She debuted after having a child with a celestial being.

The group's overseas training camp is scheduled for April 11th, with the flight to Los Angeles departing at 10:00 AM.

Nine Percent, all nine members, gathered at Terminal 3 of Beijing Capital International Airport, all wearing matching black team uniforms.

Chen Linong pushed two suitcases out of the taxi, and Fan Chenchen followed behind him, muttering, "I can't eat hot pot for twenty days."

Zhu Zhengting arrived last, carrying a bulging backpack and several bags of snacks given to him by fans.

The training camp was personally guided by Grammy Award-winning producer Rodney Jerkins and two-time Emmy Award-nominated choreographer Christopher Scott, with more than twelve hours of training every day.

In twenty days, eight dances, including "Ei Ei", "Mack Daddy", "It's Ok" and "Listen to What I Have to Say", were rearranged to prepare for the upcoming fan meeting.

The training intensity is no less than, and no less than, that of the time when they were at a major company.

They train for more than ten hours a day and only get three or four hours of sleep.

In the rehearsal room in Los Angeles, nine people practiced from morning till dawn, the floor soaked with sweat again and again.

But half of Xiao He's thoughts were in the country.

He checks Weibo every day according to the time difference.

During the training camp, they could only use their phones during breaks, and the corner with the best Wi-Fi signal in the corridor had been occupied by nine people in rotation.

Cai Kunkun is browsing the Super Topic, Chen Linong is video chatting with his mother, and Fan Chenchen is playing games.

Xiao He was the only one browsing topics that weren't his own. The content he saw made him increasingly silent in the rehearsal room.

In early November.

On the first day after Nine Percent returned to China after finishing their training camp, Xiao He got off the plane, turned on his phone, and news from China flooded in like a burst dam.

The trending topic made him push his luggage cart to the corner of the wall.

"Liu Yifei is box office poison," "Liu Yifei's resources have been downgraded," "Liu Yifei is past her prime."

One comment topped the list of most popular comments: "From 'Fairy Sister' to box office poison, can she make a comeback?"

Even some old rumors about Liu Yifei from her early years have resurfaced.

An article titled "Liu Yifei's 'transvestite' identity exposed, unmarried and suspected of being a lesbian, deeply embroiled in academic fraud scandal" has been repeatedly reposted on Weibo and forums.

The article revives Song Zude's 2005 rumor: "The Liu Yifei you see now is actually a boy. She underwent two sex reassignment surgeries in the United States and finally became a girl."

Back then, he claimed that Liu Yifei had a "prominent Adam's apple" and "thick leg hair" when she wore a dress, and he even fabricated details about her being a "friend who is an American surgeon," making it sound very convincing.

Who is Song Zude?

A well-known "big mouth" in the entertainment industry.

He rose to fame by insulting people, targeting whoever had the most online traffic. After insulting Guo Degang, he insulted Liu Yifei, and after Liu Yifei, he insulted Xie Jin. He only quieted down for a while after being ordered by the court to pay 29 yuan for spreading rumors about director Xie Jin.

His methods of spreading rumors are almost identical: first, he makes remarks on a program, and then further spreads them through online platforms such as Tianya. He can't produce any substantial evidence, but his posts are constantly being reposted and amplified.

But in 2005, this tactic was still very effective. Many netizens believed it to be true, and the matter caused a great uproar, even making it into newspapers and on television.

Liu Yifei has been labeled a "transgender person" ever since, and even years later, people still ask, "Is she a man?"

Besides the "transgender person" rumor, an earlier rumor has also resurfaced: the "sugar daddy" rumor.

In 2005, Chen Jingfei spent 18 million yuan to hold a grand coming-of-age ceremony for Liu Yifei at Fangfei Garden in Diaoyutai State Guesthouse, titled "Crystal Princess, Fei Yue 180". Celebrities such as Huang Xiaoming and Lin Zhiying attended the event.

Chen Jingfei ranked 23rd on Forbes China’s richest list in 2002 with assets of US$2.15 million.

He was an old friend of Liu Yifei's mother, Liu Xiaoli. Liu Yifei recognized him as her godfather when she was 5 years old, and the two families were old friends.

However, this lavish coming-of-age ceremony was misinterpreted by outsiders as evidence of "being kept by a sugar daddy," and then absurd rumors such as "abortion" spread, and Chen Jingfei was labeled as "Liu Yifei's godfather."

In early 2018, after Chen Jingfei and Yang Caiyu went public with their relationship, Yang Caiyu was nicknamed "Erfei" by netizens because she looked very similar to Liu Yifei.

