TL: Hua

Chapter 122: Support

Lin Yanran looked at the photo of the car, then at his bank balance. What was wrong with his parents?

While he didn’t know the reason yet, his brother’s question had reminded him that it wasn’t anything good.

He opened Weibo, and as soon as he clicked on the hot search, he saw various so-called black materials…

After a quick look, Lin Yanran was left speechless.

In the time it took to attend a charity gala, how did he suddenly acquire so many haters?

And how could eating noodles at a roadside stall be spun this way?

Having been in the industry for two years, he could tell at a glance that these negative searches were paid for.

Things like celebrities wearing knock-off designer gowns have happened more than once before; when they were exposed, it was usually just a self-contained drama within the fan circles. To the general public, it was as if nothing happened. Many people wouldn’t even know it was a knock-off and would even praise the look.

Furthermore, when he first opened the Hot Search list, the entry was only at the fifth spot, but by the time he finished reading the content two or three minutes later, a single refresh showed it had already surged to the number one spot.

Even for a scandal to ferment, there must be a process, and the same goes for Weibo rankings. Relying solely on the strength of fans and haters is simply not enough; clearly, someone was specifically targeting him.

The nanny van pulled up beside Lin Yanran, and he quickly got in.

Just as he sat down, he received a call from Hong Huixue.

“They just bought that hot search; I’ve already had it pulled. The official Weibo will be issuing a lawyer’s letter immediately. They are currently investigating the source of the rumors. Go straight home now and do not answer anyone’s questions for the time being.”

Hong Huixue held her phone in one hand and watched the hot searches with the other. “I suspect this is still because of the box office. They signed a performance-based payout, but our box office broke another 100 million today. Someone is getting very anxious.”

Lin Yanran had actually guessed this as well.

The movie “Becoming An Older Brother Again” had been subjected to both smear campaigns and malicious leaks of the footage; it was obvious that there was capital power behind the scenes trying to crush the movie to death. Because as long as this movie didn’t die, it would continue to suck up the market’s box office revenue.

Since they couldn’t kill the movie, targeting the lead actor was the next best thing.

These days, the lead actor is vital; if their reputation turns sour, it has a massive impact on the box office. If they played it even dirtier and managed to dig up something that branded the lead as a tainted artist, the movie would be completely finished.

After hanging up with Hong Huixue, Lin Yanran was considering how to explain tonight’s events to his family to keep them from worrying too much. Little did he expect that after his team pulled down the hot search, someone else helped come up with even more black material for him.

Lin Yanran was now considered a top-tier star with immense popularity.

While the hot search was gone, there were countless marketing accounts riding the trend, posting all sorts of true and false rumors.

One particular marketing account, which was very close to Si Mingxu’s team, posted a new set of photos.

These photos were scraped from the Instagram accounts of several top-tier domestic socialites and rich second-generation heirs.

The first photo was set at a castle banquet. Amidst the dim, flickering lights, Lin Yanran looked back with a brilliant smile.

The socialite who posted the photo had written: so beautiful~

However, the marketing account’s focus wasn’t on praising Lin Yanran’s looks or the atmosphere. Instead, they focused on the man beside him. The man’s back was to the camera, but his hand was resting on Lin Yanran’s shoulder.

One couldn’t tell if he was patting his shoulder or pulling him close, but either way, the photo made them look very intimate.

The second photo was taken on a luxury yacht.

Lin Yanran had just emerged from the yacht’s open-air swimming pool, wearing a loosely fitted bathrobe.

At that moment, a woman wearing sunglasses and a sun hat was smiling as she stood on her tiptoes, affectionately drying his hair with a towel.

The woman had an excellent figure; even looking only at her refined profile, one could tell she was a well-maintained, wealthy lady.

The middle-aged man and woman in these two photos appeared to have absolutely nothing to do with Lin Yanran at first glance.

Yet, these two individuals, who were clearly wealthy and powerful, behaved very affectionately toward him.

The marketing account posted these with a very deliberate question: “Isn’t it rumored online that Yanran’s financial situation is bad? Yet here he is at castle banquets and yacht trips. He looks quite rich and seems to be having a great time playing around~”

On the surface, this sentence seemed to express confusion, but in reality, everyone knew exactly what the account was implying.

