Seeing Tao Mu holding the phone in his hand without moving for a long time, Wang Boyuan, who had been watching Tao Mu secretly, couldn't help asking, "What's wrong?"
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"It's nothing, I just received a text message." Tao Mu was uncertain whether someone was joking with him, or they really wanted to ask for help. After looking at the call display, the phone number showed that it was also from Town H. Tao Mu thought for a bit and then dialed the phone number back.
It rang twice and was hung up. It was completely turned off the second time he called.
Tao Mu's heart felt heavy so he stood up with his mobile phone: "I'll go out and make a call."
While walking, he quickly scrolled through his personal connections in H Town. With a flash of insight, he found the phone numbers of the three girls he met last week and called them one by one. All of them had their phones turned off.
"No way." Tao Mu muttered to himself and then dialed Da Mao's phone: "Have you seen Yun Duo, Wu Xiaoxuan and Zhang Hanya these days?"
Da Mao was taken aback for a moment: "Who?"
Tao Mu: "….." He had no words to describe his childhood friend.
"It's the three girls we ate dinner with last week." Tao Mu said quickly: "I just received a distressed text message from an unfamiliar phone. The phone number is also from H Town. I called it but no one answered. The second time they completely turned off the phone. I called the three of them again, but none of them could be reached. There wouldn't be any trouble, right?"
"Huh?" Da Mao was taken aback: "No. Didn't they say that they are going to visit the set today?"
"Which crew? Whose set? You guys go ask around. They're all girls, so it's best to make sure they're fine." If something really did go wrong…..
Tao Mu didn't say any further. Da Mao and Xiao Pang were also extremely scared. The key point was that they were not too familiar with those three girls. They just had a meal that night. Actually, those three girls wanted to know Tao Mu but unfortunately Tao Mu was too busy and difficult to meet up with. Da Mao and Xiao Pang wanted to become friendly with those girls, but they complained that it would not be fun for the two of them to be following them around, insisting on "exploring jianghu" by themselves.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang were also not shameless enough to insist on following. Besides, they had to pick up newcomers to H Studio City every day and help them rent a house as well as apply for temporary residence permits and acting licenses. There was just no time and energy at all.
As everyone was from Beijing, Da Mao and Xiao Pang only agreed with the three girls to return to Beijing together on the 24th.
Also, this morning, the girl named Yun Duo called Da Mao and said that she would be joining a fan group to visit a popular male celebrity. She called Da Mao to find out the address of the crew. Da Mao and Xiao Pang felt that nothing would happen if a large group of people went together, so he didn't ask carefully. But now, Tao Mu received such a call for help at the dinner table.
"It's not necessarily the three of them, right?" Xiao Pang still felt disbelief. How could it be this coincidental: "Could it be someone pranking you?"
"It's not impossible." Tao Mu frowned, "But since the text was sent to me, I'd rather believe it just in case." The key was that of the people who had Tao Mu's phone number and also happened to be in H Town, except for those three girls, Tao Mu couldn't think of anyone else who would send this kind of text message.
"Whether it's a prank or not, you guys find a way to find those three girls. It's best if they turned out to be fine." Tao Mu frowned as he reminded them.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang nodded repeatedly. After hanging up the phone, they ran to the hotel where the three girls were staying. But after asking the front desk, the result was that none of the three girls had come back. They then called various places again. But where would they even go to look so late in the evening? Despite the small size of H town, just the temporary population was tens of millions. And there were all sorts of characters around. Those three girls, what if they were really targeted by bad guys?
"Don't tell me something happened!" Da Mao had a forehead full of wrinkles. He then called Tao Mu: "What should we do? We can't find them! Should we call the police?"
It hadn't been more than twenty-four hours since they had disappeared. Besides, Tao Mu just received an unclear text message. Could the police even file a case?
Tao Mu was also uncertain. But he couldn't sit still at the dinner table anymore. He repeatedly apologized for leaving early. The crowd of bigwigs also noticed that something was wrong. Guo Yaning asked what was wrong so Tao Mu relayed the matter. Everyone also became serious.
After all, they were three young girls in their best years. This group of adults also didn't want to see something happen to children.
"I'll also help ask around." Guo Yaning picked up her phone and called her old acquaintances who were still filming in H Town one by one, asking everyone to help find the girls.
Tao Mu had an idea and called Da Mao again and asked him if he had pictures of the three girls.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang did take a group photo on the day they went to pick up the girls. Hearing Tao Mu's question, he quickly sent the photo over.
Tao Mu forwarded the photos to the bigwigs one by one, and the bigwigs forwarded the picture to their respective acquaintances.
At this moment, Tao Mu personally experienced the inconvenience of not having a Wechat group or Wechat friend circle.
Like lightning, Tao Mu's thoughts flashed through his mind, but was immediately overwhelmed by his anxiousness to find the girls.
Cheng Baodong also called the management of H Studio City and asked them to help find the girls.
Tao Mu saw that he couldn't help here, so he ran to the police station to meet Da Mao and Xiao Pang.
The reality was as Tao Mu expected. The report information they provided was too vague, and the police station simply couldn't open the case. But the incident involved three girls, so the police also took it seriously. They promised to let them have a look at the monitor cameras.
Da Mao immediately reported the location of the crew where the three girls were going to visit the set.
Tao Mu followed the two policemen and squatted in front of the monitor and watched for a long time, long enough their eyes became bloodshot. Finally, they saw traces of the three girls on one of the screens.
"It's them!" Da Mao excitedly pointed his finger at the screen: "Mr. Policeman, it's them!"
The policeman quickly paused the video and enlarged it. In the video, the three girls followed a group of other young girls into the Studio City. After more than an hour, the large group of people came out and stood for a while to say goodbye to each other. Then they either took a taxi or took an electric tricycle and left.
The three girls and a fourth girl in a white T-shirt and short tight skirt got on an electric tricycle together. The tricycle was the kind that was a very common blue painted electric vehicle. The camera pixel resolution was not high so it barely recorded the profile of the girl in the short tight skirt and the driver. The police uncle zoomed in on the stop-frame photo of the video for identification. Tao Mu also took a photo of it with his mobile phone and sent it to Gou Rixin, who as a local would be able to help. Then the video continued, the electric vehicle traveling all the way south along the street, turned left at the intersection, and finally entered an alley where the camera would not be able to track.
——China in 2008 did not have cameras everywhere like in the later years. Especially in small places like H Town where only main roads and important places had cameras installed. Anywhere else would not be tracked.
Tao Mu told the police the phone number that sent the message for help. The police checked it and found that it was just an anonymous phone card.
The matter had reached a deadlock so far. Fortunately, Tao Mu immediately received a call from Gou Rixin: "Why are you looking for Qi Laosan? Did he provoke you?"
Tao Mu's heart jumped: "Brother Gou knows this person?"
Gou Rixin: "Sure. We drank together before. A very loyal and righteous person. What's wrong?"
Tao Mu explained briefly and concisely about the SOS message he received: "I'm not looking for that tricycle driver, I want to find those girls riding inside."
"I will call Qi Laosan right away. You wait a bit." Gou Rixin didn't make small talk, and within two minutes of putting down the phone, he returned the call. During this period, Tao Mu also sent Gou Rixin the group picture of the three girls with Da Mao and Xiao Pang.
"Qi Laosan said that they got off in the middle section of Wansheng North Road. Listening to their conversation, it seems that they were heading to a crew to interview as group extras."
"Interviewing group extras in an alley?" Tao Mu raised his eyebrows. Wasn't this nonsense.
"I heard that it was at some hotel or inn or something." Gou Rixin said: "I asked Qi Laosan to come over. Let's go to Wansheng North Road to look around. If we really can't find them then we'll think of another plan."
There was no other way!
Tao Mu and the three rushed to Wansheng North Road after they left the police station. Before leaving, the police uncle who helped them look at the monitors and check the mobile phone numbers also gave Tao Mu his personal contact information: "If you find any clues, please contact us in time."
The police were also investigating the identity of the girl who was with Yun Duo and the other two. But there were too many floating populations in H Town, which made it difficult to investigate.
Tao Mu nodded. Suddenly he remembered something and called Gou Rixin again: "Can you think of a way to find out that woman's information through your group extra connections?"
Because H Studio City had attracted a large number of migrants to come over to work as group extras, coupled with the fact that H Town was increasingly dependent on the tourism industry, the population management of H Town was not strict. If the woman was not a local, and she had not used her ID card to apply for a temporary residence or acting license, the police might not be able to find out the woman's true identity in the system. After all, H Town had always had extras with the habit of using other people's acting licenses to muddle their way through——especially during the times every year when the Actor Union ceased to issue acting licenses.
However, this woman hung out in H Town all day long, and someone would definitely recognize her face. Gou Rixin was one of the older group extras leaders in H Town, with a wide network of contacts and was quite familiar with the area. Tao Mu felt that if someone could find out this woman's information faster than the police, it would be the ones like Gou Rixin who were the local guys.
Human life was at stake so Gou Rixin agreed easily: "Okay. I will immediately send that photo to all the group extras and ask everyone to help."
After putting down the phone, Tao Mu took a taxi to the middle section of Wansheng North Road. Gou Rixin had already arrived with a group of martial arts brothers and Qi Laosan to the intersection of the alley where the girls disappeared.
Gou Rixin's face was very ugly. When he saw Tao Mu, he immediately said, "Things are not so good. Someone in our group recognizes the woman. Da Hei, you explain."
Gou Rixin stretched out his hand to beckon a darkly tanned and thin boy. The boy spoke Mandarin with a thick southern accent and said, "I know this woman. Her name is Xu Jiao. She has been in H Town for more than a year. She was originally a group extra. Later, somehow, she fell in with a bunch of riffraff and started to do MLM."
Tao Mu's heart jumped, Da Mao and Xiao Pang immediately asked: "You mean Yun Duo and the others were deceived into MLM?"
"Not only." Gou Rixin shook his head: "I've heard of those people. Their background is very complicated. It's not just MLM, they also seem to be pimping at nightclubs, and even have some connection with human traffickers." Anyway, what could be related to girls was only that kind of shitty stuff. And that group of people could be considered to have their fingers in all of it.
Tao Mu's heart trembled, and he quickly called the police uncle.
When the police received the call, they took it seriously and immediately opened a case for investigation. They also sent some officers to join Tao Mu.
Gou Rixin had always been enthusiastic about helping out against injustices and was even more anxious than Tao Mu: "Don't wait. We're a big group of people so nothing will happen. Let's go in first."
Group extra leader Gou felt that with the large number of people on their side, there was nothing to be afraid at all. The martial arts brothers who came with him were also eager. Men, who among them didn't have fantasies of being a hero at least once.
At this moment, it had been almost three hours since Tao Mu received the text for help. Tao Mu was also worried about the three girls, but he was even more worried that a large group of people just going in like this would inadvertently alert the enemy.
Gou Rixin disagreed: "If they are well-informed, then they should have already run away when our group goes over. Besides, I posted the photo to our chatroom. I can't promise that someone wouldn't tell them about it. If we wait longer, it will no longer be a case of alerting the enemy but a dead loss."
Tao Mu felt that Gou Rixin's words also made sense.
Upon seeing this, Gou Rixin waved his big hand and immediately went into the alley with a large group of brothers following. Qi Laosan, who had driven Yun Duo and the others before, led the way through the twisty alley, finally stopping in front of a inn called "Longmen Inn".
Da Mao raised his head and glanced at the name of the hotel, and couldn't help but to say with feeling: "The name is very domineering!"
Big brother Gou led his large group of brothers into the inn, took out his mobile phone and asked the front desk: "Have you seen these three girls?"
The girl in delinquent dress, who was sitting at the front desk and fixing her makeup, glanced at Gou Rixin: "I didn't pay attention. Us innkeepers, how do you expect us to keep track of the comings and goings of so many people? You planning to book a room or not, if yes then get out your ID card. If not then go away. Bringing so many people over, who you trying to scare?"
"Hey, I say, why is a little girl like you talking so tough! Let me tell you, this is about a human life, you know? We now suspect that these three girls have been tricked into MLM schemes. Can't you cooperate with us?"
"What do you mean, you saying my hotel is a den of thieves?" The delinquent girl smacked the small mirror she had been using for makeup on the marble desk, and then rolled up the sleeves on her arms: "You fellas come out now! Someone's here to make trouble!"
Before her words even fell, seven or eight tall sturdy men had already rushed out immediately.
The group of martial arts brothers brought by Gou Rixin also stepped forward. Gou Rixin's eyelids jumped and blocked the guys: "Who is looking for trouble? I'm looking for someone! I say, little girl, if you don't want to help then can you at least not make trouble? This is really a matter of life and death. If you aren't part of them, then you should help us. These are three lives we're talking about!"
The delinquent girl rolled her eyes: "You the police? Take out your ID and let me have a look!"
"No." Gou Rixin explained patiently: "These three people are my friends. They came from out of town to travel and experience life. But who knew that in just a few days they became targets for bad guys. This woman——"
Gou Rixin pointed to Xu Jiao in the photo: "She is not a good person. She engages in MLM schemes, pimps in nightclubs, and has something to do with human traffickers. You see, these three little girls are about the same age as you. The way I see it, little sister, you are also a righteous person and wouldn't stand by and let something bad happen to them, right?"
"Is it my fault if something bad happens to them?" Delinquent girl rolled her eyes and sneered: "If they are missing, then you should go to the police, why are you at our inn? Sorry, we don't have this obligation! Besides, with you bringing this large group of people here, people who don't know better would think my inn is a den of thieves. How will I do business in the future?"
"No, wait. Why are you so stubborn——"
Tao Mu could no longer continue to listen to these two people wasting time. He squeezed over to interrupt the two: "Hello, can you help us check. These girls have been missing for several hours. We have also called the police, and the police are also on their way here. But the time is urgent, and we are indeed very worried about the safety of the girls."
