Everyone in the Entertainment Industry Thinks I’m a Flirty Diva [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 24

Of course, this was just a joke among viewers—who would return to school after debuting in the industry for over two years? Besides, even if Chu Xi had been dumped by her former sugar daddy, with her looks and figure, she could live comfortably for life even with just an elementary school diploma. Even if she couldn’t land another big spender like her ex, she could easily snag some small-town tycoon who lusted after her beauty.

Fu Bai’s eyelid twitched when he read “small-town tycoon” on the screen.

On Wednesday afternoon, there was a P.E. class. After leading the warm-up exercises, the teacher dismissed the students for free time. All the boys rushed to the basketball and soccer courts, while the two male guest students, Du Chao and Han Shaowen, stared longingly at the basketball court—only to be left behind, miserably…

Learning the broadcast gymnastics.

Four transfer students naturally had to join their classmates in doing the broadcast exercises. If they didn’t know the moves, standing in the middle of the class formation would make them stand out, and poor coordination could even deduct points from the class’s overall score. Therefore, the homeroom teacher, Mr. Zhao, specifically arranged for the class sports committee member to teach the four transfer students the broadcast exercises during PE class.

No one expected Mr. Zhao to be so dedicated not only to the transfer students’ academics but now even to their broadcast exercises. It was especially amusing to watch Han Shaowen half-heartedly swinging his arms while learning the moves, his eyes longingly following the boys playing basketball.

[Hahahahaha Mr. Zhao is really taking responsibility for these transfer students!]

[Now that’s what a good homeroom teacher should be like!]

[Han Shaowen clearly wants to escape and play basketball but doesn’t dare—so adorably timid hahaha!]

The four transfer students stood in a row, with the sports committee member in front of them, counting “one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight” while demonstrating the first section of the stretching exercises.

After finishing the demonstration, the sports committee member turned around and said, “Did everyone see that? Now follow me and do it together. First eight-count, arms extended horizontally, like this, fold back, circle around…”

Behind him, the new transfer students attempted the broadcast exercises, their movements awkward and disjointed as they followed along. Chu Xi, however, watched the demonstration once and then smoothly completed the first section on her own, recalling the motions as she went.

Beside her, Hu Xiaoxing noticed Chu Xi finishing the section effortlessly and exclaimed in surprise, “Chu Xi, you already know how to do the broadcast exercises?”

Chu Xi, slowly recalling the general movements, replied, “I think this was the same set we did when I was in school. I can still remember most of it now.”

Hu Xiaoxing: “………………Alright, I feel old now.”

With her long limbs, Chu Xi’s earnest execution of the broadcast exercises was also quite pleasing to watch.

Comments:

[Hahahaha Chu Xi just graduated a few years ago—the broadcast exercises haven’t even been updated yet!]

[Youth is wonderful!]

[Who else here did the second set of broadcast exercises back in the day? The Era is Calling!]

[The Era is Calling +1!]

[Xi Bao doing the broadcast exercises is so adorable!]

Since its premiere, We Are Classmates had maintained low viewership—small platform, minimal investment, and aside from Chu Xi, none of the guests had much fame, limiting the audience significantly. However, Chu Xi’s unexpected academic prowess won over many fans. Regardless of the rumors outside, who wouldn’t like this diligent and pretty little classmate on screen? Adding to that, the show’s official account was practically inactive, offering zero marketing, leaving the small existing audience to enjoy the show in their own little bubble.

The four transfer students spent about half the class learning the broadcast exercises. As soon as the PE monitor announced that the remaining time was for individual practice and free activities, Han Shaowen dashed off to the basketball court like a rabbit.

Everyone burst into laughter. Chu Xi, Hu Xiaoxing, and a few other girls from the class sat cross-legged on the football field, chatting.

“Sister Chu Xi, Sister Xiaoxing, how long will you be staying in our class?” a curious female classmate asked.

Chu Xi thought for a moment before replying, “The director said until the end of the month, so almost a full month.”

“Does that mean you’ll be taking the midterm exams with us?” another girl chimed in.

“Ah?” Hu Xiaoxing’s face fell at the mention of exams. “No way, the teachers wouldn’t keep me around to drag down the class average, would they?”

“Hahahaha,” the group erupted in laughter.

“Chu Xi studies so hard, she’ll definitely be fine,” someone said with a smile.

“Chu Xi, were you a good student when you were in school?” another girl asked.

Chu Xi lowered her head, pursed her lips, and thought for a while before looking up with a smile. “Yeah, I was pretty good back then.”

“Then why did you debut so early? If you wanted to act, why didn’t you go to film school?” the girl pressed on curiously.

Chu Xi was taken aback by the question. The smile on her face stiffened, and after a moment of silence, she finally spoke. “Well… because… my family’s financial situation wasn’t great.”

“Did your family not have the money to support your education? That shouldn’t be the case in this day and age. What about your parents?” another classmate immediately asked.

This was the first time Chu Xi had mentioned her reason for leaving school in front of the cameras since revealing her academic prowess. Bombarded with questions, she didn’t answer but instead silently lowered her head to look at her shoes. The atmosphere suddenly turned awkward.

Chu Xi’s fans watching through the screen were heartbroken:

[Can you stop asking already!]

[I knew Xi Bao must have had her reasons. It’s so heartbreaking.]

The girl who asked the question also realized it might have been inappropriate. Just as the awkwardness set in, someone loudly asked:

“Chu Xi, were you the school beauty when you were in high school?”

The question broke the tension, and everyone couldn’t help but laugh. “She must have been the school joke, right?”

Chu Xi, who had been feeling down, couldn’t help but laugh at the mention of “school beauty.” “No, not really,” she said.

