CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol

Chapter 228 - 221: The More We Struggle, the More Miserable We Become

Parking lot outside the apartment.

"Brother Zhang, shouldn’t we handle this? If the police discover the cameras we installed..." Luo Ning cautiously asked while sitting inside the Pastor.

"No need. If you go, it’ll leave traces. Modern investigation techniques are too advanced," Zhang Yuzhe replied expressionlessly.

"I already told Jiaqi when she moved in—for safety reasons, there are cameras installed inside the apartment. Even if the police investigate, they’ll just assume Jiaqi is overly cautious, which is why she installed so many." Zhang Yuzhe added by way of explanation.

"Unbelievable that the neighbor next to her turned out to be a fugitive! The property management company rented out the place to him while the original homeowner was away," Luo Ning said, speechless.

Zhang Yuzhe’s face darkened significantly: "From now on, we need to be even more careful."

"Yeah! Who’d have thought a mentally deranged lunatic would be spying on her?" Luo Ning nodded anxiously. "Brother Zhang, that man saw you. If he gets caught afterward..."

"Don’t worry! I’ve already sent Qiangzi and the others to take care of it," Zhang Yuzhe said tiredly. "Luo Ning, let’s go."

Galaxy Company was also shocked upon learning about Zhang Yu’s incident and requested relevant departments to keep the matter confidential.

The relevant departments agreed. Although Zhang Yu was a minor figure, Galaxy’s reputation was huge. If the incident went public, it would lead to immense pressure.

Because of the cameras inside the apartment, the police quickly uncovered the truth.

The fugitive assumed Li Jiaqi was someone’s mistress, so he tried to have relations with her and extort money in the process.

But Li Jiaqi had a last-minute commercial shoot that night and didn’t return home early. Unable to contain himself, the fugitive directly tortured and killed Zhang Yu.

To cover up the incident, Galaxy told the public that Zhang Yu was unwell and couldn’t attend performances.

The matter caused only minor ripples within Galaxy fan circles.

Traumatized, Li Jiaqi also applied for leave from Galaxy and moved back into the dormitory.

The next day when police found the fugitive, they discovered he was already dead in a field on the outskirts, with syringes and other items scattered around him.

After verification, the police concluded that he died from an overdose of drugs. Given his history of drug abuse, no one suspected anything else.

Even if anyone did, no one would dig deeper for such a scumbag.

While Xiao Du was struggling with anti-fan attacks, he suddenly noticed that posts defaming Ye Yuwei were being directly deleted from major websites, and many accounts had been permanently suspended.

It was clear that a large company had intervened, and it certainly wasn’t Galaxy.

This thrilled Xiao Du and his peers, while also leaving them guessing who could have done it.

Xiao Du could only speculate, but some had already found out.

Wu Jingxiang sat in his office, staring at the report Wu Hao had handed him. That extraordinarily composed face was now shadowed with gloom.

"Penguin has stepped in to help Ye Yuwei!"

"That’s correct, cousin."

Wu Hao didn’t elaborate. The primary force behind the online campaign defaming Ye Yuwei was their group.

Wu Jingxiang’s goal was to completely destroy Ye Yuwei’s reputation. He believed that after experiencing brief glory during the show, a failed debut would leave her unwilling to fade into obscurity.

If she wanted fame, she would inevitably return to him and become his pet.

But Penguin’s intervention had thrown off his plans.

"It seems Ye Yuwei must have reached some kind of agreement with Penguin," Wu Jingxiang said coldly.

"If that’s the case, then Ye Yuwei’s debut is practically guaranteed," Wu Hao replied.

"Hmph! I wouldn’t jump to conclusions. Don’t forget what the higher-ups think of low-quality entertainers."

Wu Hao couldn’t suppress a wave of irritation. His cousin was utterly obsessed. To go to such lengths for this young girl—was it really necessary? If he wanted to play around, wouldn’t spending a few million surely get her?

"Cousin, send someone to her hometown. I refuse to believe she doesn’t have any dirt on her," Wu Jingxiang demanded.

Wu Hao could only comply with his cousin’s orders.

Meanwhile, the behind-the-scenes players, capable of influencing these contestants’ futures, were all making their moves.

Offline, fans’ support activities were in full swing.

To ensure their favorite girls could debut, fan clubs’ fundraising campaigns were operating at full steam.

Among them, Lv Fangxin’s fan club stood out as peculiar for not relying on organized fundraising, instead focusing on individual fans voting independently.

Even so, Lv Fangxin’s actual numbers were far ahead of the pack.

This indicated that her active fanbase was the largest among all contestants.

At the same time, Meng Meixuan’s fan club, the "Meixuan Celestial Bold Data Team," officially registered on Weibo and gained Blue V certification.

The team boasted more than 70,000 followers, making it a certified large-scale data station.

Fans had already organized over 30 fundraising events to push her debut.

Similarly, Wu Zixuan’s fan club wasn’t far behind. While it lacked the momentum of Meng Meixuan’s, its fundraising totals were about the same.

Lai Ruoxuan’s fan club couldn’t be overlooked either; since the show’s beginning, her fundraising campaigns had consistently ranked in the top ten, thanks to her immense popularity on anime-centric websites.

Within the base, all the girls were preparing for their pre-performance rehearsals.

Penguin had clearly stated that making it into the top 22 would guarantee resource support.

Though some girls knew they couldn’t debut, encouraged by Penguin’s promise and the slim chance of success, they still fought relentlessly.

During this period, Lv Fangxin felt like she was reaching her limit—she practically lived in the practice room around the clock.

Initially, her group wanted to abandon the idea of dancing due to time constraints and focus purely on standing-stage vocals.

But Hu Binbin, their teacher, urged them to take their responsibility to the audience seriously and insisted they sing and dance.

Lv Fangxin originally thought being in the songwriting and singing group would allow her to avoid the dancing she dreaded most. But in the end, there was no escape.

The few of them could only dive into intense practice, but the results were far from ideal.

Due to insufficient rest, their minds were foggy, making it nearly impossible to memorize the dance moves quickly.

"Chen Yinghan, I can’t do this anymore. I really can’t." Lv Fangxin hugged her friend, feeling on the verge of collapse.

Chen Yinghan looked at her with pain in her heart, reached out, slightly tiptoed, and touched Lv Fangxin’s forehead, making sure she wasn’t feverish before feeling a little relieved.

These past few days, colds had spread rapidly within the base, terrifying everyone.

"Fangxin, hang in there. Follow me and do the duck wobble movements," Chen Yinghan said.

Lv Fangxin immediately followed her instructions—it was a self-invented method to stay awake.

Lu Xiaoman watched with a sneer; in her eyes, Lv Fangxin was just a burden.

"Fangxin, drink some goji berry tea!" Liu Feiyu handed over her cup.

"Thank you, guys. I’m fine. I’ll pass rehearsal this afternoon for sure," Lv Fangxin tried to motivate herself.

But reality was harsh. Underneath the rehearsal stage, Hu Binbin frowned grimly, his expression heavy.

Meanwhile, Lv Fangxin felt so weak she could barely stay awake—and even forgot the lyrics to the song.

The other team members were also in terrible shape; even Meimei and Liu Feiyu, the most skilled among them, made mistakes during their dance moves.