Luo Ding's tough psychological defense line made him fearless in any confrontation. Even amidst the stormy debates, he still regularly checked Weibo for the latest news. The almost personal attacks in the comments didn't faze him at all. Back when he was popular, the haters were much more dedicated. Whether or not there were interests involved, they were more than willing to do anything to make life difficult for those they disliked. For example, smashing car windows, secretly throwing shoes or water bottles onto the stage during concerts, fabricating false rumors as if they were true, or even more boringly, pretending to be fans of an artist to attack other artists. Compared to the past when he was hurt by the crazy antics of antis several times, the current boycotts and insults are so mild that they are hardly worth mentioning, like drizzling rain.
"Anti" is a terrifying creature, much like how fans adore an idol with all their might, anti-fans hate a celebrity, only showing even more craziness than die-hard fans. Among the ways listed above in which they smear artists, the last one is undoubtedly the most effective. It not only leaves an impression on the masses unrelated to fandom that "this fandom is crazy," but also subconsciously prompts innocent artists under attack to repel the attacking fans of the artist who instigated the conflict. In the internet age, the downside of anonymity is that behind a computer screen, nobody knows who exactly is engaging in the fight.
These haters, holding the notion that "I definitely won't be discovered," desperately vent their frustrations in the virtual world, without hesitating to be used as weapons by other interest groups who similarly dislike the targeted artists, charging into battle at any time and place.
When Cao Dingkun was young, he also had a period of reckless immaturity. The swell of fame and arrogance after becoming famous once made him neglect the management of his reputation. Even when surrounded by paparazzi, he couldn't control his emotions and ended up scowling in front of the camera.
One negligence led to a lifelong regret. The photo of him scowling became material for attacking him for many years afterward. The music industry in the past was relatively poorly managed and more chaotic. It was commonplace for idols and their fans to clash, and the sharp-tongued fans could be adorable within their own circles but extremely ruthless when facing opponents.
For a period of time, Cao Dingkun was entangled in the last behavior of these anti-fans mentioned above. Those who claimed to be his fans, while sending him razor blades and hate mail, attacked senior artists in the industry. This caused him immense mental and reputational damage when he was still relatively young and inexperienced. It was the first major hurdle in Cao Dingkun's life. He wasn't rational or strong enough at that time, and the pressure was so great that he would sometimes hide under his blanket, gritting his teeth and shedding tears secretly. Every time he felt like he couldn't hold on any longer, life pushed him to put aside his fear and continue moving forward.
As he grew older, Cao Dingkun experienced more and more, and looking back at the years when he was young and naive, he could now face them with composure and even a smile.
Therefore, when facing this online war of words, compared to Wu Fangyuan, who had never experienced such trials, his calmness seemed somewhat abnormal.
Wu Fangyuan silently scrolled through Weibo. When he saw some words, he was so angry that he wanted to curse loudly. He regretted not being able to crawl through the network cable to strangle the person on the other end. His fingers trembled as he hid the page, then took a deep breath and turned to look at Luo Ding, who was lying on the recliner wearing his stage costume.
Feeling a bit sorry for Luo Ding but also hating his own lack of patience, Wu Fangyuan pursed his lips and silently took two steps closer to Luo Ding. Seeing him browsing on his phone, Wu Fangyuan, worried that Luo Ding might see some negative comments online, leaned over and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Weibo." Luo Ding glanced at him, seeing the anxious expression on his face after hearing his answer, he softened his tone involuntarily, "Don't worry so much, it's just some minor comments."
Minor comments!?
Wu Fangyuan's reaction was to boldly snatch Luo Ding's phone away like thunder, then took a few steps back to hide the phone behind his back, feeling both angry and anxious, "What the hell are you looking at? You know perfectly well about yourself..."
He glanced around at the people nearby, his face turning red with embarrassment. He could only lean in close and say softly, "It's not good for your mood to see those hurtful comments. Now that your depression is easing up and you can temporarily stop taking medication, what if you can't control it and it gets worse again?"
The genuine concern in the other person's eyes and his unhidden purpose made Luo Ding's slight annoyance at having his phone snatched away quickly dissipate.
People around were casting their eyes over, observing the conversation between Luo Ding and Wu Fangyuan. Luo Ding reached out and grabbed Wu Fangyuan's sleeve, pulling him closer, "Come here, quiet down."
