Chapter 34

Chapter 34

After "The Voice of Heaven" went online, a large number of viewers immediately tuned in.

In the preview clips from last week, the show hinted that today they would reveal the selection and grouping of each mentor, and there would also be a live competition tomorrow.

As soon as the video was updated, viewers who had been waiting for a whole week quickly clicked to see the final outcome.

For the third episode, the production team did the right thing by not teasing the audience with unnecessary drama upfront. They directly aired the recording sequence from that day.

At first, the comments were quite harmonious, with fans of each mentor lavishing praise on their favorites.

Fans of other contestants, not yet in competition, were also focused on their favorites.

However, this peace didn't last long, and soon the first wave of unpleasantness occurred.

Fans of Shen Huaixi noticed that most of the contestants their idol chose ended up selecting other mentors, and they started making sarcastic comments, subtly attacking these contestants.

Shen Huaixi, backed by a film star, had always been carefully curated and praised in previous shows. This was his first time participating in a competitive show as a mentor, and he faced the reality of being less chosen compared to other mentors.

Seeing Shen Huaixi being less favored, his fans couldn't handle it and became overly sensitive, feeling that the contestants were subtly discriminating against him.

Even their big fans posted on Weibo, subtly crying about why their idol had to endure such treatment, which further stirred up the protective emotions of the fans.

Once this negative sentiment took root, they started to dislike everyone.

Those who chose Shen Huaixi were praised for their good judgment, while those who rejected him were met with sarcastic emojis.

Despite this, as the show progressed, other mentors were extremely popular, while Shen Huaixi's team was noticeably less favored.

Shen Huaixi's expression in the show changed, and his fans felt even more heartbroken.

In the video, Sheng Yan warmly welcomed contestant number 78, who chose him. Although the audience found it a bit surprising, they still sent their blessings to the 'cat' and Sheng Yan.

However, Shen Huaixi's fans, seeing these blessings, felt their fragile hearts were shattered.

By the end of this round of selections, contestant number 78, the 'cat,' who was the last to not choose Shen Huaixi's team, became the target of their venting.

"This contestant has such low EQ, doesn't even know how to balance the number of contestants in each mentor's team."

"My idol is so pitiful, his expression makes me want to cry."

"Some people really don't know what they're being arrogant about, Shen Huaixi was so sincere in his invitation."

"Some people really think that singing one song with a little splash will make them the champion?"

"Forget it, let them go wherever they want, we don't care. Their singing isn't that great anyway; it's just a lot of hype."

"Exactly, we don't want contestants who don't even dare to show their faces. What if they have a criminal record? I'd be afraid it would affect our Shen Huaixi."

Shen Huaixi's fans had been making subtle comments from the start, but since they didn't name anyone, no one paid much attention.

But now, seeing the fans targeting the innocent contestant number 78, many people felt uncomfortable.

Su Xingyao had been very popular since his appearance on the show, and many people followed the show just for him.

Seeing Shen Huaixi's fans being sarcastic because the 'cat' rejected him, the casual fans couldn't help but defend Su Xingyao.

"Why should anyone choose you when your skills are so poor? Is it because your fans are good at throwing shade?"

"So salty, so salty. Could it be that someone's fans really think the reason Cat didn't join their brother's team is because their brother didn't want him?"

"Pfft, isn't this your mentor's own fault for trying to win someone over and ending up humiliating himself? Look at Xu Beizhou, he knows his limits."

"LMAO, if you don't choose their mentor, you get cursed? Is Shen Huaixi some must-choose option? Don't be ridiculous."

"Back off, really bad vibes, please don't come near my Cat."

Shen Huaixi's fans used to have it easy in the fandom.

They often targeted those who didn't favor Su Xingyao.

Su Xingyao was universally disliked online with no fans, and when they attacked him, others would join in to pile on.

So, Shen Huaixi's fans, used to picking on the weak, once again acted out, bullying the 78th contestant they thought had few fans.

Originally, they thought saying these things would be no sweat, but unexpectedly, they were immediately countered by so many people.

Seeing so many defend the 78th contestant, they knew they were in the wrong and had to bite their tongues.

As Shen Huaixi's fans clammed up, a new round of selections began.

