Who is Helping Me Win by Lying Down [Transmigration] - Chapter 22:

Chapter 22:

8:30 PM.

Here For You meeting room.

Ding Yihua paced back and forth around the long table, radiating frustration. Before he could hang up one call, the beeping of another incoming call sounded through the receiver.

After finally calming down the sponsor who had erupted in anger again, he looked at the director: How’s it going?

The director sighed: The other side clearly came prepared. The bullet screen comments are already unbearable to look at, and the number of online viewers is dropping like a breached dam. I suggest we shut down the live stream.

Ding Yihua’s face turned grim.

Since Chen Shu’s incident until now, Here For You’s originally popular live streams hadn’t been able to complete a single full broadcast.

Today was even worse—just half an hour after starting, with the performances barely begun, they were forced to shut down the live stream.

This series of incidents was undoubtedly a devastating blow to Here For You’s popularity.

The director looked at Ding Yihua, hesitating to speak.

He had foreseen this situation during last week’s live stream.

Back when Chen Shu’s rumors were quickly clarified, he had suggested bringing Chen Shu back, but Ding Yihua stubbornly refused to agree.

Losing a highly topical and popular trainee was already very disadvantageous for Here For You.

Now, with Chen Shu backed by a powerful entity like Huayuan Media, him not returning was a minor issue; the bigger problem was if they wanted to settle scores.

After Huayuan sued the marketing accounts, they had gone quiet, and he thought the matter was over.

After all, Chen Shu was already cleared, and pursuing it further would cost money and effort just to vent anger—hardly cost-effective.

But after a week, what was bound to come had arrived.

Judging by the current online turmoil, Huayuan was determined to stand up for Chen Shu.

What could Ding Yihua use to contend with such a behemoth?

As the director thought this, he looked at Ding Yihua’s livid expression but no longer felt the same anxiety he had during the first live stream shutdown.

He was just an employee; why should he rush to worry on someone else’s behalf?

It was the assistant sitting across from him who broke the silence: Teacher Ding, if we don’t issue a statement to clarify soon, we won’t be able to talk our way out of this…

What do you mean?

Look. The assistant handed him the tablet.

On the screen was a new trending topic within the exposé discussion.

Netizens were always experienced and meticulous when it came to investigative work.

In just half an hour, a blogger had already compiled a summary.

Starting from the first public performance, Here For You’s competition rules seemed to target Chen Shu.

Chen Shu led his team to first place in both mini-tests, yet during the actual competitions, the order they were assigned somehow turned from advantageous to disadvantageous both times.

What was the point of ranking first in such a system? Even randomly picking with your feet wouldn’t yield worse luck than Chen Shu’s.

This post’s reposts quickly surpassed ten thousand, spawning a new topic that surged onto the trending search.

Chen Shu Competition Withdrawal Conspiracy

As the situation escalated, before Ding Yihua could devise a good solution, his phone rang again.

This time, it wasn’t a sponsor.

It was an accountability call from the company.

Ding Yihua’s legs went weak, and he collapsed into his chair.

It’s over.

If the company knew about this, could his own affairs still be kept secret?

No!

He had to make that bastard Gu find a solution, otherwise no one would get off easy!

Wow, look, Brother Shu! Xiao Tian exclaimed in amazement.

He had just told Chen Shu that the hot search topic’s ranking was suddenly dropping, and many people were emerging to explain and defend the program team.

But before ten minutes passed, he refreshed the page and saw everything had risen again, with an additional new topic.

It was as if someone was secretly competing behind the scenes.

But clearly, the winning side was on Brother Shu’s side!

The new topic continued to climb.

Gu Wei Hengsong Foods

The post was from the finance blogger who had previously clarified things for Chen Shu.

Fragrant Melon Finance V: Followed the trend and watched that Here For You show. Found out the heir of Hengsong Foods is also in it. This program sure is lively [eating melon]

Someone asked in the comments:

Hengsong Foods? Aren’t they a sponsor of ‘Here For You’? Who’s the heir??

Fragrant Melon Finance replied: The chairman of Hengsong’s surname is Gu.

This narrowed it down extremely.

Here For You had reached the third public performance, with only 35 trainees remaining. Among them, only one had the surname Gu—Gu Wei.

As soon as this new revelation emerged, netizens immediately started making comparisons.

Chen Shu’s opponent in the first public performance was Gu Wei, and in the second public performance, it was Gu Wei who made Chi Yu choose first.

