Nian Wenran couldn't help but have a coquettish tone when talking about what happened last night, and said to Lin An aggrievedly, "Last night, many people were scolding you. I tried to explain, but they said I was your hired internet navy, and they even scolded me."
Lin An couldn't help but rub Nian Wenran's head as he looked at her. Initially, when he heard that Nian Wenran was mistaken for an internet navy, Lin An found it somewhat amusing. However, when he heard that she was being scolded, his brows furrowed.
"How did they scold you?"
Nian Wenran took out her phone to show Lin An, and the words were quite harsh, including insults like brainless fans, money-grabbers, and various distortions of facts. Lin An casually scrolled through a couple of messages, and his mood turned somewhat sour.
Being cursed himself didn't bother Lin An much. Although he doesn't know much about celebrities, he also knows that there would be both praise and scoldings under the spotlight. But watching Nian Wenran being cursed made him both angry and distressed.
"Stop responding to them. Trying to reason with people online is futile," Lin An closed Nian Wenran's phone, "Besides, no matter what kind of person I am, people won't believe their explanations."
Nian Wenran felt a bit sad, "I know, but when they said those things about you, I felt angry and upset."
"Their mouths are on them; we can't control that. Let them be," Lin An gently pinched Nian Wenran's puffy face, "Believe me, I will handle it. Now, be a good girl, go eat, and after that, take a nap for half an hour. Okay? My little internet sailor."
Nian Wenran blushed at Lin An's "my little internet sailor" and nodded drowsily in agreement, and sat down at the dining table to eat.
As soon as Lin An opened his phone, he saw a message from Sister Li half an hour ago. Lin An had left his phone charging in the room this morning and had used a payment code he set up in his spare time. He had just come to the room after talking to Nian Wenran.
After chatting with Sister Li, Lin An learned about the events that had unfolded overnight.
The current focus of public opinion was mainly on the video of Lin An hitting someone. Other pieces of dirty information were easily clarified. However, Lin An remembered that in the novel, the original owner's dark history was briefly mentioned and not detailed to this extent. The novel did mention that some people always disliked Lin An.
Having inherited the memories of the original owner, Lin An knew that he didn't intentionally hit someone, and it was the other person who started the physical altercation. Based on some clues in the novel, Lin An, with his quasi-omniscient perspective, had a rough idea of who was behind this.
However, the urgent matter was finding solid evidence to prove his innocence.
The company did put up the court document showing Lin An's victory in the lawsuit against the blogger who posted the video.
However, it didn't have much effect because the video was shot without permission and was incomplete, so the court didn't use it.
The critics kept holding onto this point, insisting that Lin An hired a powerful lawyer to manipulate the evidence and turn the video into illegal proof to exonerate himself. They also argued that Lin An admitted to hitting someone, and the blogger only acknowledged it due to pressure. According to them, Lin An was in the wrong.
Moreover, a big celebrity suing for defamation is definitely a surefire way to win. Ordinary people have no power to contend with big stars. To exaggerate a bit, if you don't speak up when you get beaten, you'll be ignored; if you speak up too much, you might even be taken to court. There are countless comments expressing pity and similar sentiments.
Moreover, a wave of people surprisingly agreed with this illogical argument.
People always tend to sympathize with the underdog. In the video, the original owner did indeed physically attack someone. Adding to that, Lin An admitted on the platform that he did, in fact, hit someone. Now, those criticizing him are using this against him.
Their argument is: no matter what, you shouldn't resort to violence. Moreover, the other person didn't fight back, and pushing them onto a car was simply too much.
Lin An initially wanted to explain himself through a post, but the company intervened.
Sister Li advised Lin An to temporarily ignore the matter and go to Shangdao to shoot endorsements and photos.
When Lin An and Lu Ruifeng arrived at Shangdao, Lin An could feel the strange glances from people around. Although it was uncomfortable, Lin An endured it because people didn't directly insult him, and it wouldn't be appropriate to say anything.
However, Lu Ruifeng was not as restrained. Whenever those people looked over, he glared back at them. Lu Ruifeng patted Lin An's back reassuringly, "Brother, don't take it to heart. Everyone in our villa believes in you; you're not the type to randomly hit someone."
Lin An smiled and replied, "Don't worry; I'm not bothered. As long as the people close to me believe in me, that's enough."
Lu Ruifeng patted his chest and assured, "I completely believe in you, brother!"
The two chatted for a few moments before immediately diving into work. This advertisement was quite intricate, and considering Lu Ruifeng's tight schedule, it was split into two sessions for filming.
Today's focus was primarily on indoor scenes. It included moments of the two brothers waking up and getting dressed, the younger brother sneakily wearing the older brother's suit and getting caught, resulting in an angry confrontation; as well as scenes of the older brother taking the younger brother to inspect the company, the younger brother admiring the older brother, and the older brother assertively managing affairs in the office.
Although the content was extensive, the shooting process wasn't too challenging. Unlike movies that require actors with exceptionally nuanced acting skills, advertisements mainly relied on the impactful visuals. Moreover, the director for this ad skillfully avoided the weak points in the actors' performances, concentrating more on the visual impact. As a result, the filming task was completed much faster than anticipated.
