Chapter 83.1: The Eve of the Finals (25% Forum Format)
Fu Wenze had a simple reason for joining this show.
Money.
Not just for the appearance fee, but also for the money he might earn in the future.
His family situation was dire, and his younger brother had no one else to rely on but him. He had fought for the audition spot within his company himself. His talent was undeniable, and his personal style was strong. The company had originally planned to keep him under wraps for a while.
But Fu Wenze couldn’t wait.
That didn’t mean he particularly loved the idol industry. Of course, rather than looking down on it or despising it like some rappers did, he felt more lost than anything.
Lost about his future direction.
Lost about what all his struggles would ultimately mean.
He never regretted sacrificing so much for his younger brother, but occasionally, he wondered what kind of person he would become in the future.
Xie Xizhao showed him the version of himself he wanted to be—the ideal version.
Not a persona crafted from clichés, hiding emptiness and hollowness beneath. Not someone who drifted along, numbed by the intoxicating glitz of the industry. Instead, it was a force brimming with life.
He was an ordinary man.
So it was easy to be moved by such a powerful presence.
He said, “The song you performed in your debut stage, World, was really good.”
Xie Xizhao smiled.
Then, after a few seconds of silence, he said, “Thank you.”
“You saying that,” he added seriously, “makes me really happy.”
He had never thought he could influence so many people. Yun Pan had told him this before, Guan Heng had too, and even Ai Qingyuan—who was always so stubborn—never said it out loud, but deep down, he must have felt the same.
But this feeling was truly wonderful. Especially because this influence—he believed—was a positive one.
This was the impact of being Xie Xizhao.
He was not just some NPC, nor a disposable character doomed to fade away in the end.
He said, “Let’s both debut successfully.”
“Wish me a successful debut,” Fu Wenze corrected him. “And wish you a successful C-position debut.”
“I don’t have a problem with Ai Qingyuan,” he said.
Then, after a brief pause, he admitted frankly, “Alright, I do have a problem with him. So please, make sure your fans work hard. I really don’t want to see a kindergarten kid become the core of the group.”
Xie Xizhao laughed so hard he nearly choked on his drink.
He said, “Alright.”
“I’ll use my mental powers to make my fans work harder,” he added. “I’ll do my best to fulfill your great wish.”
—
As it turned out, whether or not Xie Xizhao used his so-called mental powers, his fans were working hard.
They had been conserving their energy throughout the entire third public performance.
Even though Xie Xizhao had dropped a rank, his fans hadn’t actually gone all out yet.
His surge in votes had come purely from his rapidly expanding casual fanbase.
Now that the finals had arrived, his fans were finally taking action.
Of course, this was also thanks to the sudden controversy that had erupted two days prior.
Qiao Ye was pretty much done for.
Even though he had put out a video apology, and his company had released statements and legal warnings, he eventually made a desperate move—claiming that the girl involved was just a childhood friend.
That might have been salvageable if it had just been his own mess to deal with, but the woman he had broken up with wasn’t some nobody. She had connections in the entertainment industry and came from a well-off family. Originally, she had been coaxed into signing a non-disclosure agreement. But now, her temper flared, and she decided to hit him with a metaphorical Thor’s hammer.
By the time the company found out, it was already too late to do anything.
At this point, Qiao Ye hadn’t withdrawn from the competition—purely to maintain some dignity.
If he quit, it would be as good as admitting everything. For now, he could still fool his more naive fans and those stubborn ones who had invested too much to back down.
After all, the ex-girlfriend herself had already come forward with accusations, proving that the breakup was real.
The scandal had been raging for days, with various parties fueling the flames. Thanks to that, the show had reached unprecedented levels of popularity. Casual viewers eagerly followed the drama, while dedicated survival show fans, though shocked, could only say, “This is some juicy gossip—keep it coming.”
As one fan put it: “It’s better for scandals to break before debut than after. If it happens before, it’s just entertainment for us. But if it happens after, the whole group is doomed. I don’t want my bias to debut into some dating scandal group or a b*llying controversy and get dragged down with them.”
The person who said this was a Xie Xizhao fan.
At this point, only Xie Xizhao’s fans could say such things with confidence. Among the current top three, Ai Qingyuan had already taken a hit from past controversies, learning his lesson the hard way. As for Qiao Ye, his chances of debuting were slim to none.
Only Xie Xizhao’s stats continued to skyrocket—it was hard not to suspect that all the fans who had jumped ship from other contestants had gathered under his banner.
The other fandoms were furious but didn’t dare speak up.
Of course, some braver ones still muttered behind the scenes:
“They’re getting cocky. What if their own bias gets caught in a scandal? Let’s see how they handle it then.”
And as if tempting fate, something did happen.
One ordinary afternoon, on a well-known forum dedicated to Super Rookie, where users regularly reposted updates, gossip, and casual discussions, a new thread suddenly appeared on the homepage.
[Industry Insider—Let’s Talk About This Show]
OP: Is anyone interested in some things you don’t know about?
1L: ? Spill the tea.
2L: What’s the topic? There’s plenty we don’t know—hell, we didn’t even know the ex had already moved in.
3L: LMAO upstairs…
I’ve noticed that Qiao Ye’s former fans have really leveled up in their wit after dropping him.
