After The Vicious Cannon Fodder Was Reborn Pt 1 ON THE ROAD

Hearing what Tao Mu said, everyone in the Yao family, including Yao Shengan, fell silent.

Because they all knew that Tao Mu was serious. If they dared to answer “yes” today, based on Tao Mu’s intelligence and scheming as well as his cruel and ruthless methods, the Yao family going bankrupt at least was definitely possible if not completely ruined.

Yao Shengan slowly went down the stairs holding the recipe book. He handed the recipe book to Tao Mu along with the red sandalwood box it was placed in.

Tao Mu opened the lid of the box, and saw the Song family’s recipe book that had been passed down for generations. Even if it was carefully kept and maintained, the pages and papers of the book were already yellowed with age. The spine was bound with thick thread and Tao Mu couldn’t help but sneer when he looked at the big characters “Yao Family’s Recipe Book” written on the cover.

“Mr. Yao is really at ease with yourself.” Tao Mu opened the recipe book and saw that on the yellowed pages, various recipes were written in classical calligraphy script. Each dish was learned by the ancestors of the Song family from all over the world with much effort. There were also special dishes developed by the Song family’s ancestors after they became famous.

The experience of ancestors from generation to generation was now being stolen unceremoniously, and even blatantly labeled with the thief’s name.

In front of everyone in the Yao family, Tao Mu directly tore off the cover with the big characters “Yao Family Recipe Book”, and then carefully put the recipe book back into the red sandalwood box.

With distress, Yao Shengan leaned down and picked up the cover Tao Mu had ripped and thrown on the ground. He seemed to appear ten years older in an instant.

His lips trembled a bit and he wanted to tell Tao Mu that he knew that the recipes of the Song family were handed down. The ancestors would record the recipes they learned and created in the ancestral recipe book and leave them to the younger generations to study. He wanted to say that although he had betrayed his teacher, he had painstakingly studied the recipes for so many years, and he had also added a lot of new dishes…..

But Yao Shengan didn’t say anything in the end. He just sat on the sofa with a lonely look, staring blankly at the crumpled cover written with the “Yao Family Recipe Book”.

Practically the image of a hero who had met a sad end.

The father and son pair of the Shen family who stood on the side exchanged looks without a trace. Even though it didn’t show up on their faces, they admired Tao Mu’s ability to actually force Yao Shengan, the old fox, to such a situation despite his young age.

When everyone in the Yao family saw this, they couldn’t bear it anymore, glaring at Tao Mu with the same hatred one would direct at their enemy: “Enough. You got the recipe book, and the shares. You should be satisfied, so why won’t you leave now? Do you want to keep staying to ridicule us as well?”

Recalling that the Yao family’s defeat today was planned by Tao Mu, and thinking about the embarrassing situation that Yao family would face after the news that Yao Shengan went to the Song family’s grave to kowtow and apologize, everyone in the Yao family was full of grief. Their eyes that looked at Tao Mu were red and bloodshot.

However, Tao Mu was very hard-hearted, and refused to be the slightest accommodating: “Since the recipe book has been obtained, I will not stay anymore. Mr. Yao, please remember to arrive on the first day of the Lunar New Year when the Song family worships the ancestors. I hope Mr. Yao will show up on time. I believe that with the matter having become like this, neither of us wants to have any more complications.”

Yao Shengan was silent.

Yao Wenxiao walked towards him with a bruised and swollen face: “What else do you want to do?”

“I just want to remind Mr. Yao not to maintain any wishful thinking.” Tao Mu said with a blank expression: “The Yao family has already returned the “Song Family Recipe Book”, that is to say, the Yao family recognizes that most of the signature dishes of the catering company under the Sheng’an Group come from Song Ji. If I do not see Mr. Yao in front of the grave on the day of the ancestor worship on the first day of the Lunar New Year, then more than half of the signature dishes of the catering company under the Sheng’an Group would probably have to go off the shelves.”

“You——” Everyone in the Yao family didn’t expect Tao Mu to have such a cruel means, and they all glared at him.

However, the Yao family members could do nothing but just glare at Tao Mu.

Tao Mu looked at Yao Shengan, who was silent and pretending to be pitiful, and warned in a cold voice: “I have said my piece here, and Mr. Yao should keep it in mind.”

