With a crisp sound, the exquisite tea cup with the logo of a five-star hotel was smashed to pieces on the expensive ceramic tiles that one could see one’s own reflection on.

“What nerve!” In front of outsiders, Yao Shengan had always comported himself with good breeding. But now the muscles on his cheek twitched fiercely, and he gritted his teeth as he cursed: “This Tao Mu really has some nerve.”

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

“Grandpa.” Yao Wenxiao hesitated. He was Yao Shengan’s favorite grandson. When he was born, Sheng’an Group was already one of the few big corporations in Shanghai, and Yao Sheng’an was also a well-known big entrepreneur in Shanghai. Naturally, no one would talk about Yao Shengan’s past in front of the Yao family.

Therefore, Yao Wenxiao didn’t know about Yao Shengan’s past of studying under the Song family and then ruining the Song family.

“…..Is the news that Tao Mu broke on the Internet true?” Yao Wenxiao hesitated, and then finally asked.

“Why?” Yao Shengan was furious, and unreservedly vented his emotions on Yao Wenxiao: “You also want to condemn your grandpa for what I did in the past?”

Faced with such overly violent anger, Yao Wenxiao subconsciously startled. Looking at Yao Shengan, who looked like an enraged lion, Yao Wenxiao shook his head quickly: “Of course not. I just think that if this kind of thing is revealed by Tao Mu, we will be very passive. Moreover, it’s like he is afraid that others will not know, so he specially turned it into a program. Now many netizens are infected by the program and are very emotional. They are all calling for boycotts of the hotels and restaurants under the Sheng’an Group on the Internet. The stock price of the Sheng’an Group has also fallen by two percentage points, the business of all the hotels and restaurants is very bad now. The situation is very unfavorable for us.”

Some idle young netizens who had nothing better to do even went to the entrance of the hotel under the Sheng’an Group to pull up protest banners. When they encountered customers coming to dine, they would pull them aside to promote Yao Shengan’s ungrateful and shameful past. They were all teenagers and underage children who used their weekend breaks to act as tap water (TN: Internet slang term that refers to the Internet users who voluntarily post laudatory remarks online to promote a brand). There were even media reporters who were attracted to the scene of these children’s boycott of the Sheng’an Group as a news hotspot. The hotel security guards watched all of this, daring to neither beat or scold, so they could only call the police.

However, this group of children stood fifty meters away from the hotel to pull up banners for publicity. They did not occupy the hotel’s grounds, nor did they act excessively. The police couldn’t do much when they arrived.

All in all, the Sheng’an Group had now become a sewage rat that everyone shouted and beat at. The Yao family members who were still in Shanghai hardly dared to go out in public now. Not a small number of them complained secretly about their old man’s immoral actions.

Even several other major shareholders of Sheng’an Group had quite the complaints about this matter.

Yao Wenxiao also felt a bit of resentment——it was not that he felt Yao Shengan shouldn’t do what he did back then. But Yao Shengan clearly knew that Tao Mu was going to make a fuss about this matter, yet he didn’t tell him in advance, and as a result, he was now caught off guard by Tao Mu. And no matter what he did now in response, he had already lost the initiative.

Yao Shengan’s face sank again when he was reminded by his grandson. Although he had expected that Tao Mu would definitely make a fuss about the Song family, thinking about it in his head, it was not the same as experiencing personally the feeling of being scolded by millions of netizens.

Since Yao Sheng’an had founded the Sheng’an Group he had been living pampered for so many years. He had never been scolded like this before. Fortunately, for so many years, he had been shaping the philanthropic reputation of the Sheng’an Group. Although its impact was usually not obvious, it should be able to play some role at this time.

Thinking of this and the fact that he would need to make use of his grandson’s Yuxiao Media in the future, Yao Shengan’s expression became a little more calm, and he said: “On the Song family’s affair grandpa has certainly been at fault, but more of it is the tragedy of the times. Grandpa can swear with a clear conscience that while the Song family’s tragic past was in part because of my reason, I never thought of having the Song family be ruined. I can only say that the world is difficult and at times, manpower cannot put up much resistance against it.”

