Chapter 50: A Quick Fix
For a full thirty seconds, Ji Yan struggled to find his voice.
“…Brother, what did you just say?”
He wondered if he had stayed up too late last night and was now hallucinating.
Xie Xizhao waited for him to snap out of it. In the meantime, he took the phone Ji Yan had reflexively handed him and dialed a number.
The moment he pressed the call button, Ji Yan finally came back to his senses.
The first thing he did was walk over and lock the door. Only then did he exhale and ask,
“What happened?”
Xie Xizhao paused. “Don’t tell anyone.”
Then, he briefly recounted what he had witnessed in the hallway—how he had caught Yun Pan and Xia Ruiyan together.
At first, Ji Yan looked completely shocked, but the more he listened, the darker his expression became.
By the time Xie Xizhao finished, Ji Yan couldn’t hold back a curse.
“F***.”
“Scum,” he spat.
He had a good relationship with Yun Pan, mostly because of Xie Xizhao. But Yun Pan had a soft, gentle nature that made it easy for people to feel protective of him. Ji Yan had often been curious about his past.
Xie Xizhao kept things concise, mentioning only the part about Yun Pan being b*llied by Xia Ruiyan.
Even so, that alone was enough for Ji Yan to immediately understand why Xie Xizhao had just said something so shocking.
“I’ll help with whatever you need,” Ji Yan said.
Xie Xizhao replied, “No need.”
He paused. “I need to make a call first.”
“Go ahead.” Ji Yan didn’t waste any time and gestured for him to proceed.
As Xie Xizhao’s call connected, a clear female voice answered on the other end, “Hello, who’s this?”
“Sister Qing,” Xie Xizhao said. “It’s me.”
The woman on the other end, Fang Qingqing, sounded surprised. “Xizhao? What’s going on?”
Xie Xizhao said, “Something.”
“Sister,” he said, “Has the company ever done a targeted analysis report on Wenyao? If so, could you send me a copy?”
Even though the situation was urgent, Ji Yan couldn’t help but twitch at the corners of his mouth.
…Seriously.
He had always wondered why his brother, who was so damn sharp, had such terrible judgment when it came to companies. Just looking at the ones featured on their show—90% of them seemed more legitimate than Yaoxin.
Now, he was starting to understand.
Sure, 90% of those companies were more mature than Yaoxin. But 99% of them wouldn’t tolerate an employee acting this brazenly.
Even if that employee was a cash cow.
Of course, no matter how good Xie Xizhao’s relationship with the company was, and even though Fang Qingqing personally didn’t think it was a big deal to hand over that kind of information, the proper procedures still had to be followed.
She sounded a bit surprised. “There should be one, but why do you need it?”
Lately, every department at Yaoxin had been working hard to improve.
The main goal? Keeping up with their own cash cow.
Otherwise, when Xie Xizhao eventually made his debut as the center, they wouldn’t even know how to fully capitalize on it online. That would be a huge failure. And given how much pride their boss, Xiao Qi, had, he would never allow that to happen.
Fang Qingqing had a clear impression of Wenyao.
As Xie Xizhao’s manager, she handled all related work and communications.
She remembered that Wenyao currently had two contestants under their close observation. One of them was even an all-rounder ACE—someone who, in some ways, had a similar appeal to Xie Xizhao.
Xie Xizhao coaxed patiently, “There’s a chance to take out the one with the similar style.”
Fang Qingqing: !
Ji Yan’s mouth twitched so hard it was about to cramp.
Xie Xizhao didn’t lay everything out for Fang Qingqing the way he had for Ji Yan. He simply said concisely, “I’ve got some dirt on his character. The kind that’s pretty fatal.”
Fang Qingqing’s eyes lit up.
She didn’t hesitate any longer.
After months of working together, she had developed an instinctive trust in Xie Xizhao.
And ever since he had chosen to stay with Yaoxin instead of moving to a bigger platform, many in the company had been deeply moved. Now, the entire company had a favorable impression of Xie Xizhao—including their boss, Xiao Qi himself.
For the first time, Xiao Qi’s focus had completely shifted from his esports team to the entertainment industry.
That alone spoke volumes about how much he valued Xie Xizhao.
“I’ll send it to you later,” Fang Qingqing said. “To this phone?”
