Chapter 262: Unexpected
After talking about all the secrets frankly with Li Xiaoheng, and getting Li Xiaoheng's most reassuring response, Tao Mu's burden seemed to be let go instantly. It was like a duckweed or a fallen leaf finally found a place to rely on and take root, and his whole person suddenly settled down. Even when recalling the bad things in his previous life again was not so heartbreaking anymore.
When they returned to the training base the next day, everyone noticed Tao Mu's bright eyes, as if he was the sky refreshed after the rain, and the three roommates who knew Tao Mu immediately joked: "Yo, how come you became more handsome after a couple days away? Tell us, did you secretly go to a spa while we were not paying attention?"
"Didn't we agree that we would train together and tan into charcoal, yet you secretly did beauty treatment alone." The few remaining actresses looked at Tao Mu with resentment. After experiencing the sun exposure and the devastation of wind and rain every day, the girls were almost turning into dried vegetables. The only thing that could make them feel gratified was that Tao Mu, a delicate boy with a ton of idol baggage, was also accompanying them in the wind and sun and his skin tone appeared several shades darker to the naked eye.
But what was this?
It was just leaving for a while, less than three days, and when he came back again, he was so dazzling that people couldn't bear to even look directly at him. This high-spirited and dewy brilliance was simply that of a well-rested, moisturized person visible at a glance. It seemed that he was even more handsome and compelling than when he was with pale skin.
Tao Mu smiled and flashed his white teeth. Of course he couldn't say much to these people, but he was really happy. He really wanted everyone to share in the joy as well. So he clapped his hands and said, "Everyone has worked hard in training. I'm going to ask the instructor for a short vacation. I'll treat everyone to soak in the hot springs tonight."
As soon as the words fell, the actors and actresses of the crew who had been tortured into human forms of dried vegetables cheered in unison. Probably because of the stimulation and encouragement of this promise, the training efficiency of that day was particularly high. In the evening, Tao Mu drove the large group of people to a hot spring resort a few kilometers away. Because of everyone's profession, Tao Mu didn't want to have any unexpected troubles. So he greeted the resort in advance and booked the entire place directly. But when they got there, they found out that the resort actually received other guests.
And he was also an acquaintance of Tao Mu.
"Yo, Mr. Tao is here? It's been a long time since I last saw you, and you look even more handsome. It can be seen that people are in good spirits when coming across happy occasions." Cheng Baodong sat on the sofa in the lobby of the resort hotel. Seeing Tao Mu and his gang push the door open, he greeted them directly: "I heard that you are also filming nearby?"
Tao Mu looked at Cheng Baodong and the group of people behind him——the Wang Boyuan he knew, and a group of veteran actors who he was familiar with but had never met, and the staff who were unfamiliar. He smiled faintly: "I didn't expect to meet Director Cheng here, what a coincidence."
"Isn't it a coincidence!" Cheng Baodong laughed: "I took the crew to shoot at a location nearby. I heard Bo Yuan mention that there is a hot spring resort here so I brought everyone here to relieve fatigue and stay the night lest having to make the trip back to the city so late. I didn’t expect that when I arrived here, I heard the people in the resort say that this place had been booked by Mr. Tao. I know that Mr. Tao has always been generous. This time, booking the entire resort must be to let your crew relax undisturbed by ordinary people. I wonder if Mr. Tao would mind if us colleagues mooch off a night here?”
Following Cheng Baodong's words, all the big names behind him and veteran actors also looked over. Wang Boyuan smiled sheepishly, "We must bother Mr. Tao. It's just that it's too late….."
Wang Boyuan trailed off halfway, his face blushing, as if he was embarrassed to continue.
In terms of personal feelings, Tao Mu really didn't like Cheng Baodong's behavior. Of course, Cheng Baodong had never liked Tao Mu's slick social skills and shrewdness either. The two absolutely looked at each other and hated each other. But with Tao Mu's way of doing things, his personal preferences would never affect his principle of dealing with people and things. So long as Tao Mu's personal interests were not touched, no matter whether others were cold or ingratiating towards him, they all couldn't change Tao Mu's habit of making it convenient for others and convenient for himself.
