Chapter 18

Fu Le cried in a pitiful manner, knowing exactly how to angle himself. His teary-eyed, on-the-verge-of-sobbing appearance quickly stirred the viewers’ emotions.

As expected, the live chat was already flooded by Fu Le’s fans.

【What’s wrong with baby?】

【How did Yu Xi target you?】

【I said we shouldn’t let Yu Xi be captain. Look, Lele only appeared for half the live stream!】

【Don’t cry, Lele. Mommy’s here. Tell us what’s up, and we’ll back you up!】

Yu Xi’s eyes widened in disbelief. “?? Me? I targeted you?”

“A little bit…” Fu Le said aggrievedly.

“You mean me??” Yu Xi was so angry that he laughed. “This is all live. Which part are you talking about?”

Good grief. This little green tea had held back for hours just to dig a pit for him in the last two minutes?

Fu Le appeared aggrieved and pitiful on the surface, but inwardly, he was already laughing uproariously.

This was exactly the state he wanted Yu Xi in.

If Yu Xi refuted him, the water army Fu Le had hired would immediately send him straight to the moon with labels like “enraged and humiliated,” “disrespecting Omegas,” “picking on the weak”—whatever hat was the nastiest.

If Yu Xi didn’t refute him, there would be even more material to work with.

No matter what Yu Xi said, Fu Le could spin it into another PR crisis for him.

If he didn’t teach him a lesson, Fu Le would really be seen as an easy target.

“I-I have to say it. You can’t bully me! Even though I’m an Omega and not as strong as you Alphas, I still have to muster the courage to protect myself!”

Fu Le maintained his aggrieved and pitiful look. “Look, you wouldn’t even let me talk to Brother Yi Chen. You knew I wasn’t feeling well but deliberately arranged itineraries that kept me from participating. During meals, you only put food I don’t like in front of me—and this was all during the live stream…”

“There was even more off-stream…”

Fu Le listed Yu Xi’s “crimes” one by one. “In the makeup room, you deliberately stole my special cosmetics, stared at me while I changed my jacket. You knew I was nearby and changed your Pheromone Blocker Patch right in front of me on purpose, making me smell your pheromones. And you kept sneaking glances at me.”

“Omegas and Alphas aren’t supposed to be too close! I don’t know what you wanted to do… I-I’m scared…”

Yu Xi: “?”

Not just Yu Xi—even Wu Zhiqi and Fang Peng were stunned.

Wu Zhiqi: “How could Yu Xi do those things? Is there some misunderstanding?”

Fang Peng: “Yeah, Little Yu is a good guy. It must be a misunderstanding.”

Fu Le lifted his teary, misty eyes. “I hope it’s a misunderstanding too. That’s why I wanted to say it here to clear the air… Captain Yu, could you explain? That way, I can feel more at ease…”

Behind the tears, Fu Le’s expression was sly.

Whether what he said was true or false didn’t matter. The key was that Yu Xi had no way to explain it clearly or provide evidence to prove his innocence.

After today, no matter the outcome, whether he’d done it or not, Yu Xi would be tagged as someone who disrespected Omegas, peeped on them, ogled them. Even if his performances were flawless and his acting superb, whenever his name came up, there’d be that trailing remark: “Yu Xi? Isn’t he that guy who bullied an Omega? So gross.”

He had already taken down several people blocking his path this way.

Being an Omega was just too useful.

It wasn’t a waste of the huge sum he’d paid to bribe an agency into changing his secondary gender from Beta to Omega.

The atmosphere on set had frozen solid. The host tried to smooth things over and move past the topic, but Fu Le cut in before he could speak. “I’m really too scared. I can only say it now. Sister Zhiqi, you’re a girl too—you should understand how I feel, right…?”

Wu Zhiqi, forcibly pulled into taking sides: “?”

The netizens were already driven to fury by Fu Le’s tears, filled with righteous indignation.

【Holy crap, I really empathize with Lele. There are so many overly confident Alphas in this world, strutting around like peacocks spewing pheromones everywhere—especially in bars, trying to trigger Omegas’ Heat Periods and drag them off!】

【Yu Xi really did something that gross? He’s done for—total collapse!】

【I believe Lele more. I don’t think he’d joke about something like this!】

【Lele’s so pitiful! In previous shows, he was harassed by some Alphas too. Omegas have it so hard—just trying to work quietly, but why do people keep harassing them!!】

Beside them, Yi Chen suddenly laughed. He looked at Yu Xi. “Didn’t expect it to actually come in handy? I take back what I said about you doing this being overkill.”

“I didn’t want it to come in handy either.” Yu Xi was speechless too. “You’ve been in the industry a short time and haven’t seen much. Call me ‘senior big bro’ and I’ll forgive you.”

Yi Chen handed Yu Xi the bag that was sitting nearby. “You’re younger than me. Can’t say it.”

Yu Xi took the bag and pulled out a small black-covered notebook. “I’ve got more years in the industry than you. I deserve it.”

Wu Zhiqi: “?”

Wu Zhiqi: “What are you two on about?”

Yu Xi flipped open the notebook, his gaze sharp as a knife as it swept toward Fu Le.

Fu Le instinctively felt a chill down his spine.

Yu Xi: “Repeat those things you just said. You observed so carefully—you must have noted the times, right?”

Fu Le had no idea what Yu Xi was up to and answered cautiously. “I was too scared to notice the times…”

“Fine. If you can’t say, then I will.” Yu Xi showed one page of the notebook to the camera. “To avoid inexplicable misunderstandings or conflicts during the show, aside from showering and using the toilet, I stayed in areas covered by surveillance the whole time. If there was no camera, I had a staff member accompany me, noted the time, and got them to sign off when we parted.”

