Just as《Soaring Birds》was blowing up on the internet, there were suddenly pictures of Chairman Liang’s lover, who he kept outside[1] and hidden from his wife and son, exposed online. Of course, what really made the public angry was that the person who exposed the pictures also exposed Liang Shi’s high-end neighbourhood. That neighbourhood had just passed the quality inspection when this incident, which caused a great safety concern, occurred.
[1] outside here means that the lover is not married to the guy who already married, or mistress.
Just as they were suspecting the informer to be Liang company’s rival, this person also released Liang company’s real-estate’s tax evasion, revenue defraudation, and false accounts soon after. After a series of evidence was listed by the whistleblower, his tone was found to resemble an insider of the Liang family. The reason why he put out all these evidence was because he didn’t like young master Liang’s arrogant attitude.
Most people didn’t care about which company evaded taxes, defrauded their revenue, and made false accounts. However, who made Chairman Liang a well-known private entrepreneur in recent years, with journalists often praising him in newspapers as a good man who cares for his wife and family? There were also TV stations showcasing his and his wife’s, Zhang Fang’s, support of each other over the years as they built their fortune, leading many people to believe that Chairman Liang was a good man who never forgot his wife.
Liang Guoming, Chairman of Liang’s company, kept a mistress, and there was evidence his mistress gave birth to his daughter. His original image of a good man collapsed in an instant.
If evidence of a man’s cheating was posted on the internet, most people would, at most, mock that his “circle was really chaotic”, and then the matter would be over with. However, if the role model of a good man was seen in dozens of photos with different mistresses and even had a daughter with one of the said mistresses, the people’s trust in him would shatter. How much they once admired and respected him before was how much they hated him now.
At this point, it became a huge farce in the business circle. Later, some people came out to expose the female stars involved with Liang Guoming. Some even claimed that he once took care of a male artist. In the end, everything turned into a double farce between the entertainment and business circle.
In this world, there would never be a lack of people who will throw stones at someone who fell down a well [2]. Lu Chengyu only sent some obscure things about Liang Guoming on the internet, but more were anonymously sent by Liang Guoming’s former opponents. These opponents spontaneously found people to expose Liang Guoming’s various scandals.
[2] 落井下石 [luò jǐng xià shí]: to throw stones at sb who fell down a well (idiom); to hit a person who is down
Liang Guoming’s transition from an ordinary person to a well-known private entrepreneur showed that he had the means, and the people he had offended were not a few, so many people were waiting for his bad luck.
Because it was so popular on the Internet, many print media also started to report the situation. Thus, those who did not use the internet frequently also knew that Liang Guoming was an unjust rich businessman, as well as a real-life Chen Shimei [3].
[3] Chen Shimei: a Chinese opera character and a byword in China for a heartless and unfaithful man.
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Shimei
After these incidents, not only did Liang Guoming’s reputation stink, but many of Liang’s product sales were also affected.
What’s worse was that the tax bureau began checking Liang’s accounts. Some people who had a friendship with Liang Guoming did not dare participate in this matter. As for the quality of the high-grade residential area built by Liang, the housing quality inspection department intervened and had it re-examined. The final result was not unexpected to all; there were problems with the housings’ quality.
The end results showed that there were moths involved in the quality problems of the houses, and they were brought out to report criticism. Since then, some people started to ridicule Liang Guoming as a professional salesman of pit goods and scum men.
As the incident became more and more serious, Liang Guoming’s wife, Zhang Fang, stepped forward to forgive her husband’s derailment and accused netizens of meddling. Only she knew how good her husband was. She did not believe any other accusations.
Liang Guoming also apologized to his wife in front of the public media. He also said that Liang’s heir will always be Young Master Liang Deyou alone. He quickly mended and filled the previous tax loopholes, then made appropriate compensation to the housing quality.
Originally, Liang Guoming, as the legal representative of the company, should’ve been sentenced for the tax refund, tax evasion, and housing quality. However, due to his good attitude of admitting to his mistakes, his making up for the taxes omitted in the past, and his revelation of a medical certificate that showed he was over sixty years of age and had diabetes, he was released on bail after less than a day in detention.
