Chapter 43: They Tolerated No Slander

By the time the flight landed in Shenzhen, the post Zhao Yingyue had made only a few hours ago had blown up. People flocked to her Tantan page and started blowing up the comment section with their own views.

The reactions were mixed.

While there were many people scolding her, a lot more were sticking up for her.

[Our Luna would never ignore anyone! Now you see that she went through all this effort to reach out even while going through the stress of travelling!]

[Yeah! I bet that everyone is now forced to eat their own foot.]

[Well, she still didn't say anything in person when we went out of our way to go see her!]

[I know you know what happens when you sign a contract. After signing on with your boss, do you make the major decisions on your own or do you listen to what you're told? Do actresses do as they please without thought or do they listen to their manager and agency?]

Everyone who tried speaking down on her was now forced to retreat by her fans. They tolerated no slander on her name. How could they blame her for something that was beyond her control? Wasn't it at least good enough that she still reached out to them in all the chaos of her day?

The amount of followers on her page in just those few hours already exceeded a million.

When Zhao Yingyue opened her phone and checked the app after landing, she was shocked to find all of this out. She had even been followed by a few more verified e-sports players.

She turned to Liu Haoyu as they were getting off the plane.

Seeing as they were the only ones in the area, she said, "My account already has over a million followers and I think I've turned the tide of things on my fans, too."

Liu Haoyu smiled quickly before shifting his expression back to its stagnant state.

That was all Zhao Yingyue needed to know that he was proud of her and happy, too. He just had to keep his composure, just in case. She supposed that she should also stay silent for the same reason.

As they walked through the airport, the team joked around and she realized how stifling this was getting. She wished that she could joke along with them but couldn't bear the risk of someone hearing her voice.

It was really frustrating.

Zhao Yingyue had never had to do as much as holding her head down in shame so walking around covering herself was more challenging on her mental than she thought.

'This is so irritating. I'm not even allowed to speak until we board the bus to the hotel. This disguise is getting physically stifling, too. One can only wear a mask for so long.'

Luckily, the boringness of the airport was soon over and they now had one more obstacle to her freedom to speak again.

The crowd.

Once they stepped outside, Zhao Yingyue was certain that there would be a crowd of people who likely had more questions to ask. And it would likely be even greater than before after she had created her account and posted to Tantan.

While she did enjoy the attention, she was already exhausted and the day had barely started.

These people would ask questions that they would eventually answer on their own based on speculation. They were only there for the off chance that she would let herself be seen.

Even if not, some were happy with any news—including bad news. It would just result in the smaller agencies creating hateful articles to get a little attention.

'How exhausting.'

However, because it was predictable, surely it would go by way faster this time around.

The only difference was that this time, no one was waiting for them outside of the airport at the pickup area.

Zhao Yingyue looked around, curious as to where everyone was. She was shocked to see that not a single reporter was in sight.

Li Dongyang crept up next to her and quietly said, "Careful little sister. The reporters that lie in the shadows are scarier than the ones out in the open."

She understood the warning. This time, the reporters would be lying in wait for a slip up rather than trying to provoke one out.

Was it because of the post she had made earlier?

Liu Haoyu avoided looking at her. He had to revert to being the captain of Q5 for the time being. He couldn't afford to look at her and allow himself to falter out of worry.

However, his eyes were peeled for any tricky schemes that might be happening around them.

Nothing seemed to be off. It seemed it was the normal pick up at an airport though even that was weird for the team. Usually, even if the reporters are hidden, countless fans would be there to be able to greet the boys.

It really was strange that not a single person was waiting for them.

Li Dongyang spoke to her again.

"Don't you think it's strange that not even a single fan is here?"

Zhao Yingyue glanced over at him.

While he spoke words of concern, his hands were thrown carelessly behind his head as he trotted forward. He acted normal. She could only assume this was after enough experience with media—either that or an admirable level of blissful ignorance.

As if he read her mind, he asked, "Do you want to know why I'm not too concerned?"

Zhao Yingyue hesitated for a second before nodding. She was curious which of her theories it was. Li Dongyang seemed to become more interesting the more she hung around him. He was carefree, yes, but she felt there was more to him.

"The answer is pretty simple honestly. I had an extremely big scandal when I first joined Q5. As you know, I joined in the second year of the team's existence. I replaced someone who had been loved by many so I was attacked brutally by the media. I acted too carefree and got someone else caught up in it, too."

Zhao Yingyue thought about it. She'd remembered seeing that he had received hate over a scandal involving his sister. A guy who had been harassing her stepped out with an old video of them fighting. It was in defense of his sister but that part of the video had been cut out.

Even when his sister had stepped out to clarify things, people claimed that it would be unfair to believe someone who was blood-related to him and would cover for her dear older brother. She was called a liar thereafter.

The guy who had spread this then stepped out and said that she had led him on and that led to the conflict so she was then shamed, humiliated, and bullied into seclusion.

Somehow, someone had found the full video that encapsulated everything and freed Li Dongyang and his sister from the scrutiny.

"You know, I have to thank the captain for his help at the time. He was the person who got the full video. He stopped at nothing. At the time, I was so new that I was shocked he would go through the trouble of helping me. He told me, that as my captain, he would take responsibility for everyone in his team. That proved it to me so I know I have nothing to be worried about."

Zhao Yingyue wasn't too surprised. She had seen how he acted to defend and help her.

Still, she got the message Li Dongyang was giving her. He was saying that in the end, everything would be resolved regardless.

She nodded in understanding just as they boarded the bus.

Once settled in, she got comfortable in her seat and pulled out her phone to check her Tantan again and possibly make another post.

However, what she saw instead shocked her.