TL: Hua
Xiao Wang felt like he was going to die of fright. He and Yingying had just gone to move luggage and buy dinner. How did something suddenly go wrong here…
“What happened, Brother? Are, are you guys okay?”
At this moment, Gao Zitai was still shielding Lin Yanran behind him, his expression so agitated that Xiao Wang felt a bit scared.
“Let’s go inside to talk.”
Lin Yanran, on the other hand, was much calmer.
He walked to the front, pulled Gao Zitai’s sleeve, and led the group into his room.
Once they were inside, Lin Yanran said to Yingying, “Have Sister Hong prepare a contingency plan. Bai Tianyu harassed me just now, and we had a bit of a conflict.”
Yingying, who was pouring water for Gao Zitai, was so shocked she nearly dropped the cup.
“Harassed… harassed you?”
Yingying naturally understood the true meaning of those words.
Consequently, she suddenly remembered those events from several years ago.
She had always been confused about how a person as good as Brother Yanran could have cursed someone for no reason back then.
It turned out the truth was actually like this!!
Bai Tianyu, that beast!
Gao Zitai, still caught in his agitation, felt waves of nausea in his heart just hearing that man’s name.
His idol’s image had collapsed so catastrophically that, fueled by anger and sadness, he clenched his fists tightly, the corners of his eyes turning red.
“He’s just trash! A dumbass! A bastard!!”
If he hadn’t seen it with his own eyes, he didn’t know how much longer he would have been fooled by that persona.
Lin Yanran took the water cup from Yingying and handed it to Gao Zitai. “Drink some water.”
“There should be surveillance here. Xiao Wang, go get the footage immediately, just in case.”
Just as Lin Yanran finished speaking, his phone rang.
The caller was Gu Siye.
Since there were many people around, Lin Yanran walked to a corner before answering.
“Teacher Gu,” Lin Yanran spoke softly, “I’m fine; you don’t need to worry.”
He hadn’t hung up the phone earlier, and for the other party to call back so perfectly timed, he must have heard everything that happened.
Predicting that Gu Siye would be worried, Lin Yanran took the lead in reporting his status before the other could speak.
A low sigh came from the other end of the line.
“Has he harassed you before this?”
Gu Siye’s voice was very calm, sounding no different than usual.
Yet, Lin Yanran felt that the other person was struggling to suppress something.
“Teacher Gu, are you angry right now?”
Gu Siye did not deny it.
In fact, he was more than just angry.
“It’s okay, Teacher Gu. I’ve learned taekwondo and self-defense skills. I can protect myself.”
Hearing Lin Yanran using such a soft voice to comfort him instead, Gu Siye knew his own reaction would only cause the other more trouble, so he forced himself to calm down.
“Don’t stay in that hotel anymore. Change to a new one immediately. I’ll be there soon. Get some sleep; I’ll handle the rest.”
Lin Yanran also felt that staying at this hotel was no longer safe, so he went with everyone to the hotel where Gao Zitai was staying.
Since this matter involved Gao Zitai, staying together made it easier for the management teams of both sides to communicate.
Everything seemed peaceful for the moment, but they couldn’t guarantee that no one else or hotel staff saw the surveillance footage during that moment.
Thus, both teams were waiting for news from Xiao Wang.
However, Xiao Wang returned to tell everyone:
The few surveillance cameras near Lin Yanran’s room had all miraculously malfunctioned tonight.
Therefore, everything, including Bai Tianyu’s harassment of Lin Yanran and the physical conflict, had no record at all.
Hearing this news, no one felt happy.
After all, the surveillance failing was far too coincidental, as if it had been prepared in advance.
And things that are timed with such precision are usually premeditated…
“F*ck, that trash came prepared?”
Thinking back to Bai Tianyu’s previous unbridled and disgusting behavior, Gao Zitai couldn’t help but think toward even worse possibilities.
He truly didn’t dare to imagine what would have happened if he hadn’t rushed over.
The more Gao Zitai thought about it, the more he felt his past adoration had been fed to the dogs. He logged directly into Weibo and cleared out every single post related to Bai Tianyu.
Back then, his dream was to become a dazzling star just like Bai Tianyu.
Now…
Ptooey!
Gao Zitai, filled with indignation, lowered his head to delete his Weibo posts, only to discover that a massive crowd had swarmed his profile to curse him out.
Looking closely, he realized they were all Bai Tianyu’s fans.
