The reply was very simple, just two short sentences:
“I understand the situation now. Please don’t worry, I will handle it. A clear conscience fears no accusation. I will not bear any false blame that isn’t mine.”
A little while later, another reply came:
“Thank you for the reminder. I’ve seen your ID before. You’ve been watching since my very first livestream, haven’t you? Thank you for still supporting me at a time like this.”
The tone was as calm and steady as ever, and it reminded Mu Qiuqiu of the young man with the gentle smile from the livestream. His voice was serene and warm, yet it carried a reassuring power.
Mu Qiuqiu had never thought of herself as someone prone to sentimentality. But the anxiety and anger she had felt throughout the day seemed to dissolve completely with just a few words from Lin Yi. A belated sense of grievance welled up inside her, and she couldn’t help but want to cry.
She reopened the comment section, which she had been unable to bear looking at, and found that although the haters were rampant, there were still some fans willing to stand by Lin Yi, stubbornly arguing with the trolls below.
In fact, the fans had even privately set up a support group for Lin Yi, with new members joining all the time.
Although they were still few in number and couldn’t do much to help, everyone firmly supported Lin Yi and was waiting for him to make a powerful comeback.
For some reason, Mu Qiuqiu, who had been so worried about Lin Yi, suddenly felt certain after reading his reply and seeing the group of fans standing by him.
She believed that no matter what difficulties arose, that young man, who always remained composed no matter what, and these loyal fans who chose to support him in this hard time, none of them would be easily defeated.
After replying to Mu Qiuqiu, Lin Yi had just put down his wrist terminal when he heard a few light knocks on the door.
Lu Jinghan pushed open the slightly ajar door and walked in, carrying a handful of freshly picked vegetables.
He rapped his knuckles on the table in front of Lin Yi, drawing his attention away from the Star Network. “Are you all right? Are you sure you don’t need help?”
Lin Yi shook his head and politely declined. “I think I can handle it.”
He wasn’t just being stubborn. His resilience was much stronger than his fans, or even Lu Jinghan, might have thought. Moreover—
“Besides, you once said that I need to learn to face all of this on my own. Whether it’s praise or malice, this is what I should bear when I made my choice. Isn’t that right?”
Lu Jinghan shook his head and sighed, not expecting Lin Yi to have remembered his words for so long. He couldn’t tell if Lin Yi was holding a grudge or just being overly serious.
However, after spending time together, he had come to understand Lin Yi’s stubborn nature, so he didn’t press the matter.
Lu Jinghan placed the bundled and sorted vegetables in the kitchen, then called Ah Yun inside as well, leaving Lin Yi alone in the quiet room to handle the online situation.
Over this period, with Lin Yi’s medicine and care, Lu Jinghan’s wounds had gradually healed, and his mobility was no longer restricted. But what surprised him even more was that his severely damaged mental sea was also slowly repairing itself.
This was a terminal illness that even doctors couldn’t cure, he had long since given up any hope.
As his body gradually recovered, Lu Jinghan began to help Lin Yi with some of the chores, hoping to ease his guilt over being a freeloader.
Farming, carrying water, cooking… This kind of life was completely different from his past, when he had wielded great power and lived with his nerves constantly taut.
But after getting used to it, for some reason, he began to feel a deceptive sense of peace and tranquility.
Over the past few days, influenced by Lin Yi’s example, Lu Jinghan, who had originally known nothing about cooking, had actually learned to make a few simple dishes.
As for the taste, though…
Ah Yun’s level of disdain toward Lu Jinghan said it all.
By the stove, Lu Jinghan was busy cooking while Ah Yun lay nearby, watching him clumsily wash and chop vegetables. Unable to resist, she wrinkled her nose. “Uncle Lu is so clumsy. He can’t even cut vegetables properly.”
Lu Jinghan: …
Ah Yun called Lin Yi “big brother,” but stubbornly insisted on calling him “Uncle Lu.” Their ages weren’t that far apart, yet this way of addressing him always gave him the strange feeling of being a generation older.
Lu Jinghan lowered his voice and deliberately put on a very serious expression to correct Ah Yun. “Don’t call me uncle. Call me… ‘big brother.'”
As he said the words “big brother,” he felt an unusual twinge of embarrassment and guilt.
Then Ah Yun stuck out her tongue fearlessly. “Nope. Uncle it is.”
Lu Jinghan: …
He began to doubt whether his subordinates’ claims that his stern expression could scare people were actually true.
But he wasn’t about to argue with a child. After clumsily chopping the vegetables, he followed Lin Yi’s earlier method, tossing them into the pan and stir-frying. In the end, the finished dish actually looked somewhat decent.
By then, the rice steaming in the pot was almost done. Lu Jinghan filled two bowls of rice, placed them on the table, and arranged them alongside several plates of cooked dishes.
Seeing this, Ah Yun forgot to complain about his poor cooking skills. She picked up her spoon, scooped up a mouthful of rice, and was about to shove it into her mouth.
But Lu Jinghan didn’t let her have her way. He picked up his chopsticks and, using the blunt end, accurately knocked the spoon out of Ah Yun’s hand. “These two bowls are for me and Brother Lin Yi. You’re not allowed to eat them.”
Under Ah Yun’s resentful gaze, he added coolly, “If you want to eat, go get your own bowl.”
Hmph. He definitely wasn’t going to argue with a child.
Thanks to Mu Qiuqiu’s message, Lin Yi quickly grasped the general situation.
Since this matter also involved Director Lu, he immediately sent a private message to Director Lu, explaining the current situation and asking if he knew anything about the actor Su Qing.
After sending that private message, he received no immediate reply. He then scrolled through the mountain of private messages in his inbox.
Most of the messages were from Su Qing’s fans, coming to hurl insults. Lin Yi couldn’t even be bothered to spare them a glance, he simply blocked and deleted them. A small portion of the messages were from his own fans, sending words of support and comfort.
Among them, one private message caught his attention.
It read:
“Stay strong, little brother. Su Qing and his fans have always bullied others like this. Back in the day, our Ah Han was forced out of the industry by him… I can’t believe he’s still the same after all this time.”
Ah Han? Forced out of the industry? Lin Yi’s eyes sharpened as he caught the keywords. He recalled that in Mu Qiuqiu’s private message, she had mentioned an actor who had been driven to quit the industry by Su Qing.
His intuition told him this was a breakthrough. Following the information from this fan, he looked up the details.
The actor who had been forced to quit was named Si Han. Three years ago, he had been a rising newcomer actor with a flourishing career.
But during an audition for the same role, he seemed to have gotten into some conflict with Su Qing. After being cyberbullied across the entire network, he hastily withdrew from the industry.
Information online refreshed quickly, and this was all Lin Yi could find. He frowned and was about to dig deeper when he heard Ah Yun’s childish voice, filled with indignation, calling out to him: “Big brother, Uncle Lu is bullying me!”