4L: Hahaha.
He’s not the only one who’s been dating.
They’re young guys, full of energy—how could they possibly hold back?
5L: WTF???
Then again, it makes sense. In the entertainment industry, there are only two kinds of relationships—those that get exposed and those that don’t.
The truly dedicated ones probably make up less than 10%.
6L: Hold on, OP, isn’t this kind of a reckless accusation? What did the ones who aren’t dating do to deserve being dragged down with the rest? Can you be more specific?
7L: Might have to name a hundred people, then.
8L: AAAAAHHHH.
9L: Come on now, I could make claims like this too.
What’s the point besides stirring up a trust crisis?
I think OP just wants to start some drama. Everyone, let’s move on.
10L: [This post has been deleted by OP]
11L: ??? Wait, is this actually real?!
12L: If it’s those two, I wouldn’t be surprised.
A friend who knows some fansite masters already mentioned it before. Those two are pretty wild—nightclub hookups and all. Let’s just say there’s a reason they never made it big.
But honestly, exposing eliminated trainees is boring. Spill something about the top contenders—we want the real tea.
13L OP: Haven’t heard anything about the top 15. What kind of gossip are you looking for? It’s not just about dating.
14L: …Alright, OP, you seem confident. So let me ask—who are the final five debuting members?
15L: I gotta hand it to the person above.
16L: I’ll answer this one.
C-position will be Xie Xizhao. Second place… probably still Ai Qingyuan? He has a strong foundation.
As for third, fourth, and fifth place, it’s a bit uncertain. I have a few candidates in mind, but it’s hard to narrow it down.
17L: Didn’t this week’s rankings just come out?
Jie, Ai, Yun, Fu, Qiao, Ye, Zou, Lu, Shi, Qi
I feel like Yun Pan and Brother Fu are both pretty solid. There are definitely five people competing for that last spot.
18L: LMAO…
19L: Objectively speaking, Yun Pan and Brother Fu’s fanbases and rankings had been pretty stable. They would probably hover around third to fifth place, though there was always a chance of a surprise elimination—it all depended on the vote gap. If the difference was small, rankings could shift dramatically.
The fifth spot was really unpredictable.
Qiao Ye seemed like he was getting kicked out, but after the controversy, he somehow managed to clean up his image. The fans who stuck around were more intense than ever. Qitai Media probably wouldn’t give up on a debut spot they were so close to securing, so there was definitely still a fight left.
Ye Yiyang was also a strong contender. As the main dancer, he was definitely qualified.
20L: By the way, where did OP go? Ran off already?
21L: Watching.
22L OP: Some positions had already been decided. Judging by the situation, the company’s maneuvering had been quite successful. The remaining two spots were still up for grabs.
Over the next couple of days, all the companies would start making their moves. But from what I know, someone upstairs had guessed correctly—certain artists involved in recent scandals hadn’t been abandoned yet. Their parent company had already convinced the woman to cooperate, and in a few days, an official PR statement would be released.
23L: I smell some juicy gossip.
24L: ??? What do you mean? What do you mean by “already decided”?
And Qitai still hadn’t given up? Can they just pack up their dating scandal guy and get lost?
25L: Wait, what do you mean by “company maneuvering”?
I thought the two locked-in spots were Xie Xizhao and Ai Qingyuan.
But Ai Qingyuan had Shenghong backing him up the whole time, so it made sense. Xie Xizhao’s company, on the other hand, was practically a joke—what kind of pull did they even have?
26L: Yeah, I’m confused too.
27L OP: …Don’t underestimate how the entertainment industry works.
But this kid was undeniably talented. From what I knew, both the platform and the production team had high expectations for him. If you paid attention recently, you’d probably notice—the focus wasn’t on quantity but quality. Even his screentime reflected that.
The remaining two spots were still up for grabs. Fans needed to put in the effort—if the platform saw the value behind an artist, who knew? Maybe luck would shine on the one they supported.
Alright, time to get back to work. See you next time.
28L: And just like that, the conversation was cut short.
…
The timing of this post was nothing out of the ordinary.
Honestly, with the finals approaching, both the forums and Weibo were overflowing with gossip.
Everyone knew someone. Everyone was an “industry insider.” Nobody found it surprising anymore. Whether there was any truth to it—well, people were just here for the entertainment.
At first, this post didn’t attract much attention.
But two days later, a new PR statement was released.
Qiao Ye’s ex-girlfriend, who had previously joined the public in tearing him apart, suddenly changed her stance. She claimed that her past statements had been made out of spite. She also admitted that she had disguised herself as a staff member to enter the show’s filming site because Qiao Ye had already explained his reasons for breaking up before joining the competition, but she hadn’t been able to accept it.
As soon as this statement dropped, the once-calm fandom exploded again.
Chaos ensued. But amid the frenzy, someone noticed something—
[The person who leaked the gossip two days ago was actually telling the truth? They really reached a deal with the girl and released a new PR statement. Do they actually have insider connections?]
[? What gossip leaker?]
This led to the old, buried post being dug up again. Every single sentence was put under a microscope for analysis.
And after careful scrutiny, a few vague remarks about Xie Xizhao caught people’s attention and sparked heated discussion.
