(Yicai) Dec. 14 -- East Buy Holding’s shares rose, ending a three-day slump that began after fans of popular host Dong Yuhui criticized the livestream e-commerce unit of China’s New Oriental Education and Technology Group for downplaying his contribution to the business.

East Buy [HKG: 1797] closed up 2.2 percent at HKD27.80 (USD3.60) a share in Hong Kong today. The stock has fallen almost 18 percent this week.

East Buy has been trying to reduce its reliance on Dong, who used to be an English tutor but now markets a variety of goods online. Last week, the Beijing-based firm put out a promotional video in which it was revealed that most of Dong’s shows are not scripted by him, but by copywriters.

Fans were quick to react. Fewer than 8.2 million viewers watched East Buy’s e-commerce live broadcast on Dec. 11, compared with 12.1 million to 16.9 million in the preceding three days. On Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, the ranks of its followers keeps sliding after falling to 31 million last night from around 31.2 million on Dec. 9.

Chief Executive Sun Dongxu tried to appease Dong’s fans on Dec. 12 by saying on air that the platform recognizes his contribution and pays him an annual salary of more than the rumored tens of millions of yuan.

Editor: Emmi Laine