Chapter 121: Violent Storm

“Just as I thought.” He Li’s heart sank, and she said bitterly, “The moment I learned that the media had suppressed all our press releases, I knew Tang Zhijie was going to turn around and bite back. Apparently, merely accusing Qihua of being impolite wasn’t enough for him. He wants to smear him outright with allegations of harassing a female artist and having corrupt morals.”

“Shameless!” everyone cursed furiously, yet they felt powerless. Without evidence, if they made this public, would the public believe a top-tier celebrity or a young performer? The answer was obvious.

“The innocent have nothing to fear. There’s no need for everyone to worry.” Lin Qihua remained calm and composed. He had been prepared for this, so naturally he would not lose control. Instead, he comforted the others.

“The most important thing is The Singer,” one staff member said anxiously. “There are only a few days left. If we can’t clear this up quickly, and he goes on the show in this condition, with public opinion about to turn overwhelmingly hostile, I’m afraid…”

Lin Qihua fell silent. He knew exactly what might happen. Of course he did. But at this point, there was no time to dwell on it.

“Didn’t they choose this moment to strike precisely because they want to destroy Qihua’s greatest support, The Singer?” He Li said. “But this move is too ruthless. There’s practically no way to resolve it—unless Director Wei is willing to come forward and publicly support him. But is that even possible?”

Would Wei Hongzhang come forward to stand behind Lin Qihua? Perhaps he did not need to care about the pressure exerted by a superstar. The program team and the television station might not care either. But without sufficient benefits to justify it, no one would risk offending a superstar merely to support Lin Qihua. He had not earned that kind of standing yet. Even though he had brought The Singer tremendous ratings, that alone was not enough to sway Wei Hongzhang.

For all they knew, they might even take advantage of the situation and let Lin Qihua leave the stage. The timing would be perfect: it would remove him from the whirlpool of public opinion and prevent The Singer from being dragged into the controversy. Besides, Lin Qihua had already won three consecutive championships. It would be difficult for him to create an even greater surprise. Even if he continued to perform brilliantly and won the title again, what would the other three top-tier stars think?

After days of discussion, Lin Qihua, He Li, and the others all understood the situation they faced. Losing The Singer might be unavoidable. The crucial thing was to survive this crisis. Otherwise, the consequences would go far beyond the show itself.

The program continued. Lin Zhao’s eyes were already shining.

“Teacher Tang, what exactly happened? Could you explain it in greater detail? An artist like this must be condemned. He becomes arrogant the moment he gains a little fame, then harasses a female artist in public. If his moral character is truly this depraved, I think the relevant authorities should intervene and blacklist him.”

“Ruthless. His reputation as a venomous commentator is clearly well deserved.” Many viewers watching the program shuddered. He had barely opened his mouth, yet he was already calling for someone to be blacklisted. What was next—asking the heavens to strike him down?

“It happened like this.” Tang Zhijie began explaining. “A few days ago, Qingsong Entertainment held a reception, didn’t they?”

“Yes.” Lin Zhao nodded.

“At that reception, this artist may have had a little too much to drink and was not entirely lucid. He said some filthy things to a beautiful young woman and even tried to touch her. The girl was terrified and cried out for help. I happened to be nearby and witnessed the whole thing. Naturally, I couldn’t stand by and watch, so I stopped him on the spot.”

“Oh, so something like that really happened? How despicable.” Lin Zhao promptly drove the point home.

Who was this person? How could he be so bold? That was what the uninformed viewers were thinking. They instinctively assumed that Tang Zhijie was telling the truth, and outrage spread through them.

“You know me. I’ve always despised this sort of behavior. I stopped him from continuing his misconduct right there.”

“I’d believe you if I were an idiot.” That thought surfaced in the minds of Lin Zhao and many others in the industry, but they could only play along.

“What happened afterward?” Lin Zhao asked.

“After that, something even more infuriating occurred.” Tang Zhijie’s voice was filled with anger. “I had already identified myself on the spot. I thought that, as a top-tier artist and a senior in the industry, I could reason with him calmly and persuade him to stop before it was too late. All he had to do was apologize to the girl, and the matter would have been over. Isn’t that right?”

“Exactly.”

“But perhaps because he was drunk, he didn’t take me seriously at all. He cursed me viciously right there, using language so vile that anyone would have found it unbearable.”

“He actually did that?” Lin Zhao exclaimed in shock. “What sort of person behaves that way? That’s unforgivable!”

“Yes. I was furious. My companions also wanted to stand up for me. Later, the head of that artist’s company arrived, and Chairman Shang of Qingsong Entertainment also came over to mediate. Only then was the confrontation brought under control. Even so, that artist continued hurling abuse without pause. Many people present heard him. It was absolutely filthy.”

“An artist like that shouldn’t be indulged. He needs to be properly taught a lesson.”

“I thought that once the artist sobered up, he would take the initiative to apologize, and the matter would be over. People make mistakes when they drink too much; that can be understood. But I waited and waited, and there was no word from him. I don’t know how his company manages or disciplines its artists. Something like this happened, and they didn’t take any action at all. I was so angry that I spoke about it on my platform. And today, I came on this talk show to issue a warning to that artist: before you learn how to conduct yourself, you must first learn how to be a decent human being.”