Just moments ago, everyone had exposed him for having no money and poor financial standing.

Immediately after, he was uncovered frequenting these luxury venues in private, appearing to be very close with these wealthy people in the photos…

Celebrities, castles, yachts, tycoons, banquets, private meetings…

It was self-evident what people would associate those things with when put together.

After the marketing account posted these, as if fearing the general public wouldn’t understand, they immediately deployed water armies.

[Doesn’t he lack money? How does he know so many tycoons?]

[Wow, this photo looks so intimate; their relationship is definitely not ordinary.]

[Yanran and them… it couldn’t be that kind of relationship, right?]

[What relationship?]

[I mean… have you heard of a tycoon’s canary? Looking at the photos, it seems Yanran has quite a few ‘good older brothers’ and ‘good older sisters.’]

[Just be direct and stop giving him face. Isn’t he just being kept? Baby Yanran is wild, huh? Having a great time playing with his sugar daddies?]

[Of course, why work hard for money in the industry when you can make money lying down?]

Once the water armies started leading the narrative, Lin Yanran’s haters swarmed in like they’d smelled blood, putting on “disappointed fan” acts one after another.

[Being poor or low is fine, but being a male escort for the rich is something I really can’t stand.]

[I’m out. Disgusting.]

[I actually believed you were indifferent to fame, but who knew you were like this behind the scenes? You’re such a hypocrite. Why act so pure in front of the camera? Get lost.]

[Unlucky to have followed you. Ptooey!]

After this account started the trend, many other marketing accounts followed suit and reposted.

Subsequently, more messy information began to surface.

Someone posted the showtimes for “Becoming An Older Brother Again” in their local area, claiming they found several screenings had been bought out.

Soon, many netizens noticed the same issue, posting screenshots of their local theaters showing similar block bookings.

Seeing so many screenshots and coincidences, everyone began to believe that Lin Yanran’s sugar daddies were buying out screenings to boost his box office numbers.

Some even more malicious people began to spread rumors that “Becoming An Older Brother Again” was simply a money-laundering film, made specifically by a sugar daddy to promote Lin Yanran.

Marketing accounts coordinated their efforts, and soon hashtags like #YanranCastle, #YanranLuxuryYatch, #YanranPersona, and #BecomingAnOlerBrotherAgainBoxOffice were pushed onto the hot searches.

Not only that, but many people on various forums began posting anonymous insider leaks.

[This was never news to begin with; why are you surprised? Everyone in the circle knows what kind of person he is.]

[Surely no one actually thinks a flop like Yanran got famous on his own merit?]

[A prime spot like a mentor on Super Idol, could you get that so easily without a backer?]

[My sister is in the industry and gossiped about him to me long ago, but his backers are quite powerful, so we didn’t dare say much. You guys understand. I was about to burst from holding it in!]

[The hot search was pulled in seconds just now. If you know, you know.]

All sorts of messy leaks were mixed together. Combined with previous events, many netizens were led astray by the water armies and began to curse Lin Yanran.

[I actually sympathized with him before; now I feel like an idiot.]

[So, after being kicked out of a wealthy family, the drop in status was too much? He couldn’t handle a simple life and took a shortcut? Yanran, you’re disgusting.]

[You’re a disgrace to A University. They should expel him! What a piece of trash.]

[Why hasn’t the Broadcasting Bureau banned this tainted artist yet?]

Although many were cursing him, there were still netizens who felt something was fishy.

However, most didn’t dare speak up, because as soon as someone suggested a different view or pointed out a logical flaw, they were immediately labeled as Yanran’s water army and attacked by dozens of comments.

The haters from Si Mingxu’s camp, the remaining obsessed fans of Xuan Yihan, and other rivals or onlookers were all venting their spite, cursing happily under Lin Yanran’s Weibo posts.

After cursing him there, they went to the hot searches to repost and comment, adding heat to the hashtags for fear that even a single person in the world might miss the dirt on Lin Yanran.

However, just as the haters opened the hot searches to add fuel to the fire of Lin Yanran’s new scandals, they discovered that every single hot search related to Lin Yanran had instantly vanished.

Not only that, but the leaks on the major forums were also deleted in their entirety. The speed was incredibly fast.

???

What happened??

The sugar daddy stepped in??

