on stage.
Wen Jiu's eyes were red, and she could no longer sing. The background music continued to play, but there was no sound in her in-ear monitor.
He then realized that someone was deliberately trying to embarrass him.
After the performance was forced to stop, Meng Xiao rushed onto the stage with a group of bodyguards, causing chaos in the audience.
Wen Jiu: "I..."
"Don't be afraid, let's go!"
Meng Xiao's eyes were red-rimmed, but she held Wen Jiu's hand firmly. Her petite body walked ahead, giving her a strong sense of security.
"With Brother Qu here, everything's fine! Let's leave first."
When the group arrived at the back door, Qu Feng arrived at the last minute, opened the car door, and escorted them away.
Amidst the barrage of cameras and microphones from the media reporters, Wen Jiu heard Qu Feng angrily shout, "Get out!"
Wen Jiu was completely caught off guard.
His agent is reliable, his management team is excellent, and his backer, Starlight Entertainment, is also doing everything they can to protect him.
Wen Jiu listened to Qu Feng's words and hid in her apartment room. There were no reporters outside the window, and it was very quiet.
The voice in my head seemed to grow even more prominent.
Everyone online is criticizing him. People who have crossed paths with him before, exchanged a few words with him, or even worked with him in the past—singers, actors, and even strangers—are all jumping out to accuse him.
His past happiness shattered, and for the first time, he saw the true face of the entertainment industry.
fawning on the powerful and belittling the weak.
When you're popular, everyone around you is smiling; when you're down on your luck, anyone can come and kick you while you're down.
Wen Jiu was already a top celebrity, and having held a high position for so long, his resources and status had long been the envy of countless people.
Everyone wanted to take this opportunity to kick him into the mud so he could never get out again.
Various marketing accounts and trolls seized the opportunity to capitalize on Wen Jiu's popularity.
The overwhelming amount of negative information has created a chaotic and unpleasant atmosphere online.
Wen Jiu buried herself in the blankets, hugging Kumamon tightly, and made futile attempts to explain herself.
"Little Bear, why don't you tell them?" Wen Jiu said, "Tell them that it wasn't me."
His only response was silence.
What the bear couldn't do, the fans did.
On the night of the incident, a prominent fan specifically brought up that video, enduring the disgust to painstakingly search for evidence bit by bit.
The boy in the video only said one obvious sentence, "Master." This word was synthesized and not spoken by a human.
As for the voice that follows, it is a real person, but not Wen Jiu.
Furthermore, although the boy in the picture is only shown from behind, it is not Wen Jiu. Wen Jiu has a larger frame and had previously fallen from a height while filming, leaving a laceration on his back.
Some fans brought out behind-the-scenes footage and screenshots from a certain drama crew from a certain year, as well as photos that Wen Jiu took later to appease fans. Although the scars are not obvious, they do match.
But by then, not many people believed it anymore.
Fans went to great lengths to clarify the situation for him, attempting to explain with the truth that this was a premeditated frame-up.
However, it was attacked by various parties.
[I could have said your video was photoshopped. You guys are his fans, of course you'd speak up for him.]
[So many celebrities in the industry have revealed the inside story, does that mean the entire entertainment industry is lying? To spend such a huge sum to deal with a minor celebrity? It's ridiculous.]
[And those CEOs, people who aren't even in the industry, are also trying to frame him? Wen Jiu so capable, why doesn't he just fly to the moon? Some of his fans are really shameless.]
Don't argue with those bloodthirsty people. It's Wen Jiu's problem that's there, but he won't admit it.
[I never expected that someone who always acts so aloof would be like this in private.]
[It's all a persona, what else did you expect? How many people in the entertainment industry are truly clean? Besides, don't those young girls who idolize him just like his aloof demeanor?]
The fans are so angry they're practically in a lungache!
If I don't explain, Wen Jiu feels guilty; if I do explain, they don't believe me. Are these people some kind of latrine crawlers?
Every inch of him smells bad!
The admins in the big fan group completely gave up, telling the fans to curse as much as they wanted without any restraint, and that anyone who couldn't win the argument was a coward!
They'd be ashamed to admit they were Wen Jiu's fans if they went out.
"Pfft!" Wen Jiu burst out laughing after seeing the fans' comments. He wiped away his tears, but couldn't help it. He pouted and rubbed his belly against the teddy bear.
He said in a muffled voice, "It was clearly... I embarrassed you all..."
But this is nothing more than a lie fabricated by those with ulterior motives to deceive the public.
The fact that the aloof and cool national heartthrob is actually a plaything of capital in private is enough to drive the entire internet crazy.
It's as if they've discovered a flaw in a deity and are now joining forces to bring him down from his pedestal.
Not only netizens believed it, but even Wen Jiu almost forgot that the innocent are innocent and even wanted to apologize to his fans.
During this time, Wen Jiu received many private messages, some from fans offering encouragement, but more often from disgusting men sending private photos, filthy words, and obscene images.
He looked at them one by one.
It's like getting to know this world for the first time. Everything from the past is repeatedly shattered and reassembled, accompanied by slander, ugliness, despicable acts, and the departure and steadfastness of fans.
Everyone is waiting for a result, or rather, a trial.
This could be directed at Wen Jiu, or even at anyone.
"That's so strange..." Wen Jiu pointed at the profile picture on her phone and said to the teddy bear, "I don't know this person at all."
Why did he say that I was spoiled and difficult to get along with in private?
And then there's this person. Wen Jiu remembers him as a minor character in a certain film crew. They barely interacted throughout the entire series, but whenever they met, the actor would smile, bow, and greet him as "Hello, senior."
Now, however, he can post an article while he is in deep crisis, vaguely saying that he "was late once and arrived at the film set very late to get his makeup done."
But that time, it was clearly because she heard about Yu Qing's plane crash that she specifically asked the director for leave to go to City A to see him and Shen Yu.
But all that is in the past. Both of his close friends and seniors have passed away one after another, Wen Jiu can no longer bring it up, lest it disturb their sleep.
Besides, with so much filth, it's impossible to clean it all off now.
Those in the know choose to remain silent, while those with malicious intent continue to slander.
The boy's story was wrong; the outside world wasn't as wonderful as he imagined.
The little rabbit wasn't afraid because its mother was protecting it from behind.
They protected his stubbornness, protected his dignity, and gave him the starting point to bravely pursue his dreams with their lives.
Wen Jiu suddenly sat up, threw down the doll, and ran into another room.
The room was less than 20 square meters. On the right side was a wooden table with simple recording equipment and messy manuscripts, including discarded drafts and new songs that had not yet been released.
A full-length mirror was installed on the other wall, and the area around it was where he usually practiced dancing.
Sometimes his schedule is too tight to go to the company, so he stays up late at home practicing.
Lin Changfeng once wanted to arrange a special singing room for him, but Wen Jiu refused.
This is the place he has lived for seven years, accompanying him from a newcomer to the top of the entertainment industry, and all the way to where he is now.
It's the place that gives him the greatest sense of security.
Wen Jiu opened the large wooden cabinet in the corner, which contained all the trophies and honors he had won over the years, almost encompassing all the awards that could be obtained in the domestic music and film industries.
He suddenly breathed a sigh of relief and sat down on the carpet with his back against the wall.
Thankfully, these aren't fake.
As long as these certificates remain, as long as there's still a stage... Wen Jiu wiped her eyes and said to herself, "None of this matters."
It's simply a matter of seeing people's true colors and recognizing reality.
At worst, I'll just stop smiling at them.
Wen Jiu stood up, turned on the music equipment, and began preparing to practice singing.