The breaking news of a certain female celebrity’s death swept across major social media platforms like a hurricane, causing massive waves of shock.
At 21:05 that evening, the Weibo account “Shanghai Police” posted a message: “Around 3 PM on August 17th, Shanghai police received a report of a woman’s death at a hotel on XX Road in XX District. Upon investigation, the deceased was identified as Ming XX (female, 27 years old, from Anhe City). The specific cause of death is still under further investigation.”
As soon as the news broke, “Ming Heqi is dead”, “Ming Heqi committed suicide by cutting her wrists”, and “Ming Heqi” quickly occupied the top spots on Sina Weibo’s hot search. Entertainment reporters were excited like they were on steroids, chasing the hot topic overnight and swarming to the scene to dig for information.
Online social media was flooded with sensational gossip and speculation about how Ming Heqi died.
The widely circulated version was that Ming Heqi committed suicide due to cyberbullying following previous negative news. Some speculated it was murder, while other rumors became increasingly bizarre, turning the whole situation into a mess.
What really pushed this annual drama to its peak was when Ming Heqi’s close friend started attacking He Lu on Weibo a few days after the incident, posting several long essays.
The posts were filled with anguish, revealing various chat records and photos, meticulously discussing all sorts of grievances.
The main content had several explosive parts:
- Their underground relationship had lasted for five years. Ming Heqi had even had an abortion for him, but was never officially acknowledged. He Lu had a private agreement with her: they couldn’t hold hands when going out together, had to maintain distance, and pretend not to know each other well if others were present.
- He Lu didn’t want to make their relationship public for the sake of his career. He had cheated multiple times, including with a certain three-character female celebrity in the industry.
- After the previous scandal broke out, He Lu had suggested they separate for a while to cool down. The double blow to her career and love life had made Ming Heqi’s mental state extremely bad during this period.
The words were convincing, and later Ming Heqi’s friend even swore that if she said one false word, she would bear all curses.
As soon as these Weibo posts came out, public opinion immediately shifted, almost attributing Ming Heqi’s death entirely to relationship issues.
Not only did Ming Heqi’s fans go crazy overnight, but He Lu’s fans and various CP fans also exploded.
Even bystanders felt somewhat sympathetic seeing all this.
Below were a bunch of explosive comments. Some cursed He Lu as a scumbag, some questioned the friend for exploiting the deceased for attention, some hated cyberbullying for driving someone to death, some blasted useless management companies for exploiting and manipulating CP fans’ feelings, while the rest of the onlookers speculated about who the certain three-character female celebrity might be.
Recently, rumors about He Lu and Fu Xueli had been rampant, so Fu Xueli was the first to be dragged out for criticism.
Soon after, someone released previous footage of Ming Heqi and Fu Xueli playing games together on a variety show. People with discerning eyes could see the rivalry and undercurrents between them.
It seemed to confirm something.
So the conflict with the certain three-character female celebrity almost immediately pointed to Fu Xueli.
Without any solid evidence, the “truth” was forcibly nailed down.
CP fans’ pink fantasies were shattered overnight. Feeling like idiots who had been played, they were filled with resentment and disappointment. In an instant, all their love turned to hate, and they started furiously attacking.
This incident raged on for several days without subsiding. As the tree fell, the monkeys scattered. Countless fans jointly petitioned for an industry-wide ban on He Lu and Fu Xueli.
As things got more and more out of hand, the team had to bite the bullet and come out to do crisis PR and clarify in this one-sided situation.
“The previous hype was just for the show’s publicity needs. Most of the romantic elements were due to editing issues. The two artists met on ‘The Last 100%’ and their private interactions were limited to being friends and colleagues. Please stop spreading rumors.”
However, it had no effect at all. Online opinion remained one-sided, and the fierce condemnation continued:
[Hahahahaha look at this PR statement wtf scumbag man and slut woman deserve each other forever]
[They’ve been together for a long time, right? Saying this now, are you planning to continue deceiving fans? Do you think we’re all idiots?]
[Watching your performance with amusement, contemporary netizens seem to lack wisdom.]
[Don’t use editing as an excuse, you’ve lost your conscience for the sake of hype. Aren’t you afraid of karma?]
[I now suspect this is murder…]
[Everyone calm down, it feels like everyone’s gone crazy now. Actually, there’s no solid evidence and people are just blindly attacking. One second condemning cyberbullying, the next second implementing cyberbullying on others. Do you have to drive someone else to death to be satisfied?]
[He Lu you scumbag, explode on the spot and may your whole family ascend to heaven!!]
—
“Sorry, I said she’s very emotionally unstable now and doesn’t want to accept any interviews. Who leaked Fu Xueli’s phone number online?!!! This is absolutely ridiculous!!!” Tang paced back and forth, the constant phone calls making her rub her temples in frustration. She suddenly put down her hand, “Let’s see what the police say about this matter first, aren’t they still investigating?!! Buy some marketing accounts to control public opinion. I’ve temporarily postponed all of Fu Xueli’s schedules. It’s best not to appear in public during this time. You all keep your mouths shut too, don’t respond to anything.”
“What, are you sure? Who did you hear that from?!!” Probably not good news, Tang’s tone suddenly changed, her expression becoming serious. After a while, she sighed and interrupted the other person, “Forget it, we’ll talk about this later. I have something to deal with here now.”
After hanging up the phone, Tang turned on the living room lights.
“Are you okay?”
“Mm, it’s nothing.” In the dim light, Fu Xueli’s voice showed no emotion, just a hint of fatigue.
“What’s wrong, have you been having insomnia these past few days?”
“It’s fine.”
“Then you should rest well.” Tang paused, “In our line of work, you know, many things can’t be explained clearly. Don’t take it too much to heart. Just stay at home and rest well for these few days, don’t pay attention to outside comments.”
