Chapter 56
There was no one in Xie Xichao's dormitory.
He came down after seeing Jiang Wenhai from upstairs.
The second public performance just ended today. Except for him who stayed in the dormitory to rest due to poor health, the rest of the people went to the cafeteria to have a meal to celebrate. Fu Wenzhe originally wanted to stay with him, but he refused.
It turned out to be the right choice.
The weather is getting cooler. The first thing he did when he entered the door was to pour a cup of hot water.
After pouring one cup, he didn't stop moving, but took out a plastic cup from the cabinet next to him and poured one for Jiang Wenhai as well.
He handed the water to Jiang Wenhai: "Sit wherever you want."
Jiang Wenhai took the water somewhat awkwardly and sat down on an empty bench nearby.
The corners of his eyes were still red, and his lips were a little blue from the cold. The warmth from his hand spread to every part of his body, giving him the illusion of returning to the human world.
He clenched the cup and looked at Jie Xichao sitting on the edge of the bed.
After a long while, he finally spoke in a low voice: "Actually, you came here for Yun Pan."
Jie Xichao took a sip of water and felt it was a little hot, so he held the cup to warm his hands. The fingers holding the cup were white and bony, reminding Jiang Wenhai of himself sitting on the stage and singing with a microphone in his hand.
Then, he heard Xie Xichao say, "It is."
As expected.
Jiang Wenhai didn't feel sad.
He has no connection with Jie Xichao, and it is impossible for others to stand up for him for no reason.
"But," Xie Xichao said, "I do feel sorry for you."
He paused, his voice a little hoarse from overuse, "If a good song cannot be performed by its owner, then at least it should have a stage worthy of it."
Instead of being wasted by unworthy people.
Jiang Wenhai began to inhale again.
-"Do you think it's a good song?"
- "I think so."
His lips trembled, and he tried his best not to look so out of control: "If you don't say this, I actually also..."
"I don't really like being polite." Jie Xichao looked up.
His eyes were calm, without any aggression on stage, and naturally he was not deliberately enthusiastic as Jiang Wenhai thought. "I just expressed my feelings. After all, I am also a creator."
He paused, "It's just that the rap before the second chorus is a bit abrupt."
Jiang Wenhai: “…”
His hands loosened their strength on his knees and he finally calmed down.
He believed and understood what Xi Chao said.
"That was added by Xia Ruiyan." He whispered, "He wanted to make himself look more versatile. I said it would be abrupt, but he said it didn't matter and no one would be able to hear it."
Xie Xichao:.
Jiang Wenhai exhaled lightly: "Ask whatever you want to ask, I will tell you everything I know."
Xie Xichao paused.
"Just wait and see." He said, "My mind is a little confused right now."
His face was indeed a little pale, a sign of exhaustion.
The second public performance was too exhausting for him. But no one noticed anything wrong with his condition until he walked off the stage. He managed to maintain his condition until the very last second.
Jiang Wenhai gripped the rim of the cup tightly.
This is why Xia Ruiyan couldn't have any bad feelings towards Jie Xichao even though he had complained about him countless times in private.
This is a mutual appreciation between creators.
It is also a mutual appreciation between idols who have dreams and professional ethics.
After a moment, he spoke.
"The first time I met Yun Pan and Xia Ruiyan," he said, "was in the winter of the year I first joined the company."
-
He was twenty-one years old that year.
While his peers were spending the happiest time of their lives in college, he was struggling to pay off his family’s debts.
In fact, their family was not particularly poor. It was just that when he first went to college, his family members did not know people well and their investments in business lost money, so they have been in debt ever since. The only thing he was thankful for was that they were all debts of favor, not usury.
It was precisely because he was eager to escape from his predicament that he went to Wen Yao.
Jiang Wenhai is a graduate of the composition department. The company found him because the clip of him singing and playing the guitar in the campus song competition that year unexpectedly became popular. At that time, the company told him, if you come to our company, we will make you more popular.
"I was obsessed with it." Jiang Wenhai smiled bitterly, "I thought the entertainment industry could make money quickly, so I signed with Wen Yao and became a popular idol. Actually, I thought that I didn't have any outstanding looks or singing or dancing, so I might just make money by writing songs in the future.
…But I didn’t expect that after all these years, I still haven’t made any money. I don't know why, but the songs are no longer mine. ”
If he were given another chance, he would never accept the business card handed to him.
Even if he would never make a name for himself in his life and no one would listen to his songs, he would accept it.
"Did I say too much?" He smiled awkwardly.
Jie Xichao was silent for a moment and shook his head.
But Jiang Wenhai quickly got into the topic of Yun Pan.
He said: "Pan Pan should have told you that we were originally going to have a group this term."
"Actually, Xia Ruiyan was quite normal at the beginning." He thought for a moment, "Maybe it's his personality? He comes from a relatively well-off family and is a key training target of the company, so even if he loses his temper, everyone will let him go."
"Later," he said, "when our group died young, his mood swings became more obvious."
He paused and said, "It's understandable, after all... everyone has been preparing for a long time. Of course, I'm not speaking for him."
His mouth was dry and he drank some water.
While drinking water, he glanced at Jie Xichao.
There was still no other expression on the other person's face, but that gentle smile finally disappeared. I can't tell what he's thinking.
Then, he heard Xie Xichao ask: "How is bullying usually carried out?"
Speaking of this, Jiang Wenhai's hand paused.
After a moment, he said vaguely, "Just, that. They won't really do anything, just say a few words, and then order me to buy something or something."
Xie Xichao paused and said, "You just watch?"
This question was too direct. Even though Xie Xichao's tone was the same as usual, Jiang Wenhai's eyelashes trembled.
After a moment he said: "...At the beginning, I will stop you."
"I mean." He spoke with some difficulty, "I and some people who I don't like."
