When Cen Sen called Ji Mingshu, the Cen and Ji families had already received the news and taken action. The trending topic had been up for less than two hours before it vanished without a trace at a certain moment.

The staff of the “Design Home” program had been monitoring real-time public opinion, watching with delight as the genuine conversion rate soared. But the next second, the trending topic suddenly disappeared. Moreover, many program-related discussion threads on major forums also began “disappearing” at a visible rate.

The program staff were bewildered and immediately contacted their partnered marketing company.

The marketing company responded: “We’re not clear yet why it was suddenly taken down. Weibo hasn’t given us an answer, and the forums all responded rather officially—either saying the posts violated guidelines or that they were reported… But we’ll further contact the higher-ups at the major forums and notify you immediately when we have news.”

The PR person from the marketing company spoke with a sweet yet savory voice, polite, gentle, and exceptionally friendly.

The staff member who made the call was a greenhorn who, after being coaxed and hoodwinked, became flustered and responded with repeated “okays.”

When the producer asked afterward, “What did they say?”

The staff member froze, belatedly realizing that despite all the PR lady had said, she hadn’t told them anything.

They didn’t know why the trending topic was removed, why posts were deleted, or when they might get an accurate answer.

The producer was already at his wits’ end, pacing back and forth in the office. At this point, he couldn’t help but put his hands on his hips and curse: “Are you a pig? I’m asking if you’re a pig? Hurry up and call them again!”

The staff member shrunk his shoulders, feeling somewhat guilty. When he called again, the line went predictably unanswered.

Several people in charge of the program couldn’t figure out what was happening. They feared it might be like when the previous episode aired, where they unfortunately collided with some new directive from above that happened to affect their program.

They discussed back and forth for a long time without reaching any conclusion.

Finally, someone tentatively voiced a suspicion that everyone had thought of but was reluctant to consider: “Could it be that Ji Mingshu… had it taken down herself?”

The air was quiet for four or five seconds before someone spoke up, “That… shouldn’t be possible, right? She’s just a designer, without many previous works.”

“I think so too… She seems to have been introduced by Meng Xiaowei. Meng Xiaowei brought her in to separate herself from Li Che, and after sending her over, she didn’t ask a single question. She doesn’t seem like someone with extraordinary abilities or background…”

Though they said this, they glanced at each other, their voices growing quieter, their hearts more uncertain.

Because they suddenly realized the possibility that Ji Mingshu had significant connections seemed far higher than the unfortunate chance of being affected by a new directive from above.

The producer, almost without hesitation, used every means to contact Meng Xiaowei, who was currently secluded for filming.

Meng Xiaowei was a clever girl who, after gaining popularity, was determined to transform her career by focusing on building her portfolio. She had been grinding away in remote mountains for several months with little internet access, and before the producer’s call, she was unaware of the situation.

Moreover, her understanding of Ji Mingshu was quite limited to begin with. After telling the producer what she knew, she grew increasingly worried that this matter might implicate her, so she quickly sent a message apologizing to Ji Mingshu.

She could tell something was wrong. The producer was holding back, sharing only thirty percent while keeping seventy percent hidden. If something had gone wrong, it was definitely because they hadn’t been fair from the start.

Regardless of cause and effect, and whether Ji Mingshu had any background or not, apologizing to Ji Mingshu first couldn’t be wrong.

After apologizing, Meng Xiaowei also contacted Gu Kaiyang, hoping to sound him out.

Gu Kaiyang usually maintained a rather friendly attitude toward this rising star, but tonight, when he took her call, there was a noticeable coldness in his tone.

Not wanting to annoy him, Meng Xiaowei didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.

Gu Kaiyang didn’t answer directly, only saying casually: “What’s happened has happened, whether offense has been given or not, it’s already been given. What’s the use of talking about it now?… Oh, by the way, darling, I heard you’ll be filming at Heshan for another two months, right? That solo cover after the New Year was originally reserved for you, but our company has estimated that the schedule might not quite match up, so let’s arrange it after you finish filming.”

