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Tao Mu and the crowd looked on in fear, worried that Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents would also scream and cry in front of them. Fortunately, the heavens would not cut off all paths——oddities like the Zhang family were relatively rare.
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Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents looked at their daughter in the intensive care unit. Although they were also very sad, there was none of the unreasonable behavior the Zhang family had displayed, practically hooligans eager to sell their daughter at a good price.
Although the old couple had tears in their eyes and could barely keep themselves together, two pairs of rough hands held Tao Mu’s hands in gratitude: “Thank you, lad, and thank you all. If it weren’t for your help, my daughter might not be able to come back. Us old couple only gave birth to this one daughter, if something happened to her…..”
Wu Xiaoxuan’s mother wiped another tear with her backhand. Sniffing her nose, she said: “Thank you, thank you, the police, thank you, doctor, thank you…..”
Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents were probably the most representative group of ordinary people in the ’40s and ’50s group. When they were young, they took over the work from their parents. Later, when they met with the tide of worker lay-offs, the couple were both laid off. They then set up a pancake stall near home to sell pancakes. Later, the pancake stall became a snack bar, and the old couple relied on this snack bar to feed their family of three. They had worked hard and honestly for their whole lives. The farthest place they had traveled to was Tongzhou, and the most beautiful scenery they had seen was the Great Wall. They had never left their familiar neighborhood in Beijing in their entire lives.
This time, upon receiving the call from the police in H Town, Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents were completely stunned. The couple closed the small restaurant in a daze, and got on the train to H Town. When they got off the train, they almost even got lost. They carried their luggage and found the police patrolling outside the train station to ask the police to take them to the police station. As soon as they entered the police station, they wanted to kneel to the police but were stopped by Officer Yao and the others. They were then taken to the hospital. When they got to the hospital, they once again wanted to kneel down to the doctor. Now that they saw Tao Mu and the others, although they did not kneel down, their simple and humble language was enough to bring a sting to one’s nose.
It was really unbearable to watch and listen to.
“Auntie, don’t worry. The doctors said that the operation was very successful. Let’s just wait for the child to wake up at night and it’ll all be fine.” Qin Miaoru, who had been standing by and watching the show, nudged Wu Xiaoxuan’s mother with her shoulder to comfort her. Then she took one of the three containers of pork rib soup that she had made by herself and handed it to mother Wu: “You come from a place as far away as the capital, and must not have eaten the whole way, right? I have ready-made pork rib soup. Originally it was to be given to the three girls. You drink it first, and I’ll make another for them when I get back.”
“Thank you, good girl.” Wu Xiaoxuan’s mother saw Qin Miaoru’s delinquent appearance and at first she dared not speak. Qin Miaoru forcibly stuffed the thermos container into mother Wu’s arms, and helped them sit down on the plastic row chair next to the corridor.
A group of tall and sturdy northern men followed behind Qin Miaoru and helped mother Wu and father Wu put their luggage on the side.
Zhang Hanya’s family were a little bit timid at first when they saw such a bunch of big and fierce looking men. Later, when they saw that these people seemed to be very nice people, they became arrogant again.
“Old sister, don’t listen to them fooling you. If it wasn’t for that damn girl, Yun Duo, how could our obedient daughters come to such a faraway place? The way I see it, their family is solely responsible for this. Our family’s medical expenses, any other nursing expenses, and mental damage expenses must be reimbursed by their family.”
——Where did the mental damage fee come from? The crowd was quite displeased, and Gou Rixin frowned. Just as he was about to speak, they heard Zhang Hanya’s mother continue to say: “There is also the operation. As parents we didn’t even sign at all. But this hospital performed the operation without saying a word. Say, what if the operation was done wrong? What if our child can’t wake up? Who is responsible for this? I have heard that operations without family signatures are major medical accidents!”
It would seem they were trying to recruit allies!
Everyone felt both angered and amused. Officer Yao couldn’t help but speak: “I say Auntie, the hospital operation was signed by the police. The matter is urgent, we really couldn’t wait that long. Only expedient——”
“Expedient or not expedient, we don’t understand. We just know that no one asked us!” Zhang Hanya’s uncle shrank behind his sister who weighed 200 kilograms, and looked at the police with shifty eyes, and muttered: ” You signed it, you are responsible. A perfectly fine person at home, but now suddenly can’t wake up here. How is the operation successful if she hasn’t even woken up? What if she really does become a vegetative person, what will happen in the future? Where will we go to find justice.”
