Gu Nian'an's popularity rose considerably once again, and many casual onlookers felt sympathy for him because of the group bullying incident.
"Seriously, he was bullied into dropping out of school, and just when his life finally got a little better, he got cyberbullied too. Are they trying to drive him to his death?"
"The abuse flooding the internet back then was ridiculous even to a bystander like me."
"There were obviously paid trolls. A friend of mine even complained about it on their Moments back then. Someone hired trolls to stir things up. Maybe he'd offended someone."
"Exactly! I've always been neutral about Gu Nian'an. I neither liked nor disliked him, and although I found what happened pretty off-putting, I was still shocked to see his comments full of people cursing him to die. Surely it didn't warrant that."
"I'm a fan of An'an. I kept refreshing the comments back then and couldn't stop crying. Our precious An'an had also withdrawn from the show that day because of his health. He's always been sensitive, and I don't even know how he faced all that abuse and those curses alone."
"Whether it was the ostracism Gu Nian'an faced in high school or the so-called online condemnation later, it was nothing but bullying in a different guise."
"One look at what happened to Gu Nian'an makes it obvious that paid trolls were steering the narrative. There are so many people unhappy with their own lives, and the moment they see someone they can insult, they all gang up on him."
"Agreed. My roommates and I were pretty disgusted with what he did back then and joined in with a few insults, but when those people started saying increasingly outrageous things, it suddenly hit me: wasn't this bullying too?"
Gu Nian'an intermittently stroked