Jiang BaiYan:
I'm very sorry it took me so long to provide an explanation to all the people who care about and love me.
First, I must solemnly state that Teacher Jian Jing and I are not in a romantic relationship.
What happened in the photos took place at my father's home. He passed away two weeks ago and called me back to see him one last time before he died. Because of my inglorious birth, I encountered some difficulties when I returned home this time. After Teacher Jian Jing found out, she provided help and support right away.
I am extremely grateful to her and respect her greatly. Because of me, her reputation was damaged and I feel very guilty and apologetic about that.
I have already authorized lawyers to fully handle the accounts that spread false information.
I know that my existence has hurt my siblings, and I sincerely apologize for that.
If I had the choice, I would also hope to have a normal family and parents that belong to me, but I cannot change the reality.
In fact, I also understand that some things cannot be forgiven, so I don't expect to be understood or acknowledged, but I hope no more innocent people get involved because of my matters.
As for the termination of my contract with the company, that was decided at the end of February. Over the past five years, we got along very happily and I'm grateful to the company for nurturing and taking care of me. Due to personal matters, I'm no longer able to work with everyone which I truly and deeply regret. I look forward to opportunities to collaborate again in the future.
Finally, I want to say to my fans that I'm very thankful for your support and trust over the past few years. I'm very sorry that I failed your trust by not discovering and handling the issues in a timely manner this time.
The statement was neither long nor short, but it was like a thunderclap, pushing the hot gossip surrounding him to new heights these past days.
Normally, the top comments would be dominated by his fans, but with fans abandoning and fan groups crumbling, they weren't able to quickly organize forces this time. At first, it was remarkably ordinary comments occupying the top spots.
Comment 1: Damn, so it turns out this wasn't a scandal but a funeral affair?
Comment 2: This is going a bit overboard. The guy just lost his dad and you spread rumors he's dating someone. That's so disrespectful.
Comment 3: It went from a celebratory affair to a mourning affair. My condolences.
Comment 4: Was he attending the funeral these last few days?
Comment 5: What does "inglorious birth" mean? And why wasn't he able to discover the issues earlier? So many questions.
Comment 6: Just a passerby. What he wrote seems quite sincere and he explained things clearly without using platitudes.
Comment 7: He terminated his contract with his company. Did he write this statement himself?
Comment 8: Is he an illegitimate child? The son of a mistress? I'm no longer a fan and can't accept this. How can he try to garner sympathy as the child of a mistress when the children of the legal wife are the real victims?
Comment 9: There's something wrong with you upstairs. Who gets to choose the circumstances of their own birth?
...
Outsiders viewed it as entertainment gossip, while industry insiders didn't care much about his background - there were countless more outrageous things happening in the industry anyway.
Only his fans genuinely and earnestly felt devastated.
Just as Jiang BaiYan had expected, the shattered illusion of a perfect persona meant that love disappeared as quickly as bubbles bursting under the sun.
Many fans chose to leave. They had their own difficulties to deal with: they or their mothers had once been hurt by third parties, so they really could not accept an idol with a background like this.
"Even though I know it's not little Bai's fault and the child is innocent, I can't force my feelings and after loving you for three years and giving you three years, this is the end. I wish you well but I won't love you anymore."
"Back then, I thought you were perfect. I was so happy to have found purpose in life, but I never expected everything you had was built on hurting others. The building has collapsed, goodbye."
"Knowing about his background as a third party's child is an issue of moral character. The child may be innocent but illegitimacy is original sin. To be honest, I stand with the original legitimate children this time - it's a matter of principle so I can no longer continue as a fan."
That was still relatively mild. There were more extreme comments directly cursing him as "Your mom is a homewrecker and you definitely won't amount to any good", "People like you don't deserve to be idols, you'll lead kids astray", and "Trash like you get out of the entertainment industry".
The brands he endorsed officially took down advertisements, with supporters and protesters splitting opinion down the middle and creating huge arguments.
The more perfect the idol's image, the more shocking their downfall.
Gossip news sites revealed inside information that brands who were originally working with him were now reconsidering contract renewals again. Several advertisements that had previously been agreed to were now cancelled before the contracts were signed. And competitors were now aggressively swooping in to snatch resources, roles, and endorsements without hesitation.
It was a complete disaster.
*
Jian Jing called Jiang BaiYan.
She said: "You don't have to do this. Jiang Lian and the others still care about preserving the Jiang family reputation and might not talk."
"I don't want them holding this over me. I'd rather admit it myself than constantly worry about them exposing it one day." Jiang BaiYan's voice was muffled, like he had a heavy cold.
Jian Jing said: "But when it came time, you realized you still weren't prepared enough right?"
He didn't reply. Instead he said: "Sometimes I feel like they're symbiotic with me."
Was fan culture deformed? Deformed or not, wasn't he too? At times, he who desperately craved love and the fans who fervently adored him were like pitiful creatures huddling together for warmth.
They needed each other. Barely clinging to life.
"We need others to affirm us," Jian Jing admitted. "Praise and recognition are very important to people. In theory we should humbly accept others' suggestions, but I do genuinely prefer comments of praise more because it makes me feel meaningful. On the flip side, criticism makes me feel awful - being rejected is always painful for anyone."
No author could achieve zero criticism, not even literary masters.
She was now a bestselling author with her books available in every bookshop, yet she would still occasionally see critical opinions.
Digesting criticism and opposition was always far more difficult than basking in praise, to the extent that even just 1 criticism felt more impactful than 1000 praises.
Affirmation trickled in drop by drop, while criticism could demolish everything in an instant like an earthquake.
