After Shen Xingsui saw the news on his mobile phone, he felt a little cold all over his body. Many thoughts were passing through his head over and over again, passing by like a car, but his mind was full of muddy thoughts. He couldn’t even hear Shen Xingchen talking to him clearly.

Shen Xingchen resignedly increased his tone, “Suisui, are you listening?”

Shen Xingsui quickly regained his composure, and said falteringly, “Yes, yes.”

“I know you won’t plagiarize. I trust you.” With his chin propped up, Shen Xingchen stopped drinking the soup, “So what’s the matter with Jian Zhi’s song?”

Shen Xingsui put down his phone, took a deep breath and replied, “The arrangement of this song is indeed my original composition. I’m sure, but it’s been a long time. I should have written it when I was about to graduate from high school. At that time, I had been writing songs myself, and he had already debuted at that time. I showed him the songs I wrote. But… he has always said that my writing is very ordinary, and I am his younger brother, so he forbid me to spread my songs to the outside world to not embarrass him and the family.” 

Shen Xingchen heard the explanation, and his temper flared high. He slammed his chopsticks to the table and cursed, “Fucking hell! That bastard Jian Zhi! Is he still human?” 

Shen Xingsui pursed his lips and smiled after hearing this.

Shen Xingchen put his arms on his waist and said, “I’ll respond now, and let these people know who plagiarized whom!”

Seeing him pick up the phone, Shen Xingsui quickly stopped him, “Hey, don’t.”

Shen Xingchen looked at him with an incredulous expression, “What are you waiting for, didn’t you see that they are scolding you?”

Shen Xingsui sighed inwardly, and he explained, “Because I was young at the time, and I didn’t expect… things would go this way. I don’t have the original musical score or the manuscript. I… essentially have no evidence to back up my claim.” 

Shen Xingchen could see the sad emotion on Shen Xingsui’s face. He understood – afterall, no one would have thought that your relatives would stab you in the back. They’re supposed to be your strongest supporters, not the backstabbers instigating for your downfall. 

Shen Xingchen asked, “Where is the manuscript?”

Shen Xingsui replied, “It should be in my room. When I left home, I had a stiff fight with them. I was almost kicked out. At that time, I didn’t know my future. But still… I left without bringing anything with me.”

Shen Xingchen finally realized something. He got angrier, however. “Fuck. Jian Zhi must know this too! He must have hid all of them!!” 

Shen Xingsui nodded slightly, “It’s very possible.”

Shen Xingchen’s head was relatively straight, and he couldn’t think of a good way at all, so he scratched his head and asked, “Then what should we do?”

Shen Xingsui said, “Delete this video first, because it’s your account, I’m afraid it won’t be good to involve you this time. Let’s avoid further expansion of public opinion, I will call Jian Zhi in a while. Let’s see if we can discuss it.”

Shen Xingchen didn’t want to at first, he still wanted to fight to the end with those internet gangsters.  But when he looked up and saw Shen Xingsui’s worried and begging eyes, he finally relented. He still didn’t want to embarrass his brother, so he just nodded: “Okay, okay.”

The video was deleted in the end, but there was no way to treat it as if it didn’t happen.

Even so, Shen Xingchen finally underestimated the ability of netizens to eat melons and the speed of dissemination. From the release of the video to the present, in just eight minutes, the video has been downloaded and reposted by more than tens of thousands, and it has entered the Weibo hot search list.

#ShenXingsuiMusicPlagiarism#    

This hot topic quickly reached the top. He was an artist who just came down from a particularly popular reality show, not to mention that this video was posted by Shen Xingchen, plus added that the popular singer Jian Zhi was involved. The popularity of these three shot this topic to the rooftop. 

The people who only here to eat melons are also shocked:

[Ah, then, all his other compositions might also be plagiarized?]

[Is it because he can’t write anything by himself?]

[Fuck. I’m no longer his fans. I can’t believe he tricked us like this.]

[Isn’t Jian Zhi his brother before?] 