“These two pages are my itinerary for the entire day. Every time slot has witnesses to what I was doing. I’ll read them out for everyone to judge if I did any of the things Fu Le accused me of.”

Fu Le: “?”

The host: “?”

Chat: 【?】

“I won’t go into before 9 a.m. Let’s focus from after I arrived at the assembly point.”

“9:15 a.m., arrived at Cloud Mist Mountain Corner. 9:20, makeup in the dressing room. 9:50, ran through the process. 10:00, live stream started. The whole thing might be edited into the final show, so it was all recorded. Cameraman, you got it all, right?”

The cameraman nearby gave an “OK” hand sign.

Yu Xi nodded. “So we have footage from before the morning live stream. For the makeup room—for me deliberately stealing your special cosmetics and staring at you while you changed your jacket—do we need to review that footage right now?”

Fu Le’s body went rigid. “You… maybe, maybe that was my misunderstanding…”

Yu Xi ignored his evasion and continued. “10:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. was live stream time. Judge that for yourselves—I won’t say more. Skipping ahead.”

“12:30 to 3:00 p.m., I was with Yi Chen. We shared a room for lunch rest. Teacher Yi Chen, truce for now—vouch for me.”

Yi Chen raised his hand. “Yu Xi didn’t leave before 3:00. It’s signed and stamped in the notebook. I take legal responsibility for my words.”

Yu Xi nodded and went on. “3:00 p.m., I got up and went to the kitchen for some mineral water. Our logistics Little White jie was there. 3:15, to the public restroom to wash my face and change the Blocker Patch. There’s surveillance in the hallway that catches passersby—it proves Fu Le wasn’t nearby at that time.”

“I can vouch too.” Wu Zhiqi spoke up voluntarily. “I was on the phone there and ran into Teacher Yu Xi. I didn’t smell any pheromones, but there was no one around—no Fu Le. After that, I even chatted with Teacher Yu Xi for a bit—no one else showed up.”

“3:20, to the makeup room. My assistant Xiao Chen and makeup artist Sister Liu were there.”

“3:40, changing room. Brother Li was present.”

“3:50, Guan Zifan brought me fruit. 3:58, washing the fruit box—logistics Little White jie was there. 4:00, assembly—everyone was present. After 4:00, live stream started—skipping that.”

Yu Xi looked up at Fu Le. “So, which time slot was it where I knew you were nearby, changed my Pheromone Blocker Patch in front of you on purpose to make you smell my pheromones, and kept sneaking glances at you?”

“I… I…”

Fu Le was drenched in cold sweat. He stammered “I” for ages but couldn’t get another word out.

“Deliberately arranging itineraries so you couldn’t participate when you knew you were unwell?”

“You were bouncing around the whole time, didn’t say a word when I asked for input, then fainted on arrival. I took you to the hospital—the cab fare, registration, and IV drip were all on me. Settle up later.”

“Only putting food you don’t like in front of you at meals? We had fish soup, dumplings, and stir-fried green peppers with eggs. Table had a turntable—grab what you want yourself. Should I spoon-feed you?”

“Not letting you talk to Yi Chen?” Yu Xi glanced at Yi Chen. “You tell him.”

Yi Chen told the truth. “He really didn’t. It was your mouth—talking without thinking, digging pits for me left and right. I wouldn’t dare talk to you.”

Fu Le was completely dumbfounded, his mind blank. He felt like he couldn’t breathe and had to gasp for air, but his face visibly turned red from holding it in.

Who the hell kept such a detailed itinerary log with witnesses and signatures for a variety show?!

What to do, what to do, what to do?!

“I-It was my misunderstanding. I shouldn’t have…”

“Was it?” Yu Xi had no intention of saving face for Fu Le. He confronted him directly on camera. “If you really wanted to clear up a misunderstanding, you could’ve talked to me privately. Saying it on live stream—isn’t that just trying to stir up public opinion and smear me?”

“I was just too sensitive…” Fu Le made a last-ditch struggle.

“Too sensitive? So if I wasn’t cautious enough, I deserve to be buried under your false accusations?”

“Don’t be like that…” Fu Le shrank into a ball, trembling. “Brother Yu Xi, I’m scared…”

“The ones who should be scared are everyone breathing the same air as you.”

The chat comments had completely flipped.

【I kinda dislike Fu Le. He’s the type I hate dealing with in real life—can’t do anything right but cries all the time. But he has tons of fans with strong combat power, so I didn’t dare say before.】

【I really didn’t expect him to smear someone with this kind of thing.】

【Damn, if Yu Xi couldn’t prove himself, that “disrespecting Omegas” label would’ve stuck forever.】

【Where’s the sensitivity or fear? This was attempted murder by false accusation—Fu Le did it on purpose!】

【Holy crap, I just thought of something terrifying…】

【Fu Le said before that some Alphas tried to assault him—don’t tell me…】

“All right, all right.” The host smoothed things over. “Misunderstanding cleared! Our live stream is wrapping up. Where were we?”

The host handed the mic to Yu Xi. “Captain Yu Xi, after spending the day together, any words for the others?”

Yu Xi didn’t want the show to end awkwardly. He took the mic. “Hope everyone keeps their eyes open.”

At the peak of his anger, Yu Xi’s tone had calmed instead.

He stared coldly at Fu Le.

“Someone who can provide a clean criminal record proof isn’t necessarily a good person.”