“There is also the medical expenses! Didn’t you catch the bad guys? Now that they are caught, can you make them pay? Anyway, they made the children like this. They should be obligated to treat our children!”
Officer Yao stopped talking. What could he say, their police did catch the suspects, but making the suspects pay compensation was obviously not something they could guarantee.
“I say Auntie, aren’t you being unreasonable? The police uncle rescued your girl from the MLM den, and sent her to the hospital and saved her in time. You don’t even say thank you, but instead are full of complaints. So, now according to you it was wrong of us to save your child?” Da Mao couldn’t listen anymore and couldn’t help but say, “Is there anyone like you? You are really embarrassing us people of the capital.”
“Ai, kid, how is that any way to talk! Did your parents teach you to talk to your elders like this?”
Da Mao sneered, his violent temper flaring: “My dad never taught me this. He told me that if I run into people who deserve a beating I don’t need to restrain myself. Some people just like to take a mile when given an inch and they don’t deserve to be bothered with!”
“Hey, I say you little kid——” Zhang Hanya’s uncle rolled up his sleeves, but when he saw Gou Rixin’s group of buddies standing quietly behind Da Mao, he instantly wilted.
Zhang Hanya’s mother and aunt suddenly howled again: “My poor girl! Why are you so unlucky! Why give up the good days and insist on coming to this H town! Now you are lying on the hospital bed, barely alive, how will your mother live for the rest of her life! We should just die together!”
Everyone in the Yun family looked at each other. Yun Xingjian, a senior intellectual and the most prestigious heart surgeon at Beijing No.1 People’s Hospital, had seen family members of patients like the Zhang family several times while working in the hospital. So when it came down to it, he actually had a good understanding of what the Zhang family wanted.
“How about this. We’ll pay for the child’s medical expenses. Not only Hanya’s, but Xiaoxuan’s, we’ll also pay. But there is one thing that we as parents must make clear. When the three children originally planned to come to H Town, it was a decision made together. It’s not that Yun Duo instigated them and forced them to come. As elders, it’s not right for you to say this.”
“How can this be good? How can we make your family pay for it…..” When Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents heard Yun Xingjian’s words, the first reaction was to refuse. Although their family was not as well-off as the Yun family, when Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents came to H Town this time they had brought all their savings. Besides, as Yun Xingjian said, the three children coming to H Town for a trip was something they agreed on together. Yun Duo had also suffered. As parents, how could they have the face to let the Yun family pay for all the medical expenses.
“——What if the child has any side effects in the future?” It was completely different from Wu Xiaoxuan’s parents’ reaction. Zhang Hanya’s mother’s conditioned reflex was to ask: “Didn’t you hear the doctor! Our Hanya is injured in the head, and it is likely there will be side effects in the future. What if the child wakes up and becomes retarded, or has other side effects? The child is only 18 years old this year, and her life has just begun! Shouldn’t you also be responsible for the rest of our child’s life?”
“You’re too shameless!” Qin Miaoru couldn’t stand it anymore: “I say, you are clearly just wanting to extort people, right?”
“What’s it got to do with you?” Zhang Hanya’s mother looked at Qin Miaoru, whose hair was dyed in colorful colors and had on fiendish makeup (smokey eye makeup). She wore a small black tank top that showed off the waist and had a skull print. The short skirt underneath barely reached over the base of her thighs. And in this summer heat, she also had on leather boots that reached the calf. In addition, she was also followed by a group of big muscular men——with just a glance they judged her to not be a good woman.
Mother Zhang didn’t like this kind of girl, but she didn’t dare to provoke her: “You are still young. How can you know what it’s like for us mothers, we’re just thinking for the sake of our children!”
Qin Miaoru sneered, what for the sake of your child! More like for the sake of money!
Their eyes only saw money!
Tao Mu had been watching for a long time and had basically figured out the Zhang family’s temperament. But he still didn’t speak. The main reason was that he didn’t want to deal with such hooligans.
But Tao Mu didn’t expect that while he didn’t want to provoke hooligans, the hooligans took the initiative to provoke him——well, not him specifically, but the crew of “Faraway Jianghu”.
