TW:
This second half of this chapter focuses on su-icide, death, bloo-d.
Proceed 🫶
As soon as Wen Run Studio’s statement was released, it caused a strong resonance. Countless fans and netizens reposted it. In one night, the reposts broke a million, #Sensible Star Chasing # and #The Meaning of Idols # were hanging on the top of the hot search list, and the discussion degree was unprecedentedly high.
For these two topics, not only were the fans concerned about you, but even many passersby who didn’t follow stars also felt it deeply. They reposted and expressed their views. Most people appreciate the studio and its gentle attitude, but often what people opposed wasn’t actually star worship. Even ordinary people who didn’t pursue idols often had their own role models or idols. The difference between star worship and idol worship was that fans loved a celebrity who was highly anticipated by the public. But this wasn’t worth criticizing, nor was it shameful. A good idol could take you to grow together, making people feel happy and fulfilled. Looking back on this period of youth after years, their heart would also be gentle.
But the fact was, many irrational fan behaviors nowadays had stigmatized the neutral word “fan.” Many passersby thought of it as “too much,” “tumor,” “stink.” So when #Sensible Star Chasing and #The Meaning of Idols were brought up again, they struck an emotional chord with countless people.
Many passersby who didn’t follow stars even kindly teased in the comments, [If all stars have positive energy and the right three views like Wen Run, people won’t be prejudiced against chasing stars, ah].
[I’m afraid of falling in love with the wrong person. For the sake of someone who’s not worth it, I’d make myself crazy. The negative example can be found in “Guardian Star.”]
After Wen Run’s studio stated that Wen Run was willing to accept the apology, many people’s disgust for “Guardian Star” turned into sighs, and when they went to look at her posts again, they also felt that the punishment she received was indeed too much.
Some people began to spontaneously leave messages under the Weibo account “Guardian Star,” hoping that she could reform and live a good life in the future. As for the online disputes, the main person was willing to forgive them, and as bystanders, netizens didn’t have the right to continue holding on to them.
And Wen Run’s fans were the most active. Many of them commented blessings to “Guardian Star,” who was heavily criticized, helping her suppress the vulgar comments left by Huo Guangyao’s fans and reporting all visible real-life information about her.
Although there wasn’t much that could be done, and the fans may not really like the girl who once spread rumors, since Wen Run had chosen to forgive, they would also follow in the footsteps of their star and strive to be kind, warm, and beautiful people.
Wen Run’s move as well as the studio’s post attracted a lot of fans; whether it was other fans or passersby, they all had goodwill towards him. Of course, the Internet wouldn’t have only one voice; there would never be a lack of people doing the opposite. After Wen Run chose to withdraw the case, there were also people who said in a conspiratorial manner that he was too saintly, pretending to be a white lotus flower, and so on, but such voices were too small and were quickly drowned out by the fans and passersby.
[TN: white lotus — 白莲花 (Bai lian hua), meaning White Lotus Flower, is a Internet slang used by young people to refer to girls who are innocent looking but with an evil heart]
On the contrary, the obsessive Huo Guangyao’s fans felt that the withdrawal of the lawsuit proved that Wen Run and the “guardian star” colluded. But now Wen Run’s popularity was too big, and they couldn’t handle it at all. They could only post some suggestive messages in their own super topic.
[TN: Super topic —- They’re more of a way of creating long-lasting communities around particular topics of interest. Unlike trending hashtags, super topics can have their own online hosts and it’s possible to give these unique communities their own written introductory text.]
And they tried to shift the online trend towards the discussion of the meaning of ‘Idol’ with Huo Guangyao at the forefront, but no one gave them a glance.
Huo Guangyao had been paying close attention to the trend on the Internet in the past few days, and after realizing that everyone’s attention had shifted to the topic of “sensible stargazing” and no longer focused on him, he was immediately relieved. Then he was a bit annoyed that he had made such a big fuss, but in the end, it was Wen Run who did the grafting for him.
He clenched his teeth, his face a little cloudy.
The agent had brought him along for a few years and saw through his thoughts at a glance, soothingly saying, ”There is no fear of not having wood to burn when there is a green mountain. This is only temporary; when this gust of wind passes, who will remember today’s events? You can rest assured and go sign a contract with Louis in a few days. What they say online isn’t important; what you hold in your hand is the real thing. As long as you keep getting popular, you won’t lose fans.”
Louis was the head of Asia for the top international luxury brand Louis I. The two sides had been in contact for some time, and just a while ago they finalized their intent to cooperate, but before they had time to finalize their confirmation, Huo Guangyao had an accident. Louis I had very high requirements for spokespersons, and so far his spokespersons had been European and American celebrities, but if the cooperation was finalized this time around, then he would be Louis I’s first Asian spokesperson.
