At 2:00 am, a time when user activity was supposed to be declining, Weibo received an unusual wave of ultra-high refresh traffic that directly paralyzed Weibo searches and the front page of the list.

Hot searches and trending topics changed drastically after the brief paralysis of Weibo.

The previous top of the list, # Boycotting Qi Cong’s entry into the entertainment circle # and the revelations about Qi Cong on Weibo were now suppressed by the new topics # Qi Cong physical examination report # and # Gu Xun live# as well as the content posted by Gu Xun, Manju Entertainment Company and the “Legend of Youth” crew.

The clarification came too fast, too dense, too violent and unexpected, making all the fans and netizens who ate melons confused for a long time. Then most of them become almost crazy after the current revelations.

What does Gu Xun’s long list of Weibo mean? Was this news fake? Everything today was deliberately made-up by someone? They were used?

The role of You Changqing was arranged by Manju Entertainment and had nothing to do with Gu Xun?

The so-called extra scenes of Qi Cong were going from three scenes to twelve? He went from a very small cannon fodder, into a slightly larger cannon fodder?

The man who met with Qi Cong on the patio was Jiang Zhaoyan’s fiance?

Also, Qi Cong’s split personality that everyone cared the most about…. 

Everyone looked at those examination reports lined up with various seals and then looked at the “Legend of Youth” Official Weibo that stated that they verified Qi Cong’s medical examination and psychological assessment report. Their brains felt like they were being hit with a stick, making it buzz.

So there was no problem? Qi Cong was healthy? The crew didn’t disregard the personal safety of other actors. They carefully checked Qi Cong’s physical condition before signing a contract with Qi Cong and letting him enter the crew.

So what have they been doing all day?

Also the  most incredible and unexpected person…was Qi Cong? That terrifying, award-winning experience, with the words “other people’s children” written all over his body, standing on the podium and smiling calmly at the commendation ceremony was Qi Cong? Was it that obnoxious Qi Cong?

Was it really Gu Xun who looked up to Qi Cong? He has looked up to him for a long time?

With a series of critical attacks, the comment sections of all the relevant posts fell into a state of confusion. Some were incoherent, some were still confused, and some had a hard time digesting the news. There were some that exploded with anger, or broke down emotionally. Some believed in the clarification, while others remained unconvinced.

Public opinion was in a state of confusion and their hostility was slow to dissipate as some people were still catching wind of some malicious speculation.

As if anticipating such a situation, Manju Entertainment Company issued a statement and released Qi Cong’s medical report before releasing more evidence to support Gu Xun’s words.

At three o’clock in the morning, Manju Entertainment released a part of the contract signed between Qi Cong and the cast of “Legend of Youth”, which clearly stated that the total number of scenes Qi Cong will act in the “Legend of Youth” was 12 (which could be adjusted according to the circumstances of the scene), and the expected filming time was only one week.

At 3:15 in the morning, Manju Entertainment released a segment of the elevator surveillance of the Dingli Hotel.

In the surveillance, Jiang Zhaoyan and a man with a cold and arrogant temperament were standing inside, talking sideways about something. After that, the elevator door opened and the two men looked outside together, then coincidentally their expressions changed. After a few seconds of fast-forwarding, Qi Cong and his companion entered the elevator. Jiang Zhaoyan reached out towards Qi Cong, trying to pull him to his side, but was waved away by Qi Cong. All the while, the man next to Jiang Zhaoyan kept measuring Qi Cong with a strange expression.

The surveillance screen finally stopped at the angle that captured the back of the cold and arrogant man. As long as people were not blind, the back of this cold and arrogant man, and the back of the man from the patio, from the hair to his body shape was almost identical.

At 3:20 a.m., Manju Entertainment revealed a class schedule and progress chart which detailed the number of hours of class, length, homework completion and learning progress that Qi Cong had followed after the confirmation of his role.

After that, Manju Entertainment released a video taken by a car recorder.

In the video Qi Cong, under the protection of bodyguards, after getting rid of the reporters at the hotel gate walked toward the car. Halfway there, Gu Xun suddenly got out of the black car on the roadside and said hello to Qi Cong. The video clearly showed that after seeing Gu Xun appear, Qi Cong obviously froze, while Zhao Zhenxun frowned. Zhao Zhenxun instructed Qi Cong on what to do and Qi Cong raised his hand to greet Gu Xun after listening to Zhao Zhenxun’s instruction. Then he pointed to the car while talking to Gu Xun but Gu Xun suddenly laughed, got close and crossed the crowd to grab Qi Cong’s hand, pulling him away from the group.

Qi Cong and Zhao Zhenxun were obviously not prepared for Gu Xun’s actions. Qi Cong was pulled away with a confused expression and Zhao Zhenxun’s face was black once he came back to his senses.

Just like this, Gu Xun’s words were confirmed one by one. The dirty water that was thrown on Qi Cong was cleared little by little, and those things that made fans and passersby scared and disgusted with Qi Cong were removed by the actual hammer.

Qi Cong didn’t have a chaotic private life.

Qi Cong wasn’t working as an assistant because he was taking classes.

Qi Cong didn’t deliberately deceive or use Gu Xun.

It was really Gu Xun who made his own decision to “kidnap” Qi Cong right under Zhao Zhenxun’s nose, and it was Qi Cong who was defenseless.

The last bit of skepticism disappeared, and then a larger public discussion erupted. Angry fans and melon eaters’ attention shifted, as everyone began to ask the same question – who was making up all these lies? Who was maliciously misleading and inciting them? Who was playing with them?