"Give me back my phone." Seeing the other person squatting beside the recliner with a pitiful look, Luo Ding sighed, somewhat helplessly rubbing his golden hair, "Stop messing around. Will those comments disappear if I don't look at them? You should let me face some things on my own. If we're this fragile at the beginning, what will we do when we encounter bigger difficulties in the future?"
"This difficulty is already significant." Wu Fangyuan's nose was red, his voice choked with emotion, "Those people are really crossing the line, hyping up baseless rumors with such enthusiasm. Slandering someone is as easy as pie, they don't take responsibility for what they say. Now, our hard-earned good reputation has been ruined by this incident."
Wu Fangyuan was truly frightened this time. He knew how treacherous the entertainment industry could be, but he had only known it theoretically. Experiencing such rapidly changing public opinion for the first time left him unable to remain calm and objective about the information around him. One moment everyone was praising Luo Ding's great singing voice, and now, not long after, the homepage was filled with insults. Wu Fangyuan felt as if a heavy mountain was pressing down on him, depriving him of the ability to even breathe. He felt weak.
He's still not mature enough... After all, He was just in his twenties, a young man who was still wet behind the ears. Luo Ding leaned back in his chair, took out his phone, and opened Weibo after a while, scrolling through a couple of pages before suddenly speaking up, "Fangyuan, do you think we have many enemies in this online battle?"
Wu Fangyuan remained silent. He regretted speaking out so much earlier. Luo Ding was under enough pressure already, and complaining to him only made it harder for him.
Seeing the real thoughts beneath Fangyuan's silence, Luo Ding was about to say something to encourage him, when suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"These online battles, the ones truly active are just a small minority. Especially those who seem to speak uniformly and organized, there's a high possibility they're small groups working together to cause trouble. Most bystanders just watch and express their neutral opinions. The ones who relentlessly attack you without letting go, they definitely have some conflict of interest with you." Duan Xiubo was still wearing his costume from the play, and as he walked, the sleeves and hems of his robe swayed gently. He didn't look as stern and resolute as Mu Gui in the play, but rather exuded a gentle and elegant demeanor like a young nobleman, "Although the troublemakers are few, their intentions are clear, and they are quite active in their speech. They also use words that are more attractive to the eye. When standing with many neutral parties who just watch, their actions and impact are much greater."
He walked up to Luo Ding, lowered his head to meet Luo Ding's eyes as he lay on the recliner, smiled slightly, and reached out to pat his shoulder as he was about to get up.
"It's better for you to lie down," he said, pulling over a nearby resting stool and sitting down next to the recliner. He waved a fan in Luo Ding's direction a couple of times, with a hint of self-satisfaction in his eyes, "So, am I right?"
"How would I know?" Luo Ding was not one to show his cunning nature. With a smile, he turned his face away from Wu Fangyuan and said, "Learn more from Brother Duan, I think what he said makes sense."
Feigning innocence again.
Duan Xiubo frowned, took out his phone, logged into Weibo, found Hu Xiao's account, and discovered that the number of reposts and comments under Hu Xiao's Weibo was rapidly increasing.
Opening the comments, below were indeed those familiar ID numbers, each showing relieved expressions. The underlying meaning was nothing more than, "See! Even the seniors in the company don't like him, it shows how terrible of a person Luo Ding is in private! People who like him must be blind!"
Duan Xiubo couldn't help but be amazed. So this artist called Hu Xiao turned out to be Luo Ding's senior in the company? This way of handling things really broadened his horizons. In private, artists usually try to avoid getting involved in conflicts within the industry. Criticizing someone's character is one thing, but spreading rumors about another artist's abilities is strictly prohibited by the company, even if there are voices, they tend to lean towards ambiguous PR statements that encourage and support. But this Hu Xiao, without knowing whether Luo Ding really had his vocals fixed in that video, took such a clear stance against Luo Ding...
This situation, simply unbelievable.
Luo Ding glanced at the time, realizing that almost half of his resting time was used up. He quickly sat up from the recliner, instantly restoring his alert state, showing no signs of the lazy cat that was lounging in the chair just moments ago.
"I'll go touch up my makeup," he smiled at Duan Xiubo and Yuan Bing, nodding his head. After a moment's thought, he patted Duan Xiubo's shoulder, "Brother Duan, Sister Yuan, don't worry, I really don't care about these things. Thank you for your concern."
