Chapter 66 The Curtain Some people seem to be digging their own graves.
After finishing her conversation with Shi Yao, Xiao He first had a voice call with her senior, telling her the entire content of their conversation.
Surprisingly, they remained calm at this point in the story.
Xiaohe couldn't help but wonder why she didn't feel sad at all.
Perhaps it was because they had long anticipated this day, ever since they first discovered that Zhou Qixue was secretly dating.
Although they never saw the two together again, they thought Zhou Qixue had broken up with his girlfriend, which comforted them. But what had happened was like a thorn stuck in their flesh; even though it was pulled out, the hole was always there. They couldn't pretend it had never happened; they were just intentionally deceiving themselves.
Now that their fig leaf has been forcibly ripped off, they actually feel a sense of relief, finally no longer needing to pretend to be nonchalant to comfort themselves.
Xiaohe and her senior are both very experienced fans, and this wasn't their first time chasing after a celebrity, so they were quite accepting of it. Although they were briefly flustered when they first found out, they weren't too upset now that the initial shock had passed.
However, the group members' acceptance of this is not uniform, and they may not accept the result as quickly as they did.
After all, they haven't obtained any concrete photos yet, and based solely on the chat logs, the mutual followers in the group might not all be willing to believe them.
After all, even the solid evidence photo that the senior took was only sent to Xiaohe for her to save. Everyone else in the group had only seen the video and did not have the right to save it.
So Xiaohe and her senior discussed it and decided not to announce the results to the others in the group for the time being, until they got the photos as solid evidence.
However, they won't clarify anything specifically. They'll just tell the people in the group that they don't know the real situation either, and give them a heads-up in advance so they won't be unable to accept the revelations when they are published.
Xiaohe has made up her mind to use these few days to organize the content of the gossip post, and once she gets the pictures, she will post them directly.
She originally planned to prepare the gossip post by herself, but when she mentioned this idea to her senior during a voice chat, her senior immediately said that she also wanted to participate, and added that she had more evidence pictures, so there was no need to worry even if she didn't get the pictures from Shi Yao.
With her senior's assurance, Xiaohe felt much more at ease, but at the same time, she couldn't help but feel secretly alarmed. It was true that those who were always offline were all well-connected.
The fansite admins and sasaeng fans probably have a lot of secrets, but because they are still in the pampering phase, they all choose to turn a blind eye and cover for them.
Xiaohe even suspected that the reason her senior agreed so readily was because she had already guessed that Zhou Qixue might not have broken up with his girlfriend, but she hadn't told them and was secretly collecting evidence. After all, there's a big difference between following someone offline and not following someone offline, and there's a big difference between witnessing something firsthand and hearing about it.
When the senior student first took the picture, she told the group, which caused a great shock. She herself was completely devastated. Under the influence of the more naive and fastidious fans in the group, she also joined the trend of unfollowing, almost causing a wave of unfollowing among all the fans.
Later, the people in the group were calmed down by an unexpected incident, and the matter was forgotten. Everyone just treated it as a secret that was not what it seemed. However, a few months later, the senior saw a group member's alternate account on Weibo, where they were secretly criticizing her and complaining that she had deliberately stirred up trouble last time.
So after that, even if the senior student took a picture, she no longer shared it in the group. Your well-intentioned reminder might be seen as deliberately stirring up trouble by others, which the senior student found quite pointless.
She stopped following the offline events because she didn't want to be hurt anymore. She just wanted to be a fan on screen, pretending nothing had happened if she couldn't see it, and then leave when she couldn't stand it anymore.
But no one expected that this matter would be exposed to the group in this way. At first, the senior did not express her attitude or take the initiative to contact the poster because she wanted to see the trend in the group and see who had the same mentality as her and who could not listen to the truth.
After a night of verification, the senior student at least confirmed that Xiao He and she were on the same team. Both of them had long considered unfollowing her, and Xiao He was even preparing to start a gossip thread to criticize her, which was exactly what the senior student wanted.
She no longer cared what others in the group thought; having one teammate was enough to handle it.
