Li Chu felt that Su Ning was really a contradictory person.

Sometimes he even wished that none of those past events had happened, and only the current Su Ning remained.

Sometimes Su Ning treated him like a child but also held him to unrealistically high expectations, just like those clueless parents who mindlessly slap on a baby filter in their social media posts.

After all, none of the competitors in the replacement competition were simple characters, and now with Qilin involved, did he really have a chance of winning like Su Ning said?

Li Chu stopped drinking water and, after a moment of silence, spoke up, “Young Master, have you ever considered that maybe what President Liang said is true? I might really not win this competition.”

Although he liked to put on a façade, this time he was truly being honest.

After his family fell from grace and having gone through so much, at his young age, he was merely putting on a brave face while inwardly, he had already lost all confidence, feeling utterly empty inside.

“How will you know if you don’t try?” Su Ning said, “I believe in you.”

After watching his performance, Su Ning was even more convinced of this—Li Chu could very well be the protagonist.

That day, Li Chu felt somewhat dazed by Su Ning’s coaxing. Even after a whole day of dance practice, he wasn’t tired and even hummed a tune on his way back to the dormitory.

He hadn’t felt this happy in a long time; it seemed like he was seeing hope again, and this hope was growing.

Now, Su Ning was like a warm light—who wouldn’t like that?

The preparation from planning to the actual filming of the replacement competition would take a few days. Su Ning visited him during these days, and Li Chu grew more accustomed to his presence. On the last two days, different teachers were specifically brought in to give pointers, and a doctor visited several times to help him condition his body.

It was said that Su Ning even argued with some internal staff over these two teachers.

The other shareholders who had lost the race for the position of manager were indifferent and unhelpful, even obstructive. Su Hongda was somewhat reluctant too. These two special training teachers were those that Su Ning had stubbornly brought in with Director Yao’s help.

Director Yao, since the last incident, had become quite convinced by the young master. Right now, whatever Su Ning said, she would follow, almost as if she had sworn allegiance to him.

But she didn’t own shares in the company, and her tenure wasn’t long, with the public relations department ranking low within the company, occasionally having to take the blame. Her influence on company decisions was indeed limited.

However, one good thing about Director Yao was her genuine affection for Guang Ying Entertainment.

It was said that when she was young, she liked a TV series produced by Guang Ying Entertainment so much that she turned down offers from other major companies to come here. She also expressed deep concerns about the current state of the company.

Compared to Shen Huai’s trivializing, Su Hongda’s attempt to cover up, her descriptions were much more straightforward.

“I can’t get much information from the finance department; even if you go over there, they’ll put up all sorts of obstacles. But some departments haven’t paid salaries for over a month now,” she said. “I’m not the only one who’s noticed this. Quite a few senior employees felt something was wrong and left last week.”

The situation at Guang Ying Entertainment was much worse than it appeared from the outside. She wanted to remind Su Ning to be more vigilant and not to ignore other matters.

Su Ning was also well aware of this.

In just these few days, he had personally experienced everything from Su Hongda to the many shareholders messing things up.

These people only looked out for their interests, not considering the company at all. Even though they wouldn’t let him see the books, the fact that the company had blindly expanded and hired excessively, and made many poor investments over the past two years, was undeniable.

Su Hongda was stubborn, and these shareholders dared to bribe Liang Xiaoliang so blatantly—it was evident they were often embezzling for personal gain. With such ridiculous internal affairs, the scenario described in the script about Guang Ying Entertainment going bankrupt seemed imminent.

In fact, according to normal thinking, the best choice at this moment would be to abandon the company and flee.

Even without considering the large inheritance in the marriage agreement, the original owner also had properties and cars. Although there wasn’t much money left in the account now, he would receive another five million next year. Abandoning Guang Ying Entertainment and living carefree for the rest of his life would be enough, which was probably also the backup plan his parents had left him.

But for the current Su Ning, running away was something he simply couldn’t do.

