Under the hazy night, two handsome men wearing masks came out of the restaurant. Their identity could be guessed by just looking at their stature. Hot search nowadays was usually dominated by two top flow, Touhua and Bai Yueguang.
The clip showed Bai Qingquan pointing to the camera as Shen Jintai took off his mask and look straight at it in an unfriendly expression.
The text by the marketing account was also very explosive: [Because of the movie?! The exception in the popular drama is not so simple!]
[Big surprise! The top-flow duo have broken their friendship!]
Shen Jintai's CP had always been Jintai Qiongying, but there were also fans who secretly poked Jintai MeiJing. Station B had video clips of Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan that were different from Jintai Qiongying. In addition to the snippets from <The East Palace is Coming> they had also participated in a talent show together. The editing material was also richer as it details the story of rivals wanting to kill each other to lovers who fell in love because they were filming a drama together. This kind of CP was too easy to eat!
Therefore, as soon as the news came out, a bunch of sugar-posting videos of the two that were collected by their CP fans were also pushed out as there was no ambiguity.
The fiercest picture was the last one where Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan had taken off their mask and stared at the camera in the dark night. This kind of vague picture made them look even more beautiful and compelling. Two tall, young, and handsome men. One was clean and warm, the other heroic and gorgeous. When they smiled, it looked as if they were filming for a magazine shoot.
"Ohh, ohh, so well match!" The CP fans yelled.
Passersby were the most shocked. The two top-ranking flows had broken-back*. OMG, this was a major event that the entertainment industry had never seen before. The traffic was so momentous that it could collapse Weibo.
*Broken-back (断背情) = refers to the love of two men. It spawned from the movie
Shen Jintai's phone had already blown up early in the morning.
First Xiao Tang called, then Li Meilan, and then Monsoon Entertainment.
"What, me and Bai Qingquan?" Shen Jintai rubbed his eyes, sat up from the bed, and went online to read the hot searches while talking on the phone.
The hot search had exploded and so had the gold powder and moonlight powder. The control and evaluation capabilities of these two groups were first-class, and together they were even more invincible.
"Rumors can kill an entire family! Take Shen Jintai away, no appointment!"
"My brother is a straight man. Take him away. No appointment!"
Since Shen Jintai was originally gay and it was well-known, Monsoon Entertainment only treated this kind of news as an ordinary scandal. They still clarified it but there was no panic.
Sunshine Media was different though. They hid and covered it since they were afraid that Bai Qingquan sexual orientation would spread. His debut route was the boyfriend next door. All his fans were girlfriend fans and there were too many straight stars*. Even if they want to reveal his orientation, it had to be done little by little. When Bai Qingquan signed on to film <When You're Older>, one was to rub the current trend of same-sex media, and the other was to test the waters. He didn't expect that before the movie was released, he was already caught in a same-sex scandal.
*Clarity: the implication here is that the industry has a ton of straight male stars. If Bai Qingquan was found out to be gay, all his fans (which are mostly girlfriend fans) would flock to other stars whose sexual orientation aligns with them.
It was fine for a straight man to be involved like this. It was common to sell rot in the industry. The problem was Shen Jintai was involved, and he was an actual gay man.
Therefore, Sunshine Media reacted very quickly, and they planned to issue a statement immediately.
"You have to remember that as soon as the statement is made, you should not think about falling in love in the next few years." Wei Ge said: "Unless you can guarantee that you will never be photographed, the fans will abandon you and it won't be as nice as what happened with Shen Jintai."
Bai Qingquan held his breath. His heart was suffocating, and he really wanted to take this opportunity to confess to the public, but he also knew the consequences that will arise with his confession. He hadn't really fallen in love with Shen Jintai so there was no benefit to gain from this confession.
This kind of specious news was easy to deny and won't really make too much waves. He and Shen Jintai only need to post on Weibo and there would be no harm or foul.
Of course, on the surface there wouldn't be any harm to him as a "straight man". But Bai Qingquan knew the power behind such statement. The noise was too big that he needed to speak up, but once he speaks, the moonlight powders were bound to flock to him to support him. The louder their voices, the harder it becomes for him to come out of the closet in the future.
As soon as the closet door was slightly ajar, it was instantly welded shut again!
