Rebirth from the Ashes

The production crew went mad.

Su Botao was completely caught off guard by the situation. It took a while for him to get over it before he frantically tipped the mentors the wink and made gestures for crowd control.

This was live!

It was a live broadcast!

With Mr. Xixi’s comments going on air, Su Botao could only imagine the faces of all the viewers behind the TV.

The words came out of Mr. Xixi’s mouth, not nobody’s. Like Qi Xiu, Mr. Xixi was at the height of his career at the moment of his debut. A musician sought after by many, he was dubbed the hope of China’s music scene.

His words carried a lot of weight!

Finding himself in a difficult spot, Gu Yang was at a loss of what to do. Familiar? He would be skeptical if someone else said that live, but this was Mr. Xixi they were talking about. He trusted Mr. Xixi would not say sh*t in a large setting.

Fang Yao forced a chuckle, almost unable to keep her cool. As the mentor in charge, she gave a lot of help to Su Ruowan as the latter worked on her song and dance. Mr. Xixi’s statement was a slap in Fang Yao’s face. She had a tight feeling in her stomach. “You have a point, Mr. Xixi. Every outstanding song and dance have their similarities.”

She had to say something. Fang Yao wanted to get behind the meaning of Mr. Xixi’s words. Was Su Ruowan’s creation an original or a copy?

It was no surprise that there were cover songs in the music industry as long as the copyrights were in hand. Nevertheless, plagiarism was most frowned upon because this was stealing someone else’s hard work. Anything to do with cheating, stealing, defrauding, and murdering was a stain in life that could not be erased.

“Ms. Fang Yao is right.” Su Muyan tried to get it together. He spent a million to buy the song. The middle person guaranteed that there would be no issue.

He had to keep his cool and not lose his head at a time like this.

He had worked with the middle person for four years, and there had never been a case of plagiarism or betrayal.

Gu Yang and He Sumo were not going to let the topic carry on as they knew their priority was to swoop into action and stop it. Even if the plagiarism were true, it could not be exposed during this crucial moment when the program was broadcast to the entire country. The impact would be dire.

If Su Ruowan’s work was proved to be plagiarized, they, as mentors, would go down with her since the creation they helped to work on was a copy!

Su Botao let out a sigh of relief. He could not risk any more surprises now that the show was at its last two episodes. At the very least, it should not happen during a live broadcast if an unwarranted twist had to come.

Su Ruowan’s tensed nerves relaxed a little when Su Muyan gave her a look to chill. She loosened her fists.

She tried to comfort herself with the fact that her song and dance were procured by Muyan at a high price. Since Muyan had done it multiple times with no repercussions, everything must be alright.

Still, Xia Mi was not ready to let it go. She sternly gazed at the person sitting beside her. “Where have you seen it, Mr. Xixi?”

Shen Xi paused for a moment before answering, “The dance was all over the place in terms of genre. It’s like many dances copied and pasted in a different order. As for the song, I heard it on a music platform not too long ago.”

Everyone was able to grasp the meaning behind Mr. Xixi’s words. The dance was copied here and there while the song was plagiarized as a whole. The mentors felt awkward by the certainty in his statement.

Due to their high admiration for Mr. Xixi, including Su Muyan, the mentors took his words to heart.

Chief Director Su Botao was pulling his hair out. This was a huge blow to the show. He looked daggers at Su Ruowan.

Plagiarism!

She had the nerve!

How dare she took someone else’s work to showcase as her own in front of the nation and on the main stage!

The only thought on Su Muyan’s mind was exiting the scene as rage burned away his sanity. The middle person lied to him and gave him pirated work! Godd*mnit!

It was pin-drop silent on the set with tension weighing heavily on everyone’s mind. There was not a peep from the audience as they stared at Mr. Xixi.

They knew who Mr. Xixi was. He was a legend together with Qi Xiu by their success through one album. The hottest hit in the album was created by him.

Other fans taunted Su Ruowan’s fans with disdain and glee. Someone even started throwing bitter sarcasm at them.

These fans could be unreasonable at times when defending their idols. They would rather turn the facts upside down, stick to their guns, and deny without reason. No one was going to take insults to their idols sitting down.

A moment later, Su Ruowan’s fans suddenly let out a thundering scream as they backed her up. “Wanwan, keep it up. We believe in you!”

No way.

Wanwan would in no way copy someone else’s work. She was the sister of Su Muyan, a gifted musician. She was blessed with talents as well. What was wrong with Mr. Xixi? He could not just pop off and ramble nonsense.

The situation had gotten out of hand, not just on the main stage and at the panel of mentors, but also the provoked and emotional fans.

