Chapter 261: To Hand Over
Tao Mu always thought that Li Xiaoheng was a workaholic with no desires. After all, the two have been dating for so long, and Li Xiaoheng had always given him the impression of being relatively frigid. However, it turned out that the reason why the old bachelor had been adhering to the workaholic and frigid lifestyle was only because he had never experienced making love with the person he liked. Once he had a taste, he would know what it was like and never go back to living like a monk.
"You, enough already! I have to go back to the base tomorrow morning!" On the big bed in the hotel room, the panting Tao Mu couldn't help but slap away Li Xiaoheng who was sticking to him again, and couldn't help but miss that strict business partner obsessed with working overtime back then.
Li Xiaoheng, who was pushed away by his sweetheart, was like a big dog that was disliked by its owner, wagging its tail and sticking to him again, stretching out his arms to pull him into his embrace and hugging him comfortably. With his chin resting on Tao Mu's shoulder, he let out a sigh of satisfaction and said lazily, "Leave the Shen family's affairs to me, so don't worry about it."
Tao Mu subconsciously refused: "Ni need to trouble yourself. I can find a way myself——"
"Xiao Mu." Li Xiaoheng frowned, turned over and pressed the person under him, put one hand next to Tao Mu's head, and emphasized in a serious tone with a serious expression: "Now you are a man with a family. The two of us are already together. Husband and husband are one, your affairs are my affairs. Besides, you are busy filming now, and you have to focus all your energy on analyzing your role and supervising the crew. How can you be distracted dealing with the Shen family matter?"
"Or, you don't believe me at all? Do you think I can't even handle this little thing well?"
"Of course not!" Tao Mu sighed helplessly: "It's not that I don't trust you. I've just been brooding over the Shen family and my own experience in my previous life for too long. Before, I thought I was the only one who was reborn in this world. Those things in my previous life haven’t happened yet, and those who forced me to death haven’t done anything yet. I can’t just go and get revenge on a bunch of strangers who don’t know anything. Even if I destroy them and their livelihood, they won’t know where they are wrong, so what’s the point of my revenge?”
"But Shen Chen suddenly told me that he is also reborn…..I just think this is a matter between me and the Shen family, and there is no need to involve others."
"Others?" Li Xiaoheng raised his eyebrows, and pressed the whole length of his body which was nearly 1.9 meters heavily on Tao Mu, rubbing the tip of his nose against Tao Mu's, and asked angrily, "Who is ‘other' here?"
"Tao Xiao Mu!" The aggrieved and domineering CEO pressed his lover down and begged for an explanation: "We have been dating for so long, we have done what should be done, and what should not be done. Pitting aside you refusing to give me official status for the sake of your career, but now you also treat me as ‘others'?”
As he said that, Mr. Li viciously bit down on Tao Mu's collarbone and licked it, his waist pushing forward hard: "You must be punished for being so misbehaving!"
Tao Mu was caught off guard and cried out, both vexed and amused: "Stop messing around, we're talking about serious stuff——"
As a result, under the punishment of boss Li's personal grudge, the two messed around for more than an hour again before returning to business.
"Leave it to me." Li Xiaoheng said solemnly: "Let me do something for you. We met too late, an entire lifetime late. I have no way to participate in your past, and I have no way to protect you when you were at your most despairing and helpless. But for your present and future, I hope that I will not miss even one sunrise."
"Leave the Shen family to me." Li Xiaoheng touched Tao Mu's increasingly handsome and sexy face: "At least give me a chance to make amends."
Tao Mu looked at Li Xiaohang whose expression became more and more gentle, and sighed helplessly: "You are really getting better at sweet-talking."
"My lover is so excellent and so likable, and your girlfriend fans are so many they can line up all around the border. If I don't work hard to improve my husband quality, one day, what if my lover gets tired and wants to abandon me?"
