China’s adoption procedures were actually very troublesome. However, the conditions for adopting orphans, disabled children, or abandoned infants and children raised by social welfare institutions whose biological parents could not be found, also happened to be very liberal. The adopter was only required to be at least 30 years old. Liu Yao was thirty-nine years old this year, and Meng Qi was three years younger than him, so both of them met the age requirements for adopters. Moreover, the two of them were a married same sex couple and would not have children 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 )

The most important thing was that the adoptee Tao Mu had already reached the age of eighteen. According to the law, he was already a person with full capacity for civil conduct, and independently enjoyed civil rights and the undertaking of civil obligations. This meant that even if Liu Yao adopted Tao Mu, the two parties would not have any moral and legal risks due to the adopter’s sexual orientation.

So in order to go through the adoption procedures, only the agreement of both parties was needed in order to submit an adoption application to the orphanage, and then go to the adoption registration office to go through the relevant registration procedures, and finally make a stop at the local police station to register for a permanent household registration.

It was much simpler than adopting a child under 14 years old.

But even so it still took a full week for the three of them to go through all the procedures.

On the day the new household registration book was issued, Tao Mu was in a silly and happy state for a long time as he held the freshly minted household registration book. Slender fingers flipped back and forth between the front page and the page marked with all family members, and from time to time they would turn to a separate page with his own information listed on it. It stated the name Tao Mu, gender male, and his relationship with the head of the household…..

A thin book of about 143 mm long and 105 mm wide, was fumbled repeatedly by Tao Mu, almost even tearing it apart.

Tao Mu did not have his own household registration book. The children who grew up in the orphanage had only their own ID cards, but no household registration books. The household register of all orphans was registered on the collective household register of the orphanage. It was like a university student could put his household register under the university they attended.

Tao Mu did not move his household register when he returned to the Shen family in his last life. Don’t know if the original book’s plot halo was overly Mary Sue and made everyone ignore this, or for some other reason. Anyway, the Shen family didn’t mention ever transferring his household register. Tao Mu himself mentioned it once only to be ridiculed by Shen Yan who said that he “just returned to the Shen family and couldn’t wait to determine the separation of the family property without even recognizing the faces of everyone in the family yet” and that he “looked forward to the early death of his parents”. After that, this matter ceased to be brought up, and even until Tao Mu was later driven out of the Shen family, Tao Mu’s name was still never listed on the Shen family’s household registration book.

Until his death in his last life, he still had the extravagant hope that he could return to the Shen family again and be accepted by the Shen family. Therefore, even if he was kicked out by the Shen family, he never thought about setting up a separate household registration book. Even if he later bought his own property and villa in Shanghai, his household register was still linked to the collective household register of Shanghai University. Even if he had graduated, the school did not urge him to move his register out of the university’s collective one. Don’t know if that was the effect of the plot halo, making everyone forget about this, or because of other reasons.

It was worth mentioning that when Tao Mu drove Shen Yu out of the Shen family in his previous life, he did not propose to move Shen Yu’s household register from the Shen family. So until his death, Shen Yu’s household register remained with the Shen family. It was funny to think about it now. As the biological son of the Shen family, he wasn’t even worth a household register. But the cuckoo who occupied the nest overtly and without making any secret of it stayed on the Shen family’s household register and even the Shen family genealogical record.

It was no wonder that when Tao Mu made things difficult for Shen Yu, the old friends of the Shen family all stood forward to stop him. He had believed that it was because Shen Yu’s charm was indeed great, but now that he thought about it, it was clear that the attitude of the Shen family was too obvious, and everyone was happy to do such a simple favor for the Shen family.

After reliving his life, Tao Mu spent 30 to 40 years and finally got his own household registration book. When he went onto the household register, Liu Yao carefully asked him if he wanted to change his surname or something——Liu Yao didn’t mean anything else. He just wanted to tell Tao Mu that no matter what the surname of their little pup was, he still regarded Tao Mu as his son and in the future, Tao Mu was responsible for his retirement support. He would also hand over all the family property to Meng Qi and Tao Mu to inherit——it was to be a formal, legally recognized family relationship.

But after thinking about it for several days, Tao Mu decided not to change his surname. He was Tao Mu, neither Shen Mu nor Liu Mu. He was just himself. From now on, he would never hurt himself because of those people who didn’t even care about him.

Since he didn’t manage to live with a clear head in his previous life, he would relive it again in this life. An upright man changed neither his name nor surname. He wanted to use the name Tao Mu and relive his life with a clear head.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi recognized Tao Mu the person as their son, and did not pay much attention to Tao Mu’s name. Whether Tao Mu was Liu Mu or not, so long as it was his person then it was alright. So they did not waste any more time, and simply and directly put his name on the household registration book. From the police station, Liu Yao drove his Grand Cherokee, the co-pilot sitting Meng Qi as usual, and their freshly baked precious son in the backseat. The family of three drove straight to Song Ji.

Old man Song personally cooked, and almost didn’t make a full banquet table. There were nearly thirty dishes in a dazzling array, all of which Tao Mu liked to eat. Dean Tao, Feng Yuan, and the two workers in the restaurant helped out in the kitchen. Qin Miaoru and her brothers also helped.

——When Qin Miaoru came to Beijing, Tao Mu specially took them to Song Ji for a welcome reception. At that time, Qin Miaoru had taken a fancy to Houhai and felt that this place was full of the bustle of human life and friendly atmosphere. Even the cries of hawkers out on the streets and alleys heard every morning were particularly interesting. So she slapped her thigh and began to look around in Houhai, finally renting a three-story shop on the street two alleys away from Song Ji to open an Internet cafe. The business was also quite booming.