Right after finishing the shoot, Lu Ruifeng excitedly ran over and exclaimed, "Brother, there's been a turnaround! Your company found a complete video, proving your innocence. But that person was too much—initiating the fight, deliberately provoking you, pretending to be beaten, and even riding on your popularity. It's shameless."
Lin An only learned from Sister Lie's message that around noon, the company's PR department received a call from a paparazzo claiming to have a complete video from that year that could bring Lin An back to life.
After a meeting with the paparazzo, they found out that this video was discovered by the paparazzo in a friend's car's dash cam. During the altercation between Lin An and the other person, they happened to be very close to that particular car, and their conversation and actions were vividly recorded.
The most fortunate thing was that the owner of the car bought a new one not long after, and the video from the dashcam was handed over to the paparazzo before being overwritten. The paparazzo found this footage while fiddling with the dashcam. However, several months had passed since Lin An was attacked, and the paparazzo, who wasn't making money, thought of keeping it just in case Lin An became popular again and he could make a big profit.
It can be said that Lin An was quite lucky. Otherwise, as long as he stayed in the entertainment industry, the critics would have held onto this point to attack him.
With this mindset, the paparazzo saved the video until today. Unexpectedly, Lin An did become popular, and in a positive light. The paparazzo immediately realized the gold content of this video. After negotiating with the company, a mutually satisfactory agreement was reached.
Thinking about the dark days when the original owner was attacked, Lin An estimated that back then, the paparazzo didn't appear because the original owner didn't have much value at the time, and the company wouldn't buy it. If the paparazzo released it himself, he might even get into trouble.
Lin An thought for a moment and decided to post a message on the platform:
A clear conscience is the surest armor. I was young and frivolous at the time, and I said some arrogant words in my eagerness to clarify. This was my mistake, and in the future, I will pay more attention to my words and actions, setting a better example for those who support me.
Regarding the video, I won't say much in explanation. The video itself is the best evidence and explanation.
Finally, I hope that when encountering similar situations, everyone can show more patience and rationality.
Without knowing the full picture, it's not for me to judge. Let's encourage each other with this sentiment.
Within two minutes of posting this dynamic message, Lin An received tens of thousands of likes and comments, mostly consisting of comforting messages for Lin An and excited comments from his loyal fans. Some netizens who had previously criticized Lin An also apologized in the comments.
After responding to some comments from his loyal fans, Lin An logged out of the app. He followed the account with the circled profile picture that spoke up for him.
The last action was instructed by Sister Li; otherwise, Lin An, who doesn't pay much attention to hot topics, would have likely missed these developments.
With the resolution of the original owner's dark history, Lin An felt an indescribable sense of relief.
On the way back, Lin An couldn't contain his excitement. It peaked when he returned to the cabin and saw Nian Wenran. However, outwardly, Lin An maintained a calm demeanor.
"Comrade Nian Xiao Wang, did you check the trending topics today?" Lin An asked nonchalantly, hands behind his back.
"I did. Wow, that person really went too far. Fortunately, your company found that video; otherwise, you would have been wrongly accused forever!" Nian Wenran expressed her indignation when talking about it.
"I promised to resolve this matter properly. I assure you that I won't lie to you," Lin An said seriously, looking directly at Nian Wenran.
Nian Wenran couldn't stand Lin An's focused gaze. Lin An himself didn't realize that his serious look was incredibly charming.
Lin An didn't have captivating eyes like a "peach blossom eye" that gives a deep and affectionate impression. What truly moved people about Lin An was not the beauty of his eyes, but the focused and earnest gaze he gave when looking at someone.
It made people feel like they were being regarded as a priceless treasure, and the one being observed was that precious gem.
Blushing again at her own thoughts, Nian Wenran shyly nodded as a response to Lin An.
People in the villa have also paid attention to Lin An's hot searches in the past two days. Early this morning, even before the complete video came out, several of them publicly supported Lin An on the platform.
Lu Ruifeng was the worst among them. Without informing his manager, he posted a blog supporting Lin An and even argued with some Lin An critics in the comments.
When his manager found out, it was too late, so he grabbed Lu Ruifeng and scolded him. At that time, no one expected Lin An's company to find the complete video. Many thought that Lin An's incident was a murky situation, and of course, their own artists would steer clear if they could.
It's fortunate that Lin An was able to prove his innocence this time; otherwise Lu Ruifeng would have been scolded by the trolls for supporting Lin An.
As for Su Nuo, her manager generally doesn't intervene in such matters, mainly because they can't control her actions. Su Nuo is one of the few artists who have absolute control over their own accounts.
After chatting for a while, the members of the cabin went to rest.
Lying on his bed, Lin An reflected on the events of the day, feeling quite moved.
He actually didn't expect that his friends in the villa would believe him so much. Considering they had been together for less than three weeks, it was surprising how much faith they had in his character, especially Lu Ruifeng.
At first, because he heard Sister Li talk about many examples of cheating in the entertainment industry, Lin An actually didn't expect to make many good friends. However, he approached making friends with sincerity.
Lin An was indeed fortunate to encounter such a great group of people. For him, the variety show had already been worthwhile for the friendships he formed.
Of course, it would be even better if he could find a girlfriend like Nian Xiao Wang.