Chapter 18: The program aired, and the villainous male supporting character got beaten up...
Late at night, a solitary lamp was still lit in the study on the top floor of the Li family's main residence.
Outside the window, the biting wind of a northern winter night howls, but inside, it's warm as spring. The underfloor heating system silently warms the air, creating a drowsy, oppressive heat.
Li Xinian sat alone in a single sofa by the fireplace, tilting his head back slightly, his neck resting against the soft sofa back, his eyes closed, his fingertips unconsciously pressing his throbbing temples.
He had just quelled an internal turmoil stirred up by several uncles who were trying to challenge his absolute authority with an iron fist.
The process was perfect, and the result was as expected: he remained the absolute ruler.
However, at this moment, having shed all pretense, a deep weariness and an indescribable emptiness wash over me like a tide.
The flames in the fireplace flickered, casting dim light and shadow on his overly handsome yet weary face.
The striking features brought about by his mixed heritage softened slightly when he relaxed, but his tightly pursed lips and slightly furrowed brows still hinted at the unspoken heavy burden he carried.
The huge temperature difference between indoors and outdoors caused a uniform layer of white mist to cover the large floor-to-ceiling window in the study, blocking out the cold city night view and blurring the whole world outside.
Li Xinian unconsciously raised his eyes, his gaze unfocused on the hazy glass, his thoughts somewhat blank.
The change occurred without warning.
On that patch of mist that was originally just a uniform, hazy mist, it seemed as if an invisible finger, carrying a slightly cool temperature, was slowly tracing its path.
Clear and beautiful characters emerge one by one, calmly and unhurriedly, carrying a supernatural magic:
You look tired, remember to eat on time.
The edges of the writing were slightly blurred due to the moisture, but this did not affect its clarity at all; in fact, it carried a strange gentleness.
Li Xinian's movement of pressing his temples suddenly froze!
He sat up almost instantly from the sofa, his muscles tensing, like a cheetah spotting its most incredible prey. His gaze was fixed on the glass like a hawk's, all his fatigue and confusion instantly replaced by extreme vigilance and disbelief.
It's not a hallucination!
The words were clearly imprinted there, on the "canvas" formed by the mist, radiating silent care.
Over the years, countless times... in his most critical moments when he needed guidance the most, that mysterious and precise power would always appear quietly, resolving the crisis for him in various ways, yet it was as elusive as a ghost.
He tried and investigated, but all his efforts were in vain.
Li Xinian never imagined that he would receive a positive response from "him" in such an ordinary, vulnerable late night, in such a... gentle way.
His heart pounded heavily and rapidly in his chest. Li Xinian took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He didn't panic or immediately call for security; he simply stood up slowly and walked step by step toward the glass covered with writing.
His figure was cast by the fireplace light onto the mist, overlapping with the words on the page.
He stopped in front of the tall glass window, very close to the words. His warm breath brushed against the glass, slightly blurring the letters. He raised his hand, his fingertips seemingly wanting to touch the words, but stopped just before making contact, ultimately remaining suspended in mid-air.
He spoke, his voice low and hoarse from the long silence and sudden tension, yet carrying an undeniable calmness that suggested an attempt to engage in equal dialogue:
"...Is that you?"
He paused, his icy gray eyes sharp as if trying to pierce through the glass and look into the nothingness behind it.
"Over the years... time and time again... by my side," he spoke each word with extreme clarity, with scrutiny and inquiry, "has it always been you?"
The study was deathly silent, save for the crackling of the fireplace flames. The fog outside the window remained thick and hazy.
As if in response to his question, above the layer of mist, beside the old handwriting, new lines began to slowly emerge, unhurried, like a silent sigh:
*Yes*
These two simple words were like a boulder thrown into Li Xinian's already turbulent heart, stirring up towering waves.
It really is "him"!
That being who saved him from danger countless times, guided him in the right direction, yet always remained hidden behind the fog...
But in the end, he just stared at that simple word, at the handwriting that gradually became clearer in the steam, and a complex mix of emotions—inquiry, doubt, gratitude, and more—overwhelmed him like a lake.
After waiting for so many years, he finally... caught a trace of this ghost.
*
"Don't worry, Lin Suxing is definitely not the kind of person who gangs up to bully others. He has a very kind heart!"
Honey Storage Room remained silent, ruffling her bangs: "Is that so? Thank you, Puff. I have to make sure he's a decent person before I start a fan site for him; that's my principle."
