After rejecting Wen Shijin’s proposal, Tao Mu changed into his costume in the dressing room, and waited for the stylist to put on his hairpiece——because Tao Mu was the body double for the male protagonist and they won’t be showing his face, added to the fact that the quality of the cosmetics used by the crew was not good, so Tao Mu often didn’t even put on makeup. The most enviable thing was that he didn’t even tan despite having no makeup or sunscreen protection. When the sun was at its hottest, his skin would only become red at most, but even if he got a sunburn it still only looked like an attractive blush. The sweaty and sexy look only made him even more attractive.

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

Yang Mei, who was in charge of styling him, said for the nth time: “Isn’t your skin too good? How much sunscreen can be saved this year since you don’t get tan no matter what. I think those big-name cosmetics should have you endorse them……”

Tao Mu was silent. Yang Mei suddenly made a fuss and shouted: “Ah, Tao Mu, why is your hand bleeding?”

Tao Mu came back to himself and spread his palms. The palms of his hands seemed to have been pierced by his nails, and a few drops of blood dripped down the fingers, almost staining the costume.

Tao Mu took out a tissue from the tissue box on the dressing table and wiped his palms. His movements were so careless and rough Yang Mei couldn’t help frowning, “Does it hurt?”

“It’s nothing.” Tao Mu raised his eyes and smiled, saying, “I saw Mu Huating just now. I had to resist the urge to beat him and accidentally hurt myself.”

As he said this, Tao Mu deliberately lowered his voice. Approaching closer to Yang Mei he blinked playfully: “This is a secret between the two of us, don’t tell anyone.”

Yang Mei’s face turned red at his smile, and she nodded in a dizzy state. Mu Huating slandered and made lies in front of the investor and everyone in the crew yesterday, causing Tao Mu to suffer something he shouldn’t have. Everyone talked about this in private. Yang Mei felt that she could understand Tao Mu’s mood. If it was her, she would also want to beat Mu Huating up.

“Don’t worry, I’ll definitely not say anything.” Yang Mei thought for a while, and comforted: “Tao Mu, I think you will be popular. And very popular. So you don’t need to pay attention to people like Mu Huating.”

Tao Mu smiled as he looked at the young woman with a serious look on her face.

When Tao Mu left the dressing room and returned to the set again, everyone in the Shen family had already left.

Shen Yu sat on the prop box next to director Chen, his head tilted as he looked at the monitor with wide smiles. After seeing Tao Mu, his eyes brightened, and he waved at Tao Mu with surprise in his eyes: “Wow, Tao Tao, you are so handsome! Practically another level of handsome!”

The staff on the set also looked at Tao Mu. Hearing Shen Yu’s words, they nodded involuntarily.

This statement was not wrong. From a week ago, probably due to having become familiar with the filming routine and ancient costume appearance, the impression Tao Mu gave to others changed day by day. Especially in front of the camera, the positioning was more precise, and the movements were more smooth, appearing both confident and elegant. These series of changes made the character played by Tao Mu appear even more layered when captured by the camera. Several times, when the camera accidentally captured Tao Mu’s face, the completely natural aura stunned even director Chen. He really thought that the actor in front of the camera was not just an actor but the main character. He completely forgot the fact that Tao Mu was just a body double.

And to be honest, Tao Mu’s interpretation of the role was much better than that of Shen Yu, who also had no experience in acting. Whether in terms of appearance, acting skills, or even saying the lines, Tao Mu was at a much higher level.

All of this caused director Chen to be unable to help sighing privately that Tao Mu was born to eat this bowl of rice. (TN: born to this profession)

Newcomers who joined the entertainment industry every year were as many as the crucian carps crossing the river. But there were not many lucky ones who could really make it. A newcomer like Tao Mu, who had an overly handsome appearance, martial arts that was amazing, and even flawless when speaking lines was very rare.

And don’t forget the fact that Tao Mu had already been admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, and would be getting professional training and credentials——if he was lucky, he might even be able to join the Beijing social circle. Thinking about it this way, Chen Yiqian’s heart jumped slightly, and his intentions to express goodwill became more obvious.

“Xiao Mu, let’s shoot some closeups for the footage from yesterday’s scene today. In the afternoon, there will be a fight scene between you and the male number three. When we finish filming you can go back and rest.”

From the body double without a name to the familiar Xiao Mu, the entire crew also understood what director Chen wanted to convey. Accordingly, there was a slight change from them as well when dealing with Tao Mu.

As for Tao Mu, he was himself as always. This calm and collected appearance inspired even more goodwill from the crew.

Shen Yu tilted his head and asked: “Tao Tao, your action scenes are so good, can you teach me? I actually want to do all kinds of cool martial arts in front of the camera too.” Unfortunately, the Shen family wouldn’t let him. Shen Yu grew up pampered and spoiled. The first time he went up in wires both his thighs and back got abrasions. When the Shen family came to visit the set and found that Shen Yu was bruised and swollen, they immediately banned Shen Yu’s “self-harming” behavior.

Shen Yu, who hadn’t developed a persistent mentality for acting and was also unwilling to worry his family, immediately agreed to the Shen family’s request. But while he had promised, young people were young people after all, and they all liked to appear handsome and cool. Tao Mu’s performance in front of the camera could even win over Chen Yiqian and those professional martial arts actors, so Shen Yu was no exception.

In the previous life, Shen Yu also yearned for doing martial arts with the wires after Tao Mu performed beautiful action scenes. After Tao Mu encountered Luo Yang’s difficulties, in order to make Tao Mu happy, Shen Yu took the initiative to reveal Tao Mu as his body double for action scenes during the interview. After the interview, Shen Yu asked Tao Mu in private to teach him how to make cool moves while hanging on wires.

Tao Mu was very grateful to Shen Yu at that time, so he secretly taught Shen Yu and even showed Shen Yu little but useful tricks. But unexpectedly, there was an accident during their private rehearsal and the two entered the hospital together.

Tao Mu didn’t want to mix with the Shen family anymore in this life so he simply refused Shen Yu’s request: “I can’t teach it. This is probably an inherent talent.”

Shen Yu: “……”

The setting up and the lighting of the props were almost ready. Tao Mu got up and entered the set, ready to shoot his scenes.

Regardless of the fantasies of fans and melon eaters outside the entertainment circle, filming was actually a very boring thing. What actors do the most in a day was to wait, wait for makeup, wait for the prop group to complete the set, wait for the camera crew and lighting crew to be in place. The director shouts action and the actors stand in position, if everything went smoothly it would end in ten minutes, and then wait some more for the scene lighting for the next scene to be in place. If it didn’t go well, they would continue to grind. The short two or three minutes of footage in a TV series might take several hours or even months to shoot it on the set.

Because a lot of time was spent waiting, celebrities with a little status liked to drive into the crew in an RV. Especially after the advent of smart phones celebrities would wait for their scenes in the RV where they played with their smart phones, scrolling through Weibo, taking selfies, and making nine picture cute edits. But now, the entertainment industry had not yet formed that kind of studio atmosphere of immersing oneself in the smart phone and striving to be the king of head bowing. So when waiting for a scene, the most common thing seen would be a group of actors holding their copy of the script either reciting the lines by themselves or matching lines with each other. As for the group extras, they hid in inconspicuous corners and slack off in twos and threes.

Tao Mu stood in front of the set, and the prop master who was in charge of hanging the wire came over to help put on the wire suit, and the martial arts instructor was also beside him to talk about the movements. Mu Huating, who played the male number three, looked uncertain, probably because he was afraid that Tao Mu would avenge his private wrongs in the afternoon when they acted the confrontation scene. He went over to director Chen to discuss about using a body double for the afternoon scene.

The young master who was sought after by everyone stuck to Tao Mu’s side and twittered incessantly. Tao Mu closed his eyes, not wanting to pay attention to him. Shen Yu stood next to Tao Mu and held his phone up to take a sneak shot——the kind where the owner showed half of his face in front of the camera so that it revealed Tao Mu on the wire behind him. Not satisfied with just that, he secretly posted it on Weibo, with the message “The little brother who is my body double, isn’t he handsome?”

In 2008, Weibo was still a novelty. Many young and fashionable newbie celebrities would register accounts on Weibo to interact with fans. However, the slightly bigger celebrities were still accustomed to the traditional mysterious route, and they were well versed in the attractiveness of the unattainable and that a beauty appear more desirable from a distance.

As a rich fuerdai who was very good-looking, had a very good personality and also entered the entertainment circle for fun, Shen Yu had already amassed nearly 100,000 followers on Weibo. The most important thing was that these 100,000 fans were all “living people” who were active and keen to socialize. After Shen Yu posted the photo, all kinds of likes and comments came in. Some praised Shen Yu as being more handsome than Tao Mu, some agreed that Tao Mu was really handsome, and some asked for Tao Mu’s identity information and Weibo account. If one don’t look at the data, the level of activity was no worse than that of the celebrities who have millions of fans and followers in the later years.

Shen Yu immersed himself in social media, while Tao Mu was called up to go before the camera.

The crew of “Purple Cloud” was actually very willing to film Tao Mu’s scenes, especially in the past week. The young man seemed to have a cheat sheet in hand, none of the NGs were because of his own reasons. It directly led to the smooth and rapid shooting progress of the whole drama. The original plan was to shoot two and a half months of action scenes. But according to the current progress, it was estimated that the filming would be completed in less than two months.

During the lunch break, Ye Yao’s agent and Mu Huating’s agent found him again. In order to win Tao Mu over, Mu Huating’s agent offered to give Tao Mu an audition opportunity even before signing the contract with Summer Star——the audition was for a modern school idol drama that was about to start filming at H Studio City. Tao Mu could play the male number four in it.

“I wanted to help you get the male number two. Unfortunately, you are not an artist of the company, so my hands were tied.” Mu Huating’s agent still did not forget to lobby Tao Mu: “But then, if you are willing to join the company, don’t even mention just a male number two, even if it is the male number one lead, I can help you fight for it.”

