Chapter 45. What beautiful love? It's filthy...
After a moment of silence, the live stream chat on Zhiwei Talk suddenly erupted with a burst of comments.
[Wow, this is too much information, my CPU is fried!]
[Don't rush, don't rush, let me sort this out. First of all, Gu Mingyan is not a homewrecker at all. Ye Jinyan and Meng Xian dated in high school. After they broke up, Ye Jinyan went to Gu Mingyan. Then, when Meng Xian returned to China, he cheated on her again and went back to his ex, even swindling money from Gu Mingyan?!]
[I get it now. Ye Jinyan is a scumbag who lives off women and cheats on them, and Meng Xian is even worse—she knowingly becomes a mistress and acts as if it's her own business.]
How dare she act so arrogantly in front of Gu Mingyan?
[Those who criticized Gu Mingyan before, come out and apologize! I suddenly realize how pitiful the young lady is; she was deceived emotionally and financially, and now she's being cyberbullied!]
...
The live chat was flooded with comments, while Wang Wei, who was holding the camera, was completely frozen in place.
The fanatical gleam of self-righteous righteousness on her face had vanished, replaced by utter panic and deathly pallor.
Her prized secrets to generating traffic, her viral article written overnight, and her righteous revelations that she was certain would spark discussion—all became a complete joke in the face of those few minutes of conversation.
Meng Xian had already realized that she had fallen into Gu Mingyan's trap.
Gu Mingyan's tears, Gu Mingyan's pleas, Gu Mingyan's vulnerability—it was all an act.
He put on a show for her, for Ye Jinyan, and for everyone who was misled by public opinion.
She and Ye Jinyan acted like two fools, tearing off their disguises and revealing their true selves in front of the live broadcast camera.
But things get much worse than that.
As Meng Xian turned around, she caught a glimpse of Ji Sihan, Nan Xu, Ding Manni, Jiang Mingqian, and Yu Ran standing at the intersection not far away.
It's unclear how much of what these guests heard, but they were all dumbfounded and speechless.
Ji Sihan stammered, "Well...we noticed Yun Qingqing and the others hadn't returned for a while, and we were worried it wouldn't be safe after dark, so we thought we'd come and see if they needed any help..."
Meng Xian gave a stiff smile.
She knew she absolutely couldn't panic right now.
If she shows even the slightest hint of guilt now, she'll be completely finished.
"I know what I just said might have sounded misleading, but things aren't as you think," Meng Xian said softly. "Jin Yan and I have been together since high school, and we still have feelings for each other, that's a fact. Our breakup back then was just a youthful impulsiveness, and it was only natural that we got back together after I returned to China."
“Mingyan, relying on being the eldest daughter of the Gu family, is rich and powerful, and is forcing Jinyan to stay by her side. I just can’t stand her using her family background to oppress people, so I got a little emotional just now. Please forgive me.”
She spoke these words clearly and logically, each word dripping with emotion, as if she were the victim whose love had been stolen away, and Gu Mingyan was the vicious heiress who used money to bully others.
Ye Jinyan nodded without hesitation, trying to pin all the blame on Gu Mingyan.
However, whether Meng Xian's weak and feeble explanation would be of any use was no longer in her control.
Both the live stream on Zhiwei Talk and the program's official live stream were overwhelmed by the sheer number of viewers and crashed completely.
It's like the calm before the storm.
Nighttime, inside the temporary tent set up by the production team.
Ye Jinyan stared at the "father" caller ID on his phone screen, took several deep breaths, and finally mustered the courage to answer.
"Hello, Dad?"
No sooner had he uttered those words than Old Master Ye's furious roar came from the other end of the phone: "Ye Jinyan! You bastard! Has your brain been eaten by a dog?! I usually don't care about your messy relationships with women because I think you should at least have some sense of propriety! Look at the mess you've made!!"
Ye Jinyan held his phone further away, trying to explain, "Dad, it was that bitch Gu Mingyan who framed me..."
"She plotted against you? Did she hold a knife to your throat? Or did she force you to say those outrageous things, to force that actress Meng Xian to spout such nonsense?!" Old Master Ye's voice trembled with rage. "You abandoned the legitimate eldest daughter of the Gu family, and instead went against an actress from a mediocre family with a wicked heart, even making it known to the whole world that you're a kept man and using her as a substitute! How could I have such a foolish son like you!"
Ye Jinyan was rendered speechless by the scolding.
At this moment, a soft and melodious female voice came from the other end of the phone, but it only made Ye Jinyan more irritated: "Dad, calm down, don't get sick from anger. Jinyan is still young, it's possible that he's blinded by his feelings for a while."
She is his half-sister, Ye Jiahe.
Although her words sounded like she was trying to reconcile them, saying them at this point was tantamount to adding fuel to the fire, confirming his foolishness and impulsiveness.
Old Master Ye was even angrier: "Bullshit about being blinded by emotions! As the heir of the Ye family, you can't even handle this little thing! From today onwards, you'd better stay home obediently. If you dare to cause any more trouble, I'll break your legs!"
He paused, then said helplessly, "Jiahe, you need to pay more attention to things at the company lately."
