Though he said he had something to do, when Li Xiaoheng got off the plane, Tao Mu still came to pick him up at the airport himself. And it was not the previous mode of sneaking around in the parking lot waiting for him, but holding a pick-up sign and standing openly in public. Behind him were entertainment reporters and passers-by who were secretly taking pictures with their mobile phones.
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“So grand?” Li Xiaoheng was a little surprised, smiling reservedly to cover up the crashing waves in his heart, as well as the glee that was rippling all over his body no matter how he covered it up. He stretched out his arms and hugged Tao Mu——the most common kind of hug in social etiquette. Then, taking advantage of the gesture of hugging, whispered to Tao Mu: “I’m a little overwhelmed.”
The warm breath sprayed on Tao Mu’s earlobe, and the tip of Tao Mu’s ear turned slightly red. But on the face, he said solemnly: “It’s something I should do as the boyfriend.”
He also curled up the corners of his mouth at Li Xiaoheng, saying with a half-smile, “CEO Li took time out of his busy schedule to come here. To show my sincerity, I should at least come to receive CEO Li in person.”
Li Xiaoheng suppressed a smile, and said casually and politely: “You are too courteous.”
The group of media reporters guarding behind Tao Mu frantically took pictures. The clicking and flashing of the cameras were endless. Following behind his boss, Assistant Jiang’s eyelids twitched. He glanced at his boss who “claimed no need to come pick me up but the tail behind him was very honestly wagging like a propeller”, and then glanced at the unaware media reporters and a small group of fans with weird looks in their eyes, before pushing up his glasses expressionlessly.
Of course, Tao Mu didn’t notice the crazily swiping inner bullet screen of Assistant Jiang’s complaining. He took Li Xiaoheng’s suitcase and asked, “How long can you stay for?”
“Two days.” Li Xiaoheng responded with a smile. And these two days were time he only managed to squeeze out with difficulty. After signing off on the paperwork that had to be dealt with, the remaining items on the agenda would be discussed in video conferences.
Tao Mu also knew that Li Xiaoheng’s schedule was very full, and it had not been easy to spare two days. It was a pity that the filming of “Soldier Elite” had reached a very important stage, and Tao Mu, the leading actor and producer, couldn’t leave at all. So Li Xiaoheng could only be wronged——
“Would you like to visit the set?”
Li Xiaoheng raised his eyebrows, quickly calculated the route from the airport to the studio as well as the time issue, and asked: “You haven’t eaten dinner yet. Let’s get dinner first. Are you going to shoot a night scene tonight?”
Li Xiaoheng’s original plan was that if Tao Mu was filming a night scene, the two of them would go back to the set directly after dinner. If Tao Mu didn’t have any scenes tonight, the two of them would go back to the hotel and go to the set together tomorrow morning.
However, Li Xiaoheng took a look at the dark circles under Tao Mu’s eyes——in fact, it was not very obvious, because Tao Mu’s complexion was very dark now. But Li Xiaoheng still noticed it: “Didn’t sleep well recently?”
There were many people in the airport lobby, so Li Xiaoheng took out his mobile phone and sent Tao Mu a FlyNews message: [Don’t film tonight. Go back to the hotel directly after dinner, I won’t bother you.]
Tao Mu glanced at their family’s boss Li, bowed his head and replied to the message: [Then let’s go back to the hotel.]
After a pause, he sent another one: [Actually, I’m not afraid of you bothering me.]
The one who was teased wasn’t much affected, but the one who teased people first had red ears as he put the phone back in his pocket calmly. He followed Tao Mu in a trance all the way, until they were surrounded by fearless reporters. Only then did Li Xiaoheng finally realize that Tao Mu had no bodyguards or assistants, and he just came here alone!
“Mr. Tao, what stage is the filming of “Soldier Elite”? What interesting things happened on the set, can you reveal a bit?”
“Mr. Tao, this is your first time as a leading actor, what are your feelings?”
“What do you think the ratings of “Soldier Elite” should be after it airs? Will it exceed “The Great Wall of Flesh and Blood” and “Fashion Storm” you produced before?”
