Amateur talent show? Top mentors are my students.

The statement was issued at 7:13 a.m.

The timing was very subtle—neither the time of lowest traffic in the early morning nor the time of highest traffic during the day, but rather a gap between when most people have just woken up and haven't fully entered work mode.

The production team probably thought that this would soften the public opinion a bit.

But they underestimated the anger of netizens.

Within a minute of the statement being released, the comment section was flooded with thousands of messages.

"Withdrawal??? He Xu withdrew from the competition??? Are you guys kidding me???"

"Withdrawing from the competition because of an ear injury? Isn't that your production team's responsibility? You injured someone and then forced them to withdraw from the competition??"

"Replacing Jiang Yang? I'm not saying Jiang Yang is bad, but this is just too outrageous!"

"Are you guys insane, production team??? You're not only shirking responsibility for He Xu's injury, but you've also kicked him out???"

"Wait, look closely at the statement—'After communicating with him'—He Xu himself agreed to withdraw from the competition? Really?"

Within five minutes, the tone of the comments section changed from shock to anger, and then from anger to a comprehensive condemnation.

"@AbsoluteDebutOfficial, you owe He Xu an explanation! You owe all the viewers an explanation!"

"The issue of equipment leakage hasn't been resolved yet, and now you're withdrawing from the competition? Are you trying to cover something up?"

"I suspect He Xu's ear injury is much more serious than stated in the statement... 'Minor injury'? Does a minor injury require him to withdraw from the competition?"

"The production team had better tell the truth, or I'll come here every day to yell at them."

"Where are He Xu's fans??? Aren't they saying anything at a time like this???"

He Xu's fans—or rather, the group that has gathered over the past two weeks because of the show and calls themselves "Xu Ri"—exploded immediately after the statement was released.

The super topic is in complete chaos.

"He Xu withdrew from the competition??? I just became a fan of his and he withdrew???"

"I don't believe it. I don't believe he agreed to it himself. The production team is definitely up to something."

"Does anyone know anyone inside the production team? Could you find out what's going on?"

"What's wrong with He Xu's ears? Can anyone tell me the truth?"

No one can calm down.

By 2 p.m., the program's public relations team had completely given up on the idea of ​​"handling it mildly."

Of the top ten trending topics, seven are related to them.

The comment section under the official Weibo account gets thousands more angry comments every time it's refreshed.

Even the producer, who doesn't usually get involved much, called three times, each time asking the same question: "Can we really suppress this?"

No.

Everyone knows it's impossible.

Equipment leakage, athlete injury, withdrawal from the competition, replacement—each of these terms alone is enough to trend on social media for half a day, let alone when all four are combined.

So the production team did something else.

The second statement was released at noon.

This time it wasn't a simple text announcement, but a PDF attachment, stamped with the official seal of the "Absolute Debut" program team.

The title is: "Explanation Regarding Contestant He Xu's Participation Status and Related Circumstances".

The content is much longer and the wording is more formal than the first statement.

Recently, there has been much discussion and speculation online regarding the identity of He Xu, a contestant on the show "Absolute Debut." In response to public concerns, the program team hereby provides the following clarification:

[I. He Xu, male, 24 years old, is a specially appointed dance instructor at Banxing Entertainment, with six years of experience in the industry. His main work experience includes teaching dance to many artists and trainees such as Shen Yiheng, Han Yu, and Yang Sheng, as well as choreographing numerous debut and comeback songs for boy groups and girl groups.]

[Secondly, He Xu, when registering for "Absolute Debut" as an "individual trainee," failed to truthfully fill in his professional experience in his registration materials. The production team only learned of his true identity after the initial stage recording. After internal discussion, they decided to allow him to continue participating.]

[III. Regarding He Xu's withdrawal from the competition, it was initiated by him voluntarily after the first performance. The production team respects the contestant's personal wishes and agrees to his withdrawal from the remaining recordings. The vacant spot will be filled by the contestant with the highest number of votes among those eliminated in the first performance, according to the program rules.]

[IV. The production team apologizes to the audience and all contestants for He Xu's concealment of his identity during the competition. The production team will learn from this experience, strictly review subsequent contestant applications, and prevent such incidents from happening again.]

The date on the document is today.

This statement was like a depth charge, completely igniting the already boiling public opinion.

Within three minutes of the post being published, the comment section was flooded with over 100,000 comments, causing Weibo's servers to briefly lag again.

First, I was shocked.

"What the hell? Am I blind???"

"A specially appointed dance instructor for Banxing Entertainment?! Six years in the industry??? Six years in the industry at twenty-four, that means he started at eighteen?!"

"Shen Yiheng's dance teacher?! He taught Shen Yiheng???"

"So he's not some amateur at all??? He's an insider??? And a top-tier one at that???"

"Wait a minute, if he's Shen Yiheng's dance teacher, then it makes sense for him to be a contestant on the show, and for Shen Yiheng to be the producer and rate him?!"

Surprise and praise followed.

"Wait a minute??? Shen Yiheng's dance teacher??? He Xu's skill level is truly amazing! No wonder the choreography for the initial stage performance was so brilliant!"

"No wonder! No wonder his fundamentals were so solid! Turns out he's a pro player stomping on weaker opponents!"

"Help... Do you guys remember his theme song fancam? The timing, the control... I knew back then this wasn't something an ordinary trainee could pull off, turns out he's a true master!"

"At first, I thought it was a pity he withdrew from the competition, but now I think—it's ridiculous that he even participated! What level is he? What level are those other players? Isn't this a case of being outclassed?"