In the video, after chatting with his team, Sheng Yan cheerfully started engaging with the camera.

"I wrote twelve names, prepared very thoroughly!"

He waved the envelope mysteriously, confidently telling everyone, "This list was a group effort—it's awesome."

Then, Sheng Yan winked at the camera, showing off and totally winning over his fans.

Fans watching, seeing Sheng Yan so upbeat and clueless about what was coming, couldn't resist teasing.

"Only three people short, Sheng Yan, do you need to write so many LOL"

"LOL, twelve names? That's overkill—it's not like you're short on options!"

"Shen Huaixi's missing so many, he probably didn't list as many as Sheng Yan."

Fans were ribbing Sheng Yan for over-preparing, but minutes later, drama hit.

Fu Qingyan dropped a bombshell, changing the rules to let Shen Huaixi pick five people first.

On screen, Sheng Yan and Wen Yun were totally stunned by the rule change.

Viewers at home, catching on, were just as shocked by Fu Qingyan and Shen Huaixi's power play.

"What the...?"

"How can they just change the rules like that?"

"Does Fu Qingyan really have that much pull...?"

"What's his deal? Forcing everyone to give Shen Huaixi the upper hand?"

"Why should Shen Huaixi get special treatment? Handing him five picks is totally unfair to the others!"

"So, being weak means you get your way?"

Fu Qingyan's action sparked widespread public outrage, and Shen Huaixi's fans quickly came out to defend both Shen Huaixi and Fu Qingyan.

"The other mentors and the production team have already agreed, so there's nothing left to discuss."

"Don't be so stingy... what's the harm in stepping aside? There are plenty of others."

"Shen Huaixi's team has so few members; if they were to choose normally, his team would undoubtedly be the weakest, so what's the point of competing later on? The production team must balance the strength of each group."

The audience already dislikes such unfairness.

Now that Shen Huaixi's fans are so self-righteous, the audience is even more angered.

"LOL, isn't it Shen Huaixi's own fault that his team is so small? If he's not strong enough, why should the participants choose him as a mentor?"

"He eliminated so many participants earlier, causing them to miss out on advancement opportunities. Isn't it his own bad karma that they don't choose him? Who's to blame?"

"What kind of messed-up values do you fans have? How can you even defend this? Your skin is really thick."

"No matter what excuses you make, it doesn't change the fact that I find Fu Qingyan and Shen Huaixi disgusting."

Fans and audience members are refuting each other back and forth.

The comments section is in a heated argument.

However, after everyone had argued, they noticed that Shen Huaixi in the video had already started announcing his team members one by one.

The production team is quite clever; while showing Shen Huaixi announcing the members, the camera also caught Sheng Yan beside him.

So the attentive audience noticed that every time Shen Huaixi read out a name, Sheng Yan's pen would move once, and then he would draw a line through the name on the list.

Fans quickly realized what was going on.

"Damn, are the participants Shen Huaixi is choosing all from Sheng Yan's backup list..."

"Exactly, he reads one, and my bro crosses one out."

"OMG, my bro just lost five participants, LOL."

At first, the atmosphere was fine; after all, Sheng Yan had twelve backups, and the fans were teasing him in a relaxed tone.

But in the end, when everyone saw Sheng Yan choosing the last participant, he wasn't even looking at the list anymore but was frowning and thinking for a long time with his head in his hands, the fans couldn't laugh anymore.

"Am I seeing this right? My bro's twelve backups aren't enough? What kind of crazy operation is this?"

"Exactly... some mentors got to choose five at once."

As soon as the fans finished speaking, in the footage, Sheng Yan, who had no more candidates left, could only somewhat helplessly and reluctantly choose a folk singer.

After that, his expression was really bad; he couldn't even manage a fake smile.

At this point, Sheng Yan's fans finally couldn't take it anymore.

They were already unhappy with Fu Qingyan's sudden rule change earlier, but since Sheng Yan didn't say anything at the time, they didn't say much either.

But who would have thought that after the rule change, things would turn so nasty, making their idol the biggest victim in the end.

"Never thought twelve wouldn't be enough; I mean... it's really something."

"Why give five people to Shen Huaixi earlier? Just to mess with people now, right..."

