Wen Lin's eyes lit up. Perfect.
Yu Xiuyuan looked at Wen Lin's excited face and thought it was perfect, too.
I can't wait.
Wen Lin suppressed his excitement, his face regaining its glow like a dying man's final rally. He asked, "Is Xiao Yu choosing truth or dare?"
"Truth." In fact, it didn't matter what he chose.
"There's something I've wanted to know for a long time. You won't get angry if I take this chance to ask, will you?" Wen Lin was a decent actor, looking suitably apprehensive, but his delivery fell short. His pitch was a little too high.
"Go ahead."
Wen Lin solemnly looked toward Su Ziming, nodding to bolster his courage as though he were about to uphold justice. "It's been two years, Xiao Yu. Why did you spread rumors back then that Mr. Su Ziming was being kept by a wealthy patron? Now that you've met on the same show, don't you feel even a little guilty?"
Silence fell in an instant.
Everyone at the table wore a different expression, their eyes darting around, but no one moved. Holding themselves back was a struggle.
Yun Chuan was the exception. Before Wen Lin even finished speaking, Yun Chuan lifted his eyes and gave him a sidelong look. His face was expressionless, yet Wen Lin inexplicably shuddered, feeling a chill, and guiltily looked away.
After waiting a long while without a reaction from either of the two people involved, Wen Lin couldn't stand it anymore.
"Surely Xiao Yu isn't going to admit defeat and take a drink?"
Yu Xiuyuan looked at him seriously. "Are you sure you want me to say it? You did save me, after all. Although I was bullied even worse afterward, I genuinely intended to let all those old incidents stand, as long as you stopped provoking me."
Like hell I did.
Wen Lin's heart trembled, and his confidence wavered. But the arrow was already on the string; there was no turning back. He could only reassure himself. Don't worry. No one will believe Yu Xiuyuan.
"What do you mean by that? Are you going to falsely accuse me again?"
Yu Xiuyuan sneered. "Looks like you still don't intend to leave me alone. Then I can only tell the truth."
"The fact is, you told me he used a wealthy patron to steal your spot on the music show Super Sound Hero. I wanted to stand up for you and confront him, but you stopped me. You said to forget it, that he had his own struggles, too. I even thought you were so kind."
"And what happened? Our private conversation leaked the very next day. Yet whoever secretly filmed it happened to capture only me, leaving you completely out of it. Tell me, how did that happen?"
Wen Lin clutched the fabric over his chest, looking ready to collapse. "You're falsely accusing me again. Wasn't last time enough? If someone secretly filmed us, how could they have filmed only you and not me? Everyone here knows better than that. I never told you to hurt anyone."
Yu Xiuyuan shook his head with a bitter smile. Only after mentally revisiting every hardship he'd endured earning money in his previous life did he manage to summon the faintest hint of tears. "Right. I was the fool who believed you back then."
He sighed and let it go. If he couldn't squeeze out any tears, so be it. "Then you admit I offended plenty of people while standing up for you, don't you?"
As expected, Wen Lin frowned and denied it again. "I never asked you to stand up for me. You were the one with a bad temper, and I often cleaned up your messes."
Yu Xiuyuan wanted to applaud him. He'd never met such a cooperative client. He raised his phone. "Let me play something for everyone first."
Wen Lin panicked briefly, then steadied himself. He'd deliberately smashed Yu Xiuyuan's phone not long ago, forcing him to replace it. What evidence could he possibly have? He was only bluffing.
"Xiao Yu, stop refusing to see reason." Wen Lin radiated righteous indignation.
Yu Xiuyuan tapped play, and their voices came through:
"I trusted you so much. Whenever you said someone bullied you, I believed you without question. I never asked why; I immediately helped you curse them out. I treated you so well, yet you said those things about me on your livestream..."
"I know you treat me better than anyone. It was my fault. I promise it won't happen again!"
The surroundings were quiet, the recording was clear, and the guests obligingly pricked up their ears.
