562: Chapter 562 Deng Yu's Wishful Thinking

There is an old saying: "When facing major events, one must maintain a calm spirit."

There is another old saying: "He who travels one hundred miles only completes half the journey at ninety."

With three days left until the official release of la la land, victory was right in front of him. Yet, when the opponent pulled such a so-called "big move" at this moment, Lin Chuyan became even more calm and composed.

Since it was already a winning game, how could he capsize just because of this little storm?

Ruan Xingyu had also woken up by now. She walked from the bedroom to the living room, eyes bleary with sleep, rubbing her eyes as she walked. She looked lazy and adorable.

Lin Chuyan got up from the sofa, walked over, and hugged her: "Did the phone call wake you up?"

The just-awakened Ruan Xingyu's voice was soft and weak: "No. I turned over wanting to hug you, but I couldn't feel anyone, so I woke up. Why are you up so early today?"

Lin Chuyan stroked her hair: "I received a call from Brother Yue."

Snuggled in her husband's arms, Ruan Xingyu sensed something was wrong and looked up, asking: "What happened?"

Lin Chuyan briefly explained the situation to her, then couldn't help but ask: "Who is this Tian Junfeng who is trending with me?"

The trending topic was "Lin Chuyan and Tian Junfeng exposed for being summoned to pay back taxes." Lin Chuyan had never even heard of this Tian Junfeng.

Ruan Xingyu frowned: "I don't know him either. He's probably just an obscure artist dragged in as a cover to deceive people. After all, if they targeted you alone, it would be too easy to see through. Many people already guessed that Director Deng Yu was behind the previous moves. Dragging someone along as a scapegoat fits his style of doing things."

Ruan Xingyu's thoughts coincided with Wu Yue's. She continued: "We need to respond as soon as possible; we can't let the public opinion ferment."

Lin Chuyan nodded: "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. Brother Yue said it's impossible that there's only one trending topic. I'll wait and see how things develop, and then crush him in one go. Director Deng Yu is now at his wit's end; he looks fierce, but he's actually just a paper tiger!"

Watching his spirited appearance, Ruan Xingyu couldn't help but smile: "Alright, my husband is so domineering."

"Mm-hmm." Lin Chuyan raised an eyebrow, his hands starting to become restless. "But it's only past six, it's still early, and this isn't the time for doing anything else. How about... we go back to bed for a while?"

Director Deng Yu's actions were far faster than Lin Chuyan had imagined.

Wu Yue was still trying to find a way to remove the trending topic, but who knew the other side would remove it themselves, replacing it with a series of new trending topics.

Sure enough, that little artist Tian Junfeng, whom Lin Chuyan had never heard of, was found to have committed confirmed tax evasion, with ironclad evidence.

#Tian Junfeng investigated for tax evasion#

The topic trended, but when you clicked in, nobody on the plaza was discussing Tian Junfeng. A group of internet trolls was uniformly steering the narrative toward Lin Chuyan.

[WTF, who is Tian Junfeng? An obscure artist I've never heard of evaded over 8 million in taxes? Then what about f***ing Lin Chuyan? How much did he evade?]

[Looks like it's confirmed. Tian Junfeng has fallen, how much longer can Lin Chuyan jump around? Official authorities, hurry up and get to work!]

[Take them both down for tax evasion, don't let Lin Chuyan get away! Haven't you found it out yet?]

[So what if Lin Chuyan wins many awards? Disgraced artists get out of the entertainment industry! Resolutely boycott la la land!]

[Soon, soon, it's probably a matter of these two days before the authorities take action to discipline Lin Chuyan.]

Fans naturally didn't believe it.

They had followed Lin Chuyan all the way, through storms and hardships, witnessing the countless miracles he had created. How could they be easily shaken by these baseless rumors?

More people were posting the quote that "Entertainment Reporter Xiao Ba" had once said.

[Withstand the gossip, produce excellent works. Please choose to believe, not to question.]

But it was useless; Lin Chuyan's negative trending topics continued to appear as they should.

#Lin Chuyan suspected of tax evasion#

A fine "suspected." This didn't count as open slander, yet it cleverly guided the public to question him. After all, Tian Junfeng, who trended with him, had been confirmed guilty, so what about Lin Chuyan? I bet you're not entirely clean either!

Following that, another trending topic arrived.

#Lin Chuyan's side has not responded#

It was clear they were very anxious. It had only been a few hours? Director Deng Yu didn't give Lin Chuyan any chance to clarify at all; from the start, it was a storm of blackening his name.

Clicking into these two trending topics, more marketing accounts entered the fray.

[It is rumored online that Lin Chuyan has been summoned by relevant tax authorities to pay back taxes due to a serious discrepancy between his personal income and tax payments. Regarding this news, Lin Chuyan's side has not yet responded.]

[la la land is about to be released, and Lin Chuyan is suddenly embroiled in a tax evasion scandal. I don't know if it's true, but Tian Junfeng, who was on the trending list with him, has been confirmed banned. Watching the drama.]

[Paparazzi exposed that Lin Chuyan was summoned by the tax department. What's wrong with him? Looking back now, actually, none of the so-called "rumors" from a while ago were clarified, right?]

Did you think that was the end of it? It wasn't enough, not enough. For Director Deng Yu, this was a matter of betting his entire career; he had no choice but to go all in.

Soon, another marketing account cut in from another tricky angle.

[Putting aside the truth of the tax evasion for a moment, I noticed a detail: Lin Chuyan is both Singing and acting, doing very well in the entertainment industry. A trip to Singer earns him 5 million, and his concerts are even more lucrative. But I checked the disaster relief donation records for these two years, and Lin Chuyan hasn't donated even once; these are all verifiable. And Ruan Xingyu, ever since she got together with Lin Chuyan, has also never donated again. What exactly is going on with this couple?]

Once this narrative was pushed, another trending topic came out, very direct:

#Lin Chuyan has never donated#

How to put it? Regardless of whether it was appropriate or not, since they "presented facts," the fans were a bit speechless and didn't know how to respond, other than refuting it as "moral kidnapping."

Just like that, in a short half-day, the top three trending topics were once again occupied by topics related to Lin Chuyan.

Fans couldn't figure it out: Just a few days ago, my brother was winning various awards and was infinitely glorious, how did it suddenly become like this?

The Haters were high again, immediately opening champagne at halftime: "Seeing him build a high building, seeing him feast guests, seeing his building collapse? Take him away, take him away! la la land must be pulled from theaters!"

Everyone was waiting for Lin Chuyan to come forward to respond and clarify the facts, but was a response alone enough? Could it really turn the tide?

Director Deng Yu clearly wouldn't give Lin Chuyan such a chance, and he easily blocked this path as well.

[Don't mention that Lin Chuyan hasn't responded yet; even if he stood up and said "it's fake," or even issued a lawyer's letter, would it be credible? Don't forget, how many artists have done this only to be slapped in the face by confirmed proof later?]

Director Deng Yu knew clearly that fake is fake; he certainly couldn't ban Lin Chuyan. But at this critical node of the Spring Festival Movie Season, as long as he could successfully influence netizens' impression of Lin Chuyan and thereby affect the box office of la la land, then his goal would be achieved.

Prove his innocence? Sure, go ahead. For Director Deng Yu, he only needed to buy himself ten days or half a month.