I really didn't intend to make a living based on my looks.

Chapter 90: Torture and Purification, Bai Mengyan Vows to Protect Her Brother to the Death

"Welcome you to Suzhou for a while, let's stroll through the gardens and visit the dilapidated gates."

"Intoxicated by the mountains and rivers, and intoxicated by the people, I stayed up with you through the night, startled from a dream."

A Suzhou folk tune drifted from a radio somewhere, carrying the soft, gentle tones of the Wu dialect, mixed with the chirping of cicadas in early summer, and landed on the bluestone pavement.

This is Qishuyan District in Changzhou City. The Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal runs through the city. The water is wide, and cargo ships come and go. The sound of their horns can be heard from afar.

Under the old locust tree by the river, several old men were playing chess, fanning themselves with palm-leaf fans, their battle raging fiercely on the Chu River and Han Border.

Further ahead from the locust tree, there are rows of apartment buildings with red brick exteriors, their walls covered with ivy, creating a patchwork of greenery.

This is the internal staff housing area of ​​the railway system, where most of the residents are employees and their families.

Everyone in the neighborhood knows exactly which train line each man runs, which school each child got into, and which factory each daughter married.

The hallway was filled with the aroma of food, work uniforms were hanging out to dry on the balcony, and rows of old bicycles were stacked in the bicycle shed downstairs, their bells polished to a shine.

"Yume-ken! When does school start?"

Bai Mengyan rode her bicycle in through the alley, her ponytail swinging wildly behind her head.

She was wearing denim overalls over an orange T-shirt, and a pair of Warrior sneakers with mud splattered on the edges, as if she had just come back from playing wildly in the wilderness.

"Almost there, almost there!"

She shouted without turning her head, pedaling the pedals incredibly fast.

"Why are you in such a hurry, girl?"

Aunt Wang from next door poked her head out of the stairwell with a shopping basket in her hand. "Is there a wolf chasing you?"

"More terrifying than a wolf!" Bai Mengyan turned around and made a face. "My mom's coming back, I have to get there before she gets home—"

Before she could finish speaking, the bicycle had already turned into the bike shed of Unit 3. With a screech, it came to a stop. She jumped off, not even having time to lock the bike properly, and rushed upstairs with the keys in her hand.

"This child is so impulsive—"

Aunt Wang smiled, shook her head, and pulled her head back.

Bai Mengyan's home is on the third floor, room 302.

She took out her keys, opened the door, and found the house quiet; her parents had indeed not come home from get off work yet.

"call----"

She let out a long sigh, closed the door behind her, and went straight to her small room.

The room was small, about ten square meters, and the walls were covered with posters.

The largest poster in the window is a group poster of the F4 from "Boys Over Flowers," featuring Lee Min-ho, Kim Hyun-joong, Kim Bum, and Kim Joon standing in front of a crystal palace.

I became a fan after watching this show.

She rushed to the desk, pulled open the drawer, and reached into the deepest part of it to pull out a tin box with a White Rabbit candy logo on the lid.

All of them were her treasures: concert ticket stubs, autographed photos of celebrities, and clippings from magazines.

She flipped through the photos and pulled one out from the very bottom.

The boy in the photo has light blonde hair, fair skin, crescent-shaped eyes, and a shy smile on his lips.

He was wearing a white hoodie and stood under the stage lights, looking like he had stepped out of a comic book.

Lu Han.

Bai Mengyan placed it on the small table, straightening it as if she were worshipping something sacred.

Then she put her hands together, closed her eyes, and muttered some incantations.

"Little deer, little deer, did you see that? That big devil Jiang finally got his comeuppance! Hahaha!"

"Do you know how long I've been waiting for this moment?"

"Now look what's happened! The whole internet is cursing him! Scumbag! gigolo! Traffic star! Hahaha, what do you call this?"

"This is called karma; no one escapes the judgment of Heaven!"

She leaned closer to the photo. "Little Deer, let me tell you, I did my part too. I used a secondary account to post three threads on the forum titled 'In-depth Expose of Jiang Chen's Rise to Power,' and they got over 100,000 views!"

"And on Weibo, I organized more than twenty of my girlfriends to flood his comment section with messages like 'Get out of the entertainment industry,' until 3 a.m.!"

She stood with her hands on her hips, beaming with pride: "That Bai Xue, does she really think I'm just a figurehead when it comes to hating people? What does she know? All she does is hurl insults! My style is sophisticated bashing, subtle and effective, you know?"

"And let me tell you, I have a trump card up my sleeve. My alternate account, Orange No. 2, has already infiltrated Jiang Chen's national senior management fan group. Those haters who were kicked out were just a smokescreen; I deliberately let them out to attract attention. The real killer move is here!"

She patted her chest, looking like she was pretty awesome.