Liang Deyou, Liang’s successor, cried in front of the media, saying that his father was old and in poor health. He told them how much suffering his father went through during his youth and how difficult life had been for him. Finally, he asked the media and netizens to let his father go.
The netizens who felt sympathy for Zhang Fang and Liang Deyou in the beginning, after seeing this reversal drama, didn’t have the slightest bit of sympathy anymore. Still, others said that Liang Guoming and his family were people favoured by the heavens.
‘The so-called life is like a play. It all depends on acting skills.’ The Liang family expressed these two sentences incisively and vividly.
At the end of the story, although Liang Shi was saved, the whole of Liang Shi’s vitality was badly damaged, and their product market shrunk significantly. In order to gain capital turnover, Liang Guoming even sold several branches under his wings. Only then did he barely sustain the company.
Since then, Liang Guoming, a private entrepreneur, fell from the altar. Netizens gave their family new names: Liang Guoming was ‘Film Emperor Liang’, Liang Deyou was ‘Crown Prince Liang’, and Liang Guoming’s wife was ‘Film Emperess Zhang’.
The short National Day was as busy as New Year’s Day. Contrary to what others might expect, Lu Chengyu, as the first person to bury funerary dolls [4], had the leisure to go to the farmhouse and, in the name of being close to nature, have fun with Zhuang Yu.
[4] 始作俑者 [shǐzuòyǒngzhě]: lit. the first person to bury funerary dolls (idiom) / fig. the originator of an evil practice; the initiator of evil; creator of a bad precedent;
Leisurely roasting his own fish on the grill, Lu Chengyu handed cumin to Zhuang Yu, who was sitting next to him. “Zhuang-ge, the taste of barbeque without cumin is not delicious, ah.”
“Put it on now?” Zhuang Yu looked doubtfully at the fish in his hand, which was cut in a mess. “I recall that you only sprinkle some cumin on it when the fish is almost baked.”
“If not, sprinkle it on now and sprinkle again when the fish is almost baked?” Lu Chengyu was not particularly sure when to turn the fish. When he did, one side of the fish was somewhat charred. “I always felt like there was something wrong.”
Zhuang Yu nodded. Before, when he came to the farmhouse to have fun, he wouldn’t solely be preoccupied with eating. Originally, he saw Lu Chengyu’s seemingly very professional technique and thought that Lu Chengyu was a master in this, but facts proved that the other party only had the bearings of a professional.
Zhang Zeyun, who sat beside Zhuang Yu, had given up on the dark-baked chicken wings in his hands. Looking at how Zhuang Yu and Lu Chengyu was still struggling with the fish, he couldn’t help but say, “I say, why on earth do you feel the need to do this to yourself? My whole body now stinks of unpleasant smoke.”
Zhuang Yu and Lu Chengyu looked up at Zhang Zeyun, then looked at each other. Just now, while they were on the road, they casually said they wanted to grill something with their own hands. The thought that the two of them would suck at it never crossed their minds.
After Zhang Zeyun bared the truth to them, both instantly stopped continuing with their original idea. Zhuang Yu threw his fish into the trash can, “Forget it, let’s go fishing.”
Then Zhang Zeyun and several other friends saw Zhuang Yu and Lu Chengyu, whom they had just met, walking towards the pond. They looked at each other.
“I say, Lao Zhuang seems to fit in well with this one named Lu Chengyu,” a friend couldn’t help but start to talk, “This is really rare. Lao Zhuang has a good eye in choosing friends. Unexpectedly, he made friends with a young man from outside our circle [5].”
[5] circle here means Lu Chengyu isn’t from their rich second generation’s circle.
Even in the same circle, there were ordinary friends and close friends. Zhang Zeyun, Zhuang Yu and Yan Mu had been iron brothers for many years. Although they had good relationships with these three people, their friendship was incomparable with these three people’s friendship.
