The voice sounded familiar, sharp amid the male tones. Yu Xi recognized it as belonging to Chen Manman, the trainee who had interacted with them frequently earlier.
Chen Manman’s family background was among the best among the trainees. His family was already entrenched in the entertainment industry and owned a management company. Plenty of contestants curried favor with him in the show, inflating his arrogance.
The trainee who had been shoved to the ground, Xu Chang, came from an average family. His real-time votes were also mediocre. The variety show had gone through two rounds of eliminations, and he had barely scraped by each time.
“I didn’t, Brother Manman, I really didn’t…” His voice trembled, sounding utterly terrified.
Chen Manman squatted in front of Xu Chang. “Tell me, what were you doing standing by the curtain just now?”
“I checked the recorded footage. You blocked me completely. Xu Chang, did you ask for my permission before standing there?”
Xu Chang defended himself in a small voice. “I-I-I didn’t know you were standing there, Brother Manman. You didn’t tell me… I was standing way off to the side…”
“You still dare to talk back??” one of the other trainees beside Chen Manman snapped.
“Sorry…” Before Xu Chang could finish a complete apology, a crisp slap rang out.
A large red mark bloomed on Xu Chang’s cheek.
Chen Manman shook his hand, which ached from the forceful slap. “So much nonsense.”
He extended his hand to the side, and someone immediately understood, offering a bottle of mango juice with a fawning smile.
Xu Chang, who hadn’t dared move during the slap, shrank back at the sight of the mango juice, his pupils contracting sharply. “No, no… Brother Manman, you know I’m allergic to mangoes. If I drink that, I’ll die!”
“You won’t die.” Chen Manman’s tone was lazy. “Don’t worry, I can send you to the hospital anytime. It’ll be fine. I just want you out of my sight this afternoon.”
Xu Chang’s voice cracked with sobs. His mango allergy was extremely severe; even half a piece could send him into anaphylactic shock. “I won’t join the recording, I won’t show up, I… I’ll do anything, Brother Manman. I’ll really die!”
Chen Manman ignored him, leisurely twisting open the bottle cap. The two trainees beside him grabbed Xu Chang’s arms, one on each side. The sweet mango scent wafted out, making Xu Chang shudder. He instinctively tried to turn his head away, but Chen Manman gripped his chin tightly, forcing him to face the bottle that could land him in the hospital.
“Drink it.” Chen Manman pressed the mango juice to Xu Chang’s lips and tilted the bottom up. Xu Chang struggled desperately, but the moment he smelled the mango, his head began to throb and spin. He wouldn’t last long.
At that moment, Chen Manman’s hand paused.
The next instant, Xu Chang saw someone suddenly appear beside him. They raised a leg and kicked the mango juice from Chen Manman’s hand.
The plastic bottle crashed to the floor with the juice, spilling bright yellow mango liquid everywhere. Xu Chang slowly lifted his head. Yu Xi had somehow positioned himself in front of him, looking utterly shocked and furious. “You’re bullying him?!”
Chen Manman and his followers were stunned to see Yu Xi and Yi Chen appear out of nowhere, but he recovered quickly, even greeting them politely. “Teacher Yi Chen, Teacher Yu Xi, you’re here too.”
Yu Xi planted himself firmly in front of Xu Chang, repeating the same four words, but now as a firm statement instead of a shocked question. “You’re. Bullying. Him.”
“How could this be bullying?” Chen Manman explained. “He blocked my shot today. Of course I have to teach him a proper lesson. If he doesn’t feel some pain, how will he remember?”
“Teacher Yu Xi, Teacher Yi Chen, you know how precious camera time is!”
He had no idea that Yu Xi and Yi Chen were wearing live-streaming cameras. Since they’d seen it, Chen Manman saw no point in hiding anymore.
So what if Yu Xi and Yi Chen knew?
No one cared about this kind of thing. The trainees knew, the production team knew, the staff knew—but no one spoke up.
What good would speaking up do them?
What good would it do the victim?
“It’s normal to discipline someone for screwing up, right? Otherwise, they’ll keep messing up.” Chen Manman looked innocently naive without the cameras around; he didn’t need to pretend. “The strong prey on the weak. Teacher Yu Xi, Teacher Yi Chen, you’re popular, so I call you teachers out of respect. But how I act in the show, what I do— that’s not for you to manage.”
