Lu Youze quickly returned to his room.

He sat in front of his computer, opened the hospital surveillance footage he had previously requested from Uncle Lu, and then sent the part where he was beaten by Yu Li’s fan to Gu Xuanhao’s email. Of course, he thoughtfully blurred out the face of the girl who hit him.

After sending the email, Lu Youze called Gu Xuanhao.

“A Hao, help me with something,” Lu Youze said into the phone. “I’ve sent you a video. Can you figure out a way to get enough exposure for it online?”

“Wait a minute, let me see what you sent over.”

The video was only a minute long, and Gu Xuanhao quickly finished watching it.

“Lu Youze!” Gu Xuanhao shouted angrily into the phone, “Are you stupid? Do you think releasing this video will make the onlookers and netizens sympathize with you? You’ve seen today’s trending topics, you know how difficult your situation is. After watching the video of you getting beaten, they’ll only feel satisfied! Aren’t you just adding fuel to the fire?”

Although Gu Xuanhao was also angry watching Lu Youze get beaten and truly wanted to take revenge for his friend, he knew that Lu Youze had gotten himself into this mess by being used by Yu Li. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Even though Lu Youze was the victim, public opinion online was all in favor of Yu Li.

Lu Youze had, of course, considered everything Gu Xuanhao just said. In fact, he had considered even more. He knew that unless the issue of his “affair” was clarified, the public would never side with him. Especially since Yu Li’s status as a victim was deeply ingrained in people’s minds and she was a top-tier celebrity, his video might even be used against him by Yu Li’s fanbase.

This video wasn’t meant for random people; it was intended for Lu Youze’s fans.

Perhaps fans couldn’t accept the affair because it involved his character, or maybe the mainstream online criticism was too much, and Yu Li’s fanbase was too strong for his own fans to speak out. But seeing his idol being bullied by a small fan should provoke some reaction, right? Before being accused of the affair, Lu Youze had been the youngest Best Actor. He didn’t believe that not a single loyal fan would speak up for him.

This “video” was just a trigger. As long as a fan spoke up for him, he could use this opportunity to release some of the information that Uncle Lu had investigated earlier. Although the investigation hadn’t yielded any crucial evidence (Yu Li was very careful, and it wouldn’t be easy to find any flaws), the information he gathered was mainly for fans who wanted to believe in him but didn’t know how to help. It was just to show them that he was wronged and give them a reason to continue supporting and believing in him.

With fan support comes market demand, and with market demand, people will eventually come to him.

This was also a small retaliation against Yu Li. He was warning her that he was no longer the soft, easily manipulated person she once controlled.

Angering him might not lead to good outcomes.

Now, how to market the information he gathered—although it wasn’t particularly important—to make fans believe he was wronged and that the affair was a setup? He would need a professional. He believed that his father, Lu Lihai, could handle it.

“A Hao, don’t worry about the rest,” Lu Youze came back to his senses and said to Gu Xuanhao. “Just tell me, can you get this video trending? And get a good viewership on all the major video platforms?”

“If I want to, of course, I can,” Gu Xuanhao said confidently. Though the Gu family was mainly managed by his older brother, he had his own network. “But Lu Youze, let me ask you again. Are you really sure about this?”

“Mmm.” Lu Youze responded softly, speaking sincerely, “A Hao, I’m counting on you.”

“I got it,” Gu Xuanhao said, still unsure why his friend was choosing to make things difficult for himself, but choosing to believe in him. “Just don’t blame me when the backlash hits.”

The amnesia-stricken Lu Youze was more likable than ever, mainly because this version of him was no longer being manipulated by Yu Li.

“Thanks, A Hao.”

After thanking Gu Xuanhao, Lu Youze hung up the phone.

He sat in his room for a while, then took the documents he had organized from the desk and headed to Lu Lihai’s study.

The novel didn’t mention what type of company Lu’s Group was, only stating that the Lu family was wealthy, alongside the Gu, Ou, and Ye families, forming the four major families in B City. The company was very large, and no one dared to provoke them.

Lu Youze only recently learned that their company was actually a crisis management PR company. No wonder his grandfather was so angry when he saw Lu Youze’s pathetic situation. The heir to the Lu family being manipulated by an entertainer…

It would be laughed at if anyone found out.

Taking a deep breath, Lu Youze knocked on the study door.

At first, when Lu Lihai heard Lu Youze’s request, he was surprised. After all, when the situation first started to ferment, he had planned to intervene, but Lu Youze had threatened to sever their father-son relationship and insisted that his matters had nothing to do with the Lu family, so Lu Lihai had left him to handle it alone.

But he never imagined that Lu Youze would end up in this kind of mess.

Lu Lihai was angry, but he still cared for his son. To be honest, he had kept track of the media and those production companies and TV stations that had jumped on the bandwagon to cancel their contracts with Lu Youze. He would settle the score with them eventually.

He had also wanted to teach Yu Li a lesson, but his stupid son had been so enchanted by this Alpha, it was no surprise that he ended up in such a situation, and still voluntarily allowed himself to be used.

After amnesia, Lu Youze, who used to annoy him, now seemed more and more likeable.

“You made up your mind?” Lu Lihai’s gaze was sharp as he looked at Lu Youze. After sizing him up for a while, he added, “Don’t blame me for meddling in your affairs.”

Lu Youze of course picked up on his father’s implied meaning. Was he worried about the “payback” once he regained his memory? He was curious about what exactly Lu Youze had said to Lu Lihai before that had left him so upset. His father seemed particularly fixated on it, often bringing it up. In retrospect, the saying “there’s always something hateful about those who are pitiable” wasn’t wrong. The original Lu Youze was indeed deserving of sympathy, but in his father’s eyes, apart from Yu Li, there had never been anyone else. In the end, being abandoned by everyone seemed reasonable.

So, realizing that Lu Lihai cared so much about his son, Lu Youze understood that his outcome wouldn’t be the same as in the novel. He wouldn’t ruin a good situation and wouldn’t push those who stood by him away.