Moreover, Qin Miaoru and the others were quite a crowd, and they were also passionate and lively. Knowing the relationship between Tao Mu and dean Tao and old man Song, they liked to run over here when they had nothing else to do. Especially as it was October, when every household began to pickle cabbages, potatoes, radishes, and sauerkraut. Qin Miaoru had her burly brothers come to the orphanage and Song Ji to help out. Occasionally, they would also stay the night in the courtyard houses of Song Ji when it got too late. There were many rooms in the old man’s house anyway.

Later, the group of people simply connected the network cable to the old man’s courtyard residence, and even forced him to learn how to play games online. They also found him a few online chess games saying that “When you can’t find a chess friend, just play two games with netizens, lest you become bored.” If the old man didn’t like it, they would persist like sticky candy until the old man accepted these new things.

Old man Song was so annoyed that he wanted to raise the broomstick and beat this group of people out.

When Tao Mu was smeared by a dozen media outlets bought by Yao Wenxiao, the old man just learned how to type in Pinyin. Seeing someone scolding their little pup on the Internet, he registered a FlyNews account in anger overnight, and used his one-finger typing speed to launch a verbal battle against the other. After the other party already typed out a hundred sentences, he could barely finish a single sentence. This vexed the old man so much he began to curse in Beijing dialect. It truly let Qin Miaoru and gang experience the essence of Beijing style cursing.

Qin Miaoru immediately directed her group of brothers and the netizens who came to the Internet cafe, according to the favorable discount of helping to scold for an hour earning them another hour for free playing. Using the old man’s style of scolding, they fought the antis online for three days and three nights. Soon their Internet cafe even became famous after the scolding battle!

With such a comrade-in-arms-like friendship, the old man’s attitude towards Qin Miaoru and gang also eased a lot. The lonely old man finally got used to these noisy damn kids. He even shut down Song Ji for a few days and found a construction team to redecorate several wing rooms in the courtyard residence. Not only was the network cables connected, air conditioning and heating was also installed. The doors and windows, tables and chairs that the old man refused to repair despite them lacking arms and legs were now all repaired. The windows were replaced with new glass, and dim old light bulbs were replaced with new ones and covered with lampshades. Finally, with a cold face, he rented out a few wing rooms to Qin Miaoru and the gang——lest this bunch of young men and one girl could only squeeze into the private rooms of the Internet cafe to sleep. It really was not a proper way to live.

So when Tao Mu came back to the courtyard residence, he was pleasantly surprised to find that the courtyard was more livelier than before. In the formerly empty front yard, which made people feel empty when seeing it, there were all kinds of messy things lying about, all of which Qin Miaoru and the others had brought from the Internet cafe, and had not had time to arrange. The autumn sun poured down from the cracks between the branches of the lush old locust tree, and the whole yard was golden and warm, the whole place feeling more lived in than before.

He hooked up the corners of his mouth and gave Qin Miaoru a particularly pleased look——it was really worth it for him to pull Qin Miaoru from H Town to Song Ji. Sure enough, their old man liked this bunch of rough-and-ready, coarse types who were more likely to follow the code of righteousness than those clever “proper” folks.

While everyone was not paying attention, Qin Miaoru approached Tao Mu and lowered her voice: “My internet cafe opened for a month and earned more than 100,000 yuan. The money you lent me to open the internet cafe, should I pay back some of it first?”

“No.” Tao Mu waved his hand quietly. He originally brought Qin Miaoru and gang out of H Town, on the one hand, because he valued Zhang Fei’s talent, and on the other hand, he valued Qin Miaoru’s character and integrity. Of course Tao Mu also knew that it was difficult to make a living in the capital. So as soon as Qin Miaoru arrived in Beijing, Tao Mu lent one million yuan to Qin Miaoru. No matter what business Qin Miaoru wanted to do in the future, there would always be a million yuan to rely on: “I am not in a hurry to spend money. Your Internet cafe has just opened and needs working capital, lest something happens and you don’t have the funds to solve it.”

“By the way, you opened the Internet cafe in Houhai, right. Have you taken care of all official procedures and everything?” Tao Mu asked again. The business of operating an Internet cafe was not the same as other businesses, and one must understand what needed to be taken care of.

“Don’t worry.” Qin Miaoru smiled and patted Tao Mu on the shoulder: “Brother Yao helped us very much. With him, things are much easier. It’s easier than when I first went to H Town.”

Tao Mu knew Liu Yao’s abilities and connections so he nodded immediately, and suddenly realized: “You can’t call him brother Yao now.”

“Huh?” Qin Miaoru was confused, and then she reacted instantly, and said with a mischievous smile: “Then I will change it to uncle Yao in the future?”

Tao Mu smiled and gave Qin Miaoru a “you got it” look, and then entered the room.

“What are you whispering outside? The food is getting cold.” The old man glared at Tao Mu with an annoyed look: “Not even active when eating, hurry up and wash your hands.”

“Ai~” Tao Mu answered in a happy tone, and ran off to wash his hands. When he came back, he personally poured wine for the old man, dean Tao, Liu Yao and Meng Qi. When he attempted to pour it for Feng Yuan, Feng Yuan took the wine bottle. The child first poured a glass for Tao Mu, and then one by one he poured down the table until everyone’s wine glasses were full.

Liu Yao raised his glass with a flushed and happy face: “Today is a day of great joy for our family of three. Thank you, old man, for taking care of this meal for us. You have worked so hard. I also thank everyone for helping us. I represent our family of three to make a toast to everyone.”