"I've only heard of royalty in talent shows before, but I never expected to encounter a royalty mentor in a music show."

"The royalty mentor is hilarious."

"It's okay if there aren't enough contestants, the acting emperor bro will protect you. Rules can be bent as you please, snagging top contestants is a breeze."

Shen Huaixi's fans, ticked off by the mockery, clapped back.

"Blaming others for your bad luck in the draw?"

"Oh really? If it weren't for those extra five, Sheng Yan could've picked his dream team blindfolded."

The exchange was heated.

At this point, although Shen Huaixi and Fu Qingyan were annoying, it was just fans duking it out.

Most viewers just thought Shen Huaixi was out of line and stayed out of the fray.

But in just twenty minutes, Shen Huaixi was back at it.

When Shen Huaixi played innocent while screwing over Sheng Yan by stacking their group with five people, most viewers were fed up.

"What's Shen Huaixi's deal? Why stack someone else's group with five?"

"He's been stirring the pot all along, and now this final group mess?"

"Talk about biting the hand that feeds—Sheng Yan and Shen Huaixi?"

"Does he really think that blink is adorable?"

On camera, Shen Huaixi thought his expression and voice were both adorable.

"Kitty, you and 77 are joined at the hip—how can I split you up?"

"Kitty, what's with the look? Got something to say?"

Shen Huaixi's 'adorable' voice grated on everyone's nerves.

The comments blew up.

"Kitty???"

"Am I seeing things? This group is a mess."

"Is it intentional? Is it intentional??"

"It's totally on purpose. How can this group even work? Stop with the excuses—Shen Huaixi's just polishing his own image. Gross."

"How can he even ask Kitty that? Is he trying to mess with their heads?"

"Just hearing 'Shen Huaixi' makes me sick."

Viewers were hyped for this episode.

But Shen Huaixi's antics sent everyone's blood pressure through the roof.

As soon as the show ended, the whole internet was discussing Fu Qingyan changing the rules for Shen Huaixi, Sheng Yan being robbed by Shen Huaixi and then backstabbed, and Shen Huaixi deliberately maliciously grouping to mess with the contestants' mentality.

"The Voice of Heaven" was already highly anticipated, and with the involvement of an acting emperor, a traffic star, a top idol, and a star contestant from the show...

The combination of these factors directly sent popularity through the roof.

The top five trending topics were completely dominated.

One of them, titled #Don't Be Like Shen Huaixi#, shot straight to the top.

Under this trending topic, Sheng Yan's fans posted screenshots of Shen Huaixi's outrageous antics from the third episode in bold captions.

Shen Huaixi had always been associated with positive trending topics.

This sudden negative topic topping the list made everyone curious to click on it.

Originally, netizens thought Shen Huaixi might be joking or engaging in reverse psychology.

But to their surprise, the content was so real.

Even Fu Qingyan, who had always had a stellar reputation, turned out to be so outrageous.

No one likes a show-off, no one likes a backstabber, and no one likes someone who slaps you and then asks for your thoughts.

Therefore, except for Shen Huaixi's fans, everyone who clicked on this trending topic couldn't help but express their disgust.

After trending, the incident escalated even faster, and Shen Huaixi's reputation snowballed into a bigger mess.

After someone falls from grace, netizens love to dig up their past remarks.

As a result, everyone was shocked to find out that he had also acted disgustingly in the first two episodes of *The Voice of Heaven*.

Someone started a thread directly exposing him.

Thread starter:

Shen Huaixi has finally fallen from grace, and it's a cause for celebration. I've been disgusted by him for a long time, and I don't get why so many people used to praise him as pure and cute. I don't know if you've seen the first two episodes of *The Voice of Heaven*, but I bet many who haven't watched the full episodes would think the contestants were average, right? After all, only four people got the advancement spots.

But do you know why only four people got the advancement cards in the first round?

It's all thanks to Shen Huaixi!

The thread starter posted several short videos below, all featuring contestants who only got three cards.

And these videos all had one thing in common: Shen Huaixi withheld the last card from these contestants...

After posting these contestants, the thread starter specifically shared a clip of Shen Huaixi giving Su Xingyao the pass card.

