Chapter 21: Sister gu’s beliefs, exploding on weibo

The male model hesitated after sending the message.

It had been a while since he last contacted Sister Zhao Ping.

In the past, every time Gu Zhao Ping visited Nan City, she would call him for a modeling gig.

He had always had a good relationship with Gu Zhao Ping.

Sometimes, when Gu Zhao Ping had troubles, she would confide in him.

He was discreet, had a good personality, and didn’t come across like many models who hadn’t received much education.

He was well-versed in music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, and could even do traditional Chinese calligraphy and brush painting.

Whenever Gu Zhao Ping was feeling down, he would accompany her by playing the guqin, being the perfect and delicate vase.

His greatest advantage was his youth.

He was still a college student, attending a local prestigious university in Nan City.

He was also considered quite handsome, the type that often went viral when candid shots were taken and posted online.

Even with all these advantages, in front of Gu Zhao Ping, he was always quite humble.

After all, there were always many options around her.

Sometimes, Gu Zhao Ping would like him, but she wouldn’t always like him exclusively.

After getting tired of the scholarly type, maybe she’d want to try something wilder.

Fu You could stay calm and patient, which was why Gu Zhao Ping always favored him.

But this time, he wasn’t losing control because he was worried that Gu Zhao Ping had found someone new.

He was confident that he was somewhat irreplaceable.

When Gu Zhao Ping’s other models didn’t meet her standards, when she encountered troubles in life, or when her fiancé caused her distress, she would usually take some time to seek him out.

This time, Fu You wanted to offer her some emotional support.

He had noticed that Gu Zhao Ping had been in a lot of trouble online recently, and the public opinion wasn’t good.

But she hadn’t reached out to him yet, and he guessed that she wasn’t feeling well emotionally.

It was his professional duty to offer emotional support to long-term clients.

Fu You quickly made up his mind.

But Gu Zhao Ping was silent for a moment.

He suddenly realized that Miss Gu, who used to be a regular in the party scene, probably hadn’t heard from him because she noticed that her top client had been avoiding her for a while.

He wasn’t interested and said,

“I have something to do tomorrow. You don’t need to come.”

Fu You was stunned.

The tone was cold, a tone he had never heard from Gu Zhao Ping before.

Fu You thought about it repeatedly, and he concluded that he hadn’t done anything wrong recently, so it was most likely that Gu Zhao Ping wasn’t feeling well emotionally.

“Alright, then I’ll wait until you’re free.”

He didn’t push or act needy.

This was one of Fu You’s strengths he always did what Gu Zhao Ping asked.

He understood her better than many of the other male models.

Some models would think Gu Zhao Ping was being coy, expecting them to force their way in or be more clingy.

But Fu You knew Gu Zhao Ping wasn’t like that.

She was someone who liked to be in control.

She didn’t like domineering types, and she didn’t care for the puppy dog charm.

She preferred obedient types who would sit quietly by her side and listen, looking good while doing so.

“Recently, I’ve been busy. You don’t need to come.”

Gu Zhao Ping’s voice was flat, and she had no problem rejecting him.

She finished with a habitual tone, almost like an old leader.

“Work well.”

Fu You: “……?”

He was a little stunned.

Suddenly, alarms went off in his mind, and a strong sense of panic surged.

What did this mean?

Was Gu Zhao Ping no longer interested in him?

Could that be possible?

How could her preferences change so suddenly in such a short time?

Did she find someone else, someone better than him someone younger, with a better physique, more handsome?

Although the model industry was highly competitive, Fu You was somewhat confident that, in the short term, no one could offer better overall conditions than him and be more suited for Gu Zhao Ping.…but how could her taste change like this?

He knew she didn’t always prefer the absolute best in every category sometimes, she might even have a bit of a fetish for the flawed.

Although he was sure Gu Zhao Ping was a beauty lover and very into emotional value, she would never idolize some young boy.

Yet, Fu You still felt uneasy.

He reminded himself to stay calm.

Asking or pushing now would be a very bad move, likely leading to Gu Zhao Ping’s rejection.

What he needed to do now was to be sensible, maintain his self-respect, and wait for Gu Zhao Ping to reignite her interest in him.

In the meantime, he should work on improving himself.

Maybe focus on his studies?

He could apply to a better school to increase his appeal.

While maintaining his looks and physique, he should also keep an eye on industry gossip, seeing if Gu Zhao Ping had started favoring another young man and analyze her recent tastes.

