Rebirth from the Ashes

The press conference was aimed towards the general population as dozens of large and medium-sized streaming platforms broadcast it live. It was a large crowd with over a hundred media outlets present and accounted for.

It never occurred to the trainees that Su Ruowan would be so thick-skinned to go on with the competition in the face of mounting pressure. Many thoughts crossed their minds.

Having seen it coming, Song Wenye turned to the rest.

Ji Jingyan was unable to swallow that fact. “She’s brave.”

She would climb inside a hole and bury herself in it if it were her. She would be too embarrassed to appear in front of the public. She had to give it to Su Ruowan for handling it well.

Tong Kejun could not agree more. “I think you have to be shameless if you want to get into showbiz.”

Tong Kejun had never spoken so harshly before. She was impressed by Su Ruowan’s boldness. It was true that having thick skin could get people to places.

“F*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck, f*ck!” Han Yan ran her mouth and finally made a gagged look at the press conference playing on her phone. “Blegh!”

Liu Qianyu and Guan Rou found it repulsive that this kind of people tended to live long and prosper. Karma had gotten back at Su Ruowan but she managed to turn it to her advantage.

The copycat sure had the cheek to talk about this. If Su Ruowan was genuinely remorseful, she should repent with hara-kiri in front of everyone.

Even the most amiable Ye Weiyang furrowed her brows. The way she saw it, she could put up with everything except stealing other people’s work. That was crossing the line.

Her last respect for Su Ruowan wore out the moment she realized Su Ruowan plagiarized. Ye Weiyang was only insulting herself to put herself side by side with Su Ruowan.

The other trainees also watched the press conference after the competition. They did not pity their rival, only disgust and gloat in her misfortune.

Instead, they lamented about He Lu’s mishap and Han Yan’s dumb luck.

He Lu placed eighth before Han Yan came along. With Su Ruowan caught in a scandal, she would not be able to debut even if she insisted not to leave the competition. Who would be her replacement? He Lu who ranked eighth, of course!

However, He Lu had an accident, broke her leg, dropped out of the competition, and was hospitalized. Luck was definitely not on her side.

In contrast, Han Yan was on a roll. She was in ninth place at first and with He Lu out of the way, she skipped straight to eighth place. She would be in the top even if Su Ruowan was out of the running. Han Yan had everything going for her.

Meanwhile, He Lu clutched her phone in her hand, almost to the point of breaking it. She looked like the reaper with those bloodshot eyes and a menacing look on her face. Looking at Su Ruowan on the mobile screen dead in the eyes, He Lu was filled with regret.

She did not have to bother scheming against Su Ruowan. She could have won it all even if she did nothing. Yet, she went ahead with the plan and sacrificed herself only for Han Yan to reap the reward!

Su Ruowan’s press conference was quite the buzz. Many who did not tune in to the competition or know who Su Ruowan was became informed of her existence. Su Ruowan gained recognition through notoriety.

The comments online no longer leaned towards calling her shameless and telling her to quit showbiz. Following Tianheng Entertainment’s influence over the comments, many tabloid accounts and hired social account handlers flooded major websites and forums to sway public opinion.

The comments were moving towards a fault confessed is half redressed; Su Ruowan was young and did not know better, she made a mistake, she took the wrong path, she made a wrong choice, and she was eager for success.

Su Ruowan’s fans began to whitewash her, saying she was kind as well as good in dancing and singing. She was merely caught in a moment of weakness, and no one could say they made no mistakes in their whole life.

The tabloid accounts seized the opportunity to confuse the public by digging out and dragging other plagiarized movies, TV shows, and songs into the mess. They reminded the public not to be too hard on Su Ruowan since their favorite singers and actors had once done the same.

With all the right buttons pushed, the netizens became susceptible to herd mentality and gradually turned in favor of Su Ruowan.

From the comments section, it could be seen that plenty of internet users expressed their admiration towards Su Ruowan’s courage and decision to change for the good. They forgave her as it was never too late to change her ways. They told her to keep up the good work and they would be watching her.

While scrolling through the comments, Song Wenye was on the phone with Shen Xi. She nearly cussed her brains out. “These idiots are without brains to let Su Ruowan start with a clean slate!”

“Cool down.” Shen Xi was reading too. She had to hand it to Tianheng Entertainment’s public relations department. As expected from a long-standing entertainment company, they had a way with damage control.

Song Wenye angrily shouted, “This was a great chance to get rid of Su Ruowan. How could I possibly cool down! The network is discussing what they’re going to do with Su Ruowan. I wonder if our agency will get involved.”

Surely, Cosmos Entertainment was not going to allow Su Ruowan who was tainted with a scandal to go on with the competition!

“I don’t think the investing company would have a say in it. It will all depend on the network.” Shen Xi received news from Yuan Yu that the network was inquiring how to deal with the situation.

Leaving it entirely in the hands of the network was Shen Xi’s final answer.

“Godd*mn network! I will bomb the place if they were to allow Su Ruowan on the show.” Song Wenye swore and cussed her heart out before hanging up.

Following the end of the episode, the network’s department heads were called to an emergency meeting about Su Ruowan’s scandal. They were trying to figure out the best way to tackle this when Su Yi pulled all his connections to put pressure on the network.

Burdened by the relentless oppression coming from all corners, the leaders of the networks asked the investor in hopes of getting an opinion. To their dismay, Cosmos Entertainment unconcernedly threw the ball back at them and indicated they would not be getting involved.

In the end, the network decided to allow Su Ruowan to continue her journey on the show, but the score of her original creation and performance would be revoked. They also posted on Weibo explaining to the public that they made up their minds to give her a chance to turn over a new leaf in light of her previous amazing performances.

Chief Director Su Botao was voiceless in the matter. He stuck to his guns about original work and was familiar with the hard work behind its creation. Su Botao was tempted to quit right then and there, but the show was his blood, sweat, and tears. He could not just turn his back and leave.

Moreover, he was no longer at a young, rash, and hot-blooded age. With conflict of interest running deep, he had no choice but to suck it up.

The chief screenwriter talked some senses into him. Su Ruowan was putting herself in front of the camera to be dissed. People would call her shameless and a master manipulator instead of firing at the director. Directors were meant to direct and not to call the shots.

The mentors had no clue how to react when the network informed them that Su Ruowan would remain in the competition. There was a meeting tomorrow morning.

Right away, the mentors’ first move was to get out and look for Mr. Xixi.