“Dream Stage” filming spanned two days and three nights. Cheng Yu dragged her feet and found various excuses not to practice well. Even the young assistant, Xu Haichao, seemed a bit flustered, texting Qing Li privately, hoping to rehearse with her.
Qing Li agreed, so they reached out to Cheng Yu together, confirming she had no time, and started rehearsing. During this time, Qing Li also helped Xu Haichao understand the role better, preparing for any sudden changes.
By the time of the official recording early the next morning, Cheng Yu finally showed up, joining them for rehearsals. By 2 PM, when the recording began, they couldn’t rehearse anymore.
They were the third ones to perform, waiting for about an hour and a half. The show’s staff had set up the stage, closed the curtains, and when they reopened, the show began.
Qing Li played the main character, Zhi Zhi, happily arriving at the agreed-upon spot, only to find the other two already there. The mood shifted as she quickly inserted herself into the conversation.
The three started smoothly, but when a conflict over a mistakenly served cup of milk tea erupted, Zhi Zhi’s expression darkened as she stared at the small table, feeling miserable. “How could you drink the wrong one?”
The boy nonchalantly replied, “It’s fine, it was just an accident.”
“It’s not the same!” Zhi Zhi shook her head firmly. “How could you drink the wrong one? The table is so big, and we’re three people!”
Suddenly, Xiao Xuan, the usually quiet girl, looked up irritably, her face tense as she snapped, “So what? I said it was an accident; what, you think that makes a difference?”
Xu Haichao’s face changed slightly, losing his focus for a moment. This wasn’t right!
Xiao Xuan’s character was supposed to be tearfully sensitive, but now Cheng Yu had changed the character’s personality mid-way—no wonder she had insisted on this green tea character from the start. It was clear she never intended to go down that route.
She isn’t a “green tea,” but Zhizi must be held accountable to the end, so the whole situation becomes increasingly aggressive. This character was never particularly likable, but as Xiao Xuan’s “green tea” persona becomes more jarring, Zhizi’s experiences add a touch of tragedy to the role.
And Qing Li can only play along because this isn’t just a rehearsal—there’s no “NG” here; it has to be perfect from start to finish. If she abandons it midway, there will be backlash.
Qing Li changes her approach, softening her initially frantic outburst. She bites her lip, stubbornly staring at Zhizi, her eyes reddening slightly as she says, “But it’s not like I accidentally drank the wrong one!”
Cheng Yu’s eyelids twitch, looking at her with a mix of suspicion. It feels like something isn’t quite right, so she decides to push a bit further.
She watches Qing Li put the two milk teas back in their places, showing them to the two and hurriedly explaining, “You see, even though they look the same, they aren’t together. You should have taken the one you were supposed to take, not the other!”
Cheng Yu watches her reaction, her heart sinking. She hadn’t expected Qing Li to add lines on the spot to lower the emotional intensity and make it feel more natural. She raises her voice slightly, “But I did drink it by accident, and the person involved didn’t mind—are you going to argue with me over this?”
“Yeah, yeah, it was just an accident, whatever,” Xu Hai Chao says, sounding dry and forced. “We used to drink from the same bottle of water at school, remember?”
Qing Li, seeing him upset, snaps, “This isn’t school anymore—we’re adults now, we need to be careful, and besides, we—”
At this point, it’s clear that they’re in an ambiguous situation.
She halts, tears filling her eyes as she looks at Xu Hai Chao.
Cheng Yu feels a twinge of frustration. She wants to make Qing Li’s character more unreasonable to provoke a stronger reaction from her, but Qing Li quickly adjusts and tones down her aggression.
Now it’s her turn to escalate, but Cheng Yu doesn’t give her enough emotional ammunition, making Qing Li hesitate whether to continue.
Just then, Xu Hai Chao is moved to act out of concern, instinctively reaching out to support her.
This shouldn’t happen; he should be sympathetic to Xiao Xuan, who was hurt by Zhizi’s actions and impulsively got involved with Xiao Xuan.
Cheng Yu can’t sit still any longer, grinding her teeth and saying, “Enough! We’re all friends here, this is just a small thing—”
She can’t hold it in anymore.
After the outburst, Cheng Yu’s heart sinks, and beads of cold sweat form on her forehead.
Qing Li quickly regains composure and responds.
Finally, Xu Hai Chao’s character, driven too aggressively by Zhizi, angrily pulls Xiao Xuan’s hand: “Enough, enough talk. Now I’m telling you, Xiao Xuan and I are together, right?”
Zhizi stares at them in shock, all her grievances and sadness etched on her face. The two leave, leaving her standing alone in place until the lights come up.
