When Xiao He finished filming, it was already evening. The fans who had come to visit the set had long departed, and with their departure, the online sentiment quietly began to shift.
"He actually went and stirred up trouble—"
Xiao He looked at the phone Liu Rulan handed him, quite astonished.
As a major recent production, the domestic entertainment industry had considerable attention on their crew. With fans returning home and the production team's deliberate publicity efforts, discussions about the crew had gradually climbed onto the Hot Search rankings.
Naturally, among the top trending topics were those related to Su Shengxi.
[Su Shengxi's Acting Skills]
Xiao He: How come I didn't see that?
[Su Shengxi is so dedicated! His face was completely pale when he finished filming!]
Xiao He: Is it possible that was intentionally applied battle damage makeup?
[Hidden Star Shine Ensemble Cast Explodes!]
Xiao He: Now this one I can get behind.
"The public opinion hasn't fully developed yet." Liu Rulan pointed at the topic related to "dedication." "Right now everyone is just discussing how dedicated and hardworking Su Shengxi is. I suspect that later in the evening, a Hot Search topic about you bullying Su Shengxi on set will appear."
Xiao He: "?"
Who? Me?
"They're suggesting that I bullied Su Shengxi in front of nearly a hundred fans and hundreds of crew members?"
Xiao He struggled to parse the complete meaning.
"Exactly."
Liu Rulan looked at him as if this were completely expected. "These are just their usual petty tactics. You need to learn to accept this."
Xiao He: "..."
Well, that certainly broadens my horizons.
"Should we suppress their Hot Search topic in advance then?"
Liu Rulan looked at Xiao He, a peculiar smile appearing on her face. "Such a perfect opportunity? Of course not."
What a warm, caring big sister appearance she had, yet at this moment her smile sent chills down one's spine.
Xiao He was already mentally lighting virtual candles for these people in advance.
At 9:05 PM, a Hot Search topic parachuted onto the trending list—
[Su Shengxi Experiences On-Set Bullying!]
It was the weekend, precisely when many people were going online to relax. With traffic at its peak, this news immediately captured public attention.
[Ah? What happened? Didn't fans just visit the set?]
[What's wrong with Su Shengxi?]
[Ah? Who bullied him? Wasn't he perfectly fine today?]
The video screenshots happened to capture the scene of Xiao He and Su Shengxi confronting each other. The leading marketing accounts and related profiles edited out the context, only showing the part where Su Shengxi was being hit by Xiao He.
So in others' eyes, it appeared that Xiao He was publicly beating Su Shengxi.
The fans immediately couldn't tolerate it.
[Is this during filming? But the hitting looks way too brutal! Brother Su's cries sound so pitiful, is it really not because of jealousy toward our Brother Su, deliberately going for the kill?]
[Actually, I've been holding back this anger since returning from the set visit. When Brother Su finished filming, I saw him rubbing his stomach looking particularly uncomfortable. Yet even in that state, he didn't say anything and forced himself to greet us. He's truly too kind, I'm crying so hard.]
[So on the surface it's filming, but actually that actor is deliberately going for the kill, right?]
[Who is this actor anyway? Is he insane? If he has jealousy issues, he should get treatment. Is beating people up like this really okay?]
Soon Xiao He was identified and put on trial by these fans.
[He looks pretty average, truly a low-tier celebrity. Desperately wants fame, right? Hehe, our Brother Su is just that popular.]
[This is the actor playing Mu Ze, right? Could this be a case of the face revealing the heart? Back when he inexplicably became popular, I already thought he seemed quite strange, giving people a particularly uncomfortable feeling, doesn't seem like a good person.]
[It's him, what an idiot.]
[He really gives people a particularly uncomfortable feeling. Does he have a criminal record? Can we report him to the police? This is really too much.]
[Already reported to police.]
As more and more fans joined in, this matter transformed from a small-scale discussion into a massive cyberbullying campaign.
The comment section of Xiao He's only social media account directly turned into a graveyard, while his private messages became a trash bin.
But beyond many people's expectations, this cyberbullying campaign differed completely from other small-scale internal bullying within the domestic entertainment industry. It directly expanded in scope and intensity, becoming a carnival that everyone participated in.
That night, whenever you opened your phone, no matter which social media platform you visited, you would see Su Shengxi's fans cyberbullying Xiao He.
Shanghai, inside a hotel room.
Xiao He hung up the comforting call from the production crew and turned to look at Sister Liu in the living room.
Liu Rulan had been monitoring this situation in real-time, constantly making phone calls to adjust the direction of public opinion.
"Yes, invest all the remaining funds, continue hiring water armies to insult Xiao He."
"Find several accounts to guide the fans' direction."
"Closely monitor the bullying trends, don't let it spread to Xiao He's family and friends."
"Continue investing another two hundred thousand—"
Of course, despite Liu Rulan's assurances, Xiao He still programmed his own screening system to scan the internet. Whenever comments targeted his close associates, or attempted to dox him personally or his family, he blocked them all and left markers, waiting to deliver "return gifts" after this matter concluded.
Meanwhile, on the other side, Tian Heng was continuously making phone calls: "Hey, this scale is too intense! You need to tone it down! Don't provoke resentment from neutral observers!"
"We're not!" The water army side sounded wronged. "We're following your instructions exactly."
"Then how did it become this situation?"
"Brother, this matter has already spiraled out of control. I see your artist's fans are quite fierce, do you really still need us to participate?"
Tian Heng took a deep breath: "Then quickly go guide the direction of public opinion! Don't let the situation expand further!"
If this continued unchecked, it was about to evolve into a social issue.
Looking at those fans clamoring one after another to report Xiao He to the police, Tian Heng felt cold sweat trickling down his forehead.
You can play around and have fun, but if this leads to official intervention, everyone will face serious consequences!
Tian Heng keenly detected something amiss about the situation. Looking at Xiao He's account that had shown no reaction or action thus far, Tian Heng felt an ominous premonition rising in his heart.
This is bad.
He sensed that the current situation was likely to lead to major trouble!
This isn't that woman's style at all!
Recalling the crazy stunts that madwoman Liu Rulan had pulled before, Tian Heng shuddered violently.