During this period, there were also caring shouts from the Ceramics——
“Mu Mu, Mu Mu, look this way. Aren’t you handsome today?”
“Mu Mu, you’re all tanned, the filming must have been hard, right?”
“Mu Mu, you have to take good care of yourself!”
Since childhood, Li Xiaoheng, who had always been the focus of the crowd, silently followed Tao Mu, watching Tao Mu be surrounded by a large group of people with great interest. Then he heard a girl asking excitedly: “Mr. Li, are you here in X City specially to visit Mu Mu?”
The airport lobby was full of people and extremely noisy, but after this question that could not be considered to have been too loud sounded, the surrounding entertainment reporters and fans all fell silent for an instant. Then they stared at Li Xiaoheng’s face with burning eyes.
——In fact, they all wanted to ask this question. But as we all know, CEO Li of Xiaoheng Capital, the eldest son of the Li family in Beijing, had always been low-key and serious, sophisticated and introverted. He usually hated cameras and spotlights the most, and never accepted media interviews unless necessary. To be precise, Li Xiaoheng established Xiaoheng Capital for so many years, but he only accepted one interview with the Wall Street Journal when he shorted international crude oil. After returning to China for so long, apart from FlyNews.com, no other media could successfully interview Li Xiaoheng himself.
Due to this reason, the reporters did not quite dare to fire questions at him. But now that there was a real warrior asking that question for them, for the sake of sales, of course they all looked at Li Xiaoheng with wide eyes and open ears.
Li Xiaoheng was indeed a man who didn’t like standing in front of the camera very much. But when it came to Tao Mu, there were always exceptions.
He glanced at the girl with disheveled hair who was being squeezed around in the crowd, smiled slightly, and admitted, “I’m here to visit Mr. Tao.”
He spoke!
The group of reporters were energized immediately, and subconsciously rushed forward with their cameras and microphones in hand: “Mr. Li, are you here specially to visit Mr. Tao?”
“Mr. Li, what do you think of Mr. Tao’s acting skills? Do you watch Mr. Tao’s TV dramas in your spare time?”
“Mr. Li, are you interested in acting? If one day, Mr. Tao invites you to play a guest role in the crew, would you agree?”
“…..”
As expected of reporters in the entertainment gossip section, the questions they asked were all so novel and tricky. Li Xiaoheng answered the questions seriously at the beginning, but later he had to weigh his thoughts before doing so, afraid that if he said a wrong word, it would arouse the suspicion of these reporters. So in this state of nervousness, Mr. Li regained his aloof aura of a domineering CEO and even his answers to questions were very concise.
“Yes”, “Very good”, “Yes”…..All answers would not contain more than three words. The media reporters listening to the on-site interview were also sweating, wondering how they had offended the domineering CEO. Would it cause the consequences of “this reporter asked a bad question, I shall make their newspaper go bankrupt”!
Tao Mu stood by the side holding back laughs, watching their family’s boss Li answering strange gossip questions from various angles with a straight face and the demeanor of one answering reporters’ questions at an international financial summit. So handsome that he had cuts and bruises all over!
Tao Mu couldn’t hold back, took out his mobile phone to take a few photos on the spot, and uploaded them to his FlyNews.
It wasn’t until Li Xiaoheng got into the car with Tao Mu that he discovered the FlyNews post that Tao Mu had just updated. Looking at the netizen’s comments below, Li Xiaoheng couldn’t help but have the same question: “So handsome that I have cuts and bruises all over, what do you mean?”
“That is to say, the way you looked just now was bursting with aura and pheremones, and you were simply so handsome it pulled at my heart. At that time, I felt as if I was shot through the heart by Cupid with the arrow of love. Hence cuts and bruises all over!”
Tao Mu teased casually, but when Li Xiaoheng heard this, he was so happy that even the strands of his hair fluttered.
Such a beautiful explanation. Thinking about it in another way, their family’s boss Tao confessed to him in front of hundreds of millions of netizens!
