Gu Tingshen raised his eyelids and looked at him, with the corners of his eyebrows slightly upturned.
“I’m sorry, President Gu. I overstepped my bounds,” Secretary Qin realized that he had taken things for granted and quickly apologized. Then he added in a low voice, “I just thought that since Mr. Jing said we should look out for him, I…”
Secretary Qin stopped mid-sentence, feeling somewhat annoyed at his own rashness. No matter how good Jing Yu’s relationship was with President Gu, no one should presume to decide what another person must do for them. Moreover, this was not a simple matter that could be resolved with a casual offer of help. It involved complex relationships and huge expenses that he had no right to meddle in.
Even though he had some friendship with Gu Tingshen, it was not enough to make him qualified to advise the other party.
Secretary Qin lowered his head, awaiting the reprimand.
“Well, it’s not entirely impossible,” Gu Tingshen thought less complicatedly than him. As his junior, Qin Hao naturally had a much closer relationship with him than that of a typical superior and subordinate. As such, Gu Tingshen had always been happy to help whenever Qin Hao encountered difficulties.
However, Qin Hao was clearly much more self-restrained, having worked together for so many years yet never asking him for assistance. Gu Tingshen was a little surprised that the first time Qin Hao made such a request was for someone he had only met twice.
Nonetheless, now that Qin Hao had brought it up, Gu Tingshen gave it serious thought. Although Jing Li’s matter was complicated, it was not entirely unsolvable if one really wanted to resolve it.
Regarding the online rumors of Jing Li using connections to get his role, they could easily be dispelled by finding the audition tapes from back then. As far as he knew, production crews usually kept such recordings as standard practice. Even without those, merely presenting videos of Jing Li’s acting would serve the same purpose.
Admittedly, that would be more troublesome.
As for the accusation of bullying other actors, since it was exposed publicly, it was proof that people other than the two parties involved were present. Finding those witnesses and clarifying the situation from them, then speaking up about it, would silence most mouths, even if not completely convincing.
What’s more, ability was what commanded respect in the industry. As long as the initial handling was done well, there would be no trouble clearing the stigma. It would just cost more effort and money spent.
In just a few seconds, Gu Tingshen had figured out the gist of the matter clearly in his mind.
“You can…” He pointed at the desk, about to tell Qin Hao to pull up the online information for him to take a look when Qin Hao’s phone suddenly rang. It was followed swiftly by successive message tones.
Gu Tingshen paused and signaled for Qin Hao to deal with it first.
Qin Hao apologized awkwardly before taking out his phone to glance at it. His expression twisted in distress at what he saw.
It was full of private messages on Weibo, pouring in endlessly the moment he opened the app. They were all cursing him in increasingly vulgar language. That group of people attacked him like rabid dogs, frenziedly insulting him as an idiot, Jing Li’s bootlicker, devoid of humanity, and more.
Scrolling through their Weibo pages revealed the cause of this onslaught, infuriating him even more.
“Damn that scumbag Lin Xiao!” Qin Hao couldn’t help but curse, looking up to see Gu Tingshen’s surprised expression. He quickly explained, “That bastard actually recorded a video openly slandering Jing Li!”
Saying so, he tapped the screen and showed it to Gu Tingshen.
In the video, Lin Xiao was dressed neatly in a suit. Although he tried to smile at the camera, his haggard appearance and bloodshot eyes clearly showed extreme fatigue. But that made his subsequent words even more impactful.
“Hello everyone, I’m Lin Xiao, the ‘third party’ who was recently subjected to insane online defamation,” Lin Xiao spoke hoarsely, sounding utterly exhausted. “Sorry for looking less than ideal, but honestly, I still don’t dare to go out because I can’t face the pointing and staring outside.”
“Just when I was in despair last night, ready to permanently end my life, I happened to see a video online that suddenly gave me a glimmer of hope.”
“That’s right, I’m the actor who was kicked off set in that viral video, and I may never get another script or role in the future,” Lin Xiao took a deep breath, his eyes swiftly brimming with tears as he choked out, “I got the audition chance for this role only because friends begged around for me, so I prepared very hard for it. I didn’t expect that when I got to the set, I found out the role was already given to Jing Shao…”
In the video, Lin Xiao vaguely mentioned some things that happened on set, insinuating that Jing Li knew he had gotten the role and deliberately went to snatch it from him and humiliate him. He portrayed himself as the pitiful victim who was severely bullied yet had no choice but to endure it humbly, begging his oppressor to show mercy and not push him into desperation.
After that, he recounted the grievances between him and Jing Li, starting from their school days up till the recent role-snatching incident, with great emotion and tears.
He was highly skilled in his narration, completely transforming himself into a helpless, powerless underdog whose partner was stolen, while Jing Li became the rich, bullying tyrant who oppressed him and forced him to break up with his boyfriend. His subsequent enjoyment of Jing Li’s resources was framed as compensation given grudgingly by the other party, afraid of him creating trouble.
At the end of the video, probably realizing he couldn’t justify intruding on another’s relationship, he took on a weak stance again. He admitted it was wrong of him to get together with his ex before they officially broke up and apologized to all the netizens and fans who had trusted him.