“This show is just a platform, a springboard for me.”
“But it’s different for him.” Chen Manman glanced disdainfully at Xu Chang. “He’s from some ordinary family. He wants camera time, popularity, to stick around longer in the show—doesn’t he need to rely on us for that? You’ve both made it in the industry; you get it. So what’s wrong with correcting him when he messes up? I gave him so many chances. What’s wrong with educating him when he pisses me off?”
Chen Manman spoke words that chilled the blood with utter entitlement.
The live chat exploded in shock.
【????? Who does he think he is??】
【WTF? Is this Chen Manman? The real Chen Manman?!】
【My worldview just shattered. I imagined a million ways he’d flop, but not like this?!】
【So that’s it? Us regular folks are just punching bags for the connected elites to vent on?】
【Chen Manman, you’re disgusting!!!! I used to like you, vote for you, make data for you—all wasted!】
Yu Xi’s face darkened bit by bit. “Apologize to him.”
Chen Manman was still a bit surprised. He hadn’t expected Yu Xi not to side with him or to say something as naive as “apologize.”
But he soon laughed again. He lowered his head, gaze falling on Xu Chang. “Did you hear that? Teacher Yu Xi wants me to apologize to you. But it’s up to you whether I need to.”
“So, should I apologize to you, Xu Chang?”
Xu Chang shuddered, his face full of terror. He turned, looked up, and begged, “Teacher Yu Xi, please don’t get involved. I don’t want an apology, really. I don’t need one.”
Yu Xi clearly hadn’t expected this reaction from Xu Chang. His brows furrowed tightly, his expression darkening.
Xu Chang kept begging. “Please, just leave. If you make him apologize today, what happens later? I have no connections, no backing, no resources. If I endure, maybe I’ll get a chance someday. But if this blows up today, I-I…”
“Who told you that?” Yu Xi cut off Xu Chang’s pleading. “Who said that to you? Who instilled this idea in you all?”
Xu Chang didn’t dare speak. He just trembled nonstop, his lips pale.
Chen Manman laughed from the side. “Maybe ‘hard work pays off’ fooled some people before, but not anymore. Resources are held by a select few. Want a sip of the broth? Don’t you need to suck up to those who control it?”
“Wen Yimeng endured all this, and that’s how he got the chance to record with you guys.”
Yu Xi’s pupils shrank sharply.
“Oh, since Teacher Yu Xi and Teacher Yi Chen saw it, you should know better now. Remember your position this afternoon.”
Chen Manman didn’t want to stay in the Infirmary any longer. Too many people, too stuffy. Plus, he felt something off about the accessories on Yu Xi and Yi Chen’s chests.
He waved his hand, intending to leave with his followers. But as he turned, there was a click—the Infirmary door locked from the inside. Yi Chen blocked the front, trapping their group in the middle with Yu Xi behind.
“Sorry, but Teacher Yu Xi and I are seeing this through to the end.” Yi Chen nodded. “Apologize. Or you’ll regret it. I guarantee.”
Chen Manman was exasperated.
He could barely contain the irritation bubbling up inside him.
Regret what?
Besides, what could Yi Chen and Yu Xi do to him?
Expose what he’d done?
Even if they did, without proof, who would believe them?
If he claimed they were slandering him, what could they say?
“This is the Training Camp. It has its own rules.” Chen Manman said impatiently.
Yu Xi chuckled lightly. “Once I see it, it’s a different set of rules.”
As Yu Xi and Yi Chen clashed with Chen Manman, the director on the other side was equally shocked.
He stared incredulously at Chief Director Chang across from him—the head director of Chase Dream Star. His already protruding eyes bulged wide. “You invited us for this visitation live stream just to catch this footage?! I knew you were too generous, sharing half the traffic from nowhere. You dug this pit for me, huh?”
“Don’t rush, don’t rush.” Chang Dao soothed him. “I had no choice. Would you have come if I told you?”
“Hell no. With all this mess, I’d stay far away. Pure shit-show gold rush—no profit, just stink.”
“I really had no options.” Chang Dao said helplessly. “It’s too chaotic. Not just Chen Manman—others too. But they’re backed by big sponsors, investors.”
