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The moment the words left his mouth, everyone froze. Father Chen and Mother Chen came to their senses and immediately studied Chen Mo carefully. Father Chen pursed his lips in regret, but before he could correct himself, Chen Mo said with a smile, "Do you have pork and celery? I'm not really in the mood for the three-delicacies filling."

Father Chen and Mother Chen froze again, then immediately nodded. "Yes, yes. Knowing you loved dumplings, your dad made a little of every filling."

After saying that, the couple hurried into the kitchen to cook dumplings for Chen Mo. Standing in the kitchen, Chen Mo said, "Make more. You two haven't had dinner either."

As soon as he finished speaking, he remembered the local specialties he had left in the nanny van. Frowning, he said, "It was all because they caused such a fuss. I left the gifts I bought for you in the car. I'll have to trouble Xiao Ding to come by again tomorrow."

Father Chen and Mother Chen looked at Chen Mo, who kept chattering from the kitchen doorway, then exchanged smiles.

None of the three members of the Chen family slept that night. Even after eating dumplings, they remained on the living room sofa, chatting idly. The atmosphere at home felt a little different, as though the enormous stone that had been hanging over them all this time had finally been removed. Though Father Chen and Mother Chen still treated Chen Mo with polite restraint, no one avoided discussing the past anymore. They began telling Chen Mo about the other Chen Mo's childhood, occasionally asking what his life in that world had been like.

Chen Mo knew that Father Chen and Mother Chen wanted to use this to piece together what kind of life the other Chen Mo might have lived.

Outside the Chen household, after a night of fermentation and buildup, the news of the perpetrator's family harassing the victim also caused an uproar online and in the media.

More than a year ago, the news of a drunk driver in an overloaded long-haul truck causing an accident and fleeing, leaving the victim without timely rescue and in a coma, had created a huge public sensation.

At the time, the media had conducted in-depth coverage of the incident. Experts and scholars had even specifically discussed just how vile it was for the perpetrator to flee after committing a crime simply because he had no money, and how damaging such behavior could be to society's moral climate. Of course, there had also been some "keyboard saints" who claimed the perpetrator's circumstances were understandable, finding all sorts of excuses for him and even making assumptions like, "If the perpetrator's family hadn't been so poor, he definitely wouldn't have fled."

Supporters of the two viewpoints engaged in all sorts of debates online and in the media. However, because public opinion favored protecting the victim, no one deliberately reported the victim's information. People only knew that the person who had been hit was a high school student, that he had been unconscious in the hospital for a long time, and that he had not even woken up by the time the perpetrator was sentenced.

Now, the media suddenly revealed that the high school student who had been left comatose by the accident was actually Chen Mo, who had recently been thriving in the entertainment industry. Everyone was inevitably shocked.

It had already been major news that touched the whole of society, and now it was tied to a popular young star in the entertainment industry. The matter immediately became even more attention-grabbing.

With interested parties fanning the flames, the perpetrator's family was also invited onto a famous legal affairs program for an interview. Before the cameras, they maintained an image of poor, struggling, simple, honest people as they described their hardship and misery while asking for forgiveness from Chen Mo and his family. They knelt and kowtowed before the cameras, tearfully recounting how filial their son was, how young he was, how much he loved his family and children. They said it was not easy for mountain people to come to the city to work and earn money, that everything their son had done was to support his family, and that they hoped for society's understanding.

When the host and guests questioned whether they knew how serious the consequences of fleeing after causing an accident could be, they kept emphasizing their family's hardship and poverty, insisting that the hit-and-run had been forced upon them, and that after Chen Mo woke up, "He's alive and well now, and he's even become a big star, while my son has been thrown into prison."

"...So you knew perfectly well that the consequences of fleeing after an accident could involve a human life, yet you still left to evade responsibility. Because you thought money was more important than a human life—or, to put it more precisely, you thought your own money was more important than someone else's life. Now that you've discovered the victim didn't die, you're disregarding moral standards and legal judgment to keep pestering him, aren't you? Have you ever considered that if that young man had not woken up, your son's actions would have amounted to intentional murder? His hands would be stained with blood, and he would bear the burden of a human life." A female guest who had graduated from a university of political science and law could no longer stand it and spoke bluntly.

"...I think Su Jing is going too far. Perhaps the perpetrator did not think of so much when he fled. He was only worried that his family's circumstances and financial income could not bear such responsibility—"

"Because he couldn't bear responsibility, he could commit crimes and kill without restraint? I don't think poverty can be an excuse for breaking the law—"

"I'm not saying poverty can be an excuse for breaking the law. That isn't what I mean. I just think that although the perpetrator committed a crime, his family did not. Yet now, because the perpetrator is in prison, his family has lost the ability to support themselves. That is also a matter of survival for seven or eight people. Since the victim has recovered and is living well now, why can't he be a little more forgiving—"

"You want a victim to be more forgiving toward a murderer's family?" Su Jing was equally agitated. Pointing at the perpetrator's family, she questioned the guest debating her. "I think you're absolutely ridiculous. What right do you have to make such a demand of the victim? If the perpetrator played the role of murderer in this case, then his family played the role of accomplices. Because the perpetrator fled precisely on the grounds that his family was poor and could not afford the medical expenses. Yet now, not only do they feel no shame, they instead—""How do you know they feel no shame or regret? They have clearly expressed their apologies to Chen Mo on various occasions—"

"Could you please not mention the victim's name while defending criminals? I ask the guest opposite to retain at least a little sense of shame. And I believe that if they truly felt ashamed and regretful, they would not have gone to harass the victim after learning that he had recovered, much less stand here asking society for forgiveness. True forgiveness is not something you can obtain by putting on a show and kneeling down. Likewise, the dignity of the law does not permit those who violate it to use poverty as an excuse to absolve themselves. That is my view..."

