That widely circulated five-minute video was reposted on Xie Xi's studio's Weibo account. This time, however, it contained some slight alterations. The so-called disdainful glances and body language towards Lu Mingzhe in the original video were actually an illusion created by someone intentionally slowing down the footage several times over.
[Our studio has discovered that this video contains distortions, exaggerations, and false rumors, which have severely impacted Mr. Xie Xi. We will pursue legal action and will not tolerate such behavior.]
Within just half an hour, Xie Xi's team not only identified all the problematic parts in the video but also systematically debunked every point netizens had used to attack Xie Xi.
The alleged suppression of Lu Mingzhe was, in fact, just Xie Xi being serious and responsible.
Wei Qi had someone release the fan-recorded footage from when Xie Xi angrily left the competition venue after a dispute with the director. She had obtained this video long ago but kept it under wraps—first, to avoid offending the production team initially, and second, as a precaution for a situation like today.
Before posting this video, Wei Qi specifically contacted the production team, hoping they would help clarify matters. However, the production team, clearly eager for higher ratings, merely gave a difficult excuse, saying there was nothing they could do.
At that point, Wei Qi had no more reservations.
The fan's on-site recording was obviously not as high-definition as the professionally edited five-minute video, but everything that needed to be seen was visible, and Wei Qi had someone amplify the audio.
In the video, three judges were sitting together, preparing to vote for a contestant. Xie Xi, in the middle, suddenly turned to look off-stage, took off his earphone, and asked, "Am I the judge, or are you? You've been telling me to vote for Lu Mingzhe since the last round, and you're doing it again now?"
The voice was very clear. The recorder immediately zoomed in the lens, focusing on the director off-stage. In the video, the director's embarrassment was obvious to anyone—his face flushed red, clearly not expecting Xie Xi to call it out directly.
The director hurried onto the stage and said something to Xie Xi, even trying to cover the microphone. In response, Xie Xi simply shrugged him off and left the venue alone, so quickly that even his assistant didn't have time to react.
The person recording happened to be near the exit. Xie Xi walked closer and closer to the camera, his face cold and stern, clearly extremely displeased.
[Holy crap, what is this? I always said Lu Mingzhe's underdog champion win seemed too easy. So there really was a script?]
[Inside job? Is the production team that shameless?]
[So Lu Mingzhe's smooth journey and praise from other judges were because he has connections?]
[Lu Mingzhe signed with New... not important a long time ago.]
[Not Important doesn't mean he doesn't want it. I'm suddenly starting to suspect who released that maliciously edited video today.]
Someone must be behind this, pushing a narrative and systematically smearing Xie Xi.
To overturn public opinion, you need to create news even more explosive than before. Now, all fingers were pointing at the production team's behind-the-scenes manipulation, and people had started questioning the authenticity of Lu Mingzhe's championship.
Xie Xi was cleanly extracted from the controversy, becoming the victim instead.
Ye Qiusuo was scrolling through Weibo when she came across this video. Watching Xie Xi in it, she found him somewhat unfamiliar—completely different from the person she usually saw. In the video he appeared as a handsome, mature man, upholding the core principles of his field.
"How did a video like this get leaked?" Half an hour earlier, Lu Mingzhe had been happily scrolling through various updates, watching the buzz around his discussion skyrocket, only for things to suddenly take a sharp turn for the worse. "Weren't the audience's phones collected when they entered?"
"Can't rule out someone bringing two phones," Jiang Jingyuan said, as if he had anticipated this. "With Wei Qi there, you shouldn't have dragged Xie Xi into this."
From the start, Jiang Jingyuan had advised that for tonight's Championship Night they should focus solely on the champion. Yet Lu Mingzhe thought he could bring Xie Xi down.
"Are you my agent (manager) or not?" A trace of impatience flashed in Lu Mingzhe's eyes. "We're both agents. Are you inferior to Wei Qi?"
Jiang Jingyuan, however, nodded in acknowledgment. "I really am not as good as her. I still have more to learn."
Lu Mingzhe stared at him for a long moment, then suddenly laughed. "Brother Jiang, do you have a problem with me? You always oppose me, praising Xie Xi's side. People who don't know might think you're their agent."
"I'm just making judgments based on facts." Jiang Jingyuan considered himself a good agent, capable and shrewd. But compared to Wei Qi, that seasoned veteran—an old fox who had been in the industry for years—he still fell somewhat short.
"Brother Jiang, go back and rest for now. Let others handle suppressing this matter." Lu Mingzhe stood up and left without giving Jiang Jingyuan another glance.
The door opened and closed, finally falling silent. After a long while, Jiang Jingyuan sighed.
The next day, the tide of public opinion shifted slightly again, suggesting that someone behind the scenes was targeting both Xie Xi and Lu Mingzhe, making them both innocent victims.
Simultaneously, Jiang Jingyuan was no longer assigned to Lu Mingzhe. The company stripped him of all the artists under his management.
Jiang Jingyuan simply submitted his resignation. The company approved it extremely quickly, as if they had been waiting for it.
It was unclear who the company had brought in internally; they were completely indifferent to his departure.
At noon, Jiang Jingyuan finished packing his things, walked out of the company, took one last look at the building's signboard, and finally left carrying his belongings. His face showed no trace of despondency, as if he had seen it coming all along.
...
"Professor Ye, those students of yours are quite something." In the office corridor, Professor Li and Ye Qiusuo stepped out for some fresh air. Standing together, they looked down at the green belt below.
"Students?"
