Chapter 65: Life Is Like A Play
"Elder brother!"
When the two siblings Shen Yan and Shen Yu entered Shen Chen's room, Shen Chen was watching a video on his laptop——it was the video of the Shen family making a scene at the headquarters of FlyNews.
There was no sound in the quiet room. Only Shen Yan's sharp, high and mean voice came from the laptop. Shen Yan's ears went red, and she hugged Shen Yu more and more nervously.
Shen Yu blinked and called again: "Elder brother."
Shen Chen looked up, hitting the spacebar with a slender index finger, and paused the video.
"I'm very curious." Shen Chen sat on the leather swivel chair behind the desk, folded his hands on the tabletop, and asked in a deep voice, "You hate Tao Mu?"
Shen Yan panicked and quickly explained: "He hated us first. Xiao Yu is so good to him, and wants to make friends with him so much. But he doesn't know to appreciate this at all. Isn't this kind of person hateful?"
"What you mean is that you scolded and made things difficult for the CEO of an Internet media company in public, to the extent that you even forgot your own manners and bearing just, because this person did not know to appreciate your little brother and become friends with him?" Shen Chen raised his eyebrows, and his dark eyes stared at Shen Yan, seemingly able to see through her.
Shen Yan suddenly fell silent.
Shen Chen continued: "You must always remember that you are not only Shen Yan, but also the eldest miss of the Shen family. Your every move in public represents the Shen Group. Don't let the Shen family be ashamed because of you."
Shen Yan lowered her head and said nothing.
Shen Yu also swallowed his saliva, took a step forward, and carefully explained: "Brother, don't blame sister, okay? Sister is also just looking out for me."
"So, Xiao Yu, you think, because Tao Mu refuses to be your friend, he deserve be treated like this?" When facing Shen Yu, Shen Chen seemed to be more patient. The original solemn and deep voice became softened.
"I don't think that." Shen Yu flushed, ashamed and anxious, defending himself: "I didn't want it to be like this. I don't know why things developed like this. Brother, I really and sincerely want to be friends with Tao Mu. But he always ignores me."
Shen Chen hooked up the corners of his mouth at a miniscule degree, and the original cold features became a little softer. He patiently persuaded: "Tao Mu is different from the friends you made before. Tao Mu is a very capable young talent. He has his own career and has his own work to do. So he is very, very busy. Just like elder brother, I have to focus more on the company’s business. If you always treat him as one of your classmates and playmates, you will naturally not get what you want."
Shen Yu was befuddled.
Shen Chen smiled slightly. He discovered early on that his younger brother had an extraordinary ability to attract talented and capable men. So he was also keen to see his brother make friends with some young talents. So long as their friendship was beneficial to the Shen Group's future.
"It's like with elder brother being very busy at work. Would you ask elder brother to go shopping with you? If elder brother doesn't agree, will you think that elder brother doesn't like you, and you will complain to others that elder brother is not good to you?"
Shen Yu immediately shook his head and said, "No. I know that elder brother works very hard. You don't usually play with us not because you don't like us. It's just that you are too busy at work."
"Yes." Shen Chen touched Shen Yu's head for encouragement, and warmly praised: "Xiao Yu is right. So you see, the Tao Mu you want to make friends with is actually the same kind of person as elder brother. Compared to playing with friends, we are more willing to devote our energy to work."
"Because of your impulsive actions, you have caused a lot of trouble for Tao Mu and his FlyNews. After that, you also ignored Tao Mu's emotions and asked him to forgive Yao Wenxiao, the culprit who had brought so much harm to him. Elder brother asks you, if you were in his place, and someone inexplicably disliked you and bullied you with the backing of a strong family background only to be found out by us and about to be punished by us. But then he ran to you and begged you to forgive him. Will you forgive him?"
"I will!" Shen Yu nodded naturally, and said innocently: "With dad and mom, elder brother and sister to protect me, he will definitely not hurt me. Since I am not injured, then if he apologizes to me, as long as he sincerely apologizes, of course I will forgive him."
Shen Chen: "….."
Although every time he tried to reason with his little brother, he would feel that Shen Yu's brain circuit was quite unfathomable. Shen Chen still took a deep breath and asked patiently, "What if the other party is not sincerely apologizing to you?"
Shen Yu was instantly dumbfounded: "Since he is not sincere, why does he apologize?"
Shen Chen: "….."
Shen Chen pressed the bridge of his nose weakly: "Maybe the other party made the apology due to the situation, afraid that father and I will avenge you and will hurt his interests. So he has to apologize to you, and when the matter passes, he will continue to retaliate against you."