"Oh my god!" The delinquent girl looked at Tao Mu and then closed her eyes and covered her chest as she took a big step back: "Don't smile anymore. With such a handsome smile, it's making me go dizzy. These guys, knowing force won't do it so you are now using a honey trap!"
Tao Mu: "….."
Tao Mu took a deep breath: "Then can you check for us——"
"Check! Check! Check! I'll check it for you right away!" The delinquent girl said, craning her neck and shouting: "Lao San! Come down and take a look. Have you seen these girls when you were on duty in the afternoon?"
Soon the sound of kicking and stomping came from the stairs, and then a bald man dressed in old man clothes and flip flops walked downstairs: "Hah?"
"These girls!" The delinquent girl took Gou Rixin's cell phone and threw it to the bald man: "Have you seen them when you were on duty in the afternoon?"
The bald-headed guy glanced at it: "Sure did! They came with a woman and said it's to interview for a special role. Isn't this nonsense? What crew would live in our shabby place. I told them this but they didn't believe me. The woman with them also glared at me real fierce, say——"
Everyone's eyes lit up when they heard this, and Tao Mu asked, "Where are they now?"
"They left!" Baldy scratched his neck: "They went up and only stayed barely long enough to fart before leaving. A large group of people left together. Driving on a small and shabby minivan——"
Gou Rixin hurriedly asked: "Is there a license plate number?"
He glanced at Gou Rixin: "Big brother, do you think my eyes have long hooks? That I can be able to take a look at other people's license plates while sitting behind the bar?"
These words were shockingly right——
Tao Mu took a deep breath: "I saw a camera at the door….."
"It doesn't work." The delinquent girl shook her head: "The camera was broken long ago. We just leave it up there to scare people."
Everyone felt disappointed when they heard this. Tao Mu was about to say more but was interrupted by the ringing of his phone.
Tao Mu answered the phone: "Officer Yao? We are at the Longmen Inn….. We still didn't find them. We heard they came to audition, and then left with a group of people. They drove away in a minivan….. Okay, I'll meet you at the door."
Tao Mu put down the phone: "Officer Yao and the other police came. I'll go to the door to greet them."
Da Mao and Xiao Pang immediately said, "We'll go with you."
Then they complained furiously: "Say, are those three girls stupid or what. We already told them that this place is very chaotic and that they shouldn't trust others or follow others so easily. Why didn't they listen….."
"So you don't really know them?" The delinquent girl understood it now. Looking at Tao Mu's handsome face, she couldn't help but comfort: "Then don't be too anxious. If a person is too stupid even the gods won't be able to save them. But handsome guy, you are not only handsome, but also have such a good heart. Are you a celebrity, handsome guy? What films are you in, how come I don't have any impression~?"
Tao Mu didn't have the time to pay attention to being hit on by a girl at this moment. He walked out of the inn in the direction of the alley with his mobile phone, and greeted Officer Yao's police car within a few minutes.
Officer Yao rolled down the car window and let Tao Mu get into the car. Tao Mu explained what happened in the inn, and finally said, "We only found out that they were taken away by a minivan. There is no license plate number."
Officer Yao's eyebrows were also frowning deeply. The police first got an official statement from the inn again, and it was basically the same as what Tao Mu said. They then called back to the police station to request more police to go search the streets——but again, H town had too many people with many floating populations and the police force was also limited. Fortunately, Gou Rixin took his martial arts brothers to inquire around, and the police also called all the well known group extras leaders in H Town to help as well.
Even Qi Laoan called his fellow tricycle drivers. Those photos were practically sent flying all over the place as they asked for any news.
In the end, it was the delinquent girl from the Longmen Inn that was the first to get the news——the bald guy who had seen Xu Jiao asked around, and finally found out from a drinking buddy where Xu Jiao's rental apartment was as well as a courtyard house rented in the suburbs she frequented.
After receiving the news, the police immediately dispatched officers over. Tao Mu and Gou Rixin followed. Considering that they didn't have any idea on the exact numbers in the MLM group and the human trafficking group, they were also willing to let Gou Rixin's martial arts group extras to come along. Delinquent girl and her brothers were direct informants so they must also follow. During the ride, delinquent girl insisted on being in the same car as Tao Mu where she then asked for Tao Mu's contact information straightforwardly: "I tell you that I am doing this because of you. If it were anyone else I wouldn't bother at all!"
Tao Mu had no choice but to tell delinquent girl his mobile phone number in H Town. Delinquent girl carefully saved the phone number and went even further: "Do you have Weibo? Let's friend each other?"
Before Tao Mu could speak, delinquent girl spoke again: "Wait a moment, let me change my Weibo name first."
Da Mao and Xiao Pang secretly glanced at delinquent girl's phone from the corner of their eyes, and found that her original Weibo name was "Big Sister with a Knife" and her Weibo profile picture was an imposing Siberian tiger. Not long, she changed the Weibo name to "Gentle Little White Rabbit", and the Weibo profile picture was also replaced with a red-eyed white rabbit.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang: "….."
Several police cars and dozens of vans whizzed past in the dark. They entered the village that the informant mentioned, and finally stopped in front of a very remote courtyard house at the end of the village. When Tao Mu got out of the car, he heard a loud noise come from inside——the MLM group was indeed hiding in the courtyard house. When the police arrived, it happened that Xu Jiao was discussing business with a certain human trafficker, wanting to transfer away all the disobedient girls, and was not expecting to be caught by the police redhanded——now, not only was the MLM den taken out, but also turned up even more dirt in the form of a human trafficking gang hiding in H Town who carried out their operations under the guise of recruiting for crews to deceive young girls. They managed to rescue a group of victims who had been deeply trapped by this MLM den.
There was good news, as well as bad news.
——The three girls had struggled too fiercely when they learned that they were deceived. When struggling, one of the girls had been slapped by a suspect, the force of which knocked her head against a wall and she was now bleeding and unconscious.
The suspect was also afraid of a death occurring, and wanted to send the injured girl to a black clinic for treatment. The others disagreed, for fear that something might happen again. As the two groups quarreled, Yun Duo managed to grab the phone of one of the suspects and sent Tao Mu a message for help. The reason why she didn't call the police directly was because she was worried that there was no time.
Sure enough, Yun Duo was discovered just after she picked up the phone and typed the word. Fortunately, she had pressed the send button in time during the scramble——and fortunately, Tao Mu's face was so handsome that the three girls memorized Tao Mu's phone number as soon as they got it. And also fortunately, Tao Mu didn't treat it as a prank after receiving the text message, and really did call the police and rescued them.
When Tao Mu and the others rushed to the scene, they saw a group of injured girls and other victims.
Yun Duo was bruised all over her body from being beaten up by those people. The conditions of the remaining two girls were not very good either. But fortunately, nothing else happened——the three of them had made so much trouble that the suspects were worried about something going wrong so they were only anxious to just sell the three girls to some remote place as soon as possible. In addition, one of the girls was bloody all over and appeared to be in danger of dying at any time. The bunch of scumbags were worried about a death on their hands and had no energy or thoughts of raping the girls…..
"Tao Mu wu wu wu….." Yun Duo collapsed at her first sight of Tao Mu: "I want to go home. I want to go home wu wu wu…..I'm scared to death….."
Tao Mu stretched out his hand and patted the girl's back. He listened to the sound of the ambulance coming in and said, "It's okay. It's okay. The police uncles rescued you. Let's go to the hospital. By the way, do you remember your family's phone number? You can use my cell phone to call them and ask them to come and pick you up."
"En!" The girl nodded, still holding Tao Mu and not letting go: "My dad's name is Yun Xingjian, and our phone number is….."
Tao Mu paused while holding the phone, and looked at Yun Duo with a slightly weird look: "Yun Xingjian? Is that the surgeon Yun Xingjian of Beijing No. 1 People's Hospital?"
Yun Duo looked at Tao Mu in shock, "Do you know my dad?"
Tao Mu had a weird look on his face: "Do you have a brother named Yun Yi?"
"Ang~" Yun Duo became more and more dazed: "Do you also know my brother?"
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Nonsense! Tao Mu privately thought: Who didn't know the man who created Skynet Technology, the richest man in China?
Duo Duo, are you okay?"
In the H Studios Group Hospital, the Yun family, who was notified by Tao Mu and the police, rushed over that night and swarmed into the ward.
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"Dad, mom, brother….." Yun Duo collapsed as soon as she saw her family, and threw herself into mother Yun's arms, crying furiously: "It scared me to death. I thought I would never see you all again in this life."
"Oh, my child, hurry up and let mama take a look. Where does it hurt? Ah?" The Yun family also couldn't hold back when they saw their little girl with a bruised and swollen face. Mother Yun hugged her daughter in distress, her nose stinging as she also began to tear up.
"It hurts, my whole body hurts. I was almost beaten to death by them." Yun Duo hugged mother Yun's neck and didn't let go. Recalling the scene of those people beating her, she shuddered, and deep fear flashed in those big eyes: "Mom, dad, brother, I miss you so much."
"Oh child!" Yun Xingjian's eyes also felt hot, feeling both distressed for his daughter and angry that she was not obedient: "We told you not to run around or randomly meet friends who you don't know anything about on the Internet. You just don't listen, clamoring to travel to H Town to visit celebrities and be a group extra. You say, why do you make us worry so much? If something really happened to you, how can we live?"
Yun Duo cried aggrievedly: "I'm already like this yet you are still fierce to me. Are you my parents or not!"
Mother Yun hugged her daughter tighter in distress and scolded her husband: "Daughter is right. This kind of thing is clearly the fault of the bad people. Why are you lecturing at my daughter? How much has our daughter already suffered? As her father, aren't you distressed?"
All of Yun Xingjian's lecturing words were scolded back by his daughter and wife. He sighed and walked to the edge of the hospital bed, and reached out his hand to touch Yun Duo's head: "You are right, it's because the bad people are too evil."
Following behind the elder Yun couple, the young man with a gentle temperament and handsome appearance suddenly thought of something. He turned to look at Tao Mu and the other two who were also standing silently in the ward and stretched out his hand, smiling: "It was you who saved my sister. I am Yun Yi, Yun Duo's brother. I really want to thank you this time, otherwise our Yun family….."
Yun Yi didn't go any further, but held Tao Mu's right hand tightly. Tao Mu said with a smile: "This kind of thing, no matter who encountered it, they would also help."
"——That's not true!" Yun Duo interrupted Tao Mu, still in mother Yun's arms. Her eyes were shining as she looked at Tao Mu, the expression on her face showing very obvious adoration and admiration: "You all don't know how dangerous things were that day. When we were tricked into the van by those bad guys, we noticed something was wrong. Those men would touch us and when we protested they slapped us and almost knocked us out. Xiaoxuan wanted to call the police but they found out when it was just dialed out. Then they snatched our cell phones away."
"They dragged us to a very remote courtyard house. There were a lot of people in it who seemed to be their accomplices. Those men wanted to bully us. When Hanya resisted, they pushed her against the wall. Blood was everywhere and she instantly fainted. Those people were also frightened and said that they would send Hanya to a black clinic to avoid a death on their hands. But Xu Jiao disagreed. When they argued, I took the opportunity to grab a phone and just texted a word before they found out and rushed to grab ut back. They also hit me. Fortunately, I sent the message——"
When Yun Duo got to this part of the events, she looked at Tao Mu with gratitude again: "Fortunately, Tao Mu didn't treat my distress message as a prank. He immediately called the police. You don't know; that Xu Jiao is truly evil. She saw that we resisted fiercely and was annoyed at the trouble so she found a human trafficker and wanted to sell us into some remote mountain village. I was so in despair at the time and thought we would definitely be done for." If they were really sold to some remote mountain place, how would the girls run? It was likely they would die in the mountains.
Fortunately, at the most critical moment, Tao Mu came with the police.
There was no doubt that in the hearts of these young girls, that was the most romantic hero saving the beauty scene. It really moved the girls and caused them to feel very emotional.
The Yun parents were really shocked and scared when they heard this. Mother Yun subconsciously hugged her daughter even tighter while Yun Xingjian walked in front of Tao Mu and held Tao Mu's hand gratefully: "Child, thank you, thank you. Thank you for saving my daughter——you not only saved my daughter but also saved our family."
Tao Mu smiled and said, "It was all my friends in H Town who helped. If it weren't for them, I wouldn't be able to find the suspect's den." Especially Gou Rixin and Qin Miaoru——Qin Miaoru was the delinquent girl. Tao Mu and the others were all surprised when they knew the real name of delinquent girl. They really didn't expect that the "Big Sister With A Knife" would have such a graceful and beautiful name.
"We must thank you all. You are all good children. But uncle must thank you the most for your attentiveness. If you didn't directly call the police when you received the messsge for help, and even mobilized so many friends to help find the girls, I can't even imagine the consequences." Yun Xingjian became more afraid as he thought about it. In this matter, if there was even a little misstep in any link in the chain of events, he was afraid they would never see their baby girl again.
Yun Yi also had a lingering fear when he heard this but he was also a little puzzled and asked his sister: "Why would you think of sending a message to Mr. Tao for help?" Instead of sending it to her family?
"Because I only thought of Tao Mu's phone number at the time!" Probably because she had recited it so many times in the past few days, she developed a conditioned reflex. As soon as she picked up the phone, she only thought of Tao Mu's phone number.
"Furthermore, even if I send it to you, you wouldn't be able to rush to H Town right away. Tao Mu is different. On the first day we came here, he reminded us not to trust others casually, and not to enter hotels and inns for interviews. Wang Ye and Pang Yue know a lot of people in H Town, and I felt that if I sent it to Tao Mu, they might think that it was a message from us." Yun Duo said with a serious face. But mainly because Tao Mu gave them a very good impression that night. He was handsome, attentive and considerate. He was a guy who could give girls a sense of security.
It was probably because of this that Yun Duo sent the text message to Tao Mu without thinking. At the time, even if there was only one percent chance, it might still be able to save their lives. Sure enough, Yun Duo made the right bet.