Yuan Bing met his rarely seen genuinely infectious smile, unable to resist smiling herself. She watched Luo Ding leave, furrowing her brows, trying to figure out how Luo Ding cultivated such a temperament. Then she saw Duan Xiubo sitting beside her, wearing a smirk.
"Sister Yuan, let's discuss something," he said.
Yuan Bing rolled her eyes at him, showing no hint of the gentle and amiable demeanor she had when facing Luo Ding.
From the past to the present, Luo Ding had never been a fragile person. Before his career reached its peak, he had always been struggling alone. Back then, his situation was even worse than it is now. He didn't have an assistant who cared for him around the clock, nor a manager who considered his every need. The Hong Kong entertainment industry was controlled by gang forces, and unspoken rules prevailed. In such a complicated situation, he managed to survive cleanly. And now?
Huh.
But Luo Ding hadn't expected.
In corners he couldn't see, how many people were striving to fight alongside him.
Luo Ding's fan base, overall, wasn't particularly large, but in terms of quality, it outshined artists who debuted around the same time, and even some senior idols. This was also somewhat related to his method of attracting fans. Since his debut until now, the first time Luo Ding became known was through the MV shoot for Pan Yiming's album. Pan Yiming had started her singing career early on and had been transitioning to acting in TV dramas for some years. Most of her remaining fans had accompanied her through a long period of time, and they weren't young anymore. They had a certain amount of fan experience and knew what was taboo in this industry.
The second time was when the "Fu Zhu" character incident caused a storm on Weibo for the first time.
The character Fu Zhu came from a classical Chinese text called "Tang Chuan." Although this book was quite famous and had been widely circulated in vernacular translations, it was still ultimately a history book. Compared to ordinary books, it was much more obscure, lacking the coherent storytelling of typical classics, and those who could patiently read it and fall in love with the characters in the book were mostly experienced readers.
The end of these two storms marked a significant leap in Luo Ding's personal popularity.
However, it could be seen from this that Luo Ding's earliest fans, and even some of the new fans who were joining the fan base now, had only a small proportion of Loli fans1Most probably referring to underage fans..
It's not that Loli fans were bad; they were passionate, innocent, and loyal to their idols. But their shortcomings were also obvious because of their young age and lack of experience. They were much easier to excite and found it difficult to respond rationally to attacks on their idol from the outside world. Their typical response was to gather together and counterattack, hurling personal insults and family insults, which might seem like they had the upper hand, but in reality, they gave a very bad impression to outsiders who didn't know the truth.
Rational fans had an immeasurable influence on a fandom. Fandoms influenced the impressions outsiders had of an idol star. This connection could also be understood as fans being the first face of publicity for idols when facing the outside world.
Luo Ding was fortunate to have such a group of mature fans with abundant experience in dealing with crises, thanks to various opportunities that arose.
At the beginning of the backlash, the old fans quickly sprang into action. They had already spontaneously established chat groups long ago to facilitate communication and management among fans. The emergence of this crisis excited everyone. The first measure taken was formulated by a user with the ID name "Fu Zhu Support Club."
It was strictly forbidden for insiders to engage in any fights on Weibo, to refrain from reposting any negative news, and to immediately report any personal attacks encountered on Weibo. From the initial chaos to the subsequent orderliness, everyone's enthusiasm and competitive spirit were aroused. Of course, some people refuted the claims about Luo Ding's vocal tuning, but under strict regulations, their tone of response was as objective as possible. They ignored those who were deliberately causing trouble with their insincere questions. Although this response didn't immediately suppress the negative news, it at least left a good impression on bystanders observing the situation.
Next came the battle of the core fans who were present and had recorded videos on the day Luo Ding sang.
The selected video posted on Weibo was the clearest and best-recorded one selected from many fan recordings. Each person had their own backup of the footage they privately recorded. They quickly edited these videos from different angles and categorized them, abandoning their usual small accounts and choosing to use their main accounts to post. Each video was edited into a small GIF, showing a short section of the performance, and these were combined and posted as previews to help passersby distinguish between right and wrong.
As the situation heated up, suddenly, the Fu Zhu Support Club posted a screenshot in the group chat: "Damn, this person is really despicable!"
The screenshot was of Hu Xiao's fan's clarification post for Luo Ding, and the group chat exploded: "Damn, is this person shameless? And he's even a big V. Don't we still not know whether the vocals were tuned or not?"
"I can't believe my eyes. I must be seeing things wrong!"
