Shen Wanwan looked at the photo, her usually cool voice carrying a trace of displeasure.
“So… why did you let her hug you?”
Shao Yuye looked utterly baffled.
“How was I supposed to know she’d hug me?”
Even now, just thinking back to that moment left him feeling frustrated.
“Wasn’t that the day we were in the haunted house? I had a small scrape on my hand, and she came over with some ointment. I told her I didn’t need it, but she insisted. She even said she wanted to massage the wound!”
Shen Wanwan’s tone turned icy.
“So you agreed?”
“Of course not!” Shao Yuye protested indignantly. “I rejected her on the spot!”
When he got to that point, he smacked his own mouth in regret.
“It’s all because I couldn’t keep my mouth shut. She looked like she was in a bad mood, so I asked what was wrong… and then she suddenly threw herself at me.”
It was no exaggeration to say that he’d been scared out of his wits at that moment.
“The ‘ghosts’ in the haunted house weren’t even as frightening as Bai Ling!”
Shen Wanwan narrowed her eyes. “Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“I was coming to tell you about it in the first place.”
Shao Yuye coughed awkwardly. “But when I got there, I saw you talking to Shen Mingzhen on the phone.”
Previously, whenever he mentioned Shen Mingzhen, he enunciated every word clearly, as if he were talking about a complete stranger.
This time, however, he spoke so quickly and indistinctly that his Mom’s name slipped by in a blur.
Reminded of it, Shen Wanwan remembered that he really had come looking for her that night.
Now that she understood the whole story, Bai Ling’s Weibo post looked even more disgusting.
Although everything Bai Ling said was technically true, she had deliberately steered public opinion in an entirely different direction—
[Even though she’s teammates with Su Tingxuan and they’re pretty close, the first person she thought of after her grandfather passed away was Shao Yuye. Don’t tell me there’s nothing going on between those two, I don’t believe it!]
[Bai Ling, don’t be such a hopeless romantic! His reputation has already collapsed!]
Meanwhile, the top ten trending searches were completely dominated by Shao Yuye—
#Shao Yuye Is the Ultimate Playboy#
#Shao Yuye’s Image Collapses#
#Shao Yuye Kept by a Rich Woman#
#Shao Yuye’s Chaotic Private Life Exposed#
#Shao Yuye Bai Ling#
…
Unlike late at night, daytime meant countless gossip-hungry netizens swarming the internet, hopping from one scandal to another until they were completely overwhelmed.
[So the studio is only releasing one statement?]
[Didn’t Shao Yuye always market himself as the most genuine guy in showbiz? How about coming out and responding?]
[I’ve followed celebrity scandals for years. I stopped believing in studios’ lawyer letters a long time ago! Shao Yuye, if you’re really a man, come out and clear things up!]
The angry comments continued for quite a while.
Then another trending topic shot straight into the Top 3—
#Lin Shiran Is the Chosen Idol#
@YuYuRunningAway : [Since Shao Yuye’s reputation has collapsed, why not come check out Lin Shiran instead? He’s sweet, cool, sunny, and handsome! You won’t regret stanning him!]
@RegretStanningShaoYuyeForLife : [Can’t speak for everyone else, but I’m really leaving. Seven years as a fan, and I’m truly disappointed in everything Shao Yuye has done.]
The ‘Yu Yu’s was furious when they saw those usernames.
[Get lost, haters! Stop using disgusting IDs like that to disgust Brother Ye!]
[A real ‘Yu Yu’ would never leave! If Brother Ye didn’t do it, then he didn’t do it!]
[Since Bai Ling already clarified things, isn’t this whole issue already settled? In the first photo, the person Brother Ye was hugging was his younger sister. In the second photo, Bai Ling was the one who threw herself at him, and Brother Ye pushed her away immediately!]
[You fans are really good at whitewashing. So what about the rich sugar mommy thing? Care to explain that?]
[Some people are so hypocritical. They built themselves up as some ‘upright man,’ but when trouble comes they’re hiding behind their studio and fans without saying a word. Is he crying in some rich woman’s arms right now? Shao Yuye, if you’re a man, hurry up and respond!]
