The former Yoozoo man was executed for the killing of Lin, and with him, the end of a story that has been a shadow over one of the most prized science-fiction assets in China and its well-known tie-up with the 3 Body Problem. Local media have it that he was put to death on May 21, 2026.
A Weibo post from Lin’s side of the house put it to rest: the case is done and justice is done. In a way, it has been a lesson in the perils of letting business rivalries get out of hand when you are dealing with something as hot as The Three-Body Problem.
The case and the motive
If you believe the prosecutors, Xu was running a Yoozoo arm in late 2020 when he decided to make an enemy of Lin. He had just been put on the shelf after being part of the team that made the Netflix deal happen, local reports say. By 2024, he was in the dock and found guilty.
It seems he put some money down – hundreds of thousands of yuan, or tens of thousands of dollars – to put his hands on some very potent poisons from the internet. One of them was alpha-amanitin, the kind of thing you find in a lethal mushroom.
He was creative about it, too. Put the poisons in probiotic pills, or in the coffee and whiskey he was having with Lin and the rest of the staff. Lin ended up in the hospital in December 2020 and was gone a few days later at 39. A few more were under the weather but they made it through.
Company response and legal closure
Three-Body Universe, which is part of Yoozoo, made a statement on Weibo to the effect that this is where the matter ends and to thank the authorities for their part in it. After three years of this, it is a form of finality.
We asked Yoozoo for a word on Wednesday and didn’t get one right away. Same with the Shanghai High People’s Court, by all accounts.
Implications for China’s sci-fi and streaming stakes
You have to remember Yoozoo is the one with the film rights to Liu Cixin’s trilogy. It is one of the few Chinese sci-fi stories that has made a dent globally. You can read the books in 40-some languages and then there is the 3 Body Problem show from Netflix in 2024.
But it is not only about the export market. At home, it has been the engine for a whole industry of movies, games, print and so on. When Liu took home the Hugo, it was proof of the kind of clout and cash this kind of property can bring.
What we have here is a fact of life for the entertainment and gaming side of the house in China: the better the IP, the more pressure there is from within. If you are going to put your money on top-tier sci-fi, you have to have your house in order on the governance and security front.
Key dates and confirmed facts
What we have from the companies and the press:
– 2024: the year of the conviction
– May 21, 2026: date of the execution
– December 2020: when the poisoning came to light
– 39: Lin’s age at the time of his death
– Alpha-amanitin: one of the toxins in play
– Some others got sick, but they are fine now
Why this case still matters
The Three-Body Problem is a name that means something across the board, from the screen to the page. Now that the courts are finished with it, you can expect the company to be looking at the long game with the content and the money to be made from it.
Any streamer or rights holder in China doing cross-border work would do well to take note: a hit like this will give you as much trouble as it does opportunity. When you are vying for a franchise of this calibre, keeping your leadership in check is what will determine the bottom line and what the audience sees.
