Chapter 46: Three Big Words: Just Ridiculous

Just as the production team members were at their wits' end.

Suddenly, a staff member scrolled through a news feed and exclaimed in shock, "The entire Pink Girls group has spoken out!"

"What's going on? Are they calling for support for Jin Li again?" others asked one after another.

"No, no, no. This time it's not support; it's a joint condemnation. I'm afraid even the Lian Baozhi incident won't be able to be suppressed this time."

Everyone clicked into the blogs. There was no need to search; the condemnation was already prominently displayed in the trending hot searches—

#Pink Girls Members Speak Out Against Injustice for Jin Li#

Ji Qinglian: [Some people get a bit too cocky just after becoming A-listers. They don't hesitate at all when it comes to suppressing their seniors~]

Yu Lina: [Sigh, they're just bullying our Li-bao because of her poor health. If she were healthy, how could it be her turn to be a mentor?]

Qi Guan Mingzhu: [If you don't intend to sincerely invite someone to participate in the show, then there's no need to invite them at all. It's tormenting yourself and tormenting others.]

Gong Zitong: [Our youngest...]

Xi Mengze: [Maybe don't participate next time. I heard from someone that your face was pale during the recording.]

The sisters of Pink Girls all spoke with great sophistication.

They didn't name names, and their statements were cryptic; one could only understand the meaning by reading between the lines.

As fans followed the drama, they only knew that the group's youngest—Jin Li—had been wronged, but they weren't clear on the specifics.

However, looking at it from various angles, one thing could be confirmed: it was related to her recent participation in *PICK~ Next Station Diva*.

Consequently, the group's fans began a furious raid on the official website.

The fans didn't say the show was bad, nor did they mention the boy band March Day; instead, they accused the show's planning team of being incompetent and unable to coordinate relationships between celebrities.

Meanwhile, many netizens were still unaware of how the Pink Girls' statements related to the production team. Just then, an entertainment reporter leaked the news of Sui Lingfang's angry diss of Lyu Shanjie.

Entertainment Reporter "Zhou the Skin-Peeler": [I used to follow Pink Girls for a while. Their professional skills are beyond reproach. Even with Jin Li being the one who drags them down, you can feel her attitude of wanting to work hard and do well.

But if your body won't cooperate, there's nothing you can do. And no one said that having poor health means you can't be a star!

I just didn't expect that in this day and age, such blatant things could still happen. This is a major show, not an ancient palace drama where information can only be passed one way.

If you truly didn't like Jin Li, you could have simply not invited her to be your partner. To intentionally give someone an opportunity, only to intentionally delay it—you are truly two-faced! (Two audio clips.mp3)]

Previously, when Lyu Shanjie, acting as Lian Baozhi's manager, published a public apology on her blog, the heat hadn't been quite this high.

Many fans and netizens tend to focus on the artists and pay little attention to the managers.

Even if they had seen Lyu Shanjie's apology, many were still confused.

But now, with the uproar caused by Pink Girls, the audio provided by Zhou the Skin-Peeler, and Lyu Shanjie's apology...

Oh ho! With all the elements of the case now complete, the netizens finally understood the whole story!

[This is a bit ridiculous. How can a major production team allow such a loophole for a mentor? Could it be that they are working in collusion with Lian Baozhi?]

[Well... perhaps the production team didn't know. The recording said the production team manages things very strictly, and unrelated personnel wouldn't be able to know the specific rehearsal details or recording information.]

The fans of the production team were still struggling weakly, but given the complete logical chain, this explanation was hard to find convincing.

[If it truly has nothing to do with the production team, then one can only say the planning has massive loopholes. If it is related to the production team, Jin Li can only accept her bad luck. I've heard before that some production teams like to assist the wicked; it turns out it's true.]

[First a CEO breaking down doors to snatch a company seal, and now a planner helping a celebrity step on one to lift another?] This comment immediately received tens of thousands of likes and became the pinned comment on the front page.

