Chapter 56

It indeed seems off.

In his previous life, his parents were laid off at the end of this year. After he was reborn, he influenced his college entrance exam, the development of the Stone Age cheat, and to some extent, the life paths of Chen Wan and Zhao Kang. However, he did not remember affecting his parents' situation at the Xiling Coal Mine.

But the leaders of the Xiling Coal Mine suddenly decided to lay off his parents at this time, which must be a problem, and the problem must have something to do with him.

But how did he influence the leaders of the Xiling Coal Mine?

Could it be that the news of him making money with Zhao Kang spread and caused jealousy among the miners?

After a moment, Li Mu dismissed this thought. The possibility was not high, or rather, it was very small.

Zhao Kang's parents were not fools; everyone understood the concept of making money quietly. His parents would not go around telling others how much money their son had made with him.

Since it wasn't because of that, what could it be?

Although the outcome was what Li Mu wanted, he felt something was off. He wanted to figure out what had influenced his parents' original path.

Suddenly, a slick and smooth face appeared in Li Mu's mind.

Guo Yuhang!

Apart from this guy, Li Mu could not find any other reason to convince himself.

Once he figured this out, Li Mu's expression turned incredibly grim. Guo Yuhang had actually retaliated against him by targeting his parents, which made Li Mu extremely angry.

Guo Yuhang, we are now truly at odds. From today on, nothing related to the Xiling Coal Mine will interfere with our lives. I want to see what else you can do!

However, his parents were about to take him to his grandparents' house in the countryside, so Li Mu suppressed his anger and waited for the confrontation with Guo Yuhang when he returned.

He thought that this summer, he would have plenty of opportunities to meet Guo Yuhang at the driving school.

...

After lunch, Li Mu went to the street with his parents, withdrew some cash, and bought some gifts. They then went to the bus station and took a bus to his grandparents' house, which was nearly a hundred kilometers away from Hai Zhou City.

Compared to his mother's family, who were all polite but not close, his father's family was much simpler, with no mutual competition. The family gatherings with his grandparents, uncles, and aunts were lively and enjoyable. His parents turned off their phones and stayed in the countryside for two days, enjoying themselves.

The day before they returned from the countryside, Li Mu received a notification from the Metersbonwe headquarters. His cooperation application had been approved, and he needed to go to the headquarters as soon as possible to sign the contract. After signing, he would pay a small deposit and processing fee, and then he could start the renovation.

All the renovations for the specialty stores in the Southern Jiangsu Province were carried out by a designated renovation company appointed by the provincial agent, which was a form of indirect monopoly. However, this had its benefits. The renovation company appointed by the provincial agent was reliable and understood the headquarters' requirements for the store's renovation, ensuring fast and high-quality construction.

On the same day, Zhao Kang called Li Mu. He was still in Yanjing, but over the past two days, through various contacts and public relations, he had managed to connect with many well-known portal content editors, even some editors-in-chief.

In the call, Zhao Kang said, "I spent over ten thousand yuan on public relations, buying more than ten MP3 players priced around a thousand yuan each, and gave them as gifts."

Li Mu was curious and asked, "Why did you think of giving MP3 players?"

Zhao Kang answered honestly, "I thought they were all internet enthusiasts and would be interested in electronic products. They almost all have phones, but an MP3 player, which costs about the same as a phone, is something most of them wouldn't buy, so I decided to give this."

He added, "They all liked it very much, almost couldn't put it down."

Li Mu highly approved of Zhao Kang's choice and said with a smile, "The choice was good. Just make sure they don't take the gifts and not do their job."

"Don't worry about that," Zhao Kang said. "I have it all figured out and won't let anything slip."

"OK." Li Mu asked, "When are you planning to come back?"

"Tomorrow!" Zhao Kang said. "I have a flight in the morning. I forgot to tell you, but flying is really great!"

"You'll have plenty of chances to fly until you're sick of it!"

While Zhao Kang was in Yanjing, the internet trolls under his command had already started praising the Simple Plan band on various websites within the province.

Zhang Kexuan's photos were being widely shared on forums in Jinling, especially at Jinling University. During the preliminary round, Zhang Kexuan won the hearts of many female students who were in the audience. When his handsome photos were posted on the Jinling University forum, the effect was explosive.

Even someone revealed Zhang Kexuan's identity and the address of the Simple Plan band's rehearsal room, and Zhang Kexuan truly experienced the feeling of being a star.

Zhang Kexuan called Li Mu, complaining, "Brother Mu, please have your team back off a bit. I can't take it anymore!"

Li Mu was at his grandparents' house, tasting a freshly picked watermelon, and asked while slurping, "What do you mean?"

"Ah!" Zhang Kexuan sighed. "A bunch of female college students gather at our rehearsal room every day, asking for autographs and photos. Now, when I go out, many people recognize me. I'm really worried."

Li Mu nodded, realizing that Zhao Kang's internet trolls were quite effective, or perhaps the current internet users were easily influenced.

Li Mu asked, "Has the TV station broadcast it yet?"

"Not yet," Zhang Kexuan said. "They need to edit it before broadcasting. There were over fifty bands in the preliminary round, and only eight bands advanced. I heard from someone that the provincial TV station's leadership is not willing to give too much time to this program, so they want to keep it within an hour and a half, which means only about ten bands will be featured."

Li Mu asked, "When exactly will it be broadcast?"

"Tomorrow night."

Li Mu smiled and said, "After it's broadcast, you'll probably become even more famous. By the way, remember to have someone at the TV station edit a full segment of your band's performance. I'm sure you four can handle it, right?"

"No problem!" Zhang Kexuan agreed readily.

Li Mu chuckled, "I don't think you're worried at all; you're probably thrilled inside."

"No, I'm not!" Zhang Kexuan blurted out.

"Fake it!" Li Mu smirked. "The follow-up promotion will require more money. I've already sent someone to Yanjing to smooth out various relationships for you. Once the TV station broadcasts, I'll have someone help you with more promotion. Even after Yiting goes online, I'll have the videos uploaded to the website. But I'm currently short on technical personnel..."

Zhang Kexuan quickly said, "Brother Mu, didn't you ask Tianming to find a workplace for you? He has already confirmed it and is waiting for you to come and see. Also, you asked us to look for job candidates, and we have received many resumes. We're just waiting for you to come and select them! We need to act quickly and not delay. Just let us know how much money and what else we need to do!"

Li Mu was pleased, "OK, I'll go to Wencheng in a couple of days and then meet you in Jinling first!"

After hanging up with Zhang Kexuan, Li Mu was very satisfied. With a workplace and technical personnel, the launch of Yiting was just around the corner. At that time, he would use the popularity he had created for Simple Plan. Once Yiting went online, he would have Zhang Kexuan and his band record the official versions of "Li Bai" and "Sunflower," and upload them to Yiting. Then, he would have the internet trolls promote Yiting and Simple Plan together, ensuring a steady flow of traffic for Yiting in its early stages.

The extremely sweet watermelon juice was already sticky on his face, but Li Mu had no time to deal with it. His mind was full of plans, and he was very pleased that all his plans were progressing smoothly.

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PS: Happy New Year's Day! I wish everyone a happy new year. During the holiday, I will try to return to the rhythm of two updates a day, totaling over 5000 words. I hope everyone will support me with votes. Thank you!