Tao Mu’s graduation performance had been prepared for a year in advance. During this period, including his three roommates and more than 20 other students in the same class, they all settled down to rehearse. Other than the already signed jobs and endorsements, no one accepted any other work. In addition to daily rehearsals, the large group of people would also go visit the stage theaters under the introduction of Beijing Film’s teachers to learn and rehearse with the older generation of artists. Students who perform well would have the opportunity to perform on stage in place of their seniors, and experience the authentic atmosphere of a play performed on the best stage. After a year of precipitation, everyone’s acting skills have improved by leaps and bounds.

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

At the same time, as the most watched actor and producer in China, with more and more classic works produced by Tao Mu Film and Television Company, more and more young actors and popular stars were being shot to stardom. The many contracted artists under the company were also more and more valued by the industry. So this graduation show naturally attracted the attention of many industry insiders. Many behind-the-scenes bigwigs and management companies communicated with the Beijing Film Academy in advance and got invitations to the graduation performance. In addition, many A- and B-list stars also used the name of senior brothers and sisters to try their best to win the status of invited guests or performers, and returned to their alma mater to participate in the graduation performance.

So much so that on the day of the performance report, almost all the people sitting in the audience were the top figures in the circle. Many students had never seen such a big scene, and they trembled a little on the spot.

“Damn, I actually saw such and such film and television and such and such talent agency bosses, they actually came to watch the performance in person!” The class monitor who had already put on makeup ran back from the entrance of the backstage, a little incoherent from excitement.

“The directors of Yan Theater and Beijing Theater and the teachers who taught us have also come here in person. They are all sitting below! There are also many A-list superstars, my god! It feels like half of the entertainment circle is here!”

“How fresh!” Wen Bao, who was still sitting in front of the dressing table, rolled his eyes: “These words are almost the same as ‘you personally came out to go to the bathroom yourself’.”

The students who were a little nervous at first laughed out loud, and the class monitor thought about the scene Wen Bao described of a group of bosses squatting in toilet stalls together, and then laughed himself silly. In the pleasant atmosphere, someone suddenly sneered twice, and said to himself: “Actually, there is nothing to be nervous about. Those big bosses are all here to see Tao Mu. We are just the background board. The master himself is not nervous, so why are we so nervous!”

The graduation performance was a graded performance performed by each class as a unit. So only the students from Class 1 could perform with Tao Mu. The other two classes could only find scripts and rehearsal schedules and rehearsal venues by themselves. Some students didn’t care about the graduation performance, and they didn’t forget to take endorsement jobs during the rehearsal, packing their schedules to the brim. Tao Mu also saw this kind of thing, but he couldn’t say anything. After all, there were so many students in the school, not all of them were signed by Tao Mu Film and Television Company. For those students who signed contracts with other companies, their itinerary would naturally be restricted by the company. Tao Mu was not in the position, so of course he couldn’t control that much. He could only do his best to take care of most of the students who were willing to stay in school and follow the rehearsal honestly. Do everything possible to help everyone win the opportunity to perform on the theater stage. And in the eyes of those students who don’t follow the trend, these actions were undoubtedly Tao Mu ostracizing them.

Du Ming knew this best. When he first entered school and Tao Mu hadn’t created FlyNews.com, Du Ming and several other students in the dormitory went to visit Tao Mu and his roommates, and felt that Tao Mu was very prejudiced against him. So much so that when reporters came interviewing, Du Ming couldn’t hold back, and said a lot of things to slander Tao Mu. When Tao Mu signed a large number of Beijing Film students, Du Ming was afraid that Tao Mu would make it difficult for him, so he didn’t dare to sign with Tao Mu’s company, and he didn’t even dare to sign with Tao Mu’s good friends Longteng Entertainment and Summer Star Entertainment. Instead, he signed with another established film and television company in the circle. Speaking of which, that film and television company really valued Du Ming and gave Du Ming a lot of resources.

