C129

Scorching summer heat.

This summer break had been full of drama—from Shi Fei’s meteoric rise, to his plunge into a storm of internet hate, and then his dramatic comeback with a huge boost in national popularity.

August 23rd, just as the summer holidays were coming to an end, another major event rocked the entertainment world.

At 1:00 PM, top-tier celebrity and national sweetheart Lu Rongrong posted an official apology on Weibo regarding the previously leaked video. In her statement, she took full responsibility for orchestrating the entire affair, explicitly claiming that Tang Kun had nothing to do with it.

Her agency, Tianxing Media, quickly reposted the apology, expressing deep regret over their failure to properly manage their artist, and for having caused public disruption.

Within moments, the internet exploded again.

Many of Lu Rongrong’s fans announced they were unfollowing her and began criticizing her harshly. Tang Kun’s fans also flooded in, furious that she had dragged their idol into the mess.

Ordinary users were especially angry—they realized they had been manipulated into being tools in someone else’s scheme. And ironically, they failed to see that their current behavior was no different than the blind attacks from before.

Anyone who could think critically knew what this really was: Lu Rongrong and her company had taken the fall to protect Tang Kun. He wasn’t innocent in this.

But with no concrete evidence linking him directly, and Lu Rongrong accepting full blame, it was hard to pin anything on him. Plus, with Tang Kun’s team pushing narratives online using hired commentators, the situation remained within controllable limits.

Seeing that all the public outrage had now shifted toward Lu Rongrong, Tang Kun finally relaxed.

Sure, his image had taken a bit of a hit—but nothing that couldn’t be fixed. A few well-placed charity events, and this whole thing would blow over soon enough.

Or so he thought.

Just as he was letting his guard down, four hours after Lu Rongrong’s apology—at 5:00 PM—one of the most notorious entertainment bloggers, “Gossip Sauce”, dropped a major teaser on Weibo:

“8 PM tonight. Major scoop. Get ready to feast.”

“Gossip Sauce” had built a solid reputation over the years—unlike others who relied on clickbait with fake images and made-up stories, this blogger was known for delivering real dirt, complete with images, videos, and irrefutable proof. Their stories hit hard and left no room for denial.

Their most legendary takedown was of the hit idol survival show *“Ultimate Idol”*, which they exposed with damning evidence—leading to massive public backlash, the producer getting completely destroyed online, and the show’s star mentor, the musical prodigy Chu Yuefei, quitting the industry altogether. The show itself was forced off the air.

Now, with this kind of buildup, it was obvious—something huge was about to drop.

Speculation exploded:

Was some rising actor caught doing dr-ugs?

Did a female celebrity get exposed for cheating?

Maybe a male actor and a female co-star got caught “discussing the script” all night in a hotel?

Netizens were buzzing, joking that even though they were already full from recent gossip, they could still force down a few more juicy stories.

When Lu Rongrong saw the post, she was actually relieved.

Netizens had short attention spans. As long as a new scandal broke, the heat on her would lessen. This was great news for her.

As the clock approached 8:00 PM, masses of people were lined up online, waiting for the drop. The post had already racked up over 100,000 comments.

And right on time, at 8:00 PM, “Gossip Sauce” appeared—no fanfare, no build-up. They simply posted:

“Not much to say. Just watch.”

Attached was a one-minute video.

People clicked it open—and to their shock, it was explosive gossip about none other than King of Pop himself: Tang Kun.

The video turned out to be elevator surveillance footage. Tang Kun was seen wearing a casual jacket, standing inside the elevator. With his long-standing dedication to fitness, he still looked quite handsome in the grainy black-and-white footage.

Beside him stood a young, beautiful woman, dressed in a stylish and sexy outfit, carrying an LV handbag.

The woman leaned in toward Tang Kun repeatedly, chatting and laughing with him flirtatiously. Tang Kun seemed to be enjoying the interaction, occasionally smiling in response.

If the earlier part of the footage could still be spun as a friendly encounter between two close friends, the moment at the 55-second mark left little room for doubt—Tang Kun leaned down and kissed the woman. That alone spoke volumes about the true nature of their relationship.

Everyone watching the video online was stunned.

After all, Tang Kun had always publicly claimed to be single. So what was going on here? Had he been secretly married?

It didn’t take long for netizens to dig up the woman’s identity. She appeared to be a small-time actress from a few years ago, only known for some minor roles before fading from the public eye.

Now people were wondering: Did she disappear because she married Tang Kun in secret?

“Okay, this is a huge scoop… but why does it feel kinda tasteless?”

“This blogger is insane—this is someone’s private life! So what if Tang Kun’s dating? He’s not young anymore, it’s normal!”

“I get that hiding his relationship from fans was misleading, but I can understand why—probably to protect his partner.”

“Everyone in the entertainment industry dates. Can we just focus on their work instead of prying into their private lives?”

