The other contestants couldn’t help but give the two members of Bright Yellow Water that were standing in the front a scrutinizing look while the staff members in the back observed Li Shui instead.

Li Shui just ignored what was going on while Xiao Ming was embarrassed and really didn’t know what to do so he just stiffly stood there, hoping nobody would address him.

Seeing his teammates being like this, Qian Huang felt like he needed to step up. Clearing his throat, he turned to Yang Shu Na. “I think that it would be a bit too much to ask us to provide our bank statements to everyone but if the show itself wants to check just to make sure that there was no bribery going on behind the scenes, we will provide you with the necessary information.” Glancing at Fan Mei, he couldn’t help but give a huff. “If that isn’t enough for some people, we also don’t mind having this checked by a third party. Maybe that will make matters seem more legit.”

Yang Shu Na felt put on the spot with having to decide at this moment. In the end, she could only smile noncommittally and incline her head. “Thank you very much for the offer, Mister Qian. This is something that I can’t decide myself but I will relay your offer to producer Bian. He will make the decision regarding that later on.”

Qian Huang hadn’t really expected her to be any more straightforward so he just nodded. In any case, it was only important that everybody else got off their case. Having Fan Mei doubt them was one thing but if the other contestants joined in, then they would really have a problem.

The other two judges had both said their piece and Qian Huang had made a generous offer to the show, so everyone couldn’t help but turn back to Fan Mei to see what else she had to say.

She stiffened, naturally not happy with how things had gone. In any case, the things Chu Yu An had just shown them were indeed somewhat throwing doubt on her conjecture. And yet, she wasn’t willing to just let matters go.

In any case, it wasn’t like she hadn’t also seen other things that pointed in the direction that more was going on. And actually, Bright Yellow Water and Xiao Ming were more at the periphery of the actual problem. The one she was really suspicious of was Si Jin, not Xiao Ming. And that was because of his relationship with her brother. ‘Golden Spoon’ was just something else she had latched onto because it was a point where she could start investigating.

Reminding herself of what she had seen, Fan Mei turned back to look at Si Yi. “Everything Ms. Chu has just said surely seems to be pointing in the direction that no money was exchanged. But back then, I was chasing several leads. I am sure that there is more to this. Maybe it isn’t tied to a financial aspect but there is something.”

Among the other contestants, one rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath. “Look at her moving the goalpost! First, it’s about money, then popularity, and now that both were disproved, she suddenly thinks of something else that could be wrong. Next up, she’ll say he’s communicating with extraterrestrial forces!”

To her left, Si Shi Yi couldn’t help but laugh.

She looked over and clasped a hand over her mouth when she realized that he had clearly heard what she had said. She had been sure she had spoken quietly enough!

Huyan Xia already wanted to turn away in embarrassment when Si Shi Yi tapped his ear and whispered back. “Musician. My hearing is pretty good. I’m sure you don’t have to worry about the others.”

On the other side of Huyan Xia, Si Shi Liu couldn’t help but lean forward and stare at the other ninja. What was he supposed to say now? Tap his temple and go ‘I’m with the police. I know what you’re going to say even before you yourself know what you want to say based on my gut feeling’? That didn’t seem to work.

Si Shi Yi gave him a look, trying to communicate that he’d better not say anything at all. Right now, their master and young master Xiao were being slandered. Most contestants were able to see through Fan Mei’s bullshit and there were only forty-four of them anyway after the members of the Si clan were taken out of the equation but if there was an opportunity to get friendly with somebody and reinforce the notion that Si Shi Qi’s sister was making things up, he’d happily do that.

Si Shi Liu caught his drift and leaned back, turning to the front again instead. Anyway, he didn’t necessarily want to gossip. He just wanted to get this over with so they could do the next task. Wasn’t that young master Xiao’s task? He wanted to know what it was already!

Si Shi Liu wasn’t the only one of the ninjas that was impatient to solve this matter with Fan Mei and get to Xiao Ming’s task. In any case, when was a better time for their master to impress his crush than when doing said crush’s own task? But here they were, wasting valuable time!

Some of them couldn’t help but give Si Yi beseeching looks, hoping that he would sort things out fast. Naturally, they didn’t need to wait for long. After all, Si Yi wasn’t any less annoyed by Fan Mei wasting their time.

Even though he was happy that they were getting this out of the way early into the show and that this might even be grounds for her to be expelled, that didn’t mean he wanted to spend too much time on this. Anyway, after they were done, they’d have to worry less.

Listening to Fan Mei trying to shift what she based her suspicions on, Si Yi faintly narrowed his eyes at her, his head tilting to the side. “Ms. Fan seems rather intent on making Mister Si seem like he is corrupt.”

Fan Mei furrowed her brows. “I’m not trying to make anyone seem like anything. I’m simply looking for the truth and I’ve encountered some puzzling things that made me question the validity of your boss’s participation in this show. Can’t I bring this up?”

There was a faint hint of annoyance visible on Si Yi’s features even though he was still calm overall. “Well, if Ms. Fan insists on doing this, then let’s continue.

