Top Dupe CH 027 Who's More Affectionate Than Whom?

"It's Li Qian! Li Qian! Li Qian!" The agent yelled the important answer three times.

"I don't owe Li Qian any money..."

The agent slapped a hand to his forehead hard, "Before, our Dijun Media and Li Qian's Xinghan Pictures battled in the same TV drama genre. The other company's TV ratings were far ahead of ours, which put a lot of pressure on us. In order to win, Chairman Ou poured dirty water on the leading actor of Xinghan Pictures! Although Li Qian tried to find a way to help the leading actor to clarify, that black material is still mentioned even now, whether he is filming dramas or appearing in variety shows, and he also lost the Yun Wen Award for best actor that year! And that actor is Li Qian's cousin! Don't you think Li Qian would find a way to get revenge?"

"Even if Li Qian wants revenge… it's useless to look for me..." He Mu became worried.

"You are single-handedly supported by Chairman Ou, the face of Dijun Media! Is there anything else that would give him a greater sense of accomplishment than causing trouble for you?"

Hearing what the agent said, He Mu's heart stuttered. Having seen Chairman Ou's ability to turn a deer into a horse, as an opponent of Chairman Ou, Life Qian's level must also be quite high.

"Hand over your sub account now, and I'll have someone to cancel it!"

This sub account for venting emotions instantly became a hot potato, and He Mu threw the phone to the other man.

At this moment, the assistant rushed in, "It is uncovered! It is uncovered!"

"What are you shouting for! What is uncovered?" the agent asked.

The assistant glanced at He Mu and said in a stutter: "He Mu... He Mu's sub account is uncovered..."

The agent suddenly felt a splitting headache, and his head almost exploded on the spot.

A marketing account took screenshots of all the comments posted by He Mu’s sub account. They not only took screenshots but also recorded the screen, proving that these comments all belong to the same person.

There were many photos of He Mu showing off his luxurious life in his sub account, and netizens who were as observant as Sherlock Holmes found clues in them.

For example, two years ago, this sub account was originally going to show off a limited edition necklace. In order to set off the elegance of the necklace, he specially matched the necklace with a custom made suit. Keen netizens found out that the suit was exactly what He Mu wore to attend the red carpet event the night before. It was sponsored by the brand and was specially custom made and not mass-produced.

If this photo could manage to be explained as "the suit is just a replica ordered by fans online," then the next photo that was uncovered was really fatal.

The photo showed a limited-edition bag worth six figures, and there was a trophy in the corner of the photo. Enthusiastic netizens enlarged the photo and found that it was the trophy for the New Media Super Rising Star Award that year! And the owner of that trophy was He Mu!

No matter how crazy fans were, they wouldn’t order an imitation trophy and put it in the corner to enter the camera, right?

At the beginning, He Mu's fans said that He Mu opening a sub account to criticize Luo Yu everywhere didn't have any real proof. But in less than five minutes, proof was uncovered.

The agent urgently closed this sub account, but #HeMuSubAccount# had become a hot search topic, and its position was getting higher and higher.

The agent had just removed the trending search, and #HeMuSmackTalkLuoYu# went on the trending search as well. He Mu’s previous harsh and mean remarks were stripped off their sock puppet and exposed to the public one by one.

The agent was so panicked that he was sweating profusely as he took down this hot search as well.

But soon #HeMu’sProfoundHate# appeared on the hot search.

The agent was going crazy. This was definitely Li Qian's handiwork. It could be said that he was using He Mu's method to deal with He Mu.

After reading the hot search content, netizens all said that He Mu had opened their horizons, they did not expect that top stars could be so dark deep in their hearts.

Luo Yu was incomparable to He Mu in terms of traffic and remuneration. So why was it that He Mu wanted to destroy Luo Yu so badly?

Soon, "informed people" came out and revealed the photos of He Mu before he debuted. Some enthusiastic netizens working in the field of medical beauty also came out to analyze, saying that Luo Yu's brow bone and jawline were very natural and in line with the bone structure of normal people.