It must be said that this Zhang family was truly made up of hooligans! Don’t know where they found out about Tao Mu asking the group of bigwigs from the “Faraway Jianghu” crew to help find and save the three girls. The family went to the entrance of the Studio City in H Town, kneeled under a banner, and called for the celebrities of the “Faraway Jianghu” crew to donate money to help their daughter’s medical expenses.
This completely set off a hornet’s nest. Just how many gossip paparazzi were guarding the entrance of Studio City every day to look for news? After so many days, they couldn’t even touch on even a cheating scandal and now there was even more eye-popping news in front of them. The large group of paparazzi reporters who had been waiting for a salary increase instantly went crazy. The paparazzi divided into two groups, one wave went up to interview the Zhang family, and one wave swarmed into the crew of “Faraway Jianghu”. And the first thing they did was to let loose a fire of camera flashes and interview questions.
Cheng Baodong and his crew were also going crazy.
——With this kind of thing, if there was communication well in advance, and both parties were willing, then there would be no problem at all. After all, after celebrities donated money, they could even buy a notice to praise themselves. It was a beneficial situation to both sides. But the key was that this family just knelt at the entrance of Studio City without saying anything and acting quite unreasonably. Anyone who encountered this kind of situation would feel disgusted.
Cheng Baodong and the others had just been talking about what a good child Tao Mu was a second ago. Saying that he looked rather cold and indifferent, but was actually warmhearted and kind! And in such a short time, he had managed to rescue the girls from the MLM den. In any case, he was not an ordinary boy at all. But then in the next second, the Zhang family made such a scene that was equivalent to roasting everyone in the crew on the spit.
The angry Cheng Baodong instantly yelled: “Didn’t I say that Tao Mu is not a good kid. Making such a big problem for us for no reason. And he just patted his butt and left!”
The bigwigs did not agree with Cheng Baodong’s apparent irritability and words uttered in his anger. But there was indeed a bit of discomfort in their hearts. After all, no one liked the taste of being forced and threatened morally. Especially public figures like them——either they keep up their appearances despite not affording to, or keep a hold on their wallets and would rather die than yield. No matter how they chose, it was simply a disaster.
Fortunately, Tao Mu did not pat his butt and leave. Aside from the fact that he was not this kind of person at all, he wouldn’t let his connections with these bigwigs become broken because of hooligans like the Zhang family. In terms of impression points, once it was lost, it was difficult to make up for it again.
Tao Mu had been in the crew for so many days, going through much hardship as he swallowed his anger and showed off his skills. He finally got the recognition he wanted from these people so how could he tolerate the Zhang family, these irrelevant bastards, flushing his plans down the toilet.
A person like Tao Mu, he might not care whether you disliked him or humiliated him to his face, but if you dared to block his way, then sorry.
After thinking about it carefully, Tao Mu finally called the number stored on his phone that he had always wanted to call but was too embarrassed to call.
“Brother Yao, do you remember me? I’m Xiao Mu!”
“You kid actually still remembers me! Running so far away without saying a word, and taking several months before remembering to call this brother. I can tell, you kid must have an ulterior motive, after all one doesn’t visit the temple without a cause!” From the other end came an authentic Beijing accent. Liu Yao, Tao Mu’s boss when he was working in a nightclub, laughed and cursed: “Let’s talk. What do you need this brother for?”
“No wonder they say that you are the Buddha, us monkey cubs, no matter how much we run around, we just can’t find our way out of your palm.” Tao Mu chuckled twice: “There is indeed something I need you to help me with…..”
“You kiddo!” Listening to Tao Mu’s words, Liu Yao couldn’t help frowning: “You are actually asking your brother to help you scare a bunch of uncles and aunts. If it spreads out, what face will your brother Yao still have?!”
“I don’t need you to scare them.” Tao Mu said with a smile: “You can help me find out their home addresses. Then send someone to give them some fruit baskets. I will talk to them for the rest.”
“If that doesn’t count as scaring what does. You can just pretend, kid!” Liu Yao sneered, “All right. Who let you be my little brother? I’ll take care of this. When you come back, shouldn’t you make a table of food to thank your brother, I, for helping with such a mess at the risk of losing face?”
“That’s a must. Thank you, brother Yao, I will definitely make a full table for you and treat you to a drink when I go back. By the way, how is brother Xiao Qi?” Tao Mu tentatively asked about Liu Yao’s partner, the popular male escort in the nightclub who had given Tao Mu a lot of advice.
