The Cold and Ruthless Supporting Male Lead

Mu Xiaoya automatically filtered out the comments criticizing her, fully immersed in the joy of gaining followers. Since discussions about Zhuoye Xingchen and Hai Ku had been trending in this circle for the past few days, her actions could be seen as riding the wave of popularity in a roundabout way.

“This afternoon, when I go live again, I can read this love letter to you all. Back then, I hesitated for a long time. If it weren’t for Hai Ku’s cross-dressing fetish, maybe I would have agreed to be with him.” Mu Xiaoya sighed, looking deeply regretful, as if she had lost something precious.

“But I don’t regret rejecting him. After all, I can’t accept a boyfriend who has a cross-dressing habit. My decision was clearly the right one.”

[I don’t know why… but you’re absolutely disgusting.]

[If you find it disgusting, then leave. Did the streamer beg you to watch?]

[Such a double standard… Is it really okay to dig up the past like this? Are you willing to do anything for fame?]

[Tsk, she’s just revealing the truth. If you don’t like it, get out. Why are you even commenting here?]

[Exactly, exactly. Bet these are fans from the other side sent here. Stay strong, beauty! We’ll always support you.]

[Expose more! I want to know more secrets. I can’t believe I actually liked Zhuoye Xingchen sincerely before. Who knew he was just another damn gay?]

[He’s just a gaming streamer who makes a living with his skills. He hasn’t done anything terrible. Aren’t you guys going too far with these comments?]

Seeing the increasingly heated discussions in the comment section, Mu Xiaoya felt extremely satisfied. Although there were still some negative remarks, her livestream chat had never been this packed before.

Her heart soared with excitement, and she couldn’t wait to return home to find that letter. Leaving her audience in suspense, she abruptly ended the stream.

Although many people exposed her bizarre statements online, most were simply bystanders enjoying the drama. If it didn’t concern them, they didn’t care. After all, watching drama and gossip was more entertaining than anything else.

“Holy shit! How are you still this calm?” Zhuoye Xingchen was about to explode with rage. Seeing Hai Ku sitting there peacefully playing on his computer, he couldn’t help but slap him on the back.

“Ouch…” Hai Ku clutched his head, looking confused. “Why are you so worked up?”

Zhuoye Xingchen was practically spitting blood from frustration. He pulled up a chair, squeezed next to Hai Ku, and started scolding him furiously. “You’re getting completely slandered online! People are saying you’re a fraud, that you’re tricking people into marriage, and you’re still sitting here playing on your computer? Chatting?”

Covering one of his ears, Hai Ku turned his computer screen toward him. “I’m literally working on a counterattack video right now. I’m gathering materials.”

“Then why haven’t you posted anything to clear things up? You’re just letting her smear you like this?” Zhuoye Xingchen was practically kneeling in frustration. At this rate, even if they presented evidence later, the damage would have already been done.

“Divorce and cheating scandals require evidence. Naturally, so does this.” Hai Ku looked unfazed, speaking in a world-weary tone. “Mu Xiaoya is just a small-time streamer. Smearing me costs her nothing. But we’re different. With thousands, even millions, of eyes on us, if we crush her without solid proof, people might accuse us of bullying the weak. The best approach is to slap them in the face with irrefutable evidence.”

He exhaled deeply, looking like someone who had weathered countless storms. “The more she jumps around now, the harder she’ll fall later.”

“Well… when you put it that way, it makes some sense…” Frowning, Zhuoye Xingchen thought about it. They weren’t celebrities, but their fan base was massive.

If they tore into Mu Xiaoya too harshly, they might be dragged into a moral debate and publicly criticized. But if Mu Xiaoya was the one distorting facts first, and they systematically dismantled her claims piece by piece, that would be incredibly satisfying.

Also, gathering evidence while being slandered; rather than lashing out immediately, was a more rational and strategic way to handle things. Solid proof would put them in the right, whereas reacting impulsively would only make them easy targets.

“Anything I can do to help? This is seriously disgusting. I’ve never wanted to take someone down so badly.” Zhuoye Xingchen leaned in beside Hai Ku, his sense of justice flaring. “Tell me what I can do!”

“You’re actually the key player here,” Hai Ku said with a grin as he finished editing another piece of evidence. “Your fans make up half this community. When we release our response, its reach will depend entirely on you.”

***

That afternoon, Mu Xiaoya had another stream planned, likely to read the love letter aloud in front of her fans. But that would be her fatal mistake.

From the beginning, she had been insisting that Hai Ku was gay. But if he were truly gay, why would he have ever written a heartfelt love letter to a girl? And why would he have pursued her for so many years?

