The moment Shen Huai saw Su Ning, he was as shocked as if he had seen a ghost, utterly surprised by the ambush.

Li Chu also turned his head sharply, his face clearly surprised. It seemed Su Ning hadn’t informed even Li Chu, probably to prevent any slips.

However, it wasn’t entirely true that Li Chu had no suspicions.

Zhou Chunqing had just sat down when she was called away again. The doctor had just left, creating a gap where Zhou was left alone.

For an average trainee, this would be normal. They’re not big-time celebrities surrounded by people all the time, but for Su Ning, this was abnormal.

Li Chu didn’t see himself as arrogant, but he felt that with Young Master Su’s personality, it was unlikely that after the incidents on stage and in the makeup room, he would be at ease leaving him alone.

There wasn’t any solid evidence, but he just felt that Su Ning wouldn’t do that.

So, when the doctor left, he already had his suspicions. When Shen Huai appeared, his guess was confirmed. He didn’t plan to chat with Shen Huai, fearing that Young Master Su really knew more, so he didn’t bother to be polite, just wanting him to get lost.

However, when Su Ning appeared there, Li Chu was still surprised and somewhat touched.

He indeed wouldn’t leave him alone.

Then, Su Ning emerged from behind the screen, stood in front of Li Chu blocking him, and stared down Shen Huai, stepping forward and repeating, “If you dare, repeat what you just said.”

His voice was too cold. Caught off guard, Shen Huai’s face turned unnatural and he said, “Su Ning, you misunderstood. You don’t know what Li Chu did. Actually, he…”

“Cut the crap, trying to shift the blame onto someone else?” Su Ning interrupted him. “If I heard correctly, Shen Huai, you also intend to use your mentor status to arbitrarily destroy trainees, right?”

By now, it was pointless for Shen Huai to keep pretending. He stood up straight and replied, “So what if I did?”

“Su Ning, do you think you really have control over this show? You’re thinking too simply. I’m telling you, just a scandal like this isn’t enough to get me kicked out of the show. I’m very close with the CEO of Orange Video, and as a mentor, you can’t meddle with me…”

But his speech was cut off by Su Ning again.

Previously, it was with words, now with action.

Su Ning wasn’t listening to any more nonsense, so as he approached, he threw a punch right at Shen Huai’s nose.

Shen Huai was caught off guard.

Of course, he couldn’t beat Su Ning, who was even taller, and was completely stunned by the hit.

“You!”

He immediately covered his nose and fell back, his head “thumping” against a stubbornly unyielding door behind him, making a loud noise.

“…You’re crazy!”

He never expected Su Ning to defend Li Chu in such a barbaric manner, just like he had dealt with Jiang Chenfeng at Diao Chun Jiang.

Back then, Jiang Chenfeng was utterly helpless. He had planned to treat his wounds while waiting for Su Ning to return so he could get his revenge, but for some reason, Su Ning had really run off.

What could he do? Call the police? Could he expose what happened at Diao Chun Jiang? Even Jiang Chenfeng himself didn’t dare speak out, only swallowing his pain.

But this was not Diao Chun Jiang; this was a legitimate recording set, and Su Ning dared!

“Of course, the show crew can’t just fire you according to the contract, and even Director Chen Yuan is hindered by the platform executives; they can’t do much to you,” Su Ning said. “But Teacher Shen, I think you’ll choose to quit yourself.”

His eyes unblinking, he threw another punch.

Su Ning was not a brute; he subtly set traps for Shen Huai. It wasn’t just about venting anger now.

A performer with a facial injury generally won’t appear on camera. It’s inhumane, and even for Orange Video, for the sake of image, they would allow Shen Huai time to recover.

If you need to mark on the face, a cut wouldn’t do—it’s too easy to make a mistake. Su Ning lacked professional surgical knowledge. This was the most impactful yet minimal damage choice, the injury wasn’t severe, and it would heal in time, he was careful.

“Of course, Teacher Shen, you can sue me now if you want.

“I forgot to tell you, I’ve set up surveillance here, and it started recording before you came in.”

Su Ning squatted down, addressing Shen Huai, “A scandal won’t ruin you. You could wait for the heat to die down, then push everything onto Sang Le. I believe you’re capable of that. But your arrogant attitude toward the trainees and partners of Idol Star Map, after this blows up, I want to see who would dare to work with you?”

Shen Huai was speechless.

While medically, a nose injury wasn’t serious, getting punched still hurt a lot.

Shen Huai’s nose bled immediately, his nose throbbing with pain, and the back of his head ached tremendously. He couldn’t speak, and the stubborn door behind him wouldn’t budge; he could only continuously knock on it, hoping the noise would attract someone.

But no one came.

Why not?

Even if there weren’t many people around, with such noise, surely a couple of staff members would come to check?

What he didn’t know was that Shen Mingzheng was just outside.

Chen Tao was quietly reporting to him, “…The area has been cleared out, everyone’s busy upfront, and I’ve spoken to the doctor, no one should come by for the next ten minutes.”

Shen Mingzheng nodded, saying nothing.

He had already suspected that Shen Huai hadn’t completely cleaned out his placements in the crew. Now, it seemed they could weed out another batch to avoid errors in the upcoming matches.

Director Chen Yuan had already explained this, tacitly agreeing.