“But people can’t always be immersed in the memories of the past. Grandpa was still young at that time, with reckless and extreme thoughts, even if I did something wrong, it can still be excusable. Moreover, for so many years, the Sheng’an Group has been enthusiastic about charity, and our Yao family has also sponsored many Hope Primary Schools and various charities. I, Yao Sheng’an, dare not say that I have a clear conscience, but I dare to say that the Sheng’an Group has not let down the expectations of society. You must know that, for these years, just how many jobs had the Sheng’an Group provided for society and just how much tax had been created for the country? How many charitable donations have been organized by us? We cannot always look at things from one side. We must look at the problem with investigative eyes.”

After a pause, Yao Shengan asked: “Now Tao Mu is relying on FlyNews to expose the old things of the past. The purpose is clearly to smear the Yao family and the reputation of the Sheng’an Group on the Internet. Aren’t you also part of the media industry? Can you think of a way to reverse the situation?”

Yao Wenxiao smiled bitterly: “Of course there are ways. But no matter what we do now, Sheng’an Group is on a very passive front. It would have been nice if Grandpa could have told me this in advance.”

Yao Shengan’s eyes flickered. He also knew that his actions back then were not appropriate. When one grew older one cared more about reputation, and of course he didn’t want his younger generation to have any kind of bad thought of him because of this. That was why he had procrastinated on speaking of the matter again and again. Thinking about it now, it was indeed only a difference in thought that let Tao Mu take the lead. Yao Shengan inevitably regretted it.

However, as a man who created the Sheng’an Group from scratch, he was not one to dwell in regrets. The matter being what it was, no matter how regretful he was, it wouldn’t help anything. He must find a way to solve the problem.

Thinking of this, Yao Shengan couldn’t help but think of the Shen family who had returned to Shanghai after the National School Beauty and Hunk Selection Contest was over and had not made any movements since: “Are you still in touch with Shen Yu recently?”

After the end of the selection contest, the Shen family returned to Shanghai on the grounds of busy year end company affairs. Yao Shengan had to stay in the capital because his grandson was detained. Later, he was worried about what Tao Mu might do, so he acted first and wanted to push Tao Mu down. But in the end, Tao Mu bit back, and he was now in a dilemma.

When Yao Wenxiao heard Shen Yu’s name, a gentle and doting look flashed across his face: “Yes. We talk on the phone every night. Shen Yu has been particularly interested in acting recently. So he took on another film under the arrangements of his family. In this movie, it is said that the lead actor is Yan Sheng. When New Year is over, they will go to Hong Kong to shoot.”

Yao Shengan let out a “hmm” and slowly said, “The Shen family and the Yao family are family friends. Now the Yao family is in trouble, and there may be some financial problems. It is inevitable to ask for help from the Shen family at that time. You have to maintain a good relationship with Shen Yu. The Shen family loves this young son the most. At that time, with him helping us, the Shen family should not refuse our request.”

Yao Shengan also faintly felt the dissatisfaction of the Shen family after losing the bid for that piece of land in Shanghai. Even though he regretted his eagerness for quick success, he also inevitably had complaints about the Shen family’s domineering behavior——how could it be that just because the Shen family had a high position in the real estate industry in Shanghai, his Yao family should not be allowed to get a piece of the pie too?

Back then when the Shen family bid for land to develop real estate projects, whenever they encountered a shortage of capital, they would borrow some funds from Sheng’an Group. Had Yao Sheng’an ever said anything about this? Now because his Sheng’an Group also wanted to enter the real estate industry, the Shen family was so resistant. It really was…..the nature of a profit chasing businessman.

Of course, Yao Wenxiao did not know Yao Shengan’s complaints, and even reproached directly after hearing these words: “Grandpa, what are you talking about? I grew up with Yu Yu, and our friendship is sincere. It’s not for profit or anything. If you say this, Yu Yu will misunderstand me.”

“Of course I know that you are sincere friends.” Yao Shengan’s expression became more relaxed and said: “That’s what Grandpa said. If the Shen family is unwilling, don’t forget to ask Shen Yu to help Grandpa say a few good words.”