But the connection between He Mu's brow bone and nose was very abrupt, the bridge of his nose rose straight up, and there were traces of opening the corners of his eyes, etc. According to analysis, He Mu used Luo Yu as a template for going under the knife, but He Mu claimed every day that Luo Yu was copying him, which was simply ridiculous!

Someone also took out the poster for "Plum Rain" from that year and pointed to the release date of the TV drama to explain that the character of Luo Yu's school idol appeared earlier than He Mu. But why was it that he was accused of copying He Mu's image?

As the agent was thinking about how to buy marketing accounts to suppress this matter, Gao He had already called He Mu angrily to ask why He Mu did such an idiotic thing! Demanding why didn't the agent watch out for He Mu's idiocy? And what idiocy would He Mu seek next?

Faced with Gao He's three accusations regarding idiocy, the agent didn't know how to answer. He could only say that He Mu's cell phone had been confiscated and he was preparing to issue a press release.

At this time, Gao He received a call from Ou Juntao, and the other person's cold voice made Gao He shudder.

"Suspend all of He Mu's public appearances, including entertainment programs and all commercial performances, stop all publicity, and let the heat cool down first."

"But Chairman Ou, we will lose a lot of jobs this way."

"If the heat doesn't cool down, the loss will be even greater. The matter of the sub account will be attributed to his assistant. Use He Mu's main account and studio account to apologize to Luo Yu, just say that to help He Mu win the role of Bai Ying, the assistant once worked overtime and stayed up late to accompany He Mu in practicing acting. The entire team felt disappointed that He Mu did not get the role. Seeing Luo Yu's superb acting skills caused the assistant's mentality to be unbalanced, so he discredited Luo Yu on the Internet. The photos showing off wealth were originally taken in He Mu's room due to the assistant's own vanity. He Mu respects Luo Yu's dedication to the role and thinks that the other is a colleague with superb acting skills."

The agent was dumbfounded when he heard this, "He Mu respects Luo Yu and thinks he has superb acting skills?"

"Yes. If he feels that his face is slapped too painfully and continues to cause trouble, terminate the contract with him. Dijun Media will not be responsible for any of his actions."

After Chairman Ou finished speaking, he hung up the call.

The agent felt that this was more than just a slap to the face. If He Mu posted on Weibo and said he approved of Luo Yu's acting skills, then the public attack campaign on Luo Yu over the past few years would be self-defeated, and many people would ridicule He Mu.

Sure enough, after He Mu heard the content of the announcement, he couldn't even sleep, and decided to go find Ou Juntao.

"I won't post it! I won't post such an announcement! If I admit that Luo Yu's acting skills are superb, my antis will ask, regarding Luo Yu being unable to compete with me for roles before, was it my own strength or the secret manipulation of Dijun Media that I relied on! How will I show my face in public in the future?"

"My little ancestor! Chairman Ou has already spoken. If you don't, your contract will be terminated! You can troll Luo Yu online as much as you like, after all it has nothing to do with Dijun Media anyway!"

When the agent finished speaking, He Mu was dumbfounded.

"Chairman Ou… Chairman Ou wants to terminate my contract? He was the one who discovered me! It was he who set up the national school idol image for me! It was he who deliberately stole Luo Yu's roles in the first place! It was he who said Luo Yu was just my dupe! He said that I have higher commercial value than Luo Yu! Now he wants me to admit that Luo Yu’s acting skills are better?"

The grievances that had been suppressed in He Mu's heart surged up. For so many years, on the surface he looked to be surrounded by praises and flowers, but whenever he saw Luo Yu, he felt like a bone was stuck in his throat.

When he was in film school, he envied Luo Yu's popularity and dreamed of becoming like Luo Yu. But finally when he actually had a face similar to Luo Yu's, using Luo Yu's original image and enjoying the traffic and popularity given up by Luo Yu, He Mu was still unhappy.

In truth he was Luo Yu's dupe, because everything Ou Juntao gave him from beginning to end was prepared for Luo Yu!

The agent looked at He Mu's tearstained face and sighed deeply.

"This is a truce signal from Chairman Ou to Li Qian. If your apology announcement does not have a low enough attitude, would you believe that Li Qian could continue to uncover even more? For example, you being expelled from the film school! For example, it was not Luo Yu who snatched your roles before, but you snatching Luo Yu's roles! Also, you and Jiang Yunxie from Honghe Film and Television... You know that Jiang Yunxie is interested in you, but you kept leading him on. Can you guarantee that when you had dinner with Jiang Yunxie, no intimate behavior was photographed?"