"Actually," Jiang BaiYan said hesitantly, "it's very strange but I feel alright now, quite able to accept things, not as sad as I expected."
When even his own father never loved him, what was so odd about fans suddenly disliking him? Even if he lost everything and everyone disappeared, that was perfectly normal too.
He didn't deserve so much love in the first place anyway.
Thinking this way, it didn't seem so hard to accept them leaving anymore.
Jian Jing said: "People who are freezing to death don't feel cold either."
Jiang BaiYan: "Don't try to scare me."
"I'm telling the truth," she said. "What you're experiencing now is called despair and resignation."
"Oh, I guess you're right," he mumbled.
"Try to look on the bright side," she said. "On a normal day you also wouldn't know fans were leaving you. Not seeing those words online means life is no different."
Jiang BaiYan: "But I can't control myself from checking."
Jian Jing: "Then go count money until your arms cramp and you can't open Weibo anymore."
"...That cheered me up more," he said dully. "Thanks Teacher Jing."
"Alright, alright." She laughed and said sincerely: "No one is perfect. The people who can accept your imperfections are the ones who truly like you."
Jiang BaiYan fell silent.
"Quality over quantity. No matter how many glass marbles you have, they can't compare to the preciousness of a single gemstone."
"But I don't have one," he mumbled. "That's why I have to treasured those glass marbles like gems."
Jian Jing laughed. "What do you mean you don't? Didn't you just obtain an especially precious gemstone?"
"I did?"
"You did."
Both sides went quiet again.
After a while, Jian Jing said: "I'm going to hang up now, Knight is hurrying me - I've ditched it for several days already."
"Bye bye," Jiang BaiYan obediently said goodbye, then listened to the dial tone on his phone before slowly putting it down.
He flipped over and buried his head into the soft pillow without moving a muscle.
After too long, Pudding who had been lying next to the bed grew suspicious. He carefully approached with his fat paws and softly pawed Jiang BaiYan's hair: "Meow."
"Pudding is well behaved," Jiang BaiYan raised his hand to stroke its head, his face still buried in his elbow.
Pudding lowered his head and tried his best to snuggle him. Jiang BaiYan lifted his head to hug the chubby orange cat and kissed its head. "There there, I know Pudding loves me the most and Daddy loves you too."
Pudding tilted his head. "Meow?"
His cheek was pressed against its soft fur, the warmth of the cat's body coming through, warm as a stove: "Don't worry Buding, dad won't be like the chairman, in the future, all of my inheritance will be yours."
"You will be the happiest cat in the whole world - the happiest...the happiest."
Buding meowed twice, turning back to lick the damp fur.
Salty, not a good taste.
*
Online, Jiang BaiYan completely fell silent. He did not release any new messages, and also paused all business activities, as if he planned to disappear from people's sights from now on.
Only Qiu Lin spoke up for him after the silence.
She was a well-known broker in the circle, with many fans of complex composition - in addition to the fans of celebrities, there were insiders and melon-eating masses who also paid attention.
She only said two things.
First, Jiang BaiYan lost his mother when he was eight years old. He was brought back to live in the Jiang family and suffered years of emotional abuse, which led him to have to flee to his grandfather. And when he was filming Hide and Seek, his grandfather had just passed away, and he didn't even have money for tuition, so he had to take a break from school to act and sign with an agency before transferring to Heping City to resume his studies.
All these years, he had been working hard to make a living without harming anyone.
Second, she gave an audio recording of Jiang Ou blocking Jiang BaiYan and humiliating him on the day of the Rose Gold audition, claiming it was inadvertently recorded by a staff member.
There was an uproar.
The original partner and her children originally occupied the moral high ground, while the illegitimate child was inherently inferior. But Jiang Ou was such a disaster, that even those who had previously sympathized with the original partner's children had to frown after listening to his insults.
Public opinion hit rock bottom and rebounded.
The entertainment accounts that had taken money began to change their tone, enumerating Jiang BaiYan’s achievements and acting skills. Of course Rose Gold was flattered again and again, with rhetoric like “outstanding acting skills stemming from a life of hardship”, as if they hadn’t been the ones calling him a “stain on his background” earlier.
However, what really allowed him to turn over a new leaf was not money or marketing.
It was himself.
The box office of Rose Gold exceeded 6 billion, eventually settling at 6.08 billion yuan, ranking first in the mainland box office totals.
To be honest, if Jian Jing hadn't been involved, she would have suspected that the scandal and family history were all just hype — in fact, some people did actually theorize it was a conspiracy.
But to tell the truth, 99% of this result was due to strength, and only 1% was luck.
At the end of March, everyone knew that the final box office of Rose Gold would probably top out over 5 billion, with good luck passing 5.5 billion. After all, the entire movie had no obvious shortcomings, and the highlights were still very prominent. Plus, it was a rare good romantic film seen in nearly a decade.
It should be known that in 1998, Titanic's box office was over 300 million.
Love is a common human emotion and an eternal theme in artistic creation. And in this world, crime detection has always been a popular theme, so the potential was huge with both combined.
Not to mention that the original novel of Rose Gold had broken through one million copies sold and was currently the hottest novel.
With several factors added together, accidentally exceeding the historical #1 and taking over the crown was admittedly partly luck but also well-deserved.
An actor's confidence always comes from his acting skills.
When professional capabilities are strong enough, people are willing to forgive some unimportant minor flaws.
Gradually, few people mentioned anything about illegitimate children. Everyone objectively reviewed the movie itself, analyzing acting techniques, debating the film itself rather than the actor's background.
The storm gradually subsided.
Well, just online anyway.
For those involved, it was not like that at all.
Everyone was reaching new heights in their careers.
