of a few main supporting characters. That being the case, why not just make a new movie. Moreover, Cheng Baodong also mentioned that other than Tao Mu as the leading male, they should try to choose the famous Beijing Film graduates in the circle for the rest of the supporting roles. Wasn’t this also to guarantee the film’s success? And it was more reliable than directly shooting the movie version of “Soldier Elite”.

Cheng Baodong’s suggestion also had some merit. But the current situation was that Beijing Film needed Tao Mu to play the three important roles of producer, investor and leading actor. The reason why they chose to shoot the movie version of “Soldier Elite” was not only the above considerations, but also the intention of supporting the students of Beijing Film Academy. In contrast, although Cheng Baodong was the director of the film, his voice was not as powerful as that of Tao Mu, who served as the producer, investor and leading actor, which was naturally understandable.

Of course, as Cheng Baodong said, he was the director after all. Even if he had less power, he still had the right to make suggestions in terms of casting and modifying the script. Moreover, Cheng Baodong’s proposal to let famous graduates in the industry participate in the film did take into account the box office performance. Not to mention that the one Cheng Baodong recommended was an A-list superstar in the industry, Wang Boyuan, who was also hailed as Cheng Baodong’s golden partner in the industry.

Cheng Baodong directly said that with Wang Boyuan joining the film, the basic performance of this film could guarantee at least 500 million yuan. It was just that with Wang Boyuan’s status and influence, if he joined, this movie couldn’t be Tao Mu’s absolute leading man movie——at least it had to have two male leads.

Cheng Baodong’s words sound reasonable. However, Tao Mu, who had the memories of his previous life, knew that in his previous life, when Cheng Baodong supported a third year senior brother as the male lead, he never mentioned making it a double male lead movie. So it was really aimed at him personally!

He didn’t like Cheng Baodong’s person in the first place, not to mention Cheng Baodong made things difficult for Tao Mu on several occasions. It didn’t involve his own interests before, so Tao Mu didn’t bother to care about it. Now that he was the producer and the biggest investor, he actually wanted to take away his main male lead and change it to a double male lead——it was not like Tao Mu had never done this kind of thing like spending money to promote others, but again no matter how he was used to it, Tao Mu had to be willing.

In the current situation, wasn’t Cheng Baodong just treating Tao Mu as a fool?

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

Although Cheng Baodong was currently the most popular director of commercial films in the Beijing circle, Cheng Baodong was not the only director in the entertainment circle who could make good commercial films.

So overnight, the entertainment industry was shocked to find out that someone on the Internet suddenly broke the news that the big director used his authority and voice to cooperate with the film crew to scheme an increase of filming funds from the investors during filming.

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“Thank you Brother Cheng for writing a song for me.” Tao Mu smiled and pushed the sheet music back to Cheng Yi, and said with a shy smile, “But I want to try writing a song myself.”

Before Cheng Yi could respond, Tao Mu added shyly, “A song for our family’s Mr. Li.”

Caught off guard by the face full of dog food, Cheng Yi, who was about to speak, stretched out his hands and rubbed the goosebumps on his arms: Showing affection like this is immoral!

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

Knowing that Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng have just announced their relationship, and that the elders of both parties were already preparing for the engagement ceremony, Cheng Yi could understand the thoughts of young people in love. He just had no confidence in Tao Mu’s knowledge of music theory and composition skills. After all, Tao Mu’s tone deaf singing skills were really impressive.

Cheng Yi was a music producer who was very strict with himself. Since Tao Mu asked him to help make the single, Cheng Yi would take responsibility to the end. Tao Mu would never be allowed to write a song that was not on the standard line on his watch, smashing the brand of the top tier music producer in the Chinese music scene.

Of course, Tao Mu could also understand Cheng Yi’s rigor and strict requirements for work, he smiled and said, “Brother Cheng, just give me a chance and let me try.”

Cheng Yi nodded, and said: “Okay then. Show me your work as soon as possible. But we have to agree on one thing first, if your song is not up to standard, I will not pass it. So while composing your song, I suggest you practice this song, so as not to delay the release of the EP.”

“I understand.” Tao Mu smiled and said, “Brother Cheng, don’t worry, I will definitely not smash your brand.”

Although he was tone deaf, Tao Mu, who was taught how to play musical instruments by the resident band of Night since he was a child, actually knew a little bit of music theory. Besides, this time was to celebrate FlyNews.com’s breakthrough of 200 million registered users. Such a grand event was also related to FlyNews.com’s face. Tao Mu, who had always been a perfectionist, certainly didn’t want to trip up here. What’s more, Tao Mu wanted to sing this song to Li Xiaoheng himself at the engagement ceremony. So he was very serious about creating a good song.

——This manifested in everyday after filming, he would hold a guitar and play it around in the hotel. It was a pity that the gulf between each profession was like a mountain. By the time the drama “Soldier Elite” was officially completed, Tao Mu only had the first stanza of that song written.

On Cheng Yi’s side, because he had to prepare for a national tour concert, he didn’t have time to dawdle with Tao Mu. After the two agreed on a specific time to record the single, Cheng Yi put down Tao Mu’s affairs and went back to do his own thing.

After the wrap-up party, Tao Mu, who had nothing to do, returned to Beijing with the first and probably the only half-baked song composed by him. As usual, Li Xiaoheng was the one who picked him up at the airport.

Because the two have officially announced their relationship, the news that the two were preparing for the engagement ceremony was also uploaded on the Internet and in major newspapers. The media reporters and Ceramics who learned about Tao Mu’s specific itinerary arrived at the airport one after another, wanting to interview/see the couple who appeared in public together for the first time after announcing their relationship.

Even as a boss worth tens of billions, after dropping the double bomb of announcing his sexual orientation and announcing his relationship, Tao Mu had to accept the fact that he lost nearly a million fans overnight. However, this kind of data loss was not reflected in the airport pick-up.

Counting the filming schedule of “Soldier Elite”, Tao Mu had not appeared in front of the public for more than half a year since the mainland version of “Black and White” was released. And even when returning to the film studio some time ago, the itinerary was not announced. This time, if an entertainment reporter from a certain city hadn’t reported the news of the wrap-up of the crew of “Soldier Elite” in advance, the media reporters and fans in Beijing would not have known about Tao Mu’s flight. There was no public itinerary for half a year, and the only appearance before was the live broadcast of coming out of the closet announcing their relationship. Many fans even wondered whether Tao Mu had the intention of leaving the entertainment industry entirely. After all, Tao Mu wasn’t considered a full-time actor in the first place——his serious career was a self-made Internet entrepreneur.

Thinking about it this way, after experiencing a large wave of crying and loss of fans, the remaining fans became more determined and loyal, but also more panicked and afraid. They were afraid that Tao Mu would really take advantage of the situation and retire from the public eye. So they were eager to see Tao Mu and tell Tao Mu personally that no matter what his sexual orientation was or who he liked, everyone liked him as always. They hoped Tao Mu could stay in the entertainment industry for a long time, and never have the idea of going home to inherit the family business.

Under the urging of this kind of thinking, regardless of the fact that Tao Mu would go through the VIP passage every time, the Ceramics actively organized and planned this time’s plane drop-off and pick-up.