Tao Mu emphasized again: “Thank you brother Zhao for your kindness. But I have already said that I have been admitted to the Beijing Film Academy. The school stipulates that filming is not allowed before the junior year.” It was now mid July and he would have to report to school on the 26th of August. If Tao Mu took over the role introduced by Zhao Keping, it was likely that he would not be able to report in time because of the schedule conflict. This was not in line with Tao Mu’s future plans.

“It’s not that strict.” Zhao Keping said, “Our company has also signed a student of Beijing Film. If you are interested in joining the company, we can discuss the shooting schedule with the school.”

Tao Mu: “But I think the school’s regulations are quite good. Freshmen and sophomores can concentrate on studying at school to lay their foundation. I don’t want to violate the school’s regulations.”

This was a bit too stubborn.

Zhao Keping’s smile sank, and he felt that Tao Mu was really ignorant of favors handed to him: “Young people think simple, you have to know that many opportunities are not always available. As the saying goes, you have to get famous early, and this is true in the entertainment industry. Think about it, if you really follow the school rules, you will be in your twenties when you can finally take acting jobs. How can you guarantee that you will be popular?”

Tao Mu remained silent but smiling.

Zhao Keping was really full of anger. But looking at Tao Mu’s face, he really couldn’t bear to let such a potential star go, so he could only retreat: “If you insist on this, it’s not impossible. The company can negotiate with the school to arrange notices and scripts for you during the winter and summer vacations. The best of both worlds.”

Zhao Keping was really optimistic about Tao Mu, and his sincerity was quite obvious. Even if Tao Mu had made up his mind and did not want to join a management company, he still felt a tiny bit of guilt refusing Zhao Keping’s kindness at this moment. He could only say tactfully: “Then I will think about it again.” If a refusal came even after careful consideration, he imagine Zhao Keping would likely no longer continue to insist.

Hearing Tao Mu’s underlying refusal, Zhao Keping frowned. He didn’t understand why Tao Mu resisted so much: “Is it because of Mu Huating?”

Mu Huating, who was caught off guard from suddenly being brought up, felt his chest squeeze and he looked at Tao Mu expressionlessly.

Although Tao Mu was sick of Mu Huating’s methods, he did not have him take the blame. He shook his head: “It’s not because of him. I am not ready to sign on to a company myself.”

After a pause, Tao Mu explained: “I don’t really want to be an idol.” I just want to be my own boss.

Then that meant he wanted to be an actor? Zhao Keping suddenly came to a realization. He had seen so many newcomers with lofty ambitions. Tao Mu was not the first, nor the last.

“Summer Star Entertainment’s Yi Ge and Yi Jie are both award winning actor and actress (TN: literally number 1 brother and number 1 sister, terms to refer to the leaders among the artists within a talent agency that gets the most resources and have the most senior standing). Let me tell you, even if you want to be an actor, you can’t just do pure acting. For things like competing for the best actor awards, you need help from the company to do public relations. It’s a good thing that you have ambitions, but you can’t do it alone. Think of it this way, after you sign to the company, the company will help you screen the script and arrange the scheduling. You only need to analyze the script and work hard to play a good role. I’ll take care of the rest. Isn’t it better this way?”

Zhao Keping skillfully drew a big pie, if Tao Mu was really a fledgling newcomer, he really wouldn’t be able to hold up against him.

Wan Meihong, who was a step late, became anxious and hurried up to disrupt the situation: “Although Summar Star Entertainment has a film king and a film queen, but it is precisely because their Yi Ge and Yi Jie are both so in demand now, the company’s best resources must be given to them first, and only the rest that’s picked over would be given to you. But that also does not mean that you can get the remaining resources. In fact, there are many A-list and B-list male stars who signed with Summer Star. The agents of these people must also help their artists fight for resources. You are a newcomer who has no background or fan base. It is easy to be buried in this kind of company. So it is better to join Qin Dynasty Entertainment. At least at Qin Dynasty Entertainment there is only a Yi Jie, not a Yi Ge. If you are willing to join Qin Dynasty, with your conditions, I can certainly persuade the company to make you into the Yi Ge.”

Zhao Keping sneered when he heard this: “Who doesn’t know that your TV dramas produced by Qin Dynasty Entertainment are all major heroine centric dramas. Why did Wang Miao leave Qin Dyansty Entertainment? Wasn’t it because of the lack of opportunities to further his career? And now you want to pull Tao Mu under the water, you simply don’t have any consideration for newcomers’ futures.”

With a headache, Tao Mu looked at the two agents who were currently battling it out fiercely and slipped away under the guise of needing to pee.

“Tao Mu, wait, I have something to tell you.”

Tao Mu paused and looked at Ye Yao who had followed him to the restroom. He raised an eyebrow and motioned for a certain someone to speak quickly.

Ye Yao blushed: “Do you……do you like me?”

Tao Mu: “……???”

Ye Yao was feeling both shy and delighted: “I just knew it, yesterday you were willing to stand up to Luo Yang for me. You must like me. Although you don’t say it with your mouth——”

“Stop! Stop!” Tao Mu hurriedly interrupted a certain someone’s words: “I say, can’t you wish me some good for once?”

Ye Yao could not accept this: “How can you say this. Is it a bad thing to like me?”

“What do you think?” Tao Mu snorted and waved his hand impatiently to shoo her away: “Don’t make trouble for me, go back to Luo Yang. If you keep on fighting, the two of you will really break up.” You would suffer a lot if no one was there to protect you, and then you would be pushed into revealing your dark side.

“So what if we break up!” Ye Yao said with bravado, “I wanted to break up with him a long time ago. Listen to what he said yesterday. I treat him as a boyfriend, but he treats me as a kept little plaything. If I continue to like this kind of person, then wouldn’t that make me someone with poor eyesight?”

Tao Mu thought privately, you don’t just have poor eyesight. The men you become interested in were either a scumbag or a gay, just how visually impaired could you be!

“Okay, okay, okay, I don’t have the energy to care about who you like. But, just don’t like me.”

Tao Mu had a headache and a stomachache, and thought to himself that this little episode hadn’t happened in his previous life. However, even Tao Mu did not expect the differences to come from a different playing out of events. In his previous life, Tao Mu did not handle his performance well under the water hose, ending up being thrown on the set like a dead dog. Afterwards, he became the object of everyone’s ridicule. Ye Yao was a young girl experiencing her first crush. Seeing that Tao Mu was so inadequate, she would be too busy feeling embarrassed, let alone admit that she liked him.

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

But Shen Yu, unable to watch it any longer, stood up for him. As a result, after their birth situation was exposed, and Tao Mu insisted on forcing Shen Yu to leave the Shen family, the Shen family never accepted him because of this matter. Thinking about it carefully, some of his behaviors in his last life were really inexplicable and possessed.

Sure enough, in this life, the best idea would be to stay far away from them. They were a nice, happy family together, and an outsider like him had no business sticking his nose in!

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Prev

Using breakfast time, Tao Mu gave Da Mao and Xiao Pang a rough idea of ​​what an entertainment big V was. But he didn’t say too much. After all, in 2008, most people were still only playing with blogs, Tieba, and other forums. Weibo just started running, and WeChat didn’t even come out yet. All self-media were still in the obscurity stage and left to grow on its own. In fact, there was no concept of self-media at all. In this situation, anything Tao Mu said would be to no avail. (TN: In China, self-media refers to independently operated social media accounts — on platforms such as WeChat, Weibo, and other smaller ones — usually run by individual users)

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

However, even this little rhetoric still evoked the two boys’ professional ambitions to devote themselves to gossip. Enthralled, they pestered Tao Mu with enthusiastic questions all morning, and even under Tao Mu’s suggestion, changed their Weibo names that were colored by the current times, non-mainstream, and too influenced by middle school 2nd year syndrome.

“Brother Mu, brother Mu, you have so many tricks, can you help me think of a fun and cool name?” Xiao Pang held the computer and smiled ingratiatingly in front of Tao Mu.

Tao Mu pondered for a moment and changed Xiao Pang’s Weibo name to ‘Morning Sun Shines Over The Masses.’

Xiao Pang: “……”

Xiao Pang: “What kind of name is this? It’s not sincere at all. I don’t like it. Change it for me.”

“You really don’t like it?” Seeing Xiao Pang nodding affirmatively, Tao Mu expressed deep regret. Such an awe-inspiring and unpretentious name that was full of the mystery and wisdom of the masses. It was likely that only the name ‘Takeout Riders’ in the later years could be compared. It was a pity that the aesthetic tastes from ten years later was not something Xiao Pang could completely comprehend. Tao Mu could only modify his Weibo nickname again under the urging of his childhood friend——

Melon Eater Official!

Xiao Pang rubbed his chin for a while, and felt that the name was not bad, at least it could slightly reflect his inner depths and ambition.

Da Mao was very interested: “Where is mine?”

Tao Mu didn’t even need to think about it this time, and typed the words ‘The Young Master Who Owns A Mine At Home’ on the computer.

Da Mao felt that this name revealed his identity in a low-key, precise and connotative manner, and thus very satisfied.

However, it was getting late after their fooling around session. The three hurried to the crew, but as soon as they left the house, a heavy rain came pouring down. The raindrops and windy gusts came violently, and the three of them were directly turned into wet chickens. Then the clouds cleared and the rain stopped——it would seem the heavy rain only fell for the period of time Tao Mu walked from home to the crew. Not a drop wasted at all.

Such an unlucky occurrence that was too coincidental made Tao Mu feel a little uneasy. He recalled again the destiny of being unable to break out of the vicious circle of living under Shen Yu’s influence after returning to the Shen family in the last life——

As expected, as soon as Tao Mu entered the crew, he saw Shen Yu, who was surrounded by the crowd, and the Shen family who had accompanied Shen Yu back to the crew.

Everyone in the Shen family, who always doted on Shen Yu, was really reluctant to part with their well-behaved little prince. Despite work and studies and other obligations, the whole family took a special plane to send Shen Yu back to H Studio City from Shanghai, all under the name of visiting Shen Yu’s filming set.

The richest man in Shanghai had arrived, and the whole crew was boiling over with excitement. A large group of people gathered around the Shen family and the whole scene was that of ordinary commoners seeing the Emperor and his family on an inspection tour in plain clothes.