Li Xiaoheng couldn’t help feeling flustered, and typed on his phone with both hands. However, after more than half an hour, Tao Mu had even driven the car to the hotel, yet Li Xiaoheng still didn’t send out the FlyNews that Li Xiaoheng wanted to @ Tao Mu.
Tao Mu had always been focused when driving, and he didn’t notice that Li Xiaoheng was fiddling with his mobile phone to send out a FlyNews message. He just thought Li Xiaoheng was busy with work. But after Tao Mu stopped the car, seeing Li Xiaoheng’s slightly conflicted expression, he instantly realized something. Li Xiaoheng was definitely not working when he was fiddling with his mobile phone just now. Because a Li Xiaoheng immersed in work would never show such an expression.
Tao Mu had to admit that the reason why he was attracted to Li Xiaoheng and wanted to do business with him back then was because in addition to the halo bonus added to Li Xiaoheng by the memory of his previous life, there was also the most important reason, which was Li Xiaoheng’s work ethic. That kind of sharp-edged self-confidence and strength simply made Tao Mu feel very secure. So much so that Tao Mu subconsciously felt that so long as Li Xiaoheng was by his side, there would be nothing he couldn’t do.
But now, the omnipotent CEO Li in his heart was actually troubled. Tao Mu curved up the corner of his mouth and couldn’t help asking: “What are you thinking?”
“I was thinking about how to reply to your FlyNews.” Li Xiaoheng said frankly, shaking his phone at Tao Mu.
Tao Mu chuckled and stretched out his hand: “I’ll do it.”
Hearing this, Li Xiaoheng put his mobile phone in Tao Mu’s hand. Tao Mu took the phone and poked it a few times, then returned the phone to Li Xiaoheng.
Li Xiaoheng looked down, but saw that his account shared and liked the FlyNews post Tao Mu just sent, but he didn’t write anything.
Li Xiaoheng: “?”
Tao Mu just smiled and said nothing. However, the netizens under the two FlyNews have already fried the pot.
“Damn, what is going on here? I’m not good at Chinese, can you actually describe a handsome person with the phrase “full of cuts and bruises”?”
“What kind of enmity and hatred is this? Are you sure Tao Mu and Mr. Li are really good friends? Isn’t this description too weird?”
“Is there plastic brotherhood among capitalists as there are in the entertainment industry?”
“The sister upstairs is too naive. It’s the capital circle that has a lot of plastic relationships?”
“Am I the only one who thinks that Tao Mu’s description of CEO Li is very appropriate? Wuwuwu, I also feel that I am all cut up and bruised by CEO Li’s handsomeness.”
“Upstairs +1, I can also understand this feeling of being cut and bruised. I feel as if I have been shot by Cupid’s arrow, a thousand arrows through the heart by CEO Li’ handsomeness.”
“So CEO Li reposting the FlyNews without comment, is this a case of silence being better than sound at this time?”
“I have already made up a 100,000-word story!”
“The CP dog upstairs piss off!”
“…..”
Tao Mu shook his phone triumphantly at Li Xiaoheng: “Look. Netizens are all geniuses in reading comprehension.”
Seeing Tao Mu’s triumphant look, Li Xiaoheng couldn’t help but smile.
Then, with a flash of inspiration, he took out his phone and sent a supplement post.
Tao Mu’s phone received the alert, he picked up the phone, unlocked the screen and clicked on FlyNews’s homepage. Then he saw that Li Xiaoheng updated a new message, which was still reposting Tao Mu’s “so handsome that I am cut and bruised all over” FlyNews, but also attached a picture.
A picture of the packaging of Yunnan Baiyao. (TN: Chinese medicine for cuts and bruises)
This time it was Tao Mu’s turn to “?”
Even Tao Mu, who had a high EQ, and was good at reading people’s hearts, didn’t understand the meaning of Li Xiaoheng’s operation. He could only ask with a confused face: “What does this mean?”
“If you are cut and bruised by my handsomeness, then I am your Yunnan Baiyao.” Li Xiaoheng smiled warmly.
Recalling the explanation he just said to Li Xiaoheng “so handsome that a thousand arrows pierced his heart”, Tao Mu: “…..”