In the midst of everyone's confusion, she quickly posted two screenshots.
There was an immediate silence in the group.
These two screenshots, one was from a post by Duan Xiubo, posted five minutes ago, with over five thousand reposts and comments: "I was also at the scene on the day Luo Ding sang. His studio for sound testing belongs to Teacher Mao Xiaorun's industry. At least from what I heard, the sound in this video is not as good as what I heard at the scene. Rumors stop with the wise." Below were rows of fan confessions: "If the male god believes in him, I believe in him too!"
"Yeah, some people are really strange. I don't even understand. Forget about whether the vocals were tuned, even if they were, is it worth this one-sided barrage of criticism?"
"Male god, I love you! If you appreciate Luo Ding so much, there must be something good about him. I believe in him too."
The second was a screenshot from Yuan Bing's homepage, who had already joined the ranks of top-tier actresses in China: "Don't pay attention to the doubts from the outside world about your voice. We all know how outstanding you are, Luo Ding." Although her Weibo reposts and comments weren't as hot as Duan Xiubo's, her fan base was entirely composed of men.
"Oh damn, Luo Ding is really the winner in life."
"Goddess, I look at you with longing eyes, but you always belong to others. Life is so difficult..."
In the comments, Pan Yiming replied with a smiling face emoji to a comment asking about her relationship with Luo Ding: "Luo Xiaoding is really sensible and cute in private. I treat him like a little brother to protect him, so I don't want such a good young man to be defeated by baseless rumors." This was followed by a frenzy of men vying to confess to Yuan Bing, but they always added a suffix: "Good queen, Luo Xiaoding! From today, you're my little brother too!"
After the quiet, some of the old fans in the group couldn't withstand the impact of their comrades' holy light and began shouting excitedly.
"Oh damn, my son is really amazing!"
"God bless! God bless!"
"Okay, now that Duan Shensheng's Weibo is bound to be top 1 at six o'clock, when he goes down, our clarification Weibo can take the top spot at a different time, and try to let as many people as possible see it."
While Luo Ding was focused on shooting, in places he couldn't see, the direction of Weibo was slowly starting to change.
The bizarre trolls dared not to clamor under Duan Xiubo's Weibo posts. Perhaps Duan Xiubo's way of debuting was considered legendary by many people, so neither side wanted to confront him until they figured out his bottom line. The internet seemed safe and reliable, but there were many hidden leaks. As long as you had money and ability, it wasn't difficult to trace the person behind the screen. These people might mock Duan Xiubo for helping his friends instead of speaking out for justice, but they were just waiting for the effect of this Weibo post to pass before making a comeback.
However, when they finally waited for Duan Xiubo's Weibo post to reach the top spot at six o'clock, they found that the homepage had undergone a drastic change from its previous silence.
A Weibo post from a user verified as a member of the Yanghe Yacht Club replaced Duan Xiubo's clarification post and topped the charts with nearly fifty thousand reposts.
"Fake singing? Vocal tuning? Watch the video yourself. Only a portion of the fan recordings from that day were contacted this time. Friends who haven't been contacted by the fan circle are also welcome to post on Weibo. Forget about the water army, this is my main account. To those who don't want to understand the contradictions between the fan circle and the haters, please just move on." The Weibo post succinctly explained the incident and used as objective language as possible to guide the focus of the event towards the illogical attacks from the haters, the unanimous clamor, and the close timing of the activities, as well as the details of the suspicious accounts. Below were numerous video links, each with detailed information about the shooter's ID, and it was noted where each video was taken.
Underneath the links were up to twenty GIFs, each capturing Luo Ding closing his eyes, holding onto his headphones, and gently furrowing his brows as he sang to the end. The heavy and melancholic expression of the young man under the lights was undeniable. Some of the shots, due to the angle, even looked more beautiful than the one selected and posted on the internet for the first time.
People who habitually scrolled through the trending topics were often quite bored. With such clear and understandable links, many people clicked on them out of curiosity.
These videos were shot from different angles, with much more shaking than the first video they saw, and the resolution was a bit blurry. Occasionally, the camera would be blocked by crowded people nearby. Such rubbish shooting effects, if done by the water army, were really unprofessional and couldn't reflect the charm of the idol at all.
But from the first word Luo Ding uttered in each video, everyone with keen ears was able to confirm one fact.
If that first video was edited afterward, they would eat their phones!