Pay attention: although this contestant advanced, it wasn't as easy as you might think!

Did you notice? Even a strong contestant like Cat Cat was the last to get a card from Shen Huaixi.

Even though the show edited the original video, we can still tell from the contestants' expressions.

Shen Huaixi was definitely hesitating because a previously eliminated contestant revealed that he kept holding back the card, and the contestants even booed him.

So, he only gave the card to Cat Cat after being pressured.

After reading this analysis, netizens were blown away.

"Thread starter, you're like a human magnifying glass. I never noticed this before."

"What's Shen Huaixi's problem? Deliberately making things hard for contestants?"

"I thought with such excellence, the cat should have advanced directly, but Shen Huaixi is really ridiculous, right?"

"Does he think eliminating so many people makes him look more professional?"

"Please, does Shen Huaixi have any music works to justify judging the contestants like this?"

"Answering the above, no."

This thread starter is also someone who gets things done.

After digging up all this, she went and compiled all the clips of Shen Huaixi interacting with Su Xingyao in the show.

Thread starter:

Let me clarify something, I initially thought Shen Huaixi was indiscriminately targeting all top contestants.

But after rewatching the show, I now seriously suspect that Shen Huaixi has the biggest issue with the contestant 'cat'.

At this point, fans might argue that Shen Huaixi did try to recruit the cat during the final selection and even said a long, seemingly sincere speech, so how could he dislike him?

Hold on, everyone can actually go back and listen carefully to what he said. Although it was lengthy, it was actually very insincere, completely revealing that he only tried to recruit the cat because his own team had no advancing contestants.

Of course, I didn't make this conclusion without reason. This might not seem convincing to everyone, so let's look at the things he said to the cat throughout these three episodes.

The thread starter continued to post segmented videos.

Everyone, listen to this, isn't every sentence sarcastic?

At the initial stage, he set a trap for the cat by constantly asking him to remove his hood.

When the cat refused, he immediately changed his expression, insinuating that the cat might be ugly, which is why he didn't want to remove the hood.

Later, the five-member grouping by Sheng Yan was also quite telling. I initially thought he was targeting Sheng Yan.

But after carefully studying his expressions and words at that time, it felt more like he was deliberately targeting the cat by assigning him these mismatched teammates.

He wasn't clueless about grouping; his later groupings were very normal.

But only in the cat's group, he intentionally assigned so many people, even pairing the cat with a folk singer from Sheng Yan's group who had the weakest skills and didn't match anyone's style.

Everyone, listen to what he specifically said to the cat after the grouping—Cat, do you have something to say to me?

Doesn't this sentence sound odd and provocative?

Who would normally say such a thing? Only someone who had intended to provoke you from the beginning would say that!

After this analysis, the thread starter also posted a gif of Shen Huaixi saying this.

As a popular star, Shen Huaixi still has many casual fans who like him.

This post immediately garnered huge attention.

The thread starter's analysis was well-founded, and the casual fans, who initially thought she was a hater, had a completely new and shocking understanding of Shen Huaixi after reading through this series of posts...

Then these casual fans were also thoroughly disgusted.

"I used to see his marketing as simple and kind, thinking he was really a straightforward person without much guile... Sorry, I was blind."

"Wow, why didn't I notice he was such a hypocrite before?"

"Reality shows are indeed an exposing mirror... Shen Huaixi has already crashed and burned by the third episode."

"If he fell apart so quickly, it means his previous persona of being simple and kind was all an act."

While kicking themselves for being fooled, many also sympathized with the innocent contestant, Cat, who was targeted by him.

"His last words were utterly disgusting. As an audience member, I was furious. Cat showed incredible restraint by still speaking politely to him."

"If I were Cat, I would have slapped him right then and there."

"Just because Cat is a contestant and he's a mentor, he thinks he can get away with whatever he wants, right? Stop acting so high and mighty."

"I feel for Cat; it’s really unfortunate she got stuck with such a clueless mentor for grouping."

"OMG, finally someone said it!!! I've really been biting my tongue about Shen Huaixi for a long time!! I felt the same way as the host when he first spoke to Cat—every time he speaks, he comes off as fake and two-faced."