…….

 

At the beginning of the new day, Qi Cong sat in the back seat of the car, holding his mobile phone and staring at the Weibo home page with a cat picture as the background on the screen.

“The clarifications were all released in the early morning, so the degree of discussion was very high but the spread was limited. The real outbreak of public opinion is estimated to be this afternoon or evening. There should also be more reporters squatting near the recording studio than yesterday. Just like yesterday, don’t respond to any questions, just go into the recording studio and strive to record the song today.”

Zhao Zhenxun turned his head and found that Qi Cong’s eyes were glazed over, so he put down his tablet and called out to him.

Qi Cong returned to his senses and looked at Zhao Zhenxun. “What?”

“Can you get the song recorded today?”

Qi Cong reflected after knowing that he was distracted when talking about business, and hurriedly put away his cell phone to correct his attitude. He first apologized to Zhao Zhenxun, and then replied, “I will try my best to finish recording today.”

Zhao Zhenxun nodded and then withdrew his sight.

Qi Cong picked up his phone again and lit up the screen to look at the top Weibo full of Gun Xun’s name.

It wasn’t Qi Cong. It’s me who looks up to him

I have been looking up to him for a long time….

Qi Cong squeezed his cell phone, and his heart uncontrollably started beating faster. He flipped his finger through the many reports and photos on Weibo that even he himself had forgotten, making his brain overheat.

Was all this PR content that Zhao Zhenxun arranged for Gu Xun to post, or did Gu Xun collect them himself? If it was collected by Gu Xun himself, then when would they have been collected?

Qi Cong looked at Zhao Zhenxun in the passenger seat and wanted to ask. His mouth even moved, but he chose to close it again and withdrew his eyes to look at the phone in his hands.

He slid to another Weibo sent by Gu Xun and looked at one of the sentences.

[For many years I have been looking up to a man who I have lost contact with for three years, he wasn’t easy to meet again.]

The words “many years I have been looking up to” were placed before “lost contact for three years”. So Gu Xun started to look up to him before he got lost. But before they lost contact, they had only known each other for little more than half a year, which couldn’t be counted as “many years.”

Or did he misunderstand? By Gu Xun saying “many years” did he also mean to include these three years they lost contact with each other?

But… Qi Cong remembered when he first met Gu Xun, who still had the appearance of a poor boy, then remembered after their reunion asking Gu Xun why he had lied to him. Gu Xun replied, “Because you would have hated the real me.”

Qi Cong pinched his palm.

It shouldn’t be a misunderstanding. Gu Xun’s answer showed that he must have deliberately appeared in front of Qi Cong disguised as that harmless poor boy after understanding his dating preferences.

In other words, Gu Xun already knew him and “looked up” to him for years before they really met and got to know each other.

When could that be? Did the two of them cross paths in the past? Where did Gu Xun learn about his dating preferences? Although he was aware of his sexuality before meeting Gu Xun, he didn’t fall in love with anyone, so Gu Xun should have no place to collect this information.

Or did Gu Xun just want to be an ordinary friend with him at first and had no other thoughts?

The more Qi Cong thought about it, the more his thoughts scattered. He searched his memory hard, trying to find something related to Gu Xun in it, but came up empty-handed.

He had no impression at all. Gu Xun’s appearance and temperament were very top-notch, not the kind that you could have forgotten easily. If the two of them crossed paths in the past he should have some impression of it.

Could it be that Gu Xun’s previous appearance was very different from his current one?

Qi Cong, thinking of this option, opened his cell phone browser and tried to find a photo of Gu Xun before his debut, but there was nothing.

Nothing?

Not giving up, he went to Weibo to search, only to find an old news article that revealed Gu Xun sent a lawyer’s letter to a gossip account that exposed the photos of him and his family the year before last.

It seemed that Gu Xun attached great importance to the protection of his pre-debut information.

Qi Cong put down his phone and then picked it up again. A few seconds later he opened Wechat and went to Gu Xun’s circle of friends. He directly went to the bottom of his circle of friends, and then a Weibo Gu Xun posted to promote a movie popped up. He scrolled up again, but found that Gu Xun was a “silent” person who only posted one message on average in a month. He also never mentions his family and past-related content.

“…”

Qi Cong quit Wechat and looked again at the Weibo post at the top of Gu Xun’s list. Inexplicably feeling a little persistent, he opened Wechat and sent a message to Gu Xun.

Qi Cong: I’d like to see pictures of you before your debut and when you were a child, may I?

Gu Xun didn’t reply.

The car stopped since they already arrived at the rerecording studio. Qi Cong put away his mobile phone and put on his hat. Waiting for the bodyguard to help him open the car door, he bowed his head and got out of the car. Ignoring the shouts of the press around him and cameras that almost broke through the bodyguard circle, he entered the recording studio in a big stride.

 

……

 

Throughout the morning, Qi Cong was out of it for no reason.  He couldn’t even pick a fault in his singing, but his emotions were never in the right place. Everyone thought he was affected by yesterday’s internet uproar and was sympathetic enough not to say anything more, thoughtfully giving him time to adjust.

Even Zhao Zhenxun misunderstood Qi Cong’s poor state and in a rare thoughtful moment, pulled Qi Cong aside during the break to patiently explain that Qi Cong don’t need to worry about the dynamics of the Internet. He told him that in fact, his image was now considered cleansed.

 

Edited by: Antiope1

 

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