Tao Mu was holding a pile of birthday gifts. As soon as he got into the car, he let out a big yawn.
Li Xiaoheng put a blanket over Tao Mu, took the gifts from Tao Mu’s hand and placed it aside, asking with a smile, “Is filming exhausting?”
“I’m just a little tired today.” Tao Mu slumped on the back of the seat in a manner particularly uncaring of his image, yawning heavily: “It’s probably because pitting acting skills against others is too exhausting.”
Li Xiaoheng had long since inquired about Tao Mu’s schedule. Naturally, he knew that Tao Mu had scenes with Yan Sheng today. Hearing this he smiled and said, “It seems that you had a great time filming today.”
“It was really not bad.” Tao Mu admitted frankly. He couldn’t help but yawn again while speaking.
Li Xiaoheng tucked the edge of the blanket around Tao Mu, and said warmly, “Take a nap for a while. I’ll wake you up when we get to the hotel.”
Tao Mu hummed, laid down resting on Li Xiaoheng’s thigh, raised his head and asked, “Do you mind?”
Li Xiaoheng lowered his head, looked at Tao Mu who was lying on his lap obediently preparing to take a nap, and smiled: “I can’t ask for it more.”
Probably because Li Xiaoheng’s gaze was too hot. Tao Mu subconsciously curved up the corner of his mouth as he turned to his side and pulled the blanket all the way to the top of his head. It was gently dragged down by Li Xiaoheng again: “If you cover it so tightly, won’t you lack oxygen?” And the air in the quilt was also not good.
“You can sleep at ease, I won’t look at you anymore.” Li Xiaoheng said, picking up a document from the side.
Tao Mu closed his eyes and said, “Don’t read documents in the car. The light is too dark and hurts your eyes.”
Li Xiaoheng chuckled lightly, and put the documents back: “I listen to you.”
He put his hand on Tao Mu’s shoulder and kneaded slowly from top to bottom. Although Tao Mu only filmed a little over two hours worth of scenes in the evening, he had waited for a day in the crew, and his whole body was very sore.
Li Xiaoheng’s skillful massage made Tao Mu feel very comfortable. He closed his eyes and adjusted his posture, letting Li Xiaoheng press his shoulders and then his waist, falling asleep in just a short while.
When Assistant Jiang, who was driving in front, saw this, he quietly rolled up the partition glass. The inside of the car suddenly became quieter.
After an unknown amount of time, Tao Mu was gently shaken awake. Li Xiaoheng’s voice came from above his head: “We’re here. Wake up.”
Tao Mu opened his eyes in a daze, and shoved the blanket directly into Li Xiaoheng’s arms. He had slept quite deeply all the way, and there was even a red sleep mark on his cheek. His hair was also messy. Tao Mu flipped out a peaked cap and put it on his head and then added a black face mask.
Seeing this, Li Xiaoheng laughed and joked, “Would you like sunglasses as well?”
Who wears sunglasses at night. Tao Mu looked at Li Xiaoheng in exasperation, thinking that their CEO Li was getting more and more of a venomous tongue.
Li Xiaoheng chuckled lightly, thinking that their CEO Tao’s eye roll was really handsome.
As soon as the two got out of the car, they heard the sound of a “click” from the door of the hotel. The well-informed Hong Kong paparazzi have been waiting here for a long time. The bolder paparazzi came up with a camera and a microphone, wanting to interview Li Xiaoheng and Tao Mu.
As the founder of Xiaoheng Capital and the eldest son of the Li family, Li Xiaoheng had always kept a low profile in front of the media and refused to accept interviews easily.
Tao Mu himself founded FlyNews.com, and if there was any really exciting news, he would not wait for the water to flow into the fields of outsiders. So neither of them were willing to be interviewed. The gossip paparazzi did not dare to stop them, so they could only watch the two enter the hotel together.
“The relationship between Mr. Li and Mr. Tao is getting better and better. I heard that for Mr. Tao’s birthday this time, Mr. Li personally flew to Beijing to pick up Mr. Tao’s family. I wonder if they will go out on a family trip.”
If they were going to, they could follow the whole process. Although Tao Mu was a newcomer in the entertainment industry, as the founder of FlyNews.com and was also now filming in the “Black and White” crew, he was getting quite the limelight treatment in the Hong Kong entertainment circle. These gossip tabloids were all waiting to capture some news of Tao Mu’s to earn sales.
Unfortunately, Tao Mu was usually a low-profile person. Apart from being in the film set he would only return to the hotel, there was simply no big news worthy of breaking.
The man who often caused a storm in the entertainment industry didn’t know that the gossip paparazzi downstairs would have such an opinion on him. Standing at the door of the hotel room, he was a little nervous for a while.
