This comment was no coincidence. Soon, many similar remarks appeared under Lin Yi’s account:
“It’s him, isn’t it? The one who pretended to ride on Jungle Assault’s coattails for clout.”
“Brother Su Qing didn’t explicitly name him, though…”
“Who else could it be? Brother Su is willing to swallow this injustice, but shouldn’t we, as his fans, stand up for him?”
“Director Lu’s rule has always been auditions first, then casting. Yet this guy got chosen directly. Heh. Those who know, know.”
“What are you waiting for? Report him.”
In the meantime, some of Lin Yi’s own fans tried to argue with the intruders, but the opposing side had numbers on their side. Soon, comments defending Lin Yi were drowned out by the highly aggressive haters, leaving the page in a storm of chaos.
All of this happened in just a few hours.
That evening, a netizen with the ID Mu Qiuqiu logged into her Star Network account.
As a long-time fan who had been following Lin Yi since his very first livestream, the first thing Mu Qiuqiu did upon opening the Star Network was to habitually click into Lin Yi’s account to see if there was anything new.
The moment she opened it, she was greeted by a screen full of hateful attacks, and she was stunned.
Just this morning, everything had been peaceful here.
Watching the unreasonable haters overwhelm the few remaining fans, who were retreating step by step, Mu Qiuqiu was furious. Bringing out all her skills from years of online arguments, she first tore into each of the troublemakers, then cleanly blocked them.
After venting her anger, she finally regained some composure. Frowning, she noticed the IDs of the haters.
【Qingqing Grassland】, 【Su Qing’s Little Apple】…
Unlike the other confused fans who had no idea why they were being attacked, Mu Qiuqiu, who frequented entertainment circles, recognized immediately that these troublemakers were fans of Su Qing.
Mu Qiuqiu recognized Su Qing, a recently skyrocketing A-list star. Unlike other fresh-faced heartthrobs who followed a delicate, pretty-boy style, Su Qing carved out a unique niche with his cool, aloof persona. The roles he took were mostly those of strong, ruthless, handsome characters who had suffered great losses yet remained formidable.
In Mu Qiuqiu’s opinion, his acting was only average at best. But his fans ate it up anyway, completely captivated by Su Qing’s image. His fanbase was notoriously aggressive, often crushing rival fanbases without mercy.
Having watched plenty of fandom wars over the years, Mu Qiuqiu was naturally very familiar with this top-tier entertainment industry star. But Lin Yi was just a newly popular streamer, how could he possibly be connected to Su Qing in any way?
Mu Qiuqiu was completely baffled. But as a seasoned internet surfer, she naturally had her ways. She followed the trail from those fan accounts to Su Qing’s fan hub and quickly found a new blog post from Su Qing.
The post was set to “visible to fans only.” The accompanying image was a close-up of Su Qing’s hand, which had a shallow wound on the back, still oozing blood.
Beneath the image, Su Qing wrote:
“I trained for three months in a harsh desert environment for a role I really loved, just to increase my chances of being selected in the audition. I never expected it would all be for nothing. I can’t help but feel a little regretful.”
The post was vague and ambiguous. But his fiercely dedicated fans quickly picked apart the clues.
Not long after the post was published, a fan commented below:
“If I remember correctly, Brother Su Qing once mentioned that his next goal was to land a role in Jungle Assault… right? Judging by his post, it seems he even trained for over three months specifically for the audition.”
This comment was pushed to the top by a mix of skeptical and trusting fans. And Su Qing, living up to expectations, replied below:
“Thank you all for your kindness. I wanted to present a better character to everyone. I didn’t expect to let your expectations down.”
Seeing this, Mu Qiuqiu couldn’t help but sneer coldly. This man truly mastered the art of language. He said nothing while implying everything, keeping his own hands clean and leaving his fans to wildly speculate below.
Sure enough, after he posted these two messages, his fans had already conjured up the image of a pitiful little victim, someone who had undergone grueling training for a role, only to be treated unfairly.
In fact, anyone with even a modicum of discernment could see the many suspicious points in this matter. The bloodstain on Su Qing’s fair, smooth hand was clearly a fresh cut. According to him, he had been training in the desert for nearly three months, so why had he gotten injured neither earlier nor later, but chose to post an image of his injury at this precise moment?
Moreover, he only posted a picture of his injury. He did not share any photos of himself training or any background information about his training environment.
Perhaps a clear-headed bystander might have questioned the authenticity of this post, but Su Qing’s unconditionally loyal fans clearly weren’t thinking that far. All they could think was that their idol had been wronged, and they had to find a way to uncover the mastermind behind it.
Following the clues Su Qing had “inadvertently” revealed, his fans quickly identified the person who had supposedly snatched their idol’s role. In an instant, the enraged fans flooded the accounts of Lin Yi and Director Lu, demanding that both of them give Su Qing an explanation.
Director Lu was relatively safe, because he had such a broad base of public goodwill, the fans didn’t dare go too far. But when it came to Lin Yi, a small streamer with no power or influence, the fans felt no restraint at all. Not only did they hurl all kinds of vicious insults at him, but they also began speculating that Lin Yi and Director Lu were involved in some kind of improper dealings.
Throughout all of this, Su Qing, the source of the incident, remained perfectly silent, as if the storm had nothing to do with him.
Even Mu Qiuqiu, who had seen a lot, felt disgusted by Su Qing’s bizarre tactics.
But although she felt both wronged and furious and wanted to fight back for Lin Yi, her lone voice was no match for the sheer number of Su Qing’s fans.
Mu Qiuqiu had no choice but to open Lin Yi’s account and send him a private message through the backend, explaining the entire sequence of events. Afraid that he might not grasp the seriousness of the situation, she also detailed numerous examples of Su Qing and his fans bullying smaller actors.
Su Qing had too many die-hard fans. Even if he casually posted a vague hint, plenty of fans would willingly charge into battle for him. Most small stars who offended him or his fans had no choice but to swallow their grievances in silence, lacking the fame to fight back. One 18th-tier actor had even been forced to quit the industry due to online bullying by Su Qing’s fans.
With trembling hands, Mu Qiuqiu sent that private message. Afterward, she refreshed the page repeatedly, anxiously waiting for Lin Yi’s reply.
But one hour passed. Two hours passed… Nearly a full day went by, and Lin Yi’s account remained as silent as death.
Only the haters continued their unrestrained revelry in the comments section.
Just as Mu Qiuqiu was nearing despair, she received a reply to the private message she had sent Lin Yi.