"Things are okay for now, no one has managed to uncover the identities of those ordinary netizens yet," Liu Rulan answered.
"So they're still trying to dox people," Xiao He raised an eyebrow. "They're really going all out, aren't they?"
Even more extreme than he was.
Unacceptable. He simply couldn't stand others being more outrageous than him.
That's just the kind of petty, narrow-minded person he was.
"Let me see what's going on—"
"Go dry your hair first," Liu Rulan urged with exasperation. "Other matters can wait, but if you catch a cold right now, I could come up with countless Hot Search topics about it."
"'Xiao He Hospitalized After Being Cursed by Su Shengxi's Fans'—how does that Hot Search sound to you?"
Xiao He: "...You win."
Xiao He obediently followed Xiao Chen to the nearby lounge to dry his hair.
Though it was more accurate to say Xiao Chen helped him dry it while Xiao He opened his laptop and began typing away.
Xiao Chen had long grown accustomed to Xiao He's behavior. Recently, Xiao He had been using his spare time to code and develop software, so Xiao Chen had gotten used to it, simply focusing on his own tasks without asking unnecessary questions.
After simply securing the identity information safety for those few netizens, Xiao He began seriously researching the current situation online.
Truthfully, whether it was cyberbullying ordinary netizens or cyberbullying Xiao He, these weren't the most critical issues right now.
These people's main focus was on "Starry Radiance."
More precisely, on Meng Zetian.
Actually, any viewer who had watched "Starry Radiance" wouldn't think Meng Zetian was a good person, nor would they believe the production team was trying to whitewash Meng Zetian.
Otherwise, there wouldn't have been trending topics like [When will Meng Zetian exit the show] and [Meng Zetian must die] some time ago, Xiao He wouldn't have been reported by that unstable elderly man and almost arrested, and Liu Rulan wouldn't have needed to constantly promote the separation between actor and character, fearing Xiao He might get beaten up when going out in the future.
But now these people were actually seizing upon that scene before Meng Zetian's death, spreading rumors everywhere that the production team was whitewashing Meng Zetian. They even deliberately screenshotted Xiao He's handsome promotional photos alongside Zhang Mo and Su Shengxi looking disheveled due to plot developments, treating them as ironclad evidence and spreading them across various comment sections.
Moreover, they had their own set of explanations—either claiming Xiao He was a privileged actor with connections trying to add extra scenes for himself to get more highlight moments, or threatening the production directors, saying if they didn't cut the scenes, they must have ulterior motives, definitely hidden traitors intentionally inserting personal agendas, becoming traitors to the nation and disgrace to the people.
To be honest, the most outrageous comments Xiao He had previously encountered were those attacking him based on his appearance and demeanor, saying his face revealed his heart, claiming he engaged in status-based bullying in front of hundreds of crew members. But now, even more absurd statements had emerged.
They had become national traitors, criminals against the people.
Wow, what an accusation he'd never even imagined.
Xiao He originally thought nearly becoming a murderer was the most serious crime he'd ever encounter in his lifetime, but now things had improved—his "criminal path" had gained another entry, truly expanding his horizons.
What a pity though—this thing didn't even add to his criminal value!
Xiao He felt quite regretful.
If only their false accusations could add some points to his value, he might have actually respected them a bit more.
Tch—
Short hair dried quickly, and by the time Xiao He returned to Liu Rulan's side, only about five minutes had passed.
"What's our current strategy?"
Liu Rulan crossed her arms, her expression quite stern: "These people's unreasonable behavior is truly astonishing. We've already jointly issued a formal statement with the production team. As for Su Shengxi's side, we're also contacting his fans."
Xiao He sneered: "Their management of fans is really something—they never manage to control them properly every single time."
And this lack of control wasn't just superficial—it was genuine inability to manage.
What the fans wanted to do, they had no idea about, and when they tried to stop the fans, even the idol himself speaking up didn't work.
Xiao He found it incredible: "Sister Liu, as Su Shengxi's former manager, how exactly did you manage these fans before?"
This type of fan, he felt, was quite rare throughout the entire domestic entertainment industry.
This time, Liu Rulan actually defended the current manager Tian Heng: "The main reason is that the relatively rational major fans have all left. The fans remaining now are basically quite extreme and radical. Even if I were in charge, I wouldn't be able to manage this situation either."
When their management teams handled fans, they mostly managed the major fans, who would then manage the other fans below them, creating a layered pyramid structure with relative stability.
And there were differences among major fans too.
Managers like Liu Rulan would conduct some degree of screening—if they were higher quality major fans, she would provide some level of support, such as appropriately sharing exclusive insider information and schedules with these fans, or providing internal tickets and giveaways... basically helping these major fans establish authority within the fanbase, making them more influential.
This way the studio could directly coordinate with these major fans, who would then manage and mobilize the regular fans.
But Su Shengxi's current situation was different.
"Idol dating," "accidental likes," "full platform account management"... these incidents continuously drained Su Shengxi's rational fans. Anyone with some thinking ability and basic principles had left.
—As netizens would say, "And you still haven't run away?"
Those who didn't run away—how rational could they possibly be?
So when the tide receded, what remained were naturally the extreme, radical fans.
Relatively rational major fans with some influence like "Insomniac for Xi" had long since departed.
In this situation, not only could Tian Heng not handle it after taking over, even the experienced Liu Rulan would be helpless!
Xiao He wiped his brow: "So that's how it is."
So despite Su Shengxi still having many doting fans and impressive traffic power, this was actually his final peak.
"However, the angle they've seized this time is indeed quite tricky," Liu Rulan changed the subject. "No matter how you look at it, this matter relates to national level concerns. If they keep causing trouble, it will ultimately work against us."
Xiao He was quite displeased: "But they're taking things out of context, misleading public opinion—is that acceptable?"
Even in the scene of Meng Zetian's death, what was ultimately shown was Meng Zetian's cunning and sinister nature, not to highlight his personal charm or whitewash everything he'd done. Yet these people, whether they'd actually watched the full plot or not, directly pulled out character dialogue screenshots to spread around—how was this behavior any different from outright rumor-mongering?
"We'll find ways to hold accountable the sources of those photos later, but criticizing their behavior now is clearly too late."
Liu Rulan pulled out her phone: "The production team's stance remains quite firm. Let me contact the investors to see if they're willing to say something—"
Before she could finish, Xiao Zhou from operations immediately alerted them: "Sister Liu, Brother Xiao, there's a new development!"