At the same time, many LGBTQ folks who dared not speak out also regard Tao Mu as an idol. Wearing rainbow ties, they all came to pick up his plane, and by the way express their support and blessings for Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng’s relationship.

In addition to staking out the airport lobby, some highly skilled media reporters and some Ceramics also bought first-class tickets and squatted in the VIP passage. So much so that the usually cold and peopleless VIP passage had almost become the scene of a fan meeting. The empty aisle was filled with people, and the crowds were like a sea of people walking shoulder to shoulder. Even the security check lanes and boarding gates were packed, seriously affecting the airport order. So much so that the airport had to communicate with Tao Mu who had yet to board the plane to Beijing, and asked Tao Mu to come forward to appease the fans and guide them. As a result, he even promised a fan meeting, which persuaded most of the fans to leave the airport.

“Why do I feel that Tao Mu has become more popular after he announced his relationship? The number of fans is almost catching up with those k-pop stars!”

In the waiting room of an airport in a certain city, looking at the equally crowded airport, the three roommates looked shocked. After seeing with their own eyes that Tao Mu actually had to cooperate with the airport to open a live broadcast in Beijing Airport in order to persuade the fans to leave, and even had to promise a meeting at the fans’ begging, the three roommates only felt that the world was becoming more and more fantastical.

“Why is a guy of Tao Mu’s sexual orientation and one who is already taken, soon to be engaged, have so many crazy and loyal beautiful female fans, but I don’t even have a single female fan!” Du Kang, who was really unwilling, wailed, acting cute at the fans in the VIP room with wet doe-like eyes: “My dear lady, there is no future for you in liking Tao Mu. How about climbing the wall to fan me? Look, I am 1.92 meters tall and weigh eighty-eight kilograms, with six-pack abs, a sexy v-line, and a firm narrow waist! If you are my fan, you’ll definitely have a good future!”

This guy, stealing fans so openly! Tao Mu raised his eyebrows, and was about to speak, when he saw the female fan on the opposite side directly stabbing Du Kang’s heart with a smile: “But you aren’t as good-looking as our CEO Tao!”

In an instant, Du Kang’s rich facial expressions seemed to be suffering from facial paralysis, with his mouth going crooked and his eyes going slanted.

The other people sitting in the VIP room laughed out loud. Chu Sui’an and Wen Bao also patted Du Kang’s shoulder playfully, showing no sympathy for this guy.

They flew back to Beijing laughing and in a good mood all the way. Li Xiaoheng was standing at the airport pick-up gate with roses in his hands. Tao Mu walked over amidst the heckling of the group of people, and asked while hugging him, “Why did you think of bringing flowers?”

“My dad’s suggestion.” Li Xiaoheng smiled and said, “There must be a sense of ceremony when picking up a lover’s plane.”

Alright!

The media reporters squatting at the airport came over excitedly. Although most Ceramics were persuaded to leave, there were still a small group of fans who were reluctant to leave, and they also didn’t intend to disturb Tao Mu, they just wanted to take a look from afar. Lest they be remembered by Tao Mu, who had a photographic memory, and lose the opportunity to participate in the fan meeting.

Compared with these lovely fans, the media reporters who were waiting to interview and report were not so self-aware. They rushed forward in a swarm, asking questions in a hurry.

Tao Mu answered seven or eight questions patiently, and walked forward surrounded by bodyguards. The classmates of Beijing Film and Yan Film who took the plane with him left long ago. Tao Mu would go home first with Li Xiaoheng, and then report to school the next day.

It was at this time that he learned something from the head of the acting department.

“The school wants to make a big production movie?”

“That’s right!” Director Huang nodded slightly, and said with a smile: “Actually, the school had always had this idea. In recent years, especially among the students of the acting department, the learning atmosphere has been very impetuous. It was becoming more and more common to ask for leave to film during school. As a result, the outside world has also developed some doubts about the teaching quality of Beijing Film. From the standpoint of the school, of course, we hope that students can concentrate on learning. It is not just for the sake of the school’s reputation. We felt that only by laying a solid foundation during the student period would they have better career development in the future. But we also acknowledge that the competitive pressure in the entertainment industry is very high. Our students, if they start acting in their junior year, their performance experience in front of the camera will definitely not be as good as those students who have just entered school and began filmimg, or have not yet entered but who have already filmed dramas and movies. So this was also one of the school’s points of conflict.”

In the end, it was Tao Mu’s approach that provided the school with inspiration. Before when Tao Mu filmed “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm”, he had always provided opportunities for the seniors of Beijing Film. This time, in order to film “Soldier Elite”, he even asked the school to pause classes and ask for leave. When the students returned to school yesterday, the teachers conducted a batch of assessments on the students, and found that these students had different degrees of growth in their understanding of performance. It could be seen that if students wanted to improve their acting skills, it was not enough to just learn theoretical knowledge in the classroom, they must also have practical experience.

That was why the school made up its mind to make a big production movie.

“The initial idea was to select directors and actors who have graduated from Beijing Film Academy. Of course, both the hero and heroine must be students at our school.”

Considering Tao Mu’s own acting skill level, brilliant achievements and contributions to the school, the school hoped that Tao Mu would be the producer and leading actor of this film. As for the director, there were several candidates selected by the school. Of course the most promising was Cheng Baodong.

However, there was some disagreement between Cheng Baodong and Tao Mu, which was not a secret in the industry. Of course, the Beijing Film Academy didn’t take it too seriously. There were many private discords in the entertainment industry, and yet you don’t see anyone delaying normal work, right! What was more, with Tao Mu’s scheming, even if Cheng Baodong couldn’t control his temper, Tao Mu wouldn’t be unable to.

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

Tao Mu’s eyes flickered slightly, and he said with a smile: “The school must really trust my ability to entrust such an important task to me. I feel very honored. I will also try my best to help Director Cheng make this film well.”

“That’s good.” Director Huang patted Tao Mu on the shoulder, and said again: “Of course, you are the producer of this film. In some aspects, you are the main voice.”

After all, the film and television works supervised by Tao Mu were there as shining examples. Whether it was word of mouth or box office, even Cheng Baodong, a veteran director, could not compare.

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Just as the Li family hoped, that night, their eldest son who was an eternal bachelor finally brought home the daughter-in-law whom everyone had been looking forward to seeing.

Drawing lessons from the previous few times, this time Grandpa Li personally spoke, telling Youngest Aunt Li to be restrained and not talk about this and that. It would be bad if they scared the granddaughter-in-law who hadn’t officially married into the family, causing detours in the road to marriage.

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Youngest Aunt Li nodded earnestly. As a result, she saw their eldest nephew, who had always been expressionless, enter the door holding Tao Mu’s hand with a foolish grin on his face. And there was a ring made of tissue paper wrapped around his ring finger, which he clearly treated as something precious.

“Our CEO Tao proposed to me.” At the dinner table, Li Xiaoheng cleared his throat and announced calmly.

Everyone in the Li family was in an uproar. Little Sister Li, who was the most impatient, kept asking: “Marriage proposal? Did Brother Mu propose first? When did it happen? Jow come we don’t know!”

“Today! On the way back!” Li Xiaoheng said, then suddenly remembered something. He took out a ticket from the pocket of his suit jacket, spread it out carefully, and showed it to everyone: “At that time, there were traffic policemen to testify for us!”

