Chapter 67: A Guilty Heart
The complete video was the best evidence. Rong Yu fought to help a male student being robbed by thugs and almost got hurt because of it.
To avoid unnecessary trouble, when Sally released the video, she pixelated the face of that male student. Combined with the originally poor video quality, which was blurry beyond recognition, there was no need to worry about ill-intentioned people online doxxing him.
This had happened several years ago. It was truly impressive how this Dongdong Express managed to dig up the story of Rong Yu risking his life to help others years ago, then edited it into a street brawl to smear him.
Now that the full video was out, those who had been shouting for Rong Yu to get out of the entertainment industry instantly fell silent, changing their names or deleting their comments, obviously determined not to give anyone a chance to settle scores later.
But the internet had a memory. The Yuxiang Rousi fans had already gotten wind of this. To prevent these people from escaping by changing names and avatars, they had already followed these abusive trolls. This way, no matter how the others changed their names or avatars, they couldn't escape the Yuxiang Rousi fans' follow lists.
They paid back every bit of the abuse they had previously received.
An act of courage could be so distorted, showing that to smear Rong Yu, these people simply didn't care about the truth.
Furthermore, calculating the time, Rong Yu was only around fourteen or fifteen years old then, just a middle school student. Facing a group of adult men, he could still fight them to a point where they were utterly helpless, showing he had some skills.
After the situation reversed, many people watching the video again felt the young man's fighting moves were very handsome, clean and efficient. If one didn't know better, they might think it was a scene from a martial arts movie.
After watching the video a few more times, the discussion in the comments section skewed.
The video clearly showed the boy was saved by Rong Yu, but when Rong Yu started fighting the thugs, the boy hugged his backpack and ran away, never appearing again in the recording.
Because of this, several opinions emerged in the comments. Some felt the boy was ungrateful—if Rong Yu hadn't beaten the thugs, this would be a different story, or rather, a different incident.
Some connected it to the patrol officers who appeared later, thinking the boy ran to call the police. Staying there wouldn't have helped anyway, so going to report it was better.
Others felt Rong Yu was meddling. The boy had likely been extorted by these people multiple times. Being extorted so many times was surely because the boy was timid and cowardly and didn't dare tell his family or the police. This time, Rong Yu seemed to step in and help, but the thugs would surely hold a grudge. The boy was saved by Rong Yu this time, but what about next time? Or the time after that? There would inevitably be times when Rong Yu wasn't around, and then the boy would be retaliated against even more harshly, ending up worse than before.
This kind of statement had a hint of victim-blaming and was immediately opposed by a large wave of people. The comments section quickly became a debate zone on the theme—What should you do when encountering extortion? What should you do when you see others being extorted?
Others' help is only temporary—learning self-protection and helping oneself is the most effective. Finally, everyone unanimously agreed on one solution—learn martial arts!
Rong Yu's brave and handsome moves were ultimately imprinted in everyone's minds.
The online rumors failed to affect the Hey Brother, Let's Debut! trainees who had their phones confiscated. Well, except for Ming Qian.
At the same time, Ming Qian, hiding in the toilet scrolling through his phone on his alt account, had been busy lowering the heat on his own vote-buying black trending topic while fervently liking and reposting comments on Rong Yu's black trending topic, sharing all the abusive comments.
Since both of them adopted the gentle, warm man persona, were initially compared for their skills (with Ming Qian always being the one who came up short), and their fans often fought, Ming Qian himself saw Rong Yu as a thorn in his side.
This voting round, with them being first and second place respectively, made Ming Qian even more resentful.
The thought that without Rong Yu, he would be number one grew wildly in Ming Qian's heart, making him view Rong Yu more and more unfavorably.
So whenever he saw a black trending topic about Rong Yu, he was happy to go enjoy the drama.
But this time, before he could finish enjoying the drama, the reversal came, and it was a major one at that. #RongYuFightsPeople turned into #RongYuActsHeroically—the nature of these two things was completely different!
Ming Qian was furious, sitting on the toilet lid, his fingers almost poking holes through the phone screen.
Watching public opinion shift, Rong Yu turning the situation around, and his fan count rising again, Ming Qian almost smashed his phone!
Just then, a WeChat message popped up on his screen. Ming Qian glanced at the sender's name and curled his lip in disdain.
Feng Changheng: Qianqian, how have you been lately? Is anyone in the dorm bullying you?
Feng Changheng: I'll come see you for your third performance. I've already bought the tickets.
Seeing the last sentence, Ming Qian stiffened.
