All three members of the Pan family are suspects, but Pan Yu's motive and suspicion are more prominent, mainly because Xu Zifan has completely overshadowed Pan Yu in the recent competition. Pan Yu's fans are still vehemently criticizing Xu Zifan, and the police, having learned about the situation, have directly focused their attention on Pan Yu.
Pan Yu never dreamed he'd be arrested and taken to the police station the moment he got out. He was terrified. Not only had he never had any contact with the police in his two lives, but given his past actions, he couldn't rest easy. Especially since the police said Xu Zifan had already reported it to the police, but Xu Zifan had never mentioned it since returning to the training camp, yet he'd suddenly turned on him the day before. Did this mean the police had found evidence pointing to him? Otherwise, how could Xu Zifan be so certain?
Pan Yu gritted his teeth and denied harming Xu Zifan, but he kept his eyes downcast, avoiding the police's gaze to hide his inner panic, which only made the police more suspicious. During this time, the police had been investigating. Xu Zifan's roommates, sports buddies, and classmates had all been cleared of suspicion, and the landlord had provided hallway surveillance footage proving he had never entered Xu Zifan's room. Only Pan Yu, who always brought large bags of things to Xu Zifan's house, was the most likely person to have tampered with Xu Zifan's room.
After learning why the police were looking for them, Mr. and Mrs. Pan were extremely dissatisfied, stating that it was absolutely impossible and that this matter had nothing to do with their family. Mr. Pan said that after their divorce, Ms. Xu disappeared without a trace with the child. If it weren't for this incident, he wouldn't even know that the child had changed his surname, so how could she possibly harm him? Mrs. Pan also said that she would let the police investigate all their family's interactions over the years, but they had never had any contact with Ms. Xu and her child.
As for Pan Yu and Xu Zifan being friends, both of them thought it was a coincidence; perhaps they looked a bit alike, met, and became friends. They insisted their son would never harm anyone. During the investigation, their suspicion gradually diminished, but the police still requested a search of the Pan family home. Unfortunately, they found no hormone drugs and had to release them. Of course, the police still considered Pan Yu the prime suspect and would not give up the investigation.
Pan Yu was detained for 48 hours, but when he was released, he didn't feel relieved at all. The two days of waiting for the outcome were the greatest torture for him. He regretted it; he shouldn't have used this method. It was too dangerous; he almost got himself into jail. At this moment, he was filled with gratitude that he had been careful enough. Entering and leaving Xu Zifan's house as a friend made it difficult to leave any useful evidence; otherwise, he would have been finished.
Back home, Mr. Pan coldly questioned him about whether he had done it or not. Pan Yu flatly denied it, and before he could even try to deny it, Mrs. Pan had a huge argument with him, blaming him for scolding their son because of Xu Zifan. Mrs. Pan was shrewd; over the years, she had made the company jointly owned by the couple. If Mr. Pan wanted a divorce, he would lose half of the assets, which he was naturally reluctant to do. Therefore, Mrs. Pan no longer acted subserviently and tried to please him at home; she was quite assertive. Mr. Pan couldn't win the argument and slammed the door, leaving. Whether he went to the company or to his mistress's place, Mrs. Pan didn't care.
The police questioning and his parents' argument made Pan Yu even more agitated. He had been suffering from insomnia for many days and was overthinking things. Now all his negative emotions exploded at once. Ignoring his mother's attempts to comfort him, he slammed the door and went back to his room. He smashed everything he could in the room before collapsing onto the bed, exhausted. However, he was still unable to fall asleep because of his troubled thoughts.
When he was arrested that day, the staff went to the police station with Pan's parents to find out what happened. They were shocked by the situation involving Pan Yu and Xu Zifan and rushed back to report to the director. The director immediately summoned Xu Zifan. He knew that Xu Zifan's weight gain was due to hormones and had even reported it to the police for investigation, but he never expected it to be related to Pan Yu. Pan Yu isn't famous yet, and no one has revealed his arrest, but the production team still needs to prepare public relations measures in case the feud between Pan Yu and Xu Zifan comes to light and they can't let it affect the show.
Xu Zifan suggested, "Pan Yu and I used to be good brothers, as the audience saw in the first episode. I think when editing the third and fourth episodes, we could cut some scenes of us drifting apart, letting the audience see that there were problems in our relationship, even some scenes of Pan Yu looking upset. That way, when things come to light later, the audience will be more likely to accept that he's a scheming person, and it will only affect him, not the production team or me." He smiled at the director, "I still want to go all the way in the show, and I believe I have the ability to do so."
Given the choice between someone who seems likely to debut as the center of attention and someone with mediocre grades who is also likely to commit crimes, the production team naturally knew how to choose. In the first two episodes, the jokes surrounding Xu Zifan certainly boosted their ratings.
The editors searched for seven or eight shots showing Pan Yu's unnatural expressions. They also found clips of Pan Yu's attitude towards his teammates before and after the performance, which they hadn't originally planned to air, but now that they'd decided to leave him out, they included those two segments. Someone who chooses teammates, steals the center position, and then not only doesn't apologize for his mistakes but also throws a tantrum will definitely attract a lot of criticism. Furthermore, Pan Yu's expression while watching Xu Zifan perform backstage didn't seem like that of a good friend; rather, it looked like that of an enemy who wanted Xu Zifan to make a mistake—all points of contention.