Wen Lin's face twitched. He hadn't expected this idiot to make a recording. Unfortunately for him, an idiot was still an idiot. Wen Lin had thought he might actually produce something formidable.
"This doesn't prove anything. I was only comforting you at the time. It has nothing to do with you falsely accusing Mr. Su."
Yu Xiuyuan couldn't help laughing. "I know. I only played that to lighten the mood and give you a scare. The evidence comes afterward."
Finishing him off in one blow would be so boring. Watching him struggle anxiously to explain himself, then crushing him just when he thought he'd escaped-wasn't that far more satisfying?
Yu Xiuyuan couldn't be bothered to keep arguing with him. He said self-mockingly, "Do you know how much you used to matter to me? Enough that I carefully saved multiple copies of our chat history."
He said no more and lowered his head to start putting together a post, providing detailed explanations of the wealthy patron incident, the bullying incident, and the rest, with evidence attached.
Back then, Yu Xiuyuan had repeatedly said on WeChat that he wanted to teach Su Ziming a lesson. Each time, Wen Lin said Su Ziming's patron was too powerful, that it didn't matter if his opportunity had been stolen, and that he wouldn't let Yu Xiuyuan take risks for his sake. There was evidence everywhere.
As a former corporate drone who'd outworked everyone else, putting together a clarification with solid evidence and a precise, thorough account was a matter of minutes.
He even centered the text, adjusted the spacing, and came up with an explosive headline: "An innocent sweetheart in public, a two-faced fraud in private? How many years have you bought into Wen Lin's marketing scam?"
Watching him fiddle with his phone, Wen Lin began to panic. His voice trembled slightly. "What do you mean? Yu Xiuyuan, what are you trying to do?"
Out of habit, he looked toward Fang Yi for help.
In the past, whenever he looked at Fang Yi like that, Fang Yi would help him unconditionally, sheltering him from every storm.
But now, all he saw was indifference on Fang Yi's face-or perhaps disgust. That look in his eyes was so unfamiliar.
Yu Xiuyuan soon finished editing and published the post.
Seeing him put down his phone after posting, Li Rou was beside herself with impatience. She desperately wanted to pull out her phone and follow the drama, but they were still filming, so she could only hold back.
Director Liu and the crew had it much better. In perfect unison, they pulled out their phones and started searching.
How could work matter more than juicy drama?
The spectators in the livestream also put their fast fingers to work. After reading the post, they began showing off their skills.
#The truth behind the wealthy patron scandal: Wen Lin deliberately spread the rumors#
#The bullying scandal takes another twist#
#Yu Dog is truly pitiful and truly stupid#
#Save Yu Dog once for an incredible return on investment#
#With a friend like Wen Lin you might as well die#
#We owe Yu Dog an apology#
#Yu Dog the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle#
#Yu Dog is loyal and has done more than enough#
#Yu Dog only explained after being pushed this far: the pinnacle of endurance#
New hashtags kept springing up as the whole truth was unearthed. Of course, plenty of Wen Lin's fans still tried to whitewash his actions, but they couldn't change the overall direction of public opinion.
Spooked by one reversal after another, netizens tagged numerous forensic experts. Their verdict was that none of the evidence had been fabricated.
Yu Xiuyuan's follower count on Weibo soared at a terrifying speed.
At the scene, Yu Xiuyuan sincerely apologized to Su Ziming. "I'm sorry. I didn't know someone would secretly film us."
Su Ziming remained silent. What good would it do? He'd simply been dragged out for public discussion again for no reason.
Back then, Su Ziming and Lin Sen had both been second-tier singers, competing for the same song: composer Qu Jinzhi's final work before retirement, "Listening."
In the end, Lin Sen had secured it and successfully risen to the top tier on the strength of "Listening."
Yu Xiuyuan continued, "I know an apology is useless. During tonight's confession letter segment, could you wait until you've read my letter before deciding who to write yours to?"
Before you continue