“What’s the matter?” Li Xiaoheng followed Tao Mu, watching Tao Mu standing at the door with a hesitant look on his face. He asked with a smile, “Are you worried that Uncle Yao, Uncle Xiao Qi and Mr. Song won’t agree with us being together? It doesn’t matter, we don’t have to tell them now. We can explain to them slowly.”
Tao Mu gave CEO Li a helpless look. It was not a matter of them telling or not. The key was that his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad——especially his Xiao Qi Dad, who was so shrewd, would definitely find out with just a glance.
“Then it doesn’t matter if they find out.” Li Xiaoheng said with a smile: “Your family loves you so much, as long as I treat you well for the rest of our lives, they will definitely agree.”
“You are being blindly optimistic.” Tao Mu sighed. But he liked Li Xiaoheng’s blind optimism. With his experience and temperament, if Li Xiaoheng was the kind of person who constantly weighed the pros and cons and was indecisive, then it was likely that the two of them really couldn’t have gotten together.
“It’s not blind optimism, it’s confidence.” Li Xiaoheng secretly squeezed Tao Mu’s palm.
The phone rang suddenly. Tao Mu took out his mobile phone from his bag, and just as he was about to connect it, the door to the hotel room opened with a bang.
Meng Qi stood in the doorway holding his mobile phone, and said with a smile, “I was about to call you and ask where you were. Now it seems I saved a few cents of phone fare.”
Tao Mu stood at the door and called out cautiously, “Xiao Qi Dad.”
“Happy birthday.” Meng Qi stepped forward to hug Tao Mu and patted him on the back. He smiled and said, “Your Yao Dad and your grandpa Song are waiting for you inside. Come in quickly.”
Meng Qi said, and nodded to Li Xiaoheng. He explained to Tao Mu: “We originally planned to go to the crew with Mr. Li to visit the crew and celebrate your birthday. Only, your grandpa Song got a bit airsick from the plane ride earlier. When we arrived, he also forced himself to make birthday peaches for you, and he really became uncomfortable after that. He has been lying on the bed this whole time. I discussed it with your Yao Dad, and the three of us decided we would just wait for you at the hotel.”
Tao Mu obediently followed Meng Qi into the room. Liu Yao was sitting on the sofa watching TV boredly. Mr. Song was still lying down in the bedroom. Hearing the movement, he slowly got up and walked to the bedroom door: “You’re back?”
“Ai.” Tao Mu responded and called out dryly, “Grandpa, Yao Dad.”
“You haven’t had dinner yet. It just so happens that I’m also finished resting. Let’s find a place to eat.” Mr. Song said, “This is my first time coming to Hong Kong. And I just happen to want to try the dishes here.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Song, I have already made arrangements here.” Li Xiaoheng said with a smile: “Just waiting for you to recover, we can go over at any time.”
After a pause, Li Xiaoheng spoke again: “Actually, the morning tea and midnight snack here in Hong Kong are both very good. Xiao Mu especially likes to eat morning tea, as well as fried pigeon and cart noodles.”
Liu Yao narrowed his eyes and subtly looked at Li Xiaoheng from head to toe. The more he looked, the more the other appeared like a big-tailed wolf with ulterior motives.
Meng Qi secretly poked Liu Yao’s lower back: “That’s fine. We just happen to be hungry as well. Let’s go. Is the place far?”
“It’s not far, it’s nearby.” Li Xiaoheng explained with a smile: “Considering that the three of you are exhausted from travel, and Xiao Mu is also very tired after filming for a day, I chose a restaurant with a long established reputation next to the hotel. After eating, if you want to stroll around Hong Kong, we can also continue to stroll the streets. And if you feel tired, we can also quickly come back to rest.”
In any case, Li Xiaoheng had already arranged everything.
Liu Yao glanced at Meng Qi. He then threw a ring of keys on the coffee table to Tao Mu: “Your birthday present.”
Tao Mu took the keys and felt a headache: “Did you buy me a car again?”
“No.” Liu Yao shook his head frankly: “Last year, when it was your birthday, your Xiao Qi Dad and I bought you that car, and I didn’t see you driving it a few times. So I didn’t waste that money this year.”
Tao Mu just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Liu Yao continue: “…..I discussed it with your Xiao Qi Dad. I feel that a child as old as you had to fight for his own career, and neither of us could help. So we bought you a place. It’s just across from Beijing Film, the same community that you live in now. It’s a four-bedroom apartment, with a total of more than 180 square meters. It hasn’t been renovated yet.”
“Look when you have time, and renovate the place yourself. In the future, whether it is to marry a wife and have children, or keep it for other options. Having your own house is equivalent to having your own home, in other words it can be your support and backup plan. That way there is no need to worry about future consequences.”
