novelraw Chapter 280 - 273: The Battle of Choosing Songs
Chapter 280 - 273: The Battle of Choosing Songs
The sky had brightened completely by now.
In the business van, Yang Xiaoyue was stunned to hear Sun Miao reveal the name of the perpetrator, almost unable to believe her ears.
"It was her..."
"Yes, if not for undeniable evidence, I wouldn’t have believed it either."
"How did she poison them?"
Yang Xiaoyue felt a chilling sensation down her spine—this person was as venomous as a snake.
"She stored alcohol in a specially designed bracelet."
"The cologne was something Ye Yuwei’s dorm already had, left in their bathroom for use."
"She mixed the two and smeared it on the blades of the hairdryer fan."
"When Ye Yuwei and the others used the hairdryer to dry paint, the substance evaporated."
Sun Miao explained how the crime was carried out.
"Absolutely ingenious; she must’ve pulled off things like this before, or she wouldn’t have thought of it."
"Xiaoyue, how should we handle this person?"
Yang Xiaoyue was deep in thought, conflicted within herself.
"I think I’ll need to report this to Mr. Wan and let him decide!"
It was the only solution Yang Xiaoyue could come up with.
After nearly a sleepless night, Lu Bingbing, Lv Fangxin, Fu Xiaoyu, Wu Zixuan, Wu Meiyu, and Wang Na were arranged by the program team to visit Ye Yuwei’s group.
The program team also planned segments for them to meet the doctor and inquire about the condition of the patients.
However, in the released footage regarding the four individuals’ medical situations, it was Wang Na who provided all the information.
Clearly, the program team knew maliciously editing the doctor’s words would lead to trouble.
Officially, the program claimed it was arranging a visit.
In reality, the visit lasted barely fifteen minutes.
Outsiders naturally remained unaware of the eerie winds swirling within the base.
Even if some news leaked out, it was either taken out of context or deliberately released by the program team for fans and competitors to learn about.
The formaldehyde poisoning of Ye Yuwei’s group quickly "leaked" online.
The internet was flooded with various rumors, yet the evening’s broadcast of the diffraction program revealed the "truth."
Since the sisters were fine, the pursuit of "career" must go on as usual.
Xiao Du, relieved that Ye Yuwei was unharmed, suddenly discovered something shocking.
The Wu Zixuan family wanted to switch their allegiance to "Bright Spark."
The reason given was that Wu Zixuan’s fans felt the program team was maliciously cutting her footage to frame her as a decorative prop. This time, they wanted to support her with an explosive stage and help her turn the tide...
The justification seemed plausible, but Xiao Du thought it was utter nonsense.
As a prominent fan known within the circle, he knew song choices for votes were essentially hinted at by the companies supporting these trainees.
Besides, they’d already invested so much money upfront; fans’ funds weren’t unlimited.
And instead of targeting any random opponent, Wu Zixuan’s fans specifically decided to take on Meng Meixuan.
Frowning, Xiao Du opened Meng Meixuan’s Weibo page.
Sure enough, countless comments below were discussing this issue.
Meng Meixuan’s top fan expressed immense anger over the matter.
They claimed this song was originally chosen by their side first, especially since both individuals were backed by the same company.
For Wu Zixuan’s fans to behave this way was utterly unscrupulous.
They declared that if Wu’s fans insisted on fighting for this song, they’d definitely go all out.
Meanwhile, fans of Zhang Zijing, whose popularity wasn’t very high, claimed they planned to snatch Wu Zixuan’s initial choice, "Tears of the Wheel of Destiny."
As if that weren’t enough, fans of low-profile names such as Luo Tiantian, Wu Meiyin, and others also jumped in to compete for songs.
Xiao Du was baffled at the chaos unfolding—what exactly were they plotting?
Soon enough, Lu Bingbing’s fans announced their intention of helping their idol secure the song "The Kid Next Door" for herself.
"These fans must’ve lost their minds—why are they competing with Ye Yuwei at this point?"
In Xiao Du’s opinion, the best strategy for Lu Bingbing’s fans would’ve been to aim for one of the two songs left after the "Top Four" had picked theirs.
At this moment, they should be conserving funds for rankings after the second performance round.
"Xiao Du, could this be Penguin’s ploy to rake in profits?" Mu Yunchu, equally perplexed, offered the theory as a possibility.
Xiao Du shook his head lightly. "No matter how efficiently we orchestrate votes, how much money can they actually generate?"
"Then what’s the reason behind it?"
"I think they’re chasing traffic. They want hype and controversy."