“I know.” Yao Wenxiao nodded. He originally intended to discuss countermeasures with his grandpa. But these words evoked his longing for Shen Yu and at this moment, there were no more thoughts but to go into his bedroom to call Shen Yu.

Unsurprisingly, when Tao Mu broke the old grievances between Yao Sheng’an and the Song family, a group of netizens called for a boycott of the hotels and restaurants owned by the Sheng’an Group. Even the share price of the Sheng’an Group was affected. As a result, a press conference was held.

At the press conference, Yao Shengan, the gray-haired chairman of Sheng’an Group, did not shy away from his faults in the past. He admitted that he really was impulsive back then. But the tragedy of the Song family was actually caused more by that era, and not by people. After all, he had not personally harmed anyone in the Song family. No one in the Song family died directly because of Yao Shengan.

“In those days, there were actually a lot of such regrets. I don’t deny that I was really a coward at the beginning. Because I was also reported by others, I thought about ‘making up for my crimes with meritorious services’ and let myself live a little better. In fact, in those days, there were also many people like me. We were both perpetrators and victims.” In front of all the media reporters, Yao Shengan said sincerely and frankly: “I admit that it is my cowardice that indirectly caused the tragedy of the Song family. Today, I am willing to apologize to the Song family for my mistakes back then.”

When Yao Shengan said this, he bowed deeply. Then his tone changed: “However, the Sheng’an Group has been established for so many years, including Yao myself, we have been shouldering the social mission of greater ability meaning greater responsibility, and have taken keen interest in charity. For so many years, towards the number of Hope Primary Schools, Sheng’an Group has donated a total of…..the charitable funds donated have totaled…..”

“I believe that the good deeds done by Sheng’an Group will not be discounted by my actions in those years. The good deeds I have done will not change in nature because of the mistakes of the past. In this life, can one not make any mistakes? I hope that everyone can acknowledge the wealth created by the Sheng’an Group for society as well as the job positions provided, and have more tolerance and understanding for Yao. I, Yao Shengan, once again declare that I will spend my lifetime on philanthropy and contributing to society.”

As soon as this interview came out, some netizens were immediately persuaded.

“I feel that Chairman Yao is right. That era was very special. Chairman Yao just succumbed to the times and made choices that most people would make. As the saying goes, ‘look out for yourself, or heaven and earth will combine to destroy you’. Just how many people can stand up and be a hero when facing danger? Anyway, if it was met, I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

“The tragedy of the Song family is the sorrow of the times. Of course, there are indirect factors from Yao Shengan, but Yao Shengan did not personally kill anyone, nor did he violate the law. Moreover, the Sheng’an Group has really been keen on charity for so many years. There is a Hope Primary School in my hometown and it was donated by the Sheng’an Group. The road from our village to the town was also donated and built by the Sheng’an Group. One person did one wrong thing and did 10,000 good deeds. How could it be because of this one wrong thing those ten thousand good things are obliterated?”

“When I watched the program “Life in the Market” when it first came out, many netizens were infected by the program and they were calling for boycotts of restaurants and hotels owned by the Sheng’an Group. The shops where business had been so prosperous that there were very long lines outside, now have no one entering. And in so many days, the stock price of Sheng’an Group has plummeted by nearly 10%. Even if it is punishment, this should be enough, right?”

That Yao Wenxiao could be hailed by the media as “the most promising young talent in Shanghai, the most anticipated business genius of this century”, naturally had his abilities. At least in matters other than Shen Yu, Yao Wenxiao was still quite capable.

A simple press conference, coupled with the constant misleading of the public carried out by the FlyNews accounts, instantly reversed the situation of “being universally condemned” created by Tao Mu.

Fortunately, Tao Mu, who had experienced his previous life, had long been familiar with all of Yao Wenxiao’s methods. After Yao Wenxiao triumphantly made his first move, Tao Mu’s response followed soon after.

