Preamble:
Who would have thought that the appearance of a video would make a small fight many years ago become a finger of thousands of people?
Have we ever speculated like this, but not thought too much about the person involved?
An ordinary crew gathering
One night in the early winter of 2018, the crew of "Mountains and Seas" held a rare party in a warm restaurant.
This is a revolutionary drama about the struggle between the underground members of the Communist Party of China and the Kuomintang spies during the Anti-Japanese War.
Li Hongyi plays the male protagonist Xiao Li in the play, a high-spirited young soldier who is willing to sacrifice his life for the country, and the love story between him and the heroine Xiao Zhang has become the biggest highlight of this drama.
Zhao Lusi carefully portrayed the role of Xiao Zhang, a smart and brave female agent who plays an important role in the play.
On this day, all the crew finally breathed a sigh of relief, because they were finally finished!
After five months of shooting, everyone has long gotten along like a family.
This party is not only to celebrate the finale, but also a rare team building, celebration banquet and social gathering, everyone can put down their bodies, happily get together to eat and drink, and chat happily all night.
Li Hongyi and Zhao Lusi also participated.
In fact, Li Hongyi always looks cold and ascetic, and rarely has too much personal contact with other actors.
But this time, it is rare that there is no restraint and alienation from the past.
Maybe it was the months of filming that made him familiar with Zhao Lusi, or the atmosphere of the gathering infected him, and he rarely became talking and laughing, and mingled with other staff.
"Come on, come on, let's have a glass! Celebrate the success of "Mountains and Seas"!" Director Liu Ming is the chief director of this drama, he has been in the entertainment industry for many years and is very popular.
At this moment, he raised the wine glass in his hand, which ignited the excitement and joy of the audience.
People toasted and gathered in twos and threes to start drinking.
Several main actors were also pulled together one after another to toast, and the warm atmosphere infected everyone.
Li Hongyi and Zhao Lusi sat by the window.
Zhao Lusi wore a vest-style little black dress, and as soon as the wine came up, her face was also flushed, making her look like a fairy-like little fairy.
"Hongyi, do you think we will have another chance to cooperate?" She looked out the window with great ambition, as if imagining the future cooperation plans of the two of them.
"Our 'Xiao Li Xiaozhang CP' is very popular, fans must still want to see our tidbits!" There was a smug glint in her eyes.
Li Hongyi smiled noncommittally, he was raising his glass and drinking, and did not answer for a while.
At this time, his hand inadvertently touched the shoulder strap behind Zhao Lusi's back.
"Oops, sorry. He hurriedly retracted his hand, his face was still so faint, and he couldn't see joy or anger.
Zhao Lusi didn't care, she was happily chatting with Li Hongyi about the idea of working together in a few more dramas in the future, and she didn't notice Li Hongyi's small movements at all.
A seemingly ordinary finale banquet has become a topic of attention after a long, long time.
However, neither of them at the time imagined that five years later, this scene would become a sensational topic on the Internet, and even mark a scar in their acting careers.
A video five years later
Five years later, at the end of 2023, a seemingly ordinary winter day.
Someone on social media suddenly posted a video of Zhao Lusi sitting at a table in a black vest skirt, and Li Hongyi's hand seemed to touch the straps of her underwear behind her back.
Although this momentary action was only a few seconds, it seemed to ignite the fire of gossip and suspicion among netizens.
"Isn't this Li Hongyi and Zhao Lusi? Did Li Hongyi do something?"
"Oh my God, is Li Hongyi touching other people's underwear buttons? It's too salty!"
"Spread rumors with one mouth, refute rumors and break your legs, it's hard to say whether this video is true or false!"
For a time, "Li Hongyi touched the underwear button" became a headline topic on major forums and social networking sites.
Under the video, all kinds of messages are overwhelming, you say everything and I say, it seems that everyone has something to say about this matter and wants to prove their point of view.
Li Hongyi and Zhao Lusi soon became the focus of the incident.
Li Hongyi has always been cold and calm, and there is rarely negative news, and this video has caused an unprecedented impact on his reputation.
And Zhao Lusi is even more to blame, and became the target of public criticism for a while.
Fans of both are worried.
Li Hongyi's fans know who he is, and naturally they don't believe in the so-called "authenticity" of the video.
But once this matter has a beginning, it will often snowball, and it is difficult to guarantee that it will not have an impact on Li Hongyi's future development.