The status of Louis I was enough to crush all of Wen Run’s current endorsements.
In the industry, everyone looked at the strength; as long as you had the strength, not many people cared about your past deeds. This was an industry where heroes were judged by their success or failure, and it had always been very realistic.
Huo Guangyao apparently also figured out that he had been the best one since he was a child, and he naturally couldn’t stand it when Wen Run suddenly appeared and pushed him down on everything, but thinking about how Wen Run’s roots were not as deep as his, he smiled, “The assistant has been dealt with, right?”
“Don’t worry.” The agent said, “I’ve already given the hush money; she doesn’t dare to talk nonsense. Take good care of your injuries.”
……
The two of them had a good plan, but they didn’t expect that the big news that came out the next day would break all their calculations.
— Guardian Star” committed sui-cide.
No one expected that after she sent out her last post, she’d choose to commit su-icide.
This matter was revealed by the only relative and friend of “Guardian Star,” “Hanya,” the next morning. When “Guardian Star” was besieged by countless fans and passersby, she once stepped forward to help “Guardian Star” clarify. She wasn’t a professional fan. She said she was being used. But no one was willing to listen, not just ‘Guardian Star’; even she was almost cancelled.
After that, she never appeared again. It wasn’t until the early hours of this morning that she suddenly appeared and sent out a post that sent a message to Huo Guangyao, his studio, and his backing club, calling them all hitmen.
[Hanya: @Huo Guangyao @Huo Guangyao Studio @Huo Guangyao Global Fan Support Association, you all wanted her to die, and now that she’s really going to die, you’re the ones who forced her to jump off the cliff, and you’re all mercenaries].
The picture accompanying the post was the operating room of the hospital, and the chat logs show that “Guardian Star” had confided in her.
The posts were sent in the early morning hours and were also related to Huo Guangyao, and the first to arrive were naturally his fans, who lost their minds and taunted her underneath the posts with extreme malice, saying that she was purposely acting pitiful.
Hanya didn’t argue with them but just sent out a full account of what happened half an hour later.
Not long after “Guardian Star” posted on Weibo the night before, she suddenly came to her and said a lot of things; she was in pain, confused, and… relieved.
At that time, she only thought that the other party was under too much pressure and wanted to talk to someone, just like before. She knew what had happened to “Guardian Star” and was angry for her, but her personal power was too small and she could not do anything to help, so she could only comfort her as she always did.
Later on, the “Guardian Star” calmed down a bit and told her that she wanted to rest early and also said “goodbye” to her.
Hanya only thought that she seemed a bit abnormal today and thought that she was ready to start over because she wanted to get over it. But when she saw lawyer Xing and the Wen Run Studio’s posts, she knew that the other side was ready to withdraw the lawsuit and ecstatically sent a QQ message to “guardian star” to report the good news, but she didn’t get her friend’s response.
She hesitated for a long time between calling to wake her up or talking about it tomorrow, still thinking that “Guardian Star” would want to know the news earlier. After three hours, she couldn’t help but call “Guardian Star.”.
The news she got was that the “Guardian Star” had committed su-icide and had been sent to the hospital for resuscitation.
After saying goodbye to “Hanya,” she slit her wrists in her rented house.
Maybe she was afraid of not dying; she was cut vertically, the wound was very deep, and it was also soaked in warm water. If it weren’t for her calling for help in the end, she might have quietly died in the rental house. These were all told to ‘Hanya’ by the paramedics after she arrived at the hospital.
At that time, the parents of ‘Guardian Star’ were still on their way, and only she rushed from the neighboring city to wait outside the operating room. Just thinking about that scene made her feel cold all over.
As for why she was so determined to commit su-icide and struggled to call for help before she died, it was only after “Guardian Star” woke up that “Hanya” found out.
At that time, ‘Guardian Star’ was already mentally confused due to excessive bloo-d loss. She suffered too many blows in a short period of time. She was afraid of facing online malice, afraid of people around her knowing, and even more afraid of her parents knowing. Lost her job and about to face prosecution… She kept every detail hidden in her heart, afraid to reveal a word.
In the end, she timidly chose to escape with death, thinking that if she died, she would not face these things again.
In the loss of bloo-d and confusion, she saw the bright cell phone screen. “Hanya” sent her a series of messages.
