Xiao He didn't go too far; he returned to Sister Zhou's coffee shop.
Finding a quiet corner, Xiao He took out his laptop from his bag.
If he didn't want to cause trouble before, now trouble was actively seeking him out, and Xiao He naturally wouldn't back down.
At this moment, the internet was already in an uproar over the appearance of the “mysterious boyfriend.”
“Is this person from the Inner Entertainment Circle? Paparazzi, are you even capable? Can't you get a full face shot?”
“If only you had rushed over and pulled off his mask, you would have made it big today!”
“As a neutral observer, based on my many years of experience spotting handsome men, this guy has a good physique, so his face must also be handsome. Xu Youyou is really lucky.”
“Nickname, how can you tell he's handsome? He'll probably be ugly without the mask.”
“Youyou, Mama doesn't allow you to date! Absolutely not! Not even a college boy!”
Despite being mentally prepared, seeing those comments, Xiao He felt his preparation wasn't enough.
These netizens... uh, indeed, there are always more people enjoying the gossip than actual fans of the person involved.
Xiao He didn't hesitate. He first tracked down the IP addresses and soft-banned the troll accounts on Cheng Hongwen's side, including those related to Haohan Entertainment.
Although these accounts could still post comments and updates, Xiao He would technically restrict their traffic. When others viewed these accounts, they would experience “network lag,” thereby reducing their exposure.
Next, Xiao He opened the photos of Xu Youyou's mysterious boyfriend that the paparazzi had exposed earlier and began coding to conduct a full network search.
According to Cheng Hongwen, this guy should also be a celebrity, and a very famous one at that, whose exposure would be a sensation—
Got it!
Xiao He quickly locked onto his target.
Su Shengxi, an artist from Jiaxing Entertainment, a top idol with over a hundred million followers across all platforms, and currently one of the hottest idol stars.
This Su Shengxi, both in terms of /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ identity and appearance, fit the description perfectly.
Moreover, he was also in Shanghai. Xiao He found his assistant's check-in record at a hotel.
Hmm, that pretty much confirms it.
Xiao He immediately started writing a draft and then mass-sent it to Haohan Entertainment and Jiaxing Entertainment's rival marketing accounts.
With his hacking skills, he could accurately select these accounts. And as long as it was for traffic, these marketing accounts would do anything. As long as they latched onto a target, even a top idol, they could tear them down a peg!
These marketing accounts had been silently following the Xu Youyou romance rumors. Xiao He's anonymous tip was quickly noticed by them.
Some, who were slightly wary of Su Shengxi, chose to observe, but more marketing accounts swarmed in, pushing the romance rumors of Su Shengxi and Xu Youyou to the top of the trending topics.
“Breaking! Xu Youyou and Su Shengxi's romance completely exposed!”
“National Film Queen Xu Youyou and popular top idol Su Shengxi's romance!”
“Xu Youyou's mysterious boyfriend surfaces! It's actually him?”
Thus, before either party could react, their true gossip was already all over the place.
“Before clicking: How is this possible? After clicking: Oh my god! My house is also on fire! This detail comparison is too obvious! I, a seven-year veteran fan, almost didn't even notice it!”
“Five-year veteran fan here. I already thought that sitting posture looked familiar, but I didn't dare to say anything.”
“Oh my god! So it really is Su Shengxi?”
“As far as I know, Su Shengxi has indeed been filming in Shanghai recently. I dare not say more.”
“But that's not right! The ‘masked college student’ exposed earlier was clearly taller than Su Shengxi.”
“I compared them. Xu Youyou is around 1.6 meters tall. The person kissing Xu Youyou, when seated, was only about half a head taller than Xu Youyou, which translates to a height of about 1.78 meters. However, the ‘masked young man’ standing was a full head taller than Xu Youyou, translating to a height of about 1.83 meters. They are clearly not the same person. And as everyone knows, Su Shengxi's official height is 1.8 meters, but his actual height is 1.78 meters. So, who is Xu Youyou's real boyfriend? Nickname, it's so hard to guess~”
“I get it. So the masked young man who was exposed later was actually innocently dragged out to take the blame. How tragic.”
“666, as expected of the gossip netizens. Without you all, I almost wouldn't have understood the real gossip. I'll be your netizen again in my next life.”
“What's going on?” Cheng Hongwen, with bloodshot eyes, angrily stared at the computer in front of him. “How could those marketing accounts act so quickly?”
When did their efficiency become so outrageous? They could even dig up Su Shengxi?
“Quickly clarify, and then tell the trolls to set the narrative!”
Cheng Hongwen anxiously instructed his assistant, but the assistant, looking at the chat interface on his phone, had fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead: “N-not good! I don't know why, but the messages from the trolls can't be sent. Their network is constantly busy.”
“Huh? Are you kidding me?” Cheng Hongwen almost laughed in anger. “Everyone else's network is fine, so why isn't theirs? And if I remember correctly, their office building is right next to the Mobile building, isn't it?”
Don't underestimate this group of trolls. They have a legitimate studio and even own an entire floor of office space in a central office building, neighboring Mobile, the largest communication operator in China by user scale.
So, their network isn't good? What a joke!
“It must be Xu Youyou's rivals trying to take advantage of the situation.”
Cheng Hongwen gritted his teeth, only able to think of this reason, and Xiao He had long been thrown to the back of his mind.
“Find new trolls, and contact relevant platforms to remove the trending topics.”
“Okay!”
The assistant quickly nodded and quietly exited before Cheng Hongwen could continue to get angry.
Su Shengxi's side was also in a flurry. Liu Rulan quickly had Jiaxing Entertainment issue a clarification notice, determined to deny everything.
After all, the paparazzi hadn't captured a full face, and all the online news was speculation. As long as they adamantly denied it, there was still room for maneuver.
But despite this, the internet was still in an uproar because of this speculation.
Xu Youyou became instantly popular upon her debut, and her first movie achieved extremely high national recognition. Many people knew her. As for Su Shengxi, there's no need to mention him. He debuted from a talent show that was popular across the country back then, and his fans have almost all followed him since that period. Their combat power is extremely strong, earning them the nickname “Inner Entertainment Circle's First Mad Dogs” from some Inner Entertainment Circle fans. Now, putting these two names together was nothing short of a huge explosion.
As for Xiao He, no one paid any attention to him anymore.
After all, the main culprits had already shown their true colors, so others naturally wouldn't care about the identity of a scapegoat. So, apart from some insatiable fangirls still asking who the young man was, the other gossips had already consciously shifted their focus to observe the comments sections of the other two.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Xiao He, who had ignited this “century war,” silently deleted all photos related to him and waved his hand, leaving no trace.
This gossip is too big, everyone can enjoy it, but he won't be joining in.
After packing his things, Xiao He borrowed a thin plaid jacket from Sister Zhou. Covering his clothes and black backpack, he discreetly left the coffee shop.
