Turmoil

Xie Quan arrived on set early that morning as usual, but the moment he stepped inside, he sensed something was wrong.

It was subtle, but he could feel people sneaking glances at him on his way in. There was something in their eyes he couldn't quite read.

No, he knew what it was. Disgust.

Something must have happened. He had barely entered the makeup room when his agent called.

"Xiao Quan, have you checked your phone today?"

"No. I just got to the set. I haven't had time."

"Look at the news. It's infuriating." His agent had finally had a morning when she didn't need to get up early, only for this to happen.

Worst of all, the smear was vile.

Hearing the anger in her voice, Xie Quan immediately opened Weibo's trending list. His name was at the top, followed by a huge "Breaking" tag.

He tapped it and found a video of a man with several children. The man held one in his arms, while the others stood beside him.

"I want to report Xie Quan. Yes, the celebrity Xie Quan. I'm not talking about someone else with the same name."

"That man is a monster in human skin. On the surface, he donates to our Welfare Home and comes to play with the children whenever he has time. In reality, he treats them like toys."

"I never imagined he'd do something like that to children. The worst part is, he did it to every one of them."

A reporter off camera asked, "Hello, how did you find out about this?"

"I was chatting with one of the children, and he told me how much he liked his big brother. He said his big brother had touched him today, too."

"I didn't think anything of it at first. Then the child told me where he'd been touched. Something felt wrong, so I asked the others. I never expected nearly all of them to say the same thing."

The man, the director of the Welfare Home, grew angrier as he spoke. "What do you call someone like that? He laid his hands on children this young!"

"I'm speaking out to get justice for our children, and to tell everyone that the person they admire is scum."

To lend the story credibility, the reporter interviewed the children. "Does that big brother touch you every time he visits?"

Several children nodded.

"Where does he touch you?"

They all pointed to their legs. To protect them, every child's face had been pixelated.

The video ended there. When Xie Quan closed it, he saw the comments below.

"My god, I never thought Xie Quan was that kind of person."

"You really can't judge someone by appearances."

"Hold on. We can't just take their word for it."

"First, that man is the director of a Welfare Home, which proves he cares about children. Second, what would kids that young know? How could they lie?"

Whenever one of Xie Quan's fans spoke up, a torrent of abuse followed.

His fans had been dragged into this, too.

He had weathered all kinds of storms in the entertainment industry, but even so, he couldn't make himself shrug this off.

After all, this was the Welfare Home he had visited for years. The director had always welcomed him warmly, and the children were sweet. Now those same people had become weapons turned against him.

His agent called again, timing it for when he would have finished watching. "Well? Did you see it?"

Xie Quan murmured an acknowledgment.

Hearing how subdued he sounded, his agent paused. "It's okay. The company is already looking for evidence."

"We didn't do it, and that's the truth."

Xie Quan gave a bitter smile. "I'm afraid evidence won't be so easy to find this time."

His agent fell silent. It was true. Xie Quan had gone there alone almost every time. She had accompanied him a few times, but not often, and they certainly couldn't get hold of the Welfare Home's security footage.

Besides, she had already sent someone to contact the director. He simply insisted that Xie Quan had done it.

They had no photographs proving Xie Quan had actually done such a thing, but the children had said it themselves. Most people believed them because they assumed children couldn't lie.

The fallout from an accusation like this would be enormous. If they couldn't find evidence, Xie Quan's life might be ruined.

His agent had seen every kind of dirty trick in the entertainment industry, but never one like this. This wasn't just meant to damage his reputation. It was meant to destroy him.

How could Xie Quan not see what his agent saw? "Looks like I'll really have to quit the industry and go home this time."

"Don't talk nonsense. You didn't do it. I'll find whoever I can to help, and if we have to take this to court, we will. We're not taking the blame."

"No matter what happens, we can't admit to this. It's not about whether you quit the industry."

Xie Quan was famous. If this wasn't resolved, quitting wouldn't give him peace. He would have to stay inside forever, and that was impossible.

"Do you know who's behind it?"

Xie Quan paused. "I think I do."

At his tone, his agent hesitated before asking, "Is it him?"

"Maybe not him. But it's someone close to him."

"Damn it. You already walked away."

"Forget it. Don't worry about this. Focus on filming. The production hasn't called me, so they probably aren't planning to cancel your contract."

"Okay. Sis, I want to post something on Weibo."

"What would you post at a time like this?"

"At least I should say something to the fans who care about me. I can't let them take abuse for my sake."

"All right. Just be careful what you say."

He posted a message. Some people cursed him; others expressed concern.

"I believe you. I believe the person I admire is a good man, nothing like what they're saying."

After posting, he put down his phone. He was tired. Knowing who was behind this and knowing he was powerless to stop it felt unbearable.

No. He had been too kind.

He was supposed to go out and film, but all he felt was exhaustion. He had no strength left.

Perhaps the director was taking his situation into account. No one came to hurry him along.

He sat quietly in the makeup room until his phone chimed with a new message.

It was a photograph of a man. The sight of the two people in the picture still made Xie Quan's eyes sting. He quickly swiped past it and saw another message, this one from a younger colleague in the industry.

"Brother Xie, are you okay? I know you're not that kind of person. I'll find evidence for you. Just wait for me."

Xie Quan stared at the message for a long time before finally replying, "Thank you. I'm okay."

He still felt awful, but the message lifted his spirits a little. There were still people who believed in him. He couldn't give up, either.

What Xie Quan didn't know was that at the same time, Gu Ze and Ye Qing had also posted messages.