Chapter 14: The Exposé
[It’s been two days already—has Meng Yi even bothered to acknowledge you?]
[You’ve known Little Yi for four years? You probably just “know of” him. How many words have you even exchanged? And you call yourself his friend?]
[So now people chase clout by directing and acting out the whole show themselves, without caring whether the other party agrees? You must be desperate to get famous.]
[**, **, **]
Over the course of a single night, Jiang Yu’s clarification post was flooded with filthy language—so vile it was hard to look at.
After frantically calling Meng Yi and Sister Bai at the beginning and getting no response, Jiang Yu simply let things develop as they would.
He was quitting the entertainment industry anyway. Let them say whatever they wanted.
Out of sight, out of mind. Logging out of Weibo, Jiang Yu sat by the window, feeling the sea breeze, watching movies, and eating ice cream. His days were actually quite pleasant.
As the main figures of this trending scandal, neither Jiang Yu nor Meng Yi spoke up again. With nowhere else to go, a crowd of angry fans and curious onlookers all flocked to Leisure Life’s Weibo account to demand an explanation.
Soon, Leisure Life posted a statement.
[Our program Leisure Life adheres to the principle of showing real life and true leisure. We can guarantee that what was broadcast reflects the guests’ real states, with no malicious editing.
Moreover, we can guarantee that during filming, Jiang Yu never once mentioned having any problems with his waist, and we were unaware of any waist injury.
We have already prepared the original footage and welcome anyone interested to view it.
Those who claim we engaged in malicious editing, please stop spreading rumors. We reserve the right to pursue legal responsibility.]
With a single post, they cleared themselves completely and attached a compressed video file.
Many people downloaded the raw-footage archive and watched the unedited segments.
In a way, Jiang Yu had to thank the production team, because what was aired consisted mostly of clips where he reached out to help with work—even if he looked rather half-hearted.
But in the raw footage, there were even more shots of Jiang Yu lounging lazily while watching Meng Yi work, which only further cemented the “fact” that he had been bullying Meng Yi.
[He never even stood up. He could lie down just to fish for shrimp. Does he not have any bones? What kind of “unique individuality” is he pretending to have?]
[This is outrageous. He bullied Brother Yi like this. He wanted shrimp dumplings, and he actually made Little Yi go catch shrimp while he lay there sleeping.]
[I’ve seen people put on airs before, but never someone this shameless. He didn’t even bother acting for the cameras.]
[If you’re going to throw your weight around, at least be a big shot. Is he one? Does he even have any clout? What kind of thing is he, to be this disgusting?]
[If he could make Meng Yi help him like that, maybe his “clout” isn’t fame, but someone backing him?]
[What backing? I think he just took advantage of Meng Yi being kind and polite, respecting him as a senior, and deliberately leeching off Meng Yi’s popularity. Even I, a pure passerby fan of Meng Yi, can’t stand it.]
[Exactly. That’s because our Little Yi is well-mannered and respectful to seniors. If he really had a powerful backer, would he need to leech off Little Yi’s popularity? His backer would’ve made him famous long ago.]
[Although Meng Yi did perform well this time, don’t praise him to the skies. To tell you the truth, Jiang Yu really does have someone backing him—and it’s a big shot.]
[What kind of big shot could let him flop this badly?]
[You say he has one just because you say so? Where’s the evidence?]
[You can go look up the variety shows and films Jiang Yu has participated in. Even though they were all small roles, the films were all big productions, and the variety shows were all top-tier hits.
Those were all arranged by a big shot for him. If he weren’t so lazy, he would’ve been famous long ago. After all, making money by keeping a big shot company is far easier than working hard on variety shows.]
[That’s actually true. I checked—Jiang Yu was only active during his first two years after debut. In the four years after that, he only appeared occasionally, yet everything he joined was a major production.]
[Stop talking nonsense. Just look at Jiang Yu—what kind of big shot would ever be interested in him? This time he’s just riding on Little Yi’s popularity because Little Yi is popular.]
[Exactly. I bet he saw that our Little Yi is polite and well-mannered, so he chose to bully him. Look at Ji Xu—he doesn’t even bother with Jiang Yu at all.]
[Our Ji Xu is protected by a real big shot. Would Jiang Yu dare provoke him? Our President Han would be the first to say no.]
[We advise Meng Yi’s fans: don’t drag our Brother Xu into whatever is going on between your idol and Jiang Yu.]
[Ji Xu shamelessly hooking up with a big shot gets prettied up by you people as “romance.” Ji Xu’s fans are just as shameless as their idol.]
[Meng Yi is from President Han’s company, right? @HanCheng, have you seen this comment?]
[Ji Xu’s fans, don’t let antis take advantage of you. That person just now doesn’t even follow Meng Yi—he’s clearly an anti stirring up trouble.
Our Little Yi sincerely blesses President Han and Brother Xu. They’re childhood sweethearts, in a proper relationship. In the mouths of certain haters, it all gets twisted. Filthy minds see everything as filthy.]
[The Jiang Yu incident has attracted a lot of onlookers. Fans of Ji Xu and Meng Yi, please identify the antis and don’t be manipulated. The two fandoms must not be driven apart.]
[We don’t care about antis. Whoever dares talk about Brother Xu should first ask President Han.]
[Tsk, a bunch of people earning three thousand a month worrying about people who make three million a day. Let me tell you—Jiang Yu’s backer is Han Cheng. Even Meng Yi has been kept by Han Cheng. Your Brother Xu was just a passerby for President Han.
This episode of Leisure Life is really something—it managed to invite all three of Han Cheng’s little lovers together.]
A single comment that exposed “the truth” made the comment section explode. Those who had been cursing Jiang Yu all shifted their fire to this netizen named “Anle,” blasting them so hard that not a single reply came back.
“Aren’t you afraid President Han will find out you did this?” In a private dining room at a hotel, several people from Leisure Life were having a meal together. Jiang Shiran and Su Ming sat side by side, and Jiang Shiran glanced at Su Ming’s phone and asked quietly.
“If you don’t say anything and I don’t say anything, who would know?” On Su Ming’s phone screen, an account was in the process of being deleted. The account name was clearly visible—Anle.
“You deleted the account. Without follow-up leaks, people won’t really believe all those rumors about Han Cheng’s romantic escapades.”
“Whether it’s true or not doesn’t matter. As long as the rumor exists, people will come watch our show.
Some people will look for clues between those three in the program, and some will even fill in what they believe to be the truth with their own imaginations.
All we care about are ratings. Let President Han worry about the truth.” Su Ming tapped “Delete,” and Anle disappeared from Weibo.
With Anle gone, a crowd vented their righteous anger, but seeing no reply, they clicked into Anle’s profile—only to discover the account had been deleted.
With no target left to lash out at, everyone bottled up their anger and suddenly dispersed.
Ji Xu’s fans rushed to Ji Xu’s Weibo, asking him whether Han Cheng was really a playboy, wailing in heartbreak on Ji Xu’s behalf.
Meng Yi’s fans flocked to Meng Yi’s Weibo, demanding that he come out and clarify things immediately, and urging Sister Bai to find out who Anle was, insisting that Meng Yi must not be slandered for nothing.
As for Han Cheng’s Weibo, Ji Xu’s and Meng Yi’s fans didn’t dare make a fuss, afraid of offending him. But some onlookers who loved chaos and feared nothing openly asked him to talk about his romantic history.
Before long—almost as soon as those comments appeared—Ji Xu and Han Cheng posted on Weibo at the same time.