“CEO Tao can rest assured.” Yao Shengan stood up slowly, his turbid eyes suddenly widened, and said solemnly: “Although Yao is old, I have a good memory. I will be there on the first day of the New Year’s. At that time, I will make my three bows and nine kowtows, and apologize to the old Mr. Song family.”

Hearing these words, Tao Mu didn’t say anymore, turning around and leaving with the recipe book in his hand.

Everyone in the Yao family originally thought Tao Mu would throw out one or two ruthless words but was caught off guard when he simply just left. They finally reacted after watching Tao Mu walk out of the Yao family mansion.

Yao Shengan couldn’t hold on anymore, clutching his chest and falling on the sofa with a painful face.

“Dad!”

“Grandpa!”

“Mr. Yao!”

“Call the doctor now…..”

All of a sudden, the Yao family’s mansion was in chaos. The father and son pair of the Shen family looked at each other, and left with Shen Yu on the grounds that the Yao family had too many matters to take care of and they should not disturb them.

The Shen family’s father and son pair wanted to chat with Tao Mu, but Tao Mu didn’t have the patience to chat, much to the regret of the Shen family’s father and son pair. But at the insistence of Shen Yu, Tao Mu was sent to the airport on the grounds of showing hospitality.

Tao Mu and Lawyer Zhou took the plane that night and flew back to Beijing overnight. Before boarding the plane, Shen Yu tugged Tao Mu’s sleeves and said with an earnest face: “You just questioned me, and I really thought about it. If it was me, if it was the Shen family that was ruined. Although I don’t have the ability like you, and I’m afraid I won’t be able to avenge my family. But I will definitely find a way to find someone to help me avenge. I will not forgive the person who harmed my family. Even if this person spends more than a billion yuan to beg for my forgiveness.”

Tao Mu: “…..”

Tao Mu really didn’t expect that the reason Shen Yu had been silent all the way was because he was pondering such a thing.

But Tao Mu never had hope for Shen Yu’s head. Because Shen Yu’s brain circuits had always been different from that of ordinary people.

Sure enough, he heard Shen Yu continue to say: “But Grandpa Yao’s situation is not the same. Grandpa Yao had done wrong, but he didn’t kill anyone in the Song family. I can only say that the world is difficult, I did not kill them, yet they died because of me.”

“Grandpa Yao was brought up by old Mr. Song and it’s reasonable for him to go kowtow at the Song family’s grave. But I hope you don’t spread the video of Grandpa Yao’s visit to the Song family’s grave online, as Wen Xiao said. I hope you can leave this last bit of face to the Yao family.”

Shen Yu’s reasoning was very peculiar. He thought Grandpa Yao was wrong, and of course he should admit his mistake. But the others in the Yao family were innocent. They shouldn’t be condemned by outsiders because of the mistakes made by Grandpa Yao when he was young.

“In that case, it would be too cruel to them.” When Shen Yu said this, his eyes couldn’t help but tear up, looking like the image of pureness and kindness.

Upon seeing this, Lawyer Zhou looked over with a distressed expression on his face.

Tao Mu expressionlessly pulled off Shen Yu’s hands holding on his sleeve, and called Lawyer Zhou to go through the security check.

After the two boarded the plane, Lawyer Zhou said, “How was this young master of the Shen family even brought up? I feel like Chairman Shen and Mr. Shen are quite normal. But why is this young master like that? Does he actually think that he is very kind, very pure, very innocent and lovely, just like a white lotus flower that grows out of the mud but does not stain, and even if it is swaying in the cold storm and snow, it is still a lovely white lotus that invokes affection and pity?”

It must be said that those who were lawyers were quite eloquent.

Tao Mu looked at Lawyer Zhou with a half-smile. Lawyer Zhou’s spirits were lifted and he immediately became curious: “I heard that Mr. Tao and this young master of the Shen family are actually old acquaintances. Is he usually like this?”

“Are you curious about him?”

“Curious! Of course I’m curious! I must be curious!” Zhou Shenxing slapped his thigh, and said seriously: “Such a weird person, it is usually difficult to meet. At least I have lived for 30 years, and I haven’t met a second one. But why is Mr. Tao looking a bit unhappy?”

“Do you think I should be happy?”

“Why aren’t you happy? Think about it from another perspective. There is such a person who puts on a show in front of me every day, and lets me watch a reality show for free. One must also have entertainment occasionally after work to change the mood.”

