Chapter 23

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Chapter 23: Title

If someone were insulting Wei Yao, Wei Yao’s fans would undoubtedly fight back fiercely on the frontlines. But now, although these people were speaking up for Gong Yu, they weren’t targeting Wei Yao; instead, they focused their criticism entirely on Song Yutian.

Thus, some of Wei Yao’s fans chose to stay silent.

However, perhaps remembering how Song Yutian had previously stood up to support Wei Yao and recalling the complex-toned "thank you" Wei Yao had said to Song Yutian, many of Wei Yao’s fans still stepped forward.

[What did Song Yutian do wrong? What’s the problem with standing up for Wei Yao when she was being bullied?]

[Some Gong Yu fans need to calm down. Who was the one forcing Yao Yao to pull the cart in the first place? Now anyone who speaks fairly gets attacked by you?]

[Among the five teams, Wei Yao was the only girl forced to pull the cart. I think Gong Yu deserved Sister Song’s criticism.]

[Yao Yao must genuinely appreciate Song Yutian for speaking up for her. In this situation, I’m siding with Song Yutian.]

Thanks to the comments from Wei Yao’s fans, the one-sided backlash against Song Yutian in the livestream began to gradually shift. Aside from fans of Gong Yu and Wei Yao, more ordinary viewers started speaking up in support of Song Yutian.

[Was Song Yutian wrong for what she said about Gong Yu? Should she be attacked just for speaking the truth?]

[I still remember Sister Song’s words to Gong Yu: Why is it only women’s appearances that get commodified?]

[Support Song Yutian! This show needs female contestants who dare to speak their minds.]

[Support Sister Song! Sister Song did nothing wrong!]

While the livestream was buzzing with activity, a hashtag slowly climbed the trending list on social media.

#How scheming can male celebrities be

This hashtag slowly climbed from the bottom rankings, unexpectedly reaching the seventh spot on the hot search.

Clicking into the hashtag page, the top post was a video shared by a blogger.

The video’s title was "How Calculating Can Male Celebrities Be to Get the Room They Want?"

This approximately five-minute video edited footage of male contestants assigning rooms from the show Unexpected Challenges. The most ingenious part was that the blogger used AI voiceovers to dub "inner monologues (OS)" for each contestant after their spoken lines.

If we ignored what the contestants actually said and only connected the blogger’s dubbed inner monologues, the room assignment dialogue transformed into:

Liu Tian: "I want the big double room with a balcony. But given my lower status and junior seniority, you seniors should choose first. I hope you’ll show mercy."

Qin Yuanzhuo: "I’ll feign courtesy to show respect. But actually, I only want the single room—you’d all better be sensible and not compete with me."

Gu Feng: "Enough nonsense. Given my status, I’ve never stayed anywhere but presidential suites when traveling. The single room is mine."

Gong Yu: "I actually want the single room too, but seeing how fiercely you’re competing, my status probably can’t match these two. I’ll settle for second best—let me take that big double room with the balcony without hearing your arguments."

Zhong Yueli: "You’re all so dramatic. Keep going, pretend I’m not here."

Qin Yuanzhuo: "Fine, considering Gu Feng’s formidable background, I won’t fight for the single room. You win this round, Gu Feng. I back down."

Gu Feng: "Hehe, it’s wise of you to know your place. I bet none of the others dare object either. I’m already being generous by not complaining about this single room being too small."

Gong Yu: "Perfect! My choice to settle for second best was right after all. The large double room is mine. I’ll drag Liu Tian in with me—we’ll happily occupy the balcony-equipped room."

Qin Yuanzhuo: "Don’t flatter yourselves. If I can’t handle Gu Feng, you two, with combined followers fewer than mine, stand no chance. I’m definitely taking one bed in that balcony double room."

Liu Tian: "Better back off, better back off. Gong Yu, maybe we should give up? Qin Yuanzhuo has so many fans, we can’t afford to provoke him."

Gong Yu: "You’re right, buddy, tactical retreat it is."

Zhong Yueli: "Finally done? Alright, settled then."

This video perfectly showcased the male contestants’ thoughts during room allocation. The added meme stickers enhanced the comedic effect.

The psychological interpretations of these male celebrities in the video perfectly satisfied netizens’ cravings. Whether these interpretations were accurate became irrelevant—what mattered was that they fed netizens’ schadenfreude and voyeuristic desires toward celebrities.

Public figures feuding was netizens’ favorite drama, especially when, except for Gu Feng, these were all moderately famous male artists from various tiers of fame.

The blogger who posted the video had a small following, with previous videos only receiving double-digit likes. However, this particular video stood out, with views surging to over two million and comments in the thousands—metrics that were still rapidly increasing.

While the netizens enjoying the drama were thrilled, the fans of the celebrities featured in the video were not too pleased.

The male celebrities featured in the video each had decent-sized fanbases. Together, their collective power rivaled that of a top-tier celebrity’s fanbase.

The narrated inner monologues in the video mostly leaned negative. For three of the celebrities, the commentary was relatively mild, highlighting their "scheming moves." However, the interpretations targeting Gu Feng and Qin Yuanzhuo outright accused them of arrogance and of bullying the weak while fearing the strong.