The moment Su Botao spotted things going south, he instructed the team to go into commercials. He could relax a little knowing the scene following Xia Mi’s questioning was not released on air.

In the audience stand, a sudden voice stood out. The heartrending scream came from Song Wenye’s fanbase. “Proof!”

Then.

The people behind stood up and raised Song Wenye’s support banners as they called for proof. The chant was in unison and carried a rhythm.

Picking up on the familiar voices, Shen Xi turned to the source. It was the International Class in the flesh who came to cheer Song Wenye on. The first to stand up and pull the stunt was Chu Ying while the rest immediately fell into the beat and followed suit.

With Pei Xu and Yu Qiubai’s good looks standing out in the crowd, Shen Xi’s eyes went to them first.

Pei Xu was not looking at her.

Yu Qiubai narrowed his foxy eyes and smiled at her.

Shen Xi thought to herself, ‘F*ck! Dang fox!’

The International Class was screaming for proof not to get Su Ruowan out of the mess, but to stir an uproar. They wanted to crush Su Ruowan by validating that she was indeed a copycat.

“F*ck! I don’t think Su Ruowan’s capable of coming up with her own song and choreography,” Pei Xu figured. He spat, “How exciting. Xixi should’ve been here.”

Yu Qiubai glanced at Mr. Xixi and smiled intriguingly instead of replying to Pei Xu. Not only was Xixi here, but she was also the one stirring up the scene.

“Mr. Xixi has the same name as Xixi, but he’s not as much of a pain in the neck as Song Wenye put him out to be. He’s pretty nice,” Pei Xu remarked.

He knew it because Song Wenye grumbled and ran her mouth about Mr. Xixi in the group chat.

Over at the main stage.

Su Botao had gone to ask the mentors and Su Ruowan’s team to leave the stage. They were about to make a move.

Chu Ying and the International Class were not going to let them leave just like that. They shouted, “Don’t run away! We want the truth!”

Having seen this coming, Pei Xu sent Lin Ge to hail the other trainees’ fans. Since it was already a chaotic scene, everyone should get on it.

Moments later.

“We want the truth!”

The fans’ blaring chants echoed in the stadium.

The mentors, Su Ruowan’s team, and the heads of the production team led by Su Botao were ready to make their exit when fans furiously broke through the security cordon and surrounded them.

No one expected something like this to happen. With the production team unable to respond quick enough and the security was shorthanded to maintain order, the fans went out of control as they encircled them and demanded the truth.

Su Botao turned black in the face. If only he could drop dead now. In more than a decade of his career, he had never been caught in such an awkward and turbulent circumstance.

The security personnel was screaming to bring order and for the fans to keep it down.

The mentors were also trying to control the crowd, telling the fans they would get an answer. However, the fans were too riled up to listen.

Su Ruowan was all at sea. Her head was buzzing in the face of the fans’ relentless pursuit and her teammates’ condemnation. Her heart was racing faster and faster.

In the end, she felt smothered and passed out.

Falling unconscious was the best escape plan at a time like this. No one helped her up even though her teammate witnessed her blackout. Why would they help her when their source of pain was her? Two of them even stomp on her and pinched her, refusing to let Su Ruowan escape by falling unconscious.

It was all Su Ruowan’s fault. She claimed someone else’s work as her own and dragged them down the pit. They were not going to take pity on her even if she died. In fact, her teammates welcomed and applauded this outcome.

Su Muyan was the first to react when Su Ruowan fell flat on the ground. He went over and picked her up, not knowing who to blame and hate for this. With the matter becoming public, it would be a fatal blow to Wanwan.

“Please calm down.” Su Muyan understood that he had to put a stop right there and then. Resentful and anxious, he pleadingly turned to the unyielding fans and spoke in a loud voice, “Su Ruowan has fainted. I’m sure you don’t want to have blood on your hands. We will give you an answer as to whether this was a matter of plagiarism.”

The fans meant no harm, especially with a life involved. Looking at the unconscious Su Ruowan, they quickly dispersed as more security personnel and police showed up.

Su Botao heaved a sigh of relief and turned to the culprit who started it all – Mr. Xixi. The latter had his head buried in his phone, scrolling around in search of something.

Feeling eyes on her, Shen Xi did not bother to lift her head. With the same standoffish attitude, she sought the truth with facts. “This is a song from a niche original composition platform. I forgot where it is, so I need to look for it.”

Su Botao was about to lose his mind. Things had gotten out of hand and yet the person who triggered this remained oblivious! Here he was searching for the music instead!

Xia Mi and Gu Yang exchanged a glance. Mr. Xixi had no reason to lie about it nor did he have anything personal against one trainee. They were certain that it was plagiarism!

The shame made Fang Yao’s hair stand. She paid dearly for her inexperience.