On September 11, yet another household name bit the dust. Police had detained Li Yifeng, a 35-year-old actor who once had 60 million followers on Weibo, for “visiting prostitutes” according to the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau’s Weibo account.

His army of followers, or “粉圈 (fěnquān, fan community),” were quick to lament that his “house collapsed,” or “(塌房 tāfáng).” In fact, on September 10, Li had attempted to refute the allegations via a Weibo post, or “发文辟谣 (fāwén pìyáo).” That denial had many “sitting and waiting for more big melons (坐等大瓜 zuòděng dàguā),” using “melon” as a slang term for gossip.

Some fans refused to believe the accusations. “I’ve been following Fengfeng for eight years, and I will always unswervingly trust and support him. We are always here (粉了峰峰八年了，我永远坚定不移的信任和支持他，我们一直都在 Fěnle Fēngfēng bā nián le, wǒ yǒngyuǎn jiāndìng bùyí de xìnrèn hé zhīchí tā, wǒmen yìzhí dōu zài),” ran one comment on Weibo. Others insisted on seeing “实锤 (shíchuí, solid hammer)” evidence before they condemned Li.

With Li detained soon after, some quipped that those fans initially defending their idol “wanted hammer, and got hammer (求锤得锤 qiú chuí dé chuí),” and got an “instant slap in the face (秒被打脸 miǎo bèi dǎliǎn).”

They quipped that their “brother (哥哥 gēge)” was finally “进局子 (jìn júzi, sent to jail),” using a slang term short for “关进警察局 (guānjìn jǐngchájú, be detained in a police station).”

Following Li’s fall from grace, countless fans were heartbroken, and vowed to “shed my fan identity (脱粉了 tuōfěn le).” Fans following him for years, or “老粉 (lǎofěn)” sighed online: “Turns out I’ve spent eight years of my youth just feeding a dog (八年的青春喂了狗 Bā nián de qīngchūn wèile gǒu),” lamenting the time wasted following the now-fallen star. Their stories reiterated an old saying often used in fan communities: “Never be too sincere in chasing stars (追星不要真情实感 Zhuīxīng búyào zhēnqíng shígǎn).”

This was not the first time many fans had been burned. People could not help but draw parallels between Li Yifeng and now infamous former popstar and actor Kris Wu (吴亦凡): both were accused of soliciting prostitution, tried to make excuses, and were ultimately detained in prison. Many also found humor in the fact the two appeared to have been good friends: “Birds of a feather flock together (物以类聚，人以群分 Wù yǐ lèi jù, rén yǐ qún fēn),” after all. Netizens even rendered them a CP (couple) name “易吴所有 (Yì Wú suǒyǒu),” a homophone of the idiom “一无所有 (yìwú suǒyǒu),” which means to have no possessions to one’s name.