[F*ck your mom, you’re the dumbass! Hope you die a miserable death!]
[Trash.]
[Your whole family dies tonight.]
[Hope you get to eat your family’s ashes and dance on their graves!]
Countless insults filled his private messages and comment sections, nearly all of them cursing Gao Zitai to drop dead.
Initially, Gao Zitai didn’t think much of it, but after a moment, he felt something was off.
He carefully reread the content in his DMs, then looked up at the group. “Did Bai Tianyu buy a trending search in advance because he’s afraid of being exposed? His fans are already here attacking me.”
Hearing Gao Zitai’s words, everyone in the room was shocked.
After all, this kind of situation was very disgraceful. All three were prominent celebrities. Anyone with a brain wouldn’t choose to make this public.
Shocked as they were, everyone quickly logged onto Weibo to see what was happening.
On Weibo, Bai Tianyu’s side hadn’t uttered a peep, but one of his sasaeng fans had directly posted a video of the conflict between him and Gao Zitai tonight.
The video this sasaeng posted was very interesting.
Because Bai Tianyu had chased Lin Yanran through a hallway, she was a bit late when she followed them. What she caught was the moment Gao Zitai rushed over and shoved Bai Tianyu directly to the ground.
In the eyes of the sasaeng, this was nothing less than Bai Tianyu being bullied by Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai ganging up on him.
How could a sasaeng stand to see her idol suffer such a grievance?
As soon as she returned to the hotel, she immediately exported the video. While cursing Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai, she posted the clip with the original audio included on the super topic to seek justice for Bai Tianyu.
The Day Knows the Night’s Darkness: Is this the true character of these big stars?
When Bai Tianyu’s fans saw the video showing Gao Zitai and Lin Yanran pushing and kicking their idol while calling him a dumbass, they exploded with rage.
The focus of this video was originally on Gao Zitai. However, Bai Tianyu’s fandom had always been displeased with Lin Yanran, especially seeing his popularity recently surpass Bai Tianyu’s, which had made them harbor a deep-seated hatred.
They had long wanted a large-scale fan war to tear Lin Yanran down, but since his fans were numerous and formidable, they could only subtly diss him or post his black history.
With the video of tonight’s conflict out, and Bai Tianyu appearing as the perfect victim bullied by two people, old grudges combined with new ones. Bai Tianyu’s fans went straight for the throat, attacking both Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai.
After all, with video evidence present, the fans felt their outcry was more than justified.
Leading the charge, Bai Tianyu’s big fans took advantage of the other side’s lapse in attention to swarm Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai’s social media feeds and super topics.
Simultaneously, they posted on various major forums to publicize the duo’s crimes and seek justice for their idol.
[Is this the Yanran you guys praise to the heavens?]
[How terrifying. At the end of the day, Bai Tianyu is still a big star. How do these two dare to hit people so casually?]
[I was wondering how Gao Zitai and Yanran became friends. Turns out they’re both just thugs?]
[I heard Yanran has no parents. Looking at his behavior, he really is a motherless child. Does he think he can do whatever he wants just because he’s famous now?]
[Six years ago he cursed Bai Tianyu on camera, and now he even brought a helper to beat him up… Yanran, you piece of trash, you think you’re above the law?]
While criticizing Lin Yanran, Bai Tianyu’s fans also spared no effort in making various posters, digging up old grievances between the two, and implying that Lin Yanran was deliberately targeting Bai Tianyu, who was more outstanding than him, out of resentment.
Everyone clearly saw the video and heard Gao Zitai’s arrogant cursing.
In addition, with Bai Tianyu’s fans constantly inciting others, many people chose to stand on Bai Tianyu’s side and began to condemn Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai, demanding that they come out and give an explanation.
[Help, I used to think Yanran was so gentle and brave. I just became a fan, and it turns out he’s this kind of person in private?]
[One way in front of people, another behind their backs? I’m unfollowing.]
[What a total disillusionment.]
[Why can people like this get famous? The entertainment industry is hopeless.]
[@Yanran @Gao Zitai, you two are truly disgusting.]
Soon, both of their Weibo accounts were flooded with tens of thousands of hateful comments.
However, Lin Yanran’s usual image was exceptionally good. Although some impulsive netizens were fighting for Bai Tianyu, a portion of people chose to believe in his character, urging everyone to calm down and not be too hasty.