After editing, the third and fourth episodes subtly revealed ten flaws in Pan Yu's character. Some were obvious, others subtle. Those who pay attention to these aspects will definitely notice them, while those who don't won't find them unpleasant to watch. Every editor is skilled in this area.
Just as these issues were being resolved, the program's PR team anxiously approached the director, saying that negative information about the three mentors had surfaced online, and the attacks were quite aggressive. They asked how to handle the situation. The director contacted the three mentors while simultaneously using his connections to investigate whether a rival had targeted them after seeing their program go viral. The teams of Bai Yuchen, Bai Xingchen, and Yu Hai also sprang into action.
Yu Hai works for Shengxing Entertainment. He's on the rise, and the company values him highly, so they immediately had the public relations department discuss a response. It was only later that they discovered what Yu Hai looked like before his plastic surgery.
The photos did indeed leak from a forum post from years ago, and there was no way to refute it, so he decided to simply admit it. These days, admitting to plastic surgery might displease some people, but it's not a big deal. As long as Yu Hai's attitude is correct, he might even win over many people's understanding. After all, everyone admires him for who he is now, for his charisma on stage. Wouldn't it be more pleasing to everyone if he became more handsome? He only had work done on his own face; he didn't harm anyone else, so it's not a major mistake.
Bai Xingchen and her brother are in a difficult situation. Bai Yuchen is a popular idol with a huge fan base. Suddenly, it was revealed that he has a girlfriend of three years, which has caused an uproar among his fans! Some fans said they would never accept their idol dating. Some fans said that dating is one thing, but he can't keep it from his fans. Some fans said that Bai Yuchen was just using them to boost his popularity and had no regard for them at all.
With so many fans, all sorts of opinions have emerged, including numerous casual observers offering their opinions. Even a minor celebrity trying to ride the wave of popularity claimed that idols shouldn't date, arguing it's part of their professional ethics. Bai Yuchen's die-hard and rational fans couldn't control the situation, only repeatedly saying they wouldn't spread rumors and would only believe anything after Bai Yuchen himself spoke, hoping everyone would calm down.
Then Lin Haodong posted another ambiguous Weibo post, wishing Bai Xingchen happiness. At such a sensitive time, this simple sentence seemed to pin the blame on Bai Xingchen. While everyone was still debating the possibility of Bai Xingchen cheating on Xu Zifan, this move by her boyfriend made everyone wonder what to think. Lin Haodong's popularity has increased significantly since he and Bai Xingchen got together, and many of his fans are die-hard supporters. Upon seeing Lin Haodong's Weibo post, they all flocked to Bai Xingchen's Weibo to hurl insults at her.
Bai Xingchen's appearance is so strikingly beautiful that she could convincingly portray a fox spirit, making it believable that such a creature actually looks like a fox. She's beautiful, but to many, this beauty symbolizes restlessness, making it easy to believe she's promiscuous. Bai Xingchen's fans and Lin Haodong's fans are locked in a fierce battle, constantly demanding that Bai Xingchen come forward and clarify the truth.
The Bai siblings both trended on Weibo, with many netizens saying they had problems with their upbringing, otherwise how could the two siblings be so bad in character? At the peak of their popularity, the topic even crashed Weibo for ten minutes!
After they became famous, they opened their own studios. Their public relations teams were relatively weak, though they had long-term online trolls working with them. But they couldn't control this situation; they could only wait and see how the siblings responded. Bai Yuchen wasn't worried about his own affairs, but he was very worried about his sister. He drove to Bai Xingchen's residence and asked, "Sister, what are you planning to do? The problem lies with Lin Haodong; we can't let him smear you."
Bai Xingchen calmly cut a plate of fruit for him and said with a smile, "Don't worry, when we first became famous, there were all sorts of fake rumors and nothing happened, so what could happen now? It's all thanks to Xu Zifan reminding me that I took the breakup a little more seriously, otherwise it would have been really hard to turn things around this time."
Bai Yuchen was somewhat surprised, "What does this have to do with Xu Zifan? Speaking of which, you should praise other people more in the future, and the rumors between you and him should fall apart on their own."
Bai Xingchen shook her head. "Why would I do that? I praise the people I admire. I even helped him get a role from the director of my new drama, and we're just waiting for him to finish recording the show and join the crew. What's the point of being a celebrity if I limit myself because of gossip?"
"Okay! Just don't be unhappy because of those who criticize you. I think so too. If life is too restrictive, it's better not to be a celebrity. If you are a celebrity, you need to be mentally stronger."
"Don't worry about me, I'm very strong. Those who truly like me will continue to like me, and those who don't, let them say what they want." Bai Xingchen opened her computer and showed Bai Yuchen the photos and chat screenshots. "I got these from Lin Haodong's phone when we had dinner together last time. Originally, I was thinking that if we broke up, we would break up and I wouldn't pursue what happened between him and that actress, and everyone would be fine. But Xu Zifan overheard your call last time, and he said that people in the industry will do anything for fame and advised me to be careful. I thought so too, being careful isn't much trouble, so I got these, and I didn't expect they would actually come in handy."
"That's fine then. I'm planning to hold a press conference to announce my wedding date. What do you think?"
"Sure, didn't you say you wanted to be in a relationship a while ago? You never said you were single. Let's hold a press conference together."