Chapter 22 Foot Injury

Chapter Summary: The candidate requested to withdraw from the competition.

Fog City, Second People's Hospital.

The program crew sent a staff member to take Mu Zhi to the hospital to see about her foot injury. After registering, she had a CT scan. After reviewing the scan, the doctor said that there was no bone damage, but rather local soft tissue injury. He prescribed a bottle of Yunnan Baiyao spray, along with some oral medications to relieve pain and promote blood circulation.

Mu Zhi sprained her right ankle, which was swollen high. After spraying medicine, the pain stopped and the swelling subsided a bit.

The doctor advised: "Rest well and avoid exercising your right foot for the next week."

Following the doctor's instructions, Mu Zhi hopped out of the doctor's office on one foot.

"Sister, does your foot still hurt?" The staff member who brought Mu Zhi to the hospital to see a doctor had just returned with the medicine and rushed forward to help Mu Zhi.

This staff member had quite a connection with Mu Zhi; she was none other than Sister Mei's assistant, named Xu Min, who had worked with her on the advertisement shoot that day.

A short-haired, somewhat plump girl with two chubby dimples on her face when she smiled. She was two years older than "Muzhi" but was addressed as "sister" according to the industry's respectful title.

Mu Zhi's actual age was two years older than Xu Min's, so she didn't correct him.

With Xu Min's help, Mu Zhi jumped with difficulty, hissing and crying out, "It hurts, it hurts so much."

"On the way here, I remember there was a clinic nearby, right? Could you take me there to get checked out?"

Xu Min: ? ? ? I took an X-ray, and there was no bone injury.

She remembered the doctor saying it was just a localized muscle strain? No, it can't be that serious, right? Besides, the People's Hospital should be quite reputable; there's no need to go to a clinic.

It was clear that Mu Zhi was in so much pain that her forehead was covered in cold sweat, but she insisted on going, so we had to help her to a nearby clinic.

The clinic is privately owned.

Mu Zhi was helped inside by Xu Min, and half an hour later, she came out with her right foot in a cast and on crutches.

Xu Min watched the entire process of Mu Zhi having her cast put on by the doctor, so there was nothing she didn't understand.

Mu Zhi deliberately made her foot injury look more serious. To be honest, with the cast on and crutches, it really looked like a broken bone.

After getting into the car, Mu Zhi also laid her cards on the table with Xu Min: "There's a lot of discussion online about whether I'll make it into the group, and the final night is just a week away. Although my foot isn't broken, I haven't been able to dance or stand for long these past few days, so I've decided to withdraw from the competition."

"My foot injury forced me to withdraw from the competition, which conveniently put an end to this controversy."

For both the production team and for her, it was a happy ending.

Xu Min was surprised that Mu Zhi was willing to talk about these things with one of her staff members. As a gossip enthusiast, she naturally paid attention to the news on the forum.

I also know that Mu Zhi is indeed facing this situation.

Before bringing Mu Zhi to the hospital, she overheard Sister Mei talking to the director, discussing how to handle Mu Zhi's situation.

When the production team learned that Mu Zhi had sprained her ankle, they only sent her alone, without even arranging for a cameraman to come along.

Xu Min felt sorry for Mu Zhi. A newcomer who didn't even debut was just a casualty of the power struggle between the company and the platform! She was so beautiful and talented; she clearly had the chance to debut as the center, but now...

Mu Zhi exaggerated her foot injury to withdraw from the competition, without trying to extort money from the production team.

Xu Min thought to herself: Then I'll just turn a blind eye and help if I can.

Back in the "castle," in the conference room.

Mu Zhi, the general director Xu Ping, Sister Mei, and several other staff members who looked familiar to Mu Zhi but whose names she couldn't recall were all present.

Mei glanced at Mu Zhi's right foot, which was in a thick cast. "Is your foot injury that serious? I heard from Xiao Min that the doctor advised that you can't exercise for the next week. You'll need to rest for a while and take good care of yourself."

