The paparazzi never expected Li Ziyue’s downfall to happen so quickly.
He still had some valuable material in his hands that could fetch a good amount of money.
Typically, such scandalous information would first be offered to the person involved to avoid making enemies. This way, he could make money while keeping things amicable—a win-win situation.
However, when he contacted the management company, he was ignored. Probably everyone was too busy to deal with him.
Seeing the massive amount of videos Chen Duo was revealing afterward, the paparazzi realized that the more Chen Duo exposed, the less valuable his own material became.
To make matters worse, Li Ziyue’s side was completely ignoring him.
So, this valuable package could only be offered to Chen Duo instead.
Soon, Chen Duo added him on WeChat. The other party sent a few screenshots.
Chen Duo was pleasantly surprised by this unexpected windfall: “How much?”
“One hundred thousand,” the paparazzi tentatively asked, considering she was just a fan photographer for an obscure star.
“Is this material authentic?” Chen Duo inquired.
“Absolutely genuine. When they were planning it, I was less than twenty meters away from them,” he explained.
“How long is the video?”
“Two minutes.”
Chen Duo simply said, “Bank account number.”
The paparazzi was overjoyed, never expecting it to go so smoothly. No wonder she could be a fan photographer—her financial resources were impressive. Soon, his bank card notified him of a deposit.
He then packaged and sent the video to Chen Duo.
After reviewing the full video, even Chen Duo was shocked. How could there be such valuable evidence?
What was the point of her hiring over twenty college students and reviewing tens of thousands of hours of surveillance footage?
With this material, the tables were instantly turned.
Since Chen Duo’s post went live at eight o’clock online, Gu Yanqiu’s experiences had touched even casual observers.
Allegations of having a sugar daddy and bullying others were completely unfounded.
“Wait, isn’t this the pot calling the kettle black?”
“Always using depression as an excuse—real depression doesn’t lead to this kind of behavior.”
“I thought everyone was terrible, but after today, isn’t Gu Yanqiu the epitome of naive and sweet? Even her last career opportunity came from her fan photographer’s godly photos. The company just reaped the benefits without lifting a finger. No wonder Gu Yanqiu wants to switch companies. Staying in such a company must be utterly frustrating.”
“Li Ziyue’s fans are still arguing, claiming someone is out to get their idol. Open your eyes and see—who’s really harming whom here?”
“How dare he? Did he really think no one would find out what he said?”
“His attitude in the video is so arrogant—I just want to punch him.”
“I checked out Li Ziyue’s web series and all I can say is, his real-life acting skills are far better than his on-screen performances.”
“If it weren’t for the fan photographer’s moves today, you would have succeeded, wouldn’t you?”
“As someone who regularly watches surveillance footage, I can tell from the dozens of clips, each just over ten seconds long, how much work went into compiling them.”
“Spreading rumors is easy, but refuting them takes endless effort.”
“Where is Li Ziyue? Why isn’t he speaking up? He was able to appear on shows before—why is he silent now?”
“And that Jin Yuchen, always jumping around causing trouble. You’re all birds of a feather—none of you are any good.”
“Gu Yanqiu is just unlucky to have gotten involved with you all.”
“Orange Entertainment, come out and take your scolding.”
The popularity of the topic was overwhelming, with public opinion turning almost entirely against Li Ziyue.
Li Ziyue showed as online but didn’t say a word.
Chaos had already erupted in Li Ziyue’s fan group.
But his die-hard fans remained defiant: “Who knows if this footage is even real?”
“Our idol has already apologized, why keep hounding him?”
“Here’s a little-known fact: bullying isn’t just physical. Eye-contact bullying counts too. He must have bullied our idol with his eyes.”
Under this comment, even netizens couldn’t hold back: “What bullshit ‘eye-contact bullying’! Today I’ve truly witnessed the diversity of species.”
“Exactly! Weren’t you all saying there was no evidence before? Now they’ve produced evidence. Meanwhile, you’re the ones trying to ruin someone’s career for no reason – how vicious!”
