Lin Chen cautiously groped his way through the fog, trying to find a glimmer of hope. However, before he could find a breakthrough, a long-planned, destructive storm had already quietly descended.
The signs of the storm began with a seemingly ordinary gossip post. In the early hours of the morning, a sensational post appeared on a well-known entertainment forum: "Breaking News! Newly Rising 'Folk Prodigy' Lin Chen's Image Collapses, His Private Life is Chaotic, Suspected of Being Kept by a Rich Woman!"
The post vividly described Lin Chen's ambiguous relationships with multiple women during the competition, and how this intensified after signing with Xingyao, where he frequently frequented high-end venues and acted intimately with a wealthy businesswoman old enough to be his mother. The text was extremely embellished, and included several blurry, candid photos—in which Lin Chen, wearing a mask and hat, was entering a high-end restaurant, and beside him was indeed a well-dressed, slightly older woman. The photo actually depicted a scene from a previous brand dinner where Amy arranged for him to politely escort a female representative from a business partner to her car. However, the angle of the photo was deliberately chosen to create an ambiguous atmosphere.
This post, like a stone thrown into a cesspool, instantly stirred up a storm. Online trolls, sensing the opportunity, flooded the post with insults, using all sorts of vile language to accuse Lin Chen of being "hypocritical," "a gigolo," and "unworthy of his position." Some uninformed netizens were also swayed and began to join the mockery.
This was just the beginning.
The next morning, several marketing accounts with millions of followers, as if by prior arrangement, simultaneously released "in-depth exposés," with even more "detailed" and "fatal" content.
One article, claiming to have interviewed Lin Chen's "former fellow townsman," revealed that he came from a poor family but was vain and materialistic, neglecting his bedridden mother to go to the city for a competition, and even "stealing his family's savings."
Another post, citing an "insider" from the show's production team, accused Lin Chen of being "arrogant" and "difficult to work with," isolating and ostracizing other contestants during the training camp, and behaving domineeringly towards staff after signing with the company, a far cry from her "humble and grateful" image on camera.
Another post directly included several manipulated screenshots of chat logs showing someone, believed to be Lin Chen's account, demanding designer watches and sports cars from a "rich woman" with explicit language and a fawning attitude.
These "dirts," a mix of truth and falsehood, wove a massive, malicious web, tightly trapping Lin Chen within it. The blurry photos, anonymous "leaks," and fabricated chat logs, under carefully orchestrated public opinion manipulation, seemed like irrefutable "ironclad evidence."
On the trending topics list, hashtags like #LinChen'sImageCollapse#, #LinChenKeptHold#, and #LinChenGetOutOfTheEntertainmentIndustry# instantly appeared, followed by the glaring "explosive" word. His social media accounts were completely overrun, every post flooded with tens of thousands of insults and personal attacks. Even his early, pure music clips on the "Echo" platform were now inundated with obscene comments.
A comprehensive, all-encompassing online attack against him formed in a very short time and quickly swept across the entire internet.
Lin Chen secretly saw this information in his company apartment using his old phone. At that moment, he felt his blood freeze. Anger, resentment, a sense of absurdity… all these emotions intertwined, almost tearing him apart. He wanted to shout, to clarify, to tell everyone that it was all a lie!