Chapter 97.1

Yun Xiaoxu rushed out of the practice room, not even having time to wipe his face, a thin sheen of sweat clinging to his forehead.

His agent was waiting outside.

During the show’s recording period, contestants are generally not allowed to meet their agents in person unless there is a special situation.

The moment he saw Yun Xiaoxu, the agent shoved his phone in front of him and demanded sharply, “What’s going on?”

“Huh?” Yun Xiaoxu had no idea what had happened. He had been called out in such a hurry that he did not even have time to ask the staff. He opened Weibo in a daze, and his face went deathly pale when he saw the content clearly.

The revelation was posted by a top, highly influential entertainment industry account.

FrontlineGossipV: Dropping some hot gossip. Help yourselves, I’m digging in first.

The blogger posted a total of nine long screenshots. The first three were chat logs with the anonymous sender, with profile photos and personal details completely covered—

I’m here to drop some gossip. Hope you can keep me anonymous—

Lately, I got a sudden urge to follow talent shows, and I noticed this one guy who looked really familiar and kept getting a lot of screen time. Take a closer look, isn’t that Yun Xiaoxu?—

How did someone like him even end up on a talent show?—

I looked again. Netizens already dug through all his social media accounts, but nothing shady turned up, so I’ll drop some gossip for everyone—

Back when Yun Xiaoxu was at our school, his grades were awful, and he was always hanging out with troublemakers. Of course, there’s no proof for this, I’m just saying it casually, you can take it however you want—

Now let me share something that actually has evidence—

Yun Xiaoxu was once caught stealing.

FrontlineGossipV: Is this legit?—

Of course it’s legit. Give me a moment, I’ll sort out the evidence and send it.

The last six photos were evidence sent in by the anonymous sender.

Three of them were blurry photos, vaguely showing a couple and a young boy.

The boy’s face was fairly clear; he looked extremely similar to Yun Xiaoxu now, an eighty percent match, just with younger, softer features—

This one shows Yun Xiaoxu with his parents in an office. His parents wanted to settle things privately, but the other side refused. I think they even got into an argument. I don’t remember all the details clearly, but that’s basically what’s going on in the photo.

The other two photos were taken at a police station and in a classroom. They were blurry, and someone had clumsily circled Yun Xiaoxu with a crude red marker—

These were dug out of a cloud drive. I thought they were gone for good, didn’t expect there to be an automatic backup—

I know stuff from before someone becomes famous usually doesn’t count as dirt, but stealing isn’t something you can simply brush off as a minor past issue, right?

The final three photos were chat logs between the anonymous sender and other people.

[Do you still remember Yun Xiaoxu stealing back then?]

[Yeah, I remember. Didn’t he go on a talent show?]

[Then, do you remember the stealing incident from back then?]

[The one from Class 3 who brought a wallet, right? I think it was money for his older brother’s medical treatment, which was borrowed from relatives, brought to school so he could take it home, and then it got stolen? Yeah, I remember. I even found it strange that no one ever talked about it. It was really well covered up.]—

That’s basically the situation. It’s up to the blogger whether to post it or not—

I don’t mean anything by this. I just want the girls who stay up all night voting and mass-voting to wake up. The idol you pour your time and energy into is a thief. No matter how good he is at singing or dancing, this kind of past shouldn’t be brushed under the rug.

The blogger kept stressing they were only here for the gossip and covered up ‘Yun Xiaoxu’s’ name, using ‘yxx’ instead.

On the surface, no one was named outright, but the content clearly pointed straight at Yun Xiaoxu.

“No, I didn’t.” Yun Xiaoxu’s lips trembled as he tried to explain. “I’ve never stolen anything.”

The agent shook his head, unable to hide the irritation on his face.

He came over just to confirm this issue. Yun Xiaoxu was signed under him, and the company was putting as much pressure on him, too.

Screen time in talent shows depends on how much money an entertainment company puts in.

The company Yun Xiaoxu signed with was fairly reliable. Inside the company, competition was based on ability, not background, and everyone started on equal footing. Yun Xiaoxu had a good public image, was good on variety shows, and trained hard. The company paid for the same amount of screen time for all their contestants, but he was the only one who truly stood out.

When he signed the contract, the company checked Yun Xiaoxu’s personal information and confirmed he had no criminal record. But the background check could not have gone that deep. There was no way they would uncover something like being caught stealing as a child.

It was not that the company could not step in to handle public relations. After all, their reputation was at stake. However, if they ended up pushing an artist with a serious stain on his record, it would be extremely bad for the company’s future.

“I really didn’t!” Yun Xiaoxu scratched his head in frustration. “This was already cleared up back then! And now it’s being dug up again! It wasn’t stealing! He’s smearing me!”

The agent frowned. “I know. Don’t panic yet.”

After working with Yun Xiaoxu for so long, he knew the kid was pretty genuine. There was a strong chance this was an attack aimed at taking him down.

