As soon as Cheng Fang heard this, she leaned over to look at Jiang Tian’s phone.
Sure enough, the direction of the first three trending topics had completely changed.
Under the first topic, #Gu Jinyan publicly forces lover to take birth control pills#, the fans who had previously clamored that it must be a misunderstanding, that the award-winning actor couldn’t possibly do such a thing, waving the banner of “believing” in the actor and calling Jiang Tian a scheming, shameless woman trying to ride his fame, had all disappeared. In their place were groups of feminist fans.
“Why should the woman be forced to take birth control pills after sex? Isn’t it the man’s fault? I support Miss Jiang smashing that pill box in the award-winning actor Gu’s face.”
“Same as above. I think Miss Jiang’s action of smashing the box in his face was simply awesome.”
“Having fun and then demanding the woman take pills to prevent pregnancy—what kind of selfish person does that? A man like that deserves to have his dick rot. What a waste of all those years I liked Gu Jinyan. Unfollowed!”
“Unfollowed +1. Already planning to go follow Miss Jiang Tian next door.”
“Switching fans too.”
“…”
Looking through the comments, about eighty percent of the fans were cheering Jiang Tian on for smashing the box, saying how satisfying it was.
The topic had even escalated from entertainment gossip to a sensitive issue between men and women. Many gynecological experts had also reposted it, reminding the public to avoid excessive use of birth control pills and to practice healthy, reasonable contraception.
Jiang Tian hadn’t expected at all that she’d actually promote a positive message this way.
Under the second and third topics, #Aloof award-winning actor’s persona collapses; plays with women’s emotions# and #Award-winning actor with surname G personally steps in to promote secret lover#, the insults were even more rampant.
Female fans seemed to have suddenly awakened overnight, attacking the award-winning actor Gu for toying with emotions and cheating with a mistress.
“So the award-winning actor Gu, who built an aloof persona, is actually a scumbag who forces his fiancée to take birth control pills.”
“Clearly engaged yet pretending to be single. Disgusting.”
“Forcing his fiancée to take pills in the morning, dating his mistress at night—trash!”
“…”
Cheng Fang & Jiang Tian: …
“So the award-winning actor’s fans aren’t very loyal?”
“This is my first time seeing this.”
But as they scrolled further down, they realized the reason for the above backlash was a new super-topic rapidly climbing the ranks.
#Award-winning actor cheats; unknown fiancée can’t take it anymore, splashes red wine# HOT!
Clicking on it, there was actually a video.
It captured how Jiang Tian rushed over to splash red wine all over Gu Jinyan’s face, her desperate accusations, and her disappointed departure.
In the comments, Gu Jinyan was being cursed left and right.
“Trash man, engaged for three years yet has the nerve to claim he’s single, and now cheating on top of that? Fan turned anti-fan!”
“So angry my fingers are still trembling. Consider all those years of liking him as me being blind. Gu Jinyan, from now on, I’m your anti-fan!”
“Gu Jinyan, just get out of the entertainment industry. You’re too disgusting to look at.”
“Jiang Tian is so pitiful. Seeing her smash the birth control pills in the morning and then stumbling upon the cheating scene at night breaks my heart. I’m going to comfort the girl…”
“The girl’s courage is admirable. Smashing his face in the morning, splashing wine now—well done! Why should a woman rely on a scumbag?”
“Seeing that Zhao Xiying makes me want to puke. Built a ‘Jade Girl’ persona, but turns out she’s a ‘Lustful Girl’!”
“Trash matches with dogs, may you last forever!”
…
Jiang Tian and Cheng Fang were dumbfounded as they scrolled. Returning to Jiang Tian’s account, the fans who had initially cursed at her had all changed their tune.
A long row of “Sorry” filled the screen.
There were also all kinds of comments, private messages, and new fans showing support and concern.
Even the previous surge to over two million anti-fans had skyrocketed to five million and was still climbing at lightning speed.
Jiang Tian was completely stunned.
Cheng Fang, however, was so excited she was about to cry.
“Jiang Tian! You’re about to blow up!”
