We’re barely a month into 2021, but the Chinese showbiz scene has already had two super-juicy and dramatic scandals. And both of them involve kids.

First, we had Chinese actress Zheng Shuang’s surrogacy scandal, and now, Chinese singers Hua Chenyu, 30, and Zhang Bichen, 31, have come forward to announce that they have a daughter together.

Sounds perfectly normal, right? After all, this isn’t exactly the first time a celeb has come forward to reveal that they’re now a parent.

But you see, this is where things take a very dramatic twist.

In the wake of Zheng Shuang’s surrogacy scandal, rumours began swirling that another “top celeb couple” were hiding a similar secret. All signs pointed at Bichen and Chenyu, who first met while filming a music show in 2015. The duo have long been caught up in rumours that they were in a relationship, though neither of them have ever confirmed the news.

Eventually, Bichen made a very lengthy post on her Weibo on January 22, confirming what the rumours had hinted at. Bichen and Chenyu have a baby girl together, who was born out of wedlock.

According to Bichen, she first found out that she was expecting in the autumn of 2018. At that time, she was still dating Chenyu. However, she eventually decided to break up with him without letting him know that she was pregnant ‘cos she “didn’t know how to break the news to him.”

“[It was in such a situation, without Huahua [Chenyu’s nickname]’s knowledge, that I gave birth, and became a mother,” she wrote, adding that they gradually fell out of touch ‘cos she basically ghosted him by refusing all contact.

However, as she watched their daughter grow up, Bichen “felt as if she’d made a very irrational decision” to conceal the existence of their child from Chenyu. And so, she eventually broke the news to the singer, who was taken aback at first, but was also full of love for their daughter.

She then concluded that they’re now comfortably co-parenting their daughter together. “The most important thing is to allow [our] child to feel loved, and the warmth of a family,” she wrote.

Chenyu also followed up with a short message confirming that he has a daughter with Bichen, and that he’s “very happy that God has given me such a special present”. He added that they’d chosen not to reveal the truth initially as their relationship was “a little complicated”, and that they wished for her to grow up away from the spotlight.

Chenyu’s studio later confirmed that the couple are neither married nor dating, and that the singer’s “currently single”.

Understandably, both their posts was immediately flooded with comments from netizens and fans alike, reeling over the super dramatic story. As one netizen put it: “Doesn’t this sound like something straight out of a cliched romance novel?”

While there were messages expressing their support for the duo, many also expressed their consternation at the fact that Bichen and Chenyu had a daughter out of wedlock.

And of course, with this being such a hot-button topic, Bichen and Chenyu’s celeb friends and colleagues have more-or-less remained mum. According to Chinese media, the only celeb to leave a comment in support of the couple was Singaporean singer Stefanie Sun, who commented with a heart emoji under Chenyu’s post.

Stefanie and Chenyu were both judges on the singing reality show, The Coming One 3, which aired in 2019.

Photos: Zhang Bichen/Weibo, Hua Chenyu/Weibo, Zheng Shuang/Weibo, Stefanie Sun/Weibo