A day later, a video began spreading online.
This video captured the moment when Lu Jincheng's mother laid hands on Ji Yao.
At first, no one paid much attention to it, but it's unclear whether someone was fanning the flames because the video quickly went viral.
Even many marketing accounts added eye-catching titles to the video, each one more sensational than the last.
Before long, internet users who were following the drama managed to expose the identity of Lu Jincheng's mother, continually bringing up the incident online.
Everything escalated incredibly fast. By the time Lu Jincheng had finished his day's official duties, he found that the internet was already awash with all sorts of abuse directed at his mother.
"What the hell is this?!"
The assistant, who had been ready to call it a day, replied cautiously to Lu Jincheng's angry question.