Originally, Hai Ku wasn’t sure if his collected evidence would be useful, but after this afternoon, things would be different.

In her attempt to prove her irresistible charm, Mu Xiaoya had painted herself as someone so attractive that even a gay man had fallen for her. Or rather, she had twisted the story to suggest that Hai Ku loved only her, and since no other girl could compare to her, he had been forced to “become gay.”

Mu Xiaoya’s imagination was truly wild, but the real issue was that she had yet to step into society and still viewed everything too simplistically.

This wasn’t just a small, localized controversy within a tiny social circle; it was unfolding on the internet, with countless eyes watching. Even with her “tolerance” cheat code, she was starting to feel the strain.

Though she managed to fend off most of the sharp criticism, a small number of voices advocating justice still kept emerging.

Blinded by the surge of attention, Mu Xiaoya had learned to automatically filter out any negative comments. She only saw what she wanted to see—what she liked.

Rushing back to her hometown in a frenzy, she dug through her things until she found the love letter. At this moment, she was even more excited than when she had first received it. She could already picture the moment she would go viral. Clutching the letter tightly, she immediately hurried back to her rented apartment.

When she started her livestream, there was still a light sheen of sweat on her forehead, showing just how thrilled she was. She hadn’t even taken the time to fix her appearance; she was too eager to reveal the so-called truth.

“Phew…” Letting out a soft breath, Mu Xiaoya smiled and said, “This letter was written to me by Hai Ku 3 years ago, when I had just started university. Back then, I was genuinely moved; Otherwise, I wouldn’t have kept it for so long. But now, I want to share it with all of you…”

[Ew… how good could a love letter from a gay guy even be?]

[What a terrifying woman. This story teaches us one thing; never write a girl a handwritten love letter. You never know when she might read it out loud to the entire world.]

[Damn, some of these comments are disgusting. The streamer is doing us a favor by exposing a fraud, isn’t she? Hope the guy above ends up getting tricked into marriage by a gay dude.]

That was the nature of the internet. Even the simplest statement could be seen by thousands and twisted into countless interpretations, leading to wildly different outcomes.

With Mu Xiaoya’s stream playing on the side, Zhuoye Xingchen was even more anxious than Hai Ku. “Are you done yet? She’s already reading your love letter!”

“I’m ready. Just waiting for her to finish reading.” Hai Ku remained calm as ever. Gathering this much evidence had been no easy task; it was all thanks to the system. After all, sorting through years of chat logs to extract key moments was no simple feat.

Fortunately, Mu Xiaoya preferred voice messages over text. That made Hai Ku’s job of compiling a response video much easier.

Meanwhile, Mu Xiaoya was so intoxicated by her rising follower count that she was completely oblivious to any risks. She had hesitated before taking this step, but 3 years had already passed. There was no way any evidence could still exist. She had never sent Hai Ku any gifts, so he couldn’t possibly have anything incriminating against her. A few fragmented words couldn’t serve as proof of anything.

Reading the love letter with deep emotion, Mu Xiaoya even let out a sigh, putting on a sorrowful expression. “Even now, reading this letter again, I still feel a little moved. But after all these years, everything has changed… I just want to say, Xiao Hai, if you realize your mistakes and change, I will always be your best friend…”

“Ugh…” Zhuoye Xingchen mimed a gagging motion, looking utterly disgusted. He shoved Hai Ku and urged, “Are you done yet?!”

“All set. Let’s go live; and record everything while we’re at it.” Finishing the final edits, Hai Ku figured he might as well play the role of a heartbroken man for once. Otherwise, 3 years’ worth of chat logs wouldn’t have the same impact.

“Hurry, hurry, hurry!!!” Zhuoye Xingchen impatiently helped Hai Ku adjust the settings, already looking forward to the moment of reckoning. “Post your stream link. I’ll share it for you.”

“Here it comes~” Hai Ku’s lips curled into a faint smile, sensing the end of this whole ordeal approaching. “This fake ‘best friend’ act—tonight, I’m putting an end to it!”

***

As soon as Hai Ku launched his livestream, viewers flooded in, drawn by the buzz from Mu Xiaoya’s stream and Zhuoye Xingchen’s repost. Many were simply there for the gossip.

Hai Ku smiled; not a forced, awkward grin, but a confident, relaxed one, as if completely unaffected by Mu Xiaoya’s accusations. He exuded the air of someone who had come fully prepared.

“I’m Haiku Shilan. I’m sure you’ve all heard plenty of rumors about me these past few days. As for my cross-dressing—yes, I admit it. It’s my personal hobby. But has it harmed anyone? Even in various subcultures, there’s a saying about staying in your own lane. Just because I enjoy wearing women’s clothes doesn’t mean I deserve to be condemned.”