Everyone in the Yun family looked at each other, and felt even more fortunate. It was as if they had a new lease on life.
Mother Yun couldn't help complaining: "Since you were already warned, why did you not listen! Say, if you were obedient and willing to listen to advice, how would such a thing happen? Suffering such a calamity!"
"Aiya, mom, don't say anymore. We didn't think so much at the time. That Xu Jiao was also someone we met in H Town the first day we arrived. She lives next door to us, and she has been showing us around these days. And even took us to visit the celebrities. We didn't expect her to be so evil….."
Yun Duo pressed closer into mother Yun's arms. There was also something she was embarrassed to say. They met Da Mao and Xiao Pang on the Internet, and only met them for a few days. But they had spent more time with Xu Jiao than with Tao Mu and the others. Besides, Xu Jiao was a girl so naturally she was more likely to inspire trust from them than a boy. So when Xu Jiao made promises they all believed it.
Thinking about it now, it was likely that Xu Jiao had targeted them on the first day they came to H Town.
Yun Duo couldn't help shivering when she thought of this. She buried her head in mother Yun's arms and stopped talking.
Upon seeing this, the Yun family couldn't bear to criticize their precious daughter.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang also consoled, "Don't worry, uncle Yun and aunt Yun. As the old saying goes, after escaping from a calamity, you will definitely have good fortune. After this, all sorrows will turn to joy and Yun Duo's path will be smooth and safe."
"Ai, ai," Mother Yun looked gratefully at Tao Mu and the other two, and suddenly thought of something: "Why are you still standing, sit down quickly. By the way, have all the bad people been caught? What did the police say?"
"Xu Jiao and those people were caught. But they are still trying to catch the traffickers it seems. In fact, we don't know the details. The police uncle said that the case is still in the process of being investigated, so it is not convenient to disclose it to us." Da Mao answered obediently and then asked: "Right, uncle Yun and aunt Yun, do you know when Zhang Hanya and Wu Xiaoxuan's family can come over?"
"We really don't know this. We hurried over as soon as we received the call." Mother Yun said and then turned her head to look at her daughter: "By the way, where are your two classmates? Which ward are they staying in? They must also be extremely frightened?"
Hearing what mother Yun said, everyone's expression became gloomy. Yun Duo couldn't help crying again: "Hanya and Xiaoxuan are still in the intensive care unit. They were injured too badly. The doctor said that Hanya had lost too much blood and the blood supply to the brain was insufficient, and now she is unconscious. Xiaoxuan's spleen has a rupture. Mom, I'm scared….."
"Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid." Mother Yun clasped her daughter tightly and rubbed Yun Duo's long hair: "After escaping a calamity, you will definitely have good fortune. You will all be fine."
Yun Yi thought of another thing. When Tao Mu went out to make a call, he followed.
Tao Mu called Officer Yao to notify Officer Yao that Yun Duo's family had arrived. It was likely that the police station would also send someone over to communicate with the victim's family.
After putting down the phone, Tao Mu thought for a while, and then called the group of bigwigs from "Faraway Jianghu" one by one to report the latest situation of the three girls. Although when Yun Duo and the others were rescued, Tao Mu had already reported their safety to the bigwigs. But courtesy was never too much and Tao Mu believed that since he originally asked the bigwigs for help, he was obliged to report the latest situation at this moment. After all, they were also very worried about the girls' safety, and he couldn't just assume that everything hadn't happened once things were over and completely forget the bigwigs.
Yun Yi stood quietly behind Tao Mu and waited until Tao Mu finished the last phone call, before smiling and saying, "Did Mr. Tao just call those celebrities?"
Tao Mu turned his head and smiled and said, "Yes. I received a message from Yun Duo for help at the closing banquet last night, and the director and actors of "Faraway Jianghu" happened to be there. Hearing this, everyone was very concerned and immediately called friends who were still in H Town to help out as well. Director Cheng even called the management of H Studio City and asked them to cooperate and help. Later, when the police successfully rescued the girls, I also called and told them. Everyone is also very concerned about your sister and the other two girls."
Yun Yi found that Tao Mu's speech was very interesting. It was very proper and did not leave any cracks behind. There was none of the jumping all over the place usually from youths his age. It was as if he had been specially trained in his speech.
Yun Yi smiled and said, "They are all good people."
After a pause, Yun Yi asked again: "About Yun Duo and the others' medical expenses….."
"Oh." Tao Mu suddenly said with a smile: "They were sent over by the police station. At that time, the situation was urgent and they went directly to the operating room. The medical expenses were all advanced by the hospital, and the consent forms were signed by the police uncle. "
"Thank you so much." Yun Yi looked at Tao Mu and asked, "Don't know what Mr. Tao does?"
"I am a student of Beijing Film. Like Yun Duo and the others, I am also a recent high school graduate. I came to H Town to experience life and will be reporting to school on the 26th. So brother Yun should not call me Mr. Tao, just call me Tao Mu." Tao Mu paused, and then smiled: "But don't think I am just learning acting, I am actually very interested in IT programming. Don't know when I might have the opportunity to learn from big brother Yun?"
"Huh?" Yun Yi was at a loss for a moment: "But I am a medical student. If Mr. Tao talks to me about clinical surgery, I can answer any questions. But IT programming….."
"Huh?" Not only Yun Yi, Tao Mu was also confused now.
An IT bigshot not knowing programming? Who could tell him how Yun Yi managed to create Skynet Technology and become China's richest man in one fell swoop ten years later?
After very careful and subtle inquiries, Tao Mu finally concluded that Yun Yi really didn't understand IT programming and was not joking with him.
As for how Yun Yi, in his previous life, transformed from a high-achieving medical student who was determined to follow in his father's footsteps, into the richest man in China who rapidly rose along with Internet technology, Tao Mu was also befuddled.
To be honest, he had been completely obsessed with Shen Yu in his previous life, and he didn't care much about people and things other than the Shen family and Shen Yu. Aside from the fame that came with the title China's richest man, knowing about Yun Yi was mainly because of Luo Yang. He had come out to his family for Shen Yu in his previous life but vexed his father into a heart attack. They had wanted to ask Yun Xingjian, a cardiologist at the Beijing No.1 People's Hospital, to perform the operation on Mr. Luo.
But Yun Xingjian and his wife had been hit hard by the tragic death of their only daughter and had immigrated to M country in the second half of 2008. At that time, Yun Yi, who was only 20 years old, left China together with them. What Tao Mu didn't know was that after Yun Yi immigrated to M country, he gave up the medical profession that he originally planned to dedicate his lifetime, and instead applied for Stanford to study computer science. It took him two years to write the Skynet system, after which he then returned to China with the support of Xiaoheng Capital. They jointly implemented the "Skynet Project" with the government, which promoted installing surveillance cameras in various provinces and cities in China in one fell swoop. In addition, it also designed a "facial recognition system" for the public security department, which greatly reduced the time the police needed to identify suspects.
Because of Mr. Luo's heart disease, the Luo family had asked many people to connect them with Yun Yi, hoping that Mr. Yun could return to China and perform the heart surgery for Mr. Luo. Among them was Li Xiaoheng, Yun Yi's most important business partner. But Yun Yi refused directly——Yun Xingjian had developed Alzheimer's disease after learning of his daughter's tragic death. He couldn't even recognize Yun Yi and mother Yun, let alone be competent enough to perform heart surgery.
The once leading surgeon of China's cardiac surgery could no longer hold a scalpel.
The Luo family really had no other choice but to spend a lot of money to hire an internationally renowned cardiologist to perform surgery on Mr. Luo. But, the operation failed, and Mr. Luo never woke up again. And Luo Yang was also driven out of the Luo house by his sister because of his actions that indirectly led to the death of his father.
But in this life, due to Tao Mu's timely rescue of Yun Duo and the other two girls, Yun Yi no longer had any motivation to create the Skynet technology. It was likely that he would continue to study medicine, follow in his father's footsteps, and become a top cardiologist in the world.
Tao Mu: "…." The grief and anger that couldn't be vented even by letting out a roar to the sky!
"Aren't you interested in IT programming at all?" Tao Mu still didn't give up, looking at Yun Yi eagerly, trying to persuade the future richest man in China to "abandon the dark and turn to the light" by abandoning medicine and going into business: "Would you like to try to learn programming? Maybe you'll be surprised to find that programming is actually your life's favorite pursuit!"
Yun Yi laughed out loud: "Xiao Mu, you are too humorous. I really don't know anything about programming. If you are really interested in this field, I can help introduce you to my classmates in the computer department who can also teach you."
No, I don't want students who could program! I want the future richest man in China!!!
Tao Mu was so sad that he felt he was about to die on the spot! It was like he had walked into a mountain full of gold and silver treasures, but all the treasures were covered by an invisible glass cover. It was visible but intangible!
Tao Mu felt that he might also have a heart attack! Wasn't it just seizing the opportunity to hug a golden thigh? Why was it so hard!
Tao Mu bumped the wall with his head, so depressed that mushrooms began growing in his shadow.
Yun Yi looked at Tao Mu's anguished appearance, practically wishing to thump his own chest. Although he didn't know what this child was upset about, he felt that the other was more and more fun.
"You——" Just as Yun Yi spoke, he was interrupted by a loud noise at the end of the corridor.
"Hanya, where are you Hanya? My dear baby girl, where is my precious daughter? Quick, let mama see, what happened?"
Yun Yi and Tao Mu looked at each other and walked in the direction where the voice came from.
In front of the elevator, two uniformed nurses supported a middle-aged woman with curled hair, flower patterned shirt and black gauze trousers. Next to them were three to five uncles and aunts who looked either like skinny monkeys or had fat bodies. All were shouting, "My poor niece! Only 18 years old, my niece hasn't even gone to college yet!"
"My poor niece! If something really happens, how can auntie explain to your old father who died early….."
This scene was a bit scary. Tao Mu stopped in his tracks immediately and stepped back quietly.
The people who were fortunate enough to be in the same elevator with Zhang Hanya's family and witness the noisy crying throughout the whole process, were Gou Rixin and Qin Miaoru as well as their buddies who just happened to come visit the patients at the same time.
Qin Miaoru held a thermos container in one hand and another tucked in her arms. She followed behind with an expression of one watching a show. After seeing Tao Mu, she waved happily. Before Tao Mu had time to respond, Zhang Hanya's mother howled: "My daughter, my daughter who is only 18 years old~. Why is your life so bitter, just accompanying your classmates out to play and yet meeting such a disaster. Those goddamn human traffickers, just why won't they be struck by lightning….."
"Auntie, are you Zhang Hanya's mother?" Yun Yi stepped forward with a little shock and introduced himself: "I am Yun Yi. Yun Duo's——"
"Are you Yun Duo's family? Where are your parents?" Before Yun Yi finished speaking, he was interrupted by Zhang Hanya's aunts and uncles. "It's all because your girl doesn't learn well at a young age. Insisting on coming here, now something bad happens, right? You say, shouldn't your family be responsible for this matter?"
What and what?
Tao Mu was stunned. Yun Yi, who was only twenty years old and had even less experience than Tao Mu, never having met such people before so he was also immediately dumbstruck.
At this moment, Mr. and Mrs. Yun Xingjian, who heard noises in the ward, as well as Da Mao and Xiao Pang, also came out.
"You are Zhang Hanya's mother, right?" Xiao Pang classmate, who grew up in the alley since childhood, was very familiar with this kind of unreasonable and shrewish older woman because of his own family background. He smiled and went forward to explain the situation: "Zhang Hanya hit her head on the wall, lost too much blood and lacked oxygen in the brain. After the operation, she was sent to the intensive care unit——"
Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by an ear-piercing cry: "My poor girl! How unlucky you are! Being admitted to the intensive care unit at such a young age. How will mama live!"
The two young nurses toughened their skin and persuaded: "Auntie, this is the hospital, please don't make a noise——"
Before the words were finished, Zhang Hanya's mother cried louder. She also began to thump at her chest, crying at the top of her lungs. She just lacked rolling on the floor to complete the picture.
The middle-aged uncle who looked like a skinny monkey rushed up to support Zhang Hanya's mother: "Sister, don't be like this. This family must still rely on you! Say, we have no money and no power, just why are we so unlucky to encounter such a thing….."
Xiao Pang toughened his skin and stepped forward, supporting the middle-aged lady who almost collapsed to the ground: "Auntie, should I bring you over there first?"
"My daughter, my Xiao Ya….." Zhang Hanya's mother was helped by Da Mao and Xiao Pang to the intensive care unit. Looking at the daughter who was lying unconscious on the hospital bed and still attached to an oxygen mask, mother Zhang cried and knelt on the ground, all the while beating her chest: "What can I do? I just have this one daughter. If anything happens to her, how will I live! Those goddamn bastards, they should go die! Doctor, you must save our Xiao Ya, I will kowtow for you….."
"Auntie, don't be like this——" The young doctor who was about to tell Zhang Hanya's mother about her daughter's condition was startled. He quickly helped Zhang Hanya's mother up: "Your daughter had a successful operation, and her current lethargy is caused by excessive blood loss and long-term hypoxia in the brain. If she can wake up before twelve o'clock tonight, there should be no major problem….." But if she can't wake up, he was afraid there would be a risk of becoming a vegetative person.
Zhang Hanya's mother collapsed again when she heard this: "Oh my God! How could this happen! What the hell did our old Zhang family do! Why must those goddamn human traffickers harm people like this….."
Mother Zhang's cries echoed penetratingly throughout the corridor. Zhang Hanya's aunts and uncles also surrounded him, "Wasn't the operation successful? Why can't she wake up if it's successful? I heard that the operation needs to be signed by family members. None of us came. How did your hospital perform the operation? Who signed it? Ah? Can he afford the responsibility?"
"I tell you, if my niece can't wake up, I will not let your hospital go!"
"That's right, if my daughter can't wake up, we will not pay for the medical expenses! Your hospital must be responsible to the end!"
