“A-da!!!! Summoning A-da!!!!!”
“This has to be an alternate account! Why go silent now of all times?!”
“Damn it, A-da even gave me concert tickets! Is the world really this perfect?!”
“I still have the delivery slip!”
Someone took the delivery slip and compared it to Duan Xiubo’s known handwriting.
The situation snowballed, growing bigger and bigger. The more Duan Xiubo played dead, the more attention the fan community focused on this alternate account. After the few long-dormant accounts finally made appearances, the suspicions shifted, and “Alessandro” was thrust into the spotlight.
With a clear target, the meticulous fans began dissecting every detail.
They dug into Alessandro’s posting history, reposts, all the images shared, and even the few times the account had shared location data that was quickly deleted. Someone had been keeping tabs on this account for a long time. Duan Xiubo was now truly tasting the consequences of his actions. While his posts and reposts were one thing, the photos he had shared of albums, EPs, and his cat were practically handing evidence to the fans.
Especially the cat! When he took those photos, Duan Xiubo hadn’t thought much of it. A cat that chubby and with such distinct yellow-and-white markings was hard to find. Previously, people had just thought he was a rich fan who had somehow found a cat so similar to Luo Ding’s in such a short time. But now, the narrative had completely shifted.
“[Bye] This kind of showing off love…”
“Do you think we can dig up Luo Xiaoding’s alternate account too… Oh my, collecting each other’s albums and works… How can it be so sweet…”
“Going home to divorce.”
“Going home to break up.”
Duan Xiubo stared at the storm in the fan community, feeling utterly overwhelmed.
“What do we do?” He and Mi Rui stared at each other, the meaning in their eyes growing clearer, their smiles becoming warmer and more innocent.
Mi Rui, without needing to be told, understood Duan Xiubo’s intention and immediately shook his head: “No, I often appear with you in public. Almost everyone who knows you knows me.”
“What’s the problem with that?” Duan Xiubo asked in a soothing tone, reaching out to pull Mi Rui closer, only for the latter to dodge. Unfazed, Duan Xiubo continued, “I can’t just ask someone I’m not close to for a photo, can I?”
Asking someone unfamiliar was indeed risky. Getting a photo wasn’t hard, but the fear was encountering someone with ill intentions or someone unreliable. If the matter were leaked or used to blackmail Duan Xiubo, it would be a disaster.
“No, no, no!!!!”
Realizing he was starting to follow Duan Xiubo’s train of thought, Mi Rui quickly stepped back. Duan Xiubo darted over and pulled him into a brotherly embrace, slinging an arm over his shoulders and leaning in close. With utmost sincerity, he said, “I’ll give you a raise. A raise.”
Mi Rui: “…” It was true that he hadn’t gotten a raise in a long time.
While Weibo was still buzzing, the Alessandro account finally made a move.
A photo was posted.
In the morning light, a man wearing black-framed glasses and a white mask held a cat up to his face, covering most of his masked features. His fingers were long and slender, pale and clean.
He was the refined type, somewhat thin and sharp-looking. Though his face was mostly obscured by the glasses and mask, the visible parts made it clear that this was definitely not Duan Xiubo.
The morning light streamed into what appeared to be a luxurious room, likely a study. The most striking feature was an entire wall filled with Luo Ding’s albums, meticulously arranged and mostly still sealed. On the table beside the shelf were several framed photos of Luo Ding, with frames made of alloy, relief, and plaster, all exquisitely crafted, clearly indicating the fan’s substantial financial means.
The same room, the same albums, the same cat.
The fans, who had been deeply investigating Alessandro’s history, fell silent.
Then they began to feel that their nerves had been overly sensitive, and their thoughts increasingly absurd. How could Duan Xiubo possibly be lurking in the fan community? Hahahaha…
Alessandro’s past posts, especially those from CP fans, had solidified his status as a die-hard fan. Why would a celebrity need to be a fan themselves? Luo Ding and Duan Xiubo collaborated frequently, their interactions so sweet that even the fan community couldn’t handle it. They… probably didn’t need to do this.
The alarm seemed to be lifted. The person in the photo wasn’t a busty beauty but a handsome young man. This new discovery reinvigorated the fan community.
Fan communities were usually dominated by girls, so the appearance of a handsome, wealthy young man who shared their interests and was generous with concert tickets was a rare find.
What a catch, a true blue-chip stock.
During this time, private messages inviting Alessandro to meetups flooded in, forcing Duan Xiubo to disable the private message feature.
Some people felt the man in the photo looked familiar, but no one could pinpoint exactly why.
****
Luo Ding recognized the wall in the background of Mi Rui’s photo almost instantly—it was from the main room of the castle in Los Angeles. Over the years, his busy schedule had taken him all over the world, and he rarely had the chance to visit Los Angeles. Even when he did, it was usually for work with various film crews or shooting teams. Though it had been a long time since he last set foot in that castle, the surprise he felt when he sneaked into Duan Xiubo’s room without permission years ago had never faded. It was from that moment that Luo Ding began to tolerate Duan Xiubo’s occasional jealousy and tantrums more easily. Only a child or someone deeply insecure would keep everything they cherished constantly within sight.