After addressing that point, Hai Ku didn’t bother reading the chat and instead jumped straight into the key issues.

“As for the rumors about me, you all know that some stories are always a mix of truth and lies. The reason I’m streaming today is that I have solid evidence to clear my name.” Not wanting to waste time on unnecessary words, he immediately played the video he had spent all night putting together.

“I wasted 3 years on a woman. I used to think it was worth it. But now, I just feel disgusted.”

The video had a slideshow-style format, mainly showcasing their chat history. Whenever voice messages were involved, Hai Ku made sure to play them aloud.

On May 20th, 3 years ago, Haiku Shilan and Mu Xiaoya had their first conversation. It was mainly about asking her out, which eventually led to the part where he gave her a love letter.

The next part of the video showed Hai Ku clearly explaining his preferences to Mu Xiaoya in their messages. He told her that he was willing to wait for her response and that if she rejected him, he would never bother her again.

Immediately after that, Mu Xiaoya responded with an emotional speech, saying she was touched. She then suggested that they become best friends and even encouraged Hai Ku.

Up to this point, the video had taken on a rather sentimental tone, but then, the atmosphere changed drastically.

“Back then, I hadn’t entered society yet. I met someone I liked, someone who accepted my cross-dressing, and I was truly moved. Even though she rejected me, my heart was still completely devoted to her.” As the video progressed, Hai Ku’s voice turned cold, and his expression was indifferent; there was no sign of sadness. “I originally planned to edit a video about how we met and send it to her for her birthday, to celebrate her signing a contract. But I never expected that, in the end, this video would be used here instead.”

At first, Mu Xiaoya still made an effort to chat with Haiku Shilan.

But as time passed, their conversations gradually dwindled, leaving only discussions about gifts. Even when Hai Ku successfully signed a contract and became a streamer, Mu Xiaoya didn’t congratulate him at all. Instead, she asked what gift he would give her with his first paycheck.

More and more people joined the stream, yet the insults gradually disappeared. Few people even left comments anymore; they were all too focused on watching the video.

Over the span of 3 years, aside from a few early conversations, their chat history was almost nonexistent. Most of it consisted of Mu Xiaoya asking for gifts. More recently, she had been demanding that Hai Ku carry her in games.

The audience, who had thought they were witnessing a massive scandal, now felt as if they had been force-fed something disgusting.

“Wearing women’s clothes doesn’t mean I’m gay. It’s just a personal hobby. But none of that matters anymore. Thanks to her actions, I’ve completely let go of my feelings from these past years. Honestly, I do feel a little guilty toward Zhuoye Xingchen. After all, I played so many games with him, but I had my own agenda… But now, I truly understand; gaming is the most fun, and brotherhood is what matters most.”

Only when he said this did Hai Ku finally smile. He didn’t explain what his past agenda had been, but that didn’t matter; people had vivid imaginations. No matter what they assumed, it wouldn’t affect him much.

This overwhelming evidence was like a slap in the face to everyone, making them feel like fools who had been played by Mu Xiaoya all along.

Thus, Hai Ku’s image as a devoted lover was firmly established. Many fans left comments admiring him, amazed that he had cherished even the tiniest fragments of their 3-year chat history. After all, even reading those messages through a screen was nauseating.

[I don’t like cross-dressers, but… uh… I wouldn’t go out of my way to make myself uncomfortable by interacting with them.]

[Haiku Shilan, you should just like someone else. There are plenty of people who don’t mind cross-dressing. Of course, as long as it doesn’t harm society.]

[You look amazing in women’s clothing!!! You deserve someone better.]

The comments gradually became more harmonious. Even the occasional negative ones were quickly drowned out.

Some people, feeling utterly ashamed, quietly left the stream.

The broadcast lasted for 2 hours. Instead of the viewer count dropping, it steadily increased. Many people had recorded the stream, so Hai Ku wasn’t worried about its spread.

***

After ending the livestream, Hai Ku collapsed onto the couch. “I don’t think we need to do anything else from here.”

No matter how much of an outsider he was, Haiku Shilan had been in society for 3 years. His personal social circle had faded, and most of his connections now were online friends. But Mu Xiaoya was different. She was still just a senior in college.

If this situation escalated, it was obvious who would suffer the bigger consequences. Even if this was just a small community, there was no telling who might be part of it. For all she knew, the person sitting right next to her could be in the same circle.

A powerful rebuttal had now been neatly summarized and laid out.

Mu Xiaoya’s own roommate had even stepped forward.