"So Shen Huaixi’s later grouping of five was just him getting back at Cat for not picking him earlier and stirring up drama?"

"Seriously though, why is he so against Cat? Cat is clearly so adorable."

"Jealous of her excellent singing, perhaps?"

"Is he sick or something? The better someone is, the more he goes after them?"

As Shen Huaixi fell from grace, Fu Qingyan, who had always backed him in the show, also lost favor with the public.

As a super mentor, Fu Qingyan directly approached the production team to change the rules for Shen Huaixi without informing the other mentors. Breaking the rules, undermining fairness, and disrespecting the mentors—this kind of behavior is unacceptable no matter where you are.

So while everyone was cursing Shen Huaixi, Fu Qingyan did not escape either.

Even Fu Qingyan's fans were furious after seeing his boneheaded move, not understanding why a host would interfere in matters between mentors.

"Publicly changing the rules for Shen Huaixi is ridiculous, Fu Qingyan, what were you thinking? Or did Shen Huaixi take a bullet for you?"

"He must be under some kind of spell; there’s no other explanation."

"Someone found out they’re childhood friends; of course he wouldn’t let his buddy suffer~"

"Ugh, that makes it even worse."

"So Fu Qingyan’s his knight in shining armor, huh?"

Once an artist’s image is ruined, there’s no coming back from it.

In the entertainment world, nothing gets people talking like an artist’s downfall.

Plus, this time he also provoked Sheng Yan's fans. Sheng Yan was repeatedly messed with by him in the show, and while he endured it, his fans couldn’t hold back their anger, constantly spreading the word about Shen Huaixi's bizarre actions in the show.

So in just one night, Shen Huaixi’s carefully crafted image of simplicity over the past two years was exposed as that of a malicious, scheming hypocrite.

The series of events where Shen Huaixi was exposed, cursed, and trended on social media happened very suddenly.

Shen Huaixi’s PR team scrambled to delete posts and suppress the trending topics as soon as they caught wind of it, but in the end, they couldn’t rein in the backlash.

After all, the rebellious netizens hate nothing more than being silenced.

The more Shen Huaixi’s team tried to silence people by deleting posts and banning accounts, the more netizens dug in their heels.

Because posts with Shen Huaixi's name would be deleted by his team.

So the netizens gave him a new nickname, calling him Fu Qingyan's "Silence Prince."

With this incident as a foundation, netizens began digging into his past shows.

Originally, everyone wanted to see if he had made any other outrageous comments before.

But unexpectedly, they discovered that Su Xingyao, who had been heavily criticized and screenshot-shamed by his fans, actually behaved quite... normally in the show...

Original Poster:

Girls, can you believe this? I used to buy into Shen Huaixi's fans' narrative, thinking Su Xingyao was disgusting and intentionally annoying Shen Huaixi in the show, rolling his eyes and stuff. But today, I saw it with my own eyes... it was just taken out of context.

After saying this, the OP compared those screenshots with the original video.

Turns out, Su Xingyao was just acting as a background character for Shen Huaixi the entire time. He hardly said a word throughout the show, didn't roll his eyes at him, it was just taken out of context...

And then there's the infamous "Su Xingyao hitting someone" incident.

Actually, Shen Huaixi and Su Xingyao were playing a game together, split into two teams. The rule was to hit each other with pillows, and whoever fell first would lose the match.

Shen Huaixi was such a sore loser, he kept hitting Su Xingyao's head with the pillow. Even on camera, you could see Su Xingyao's face turning red from being hit.

Everyone took their turns, and later it was Su Xingyao's turn to retaliate.

But because Shen Huaixi had hit Su Xingyao too hard earlier, he lost his balance. Before Su Xingyao's pillow even touched him, he fell over by himself.

And then came the funny part.

After falling, he actually started crying...

Then he held his side, saying he felt unwell.

As soon as he cried, his fans took a bunch of screenshots and started spreading misleading posts, saying Su Xingyao had been using the game rules to hit Shen Huaixi's face, making him cry...

I can't stop laughing, Su Xingyao got hit so badly and didn't cry, but Shen Huaixi fell over by himself and started crying for no reason, and his fans still blamed others.

I'm definitely not lying, the video is still there, go watch it yourselves... it's really overly dramatic.