"I'm not afraid." Shen Yu blinked: "Elder brother, mom, dad and sister will protect me."
Shen Chen: "….." He decided to abandon this question.
"In any case, because of your and Shen Yan's actions, it has caused a lot of trouble for Tao Mu and FlyNews. Elder brother hopes that you can sincerely apologize to him and win his forgiveness. Can you?"
Not waiting for Shen Chen to finish, Shen Yu nodded immediately: "I am willing, I have always wanted to apologize to Tao Mu. But he always ignores me."
"Okay, our Xiao Yu is really a good boy." Shen Chen touched Shen Yu's head as a sign of encouragement.
When facing Shen Yan, Shen Chen's attitude was much simpler and crude. He had his secretary hand over his secondary card to Shen Yan, and said straightforwardly: "Go and apologize to Tao Mu. You can swipe my secondary card as you like."
"Elder brother!" Shen Yan frowned, "Why do you have such a high opinion of Tao Mu? He is just an orphan with no father, no mother and no background. As the eldest miss of the Shen family, why should I apologize to him? "
"Because he was able to create FlyNews at such a young age. Because he is now a business partner recognized by Li Xiaoheng." Shen Chen looked at his sister with cold eyes: "I am very optimistic about this person. So I don't want our Shen family to have unfriendly relations with Tao Mu because of such a little thing. You better not make trouble for me."
"No! I don't agree!" Shen Yan shouted shrilly: "Elder brother, you can make friends with anyone, but you can't with this Tao Mu."
Shen Chen's eyes depened: "Are you ordering me?"
Shen Yan suddenly woke up and shook her head quickly: "No. Elder brother, I just——"
"You seem to care a lot about this person?" His slender fingers tapped the table slowly, and Shen Chen thoughtfully looked at his sister: "Why?"
Shen Yan startled: "There is no reason. I just think this person is very annoying, and seems to have an inexplicable hostility towards our Shen family. Before in H Town, Xiao Yu finally convinced Wen Shijin to sign him after much effort, yet he didn’t agree. It was a waste of Xiao Yu’s painstaking effort. After that, we accompanied Xiao Yu to Beijing to find him, and he acted the same cold and indifferent way. He just doesn't hold any regard for the Shen family at all. And our Shen family have no need to flatter him either."
"Your words are too serious." Shen Chen disagreed with Shen Yan's statement. In his opinion, Tao Mu was a rare shrewd person. He knew what he wanted, and knew which direction to go in.
Such people naturally had great perseverance. It couldn't be changed by just a few words. Naturally, this kind of person would also not be subordinate to others.
He refused to agree to Shen Yu's solicitation to join Shen Yu Film and Television Company, which was something that was in accordance to Shen Chen's judgement of him.
"Stop talking nonsense." Shen Chen looked at the time and made a final conclusion: "Come over here and apologize."
"Huh?" The two siblings looked at each other, not knowing what Shen Chen meant.
* * * * * *
At 7 o'clock in the evening, in the Tianshui Pavilion of Yushan Manor.
Tao Mu pushed open the door and found that Shen Chen was the only person seated in the elegantly decorated private box. A girl wearing a silk robe sat in the corner and played the guqin. High mountains and flowing water, the melodious sound of the stringed instrument meandered in the room.
Shen Chen, who was drinking tea, paused slightly before standing up and smiling gracefully: "Mr. Tao, hello. When we first met in Town H, I saw that Mr. Tao was not an ordinary person. Seeing you today, Mr. Tao is indeed really extraordinary."
Tao Mu's face was calm and he went straight to the point: "I wonder what Mr. Shen asked to meet me for?"
Shen Chen smiled and said, "Of course I am here to make amends for you."
As Shen Chen said, he pushed the U disk that had been prepared a while ago to Tao Mu.
Tao Mu was taken aback.
Shen Chen smiled and said: "I know that Mr. Tao is busy with your business, and may not want to see my immature siblings. So I simply asked them to record a video to apologize to you. You can put this video on FlyNews and let all netizens know that the Shen family’s apology is sincere. Of course, if Mr. Tao allows, I also want to hold a press conference in the name of the Shen Group and have Shen Yan and Shen Yu publicly apologize to you in front of the media and reporters."
Tao Mu frowned: "It's not necessary. Mr. Shen only needs to manage your younger siblings well and have them stop bothering me."