“Hanya” said that Wen Run accepted her apology and was ready to drop the charges against her, saying that there weren’t so many people cursing her on the Internet and that the messages exposing her real identity had been reported and deleted…
Finally, she said that she would come from the neighboring city to play with her and go out to relax over the weekend. And that she could start over again in the future.
I’m going to start all over again. What a beautiful word. Already in a daze, “Guardian Star” woke up. She thought of her elderly parents; her desire to live surged, and she struggled again. She was suddenly not willing to die like this. When she died, the only ones who’d grieve for her would be her relatives and friends. In the end, she held on to the only consciousness left, to call 120 emergency.
After several hours of resuscitation, “guardian star” was out of danger and regained consciousness.
Her parents and close friends were by her side, crying with joy.
…
The posts sent by “Hanya” during the rescue of “Guardian Star” once again drew the attention of the public back to Huo Guangyao. The internet’s memory was always short-lived, and a hot topic could quickly turn in the wrong direction, but if it was followed by another big story, it could quickly draw attention back to the story.
Netizens obsessed with debating the “significance of the existence of idols” once again remembered what Mr. Huo’s studio had done, and the near loss of a living life reignited their anger, which they unanimously directed at Mr. Huo.
Especially those fans who defended Huo Guangyao, first they started rumors and attacked Wen Run, then when the truth came out, they started attacking “guardian star” who took the blame. Even after Wen Run chose to forgive, they also connoted that the two had a deal.
Previously, their attention was diverted and no one paid constant attention to them, but when these incidents were once again uncovered and placed in front of the public, they truly caused public outrage.
Both Huo’s studio and Huo Guangyao himself, who guided his fans through all of this, were to blame.
The good reputation and image of Huo Guangyao that he had saved up from his days as a child star completely collapsed at this moment. A significant portion of the population even believed that he was too vicious for his age and was worried that his continued activity would distort his fans’ outlook and cause adverse effects. Demanding that he be blocked.
The petition to block him was answered with a single call, and several big Vs representing the officialdom were all tagged, [Such a person doesn’t deserve to be a star and should go back to school to be re-educated.]
When Huo Guangyao, who was recuperating in the hospital, saw the news, he just felt his body go cold, and he threw his medicine at his agent, “Didn’t you say that it will be fine? Where’s the publicist? Are all the publicists dead? Tell them to take down the hot search!”
The agent was about to tell him that the hot search couldn’t be taken down when his cell phone rang. He paused for a moment but answered the call. On the other end was Louis’ assistant, who apologized and forcefully informed him that Louis was already aware of the recent news, that their cooperation would be canceled, and that both sides didn’t need to find time to meet again.
Looking at the furious Huo Guangyao, the agent wanted to keep the news to himself for the time being, but the cell phones in his hand were ringing like catalysts, and he impatiently hung up one, and the other rang again. It was only when the name of his father flashed on the caller ID that he was forced to hand the phone over to him: “It’s uncle.”
Huo Guangyao received the phone with a white face, and his father didn’t say much, not even to comfort him; his voice was filled with suppressed anger and disappointment, and he declared word for word that it was the end for Huo Guangyao. “I’ve told Director Yuan that you don’t need to be in the movie ‘Taiping Tune’ anymore. I’ve already contacted a foreign university for you, so you can leave the country as soon as you’ve recovered from your injuries. And your cousin is not very suitable as an agent; I have sent a new agent over to take over; listen to him and deal with this.”
After speaking, he cut the call impatiently.
His father and mother were old artists who had devoted their entire lives to the entertainment industry. Both husband and wife have an excellent reputation in the industry. But they didn’t expect to lose control in their later years, and most of their lifelong efforts were ruined by their son.
Huo Guangyao stared at the hung-up call screen, his heart cooling a little. As he fumbled to open his cell phone and log on to Weibo, he saw that Weibo was full of content about his father and mother apologizing and visiting “Guardian Star” to ask for understanding.
Parents who had been proud for most of their lives, deeply bowed in an interview with a reporter, apologized for not being able to teach their child properly. They took all the abuse and attacks.
The eyes of Huo Guangyao, who had been holding on for dear life and refusing to admit his faults, suddenly reddened, and it was only at this moment that he truly felt regret, and he had never regretted it so much before.
He couldn’t stand Wen Run always pressuring him, because he had always been the best, because his parents were the best, and he couldn’t accept not being outstanding enough to meet his parents’ expectations. He always strived for the best in everything. But the result had become increasingly extreme… Until now, not only had all his previous efforts been ruined, but his parents had also been implicated in cleaning up the mess for him.
Huo Guangyao overed his face, tears overflowing from his fingertips; he wasn’t good at all. Instead, he had become a stain on his parents.
He was wrong.