Chinese Entertainment: Top-Tier Boyfriends of Young Actresses

As expected, within three days, the number of smear articles targeting Su Yu began to increase explosively.

Su Yu clicked into Weibo and searched his name briefly. The related keywords that popped up made him frown more and more. "Su Yu before and after plastic surgery comparison", "Su Yu failed his exam", "Su Yu plagiarized", "Su Yu is a scumbag".

Each post was accompanied by a sensational headline and carefully pieced-together images, with most of them published within the past 24 hours, clearly indicating an organized and concentrated campaign.

The first to ignite the controversy was a marketing account called "Circle Gossip Master," which published a long article titled "Is the 'Academic Elite' Persona Fake? 'School Heartthrob and Academic Elite' Suspected of Failing Countless Courses."

The article claims to have interviewed "an anonymous student from Xichuan University," alleging that Su Yu missed many classes due to long-term filming and failed multiple professional courses, and that the so-called "academic star" was just a facade created by the studio.

Immediately following, another fashion gossip account with millions of followers released a set of comparison photos with the headline, "Plastic Surgery for 'Campus Heartthrob'? The Difference Between a Top Celebrity's Photos Before Fame and Now is Huge!"

The photo on the left is a candid shot of Su Yu during his freshman year military training, taken by a classmate. His skin is tanned, his hair is messy from being pressed down by his military training cap, and the photo is blurry. The photo on the right is a retouched still from the drama "A Love So Beautiful," showing him sitting by the window in his school uniform.

The lighting, angles, and states in the two photos are vastly different, but the facial features clearly indicate that it is the same person.

But passersby don't care about any of that. When marketing accounts say there's a "huge difference," they just follow suit and comment, "Turns out it's just another face-swapping monster."

Before this story could even die down, "Entertainment Big Reveal" published another article titled "Impoverished Student's Persona is Fake! A Certain Celebrity Surnamed Su is Suspected to be the Son of a Tycoon."

The article, presented in the tone of "according to insiders," claims that Su Yu's so-called "rural background in southern Sichuan" is pure fabrication, that his father is actually a local private business owner with a wealthy family background, and that the "rags-to-riches" story is a carefully crafted persona designed by the studio from beginning to end.

Meanwhile, another account was also busy, posting an article titled "Talented Man or Thief? Su Yu's New Song Suspected of Plagiarizing a Certain Singer!", claiming that the melody of Su Yu's "Want to See You, Want to See You, Want to See You" chorus is highly similar to a certain obscure overseas single, and even posted a so-called "audio track comparison picture" as evidence.

Of course, the comparison image is so blurry it looks like it was taken with a landline camera, and no one can name the so-called "unpopular overseas singles".

Following closely behind, relationship bloggers also joined in the fun.

A blogger posted an article titled "Warm Man or Scumbag? A Top Celebrity's Ex-Girlfriend's Accusation Confirms He's a Scumbag!", accompanied by a vague "chat screenshot," claiming that a girl who identified herself as Su Yu's ex-girlfriend revealed that he "cheated on multiple women and broke up with them using emotional abuse."

This post actually got the most reposts of all the smear articles. After all, the general public may not care that much about academic geniuses and plastic surgery, but they are naturally sensitive to the private lives of top celebrities.

Finally, the grand finale was a long article with pictures and text titled "Pictures don't lie! Confirmed scumbag! Exposing Su Yu's decadent private life!" The pictures were photos of Su Yu and Zhou Ye taken by fans in Hejiang County.

The original photo shows Su Yu sitting at a restaurant table, Zhou Ye sitting opposite him, with a table full of dishes between them, and Xiao Zhou sitting next to him.

However, the marketing account deliberately cropped out Xiao Zhou from the photo, leaving only the picture of Su Yu and Zhou Ye together, and added the text "Secretly meeting a mysterious woman, behaving intimately," thus creating a fabricated love scandal.

Not only that, this long article also dug up all the photos of Su Yu with the actresses he worked with during his time on set.

The photos included not only Wang Churan and Tian Xiwei, but also many other actresses who had worked with Su Yu, such as Ma Sichun, Wang Ziwei, and Wang Xuanqing. Each of these photos was carefully selected and accompanied by an ambiguous caption.

The blogger stated that, according to insiders, Su Yu is someone who "changes girlfriends every time he films a movie" and is a "professional couple on set."

Su Yu read through the long article from beginning to end and suddenly found it a little funny.

These group photos are mostly normal group photos, and some even contain other people, but they have all been maliciously cut out.

He felt these people were outrageous; his real dirt hadn't been exposed, but these baseless accusations were being leveled up one after another.

In fact, anyone who knows Su Yu even slightly can tell at a glance that these smear articles are ridiculously fake.

His die-hard fans took immediate action, with his fan club spontaneously organizing an anti-blacklisting team to refute the rumors one by one on Weibo.