Luo Ding's tough psychological defense line made him fearless in any confrontation. Even amidst the stormy debates, he still regularly checked Weibo for the latest news. The almost personal attacks in the comments didn't faze him at all. Back when he was popular, the haters were much more dedicated. Whether or not there were interests involved, they were more than willing to do anything to make life difficult for those they disliked. For example, smashing car windows, secretly throwing shoes or water bottles onto the stage during concerts, fabricating false rumors as if they were true, or even more boringly, pretending to be fans of an artist to attack other artists. Compared to the past when he was hurt by the crazy antics of antis several times, the current boycotts and insults are so mild that they are hardly worth mentioning, like drizzling rain.
"Anti" is a terrifying creature, much like how fans adore an idol with all their might, anti-fans hate a celebrity, only showing even more craziness than die-hard fans. Among the ways listed above in which they smear artists, the last one is undoubtedly the most effective. It not only leaves an impression on the masses unrelated to fandom that "this fandom is crazy," but also subconsciously prompts innocent artists under attack to repel the attacking fans of the artist who instigated the conflict. In the internet age, the downside of anonymity is that behind a computer screen, nobody knows who exactly is engaging in the fight.
These haters, holding the notion that "I definitely won't be discovered," desperately vent their frustrations in the virtual world, without hesitating to be used as weapons by other interest groups who similarly dislike the targeted artists, charging into battle at any time and place.
When Cao Dingkun was young, he also had a period of reckless immaturity. The swell of fame and arrogance after becoming famous once made him neglect the management of his reputation. Even when surrounded by paparazzi, he couldn't control his emotions and ended up scowling in front of the camera.
One negligence led to a lifelong regret. The photo of him scowling became material for attacking him for many years afterward. The music industry in the past was relatively poorly managed and more chaotic. It was commonplace for idols and their fans to clash, and the sharp-tongued fans could be adorable within their own circles but extremely ruthless when facing opponents.
For a period of time, Cao Dingkun was entangled in the last behavior of these anti-fans mentioned above. Those who claimed to be his fans, while sending him razor blades and hate mail, attacked senior artists in the industry. This caused him immense mental and reputational damage when he was still relatively young and inexperienced. It was the first major hurdle in Cao Dingkun's life. He wasn't rational or strong enough at that time, and the pressure was so great that he would sometimes hide under his blanket, gritting his teeth and shedding tears secretly. Every time he felt like he couldn't hold on any longer, life pushed him to put aside his fear and continue moving forward.
As he grew older, Cao Dingkun experienced more and more, and looking back at the years when he was young and naive, he could now face them with composure and even a smile.
Therefore, when facing this online war of words, compared to Wu Fangyuan, who had never experienced such trials, his calmness seemed somewhat abnormal.
Wu Fangyuan silently scrolled through Weibo. When he saw some words, he was so angry that he wanted to curse loudly. He regretted not being able to crawl through the network cable to strangle the person on the other end. His fingers trembled as he hid the page, then took a deep breath and turned to look at Luo Ding, who was lying on the recliner wearing his stage costume.
Feeling a bit sorry for Luo Ding but also hating his own lack of patience, Wu Fangyuan pursed his lips and silently took two steps closer to Luo Ding. Seeing him browsing on his phone, Wu Fangyuan, worried that Luo Ding might see some negative comments online, leaned over and asked, "What are you looking at?"
"Weibo." Luo Ding glanced at him, seeing the anxious expression on his face after hearing his answer, he softened his tone involuntarily, "Don't worry so much, it's just some minor comments."
Minor comments!?
Wu Fangyuan's reaction was to boldly snatch Luo Ding's phone away like thunder, then took a few steps back to hide the phone behind his back, feeling both angry and anxious, "What the hell are you looking at? You know perfectly well about yourself..."
He glanced around at the people nearby, his face turning red with embarrassment. He could only lean in close and say softly, "It's not good for your mood to see those hurtful comments. Now that your depression is easing up and you can temporarily stop taking medication, what if you can't control it and it gets worse again?"
The genuine concern in the other person's eyes and his unhidden purpose made Luo Ding's slight annoyance at having his phone snatched away quickly dissipate.
People around were casting their eyes over, observing the conversation between Luo Ding and Wu Fangyuan. Luo Ding reached out and grabbed Wu Fangyuan's sleeve, pulling him closer, "Come here, quiet down."
