After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn

by Usui Takumii

not mine, theirontreeblooms. Beware BL. Total : 293 Chapters 5 Extras (Completed).

17. 81 to 85

Although the relationship between the women from the two families had never been very good, the men from the two families, Zhang Dafu and Tao Haiguo, got along surprisingly well.

—This was mainly attributed to Zhang Dafu, although he was full of vices such as drinking and gambling, he was relatively generous with his wallet. When he had money, it was okay for neighbors to come and mooch off a drink or two. And even though Zhang Dafu was a rascal, he knew the truth that "Qin Hui still had three good friends" and never harmed his neighbors. Sometimes, he could even introduce help for someone who had a need for it. Of course, every time he helped, he did not forget to request a fee for his hard work. Not much, just enough for a few meals.

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On the other hand, Tao Haiguo's behavior and way of acting was not as smart, and the Tao couple was always criticized. There were not many neighbors around who were willing to have any relations with their family. Even the old men who played chess at the entrance of the alley were unwilling to play chess with him, so it was only a rsscal like Zhang Dafu who was willing to drink and chat with him. After a long time, the two of them developed some friendship.

In recent days, the old Tao family seemed to have met a benefactor and was feeling quite vigorous and proud. According to the benefactor's instructions, Tao Haiguo and his wife broke the news with the media and accepted a TV interview. After all the limelight, they even made a lot of money. Seeing this, there also seemed to be an opportunity to get money from their adopted son. Although the old neighbors around were very particular about this matter, Tao Haiguo and his wife didn't plan to live in this shabby place for a lifetime. The spit from the other families was not really important to them as real tangible cash.

Though they thought this, having people every day pointing fingers at them whenever they went out was really not a pleasant feeling. Especially when Tao Dabao went to school, his classmates all looked down on him, especially those female classmates who shamelessly praised Tao Mu all the time, and after learning a few words on the Internet, they would run over to Dabao and scold him for being shameless, and even instigated the whole class to ostracize him. Children were thin-skinned and couldn't handle many things, so when he came back home he would throw a tantrum at his parents. They couldn't beat or scold him so all day long the house was very noisy. Tao Haiguo also preferred to hide outside and drink.

The two went directly to the small restaurant at the entrance of the alley and ordered four dishes to go with the wine. Zhang Dafu didn't go straight to the topic, but waited patiently until after the third round of drinking before he inquired, seemingly inadvertently, "Old Tao, I heard my wife say today that you two went on TV?"

Tao Haiguo was almost completely drunk. Besides, what Zhang Dafu asked was no secret—not to mention the entire neighborhood alley, that was, the entire Beijing City probably already knew about this. Tao Haiguo was not very vigilant either, he snickered, and asked: "What, old Zhang, do you want to scold me for being unkind and immoral?"

"As if!" Zhang Dafu shook his head, picked up a chopstick of a cold dish, drank a small cup of wine, and ate a few peanuts, then said: "If I have such a capable adopted son, I would also hold on tight. But I think that you have offended him too much, I'm afraid any nice feelings are long gone. Let me tell you, I also know this Tao Mu. Before, our family's Hanya was almost abducted in H Town. At that time it was this Tao Mu who helped find and rescue her. To tell the truth, he can be considered a good person, but he is also definitely no saint. His methods are very black. You have offended him in front of the world, so are you really not afraid that he will get back at you?"

"That's impossible." Tao Haiguo shook his head drunkenly: "No matter how good he is, can he still be better than a big corporation?"

"Big corporation?" Zhang Dafu's heart jumped and he asked, "What do you mean?"

Tao Haiguo was slightly more alert and knowing that he had said something he shouldn't, quickly changed the subject: "Nothing, nothing. Come on, drink."

Zhang Dafu had a drink with Tao Haiguo. Seeing Tao Haiguo's vigilant appearance, he knew that there must be something tricky in this whole thing.

And he must get to the bottom of this tricky thing today.

So Zhang Dafu called the waiter and ordered six bottles of beer. With such a mix of white wine and beer, even Tao Haiguo, who had a decent amount of alcohol tolerance, was a bit unable to hold up. After Zhang Dafu's patient questioning, he finally let loose his tongue.

"Tell you the truth. I didn't intend to offend this adopted son of mine. After all, it was us who didn't want him and sent him back to the orphanage. I don't have the face to ask the child to provide elderly support for us. Besides, the child now has another adopted family. The two dads are said to be gangsters, which is not something I can afford to offend. I am also just working for someone…..promised to give us a million yuan after the thing is finished. My wife said that with this money added to the money we'll get for selling our old house, we can buy a new apartment. If we're lucky, and Tao Mu can't bear the pressure of the netizens and is willing to pay us alimony to avoid any trouble, then that would be even better."

"…..After all, he's just an 18-year-old child. No matter how capable, as long as he wants to enter the entertainment industry and become an actor in the future, it is important to consider public opinion….."

With a "click", Zhang Dafu pressed the pause button on the recorder, rubbed his hands, and said with a slightly ingratiating expression: "That, Mr. Tao, I know you look down on me and don't want to have any relations with someone like me. But today, I really didn't come here to act like a rascal. Just how much do you think this recording is worth?"

Tao Mu stared expressionlessly at Zhang Dafu, who had been standing outside the gate of Beijing Film early in the morning and pestering the gatekeeper to call him. He also had to admire this person's ability to toady for personal gain.

"I say, Mr. Tao, don't keep silent!" Zhang Dafu looked at Tao Mu, but he was actually not quite as confident as he appeared. He had experienced Tao Mu's methods first hand, and to be honest, it was really quite intimidating. However, no matter how intimidated he was inside, people couldn't just give up money that they had a chance at.

Besides, Zhang Dafu had also paid attention to Tao Mu. Although this person had ruthless methods, he seemed to treat the people around him very well. He hadn't heard anyone say that he was unkind or immoral. On the contrary, many people say that Tao Mu possessed loyalty and always liked to bring benefits to the people around him. Didn't he work with Guo Yaning to shoot the MV before and brought in mutual benefits.

That was why Zhang Dafu felt that producing such strong evidence to prove Tao Mu's innocence at such a critical time could be considered as helping out Tao Mu a lot, and even if he didn't appreciate it, he wouldn't do anything to him either.

So he plucked up the courage to meet with Tao Mu, and then pestered Tao Mu for a talk at the coffee shop opposite to Beijing Film. Before Tao Mu could speak, he put the voice recorder on the table and pressed the play button directly.

Sure enough, as soon as Tao Mu heard this recording, he didn't talk nonsense, and asked directly: "What do you want?"

Zhang Dafu chuckled: "I don't dare to be too greedy. But Tao Haiguo said, Shanghai's Sheng'an Group asked him to come forward and break the news on TV, and gave him a full one million in return. So I was thinking about it, Mr. Tao has a big business and is also a big man who wants face. Is your reputation worth a million?"

This appetite was not small at all.

Tao Mu twitched the corner of his mouth into a smile, "Don't you know that recordings are easy to falsify? How can you guarantee that this recording must be true? Besides, even if I spend a million to buy this recording of yours, your illegally obtained recording cannot be used as legal evidence. Spending a million to buy a recording that can't do anything, am I'm really that dumb?"

"How could it be useless?" Zhang Dafu was also anxious: "CEO Tao, don't tease me. We all know that this recording can at least prove that you are innocent. The Tao couple was instructed by someone else to accept the interview slandering you. You can sue them for slander."

Tao Mu continued to smile silently.

Zhang Dafu gritted his teeth: "Okay. Just say how much money you are willing to pay for this recording. Let me tell you the truth. I take this money and I definitely don't plan to use it alone. Even if I am not a good human being, I know that a grown man should support the family. This money is also reserved for my son to go to school in the future and to marry a wife. And Hanya's mother will not let her go to school. It's a problem that the young girl is always working tiring jobs serving dishes outside. If you are willing to buy this recording, I can also pay for Hanya to go to college. It's just a few ten thousands for four years. I can afford to use this money for it. It's really no big deal, I can just ask Hanya to write me an IOU and after Hanya works, the money can be returned to me with interest."

