Deng Yufei did not have the same kind of good luck. She was still new in the industry and did not have a lot of fans. People had already started to remember her after all the failed hype recently.
Chu Ling had pushed all the blame on her, so both Chu Ling and Xia Peifeng’s fans kept using her social media account to scold her. Everyone cursed her viciously as though she was the only person at fault for Chu Ling’s actions.
However, even though Xia Peifeng’s fans joined in, they seemed more civilized.
Shi Jin checked out social media and saw the fans reprimanding Deng Yufei online before quietly putting her phone away.
Fortunately, she did not give Deng Yufei her own songs and let Chu Ling end up using them. Otherwise, she would be the target of this online abuse.
Fans could get unreasonable. Despite being the victim here, they would end up saying Shi Jin was throwing herself at Chu Ling by deliberately letting Chu Ling use her songs. Chu Ling would undoubtedly push the blame onto Shi Jin without a second thought.
For now, it was just a matter of Chu Ling and Xia Peifeng’s fans getting embroiled in an argument.
***
After this incident occurred, Chu Ling and Hu Lai severed ties with Deng Yufei completely.
Regardless of how she explained Shi Jin’s part in the setup, Chu Ling would hear nothing of it.
“Do you think we are idiots?” said Chu Ling particularly coldly. “Xia Peifeng always liked you, but he despises Shi Jin so much that he doesn’t even look at her. Other than you, no one else could have the opportunity to get close to Xia Peifeng and copy his work.”
“How dare you deny it after causing so much trouble for Chu Ling?” Hu Lai called the security guards to drag Deng Yufei out.
Shi Xuexin gently comforted Chu Ling by the side. She believed Chu Ling was innocent just like his fans did. She did not think he plagiarized intentionally. The talent agency and Deng Yufei must be behind this and Chu Ling had no part in it.
Chu Ling thought about how cold Shi Jin was ever since the plagiarism incident occurred. In comparison, Shi Xuexin was kind and thoughtful. He finally affirmed he made the right choice. It was the right choice for him to dump Shi Jin.
***
“If Deng Yufei was a copycat all along, who wrote those songs?” Xia Peifeng tapped his fingers on the table as he drank a can of coca cola. The cold drink put him at ease and kept his mind clear.
His talent agent said, “Peifeng, you have been thinking about this for days.”
“Why shouldn’t I? The person who wrote the songs was very gifted! Considering how uplifting those songs were, I am sure someone with integrity wrote them!”
“Good songs aren’t necessarily written by people with integrity!” The moment the talent agent finished his sentence, he caught sight of Xia Peifeng glaring at him, so he hurriedly reworded himself. “Yes, yes. You are absolutely right.”
A calm, tall and slender silhouette with fair hands kept appearing in Xia Peifeng’s mind.
Was it her? Could it be her?
If he wanted to know the truth, all he had to do was ask.
However, Xia Peifeng used to despise her and refused to perform with her, so he did not have the cheek to ask. For the first time in his life, he felt apprehensive and nervous.
***
The next round of “Ultimate Singer-Songwriter” had yet to air, but a lot of well-known bigshots had already shown up backstage.
Sheng Shuangnan swung by to watch the contestants rehearse.
Xia Peifeng also secretly came by to check out the situation even though he was not appearing on the show.
And even though Yao Jiahong used to rarely show up, he removed his mask and came by several times.
