Cheng Di stood dumbfounded on stage. She didn’t know the full story, but she could tell something was wrong with how the votes had been cast.

She had originally wanted to call out and forfeit her spot—but after Xue Xiaoqian’s words, she was completely stunned. She never imagined that the one behind all this… was her own uncle.

Her lips trembled twice, but in the end, she couldn’t say a word.

At this point, the facts no longer mattered. What her uncle did, and what she did—was there really any difference? Even if she explained herself, who would believe her now?

Meanwhile, the internet had completely exploded. The moment Xue Xiaoqian finished his statement, Weibo and Douyin were instantly flooded—this incident became the top trending topic.

Ren Chao had never imagined that the traffic explosion he’d hoped for would arrive in this form. Waves upon waves of people flooded into the major livestream platforms, most of them drawn in by the trending headlines.

In a flash, the barrage of livestream comments multiplied many times over.

    “Here from the trending tab! Heard there was some rigging going on?”
    “Xue Xiaoqian’s character still checks out! But those other two… not sure what kind of clowns they are.”
    “Xia Xiyao! Forget this competition! Just have Gu Xingyi write a few more songs for you! Go do your own thing! Release them on HuaYin! We’ll buy your album out!”
    “Pulling this off right in front of everyone? Do you think we, the audience, are idiots?”
    “Lowkey though… Cheng Di did sing pretty well.”
    “Nobody said she sang badly! But come on—it’s about the comparison! Without comparison, there’s no controversy. Get it?”
    “I just want to know—did Cheng Di know about all this? I used to really like her. Sweetheart girl, y’know?”
    “You think she didn’t know? This whole thing was rigged so she could win! If she had no clue, I’ll livestream myself eating ten pounds!”
    “LMAO another one trying to scam for food. Didn’t Cheng Di just now shout ‘wait a second’ too?”
    “I don’t get it. Seriously, I don’t. They’re all from the same company—why do this?”

The netizens argued heatedly, and even the venue had become noisy. Everyone started whispering to each other.

They knew how well Xia Xiyao sang and how incredible that song was. None of them expected this to happen. It was outrageous.

The only one who remained calm was Gao Yu. He looked at Wang Bing and Ran Xiaoxiao—both pale-faced—and sneered.

These two must’ve gone completely brain-dead. For someone like Yin Ping, they pulled this kind of stupid stunt? What were they thinking?

What he didn’t know was that Wang Bing was currently raging inside, cursing out both Yin Ping and Ran Xiaoxiao.

He had accepted some benefits from Yin Ping and agreed to vote for Cheng Di. When the voting came around, he’d hesitated.

But he couldn’t bear to give up the benefits. Besides, he figured with Ran Xiaoxiao voting after him, as long as she voted for Xia Xiyao, the end result would still be Xia Xiyao winning—no harm done!

In that situation, he didn’t believe Ran Xiaoxiao would cast her vote for Cheng Di too.

But no one expected it—Ran Xiaoxiao, blinded by the allure of attention, really did vote for Cheng Di.

Now she was completely panicking.

Originally, she just wanted to stir up a bit of buzz and gain some clout. Later on, she could play the victim and shift the blame to Yin Ping—problem solved.

But with Xue Xiaoqian blowing the whole thing up, and her being the final voter… Not only did she not get the attention, but her reputation was also completely ruined!

Xue Xiaoqian could still fall back on the “sympathy vote” excuse. But she, as the one who cast the decisive vote, had no excuse at all!

Ran Xiaoxiao’s mental state collapsed on the spot.

Meanwhile, host Chen Xue’er stood frozen in awkwardness. In all her years of hosting, this was the first time she’d ever encountered something like this. Despite all her experience, she had no idea how to smooth things over now.

And Ren Chao? He was banging his head against the wall. The votes had already been cast—what now? Could they just pretend it never happened and redo the voting?

But it seemed like there was no other choice now! What a mess!

This kind of broadcast accident was enough to give anyone a headache! If Yin Ping were here right now, Ren Chao would’ve probably wanted to strangle him on the spot!

Feeling helpless, Ren Chao could only sigh and prepare to step in personally to clean things up.

Unexpectedly, it was Cheng Di who suddenly spoke up. She held the microphone, eyes lifeless, but her voice was loud and clear.

“I withdraw!”

She knew the production team must be panicking right now, and her stepping forward was the best way to resolve the situation.

“Whether it's Xia Xiyao’s performance or the song ‘Sea of Flowers’, both far outshone mine! I also disagree with the voting results! That’s why I’m choosing to withdraw! The one who should advance is Xia Xiyao! She deserves it!”

As she spoke, Cheng Di didn’t bring up anything about Yin Ping—she simply stated what she felt.

The audience began murmuring again, and netizens online also started buzzing with debate.

No one could tell if Cheng Di’s words came from genuine sincerity or pressure. In an instant, the online discussions exploded.

Trending topics continued to surge. In the last ten minutes, the earlier events had already made it into the top ten. Now Cheng Di’s declaration climbed right into the rankings.

Out of the top fifty trending searches, most were now about this season’s StarSong Gathering.

At that moment, Xia Xiyao moved. She had remained composed since the voting began, but now she pressed her lips together, walked to Cheng Di, and gently took her small hand.

“You did great.”

Her voice wasn’t loud—only Cheng Di could hear it.

But her actions made everything clear: Xia Xiyao and Cheng Di were close.

So Cheng Di likely didn’t know anything about the shady stuff? Otherwise, how could Xia Xiyao be acting like this?

Thinking about it carefully, the netizens agreed. After the voting ended, Cheng Di had stepped forward with Xue Xiaoqian, but before she could speak, Xue Xiaoqian took the mic first.

Maybe what she had wanted to say at the time… was that she would withdraw?

The online uproar gradually died down, all thanks to Xia Xiyao’s small gesture.

Holding Xia Xiyao’s warm, soft hand, Cheng Di turned her head and met her sincere gaze. At that moment, she suddenly felt like crying.

Not out of guilt—she was happy that she liked someone like Xia Xiyao.

She truly deserved it!

With that thought in mind, Cheng Di decided that once she got home, she’d ask mama to give her uncle a proper scolding—and then ground him at home!

With such a troublemaking uncle, her life was too hard!

Just then, Ren Chao also stepped onto the stage. He was very grateful to Cheng Di—her voluntary withdrawal had saved him a huge headache.

He took the microphone from the host.

“Hello everyone! I’m Ren Chao, chief director of StarSong Gathering. I feel deeply pained and ashamed that something like this happened on our stage! Xia Xiyao’s talent is obvious to all. I will never allow her to leave the stage because of something like this!”

“Fortunately, Mentor Xue Xiaoqian and contestant Cheng Di stepped forward at the end and gave us the truth! So now, I hereby announce that the votes of Wang Bing and Ran Xiaoxiao will be invalidated, and we are terminating our contracts with them—effective immediately. They will no longer be employed! Also! This match will now restart with a brand-new round of voting!”

“At StarSong Gathering, we will not tolerate any injustice!”

After finishing his announcement, Ren Chao gave a deep bow to the audience, then stepped down from the stage.

The host took over again, and the voting resumed. However, Wang Bing and Ran Xiaoxiao, now seated at the mentor’s table, looked like they were sitting on pins and needles.