The villa gathering ended on an uneasy note.
Guan Junhao was ordered to hand over all his Weibo alt accounts, and Fan Qing explicitly forbade him from creating any new ones.
As for Huazhi, his situation wasn’t much better. Since learning that he had once been a heavy smoker, Jin Yi occasionally carried out surprise checks on him.
To be fair, random checks weren’t inherently bad.
Previously, Huazhi really had gone through a pack or even three a day—but that was because the company had been sidelining him, which frustrated him!
Since Vice President Chen stepped down, he had been freed, and the company, led by Fan Qing and Second Young Master Jin, had plastered his face on three magazine covers, handed him a perfume endorsement, and even cast him in a historical romance drama about to begin filming.
What was this?
Wasn’t this basically a cheat code for life?
Under such circumstances, why would he even touch cigarettes?
Yet, Jin Yi didn’t believe him.
Thus, Huazhi’s life became one of water and fire—Jin Yi would constantly replay his videos for “spot checks.”
Because the checks were so frequent, people on set quickly misunderstood him.
They assumed he had a girlfriend who was obsessively monitoring him.
Every time Huazhi heard their misconceptions, he hesitated.
Explain?
How could he explain?
Tell them his boss was worried that this beautiful cash cow might damage his value by smoking, so he monitored him every day?
Listen to that—it’s embarrassing!
With Guan Junhao and Huazhi’s situations temporarily under control, and internal issues at Tenghuang mostly resolved, Fan Qing finally prepared his next move.
He planned to move from his company over to Tenghuang.
Just as he was dozing off, someone brought him a pillow.
Meanwhile, Seven Days of Survival: Tidbits and Stories went viral online.
Someone maliciously created a comparison video showing the “luxuries” enjoyed by Jian Feiyang’s group and the miserable hardships of Jing Yuan’s group.
The video even maliciously guided viewers’ perceptions, making them believe that Jian Feiyang’s group’s good treatment was scripted by the production team.
This incited a furious reaction from all of Jing Yuan’s fans.
The first to blow up were the female celebrity fans.
“Production team scripted it? They said there was no script and everyone would just survive together? Ha, no script my foot! One group gets delicious food every day, and the other group starves for days! Look at that group—they’ve got two clueless girls, one fat guy, and one middle-aged person. Except Jian Feiyang, none of them are useful. That group lives like gods while Jian Feiyang’s group is pampered? Writing such a ridiculous script to prop up Jian Feiyang—don’t they feel guilty?”
“I feel for the girl! If she hadn’t been on her period, how could she not have found food? The production team is really stupid. Even if they’re scripting, they shouldn’t make it so absurd. Jian Feiyang’s group eats as if the food will be shoveled directly into their mouths—they can’t just consider the ladies a little?”
Equally furious were Jing Yuan’s fans.
Their earlier barrage in the comments section escalated, but their anger was unified—they believed the production team had scripted everything, had backstage manipulation.
Jian Feiyang’s group doing so well? That was all the production’s script.
The remaining three groups’ fans were also outraged.
Only, their anger mostly targeted Jing Yuan himself.
“I laughed. Some fans are jumping around pretending nothing’s wrong. Don’t think other things can cover up your hypocritical and self-righteous face. When things go wrong, isn’t your master partly to blame?”
“Sigh. I was just excited to see my brother on the show. Had I known he’d be teamed with this person, I wouldn’t have even joined the show.”
“Feeling sorry for him, stuck in that group and getting accused of leeching off someone else’s popularity… If that’s the case, why not just team up with Jian Feiyang? Even if it’s scripted, at least they can survive these seven days without being mistreated.”
Online, the debate raged on, yet surprisingly, none of the four people in the group, nor Jing Yuan himself, made any public statements.
Jing Yuan, of course, remained silent. While avoiding Zhuo Yuan—the pervert—was one reason for appearing on the show, boosting his popularity was also a major goal. He hadn’t had any strong projects lately, so this chance to surpass Jian Feiyang’s popularity was crucial; otherwise, his fanbase would face a steep decline.
The reason the other four remained silent was simple. First, the most popular fan, Jing Yuan, didn’t speak. Second, after watching the show, they each began to suspect—Jian Feiyang, who seemed not particularly clever, somehow managed to lead a group to live so well?
Unless… the production team secretly handed him a script.
There must be backstage manipulation.
Harboring such thoughts, they let the fans’ uproar run its course, quickly pushing the topic to trending status.
Jian Feiyang’s group also noticed the trending topic.
The two girl idols wanted to respond, but their manager stopped them.
Patiently, he explained:
“Why involve yourselves? Either someone is targeting Jian Feiyang, or there’s actually an inside story. Look at those other people’s fan counts. What do you have? Combined, you don’t even reach five million. How can you go up against them?”
The two girls were unwilling to back down.
“It can’t be scripted. We’ve seen Jian Ge in action—he’s really exhausted and working hard.”