However, compared with Tao Mu Film and Television Company, which could produce and sell itself and produce high-quality works every time, even the established film and television companies in the circle seem to be a bit declining in comparison. What’s more, the old film and television company that Du Ming signed was a big company, and Du Ming was not the only artist with development potential under their banner. Not to mention the large number of film kings, film queens, TV kings and TV queens, as well as A- and B-list superstars who represent the company’s face. Du Ming’s looks were good and his acting skills were good, but he still couldn’t compare with these long-established veteran actors and celebrities. So it was conceivable that the best resource in the company was not given to him.

So much so that even though Du Ming tried his best for two years, his popularity was only tepid in the circle. Compared with Du Kang and Wen Bao who debuted at the same time, the difference was too great.

From then on, Du Ming felt that he was pushed out by Tao Mu more and more. His mindset also became more and more unbalanced, and always felt that if he had also been able to sign with Tao Mu Film and Television Company, his current development would definitely be no worse than Du Kang and Wen Bao. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable he felt, and the more uncomfortable he was, the more he couldn’t help thinking like this. So much so that recently, he had become a bit overly sarcastic, and couldn’t maintain the generous and hearty image he set for himself back then.

When the others in the background heard Du Ming’s resentful and self-pitying complaints, they couldn’t help but exchange looks. The atmosphere became a little weird for a while. Sitting in front of the dressing table while waiting to get on stage, Tao Mu, who was chatting with Li Xiaoheng, smiled and said, “Du Ming is right, you guys don’t need to be so nervous. In fact, think about it from another angle, the graduation performance doesn’t mean anything, it’s just an answer to our four years of college life. We worked hard to rehearse and make this performance more perfect, in order to draw a successful conclusion to our college life. But even if there are some mistakes, it’s okay, after all, most of you have already signed a contract. Whether you signed with my company or other companies, you will have more opportunities to interpret different roles in the future. No matter what role you get, all we can do is to do our best to play it well. As for what kind of reaction your work would get after the release, that is the audience’s business. We can’t control it.”

Hearing Tao Mu’s words, most of the students began chatting and laughing again. After laughing, they were all busy with makeup or reciting lines over and over again, and not many people paid attention to Du Ming who kept complaining.

Du Ming’s face changed again and again. Looking at Tao Mu who lowered his head to fiddle with his phone again, he didn’t dare to say anything in the end.

In the huge backstage, everyone got busy step by step. Du Ming stood where he was, watching the students coming and going, feeling as if he had been forgotten by everyone.

Du Ming suddenly thought of the many people who had opposed Tao Mu over these many years. Whether it was Shen Yu, who was like an unkillable cockroach at the beginning, or Sheng’an Group, which had a big business and strong capital, as well as including the later Shen Group, they have either disappeared without a trace, or their assets have shrunk and they could no longer make any waves. It seemed that Tao Mu had a kind of magical power, and anyone who opposed him and hated him would end up with nothing good.

Thinking of this, Du Ming suddenly felt a chill down his spine. He couldn’t help but distance himself farther away from where Tao Mu was sitting.

The backstage was busy and chaotic, and Tao Mu too lazy to pay attention to what was going on in the mind of an outsider. The order of the graduation performance was determined by the class number, and Tao Mu’s class would be going on stage first.

After a year of rehearsals, the acting skills of all the members were online. Although the script elements were nothing new, the pace of the plot was pleasing enough. So much so that after a performance, Tao Mu and the group of classmates’ performance naturally won a lot of applause. All the guests who attended the graduation performance also presented flowers and flower baskets one after the other, filling the entire backstage.

As Tao Mu’s family members, Li Xiaoheng and the Li family members, as well as Liu Yao, Meng Qi, and old Mr. Song also sent flowers and gifts——Li Xiaoheng sent flowers, while old Mr. Song simply made a plate of fresh fruit cakes and brought them over. As soon as the delicious Chinese cakes entered the backstage, it was snapped up by everyone. The students who tried their best to perform a good play were hungry, and old Mr. Song’s desserts were just enough to fill their stomachs.

Wen Juxiang’s young master, who was gobbling along with everyone, said by the way: “When the graduation performance is over, I’ll treat everyone to eat mutton hotpot.”

Du Kang chuckled, and suddenly said: “You are quite ceremonial, with a start and an end.”

