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| SNH48 Hu XiaoHui and Ex-Member Liu ShuXian’s Friendship in Crisis After Public Disputes |
Things have taken a messy turn in the SNH48 sphere as fans unravel a growing web of tension between ex-members Liu ShuXian (LSX), Chen Qiannan (CQN) and member Hu XiaoHui (HXH) — all of whom currently share a rented villa.
The latest controversy, now dubbed “Brothergate” by fans on Douban, centres around Liu ShuXian’s younger brother and a string of decisions that many feel have crossed unspoken boundaries within the idol world.
It started last month when Liu ShuXian’s younger brother — reportedly in his twenties — came to Shanghai for treatment related to a mouth issue (possibly a dental infection).
Rather than booking him a hotel, Liu ShuXian invited him to stay at the villa she shares with Hu XiaoHui and (at the time, soon-to-move-in) Chen QianNan. For many fans, especially given the all-female environment and the strict image idols maintain, this already set off alarm bells.
Adding fuel to the fire, SNH48’s current fanbase — now majority female and heavily active on Douban — increasingly discusses idol drama through the lens of gender politics and feminist critiques. This case struck a nerve.
Some fans speculated that Liu ShuXian’s decision to prioritise her brother reflects deeper societal issues, particularly the way some Chinese families treat sons preferentially. Liu ShuXian being an older sister with a younger brother led to speculation that her family may have “kept trying” until they had a boy — a common, uncomfortable reality for many women in China.
In response to the uproar, Liu ShuXian defended herself, stating she’s “not a brother-obsessed freak” (her words), and claimed that she had checked with both Hu XiaoHui and Chen QianNan before inviting her brother over, and that both agreed.
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| HXH, CQN, LSX Falling Out After Brother Incident |
But her statement unintentionally threw Hu XiaoHui under the bus — making it seem like Hu XiaoHui was fine with a man living in their shared space, something fans found questionable.
Liu ShuXian further argued that she pays a larger portion of the rent, that the men in her life treat her well, and that it feels like nothing she does will satisfy fans unless she openly declares hatred for all men. None of this softened the criticism.
Fans then discovered that Liu ShuXian had resumed using her old side account (originally used during her XSJ fallout), which follows several male idols and groups like iKON and N.Flying.
For those who support couple pairings (CPs) like SoFei or NaiBao, this felt like a betrayal — especially after the recent SoSo incident, where fans turned on an idol for publicly expressing admiration for male K-pop idols while selling a girl-on-girl ship.
Although Liu ShuXian’s brother eventually moved out of the villa after his hospital visit, he stuck around in Shanghai — now learning photography from Chen QianNan. T
hings escalated again when Liu ShuXian brought her brother along to a group outing with Hu XiaoHui, Kona, Chen QianNan, and Han JiaLe (HJL), supposedly to take pictures.
Fans saw this as Liu ShuXian inserting him into their all-girls environment again, and speculation ran wild: was she trying to set one of the members up with her brother?
Tensions peaked during Liu ShuXian’s birthday. Hu XiaoHui gave her a gold bracelet as a gift, but Liu ShuXian openly insulted it. Then, around 1 AM, fans could hear Liu ShuXian’s brother in the background at the villa again — despite supposedly having moved out.
This sparked another backlash, with fans accusing Liu ShuXian of continuously bringing her brother into a private, idol-only space and failing to consider the other girls’ positions or reputations.
The breaking point came when Hu XiaoHui travelled to Guangzhou for what was meant to be a surprise photoshoot. Liu ShuXian followed — and after a major NaiBao fan leaked the surprise, Hu XiaoHui returned to Shanghai alone. Soon after, she deleted several photos and videos featuring Liu ShuXian, leading many to assume a serious falling out.
Then came the nuclear moment: Hu XiaoHui exposed a WeChat group chat involving top NaiBao CP fans, revealing clear favouritism toward Liu ShuXian.
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One of them even insulted Hu XiaoHui by calling her a “short-sighted stage machine,” while also suggesting that Lu TianHui (LTH) is more obviously a lesbian than Chen QianNan — both of whom have dated other SNH members, so it wasn’t exactly shocking. The YYH (main fan leader) of NaiBao issued a brief apology and then abruptly disbanded the group.
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Hu XiaoHui later posted that she needed to take a break from SNH due to both her physical and mental health — a move that has drawn both sympathy and criticism.
Many fans feel for her, but others are disappointed that she hasn’t openly condemned Liu ShuXian, who continues to stir chaos that affects Hu XiaoHui and other members like Han JiaLe.
When asked whether she felt guilty about the emotional fallout, Liu ShuXian doubled down and claimed she and her brother were the real victims. She accused netizens of creating fake stories simply because a man had been seen near the idols.
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Eventually, she issued an apology to the other members and their fans, promising her brother would no longer be involved “if they don’t want him to be.” She also accused her critics of being “so-called women-loving people,” which didn’t go down well either.
As more NaiBao fans turn their backs on Liu ShuXian — or shift their support toward Hu XiaoHui — the CP is crumbling. Douban has now uncovered that Liu ShuXian’s fan club app has been running unregistered bidding activities, triggering mass reports to the authorities.
Behind all this, fans are also reflecting on broader issues within the CP scene — including why CP fans often heavily favour the “1” in pairings (usually the more masculine-presenting idol), and whether this reflects internalised male-preference biases in the way girl-group dynamics are consumed and idolised.
For now, there’s still no confirmed evidence that Hu XiaoHui and Liu ShuXian were ever truly dating. In leaked group chat messages, someone claimed Liu ShuXian once joked with Chen QianNan about “cheating” on Hu XiaoHui with her — but fans are reading it more as chaos-joking à la KaHuang, not serious Xinai energy.
Where things go from here is anyone’s guess — but one thing is clear: Liu ShuXian may have broken more than just a fan illusion. She may have broken the very group dynamic that NaiBao relied on.