The atmosphere instantly turned awkward.

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

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

Why use the word “melancholic”?

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

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

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

However, Mr. Li was not satisfied!

But Mr. Li won’t say so!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

It really was not his fault this time!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Tao Mu: “…..”

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

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

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

Tao Mu nodded in confusion: “Yeah!”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“I have also heard about the various conflicts and quarrels between you and Xiao Yu.”

At FlyNews.com headquarters, old madam Lin looked at Tao Mu with a slightly curious but polite gaze. After a long while, she continued: “With all due respect, Mr. Tao, as a young and talented genius entrepreneur who could create a fortune of tens of billions at a young age, you should also possess the virtue of tolerance. In that case, why quibble with an ignorant child like Shen Yu?”

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

Tao Mu smiled slightly: “It’s not that I want to quibble with him. It’s that the status and influence of FlyNews.com today does not allow me to tolerate the slandering from others.”

After a pause, Tao Mu added meaningfully: “Just like the Lin Group can’t allow family scandals to spread, otherwise it would affect the company’s external image, and even affect the stock price fluctuation. Madam should be able to understand my concerns by putting yourself in my shoes.”

Old madam Lin’s expression changed slightly. She was not certain whether Tao Mu heard about the videos and photos from Luo Xi’s mouth, and thus say such words to test her.

Old madam Lin smiled slightly: “I heard some media commenting on Mr. Tao, saying that Mr. Tao is talented and eloquent, and has never suffered a loss even when getting into a verbal debate with netizens. Seeing you today, Mr. Tao’s eloquence is indeed extraordinary.”

Tao Mu chuckled, ignoring old madam Lin’s sarcasm. He asked straight to the point: “Madam has come here this time to help Shen Yu pay compensation?”

“That’s correct.” Old madam Lin nodded, glanced at Tao Mu, who was a bit too sharp in both appearance and behavior, and said warmly, “Our family’s Rong An’s sins almost harmed such a good child as Shen Yu. As Rong An’s grandmother, an elder of the Lin family, it is necessary to compensate Xiao Yu in the place of my grandson, which can also be considered an apology.”

“Don’t know how much compensation FlyNews.com asked for when suing Xiao Yu?”

“I actually don’t know the exact amount. Madam, if you could please wait a moment.” Tao Mu said, and called Zhou Shenxing directly and had Zhou Shenxing come over to discuss the specific compensation issue with old madam Lin.

Lawyer Zhou was currently in the Legal Department, discussing with several other lawyers and the staff of the Personnel Department and the Agency Department the specific terms and criteria for the classification of artist contracts. After receiving Tao Mu’s call, he was instantly energized, picking up the relevant documents related to Shen Yu’s lawsuit, and came over with vigor.

When Lawyer Zhou pushed in the door, Tao Mu glanced at the time subtly. Just under five minutes. Sure enough, when it comes to money, Lawyer Zhou’s work efficiency was not a simple level of highness.

With “money pincher” Lawyer Zhou charging in front, Tao Mu, the boss, could retire and leave the arena to the other. And old madam Lin, who had just promised to help Shen Yu pay the compensation and settlement money, was a little shocked when she heard the figure reported by Lawyer Zhou: “10 million?” Why don’t you go rob a bank!

The last part almost got blurted out. But old madam Lin still remembered her image as an old-fashioned upper class lady from Hong Kong, and swallowed the screech back down to her stomach with effort. But she still felt disbelieving: “Mr. Tao, this price is a bit too much, isn’t it?”

For the sake of her image, what old madam Lin didn’t say was that FlyNews.com dared to ask for such a price. Could it be that they saw the Lin family as fools?

“It’s not too much at all.” Lawyer Zhou responded innocently and placed a stack of data reports in front of old madam Lin.

This was a record made by FlyNews.com’s technical department from the first time Shen Yu slandered Tao Mu, and until the Cao Miao incident was exposed. All the relevant data of slanderings by netizens smearing Tao Mu’s name. Including but not limited to FlyNews search, Weibo platform, Baidu entries and related entries of other search engines. There were also the various losses that Tao Mu and FlyNews.com encountered during each smearing process attached. Including the damage to the image and reputation of Tao Mu and FlyNews.com, the decrease of registered users, and the breach of contract by sponsors, etc.

