Chapter 16: The Price of Stealing a Song

At 12 noon on February 2, “Goodbye to the Past” ranked fifteenth on Fengyun Music Hot Songs Chart with 6.21 million votes and 4.95 million paid downloads.

That same night, at midnight, “Goodbye to the Past” surged past the top two spots, now ranking 13th with 6.7 million votes and 5.3 million downloads!

The closer a song gets to the top, the larger the gap becomes, especially after the second round of voting had been ongoing for a week. The top ten, with their time advantage, have already created an almost insurmountable gap from those in the back.

Based on previous years’ patterns, by now the rankings are almost set. From 13th place onward, every step forward requires millions more votes.

Countless entertainment industry fans and onlookers anxiously kept an eye on the chart, staying up all night to witness a miracle—no Star Show competition in the past had ever seen someone from outside the top 30 in the second round break into the top ten.

Could this unprecedented miracle be about to be created by a college student named Liang Jingsheng?

As this possibility became apparent, reporters from various entertainment media outlets couldn’t sit still. They scrambled, using every possible channel to desperately gather information about Liang Jingsheng.

Liang Jingsheng was a freshman from a certain department at Wutong University, and is a member of the music club. His past attempt to win over the department’s most popular senior and the bet he made to compete in the show were dug up by nosy entertainment reporters.

A passionate young man who created an unexpected dark horse miracle for love and dreams, achieving both career success and a beautiful woman—how inspiring and romantic is that!

Isn’t this the kind of story the public loves most?

Reporters were rubbing their hands together, brimming with inspiration, as they stayed up all night writing press releases, exaggerating the story to the heavens. Early the next morning, they rushed to Wutong University to find the “dark horse” protagonist, afraid of missing out and losing the exclusive headline.

Liang Jingsheng, who was caught in the eye of the storm, had been holed up in his dorm room for two whole days, skipping classes and not daring to go to the music club, fearful of facing the mocking face of his senior.

“What’s going on with you? Weren’t you so proud a few days ago?” His roommate, who was packing his bag to go to class, saw him sulking under the blankets with a pale face, silent, and asked in confusion, “Did the senior reject you again?”

“None of your business,” Liang Jingsheng growled, covering his head with the blanket like an ostrich, his voice muffled and impatient. “Don’t tell anyone I’m here!”

“Always thinking about becoming famous, now you’re scared. You really have issues,” his roommate snorted, slamming the door as he left.

Being alone didn’t give Liang Jingsheng a sense of security. He curled up under the blanket, with the screen of his smart device still glowing faintly, casting light on his iron-gray, twisted face.

He licked his dry lips, trembling fingers opening the latest ranking list. “Goodbye to the Past” had advanced another spot!

Seeing his name climbing higher, Liang Jingsheng panicked and tossed the phone aside, as if it were a ticking time bomb, not daring to look at the comments—whether praise or criticism, neither belonged to him.

Each word, each click, reminded him—he was a despicable thief!

Liang Jingsheng felt as if he were walking on an old, rickety suspension bridge. Every step forward was filled with dread, wanting to retreat, but there was nowhere to go. Beneath him was an abyss so deep that the cold wind threatened to make him stumble, the risk of falling and shattering his body at any moment!

“It’s all that song’s fault! It’s all that senior’s fault!” Liang Jingsheng angrily and desperately banged on the bed, “And that person who left the song! If it weren’t for you, how could I… how could I…”

He collapsed, clutching his head. “If I get caught, I’m finished… what should I do? What should I do?!”

In the dimness, a sudden knock on the door startled him: “Is Liang Jingsheng in there? Liang Jingsheng? I’m a reporter from Entertainment Weekly. I’d like to interview you!”

Liang Jingsheng froze, his body shrinking. The world around him seemed to spin—it’s over, they’ve found out!

His whole body was trembling, and he was terrified. He clutched the blanket tightly, as if hiding under it could make him disappear from the world.

The reporters outside knocked for a while, and when they got no response, their footsteps gradually faded away, as if they had given up.

Liang Jingsheng lay flat on his bed, his back soaked in cold sweat, the damp fabric sticking to his skin.

After an unknown amount of time, he woke up from a muddled sleep, starving, his stomach growling. Liang Jingsheng had no choice but to crawl out of bed, bundling himself up in a down jacket, wearing a thick mask, and carefully listening for any sounds outside.

Once he was sure no one was around, he cautiously opened the door and went out to buy food.

He never expected that just as he stepped out of the dorm building, a large group of reporters, like wolves hunting sheep, immediately surrounded him. Microphones were thrust toward his face, almost forcing him to swallow them!

“Liang Jingsheng, your song ‘Goodbye to the Past’ is now ranked 12th. Do you have confidence in breaking into the top ten?”

“Liang Jingsheng, we heard that you entered the National Star Show competition to pursue a girl. Have you won her heart yet?”

“Liang, how did you come up with this song? Did you ever expect it to suddenly go viral?”

“Liang, could you tell us…”

Liang Jingsheng was stunned, his mind completely blank. The reporters fired off one question after another, their voices like a barrage of cannonballs, resembling a radio suffering from a severe headache, buzzing so loudly it was maddening.

