Volume 1, Chapter 171: Directly Leaving The Voice of China

After resting for two days, Jiang Yu returned to Yuhang once again.

Led by a staff member, Jiang Yu walked into his designated room.

"Well, Teacher Jiang, please take a rest for a moment. I will come to fetch you when it's time today."

"Alright."

The staff member checked the room and suddenly looked puzzled. "By the way, Teacher Jiang, why is there no list of advancing contestants in your room? Wait a moment, I'll go grab one for you."

A list of advancing contestants?

"For the first episode?" Jiang Yu smiled. "No need, I have the electronic version. I'll take a look at it later."

"No, this is for the second episode." With that, the staff member walked out of the room and returned shortly after with a document.

It truly was for the second episode.

The filming hadn't even started yet, and the list was already out? Was there a mistake?

Jiang Yu stared at the list for a moment.

Suddenly, he noticed that several familiar names were missing, including Guo Qiang and Wei Hualing.

After scanning through it once more, Jiang Yu's expression darkened.

He opened his door and walked straight to Liu Ming's room.

The door was ajar. "Director Liu, I have a few things I'd like to ask you."

Inside the room, Liu Ming was discussing the evening's shooting arrangements with the associate director and others.

Everyone instantly recognized Jiang Yu's voice.

Liu Ming glanced at the people around him. "What is he doing here?"

The associate director wore a puzzled expression as well. "I have no idea."

After a brief hesitation, Liu Ming opened the door, only to find Jiang Yu glaring at him with a face full of fury.

Yet, Liu Ming still forced a smile. "Teacher Jiang, please come in and talk."

He then signaled the other staff members to step outside.

Without any courtesy, Jiang Yu strode into the room and sat down on the sofa.

Liu Ming poured him a cup of water.

"Director Liu, I'd like to ask, what is the meaning of this list? There are far fewer people on it compared to the first episode. Our company sent three people in total; Liu Bin was eliminated in the first episode, so I won't say anything about that. But what about Guo Qiang and Wei Hualing? Didn't they pass the first episode? Why aren't I seeing them on this list?"

As he spoke, Jiang Yu pulled the folded list from his pocket and slapped it down onto the table.

The moment he saw Jiang Yu take out the list, Liu Ming thought to himself that things were going badly.

He had explicitly told the staff not to leave the list in Jiang Yu's room, so how on earth did he get his hands on it?

However, since the truth was already out, he had to find a way to handle it.

Liu Ming forced a laugh. "This is merely a preliminary list for the second episode based on the contestants' performances in the first, not the final roster. The people from your company had mediocre performances in the first episode. We only let that Phoenix group advance out of respect for you. If they perform well this episode, they can still make it into the next round."

Listen to such utter nonsense.

Jiang Yu sneered coldly. Did they really think he was completely oblivious?

"Liu Ming, do you take me for a fool? Playing under-the-table games is one thing, but trying to scheme against me?"

"If you're that desperate for hype, would you like me to give you a hand?"

Aside from certain people pulling strings to target Jiang Yu and the contestants he brought forward, the production team also harbored hidden agendas of their own.

The first episode generated massive buzz precisely because Jiang Yu had argued with the other mentors.

To sustain that level of heat, they had to keep manufacturing controversy.

In the previous episode, the mentors had conspired to eliminate Liu Bin, which was why Jiang Yu had confronted them.

Since that was the case, the second episode naturally required the elimination of more people connected to Jiang Yu.

Since they had already decided to target him, they might as well go all the way.

To prevent Jiang Yu from finding out in advance, they had withheld the list from his room. Yet, somehow, he had still managed to obtain a copy.

Hearing Jiang Yu's words, Liu Ming's expression turned somewhat unpleasant.

"Teacher Jiang, you shouldn't put it that way. The principle of our show is to be fair and open; there are no hidden rules like the ones you're suggesting," Liu Ming said, his voice lacking conviction.

No one ever openly admits to under-the-table manipulation. Among all the people involved, Jiang Yu was the only one bold enough to storm over and demand an explanation directly.

"None?" Jiang Yu stared at him. "Do you think I'm mentally handicapped, or do you think you are?"

In truth, he was a reasonable person. If Guo Qiang and the others had been cut due to a genuine lack of skill, he would have nothing to say.

But for the elimination list to be finalized before shooting even began—who wouldn't be furious at that?

What angered him even more was that the reason for their elimination was tied directly to him; the production team was trying to use him as a tool to manufacture drama, which crossed a line.

"Teacher Jiang, please calm down. Some things don't need to be spoken aloud for you to understand. Since you've taken the money for this gig, I think it would be best for everyone if you just kept your composure," Liu Ming said, tossing out the remark as he grew too lazy to argue further.

Hearing this, the corners of Jiang Yu's mouth curled up slightly. "Is that your explanation? Very well, I understand."

The commotion between the two men had begun to attract attention, and several people hurried out into the hallway.

Without hesitation, Jiang Yu pulled out his phone and made a call. "Guo Qiang? Do you trust me? If you trust me, just withdraw from the competition right now. We'll find another platform."

Liu Ming was utterly stunned. He never expected Jiang Yu to directly instruct the two contestants to quit the show on the spot.

"Teacher Jiang, what do you mean by this?"

Jiang Yu smiled. "It's nothing. They were going to be eliminated anyway, so I might as well have them leave immediately and save everyone the trouble of going through the motions."

"I won't keep you company any longer. I'm leaving." With that, he reached for the list on the table to take it with him.

However, Liu Ming lunged forward and snatched the list, tearing it to shreds. He wasn't foolish enough to let Jiang Yu walk out with physical evidence.

"Jiang Yu, if you dare to walk out that door, you will never have a foothold in Yuhang Television ever again!"

"A blacklisting? Plenty of people want to blacklist me, who do you think you are?"

How could he forget? Yuhang Television had previously issued a ban against him, yet wasn't he still standing here perfectly fine? Liu Ming gritted his teeth. "If you walk out now, you'll have to pay a breach of contract penalty."

"Send me your bank account details, I'll wire it to you later!" Jiang Yu replied indifferently, continuing his stride forward.

His contract fee for the show was five million, and they hadn't even paid him yet. According to the law, the maximum penalty for breach of contract would be thirty percent.

Was he really going to care about a little over a million?

Liu Ming's body trembled slightly. This wasn't just a matter of the penalty fee; if Jiang Yu walked out, the damage inflicted on the program would be immeasurable.

Furthermore, all the shady things he had done were not meant to see the light of day.

If this incident were thoroughly investigated, he wouldn't come out of it with a pleasant ending.

A trace of regret began to quietly surface in his heart. Knowing full well what kind of volatile temper Jiang Yu possessed, why on earth had he tried to scheme against him?

"Teacher Jiang, please don't leave just yet. Everything is open to discussion."

The escalating argument had drawn everyone out, including the four mentors.

Seeing the crowd growing larger, Liu Ming hurriedly signaled for the other staff members to leave, but the four mentors chose to stay behind.

"As expected, you're only capable of using these cheap tricks to grab attention," Yang Kun said, casting a look of utter contempt at Jiang Yu.

Jiang Yu gave him a cold glance and continued walking forward.

Na Ying also decided to fan the flames.

"To think you can't even finish a single show. And here you were, lecturing me about professional ethics earlier. Is this what you call professional ethics?"

Did they really take him for the gentle pushover of his past life, willing to endure their plotting in silence?

Jiang Yu came to a halt, turned to look at the group, and delivered his famous catchphrase:

"Idiots, get lost!"