"Zhang Hanya didn't go to university?" Tao Mu was taken aback when he heard this.

"Yes, I know!" Zhang Dafu slapped his thigh: "Her mother thinks college spends too much money, so she won't let her go. She insists on forcing the child to go out to work and make money. I told my sister a long time ago that people now looking for a job depend on academic qualifications. What can a high school graduate do besides serving dishes and washing dishes? It simply doesn't work. One must go to university to earn more in the future….."

Tao Mu frowned.

Zhang Dafu peeked at Tao Mu's expression and said, "Hanya, this girl is righteous and knows that you saved her life which can't be easily repaid, but Hanya is always thinking about doing something for you. Knowing that the Tao couple went on TV to discredit you, this girl stayed outside the public toilet at the entrance of the alley for half an hour before dawn early in the morning, just to get something out of Yang Shufen's mouth. Although she didn't manage to get anything out of her mouth, she still had good intentions."

Tao Mu listened to Zhang Dafu's babble: "I ran into Zhang Hanya at a hot pot restaurant before, and she didn't tell me about this."

"Too embarrassed to say it." Zhang Dafu chuckled twice: "I say, Mr. Tao, you are a generous person. Send the Buddha all the way to the west, since you saved Hanya's life, why not save her again."

Zhang Dafu reached out and tapped on the voice recorder: "You buy this recording of mine. You can prove your innocence, and I can earn some money. Isn't this the best of both worlds?"

Tao Mu's eyes fell on the voice recorder, and he sneered: "Just this thing, yet you have the face to ask me for a million?"

Zhang Dafu smiled ingratiatingly and said: "Then how much do you think it is worth, just give however much you think it's worth."

Tao Mu chuckled, and his slender finger tapped the tabletop: "The thing is not worth a million. But my reputation is worth more than one million."

Zhang Dafu's eyes lit up.

Tao Mu said with a bad tone: "Don't think too much. I won't give you cash. A person like you, I don't know how many I have met. When you have yet to get the money, your words sound better than singing. If you really get the money, you will be the first to go to the gambling table with all the money. What wife, child, niece, can they still be seen in your eyes?"

Zhang Dafu's heart went cold for a while, and he asked in a sheepish tone, "Then, then, what does Mr. Tao mean?"

Tao Mu knocked on the tabletop: "If you can trust me, I will take this voice recorder first. After the matter is dealt with, I will definitely give you a job. If you disagree, please take the voice recorder back."

Tao Mu made a gesture of invitation: "I will not make it difficult for you."

After Tao Mu got the recording secretly recorded by Zhang Dafu, he was not in a hurry to deal with Tao Haiguo and his wife who were still jumping around in front of the TV station and various media. In his view, no matter in the previous life or this life, Tao Haiguo and his wife jumping around was just a gun in the hands of others, puppets in the hands of the Yao family. Whatever the Yao family asked them to do, they would do it, have them say whatever and they would say it, which was why Tao Haiguo made such an obvious mistake.

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He got strong evidence, so naturally he must first consider how to snipe the hunter. In order to catch the bandits one must first catch the bandit king, in order to kill the snake one must hit it over the heart. If you can't find a way to deal with the hunter, but are anxious to attack the gun, it didn't matter to be laughed at, what did matter was losing a chess piece that could be used against the Yao family. That would be quite regretful.

So the first thing Tao Mu did after getting this recording was to go discuss with his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad—how to find the evidence of the "Sheng'an Group giving him one million to discredit Tao Mu" that Tao Haiguo mentioned.

Liu Yao handed this matter to Da Hui, who had just been discharged from the hospital. After listening to the recording several times, Da Hui instantly sneered: "One million is not a small sum. In order to avoid a weakness falling into the hands of others, Yao Shengan would definitely not choose the method of bank transfer, which means he can only pay in cash. No one would carry such a large amount of cash with them, so Yao Shengan would definitely withdraw money from the bank. With such a large amount, even if the money is to be withdrawn, it cannot be withdrawn immediately. You must greet the bank first. And Yao Shengan will definitely not do this personally. Then the assistants and secretaries he brought to Beijing this time are all under suspicion. I will divide the routes, on the one hand, I will inquire around at the bank, and on the other hand I will find someone to keep a watch on the assistants he brought to Beijing. But the bank part is a bit troublesome, as we don't know many people there."

As Da Bui spoke, his gaze secretly glanced at Tao Mu, expressing his meaning.

Tao Mu knew what brother Da Hui wanted to say—ordinary people like them did not have much influence within the banks, and they had no channels to inquire about the privacy of major customers. But the Li family was different. As one of the most affluent families in Beijing, the Li family had deep roots in the capital city, and the influence of their network of contacts was beyond doubt. Moreover, the financial capital created by Li Xiaoheng was the target of all the banks to compete in showing goodwill. If Li Xiaoheng could come forward to help them find out the news, it would definitely get twice the result with half the effort.

Moreover, this kind of effort did not cost money or favors. Li Xiaoheng only needed to make a phone call and say a few words to send Tao Mu this favor. He believed that Li Xiaoheng would not refuse this kind of cost-free method of deepening their relations.

Tao Mu considered the matter with a business mindset and felt that if he was Li Xiaoheng, he would never refuse this kind of easy way to deepen relations. So he immediately dialed a phone call to the newly established legal business partner. Sure enough, after hearing Tao Mu's request, Li Xiaoheng on the other end of the phone agreed without hesitation.

With the face of Li Xiaoheng, the bank part went particularly smoothly. Li Xiaoheng asked a relative of the Li family who served as the president of a certain bank's headquarters. Not even half an hour later, Tao Mu received the evidence that Yao Shengan withdrew from his personal account five days ago. From the bank's surveillance video, it could be clearly seen that Yao Shengan's most trusted confidant, Bi An, came to withdraw the money.

However, the bank also requested tactfully, hoping that Li Xiaoheng and Tao Mu would not use the bank records and surveillance videos as evidence. After all, banks have the obligation to keep customers' information confidential. Sheng'an Group was also an important customer, and although its headquarters was far away in Shanghai and had little influence in the capital. However, if the bank arbitrarily revealed the privacy of its big customers to outsiders, other big customers would have doubts about the bank's secrecy and neutrality.

Tao Mu understood this very well. So he immediately promised that even if he wanted to deal with Yao Shengan, he would never use the bank's side to do so.

Moreover, through this surveillance video, Tao Mu and his Yao Dad could also determine that the person handling this matter for Yao Shengan was Bi An. And so the following steps were easy to take. Da Hui directly followed Bi An with a few people. After several days, they finally photographed the solid proof that Bi An and Tao Haiguo made contact in private. In addition, they also investigated that Tao Haiguo and his wife had deposited 1 million in their account.

On the other side, in addition to helping Guo Yaning shoot the MV every day, Tao Mu focused on the food-themed online documentary "Life in the City: Food for the People".

Considering that Song Daozhen had no experience in filming before, Tao Mu thought carefully, and finally rejected the Beijing Film teacher's suggestion that the students should play guest roles. He was going to make this film into a documentary about small city people. Therefore, it was necessary to ensure authenticity and credibility in the form of shooting, and try to eliminate too much artistic reprocessing. So that when watching the documentary in the future and thinking of the old grudge between the Song family and the Yao family, the emotional rendering was not in place, and viewers subconsciously felt that the crew was just exaggerating.

Tao Mu had prepared so much, and all his moves were aimed at the Sheng'an Group. No matter how dumb the old man Song was, he could see why Tao Mu wanted to do this. Moreover, he was not a dumb man. He hadn't allowed Tao Mu to inquire about the Song family's past, because he was worried that Tao Mu was too young and reckless and would lose his temper. At that time, not only would he not be able to avenge the Song family, but he would also anger the Yao family which would then have an impact on his own future.