Qin Yuanzhuo’s fans would never stand for this. As the most formidable fanbase among the male contestants, they immediately rushed to the front lines.

[Is there any point in malicious interpretations?]

[They insist on distorting perfectly normal statements—the video creator is either stupid or malicious.]

[Who would believe such awkwardly fabricated smears? Qin Yuanzhuo’s character speaks for itself.]

[Our Brother Zhuo has truly made it big when all sorts of monsters dare to slander him.]

Meanwhile, fans of Gong Yu and Liu Tian also emerged to defend their idols.

[How biased must one be to view others through distorted lenses? Thankfully, I won’t be fooled—Gong Yu’s kindness and humility are universally recognized.]

[I have my own eyes, thank you. No need for the blogger to exhaust themselves smearing Gong Yu.]

[How could anyone slander such an innocent and adorable brother like Liu Tian? Does this blogger have any conscience?]

[Tainted minds see filth everywhere. What I see is everyone showing mutual respect and having harmonious fun.]

As Zhong Yueli spoke the least in the video, his presence was barely noticeable. To avoid attracting trouble, Zhong Yueli’s fan groups actively discouraged members from getting involved in the drama, resulting in few visible fans in the comments section.

Gu Feng ended up in a rather pitiful situation—he was nearly as maligned in the video as Qin Yuanzhuo, but lacked an established fanbase due to his limited public exposure, so few came to his defense.

However, regardless of which idol’s fans they supported, none succeeded in upvoting their comments to the top position.

Sitting at the very top of the comment section was a post from a netizen with an unclear fan affiliation:

[Am I the only one who thinks it’s better for men to speak their minds directly and discuss things openly? Unlike women, who act all sweet and sisterly on the surface but tear each other apart behind the scenes.]

This comment was posted early and sparked significant controversy, resulting in not only an extremely high number of likes but also a flood of replies that far surpassed all others.

Initially, many people expressed agreement.

[Exactly! At least the guy in the video speaks his mind upfront. Isn’t that better than women scheming behind your back?]

[Even as a woman, I prefer men’s communication style. Women’s underhanded tricks are just tiresome.]

[If this were female celebrities, pfff, the catfights would probably be a hundred times worse.]

But gradually, more netizens began to counter these arguments.

[Isn’t this just judging people by their status in the video? Calling it "speaking directly" is laughable.]

[Hmph, after entering the workforce, I’ve seen men scheme with more palace-drama tactics for promotions than anyone. And you claim men don’t play dirty?]

[What do you mean by "dragging down female artists"? Did you personally witness any female artists secretly backstabbing others?]

[Sorry to disappoint you, but the female contestants on the show are getting along perfectly fine.]

Many netizens saw this post and, driven by curiosity, searched for footage of the female contestants’ room assignment process.

Numerous content creators had already clipped recordings from the livestream and uploaded segments of the female contestants’ room assignments to social platforms.

Admittedly, after watching the entire room allocation process for the female contestants, many netizens felt somewhat disappointed.

[Came here from the male contestants’ side—this female contestants’ segment has no drama at all.]

[I thought if the male artists’ interactions were that intense, this side would be even more chaotic. Who knew it’d wrap up so smoothly?]

[Song Yutian didn’t cause any drama? With her around, I was sure things would get messy here!]

[Aren’t "three women enough to stage a drama"? Why is this side less entertaining than the male artists’?]

But most were praises.

[The female contestants here look so comfortable; everyone is cooperating well and quickly getting things done.]

[Wei Yao YYDS! Her leadership is amazing, and everyone listens to her.]

[Everyone is so harmonious here; I love the vibe among the girls.]

Of course, there were also some ill-intentioned ones stirring up trouble and spreading pessimism.

[Among these people, does Song Yutian’s status really deserve the big room? No wonder they suggested drawing lots—just to take advantage, right?]

[It’s just the beginning. Just wait—the female contestants will definitely argue later.]

But soon, such inflammatory comments were shot down.

[Everyone is clearly harmonious. Can’t some people stop praising whatever the male artists do while nitpicking the female artists endlessly?]

[Whether there will be arguments later is unknown, but some people’s prejudice against women is truly laughable.]

With sustained high engagement in this video discussion, it continued to boost the program’s popularity.

After the male contestants’ inner monologue video about room assignments went viral, it brought significant traffic to various program-related content.

Netizens not only searched for footage of the female contestants’ room allocation process but also binge-watched many other recorded program clips.

Following the first day’s broadcast, many bloggers uploaded screen recordings and edited compilations, with related topics gaining moderate popularity—several even remained trending on hot searches.

Besides the explosive popularity of the "male celebrity room selection" topic, #SuMoyingGuFengCameForYou also trended within the top 10 hot searches.

Su Moying’s name itself carried inherent popularity, and Gu Feng’s public expression of admiration for her during his self-introduction attracted considerable netizen attention.

[Declaring "I came for you" before a national audience? That’s peak romance!]

[Is this how the wealthy pursue women? A public confession on a show?]

[Am I the only one wondering—the girl is part of a girl group. Won’t this actually harm her career?]

[No matter what you think, overbearing CEO vs. sweet female idol—this CP I’m shipping!]

Surprisingly, what also trended wasn’t Qin Yuanzhuo or Zhong Yueli, who were next in popularity, but something related to Song Yutian.