After Liu Yao finished saying this, he slanted a sideways glance at Li Xiaoheng and then got up and went to change clothes.
Damn it all, he had only raised this only son for just a little over a year, which was not nearly enough, yet now his precious son was taken away by the big tailed wolf. Ahhh, it was too frustrating.
When Liu Yao first came to this realization, he was thinking of finding someone to beat up Li Xiaoheng. In the end, he was persuaded not to by Meng Qi. The main reason was that Tao Mu thought too much, and he was very concerned about the thoughts of the people around him. If they showed disapproval, it was likely that Tao Mu would eventually break up with the other in order to follow their wishes.
Meng Qi was not afraid that Tao Mu would break up with Li Xiaoheng. With Tao Mu’s conditions and personality, it was not difficult to find a caring lover. But Meng Qi didn’t want Tao Mu to feel grievance because of them. Falling in love and dating was a matter of two people after all. Their Tao Mu was still young, the two of them had just gotten together, and they had not reached the point of talking about marriage.
“Young people have their own lives. Besides, Mr. Li is only Xiao Mu’s first love. It’s uncertain whether it will last in the future, and we don’t need to rush to break apart the mandarin ducks.” Meng Qi was more open minded than Liu Yao in this kind of thing. He felt that with Li Xiaoheng’s conditions, even if it just went no further than dating, their Tao Mu would not suffer. And if the level of one’s first love was higher, then one’s vision would naturally be higher. Even if it didn’t work out later. After Tao Mu had this experience, he would definitely follow similar standards when looking for a partner in the future.
This was the same as a graduate’s first job that was likely to affect his or her career plan for a lifetime. Meng Qi felt that even if it was only for this, there was nothing wrong with the two dating.
Although Liu Yao had a stubborn temper and always had the final say outside, he was definitely a henpecked husband. If Meng Qi said so, then he must do so. However, after discussing it with each other, they felt that since Tao Mu was in a relationship, buying a house must be put on the agenda. Even if it’s just dating. Their Tao Mu must also be financially independent and have a successful career. After the two were together, it must be Li Xiaoheng who will be living at their son’s house, not Tao Mu living over at Li Xiaoheng’s place.
This primary and secondary status in the relationship must be clear. Their Tao Mu must be the head of the family. Even if there was a relationship, it was one made out of love. They must not allow those gossip tabloids to speculate and report indiscriminately. Liu Yao did not want to see some people maliciously speculating that Tao Mu was a golddigger coveting the wealth of so and so family and scheming to marry into a wealthy family after their relationship was made public.
The parents must plan the future of their beloved son. Of course, Tao Mu didn’t know that Liu Yao and Meng Qi had already thought about things that far in the future. But he was still keenly aware that his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad were worried that he would be in a weak position in this relationship.
In fact, with his current economic conditions, he could afford to buy a house on his own. But Tao Mu had always had a great sense of fear and rejection about living alone in an empty house. Therefore, more than half of his money was kept in Xiaoheng Capital for appreciation, and the other half was invested in FlyNews.com to maintain the website operation. He still lived in the dormitory and the small dwelling that Mr. Song prepared for him. Going back to Liu Yao’s house on weekends, or Song Ji’s courtyard. All for the sake of the lively atmosphere.
After establishing the relationship with Li Xiaoheng, Tao Mu really thought that if Li Xiaoheng asked, he would be willing to move in and live with Li Xiaoheng. But he didn’t expect that his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad had already thought of this in advance and also bought a place for him. All for the sake of avoiding any malicious gossip as much as possible.
There were always some people who were too lazy to talk sweetly to you normally, and even think you were troublesome after being together for awhile. But at every critical moment, they would think of the future for you and so their best to take care of things thoroughly. For fear that you would suffer slanderous gossip and suffer grievances that should not be endured due to negligence or inexperience.
This was family.
Tao Mu tightly held the door keys that Liu Yao threw to him. Grandpa Song silently glanced at the stinky boy he had raised since childhood, and then glanced at Li Xiaoheng, who was pretending to be a big tailed wolf, sticking to Tao Mu’s side. Feeling a congestion in his heart, he rubbed his chest.
“I have applied for a patent for Song Ji’s brand, as well as the “Song Family Recipe Book”.” Mr. Song said slowly with his hands behind his back, “The patent owners are us, grandfather and grandson. I am old now, and my energy is getting low. Those schools, chain stores, I can’t manage them anymore. I have to leave them to you in the future. Don’t always think about acting, and don’t always think about your website. Remember to take care of our Song Ji’s brand and business.”
“In the past six months, many people have come to me for cooperation. They just want to borrow the brand of Song Ji. Among them are the hotels under the Fengxing Group. I ignored them. But if you are interested, I will have them talk to you.”