[This Lin Shiran actually seems pretty reliable. Kind of want to stan him. How’s his talent?]
[He’s amazing! Totally worth stanning! He’s also incredibly considerate toward fans—at offline events, the gifts he gives out are worth more than the ticket price. Supporting him is absolutely worth it!]
Looking at the trending topic, Shen Wanwan smiled.
—Ah…
—Finally caught you.
She turned toward Brother Li.
“We can release the photo now.”
Very soon, a well-known entertainment gossip account posted another picture.
[Come quick! Huge scoop! The person Shao Yuye was hugging was actually Shen Wanwan!!!]
Fortunately, preparations had already been made with both sides beforehand, so Weibo’s servers managed to hold up.
Bai Ling had just begun enjoying the surge of attention and was ready to savor the hard-earned popularity, but before even half an hour had passed, the discussion around her completely bottomed out.
“What’s going on?”
She opened Weibo, and when she saw the No. 1 trending topic—
#Shen Wanwan Shao Yuye#
—her vision went dark.
“Damn it! Why is it Shen Wanwan again?!”
This time, the paparazzi hadn’t released another blurry back shot.
Instead, it was a crystal-clear side profile.
In the picture, Shen Wanwan was holding onto one of Shao Yuye’s arms, while Shao Yuye had an arm draped casually over her shoulders. The two looked exceptionally familiar and close.
[What does this mean? So Shao Yuye really has fallen from grace?!]
[Oh my God! This is such a mess! What’s actually going on now?]
[I’m such an unqualified gossip eater—I can’t even keep up anymore! There are just too many revelations!]
The trending list underwent another complete overhaul—
#Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye Suspected of Dating#
#Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye Living Together#
#’Petty Revenge Duo’ Friendship CP Gets Proven Wrong?#
#Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye Were Secretly Dating on the Variety Show at the Production’s Expense!#
…
Many people dug up an old comment that had confidently predicted Shen Wanwan and Shao Yuye were definitely dating.
[Bro really made a god-tier prediction.]
[Obviously. Shao Yuye’s feelings for Shen Wanwan were way too obvious. You could tell he cared about her much more.]
[Right now I only want to ask—do Shao Yuye’s fans’ faces hurt yet?]
[Waiting for that turtle to finally come out and ‘clarify’.]
Previously, Lin Shiran had only obtained a few side-profile shots. The woman entering and leaving with Shao Yuye had always been wearing a mask and a cap, making it impossible to see her face clearly.
He had no idea which paparazzo had managed to capture this new batch of photographs.
He had never expected that the girl would turn out to be Shen Wanwan. The enormous attention surrounding her completely pushed down the trending topic he had paid for.
Still, it wasn’t a big problem. As long as Shao Yuye’s career collapsed, he was confident he could take over all of Shao Yuye’s fans.
“So, how are you going to explain this away now, Shao Yuye?”
Leaning back in his executive chair, he casually rested his legs on the desk while smugly twirling a fountain pen in his hand.
It was a gloomy morning. A flash of lightning suddenly streaked across the sky outside, followed by torrential rain.
Looking out the window, the corner of his lips curled into a crooked smile.
—What fitting weather…
Just then, his assistant hurried over with an iPad, his voice trembling.
“Boss… Sh-Shao Yuye just started a livestream!”
Lin Shiran froze.
“A livestream?”
—Didn’t he use this trick last time too…?
Shao Yuye started the livestream directly from his main account.
Almost the instant he went live, an overwhelming flood of viewers poured into the stream.
The comments were split almost evenly between people comforting him and people cursing him. Everyone was urging him to quickly respond to the explosive allegations.
Looking into the camera, Shao Yuye said calmly,
“I’ll explain in a bit.
“Wait five minutes.”
[Why wait another five minutes?]
[Is he waiting for even more viewers to join?]
Holding an apple, Shao Yuye took another bite and replied casually,
“I signed an agreement. The clarification has to go live exactly at ten o’clock, otherwise the servers won’t be able to handle it.”
