【Dumb Youth, Lots of Joy: LOL, saw it coming. Fans always brag about his cold, aloof persona, but now he’s exposed? The entertainment industry is just a bunch of fakes playing games-this is just a persona collapse, who knows what other dirty secrets are hidden off camera? The house is about to fall, for sure.】
【Chuangfei the World: …Wasn’t there an anonymous tip about him workplace bullying not long ago? Knew he wasn’t a good guy. That blew over, but now karma’s come around.】
【Eyes Open, It’s On: What an idiot… Is he mentally okay… Is it just acting or split personality…?】
【Linglingqi: I can’t accept this, the contrast is too much, too jarring, I’ll believe any explanation at this point, I just can’t accept Xiao Shan saying stuff like this… I just can’t picture it ahhh!】
【Chengchengchengcheng: Always thought he was faking it, must be exhausting pretending to be the aloof flower all the time, right? Faking a persona to trick fans, flirting with game streamers in private, so gross…】
【When Will Jiang’s House Collapse: LOL, the day has finally come. I’ve been side-eyeing Jiang and his brainless fans for ages. All the good resources go to him, directors praise him to the skies but he’s just so-so. Who knows what he traded for those resources-if you’re so great, keep pretending. Just seeing his face annoys me, when will there be a real big scandal? Your reckoning is coming.】
……
In the company lounge, Jiang Nan’an sat on the sofa hugging his tablet, the screen open to the trending topics plaza. He swiped aimlessly with his finger, and when he spoke, his voice was soft, almost like a sigh:
“I really am unlikable.”
Qi Hong’s sharp ears caught this, and she walked over and snatched the tablet from his hands:
“Don’t say that-don’t you have tens of millions of fans who like you? If you’re unlikable, what about everyone else?”
Jiang Nan’an blinked, his voice even softer, as if just talking to himself:
“Do they really like me?”
“What?”
Qi Hong didn’t catch that.
“…Nothing.” Jiang Nan’an rubbed his hair, then apologized sincerely:
“Sorry for causing trouble again.”
“It’s fine, you’re not entirely to blame. Just a mispost and a slip of the finger-compared to the ones in the industry who are whoring, doing drugs, evading taxes, cheating on their wives, or juggling a dozen lovers, this is nothing.”
Qi Hong had already adjusted her mindset; now she looked like a completely different person from the one who’d been yelling on the phone earlier.
She tossed the tablet to Xiao Sun:
“We’ve assessed it-someone is definitely taking advantage of this to mess with you, otherwise why would the internet blow it up so much? If they can’t dig up real dirt, they’ll just fan the flames with whatever they can find. It’s so shady. Here’s what we’ll do: we don’t respond, let the online mob say whatever they want. If we don’t admit it, there’s nothing to it. In a couple days, I’ll sue a few of the ringleaders… If we don’t push back, people will think we’re easy targets.”
It wasn’t a matter of principle anyway. After a couple days of online frenzy, things would die down, and as for his public persona, without any real evidence, things would go back to normal. Even if someone brought it up again, it wouldn’t make big waves-just a few mocking comments, nothing serious.
But Qi Hong still felt something was off. She clicked into the real-time trending page and kept refreshing, noticing that the discussion had somehow drifted in a new direction.
【Love Liangliang: So the previous workplace bullying accusations against Jiang Nan’an were true, huh? Our poor Liangliang, working hard and getting bullied by a ‘senior,’ and when others stood up for him, Jiang’s fans chased them down with sarcasm. @Liang Cheng, speak up! Don’t be afraid, everyone’s on your side!】
【User287398: Crew member here. Jiang Nan’an’s on-camera persona is all fake; off-camera he’s arrogant and has a bad temper, treats staff badly. I was there the day he wrapped-when he pointed at Liang Cheng’s nose and cursed him out, it was brutal. Liang Cheng is a newcomer, just wanted a photo out of respect for a senior, and got chewed out. Lots of people on set felt bad for him, but what can you do, he’s a big star. No comment.】
【Eat Some Chengzi Cake: Just say it-Jiang Nan’an is a nutcase… Something’s wrong with his head, so when will you apologize to the new actor you bullied, Teacher Nan’an?? @JiangNan’an @JiangNan’an @JiangNan’an】
On the internet, making connections with divergent thinking is normal, embellishing stories and stirring up trouble out of nothing is normal, fans protecting their idols and attacking rivals is also normal, but the problem is…
“Sister Hong!”
The glass door of the break room was pushed open from outside, and the company intern anxiously poked his head in:
“Liang Cheng has responded! The hashtag is already trending!”
“Liang Cheng? What’s it got to do with him?!”
Qi Hong’s voice rose in pitch. She immediately grabbed back the tablet, and Jiang Nan’an also slowly picked up his phone to open Weibo.