“Xiao Lu is a good person.” Zhang Zeyun did not tell these friends that Lu Chengyu was the investor of an outstandingly famous film recently, knowing that this film made Zhuang Yu a lot of money. Both of their characters fit together, so it was no surprise that they were able to get along with one another. He laughed and said, “As long as the person is clean and innocent, who cares about which circle he’s from.”
From Zhang Zeyun’s words, several others could hear his meaning: he wanted to protect Lu Chengyu. Immediately, they realized that Lu Chengyu wasn’t Zhuang Yu’s little sweetheart but his real friend.
Several people immediately stopped talking about this matter and simply went fishing with Lu Chengyu. Their attitudes towards him no longer held superficial politeness, becoming more natural.
When Zhuang Yu almost caught a fish, he was interrupted by his bodyguard, who walk from behind to deliver his handphone. Looking sadly at the fish that had fallen off the hook, he took the handphone and said, “Mu-ge.”
“You’re coming?” Zhuang Yu looked at Lu Chengyu, who was ten meters away from him, “Okay, I’ll wait for you to have lunch. You’re in luck, Xiao Lu and I were able to catch some big fish.”
Zhuang Yu then hung up the handphone and handed it to his bodyguard, his face complicated. Mu-ge doesn’t like parties with too many people. Today, he volunteered to come here…
The fish in the pond were raised by the owner of the farmhouse. It’s easy to catch a lot of fish. In just an hour, Lu Chengyu caught several big fish.
He looked at his watch–it was almost eleven o’clock. Then, Lu Chengyu took his fishing rod, handed it over to the farm staff, and let them cook the fish. He turned and saw that Zhuang Yu was still fishing, so he didn’t disturb him. Instead, he headed to the gazebo by the side of the pond to drink tea.
If he didn’t have the experience of being a luxury hotel lobby manager in his past life and didn’t know the manners he must exude so that he doesn’t come off as repugnant to these high-ranking young masters, he might not have been able to get along with these rich second-generations.
The skill of communication was not something that could be achieved by only reading the theories, but by time and experience.
Although he was very unlucky in his past life, it taught him quite a lot on how to conduct himself while handling affairs. Fortunately, he was able to start his life again. Was there any reason to not let himself live better?
“Lu Chengyu?”
When he heard someone calling him, he looked back and saw Yan Mu standing on the steps outside the gazebo with a bag of fresh-looking grapes in his hand.
Yan Mu’s appearance wasn’t like his usual image of a somewhat young-looking president. On the contrary, he now looked like an elegant yet down-to-earth men’s wear model from an autumn fashion show.
“Boss, did Zhuang-ge also called you here to have fun? Why did you only come now? We’re almost done catching fish,” Lu Chengyu smiled and ask Yan Mu to come in and sit down, “These grapes are so fresh. Were they just picked?”
“Hmm, there was something going on in the morning, so I was late,” Yan Mu replied. Looking away uncomfortably, he put the grapes on the rock table in the gazebo, “Eat it if you like.”
“Thanks,” Lu Chengyu tasted one. It was sweet and juicy, with a little hint of milk flavor. “It’s delicious. Taste it, boss.”
Yan Mu silently reached out and peeled off one grape’s skin. Then he put it in his mouth, chewed it at will, and swallowed it.
Lu Chengyu spat out the seeds on a piece of paper. He raised his head to see if Yan Mu performed the same action as him. Suddenly, he realized something. Is boss the type of person who’ll eat the grape seeds?
Zhuang Yu, who was carrying a fish barrel outside the pavilion, looked at the purple and black grapes on the stone table and was stunned for half of the day before he muttered a curse.
“Fuck, don’t tell Laozi, Laozi’s guess is true?”
He silently wiped his face. Could someone’s mother come and tell him that the man who just ate grapes is not Mu-ge?
Didn’t Mu-ge hate fruits with high sugar content?
Whoever said that grapes were high sugar content fruits must be a liar.
Anyway… President Mu wouldn’t be like a brother who fell in love for the first time and panic in front of his secret crush, right?
Same gender, how can it be love?
It must be that his guess was not in the right direction.