As the two discussed, Mu Yunchu’s Penguin profile alerted him with a notification.
"Xiao Du, Liu Feiyu’s team is also eyeing our song."
"Ha! Looks like chaos is spreading everywhere now!"
"What should we do?"
"Ignore her. Unless Liu Feiyu’s corporate backer gets involved or Penguin directly rigs votes for her, we won’t fall for Penguin’s provocations and waste money unnecessarily."
Xiao Du quickly contacted the large fan group in their chat, instructing them to stay calm and act prudently.
Li Ke also encountered the same situation as Xiao Du.
However, in his group, Zhao Juke and Qiang Yueting’s fans were battling over song choices.
Li Ke’s faction similarly chose a strategy of biding their time and not reacting.
Personally, he had already invested around 200,000 yuan into voting for Lv Fangxin.
That also made him one of Yang Chaoyue’s major fans.
Initially, to maintain his standing in the fan base, he hired people to like Yang Chaoyue’s posts.
However, that tactic no longer sufficed later on.
Firstly, the expenses were too high; secondly, there was no way to monitor the authenticity of the hired people’s actions.
Forced by circumstances, they adopted a more professional method instead.
Their new method involved mobilizing fans who lacked money but had available time to vote.
These fans weren’t chosen randomly—they had to report verified identity information beforehand.
Large voting groups could comprise over a thousand members, while smaller ones had hundreds.
Each member could handle the vote quotas of 50 to 100 accounts daily.
Additionally, they established "anti-black teams," whose members were extraordinarily skilled.
Due to the composition of Lv Fangxin’s fanbase, the anti-black essays these teams produced were the highest in quality.
The most astonishing part was that their support organization even included professional "accountants" and "treasurers."
Each was professionally credentialed with verified certifications.
Fundraising activities occurred on platforms like "Stingray Culture Crowdfunding" and "Extreme Fan Service."
Although these websites charged fees, they had excellent reputations, functioning as temporary "banks" for the collected fan funds.
Post-discussion with other major figures in the support group, Li Ke decided to adopt a "watch and wait" approach.
The day passed by quickly, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Wan Kai frowned as he examined the report the secretary handed him.
The developments had failed to unfold as he anticipated.
This time, it hadn’t sparked the grand fan battle he eagerly hoped for—especially Lv Fangxin’s fan retaliation against the incident.
After pondering deeply, Wan Kai picked up the phone and dialed a number.
The previously restrained and calm Meng Meixuan fanbase exploded in fury.
By noon, staff from Yuehua approached her group’s major fan leader, asking them to relinquish the song to Wu Zixuan.
The news spread across fan groups, enraging every Meng Meixuan supporter.
Yuehua—do they have no shame? How can they be so unreasonably biased?
Seriously, there should be a principle of first-come, first-served!
Why should we hand over the song? Is Wu Zixuan some kind of true royalty?
We may bow down to death but not degradation—if they want the song, let’s see them win fairly in the voting arena.
Feeling insulted, Meng Meixuan’s fanbase vowed to fight to the finish.
At the same time, fans backing Fu Xiaoyu plunged over 100,000 yuan into competing for "I’m Such a Girl."
Thus, an inescapable multi-party melee had begun.
Meng Meixuan’s fans initially assumed Wu Zixuan’s group wouldn’t surpass their efforts in voting.
After all, Wu Zixuan’s faction had already poured over 100,000 yuan into the prior voting round.
They were shocked to see their data soon overtaken instead.
This triggered the emergence of prominent figures suggesting Meng Meixuan’s team should switch to a different song.
Very soon, the support group split into two camps—one believing a jewel shines anywhere, and the other convinced exposure is essential for a jewel to shine.
As major figures debated internally, scattered fans, overhearing rumors, impulsively flooded smaller votes for "Treasure Youth."
This was originally selected by Lv Fangxin’s support group.
Meng Meixuan’s actions aggravated many of "the villagers."
Li Ke and others immediately mobilized people to counterattack while broadcasting their group’s voting data across platforms.
Simultaneously, Li Ke’s group accused Meng Meixuan’s support organization of embezzling fan-raised funds, creating false statistics on their voting efforts.
This ignited widespread demands from Meng Meixuan’s lower-tier fans within their fan chat, urging top figures to provide transparent data for their financial contributions.
The purpose behind this demand was to ensure Penguin wasn’t rigging votes for Meng Meixuan and embezzling their funds.
Yuehua hadn’t expected "the villagers" to make such a sharp move.
Eventually, they dropped the idea of engaging in a direct conflict with the villagers’ side.