Chapter 21

Meanwhile, a post about Wen Fu was gaining traction on a forum.

Overnight, public opinion slowly ignited.

The next morning, around six-thirty, Fei Bolin had just gotten up when Zhang Chao sent a message, practically timed to the minute he woke.

Having some sense that Fei Bolin's relationship with Wen Fu wasn't as simple as it looked on the surface, Zhang Chao got straight to the point, attaching a bunch of links.

[Zhang Chao: Chairman Fei, there's a bit of a situation with Wen Fu]

[Zhang Chao: [image]]

[Zhang Chao: [image]]

[Zhang Chao: [link]]

[Zhang Chao: [link]]

Fei Bolin clicked them open one by one. The first image was the homepage of some forum, densely populated with posts about Wen Fu. The topic was clear—they all seemed to be discussing a particular photo, and each post had tons of replies:

[Holy shit, what era is this from…]

[Oh no, the cp fans are really eating good this time]

[So does this prove QiFu is real?]

[Qi Yichuan didn't do anything, can you not drag him into this]

[Let's discuss seriously, is this him being kept or just selling himself]

[Does this count as the Haitang Literary Phenomenon coming to life]

The second photo was the details of one specific post. The bottom left showed over two thousand replies. Clearly, this was the post that started it all:

[Found that photo on my brother's phone]

The two links below were the forum address and the direct URL to that post.

Fei Bolin opened the second link directly and went to the post.

[@EightyThousandImperialGuardsHeadInstructorLinDaiyu[OP]: Not sure if anyone remembers, but I mentioned in that Wen Fu thread before that I saw a photo of him on my brother's phone. It was so good-looking I remembered it for a long time, but I didn't know he was a celebrity. My brother came back today, I had him dig it up, and he still had the photo. Any fans wanna confirm, is this Wen Fu or not?

[image]]

It was a photo Fei Bolin had never seen before.

The photo was taken from the side, the photographer some distance away, so they'd zoomed in, making some details blurry. What was unmistakably clear was Wen Fu in the photo, sitting in a neon-lit booth, head tilted back, eyes downcast, brows slightly furrowed—hard to tell if he was displeased. Because standing in front of him was a man holding a beer bottle, gripping his jaw and pouring the beer into his mouth.

The man had his back to the camera, face not shown. Judging by his clothes and build, he seemed young.

And Wen Fu, regardless of the look on his face, wasn't resisting in his movements.

This wasn't the recent Wen Fu. Fei Bolin could tell at a glance—the Wen Fu in the photo was still wearing Fei Bolin's old hoodie.

This was Wen Fu from his freshman year.

Fei Bolin skimmed the comments:

[[1st floor]@momo: Holy shit… that's him, right? Trending topic incoming]

[[2nd floor]@BuckwheatNoodlesNoScallions: Doesn't look like him]

[[3rd floor]@Sashine: The image quality is so crusty, fans are gonna rush to deny it's their gege]

[[4th floor]@MyFaveIsOneCmThick: Didn't he build a socially anxious persona in the industry? Playing this wild in private]

[[5th floor]@MiaomiaowaTopGua: How many of these 208 personas can you even believe these days]

[[6th floor]@momo: The Haitang Literary Phenomenon is real, it's really come to life]

[[7th floor]@ThirdPrinceHowTallThisYear: Does this count as a forced-love, universally-desired bottom]

[[8th floor]@CantFitThatManyPeople: This is a feast for the fujoshi…]

[[9th floor]@BindMyFaveAndHisFamilyDies: No wonder he's been wearing all those haute couture outfits lately, must have a sugar daddy]

[[10th floor]@ThreeIdiots(Crowned): Getting visions of some 'sold-himself-for-money' kept-boy literature]

[[11th floor]@LinXiao(NoSwearingEdition): Randomly grabbing a QiFu cp fan for an interview on their thoughts]

Scrolling further down were many more unsightly comments full of humiliation and mockery. The occasional few defending Wen Fu were quickly drowned out by even nastier ridicule and replies.

Zhang Chao's call came through quickly: 'Chairman Fei, should we contact the Stella Team to handle the public opinion?'