"..."

As this episode of the legal affairs program aired, more people in society began discussing the matter. The focus of the debate also expanded from the case itself to whether the perpetrator's family had the right to ask for the victim's forgiveness face-to-face, whether the victim should forgive the perpetrator's family, and even whether public opinion had the right to force the victim to forgive them, and so on...

Because Chen Mo once again became the subject of heated online and public discussion, Friday Funfest temporarily decided to move up the episode recorded by Chen Mo and the others to air that Friday. Banana TV then announced the decision on television and Weibo, immediately drawing the attention of netizens. When the show aired, its ratings successfully broke 5%. The peak came when Chen Mo appeared and competed with Ji Ze in dance and piano, directly surpassing 5.8%.

Those extraordinarily high ratings directly broke Banana TV's ratings records for recent years. The program also received widespread praise after airing, and the dual success in ratings and reputation made Banana TV and the Friday Funfest production team think even more highly of Chen Mo. With Yang Qindong's arrangements, and with Young Emperor, starring Chen Mo, about to air on Hunan TV, Banana TV did not forget to provide Chen Mo with positive publicity both publicly and privately, online and offline. Even artists and hosts affiliated with Banana TV spoke up in the media and online to support Chen Mo's efforts to defend his rights. As for artists close to Chen Mo, such as Huang Lixin, Lin Xia, Fei Yuchen, Sun Yun, Yuan Haobin, and Director Zhang, as well as Director Wang, Chen Yuxiu, Jin Wanqiu, and others who had dealt with him before, there was even less need to mention them. Even the official Weibo of Huajing Experimental No. 1 High School, where Chen Mo studied, along with artists also affiliated with Huaxia Entertainment, stepped forward to strongly support Chen Mo for Yang Qindong's sake and because of the media attention.

Under such circumstances, even though there were still voices online pitying the perpetrator and claiming Chen Mo was too cold and could be more forgiving, those voices were suppressed to the lowest level. Later, someone anonymously revealed that Chen Mo had donated to Project Hope every month since elementary school, with amounts ranging from fifty to five hundred yuan. Afterward, two nursing homes and an orphanage in Huajing also came forward to say that Chen Mo had brought supplies to visit the elderly and orphans every summer and winter break. He had continued doing so until he was sixteen—until before the perpetrator hit him and left him unconscious.

"It was truly terrifying. Because the previous news concealed information about the victim, we had no idea what had happened to Chen Mo. We were even wondering why he suddenly stopped coming. The elderly people and children at the home all missed him very much. We never imagined he had suffered something so terrible... All we can say is that good people are rewarded. We hope he stays healthy from now on..."

This was how the directors of the nursing homes and orphanage answered when reporters interviewed them.

This unexpected revelation immediately left those online comments calling Chen Mo cold and stingy with no ground to stand on. A child only sixteen years old had donated and done good deeds without missing a year for a full decade. Forget compassion and patience—even that kind of steadfast perseverance was not something everyone possessed.

Because this news had first been posted online directly by netizens, and the people connected to the nursing homes and orphanage had later approached the media themselves, Yang Qindong was delighted but also somewhat resentful that Chen Mo had not told him sooner. After all, people liked well-behaved children full of positive energy. If Yang Qindong had known about these things earlier, he certainly would have promoted them in a way that better met public expectations.

Chen Mo could only respond with a bitter smile, because he had not known about any of it. Even Father Chen and Mother Chen had never noticed. Although his family circumstances were not as good as Chen Mo's, the Chen Mo of this world, like him, had never lacked spending money. And because Chen Mo had been obedient and well-behaved since childhood, Father Chen and Mother Chen had never asked where exactly he spent his money.

This gave Chen Mo an even deeper understanding of the original owner's uprightness and kindness. All he could do in response was ask Yang Qindong to continue donating to Project Hope, the nursing homes, and the orphanage.

This could count as inheriting his last wishes. Chen Mo thought silently. At that moment, he suddenly strongly hoped that the young man had truly been reborn in his body. At the same time, he hoped that his own family would treat that young man as kindly as Father Chen and Mother Chen had treated him.

Because he deserved to be treated that way.

After these reports were verified, netizens who had already been filled with sympathy for Chen Mo's experiences became even less able to restrain their affection for him and supported him through all kinds of actions. This directly led to Emperor Wu of Han: The Young Emperor breaking 15% in ratings after it aired, setting a new ratings high for the past decade.

Han Yan, played by Chen Mo in the drama, also received widespread praise from viewers because of his exceptionally handsome appearance, appealing character setting, solid acting, and other reasons. Advertising endorsements and commercial deals came flooding in, leaving Yang Qindong's hands weak from picking through them.

Seeing this, major media outlets, variety shows, and legal affairs programs all sent invitations to Chen Mo through his agent and management company, hoping to invite him onto their programs or interview him.

Thanks to Yang Qindong and Huaxia Entertainment's public relations efforts, many media outlets had taken Chen Mo's side in this matter. In return, Chen Mo had no choice but to accept most of the olive branches extended by the media. However, when appearing on programs or giving interviews, he mostly promoted the television drama and the two upcoming films he would star in, The Three Kingdoms: Eastern Wu and Diary of Time.

Only then did everyone suddenly understand why Director Wang, Chen Yuxiu, and Director Jin, who clearly had little connection with Chen Mo, had stepped forward to make statements the moment trouble arose. It turned out they were all going to work together.