"…..Or your family should pay for it!" The Zhang family turned to the Yun family: "If it wasn't for your daughter insisting on coming to H town, my daughter would still be fine at home. Now she is unconscious and unable to wake up. The doctor said she might not ever wake up. You, the Yun family, must be responsible!"
Tao Mu and the others, who had been following behind, were stunned. Qin Miaoru, who was holding the thermos, came up quietly and whispered to Tao Mu: "Watch. This family, they are no simple folks."
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
While they were talking, they heard another sound in the corridor. Officer Yao and another policeman who received Tao Mu's notice rushed over, followed by Wu Xiaoxuan's parents.
Tao Mu and everyone's heart jumped, for fear that Wu Xiaoxuan's parents would also cause a stink.
ens would not cut off all paths——oddities like the Zhang family were relatively rare.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
Wu Xiaoxuan's parents looked at their daughter in the intensive care unit. Although they were also very sad, there was none of the unreasonable behavior the Zhang family had displayed, practically hooligans eager to sell their daughter at a good price.
Although the old couple had tears in their eyes and could barely keep themselves together, two pairs of rough hands held Tao Mu's hands in gratitude: "Thank you, lad, and thank you all. If it weren't for your help, my daughter might not be able to come back. Us old couple only gave birth to this one daughter, if something happened to her….."
Wu Xiaoxuan's mother wiped another tear with her backhand. Sniffing her nose, she said: "Thank you, thank you, the police, thank you, doctor, thank you….."
Wu Xiaoxuan's parents were probably the most representative group of ordinary people in the '40s and '50s group. When they were young, they took over the work from their parents. Later, when they met with the tide of worker lay-offs, the couple were both laid off. They then set up a pancake stall near home to sell pancakes. Later, the pancake stall became a snack bar, and the old couple relied on this snack bar to feed their family of three. They had worked hard and honestly for their whole lives. The farthest place they had traveled to was Tongzhou, and the most beautiful scenery they had seen was the Great Wall. They had never left their familiar neighborhood in Beijing in their entire lives.
This time, upon receiving the call from the police in H Town, Wu Xiaoxuan's parents were completely stunned. The couple closed the small restaurant in a daze, and got on the train to H Town. When they got off the train, they almost even got lost. They carried their luggage and found the police patrolling outside the train station to ask the police to take them to the police station. As soon as they entered the police station, they wanted to kneel to the police but were stopped by Officer Yao and the others. They were then taken to the hospital. When they got to the hospital, they once again wanted to kneel down to the doctor. Now that they saw Tao Mu and the others, although they did not kneel down, their simple and humble language was enough to bring a sting to one's nose.
It was really unbearable to watch and listen to.
"Auntie, don't worry. The doctors said that the operation was very successful. Let's just wait for the child to wake up at night and it'll all be fine." Qin Miaoru, who had been standing by and watching the show, nudged Wu Xiaoxuan's mother with her shoulder to comfort her. Then she took one of the three containers of pork rib soup that she had made by herself and handed it to mother Wu: "You come from a place as far away as the capital, and must not have eaten the whole way, right? I have ready-made pork rib soup. Originally it was to be given to the three girls. You drink it first, and I'll make another for them when I get back."
"Thank you, good girl." Wu Xiaoxuan's mother saw Qin Miaoru's delinquent appearance and at first she dared not speak. Qin Miaoru forcibly stuffed the thermos container into mother Wu's arms, and helped them sit down on the plastic row chair next to the corridor.
A group of tall and sturdy northern men followed behind Qin Miaoru and helped mother Wu and father Wu put their luggage on the side.
Zhang Hanya's family were a little bit timid at first when they saw such a bunch of big and fierce looking men. Later, when they saw that these people seemed to be very nice people, they became arrogant again.
"Old sister, don't listen to them fooling you. If it wasn't for that damn girl, Yun Duo, how could our obedient daughters come to such a faraway place? The way I see it, their family is solely responsible for this. Our family's medical expenses, any other nursing expenses, and mental damage expenses must be reimbursed by their family."
——Where did the mental damage fee come from? The crowd was quite displeased, and Gou Rixin frowned. Just as he was about to speak, they heard Zhang Hanya's mother continue to say: "There is also the operation. As parents we didn't even sign at all. But this hospital performed the operation without saying a word. Say, what if the operation was done wrong? What if our child can't wake up? Who is responsible for this? I have heard that operations without family signatures are major medical accidents!"
It would seem they were trying to recruit allies!
Everyone felt both angered and amused. Officer Yao couldn't help but speak: "I say Auntie, the hospital operation was signed by the police. The matter is urgent, we really couldn't wait that long. Only expedient——"
"Expedient or not expedient, we don't understand. We just know that no one asked us!" Zhang Hanya's uncle shrank behind his sister who weighed 200 kilograms, and looked at the police with shifty eyes, and muttered: " You signed it, you are responsible. A perfectly fine person at home, but now suddenly can't wake up here. How is the operation successful if she hasn't even woken up? What if she really does become a vegetative person, what will happen in the future? Where will we go to find justice."
"There is also the medical expenses! Didn't you catch the bad guys? Now that they are caught, can you make them pay? Anyway, they made the children like this. They should be obligated to treat our children!"
Officer Yao stopped talking. What could he say, their police did catch the suspects, but making the suspects pay compensation was obviously not something they could guarantee.
"I say Auntie, aren't you being unreasonable? The police uncle rescued your girl from the MLM den, and sent her to the hospital and saved her in time. You don't even say thank you, but instead are full of complaints. So, now according to you it was wrong of us to save your child?" Da Mao couldn't listen anymore and couldn't help but say, "Is there anyone like you? You are really embarrassing us people of the capital."
"Ai, kid, how is that any way to talk! Did your parents teach you to talk to your elders like this?"
Da Mao sneered, his violent temper flaring: "My dad never taught me this. He told me that if I run into people who deserve a beating I don't need to restrain myself. Some people just like to take a mile when given an inch and they don't deserve to be bothered with!"
"Hey, I say you little kid——" Zhang Hanya's uncle rolled up his sleeves, but when he saw Gou Rixin's group of buddies standing quietly behind Da Mao, he instantly wilted.
Zhang Hanya's mother and aunt suddenly howled again: "My poor girl! Why are you so unlucky! Why give up the good days and insist on coming to this H town! Now you are lying on the hospital bed, barely alive, how will your mother live for the rest of her life! We should just die together!"
Everyone in the Yun family looked at each other. Yun Xingjian, a senior intellectual and the most prestigious heart surgeon at Beijing No.1 People's Hospital, had seen family members of patients like the Zhang family several times while working in the hospital. So when it came down to it, he actually had a good understanding of what the Zhang family wanted.
"How about this. We'll pay for the child's medical expenses. Not only Hanya's, but Xiaoxuan's, we'll also pay. But there is one thing that we as parents must make clear. When the three children originally planned to come to H Town, it was a decision made together. It's not that Yun Duo instigated them and forced them to come. As elders, it's not right for you to say this."
"How can this be good? How can we make your family pay for it….." When Wu Xiaoxuan's parents heard Yun Xingjian's words, the first reaction was to refuse. Although their family was not as well-off as the Yun family, when Wu Xiaoxuan's parents came to H Town this time they had brought all their savings. Besides, as Yun Xingjian said, the three children coming to H Town for a trip was something they agreed on together. Yun Duo had also suffered. As parents, how could they have the face to let the Yun family pay for all the medical expenses.
"——What if the child has any side effects in the future?" It was completely different from Wu Xiaoxuan's parents' reaction. Zhang Hanya's mother's conditioned reflex was to ask: "Didn't you hear the doctor! Our Hanya is injured in the head, and it is likely there will be side effects in the future. What if the child wakes up and becomes retarded, or has other side effects? The child is only 18 years old this year, and her life has just begun! Shouldn't you also be responsible for the rest of our child's life?"
"You're too shameless!" Qin Miaoru couldn't stand it anymore: "I say, you are clearly just wanting to extort people, right?"
"What's it got to do with you?" Zhang Hanya's mother looked at Qin Miaoru, whose hair was dyed in colorful colors and had on fiendish makeup (smokey eye makeup). She wore a small black tank top that showed off the waist and had a skull print. The short skirt underneath barely reached over the base of her thighs. And in this summer heat, she also had on leather boots that reached the calf. In addition, she was also followed by a group of big muscular men——with just a glance they judged her to not be a good woman.
Mother Zhang didn't like this kind of girl, but she didn't dare to provoke her: "You are still young. How can you know what it's like for us mothers, we're just thinking for the sake of our children!"
Qin Miaoru sneered, what for the sake of your child! More like for the sake of money!
Their eyes only saw money!
Tao Mu had been watching for a long time and had basically figured out the Zhang family's temperament. But he still didn't speak. The main reason was that he didn't want to deal with such hooligans.
But Tao Mu didn't expect that while he didn't want to provoke hooligans, the hooligans took the initiative to provoke him——well, not him specifically, but the crew of "Faraway Jianghu".
It must be said that this Zhang family was truly made up of hooligans! Don't know where they found out about Tao Mu asking the group of bigwigs from the "Faraway Jianghu" crew to help find and save the three girls. The family went to the entrance of the Studio City in H Town, kneeled under a banner, and called for the celebrities of the "Faraway Jianghu" crew to donate money to help their daughter's medical expenses.
This completely set off a hornet's nest. Just how many gossip paparazzi were guarding the entrance of Studio City every day to look for news? After so many days, they couldn't even touch on even a cheating scandal and now there was even more eye-popping news in front of them. The large group of paparazzi reporters who had been waiting for a salary increase instantly went crazy. The paparazzi divided into two groups, one wave went up to interview the Zhang family, and one wave swarmed into the crew of "Faraway Jianghu". And the first thing they did was to let loose a fire of camera flashes and interview questions.
Cheng Baodong and his crew were also going crazy.
——With this kind of thing, if there was communication well in advance, and both parties were willing, then there would be no problem at all. After all, after celebrities donated money, they could even buy a notice to praise themselves. It was a beneficial situation to both sides. But the key was that this family just knelt at the entrance of Studio City without saying anything and acting quite unreasonably. Anyone who encountered this kind of situation would feel disgusted.
Cheng Baodong and the others had just been talking about what a good child Tao Mu was a second ago. Saying that he looked rather cold and indifferent, but was actually warmhearted and kind! And in such a short time, he had managed to rescue the girls from the MLM den. In any case, he was not an ordinary boy at all. But then in the next second, the Zhang family made such a scene that was equivalent to roasting everyone in the crew on the spit.
The angry Cheng Baodong instantly yelled: "Didn't I say that Tao Mu is not a good kid. Making such a big problem for us for no reason. And he just patted his butt and left!"
The bigwigs did not agree with Cheng Baodong's apparent irritability and words uttered in his anger. But there was indeed a bit of discomfort in their hearts. After all, no one liked the taste of being forced and threatened morally. Especially public figures like them——either they keep up their appearances despite not affording to, or keep a hold on their wallets and would rather die than yield. No matter how they chose, it was simply a disaster.
Fortunately, Tao Mu did not pat his butt and leave. Aside from the fact that he was not this kind of person at all, he wouldn't let his connections with these bigwigs become broken because of hooligans like the Zhang family. In terms of impression points, once it was lost, it was difficult to make up for it again.
Tao Mu had been in the crew for so many days, going through much hardship as he swallowed his anger and showed off his skills. He finally got the recognition he wanted from these people so how could he tolerate the Zhang family, these irrelevant bastards, flushing his plans down the toilet.
A person like Tao Mu, he might not care whether you disliked him or humiliated him to his face, but if you dared to block his way, then sorry.
After thinking about it carefully, Tao Mu finally called the number stored on his phone that he had always wanted to call but was too embarrassed to call.
"Brother Yao, do you remember me? I'm Xiao Mu!"
"You kid actually still remembers me! Running so far away without saying a word, and taking several months before remembering to call this brother. I can tell, you kid must have an ulterior motive, after all one doesn't visit the temple without a cause!" From the other end came an authentic Beijing accent. Liu Yao, Tao Mu's boss when he was working in a nightclub, laughed and cursed: "Let's talk. What do you need this brother for?"
"No wonder they say that you are the Buddha, us monkey cubs, no matter how much we run around, we just can't find our way out of your palm." Tao Mu chuckled twice: "There is indeed something I need you to help me with….."
"You kiddo!" Listening to Tao Mu's words, Liu Yao couldn't help frowning: "You are actually asking your brother to help you scare a bunch of uncles and aunts. If it spreads out, what face will your brother Yao still have?!"
"I don't need you to scare them." Tao Mu said with a smile: "You can help me find out their home addresses. Then send someone to give them some fruit baskets. I will talk to them for the rest."
"If that doesn't count as scaring what does. You can just pretend, kid!" Liu Yao sneered, "All right. Who let you be my little brother? I'll take care of this. When you come back, shouldn't you make a table of food to thank your brother, I, for helping with such a mess at the risk of losing face?"
"That's a must. Thank you, brother Yao, I will definitely make a full table for you and treat you to a drink when I go back. By the way, how is brother Xiao Qi?" Tao Mu tentatively asked about Liu Yao's partner, the popular male escort in the nightclub who had given Tao Mu a lot of advice.
"Your brother Xiao Qi is the same as always! Still so popular with thousands of wealthy women, and some people still call him and send text messages every day even though he no longer works as an escort! Asking him out for tea and a chat. He's out again now!" Liu Yao still felt rather sour about this as he said, "I say, when you come back, you can just directly hang your card up in the store! With just your face and figure, and having inherited your brother Xiao Qi's skills, as long as you stand at the store, it is likely that that group of people will not care about your brother Xiao Qi anymore."
"That's not going to work. I want to be a superstar, and this kind of dark history is not allowed!" Tao Mu smiled and joked around with his brother Yao, and the two chatted a few more before hanging up the phone.
Coincidentally, as soon as Liu Yao disconnected the phone, Meng Qi walked in. Seeing his old gong sitting on the sofa, holding his mobile phone with a dark face and staring at the TV murderously, he couldn't help asking: "What's the matter? Who provoked you this time?"
