Chapter 19: A Stage Accident!
On the stage.
Over on Su Yunjin’s side.
The instant Luo Zizhen and Zhang Chuchu flanked her, Su Yunjin sensed danger.
As Luo Zizhen’s foot swung out, Su Yunjin inwardly let out a cold laugh. She had never really cared about Luo Zizhen and Zhang Chuchu’s targeting of her. In the entertainment industry, intrigue and scheming were nothing new. She couldn’t have cared less about why these two women were after her. Her guiding principle had always been “If others don’t offend me, I won’t offend them,” so up till now, their conflicts had amounted to little more than verbal sparring.
But she hadn’t expected Luo Zizhen to actually try to injure her. If that was the case... she couldn’t be blamed for retaliating.
Twisting her ankle and shifting her center of gravity, Su Yunjin leaned slightly toward Zhang Chuchu. Then, out of sight of the cameras, she jabbed her elbow.
Taichi — Elbow Strike!
Thud!
There was a muffled sound. The expression on Zhang Chuchu’s face, who had been trying to hem Su Yunjin in, suddenly changed. Her mouth and eyes gaped open.
A second later, Zhang Chuchu clutched her ribs.
It was exactly there that Su Yunjin had just struck with her hidden elbow!
In a flash, Su Yunjin lifted her foot and guided Luo Zizhen’s kicking leg forward. The kick that had been intended for Su Yunjin suddenly landed right in front of Zhang Chuchu.
A moment ago, Zhang Chuchu had taken Su Yunjin’s elbow to the ribs; the next, Luo Zizhen’s foot came flying toward her.
Powerless to stop it, Zhang Chuchu saw Luo Zizhen’s kick land squarely on her.
Thud.
“Ow!”
Luo Zizhen shrieked, landing in a split right on the stage.
On Zhang Chuchu’s end, the blow from Su Yunjin’s elbow had already left her gasping for breath. Now, Luo Zizhen’s pointed high heel slammed into her, leaving her kneeling on the stage, her face ashen, mouth gaping as she gulped for air.
The pain left her unable to even cry out.
The green stage lights cast their eerie glow across her face. Beneath the carefully applied makeup, Zhang Chuchu looked like some vengeful specter, her features twisted and terrifying.
Having felled both opponents, Su Yunjin staggered a couple of steps forward.
Her foot injury had never fully healed, and she had been gritting her teeth through every song and dance onstage. Now, forced to use her Taichi skills by Luo Zizhen’s little trick, the pain in her foot flared anew.
Though she continued to grit her teeth, she couldn’t help but draw in a sharp breath, and her walk no longer had the composure of someone pretending all was well.
Everything that happened onstage took place in an instant, as quick as lightning.
From the audience’s perspective, it looked as if Zhang Chuchu, Luo Zizhen, and Su Yunjin were simply strutting the catwalk. One moment all was well; the next, Luo Zizhen seemed to misstep, slipped on Su Yunjin’s foot, and kicked straight into Zhang Chuchu.
Then Su Yunjin stumbled, Zhang Chuchu took the hit, and Luo Zizhen ended up doing a split right there on stage.
“What just happened?”
“What’s going on?”
The audience was stunned.
Even the contestants on the sidelines stood up in shock, and several staff members rushed forward.
And that was just at the venue. In the livestream chat, viewers exploded.
“Holy—!”
“This is terrifying.”
“Damn, I wasn’t ready for that at all!”
The footage they saw was different from the live audience’s view. The audience had only seen Luo Zizhen and Zhang Chuchu fall.
But online, with the music blaring, suddenly Zhang Chuchu’s green-lit face filled the screen, her expression twisted with pain—it was enough to rival a horror movie.
No one was prepared for the shock. The timid ones even tossed their phones aside. The brave ones were jolted too.
“What the hell!”
“It’s a horror flick!”
“Damn, my phone screen cracked!”
Complaints poured in, but some realized that a major mishap had occurred onstage.
During a live broadcast, such an accident was nothing short of catastrophic—especially now, when Zhang Chuchu looked like she’d stepped out of a horror movie.
Wang Tao and Shao Xinghui, who stood nearby, were also startled. Instinctively, they rushed toward Su Yunjin to steady her, afraid she might collapse.
As chaos reigned both onstage and in the livestream chat, backstage, Zhang Zhichang picked up the walkie-talkie and coldly ordered, “Sound engineer, cut all the mics. Director, pause the live feed—go to commercial!”
“Copy!”
The bewildered sound engineer and director snapped to their senses and complied. The mics went dead; the feed switched.
“The screen’s gone?”
“So it really was a live broadcast disaster?”
“Hahaha, this is the first time I’ve ever witnessed a live broadcast accident.”
“This is hilarious! What a mess! This is comedy gold.”
The sudden blackout in the livestream had the audience in stitches.
However, fans of Zhang Chuchu and Luo Zizhen were worried about their idols, flooding the chat with anxious messages.
Normally, a sudden blackout would drive viewers away, but for the C-Position Girl Group, the blackout only pushed their viewer numbers higher.
Fifty thousand.
One hundred thousand.
Two hundred thousand.
In the blink of an eye, the C-Position Girl Group’s popularity soared into the millions!
Meanwhile, at the venue, it wasn’t just the audience who had been frightened by Zhang Chuchu and the others’ fall—Wang Tao and Shao Xinghui were shaken too.
It had all happened right before their eyes, the shock far greater than for anyone in the audience.
For a moment, both men froze. But soon they came to their senses and rushed over to Su Yunjin in unison.
“Are you alright?” they asked together.
“I’m fine, thank you,” Su Yunjin replied with a smile and a shake of her head.
But her eyes remained fixed on Zhang Chuchu and Luo Zizhen.
By now, staff had hurried forward to help the two up.
Luo Zizhen’s split had been so sudden—she was an idol known for her looks, not her flexibility. Her company had tried to cultivate her poise, but that wasn’t something mastered overnight.
Her joints were a bit looser than most, but she was nowhere near able to do a split or a high kick at will. With her muscles pulled, even standing up was agony.
As for Zhang Chuchu, Su Yunjin’s elbow had left her breaking out in a cold sweat from the pain. Even with help, it took several minutes for her to stand.
The moment she was upright, she whirled around and glared daggers at Su Yunjin. “Su Yunjin, what grudge do I have against you? Why did you ambush me?”
Panting, Zhang Chuchu shouted at Su Yunjin.
Though the mics were off and the livestream was down, Zhang Chuchu’s outburst drew every eye in the room to Su Yunjin.