[Not taking sides yet. It’s not like we haven’t seen news stories flip before. Let’s wait and see.]
[Exactly, this is a clipped video with the beginning and end missing. It only shows they had a conflict, but no one knows the specific reason. What if there’s a problem on Bai Tianyu’s side? Let’s not rush to a final verdict.]
Under these voices, some people regained their rationality, but the online accusations and insults did not stop.
Many of Lin Yanran’s new fans were panicked and uneasy; some even shouted that they were blind and announced they were leaving the fandom.
Seeing the situation was dire, Lin Yanran’s old and hardcore fans began managing the comments while urging everyone not to let the narrative be led by others.
Fans, haters, passersby… everyone was chiming in, and the internet was a chaotic mess.
The sasaeng fan’s video had leaked so suddenly that Lin Yanran’s side was completely caught off guard.
Not only were they surprised, but even Bai Tianyu’s side was shocked.
This kind of incident wasn’t a first in the industry; people had done even more outrageous things before.
But generally speaking, no one would bring such small matters to the surface. After all, exposing it would be a lose-lose situation that would heavily damage everyone’s image.
Bai Tianyu thought the same. He had already handled the surveillance footage and knew Lin Yanran’s side had no video or recordings, so he was certain they wouldn’t take the initiative to speak up.
Who would have thought a sasaeng fan would leak it for him…
Currently, although the video taken by the sasaeng was in his favor, the whole cause and effect were unsavory.
Bai Tianyu was also worried that if the matter got too big, Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai might just reveal the truth.
So, he had his PR team figure out a plan for the next step.
Before he could even come up with a move, that sasaeng fan dropped another video!
This sasaeng fan clearly wanted to completely destroy Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai.
Seeing that not everyone online was on Bai Tianyu’s side and that many neutrals still chose to believe in Lin Yanran, she angrily threw out the earlier footage she had captured.
The Day Knows the Night’s Darkness: Still trying to justify assaulting someone? Does victim-blaming exist even now? I hope this video slaps your faces until they’re swollen. See for yourselves how ugly some people’s faces really are.
Below the post, she updated with another secretly filmed clip.
In the video, Lin Yanran’s face was very clear, but Bai Tianyu’s back was toward the camera.
Although only his silhouette was visible, when he turned the volume to the maximum, his voice was clearly identifiable.
When speaking to Lin Yanran, his tone was incredibly sincere and even humble.
“I know you hate me, but tonight I truly want to apologize.”
“That incident back then had a terrible impact on you. I didn’t speak up for you, which led to you having a hard time all these years. Seeing you like this, I’ve actually been very self-reproachful and sad.”
“I’ve wanted to apologize for years, but I was afraid you wouldn’t forgive me. Yanran, I really want to make it up to you.”
When the sasaeng fan filmed up to this point, she was nearly discovered by hotel staff, so she quickly changed locations. The video only caught this much. What Bai Tianyu said afterward wasn’t recorded.
However, she personally felt that what was said afterward no longer mattered. This bit of video was enough to completely hammer Lin Yanran’s guilt.
After the video was posted, she even @Yanran in the comments.
The Day Knows the Night’s Darkness: @Yanran, you white lotus, why don’t you crawl out and explain this?
The emergence of this video felt like divine intervention for Bai Tianyu, who had originally been on pins and needles.
The things the sasaeng fan shouldn’t have filmed, she didn’t catch a single second of. The few sentences she did catch, however, were all damn useful to him.
The entire video felt naturally seamless, requiring no editing at all.
After the team contacted the sasaeng fan and confirmed she only had those two clips, Bai Tianyu’s side immediately utilized the content. They hired a massive number of water armies to sway public opinion, painting him as a kind, innocent victim and working hard to whitewash his image.
Now, with the video as proof, Bai Tianyu was instantly transformed into a victim in the eyes of the public.
Correspondingly, Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai naturally became targets of public criticism.
[Wuwuwu, Baibai is simply too kind.]
[Why even apologize to trash like that? He cursed you for no reason back then; isn’t it his own fault he became a nobody and had a hard life?]
[@Yanran, do you have a damn conscience? The man is kind enough to apologize, and you still hit him?]
[@Those people who said there was hidden context. Crawl out and apologize to Bai Tianyu.]
[The hidden context is that Bai Tianyu was too kind and encountered a narrow-minded, ungrateful piece of trash. Satisfied?]