There was a sudden silence at the dinner table. Everyone in the Li family looked at each other. Wasn’t this witness and evidence a little…..unique?

The Li family looked at Li Xiaoheng and hesitated to speak. In fact, everyone was very smart, they have already figured out how this ticket came about from Li Xiaoheng’s few words. But seeing Li Xiaoheng’s appearance, everyone shook their heads in their hearts, wisely not revealing the truth.

The juniors of the Li family immediately took out their mobile phones and logged on to FlyNews.com to search for relevant news. Sure enough, the news that Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng were fined by the traffic police for proposing marriage on the street had become a trending search. The several juniors waggled their eyebrows at each other, and finally congratulated their eldest brother tacitly——someone finally wanted him!

The Li family had always been very enthusiastic towards Tao Mu. But this time Tao Mu overcame the fear of being urged to marry, and also intended to please the Li family elders, so the atmosphere of the dinner was very pleasant.

After the meal, Tao Mu sat at the Li family home for a while and ate some fruit before being sent home by Li Xiaoheng himself——to be precise, the house where Liu Yao and Meng Qi lived. That way, they could let them know that the elders of the Li family would come to visit and discuss the specific matters of the engagement ceremony.

Liu Yao, Meng Qi and old Mr. Song had accepted the fact that they had come out publicly during Tao Mu’s live broadcast. But they didn’t expect Tao Mu to be so anxious. It had only been a few days since he announced his relationship, and it had now progressed to the point where there was talk about marriage.

Liu Yao was furious: “How old are you this year? Have you reached the legal age for marriage? Propose what marriage?”

“That’s why we are discussing the engagement ceremony.” Tao Mu answered with a smile: “Otherwise, we would directly discuss the wedding ceremony.”

Liu Yao was so angry that he clutched at his chest with his hands, as if the stupid son he had worked so hard to raise was taken away by a wolf with a big tail——and the stupid son in question couldn’t wait to pack up his luggage and follow along.

Sure enough, boys don’t want to stay when they grow up (TN: usually a phrase used for daughters)! Liu Yao glared at Li Xiaoheng. No matter how he looked at it at this moment, Li Xiaoheng didn’t inspire any happy feelings in him. Meng Qi also felt conflicted. He didn’t expect his son to be so unable to figure things out, why get married so early? Didn’t he know that men become different from when it was just dating once getting married!

Liu Yao, who was originally glaring at Li Xiaoheng, twitched his ears, and turned his head suddenly: “What do you mean? You think that after getting married, I am different from before we got married? Xiao Qi, this is how you see me?”

Meng Qi was about to join hands with his husband to put some sense in their stupid son! Unexpectedly, just saying an unclear word, there was now infighting within the husband and husband alliance. He hurriedly appeased: “Isn’t it! After we got married, you treat me much better than before. But aren’t our situation part of the minority? Most men won’t be as good as you after they get married.”

Li Xiaoheng quickly expressed his opinion: “I will definitely learn from Uncle Liu, and I will definitely treat Tao Mu even better after marriage.”

Li Xiaoheng brought tea and water to the two fathers with lowered eyes and submissive manners, and even went to massage old Mr. Song’s shoulders and back. The picture of a filial son and a virtuous grandson.

The three finally felt a little more appeased after seeing this. It was not because Li Xiaoheng was willing to please them. The main reason was that if a man couldn’t even put on a good attitude when he visited the future in-laws when the relationship had just been confirmed, it proved that the man didn’t really care about his partner that much. Then how dared they hope that this man would treat his partner better after marriage?

Just like before when Tao Mu was not ready to discuss marriage with Li Xiaoheng, he was very rejectful of the Li family’s overt urgings of marriage. But once he made up his mind, he would be very obedient and patient when he came to the door again, and he would take the initiative to make the Li family elders happy. This was exactly the same.

Moreover, the news about Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng’s marriage proposal had already become the top trending search. It was reasonable for the Li family to offer to visit and discuss the engagement ceremony. So Liu Yao, Meng Qi and old Mr. Song didn’t really have any disagreements. It was just the pride of the elders at play here. After being prideful, they must still get down to business.

In fact, the public opinion on the Internet about Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng’s public relationship was mixed. Although the “Same-Sex Marriage Law” had been passed in China, and the attitude towards homosexuality on the Internet had been very tolerant in the past two years, however in the real society, the attitude of not accepting or rejecting was the mainstream. So after the live broadcast ended, netizens and fans who heard the news left messages under Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng’s FlyNews. Among them, there were those who support the two, and naturally there were also those who criticize and oppose. Not to mention that there were also a group of fans who claim to be Tao Mu’s boyfriend fans and girlfriend fans. After learning that their idol came out and announced his relationship, they cried and said on the Internet that they would un-fan.

However, this kind of situation, after FlyNews.com, together with all subsidiaries of Fengxing Group, Litao.com, BulletScreen.com and Xiaoheng Capital, as well as all cooperative brand merchants who were willing to join in the fun, began online and offline price reduction promotions and member registration benefits, as well as a series of publicity and promotion activities on FlyNews such as gifting of randomly star-signed posters with the message wishing the “Taoli Couple” a happy marriage, was effectively curbed.

Probably because of the simple value of “accepting people’s benefits and returning the favor”, the netizens who benefited began to praise and bless the relationship between the two, even those who rejected and opposed them began to remain silent. In addition, Meng Qi supervised FlyNews.com and FlyNews Entertainment to continuously guide public opinion, and the relatives and friends who were close with Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng also came forward to express their blessings. There were even well-wishing starlets and bosses also publicly expressing their views——

The most amazing example being the husky Long Tianao who, relying on his family’s elder being the largest shareholder of Summer Star Entertainment, after convincing most of the company’s stars, he took the initiative to send a FlyNews to express his attitude. As long as the fancy blessings and rainbow farts for the Taoli couple tying the knot reached 10 million, he would live broadcast the company’s team building activity as a benefit. And this year’s Summer Star Entertainment’s team building activity was impressively a swimsuit party held on a private island.

As soon as this news came out, most of the star-chasers on the Internet went crazy. Not to mention that after Long Tianao, Luo Xi, the beautiful lady CEO of Longteng Entertainment, also joined in the fun, expressing her willingness to jointly organize the team building activity with Summer Star Entertainment. Even Zhou Yanqing, Fang Ruoti and other A-list superstars who were far away in Hong Kong also expressed that in order to celebrate their friend’s love, they were willing to give out 100 concert tickets as benefits. Now, the other half of the online star-chasers could no longer keep calm. After all, the lives of Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng were too far away from them, and compared with other people’s affairs, getting the coupons and benefits in hand was more practical and important.

It was worth mentioning that the companies under the two bosses that should have been affected by their coming out, but because of this wave of joint promotional activities, its publicity skyrocketed within a few days, and even Fengxing Group and Xiaoheng Capital’s shares went up two percent. This unexpected joy made the companies grin from ear to ear. They felt more and more that their boss was a lucky star. There were even some employees secretly guessing in private that the reason why the two families were so anxious to discuss the engagement ceremony was probably because they have seen the related interest growth points. Otherwise, the two bosses were already too busy solving the public relations crisis, so how would they have the leisure to organize the engagement ceremony?

