In the year 4769 of the Xia Calendar, on the program "Figures."
Liu Xiaoyu's daughter, Liu Yuyuan, the current head of Caomu Group, finally agreed to this interview after repeated invitations from the "Figures" production team and began recording.
The "Figures" production team has always been straightforward.
The recording studio was also extremely simple.
It was just a humble, living-room-like space, with only a sofa, a coffee table, and a tea set.
However, as this was a talk show and not a formal interview, the host did not immediately ask the questions they wanted to ask after Liu Yuyuan arrived and sat down.
Instead, they started with pleasantries.
It was only after they had become more familiar with each other that the host began to ask:
"Ms. Liu, if I recall correctly, your biological father took you to court not long ago, is that right? There's a lot of speculation online. We were wondering if you'd be willing to tell us on the show. There's no love or hate without reason in this world, so I imagine there must be a reason why you'd rather go to court with your biological father than agree to some of his demands."
Although this question had been discussed with her and she had given permission for it to be asked, Liu Yuyuan still pondered for a long moment before sighing and replying:
"Alas, there's definitely a reason. Many people don't understand my family situation at all, yet they judge me from a moral high ground. I want to say, you have no right to do so, and neither does Zhou Junyu. Let me put it this way. For as many years as I've been alive, my mother has been divorced from my father. I never met my father when I was growing up, and he never provided a single cent in child support. It wasn't until I was twelve, after my mother achieved great success and built a vast empire, that my father and my grandmother would occasionally show up, wanting to see me. They even wanted to fight for custody of me. Of course, they ultimately failed. And I believe anyone who isn't foolish can guess that my father wasn't fighting for custody because he wanted to give me anything, but rather to gain something through me. Given all this, you can imagine how bad my relationship with my biological father is, and how bad my mother's relationship with him is. It's no exaggeration to say we're like fire and water. Most importantly, all my assets come from my mother, and I took over her business. It's indisputable that it has nothing to do with my father. What did my father, Zhou Junyu, ask of me? He wanted me to help my half-brother, and shamelessly asked me to give some of Caomu Group's shares to my half-brother. To be honest, I was stunned when I heard this. I never thought anyone could be so thick-skinned. He thought it would be a pity if my assets became someone else's after I married, and that only by handing them over to his son, his Zhou-surnamed son, could this be avoided, and that it could be passed down through generations. I don't think anyone could accept such a thing!"
"Let alone me. Even my mother wouldn't agree..."
"It's precisely because I disagreed that he specifically sued me, trying to accuse me of being unfilial, thereby damaging my reputation and threatening me, hoping I would compromise. Fortunately, the court was just. Given that he never raised me for a single day and never paid a cent in child support, I don't have to bear any responsibility for his support. I have to thank my mother's foresight on this point. If she hadn't asked for a single cent in child support back then, this matter would likely have been quite troublesome."
"Although it's not a large sum of money, if I had been forced to compromise, it would have been quite disgusting."
"If he had been sincere, not greedy, and only wanted someone to care for him in his old age, I wouldn't have minded supporting him. But he wanted far too much. So much so that he had no right to make those demands. That's why I was forced to go to court with him completely!"
After Liu Yuyuan finished speaking, the host immediately analyzed and commented on this issue before continuing to chat with her, discussing other topics that might interest viewers, such as family and her mother's entrepreneurial journey. Finally, they focused heavily on her mother. After all, Liu Yuyuan was merely the successor, while her mother was the founder. Caomu Group had achieved its glory under her mother's leadership, so the host's interest was understandable. As the conversation progressed, both became more relaxed. The host directly asked Liu Yuyuan if she knew any little-known secrets or quirks about her mother.
"Actually, I do know something. Although my mother never admitted it, I think it's highly likely that she's a 'lookist.' My mother was initially attracted to my father because he was quite good-looking back then. As for his personality and family background, my mother could tolerate them, largely because of his looks. As for why she couldn't tolerate it later, part of it might have been due to prenatal depression, and another part, I suspect, was likely because my father had gained weight and started losing his hair, looking forty pounds heavier than in his student days. The once pleasing appearance had become greasy. That's probably why she couldn't stand it anymore. However, my mother has never admitted it..."