Xie Xizhao glanced at Ji Yan, who flashed him an “OK” gesture.
“Yeah,” he replied. “It’s my friend’s phone.”
“Got it.” Fang Qingqing then added with satisfaction, “Finally, the PR department gets some practice again.”
Xie Xizhao: “…”
“Yeah,” he said. “A rare opportunity indeed.”
He hung up.
Then, he turned to see Ji Yan silently watching him with an unreadable expression.
“What?” Xie Xizhao asked.
“…Just thinking your company culture is really… uninhibited,” Ji Yan said, his voice laced with dry amusement.
Xie Xizhao completely agreed.
“I think so too.”
He handed the phone back to Ji Yan, and the two of them headed out together.
Uninhibited or not, on the way to the cafeteria, Ji Yan still brought up Xie Xizhao’s plans.
“Wenyao is a nasty company,” he cautioned tactfully. “Brother, you better not act impulsively.”
“I know,” Xie Xizhao said.
A company that could tolerate b*llying among its trainees without stepping in clearly prioritized profit above all else. And having successfully produced two popular contestants, Wenyao was obviously not easy to deal with.
“Then you…”
“Don’t worry.” Xie Xizhao paused. “Whatever happens, it’ll be after the second public performance.”
Ji Yan was momentarily stunned.
He turned his head and saw Xie Xizhao’s calm profile.
—
It had been a long time since Xie Xizhao had felt this angry.
This anger was directed solely at Xia Ruiyan himself and at the company that enabled his behavior.
But anger was one thing—acting on impulse was another.
Because impulsiveness wouldn’t solve anything.
That was why he hadn’t outright told Yun Pan about his plan to force Xia Ruiyan out of the competition. Instead, he had reassured him first, making sure Yun Pan could focus on preparing for the second public performance.
Xie Xizhao and Yun Pan were different. No matter what happened, he could always keep his emotions in check.
But Yun Pan would definitely be affected.
Of course, there was another reason as well.
“Wenyao is ruthless.” Xie Xizhao said. “Between Xia Ruiyan and Yun Pan, who do you think they’d rather debut?”
Ji Yan was caught off guard by the question.
Then he thought for a moment. “…Xia Ruiyan?”
“Hard to say.” Ji Yan added. “He’s their main push for sure, but with his awful temper—if I were the company, I’d just throw him to Stardust.”
Stardust was the platform managing their debut group.
“Mm.” Xie Xizhao said. “So he’s the priority.”
At first, he had thought Wenyao was weighing their options between Yun Pan and Xia Ruiyan.
But now, he was ready to discard that assumption.
Xia Ruiyan might have talent, but his personality was impossible to control.
Wenyao couldn’t afford to offend him. Letting him debut would not only be a goodwill gesture but also an easy way to pass him off to another company for management—a win-win situation. By comparison, Yun Pan was clearly much more obedient.
Wenyao gave him screen time as well, but it was likely just to help him gain some fans before sending him back to lead a group.
Of course, this needed to be confirmed.
That was why Xie Xizhao had asked Fang Qingqing for some company reports. Yaoxin was still inexperienced in many ways, but at the very least, it could provide some valuable information. It wasn’t entirely disconnected from the entertainment industry.
Besides that…
“Guess.” Xie Xizhao said slowly. “Do you think Stardust knows about this?”
“How would Stardust possibly—” Ji Yan started, then abruptly froze.
A moment later, realization dawned on him. “You want Stardust to know?”
“No…” He muttered to himself.
Not just that.
It wasn’t that simple.
The fact that Xia Ruiyan had violent tendencies might give Stardust some pause. But to be blunt, plenty of artists had questionable morals. Capital might hesitate, but it wouldn’t drop someone over this alone.
What Xie Xizhao wanted to do had to be more than just leaking this to Stardust.
The second public performance…
A sudden thought struck Ji Yan. “You want Stardust to see Yun Pan’s popularity and debut potential?”
Of course!
Yun Pan was on his brother’s team for the second public performance.
Right now, Yun Pan was gaining momentum. If he performed well in the second round, his popularity would soar. At this stage, Wenyao wouldn’t suppress him just yet. And at that very moment…
At that very moment, if Xia Ruiyan’s scandals were exposed—
Then.
