In the end, Sheng Man had no choice but to back down.
Before taking the stage, Xu Tingyu still offered words of comfort.
"If you have ideas, and if there's such an opportunity in the future, we can choreograph another dance."
"Let's all give our best performance when we go on stage later."
Given Xu Tingyu's experience, it would not be an overstatement to say that she was "guiding" Sheng Man.
However, since she had been out of the spotlight for three years, she always remained modest.
Sheng Man still seemed a bit awkward, a flash of guilt crossing his eyes, but he nodded firmly. "I will, senior."
When they took the stage, everything went smoothly at first.
But just as the song was about to end, Xu Tingyu suddenly felt something was wrong.
Sheng Man's state was completely off, disrupting her rhythm and making it impossible for her to fully execute some of her moves.
Although she tried her best to salvage the situation in the end, there were still a few minor mistakes.
When it came to the scoring, Xie Yu was quite fair and didn't deliberately make things difficult for them.
However, with their mistakes, the score was naturally not good.
The bullet chat section of the live - broadcast was filled with regret.
"This was my most anticipated combination. How could this happen?"
"The goddess was in great condition in the previous performances. Why does she seem to be running out of energy here?"
"Yeah, even I, a passer - by, can tell that the goddess was out of rhythm."
...
At the same time, a secretly filmed video also made it onto the hot search.
It was the conversation between Sheng Man and Xu Tingyu in an empty room.
Since both of them had changed into their costumes at that time, their faces couldn't be seen, but it was certain that it was them.
As soon as the video was released, the comment section was quickly led astray.
"What? How dare she be so high - handed and say they shouldn't rely on difficulty to win?"
"Since she dances like this, of course they need to add some difficulty to get a high score."
"She really has no ambition at all. I just heard that she hasn't practiced with Sheng Man together very often."
"Come on, it was her luck to be paired with Sheng Man. But look at her, no one knows what she's been busy with."
...
Even faster, an account suspected to be a makeup artist from the show came out to爆料.
"She might really be out of energy. There were hickeys on her body when I did her makeup this afternoon."
This revelation was quickly regarded as "solid evidence" by Sheng Man's fans.
"She has no professional ethics and wants to drag Man Man down. Man Man is really unlucky."
Sheng Man was almost an open - book contestant in this competition.
After being dug out, he also tacitly admitted it on his social media account.
At that time, some people tried to dig out Xu Tingyu's identity, but they never succeeded, so they just referred to her as "the goddess".
Now this title had become a weapon to attack her.
"The goddess? I think she's just a good - for - nothing. She pretended so well before, but now her true colors are showing."
"She's really bad but still so stubborn."
...
Qi Ruixi saw this information earlier than Xu Tingyu and was furious.
She immediately registered an account and started arguing with those people.
"You people only know how to talk. It was clearly that guy who messed up the rhythm first. Are you all blind?"
"Also, trying to modify the moves just before the performance is not about striving for perfection. It's just courting disaster."
"That guy should consider it an honor to dance with the goddess. Some of you, don't go too far."
...
She was typing so fast that it seemed like sparks were flying from her fingertips. But unfortunately, there were too many negative comments, and she simply couldn't argue them all off.
She had no choice but to send a message to Qi Shifeng.
"Second brother, they're bullying your wife. Are you just going to sit back and do nothing?"
Qi Shifeng didn't reply to her.
The hot search was getting more and more intense.
She suddenly remembered that Xie Yu had gone to see Qi Shifeng in the morning. She wondered what kind of spell she had cast on him.
Forget it, this man was unreliable.
With this thought in mind, she immediately left the studio and called Qi Ye.
"Big brother, do you know anyone in the media? I want to hire trolls."
Hiring trolls? She could do that too.
Qi Ye was somewhat involved in the entertainment industry, so he must have some connections in this regard.
When the call was connected, Qi Ye's voice sounded a bit weak, but he still spoke gently with a smile. "What's up?"
Qi Ruixi then explained the current situation.
After a moment of silence, the other side sent her a phone number.
"I'll have someone handle it. If there's any urgent matter later, you can call him."
Qi Ye was still abroad and wouldn't be back anytime soon.
Qi Ruixi didn't notice anything wrong with his voice. She just thanked him and then hung up the phone in a hurry.
She didn't know that thousands of miles away, Qi Ye was lying in the hospital bed, smiling at the attending doctor.
"I'll cooperate well with the treatment, but I need to return to China as soon as possible."
The attending doctor glanced at his pale face and shook his head.
"No. You didn't listen to our advice before and insisted on going back. That has already had a great impact on your health."
"So, you're not suitable for long - distance travel within half a year."
Qi Ye still smiled, but his tone was non - negotiable.
"I must go back."
The doctor hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there someone waiting for you? You can ask her to come here."
Qi Ye laughed even more, so much so that he started coughing continuously. "No one is waiting for me, but there's someone I want to see."
He refused to say anything more. The doctor had no choice but to compromise.
"Okay, but at least for the next two months, don't do anything reckless. Otherwise, I won't be able to save you."
Qi Ye didn't say a word. He just looked out of the window at the sky.
On Qi Ruixi's side, just after she paid for the trolls, she found that the hot search had been removed.
She looked at the money she had just transferred out, and swear words almost escaped her lips.
Was this deliberately trying to oppose her?
If they were going to remove it, why didn't they do it earlier? She had wasted so much money.
But despite her unhappiness, at least the goal had been achieved.
She went backstage and saw Xu Tingyu and Sheng Man talking.
She immediately got angry and rushed over.
"Sheng Man, you're a professional contestant. Why did you make such a低级 mistake?"
Xu Tingyu had already taken off her mask, so the disappointed expression on her face was clearly visible.
Sheng Man didn't even dare to look at her. His voice was muffled as he just kept apologizing. "I'm sorry."
In Xu Tingyu's dictionary when it came to work, there was never such a thing as turning a blind eye.
So she looked at the other person seriously, trying to find some clues on his face.
"This competition doesn't really matter in the grand scheme of things, but I want to know why."
"Don't tell me it was a mistake. We rehearsed more than thirty times, and you never made a mistake once."
"Also, you've been acting strange ever since you came to me about changing the moves. What exactly happened? Tell me."
Under her pressure, Sheng Man finally couldn't hold it in anymore.
"I'm sorry, senior. I was really out of my mind. I know I was wrong."
"They came to me and said that we needed to have a more controversial performance in this competition to create topics."
"I didn't want to at first, but they said it was a common hype method in variety shows. I... I wanted to continue the competition, so I agreed."
...
Sheng Man's voice got softer and softer.
Putting all the pieces together, Xu Tingyu finally understood what that look in his eyes meant before they took the stage.
It was the guilt of betraying his teammate.