…
While Jiang Tian was on the verge of blowing up, Gu Jinyan and Zhao Xiying were already being torn apart online.
Especially Zhao Xiying.
Gu Jinyan had the reputation of an aloof, award-winning actor, and with his consistently solid reputation over the years, even if many fans had unfollowed, the number of loyal fans remaining was still massive.
These fans, with nowhere else to vent, turned their attacks toward Zhao Xiying.
Fans dug up everything from Zhao Xiying’s Weibo and finally realized that this previously lukewarm actress, who had built a “Jade Girl” persona and acted like a white lotus, had actually subtly shown off her “affection” countless times.
2018.02.14
Received roses from a friend today, so beautiful. Knowing I like Blue Enchantress, they specially sent them. So thoughtful. Love you. (づ￣3￣)づ╭～
#Accompanied by a photo: a beautiful, slender man’s hand holding Blue Enchantress roses.
Fans exploded: Holy crap, this must be the award-winning actor’s gift, right? Whose hand could that be holding the Blue Enchantress if not Gu Jinyan’s?
2018.05.20
#Even a single dog can receive a comforting red packet from a friend, so happy (-^▽^-)#
#Accompanied by a WeChat screenshot: a red packet transfer of 1314 yuan.
Fans were nearly hysterical: Holy crap, that blurred-out profile picture looks just like the one from the earlier leak of Gu Jinyan’s account! So mad!
There were all kinds of Weibo posts showing off affection, but almost every one used the term “friend” to refer to Gu Jinyan.
Moreover, fans dug up various past interviews of Zhao Xiying, all stating that she was single, with no boyfriend or lover.
She had previously collaborated with Gu Jinyan, and their close relationship had been exposed before. The scheming Zhao Xiying had explicitly stated she had no feelings for the award-winning actor Gu, treating him only as a senior and colleague.
But now, exposed like this, fans felt as if they’d been fed a mouthful of crap.
This shameless white lotus, on one hand claiming she was single and that she and Gu Jinyan were just ordinary colleagues, while on the other posting all kinds of misleading texts and images.
If they were really just friends, how could she not know he already had a fiancée?
How could she accept those roses and red packets?
And still act so ambiguously?
This was clearly Zhao Xiying’s deliberate act—denying it openly while covertly showing off in ambiguous ways.
So disgusting!
If Gu Jinyan and Jiang Tian truly had a bad relationship, if it was just a family-arranged marriage, and if Gu Jinyan genuinely liked Zhao Xiying but only ended up being labeled as a “friend,” that would be truly humiliating.
This woman was simply the epitome of hypocrisy.
Fans were outraged, relentlessly posting curses and insults.
Zhao Xiying was so frightened she immediately turned off comments. Her face looked terrible.
Her manager was also frantically calling various contacts to urgently handle the backlash, trying to suppress all negative publicity.
But even as trending topics were removed one after another, new ones kept popping up, like #Please kick white lotuses like Zhao Xiying out of the entertainment industry#.
The speed of removing trending topics couldn’t keep up with netizens’ appetite for gossip.
“Xiying, maybe we should release a statement and clarify everything.”
Manager Liu Yao was nearly frantic.
Her own experience wasn’t that extensive, and her capabilities were limited.
Zhao Xiying had always been lukewarm. It was Zhao Xiying who approached her, saying that once she returned to China, she had a way to connect with Gu Jinyan and could become popular. That’s why Liu Yao agreed to take her on.
In the end, she returned to China, but instead of becoming popular, she was almost completely ruined.
Originally, Zhao Xiying’s return was meant to build momentum for her future career.
Their team had even prepared some explosive material in advance.
For example, materials and press releases like #Jade Girl actress returns quietly; award-winning actor friend picks her up in a special car# were already prepared, ready to be released at 8 p.m. sharp after Zhao Xiying and Gu Jinyan finished dinner.
But who would have expected that Gu Jinyan and Jiang Tian’s relationship would be exposed earlier, and even Jiang Tian would catch them dining together and splash red wine?