Just like today's incident, although Tao Mu disliked Cheng Baodong, in front of so many colleagues in the industry, Tao Mu would not reject him rudely.
"What is Director Cheng talking about?" Tao Mu said with a warm smile: "The entertainment industry can be said to be a big or small circle, and it's fate to meet you here."
"Then I'll take advantage of you this once." Cheng Baodong smiled boldly. He knew that with Tao Mu's hypocritical temper, he would never refuse his request in front of so many people.
Cheng Baodong was in a good mood. On the one hand, it saved the crew a lot of expenses, on the other hand, it was forcing Tao Mu to pick up the bill.
Tao Mu could see through what Cheng Baodong was so gleeful of at a glance, and didn't bother to quibble with him. With a smile, he let the staff of the resort register for everyone.
In the crowd, a girl with delicate features and a slightly arrogant temperament came out and looked Tao Mu up and down, her weighing eyes were quite blatant, making it seem like the girl's face was a bit mean and unkind: "You are the Tao Mu who founded FlyNews.com? I’m curious, why do you still want to be an actor if you can just be a boss? Don’t you think filming is very hard?”
Tao Mu smiled slightly. He didn't know the young womam in front of him. But judging by her demeanor, and the way she dared to speak in front of Cheng Baodong and other big names, Tao Mu could be sure that this was definitely a rich second generation.
And it was a rich second generation who didn't like him very much.
Sure enough, upon hearing the girl's words, Wang Boyuan, who was standing on the side, introduced: "This is Miss Qi, the daughter of the chairman of the Qi Group. The Qi Group is the largest investor in our drama. Miss Qi is very interested in the entertainment circle, and this time also played a role in the crew."
That Miss Qi waited for Wang Boyuan to finish, and continued: "I'm not very interested in acting. I'm just curious about you. I also participated in the audition for "Soldier Elite" before. It's a pity that I was rejected during the secondary audition. That’s why I asked my dad to invest in Director Cheng’s crew.”
Tao Mu raised his eyebrows. Then he heard Miss Qi continue to say: "I have experienced life in Director Cheng's crew for a few days, and I don't think filming is at all interesting. It's dull and dry, and the set is even more boring. It's hard to imagine that Mr. Tao would waste so much time on this kind of thing."
"Doing what you like, you won't think it's a waste of time." Tao Mu smiled warmly.
Miss Qi snorted, and answered in a slightly aggressive manner: "So Mr. Tao likes acting?"
Before Tao Mu could speak, Miss Qi sneered again, "I wonder of Mr. Tao also likes acting so much in front of Xiao Heng?"
Li Xiaoheng?!
Tao Mu suddenly understood, and looked at Miss Qi with a focused expression. Was this a case of a hostile pursuer?
"Why, have you nothing to say?" Miss Qi snorted coldly: "I don't know what drug you fed to the Li family. Not only did Li Xiaoheng go crazy, but even Uncle Li and Aunt Li agreed to let the heir of the Fengxing Group marry a man. I really admire Mr. Tao. Mr. Tao is indeed worthy of coming out of Night."
In front of so many people, Miss Qi said such harsh words to Tao Mu. And it held such a huge amount of information. The onlookers immediately looked at each other in dismay. Even Cheng Baodong's complexion was a little ugly. It was true that he didn't like Tao Mu, but he never thought of offending Tao Mu so obviously and publicly. After all, Tao Mu had total control over FlyNews.com as well as 5% of the shares of Xiaoheng Capital, and he was the last person in the circle to offend.