As for other giants in the business world, after witnessing the grand sales phenomenon created by the joint efforts of the companies on both sides, what they only cared about was whether this powerful marriage alliance would affect the existing interests of all related industries. Would it hurt their vested interests, or whether they could also join in the fun and get a share of the pie…..In front of profits and benefits, who cared about the trivial matter of Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng being gay.

Under such circumstances, even before the elders of the Li family and Tao Mu’s family handed out invitation letters, old friends and business partners of the two families called to congratulate. They also took the initiative to ask about the specific time of the engagement ceremony, and they all said that they would definitely make a trip on that day to participate in the two children’s engagement ceremony.

The Li family was a wealthy and affluent business family. Tao Mu was not only the most topical star actor in the past two years, but also a boss worth tens of billions. Both parties attached great importance to this marriage. What was more, there were so many old friends and business partners coming to the engagement ceremony. In the outside world, all the entertainment media and financial media, as well as Tao Mu’s fans and FlyNews.com netizens were paying close attention to the actions of the two sides. One could imagine how much the elders of the Li family and Tao Mu’s family cared about this ceremony. And this kind of care was finally reflected in every process of the engagement ceremony, including the number of repeated tasting of even the small confectionery at the ceremony.

As a result of these many tedious and complicated details, Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng’s schedule was very full——after all, announcing their relationship publicly was done on the spur of the moment. After the two of them acted on a whim, they were shocked to find that they could not clear the schedule to accompany the elders in finalizing the details of their own engagement ceremony.

So after Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng discussed, they finally handed over the preparation of the engagement ceremony to the two sides’ elders. And one went back to work at Xiaoheng Capital and the other at the filming studio.

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

Learning of CEO Tao’s successful marriage proposal, all the actors and staff of “Soldier Elite” raised funds and ordered a big cake to celebrate for Tao Mu. During this period, Cheng Yi, who had promised to make a tailor-made single for Tao Mu, also flew to the mainland at Tao Mu’s invitation.

The well-known top tier music producer in China was well aware of the truth that a promise was worth a thousand pounds of gold. Although he said he was reluctant, in fact, he had already begun to compose lyrics and music according to Tao Mu’s timbre characteristics as early as after agreeing to compose for Tao Mu. It took a long time, and finally he polished a work that made him very satisfied. However, what Cheng Yi didn’t expect was that Tao Mu would refuse!!!

TN: VCF chapters will be back to updating on this site only. Read the changes here. Many thanks and apologies~♡🙌🙏

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After returning to Beijing, Li Xiaoheng personally oversaw the arrangement of Tan Yu to a private nursing home funded and established by Fengxing Group. As a mentally ill patient with serious suicidal tendencies, Tan Yu was placed in a single ward in the intensive care area as he should be. The entire ward was pure white, and in order to prevent patients from self-harm, the four walls, including the ceiling and floor, were covered with soft padding. Tan Yu, who was wearing a straitjacket, was tied up on the hospital bed with a gag ball in his mouth.

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

In order to ensure everything went as planned, the medical staff who look after Tan Yu were all confidantes personally arranged by Li Xiaoheng. Everyday they would keep watch on Tan Yu without ever slacking off. Worrying that the ward would be too monotonous, and Tan Yu would feel bored, Li Xiaoheng personally directed the engineering team to replace the high ceiling with an LCD TV of the same size. Tao Mu-related news would be broadcast 24 hours a day. Including the TV dramas and films Tao Mu participated in, the award ceremonies and various public events he attended. Li Xiaoheng wanted to make sure that for the rest of Tan Yu’s life, he would be able to see with his own eyes how Tao Mu was so glamorous and so well-received, and how he lived his life cherished in the hands of all his family, friends and lover.

“You should be lucky, our Mr. Tao is not a man who can be ruthless after all.” While Tao Mu was in the bathroom, Li Xiaoheng walked to the hospital bed and looked down his nose condescendingly at Tan Yu, who even though was tied up on the hospital bed he was still struggling, and said coldly: “If I followed my original intention, you would have a catheter inserted and fed using nasal feeding. It also prevents you from taking the opportunity to stir up any trouble. Everyone was in trouble. It’s a pity that our Mr. Tao disagreed.”

Li Xiaoheng hooked up the corners of his mouth, but the smile did not reach his eyes, and he said in a cold and threatening tone: “Although in my opinion, what you have done makes you no longer have the right to be called a human being, but our Mr. Tao still wants to treat you as a human being. So you better be smart.”

Li Xiaoheng bent down slightly, staring straight into Tan Yu’s eyes with his own dark ones, and threatened in a gentle tone: “If you misbehave just once, you will be a sober vegetable for the rest of this life.”

Tan Yu’s pupils instantly dilated, his eyes widening in shock, the whites covered with bloodshot veins. Struggling with all his strength, he made a muffled sound from his mouth gagged by the gag ball, looking extremely insane and terrifying.

Seeing this, the medical staff immediately brought over a tranquilizer. Li Xiaoheng waved his hand: “I need him to spend every day soberly. From now on, if it is not necessary, try to use tranquilizers as little as possible.”

Li Xiaoheng raised his head and glanced at the ceiling: “It’s too quiet. Let’s play some videos.”

The pitch-black screen suddenly lit up, and a burst of passionate music sounded in the quiet ward. A clip of Tao Mu wearing a black suit and standing on the stage of the Lingxiao Awards Ceremony to deliver his acceptance speech appeared on the big screen.

Li Xiaoheng enjoyed admiring Mr. Tao’s golden age beauty for a while, and said with great emotion: “This was the first award our Mr. Tao had won. Like you, it was the Best Newcomer Award. Although the atmosphere of winning the award was very different between the two of you. One attracted a lot of attention, and the other was shunned. But forcibly making such a comparison is a bit insulting to Mr. Tao. But fortunately, this is the only time. After all, your life is over now. But Mr. Tao’s new life has just begun. This Best Newcomer Award was the first trophy that Mr. Tao had won, but it is definitely not the last trophy that Mr. Tao will receive.”

Li Xiaoheng didn’t talk much. But if necessary, Li Xiaoheng could still be quite loquacious. Just like at this moment, Li Xiaoheng knew the thorn in Tan Yu’s heart——he was such a cowardly person and afraid of death, yet he was able to risk sacrificing his life, even if he had to give up his seven emotions and six desires, he still wanted to keep his greed and continue reincarnation. Wasn’t all of this just because he wanted to replace Tao Mu as Shen Yu, and trample Tao Mu underfoot? Therefore, Li Xiaoheng deliberately released the video of Tao Mu winning the award, needling Tan Yu with words, in order to provoke Tan Yu’s unwillingness and anger to the greatest extent. He wanted Tan Yu to keep this emotion forever, let Tan Yu experience the suffering that Tao Mu experienced for so many lifetimes as one who could never get what he wanted yet couldn’t let go, and let Tan Yu live in Tao Mu’s shadow for the rest of his life.

Sure enough, Tan Yu became more and more frantic when he heard what Li Xiaoheng said. He was struggling hysterically, and even the hospital bed which was nailed to the floor shook violently.

