Chapter 473

In this world, there exists a very paradoxical phenomenon: the better-tempered a person is, the easier it is for them to be bullied; the more perfect a person is, the easier it is for them to be nitpicked; the kinder a person is, the easier it is for them to be blamed for their character.

Why was Li Zhibai angry?

Because in his view, Lu Yanhe was a classic case of someone who, because he cared about the fans' feelings, let those fans push their luck and grow their appetites step by step, thinking they could dictate Lu Yanhe's career. When Lu Yanhe didn't listen to their opinions, they even put on this performance, thinking themselves quite tragically heroic.

Li Zhibai had been arrogant for so many years; had any fan dared to pull this stunt in front of him?

No one dared, because they all knew that if Li Zhibai went on a rampage, he would curse people—curse them very fiercely, without leaving any room for face.

"They just think Yanhe won't take them seriously! Fuck their mothers, throwing eggs too. If I were at the scene, I'd throw them to death!" Li Zhibai cursed incessantly.

Liu Bige was alright, but Ji Miao had never seen this side of Li Zhibai and was startled, her face showing disbelief.

"You must appear; you cannot just leave like this." Chen Ziyan, unable to rush over immediately, said to Lu Yanhe over the phone, "Those extreme fans are causing trouble at the scene, and many internet trolls are organizedly spreading the narrative that you have been abandoned by your fans. Even though a large number of your fans still express support for you and do not approve of those people's behavior, there are quite a few people jumping in now. Almost every agency that manages young male artists wants to use this opportunity to pull you down. The haters and trolls are more numerous than ever. The more it is like this, the less you can let them succeed. The key lies in what you should say after you appear later. Do you have any ideas?"

Lu Yanhe said, "If I were to speak my true thoughts, I wouldn't be able to help but condemn those people's behavior."

"You cannot condemn them," Chen Ziyan said. "Anyone else can help you condemn them, but you yourself cannot."

"Mm, I know." It was precisely because he knew that he felt so stifled.

"Don't get trapped in your emotions. There are only a very small number of fans who would cause trouble like this. Most of your fans wouldn't do such a thing; they still support you." Chen Ziyan heard Lu Yanhe's low mood and encouraged him, "If you feel disappointed in your fans just because of these few extreme ones, that would be too unfair to those fans who have supported you all along."

Lu Yanhe knew that the reason Chen Ziyan was speaking to him in such a slightly reproachful tone at this time was to deliberately provoke him—everyone around him knew his shortcoming: he would feel distressed because of these few extreme fans. In many people's eyes, it was clearly just the behavior of a tiny minority of extreme fans, yet it would make him feel genuinely defeated. This really shouldn't be the case, and he knew it himself, but that was just how it was.

Chen Ziyan was using these words to stimulate his emotions, to get him to walk out of his previous emotional state.

Reasoning was useless at a time like this.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath.

"Never be provoked by the words of these few people and say things out of spite like you don't need fans or don't value them," Chen Ziyan said. "If you haven't thought clearly about what you want to say, I will write the draft now and send it to you. You need to return to the stage, thank the majority of the audience at the scene for their support, and you must clearly tell everyone that you will not be affected by these very individual extreme behaviors. You must continue to smile brightly and firmly tell everyone that you have no regrets about the path you chose or the things you have done."

Lu Yanhe said okay.

After Chen Ziyan finished the call with Lu Yanhe, she put down her phone and let out a long sigh.

Don't look at how righteous she sounded on the phone just now; in reality, she was just as nervous, just as worried for Lu Yanhe.

Lu Qingzhen turned her laptop around, faced the screen toward Chen Ziyan, and said, "Take a look, this is the draft I prepared. You can just revise it based on mine, and send it to Little Lu after you're done."

While Chen Ziyan was still on the phone with Lu Yanhe, Lu Qingzhen had already finished writing the draft.

The speed was very fast.

Chen Ziyan: "Thank you."

Lu Qingzhen sighed and said, "Little Lu is, after all, still just a young man of twenty-one."

"He is just sincere; he takes everything to heart easily," Chen Ziyan said. "This is also where his talent for acting and his strong sense of perception come from. Sigh, but with this personality in the entertainment industry, it's too easy to get hurt. Sometimes, I wish artists were a bit more thick-skinned and had less intense perception."

"Then for such artists, whether they are singing or acting, their infectiousness would be discounted," Lu Qingzhen said. "We can't have everything; we can't be so greedy. Where in this world are there such perfect artists? Especially actors—of the world's top actors, which one doesn't have some issues with their personality? Yanhe just takes things to heart easily; with just such a small problem, you should be secretly happy."