Chen Yiqian, who had always been the man in charge in the crew, was currently subtly laying on the flattery in front of father Shen. He praised Shen Yu’s performance for being intuitive and natural, and that his performance as the leading role was both unselfconscious and artless. He also said that the relationship between the Shen family members was enviously harmonious, unlike some large families that were only superficially friendly with each other. Of course, it was mostly fancy praises for Shen Yu’s talent. The tone of his voice was exactly the same as subordinates exaggerating in front of the leader on how clever the leader’s children were.

But the Shen family still ate this up. When they heard everyone praising their precious treasure, even their expressions appeared much more pleasant than usual. Shen Yu, who was being fawned over by the crowd at the very center, had his arms tucked into father Shen’s and mother Shen’s arms, smiling shyly and appearing full of brightness and cuteness.

Tao Mu glanced at the noisy crowd from a distance, and was about to hide in the dressing room. Unexpectedly, despite the crowd, Shen Yu had immediately picked him out, waving his arms and shouting loudly: “Tao Mu, Tao Mu, here.”

Saying so, he even ran out of the crowd and grabbed Tao Mu by the arm: “I want to introduce my family to you. I told them that you are extremely amazing, both handsome and talented in kung fu. They all really like you.”

Shen Yu dragged Tao Mu to the front of the Shen family and threw his arm around Tao Mu’s shoulders, looking as if they were very good brothers and said with a smile: “Dad, mom, eldest brother, sister, this is Tao Mu. What do you think, I wasn’t wrong was I? Isn’t he particularly handsome and amazing? And he also look a lot like eldest brother! Aren’t these eyes particularly beautiful?”

Shen Yu’s only regret was that his looks were not very similar to those in his family. He was the cute type, with round eyes, and delicate features, appearing rather lovable and amiable. But the Shen family have phoenix eyes with an inner double lid that appeared narrow and long with the corners upturned. When they smile, their eyes took on an attractive brilliance. When they were serious, they appear solemn and cold, and giving a powerful presence. It made Shen Yu very envious. Unfortunately, he didn’t inherit it.

Everyone in the Shen family looked at Shen Yu with a smile, and their expressions were full of a pampering and indulgent flavor. Turning to Tao Mu, it became a polite and friendly smile with a bit of condescending that only close people could detect. The Shen family had a deep background, and Shen Yu was naturally innocent and sweet, and had an absolute pure heart for all people and things. In this case, it was inevitable that some manipulative and scheming people would deliberately approach Shen Yu. Especially in the complex environment of the entertainment industry. The Shen family was wealthy, and they were not afraid of someone approaching Shen Yu for benefits. As long as these people had no bad intentions towards Shen Yu, they would just take it as simply spending some money to find a playmate for Shen Yu.

After torturing each other for ten years in his previous life, Tao Mu knew exactly what the Shen family thought. It was not wrong to say that before he died, Tao Mu was jealous and pained at the thought of the Shen family’s preference for Shen Yu. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have committed suicide by jumping off the building in front of the Shen family at Shen Yu’s wedding.

Living over again, and seeing this scene again, Tao Mu originally thought he wouldn’t be as affected anymore. But to his surprise, the calm and unaffected emotions he had even when repetitively recalling his dreams of his previous life suddenly began to violently churn.

Grievance, injustice, dissatisfaction, resentment……The violent mood swings swept over him like a tide that almost overwhelmed him. Tao Mu subtly squeezed his fists and repeatedly restrained himself, finally suppressing the emotions that almost bubbled over.

Not good, the influence of Shen Yu and those in his previous life was too great on him.

Tao Mu knew well that such mood swings should not be his true emotions. But instead stemmed from……Tao Mu looked at Shen Yu subtly, the power of the plot?! It was just like in his previous life, whenever he encountered anything related with Shen Yu he would turn into a mad bull, completely losing his reason and IQ.

No good, he had to stay away from Shen Yu and these people!

He never wanted to repeat that hysterical and idiotic life full of only betrayals. Tao Mu lowered his eyes and quietly made up his mind.

Just as Tao Mu secretly made the decision, the melon-eating crowd in the crew were currently looking at the expressionless Tao Mu, and then at the Shen family who were sizing up Tao Mu, with weird expressions on their faces. None of them had seen the Shen family with their own eyes before, so the thought never occurred to them that Tao Mu had such resemblance to the Shen family.

But now being able to compare them, anyone with eyes could tell that Tao Mu and the Shen family were indeed very similar. Especially when compared with the Shen family eldest young master who had been standing silent all this time. The two of them practically had identical eyebrows and eyes. For those who didn’t know better, there was absolutely no doubt that they were brothers.

No wonder the young master of the Shen family kept talking about Tao Mu looking like his older brother. He was right!

It was a pity though, that the similar people did not the have a similar fate!

This sigh had already sounded yesterday on Shen Yu’s birthday, and now it sounded again. They got the feeling that this little orphan, who had no father or mother, had an affinity with the Shen family.

Mother Shen looked at Tao Mu for a few moments, and felt that this child did indeed have an affinity with their Shen family. She smiled and said, “It’s really quite alike. You’re Xiao Mu, right? This time baby came home, he talked to us about you every day. And even sharing the same birthday as him. With such affinity, you both must get along well.”

Shen Yu jumped angrily next to him: “Mom, how many times have I said it, don’t call me baby. I’ve grown up, so don’t call me baby anymore. I’ll be angry if you call me baby again.”

Shen Yan hugged her furious little kitten like brother into her arms and rubbed his head with a smile. Turning her head, she said to Tao Mu: “Baby also said that he wants to sign you into the company——”

Before she finished speaking, Tao Mu said calmly: “Thank you, young master Shen, for your kindness, but I was admitted to the Beijing Film Academy, and the school stipulates that students cannot take on acting jobs before the junior year. Besides, I am from Beijing and will stay in Beijing in the future. The Shen family’s management company is in Shanghai, it would be inconvenient.”

As everyone all knew, the Shen family’s management company was hurriedly formed when Shen Yu wanted to enter the entertainment circle to play. They also specially recruited a well-known top talent agent from the industry, together with the other’s entire team. The purpose was to take care of Shen Yu and not let him be bullied by outsiders. It could be said that this managrment company was destined to operate around Shen Yu’s will. From a common sense point of view, it would be very difficult for other artists to develop if they signed into this kind of company. After all, no one knew whether young master Shen’s interest would fade away or not. So from a professional point of view, Tao Mu’s refusal was not arrogant but both reasonable and justified.

Shen Yan paused slightly and said nothing.

Tao Mu retreated from the crowd. But before he could enter the dressing room, he was stopped by Shen Yu’s agent.

Wen Shijin smiled mildly, and looked at the youth in front of him deeply. He got the feeling that just after a few days, Tao Mu had changed a lot. Not in the appearance, but in the bones.

Recalling the video that director Chen showed him, Wen Shijin’s heart jumped slightly. Before, it was just Shen Yu pestering him about Tao Mu, but now his interest in Tao Mu’s talent was genuine.

“Really don’t want to sign a management company under the Shen Group? You have to know that although this company is tailor-made for Shen Yu, since they recruited me, I will definitely make the company bigger and stronger. No matter whether the company is headquartered in Shanghai or Beijing, as long as I want to support your career as a star, I can always help you get better resources. How about it, do you want to think about it?”

What was there to think about? Give you another chance to betray me?

Cherish one’s IQ and stay away from plot characters!

Tao Mu looked at the high-spirited Wen Shijin coldly: “Mr. Wen approached me, so there should be proper business, right?”

Wen Shijin looked at the calm and unmoved Tao Mu and was rather surprised. In his impression, Tao Mu was not such a character. He should be the kind of person who grabbed at every opportunity and climb up desperately. Slick and sly and good at toadying for personal gain. Now he was like this……was he just playing hard to get?

Wen Shijin grinned and he raised an eyebrow: “You know that I have something to speak with you about? Then you might as well guess what it is about?”

“Yesterday’s action scene was very good, right.” Although it was an interrogative sentence, Tao Mu used a declarative tone: “You want to make Shen Yu popular, and yesterday’s action scene can help him. You came to me, likely wanting me to sign a non-disclosure agreement and then advertise that this action scene was done by Shen Yu himself.”

Wen Shijin chuckled when he heard this, and looked at Tao Mu with a little appreciation: “You are really smart. Don’t worry, as long as you are willing to cooperate, you will definitely not be treated badly in terms of remuneration. And……”

Wen Shijin paused and pondered slightly. He came to Tao Mu to negotiate, and originally wanted to use signing Tao Mu to their company as one of the conditions. Unfortunately, Tao Mu had made it clear that he did not want to join their company. Wen Shijin naturally would not use this bargaining chip anymore: “I can introduce you to other crews, and the role would be at least the male number three.”

“I reject.”

Wen Shijin frowned when he heard this: “You don’t need to be like this. You are a smart person, and you should know that agreeing to this will do you no harm.”

“I just don’t want you to do useless work.” Tao Mu looked at Wen Shijin and said calmly, “I can sign a confidentiality agreement. But there is someone who will never cooperate with you.”

Jin Wenyan was taken aback when he heard it, and he immediately reacted: “You mean Shen Yu?”

Tao Mu was silent.

Upon hearing this, Wen Shijin chuckled: “Then you worry too much. Shen Yu is a very obedient child.”

“That’s because you don’t know him well enough.” Tao Mu opened the door of the dressing room: “People like Shen Yu will never take the credit of others.”

In his last life, Tao Mu’s martial arts movements were not so skilled and beautiful, but Wen Shijin still thought about taking it for Shen Yu. Tao Mu was moved by Wen Shijin’s conditions, even if he felt some unwillingness, he still agreed to Wen Shijin’s proposal. Unexpectedly, when the reporter visited the set, Shen Yu admitted in front of everyone that Tao Mu was the one to do the action scenes. He himself only posed for a few shots in front of the camera.

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Only then did Tao Mu know that Shen Yu had planned to reveal it all. The reason why he didn’t say anything when signing the contract, was just so Tao Mu could make more money. In any case, the person who told the truth was Shen Yu himself. Tao Mu only needed to remain silent in accordance with the contract and still take the money, and no one could hold him accountable.