Everyone toasted and drank together with smiles. It was just that when drinking, the old man sighed a little: “I wanted to adopt this stinky boy early on. At that time, he was still small, and because of the previous incident, he refused to be adopted. Saying that he didn’t want to be abandoned by adoptive parents again. So I never mentioned it again. It seems that we have no father and son fate.”

The old man’s remarks were full of bitterness. Immediately the table full of festive people quieted down. Everyone looked at each other, and dean Tao couldn’t help but console: “Don’t think like this. We all know this child, Tao Mu, is kind and righteous. Even if you are not recognized as a father by him, he will not forget your kindness to him.”

Old man Song sighed silently. Of course he knew Tao Mu’s disposition. But without this level of relationship, it was still lacking something after all. Maybe like a fortune teller said earlier in his life, he was fated to be lonely and bring misfortune to everyone close to him, killing his wife and son and destined to die alone.

Tao Mu couldn’t bear it anymore. He picked up the bottle and poured a glass of wine. He walked to the old man and then bent his knees and knelt down suddenly: “Old man, I know you are very good to me. I, Tao Mu, was an ungrateful wretch before. But not anymore. If you believe me, I will treat you as my grandfather, my dear grandfather from now on. I will definitely support you in the future and provide for you in old age.”

After finishing talking, before Song Daozhen could react, he kowtowed three times, knocking his forehead to the floor.

Song Daozhen was stunned. After being frozen for a long time, trembling hands took the wine glass in Tao Mu’s hand, and before it was even brought to his mouth, practically half of the wine in the shaking glass was spilled out. The old man’s eyes reddened, and tears fell into the wine glass. The old man drank the wine mixed with tears in one gulp.

“Good! Good!” Song Daozhen clenched the wine glass with one hand and patted his thigh fiercely, unable to say another word.

This time it was Liu Yao sitting on the sidelines who felt conflicted. The nearly forty-year-old big man looked at his freshly baked precious son with melancholy. His precious son hadn’t even called him dad yet, but he first recognized a grandfather for himself.

However, they all knew the relationship between Song Daozhen and Tao Mu. So even if he was jealous, he was unable to voice it. Coupled with the fact that both Liu Yao and his wife also knew about Song Daozhen’s past, it was inevitable to feel slightly sad when seeing the old man holding back tears at this moment.

It was not easy to be alone for so many years.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi sighed, and saw Tao Mu pouring two more glasses of wine and kneeling before them. Before he even spoke, Tao Mu himself could not help but flush red. Even after a few days of mental preparation, this kind of change was still embarrassing.

Tao Mu took a deep breath and shouted, “Dad, have a drink.”

Liu Yao froze immediately and then let out a shiver. It was Meng Qi who reacted first, took the glass of wine that Tao Mu poured Liu Yao, drank it contentedly, and responded loudly, “Ai, my good son.”

As he spoke, he took out the red envelope that he had prepared for a long time from his pocket——Meng Qi thought at the time that if Tao Mu called him dad, it would be a name-changing fee. If he was too embarrassed to change the way he called them, it would be just a normal red envelope. In any case, there must be such a ceremony anyway. After all, for such a festive event as recognizing a son, there must be a red envelope.

Liu Yao didn’t react until Meng Qi finished up all the wine. He glanced aggrievedly at Meng Qi——only for Meng Qi to look back with a smile. He instantly rubbed his nose and remained silent.

Alright then. I am the head of the household on the household registration book, while you are the head of our family. It makes sense to toast you first.

Liu Yao comforted himself, stretched out his hand to take the wine glass that Tao Mu handed him and drank it. He then gave Tao Mu a red envelope as well.

When everyone saw this, they clapped their hands with a sense of ceremony. Dean Tao looked at the happy family of three, and joked with Song Daozhen, who was holding his tears and emotions back: “You see how suitable you are. Earlier, if you adopted Xiao Mu, you could only adopt one son. Now how good it is, you even have two sons along with a grandson. There are three generations of family members you have here. I hope that the fourth generation will come along soon.”

Liu Yao, who had just taken a gulp of the wine, had not even had time to be thankful that he had become a father: “…..”

Meng Qi, who also became a new father: “…..”

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

Only Tao Mu rubbed his nose with a guilty conscience and lowered his head.

There should be no problem with three generations of family members. But it was difficult to speak of a fourth generation——

After all, he was not going to be having any children in this life_(:з)∠)_

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The police arrived very quickly. FlyNews Entertainment’s reporters also ran up carrying their cameras, seeming to wordlessly say that we will expose you if you continue to make trouble. In the presence of so many people, mother Shen and Yao Wenxiao didn’t want to turn the situation into an even uglier one, so they forced the resentful Shen Yan and the aggrieved Shen Yu, who appeared as if he had been wronged terribly, to leave.

A group of FlyNews employees surrounded Tao Mu: “Mr. Tao, are you alright?”

“Mr. Tao, are you okay?”

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

“Mr. Tao, if you encounter this kind of person again, you should directly report to the police. We normal people have no way to communicate with them. We’d be at a disadvantage.”

The big fellas in the security department also looked frustrated: “Next time they dare to come and make trouble, can we just throw them out? They are also trespassing into the private sector without permission, right? Making trouble in our territory, it’s too arrogant!”

They really didn’t understand why Tao Mu made repeated orders not to let them do it. If this was Night, absolutely no one dared to be so arrogant.