"Hilarious! He Xu was quite convincing as a newcomer on the show; I almost believed his nervousness on his first stage! Turns out he's an award-winning actor!"

"So maybe he really wanted to withdraw from the competition? With his level already, why would he compete with the trainees for a debut spot? He's already at the top."

"Waaaaah! Even though his identity has been exposed, I love him even more! What am I going to do?! He could have used his identity to create hype, but he insisted on pretending to be an ordinary person and starting from scratch. What a refreshing move!"

But this surprise and admiration didn't last long.

Because soon, another voice began to emerge—some people were asking: "Is it really fair for a top-tier choreographer to participate in a talent show?"

Then came a deluge of insults.

"So He Xu was faking it all along? Pretending to be an ordinary person, a newcomer, and playing the victim?! Did he think it was funny?!"

"I'm speechless. A top-tier choreographer is competing with a bunch of trainees who haven't even debuted yet for a debut spot. Don't they have any shame?!"

"Is he here to audition or to cause trouble? Are all the people at Banxing Entertainment crazy?!"

"Don't forget who owns Banxing Entertainment... Shen Yiheng's company, and Shen Yiheng is the producer. Isn't that relationship obvious enough?"

Some people pointed the finger at Shen Yiheng.

"Shen Yiheng must have known from the beginning, right? His expression during his initial stage performance was off; now that I think about it, it was all an act!"

"With the producer (PD) judging his own teacher, how can this show be considered fair?"

"No wonder He Xu got an A on his initial stage performance, no wonder Zhou Wei gave him a low score during the theme song evaluation and people still defended him, no wonder their group won the first performance—it was all pre-arranged!"

Some people also pointed the finger at Jiang Yang.

"So Jiang Yang was promoted because He Xu withdrew from the competition? Did Jiang Yang already know He Xu was going to withdraw? They're from the same company; maybe they colluded all along!"

"Four people from Banxing Entertainment signed up, one withdrew, and one took their place. They're really good at this!"

"I feel sorry for those contestants who were truly eliminated. They trained so hard for so long, only to have their spots taken by people with connections."

Some even directly targeted the entire program.

"This show is a joke! The mentors are from the entertainment industry, the contestants are from the entertainment industry, and the choreographers are from the entertainment industry's teachers—they might as well rename it 'Debut of the Entertainment Industry'!"

"I now seriously suspect that all the ratings, all the votes, and all the eliminations are scripted! It's all an act for us to see!"

"Withdraw from the competition? Withdraw from what competition? Is He Xu afraid of losing face if his identity is exposed, so he deliberately ran away?"

"He ran away quickly, leaving Jiang Yang to take the blame for him. That was a brilliant move, 666!"

-

The peace in the base was completely shattered.

At 7:13 a.m., a series of message notifications rang out in the corridor of the contestants' dormitory building—not from the contestants' phones, but from the selection administrators.

Dozens of administrators received the push notification at the same time, opened it simultaneously, and their expressions changed at the same time.

The news spread like wildfire throughout the base.

People without cell phones hear from those who do, and those who hear then relay the information to those who didn't hear it.

In less than half an hour, almost all the contestants knew that He Xu had withdrawn from the competition, and that he was not an ordinary person at all.

Li Bufan found out about it in the cafeteria.

He was bringing the bowl of porridge to his mouth when a contestant from Class B leaned over and shoved his phone screen right in front of his face—at that moment, nobody cared about contraband.

"Have you checked Weibo? He Xu—He Xu, he—"

Li Bufan glanced down at it.

On the screen was a screenshot of a statement stamped with an official seal, filled with dense text. He only had time to scan a few lines: "Specially Appointed Dance Instructor for Banxing Entertainment," "Six Years in the Industry," "Shen Yiheng's Dance Teacher."

His bowl of porridge slipped from his hand and fell onto the table, splashing porridge all over it.

"Impossible," he said.

The person next to him didn't say anything, but simply pushed the phone forward a little more.

Li Bufan looked at it again, this time even more carefully.

I recognize each character individually, but when put together, it sounds like something out of a fairy tale.

"Impossible," he said again, his voice lower than before.

The other contestants looked at each other, none of them daring to speak.

Li Bufan pushed his phone away, stood up, and his chair tilted back with a loud bang.

He turned and walked towards the cafeteria entrance, but stopped after a couple of steps and turned back: "Where's Brother He Xu?"

No one answered.

"I'm asking you, where is Brother He Xu?!"

"In the professor's building..." someone whispered. "He injured his ear and is recuperating there..."

Li Bufan turned and left.

The corridor of the mentor building was much quieter than the contestants' dormitory, and Li Bufan's footsteps sounded particularly loud in the empty corridor.

He walked to the door of the private room, raised his hand, and was about to knock when the door opened from the inside.

He Xu stood at the door.

He was still wearing the same short-sleeved shirt and shorts, his hair was messy, there was a bandage on his left ear, and his face was still deathly pale.

But his expression was calm, as if he had known all along that someone would come.

"Brother He Xu," Li Bufan spoke, his voice a little dry, "Is the statement online—true?"

He Xu looked at him and remained silent for two seconds. "Really."

Li Bufan felt as if he had been punched.

His lips moved several times before the voice finally escaped his throat: "So you...you've been lying to us from the very beginning?"

"I didn't mean to lie to you." He Xu's voice was so hoarse it was almost a whisper. "I just didn't say it."

"Isn't not saying that a lie?!"