So what the hell kind of horrible logic was this? (╯‵ ′)╯︵┻━┻
“Your sweet talk is too lame!” Tao Mu couldn’t help complaining: “This is not even just dirt crumbs, but soil dug directly from the tomb!” (TN: dirt=slang for unsophisticated/lame, like a country bumpkin with still dirt clinging to the bottom of their pants)
Before Tao Mu finished speaking, Li Xiaoheng smiled and said, “You’re right. Isn’t it just a complaint dug out of my Mu Mu’s mouth.”
As Li Xiaoheng said, he suddenly leaned over and kissed Tao Mu like a chicken pecking at rice: “It is said that the soil also has a smell. Let me taste it, what does your complaint taste like?” (TN: word for complaint is a homonym for dirt/soil)
“Salt and pepper pork ribs!” Li Xiaoheng smiled, and put the peeled shrimps into Tao Mu’s bowl: “Eat some more.”
“Eat my foot, I’m already so full from anger!” Tao Mu snorted angrily, and said with difficulty, “Now even if you are a Yunnan Baiyao spirit cultivated into a human, you still can’t make up for my wounded heart.”
Tao Mu was simply in disbelief. When their family’s Mr. Li spoke seriously, those words were much more pleasing than any sweet talk. But why was it that when he was being asked to show PDA now, he could show off a picture of Yunnan Baiyao?
The turn in thinking was so big, no matter how imaginative the brains of netizens were, they couldn’t see it, right?
Tao Mu couldn’t believe that the first show of PDA between the two of them would end in failure.
Seeing Tao Mu’s indignant and aggrieved appearance, Li Xiaoheng chuckled. Of course he couldn’t tell Tao Mu that he did it on purpose. Because Li Xiaoheng was worried that the reason why Tao Mu had such a big change in attitude was because he was stimulated by Shen Chen’s words.
People might act impulsively when they were stimulated. Although Li Xiaoheng was very happy that Tao Mu finally wanted to give him official status, Li Xiaoheng was even more worried that Tao Mu’s decision was just because of impulsiveness, and he would regret it when he calmed down.
It was related to Tao Mu’s future career plan, and Li Xiaoheng didn’t want Tao Mu to have the possibility of regretting it. So he temporarily suppressed Tao Mu’s excitement, and wait at least one night. If Tao Mu still had no regrets when he woke up tomorrow morning, no matter whether Tao Mu wanted to disclose his relationship or anything else, Li Xiaoheng would fully support it.
Li Xiaoheng did not express these concerns directly. He was by Tao Mu’s side, and he was not the kind of man who would spoil the mood. And after Tao Mu calmed down, he also realized Li Xiaoheng’s deeper meaning.
His heart instantly felt a little swollen.
“Why are you…..” Tao Mu felt a lump in his throat. Their family’s boss Li was truly, no matter what the situation was, he could always maintain absolute calm.
“Don’t think too much.” Li Xiaoheng took off his gloves, squeezed Tao Mu’s palm, and persuaded in a gentle voice: “You are very tired. Take a good rest tonight, and we can talk about anything tomorrow morning.”
Then Li Xiaoheng really fulfilled his promise, and he didn’t bother Tao Mu when they returned to the hotel that night. The two of them showered and dried their hair and went straight to bed. Although Xiao Li’s little brother was energetic all night, Li Xiaoheng just lay with his arms around Tao Mu who was huddled in his embrace, and lay still and quiet all night.
It wasn’t until the next morning after Tao Mu got up, took a shower, and finished his breakfast that he absolutely woke up. He held his chopsticks and said, “Let’s make it public.”
Li Xiaoheng’s heart was finally reassured, and he responded warmly: “Okay.”
Although it was decided to make the relationship public, the actual operation obviously should not be so hasty. Not to mention the identities of Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng, but also FlyNews and Xiaoheng Capital represented by the two. Just take Tao Mu’s career as an actor for example, counting all the people in the domestic entertainment industry, there were almost no artists who were busy announcing their relationship just after turning 20.
It was not even the legal age for marriage!