“You know how much investment our show has? If the bullying scandal breaks later, my team and I would go bankrupt. I had to cut off the tail to survive. Didn’t tell you at first ’cause I was afraid you’d bail, and your guests too… Now we’re all grasshoppers on the same string…”
In the live feed, Chen Manman tried to fight back. He grabbed Yu Xi’s wrist, digging in with his thumb. But as he moved, Yu Xi swiftly hooked his elbow back. Chen Manman yelped in pain. “You’re hitting me?”
Yu Xi stood his ground. “Self-defense.”
Chen Manman opened his mouth to retort, but Yi Chen’s toe nudged his knee, triggering a reflex that buckled his legs. He lost balance and could only cling to Yu Xi and Yi Chen for support.
“Apologize. Then you can go. Be good.”
Clearly, Yu Xi and Yi Chen were dead set against him.
Chen Manman seethed with rage, but he couldn’t break free. His vicious glare swept over his follower trainees.
The trainees hesitated, then chose the immediate benefit—Chen Manman—over the famous but ultimately irrelevant Yu Xi and Yi Chen. They inched toward Yu Xi and Yi Chen.
Yu Xi looked up at them, displeased by their wrong choice. “If I end up with even one extra scratch or mark today, you’re all involved.”
The followers froze, not daring to move.
The standoff held.
Chen Manman couldn’t beat Yu Xi and Yi Chen; his followers were too cowardly. Forced by the situation, he grudgingly said to Xu Chang, “Sorry, I was wrong. Shouldn’t have bullied you. Forgive me, yeah?”
Xu Chang didn’t dare look at Chen Manman. He half-kneeled, begging Yu Xi and Yi Chen. “Teacher Yu Xi, Teacher Yi Chen, you heard him. He apologized. I accept. I forgive Brother Manman. Let them go, please…”
Yu Xi looked at Xu Chang, his gaze complex.
This wasn’t right.
It shouldn’t be like this.
Bully and victim—the victim shouldn’t be the one begging for release.
This should have been horrifying, terrifying. Yet the bully acted entitled, and the victim took it as normal.
Why had it come to this?
Yu Xi finally let go.
Chen Manman left the Infirmary, supported by his followers. Xu Chang bowed to them and hurried after.
The live stream never paused. Netizens blew up; hot searches climbed one after another. But Yu Xi had no screen. He couldn’t see the comments or trends. He just stood there, stunned and angry, lost in thought.
The production team surely had more bullies than just Chen Manman, more victims than just Xu Chang.
Wen Yimeng—Chen Manman had just mentioned him.
What had he endured? And what had he gained?
Yu Xi’s phone rang. He answered numbly. Wu Zhiqi’s anxious voice burst from the receiver. “Teacher Yu Xi, Teacher Yi Chen, where are you? Dreamdream just fainted!”
Yu Xi snapped back.
“He’s covered in injuries! Oh my god, I had no idea what happened to him before! His face looked off before he collapsed. I thought of sending him to the hospital, but he refused flat out. Then he passed out!”
“Where is he now?” Yu Xi asked.
Wu Zhiqi: “Geng Nian took him back to Dorm 224 to rest.”
Geng Nian?
Yu Xi froze.
Survival of the fittest—Chen Manman’s words echoed in his mind.
Among all the trainees—not, even among everyone on the production team—who was the strongest?
Was it the chief director? Obviously not.
The investors who put up the money always had the greatest say in the production team.
And the production team’s biggest investor was the Geng Group, the conglomerate behind Geng Nian.
So, with Geng Nian spending every day alongside the contestants, how could he not know about this?
If he turned a blind eye and silently permitted it, there was only one possibility.
—He was one of the bullies too.
What had Wu Zhiqi just said?
Wen Yimeng had been taken away by Geng Nian?!
“Hurry!” Yu Xi grabbed Yi Chen. “To Dorm 224!”
Yu Xi’s legs suddenly buckled.
—He was still recovering from the sprain. Chen Manman’s sudden entrance earlier hadn’t given the pain any time to subside.
“Your leg.”
“No time for that!” Yu Xi gritted his teeth against the pain and rushed toward Dorm 224.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Geng Nian closed the door and locked it.
Wen Yimeng had already lost consciousness. His lips were pale, fine beads of cold sweat dotted his forehead, and his shoulders trembled nonstop.
Geng Nian sat down beside Wen Yimeng, tucked in the corner of his blanket, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let his fingers linger on his cheek. “It seems you’ve made some good friends on the show.”
“But did you say anything you shouldn’t have?”
