Huayu: This top star doesn't play by the rules.

A few hours later, the top comments shifted from initial probing to firm accusations, with comments like "C surname newcomer confirmed to be a resource-backed actor" and "From amateur to second male lead in half a year, who would believe it without a sugar daddy?"

Although Chen Chao's fans did not give up, their comments were immediately met with a barrage of insults.

After taking the screenshot, Ji Ran opened WeChat and called Hao Ren, the studio's planning and operations manager, asking, "How's the investigation going?"

Hao Ren's voice on the other end of the phone was slightly hoarse, but he couldn't hide his excitement. "We've found the person behind that account. His surname is Xu. He used to be a copywriter at a marketing company, but he was fired last year."

"I got some information about him and the middleman through a friend. The middleman gave him about 20,000 yuan in total."

"You dare take on this kind of job for just 20,000 yuan?"

"That's normal, there are plenty of people who are short of money." Hao Ren lowered his voice a few decibels. "I also checked the middleman's side, it's an outsourcing company of an MCN agency in Hangzhou."

"Then I continued to investigate and found that this MCN had taken on an outsourcing order from Yixin Entertainment last year, but this time the order was not placed by Yixin, but by an artist agent."

His brow furrowed slightly, and Ji Ran pressed on, "Who?"

"I used to be in the same production team as the boss, the manager of that artist named Deng Lun." After a pause, Hao Ren gave a very clear answer, "I compared the timelines, and Deng Lun also has several dramas airing next year."

"Moreover, his and the boss's positions are similar, and they happen to fall into the same resource pool. They have a youthful vibe, are sunny and handsome, and are potential traffic stars. The overlap is quite high. They probably think that it's easier to kick him while he's still not fully popular."

After a moment of silence, Ji Ran's brain started working rapidly. When he heard Deng Lun's agent, his first thought was Gongsun Han from the Vast Star Chart, but he quickly dismissed the idea. After all, such a rough approach was not like the style of this well-known agent.

Can the chain of evidence be locked tight?

"No, with the information we've gathered so far, it's not enough to definitively prove them guilty; we can only say they're suspects." Hao Ren sighed helplessly.

"Let's leave it at that for now. Remember to keep the documents safe; we'll need them if we take legal action later." Shaking his head, Ji Ran had no choice but to choose another path.

After ending the call with Hao Ren, Ji Ran leaned back in her chair and gently rubbed her temples.

..........

The next morning, the atmosphere in the guesthouse lobby was a little different from usual. Holding a cup of soy milk, Deng Chao sat cross-legged on the sofa, looking at the content displayed on his phone screen with his brows furrowed.

Sitting opposite Deng Chao, Zhang Benyu, who was peeling a tea egg, hesitated for a while before finally asking, "Brother Chao, what did your assistant show you? Why do you look so pale?"

Without saying a word, Deng Chao simply placed his phone on the table, gesturing for Zhang Benyu to look at it himself.

At this moment, what was displayed on the phone screen was a newly released long article from "Entertainment Insider King," with a very eye-catching title: "Deep Dive into the Financial Backers Behind the Newcomer with the Surname C: How Long Can the Fig Leaf of Resource Stars Last?"

The article goes through all of Chen Chao's resources from "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" to "Princess Agents" and "Duckweed," implying that "there are big shots behind him" for each project. It also includes a blurry screenshot of a so-called "insider's revelation" at the end.

After reading the content, Zhang Benyu was speechless. "Is this a rumor? I don't know about other production crews, but in our crew, Director Han said that he met Achao by chance at the racetrack and thought he was suitable, so he auditioned him later."

"Who cares about the truth?" Taking his phone back, Deng Chao opened the comments section and continued scrolling down. "Look at these comments, they're mostly things like 'I've always felt there was something wrong with him,' 'Why does a newcomer have such good resources,' and 'Waiting for solid evidence.' When someone starts stirring things up, bystanders will join in the commotion."

Just then, Han Han, who had just walked in and was about to have breakfast, frowned slightly after hearing Deng Chao's conversation. He also took out his phone and started checking Weibo.

A dozen minutes later, Han Han updated his Weibo with a post: "There is only one Xu Zhengtai, and that is Chen Chao. I chose him, and I will take responsibility for it."

The post also included a picture, a candid shot of Chen Chao on set. He was riding a sky-blue King of Sticks 400, with a bright smile on his face. The sunlight shone on his face, giving him a youthful and energetic vibe.

Less than ten minutes after he posted the Weibo, Zhao Liying also reposted it, with a caption of only four words: "Believe in Achao".

Following closely behind, Chen Chao's friends in the industry, including Lin Gengxin, Wang Yanlin, and Li Qin, also posted messages of support for Chen Chao. A little over an hour later, Jiang Jiajun also posted a Weibo message: "Chen Chao's acting skills are very good, and he is also very dedicated. I recommended him to Lao Wu."

The most unexpected thing was that Li Ronghao, who had only known Chen Chao for a short time and hadn't spent much time with him, also posted a Weibo post: "I've listened to the demos of Chen Chao's entire new album. He wrote every single song himself. Talent is something that can't be faked."

On the other side, in the second-floor corridor, Dong Zijian walked out of his room looking somewhat tired. His dark circles were even more pronounced than before, indicating that he hadn't slept well the night before.

Just then, Chen Chao's room door opened quietly, and Chen Chao crawled out of the room, bumping right into Dong Zijian.

The two exchanged a glance and remained silent for a moment. After Chen Chao closed the door, Dong Zijian looked him up and down, then leaned closer and whispered, "Chao, can I ask you something?"

Slightly puzzled, Chen Chao scratched his head, wondering why this guy had suddenly become so mysterious. "What's wrong?"

"Well..." After glancing around to make sure no one was paying attention, Dong Zijian lowered his voice again and asked, "Why are you so physically strong?"

Upon hearing his question, even with Chen Chao's strong emotional control, he almost lost his composure.

But Dong Zijian didn't think there was anything wrong with his question at all. Instead, he waited for the answer with a serious expression, "I'm serious."

Thinking back to last night, right after they finished, his girlfriend suddenly said, "Listen, Chen Chao next door seems really good; he hasn't stopped yet." This forced him to struggle again, and he felt utterly exhausted, both physically and mentally.

Facing Dong Zijian's sincere yet deeply weary eyes, Chen Chao remained silent for a moment before gently patting his shoulder and saying in a deep voice, "Brother Zijian, this mainly depends on talent."