If it was just a matter of her taste changing, then Fu You could improve himself.

In the battle between new and old, the old was definitely the more reliable choice.

Fu You quickly calmed down, but his hands didn’t stop moving.

He thought his muscles could look better.

The next morning, at 5:30 AM,

He grabbed a revitalizing drink, picked up the new magazine that had been delivered, and after reading for a while, thought about the reminder from someone else.

It seemed he lacked a bit of online presence.

After finishing the magazine, he put it down, looked at his phone for news.

Since he was preparing for a program recording, the production team had registered a new Weibo account for him.

When Gu Zhao Ping logged in, she saw that her account had already been verified.

However, the followers were few.

After yesterday’s live stream, the internet seemed to be buzzing about it.

Ruan Nian’s agent later posted a public relations statement, saying it was some people stirring things up, leading to the misunderstanding that Ruan Nian had been hurt and hospitalized because of Gu Zhao Ping.

Ruan Nian had no ill intentions, but it had affected both parties.

The statement was sincere, with detailed explanations.

After the recording, Ruan Nian herself reposted the announcement and explained her thoughts and feelings about the situation.

Most people had a good impression of Ruan Nian, and with such a sincere explanation, most of them believed her.

[So we misunderstood Gu Zhao Ping…]

[This is really hard to accept. We’ve never misunderstood Gu Zhao Ping before. He has done so many bad things. This time, it’s just a case of the “boy who cried wolf” effect.]

[If his image wasn’t so messed up, would we be so quick to doubt him?]

[No matter what, this time wasn’t Gu Zhao Ping’s fault. Let’s discuss things as they are, and stop bringing up past events.]

[Didn’t Gu Zhao Ping bully Ruan Nian in the past? It’s just that this time, he didn’t actually cause Ruan Nian’s injury. So, can you honestly say his malice toward Ruan Nian was fake? Look at how aggressive he was toward Ruan Nian on the program! It seems like he’s happy to finally have the moral high ground, trying to clear his name as quickly as possible! You guys are just like those who believe everything after he whitewashes his image. That’s what he’s after, right? He’s probably laughing behind the scenes at how easily you guys can be manipulated.]

[You’re the one with the bias against Gu Zhao Ping! Can’t you separate the issues? He was wrong in the past, but this time he was clearly wronged, so why are you making excuses?]

In the end, the firestorm was aimed at Gu Zhao Ping.

Now that Gu Zhao Ping had some time, he politely asked,

[What problems have there been in the past?]

Tell me what I did in the past, and I’ll resolve each issue.

Gu Zhao Ping’s reputation needs to be corrected.

Gu Zhao Ping casually forwarded this comment to his page, with the text: [Feel free to provide evidence of anything I’ve done in the past with detailed processes. I need to understand the situation in order to solve the problem.]

With the official verification on his Weibo account, he posted this message confidently.

…Moments later, the internet exploded.

What?!

Is this for real?!

Gu Zhao Ping is actually engaging with the online discussions?

Is he checking out his reputation?

Is this voyeurism?

How can someone with such a bad reputation dare to monitor his own reputation?

At first, the person who had been cursing Gu Zhao Ping panicked for a moment, then got angry, screenshotting Gu Zhao Ping’s reposted content, and started ranting on Weibo: [Gu Zhao Ping, what do you mean? Are you trying to use your influence to bully me? How dare you use your public figure status to do this?]

[Gu Zhao Ping, I was just speaking the truth. Can’t you handle it? What’s with this passive-aggressive attitude?]

[Gu Zhao Ping, are you trying to sue me? If you want to sue me for defamation, then I’ll be laughing. So many people have eyes and can see what you’ve done. If you sue me, it’ll only make you a laughingstock online.]

Honestly, Gu Zhao Ping was flooded with messages and didn’t even notice this person’s posts.

It wasn’t until someone else reported the situation that Gu Zhao Ping saw it and replied briefly: [Is this “bullying”?]

Gu Zhao Ping didn’t fully understand what it meant, but it seemed like the person was overly emotional, triggered by some specific words.

The person went silent for a moment, like a chicken with its neck squeezed.

They hadn’t expected Gu Zhao Ping to respond.

After a moment of silence, the person went crazy again, seemingly on the verge of a breakdown.

Through some clarification from netizens, Gu Zhao Ping finally understood what the person was trying to say.

Gu Zhao Ping thought for a moment and saw this as a great opportunity.

He decided to ignore that person and instead posted the first Weibo message from this account.

