Director Che wanted to help explain things for Li Qing, but… judging from the audition tape, Li Qing’s acting skills really were inferior to Yu Ran’s. If he were to release the video, it would likely just add fuel to the fire. He had no choice but to post a dry, lackluster Weibo update:
【I guarantee you all: Li Qing did not bring capital into the production. He passed the audition, and the team unanimously agreed that he was suitable for the role. It has nothing to do with any interests or capital! I admit he has some shortcomings in his acting, but for the character, he is worthy!】
Unfortunately, Director Che’s words were useless. Because the production team’s explanation was inadequate, and combined with the fact that too many people were inciting cyberbullying, Li Qing’s Weibo comment section was instantly overrun. Led by malicious actors, book fans were hurling all sorts of insults and abuse, even attacking his family and cursing him to die. Many celebrity fan groups also joined in, claiming their “idols” were the most suitable for the role and that Li Qing had intercepted a resource meant for a fair competition, demanding he “get out of the entertainment industry.” Many people even flooded Director Che’s account, accusing him of betraying his principles and losing his character to greed.
Director Che: “…” The first time in my life being cyberbullied…
Li Qing opened Weibo. His previous post had been about the establishment of his studio; there were very few comments then. But now, the comment section was unsightly:
【Why haven’t you died yet? How dare you steal Brother Ran’s role? Do you know how hard he worked to get where he is? Trash!】 【A grown man getting a role through those kinds of means how do you even have the face to act in it!】 【So disgusting. I hate “resource-backed” actors more than anything in this life. Get out of the entertainment industry; don’t let me see you again!】 【People like this still have fans? Are you all blind!?】
…
Of course, he still had some true-blue fans. Occasionally, one or two would appear in the comments to speak up for him:
【You don’t know the full story; don’t judge someone you don’t understand. What right do you have to scold him!】 【I read that novel a long time ago, and I think Qingqing’s looks fit the character perfectly. He hasn’t had much work since his debut; how did he suddenly become “resource-backed” just because he finally got a role?】
…
Lu Si had originally thought this was just a minor piece of “black” material. There were so many people in the entertainment industry who brought their own capital into productions; at most, he would be scolded for a bit, and there was no need to pay it any mind. His artist only had a pitiful number of fans anyway; if he were a hater, he wouldn’t even bother writing a smear piece it wasn’t worth the effort! Why not spend that time doing something else? Digging up scandals on first- or second-tier stars was much more profitable than Li Qing.
Lu Si’s solution was to ignore it. Once the filming was done, they could use their acting skills to slap the haters in the face and let them know who the real boss was!
Li Qing agreed with Lu Si’s method on the surface, but secretly, he opened a burner account to wage a three-hundred-round battle with the haters:
【You aren’t dead yet, so why should anyone else be? Everyone is just waiting to send you a wreath!】 【”Those means” go on, elaborate! Did you call him, or did you open a video call? You sound very well-informed! Is this your usual line of business?】 【Disgusting? Are you more disgusting than yourself? You’re just a toad trying to climb a wall, pretending to be some old authority figure!】
…
Unfortunately, Li Qing’s talent for scolding was too weak. His comments were quickly drowned out by the haters, and he was completely unable to fight the army of trolls on his own.
Li Qing finally understood why some people were driven to suicide by cyberbullying. He was ten thousand years old, and even he struggled to control his temper when facing such filthy words, let alone ordinary people. To avoid upsetting himself, Li Qing turned off his phone and decided to listen to Lu Si and ignore it for the time being.
Little did he know, what followed was completely unexpected and gradually strayed off track…
Two days later, two fans had their identities and addresses exposed and were beaten by haters. The older girl suffered a head injury and was hospitalized in a coma, unable to report to her new job on time and missing out on a great opportunity. The younger girl nearly had her innocence destroyed, suffered severe psychological trauma, and had to drop out of school to recover.
Li Shanhai quickly had people protect the two girls, handling lawsuits, medical treatment, and psychological counseling… trying to provide them with as much compensation as possible.