He Mu froze. Li Qian could dig out his sub account, so God knows what other big news he could uncover.

"Don't worry, when this announcement is made, we will notify your head fans and say that you admitting Luo Yu's acting skills in your apology announcement is taking the blame for the staff in your management team as well as compensation for Luo Yu. It does not truly mean that Luo Yu's acting skills are better than yours. Chairman Ou also said that you should stay out of the public eye for a period of time. After two or three weeks, new hot searches will be posted, how can any of this be considered a big deal?" The agent reassured him.

He Mu lowered his head. He knew that he had no room to resist Chairman Ou's decision. His sub account was uncovered, his comments mean and vicious. He violated Chairman Ou's previous warning to him not to cause trouble. He was already lucky to not be shelved.

On this side, Luo Yu was completely unaffected.

Because of the excessive physical exertion of that night scene, Luo Yu was asleep the whole time and he hadn't seen a word of the disputes and reversals on the Internet.

Even if the sky fell down and the earth burned, it would not prevent him from sleeping deeply.

The orange glimmer outside the window fell on the quilt, and Luo Yu who was sleeping sideways, with his hair scattered on the pillow and one hand gently hooking the quilt, looked quiet and harmless.

But Gu Xiaowei knew how resilient this person was. He seemed cheerful and easy to get along with, but in fact he was very proud and refused to admit defeat.

Gu Xiaowei, who was sitting next to him, had the rare opportunity to play on his mobile phone all afternoon. Rather than say this turmoil was a PK between He Mu and Luo Yu, it was more a battle between Xinghan Pictures and Dijun Media. And in the end it resulted in Dijun Media's concession.

But the real beneficiary was Luo Yu.

Over the years, he had been bullied by He Mu's fans and water army, and his resources have been suppressed by Dijun Media. Netizens who were previously guided by public opinion were now coming back to their senses and realizing that Luo Yu was not as low as He Mu exaggerated.

Image design in the entertainment industry was a marketing tool, and they were not the only two to have the same image collision. But why didn't others tear each other up, and only He Mu acted like "I am the only one"?

If competing with He Mu for roles meant eating his leftovers, then there were many people who were eating He Mu's leftovers, including other first rate stars. 

It was just that He Mu's fans and the water army they hired seemed to be the mainstream of opinions on the Internet. They were filled with righteous indignation and exaggerated an incident that simply did not violate public order and good customs in the first place to make He Mu a victim, which led some netizens' system of values ​​astray.

Now it was time to return to the right track.

Gu Xiaowei's phone vibrated. It was a WeChat message from Li Qian.

[Thank Xiao Qin for the information, otherwise I would not have noticed that it was He Mu's sub account. Remember to give extra chicken legs to Xiao Qin.]

Gu Xiaowei normally never responded to such messages, but he thought about it and typed a few words this time: [I ask that Mr. Li will not involve Luo Yu.]

[He is now an important character in this drama, and I will not use him as cannon fodder.]

When "Counterattack" was released, Bai Ying's role would definitely become a classic supporting role. Coupled with Lin Yue and Hua Xingyun's favorable impression of him, who would say whether Xinghan Pictures would not take a fancy to Luo Yu and want to sign him. When the time came, Li Qian's actions forcing He Mu to publicly apologize to Luo Yu could be regarded as the sincerity of Xinghan Pictures.

Putting the phone aside, Gu Xiaowei turned sideways and looked at the sleeping Luo Yu. He gently brushed away Luo Yu's hair that fell on his face. He remembered during filming, when he jumped into the water and saw Luo Yu with closed eyes and appearing lifeless, Gu Xiaowei felt an icy chill from his heart to his brain, his breathing became stagnant, as if all his life was sucked away by the other like a thread.

The director thought he was too immersed in the scene, and Luo Yu mistook him for Yan Ye, but only Gu Xiaowei knew that he pushed Luo Yu to the water with all his strength because of his own fear.