Living his life over again, Tao Mu didn’t want to accept Shen Yu’s charity, so naturally he must point this matter out directly and bluntly.

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H town in July had a temperature that reached more than 40 degrees. Even in the early morning the sun still shone brightly and the room was unbearably hot. If one opened the window to sleep, a breeze might come in but it would be mingled with the sound of people——the noise of the group extras waiting for a gig downstairs at four o’clock in the morning.

Da Mao, who fell asleep only in the middle of the night still had his eyes closed when he waved his arm and threw the pillow against the window sill. The half-opened window closed in response. Xiao Pang on the other bed also complained sleepily: “……If I knew it was so troublesome, then we shouldn’t have rented here.”

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The original decision to rent here was because the dormitory was close to the scenic spots and the commercial areas. The place where the group extras waited for gigs was also right downstairs. When one wanted to find an acting gig all they needed to do was just go downstairs, which sounded particularly convenient.

However, convenience was also equivalent to trouble in some cases. For example, residential buildings close to the morning market and night market were convenient when you needed or wanted to go visiting the market, but besides that, it was also quite noisy.

Tao Mu also climbed down from the bed. He was originally a deep sleeper who couldn’t even be woken by thunder when he was asleep. After returning to the Shen family however, he started to become extra sensitive and practically on a verge of a nervous breakdown. Any small movement could wake him up. After being driven out of the house by the Shen family, his sleep was even more interrupted, essentially coming down with insomnia. Re-living once again did not only cause Tao Mu to have more than ten years of memory, but also brought back this problem.

“Since you can’t sleep, get up. Are you going to wait for a gig downstairs today?” Tao Mu slipped into slippers and went into the bathroom. After washing, he went into the kitchen where he grabbed a few eggs from the refrigerator and put a box of fresh milk on the counter.

Da Mao closed his eyes and tried very hard to get back to sleep. It was a pity that there was too much noise outside. The more he tried to sleep, the more energetic he became so he could only sit up irritably: “Why wait for a gig? We two are still acting as group extras in ‘Purple Cloud.’ Unless Fatty Liu dare to send us away? If he dares, I will definitely not let him get away with it.”

Tao Mu poured the milk into the milk pot and turned on the stove: “Didn’t you say it yourself that you didn’t want to stay on in the ‘Purple Cloud’ crew anymore?”

“We were just angry at the crew. In order to please investors, they actually push you to take the blame. But you aren’t leaving and if the two of us leave, won’t you be left by yourself? How can we let that happen!” Cross-legged on the bed, he said with vigor: “The three of us must be together. We enter and exit together, advance and retreat together.”

“Isn’t it just an investor!”

Da Mao got angry when he heard this, and followed behind Tao Mu like a large dog. He nagged: “Brother Mu, I’m serious. How about we find a crew by ourselves. Which script do you like? I will call my dad and ask him to invest in it. Then I will support you as the number one male lead, and Xiao Pang and I will be the second and third male leads. And then we go to the film school to find some beautiful girls. We can make movies and make money ourselves, lest we get caught in the crossfire again.”

“Get caught in the crossfire.” Tao Mu chuckled: “Do you know what getting caught in the crossfire means or just talking nonsense?” (TN: getting caught in the crossfire=expression used to describe a husband getting attacked by both sides in a quarrel between his mother and his wife)

Feeling that Da Mao was getting in the way, Tao Mu patted Da Mao’s head with his hand and pushed him away: “Don’t be having wild fantasies. You think filming is such an easy task. If you don’t have the right connections and enter this industry rashly, you will go bankrupt and want to jump off a building, you hear me? It’s not easy for uncle to make some money, so don’t keep thinking about wasting it. Don’t worry. When I make more friends and find my way around the rules, we will definitely set up our own film and television company. At that time it will be just like you said, if you want to be the male lead, be the male lead, and if you want to choose the female lead, choose the female lead.”

Da Mao clutched his dog’s head and protested: “Brother Mu, don’t touch my head all the time. You are half a head shorter than me. Is it appropriate to touch my head like this? Haven’t you ever heard that a man’s head and a woman’s waist all can’t be touched casually!”

Tao Mu chuckled lightly and waved them out of the kitchen.

Da Mao could only sit at the small dining table outside, staring at Tao Mu as he fried the eggs. After a while, he was once again up to no good. Snickering slyly like a thief he said, “Brother Mu, did something happen? Why did you suddenly think of making breakfast today?” Usually it was them doing the begging, and if Tao Mu was in a good mood he would make them a bowl of noodles and that was it.

Tao Mu took an egg in one hand and cracked it to the side of the pan, not bothering to pay attention to him.

Xiao Pang stood in front of the windowsill with his toothbrush and rinsing cup as he looked at the crowd of black heads downstairs, and said with the toothbrush still in his mouth: “There are so many new faces! Say, these people go to such extents getting up in the middle of the night and waiting all day. It’s already strange that some of them came here just to experience this. But those who treat group acting as a career make only that bit of money every month. What are they doing all of this for?”

Da Mao sneered: “What else could they be doing it for, their dreams of course!”

On a whim, Xiao Pang turned his head to gossip and said, “Ai, have you heard? Just our crew, the extra that plays the female protagonist’s maid, slept with Fatty Liu and Fatty Liu promised to add her scenes. Then based on what you said, can this girl be considered as making a sacrifice for her dream?”

Da Mao was stunned when he heard this: “That tall girl with white skin? She seemed to have just come to the H Studio City, right?”

“I heard that she’s been here for less than three months!” Xiao Pang shook his head and let out a sigh: “Quite fast.”

“It’s just a group extra, even if you add more scenes, how many lines would that even be! For these few lines, is it worth it?” Da Mao was puzzled. Xiao Pang also felt that his three views had suffered a violent impact. The two sat there muttering. The topic soon turned to other gossip in the crew.

The three of them had come to H Studio City after the college entrance examinations. Not long after Tao Mu came here, he signed the martial arts stand-in for the male lead in ‘Purple Cloud’. As for Da Mao and Xiao Pang, one was from a family that owned a mine and the other was just there to experience life. Their only purpose of coming to H Studio City was to accompany Tao Mu and have some fun. However, in the past few days, probably because of having gained some acquaintances among the group extras, they acquired a habit of strolling around the major crews to inquire about the gossip. This new habit of theirs was not at all showing signs of petering off but was instead becoming stronger and stronger.

Anyway, after these few days, Tao Mu had heard from these two quite a lot of gossip about some big stars and small actors like so-and-so had fell in love with so-and-so, so-and-so had knocked on the director’s door at night, and did not come out the whole night……Some were hearsay, but some were also true. Tao Mu listened to the two gossiping with relish, and picked up two eggs: “You like gossip so much, do you want to be a melon eater big V?”

“What is a melon eater big V?” The two who were sitting at the small dining table waiting for breakfast raised their heads together, curiously looking at Tao Mu who was beating eggs with one hand in the kitchen.

It was a little over six o’clock in the morning and the warm and welcoming sunlight poured in through the glass windows, forming a silhouette around Tao Mu. Tao Mu turned the pan upside down very familiarly and the poached egg turned over in the pan. Tao Mu let it fry until fully cooked before pouring it onto the plate on the side.

“It’s the entertainment big V that has been authenticated on Weibo.” Tao Mu said casually, taking off his apron: “The milk is warm now. Eat.”

Da Mao and Xiao Pang immediately got up, poured the milk and brought over the plates. They asked with a flattering smile: “Then how do you be an entertainment big V, specifically?”

Tao Mu rinsed the pot, and seeing that it was almost time he then turned on the TV. He immediately switched to the financial channel.

The channel was currently reporting that the international oil price had exceeded 140m yuan per barrel. Tao Mu, who had had a lifetime experience, knew that in a few days, the price of oil would rise to a record high of 148.35m per barrel. But then in the second half of 2008 it began to plummet, until the end of December when it was at the lowest point of 32.4m yuan per barrel, the cumulative decline exceeding 75%.

If at this time, he could have a sum of money in his hands to invest in the international oil futures market, so long as he operated properly, he could earn at least a hundred times the profit in half a year.

Unfortunately, his wallet was really too pitifully thin. Tao Mu couldn’t help sighing at the pitiful little balance in his bank card.

He felt that he had missed out on a 100 million.

“Brother Mu, why are you suddenly interested in finance and economics?” Da Mao and Xiao Pang looked at each other. The two of them could be said to be quite accustomed to the new hobbies that Tao Mu developed from time to time. But from fashion, music, acting, and other interests that basically didn’t rely on a high IQ, to suddenly cross over to finance and economics……Didn’t this leap seem a bit to big?

Given that Tao Mu’s hobbies had always been very broad, Da Mao and Xiao Pang were not too surprised. They were just a little worried that Tao Mu’s steps would be too big and he would strain himself——the financial stock market was not something just anyone could play in. In the words of the coal boss, the waters in the stock market was very deep, especially in the domestic stock market. Bankers always liked to play other people’s cards. Basically, small investors were destined to be eaten by the big sharks.

“If you have money, then don’t throw it in here! My dad said that currently the stock market is in chaos, and if you are careless, you could go completely bankrupt.”

“Don’t worry, I know the score.” Tao Mu said frowning and then urged them: “Hurry up, I have a scene in the morning, and I have to go to the crew after eating.”

“Oh!” Da Mao and Xiao Pang quickly picked up their bowls and gulped down their milk. Still they did not give up: “That entertainment big v……”

Curiosity was quite strong. Tao Mu glanced at the two and gave an explanation casually.

Tao Mu remembered many experiences in his previous life very clearly. However, what shocked him most was the level of development of the Internet in just a few years. It was difficult for the Chinese people living in 2008 to imagine the Chinese people’s dependence on the Internet ten years later. It was even harder to imagine the impact of the Internet on the entertainment industry and even national life, as well as various industries and fields.

As a reborn person who had experienced countless fan and anti wars as well as melon-eater wars, and had witnessed the emergence of China’s Internet industry from scratch, from backwards to advance, Tao Mu felt that he could definitely be called a senior melon-eater or even a melon grower. Especially in 2008, when the Internet had just begun to emerge, Tao Mu could almost certainly say that no one in this world knew the development direction of the next ten years better than him.