"Yesterday the Dean happened to pass by and casually asked them how they were doing at school and whether they had any questions he could answer," Professor Li smiled. "You know, the Dean actually came up through our department. Your students started firing off a bunch of subject-related questions, leaving the Dean stunned right there on the spot."
The Dean had been in administration for many years and hadn't taught in a long time, so his knowledge was basically rusty.
That day, the Dean maintained his composure on the surface, but everyone around him was extremely embarrassed. Department Head Ye Qiusu looked at the students and told them they needed to learn more about renqing shigu (the ways of the world/social graces), and not be like clueless idiots who bring up awkward topics.
The Dean stopped the Department Head, telling her not to say more. It was due to his own rustiness in his field, and he continued conversing with the students.
Ordinary students would have either stammered or fallen silent at that point. But these students immediately picked up the topic of conversation, steering it in other directions—talking about campus life and future plans. This was something the Dean knew all too well and could talk about at length.
"Those students are all quite good. Sun Jiajia and Lin Lu, right?"
"Mm." Ye Qiusuo responded, her gaze falling on a certain tree. There was a furtive shadow there. Looking more closely, the person had long limbs and looked very familiar.
After a moment.
Ye Qiusuo spoke up: "Professor Li, I'm going to buy something."
Go ahead. I just happen to need to finish writing my paper anyway.
After Professor Li went inside, Ye Qiusuo went downstairs and walked over to the tree. "Xie Xi."
The furtive figure emerged from behind the tree trunk, bundled up tightly with only his eyes showing. He pulled out a stack of documents. "Our contract."
Ye Qiusuo looked at Xie Xi, who was already starting to attract the attention of passersby. "Let's go upstairs first."
Xie Xi followed her into the office before finally taking off his mask and glasses, revealing a handsome face.
Ye Qiusuo glanced at him, finding no difference from usual. It seemed the public opinion incident from the other day hadn't affected him much.
As long as Wei Qi was around, she could shield Xie Xi from the majority of malicious attacks and slander.
"The contract."
Xie Xi handed the contract in his hand to Ye Qiusuo: "Sister Wei has already looked it over. She said it's fine like this."
The dense text was enough to give anyone a headache, let alone Xie Xi. He had barely read it; Wei Qi had handled all the vetting.
"Mhm." Ye Qiusuo took it and read quickly. Flipping through at that speed, an ordinary person would only get the gist, but she managed to read every single clause.
After reviewing all the terms, Ye Qiusuo signed her name on the contract. Xie Xi's signature and personal seal were already on the other side.
"Are we partners now?" he asked seriously after she finished signing.
"Yes." Ye Qiusuo kept one copy for herself and handed the others back to Xie Xi. "You are one of my partners."
One of?
Xie Xi felt a subtle sense of being one among many.
He was just a small wave in the ocean.
"Professor..." Xie Xi cleared his throat, "Actually, I have quite a bit of money."
Ye Qiusuo looked up at him, not understanding what he meant.
"If there are more projects in the future, I can continue to invest."
"We'll talk about future matters in the future." Ye Qiusuo didn't have many thoughts on the subject.
"Oh." Xie Xi felt dejected.
He stood by the office desk, looking at the small potted cactus. Unable to resist, he picked up the small watering can beside it, intending to water it.
Ye Qiusuo reached out and grasped his wrist. The warm touch made both of them pause for a moment.
She quickly withdrew her hand: "I already watered it today. Watering it again will cause the roots to rot easily."
The big star Xie felt awkward, so he firmly refused to admit he had wanted to water it: "I just wanted to look at the watering can."
They stood facing each other in silence for a while before Professor Ye spoke first: "Do you have anything else?"
Xie Xi: "..."
"Go back early. Don't wander around outside. Things like contracts can be delivered by your assistant in the future." Professor Ye, thinking about how Xie Xi might fall into an abyss like in the book, always felt she should pull him back if she could. Her tone carried a hint of lecturing.
Fortunately, Xie Xi wasn't annoyed by her lecturing.
His attention was caught by the 'in the future' in Ye Qiusuo's words.
Did that mean they would have opportunities to cooperate again?
Xie Xi was pleased.
"I'll leave first."
"Mhm."
Ye Qiusuo followed him out, standing by the corridor railing and looking down below until Xie Xi appeared downstairs and slowly walked away.
It was strange.
In the original book, the two of them had no intersection at all; now, however, they had become acquainted and were even collaborating on a project.
This meant the plot of the original book had deviated significantly.
It was just unclear how things were progressing with the male and female leads.
...
The original novel's plot had indeed changed considerably because of Ye Qiusuo's intervention, especially where Wan Yurou was concerned. In the book, she had skyrocketed to fame by leveraging the "Knowledge Q&A" feature, but now it was Ye Qiusuo who became famous while she was forced into the background. Even the endorsement deal with Likou that she had worked so hard to secure only ended up drawing netizens' attention to Ye Qiusuo.
To this day, Wan Yurou was still lingering around the second- or third-tier level, with no standout works to her name.
"What are you doing?" Mo Hong came over with a new role and found Wan Yurou dressing up, preparing to go out in full attire.
"I have a dinner appointment with Mingzhe." Wan Yurou smiled lightly at her reflection in the mirror. "I might be back late, or perhaps not at all."
Mo Hong placed the role script on Wan Yurou's dressing table: "The second young master of the Lu family? It's good you know him. That last banquet wasn't for nothing."
Why bring up that banquet of all things?
Wan Yurou thought of Xie Xi's devilishly handsome face. Her hand paused, and she almost cursed.
