don’t worry
It has been half a month since the press conference. The weather is gradually turning into winter, and the wind was a little chilly when I went out in the morning.
I stood at the door of the court, Zhao Yin walked beside me, his palm gently covering the back of my hand.
"Don't be nervous, it's just a formality." He lowered his voice, his eyes sweeping over the reporters at the court entrance, his brows furrowed slightly. "Sister Ling has already greeted them, so she won't ask any random questions."
I nodded, but couldn't help but move closer to him.
In the past half month, the online turmoil has gradually subsided, and there has been no movement from Lin Jinze since the press conference until last week, when we received a court summons.
Without waiting for us to file a lawsuit, he sued me for "defamation", saying that I had publicly accused him of plagiarism at the press conference and damaged his public image.
"He's just bluffing." Sister Ling's voice trembled with anger over the phone. "He clearly plagiarized it himself, and now he's suing us. How shameless!"
Zhao Yin was sitting next to me reading a script at the time. He glanced up at me and said, "It's okay. It's a good opportunity for the court to settle this matter thoroughly so he won't cause trouble in the future."
At this moment, when I walked into the court hall, I saw Lin Jinze's legal team standing not far away, wearing neat suits and with serious expressions.
Lin Jinze himself did not show up. I heard that he has been hiding at home for the past half month and has not gone out. He has lost a lot of fans and two endorsements have failed.
"Teacher Wenxi, please come this way." The court staff came over and led us to the mediation room.
Zhao Yin held my hand all the time and never let go. Even when we entered the mediation room, he only loosened his grip slightly, asked me to sit down first, and then he sat down next to me.
The mediation room was silent. Lin Jinze's lawyer spoke first, his tone somewhat aggressive. "Mr. Wenxi, my client, Mr. Lin Jinze, believes that you publicly claimed at the press conference that he plagiarized your work and that the so-called 'evidence' you provided is legally ineffective. This has severely damaged my client's reputation. I demand a public apology and 500,000 yuan in compensation for emotional distress."
As he spoke, he pushed a document in front of me. It was covered with densely written words. At the end, there were several screenshots of Lin Jinze's fans quitting following him, as well as announcements of termination of contracts with several brands.
I didn't look at the document. I just looked up at him. "Whether my evidence is legally valid is not up to you. The date on the notebook, Teacher Chen's testimony, and the surveillance video from the practice room are all irrefutable evidence. The court will make the final decision."
"Ironclad evidence?" the lawyer sneered. "How can you prove you didn't forge a notebook from five years ago? And as for Teacher Chen Man, we understand she's currently unemployed. It's very possible you bribed her into perjury. As for the surveillance video, it's grainy and can't be used as valid evidence."
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhao Yin patted the back of my hand gently, signaling me to calm down.
He looked at the lawyer and said, "Mr. Lawyer, you should provide evidence when speaking. You said the notebook was forged. Do you have any evidence? You said Teacher Chen was bribed. Do you have any records of the transfer? You slander others without any evidence. Is this your professional ethics as a lawyer?"
The lawyer was stunned for a moment by Zhao Yin's aura, but then regained his composure. "I'm just making a reasonable assumption based on the facts. My client, Mr. Lin Jinze, released 'Unspoken' five years ago and received a lot of praise at the time. Your client, Mr. Wen Xi, only sang 'Not In Time' at a small fan meeting and didn't officially release it. It's obvious who plagiarized whom."
"It's obvious at a glance?" Zhao Yin pulled out his phone and opened a recording. "This is the testimony we found from a staff member at the debut agency five years ago. He said that Lin Jinze often found excuses to enter Wenxi's practice room and sometimes even looked through the notebook Wenxi left on the desk. Do you want to listen to it?"
A man's voice came from the recording, clearly saying, "At that time, Lin Jinze and Wenxi both stayed in the practice room until very late. Lin Jinze always said that the air conditioner in his practice room was broken and ran to Wenxi's place. A few times I saw him flipping through Wenxi's notebooks. After Wenxi came back, he asked me if anyone had touched his things."
The lawyer's expression changed and he said nothing more.
The mediation room fell silent for a moment. After a moment, the court mediator spoke: "We understand the opinions of both parties. Since the evidence still needs further verification, we will open the trial in a week. Please prepare for it."
When I walked out of the mediation room, reporters outside had already surrounded me, holding up microphones and asking me about the situation.
Zhao Yin protected me behind him and said to the reporter, "Please wait for the court's decision for the specific situation. We believe that the law will give a fair result."
As he spoke, he pulled me out of the court. After we got in the car, I breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in the chair, feeling a little tired.
Zhao Yin started the car, but didn't drive away immediately. Instead, he turned around and looked at me: "Don't get angry with that kind of person, it's not worth it."
I nodded and looked out the window. The leaves of the sycamore tree in front of the courthouse had begun to turn yellow and were falling one by one to the ground, swirling in the wind.
"Brother Yin," I whispered, "Do you think the court will rule in our favor?"
"Yes," he said confidently, reaching out to help me button up my windbreaker. "Our evidence is strong, and his fallacies are untenable."
On the way to my house, Teacher Chen called me and asked about the mediation. I told her about it, and she was a little worried: "How could those people be so unreasonable? It was clearly Lin Jinze who copied your song, and now he's suing you."