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

Re-living his life again, Tao Mu felt quite confident that he would be able to seize the opportunities. He looked thoughtfully at his two enthusiastic childhood friends and suddenly felt that maybe he should open up his field of vision a little bit more and be more proactive. To not just limit his sights to the entertainment industry, which was just a tiny corner.

Da Mao and Xiao Pang, who was listening eagerly, looked at Tao Mu who stopped suddenly, and urged: “What’s the matter, keep talking~”

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Tao Mu had a slight obsession with cleanliness. So when he returned to the dormitory from the nightclub, Tao Mu grabbed a set of pajamas and then took a bath even though it was past midnight.

Having endured the brunt of the water hose for an entire afternoon, Tao Mu’s body was already covered in purple and green bruises, and there were even some blood cracks from the more serious bruises. The numerous bruises appeared very shocking against the white skin. The warm water rushed down from the shower head, and the bruises on the body stung painfully under the hot water. It was so painful Tao Mu didn’t even dare to use the shower gel, only briefly rinsing with water before he rushed out.

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Da Mao handed over the prepared cold medicine, and Tao Mu pinched his nose and drank the medicine under the supervision of the two childhood friends. With a white towel on his wet head, he sat at the small desk with a look of displeasure, took out his diary, and prepared to record for the day.

Da Mao and Xiao Pang smiled and reminded: “Don’t scold us in the diary!”

Anyone who was familiar with Tao Mu knew that although he had a venomous tongue, an arrogant face, and a hot temper, Tao Mu actually had a particularly ingenuous hobby——keeping a diary. Perhaps in the eyes of outsiders, this hobby was too sappy and maudlin. Only Tao Mu knew that there was no emotional rantings or waxing poetry. He just wrote down the things that happened every day and the people he came into contact with, as well as all kinds of gossip or news that Tao Mu thought might be useful in the future, in case he might come into contact with these people and things one day. That way he could give different responses according to different people. To be more precise, it was to use these details for his own benefit.

For example, Tao Mu would write down the clothes and dressing style of every person he had come into contact with, and even their preferences that they unintentionally revealed. The next time he met them again, he could mention the exact jewellery that the other party wore last time and compliment them, or ‘inadvertently’ mention the other party’s preferences during small talk. This approach could instantly pull closer the distance between the two and make the other person feel that he really cared about them.

This was taught to Tao Mu by a very popular male escort who he had met when he was working in a nightclub. The male escort believed that the core selling point of a person and the way of increasing one’s popularity was not how handsome or young a person was, but that one must maintain his taste and style while also doing his best to smooth out every relationship and find out the personal preferences and weaknesses of every person. Basically, one must tap into the potential and value of each person and each connection.

He suggested to Tao Mu that he should take everyone he had come into contact with seriously as well as manage all personal connections with vigilance. After all, many people——especially men——had a natural hostility towards men who were handsome or better than them. But most people would not be hostile to a younger generation who was handsome and held admiration for them.

“Don’t think that men have no vanity. In fact, men are the ones who are the most easily taken by a beautiful face and easily pleased. Especially the customers who come to our nightclub, most of them are elites who have achieved success in their respective fields. What haven’t these people seen or experienced before? You think they are not easy to fool, right? Then you’re wrong.”

“If a person lives in a very high-end environment, then no matter how high-end the person was, it would still not make him stand out in a crowd. But if you change the place, then he may indeed stand out from the crowd. All you have to do is to make him feel that he stands out no matter what.”

“I know a little about your background. To say something presumptuous, it is certainly miserable, but it is also one of your selling points. Since there is no way to change the facts, you have to learn to take advantage of all of this. It is okay to show weakness appropriately. People admire the strong, but instinctively sympathizes with the weak. This is very contradictory but if you make good use of it, you will never be at a disadvantage.”

“The little tricks I taught you, in fact, they may all already be aware of. But even if they know what you’re up to, it is still better if someone is willing to spend the time on you than if no one bothered to pay you attention at all. For us in the service industry, sometimes it is all about these little tricks. If you feel that your head is not smart enough to keep this all in track, just record these things in a notebook. Look through it once in awhile when you have nothing to do.”

“But you have to remember that it’s fine that you know these things yourself. Just don’t show them in front of others. Otherwise, the effect will be greatly reduced and your consideration will be taken as scheming manipulations instead.”

Since then, Tao Mu had started to keep a diary.

After his rebirth, Tao Mu not only kept a diary every day, but also bought a few notebooks to record important events that would happen in the next ten years——including gossip in the entertainment industry, box office records, film awards, TV ratings, stock price fluctuations in the financial market, the rise and fall of futures, sensational social trends, and a plethora of political laws and regulations both domestic and foreign. Regardless of the impact of the matter, he organized everything according to their time limit and what major sectors they fell under. No matter what it was so long as he remembered it he would record it down, occasionally flipping back and adding more to it. In order to avoid leaking the contents of the diary, Tao Mu even invented a set of cipher texts that only he could understand.

With the continuous memories that kept coming back to him, Tao Mu was also pleasantly surprised to find that his memory seemed to be much better than in his previous life. For example, before Tao Mu could only recall roughly what happened at a certain stage; but as the dreams continued to merge with him, whenever Tao Mu recalled these things, he could even accurately remember the specific time and details of the event. Including the tone and expression of each person when speaking. He could even remember a few words unintentionally overheard despite a long time having passed since he first heard them.

Da Mao and Xiao Pang have long been accustomed to Tao Mu’s maudlin habit of writing in his diary every day before going to bed. They were even more accustomed to Tao Mu suddenly inventing a cipher text that only he could read——after all, everyone had not yet gotten over their middle school 2nd year syndrome, and currently it was very popular to use Martian text to chat among students. As an elite among elites of those still experiencing middle school 2nd year syndrome, Tao Mu inventing a cipher text just for keeping a diary was not a strange thing at all.

On the contrary, Tao Mu seemed very cool in the eyes of Da Mao and Xiao Pang.

“Brother Mu, you are so awesome, no wonder you are our brother Mu.” Da Mao gave Tao Mu a thumbs up: “By the way, brother Mu, this is my birthday present for you.”

Da Mao, who was forced to take a bath twice a day because of Tao Mu’s obsession with cleanliness, finally had the chance to give Tao Mu the birthday gift that he had prepared long ago after he had finished his bath.

It was a business laptop. The white metal shell was thin and fashionable, and Da Mao thought it was especially suitable for their brother Mu.

Xiao Pang also took out the birthday gift he had prepared. It turned out to be the smart phone Tao Mu had been longing for: “Didn’t you always wanted to change your phone? But you dislike that the models and styles of the smart phones here in H Town are not as many as the ones in Beijing so I asked our classmate to buy the latest Apple phone in Country M and send it over here by plane. How about it, it definitely fits brother Mu’s aesthetics right?”

Tao Mu was startled slightly, and then smiled: “Thank you, I like it very much.”

“Heehee!” Da Mao and Xiao Pang scratched their heads in embarrassment and sat on both sides of Tao Mu. Da Mao took out a bottle of medicinal liquor for bruises that looked very traditional and homemade: “This was introduced to me by the martial arts brothers of the crew, saying that for bruising it is particularly useful. Brother Mu, want me to rub the medicinal liquor for you?”

Tao Mu was about to agree, when Da Mao’s cell phone rang suddenly.

Da Mao glanced at the caller ID and handed the phone to Tao Mu directly: “It’s Dean Tao.”

Tao Mu’s recording in the diary paused. He took the phone and went out to the balcony.

“Xiao Mu, happy birthday.” Dean Tao’s kind voice sounded on the other side of the receiver: “I say, you kiddo, why did you throw your phone to Xiao Yuan when you left? I couldn’t reach you at all, so I finally found Wang Ye’s father and asked him for Wang Ye’s cell phone number. How are you doing over there?”

Tao Mu had been working part time jobs since he was a child. After so many years, he had made a lot of extra money by working as a waiter in western restaurants and in nightclubs. He had also been a salesman in a music store, and even a part-time model. In fact, he had made a lot of extra money.

It’s just that Tao Mu also tend to spend a lot of money as well, and add to the fact that he would send money to the orphanage every month, so he didn’t have much saved in the end.

This time when he came to H Studio City, Tao Mu’s idea was still to sell his miserable background and pretend to be pitiful. He had made good calculations, wanting to meet some kind-hearted and compassionate directors or producers in H Studios. If there was an opportunity, maybe they might even provide some support for his chosen career in the entertainment industry. Even if there were no opportunities, it was not bad to become familiar with them and leave a good impression. So in order to pull off the image of a pitiful orphan to the utmost extent, Tao Mu didn’t bring his famous brand clothes, and even the flip phone that he had used for several years was given to Feng Yuan——a smart phone just came out on the market and Tao Mu originally planned to wait just before school started to buy a new phone.

Growing up in an orphanage since he was a child, Tao Mu did not deny that he was very manipulative and liked acting, but he never mistreated himself. But looking at it now, his superficial calculations were so simple and stupid. It was likely that many people have seen through his act a long time ago but just didn’t point it out.

Just look at his previous life. When Shen Yu’s admirers bought the Internet water army to reveal everything he had done on the Internet, these little tricks were all turned out and exposed to the sun. Even the diary used to smooth interpersonal relationships had been uploaded to the Internet for public execution, becoming evidence of his deep scheming and manipulative nature. (TN: On the Internet in China, an Internet Water Army or Wangluo shuijun is a group of Internet ghostwriters paid to post online comments with particular content)

Living life over again, Tao Mu would of course not continue these stupid little manueverings that could almost be seen as jokes.

“I was going to buy a smart phone, but when I got here, I found out that H Town is really small. The styles of the phones are not good at all. Fortunately, Xiao Pang understands me, and a birthday gift directly gave me the newest smart phone. Tomorrow I will apply for a card, and I will send you my mobile phone number at that time.” Tao Mu said with a smile, “By the way, how are you doing? The season is about to change. Is your heart okay? Wait for me to go back. I’ll take you to the hospital for a check-up.”