Regarding plastic surgery, some fans dug up photos of him at different ages before he became famous as the "campus heartthrob of Sichuan University," arranging them one by one in chronological order to prove that his face has been handsome since he was a child.

Regarding the plagiarism, some fans compared the sheet music of "Want to See You, Want to See You, Want to See You" with all the so-called "plagiarized songs" on the market and found that none of them matched.

Regarding the failed courses, some fans contacted Su Yu's classmates at Xichuan University and obtained Su Yu's academic transcripts during his time at the university. These transcripts show that he not only did not fail any courses, but his average GPA in his major courses was also quite good.

However, there were too many online trolls. Numerous marketing accounts and online trolls worked together to launch attacks, using uniform copywriting and comment templates. The comment section was flooded with comments like "watching the drama unfold," "the image has collapsed," and "I knew this persona would eventually crumble."

Most passersby are just watching the show and don't care whether it's true or not; they just want to have fun.

Rival fans took advantage of the chaos to join in, regardless of whether it was true or not, they just joined in the bashing.

On Weibo's trending topics page, the combined forces of fans' anti-blacklisting efforts, online troll attacks, gossip from netizens, and rival fans fanning the flames have created chaos in the comments section, making it impossible for casual observers to distinguish who is telling the truth and who is lying.

Many fans who recently became fans of Su Yu are starting to waver.

This new batch of fans is largely unreliable, mostly consisting of new fans and casual viewers drawn in by the popularity of "A Love So Beautiful." They are only interested in the male lead's looks and the sweetness of the drama, and their emotional foundation is far less solid than that of the old fans who have been with him since "Medical Examiner Qin Ming."

These fans are typical "March drama fans," who come in droves when the drama is popular, but may "switch sides" at the slightest sign of trouble.

On Su Yu's super topic page, posts such as "Su Yu, come out and explain yourself" and "Who should I believe?" have started to appear.

The staff at Su Yu's studio were frantically trying to put out the fire.

They hadn't expected Su Yu to cause such a stir this time.

Judging from the content of the posts and the timing of the campaign, it is clear that more than one competitor was involved in this "anti-explosion" campaign against Su Yu.

In the entertainment industry, "anti-explosion" is a common tactic used to prevent celebrities whose popularity has recently surged by laying negative groundwork in advance, in order to prevent them from gaining too much influence.

Su Yu has been in the limelight these days, stealing most of the attention, which naturally makes him the target of public criticism.

Moreover, there are too many male celebrities whose career paths overlap with Su Yu's.

Yang Yang is known as the "Hunk of the Military Arts School," Kris Wu is also a good-looking idol, and Lu Han is the top-tier celebrity with the thickest fan base among those who returned to China. These popular stars are all competing for resources in the same pool of popularity.

But if we're talking about who Su Yu gets along with the most, it has to be Li Yifeng.

Li Yifeng debuted with the title of "National School Heartthrob," and this label has been associated with him for nearly ten years.

However, after Su Yu suddenly appeared, his marketing articles frequently used the term "school heartthrob" to describe him. In addition, Su Yu's fans often compared him to Li Yifeng, praising their own idol while belittling Li Yifeng. The two fan groups had long harbored deep resentment.

This time, Su Yu was attacked by the entire internet, and Li Yifeng's fans were the most enthusiastic, promoting their own idol while attacking Su Yu as a "fake school heartthrob," with all sorts of veiled criticisms posted everywhere.

The other rivals were certainly not idle either.

Yang Yang's fans felt very indignant about being trampled on by a newcomer like Su Yu, so they naturally wanted to take advantage of the chaos to get involved.

Kris Wu's fans also look down on Su Yu, a newcomer who has just emerged;

Lu Han's fans remained relatively calm. After all, Lu Han's popularity and fan base were undeniable, and Su Yu was not yet a direct threat, but that didn't stop them from occasionally taking a jab at him.

Huo Xiaolan rubbed her temples. This bomb disposal was too intense. She even wondered if Dai Lu had also taken advantage of the situation.

After all, Hu Yitian is also a young male actor who relies on his good looks, and he overlaps with Su Yu in age, appearance, and style.

Dai Lu is the head of Huace Drama Cute Studio, but she is also Hu Yitian's boss.

She may admire Su Yu, but when it comes to paving the way for her own artists, she will never hesitate.

After all, in the entertainment industry, the line between friends and rivals is always blurred.

Even if she does later invest in Su Yu's studio in her personal capacity, it won't prevent her from remaining silent during this storm of smear articles, or even secretly adding fuel to the fire.

"This time we've really stirred up a hornet's nest," Su Yu muttered to himself, leaning back on the sofa.

Huo Xiaolan lost her composure and became agitated.

"Since they've made their move, we have to accept it. It's just a matter of meeting force with force and dealing with water with water. We'll just fight them!"

Hearing her words, Su Yu also got fired up, "Then let's get the hell out of him!"