Everyone was taken aback when they heard the words, and suddenly thought of four years ago, the first time everyone had a meal together when they first entered the school, and it was mutton hotpot at Wen Juxiang. Now four years have passed, and they were about to graduate, meeting up once again for a meal at Wen Juxiang to close a chapter of their lives. Four years have passed by in a hurry, but everyone’s mood was almost the same. Whether it was the joy of just stepping into the school, or the joy of just stepping into the society, everyone was full of confidence and felt that they had a bright future ahead. They would definitely strive to create their own world in the highly competitive entertainment industry.

Thinking of this, all the students couldn’t help looking at Tao Mu, who was surrounded by his family and friends, because all these vigorous and hopeful expectations were brought to them by Tao Mu, who was constantly creating miracles.

Tao Mu’s graduation performance was a complete success. That night, relevant news climbed the hot search lists of major social networking sites. Related news that Tao Mu Film and Television Company was preparing to launch the movie version of “Reincarnation” also spread. The actors in the film version were the same as the actors in the graduation show, and they could be regarded as a graduation gift from Tao Mu to everyone.

After many years, the impression that “Tao Mu’s productions must be high-quality goods” had long spread among audiences and movie fans. Now that Tao Mu Film and Television Company announced that it would release the movie “Reincarnation”, fans of Tao Mu and the other actors as well as pure movie fans became excited, and they became the tap water, discussing and recommending endlessly on FlyNews.com and other entertainment forums. The massive heat and the reports of various news media immediately attracted the attention of most audiences.

The members of the Shen family, Zhuo Yan, Yao Wenxiao and others who were far away in Shanghai had also heard of it.

“What an ungrateful white-eyed wolf!” A new version of the Apple phone was slammed on the sofa, and Shen Yan said bitterly: “No matter what, this little bastard was given life by his parents. Even if we did something to be sorry for him back then, blood will always be thicker than water. Now that the Shen family is in trouble, he actually avoids us like the plague so far away. He even had the Li family threaten us not to pester him. Mom and Dad, you really gave birth to him in vain.”

Hearing what Shen Yan said, Shen Shiyuan let out a long sigh, and Mrs. Shen began to cry silently again.

Shen Yan looked indignantly at Shen Chen who was sitting at the dining table and was still reading the news: “Brother——”

“Stop whining!” Shen Chen just ignored her. In contrast, it was Shen Shiyuan who frowned and interrupted Shen Yan: “You are actually not embarrassed to say such a thing. If it weren’t for the fact that you two, mother and daughter, did too much at the beginning, breaking his heart time and time again. The relationship between Xiao Er and us wouldn’t be so stiff. That it can’t even be saved even if we wanted to.”

“But——” Shen Yan wanted to refute, feeling unconvinced. However, she was interrupted again by the impatient Shen Chen.

“Enough!” Shen Chen put down the tablet and rubbed his brows wearily: “If you have time to complain, why don’t you think about what you should do. Don’t think about provoking Tao Mu, you can’t win against him. No matter what you do, it will be your own loss.”

Shen Yan snorted unconvinced. However, thinking of Tao Mu’s indifference and disgust towards her back then, she really didn’t dare to appear in front of Tao Mu. She could only complain a few words at home.

Shen Chen didn’t pay any attention to Shen Yan anymore. Probably because the halo had been tilting towards Tao Mu in the past two years, all those who have evil thoughts towards Tao Mu would always become more and more superficial and one-sided and unlucky. So Shen Chen was not worried that the disgruntled Shen Yan would really do something. She didn’t have the guts. Of course, the most important point was that Shen Chen didn’t have the time and energy to take care of Shen Yan’s emotions.

The past two years have not been easy for the Shen family. With the continuous recovery of memories, neither Shen Chen nor Zhuo Yan could completely be assured of each other. In fact, with the incident having reached the current level, those blood feuds that have lasted for several lifetimes were no longer important. What was stuck between the two parties was simply distrust of each other.