Mr. Song’s meaning was also very simple and crude. Even if your Li family had a deep background and was richer than us. But really, when it comes to business cooperation, it was your Li family who came begging to Song Ji, and you, Li Xiaoheng, who is begging our Tao Mu. So don’t think you can bully our stinky boy based on your strong family background. The ancestors of the old Song family did not have the habit of accepting compromises.
In front of Li Xiaoheng, Mr. Song said these tough words. And then also calmly left with his hands behind his back.
From the bottom of his heart, Mr. Song didn’t like Tao Mu’s relationship with a man very much. He always felt that it was Liu Yao and Meng Qi who didn’t lead the right way, and badly influenced their stinky boy. But just as Meng Qi said, their stinky boy did not have the fate of having a close bond with his biological parents in this life, and he had only managed to find a family and a lover for himself after much difficulties. It was not like rather than live their lives harmoniously everyone preferred to have internal strife, that would only make others laugh at them.
Besides, it was very common for young people to like the new and dislike the old. Tao Mu was only nineteen years old this year, and even if he had been in a relationship for a few more years, he would still be in full bloom when they break up. There was nothing to worry about at all. Who knows, when Tao Mu had had enough fun, he might think about getting married and having children.
So Mr. Song secretly looked forward to this day. Anyway, there were many male stars in the entertainment industry who were not married in their thirties. Since marriage and children were not in the plan yet, there was no difference between dating a man or dating a woman.
Mr. Song didn’t believe it. That with Tao Mu’s habit of liking the new and getting bored with the old since he was a child, he could be in love with Li Xiaoheng for a lifetime!
In the hotel room, Tao Mu, who was moved by his family’s actions, obviously did not expect that his fathers and grandfather would have such progressive thinking. So he began discussing with Li Xiaoheng how to decorate their new place with excitement.
Although Li Xiaoheng could detect a little about the thoughts of the elders, he didn’t care too much. As time passed, the heart would reveal itself, so long as he made up his mind to live with Tao Mu for the rest of his life it didn’t matter what other people thought.
As for moving to Tao Mu’s apartment, would it be a loss of face to live with Tao Mu? Mr. Li expressed that he could not be happier——if it weren’t for his Uncle Yao and Uncle Xiao Qi working together to push this, he still wouldn’t have known how to talk to Tao Mu about living together.
For fear that speaking too early would make Tao Mu feel that he was too frivolous and hasty, and that he was not respectful enough. So Li Xiaoheng originally wanted to wait patiently. Just like when he pursued Tao Mu, he was fully prepared for a protracted battle. He was determined to let Tao Mu see his sincere intentions and the importance he attached to Tao Mu.
But he didn’t expect that a ring of keys gifted by Liu Yao and Meng Qi completely disrupted his plan.
As expected of the two fathers that Tao Mu valued most. Even a single move was extraordinary. Li Xiaoheng decided that from now on these two fathers would be his fathers as well. He would definitely unite the two fathers and one grandfather into his camp with the strongest attitude.
These were all good people!
In the bedroom, Liu Yao, who was changing clothes, obviously didn’t know that he had been issued a good person card by his future son-in-law. Still smug about his decision, he whispered to Meng Qi, “Even if surnamed Li is unhappy, we must persevere. We must not allow Xiao Mu to be too accommodating to him. The foundation must be laid before marriage. Our Xiao Mu must be the head of the family. From now on we must also take some time and have surnamed Li learn cooking skills from Grandpa Song. In the future, they will live together, and we can’t always have Xiao Mu do the cooking.”
Mr. Song had his hands folded behind his back and nodded heavily. In a rare moment he actually stood on the same point of view as his stupid son.
It was Meng Qi, who vaguely sensed that something was wrong. But he didn’t know what was wrong. Sitting there pondering for a long time that in the end Liu Yao ended up changing his clothes for him.
The family of five walked out of the hotel neatly to have dinner to celebrate their (son’s/grandson’s/lover’s) birthday. During the banquet, Li Xiaoheng showed eager attentiveness, and thanked the three elders with the greatest sincerity for their huge contribution to the sudden warming of their relationship.
When Liu Yao, Meng Qi and Mr. Song saw this, they felt that Li Xiaoheng really cared about Tao Mu. That was why he treated them with care and respect.
It seemed this fellow actually had a bit of awareness of a son-in-law first coming to the door.
The three elders didn’t say anything, but they were all quite satisfied inside. If Li Xiaoheng had put on the stinky air of a capital boss and a domineering CEO at the table, even if Tao Mu really liked this person, they must also consider whether Li Xiaoheng was worth interacting with.
Now it seemed that the situation was still worthy of more observation.