"Okay, Dad, don't worry." Ye Jiahe's voice remained gentle and polite.
The phone was abruptly disconnected.
Ye Jinyan let out a frustrated sigh.
After the live stream crashed, Meng Xian's fan club immediately sensed the crisis.
They knew very well that once Meng Xian was definitively labeled as a mistress, her acting career would be completely over.
The online trolls and Meng Xian's die-hard fans quickly aligned their narratives, romanticizing and distorting the truth of the matter between the three.
They ignored the crucial information that Ye and Meng had conspired to swindle money, clinging only to one point:
Ye Jinyan and Meng Xian were each other's first love. They were deeply in love during high school, but broke up due to a misunderstanding in their youth.
Years later, after many hardships, the two people who truly loved each other finally reunited.
Gu Mingyan, on the other hand, was portrayed as a vicious rich girl who took advantage of Ye Jinyan's vulnerability, relentlessly pursued him because of her family background, and even tried to use money to bind their love.
In the beautiful love story imagined by fans, Ye Jinyan had to temporarily feign compliance and maneuver around Gu Mingyan in order to protect Meng Xian.
Guided by this narrative, fans launched a massive campaign to counter the negative publicity and control online comments.
[This is like a novel plot coming true! Separated in their youth, they reunite at the peak of their lives, and even with the villainous female supporting character trying to stop them, they cannot sever the red thread of fate.]
[I'm so swooning, I'm totally shipping them! Young Master Ye had to endure so much humiliation and hardship in front of Gu Mingyan because of family pressure. How much he must have suffered inside!]
True love is never afraid of tests. Ye Shao's feelings for Meng Xian are clear to all. Even when Gu Mingyan used money to coerce him, and even when he was misunderstood by the entire internet, he always stood firmly by Meng Xian's side.
Three men can make a tiger; many voices can melt metal.
With the organized and strategic spamming and comment control by the fan group, many netizens who had not watched the "Zhiwei Says" live broadcast in person were indeed misled by this rhetoric.
For a time, there were still quite a few people online criticizing Gu Mingyan, and even many bystanders joined in, verbally attacking Gu Mingyan. Meanwhile, Ye Jinyan and Meng Xian became the unfortunate couple who were pitied by the public for their steadfast love.
This farce of public opinion is absurd and laughable.
However, one person felt utterly suffocated amidst this ode to love.
Wang Wei closed the posts about "exquisite love" on her computer, ran her hands through her hair, and vigorously rubbed it.
As the person who witnessed and heard the entire conversation firsthand, no one knew the truth better than her.
Gu Mingyan is innocent.
She wasn't some wicked heiress who ruined other people's love lives; she was just a victim who was deceived emotionally and financially by a scumbag, and then smeared and cyberbullied by the entire internet.
She looked at the rapidly growing number of followers on her account, and at the malicious speculations and attacks against Gu Mingyan online...
"What...did I do?" Wang Wei murmured to herself.
She genuinely wanted to speak out for women.
But I don't know when it started, speaking out has become incitement, seeking the truth has become seeking sensationalism, and justice has become a business.
She exploits the plight of women, creating antagonism and anxiety, and then comfortably reaps the benefits of online traffic.
At this moment, watching Meng Xian's die-hard fans weave lies, distort the truth, and sing praises of a distorted relationship built on deception and plunder in the same or even more fanatical way... Wang Wei felt a strong sense of nausea and shame.
What is the essential difference between her and these extreme fans?
Wang Wei sat in the darkness for a long time.
Finally, she opened the document.
Just as Meng Xian's fans and Ye Meng CP fans reached the peak of their praise for their "exquisite love"—
The various platforms where "Zhiwei Says" has been updated have suddenly updated.
This article is quite long, without using any sensational titles or emotional language. It simply recounts everything that happened that day by the bushes from the perspective of a "voyeur."
From how she received the anonymous submission, how she wrote and published the viral article without verification, to how she secretly sneaked into the filming location to try to dig up more juicy details, and how she was caught red-handed by Gu Xubai, the entire story unfolded.
She wrote: "...I have strayed from my original intention of speaking out for the weak and seeking justice, and have become an unscrupulous blogger who uses emotions and creates confrontation. Here, I would like to offer my sincerest apologies to Ms. Gu Mingyan. I do not ask for forgiveness, but I must tell the truth."
"Starting today, the 'Zhiwei Says' account will be suspended indefinitely, and all past revenue from traffic monetization will be donated to an education assistance project for girls in remote mountainous areas. This is the price I must pay for my mistakes, and it is also a way for me to try to find my original intentions."
At the end of the article, Zhiwei's writing finally revealed its sharp edge:
"Some say that the relationship between Ye Jinyan and Meng Xian is a beautiful love story of reconciliation after years of separation, a love that is unwavering and beautiful. But I want to ask, what is so beautiful about a love that needs to be maintained by deceiving another girl's feelings and money, a love that needs to be whitewashed by distorting the truth and throwing mud?"
"The love you sing praises of, the deep affection you pursue, is nothing but, in my view, the despicable and shameless collusion of two selfish people."
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