The Weibo link had been sent to him by his agent, Zheng Liang.
Zheng Liang shared the same judgment as Bu Hongfang—they both highly valued Ming Qi. As a well-known top-tier agent in the industry, Zheng Liang had sharp instincts. He had immediately taken notice of Ming Qi during the production of Death Preview. Unfortunately, Ming Qi had no intention of switching agents, even after Zheng Liang carefully laid out all the benefits of joining their company. The other party still made the same decision as before.
Although regretful, Zheng Liang wasn’t annoyed. Especially after that dinner where he saw Meng She enthusiastically promoting Ming Qi even while drunk.
A mutual dedication between agent and artist—that was a good thing.
Still, perhaps because of a thought like “the person I picked must be good,” Zheng Liang paid even more attention to Ming Qi afterward. Today, while casually browsing Weibo, he came across posts related to Ming Qi and immediately forwarded them to Bu Hongfang.
Bu Hongfang exited the page and opened the blogger’s profile.
YJDAOEN: Honestly, if you’re not serious about your attitude, there’s no need to come out filming in winter. The winters in Beijing are really cold / smile.jpg
The video showed a young man in white robes suspended by wires, leaping downward. Snowflakes fell as cold wind whipped his costume, outlining his lean frame. He landed with his toes touching the ground, momentum making him stagger slightly. He tossed a folding fan, but during the rotation it slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground with a soft thud.
The director’s voice immediately followed, shouting, “Can you even do this? It’s such a simple move! Didn’t you say you’d practiced it? You’re wasting everyone’s time!”
The video cut off abruptly.
But the complaints from YJDAOEN did not stop there:
[Seriously, this one scene took four hours. I was freezing like crazy. Some actors and crew even got sick from waiting around and ended up in the hospital over the New Year.]
[The fan toss and spin are basic skills. The director already told him that once he could do it, they would film it. He said he was ready, and then this?]
[Completely treating everyone like idiots.]
[He’s wasting not just the director’s and actors’ time, but all of ours too 🙂]
[I actually thought he acted pretty well in Death Preview. How did he become like this in our crew? Is it because our director isn’t famous enough? Not comparable to @Director Zhang Cong, huh?]
If YJDAOEN’s post was only the spark, then what truly ignited the situation was the “hospital New Year package” mentioned in the complaint.
Sharp-eyed netizens quickly connected it to actor Lu Yongning, who had posted a hospital selfie on New Year’s Eve wishing fans a happy new year.
Then they noticed the production team mentioned—and realized something shocking:
Wasn’t this the same drama Lu Yongning starred in?
The fandom exploded, and Ming Qi’s Weibo was soon flooded.
[So? Care to respond to YJDAOEN’s post?]
[So you really discriminate? Act seriously under big directors, but mess around in smaller productions?]
[Wow. My idol spent New Year’s Eve sick in bed watching the Spring Festival Gala, and you’re out here living it up.]
[Trash. Go die.]
Standing beside Bu Hongfang, Zhang Cong silently finished watching the video, the complaints, and the toxic comments under Ming Qi’s Weibo. Then he let out a very soft laugh.
“Who exactly is treating whom like an idiot here?”
Bu Hongfang looked surprised. “You can tell?”
He had always been a seasoned insider and could see through dirty tricks in the industry easily. Zhang Cong, on the other hand, had always seemed upright and straightforward, someone without many scheming thoughts. Bu Hongfang had even worried that seeing this would give Zhang Cong a bad impression of Ming Qi.
Unexpectedly, Zhang Cong trusted him without hesitation.
Zhang Cong turned to his wife with a blank expression. “Do I look stupid?”
Qu Xiang just smiled behind her hand.
Zhang Cong sighed helplessly, then said seriously, “I’ve worked with him properly. I know what kind of person Ming Qi is. I trust my own judgment. And besides, the timing of this post is too coincidental.”
…
Ming Qi was sitting in the back seat of a Maybach when he received a call from Meng She right after speaking a few words with Yu Qinchou.
Meng She briefly explained the situation on Weibo, then angrily said, “Given the timing of this, I don’t believe there isn’t someone pushing this behind the scenes. And when I think about it… I wouldn’t be surprised if the instigator is Shi Yong.”
Meng She later went over it again and again—the matter of the company wanting to give Tang Ke’s role to Ming Qi. The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was Shi Yong working together with Tang Ke’s agent to set Ming Qi up, planting the label of #Ming Qi snatches a confirmed role from a fellow company artist#, smearing his reputation.
Why would Shi Yong do that?
Nothing more than because Ming Qi and Le Si Yan had a conflict of interests, and Shi Yong and Le Si Yan didn’t want Ming Qi to smoothly join the Undercover production crew.
But that plan had been shut down because Ming Qi was cautious enough.
However, with Shi Yong’s personality, one failure wouldn’t make him give up. If one move failed, he would simply make another. The trending topic on Weibo today was clearly his second move.
“He’s panicking. At noon someone leaked that Director Zhang Cong had already organized a script reading with several main actors of Undercover. After the reading, they’ll officially announce the casting photos and start filming. If he doesn’t act now, it’ll be too late.” Meng She let out a cold laugh. “That damn bastard. Acting like he’s running a palace intrigue drama as a manager all day long. Why doesn’t he just get struck by karma?”
Ming Qi was on the phone with Meng She while taking the tablet from Lu Qingzhou’s hand to check online discussions and trending topics. His expression was very calm.
“The production team staff all signed confidentiality agreements. Logically speaking, they shouldn’t be leaking these video contents. Unless this was approved by the director.”
Hearing that damn director mentioned, Meng She flared up again: “I knew that director wasn’t anything good either!”
