“Ring, ring, ring…”
Just as Cai Kun was about to take his next move, his phone on the table rang abruptly.
Seeing the caller’s name, a faint smile appeared on Cai Kun’s face. He reached out and answered the call.
“Hey, Sister Xiong.”
“Sister Xiong my ass!” The moment he spoke, an angry female voice erupted from the other end of the line.
Cai Kun froze, confused as to why his manager was so furious.
Generally, trainees weren’t qualified to have personal managers. But thanks to his exceptional skills, Cai Kun had secured numerous investments for the company, earning their favor. They even assigned him a well-known manager—Sister Xiong.
However, this usually amiable manager had now called him just to curse him out, leaving Cai Kun utterly bewildered.
“Sister Xiong, why are you so angry?” Cai Kun asked cautiously.
“You still have the nerve to ask? Go check the trending topics yourself,” Sister Xiong snapped coldly.
Hearing this, Cai Kun instinctively opened the trending list. The next second, his pupils constricted sharply.
At the top of the trending list were all the things he had done in private, now exposed and drawing massive attention from netizens.
In an instant, the reputation he had painstakingly built crumbled.
Panicked, Cai Kun stammered, “How is this possible? How could these things have leaked?”
He couldn’t understand. He had been extremely careful when doing these things, confident that no paparazzi could have caught him. Yet now, the trending topics not only had text descriptions but also photos—even videos.
If this got out, his career would be ruined.
Sure enough, as he clicked on one of the posts, the comments made his expression grow increasingly grim.
“Wow~ Handpicked by eight sugar mommies at once. So this is the real Cai Kun.”
“No way! My Kun Kun could never be like this.”
“Wake up, delusional fan. Photos can be photoshopped, but videos can’t. Tsk tsk, gotta admit though, Cai Kun’s got guts—even going for a 300-pounder.”
“Not just one—three 300-pounders! That’s three tanks combined. Dude’s built different.”
“Finally found the origin of ‘Ji Ni is too beautiful’—so this is what it meant.”
“Switching from fan to hater. Cai Kun has disappointed me.”
“Same. Officially leaving the Kun fan club.”
Staring at the flood of comments, Cai Kun was now in full panic mode.
“Sister Xiong, get these trending topics take down, quick!”
“Take down?” Sister Xiong scoffed. “Haven’t you realized someone’s clearly targeting you? The moment these trends appeared, I tried everything—but nothing worked.”
“Can’t take them down?” Cai Kun slumped into his chair, his eyes vacant.
If even their usual methods failed, then someone powerful was definitely behind this.
But he had never offended anyone!
Unless…
His gaze shifted to Chen An on the screen, who had just finished performing.
The only person he had crossed was this guy. But how could a blind man pull off something like this?
Digging up his secrets and making the trends untouchable—these weren’t things a blind man could accomplish.
But if not him, then who?
While Cai Kun was racking his brains in frustration, inside the room, Luo Shiyu pouted her lips with a smug expression as she browsed the trending scandals about Cai Kun.
Who else could it be but her?
“You bullied Chen An, now let me show you what I can do,” she thought triumphantly.
Luo Shiyu crossed her arms proudly—this wasn’t even her full arsenal. The dirt she’d dug up on Cai Kun included many more explosive revelations that could get him instantly blacklisted if released all at once. But that would be too boring. She wanted to take it step by step, making him taste despair thoroughly.
As the internet buzzed with Cai Kun’s controversies, Chen An became the undisputed MVP of the talent show. His performance of “Someone Like Me” not only cleared his name completely but also converted former haters into devoted fans, instantly gaining him a massive loyal following.
Among these new fans was one particularly special woman. Big Mimi’s eyes welled up with tears—the song had utterly destroyed her emotionally. She’d missed out on a genius who should have been hers. The thought of letting such talent slip through her fingers made Yang Dami cry even harder.
“Hmph, little Chen An, you won’t escape me,” she murmured, already plotting how to rectify her mistake. She wouldn’t let such talent go to waste.
Unaware that his song had made him the target of many people’s attention, Chen An sat on the sofa and asked Luo Shiyu, “How did the competition go?” Having heard his own performance, he assumed it was nearly over.
Glancing at the live comments, Luo Shiyu smiled and replied, “The response has been pretty good. You’ll need to keep up the effort for the next round.” Chen An nodded, completely unaware that Luo Shiyu’s “pretty good” actually meant his performance had gone viral nationwide. He thought it was just modest attention for a small-scale show.
With the premiere episode aired, the next stage would be the elimination round. “You’re going back to ‘Star of Tomorrow’ for recording tomorrow. How’s your new song coming along?” Luo Shiyu asked with some concern. While the unique brilliance track carried the most prestige, it also tested contestants’ creative abilities the most. Chen An had already played his trump card in the audition—if his second song fell short, online criticism might resurface.
“Don’t worry, it’s all good,” Chen An said with an easy smile. “This song won’t be worse than the last one.”
Hearing this, Luo Shiyu finally relaxed. But then curiosity got the better of her. “So what’s this one called?”
Chen An grinned. “This song is called ‘Melancholy.’”
“‘Melancholy’,” Luo Shiyu repeated softly, her curiosity piqued. Though she wanted to hear him sing it immediately, she resisted to preserve her anticipation for the official broadcast. She’d wait until the episode aired.
The next day, Luo Shiyu drove Chen An back to the production team. This time, his arrival drew attention from all contestants. Among the two most talked-about participants in the selection rounds, Chen An was undoubtedly one. They’d witnessed firsthand his journey from being universally criticized to universally praised—some netizens were still posting apologies to him.
The comeback was absolutely incredible, but aside from him, Cai Kun’s reversal of fortune came as a complete surprise to everyone.
Originally, he was the most anticipated to skyrocket to fame upon debut. But now, it’s questionable whether he can even survive the show.