Just like Shen Chen never believed that Zhuo Yan would let the Shen family go, Zhuo Yan also couldn’t believe that Shen Chen would get along with him peacefully. Therefore, the two parties who both possessed memories walked into a dead end of “enemies meeting on a narrow road”. Zhuo Yan would try his best to disrupt all of Shen Chen’s plans, and Shen Chen would try his best to grab hold of Zhuo Yan’s weaknesses. The specific manifestation was that in the past two years since recovering the memories, neither of the two parties could develop their careers with peace of mind, and all their energy was spent busy destroying the other party.

The chess game had been repeated countless times. Both chess players knew all the context and the behavior of the other. So the final result was that no one could get the upper hand. A long stalemate would naturally consume the original capital owned by the Shen family and Zhuo Yan. As a result, the two people who clearly had many precious memories had no way to use them effectively, and could only stalemate in constantly destroying each other’s plans.

The Yao family were also dragged into this vicious circle. After all the truth came to light, Yao Wenxiao was the only one in the Yao family who recovered the memories. However, the Yao family and Zhuo Yan joined hands to trap the Shen family, and in the end the Yao family suffered the consequences. And of course, Shen Chen’s handwriting was indispensable in this——there was no way around it. After all, if Shen Chen wanted to deal with Zhuo Yan, he had to start with all the illegal actions Zhuo Yan had made to seize the Shen Group. And in order to protect himself, Zhuo Yan had to put those charges on the Yao family who were accomplices. The final result was that an elder of the Yao family who was in charge of handling the matter went to jail. Of course the Yao family couldn’t bear such a big loss. Coupled with the fact that Yao Wenxiao had recovered his memories, of course new and old grudges must be avenged…..

Tao Mu, who was at peace with himself, finally let go of everything, but the Shen family, Yao family, and Zhuo Yan who couldn’t do the same, even if they recovered all their memories, they were still struggling in the vicious circle of hatred. Even though they clearly possessed knowledge on many business opportunities from the memories, there was no way to develop with peace of mind. No matter whether it was Shen Chen or Zhuo Yan, whenever they wanted to invest in good stocks, they would always be sabotaged by the other party and could only watch the great opportunities go to waste. Even though they clearly had a bright future and career, they could only keep struggling in the quagmire——or more accurately put, if they even showed signs of struggling out of the quagmire, they would be decisively pulled back down by their opponent, such that no one could break free.

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

Even if the two sides sought a short-term reconciliation in order to strive for stable development, in the end there was no way to really trust each other. All the bad qualities from the depths of human nature kept them vigilant, and they would rather maintain the status quo than let the other party really develop. In order to avoid the threat of raising a tiger only to bite them in the throat.

But these bad things were no longer part of Tao Mu’s consideration. The day after the graduation performance was the official graduation ceremony. In the morning, he took his graduation photo and received his graduation certificate. In the afternoon of that day, Tao Mu went to the Civil Affairs Bureau together at the urging of Li Xiaoheng. The wish of “getting married on the day of graduation” that the two spoke of back then was completely realized.

If you would like to show some ♡  then please consider supporting this translator! ლ(⌒εー)ლ

Preparations for Tao Mu’s graduation performance began in the second semester of his junior year. Because most of the 2008 Beijing Film students signed with Tao Mu’s film and television company, the schedule of the graduation performance was easily coordinated. CEO Tao waved his hand, and all the students in the same year followed suit in practice in the first rehearsal room of the school.

The script of the graduation performance was called “Reincarnation”, which was written by Tao Mu himself. It was about a CEO who had always been obsessed with making money to the extent he could not extricate himself. But when he woke up one morning, he suddenly found himself stuck on one day forever.

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

The domineering CEO was a man who was very self-disciplined and so powerful that he was very cold and indifferent. He lived step by step, like a robot with all the programs set up every day. Get up at five o’clock in the morning, go for a run, browse relevant news at home and abroad, always have coffee and sandwiches for breakfast, then go to work at the company on time at nine o’clock in the morning, or fly around the world on business trips according to the itinerary.

On the day when the story began, according to the domineering CEO’s itinerary, he was going to attend a very important contract signing event. However, that morning, he had received a call from his mother, tactfully expressing that she missed him, hoping that the domineering CEO could take time to go home and visit them, his parents.

