HEIFEIGU -Chapter 3

Only then did the atmosphere unfreeze.

“You!” Ji Jin trembled with rage, pointing at Xie Jixing.

His reason told him not to act rashly, or his carefully built “gentle bad-boy” image would collapse.

But seeing Xie Jixing not humiliated—and himself becoming the joke—he couldn’t take it anymore.

He grabbed a cup of water prepared for punishments and splashed it at Xie Jixing.

Though Xie Jixing tried to dodge, they were too close. Some water still hit his face and hair.

He slicked his wet hair back, wiped his face, and curled his lips, mouthing:

“You fell for it again.”

He did it on purpose.

He provoked me!

That thought filled Ji Jin’s mind and shattered his restraint. He raised his fist.

He was going to beat Xie Jixing to death.

Seeing a singing show about to become a fighting show, the director cut to commercials.

Yu Xinghan’s face was dark.

If Xie Jixing’s mistake could be called an accident, Ji Jin’s behavior was far worse. Trying to hit someone on live TV was unbelievably stupid.

The show could be shut down for this.

“What are you doing?!” Yu Xinghan rushed over and restrained him.

Staff and guests crowded around.

Only then did Ji Jin realize what he had done.

“No… he provoked me!”

“Yes! It was him!”

He pointed crazily at Xie Jixing.

“Everyone saw it!”

“Shut up!” Yu Xinghan roared. “Where’s Summer Xing’s manager?!”

The stunned manager rushed up.

“Take him backstage and clean him up,” Yu Xinghan said coldly. “You have ten minutes. Figure out how to deal with this.”

“Yes, yes.”

Yu Xinghan was famous for being easygoing. Even big stars got smiles from him.

The manager had never seen him this angry.

This was bad.

He dragged the still-rambling Ji Jin away.

Staff hurried to clean the stage.

Then Xia Letian stepped out of the shadows. His usual sunny smile was gone.

“Xie Jixing, you’re in the same group. How could you target Ji Jin in such an important show? You must apologize on air later!”

His tone was righteous and firm.

Yu Xinghan rubbed his temples.

This group…

Flop, stupid, and full of trouble.

Everyone perked up to listen.

“Target him?” Xie Jixing raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“You’re jealous of him!”

What kind of logic was that?

Xie Jixing laughed in anger.

“Jealous of what?”

“Low looks, bad character, weak skills, or rotten heart?”

“Except for being better at being a bootlicker, what does he do better than me?”

“And even if you two strengthen team spirit with French-kissing, you can’t just lie with a straight face.”

The moment the words “French kiss” were spoken, almost everyone on set pricked up their ears.

What? What? Is this flop boy group really that wild?!

Feeling the covert glances around him, Xia Letian’s face flushed red. “You’re slandering me!”

“How can you prove I’m slandering you? Who can prove you two never kissed? After all, before the show started—”

Xie Jixing didn’t finish his sentence, instead looking Xia Letian up and down with a meaningful smile.

Before the show started, what?!

We really want to know!

Can you just finish your sentence already? You’re killing us with suspense!

Xia Letian came from a very wealthy family. Since childhood, he had always been the one being pampered. This was the first time in his life he’d been pushed into a corner and left speechless.

The thought kept circling in his head:

This person in front of me is definitely not Xie Jixing.

The Xie Jixing from before had always been weak and easy to bully.

Because he grew up in an orphanage with no one to rely on, he always endured whatever came his way. No matter how much he was bullied, he never fought back.

When Summer Star had first been formed, Xia Letian had been jealous of Xie Jixing’s face and often mocked him openly and targeted him secretly.

Giving him the worst clothes, deliberately ugly makeup—Xia Letian had arranged all of that himself. And that kid still had to smile and thank him for it.

So what’s going on today?

Xia Letian dug his nails into his palm. “Xie Jixing, don’t forget—why were you able to debut with Summer Star in the first place?”

“Why?” Xie Jixing put away his sneer and suddenly became serious. “Of course, because of my love for music and my singing ability.”

He was saying this on behalf of the unfortunate original owner of the body.

Even though he’d suffered endless suppression and injustice, until the moment of his death, that person had never thought of giving up singing.

“You know what Ji Jin did, don’t you?” Xie Jixing stepped closer and lowered his voice. “You didn’t just allow it and cover it up—didn’t you even help and encourage it?”