Comments flooded in:

[Chu Xi, you’re lying!]

[Of course Xi Bao was the school beauty—she’s so pretty!]

[I really want to see photos of Chu Xi from her school days…]

…

Although the show We Are Classmates wasn’t particularly popular, Chu Xi’s situation after being dropped by her sponsor had drawn a lot of attention. Her first mention of why she left school during her student days sparked significant interest. The show’s official account, which rarely posted, even bought a trending hashtag. Clicking on it led to clips of Chu Xi listening to lectures, studying, and doing homework over the past few days, ending with her lowering her head and explaining that she had debuted early to earn money due to her family’s poor financial situation.

Under the hashtag, Chu Xi’s fans flooded the comments with [Heartbroken for Chu Xi].

The show’s purchased hashtag climbed a few spots on the trending list. Many viewers were moved after watching the clips of Chu Xi studying hard and revealing her reason for leaving school. Just as the buzz was about to die down, several entertainment accounts reposted an exposé from a forum the following night:

“Please Stop Pushing the Poor Academic Genius Persona, Two-Character Female Celebrity—You Dropped Out Because You Couldn’t Handle School, Not Because of Poverty!”

The first post of the exposé was blatantly direct—

“After being dumped by her sugar daddy, a certain two-character female celebrity has been scrambling to rebrand herself. She’s now playing the victim on variety shows to gain sympathy, claiming she had to drop out due to financial hardship when, in reality, she quit school because she didn’t want to study. What a masterful liar, what a flawless whitewashing.”

“I smoke, I drop out, I fail college, I cling to sugar daddies—but I’m still a studious good girl at heart.”

Gossip posts like this always attract heated discussions. This one practically named Chu Xi outright, even revealing that the high school she attended was notoriously terrible—poor students, worse teachers, with barely any graduates making it to university. So, which is more likely: that Chu Xi was a delinquent from such a school, or the academic genius she claims to be?

Instead of studying when she should have, she dropped out to latch onto a sugar daddy. Now that she’s been dumped and lost her resources, she’s trying to rebrand as a scholar? She’s practically spitting on the intelligence of netizens.

To lend credibility, the post even included a photo—a young, frowning Chu Xi in a grimy school bathroom, smoking a cheap-looking cigarette.

Text alone might have been debatable, but with this smoking photo, the allegations were all but confirmed.

The hashtag #ChuXiAcademicGenius had barely faded when this bombshell dropped.

Even in an average high school, let alone a dumpster-fire one, how many girls who smoked in the bathroom during their student days could possibly be “good girls”?

The internet was in shock. With her sugar daddy gone and no PR team to shield her, just how much dirt would come to light?

[Holy shit, is that really Chu Xi?]

[It’s her. If you can’t see the resemblance, get your eyes checked.]

[Off-topic, but she’s always been stunning—naturally pretty, no plastic surgery.]

[No amount of innocent looks can hide the fact that she’s ‘Chu-jie, Queen of the Streets.’]

[Weren’t her brick-headed fans begging for student-era photos? Well, here you go! LMAO!]

[Smoking as an adult is whatever, but she was clearly underage here. WTF!]

[I actually felt bad for her yesterday, but turns out she’s just a master manipulator. Disgusting.]

[And she had the nerve to tell students she did well in high school? Pathological liar.]

[“Someone who didn’t even finish high school is making money in the entertainment industry and starring in so many big films, while professionally trained actors are stuck doing bit parts. The entertainment industry in our country is truly finished.”

“A delinquent who skipped school to hang out with gangs now gets to be a sugar baby for some rich sponsor and become a celebrity. Is this teaching kids to drop out, join gangs, and then enter showbiz to make easy money? What kind of values is this? Chu Xi, get out of the entertainment industry!”

“Chu Xi is trash Chu Xi is trash Chu Xi is trash Chu Xi is trash Chu Xi is trash Chu Xi is trash”]

Soon, the hashtag #ChuXiSmokingPhotos trended on social media. Unlike yesterday’s fluctuating #ChuXiAcademicProdigy hashtag, #ChuXiSmokingPhotos soared straight to the top. Marketing accounts first reposted yesterday’s academic prodigy topic, then contrasted it with today’s smoking photos. Chu Xi’s high school and even her class were dug up, and some went as far as exposing her parents—claiming her father ran a nightclub and her mother was a mistress who schemed her way into marriage. No wonder they raised a daughter who skipped school, smoked, hung out with gangs, dropped out, and became a sugar baby.

The show We Are Classmates instantly exploded in popularity, with the live-stream viewership multiplying dozens of times. Viewers who came from the trending topic saw Chu Xi doing homework on camera. What used to be a nightly visual feast for fans was now flooded with comments like, “Delinquent Chu, get out of the classroom!” and “Don’t stay here corrupting the nation’s youth.”

Chu Xi was in the classroom. The first-year high school students didn’t have evening self-study sessions, but teachers assigned homework during the day, so most students came to the classroom at night to work on it. As a high school student, Chu Xi had her phone confiscated weekly, so she had no idea what was happening. She was quietly solving math problems when the show’s director knocked on the window, signaling for her to step outside.

Chu Xi closed her book and went out, still holding her pen, confused as she was led to the broadcasting room in a secluded corner of the school building. The director’s expression seemed off.

Chu Xi cautiously asked, “Um… is something wrong, Director?”

The director cleared his throat, glanced at Chu Xi, then said, “Chu Xi, maybe… you should withdraw from this show.”

“But don’t worry about the payment—you’ll still get it,” he quickly added.

Chu Xi’s lips parted slightly, and the pen in her hand clattered to the floor.