Life countdown begins, ice queen bursts into security room

The air in the studio seemed to freeze.

The camera precisely cuts to Hua Xingyu.

He leaned back in his chair, the composure on his face long gone.

Hua Xingyu picked up the microphone and forced a stiff smile.

"Jiang Fan, as a mentor, I only judge based on stage performance." Hua Xingyu's voice was somewhat hoarse. "The first half of this song is too negative in emotion, and the arrangement is too dull. As for the explosive part in the second half, although it has power, the transition is too abrupt. Most importantly..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over Shen Nian, a sinister glint flashing in his eyes.

"As a music program aimed at the whole society, we need to convey positive energy. The past experiences of the guest performers are also part of the stage evaluation. Everyone knows why Shen Nian left the industry a year ago. It is irresponsible for the program to have an artist with such a bad reputation on stage."

These words caused an uproar in the room.

In the audience, the shills arranged by Sheng Hai Entertainment immediately took the lead in making a fuss.

"Get out of here, you plagiarist!"

Boycott celebrities with bad records!

"Teacher Hua is right!"

Shen Nian stood on the stage, listening to the harsh shouts and curses.

A year ago, these very voices drove her into the abyss of severe depression.

But this time, she did not bow her head.

Jiang Fan stood beside her, not even lifting his eyelids.

"Hua Xingyu," Jiang Fan said into the microphone, not even bothering to call him "teacher," "Do you think that capital can silence everyone?"

Hua Xingyu's expression changed: "Jiang Fan, watch your words! This is a competition venue!"

"Let's talk about the competition then," Xue Zhiheng suddenly interjected, pulling the microphone directly to his mouth.

"Abrupt transition? Negative emotions?" Xue Zhiheng sneered. "Hua Xingyu, the timing of Jiang Fan's harmonic transition was textbook-level frequency complementarity. It tore through despair and blasted in a beam of light. That's called living towards death. This is the most amazing live performance I've heard this year."

Xue Zhiheng raised the scoring card in his hand.

"100 points. Losing even one point would be an insult to this song."

Xu Qingya looked at Jiang Fan on the stage, and finally her gaze fell on Shen Nian.

"Shen Nian," Xu Qingya spoke, her voice soft yet carrying throughout the room, "your high notes are even clearer than a year ago. That darkness didn't destroy you; it made you stronger. Welcome back."

Xu Qingya held up the scoring board.

"100 points."

Two votes, full marks.

All the pressure instantly fell on Hua Xingyu's head.

The chat room went completely crazy.

"Teacher Xue and Ya Shen went head-to-head with Sheng Hai! That was so damn awesome!"

"Hua Xingyu's face turned green, hahaha!"

"Wait, what exactly happened to Shen Nian a year ago? Please explain!"

"The village ahead doesn't have internet? A year ago, Shen Nian tried to frame Hua Xingyu, claiming she wrote Hua Xingyu's hit song 'Stars,' and was immediately blacklisted and forced out of the entertainment industry by Sheng Hai!"

Hua Xingyu looked at the two perfect scores, her back already soaked with cold sweat.

He knew that no matter how many points he gave, he would be in an awkward position.

He gritted his teeth and pressed a number on the scoring device.

A glaring red message popped up on the big screen: 60 points.

Teacher He stood to the side, sweat beading on his forehead.

This is no longer a variety show recording; it's on the verge of a live broadcast accident.

He quickly raised the microphone, ready to smooth things over.

"It seems the three judges have very differing opinions. Therefore, we will leave the decision to…"

"Wait a moment."

A cool female voice interrupted Teacher He.

Shen Nian raised the microphone in her hand.

She took a step forward and looked directly at Hua Xingyu on the judges' panel.

"Teacher Hua," Shen Nian's voice trembled, "a year ago, in Recording Studio No. 3 at Sheng Hai Entertainment. That song, 'Stars,' was originally called 'Nightfall.' The lyrics for the second verse were written by me after two sleepless nights."

boom!

The studio erupted in chaos.

Hua Xingyu suddenly stood up, pointed at Shen Nian, and shouted, "What nonsense are you spouting! Security! Where are the security guards! Throw her away!"