Luo Ding had a good memory. The arrangement of the albums, the style and material of the shelves, were almost identical to what he remembered. As for the cat… it was so familiar that mistaking it was impossible. The only thing that puzzled him was the man in the photo.
Definitely not Duan Xiubo.
But still familiar.
The eyes behind the black-framed glasses looked reluctantly at the camera, filled with a sense of grievance. Luo Ding studied the photo for a while before it hit him—wasn’t this Mi Rui?
Luo Ding hadn’t known about the “like” incident at first. He hadn’t used social media in years, preferring to call people directly if he needed to contact them. His public accounts were managed by Wu Fangyuan and Gu Yaxing, who would inform him of any issues. This time was no different. The sheer number of fans complaining about Duan Xiubo’s antics was overwhelming. They begged Luo Ding to rein in Duan Xiubo and stop him from being so ridiculous. Though their messages were fragmented, there was enough context to piece things together.
Wu Fangyuan, ever the gossip king, immediately told Luo Ding about it, treating it as a joke. He had no idea how surprised Luo Ding was upon hearing the news.
Alessandro—Luo Ding knew that account. He even followed it.
Luo Ding was aware that Duan Xiubo often lurked in CP fan circles. He would frequently send Luo Ding fan-made videos or images he found amusing, keeping up with the fan community’s activities more closely than most fans.
But Alessandro and Duan Xiubo?
At first, Luo Ding found it hard to believe. After spending a few days tracking the situation on Weibo himself, he realized that, given Duan Xiubo’s penchant for mischief, it was entirely possible he had created an alternate account to lurk in the fan community.
The cat… the albums… and the concert tickets he had given away.
Wu Fangyuan, who had been following the developments with Luo Ding, suddenly slammed the table: “Holy crap! No wonder Mi Rui always gives me the cold shoulder! So that’s what this is about!”
Luo Ding: “…?” What does Mi Rui have to do with this?
Wu Fangyuan, looking smug, zoomed in on the photo: “Look! Look! He thinks covering his mouth and changing his glasses will fool me. That’s Mi Rui! That guy always snorts or rolls his eyes at me, acting all high and mighty. Now I get it—he’s jealous!”
Luo Ding stared at him blankly.
“Tsk!” Wu Fangyuan, seeing Luo Ding still didn’t understand, eagerly explained, “Look, he’s such a big fan of yours, filling his room with your albums and merchandise. He must adore you to death. But you’re with Brother Duan, so you hardly notice him. I’m different! I’ve been by your side for years, handling everything from your daily needs to your meals. He’s jealous as hell, but he’s too proud to admit it, so he puts on this aloof act.”
Luo Ding watched as Wu Fangyuan’s eyes sparkled with the pride of someone who had finally won a long battle. He couldn’t bring himself to explain the truth, so he let Wu Fangyuan continue.
“How do you describe this? A closet fanboy, right? Who would’ve thought Mi Rui was such a closet fanboy? Totally unexpected.”
Sigh.
Luo Ding thought to himself, Wu Fangyuan was a good person, just a bit slow.
But the fans weren’t so easily fooled. While the Alessandro account might be cleared of suspicion, what about Duan Xiubo’s “like”?
A slip of the finger could explain it, but not to this extent. The post Duan Xiubo had liked wasn’t the original popular post, but one that had been reposted countless times with the comment “a match made in heaven.” No amount of finger-slipping could explain that.
With no explanation, the fan community remained abuzz.
This situation couldn’t be ignored. Seeing the storm still raging, Mi Rui had no choice but to bring in the studio to guide public opinion. Fan communities weren’t always rational, and there were always company insiders lurking within. When it came to controlling fan discourse, these undercover agents came in handy.
Speculations ranged from the account being managed by a copywriter rather than Duan Xiubo himself, to the possibility that the “like” was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the agent. For a while, these theories managed to quell some of the noise.
Until new evidence surfaced.
The delivery slips Mi Rui had used to send tickets to several fan community leaders were dug up.
This was something Mi Rui hadn’t anticipated. To distance Duan Xiubo from the scandal, Mi Rui had initially taken much of the blame for the accidental “like,” citing examples of many celebrities’ public accounts being managed by their agents.
But the more he talked, the more people began to believe it.
Mi Rui appeared in public quite often. As he had feared, being Duan Xiubo’s long-time personal assistant and agent, he had been by Duan Xiubo’s side through his rise to fame. Wherever Duan Xiubo went, Mi Rui was often nearby. If it weren’t for the fact that he couldn’t trust others and didn’t want to drag innocent friends into this, using his own photo would have been a terrible idea.
Once fans got serious, they poured immense effort into verifying their suspicions.