Just as《Soaring Birds》was blowing up on the internet, there were suddenly pictures of Chairman Liang’s lover, who he kept outside[1] and hidden from his wife and son, exposed online. Of course, what really made the public angry was that the person who exposed the pictures also exposed Liang Shi’s high-end neighbourhood. That neighbourhood had just passed the quality inspection when this incident, which caused a great safety concern, occurred.
[1] outside here means that the lover is not married to the guy who already married, or mistress.
Just as they were suspecting the informer to be Liang company’s rival, this person also released Liang company’s real-estate’s tax evasion, revenue defraudation, and false accounts soon after. After a series of evidence was listed by the whistleblower, his tone was found to resemble an insider of the Liang family. The reason why he put out all these evidence was because he didn’t like young master Liang’s arrogant attitude.
Most people didn’t care about which company evaded taxes, defrauded their revenue, and made false accounts. However, who made Chairman Liang a well-known private entrepreneur in recent years, with journalists often praising him in newspapers as a good man who cares for his wife and family? There were also TV stations showcasing his and his wife’s, Zhang Fang’s, support of each other over the years as they built their fortune, leading many people to believe that Chairman Liang was a good man who never forgot his wife.
Liang Guoming, Chairman of Liang’s company, kept a mistress, and there was evidence his mistress gave birth to his daughter. His original image of a good man collapsed in an instant.
If evidence of a man’s cheating was posted on the internet, most people would, at most, mock that his “circle was really chaotic”, and then the matter would be over with. However, if the role model of a good man was seen in dozens of photos with different mistresses and even had a daughter with one of the said mistresses, the people’s trust in him would shatter. How much they once admired and respected him before was how much they hated him now.
At this point, it became a huge farce in the business circle. Later, some people came out to expose the female stars involved with Liang Guoming. Some even claimed that he once took care of a male artist. In the end, everything turned into a double farce between the entertainment and business circle.
In this world, there would never be a lack of people who will throw stones at someone who fell down a well [2]. Lu Chengyu only sent some obscure things about Liang Guoming on the internet, but more were anonymously sent by Liang Guoming’s former opponents. These opponents spontaneously found people to expose Liang Guoming’s various scandals.
[2] 落井下石 [luò jǐng xià shí]: to throw stones at sb who fell down a well (idiom); to hit a person who is down
Liang Guoming’s transition from an ordinary person to a well-known private entrepreneur showed that he had the means, and the people he had offended were not a few, so many people were waiting for his bad luck.
Because it was so popular on the Internet, many print media also started to report the situation. Thus, those who did not use the internet frequently also knew that Liang Guoming was an unjust rich businessman, as well as a real-life Chen Shimei [3].
[3] Chen Shimei: a Chinese opera character and a byword in China for a heartless and unfaithful man.
Ref: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chen_Shimei
After these incidents, not only did Liang Guoming’s reputation stink, but many of Liang’s product sales were also affected.
What’s worse was that the tax bureau began checking Liang’s accounts. Some people who had a friendship with Liang Guoming did not dare participate in this matter. As for the quality of the high-grade residential area built by Liang, the housing quality inspection department intervened and had it re-examined. The final result was not unexpected to all; there were problems with the housings’ quality.
The end results showed that there were moths involved in the quality problems of the houses, and they were brought out to report criticism. Since then, some people started to ridicule Liang Guoming as a professional salesman of pit goods and scum men.
As the incident became more and more serious, Liang Guoming’s wife, Zhang Fang, stepped forward to forgive her husband’s derailment and accused netizens of meddling. Only she knew how good her husband was. She did not believe any other accusations.
Liang Guoming also apologized to his wife in front of the public media. He also said that Liang’s heir will always be Young Master Liang Deyou alone. He quickly mended and filled the previous tax loopholes, then made appropriate compensation to the housing quality.
Originally, Liang Guoming, as the legal representative of the company, should’ve been sentenced for the tax refund, tax evasion, and housing quality. However, due to his good attitude of admitting to his mistakes, his making up for the taxes omitted in the past, and his revelation of a medical certificate that showed he was over sixty years of age and had diabetes, he was released on bail after less than a day in detention.