Li Xiaoheng smiled slightly, and continued: “Our Mr. Tao doesn’t have many works now, so I can only wrong you to watch repeated videos. However, “Soldier Elite” in which our Mr. Tao plays the leading role is about to finish. There will be more works coming out continuously. You will see our Mr. Tao’s new works every year, and every year you will hear what awards and praises our Mr. Tao has received. In addition, I will also have the medical staff take screenshots of Tao Mu’s fans’ online comments and show them to you regularly.”

“Our family’s Mr. Tao will only live better and better, and you won’t be too bored either.”

Li Xiaoheng unscrupulously stimulated Tan Yu’s nerves with the gracious attitude of one granting the best of both worlds.

On the hospital bed, Tan Yu, who was tied up, was going crazy. In several lifetimes of reincarnation, the last thing he wanted was to hear someone praise Tao Mu’s goodness in front of him, and he couldn’t bear Tao Mu living a better life than him. However, he had to spend the rest of his life surrounded by Tao Mu’s praises and applause. The better Tao Mu’s life was, the angrier he was. At this moment, Tan Yu really wanted nothing more than to truly go crazy.

But how could Li Xiaoheng truly drive Tan Yu crazy. Backed by the strong medical resources of the private nursing home, Li Xiaoheng would ensure that Tan Yu spends his life lucid. Lucidly watching how Tao Mu was sound and happy, his life smooth sailing.

At the door of the ward, Tao Mu silently watched everything Li Xiaoheng did for him. Suddenly, he felt that the hardships and sufferings of these lifetimes were not in vain.

Even though he failed to win back the Shen family, even though he had worked so hard for so many lifetimes and experienced betrayal and indifference, Tao Mu finally found his lover in the long cycle of reincarnation. For the rest of his life, as long as he had Li Xiaoheng by his side, all the bad things he had encountered would be worth it.

I walked through the dark nights and the cold winters, just to wait for the warm and bright you in the spring when the flowers bloom.

Tao Mu stepped forward gently, and hugged Li Xiaoheng who was still provoking Tan Yu’s emotions from behind, and said in a warm voice: “I am sure that my life will get better and better. Because I have you by my side.”

Li Xiaoheng, who was just swinging his big tail leisurely, suddenly froze. His body stiffened, and he turned around inch by inch: “When did you come back?”

Li Xiaoheng looked embarrassed, and even cut a bit of a sorry figure. He didn’t expect Tao Mu to see his immature and scheming side. He felt annoyed with himself in his heart, wondering if what he said just now would affect his tall and mighty image in Tao Mu’s mind.

Tao Mu, who had never thought their Mr. Li was tall and mighty, smiled slightly: “Since you threatened Shen Yu your original plan to treat him as a vegetable.” It didn’t take long to go to the bathroom. What’s more, Tao Mu was also worried that Tan Yu, who was emotionally unstable and crazy, would hurt their family’s Mr. Li. Tao Mu prided himself on his high martial arts prowess, and he could protect Li Xiaoheng by always following at Li Xiaoheng’s side. But he didn’t expect to come back in time and hear such words.

“Mr. Li, thank you.” Tao Mu was a little shy, and he didn’t even have the nerve to call out Li Xiaoheng’s full name. But still looking brightly and firmly into Li Xiaoheng’s eyes, he said warmly: “Thank you for making me feel that so many reincarnations were necessary. I am very grateful to Shen Yu, although his existence once made me feel very painful. But it also gave me the opportunity to wait for you.”

“It was worth it!”

After dating for so long, he almost never heard such a touching confession from Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng was already floating with joy. The corners of his mouth were stretched wide in a grin, showing his white teeth in a silly looking smile, and the big tail behind him almost turned into a propeller at how fast it wagged. Not a speck of the air of a domineering CEO remained at all.

Li Xiaoheng hugged Tao Mu. At that moment, 10,000 bullet screens flashed through his mind, but in the end he couldn’t even utter a complete sentence. He could only bury his head in Tao Mu’s hair, and say in a muffled voice: “Tao Mu, trust me. I will treat you well. I will treat you well in this life.”

Tao Mu, who was pressed by Li Xiaoheng into his chest, hooked up the corners of his mouth, and hugged Li Xiaoheng in response.

The loving interaction between the two undoubtedly stimulated Tan Yu on the hospital bed. Tan Yu’s eyes were red and his eyes looked like they were about to burst from their sockets. He struggled violently on the hospital bed, trying to make the loudest noise. But it was still unsurprisingly ignored by the two people who were deep in love.

Seeing this scene, the confidants of the Li family who were hiding outside the hospital ward secretly called the main family to report the good news. Such that the two had just come out of the nursing home and Li Xiaoheng received a call from Father Li. Straight to the point, he asked Li Xiaoheng when he would take his boyfriend who “has already announced their relationship during the live broadcast” home for dinner.

Chairman Li, who was always stern and serious in front of outsiders, was now quite outspoken, and he said with great gratification that he had waited for this day for too long. Now that the silly son finally had official status, the old father was very pleased, and had even ordered all the companies under the Fengxing Group to start promoting the “Boss’s Happy News” discount promotion on the day Tao Mu made their relationship public. Now the whole group’s discounts and promotions were bringing in flourishing sales, but everyone in the Li family was still yet to meet their official male daughter-in-law. This situation was really worrying!

On the other end of the phone, Mother Li and the several younger siblings of the Li family were unwilling to be left out and shouted: “Elder Brother, please do your best. It would be best to bring our sister-in-law home tonight.”

Grandpa Li, who had retired, also expressed with great excitement that he had already started to check the almanac to select auspicious days. He just wanted to know when Tao Mu wanted to hold the engagement ceremony? And where? Did he prefer Chinese or Western? Were there any special requirements for wedding gifts? Were there any special requirements for the wedding bedroom? If Tao Mu didn’t like his current house, feel free to ask for anything. The Li family would immediately select a piece of land, form a construction team, and build a new newlywed house in full accordance with Tao Mu’s requirements…..

Grandpa Li’s questions were not only many but also quite detailed. Li Xiaoheng hung up the phone silently, held Tao Mu’s hand and comforted him: “Don’t be afraid. Our family is just too anxious, afraid that I, an old bachelor, won’t be able to marry a wife, so that’s why they are pressing so hard. If you’re not used to it, I’ll make it clear to them——”

Tao Mu interrupted before he finished speaking: “It’s okay.”

Tao Mu smiled slightly at Li Xiaoheng, squeezed Li Xiaoheng’s hand back, and said seriously: “Actually, I’m also quite anxious.”

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

“I’ve waited for several lifetimes, and I really don’t want to wait anymore.” Tao Mu said, his eyes scanning the compartment aimlessly, and when they finally landed on the tissue box, they lit up. He took out a tissue and twisted it into a heart-shaped ring, held it in front of Li Xiaoheng, blushed and even stammered out of nervousness: “…..So, Mr., Mr. Li, are you willing to marry me?”

The black car that was driving normally drew an S on the street. Li Xiaoheng pulled the car over after a close call, grabbed Tao Mu’s hand, and replied seriously: “Yes. Of course I am willing.”