“So what?”
The manager’s face darkened. “What is Jian Feiyang’s identity? He’s the young prince of the Jian family. If he doesn’t become a star, he can always go back and inherit the family business. What about you? If you scare away your fans, can you cover the company’s breach of contract fees?”
Similar conversations happened with Wan Zhuchiren and his manager.
In the end, Wan Zhuchiren compromised as well. As a host, he dared not offend the popular idols.
Only the comedian tried to publicly support Jian Feiyang—but the overwhelming backlash quickly forced him to disable his comments.
Public opinion was almost completely one-sided. Soon, some posts began targeting Fan Qing.
Some threads, posing as Jian Feiyang’s fans, started insulting him:
“Disgusting. I already felt something was off in the previous variety show. Jian Ge has always been an actor, and now his assistant, suddenly empowered and promoted to manager, makes him do comedy shows? Now even scripted, it can’t be so obvious! Such blatant scripts clearly signal insider deals. Does this manager even understand his job? No? Then don’t mislead people! Yue, our Yangyang, the young prince of the Jian family, has been ruined because of him!”
“Please, can the company replace this manager? I really don’t get why acting wasn’t enough. Why lower himself to become a variety show idol? It would be one thing if it helped his career, but before, things were fine. Now, with this scripted nonsense, he’s just turned into a scandal magnet. Yue, it’s so frustrating.”
“Can someone write a million-signature petition to get this manager replaced? Ever since he became Jian Ge’s manager, Jian Ge’s career has gone downhill. It’s really annoying.”
“Finally, someone criticizes Fan Qing. I thought nobody would even notice. Perhaps some don’t realize—while Yangyang was filming this show, he reportedly met with Tenghuang’s infamous Jin Er Shao. Maybe he was planning to jump ship entirely and didn’t care about Jian Feiyang, so he exploited him.”
Some even brought up Hu Ye Lin’s prior incident as evidence:
“Remember Hu Ye Lin complaining about Fan Qing? Apparently he’s involved with Jin Er Shao from Tenghuang. He must have already secured a future plan and didn’t care about Jian Feiyang, so he deliberately ruined him.”
“…This really got big.”
Fan Qing leaned back elegantly in his chair, fingers interlaced on the table.
His expression was too relaxed, his tone too calm—enough to infuriate the company executives who had called him in to question him.
“‘Big’? That’s all you’re going to say?”
The senior executive, practically laughing from anger, immediately dropped his face.
“Do you know how much the company’s reputation has been damaged this time? How much money lost?”
“I don’t really know. I wasn’t in that position.”
Fan Qing instinctively reached for something, then stopped.
Almost forgot—his thermos was broken.
Bang—!
The middle-aged man slammed the table, creating a huge clatter.
A little noisy, thought Fan Qing.
“Fan Qing! You better check your attitude right now!”
The executive’s face was full of disapproval. “You acted recklessly with Jian Feiyang’s scripted nonsense, and now the company’s reputation is damaged. What kind of attitude is this? Do you think just because Jian Ge let you be his manager, you can act however you like?”
“And if not?”
Fan Qing rested his chin lightly on the back of his hand, letting out a soft laugh.
“As the manager, of course I decide how Jian Feiyang develops. The company’s PR failing to prevent reputational damage—what does that have to do with me? Shouldn’t we blame those throwing dirt at the company instead?”
“…Has he always been like this?”
Peeking from the door, Jing Yuan frowned and quietly asked his manager:
“Coming in like this… Do you think Jian Zong will actually protect him?”
Even the manager didn’t understand.
Why was Fan Qing so brazen?
Jing Yuan thought for a moment, then let out a cold laugh.
“Definitely not.”
He spoke with confidence. “Did you forget? What does Jian Zong really want?”
What Jian Feishuo wanted most was for Jian Feiyang to return home and take over the family business.
And now, this is the perfect chance to put Jian Feiyang in a position where he can’t back down.
The manager furrowed his brows.
“But last time—”
Jing Yuan interrupted.
“I know what you’re going to say. But last time, we were careless. This time, we’ve directed the trouble toward Fan Qing, right? The script for Jian Feiyang’s side was arranged by Fan Qing—how is that our concern? As long as Jian Feiyang’s reputation isn’t damaged, Jian Zong won’t step in.”
The manager thought for a moment, then nodded in understanding.
“You’re right.”
His gaze fell on Fan Qing inside the room.
“This time, there’s no way Fan Qing can escape!”
Jing Yuan also looked toward the door, a trace of resentment in his eyes.
If it weren’t for Fan Qing’s script…
But Fan Qing wouldn’t be able to keep floundering for long.
He didn’t believe Fan Qing had the ability to turn the tables.
“Since you put it that way…”
Inside, Fan Qing’s voice suddenly rose.
He slowly stood up, his tone calm and measured.
“Fine. I’ll just terminate my contract with the company.”