Tao Mu would never forget that in his previous life, Dean Tao was angered to the point she suffered a heart attack and died in the ambulance.

In this life, he would not allow this to happen again.

“I am in good health. Don’t waste this money.” Dean Tao smiled warmly: “But you, remember to take good care of yourself. Don’t sleep too late at night and eat on time. I checked the weather forecast, H Town’s temperature is over 40 degrees, so you have to be careful not to get heatstroke.”

After a pause, Dean Tao laughed and said, “There is also Old Song Tou, he also misses you very much. He even sent a longevity peach to the orphanage at noon today.”

Tao Mu was startled when he heard this. The Old Song Tou mentioned by Dean Tao was a very stubborn old chef. He had no children and no wife, just him alone, and with a disabled right hand on top of it all. But he had a small restaurant that was opened opposite the orphanage. When Tao Mu was six years old, he was sent back to the orphanage by his adoptive family. He was not used to eating big pot dishes from the orphanage, and ran to the restaurant arguing that he could wash the dishes as a part time job.

The owner and only cook of that restaurant was Old Song Tou. Maybe it was because Tao Mu was a handsome little boy, or he was really too lonely, but instead of driving Tao Mu away, he let Tao Mu stay in the back kitchen as a helper. Later, he also wanted to formally teach Tao Mu his craft, so that Tao Mu could inherit his restaurant.

It was a pity that Tao Mu entered the rebellious stage when he was twelve or thirteen years old. Coupled with the ridicule from his classmates, he hated the smell of oily smoke all over his body and refused to enter the kitchen again. Instead, relying on his own good looks, he began to work in western restaurants and music shops, and later he also worked as a caddy and part-time boxing sparring partner. When he entered high school, he went to work in nightclubs and bars as a waiter. He looked good and excelled at sweet talk, causing all the princesses and young masters as well as the bartenders in the shop to all be willing to teach him their life tricks and skills. Even the lead singer of the band wanted to bring him to the stage. However, he was stopped by the nightclub owner brother Yao. (TN: princesses and young masters are what the workers in nightclubs are called)

Later, Tao Mu worked as a part-time model several times, and was inspired to enter the Beijing Film Academy. After graduating from high school, he took his two childhood friends and went straight to H Studio City in the name of accumulating experience.

Tao Mu felt that he had a lot of ideas and plans for the future. However, in the eyes of Old Song Tou, Tao Mu’s actions were that of someone playing around, and the relationship between the two became increasingly rigid. By this time in the previous life, they had stopped contacting each other for many years. He heard that when he became notorious in the entertainment industry, a reporter even ran to the restaurant to interview Old Song Tou, but was driven out of the store by the old man with a mop.

“The old man’s longevity peach is really delicious.” Unfortunately, he hadn’t eaten it for many years. Tao Mu paused and asked subconsciously, “Can you send me it through mail?”

“What silly thing are you on about now, kiddo? It’s summer now, by the time it arrives in the post it would have already gone bad.” Hearing Tao Mu, this stubborn boy with a stinky temper actually give in, Dean Tao’s heart jumped on the other side of the phone. She smiled and advised: “You two are just too dishonest with yourselves. The both of you are thinking about each other, but still your mouths are so dishonest. If you really miss him, just call him. You probably don’t know this but when you went to H town, Old Song Tou had someone install a landline in the restaurant. He also gave me his phone number to let me order takeaways. You say, am I a person who would order takeaways? This is quite rare of him. After so many years and so many old customers urging him to install a landline and hire a guy to deliver food but he always refused. Now for you, the landline is installed.”

Tao Mu was taken aback for a moment, he didn’t even know that this happened in his previous life.

Then he thought about it. That’s right. In his last life, he had a fight with the old man over applying to Beijing Film. The old man thought he was indulging in a wild fantasy since it was not so easy for ordinary people to become stars. And on his side he thought the old man was too old-fashioned and stubborn. The two of them couldn’t convince each other so they were currently having a cold war. When he went to H Studio City, he was more focused on adapting to the new environment and completely did not have the energy to pay attention to the people and things back in the capital. And then afterwards an accident revealed his and Shen Yu’s birth secret. He returned to the Shen family in a grand manner while Shen Yu was driven out of the house by him. Then came the ten years where all he did was make trouble for Shen Yu……

The old memories from the past flashed by like a slide show, and Tao Mu came back to his senses: “Okay. I’ll call him later.”

Dean Tao was overjoyed upon hearing this: “Ai, that’s good. That’s good.”

Tao Mu called the old man’s phone with inexplicable emotions about his previous life. But, as soon as the phone was connected and the person on the other side of the phone heard his voice, Tao Mu was treated to a torrent of yelling and scolding.

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The people in Beijing were well known all over for being very good at cursing people out, and the old man had been living in Beijing for sixty years. Tao Mu couldn’t even speak, forced to listen to the other doing a one-person comic sketch from the other side. A one-person comic sketch that was impressively cutting and anger inducing. An angry Tao Mu immediately hung up the phone.

Sure enough, the time filter or something, it still dug holes for people even in a new lifetime!

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When Luo Yang squeezed into the dance floor with his childhood friend pulled along, Tao Mu was currently dancing with a hot girl in glamorous makeup and sexy clubbing attire.

The hot girl had wavy hair with large curls that flowed down her back, a strapless bright gold mini dress that hugged her buttocks, heavy makeup and flaming red lips. A beam of stage lighting came down from above to land on them, and the hot girl raised her arms and twisted her hips in front of Tao Mu. Her soft body rubbed against Tao Mu’s body as she danced. When she tilted her head slightly, her sultry long curls brushed Tao Mu’s cheeks. Tao Mu lightly embraced the hot girl’s slender and flexible waist, his body moving in harmony with the dance rhythm.

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When both the music and dancing heated up, a smile appeared on his handsome and flawless face, seeming both affectionate yet dissolute. The light hit Tao Mu’s profile, highlighting his handsome features and emphasizing the overflowing sex appeal. Crystal-like beads of sweat slid down the tip of his nose and along the sides of his face. Hearing the girls under the stage screaming and showing their love and admiration for him, his sexy thin lips curved into a half smile, and his dark eyes swept across the crowd indifferently. The rakish and unrestrained appearance immediately incited the girls to increase their decibels, and even the boys on the dance floor couldn’t help but wolf call and whistle. Perceiving the crowd’s infatuation, he twisted his body even more flauntingly.

That scorching hot sex appeal that laced through every move and gaze dumbfounded Luo Yang, and with a dry mouth he blurted out, “So f**king hot!”

Li Xiaoheng, who had been forced to follow Luo Yang, stood in the surging crowd. As he looked up at the stage and watched the handsome boy dance with his arms around a hot girl and yet also not forgetting to tease the crowd and enjoy everyone’s infatuation, Li Xiaoheng’s eyes gradually darkened.

At the end of the song, Tao Mu rejected the hot girl’s request for contact information, and jumped off the stage. Suddenly, he was stopped by Luo Yang on the dance floor: “I want to buy you a drink, yeah?”

Tao Mu narrowed his eyes and sneered.

Luo Yang instantly felt rather sheepish and he shouted loudly, “What do you mean by that? I didn’t pursue you for stealing my girl. Now I want to make friends with you. Don’t you want to be a star? If we’re friends then I’ll help you!”

Tao Mu had drank too much. Under the double stimulation of alcohol and the surrounding atmosphere, he couldn’t help but say, “This stealing your girl thing is from your dreams. Who the f**k stole your girl? You take the bait so easily after someone’s careless instigation. Are you a fool?”

Tao Mu had said this in his previous life, and in this life he also said it again: “If it weren’t for your powerful family background that I can’t afford to offend, a person like you, I would beat up eight times a day believe it or not? F**k making friends. Who would be friends with a person of your kind of IQ.”

Luo Yang knew that he was in the wrong. Also, the main thing was that he had seen Tao Mu’s martial arts and the hot dance tonight, so Luo Yang couldn’t get angry at Tao Mu at all. He could only grin and make amends: “Okay! Okay! I’m wrong, can I buy you a drink to apologize?”

Tao Mu sneered. His eyes turned to Da Mao and Xiao Pang who were struggling to squeeze over through the crowd. Da Mao was furious when he saw Luo Yang, stepping forward and pushing Luo Yang away: “Don’t pester our brother Mu anymore, if you make me angry, I will pull a sackcloth on you, believe it or not!”

The only child of a coal boss had learned through influence since childhood. Fighting and pulling on sackcloths came as easily as opening the mouth.

Luo Yang was all smiles towards Tao Mu. But when changed to Da Mao, he was not polite at all, and pushed back: “Who are you anyway! And even wanting to pull a sackcloth on me, with a phone call I can have you lying in a hospital bed for three months, believe it or not?”

“Oh, hey, my violent temper——” Da Mao rolled his sleeves and charged forward.

Tao Mu grabbed his neck collar: “We’re leaving! There is still filming tomorrow morning!”

Luo Yang smiled widely: “Where do you live, I can drop you off?”

“No need.” Tao Mu grabbed Da Mao with one hand and Xiao Pang with the other, preparing to say goodbye to Gou Rixin and the others.

Luo Yang stuck behind Tao Mu stubbornly: “Then let’s make friends……”

“Okay!” Tao Mu responded with a perfunctory attitude: “Many friends mean many roads, brothers from all corners of the world! Hello, friend, later friend.”

“Hey, you……” Luo Yang reached out and grabbed Tao Mu’s arm. Before Tao Mu said that, he had actually wanted to persuade Tao Mu with that very reasoning, but he didn’t expect Tao Mu to take the words right out of his mouth.

Luo Yang suddenly felt aggrieved as if someone had stole his lines. And most importantly, Tao Mu might seem to have agreed to be friends but everyone could tell that Tao Mu didn’t take this matter to heart. This little bastard was fobbing him off!

“Take this seriously, okay? This young master can really catapult you into a star.” Luo Yang repeatedly emphasized: “I was the one who put Ye Yao into the crew, right?”