“Your brother Xiao Qi is the same as always! Still so popular with thousands of wealthy women, and some people still call him and send text messages every day even though he no longer works as an escort! Asking him out for tea and a chat. He’s out again now!” Liu Yao still felt rather sour about this as he said, “I say, when you come back, you can just directly hang your card up in the store! With just your face and figure, and having inherited your brother Xiao Qi’s skills, as long as you stand at the store, it is likely that that group of people will not care about your brother Xiao Qi anymore.”
“That’s not going to work. I want to be a superstar, and this kind of dark history is not allowed!” Tao Mu smiled and joked around with his brother Yao, and the two chatted a few more before hanging up the phone.
Coincidentally, as soon as Liu Yao disconnected the phone, Meng Qi walked in. Seeing his old gong sitting on the sofa, holding his mobile phone with a dark face and staring at the TV murderously, he couldn’t help asking: “What’s the matter? Who provoked you this time?”
“Just now Xiao Mu called me.” Liu Yao’s eyes watched the TV gloomily: “This kid, he must have been bullied outside. Couldn’t hold it anymore. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have called me.”
As Tao Mu said on the phone, he was to be a big superstar in the future, and he must not have a dark history. So from the day he walked out of “Night”, Tao Mu didn’t plan to contact anyone in the store.
Tao Mu didn’t mention this matter directly, but everyone knew it well. Therefore, since the day Tao Mu left Night, whether it was Liu Yao or anyone else in the club, they never called Tao Mu or sent a message again.
Not even on Tao Mu’s birthday. They were afraid that Tao Mu would misunderstand that the people in the club were trying to latch on and not let go.
But now, Tao Mu took the initiative to contact them. Usually such a stubborn child, just how much did he suffer for him to admit his wrongs and call them without a care about his pride.
Meng Qi was taken aback for a moment, and then smiled: “In any case. It’s the kid we watched grow up. If he was really bullied outside you can’t leave this alone. I know Xiao Mu, he may have a little temper but he is a good boy.”
“Nonsense! How can I not care about our child!”
Tao Mu was only in his first year of high school when he came to work at Night. At that time he was not even sixteen. The child was devilishly beautiful, had the sweetest mouth, and was very clever, coaxing and winning over everyone in the club. From the bartender to the singer-in-residence to the young masters, how many people had been fooled by this little brat into departing their unique skills to him.
Liu Yao felt distress for the child and was also afraid that something might happen, so he hid him and kept Tao Mu from working at the front of the club. He was afraid that some powerful customer would target the boy when he wasn’t keeping an eye on him. The two had a twenty year age gap between them so although Tao Mu called him brother, he actually saw and treated Tao Mu as his son. After all, it was impossible for him and Meng Qi to have children of their own in this life! When Tao Mu left Night with a decisive attitude, Liu Yao really had his heart broken. When he got drunk, he sent a ruthless message to Tao Mu: “Damn you, Grandpa Liu, I, have been hanging out in jianghu for so many years. What people haven’t I come across. You are ashamed of us so much but we don’t care much for you either. From now on, we will go our own ways. I will see just what kind of success you’ll achieve!”
But when Tao Mu made the phone call, Liu Yao himself immediately softened into a pile of goo even before Tao Mu had said a few soft words. After all, he was the child they had watched grow up, and even if he had made mistakes or did something wrong, then the beating and scolding should be done by them and not letting outsiders bully him instead!
“Fuck, doing a good deed can even lead to being extorted. If this gets out, this will lose my face. Can just anyone on the street bully the little brother of Liu Yao?” Liu Yao’s eyes were red, and he immediately made a few calls to the people below. After hanging up he continued to spaz out with Meng Qi: “Say, Xiao Mu will be back soon. Where will he live? How about we have him live in your house in the Dongcheng District for now. It’ll save him from having nowhere to go on weekends.”
Before graduating from high school, Tao Mu had been living in the staff dormitory of Night. But now Tao Mu was admitted to college, and a film school that specializes in celebrities to boot, it was no longer appropriate to live with that group of people.
Meng Qi looked at Liu Yao with amusement and couldn’t help poking fun: “Ai, I remember that someone had said that everyone should just never see each other again, right?”
“Isn’t that all just angry talk!” Liu Yao waved his hand seriously, blushing down to his neck but his mouth was grinning wide enough to reach his ears. He pretended to be cool: “Now, the child takes the initiative to admit his wrongs to us. We are grown men in our forties, how can we still argue with a little kid?”