Before a hater could even finish typing the words “The sugar daddy stepped in,” they noticed a new entry had parachuted into the number one spot on the Hot Search list.

#Jingshi Group#

Many people had heard of the Jingshi Group. Although few knew the details, they knew it was incredibly wealthy.

To have the Jingshi Group suddenly take the top trending spot at such a chaotic moment made everyone curious.

Confused, everyone clicked on the hashtag. The content that popped up gave them a massive shock.

The content was very simple with just a single statement. But it was enough to make one’s heart skip a beat…

Jingshi Group: Formal Statement

Recently, some online users have intentionally and publicly spread numerous insulting and defamatory remarks regarding Mr. Lin Yanran, the biological younger brother of our Group Chairman, Mr. Lin Yunzhe. Multiple blog posts have seriously distorted the facts and are suspected of intentional defamation, which has gravely infringed upon Mr. Lin Yanran’s reputation! We hereby advise all relevant parties to immediately cease the dissemination of false content. Our company has commissioned a legal team to initiate litigation against the relevant users and will hold the infringers fully legally accountable! We also remind all internet users that the internet is not a lawless land. Our company will resolutely resist all malicious defamation of Mr. Lin Yanran; once discovered, we will pursue the matter to the end without leniency!

After crashing onto the hot search at number one, the uncompromising statement from Jingshi Group left the haters, who had been jumping around like leeches in a melon patch, dumbfounded.

They read the statement over and over again, extracting a few key words.

Jingshi Group… Chairman’s younger brother…

Damn!

Before the haters could even react, the studios of Gu Wanrong and Lin Zhenbo also issued a joint statement, confirming that the calligraphy and paintings hanging in Lin Yanran’s home were authentic works, gifts from them to their own grandson at his birth and birthdays.

The joint account carried the verified badge, and its past posts were all related to the two masters, leaving no room for doubt.

So these two statements were like a stamp of confirmation for everyone, once again emphasizing Lin Yanran’s identity to netizens.

He is the young master of Jingshi Group, the younger brother of Chairman Lin Yunzhe, and the grandson of renowned national painting master Gu Wanrong and calligraphy master Lin Zhenbo!!

With all the buffs stacked up, his identity shone with golden light!

After the announcements, the usually noisy internet fell silent.

Haters shut their mouths, rivals dared not speak, and even onlookers were stunned.

But while individuals went quiet, the official accounts of Jingshi’s subsidiaries rushed forward, backing up the young master who had been wronged.

The young master didn’t announce his identity because he was low-key and didn’t want to show off. But who could have imagined that these maggots on the internet would make an issue of his identity, each one spreading rumors more disgusting than the last?

Soon after, netizens saw the subsidiaries under Jingshi Group collectively reposting the statement issued by Jingshi Group for Lin Yanran.

In their reposts, these official corporate accounts, usually aloof and high-and-mighty, each included a sentence, with content more sarcastic and mocking than the one before.

Jingshi Finance: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know Teacher Yanran is our Jingshi young master?

Jingshi Catering: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know that the photo in the castle is a picture of Teacher Yanran and his biological father?

Jingshi Architectural Decoration: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know the person drying Teacher Yanran’s hair is his biological mother, the national first-class dance master Ms. Xie Roufei?

Jingshi Real Estate: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know that calligraphy piece [May Happiness Always Accompany You, Grow Up Happily] was a birth gift written by Teacher Yanran’s biological grandfather, Mr. Lin Zhenbo?

Yunchen Trade: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know that “Girl Playing the Flute” was a 23rd birthday gift from Teacher Yanran’s biological grandmother, the famous Chinese painting master Ms. Gu Wanrong?”

Yunchen Hotels: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know Teacher Yanran’s biological older brother is the Chairman of our Jingshi Group?

Yunchen Plaza: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know the formal wear Teacher Yanran is wearing is a handmade, private custom suit designed for him by the royal noble, Mr. Odersan?

Yunchen Medical: Could there really be someone who doesn’t know that all subsidiaries under Jingshi Group bought out screenings of “Becoming An Older Brother Again” yesterday as a holiday benefit for their employees?

Jingshi Group: No way, no way! Who is so blind that they actually dared to spread rumors about our Jingshi’s young master???