Chapter 23

Of course, He Jinyun did not say that aloud.

Gao Shu merely took it as He Jinyun being modest. He smiled and said nothing.

He Jinyun continued, "By the way, Assistant Gao, when are you planning to tell Zexi about this?"

Gao Shu thought for a moment before saying, "After the finals. We can't let it affect the young master's competition right now. Then we can give him a surprise—double happiness."

He Jinyun nodded in agreement.

But Gao Shu never expected that before he could give Ye Zexi a surprise, Ye Zexi would give him a scare instead.

At around ten that night, someone made a post on a well-known domestic entertainment forum—

"Got some gossip: the first- and second-place contestants from a talent show whose finals are tomorrow got into a fight. They're both at the police station now."

The post was like a drop of cold water falling into a pan of hot oil, instantly causing an explosion.

"What's going on?"

"First and second place? The rankings from last week?"

"Ye Zexi and Cui Yi???"

"No way?"

"Where did this come from? Is it reliable?"

"No pics, no proof. Making up rumors is getting cheaper and cheaper these days."

"Damn, I had a pretty good impression of Ye Zexi. His character is this bad? Blocked."

It was the peak of nighttime traffic, and in the blink of an eye, the post had been bumped into a hot topic. The comments were buzzing.

"Where's the OP?"

"OP, don't leave after saying half of it!"

"Stop looking for the OP. There are already pictures on Weibo!"

"Give us the link!"

"Here are the pictures."

Someone quickly reposted the photos from Weibo.

The photos were very clear. Even from a distance, one person could be seen pinning the other to the ground with his arm twisted behind his back.

Ye Zexi's signature pink hair was far too eye-catching. He could be recognized without even seeing his face. Cui Yi was pinned to the ground by Ye Zexi, with faint bruises visible on his face.

Once the photos from the scene came out, netizens who had still been hesitant were instantly shocked.

"They really got into a fight?"

"Ye Zexi's hold looks kind of cool."

"Cool? Are you sick? Isn't this obviously bullying?"

"??? How can you tell it's bullying? Nothing has been confirmed yet. Even if they fought, maybe both sides were at fault. You're convicting someone this fast—what are you, the internet police?"

"Ye Zexi's fans showed up fast to defend and whitewash him?"

"There are photos. That counts as solid proof, right?"

"Come on, don't tell me none of you know that Ye Zexi has been using his connections to suppress the younger contestants all over Era Idol?"

"Details, please?"

Soon afterward, someone claiming to be a friend of an eliminated Era Idol contestant came forward with more gossip on the forum:

"Ye Zexi has some connection to Director Li. They're probably relatives, and Director Li takes especially good care of him."

"That's exactly why quite a few Era Idol contestants have been bullied by Ye Zexi. Fighting over makeup artists is nothing. The worst time was when Ye Zexi got into a fight with a contestant right at a gathering."

"What happened to that contestant? Of course, he was forced to withdraw! He had been ranked pretty high, but for some reason, his ranking suddenly plummeted during that performance, and he was eliminated."

Cui Yi's fans had already been furious that their idol had been beaten. After seeing this post, they exploded completely and flooded the show's Weibo demanding an explanation.

"Is the production team still playing dead?"

"Are you really not going to do anything about Ye Zexi abusing his power to bully people?"

"Ye Zexi, get out here and apologize!"

"Today it's Cui Yi. Tomorrow it'll be other contestants! Ye Zexi, get out of the entertainment industry!"

"Ye Zexi, get lost already!"

"Stop playing dead!"

The outside world was full of condemnation. Ye Zexi's fans were under enormous pressure as well, but many of them still believed in him. The major fan accounts in many fan groups were also trying to calm everyone down:

"There's been no official statement yet. Outside, wave after wave of people are stirring things up. Don't get swept up in their narrative!"

"We've been fans for so long and have seen plenty of dirty things in the entertainment industry. Before the official side and Ye Zexi speak up, we all need to stay calm."

"I understand everyone's urge to defend him, but the more accusations there are outside, the clearer-headed we need to be!"

"Let's wait for our brother's statement!"

But Watermelon Leaves never expected that instead of Ye Zexi's explanation, they would receive his withdrawal announcement.

An hour after the forum leak, Ye Zexi posted on Weibo—

@Ye Zexi: Thank you to my fans for your support all this way. Tomorrow is the grand final, but I have no choice but to announce something regrettable at this time. I have decided to withdraw from tomorrow's grand final. I'm grateful to all the mentors and staff for taking care of me along the way. Until we meet again, if fate allows.

The moment the Weibo post went up, the fans were instantly dumbfounded.

The comments section was quickly taken over by angry netizens and Cui Yi's fans.

"So he's admitting it outright?"

"Heh, you want to leave without even apologizing? Have some shame, Ye Zexi!"

"If everyone acted like you, announcing their withdrawal after beating someone up, would anyone still care about reason?"

"Please apologize to Cui Yi and every contestant you've bullied!"

"Don't think withdrawing from the competition solves anything!"

Ye Zexi's fans were truly bewildered this time.

Why had Ye Zexi announced his withdrawal without explaining anything? Could the online gossip be true?

Had Ye Zexi really hit Cui Yi and really bullied the other contestants?

What was this supposed to be? They had worked so hard preparing for tomorrow's final, only to get this result?

Quite a few fans broke down on the spot.

Was the person they had sincerely supported for so long really the "terrible person" netizens claimed he was?