Everyone had suspected Gu Wei was the Royalty, but then Gao Jinghao, who previously had little presence, came out to take the fall, helping Gu Wei gain public sympathy.

But these were still just speculations.

Until Fresh Melon Patch Chronicles posted another new update.

Received a netizen submission! Is this Gu Wei a treasure trove? Look at these marketing accounts—do they look familiar? I don’t know if you’re angry, but I’m furious!!

The screenshot showed all the accounts sued by Chen Shu’s studio.

Coincidentally, these marketing accounts had all posted two types of content.

Promoting the Xinning Seven holding hands to debut, canvassing votes for Gu Wei in topics related to Chen Shu and Chi Yu, and smearing Chen Shu to force him to withdraw from the competition.

These were clearly the same internet water army!

Once or twice could be coincidence, but three or four times could only be called evidence!

Netizens’ anger surged wave after wave.

I could tolerate climbing up by stepping on teammates, but actually forcing a teammate to withdraw from the competition?! This is disgusting to the extreme!!

If Chen Shu hadn’t been lucky enough to sign with Huayuan, to put it bluntly, wouldn’t his entire life have been ruined by this trash Gu Wei?!

Some bloggers even directly launched complaint channels, with one-click links to the National Internet Information Office, complete with simple tutorials that could be learned with a flick of the finger.

Additionally, with the precedent of Hengsong Foods, netizens split into two groups, frantically digging up past scandals of all Here For You’s sponsors.

One black topic after another jumped onto the trending searches. Sponsors, suffering unjust disasters, called one after another demanding contract termination.

The program team faced internal troubles and external threats; the PR team was so desperate they almost considered collectively fleeing.

The live stream was suspended, with no indication of restarting. The 35 trainees still in the dormitory could feel the heavy oppression covering the entire filming island.

Everyone was chatting sporadically in the main hall, trying to ease their inner panic.

Jiang Xing sighed: It seems like things haven’t been right since the captain left…

Hearing this, Gu Wei abruptly turned and went out.

When he returned, his extremely ugly expression was no longer concealed, leaving only a palpable disheartenment overflowing on the surface.

Gu Wei?

Gu Wei’s face was deathly pale.

He didn’t hear his teammate’s call; in fact, he couldn’t hear any sounds.

A sharp ringing in his ears seemed to pierce his brain, the pain feeling as if it came from beyond the clouds.

How could it come to this…

By 11 PM, the production company, fully aware of the severity, directly took remote control and urgently released a statement.

The statement was long and sincere.

It first explained the investigated causes and consequences before announcing three points.

First, trainee Gu Wei is being processed for competition withdrawal;

Second, terminating cooperation with Hengsong Foods;

Third, dismissing employees involved in the conspiracy and restructuring the team.

Finally, it noted that the program team would sue the above three parties for compensation and guaranteed such incidents would never happen again, inviting netizens to supervise.

After the statement was issued, Here For You’s official account specifically posted a separate public apology.

We extend our sincerest apologies to Mr. Chen Shu @Chen Shu for the previous wrong decisions. Regarding the losses caused to Mr. Chen Shu, our company will visit Huayuan Media shortly to discuss compensation. Additionally, we earnestly invite Mr. Chen Shu to attend Here For You’s Debut Night. Youth shines brightest with you!

The apology was posted and pinned at the top.

The groveling posture was so proper that even netizens couldn’t find fault, even developing a slight fondness for the restructured team.

Comforted! Finally, you’re doing something human.

Stayed up late and finally feel satisfied!! If Chen Shu returns, count me in for the Debut Night.

Compensate! Make sure that scumbag Gu Wei pays until he’s bankrupt!!

The next day, when Chen Shu got up and learned the result from Xiao Tian, he raised an eyebrow slightly.

This resolution indeed seemed like a different team was in charge; the PR handling was very skillful.

Although lost trust was hard to regain, this approach minimized losses while gaining the audience’s maximum forgiveness—a stark contrast to Ding Yihua’s arrogant style.

As for Here For You’s Debut Night invitation, it was also the other side’s subtle tactic to seek deeper forgiveness.

But this subtle tactic wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

After Chen Shu arrived at the company, He Qiyu found him immediately.

I suggest you accept this invitation, He Qiyu said.

She knew Chen Shu could guess that Huayuan had been the one controlling the entire online battle last night.

After successfully achieving their goal, she hadn’t pursued it to the bitter end.

