The top three trending videos on Douyin:
"Chu Zhi Suspected to Be Gravely Ill" [Original]
"Chu Zhi Coughs Up Blood After Music Festival Performance" [New]
"Chu Zhi Coughs Blood On Stage – Professional Medical Analysis" [Hot]
With over a thousand people at the venue, what followed was standard in the mobile internet era: "Phone first, experience later." A beautiful view? Snap it. A delicious meal? Film it. So naturally, dozens of different angles of Chu Zhi's moment hit the internet. Some videos were taken from less than ten meters away, suggesting even staff members might have recorded it.
In the top thirty trends, at least a third were about Chu Zhi. Yet oddly enough, the song he sang received far less discussion than the coughing blood incident.
For comparison, previous hot topics on Douyin included: "Head-Shake Transformation Challenge," "Lightsaber Dance," and "Let's Be Weird and Cute Together." Nothing even close in gravity.
Old Qian tapped on the trending post "Chu Zhi Coughs Blood On Stage – Professional Medical Analysis", which showed a man in a lab coat. Whether he was a real medical professional or not was anyone's guess.
"Hello, I'm 'Lance of Longinus,' a popular science blogger focused on health. A friend sent me this video asking if the celebrity Chu Zhi has a terminal illness. Let's take a look."
The video showed a clear side-screen replay of Chu Zhi coughing blood, along with his painful expression.
Even candid, close-up footage couldn't shake his looks. Not a single bad angle — a real-life pretty boy.
"So, can depression cause one to cough blood? Of course not. But as we know, prolonged stress and depression can affect gastrointestinal function, leading to acid reflux and even ulcers. Which means — this likely isn't a terminal illness, just bleeding caused by a stomach ulcer," the blogger concluded.
Old Qian frowned. "He coughed up blood? We've got to get him to the hospital. You can't mess around with ulcers, they need medication."
"Does Chu Zhi have stomach ulcers?" Wang Yuan turned to Xiao Zhu. As the personal assistant, she knew more about Chu Zhi's day-to-day life than anyone else.
Niu Jiangxue, Old Qian, and Ma Weihao all looked at Xiao Zhu.
"Wouldn't an ulcer hurt a lot? I've never seen him show signs of stomach pain," she said. "But one thing's odd. Winston-san mentioned it too. Chu Zhi eats so much, but he never gains weight. Based on how much he eats, he should've gained a lot by now — but he looks exactly the same."
"It might be poor digestion. Possibly spleen-deficiency type ulcers," Niu Jiangxue said, pulling up some similar cases on her phone.
Wang Yuan made a decision. "As soon as Ah Jiu finishes accepting his award, we're taking him to the hospital. Clear the rest of today's schedule."
The word schedule was on the tip of Niu Jiangxue's tongue, ready to protest, but Wang Yuan's commanding tone made her swallow it back.
"But Big Wang, Big Niu, shouldn't we also issue a public response?" Old Qian asked. "People online are already saying he's terminally ill. Some are even saying tuberculosis."
"That's insane," Niu Jiangxue growled. "TB is contagious."
"There are only a few claiming TB. Most think it's either worsening depression or a secret illness," Wang Yuan replied.
Online, Douyin influencers sounded confident in their armchair diagnoses. Some said, "If it were just digestive bleeding, the blood would be paler, like watermelon juice. But that bright red? My dog's life on the line — something much worse is going on."
The team had discussed it earlier and landed on the diagnosis of a mild stomach ulcer, possibly from digestive weakness. But without a hospital confirmation, releasing any statement could just lead to more speculation.
Make a call? Who leaves their ringer on during a state-run awards ceremony?
"The event should run two hours. Since Ah Jiu is in a rush, he'll likely leave after about ninety minutes. We can send out the statement once he's left and gone to the hospital," Niu Jiangxue reasoned. "We should make it in time."
Why was she worried about time? Because the fans were about to explode.
People often say Xiao Guoshi fans are disciplined — maybe the most well-behaved fandom in China. But part of that comes from having a deeply loyal fanbase. And those fans were now going nuclear.
They'd expected a pebble in the entertainment pond. Instead, they accidentally dropped a few hundred tons of TNT.
BOOM.
The entire entertainment industry's metaphorical pond was obliterated. We won't even talk about Weibo. Trending topics and forums were completely overwhelmed. The internet was essentially nuked.
From WeChat Moments and QQ Space to Douban, Zhihu, Douyin, Xiaohongshu, Kuaishou, Bilibili, Orange Home, and even the long-abandoned Baidu Tieba — you could find fans desperately asking about their idol's condition.
"I hope Taiyang Chuanhe gives a clear explanation. Did they overwork Xiao Jiu to the point of spitting blood?"
"I was studying for my exams, but now I'm a wreck. I basically gave up on school in my second year of high school, and it was Jiu-ye who inspired me with 'Let's improve together.' He's the reason I got back on track."
"My bestie at school broke down crying. We bonded over being Little Fruits fans. Don't let anything happen to him — he's always treated the world so gently.
"Why hasn't the official account said anything? I've refreshed my feed so much I might break my screen. Why is there still no clarification? Please tell me he doesn't have some terminal disease."
"Is this the end of the world? He's always seemed healthy. Last time on the singer-songwriter show, I thought it was clickbait, but now? I'm already on my way to Taiyang Chuanhe HQ."
Chu Zhi may have been targeting his male fans with the performance, but once those videos went viral, it was the Little Fruits girl fans who took the hardest hit.
They had long shown their purchasing power through the brands he endorsed, but to the average outsider, the true extent of their devotion wasn't obvious.
Now everyone knew.
Just how intense was it?
The Taiyang Chuanhe website, normally easy to maintain, crashed completely under the load of thousands of fans flooding it with comments and demands for updates.
Chu Zhi's studio's official Weibo page? Every refresh brought hundreds more comments, climbing faster than anyone could read.
New Zhihu questions exploded like mushrooms: "What do you think of Chu Zhi coughing blood? Any medical professionals here?"
Chu Zhi's Baidu Tieba? Nuked.
On Bilibili, where Chu Zhi is top-tier content material, even music video comment sections turned into candlelit prayer vigils: rows upon rows of fans begging for good news.
So this is what the top tier of Chinese idol traffic looks like, stripped bare for all to see.
Niu Jiangxue's phone rang nonstop — calls from collaborators, show producers, even fellow celebrities.
And while the fans' internet reaction was overwhelming… real life was even more intense.