"Just now Xiao Mu called me." Liu Yao's eyes watched the TV gloomily: "This kid, he must have been bullied outside. Couldn't hold it anymore. Otherwise, he wouldn't have called me."
As Tao Mu said on the phone, he was to be a big superstar in the future, and he must not have a dark history. So from the day he walked out of "Night", Tao Mu didn't plan to contact anyone in the store.
Tao Mu didn't mention this matter directly, but everyone knew it well. Therefore, since the day Tao Mu left Night, whether it was Liu Yao or anyone else in the club, they never called Tao Mu or sent a message again.
Not even on Tao Mu's birthday. They were afraid that Tao Mu would misunderstand that the people in the club were trying to latch on and not let go.
But now, Tao Mu took the initiative to contact them. Usually such a stubborn child, just how much did he suffer for him to admit his wrongs and call them without a care about his pride.
Meng Qi was taken aback for a moment, and then smiled: "In any case. It's the kid we watched grow up. If he was really bullied outside you can't leave this alone. I know Xiao Mu, he may have a little temper but he is a good boy."
"Nonsense! How can I not care about our child!"
Tao Mu was only in his first year of high school when he came to work at Night. At that time he was not even sixteen. The child was devilishly beautiful, had the sweetest mouth, and was very clever, coaxing and winning over everyone in the club. From the bartender to the singer-in-residence to the young masters, how many people had been fooled by this little brat into departing their unique skills to him.
Liu Yao felt distress for the child and was also afraid that something might happen, so he hid him and kept Tao Mu from working at the front of the club. He was afraid that some powerful customer would target the boy when he wasn't keeping an eye on him. The two had a twenty year age gap between them so although Tao Mu called him brother, he actually saw and treated Tao Mu as his son. After all, it was impossible for him and Meng Qi to have children of their own in this life! When Tao Mu left Night with a decisive attitude, Liu Yao really had his heart broken. When he got drunk, he sent a ruthless message to Tao Mu: "Damn you, Grandpa Liu, I, have been hanging out in jianghu for so many years. What people haven't I come across. You are ashamed of us so much but we don't care much for you either. From now on, we will go our own ways. I will see just what kind of success you'll achieve!"
But when Tao Mu made the phone call, Liu Yao himself immediately softened into a pile of goo even before Tao Mu had said a few soft words. After all, he was the child they had watched grow up, and even if he had made mistakes or did something wrong, then the beating and scolding should be done by them and not letting outsiders bully him instead!
"Fuck, doing a good deed can even lead to being extorted. If this gets out, this will lose my face. Can just anyone on the street bully the little brother of Liu Yao?" Liu Yao's eyes were red, and he immediately made a few calls to the people below. After hanging up he continued to spaz out with Meng Qi: "Say, Xiao Mu will be back soon. Where will he live? How about we have him live in your house in the Dongcheng District for now. It'll save him from having nowhere to go on weekends."
Before graduating from high school, Tao Mu had been living in the staff dormitory of Night. But now Tao Mu was admitted to college, and a film school that specializes in celebrities to boot, it was no longer appropriate to live with that group of people.
Meng Qi looked at Liu Yao with amusement and couldn't help poking fun: "Ai, I remember that someone had said that everyone should just never see each other again, right?"
"Isn't that all just angry talk!" Liu Yao waved his hand seriously, blushing down to his neck but his mouth was grinning wide enough to reach his ears. He pretended to be cool: "Now, the child takes the initiative to admit his wrongs to us. We are grown men in our forties, how can we still argue with a little kid?"
Meng Qi chuckled: "Then you'll accompany me to clean up my house tomorrow. It has been a long time since anyone has been living in it. Besides, some furniture should be changed. Let's also install a computer. Also, we shouldn't say to Xiao Mu that he can directly live in it, just say that it was rented to him. Just in case the child can't get over his pride."
Liu Yao snorted: "You think too much."
On the other side, after Tao Mu hung up the phone he squatted down against the wall and buried his head in his knees. After a long time, he suddenly slapped himself.
"Tao Mu, you are a bastard!"
Liu Yao and Meng Qi were scars that Tao Mu couldn't even touch. These two people were ironclad evidence of Tao Mu's heartlessness and selfishness.
In his previous life, Tao Mu felt that the people of Night did not have very proper or presentable backgrounds and didn't want to get involved with these people anymore. Due to Liu Yao's influence, Tao Mu didn't dare to say anything before leaving Beijing, but his attitude was very clear.
What kind of person was Liu Yao? Although he was older now and began doing proper business, when he was young he was definitely not lacking in any fooling around. How could he fail to see through Tao Mu's thoughts? So after Tao Mu left Night, Liu Yao did indeed cut out any thoughts of continuing to communicate. Moreover, boss Liu not only cut out the thoughts himself, but also restrained anyone in the club from contacting Tao Mu as well.
Later Tao Mu returned to the Shen family and became the young master of the Shen family and the two groups of people would definitely not have any exchanges.
But when Tao Mu offended Shen Yu and was kicked out of the Shen house, then shut out of the entertainment circle by Shen Yu's admirers, Liu Yao took the initiative to teach a lesson to the media and marketing accounts headquartered in Beijing one by one. With strong arm tactics, he had these marketing accounts withdraw all of the articles on Tao Mu's dark history. He also had these media and marketing accounts publicly apologize to Tao Mu on the Internet. Of course, boss Liu's methods were definitely not so legal. So in the end, this incident became one of Tao Mu's weaknesses, evidence that led to Tao Mu being blacklisted by those above.
However, what made Tao Mu feel guilty the most was that Liu Yao was targeted by Shen Yu's admirers for helping him. That group of people joined hands to cause trouble for brother Yao's businesses. After all, nightclubs were a kind of business that couldn't hold up in an investigation. Finally, Liu Yao was forced by these people to leave Beijing and had to take Meng Qi to hide in Meng Qi's hometown. His many years spent on his career went up in smoke just like that.
Even so, the two met Tao Mu before they left, and they told Tao Mu not to think too much about it.
"I haven't wanted to work here for a long time. It's good to go back to our hometown. Our hometown is beautiful with beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers. Your brother Xiao Qi and I will contract a large area in the village to build an orchard, and then build a farmhouse. Isn't it in style now for city folks to reach back to nature. Well, your brother Xiao Qi and I are also going to follow the trend!"
"When you have time, bring Zhuo Yan and come over to play. Your brother Xiao Qi and I will definitely be the best hosts."
But later, Zhuo Yan, who he trusted and relied on the most, also betrayed him! Tao Mu just wanted to jump off a building and in the end never had the chance to visit brother Xiao Qi's hometown.
Actually, thinking about it carefully, Tao Mu was sorry to many people in his previous life.
In this life, he wanted to find back all those who had treated him well. And then treat them most preciously, placing them in the place closest to his heart, carefully guarding them so that no one would hurt them again.
The others were pretty easy to handle, so it was mainly the "Night" group. He was ignorant at the time and his attitude had hurt many people. Brother Yao and brother Xiao Qi were also too smart. Tao Mu didn't know how to reconnect with these people, but he didn't expect that the Zhang family would give him this opportunity.
Like this it was not bad.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
He took the initiative to call and took the initiative to admit to his wrongs. He appeared miserable and pitiful. Even if brother Yao and brother Xiao Qi were angry with him, they wouldn't be able to bear seeing him being bullied. They hadn't been able to bear it in the previous life in that kind of situation so they must definitely be even more reluctant now.
So you see, Tao Mu also had people who loved him.
Tao Mu wiped his eyes, feeling that the air in H Town was really bad, choking him up!
029 RETURNING HOME
APRIL 20, 2021NYXBIRD9 COMMENTS
After waiting until the next afternoon, Tao Mu, who received another call from brother Yao, approached Zhang Hanya's uncle, Zhang Delu. He was also the most troublemaking and scheming male family member in the Zhang family.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
"…..This address is your house number, right!" In front of Zhang Delu, Tao Mu rattled off an address number, and asked: "I heard that you gamble and owe a lot of usury. I say, you are quite daring, even daring to owe debts to brother Dong. Don't you know that brother Dong has the most cruel and darkest methods to deal with debtees?"
Zhang Delu hadn't thought that after just a few days, all of his dealings would be found out by Tao Mu. Instantly he was surprised and scared: "What, what do you mean by this?"
"I don't mean anything." Tao Mu sneered: "I just want to say that I don't care about your family's affairs. But you can't mess up my affairs."
"I also know that your family does not have it easy. None of the family members have a serious job. The men in the family are not only incapable but also gamble and borrow usury. For so many years, you have relied on women and work odd jobs outside to support the family. It is very sad actually. By the way, I sent someone to visit your house yesterday. Bought some fruit and canned foods for the old ladies, and bought some snacks and toy cars for the children. Your wife told you about it, right?"
Zhang Delu's heart once again jumped. Tao Mu spoke nicely, but he found out the address of their home without a problem, and sent a bald headed man with tattoos and gold chains to deliver fruit to their home. The words he spoke were also very unclear and ambiguous. The underlying meaning and threat in all of this was very obvious.
Since Zhang Delu was a person who gambled outside and owed usury, he could naturally figure out the truth here.
People like him, with soft bones, could do anything for money. But it was precisely his kind of people who were best at knowing when to take danger seriously. Knowing who could provoke and who he could never provoke. To put it in an ugly way, he would bully the weak and fear the strong.
At present, in his eyes, Tao Mu was one of the difficult and hard fellows, someone who he must never provoke.
"What, what do you want to do?" Zhang Delu looked at Tao Mu with shifty eyes, and said, "I, I say, you want to be a big star. You'd better not be foolish."
"As long as you don't get in my way." Tao Mu glanced at Zhang Delu expressionlessly, and suddenly chuckled, "Mr. Zhang is a smart man. I know what you want, isn't it just the medical expenses! I can give you a satisfactory solution to the matter. But you must guarantee that there will be no next time. If you dare to trouble the crew or the Yun family in the future, don't blame me for not saying the ugly things upfront."
Zhang Delu's heart felt like it was riding a roller coaster. He was curious about Tao Mu's idea and also afraid that Tao Mu would settle accounts afterwards: "What do you want?"
Tao Mu snorted. He ignored Zhang Delu. The best way to deal with this kind of person was not to give a slap and then a sweet jujube, but to give a sweet jujube and then severely break his legs. That way he would know how it hurts and know to be afraid. In this way, he wouldn't be thinking about that sweet jujube anymore, haunting you from time to time for more sweets and nauseating you.
Tao Mu left Zhang Delu aside, and first went back to the shooting location of "Faraway Jianghu" to visit the set and everyone. As soon as he entered the crew, he apologized to everyone——he brought some of the most famous popular snacks in H town, and handed them out one by one. Then, taking advantage of the filming break, he went into the director's lounge with Cheng Baodong and a few bigwigs to discuss donations.
——After all, the Zhang family had brought the matter to the media. Whether they liked it or not, if they didn't give an explanation, this matter would likely not blow over.
"In fact, we should think about it from another angle. Just spending a couple hundred thousand yuan donations could create a social hotspot for "Faraway Jianghu" which might be more effective than that of you deliberately spending money to buy ads for marketing, right?" And this kind of social hotspot came with discussions and debates that could last for a very long time. No matter how much time had passed, so long as it was mentioned, there would always be people discussing it.
The group of bigwigs looked at each other and didn't speak. Cheng Baodong sneered and unceremoniously retorted: "Easy for you to say. Creating a social hotspot. Do you think that the mainstream media is yours? You can create it just because you want to?"
One couldn't quibble on minor matters when you talk to people like Cheng Baodong and instead grasp the main point of the topic and keep plowing on directly so as not to be disrupted by his deliberately antagonistic words. If he was actually distracted by his annoying words then it would be over. Who knew what year they would be able to bring the topic back to the main point.
Therefore, Tao Mu ignored Cheng Baodong's aggressiveness and patiently analyzed: "MLM, abduction, women's rights, and doctor-patient relationships, no matter when, these are the most important topics of the country and the people. Especially the two in the middle. We can start from the topic of human traffickers and women's rights, and bribe some media to follow the case. Start some topics on the Internet, such as the crime of abduction and rape, and the different sentencing methods for domestic violence crimes in marriage, and discuss why some crimes of abduction and rape have the same sentences given to crimes of domestic violence in marriage."
"You can also ask a reporter to break the news that after arriving at the hospital, the Zhang family insisted that the police and the hospital should not have performed operations without their 'permission', using this as an excuse to force the hospital to be responsible for them. We can discuss the matter or diverge our thinking. Let the netizens discuss the relationship between doctors and patients, as well as the so-called "the world is made up of parents" and "my oddity of parents". Of course, the crew of "Faraway Jianghu" as a direct participant in this case, expresses deep sympathy and regret for Zhang Hanya's experience and also couldn't bear for the police and the hospital to face any difficulties that would chill everyone's heart to save the wounded. So, the crew is willing to organize donations and be responsible for little Hanya's medical expenses but also appeal to little Hanya's relatives to take the overall situation seriously and not be petty by hurting the hearts of the police and doctors for one's own profit——after all, we can't let the hero shed tears on top of the blood and sweat! I can make a statement first, I am willing to donate the 100,000 yuan I got from the crew. The money is not much, just a little bit of sincerity."
Did Tao Mu care about money? Of course he cared. But Tao Mu cared more about what could be done with money than just money itself!
When everyone heard Tao Mu's idea that he put forward in such a simple and light attitude, they couldn't help but be shocked. Tao Mu's actions made it clear he planned to ruin the Zhang family. The phrase "we can't let the hero shed tears on top of the blood and sweat" directly put the Zhang family in the position of an ungrateful villain.
When the news media printed these articles, it was likely that everyone in the Zhang family would not be able to hold their heads up in front of their relatives and friends. What's more important was that Tao Mu's wave of momentum would definitely not stop until it turned this matter into a social hotspot. And this case had not been officially closed yet. When the case was over, the crew could also take advantage of the situation and incite another wave of discussion.
