Chapter 43
When Ling Rong and Gu Ningyan returned to the teaching building, they were indeed called aside by the production team and immediately scolded. The team was concerned not only about the incident being exploited by someone to create negative publicity against the show or the individuals involved but also about the personal safety of the trainees. If something had happened to someone on their premises, the responsibility would be enormous, and it's likely that no company would dare to send their artists to participate in their program again.
"Hehe, but look, everything turned out fine," Ling Rong said, seeing the director's stern face and quickly flashing a pleasing smile. She acted innocent and sensible, as if she wasn't the same person who had taken down a criminal just moments ago.
Her comment, however, hit a sore spot — the scolding was meant for both her and Gu Ningyan, but suddenly all the blame shifted solely onto Ling Rong.
"You still have the nerve to say that? I heard from the selection coordinator that you volunteered to be the hostage, didn't you? Do you even care about your future? If something had happened to your face or you had been seriously injured, where would you go crying then?" the director scolded her.
The director's words stemmed from genuine fear, and he quickly added: "We've told you time and time again to stay away from fan gatherings, but you wouldn't listen. Didn't this almost cause trouble?"
In this cutthroat entertainment industry, everyone was shrewd. Given the special treatment Ling Rong received from Shengyue Entertainment, the director could guess that there must be an extremely powerful force backing him. And if anything happened to him during their show, it would ultimately fall back on them.
Ling Rong was also aware that she had made a mistake, so she promptly admitted her error: "I'm sorry, director, I was wrong this time. I will definitely heed your advice next time and avoid excessive contact with fans!"
"Alright, director, it's my fault too — I didn't restrain her, and there's a cut on his neck from the knife. I want to take Ling Rong to get it bandaged," Gu Ningyan quickly stepped in to defuse the situation for Ling Rong.
When the director heard that Ling Rong had indeed been injured, he put aside his lecture: "Is it serious? Do you need me to call a car to take you to the hospital?"
"No need, director — it's just a minor injury, I'm really fine," Ling Rong hastily explained, fearing that the director would insist on taking her to the hospital like Gu Ningyan had.
"Okay, okay, just make sure to go to the hospital if anything happens. You two can go now," the director felt quite drained by the day's events and waved the two of them away.
"Thank you, director!"
After Gu Ningyan brought Ling Rong back to the dormitory, he rushed out and returned with a large assortment of medicine and gauze. The quantity of supplies made it seem like Ling Rong had been severely slashed by the knife.
"Lift your head, I'll help you clean the wound first," Gu Ningyan instructed the young woman sitting on the chair.
Ling Rong obediently lifted her head, exposing her slender, snow-white neck to Gu Ningyan.
Although the cut was small, it was indeed an eyesore on her fair skin. Gu Ningyan's eyes slightly darkened as he gently pressed a clean piece of gauze around the wound. He then prepared a bowl of warm water, dampened the gauze, and gently wiped away the bloodstains around the cut. Finally, he began to wrap the gauze around her neck.
Feeling the layers of gauze being wrapped around her neck, Ling Rong couldn't help but speak up: "Ningyan, my wound really only needs a band-aid, there's no need for being so…"
"Exaggerated."
Ling Rong paused for quite some time before uttering the last word. Seeing how Gu Ningyan abruptly stopped his action and stared at her without blinking, she compromised and didn't utter the words that might upset him further.
Fine, so what if she had to wear a few layers of gauze? It's just a little hot, that's all!
Upon hearing that something had happened, a group of boys rushed to Dormitory 605 to visit Ling Rong. They were indeed frightened when they saw a thick layer of gauze wrapped around his neck and worriedly said, "Was he stabbed with a knife? Why isn't he at the hospital then? And was his throat injured too? What will we do if he can't sing, especially since the third performance is just around the corner?"
The boys surrounded Ling Rong, who was sitting in the middle, like a group of monkeys at a zoo, chattering away.
"I'm really fine! It's just a..."
Ling Rong tried to explain that the wound was minor once again, but Gu Ningyan's intense gaze made her swallow her words. There was no denying the strength of his aura, and his statuesque features emanated an intimidating charisma. The pair of dark, meaningful eyes were too much for Ling Rong to handle.
Fine, she'd be cooperative and play the part of the injured party today. There was no need to worry about anything else.
After securing the gauze around Ling Rong's neck, Gu Ningyan finally had the time to answer the boys, "Her throat isn't injured, she can still sing."
Given their close bond after spending so much time together, everyone breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Ling Rong was fine. "As long as he can sing, that's what matters. It might just look a bit unseemly on stage."
________________________
However, only half a day had passed when netizens casually browsing Weibo quickly spotted a new topic that had popped up in the recommended section.
