Speaking out

The next day, there were new developments online.

It started when one of Qinggang's big-name fans spoke up on his behalf.

They posted a long essay detailing the entire incident.

They laid out the timeline, highlighted suspicious points surrounding Rice Cake's admission to Sea Star, and argued that Rice Cake's failure to respond with evidence, relying instead on empty talk, proved he had a guilty conscience.

They also implied that the only reason he was taking things so calmly was that he had a team backing him.

At the same time, they attacked Rice Cake for hiring actors to pose as big spenders, generating buzz and encouraging people to spend money. One piece of supporting evidence was that "Y," who had previously appeared in his livestream, had been absent the day Rice Cake's scandal broke. In hindsight, they claimed, Y was probably afraid of being implicated and exposed by netizens, so had simply gone into hiding until things blew over.

To lend more weight to the "evidence" against Rice Cake, the fan also brought up Qinggang's earlier dismissal from Huajia. In the public's eyes, he had been fired precisely because of his conflict with Yu Nian, which showed just how powerful Yu Nian's backing was.

The onlookers disagreed, and another round of arguments broke out.

Some thought that even if Qinggang had no evidence, it was simply because ordinary people lacked the means to collect it. Besides, he had had nearly seven hundred thousand followers on Huajia, with considerable traffic and buzz of his own. Sea Star had rejected him but accepted Rice Cake. Wouldn't anyone feel unfairly treated?

Rice Cake had no evidence for his claims either. This group also challenged other netizens: why were they being so harsh on the victim?

Others felt that the big-name fan was just repeating the same old claims, many copied straight from other netizens without any attempt to verify them. And before long, the claim that Rice Cake had hired actors to shower him with money fell apart on its own.

Because Tao Yan posted on Weibo.

Tao Yan Yanyan: @Rice CakeNeil, they're saying I'm your sugar mommy? // Attached: [image][image]

The images showed her personal Sea Star account, displaying the gifts she had sent to the streamer Rice Cake, as well as her in-game ID. She was Mousey, who often played duo matches with him on his streams.

Tao Yan was the cherished daughter of the founder of a domestic luxury clothing brand, and she had a modest online following of her own.

Part of that came from her occasional Weibo posts about attending prestigious design exhibitions or fashion launches, or getting together with friends from other wealthy families, giving netizens a glimpse of life among the rich.

She had also founded her own studio at a young age, specializing in clothing design. Supposedly, her custom orders were booked out for the next two years.

No one had expected her latest Weibo post to speak up for a small-time streamer.

For a while, people both inside and outside the industry were shocked.

How had the fashion world and the gaming world ended up mixing?

Tao Yan had actually posted gaming screenshots once or twice before, but she had hidden her ID. Since her content mainly focused on fashion, most people hadn't associated her with gaming. Once they saw this post, however, it was only a matter of time before they dug up her older gaming-related content.

[Yanyan, Yanyan, I love you /heart]

[Huh? What happened? Can someone explain?]

[It's a little complicated. Basically... [image]]

A netizen shared the claims Qinggang's big-name fan had made about actors posing as big spenders, prompting a wave of mockery.

[Does Minghe's heiress need to play along with some little streamer? A hundred thousand or so is pocket change to her, okay?]

[Hahaha, why am I stuck on the fact that wealthy heiresses play games and watch streams just like us?]

[Aaah, I follow both of them! They're both such lovely people. Does anyone get me?!]

Before long, people also dug up Yu Nian's reply in the comments.

[Rice CakeNeil: Look at me, moving up in the world /crying behind my hand]

The replies below were full of laughter.

[Our baby Nian Bao really is moving up in the world. Now he's even riding Minghe's coattails /doge]

[Wouldn't dare criticize her. She's a real sugar mommy.]

[Is Tao Yan really this down-to-earth? By the way, baby Nian Bao, how did you two meet?]

Yu Nian then replied with a screenshot of their chat from a few days earlier, when he and Tao Yan had recognized each other while gaming. Some of their private information had been blurred out.

The screenshot spread widely, and everyone finally understood. These two knew each other in real life, had run into each other in a game, and had even added each other as friends before realizing who the other person was.

[I saw someone in the comments say Yanyan apparently goes to Swallow City Institute of Technology. Baby Nian Bao is about her age, and they know each other in real life, so my conclusion is that he goes to Swallow University too!]

[Wow, wow, I knew it! Baby Nian Bao is so smart, he had to be a top student at a prestigious university!]

[Now I love him even more!]

[So is it true? Also, what's their relationship?]

[Tao Yan replied: We're friends.]

[I thought so too. Their chat looks exactly like two friends talking.]

[Waaah, thank you, big sis Yanyan, for clearing our streamer's name. Those people calling you an actor were making me furious!]

[What a hidden gem of an account! This lady's designs are all so gorgeous! Followed!]

Of course, Tao Yan had asked Yu Nian before posting on Weibo. Netizens were sharp, after all, and if they kept digging, they might uncover some of his personal information.

Yu Nian didn't mind and was very grateful to her.

Tao Yan: It's no big deal. Besides, I gained quite a few followers thanks to you.

Yu Nian smiled faintly. He knew Tao Yan didn't care about those few followers and was only saying that so he wouldn't feel so indebted to her.

After Tao Yan's intervention, although the other "big spender," Boss Y, hadn't come forward to say anything, people stopped making an issue of it. Instead, they assumed Y was another of Yu Nian's friends from real life.

With the controversy raging for two days and Tao Yan revealing that she was his friend, Yu Nian remained a hot topic.

Then someone clipped his earlier remarks from the livestream, where he had explained why he had arrived a few days later than the other streamers.