He had already promised Chang Yue that he would go out with him after the third performance. If Feng Changheng came, how could he leave?
Chang Yue liked to party and play around with multiple celebrities himself, but he didn't allow these celebrities to see others while under his patronage. If he found out, he would immediately end the relationship.
Ming Qian still desperately needed Chang Yue's resources and certainly didn't want him to find out about his living together situation with Feng Changheng.
But he couldn't think of a reason to stop Feng Changheng from coming.
Ming Qian almost scratched his head raw in the toilet before he thought of an idea. He quickly replied to Feng Changheng: I prepared a surprise for you, but you can't see it clearly live. You have to watch the livestream to see it. If you come to the venue, you won't see the surprise I prepared for you...
Feng Changheng: Baby, what surprise did you prepare for me?
Ming Qian: I told you it's a surprise! If I tell you beforehand, it wouldn't be a surprise anymore!
Feng Changheng: Alright then, I won't go. I'll watch your third performance livestream.
Ming Qian: You must choose the front-angle camera livestream! Otherwise, you won't see it clearly!
Feng Changheng:Okay!
Having finally managed to fool Feng Changheng, Ming Qian breathed a sigh of relief.
After dealing with Feng Changheng, Ming Qian wasn't in the mood to keep browsing his phone. He carefully put his phone away and pressed the toilet flush button.
However, when he opened the toilet door, he saw someone standing by the sinks not far away. The person was leaning against the sink, and when Ming Qian looked over, he happened to meet the other's gaze.
Ming Qian instinctively tightened his grip on the phone in his pocket, his eyes shifting away guiltily.
No wonder, since he had just liked and reposted so many negative comments about the person in front of him while in the toilet.
"You, what are you doing here?" Ming Qian felt his reaction was excessive, so he asked, pretending to be justified.
Rong Yu raised an eyebrow slightly, then showed his signature gentle smile: "Because I'm not a god."
"Ah?" Ming Qian didn't understand Rong Yu's meaning at first.
Rong Yu spread his hands: "I'm human, not a god. Humans have three urgencies. Coming to use the restroom is normal, right? You came here to use the restroom too, didn't you?"
As he spoke, Rong Yu's gaze turned towards Ming Qian's pocket.
"O-of course I came to use the restroom too!" Ming Qian said quickly.
But Rong Yu's gaze seemed to see through him, making the already guilty Ming Qian even more nervous. He simply walked towards the restroom door, not wanting to engage with Rong Yu anymore.
However, just as he reached the door, he heard Rong Yu say from behind: "Wait."
Ming Qian's steps halted. He turned back angrily, his tone impatient: "What is it?"
Rong Yu leaned against the washbasin with his arms crossed, looking at the nervous Ming Qian with a relaxed expression. His tone wasn't much different from usual, but it grated on Ming Qian's ears.
"You... you didn't wash your hands after using the restroom?" Rong Yu blinked innocently.
After watching Ming Qian leave, Rong Yu also put away his smiling face.
He could probably guess that Ming Qian had secretly kept a communication device—otherwise, he wouldn't have stayed in the restroom for over an hour.
And judging by Ming Qian's guilty conscience, something had most likely happened outside, and Ming Qian was probably involved.
Now that the online voting period was over, what else could Ming Qian do?
Rong Yu pondered for a while, thought of several possibilities, but rejected them one by one.
Forget it, he should focus on his own matters. These days, it was easy to become popular, but maintaining that heat wasn't so simple.
If you don't learn more skills, you'll quickly be pushed down.
"If I can't maintain my popularity long-term, if I can't reach the highest point, then brother won't be able to see me anytime, anywhere..." In the mirror, a determined smile appeared on the man's exquisite face.
His obsidian-like eyes revealed intense predatory nature.
"Brother, you must watch me~"
After saying this, Rong Yu's gaze met his reflection in the mirror. As if suddenly realizing something, he cupped a handful of water and splashed it violently on his face.
Water droplets cascaded down his face. When he looked up again, the dangerous expression akin to a beast coveting its prey had disappeared. The mirror only reflected a man with a warm, gentle, and serene smile.
"Phew, don't be impatient. Brother seems to prefer little rabbits. A cute little rabbit, how could it grow claws and fangs?" Rong Yu licked the corner of his mouth, adjusted his expression again, and then left the bathroom.
When he returned to the dance studio, there was no one inside anymore. Rong Yu took a pen and paper from his bag, squatted in a corner not covered by the surveillance camera, and began to write and draw seriously.
This was something he did every time he was alone in the dance studio.
Hmm…
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