Chapter 14: The Slap-in-the-Face Drama
Fans never mistake their idol, nor dare they admit it for fear of being mocked. So, when You Huachuan’s fans saw the @ mentions from Rong Yu’s fans, they immediately took it seriously and quickly reached a conclusion.
@YouYouHuaXiang: Some people stalk and secretly film others, then go as far as forcibly renaming a handsome guy. My brother has debuted for ten years, diligent and dedicated, with strong professional skills. What’s wrong with practicing the theme dance a bit more to be a good mentor? Got a problem? My brother isn’t a tool for you to drag others down, thank you.
Also, thanks to Rong Yu’s fans for the compliments—your guy has a great figure too. Tall trees catch much wind; we’ve been through the same struggles. Let’s work hard together!
[树大招风 (shù dà zhāo fēng): lit. Tall trees catch much wind; fig. Prominence invites criticism.]
YouYouHuaXiang was the head of You Huachuan’s fanbase. Since she said so, it meant the person in the video was confirmed to be You Huachuan.
A mentor practicing the dance early wasn’t strange at all. Instead, the real issue was the blogger who secretly filmed the unreleased theme dance!
Originally, the focus was on Rong Yu practicing the dance early, which would have been a violation of the rules—hence the assumption of foul play by the production team. But now, since it was You Huachuan, who had every right to practice, the unreasonable one became the blogger who secretly filmed it!
Thus, the tide in the comments immediately turned. Those who had been sarcastic were now slapped in the face. Some even directly @‘ed the official Hey Brother, Let's Debut! account, reporting the blogger for leaking confidential business information.
The blogger panicked and quickly clarified that the video was sent to them by someone else, that they hadn’t filmed it themselves, and that they had only received it recently.
Soon after, the blogger deleted the two posts and hastily changed their username.
This only made the blogger look more guilty. Feeling deceived, bystanders switched sides, cursing the rumor-spreading marketing account.
How dare they use such a blurry, faceless video to slander someone?
Just as this slap-in-the-face drama was nearing its end and onlookers began dispersing, Yin Chengjue lifted all suppression on Ming Qian’s search terms.
Ming Qian’s team had noticed their trending topics being suppressed and had tried every method to push new ones. Now that the restrictions were suddenly gone, the high-traffic terms quickly surged onto the hot search list, one after another, occupying six or seven spots.
Such an overwhelming presence inevitably annoyed casual viewers. And Ming Qian’s PR team—hired by the illegitimate son to vote, boost rankings, manipulate scores, and fabricate hype—was clearly inexperienced.
To put it simply, the illegitimate son hadn’t spent enough money, so the team’s tactics were low-tier. The terms they fabricated for Ming Qian were things like:
- #MingQianDivineBeauty#
- #MingQianTragicallyStrong#
- #HeartbrokenForMingQian#
- #ThisSummer’sBreathtakingGlance#
To those in the know, it was praise. To everyone else, it looked like a setup.
Bystanders responded with confused black question mark emojis.
Hey Brother, Let's Debut! had only just aired, and most people had no idea who Ming Qian was, what he’d done, or what impressive works he had—so why was he suddenly flooding the hot searches?
A quick search revealed he was a trainee on Hey Brother, Let's Debut! who, due to poor singing and dancing, was initially placed in the F class. Later, during the opening dance, his "hard work" moved the mentors, earning him a "Diligence Award" and a promotion to E class, saving him from elimination.
So here’s the question: If he was already promoted to E class and avoided elimination, why were his fans still unsatisfied? Why was he "tragic" enough to warrant multiple hot search topics?
Upon closer inspection, it turned out that an A-class trainee—who had practiced the least—had taken first place in the opening dance performance.
Ming Qian’s fans couldn’t accept this, convinced that the top trainee had cheated and that "lazy" contestants didn’t deserve A class.
But… that first-place performance was objectively great!
Does dancing well = cheating?
Does winning without "enough effort" = cheating?
What kind of logic is that?
Faced with this backlash, Ming Qian’s PR team panicked. They hadn’t expected the terms they’d been pushing—previously suppressed—to suddenly explode onto the hot searches and attract so much scrutiny. Without hesitation, they mobilized their water army to push conspiracy theories, vehemently denying responsibility for the trending topics and insisting it was all a smear campaign against Ming Qian.
[Water army (水军 shuǐ jūn): a Chinese internet term referring to paid posters or commenters who are hired to manipulate public opinion online. They flood social media platforms, forums, and comment sections with coordinated messages—either to promote a product/person, attack rivals, or sway discussions.]
WindowMoonlight: Sitting in the program, catching strays.
QianQian’sSmile: What idiot would push such obvious setup hashtags?
YourGentleSmile: Hands off our QianQian. No engagement. Haters have no hearts.
Hmm
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