Tao Mu once again broke the news that Yao Shengan was not reported on at all, but coveted the Song family’s ancestral recipe book and took the initiative to “expose and report against” the Song family. He found witnesses who still remembered the old events of that time and even directly participated in the whole thing and pointed out that Yao Shengan led a group of people to smash the Song family’s ancestral hall, and took advantage of the chaos to spirit away the Song family’s ancestral recipe book.

Evn to this day, the recipe book passed down in the Song family was still being detained by Yao Shengan. Yao Shengan spoke earnestly at the press conference, saying that he would apologize for his actions back then, but he never mentioned this ancestral recipe book. It could be seen that the apology that was mentioned was just an act. There was no sincerity at all.

In addition, Tao Mu also told FlyNews Entertainment to reveal that Yao Shengan had been targeting competitors for many years in order to get Sheng’an Group to gain a foothold in Shanghai, including instigating kitchen staff at competing restaurants to add medicine to the dishes and cause food poisoning to the diners. The restaurant had its reputation damaged and went bankrupt to compensate the customers and finally had to close down. However, Yao Shengan took the opportunity to buy the other restaurant at a low price. There were also other such nasty methods.

Tao Mu was forced out of the entertainment industry by Yao Wenxiao in his last life. But he had never been a person who sat around resigned to his fate, and naturally he would find someone to secretly investigate Yao Wenxiao and even the black materials of the Sheng’an Group. Yao Shengan was able to betray his teacher and benefactor back then, cruelly causing the death of the shifu who had raised him just for a recipe book, which showed that this person was not a good person at all. Yao Shengan’s success was not found upon righteousness, and had tasted the sweetness of crooked ways. Naturally, he would not stop using dirty methods.

Tao Mu found a lot of illicit materials about the Sheng’an Group. However, he was blacklisted from the Internet by Shen Yu’s admirers in his previous life, and there was no platform to speak on. In addition, his own image was very bad, and no one believed his words at all. On the contrary, the Sheng’an Group managed to wipe out these old things because of his actions that inadvertently alerted them. Basically, they used money to eliminate disasters, exchange benefits, and dropped heavy money in exchange for the forgiveness of the victims’ family.

The family members of the victims no longer mentioned the events of the past, and others naturally had no position to pursue them.

In this life, Tao Mu used the foresight of hisnrebirth to preemptively expose the black materials of the Sheng’an Group when FlyNews had the most presence and best reputation. He contacted several catering groups that had lost in the competition with Yao Sheng’an and had to move to other provinces but had preserved their strength, and jointly sued the Sheng’an Group. And they also applied to the court for property preservation measures to freeze the bank account of Sheng’an Group——

Tao Mu instigated those catering groups to sue Sheng’an Group in order to freeze the account of Sheng’an Group and cut off the capital flow of Sheng’an Group. As for whether the lawsuit was won or lost, no one cared at all.

Sure enough, the huge capital flow of Sheng’an Group was immediately cut off by this method. Coupled with the frequent scandals, Sheng’an Group’s stock market prices had also plummeted, the stocks having dropped to their limit down price within a few days and forcing Yao Shengan to apply to the Shanghai Stock Exchange for trading suspension.

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

Tao Mu also did not let go of the few FlyNews accounts under Yao Wenxiao. Direct evidence proved that these FlyNews accounts were all water army raised by Yao Wenxiao. These water army accounts misled the public and spoke for the Sheng’an Group on the Internet, deliberately inducing the direction of public opinion. The pitiful netizens were once again played for a fool.

The kind-hearted netizens who were originally genuinely defending the Sheng’an Group once again felt the heartache of having their IQ treated with contempt. Under such grief and anger, a part of the netizens instantly went from passersby to antis and spared no effort in hating on the Sheng’an Group.

TN: Normally I dislike splitting chapters but this one is just too long to translate in one sitting. TBH, even though I chose to translate VCF and it is one of my favorite BLs, I have to agree with the reviews on NU that says VCF can be full of tedious and unnecessary details at times with long paragraphs and chapters. This flaw is even more obvious when translating it. But I’m the one who chose to translate it so even if brain cells die along the way I gotta finish it ╮(╯ ∀ ╰)╭

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

He had originally wanted to bide his time with making a move, so as not to inadvertently alert the enemy and let the fish break out of the net, but he didn’t expect that under the packaging of Zhang Dafu, Tao Mu actually became a golden age white lotus. Tao Mu really didn’t know what to say anymore.