Li Xiaoheng chuckled lightly, his chest vibrating. He held Tao Mu in his arms, and while giving Tao Mu a massage, he joked: "Speaking of which, you must always remember that I am already yours. You must take responsibility for me. In the future, if there are wild flowers and weeds wanting to confess their love to you, you must sternly refuse. Take me with you in everything, and don’t push me thousands of miles away whenever you have a problem. Always remember that husband and husband are one, your affairs are my affairs. So don't be courteous and use me."
When Li Xiaoheng said this, he suddenly lowered his head and pecked Tao Mu on the lips: "In all ways."
Tao Mu blushed. He found that since the two of them really became intimate, this person had become more and more unrestrained.
"The market value of the Shen Group is hundreds of billions of yuan. The Shen family has been operating in Shanghai for so many years, with a strong background and extensive contacts. Before when the Yan family wanted to suppress the Shen Group, it was because the people behind the Shen family stood forward to intercede for the Shen family that they failed. If because of personal grievances, I rashly involve you and the Fengxing Group, it will definitely have a negative impact on Fengxing Group, right?"
A battle involving industrial groups worth hundreds of billions of yuan could no longer fully be described as a fight between a sandpiper and a clam (TN: lit. sandpiper and clam war together (and the fisherman catches both, idiom); fig. neighbors who can't agree lose out to a third party). Just a little carelessness would turn it into a fight to the death between two predators. What was more, one of them was Shen Chen, who was known as a business genius in his previous life, and in this life, because of his rebirth, he had knowledge of the future? Li Xiaoheng's plan was good, but Shen Chen was by no means someone who would just sit there and wait to die. No one could predict what would happen when the two sides fought for real.
Tao Mu hesitated for a moment, but still spoke the truth. In the end, he was just afraid of implicating the Li family, afraid that the Li family would resent him and find him troublesome, actually daring to drag Li Xiaoheng into that complicated situation. Tao Mu experienced too many betrayals and disdain in his previous life, which directly affected Tao Mu's behavior after his rebirth. In the face of the person he cared about, Tao Mu would rather suffer a loss than let the other suffer a loss, afraid that the other would dislike him because of this.
Li Xiaoheng could understand Tao Mu's trembling mindset like one walking on thin ice. But it was precisely because of this that Li Xiaoheng felt distress for Tao Mu more and more. How many things did a person have to go through to develop this kind of conditioned reflex that they were afraid of being even just a bit careless and end up troubling others?
For every person with good social skills, if it was not because they were born with a high emotional intelligence, then it was due to having encountered too many lessons in reality, and their flesh and blood have been cut up by sharp knives, so that they could become what they were today without edges and corners.
Seeing Tao Mu like this, and thinking about what the Shen family did, more and more Li Xiaoheng couldn't contain his anger.
"Don't think like this." Li Xiaoheng took a deep breath, barely suppressed the anger in his heart, and said in a gentle voice: "You know how much my parents like you. They have always worried that I would be too old and dull for you and that I would be abandoned by you in the end. Now that I have the opportunity to do something for you, let you see that other than physical stamina I also have the ability to protect you and vent your anger for you, maybe you will love me more. And my seat as the official husband will be more stable. Moreover, I can also take this opportunity to stake my public claim on you.”
Li Xiaoheng had probably broken some shackles, and became more outspoken and out of character when being with Tao Mu. However, this kind of lighthearted laughing and scolding with joy and anger made Tao Mu feel more at ease.
"Don't talk about these nonexistent things." Tao Mu had a headache. But after thinking about it, he dug out the suitcase in front of Li Xiaoheng, and took out three thick notebooks written in code. "I'll look and see if there are any projects or news that can be exchanged for benefits."
After Tao Mu was reborn, in order to make better use of his golden finger, he once recorded all kinds of things that would happen in the future. And also compiled a set of code language. Tao Mu originally thought that these secrets that only he could understand would follow him into the coffin. But he didn't expect that the world was impermanent, and he would actually take the initiative to tell others the secret one day.