[Brother Ye, what’s really going on between you and Shen Wanwan? I’ve been your fan for seven years—I’m seriously anxious!]
[Here’s an idea, Shao Yuye: just admit Shen Wanwan is your official girlfriend and that all your resources came from her. That solves every problem. Sure, you’ll lose some fans, but there’ll still be die-hard fans who’ll stick around. They might even think the public announcement is cool—’Brother Ye is a real man.’ 😂]
[As someone who’s been shipping ‘Petty Revenge Duo’ friendship CP, my feelings are really complicated right now. I’ve always believed they were just friends because their eyes looked so pure when they were around each other. If they admit they’re dating, honestly, I’ll blacklist both of them for life.]
[Same here. If he’s dating Shen Wanwan, I’m dropping him immediately. I can accept him dating someone, but I can’t accept him maintaining a fake image while secretly being in a relationship.]
…
When the clock finally struck ten, Shao Yuye had just finished his apple.
He tossed the core neatly into a trash can, turned back to face the camera, and said seriously,
“First, here’s the conclusion: I’m not dating anyone, and I haven’t been fooling around.”
After a brief pause, he hurriedly added,
“I’m not interested in women.”
Then, realizing how that sounded, he quickly corrected himself,
“I’m not interested in men either.”
The ‘Yu Yu’s immediately burst into laughter at the last-minute amendment.
[HAHAHA, Yeye is so adorable.]
[Then what are you interested in? Video games? 😂]
In truth, his calm, carefree attitude had already reassured many of his fans.
Shao Yuye wasn’t a professionally trained actor, and he wasn’t especially good at hiding his emotions. He could be impulsive, hot-tempered, and irrational at times. If he were lying, his eyes would never look this unwavering.
“Now send me all the questions you want answered.
“I’ll go through them one by one.
“The thing about Bai Ling hugging me?”
A cold smile appeared on Shao Yuye’s lips.
He rarely spoke sarcastically, but remembering Bai Ling’s inexplicable behavior that day, and realizing now that she’d been laying the groundwork for today’s scandal, he had no intention of sparing her feelings.
“I really need to reflect on myself.
“My advice to all the guys out there: don’t casually open your door late at night after you’ve just taken a shower.”
—Otherwise someone might hug you, snap a photo, and even if you jumped into the Yellow River, you’d never wash yourself clean.
Of course, what he actually said on stream was,
“Otherwise you’ll have to take another shower.”
[Wait… does Brother Ye mean he showered again after Bai Ling hugged him?]
[I’m crying. His sense of male virtue is literally engraved into his soul!]
[I knew Brother Ye wouldn’t fall! I knew it!]
[What’s wrong with Bai Ling? Brother Ye’s an idol, yet she kept forcing herself onto him. I’m seriously starting to believe conspiracy theories.]
[Exactly! She put on that innocent, pitiful act—ugh! Then she kept saying ‘I’m sorry.’ What a white lotus!]
Just as the fans finished venting, Shao Yuye read the next question aloud.
“My relationship with Shen Wanwan?”
He snorted.
“None of your damn business.”
He genuinely hated exposing his family matters to the public. His first instinct upon seeing the question was simply to snap back.
The livestream comments immediately exploded in disbelief.
[Uh… what?]
[That’s… pretty arrogant.]
[Wow, so this is the professionalism expected of an idol? Amazing. 🙄]
[So is that basically admitting it?]
[Did his team spend the whole night coming up with a plan to publicly announce his relationship while acting all protective of his girlfriend? No way… Surely they don’t actually think that’ll gain fans?]
The very next second, Shao Yuye raised an eyebrow at the camera, his tone proud and unabashed.
“My own biological little sister.
“I can’t put my arm around my own sister?”
…What?
The livestream, which had been scrolling nonstop with comments just moments ago, suddenly fell completely silent.
Countless viewers stared at their screens in shock, wondering if they’d misheard.
—His own biological little sister.
He’d been putting his arm around…
His biological little sister.
Shen Wanwan is Shao Yuye’s biological younger sister?!
How was that even possible?!
This was such a good cliff hanger!!