Tao Mu was holding a pile of birthday gifts. As soon as he got into the car, he let out a big yawn.
Li Xiaoheng put a blanket over Tao Mu, took the gifts from Tao Mu’s hand and placed it aside, asking with a smile, “Is filming exhausting?”
“I’m just a little tired today.” Tao Mu slumped on the back of the seat in a manner particularly uncaring of his image, yawning heavily: “It’s probably because pitting acting skills against others is too exhausting.”
Li Xiaoheng had long since inquired about Tao Mu’s schedule. Naturally, he knew that Tao Mu had scenes with Yan Sheng today. Hearing this he smiled and said, “It seems that you had a great time filming today.”
“It was really not bad.” Tao Mu admitted frankly. He couldn’t help but yawn again while speaking.
Li Xiaoheng tucked the edge of the blanket around Tao Mu, and said warmly, “Take a nap for a while. I’ll wake you up when we get to the hotel.”
Tao Mu hummed, laid down resting on Li Xiaoheng’s thigh, raised his head and asked, “Do you mind?”
Li Xiaoheng lowered his head, looked at Tao Mu who was lying on his lap obediently preparing to take a nap, and smiled: “I can’t ask for it more.”
Probably because Li Xiaoheng’s gaze was too hot. Tao Mu subconsciously curved up the corner of his mouth as he turned to his side and pulled the blanket all the way to the top of his head. It was gently dragged down by Li Xiaoheng again: “If you cover it so tightly, won’t you lack oxygen?” And the air in the quilt was also not good.
“You can sleep at ease, I won’t look at you anymore.” Li Xiaoheng said, picking up a document from the side.
Tao Mu closed his eyes and said, “Don’t read documents in the car. The light is too dark and hurts your eyes.”
Li Xiaoheng chuckled lightly, and put the documents back: “I listen to you.”
He put his hand on Tao Mu’s shoulder and kneaded slowly from top to bottom. Although Tao Mu only filmed a little over two hours worth of scenes in the evening, he had waited for a day in the crew, and his whole body was very sore.
Li Xiaoheng’s skillful massage made Tao Mu feel very comfortable. He closed his eyes and adjusted his posture, letting Li Xiaoheng press his shoulders and then his waist, falling asleep in just a short while.
When Assistant Jiang, who was driving in front, saw this, he quietly rolled up the partition glass. The inside of the car suddenly became quieter.
After an unknown amount of time, Tao Mu was gently shaken awake. Li Xiaoheng’s voice came from above his head: “We’re here. Wake up.”
Tao Mu opened his eyes in a daze, and shoved the blanket directly into Li Xiaoheng’s arms. He had slept quite deeply all the way, and there was even a red sleep mark on his cheek. His hair was also messy. Tao Mu flipped out a peaked cap and put it on his head and then added a black face mask.
Seeing this, Li Xiaoheng laughed and joked, “Would you like sunglasses as well?”
Who wears sunglasses at night. Tao Mu looked at Li Xiaoheng in exasperation, thinking that their CEO Li was getting more and more of a venomous tongue.
Li Xiaoheng chuckled lightly, thinking that their CEO Tao’s eye roll was really handsome.
As soon as the two got out of the car, they heard the sound of a “click” from the door of the hotel. The well-informed Hong Kong paparazzi have been waiting here for a long time. The bolder paparazzi came up with a camera and a microphone, wanting to interview Li Xiaoheng and Tao Mu.
As the founder of Xiaoheng Capital and the eldest son of the Li family, Li Xiaoheng had always kept a low profile in front of the media and refused to accept interviews easily.
Tao Mu himself founded FlyNews.com, and if there was any really exciting news, he would not wait for the water to flow into the fields of outsiders. So neither of them were willing to be interviewed. The gossip paparazzi did not dare to stop them, so they could only watch the two enter the hotel together.
“The relationship between Mr. Li and Mr. Tao is getting better and better. I heard that for Mr. Tao’s birthday this time, Mr. Li personally flew to Beijing to pick up Mr. Tao’s family. I wonder if they will go out on a family trip.”
If they were going to, they could follow the whole process. Although Tao Mu was a newcomer in the entertainment industry, as the founder of FlyNews.com and was also now filming in the “Black and White” crew, he was getting quite the limelight treatment in the Hong Kong entertainment circle. These gossip tabloids were all waiting to capture some news of Tao Mu’s to earn sales.
Unfortunately, Tao Mu was usually a low-profile person. Apart from being in the film set he would only return to the hotel, there was simply no big news worthy of breaking.
The man who often caused a storm in the entertainment industry didn’t know that the gossip paparazzi downstairs would have such an opinion on him. Standing at the door of the hotel room, he was a little nervous for a while.