The domineering CEO’s response was to transfer 100,000 yuan to his parents’ account, and order his assistant to buy good health care products to send home. He even thoughtfully ordered a seven-day tour with a group for his parents to help them dispel loneliness, and then expressed that he really didn’t have any time.

Later, he also received a call from his girlfriend informing him that she wanted to break up. So the domineering CEO proposed to his girlfriend on the phone. His sincere attitude originally touched his girlfriend’s heart but soon afterwards, in order to make it on time to the important contract signing, he perfunctorily brushed her off and once again angered his girlfriend. After some hysterical accusations and criticisms, the girlfriend broke up with him angrily and hung up the phone.

Afterwards, the domineering CEO who was not in a good mood encountered an absent-minded employee who was late for work, almost causing the signing ceremony to fail. The domineering CEO managed with difficulty to save the mishap and fired the employee according to the employee guidelines, only to have the employee attack him out of revenge…..

All in all, this day was very messy and bad. However, when the domineering CEO finally came home from work, after finishing all the work and getting ready to go to bed, the next day when he opened his eyes again it was to return to this day again.

During the first reincarnation, even though the domineering CEO realized that something was wrong, he had no interest in investigating the cause. He still lived his life step by step. However, with repeated reincarnations, even the domineering CEO who was obsessed with work couldn’t help but disperse his energy on other things. Anyway, even if the work was finished, it would start again the next day. No matter how good the results of his efforts today, when the sun rose the next day, it would still disappear.

Amid such thoughts, the domineering CEO finally began to change. He noticed that the fired employee was late because the employee was involved in a car accident on the way to work while dropping off his daughter to school. In order to ensure the smooth progress of the signing ceremony, the employee had to send the daughter off on the ambulance alone, and then call his divorced ex-wife. Amidst the unbelievable questioning and scolding of his ex-wife, the employee entrusted the injured daughter to his ex-wife, and brought the injured daughter to the ex-wife himself before rushing to the signing site. Even so, he was late. And was questioned and dismissed by the domineering CEO. And the reason why the employee got divorced in the first place was because he was too busy at work to take care of his family…..

The experiences of the employee made the domineering CEO think deeply. On this day, he did not try his best to save the signing ceremony, but returned home silently. Due to preparing for this contract signing, he also didn’t sleep well for many days. He wanted to go home and rest. Then the next morning, the domineering CEO who returned to this day once again received the call from his parents.

This time, the overbearing CEO willfully rejected all the appointments for the day, went home to accompany his parents, chatted with them, bought groceries and cooked meals with them, ate with them, took a walk with them to digest the food and then watched TV with them. He was surprised to find that the very youthful parents in his memory have gray temples, wrinkled skin, and even their backs were not as tall and straight as before.

That night, the overbearing CEO stayed at his parents’ house. This was also the first time since he had been working for so many years, that he had put down all the work at hand and spent time with his parents wholeheartedly. When he opened his eyes again, the domineering CEO returned to his bedroom once again. And in this reincarnation, he accompanied his girlfriend who decided to break up, and also learned about her helplessness and loneliness…..

In the end, of course, the domineering CEO realized through repeated reincarnations that what he should cherish and care about the most was not his work, but his family and beloved. So he took his girlfriend home to meet his parents and finalized the wedding date. Even though he knew that he would start over again the next day, the domineering CEO still patiently promised everyone a happy future. Of course, the ending was different this time. On the second day, time finally started to continue to flow.

The inspiration for this script came from Tao Mu’s experience of constant reincarnation. However, the main purpose of the story was to tell everyone that if you were blindly immersed in work or one thing and could not extricate yourself, and have no energy to pay attention to the surrounding scenery and people around you, even if time kept moving forward, then for this person, these passages of time were also meaningless. Because he would stay on this day forever.

Just like Tao Mu in the past, he was blindly immersed in the emotion of revenge and being recognized by the Shen family and couldn’t extricate himself, so no matter how many times he reincarnated, he would always stay in one place. Time seemed to flow, but it was actually static. Because the elapsed time had no meaning to him.

While Tao Mu was pondering the script, Li Xiaoheng was nestled beside him to browse the news of the day, and process a lot of company documents that needed his approval.

