CHAPTER 181: CHAPTER 176: THE FIRST NEGATIVE NEWS

The show’s production team, Galaxy Xiaoyue’s room.

The room carried the scent of baijiu and cooked dishes.

The former was drinking with her friend, Sun Miao.

"Xiaoyue, this show is absolutely going to blow up. Today’s performances were unexpectedly good."

"Haha, I feel the same way. I didn’t expect their performances to be this impressive."

"Xiaoyue, the next step is about editing. What do you plan to do?"

Sun Miao put down her glass, looking rather serious at the other person.

"What about you? Any thoughts?"

"I think we should create a clear contrast between a model figure and the opposite, of course leaving it up to the audience to decide who’s the opposite."

"So who’s the model, and who’s the opposite?"

Galaxy Xiaoyue asked while taking a bite of food.

"Meng Meixuan is our model figure, and that Lv Fangxin is the opposite," Sun Miao declared without hesitation.

"Lv Fangxin? You want to cast her as the opposite type? She has quite a lot of fans right now."

"Exactly, she embodies the type who doesn’t exert much effort but still achieves great results. Compared to the other girls, she will undoubtedly spark intense controversy."

It was evident that Sun Miao had her own plan. In her eyes, despite episode three being an ensemble undertaking, it essentially revolved around only two protagonists.

"I also have the same idea as you, but sheer luck on the competition stage isn’t enough," Galaxy Xiaoyue raised her glass, the smile on her face becoming increasingly sinister.

Prepared for this discussion, Sun Miao continued, "We could include rehearsal clips of theirs in the main show and paint her as someone who cries easily. To further enhance her lucky persona, I think we need to pair her with some sidekicks."

When Sun Miao mentioned this, Galaxy Xiaoyue couldn’t help but inquire, "Sidekicks? You mean Chen Yinghan?"

"Yes, exactly Chen Yinghan. Rural beauty paired with a second-generation rich heir, Cinderella with her prince—nobody can resist such a story. We can also give Chen Yinghan a kind-hearted and extraordinarily talented persona."

Galaxy Xiaoyue thought for a moment and then smiled, "This persona is excellent. I think her company will cooperate in hyping it up. But just having Chen Yinghan isn’t enough; we can add a few more ’wealthy woman falls for rural beauty’ stories."

Sun Miao nodded, "Xiaoyue, how do you plan to handle the Galaxy pair?"

"That depends on what the company decides, but only by pushing Galaxy down can we establish ourselves as the real number-one girl group."

Dead silence surrounded, broken only by the twinkling neon lights of the night.

The next day, the base’s group of ladies surprisingly didn’t wake up early.

However, outside the base, many people were still hard at work.

Flower City

Employees from a certain internet tech company were following the set plan to post similar short essays across various platforms.

"Mr. Ma, we still have plenty of big scandals, don’t we? Why are we just releasing this one?" asked Xiao Fan curiously as she handed him the business data.

"This is just testing the waters. Someone wants to see how effective this small scandal is before deciding whether to release the bigger ones," Mr. Ma replied with a smile.

"Mr. Ma, do you think the show Natural Idol will actually blow up?" Xiao Fan suddenly asked a question unrelated to their work.

Mr. Ma set down the material in his hand and looked at his most capable assistant: "Xiao Fan, don’t let your fascination with celebrities distract you from your work. Haven’t you figured it out over the years? All those personas of celebrities—fake."

Xiao Fan chuckled awkwardly, "Mr. Ma, I understand. I won’t let my mind wander."

After Xiao Fan left, she opened her phone to check today’s entertainment news while her screen displayed a wallpaper of Lv Fangxin’s photo.

Later that evening, another derivative program related to the second episode aired on Penguin, featuring a variety game show. Meanwhile, all sorts of rumors about the third episode’s performance spread online.

Sitting on a large sofa browsing her phone, Xiao Du suddenly noticed a post:

During Natural Idol, trainee Wang Miaomiao was caught using her phone inappropriately, belittling three Sunshine Girl Group members for being unattractive, saying they made her look even prettier just by sitting next to her.

The post included a screenshot of a group chat.

Fans in the group were praising her beauty on the show, while criticizing the three Sunshine Girl Group girls for being unattractive.

Wang Miaomiao responded with a single remark: "Maybe it’s because they were standing next to me."

This post spread widely within fandom circles.

While many felt Wang Miaomiao was just speaking the truth, moral sensibilities made them recognize such comments were inappropriate, prompting righteous individuals to criticize her.

Things got even worse as the issue escalated; the following day, someone revealed discrepancies in her age and academic credentials—she had falsely claimed to be three years younger, and her degree wasn’t actually a graduate-level one.

This left Wang Miaomiao’s company in a panic, as the show was on the verge of gaining popularity, and Wang Miaomiao had been a standout contestant in the first episode. They couldn’t let her reputation crumble.

On top of that, another employee from the same company, Yu Xiaohong, couldn’t attend the first public stage performance due to family issues, making it vital to preserve Wang Miaomiao’s standing.

It should be noted that the Fashion Girl Group trainees hailed from two different companies that collaborated to form this alliance.

The companies seemed ill-fated: after a promising start, their mismanagement or self-inflicted mistakes led them to decline. Their breakout stars were either sabotaged by their parent companies or their own actions.

However, apart from those interested in the show, this news didn’t stir much of a reaction. The comments section wasn’t particularly active.

Nevertheless, Xiao Du keenly noticed something peculiar: self-proclaimed audience members hinted that the first public performance seemed odd, as hot favorite Yang Ni hadn’t taken the center position.

This detail drew little attention, but Xiao Du noticed the anomaly.

"Could this post have been planted by Penguin’s hired posters?"

With furrowed brows, Xiao Du opened her computer and thoroughly researched the Fashion Girl Group. Then she rewatched the VIP version of episode two attentively.

She observed that the "Dark High-Heeled Shoes" team originally had six members, but during the live performance, there were only five.

"Did something happen to Zheng Chengcheng?" Xiao Du’s gaze darkened as she stared at the screen.

She understood that Penguin’s first elimination would occur after the release of the group performance. Whether her favorite would survive the first round depended on the voting results.

If the Fashion Girl Group’s company ended up clashing with Penguin, her favorite’s chance to ascend would grow.

However, Xiao Du had limited information in hand; her next move was to dig for internal updates.

As Wang Miaomiao’s reputation suffered, online buzz about the "rural flower" increased dramatically. Many were writing articles praising her angelic face and unique, charming personality.

These essays were all remarkably well-written, but to a trained eye, it was obvious many were created by marketing accounts.

But Lv Fangxin’s company wasn’t financially capable of hiring marketing services, so who was orchestrating her rise?

The online chatter quickly reached various companies, some of which grew increasingly anxious.

They had identified the show’s immense potential and were determined to ensure their trainees advanced to the next round.

The company that regretted their decisions the most was the former home of the now-disbanded "Magic Numbers" girl group.

Premature disbandment meant they lost control over those members due to terminated contracts.

Though they contacted Penguin and the group members to renegotiate, aiming to re-sign them,

Fan Lei and the others weren’t naive anymore. They understood that signing a contract wouldn’t guarantee debut chances.

Moreover, their former company wasn’t part of the entertainment industry; signing with them wasn’t going to offer any advantages.

These girls had outgrown their days of innocence.