CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: CONFUSION

Brother Wang was startled by Zeng Xu’s manic appearance, his comforting hand frozen in mid-air.

Over there, Zeng Xu was still muttering to himself, "I’m sorry, I didn’t want to either, don’t blame me, it was President Zhang who forced me! Don’t come after me, go after him!"

Suddenly his expression changed, he swung at the air a few times, his face twisted in ferocity, "You think you’re innocent? Don’t think I don’t know! After I hid, you’re the one who told that old man where I was hiding! Only you knew I was there! Only you knew! I won’t let you all get away with it! Not a single one of you!"

Brother Wang had no idea what he was saying, watching as Zeng Xu closed his eyes and fell backward after shouting. He quickly ran to the bedside and pressed the emergency button, waiting for the doctor to come.

Watching as the doctors and nurses wheeled Zeng Xu into the emergency room, Brother Wang wearily sat down on a waiting chair outside the emergency room.

He now suspected that Zeng Xu had a mental problem. He didn’t understand what Zeng Xu just said, it seemed like he was arguing with someone, and it had something to do with President Zhang. For now, he could only wait until he woke up to ask him.

The most urgent task now was to deal with the hot search issue. Brother Wang took out his phone, opened Weibo, wanting to see the current direction of public opinion.

Who knew the comments section wasn’t as bloody and stormy as he imagined.

[This silhouette looks familiar, is it that person from the Xu Family?]

[Thanks for the invite! Our Brother Xu can’t afford to climb high, please leave the kid alone!]

[God Ze is almost thirty, he should find someone. This silhouette looks handsome, I agree to this marriage!]

[Gay is disgusting! Yu Xiaozhe, get out of the entertainment industry! Pervert!]

[Upstairs, do you have a problem? Now same-sex marriage is legal, are you still living in the old times? Maybe you should go to the hospital to see if there’s something wrong with you mentally?]

[Yeah, exactly, if you don’t like it, you don’t have to look! But that said, has anyone dug out who the other person in the photo is?]

Next, netizens started using their keen eyes to search for the owner of the silhouette in the image, and most conclusions pointed directly to—Xu Yang.

In Xu Yang’s personal Super Topic and fan group, discussions were abounding, with several big fans negotiating solutions in the group.

[Oxygen needed! Could it really be our Brother Xu?]

[This silhouette is ninety percent similar, this shirt, Brother Xu wore it when he attended an event last week...]

[...]

[...]

[If this is true, how should we handle it? Brother Xu never said he liked the same-sex before! Didn’t he have a first love girlfriend?]

At this time, a die-hard fan, who was also a fan site manager, spoke up,

[Let’s not rush to argue with the haters. Brother Xu hasn’t released a press release, and there’s no movement on Yu’s side either, so there must be more to this matter. We need to wait for their explanation before taking any action. For now, we should guide those fans who don’t understand all these twists and turns, so they don’t clash with people in the Super Topic, affecting the public perception negatively.]

The rest of the big fans echoed, as this fan site manager had been in the group the longest and held significant influence, and mainly because what she said was indeed the truth.

Meanwhile, similar discussions were taking place in Yu Xiaozhe’s Super Topic and fan group, with big fans calming down less savvy fans and purifying comments on Weibo, for fear of bringing negative impact to their "brother."

Brother Wang looked at these comments and couldn’t help but sigh, "Fans really follow their idols."

It’s often said that idols pay for their fans’ behavior. In reality, as an idol, your every move will influence others, thus idols should pay more attention to their conduct.

Look at what Yu Xiaozhe and Xu Yang’s fans have done, then look at Zeng Xu’s group of fans, their ranking battle power is indeed strong, but the quality varies greatly.

After the news of Yu Xiaozhe hitting someone hit the hot search in the afternoon, they rushed directly to Yu Xiaozhe’s personal Weibo and Huasheng’s official Weibo, cursing Yu Xiaozhe as a blemished artist and Huasheng’s inaction.

[Yu Xiaozhe, get out of the entertainment industry! Why hit someone?]

[Taking advantage of your status being higher than our brother’s, you can just hit someone? Why hasn’t Yu Xiaozhe apologized yet?]

[Why isn’t Huasheng handling this? What kind of turtle hiding head are they?]

[Yu Xiaozhe, leave! Get out of the entertainment industry! Bullying others with power!]

There’s some filthy language that even Brother Wang couldn’t bear to look at, let alone the passers-by clicking into the hot search.

And looking at Yu Xiaozhe’s fans’ comments, they are all about seeking the truth and evidence, asking for an official statement from the crew.

Zeng Xu’s fans are clinging to the photos as the best evidence, while Yu Xiaozhe’s fans only accept the official explanation, making for a lively dispute in the comments section.

It’s not really a fight, after all, one side is calm while it’s only Zeng Xu’s fans jumping up and down, making them even look bad to neutral observers.

Brother Wang shook his head, closed Weibo, and dialed a number. When the call connected, a woman’s noticeably untimely moaning could be heard, followed by an impatient voice,

"Hello? What’s the matter? Can’t you see I’m busy?"

Tsk, the old pervert, turning amorous regardless of the time and place. Though feeling uncomfortable inside, Brother Wang had to accompany with a smile,

"President Zhang, it’s me, Zeng Xu’s agent Xiao Wang."

"Tsk, what did he do now?" As he spoke, the sound of clothes rustling could be heard from the other end, probably President Zhang putting his clothes on.

"It’s still about the hot search this afternoon. Just now, Zeng Xu has caused another matter. Could you first check the hot search on Weibo, and then we can discuss how to handle it, President Zhang?"

"Bring up the hot search on Weibo for me to see." This was clearly not directed at Brother Wang.

A moment later, "Did he expose this photo too? Damn it, is he sick?!"

Ignoring President Zhang’s cursing, Brother Wang continued to smile along, "President Zhang, in your opinion, what should we do now?"

"Do what? Let him handle it himself! How many times have I said, don’t provoke those you can’t afford to offend! Is there something wrong with his head? Let him apologize himself!" Finishing up and feeling not quite done, he added with another curse, "Deserved the beating, damn it!"

The call ended with a "snap." Over on President Zhang’s side, the secretary continued to tenderly "comfort" him, and soon the two rolled together in the office.

Meanwhile, Brother Wang had been hung up, with the person involved, Zeng Xu, still in the emergency room, leaving him as the middleman struggling.

Resigned, he took out the phone and dialed Zhang He’s number, and upon connection, heard Zhang He’s signature hoarse smoky voice, once again with a smile, "Sister He, sorry to bother you, I’m Zeng Xu’s agent, Wang Yuan."

Zhang He apparently didn’t want to talk to him, her tone indifferent, "What’s the matter?"

"Sister He, about the Weibo hot search in the afternoon, it was Zeng Xu’s fault, I’m here to apologize on his behalf. Big person like you should disregard..."

"Alright, alright, your Zeng Xu is the adult here, I’m just a little woman, stop with the nonsense, what’s the real matter?"

Hearing the impatience in Zhang He’s tone, Wang Yuan had to get straight to the point,

"Sister He, here’s the situation, we’ll take down the hot search and then have Zeng Xu publicly apologize, explaining this misunderstanding. We can say it’s for filming needs and also promote the crew a little, what do you think?"