And another significant point was that this type of case, coupled with Tao Mu's hype style, would have the whole country discussing societal matters. And it was not a one time thing, but even in the future——so long as there was a need, it could be pulled out again at any time, setting off a frenzy of discussion once again.
Everytime the topic was brought up, the Zhang family would once again be pulled out by various media to point fingers at. For the Zhang family, after putting such a hat on, it would be difficult to pull the hat off.
Too ruthless!
Tao Mu turned a blind eye to the bigwigs' scrutiny, and smiled as he continued to advise these bigwigs: "Finally, we can also stand from the perspective of the crew and the industry and persuade those young people who are young and have never been involved in society to not just go to unfamiliar places to visit celebrities. Emphasize the danger and uncertainty of this behavior, then register an official account on Weibo where you can post these safety tips, and inspire the public's good feelings."
"Don't those media reporters surrounding the crew want interviews? I think that everyone can also talk about your attitudes during the interview. For example, if there is no business, there is no harm. Discuss this from the perspective of equality and even feminism. You can also start from the doctor-patient relationship and the doctor's trouble. Director Cheng is the director, so he can take advantage of this incident to make a few movies with similar themes. If done well, maybe you can even get an award!"
Cheng Baodong's face changed and changed again. Looking at Tao Mu, he didn't speak for a long time.
The other bigwigs also had lingering fears.
——Tao Mu's method was too ruthless. It was like a wolf cub who had always hidden its fangs finally stretched out sharp claws. Before that, although these bigwigs talked about the child being too scheming and manipulative, they didn't feel much realistically. At most, it was just echoing others. It was a kind of condescending evaluation, added with a little sympathy for the weak. After all, Tao Mu, a kid who just graduated from high school, was not even an official actor. In front of the big names who had long been established in the entertainment circle, he posed no significance or deterrent at all.
But now, everyone was deeply aware of Tao Mu's scheming and ruthless methods——today his methods were used to deal with the hooligans that were the Zhang family. But tomorrow, it could be used against anyone in this room.
The main point was that even though everyone was more famous and influential than Tao Mu, if they really ran into this kind of thing, it was likely they wouldn't be able to hold up against the onslaught of attacks. They would absolutely not be able to escape without losing a layer of skin.
And on top of that, Tao Mu spent at most one and a half days to come up with such a method. With a flicker of an eye, he came up with an idea, and a very vicious and ruthless one that could ruin any person.
How could this child be so ruthless at such a young age. Then, when he came into contact with them, was he also holding back so many bad thoughts?
Tao Mu noticed a change in the mentality of these people. But he didn't care about it.
He had already anticipated this kind of reaction when he came to visit the set today to apologize and give everyone his idea.
He did it intentionally.
From childhood to adulthood, Tao Mu had deeply realized a truth. That was, in the process of interacting with people, you couldn't just show your weakness. You had to show off your claws when necessary to increase your weight in the eyes of others. This way, when you asked someone to do something, they wouldn't be negligent and perfunctory just because they thought they could treat you lightly and get away with it. This way it would not delay things.
Just like today, Tao Mu used the matter of the Zhang family to deliberately set up a trap. But this group of celebrities and big directors who had been roasted on the fire by the Zhang family and the media reporters had no choice but to jump into his trap——to say something ugly, those who jumped into the turmoil of the entertainment circle were either in it for fame or profit. Maybe there were some people who didn't admire fame and wealth, but Tao Mu hadn't met one so far.
He got along with these people for a month, and he had already figured out the nature of these people. They were not necessarily bad, but they did took pride and showed arrogance in their reputation and status, liked to listen to flattery, wanted to become famous, wanted to make money, and especially wanted to be treated like royalty——it could be said that those Tao Mu deliberately made friends with were actually the batch of people that were relatively easy to coax.
They were motive driven, but their scheming skills were not as dark as the financial and business circle. Even when angered, there were only so many retaliatory methods they could use to enact revenge. It would not hurt or itch or injure him badly, so in other words, simply too easy to handle.
Just like now——Tao Mu spoke his plan and pointed out the ready-made heat and popularity attached to it. Add to the fact that the Zhang family and media reporters were practically offering themselves, so long as these people didn't want any more trouble, they had no choice but to pinch their nose and carry out the plan.
Seeing that the faces of these people flickered with many emotions only to finally make up their minds, Tao Mu knew that this matter was basically decided.
Speaking of, the reason why he revealed these arrangements straightforwardly was because he was not afraid that this group of people would back out at the last minute. After all, no one could read other people's hearts. After listening to Tao Mu's words, these bigwigs had to weigh the matter in their minds——if they quit this plan now, would those who were willing to rub the heat and increase their popularity hold grudges against them? Think that they were just acting pretentious? Would they worry that they would speak out about these arrangements and ruin such a good marketing plan?
When the time came, they not only wouldn't be able to make clear their upright stance but also receive many suspicions aimed at them. How many of those who succeed in the entertainment industry were pure and kind virgin marys?
One step forward was a sweet jujube, and one step backward was a big stick. No one would want to put himself in a bad spot just for a bunch of irrelevant hooligans. Many times, circles were formed in this way——not because you had lofty ideals and common ambitions, but because a large group had done something that was not so upright and not easy to reveal to others.
For example, using the Zhang family as a stepping stone to promote the popularity of the entire crew of "Faraway Jianghu".
Tao Mu smiled and watched as this group of bigwigs quickly settled their internal struggles, and began to seriously discuss how to improve the plan.
While discussing, this group of bigwigs also observed Tao Mu secretly. Tch, now he didn't say anything and instead pretended to be a big clove of garlic——was it because he was coming up with something bad in his heart, wondering how to plot against them?
This was a misunderstanding of Tao Mu.
After being reborn, Tao Mu did indeed have a lot of celebrity black material on hand. Including that of these few people in front of him: for example, a certain big director and the financial and props department of the crew had teamed up together to cheat investors' of their money; for example, a certain old veteran actor who would often show his image of a good husband who loved his family to the public was actually keeping a young and beautiful dancer outside; another example was that the biggest bigwig in this room, a certain female celebrity, was actually the mistress of a certain business tycoon…..
But Tao Mu really never thought about using these black materials. He just habitually memorized this kind of stuff. After all, this kind of thing was similar to a spare tire, maybe one day it could be used.
It must be said that while these bigwigs appear hesitant and conflicted on the surface, they were actually faster than anyone when implementing the plan.
On the second day after Tao Mu gave everyone his advice, Cheng Baodong held a temporary press conference with the A-list celebrities and the main actors of the whole crew. At the press conference, it was solemnly announced that in order to support the police's abduction operations, the "Faraway Jianghu" crew would donate 1 million yuan to set up a charity relief fund specifically to help pitiful women who had been abducted by human traffickers and violently assaulted to pay for their medical expenses. In addition, one-tenth of the box office money of the movie would be injected into this charity relief fund after the release of "Faraway Jianghu".
And the first person to receive this charity relief fund's donation was a young girl who had been cheated into an MLM den and had almost been abducted by human traffickers, but was rescued by the police at the critical moment to receive timely treatment. However, the family members blatantly accused the police and the hospital that the hospital's surgery procedure was wrong because they could not afford the medical expenses. As for Zhang XX, who knelt down and begged for donations at the entrance of the Studio City——the money would be paid directly to the account of the H Studio City Group Hospital, resolutely not letting the heroes shed tears on top of blood and sweat.
After the press conference was over, a group of media that had been well-prepared for a long time began to publish various articles that called people to pay attention to anti-trafficking actions, pay attention to relevant laws and regulations, pay attention to women's rights and equality, and even pay attention to the relationship between doctors and patients. There were various reports but there was only one that was not included. Tao Mu used the law that protected the victims and strictly prohibited the media from exposing the specific information of Zhang Hanya and other victims. Of course, he couldn't speak in front of the media in his capacity. These suggestions were all conveyed to everyone through Cheng Baodong's mouth.
——Presumably, no one wanted to see reports that "media violence caused the victim to be exposed to harm a second time, and public opinion had persecuted the victims".
After the storm of public opinion in his last life, Tao Mu knew better than anyone how to use news media for positive propaganda, and knew how to counter these media. So he was not afraid of saying ugly words upfront. But what surprised him was that the news media were very conscientious——not mentioning the social section, even the weekly newspapers' gossip sections were not so wicked as to expose the victim's information to attract attention.
It seemed that the current weekly paper media——especially the news media on the social page, still maintained the professional ethics and professionalism of the media people, insisting that news reports must be true and effective and must be a positive mouthpiece. It was completely not like later years of self-media who used the headlines to attract attention, turning news reports into an 8pm soap opera, full of twists and made up information.
Tao Mu had clear grudges and grievances. He wanted to teach the Zhang family a lesson as well as establish his own speaking power. He dared not say that innocent people would absolutely not be involved, but within his ability, he was still willing to protect the privacy of innocent people. After all, Zhang Hanya, the young girl, was truly unlucky and pitiful.
——The Zhang family had been making a fuss for a long time, but not only did they fail to get any real compensation, they even managed to ruin their family's reputation. The relatives of the family who were still in Beijing would be pointed out by the neighbors as soon as they went out, and there was no face left for the whole family.
However, in Tao Mu's words, the Zhang family got what they wanted——didn't they just want to solve the problem of medical expenses. He had helped them solve it now so the Zhang family should be grateful.
After such an incident, Zhang Delu could be considered to have a deep understanding of Tao Mu's methods. On the one hand, he was afraid of the big bald guy with the golden chain that had visited their home. On the other hand, he was discouraged and felt that it would be difficult to win against Tao Mu with his family's IQ and methods.
Considering these two points, the Zhang family did not continue to cause trouble. They didn't even mention that the Yun family should be responsible for Zhang Hanya for the rest of her life. Just stopped completely in their troublemaking. Fortunately, Zhang Hanya quickly woke up, and after a few days of observation in the hospital, she didn't have any side effects. The Zhang family quietly discharged themselves from the hospital and returned to the capital in a pathetic manner.
But these were all afterword.
Before Tao Mu left, in order to thank Gou Rixin and delinquent girl, as well as their good brothers, he made a table of food in sister Ping's restaurant and invited everyone over for a drink. It could be considered an official farewell.
There was absolutely nothing to criticize about Tao Mu's cooking skills. He tinkered in the kitchen all morning, and made twenty dishes. Considering that this group of people were from all over China, Tao Mu's table also included eight major cuisines from eight regions, from Gou Rixin and Qin Miaoru's favorite fried pork in scoop, pork backbone, white meat and blood sausage, to Da Mao and Xiao Pang's favorite lamb spine hot pot, four happiness meatballs, longevity pork shoulder, stir-fried pig kidneys, to the local dishes of fried stuffed bean curd paste, sauteed shrimps and eel, steamed pork with lotus leaf, and Da Luo's personal order that he had never eaten in his life, Buddha's Temptation. He also made a dish of braised prawn and a dish of fried golden prawns——as Tao Mu had a certain habit when eating shrimps. He didn't like to peel them. So he made two shrimp dishes. Those who were willing to peel them would eat braised prawns, and those who were too lazy would eat fried golden prawns.
Then he made a dish of steamed fish, cold pork knuckle in jelly, and a dish of braised sea cucumber. The cold dishes were marinated carrot, cucumber, and rice noodle salad and century egg tofu. The soup was west lake carp with vinegar sauce. The dessert was Suzhou style little diamond cakes made in the shapes of the Chinese zodiac signs with glutinous rice flour, jujube paste, and red bean paste. The craftsmanship was exquisite and beautiful, and the texture was soft and smooth, aroma fragrant and sweet. This master-level full course meal immediately shocked this bunch of rough guys and girls.
When the diamond cakes arrived at the table, no one dared to stretch out their chopsticks. The large group of people held up their mobile phones and took pictures of the cakes. Their eyes when looking at Tao Mu were full of admiration for the master.
"Damn, brother Mu, your cooking skills are too extraordinary! You have to have learned from an imperial chef, right?" Qin Miaoru's bald underling bit his chopsticks and swallowed his saliva, "Say, you are so handsome and plan to be a star in the entertainment industry. It's such a waste to have such good cooking skills. How about it, let's discuss something. Does the master who taught you how to cook still accept apprentices? What do you think of me going to learn from a master?"
"Okay! I'll help you ask questions later. If our old man wants to accept apprentices, you can come and take his test. After the test, you can be my junior brother. But let me say the ugly words upfront, our family's learning methods are very strict. Training is all year round and you must be ready to provide for the master's retirement life. One day as your teacher means a lifetime as your father, understand? It's not as simple as paying money to learn skills like in the West." Tao Mu thought the bald-headed underling was joking, so he also replied jokingly.
"So it's like this!" The bald underling slapped his head: "As long as I can learn craftsmanship, let alone retirement, I can directly recognize him as my godfather!"
This caused a lot of laughter at the dinner table.
Qin Miaoru irritably knuckled the bald head of her underling: "Let's eat! So many delicious foods can't even stop your mouth. Just look at you, big and muscular, yet you want to recognize a godfather? Why don't you see if godfather would even want to recognize you?"
This was just too mean. This group of people was once again overtaken by laughter even before the last wave of laughter had died.
Tao Mu held back his smile, poured a large glass of beer, and toasted everyone: "Come, I will toast everyone a glass first. Thank you all for taking care of me during this time. I am very grateful. We should also keep in touch. Give me a call if there's anything, and I won't refuse if I can help."
Tao Mu also noticed that these people here, regardless of their future successes and encounters, were actually all good people. They were straightforward enough, righteous enough.
Tao Mu was used to seeing people who used each other and chased after profits. Now, it was not easy to get acquainted with a group of friends who were loyal to each other. Therefore, he was also willing to give everyone a chance to make a deeper friendship: "When I return to Beijing and change my phone number, I will send a group text message to everyone. Please pay attention, don't block my text message as spam."