"Give me back my phone." Seeing the other person squatting beside the recliner with a pitiful look, Luo Ding sighed, somewhat helplessly rubbing his golden hair, "Stop messing around. Will those comments disappear if I don't look at them? You should let me face some things on my own. If we're this fragile at the beginning, what will we do when we encounter bigger difficulties in the future?"
"This difficulty is already significant." Wu Fangyuan's nose was red, his voice choked with emotion, "Those people are really crossing the line, hyping up baseless rumors with such enthusiasm. Slandering someone is as easy as pie, they don't take responsibility for what they say. Now, our hard-earned good reputation has been ruined by this incident."
Wu Fangyuan was truly frightened this time. He knew how treacherous the entertainment industry could be, but he had only known it theoretically. Experiencing such rapidly changing public opinion for the first time left him unable to remain calm and objective about the information around him. One moment everyone was praising Luo Ding's great singing voice, and now, not long after, the homepage was filled with insults. Wu Fangyuan felt as if a heavy mountain was pressing down on him, depriving him of the ability to even breathe. He felt weak.
He's still not mature enough... After all, He was just in his twenties, a young man who was still wet behind the ears. Luo Ding leaned back in his chair, took out his phone, and opened Weibo after a while, scrolling through a couple of pages before suddenly speaking up, "Fangyuan, do you think we have many enemies in this online battle?"
Wu Fangyuan remained silent. He regretted speaking out so much earlier. Luo Ding was under enough pressure already, and complaining to him only made it harder for him.
Seeing the real thoughts beneath Fangyuan's silence, Luo Ding was about to say something to encourage him, when suddenly, he heard a voice behind him.
"These online battles, the ones truly active are just a small minority. Especially those who seem to speak uniformly and organized, there's a high possibility they're small groups working together to cause trouble. Most bystanders just watch and express their neutral opinions. The ones who relentlessly attack you without letting go, they definitely have some conflict of interest with you." Duan Xiubo was still wearing his costume from the play, and as he walked, the sleeves and hems of his robe swayed gently. He didn't look as stern and resolute as Mu Gui in the play, but rather exuded a gentle and elegant demeanor like a young nobleman, "Although the troublemakers are few, their intentions are clear, and they are quite active in their speech. They also use words that are more attractive to the eye. When standing with many neutral parties who just watch, their actions and impact are much greater."
He walked up to Luo Ding, lowered his head to meet Luo Ding's eyes as he lay on the recliner, smiled slightly, and reached out to pat his shoulder as he was about to get up.
"It's better for you to lie down," he said, pulling over a nearby resting stool and sitting down next to the recliner. He waved a fan in Luo Ding's direction a couple of times, with a hint of self-satisfaction in his eyes, "So, am I right?"
"How would I know?" Luo Ding was not one to show his cunning nature. With a smile, he turned his face away from Wu Fangyuan and said, "Learn more from Brother Duan, I think what he said makes sense."
Feigning innocence again.
Duan Xiubo frowned, took out his phone, logged into Weibo, found Hu Xiao's account, and discovered that the number of reposts and comments under Hu Xiao's Weibo was rapidly increasing.
Opening the comments, below were indeed those familiar ID numbers, each showing relieved expressions. The underlying meaning was nothing more than, "See! Even the seniors in the company don't like him, it shows how terrible of a person Luo Ding is in private! People who like him must be blind!"
Duan Xiubo couldn't help but be amazed. So this artist called Hu Xiao turned out to be Luo Ding's senior in the company? This way of handling things really broadened his horizons. In private, artists usually try to avoid getting involved in conflicts within the industry. Criticizing someone's character is one thing, but spreading rumors about another artist's abilities is strictly prohibited by the company, even if there are voices, they tend to lean towards ambiguous PR statements that encourage and support. But this Hu Xiao, without knowing whether Luo Ding really had his vocals fixed in that video, took such a clear stance against Luo Ding...
This situation, simply unbelievable.
Luo Ding glanced at the time, realizing that almost half of his resting time was used up. He quickly sat up from the recliner, instantly restoring his alert state, showing no signs of the lazy cat that was lounging in the chair just moments ago.
"I'll go touch up my makeup," he smiled at Duan Xiubo and Yuan Bing, nodding his head. After a moment's thought, he patted Duan Xiubo's shoulder, "Brother Duan, Sister Yuan, don't worry, I really don't care about these things. Thank you for your concern."