“What’s the matter?” Li Xiaoheng followed Tao Mu, watching Tao Mu standing at the door with a hesitant look on his face. He asked with a smile, “Are you worried that Uncle Yao, Uncle Xiao Qi and Mr. Song won’t agree with us being together? It doesn’t matter, we don’t have to tell them now. We can explain to them slowly.”
Tao Mu gave CEO Li a helpless look. It was not a matter of them telling or not. The key was that his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad——especially his Xiao Qi Dad, who was so shrewd, would definitely find out with just a glance.
“Then it doesn’t matter if they find out.” Li Xiaoheng said with a smile: “Your family loves you so much, as long as I treat you well for the rest of our lives, they will definitely agree.”
“You are being blindly optimistic.” Tao Mu sighed. But he liked Li Xiaoheng’s blind optimism. With his experience and temperament, if Li Xiaoheng was the kind of person who constantly weighed the pros and cons and was indecisive, then it was likely that the two of them really couldn’t have gotten together.
“It’s not blind optimism, it’s confidence.” Li Xiaoheng secretly squeezed Tao Mu’s palm.
The phone rang suddenly. Tao Mu took out his mobile phone from his bag, and just as he was about to connect it, the door to the hotel room opened with a bang.
Meng Qi stood in the doorway holding his mobile phone, and said with a smile, “I was about to call you and ask where you were. Now it seems I saved a few cents of phone fare.”
Tao Mu stood at the door and called out cautiously, “Xiao Qi Dad.”
“Happy birthday.” Meng Qi stepped forward to hug Tao Mu and patted him on the back. He smiled and said, “Your Yao Dad and your grandpa Song are waiting for you inside. Come in quickly.”
Meng Qi said, and nodded to Li Xiaoheng. He explained to Tao Mu: “We originally planned to go to the crew with Mr. Li to visit the crew and celebrate your birthday. Only, your grandpa Song got a bit airsick from the plane ride earlier. When we arrived, he also forced himself to make birthday peaches for you, and he really became uncomfortable after that. He has been lying on the bed this whole time. I discussed it with your Yao Dad, and the three of us decided we would just wait for you at the hotel.”
Tao Mu obediently followed Meng Qi into the room. Liu Yao was sitting on the sofa watching TV boredly. Mr. Song was still lying down in the bedroom. Hearing the movement, he slowly got up and walked to the bedroom door: “You’re back?”
“Ai.” Tao Mu responded and called out dryly, “Grandpa, Yao Dad.”
“You haven’t had dinner yet. It just so happens that I’m also finished resting. Let’s find a place to eat.” Mr. Song said, “This is my first time coming to Hong Kong. And I just happen to want to try the dishes here.”
“Don’t worry, Mr. Song, I have already made arrangements here.” Li Xiaoheng said with a smile: “Just waiting for you to recover, we can go over at any time.”
After a pause, Li Xiaoheng spoke again: “Actually, the morning tea and midnight snack here in Hong Kong are both very good. Xiao Mu especially likes to eat morning tea, as well as fried pigeon and cart noodles.”
Liu Yao narrowed his eyes and subtly looked at Li Xiaoheng from head to toe. The more he looked, the more the other appeared like a big-tailed wolf with ulterior motives.
Meng Qi secretly poked Liu Yao’s lower back: “That’s fine. We just happen to be hungry as well. Let’s go. Is the place far?”
“It’s not far, it’s nearby.” Li Xiaoheng explained with a smile: “Considering that the three of you are exhausted from travel, and Xiao Mu is also very tired after filming for a day, I chose a restaurant with a long established reputation next to the hotel. After eating, if you want to stroll around Hong Kong, we can also continue to stroll the streets. And if you feel tired, we can also quickly come back to rest.”
In any case, Li Xiaoheng had already arranged everything.
Liu Yao glanced at Meng Qi. He then threw a ring of keys on the coffee table to Tao Mu: “Your birthday present.”
Tao Mu took the keys and felt a headache: “Did you buy me a car again?”
“No.” Liu Yao shook his head frankly: “Last year, when it was your birthday, your Xiao Qi Dad and I bought you that car, and I didn’t see you driving it a few times. So I didn’t waste that money this year.”
Tao Mu just breathed a sigh of relief when he heard Liu Yao continue: “…..I discussed it with your Xiao Qi Dad. I feel that a child as old as you had to fight for his own career, and neither of us could help. So we bought you a place. It’s just across from Beijing Film, the same community that you live in now. It’s a four-bedroom apartment, with a total of more than 180 square meters. It hasn’t been renovated yet.”
“Look when you have time, and renovate the place yourself. In the future, whether it is to marry a wife and have children, or keep it for other options. Having your own house is equivalent to having your own home, in other words it can be your support and backup plan. That way there is no need to worry about future consequences.”
