Cao Gongzi: So what

Among those supporting the post were Duan Yihong, Han Xue, Yang Zi, Nie Yuan, and others...

Although fewer people had criticized Yin Xiaotian, they were all well-known artists in the industry, each with strong networks.

The next day.

Sister Li managed to get in touch with Yin Xiaotian, and the two chatted on the phone for quite a while...

Soon after, Wang Jinhua from Yin Xiaotian’s agency called Sister Li back.

Wang Jinhua opened with, “Sister Ali, isn’t poaching someone like this a bit improper?”

“Sister Wang, that’s not my intention at all,” Sister Ali quickly distanced herself from the accusation.

There was a moment of silence on the other end.

Then, cautiously, Wang asked, “Could it be your Boss Cao? Would poaching someone require Boss Cao to personally get involved? I don’t buy it—this sounds like just using a big name to make a fuss.”

Sister Ali chuckled, “You know what? You might be surprised. This morning, President Ren told me that it really was Boss Cao himself who made the call. He’s planning to sign Yin Xiaotian.”

“Why?”

Wang was speechless. “Honestly, I’ve boasted outside that Xiaotian is one of the new ‘Four Young Leading Men,’ but anyone in the circle knows that’s just talk. Did your Boss Cao actually take it seriously?”

“Who knows? I didn’t dare ask,” Sister Ali smiled. “Maybe Boss Cao has a kind heart and can’t stand to see someone being bullied. Or maybe he just wants to use this opportunity to put some people in their place.”

Put some people in their place?

Who?

Those currently criticizing Yin Xiaotian?

Who are they?

Apparently, they’re not all from the same company.

Some are from Zhonghai, some from Jingcheng, others from Tianjinwei, and even some from Chuanshu...

Anyway, Wang Jinhua didn’t believe that Boss Cao’s intentions were purely to help Yin Xiaotian gain fame.

If Yin Xiaotian really had that kind of backing, he would have made it big a long time ago.

After a moment of thought.

“If Boss Cao really wants to sign him, I can only help make it happen. But Sister Ali, you know, my situation isn’t great right now!” Wang Jinhua complained about her financial struggles.

Sister Ali smiled, “I know, I know. I’ll put in a good word for you. Later on, our two companies can collaborate more. Boss Cao isn’t the kind of person to be petty. If you give him an inch, he’ll give you miles in return.”

Wang Jinhua was overjoyed. “That’s settled then. I’m going to find Xiaotian right now.”

“Thanks so much, Sister Wang. Let’s get together sometime soon.”

“Sure, it’s been a while since we last met.”

...

They hung up quickly.

As the top agent in the industry, Wang Jinhua wasn’t easy to negotiate with, and she had her own backing.

But,

That depended on who you were comparing her to.

Boss Cao was the richest man, ranked among the top three in the world, owning film distribution chains and a slew of platforms under his banner.

This was capital on a whole different level.

Moreover, there was no real grudge between the two sides.

Well,

Maybe a little.

Wang Jinhua and Sister Li had both been agents before; there was some rivalry and old grudges between them.

But nothing deadly.

After all these years, having reached where they were now, who still cared about petty past conflicts?

It was all about interests.

Honestly.

If Sister Li hadn’t joined Young Master Cao’s company, she could have started her own agency. She had her own artists and wasn’t any less capable than Wang Jinhua.

They were evenly matched.

...

By the afternoon.

Wang Jinhua posted a message on social media.

“Parted ways with @YinXiaotian after seven years of ups and downs... Wishing Xiaotian all the best!”

A long official statement first talked about how difficult these seven days of working together had been, then expressed how reluctant they were to part ways, and finally wished Yin Xiaotian all the best in the future.

Yin Xiaotian also posted on social media, thanking Boss Cao and all the seniors in the company for their care.

Originally, it was just a peaceful contract termination.

But in the eyes of the haters, things looked very different — this was obviously being abandoned by the company.

Someone replied, “All show, got kicked out for sure. Serves you right, beating a woman—what kind of man are you?”

“Serves you right.”

“Quit the industry.”

“Men who hit women deserve to die.”

“@Sister Xiaoxiao, you must be happy now. This kind of man deserves to be dumped by the company. Trash man.”

“……”

Suddenly, countless insults flooded in.

His traffic skyrocketed.

Numerous small media outlets started reporting on the incident.

The topic shot up to the top trending spots.

Many artists who disliked him were thrilled; this was a perfect chance to take sides, show their sense of justice, and ride the wave of traffic.

Feeling smug.

……

But the matter didn’t last long.

By evening,

Miracle Media posted on social media:

“Welcome @Yin Xiaotian to the Miracle family…”

Then came reposts from Miracle Media’s artists.

Little Tong, Little Hanyun, Little Chensheng, Zhousheng, and others all shared the post and welcomed him.

Yin Xiaotian replied: “Thanks to Miracle Media, thanks Sister Li, thanks President Ren, thanks Boss Cao, thanks Little Tong, thanks…”

A long list of thank-yous.

Fans were stunned.

Especially Boss Cao’s female fans.

They were happily munching on the gossip, and suddenly it hit too close to home.

“No way, even a violent guy like him is okay with my husband?”

“Are you dumb? What level is my husband? This has to be the company’s decision, either Sister Four or Sister Li.”

“The person above calls others dumb, you’re the dumb one. My husband definitely knows about this, and he knows way more than we do. That means Yin Xiaotian didn’t hit anyone, otherwise my husband wouldn’t have signed him.”

“Makes sense.”

“Exactly.”

“A wake-up call.”

“Nonsense, all of you are talking nonsense. You’re a bunch of trash. Miracle Media is a den of scum and villainy, taking in all kinds of garbage. That just proves the company is trash too.”