Yuan Bing met his rarely seen genuinely infectious smile, unable to resist smiling herself. She watched Luo Ding leave, furrowing her brows, trying to figure out how Luo Ding cultivated such a temperament. Then she saw Duan Xiubo sitting beside her, wearing a smirk.
"Sister Yuan, let's discuss something," he said.
Yuan Bing rolled her eyes at him, showing no hint of the gentle and amiable demeanor she had when facing Luo Ding.
From the past to the present, Luo Ding had never been a fragile person. Before his career reached its peak, he had always been struggling alone. Back then, his situation was even worse than it is now. He didn't have an assistant who cared for him around the clock, nor a manager who considered his every need. The Hong Kong entertainment industry was controlled by gang forces, and unspoken rules prevailed. In such a complicated situation, he managed to survive cleanly. And now?
Huh.
But Luo Ding hadn't expected.
In corners he couldn't see, how many people were striving to fight alongside him.
Luo Ding's fan base, overall, wasn't particularly large, but in terms of quality, it outshined artists who debuted around the same time, and even some senior idols. This was also somewhat related to his method of attracting fans. Since his debut until now, the first time Luo Ding became known was through the MV shoot for Pan Yiming's album. Pan Yiming had started her singing career early on and had been transitioning to acting in TV dramas for some years. Most of her remaining fans had accompanied her through a long period of time, and they weren't young anymore. They had a certain amount of fan experience and knew what was taboo in this industry.
The second time was when the "Fu Zhu" character incident caused a storm on Weibo for the first time.
The character Fu Zhu came from a classical Chinese text called "Tang Chuan." Although this book was quite famous and had been widely circulated in vernacular translations, it was still ultimately a history book. Compared to ordinary books, it was much more obscure, lacking the coherent storytelling of typical classics, and those who could patiently read it and fall in love with the characters in the book were mostly experienced readers.
The end of these two storms marked a significant leap in Luo Ding's personal popularity.
However, it could be seen from this that Luo Ding's earliest fans, and even some of the new fans who were joining the fan base now, had only a small proportion of Loli fans1Most probably referring to underage fans..
It's not that Loli fans were bad; they were passionate, innocent, and loyal to their idols. But their shortcomings were also obvious because of their young age and lack of experience. They were much easier to excite and found it difficult to respond rationally to attacks on their idol from the outside world. Their typical response was to gather together and counterattack, hurling personal insults and family insults, which might seem like they had the upper hand, but in reality, they gave a very bad impression to outsiders who didn't know the truth.
Rational fans had an immeasurable influence on a fandom. Fandoms influenced the impressions outsiders had of an idol star. This connection could also be understood as fans being the first face of publicity for idols when facing the outside world.
Luo Ding was fortunate to have such a group of mature fans with abundant experience in dealing with crises, thanks to various opportunities that arose.
At the beginning of the backlash, the old fans quickly sprang into action. They had already spontaneously established chat groups long ago to facilitate communication and management among fans. The emergence of this crisis excited everyone. The first measure taken was formulated by a user with the ID name "Fu Zhu Support Club."
It was strictly forbidden for insiders to engage in any fights on Weibo, to refrain from reposting any negative news, and to immediately report any personal attacks encountered on Weibo. From the initial chaos to the subsequent orderliness, everyone's enthusiasm and competitive spirit were aroused. Of course, some people refuted the claims about Luo Ding's vocal tuning, but under strict regulations, their tone of response was as objective as possible. They ignored those who were deliberately causing trouble with their insincere questions. Although this response didn't immediately suppress the negative news, it at least left a good impression on bystanders observing the situation.
Next came the battle of the core fans who were present and had recorded videos on the day Luo Ding sang.
The selected video posted on Weibo was the clearest and best-recorded one selected from many fan recordings. Each person had their own backup of the footage they privately recorded. They quickly edited these videos from different angles and categorized them, abandoning their usual small accounts and choosing to use their main accounts to post. Each video was edited into a small GIF, showing a short section of the performance, and these were combined and posted as previews to help passersby distinguish between right and wrong.
As the situation heated up, suddenly, the Fu Zhu Support Club posted a screenshot in the group chat: "Damn, this person is really despicable!"
The screenshot was of Hu Xiao's fan's clarification post for Luo Ding, and the group chat exploded: "Damn, is this person shameless? And he's even a big V. Don't we still not know whether the vocals were tuned or not?"
"I can't believe my eyes. I must be seeing things wrong!"
