CEO's Sweetheart is a Super Idol-Chapter 342 - 334: Unexpected Return to the Stage

The lights were blinding.

Yuwei was actually very dissatisfied with the full-term contract offered by Penguin.

Because some of its highly professional clauses were beyond her understanding.

Yet, Penguin’s bottom line was that she had to decide whether to sign the contract before the finals.

If she didn’t sign, Yuwei believed she could still debut, but there would be no resources for her afterward.

If she signed, there was a significant possibility she might fall into a contractual trap, though she had already handed over a draft of the contract to a lawyer she trusted for interpretation.

That lawyer disclosed that the contract contained a few ambiguous clauses, meaning they could be interpreted differently under legal terms.

However, Yuwei had already run out of options. She had no company backing her, no professional legal or negotiation team. She couldn’t afford to wait it out, and after Wan Kai guaranteed her, she reluctantly signed the contract.

Of course, all of this was done in secret.

Even Yang Xiaoyue didn’t know why Wan Kai sought out Yuwei.

At Li Ke’s house,

The battle of scandals and fund-raising efforts had reached a fever pitch over these past few days.

Li Ke’s camp displayed astonishing organizational power.

They had secretly pooled together over 5 million yuan, aiming to launch a final push for Flower of the Village during the last 24 hours of voting.

Over the past few days, the blackmail against Lv Fangxin had escalated to an unbelievable degree.

Since there was practically no dirt left to dig up on her, marketing accounts focused on portraying Lv Fangxin as lazy and prone to crying instead of trying hard.

Meanwhile, they also launched a relentless attack against Lv Fangxin’s major fans, starting with restricting the reach of their posts, followed by harassment via software like "Call Bomb."

However, the restrictions were quickly lifted, and someone filed a police report, resulting in the arrest of individuals from the companies involved in such actions.

Because Lv Fangxin’s fanbase spanned various industries, some of her key fans were quite influential figures.

The people targeting Lv Fangxin ended up kicking a steel plate.

Soon after, powerful media outlets voiced their support for Lv Fangxin, condemning the violations involved in these tactics.

This scared some companies significantly; one trainee’s company was even shut down under specific charges by local authorities.

Unwilling to concede defeat, these detractors redirected their attacks to Yuwei.

Yuwei certainly had far more "black material" compared to Lv Fangxin.

Claims of bullying teammates, scamming fans out of money, slacking off during performances, and cracking jokes in the theater all resurfaced.

But Yuwei’s fans weren’t easy to mess with either.

In fact, there was considerable overlap between Yuwei’s and Lv Fangxin’s fans.

Their professional composition was similar, and they began retaliating in various ways.

Soon, scandals about Meng Meixuan and others spread across the internet.

In short, in the days leading up to the finals, all interested parties—and even some bystanders—went completely insane, with none emerging unscathed.

Over at Galaxy, fans aiming to debut the team captain were embroiled in internal conflict.

The company had already subtly implied to prominent fans that Lu Bingbing had no chance of debuting this time.

This wasn’t due to the company’s goodwill or concern over fan losses; rather, Galaxy knew that if fans invested their votes in her, the total election would certainly collapse.

The repeated changes in stance by the company left Galaxy fans fuming.

To them, Lu Bingbing symbolized hope for Galaxy’s over 300 idols and represented the group’s dignity. Having reached the finals, they felt they had to fight for her.

Though the total election was important, they knew it was just an internal village event. This competition, however, was a nationwide showdown against other girl groups. If Galaxy lost here, how could they ever call themselves the number one girl group?

Galaxy fans began to split.

One faction insisted on voting for Lu Bingbing no matter what, even if their own favorites suffered a crushing defeat in the total election.

The other faction decided to prioritize their personal favorites.

The result of this split was that those choosing not to vote for Lu Bingbing were labeled as "traitors."

These fans and idols experienced immense discomfort; voting should have been a personal choice, but Huaxia’s ideological tendencies dictated otherwise.

Sacrificing personal interests for the collective good and despising those who cared only for themselves at the expense of the group were deeply ingrained beliefs.

Now, Lu Bingbing represented all of Galaxy. No matter what, she had to be pushed to grab a debut spot.

Galaxy’s higher-ups were also in a bind—they couldn’t openly tell fans that Penguin had already called the shots, making their fundraising efforts futile.

Moreover, among the 22 finalists, apart from certain royalty and Wang Na, which fanbase could be taken lightly?

Galaxy fans might have been powerful, but they hadn’t yet faced truly formidable outside opponents.

Even Meng Meixuan alone had already raised over 30 million yuan in funds.

Galaxy’s top ten combined couldn’t even match her.

In the end, fan circle logic differed greatly from that of ordinary people.

Time flew.

For this event, Penguin opted for a full-scale live broadcast.

This meant that every performance had to include open mic singing and dancing.

The 22 girls were already exhausted to the limit. They not only had group song-and-dance performances on stage but also solo acts.

Additionally, changes in makeup and costumes added to the complexity of the entire process.

Some girls knowing they wouldn’t debut chose to rest more when their bodies couldn’t take it anymore.

It wasn’t fair to say they weren’t trying—everyone had their physical limits.

Yang Xiaoyue had been so busy during this period that she practically lost track of time. She and her team meticulously rehearsed every detail of the finals.

This program might be the pinnacle of her career, so she treated it like her own child.

There was only one day left before the finals.

"Meixuan!"

Just as Meng Meixuan was rehearsing, she suddenly heard a familiar voice that stunned her.

"Feiyu, Yingxi, Qiqi, Rainbow..."

Everyone rehearsing froze in shock and turned to look—it was the eliminated trainees.

Ah! Ah!

Everyone was so excited they lost control, tears streaming down their faces.

"Han Qiuhua, why are you back?"

Jiang Mengqi grabbed her teammate’s hand, crying and laughing simultaneously.

"Goodness, I thought we wouldn’t see each other until we left!"

Gao Ziyi’s chubby face was also flushed with happiness.

Han Qiuhua was both happy and sad, her eyes reddened.

"We’re performing a return act. Didn’t the program inform you?"

"No, we had no idea! It’s so wonderful you’re here!" Jiang Mengqi’s tears wouldn’t stop flowing.

Lai Ruoxuan was overjoyed and kept jumping while Lu Peiqin and Jiang Meixing had also returned.

"Congratulations, Qiqi, you got that song and even became the Like King."

Jiang Meixing’s eyes were red as well. Ever since she was eliminated, she had been obsessively tracking every piece of news from the base.

While in the base, she hadn’t felt so strongly, but after leaving, there were constant regrets piling up.

Her mind kept replaying memories of the base over and over again.

Lu Peiqin felt similarly regretful. She always thought she hadn’t put forth her best effort, yet she had still been eliminated and viciously attacked online afterward.

Still, their group had gained significant attention, achieving levels of recognition they had never dared dream of before.

"Qiqi, you look so drained—are you okay?" Jiang Meixing asked with concern.

"I probably won’t make it into the debut lineup," Lai Ruoxuan said softly with a crestfallen expression.

"It’s not over yet! All of our fans are voting for you," Lu Peiqin tried to cheer up Lai Ruoxuan, thinking she was being overly pessimistic.

"During rehearsals, I haven’t managed a single flawless execution. Time is so tight... those not slated to debut don’t need to waste time practicing unnecessary details," Lai Ruoxuan said, forcing a bitter smile.

Jiang Meixing and Lu Peiqin stood there stunned, mouths agape, faces pale.

To them, Qiqi represented their ultimate dream and their final hope.