Tao Mu rubbed his temples tiredly: “Thank you everyone. I’m fine. Everyone, you can all go back to work.”

Yun Yi, who had been keeping watch over the National School Beauty And Hunk Selection Competition, also heard of this and came over from the shooting location next door: “How are you, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Tao Mu had already become used to the outrageous style of the Shen family and Shen Yu, as well as Shen Yu’s admirers, back in his previous life. Although he was a little tired at the moment, he was not all that affected.

He quickly brushed it off.

Upon seeing this, Yun Yi smiled and said, “As expected of someone who wants to be an actor, your psychological endurance is good.”

Tao Mu smiled bitterly: “Big brother Yun, don’t tease me. By the way, the recording of the show is going well, right?”

Because Yao Wenxiao bribed the media to discredit him, it even implicated FlyNews and the National School Beauty And Hunk Selection Competition. Although he and Night dispelled the rumors in a timely manner, there were some things that could not pass so easily just because the rumors were dispelled.

“Everything is going well. It’s just the contestants…..” Yun Yi paused slightly, and said, “Some contestants felt very guilty that they had wronged you. At that time, when you were under attack they didn’t stand up to speak for you and even insisted on forfeiting the show. They feel quite embarrassed and want to apologize to you.”

“It’s not their fault.” Tao Mu waved his hand and understood it very clearly: “Everyone originally didn’t know each other well, and we just met together and had the opportunity to work together for a period of time. They neither knew who I am, nor do they know my past. So naturally there is no need to explain anything to me.”

Tao Mu believed that he was not broad-minded, but he was also not a person who liked to quibble over insignificant matters. At best, he had only seen those contestants a handful of times and had a few work related meals. He had no position to ask those people to believe in him, and naturally there was no need for those people to do so. People naturally seek advantages and avoid disadvantages. Everyone was just colleagues, not a relative or friend. So long as they could cooperate with each other in work, there was really no need to demand something like loyalty.

Besides, everyone who Tao Mu really cared about all stepped forward. Liu Yao, Meng Qi, Dean Tao, old man Song, Da Mao, Xiao Pang, Feng Yuan, and even the three roommates in dorm 301 trusted him unconditionally, trying their best to clarify the rumors for him and help him get out of the predicament. Friends like Gou Rixin and Qin Miaoru also called to express concern and care for him. Many of the students of the 2008 Beijing Film class spoke for him on FlyNews. Yun Yi also tried his best to stand up for him and stabilize the overall situation, even delaying classes and his internship at the hospital. Even Long Tianao, that dunce, also went on FlyNews to scold the unscrupulous media and stood on his side. He even arranged for Summer Star Entertainment’s artists to speak for him when being interviewed by the media. He almost even held a press conference.

Li Xiaoheng, who was far away in Country M, also called to ask him if he needed help, and directly mentioned that he was his business partner in an interview for a financial magazine, mentioning his gratefulness for his advice in the futures market.

Although due to time difference and geographical relations, the interview did not cause any sensation in China yet. But Tao Mu was still very moved.

So long as the people around him believed and supported him, Tao Mu didn’t really care what outsiders thought.

What was more, after this incident broke out, many business partners and potential business partners who had exchanges of interests with Tao Mu also stepped up to help him. For example, Luo Xi and Luo Yang, the crew of “Gun King”, who had worked happily with FlyNews Entertainment before, and Chairman Luo, who rarely give interviews to reporters. He actually made a rare log in to his FlyNews account and reprimanded the unscrupulous media for ignoring facts for sales and accused them for wantonly discrediting young and talented entrepreneurs. He also pointed out that some media companies did not know how to improve their own strength, and instead only knew bad behavior such as manipulating behind the scenes and doing unfair business competition.

Gao Yonghuai, the CEO of Weibo, directly criticized the unscrupulous media for disregarding the facts and spreading rumors on his Weibo account, and announced that this greatly embarrassed the rest of the media industry.

It was worth mentioning that Wang Boyuan and Yan Sheng, who were constantly @ by netizens and fans: one said that Tao Mu’s acting skills were really great in a reporter’s interview, and it really delighted him; and the other modestly expressed during a media interview that he look forward to the opportunity to cooperate with Tao Mu. Guo Yaning, the heroine of “Faraway Jianghu” who was not @, also took the initiative to speak out, saying that Tao Mu’s acting skills were indeed not lacking when compared to Wang Boyuan’s, and that during a few times when she acted a scene with Tao Mu she was actually pulled into the scene by him. She also added that Tao Mu’s photography skills were actually better than his acting skills. Then through the media, she asked Tao Mu if he still remembered his promise to help her shoot an MV…..

Before everything even became clear, Guo Yaning’s open statement caused a shock in the entertainment industry. Therefore, some gossip media speculated whether the reason Guo Yaning was so strongly supportive of Tao Mu, who was quite a lot younger than her, was because there was an inappropriate deal between them. All kinds of foul language came forth, and they really casted a shadow on Guo Yaning’s image.

No matter what motive Guo Yaning had, Tao Mu still appreciated that she was able to stand up and speak for him at that time. So after seeing Guo Yaning’s interview, he immediately called to express his gratitude. Guo Yaning replied on the phone that he was welcome. She admitted that the reason she stood up for him was because she was optimistic about Tao Mu, and also to get a wave of attention for herself. On a side note, she also reminded Tao Mu not to forget to help her shoot the MV.

“If you are a man, then don’t go back on your lose word.”

