Chapter 23 Jiang Zhiyao's plagiarism exposed

An Shixia admired her masterpiece and took out another sheet of music from a hidden compartment in her bag.

Jiang Zhiyao's performance was nearing its end, without a single mistake, as if she was born for music.

The judges on the stage were already exhausted, but upon hearing the music, they perked up, exchanged glances, and their eyes gleamed with admiration.

In a private booth in the concert hall, Yun Ranshu was chatting with an elderly man.

"Ranshu, I originally thought Geng Wen was pretty good, but I didn't expect this girl to be even better. What do you think?"

Yunran felt the sound of the zither was familiar, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it before.

Hearing the old man's question, he could only nod and say, "Indeed, it has a lot of spiritual energy."

The old man smiled, picked up his water glass, and listened quietly to the music without saying another word.

As Jiang Zhiyao's performance drew to a close, deafening applause erupted from the audience as the last note faded.

As expected of the grand finale, it was truly stunning.

The judges on stage gave her a high score of 99.5, and they had already assumed that Jiang Zhiyao would be the winner.

Some people even forwarded the video online, and within just a few minutes, it was forwarded over 10,000 times and even received a comment from a very popular internet celebrity.

The video's popularity has skyrocketed, with its number of shares increasing exponentially, showing signs of an explosive growth.

Jiang Zhiyao had already arrived backstage. An Shixia pretended to be angry: "Jiang Zhiyao, what do you mean? Why did you play my sheet music on stage?"

Jiang Zhiyao felt secretly pleased.

Why? Of course, it's for fame. With fame, I can trample you under my feet.

An Shixia, you idiot, let's see what you do now.

"Shi Xia, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. When you went to the bathroom, I was bumped into, and I probably accidentally mixed up the sheet music."

Shi Xia, please don't be angry, okay? Otherwise, I'll go explain to the person in charge and give you back the sheet music..."

The announcement had already called An Shixia's name. She glanced at Jiang Zhiyao, her gaze slightly cold: "I'll explain later."

After saying that, he turned and walked towards the stage.

Jiang Zhiyao watched her retreating figure with a smug look on her face.

Fool, even if you explain, do you think people will believe you? They'll just think you're jealous of me.

What evidence do you have to prove that I took your sheet music? You're stuck with this bitter pill!

Jiang Zhiyao was in a good mood. In any case, she had already used the sheet music, and no matter how stupid An Shixia was, he would not continue to use it.

She hummed a song as she walked towards the lounge, where everyone was waiting until the rankings were announced.

An Shixia walked onto the stage, her gaze falling on the audience. Not only Xiao Yin had come, but An Shaoyuan and An Zhiyu had also come.

Next to them was Yan Lingyu's family.

An Shixia smiled at the audience and gracefully sat down.

When He Huaisheng arrived, he saw An Shixia's smiling face. Looking at the bright and dazzling An Shixia on the stage, he was stunned.

A line of poetry inexplicably flashed into his mind: "A single glance from a crowd reveals the beauty of humanity, making all other colors seem like dust."

Seeing him in a daze, Zhong Wenxuan nudged his arm: "Brother Sheng, An Shixia just smiled at you. You're a lucky guy."

An Shixia's fingertips slowly landed on the piano keys. With a slight movement of her fingers, clear and melodious piano music rang out, like a cheerful little stream flowing out gently.

This one sentence alone made everyone present hold their breath, as if a single breath would shatter that dream.

The music penetrated the crowd and touched the hearts of the elderly people in the private room.

The old man gently lifted the curtain, then quickly lowered it again.

"That girl from the An family?"

Yun Ranshu's eyes and brows lit up with a smile: "Senior has a good eye."

The old man gradually became engrossed in the music, which permeated the entire audience and even him.

The three minutes passed quickly, so quickly that he hadn't even recovered from the music before it was over.

"You brought her to the piano association before, didn't you? Why didn't you mention she could play the piano then?"

“Her mind wasn’t on playing the piano, and she was also having a falling out with her family at that time. I wanted to try to persuade her, but…”

Yun Ranshu sighed and said nothing more.

The old man knew this was a family matter and didn't pry too much, but suddenly asked, "Do you think she would agree if I took her as my apprentice?"

*

When An Shixia finished singing, the entire venue fell silent. Someone started clapping, which inspired those around her, and the applause grew louder and louder.

He Huaisheng watched from the back row. The girl on stage was more dazzling than the sun at that moment, and he even felt that he was not good enough for her.

An Shixia slowly stood up and bowed in the direction of the referee.

The crowd, who had just been immersed in the music, were now stunned by her beauty.

Good heavens, what window did God close for her? Not only is she a great pianist, but she's also so beautiful.

"Referees, I want to report Jiang Zhiyao for plagiarism."

An Shixia's voice was like a thunderclap, creating a rift in everyone's hearts.

The judges on the stage were very impressed with Jiang Zhiyao. Before An Shixia came on stage, they even thought that Jiang Zhiyao would be the champion.

"Plagiarism? What evidence do you have?"

The judge at the front remained calm, showing no disbelief, but also showing no favoritism towards An Shixia simply because she played well.

The audience below the stage, however, was not calm and erupted in chaos.

"What plagiarism? Even if you play well, you can't make false accusations like this!"

"I don't think she would lie. After all, the person who plagiarized didn't play as well as her. Even if she reported it, it wouldn't prevent her from getting first place."

"Perhaps they just can't stand seeing others do well?"

...

An Shixia said unhurriedly, "The sheet music she played plagiarized more than a dozen pieces, including 'Glass Letter,' 'Falling,' and 'Sugar Under the Snow.' These pieces were casually released by me three years ago and can be found online."

Some people in the audience had already taken out their phones to search for the video, and after clicking to play it, they gasped in shock.

"They're practically identical; the very first line is the climax of 'Glass Letter.'"

There was a lot of discussion in the audience. When He Huaisheng heard An Shixia report Jiang Zhiyao, his expression changed.

Yao Yao is so kind, he doesn't believe Jiang Zhiyao would plagiarize. There must be a misunderstanding, and An Shixia must be framing Yao Yao.

He wanted to go on stage to stop An Shixia, but the audience was crowded and he couldn't squeeze in.

"We have received your report. We need to verify the situation now. Please go down and wait."

The referees discussed the matter, but they couldn't make a decision and needed to report it to their superiors.

An Shixia nodded: "Thank you for your hard work."

She turned and walked off the stage to wait in the lounge.

The lounge was soundproof, and Jiang Zhiyao was still unaware of what had happened ahead, basking in her own smugness. When she saw her coming, she hurriedly went up and took her arm.

"Shi Xia, how did you play? Oh, if I hadn't picked up the wrong sheet music, you would definitely have been in first place..."