Chapter 63: Scandal Breaks Out, the Assault Incident

After leaving the Jingtailan Grand Hotel, Liu Rongxuan personally opened the rear door of the sedan and let He Hongtu get in.

He Hongtu climbed into the car, pressed his hand against the door, and said, “Fang Xing still needs to be suppressed.”

“What do you mean, boss?” Liu Rongxuan wasn’t quite sure what his superior intended.

“Isn’t it obvious? Find someone to dig up dirt on him and expose it. I want him to flop before the sixth episode airs.”

He Hongtu had already made up his mind—if he couldn’t have him, he would destroy him, at least until the other party yielded. Such digging for scandals is commonplace in the entertainment industry, a form of malicious competition between companies.

There are companies specializing in online trolling, dedicated to these attacks.

Similarly, there are PR firms focused on crisis management.

“Understood. I’ll get someone on it right away.” Liu Rongxuan agreed, closed the car door, and watched as He Hongtu’s sedan drove away.

…

The next day.

Friday came again—the day the latest episode of “Tomorrow’s Star” would go online.

Moreover, this week’s update featured the public performance stage.

Because of this, many viewers were already waiting by their computers and televisions, eager for the show to begin.

This season of “Tomorrow’s Star” had already produced four breakout songs in a row.

Its popularity continued to soar, breaking all previous streaming records set by earlier seasons.

There were signs it might soon become a phenomenon-level variety show.

At noon.

Penguin Video’s “Tomorrow’s Star” section opened the program reservation event.

At the same time, they released the trailer for episode six.

The trailer included a segment from Fang Xing’s pre-interview, which instantly shot to the trending topics.

In the pre-interview, the producer asked, “Fang Xing, the chief director says you once considered quitting the competition. Is that true?”

Fang Xing replied, “Yes, that happened.”

Producer: “Why did you stay afterward? Did the director persuade you?”

Fang Xing: “Sort of. The chief director told me quitting would be a breach of contract, and said I couldn’t afford the penalty. I laughed at that—he thinks I can’t pay the penalty? Me? I picked up my phone and checked my bank account… Well, turns out I really couldn’t afford the penalty, so I had to stay.”

Because of this pre-interview, a trending topic appeared on Weibo.

[Fang Xing wanted to quit!]

It immediately attracted countless meme-loving netizens:

[Are you scared of being roasted? Don’t think quitting will make me stop—I’ll roast you for life.]

[Is he finally going to flop?]

Fans of other contestants chimed in sarcastically:

[Now he’s mentioning breach penalties. Is this paving the way for a crowdfunding campaign to buy out his contract? I know this trick.]

[Right, instead of focusing on the performance stage, he’s just manipulating public opinion for profit.]

But some netizens questioned the narrative:

[Crowdfunding to break the contract? Isn’t that a bit of a stretch?]

…

Shortly after the trailer for the latest episode was released,

A sudden exposé appeared on Weibo and quickly shot up the trending list.

[Shocking! New breakout star, terrible character, street fight!]

[Violence! Why is Fang Xing so ferocious?]

Three related hashtags surged into the hot search, and one even cracked the top three.

The exposé was detailed, complete with photos of Fang Xing assaulting someone.

With photographic “evidence,” many netizens believed it.

Weibo was instantly abuzz.

Usually, when a top star’s scandal breaks, Weibo’s servers crash for a moment in celebration.

This time, however, the servers held up—network speed was steady, and the pages loaded smoothly.

Even without a server crash, the topic was trending fast.

After all, this season of “Tomorrow’s Star” was blazing hot, with four breakout songs.

Now, the artist behind those four songs was embroiled in negative news.

Immediately, countless netizens flocked to watch the drama.

The incident originated from a prominent account called “Entertainment Industry Morality Captain.”

“Entertainment Industry Morality Captain” posted a lengthy essay, accompanied by photos.

Within minutes, hundreds of other big accounts reposted it, and the public opinion snowballed.

It happened so fast it caught everyone off guard.

Jade Stone Records noticed immediately and mobilized the whole company, contacting their PR firm to prepare for crisis management.

At this moment,

Fang Xing was using his newly purchased laptop to compose music.

His phone rang—it was his agent, Qiao Yinghong.

As soon as he answered, Qiao Yinghong’s anxious voice came through, “Where are you right now?”

“In the training camp dormitory. What’s wrong?” Fang Xing was puzzled.

“Check Weibo yourself. A big account exposed your street fight. From now on, don’t appear in public. Until the company starts its PR response, avoid entertainment reporters.” Qiao Yinghong’s tone was urgent.

“A fight?”

Fang Xing frowned, closed his music workstation, and casually opened Weibo.

Three trending topics—all about his alleged fight.

He clicked through and immediately understood.

The exposé was written convincingly, and even had photos.

In the photo, Fang Xing was caught mid-punch, hitting someone.

Qiao Yinghong continued seriously, “Stay in the training camp. Don’t leave. I’m sending the company van to pick you up. We’ll talk at the office.”

Not long after hanging up,

Shao Yu and Lu Ming rushed in from outside. As soon as they entered, they saw Fang Xing browsing the Weibo topics.

“Captain, you know already?” Lu Ming asked with concern.

“Yeah.”

Fang Xing replied casually, still scrolling through the web.

Guo Keda followed, panting, “Captain, this is definitely a deliberate smear—it’s a tactic I’ve seen many times. That essay was posted, and within minutes hundreds of big accounts reposted it. Clearly, it was planned from the start.”

“I figured as much.”

Fang Xing wasn’t naïve; he’d seen this kind of thing before.

In fact, it didn’t take much effort to guess who was behind it.

Only competitors would go to such lengths to smear someone.

So, the suspects were two: Chao Yin Culture or Hashim’s Baichuan Entertainment.

Hashim had lost badly on stage, so Baichuan Entertainment had little reason to waste resources avenging him.

That left only Chao Yin Culture as the likely culprit.

About half an hour later, Qiao Yinghong called again—the company van had arrived in the training camp’s parking garage.

Fang Xing told his teammates to keep quiet, then headed downstairs and found the Jade Stone Records van.

As soon as the door opened, he saw a female singer in a black chiffon dress with fiery red lips—Li Caiwei, the soon-to-be first-tier singer under Qiao Yinghong.

“Get in,” Qiao Yinghong called, pulling Fang Xing aboard.

“Should I introduce you?” Qiao Yinghong glanced between them.

Li Caiwei extended her hand with poise. “Li Caiwei.”

Fang Xing shook her hand. “Fang Xing.”

“I watched your show—it’s impressive.” Despite her status, Li Caiwei was down-to-earth.

“Thank you,” Fang Xing replied politely.

Qiao Yinghong patted the driver’s shoulder and instructed, “Go straight to the company, don’t stop at the entrance—drive directly into the garage. If entertainment reporters swarm the car, don’t open the door under any circumstances.”

…