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As Li Xiaoheng expected, with Tao Mu and Shen Yu unconscious, all the chess pieces in the game fell into a long dream one after another. But different from the full version experienced by Tao Mu, these people only dreamt about people and things related to the plot. But even so, these bits and pieces were enough to make them sick enough to throw up their lunch. Especially after seeing the comparison between the real Shen Er and the terrible fake that was Shen Yu in their memory.

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

A fake was a fake, even though Shen Yu imitated Shen Er in everything and tried his best to create the illusion of a phoenix. But Shen Yu was not Shen Er after all. He didn’t have Shen Er’s heart of innocence, nor did he possess Shen Er’s sincerity, care and consideration when interacting with others, nor Shen Er’s innate brilliance and compassion. He was just a cuckoo occupying the nest, clinging to the stolen identity and status that didn’t belong to him, but looked upon all of these as his innate halo. And then with these false halos he stood high above, maintaining his equally false pity and hypocrisy.

But stripped of all this, the real Shen Yu——no, he wasn’t even Shen Yu. His existence only tarnished the name that meant to be endowed with all the fine beauty of nature. Strip the name, and he was nothing but a pathetic and hateful clown. He thought that by wearing the crown and appearing on the raised dais, he could become a king. It was a pity that in the eyes of everyone who had recovered their memories, all this was just a poor imitation show one after another. Under the contrast between reality and illusion, it only appeared even more ugly.

However, it was such a hideous caricature of a thing, which made people feel disdainful to even take a second look, that played all of them in the palm of his hand. And what did they do wrong? In order to satisfy this person’s greed and delusion, they fell into reincarnation life after life, and even dying could not bring peace.

“A person like you could actually live so many lives under Shen Er’s name.” Yao Wenxiao, who had to send Shen Yu to the hospital because Shen Yu suddenly fell into a coma in his office, was so disgusted that he looked like he had swallowed a live caterpillar. His face turned green, and when he thought that he had been bewitched by this thing of a person for so many lives, he had the urge to hit the wall and kill himself.

“How disgusting!” Yao Wenxiao glared at Shen Yu, who just woke up from the hospital bed, with disgust on his face: “How could there be such a disgusting person like you in this world.”

Yao Wenxiao’s gaze as if he was looking at a puddle of mud instantly stimulated Shen Yu. Shen Yu, who was already emotionally unstable, immediately yelled loudly: “Don’t look at me like that. Don’t look at me like that. I’m Shen Yu, I’m Shen Yu! I’m your favorite Shen Yu! How can you treat me like this!”

The deranged shrieks attracted the doctors and nurses who were making rounds. The medical staff who didn’t know the whole story looked at Yao Wenxiao with disapproval on their faces and walked to the bed to comfort the patient. However, Shen Yu’s struggle was so intense that he even accidentally scratched a nurse. The medical staff had no choice but to control the person in a hurry and try their best to appease the patient’s emotions.

Yao Wenxiao took two steps back with a sneer, and looked at Shen Yu’s crazy display with cold eyes. Suspicious over whether this person was pretending or if he had really gone crazy.

“What happened?”

Yao Wenxiao turned his head and saw Shen Chen showing up at the door of the ward with the Shen family’s mother and daughter. He immediately sneered: “Don’t you know how to see for yourself? He’s pretending to be crazy!”

Yao Wenxiao paused, unable to calm his emotions. He couldn’t help but ridicule: “But your Shen family is truly interesting. You actually treated such a nauseating thing like a treasure, holding it in your palm for so many lifetimes, but rejecting the real phoenix.”

“What qualifications do you have to say anything about the Shen family? Aren’t you equally blind! Treating a fake as real love for so many lifetimes?” Shen Yan gave Yao Wenxiao a vicious look and interrupted him.

Mrs. Shen had already rushed into the ward regardless of anything else, and without any notice, slapped Shen Yu, who was pinned on the bed by the medical staff, twice on both cheeks: “You shameless bastard. How dare you plot against our Shen family like this? How did our Shen family offend you? You fake, a cuckoo occupying the nest, the smelly mud in the stinking ditch, you give me back my son!”

Seeing this, Shen Yan also rushed forward with anger on her face.

Like Yao Wenxiao, the mother and daughter of the Shen family felt disgusted from the bottom of their hearts when they thought that they had been used by Shen Yu for so many lives.

Shen Yu was controlled by the medical staff and had no ability to resist at all. Looking at everyone’s disgusted and hateful eyes, and enduring the slaps on the face and body from Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan, the memory of being abandoned like a shoe was instantly brought back. Shen Yu, who was already emotionally unstable, immediately collapsed mentally. He defended in a shrill voice: “It’s not my fault. Don’t you guys hate Shen Er too? Shen Yan, don’t forget that you switched Shen Er and me with your own hands. You don’t want Shen Er to return to the Shen family, you said you wanted me to be your real younger brother! You said it! And Mom, you said that you hated Shen Er for inviting the wolves into the house, and regretted giving birth to such a son as him. You all said these things.”

The medical staff standing on the side were confused, but they couldn’t just watch their patient being beaten on the hospital bed. They could only rush forward, trying to stop the crazy Shen family mother and daughter. Shen Yan became even more angry from embarrassment, and raised her hand to slap the nurse, only to be stopped by Shen Chen.

“Some family matters need to be dealt with. I hope everyone can give us a little time.”

Seeing that the medical staff hesitated, Shen Chen smiled slightly and said, “Don’t worry. My mother and sister were just too emotional for a moment, and they won’t do anything again.”

Perhaps it was because Shen Chen came across as too reliable, or maybe it was because of the difficulty of minding other’s family affairs, the medical staff looked at each other in blank dismay, and finally left.

After sending the medical staff away, he also persuaded Shen Yan and Mrs. Shen who were emotionally unstable and wanted to continue hitting Shen Yu. Shen Chen then walked to the hospital bed and looked down at Shen Yu.

A strong hope flashed in Shen Yu’s eyes: “Elder Brother! Elder Brother! Elder Brother, you like me, right? I am your younger brother. I am good and obedient. Unlike Shen Er, who actually lured wolves into the house and killed you and your Dad, and ruined the Shen family——”

“The person who killed me and Dad was Zhuo Yan, not Xiao Yu.” Shen Chen coldly interrupted Shen Yu: “Also, you are not Shen Yu either. From the beginning to the end, you were never a child of the Shen family. You have your own biological parents, and your biological father’s surname is Tan. I have already removed your household registration from the Shen family. From now on, you will be Tan Yu.”

“Greed?” Yao Wenxiao smiled playfully: “He really lives up to his name.” (TN: tan yu=greed/avarice)

“No! No! No!” Shen Yu, no, it should be Tan Yu shook his head frantically, screaming hysterically: “You can’t do this. I am Shen Yu, only I am Shen Yu. I am your favorite Shen Yu. You can’t do this to me.”

Shen Chen still continued to look at Tan Yu condescendingly. His face was expressionless, but there was a trace of pity in his usually cold eyes: “You are really pitiful!”

Yao Wenxiao also shook his head, and said, “People like you will never understand. We like Shen Er, or putting it in another way, the reason why Shen Er is liked by everyone is not because of this name. It depends on who has this name. Shen Er in the past, and Tao Mu in the present, only those with excellent qualities will attract everyone’s attention. People in the world are attracted to strength, and moths fly towards the flame. People always yearn for bright, dazzling and warm things. But towards this reasoning, you, a piece of trash who has been gleefully living in the shadow of another over several lifetimes, will not understand.”