After this ten-minute performance concludes, Cheng Yu’s face is pale.
Even though the audience applauds welcoming her to the stage, her smile is strained due to her character’s minimal makeup, and her pale complexion is unmistakable.
The four judges frown slightly. A judge who usually likes to praise everyone smiles and commends all three, but the second judge speaks up: “Cheng Yu, I’m a bit disappointed in you.”
Cheng Yu’s face turns white, her hands clenching into fists, and she replies with reddened eyes, “Actually, our team didn’t have much rehearsal time…”
Another judge interrupts her: “But I thought Qing Li’s performance was natural—she picked up your emotional cues.”
At this point, the judge who gave the initial review says, “The director’s team told us you missed a lot of rehearsals because you were absent.”
Cheng Yu is speechless, her face flushed with embarrassment. She mumbles through tears, “I let them down, I’m sorry.”
She regrets it!
When she heard that Qing Li would be the guest competitor, Cheng Yu got a bit nervous. The previous competitors weren’t very popular groups, and defeating them to progress wasn’t a problem. But now, with Qing Li’s rising popularity and a significant proportion of the audience vote, it’s very disadvantageous for her. She figured that by making her character less likable, she could tip the scales in her favor.
So, she skipped rehearsals, and intentionally lowered her character’s likeability, not giving Qing Li enough emotional engagement. If Qing Li exploded, everyone would subconsciously harbor negative feelings toward her.
But she didn’t expect Qing Li to handle it so smoothly, maintaining composure throughout!
Eventually, the show announces the results—no one from their team advances!
Although Qing Li performed well, this is a scripted performance, and one person’s performance isn’t enough. The audience remains disengaged.
After the show ends, Cheng Yu hurries to apologize to Qing Li and then leaves in a rush in a nanny’s car.
Qing Li lingers a bit. Her score is quite good; if she wanted to stay, she could just do another PK. The production team wants her to stay.
But she declines; in a couple of days, she’s set to accept Meng Ke’s invitation for a guest role in her new film, and she has no time.
When Qing Li steps out of the car, she sees Zheng Yue urgently on the phone with someone. When she approaches, Zheng Yue quickly says a few words and hangs up, her pretty face as dark as coal, telling her the situation:
“I’m about to be driven crazy! Being popular brings a lot of trouble! Cheng Yu posted a small essay bidding farewell to the production team, before, she was on track to advance, but now she’s failed. Since you were the competitor in this episode, someone’s stirring up drama, saying it’s your fault she didn’t do well. They even claim that because of your ex-husband’s relationship with Su Tang, Cheng Yu couldn’t deliver. I just told the boss to find out who’s behind this! It drives me insane!”
“Similar script?” Qing Li seems calm but is curious about Zheng Yue’s words.
Seeing her lack of a strong reaction, Zheng Yue huffs and says, “Check it out yourself.”
Qing Li opens her phone and checks Weibo to see the trending topic: #Cheng Yu bids farewell to her dream stage#.
Scrolling through, Cheng Yu’s post is a heartfelt message to the production team, apologizing to the viewers and expressing regret. But she doesn’t provide specific details, leaving room for speculation.
Most comments are supportive, but when she scrolls down, the marketing accounts are noticeably different—a mix of long, complicated analyses:
“Today, Qing Li saved the show with Cheng Yu in the lead role. That night, Cheng Yu posted a farewell message to the production team, clearly indicating a failed performance.”
“Just two days ago, Qing Li’s ex-husband, Yeh Minxing, proposed to Su Tang, which was trending for a long time. Qing Li hasn’t commented on it publicly, and her agent has been tight-lipped. Did her issues affect her performance?”
“Previously, Su Tang and Qing Li had interactions in the third episode of Horror Escape—they didn’t get along well. If this is true, it could be that Qing Li’s personal life influenced Cheng Yu’s performance, affecting Cheng Yu’s chances of success. It’s not fair…”
Fans of Cheng Yu and casual viewers are getting stirred up, and there are plenty of comments blaming Qing Li. Qing Li’s fans are trying to defend her, but not everyone can see through the spin; once the narrative is pushed, they’re swayed. Qing Li can guess who’s behind it from the familiar wording.
There are plenty of similar marketing accounts, and they’re generating massive traffic on the trending topic. Some uninformed netizens are genuinely believing the story—implying that Qing Li’s issues influenced her performance, causing Cheng Yu’s dream to fail.
Given Qing Li’s current popularity, even if it’s limited, why would someone go to such lengths to sabotage her?
The answer points to Su Tang.
Sam Williams On TYMIMA Chapter 152