“Blogger, be human. It’s people like you that are turning Weibo into a toxic mess.”

 

Despite the backlash, most people assumed the woman was Tang Kun’s girlfriend, and while the gossip sent shockwaves through the entertainment world and media, the overall impact on Tang Kun wasn’t too severe.

At his age, many of his fans had long since grown up, started families, and matured.

Even if he announced he was married with kids, most fans would likely respond with a rational and supportive, “Congratulations.”

Everyone thought that Tang Kun would soon post a statement on Weibo to clarify the situation and give his fans some closure. A brief explanation, a few blessings from the public, and the matter would blow over.

But no statement came.

Tang Kun sat on the sofa in his living room, his face heavy with worry, smoking a cigarette while staring at the endless flood of comments on Weibo.

Everyone was calling on him to say something—to give a clear explanation.

Tang Kun wanted to… but the problem was, he wasn’t even sure what was going on himself.

He couldn’t afford to release a statement blindly.

The room, tastefully decorated, was now thick with smoke.

Du Hua stood by the window, urgently making phone calls, trying to get in touch with the hotel to find out how the footage had been leaked.

It was obvious that this was surveillance footage from the hotel’s elevator.

The first and most likely suspect? A staff member from the hotel stealing the video to blackmail Tang Kun.

These kinds of incidents had happened before—in most cases, the person leaking the material would contact the celebrity’s team first, offering to sell the footage for a price.

But this time, no one reached out. No warning. No negotiation.

They just posted it straight to the internet. This was a first.

Du Hua hung up the phone.

“The hotel says they’re investigating. The manager swore their staff had nothing to do with the leak.”

Tang Kun took another drag of his cigarette and said,

“Right now, the most important thing is to find out how much information this ‘Entertainment Gossip Sauce’ has on me. I have a feeling that after all this time of brewing up a storm, he probably has other dirt in his hands.”

What Tang Kun said was exactly what Du Hua had been worrying about.

“I’ve looked into this ‘Entertainment Gossip Sauce’ a bit before. Seems like he has some channels and skills to get his hands on information. I wonder if releasing that first video was just a test to probe us? The key is, this guy doesn’t seem easy to buy off. His past exposes have always gone straight public without any rumors of him contacting the celebrity for hush money.”

Most paparazzi took private videos or photos for money—after catching something, they’d threaten the star. Usually, to protect their image, celebrities would pay up quietly to avoid a scandal.

But this ‘Entertainment Gossip Sauce’ didn’t seem to follow the usual rules.

Tang Kun asked, “Do we have his contact info?”

Du Hua shook his head, “No, nobody’s ever known his contact info.”

Tang Kun said, “Send him a DM from a burner account on Weibo. Ask him what else he has, see if we can work something out privately.”

Du Hua replied, “I already did that, but haven’t gotten any reply. I’m not even sure if he’s seen it—after all, he’s a big blogger with tons of fans and probably gets a flood of messages daily.”

Tang Kun pinched his cigarette between thumb and forefinger, took two long drags, then flicked it out of his mouth with a frustrated look.

“Keep sending messages. Send them until he sees them.”

Tang Kun had a gut feeling that ‘Entertainment Gossip Sauce’ was holding more dirt.

Du Hua thought for a moment and said, “Tang Kun, what if we actually reach him and he demands a huge ransom?”

Tang Kun said firmly, “If money can solve it, then it’s not a problem. As long as I’m Tang Kun, I can make the money back.”

Tang Kun was very clear-headed and decisive about this. Right now, he just hoped the leaks were motivated by money, because otherwise things would get much more complicated.

His worries were well-founded. One hour later, at 9 PM, amid a flood of angry comments, ‘Entertainment Gossip Sauce’ released another video.

This time the footage was taken at a restaurant, showing Tang Kun openly getting cozy with a woman, kissing and caressing. He even had one hand lightly patting her butt.

The scene looked like a couple in a passionate relationship. But earlier, Tang Kun had just been seen getting intimate with another actress while holding a child—now he was with a different woman showing affection.

“Looks like the first video is about two months old, and this one is from just a month ago. What the heck is going on?”

 

“Could the second video be from filming a scene or something?”

“Are you kidding? Can’t you tell that’s not acting?”

 

“So what exactly is Tang Kun’s relationship with these two women? Is he dating both at the same time?”

“Maybe one’s an ex and the other’s current? That’s normal, right?”

 

“Switching girlfriends within a month? Does Tang Kun think he’s some F4 character, swapping girls every week?”

“Who cares if he dates a new girl every week? The only thing it shows is that Tang Kun might be a bit of a player. But dating freedom isn’t your business.”

“Why is everyone so obsessed with who someone’s dating these days? Is Weibo boring now or are the dramas just bad? You all must be really bored.”

“Personally, I think if both are unmarried, dating freely is no big deal. It’s not cheating. No need for moral crusades here.”

 

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