But now, even if there was no old man like him in the picture, Tao Mu would also face off against the Yao family. Most importantly, Song Daozhen really saw the hope of revenge for the Song family from Tao Mu's actions. So he was extremely cooperative.

—He had never thought that he would be a leading actor in his life, nor was he a person used to being followed by a cameraman every day. The first thing he did after opening his eyes every day was to wake the cameraman who would then accompany him to the morning market to buy ingredients. Before going to bed at night, he would also use brush and ink to write down the steps of the dish to be made the next day, how to introduce the history of this dish to the audience in front of the camera, and what were the interesting or joyous stories of this dish.

Mr. Song was born in the Republic of China and grew up in China's most turbulent era. In fact, he was filled with the joys and sorrows of China for nearly a hundred years. Some of these stories were secret legends he heard from his elders when he was a child. At that time, the Song family hadn't fallen yet. Although the direct descendants of the family did not flourish in numbers, counting the other branches and senior and junior brothers, they were also a big family. Every night, when the family was free, Song Daozhen's father would sit under the old locust tree with little Song Daozhen in his arms. The moonlight was cool, the locust flower exuded a faint fragrance, and a large group of elders gathered around the old locust tree, sitting on the railing outside the corridor while smoking a pipe as they talked about ancient times.

Some of these stories were personally experienced by the elders of the Song family, and some were anecdotes of famous people in the era. But more were things Song Daozhen had seen with his own eyes during so many years of wandering and lonely life in the city.

Earlier, the Song family was considered to be a culinary family. When the old man Song was young, he was also taught by a scholar who had passed the county level imperial exam from the last years of the Qing Dynasty. So Song Daozhen's brushwork calligraphy was very good. He even knew how to write in several classical calligraphy styles.

The daylight flowed in, and Mr. Song in a plain cloth tunic, picked up a brush at his desk, and wrote cooking techniques on the gilded rice paper. Such a scene was simply too beautiful, as if there was scholarly ink stain coming out of the lens like this. The warm winter sunlight crept in through the window, climbing the mountains that were the various furniture and objects in the study. Mr. Song wrote the recipe while slowly relaying the story behind it, seeming like the years were quiet and good, or in a manner of idle interest.

It was like a pool of cold water that had experienced turbulent waves, flowing through spring, summer, autumn and winter, flowing through rivers, lakes, and seas, flowing through a dark underground river with strange stalactites, and finally flowing into a quiet well covered with moss, to settle doen still and tranquil.

Tao Mu had followed along the filming several times before he couldn't stand it anymore. He knew that shooting this program was tantamount to ripping open the scar that the old man Song had been concealing for decades, tearing it fiercely and presenting the softest bloody part for the eyes of others.

He didn't know if his actions were right or not. Even if his original intention was to enact revenge on the Yao family, and he wanted to tell the world about the nasty things that the Yao family did back then, so that everyone would know how Yao Shengan ungratefully repaid the Song family's kindness. But if this revenge was based on the pain of old man Song, would there really be any meaning for him to do so?

In the end, it was Mr. Song who dragged Tao Mu for a rank and honest talk.

Song Daozhen personally cooked eight dishes and two pots of wine. The two of them sat in the main room, and when they turned their heads, they could see the old locust tree still growing lushly outside the window.

Mr. Song said that he had never forgotten the old things in his life. He couldn't sleep every night, and when he dreamt deep in the night, it was of the Song family back then. His father and mother, the son he had never seen, and the prosperous scene of the elders gathering together.

He said that even if there was no Tao Mu's program, he still couldn't get past this hurdle in his heart. So he was very grateful to Tao Mu for making such a show, at least giving him a chance to talk about it. Like suppressed magma rolling in a volcano, finally there was a chance to gush out.

After that night, Tao Mu once again visited Teacher Bai An, who was responsible for dubbing the documentary, and Teacher Pu Lincang, who wrote the copywriting for the documentary.

He invited the two to Song Ji, Mr. Song would cook a table of good dishes himself, and accompany it with two pots of warm white wine. While eating and drinking, they could talk about what to do later in the show.

Bai An and Pu Lincang said with emotion that what they have eaten and drank at this meal had a special taste of life. Pu Lincang said that before he came, he had already had a draft in his mind. But after eating this meal, the main reason being that after chatting with Mr. Song during the meal, he now had a different perception.

The so-called "Listening to your words is better than studying ten years." Bai An echoed these words with emotion. They said that cities were developing faster and faster, and the economy was getting more developed as it got older. Young people had already adapted to the fast-paced lifestyle, and paid attention to efficiency in everything they did. But because of this they had lost the humanistic feelings of the slow and leisurely times back then. Today in Song Ji, in this seemingly old but simple and clean restaurant, they finally felt again the atmosphere of the years back then.

This meal resulted in the two teachers and Mr. Song hitting it off at first sight. In the end, Tao Mu was practically an invisible person. The three of them were happily tasting wine and discussing tea, totally forgetting Tao Mu's existence.

Bai An even suggested that for this documentary they should not have asked him, a retired host of the National TV station, to narrate, but that old man Song should use his own voice. Such vicissitudes and mellowness, with the simple emphasis of the old Beijing accent, when talking about the joys and sorrows and ups and downs. Only then would there be the sense of recording life and its various feelings.

Pu Lincang knocked the cup with a chopstick and gladly seconded it. The older generation of artists really talked about feelings, and not making money with feelings. Their ideas might not be in line with the general values of businessmen's interests, but in terms of emotional rendering, they were definitely more qualified than Tao Mu.

The two old artists even offered to help Tao Mu check the script, excluding all the parts that were deliberately sensational and concealed barbs, and let Mr. Song speak in the most simple and straightforward way. When bystanders listened to it, they would have a deeper emotional stirring.

As the old saying goes, onlookers see much more clearly than players. Sometimes, in order for the people in the game to do their best to survive, there was no extra emotion to sigh about life. Only bystanders could taste more meaning from these shocking stories.

Pu Lincang told Tao Mu: The so-called leaving a blank was sometimes better to sublimate the theme. At this time, silence was better than sound, and only when it caused others to keep it in mind contantly, would there be an echo.

If you just shoved everything out, it would instead lose the meaning.

"What's the biggest regret in life?" Pu Lincang said with emotion, "It's not wanting something but being unable to get it, it's being unable to get over something."

Wanting something but being unable to get it in this life was like the reflection of flowers in the mirror, or the reflection of the moon in the lake surface. A mirage you could only look at from a distance; being unable to get over something, referred to something that should belong to you, but in the end it did not belong to you.

Tao Mu was stunned. Just like in the previous life, when he first met Shen Yu and learned that Shen Yu came from a affluent family and was loved by his parents and family members. Although he envied him, he felt calm because it was something he was unable to get in this life. Later, when he learned that everything about Shen Yu should belong to him, that he had suffered in the other's place for eighteen years by mistake yet was hated, unaccepted or misunderstood by everyone, and as a result was unable to get over it. He felt like his heart was tormented repeatedly in a frying pan, unable to pick it up or let it go.

Thinking about it this way, being unable to get over something was indeed more heartbreaking than wanting something but being unable to get it.

Tao Mu was inspired by the suggestions of the two old artists. The people of the show crew buried their heads in changing the script, trying to make this food documentary more natural than artificial.

On the other side, after Zhang Dafu returned home, he had yet to hear from Tao Mu despite a long time having passed. Every day, he felt as if his heart and liver were being scratched at, afraid that Tao Mu would break his promises, and that this matter would eventually go up in smoke. Recalling the effort he went to record this recording, and the two bottles of liquor, six bottles of beer and a table of stir-fried vegetables, he felt as if his heart had been dropped into a hot oil pan, and thus fell into a state of being unable to get over it.

