Huayu: That year, I withdrew from the Super Boy competition.

This post, which revealed the truth, truly caused a huge stir.

"Holy crap, is it confirmed?"

"I knew it was impossible to withdraw from the competition without a reason!!"

"Danny Long?? The show's director??"

"After chatting for so long, Su Wei just withdrew from the competition. Can that be considered a good thing?"

"Just a wild guess: They're forcing you to sign a contract, or they'll take action against you."

"The reasoning upstairs is reasonable."

"So Su Wei was forced to retreat??"

"No, think about it, the way he looked after singing 'Hair Like Snow,' wasn't it like he was saying goodbye?"

"It's terrifying to think about."

"This is terrifying to think about +1"

Immediately afterwards, another account claiming to be an "insider" appeared below the post and posted the following:

"I can't say what we discussed in detail, but I can say it was related to the contract."

These words completely confirmed the netizens' speculation.

"Contract?? What contract??"

"It's a management contract with EE-Media, everyone in the industry knows that."

"It's said that Tianyu Media signs new artists to eight-year contracts, taking a 70/30 cut of the profits."

"Production team: If you don't sign, don't even think about continuing the competition. Su Wei: Fine, then I'm quitting."

"Ruthless person"

Su Wei: I'm not playing anymore, you guys play by yourselves.

"..."

In less than half an hour, the post received over a thousand upvotes.

One fan lamented, "I've been following him since the auditions, voting for him every single time and sending him text messages every single time. Suddenly he withdrew from the competition. I really can't accept it."

One passerby commented, "If that revelation is true, then I'm on Su Wei's side. This young girl dares to stand up to capital; she's much braver than us office workers."

There were also some funny ones: "The timeline of Su Wei's withdrawal from the competition:"

Danny Long called me away to discuss the contract.

Return: No expression

On stage: "Hair Like Snow"

After singing: I'm withdrawing from the competition.

In summary: This is the first instance in the Chinese music scene of performance art where contestants refuse an unfair contract by withdrawing from a competition.

The comment below read: "Performance art is hilarious."

Su Wei: My withdrawal from the competition was a performance.

What truly brought this matter to a climax was the appearance of another post.

The poster, claiming to be a "previous contestant who failed to make the cut," wrote a long paragraph that essentially said:

"I wasn't surprised at all when Su Wei withdrew from the competition. I also made it to the national competition back then and was even called in to discuss a contract."

I couldn't sleep all night after reading that contract, and I rejected it the next day. Then I was eliminated in the next round.

That's how this industry is; if you don't sign a contract, you can forget about going anywhere.

The only difference is that we were eliminated, while Su Wei left on his own. He had more guts than us.

Once this post was published, public opinion spiraled out of control.

If people were just speculating before, the appearance of this post has directly upgraded the isolated "Su Wei withdrawal incident" into a systemic problem of "Tianyu's domineering contract".

The buzz surrounding Su Wei's withdrawal from the competition, fueled by a series of revelations and discussions, spread far beyond the public eye in a way no one had anticipated.

It's not just the entertainment section that's discussing this; people are also starting to post analyses in the society and legal sections.

Even some print media outlets were alarmed.

Reporters are working through the night to prepare for tomorrow's entertainment front page.

Meanwhile, the person at the center of this storm is lying in a hotel bed watching TV, where several contestants are putting on a great show.

My phone suddenly rang.

Su Wei rolled over in bed and reached for the vibrating phone on the table.

The screen was lit up with blue light, and the caller ID displayed two words—

mom.

have to.

He answered the phone, but before he could even say "Mom," a loud voice boomed from the other end.

"Su Wei! You idiot! How could you not tell the family about something so important beforehand? Don't you even respect me?"

The sound was so loud that Su Wei reflexively moved the phone away from her ear a little.

He waited until the other end yelled a few more times before putting the phone back on, touching his nose guiltily, and said, "Mom, this was so sudden, there wasn't time to tell you beforehand!"

That's not exactly a lie.

The decision was indeed made today.

It's not too late to call and notify them if necessary.

But he really didn't think of it at the time.

Or rather, he didn't subconsciously think about it.

On the other end of the phone, Comrade Zhou Qiao went on and on for quite a while.

Su Wei listened, occasionally humming in agreement, a faint smile playing on her lips.

Finally, Zhou Qiao, probably tired of yelling, softened her tone: "...Is it nothing serious?"

Su Wei said, "It's okay."

"Really? You're alright?"

"Really."

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone, then his mother said, "Get the hell back here by tomorrow."

The phone hangs up.

Su Wei watched her phone screen go dark and smiled.

The next day, the same name dominated the front page of entertainment newspapers and major websites across the country.

On her way to the airport, Su Wei passed by a newsstand and glanced at the magazine. Her own face stood out prominently in the colorful covers.

He specifically paid for a copy of "Star City Entertainment Weekly," and the headline on the front page was printed in large boldface—

"Su Wei, one of the top five contestants of Super Boy, announced her withdrawal from the competition live."

The accompanying photo shows him standing on stage last night, holding a microphone.

There is also an interview with Danny Long on the back.

The reporter's question was very pointed—

Is Su Wei's withdrawal from the competition related to contract issues?

Did the production team put pressure on the contestants?

Long Danny's response was simply: "I respect the player's personal decision."

After reading this sentence, Su Wei folded the newspaper and tucked it under her arm, her face expressionless.

A seasoned veteran like Long Danny would never allow anyone to find fault with him.

Compared to the commotion online, the commotion in the newspapers is nothing.

The post on Tianya that broke the news has grown to over two thousand posts in just one night.

While waiting for her flight at the airport, Su Wei went to an internet cafe, turned on a computer, and glanced at the posts on the homepage. The titles were more and more interesting than the last:

"[In-depth Analysis] The Capital Game Behind Su Wei's Withdrawal from the Competition - Just How Deceptive Are Tianyu's Overbearing Contracts?"

Su Wei: Is it fun to withdraw from the competition for a while, or is it fun to keep withdrawing?

"Let's have a rational discussion: who is stronger, Su Wei or Chen Chusheng? With Su Wei retired, Chen Chusheng's championship is secured."

"No, have you considered that if he really wanted to retire, he could have waited until he was eliminated? The fact that he retired when he could have won the championship says something?"

This means he doesn't want to be trapped in Tianyu Media's cage, what else could it be?

Su Wei didn't scroll down.

He closed the webpage, unplugged the network card, and got up to go to the boarding gate.

He put the earphones in his ears when the plane took off.

He didn't open his eyes the entire two-hour flight.

They weren't asleep, they were just too lazy to open their eyes.

It was almost noon when the plane landed at Chengdu Airport.

The sky in Chengdu is different from that in Changsha.

The sky over Changsha is often overcast, giving people a gloomy feeling.

The sky is high and the clouds are light in Chengdu right now, and there is a faint smell of hot pot broth in the air.

Okay, maybe not.