He had already taken care of half of the original owner’s mess. In the dance studio, Li Chu might sigh that he had no hope, but he had been especially hardworking these days. Su Ning couldn’t just abandon everything now.

At least, he had to fulfill the promise he made to Li Chu.

“I’m not someone who can give up halfway,” he said, looking through the glass at Li Chu in the dance studio, as if murmuring to himself yet also speaking to Director Yao, “Since this matter has come to my hands, there’s no reason to give up. Let’s take it one step at a time.”

That was just his nature, a professional habit, unavoidable.

If Guang Ying Entertainment really had nothing good left, Su Ning would be the first to make a clean break, faster than anyone. But seeing Li Chu, it was like spotting a sprout in the mud.

Even if he wasn’t the protagonist, what a good seedling he was—how could he bear to not let such a child shine?

After listening, Director Yao also sighed.

“To be honest, I was also thinking of leaving,” she said. “But seeing you now, you really remind me a bit of the old Mr. Su. I thought I’d stay a while longer.”

Su Ning and Director Yao talked a bit more and then he walked into the dance studio.

The teacher he had hired was a proud person, quite reserved, but just an hour into his arrival, he actually started to praise Li Chu.

“His basics are very solid, just a little young, lacking stage experience,” the teacher said. “His attitude is also very serious, he has great potential given time.”

Su Ning responded modestly, “Oh, where, where, please take more trouble.”

His words were humble like a doting parent, but his mood visibly improved. He sat next to the teacher and even gestured for Li Chu to come over and take a drink of water.

Li Chu ran over, drenched in sweat. He didn’t reach for the cup but quickly bent down to sip through the straw in Su Ning’s hand, then ran back.

This teacher was quite famous in the industry, and it was not easy to secure his time. Li Chu didn’t want to waste it, so without much thought, he just ran back. It wasn’t until then that he realized how stiff his actions had become.

Even if Li Chu didn’t want to admit it, his impression of Su Ning had indeed improved greatly over the past few days. This seemed very straightforward.

One thing could be feigned, but could everything be feigned?

That’s what Zhou Chunqing said.

Her personality was simple, and she hadn’t had much contact with Su Ning before. Her negative impressions of him weren’t deeply ingrained. Knowing that he had sent Li Chu to the replacement competition, she now firmly believed that Su Ning was a good person and that previous incidents were misunderstandings.

The facts were indeed like this; with Su Ning around, recent days had been much better.

Li Chu truly loved dancing, and times like these when he didn’t have to think about anything else had been rare for him, almost making him forget that he was still burdened with many troubles.

After several days of intense training, he soon received a notification that he would be going to the replacement competition venue tomorrow.

Su Ning had agreed to pick him up early, urging him to go back and rest early tonight and not to stay too late in the dance studio. Li Chu was very obedient.

He had just returned to the dormitory and was preparing to rest when he heard a sound from his phone in his pocket—it was a message from someone he had set to special alert.

Li Chu thought it was Zhou Chunqing and, with a smile, reached for his phone to reply. But when he opened it, he saw it was someone else.

His pinned contact “S”—he knew who it was from the start.

It was Shen Huai.

Seeing this name, Li Chu’s smile faded, and he didn’t even need to read the content of the messages.

“Li Chu, you’re going to the replacement competition tomorrow, right? I have to remind you, whatever Su Ning has told you, it’s all to use you. You absolutely can’t listen to him.”

“This replacement competition is not as simple as you think.”

These words were like a bucket of cold water poured over Li Chu’s head.

He didn’t reply immediately, standing by the door for a while before slowly sitting down by the bed, trying to calm his emotions.

The deal with Shen Huai had been initiated by the latter, and the night at Diao Chun Jiang had also been orchestrated by him. Shen Huai had said that this would bring down Su Ning and Jiang Chenfeng and save Zhou Chunqing and himself.

Li Chu hadn’t fully believed it, but he had no choice at the time.

As it turned out, Shen Huai was full of lies.

The trending news only exposed Su Ning, not even touching Jiang Chenfeng.

Shen Huai had never intended to target him, right?