There were always things in this world that human power could not control——such as life and death.

Gu Xiaowei's fingertip slipped under the tip of Luo Yu's nose, confirming his breathing.

When the soft breath brushed his knuckles, all the caution and restraint became warm and lazy, dissipating in the air.

Knowing that he was playing with fire, Gu Xiaowei's fingertip still touched Luo Yu's lips. He couldn't help but feel the softness and warmth of the other's lips. The blood that had been forcibly cooled was about to boil again, up until that person opened his mouth, his lips touching his knuckles unconsciously.

Luo Yu's eyelashes fluttered, and Gu Xiaowei immediately took his hand back.

"En, you're awake... what time is it now..." Luo Yu sat up and rubbed his eyes, showing a rare childish manner.

“It's half past six in the evening." Gu Xiaowei said, "Xiao Qin will come to bring us dinner later."

"What? 6:30? Did I sleep for so long?" Luo Yu took his phone and looked at it. It was indeed half-past six, and he had actually slept for more than twelve hours?

"Are you worried that you won't be able to sleep at night?" Gu Xiaowei asked.

"I will definitely not be able to sleep." Luo Yu scratched the back of his head.

"Then let's practice lines."

Luo Yu gave Gu Xiaowei a "you're so boring" look. After sleeping for so long, it was time to go to the bathroom to relieve himself.

Don’t mention it, it was indeed a little urgent.

Luo Yu slept on the inside, and if he wanted to go out, Gu Xiaowei would have to get out of the way, but he was in a hurry and couldn't care about it, instead he stepped over Gu Xiaowei's body.

Before one of his feet even touched the ground and the other foot was still at Gu Xiaowei's other side, he lost his balance and was about to fall down.

Gu Xiaowei once again displayed his amazing arm strength, grabbed Luo Yu's waist, and lifted him up. As a result, he ended up sitting on Gu Xiaowei's body.

Compared with falling on top of the other, this position was... more embarrassing.

Luo Yu put his hands on Gu Xiaowei's chest, and looking at Gu Xiaowei's heavy eyes, he suddenly laughed.

"Does this... look like the scene between you and the heroine? In... in the twelfth episode... Hahaha! Audiences love to watch this kind of drama... Your acting skills are so good at times like this, your eyes… No one would have thought that you are a perpetually single dog!"

Looking at Luo Yu's carefree smile, Gu Xiaowei sat motionless on the bed, but his hands on Luo Yu's waist did not let go.

"What's wrong with my eyes?" Gu Xiaowei asked.

"It's just the legendary–—affectionate look even when faced with a dog!" Luo Yu laughed so hard that his shoulders trembled.

Gu Xiaowei suddenly straightened his back and approached Luo Yu. The closer he got, the clearer and clearer the face that made countless people's hearts flutter became.

At this time someone passed by in the corridor humming a tune.

——I look at you like the long wind looking forward to the bright moon, like the south wind rushing to Xizhou…

Luo Yu's hand that was originally supporting himself on Gu Xiaowei suddenly didn't know where to place themselves. He leaned back slightly and tried to support himself on the bed with his hand, but what he ended up pressing was the other's leg.

Gu Xiaowei's hand clasped Luo Yu's back, and as he pulled him forward, Luo Yu almost bumped into Gu Xiaowei, so he quickly placed his hands on Gu Xiaowei's shoulders.

"But Director Lin said that I am not good at emotional scenes. Senior Brother, are you sure that this 'affectionate look even when faced with a dog' refers to me?" Gu Xiaowei said unhurriedly.

The look in his eyes was aloof and ascetic, but suddenly it seemed to hold countless hooks and barbs. The end of restraint was indulgence and madness.

Luo Yu was stunned for two seconds, then his lips curved slowly, "Teacher Gu, why do I feel that the look in your eyes has become so provocative?"

Gu Xiaowei's eyes didn't dodge at all, "Acting with Senior Brother always makes me full of desire to win. Ordinary scenes are boring. How about we compete——who is more affectionate than whom? Who can make the heart flutter more?"

Speaking of the desire to win, Luo Yu also had it.

In the previous life, when they performed a stage play together, from time to time, they would “duel” on stage, comparing lines, expressions, and presence.

