Chapter Fifty-One: Fainting on the Spot

"Who? Who did she just say?"
"Chen Nian, I heard it clearly. She said Chen Nian!"
"Are you sure? Are you certain it was Chen Nian?"

At this moment, both the venue and the live-streaming chat were in an uproar.

"You must be joking! Xing Fei's mentor is Chen Nian?"
"Impossible, absolutely impossible. Not long ago, Chen Nian plagiarized that song ‘Sorrow of the Departed,’ which was a collaboration between Xing Fei’s mentor and Lin Xinrou. And now you’re telling me that Chen Nian is Xing Fei’s mentor? So what, he plagiarized his own song and then got a bunch of people online to attack himself?"
"Exactly! Recently, their fans were nearly at each other’s throats, and now you’re saying they’re the same person? How could that be!"
"Fake! It must be fake! No way this is true!"

Lin Xinrou’s face was deathly pale as she stared at Xing Fei on stage, who looked back at her with equal calm.

The next second, a commotion erupted from a corner of the venue. Everyone turned in that direction to see a figure, sunglasses on, slowly making his way toward the stage.

Seeing that all-too-familiar silhouette, veins bulged on Lin Xinrou’s forehead, her hands gripped the armrests of her chair with white-knuckled force, and her teeth ground together audibly.

"Hello everyone, I am Xing Fei’s mentor. You may also call me Chen Nian." After stepping onto the stage, Chen Nian waved to the audience.

"Holy—! It really is Chen Nian! Xing Fei's mentor is actually Chen Nian!"
"What is going on? Can someone please explain what is happening?"
"I'm numb. So, all those songs Xing Fei sang before, they were all written by Chen Nian?"
"All of the current top ten charting songs, written by one person?"

Not only were the audience and the viewers dumbfounded, but even the production staff of "Who Is the Singer" were at a loss. They’d thought bringing in Xing Fei’s mentor would boost their ratings and overshadow "The Voice," but never imagined they’d invited the star contestant from the rival show.

The chief director of "Who Is the Singer" was utterly disoriented. He never cared much for ratings—so long as the show sparked discussion and stayed hot, that was enough. But this? This was simply outrageous. Wasn’t shining on "The Voice" enough? Now he had to come and flaunt himself on this stage too?

If it weren’t for the live broadcast, the director would have stormed onstage and kicked Chen Nian straight out.

But compared to the director, the truly shattered one was Lin Xinrou.

After longing for this moment, even forsaking Wei Ge and the capital he represented, the powerful connection she’d hoped to secure turned out to be Chen Nian?

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible! This is fake, all of it is fake!"

Lin Xinrou’s composure began to slip, her muttering grew uncontrollable. If Chen Nian was truly Xing Fei’s mentor, then the statements she’d released online would collapse on their own. After all, who would be so foolish as to plagiarize themselves and then incite an online mob against themselves?

"If Chen Nian is really Xing Fei’s mentor, then who actually composed ‘Sorrow of the Departed’?"

Sure enough, not long after Chen Nian appeared, an audience member voiced the pressing question.

"Goddess Lin issued a statement online, claiming ‘Sorrow of the Departed’ was a joint creation with Xing Fei’s mentor, but then said Chen Nian’s three songs were plagiarized. So what’s the truth here?"
"What, he plagiarized his own work?"
"Isn’t it obvious by now? Someone stole the song and wouldn’t admit it, but tried to pin it on the original writer!"
"What did you say? Goddess Lin would never plagiarize!"
"Exactly! She would never plagiarize. It’s clear as day that Chen Nian is the thief!"

Watching the fans on both sides spar furiously in the livestream chat, the director of "Who Is the Singer" was on the verge of tears. If things were allowed to keep escalating, the show would surely explode in popularity—but whether it could actually air was another question entirely…

Despite the heated debate between fans, Chen Nian remained unfazed.

Let them argue. The bigger the commotion, the better.

His purpose in coming on the show today was singular: to utterly destroy Lin Xinrou.

Xing Fei took the microphone and began, "Today, I’ll be performing an original song by my mentor, ‘Lady Shexiang.’ I hope you all enjoy it."

And so, amid the audience’s heated disputes, the backing track began to play.

On the mentors’ panel, Lin Xinrou’s face was ashen as she glared at the two on stage, wishing she could leap up and smash them to pieces.

After eight bars of introduction, Chen Nian began to sing.

Above the river, cliffs face each other.
In the Weining grass sea, buckwheat flowers bloom.
Who hung the moon so high in the sky,
Shining on words unsaid until they flow and flow like the sea…

As the prelude faded, the venue fell silent, all eyes drawn to Chen Nian and Xing Fei.

Crossing endless mountains, crossing boundless seas,
If hope remains, spring always comes and flowers will bloom.
Please, gently, stay awhile—let dreams sweep away the dust…

Fragrance drifts beyond the study, sounding a beautiful celestial melody…

"This is wonderful! It’s both rustic and exhilarating!"
"What kind of music is this? It’s so catchy, I want to move with it!"
"I can’t help it—my body’s moving on its own!"

Lin Xinrou’s face darkened as she watched the two swaying to the rhythm on stage.

Mountains beyond the Wumeng Mountains, moonlight pouring over the Xiangshui Shoals,
Who can tell me if it’s heaven calling for you?
Across a mountain, over a river, through thousands of miles never alone—
You were here, your story lives on, the azaleas never wither…
Longing circles in the heart,
The memories we cherish,
Kind, gentle heartbeats…

As the song reached its climax, all five hundred members of the audience unconsciously hummed along to this brand-new melody.

Watching Chen Nian and Xing Fei’s flawless performance, Lin Xinrou’s eyes rolled back, and the world spun to darkness—she fainted on the spot.

The production team, realizing something was wrong, immediately halted recording and rushed to carry Lin Xinrou out on a stretcher.

"Hahaha! Does our guy need to plagiarize Lin Xinrou? Hahaha! Did you see the look on her face? She looked like she’d swallowed something foul!"
"With a song like this, Lin Xinrou couldn’t write it in this life, or the next!"
"There’s no need to say more. Isn’t it obvious now who was plagiarizing whom?"

Seeing the barrage of one-sided comments in the chat, the director of "Who Is the Singer" hesitated, then decisively shut down the livestream. If public opinion kept snowballing, Lin Xinrou, whom Xingji Entertainment had worked so hard to build up, would be finished for good.

After Lin Xinrou was carried off, the recording resumed as usual, but the livestream never came back online.

With their exceptional performance, Xing Fei clinched the title of "Vote King" yet again with 485 votes.

From the very first episode, Xing Fei had now won "Vote King" for seven consecutive weeks on "Who Is the Singer."