Hello, netizens, I am Gu Zhao Ping.

From today, I am offering a paid collection of all relevant evidence regarding my past actions.

Whether it’s shortcomings, drawbacks, or merits, I will accept everything.

Every decision I made, regardless of the outcome, I accept and take full responsibility for.

Of course, some people hiding behind screens hope you’ve learned to take responsibility for your actions.

A curse or negative review from someone often reflects their own fear.

Since you’re afraid of facing the consequences of bullying and defamation charges, according to risk management theory, the logical course of action should be to avoid those initial behaviors to escape the final result.

If you haven’t done that, then you might want to consider whether your behavior logic is reasonable.

Additionally, I don’t care about outside evaluations, nor am I worried about becoming the so-called joke.

People who place all their hopes in others will always be afraid of judgment and, as a result, refrain from doing what they feel is necessary.

However, others are hell.

If I think something is necessary, no matter how many people laugh or oppose it, it’s none of my business.

Moreover, I have a law background, so you might want to worry a bit about the defamation issue.

Anyone who provides evidence will be compensated.

I’ll keep my word this starts immediately.

Facing my past actions and taking responsibility for them isn’t hard.

Those who are too afraid to look me in the eye are the real prisoners of their own minds.

Gu Zhao Ping wasn’t one for long-winded speeches.

He wasn’t the type to convince others through words he preferred to make statements through actions.

But that didn’t mean he would let every provocation slide.

Making clear statements of attitude and position was crucial; it was the clarion call to establish dominance and integrity.

Gu Zhao Ping needed a friendly image, but friendly didn’t mean having a low threshold or being easy to control.

It was just that, right now, people didn’t fully understand him.

In the past, to some extent, Gu Zhao Ping could be considered a “tyrant,” the kind who did things in a relatively graceful and elegant way.

People should count themselves lucky that they weren’t encountering Gu Zhao Ping when he had complete control of his power.

After reading for 12 minutes, Gu Zhao Ping adjusted his glasses, put down his phone, and began to handle his work for the day.

He was quite good at immersing himself, but the internet had already exploded.

What…is this?

Taking all past actions, good or bad?

Evidence of long-standing behaviors?

Doesn’t care about evaluations, because others are hell?

Placing evaluations in others’ hands…and being afraid to act because of the judgment?

Silence, a silence of words.

Then came the shock, the shock that ignited the entire internet!

Is this public relations language?

Did Gu Zhao Ping write this himself, or did someone else write it for him?

Does this align with his previous image?

Why has he become so carefree and stable at his core?

As soon as this message was released, everyone started to think of many things.

Things that had been done and denied, those who dared to do but couldn’t own up to it, those who made mistakes but were afraid of being held accountable, those who collapsed after being laughed at by others, those who fell into endless internal struggles because they cared too much about other people’s opinions…

It seemed that everything they had repeatedly analyzed, mocked, and criticized about him didn’t seem to matter at all to Gu Zhao Ping.

“Others are hell” everyone knew this saying, but how many people truly understood it?

The netizens were shocked.

In such a short time, had Gu Zhao Ping truly changed?

Had they always misunderstood him?

Which version of him was real?

Was the harsh and venomous Gu Zhao Ping from before real, or was that just another misunderstanding, just like this one?

…

Shock, disbelief, and repeated discussions!

Of course, the question they were most excited about was

Paid Collection!

The Gu family’s financial power was undeniably attractive.

In an instant, many people recalled the past news about Gu Zhao Ping’s arrogant and harsh behavior toward Ruan Nian.

But after searching for a long time, they found that none of the so-called “evidence” was concrete!

Either the photos were taken from a distance or the information was vague and unreliable.

Where was the evidence?

Netizens were stunned.

Had there really been no concrete evidence of Gu Zhao Ping bullying Ruan Nian?

The most recent one was when Gu Zhao Ping supposedly beat up Ruan Nian in public, but in the end, it was confirmed that it was actually Gu Zhao Ye who got beaten up, and Ruan Nian wasn’t hurt at all.

So…why had they been so sure that Gu Zhao Ping was harsh and malicious?

…

At this moment, sitting at home, freshly awake from his morning workout, Chu Yanze was reading these messages.

He sat quietly, holding his phone, staring at the screen for a long time.

What kind of person was Gu Zhao Ping?

Was he really as others imagined him to be?

Thinking about their next meeting today, Chu Yanze couldn’t help but feel nervous and clenched his fist.