If it weren’t for Su Ning’s coat wrapping him up, Li Chu would have been implicated for who knows how long, while the most evil Jiang Chenfeng would have gotten away scot-free.

Li Chu realized this but hadn’t been foolish enough to confront Shen Huai, and now the latter still had the audacity to come and say these things.

Suppressing his anger, Li Chu replied, “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the replacement competition. This is an opportunity that belongs to me. It has nothing to do with our previous deal, and you don’t need to dictate everything to me.”

Shen Huai saw the message but didn’t reply; instead, he immediately called. Li Chu stared at the phone screen for a while before finally picking up.

At first, Shen Huai’s tone was reasonable, but when Li Chu openly accused him of reneging on their deal and not intending to target Jiang Chenfeng, the latter’s temper seemed to instantly flare, tearing off his gentle facade.

“Li Chu, I’m not discussing this with you; I’m informing you,” Shen Huai’s patience had worn thin, no longer pretending, “Do you think you have a choice? Even if you really participate, you know how you’re supposed to perform on the show, whether you should stand out or not!”

“Why should I…”

“It’s because you and I are in the same boat now! It’s because Zhou Chunqing still can’t break her contract! Do you want me to bring up your relationship with Zhou Chunqing to Jiang Chenfeng right now? Wasn’t it her who helped you that night? Otherwise, how could you have walked out of Diao Chun Jiang unscathed? Think about it, if Jiang Chenfeng knows she’s disloyal, would she still have her peaceful days?”

Li Chu fell silent.

Zhou Chunqing had indeed used going out to film as an excuse last time, which had significantly lessened the fickle Jiang Chenfeng’s interest in her. Moreover, this Young Master Jiang had not fully recovered from the beating he received from Su Ning at Diao Chun Jiang, and recent days had indeed been peaceful.

Moreover, with Li Chu’s opportunity at Idol Star Map, she had been quite happy for a long time.

He remained silent, and the other side also didn’t speak, seemingly giving him time to think.

However, due to this silent pause, Li Chu could hear some faint sounds from Shen Huai’s end. He felt like there was more than just Shen Huai there, hearing someone crying pitifully, with a slight whine.

Li Chu frowned, turned up the volume to hear more clearly. His phone was a cheap, old model he had bought on discount; if it had one advantage, it was that the volume could be very loud, which came in handy now.

“Huai, what about this replacement competition? My ranking won’t drop, right?”

“How can they talk about me like that on the internet?”

“My hand really hurts, Huai, look at me, please help me, I’m doing all this for you.”

That voice…

Li Chu found it somewhat familiar.

After a while, Shen Huai heard the other side’s response.

“You have Sang Le with you, right? I watched Idol Star Map, I recognize his voice,” Li Chu said calmly, “What those people said is right; he really did fall on purpose, no wonder you’re so anxious.”

“If I’m not mistaken, Sang Le is also your man, right? He climbed up the rankings with sympathy votes from his accident last time. Now with the replacement competition coming, if things go smoothly, public interest shifts, how can he continue playing his sob story?”

“You also don’t want Su Ning’s plan to go smoothly. On one hand, you need to appease your own people, naturally, you can’t let me perform well. Am I right?”

Shen Huai was startled.

He knew Li Chu was no simple character, but he hadn’t expected him to be this perceptive.

With Li Chu’s words, Sang Le’s slight sobbing suddenly stopped, further confirming his correctness.

Shen Huai had indeed been having a tough time lately.

Su Ning’s recent press conference had been quite successful. Although some still held grievances, the matter had essentially passed in the public discourse.

Anyone with clear eyes could see that the subsequent handling of the incident had nothing to criticize. The Idol Star Map production team wasn’t sitting idly; the timing of the replacement competition was stretched enough to allow the injured Sang Le to recover and participate normally in the finals.

The platform at the game wasn’t high, and the on-site doctor prepared by the production team had already handled the injuries adequately before Sang Le was sent to the hospital. His injuries weren’t serious.