When Li Qing found out, he was furious. Scolding him was one thing he could endure that; everyone likes to scold a bit to “cultivate their character.” But involving innocent people was going too far! They actually dared to lay hands on them!
In the Qingqiu clan, if they had a grudge with someone, they reported it on the spot and faced them head-on. If they had the guts, they could come to him and fight; why bully young girls, and why bully people who had no strength to fight back!? He had never seen such shameless, vicious-minded people in his life!
Li Qing video-called the two injured girls, comforting them softly for a long time. After hanging up, he irritably buried himself under his quilt. Is this the meaning of “gaining experience”? Discovering the diversity of a species? No wonder his uncle sealed his power; was he afraid that if he lost his temper, he would slaughter them all?
Both his father and brother were heartbroken for him. Si Muchen couldn’t bear to see Li Qing being scolded indefinitely, either. He wanted to suppress the matter directly; with their strength, removing all the trending topics and smoothing this over wasn’t a problem at all.
But Li Qing didn’t let them. His fans had spoken up for him and been bullied to this extent; he had to seek revenge himself! He couldn’t let them have stood up for him in vain…
Si Muchen paced in front of Li Qing’s door, wanting to knock but slowly lowering his hand. He wanted to let him digest this alone, but he was worried he might do something rash.
At that moment, Li Qing was sitting cross-legged on the bed with his eyes tightly shut, the backs of his hands resting on his knees, palms facing upward. He silently chanted a mantra. The seal within his body loosened slightly, releasing a sliver of power. He couldn’t shake the entire seal, but this bit of power was enough.
Laying in front of him were several sheets of yellow paper and a silver needle. Li Qing pricked his finger and dripped blood onto the talisman paper…
Half an hour later, Li Qing opened his eyes and yawned. In a fairly good mood, he snapped a selfie showing his still-bleeding finger and the messily drawn talisman, captioning it:
【Today, using blood as a medium, I wish all you keyboard warriors ten days of explosive bad luck!!! The curse is born from the malice you feel toward me; the more evil the intent, the greater the backlash. Next, prepare to meet your retribution!】
With Li Huai’s intervention, this Weibo post couldn’t be deleted and hung high at the number one spot on the trending topics. Though he didn’t understand why his brother wanted him to do this, he didn’t object and left everything to Li Qing’s arrangements.
After Li Qing posted the Weibo, Si Muchen secretly contacted his brother-in-law, spending a vast sum of money to hire several metaphysics masters and a few highly skilled computer hackers. He didn’t know what Li Qing was planning or why he had posted this, but he didn’t want Qing’er to receive any more harm or abuse…
However, this Weibo post was essentially a blatant invitation for abuse. In the eyes of netizens, not only was he unrepentant, but he was also cursing everyone who had given him “good advice.” They had encountered such a “death-seeking” person for the first time; the hatred from the entire internet reached its peak.
In truth, most people didn’t care whether Li Qing had brought capital into the production. They simply discovered that there was someone they could vent their frustrations on who couldn’t fight back, satisfying their sadistic psychological desires. The internet masses followed those who were scolding him, feeling it was quite interesting.
At first, they had felt a bit guilty, but later, seeing so many people scolding him, they concluded he couldn’t possibly be innocent after all, flies don’t bite seamless eggs. By the time some people finished scolding, they didn’t even know why they were scolding in the first place. But they felt relieved in their hearts, finally being able to vent without restraint, no longer having to care about anyone’s feelings.
Some people always felt that the internet… could let them remain beyond the reach of the law…
So many people were scolding Li Qing that Weibo crashed for two hours before it could be repaired. Li Qing couldn’t be bothered to look at the filth; he tossed his phone aside, left the room, and took Si Muchen to visit the two injured fans. Since they were injured because of him, he wanted to visit them with gifts, no longer caring about the storm on the internet.
The Weibo post was sent at 9:00 AM. In just a few short hours, the scolding comments reached over a million. After 2:00 PM, the wind suddenly shifted because Li Qing’s curse actually began to come true…