Chapter 35: Nan Zhi Abusing a Child?

Chapter 35: Chapter 35: Nan Zhi Abusing a Child?

The production team’s home base had descended into utter chaos.

"All livestreams have been suspended!"

"Director Xu! It’s the deputy station director on the line!"

"The sponsors just called. They said if this is true, they’re pulling funding and demanding compensation!"

"..."

"Reporter Liu, we’re verifying the situation on our end too, but the truth definitely isn’t what it looks like. What kind of mother would abuse her own child? An interview? Not right now, but I’ll do my best to arrange one for you later..."

"You want Nan Zhi to give a direct response on camera? That’s a bit difficult... Fu Chao? That’s even harder..."

"This is all a big misunderstanding! You’re the media—you can’t just run fake news!"

"..."

The sharp, chaotic ringing of cell phones filled the air.

Meanwhile, Xu Lin’s expression was so dark it looked like storm clouds were about to burst.

He still couldn’t figure out how things had escalated to this point.

The series of events that unfolded in such a short time was so bizarre it felt as if some mysterious, unseen force was at play—

Just a moment ago, Fu Chao had approached Nan Zhi to talk privately, which left the production staff a little bewildered.

But they didn’t think much of it, assuming it was just a minor disagreement between the guests.

’Fu Chao can’t stand Nan Zhi? That’s normal! It’s been like that since day one!’

The staff posted a couple of timely comments in the livestream’s chat to guide the conversation, easily brushing the topic aside.

They weren’t worried about the conversation leaking, either, since Nan Zhi and Fu Chao would surely be more careful.

So, after hearing Nan Zhi and Fu Chao turn off their microphones one after the other, the cameraman panned away to focus on Nan Yi and Qing Xi.

But right at that moment, the unexpected happened.

A sudden burst of STATIC erupted!

Two or three seconds later, the audio of Nan Yi and Qing Xi from the video feed vanished, replaced by Nan Zhi and Fu Chao’s conversation—

’I saw a bruise on Nan Yi’s shoulder.’

’What? Are you...’

’You hit him, didn’t you?’

Just three sentences were enough to make the entire internet explode.

"Domestic violence" and "child abuse" have always been hot-button social issues, and this time the alleged abuser was a female celebrity?

Add to that the fact that the one who discovered it was Fu Chao, the nation’s heartthrob known by young and old alike...

The buzz was simply off the charts!

At that moment, Xu Lin was the quickest to react.

He decisively cut all the livestreams to prevent the situation from deteriorating further.

Then he arranged for people to stop the video and audio from spreading online, trying to contain the incident as much as possible.

...His PR response speed was textbook-perfect.

Unfortunately, the hard evidence was right there for everyone to see!

Xu Lin could stop the video and audio, but he couldn’t stop the netizens’ keyboards.

Hundreds of thousands of people were watching the livestream. Even if each one of them only said a single word, it would be enough to kick up a terrifying storm.

Xu Lin gripped his hair with both hands, showing a hint of a breakdown in front of his subordinates for the first time.

The surroundings fell deathly silent.

Even the cell phones were switched to silent mode.

Someone asked, "Director Xu, what do we do now?"

’What to do? They were screwed!’

Although Xu Lin desperately wanted to just throw in the towel and wash his hands of this whole mess.

But no matter how big the mess, it was still his mess to clean up. He couldn’t just walk away.

He could only force himself to pull it together and ask:

"Where’s Nan Zhi? Get her to drag herself over here and explain this clearly! Did she or did she not do this monstrous thing?!"

Half of his anger stemmed from the predicament the production team was in.

The other half was pure contempt for a vicious, cruel mother who would abuse her own child.

The assistant director closest to the door voluntarily stood up.

"I-I’ll go ask."

After the assistant director left, a constant murmur of hushed discussion filled the room during the wait:

"Do you guys think Nan Zhi really hit Nan Yi?"

"P-Probably... Fu Chao is such a cautious person. For him to ask that, it’s highly likely to be true."

"I still can’t believe it. Someone who can cook such divine food would actually hit a child?"

"Talent and character aren’t necessarily related."

"It’s more than just hitting, isn’t it? There are bruises. This is straight-up abuse, right?"

"No wonder I thought that mother and son didn’t seem close at all when they first came on the show."

"And Nan Yi is so guarded. When I first offered him some candy, he didn’t dare take it. He just kept watching my expression. Would a spoiled, doted-on child act like that?"

"Holy crap, the more you dig, the more you find!"

"Sigh, poor Nan Yi."

"I know, right?"

"..."

After a while, the assistant director who had gone to check on the situation finally returned, panting from his run.

Everyone craned their necks to look behind him.

"Where is she?"

The assistant director, too frantic to care about that, blurted out:

"Director Xu! You have to go see! Something terrible has happened! Nan Zhi grabbed a kitchen knife and went to settle a score with someone!"

-

「Twenty minutes earlier.」

Nan Zhi and Fu Chao were suddenly informed by the cameraman that their conversation had been recorded. Both of them froze.

Fu Chao irritably ran a hand through his hair, glancing quickly at Nan Zhi.

"I..."

He hadn’t meant for it to blow up...

’Wait, no! Nan Zhi was the one who did something wrong! Why am I the one feeling guilty now?’

But unexpectedly, Nan Zhi didn’t lash out or curse at him at all.

She just closed her eyes, steadied her ragged breathing, then opened them again and started to walk away.

Fu Chao called out to stop her, though this time he didn’t reach out to grab her.

"Wait! Where are you going?"

He naturally assumed Nan Zhi was going to deal with the public opinion fallout.

’It was obvious. The entire internet must be in an uproar because of what he said.’

"Clarifying now won’t do any good. Things have already come to this. The best thing to do is to admit your mistake, apologize to your son, and change your ways. Then you need to trace the root cause of your behavior and solve it fundamentally. Did you have an unhappy childhood? Or are you under too much stress and having mental health issues? I can recommend a psychologist to you..."

Fu Chao rambled on.

He didn’t even realize that no matter how angry he was, he was still doing everything he could to help Nan Zhi find a solution.

Nan Zhi stopped, a little exasperated, and looked back at him.

Fu Chao: "W-What is it?"

Nan Zhi: "Let me repeat myself. I did not hit Nan Yi. I never have, and I never will! And besides, I don’t care about public opinion! All I care about is finding out what happened to Nan Yi!"

Each word she spoke was deliberate and forceful, carrying an unexpected weight.

Fu Chao froze, his conviction actually starting to waver...

Nan Zhi hurried out of the alley and found Nan Yi diligently organizing ingredients by the food truck.

She stared intently at Nan Yi.

"Did you get hurt when you went out at noon?"

Nan Yi shot bolt upright, his little face turning deathly pale.

"I... I..."

Nan Zhi asked him:

"Did you get into a fight with someone?"

Nan Yi pressed his lips together. After a long moment, he finally forced out one word:

"Fell."

Nan Zhi didn’t believe him.

She scanned him up and down and finally found a hole in his story.

She immediately crouched down and reached for Nan Yi’s right calf.

Nan Yi tried to pull back, but it was too late.

Nan Zhi yanked up his pant leg, revealing another bruise.

"Someone kicked you."

Nan Zhi was absolutely certain.

What she was even more certain of was that, given Nan Yi’s personality, he would never provoke others without reason!

So...

"Who bullied you?"