In the midst of everyone's confusion, she quickly posted two screenshots.
There was an immediate silence in the group.
These two screenshots, one was from a post by Duan Xiubo, posted five minutes ago, with over five thousand reposts and comments: "I was also at the scene on the day Luo Ding sang. His studio for sound testing belongs to Teacher Mao Xiaorun's industry. At least from what I heard, the sound in this video is not as good as what I heard at the scene. Rumors stop with the wise." Below were rows of fan confessions: "If the male god believes in him, I believe in him too!"
"Yeah, some people are really strange. I don't even understand. Forget about whether the vocals were tuned, even if they were, is it worth this one-sided barrage of criticism?"
"Male god, I love you! If you appreciate Luo Ding so much, there must be something good about him. I believe in him too."
The second was a screenshot from Yuan Bing's homepage, who had already joined the ranks of top-tier actresses in China: "Don't pay attention to the doubts from the outside world about your voice. We all know how outstanding you are, Luo Ding." Although her Weibo reposts and comments weren't as hot as Duan Xiubo's, her fan base was entirely composed of men.
"Oh damn, Luo Ding is really the winner in life."
"Goddess, I look at you with longing eyes, but you always belong to others. Life is so difficult..."
In the comments, Pan Yiming replied with a smiling face emoji to a comment asking about her relationship with Luo Ding: "Luo Xiaoding is really sensible and cute in private. I treat him like a little brother to protect him, so I don't want such a good young man to be defeated by baseless rumors." This was followed by a frenzy of men vying to confess to Yuan Bing, but they always added a suffix: "Good queen, Luo Xiaoding! From today, you're my little brother too!"
After the quiet, some of the old fans in the group couldn't withstand the impact of their comrades' holy light and began shouting excitedly.
"Oh damn, my son is really amazing!"
"God bless! God bless!"
"Okay, now that Duan Shensheng's Weibo is bound to be top 1 at six o'clock, when he goes down, our clarification Weibo can take the top spot at a different time, and try to let as many people as possible see it."
While Luo Ding was focused on shooting, in places he couldn't see, the direction of Weibo was slowly starting to change.
The bizarre trolls dared not to clamor under Duan Xiubo's Weibo posts. Perhaps Duan Xiubo's way of debuting was considered legendary by many people, so neither side wanted to confront him until they figured out his bottom line. The internet seemed safe and reliable, but there were many hidden leaks. As long as you had money and ability, it wasn't difficult to trace the person behind the screen. These people might mock Duan Xiubo for helping his friends instead of speaking out for justice, but they were just waiting for the effect of this Weibo post to pass before making a comeback.
However, when they finally waited for Duan Xiubo's Weibo post to reach the top spot at six o'clock, they found that the homepage had undergone a drastic change from its previous silence.
A Weibo post from a user verified as a member of the Yanghe Yacht Club replaced Duan Xiubo's clarification post and topped the charts with nearly fifty thousand reposts.
"Fake singing? Vocal tuning? Watch the video yourself. Only a portion of the fan recordings from that day were contacted this time. Friends who haven't been contacted by the fan circle are also welcome to post on Weibo. Forget about the water army, this is my main account. To those who don't want to understand the contradictions between the fan circle and the haters, please just move on." The Weibo post succinctly explained the incident and used as objective language as possible to guide the focus of the event towards the illogical attacks from the haters, the unanimous clamor, and the close timing of the activities, as well as the details of the suspicious accounts. Below were numerous video links, each with detailed information about the shooter's ID, and it was noted where each video was taken.
Underneath the links were up to twenty GIFs, each capturing Luo Ding closing his eyes, holding onto his headphones, and gently furrowing his brows as he sang to the end. The heavy and melancholic expression of the young man under the lights was undeniable. Some of the shots, due to the angle, even looked more beautiful than the one selected and posted on the internet for the first time.
People who habitually scrolled through the trending topics were often quite bored. With such clear and understandable links, many people clicked on them out of curiosity.
These videos were shot from different angles, with much more shaking than the first video they saw, and the resolution was a bit blurry. Occasionally, the camera would be blocked by crowded people nearby. Such rubbish shooting effects, if done by the water army, were really unprofessional and couldn't reflect the charm of the idol at all.
But from the first word Luo Ding uttered in each video, everyone with keen ears was able to confirm one fact.
If that first video was edited afterward, they would eat their phones!
