Rich Side Character Goes Viral for Gossiping on a Laid-Back Reality Show Ch. 45

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Fans were losing it. Everyone was in disbelief.

The scandal kept snowballing, with more and more people joining in on the criticism.

"If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't have believed it. Using a voice double to lip-sync? That's wild," Ji Minghan muttered, rubbing his chin, still kind of dazed.

Si Churou scoffed coldly after finishing the tea. "She dragged my girl Qianxia through the mud for so long—she's getting what she deserves. Let 'em roast her, hard!"

Yu Qianxia's gaze shifted slightly, her voice calm and cold. "The people she hurt the most... were her fans."

Back in her hotel room, Ruan Zhiyao clutched her face, her expression twisted in panic as she grabbed her manager's arm. "Help me! I'm dying! What do I do? What do I do?"

"Can I still recover from this? I don't want to be exposed!"

"I don't want to quit the industry! I've worked so hard! I can't lose like this!"

Her manager looked just as shell-shocked, heart nearly giving out from the stress. But at this point, it was basically checkmate—there wasn't a single way out. "Xiao Yao... there's nothing we can do now. Even President Zha can't save you from this."

Ruan Zhiyao cried so hard she was a mess of tears and snot, shaking her head frantically. "No! I can't accept this!"

Her manager sighed deeply and tried to coax her. "Xiao Yao, you still have President Zha as your safety net. You won't have to leave the industry completely. Singing's not an option anymore, but we can pivot. Acting's blowing up right now. You've got that sweet, innocent look that's really in demand. There are tons of scripts out there that fit your type perfectly..."

"But..." Ruan Zhiyao sniffled, looking completely wronged. "Acting doesn't pay as fast as singing. It's exhausting and totally thankless. If I don't do well, people will just mock me and drag me. And the paycheck? Barely worth it."

Her manager suddenly fell silent. Ruan Zhiyao had raked in quite a few benefits from her singing career in the past few years. Now that she'd gotten a taste of success, there was no way she'd willingly settle for less.

Just then, the assistant pushed the door open. Following behind her was another girl.

The moment Ruan Zhiyao saw who it was, her anger flared. "Didn't I tell you to stay far away and not let anyone see you? How did you get caught on camera?!"

Du Ying looked pale and panicked. She stammered, "I-It was Si Churou. She saw me."

"What did you just say?" Ruan Zhiyao's eyes widened slightly. Then it hit her. "So it was Yu Qianxia. She really knew everything!"

The manager furrowed his brows. "If Yu Qianxia's making a move against you, things are about to get a whole lot harder."

Ruan Zhiyao clenched her teeth quietly. "No way. I'm not going down like this."

Her gaze landed firmly on Du Ying. In a flash, an idea struck her.

"Du Ying, the voice double scandal blew up because of you too. If you don't want to pay for breaching the contract, you'll do exactly what I say," she snapped.

At the mention of money, Du Ying's face turned ghost-white. She didn't have any other option. She nodded quickly. "I'll do whatever Sister Ruan says."

After a night of fermenting online, the lip-syncing scandal had completely tanked Ruan Zhiyao's reputation. Her fanbase was bailing on her in droves, and the food and beauty brands she used to endorse had started announcing contract terminations.

Chances were, Ruan Zhiyao wasn't getting a comeback. Her career was toast.

Meanwhile, Yu Qianxia watched her luck value tick upward again. It not only bounced back to 17, it even climbed a little higher—now sitting at 23.

On top of that, her Weibo had gained over 50,000 new followers who were just there for the drama. In the comments, fans were hyped:

[Gossip eaters rise! We live for the drama—count us in with Sister Yu from now on~]

Scrolling through the comments, Yu Qianxia couldn't help but smile at some of the funny ones.

Right then, a notification popped up at the top of the screen.

Her fingers paused, and the smile faded from her lips.

#Ruan Zhiyao clarifies lip-syncing allegations#
#Voice double girl speaks out#

[Ruan Zhiyao V: I don't know who secretly recorded that video and posted it online, but I really wasn't lip-syncing! Last night's performance was a last-minute thing, and we didn't have time for proper equipment checks. There was a mic issue, which caused the whole mess. I'm really sorry for giving everyone such a bad experience.]

[Also, the girl in the video is actually a fan of mine. She's someone special who was waiting backstage to meet me because my music gave her strength. She also really loves to sing. While backstage, she raised a mic and sang along with me—but sadly, she can't actually make a sound.]

The moment Ruan Zhiyao's post dropped, the internet exploded again.

[Wait—what? That girl's mute?]

[So the video was edited to make Ruan Zhiyao look bad?]

[This plot twist is insane. Who's behind this?]

[And it worked—everyone's been dragging Ruan Zhiyao for lip-syncing. That's terrifying.]

Yu Qianxia scrolled through page after page of comments, her brows furrowing more and more.

Besides Ruan Zhiyao's post, there was also a video from the girl in question.

Since she couldn't speak, the girl looked straight into the camera and signed with her hands. Subtitles were added at the bottom.

The girl had meant to say: last night, she got invited at the last minute as a special fan. She sang along without meaning to, but someone with bad intentions secretly recorded it, which led to the whole misunderstanding. Also, she could vouch that Ruan Zhiyao really did sing live—and she'd always be her fan.

And just like that, the narrative flipped again. Ruan Zhiyao's fans were fired up—

[Ahhh I knew it! I knew it! Ruan Zhiyao wouldn't fake it!]

[Ugh, this is exactly why I love her. She'll always be the best in my heart!]

[Love you forever. I'll never doubt you again, I swear!]

After scrolling through all the trending posts, someone knocked on Yu Qianxia's door.

She was staying in the guesthouse provided by the show's production team. She got up to open the door—and standing outside were Si Churou and Ji Minghan.

"Sister Yu, what's going on online right now?" Ji Minghan looked totally stunned. "How can that girl be mute? I swear I heard her singing last night. We even recorded it—it was her voice!"

All credit goes to the original author
Feel free to pinpoint us if there are any grammar error or typos
Please don't use Guazi's translations to re-translate in other languages

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