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A Chinese man lost his job in a prestigious state-owned enterprise after he was filmed holding hands with a woman, who was neither his wife nor daughter, at a shopping district in Chengdu, China, on Jun. 7.
Although the original video had been deleted from Douyin -- the Chinese equivalent of TikTok -- copies of the footage were cross-shared onto Weibo, where it subsequently went viral.
In the video, a young woman in a pink dress could be seen walking hand-in-hand with a man whose outfit colour matched hers.
Video via @随笔观澜/Weibo
The pair also appeared to have been in a good mood as they could be seen chitchatting and smiling throughout the 12-second video.
Extramarital affairs exposed
The footage started to gain further traction when online users who recognised the duo identified the man to be Hu Jiyong, the executive director of China Huanqiu Contracting and Engineering (HQCEC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Petroleum Engineering.
Concurrently, Hu also held the positions of the general manager and the secretary of the company's Chinese Communist Party Committee within HQCEC.
The woman was identified to be one of his subordinates, Dong Sijin, who received an award previously from Hu.
Image via Weibo
The pair had also been photographed in a meeting together.
Hu sacked; Dong suspended
In response, Hu's company released a statement on the evening of Jun. 7 via its official WeChat channel announcing that the man had been fired from all three positions he held in the company.
The company had also launched an investigation into his alleged extramarital affair, and Hu would be dealt with in accordance with the findings, the statement added.
At the end of the statement, the company thanked the members of the public for their concern and support.
As for Dong, the company has yet to issue any statement detailing how she will be dealt with.
When Dafeng News contacted the publicity department of her company on the morning of Jun. 8, a spokesperson revealed that the woman had already been suspended.
However, according to the spokesperson, the company's Committee for Discipline Inspection had yet to provide further instructions on the matter:
"Our company is currently in the midst of studying the matter. How Dong will be handled will be determined by the leadership. Once the investigations are concluded, we will share the findings with the public".
Duo didn't reject being filmed: photographer
While many online users were busy delving into the drama, some questioned whether the video was taken with Hu and Dong's permission.
After all, most individuals, and especially elites like Hu, would have been expected to hide their extramarital affair, if they had one.
However, to the surprise of online users, the photographer of the footage, who goes by his online pseudonym, Xiaomi, told Dahebao that the couple didn't decline to be filmed when he took the video.
In fact, quite a number of photographers were present at the scene on Jun. 7, and he was standing right in front of Hu and Dong when filming.
"If they had said no [at the time], we would not have filmed or posted the video," explained the photographer.
Xiaomi also clarified that he had only deleted the video from his Douyin page after someone else reported it to the platform and after the duo reached out to him.
In another video filmed at a different location in the shopping district, Dong didn't attempt to conceal her relationship with Hu at all when a camera pointed towards them.
Video via @根正苗红的贫农/Weibo
Instead, she greeted the camera with a smile and continued walking while holding Hu's hand.
Dong's dress became popular
An unexpected winner from the whole drama appeared to be the brand behind Dong's pink dress, Si Bleu.
The owner of the indie fashion brand told Shangyou News that they have sold around 4,000 pieces of the dress within a few days after the video went viral.
In comparison, only about 200 pieces have been sold since its launch two years ago.
Customers who got their hands on the dress also took to social media to share about their new outfit, such as this Xiaohongshu user who nicknamed it "the mistress dress":
Screenshot via Xiaohongshu
Top images via 随笔观澜 & 三思逍遥/Weibo