Meng Qi chuckled: “Then you’ll accompany me to clean up my house tomorrow. It has been a long time since anyone has been living in it. Besides, some furniture should be changed. Let’s also install a computer. Also, we shouldn’t say to Xiao Mu that he can directly live in it, just say that it was rented to him. Just in case the child can’t get over his pride.”
Liu Yao snorted: “You think too much.”
On the other side, after Tao Mu hung up the phone he squatted down against the wall and buried his head in his knees. After a long time, he suddenly slapped himself.
“Tao Mu, you are a bastard!”
Liu Yao and Meng Qi were scars that Tao Mu couldn’t even touch. These two people were ironclad evidence of Tao Mu’s heartlessness and selfishness.
In his previous life, Tao Mu felt that the people of Night did not have very proper or presentable backgrounds and didn’t want to get involved with these people anymore. Due to Liu Yao’s influence, Tao Mu didn’t dare to say anything before leaving Beijing, but his attitude was very clear.
What kind of person was Liu Yao? Although he was older now and began doing proper business, when he was young he was definitely not lacking in any fooling around. How could he fail to see through Tao Mu’s thoughts? So after Tao Mu left Night, Liu Yao did indeed cut out any thoughts of continuing to communicate. Moreover, boss Liu not only cut out the thoughts himself, but also restrained anyone in the club from contacting Tao Mu as well.
Later Tao Mu returned to the Shen family and became the young master of the Shen family and the two groups of people would definitely not have any exchanges.
But when Tao Mu offended Shen Yu and was kicked out of the Shen house, then shut out of the entertainment circle by Shen Yu’s admirers, Liu Yao took the initiative to teach a lesson to the media and marketing accounts headquartered in Beijing one by one. With strong arm tactics, he had these marketing accounts withdraw all of the articles on Tao Mu’s dark history. He also had these media and marketing accounts publicly apologize to Tao Mu on the Internet. Of course, boss Liu’s methods were definitely not so legal. So in the end, this incident became one of Tao Mu’s weaknesses, evidence that led to Tao Mu being blacklisted by those above.
However, what made Tao Mu feel guilty the most was that Liu Yao was targeted by Shen Yu’s admirers for helping him. That group of people joined hands to cause trouble for brother Yao’s businesses. After all, nightclubs were a kind of business that couldn’t hold up in an investigation. Finally, Liu Yao was forced by these people to leave Beijing and had to take Meng Qi to hide in Meng Qi’s hometown. His many years spent on his career went up in smoke just like that.
Even so, the two met Tao Mu before they left, and they told Tao Mu not to think too much about it.
“I haven’t wanted to work here for a long time. It’s good to go back to our hometown. Our hometown is beautiful with beautiful scenery of mountains and rivers. Your brother Xiao Qi and I will contract a large area in the village to build an orchard, and then build a farmhouse. Isn’t it in style now for city folks to reach back to nature. Well, your brother Xiao Qi and I are also going to follow the trend!”
“When you have time, bring Zhuo Yan and come over to play. Your brother Xiao Qi and I will definitely be the best hosts.”
But later, Zhuo Yan, who he trusted and relied on the most, also betrayed him! Tao Mu just wanted to jump off a building and in the end never had the chance to visit brother Xiao Qi’s hometown.
Actually, thinking about it carefully, Tao Mu was sorry to many people in his previous life.
In this life, he wanted to find back all those who had treated him well. And then treat them most preciously, placing them in the place closest to his heart, carefully guarding them so that no one would hurt them again.
The others were pretty easy to handle, so it was mainly the “Night” group. He was ignorant at the time and his attitude had hurt many people. Brother Yao and brother Xiao Qi were also too smart. Tao Mu didn’t know how to reconnect with these people, but he didn’t expect that the Zhang family would give him this opportunity.
Like this it was not bad.
You c an fi nd t he la te st cha pte rs at ( th e ir on tr ee bl oo ms. c o m )
He took the initiative to call and took the initiative to admit to his wrongs. He appeared miserable and pitiful. Even if brother Yao and brother Xiao Qi were angry with him, they wouldn’t be able to bear seeing him being bullied. They hadn’t been able to bear it in the previous life in that kind of situation so they must definitely be even more reluctant now.
So you see, Tao Mu also had people who loved him.
Tao Mu wiped his eyes, feeling that the air in H Town was really bad, choking him up!