It would have been better if Luo Yang hadn’t mentioned Ye Yao. The mention of Ye Yao reminded Tao Mu of an unwarranted disaster he had suffered in vain.

Tao Mu was extremely annoyed, but when he looked at Luo Yang, he smiled: “Then young master Luo, how are you going to catapult me into a star?”

Luo Yang was stunned in place by Tao Mu’s smile. In a daze he said without much thought: “Just make you into a star? You can sing if you want to sing, or act if you want to act. I can having Soaring Dragon sign you.”

After a pause, Luo Yang also added in an attempt to strengthen the persuasive power of his words: “My dad is the chairman of Soaring Dragon Entertainment. Since you want to enter the entertainment industry, you should have heard of Soaring Dragon Entertainment, right?”

Tao Mu chuckled, narrowing his eyes as he looked at Luo Yang, and smiled wickedly: “As you say, then wouldn’t it be better if I find a way to make friends with your father instead? Not only will I be able to get resources, but also gain a big nephew for free?” (TN: parents’ friends refer to the children as nephews and nieces despite having no blood relations)

Tao Mu reached out and hooked Luo Yang’s chin, and chuckled as he teased: “Come, nephew, won’t you call me uncle?”

Da Mao and Xiao Pang bursted into uproarious laughter! Daring to provoke their brother Mu, he deserved it!

“Tao Mu!” Luo Yang slapped away Tao Mu’s hand on his chin with a paw, and like a small startled animal, his hair exploded: “Don’t be refusing face when its given to you!”

Luo Yang regretted it after saying this. Sure enough, Tao Mu’s face became cold when he heard the words: “Young master Luo is right. Your face is too big, I really dare not ask for it.”

Before Luo Yang could speak, Tao Mu sneered and said, “The matter this afternoon was me giving you face as well as not wanting to put the crew in a difficult position. But don’t think I’m afraid of you. That’s right, I’m just a common civilian and I really don’t dare to provoke the Luo family. But your Luo and the Luo family’s Luo may not necessarily be the same.”

Tao Mu could still remember how Luo Yang had angered his father to death and how his sister had driven him out of the Luo family. If he really angered him, then he didn’t mind going to Miss Luo to set up an early scheme in advance and have this idiot kicked out.

Maybe it would even save their father’s life!

Seeing that Tao Mu was really angry, Luo Yang became timid. Smiling sheepishly at Tao Mu, he said: “Look at you, you get angry with just a bit of talk. I didn’t say anything either?”

Tao Mu sneered, turning away and leaving with two sidekicks in tow.

Luo Yang rubbed his nose with a sheepish face, and then complained to his childhood friend: “Seriously……too temperamental.”

Turning his head, he saw that his childhood friend, who had always been dull like an old man, was currently looking thoughtfully at Tao Mu’s back. Luo Yang raised his eyebrows suspiciously: “What’s the matter?”

“It’s nothing.” Li Xiaoheng looked away and then warned his idiot childhood friend, “This person has an unpredictable streak. You’d better not provoke him.”

Li Xiaoheng could see that Tao Mu was definitely not bluffing just now. It seemed that he really had some means to deal with Luo Yang. But it was this that made Li Xiaoheng curious——Tao Mu was a small extra with no background and no experience, so why did he have such a strong confidence when saying such a thing?

Luo Yang hummed, and didn’t take his childhood friend’s words to heart: “Don’t worry, I want to make friends with him, not offend him. Whether he is powerful or not, what does it have to do with me. Besides, it’s a good thing he has some powerful tricks up his sleeve. The waters in the entertainment industry is too deep. If he can protect himself, then I don’t need to worry as much about others bullying him.”

There was no sign of any friendship happening, but Luo Yang had already one-sidedly considered Tao Mu as one of his own.

Li Xiaoheng glanced blankly at his idiot childhood friend who was able to perform the climax of a scene from an imaginary script all by himself, and didn’t bother to say anything.

He believed that Tao Mu was a smart person. So long as Luo Yang did not go too far or hindered his interests, it was likely that Tao Mu would not really take action against Luo Yang——

With just one brief observation on the side, Li Xiaoheng was already keenly aware of certain characteristics of Tao Mu.

Then, CEO Li, who had rarely ever paid attention to others, actually asked: “Is he also an actor?”

“Kind of.” Luo Yang scratched his head: “That drama I invested in, you know? He is the body double for the male lead. But I heard that he had been admitted to the Beijing Film Academy. What’s wrong, why are you asking about this?”

Li Xiaoheng’s index finger moved slightly and he calmly said: “It’s nothing. Just asking.”

Tao Mu, who had already walked out of the club, sneezed. Rubbing his arms with some doubts, he felt the hot 40 degree weather in H town: “It’s not cold either!”

“Could it be a fever?” Da Mao followed behind him with concern: “Why don’t you go back and eat some cold medicine?”

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

Tao Mu frowned and said unhappily, “I don’t want to eat medicine!”

Xiao Pang glanced at the ferocious Tao Mu and immediately said, “Then don’t eat.”

Before Da Mao rounded on him, he added: “Drink cold medicine instead.”

Tao Mu: “……” Was there any difference?!

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Never Night Palace.

A nightclub whose business scope and purpose could be deduced from just its name. Its decoration style was very in line with the newly rich and fuerdai’s aesthetic. Even the sink taps in the toilets were gilded in gold and screamed nouveau riche.

Two rows of female ushers in white shirts, black stockings, and uniform skirts that barely covered their thighs stood at the entrance of the nightclub. As soon as a guest pushed open the door, they would bow ninety degrees and call “welcome” in a coquettish voice, and then in a hip twisting walk they would lead the guest from the magnificent lobby to a hallway covered with oversized mosaics and flickering lights that practically blinded. Awful howling and screeching from guests singing karaoke could be faintly heard from the private rooms on both sides.

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

Finally, at the end of the hall, the karaoke singing gave way to dynamic dj dance music that got louder and louder the closer they approached, and then the field of vision suddenly opened up——

Young men and women who liked to go clubbing stood on the dance floor, shaking their heads and raising their arms with the deafening dj dance music. The dance girls in particularly revealing and sexy garments stood on the stage dancing, attracting howling and whistles one after another. Above their heads the colorful disco balls flickered blinding and dizzying colors as they spun crazily. At first glance, it looked like zombies were on the dance floor going wild.

Tao Mu actually felt a little uncomfortable watching the crowd dancing on the dance floor twisting waist and hips and rubbing up against chests and backs.

Before rebirth, Tao Mu was obsessed with making trouble for Shen Yu, and had no time to relax himself. Later, he was driven to quit the entertainment circle by Shen Yu’s admirers, and was brought along by the Shen family eldest brother to learn to do business. As a precocious and mature business prodigy, Shen Chen himself was an extremely strict and old-fashioned person. He hated entertainment venues such as nightclubs and KTV, and even strongly opposed his family frequenting such places.

In the first few years when Tao Mu returned to the Shen family, in order to please the Shen family, naturally he would not do anything that the Shen family did not like. After being expelled from the house by the Shen family, all he wanted was revenge so there was even less opportunity for him to visit such places. Every day he was either thinking about schemes or enacting schemes, turning himself into a bitter and hate filled neurotic, and all entertainment activities were completely disregarded.

Now that time went backwards for him, Tao Mu quietly looked at the scene of the dancing crowd on the dance floor, and couldn’t help feeling rueful——he felt that he was rather pathetic in his previous life. The moment he met Shen Yu, it was as if he became possessed, his IQ plummeting like a bull’s sanity when seeing a bullfighter’s red cloak.

[Was this the so-called protagonist halo? Whether it was a vicious cannon fodder or a big villain, so long as they faced up against the protagonist their IQ would be infinitely lowered. Was the author unable to write a normal villain?]

Tao Mu’s heart jumped. After seven days of being reborn, the fragmented dreams were finally pieced together and Tao Mu basically accepted the fact that he was re-living his life over again. However, the words that popped up in his head from time to time were still startling and hard to adapt to.

Of course, by now, Tao Mu would not still suspect that he had developed schizophrenia or something. And judging from the information that continued to emerge in his head——these words were probably evaluating a novel.

According to Tao Mu’s speculation, it seemed that the protagonist of the novel was Shen Yu, and he was the vicious cannon fodder used to promote plot development and emotional interaction?

“Tao Mu, what are you thinking about?” Da Mao suddenly placed a hand on Tao Mu’s shoulder, and shouted with a wide smile: “Seen a girl you like? Us buddies will help you chase her. For your 18th birthday, our goal is to have you say goodbye to being a virgin!”

Tao Mu came back to his senses and gave Da Mao a shove: “Go and play on your own!”

Da Mao snickered, and dragging Xiao Pang, he jumped onto the dance floor.

Because Tao Mu had worked as a part-time waiter and bartender in a nightclub in Beijing, so the two childhood friends who often sent and picked up Tao Mu to and from work had become nightclub masters. At this moment, following the hot dance music, they began twisting their waist and hips, wildly flirting with the young ladies around them, all of whom had big chests and long legs.

Tao Mu followed them absently. When he woke up and went downstairs, he had changed into a black round-neck T-shirt, while his slender and straight legs were wrapped in ripped jeans. His skin appeared even more pearly white under the dazzling light on the dance floor. Alternating bright and dark colored lights highlighted his profile and emphasized his defined and flawless facial features. The handsome face, the tall figure that appeared slender but not frail in clothes, and the indifferent and languid aura that oozed from his pores——it all simply screamed sex appeal.

As a result, wherever Tao Mu walked by, someone would intentionally or unintentionally press up against him. Some daring young ladies even took out small slips of paper from their chests and stuffed them into Tao Mu’s trouser pockets with a smile. And then take the opportunity to stroke Tao Mu’s shoulders, chest, abdominal muscles and even buttocks. It had been a long time since Tao Mu had experienced his tofu being eaten by anyone so he was a bit slow in dodging, and could only accept his fate with a straight face. But that expressionless face only made him appear even cooler and more attractive.