After several days of repeated suffering, Zhang Dafu finally couldn't help it. He took the initiative to find the media and report that Tao Haiguo and his wife had gotten one million people to discredit Tao Mu. He also said that he originally recorded the recording and gave it to Tao Mu—because Tao Mu saved his niece which Zhang Dafu was grateful for, so he wanted to repay Tao Mu. But, Tao Mu didn't do anything after receiving the recording and Tao Haiguo and his wife still continued to smear Tao Mu during interviews on TV and the media.

Zhang Dafu said that he could not understand how Tao Haiguo and his wife could make black-hearted money without any care for their conscience and hurt someone like Tao Mu. He also said that he understood that Tao Mu was concerned about the image of his adoptive parents, and that he did not want his adoptive parents to be constantly criticized by netizens.

But he couldn't resist it anymore. He didn't want to see good-hearted people shed blood and tears (yes, the phrase Tao Mu instructed reporters to comment on the Zhang family was now directly used by Zhang Dafu), nor did he want to see innocent netizens being used as guns by the Tao Haiguo couple. So he stood up and broke the news.

He also told reporters that if they didn't believe it, they could go to Tao Mu. Tao Mu really had this recording in his hands. If he was lying, then he was not a human being.

Zhang Dafu's words were full of emotion and righteousness when he spoke. Even Tao Mu, who knew him well, was fooled for a moment. Not to mention the unknowing netizens and reporters.

In Zhang Dafu's words, Tao Mu seemed to be a holy father white lotus who was clearly hurt but couldn't bear to let the evil deeds of his adoptive parents be exposed. Therefore, even though he clearly possessed the evidence to prove his innocence he still refused to publish it.

The netizens and reporters were immediately moved. The result was a holy mother heart with compassion for the poor and weak with nowhere to lay it and a kind of anger from being used with nowhere to vent it. Immediately, the Tao Haiguo couple was swept under the waves of stormy curses and accusations, completely forgetting that they had cursed Tao Mu the same way back then.

On the other side, reporters with interview rights flocked to Guo Yaning's studio downstairs. When Tao Mu came out of work, they swarmed up to ask Tao Mu why he refused to publish evidence that Tao Haiguo and his wife were instigated to discredit him? Was it true that he was really considering the image of his adoptive parents and didn't want them to be exposed and cursed by netizens?

Tao Mu, who didn't know when he became the spokesperson of the holy father, looked at the reporter with a dazed expression: Meow-meow-meow, what are you talking about?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Mom can just go ahead and scold me….."

"The teacher can just go ahead and scold me….."

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

He wrote this in his Weibo account—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Could there be some inside story?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The reputation of the Sheng'an Group on the Internet plummeted again.

But Yao Shengan could also be considered a generation's formidable character. He was able to establish the Sheng'an Group from scratch, so he had been accustomed to big storms over these many years. Naturally, he would not surrender because of Tao Mu's single move.

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Although he had fallen into a desperate situation, Yao Shengan could still fight back.

He directly ordered all chain restaurants under the Sheng'an Group to offer a 50% discount. It had to be said that even if Yao Shengan's character was something to be criticized, his cooking skills had always been good and his management of the restaurants was also very strict. The reputation of the restaurant chain under the Sheng'an Group had always won the trust of people in Shanghai.

It was just that before that, the Sheng'an Group had always been in the mid-to-high-end price. In 2008, going to a restaurant chain under the Sheng'an Group to eat would cost more than 1,000 yuan for a table without drinks. Therefore, even if many people in Shanghai had heard of its name for a long time, they had never eaten the dishes of the restaurants under the Sheng'an Group.

This time, the Sheng'an Group directly launched a half-price event—the common people didn't care about the grievances between corporations. Of course, they would swarm over after seeing the cheap prices. So the Shanghainese, who had never tasted high-end dishes, took their families to patronize the restaurants under the Sheng'an Group. All of a sudden, the restaurant chain that was originally affected by the scandal was full of business again.

In addition, Yao Shengan also had the restaurant chain under the Sheng'an Group launch a white-collar meal delivery event—combining the most distinctive dishes of the Sheng'an restaurants, the total being three dishes and two bowls of rice to form a box lunch set. Each box lunch was at a special price of 38 yuan, and it also included door-to-door service. Yao Shengan directly hired social idlers to form a meal delivery team, directly providing nearly a hundred jobs for Shanghai.

Under Yao Shengan's operation, this move was directly praised by the government.

The business of Sheng'an Group was booming again, and its reputation had been reversed. Yao Shengan could finally breathe a sigh of relief and have the energy to discuss with the Shen family about the specific issues of borrowing funds to solve the stock market problem. After all, the Sheng'an Group was a listed company and could not be suspended for too long. Taking advantage of the current hot momentum to hold the market (TN: the practice of placing active or pending orders for a security into a market where the price is dropping rapidly in an attempt to "hold" the price of the security steady, or create a floor in the security), he would then operate some more on the court side, and discuss an out-of-court settlement with those catering groups. Businessmen valued profits. There was nothing that money could not solve. If there was, then that was just because the money was not enough.

When the Sheng'an Group reached a settlement with the several other catering companies and their bank account was unblocked, then this crisis would pass. Although there were damages, there was no more danger.

As for Tao Mu and his FlyNews, Yao Shengan sneered. It was never too late for a gentleman to take revenge. A mere newly established website, Yao Shengan really didn't have much regard for it in his eyes.

However, Yao Shengan's calculations were good, but things were not willing to develop in the direction he hoped.

On the day Yao Shengan approached the Shen family for help, a newspaper in Shanghai suddenly broke the news about the use of waste oil by the Sheng'an Group. (TN: cooking oil that has been used and discarded and, in China, sometimes illegally recovered from gutters and sewers, reprocessed and sold back to restaurants)

Although Chinese people didn't pay much attention to hygienic food safety, and even the older generation often had the mentality of "not eating cleanly and not getting sick". However, there was still an inseparable gap between "not clean" and "getting sick after eating."

Everyone knew what waste oil was. Even some people who didn't know would know clearly after a certain newspaper reported in detail the manufacturing process of waste oil and its harm to the human body.

FlyNews had been following all news related to Sheng'an Group. Seeing this news—especially the report from a certain newspaper. In order to demonstrate the authenticity and accuracy of the news, they had attached a large front page picture, which clearly showed waste oil hawkers sending waste oil to the restaurants and hotels under the Sheng'an Group.

The evidence was conclusive! Excited, Liu Yao slapped his thigh and applauded as he signaled FlyNews Entertainment to repost and frantically push it on the Internet. In less than half an hour, the hot news about the purchase of waste oil by the restaurant chain of Sheng'an Group had spread all over the Internet.

Ensuring that it could be seen in all of China's 9.6 million square kilometers where there was internet connection.

If it was said that the various nasty methods used by Yao Shengan and Sheng'an Group in their business competitions were all after dinner chat material and no one really cared. Then the news of the use of waste oil in the restaurants and hotels under the Sheng'an Group that came out at this time truly affected the hearts of the people. It would also shake the foundation of the Sheng'an Group.

The people of China believe in "food is the God of the people" (TN: people view food as the primary need), and such a proverb passed down by our ancestors thousands of years ago would not be wrong. The common people might not care whether Yao Shengan was a good person or what kind of business methods the Sheng'an Group used in commercial competition, but they absolutely cared whether the things made by their restaurants could cause health problems.

Shen Chen handed the newspaper to Yao Sheng'an, and calmly refused: "Grandpa Yao, I sympathize with the current situation of the Sheng'an Group. But the scandal facing the Sheng'an Group is really too fatal. If you can't solve this issue, then the Shen Group dare not lend a huge amount of money to the Sheng'an Group. We doubt whether the Sheng'an Group has the ability to repay the money."

After a pause, Shen Chen looked at Yao Shengan and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, Grandpa Yao. The Shen Group does not only belong to the Shen family. We must consider the views of the shareholders as well."

Of course Yao Shengan understood this. But what he didn't understand was how the Sheng'an Group had anything to do with waste oil. The one who was in charge of purchasing things for the restaurants and hotels was his most loyal and trusted son-in-law. This son-in-law was loyal and had always been steadfast in doing things. It was impossible for him to do such shoddy things.