As for the rest, we'll share the results with them later, so as to avoid being accused of deliberately stirring up trouble by overly tolerant people.
After Xiaohe finished her call with her senior, she organized the wording in her notes and then sent it to the small group to reassure the other group members.
She didn't explicitly state the outcome of the exchange, but she expressed her concerns, implying that Zhou Qixue might indeed have a problem, though she wouldn't say it outright, instead reassuring everyone not to overthink it.
Under her influence, the more indulgent people in the group chose to relax for the time being, while the more sensitive ones became even more anxious and irritable, always feeling that Xiaohe's words had a hidden meaning, and that the fact that she didn't say it outright meant there was a problem.
The group quickly fell silent. Everyone maintained an eerie tacit understanding, no one spoke again. No one was worried about the collapse of the building, and no one came out to complain. Those who were close to each other were venting their frustrations in private messages, while those who were more easygoing went to Weibo to check out their daily lives.
Xiaohe wasn't in the mood to care about what the other group members thought; her task was still very heavy. The gossip post was quite long, and she had to organize it all according to the timeline—it was a huge project.
The senior student also went to look through photos on her hard drive; both of them were prepared to work until at least late at night.
After all, they had a hard time falling asleep that night.
Xiaohe has been a fan of several celebrities and was once a big fan herself. Although she wasn't one of the most famous, she at least had experience.
Even now, within Zhou Qixue's fan circle, although she has been blacklisted by the supertopic and by most of her female fans, she still has considerable influence within the small circle of clay sculpture fans, and she can still easily sway public opinion.
Only those who have truly delved into the world of fandom know where the pain points of a circle lie. For Zhou Qixue's fans, what they care about most is not just whether Zhou Qixue is single, but Zhou Qixue's resources.
Buying shares in a resource-rich influencer is essentially buying shares in the connections and background behind them. No matter how the influencer's initial development momentum is or what setbacks occur in the middle, as long as the influencer's backing remains intact and they maintain a stable supply of high-quality resources, their core fan base will not leave.
However, there are exceptions. If the person in question has a scandal, they will definitely be affected. The extent of the impact depends on the severity of the scandal. Zhou Qixue's case is at least a complete disaster. He started hiding his relationship and creating a false persona before his debut, which is a major concern for many fans. Once exposed, many fans will definitely leave. But there are also some fans who love him more the more scandals he has, and the more despicable the person in question is, the deeper their love becomes.
However, Zhou Qixue's fan base has a significant problem: he doesn't have many die-hard fans. Many are just casual fans who buy his stock on the side. This is because he is a resource-rich star, and everything he gets is too easy. His fans don't feel a sense of belonging. This complacency leads to moral decay. Zhou Qixue has had a smooth career since his debut, and without any dramatic moments, he naturally can't attract die-hard fans.
After the drama aired, this problem was partially improved because Zhou Qixue and his studio are actually very good at operating. Before, they couldn't find a way to manipulate fans, so they had no way to use their strength. Now that they have room to maneuver, they naturally do fan manipulation and purification operations from time to time. So far, the drama has really garnered him a group of die-hard fans. Although they can't compare with other popular male celebrities, at least they have been brought to the table by marketing accounts.
It's obvious that the capital behind Zhou Qixue is going to support him. The resources they're giving him are quite substantial. Xiao He can imagine that when her gossip post comes out, it will probably be deleted from the entire internet in no time, and she will be labeled as a hater pretending to be a fan.
After all, she had already been blacklisted in Zhou Qixue's super topic.
In the end, this post about the scandal may not be seen by many people. Zhou Qixue's fan circle will only think that her defection and backlash is a result of her fans' inability to get recognition and her deliberate smear campaign.
But Xiaohe still wants to make this gossip post. No matter how many people see it in the end, no matter how many people misunderstand her or scold her, she has to make it. As long as this gossip post can enlighten even one fan, she will consider it a victory.
If the situation is slightly better, and Zhou Qixue's studio doesn't react so quickly, allowing her gossip post to escalate and be seen by Zhou Qixue's rivals, then even if they try to delete the posts, they won't be able to finish them all. That might have a significant impact on Zhou Qixue.