Li Ziyue’s fans, being criticized, began lashing out recklessly: “They’re probably just using some random hotel footage as evidence.”
“That’s right! Please don’t destroy a good actor because of online bullying.”
“You think this counts as evidence? Don’t think we fans are just going to take this lying down.”
Li Ziyue’s fans continued: “All that buildup about ‘see you at eight’ – thought they’d have solid evidence. And this is it… Go ahead and sue, let’s see if any judge would accept this. Learn some basic law first.”
“Exactly! We’ll defend our idol’s reputation to the death!”
“Our Moon Family Army fights for Yueyue! If anyone dares speak against our Yueyue, they’ll have to answer to us fans!”
“That fan photographer? Got any other evidence? *picks nose*”
In the group chats, many were being attacked and insulted. A small portion of fans kept urging Li Ziyue to speak up.
After all, everyone was fighting for him while he remained completely silent.
Back when Gu Yanqiu faced similar situations, he’d always stood in front of his fans. The contrast was just too stark.
Li Ziyue was miserable. Who would have thought footage from several months ago could resurface? Now he was completely ridiculed online, with netizens’ criticisms growing increasingly harsh.
He absolutely didn’t want to speak up!
But the group administrator’s words struck a chord with him – this so-called evidence wasn’t really evidence at all.
Right now, everyone was waiting for him to say something. The online storm was raging, with their conflict occupying six trending search spots.
Meanwhile, the company’s PR department called him: “Whatever you do, don’t respond. Wait for our lawyer’s letter to the other party.” They planned to sue for defamation, confident they’d win.
Ordinary people rarely encountered such tactics – most would be intimidated by a lawyer’s letter and delete their posts.
The artist promotion team had it all figured out, until another trending search suddenly appeared:
“Li Ziyue, are you even a man?”
Clicking in revealed it was a short essay written by one of Li Ziyue’s own fans. She hadn’t slept for two days since the incident started, busy showing support, fighting against negative comments, and battling various netizens. Exhausted, she found her idol hadn’t uttered a single word.
This post immediately angered Li Ziyue’s other fans.
“What kind of time is this to be causing internal conflict?”
“Sis, I have to question your loyalty.”
“Even if you were Yueyue’s fan before? True colors show in difficult times. Yueyue is already suffering enough, and as a fan you’re stabbing him in the heart? Someone like you should be expelled from the fandom – you’re nothing but trouble.”
This sparked full-blown arguments.
The fan’s original statement – “Li Ziyue, are you even a man?” – was repeatedly highlighted and mocked by Gu Yanqiu’s fans.
The post was pushed to the top. Li Ziyue felt as if he were being roasted over a fire. Whether he wanted to or not, he had to speak up. So, he had no choice but to step forward and issue a statement: “I apologize for occupying public attention with this matter. This will be the last time I address it. I don’t know where the other party obtained the recording, but I never said those things. My management company was worried about my mental state and didn’t want me to respond, but I didn’t want to disappoint my fans either. However, I will not admit to those malicious slanders. That’s all. I hope this matter can pass quickly.”
The last sentence came from the bottom of his heart. He even regretted stirring up this trouble in the first place.
Gu Yanqiu was just a minor idol with no power or influence. Who would go through the trouble of retrieving a year’s worth of surveillance footage and meticulously editing it, clip by clip, for his sake? Wasn’t that exhausting?
He deeply felt that the internet wasn’t what he had imagined it to be. Once a fire started, it was hard to put out.
After posting this, Li Ziyue felt his eyelids twitching uncontrollably.
The next second, he saw Chen Duo post another update: “I didn’t want to drive anyone into a corner. But since some people won’t give up until they’re faced with their own doom, I’ll just have to send you off for good.”
Below the message was a two-minute video attached.
Even before watching the video, Li Ziyue had a bad feeling. When he finally saw it, he was completely stunned.