Quentin sat leaning against the middle of the bed and turned his head to see the young man sitting at the end of the bed with a worried, unhappy expression.
His bed was very close to the window, and a beam of light from outside happened to pierce through, landing right between him and Xue Mingzhu.
With the help of this beam of light, Quentin could clearly see Xue Mingzhu’s expression. It wasn’t as irritable as his tone of voice suggested, but rather a bit depressed.
It seemed that Xue Mingzhu was not as dissatisfied with Qi Yang’s “truthful words” as he appeared to be.
You have to understand that when he first started guessing the reasons others joined the show, he would subconsciously skip over himself, yet now he suddenly and proactively brought the topic onto himself. He was probably stimulated by Qi Yang’s words.
Xue Mingzhu noticed everyone’s gazes, crossed his arms, and snorted irritably: “If I could be as indifferent as you, that would be great. It took me over two years to barely accept things. Guess why I came to our show? I’m here for revenge!”
“……Ahem, ahem!”
Wen Xinyi was startled into coughing twice. Seeing the attention drawn his way, he quickly waved his hand: “I’m fine. You continue.”
Xue Mingzhu withdrew his gaze suspiciously and emphasized, “Let me make one thing clear first: I have a clear conscience and am not afraid of shadows. All those rumors online are fake! I’ve never been in a relationship, and there’s even less chance I dated a fan!”
After saying this, he deliberately stopped, as if leaving time for the others to react. But instead of any probing or questioning, it was Qi Yang, who had already said a lot earlier, who asked…
“What rumors?”
Xue Mingzhu was startled, the emotions he had been building up inside nearly interrupted. But he didn’t want to recount the unpleasantness from two years ago himself.
Besides, if he told it, his account would inevitably carry a strong subjective bias… Well, he would most likely end up cursing everyone involved in the rumors from beginning to end.
So he curled his lip: “I won’t tell it well. Hey, Wen Xinyi, you should know about it, right? You tell it for me.”
“Me tell it?” Wen Xinyi glanced across and considered his words. “I only know the general gist of what happened. I never followed the specifics. From what I heard, it started with a photo posted by a random netizen.”
Just as he was thinking about how to explain things clearly, someone else across from him picked up the thread.
“Two years ago, ‘Z Century Rap Party’ was airing to high ratings, riding on the popularity of the national rap competition from the previous year. That show invited many winners from the previous competition, and those people were very popular at the time.”
“I remember it was during the recording of the last elimination round before the finals. Someone took a photo downstairs of the hotel where the show’s guests were staying, showing a man and a woman entering the hotel in an intimate manner. The tipster claimed the boy was one of the hot contenders for the championship of ‘Z Century rap Party’.”
The person who picked up was Yan Qiao. Unexpectedly, he seemed quite familiar with the matter, speaking at a measured, unhurried pace.
“At first, this photo only caused a small-scale controversy on forums. Most netizens were just analyzing who the boy was. Honestly, even if they found out a contestant was dating, it wouldn’t be a big deal.”
Yan Qiao leaned sideways against the headboard and shrugged: “It’s normal for rappers to date. But nearly half of the eight people who made it to that elimination round had girlfriends, and the girl in the photo didn’t seem to match any of their girlfriends.”
Cui Yan sounded shocked: “So it was someone cheating? Wait, Xiao Xue, you…”
“Get lost,” Xue Mingzhu made a face like he had a toothache. “I told you, I’ve never been in a relationship!”
As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily drifted towards the other side of the bed.
Yan Qiao actually knew about this crappy thing… And not only knew about it, but knew it in such detail.
Although ‘Z Century Rap Party’ was quite popular back then, it was only popular within the circle. The popularity of rappers hadn’t reached the level of permanently staying on the trending searches.
Precisely because Xue Mingzhu was sure he wasn’t that famous, when his ‘relationship drama’ suddenly appeared at the top of the trending searches, and the discussion volume kept climbing under the manipulation of many trolls, finally being hung at the number one spot for public display, he immediately realized someone was definitely targeting him.
And the person who would inexplicably harm him at that critical moment most likely came from among the other seven competitors.
But even though that was his guess, Xue Mingzhu felt it was very strange.
Was the spot in the finals of a rap show really that important? Even if it provided some boost to their careers as rookie rappers, it wasn’t important enough to resort to framing others, right?
Besides, a ‘relationship scandal’ meant nothing to him. At that time, the number of fans focused on his career and ‘mom fans’ far exceeded his ‘girlfriend fans’. Even if he were actually dating, at most people would call it a teenage romance, far from the point of losing followers.
At the time, the 16-year-old Xue Mingzhu wasn’t signed to any company, didn’t have a proper manager with him, let alone a professional PR team.
He wasn’t one to swallow his pride. His first reaction to being framed was to fight back.
So the night the negative trending search rose to number one, Xue Mingzhu posted with the hashtag #Z Century Rap#, “It’s not me, don’t guess wildly.”
