Meanwhile, the hashtag #Heartache For Shao Yuye# was still topped with a bright red ‘exploding’ mark, its popularity continuing to climb. The materials Brother Li had spent the entire day preparing were finally put to use.
A video of the past—Shao Yuye passing out from low blood sugar after practicing too hard in the studio.
Another one—when the program maliciously suggested having family members record encouragement videos, the stubborn teenager gritted his teeth and said he had no family.
And the old footage of him spending New Year’s Eve alone at the company, practicing by himself in the dance studio while everyone else celebrated joyfully with their families.
Those old videos, carrying distant memories, once again reminded the ‘Yu Yu’s of the past.
The boy who stood alone, with no one on his side, choking up sincerely on stage: “Thank you.”
Countless people watching burst into tears.
And regarding the accusations in the exposé post, Brother Li responded point by point.
[But Shao Hongyuan sponsored that season of <One Pick>, how do you explain that?]
Thanks to Shen Wanwan’s ability, the truth surfaced easily.
Soon, someone claiming to be a staff member from that season of <One Pick> came forward anonymously.
That year, the one sponsored by ‘Zhenxian Fresh Milk’ was the trainee who barely missed debut, ranking 10th.
As a ‘royal pick’ of the show, he was originally the one Shao Hongyuan had planned and positioned to debut.
But the ‘Yu Yu’s were simply too powerful.
They forcibly pushed Shao Yuye, whose votes had been artificially suppressed to keep him at 10th, straight into the center position.
His vote count even ranked first by a huge margin.
His overwhelming support finally allowed the capital to recognize his value, something that utterly crushed the little investment Shao Hongyuan had provided.
In other words, Shao Hongyuan showed up to not support Shao Yuye.
He was there for his son’s competitor.
And the reason Shao Yuye’s votes were constantly suppressed?
Shao Hongyuan had a hand in that too.
He never wanted his rebellious son to debut.
‘Yu Yu’s watched the old clips, hearts aching.
[I’m seriously going to cry to death. Why did Brother Ye have to endure so much? Back then, we were truly the only ones he had!]
[I can’t even imagine… how can a father be this cruel? Not helping is one thing, but actively crushing his own son?]
His former limited group teammates also stepped forward to speak for him.
[Ah Ye really had it hard back then. He slept very, very little. The moment the mentor said we needed to learn a new dance, he’d master it overnight. He was terrified of being eliminated. The pressure was unimaginable. I don’t believe someone who had ‘connections’ or confidence could possibly act like that.]
Brother Li even exposed the astronomical termination penalty, and the predatory actions of the former company shocked everyone.
[That’s why those years people said he lost his passion, took all those ridiculously cheap gigs, didn’t focus on the stage, kept running media appearances every day, it all had reasons.]
[No more angst, please, I can’t take it!]
[What exactly has Brother Ye gone through all these years…]
[His path has been way too hard! Before debut he was targeted by his awful Dad, after debut he was tormented by a trash company! Thank god he was strong enough to survive all of it…]
[No wonder when he became a mentor, he kept telling the contestants not to panic, to refuse unreasonable contracts even if afraid to lose opportunities. It was because he’d been through the storm and wanted to hold an umbrella for others…]
The topic stayed at the top of the trending list all night, unmoving. Aside from feeling heartbroken, many people also flooded the Hongyuan Group’s official account to curse out Shao Hongyuan.
But Shao Hongyuan himself still knew nothing about what was happening online.
Pressing hard against his temples, he stared at the plummeting stock chart, sinking into deep anxiety.
His phone had blown up nonstop. The tens of millions he’d begged and borrowed the previous night to salvage the collapsing situation had all been thrown in.
But the drop still refused to stop.
When the market closed that afternoon, his assistant rushed into the office, sweating nervously with a tablet in hand.
“President Shao…”
Shao Hongyuan slumped in his executive chair, eyes dull and empty. He didn’t need to look at those dismal numbers, he already knew the tide had turned.
He was finished!
The corporation he had built with his own hands collapsed in an instant, and he was about to shoulder tens of millions in debt.
It was deep into the night when he finally trudged home in a numb daze.
But the house was a mess too.
A daughter bawling her eyes out, and a wife who looked helpless, repeating nothing but “What do we do now?”