After Liu Yao finished saying this, he slanted a sideways glance at Li Xiaoheng and then got up and went to change clothes.
Damn it all, he had only raised this only son for just a little over a year, which was not nearly enough, yet now his precious son was taken away by the big tailed wolf. Ahhh, it was too frustrating.
When Liu Yao first came to this realization, he was thinking of finding someone to beat up Li Xiaoheng. In the end, he was persuaded not to by Meng Qi. The main reason was that Tao Mu thought too much, and he was very concerned about the thoughts of the people around him. If they showed disapproval, it was likely that Tao Mu would eventually break up with the other in order to follow their wishes.
Meng Qi was not afraid that Tao Mu would break up with Li Xiaoheng. With Tao Mu’s conditions and personality, it was not difficult to find a caring lover. But Meng Qi didn’t want Tao Mu to feel grievance because of them. Falling in love and dating was a matter of two people after all. Their Tao Mu was still young, the two of them had just gotten together, and they had not reached the point of talking about marriage.
“Young people have their own lives. Besides, Mr. Li is only Xiao Mu’s first love. It’s uncertain whether it will last in the future, and we don’t need to rush to break apart the mandarin ducks.” Meng Qi was more open minded than Liu Yao in this kind of thing. He felt that with Li Xiaoheng’s conditions, even if it just went no further than dating, their Tao Mu would not suffer. And if the level of one’s first love was higher, then one’s vision would naturally be higher. Even if it didn’t work out later. After Tao Mu had this experience, he would definitely follow similar standards when looking for a partner in the future.
This was the same as a graduate’s first job that was likely to affect his or her career plan for a lifetime. Meng Qi felt that even if it was only for this, there was nothing wrong with the two dating.
Although Liu Yao had a stubborn temper and always had the final say outside, he was definitely a henpecked husband. If Meng Qi said so, then he must do so. However, after discussing it with each other, they felt that since Tao Mu was in a relationship, buying a house must be put on the agenda. Even if it’s just dating. Their Tao Mu must also be financially independent and have a successful career. After the two were together, it must be Li Xiaoheng who will be living at their son’s house, not Tao Mu living over at Li Xiaoheng’s place.
This primary and secondary status in the relationship must be clear. Their Tao Mu must be the head of the family. Even if there was a relationship, it was one made out of love. They must not allow those gossip tabloids to speculate and report indiscriminately. Liu Yao did not want to see some people maliciously speculating that Tao Mu was a golddigger coveting the wealth of so and so family and scheming to marry into a wealthy family after their relationship was made public.
The parents must plan the future of their beloved son. Of course, Tao Mu didn’t know that Liu Yao and Meng Qi had already thought about things that far in the future. But he was still keenly aware that his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad were worried that he would be in a weak position in this relationship.
In fact, with his current economic conditions, he could afford to buy a house on his own. But Tao Mu had always had a great sense of fear and rejection about living alone in an empty house. Therefore, more than half of his money was kept in Xiaoheng Capital for appreciation, and the other half was invested in FlyNews.com to maintain the website operation. He still lived in the dormitory and the small dwelling that Mr. Song prepared for him. Going back to Liu Yao’s house on weekends, or Song Ji’s courtyard. All for the sake of the lively atmosphere.
After establishing the relationship with Li Xiaoheng, Tao Mu really thought that if Li Xiaoheng asked, he would be willing to move in and live with Li Xiaoheng. But he didn’t expect that his Yao Dad and Xiao Qi Dad had already thought of this in advance and also bought a place for him. All for the sake of avoiding any malicious gossip as much as possible.
There were always some people who were too lazy to talk sweetly to you normally, and even think you were troublesome after being together for awhile. But at every critical moment, they would think of the future for you and so their best to take care of things thoroughly. For fear that you would suffer slanderous gossip and suffer grievances that should not be endured due to negligence or inexperience.
This was family.
Tao Mu tightly held the door keys that Liu Yao threw to him. Grandpa Song silently glanced at the stinky boy he had raised since childhood, and then glanced at Li Xiaoheng, who was pretending to be a big tailed wolf, sticking to Tao Mu’s side. Feeling a congestion in his heart, he rubbed his chest.
“I have applied for a patent for Song Ji’s brand, as well as the “Song Family Recipe Book”.” Mr. Song said slowly with his hands behind his back, “The patent owners are us, grandfather and grandson. I am old now, and my energy is getting low. Those schools, chain stores, I can’t manage them anymore. I have to leave them to you in the future. Don’t always think about acting, and don’t always think about your website. Remember to take care of our Song Ji’s brand and business.”
“In the past six months, many people have come to me for cooperation. They just want to borrow the brand of Song Ji. Among them are the hotels under the Fengxing Group. I ignored them. But if you are interested, I will have them talk to you.”