When Lu Qingzhen said this, Chen Ziyan laughed.

"I don't mind; I just don't want him to be low-spirited over this kind of thing," Chen Ziyan said. "It can only be tempered slowly."

"Of course, he only has talent and brilliance in creation, which is why he won his current status. In reality, he is just a college student. Even if he has seen a lot of the world, in the end, he has only seen it," Lu Qingzhen said. "I'm not worried about Yanhe at all. Experiencing a bit of this kind of thing is a good thing for him. He can hold up; once he gets through it, he will have gained experience."

Chen Ziyan smiled and shook her head, "Sometimes I feel that you trust him more than I do."

"It's not that you don't trust him; it's that you are worried and therefore confused."

At the media meet-and-greet for *River of Silence*, after a brief disturbance, everyone except Lu Yanhe returned to the stage, letting the scene return to its normal track as much as possible.

However, although the scene quickly returned to the film *River of Silence*, everyone present was actually concerned about the person who was not there.

Including the media on site—everyone actually really wanted to know if Lu Yanhe would still appear today.

The incident that just happened was, for Lu Yanhe, the most malicious and direct scene he had experienced in public since his debut. In the entertainment industry, there are actually almost no people who have experienced such face-to-face attacks.

On one hand, they had some confidence in Lu Yanhe, feeling that with his current status, he didn't need to care about these things at all, nor did he need to take them to heart. On the other hand, they also knew that at Lu Yanhe's current age, he might not necessarily be able to withstand these things.

At the age of early twenties, it is exactly the time when one's skin is thinnest and one's self-esteem is strongest.

When this media meet-and-greet reached its end, a man in a black suit walked onto the stage and whispered something into the host's ear.

Seeing this scene, the media reporters with sensitive radars immediately realized something. For a moment, everyone stretched their necks, looking toward the backstage area.

They were all looking forward to seeing one person.

A look of relief appeared on the host's face.

He waited for Ceng Qiao, who was speaking, to finish, then raised the microphone and said, "Friends, I know, everyone definitely wants to see Yanhe, right?"

The scene immediately erupted in a unified cheer: "Yes—"

The host said in a slightly excited tone, "The staff just came on stage to tell me that Yanhe has recovered from the shock just now and will immediately return to our stage to continue meeting with everyone."

At this moment, the whole venue boiled over.

It was as if Lu Yanhe were an athlete who, after experiencing a setback on the field, did not choose to give up but instead continued to appear on the competition ground.

This excited, enthusiastic emotion almost blew the roof off the venue.

Lu Yanhe was standing at the backstage entrance, not yet out, when he heard the cheers outside that seemed like they would blow the roof off. His serious expression froze, and he was momentarily dazed.

"Welcome Yanhe!" the host's voice shouted.

Lu Yanhe took a deep breath and walked onto the stage.

The moment the stage lights hit him again, he could only see a blur before his eyes. The audience seating was blurry; he couldn't see any specific person.

However, he heard cheers and applause that sounded like a roaring sea.

"Lu Yanhe—Go—"

"Lu Yanhe, you are the best!"

"We will always support you!!!"

Roar-like shouts emerged from the sea of cheers and applause, just like a whale leaping up, crashing heavily toward Lu Yanhe.

Lu Yanhe opened his eyes wide, looking at the front in surprise.

The blurry, dim front.

He could only see shadowy figures, but as he walked forward step by step, his vision gradually became clear.

He saw that on everyone's face, they were excitedly, proudly, and passionately welcoming his arrival.

"Lu Yanhe, you're awesome!" a big brother suddenly roared in a gruff voice.

Lu Yanhe heard this shout.

It was also this shout that woke him from this somewhat dazed state.

"Thank you, thank you." Lu Yanhe walked to his seat, said this first, and then bowed to the audience. When he raised his head, his eyes were already red.

At this moment, Lu Yanhe finally understood what Chen Ziyan meant by saying there were more people supporting him.

He certainly understood the meaning of the words, but feeling the implication of the words was another matter.

"I don't believe those few people were really Yanhe's fans before."

At the same time, Yan Liang, who was at an event site, was surrounded by the media. When asked about what Lu Yanhe had just encountered, Yan Liang had a serious face, and his expression even showed some anger.

A nosy reporter asked, "If they weren't fans, do you think someone was deliberately pretending to be a fan to attack Yanhe?"

Yan Liang retorted, "Do you think Yanhe did something wrong in this matter?"