"Teacher Chen, don't worry," I comforted her. "The court will make a fair judgment. Thank you for standing up for me. Otherwise, I really don't know what I would do."
"Silly child," Teacher Chen smiled, "I just did what I had to do. You're so talented, you can't let people like that ruin your future. By the way, I recently contacted a few colleagues from your former debut agency, and they're willing to testify, saying they saw you writing songs back then."
"Thank you, Teacher Chen, thank you so much."
After hanging up the phone, Zhao Yin glanced at me and said, "Look, more and more people are willing to help you. We will definitely win."
When we got home, Sister Ling was already waiting at the door, clutching a stack of documents. "Xiaoxi, Teacher Zhao Yin," she handed us the documents. "This is new evidence we've found. Three former colleagues from our debut agency are willing to testify in court, as is the teacher who arranged the music for 'Unspoken.' He said the melody Lin Jinze gave him had obvious signs of modification and was different from the original version he received."
I took the file and flipped through it. Inside were the testimonies of the three colleagues and a recording of the arranger. "Great," I couldn't help but say, "With these, we're even more confident."
Sister Ling nodded. "Yes, now we're just waiting for the court date. By the way, the trailer for 'A Thousand Autumns' Letter' has been released, and it's been very well received, with over 100 million views. Many fans are supporting you in the comment section, saying they'll continue to support you once you win the lawsuit."
I turned on my phone and clicked on the video platform. Sure enough, the trailer for "A Thousand Years of Letters" was on the homepage, and the comments below were all "Keep going Xixi!"
"We believe in you"
"Looking forward to the release of 'A Thousand Years of Letters'". Someone else said: "No matter what, we support Mr. Wen Xi. We all see his acting skills and character."
Zhao Yin came over to take a look and said, "Look, everyone is supporting you. Don't worry anymore."
In the evening, Zhao Yin stayed at my house for dinner. My mother cooked a large table of dishes and even stewed some soup, saying that it would nourish my body.
While we were eating, my mother held my hand and said with a distressed look on her face: "I'm sorry for putting so much trouble on you during this period. If you're really too tired, just take a few days off and don't force yourself to do it."
"Mom, I'm fine," I said with a smile. "The evidence is getting more and more sufficient. When the trial begins, I will be cleared of all charges."
Zhao Yin also helped to persuade her: "Auntie, don't worry, I will take good care of Xiaoxi and won't let him suffer any grievances."
My mother nodded and smiled as she picked up a piece of meat for Zhao Yin. "Ah Yin, thank you. It's thanks to you for taking care of Xiao Xi during this period."
After dinner, Zhao Yin helped me clean up the dishes and read the script of "A Thousand Years of Letters" with me for a while before getting ready to leave.
Before leaving, he said to me, "I'll accompany you to see the lawyer tomorrow to sort out the newly found evidence and discuss the trial procedures with the lawyer."
"Okay." I nodded and walked him to the door.
He kissed me lightly on the forehead: "Rest early and don't think too much."
The next morning, Zhao Yin came to pick me up on time and we went to the law firm together.
The lawyer reviewed the newly discovered evidence and was very satisfied. "This evidence is crucial, especially the testimony of the arranger. It directly proves that there are problems with Lin Jinze's melody. When the trial begins, as long as we present this evidence one by one, our chances of winning are very high."
When we came out of the law firm, it was already noon, and Zhao Yin took me to eat my favorite hot pot.
There were a lot of people in the store and it was very lively. A few girls at the next table were discussing the trailer of "A Thousand Years of Letters" and said they were looking forward to the rivalry between me and Zhao Yin.
"Look," Zhao Yin handed me a piece of tripe, "everyone is looking forward to our work. Once we win the lawsuit, we can promote 'A Thousand Years of Letters' properly."
I nodded and ate my tripe.
A week later, the court date arrived.
I was wearing formal clothes and Zhao Yin was by my side. I felt very calm when I walked into the court.
Teacher Chen and the three colleagues from the debut agency also came. When they saw me, they greeted me with a smile and said they would testify for me.
After the court opened, the judge first asked both parties to state their cases.
Lin Jinze's lawyer still insisted on his previous statement, saying that the evidence I provided was invalid and demanded that I make a public apology and pay compensation.
When it was our turn, my lawyer produced all the evidence, starting with photos of the notebook and an appraisal report proving it was indeed from five years ago and that the handwriting on it showed no signs of forgery. Then came Teacher Chen's testimony, detailing how she helped me revise the melody.
Next is the surveillance video of the practice room. Although it is blurry, it can clearly be seen that I was writing songs before March 15th.
Finally, the testimony of the three colleagues and the arranger teacher proved that Lin Jinze had the opportunity to access my work at that time, and his melody showed signs of modification.
Lin Jinze's lawyer's face became more and more ugly. When the lawyer took out the recording of the arranger teacher, he even interrupted the lawyer and said that the recording was forged.
But when the judge asked him to produce evidence, he had nothing to show.
Finally, the judge adjourned the court and announced the verdict at a later date.
When I walked out of the courtroom, Teacher Chen came over and patted me on the shoulder: "Don't worry, Xiaoxi, the judge will definitely rule in your favor."
I smiled and nodded: "Thank you, Teacher Chen."
Zhao Yin held my hand and said, "Let's go, let's go get something to eat and celebrate."
Justice may be late, but it will never be absent.
And I will keep waiting for the fair judgment that belongs to me.
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