Now, great.
Everything was ruined.
Moreover, if these materials were released now, they would only confirm Zhao Xiying’s identity as the other woman.
Liu Yao was so anxious she was getting ulcers, but Zhao Xiying remained calm.
“Sister Liu, don’t worry. Jiang Tian must have bribed people in advance. Wait, I’ll make a call.”
Zhao Xiying, pale-faced, picked up the phone and dialed Gu Jinyan. As soon as the call connected, her tears began to fall…
…
“A Yan, after you left, I was surrounded by a group of reporters. Now I’m being attacked online. What should I do… A Yan…”
The woman’s choked-up voice came through, tinged with a sob.
Liu Yao, watching from the side, was stunned.
But she didn’t stop her; instead, she felt somewhat pleased.
This Zhao Xiying knew how to handle things and was skilled at using her own advantages.
That was one reason she had decided to take Zhao Xiying on in the first place.
Finding an artist with ambition and who knew how to navigate situations was crucial.
Hearing Zhao Xiying’s sobs, Gu Jinyan was also taken aback. In fact, he had been scrolling through the Weibo drama on his tablet and was just about to call Jiang Tian when Zhao Xiying beat him to it.
He hesitated for a moment, then said in a deep voice, “You’re crying?”
As soon as Zhao Xiying heard the man’s voice, she sniffled, as if forcing herself to hold back. “No… I’m not crying…”
But the deliberately nasal tone clearly sounded like crying. It wasn’t about pretending to be strong—it was about making sure Gu Jinyan knew she was suffering.
“It’s just… seeing all those people online attacking me makes me feel terrible… You haven’t seen how awful the things they’re saying are… I just wanted to record our moments together. I didn’t want your kindness to me to be misunderstood. A Yan, what should I do? If I had known this would happen, I would never have posted those things about us. We’re just close friends—why are people making it sound like this? Why are they tainting our pure friendship?”
Zhao Xiying spoke while sniffling, as if she were on the verge of breaking down.
Li Xia, listening nearby, widened his eyes in shock.
So, in Sister Xiying’s eyes, she had no feelings for Brother Gu?
But then why did she always say ambiguous things whenever she saw him?
And as for those so-called “affectionate” posts on Weibo—while fans might not know, he was all too aware.
Wasn’t it always Zhao Xiying complaining about being single and wanting flowers from Brother Gu to show off?
Of course, Zhao Xiying probably didn’t realize that Brother Gu had never paid attention to such requests. Those flowers were always sent by him…
The only things Brother Gu sent out of courtesy and friendship were birthday gifts, and even those were passed through him.
As for that hand in the photo—that had been his own silly idea, never expecting Zhao Xiying to make use of it.
Brother Gu was naturally indifferent to most things, rarely even attending banquets, so he never paid attention to Zhao Xiying’s Weibo.
And Li Xia had originally thought that since Brother Gu had no feelings for Sister Jiang, it would be fine if he broke off the engagement later and got together with Sister Xiying. So he never reminded Brother Gu. But Zhao Xiying’s current act was really…
Li Xia, who had always been a fan of Zhao Xiying, felt as if something was stuck in his throat upon hearing her tearful complaints.
For some reason, he suddenly thought of Jiang Tian, who was said to be delicate and scheming.
Compared to Sister Xiying’s crying today, Sister Jiang’s bottle of red wine tonight was truly bold and satisfying.
“Delete those posts, and it’ll be fine. I’ll also clarify things separately.” Hearing Zhao Xiying cry, Gu Jinyan’s expression darkened slightly.
Zhao Xiying sensed that Gu Jinyan intended to speak up for her and resolve the matter. Her eyes immediately lit up, and she even stopped crying. “Clarify? Jin Yan, how are you planning to clarify?”
Would he directly confess, taking the blame himself?
Or would he say nothing happened between them and that Jiang Tian was making a fuss?
But no matter how he clarified, it would only benefit her, with no downsides.
Zhao Xiying couldn’t help but feel a surge of anticipation.
“You’ll know soon.”