The two of them nestled on the same sofa. The afternoon sun poured through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the shadows cast by the dark green trees flickered in the breeze, making the living room extraordinarily bright and warm.

Tao Mu tapped on the keyboard for a while, then raised his head and said to Li Xiaoheng: “…..Actually, the prototype of the hero is you.” To be precise, it was the Li Xiaoheng who had never met Tao Mu. In every life that passed by, he was addicted to work and couldn’t extricate himself, and remained alone until dying of old age.

Li Xiaoheng moved his eyes away from the stock market listing, looked down at Tao Mu who was stretching lazily in his arms, and teased in a warm voice: “Then is the prototype of the heroine you?”

Tao Mu’s lips twitched, feeling that there was no way to chat any longer.

“You conversation terminator!” Tao Mu secretly slandered, and asked Li Xiaoheng unwillingly, “Don’t you think this is very romantic?”

He wrote his own script for the graduation performance, and the prototype of the hero was actually his lover or something…..

Li Xiaoheng laughed when he heard the words, and immediately realized Tao Mu’s unspoken expectation. Immediately, he said: “Of course it’s very romantic. In fact, I’m also looking forward to seeing this graduation performance, as well as you acting as me. Of course, I am even more looking forward to the day when you receive your diploma.”

When Li Xiaoheng said this, he paused slightly, stretched out his hand to hook Tao Mu’s little finger, and emphasized gently: “We have agreed. On the day of graduation, you will receive your graduation certificate in the morning and your marriage certificate in the afternoon.”

Tao Mu also hooked Li Xiaoheng’s little finger back with a little force, pulled him down, and kissed him lightly, “En, it was agreed a long time ago.”

Li Xiaoheng chuckled and kissed Tao Mu, then began to attack: “But having said that, in the heart of our family’s CEO Tao, I turned out to be such a work-obsessed, cold and indifferent person who is like a robot, and even my parents and lovers don’t want to pay attention to me.”

Tao Mu: “…..” No, that’s not the case. I don’t, I’m not, I don’t think this.

“You said it yourself, this male protagonist is based on me.” Li Xiaoheng observed Tao Mu’s expression, and continued to sigh aggrievedly: “I’m so sad. So in our baby’s heart, I am an old man without a sense of romance.”

Tao Mu could only feel a string snap in his head. He didn’t even have time to pursue the matter of Li Xiaoheng calling him “baby”, quickly explaining: “I don’t. I just…..fine, I’m wrong.”

Seeing Li Xiaoheng’s increasingly aggrieved expression, Tao Mu had no choice but to obediently admit his mistake.

“Then what kind of punishment should Mr. Tao receive for this mistake?” Li Xiaoheng raised his eyebrows, pretending to be serious and asked: “Or, no matter what punishment I give, our Mr. Tao will willingly accept the punishment? “

Noticing Li Xiaoheng’s sudden “enthusiasm”, Tao Mu, who was forced to admit his mistake, only felt weak in his kidneys, and asked without confidence: “Then how do you want to punish me?”

Li Xiaoheng raised his eyebrows again, and in an especially domineering CEO manner, he hugged their family’s CEO Tao, and said meaningfully: “Of course it is the punishment of love!”

Tao Mu: “…..”

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

So from this afternoon until the next morning, Mr. Tao, who wanted to work on the script, was unable to complete the tasks listed on his to-do list. It was not until the noon of the next day, Tao Mu, who was woken up by the bright sun, got up from the bed with a hand rubbing his waist and a bitter face. Mr. Li, who had been the punisher all night, was squatting in the bathroom and preparing bath water for his punished. Seeing Tao Mu walking in with one hand supporting the wall and one hand protecting his waist, Mr. Punisher greeted him very graciously, and helped the dear punished take a bath.

Mr. Tao, who failed to complete the work again, suddenly thought that the hero of this “Reincarnation” could also be himself. Every day, he repeated the reincarnation cycle of wanting to work hard but still being unable to complete the work, and even have to accept Mr. Punisher’s “punishment of love” under various excuses.

It was just that towards this time’s reincarnation cycle, Tao Mu endured it gladly.

If you would like to show some ♡  then please consider supporting this translator! ლ(⌒εー)ლ