Also, that part where he fell wasn't very clear in the footage, but if you slow it down to 0.25x speed, you can see Su Xingyao's pillow didn't even touch him...

Suddenly coming across this old drama, netizens were shocked.

"??????"

"All I can say is 'wow.'"

"Shen Huaixi, you really know how to get ahead of the story."

"Such a sore loser, turns out he's been this much of a hypocrite for so long."

"Although Su Xingyao has a lot of dirt, but... this is just too tragic."

"How could such an outrageous thing not be clarified back then?"

Not only was this netizen curious, but others were too. Logically, the company or fans should have been able to clarify this easily.

Soon, some former fans of Shen Huaixi came forward to reveal the truth.

"They're from the same company, but the company has always focused on promoting Shen Huaixi while neglecting Su Xingyao."

"No, no, no, it's not just that. You guys don't know, but there's actually something even more outrageous that happened later. Why do Shen Huaixi's fans firmly believe and keep relentlessly bashing Su Xingyao? It's because after this incident, Shen Huaixi specifically posted a Weibo to comfort his fans, his exact words were: 'It's okay, everyone. Don't worry, the other party didn't mean it. Be good, okay?'"

"Hahaha, he indeed didn't mean it, but aren't you subtly hinting to your fans to tear Su Xingyao apart?"

"Let me translate Shen Huaixi's Weibo for everyone: 'I'm so aggrieved now, so uncomfortable. Su Xingyao made me cry; he was deliberately targeting me in the show, wuwuwu. You guys go and cyberbully him for me.'"

"So disgusting. This happened when they just debuted, right? Pulling such a stunt to step on Su Xingyao to climb up?"

"So thrilling. Didn't expect Shen Huaixi to be such a drama queen since his debut."

"Damn, Su Xingyao really suffered an unwarranted disaster in this whole mess."

"Su Xingyao didn't even touch him and still got framed. This time, the cat not only didn't listen to him to take off the hood but also rejected him when choosing a mentor. No wonder Shen Huaixi hates the cat so much and deliberately grouped him like this."

Netizens followed the clues and inadvertently uncovered this old story between Su Xingyao and Shen Huaixi.

Many netizens, prompted by others, went to dig out this variety show and watched it themselves. They then compared it with the timing of Shen Huaixi's Weibo that insinuated Su Xingyao beat him and found that it really matched perfectly.

After watching, netizens began to question their own judgment.

How did we so easily believe such baseless rumors from Shen Huaixi and his fans back then?

Were we blinded by stupidity?

Since his debut, Shen Huaixi has almost only received praise from fans and has never been scolded so much. Waking up the next morning to see these overwhelming ridicules, his mind went completely blank.

After learning the details of the matter from his assistant, he went through the comments and private messages on Weibo one by one.

Shen Huaixi was so angry that he hurled his phone across the room.

The phone arced through the air and finally slammed into the wall.

The screen shattered into countless pieces from the force of the impact.

The assistant, nearly hit by the phone, instinctively dodged to the side.

But she couldn't avoid the bouncing phone fragments.

A sharp pain shot through her face as it was scratched by the fragments.

The assistant looked at the shattered phone, her face and heart both aching.

Shen Huaixi had been using her phone to read the comments.

The assistant dared not speak when the phone was smashed for no reason, only silently enduring Shen Huaixi's scolding.

"Do I keep you all around just to eat for free?"

"Why didn't you communicate with the program team to cut this part out earlier? Why didn't you handle the public opinion issue promptly when it was discovered later?"

The assistant, caught in the crossfire, didn't dare to make a sound.

Even the manager who entered the room didn't dare to provoke the furious young master.

"The PR team is already drafting a statement..."

After telling Shen Huaixi this news, she carefully handed the phone to him.

"Fu Qingyan called you."

Shen Huaixi didn't pick up, just glanced at his manager's screen, then checked his own phone to find that Fu Qingyan had called him more than a dozen times before.

Suppressing his anger and frustration, Shen Huaixi finally picked up.

"Huai Xi."

Fu Qingyan's deep voice came through the line.

But unlike his usual confident tone, today his voice sounded much hoarser.