For more than a year, Shen Yu used his right to speak as a public figure to maliciously lead netizens to smear Tao Mu several times without conclusive evidence, and even led fans of other stars to conduct cyber bullying against Tao Mu…..Lawyer Zhou added up all of Shen Yu’s actions, listing the mental damage and financial loss Tao Mu suffered because of it, while comparing the attention Shen Yu received, and the gigs and endorsements, etc he was offered in the duration. The purpose was to combine the two, to prove that the reason why Shen Yu kept smearing Tao Mu was to increase his popularity. Of course, the economic benefits brought about by this could also be regarded as Shen Yu’s “criminal motive” to deliberately smear Tao Mu. Considering that FlyNews.com was an enterprise that was on the rise and was very dependent on the public opinion environment and its own image, the consequences and influence of Shen Yu’s smearing of Tao Mu must of course be magnified.

So 10 million yuan was definitely not an extortion. In fact, this was the figure that Zhou Shenxing calculated after carefully considering the liquidity of the Shen Group and Shen Yu’s level of importance to the Shen family, and deduced the Shen family’s bottom line of tolerance. If simply just considering the level of damage Shen Yu had done to Tao Mu and FlyNews.com, Zhou Shenxing could even add another zero to this number.

Zhou Shenxing was well prepared and had detailed evidence. A lot of big data and related news reports plus loss statistics were placed in front of old madam Lin. In the end, even old madam Lin had to admit that the price of 10 million was indeed pertinent.

However, before coming here, old madam Lin did not expect that FlyNews.com would ask Shen Yu to pay so much. In fact, old madam Lin thought that Shen Yu would at most make a public apology, and then pay a symbolic 800 thousand to one million yuan. She didn’t expect that the final compensation amount would be ten times what she imagined.

Zhou Shenxing sighed disapprovingly: “If Shen Yu can hold a press conference in public and sincerely apologize to the media and netizens across the country, this compensation can be up for negotiation. But the key is that Shen Yu is now banned by SARFT. All domestic media have no way to report news related to Shen Yu. Our FlyNews.com has no way to get a public apology from Shen Yu. Since this is the case, we can only make up for it in terms of monetary compensation.”

“FlyNews.com is about to conduct Series A round. Shen Yu spread rumors and caused so much negative news, which had a very bad impact on FlyNews.com. If the Series A round financing fails, the losses FlyNews.com would suffer will not just be ten million.” Lawyer Zhou blurted out casually, but his words were conclusive, and spoke in a manner able to win the trust of others.

Old madam Lin immediately responded: “This problem is easy to handle. If FlyNews.com is indeed planning to raise financing for Series A, our Lin Group is willing to——”

“This matter has nothing to do with what we are discussing today.” Tao Mu interrupted lld madam Lin. Glancing expressionlessly at Lawyer Zhou.

“Speaking of which,” Zhou Shenxing still looked at old madam Lin with an innocent expression, and said with a smile: “Thanks to the banning order, Shen Yu is now blocked from all media. Otherwise, the news of the third young master Lin getting into a jealous fight because of Shen Yu, only to have his third leg broken would be exposed. At that time I’m afraid that the Lin Group would even grace the headlines as well.”

Old madam Lin put down the coffee cup with a displeased expression. The second reason she came to FlyNews.com was to discuss with Tao Mu about removing Lin Rong’an’s related reports.

“How much does it cost?” Lin Rong’an often made headlines in the entertainment section of England because of hobby of holding wild parties while studying abroad. Therefore, the Lin family was also familiar with the operation of public relations media to withdraw their reports. It was just that after Lin Rong’an returned to Hong Kong after graduation, not many newspapers dared to report Lin Rong’an’s negative news because the Lin family had too much influence in Hong Kong. At most, just some gossip news about Lin Rong’an’s romantic love relationships and support for models and female stars appeared. Even so, if the Lin family was even slightly dissatisfied, they would immediately withdraw the report.

