Translator: Yuzu

However, as soon as Xiang Chenyu’s performance began, at first hearing the first two strokes, the judges frowned, especially Turris, who had an electric gaze on the teenager on the stage.

Hearing Qing Yun’s playing, Xiang Chenjin in the lounge immediately shuddered involuntarily as he looked in the direction of the stage incredulously.

How dare Xiang Chenyu! How dare he play this piece of music after him, in front of a large audience and still as if nothing was wrong?

The audience was also shocked by the two pieces that were basically identical, but soon they had no room to think because a wave of despair that almost extinguished their hearts washed away the remaining resentment and cynicism, leaving their whole world dead silent.

If Xiang Chenjin’s performance was a person’s roar, then Xiang Chenyu expressed an unimaginable dead silence of humans. This dead silence is like despair after a struggle and anger.

Everyone felt as if a veil had been placed in front of their eyes. There was darkness in front of the veil, and behind the veil was a tragedy seeping with blood.

This is a lifetime of futile resistance of a person suffering from injustice, as if the whole world stood against him. He stood in the center of the world but was alone.

If a person still has the strength to roar, then he must resist, but if there is only indifference and darkness in front of a person’s eyes, the only thing waiting for him is Death with a scythe.

This strange music, like the legendary, forbidden song that can induce death, instantly evoked the darkest memories lurking in the bottom of everyone’s heart. All hope was far away from them, and they were like hopeless people standing on the rooftop, just one last step away from the realm of death.

However, just when this step is about to be taken, a flash of light instantly exploded in their minds.

A light shrouded in dreams emerged at first. It was the most beautiful picture in life, perhaps the warm caress of their parents, or the most carefree time of their childhood.

Although old, it was beautiful as heaven.

The audience felt as if they had experienced the struggle with despair and death and like they were watching the inner journey of a suicidal person. It was as if they were hearing the kindly teachings of an elder to an orphan or the most beautiful sound of a violin in the world.

Suddenly, all the listeners broke out of this deathly situation. This desperate violin sound gradually turned beautiful, but this beauty was more heartbreaking than the previous despair.

Because this beautiful memory will only ever be a memory, and what lies before you is still endless despair. But by this time, the suffering suicidal person has decided to embrace the good memories and continue to step into that despair.

Death and survival, the lightness and the heaviness appear immediately.

The last note, too, is gradually buried in the heart’s fondest memories. This long piece of music finally ended. Both the audience at the scene or those watching in front of the computer only felt a cold touch on their faces and realized that at some point, they had long since burst into tears.

Even the judges, who judged the performance with suspicion, had already wet their clothes with tears.

The young man standing on the stage seemed to have already dried up his tears. Although there were no traces of tears to be found in his eyes and cheeks, those who saw him at this time could feel his despair and pain.

Because this is the confession of a suicidal person.

“This piece is called “Dreaming of Paradise””

After saying that, the young man did not give an explanation on why this piece of music was so similar to the first two movements of Xiang Chenjin’s piece. After he reported the name of the piece, he preciously took his violin and left the stage in silence.

In the lounge, Xiang Chenjin, who was now sitting paralyzed in his seat, had a sudden surge of energy in his heart, which prompted him to stand up and burst onto the stage, questioning Xiang Chenyu in front of the judges and the audience: “I remember that I said this was the piece I was going to play at the competition, why did you take away my song?”

Faced with his questioning, the pale young man, who was obviously still immersed in the performance, did not flinch but instead stared at him with a burning gaze and said, “I remember I also said that this is the music I prepared for the competition.”

There was an uproar in the venue. This was a pair of brothers. At this time, they played two pieces of music that were almost identical in a composition-based competition, which immediately made the judges and the audience discuss fiercely.

Xiang Chenjin said loudly, “I composed this piece in front of Mr. Turris. I prepared this piece long before the rehearsal and published it on my personal homepage that day to express my joy.”

At these words, everyone looked at the judges’ table, and even the cameras went over.

Turris nodded to the crowd in silence, confirming Xiang Chenjin’s words. But another wave of doubt emerged in Turris’ mind. It was indeed Xiang Chenjin who composed the piece in front of him in the first place, but Xiang Chenjin did not play the piece he had created smoothly. There were several difficult techniques in between, and Xiang Chenjin practiced for days before he could smoothly perform them.