Chocolate Puff on the other end of the WeChat voice chat laughed heartily: "It's okay, I'm still happy to answer your questions about him. Although I run a fan site for Little Foreigner, I've edited promotional videos for Lin Suxing before, and I've met him offline many times, so I know him quite well."
"Yeah, I know, it was because of your video that I became a fan!" Honey Storage Room got quite excited when she mentioned this.
Although Lin Suxing didn't have many scenes in the previously aired episodes, she noticed this handsome guy back then.
However, the promotional video for the chocolate puff further highlighted Lin Suxing's personality traits and signature beauty, which made Honey Storage Room determined to start a fan site for Lin Suxing and protect her.
However, while the fan site was still in the planning stages, Lin Ke's fans revealed that Lin Suxing had engaged in small-group bullying, ostracizing Lin Ke, and stealing the center position.
This has put the honey storage room in a bit of a dilemma—whether or not to open it.
Chocolate Puff continued, "Oh, weren't you there when we caught Grape Sister? You must have heard Lin Suxing say that if we hadn't found Grape Sister, he would have had someone leak the news online so we would know that Grape Sister had returned to China. He's really a nice guy!"
How could Lin Suxing not be a good person! Lin Suxing is such a good person for helping them catch Sister Grape!
A fan site admin who had been swindled out of her entire fortune by Sister Grape even said she was going to worship Lin Suxing's memorial tablet, but Chocolate Puff quickly stopped her: "Tonic, tonifying medicine! Suxing is still alive and well, don't do such weird things!"
The Honey Storage Room also witnessed that war of the gods: "Okay, I understand. I'll get ready today and start the battle."
She is an experienced fan, having spent six figures on camera equipment, and is also very adept at running fan sites.
"Besides, everything will be clear after today's episode airs." Chocolate Puff was also eagerly awaiting the release of the new episode of Produce Producers today.
Honey Storage Room sighed: "I hope so. Lin Ke is said to have a very strong family background. I'm worried that even if the truth isn't like that, the production team will edit the footage maliciously to protect him."
*
The concerns about the honey storage room were not unfounded, because Lin Ke, the person involved, thought the same thing.
Every time he met producer Yu Yicheng, the other party would smile broadly at him and praise him endlessly, almost to the point of exaggeration.
Lin Ke felt that Yu Yicheng's attitude was enough to demonstrate the program team's stance.
The production team didn't dare to provoke him, so they wouldn't release the footage of his conflict with Lin Suxing directly.
The airing of the program will definitely benefit him.
In the past two days, due to the escalating incident of "Lin Suxing bullying Lin Ke", Lin Ke's Weibo account has gained nearly 100,000 followers.
Lin Ke had been eagerly awaiting the broadcast of the show, and with carefully edited content, she continued to pretend to be a victim to win the favor of passersby.
So, two hours after the afternoon program aired, he immediately made an excuse about feeling unwell and returned to his dormitory. He took out his phone and started watching his own super topic in a corner out of the room's cameras, while simultaneously loading the Produce producers' programs.
A red dot popped up in the Weibo comments section. Lin Ke clicked on it casually, happily waiting to read the rainbow-colored praise from her fans.
[So she cried because she failed to band together to exclude Lin Suxing and grab the center position.]
[Are Lin Ke's fans pretending to be dead now? Didn't they just say on Lin Suxing's Weibo a couple of days ago that their idol was a pure, innocent, and virtuous young man? Say something, please!]
[You're so heartless! I'm unfollowing you, but I'm even going to release your unedited, ugly photos offline for everyone to see!]
[666, you bully others and then act all wronged, huh?]
【You still want to hit Meng Huaiwen? How dare you pretend to cry like that? You say he's ostracizing you, but it's clearly your own problem】
It's normal for He Jiayang and Zhang Xiyi to ignore you; you're even calling them useless trash.
Looking at the comments under her Weibo post, Lin Ke was instantly stunned into a blank state.
After a long while, he incredulously began to browse Weibo, only to find that the trending topics were #LinKeBullysTheWholeTeam#, #LinKeResourcedActress#, and #LinKeSuperbActingSkills#.
how so!
Lin Ke's face turned deathly pale in an instant, and her right hand, which was holding the pear-shaped phone, trembled violently, almost causing her to drop the phone on the ground.
In his panic, he clicked on the super topic without thinking, but accidentally pressed the super topic check-in button!
But at this moment, he had no time to care about that, and instead began to browse the content under the super topic.
[I'm no longer a fan. Let's go our separate ways and wish each other well.]
[Lin Ke is a habitual liar, I will never like her again, that's it.]