After a moment of cooling down, Meng She finished half a glass of cold water in one go, finally calming his emotions. “Luckily I recorded some footage of you acting. But I also asked a few staff members I knew from the set—they’re all unwilling to speak up for you.”
“I understand. After all, I’ve already wrapped up filming, but they still have to keep working.” Ming Qi said softly. “Meng-ge, just send the video to—”
Before he could finish, Ming Qi suddenly froze, staring at the iPad screen that had abruptly changed.
Meng She on the phone asked, “What’s wrong?” Ming Qi hesitated for a moment before replying, “Wait a second. Let me take a look first.”
Two minutes ago, a blogger named [Cloth-Clad Detective] had posted a Weibo, tagging topics related to Ming Qi.
Cloth-Clad Detective: I can’t stand it anymore. You really think he’s some powerless 18th-tier nobody you can bully, huh?
← Friendly reminder: save it quickly, this video is expected to be taken down in under two minutes #Ming Qi# #Ming Qi attitude# #Lu Yongning fever#
Ming Qi originally thought it was some kind of well-meaning person posting his real situation from the set. The phrase “friendly reminder” also felt unnecessary, but he didn’t think much of it.
Until he clicked the video without any warning.
A moaning sound with a rising and falling ending immediately poured out from the speaker. In the dimly lit, dark scene, two figures were entangled recklessly and unrestrainedly.
Ming Qi’s pupils slowly widened. Only after realizing something was wrong did he frantically swipe the screen in panic.
However, the Weibo recommendations were all similar topics. Even after swiping away one video, the next was the same content.
He almost fainted and decisively held down the power button.
The sound finally stopped, but his heartbeat was even louder than before—thudding violently. He sat there in a daze, not even knowing where to put his hands, staring at the black iPad screen without the courage to turn it back on.
Lu Qingzhou had witnessed everything. His eyes reflected the young man’s panicked and awkward expression, which made him want to laugh. He didn’t know how someone’s skin could be so thin.
Leaning back in his chair, he teased lightly, “What are you so embarrassed about?”
Hearing that, Ming Qi immediately understood that Lu Qingzhou had clearly seen the entire video.
He thought to himself—how was this any different from watching explicit content in public and accidentally blasting it out loud? It was enough to make him want to die on the spot.
Before he could respond, the phone he had ignored for a while once again emitted that familiar sound. Then came a series of earth-shattering coughing sounds. Just from the chaotic noise, Ming Qi could already imagine how flustered Meng She was—just like he had been earlier.
He quietly asked, “Meng-ge, are you okay?”
Meng She’s voice was hoarse. “I almost got sent off by a sip of water. Nearly ended my life right there.”
The two fell silent on opposite ends of the call. Two minutes later, Meng She said, “Let’s talk again later,” and hung up.
Ming Qi held the phone, then ultimately chose to reopen Weibo. When he finally found [Cloth-Clad Detective] again, the video had already turned grey and unavailable.
As expected—it had been blocked.
He didn’t dwell on it and instead opened the comment section.
The first thing that caught his eye was the pinned comment from [Cloth-Clad Detective]:
“Let me see how many people only paid attention to the video content and didn’t notice the shooting date on the screen.”
Ming Qi: “……”
Although, to be fair, he seemed to be one of them.
He glanced at the comments and likes again. Good. He was just one among tens of thousands of others.
[Hahahahaha! I never thought I’d see such explosive celebrity scandal footage in 2024.]
[I I I noticed the filming date—it was three days before the New Year. We’re all a hundred years too early.]
[Is Lu Yongning’s fandom okay?]
[Fans of Lu, come explain—is your idol “feverish” or “flirtatious”?]
[Ming Qi is so unlucky. He’s getting blamed for this too?]
[Cloth-Clad Detective] replied to the “blame” comment with a meaningful tone: “You think it’s only that?”
“Our team’s guys even went to the set and spent a full day crouching in the tree outside. They didn’t catch Ming Qi’s supposedly ‘terrible acting’—instead, they saw the director making things difficult for a small actor under him :)”
As if to prove it, [Cloth-Clad Detective] posted two more videos.
One of them showed Ming Qi in white clothes leaping down from a high point, snapping open a folding fan mid-air. The entire movement was smooth, elegant, and effortlessly stylish.
[Cloth-Clad Detective] wrote below: “This was his first take. There’s a timestamp.”
The second clip showed the director glancing at Ming Qi and saying coldly, “It’s getting worse with each take. We’ll use the first one. Your scene is done. You can leave.”
Then Meng She hurriedly stepped forward and pressed the back of his hand against Ming Qi’s forehead.
Cloth-Clad Detective: Isn’t this ridiculous? You dress someone in so little clothing and make them shoot for four hours in freezing weather—of course their hands and feet would go numb and they wouldn’t be able to hold a folding fan properly. And besides, wasn’t this first take already good enough? @Director Zhang Cong saw it and it was already a one-take pass, right?
Below it, Zhang Cong left a like.
Who? Who just liked that?
[Holy crap, Zhang Cong showed up! Is that really Zhang Cong?]
[I checked—it really is him. Ming Qi, you’ve got some serious backing (complimentary).]
[Director Zhang’s appearance just made this whole mess even more interesting.]
Ming Qi was also a little surprised that Zhang Cong liked the post, but he quickly understood—Zhang Cong was deliberately showing his stance.
With that, Shi Yong’s entire scheme… ended up gaining nothing.
Once Ming Qi figured that out, he relaxed. He exited the page and refreshed the Weibo trending list. Another related topic had appeared:
#The Most Righteous Marketing Account Cloth-Clad Detective#
At that moment, the so-called “most righteous marketing account,” Cloth-Clad Detective, was in a group chat called “What’s Wrong With Eating Melon?” where he poked Ming Qi and said: Brother, go for it. I’ll take care of the little ghosts for you. [knife raised]