Many people on the Internet were talking about this, but basically they were all accusing Shen Xingsui. No one would think that a mature and experienced singer who debuted for many years would plagiarize, especially a song he “wrote” a long time ago. On the other side, Shen Xingsui was just a newly debuted artist with only a measly one song accredited to his name. It’s clear which one of the two was more suspicious. 

Meanwhile, in the Shen family.

Shen Xingsui returned to his room and sat down on a chair. His mood at the moment was complicated and heavy.

The phone rang “beep beep” in the room. This was the first time he tried to contact Jian Zhi after he got kicked away from the Jian family. He didn’t expect it would because of this kind of thing. 

When he was a child, he always admired Jian Zhi. Plus, he was interested in music, so having a singer brother only magnified this admiration. Unfortunately, his brother has never affirmed him, and he was even unwilling to let Shen Xingsui watch his works. Somehow, Jian Zhi was always hostile to him. 

“Beep beep beep”

As the connected phone rang in the room, and Shen Xingsui’s heart calmed down beat by beat. 

Finally, when the phone was about to hang up automatically, the phone was picked up, and Jian Zhi’s voice came from the other side: “Hello.”

Shen Xingsui said, “It’s me.”

“I know.” Jian Zhi seemed to be calmer than him. “What’s the matter?”

Shen Xingsui didn’t want to play tricks on him, and directly asked, “I want to ask you, what’s the matter with that song, why does it resemble my chorus?” 

Jian Zhi sneered, “What’s your song, did you write your name? That’s my song, Shen Xingsui! Are you holding a grudge because I said your song is mediocre, and you came here to trouble me?” 

Shen Xingsui has never thought that Jian Zhi would be so brazen!

“You, you know it’s my song! I composed it myself during my high school years!” Shen Xingsui couldn’t help it anymore, “Why are you doing this?” 

Jian Zhi listened to Shen Xingsui’s sad question on the other end of the phone. For a moment, he seemed to be able to guess that Shen Xingsui’s expression at this moment – must be a little sad, with a look of grievance. Just like the expression he saw before when this brat was little. He would cry until his eyes went red. He was cowardly and stupid. He couldn’t do anything right. He’s annoying to death. 

But very talented.

Useless, but very talented in music. It’s a pity his personality was shit, such a good talent was wasted on a person. 

‘Why is it that I am so good but can’t compare to a song written by a dark little trash? Anyway, Shen Xingsui won’t be able to use it if he holds it. Isn’t it better to use it by himself? If it’s written by me, then it won’t be wasted for a good-for-nothing.’

Jian Zhi said, “Suisui, I can’t understand what you said, what about me?”

Shen Xingsui said sharply, “You know what you have done yourself.”

“What do I know?” Jian Zhi snorted, “Suisui, now that you have left home, have you completely forgotten the kindness the Jian family has given you in nurturing you for more than 20 years? The food you eat, the clothes you wear, the bed you sleep in. Which one was not given to you by the family? Where’s your filial piety? Is this your attitude towards your benefactor? Or are you just a thankless bitch now?” 

This was just moral kidnapping. 

Shen Xingsui only felt sarcasm when he heard Jian Zhi. He knew this, so he was able to calm himself down. “Since I’m the one who wrote that song… as long as you say it’s good and you like it, I would have agreed to you using it without hesitation. Because… you were my erge.” 

Jian Zhi was taken aback. He didn’t expect this.

“I won’t even ask for too much…” Shen Xingsui’s eyes turned subconsciously turned red, but his voice was still calm,”As long as you can say a few words of affirmation to me, it will be fine.” 

Shen Xingsui took a deep breath, “You said my composition is mediocre at best, but still use it for your own profit! What I hate is not your theft, but your deceit. Can you understand?!”

This block was implemented, and it fell heavily on Jian Zhi’s heart, which made him unable to relax for a long time.

Shen Xingsui raised his face, those sad sufferings were surging in his heart like waves. But his thoughts became more and more firm, and he said in a deep voice, “I want you to apologize.” 

Jian Zhi’s eyes widened slightly.

