After watching the movie, Ji Buwang heaved a sigh of relief. Although he was quite afraid, he wanted to watch it again.

  When they came out of the movie theater, Ji Buwang gave Xiao Wu a thumbs-up. “Xiao Wu, you’re amazing.”

  Xiao Wu was a little embarrassed. “It was alright.”

  He hadn’t expected the music he had composed while hiding in fear to be praised. To him, it was just good enough that it could be used.

  However, in reality, Xiao Wu had underestimated himself. As the movie was screened, many people watched it. Other than those who discussed the scary plot, most people also talked about the soundtrack.

  “When that music started playing, I got goosebumps. It was terrifying.”

  “That’s right. I originally thought that no matter how talented he is, he wouldn’t be able to compose a terrifying tune at such a young age. It looks like I was too ignorant. It’s really terrifying.”

  “The movie is not bad to begin with, but this soundtrack makes the effects even better.”

  A good movie and television drama were the result of various aspects that complemented each other. Xiao Wu’s tune didn’t impede the movie and even added a lot of color to it.

  Many people who had watched the movie praised him. As for some film critics and musicians who had specifically gone to listen to the music, they called Xiao Wu a genius. When interviewed on a show, a musician said bluntly, “I originally thought that the title ‘little genius’ was an exaggeration. Now, I see that this is a young genius. It was unexpected.”

  The success of ‘A Ghost in the Night’ put the spotlight on Xiao Wu, who was mentioned repeatedly. Many programs and movie productions came looking for him, wanting to work with him or have him appear on TV.

  However, Xiao Wu didn’t want to go on TV. He didn’t enjoy appearing on TV but working for the right movie productions.

  \r \r \r

  Shao Nan had been alone in Mingchang County all this while. Although Li Zhaodi and Mu Teng were watching over him, he still had to go back when he had to. When Shao Qihai was about to bring Xiao Wu and Shao Xi back, perhaps because of Xiao Wu’s reputation, Shao Qiyun, who they had thought had given up since they hadn’t seen her for a while, made a move again.

  Knowing that Old Master Ji and the Ji Family weren’t easy to deal with, Shao Qiyun didn’t dare target them this time. Her main target was Xiao Wu.

  She didn’t look for him directly. Instead, she looked for a reporter to expose the truth about Xiao Wu being her biological son and accuse him of not acknowledging her or caring about her.

  “I didn’t raise him or take care of him after he was born, but I risked my life to give birth to him. I almost died and I couldn’t even go to school anymore because of him. My fate also changed because of that. Now that he’s turned out to be promising, he’s only acknowledged his rich adoptive mother, Mu Jingzhe, and he despises me because I have no money. My life is so hard.”

  Shao Qiyun was tormented by Old Master Ji’s words until she couldn’t sleep day and night. Every day, she regretted missing out on a million yuan and marrying into a rich family. She hated herself for making the wrong choice back then.

  They had not seen her for a short period of time, but Shao Qiyun had already changed drastically. It was as if she had been tortured and emaciated. She was quite good at acting and she cried bitterly in front of the camera.

  The rich and the poor seemed to be at odds with each other sometimes. Some people even hated the rich on principle. Shao Qiyun had clearly done something wrong, but she placed the focus on his rich adoptive mother and her own lack of money. She even claimed that Xiao Wu wouldn’t acknowledge her because she was poor.

  Even a dog wouldn’t mind having a poor family. It was wrong for a son to look down on a mother who didn’t have money. Shao Qiyun’s words attracted everyone’s attention.

  After crying for a while, Shao Qiyun stopped criticizing Xiao Wu. She cried and said that she had let Xiao Wu down. If she’d had money back then, she would have been able to support him. Blah, blah, blah. One could only wonder how much ginger her handkerchief was stained with. She cried like a pear blossom bathed in the rain, perfectly portraying a pitiful person.

  Because Xiao Wu was known as a genius, he was receiving quite a lot of attention. When the mystery of his parentage was suddenly revealed, and such a mystery at that, it immediately attracted a lot of attention.

