The post’s appearance led everyone to believe that the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” group was just trying to ride the trend and join in the excitement. After all, the love-hate relationships and twists in “Return to Interstellar Temptation” were already so over-the-top and sensational. The series had wave after wave of shocking revelations, and if these things had truly happened in reality, there could be stories similar to those of He Linfeng and Bing Xin, or perhaps there were complicated relationships like between the Gu family and the Yu family, just as some people had shared stories of complex relationships involving their parents and their partners’ parents.
But if you claimed that there was truly someone like Gu Chen in this world, someone who could gather a legion of look-alikes, someone who was so self-centered, arrogant, and indifferent to everyone except Bai Yuanguang and Bing Xin, even to the extent of being heartless and cold-blooded towards their own parents… Did such an outright outlaw really exist? Surely, they would have been arrested by the authorities long ago; it was just impossible.
As a result, when the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” group posted about the real-life version of Gu Chen, the number of viewers drawn in by curiosity exceeded that of the popcorn-eating onlookers.
Reality is reality, and viewers’ fans instinctively felt that someone as twisted as Gu Chen couldn’t possibly exist in this world. Or to put it differently, they subconsciously hoped that the world would never have someone like Gu Chen, who callously trampled on and toyed with the lives of others.
In an instant, fans and viewers were all asking the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” group not to exploit such a topic for attention:
“Please don’t make jokes like this. It’s not funny at all.”
“If there really is someone like Gu Dog in real life, I can’t even imagine how desperate those girls who were used as stand-ins must feel. And what’s even scarier is that if there’s really someone like Gu Dog in reality, does that mean there’s really a General He and Bing Xin as well? At the end of the drama, Yan Yue gave us a rundown of the Interstellar Civil Law, showing that what Bing Xin did with the look-alikes was illegal. So if something similar actually happened, oh my, I can’t even begin to think about it…”
“The group doesn’t need to jump on this trend, too. Last time it was coincidental with ‘Tyrant Husband,’ but they can’t possibly have a coincidence every single time.”
“I agree. Yan Yue is a screenwriter, not a fortune teller. It’s a bit far-fetched to think that everything she writes immediately happens in real life, as if she can foresee the future and understand the past.”
“Where’s the OP (original poster)? They made a post and disappeared. The main post said they’d drop some juicy details after five minutes. Where are the details? It’s almost been ten minutes, and there’s still no update. They didn’t just come to ride the popularity, did they?”
“Who would have thought that one day we would be eagerly chasing after Yan Yue’s popularity? Hahaha.”
“Yan Yue says: To those looking for popularity, I know you’re anxious, but just hold your horses for now.”
Within just ten minutes, the post by the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” group had garnered tens of thousands of replies, proving that Yan Yue’s latest work was even more popular than “Tyrant Husband.” Some people had questioned whether Yan Yue would run out of creativity after “Tyrant Husband,” but the current level of attention left them speechless.
In the Emperor Entertainment Network’s screenwriter office, an assistant was providing real-time updates on the current vote counts for several participants’ works. When he heard that Yan Yue’s votes were comparable to Su Manman’s, the man was surprised, “What’s going on? How did she suddenly improve?”
The assistant who had just viewed the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” post said, “It might have to do with the post that the group just made.”
The man became interested, “What post is that? Show it to me.”
Assistant: “It’s similar to Yan Yue’s last work. This time, someone also leaked information. There’s a claim that someone like Gu Chen exists in reality. However, the original poster has only hinted at it for now; there’s no substantial content revealed yet.”
As the assistant explained, he shared the post with the man.
After reading it, the man chuckled, “Not bad. She’s learned how to promote herself. Leveraging the wave caused by her previous work and Yoyo Group, she’s using the same approach to gather even more attention for her current work. It’s a decent strategy.”