Compared with the sudden change of expression of everyone, Tao Mu's expression was probably the calmest. Not even batting an eye
"There are many people who admire me, and Miss Qi is just one of them." Tao Mu hooked the up corners of his lips and said leisurely: "But most of the other people admire me for creating FlyNews.com, or because I have made a little money in the international financial market. Of course there are people who admire my acting skills and my production ability. This is the first time I have met someone like Miss Qi who admires my ability to have a boyfriend."
Tao Mu said this, and smiled: "But seeing Miss Qi's conversation skills and behavior today, I don't wonder why Miss Qi admires me. Thinking about Miss Qi's behavior, there should not be any outstanding suitors of he opppsite sex taking the initiative to pursue you, am I right? Let alone the same sex?"
"You——" Miss Qi didn't expect Tao Mu to say such words. Suddenly, her face changed greatly with anger, and she scolded indiscriminately: "You have no shame at all!"
"Oh?" Tao Mu raised his eyebrows very calmly: "Miss Qi saying this, could it be you know how to write the word shame?"
As soon as the words fell, laughter suddenly came from the crowd. Miss Qi was greatly provoked and turned her head, glaring over viciously. The few who couldn't help laughing quickly lowered their heads to avoid Miss Qi's gaze. They all knew that Tao Mu was a man with a particularly sharp mouth. But before, it was all just praise by netizens, but today they actually saw it with their own eyes…..Sure enough, seeing it was better than hearing it a hundred times.
"Don't be so proud!" Miss Qi clenched her fists tightly, staring at Tao Mu angrily: "Don't think that you have confused Brother Li now, and he will definitely continue to be with you. People like us, when talking about marriage, we must pay attention to the right family. Even if Brother Li and Uncle Li and Aunt Li are deceived by you, there are still so many people in the Li family. The elders of the Li family will never let the heir of the Li family marry a male entertainer."
At the end, Miss Qi pointed at Tao Mu angrily.
As soon as "male entertainer" came out, the faces of the male actors present were a little unsightly. Although they all knew that there were many wealthy and affluent people who looked down on their profession. But even so, being scolded by someone while having their noses pointed at was altogether a different matter.
Tao Mu lowered his eyes, looking at the finger that almost poked his face, "Miss Qi being sure, could it be that Miss Qi who knows shame…..also wants to taste what it's like to be a mistress?"
"You and Brother Li are not married, so why do you say that I am the mistress?" That Miss Qi sneered again, and said confidently: "Of course everyone will depend on their own abilities. I warn you, I am the one who is personally acknowledged as Brother Li's fiancée. The marriage between the two of us involves the cooperation between the Li family and the Qi family in the next few years. It's not something a poor boy like you who has no background can stop."
Speaking of this, Miss Qi thought of something, and smiled suddenly: "Oh, that's right, you are not a poor boy with no background. I heard rumors on the Internet that it seems that you may be the second son of the Shen family in Shanghai. But it's a pity, even if you go back to the Shen family now, I'm afraid it's useless. The Shen Group is about to change hands. Thinking about it, you are really pitiful. You were simply born to be poor! But don't be afraid, when our Qi family takes over the Shen Group in the future, we will leave enougj pension money for your Shen family."
Hearing these words, Tao Mu paused slightly.
Looking at Tao Mu's expression, Miss Qi gloated and said with a gleeful smile: "Why, you don't know yet? The backer behind the Shen Group is my eldest uncle. At the beginning, the Yan family made things difficult for the Shen Group, and the Shen Group had no choice but to ask my eldest uncle for help. This morning, Shen Chen personally called, wanting to transfer 25% of the shares of the Shen Group to the Qi Group. This was what Shen Chen said personally. He also said that you are the second son of the Shen family who disappeared back then, and now that you know your birth experience, you want to take revenge on the Shen family. Shen Chen is worried that you will push Brother Li and the Li family to help you, and the Shen Group may not be able to withstand the revenge of the Li family. So he took the initiative to ask for an exchange of shares with the Qi Group."
