Chapter 126: Who Could Bear to Let Go

"No, absolutely not!" Su Chen said hastily.

Hearing this, Yan Mi snorted and stopped her attempt to keep pinching Su Chen's ear.

Watching Su Chen protectively shield his ear, Yan Mi felt a sudden pang of self-reproach.

"...Are you hungry?" Yan Mi asked. "Do you want me to take you to that barbecue stall at the night market we went to last time?"

Hearing this, Su Chen's lip twitched. "Sis, did you forget? That owner is still lying in a hospital bed..."

"...Ah?"

Yan Mi blanked for a moment, then let out a nervous laugh, chuckling awkwardly. "Well, that's not the only barbecue stall around. If you want to eat, I'll take you to another one. My treat~"

Listening to her, Su Chen shook his head. "It's too late tonight. Besides, I just had that incident at the barbecue stall a few days ago. The entertainment reporters have caught wind of it; they're probably staking out all those stalls right now."

"If we go out for skewers now, wouldn't we just be walking straight into their trap?"

"True..." Yan Mi's smile faltered as she said helplessly. "Sigh... Alright then. I guess we'll have to wait a while before we can go out for skewers and drinks."

Yan Mi sighed, looking incredibly disappointed. Su Chen's mind was flooded with complaints.

*You're the one who actually wants to eat, aren't you!*

*Sister Mi, you've totally given yourself away!*

"Since we can't eat, let's head back. Shall I drive you back to your hotel?" Yan Mi asked him.

Su Chen instinctively declined. "Uh... I can just take the bus. It's so late, driving me back and forth is too much trouble."

Yan Mi put her hands on her hips, puffing up her cheeks. "No to this, no to that. Are you looking down on me?"

"Ah, wait... that's not what I meant!"

Su Chen cried out in protest, but he simply couldn't win against Yan Mi. In the end, he could only climb into her Porsche Panamera.

By the time Yan Mi dropped Su Chen off at his hotel, it was already two or three in the morning.

Su Chen said goodbye to Yan Mi and returned to his hotel room.

This time, Su Chen did not see Han Jiangxue waiting at the door. The girl had probably gone to sleep.

So, after a long night of competition, Su Chen washed up quickly, lay down on his bed, and fell into a deep sleep.

Early the next morning, before Su Chen had even woken up, the internet was already as lively and bustling as the Lunar New Year.

Lately, only Su Chen possessed the power to generate such immense buzz and discussion.

Netizens were eagerly discussing Su Chen's performance in last night's competition, which naturally led to the topic of where the edited fake video had originated, as well as the individual named Zheng Huayu.

With the confirmation from the police and doctors the night before, it was immediately obvious which of the two videos was real and which was fake.

Nevertheless, industry video-editing experts still came forward to debunk the video released by Starry Interactive Entertainment.

It was a video posted by a verified Weibo influencer, which quickly climbed to the top of the hot search trends.

"...Although the truth is already obvious, I still want to prove to everyone that the smear video targeting Su Chen that went viral a few days ago was indeed edited."

In the video, a faceless man spoke confidently to his computer screen.

The screen displayed video editing software, showing the very clip used to smear Su Chen.

"Actually, I just finished making this video. Before I could even upload it, I heard that Su Chen's innocence had already been proven."

"But operating on the principle that 'making a video and not posting it is a waste of effort,' I still want to point out the traces of editing for everyone."

"First of all, during this fight scene at the beginning, the editor was highly skilled. Relying on our preconceived notions, they completely cut out the part of the original footage where Su Chen was cornered and intercepted. Instead, they framed the narrative as Su Chen engaging in a brawl, forcing a negative label onto him."

"I have to say, this editing technique is not only clever but also extremely malicious!"

"Secondly..."

The rest of the video went on to detail various flaws in the smear video. Over the course of half an hour, the creator pointed out thirteen distinct traces of editing.

The sheer deceitfulness of the editing was outrageous and left viewers thoroughly alarmed.

A clear act of heroism had been twisted into a scandal with just a few cuts!

The frustration was comparable to helping an elderly person who had fallen on the street, only to be extorted by them.

At the end of the video, the influencer issued a stern warning: deliberately spreading edited, defamatory material is a criminal offense, punishable by prison sentences ranging from several years to over a decade depending on the severity.

Consequently, netizens began to follow the clues to find out who was behind the plot to frame Su Chen.

Everyone knew that for the smear campaign to spread so overwhelmingly in such a short time, someone had to be pulling the strings behind the scenes.

Instantly, the influencers and public accounts that had forwarded the smear video, along with those who had criticized Su Chen, felt the heat. Fearing backlash, they quickly deleted their Weibo posts.

Thus, when netizens set out to find the culprit, they found themselves looking around in confusion, unsure of where to direct their anger.

Unable to find an outlet for their frustration, they naturally turned their sights toward the party everyone knew was targeting Su Chen.

Namely, Starry Interactive Entertainment and Zheng Huayu.

Because the former was a massive, deeply entrenched company in the entertainment industry, they simply issued a lawyer's letter, and the matter died down.

Zheng Huayu, however, lacked such influence and backing. Almost immediately after the events of the previous night, he lost half of his followers, and his Weibo account was utterly bombarded by netizens.

"I'm literally laughing. How does a rat like you dare to target Su Chen? You fled the show in disgrace, and even insulting you feels beneath me!"

"You're the one who smeared Su Chen, aren't you? A real man takes responsibility for his actions. What's the point of acting so disgusting behind his back? Are you even a man?! I honestly despise you!"

"Huayu, why would you do something like this? I trusted you and liked you so much. Why did you let me down? You've really disappointed me!"

"Zheng Huayu, you deserve to rot! Just leave the entertainment industry already!"

...

By this morning, unable to bear the overwhelming pressure, Zheng Huayu deleted all his daily updates and comments, completely clearing his Weibo account.

But the furious netizens had no intention of letting him off the hook.

Without any coordination, they swarmed as one, bombarding the social media pages of brands and variety shows associated with Zheng Huayu.

They didn't even spare *Star of Tomorrow*!

The only difference was that for *Star of Tomorrow*, they merely flooded the comments demanding Zheng Huayu's removal, without leaving poor ratings.

After all, who would have the heart to give a bad review to a show that Su Chen was starring in?