“We have established now that while Mister Si is a fan of Mister Xiao’s, the same is true for other contestants and doesn’t give any reason to be suspicious of him. Mister Yu has explained how Mister Xiao was chosen as a judge which should eliminate your doubts that a backdoor was opened for him as well.

“Furthermore, Ms. Chu has also provided a comparison with other channels that makes it likely that no monetary advantage was given to Mister Xiao by Mister Si. Mister Qian will provide details to prove this to the channel and a neutral third party if necessary. Would you agree that Mister Si and the members of Bright Yellow Water are cleared of these suspicions now?”

Fan Mei had to nod reluctantly. “Well, I can’t say that any of this is wrong. Although what Ms. Chu did isn’t really evidence. At most, you can call those mere indications.”

Si Yi smiled faintly. “If you insist. As I said, Mister Qian already agreed to provide further evidence. Producer Bian will deal with that. Either way, that has nothing to do with us. Unless you expect Mister Si to also provide his bank statements?”

Actually, Fan Mei would have been quite interested in those but she knew she wouldn’t get them even if she asked. Still, she’d rather leave the option open. “Well, if Mister Si wants to provide them …”

At that, Yang Shu Na couldn’t help but get involved. “Ms. Fan, I think this is going too far. If you have doubts, alright. We can discuss that. I am sure that producer Bian also won’t deny having a neutral third party check the statements Mister Qian hands in to make sure that no bribery took place.

“But Mister Si is a mere contestant of ‘Golden Spoon’. Asking to see his financial information when there is no hint that any bribery took place is preposterous. Unless you can submit more evidence to support your claims, we will not ask him to do that.”

Fan Mei pursed her lips. Just as she had thought, Si Jin wouldn’t be willing to do it. But it was quite interesting that the producer’s assistant was so against having him hand over information. It made her feel like she was on the right track.

“I will look into my findings again and submit them soon. Contrary to Mister Si, I wasn’t prepared for this to happen today.” She stared at Si Yi at that, hoping that people would catch her drift. Clearly, it was suspicious in and of itself that Si Yi had a USB with all this information at hand as soon as something came up. Wasn’t it clear that he was trying to cover something up?

While Fan Mei was continuing to make up her conspiracy theories, Si Yi wrested control over the conversation back. “Well, we don’t mind if Ms. Fan talks about her doubts. I’m sure it can all be cleared up. Either way, let’s get back to the ones that were already communicated.

“One of those other ‘leads’ that Ms. Fan mentioned in her article was that Mister Si was coached prior to the casting by the Michelin-starred chef Ai Gui Jin who later reviewed Mister Xiao’s channel. Might I inquire whether that is correct?”

Fan Mei nodded straightforwardly. In any case, this was pretty clear-cut and people could easily look up the article so there was nothing to hide. “Yes, that was one of my main points. It just seems odd that Mister Ai would suddenly review a cooking stream and Bright Yellow Water no less. This leads me to believe that he was put up to it.”

Si Yi nodded and then closed the file of the ranking that had still been opened in the background. “Before I answer this, maybe we could check your other doubts as well? I feel like some of them are rather closely related. For example, you also seemed to be worried about a Weibo made by the actress Tao Jin.” Saying so, he opened a screenshot of the one in question.

Fan Mei smiled. “Yes. I find it especially odd that not only a Michelin-starred chef would review Mister Xiao’s channel but that a nationally acclaimed actress would mention him pretty much at the same time.”

Si Yi smiled back, a glint of amusement contained in his eyes. “I am sorry, but I wonder how that relates to Mister Si?”

Fan Mei froze, realizing that he had tried to pit her. Tao Jin might have mentioned Si Jin but not by name. If not for the clue with the onions, nobody would have known who she was talking about. Clearly, this Si Yi was trying to make use of that now.

She narrowed her eyes and then frowned as if she couldn’t understand. “I’m not sure if I caught your drift just now. We were talking about my doubts about the relationship between your boss and Mister Xiao. In actress Tao’s Weibo post, Mister Xiao and Bright Yellow Water were mentioned by name while your boss was alluded to. Do you want to deny that? Because I included proof for that right in my article.”

Si Yi shook his head. “No, I don’t want to deny that. I am simply surprised how you think this would prove Mister Si trying to cheat in any way. To be honest, the same is true for him being coached by Mister Ai. Isn’t the truth of the matter simply that he talked about his private life and aspirations with a friend and made him curious? I don’t see what is so nefarious about that.”

Fan Mei looked at him with displeasure. “You are being deliberately obtuse here, Mister Si. We were talking about the fact that while no financial advantage might have been given, your employer could have provided Mister Xiao with something that might make it worthwhile to him to help him cheat on the show. Free publicity and a connection to some influential figures would surely fall under that.”

Si Yi slowly nodded. Actually, this was the toughest part to argue. They could prove that no money had been received thanks to Bright Yellow Water’s cooperation but something as intangible as publicity and connections was more difficult to disprove. While he had prepared, he wasn’t completely sure how convincing this would be. Now, they had really reached the turning point of this argument.