When Yao Wenxiao said this, he looked at Tan Yu with an increasingly disgusted expression: “Fakes will always be fakes. Even a high-quality imitation can’t compare with the genuine thing. What’s more, you are not even a high-quality imitation, but just the cheapest of imitations. Naturally, you would be abandoned like worn shoes.”

“After all, if you get down to it, a fake is just a defective product.” Yao Wenxiao made a final decision and walked slowly to the hospital bed. He still maintained a condescending attitude, looking at Tan Yu as if he was seeing through Tan Yu. He tutted and shook his head: “How pitiful! When you were Tao Mu, you couldn’t compare to Shen Er. When you tried your best to become Shen Yu, you couldn’t compare to Tao Mu. So, seriously, what is even the point of you messing around for so many lifetimes?”

“What do you know?” Having been completely exposed and his disguise torn off, Tan Yu also showed his true colors, and yelled at Yao Wenxiao with a ferocious face: “You people who have been born with golden spoons in your mouths, and have been pampered all your lives, how could you understand? No one likes a poor orphan with no father and no mother. So no one likes Tao Mu. No matter how hard I try, your eyes are still glued to Shen Er! And never take a look at me! It is because there are too many people like you that I want to do my best to become Shen Yu! I just want everyone to like me, is there something wrong with that? God is not fair! What right does Shen Yu have to be liked by everyone just because he is born well?”

“But the truth is not like this.” A voice came from the door of the ward, and everyone followed the sound, and found that Zhuo Yan and Yan Sheng, who was filming in America, entered the ward one after the other.

It was Yan Sheng who spoke just now: “Even if he is an orphan, Tao Mu can find a way to work hard in his career and find a family that loves him. In contrast, even if you become Shen Yu, you will only end up being betrayed and abandoned by everyone.”

“You want to replace Shen Er, but you can only live in his shadow life after life. Even if you steal his life by taking his name, you have no way to become him.” When Yan Sheng said this, he couldn’t help but sigh: “An individual can never become someone else. You can only try to be the best version of yourself.”

It was a pity that Tan Yu would never understand this truth.

“No! Impossible! I don’t believe it! I don’t believe it! You are all lying to me! How can Tao Mu be likable? No! No! I’m right! I can’t be wrong! This world must be wrong! Obviously everyone should like Shen Yu! You should all hate Tao Mu! You should use all means to target Tao Mu! Step on him! Make him unable to stand up for the rest of his life! He only deserves to be lowly in the dust, watching Shen Yu stand up high! It’s you who are all wrong! It’s all your fault! How can you think that Tao Mu is better than Shen Yu? How can Tao Mu be better than Shen Yu?”

If Yao Wenxiao’s words were just acrimonious, Yan Sheng’s words directly shattered Tan Yu’s delusion, making him have to face up to his incompetence and failure. However, Tan Yu, who wanted to replace Shen Er even if he sacrificed everything, even his own life, could not bear such a reality.

The taut thread that was in his head finally broke. Tan Yu seemed to have caught some life-saving straw, and two terrifying lights suddenly burst from his eyes, so astonishingly bright.

“Yes! You are right! Shen Yu is not as good as Tao Mu! Tao Mu is the best! I am Tao Mu! I am the real Tao Mu! Shen Yu is not as good as Tao Mu! Tao Mu is the best! The best! But the real Tao Mu is me! I am Tao Mu! I am Tao Mu! Hahahaha…..”

Tan Yu’s laughter suddenly stopped, and he struggled on the hospital bed: “That’s right. I am Tao Mu. I want to take back everything that belongs to me. Mine, mine, everything is mine…..”

In the chaos, Tan Yu suddenly touched the fruit knife on the bedside table. He held the small knife, with the sharp tip against his heart, and muttered to himself with a frantic expression: “This life is wrong. Tao Mu is the best. I’m going to switch everything back——”

Zhuo Yan, who had been silent since entering the ward, but carefully observed Tan Yu’s state the whole time, was the first to react. He rushed forward, snatched the fruit knife from Tan Yu’s hand, and backhanded Tan Yu: “Whether you are really crazy or pretending to be crazy, it won’t be so easy to die.”

“That’s right, this kind of person should live a long life!” Li Xiaoheng who just got off the plane broke out in a cold sweat at the scene just now, and immediately sneered, “Keep him awake and lucid at all times. So that he can see with his own eyes how our CEO Tao’s life goes smoothly, and ends happily ever after.”

As he spoke, a group of medical staff suddenly appeared from behind Li Xiaoheng. This group of people rushed into the ward while pushing a mobile hospital bed and all kinds of equipment. Regardless of Tan Yu’s flailing and screaming, they put on a restraint suit and stuffed a gag in his mouth. They even put a tranquilizer in him for easy transfer later.

Li Xiaoheng nodded slightly at the people in the ward: “Since this person is crazy and has serious suicidal tendencies, I will take over his treatment out of humanitarianism. Don’t worry, I will let him live in the best nursing home, and hire the best medical staff to wait on him. Also, doesn’t he like to be called Shen Yu?”

Li Xiaoheng looked at Shen Chen: “Change his name back. I want him to use the name Shen Yu without encountering any disaster and disease, and live a long life. It can also be regarded as satisfying his wish of eternal life.”

The appearance of Li Xiaoheng and Tao Mu made the atmosphere in the ward suddenly stagnant. Everyone looked at Tao Mu with complicated eyes. Mrs. Shen rushed forward with excitement: “My Xiao Yu——”

“Mrs. Shen!” Tao Mu pushed Mrs. Shen away very coldly: “Shen Er is dead.”

These words were like a magic spell, and Mrs. Shen froze in place, and then suddenly broke down crying. Shen Yan stepped forward to support Mrs. Shen, and glared at Tao Mu: “How could you treat Mom like this? Don’t forget——”

“Let me remind you!” Tao Mu interrupted Shen Yan’s accusation, his face was expressionless and his tone was calm, he even slightly cold: “Don’t forget how Shen Er died in every life.”

Tao Mu said lightly: “I’m not Shen Er. I have no tolerance for the Shen family. What’s more, everyone here, no matter what life you count, can be called my, Tao Mu’s, enemy.”

Tao Mu’s eyes were dark and deep, and he reminded everyone unceremoniously: “Before speaking, consider the power of FlyNews and Xiaoheng Capital.”

“You——” Shen Yan was struck speechless by Tao Mu. However, looking at Tao Mu’s attitude at this moment, Shen Yan finally realized soberly that the handsome and indifferent man in front of her was really not Shen Er.

As Tao Mu said, the constant reincarnation had completely exhausted Shen Er’s last hope for the Shen family. Today’s Tao Mu not only had no tolerance for the Shen family, he could even strike them down without hesitation. The only difference was whether Tao Mu wanted to do so or not.

The Shen family who were the most important to Shen Er were all like this. Not to mention other people who have a slightly shallower relationship with him. Yao Wenxiao’s figure stiffened, and he looked at Tao Mu with nostalgia——to be precise, he took one last glance at the Shen Er in his memory, and left silently.