With so many people in the crew, some having minor agendas was harmless, but if it affected the stage, trainees, or the show itself, Chen Yuan wouldn’t tolerate it.

The incident with Sang Le couldn’t happen again; there wouldn’t be another chance for a replacement match to save the show.

So the two of them quickly reached an understanding and immediately cooperated.

Shen Mingzheng had initially wanted to discuss with Su Ning how to handle the situation, but it seemed Su Ning already had a plan, saying, “I’ll handle it, Young Shen just helps me with the aftermath.”

“Someone like Shen Huai, if he doesn’t experience it himself, he’ll never learn.”

So, the inside matters were left to Su Ning, and Shen Mingzheng didn’t ask further, even though strange screams were coming from inside, he stayed put as agreed, without any objection.

Even Chen Tao was a bit worried listening to the noises, “This won’t end badly, right? Shen Huai himself isn’t important, I’m just worried about Young Master Su getting burned.”

“It’s fine,” said Shen Mingzheng, trusting him, “He said he knows his limits.”

An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, he thought it was fair.

Ten minutes were more than enough for Su Ning to handle things inside, and after he was done, he looked at Shen Huai and added, “A doctor will come by in a bit. Teacher Shen, really careless, how could you trip on flat ground? Be more careful next time.”

Shen Huai had stopped banging on the door, lying on the floor covering his nose. Before Su Ning left with Li Chu, Shen Huai shook his hand and yelled, “There’s still the mentor scoring segment later, I haven’t voted yet, Su Ning, I’d like to see how you explain this to the crew and the audience!”

But Su Ning was not flustered at all.

“You’re thinking too much, we have a contingency plan, with or without you, Shen Huai, you’re really not as important as you think.”

Speechless, Shen Huai could only watch as Su Ning led Li Chu away. As Li Chu left, he turned his head and made a “ptui” gesture at him.

Too much bullying!

Shen Huai lay on the floor, furious and helpless.

But he really couldn’t figure it out, aside from the physical altercation, not letting the mentor score, who did Su Ning plan to have come in?

The media team? Even less likely.

The media was even more uncontrollable, and besides, Jiang Chenfeng was there, and suddenly changing the scoring team wouldn’t likely be accepted by the audience; it didn’t make sense.

This question was taken away by Li Chu, who also hadn’t figured it out.

He did feel a lot better after venting. Su Ning might seem emotionally charged, but every step he took was calculated, and he wouldn’t let momentary emotions affect the normal recording of the show.

Li Chu’s knee had been treated roughly, and not long after he left, the recording was about to restart. Su Ning didn’t say much to him, his demeanor completely unlike someone who had just beaten someone up, even speaking softly and politely with the doctor.

With time pressing, Li Chu didn’t get another chance to speak to him alone, nor did he have time to ask. Soon, he and the other well-rested trainees regrouped and returned to the stage.

But when the trainees returned to their positions and restarted, they found that the mentor seats were all empty, not just Shen Huai, but the other teachers were missing too.

Where were the teachers?

Wasn’t it time to score and rank?

The media team, having finished their break, were also puzzled, whispering to each other.

Then, the host came up.

The host of Idol Star Map, not one of the mentor team which included Shen Huai, had to be a professionally certified host as per regulations, though in reality, Shen Huai, as the spokesperson, did most of the talking and appearances, the host’s frequency of appearance was very low, but now he came up.

“Everyone must be surprised.”

“Actually, the rating for this segment, we previously teased everyone, isn’t handled by the mentors.”

“My mentors only provide some professional guidance on the stage, but the real assessment is done by these people—”

“To decide.”

As he spoke, another scene appeared on the large screen behind him, and the moment they appeared, both sides of the screen couldn’t help but exclaim, then excited.

—Because on the other end of the screen were also contestants of Idol Star Map.

Not those few from the replacement match, but those who made it into the top twenty. With Su Ning out and Sang Le absent, there were exactly eighteen seats, all familiar faces.

The host immediately began to explain.

Originally, at the beginning of the replacement match, the show crew had gathered these eighteen trainees together, already showing them the full performance via live broadcast.

These eighteen trainees were in their routine training mode before the finals, couldn’t leave the training camp, and all mobile phones had been collected. The show crew’s preparation for the replacement match was kept secret from them, though a few guessed something from the recent actions of the crew, but they didn’t expect it to come this quickly.

Today, the crew suddenly gathered them and called them to a small conference room with a large screen, and everyone was baffled.

Some were even roused from sleep after practicing all night, called forcibly from the dormitory, washed their faces, threw on clothes without changing out of their pajamas, some still wearing eye masks, some in slippers, all looking unprepared.

Not to mention the assistant director’s sudden announcement about what was so urgently needed, that bewildering feeling hit them instantly.

They not only had to watch but also had to vote to choose their competitors?!

The contestants of the replacement match also didn’t expect that from the beginning, all performances on the stage had been broadcast live to a small audience, all their reactions recorded.

This was what Su Ning and Director Chen Yuan had discussed half an hour before the start of the program.

His initial purpose was to prevent Shen Huai from causing trouble, and indeed, as he expected, this pre-arranged segment now served its purpose.

Thus, Su Ning hitting Shen Huai wasn’t a moment of anger. To be safe, he had already made all necessary preparations.