"Good evening, dear friends, and welcome to the live broadcast of our large-scale talent competition show, Draft."
"I'm your friend and tonight's host, Lei Linya! On behalf of the production team, welcome, everyone!"
As soon as Lei Linya finished speaking, thunderous applause erupted. Everyone's attention turned to the stage, and Shang Shujue's inner voice was set aside for the moment.
"Next, allow me to introduce the panel of judges and mentors joining us tonight. Please give a round of applause for last season's girl group representative, Liu Xinru..."
"Golden Rooster and Hundred Flowers Award winner and renowned actor, Chen Liqu; world-class dancer, Liu Jiyun, also known as Aosi; world-class master pianist, Zhang Jinchen..."
"...and our eagerly anticipated king of dance, Mu Nanyu, and prince of love songs, Ji Yunqing. Let's welcome them with a round of applause!"
As Lei Linya spoke, the mentors made their surprise entrance through the automatic curtain backstage, accompanied by pulsing music and an electric atmosphere.
Their beauty was dazzling, their handsomeness striking in its own distinctive ways, making it impossible to look away.
Everyone's attention was drawn to the scene onstage. Only Shang Shujue rested his chin on his hand, his lips curved as he watched the people onstage with a casual smile.
For some reason, seeing that smile suddenly sent a chill down Zhang Zhichen's spine.
He kept feeling that Shang Shujue was about to think up something messy and worldview-shattering in that head of his again.
[Oh~ There's gossip... about whom? Oh~ That Yu Zeqi I noticed earlier? All right, let's hear it.]
That mildly interested voice suddenly rang out in the bustling venue. Everyone froze, holding their breath.
Yu Zeqi instantly grew so nervous that his heart leaped into his throat. Even he didn't know what gossip there could possibly be about him.
Could it be that I peed in the dirt to make mud to play with as a kid? If it's that, please don't say it! That's so embarrassing (╥╯﹏╰╥)ง
The mentors onstage glanced discreetly in Shang Shujue's direction. Maintaining her composure, Lei Linya directed them to take their seats first.
[Huh? You're saying someone's already set their sights on Yu Zeqi, and that stupid fucking agency of his will hand him over to some big shot with weird kinks... He refuses the casting couch, so they smear his name and shelve him... and he ends up dying horribly, in pieces?]
Shang Shujue's voice, shaken to its core, rang out clearly throughout the venue.
Yu Zeqi, who had just been worrying about having something embarrassing exposed, had now gone deathly pale.
Everyone else stared wide-eyed in shock, more gazes drifting involuntarily toward Yu Zeqi.
People always said the entertainment industry was a giant dye vat, full of suffering and danger. Anyone too clean and innocent who entered would lose a layer of skin, if not their life...
They simply hadn't expected that what they had seen was only one corner of the darkness beneath the light.
There were even darker things they had never imagined.
"It's all right. Whether it's true or not, none of it has happened yet. Don't overthink it."
Sitting beside Yu Zeqi, Bai Zhiyi noticed something was wrong with him and reached over to pat his shoulder, soothing him quietly by his ear and telling him not to worry too much.
"Yeah. Thank you."
Yu Zeqi thanked him softly, his complexion looking much better. Xu Jiaqiao, sitting on his other side, also patted his shoulder. He said nothing, yet said everything.
*[Hiss... This kid really is an idiot. Attending drinking parties in this industry, and he still dares drink something that's been out of his sight...
That friend of his is a real piece of shit, putting that kind of drug in his drink... Fuck, three perverts at once... Holy shit! Does this poor idiot have to suffer that much?]*
Shang Shujue seemed to be talking to someone. Even he sounded incredulous as he spoke, clearly shocked, his tone growing harsher and his voice louder.
*[Fuck! That's fucking illegal! Illegal! These four criminal celebs! I seriously can't take this anymore. Where's the list? Put one together for me... What am I going to do?
Hehe ^_^ Punish those criminal celebs, of course! All they ever do is bully people without backgrounds or backing. Aren't they just fucking idiots? Ah-what did you say?
He's the "baby" in "The Infertile Buddhist Scion of the Capital Elite: His Wife Ran Away with His Baby"?
Wait... You mean his mother is the first love and white moonlight of the head of the Yu Family, one of Shangjing's ten great families, and he's the Yu Family head's biological son?!]*
Yu Zeqi: ?!... ∑(❍ฺд❍ฺlll)
This earth-shattering revelation left everyone present dazed, including Yu Zeqi himself. Shang Shujue knew nothing of this; he was so absorbed in the gossip that he had forgotten everything else.
*[But his most trusted friend, Ren Xiaoxue, found out about this by chance, so she took the opportunity to steer him into a trash entertainment agency.
She revealed his existence to those three fucking perverts, and after driving him to his death, used his blood for a DNA comparison with the Yu Family head and became his treasured daughter...
Ren Xiaoxue managed all this without being exposed because she's that novel's daughter of fortune, while Yu Zeqi is cannon fodder? Hiss... This poor idiot has it way too rough!]*
Clatter!
As Shang Shujue's inner voice fell silent, Yu Zeqi finally snapped out of his daze and dropped the performance prop resting on his lap in fright. It was rather heavy, and in the pin-drop silence, the noise could truly be called deafening.
"Ah~ Sorry, sorry, sorry. I lost my grip. Sorry for disturbing everyone. Please, go on."