Tao Mu was right. No matter what everyone’s relationship had been like once upon a time, after the reincarnation of so many lives, they now only exist in the form of enemies. What’s more, even if the first life was counted, Yao Wenxiao couldn’t resist the temptation in the end, and played a role in betraying Shen Er. The brotherhood of the two had long been broken. To this day, it was already fortunate if Tao Mu decided to ignore the past and let all past grievances rest. Yao Wenxiao didn’t dare to ask for anything else. After all, with the current state of the Yao family, even just maintaining a decent livelihood took up all their efforts. He really dared not face giants like FlyNews.com or the Li family.

Zhuo Yan also had the same thinking. His situation was rather special. Even before breaking the reincarnation cycle and recovering his memory, Zhuo Yan often dreamt of being with Tao Mu——to be precise, fragments of being with Shen Er. It was just that Tao Mu was already with Li Xiaoheng at that time.

Zhuo Yan thought to himself that he couldn’t compare to Li Xiaoheng, so he didn’t dare to let these ambiguous emotions grow. What’s more, the most important thing in Zhuo Yan’s heart was always to take revenge on the Shen family rather than pursuing romantic love.

Now remembering his previous life, Zhuo Yan dared not have illusions about Tao Mu even more. Not only that, Zhuo Yan was even worried that Tao Mu would not be able to swallow this anger, and would unite with the Li family to take revenge on him. Fortunately, Tao Mu really didn’t have any interest. Zhuo Yan rejoiced secretly, and left in silence as well.

Yan Sheng, the only one who felt that he was innocent, sighed, and walked up to Tao Mu: “I hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with you again.”

Compared to Yao Wenxiao and Zhuo Yan’s guilty conscience and timidity, no matter which life, film king Yan, who only targeted Tao Mu in terms of acting skills, was more calm and undaunted. Although his petty actions of the past few lifetimes were somewhat embarrassing. But Yan Sheng never crossed that line. So he didn’t feel that he had anything to be sorry towards Tao Mu. After all, film king Yan was essentially a person who admired the strong. There were a lot of bullies in the entertainment circle, and Yan Sheng’s actions against Tao Mu were far from being called that of a bully. After all, he had never tampered with Tao Mu’s script arbitrarily by relying on his identity and position, let alone bullying Tao Mu in the crew. He just suppressed the other when acting against each other in front of the camera. If Tao Mu really wanted to hold grudges even for this, then Yan Sheng could do nothing about it.

In the final analysis, because Yan Sheng was backed by the Yan family, although he was quite wary of the Li family and didn’t want to offend the Li family easily, it was not to the point that he would avoid in fear. What’s more, he trusted Tao Mu, and felt that no matter how many times he had been reincarnated, so long as he was essentially the Shen Er he knew, he would not hate him for such a trivial matter. Besides, if one wanted to quibble over details, the reason why Yan Sheng was even dragged into this cycle of reincarnation was traced back to Shen Er’s involvement.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t be targeted by that psychopath Tan Yu!

Yan Sheng felt that after being forced to sleep with a person like Tan Yu for so many lives, and even treat him like a treasure. Towards such a disgusting experience he didn’t even take his anger out on Tao Mu, so Tao Mu shouldn’t have any reason to be angry with him, right?

Sure enough, Tao Mu looked at Yan Sheng’s outstretched right hand and just smiled slightly before shaking it: “I also look forward to continuing to cooperate with Teacher Yan.”

The two looked at each other and smiled, inexplicably sympathetic to each other.

After Yan Sheng also left, only the three members of the Shen family were left in the ward, as well as Tan Yu who was lifted to the mobile hospital bed by the medical staff for transfer.

Shen Chen looked at Tao Mu, moved his lips, and in the end he didn’t speak to Tao Mu, but looked at Li Xiaoheng, and discussed: “He is not Shen Yu, nor is he a child of our Shen family. I have already removed him from the Shen family household registration. His biological father’s surname is Tan——”

“Then move him back.” Li Xiaoheng said without room for argument: “After all, it is the wish of someome who even went as far as sacrificing their life in order for it to be fulfilled. No matter what, let him live a long life and enjoy it to his heart’s content. Besides, isn’t this also something that some members of your Shen family want? Perfect…..”

When Li Xiaoheng said this, he glanced at Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan, and said calmly: “It can also act as a reminder to you Shen family, just what kind of thing that you want to cherish and pamper for life after life.”

Everyone in the Shen family was speechless. Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan glared at Li Xiaoheng. However, when their gaze met Li Xiaoheng’s still and deep eyes, they cowardly shifted their eyes elsewhere.

After all, they were greedy and selfish, cowardly and incompetent people. They only dare to hurt those who really care about them. Once they encounter someone who didn’t care a lick about them, or who had malicious intentions towards them, they would shiver and stick their head into the soil, exposing their ugly buttocks and let themselves be slaughtered. Then intensify the damage they received on those who really care about them.

Li Xiaoheng really hated the Shen family’s mother and daughter. Compared to Tan Yu, who was an outright villain, these kinds of people who hurt Shen Er unscrupulously by taking advantage of Shen Er’s love, and used familial affection as a knife were the most hateful.

It was just a thin layer of blood, what right did they have to dare to hurt someone who he held preciously in his hands afraid that even the slightest bit of strength would hurt him? Thinking of Tao Mu having his heart cut bloody by these so-called family members where he couldn’t see, and how silly he was to endure the pain and keep coming back to seek abuse, Li Xiaoheng wished to get rid of all these people!

“Forget it!” Tao Mu held Li Xiaoheng’s palm and squeezed it: “The past is over. No one should mention it again. We finally managed to deal with those bad things. Let’s concentrate on living our own life.”

Tao Mu’s words were not only aimed at Li Xiaoheng, but also meant to warn Shen Chen.

Shen Chen understood, and swallowed all the words he wanted to say. He turned around and said: “Whether you pursue it or not, Zhuo Yan caused the death of me and my parents in the first life, and ruined the Shen family. In this life, he took away the Shen Group again. I will not let him go.”

“That’s your own grievance!” Tao Mu said lightly, “As long as you don’t come looking for me, everyone can just walk our separate paths and mind our own business.”

These words again!

Shen Chen sighed inwardly. If he had felt only wariness when he first took the initiative to say this to Tao Mu, then now, there was only melancholy in Shen Chen’s heart.

When Tao Mu was still Shen Er, the Shen family hated him in every possible way, and drove him out of the house several times, avoiding him like the plague. But now Tao Mu had really left the Shen family behind.

After several lives as family, they had become strangers after all.

Shen Chen glanced at Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan and thought, this was the Shen family’s wish for several lifetimes, and now it had finally come true. But the attitude of his mother and sister did not appear happy.

Just like Tan Yu who also fulfilled his wish. For the rest of his life, he was afraid that he would just regret it even more.

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

There was an old saying that one could not return to the past life, and one could not seek the next life. But in Shen Chen’s view, the fate between Tao Mu and the Shen family was more described as one could not seek the past life, and one could not return in the next life.

With a long sigh, Shen Chen took the initiative to stretch out his right hand, and finally said to Tao Mu the words in his heart that had been buried for several lifetimes: “I hope you can live a sound and happy life and die peacefully at a ripe old age.”

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