Yao Shengan's face was pale, and he left the Shen family's house without saying a word. The top priority now was investigating this matter clearly. See if the problem came from themselves, or someone was deliberately framing them—

When something like this happened, Tao Mu was the first person Yao Shengan suspected. Nor could he be blamed for this. It was because Tao Mu impressed him too deeply. Even though Tao Mu was frank and candid in this whole incident, both of them knew that Tao Mu was definitely a ruthless person who would stop at nothing to achieve his goals.

Yao Shengan could be sure that if necessary, Tao Mu definitely had the capability to carry out this kind of deliberate framing.

But Yao Shengan really wronged Tao Mu this time. Tao Mu, who was far away in Beijing, was also puzzled: "The catering under the Sheng'an Group used waste oil for cooking? This is impossible, right? Yao Shengan should not be this kind of person."

It must be said that because of the grievances that stretched back to the last life, Tao Mu knew very clearly about all of Shen Yu's admirers, including their family members. In Tao Mu's impression, although Yao Shengan's character was not very good, he still had professional ethics. He would never do such a thing as adding waste oil to his dishes to destroy his reputation. Even the manager in charge of procurement in the catering department under the Sheng'an Group, the son-in-law of the Yao family, was also an honest person. Such an honest and conscientious person couldn't do this kind of thing.

"It wouldn't be that he provided black material to smear himself, and then think of a way to reverse the tables and whitewash himself?" Tao Mu could not be blamed for guessing so. The media revelations that could be compared to the plot of TV series in his previous life really left a deep shadow on him. Even the general melon eating public had become accustomed to the melon eating rhythm of "waiting three days after seeing the news, three days later there will definitely be a reversal".

Yao Wenxiao's Yuxiao Media used to do such things in his previous life and Tao Mu had become quite used to it. It was no wonder that when he saw this news, he subconsciously wondered if Yao Wenxiao had learned to do this kind of thing again.

Most people sympathize with the weak and also possess a certain degree of rebellious psychology. Now the whole Internet was blacking the Sheng'an Group, and the media was also following suit to report various black materials of the Sheng'an Group. Tao Mu paid attention to the gossip newspapers in Shanghai. Some people even said that the Yao family was arrogant and domineering in public places. Of course, most of the media who dared to target the Yao family's main branch were instigated by Yao Wenxiao. The purpose was probably the final reversal in Tao Mu's conjecture. It was just that under Tao Mu's conscious control, few people paid attention to this kind of small gossip.

But the breaking news that the Sheng'an Group's restaurants used waste oil was different. Once the Sheng'an Group reversed this matter and whitewashed themselves, it might really arouse the rebellious psychology of netizens. At that time, if Yao Wenxiao lead the public to believe something—for example, slandering Tao Mu and accusing him of instructing people to make up black materials to discredit the Sheng'an Group, maybe he would really manage to splash a basin of dirty water on him and FlyNews.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi also felt regret after hearing Tao Mu's analysis. Meng Qi frowned and said, "Then what should we do now? It's my fault, I was too anxious. If only I came to discuss with you first."

"It's okay. Since Yao Wenxiao has already handed us the ladder, If I don't take this opportunity to create a persona, it would be a waste." Tao Mu wiggled his fingers, even if Yao Wenxiao was a prodigy in the media industry, in front of an old veteran like him who had been slandered for ten years, this capability was not enough.

Taking advantage of Yao Wenxiao's reversal having not yet begun—Tao Mu estimated that Yao Wenxiao wanted to wait for this period of scandal to brew for a period of time, preferably until a day later when the entire Internet was talking about this. And then tomorrow morning, he would do the reversal and carry out the face-slapping. From the perspective of communication studies and communication psychology, this pattern was the most appropriate. When the time came, all he needed to do was to sell a pitiful act, and create a tragic image of a hero's end, the tree toppling and the monkeys scattering, and everybody giving a push to a wall about to collapse. Selling a miserable image plus grabbing the people's hearts, and on the way, splashing dirty water on him and his FlyNews.

—However, there was no use. Tao Mu, who had consciously seen through Yao Wenxiao's performance, directly opened the document writer, typed out a large piece of text, and uploaded it to his FlyNews account.

Tao Mu's main purpose of writing this article was to express that although he despised Yao Shengan's character, he still believed in Yao Shengan's professional ethics.

"…..Even if Yao Shengan is all kinds of immoral, I still believe in the family education of the Song family. After all, Yao Shengan was the big apprentice personally taught by the patriarch of the Song family. Even though this person is extremely shameless in betraying his teacher, I still believe that Yao Shengan will not fool the diners on such things as the ingredients used to make the food. Because "food is the God of the people" is the family motto carved into the bones of the Song family. I believe that it is not only the Song family, but also all people who work in catering with a little conscience and moral integrity will follow the relevant food safety regulations. They will not do stupid things like self-destroying their reputation."

In the sight of the universal condemnations and cursing from the public, Tao Mu was able to defend Yao Shengan against the scolding of the people—although this article was full of bias and shameless self-praise that was simply arrogant to the extreme. In fact, if this was posted in the fan circle it would definitely be ridiculed by fans from all walks of life, and then directly blacklisted. However, the unequivocal trust in Yao Shengan's professional ethics still made Yao Shengan instantly feel a little bit of the emotion "people die for confidantes".

However, there was no use. The so-called cutting off one's livelihood was like killing one's parents. After this brief moment of being touched, Yao Shengan gritted his teeth with hatred towards Tao Mu. The kind that wished nothing more than to flay off his skin if he ever got the chance.

Tao Mu posted an article in time to make sure that he and FlyNews would not fall into a situation where he and FlyNews would have dirty water thrown on them. The disadvantage was that some people now insist with stubbornness that he was a "pure and beautiful, white lotus flower", and some antis criticized him for "being hypocritical and pretentious." But these had nothing to do with Tao Mu and he could finally eat melons at ease.

However, what Tao Mu did not expect was that the waste oil incident regarding the Sheng'an Group was really not Yao Wenxiao's attempt to do a reversal and then whitewash—it was the doing of the head of the catering procurement department of the Sheng'an Group—the son-in-law that everyone had believed to be honest and conscientious but had actually secretly lost a lot of money in gambling and then borrowed from loan sharks and was now unable to pay pack the high interest but did not dare to reveal this to anyone.

Because what Yao Shengan hated most in his life was gambling and drugs, and the Yao family's family teachings decreed that they must absolutely not partake in either of them. The son-in-law was cowardly, and he originally could not hold his head up high in the Yao family. What was more, he was highly regarded by Yao Shengan, and was the head of the procurement department, which made the rest of the Yao family jealous. They wanted nothing more than to grab his weakness and push him down to replace him with themselves.

This son-in-law tried his hardest to keep it secret and in the end was forced to find a way to gather money through the procurement channels. What he originally wanted was to cut corners and be shoddy on the ingredients for a few months, and once he had paid the loan sharks the waste oil would immediately cease in use. But who knew that at this juncture, the Sheng'an Group met with trouble.

Yao Shengan really did not expect that he would trip up in the hands of his most trusted son-in-law. Immediately learning this, he almost had a heart attack from the anger. The Sheng'an Group waste oil scandal was now verified with solid proof. The reputation of the corporation plummeted, and many shareholders also wanted to withdraw their capital.

At this critical juncture, Yao Shengan could only find the Shen family again for help. Shen Chen, on behalf of the Shen Group, agreed to Yao Shengan's request. But the conditions were different now—instead of lending funds for the Sheng'an Group to hold the market, the Shen Group wanted to directly invest in the Sheng'an Group.

The Shen family's purpose was clear, and it was at this time Yao Shengan suddenly came back to his senses: "Luring Wen Yuan to become addicted to gambling and doing something like borrowing from loan sharks, and then instigating him to secretly switch to waste oil to pay back the money is your doing, isn't it? You Shen family members really have wolf ambitions. All this time, I actually didn't see through this at all."