Sure enough, the hashtag “#Liang Cheng Response#” was already hanging on the hot list, visibly climbing higher.
【Liang Cheng V-5 minutes ago: Haha, let me clarify about everyone’s discussion! None of that happened, please don’t worry about me. I’m really happy to have worked with Teacher Jiang Nan’an, and it’s super honorable to receive guidance from a senior!! I definitely still have many shortcomings and caused a lot of trouble during work. Thank you Teacher Jiang for your tolerance and suggestions. In the future, I’ll work hard to improve myself and become an excellent actor like Teacher Jiang!!】
Jiang Nan’an popped a grape into his mouth. He lowered his eyes to look at the post on the screen, raising an eyebrow slightly.
“This is just dripping with sarcasm…” Qi Hong gritted her teeth, nearly throwing her phone across the room:
“What’s he trying to do? Huh?? Does he think I don’t know how much dirt his agent bought from the paparazzi last month??? This kind of opportunistic scum…”
Liang Cheng had jumped in with his two cents, seemingly defending Jiang Nan’an, but anyone with eyes could see his subtle undermining intentions. This kind of behavior would only fool his fans into believing he was truly a kind-hearted angel baby.
But that was enough, because he had effectively confirmed that anonymous tip from half a month ago, implying that yes, it was true, Jiang Nan’an did use his “senior” status to lecture juniors on set, and that he was a poor victim of bullying who dared not speak up. The cause, context, and whether it was “guidance” or “bullying” no longer mattered, because netizens would fill in the blanks themselves, and more so-called “on-site staff” would come out to muddy the waters. As for the spectators, they would only believe what they wanted to believe.
Qi Hong was furious. Seeing her state, Xiao Sun quickly tried to calm things down:
“It’s okay, Sister Hong, can’t we just ignore him and let him jump around by himself?”
“If only he were jumping alone!” Qi Hong threw down her glasses and rubbed her nose bridge in frustration:
“Him jumping out at this critical moment with such a statement, inciting online harassment is just the minor issue. Some things are false and will remain false, but the key is that he’s indirectly confirmed that your brother is indeed completely different off-camera… Sigh, it’s so annoying. As soon as something happens, clowns come out trying to ride the wave and manipulate fans, profiting from Jiang’s misfortune. It’s really infuriating.”
Qi Hong let out a heavy sigh and patted Jiang Nan’an’s shoulder:
“Don’t take it to heart. Leave this to me. But in the future, we really need to be more careful when we’re out, and never provoke these troublemakers again… What? A meeting? Alright, I’m coming.”
Qi Hong clacked away in her high heels. Jiang Nan’an leaned back on the sofa, looking down at his fingers, showing no particular emotion.
Xiao Sun observed his expression and comforted him: “Brother, don’t be sad. Here, have some water.”
“Huh? I’m not sad.”
Jiang Nan’an didn’t understand why he should be sad. The people online could curse all they wanted; he wouldn’t lose a single hair over it. He just found all the secrecy and scheming in the entertainment circle boring, and the clowns jumping out to suck his blood and take his life were even more annoying.
Hugging a cushion, he watched Qi Hong hurry past the glass of the break room. After a moment, he suddenly looked at Xiao Sun and asked out of nowhere in a low voice:
“Do you think going all-in when you’ve already lost requires paying a breach of contract fee?”
“Hmm…” Xiao Sun responded instinctively, only processing what Jiang Nan’an had said half a second later:
“What?!!!”
In the meeting room.
Qi Hong was raging about Liang Cheng’s interference. The PR department staff sat to the side, overwhelmed. The only sounds in the meeting room were Qi Hong’s voice and the soft clicks of mice and keyboards.
“Who does Liang Cheng think he is? We were winning awards when he was still bullying kids at that lousy school of his! Just because he has backing, he thinks he can play like this? Does he think our low profile means we’re easy targets? Come on, let’s…”
Qi Hong hadn’t finished when her phone on the table suddenly chimed.
In that instant, she had a very, very bad feeling.
It was the special notification she had set for Jiang Nan’an’s personal Weibo.
“Sister Hong-”
At the same time, Xiao Sun didn’t even have time to knock, pushing open the meeting room door with a terrified expression:
“Brother ran away! Before leaving, he asked me to tell you he’s sorry-”
Qi Hong raised her hand to cut off Xiao Sun’s words.
With trembling hands, she picked up her phone.
The meeting room fell deathly silent as the screen behind Qi Hong switched to a new page as she scrolled.
【Jiang Nan’an V-1 minute ago-IP location Shanghai】
【@Liang Cheng, no need to feel inferior, you’re already a great actor! [thumbs up][thumbs up][thumbs up] Keep it up! Looking forward to your next brilliant performance! [rose][rose][rose]】
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(advanced chapters available on kofi)
