Chapter 58 Exposing

"But I always feel uneasy and a little uneasy now."

"Stand firm, don't think about anything else, and don't lean back! Ouch—"

Although it was only two sentences, and not much else, it had already drawn everyone's attention to Yu Shuling. The moment Yu Shuling spoke, Jiang Wenxi's expression had already turned sour. She had barely managed to regain her composure when Yu Shuling was so direct—how did she get these things?!

Jiang Wenxi was momentarily shocked and furious, as well as embarrassed by having his secret thoughts exposed. He had initially thought Yu Shuling was quite normal after spending the last few days with her, but he never expected her to be waiting for him here.

Both he and Qi Xiuxiu have easily recognizable voices. After spending the last few days together, everyone had become familiar with them and recognized their voices immediately. There was no way to deny it. Moreover, since Yu Shuling was prepared to expose the truth, how could she only have this little bit of evidence?

This is just the appetizer.

"Yu Shuling, what are you doing!"

The production team's angry voices came through their earpieces, clearly not expecting Yu Shuling to pull this stunt. This was the live broadcast of the finals, and although the director quickly switched the camera, everyone in the audience could still hear it at full volume on their phones. The production team didn't want to offend Jiang Wenxi, and even less did they want anything to go wrong with the finals. They immediately ordered Yu Shuling to stop apologizing, but she completely ignored them.

"I am simply exposing the inside story in a reasonable and justifiable way. There is no personal grudge involved, and there is no need to resolve this privately. Thank you."

Although the production team quickly negotiated terms with her through the earpiece, Yu Shuling remained obstinate, causing the team considerable headaches. If they could simply cut the live stream off, it wouldn't be so bad, but the audience was large, numbering nearly ten thousand—almost like a concert—and whispers were already rising from the crowd. It wasn't something the director could simply resolve by cutting the camera.

Especially when it comes to words like "behind-the-scenes manipulation," the contestants' fans and the contestants themselves are already in an uproar.

Yuan Zhiyao was quite bold; she directly asked on the microphone:

"What does this mean? Is there something we don't know?"

There are 180° large screens on both sides of the stage, used to magnify and observe the contestants' performances. The director is behind the scenes, and Yu Shuling does not have access to the large screens, but she was prepared in advance. She pulled out an iPad from under the table so that everyone could see it more clearly, and of course, she turned the volume up to the maximum.

She walked directly to the center of the stage and turned on the video feed for the contestants who were nearby. In the clear shot, Jiang Wenxi was brushing Qi Xiuxiu's hair back. The girl looked up with a charmingly innocent expression, and the two were whispering to each other. Jiang Wenxi bent down slightly and listened patiently to her.

This clearly went beyond the bounds of normal male-female interaction; the obvious ambiguity caused the contestants' expressions to change drastically. Qi Xiuxiu, who was quite popular and had been subtly surrounded by friendly people, suddenly found her gaze turning sour.

“PD Jiang, we respect you as a senior and trust your judgment. Debuting in a talent show is all about picking the right person. But if you’re showing favoritism because you’re dating her, we won’t accept it!”

Wu Leilei, who spoke first, was already red-eyed with anger. She said that she felt Jiang Wenxi treated Qi Xiuxiu differently. She originally thought that Qi Xiuxiu was sometimes confused, but she was also good at creating a lively atmosphere and had ambition. Sometimes she was popular with the audience and it was inevitable. But Qi Xiuxiu had an ambiguous relationship with the mentor behind the scenes. As one of the main characters, could Jiang Wenxi guarantee that his heart was completely impartial?

Yu Shuling glanced at the indignant Wu Leilei and the other contestants who couldn't help but speak up, ignoring the gazes the production team was casting at her. If looks could kill, she would probably have been torn to pieces by now. There was no doubt that audience members were already recording with their phones; there was no rule against bringing phones to the set, and all sorts of fan-taken and direct-view videos were flying around. The show had gained popularity several times because of this, but now it had brought her disaster.

If cell phones weren't allowed on the show, it might have been possible to keep quiet and prevent onlookers from making any claims. However, with so many people recording, the security guards couldn't keep up, leading to chaos. Amidst the commotion, Yu Shuling kept her eyes fixed on Qi Xiuxiu in the contestant's seat. She was playing with her iPad, her gaze on Qi Xiuxiu a half-smile, yet it carried an immense pressure.

"Qi Xiuxiu, are you dating PD Jiang?"

"I……"

Looking into the girl's deep and calm gaze, Qi Xiuxiu felt as if her entire body was enveloped by her gaze, with all her secrets exposed, and she couldn't bring herself to say anything in denial.

Yu Shuling wasn't aggressive; she phrased her question like a statement. Qi Xiuxiu instinctively looked at Jiang Wenxi for comfort, but the girl's slender figure blocked her view. She looked up at Yu Shuling's delicate face, but her beautiful features seemed to solidify into a venomous snake before her, hissing and spitting out its tongue. The oppressive force pressed in from all directions, almost plunging her into a boiling oil pot.

"We don't!"

In the few seconds that Qi Xiuxiu hesitated, Jiang Wenxi suddenly stood up, his clothes whistling sharply. He knew that if he didn't deny it, it would have a great impact on both Qi Xiuxiu and himself. But after he spoke, Qi Xiuxiu's face turned even paler than before, and she seemed about to collapse in the face of Yu Shuling's momentary look of sympathy.