This speculation was based on some old photos and Liu Yuyuan's own deductions. Moreover, she didn't think it was a big deal, so she mentioned it casually.
"Your mother is truly a person of character..."
This was a difficult point to elaborate on, so the host quickly moved on and continued with the rest of the interview.
...
"Lastly, I have one more perhaps impertinent question. This is something many people are very curious about. Twenty years ago, a new ice age suddenly descended, and the global average temperature dropped significantly. When the entire planet was covered in snow, why was it that your mother was able to so promptly contribute a large batch of crop seeds that could withstand temperatures from minus forty to minus fifty degrees Celsius? This allowed our country and indeed all humanity to resume agricultural planting in a very short time, successfully saving billions of lives. And in doing so, she became the world's largest seed industry group and a savior of all humankind. According to estimates by relevant experts, without the seeds provided by your mother, in the circumstances at the time, humanity might not have gone extinct, but a reduction of two to three billion in population would have been highly probable, and it's even possible that the global population could have eventually dropped to below one billion. So, could you reveal something about this? Was your mother and the state prepared for the arrival of the ice age, or was it due to other reasons?"
Towards the end of the interview, the host specifically asked a question that her superiors had instructed her to ask. Liu Yuyuan immediately questioned indignantly:
"What do you mean by that? Are you implying that my mother had something to do with the ice age?"
"No, no, how could that be? Besides, if your mother had that kind of ability, she could directly rule the world and wouldn't need to sell seeds. I'm just asking on behalf of the vast number of netizens; everyone is quite curious! The main reason is that your mother's speed in developing super cold-resistant crops was simply too fast. The temperature dropped yesterday, and by tomorrow, many countries hadn't even reacted yet, and your mother announced that super cold-resistant crops had been successfully developed. Superior plant varieties are not ordinary things; they can't be created overnight after encountering a problem. This requires time. So, it's normal for people to be curious. Ms. Liu, if you don't want to answer, that's fine..."
The host quickly explained, but her words still sought an answer. Fortunately, the specific reason had already been fabricated by Ding Yun and communicated to the higher-ups, though it had not been publicly disclosed. Currently, some less intelligent individuals abroad, under the guidance of certain people, had even begun to question whether the previous ice age was a conspiracy by Ding Yun to sell seeds, make money, and monopolize the global seed industry. While such suspicions sounded absurd, there were indeed people with low intelligence who believed them. Liu Yuyuan was thus forced to negotiate with the responsible parties and arrange this interview. The main purpose was to use this program to address this issue specifically. It was also a response to the nonsensical online opinions:
"Those super cold-resistant crops were indeed not specifically developed for the arrival of the ice age. In fact, the seeds released at that time were only semi-finished products, an initial version of the original plan that hadn't been completed. A few years before the ice age descended, my mother set a small goal: to cultivate crops that could grow normally in lunar soil without the aid of various ecological bases. You know the environment of the moon. The highest temperatures are extremely high, and the lowest temperatures are extremely low, with many other factors unfavorable to plants. If we want to cultivate plants that can grow normally in lunar soil, the cold resistance requirement for the plants needs to reach minus 180 degrees Celsius. Crops that can grow normally in an environment of minus forty to fifty degrees Celsius are semi-finished products developed based on this requirement. Because my mother has always disliked disclosing projects that are not yet fully successful, this matter has never been explained to the public. The reason I am willing to speak now is to take this opportunity to announce some good news to everyone. That is, the small goal my mother set more than twenty years ago, to cultivate crops that can grow normally on the moon, has now been achieved. Even the first batch of crops has been harvested. Judging by the broadcast time of your "Figures" program, this good news should appear on the evening news an hour or so before your program airs."
With this, the main objective of today's "Figures" program was essentially completed. What remained was for the host to express astonishment and admiration, perhaps criticize some of the nonsensical online opinions, and finally engage in a few closing remarks to wrap up the show.