“Mr. Tao, think about it, if you are always surrounded by incredibly smart people who speak with nuances in their every word, how tired would you be! Sometimes you have to talk to oddballs to adjust your mood.”

Zhou Shenxing saw that Tao Mu had become more upset after meeting Shen Yu. But he and Tao Mu have not known each other for too long, and it would not be good to talk too in depth about things so as to avoid embarrassment for both parties. So he could only joke and try and lighten up the mood.

Sure enough, Tao Mu smiled when he heard these words and said, “You are able to take it to heart.”

“What’s there to take to heart.” Zhou Shenxing said with a smile: “I am a vulgar person. I only know how to work hard and make money. As for other things, as long as I don’t lose out, I don’t care how others behave. Don’t you think so too?”

“Just treat it as watching a show. Tao Mu, aren’t you an actor? You can just treat him as a plot character, and when you talk to him just treat it as if you are acting from a script. The way I see it, he talks and does things like a Taiwan idol drama. Do you know those 8pm soap operas? So long as the plot is pleasing and exciting, complicated and bizarre, the more dog blood the better, there is no need to consider logical common sense at all.”

Tao Mu stopped smiling immediately. He looked at Zhou Shenxing thoughtfully: “Lawyer Zhou is actually a fan of the 8pm dog blood dramas?”

“Just passing the time when I’m idle. It doesn’t take up much brainpower or kidney strength.” Zhou Shenxing said this, and then suddenly wriggled his eyebrows at Tao Mu, scooching over mysteriously: “Of course. I usually prefer to watch those kinds of romance action movies that take up kidney strength.”

Romance action movies that use kidney strength. Tao Mu instantly chuckled.

It takes only a few hours to fly from Shanghai to Beijing. Tao Mu didn’t think it was a long time because of Lawyer Zhou, the two talking about gossip and work the whole way. When they arrived in Beijing, it happened to be snowing heavily.

Liu Yao and Meng Qi came to pick him up at the airport. The first sentence when they saw Tao Mu was: “Did it go well, did you get the recipe book? Did they make it difficult for you?”

“No. Boss Liu, you underestimate our little CEO Tao. Don’t think that because Tao Mu is young he isn’t capable. When he got there, he really showed them up…..” Before Tao Mu could speak, Lawyer Zhou, who still hadn’t talked enough despite the hours long chats on the plane, took over the conversation, accompanying his words with descriptive gestures.

Those gesturing hands and that descriptive storytelling ability, it really was a waste that he became a lawyer.

Instead, he should set up a stand under the bridge and become a storyteller.

Wasn’t it said that all first-class lawyers billed by the minute? Why didn’t this Lawyer Zhou have similar professional ethics?

Tao Mu shook his head. Amidst the eloquent storytelling of Lawyer Zhou, everyone sent Lawyer Zhou home first.

Lawyer Zhou got out of the car carrying his exquisite and compact suitcase. Before going upstairs, he didn’t forget to wave his hands at Liu Yao and Meng Qi who were sitting in front: “Many thanks for sending me back. I won’t charge you for my storytelling fee today. It is now considered even.”

Meng Qi rolled down the car window and teased with a smile: “You call this even? It’s dozens of kilometers from the airport, so it is at least a few hundred yuan for the gas. Aren’t you going to treat us to a meal as thanks?”

Lawyer Zhou said with a bitter face: “You all are my bosses. How can the boss ask the employees to do the treating. Besides, I don’t have any money. This house has only been bought a few years ago, and I have to pay the mortgage every month. And there’s also my car, the oil money loan insurance all add up to another big sum of money every year. How about this? When you’ve all got the time to come to my house, I will cook you all some noodles. My ancestral roots are in Shaanxi, and our noodles there are very good.”

Tao Mu and the others were both amused and vexed, they couldn’t help saying, “How can you be so stingy. Even inviting us to eat noodles. If you are from Zhenjiang, do you plan to treat us to vinegar? Don’t shame your fellow Shaanxi people alright? I heard that there have been many heroes that come from Shaanxi since ancient times so how can heroes be so stingy?”

“Why can’t a hero be stingy? Haven’t you heard that a penny can stump a hero? It can be seen that this hero may not be so generous.” Lawyer Zhou replied with a smile. He had just returned from Shanghai and only wore a three-piece suit. After standing outside for a while, he shivered and sneezed several times.