“Ugh, damn it…”

“Long time no fight, sisters, check who she’s a fan of, expose her family.”

“Hahaha, fight, fight.”

“Someone, quickly call for reinforcements, tonight we don’t stop till we drop.”

“……”

Boss Cao’s fans loved the drama.

Especially when they could argue with fans of other stars.

But when things got serious, they really meant business.

Fans from all sides were fierce; they didn’t care if you were a billionaire or whatever. In their hearts, only their own artist mattered. If you dared to oppose my artist, I’d curse your ancestors to the eighteenth generation.

So,

The fans on both sides started flaming each other, emotions running high.

Meanwhile, the artists themselves kept quiet, not daring to join in or offend Miracle Media.

Miracle Media controls the cinema circuit. Not long ago, they refused to screen “Lost in Thailand.”

Later calculations showed this caused “Lost in Thailand” to lose at least 300 million yuan.

Miracle Media took a hit of a hundred million yuan themselves, but dealt a bigger blow to others.

But Young Master Cao was rich; he could afford the damage.

But those film production agencies, investors, directors, and actors—they just can’t afford to get hurt.

Do you have any idea how much of the three hundred million goes into profit sharing?

Because of this matter, Bald Xu almost sued Miracle Media for “fair competition and anti-monopoly” issues.

And he was ready to take it all the way to arbitration.

At first,

this incident caused quite a stir. Bald Xu was not willing to back down.

But later, the investors behind the film got in touch with Miracle Media and had a private chat. After that, the investors understood some things and decided to put the matter to rest.

The outside world didn’t know what had happened.

People even thought it was just an internal feud among Zhonghai’s artists.

After all, when Miracle Media was newly established, Zhonghai had also pushed Miracle Media aside.

Now it was just Miracle Media’s revenge.

This clearly shows how ruthless and grudging Miracle Media is.

So,

ordinary artists don’t dare to offend them, not even to criticize.

If they get on the bad side of this young tycoon, they’d be truly helpless.

Everyone just wanted to ride the wave of popularity—not to look for trouble.

……

Besides,

these artists watched their own fans rush over to Young Master Cao’s Weibo to fight, and one by one, they were terrified.

No one slept that night, making all kinds of frantic calls, begging and pleading to get themselves removed from the mess.

Fans are sometimes a double-edged sword.

You need them when you’re fighting, but if they fight too fiercely, they can bring huge trouble to the artists.

If the authorities really want to punish someone, they’ll only go after the artists and their agencies, not the fans.

To put it bluntly,

if you can’t control your own fans, then you seriously shouldn’t be in this business, nor should you have so many fans.

……

These artists were completely dumbfounded.

They were scared out of their wits.

Damn it.

It’s just a little squabble in the entertainment industry—how did it end up involving Miracle Media?

And even if Miracle Media got involved, that wouldn’t be a problem.

But are these fans stupid?

Why the hell are you going over to Young Master Cao’s Weibo to trash-talk?

Originally, he probably didn’t even know about this.

But after you started trashing him, there’s no way he wouldn’t find out.

No need to guess who he’d support.

No matter who brought Yin Xiaotian into Miracle Media, Young Master Cao would one hundred percent back his own artist.

Especially some artists who know the inside story, like Huang Shengyi’s husband Lan Zi, and Bian Xiaoxiao herself—they were all stunned.

Whether or not there was a beating, the video evidence made it very clear.

The crew members were there too, and could easily turn against anyone at any time.

Who would risk offending Young Master Cao just for a few artists?

This whole thing was Bian Xiaoxiao’s fault.

Not to say Yin Xiaotian was completely innocent, but it wasn’t some made-up story about hitting a woman…

……

Meanwhile,

Young Master Cao suddenly stepped in himself.

He started replying to these artists’ fans.

A female fan from the opposing side said: “Men who hit women deserve to die. Miracle Media is just a den of scum and villainy.”

Cao Cheng replied: “So what?”

Another female fan said: “Yin Xiaotian isn’t even a real man.”

Cao Cheng replied: “So what?”

A female fan said: “Don’t think just because he’s at Miracle Media he can get away with it. People like him should be blacklisted and kicked out of the industry.”

Cao Cheng replied: “So what?”

“……”

“So what?”

Cao Cheng was like a broken record—no matter what they said, his answer was always those three words.

The more you read, the more infuriating it became.

Some fans began to turn their attacks toward Young Master Cao.

Cao Cheng responded coolly, “So what?”

This instantly cracked up Young Master Cao’s loyal female fans.

One by one, they started to imitate him.

No matter what the other side said—reasoned arguments or insults—the replies were always things like “So what?”, “What can you do?”, “What now?”, or simply “Heh…”

Phrases along those lines.

It infuriated quite a few people.

Negative emotions collected by Cao Cheng surged dramatically.

But there were also plenty of positive vibes, with laughter echoing nonstop.

…

Three days later.

The opposing fans weren’t particularly strong fighters and gradually stopped trading insults with Young Master Cao’s side.

It wasn’t really a war of words anymore; it was more like Young Master Cao was trying to drive them crazy.

At this moment,

Wang Haodong, known in the circle as the “disciplinary inspector,” posted a video.

A complete, unedited video.

In it, there was audio: Bian Xiaoxiao was the first to curse—insulting ancestors, cursing mothers—and even threw the first punch.

Yin Xiaotian, on the other hand, only lost his temper and pushed Bian Xiaoxiao once when he was cursed.

With this, the whole matter was laid bare.

The online atmosphere shifted dramatically.

Thus, the “Backstabbers’ Cult” was born!