Photos of Mi Rui were dug up—clear, blurry, front-facing, side profiles, even the back of his head. Since he was good-looking, some of Duan Xiubo’s fans and CP fans had even joked about him debuting as an idol. By photoshopping black-framed glasses onto his face and adding a mask, then comparing the images…
It didn’t take long for people to notice the similarities.
The resemblance between the man in the photo and Mi Rui… was uncanny.
As soon as Mi Rui saw such comments, he knew trouble was brewing. Sure enough, speculation arose that Duan Xiubo, after being exposed, had gotten his agent to cover for him. However, most voices leaned toward either mistaking Mi Rui for someone else or believing that Mi Rui was indeed Alessandro.
Realizing the situation was spiraling out of control, Mi Rui had no choice but to accept his fate. He instructed the studio to steer public opinion toward him.
After all… Duan Xiubo had given him a 200,000 yuan raise for this. With that kind of money, taking the fall… wasn’t entirely unbearable.
The “exposed” incident had been a rollercoaster. Starting with the “like,” suspicions shifted to Duan Xiubo lurking in the fan community, then to mistaken identities, further investigations, and finally landing on Mi Rui.
What an unexpected twist!
The CP fans were thrilled. This was the real deal—a true insider, a life winner who had infiltrated the idol’s inner circle, managing everything from daily life to schedules, all while getting paid to follow his idol’s activities.
For fans, this was the most enticing job imaginable.
Mi Rui being one of their own was truly unexpected.
The Alessandro account fell silent, and the fan community mourned. Why had they been so nosy, so eager to dig up the truth? Had they nothing better to do? Now they had scared him into silence. Great job! Just great!
Quickly, the tide turned, and blame shifted toward the fans who had dug too deep. The focus on whether Mi Rui or Duan Xiubo was the true culprit of the “like” gradually faded, but Mi Rui’s status as an insider was now permanently cemented.
Staring straight ahead, Mi Rui rolled his eyes as Wu Fangyuan chattered beside him.
Having concluded that Mi Rui was Luo Ding’s die-hard fan, Wu Fangyuan had become insufferably smug. He had long resented Mi Rui’s constant disdain. As a man, who wouldn’t mind being treated with contempt every day? Mi Rui always called him stupid, dumb, and lacking in intelligence, and over time, Wu Fangyuan had started to believe it. Now, realizing that Mi Rui’s insults stemmed from jealousy, Wu Fangyuan was over the moon!
Who was the real life winner? He was! No matter how high Mi Rui’s salary was, he couldn’t follow Luo Ding around like Wu Fangyuan could! Compared to that, since Mi Rui wasn’t even Duan Xiubo’s fan, Wu Fangyuan had the upper hand.
Waving a signed photo of Luo Ding, Wu Fangyuan was particularly pleased but pretended to be concerned as he leaned in close to Mi Rui: “Brother Mi, why are you so standoffish? You must really want a signed photo, right? Just tell me! I have tons of them! All signed. What’s there to be shy about? If you want it, just say so!”
Mi Rui swallowed his pride, his mouth twitching as he accepted the photo: “…Thank you.”
The group entered the airport, where a well-organized crowd of fans had already gathered. As soon as Duan Xiubo and Luo Ding appeared, the crowd surged forward, screaming their names and closing in.
Bodyguards formed an outer circle, while those with cameras and professional equipment got closest. Duan Xiubo and Luo Ding smiled and waved at the crowd. Mi Rui adjusted his mask and silently followed beside the bodyguards.
Suddenly, someone bumped into his shoulder. Mi Rui turned, surprised by the boldness.
A beautiful, long-haired girl with a camera grinned mischievously at him.
Mi Rui: “…”
The girl: “Hey! One of us, right?!”
Mi Rui: “…” He forced a pleased smile and nodded.
The girl shivered with excitement and ran back to her friends. Mi Rui watched as she whispered something to a group of girls, who then began waving at him.
Mi Rui had no choice but to wave back, pretending to be shy.
Luo Ding, catching this out of the corner of his eye, frowned slightly, feeling a wave of sympathy.
He nudged Duan Xiubo and whispered, “You got Mi Rui to take the fall?”
Duan Xiubo nodded.
“Did you compensate him?”
“Gave him a 200,000 yuan raise.”
200,000!
Luo Ding blinked, glancing at Mi Rui. Thinking of Wu Fangyuan’s annual salary, his sympathy suddenly sank like a stone in deep water, impossible to retrieve.
Author’s Note:
The alternate account can’t be fully exposed. If it were, Old Duan (Duan Xiubo) wouldn’t be able to keep up his public image.
While exposing the alternate account is fun, Luo Ding and Duan Xiubo still have careers to maintain. They can’t afford to have everything revealed. So… well, Mi Rui will have to bear the brunt of it.
The next side story will probably be about something like a wedding or a big gathering, and it’ll be a bit more diverse.
Keep me fueled with caffeine! Support me on Ko-fi! It helps a lot ! Thank you so much ♡(´･ω･)(･ω･`)♡