And the fans on Zhao Lusi's side are even more anxious, they know that this incident will easily make Zhao Lusi live a "hellish" life.
Li Hongyi's brief response
In the face of overwhelming discussions on the Internet, Li Hongyi's response was very brief.
On his social account, he only posted a picture with the words "boring" written in clear handwriting.
This is undoubtedly a counterattack to those who accuse him of being a "groping".
Li Hongyi has always been calm and calm, and this matter is no exception.
He did not explain the cause and effect of the video, did not justify his actions, and did not even mention Zhao Lusi's name.
He only used a three-word phrase to express his disdain and mockery of these baseless Internet rumors.
In fact, Li Hongyi is a person with an introverted personality and is not good at words.
He is more accustomed to speaking with his acting skills Xi than with his mouth.
In his opinion, this video is purely a malicious interpretation and exaggeration.
As a party concerned, he knew that it was just an unintentional mistake, and there was no need to explain too much.
Fans know Li Hongyi's personality and know that he has always been low-key and calm, never noisy.
Therefore, most people expressed understanding and support for his reaction.
This incident is not worth much fuss at all, and the turmoil on the Internet always disappears after a while.
As long as Li Hongyi himself treats it calmly and continues to focus on his work and career development.
However, some die-hard fans said that Li Hongyi's reaction this time was a little understated.
The gravity of the incident does not seem to have attracted enough attention from him.
Is it possible that the studio's public relations team is behind the manipulation and does not express Li Hongyi's true thoughts?
If it's just the studio's coping strategy, there is not enough awareness of the seriousness of the incident.
The helplessness of the little actor Zhao Lusi
Unlike Li Hongyi, Zhao Lusi is to blame this time and has become the most innocent victim of this "war of words".
She is just a well-known actor, who has been crawling around in this circle, and finally mixed up a little fame in the past two years.
thought that her acting career would be smooth sailing, but she didn't expect a "gossip door" to discredit her.
Those scolding and slanderous remarks seemed to drown her out.
"Zhao Lusi, don't forget that you are also passive, don't blame yourself too much. ”
The studio's agent kept comforting her on the phone, but she was still nervous.
She knows the cruelty of the entertainment industry, and this negative news will undoubtedly make her hard-earned popularity plummet.
It is very likely that she will not receive the notice, and the endorsement and cooperation will all be aborted.
What saddened her the most was that everyone was guessing about the truth of this matter, but no one cared about her feelings.
She was obviously one of the parties to this matter, but she lost her right to speak in the face of online rumors.
She passively became the object of discussion, but she could not defend herself.
"Xiao Zhao, I understand your mood now. Director Liu Ming is the director of "Mountains and Seas", and he is also Zhao Lusi's mentor on the road of acting.
Director Liu Ming has always cared about his protégé Xiao Zhao, and this incident made him embarrassed.
"I believe Hongyi is not that kind of person.
There are many people chewing the root of the tongue on the Internet, don't take it to heart. ”
"That video is not clear at all, who knows exactly what happened at that time!" Zhao Lusi was extremely aggrieved, and finally couldn't help shedding tears in front of the director.
"Director, I really don't know what to do! Everyone is insulting me, and my future may be ruined......"
Faced with Zhao Lusi's crying, Director Liu Ming was also very sad.
He has been in the entertainment industry for decades, and he knows that this industry is cruel and ruthless, and he has seen too many such things.
Once a rumor is in the market, it can evolve into all sorts of unimaginable things.
Poor Xiao Zhao is still so young, and she has endured too much criticism and malice that shouldn't belong to her.
He could only comfort Zhao Lusi and tell her to be strong, believing that time would definitely dilute these gossips and speculations.
Epilogue:
In today's information age, the boundaries between the familiar and the unfamiliar are becoming more and more blurred.
Some of the past events that we thought were buried deep in the corners of our memories will also be infinitely magnified by accident and placed in plain sight.
This not only caught the parties off guard, but also made onlookers feel deeply pessimistic and disappointed about human nature.
Rumors and speculations are like a long river, constantly washing away the truth and reputation of innocent people.
Should we also reflect on what is the virtual and the wrong, and what is the truth and the original in this virtual cyberspace?
Do we believe or question the world, and how should we face the noise and filth with generosity and wisdom?
Perhaps we have all been at the source of harm, but we have never thought too much about the victims.
Behind this incident, not only Li Hongyi and Zhao Lusi, but also thousands of victims like them, silently suffering behind the online violence.