If things had stopped here, everything would have been fine. The fans would definitely believe Xue Mingzhu, and the netizens would just be watching for fun.
But the bad part was that someone dug up the forum account of the girl in the photo and discovered that she was actually a fan of Xue Mingzhu! And she had even posted a photo of herself standing outside the dormitory of a show guest!
Yes, that’s right, it was the room Xue Mingzhu stayed in, and the photo showed her standing at the door.
Now it wasn’t just a question of dating anymore, but a case of a celebrity getting together with a fan!
Of course, even at this point, it still wasn’t a solid conclusion. Xue Mingzhu’s fans still believed it was all just a coincidence.
The fans’ trust was precious to Xue Mingzhu, but it was cheap to the netizens following the matter.
By this stage of development, the forums were already filled with specious arguments and statements.
Some netizens of unknown identity used “Student X” to refer to Xue Mingzhu, then unscrupulously described “Student X’s” ‘romantic experience’ with his fan in posts. What’s more, some even claimed to be ‘Xue Mingzhu’s old classmate’ or ‘the girl’s good friend’, posting chat log screenshots and blurry photos.
Anyone with common sense knows that chat logs are very easy to fabricate, but it’s precisely this kind of explosive material that easily triggers public discussion.
Ironically, the blurry photos were soon proven to be AI-generated, but by then it was already too late.
While all this messy stuff was happening, Xue Mingzhu was at the ‘Z Century Rap Party’ top four competition site. It was only after he secured his spot in the top four and walked off the stage that he learned from the production team about the online public opinion.
Would a 16-year-old rapper swallow such a thing? He immediately took out his phone and furiously typed out a few hundred words, a short essay, rudely condemning the rumor-mongers for making dirty money and accusing the netizens of being biased and gullible. His attitude was very aggressive.
Although he didn’t use any swear words, the post was so aggressive that it was reported and taken down within less than an hour. You can imagine, this kid had completely offended the netizens following the drama.
But even so, things hadn’t reached the point of forcing him to quit the entertainment circle.
The last straw that broke the camel’s back came from the director who privately advised Xue Mingzhu to withdraw from the competition.
When the incident occurred, this rap show had only broadcast up to the top sixteen. After the director forcibly advised Xue Mingzhu to withdraw, he quietly deleted and altered the subsequent footage related to Xue Mingzhu in the official episodes until it was fragmented.
Solo stages were cut out entirely, collaborative stages almost only kept the teammates’ shots. This kind of shady operation seemed more like solid evidence than the rumors online.
In the netizens’ view, people inside the industry definitely knew more than them outsiders.
The production team wouldn’t inexplicably advise a contestant to withdraw, nor would they delete someone’s footage for no reason. They must have found Xue Mingzhu’s ‘dirt’, and worried the show would be affected by this person, so they took precautions in advance just in case.
Especially since this kind of footage-cutting operation wasn’t unique; it specifically targets guests with sudden scandals. At this point, he really couldn’t explain himself even with a mouth.
Even now, Xue Mingzhu’s teeth itch with hatred when he mentions this. After hearing him finish, the others deeply felt wronged on his behalf.
Wen Xinyi asked: “So do you know now who was harming you?”
“I can pretty much guess,” Xue Mingzhu rubbed his face listlessly. “But guessing is useless. I have no evidence. I found out too late. Even if I went online to talk about it now, not many people would believe me.”
Yan Qiao narrowed his eyes and uttered a name: “Kevin?”
Xue Mingzhu was startled, whipping his head around to look at him: “How do you know?!”
He never expected to hear that name here – Kevin, once his most trusted friend in the rap circle, who had silently stabbed him viciously in the back.
The expression on Xue Mingzhu’s face gradually turned strange: “You seem to know a lot about this matter… Did you watch this show before?”
“Never watched it. What’s with that look…”
Yan Qiao paused and said speechlessly: “Don’t tell me you think I used to be your fan. Don’t be so narcissistic, okay. You just don’t remember. Wei Bowen participated in your rap show before. He mentioned this to me.”
“That Kevin, wasn’t he your roommate? I just guessed randomly. So it really was him?”
Xue Mingzhu snorted: “One hundred percent him. I didn’t realize it at the time. Later, that idiot pretty much ignored me and wouldn’t reply to my messages. So I knew he must be feeling guilty!”
Yan Qiao: “…That’s it?”
Xue Mingzhu: “Yeah.”
Wen Xin: “Ahem, isn’t that a bit rash… And what does this have to do with you joining our show? Didn’t you say you came for revenge?”
“Because I heard from a friend that that stupid guy named K was also going to come to ‘Next Stage’. And I had just finished my college entrance exams. So of course I have to openly and honourably beat him in this show!”
Xue Mingzhu raised his chin: “I’m different from that idiot. I would never stoop to those dirty, lowlife methods just to win.”