Fei Bolin thought for a moment, his tone still calm when he spoke: 'Contact the management team first, directly interface with the agent. They have experience handling public opinion. If there are funding issues, report them to Sifuse Media Group. The reason is it can't affect the concert investment.'

Fei Bolin had some understanding of the internal conflicts between Wen Fu's company executives and the Stella Team. Expecting that bunch to spend money and effort on Wen Fu's PR or controlling public sentiment was almost impossible. But exactly how to respond—whether to use this unprecedented heat to turn the tide or just suppress it—had to be left to the more experienced management team to decide. Just one thing.

Fei Bolin instructed: 'Minimize the negative impact as much as possible.'

Considering Wen Fu was currently filming a variety show and couldn't receive messages promptly, he added: 'If they need my help with anything, have them speak up early. They can also ask me about any situation regarding Xiaofu.'

Meaning, try not to disturb Wen Fu.

Fei Bolin hung up, stood in front of the sink for a long time, then called his secretary: 'Send me all the documents and meetings scheduled for the next week before nine o'clock. Move anything that can be done today to today. Postpone anything that can't be moved up to next week. For meetings with fixed times, compile a list with reasons and content.'

At eight p.m., after twelve consecutive hours of work, Fei Bolin boarded a private plane bound for the Chuanxi Region and ate his first meal of the day on the flight.

At nine, the plane landed in Kangding City. Goose-feather snow was falling heavily from the sky.

Fei Bolin stepped off the plane and exhaled a puff of mist. He hadn't expected it to be this cold here.

Zhang Chao sent him the Program Team's contact info, informing him the company had already negotiated with the production crew. Once he reached the filming location, Fei Bolin could accompany the recording for the remaining days as a staff member. He also attached the hotel address booked ten minutes ago and the phone number and license plate of the pick-up driver. At the same time, Zhang Chao told Fei Bolin that, considering the weather, he'd already contacted someone to buy specialized cold-weather gear, which would be delivered to the hotel tonight.

He'd left in too much of a hurry. Fei Bolin's suitcase contained nothing but some underwear, a change of clothes, and toiletries. The rest of the half-full suitcase was all snacks for Wen Fu.

'Good, thanks for the hard work.' Fei Bolin rarely praised his subordinates so directly. He heard the other person pause. Then he asked, 'The Program Team… is today's filming over?'

Logically, such a question was outside the scope of a special assistant's duties. But Zhang Chao had worked under Fei Bolin for so many years, he'd long since developed a comprehensive work mindset, determined not to repeat last time's mistake. He answered immediately: 'I just asked the Program Team. Tonight's shoot was originally planned outdoors, but there's extreme weather. Heavy snow where they are is interfering with signals and equipment. The camera crew can't work, so filming's postponed. They plan to rest early tonight.'

Fei Bolin listened as he followed the guide outside. He nodded after Zhang Chao finished, then asked, 'What's the artist management team saying?'

When the public opinion flared up in the morning, Sifuse Media Group contacted the Stella Team immediately. At the time, Stella was on the phone with the company executives, locked in a battle.

The agency's attitude was unwilling to step in. Not only would they not lower the heat, they even thought they could let the photo spread freely. The reason? They believed Wen Fu, as a concert singer, lacked sufficient traffic to begin with. Using some harmless gossip to boost his fame, black or red didn't matter—once he had works later, the public would quickly forget the black marks. For an industry artist, the most important thing was getting recognized by the masses. Celebrities aren't afraid of black marks; they're afraid no one even talks about their black marks.

Not only that, they launched into a tirade against Wen Fu in front of Stella. Negative impact on the company, damaging the team's reputation, harming future event sponsorships… all secondary. The main goal was to express their desire to suppress Wen Fu and the Stella Team. They even wanted to wait for the situation to develop further, then get Wen Fu, now at a low point, to sign a contract renewal with the company, taking the opportunity to make the terms even harsher.

In the past, Stella might have lost her temper, arguing until she was red in the face. Now she just lay calmly on her own sofa, listened to the posturing on the other end, and asked coolly, 'Contract clause five, item seven: Party A is obligated to handle any sudden public opinion for Party B, using legal means when necessary to protect Party B's reasonable interests—you still don't plan to hire PR, is that right?'