Meng Qi, who learned about this from the phone, was about to explode. He didn’t understand what kind of drug their young Tao Mu was given by Li Xiaoheng that turtle grandson, so that he would agree to such an outrageous request.
“It has nothing to do with Li Xiaoheng, I want to make it public.” Tao Mu explained for Li Xiaoheng. Of course he couldn’t mention the absurd truth of reincarnation to his Xiao Qi Dad. Firstly, he was afraid that Meng Qi would not understand, and secondly, he was afraid that Meng Qi would be worried. So he simply found other reasons: “I just think it’s unnecessary to be so secretive all day long. It’s not illegal to fall in love——”
“It’s not against the law. But have you thought about it for your fans, work team, and work partners?”
Meng Qi said unceremoniously: “That’s right, although the country has passed the “Same-Sex Marriage Law”, homosexuality is still a minority in the whole society. As the founder of FlyNews.com worth tens of billions, have you ever thought about what impact it would have on your acting career and FlyNews.com after you announce your sexual orientation?”
“Don’t forget that you are now cooperating with the military to film a military recruitment drama! Once you announce your sexual orientation and relationship at this time, would it have a negative impact on the ratings and reputation of “Soldier King”?”
An actor’s public love affair could never be regarded as a personal behavior. Instead, they had to take into account the entire team, and even all the interests attached to the actor.
“I’ve considered all of these.” Tao Mu said in a gentle voice, “It’s because I thought about it too much before, so I don’t want to think about it now.”
Hearing Tao Mu’s abnormal tone, Meng Qi raised his eyebrows: “Is there any other reason?”
“I just feel that life is too short. Instead of constantly chasing an uncertain future and unattainable benefits, it is better to cherish the present.” Tao Mu paused, and then said: “And I don’t mean to disclose the relationship right away. “Soldier Elite” will be finalized in one month. I have already discussed with the national channel and decided to directly set the golden slot time during the National Day. My team also needs to do a good job in preparing public relations for when the relationship goes public. Everything should be ready in half a year, right?”
There was no one who knew the son like the father. Of course, Meng Qi could hear Tao Mu’s firm determination from Tao Mu’s overly gentle voice. He sighed slightly, and asked, “Is this necessary? With your and Li Xiaoheng’s identities, as long as the two of you don’t take the initiative to make it public, no one will dare to disclose this matter.”
“Isn’t it good to just keep the status quo? You’re still so young, even when you’re thirty, it would not be too late to announce your relationship.”
“But in that case, it would be too unfair to Li Xiaoheng.” Tao Mu sighed softly, “Xiao Qi Dad, I don’t want to let him down.”
Meng Qi sighed slightly, he could understand Tao Mu’s thoughts. He was also reluctant to blame his own child, so he could only agree with him irritably: “That’s right. That kid has good conditions, and there is nothing shameful about him.”
In the final analysis, it was nothing more than two young people meeting the right person at the right time and falling in love. Their family’s Tao Mu didn’t rely on being a single idol to make a living. As the most prosperous investor and producer in the domestic entertainment industry, he wouldn’t be unable to receive good scripts if he made his relationship public. And there was no endorsement contract on his back. If you thought about it carefully, even if it was made public, it would have no real impact.
At most, it would be just a few words from irrelevant netizens! As for whether it would affect the box office and ratings which everyone was worried about——it hadn’t happened yet, so there was no reason to be so negative. Besides, there were many superstars in the entertainment industry who married and had children, and you don’t see anyone who stopping filming or working once they get married. Weren’t they still winning awards and box office ratings?
Compared with these actors with little foundation, their family Tao Mu already had a lot of capital and confidence!
What was more, the two children have even met both side’s family, so it would be unreasonable not to give them official status.
Thinking about it this way, Meng Qi came to terms with himself.
“You guys can do whatever you want!” The Chinese cabbage that had been raised for so many years had finally been eaten by a pig. Meng Qi, the father, couldn’t help but feel sour in his heart, but he still gave advice: “But before it is officially announced, you should also pay attention. Don’t cause any unexpected mishaps. At least wait for the two public relations teams to come up with a specific response plan.”