Although capital is domineering, it will not completely disregard public opinion and reputation. Even if the capital behind Zhou Qixue may not abandon him because of this house collapse incident, it will at least put him on hold for a period of time to avoid the limelight.
The entertainment industry updates very quickly. If you fall behind and lose your footing, it's hard to catch up. Moreover, while some fans might choose to sympathize with Zhou Qixue's career collapse, rival fans, haters, and casual observers won't. As long as solid evidence remains, even if Zhou Qixue avoids the limelight and returns, people will continue to bring up this incident, which will more or less affect his career development.
Unless Zhou Qixue unfortunately becomes a top star, this scandal will be completely covered up and whitewashed by his fans. However, according to Xiaohe's analysis, Zhou Qixue is not destined for that; he is not cut out to be a top star.
Since that's the case, there's nothing to worry about. As long as it can affect Zhou Qixue even a little bit, she'll be satisfied.
That's how fans' love is. When they love, they'd give their whole heart and worry about their idol's development with all their heart. But once they find themselves betrayed and deceived, they lose heart and decide to unfollow, and that hatred is also very intense.
While thinking about all sorts of things, Xiaohe opened Weibo and found that her mutual followers on the homepage were still forwarding new behind-the-scenes materials and admiring them, as well as criticizing the female celebrity on the other side of the CP. She suddenly felt a little ironic.
The female celebrity hadn't actually done anything wrong and had no prior connection with them, but recently she's been relentlessly attacked by Zhou Qixue's fans.
The reason is simple: their on-screen couple is incredibly popular.
Once the power of CP fans grows, they will be arrogant and domineering everywhere. Zhou Qixue's solo fans are not very strong to begin with, so they can't beat the domineering CP fans. They can't scold Zhou Qixue, nor can they scold the CP fans, so they can only scold the innocent female party. Who told her to create a CP with Zhou Qixue?
Xiaohe doesn't actually have many mutual followers. Most of them are fans of clay sculpting, and a very small number are fans of her girlfriend or career. The reason she mutual follows is because she entered the circle early, when the distinction between different attributes wasn't so clear. She mutual follows a lot of people. Later, she became famous for her clay sculpting, and many people unfollowed her. However, there are a few who are more tolerant and have remained on her friend list.
She noticed something interesting while browsing her homepage lately: whether they were girlfriend fans, career fans, mother fans, or even die-hard fans, they would all tacitly criticize the woman for being a clingy, CP (couple) fan after getting angry at her.
In reality, Ye Jingyu's relationship with this couple can only be described as a business transaction. She's neither actively nor passively involved; it's clear that she's engaging in a business transaction, but it's also clear that she's just doing it for the sake of it.
The more proactive one in this couple is undoubtedly Zhou Qixue. He even goes so far as to mention Ye Jingyu in every interview or program, as if afraid that the couple fans won't get any new sweet moments.
Even with such a stark contrast in their business performance, Ye Jingyu was still the one being criticized for being addicted to paying others for her services.
That's true. How could fans bear to criticize their idol? Zhou Qixue works hard because he's dedicated, not because he's actively trying to please others. But you, the woman, don't know how to keep your distance and refuse, that's exactly what it means to be trying to please others.
Fortunately, Zhou Qixue himself, besides frantically promoting the CP (couple pairing) between them, also doesn't forget to pander to his female fans, and occasionally goes to the super topic to appease them, otherwise the two sides would probably have started arguing long ago.
As a former fan of Zhou Qixue, Xiaohe couldn't help but feel sorry for Ye Jingyu. But that's what happens when you don't have many fans. Ye Jingyu's fan base is far smaller than Zhou Qixue's, so she can only endure being beaten and scolded.
The vast majority of Zhou Qixue's fans are female fans who are very resistant to the idea of promoting the couple. However, Zhou Qixue himself is very good at reassuring them, so they have temporarily put up with it, thinking that everything will be free once the drama ends.
