Chapter 65: The Incident Escalates, Public Opinion Shifts

Ever since the news of the altercation broke, Feifan Entertainment had been thrown into utter chaos.

Fang Xing had turned off his phone since the afternoon and remained unreachable. Liang Yusong had done the same, his phone on silent for the entire meeting. It wasn’t until the meeting ended that Liang Yusong finally checked his phone, only to find over a dozen missed calls—one of them from Tong Fei.

He dialed Tong Fei back, greeting her cheerfully, “Hello! President Tong.”

“What’s going on? Where’s Fang Xing?” Tong Fei’s voice came through the line, seething with anger.

“Fang Xing is with me. Nothing’s happened, so there’s no need to worry,” Liang Yusong tried to reassure her.

“How can I not be worried? The sixth episode airs tonight, and now this happens. Put Fang Xing on the phone,” Tong Fei pressed urgently.

Negative news like this, once confirmed, was extremely serious. It could even force "Star of Tomorrow" off the air for a full review. If that happened, every scene with Fang Xing would have to be cut. Tong Fei could already imagine the entire season’s ruin if it came to that.

Fang Xing took the phone and said, “President Tong, this incident isn’t my fault. I think you should communicate with Chaoyin Media about what’s really going on.”

Tong Fei, as a veteran talent show producer, was well aware of the entertainment industry’s unspoken rules. She didn’t need Fang Xing to tell her—she already suspected Chaoyin Media’s hand in this. She’d tried calling He Hongtu earlier today, but couldn’t get through, which only fueled her frustration. If Fang Xing’s reputation was destroyed now, the show would go down with him. Even with Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen holding up the ratings, the buzz would be cut in half at least.

So far, Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen were popular, but lacked any truly breakout work—their appeal limited to their diehard fan bases.

After a moment’s thought, Tong Fei said, “Until things are clarified, don’t accept any media interviews. I’ll do my best to reach Chaoyin Media. If the production team needs to make a statement, call me anytime.”

After hanging up, Feifan Entertainment sprang into action, working through every available channel to mitigate the impact of the incident.

Meanwhile, the online uproar continued to escalate, showing no signs of abating. On Weibo, the most vocal were fans of the Chaoyin Five. During the third performance selection, Fang Xing’s group had gone head-to-head with them, and the rivalry was fierce. The sixth episode’s trailer even showed Liu Yichen in tears on stage, so fans of Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen were already brimming with resentment.

Now, with negative news about Fang Xing suddenly breaking, both fandoms erupted and started to dominate the comment sections:

"His career’s over, wonder where his fans are crying now."
"Yichen’s still the best—hardworking, ambitious, loves his fans, and never hits anyone."
"Same goes for Junchen. Our two fandoms should join forces and bring him down."
"His fans’ idol is finished; we have to spread the word!"

But it was just these two fandoms making noise. No one from Fang Xing’s side showed up to argue.

Instead, the irreverent onlookers were having a field day:

"Will someone please argue back? Fang Xing, you’re useless—don’t you have a single fan? It’s ruining my fun."
"He’s just a singer—who’d be his fan?"
"This is terrifying—his career’s over. I’d better play ‘Nocturne’ to calm my nerves."
"Start fighting, start fighting!"
"If no one fights back, never mind—I’ll go watch Chen’s disastrous rendition of ‘A Difficult Sutra.’"

Despite the apparent frenzy on Weibo, the controversy hadn’t caused a true sensation. Fang Xing wasn’t a traffic-driven idol living off his fanbase—he didn’t have many fangirls to begin with. So, there were no frantic fans lamenting his supposed downfall.

Instead, a crowd of jokesters gathered to watch the drama:

"Is he really finished?"
"Is this a smoking gun, or just a rubber mallet?"
"Looks like solid evidence, but I’ve been burned before—let’s wait and see if there’s a twist."
"Finally, some dirt—I can criticize him in good conscience now."
"I don’t care—if there’s dirt, I’ll criticize; if there isn’t, I’ll make some up."
"It’s just a fight—I thought it was a sex scandal. Disappointed."
"Honestly, hitting someone is pretty bad, isn’t it?"

The debates raged on, with every possible opinion aired. As time passed, it reached five in the afternoon—three hours before the airing of the first part of episode six of "Star of Tomorrow." The trending topic had been up all afternoon.

The show’s producers and Songshi Records all remained silent, making no comment on the situation. They were waiting for the police to handle it.

As air time approached, if the rumors weren’t cleared up in time, the broadcast would surely suffer.

At five o’clock, Songshi Records finally received the police report. Ming Si PR also made progress. Luo Jinfeng called in: “The police have agreed to post a statement from their official account, confirming that the incident was one of bravery—Fang Xing subdued a purse snatcher.

“At the same time, we’ve arranged for several reporters to interview the owner of the noodle stall as further support for our side.

“The police statement will go out at five-thirty. Then Songshi Records can repost it with a clarification.”

Hearing this, Liang Yusong’s tense face finally relaxed. Signing Fang Xing to a platinum contract had been his idea alone, without consulting the shareholders. If Fang Xing’s career ended so soon, he’d lose all credibility in the company. But with the official police statement, their rivals would be thoroughly crushed.

At five-thirty in the evening, the Donghai Police News official account released a statement confirming that the March 25th altercation by the east gate of Donghai Music Academy was, in fact, an act of public bravery. They also issued a warning to accounts like “Entertainment Industry Morality Squad Leader,” urging the public not to spread or fabricate rumors.

Soon after, Songshi Records’ official Weibo account reposted the police statement, issued a clarification, and tagged the official accounts of "Star of Tomorrow," Feifan Entertainment, and Chaoyin Media.

The statement ended with a powerful question: “A courageous act is being slandered as a brawl. If this is how our society treats such acts, who will dare stand up in the future?”

Once the statement was posted, "Star of Tomorrow" immediately shared it as well. The online conversation exploded. Acts of bravery, subduing a thief—good deeds like this being smeared as violence was more than most bystanders could tolerate.

Weibo users went into a frenzy:

"Even acts of bravery are getting slandered? This is too much."
"I apologize—I was just trolling him before, but I never meant to slander someone for doing the right thing."
"I don’t even watch talent shows, but because of this, I’m going to listen to Fang Xing’s songs. Doesn’t matter if they’re good or not—he gets my vote."
"A celebrity catching a thief, and people dare to slander him?"
"Who started this rumor? They should just disappear."

The “Entertainment Industry Morality Squad Leader” account was quickly overwhelmed by angry commenters. Other big-name accounts that had spread the rumor realized the situation was dire and deleted their posts overnight.

Public opinion flipped in an instant. Over a million users on various platforms denounced the rumor-mongers. Everywhere, people were discussing the incident:

"I noticed something: the clarification came from Songshi Records. Could it be…?"
"I thought Fang Xing hadn’t signed with any management company."
"He hadn’t before, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t now."
"Something’s fishy here."
"Blind one, you’ve missed the real point. The real point is… Songshi Records tagged Chaoyin Media."
"Damn! With that analysis, I can already imagine an eighty-episode palace intrigue drama."
"Chaoyin Media’s hired trolls aren’t cutting it—the dirt was completely fabricated."
"With all this drama, tonight’s episode just got more interesting."
"Does this mean Wu Junchen’s Chaoyin Five lost?"
"Hard to say—word is Chaoyin Media hired a Korean production team to create new singles for Wu Junchen and Liu Yichen."
"Now I’m really looking forward to tonight’s episode—it’s not just a showdown on stage, but a battle behind the scenes as well."