However, in the previous life, Tao Mu had suffered from his image being smeared and everyone hating on him. So naturally, in this life, he was too lazy to set up an image again, especially the ridiculous image of a “golden age white lotus”. So he immediately explained to the reporters: “I have no intention to be the holy father white lotus. The reason why I did not announce the evidence as soon as I received it was because my family and I agreed that we should not let go of the master behind the scenes. Tao Haiguo and his wife wantonly smeared my name for money, even instigating netizens to commit cyberbullying against me. But the master behind the scenes is even more hateful. Relying on the fact that they have money, they just do whatever they want——of course, the rich can do whatever they want, but adults must also bear the consequences for acting however they please.”

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

“Taking this opportunity, I must also call on some netizens to be mindful when eating melons and watching a show, don’t just do whatever others say. Being used as a gun is not something to be proud of or to show off. This can only prove that some spectators have insufficient IQ and need to pay for a recharge, but this is not the reason for you to attack others unscrupulously on the Internet. Great men have also said that if you have not done an investigation yourself, then you have no right to speak. Everyone has gone to school. Who has not taken a political class for a few years? It’s not a problem to have a bad brain, but if you know your brain is bad and yet you are willing to go around biting people everywhere, then there is a problem. So don’t rush to express your opinion when you are eating melons and watching a show in the future, and especially do not be so eager to shirk responsibility every time something happens. It’s the 21st century, and we must try to be a rational and objective spectator. After all, before we learn the truth, no one will point a gun at your head and force you to type out so much viciousness, cursing someone’s 18 generations of ancestors, right?”

“It’s your choice to hurt others with words to vent your emotions, so don’t put on the face that you’ve been blinded by others and are also a victim after the truth has come to light. Stupidity is not your fault, but relying on the fact that you are as stupid as a pig to hurt others unscrupulously, now that is your fault.”

“Of course, in any case, I also want to thank all the netizens who have been passionately devoted to the previous verbal battles. After all, your presence has brought a lot of traffic to FlyNews.com. It also makes FlyNews’ advertising sponsors very satisfied. From this point of view, you scolding me is indeed for my own good. So I willingly and voluntarily let myself be spat on the face.”

“Next time, if there is such a thing, everyone can just go ahead and scold me, don’t worry about my emotions. After all, if you scold me some more, I will be able to get tens of millions more next time I recruit advertisers. In this way, it can indirectly be considered as your reparations for the damage to my mental health.”

If the poisonous tongue also had a rating standard, Tao Mu’s poisonous tongue was probably at the level of a full level grand slam.

Not to mention the netizens who saw this interview, even the media accounts and outlets that still had a part of their conscience, but had still reposted frantically for traffic during the previous incident of Tao Haiguo’s slander against Tao Mu, felt…..like they could deeply sympathize._(:з) ∠)_

Compared with tens of millions of sales and advertising expenses, what did the face matter! Not a damn! Scold however you like, scold loudly, scold out a rhythm and scold out a style. If you don’t scold, you’re not from China!

The netizens of all walks of life who followed the entire matter all the way to eat melons instantly hahaha, they really admire Tao Mu’s frank cheekiness on his attitude towards making money. Others also expressed that Tao Mu was indeed worthy to be the most inspirational idol in their hearts, and that he could endure the pain that ordinary people couldn’t bear in order to succeed. Some people climbed to Tao Mu’s FlyNews account and queued up to leave a message.

“The boss can just go ahead and scold me, don’t worry about my emotions. After all, if you scold me 30 more times, I will be able to get thousands of dollars when the salary is paid at the end of the month. Anything extra will be considered the year-end bonus you give me.”

“First party daddy can just go ahead and scold me, don’t worry about my emotions. After all, if you scold me a few more times, I will be able to sign hundreds of thousands more when we sign the contract next time. It can indirectly be considered as my hard work fee.”