“I…” Liang Jingsheng opened his mouth silently but couldn’t say a word, his mind overwhelmed with fear. He looked frantically at the reporters closing in around him, as though seeing a flood or a dangerous beast.

In the chaos, a reporter wearing black-framed glasses pushed his way to the front, his deep voice cutting through the noise and becoming particularly clear amid the crowd:

“Mr. Liang, is the person in this video you?”

He held up his smart device, projecting a short video. The setting seemed to be a hallway outside a classroom, where a young man wearing a baseball cap was playing guitar and singing a love song. Students walked by, and someone filmed the moment and uploaded it online.

Liang Jingsheng shifted his gaze to the video and instinctively nodded.

With the confirmation, the reporter grinned ominously: “If this is you, then may I ask, Mr. Liang, why does the voice in the video sound completely different from the voice in ‘Goodbye to the Past’?”

“Ah!” Liang Jingsheng suddenly snapped out of his daze, as if struck by a blow to the head. His vision went black, and he almost fainted from the shock. His lips trembled, his fingers shook, and his whole body quivered.

“That was… I…”

Seeing his reaction, the reporter grew even more certain, his tone becoming increasingly aggressive: “Mr. Liang, can you explain this? Did you really write and perform ‘Goodbye to the Past,’ or did you steal someone else’s song? Are you impersonating someone else?!”

It’s over—completely over—

Liang Jingsheng couldn’t respond. His numb brain could only focus on the words “finished” repeating in his mind.

His body felt like it was on fire, dry and parched, yet at the same time, he felt as though he had walked out of an ice cellar, frozen and trembling from the extreme cold, his body oscillating between freezing and burning. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, endlessly streaming.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, the crowd exploded in shock from this bombshell revelation!

“What?!”

“Impersonating someone? No wonder he’s been avoiding us, so afraid of being interviewed!”

“Is this true? Liang, aren’t you going to say something?”

More and more people gathered, and the reporters formed a wall around him, suffocating him. In his daze, Liang Jingsheng felt as though he could see the department’s senior standing not far away, her gaze toward him full of mockery.

He jolted awake, panic setting in. In a desperate moment, he ripped off his mask, threw caution to the wind, and pointed at the reporter, shouting: “Shut up! What evidence do you have? How dare you say I’m a fake! I’m the one who sang that song!”

“Oh?” The reporter adjusted his black-framed glasses, smiling slyly. “Still denying it, huh? Since you insist, how about you sing for us right now, in front of everyone? Everyone has ears—if it’s fake, it will sound fake, if it’s real, it can’t be faked.”

Liang Jingsheng was left speechless. Sweat as big as beans dripped down his neck, and he felt like an utter fool. How could he have fallen into such an obvious trap?

“I… I have a cold, my throat’s not good…” He desperately tried to explain, but his excuses fell apart, and the blood drained from his face.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the looks they gave him grew increasingly strange. Liang Jingsheng felt as if he had been stripped bare, exposed to the crowd’s gaze, feeling utterly humiliated.

“Mr. Liang, do you know the number of downloads for this song? It’s already over 5 million, which is equivalent to you stealing someone else’s property worth 5 million! You could go to prison for this!”

This was the straw that broke the camel’s back!

Liang Jingsheng stared wide-eyed, panic-stricken like a rabbit shot with an arrow. Finally, his psychological defenses completely shattered, and he burst into tears, sobbing aloud: “I… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t mean to steal someone else’s song… I’m sorry…”

Liang Jingsheng’s tearful confession during the interview was broadcasted simultaneously on countless live streaming platforms, and this explosive news immediately set the internet on fire!

Since he was a fraud, who was the real singer?

Not far away, a sleek black flying sports car silently parked at the side of the road.

A man in a black high-collared trench coat sat quietly in the backseat, his long legs crossed, leaning against the chair with his eyes closed, resting. When he was silent, his demeanor was calm and indifferent, resembling a marble statue.

Assistant Zhou Tong jogged over and whispered to him, reporting the situation.

The small desk in front of them displayed a projection of Liang Jingsheng’s disgraceful performance in front of the crowd. Ji Chenxuan glanced at it and then showed a calm, dismissive expression: “Have all the major media outlets been briefed? Make sure the narrative is unified.”

Zhou Tong hurriedly nodded: “Understood. This blunder is tricky. There’s no surveillance in the recording booth, and we can’t disclose Mr. Xiao’s black household status. Unless we make them confront each other directly, there’s no real way to resolve it unless the thief admits it publicly.”

Ji Chenxuan frowned, coughing into a handkerchief, his voice carrying a slight hoarse, sickly rasp: “Keep the legal department on this. I want him to learn a lesson he’ll never forget.”

Zhou Tong secretly clicked his tongue. From his years of working with Ji Chenxuan, he knew that when his boss spoke in a calm tone, it usually meant he was furious. Liang Jingsheng wasn’t likely to walk away unscathed from this.

Noticing Ji Chenxuan continuing to cough, Zhou Tong handed him a thermos: “It’s chilly today, watch out for a cold.”

Ji Chenxuan raised the car window to block the cold wind: “Let’s go.”

As he got into the driver’s seat, he couldn’t resist asking one more question: “President Ji, what do you plan to do about Mr. Xiao? Are you going to announce his identity as the singer?”