Lin Zhao grew excited. This was turning into a public feud.

“According to media speculation, this artist is a male star whose surname is Lin. Teacher Tang, is that correct?”

“Before we say his name, let’s take a look at a few photographs.” Tang Zhijie smiled and gestured to the staff below the stage.

A photograph appeared on the large screen behind them. It showed Su Zitong lying on the floor while Lin Qihua reached out to help her. Naturally, Su Zitong’s face had been blurred.

The second photograph showed Su Zitong’s middle-aged female manager shouting at Lin Qihua.

The third showed Lin Qihua standing in front of Su Zitong and confronting Tang Zhijie.

“Damn it.” Even He Li could not help swearing. “Every image they chose makes Qihua look bad. Why didn’t they release the entire video?”

“Don’t get angry.” Lin Qihua was furious as well, but his heart remained calm. Instead, he comforted He Li. “Let’s keep watching. We’ll discuss it afterward.”

“All right.”

On the program, Tang Zhijie waited until all three photographs had been displayed before explaining, “Look at the first photograph. This is the artist harassing the young woman. The second shows the young woman’s manager confronting him to protect her. And the last shows him refusing to accept my goodwill and spouting outrageous insults. The facts are perfectly clear. This artist has no manners, no morals, and is a disgrace to the entertainment industry.”

“Then is this artist the performer surnamed Lin whom everyone has been speculating about?” Lin Zhao asked.

“Yes. I’ll name him openly here, and I’m not afraid of his company coming after me. I’m not afraid at all. Lin Qihua—that is the artist’s name. I know he’s doing extremely well at the moment and has a great deal of popularity, with even more fans than I have. But I want to say this: an artist must possess professional ethics above all else. Before he learns how to conduct himself, he must first learn how to be a decent human being. Otherwise, sooner or later, something terrible will happen. Let me put it this way: the entertainment industry should be a clean place. We have no room for artists of this kind.”

“Are you saying he should leave the entertainment industry?” Lin Zhao asked excitedly. He had landed a major scoop. This was an open, direct, name-and-name confrontation—the kind of drama audiences loved most. The ratings for this episode would probably reach a new high.

“Yes. I’ve thrown caution to the wind. I’m personally calling on my friends throughout the industry to support me in blacklisting this artist and preventing him from continuing to work in our entertainment industry. We do not welcome artists with such corrupt morals.”

What kind of grudge could there be between them? The viewers were puzzled. How many years had it been since they had seen a public feud in which both sides were named outright? Yet they were also thrilled. There was gossip to enjoy, after all, and they desperately wanted to see how Galaxy Entertainment and Lin Qihua would respond.

“Thank you all for watching tonight’s Entertainment Night. Regarding the incident involving the artist Teacher Tang has named, we will continue gathering evidence and follow the matter through to the end. For the latest updates, please continue following Entertainment Night and supporting Little Zhao. Thank you, everyone!”

Entertainment Night came to an end, but the storm it had unleashed was only beginning. Tang Zhijie’s decision to attack Lin Qihua by name had taken the conflict to the point of completely tearing away all pretense. Such an intense public feud was rare in the Chinese entertainment industry. At most, people traded veiled insinuations. This was far too aggressive and uncontrollable. It was difficult to imagine that Tang Zhijie had actually done such a thing.

Those within the industry who knew what Tang Zhijie was really like naturally understood the deception behind it. The problem was that the public did not. They accepted Tang Zhijie’s words as truth from the outset. What could have driven a top-tier celebrity to become so furious that he would do something like this?

They grew angry. Countless people flooded Tang Zhijie’s social-media pages to leave messages of support. Then countless others sought out Lin Qihua’s social-media accounts and began cursing him. Their language was vicious and filthy, filled with insults too obscene to look at, including endless demands that he get out of the entertainment industry.

“It’s fine.” When he saw the staff watching him with concern, Lin Qihua merely smiled. “We all know what really happened. These people have been deceived. Why should we care what they say? They’re so passionately divided between love and hate now. When the truth comes out, they’ll only be even angrier.”

“We should issue a clarification statement first.” He Li rubbed her temples. Tang Zhijie’s accusations had been far too vicious, leaving Galaxy Entertainment in an extremely difficult position. His influence was enormous, and with the media already leaning in his favor, He Li could foresee what they would soon be facing.

“Continue working on the media. As for the social-media platforms, issue a proper clarification in Qihua’s name. And the Rising Stars must do everything possible to steady the fans. We can’t let everyone lose heart because we haven’t responded and turn from fans into haters. That would cause even more damage and hurt Qihua even more.”

“Understood,” everyone replied in unison, immediately throwing themselves into work.

They were already prepared for a prolonged stretch of overtime. The company had finally begun to thrive after Lin Qihua’s arrival. Now someone wanted to crush him and destroy his career. No one at Galaxy Entertainment was willing to accept that. No matter how many nights they had to work, they would not care. Galaxy Entertainment could not afford to lose. All they could do was face the challenge head-on and fight.