Xiao He didn't have any particular interest in the CP (couple pairing) promotion because she knew the CP was fake, so she naturally wouldn't be upset. Most of the girls who were upset were because Zhou Qixue was promoting the relationship too much, making them worry that they might actually be dating, and they were both jealous and upset at the same time.
At this moment, Xiaohe is once again forced to confirm that the CP is fake, but the reason it's fake is because Zhou Qixue himself has a girlfriend. She doesn't know whether to cry or laugh.
She couldn't help but wonder how devastated Zhou Qixue's other fans would be if they found out he had been secretly dating. And from what angle should Zhou Qixue's company clarify the situation and appease the fans?
It's not strange for celebrities to create a persona. There's no celebrity in the industry who doesn't create a persona at all. After all, a large part of gaining fans nowadays relies on personas. With more and more newcomers in the industry, if you want to be remembered quickly, you have to create a memorable persona to deepen people's impression as soon as possible.
Zhou Qixue's persona is that of a meticulous yet innocent college student. He graduated not long ago, and his persona has always been that of an innocent college student who has never been in a relationship. However, because he is usually very serious and meticulous in his work, he is also called an "old cadre" by his fans. With this contrast, his persona has been successfully remembered.
But who would have thought that every single word in it was fake, and Zhou Qixue himself had absolutely no connection to it?
Xiaohe really wants to ask Zhou Qixue where he got the nerve to pretend to be a naive, lifelong single man. This persona is indeed very appealing, but it's also very demanding. If anyone exposes any deviation from it, it will immediately collapse.
In fact, fan circles are now very tolerant of celebrities' experiences before their debut. It's normal to have dated before, and it's not strange to date in college. But if someone has dated but pretends not to in order to gain more fans, that's a serious offense.
Moreover, this person has been pretending for so long, more than a year. He had the opportunity to clarify to his fans that he was not a lifelong single and had been in relationships, but he never did so, just to win over more female fans.
The thought of Zhou Qixue pretending to be innocent and shy in so many interviews, claiming that he had never been in a relationship and had always been single, made Xiaohe feel nauseous.
This person is too hypocritical; she can't wait to tear off his mask.
Xiaohe quickly began organizing the evidence. She had a habit of taking screenshots at any time, and her album contained a large amount of various kinds of evidence, but it would take time to clear them out.
She spent a full three hours organizing the photo album before she started drafting the caption. She had only just finished a short paragraph when a bunch of new messages popped up in her WeChat chat box.
Xiaohe paused writing her copy and opened WeChat to find another mutual friend in the group. She had a fairly good relationship with this person, although not as close as with her senior, they still chatted often.
The other person is the kind of person who is fairly accepting, but she is quite doting on Zhou Qixue and often complains to her about Zhou Qixue's romantic partner.
Xiaohe opened the chat window and found that the other party was indeed cursing Ye Jingyu again. She originally wanted to send a couple of casual replies, but then she saw a few key messages.
[Loves Grass Jelly: Sister Ye has finally completely messed up [smirk]]
[She loves grass jelly: She's all over the top of the trending topics list right now, you should check it out!]
[I love eating grass jelly: This is what I deserve for staying up late. I was in a bad mood, but seeing the trending topic instantly cheered me up.]
[Loves Grass Jelly: Sister Ye is really impatient. She wants both CP fans and to be beautiful on her own. Now she has angered those CP fans. Her comments section is flooded with comments. [smirk]]
[Loves Grass Jelly: Where are you? Are you asleep?]
The other person patted you on the shoulder.
[Xiao Qi loves learning: I'm here.]
[Xiao Qi loves learning: He hasn't slept yet.]
[Xiao Qi loves to learn: What happened to Ye Jingyu?]
[I love eating grass jelly.]
[Loves Grass Jelly: Look at what I posted above, hurry up and go to Weibo to see what's going on]
[Loves Grass Jelly: Remember to switch to your alternate account, I've tagged you]
[Loves Grass Jelly: This is fantastic! I guarantee it will brighten your mood!]
