Early the next morning, while He Jinxia was already filming on set, the belated clarification from Gu Runfei and Luo Sifang fernted for a full day and night erged on W blog.
As Jinxia had anticipated, Gu Runfei indeed claid that he had broken up with his girlfriend, denied any rumors of infidelity during his relationship, and also refuted the gossip linking him romantically with Luo Sifang, asserting that they were rely friends.
At the sa ti, Gu Runfei’s ex-girlfriend Zhang Hanxi also posted on W blog, publicly stating that they had broken up a month before Gu Runfei even started shooting "Small Bridge, Flowing Water, People".
Netizens calculated the timing, and it seed the breakup happened around New Year’s Day or February.
These two must have coordinated their responses, as their W blog posts were consistent.
The reason they kept it a secret was that the two were a couple previously, with overlapping public engagents, and considering various influences, they chose not to announce sooner. They were waiting for their work to be completely separated before announcing the breakup.
However, many netizens weren’t buying their story.
"Gu Runfei’s ex-girlfriend, internet celebrity Lili, had an abortion for him" – this piece of news caused an uproar at the end of last year, and although Gu Runfei himself denied it as utterly unfounded, once such a scandal breaks, it sticks in people’s minds.
Moreover, as the internet celebrity Lili presented so evidence, and Gu Runfei couldn’t provide any to contradict it – only insisting the child wasn’t his – the public’s opinion leaned even more towards Lili’s side.
Malicious slander, scandals, and juicy gossip tend to be more morable than mundane news, so even though Gu Runfei denied it, in the eyes of many netizens, the story was believed to be true.
After half a year’s effort to clear his na, Gu Runfei’s image had sowhat recovered, only to be hit with this cheating scandal, leaving a very poor impression of him in the minds of the public.
In addition, Gu Runfei’s ex-girlfriend Zhang Hanxi appeared pure and hardworking in her acting career, with no negative news coming out, which worsened the public’s impression of Gu Runfei, while they felt sympathy for Zhang Hanxi.
["Hanxi, has Bastard Gu cheated on you and not only impregnated soone else but also been unfaithful to you? Do you still need to cover for him? Let it go, don’t protect that scumbag any longer, you’ve been too good to him!"]
["If you’ve broken up, you should’ve said it earlier. Announcing it now, the PR manipulation could not be more obvious, could it?"]
["My heart aches for our Hanxi, even after breaking up she’s being used by Bastard Gu to whitewash himself."]
["So you’re telling Bastard Gu didn’t cheat while in a relationship? Ha, if you decide to keep a breakup secret, then you should play your part well, Bastard Gu is too ’impatient,’ isn’t he?"]
...
While the internet was abuzz with heated discussions, Luo Sifang also joined in, actively serving up drama to the audience.
She started by reposting Gu Runfei’s latest W blog post, and then followed with a clarification that she and Gu Runfei were just friends.
Netizens flooded her hopage with comnts, showing a polarized reaction.
So called for her to turn back while she still could and avoid being with Bastard Gu; others insulted her for being shaless, seducing soone else’s man and playing the bla ga when things went south, lacking responsibility.
["Explain why ’just friends’ would go out to eat while holding hands!"]
["Explain holding hands, it’s hilarious, even if it’s a guy best friend, holding hands is going too far when the guy is known to have a girlfriend, no?"]
"You can tell they’re scared, so they’re passing the buck, plain and simple. Either Luo Sifang knew Gu Runfei had a girlfriend but still chose to date him, or she knew he broke up with his girlfriend and took the opportunity to get together with him."
"It didn’t take long after they secretly started dating for the affair to be exposed. So now she’s chickened out, and claiming they have no relationship is currently the best solution."
This comnt from a netizen received nurous likes, shot up to the hot comnts section, and even earned them the title of "Wisdom Emperor."
Now that statents and notices have all been issued, this matter should be at an end.
What no one anticipated, not even He Jinxia, was that a bunch of promotional photos and behind-the-scenes shots from "Small Bridge, Flowing Water, People" suddenly got leaked by major marketing accounts.
Quite coincidentally, the leak focused on photos of He Jinxia and Luo Dingxin!
Not only that, but photos of them going out to eat together during the filming and even discussing the script on set also surfaced.
A quiet wave suggesting "He Jinxia and Luo Dingxin are dating" began to surge. Just one hour after the photos were leaked, the Water Army started a rhythm, hyping up the romance between He Jinxia and Luo Dingxin!
"I think Fat Emperor and Little Lamb (fans’ nickna for Luo Dingxin) make a good couple!"
"Awooo, a perfect match, totally ship it!"
"Look at the way Little Lamb dotes on her with those adoring eyes. He’s really gentle with He Jinxia, even his gaze is different. They must be dating."
"Hold on, why are they suddenly hyping up a romance between He Jinxia and Luo Dingxin? No smoke without fire, but just because of so set photos they’re talking about them dating? That’s so awkward. What will Gu Runfei and Luo Sifang do now that they’ve been proven to be involved?"
...
The Water Army was massively controlling the narrative, and the comnts were flooded with words like "together", "perfect match", "dating", making uninford people think they might really be in a relationship!
The few voices of reason were drowned out in the tumultuous waves controlled by the Water Army, left with no room to survive.
An hour and a half after the photos were leaked, thanks to the diligent efforts of the Water Army, the phrase "He Jinxia and Luo Dingxin are dating" climbed to the top 10 trends!
With this, another huge crowd of onlookers ca to indulge in the drama between the two.
The sheer volu of comnts from the public soon overwheld the Water Army’s control. Fortunately for them, the Water Army had already set the narrative rolling and so netizens left comnts like "they make a good couple", "should be together", "probably dating" and so on.
Another portion was dissing "Small Bridge, Flowing Water, People" for its relentless promotional tactics. First ca the scandal with Gu Runfei and Luo Sifang, followed by Luo Dingxin and He Jinxia’s rumored involvent.
"It’s all a setup~~ Can’t they stop pairing up the lead and supporting actors in TV shows by force? This kind of fake hype is cringeworthy."
"It’s all the drama’s doing, He Jinxia and Luo Dingxin are innocent, okay!"
"I’m starting to suspect that the whole thing with Gu Runfei and Luo Sifang was deliberately released by the drama team. It’s too coincidental, their TV show is about to air soon."
Another portion of netizens were opposed to the pairing, mainly comprising of fans from both sides who each stuck to their own argunts, joyously causing a raucous and thoroughly muddying the waters.
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