Shen Chen lowered his eyes, and said softly, "Grandpa Yao, you misunderstood. The Shen family and Yao family are family friends. How could our Shen family do such a thing? I understand you, the Sheng'an Group has encountered such a big incident, and you are mentally exhausted. But I hope you won't damage the friendship between our two families."

Yao Shengan realized with shock. At this point, regardless of whether the Shen family did it or not, he couldn't directly become hostile with the Shen family.

Yao Shengan's face eased slightly, and he said apologetically, "You're right. I've been so stricken by these things recently, and felt that everyone I see wants to harm the Sheng'an Group. Grandpa is old and lacks energy, so occasionally I get confused too. Don't mind me."

"Of course not. Our two families are family friends." Shen Chen casually hooked up the corner of his mouth, and soothed: "Grandpa Yao, don't blame our Shen family for taking advantage. It is really because the amount of funds that the Sheng'an Group wants to borrow is too large. The Sheng'an Group is now in such a situation, so if there is not enough interest, I have no way to convince the board of directors."

"You are right." Yao Shengan said in a deep voice, "Then, if I agree to the capital injection of the Shen Group, how many shares do you want?"

"The Shen family and the Yao family are family friends. Of course, we will not touch the cake of the Yao family. Don't the shareholders of Sheng'an Group want to divest? We can directly use the money to buy this part of the shares. As for the funds to hold the market, this part of the funds will be in accordance with the ratio of our two families' capital contributions to exchange shares."

Yao Shengan's face sank. Sure enough, the Shen family was very ambitious and wanted to take control of the Sheng'an Group.

Shen Chen looked at Yao Shengan's shifting expressions, and slowly said, "Grandpa Yao, don't worry. Our Shen family has a good reason for doing this. As for after the injection of capital into the Sheng'an Group, the Shen Group will never interfere with the Sheng'an Group's day-to-day operation and management of the company. Grandpa Yao can continue to be your group chairman. And we will only add some of our own financial staff."

Yao Shengan sneered. Of course the Shen family would not participate in the normal operation of the Sheng'an Group. Did anyone in their Shen family even know how to cook and understand restaurant management? Saying these words was nothing but nonsense that didn't cost anything.

Shen Chen paused, and then said, "In fact, think about it from another angle. At this time, the Shen Group's injection of capital into the Sheng'an Group is also a boost for the Sheng'an Group. The reputation of the Sheng'an Group is too terrible now. If there is our Shen Group to provide some help at this time, I believe it will be easier to resume trading."

The matter being what it was, even if Yao Shengan was not reconciled with it, there was nothing he could do—if there was no capital injection from the Shen family, it would be difficult for his Yao family to survive this hurdle.

Upon seeing this, Shen Chen knew that Yao Shengan had temporarily compromised.

The news of the Shen Group's capital injection into the Sheng'an Group soon spread in the Shanghai city business circle. Following the press conference jointly held by the two major groups, the Sheng'an Group finally chose to resume trading in the stock market. As Shen Chen said before, the capital injection of the Shen Group had indeed become a booster for the Sheng'an Group. After the press conference, the stock price of the Sheng'an Group, which resumed trading directly, stabilized and even grew slowly a little bit.

At the same time, the share price of the Shen Group, which directly injected capital into the Sheng'an Group, increased significantly. Seeing that the situation improved, Yao Shengan and the Yao family, who had been worried, finally breathed a sigh of relief.

However, such a good momentum did not last long. On the second day when the Sheng'an Group resumed trading, an unknown force suddenly appeared on the stock market to attack the Sheng'an Group's share price. This group of people was very precise in their trading, and their methods were very powerful. It could be seen that they should be a professional trading team.

Under the operation of this group of people, the stock price of the Sheng'an Group plummeted again. Even the Shen Group, which had just injected capital into the Sheng'an Group and took out a huge fund to hold the market, were affected and suffered heavy losses.

Li Xiaoheng, who had not made a move the whole time until now, watched the stock price of the Sheng'an Group plummeting like a bungee jumper, and pushed up the gold rimless glasses on the bridge of his nose.

He had said at the outset that if the Sheng'an Group affected the interests of Xiaoheng Capital because of their targeting of his personal consultant, he would never tolerate it.

Adults must speak credibly. If he said that he would teach you to be a person in the stock market, then he must not break his promise.

"What a dreadful fellow!"

The Shen family house.

Father Shen and Shen Chen were in the study, looking at today's closing market price displayed on the computer screen and unconsciously sighed silently.

Shen Chen was silent for a while, and then slowly said: "What a waste for all that effort. I thought that by going back to Shanghai to make arrangements in advance, I would take the lead, but I didn't expect Li Xiaoheng to be the oriole in the back while the mantis stalks the cicada."

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With Li Xiaoheng's trading skills, if he deliberately hid his trace, no one could see that the attack on the Sheng'an Group was from Xiaoheng Capital. And in reality this was exactly what happened. Xiaoheng Capital's attack on the Sheng'an Group was carried out for three to four days, and the people of the Sheng'an Group and the Shen Group were still being beaten silly. In the end, the breakthrough could only be found on Tao Mu's side, as Tao Mu's circle of friends included Li Xiaoheng.

But if it came to conclusive evidence, the Shen family still didn't have it. But even so, Shen Chen still concluded that Li Xiaoheng was the one who attacked the Sheng'an Group—apart from him and his team, it was estimated that no one in China possessed such neat and traceless trading skills.

"But there is one thing I'm very puzzled about." Father Shen frowned: "This Li Xiaoheng, didn't he always trade in the international financial market before? I have never heard of him being interested in the domestic stock market. Why did he suddenly make a move this time? And it is aimed at a catering corporation that has nothing to do with the financial industry? Is his personal relationship with Tao Mu really so good?"

Shen Chen was silent for a moment, and said, "Probably so."

"Oh?" Father Shen raised his eyebrows, he then subconsciously thought of their family's Shen Yu: "You are saying, is it possible that this Li Xiaoheng has feelings for Tao Mu, so he took this action to win the favor of the beauty?"

Shen Chen frowned, inexplicably displeased: "It should not be. I sent someone to investigate Tao Mu and found that Tao Mu not only made a name for himself in the IT field, but is also Li Xiaoheng's private investment consultant. The two have partnered to short oil in the international futures market and Li Xiaoheng seems to value his partner very much. When Yao Shengan first entered Beijing, he wanted to use the strong capital of the Sheng'an Group to overwhelm Tao Mu. But Li Xiaoheng appeared in time for the out of court settlement which dispelled this intention of Yao Shengan. In the end he obediently paid 150 million yuan in compensation and settlement."

Father Shen instantly understood. Immediately, he then frowned and pondered: "So, this Tao Mu not only founded , but also has talent in the financial field. Then do you think that Li Xiaoheng attacking the Sheng'an Group so vigorously in the stock market be something the two of them negotiated?"

Shen Chen used himself to judge others and analyzed: "For such an important matter, they must have discussed it. However, the two of them may not have expected that the Shen family would step in. The Sheng'an Group had been suspending trading the whole time before, and even if Li Xiaoheng wanted to do something there was no opportunity to operate. He could only launch an attack after the resumption of trading. As for the Shen family, we can only be said to have been implicated."

"Really?" Father Shen shook his head slightly regretfully: "I really didn't expect that the young people nowadays are all so capable."

Shen Chen remained silent. People like them who work in industry management were naturally very well-off normally. But once they encounter a powerful trader who sniped them in the stock market, they could do nothing.

—Fortunately, their Shen family's capital chain was functioning well, and major projects were also developing smoothly. They were not yet in a situation where they were as helpless as the Sheng'an Group.

Father Shen sighed, "One loses when careless", and then asked Shen Chen: "How is Xiao Yu's relationship with that Tao Mu? Can he ask Tao Mu for some lenience—"

"It should not work." Shen Chen slowly shook his head, not all men in the world appreciated Shen Yu's innocence. At least in Tao Mu's eyes, the trouble Shen Yu brought him far exceeded the benefits that the Shen family could give him.