  In the past, people had only known that, other than the eldest, the five siblings were all very impressive and Mu Jingzhe was a good stepmother. No one had known that Xiao Wu didn’t share the same mother with Little Bei and the rest.

  Now that someone had suddenly jumped out and claimed to be Xiao Wu’s biological mother, and there was also such a big secret behind it, everyone instantly started discussing this.

  Mu Jingzhe and the others had also seen the news. The neighbors would take a few more looks at Mu Jingzhe and the kids now. Looking at the newspaper on the table, she said, “We have to respond quickly.”

  It was a little surprising that Shao Qiyun had done all this, but it wasn’t completely unexpected.

  However, she hadn’t expected her to be so smart. Not only had she distorted the truth, but she’d also stood on the side of the disadvantaged and used public opinion to manipulate Xiao Wu.

  Shao Qiyun had fabricated everything. However, if they didn’t respond quickly, everyone would probably think that this was the truth after repeatedly hearing this. This was public opinion. Many people would think that it was true just by looking at what had happened first. They wouldn’t care about what happened after that. Mu Jingzhe had seen this many times.

  People were really enthusiastic about watching the show. On the other hand, no one paid attention to the truth or any clarification. Therefore, they had to respond in time.

  “Yes, we have to act faster. She even said that Xiao Wu didn’t acknowledge her because she was poor. We don’t even have to lie. We just need to expose what she did in the past. She hasn’t even repaid the loan sharks yet, and we don’t even know how much the interest has snowballed. Now that she’s exposed, those people will definitely come looking for her. Let everyone see her true colors.”

  This method was feasible, and Shao Qiyun would suffer the consequences of her own actions.

  Coincidentally, after Shao Qiyun’s report was published, the reporters kept looking for Xiao Wu and Mu Jingzhe. Mu Jingzhe, Xiao Wu, and Shao Qihai officially met them to explain the situation and express their attitude.

  Out of the three of them, Shao Qihai was the most crucial. He told them everything that had happened back then, including what Shao Qiyun had done previously.

  Shao Qiyun hadn’t been poor at all in the past. She just hadn’t wanted to raise the kid. Mu Jingzhe wasn’t a rich adoptive mother either. In the beginning, she hadn’t even had money to buy shoes and clothes for the children.

  Any one of the things Shao Qiyun had done was enough to make one’s blood run cold. After Shao Qihai finished speaking, Xiao Wu personally made it clear that he wouldn’t acknowledge her. He also said that the reporters could ask the villagers in the county city about more details. They weren’t afraid.

  Someone really went to ask the people in his hometown, and the result was not surprising.

  Xiao Wu had reacted in time, and the truth was right in front of everyone. Public opinion instantly stood on Xiao Wu’s side. They felt that it was fine to not acknowledge such a mother. Sure enough, the debt collectors came looking for Shao Qiyun, and she was captured by the cameras while being chased by the debt collectors.

  Shao Qiyun started crying and looked for the media again, saying that she knew that she didn’t have any rights. She only hoped that Xiao Wu would repay the debt for her on account of the fact that she had given birth to him and give her a way out. Xiao Wu already knew how to earn money. This bit of money was nothing to him, but to her, it would be a life-saving gift.

  Xiao Wu ignored this bottomless pit of lies.

  Many reporters could empathize with Xiao Wu and didn’t report much on the subject, but some magazines wrote exaggerated reports for the sake of benefit. They stood on Shao Qiyun’s side and said that since he had the money, he should save his biological mother and he shouldn’t be petty or anything like that.

  When Xiao Wu saw this, he turned around and donated a sum of money to the welfare institute for children who had lost their parents or been abandoned by their mothers, hoping that they would grow up safely. The donation was about the same as the money Shao Qiyun owed.

  Xiao Wu proved with his actions that he would rather donate the money to a good cause than show concern for Shao Qiyun.