'It's not that we don't plan to do PR, it's that Wen Fu's issue needs to be looked at from two sides…'

'Alright,' Stella cut him off, closing the contract. 'How I see Wen Fu's situation is my business. That's not something for people who won't spend money or fix the problem to worry about. And don't come in here crying about how much loss he's caused the company. We're all old foxes — spare me the act. However much loss he's caused, two hundred-plus Commercial Performance bookings this year alone have more than made up for it, not to mention the previous two years. He's young, but that doesn't mean you get to treat him like dirt. A grandson burning paper money at a grave might not earn you half what Wen Fu does. Since you're not willing to sweep a little dust off the floor tiles to fix this, don't come playing the victim — and don't even think about contacting Wen Fu or the Program Team, feeding him nonsense to trick him into renewing. I've already had someone take his phone. The contract ends in two months anyway. If you're unhappy, get ready for a lawsuit. We'll go through the contract clauses one by one. Let's see who's in the right.'

'Lei Dai, you—'

The words on the other end didn't get to finish before Stella hung up.

Because the forum situation was sudden and the negative impact too great, if they didn't handle public opinion immediately, the subsequent damage to Wen Fu in all aspects would be profound and likely irreversible. Stella was the type who got calmer the more urgent things got. That's why, after calmly talking with the higher-ups and confirming there was no room for negotiation, she planned to start mobilizing her own connections and funds to suppress the public opinion.

The forum post gained traction around five or six in the morning. Wen Fu's name hit the trending topics at six-thirty. By seven, when Stella was bombarded by her team's calls, the two topics #WenFuHaitangLiteraryPhenomenon# and #WenFuPhoto# had already taken the first and second spots on the hot search list. Almost every industry gossip account on Weibo's homepage was reposting it.

To solve this public opinion incident would require at least a million in PR fees.

'Wen Fu, Wen Fu…' Stella gripped her black-screened phone, gritting her teeth. 'Just wait till you get back, I'll deal with you then.'

Just as she took a few deep breaths, steeled herself, and prepared to hemorrhage funds, Zhang Chao's call came right after.

Stella blinked at the contact name, then suddenly smiled.

She'd actually forgotten about the Sifuse Media Group blood bank.

-

At nine-thirty in the evening, Wen Fu, who'd had his phone confiscated by Zhou Ji first thing in the morning, was in his room playing cat's cradle with Sangji.

During variety show filming, artist assistants follow the whole time. But since they can't appear on camera during shooting, and every day at a set time the assistants have to ride the crew's bus back to the town hotel to rest, Zhou Ji and Wen Fu had hardly communicated these past couple days.

The signal here wasn't full coverage. The network at Zhou Ji's hotel was sometimes bad too. The forum news and Stella's order to confiscate Wen Fu's phone reached him around the same time.

Wen Fu was still standing guard on the hot search list then; probably most of the Program Team had seen it. When Zhou Ji came out of the hotel, everyone's eyes kept darting toward him.

He didn't have the mind to care about that. Today the Tibetan Region had sleet, making it hard to find a ride. The crew's bus wouldn't arrive at the filming location for another hour. Zhou Ji stood by the road in the wind for half an hour before he found a ride, rushed over in a panic, and without a word, first took Wen Fu's phone.

Wen Fu didn't understand why, but it was early morning, he wasn't fully awake, his hair a mess. When Zhou Ji asked for the phone, he handed it over without resistance.

That handover lasted all day. With Zhou Ji nowhere to be seen in the evening, Wen Fu played with Sangji. The little girl had lots of toys, pulling out one after another. Many of the things Wen Fu had never seen before.

Seeing the snow falling heavier and heavier, the production crew couldn't stay in the shed either and prepared to head back.

Zhou Ji, who'd been avoiding him all day, finally ran up to Wen Fu, panting as he held out a phone: 'Ph-phone call.'

Wen Fu's hands were busy holding the string for Sangji, no room to spare. He just leaned his ear over to Zhou Ji's hand without looking at the caller ID: 'Hello?'

What met his ear was the howling of wind. Both ends of the call seemed to be experiencing the same blizzard. The unceasing roar of snow almost drowned out that very soft call: '…Xiaofu.'

The red string taut between his fingertips trembled. Wen Fu's eyelashes fluttered lightly.

Fei Bolin still couldn't hold back that bit of longing that had traveled a thousand miles.