In fact, it wasn't Shen Chen who asked for this on his own initiative, but the Qi Group's intention when the Shen family came begging the eldest uncle of the Qi family in the first place. However, at that time, Shen Chen and Chairman Shen were still determined to gain the controlling stake in Shen Group, so of course they refused to accept this proposal to exchange shares. After all, the Shen family hadn't fallen into a desperate situation at that time——the Yan family was only angered by the Shen family because of Shen Yu at that time, and it was far from the situation where it was a life or death struggle.
However, the relationship between Tao Mu and the Shen family was different. There was a life between the two. It would be fine if everyone in the Shen family didn't know about it the whole time, but now that Shen Chen had been reborn, as the saying went, the debt must be collected from the debtor, it was absolutely impossible for Tao Mu to let the Shen family continue to be comfortable and prosperous. The most important thing was that it was impossible to allow Shen Chen, an unstable factor, to have the capital and ability to attack Tao Mu in the dark.
After all, in his previous life, Shen Chen could just stand on the sidelines watching Tao Mu's desperate situation because of his own interests. How could he know that he would not secretly deal a killing blow to Tao Mu for his interests in this life? Comparing heart to heart, if Shen Chen stood in Tao Mu's position, he would never trust himself.
So after Shen Chen put down the phone, he immediately realized that he had been impulsive.
After all, Tao Mu in the previous life was taught by Shen Chen himself. How Tao Mu would react after learning of his rebirth, Shen Chen could make a guess with his knees. Now that he had guessed Tao Mu's brain circuit, of course Shen Chen would not sit still. Therefore, at the first opportunity he got in touch with the Qi family who had always wanted to do business with the Shen Group. The purpose was also to pull the Qi family into the water to fight against the Li family.
It was just that the situation had changed, and while Shen Chen had intentions to bring up the exchange of shares, looking at the plans of the Qi Group, it seemed that it would not be as simple as exchanging shares. Instead, they wanted to join hands with other small shareholders of the Shen Group to remove Shen Shiyuan from the seat of chairman?
Tao Mu understood this, and his heart couldn't help but sink.
As expected of Shen Chen, he could predict everything ahead of him. When it came to business skills and scheming shrewdness, Tao Mu felt that he couldn't keep up with Shen Chen even if he tried. However, it was because Shen Chen acted so decisively that Tao Mu couldn't believe Shen Chen's words.
Just as Shen Chen was familiar with his temper, Tao Mu had been by Shen Chen's side for so many years, so he naturally knew Shen Chen's methods. Shen Chen regarded the Shen Group as something so important, but after predicting Tao Mu's move, he quickly and decisively took out 25% of the Shen family's shares in exchange for the group's vitality. How could Tao Mu feel at ease with this kind of determination?
And Shen Chen was worried about him, so he naturally tried his best to check and balance Tao Mu's ability to ensure that Tao Mu could not threaten the interests of the Shen family. So it was even more impossible for Tao Mu to sit still and let Shen Chen harm him again for the sake of the Shen family. So there was absolutely no possibility of reconciliation between the two.
As for Miss Qi's nonsensical remarks, Tao Mu was a little startled when he heard it at first. However, after thinking about it, he knew that Miss Qi's words would never come true. With Shen Chen's intelligence, towards hidden dangers that even Miss Qi could see, of course he would not ignore them. So Tao Mu dared to conclude that if the Qi Group agreed to exchange shares, Shen Chen would definitely have a way to make the Qi Group continue to support him.
In contrast, Tao Mu was more concerned about the relationship between the Qi family and the Li family, to be precise, the relationship between Miss Qi and Li Xiaoheng. Was this also in Shen Chen's calculations?
After all, judging from the current situation, if Shen Chen really wanted to check and balance Tao Mu's ability, splitting Tao Mu and Li Xiaoheng, or splitting them and the Li family was the fastest, most effective and safe way. Tao Mu had to admit that Shen Chen was worthy of being Shen Chen. Sure enough, the first blow he dealt was a killer move.
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