Xia Letian turned his head away, avoiding his gaze. Instinct told him that all he could do now was dodge the issue, or things would really spiral out of control.

He didn’t respond. Instead, he turned to Yu Xinghan, who had been standing behind them.

“Teacher Yu, I’m sorry for causing trouble for the production team today. On behalf of Summer Star, I’d like to apologize to everyone.”

He bowed deeply, then glanced at Xie Jixing and hurried backstage.

Only Xie Jixing remained onstage, wiping the milk tea stains off his clothes with tissues handed over by the staff.

With no more drama to watch, everyone refocused on their work. Only Yu Xinghan frowned as he stared at Xie Jixing’s back.

After so many years in the entertainment industry, he had seen all kinds of chaos. From Xie Jixing’s abnormal behavior today and his conversation with Xia Letian, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened backstage.

It seemed Ji Jin had done something to Xie Jixing’s throat, and Xia Letian and the manager knew about it but had hidden it.

Thinking of this, he called over a staff member and whispered a few instructions.

Since the incident happened during the broadcast, Yu Xinghan had to grasp the truth.

If it ever came out in the future, they needed to be prepared in advance and keep Orange TV and the show out of trouble.

After wiping himself clean, Xie Jixing turned around and happened to see this. He smiled gratefully at Yu Xinghan.

While Yu Xinghan was momentarily stunned by that smile, Xie Jixing burned another 1,000 yuan worth of merit points and poked at the “unlucky ghost” in his mind.

“Go follow that staff member. I think he’s going to check the surveillance. If you find evidence of Ji Jin drugging the water, steal it.”

The unlucky ghost nodded solemnly and floated away. On the way, he ran into the other three members of Summer Star and angrily kicked each of them with dark energy.

Hehe. So satisfying.

---

Ten minutes was too short. Ji Jin only had time to wash his face and change clothes. There was no time for makeup.

Compared to the magician with the monocle earlier, he looked like a completely different person.

Even Yu Xinghan couldn’t help looking at him a few more times. He even felt like poaching Summer Xing’s makeup artist.

During the cleanup, the agency had already come up with a strategy.

Ji Jin had to apologize, no doubt about that. But they couldn’t let Xie Jixing off easily.

They hired online trolls to flood the comments, accusing Xie Jixing of bullying teammates.

They reframed Ji Jin as a victim who had suffered long-term injustice and finally lost control.

The live broadcast resumed.

Ji Jin bowed deeply to the camera and picked up the microphone.

“I’m sorry. I deeply apologize for my out-of-control behavior during the live broadcast.”

“I failed to manage my emotions and set a bad example. I will work hard to improve my emotional control in the future.”

“Once again, I apologize to all staff and viewers. Sorry for the trouble.”

His eyes were swollen and red, as if he’d cried hard. With his hoarse voice, he looked pitiful.

Yet throughout his apology, he never mentioned Xie Jixing—the one who truly deserved it.

The trolls received their signal and began spamming.

【Xie Jixing bullies teammates—get out of the entertainment industry!】

When he stood up, Ji Jin saw the screen full of “Xie Jixing get out” and secretly curled his lips.

Then he immediately lowered his head, looking repentant.

But at that moment, the tide suddenly turned.

【Enough with the trolls. Who’s really bullying whom? One messed up a performance, the other deliberately splashed water and tried to hit someone, and now he’s playing victim. Do you think viewers are idiots?】

【Breaking news: my friend works at Orange TV. During the ad break, Xia Letian demanded that Xie Jixing apologize to Ji Jin. I heard it myself.】

【So “bullying” means Xie Jixing alone bullying two people? Impressive.】

These were paid-member comments that stayed longer and stood out among the bots.

Fans even started chatting to drown out the trolls.

【Has no one noticed? Both Xie Jixing and Ji Jin are barefaced now!】

【Yeah (doge). I used to think Summer Xing’s looks ranking was: super handsome Zhu Qian, sunny Xia Letian, then ugly Ji Jin and Xie Jixing.】

【I was wrong!】

【It’s super handsome Zhu Qian and gorgeous Xie Jixing!】

【Ji Jin is ugly alone, lol.】

【Xia Letian seems suspicious too. Have we ever seen him barefaced?】

【Hehehe (creepy smile) Xie Jixing is my new wife!】