In fact, by the time Cen Sen called Ji Mingshu, the Cen and Ji families had already received the news and taken action. The trending topic had been up for less than two hours before it vanished completely in an instant.
The staff of the Designer program had been monitoring the real-time public opinion heat. Watching the actual conversion rate soar, everyone felt delighted. But in the next second, the trending topic suddenly disappeared. Moreover, on major forums, many discussion threads related to the program were also "being" removed at a visible speed.
The program staff was baffled and immediately contacted their partnered marketing company.
The marketing company replied, "We’re not sure why it was suddenly taken down yet. Weibo hasn’t given an explanation, and the responses from several forums have been quite vague—either saying the posts violated guidelines or were reported... But we’ll reach out to the higher-ups of the major forums and notify you as soon as we have any updates."
The PR representative from the marketing company had a sweet yet slightly sharp voice, polite and gentle, with a friendly tone.
The staff member who made the call was inexperienced and, swayed by the smooth talk, mindlessly agreed with a flurry of "okay, okay, okay."
After the call ended, the producer asked, "What did they say?"
The staff member paused, belatedly realizing that the PR representative had said a lot but actually revealed nothing.
They didn’t know why the trending topic was removed, why the posts were deleted, or when they could expect a clear answer.
The producer, already overwhelmed and pacing back and forth in the office, couldn’t help but snap, "Are you an idiot? I’m asking, are you an idiot? Hurry up and call them again to push for answers!"
The staff member shrank back, feeling guilty. When they called again, the phone went unanswered as expected.
The program’s leaders couldn’t figure out what was happening. They feared it might be like the last episode’s broadcast, where they had inadvertently run afoul of some new directive from above and ended up unluckily affected.
They debated back and forth for a long time but couldn’t reach any conclusion.
Finally, someone tentatively voiced a suspicion that everyone had vaguely considered but didn’t want to dwell on: "Could it be... that Ji Mingshu had it taken down herself?"
The room fell silent for four or five seconds before someone spoke up, "Probably... not, right? She’s just a designer, and she didn’t have much of a portfolio before."
"I think so too... She was introduced by Meng Xiaowei. Meng Xiaowei brought her in to distance herself from Li Che, but after that, she didn’t ask about her again. It doesn’t seem like she has any remarkable abilities or background..."
Though they said this, they exchanged uneasy glances, their voices growing softer and their confidence waning.
Because they suddenly realized—the possibility that Ji Mingshu had significant connections seemed far more likely than the unlucky coincidence of being affected by a new directive from above.
Without hesitation, the producer used every means possible to contact Meng Xiaowei, who was currently secluded for filming.
Meng Xiaowei was a smart girl. After gaining popularity, she was determined to transition into serious acting. For the past few months, she had been buried in remote locations with little internet access. Before the producer’s call, she had no knowledge of the situation.Moreover, her understanding of Ji Mingshu was quite limited to begin with. After sharing what she knew with the producer, the more she thought about it, the more she feared this matter might implicate her. She quickly sent a message to apologize to Ji Mingshu.
As soon as she heard it, she sensed something was off. The producer had only revealed three parts while keeping seven hidden—if anything went wrong, it was undoubtedly their lack of integrity that came first.
Regardless of the cause and effect or whether Ji Mingshu had any connections, apologizing to her first was definitely the right move.
After apologizing, Meng Xiaowei contacted Gu Kaiyang, hoping to fish for information from her.
Gu Kaiyang usually maintained a rather friendly attitude toward Meng Xiaowei, this rising star, but tonight, when she answered her call, her tone carried a noticeable chill.
Not wanting to annoy anyone, Meng Xiaowei got straight to the point without beating around the bush.
Gu Kaiyang didn’t answer directly, only remarking lightly, "What’s done is done. Whether we could afford to offend her or not, we already have. What’s the use of talking about it now... Oh, by the way, dear, I heard you’ll be filming in Heshan for over two more months, right? The solo cover originally reserved for you after the New Year—the magazine estimated the timing might not align, so we’ll schedule it after you finish filming."