No one had expected Shao Yuye to expose all of the Shao family’s ugly secrets to the public in such a direct and brutal way.
At school, Shao Jia was mocked as the daughter of a mistress, she couldn’t even lift her head.
She had been enjoying the dreamlike feeling of being adored by everyone, and now she had fallen straight into hell.
Most families at the school had their own skeletons in the closet, but their mothers were all the legal wives. The moment they saw Shao Jia, the daughter of a mistress, they vented all their dissatisfaction and anger upon her, furiously cursing that this ‘wicked child’ actually had the nerve to brag about being Shao Yuye’s little sister.
Xu Qingxin suffered the same treatment.
She was promptly kicked out of the ladies’ tea circles. In truth, those wealthy wives didn’t care all that much about whether she was the legal wife—because in this circle, profit trumped everything.
But after seeing Shao Jia’s behavior, everyone was speechless.
Truly a pair of mother and daughter, both stupid and malicious.
They became nothing more than laughingstocks at tea tables.
As soon as Shao Jia saw her father return, she screamed even louder, crying so hard that Shao Hongyuan’s head buzzed like a swarm of flies was crashing around inside.
He couldn’t stand it anymore and strode over to slap Shao Jia across the face.
“Enough!”
Shao Jia froze, clutching her cheek in disbelief. Her crying stopped instantly.
It was the first time her father had ever hit her…
“Look at the mess you’ve caused!”
Shao Hongyuan took several deep breaths, nearly driven to death by his idiotic daughter. “I said a few words to comfort you and you actually took them seriously?! What were you thinking?! You’re the daughter of a mistress, what are you showing off for?! Shao Yuye’s mother is a daughter of a prestigious family. And what is your mother?!”
The gentle mask on Xu Qingxin’s face nearly cracked apart.
Shao Hongyuan’s eyes were bloodshot, his whole body trembling.
The entire circle was laughing at him.
He abandoned a perfectly good wealthy wife and married a woman as low-class as Xu Qingxin, and their child was this foolish and useless…
He suddenly found himself missing Shen Mingzhen a little.
Four days passed in a flash, and their stop in Luocheng finally came to an end.
Lin Kexin had successfully infiltrated Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan’s little group and had finally grown closer to her idol…
But her feelings were a bit complicated.
She remembered a question she once saw online:
[If one day you appeared on a variety show with your idol, how would you feel?!]
Lin Kexin : Thanks for the invite. Very happy. Almost ready to unstan 🙂
Be! Cause!
Brother Ye is seriously way too double-standard!!!!
Did Shen Wanwan save his life or something?
Thinking about how Shao Yuye and Shen Wanwan used to fight like cats and dogs, so bad that both were cursed to hell by netizens—
And now they were suddenly harmonious, and Brother Ye even protected her so fiercely.
For some ridiculous reason, a cheesy line popped into Lin Kexin’s head:
—My teammate. I will pamper her with my life.
“……”
She quickly shook the cheesy thought away. Before parting ways, she decided to test Brother Ye one last time.
During lunchtime, when there were no cameras around, she quietly approached Shao Yuye.
He was lounging on the sofa eating grapes. When he saw her, his eyes narrowed slightly.
“Brother Ye.” Lin Kexin boldly asked, “Don’t you think you’re a little… double-standard?”
“In what way?”
Shao Yuye gave her a lazy glance. “What are you trying to say?”
Lin Kexin pulled out the photo taken by the high-altitude camera during their roller coaster ride the day before.
All three of them looked decent in it.
She even thought she looked better than Shen Wanwan. Shen Wanwan happened to have her eyes closed.
Lin Kexin held the photo in front of Shao Yuye and asked tentatively:
“What do you think of my expression?”
Shao Yuye didn’t pause his movements. He peeled a grape and tossed it into his mouth. “It’s okay. Not bad. Passable.”
Lin Kexin: “……”
Great. Exactly within her expectations.
She quietly pointed at Shen Wanwan. “Then what do you think of Shen Wanwan’s expression?”
The moment she finished speaking, the previously relaxed man instantly sat up straight.
His eyes were full of admiration as he looked at Shen Wanwan in the photo.
“Beautiful. Seriously so beautiful.”
“……”