Father Shen paused for a moment, and then asked, "Is there a way for Xiao Yu to get acquainted with Li Xiaoheng?"

Even though Shen Chen had always respected his father, at this moment, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed: "Li Xiaoheng is Tao Mu's business partner. The two have tens of billions of dollars in trading in the international oil futures market together. Father really feels that Xiao Yu's charm can be compared to these tens of billions of capital?"

Father Shen was slapped in the face by his most important son, and he was a little embarrassed at the moment. He said sheepishly: "I mean, we can let Xiao Yu socialize with them. They are all around the same age, so they should have things to talk about."

Shen Chen frowned: "Father, not everyone likes to go to great lengths for a beauty's smile. The cooperation between Li Xiaoheng and Tao Mu involves tens of billions of dollars. Tao Mu's dislike of Xiao Yu is even more widely known. If the Shen family really wants to show goodwill to Li Xiaoheng, don't do things that will put Li Xiaoheng in a difficult spot. Believe me, between the tens of billions of dollars and various other options, no clear-headed man would choose the latter. "

Father Shen became more embarrassed and even a little bit angry from the embarrassment: "Then what do you say we do now? Li Xiaoheng attacked Sheng'an Group in the stock market, causing the stock price of Sheng'an Group to drop for several days. Moreover, the Sheng'an Group has just resumed trading, and within a short period of time, for at least three months, there is no possibility of trading suspension again. Are we going to watch the Sheng'an Group go bankrupt due to the stock price plummeting? What about the money our Shen family invested? How should we explain to the Shen Group's shareholders?"

Shen Chen looked at father Shen in exasperation. He suspected his father might have been in contact with Shen Yu for too long a time, which was why his thinking had also become so inconceivable.

"The Sheng'an Group is a leading company in the catering industry in Shanghai. It has provided tens of thousands of jobs for Shanghai, and is also a large local taxpayer in Shanghai. Officials will not sit back and watch the Sheng'an Group go bankrupt. Moreover, the Sheng'an Group is far away from reaching the point of bankruptcy. The top priority now is to have the government help mediate. The reason why Tao Mu targeted the Sheng'an Group is entirely because of the old grievances between the Yao family and the Song family, but the Sheng'an Group is not the private property of the Yao family. Now that we know the demands of Tao Mu and the Song family, everyone can sit down and talk it out until a satisfactory result is reached."

Hearing what his son said, father Shen instantly understood. Immediately, he said: "Okay. I'll go to ask someone to come forward to mediate."

Shen Chen nodded. Shen Chen very much trusted father Shen's position and influence in Shanghai. After hesitating for a moment, Shen Chen said: "Father, you should stay with Xiao Yu as little as possible these days."

Father Shen was startled when he heard the words, and immediately came to his senses: "Have I been affected?"

Shen Chen looked at his father with a complicated expression. The two of them had discovered one thing as early as when Shen Yu was very young. That was, as long as people stay with Shen Yu for a long period of time, they would become inexplicably weird—emotional fluctuations would become particularly large, their thinking patterns would become more straightforward and shallow, and even their style of behavior would become more extreme and blind—of course the most important change was that they would feel that Shen Yu was the loveliest person in the world, and he should be pampered and held in the palm of the hand. If someone dared to treat Shen Yu badly, they must crazily retaliate in revenge.

It was like having been bespelled.

Shen Chen discovered the signs when he was in junior high school. Before that, Shen Chen had been with his family day and night without realizing that there was anything wrong. Until the year when he entered junior high school, Shen Chen was sent abroad by father Shen to a field summer camp that was expensive but had a good training quality and allowed him to be able to make friends with many outstanding like-minded friends. After about a month or so, Shen Chen flew back from abroad, and when he watched the interaction mode between his family and Shen Yu, he suddenly felt something was wrong.

Later, he consciously stayed away from Shen Yu and even told father Shen about his suspicions. At that time, father Shen was still the chairman and executive CEO of the Shen Group. He traveled all year round to negotiate projects, or stayed in the company to work overtime so there were very few opportunities to be with family members. Hearing these weird words from Shen Chen, at first he felt that Shen Chen was a child with wild imagination. But later, when father Shen took the time to observe Shen Yu's interaction with the people around him, he also faintly noticed something was wrong.

At the beginning, father Shen wanted to correct this situation. However, it didn't take long for father Shen to discover that this characteristic of Shen Yu was actually beneficial to the Shen family from a certain angle. Especially those business competitors who had a bad relationship with the Shen Group, but because of contact with Shen Yu, these people gradually changed their views on the Shen Group, and even changed their sides to become partners of the Shen family. Even those competitors who had always been hostile towards the Shen family, because of contact with Shen Yu, became inexplicably simple-minded and even made frequent mistakes in the company's operations. It was then easy for the Shen Group to surpass the other in land bidding or other aspects.

This effect was more immediate than painstakingly cultivating an heir. Father Shen had tasted the sweetness a few times, and immediately gave up his plan to transform Shen Yu. He even deliberately spoiled Shen Yu, keeping Shen Yu naive and ignorant of the world. Because he found that the more innocent and pure his youngest son was, the more lethal he was.

Only since then, father Shen had consciously put his eldest son by his side to personally raise him. This was in order to avoid the heir of the Shen family staying at home all year round and becoming affected by Shen Yu. To the outside, this was explained away under the guise of busy company affairs and regret for being unable to accompany his family often. Because the phenomenon in this circle of theirs was like this, the actions of Shen father and son pair did not attract the attention of others at all.

After so many years, father Shen had become accustomed to using Shen Yu to solve the competition or difficulties encountered by the Shen Group. Once he encountered an outsider who didn't fall for Shen Yu, he would become inexplicably frustrated.

Father Shen smiled bitterly and shook his head. He wanted to spend a good New Year's with his family. Now it seemed that it was better to go back to the company and work overtime.

As Shen Chen said, the Sheng'an Group was one of the largest taxpayers in Shanghai, and it had solved nearly 10,000 jobs for Shanghai and other first- and second-tier cities in China. The government certainly could not ignore the situation of the Sheng'an Group.

Although there was no conclusive evidence that Li Xiaoheng attacked the Sheng'an Group, Shanghai officials still tried to get Tao Mu and the people from the Sheng'an Group together for a meeting. In the eyes of the Shanghai officials, the reason why Xiaoheng Capital would inexplicably target a catering corporation that had nothing to do with the financial sector was to vent the anger for his business partner. As the saying goes, in order to untie the bell, the person who tied it is required. So long as Tao Mu was calmed down, Xiaoheng Capital would not be too excessive.

Tao Mu of course knew that a large company like Sheng'an Group which provided nearly 10,000 jobs and tens of millions of high taxes every year was absolutely impossible to "go completely bankrupt" as written in mary-sue novels. After all, this was not only the grievance between the two families, but also the issue of social stability.

He was willing to talk. So long as the Yao family were willing to pay the price.

Before the negotiation, Tao Mu also specially found Mr. Song and asked Mr. Song what he wanted. Song Daozhen probably never thought that the Song family would actually get their vengeance in this life. Suddenly, excited tears burst and fell down his old face. He didn't ask for anything. He just wanted the return of the Song family's ancestral recipe book: "That's the Song family heirloom. The Song family has passed it down for several generations but it was lost in my father's hands. Now it is my generation, yet it was still now returned. For so many years, I dare not go to worship my ancestors, for fear that my ancestors will ask me why I haven't returned the recipe book….."

"If we can get the recipe book back this time, let's go sweep the grave on New Year's Day. I will put the recipe book on my father's grave and tell him that this recipe book has finally returned. It was his great-grandson who helped him get it back. Our Song family's hatred has finally been avenged….."

The old man Song rambled on, his only obsession being the Song family recipe book. Apart from this, there was nothing else. However, Tao Mu would not let the Yao family go so easily.