He mentioned two or three names, and only one of them was the trainee who came to compete with them this time.
"But... you know about this kind of thing." Jiang Wenhai didn't know what to say.
Jie Xichao continued for him: "Are you afraid that if it wasn't Yun Pan, you would be the next one?"
Jiang Wenhai was silent.
After a while, he said:
"……Feel sorry."
He was unwilling to say more on this point. He didn't say anything, and Xie Xichao didn't ask any more questions.
He knew that his guess was the truth.
The water in the cup has gone cold.
Xie Xichao did not refill his drink, but just took a sip unconsciously.
He came back to his senses only after the cold water moistened his throat. He met Jiang Wenhai's gaze and saw the latter's probing eyes.
Jiang Wenhai asked: "What are you going to do?"
Jie Xichao coughed.
He said, “I should ask you this question.”
He said, "You will probably be eliminated in the next round. Have you thought about what to do?"
*
The reason why Xie Xichao looked for Jiang Wenhai was very simple.
Two reasons.
First, Jiang Wenhai is a person who also has a conflict of interest with Xia Ruiyan at this stage. He wanted to try to persuade Jiang Wenhai and Yun Pan to testify against Xia Ruiyan. Bullying and fraud, once these two things are exposed, no god can save Xia Ruiyan.
Second, he wanted to ask about Yun Pan again to see if he could get solid evidence.
At present, the only information about Yun Pan being bullied is his own account and the cigarette scar on his shoulder, the latter of which is actually difficult to prove any connection. If Wen Yao wanted to protect Xia Ruiyan, he could easily remove him with a simple brushstroke.
But after listening to Jiang Wenhai, he knew that the first point might not work.
As expected, when he asked the question, Jiang Wenhai hesitated for a few seconds before answering, "...He gave me the money. It just arrived in my account."
Xia Ruiyan is a smart man.
Know that too much is as bad as too little.
His only fault was towards Yun Pan, because the other party was as easy to control as a glutinous rice dumpling. He didn't expect that Yun Pan, who had been bullied by him for several years, would muster up the courage to resist him for the first time just because she wanted to debut with a stranger.
If he could have foreseen the future, he would not have been so cruel to Yun Pan.
Xie Xichao nodded: "So, you don't want to bother about this matter."
declarative sentence.
Jiang Wenhai said nothing.
After a while, he said, "I still have a contract."
He thought of something and hesitated: "Yun Pan... doesn't he still have a few years left?"
“Once you debut, you are no longer under the control of the original company.” Xie Xichao said.
Jiang Wenhai was silent.
After a moment, he smiled bitterly: "That's right."
"He is indeed a very talented one among us," he said.
He took a deep breath: "Then..."
He wanted to ask, "What are you going to do?", but then he felt that this was not the right question to ask. He suddenly felt ridiculous. He had already received the money and "sold" his song, but he was still led by Jie Xichao's words.
However, Xie Xichao noticed what he wanted to ask and said, "This matter will be made public."
The disclosure also had an impact on Jiang Wenhai, but he didn't say anything, just said: "It's my duty."
He stood up: "...Then I'll go first."
In a panic.
Xie Xichao said, "Okay."
Jiang Wenhai walked a few steps and suddenly turned back: "Did you record the video just now?"
Jie Xichao was stunned for a moment.
Then he said, “No.”
Jiang Wenhai said nothing.
At a certain moment, Jie Xichao saw a flash of emotion in his eyes. He was sure that the emotion was not relief, but rather a sense of loss that he himself was not aware of.
Just a tiny bit of emotion.
Half a second later, Jiang Wenhai quickly turned his head.
But Xie Xichao caught it.
He had already planned to think of another way, but at this moment, he looked at Jiang Wenhai's back thoughtfully, and with an attitude of giving it a try, he suddenly spoke: "Jiang Wenhai."
He said, "Don't you have anything to say to Panpan?"
Jiang Wenhai's body froze.
"You are willing to sell your songs, and you and Xia Ruiyan both get what you want." Xie Xichao said slowly, "But Yun Pan did nothing wrong, right? You turned a blind eye to his collective bullying. Don't you think you are also one of the accomplices?"
He didn't usually speak in this tone, and when he first opened his mouth, Jiang Wenhai was almost at a loss as to what to do.
He moved his lips, his expression somewhat painful: "I..."
Xie Xichao did not miss a single change in his expression and continued, "If you don't want to show up, that's fine. But Yun Pan has never said a bad word about you to me. You have been teammates for many years, and I don't believe you haven't sympathized with him.
He is just talking without any evidence now, are you really going to just sit there and do nothing? ”
"Still." He said, "When the time comes, will you stand on Xia Ruiyan's side and testify for him?"
He is gambling.
I bet Jiang Wenhai still retains the most basic conscience of being a human being.
I bet Jiang Wenhai feels guilty towards Yun Pan.
Of course, the most important thing is that he bet that Jiang Wenhai was willing to follow him today not just because he was bewitched by him, but because he really struggled and hesitated for a moment and wanted to join forces with them.
Whether to unite or not is another matter. If so...
Jiang Wenhai must have relatively substantial evidence in his hands.
As soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Wenhai raised his eyes: "No."
"I won't do that." He said in a panic, "I will keep today's events a secret, I..."
He met Jie Xichao's gaze.
At that time, he suddenly realized something.
He whispered: "...Did you guess it?"
Xie Xichao asked: "What is it?"
Jiang Wenhai said nothing.
After a while, he took a deep breath: "...recording."
"When Xia Ruiyan burned Yun Pan with a cigarette butt, I was so scared. I was afraid that he would really kill someone." He whispered, "So, I secretly recorded it with my phone."
Xie Xichao felt suddenly relieved.
He knew that he had found what he wanted.
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