Tao Mu took this matter to heart. So after discussing with Yun Yi about the recording plan for the finals of the “National School Beauty and Hunk Selection Competition”, even if he was still very busy, Tao Mu put aside his business and rushed to Guo Yaning’s studio to thank her in person and discuss the specific matters of shooting the MV.

Guo Yaning wore an evening dress with a bright red and long skirt, as if she was ready to walk the red carpet. In fact, she was indeed about to attend a charity reception. After seeing Tao Mu, she also invited: “I happen to be missing a male companion. Would you like to go with me?”

“No thanks.” Tao Mu smiled bitterly and said frankly: “I have been wrapped in trouble recently and don’t want to show up in public.”

Guo Yaning smiled, pointed her slender finger to Tao Mu, and said to her agent: “This is the talented actor and photographer I told you about. Now it seems that he is also a talented entrepreneur.”

Guo Yaning’s agent was a woman in her forties, with a normal appearance but a very queen-like aura. She wore a classic OL suit with wavy curly hair falling down her shoulders. She particularly appeared like a dominant career woman in the workplace.

“Hello, Mr. Tao.” She took the initiative to reach out a hand to Tao Mu, smiling as she greeted: “I often hear Ya Ning mention you, and your name travels like thunder. Seeing you today, you are indeed young and promising, with an extraordinary bearing.”

“You praise me too much.” Tao Mu said modestly with a humble smile: “I should say sorry for causing such big troubles to Teacher Guo.”

“Only the mediocre do not inspire jealousy. Has anyone in the entertainment industry not been criticized? If one day, Ya Ning did not invoke any interest no matter what she did, then I really would have a headache.” Guo Yaning’s agent was very open-minded. In fact, she had been with Guo Yaning for so many years, promoting Guo Yaning from an unknown little actor to an A-list actress. During that period, Guo Yaning had experienced quite a lot of scolding from the public. If you really take it to heart, how could you make it through your days?

Speaking of this, Guo Yaning’s agent consoled Tao Mu: “Mr. Tao doesn’t have to worry too much, let alone get angry. I think this is a good opportunity for the public to get to know you better. You can also take advantage of this situation to promote FlyNews. In fact, in the entertainment industry, publicizing contentious news is also a way of stirring hype. There are many celebrities who even deliberately flash some flesh while out in public in order to get attention. Compared with these people, your black material is really not all that shocking. What’s more, those black materials are not even real.”

Tao Mu smiled when he heard these words: “Thank you for your nice words. After hearing what you said, I suddenly feel much better.”

Guo Yaning glanced at her agent with a smile, and then at Tao Mu: “Sister Xuan is just happy to see a talent. Would you like to think about it and let sister Xuan be your agent?”

Tao Mu smiled warmly: “Thank you for your kindness, sister Xuan. I’m temporarily mired in mundane affairs, and Beijing Film has school rules that I must follow so I will not be going to join a talent agency or studio within two years.”

Guo Yaning smiled slightly: “Yes, with your current status and ability, you can set up your own studio when you are filming in the future. There is no need to sign with someone else.”

Guo Yaning was also a very clearheaded person, so this topic was stopped there. Instead, the two began to talk about shooting the MV. Guo Yaning told Tao Mu the style and feeling she wanted: “I just like your lens language. I think I am very beautiful under your lens, and possess a special style and aura. As you know, I’m not a professional singer. In director Cheng’s words, I just sing with my face. So my requirements for the MV are quite high. You can see how you plan to shoot it. If you need anything, just mention it, I will cooperate with you on everything.”

Tao Mu looked at the script for shooting the MV provided by Guo Yaning, and went to the recording studio to listen to Guo Yaning’s songs in person, and finally said: “Let me go back and think about it, and I will give you an answer in three days.”

“Okay.” Guo Yaning paused and said with a smile: “Actually, I am not in a hurry. My new album will be released on Valentine’s Day next year, so you have a few months of shooting time. The reason why I called you here so early is because I want to catch some of your current heat. If you don’t mind, can I let my studio make an announcement of this first?”

Tao Mu laughed, he liked Guo Yaning’s straightforward style: “No problem.”

Guo Yaning was able to stand up and speak for Tao Mu when he was smeared by more than a dozen media, which was a great personal risk. Tao Mu would not refuse Guo Yaning’s request even if just to pay back the favor. Besides, Guo Yaning’s studio issuing a cooperation announcement at this time was also advantageous for him.

Coming out of Guo Yaning’s studio, Tao Mu once again received a call from Meng Qi: “Did Shen Yu go to FlyNews to make trouble today?”

Brother Xiao Qi’s voice sounded very exasperated on the phone: “Shen Yu just accepted an interview. He cried to the reporter during the interview, saying that you are very cruel and cold, and that your refusal to accept his apology made him very sad. His sister also said that the employees of FlyNews were extremely violent, accusing them of bullying women and children in large numbers, and even calling the police to throw them out of FlyNews headquarters. Now this newspaper reporter contacted me and asked if I wanted to suppress this interview?”

Tao Mu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on: “Forget it. Don’t pay attention to him. He can just say whatever he likes.” This kind of person, the more you care about him, the more energetic he gets. Anyway, he was not a person who could be reasoned with. So long as Shen Yu’s halo couldn’t affect him, Tao Mu really didn’t want to bother having any contact with this group of people.

Whether they liked to throw dirty water or curse and scold, they could go right ahead. Anyway, it was not as if he hadn’t been smeared or scolded before.

“Okay, I’ll listen to you.” On the phone, Meng Qi didn’t quibble over this. But then the tone of the conversation changed, and he said very solemnly: “Xiao Mu, come over now. Liu Yao and I have very important things to discuss with you.”