“Programming apes can just go ahead and scold me, don’t worry about us product manager’s emotions. After all, if you scold me a few more times, you will improve a few more functions next time you hand over your work. It can indirectly be considered as giving the company money.”

“Mom can just go ahead and scold me…..”

“The teacher can just go ahead and scold me…..”

Soon, various versions of the “just go ahead and scold me” tag were created under the entertaining spirit of netizens. Netizens who followed the trend were queuing up everywhere, adding a lot of traffic to FlyNews. Even Gao Yonghuai, the boss of Weibo, joined in the excitement.

He wrote this in his Weibo account——

“You all can just go ahead and scold me, don’t worry about my emotions. After all, if you scold a few more times, the traffic on Weibo will increase. I don’t need to envy the next-door FlyNews_(:з)∠)_”

He also added a text emoji at the end of the sentence without anyone teaching him.

As a result, the “just go ahead and scold me” tag spread from FlyNews to the Weibo platform, and the entire China Internet suddenly fell into a carnival of “scolding wars”, and everyone felt incredibly joyful and amused.

Of course, some netizens with a strong sense of substitution felt uncomfortable. They felt that Tao Mu was too petty, such a big boss yet he still quibbled with ordinary netizens, what a really bad character——after all, though they scolded him, they also brought traffic to FlyNews. On the one hand, Tao Mu enjoyed the traffic brought by the people scolding him, and also got increased advertising fees for it; while on the other hand, he complained that everyone shouldn’t scold him online before things become clear. This was simply “picking up the bowl to eat, putting down the bowl and scolding his mother.”

“F**k your mother’s shit!” Tao Mu’s diehard fans rage quit: “Do you know how to speak, do you know what is meant by the words picking up the bowl to eat, putting down the bowl and scolding his mother’? No? Then look it up in the dictionary. Is it reasonable for you to curse casually without knowing what the situation is? That is to say, you are all just taking advantage of the anonymity of the Internet, who would dare to do this in real life? It’ll definitely invite a beating!”

“Hey, upstairs, how do you talk? You Tao Mu fans only have this kind of inner quality!”

So there was no doubt that a meaningless war of scolding was set off again.

Meng Qi, who had been paying attention to the development of the whole thing, looked at the background data and several FlyNews accounts who were constantly bouncing around and provoking a scolding war. He frowned and said, “Someone is stirring things up.”

“It should be the water army in Yao Wenxiao’s hands.” Tao Mu sneered. Yao Wenxiao’s Yuxiao Media, in his previous life, liked to stir up trouble and pour dirty water on the Internet, which once caused Tao Mu to suffer quite a lot. However, it turned out there was an advantage to having suffered this much, at least Tao Mu now knew very clearly Yao Wenxiao’s various media methods, and he could easily identify those water armies that belonged to him.

“Have the technical department look up these IPs and send a few people to check it out. It would be best to catch Yao Wenxiao in the act of hiring these water armies to stir up trouble and mislead the public. We are not afraid his movements are big, we are afraid of him not taking any action.” So long as Yao Wenxiao made a move, they could catch Yao Wenxiao’s tail. In the previous life, Tao Mu was fighting alone, so when facing the strong background of the Sheng’an Group and Shen Yu’s huge group of admirers, he had no ability to resist at all.

In this life, he had relatives and friends to protect him, and business partners to help him. Putting aside everything else, just his decade-leading Internet experience would at least give him the ammo to hit back against Yao Wenxiao’s actions.

Meng Qi smiled slightly: “It’s great that you aren’t angry. Da Hui followed Yao Shengan and his confidante assistant, and has obtained evidence that Bi An had private contact with Tao Haiguo and his wife. As for Tao Haiguo’s bank account with the inexplicable one million, we also got the transaction record too. Do you think we should let FlyNews Entertainment break the news on this matter, or throw the clues to other gossip tabloids?”

Tao Mu thought for a while: “Still let FlyNews Entertainment report it. Directly upload news of Bi An’s private contact with Tao Haiguo and his wife to the official account of FlyNews Entertainment, but no need to mention the bank transaction. In my name, formally file a lawsuit against Tao Haiguo and his wife. Let the court investigate the bank accounts of Tao Haiguo and his wife through regular channels. FlyNews Entertainment only needs to follow up on the reporting.”