"It's really strange. Who took it out of context like this? This is an obvious malicious attack?" Wei Ge said: "The other party knows that it will not cause a real scandal. They just wanted to splash dirty water. It feels more like malicious revenge."
Bai Qingquan knew who it was. Just before Bai Qingquan was about to post on Weibo, Zheng Siqi took the lead in speaking out: [It's obviously a movie by three people. Why isn't my name mentioned?]
Then he @ Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan.
"Zheng Siqi is righteous. This new is obviously fake. It's just hype for the film they're starring in, right?"
"I also think it's the hype of the film. Aren't Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan acting as lovers?"
"The marketing account don't do personal work. If they collect money the rhythm flies."
"The news is definitely fake, but Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan are really good. I was caught off guard by the last picture of the two of them. They really make a beautiful pair!"
Regarding whether to respond to this matter, Monsoon Entertainment held a meeting to discuss. They weren't urgent because they knew it was just fake news at first sight that even passersby won't believe it. They can let it hang on the hot search for a day and add heat to the movie for free.
At most, it will deepen the public's understanding of Shen Jintai's sexual orientation, but that was trivial. Since Shen Jintai dares to act in same-sex drama, it means it wasn't afraid of this aspect. As for Bai Qingquan, they felt even more indifferent. A straight man like him will only get heat and little harm done, especially since passersby believes that the material is fake. They didn't need to take the lead in speaking out. After Sunshine Media speaks up, it will be enough for them to cooperate. Who knew that before Sunshine Media issued a statement, Bai Qingquan had already posted on Weibo and @ Xiao Qi's Weibo account.
[Work together to demolish the golden platform] was Xiao Qi's Weibo account.
Bai Qingquan wrote: [Sister, your ability to make up stories is really first-class.]
From the GIF to the deliberately edited videos on the hot search, he knew instantly that it was Xiao Qi who did it. All the cooking went ballistic, and the biggest culprit was finally found. Gold powder and moonlight powder attacked jointly. They found that bitch Xiao Qi had already locked the comments, so they directly scolded her on the hot search.
At this moment, Xiao Qi caught fire, and everyone knew about it. The black material of Shen Jintai that she posted every day for several years had been widely circulated by screenshots. For the first time, passersby saw that there was such a crazy black powder. The viciousness of the language and the richness of swearing were astounding.
"Oh my god, this woman is terrible. I feel that Shen Jintai must've dug up her family's ancestral grave. What kind of hatred is this?!"
"That woman is crazy. Just look at her face. I heard from fans that she's a professional black powder and she has more than 100,000 followers by relying on blackening Touhua!"
"Just now, there was another new material. Didn't Touhua encounter a wave of crisis some time ago because of bodyguards pushing fans and almost causing a car accident? The illegitimate rice posted on Weibo saying that this woman gave them the address where Shen Jintai was staying and also provided them with accommodation!"
"My goodness, I'm terrified to even think about it!"
Xiao Qi had been in the entertainment industry for many years and had cultivated the ability to skirt on the edge of the law. She never thought that she was going to be destroyed for becoming too infamous. When she went shopping at the supermarket, she suddenly noticed that several girls were secretly looking at her. They were pointing and whispering as if they were talking about her.
"Is it her?"
"There is a mole on her cheek. It's her right?"
Xiao Qi was so scared that she ran away quickly. When she got home, she endured her fear and posted on Weibo: [I encountered a real-life run-in from online exposure. Can celebrities spray people with blood based on their influence? Don't think that small people won't dare file lawsuits against big stars! You don't have any evidence to say that it was me!]
Not long after she posted this Weibo, another hot search went online. There was only four words: [The East Palace Three Masters].
The hot search was bought by Monsoon Entertainment. The best way to refute this kind of scandal is to provide evidence through pictures and videos that showed Shen Jintai and Bai Qingquan weren't the only two there at the time, proving that this whole incident was all done through malicious editing. However, they didn't even take selfies when they were at dinner, so proof was hard to come by.
At this time, the power of fans went into action. Gold powders found that a girl had posted a recording on Weibo that not only captured the three of them, but also Xiao Qi who was holding the camera towards them.
The girl was unknown and had few followers, but she was very outspoken: [Return to the truth! After seeing the hot search, I knew that this woman was that Xiao Qi! Hammer to death*!]
*Hammer to death (锤死) = refers to no retreat or no mercy or both. Can also refer to as harshly condemning someone until they surrender/confess. In this case it's the latter.