Tao Mu’s heart sank and he couldn’t think of what his brother Yao and brother Xiao Qi were going to say to him. He hurriedly had the driver drive to Liu Yao’s house at the fastest speed.

Tao Mu panted from climbing up the stairs in a rush, and when he entered the door, he saw Liu Yao sitting on the sofa in the living room with a fierce expression on his face. The coffee table, which had always been messy and covered with fruits and cups of chrysanthemum wolfberry tea, was now very clean. Only an adoption application was placed on it. Liu Yao stared at the adoption application form murderously as if he was facing a major enemy, holding his breath and concentrating on his dantian. (TN: dantian=point two inches below the navel where one’s qi resides)

Meng Qi, who had always been able to keep his cool in front of people and never exposed too much personal emotions, also rubbed his hands very nervously. The magnetic and gentle voice was stretched taut with nerves like a bowstring: “Tao Mu, your brother Yao and I want to formally propose to adopt you from the orphanage. Do you think it’s okay?”

Tao Mu was stunned.

Before Tao Mu could speak, Liu Yao suddenly said stiffly: “This time, the bastard surnamed Yao bought more than a dozen media to discredit you. Even if we responded in time and took the bastards to court, some people still say things about you working at Night. Those motherfuckers even dare to spread rumors, that I——” Am keeping you!

“So I discussed with your brother Meng Qi. Anyway, for so many years, we have seen you as a son. So how about formalizing the relationship this time. As you know,I and your brother Xiao Qi are gay. In this life we will definitely not have a second child, so we will never abandon you like your first adoptive parents did when they had their own child——”

“Liu Yao, what are you talking about!” Meng Qi raised his voice, interrupting Liu Yao’s blurted out words.

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

He turned his head to look at Tao Mu, who was completely stunned, and his expression gentled as he said patiently: “In short, it can be regarded as a stopgap measure. No matter what suspicions the outside world has about you or Night, as long as our family’s adoption relationship is officially determined, if they dare to talk nonsense, we will take the official adoption forms and sue them one by one. We will definitely not let you feel wronged at all.”

Tao Mu clenched his teeth and squeezed his fists, feeling his eyes stinging. Soon big teardrops began to fall despite himself.

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When Shen Yu found Tao Mu, Tao Mu was currently having FlyNews’ staff upload the number of frames that each contestant appeared in the program to the official FlyNews page of “National School Beauty And Hunk”——because many netizens were questioning the program crew of unfairness, accusing them of giving more shots to a certain contestant than the others.

Tao Mu had anticipated this kind of accusation at the beginning of the filming, so he followed the practice of extreme fans from a certain neighboring country, and had the program crew edit in the post-production, ensuring that the number of frames each contestant showed up in was roughly the same number.

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Netizens who had been paying attention to the National School Beauty and Hunk Selection Competition probably did not expect that the program crew would carry out such a showy operation, and they were all shocked.

“Having watched movies and TV shows for so many years, it is the first time I know what a frame number is.”

“This program crew is ruthless enough. This kind of thing can also be done?”

“Those people before who said that the program crew was unfair and said Tao Mu used power for personal gain to give his friends more shots, stand up now. You questioned the program crew without evidence, you sure are amazing!”

“Looking at the official FlyNews page of the program crew, it turns out that Tao Mu already had this concern when they first recorded the program, so he personally urged them to ensure fairness. And even made extremely strict requirements for the number of frames. What to do, I always feel like my Mu is too cute.”

“For the sake of ratings, most program crews will definitely give more shots to contestants who are strong and liked by the audience. It is also understandable to take care of contestants with backgrounds. Those previous talent shows, the few contestants who signed with the TV station had so many shots they practically occupied half of the show, and I haven’t seen anyone say anything. What FlyNews did is quite rare.”

“Probably because my Mu is not short of money. So he doesn’t care about the background of the contestants and tries his best to ensure absolute fairness.”

“In the words of my Mu, rich and willful.”

“It’s a pity he was an MB…..”

“Why are you bringing this up again! It’s already proven that our Mu was never an MB, Yuxiao Media bribed more than a dozen media to pour dirty water on him. Tao Mu and Night have already taken them to court so why are there people who still don’t believe it? “

“Keeping their eyes open and pretending to be blind. Those who spread rumors only need to open their mouths but those who want to break rumors have to run tirelessly around. But our Mu is handsome, good at acting, talented and rich, simply the standard configuration of a winner in life. He simply doesn’t care about those blind eyed, dirty mouthed and black hearted antis who have nothing to do but smear his name. “

“Some people have a big fan face. I’ll admit Tao Mu is handsome and rich, but how do you tell that he has good acting skills? Just relying on Shen Yu’s unjustified and brainless words?”

“I think Shen Yu must have a particularly good relationship with Tao Mu? This time when Tao Mu was smeared by more than a dozen media, the contestants in the program basically didn’t speak out for him, and some contestants even wanted to forfeit the show in order to avoid suspicion. It was Shen Yu who was the first to stand up to help Tao Mu speak, and I was touched by his sincere words. Whereas on the contrary, Tao Mu usually ignores Shen Yu. I even feel distressed for Shen Yu. Anyway, if I could have Shen Yu as a friend who would speak out for me at such a critical moment, I will definitely spoil him fiercely.”

“Upstairs is Shen Yu’s fan! Sure enough, the fans follow the master, the way they speak is just as corny.”