Before Meng Xiaowei could utter a word, Gu Kaiyang cut her off: "It’s getting late, dear. You must be tired from filming, so rest early. I still have some work to finish up, so let’s not chat today."
The implication of redirected anger was so obvious that if Meng Xiaowei still didn’t get it, she’d have wasted her time in the entertainment industry.
Moreover, although Gu Kaiyang hadn’t answered directly, the meaning conveyed in her words basically confirmed it—the removal and deletion of the trending topics and related posts were indeed related to Ji Mingshu. Judging by Gu Kaiyang’s tone, Ji Mingshu likely did have a background that couldn’t be offended.
After all, it was she who had introduced Ji Mingshu. If things went wrong, she’d offend both sides. While informing the producer, she also had her assistant sort out the ins and outs of the matter to see if there was any way she could make amends.
In fact, the cause and effect of this incident were quite simple—anyone familiar with the industry could see it at a glance. The production team likely had a collaboration with Yan Yuexing’s side and used an ordinary person as a scapegoat to stir up hype.
Before the show aired tonight, the Designer production team had prepared numerous promotional posts to create buzz across major forums.
Once viewers were drawn in to watch the show, a new batch of promotional posts was released, analyzing the latest episode from various angles. During this time, genuine passersby and fans joined the fray, causing the heat to rise on a small scale.
Right then, Yan Yuexing suddenly posted a Weibo with only a smiling emoji, then deleted it instantly.
Yan Yuexing was, after all, the only recognizable ace in her small, obscure group—a teen idol with nearly ten million Weibo followers. Though her fanbase couldn’t compare to top-tier celebrities, they were fiercely loyal, always pumped up and ready to act wherever their idol pointed. Even the smallest thing their idol did, like posting a random photo, could be blindly praised to the heavens.
With this clearly suggestive Weibo post, the public opinion heat instantly escalated another level.Fans were overcome with a wave of pity and protectiveness. Even those who had initially dismissed the drama as mere program hype, watching coldly from the sidelines, now radiated an aura of "anyone who bullies our Xingxing will pay" and "I can take the hit, but our Xingxing absolutely cannot." They charged into battle with fierce determination.
However, across major forums, there were plenty of anti-fans who disliked Yan Yuexing—rival group fans and teammate stans alike. Not everyone was buying into the narrative pushed by the hired trolls and her own fanbase.
Many seasoned fans from other fandoms, well-versed in idol culture, had long predicted: Ji Mingshu was likely a victim of malicious editing.
As an ordinary person with no ties to the industry, why would she randomly diss Yan Yuexing for no reason? Why hadn't she targeted Feng Yan or Pei Xiyan?
Moreover, in the show, Ji Mingshu seemed extremely impatient with Yan Yuexing, while Yan Yuexing acted like a soft, pitiful doormat, silently enduring hardship. It all felt too fake, too surreal.
Some anti-fans quickly skimmed through the episode and immediately posted old GIFs of Yan Yuexing rolling her eyes and throwing diva tantrums, mocking her in forum posts: 【LMAO, how does YYX even have the face to go on shows and push this kind, suffering persona? Does she think everyone has amnesia? Here, take a look at this pic to sober up and feel the aura of the world's biggest diva. Also, sending 1 second of pity to the designer—I'm totally crushing on her looks. If there's a crowdfunding campaign for her to debut, I'll chip in a hundred bucks.】
The back-and-forth online was essentially a war without gunpowder. Before the hot search was removed and discussion threads were deleted, the situation online was roughly a three-way standoff:
Some of Yan Yuexing's fans were busy hurling insults at Ji Mingshu, while others focused on controlling the narrative across Weibo, forums, and online communities.
Casual Weibo users mostly just saw the hot search headlines; the majority pitied Yan Yuexing and criticized Ji Mingshu, though a small portion, witnessing Yan Yuexing's fans' abusive comments, called for an end to cyberbullying against an ordinary person.