Mu Zhi knew that Xinghe Culture's shady actions had completely offended the platform, and even she, a small fish, had suffered as a result. The fact that the program staff could speak to her calmly was already a testament to their good manners.

Following Sister Mei's suggestion, Mu Zhi proposed withdrawing from the competition.

Before coming to see Mu Zhi, the director and Sister Mei had already been notified that regardless of the nature of Mu Zhi's foot injury, she needed to "rest" and should not continue to participate in the competition.

They were somewhat taken aback that Mu Zhi had brought it up so readily and decisively.

The director didn't try to persuade him to stay, saying, "It's fine, recovering from your injury is the priority. Withdraw from the competition and focus on your recovery."

After Mu Zhi went along with the "performance" and said a few polite words of thanks to the production team, it was both a way of compensating the production team and a way of dispelling the "rumors" circulating online.

She proactively offered: "If the production team needs me to attend the finale of 'Chasing the Light Girls,' I am willing to do so and will definitely be there."

On the night of the finale, all the previously eliminated trainees will return to the stage to witness the debut of the final 5-member group.

The gathering of 101 trainees on stage is also a major topic of discussion.

The chief director, Xu Ping, had actually been considering this matter. No matter how strained things were between Muzhi Company and the platform, Muzhi's presence would undoubtedly be a good thing for the program.

This young girl should have debuted; it's a pity.

I also admire Mu Zhi's magnanimous approach; I have a feeling that this young girl is extraordinary.

However, no reply was given at the moment. Mu Zhi was told to rest well first and that they would contact her later.

He planned to have a serious talk with President Qiu and not hold a grudge against a young girl for what happened online.

I went back to the dorm to pack my luggage.

Mu Zhi retrieved her phone and contacted her agent, asking him to come and pick her up.

After confirming that Mu Zhi had withdrawn from the competition due to a foot injury, the production team of "Chasing the Light Girl" began a series of public relations actions online:

1. In response to angry feedback from Mu Zhi's fans regarding the significant cuts to Mu Zhi's scenes in the ninth episode, the Owl platform announced a VIP-only extended version, adding 30 minutes to the 2-hour runtime. Three of the nine animated GIFs in the announcement's Weibo post feature newly added scenes of Mu Zhi.

This suggests that Mu Zhi will have a lot of screen time in the VIP extended version, thus calming Mu Zhi's fans' anger towards the production team.

2. The official Weibo account of "Chasing the Light Girl" issued a statement in response to discussions on the forum, stating that the contract content circulating online is fake, and refuted the rumor that "you cannot debut without signing a contract with the Owl platform" as false. The statement demanded that those spreading the false information immediately delete the relevant false statements, otherwise legal action would be taken.

We also communicated with Mu Zhi and confirmed the matter of officially announcing the withdrawal from the competition online...

Before his agent, Shang Jian, came to pick him up.

Mu Zhi edited the content herself and posted a statement on Weibo announcing her withdrawal from the competition.

She explained that she had accidentally fallen and injured her foot. After visiting the hospital, the doctor advised her to avoid exercise and rest properly. Therefore, after careful consideration, she regretfully made the decision to withdraw from the competition. She thanked the production team, the "Chasing the Light" stage, and the four mentors, saying she was happy to have met a group of very lovely and hardworking girls pursuing their dreams.

At the end, he sincerely apologized to the national producers who supported him, blaming himself for not being able to make it to the end on this stage and for letting them down...

Mu Zhi's fans were initially shocked by the news of her withdrawal from the competition. After the initial shock, they were concerned about her foot injury. They were relieved to learn that Mu Zhi's injury was not serious.

It's a pity that our idol was absent from the debut night, and some fans know that the story behind it is not so simple.

But since Mu Zhi has made her decision, all they can do is respect and support it.

"Good luck, Michie! We support your decision!"

"Your health is the most important thing. Take good care of yourself and recover from your injury!"

"Don't blame yourself, you've already done a great job!"

"No matter what happens, we're always here for you! [heart emoji]"

......