The man evidently believed that the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” post was created by Yan Yue herself using paid followers to mimic the incidents involving “Tyrant Husband” and real-life Xiao You and Qin Zhenyun. This way, she could gain more recognition. He hadn’t expected Yan Yue to possess this level of cunning, but it was fine. Creating an image of her as a “mastermind” would prove beneficial in subsequent rounds of the competition. He would also assist behind the scenes. This way, Su Manman would never have a chance to enter the Exclusive Screenwriter Group.
With this in mind, the man gestured to the assistant with satisfaction, “Boost this post on the trending list and keep an eye on it. Any trending topic related to speculating about Yan Yue’s work being linked to reality, whether true or false, should be brought to the public’s attention as much as possible.”
Since Yan Yue wanted such an image, he’d give her a hand.
At the same time, Yan Yue gathered with Su Manman and others. As they saw the popularity of the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” post rising, An Xiaoyu appeared calm on the surface but felt uneasy inside, “Is this really going to work? What if we expose this information and Ye Tianming’s side just buries us?”
Yan Yue spoke seriously, “Let’s give it a try.”
Shuishui was also concerned, “How about I ask my parents for help?”
In fact, Yan Yue and the others had considered involving Shuishui, Wu Huayi, or Fang Ji to use their family connections to see if they could take action against Ye Tianming. However, Shuishui and the others weren’t politically connected, so seeking their parents’ help might backfire.
Therefore, Yan Yue planned to leverage the popularity of the second part of “Return to Interstellar Temptation” to reveal some explosive content. When she communicated with the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” group, she used a secure account that couldn’t be traced back to her. In essence, she was promoting her own popularity. If this effort succeeded, everyone would be happy. If it failed and was suppressed, or if people didn’t believe it, it didn’t matter either way. After all, Ye Tianming wouldn’t be able to trace it back to her.
“So, should we directly post the pictures now?” Su Manman asked.
Yan Yue shook her head, “No, the pictures are our trump cards. Let’s start by releasing some text information to test the waters.”
Everyone thought that made sense.
In just two minutes, the “Real-life Version of Gu Chen” post by the “Rich and Powerful Family’s Scandals” group finally revealed itself!
[“Rich and Powerful Little Gossip: Here it is! Don’t be anxious, everyone. This isn’t me; I just found out about the real focus of this gossip. I was so shocked that I spilled my energy drink all over the place. I almost fried my neural processor! Now that I’ve cleaned up, I’m here to share the scoop with everyone!
Enough chitchat, let’s get to the main course!
Someone anonymously submitted a tip to the little gossip:
A professor from a certain military academy, formally dressed, refined, and easygoing. Everyone who’s encountered this professor finds him mild-mannered, polite, and with a good temper.
This professor also has a beautiful and outstanding fiancée. The two are madly in love and frequently display affection on social media.
But that’s not all. To what extent does this professor dote on his fiancée? Just a few years ago, due to his fiancée’s sudden interest in spirit beasts, he spared no expense in building a special room for her spirit beasts. Rumor has it that the spirit beasts he keeps at home could cost an ordinary person several lifetimes!
By now, don’t you all think that this professor dotes on his fiancée greatly? Did you think I was here today to create a post praising this couple?
No, no, no! You’re completely wrong!!!
The real point is right here!
This seemingly gentle and doting fiancé is actually… having affairs!
And not just one, but multiple and frequent affairs! Every few days, he changes to a new affair partner!
Isn’t that shocking?!
What’s even more significant is that these affair partners share a striking resemblance! Let me ask you this: if he’s not looking for stand-ins, then what is he doing?
He appears as a gentleman on the surface, but behind his fiancée’s back, he’s continually seeking stand-ins. Hey, family members, don’t you find this person strangely familiar? Isn’t he cut from the same cloth as Gu Dog? Well, maybe not exactly the same, since at least Gu Dog is openly mad. But this professor is playing the role of a doting fiancé, wearing the mask of a refined gentleman, while secretly engaging in these unspeakable activities!