“You have to apologize to me, Jian Zhi. Publicly.” The voice on the other end of the phone fell down like a hammer to his chest. “Otherwise, I will never let it go.” 

At this moment, in Jian Zhi’s heart, the stupid idiot crybaby image of Shen Xingsui crumbled into dust. That snotty child grew up, and would no longer endure this blindly. He stood opposite of Jian Zhi and declared war.

“…” 

The phone hung up, and Jian Zhi didn’t know what to say. His manager came from behind and said, “How was the chat?” The agent frowned when Jian Zhi didn’t answer, “Isn’t it just a chorus thing? This roadblock isn’t easy to clear. Besides, isn’t that Shen Xingsui your didi before? He has been kind to you for so many years. You are really a little white-eyed wolf.”

Jian Zhi went to the sofa and slumped down, “I want to settle this matter in private.”     

The agent nodded obediently. “Now the public opinion on the Internet is all in favor of you. He has no evidence, so we don’t need to take it seriously. I will contact him with a private letter and see if he would agree to monetary compensation in exchange of never bringing this up again. We need to make this peaceful settlement as soon as possible, lest he make a recording of your conversation and spread it to the public. So, let’s make an appointment for a meeting, both parties will record this conversation and publicly release it. Then, we can sign the contract, it will be safer.” 

Jian Zhi was still silent. 

The agent actually hated this situation. If he could, he would denounce Jian Zhi for his blatant plagiarism, but he couldn’t afford such a breach of contract. He was a grasshopper tied to Jian Zhi’s strings. So, when he found out that Jian Zhi wasn’t in a good mood, he could only ask, “Why, are you feeling uncomfortable and guilty?” 

Jian Zhi chuckled, “In the past half a year since he left Jian family’s house, he has really grown up. Hasn’t the change been so drastic? I almost don’t know him anymore.”     

“People change.” The agent almost rolled his eyes as sat down. He flipped through the documents and said, “Growth is not measured by time. Anyways, he won’t be back like he was in the past. Let it go.” 

“I can’t,” Sitting on the sofa, Jian Zhi recalled the past bits and pieces in his mind. He thought he didn’t care, but after Shen Xingsui left, he found that he remembered everything very clearly. 

He remembered Shen Xingsui always liked to mention his name to his classmates and takes his classmates home to show off.  But this only annoyed Jian Zhi to no end. At some point, it was unbearable to him to the point he directly forbade Shen Xingsui to mention their connection ever again. 

It was just a momentary remark made without much thought. Although he disliked his younger brother, he actually enjoyed basking on his praise and admiration. 

But later, Shen Xingsui seemed to have really learned to behave. He never talked to his classmates again, listened to his own songs, or bought his posters. If anything, there were more and more of Fu Jinxiao’s albums and posters in his room. He even began to seriously support Fu Jinxiao’s works, writing songs for him, and voting for him. 

Why?

Isn’t this my brother?

Even if he doesn’t chase himself, he shouldn’t chase others!

It’s a pity that while Jian Zhi became more upset, it never stopped Fu Jinxiao’s momentum in the industry. Many of his fans climbed over the wall1change from being Jian Zhi’s fans to Fu Jinxiao’s fans. and many of his investors tried to curry favor with Fu Jinxiao and his family. Suddenly, the industry’s environment pissed him off. And when he returned home, he saw even more Fu Jinxiao paraphernalia, which only exacerbated his annoyance. 

Jian Zhi was very angry, so he disliked Shen Xingsui more, and became more hostile. Gradually, they drifted away. 

Then, Anran came, and it broke off their relationship completely. Anran was the well-behaved little brother he always wanted, plus he never had Shen Xingsui “sins”. It’s easy to discard Shen Xingsui for Anran.

His memory of Shen Xingsui was faded. After all, they were from quite a few years back. But looking back now, that child was slowly growing up in a corner that he didn’t know.

“I can’t go back,” Jian Zhi showed a slightly bitter smile, he sighed softly as if muttering to himself, and looked at the ceiling: “It’s not what it used to be.”

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