The filming of “Detective Love Journey” was scheduled to begin in just two days.
Within those two short days, many things happened online. Public opinion was deliberately manipulated, and the discourse surrounding Song Ying began to polarize.
The first incident involved marketing accounts releasing high-definition photos of Shen Linzhou meeting a beauty at night. The female lead in the photos wasn’t Song Ying but a minor internet celebrity whose figure closely resembled hers. The woman was actively clinging to Shen Linzhou, while he remained composed and unresponsive.
The second incident was Shen Linzhou posting a lengthy declaration of love for Jiang Yuyao, detailing the intimate moments of their four-year relationship. While expressing gratitude for her trust, he also flaunted their affection, garnering a wave of sympathy.
In contrast, Song Ying, who had been innocently caught in the crossfire, was once again targeted. She was accused of being fame-hungry despite her lack of popularity, willingly embracing controversy for attention, and resorting to unscrupulous means.
“These hired trolls are like rabid dogs biting anyone in sight. Right now, under the topics accusing Yingjie of being a homewrecker and interfering with Jiang Yuyao and Shen Linzhou’s relationship, how many slanderous and filthy comments are still trending? When Jiang Yuyao herself posted vague accusations before the truth was clear, inciting her fans to attack Yingjie, are netizens just turning a blind eye to all this?”
“When she didn’t respond, they said she was guilty. When she did respond, they said she was just seeking attention. Do these people have rocks for brains? They’ve monopolized the narrative, twisting everything to their advantage!”
Song Ying had debuted as a child star. As a child, she had casually acted in two dramas—one period piece and one modern—over a decade ago. To this day, those clips remain top material on video editing charts, with comment sections flooded with remarks like, “Trying to trick me into having a daughter again.”
Her parents, unwilling to let her enter the industry too early and neglect her studies, had urged her to step back and focus on her education. However, her passion for acting led her to pursue both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees, and she only recently made a comeback at a relatively older age.
Her assistant, Xiao Lu, had adored her since childhood. In college, she had creatively edited the limited footage of Song Ying into videos, making her Song Ying’s number one fan.
Now, seeing the skewed online discourse, Xiao Lu was furious. She vented her anger in the office while fiercely debating with netizens on her phone.
“When Yingjie first returned to film her first drama, Jiang Yuyao was already subtly undermining her acting skills. Now she’s targeting Yingjie again. How can there be such shameless people in this world!”
Xiao Lu typed rapidly, her expression so fierce it seemed as if she were ready to fight through the screen.
Two slender, elegant fingers gently took her phone. Song Ying turned off the screen and said, “Why get so worked up? You’re going to break the screen.”
“Yingjie, aren’t you angry?”
Xiao Lu turned to look at Song Ying, her expression filled with grievance.
“Of course, I’m angry.”
Placing the phone on the table, Song Ying gracefully moved to the nearby sofa, handing Xiao Lu a glass of water.
Her graceful and delicate figure even made Xiao Lu, a girl herself, feel a flutter of admiration.
“But with public opinion so one-sided right now, neither anger nor speaking out will solve the problem. So why make things harder for yourself? The other side is made up of professional trolls. Even if you didn’t eat, drink, or rest, you couldn’t outmatch them. So be good, calm down, and take a proper rest.””So we’re just going to do nothing? You’re joining the variety show tomorrow, and now the internet is saying that because your new drama is about to air, you’re willing to smear yourself as a mistress just to ride the coattails of the Jiang-Shen relationship for publicity. And now, before you’re even famous, you’re already thinking about bringing your boyfriend into the industry to make money together.” The more Xiao Lu thought about it, the more upset she felt for Song Ying.
Song Ying was aware of all the earlier comments, but she hadn’t expected netizens to have such vivid imaginations, spinning such an elaborate web of logic for her.
She didn’t believe for a second that there wasn’t someone behind it all.
As for who it was, the answer was obvious.
Since her comeback, she had only filmed two dramas.
The second one was currently under review—a crime investigation series where she played a policewoman. There were no romantic subplots with co-stars, and the senior actors on set had been very supportive, making the filming process extremely harmonious.
It was only in the first period drama, Que Ge, where she played the third female lead, Chu Tanyue—the unattainable white moonlight of the male lead, Shen Linzhou—that they had several scenes together. At the time, the female lead of that drama was Jiang Yuyao.