#AreTheirGoodRelationsFake? #Why is Gu Ningyan Bullying Ling Rong?#
This topic immediately drew the attention of many netizens who clicked to find out what the story was. The show "Cheer Up, Idol" had recently been experiencing high popularity, and Ling Rong was already well-known for his beauty, having topped the trending searches before. This provocative headline quickly garnered a lot of attention and saw a significant increase in search volume.
Clicking into the topic, netizens found the post was made by a well-known entertainment journalist, who specialized in capturing celebrities' private moments.
The tweet started with a photo capturing Gu Ningyan with a stern expression, fiercely gripping Ling Rong's collar as if he was about to pull him in, and by the looks of it, anyone would think that Gu Ningyan was seconds away from throwing a punch at Ling Rong.
Accompanying the photo, there was a line of text: "Bullying a group member before even debuting, is it over resources or something else? With such quality, is one really suitable to become an idol within a group?"
The comments quickly adopted a biased view, with those claiming to be fans of Ling Rong speaking up in defense of their idol. There were fans of Gu Ningyan who rebutted with controlled responses, and fans of the couple's on-screen pairing proclaimed their disbelief in TV relationships, expressing disappointment that the two seemed so sweet on the screen but interacted so differently in private.
Of course, there were also comments from so-called neutral fans passing by, who lamented: "The entertainment industry is indeed a chaotic place. Is there any real brotherhood? It's all just fighting over camera time or resources."
Still, there were rational fans questioning: "How can a single photo be enough to tell anything? What's the context of the situation? We need the full story before making a judgment. Just this photo with vague commentary seems designed to incite conflict. The fans of both parties used to be harmonious; it's the troublemakers who want to stir up issues."
Yet it seems the more one gets closer to the truth, the more they receive criticism. Under this particular reply, various major and minor accounts started to cause a stir.
One comment read, "Pictures tell the truth. The image clearly implies Gu Ningyan has violent tendencies towards our Ling Rong. How can this be whitewashed? There were rumors before that Ling Rong only got into the group by investing, and Gu Ningyan, coming from a plain background, may harbor resentment towards her because of it."
Another argued, "Ling Rong's investment to get a slot in the group is a fact. Done the deed, but can't handle the roast? Our Ningyan always keeps to himself and stays out of trouble. He rarely even talks to others. Could Ling Rong have done something particularly outrageous? Our brother had to step in as a warning. Didn't you see? He only pulled at his collar, didn't hit him. Are the ones claiming he did blind?"
A fan of Ling Rong replied, "Our Rongrong is the group's darling! Everyone in the company dotes on him, and even when joking, he knows his boundaries. It's impossible that he would've done anything particularly outrageous to Gu Ningyan. You 'Ningyan supporters' should stop trying to clear his name. Don't always drag our Rongrong into couple-ship debates or ride on his popularity. It's more than enough! Hands off our beloved Rongrong."
Regardless of who supported whom, the comments section soon became a full-blown argument, and no one was willing to concede. Interestingly, the majority of the comments were negative towards Gu Ningyan.
The blog post, which originally had just over 10,000 views, started to gain attention and shares rapidly. The view count soared as if on a rocket, quickly reaching 40,000... 50,000, and soon topped the real-time trending list on Weibo.
Five minutes later, this topic quickly climbed into the top fifty trending topics, and it showed no signs of slowing down.
"The director, it's bad news," an assistant who was constantly monitoring Weibo updates reported to the director upon seeing the trending topic on Weibo. "People have started viciously bad-mouthing Gu Ningyan on Weibo, and it's related to the incident this morning!"
Though a trainee's personal life doesn't directly relate to their program, the director still needs to stay updated to respond to any situation.
After viewing the detailed content on Weibo, the director couldn't help but furrow his brows, "Didn't they rescue someone today? How did this drama come about?"
"And based on how close Gu Ningyan typically seems to the kid Ling Rong, if someone were to say Ling Rong wanted to hit him, I might believe it. However, the claim that Gu Ningyan would bully Ling Rong is simply impossible!"
The more he read, the more absurd he found it. "What on earth is going on?" He pondered. Perhaps some paparazzo deliberately captured this scene to smear Gu Ningyan. After all, there was no shortage of outrageous haters nowadays, possibly looking to showcase their capabilities through such dramatic events.
Yet, the praises they deserved for their good deeds were overshadowed by this one misinterpreted picture, shared by the paparazzo with the intention of creating a buzz out of pure slander.
"Are they still training?" The director asked the assistant after putting down his phone, "I presume they aren't aware of this issue yet?"
"Yes, director. They're all still training. After all, the third performance is just around the corner. Moreover, they don't have their phones as we've collected them all, so they couldn't possibly know."
Judging by the director's question, the assistant guessed, "Is your plan not to inform them about this? You're going to let it slide?"
Informing them right now would only disrupt their training and affect their performance mood, which would be more harmful than helpful on stage.
"No, of course, I need to tell them," the director said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. After considering the matter, he decided it was better to inform them to prevent the situation from escalating.
"Call them over," he instructed the assistant.
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