“Mm.”
“The matter between you and He Lu needs to be clarified, but not now. No one will listen to you now. Wait until the storm passes to explain. Right now, whatever you say will be wrong, even punctuation marks will be used to attack you.”
“……..”
“Fu Xueli?” Tang called.
She was curled up in a corner, silently burying her head in her knees, not making a sound, looking lonely.
“Don’t say anymore. I don’t want to hear anything now, I don’t want to care about anything. Let them say whatever they want, I don’t care.” Her voice trembled slightly.
“Sigh, don’t take it too much to heart. Everything will be fine.”
Though she was trying to comfort her, Tang also knew that facing such a situation, who could remain indifferent?
At twelve o’clock, she had urgently picked up Fu Xueli at Shanghai airport, accompanied by several assistants and security guards. Still, they couldn’t stop the long-lens cameras that surrounded them. Camera flashes lit up the area like daylight, reporters eagerly asking for gossip, microphones being pushed forward, relentlessly pursuing.
“Is your relationship with He Lu confirmed?”
“Do you have any response to Ming Heqi’s death?”
“Fu Xueli, will you publicly respond to the series of questions online?”
“Please…”
“………”
Besides entertainment reporters, there were fans who had come after hearing the news, with waves of condemnation. All sorts of nasty insults emerged, everyone emotional and angry, some even throwing things at them.
Let alone Fu Xueli, who had always lived a smooth and pampered life like a greenhouse flower and had never seen such a situation.
Even Tang, who had struggled in the entertainment industry’s cesspool for many years and was used to big storms and scenes, had never experienced such a nightmare.
Like rats crossing the street, wherever they went, they were almost burned through by people’s hateful gazes.
One threatening message after another on the phone. Mistress, bitch, slut, mockery, sarcasm, curses, almost bursting the phone.
The real world was unavoidable. Being human, stripped of the bloody exterior, was sinful and terrifying.
The future was rocky, filled with ghosts and monsters.
—
Since the incident, Tang had suspended all of Fu Xueli’s activities. She closed her WeChat Moments, didn’t accept any news from the outside world, and turned off her phone, throwing it in some corner.
“—Rumble” “—Rumble”
After weeks of scorching sun in Shanghai, today was overcast with a sudden cool breeze. In the evening, rain finally poured down.
Someone rang the doorbell.
The doorbell rang for quite a while, persistently. Fu Xueli finally got up listlessly, stumbling to open the door in a daze.
She didn’t know if it was Tang or Xixi.
The door opened.
Fu Xueli felt dizzy, as if in a dream.
Xu Xingchun’s thin lips were pressed together, his nose straight, his eyes gloomy. He seemed to have been caught in the rain. His black short hair was dripping with water. He looked at her coldly, his expression not pleased, even indifferent.
Fu Xueli’s face was pale and wan, somewhat flustered. She didn’t dare look at him, briefly turning her head away, “Why are you here?”
Before she could refuse, he had already stepped in, closing the door behind him.
Fu Xueli didn’t realize she reeked of alcohol, her mind was a mess now, “You police officers think you’re so great.”
She hiccupped from the alcohol, thinking she could pretend to be unharmed, and tried to joke with forced energy: “Xu Xingchun, you can just casually find out where people live? Abusing your power again, aren’t you.”
Xu Xingchun brushed past her, stopping in front of the coffee table filled with empty wine bottles.
Hurt by his coldness.
She sniffled sadly, her hands behind her back, all ten fingers intertwined, “You don’t believe me either, right? Are you here now to deliberately laugh at me?”
Xu Xingchun’s gaze swept over her face, silent and wordless.
Her emotions were becoming increasingly sensitive, any small thing could defeat her.
His calm, unruffled gaze was particularly glaring at this moment. Like mockery. Fu Xueli didn’t dare to look closely, afraid of seeing disdain in his eyes.
She felt utterly pathetic. Gradually disappointed, or rather, embarrassed. She was about to walk back when her shoulder was suddenly gripped tightly.
After two or three seconds of stillness, she suddenly exploded. All the resentment, grievance, and anger of the past few days surged up at once. She violently broke free from Xu Xingchun and retreated.
“Yes! Anyway, I’m the mistress, I’m a slut, I’m cheap, I’m shameless, I have no manners.” As if afraid of hearing even harsher words, she simply said it all herself, her voice trembling as she muttered to herself, almost screaming towards the end, “It’s my fault Ming Heqi died, so I might as well die too. Are you satisfied now?”
Her voice was hoarse, her words reckless.
Sharp words, not stopping until she had shattered herself.
“You’ve seen the news too, right? Aren’t you here to laugh at me?!!! Fine… you’ve seen it now, hurry up and get lost. Anyway, someone as filthy as me, you don’t need to care even if I die. Get out, leave now…” Fu Xueli sobbed, tears escaping unbidden, blurring her vision.
She quickly lowered her head, trembling, constantly wiping her tears with her sleeve.
Biting her lip hard, holding back to avoid crying out loud.
Because she didn’t want to cry.
At least she didn’t want to break down so miserably in front of him.
Anyway, Xu Xingchun wouldn’t feel heartache for her anymore.
It was all bullshit.
She was pulled and dragged along.
Her back hit the cold tiles, the shower head sprayed open, and ice-cold water poured down on her face, chilling her from head to toe. Fu Xueli only had time to close her eyes, her knees weakening, almost kneeling down. She shrank back, slowly crouching down. Hot tears gushed out, her teeth chattering uncontrollably. She was gasping for breath.
Xu Xingchun pressed her against the wall with one hand, leaning close to her ear, asking in a hoarse voice, “You want to die?”
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