Some boys were not happy that Tao Mu could attract so many hot girls and sexy women with just a face. Twisting their hips and dancing over to Tao Mu, they tried to provoke Tao Mu to have a dance-off with them, and prove to everyone that even the most handsome guy could turn out to be a stiff mummy on the dance floor. A group of idle melon-eaters who was only more eager for the excitement to heat up immediately gave up space, and the crowd began to whistle and heckle.

It was a pity that Tao Mu himself did not have the intention of dancing. Even if he was provoked he didn’t feel like bothering to take up the challenge. But Da Mao and Xiao Pang, two fellows who get hyped up in front of an audience, jumped over and joined in on the dance off.

Gou Rixin, who had been so eager to make amends, had brought along his girlfriend and his buddies, and had been waiting for a long time. Hearing the commotion on the dance floor, he squeezed over and dragged Tao Mu and the other two to the table beside the dance floor. There were dozens of beers on the table, as well as a few plates of fruit platters and various snacks were ordered. There was also a beautiful matcha cake in the middle of the table——with a pink longevity peach in the middle that looked very out of place.

Gou Rixin threw an arm over Tao Mu’s shoulders familiarly, and said with a smile: “Come, come, come, let me introduce you to everyone. This is Tao Mu, tonight’s birthday star, and the main target of our apologies. This is Yu Mei, my girlfriend. What do you think, pretty?”

Under Gou Rixin’s introduction, a glamorous and mature woman in her twenties with fair skin and heavy makeup stood up from where she had been sitting on the sofa with her feet propped up. She looked at Tao Mu with unconcealed surprise and appreciation in her eyes. She stretched out her slender hand towards Tao Mu and shouted: “Hello, handsome guy. Call me Mei Mei.”

Out of courtesy, Tao Mu also stretched out his hand, but the moment he shook her hand, Tao Mu felt his palm being tickled.

Yu Mei blinked at him and leaned forward to reach his ear and said loudly, “Or, you can call me sister-in-law.”

If Tao Mu hadn’t tilted his head subconsciously, Yu Mei would have kissed his ear.

The noise interference from the dance floor was too strong. Everyone had to talk with mouth to ear or shout, so no one noticed something wrong with Yu Mei. Tao Mu calmly withdrew his hand and Da Mao leaned forward with a grin: “Sister-in-law, you are so beautiful.”

Yu Mei didn’t seem to hear Da Mao’s words, she still stared at Tao Mu and shouted, “Happy birthday. I chose this birthday cake. Do you like it?”

“That’s right! This cake was chosen by Yu Mei. But I personally added the longevity peach.” Gou Rixin pointed to the peach which was very inconsistent with the cake’s overall style, and smiled stupidly: “Do you like it?”

Tao Mu and the other two all had a look of realization on their faces. Da Mao laughed and said: “I had wondered why this cake style was so inconsistent. Brother Gou, your aesthetic is not as good as sister-in-law.”

Gou Rixin seemed to be particularly satisfied with his girlfriend, and he smiled wide when he heard this. In contrast, Yu Mei seemed to be more interested in Tao Mu, the birthday star. When she sat down, she moved from Gou Rixin’s side to Tao Mu’s side and said with a grin, “How old are you, handsome guy? I heard from our family’s Big Dog that your kung fu is particularly good, and you have also been admitted to the Beijing Film Academy. You will definitely be a big star in the future!”

“Come on, let’s have a drink! Your brother Gou said that he offended you and your buddies on the crew today, and he will make amends tonight, and was even afraid that you would not accept it. Then you give this sister some face, let’s drink a toast——”

Before Tao Mu could speak, Yu Mei added frivolously: “As long as you are willing to forgive your brother Gou, your sister-in-law will even be willing to drink a wedding toast with you.” (TN: drinking with intertwined arms, formal exchange of cups of wine between bride and groom as traditional wedding ceremony)

As soon as Yu Mei said these words, several of Gou Rixin’s buddies frowned uncomfortably. Of course, there were those who were not sensitive, and they still sat there heckling. Tao Mu had never liked such frivolous and overly familiar people. It reminded him of the type of guests he had to deal with when working in bars or other places in his previous life——such as those who lusted after his physical appearance, or pretended to be drunk and act unruly.

In the first few years he had just returned to the Shen family, he was reluctant to mention these experiences. However, Shen Yu’s self-proclaimed protectors and white knights would always remind him in various ways on various occasions, just how lowly and ingratiating Tao Mu’s past was——in order to earn a bit of wine commission, he could swallow his anger and lay on the flattery. They used this to make their case that he would do whatever it took to achieve his goals when facing greater interests, and indirectly prove that Tao Mu’s personality was so hypocritical and slimy, scheming and manipulative, completely incomparable to Shen Yu’s innocent and noble character.

Of course, they later proved with facts that Tao Mu was indeed such a sinister, vicious, hypocritical and jealous person.

Tao Mu never denied that he was that kind of hypocritical and self-serving person. But in matters that had nothing to do with his interests, Tao Mu was also happy to show a noble demeanor and moral character. Because of this, even if he didn’t like Yu Mei’s behavior very much, Tao Mu still picked up his glass and toasted in the direction of Gou Rixin: “No need for a wedding toast, I’ll have a drink with brother Gou and all hard feelings will be brushed aside. “

With that said, Tao Mu drank a large glass of cold beer very decisively. Probably because he was used to not wasting anything in the orphanage, Tao Mu’s drinking of the beer was also very clean. Even drinking from such a big glass the beer did not drip down his chin and getting it everywhere on the face and neck like with many people. On the contrary, not a drop was left or spilled out, and when the last drop disappeared he slammed the glass cup turned over on the table. At that time, Gou Rixin still had half of his drink left and had to bow down in defeat. While drinking, he gave Tao Mu a thumbs up.

Da Mao, Xiao Pang and Gou Rixin’s martial arts brothers all slapped their hands in applause. Probably because Tao Mu took the initiative and his decisive personality meshed with Gou Rixin and his martial arts brothers so their opinions of Tao Mu and the other two got better and better. The atmosphere also became more and more harmonious.

Men, no matter how old they were, if they get together and drank too much it would always include alot of bragging. Gou Rixin, who said he was going to make amends by drinking three big glasses of beer madly slammed down three bottles of beer in actuality. And then across his girlfriend he grabbed Tao Mu’s arm and began to brag about his past achievements——he claimed to be a layman disciple of the Wudang School of martial arts, saying that his kung fu was also very good. He had served as a body double for many big stars, and several of them were very popular stars currently in the entertainment circle.

“……Actually I don’t think that group of people are much better than me. They just have better luck than me. If I was in front of the camera, I might not be worse than them. Action stars, as long as the movements are beautiful then it’s fine. Besides, I am also not bad looking either, right?”

Saying so, Gou Rixin patted his bulging chest muscles and biceps: “Look, it’s so masculine!”

Tao Mu sat next to him, looking at Gou Rixin who was currently acting like a bodybuilder with a wine bottle as weights in one hand. He vaguely remembered that in his previous life, this man seemed to have broken his leg because of a wire accident. And because he could not get timely treatment, his leg in the end became crippled.

Thinking about it this way, the luck was indeed pretty bad.

Tao Mu’s own luck was also very bad, so he looked at Gou Rixin, who was also unlucky, and felt empathy for his fellow sufferer.

Yu Mei was sandwiched between the two of them. Looking at her boyfriend who was drunk and acting wildly, she rolled her eyes very subtly, and said loudly, “You got drunk again! Talking about useless things all day long. Now even bothering Tao Mu with it. Aren’t you ashamed? You don’t really think you can be a big star, do you?”

It seemed that he was familiar with Yu Mei’s comments. The drunken Gou Rixin just smiled honestly, and replied carelessly: “Aren’t we just having a small chat. I just wanted to talk to brother Tao Mu about my ideals. Isn’t there such a line in the movie, one must have ideals and ambitions in life, otherwise you will be no different from salted fish.”

Yu Mei sneered, and in a very familiar gesture she lit up a lady cigarette: “The way I see it, you are just a salted fish. You won’t be able to turn over in this life.”

Gou Rixin’s buddies couldn’t listen anymore, glaring at Yu Mei. Yu Mei also glared back, unwilling to show her weakness. The red lips and the cigarette in her hand all added to the shrewish look.

This atmosphere was going in the wrong direction!

Da Mao and Xiao Pang looked at each other and shouted at Tao Mu: “Shall we go dancing?”

“That’s right, it’s not easy to find the time to come to the nightclub so we can’t just hide here and drink?” Xiao Pang smiled and went to grab Tao Mu, shouting: “Please give a round of applause for our little prince of the nightclub as he appears on stage.”

Little prince of the nightclub……

Tao Mu couldn’t bear to look directly, wiping his face in exasperation, as he was pushed to the dance floor by his two childhood friends.

After a few bottles of cold beer, Tao Mu was also feeling a little high. He was not as lacking in interest as when he first came in. Stepping to the music, he slid into the dance floor, and then jumped onto the center stage of the dance floor with a backflip. The simple and neat movements combined with Tao Mu’s beautiful and flawless face was definitely one plus one equals greater than two hundred visual impact.

Immediately, screams and whistles came from the crowd, and even the DJ on the second floor put out a more intense and dynamic electronic music. Under the stimulation of alcohol and the screams, Tao Mu matched the intense dance music with even more sizzling break dancing. With his hands supporting him on the ground in a handstand, his legs swung rhythmically in the air, completing a succession of extremely smooth and perfect handstand bicycle kicks. Soon he switched to one-handed bicycle kicks, followed by an air flare, then a headmill with the help of inertia, and finally ending in a freeze.

The sequence of movements flowed as smoothly as water and the beautiful six-pack abs could be faintly seen under the thin black t-shirt. The dazzling display was practically bursting with sex appeal and ignited the crowd which immediately began to wolf call and scream.

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

In the private room on the second floor, Luo Yang, who was drinking with his friends, looked towards the dance floor subconsciously. At a glance, he saw Tao Mu showing off his skills and exuding sex appeal on the dance floor, and his eyes lit up: “It’s him.”

Following the eyes of his childhood friend, Li Xiaoheng also lowered his gaze with mild interest. But before he could see anything on the stage clearly, Luo Yang had already pulled his arm up from the sofa: “Let’s go, let’s join in as well.”

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