"When the time is right, I'll dismantle them from within! I'll make them fight amongst themselves! Then—"

She was getting into her story when the door was suddenly pushed open.

"Yan Yan, what's wrong? Did a friend of yours pass away?"

Bai's mother stood at the door, holding a vegetable basket, looking completely bewildered.

Bai Mengyan's face darkened. "Mom! What are you saying? This is my idol!"

"An idol?" Bai's mother leaned closer to take a look, her brows furrowing. "This blond-haired kid? He's not good-looking at all, his hair is dyed like straw, he looks neither male nor female—"

"Mom!" Bai Mengyan screamed, clutching the photo to her chest. "What do you know! My Lu Han is the most handsome man in the world! This is K-pop! Do you even understand K-pop? He came from SM Entertainment! He's an all-rounder in singing and dancing!"

"What 'Aisim'?" White Mother curled her lip. "I think he's not even as good as that kid from Old Zhang's family downstairs. At least his hair is black. Alright, alright, hurry up and get ready. We're having braised pork for dinner tonight."

After she finished speaking, she shook her head and walked out, muttering to herself, "What's wrong with the taste of young people these days?!"

Bai Mengyan breathed a sigh of relief, rearranged the photos, and made a face at the door.

"They don't know how to appreciate it."

She muttered something to herself, then pounced on the bed and took out her phone.

The screen lit up, displaying a QQ group interface.

Group name: Jiang Chen Fans National Senior Management Group Group members: 487 people She scrolled up through the chat history, becoming happier and happier as she read.

Little Orange: Sisters, what should I do? The whole internet is attacking Brother Chen, I'm so sad————

Morning Light: Me too, I cried all night last night. What those people said was so awful, no matter how I explained, no one listened.

Jiang's Little Fan Girl: I just went to control the comments on Weibo and got attacked with dozens of posts, saying I was a paid troll and that I was whitewashing him — I really just like him.

Protecting Chenchen: All the drama fans have left. In the super topic of "Swords of Legends", many people said they would stop being fans and didn't want to be implicated.

The Fourteenth Prince's Little Consort: The CP fans are even worse off, torn between opposing sides by being manipulated. Some say Chen Ge is using Mi Jie, others say Mi Jie is using Chen Ge; she's pleasing neither side.

Chen Ge's Only One: The most terrifying thing is the casual fans. They follow the trend, supporting one day and criticizing the next, without any stance whatsoever.

Jiang Chen's fan club member, Xiao Bei: We're very confused right now. We've organized several clarifications, but they've all been drowned out by online trolls. Some people are starting to doubt whether Brother Chen really—

Orange No. 2: Sisters, don't panic! We must trust Brother Chen!

After Bai Mengyan finished typing this line, she covered her mouth and laughed so hard her shoulders shook.

Believe? Believe my foot!

She continued scrolling down, feeling a sense of satisfaction as she watched the groans and cries in the group chat.

Just then, someone suddenly shouted, "Chenchen posted on Weibo!!!"

"What? Let me see!"

"Where's the link? Send the link now!"

"I saw it! Just one sentence and one picture!"

Bai Mengyan's heart skipped a beat, and she quickly tapped on Weibo.

Jiang Chen V: Stay true to yourself and be grateful to those who always believed in you.

The accompanying image is a profile picture.

Under the dim light of the desk lamp, he lowered his head, holding a pen in his hand, with a script spread out in front of him.

The light and shadow accentuated his defined jawline, making him incredibly handsome.

There was no response to the negative rumors, no explanation of the controversy, and no mention of anyone.

Only one sentence and one photo.

The group chat was quiet for a while, then it became lively again.

"What does this mean? Why doesn't brother explain it to me?"

"Yeah, he's being criticized so much online, why isn't he responding?"

"My heart is pounding—has my brother given up on us?"

"Don't panic, let me read it again — stay true to yourself, and be grateful to those who always believe —"

"What does that mean? I don't understand."

The group was filled with confusion.

Just then, the administrator named Bai Xue in the group spoke up.

"Sisters, don't you understand?"

"Why doesn't my brother explain? Because explaining is useless. Haters won't believe him, bystanders won't listen, and the media will only take things out of context. Explaining would only drag him into the quagmire, making him sink deeper and deeper."

"But thank you to those who always believed in him. Who are we talking about? Are we talking about those casual viewers who blindly followed the trend to criticize him? Are we talking about those wavering drama fans? Are we talking about those CP fans who shipped the characters and then left?"

Little Orange: "Who are you talking about?!"

Bai Xue: "You're talking about us, you idiots."

Bai Xue: "My brother only thanked us. Those who always believed in him. Those who chose to stand by him no matter how much negativity came from the outside world. He didn't respond to the negative rumors because he didn't care what the haters thought. He only cared about us."

