[20]

Tang Jing's heart was suddenly filled with a sour, bittersweet emotion, and his throat tightened.

His Adam's apple bobbed. Tang Jing knew full well that today's result was all thanks to Ye Zexi.

Though unwilling, he could only admit defeat.

Tang Jing pursed his lips in a smile and silently mouthed, "Thank you."

The curve of Ye Zexi's lips lifted further, and the two smiled at each other.

Naturally, this moment did not escape the sharp-eyed netizens.

The livestream comments instantly exploded.

"Damn! Where are the CP shippers from before? Count me in!"

"The way they smiled at each other was so sweet! That's already the second time!"

"XiTang has turned into wedding candy! This is a victory for CP shippers!"

"Wuwuwu, I don't care! XiTang is real!"

That night, over half the trending topics were related to "Era Idol."

Among them, #YeZexiBackflip# and #XiTangCP# sparked especially heated discussion.

When the full episode went online the next day, viewers discovered that during the competition cheering, one deep, powerful voice was particularly eye-catching—

"Go, Ye Zexi! Ye Zexi is the best! Ye Zexi, I love you!"

The viewers watching the show immediately cracked up.

"That's the voice of a male fan!"

"Just what you'd expect from a male fan! Hahaha, that voice is way too distinctive!"

"Love my ass! Big brother is mine! Don't you dare steal him from me!"

"Watch your mouth, person above. Because of what you said, Ye Zexi had to coax me all night before I calmed down."

Some especially observant netizens even watched Ye Zexi's group performance at half speed and discovered something incredible—

@Gossip Watcher: Just a passerby, definitely not a CP shipper, but if this isn't love, then what is?

The video was a slowed-down clip of Ye Zexi's group's dance moves. When the camera reached Tang Jing, a clear red arrow pointed out that Tang Jing's foot had slipped slightly at the time, and Ye Zexi beside him immediately darted over and caught him.

The CP shippers in the XiTang supertopic were instantly stunned when they saw the video.

"Damn! As expected of you! I didn't even notice!"

"This is love!"

"I ship it, I ship it!"

One netizen even said, "Forgive me for saying this, but although this Rivals' Battle ended without a winner, we all know XiTang is real!"

Both fandoms were completely indifferent to this.

The supertopics were busy holding giveaways. Who had time to care about CP shippers?

Then, on Saturday night, something even more important drew the fans' attention—

Ye Zexi Studio had been established!

Gao Shu had long picked the right moment. Taking advantage of the peak online buzz, he had the operations staff post an official announcement on Weibo, while also tagging the "Era Idol" production team and the mentors, asking them to please repost it.

Gao Shu had already spoken with the production team and mentors beforehand, and the mentors were all happy to help.

Ye Zexi was the first person to establish a studio before even debuting.

The fans were utterly ecstatic. What did that mean?

It meant they had something to look forward to from now on!

After all, for artists who debuted through idol survival shows, the biggest taboo was peaking the moment they debuted, then failing to keep up with resources afterward and wasting their best years.

In the end, they would fade from the public eye. With no new works to follow, it would be hard for fans to keep holding on as well.

The announcement of Ye Zexi Studio's establishment at this moment was undoubtedly a powerful shot in the arm for the fans.

That same night, the Ye Zexi Fan Support Association followed up with its own official announcement.

The fans were even more excited. A fan support association was the hub connecting an artist and their fans, and with these two moves, the studio was directly telling them that the fans had a home!

Ye Zexi's fans were overjoyed.

The CP shippers said they had won?

Whatever, whatever!

But no one expected that half an hour after the studio's announcement, amid the cheering comments, a discordant voice would appear—

@Yezi: "Seriously? A little artist who hasn't even debuted yet buys trending topics every day, and now he's even setting up a studio? So getting into the entertainment industry doesn't require works anymore, just marketing?"

[20]

This comment was buried among countless congratulatory messages and seemed utterly inconspicuous, but a very small number of fans still noticed it.

At first glance, the fans were stunned by the obviously provocative comment. Then their hearts blossomed with delight.

"Our little artist Ye Zexi has antis now. Not bad, not bad!"

"Hahaha, what does this mean? It means Ye Zexi is genuinely popular!"

"Charge on, charge on! Keep going, Ye Zexi! You have to debut in the center position!"

The fans treated it as entertainment and did not take such comments to heart at all.

But what the fans never expected was that their good-natured replies instead made this anti fan named Yezi lose his temper.

Yezi: "Seriously? There are even paid commenters speaking up for him? How much per comment? Let's all make money together."

Yezi: "I bet those two million followers were bought too."

Yezi: "Calling him a little artist is flattering him. Please, he hasn't even debuted yet. He's not even as good as an influencer."

Yezi: "Other internet personalities at least have works. What does Ye Zexi have?"

Yezi: "His face? Then I can debut too."

Yezi: "Selling his looks, pfft!"

The fans never expected that their momentary indifference would only make this anti fan more relentless, as he kept hounding them without letting up.

"Seriously? Do you have a problem? If you've got the guts, say it on your main account."

"A newly registered alt account? There's really no need for this."

"Although Ye Zexi is indeed a little artist, you can't just pretend to be blind and ignore his previous stages, can you? The video of Ye Zexi performing 'Gokuraku Jodo' on that site has already surpassed ten million views. If that doesn't count as a work, then I really don't know what to say."

Yezi: "Heh."

Fans: ???