Let me ask you this: why hasn’t the school expelled someone like him?
Okay, I’ll leave it at that for the first wave of gossip. Make sure to grab a bite while this post is still up. Remember, this professor has a very influential background; I doubt this post will last very long.”]
With the release of this explosive content by the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip,” the entire scene was shocked!
Just before the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” exposed this information, quite a few viewers and fans were criticizing the group for trying to gain popularity. They were convinced that there would never be a mad dog like Gu Dog in this world. However, the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” quickly turned the tables, even though they only provided textual information and didn’t present any photos or videos as irrefutable evidence. Nevertheless, the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” was experienced in exposing secrets and almost every word struck a chord with the fans and viewers, not to mention the popcorn-eating audience that was waiting eagerly!
As soon as this scoop came out, the spectators’ instincts were razor-sharp. They quickly deciphered the main character behind the story:
[“???”]
[“My mind right now: ??? WTF???”]
[“No way, am I going crazy? Please tell me it’s not the professor I like! Help!”]
[“Holy smokes! Could this be the same military academy I’m thinking of?”]
[“Military academy, fiancée, professor, spirit beast room… Well, that’s clear. Why not just reveal the professor’s identity directly? It’s too obvious.”]
[“Oh my goodness! There are actually people in this world who use stand-ins? Why? What’s the point? I don’t understand.”]
[“There’s nothing to be confused about. He’s not using stand-ins; he’s finding avatars for his loneliness :)”]
[“Hey, what are you all talking about with these riddles? I don’t follow celebrity news or gossip, so I can’t make sense of this while munching popcorn. Can someone just explain it directly to me?”]
[“Isn’t it obvious? This military academy is definitely the first military academy. He has a fiancée and built a spirit beast room for her. With such a strong background and so much money, it’s got to be Professor Ye Tianming from the first military academy. If you’re skeptical, just go look at Ye Tianming’s fiancée’s social media accounts. Her name is ‘Anna.’ Anna often posts about their lovey-dovey daily life and has even shared about the spirit beast room.”]
[“Who? Impossible! How could it be Professor Ye? He’s such a nice person! He’s madly in love with his fiancée. Every post about him and his fiancée on our school forum is just sweetness and happiness. Details don’t lie. Professor Ye couldn’t possibly be like this. Who’s spreading these rumors? It’s so disgusting. They’re deliberately fabricating lies to smear Professor Ye’s reputation, and even our school. Could it be people from another school trying to throw mud?”]
[“No way, no way, is anyone seriously believing this kind of nonsensical rumor? If you’ve ever met Professor Ye, you’d just roll your eyes at this kind of fabrication.”]
[“As the little gossip said, this professor appears as a good person in front of his fiancée and at school. You all think he’s great, but couldn’t he be putting on an act for you? I’ve seen enough two-faced guys. I’m inclined to believe this scoop.”]
[“After all that talk, it’s all just descriptive text. Why aren’t there any solid photos or videos? It’s not that interesting to read without them.”]
[“Actually, whether this scoop is true or not depends on whether the post gets deleted or not, right?”]
[“The person above is right. I’m waiting to see if this post gets deleted. If it does, it means that Professor Ye got anxious and deleted it.”]
Just as the comments about the post being deleted were just published, within the next second, when everyone refreshed the page, the post was gone!
The post disappeared!
“Wait, did he really delete the post?” Shuishui exclaimed in disbelief.
Yan Yue had anticipated this outcome, which was why she didn’t reveal the trump card right away. Instead, she used textual information to capture everyone’s attention. Even if the post got deleted, people’s curiosity wouldn’t diminish. The “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” had made it clear that this was just the first wave of information. This post might have been deleted, but the anticipation would only grow. The gossip had said there were more waves to come. Regardless of whether these waves would have solid evidence or not, the preview was enough to capture people’s attention. The question was whether they would take the bait or not.