Afterwards, any further attempts by Jiang Wenxi to make amends sounded different to Qi Xiuxiu under Yu Shuling's restrained and pitying gaze. For a trainee to date a mentor required considerable courage, and given the significant gap in their social standing, the fact that they hadn't officially defined their relationship, let alone publicly expressed it, made Qi Xiuxiu's firm denial feel like a slap in the face, leaving her in agony and her mind reeling.

Yu Shuling did it on purpose, of course.

Moreover, after provoking the female lead, she didn't let the male lead off the hook; she was adept at doing such things.

So you like behind-the-scenes manipulation, so you use talent shows as a pretext for romance? Then let's lay it all out and see if everyone can accept it. Qi Xiuxiu benefited from being directly promoted by flirting with a mentor, and Jiang Wenxi enjoyed the fame and fortune given by fans while suppressing other people's dreams to satisfy his own selfish desires. At least let the fans know what he did to make it fair.

Faced with Yu Shuling's relentless questioning, and with tensions rising both on and off stage, Jiang Wenxi still tried his best to argue that his relationship with Qi Xiuxiu was just a normal one.

You Jingzhou, who was twirling his pen, suddenly couldn't help but chuckle.

His laughter was followed by laughter from the audience, which embarrassed Jiang Wenxi greatly, and his gaze turned somewhat gloomy.

Yu Shuling couldn't post the video on-site, but Weibo doesn't need to be regulated. Yu Shuling had already scheduled it, and the video was sent at about the right time, so even those who weren't there could still get a taste of this fresh and hot gossip.

Jiang Wenxi, a top-tier idol known for his aloof and cool image, is unusually gentle and patient with the petite and charming Qi Xiuxiu. Although his tone is still somewhat cold, he specifically helps Qi Xiuxiu refine her dance moves. Qi Xiuxiu loses her balance and falls into his arms, where Jiang Wenxi catches her, and she helplessly rubs her forehead.

Qi Xiuxiu brought Jiang Wenxi a dessert and fed it directly to him; before going on stage, Jiang Wenxi hooked his little finger around Qi Xiuxiu's and cheered her on with a blank expression...

The video had just been released when it was shared and commented on over 10,000 times, and the number continued to rise steadily. It quickly climbed to the top of the trending topics and became a viral hit.

There are plenty of people who expose the wives of celebrities in the Chinese entertainment industry, but most of them are marketing accounts or professional paparazzi. People from within the industry exposing each other's secrets usually appear in long articles about tearing each other apart and showing off chat logs. It's exhausting to keep up with all the gossip.

Yu Shuling was concise and clear, not saying a single unnecessary word, only uttering a question mark, leaving the rest to be understood.

Some audience members who received the push notification clicked on it, and soon didn't know whether to watch the live broadcast or check their phones. Some were just watching the drama unfold, while others were indignant and defending their favorite contestants. Even if Jiang Wenxi denied it, it was obvious to everyone that the two had an unusual relationship. What's the point of being stubborn? They spent real money and time voting, and in the end, Jiang Wenxi used her privileges to insist on protecting Qi Xiuxiu. Their close and intimate relationship in private ignited public anger.

The instigator provided insightful guidance, refraining from embellishment and cleverly letting the drama unfold. Marketing accounts, sensing the opportunity, quickly reposted this unmissable, explosive news.

The entertainment industry is buzzing tonight.

#Jiang Wenxi Qi Xiuxiu

#Yu Shuling reveals details about Jiang Wenxi

#Path of Starlight

Three related topics trended on social media, all at the top of the list, but the director's face was incredibly grim. Since they couldn't provide an explanation that evening, they had to announce a postponement of the audition results. Yu Shuling received a call from Jiang Zhou as soon as she stepped off the stage, but she ignored it completely. The production team wanted nothing more than to tear her apart, but the director was busy dealing with other matters. The assistant director, however, was even angrier at Jiang Wenxi and Qi Xiuxiu; neither of them knew when this situation had arisen.

Perhaps much later, after everyone has had some time to process things, when the two gently announce that they are getting to know each other and falling in love, the audience will offer their sincere blessings to the handsome man and beautiful woman.

However, with Jiang Wenxi's favoritism, Qi Xiuxiu took the debut spot from the others, and Jiang Wenxi even tried to justify it, which is not a pleasant thing.

When Chenxi, who was present, saw the video, she felt as if the sky had fallen.

They worked so hard to boost Jiang Wenxi's endorsement sales, buy his magazines and albums, but after only a few years, Jiang Wenxi has no ambition and is having an ambiguous relationship with female contestants, and even helping them put on a show?

Regardless of whether they were female fans or not, he claimed to be fair and selfless, yet he engaged in so many underhanded tactics behind the scenes, which was extremely inconsistent with his usual public image. Soon, Jiang Wenxi's and Starlight's official Weibo accounts were flooded with demands for an explanation and insults.

It's not surprising that Yu Shuling had expected this outcome, but what's strange is why the production team repeatedly tried to stop her instead of simply and decisively disqualifying Jiang Wenxi from being a mentor.

Was it simply because she didn't want to offend Jiang Wenxi and the forces behind him? She didn't think so. After all, Jiang Wenxi was bound to fall after this ordeal. She hadn't heard of any amazing forces behind him. Once he became a useless figure, entertainment companies, driven by profit, would only be able to suspend him for a period of time. In comparison, if she were the production team, she would definitely choose to cut her losses and survive, while also gaining a good reputation for herself.