But……the eccentric and indifferent judge did not say these words. His face was blank as if it didn’t matter whether his student or someone else won the battle. If someone were to probe into the eyes of this judge, they would see that the light that musicians and judges are supposed to have has been lost within these eyes, becoming disheveled and dead.

Xiang Chenjin’s words seemed to be the clearest evidence, but the many netizens and audience members did not buy it.

Their ears were able to tell whose performance really interpreted the piece. The most obvious rebuttal to Xiang Chenyu was there: If he was a despicable plagiarist, would he have had the guts to go on stage in full view of everyone and finish playing the piece that was so similar?

There were many more judges and netizens presenting the same opinion.

And when comparing the pieces of music presented by the two, it seems that the whole piece played by Xiang Chenjin is only a part of the piece played by Xiang Chenyu.

To put it in a bad way, it was like the difference between a full version and a half-finished product.

The competition had to be interrupted because of these two contestants. Although all the evidence seemed to be in Xiang Chenjin’s favor, the audience and judges who had heard Xiang Chenyu play did not accept such an easy result, so the contest had to continue and then postpone the time to reveal the results.

Just after today’s competition, Xiang Chenjin posted a message on his page, expressing his heartache to the fullest.

“Although I admit that Chenyu’s expression is very good, it doesn’t mean that this piece of music belongs to him.”

In response, almost everyone focused their attention on this matter. For Xiang Chenjin and Xiang Chenyu, each had their own supporters.

[A plagiarist is a plagiarist. This is not even copying. This is a direct use ah. Although I like Xiang Chenyu’s performance, this does not mean that I can tolerate his behavior. Turris’ words have confirmed that this piece is Xiang Chenjin’s original, right? Support Xiang Chenjin.]

[Hehe, but still, if Xiang Chenyu is the plagiarist, one, I’m sure he wouldn’t dare to play on stage or follow the “original” piece. Two, I don’t think anyone would perform the piece better than the creator of the piece itself. Xiang Chenyu’s playing is so deep in my heart that I can wait patiently for the truth, rather than jumping to conclusions.]

[Standing with Chenyu because he saved me. I was all ready to end my life when someone next door played the live coverage of the competition. The beginning of the music simply urged me to hurry up and do it, but somehow I always felt in my heart that there was something involved in this music. Yes, it was the last part of the music that pulled me back from the embrace of death and gave me the courage to face the despair of life. I am grateful to Chenyu, and I believe in him. I feel sorry for what he has gone through to write such a piece.]

[The results of the music competition have not yet been announced, so I won’t comment on it, but I will still say that if Xiang Chenyu really copied Xiang Chenjin, then his music is not credible. As a person who has been favored by the Xiang family, he is an orphan who eats and drinks from the Xiang family and also receives teachings from them, but eventually, he plagiarizes the music of his brother. Isn’t this a big white-eyed wolf?1]

There has been a lot of noise, and the International Music Competition could not give a proper explanation. However, none of this can deny the magical power of the piece of music.

As the two sons turned on each other, Father Xiang, who was soon quite active on his personal page, also made a solemn statement.

He mentioned that as a father, he was sure that the music was originally written by Xiang Chenjin and pointed out that Xiang Chenyu had recently been under a lot of pressure because of his participation in the International Music Competition and the praises he had received from various parties. He was not very talented in composing, which is why he made the mistake of taking his brother’s work and using it directly.

On the one hand, Father Xiang said that it was his own fault for not teaching him well. On the other hand, he defended his adopted son, saying that it was just one of the pieces composed by Xiang Chenjin. The poor boy probably didn’t expect it to be the piece that his brother would use in the competition.

Once Father Xiang’s statement came out, the wind of public opinion instantly turned in favor of Xiang Chenjin and also made Xiang Chenyu wear the hat of being ungrateful and a “white-eyed wolf”.

At the same time, Father Xiang also received the sympathy of the people. After all, the son adopted out of kindness had hurt his own son, causing a whole family to be unsettled.