A couple of days ago I really thought Lin Ke was being bullied, but it seems I was completely fooled by him. I guess he looks down on us fans who fight for him and thinks we're "useless trash."
"How could this happen... how could this happen!" Lin Ke roared hoarsely, but due to a mental lapse, she could only repeat the same exclamation over and over again.
Finally, he opened the Produce Maker app, which had already finished loading, and quickly moved the progress bar to the segment in Group D's training room.
Lin Ke stood in the training room, surrounded by several followers, looking at Lin Suxing with an air of confidence: "Let's start choosing the center position~"
Then, just as things unfolded, the production team released the full details of how Meng Huaiwen interrupted the voting, and how Lin Ke rushed forward to grab Meng Huaiwen's collar after Lin Suxing was elected center, and pointed at He Jiayang and Zhang Xiyi, calling them "useless trash" and "fence-sitters."
The editor also specially magnified the look of surprise and jealousy on Lin Ke's face when Meng Huaiwen interrupted the vote, as well as the angry distortion on Lin Ke's face after Lin Suxing was elected as the center, and made slow-motion replays of them.
Even scenes of Lin Suxing speaking up for He Jiayang and telling Lin Ke not to insult people, as well as scenes of Lin Ke angrily slamming the door and telling Lin Suxing and the others "you wait," were released without reservation.
The production team not only didn't try to edit the footage to create a positive image for him, but they also deliberately tried to smear him!
Lin Ke clenched her fists, her eyes bloodshot with rage: "Damn the production team! Damn Yu Yicheng! Every time he sees me, he pretends to be so friendly, but he's just lying to me! How dare they offend the Lin family like this! How dare they!"
Only two hours into the broadcast, this segment was already flooded with comments, to the point that it was impossible to watch without blocking them.
[Holy crap! A shocking plot twist?!]
So, Lin Ke wanted to band together to exclude Lin Suxing, but since no one paid attention to him, he started acting on his own?
[This face-changing speed... Can't we use our acting skills for something better?]
[Those who previously criticized Lin Suxing, please apologize!]
[This is so manipulative! She's practically a living master of green tea! I feel so sorry for Lin Suxing, she's been getting criticized for days for no reason!]
[Well done, production team! This kind of person deserves to have the original footage released!]
As expected, public opinion reversed after the program aired.
Public opinion completely reversed. Lin Ke's carefully cultivated image as a noble young master collapsed instantly, exposing the ugly scheming, vicious insults, and ridiculous arrogance hidden beneath his hypocritical mask.
A large number of fans have left the fandom; 50,000 active fans have been lost since the show aired, and Lin Ke's fan page has been overrun by righteous casual fans.
Shouldn't you fans apologize to Lin Suxing? You've been cyberbullying others for so long, it's gone too far!
Are Lin Ke's fans all brainless? Those who haven't unfollowed her are truly amazing.
[Apologize! Apologize! Apologize! You all need to apologize to Lin Suxing!]
Even if everyone else in the world abandons him, his father Lin Yuan will never abandon him!
As soon as the call connected, he immediately screamed in a piercingly tearful voice, "Dad! They deliberately edited the program wrong in the broadcast, making me look like a bad person who gangs up on and bullies others! Now many of my fans have unfollowed me, and they're all cursing me!!"
"What!?" Lin Yuan was in a high-level meeting, but he completely ignored the executives who were giving their reports and walked straight out of the meeting room. "Honey, tell me in detail. Daddy called the production team to ask what's going on!"
Lin Ke's exaggerated and nonsensical remarks infuriated Lin Yuan. However, as a seasoned adult, he knew that the broadcast had already been seen by many people, and it was too late to pressure the production team to clarify the situation.
All he could say was, "Keke, how about we don't participate in this show? Dad will still get you plenty of good resources in the future."
"...No!" Lin Ke cried, her face streaked with tears, gasping for breath. "I want to clarify this during Lan Dai's live stream tomorrow! I want to explain everything clearly, and I want the production team to cooperate with my explanation!"
Lin Yuan was helpless, but he tried his best to satisfy the requests of his child, whom he had spoiled for many years: "Okay, Dad will ask the production team for you. You should prepare the clarification first. Listen to me, at worst we won't participate in this stupid show."
After hanging up the phone, Lin Ke's tears continued to flow, her expression shifting between extreme sadness and extreme anger.
Finally, he sneered in the darkness: "Just wait, Lin Suxing, I have dirt on you. Tomorrow during the live stream... you'll be utterly disgraced!"
A note from the author:
----------------------
The incriminating evidence Lin Ke possesses will be revealed in the next chapter.
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