Recently, Yun Xiaoxu’s ranking had climbed too fast. He started in the middle-to-lower ranks, then jumped straight into the debut spots after two public performances. That clearly put him in conflict with a few contestants favored and backed by the show.

The agent sighed and was about to speak when his phone rang. He told Yun Xiaoxu to wait a moment and stepped outside to answer the call.

Yun Xiaoxu covered his face, struggling to breathe.

He had no room to fight back now.

He could say he didn’t do it, that he didn’t steal anything. He could even show a clean criminal record to prove he had never been taken to a police station. This was slander. It was made up.

But no one online would believe him.

Someone was clearly out to take him down, and there was no way to prove he hadn’t done something!

No one knew who the agent had just spoken to on the phone, but when he came back, his expression looked a little lighter. He patted Yun Xiaoxu on the shoulder and said to comfort him, “It’s okay. The company will figure things out. You keep practicing for the third public performance stage, and also start thinking about a clarification post.”

The #YunXiaoxuStealing# incident kept blowing up throughout the day, but the company stayed silent. Normally, when a public opinion crisis breaks out, the company would deny it right away. A long silence meant only two possibilities: either it was true, or the company wasn’t sure yet and was still investigating.

With no official statement, the fan club couldn’t get in touch with the team or Yun Xiaoxu himself. The fandom was filled with anxiety and panic.

Photos of Yun Xiaoxu from that day showed him looking very exhausted.

The next day, someone posted a video in the Super Topic. It was filmed by a fan at the scene. As Yun Xiaoxu walked past the camera, the fan shouted, “Yun Xiaoxu, you didn’t steal anything, we believe you! Let the company investigate all they want! Stay strong and keep working hard!!”

Yun Xiaoxu had been walking forward with his head down. When he heard the fan’s voice, he suddenly looked up at them, his eyes slightly red.

At 3 a.m., Yun Xiaoxu was still in the practice room, tirelessly repeating the choreography for the next stage.

A staff member came in to look for him and handed him a small note.

The handwriting on the note was the most familiar to him.

—Mom and Dad will always believe in you.

*

The class bell rang right on time, and the quiet corridor suddenly became noisy.

The top students understood the importance of balancing work and rest. After an hour of completing practice papers, they would take a fifteen-minute break, and very few would force themselves to work during that time.

Jiang Zhihuo put down his pen and took his phone out of the desk drawer.

Yan Mu had not been to school for the past few days. Although his recommendation-based admission exam was fairly secure, it was still safer to find a professional teacher to guide him.

They could only see each other at night after getting home, and during his breaks, Yan Mu would send Jiang Zhihuo a few messages.

Five minutes ago, he sent a photo of a cat, a Ragdoll kept by the university, with an exceptionally beautiful pair of blue eyes.

The cat had seen plenty of people and wasn’t afraid of humans. It was usually very aloof and ignored anyone who tried to touch it, yet it was extremely attached to Yan Mu and had been lying by his feet for days in a row.

Jiang Zhihuo: I’m getting jealous.

Yan Mu: Why?

Jiang Zhihuo: You let a cat stay by your side, what about me?

Yan Mu: You’re not a cat, Xiao Zhou.

Jiang Zhihuo: Then what am I?

They chatted idly about nothing important. Since Jiang Zhihuo watched Pick U 101 every week, related news had been popping up in his browser lately.

This time, it was a poll launched by a marketing account measuring public interest.

Some netizens dropped gossip saying Pick U 101 contestant Yun Xiaoxu is suspected of stealing, looks like his career might be ruined. Do you believe it?

Jiang Zhihuo glanced at it and didn’t click. At the same time, Yan Mu’s message came in.

Yan Mu: What do you want to eat tonight? There’s barbecue, beef vermicelli noodles, or how about hot-and-sour noodles with a chicken drumstick? I heard this place is really good.

Jiang Zhihuo: Late-night snacks are basically a sin, Yan-ge.

Jiang Zhihuo: I ordered some fruit. If you get home earlier, can you cut it up?

Just as he sent the message, the bell rang. The girls came in through the back door, chatting as they walked in.

“Yun Xiaoxu probably didn’t steal anything, right?”

“It’s already been a whole day with no response at all. If it were fake, wouldn’t they have sent a lawyer’s letter right away?”

“You can’t send a lawyer’s letter for that. They never said it was Yun Xiaoxu, just three letters. Who knows who that’s supposed to be?”

“Then could it be true that he really stole something back then?”

“I don’t think that’s very likely.” Jiang Zhihuo propped his chin to the side and cut in. “Isn’t it more like the show’s favorites trying to take him down? Is that how you say it?”

“Huh?!” The girls’ eyes lit up.

Huo-ge had interacted with Yun Xiaoxu before, so maybe he knew what was really going on. They immediately asked, “Why do you say that? Huo-ge, do you know something?!”

“No.” Jiang Zhihuo replied calmly, marking his answers on the test paper as he spoke a line the girls didn’t quite understand. “I just think those two professors will definitely teach him properly.”