"Let her speak." Jiang Fan raised his hand and stood in front of Shen Nian.

Shen Nian stared intently at Hua Xingyu, her eyes red.

"You took my hard work, put your name on it, won the championship, and became a top influencer. Then you had the company issue a statement saying that I stole company secrets and that your fans sent me dead rats."

Shen Nian took a deep breath, and tears finally streamed down her face, but her voice grew louder and louder.

"Hua Xingyu, standing here today, I will take back what belongs to me with my own hands!"

The entire room fell silent.

The live stream chat was scrolling by tens of thousands of messages per second, causing the server load to spike to the red line.

"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! This is an absolutely shocking piece of news!"

"So, Shen Nian really wrote 'Stars'? And Hua Xingyu is a thief?"

"I knew Hua Xingyu's songs have gotten worse and worse over the years; turns out his only masterpiece was stolen!"

Back-end monitoring room.

Liang Boyuan stared at the monitor, his hands resting on the table.

"Director, we're getting a call from Sheng Hai! It's President Cao calling personally!" The assistant director, sweating profusely, held the phone. "He wants us to immediately cut off the live stream—GG!"

Liang Boyuan looked at the figures of Jiang Fan and Shen Nian on the screen.

"Cut it my ass!" Liang Boyuan shoved the assistant director aside. "Tell the technical department, even if the sky falls, the live stream can't be interrupted! Push all the cameras up to give Hua Xingyu a close-up!"

on the stage.

Hua Xingyu has completely lost her mind.

"Where's the evidence! You keep accusing me of plagiarism, do you have any proof?! If you have no evidence, I can sue you for defamation! I can put you in jail for life!"

Jiang Fan took a silver USB drive out of his pocket, held it between two fingers, and waved it at the camera.

"The evidence you requested is all here."

Jiang Fan's voice wasn't loud, but it pierced through all the noise.

"The original project files, modified recordings, and time-stamped manuscripts of 'Stars' are all here."

Hua Xingyu looked at the USB drive, her legs went weak, and she slumped back into her chair.

Let me formally introduce it to you.

Jiang Fan pointed to Shen Nian beside him.

"Shen Nian. The first artist signed by Fanyin Culture Studio."

"Tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM, Fanyin Studio will release all evidence online. At the same time, we will file a lawsuit against Huaxingyu and Shenghai Entertainment, demanding the return of all copyrights and related revenues of 'Fanxing'."

Jiang Fan looked at Hua Xingyu, who was slumped in the chair, and a cold smile appeared on his lips.

"Your score can't determine our fate."

Jiang Fan turned to look at the audience jury.

Let's vote.

The five hundred public judges suddenly realized what was happening.

The numbers on the big screen began to jump. The speed was dazzling.

100.

300.

450.

499!

499 votes in total!

Even though Hua Xingyu gave him an insultingly low score of 60, he still ranked third in this game, just one point behind Zhao Tianyu.

Jiang Fan did not look at the big screen.

He turned around, took Shen Nian with him, and walked off the stage without looking back.

It left behind only a mess and a completely insane internet.

Shanghai, the top floor of the Sheng Hai Entertainment Building.

"Bang!"

Cao Qiming grabbed the blue-and-white porcelain teacup on the table and smashed it against the wall.

Fine porcelain was shattered all over the floor.

"Useless! They're all fucking useless!"

Cao Qiming pointed to the row of executives standing in the office, his face ashen.

"Where's the PR department?! Immediately get this trending topic down! Remove the hashtag! Hire online trolls to muddy the waters! Claim that the evidence is fabricated!"

The PR director, wiping sweat, said, "Mr. Cao, we can't hold this up anymore. Tencent Video is absolutely refusing to cut off the live stream, and the entire internet is waiting for evidence at 9 AM tomorrow. And..."

"And what?!"

"The heads of Tencent Music, NetEase Cloud Music, and Kugou Music just sent a joint internal email announcing the indefinite removal of all Huaxingyu songs until the copyright dispute is resolved."

Cao Qiming's vision went black, and he almost collapsed onto his desk.

His proud capitalist empire was torn open by a security guard and a discarded pawn.

"Jiang Fan..." Cao Qiming gritted his teeth and squeezed out the name.