At this point, both the non-fan netizens and the fan netizens fell silent.

Three words summed it up: Absolutely ridiculous!!!

The group of people in the meeting saw the trending hot search situation on the blogs and couldn't help but fall silent as well.

Now look at them—they had gone from discussing how to invite Jin Li to participate in the third episode to discussing how to explain that the production team was unaware of this matter.

From a normal perspective, if you invited her to be your partner, you must have a good relationship with her or have some mutual interests.

Who could have thought that Lian Baozhi would actually do something as "killing a thousand enemies while losing eight hundred of her own" as this?

***

Inside the Taoist temple.

After buying souvenirs, Jin Li followed the crowd of pilgrims to queue up to worship the God of Wealth.

Sui Lingfang did not join the queue; instead, she went under a large tree to make a phone call to handle an urgent matter.

When Jin Li was nearly at the front of the line, she called out to Sui Lingfang, "Sister Fang, come over here!"

Sui Lingfang nodded to her and spoke quickly to Zou Dafei on the other end of the phone: "I'll remain silent for now. After all, I'm the one who released the call recording. Even though I wasn't the one who leaked it, it's best if I don't come out at this moment."

On the current trending hot searches, Jin Li held the moral high ground.

If she were to speak out again, she would appear to be an unreasonable person who refuses to let go even when she is right.

Zou: "Alright, then regarding the production team..."

Sui Lingfang: "Just say that Jin Li accepts their apology and knows it was unintentional, and that there will be opportunities to cooperate again in the future."

To be honest, Sui Lingfang didn't actually believe the production team was truly unintentional.

Since Jin Li was participating in the show, even if Lian Baozhi was the one coordinating with her, the production team should have sent someone to notify her.

There were huge loopholes in this matter; perhaps Lian Baozhi had bribed someone on the inside.

But since the show had already aired, there was no use in pursuing it after the fact. It was better to each take a step back and leave it at that.

Zou: "Okay, if anything changes, I'll call you again."

Sui Lingfang had already reached Jin Li's side and replied, "Don't call me. If there's anything, send a message. I'm in a hurry to worship the gods; my heart must be sincere."

Zou:???

That wasn't right. He remembered Sui Lingfang wasn't an atheist, was she?

...

The Nancheng Yueshan Grand Temple was built on a mountain. The air on the mountain was fresh and the temperature was low, perfectly offsetting the rising heat of March, making it feel very comfortable.

The restless mind and body brought on by the climb gradually turned into a state of peace under the golden radiance of the God of Wealth.

Jin Li sincerely worshipped the God of Wealth, praying only for her health and safety.

After exiting the main gate, she felt a massive surge of divine power pouring into her, causing her spirit to instantly brighten.

Jin Li felt that the divine power given by the God of Wealth this time was even greater than before. She wasn't sure if it was because her overall condition had improved or if there was some other reason.

After worshipping the God of Wealth, Jin Li went with Sui Lingfang to the lottery station at the foot of the mountain.

It wasn't evening yet, so it was far from the peak tourist hours, but many people were already coming and going from the lottery station.

Jin Li took a look and was stunned, nearly dropping the popsicle in her hand.

This shop manager...

Has talent!

*Congratulations to celebrity Jin Li for scratching a 200,000 lottery prize at this station!*

*Let's all cheer for Jin Li—may good luck follow her!*

*The next black-clad lucky koi could be you! Grand prizes are waiting for you!*

Sui Lingfang also saw the three banners hanging in front of the shop and said with a mix of laughter and tears, "It would be a bit much if this shop owner didn't pay you advertising fees."

Jin Li smiled brightly, her eyes curving like crescents, and waved her hand dismissively. "Forget it, forget it. Consider it supporting a public welfare cause. I don't believe in lotteries, but I do believe in scratch-offs."

She had an intuition that while lotteries might not be strictly regulated, scratch-offs were relatively fair; this was what her "lucky koi intuition" told her.