Everyone responded loudly: "That won't be possible. Absolutely not. We must hug tight onto the golden thighs of Mr. Future Superstar."
Tao Mu looked at Gou Rixin. He was most worried about this big dog. He didn't know when that incident happened in his last life. Tao Mu estimated that it would be in a matter of months: "Call me if there's anything. Also, pay more attention when working. As martial arts body doubles, if something happens, it will be a major thing. Be careful."
"Don't worry." Gou Rixin waved his hand and touched his glass of beer to Tao Mu's: "I will. Besides, don't I have accident insurance covered by you. If something does happen, there will be protection."
Speaking of this, Tao Mu thought of another thing: "Why don't I see sister-in-law?"
Gou Rixin's smile faded, and he waved his hand and said, "Let's not mention her."
Tao Mu blinked, and advised subtly: "Okay. I can't say much about your house affairs. But there is one thing, if you really decide to cut it off, some things must be dealt with clearly. And it must be dealt with as soon as possible."
Tao Mu was talking about insurance beneficiaries. Gou Rixin insisted on filling in Yu Mei's name in the beneficiary's column. Tao Mu didn't think it was very reliable, but he couldn't say much. Now he was sincerely worried about Gou Rixin, so he said something more.
Gou Rixin also understood Tao Mu's sincerity, and patted the little brother on the shoulder without speaking.
Both guests and hosts enjoyed this meal.
On the second day, Tao Mu took Da Mao and Xiao Pang to buy a lot of local specialties. Then they bought a plane ticket for 10 o'clock the next morning to return to Beijing with the Yun family. In the hotel room at night, Tao Mu seriously told Da Mao and Xiao Pang: "Don't just reveal whatever when you go back. When brother Yao and brother Xiao Qi ask about H Town, you can say whatever, but that thing with Luo Yang. Don't mention it."
The Luo family had a big business and large influence, so Tao Mu didn't want brother Yao to provoke the Luo family even if it's to help him get revenge. Besides, he was not a kid anymore, he could get his own revenge. It was just someone like Luo Yang, he really didn't worry about it. Just like what happened with the Zhang family, if it wasn't for Tao Mu wanting to take the opportunity to admit his wrongs and apologize to brother Yao and the others, he wouldn't have needed to make that phone call.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang disagreed: "How can this work? Luo Yang bullied you like that. If brother Yao asks——"
"You are not allowed to say even if asked." Tao Mu said sternly, "I tell you, I am not discussing this with you, but solemnly telling you. If brother Yao listened to both of you and provoked the Luo family and got in trouble, don't blame me for turning my face." (TN: turning face=fall out with someone, become hostile)
Da Mao and Xiao Pang's hearts tightened. It was rare to see Tao Mu's solemn appearance, so they immediately gave in: "If you say not to, then we won't say anything. Why act so scary."
Tao Mu snorted, stretched out his hand and rubbed the heads of both Da Mao and Xiao Pang, and reminded again: "Don't say anything, or I will really turn my face."
Seeing Tao Mu was for real, Da Mao and Xiao Pang instantly stopped any thoughts of saying anything. When they checked out from the hotel the next day, they still looked wilted. Everyone in the Yun family noticed this and became curious: "What's wrong?"
"Having spent the past two months in H Town, they really will miss it!" Tao Mu's lie came easily out of his mouth, without having to think about it seriously.
Everyone in the Yun family didn't realize that there was anything wrong, and Yun Duo laughed and teased them: "I didn't expect you two macho men to be this sentimental."
Da Mao and Xiao Pang glanced at the clouds: As if a little girl like you know a fart!
They called two cars from the hotel and made their way to the airport. Tao Mu bought a lot of souvenirs. In order to save money, he fiddled with the express delivery in the hotel the night before. Listening to the Olympics as well as watching the turmoil in the international futures market. After pulling an all-nighter, his eyes now looked like rabbit eyes.
When he got on the plane, he immediately closed his eyes and calmed his mind. While gathering sleepiness, he thought about what he had gained from staying in H Town for the past two months.
He got acquainted with a group of directors and actors in the circle; through the Zhang family matter, his path into the Beijing circle was considered smooth; and also he got to know the "poor commoner friends" such as Gou Rixin and Qin Miaoru.
And the last was…..Tao Mu turned his head and glanced at Yun Yi classmate who was sitting next to him, and then looked at the floating clouds outside the window with a melancholy heart——he managed to hug onto a barely there semi-golden thigh.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
The plane left behind white lines in the blue sky. Tao Mu looked at the clouds outside through the small window, feeling very happy.
Beijing, I am back.
Dean Tao, the old man, brother Yao, brother Xiao Qi, Xiao Yuan, and all those who had showed him kindness…..Tao Mu, was returning home.
030 NEW HOME
APRIL 20, 2021NYXBIRD28 COMMENTS
The plane flew all the way for two hours and finally arrived at the capital's airport.
Tao Mu and the others came out of the airport and raised their heads——hey, it turned out to be a bright sunny day.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
"There is no smog!" Da Mao and Xiao Pang exclaimed: "It seems that the weather in the capital is still quite friendly to us returnees!"
Yun Yi smiled and asked Tao Mu: "How are you guys going to get home? How about——"
Before he finished speaking, there was a loud and excited "Brother Mu Mu Mu Mu!!!" Coming from the front. Everyone followed the sound and saw a darkly tanned and thin child standing in front of a large black Cherokee car and excitedly waving at Tao Mu. Behind him were two adults——one with good looks and a gentle aura, the other with a sturdy figure, thick eyebrows, and fierce aura.
"Brother Mu Mu Mu Mu, you, you, you, you are finally back. I, I, miss you so much!" The dark and thin child jumped at Tao Mu like a monkey and reached out to take Tao Mu's suitcase, saying eagerly: "When, when you went, why, why, why didn't you take me, me. Take these, these, two wastes over, what's the use. If they don't give, give, give you trouble, then one should burn, burn, burn incense and worship Buddha in thanks."
"Aiyo hey, I say, little stutter monster Feng Yuan, how can you talk like that? I fed you all those big pork shoulders and fried chicken legs for nothing? You just look down on your brother Da Mao like that?"
"And your brother Xiao Pang." Xiao Pang added.
Feng Yuan snorted and then bear hugged his brother Tao Mu: "That's, that's, a different, different matter. No matter how many things you, you, you feed me, you can't stop, stop me from telling the truth in front of brother Mu, Mu!"
"Your, your brother Mu, Mu is that good? Even, even, even all of our love these many years can't compete?" Xiao Pang deliberately talked like Feng Yuan. The kid blushed down to his neck, and stubbornly suggested to his brother Xiao Pang: "You, you, don't talk, talk like me!"
"Why, why, why? Huh?" Xiao Pang continued to poke fun at the other.
Feng Yuan was so anxious he could barely speak: "Dean, dean, dean Tao said that, talking like me will also, also make people get a stutter, and can't change, change, change——"
"And can't change it, right?" Xiao Pang finished and laughed at Feng Yuan: "Is it that hard to say."
Feng Yuan gave Xiao Pang an eyeroll, and stood next to Tao Mu, his mouth pressed tight and silent.
Tao Mu laughed and rubbed Feng Yuan's prickly little head: "Your brother Pangzi is teasing you. I bought you all many gifts. Help this brother get it all in the car."
"Ai, okay!" Feng Yuan agreed happily. Without further ado, he immediately ran to the trunk with the suitcase. Tao Mu walked up to Liu Yao and Meng Qi on his own, and called shyly and embarrassedly: "Brother Yao, brother Xiao Qi."
"It's good to be back." Meng Qi stretched out his hand and patted Tao Mu on the shoulder: "Are you hungry? Uncle Song made a table at home and we'll send you over there."
Tao Mu was a little surprised. Although Liu Yao, Meng Qi, and the old man all treat him really well, these two different sides happened to dislike each other. The old man thought that Liu Yao and his people were all gangsters, or "that kind of people". And add to the fact that there were a bunch of sissy men with heavy makeup that minced around in the club, he was afraid that they would influence Tao Mu badly. Liu Yao didn't like the old man's odd temper and stuffy feudalistic ways. The two sides of people would quarrel whenever they meet.
But what was this today?
Liu Yao crossed his arms and snorted, looking up at the sky and ignoring Tao Mu.
So Tao Mu siddled over in front of brother Yao and looked at Liu Yao pitifully. His words also softly trailed: "Brother Yao….."
Liu Yao snorted again, but before he could even finish putting on airs, he was pushed by Meng Qi: "Stop it already! I'll fight you if you make the child cry."
Liu Yao then looked at Tao Mu, and said in a deep voice, "Get in the car!"
Liu Yao's voice was extremely deep, with a hint of hoarseness. It was the bass voice type highly regarded in the later years. When he was unhappy, his words would make a muffled resonance from his chest, which could make people feel nervous just hearing it. Everyone at Night would all become afraid whenever they saw Liu Yao's unsmiling face and muffled talking.
But Tao Mu was not afraid. Because when he was pushed into a desperate corner in his last life and was cursed at by the whole Internet, Liu Yao used this exact voice to stand up for him. Later, he was implicated by Tao Mu and was forced by Shen Yu's admirers to be unable to stay in Beijing. When he left, he also used this voice to comfort him.
So Tao Mu felt safe, at ease and comfortable when he heard this voice. Like a little kid who had the protection of his parents, no matter how much he had suffered or been wronged outside, even if he was taught a lesson at home, he would still have confidence that his family would always be on his side.
"Brother Yao, don't be angry with me." Tao Mu put his arms around brother Yao, who had a thick waist, and wheedled softly, "I know I was wrong."
"Piss off! Who taught you to act so sticky. Do you also plan to let loose two drops of cat urine (TN: cat urine slang for tears)?" Liu Yao rolled his eyes impatiently, but didn't break away, instead placing his big hand on Tao Mu's head. He rubbed it hard: "Get in the car quickly. The whole house is waiting for you so we can eat!"
Inexplicably, this remark poked Tao Mu in the heart. The child felt his eyes grow hot, and immediately let go of his brother Yao's arm: "You wait for me for a while. I have to go say some farewells."
After Tao Mu finished this sentence, he strode towards the Yun family in a long stride, a happy and joyous expression in his eyes, something that had not been present while in H Town: "Thanks, but I won't be going with you. My family has come to pick me up."
Everyone in the Yun family took a look at Liu Yao, who made a very fierce image and Meng Qi, who attracted the gazes of all passerbys, and all understood. Yun Yi smiled and said, "Be careful on the road. We will keep in touch later."
Yun Duo held mother Yun's arm and said reluctantly, "Brother Xiao Mu, don't forget me. Remember to call me."
As soon as she spoke, she felt that this kind of thing was likely not possible, so she changed it to: "You have to answer when I call you. Don't say that the phone is almost out of power as soon as you get my call!"
Don't know what was up with Tao Mu. Every time he answered her phone, the first sentence that came out of his mouth would be "If you have something to say, then say it quickly, my phone is going to run out of battery." If he didn't like to talk to her, just say it straight. Always using this excuse every time.
Tao Mu remained unaffected and nodded at Yun Xingjian and his wife: "Goodbye, uncle and aunt Yun."
He glanced at his semi-golden thigh again: "Goodbye brother Yun."
Everyone in the Yun family watched Tao Mu jump into the big Cherokee car with joy, and suddenly felt that the child appeared a lot younger than he did before——finally he looked like an eighteen-year-old boy.
On the other side, Liu Yao's face sank as he watched Tao Mu walking towards the Yun family. He asked Da Mao and Xiao Pang: "Was Xiao Mu bullied in H Town?"
Da Mao and Xiao Pang had always been slightly afraid of Liu Yao. Hearing this, Tao Mu's harsh warning to them immediately flashed through their mind. The two looked at each other and said obediently: "How can our brother Mu be the one being bullied? Those grandsons are really snobbish, and they didn't like brother Mu at first. But brother Mu was able to conquer them in a matter of moments——"
"Okay!" Liu Yao waved his hand, interrupting Da Mao and Xiao Pang's lie: "Don't talk about it now. We'll talk later."
Liu Yao looked at Tao Mu, who ran back in quick steps, and motioned everyone to get in the car.
The big Cherokee car drove all the way back from the airport, got off the expressway and cut into the 3rd Ring Road. Without any surprise they were met with a traffic jam. The entire 3rd Ring Road had been basically turned into a parking lot. Liu Yao said without looking back: "There are snacks in the car."
Meng Qi, who was sitting in the co-pilot, smiled and turned his head and said, "Before your brother Yao came to the airport he deliberately took a lot of dried fruit snacks from the club with us. They are all your favorite snacks, Xiao Mu. But don't eat too much or else uncle Song will be nagging you again."
Tao Mu was startled when he heard these words, and watched Meng Qi pull out packets of pistachios, figs, broad beans, and braised peanuts from the small car refrigerator. There was also the sweet-scented osmanthus cakes and kidney bean cakes that Tao Mu loved.
He stretched out his hand to take the things in brother Xiao Qi's hand, and thanked him with a smile.
Liu Yao was annoyed by the traffic jam. He rolled down the glass window, lit a cigarette, and observed their family's little puppy in the inverted mirror. He saw Tao Mu tearing the snack bags and then dividing the snacks among Da Mao, Xiao Pang and Feng Yuan.
The expressions and manners were no different from before.
Meng Qi smiled and asked Tao Mu: "How's your time in H Town? Have you seen a few big stars?"
Da Mao and Xiao Pang subconsciously wanted to take over the conversation, but feared that their mouths would let slip something which would result in Tao Mu being angry. They could only stuff their mouths with food sheepishly.
Tao Mu smiled and talked to the two about his troubles in H Town. During the retelling, he emphatically described how much money he had made from trading stocks: "Brother Xiao Qi, am I amazing? Do you want to think about it and let me take care of your private money. I promise you that in at least a year your money will be ten times more, and you won't even be charged for handling fees!"