Tao Mu handed the code book to Li Xiaoheng, and told him how to read it. Li Xiaoheng was a little shocked. After Li Xiaoheng vaguely guessed Tao Mu's rebirth experience, he deduced from the result why Tao Mu's vision and ability to predict were so good. And why he was still very unconfident in this situation, claiming that he was not that talented all the time, and that everything was just an illusion.
Later Tao Mu confessed the truth to him, Li Xiaoheng was shocked, but other than confirming his guess, he felt only ecstatic. He was delighted that his dedication finally made Tao Mu let go of his vigilance and anxiety, and began to offer his trust. He was even more delighted that he was the one who Tao Mu subconsciously thought of as the first person to tell his secret.
But Li Xiaoheng never expected that Tao Mu would hand over these things to him. After dating for so long, Li Xiaoheng felt that no one could understand Tao Mu better than him. He understood Tao Mu, understood Tao Mu's uneasiness and caution, and understood why Tao Mu became like this. And especially understood what these things mean to Tao Mu.
This was the basis for Tao Mu to gain a foothold after his rebirth. It was also Tao Mu's indispensable card up his sleeve if he wanted to build a business empire. But now, Tao Mu gave these things to him without reservation.
Noticing Li Xiaoheng's shock and complicated emotions, Tao Mu smiled slightly and said, "Don't be like this. I just think that these things can be put to better use if I entrust them to you. Besides, I am not the only one who is reborn now. When it comes to commercial sense, Shen Chen is much better than me. So these are not commercial secrets."
Tao Mu licked his lips, his eyes subconsciously falling on the notebooks. He spoke easily, but after he actually handed over the things, he felt a little empty in his heart. It was as if a mountain had collapsed, and he was alone again.
Subconsciously clenching his palms, Tao Mu sneered. This was the crudeness of rebirth. In his previous life, he was not a stunningly talented person, but now he became a business genius in the eyes of others only by relying on the opportunity of having been reborn ten years back. But once the halo fell off, people might find that he was actually a dumb, useless fake product.
By that time, maybe Li Xiaoheng would also…..
Tao Mu took a deep breath, his expression decisive. The reason why he gave these things to Li Xiaoheng was not entirely to compensate Xiaoheng Capital and Fengxing Group for possible loss of interests. The most important reason was that he wanted Li Xiaoheng to see the real Tao Mu clearly. Whether after getting rid of all the halos, Tao Mu was still worthy of Li Xiaoheng's liking or not.
Tao Mu couldn't be sure about this, he didn't have confidence in himself, but he wanted to trust Li Xiaoheng. So he handed over the choice to Li Xiaoheng. If. If Li Xiaoheng disappointed him…..
Tao Mu clenched his fists tightly. It was actually not a big deal. He now had FlyNews.com, Yao Dad, Xiao Qi Dad, Grandpa Song, and the tens of billions he had earned in the international financial market. He had been lucky enough. It was not as if he would be worse off than he was in the previous life.
"Don't think nonsense!"
Holding his chin and lifting Tao Mu's face with one hand, Li Xiaoheng stared at Tao Mu's dark and gleaming but slightly moist eyes, feeling very helpless: "Just what kind of person am I in your heart?"
Li Xiaoheng gently kissed Tao Mu's lips like the brief landing of a dragonfly: "I admit that part of the reason why I was attracted to you at the beginning was because of your keen sense of business and brilliant financial analysis. But if you only have these advantages, I would only regard you as a business partner, not love you at first sight, and want to spend the rest of my life with you."
"I know exactly who the Tao Mu I like is. But does my Tao Mu know what kind of person is the Li Xiaoheng you like?"
Before Tao Mu could speak, Li Xiaoheng kissed him again, and said in a soft but firm voice, "No matter what my Tao Mu looks like, even if you had white hair, teeth falling out and Alzheimer's disease, I will be by your side, accompanying you in growing old together and entering the coffin together."
Tao Mu's eyes were slightly red. He put his arms around Li Xiaoheng's neck, and responded softly and firmly: "What a coincidence, I am the same."
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