Forums had a higher concentration of seasoned gossipers and idol culture enthusiasts. They adopted a wait-and-see attitude toward the show's drama, and their analyses of the program clips were more diverse. Some even went off on wild tangents, finding Ji Mingshu's diss of Yan Yuexing both beautiful and fierce.
—But all of this only happened before the trending topic was removed and the discussion threads were deleted.
The people from the Cen and Ji families actually knew very little about these entertainment industry matters. Trending flame war? Then remove it. New threads popping up to continue the scolding? Then delete them.
Ji Mingshu's Second Uncle was a typical person in power, and his approach to handling public opinion was extremely blunt.
When the matter reached his ears late at night, besides removing the hot search and deleting posts, he took an additional, sweeping measure, aiming to cleanly and permanently eliminate the problem.
But this simple, crude one-size-fits-all approach left the gossip queens, who had been starved of fresh gossip for a while, utterly stunned.
【Holy crap, this is insane! What kind of background does that designer have?! First the trending searches gets pulled, then posts get deleted, and now search results won't even display?】
Honestly, I never expected a scandal from some obscure program team's public drama and hype to escalate to this level. Respect.】
So, is it that this designer actually has serious backing, which is why she dared to tear into that certain ace on the show? Also, didn't the program team know? How could they just air the episode like that? Damn, I have a feeling both the program team and Yan Yuexing are about to be in trouble.】
【I just finished writing my thesis proposal and I've already missed so much of the drama! Wuwuwu, can someone please catch me up?!】Late at night, night owls were still active on major forums. Passersby no longer cared about who was being the most dramatic on that obscure show; everyone was only concerned about what Ji Mingshu’s background really was.
As it turned out, the forums were indeed filled with capable individuals. Among the many messy and mysterious revelations, there really were insiders who half-truthfully disclosed Ji Mingshu’s true background.
[I’m really amazed at how this whole thing came about… Is Star City too small to have internet access? Star City TV must be out of their minds. I have a friend who knows this young lady unilaterally (because her social circle is too high-end, so it’s only a one-sided acquaintance). This young lady is a fan of Pei Xiyan, and she probably joined the show because of him.]
[My friend’s family is in the mining business. She drove a Ferrari to school at eighteen, and she still earnestly told me that in her circle, she’s just an ordinary person. This young lady is the real deal—a genuine white, rich, and beautiful girl. Her background is tied to the capital, and her husband’s family is also from the capital, a truly high-profile, semi-hidden mega-rich family.]
[Let me add a bit more: This young lady attended the Crillon Ball in Paris when she was fifteen—the kind of ball only top-tier socialites can attend. When she goes to fashion weeks, she’s invited to dinner by the CEOs of high-end luxury brands. Well… let’s just say poverty limits imagination. I really don’t understand how this whole thing happened. That’s all I’ll say.]
To passersby, these revelations were dazzling and thrilling, but to Yan Yuexing’s fans, they were sharp and painful.
Our Xingxing worked so hard to get to where she is today. Just because you have connections, you think you can give our Xingxing attitude on the show?!
Late at night, emotions are easily stirred. The fan leaders tearfully rallied in group chats, insisting that they absolutely must not let our Xingxing be crushed by power. We must protect the girl we love most!
Teenage girls were also stirred up, staying up late without doing their homework or taking showers, exhausting themselves to defend their idol, flooding Ji Mingshu’s Weibo comments with their phones and computers.
When Ji Mingshu woke up, she realized that after removing the hot searches and deleting the posts, the situation had become even more uncontrollable.
Yan Yuexing’s fans were even tagging various official media accounts under her Weibo posts, accusing Ji Mingshu of abusing her connections and demanding an investigation into whether her family’s money was earned cleanly.
On the other side, Yan Yuexing hadn’t slept all night. After finally figuring out Ji Mingshu’s background, her team had been communicating with the show’s production team overnight, and her PR team was working overtime to come up with a plan.
At this point, she had only one wish: for her fans to shut up.
OpenNovel