Brother Dao Took the Entertainment Industry by Storm, Fans Beg Me Not to Kill Anymore

Chapter 582: Munching on Melon Seeds, Almost Became the Melon

”Tch, donʼt drag me into this!”

Yuan Sitong muttered helplessly beside him.

Xiao He also sighed. ”The main issue is that the heat from ʼRecord of Chasing the Windʼ hasnʼt completely faded yet. Our names are destined to be tied together.”

After all, marketing accounts needed attention too, and clearly, just Zhao Qinyuanʼs popularity alone wasnʼt enough to grab the publicʼs eye. But if they added topics related to ʼRecord of Chasing the Windʼ and Yuan Sitong, the interest would naturally be much higher.

And sure enough, even he had been dragged into it.

This whole thing about whether or not to promote a ship was really a personal choice for everyone. If you wanted to nitpick, who in the industry had never done it?

If the artists didnʼt do it, wouldnʼt their companies? Wouldnʼt their fans?

No one was innocent in this matter, so theyʼd better stop comparing and disparaging each other. Dragging everyone out for a comparison would only make people hate them even more.

Xiao He felt helpless, and just then, he saw a message from Liu Rulan.

【Liu Rulan: Donʼt get involved in this. The situation between both sides is unclear. Just pretend you donʼt know anything. Also, stop looking at your phone!】
【Xiao He: Okay.】

Xiao He put down his phone, and from the corner of his eye, he caught a dark shadow moving toward him and Yuan Sitong.

Yuan Sitong was still passionately munching on her melon seeds, preparing to switch to a chat app to gossip with others, completely forgetting to stay alert.

It was Xiao He who reacted quickly. He slapped his hand over Yuan Sitongʼs phone screen, then turned his head and shot a cold glance at the cameraman carrying the camera nearby.

The cameraman, who had been planning to sneak a peek at Yuan Sitongʼs phone screen, was immediately intimidated by Xiao Heʼs warning glare.

Yuan Sitong also snapped back to reality, realizing that in her eagerness to eat melon seeds, she had almost exposed her Weibo side account on camera. Her face instantly darkened, and she turned to glare at the cameraman.

Even though, as guests, slacking off on set wasnʼt exactly great, filming someoneʼs private phone screen without permission was just plain stupid.

But because of the live broadcast, Yuan Sitong held back from cursing out loud.

The cameraman, knowing he was in the wrong, quietly packed up his gear and left.

Once she was sure he was far away, Yuan Sitong checked her phone screen again, carefully recalling in her mind whether the camera had caught anything. Still feeling furious, she covered her legs with her jacket, lowered her head, and tattled to her agent.

”Theyʼve gone too far! Just because Zhao Qinyuanʼs scandal stole the heat from their live stream tonight, they send a cameraman to film us up close?! This is insane! They wanted to use my gossip to steal back tonightʼs attention! Ridiculous!”

Even though her privacy screen protector was still effective, and the camera wasnʼt broadcasting live, this behavior still made Yuan Sitong furious.

Xiao He now finally understood why so many people at the event used their jackets to cover their phones when using them.

Because these cameras were everywhere!

It was such a trap!

”Hmph, they wouldnʼt dare pull any more stunts.”

Yuan Sitong received a reply from her agent, and her mood improved a little.

Xiao He, on the other hand, was sweating a bit. He said to Yuan Sitong, ”So you really should stop gossiping in these places. There are eyes and ears everywhere. One day, youʼre bound to screw up.”

”Look at the tenth trending topic now: 【What Were the Three Main Actors of ʼYu Yeʼ Gossiping About?】. Some netizens who watched the live stream posted a clip of the three of us chatting online and imagined we were gossiping about Zhao Qinyuan.”

Even though the melon seeds they were eating were different from what netizens imagined, and the timing of everything was different, they had accidentally hit the mark, and everyone knew they were gossiping.

Uh, this was a bit awkward.

Xiao He glanced at Yuan Sitong and lightly roasted her. ”I donʼt know how you have so much to talk about every single day.”

Yuan Sitong was displeased. ”Is it my fault? If you donʼt want to listen, then donʼt! Iʼm sharing gossip with you, and youʼre not even grateful!”

Xiao He: ? Oh, really?

He wasnʼt about to admit that he actually loved hearing gossip too!

Absolutely not!

Just as Xiao He was about to salvage his dignity, Li Haoxuan beside them anxiously warned them, ”Stop arguing! Stop arguing! Something seems to be happening on the internet. Check your phones!”

The two who had already finished eating their melon seeds: …

”Alright, go play now.”

Yuan Sitong looked at Li Haoxuan with a hint of pity. ”Chinese culture is still too profound for you.”

Canʼt even understand the gossip. How pitiful.

Li Haoxuan: ”What do you mean? Are you looking down on me?”

So a few minutes later, the two of them were arguing again.

Xiao He glanced at them from the side, speechless.

Sometimes, he really felt sorry for Tang Lijuan (Yuan Sitongʼs agent). Having an artist like this was truly exhausting.

---

That nightʼs New Yearʼs Eve gala was destined to become a footnote on the trending list.

The conflict between Zhao Qinyuan, his former assistant, and his former company was now being hotly debated online. Later, not only did his former assistant, Charge Conch, come forward to accuse him of forcing her to promote a fake ship, but also a makeup artist who used to work with Zhao Qinyuan came out, claiming he had sexually harassed her at work, groping her while she did his makeup.

This news quickly ignited the internet, because workplace harassment was a very sensitive topic for many people. It could almost instantly escalate into a criminal case and a gender war. Almost every time such news broke, it would stir up a massive storm.

However, the makeup artist was soon debunked by another netizen. She was revealed to be a stalker fan of Zhao Qinyuanʼs opponent, who had never actually interacted with Zhao Qinyuan. Even the photos she posted were full of logical inconsistencies regarding the lighting, angles, and positioning of the people in them, strongly suggesting they were AI-generated.

One of the most headache-inducing aspects of online scandals nowadays was the involvement of AI technology. Truth and falsehood were intertwined, and after celebrities with collapsed reputations repeatedly cried wolf, netizens had developed a ”boy who cried wolf” mentality. Even so, they still maintained a relatively high level of trust in these obviously AI-generated photos.

Oh, of course, maybe it was just because they believed only what they wanted to believe.

Regardless, Zhao Qinyuan took a heavy hit in this incident, but he was still far from being blacklisted.

This organized and premeditated public opinion attack had not completely shaken his foundation. Many people still had a ”Liu Zhilin” filter for him, choosing to believe and forgive him. The rest were simply online entertainment seekers, unaffected, happily eating their melon seeds all over the place.

Before long, this incident, like countless others before it, would slowly fade into silence. As long as he could produce good work afterward, this public opinion wouldnʼt destroy his career.

But then, at night, after the gala live stream had officially ended and the guests, including Xiao He, were gradually leaving to return to their accommodations, another new explosive scoop dropped.

Only this time, the target had changed again—

Xiao He was already ready to sleep, but after receiving the news, he had to sit back up again.

”What the hell, are they not done?”

Staring at the sudden reversal happening online, Xiao He scratched his head in frustration.

”Get up for now. We might have to pull an all-nighter tonight.”

Liu Rulan said helplessly on the other end of the phone. ”Everyoneʼs watching now.”

”Ugh.”

Xiao He could only force himself to get out of bed again.