“Speaking of which, isn’t Yao Wenxiao, the CEO of Yuxiao Media, Shen Yu’s childhood friend? I remember that the day when Shen Yu came to see Tao Mu, it was Yao Wenxiao and Shen Yu’s mother and sister who came with him. Then they should all know each other. So why did the situation get so ugly?”

“!!! What’s this!? Upstairs, tell me everything you know!”

“Actually, there is nothing much to say. So long as you are a native of Shanghai basically everyone knows this. Shen Yu is the youngest son of the chairman of the Shen Group, and Yao Wenxiao is the grandson of the chairman of the Sheng’an Group. The Yao family and the Shen family are originally family friends, Yao Wenxiao and Shen Yu grew up together…..”

“Damn, are these two sick in the head or what! One pays money to smear Tao Mu, while the other jumps around on the Internet to help Tao Mu speak out, these two would happen to have planned this beforehand, would they?”

“Thinking about it carefully. If Yao Wenxiao’s bribery of more than a dozen media outlets was not revealed by the boss of Night, what would happen in the end? Even if Tao Mu and Night took those media outlets to court, it also likely won’t involve Yao Wenxiao. And then with Shen Yu still jumping up and down on the Internet, setting himself an image of a person who is a very good friend. At that time, Tao Mu, who is suffering under the smear campaign of those media outlets, wouldn’t he be very grateful to Shen Yu who spoke out for him?”

“This is to sell Tao Mu and let Tao Mu help them count the money!”

“Fuck, isn’t this too much? A dumb airhead lile Shen Yu can have such a calculating and manipulative side?”

“What’s so impossible about it. Don’t forget that Shen Yu is the youngest son of the Shen Group. A rich second-generation from a wealthy family, what kind of intrigue hasn’t he seen before? Do you really think he is truly a silly white sweet?”

Just when netizens were pondering over conspiring theories, Shen Yu also found Tao Mu who was holed up in the technology department of FlyNews.

“Mu Mu, come out for a while. I have something to tell you.”

Shen Yu stood eagerly outside the technology department. There were two security guards behind him——because Tao Mu specially told them, so even if the two security guards hated Shen Yu, they did not do anything rude.

Tao Mu was afraid that the security guards would be affected by Shen Yu’s halo, and would accidentally meet with misfortune. However, the security personnel of FlyNews mistakenly believed that Tao Mu really regarded Shen Yu as a friend, and they were a little bit angry on Tao Mu’s behalf. These security personnel were all people who had followed Liu Yao over the years. Liu Yao saw Tao Mu as his son, and this group of people also regarded Tao Mu as their nephew, and the relationship was quite close.

“You guys go ahead first.” Tao Mu nodded to the two security guard uncles, and led Shen Yu back to his office, but did not close the door, letting the staff outside secretly listen to what was being said inside: “What do you want to say?”

“Mu Mu…..” Shen Yu plucked up his courage and looked at Tao Mu pitifully: “Can you let Ah Xiao go?”

Before Tao Mu could speak, Shen Yu continued speaking to himself: “I know that Ah Xiao went too far this time and you must be very angry. But I can guarantee that Ah Xiao was definitely not intentional. Just this time, can you let him go just this time, he will not dare to do such a thing anymore.”

“Mu Mu,” Shen Yu stepped forward, wanting to grab Tao Mu’s sleeve, but Tao Mu avoided him. He bit his lip with a look of disappointment: “Can you let him go for my sake? You are all my best friends, and I don’t want you both to be like this.”

Tao Mu suddenly remembered that in his previous life, when he was fighting tit-for-tat against Shen Yu, Shen Yu also stood in front of everyone, and said to him with this same innocent and grievous expression: “Why are you doing this to me? I have already returned dad, mom, brother, and sister back to you and was kicked out of the Shen family’s house by you. I said that I would not fight with you. I just occasionally miss dad, mom, brother and sister, so I secretly stood outside the Shen Group to catch a glimpse of them. You won’t even allow me to do this kind of thing?”

“Tao Mu, why are you so cruel?”

“Yes, because of that accident, you never had the chance to grow up next to your parents. But I have never met my biological parents either. We are both the same. It’s just that I am luckier than you and met good people like dad, mom, brother and sister. I know you hate me deeply because of this. I don’t want to excuse anything. But I must admit that it is precisely because they are so good to me that I can never break it off with them emotionally. Knowing that you are not happy seeing me at the Shen family’s house, I even moved out. What I can return to you has been returned to you. Can’t I even occasionally see Mr. Shen and Mrs. Shen outside and have a talk with them. Can’t you even satisfy such a tiny wish of mine?”

“Mu Mu, can you promise me to forgive Ah Xiao this time?”

The memory receded like a tide, and Tao Mu came back to his senses. He looked at the exact same face in front of him but his mood was very calm.

He was actually very puzzled about one thing, and that was why Shen Yu could always make any request with confidence, no matter whether his request was reasonable or not, whether it would make it difficult for others or not, he could always make his request with such a righteous face.

“What position are you telling me this from?” If it was in the previous life, Tao Mu would likely already be completely overcome by anger when seeing Shen Yu’s expression at this moment. All kinds of bad and hurtful words would spill out, and then this scene would just happen to be seen by Shen Yu’s admirer or the Shen family. Those people would immediately feel distress for Shen Yu and turn the blame on Tao Mu. Then Tao Mu would retort with even more offensive words, and thus fall into a vicious cycle.

But in this life, Tao Mu felt that his psychological endurance was much stronger, and he could even ask such questions calmly.

“What?” Shen Yu didn’t seem to think that Tao Mu would ask him such a question, and he couldn’t help being shocked.