Meng Xiaowei opened her mouth but hadn’t yet spoken when Gu Kaiyang directly cut her off: “It’s getting late, darling. You must be tired from filming, so get some rest. I still have some work to finish, so let’s end our chat for today.”

The implication of displeasure was so obvious that if Meng Xiaowei couldn’t understand it, she would have wasted her time in the entertainment industry.

Although Gu Kaiyang didn’t answer directly, his words confirmed that the removal of the trending topic and related posts was indeed connected to Ji Mingshu. Judging by Gu Kaiyang’s tone, Ji Mingshu most likely had a background that couldn’t be offended.

Since she had introduced the person, one misstep could offend both sides. While reporting back to the producer, she had her assistant compile the ins and outs of this incident to see if there was still any opportunity for her to make amends.

The cause and effect of this incident were quite simple, and anyone familiar with the industry could understand at a glance—the program team likely had a partnership with Yan Yuexing’s side and had brought in an ordinary person as a foil to create buzz.

Before tonight’s broadcast, the “Design Home” program team had prepared many press releases to warm up and create momentum on various forums.

Once people were attracted to watch the program, another batch of press releases was deployed, analyzing the latest episode from different angles. During this time, genuine viewers and fans constantly argued, causing the buzz to rise slightly.

At this moment, Yan Yuexing suddenly posted a Weibo with just a smiley face emoji, then deleted it immediately.

Yan Yuexing was, after all, the only ace with a name in her small, relatively unknown group, a young idol with nearly ten million followers on Weibo. Although her fans couldn’t compare to top-tier celebrities, they were very loyal. They were usually like soldiers on steroids—wherever their sister pointed, they would attack; if their sister posted a random photo or did something trivial, they would blindly praise it to the heavens.

With her Weibo post that had such obvious implications, the momentum of public opinion was instantly pushed up a level.

Fans frantically showered her with love, and those who had originally thought it was just the program team’s hype and were watching coldly from the sidelines also joined in. They radiated a murderous aura of “whoever bullies our star must die” and “I can be wronged, but our star absolutely cannot be wronged” as they began their crusade.

However, on various forums, there were many team fans and rival fans who disliked Yan Yuexing. Not everyone would buy into the narratives pushed by paid commenters and fans.

Many fans from other fandoms who were familiar with the fandom culture predicted early on: Ji Mingshu was very likely a victim of malicious editing.

She was just an ordinary person; why would she randomly diss Yan Yuexing without reason? Why didn’t she diss Feng Yan and Pei Xiyan?

Moreover, in the program, Ji Mingshu was extremely impatient with Yan Yuexing, while Yan Yuexing acted like a soft, bullied lamb, silently enduring hardship—this was too fake and surreal.

Some anti-fans quickly skimmed through the program and directly threw out early GIFs of Yan Yuexing rolling her eyes and acting like a diva, posting mockingly: [LOL, YYX has the nerve to play the kind, bullied character on the show, does she think everyone has amnesia? I suggest everyone take a look at this image to clear their heads and feel the aura of the world’s number one diva. By the way, I feel sorry for Designer 1s—I’m all in for her looks, and if there’s a crowdfunding for her debut, I’m willing to contribute a hundred yuan.]

The back-and-forth online could be described as a war without gunpowder. Before the trending topic was removed and discussion posts deleted, the situation online was roughly in a three-way standoff:

Part of Yan Yuexing’s fans were responsible for insulting Ji Mingshu, while another part controlled comments on Weibo, forums, and Tieba.

Casual Weibo users mostly only saw the trending press releases, with the majority sympathizing with Yan Yuexing and attacking Ji Mingshu, while a small portion called for an end to cyberbullying against ordinary people after seeing Yan Yuexing’s fans’ insults.