Morning Light: "I—I cried—"

Protector Chenchen: "So, brother didn't abandon us, he just thanked us?"

Bai Xue: "Yes. Think about it, how risky is it to post this Weibo at this time? Haters will say he's pretending to be high-minded, passersby will say he's playing the victim, and the media will interpret it in a hundred different ways. But he still posted it. Why?"

The Fourteenth Prince's concubine: "Why?"

Bai Xue: "Because he wanted us to know that he knew we were there. He knew we were clarifying things for him, that we were staying up all night fighting for him. He wanted to tell us: I saw it, I am grateful, I remember."

The group chat exploded.

"Ahhh, I'm crying! My brother only thanked us!"

He doesn't care at all about those who unfollow him, run away, or follow the haters!

But the snow didn't stop.

She waited a few seconds for her emotions to build up before posting another message.

Bai Xue: "Sisters, take another look at the current situation."

"The entire internet is attacking him, and not a single person is standing up for him."

"His studio is just starting out. He doesn't have a big company backing him up or capital protecting him. He only has us."

"Right now, the whole world wants to see him fall. Only we can protect him."

"We are now his only source of confidence!"

"Are you willing?"

Little Orange: "I do!!!"

Morning light: "I do!!!"

Protecting Chenchen: "I do!!!"

The Fourteenth Prince's concubine: "I do!!!"

Chen Ge's only response: "I do!!!"

The screen was filled with "I do" messages, like a declaration, like a war mobilization.

Orange No. 2: "I do!!!!! We're all my brother has left, we have to protect him!"

After Bai Mengyan sent the message, she was completely stunned.

What's going on?

Why did she get so fired up too?

But looking at that photo, that silhouette of him reading a script under the lamp, that thank you to those who always believed in him, and Bai Xue's words that the whole world wanted to see him fall, only we could protect him—

You can't blame her, the atmosphere was just right.

Two hours later, all of Jiang Chen's fan groups updated their announcements.

Orange Fan Agreement, to all sisters who protect Chenchen: 1. Focus on Brother Chen himself.

We will only discuss Jiang Chen's works, schedule, and official materials. We will not mention unrelated artists, engage in comparisons or disparagements, or spread any unofficial information.

Second, we reject pairing up with other couples.

I do not ship any real-life couples, do not share content related to couples, and do not comment on topics related to couples.

Jiang Chen is an independent individual, not an appendage of anyone.

3. Do not participate in irrelevant comparisons or attacks.

I will not attack other artists, respond to provocations from haters, or get involved in any disputes.

Our battlefield is singular: protecting Jiang Chen.

Fourth, they only protect their own artists.

If you encounter any problems, contact the management team immediately. Do not act without authorization, do not speak emotionally, and do not disclose information from the group to outsiders.

Fifth, we must work together to combat external smear campaigns.

We are a collective; we share both prosperity and adversity.

Anyone engaging in any behavior that harms the collective interest will be asked to leave.

The convention was implemented shortly after it was published.

First, we cleaned up.

Several administrators went online simultaneously and checked each historical message in the group.

Any chat logs containing romantic pairings will be screenshotted and flagged, and a private message notification will be sent.

Anyone who spoke up for other artists was gently admonished.

Anyone who is wavering will be invited to a small group for private communication. They must either express their commitment to becoming a loyal follower or voluntarily leave the group.

There was no public feud, no public shaming, and no public execution.

Everything was private, gentle, and beyond question.

A day later, the number of people in all the groups decreased significantly.

The number of people has decreased, but the activity level has doubled.

All of this was arranged by Jiang Chen at Li Yitong's behest, to deliberately guide, regulate, and rectify the fan atmosphere.

This overwhelming online backlash has ironically provided an excellent opportunity to manipulate fans.

More fans are never better. Those fans with ambiguous stances and no constraints will eventually become a hidden burden for artists.

Taking advantage of this public opinion crisis, Jiang Chen used the opportunity to filter out the truly loyal core fans and complete a thorough purification of his fanbase.

Every crisis has two sides; the key is whether you can use it cleverly.

To outsiders, it just seemed like Jiang Chen's fans were leaving in large numbers, constantly leaving groups, and his popularity was declining sharply.

But they had no idea that the Orange Army, after the reshuffle, was undergoing an astonishing transformation, a complete metamorphosis!

The former site of Beijing Film Studio, third-floor office.

Jiang Chen pushed open the door and went in. Li Yitong was squatting next to the printer organizing documents. When she saw him, she immediately raised her index finger and whispered "shh," secretly pointing to the inner room.

Xu Yiruo was making a phone call with her back to them, exuding an astonishing aura!

"You're saying you didn't do this?"

"Yu Zheng, you dare to do it but not admit it, right?"

"Misunderstanding? What misunderstanding?"

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