For most netizens from similarly ordinary backgrounds as Lin Xiao, the impact of such a video was unsurprising. Especially upon finding out the cuckolded rich second generation was Jing Li, their attitude instantly flipped, further fueled by the recent video of him bullying an actor. The majority now stood on Lin Xiao’s side, heaping all blame onto Jing Li and tacking more despicable labels onto him.
And that wasn’t all. Soon after this video came out, many people uploaded videos of Jing Li obsessively hounding his scumbag ex.
EternalYouthV: If I had a boyfriend like that, I’d probably break up too. That temper is unbearable to me. [Attached video]
Multiple videos were posted in a row, all showing Jing Li desperately clinging on. The audio exposed his coarse, violent yelling.
Comparing the timestamps revealed these were all old incidents from 1-2 years ago, clearly when they were still together.
Seeing these leaked videos shocked netizens instantly.
“Sorry, but I really can’t handle a boyfriend like this no matter how rich he is! Must break up!”
“Wtf, there are still psycho stalker types like this nowadays?!”
“To be blunt, having a boyfriend like that, it’s normal for the other party to fall for someone else, right? Especially if he was forced to break up with his true love!”
…
Countless people left comments and forwarded the videos, shooting Lin Xiao’s apology to the top of hot search again amidst renewed uproar.
Perhaps startled by the popularity, even Lin Xiao saw it. Soon he updated Weibo again.
Lin Xiao V: Thank you everyone for your understanding, but I was indeed in the wrong this time. Please don’t blame them @Jing Li Jing Shao, they meant well. I’m willing to apologize to you on their behalf and hope for your forgiveness.
Right after that, he posted another one with emotion: I just want to act properly, I don’t want to get dragged into any more scandals.
These two Weibo posts instantly evoked even more sympathy, with many infected by his emotions and declaring they had nothing to fear with a clear conscience, unafraid of Jing Li’s resentment.
The cumulative effect of all these layers left people dizzy. Correspondingly, their feelings toward Jing Li became even more disgusted. Some even directly @’ed the police official account, demanding they thoroughly investigate Jing Li – after all, such morally bankrupt people loved pushing legal boundaries.
More and more people flooded Jing Li’s Weibo, hurling insults, curses, vilifications…endless and increasingly vicious. It seemed they didn’t mind using the most evil methods to crush him, and some even started calling for his personal details to be dug up and form groups to physically teach him a lesson.
The situation was eerily similar, even more terrifying than how Lin Xiao and Zhong Liangchen were treated before.
Some people also left comments under Director Li’s Weibo, asking if he too was threatened by Jing Li and forced to flatter and praise him. Their words implied that with just one response from Director Li, they would instantly turn on Jing Li and rip him apart.
Public opinion continued brewing until Jing Li became a target of universal condemnation. Anyone who dared say a word in his defense would also come under attack, and clearly, Secretary Qin, who had tried so hard to speak up for Jing Li previously, was now subject to frenzied assaults.
“This shameless bastard!” Secretary Qin cursed angrily. “Taking advantage of Jing Li’s situation to whitewash himself, it’s even more disgusting than those bloodsucking beasts!”
“How do you know he’s not just taking advantage of the opportunity to hype himself up?”
Secretary Qin was startled by those words, then swiftly caught on. He said incredulously, “You mean this whole thing was plotted by him behind the scenes? Impossible, how could he have that much ability?” Putting aside the enormous cost, with Jing Li’s background, anyone who knew his identity clearly wouldn’t dare do something so provocative.
Gu Tingshen chuckled lightly, neither confirming nor denying it.
Just because Lin Xiao didn’t have the ability didn’t mean those behind him lacked it.
From the video earlier, Gu Tingshen could already tell that although it was presented as Lin Xiao’s personal account, the logical progression was seamless, and he knew how to layer and utilize the audience’s emotions. Clearly, it was premeditated.
Looking at Lin Xiao’s appearance – dressed properly yet contrasting jarringly with his haggard, wretched face – that wasn’t something that could be deliberately crafted just from hearing the news.
“Someone’s plotting this behind him!” Secretary Qin had caught on too. The Jing family background was formidable indeed, but they had no shortage of enemies, especially business rivals. If they wanted revenge, it was absolutely possible for them to orchestrate something like this.
“If that’s the case, this has gone beyond what Jing Er Shao can resolve himself. But why hasn’t the Jing family reacted at all?” Secretary Qin looked anxious. He knew Jing Da Shao doted on this younger brother very much and had even frequently praised the other to President Gu recently. Yet since this incident broke out last night, not only the Jing Corporation but even Jing Da Shao hadn’t responded one bit. That was too abnormal.
Even if Jing Li said he did not want to rely on his family, they couldn’t possibly just ignore this right?
Or was Jing Da Shao setting up an even bigger play?
“I guess they’re waiting,” Gu Tingshen saw his expression and knew he had figured out the crux, chuckling as he said, “Since the other side is deliberately stirring things up, they definitely won’t stop so easily. Let’s wait and see for now.”
Secretary Qin glanced at him. He always trusted President Gu’s judgement. Hearing his tone, the President had decided to step in on this matter, putting him slightly more at ease.
No matter what, as long as President Gu was willing to make a move, this case was as good as settled.
Sure enough, things progressed just as Gu Tingshen expected. By noon, online opinion reached a new climax.
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