Seeing Yan Yue’s mysterious smile, Shuishui was puzzled. However, she quickly grew annoyed, saying, “Even the trending topics were removed. It seems that the Ye family really took action.”
And they did so thoroughly, deleting posts on the forum and removing trending topics.
Though this approach might have caused discomfort among the public and led people to assume that the professor in question was Ye Tianming, it didn’t matter. “You post, I delete; you trend, I retract.” The Ye family had ample background and resources to engage in this type of standoff. They might even threaten from behind the scenes. In the end, it was a test of who would compromise first.
The Ye family might have devised this strategy, or perhaps Ye Tianming, driven by guilt and impulsiveness, deleted the post.
But did Yan Yue fear this?
Not at all.
Yan Yue calmly stated, “From the beginning, we were never on par with them. There’s no need to forcefully confront them on this matter. We only need to plant a seed in everyone’s minds.”
Once the seed of doubt was planted, Ye Tianming would think twice before acting recklessly in the future. It was a kind of indirect approach, a way to help those girls who had fallen victim to his advances. As for how to properly punish Ye Tianming, Yan Yue and her group couldn’t do it themselves. They only knew that he had a dual nature, but they lacked substantial evidence. However, they couldn’t remain inactive either. Yan Yue’s plan was to release some information, warning the girls at the military academy while giving Ye Tianming a sense of crisis.
As for whether this would alert the snake and cause it to flee, Yan Yue didn’t think so. They were incapable of even grasping the snake’s key points. At best, they were no longer bystanders; they were doing what they could to make more people see Ye Tianming’s true colors.
As for whether revealing that Ye Tianming was actually using stand-ins was accurate, Yan Yue had no way of knowing. She was simply riding the wave of her own work’s popularity, drawing public attention to the matter.
For now, the first seed had been sown, and it was time for the second scoop!
Yan Yue was currently contacting the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” group. At this moment, Fang Ji suddenly became frantic, lacking the composure one might expect from a thirty-year-old man. He raised his voice, “Quick, take a look at what’s happening with this trending topic!”
As soon as everyone saw his reaction, they navigated to Emperor Entertainment Network. They discovered that the trending topics had been entirely reshuffled. Just a few minutes ago, there were topics like “Real-life Version of Gu Chen.” But now, the direction had changed:
**#Yan Yue’s Publicity Stunt#**
**#Can Soap Opera Plots Really Happen in Real Life?#**
**#Return to Interstellar Temptation Doesn’t Fit the Contest Theme#**
**#Anna, We’re Deeply in Love#**
Anyone with a discerning eye could tell that this was directed at Yan Yue. The trending topic discussions were puzzled, wondering if Yan Yue had offended someone. Some suggested that the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” post from earlier might have been a bit forced. Maybe Yan Yue was trying to mimic “Dominating Son-in-law” and generate self-promotion by recreating the real-life version of “Return to Interstellar Temptation.”
Suddenly, the storm on Emperor Entertainment Network seemed to be directed entirely at Yan Yue.
As for the trending topic about Anna, it made those who liked Ye Tianming even more confident in their support for him.
Just two minutes ago, Anna’s account had posted an updated photo. In the picture, Ye Tianming was wearing an apron, cooking in a kitchen. The photo was taken from the perspective of his girlfriend, and the caption was the same as the trending topic: “We’re deeply in love.”
Anna’s account had a substantial number of followers. Some were purely there to enjoy the couple’s dynamic, some were interested in the life of the elite, others were fascinated by rare spirit beasts, and some simply admired Anna’s beauty.
Having a large number of followers had its advantages. Once a post was published, numerous followers would come to see it. With the support of the Ye family and their background, Anna’s post quickly climbed up the trending topics.
Comments on the post were tagging the “Rich and Powerful Little Gossip” account, asking them to come out and apologize to Anna and Ye Tianming. Some directly mentioned Yan Yue, accusing her of using sensationalism for self-promotion and demanding that she apologize to Anna and Ye Tianming.