One minute later, the official Weibo account of "Chasing the Light Girl" reposted Mu Zhi's Weibo post and sent her care and blessings, wishing Mu Zhi a good recovery.

The news of #MuzhiWithdrawsFromCompetition# immediately became a trending topic.

Netizens who were initially following the #MuzhiDebut# story have come to the fore and questioned Muzhi's withdrawal from the competition, suggesting it was a case of trying too hard to hide something, further confirming that she had no debut spots and therefore simply withdrew.

When Mu Zhi saw the doubts online, she realized that she had forgotten to attach a picture when she posted the Weibo post.

I hesitated whether to take a picture of my leg in a cast to prove that I was indeed injured.

But her foot wasn't that badly injured. She put on a cast to facilitate her withdrawal from "Chasing the Light Girl" and to appease her agent, Shang Jian, and the company, but she couldn't lie to netizens.

Let's forget about it.

In just 10 minutes, the hashtag #MuZhiWithdrawsFromCompetition# quickly topped the trending search list.

Netizens ignored the posts from Mu Zhi and the program team, and didn't care about the truth. They insisted that Mu Zhi had lost her debut spot, so she withdrew from the competition. Some netizens even questioned whether Mu Zhi's foot injury was fake.

Fortunately, Mu Zhi went to the hospital to see a doctor about her foot injury and was spotted by a passerby.

After seeing the trending topic, a passerby recognized the beautiful-legged girl he had encountered as Mu Zhi and posted a video he had taken at the hospital.

Peace and safety are a blessing: I went to the hospital for a check-up today and saw a young lady who looked exactly like Mu Zhi. She had long, slender, and fair legs, so I couldn't resist taking a picture. I just checked the trending topics and realized that the person I met was actually Mu Zhi!

I posted a 2-minute video.

In the video, Mu Zhi is wearing a pink face mask and a pink bun hairstyle. She is wearing an avocado green T-shirt and denim shorts. Her left leg is long and straight, and she is wearing a white flat shoe. Her right leg is bare and bent into a hook shape, dangling in the air. Her two long legs are so white that they are very eye-catching.

Mu Zhi hopped on one foot to get the CT scan.

Perhaps she jumped too hard, because her loose bun came undone. Her long, seaweed-like hair spread out, covering her face and becoming frizzy. Even through her mask, you could feel Mu Zhi's bewildered and helpless expression. After standing on one leg for a while, she looked around and found that her hair tie had fallen into the corner of the wall.

He hopped over with a huff, bent over and picked it up while holding onto the wall with one hand.

The end of the video.

A person who appeared to be a member of the production crew rushed over to Mu Zhi, helped her up, and then looked at the camera.

The video abruptly ended.

After watching the video, some netizens focused on the following:

"Wow, those are really great legs! Hiss! Hiss!"

"Muzhi's hopping on one leg and her messy hair are so cute~ What a contrast to the goddess on stage!"

The focus of Mu Zhi's fans and most netizens is:

"When a trainee injured her foot and came to the hospital, the production team only sent one staff member to accompany her? Isn't it too much to make the trainee hop on one leg all by herself?"

"There wasn't even a cameraman next to her. This treatment indirectly confirms that Mu Zhi's negotiations with the Owl platform fell through, and she lost her debut spot. Her injured foot just happened to be the perfect excuse for being kicked out of the show. Poor pretty girl!"

Then, a paparazzi marketing account couldn't stand it anymore and posted a picture of Mu Zhi getting out of the car at the "castle" with her right foot in a cast, and it looked like the injury was quite serious.

This made netizens feel even more that the production team was indifferent and showed no concern for the trainees' injuries.

The hashtag #MuZhiWithdrawsFromCompetition# has gone viral.

The platform crashed for several minutes before returning to normal.

Mu Zhi herself: "......" I never expected netizens to be so interested in this gossip.

I was hoping to quell this, but I never expected the situation to escalate so much.

I can't help but worry: Will I be banned from the Owl platform?