The two are thirty years apart in age. After their relationship was exposed, Yang Caiyu gradually took over the resources that originally belonged to Liu Yifei.

At the end of 2017, Liu Yifei's collaboration with Dior ended, and Yang Caiyu immediately became Dior's new collaborator.

Yang Caiyu also "snatched" the Hollywood film "Gravity Reversal".

On January 8, Yang Caiyu liked a Weibo post about "the shocking scandals involving Liu Yifei and her godfather Chen Jingfei," which directly led to Liu Yifei posting "Well done" in the early hours of the morning.

This series of actions further exacerbated Liu Yifei's already low point.

By mid-2018, the internet began to focus on the claim that "older woman-younger man relationships are used to gain popularity."

"Liu Yifei is using this to promote herself by associating with a newly debuted boy band member," "The sibling-like CP is to promote her new song," "She is lowering her status to gain traffic."

Some people dug up a screenshot of Liu Yifei's Weibo post that said "What's there to be afraid of?" with the caption "Fairy Sister has finally descended to earth. Is it really necessary to campaign for a new talent show contestant?"

The controversy in the comments section quickly polarized: one side said Liu Yifei was "giving herself away," while the other side said Xiao He was "living off his girlfriend and riding on her coattails."

Xiao He locked his phone, picked up his suitcase, and walked out of the airport.

The car had been booked in advance, but instead of going home, he gave Liu Yifei's address in her Shunyi villa.

When she entered, Liu Yifei was curled up in the same spot reading a book.

"Sister Sisi."

Liu Yifei turned her head, saw it was him, and paused for a moment. Then she quickly raised her hand to wipe the corner of her eye, the movement was too fast.

"You're back? When did you arrive? Why didn't you tell me?"

Xiao He did not answer.

He walked over, sat on the armrest of the sofa, and picked up the A4 sheet of paper that was spread out on the coffee table.

It was a list of film and television projects—the paper listed the names of three movies, each with neat notes next to it indicating scheduling conflicts, information about collaborators, and salaries.

But they were all crossed out with a red pen.

"Sis, you turned them all down?"

"Hmm." Liu Yifei pulled her legs into the sofa, resting her chin on her knees. "You said it yourself, the focus is back on TV dramas. We've turned down all the movies."

"Isn't that great? Where's the TV drama script?"

"We're still in talks." She paused. "We've been in contact with a few projects, but nothing's finalized yet. My team says that with my current box office record, they'll try to lower my price no matter what we negotiate. They said..."

She suddenly stopped.

"What did you say?"

"The name Liu Yifei is worthless now."

Her tone was flat, but a subsequent sigh betrayed all her feigned indifference.

"I've lost several endorsements. When I told you about Tissot's contract renewal last year, I thought at least some people still recognized me. This year, some brands are barely replying to my emails anymore. They say I'm box office poison, my reputation is collapsing, my commercial value is declining, and the risk of cooperating with them is too high."

Xiao He listened quietly without interrupting.

"I thought you would comfort me." Liu Yifei turned to look at him.

Xiao He bent down and picked up a crossed-out A4 sheet of paper from the coffee table. The red pen marks on the paper were so light that each stroke seemed hesitant, but they eventually spanned the entire line of text.

"Sis, the things people outside are saying about you are the same old things over and over again. Transgender, sugar daddy, box office poison, resource-backed actress."

He spread the A4 sheet of paper on the coffee table and tapped it one by one with his fingertips.

"Rumors, scandals, box office figures, commercial value. They seem to be four different directions, but they are all hitting the same bullseye."

"What bullseye?"

"Image. Your greatest asset from the first day of your debut has been your innocence. Wang Yuyan, Zhao Ling'er, Xiaolongnu, your face is your trademark. Every single one of these scandals does the same thing: tear the word 'innocence' off you."

He tapped the edge of the coffee table with his finger.

"Being transgender is denying your gender, which is equivalent to denying the most basic part of the 'fairy' label. Being kept by a sugar daddy links your beauty and success to men and resources, turning your innocence into 'innocence of being kept.' Being labeled box office poison destroys your most fundamental reputation as an actress, making investors hesitant to use you. Being paired with a younger man for publicity lowers your value, associating you with a newcomer and implying that you 'lower your worth.' This is a combination of punches. They're not one by one, they're all at once."

Liu Yifei looked at the A4 paper he had pressed onto the coffee table and began to think about these words.

"These negative stories all have a common purpose: to suppress an unconventional artist who did not rely on capital and quickly rose to the top based on his own strength."

"What do you mean? An outsider?" Liu Yifei couldn't help but ask.