Liang Deyou, Liang’s successor, cried in front of the media, saying that his father was old and in poor health. He told them how much suffering his father went through during his youth and how difficult life had been for him. Finally, he asked the media and netizens to let his father go.
The netizens who felt sympathy for Zhang Fang and Liang Deyou in the beginning, after seeing this reversal drama, didn’t have the slightest bit of sympathy anymore. Still, others said that Liang Guoming and his family were people favoured by the heavens.
‘The so-called life is like a play. It all depends on acting skills.’ The Liang family expressed these two sentences incisively and vividly.
At the end of the story, although Liang Shi was saved, the whole of Liang Shi’s vitality was badly damaged, and their product market shrunk significantly. In order to gain capital turnover, Liang Guoming even sold several branches under his wings. Only then did he barely sustain the company.
Since then, Liang Guoming, a private entrepreneur, fell from the altar. Netizens gave their family new names: Liang Guoming was ‘Film Emperor Liang’, Liang Deyou was ‘Crown Prince Liang’, and Liang Guoming’s wife was ‘Film Emperess Zhang’.
The short National Day was as busy as New Year’s Day. Contrary to what others might expect, Lu Chengyu, as the first person to bury funerary dolls [4], had the leisure to go to the farmhouse and, in the name of being close to nature, have fun with Zhuang Yu.
[4] 始作俑者 [shǐzuòyǒngzhě]: lit. the first person to bury funerary dolls (idiom) / fig. the originator of an evil practice; the initiator of evil; creator of a bad precedent;
Leisurely roasting his own fish on the grill, Lu Chengyu handed cumin to Zhuang Yu, who was sitting next to him. “Zhuang-ge, the taste of barbeque without cumin is not delicious, ah.”
“Put it on now?” Zhuang Yu looked doubtfully at the fish in his hand, which was cut in a mess. “I recall that you only sprinkle some cumin on it when the fish is almost baked.”
“If not, sprinkle it on now and sprinkle again when the fish is almost baked?” Lu Chengyu was not particularly sure when to turn the fish. When he did, one side of the fish was somewhat charred. “I always felt like there was something wrong.”
Zhuang Yu nodded. Before, when he came to the farmhouse to have fun, he wouldn’t solely be preoccupied with eating. Originally, he saw Lu Chengyu’s seemingly very professional technique and thought that Lu Chengyu was a master in this, but facts proved that the other party only had the bearings of a professional.
Zhang Zeyun, who sat beside Zhuang Yu, had given up on the dark-baked chicken wings in his hands. Looking at how Zhuang Yu and Lu Chengyu was still struggling with the fish, he couldn’t help but say, “I say, why on earth do you feel the need to do this to yourself? My whole body now stinks of unpleasant smoke.”
Zhuang Yu and Lu Chengyu looked up at Zhang Zeyun, then looked at each other. Just now, while they were on the road, they casually said they wanted to grill something with their own hands. The thought that the two of them would suck at it never crossed their minds.
After Zhang Zeyun bared the truth to them, both instantly stopped continuing with their original idea. Zhuang Yu threw his fish into the trash can, “Forget it, let’s go fishing.”
Then Zhang Zeyun and several other friends saw Zhuang Yu and Lu Chengyu, whom they had just met, walking towards the pond. They looked at each other.
“I say, Lao Zhuang seems to fit in well with this one named Lu Chengyu,” a friend couldn’t help but start to talk, “This is really rare. Lao Zhuang has a good eye in choosing friends. Unexpectedly, he made friends with a young man from outside our circle [5].”
[5] circle here means Lu Chengyu isn’t from their rich second generation’s circle.
Even in the same circle, there were ordinary friends and close friends. Zhang Zeyun, Zhuang Yu and Yan Mu had been iron brothers for many years. Although they had good relationships with these three people, their friendship was incomparable with these three people’s friendship.