“En!” Tao Mu nodded in agreement. After putting down the phone, he tickled Li Xiaoheng’s chin, who was sitting behind him, with his arms wrapped around him, and said with a smile: “My dad agrees!”
The newly human formed Yunnan Baiyao spirit simply put his chin on Tao Mu’s shoulder, and asked with a smile, “Then can I upgrade from Yunnan Baiyao spirit to Plaster spirit in the future?”
Tao Mu didn’t understand, and subconsciously asked, “What do you mean?”
Li Xiaoheng chuckled, leaned into Tao Mu’s ear, and teased in a low voice: “From taking it internally to using it externally.”
Thinking of something, Tao Mu blushed, and elbowed Li Xiaoheng’s chest. Getting up he said: “Hurry up, we have to hurry up and go to the set!”
Li Xiaoheng looked at Tao Mu’s flustered back, and curled his lips upwards.
Compared with Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng’s happiness and warmth, Shen Yu on the other side was not so lucky.
Shen Chen was a person with very strong execution ability. As Tao Mu said, even if just to test Shen Yu, to verify whether the reincarnation of many lives was really meaningful or not, Shen Chen also felt that he had to follow Tao Mu’s suggestion.
So after returning to Shanghai, Shen Chen called Shen Yu and told him go to the hospital to take care of the sick Shen Shiyuan.
It had to be said that even though Shen Shiyuan’s original intention for Shen Yu should be criticized, but only in terms of behavior, Shen Shiyuan did not mistreat Shen Yu. In fact, because of Shen Yu’s usefulness, Shen Shiyuan even treated Shen Yu even better than his own daughter.
So when Shen Yu received the call, he was also very happy. He really wanted to take care of Shen Shiyuan and ease his relationship with the Shen family. It would be even better to restore the harmonious and warm atmosphere they once had.
However, what Shen Yu didn’t expect was that when he arrived at the hospital, the most dire scene he faced was not the sarcasm and extreme difficulties that he imagined Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan would direct at him. In fact, because they had received Shen Chen’s instructions in advance, although Mrs. Shen and Shen Yan disliked Shen Yu, they did not make things too difficult. They just ignored him, as if there was no such person in the room.
What really made Shen Yu feel embarrassed and disgusted was that Shen Chen actually ordered him to spill out Shen Shiyuan’s excrement and urine, and do those dirty things that only a caretaker would do.
Shen Yu was pampered and raised by the Shen family since he was a child, and he never even washed the dishes. How could he bear this kind of thing? He was too disgusted, so he suggested to Shen Chen to find a caretaker. But Shen Chen refused.
“The Shen family has been kicked out of the management of the Shen Group. I also spent a lot of money to release Mom on bail. Now we don’t have much money.” When Shen Chen said this, he did not forget to remind Shen Yu, saying meaningfully: “There is also Yu Qingqing’s son, who can be regarded as your younger brother.”
“Yu Qingqing and her husband are both in jail. There is only their son left outside. Although this person is not the responsibility of the Shen family, Mom hired hoodlums to injure him, and the child suffered a moderate concussion and was in a coma for many days in the hospital. After finally waking up, it was only to both parents being in prison. This child is quite pitiful. After all, he is your younger brother, so the Shen family is now paying the child’s tuition and living expenses.”
Shen Yu pursed his lips, and asked hesitantly: “So, the Shen family has no money?”
“It will get better.” Shen Chen didn’t answer Shen Yu’s question, but just patted him on the shoulder: “Persist a little longer, it will be fine when I find a job.”
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Shen Yu didn’t say anything. When he returned to the house Zhuo Yan rented for him that night, he asked to borrow money from Zhuo Yan. He wanted to hire a good caretaker for Shen Shiyuan.
Zhuo Yan sneered when he heard the words: “Although the Shen family was kicked out of the Shen Group by me, they still own 26% of the shares of the Shen Group and 20% of the shares of the Qi Group from the exchange of shares back then. So the Shen family is not short of money. Your elder brother wouldn’t happen to be deliberately tormenting you, right?”
Shen Yu was stunned when he heard this.
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