Noticing that Shang Shujue seemed to be looking over, Yu Zeqi hurriedly stood and bowed in apology before crouching to retrieve his prop, his lovely, clear-featured, ethereal face deathly pale.
Yu Zeqi thought of many things. He thought of his gentle, beautiful mother, who always had so many inspiring words of wisdom to share...
He remembered how his mother always shed tears as she watched an entrepreneur named Yu Yang on television...
Yu Zeqi had never understood why. That entrepreneur was so far removed from their lives...
Yet his mother seemed to know him. When he asked, she said she didn't and told him not to ask again.
But now, he thought he understood. His mother did know that entrepreneur named Yu Yang.
Not only did she know him, she knew him very well. She had even secretly borne him a child, struggling all those years on her own without ever considering a reunion...
Yu Zeqi sat back down, his mind in turmoil. He didn't know what to say, or how to keep his composure and continue filming.
"Yu Zeqi, we're live right now. Don't think about anything. Once the broadcast ends, you can find a chance to verify it. True or not, we'll help you. Don't worry."
Seeing that Yu Zeqi seemed a little off, Bai Zhiyi squeezed his arm to help him calm down. Somewhat comforted by those words, Yu Zeqi nodded silently.
[Poor thing. He really is the kind of idiot who'd get sold off and still smile as he helped count the money. Tsk, tsk, tsk...]
Yu Zeqi: "..."
The look Shang Shujue gave Yu Zeqi could only be described as regretful and tender. As a big shot in the entertainment industry, he truly couldn't bear to see someone so sincere, kind, and hardworking buried.
[If nothing unexpected happens, Ren Xiaoxue should take him to meet those three perverts for the first time after today's livestream. I'd better tip his dad off. I wonder if this kid can hold out until his dad finds him.]
Shang Shujue looked at his fingers, flexing his knuckles thoughtfully, his beautiful face full of contemplation. If they couldn't hear his inner voice, no one would have known what he was thinking.
[I'll call my uncle first afterward. If he doesn't clean up some of this trash soon, his position won't be safe... Once the stream ends, I'll sneak over and get Yu Zeqi's contact details.]
As Shang Shujue thought this, Yu Zeqi felt a little nervous and a little expectant.
He realized that this supposedly notorious person wasn't at all like the rumors said. Rumors really were just rumors. Being his friend would surely be wonderful.
[Hiss... No, wait. Aren't I universally hated right now? Then he definitely won't agree. Forget it, forget it. I'll give my manager something to do instead. Having her add him would be more reliable.]
Yu Zeqi: "..." Go ahead! Send me a request and I'll accept!
Faced with Shang Shujue's thoughts changing faster than the flip of a page, Yu Zeqi choked up slightly before finally exhaling and relaxing.
Yu Zeqi understood perfectly now: Shang Shujue wanted to help him. He was truly grateful to him.
He had let him learn the truth about his birth, as well as the malicious intentions harbored by Ren Xiaoxue, who had promised to be his manager for life.
Yu Zeqi clenched his fists: Be brave, Zeqi! Don't fear hardship!
"Huh... Is my stream frozen? Why isn't anyone on-screen moving? (￣口￣)!!"
"Mine too, mine too. There must be too many viewers, so it's lagging. It's fine. Just give it a moment."
"Why can I still see Shang Shujue moving? Yu Zeqi's moving too. He looks so pale, like Shang Shujue scared him! ( Ꙭ)"
[No, Yu Yang is a shrewd big shot, after all. He definitely won't believe some casual remark. I might even make my uncle lose face. After the stream ends, I'll have to secretly yank out a tuft of Yu Zeqi's hair.]
Thinking this, Shang Shujue couldn't help smoothing the hair by his ear, rubbing a spot that felt a little itchy.
Only when he looked up did he realize the camera had been on him the whole time, so he couldn't resist narcissistically striking various poses.
Yu Zeqi didn't dare look back, already braced to have his hair yanked out by Shang Shujue. Xu Jiaqiao and Bai Zhiyi, sitting beside him, both wore sympathetic expressions.
[This camera sure knows what's good~ It knows how handsome I am, so it keeps filming me... Oh my, I look so handsome from this angle too ◔.̮◔✧ Oh~ Are they looking at me? Aw, don't fall for me~ I'm only a legend~ つ♡⊂]
Everyone: ...Enough already. We don't have time for your antics!
Shang Shujue's exceedingly narcissistic voice, together with the scrolling bullet comments, finally brought everyone back to their senses. The gossip about Yu Zeqi had ended.
Although they didn't know the full story, they could piece together the gist from the few remarks in Shang Shujue's thoughts. They felt both sympathy and shock for Yu Zeqi.
Children this clean and pure were rare in the entertainment industry now. If that innocence could be protected, that would naturally be best...
But the fact that he was the only son of the head of the Yu Family, one of the ten great families, really left them stunned and envious!
Wait...
Had Shang Shujue mentioned his uncle just now?
What did he mean, his uncle's position wouldn't be safe unless that trash was dealt with? Could his uncle be a big shot in the political establishment?
Everyone seemed to have discovered something incredible. No wonder Shang Shujue had been able to act so arrogantly before!
Was that why? In that case, Su Youchuan, the Su Family's eldest young master, really didn't know what was good for him!
Everyone: If he can't even figure out someone's identity and family background, what use is he?
He's probably no good himself!
Su Youchuan: ?! Excuse me?