Xiao He was confused. The other party said that Ye Jingyu's initiative to purify the CP fans angered them. How could that be?
First of all, Ye Jingyu has never actively promoted her CP. Although this doesn't hold true in the eyes of Zhou Qixue's fans, if you randomly pick a CP fan and ask them to choose between Zhou Qixue and Ye Jingyu, who promotes their CP more diligently, they will all choose Zhou Qixue instead of Ye Jingyu.
Ye Jingyu's attitude towards promotion is very clear: she will cooperate with the promotion of the plot as needed, but that's all. As for anything related to RPS (real-person pairing), she avoids it very obviously, and she has been secretly scolded by CP (couple) fans for this.
To say that she is uniquely beautiful at this moment is as strange as saying that someone who never drinks water voluntarily declares that he will never drink water again.
Why bother going through all this trouble when you've never had it before?
Xiao He opened Weibo in confusion. Ye Jingyu hadn't attracted many CP fans to begin with, so why would she try to promote a solo image at this time? It wouldn't even make the CP pure. And didn't her studio know that in the battle to purify CPs, the side that strikes first is bound to be in the wrong?
She already couldn't attract many CP fans, and now she's actively trying to purify her image by focusing solely on beauty. Isn't this just driving all the CP fans towards Zhou Qixue?
Has Ye Jingyu's team gone mad?
With a head full of questions, Xiaohe clicked on the trending search list and found that, just as Ai Chi Xiancao had said, half of the top ten entertainment items were about Ye Jingyu, and the highest-ranking item was marked with "Boiling," indicating that it was quite popular.
She clicked on the top trending topic and found that it was all about Ye Jingyu going to the talent show as a guest. She knew about it too. Ye Jingyu had already been criticized the morning she appeared in Yuyang. The CP fans with severe fastidiousness thought she was not clean and didn't even know how to avoid suspicion with other male artists during the CP promotion period.
Even though Xiaohe is a fan of Ye Jingyu's partner, she can't help but feel that these CP fans' ideas are too domineering.
It's just a variety show, but because it features male trainees, they act like it's a major crisis, practically wanting to slap a chastity plaque on the female celebrities. It's toxic.
The online feud didn't last long. Some rational fans of the couple quickly calmed things down. However, a small number of people still felt it was a bad thing and worried that Ye Jingyu was doing this to break up the pairing.
When Xiaohe saw this, she realized that this might mean the start of a purification war, but whether it would actually start in the end remained to be seen.
The show has just finished recording and hasn't even been produced yet, but a fight has already broken out. Xiaohe browsed the trending topics and found that the source of everything was a report. She also discovered that this episode was recorded in a closed studio, meaning there was no audience and only people from the production team watched the performance.
The fact that this can be reported suggests either it's staged or there's a mole inside.
Seeing the comments in the report that were clearly intended to lead people to criticize Ye Jingyu, Xiao He had a feeling that this matter was not simple, or rather, she felt that it was very likely orchestrated by Zhou Qixue's studio.
Ye Jingyu had just appeared on the show and immediately became a trending topic within ten minutes, receiving criticism everywhere. Among the guests recording at the same time was a top celebrity, but she didn't receive as much attention as Ye Jingyu, which was very unusual.
Xiao He felt at the time that Zhou Qixue's studio was most likely behind that incident, and now that it's happening again, it's hard not to say that everything is connected.
The person who loves grass jelly sent her a message again, asking if she was in a better mood, but she didn't know how to reply.
Looking at the excitement on the trending topics, Xiaohe had a feeling that a major battle was about to begin.
Some people seem to be digging their own graves.
Author's Note: Thank you to all the little angels who voted for me or watered my plants with nutrient solution between 2024-07-24 23:59:03 and 2024-07-25 23:56:47!
Thank you to the little angels who watered the nutrient solution: Lala Lala 7 bottles; I'm not sleepy when I sleep 4 bottles; Linmian, Caiwandou, Shipipi Yiya, Junjunjunjun Yiya 1 bottle;
Thank you so much for your support, I will continue to work hard!
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