As he spoke, the corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk and he let out a mocking laugh: “Who knew he couldn’t even pass the interview? He was eliminated by the production team before I could even make a move. Heh.”
“But, even if he weren’t participating in our show, I’d most likely still sign up.” Xue Mingzhu’s tone became much more serious. “I originally planned to retrace my previous path after graduating high school.”
“I did want to participate in rapping competitions, but times have changed. Rapping variety shows have been overdone. There’s no way I could get a pure rapping competition. When I weighed my options, being the rap role in a boy group suited me best.”
After listening, Wen Xinyi sighed with emotion: “So that’s how it is. But that means you weren’t exactly ‘forced’…”
Xue Mingzhu muttered: “I agonized over it for over a week, and discussed it with my family several times. Although it was my decision, initially I really hadn’t fully made up my mind. I guess you could call it half ‘forced by circumstances’.”
Cui Yan suddenly asked: “Hey, Xiao Xue, after that incident, did that girl you were rumoured to be with have any reaction? Didn’t she respond on the forums?”
“You’re still thinking about that? Your reaction time is really slow…” Xue Mingzhu scratched his hair. “She deactivated her forum account. She didn’t say anything from beginning to end.”
Fang Xu frowned: “Didn’t you try to contact her, to get her to help clarify things for you?”
Xue Mingzhu: “I was still preparing for the top four competition then. I didn’t have that much time. Besides, she was quite pitiful too, dragged into this because of a random photo. And she was my fan. How could I have the heart to bother her?”
“…” Fang Xu was choked speechless. He raised a hand to his forehead and said incredulously: “So you think that back view photo had nothing to do with your show, and that this Kevin guy only harmed you because he wanted to push you out of the top four?”
Xue Mingzhu asked in confusion: “Otherwise?”
“You’re an idiot! Look at the result. Did this affect the top four competition? No, it didn’t. Your withdrawal happened after you entered the top four. So his framing you definitely wasn’t for a top four spot. Otherwise, not only would the timing be off, but it was easy for something to go wrong in those winding, complicated manipulations.”
Fang Xu was truly exasperated by the stupidity. He rarely spoke this fast, delivering such a long passage.
He countered: “Is it possible he framed you because he was the real person involved?”
But Xue Mingzhu didn’t really agree: “You mean the guy in the photo was him? But Kevin had a girlfriend at the time. She even came to our dorm. I saw her. She was half a head taller than the girl in the photo, and her hair color was different.”
Fang Xu didn’t speak, probably rendered speechless.
Quentin then chimed in: “Maybe he had two girlfriends?”
Yan Qiao couldn’t help it: “…Pfft.”
“Two girlfriends… That’s a rather tactful way of putting it.” Wen Xinyi laughed and said with exasperation, “So, when all is said and done, he was afraid his own cheating would be exposed, so he preemptively pinned the photo incident on you, Mingzhu.”
Xue Mingzhu said gloomily: “But why me?”
“Maybe because you two shared a dorm. Maybe because your body types are similar, you look almost the same from the back. Or even possible because you two were close, and he knew you better.”
Fang Xu paused, then said bluntly: “However, the most direct reason should be that you’re gullible.”
Xue Mingzhu was silent for a long while, not saying a word.
Everyone knew he was questioning his life choices. Although they all inwardly thought this guy was a bit simple, they still considerately left him time to think.
“It’s a pity we know too late now. Over two years have passed. I don’t know if evidence can still be found.”
“Didn’t Xiao Xue say that girl’s account was deactivated? So you can’t even contact her. Unless we trick Kevin into talking.”
“Let’s see after the finals. There’s always a solution. Besides, after two years, not many people remember this, right?”
Quentin remembered that the system had mentioned this to him, and also knew that fans online had even argued over this.
He had the system help mediate at the time. Later, the system investigated deeply and actually dug up some things.
Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t right. Even with evidence, they had to wait for a suitable opportunity to release it, so it would attract netizens’ attention, let the popularity ferment, and thus avenge the past wrong.
Of course, the main reason Quentin didn’t have the system release the evidence was that Xue Mingzhu’s bad ending might be related to this matter.
And regardless of whether it was related, having something in hand always gave a bit more room to maneuver later if something came up.
If Qi Yang’s confession had created an atmosphere like a late-night heart-to-heart, then Xue Mingzhu’s story thoroughly ignited everyone’s desire to discuss.
Originally Fang Xu was feeling sleepy, but now, as they talked, he became completely energized!
Wen Xinyi hadn’t expected the atmosphere during the talk to be this good. He thought to himself, ‘Qi Yang and Xue Mingzhu each told a ‘secret’, so I should follow suit.’
But before he could figure out how to start, he saw Yan Qiao, who was sitting on the opposite bed, straighten up, stretch his arms, and yawn.
Yan Qiao leaned forward, interlacing his fingers to support his chin, looking very mysterious as he said in a low voice: “Since we’ve reached this point, let me talk about myself too.”