Even though Huayuan was wealthy, there was no need to make enemies unnecessarily.

The ones who schemed to force Chen Shu’s withdrawal were the Gu family and Ding Yihua; making these two face punishment was the main objective.

Moreover, the trainees and staff in the program hadn’t done anything wrong; it was unfair for them to suffer collateral damage.

And Here For You inviting Chen Shu to the Debut Night served two purposes: first, whether Chen Shu agreed or not, the apologetic stance presented to the public could help restore credibility—that alone was success; second, it was a win-win situation.

Chen Shu and Here For You had mutually benefited each other. After his withdrawal, Chen Shu’s popularity peaked; reuniting would surely boost the heat to another level.

This kind of readily available traffic, neither Chen Shu nor Here For You had any reason not to seize.

Chen Shu’s thoughts aligned with hers.

He was very clear about his current position.

A singer without any works needed a stage the most.

Huayuan had prepared two singles for him; only one had recorded dry vocals and was in post-production, while the other was scheduled for today. Two MV shoots were also in preparation.

With half a month left until the Debut Night, plus rehearsals, there wasn’t much usable time left for him.

A week passed quietly amidst the busyness.

When Zhang Shi called, Chen Shu was in the photography studio reviewing the MV script.

Mr. Chen, the driver will arrive at your doorstep in five minutes to pick you up, Zhang Shi said.

Chen Shu set down the script: Pick me up?

… Zhang Shi was incredulous. Director Yan invited you to dinner tonight. Did you forget?

Chen Shu suddenly realized.

There was indeed such an arrangement.

And he truly hadn’t remembered.

…There’s still time. Don’t be late. Faced with someone who treated money like dirt and his superior as nothing, Zhang Shi had nothing more to say. After the reminder, he ended the call.

After putting away his phone, he returned to the study and said to Yan Jingchuan: Director Yan, Chen Shu is still preparing.

Mm. Yan Jingchuan was still reviewing documents. Hearing this, he glanced at his watch, then picked up the cane by the table, using it to help himself stand.

His body was still in a weakened state during recovery.

Zhang Shi couldn’t help saying: Director Yan, should we have the driver bring Chen Shu directly here?

To avoid having to go out.

Bring him here?

A flicker passed through Yan Jingchuan’s eyes.

He didn’t comment directly, instead asking: What kind of person do you think Chen Shu is.

Zhang Shi followed behind him: I think Chen Shu is a good person.

Yan Jingchuan’s steps paused slightly.

He glanced sideways at Zhang Shi, then continued forward: And?

…Chen Shu is someone whose depths I can’t fathom. Zhang Shi, unnerved by that glance, didn’t dare to be perfunctory anymore.

He spoke truthfully: According to the records, he entered the entertainment industry to repay debts, yet he doesn’t care about money; he ranked first in the audition but was schemed against to withdraw—I don’t see him angry; but if you say he doesn’t want to earn money, he’s very dedicated. People at Huayuan say his standards for completion are higher than anyone else’s. Moreover, on the surface, his personality seems easygoing when interacting, but he never truly opens up to anyone. It’s like…

Mm?

Zhang Shi hesitated before saying: I find him strange, as if there’s nothing he truly cares about.

Then, remembering something, he added, Except for his dog.

Because he didn’t care, his attitude toward everything was very indifferent.

For this reason, Zhang Shi always struggled to figure out how to interact with Chen Shu.

Yan Jingchuan said: You mean, the only thing he cares about is that dog.

Zhang Shi nodded: That’s what I think.

After saying this, he heard Director Yan pause for a few seconds before posing another question.

If you were to decide, what method would you use to buy his dog.

Zhang Shi: …………

Had time reversed?

Why were they still talking about the dog???

All his spirit for researching and exploring Chen Shu himself vanished.

Zhang Shi’s mind was now filled only with frantic complaints he didn’t dare say to his face.

After all that, why was Director Yan still using the dog as an excuse!

But looking at Yan Jingchuan’s back, he could only force his thoughts to closely follow.

As a special assistant, it was his duty to pave the way for his boss.

So what if it was an excuse!

Zhang Shi straightened his back and stepped forward half a step: I have an idea, but I don’t know if Director Yan would agree.

Yan Jingchuan looked at him: Speak.

With the words on the tip of his tongue, Zhang Shi’s spine bent slightly again.

He tentatively said: If you can’t buy the dog, wouldn’t being with the dog’s owner achieve the same result?