Mr. Song’s meaning was also very simple and crude. Even if your Li family had a deep background and was richer than us. But really, when it comes to business cooperation, it was your Li family who came begging to Song Ji, and you, Li Xiaoheng, who is begging our Tao Mu. So don’t think you can bully our stinky boy based on your strong family background. The ancestors of the old Song family did not have the habit of accepting compromises.
In front of Li Xiaoheng, Mr. Song said these tough words. And then also calmly left with his hands behind his back.
From the bottom of his heart, Mr. Song didn’t like Tao Mu’s relationship with a man very much. He always felt that it was Liu Yao and Meng Qi who didn’t lead the right way, and badly influenced their stinky boy. But just as Meng Qi said, their stinky boy did not have the fate of having a close bond with his biological parents in this life, and he had only managed to find a family and a lover for himself after much difficulties. It was not like rather than live their lives harmoniously everyone preferred to have internal strife, that would only make others laugh at them.
Besides, it was very common for young people to like the new and dislike the old. Tao Mu was only nineteen years old this year, and even if he had been in a relationship for a few more years, he would still be in full bloom when they break up. There was nothing to worry about at all. Who knows, when Tao Mu had had enough fun, he might think about getting married and having children.
So Mr. Song secretly looked forward to this day. Anyway, there were many male stars in the entertainment industry who were not married in their thirties. Since marriage and children were not in the plan yet, there was no difference between dating a man or dating a woman.
Mr. Song didn’t believe it. That with Tao Mu’s habit of liking the new and getting bored with the old since he was a child, he could be in love with Li Xiaoheng for a lifetime!
In the hotel room, Tao Mu, who was moved by his family’s actions, obviously did not expect that his fathers and grandfather would have such progressive thinking. So he began discussing with Li Xiaoheng how to decorate their new place with excitement.
Although Li Xiaoheng could detect a little about the thoughts of the elders, he didn’t care too much. As time passed, the heart would reveal itself, so long as he made up his mind to live with Tao Mu for the rest of his life it didn’t matter what other people thought.
As for moving to Tao Mu’s apartment, would it be a loss of face to live with Tao Mu? Mr. Li expressed that he could not be happier——if it weren’t for his Uncle Yao and Uncle Xiao Qi working together to push this, he still wouldn’t have known how to talk to Tao Mu about living together.
For fear that speaking too early would make Tao Mu feel that he was too frivolous and hasty, and that he was not respectful enough. So Li Xiaoheng originally wanted to wait patiently. Just like when he pursued Tao Mu, he was fully prepared for a protracted battle. He was determined to let Tao Mu see his sincere intentions and the importance he attached to Tao Mu.
But he didn’t expect that a ring of keys gifted by Liu Yao and Meng Qi completely disrupted his plan.
As expected of the two fathers that Tao Mu valued most. Even a single move was extraordinary. Li Xiaoheng decided that from now on these two fathers would be his fathers as well. He would definitely unite the two fathers and one grandfather into his camp with the strongest attitude.
These were all good people!
In the bedroom, Liu Yao, who was changing clothes, obviously didn’t know that he had been issued a good person card by his future son-in-law. Still smug about his decision, he whispered to Meng Qi, “Even if surnamed Li is unhappy, we must persevere. We must not allow Xiao Mu to be too accommodating to him. The foundation must be laid before marriage. Our Xiao Mu must be the head of the family. From now on we must also take some time and have surnamed Li learn cooking skills from Grandpa Song. In the future, they will live together, and we can’t always have Xiao Mu do the cooking.”
Mr. Song had his hands folded behind his back and nodded heavily. In a rare moment he actually stood on the same point of view as his stupid son.
It was Meng Qi, who vaguely sensed that something was wrong. But he didn’t know what was wrong. Sitting there pondering for a long time that in the end Liu Yao ended up changing his clothes for him.
The family of five walked out of the hotel neatly to have dinner to celebrate their (son’s/grandson’s/lover’s) birthday. During the banquet, Li Xiaoheng showed eager attentiveness, and thanked the three elders with the greatest sincerity for their huge contribution to the sudden warming of their relationship.
When Liu Yao, Meng Qi and Mr. Song saw this, they felt that Li Xiaoheng really cared about Tao Mu. That was why he treated them with care and respect.
It seemed this fellow actually had a bit of awareness of a son-in-law first coming to the door.
The three elders didn’t say anything, but they were all quite satisfied inside. If Li Xiaoheng had put on the stinky air of a capital boss and a domineering CEO at the table, even if Tao Mu really liked this person, they must also consider whether Li Xiaoheng was worth interacting with.
Now it seemed that the situation was still worthy of more observation.