“Xiao Lu is a good person.” Zhang Zeyun did not tell these friends that Lu Chengyu was the investor of an outstandingly famous film recently, knowing that this film made Zhuang Yu a lot of money. Both of their characters fit together, so it was no surprise that they were able to get along with one another. He laughed and said, “As long as the person is clean and innocent, who cares about which circle he’s from.”
From Zhang Zeyun’s words, several others could hear his meaning: he wanted to protect Lu Chengyu. Immediately, they realized that Lu Chengyu wasn’t Zhuang Yu’s little sweetheart but his real friend.
Several people immediately stopped talking about this matter and simply went fishing with Lu Chengyu. Their attitudes towards him no longer held superficial politeness, becoming more natural.
When Zhuang Yu almost caught a fish, he was interrupted by his bodyguard, who walk from behind to deliver his handphone. Looking sadly at the fish that had fallen off the hook, he took the handphone and said, “Mu-ge.”
“You’re coming?” Zhuang Yu looked at Lu Chengyu, who was ten meters away from him, “Okay, I’ll wait for you to have lunch. You’re in luck, Xiao Lu and I were able to catch some big fish.”
Zhuang Yu then hung up the handphone and handed it to his bodyguard, his face complicated. Mu-ge doesn’t like parties with too many people. Today, he volunteered to come here…
The fish in the pond were raised by the owner of the farmhouse. It’s easy to catch a lot of fish. In just an hour, Lu Chengyu caught several big fish.
He looked at his watch–it was almost eleven o’clock. Then, Lu Chengyu took his fishing rod, handed it over to the farm staff, and let them cook the fish. He turned and saw that Zhuang Yu was still fishing, so he didn’t disturb him. Instead, he headed to the gazebo by the side of the pond to drink tea.
If he didn’t have the experience of being a luxury hotel lobby manager in his past life and didn’t know the manners he must exude so that he doesn’t come off as repugnant to these high-ranking young masters, he might not have been able to get along with these rich second-generations.
The skill of communication was not something that could be achieved by only reading the theories, but by time and experience.
Although he was very unlucky in his past life, it taught him quite a lot on how to conduct himself while handling affairs. Fortunately, he was able to start his life again. Was there any reason to not let himself live better?
“Lu Chengyu?”
When he heard someone calling him, he looked back and saw Yan Mu standing on the steps outside the gazebo with a bag of fresh-looking grapes in his hand.
Yan Mu’s appearance wasn’t like his usual image of a somewhat young-looking president. On the contrary, he now looked like an elegant yet down-to-earth men’s wear model from an autumn fashion show.
“Boss, did Zhuang-ge also called you here to have fun? Why did you only come now? We’re almost done catching fish,” Lu Chengyu smiled and ask Yan Mu to come in and sit down, “These grapes are so fresh. Were they just picked?”
“Hmm, there was something going on in the morning, so I was late,” Yan Mu replied. Looking away uncomfortably, he put the grapes on the rock table in the gazebo, “Eat it if you like.”
“Thanks,” Lu Chengyu tasted one. It was sweet and juicy, with a little hint of milk flavor. “It’s delicious. Taste it, boss.”
Yan Mu silently reached out and peeled off one grape’s skin. Then he put it in his mouth, chewed it at will, and swallowed it.
Lu Chengyu spat out the seeds on a piece of paper. He raised his head to see if Yan Mu performed the same action as him. Suddenly, he realized something. Is boss the type of person who’ll eat the grape seeds?
Zhuang Yu, who was carrying a fish barrel outside the pavilion, looked at the purple and black grapes on the stone table and was stunned for half of the day before he muttered a curse.
“Fuck, don’t tell Laozi, Laozi’s guess is true?”
He silently wiped his face. Could someone’s mother come and tell him that the man who just ate grapes is not Mu-ge?
Didn’t Mu-ge hate fruits with high sugar content?
Whoever said that grapes were high sugar content fruits must be a liar.
Anyway… President Mu wouldn’t be like a brother who fell in love for the first time and panic in front of his secret crush, right?
Same gender, how can it be love?
It must be that his guess was not in the right direction.