Shen Chen chuckled and said, "I think there should be a press conference. After all, my younger sister and brother made a lot of complaints about you during the reporter's interview, which caused misunderstandings among netizens, and brought a lot of trouble to Mr. Tao and Feixun. Now asking them to hold a press conference, and even post a public apology in the newspaper, is also something that is well deserved."
"No need," Tao Mu said lightly and then pointed out meaningfully: "I'm not a stingy person. As long as your younger brother and sister stop pestering me, I am willing to keep a peace with the Shen family where both sides mind their own business."
Shen Chen smiled slightly, and did not answer Tao Mu's words directly. Instead he switched the topic, "Sheng'an Group is a leading company in the food industry in Shanghai. Chairman Yao, the founder of Sheng'an Group, moved from Beijing to Shanghai 30 years ago. I imagine Mr. Tao also knows the reasons behind this very well so I won't bother going into the details. It's better to talk about the interesting things Chairman Yao did after he arrived in Shanghai."
Shen Chen did not bother with small talk anymore. He directly explained how after Yao Sheng'an arrived in Shanghai he established the Sheng'an Group from scratch. During the period, there were many business secrets involving how Chairman Yao dealt with competitors.
"…..Yao Wenxiao is the grandson of Chairman Yao and his favorite. As he was raised by him since he was a child, his temperament somewhat takes after Chairman Yao." Narrow-minded, paranoid and jealous, as well as vengeful. It was a pity that his methods were much lacking when compared with his grandfather, making him belong to the category of those who aimed too high but without the talent to carry out his ambitions.
"If Mr. Tao is determined to fight against the Sheng'an Group, you should be more careful." Shen Chen spent a lot of words explaining Yao Sheng'an's style and methods to Tao Mu.
Tao Mu listened carefully, and finally asked, "Why is Mr. Shen telling me this?"
Shen Chen chuckled again: "I said it before. I want to make amends for my younger brother and sister, and I also want to make friends with Mr. Tao. Whether it's apologizing or making friends, there must be some sincerity."
Tao Mu asked in a deep voice: "The Shen Group also wants to deal with the Sheng'an Group?"
Shen Chen shook his head and said regretfully: "The Shen family and the Yao family had at least bren family friends for so many years. Even if I dislike Chairman Yao's behavior, I will not betray my allies. I just worry that Mr. Tao's youthfulness and insistence on taking revenge will lead you to fall into Yao Shengan's calculations."
After a pause, Shen Chen smiled again: "However, perhaps this is just overthinking on my part. After all, Mr. Tao is the business partner of Xiaoheng Capital. Everyone knows Li Xiaoheng's trading skills in the financial market. With such a powerful partner, a mere Sheng'an Group that is only engaged in catering will naturally not be a difficult opponent."
"Mr. Shen thinks too much." Tao Mu lowered his eyes slightly, and said calmly, "How big is the Sheng'an Group and how small is FlyNews. I naturally dare not hit the rocks with an egg. As long as Chairman Yao doesn't take it too far, I still hope to shake hands with the Sheng'an Group."
Shen Chen raised an eyebrow and immediately smiled: "I really didn't expect Mr. Tao to have such magnanimity at such a young age. I thought you would not be able to surget over what happened back then."
"After all, it's an old thing that happened decades ago. Time has changed, and you have to look forward." Tao Mu responded indifferently.
Shen Chen chuckled lightly. Of course he understood that with Tao Mu's shrewdness and scheming, not to mention such a significant matter as the destruction of the Sheng'an Group. It was absolutely impossible for him to speak truthfully with him just after a few words from him. Shen Chen was not in a hurry. As the saying went, one couldn’t eat hot tofu if one was impatient. Even the prey being fought over by the two tigers were not in a hurry so naturally he was even more patient as a hunter who sat on the mountain watching the tigers fight.
He didn't believe that even if Tao Mu could remain composed, that the other side with the guilty conscience would be able to remain composed. Would they really be naive enough to believe that the bad things they did could be treated as if it didn't happen?
* * * * * *
At the same time that Shen Yu invited Tao Mu to dinner, Yao Shengan, who had just arrived in Beijing, sat on the sofa in his grandson's hotel room and slowly read all the information about Tao Mu that Yao Wenxiao hired private detectives to investigate.
When he turned to a photo of Tao Mu eating at Song Ji, he saw a familiar face in the photo, and Yao Shengan's pupils dilated suddenly. Those old things that had long been accumulating dust in the depths of his memory, came to the forefront again unexpectedly.
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