Shen Huaixi coldly responded with a "hmm" and asked, "Have you seen everything..."

Fu Qingyan was silent for a moment, "I've seen it, the company is already working on the PR for you."

Fu Qingyan had initially wanted to comfort him and discuss a joint PR strategy.

But upon hearing Shen Huaixi's cold tone, the words on the tip of his tongue somehow couldn't come out.

"Qingyan, why did you have to announce the rule change in public at that time?"

In his anger, Shen Huaixi couldn't help but confront Fu Qingyan.

In his view, the chain of events started when Fu Qingyan changed the rules.

If Fu Qingyan had privately informed a few mentors beforehand, or hadn't so bluntly announced at the recording site that he had discussed with the director to change the rules for himself, and instead just said he had just received a notice from the program team, placing the blame on the program team, the situation wouldn't have developed like this.

But he had to be so confident and spill everything on stage...

Shen Huaixi's voice trembled with a hint of a sob, sounding almost pitiful.

But Fu Qingyan sensed the blame directed at him.

"I feel terrible now, everyone is criticizing me... but I only found out at the last minute that you had approached the director..."

Hearing Shen Huaixi's implicit accusations, Fu Qingyan could only explain, "I saw you were upset at the time, I just wanted to help you..."

But Shen Huaixi immediately retorted, "But I told you before, this is just a show, winning or losing doesn't matter that much to me."

Fu Qingyan didn't speak anymore.

There was a heavy silence on the phone.

With things having reached this point, Fu Qingyan had no intention of continuing.

The two remained silent on the phone for about three minutes.

In the end, Fu Qingyan was the one to give in.

"I understand..."

"I'm sorry, I didn't think this through properly, I'll take care of it."

After saying the last word, Fu Qingyan abruptly ended the call.

He stared at Shen Huaixi's name on the phone interface for a long time, finally helplessly rubbing his temples.

After this phone call between the two, the planned joint PR effort came to nothing.

Fu Qingyan directly kept his promise, issued an apology statement, took all the responsibility for the rule change upon himself, and promised to sincerely repent in the future.

Shortly after Fu Qingyan issued his statement, Shen Huaixi also released one.

However, his approach was completely different from Fu Qingyan's style of bravely admitting mistakes.

He first absolved himself of all responsibility regarding the rule change, shifting all the blame onto Fu Qingyan, who had already apologized.

Then, he apologized for his team assignments while claiming that he didn't mean any harm, simply thinking that such pairings were more unique due to his lack of understanding of musical integration.

Finally, the statement implied that many misunderstandings stemmed from malicious editing by the production team, and that he had no ill intentions toward anyone throughout the process.

The statement entirely sidestepped the main issues, completely clearing himself of any wrongdoing.

Shen Huaixi went to great lengths to craft this statement.

However, after its release, public sentiment not only didn’t improve but grew even more hostile toward him.

"The 'white lotus' stereotype has been further cemented."

"LOL, dodging the real issues—so it's everyone else's fault, and you're totally blameless, huh?"

"Got it, got it, it's all our darling's fault, blame our darling for being too outstanding and having to endure your constant passive-aggressiveness."

"If you don’t know music, why are you even a mentor? As a novice, you should just step aside and leave the spot for professionals, stop making a fool of yourself."

"LOL, who forced you to sabotage Sheng Yan's group with that pairing? Why don't you just say it was the production team's script, hahaha."

"@Song Yingming, hurry up and own up to it, they're saying you maliciously edited it."

"No ill intentions toward anyone, LOL, why not explain your earlier slander of Su Xingyao?"

As soon as Shen Huaixi's statement was released, although it served as damage control for himself, the act of shifting all the blame to the production team essentially marked a complete rupture in relations with "The Voice of Heaven" production team.

Faced with such blatant blame-shifting, the experienced chief director Song Yingming didn't even flinch, and the production team made no response.

Instead, they went straight to promoting the live stage broadcast at 8 PM tonight on their official Weibo.

"The Voice of Heaven" Official Weibo: Following three days of rigorous training, the mentors and contestants are about to bring you the first awe-inspiring live performance!

Are you excited for the dazzling stage and the much-anticipated pairings?

Tonight at 8 PM, we’ll see you there~