He understood what the video showed. It was footage from Lu Xiao's interview aboard the cruise ship that day, maliciously edited.
In the original video, Lu Xiao had asked the young travelers whether the trip to Yongle City was worth it, and Chen Siyao had answered, "I'm very happy with this trip."
But in the edited version, her sentence had been cut short and paired with the caption, "Only rich people get to enjoy the view from a luxury cabin. With several people crammed into an ordinary cabin, there's no way you'd enjoy the experience."
Even worse was the exchange about ticket prices. In the original video, Lu Xiao had asked whether the tickets were worth the price. After thinking for a moment, Chen Siyao had answered, "I don't know how much the tickets cost, because the company covered them."
The edited version kept the part where she paused to think, spliced together "don't know the ticket price" and "the company covered it," and added the caption, "I don't even know what the tickets cost. I just bought them. I never worry about such small change."
Because Chen Siyao already had a huge following, the maliciously edited video spread like wildfire across Doule, Weibo, and other major platforms in just half a day, shooting straight to the top of the trending charts.
The comments section was completely overrun by furious users. The screen was filled with malicious abuse and snide remarks. People resenting the wealthy, jumping on the hate bandwagon, or chasing attention were everywhere.
Chen Hao handed her phone back. "Did you report it to the police?"
"I did." Chen Siyao sounded subdued. "But the Patrol Police said it's hard to track down whoever maliciously edited it online. Most of these people aren't using their real names."
"I contacted