Chapter 42: He Slanders You
“Damn, there’s a scandal!”
“Who is Tianbao talking about? Even someone as kind as Tianbao can’t keep quiet?”
“Right now, with the heat and a few hit original songs… among all the contestants, only Su Chen fits the bill, right?”
“No way! Su Chen is actually that kind of person?! Damn, I’m turning from a fan to a hater!”
“That can’t be possible…”
…
One comment after another flooded the live broadcast room.
Meng Xiaotian had just played the victim, winning over most people’s sympathy and trust. Unconsciously, everyone started to believe his words, speculating about who the person in question really was.
Contestants took the stage one after another until Wang Qi appeared and was recruited into Yan Mi’s team. Unexpectedly, Wang Qi directly revealed the person’s name!
“Tianbao looks after us newcomers, but I, Wang Qi, cannot tolerate people like that! I can tell you all very responsibly, the person Tianbao is talking about is Su Chen!”
Wang Qi’s words stunned everyone in the studio; even Liu Shao and Wu Tong were baffled.
What the hell is going on?!
Liu Shao was about to interrupt Wang Qi to maintain order, but Wu Tong’s voice suddenly came through his headset.
“Don’t interfere! Let him talk! Let him finish!”
In the control room, Wu Tong’s breathing was heavy with excitement. The show’s ratings were already excellent, and if something like this happened, he was sure the show would become an instant hit!
“Of course, I’m not saying this because of the grudge over ‘Midnight Whiskey.’ I’m just speaking objectively!”
On stage, Wang Qi played the victim, dropping bombshell after bombshell.
“Actually, I’ve known Su Chen in real life, not because of ‘Queen,’ but before that—before he became famous! And I think everyone should remember him too!”
This feeling of kicking someone when they were down gave Wang Qi immense satisfaction, but he knew he couldn’t smile just yet. He had to make sure he relayed everything Xu Fangyuan had told him!
“Su Chen is the one who harassed Lin Yanran! He’s the Su Chen mentioned in the statement released by Starry Entertainment!”
As soon as these words were spoken, the entire room fell silent, then instantly erupted into chaos!
“I knew it was him!”
“I said back then, Su Chen is that creep, but you all wouldn’t believe me!”
“Oh my god… with this kind of dirt exposed, even if you don’t count provoking Tianbao backstage, it’s enough to ruin him!”
…
“Unbelievable! Is this what the entertainment industry is like now? A scandal even before debut?”
…
Watching the audience explode, Wang Qi felt a surge of satisfaction, as if he had finally gotten his revenge!
To be safe, he threw in even more fuel.
“I want to say that Su Chen is far worse than what was described in the statement!”
“As far as I know, those songs credited to Lin Yanran weren’t written by Su Chen at all. He tricked Lin Yanran into giving him the credits!”
“He was just saying backstage that he’d perform original songs all season! Do you really think he wrote all those songs himself? Impossible! He bought them all and claimed them as his own!”
Wang Qi spoke with righteous anger, “For someone like him, I really don’t understand how he even got on the show, let alone has the nerve to debut!”
When he finished, the live broadcast chat exploded—literally. So many people joined that the network became unstable!
“This gossip is too juicy, I need to get my girlfriends in here!”
“So none of those songs were written by Su Chen? What about ‘Queen’, ‘Actor’, ‘Courage’? I can’t even imagine!”
“That creep should just drop dead!”
…
A storm of insults flooded the chat, bringing Xu Fangyuan, seated in front of a computer in an office in the city, to the brink of ecstasy.
“Yes, yes, that’s it! Keep going! Tear him apart!”
Xu Fangyuan grinned from ear to ear.
“Su Chen, you think you can go up against me? Pathetic!”
Of course, when some people celebrate, others grow anxious.
Han Jiangxue stopped munching on sunflower seeds, sat up on the bed, and stared dazedly at the barrage of vulgar comments on the screen.
“Su Chen… Su Chen is the one who harassed Lin Yanran? That’s impossible… Su Chen isn’t that kind of person!” Han Jiangxue murmured.
She recalled how, on several occasions, Su Chen had shown restraint and self-control, which only strengthened her belief that he wasn’t that kind of man.
“But if Su Chen isn’t like that, why would Starry Entertainment say so…”
Han Jiangxue frowned, suddenly recalling the first time she met Su Chen—he’d drunk himself silly after a breakup.
A breakup…
Her brows arched as a possibility came to mind.
Without hesitation, she immediately made a phone call.
“Xiao Jia! Go to Hang City right now and investigate the connection between Su Chen and Starry Entertainment!” Han Jiangxue commanded.
On the other end, Xiao Jia asked, “Yes, Miss, could you clarify the direction of the investigation? With a clear lead, we’ll move faster.”
“As for direction… check if Su Chen had any contact with any female artists from Starry. If he did, dig deeper!”
“Understood.”
Han Jiangxue hung up, her eyes full of worry as she stared at her tablet’s screen.
No matter what the truth was, Su Chen wouldn’t be able to avoid this wave of online abuse.
“Su Chen, you have to withstand the pressure…”
Backstage at the show.
On the large screen in the room, Wang Qi's words were played in full for all the contestants who had not yet performed.
At this moment, everyone was sneaking glances at Su Chen, their eyes filled with surprise, curiosity, regret, and schadenfreude.
Of course, the last emotion was the most common.
Anyone else would have wanted to hide in the sewers or start vehemently defending themselves under such scrutiny.
But Su Chen remained unmoved, completely unbothered by the commotion outside.
It was Wang Yilong beside him who couldn’t stand it any longer. He blurted out anxiously, “Chen, what are we going to do? He’s slandering you!”
Su Chen looked at Wang Yilong with curiosity.
“Slandering? How do you know it’s slander? You trust me that much?”
Wang Yilong gripped Su Chen’s shoulders and said seriously,
“There were plenty of female contestants giving you signals these past days, and some of them were really pretty. Yet you turned them all down!”
“I was even worried you might like men… With the way you act, I just can’t imagine you harassing women.”
Su Chen: “…”
Seeing Su Chen remain silent, Wang Yilong grew even more agitated.
“Chen, say something!”
Sitting in his chair, Su Chen replied unhurriedly, “What’s there to say?”
“He thinks all my songs are bought? Then I’ll just prove myself on stage later.”
Wang Yilong was taken aback and blurted out, “But… how will you prove it?”