Stardust’s choice would be obvious.
Realizing the full picture, Ji Yan was completely stunned. Meanwhile, Xie Xizhao remained as composed as ever.
He was staring into the distance.
The setting sun dyed the sky with a striking shade of blood red.
At the entrance of the cafeteria, voices filled the air, a noisy crowd bustling about. Among them were a few familiar figures.
Xia Ruiyan was probably in a bad mood today—he hadn’t come to buy food. So, standing at the cafeteria entrance were only the other members of Wenyao’s team.
Ji Yan still couldn’t figure out one thing.
If they exposed Xia Ruiyan now, Wenyao might still find a way to recover.
What they needed was more evidence.
Something solid.
Something that would ensure Xia Ruiyan wouldn’t be able to make a comeback anytime soon.
—
Ji Yan had no idea what was going through Xie Xizhao’s mind. If he had known, he would have realized that his previous understanding of Xie Xizhao was somewhat inaccurate. Moreover, at that moment, Xie Xizhao was actually being rather gentle with Ni Xin.
Of course, there was a reason for this.
Ni Xin’s actions toward Xie Xizhao were meant to make him uncomfortable. However, since Xie Xizhao was not affected at all, Ni Xin’s efforts became meaningless.
At the end of the day—
Whether or not Xie Xizhao was willing to overcome the feeling of “it’s a bit troublesome” and fight back was entirely up to him.
There was no need to rush this matter. So, after bringing the food back, Xie Xizhao did not bring it up again.
He had something else to focus on.
The performance was getting closer, but the stage effects were still not quite satisfactory.
—
That day, after practice, Xie Xizhao kept everyone back.
He spoke gently, “The performance is in less than a week. How does everyone feel about the practice so far?”
Xia Xize said, “Eh, I think it’s actually—”
Mu Wen, standing beside him, coughed lightly.
After practicing together for so long, most of them had already figured out Xie Xizhao’s temperament.
He wouldn’t get angry, nor would he make sarcastic remarks.
But if he was truly satisfied, he wouldn’t even ask this question. The fact that he was asking meant that he wasn’t satisfied.
Sure enough, Xie Xizhao said, “I know everyone has been working hard, but—”
He paused for a moment. “You’re still holding back a little.”
“The most important thing about a live band performance is engaging the atmosphere,” he said. “This is also the key factor in us winning first place. If everyone has already sacrificed their own parts, but in the end, we still don’t achieve the desired result, wouldn’t that be a bit of a shame?”
One sentence was enough to leave everyone looking embarrassed.
Zou Yi, however, coughed and said, “This is actually pretty hard to practice.”
Stage presence.
At the core of it, Xie Xizhao felt that what their group lacked the most was a confident and natural stage presence.
A common issue for rookies—they put in the effort on stage, but they were too tense.
That wasn’t what Xie Xizhao wanted, nor was it something that a team aiming to ignite the entire audience’s enthusiasm should be presenting.
Zou Yi’s words provided them with an excuse to ease the tension.
Everyone quickly nodded and started chiming in.
“Yeah, this is really tough. The moment I step on stage, I get nervous…”
“Seriously! I have to remember the lyrics, worry about my voice cracking, and find the camera angles. It’s a lot to handle.”
“I want to sing with the same ‘I’m the king of the world’ energy as Xizhao, but, well… I’m not actually the king of the world~”
Xie Xizhao: ?
He turned to the last speaker. Xia Xize took a step back and let out two sheepish chuckles.
Xie Xizhao: “…”
“Save the cute act for the fans,” he said.
His teammates were innocent bystanders.
Xia Xize: “…”
What a heartless, ruthless man.
Xie Xizhao looked at the eager, expectant faces around him.
After thinking for a moment, he said, “Now that you put it that way, I guess it really is kind of difficult.”
Everyone: “Mhm, mhm!”
Xie Xizhao pondered for a while before making a decision.
“Then tomorrow morning, we’ll take half a day off from practice,” he said. “I’ll give you all a crash course.”
He paused before adding, “It is tough, sure, but at the very least, we should be able to put on a convincing act.”
He muttered the last part to himself.
The others, however, felt a sudden chill run down their spines, as if sensing an ominous fate awaiting them.