It was because of the submissive attitude of Hong Kong media that spoiled the Lin family. Therefore, when the Lin family first contacted FlyNews.com, they demanded FlyNews.com to withdraw the report in a very natural manner. After all, mainland policies tend to support Hong Kong businessmen, and many Hong Kong businessmen also felt a sense of superiority when investing in the mainland. Therefore, FlyNews.com, a new type of media, was not taken seriously by them.

Unfortunately, FlyNews.com did not give the Lin family face. It’s attitude turned out to be stronger than the Lin family. Old madam Lin had no choice but to speak with money just like with the media in England.

With FlyNews.com’s influence in domestic public opinion, if they wanted to remove Lin Rong’an’s related reports, it would naturally cost a lot of public relations expenses. However, the Lin family had a lot of wealth and should not care about a mere several millions.

In contrast, the compensation that FlyNews.com demanded from Shen Yu caused old madam Lin some difficulty.

“Can’t you be more accommodating?” Old madam Lin tried to ask: “Ten million is not a small amount.”

“That’s why I’m very curious. The Lin family and Shen Yu are not related, so why insist on paying this compensation for him?” Lawyer Zhou asked, and casually suggested: “But ten million is indeed definitely not a small amount. Madam Lin can discuss it with the Shen family. If the two of you are willing to cooperate, this money is not a big amount for the Lin family and the Shen family.”

Don’t know if it was because her brain was flooded, or if she really felt guilty towards Shen Yu because of Lin Rong’an’s actions, old madam Lin actually took the advice and called Chairman Shen in front of Zhou Shenxing and Tao Mu.

Seeing old madam Lin patiently communicating with Chairman Shen about the compensation, Zhou Shenxing was so shocked that he was speechless.

Was this world always so fantastical? There were actually people rushing to fork over millions to help others in paying compensation, and actually fear that others would not accept it?

Lawyer Zhou did not hide the shock on his face at all, and turned to look at Tao Mu, who was sitting calmly beside him. He shook his head in deep disapproval.

It turns out that there was actually such a benefit to being a brain-dead idiot. If he knew earlier, he wouldn’t have worked so hard in his life. He also wanted to be a precious baby too!

Not knowing that their FlyNews.com’s head legal advisor was almost provoked to the point of turning into an oversized baby, Tao Mu was also shocked by old madam Lin’s brain circuit.

Opposite Tao Mu, old madam Lin had already discussed with Chairman Shen about Shen Yu’s future. She even suggested that Shen Yu go to Hong Kong for development. Old madam Lin planned to buy out Shen Yu’s ten-year brokerage contract for five million. Although at present, the entertainment circle of Hong Kong was becoming a still pond of water. But the past glory of the Hong Kong entertainment industry could still radiate over the entire Southeast Asia. Old madam Lin felt that Shen Yu had a good image and aura. Although he was banned in the mainland, towards Hong Kong, or even Japan and South Korea, Shen Yu was still a blank sheet of paper. Old madam Lin believed that with Shen Yu’s talent and aura, he would definitely be able to walk out his own glorious path.

After being targeted and blacklisted by the Yan family, the father and son of the Shen family originally wanted to give up on Shen Yu. But they didn’t expect old madam Lin to express her support for Shen Yu at this juncture. Although old madam Lin made it clear that the five million signing fee would be directly paid to FlyNews.com in the form of compensation.

But what the Shen family valued was actually not the five million. It was the attitude of the Lin family towards Shen Yu.

Standing in the chairman’s office of Shen Group, Shen Yu twitched his fingers nervously. It must be said that what Luo Xi said in the ward that day really frightened him. Afraid that the Lin family would hold him accountable, Shen Yu went straight to the airport after leaving the ward and booked the earliest flight to return to Shanghai. Immediately asking his father and elder brother for help overnight.

The father and son of the Shen family have been angry with Shen Yu because of the bad relationship between the Yan family and the Shen family. They didn’t expect that Shen Yu could get into so much trouble after arriving in the capital. Inexplicably, he managed to provoke the Lin family and the Luo family, causing one of them to become a eunuch and the other to have a leg broken.

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

Just as the father and son of the Shen family were worried about whether they would attract revenge from the two families, they received a call from old madam Lin.

Instead of blaming Shen Yu, she pleaded for Shen Yu.

This made the father and son of the Shen family realize the value of Shen Yu again.

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