Jiang Yuyao was known as the number one beauty in the domestic entertainment industry, and in Que Ge, she played the female lead, who was also hailed as the most beautiful woman in the martial arts world. However, when the styling and makeup were revealed, online comments overwhelmingly leaned toward the opinion that Song Ying’s appearance better suited the title of the most beautiful woman.
Not only that, during their scenes together, Shen Linzhou had started to deliberately or inadvertently create opportunities for physical contact, but Song Ying had dodged them every time.
Back then, Song Ying and Qin Shu had just gotten their marriage certificate and were in the honeymoon phase of their relationship. After work, she was busy living her own little life—who had time for all these complicated schemes?
Even later, when inexplicably, edited clips from the set began circulating online, claiming her acting was subpar and she had multiple NG takes, Song Ying hadn’t paid much attention. She thought it was just another marketing tactic by the production team, waiting for the drama to air before turning things around.
It wasn’t until she was suddenly “branded as a mistress” these past few days, and Sister Hong stepped in to investigate, that the truth came to light. Whether it was the slander about her acting, the subtle insinuations that she was seducing male actors, or the current accusations of being a homewrecker—all of it was Jiang Yuyao’s doing behind the scenes.
And now, here she was, writing yet another dramatic script for her.
“Of course, we can’t just let this go.”
Song Ying curled her fingers and blew lightly on her freshly done nails, her sparrow-like eyes curving like crescent moons. “Shouldn’t we take this opportunity on the variety show to settle old and new scores together?”
Journey of Love Detectives was conducted through live streaming. Each season invited three resident couples to participate in a month-long journey, testing their chemistry through the details of their travels and the various tasks set by the production team.
During this month, a new couple would join each week as guest participants, creating friction with the resident couples to prevent viewer fatigue.
To generate buzz, the guest couples were always highly controversial and talked-about pairs.
For example, in the first week of this season, they invited a celebrity couple in the midst of a messy divorce, magnifying their family conflicts on camera. In the second week, they invited a singer who had just been rumored to be in a May-December romance. Netizens turned into detectives, frantically searching for evidence that the woman was with him for his money, only to be won over by their love that transcended age.
Under the watchful eyes of countless love detectives online, couples who were merely putting on a show fell apart completely, while those whose love was as strong as gold received blessings from the entire internet.Song Ying was invited as the guest for the third week precisely because of this.
In the morning, as soon as the live stream began, many viewers were already waiting in front of their screens.
【As one of the four most handsome actors in historical dramas in the domestic entertainment industry, Shen Linzhou is truly a sight to behold. Yet Song Ying had the audacity to claim her boyfriend is even more handsome than Shen Linzhou. Today, I’m going to see for myself how many noses and eyes her boyfriend actually has!】
【Haven’t you heard the saying? Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Remember that overconfident woman who claimed her short, unattractive husband was the most handsome man in the world, afraid other female celebrities would go after him? I bet Song Ying is just as stubborn, nine times out of ten.】
【Shen Linzhou’s breathtaking beauty (image). Welcome to the challenge, Song Ying’s boyfriend!】
Among the active commenters were some anti-fans, as well as fans of Jiang Yuyao and Shen Linzhou.
Their intentions to stir up drama and provoke were all too obvious.
As for Song Ying’s own fans?
Although she gained widespread recognition as a child star, most of her fans are either mothers or grandmothers now, and they rarely pay attention to celebrity gossip.
The remaining younger fans mostly hope she’ll focus on her career after her comeback.
But with her new works yet to be released and her acting skills unproven, rumors about her poor acting, attention-seeking behavior, and dating before even becoming popular have started to shake their faith. Many are beginning to doubt whether they’ve supported the wrong person.
【Please, Song Ying, spare my childhood memories one last shred of dignity!】
This comment echoed the sentiments of many fans.
At this moment, on camera.
Shen Linzhou was squeezing toothpaste for Jiang Yuyao, then handed her a glass of warm water and patted her head.
“Sweetheart, go ahead and freshen up. I’ll go downstairs to make breakfast for you.”
For the past two weeks since the show started, Shen Linzhou had done this every day, but at this moment, facing the camera, Jiang Yuyao still blushed, smiling shyly and bashfully. Even while brushing her teeth, she couldn’t stop smiling.