“I mean, what position are you saying this to me from?” Tao Mu repeated patiently: “The person who attacked me first was Yao Wenxiao, and he was the one who accidentally got caught in the act. I just countered passively and let him understand that adults must be responsible for their actions. He did something wrong, violated the law, and should face legal sanctions.”

“But, but I am willing to apologize to you for him?” Shen Yu’s eyes reddened: “He did something wrong and was caught by you. Can’t you forgive him just this once?”

Tao Mu suddenly chuckled.

Yao Wenxiao attacked him and was caught by him. That massive and premeditated smear campaign involved his reputation and the normal life of everyone in Night, causing the thriving FlyNews network to lose hundreds of thousands of registered users and advertising fees worth tens of millions. It also led to Tao Mu being cursed and vilified by those irrelevant people on the Internet using the most vicious words. The two sides quarreled to the point of confronting each other in court. And yet Shen Yu thought he could brush it all aside by apologizing.

In his previous life, his identity was taken by the other. His parents and family made him, a wealthy young master worth billions, to live in such a humble and inferior way. And yet Shen Yu believed that he could solve it by apologizing.

After being kicked out of the Shen family by him, Shen Yu would always appear in the Shen group and wherever the Shen family frequented. He clearly agreed not to meet with the Shen family and disturb his family and his life. However, he repeatedly broke the agreement and was caught by him. After being caught, he would cry and apologize, thinking that the problem could be solved in such a way.

Shen Yu had been this kind of person for both his lifetimes, and he had never changed.

“Not all mistakes can be solved with an apology.” Tao Mu smiled slightly, and he suddenly felt that he who had spent two lifetimes just to reason with someone like Shen Yu, who was not clear in his head, was the one not clear in the head.

“Mu Mu!” Shen Yu looked at Tao Mu hopefully. Tao Mu’s too peaceful attitude gave him hope: “I know you are angry, but I think people should apologize for doing something wrong. Yao Wenxiao was really wrong this time, and I will talk to him about this later. Can you forgive him for my sake this time?”

“No.” Tao Mu said decisively.

Shen Yu’s eyes reddened immediately. He looked at Tao Mu aggrievedly: “Why not? Just because he is my friend? I know that you have never liked me. You refused to let Ah Xiao off, just to punish me, right? Then fine, as long as you promise to let Ah Xiao go then I will do anything you tell me to.”

Tao Mu was instantly dumbfounded. He didn’t understand why Shen Yu suddenly said this. He thought he knew Shen Yu enough. But now it seemed that he still didn’t completely understand Shen Yu’s brain circuit.

“What does this matter even have anything to do with you——”

Before he finished speaking, he was suddenly interrupted by a very high-pitched, shrill scream.

“Tao Mu, what are you planning to do to my little brother?”

Under the blocking of several security guards who tried but did not dare to push too hard, mother Shen, Shen Yan, and Yao Wenxiao barged into Tao Mu’s office angrily.

With an angry expression on her face, Shen Yan hugged Shen Yu who was crying in an extremely aggrieved manner, and glared at Tao Mu: “Tao Mu, you are too despicable. You dared to force my little brother with the matter relating to Yao Wenxiao. Do you really think our Shen family is that easy to bully?”

Yao Wenxiao also looked furious: “Tao Mu, I really didn’t misunderstand you. You are a villain who likes to take advantage of others. The one that found the media to smear you is me. If you have any dissatisfaction, just vent it out on me alone. Don’t even think about taking advantage of Xiao Yu.”

Mother Shen also hugged her son with a distressed look, and leveled complaints at Tao Mu: “Student Tao Mu, I don’t know just how Yu Yu managed to offend you. Back then you were still an unknown little extra in H Town and everyone in the crew looked down on you, but our Yu Yu treated you as a good friend. He even wanted Wen Shijin to sign you and make you a star. Even if you don’t like him, you could at least take into account how much he likes you and shouldn’t treat Xiao Yu like this. Xiao Yu is an extremely innocent child who treats others sincerely, and I don’t want you to hurt him.”

Tao Mu rubbed his temples, feeling a headache building. He felt that facing these people was more energy-intensive than short trading in the international crude oil market.

Already accustomed to the brain circuits and style of Shen Yu and his protectors, Tao Mu himself was not that angry, but the FlyNews employees who had been secretly watching and listening outside couldn’t bear it anymore.

“Mental! Boss, let’s call the police? You can’t talk sense with this group of people. I’ll call the police so let the police and lawyers communicate with them!”

Tao Mu’s newly recruited secretary chick couldn’t restrain herself anymore. She picked up her mobile phone and called the police. While calling, she complained and cursed: “If you are sick, remember to take medicine. Why do you run out into public and make trouble? This is the headquarters of FlyNews, not your home. You really think you are making idol dramas or what? You actually dare to shamelessly ask for forgiveness after doing such a vicious thing. And if we don’t forgive you then we are cruel and vicious. Even people who make idol dramas know that if an apology is useful then what need is there for the police!”

“You are willing to act out melodramas, but our CEO is not willing to accompany you!”

“That’s right! Even if you want to make a TV drama, you don’t have to come to our FlyNews to make it. Our FlyNews headquarters does not provide venues.”

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

“It really disgusts me terribly. Is the Shen family of Shanghai really of this quality? Where is it reasonable to force victims to accept an apology in this world? So, what, if we don’t accept your apology, then the Shen family plans to suppress others with force?”

“It’s a good thing our boss is not an ordinary person. If it was an ordinary person in his place they would not even be able to talk about their injustices after being bullied like this by you!”

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