Later that evening, Era Idol's official Weibo account released a two-minute video.
Opening it, viewers found that it was footage of the contestants rehearsing! Leaving aside the devastatingly handsome faces, there were even several familiar ones among them.
Sharp-eyed netizens spotted Tang Jing in a fleeting shot.
"Is that Tang Jing?"
"Last year's third-place winner on New Singer?"
"It's him!"
"He actually joined a boy group audition show. No wonder there hasn't been any news about him lately! His voice is still as good as ever!"
"What's the name of the song they're performing? It sounds so good!"
"..."
"Wait, why do I feel like the person on the far left of the screen is lip-syncing?"
"He really is. Who's that pink-haired guy? He's lip-syncing even during rehearsal?"
"I'm instantly looking forward to this show a lot less."
"And he's in the same group as Tang Jing. Tang Jing is in trouble this time. Could he be deadweight the production team deliberately arranged for him?"
"Who is this guy? Is the production team deliberately screwing over our idol by putting someone like him here?"
"I hope Tang Tang won't be affected. Good luck tomorrow!"
"Go, Tang Tang! I heard the variety show will start tomorrow."
"Live broadcast."
"The voting channels will open too. Everyone, remember to vote for Tang Tang!"
"..."
The matter did not cause much of a stir.
Tang Jing was, after all, a newcomer to the entertainment industry, having debuted only a year ago with a fanbase that was still far from substantial. More importantly, Ye Zexi was also a newcomer with no name to speak of in the industry, so naturally the discussion did not gain much traction.
But no one expected that later that night, the hashtag #YeZexiPursuesTangJing# would suddenly land on the trending searches, followed by the character for "explosive."
Chapter 3 [03]
At four in the morning, Li Changjian arrived with a staff member and knocked on Ye Zexi's door, waking him from his sleep.
After Li Changjian explained the situation, Ye Zexi was still dazed. Somewhat uncertainly, he asked, "I'm trending?"
Li Changjian nodded worriedly.
"And it's with Tang Jing?" Ye Zexi's eyes were filled with confusion.
Li Changjian nodded heavily again.
The assistant beside Li Changjian handed the phone to Ye Zexi. When Ye Zexi took it and looked, his and Tang Jing's names were prominently displayed in fifth place on the trending list.
The moment he opened the trend, he saw a video. The people in it were none other than Ye Zexi and Tang Jing. The scene looked familiar to Ye Zexi. Wasn't this when Tang Jing had stopped him in the hallway today, and he had said those things to Tang Jing?
But aside from Tang Jing and himself, he had not seen anyone else in the hallway at the time. Who had filmed this video?
Li Changjian practically treated Ye Zexi as his own nephew. The production team definitely would not have released a video like this.
Then who else could it have been?
Tang Jing?
No. Though Tang Jing could play the victim after this video was released, for a newly debuted artist, being labeled gay right from the start would be detrimental to his future career.
Chasing only the immediate traffic would not be worth the loss.
Then—
Li Changjian had come to see Ye Zexi in the middle of the night with his assistant, so he must have found something.
Ye Zexi looked up at Li Changjian. "What do you think, Uncle Li?"
Sure enough, Li Changjian looked at Ye Zexi with guilt in his eyes. "Zexi, your uncle failed to supervise things properly."
As soon as the online revelation appeared, Li Changjian received word of it. The many Era Idol staff members had only just finished work when they were called back to thoroughly investigate the matter.
Finally, half an hour ago, they found the employee who had leaked the information to a gossip account.
That was why Li Changjian had come to wake Ye Zexi, wanting to ask for his opinion.
"I know Tang Jing well. This has nothing to do with him or his people. As soon as the leak came out, he was also very willing to cooperate in clarifying it. My suggestion is for the production team to release a statement saying it was rehearsal for a scripted scene. Neither you nor Tang Jing would need to respond further. Tang Jing has already agreed. What do you think?" Li Changjian added.
Ye Zexi said nothing. Lowering his eyes, he roughly skimmed through the comments beneath the Weibo post.
Ever since the Era Idol teaser had come out, people in the comments had been accusing Ye Zexi of lip-syncing. Now that this video had surfaced, netizens were mocking him without exception.
There were even supposed insiders claiming to be staff members, confirming that Ye Zexi had joined Era Idol solely to pursue Tang Jing.
For a time, revelations kept pouring in.
Even Ye Zexi's background was dug up. People said he was the young master of Starlight Entertainment, that he had long set his sights on Tang Jing, and that the two had been in contact long ago.
When truth mixed with falsehood, falsehood became truth. Many onlookers who had not taken sides began to believe it.
Tang Jing's fans were the angriest. They had already disliked Ye Zexi, this deadweight, and now that they learned he had shamelessly been pestering Tang Jing, they flooded Weibo with furious insults.
Overall, most online opinion favored Tang Jing, with very few people speaking up for Ye Zexi.
The netizens' insults were especially vicious: "simp," "disgusting gay," and some even said that if Ye Zexi was lip-syncing during rehearsal, Era Idol probably did not have many promising contestants either. Maybe it was just a cash grab.
"Zexi?" Seeing that Ye Zexi had remained silent for so long, Li Changjian grew worried. "Don't read the comments, and don't take what people say online to heart. Don't let it affect your performance today..."
Ye Zexi's lips curved slightly as he smiled. "Uncle, don't worry. I won't take it to heart."
Having struggled in the entertainment industry for so many years, Ye Zexi had seen far too much abuse and criticism. What he saw today truly was not the worst of it.
Li Changjian was still uneasy. "How about you just leave this matter alone and let me handle everything? Netizens are like this—they believe whatever rumor they hear. Once the clarification statement is released..."
"No need, Uncle." Ye Zexi interrupted Li Changjian and returned the tablet to the assistant. "This is true to begin with. There's no need to clarify it."