Chen Yuan was a straightforward person. After being questioned by fans, she simply coordinated with the hospital to publicly release part of the medical records. Sang Le’s hospitalization and rest were also paid for by the production team at Hai Cheng’s best private hospital. Fans were of course still dissatisfied, but real passersby really weren’t that outraged anymore.

With nothing to criticize here, some people started theorizing conspiracy theories because of what Su Ning had said.

Shen Huai, who had previously had a good reputation, was also criticized for overstepping and acting like a saint, almost losing control of his official account’s comment section, along with Sang Le also suffering.

If it really wasn’t Su Ning who pushed, and Sang Le didn’t speak up at the hospital, just acting pitiful as if he was coerced, it initially indeed looked tragic, inciting people to scold Su Ning. But the press conference’s explanation made it seem wrong.

Under the live broadcast cameras, only the two of them were there, and it was Sang Le who fell on his own.

You should know, Sang Le garnered sympathy votes over his fall, gaining many passersby votes overnight. Many empathetic influencers even spent money to vote for him, openly stating they couldn’t stand capital bullying ordinary people. According to internal data, he climbed from barely making the seventh place and rose significantly in a short period.

Idols have fans, haters, and rivals, especially in such cutthroat ranking competitions. These votes were real, and although it wasn’t the final yet, short-term fluctuations couldn’t entirely decide the outcome, but other fans were displeased.

Everyone relied on talent, but why should he rely on a sob story?

With Su Ning no longer a threat, wouldn’t it be better to crush a scheming, malicious, sympathy-seeker like Sang Le?

Modern-day Holmes were none other than serious fan detectives. The live broadcast video was picked apart frame by frame. The analysis proved that Sang Le very likely fell on his own.

That analysis chart was reshared over ten thousand times, even circulated by some influencers who had realized what was happening, and it looked set to break twenty thousand tonight.

Sang Le was a more useful and obedient pawn for Shen Huai, not yet disposable, and Su Ning leading a well-done replacement competition would be of no benefit at all.

Thus, Shen Huai had pulled on Li Chu’s thread again.

“You’re using my sister’s situation to threaten me, Shen Huai. You really won’t do anything to Jiang Chenfeng. Instead, you plan to use this leverage to step on Su Ning and seek a partnership with Jiang Chenfeng,” Li Chu thought it through and spoke very calmly, “You’ve always been deceiving me, just using me. I was too naive about you before.”

Shen Huai tried to argue a few points: “It’s not like that, Li Chu. Did Su Ning tell you something? He…”

“You dare bring up Su Ning, you’ve always wanted to harm him! It’s always been you harming him! You’re not even worth a single finger of the young master!”

Realizing the truth about Sang Le, the now enlightened Li Chu was even more furious.

But the person on the other end of the phone, Shen Huai, was incredulous.

“You’re speaking for Su Ning?”

“Li Chu, have you been brainwashed by him? You should know, this replacement competition doesn’t count for much. Even if you win, it’s hard to make it into the main group. You’ll still have to return to Guang Ying Entertainment. What’s the point?”

Li Chu snorted coldly: “He said, my participation in the competition is the point. And even if I can’t make it, can Qilin’s not make it either? Can you threaten them?”

Shen Huai: “What about Qilin? Is this industry really just about talent? I’m still an Idol Star Map mentor; I have plenty of ways to make the audience dislike them during this period.”

Li Chu: “…”

Based on Su Ning’s experience, what Shen Huai said wasn’t an exaggeration.

He disliked this person even more now, even feeling nauseated.

Su Ning wouldn’t say such things.

He was still participating as an investor in discussions with the production team. Chen Yuan had recently been almost completely deferential to him, and Li Chu had heard him on calls and seen with his own eyes that Su Ning had never considered using such means to suppress opponents, only striving to do his best.

Talking with someone like Shen Huai instead reminded him just how good the current Su Ning was.

It must have been this person who led the young master astray before, all Shen Huai’s fault!

No wonder the young master doesn’t even glance at him now!