"Yao Shengan studied under the Song family. His craftsmanship was handed over by the Song family. Of course, there were some dishes that he invented by studying the recipes of the ancestors of the Song family. But anyway, without the Song family, there would be no Sheng'an Group. So I want the Yao family to give over half of their shares in the Sheng'an Group. It can be regarded as the technology investment by the Song family. This is no problem, right?"

At the negotiating table, Tao Mu directly threw down his bottom line: "The recipe book and half of the shares, and Yao Shengan himself must go to the old Mr. Song's grave to confess his guilt and kowtow when we go sweep the grave on the first day of the New Year's. If you agree then we reconcile. If you don't agree then there is no other way."

Although it was Li Xiaoheng's work in attacking the Sheng'an Group in the stock market. But considering various factors, Tao Mu still didn't let Li Xiaoheng appear at the negotiating table in Shanghai with him—he didn't want Li Xiaoheng to be involved because of him. Many things should just remain tacitly understood. As long as there was no evidence, many things could only stay on the level of speculation forever.

Given the bad habit of certain departments in China, Tao Mu couldn't guarantee that if Li Xiaoheng did appear at the Shanghai negotiating table, there wouldn't be someone who would directly accuse Li Xiaoheng of "malicious manipulation of the stock market."

So Tao Mu brought the ruthless Lawyer Zhou to the meeting alone, and his attitude was very tough—anyway, he was only 18 years old this year and was young and vigorous, an age where he should have sharp-edges.

"CEO Tao is too excessive." Yao Shengan frowned when he heard Tao Mu's request: "Do you know how many shares of Sheng'an Group the Yao family owns? The total is 40%. And you want half, making it 20%. Do you even know how much this 20% is worth, and you dare to have such a big appetite?"

Tao Mu raised his eyebrows, and asked quietly, "Do you know how much the lives of the Song family are worth?"

Yao Shengan became angry: "I have said that the tragedy of the Song family was caused by the times, and it has nothing to do with others. You say that the lives of the Song family are worth money. Then I will ask you, which life of the Song family was lost by my hands?"

Tao Mu tit-for-tat: "Mr. Yao was just an abandoned infant abandoned by the side of the road. Without the kindness of old Mr. Song, Mr. Yao would have starved to death by the side of the road and become a pile of unnamed bones. How could there still be a chance to betray the teacher and create the Sheng'an Group from scratch? Mr. Yao's life was saved by old Mr. Song, Mr. Yao's craftsmanship was taught by old Mr. Song. In the eyes of Mr. Yao, the few lives of the Song family are not worth a penny. I wonder how much Mr. Yao's life and skill are worth then?"

Yao Shengan was speechless.

Accompanying them at the negotiating table were officials from the Shanghai City, as well as the Shen father and son pair and several other major shareholders of the Sheng'an Group.

Because Tao Mu only wanted half of the Yao family's shares, it had nothing to do with anyone else. So other people were happy to just stand by the side and take a lofty stance.

"Everyone calms down. Let's just talk about the matter. Don't be angry." The official representative of Shanghai City gave Yao Shengan a glance. He was entrusted by the Shen Group to mediate and hold this negotiation. The purpose was naturally to enable the Sheng'an Group to make a smooth transition from this crisis.

So he didn't care who owned the shares of the Sheng'an Group. He only needed to ensure that the Sheng'an Group could pass through this hurdle smoothly, and then open business again.

Several major shareholders of the Sheng'an Group felt the gaze of the official representative of Shanghai City, and they all spoke: "Lao Yao. It's not that I am criticizing you. The things you did to the Song family were really not moral. No matter what, you were the big apprentice personally taught by old Mr. Song. There is an old saying in China that says that a teacher for a day means a father for life. Then you are also considered the adopted son of the Song family. The Song family's kindness in nurturing you and imparting upon you your cooking skills must be acknowledged. Moreover, you even took the ancestral recipe book of the Song family for so many years, and harmed the Song family so miserably. For sentiment and reason, your Yao family should take out half of the shares to compensate the Song family."

Other shareholders also echoed: "What's more, with the current situation of the Sheng'an Group, half of your Yao family's shares may really be worthless. If you really disagree, Mr. Tao will be angered and our negotiation will collapse. At that time, the Sheng'an Group might really go bankrupt."

"Chairman Shen and CEO Shen, what do you think about this matter? The Shen Group is now a major shareholder of the Sheng'an Group! Your suggestions are still very important." Another person threw the ball to the silent Shen father and son pair.

The Shen father and son pair intend to show goodwill towards Tao Mu, but they also didn't want to be too obvious, after all the Shen family was still family friends with the Yao family in public.

Father Shen pondered for a moment, and slowly said, "Even an upright official finds it hard to settle a family quarrel. Mr. Tao just wants half of the Yao family's shares. We as outsiders, no matter what we say, will be suspected of easily talking on the sidelines so I won't say anything. At most, the funds invested by the Shen Group in the Sheng'an Group will just be in vain."

As soon as these words came out, the others were fine, but several other shareholders of the Sheng'an Group felt their hearts squeeze severely. Their desire to persuade Yao Shengan became even more urgent—they didn't want their own money to be spent in vain.

Yao Shengan's facial muscles twitched fiercely, and he naturally knew the viciousness hidden in father Shen's words.

It was to put their Yao family on the fire and roast them!

Truly possessing a wolf ambition!

However, the matter being as it was, even if Yao Shengan struggled in vain, he was helpless. In the end, Yao Shengan had to agree to Tao Mu's request under the painstaking persuasion of everyone. The recipe book and half of the shares of the Sheng'an Group held by the Yao family, 20%, were handed over to Tao Mu.

Long before Tao Mu came to Shanghai, Mr. Song violently stated that their Song family would never take a cent from the Yao family. The lives of their Song family were definitely not something that could be bought with this money. He would never forgive Yao Shengan in his life. Nor would he want shares of the Sheng'an Group.

So after discussing with the old man, Tao Mu decided to divide the 20% of the shares into two parts, of which 10% was given to the families of the catering businesses that had gone bankrupt because of Yao Sheng'an and Sheng'an Group—these people in the previous life accepted the compensation from the Sheng'an Group and did not pursue the past grievances. Of course, there was likely a part that came from the mindset that businessmen valued profits, but some of the victims were indeed in terrible conditions, and even had problems maintaining their daily living.

Tao Mu didn't want his presence to butterfly away this group of people's opportunity for a change of luck. After two lifetimes of experience, Tao Mu knew better than anyone that the opportunities that money could bring to people were far more than one's steady and conventional efforts.

Since the damage was irreversible, then giving money to make up for the victim's suffering, while vulgar, was also the most practical and effective means of compensation.

As for the other 10%, Tao Mu decided to set up a charity fund in the name of Mr. Song, or that uncle of his who died young. It was a charity dedicated to donating to children in poor and remote areas to receive education and health benefits, as well as to support widows and elderly who were alone and had no support.

Mr. Song stayed silent for a long time, and finally agreed to Tao Mu's suggestion. He named this charity fund "Song Huai Fund". It was neither his name nor the name of his son. It was the name of the ancestor of the Song family, who was also an abandoned baby at the time. He was adopted by kind people who taught him his craftsmanship. Later, he founded Song Ji from scratch.

However, unlike Yao Shengan, Song Huai remembered his orphan's life experience, and was grateful to the teacher who picked him up for adoption. Under these circumstances, after establishing Song Ji, he wrote down the Song family teachings that decreed that in every generation, so long as the Song family had the means, must adopt an orphan or abandoned infant and teach them skills that could support their livelihood.

So old Mr. Song adopted Yao Shengan, and Mr. Song adopted Tao Mu…..Even if the world was difficult and people's minds were unpredictable, some people always remember the truth that one must "maintain goodness when you are poor, and share with others when you are rich."

They would not refuse to lend a helping hand because of family difficulties, nor would they no longer believe in the goodness of people after being hurt.