Chapter 025 Identity Revealed

It was perfectly normal for the reporters and editors of "Starlight" magazine not to recognize Lin Feng. After all, Lin Feng wasn't part of the entertainment industry. Although his name had dominated sports news in recent days and his fame had soared, in the end, he'd only played ten minutes of a game. Many people might know his name, but those who could actually recognize him in person were few and far between.

As for his teammates, who spent every day with him—people like Zhou Mingxuan and Han Dajun—they recognized at a glance that the man with Qin Ruolin was Lin Feng. That was why they had all started teasing him in their messaging group.

However, Lin Feng hadn't seen the news yet, so he had no idea what was going on.

Baffled, he replied in the group, "What are you all talking about? What's this about a diva, and what's it got to do with me?"

Zhou Mingxuan replied, "Come on, you bagged the diva and you're still pretending!"

Han Dajun chimed in, "Yeah, the news is already out—what's the point in denying it now?"

Seeing their replies, Lin Feng was even more confused. "What news?"

Han Dajun said, "Don't tell me you haven't seen it yet! Your thing with Qin Ruolin has been exposed!"

"Qin Ruolin?" Lin Feng was stunned. "She just bought a jersey from me, and I haven’t even sent it out yet. How does that make the news?"

Zhou Mingxuan sent a link. "Read it for yourself."

Perplexed, Lin Feng clicked on the news link Zhou had sent. After reading the whole article, he was completely dumbfounded!

He never would have imagined that the woman who accompanied him yesterday was none other than the pop diva Qin Ruolin!

No wonder she was so heavily disguised—she really was a superstar!

But now, what was he supposed to do? This was a huge misunderstanding. Never mind being a couple—Lin Feng had never even met Qin Ruolin before!

As Lin Feng was agonizing over what to do, his phone rang. It was his father, Lin Changdong.

"Are you dating again, boy?"

As soon as he answered, Lin Changdong asked, obviously having seen the news as well.

"Not at all!" Lin Feng quickly denied.

"Save it. The news is everywhere. I know my own son, don't I?" Lin Changdong continued, "I don't object if you want to date, but isn't that Qin Ruolin almost ten years older than you? Your mother will never agree!"

"I'm not dating her!" Lin Feng explained. "We just happened to be heading in the same direction. It's nothing like what the news says."

"Whatever your relationship is, that's your business! But you can't let it affect your games. Old Shen called me yesterday to complain that you left the team without permission and disappeared! And now I find out you snuck off to chase a girl!" Lin Changdong said indignantly, "Let me tell you, if you don't bring the championship trophy back to Jiangning this year, don't bother coming home!"

With that, Lin Changdong hung up.

Listening to the dial tone, Lin Feng shrugged in frustration. What a mess—out of nowhere, he’d become the "boyfriend" of a superstar!

As Lin Feng pondered how to deal with this, his identity had already been exposed…

"Qin Ruolin's Boyfriend Revealed! It’s Him!"

"Qin Ruolin’s Boyfriend Is Rising Basketball Star Lin Feng!"

"Pop Diva Qin Plays Cougar—Boyfriend Is Eight Years Younger!"

"All About Qin Ruolin's Boyfriend—Lin Feng!"

One after another, reports sprang up like mushrooms after rain across all major news portals.

With Lin Feng’s identity exposed, the so-called “romance” was further scrutinized. Even details like when they met, how they had a chance encounter, and how they fell in love—entirely fabricated—were painted in vivid detail by the media.

Reading through the stories, it seemed more like a romantic novel: the diva of the music world finding love with a rising basketball star.

As the situation spiraled out of control, Lin Feng became anxious and wanted to post a clarification on his microblog.

But he discovered his account had already been overrun by Qin Ruolin’s fans. His latest post had an astonishing half a million comments, most of them attacking him.

"Not Worthy of Ruolin: You’re not good enough for Sister Ruolin! Not even ten of you would be enough!"

"High Profile: Give us back our Ruolin! Give us back our Ruolin!"

"Wind Blows Strong: The Diva must be blind to like someone like you! Damn it, I’ll be your hater for life starting today!"

Comment after comment made Lin Feng want to curse. Even though there was nothing between him and Qin Ruolin, these fans’ messages were infuriating. The ones pinned at the top were relatively polite, but further down, some went so far as to curse his entire family, as vicious as they could be.

Lin Feng had finally experienced the power of online abuse.

The flood of criticism didn’t end there. Shortly after Lin Feng’s identity was exposed, two well-known male celebrities also updated their microblogs, directly targeting Lin Feng.

Jiang Kai: "What a joke! Just a basketball kid!"

Zhou Ziqian: "Qin Ruolin, I know an excellent ophthalmologist. Maybe you should get your eyes checked."

No one was surprised that these two immediately stepped forward to put Lin Feng down. Both had openly pursued Qin Ruolin in the past but had been rejected.

Jiang Kai was an actor—solidly second-tier—who had played lead roles in many shows and was quite well-known, though he’d never really hit it big. Zhou Ziqian was a singer-songwriter in the same company as Qin Ruolin, having debuted two years earlier; he held a certain status in the music world but wasn't yet a superstar.

Though neither had reached the pinnacle in their fields, both were still top-tier figures in the entertainment industry, with solid fan bases and wide connections. When they took aim at Lin Feng, their fans followed suit, flooding Lin Feng’s microblog with a barrage of insults.

Now Lin Feng’s comment section had become a battleground. Fans of Qin Ruolin, Jiang Kai, and Zhou Ziqian all spammed the comments, pushing the number past 600,000. At this rate, it would surpass a million in no time.

Things got even more interesting when the three groups of fans, after hurling insults at Lin Feng, started arguing with each other. Qin Ruolin’s fans looked down on the fans of Jiang Kai and Zhou Ziqian, while Jiang Kai’s and Zhou Ziqian’s fans, being rivals, also clashed with each other.

In the end, the three factions ended up in a massive brawl in Lin Feng’s comment section, leaving Lin Feng both exasperated and amused.

As Lin Feng was racking his brain over what to do, he suddenly received a private message from Qin Ruolin: "I apologize for the trouble this has caused you. My management team is currently discussing a response. We’ll handle this, so don’t worry."

"Uh, so… what are you planning to do?" Lin Feng replied after a moment’s thought.

"I’m recording a show right now, so I’m not sure what they’ll finally decide. But as soon as there’s news, I’ll let you know and get your input," Qin Ruolin responded.

…