Of course, some people also caught the loopholes in the words of Father Xiang. One is that Little Feather has shown excellent creative talent since he was a child, so why did Father Xiang say he had no talent in this area? The second is that Xiang Chenjin’s work is obviously only a part of Xiang Chenyu’s work. The latter part is definitely not inferior to the former part, so since Xiang Chenyu can write such a piece of music, why would he plagiarize Xiang Chenjin’s work? The latter part alone was enough for him to win the International Music Competition.

But at this point, Xiang Chenjin’s good popularity became apparent. Students of the Conservatory of Music in the capital have spoken out for Xiang Chenjin, accusing Xiang Chenyu, as the adopted son of the Xiang family, of bad-mouthing Xiang Chenjin in school. At the same time, there have been many times in the school where Xiang Chenyu has also inexplicably accused Xiang Chenjin of taking his work and putting his name on it.

Public opinion has been blaming Xiang Chenyu, which made even the fans who previously firmly supported Xiang Chenyu start to waver. Even the International Music Competition had to make a judgement on this competition.

At this time, in the Xiang family, Father Xiang is sitting in the living room drinking tea. He looked at the remarks on the Internet accusing Xiang Chenyu and could not help but hook the corners of his lips.

He had long waited for this day. On the eve of his company’s collapse, he really managed to make Xiang Chenyu fall into the abyss after his fame.

This way, Xiang Chenyu can disappear, and no one will care, right? He only needs to say that this child can not accept the mistakes he made, left home, and it is unknown where he went. He can completely clear himself of suspicion.

After all, in the eyes of outsiders, he was a doting father who had worried about this matter.

“Father, you clearly know that this is my song. Why did you say that?” The teenager’s unusually angry voice rang out in the mansion of the Xiang family.

As soon as Father Xiang looked up, he saw Xiang Chenyu, who was obviously panting and running over. He thought for a moment, and for the first time, he showed a kind and unmistakable smile towards this youth.

“Chenyu, come here and listen to dad. I’m not trying to slander you.” He waved towards the young man, “This is just a means to appease the outside world, and soon when the incident eases down, I will make a clarification.”

The youth’s expression really eased up a bit because of his attitude. He could not help but laugh at this weak teenager, who was expecting to have a real father-son relationship with him up to this point. It seems that the orphans in the orphanage just don’t have what it takes to do great things.

Father Xiang handed a glass of water to the boy: “Come, look how tired you are. Take a sip of water to moisten your throat. Dad prides himself on being fair. How could he be partial to your brother? I will definitely return justice to you.”

Qing Yun ended up with a glass of water handed to him by his father. A hint of ridicule flashed in his eyes, but he pretended to be thirsty, tilted his head, and drank the water in the glass in one go.

There was a burst of light in Father Xiang’s eyes. As expected, Xiang Chenyu in front of him drank his drugged water and collapsed on the sofa within a few seconds.

Seeing this, Father Xiang was excited. He looked at the young man on the sofa as if he saw tens of millions of dollars beckoning towards him.

“Saved, saved!” Father Xiang scratched his hair with excitement, “If I sell this kid, I’ll have everything. With Chenjin earning me fame, I’ll also have endless possessions!”

He laughed strangely for a moment, turned his head to look at the pale face of the teenager on the sofa, and suddenly the threat of the law occupied him again. Father Xiang turned around the sofa restlessly, and as he did so, he muttered under his breath, “Later, I’ll publish a statement on this kid’s page, so that he can admit his mistake and say that he has no face to appear in front of the public again.”

“Oh yeah, when I send him off, I’ll have to call the police again to prove that I’m innocent.”

“Also, the head of the casino has given me a promise, claiming that they have the most perfect system to prevent these players from escaping and that when the time comes to pour acid on this kid’s face and cut out his tongue, who will be able to recognize him? Who would think that I had sent him there?”

Thinking of this, Father Xiang smiled again. He remembered the most generous condition given to him by the head of the casino, surprisingly agreeing to him as the beneficiary behind this kid so that every penny earned by Xiang Chenyu in the underground casino would have his share!

He believed in the value of Xiang Chenyu, so as long as Xiang Chenyu does not die, his wealth is endless!

Father Xiang showed a fierce look. He looked at Xiang Chenyu on the sofa, took out the rope he had prepared, and tied the teenager up, while mumbling: “After raising you for so many years, it is time for you to pay your debt!”

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