Being a gigolo was too much for him, so he had to become a music superstar.

At 9 p.m. sharp, Xue Xinghe posted a long Weibo post.

Title: "On the Plagiarism Controversy of 'Xiaochou' - A Musician's Complete Response", a long article of nearly 5,000 words.

Part One: Music Theory Analysis; Part Two: Chain of Evidence; Part Three: Personal Statement.

He didn't name Wang Shaohui, Tianhai, or Chen Jiahao, but his last words were very harsh.

"I've been in the music industry for twelve years and have seen a lot of dirty stuff, but to fabricate a song to slander an original musician is the most disgusting thing I've ever seen." "I don't know who's behind this." "But I want to tell that person: you can't kill him." "Because good music outlives your money."

This Weibo post was shared over 100,000 times in 15 minutes, and the Weibo server crashed twice in 45 minutes.

The top trending topic quickly became: #DerekMills's fraud confirmed#, followed by: #Xue Xinghe supports Lin Buyi#, #Lin Buyi was framed#, #Who is framing Lin Buyi#, one after another, they surged to the top.

The comment section exploded: "Holy crap, so someone plagiarized 'Sorrow' and then framed him?" "This is disgusting! The worst scandal of the year!" "The IP address is in the offices of Brilliant Media, and they didn't even investigate? Do they think netizens are idiots?!" "Who exactly did Lin Buyi block? They're trying to destroy him!" "The production team suspended him so quickly, now come out and explain!"

Half an hour later, Fang Yizhou retweeted Xue Xinghe's Weibo post, adding only one sentence: "If musicians don't help other musicians, who will?"

This statement immediately caused the discussion to reach a new high. The marketing accounts that had previously accused Lin Buyi of plagiarism began frantically deleting posts and pretending to be dead, but netizens did not buy it.

Some people started digging into the background of Brilliant Media, some started organizing the timeline of the marketing accounts that exposed the "supplementary recording scandal" in the previous round, and some dug up the video of Lin Buyi's second round score of 83.5.

The mentors scored over 90 points, while the audience scored 68 points; these two numbers together are glaringly obvious.

Public opinion has completely shifted from "Did Lin Buyi plagiarize?" to "Who is targeting Lin Buyi?"

……

In the president's office of Tianhai Entertainment, Wang Shaohui's phone kept vibrating on the table, but he didn't answer it.

The secretary, public relations director, and legal representative were all waiting outside the door; no one dared to be the first to knock, and the office was very quiet.

Wang Shaohui sat in his chair, reading Xue Xinghe's long article. He read it very slowly, word by word.

After watching it, he gently placed his phone screen down on the table. He didn't get angry or throw anything; he even smiled.

The people outside the door, separated by the frosted glass door, all felt a chill run down their spines. Wang Shaohui picked up the landline and dialed the internal line: "Zhao Leiming, come to my office, five minutes."

On the other end of the phone, Zhao Leiming put down his earphones and stood up. The assistant director next to him noticed that his hand trembled slightly. "Director Zhao..." Zhao Leiming waved his hand. "It's nothing."

Xue Xinghe's long article was like a declaration of war, and everyone knew who President Wang was calling.

Suspension of qualifications, low audience scores, re-recording of negative scripts... These things can be explained individually, but when taken together, they bring huge trouble to the production team.

Zhao Leiming walked into the president's office. Wang Shaohui leaned back in his chair and said, "Close the door."

Zhao Leiming closed the door, and Wang Shaohui asked, "Did you see it?" "Yes." "How did you see it?"

He asked what to do next. Zhao Leiming was silent for two seconds before giving the answer he had prepared: "President Wang, public opinion has completely reversed. We must immediately reinstate Lin Buyi's qualifications and issue a statement to apologize."

"How should the statement be written?" "Say that an internal investigation has confirmed it is original, the qualification has been restored, and an apology has been issued for the previous procedural suspension."

Wang Shaohui stared at him for a long time, so long that Zhao Leiming's forehead began to sweat. "Are you teaching me how to do things?"

Zhao Leiming immediately lowered his head, "I wouldn't dare. I was just offering suggestions from the perspective of protecting the program's brand."

The office fell silent again. Wang Shaohui stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the city lights.

Half a minute later, he turned his back to Zhao Leiming and said, "Issue a statement to reinstate your qualifications."

Zhao Leiming felt a sense of relief, but before he could fully breathe a sigh of relief, Wang Shaohui said again, "But this matter is not over."

Zhao Leiming's back tensed instantly. Wang Shaohui turned around, his eyes eerily calm: "Someone is helping him from the shadows."

Zhao Leiming didn't reply. Wang Shaohui looked at him and said, "Find out who it is." "...Understood."

After leaving the office, Zhao Leiming stood in the corridor for a few seconds, his mind in turmoil.

He used to think that compromising with capital and suppressing disobedient contestants was the norm in the industry, but things started to change after Lin Buyi appeared.

That young man has great potential. If given the opportunity, he can shine on stage. Getting rid of him might save Chen Jiahao in the short term, but in the long run, it will ruin the reputation of "Future Star".

In his eyes, contestants are commodities, champions are resources, and variables like Lin Buyi must be eliminated.

At 11:30 p.m. that night, the official Weibo account of "Future Star" released a statement.

"After an emergency investigation by the organizing committee, it has been confirmed that contestant Lin Buyi's entry, 'Xiaochou,' is an original work and there is no plagiarism. The previous suspension decision was a procedural measure to maintain the fairness of the competition. Now that the relevant controversy has been verified, contestant Lin Buyi's eligibility to participate has been immediately restored. The organizing committee expresses its deepest apologies for the inconvenience caused to the contestant and the public in this incident."

After the program team issued a statement, the online sentiment changed faster than flipping through a book, and the trending topic "Lin Buyi plagiarized" disappeared.

Instead, headlines like "Program team apologizes," "Lin Buyi reinstates to the competition," and "Xue Xinghe's alleged fraud is confirmed" appeared, occupying four of the top twenty trending topics. The comments section also completely changed.

Some of those who previously criticized Lin Buyi have started to play dead, while others have changed their tune: "I told you long ago it couldn't be plagiarized. This kind of song sounds like the real thing."

Lin Buyi scrolled through a few comments in the basement. Seeing these "fence-sitter" remarks, he wasn't particularly moved. He had seen too many people like this during his years in the workplace in his previous life.

They swayed whichever way the wind blew, he turned off his phone and continued practicing his singing.

Upstairs, Su Nianwei finished reading the official statement in her study. Instead of feeling relieved, she sat up straighter.

The statement has been issued and the qualifications have been restored, but Wang Shaohui certainly won't let it go so easily.

She knew all too well that this person, who had risen to the position of president of Tianhai Entertainment in the business world, was very shrewd.

After losing a round, he will definitely do two things next: first, put even more effort into dealing with Lin Buyi; second, find out who is secretly helping Lin Buyi.

Su Nianwei opened her notebook, underlined the words "Waiting for IP," and then wrote three new words: "Investigate the hidden places."

She stared at those three words, her mind racing as she recounted the entire process.