The forums had more veteran gossip followers and fandom insiders who remained neutral about the program’s conflict, with more diverse analyses and interpretations of the program segments. Some people’s thoughts went in particularly odd directions, even finding Ji Mingshu beautiful and cool when she dissed Yan Yuexing.

—But all of this only happened before the trending topic was removed and discussion posts were deleted.

The people from the Cen and Ji families weren’t familiar with these entertainment industry matters. Trending on hot searches with insults? Remove it. Opening threads to continue insulting? Delete them.

Ji Mingshu’s second uncle was a very typical person in power, with extremely brutal methods for dealing with public opinion.

When the matter reached his ears in the middle of the night, besides removing the trending topic and deleting posts, he went a step further with a clean sweep, thinking to neatly eliminate any future trouble.

But this simple and brutal clean sweep shocked the gossip lovers who hadn’t had any new drama to chew on for a long time.

[Holy shit, that’s impressive. What kind of background does this designer have?! After removing the trending topic and deleting posts, now search results aren’t even displayed?]

Honestly, I never imagined that the drama from a conflict in some obscure program could reach this level. Mind-blowing.]

So now it is that this designer has strong backing, which is why she tore into that ace on the show? Also, didn’t the program team know? They just straightforwardly broadcast the program? Damn, I feel like both the program team and Yan Yuexing are going to be in trouble.]

I just wrote the proposal for my thesis and missed so many classes! Wuwuwu, can someone fill me in on what happened?]

Late at night, night owls were still active on various forums. Casual viewers no longer cared about who was being bitchy on this obscure program; everyone only cared about what background Ji Mingshu had.

After all, the forums were full of talented people. Among the many messy and mysterious leaks, there were indeed insiders who revealed Ji Mingshu’s true background, mixing truth with fiction.

[I’m really surprised how this situation came about… Is Star City such a small place that it doesn’t have internet? Star City TV is outrageous. I have a friend who knows this young lady one-sidedly (because this young lady’s circle is too high-end for anything but a one-sided acquaintance). This young lady is a fan of Pei Xiyan’s sister, and she might have participated in this program because of Pei Xiyan.]

[My friend’s family is in the mining business, and she drove a Ferrari to school at eighteen. Then she very sincerely told me that in their circle, her family is just ordinary. This young lady is what you’d call a real rich beauty, with a background that includes the character “Jing” (Beijing), and her husband’s family also includes “Jing” and is a true high-class, semi-invisible ultra-wealthy family.]

[To add a bit more, this young lady attended the Paris Crillon Ball at fifteen—that top-tier debutante ball that only the highest-class socialites can attend. When she goes to fashion weeks, she’s the kind who gets invited to dinner by luxury brand CEOs. Well… It’s the kind of thing where poverty limits imagination. I don’t understand how this situation happened, so I’ll just say this much.]

These revelations seemed dazzling and exciting to casual viewers, but were quite an eyesore and heartbreaking for Yan Yuexing’s fans.

Our star has worked hard and struggled to reach her current position. Does having a background mean you can just throw attitude at our star on the program?!

People’s emotions are easily stirred late at night. Fan leaders tearfully appealed in group chats: We absolutely cannot let our star be toppled by power; we must protect the girl we love most!

Teenage girls, stirred up, didn’t do their homework or take baths in the middle of the night, determined to defend their idol even if it drained their blood, flooding Ji Mingshu’s Weibo comment section from their phones and computers.

Ji Mingshu woke up to discover that after the trending topic was removed and posts deleted, the situation had become even more uncontrollable.

Yan Yuexing’s fans were tagging various official media accounts under her Weibo, saying that Ji Mingshu was abusing her background to act recklessly and demanding an investigation into whether their money was earned honestly.

Meanwhile, Yan Yuexing hadn’t slept all night. After finally understanding Ji Mingshu’s background, her team communicated overnight with the program team, and her publicists were working overtime on solutions.

At this moment, she had only one wish: that her fans would shut up.