"Whether Lu Yanhe did something wrong is not for us to decide." Someone immediately brushed it off, not responding directly, "However, his approach of directly announcing the dissolution of the fan club is indeed a bit chilling to fans; this might also be the reason why some fans were a bit excited and angry."

Yan Liang: "Weren't there a few people who took the lead in using the dissolution of the fan club to threaten Yanhe? They were the ones who brought up the dissolution first; why didn't you see that? Do you think this kind of threatening behavior is right?"

The reporter laughed and said, "Although the fans' behavior was a bit extreme, it was actually because they like Lu Yanhe, so they wanted to help him fight for more rights."

"Oh, so you think it's okay for fans to help their idol fight for something, disregarding the facts of the signed contract and their idol's true thoughts, and unilaterally overstepping their bounds to claim they are fighting for rights, all under a 'justified' banner? Okay, then please don't criticize those who fight for billing in the future. After all, Yanhe has clearly opposed fighting for billing, yet you all still think Yanhe is in the wrong for taking his fans seriously."

The more Yan Liang spoke, the more emotional he became. By the end, he was looking at the reporter who had been laughing and playing dumb with almost disgust.

"Also, please don't hypocritically say that billing isn't important and that actors should focus on their performance. From your attitude, I can't tell at all that you think performance is more important than billing." Yan Liang glared at them coldly and turned to leave.

The media reporters on site were all shocked by this move from Yan Liang.

If this scene had happened with Li Zhibai, they wouldn't be surprised.

Because it would be a certainty that Li Zhibai would do such a thing; reporters might not even dare to ask such questions in front of Li Zhibai.

But this was Yan Liang, the Yan Liang who had the least temper and the least individual personality.

How could he suddenly bare his claws like a lion with its fur standing on end?

This statement by Yan Liang also hit the trending searches at light speed.

"If we don't take advantage of this time to pull them down a bit, when will we?"

On the phone, Wu Bai, the agent for Li Yuefeng, said in an excited tone, "Forget about Lu Yanhe, Yan Liang is also a latecomer now. Don't you have any sense of crisis? If Yan Liang continues like this, Liu Zefan's status will also be challenged!"

Liu Zefan's agent said, "We won't get involved in this matter."

Without waiting for Wu Bai to say more, Liu Zefan's agent hung up the phone directly.

Not a single extra word.

As the agent for Liu Zefan and Meng Li, Li Xia was also a legendary agent.

She was well-known in the circle.

Even more so because both artists she managed had dealt with Lu Yanhe, Li Xia was also quite familiar with him.

Now, because of this turmoil involving Lu Yanhe, many agents managing male artists in the circle had formed an alliance, getting batch after batch of trolls to attack Lu Yanhe, attempting to drag Lu Yanhe into this controversy for as many days as possible.

Staying in such controversial public opinion for a long time could always influence some people's perception of Lu Yanhe.

This was their goal.

However, this move was completely impossible to directly pull Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang down from their positions.

At most, it would just cause them to be affected for a period of time.

Then what about when they come to their senses?

Wouldn't they fight back?

Li Xia was a very cautious person.

Although she had a very incautious female artist, Meng Li.

If this matter had a chance to directly crush Lu Yanhe and Yan Liang and pull them down from their first-tier positions, she might really consider it.

Because once they could be pulled down, it would be equivalent to a treasure trove of resources suddenly losing its owner, and the scramble could begin.

Now, in Li Xia's eyes, the cost-effectiveness was not high.

"Wu Bai must have water in his brain, looking for me?" Li Xia complained to Liu Zefan, "You just collaborated with Lu Yanhe on the drama *Squid Game*, and this drama might even be developed into a series. Given Lu Yanhe's current momentum, this drama is highly likely to be a massive hit. Not to mention that at the time, Li Yuefeng was your defeated opponent; he wanted to snatch this role from you but didn't succeed. Reasonably and emotionally, I couldn't possibly agree to him, yet he actually called me—he's truly crazy."

Liu Zefan's personality belonged to the type that was relatively slow-paced and mild-mannered.

He said, "Yanhe is a very good person; don't go with them to harm him."

Li Xia laughed.

"As long as Lu Yanhe doesn't break the law or commit a crime, no one can harm him, no matter how big the matter is."

On this point, Li Xia saw it clearly and plainly.

"Are you kidding? Lu Yanhe is now the leading figure of the younger generation in China on the international stage; how could he possibly be suppressed because of this little thing?" Li Xia said to Liu Zefan, "Zefan, act well, learn from Lu Yanhe, and don't learn from those clowns."