While Tao Mu was talking, he didn't forget to peep at his brother Yao. Ai, this situation was just like a scumbag who had fooled around outside and wronged his wife, now he just wanted to make up for it. But there was no good method he could find, so he could only make it up materially.
Meng Qi chuckled lightly. He didn't take Tao Mu's words seriously, and coaxed him like a child: "Yo, is our Mu Mu that amazing?"
"Come on~" Tao Mu was lying on the backrest of the co-pilot. He bent his slender index finger and scratched the back of his brother Xiao Qi's carefully done hair: "I'm amazing. Definitely better than that financial advisor brother Xiao Qi uses now. By the way, he didn't cause you to lose money, did he?"
"No." Meng Qi said with a smile: "In the middle of the year, your brother Yao felt that the situation was not very good, so I took the money out of the stock market."
Tao Mu immediately gave his brother Yao a thumbs up, with an expression of flattery like a sycophantic villain: "Brother Yao is a wise man."
"Piss off." Seeing Tao Mu scooching over, Liu Yao pressed out the remaining half of the cigarette——completely unaware that the little puppy he had watched grow up had already learned to smoke.
The big Cherokee inched along the 3rd Ring Road that had turned into a parking lot, and headed towards Houhai lake. When they arrived at the orphanage, it was already more than two o'clock in the afternoon.
Dean Tao and the other children in the orphanage were waiting in old man Song's small restaurant. The large group of people were so hungry their stomachs felt as if it had flattened to touch their backs, but no one shouted to eat. Hearing the noise of the car, they immediately swarmed out from the small restaurant: "Brother Mu, brother Mu you're back~"
"Eat~ eat~"
Tao Mu pushed the door and got out of the car, looking at the old man Song who was standing behind the threshold of the restaurant's front door. The golden afternoon sun poured down, engulfing everything in a hazy and dazzling golden halo. Tao Mu blinked in a daze, and stepped forward to greet him: "Old man, I'm back."
Song Daozhen snorted coldly and scowled with his hands behind his back: "Why are you so late? Everyone is waiting for you, hurry up and get inside." The way he said it, it was as if he completely did not see Liu Yao and Meng Qi who were following behind at all.
Liu Yao snorted from his nose. Feeling that his wrist was being pulled, he looked back and saw Meng Qi smile at him with warm eyes and a calming expression.
Liu Yao snorted again. Forget it, a grown man like him won't bother arguing with an old man who had half a foot in the grave.
Dean Tao walked out of the room with an apron around her waist, smiling with kind eyes, "Xiao Mu is back? Are you hungry? Come in to eat!"
Saying so, she reached out and touched the sweaty heads of Da Mao, Xiao Pang and little Feng Yuan: "Look at these hot sweaty heads, go and wash your faces."
The city of Beijing at the end of August was the time when there was always an autumn hot spell. At noon it reached 37 degrees. Because Meng Qi had poor health, he couldn't use the air conditioner. The whole way back everyone had sweated quite a lot.
Da Mao and Xiao Pang responded and ran towards the bathroom. Feng Yuan followed closely behind, running even faster than the two of them. When the children in the orphanage saw this, they followed in a swarm, screaming and laughing around the room.
Dean Tao glanced at the children adoringly, and then talked to Liu Yao and Meng Qi: "You met a traffic jam outside, right? The way I see it, this Beijing city is good everywhere except for one thing, traffic jams all day long, it truly delays things."
Meng Qi smiled and said, "We're used to it. It's just, Xiao Mu hasn't eaten since this morning and he's starving."
"The meal will begin right away." Dean Tao said, and couldn't help touching Tao Mu who had been watching her silently: "What's the matter?"
"Dean Tao." Tao Mu looked at the kindly smiling old lady with some sorrow. Counting his previous life, he hadn't seen dean Tao in four or five years. The only impression in his mind was that smiling face on the black and white photo.
Tao Mu didn't know dean Tao's personal affairs. As far as he could remember, dean Tao had already been the dean of the orphanage. She had no family, no husband, no children. Her whole life and her whole heart had been dedicated to this small orphanage and to the children in the orphanage. She treated all the children in the orphanage as if they were her own blood. She had been running the orphanage for so many years but hadn't even received any salary. Her retirement wages were all used in the daily expenses of the orphanage. She hadn't even bought herself new clothes for so many years.
However, those evil hearted real estate developers actually hired the Internet water army to slander dean Tao, saying she embezzled the funds of the orphanage, just because she did not agree to sell the land of the orphanage to developers to build real estate. They even bribed insiders to "report" dean Tao.
Dean Tao probably never thought that people's hearts could be so sinister. Faced with accusations and doubts from the news media and netizens who didn't know the truth, an old lady who was over 60 years old and didn't even know how to navigate the Internet was simply unable to even tell her side of the story. In the end, she suffered a heart attack caused by the abuse from those marketing accounts and died tragically in an ambulance.
In this life, Tao Mu absolutely won't let that happen again!
"Xiao Mu? Xiao Mu?"
Tao Mu came back to his senses, and saw dean Tao looking at him with a smile: "What are you thinking about, so distracted, hurry up and wash your hands and eat."
"Oh." Tao Mu replied and went to wash his hands obediently.
Dean Tao, Song Daozhen, and two workers in the restaurant started serving dishes. Meng Qi also went into the kitchen to help.
Liu Yao sat at the dinner table solemnly, watching old man Song bring out a large plate of tender longevity peaches. He couldn't help but feel a little dazed: "Is anyone celebrating his birthday today?"
Old man Song glanced at Liu Yao and snorted without saying a word.
Liu Yao suddenly realized: Oh, this was for Tao Mu's birthday!
The two of them only communicated with one question and one snort, not even a look from the eyes and yet they completely understood each other.
Tao Mu was also stunned when he came out of the bathroom. Aside from the fact that the table was full of his favorite dishes, there was even a plate of longevity peaches right in the middle of the table——it was definitely dean Tao who heard his moment of idiocy on the phone that day and relayed it to the old man.
Then the old man took it seriously. Eagerly waiting for the day he came back to present him with a large plate.
This was to make up for his birthday!
Could it be that in the previous life, this stubborn and mulish old man also carefully prepared such a table full of dishes, only for him to not even show up?
And he never saw him show up in the rest of his life!
Tao Mu's eyes reddened: Tao Mu, you really are a bastard! A complete bastard! The number 1 stupid idiot!
However, what Tao Mu didn't expect was that old man Song had carefully prepared more things than he had imagined.
After dinner, without waiting for Liu Yao and Meng Qi to speak, old man Song took out a set of keys and handed them to Tao Mu: "The house price has plummeted recently, and there is no use for the money I saved in the bank. So I wanted to buy a house to collect rent in the future. I bought this new house, which happens to be in Dongcheng District, opposite Beijing Film. Aren't you going to school in Beijing Film? It just so happens that this house will be perfect for your four years in the school."
Tao Mu looked at the keys handed in front of him, a dazed look flashing across his face.
Liu Yao was also taken aback. He turned his head and glanced at old man Song, and sneered: "I say, old man, you going out of your way to buy a house, how big is it?"
"38 square meters." Old man Song glanced at Liu Yao and emphasized: "The kind of apartment that is very popular now."
"Yo, that's not small at all!" Liu Yao snorted and turned to whisper with Meng Qi. But his voice was so loud the whole table could hear: "I wonder if it can even fit all the clothes of the little puppy!"
Tao Mu spent money lavishly, and learned from the young masters and princesses of Night, who loved to collect famous brands. After these many years, the clothes, shoes and hats could at least fill three houses. Thirty-eight square meters, compared to the employee dormitory he gave their little puppy it was much too cramped——
That's right, boss Liu was extremely generous and was often known for his generosity in jianghu. The dormitories for his employees were all luxury villas or high rise apartments——basically they were all properties owned by boss Liu himself, but he was too lazy to rent them out and just used them as employee benefits.
"I think it's better to let Yao'er (TN: pet name for a child, basically translates to 'little child') live in his brother Xiao Qi's——"
Before he finished speaking, Meng Qi grabbed his arm and interrupted him.
"Actually, Yao'er can live anywhere. Uncle Song's house is close to the school. If he were to live at my place, he would have to take the transit for two stops." Meng Qi only had to look at Tao Mu to know that Tao Mu was already completely touched, looking eagerly at uncle Song. But he also didn't want to disappoint his brother Yao. His little conflicted expression was simply distressing to watch.
Liu Yao looked at Meng Qi unhappily!
The house he had cleaned up all night long! He also redecorated it! He also bought new household appliances! Darn it, just a few words, and all the hard work they spent a week on was in vain!
Meng Qi's little finger hooked Liu Yao's palm, and consoled the other: "Let the child live in uncle Song's house. But if he wants to hold a party or something on the weekend, it can be at our place. The best of both worlds. The best of both worlds."
Liu Yao was silent this time.
Old man Song had been covertly staring at Tao Mu's face from the moment Liu Yao uttered his first sentence. Later, seeing Meng Qi coming out to smooth things over and that Tao Mu did not object, he was finally relieved——
To be honest, he was really worried that Tao Mu would look down on his little apartment. But with his ability, his life savings, he could only afford such a small apartment less than forty square meters.
Fortunately, the stinky boy didn't complain about him this time!
Old man Song thought this way, and quickly struck the iron while it was hot: "Xiao Qi, you drove your car over right, so why don't you drive us over to check out the place. Let Xiao Mu recognize the address. He must be tired after a day of travel, so he can just directly sleep over there. After all, doesn't he have to report to school in the morning tomorrow!"
Dean Tao also helped old man Song speak: "That's the truth. Xiao Qi, we must trouble you."
"It's not troublesome." Meng Qi smiled and looked at Tao Mu, then reached out and rubbed the boy's head: "Let's go!"
What was Tao Mu's mood now? He felt as if a scoop of pepper was stuck in his throat. Choking him up, as if it would choke out the snot and tears if he let out his voice. Tao Mu didn't want to cry in front of so many people, he didn't dare to speak, so he just hung his head and nodded fiercely.
Everyone at the table could see that Tao Mu was affected. But no one pointed it out.
Liu Yao picked up the car keys and walked out, while old man Song and Meng Qi dragged Tao Mu to follow. Tao Mu held the luggage in one hand and supported the old man with the other. Dean Tao stayed behind in the restaurant to collect the leftovers and cold dishes, and little Feng Yuan and the other children in the orphanage also gathered to help. Da Mao and Xiao Pang looked at Tao Mu eagerly, although they wanted to follow up and join in the fun, but unfortunately the car had no more room. Besides, it was getting late and they should be going home too——for the sake of this meal, neither of them told their families they were coming back today.
They only had this bit of ambition!
Da Mao and Xiao Pang sighed and called their family members to pick them up. Without a doubt, they were treated to a scolding from their parents.
After putting down the phone, Da Mao told Tao Mu: "If you have time in these two days, stop by at our house. My dad has something to talk with you about." Boss Wang saw his son's pocket money snowballing in the stock market and couldn't resist it anymore. This time that Tao Mu was invited to come over, it was estimated that they would be talking about it.
Tao Mu nodded. Helping the old man sit into the big Cherokee car.
Liu Yao silently drove the car all the way to the gate of the neighborhood where Song Daozhen bought the apartment. Across the street was the front gates of Beijing Film, and indeed it was really close.
It seemed that the old man had been deliberately planning this, don't know how long he had been aiming for this place.
Careless! He was really careless!
Liu Yao snorted inwardly. If he knew earlier he would have bought a place here in advance. Choose the one with the largest area, the best apartment, and the best daylight. That way he wouldn't have lost to 38 square meters.
Liu Yao grumbled in his heart as he followed the old man Song all the way.
Old man Song had limited funds but wanted to choose a good location. So other conditions would naturally take a back seat. The apartment he chose was basically the smallest in the entire neighborhood. And it was also on the top floor. Old man Song was worried about too much sun so when decorating, he specially asked the decorators to make a layer of sun protection on top of the waterproofing. He also chose an air conditioner that had the most powerful function.
Inside the small apartment, there was a kitchen, dining room, bedroom, study, and bathroom. Old man Song asked the decorator to open up all the partition walls except the load-bearing wall, so that the apartment would appear bigger and the lighting would be better.
Going in from the door, on the left hand side was the shoe cabinet and the photo wall hung with several photos of Tao Mu. On the right was the bathroom. There was a mirror sliding door installed that would fully take care of the stinky brat's vanity. Inside was the most popular toilet in the market, and next to it was the shower, separated by a frosted bath screen glass.
Going back to the living room, there were white walls, warm yellow furniture, and a light green fabric sofa on the opposite side of the LCD TV hanging on the wall. Behind the fabric sofa, two large cabinets with sliding doors were installed into the wall, hung with Tao Mu's most beloved brand-name clothes and hats. Old man Song and dean Tao had moved it all here specially from the orphanage.
Further inside was the dining room, where a small table was set with two small exquisitely made dining lamps hanging over the table.
Further inside past the dining room was the bedroom and kitchen separated by two partitions, one horizontal and one vertical. There was only one bed in the bedroom. Next to the bed was a desk and bookshelf. There was also an Apple desktop computer on the desk. Old man Song asked the young workers in his store to accompany him to the computer shop to choose it himself. It was said to be the best brand.
As for the kitchen, that was the easiest. With the expertise of old man Song, he definitely arranged the various utensils in the kitchen clearly and organized.
Extending further in was a small balcony with glass walls. There were several pots of green plants placed out on it. There was also a pot of pepper tree, a pot of persimmon tree, and a pot of kumquat tree that he took from the restaurant. It was currently the harvest season, so the small balcony was full of colorful autumn colors, adding a bit of nature to the overall apartment.
It filled the house with a sense of home.
The apartment was not big and the decoration was not luxurious. It could be said to be the most simple house Tao Mu had lived in in his two lifetimes. However, Tao Mu could feel the sense of home from every furnishing in this house.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
It was the "new home" for Tao Mu that Song Daozhen had been building and adding to little by little for who knew how many days and nights.