Tao Mu’s actions were fair and honest. Even if he and the Yao family knew very clearly that he had already obtained evidence that the Yao family used money to buy Tao Haiguo and his wife. However, when the incident was to be officially exposed, FlyNews Entertainment must not take any illegal actions, and in that way there would be no risk of having a weakness being caught by the Sheng’an Group.

——Just don’t know what methods Yao Shengan, the old fox, would prepare for him after seeing his counterattack. He hoped it would not be too easy to unravel, otherwise he would be disappointed.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi exchanged smiles. In the evening, the news that “the personal assistant of the chairman of Sheng’an Group privately contacted Tao Haiguo and his wife” and “Tao Mu formally filed a lawsuit against Tao Haiguo and his wife for defamation” made the headlines of FlyNews Entertainment. At the same time, it was pushed to the featured page by FlyNews.

Netizens who were addicted to eating melons and unable to extricate themselves instantly boiled over. They had a keen sense of smell and could smell the savoury melons.

Many netizens immediately thought of what Tao Mu meant with his words when interviewed by reporters——not announcing the recording at the first possible chance he got was not out of softheartedness, but to catch the master behind the scenes or something.

Now FlyNews Entertainment directly broke the news that “the assistant to the chairman of Sheng’an Group privately contacted Tao Haiguo and his wife”, Tao Mu’s “master behind the scenes” was simply self-evident.

One was an Internet nouveau riche who had a strong presence recently, and the other was an old Shanghai gourmet food corporation. The obvious and head-on collision between the two was no less than the collision of Mars to the earth. There was no doubt that this turmoil would become the biggest melon of the year in 2008.

Melon eating netizens were immediately excited. They flocked into the official account of FlyNews Entertainment to make comments. Some people who stood by Tao Mu thought that the Sheng’an Group was simply too overbearing for repeatedly targeting Tao Mu and FlyNews; and there were also some people who thought that Tao Mu must have provoked the Yao family first, otherwise, with the capital background of the Sheng’an Group, how could they lower themselves to repeatedly target FlyNews and Tao Mu, a child who just turned eighteen years old?

As soon as this suspicion appeared, it was refuted by Tao Mu’s fans and passersby and melon eating netizens. Netizens who often browse gossip on the Internet still remember the old melon that happened a few months ago, in which Yao Wenxiao bribed a dozen media outlets to spread rumors that Tao Mu was an MB at Night. At that time, Tao Mu and Yao Wenxiao didn’t know each other yet Yao Wenxiao did this kind of thing because of jealousy. He also didn’t repent afterwards and hired thugs to beat up the person who helped Tao Mu investigate the matter, leading to being detained by the police for 15 days.

——It was clearly Yao Wenxiao who was the first to act like a mean and lowly person, so what did it have anything to do with Tao Mu? Later, Yao Wenxiao’s grandfather also got involved and asked his assistant to use the money to bribe Tao Haiguo and his wife to spread the rumors that Tao Mu abused his adoptive younger brother at the age of five. The styles of grandfather and grandson were obviously in the same line, which showed that the Yao family’s style was like this.

Tao Mu’s fans’ rebuttals were well-founded and reasonable, easily persuading new melong eating netizens who didn’t know what happened in the old melons. The accounts that had been clamoring “conspiracy theories” and “it takes two people to start a dispute theory” really couldn’t mislead the public at all, but they were also reluctant to give up on the generous bonus so they could only go back to repeating themselves. This not only did not have any effect, but also caused netizens to become annoyed.

At this time, one could see the usefulness of creating FlyNews. In the last life, Yao Wenxiao was backed by Sheng’an Group and Yuxiao Media, and also befriended major media and social platforms in the circle, practically controlling all the channels for speech and vocalization, slandering Tao Mu without any resistance. In this life, Tao Mu relied on FlyNews to make the first move, and directly exposed all the shameless little tricks used by the Sheng’an Group behind the scenes.