It was just that this was the first time to compete on who was more affectionate."

It was a bit of an… intriguing challenge.

Lowering his eyes, Luo Yu rubbed his fingers and thought for two seconds. When he raised his eyes again, everything changed.

His mild smile held a trace of dignified brilliance, as if it was shining into the flesh and blood of the person in front of him, revealing his unconquerable soul that outsiders spoke of.

Gu Xiaowei looked up at the other person, a certain kind of impulse and desire becoming deeper and deeper. He could clearly see that the eyes of the person in front of him had nothing to do with affection, but somewhere in his heart it was as if he was bewitched... he wanted to pull off the other's wings, even if his wings were so sharp they would pierce his chest.

Suddenly, Luo Yu's expression became impatient, and the distorted world suddenly returned to its original state at that moment.

"Teacher Gu! We can compete again next time——I'm really in a hurry to go to the toilet!"

Luo Yu broke free from Gu Xiaowei's hand, jumped over and rushed into the bathroom.

Gu Xiaowei listened to Luo Yu's movements, leaned back, and raised his hands to cover his eyes.

"I'm really crazy… to have believed you."

When Luo Yu came out of the bathroom, he saw that Gu Xiaowei had already gotten up from the bed.

There was a knock on the door, and Xiao Qin's cheerful voice sounded.

"Brother Gu! Brother Luo! I'm here to deliver dinner! There's lotus leaf chicken today!"

Gu Xiaowei opened the door, silently took the takeout bags from Xiao Qin's hand, and placed the containers on the table one by one.

"Xiao Qin, you're here! Let Brother Luo take a look at you——do you have dark circles under your eyes from going back so late yesterday?" Luo Yu came to Xiao Qin and looked closely, "En, it seems to be the case.”

"Thank you, Brother Luo, for feeling sorry for me! But Brother Luo, have you seen the hot searches? It's such a great vent of anger! He Mu and He Mu's studio sent you an apology on Weibo!"

Luo Yu was stunned for a moment, "Apology? Why did He Mu apologize to me?"

"Because he used a sub account to troll you everywhere! He is nasty and mean, not like a top star at all! Although when he apologized, he said that the sub account was not his, but a staff member of his team! But who believes that! What staff member would sneak into his room every day to take pictures and show off his luxury goods? Now he's tripped up!”

Luo Yu showed a puzzled expression, "Even if he scolded me with a sub account, how could he be uncovered?"

"Then you have to thank our Brother Gu!" Xiao Qin said with an expression as if asking for credit, "I was so angry with He Mu's sub account, so I took a screenshot and sent it to Brother Gu to see! I want Brother Gu to know that someone is targeting his senior brother online! But who knew that Brother Gu sent me a message very calmly!"

"What message?" Luo Yu was also curious.

Xiao Qin imitated Gu Xiaowei's tone and said: "The trophy in this Weibo is the New Media Super Rising Star Award! It is only awarded to the most popular newcomer of the year!"

Luo Yu lowered his head, opened his phone, and easily found the photo with the trophy. It was so inconspicuous in the corner, how could it be discovered by Gu Xiaowei?

"Brother Gu, you have such a sharp eye!" Luo Yu imitated Xiao Qin's tone perfectly.

Gu Xiaowei coughed and touched the top of Luo Yu's head, "Senior Brother... don't make fun."

Xiao Qin said with a proud expression: "Mr. Li is in charge of publicity, of course I must tell him! But I didn't have his WeChat, so I told the publicity specialist he assigned to the crew. As expected of Mr. Li, he hit He Mu’s vitals with one strike! I didn’t expect He Mu to give in so quickly this time! I thought he would just pass the responsibility for the sub account to his assistant, but I didn’t expect that he would actually recognize your acting skills!”

Once he recognized Luo Yu's acting skills, he could no longer say that Luo Yu lost the roles they competed on due to lack of ability.

He suffered so much injustice in his previous life, and even though he later returned to the film and television industry through superb stage play performances, he never expected to receive an apology from He Mu.

Luo Yu looked at the apology announcement that topped the trending list, feeling mixed feelings but also becoming more clear headed.