【This is too sweet! If Shen Linzhou squeezed my toothpaste, brought me water, and made breakfast for me every morning, I’d marry him in a heartbeat! Jiang Yuyao, what are you waiting for?】
【Even though I know he’s not talking to me, my heart still feels inexplicably struck.】
【Real couples are just so sweet—it’s enough to give you diabetes!】
Among the three resident couples on the show, the most popular is the entertainment industry’s power couple, “Jiang-Shen.”
After four years as a real couple, they still act like they’re in the honeymoon phase, sprinkling sweet details everywhere, as if their love is dripping with honey.
Coupled with the recent trending topics, more casual viewers have been drawn to watch their interactions.
【Just a casual viewer here, but am I the only one who finds their interactions a bit fake? After four years, they should be more like an old married couple. And she still blushes after three years of him squeezing her toothpaste? It feels a bit staged to me.】
Someone questioned in the comments, but this single remark was quickly drowned out by other comments from the couple’s fans.
After freshening up, Jiang Yuyao went downstairs for breakfast. Shen Linzhou thoughtfully cut fruit into pieces and fed her. The two exchanged smiles from time to time, surrounded by pink bubbles, as if a romantic drama had come to life.
During this time, the other two couples also came downstairs for breakfast one after another, but they clearly didn’t receive any special “love breakfasts”—only the standard meals prepared by the production team.
“Yuyao, your Shen Linzhou is just too thoughtful! If my Qiao Yu were even half as considerate, I’d be laughing in my dreams.”
The speaker was Jiang Yuyao’s good friend, Zhou Ruoyu.
She and her boyfriend, Qiao Yu, are known as the “Pisces” couple.Zhou Ruoyu’s career has been lukewarm since her debut. This time, she managed to get on the show entirely thanks to Jiang Yuyao’s recommendation, so in their interactions, she constantly flatters Jiang Yuyao. The two also took the opportunity to sell their sisterly bond on the dating show.
The other couple consists of Sweet Bean and Da Meng, million-follower internet celebrity influencers on the Tomato Platform. They are a sweet girl and beast duo, serving as the comedic relief, with popularity second only to the Jiang-Shen pairing.
Netizens love their contrasting charm, but perhaps due to an invisible hierarchy between influencers and celebrities, even after half a month, they still struggle to integrate with the other guests, sparking some controversy online.
“Your Qiao Yu is great too.”
Jiang Yuyao smiled as she looked at Qiao Yu beside Zhou Ruoyu, her beauty captivating. Under her gaze, Qiao Yu couldn’t help but blush at the tips of his ears.
Jiang Yuyao noticed this, her smile growing even brighter as she turned her gaze to Shen Linzhou beside her.
“Actually, I told Linzhou not to go through all this trouble. But he said he was worried I wouldn’t be used to the breakfast prepared by the production team, so he insisted on making it for me. I couldn’t stop him, so I just let him do it.”
“Making it for you is no trouble at all.”
Shen Linzhou chimed in while reaching for a tissue to wipe the milk stain from the corner of Jiang Yuyao’s lips.
“Wow! You two are really… feeding us enough dog food!” Zhou Ruoyu teased.
“Yuyao, Shen Linzhou is handsome and considerate. You better hold onto him tightly, so no one else gets any ideas.”
Zhou Ruoyu’s words carried a hidden meaning, praising one while subtly targeting another. “By the way, it’s almost nine o’clock, right? Has the new guest not arrived yet?”
“Should be soon, right?” Jiang Yuyao took a bite of salad, chewing over a dozen times before swallowing, then added casually, “After all, this is a live broadcast, not a film shoot. Song Ying wouldn’t make everyone wait for her, would she?”
As soon as she said this, the comments section erupted.
【No wonder Song Ying is a flop—she even makes people wait on set? My Yuyao is never late for filming.】
【This little nobody is both annoying and loves to ride coattails. Today is truly an eye-opener.】
Just as Zhou Ruoyu was about to respond, the sound of a car engine roared outside the shared cottage.
“It looks like Song Ying! She’s here!”
Zhou Ruoyu, seated in a spot where she could easily see outside, glanced up. But soon, she let out a snicker. “Is that her boyfriend? He’s really… ‘handsome’…”
Though her words said one thing, her expression made it clear to everyone that the reality was quite different.