Upon seeing this, Tao Mu hurriedly persuaded Lawyer Zhou to go upstairs quickly. Lest he managed to come down with a fever and couldn’t bear to even go to the hospital.

“What need is there to go to the hospital? I’ll just cook some ginger soup at home. You don’t know how to live wisely.” Lawyer Zhou sniffed and asked Tao Mu one last thing before leaving: “…..I am now a staff member of FlyNews. Starting from tomorrow, can I go to FlyNews’ cafeteria for my meals?”

Since FlyNews invited Mr. Song to record the show and Mr. Song saw that the young guys of the company worked hard everyday and had to stay up late at night to work overtime, he felt very distressed. So he now often used the kitchen at FlyNews headquarters to cook some snacks for everyone. Occasionally, he would boil some soups for health and brain invigoration to give everyone an after supper snack. Mr. Song’s craftsmanship was of the royal chef level and it was without question that he conquered this group of white-collar computer code farmers who were always busy and just took care of their meals with buns and burgers.

Now the signature banner of FlyNews was no longer that of their rich and handsome CEO who always went on headlines and stirred up storms on the Internet, but that of Mr. Song, luring all elite foodies from all over the country.

Not to mention, with the promotion of “Life in the City”, now at least half of the people who surf the Internet in the country know the name of Mr. Song. Knowing that the cafeteria of FlyNews was fortunate enough to invite this old man to cook in person every week, there were now many elite foodies who handed in their resumes.

Such enthusiasm almost exploded the official recruitment mailbox of FlyNews.

Even the personnel department that had been prepared was shocked. They really didn’t expect that Mr. Song’s appeal would be so great. This was also not the annual graduation season and school recruitment time. It was estimated that the recruitment at FlyNews would be even easier in the coming summer vacation.

Sure enough, having an elder in the family was the same as having a treasure in the family.

Upon seeing this, Liu Yao and Meng Qi also joined in the fun. A discount card to Night was issued to the employees of FlyNews. So long as one held a card to spend at Night, one would get a 50% discount. Now the employees of FlyNews were even more fanatic.

It was no wonder that Zhou Shenxing, the lawyer who was never willing to lose out on any benefits, would place his calculations on the cafeteria of FlyNews. As for Night’s discount card, Lawyer Zhou expressed that a 50% discount would still cost money. He had no money.

Tao Mu especially wanted to laugh, and he could only agree, “Come, come. But don’t just eat and do nothing. It just happens that FlyNews is about to expand the recruitment of staff. You can discuss with the staff of the Administration Department and the Personnel Department and re-determine the rules system and recruitment contract.”

FlyNews had just been created less than half a year ago, and various departments were still in the initial stage. Now that he was taking steps from just starting up to formalizing the company, with Zhou Shenxing, a lawyer who was proficient in economics and law, helping him, Tao Mu could also relax.

Zhou Shenxing couldn’t help but sigh at his “unused talent”. His salary was tens of millions, but Tao Mu only told him to do these basic things.

But it was okay! There was food, drink, money, and free shows to watch. With such a good job, such a good boss, he’ll do whatever was told of him. What more could one ask for?

After seeing Zhou Shenxing off, the three also drove home in the heavy snow.

Mr. Song had been waiting at home for a long time. Since hearing that Tao Mu got on the plane in the afternoon, he had been waiting. He had been fidgeting and wandering around the house for several hours. But it was not until the sky darkened, when he finally heard the movement at the door.

With a twitch of his ears, Mr. Song immediately rushed to the hallway to open the door with great agility for his age.

Outside the door, Liu Yao was still trying to find the right key with great difficulty. In winter, people wear thick clothes, so it was easy to find the key in the bag. The two were looking for the key through the lights in the corridor when they saw old man Song suddenly open the door. He glanced past them and fixed his eyes directly on Tao Mu——to be precise, on the red sandalwood box Tao Mu was holding in his hands. His lips trembled for a long time before squeezing out a few words from his throat.

“The recipe book…..is brought back?”

This whole way, he had really waited too long.

It had been so long that he thought that in this life, he might not be able to wait for it at all.

Old man Song took the sandalwood box with his dry and rough trembling hands. He held the sandalwood box firmly in his arms, and tried to open the lid with a trembling hand. Because he was too excited, old man Song tried several times but still couldn’t open it. When opening it for the last time, old man Song finally looked at the Song family recipe book lying quietly inside.

Instantly, tears streamed down from his aged eyes.