Xiao Qi and her Weibo, [Work together to demolish the golden platform], was completely alone.
"Congratulations, Xiao Qi, I'm going to get a hammer now!"
"This is really hammered to death! Let's sue her!"
"It has been reported, so let's wait for a lawsuit!"
Monsoon Entertainment issued a lawyer's statement immediately and formally filed a lawsuit.
Shen Jintai, who has always light cloud and light wind*, didn't care much about these black powders. He said to Li Meilan: "Don't let me see her in the future."
*Light cloud and light wind (云淡风轻) = idiom which mean the breeze and cloud are light and the weather is sunny. Can refer to someone as sunny and laid-back. From the poem "Springtime" by Cheng Hao.
Still, Shen Jintai couldn't help feeling unhappy. He had worried about this a long time ago. He knew that if he was going to chase Bai Qingquan, he might only be able to do it surreptitiously. This event had made him see the facts more clearly.
—
Shen Jintai was in the same dressing room as Bai Qingquan. When no one was around, he chatted with him regarding the scandal.
Shen Jintai: "I hurt you."
"Who knew that woman was so crazy," Bai Qingquan said: "I don't blame you."
Shen Jintai: "Still, it had a great impact on you."
Bai Qingquan smiled and said: "It's okay. Anyways, I'm not planning to fall in love right now."
Bai Qingquan stretched his body as he looked at Shen Jintai and said: "Speaking of this, I really envy you. Look at how good your fans are. Knowing that you like men, they still love you so much. For me, it's different. If my fans know that I'm gay, I don't know what my future path will be like. I can only continue pretending to be straight, but fortunately, I'm used to it now."
Bai Qingquan: "Sometimes I feel very sorry for them. They like me so much, but they don't know what the real me is like. I sometimes feel that my traffic and fame are all bubbles that could easily pop with a single poke."
This was the first time that Shen Jintai had seen such a lonely Bai Qingquan.
Bai Qingquan raised his head slightly showing off his fair neck and a face that looked good from any angle. His throat slightly bobbed: "I really admire you. When you were at the peak of your popularity, you gave everything up for love. Why did you give it up? I actually wanted to see you catch up with Yan Qiuchi and be with him happily. I think you deserve that life. But you didn't succeed in the end and deep down in my heart, I feel sorry for you, and it makes me also very afraid."
All his fans abandoned him, and he fell from grace. There was nothing left, and he hadn't even obtained his love. What a tragic story and a lesson from the past.
Shen Jintai: "If you have to choose between love and your career, which would you choose?"
Bai Qingquan glanced at him. He thought for a bit and then said: "Although I long for a man to accompany me every day and hope to fall in love when I'm young, if I had to choose between the two, it would be my career. Unless it's someone who loves me very much and I the same- I know it's a bit hypocritical- I want the kind of love that will last a lifetime, filled with warmness, and so profound that it makes me want to think about him every day."
Shen Jintai was disappointed. He felt he wasn't as enthusiastic in his love for Bai Qingquan. He didn't know if he'll ever be able to fall in love with Bai Qingquan so deeply and zealously as how he wanted. Unless he can fall in love with Bai Qingquan like this, it seemed he shouldn't take another step forward. He felt it could harm Bai Qingquan like this.
Bai Qingquan didn't do anything wrong. He was actually very pitiful. But Shen Jintai only had one year and he wanted to live!
What should he do? Should he go and attack Yan Qiuchi instead? But for him to be with Yan Qiuchi, it would be a life of a 0, right?
Shen Jintai swallowed and became even more frustrated.
The author has something to say：
You finally have a clear understanding of your life.
Xiao Qi: Help me up, I still have one final task to complete. I can still fight! (Vomits blood)
Kinky Thoughts: Poor Bai Qingquan. I hope he gets the 100% gong he deserves.
I also feel sorry for Shen Jintai, but dear aren't you thinking about it all wrong? So hung up on 1's and 0's. How about y'all just discuss it first and work things out? Characters in danmei act as if versatile position is not a thing and it's all strictly 1's and 0's.
The fact that Yan Qiuchi who's supposed to be a domineering president is now lowering and slapping himself in the face to try to win you back... I mean at this point I'm sure if he can get together with you he'll happily bend over and give you his ass!