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Ye Zexi stepping forward to help him had been completely beyond Tang Jing's expectations.

An indescribable emotion rapidly spread through his heart. Tang Jing's eyes reddened as he fought back the trembling in his hands and typed.

"You don't need to do this for someone like me..."

Tang Jing edited and deleted that sentence over and over, ultimately removing it all and leaving only a simple: "Thank you."

Ye Zexi: "It's what I should do. Get some proper rest."

"You too." Tang Jing curled his lips into a faint smile.

He had barely replied when his manager pulled open the car door from outside. Hot air instantly rushed in, and the manager said to Tang Jing, "Don't worry, it's all been handled."

Tang Jing nodded. After a long silence, he opened Weibo, first followed Ye Zexi, then posted a new update.

@Tang Jing: The whole story has been explained. I acted on impulse, but I don't regret it. I'm truly very grateful to Ye Zexi today. Thank you, my good brother @Ye Zexi.

Tang Jing's fans broke down in tears again when they saw the post.

"Tang Tang, you have to be okay!"

"Get some rest, baby!"

"We'll always support you!"

"Thank you, Ye Zexi, truly, thank you!"

"Wuwuwu, the first CP I've ever shipped has me shipping them through tears. This hurts so much. My babies both need to be okay!"

"My heart aches so much for these two babies."

"I really can't bear to see you go. Can you please not withdraw from the competition? Wuwuwu."

The Era Idol production team finally issued a statement as well.

@Era Idol Official Weibo: Regarding today's incident involving "Cui Yi sexually harassing Tang Jing," our investigation has confirmed that the allegations are true, and the matter has been reported to the police.

As Cui Yi is suspected of committing a crime, he has now been handed over to the police. The production team has also removed him from the program.

Here, we once again apologize to Tang Jing and all internet users and fans. The production team will firmly protect contestants' rights and personal safety and guarantee that no such incident will occur again in the future.

At the same time, regarding contestants Ye Zexi and Tang Jing withdrawing from the competition, the production team is actively communicating with them and sincerely hopes that both contestants will return to the stage.

Li Changjian promptly posted on Weibo as well—

@Li Changjian: This happened because of my inadequate supervision. I apologize here to Tang Jing and all the fans and internet users. I guarantee that similar situations will not happen again in the future.

Although the production team had given a response and announced how it would handle the matter, Tang Jing's fans understood that it had not had much to do with the production team. Still, they could not help but direct some of their anger at it.

"So an apology is all we're getting?"

"I still feel so wronged! Two whole months! It was the final day, and Tang Tang was about to debut, but now all that effort has gone to waste. What makes me angriest is that if this hadn't come to light today, the production team still wouldn't have known about Cui Yi's perverted behavior. How little do they care about the contestants?"

"All I feel for now are those two contestants. I still wanted to see Ye Zexi and Tang Jing perform! I've been looking forward to it for a whole week."

"Production team, get your act together!"

But that night, Tang Jing seemed to have practically moved into Weibo. He soon reposted the official account's post and Li Changjian's post, saying that the matter had nothing to do with the production team or the director. Before, he had only wanted to keep things quiet and had not intended to make such a big deal out of it.

After all, you could know someone's face but not their heart. The production team could not be blamed.

Tang Jing also thanked the production team for the invitation and clearly stated that he would not be returning to the Era Idol stage.

The fans and viewers were the most disappointed of all.

"My two favorite contestants left at once. I'm not losing my mind."

"Wuwuwu, Ye Zexi! Please come back!"

"What is there left to watch without Tang Jing and Ye Zexi on stage?"

"Has Ye Zexi also confirmed that he won't return to the stage? QAQ"

The fans did not know either. Ever since Ye Zexi had posted that Weibo update about withdrawing from the competition, they had not seen him online again.

Quite a few fans guessed that Ye Zexi had been affected by those comments and had therefore chosen to withdraw.

Ye Zexi himself said: Of course not!

He merely wanted an excuse to openly and properly withdraw from the competition.

Ye Zexi had long wanted to withdraw. With such a ready-made excuse right in front of him, why would he not leave? Was he supposed to actually debut and join a group?

Forget it. This opportunity was better left to contestants who needed it more.

Ye Zexi had already been through this once. He did not need to rely on this debut spot to enter the entertainment industry.

After all, he had money now!

According to the contract, once Ye Zexi made the top ten, he would receive a performance fee of one hundred thousand.

One hundred thousand might be a small sum, but it could still ease his immediate financial strain.

After a while, once he finished filming the Bvlgari endorsement and received the endorsement fee, that would be several million!

Even if Ye Zexi spent one million a year, it would last him five years!

Besides, how could his yearly expenses possibly reach one million?

Ye Zexi had already planned it all out. When the time came, he would keep several hundred thousand for spending money and invest all the rest.

Money would make money. He would never be short on cash!

More importantly, Ye Zexi had his cheap dad as his powerful backing!

It had been several years already. He refused to believe that his cheap dad still would not give him a card!

At the thought of his happy future life, Ye Zexi could not stop smiling.

After Gao Shu finished the call, he turned to look at the young master in the back seat, who never gave him any peace of mind. He sighed inwardly before saying, "Young Master, Director Li just called me. Are you really not going to tomorrow's finale?"

Ye Zexi answered decisively, "I'm not going."

Not only was he not going, he was even planning to announce his retirement from the entertainment industry today!

Gao Shu immediately furrowed his brow. Could the young master really have been affected by what people were saying online?

It was not impossible.

Gao Shu glanced at Ye Zexi in the back seat. The young man was practically sprawled across the seat, his phone screen casting a faint glow over his face. His pink bangs hung down, concealing his expression.

Gao Shu's heart immediately skipped a beat.

The young master had never suffered any setbacks or grievances growing up. Now that he was sitting there without saying a word, he had probably really been affected by those comments!