East Buy's editor said 'scripts are team-written' — HK$4B market cap evaporated in a day

East Buy (东方甄选) was New Oriental's pivot into livestream e-commerce after China's tutoring-industry crackdown. It exploded in popularity in 2022 thanks to Dong Yuhui (董宇辉), whose literary, improvisational monologues — known as 'little essays' (小作文) — became the brand's core appeal. On December 5, 2023, East Buy's official account replied in the comments of a Jilin tour preview video that the scripts were a team effort, not Dong's alone.

The comment ignited Dong's fans, who saw the company minimising his individual contribution and crediting his talent to 'the team'. The crisis escalated into debates over management, CEO Sun Dongxu's (孙东旭) statements, and the relationship between headlining anchors and their platforms. On December 13, East Buy's Hong Kong-listed shares closed down 12.96%, wiping out over HK$4 billion in market cap in a single day, and a cumulative 20% over three days.

On December 16, Sun Dongxu was removed as CEO. Founder Yu Minhong (俞敏洪) joined Dong Yuhui in a joint livestream to calm the storm. But the damage was done — when Dong had taken a 12-day break earlier, both viewership and GMV were cut in half. A company whose entire value rested on one person's talent, and management had denied that fact in a comment thread.