This time the villain became the Sheng’an Group. Don’t know what emotions Yao Wenxiao felt when he looked at the curses and scolding made against him by all the netizens.

As the scoop provided by FlyNews continued to deepen, other entertainment media in the circle followed the trend and reported the incident. In fact, even before the court investigated the bank account of Tao Haiguo and his wife in accordance with the procedures, there were gossip newspapers who managed to obtain Tai Haiguo’s account information from some unknown channel.

The extra one million balance that appeared out of thin air was like cold water falling into a hot oil pan, which instantly aroused the enthusiasm of netizens to continue eating melons.

Yao Wenxiao was not the only one who knew how to find accounts to stir up trouble and lead the public where they wanted. Tao Mu also had people set up FlyNews accounts to raise questions online——

“What’s the matter with this Sheng’an Group? Before, it was the grandson, but now it’s the grandfather. Why won’t their family let go of Mr. Tao?”

“Looking at this kind of step by step attack, I’m afraid that they want nothing more than to slap Tao Mu to death. I keep feeling that the Yao family’s actions are not as simple as ‘beating the grandson and attracting the grandfather’?”

“Could there be some inside story?”

At the beginning, there were only a few such questions. But because the matter involved Tao Mu, the currently popular CEO of FlyNews, and Shanghai’s Sheng’an Group, an old and well-known gourmet family. And of course, the gossip revelations of wealthy families had always been the favorite of ordinary people who ate melons. So this kind of speculation was like a sprout of leeks that popped up after being blown by the spring breeze.

A prairie fire started instantly from these single, spotted sparks. Just when the curiosity of all melon eating netizens reached its peak, the food network documentary “Life in the Market: Food for the People”, prepared by FlyNews, finally aired its first episode.

In the words of the two old artists, Bai An and Pu Lincang, this was a show that was unpretentious and full of humanistic feelings.

Under the close-up of the camera, the rapidly developing Beijing seemed to have gone back to another period of time and space. The quaint alleys with blue bricks and black tiles, the sounds of all kinds of hawking and shouting at the farmer’s markets, porters carrying burdens, craftsmen who sharpen scissors and kitchen knives, and grandfathers who squeezed clay figurines and painted sugar paintings at the entrances of the alleys. Every morning when it was barely even light outside, the owner of a small restaurant who always wore a cloth tunic went to the vegetable market to personally select the freshest ingredients.

A picture of life in the market, full of ink and color, was slowly unfolding in front of the camera.

The old courtyard house, the study room covered with sunlight, the recipes on the gilded rice paper written in old classical calligraphy, the complicated procedures, the colorful, fragrant, and exquisite dishes that caused people to drool uncontrollably. Neighbors from the neighborhood who stopped at the Song Ji small restaurant to eat every day, the historical anecdotes as well as the stories behind the various dishes that concern the various conditions of life slowly being recounted by the owner.

The origin of Song Ji, its past glory and current desolation, and even the regretful life of the owner of the small restaurant, immediately aroused the feelings of all netizens.

Many netizens expressed that “Life in the Market” launched by BulletScreen.com had become the best aid in invoking their appetite while eating meals. Many netizens living in the capital directly found Houhai Song Ji Restaurant and tasted the dishes made by Mr. Song and were instantly in love.

Just when the entire network became occupied by the food promotion documentary launched by BulletScreen.com, Tao Mu also replied to some of the previous speculations of some netizens on his FlyNews account: “Yes, we and the Yao family are not only new enemies, but also have old grudges.”

He directly broke the news that the ungrateful apprentice mentioned by Grandpa Song on the show was actually Yao Shengan, the founder of the Sheng’an Group.

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

This was originally an abandoned baby who was kindly adopted by Mr. Song’s father who then proceeded to patiently pass on his craftsmanship to this child. In the end, this child coveted the Song family inheritance and caused the destruction of the Song family. He then relied on the craftsmanship taught to him by the Song family to establish Shanghai’s Sheng’an Group, becoming Chairman Yao Shengan.

This time, the truth had been revealed, and the sword was now pointed at Yao Shengan!

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