[Yanran, you really are garbage. Liking you before makes me a dumbass and a brain-dead idiot.]
[Unfollowing. Get lost. I used to ship Yanran and Gao Zitai, but now seeing you two makes me nauseous. Since you love ganging up to bully people so much, why don’t you gang up and get the hell out of the entertainment industry?]
Under the instigation of the water army, the matter fermented even faster.
Bai Tianyu’s team also wanted to resolve this matter as soon as possible, so they went to great lengths, directly buying the number one spot on the trending searches and trying to push the matter to various platforms, ensuring Lin Yanran and Gao Zitai’s reputations were completely ruined beyond recovery.
When Gao Zitai saw the other party so brazenly distorting the truth, the sadness he felt for his wasted youth vanished instantly. He angrily posted several messages on Weibo, criticizing Bai Tianyu.
@Bai Tianyu, quit acting like a white lotus. Don’t you know exactly what happened?
You’re a piece of trash. No matter who comes to help you, you’re still trash.
I must have been blind to be your fan back then.
If you’ve got the guts, come at me directly. Stop with this underhanded, dirty shit.
Once Gao Zitai posted these, the netizens got even more fired up.
[If there’s hidden context, just say it! What are you acting all high and mighty for?]
[Do you think saying vague, ambiguous things can whitewash you?]
[You were given a mouth to speak human language, not to go around biting people like a rabid dog.]
Because the incident involved Bai Tianyu’s sexual harassment of Lin Yanran, and because the two leaked videos were extremely favorable to Bai Tianyu, Gao Zitai didn’t dare to simply spill the whole story on Weibo, no matter how angry he was.
Without sufficient evidence for a counterattack, he was afraid the public would pin even filthier accusations on Lin Yanran.
After all, it wasn’t the first or second time that victims of sexual harassment—after speaking the truth—were met with slut-shaming, “indecent conduct” warnings, and attacks claiming “it must be your fault too.”
He didn’t want those people to misunderstand Lin Yanran like that again.
However, though the straightforward Gao Zitai noticed this and wanted to shift the conflict onto himself, he was a flower in a greenhouse who had lived a smooth life; he had never encountered anything like this before.
Bai Tianyu’s PR team was formidable, and they were highly experienced in shifting blame onto others.
Consequently, in addition to crafting the persona of a pitiful, kind victim for Bai Tianyu, the water army used the few words Gao Zitai posted in anger to attack the two parties involved once again. Some even began leading the narrative to suggest the two had an indecent relationship…
The online narrative was spiraling out of control.
After being given a lesson, the inexperienced Gao Zitai finally witnessed the sheer malice of the world.
He never expected that seeing an injustice and doing the right thing would yield no good results.
The truth could be deliberately distorted, and the victim could be attacked, blamed, and subjected to even greater harm.
After receiving a call from his parents and being scolded for being impulsive, Gao Zitai slumped his head and curled up in a corner, feeling both angry and powerless.
“I’m sorry, Yanran. I didn’t think it would turn out like this…”
If it weren’t for his subsequent actions, even if Bai Tianyu’s team released the apology video, it would have been trivial to manage with PR.
But with his later actions added in, it looked like Lin Yanran refused the apology and even had someone beat Bai Tianyu up. The incident made his character look exceptionally vile.
Seeing Gao Zitai sulking, Lin Yanran walked over, patted his palm, and pulled him up with a firm tug.
Compared to the miserable-looking Gao Zitai, Lin Yanran was much more composed.
“Cheer up, perhaps there is still a chance to clarify things.”
Lin Yanran turned to look out the window.
He hadn’t had time to press the record button, so he had deliberately left his phone call active.
Although they hadn’t coordinated beforehand, he felt that Gu Siye was smart enough to understand his intention.
But he didn’t know if, over such a distance, the recording on Gu Siye’s end would be clear…
Lin Yanran checked the time.
Gu Siye’s line had been busy, yet there had been no movement for a long time. Lin Yanran suspected there might be an issue with the recording.
Just as Lin Yanran was speculating, Gu Siye posted on Weibo.
He didn’t look for a private source to leak the info, nor did he pretend the evidence was obtained by someone else.
He posted it directly himself.
Gu Siye: @Bai Tianyu
Gu Siye didn’t say a single word of nonsense.
Below the text, there was only a single audio recording.
You can purchase completed EPUB version of this novel HERE.
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