Chapter 127: Riding the Wave of Popularity

Amidst the roar of cheers, Liao Yuan stepped off the stage.

Fu Xiaoci could not contain her excitement and rushed forward to give Liao Yuan a bear hug.

Huh?

Fu Xiaoci’s cheeks suddenly burned with heat. Her fingers, moving with quick, practiced precision, explored Liao Yuan’s abdomen in the blind spot of the crowd.

One, two, three…

Heavens!

Who would have thought that Uncle A actually had abs?

Liao Yuan pushed Fu Xiaoci away, frowning at her.

Fu Xiaoci’s face turned even redder.

"Sorry, I couldn't help it..."

She coughed and offered praise: "Our Uncle A is truly formidable. You made the enemy drop their armor and flee without a fight—simply incredible!"

Nearby, many other contestants stepped forward to offer their congratulations. After responding with polite modesty, Liao Yuan signaled for Fu Xiaoci and his two bodyguards to leave the venue.

"Leaving so soon?" Lin Weiyin asked. "Don't you want to stay and observe your future opponents? Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will never be defeated."

Liao Yuan paused and said, "I have other matters to attend to."

Lin Weiyin nodded. "I have accepted an invitation from J-Station to serve as a judge for the grand finale. Mr. Liao, I hope you continue to make rapid progress in the semi-finals. I will be waiting for you at the Bird’s Nest."

Liao Yuan did not reply and walked directly toward the exit.

The cheers in the arena continued unabated. Liang Qingquan, the person in charge of coordinating the contestants, hurried after Liao Yuan. After failing to persuade him to stay, he said, "Uncle A, the semi-finals will likely be held at the old stadium in Donghai City. Please keep an eye on your email for updates."

With that, he turned to Fu Xiaoci: "Ms. Fu, please ensure your phone is kept on 24 hours a day for the next two days. Be ready for a call from our staff at any time."

Fu Xiaoci agreed immediately.

When they emerged from the opera house, many well-known streamers and media reporters were still lingering outside. As they saw the masked man exit, the bustling crowd suddenly fell silent.

The next moment, the streamers and media personnel began rushing toward Liao Yuan and his group. No one had expected the famous Uncle A to leave so quickly!

"The Masked Superhero leaving is one thing, but how could Uncle A leave too?"

"Didn't Uncle A win the match?"

"Holy cow, folks! Look who this is!"

The commotion at the entrance drew the attention of the security guards. Knowing that Uncle A was a contestant, they stood in a line without waiting for instructions, shielding Liao Yuan as they escorted him away.

Taxis vied to pull up to the curb. Soon, under the protection of the security team, Liao Yuan and his party boarded a taxi and headed straight for the airport.

They did not linger in Beijing for even a moment.

This was because, according to news just received, an internal video from "Produce 101" had been leaked and was spreading wildly across the internet, causing a stir throughout the industry. The content of the video was exactly the footage from the backstage of yesterday's performance, showing Liao Yuan and Han Yu in a heated confrontation.

"This wasn't part of your plan, Director Fu, was it?" Liao Yuan asked over the phone from the airport terminal. "Who leaked it?"

"Shi Senming." Fu Tao hesitated before continuing. "He’s the assistant director who framed you yesterday. The guy wants to go down with the ship. However, his actions haven't just violated his contract; they've crossed into legal territory. I will make him pay a heavy price."

Liao Yuan furrowed his brow, eventually changing his question: "Does this affect your plan?"

"Of course it does," Fu Tao chuckled. "But the impact isn't that great—it just cut off my retreat. From now on, it's either I step on Han Yu, or Han Yu steps on me. It’s that simple. Don't worry; this is the outcome I wanted from the start."

Liao Yuan mused, "Is there anything you need my help with?"

"Just take care of yourself for now," Fu Tao said sternly. "You and Han Yu are both in the eye of the storm. The new episode hasn't aired yet, so people are taking snippets from the video completely out of context. Your situation might be even more dangerous than last time. You know how terrifying those underage fans can be."

Liao Yuan thought of the teenagers who used to loiter outside his home and sighed to himself.

After hanging up, Liao Yuan opened his phone and searched for the news. Soon, he saw the animated GIF of himself kicking Han Yu in the chest. It was spreading like wildfire across forums and web portals, with netizens even spoofing the image and adding subtitles.

"One punch? No, all it takes is one kick!"

"Take that, Old Thief Han! Behold my mighty Vajra kick!"

"Countdown: three, two...!"

"The straw that broke the camel's back—it's not that hard; it only takes one kick. You can't lose out on this, you won't be fooled..."

The greater the popularity and the more fans one has, the more haters follow. Upon seeing the GIF of Liao Yuan delivering a powerful kick to Han Yu, men over thirty laughed and liked the post, even though most of them didn't know who Liao Yuan was.

Beyond that, Liao Yuan’s personal information was dug up. His personal Weibo was overrun once again. Because Liao Yuan hadn't posted in over a month, his latest post was still filled with comments from the previous incident. Combined with this new turmoil, the number of comments on his first post more than doubled in just one morning, jumping from 300,000 to 700,000, with 100,000 shares.

Opening the comments, the insults and curses were overwhelming. Every abusive comment had over a thousand likes, and the top comments in the section had reached over a hundred thousand.

Weibo’s official team quickly turned the incident into a special report. Since Han Yu was a traffic-driving celebrity with hundreds of millions of fans, the topic was a hot one, and every user comment under the report received tens of thousands of views.

Under such immense pressure, information regarding Liao Yuan’s phone number, his alma mater, his workplace, and even the Little Yellow Fish Culture Company—where he had just completed a share transfer at the Industrial and Commercial Bureau—was exposed.

Before the person in question had even spoken, his alma mater, the Donghai Media Institute, immediately distanced itself after a morning of bombardment by netizens, issuing a statement that severed all ties with him. The official account even righteously condemned Liao Yuan, claiming his behavior had caused a negative social impact, and called on all faculty and students to take his actions as a warning.

In contrast, the Donghai Radio Station appeared much calmer, maintaining its composure in the face of internet vitriol and refusing to make any statement. However, by noon, it was reported that over a dozen young girls had gathered at the station to protest.

"This is bad!" Fu Xiaoci said, looking at the news with a grimace. "Is our company going to be blocked too?"

Liao Yuan leaned back in his airplane seat and closed his eyes. "That GIF was taken out of context to begin with. The bigger this blows up, the more Lemon Entertainment stands to lose. They can't afford not to handle the PR. Let them cause a scene—the bigger, the better."

Fu Xiaoci worriedly asked, "Then what do we do now? Aren't we still planning to have Song Baining debut online? Don't we need to lay low?"

Liao Yuan replied calmly, "No need. The hype is peaking right now. If we don't capitalize on it now, when will we?"