The song "The Actor" at the beginning stunned me with its portrayal of the aloof school be

The last note faded away.

Jiang Che lifted his fingers from the piano keys and gently placed them on his knees.

The auditorium fell into a deathly silence.

There was no applause.

There was no cheering.

There was no sound at all.

A full three seconds.

Three seconds is not a long time.

But in this auditorium with 1,200 people, three seconds of silence felt like three centuries.

then.

boom.

A deafening roar of applause and screams erupted from all directions.

It was like a depth charge had gone off.

This was even more intense than Lin Xi'er's performance earlier.

"Aaaaaaah!"

Holy crap!!!

"It sounds so good!!!"

"Jiang Che is awesome!!!"

The girls in the front row stood up and clapped enthusiastically.

The boys in the back row couldn't sit still any longer and stood up as well.

Like dominoes, the entire audience stood up one after another.

The applause lasted for a long time.

Jiang Che smiled slightly and nodded to the audience while standing on the stage.

He did not show any sign of being flattered.

There wasn't even the slightest hint of surprise on his face.

It seemed that all of this was within his expectations.

Because it was exactly what he expected.

This song was a phenomenal hit in the music scene in its previous life.

If this were a world without Xue Zhiqian, the performance would definitely be a disaster.

The only thing he didn't expect was Wang Haoran.

The fat man had somehow squeezed to the front of the stage, clapping and yelling, his face covered in tears and snot.

"This is my brother!!! Did you all hear that?! This is my roommate!!!"

The scene was quite touching.

If you ignore his face covered in snot.

......

The applause lasted for a long time.

It wasn't until the host quickly walked onto the stage that the situation was finally brought under control.

The host is a mainstay of the school's radio station and is usually very eloquent, but at this moment, his hand holding the microphone was trembling slightly.

She was also stunned by the performance.

Taking a deep breath, she raised the microphone to her mouth and asked the question that everyone wanted to ask.

"Jiang Che! This song 'The Actor' is so beautiful! May I ask... who composed this song?"

As soon as he finished speaking...

The entire room fell silent once again.

All eyes turned to Jiang Che.

Professor Zhao Deming, sitting on the judging panel, leaned forward slightly and narrowed his eyes.

The girls in the audience who had spoken up for Lin Wei perked up their ears, looking on with expressions of anticipation for a good show.

Lin Wei's fingers left white marks on her arm.

The real-time posts on the school forum are flooding the screen so fast that the text is no longer legible.

The whole school is waiting for this answer.

......

Jiang Che sat in front of the piano.

The lights shone on him, and he looked up at the sea of ​​people below the stage, his expression as calm as if he were saying that the weather was nice today.

Then he spoke two words into the microphone.

"Original content".

hum.

The entire audience erupted in uproar.

Like a pebble thrown into a calm lake, ripples instantly spread to every corner of the auditorium.

"Original?! He said it's original?!"

"He wrote it himself? That's impossible!!"

"Holy crap, a song of this caliber was written by a junior in college?"

"This is outrageous! This is outrageous!"

Professor Zhao Deming suddenly stood up from his chair on the judges' panel.

Professor Sun Ying, who was next to him, also stood up.

The two professors, who had taught music for decades, had identical expressions that could be summed up in four words.

incredible.

Zhao Deming stared intently at Jiang Che on the stage, his gaze filled with three parts shock and seven parts scrutiny.

He didn't believe it.

Or perhaps he simply doesn't want to believe it.

If this song was really written by a junior college student, then Zhao Deming's more than 30 years of teaching composition theory would become a joke.

......

Some people in the audience disagreed.

"You claim it's original just because you say so? Who would believe that!"

"Exactly! Prove it if you dare!"

Dissenting voices emerged from the corners; though few, they were particularly jarring in the now quiet auditorium.

Jiang Che heard it.

He wasn't annoyed.

The corners of his mouth even curled up slightly.

His right hand returned to the piano keys.

There was no warning whatsoever.

The piano music started again.

He casually changed the key of the chorus from B-flat major to D major.

The same melody framework, but a completely different listening experience.

The original deep restraint instantly transformed into brightness and openness.

It's like the same painting in a different color tone.

Followed by.

He began to sing a short, entirely new variation.

The lyrics were improvised.

The melody was also improvised.

But the quality is exactly the same as the previous performance of "The Actor".

Stable, mature, and watertight.

This segment is only a dozen seconds long.

But those ten-odd seconds were more damaging than the entire song.

Because anyone who knows even a little bit about music knows what this means.

A person who can transcribe a song can memorize it perfectly.

Ghostwritten works can be polished to perfection.

However, no one but the composer can change the key on the spot or improvise variations.

This is the most hardcore proof of originality.

It works better than any copyright registration or any original manuscript.

The entire room fell silent.

Those who were just shouting "Who would believe that?" are now collectively silent.

All accusations of "ghostwriting", "song copying", and "plagiarism" have been raised.

It collapsed on the spot.

Broken to the ground.

......

Professor Zhao Deming slowly sat back down in his chair.

He took off his gold-rimmed glasses, rubbed his temples, and let out a long breath.

Professor Sun Ying, who was standing next to him, turned to look at him and asked in a low voice.

"Teacher Zhao, what do you think?"

Zhao Deming was silent for a few seconds, then put his glasses back on and squeezed out two words through clenched teeth.

"I'm impressed."

Sun Ying's lips twitched slightly.

The phrases Zhao Deming said most often in his life were "This is not right," "There is a problem there," and "Go back and fix it."

Getting him to say "okay" is harder than climbing to heaven.

Now someone just blurted out "I'm impressed"?

She had been teaching for over twenty years, and this was the first time she had ever heard those two words from Zhao Deming's mouth.

......

The third row of the audience seats.

Lin Wei's cold smile froze completely.

She waited all day for the "plagiarism" accusation, but it never came.

What awaited them was Jiang Che, who proved himself on the spot.

We'll still use that casual, spontaneous approach.

It's as if creating works of this caliber is as simple as drinking water or eating for him.

Lin Wei's mind was buzzing.

A voice kept asking her the same question.

Do you really understand Jiang Che?

"You've been dating him for two years, do you really know what kind of person he is?"

She didn't dare to answer.

The answer made her panic.

The girls next to me who had been sourly questioning me just moments before were now all quieter than the last, their heads down as if they wanted to bury their faces in their phone screens.

No one dared to utter a single word about "copying" anymore.

......

Backstage.

Lin Xi'er had somehow managed to hug the bouquet of roses even tighter.

The petals were pressed into shallow marks by her fingertips, but she was completely unaware of it.

Her gaze remained fixed on the stage from beginning to end.

She saw it all, from improvisational key changes to a cappella variations.

Others might just think, "Wow, that's amazing."

But she heard more.

The harmonic progression of that improvisational variation used an unconventional Sus4 suspension resolution, a style that is extremely rare in the entire Chinese pop music scene.

She counted on her fingers that no more than five people could use this technique effectively.

They are all recognized as top creators in the industry.

Now, should we add a third-year music student from Jiangcheng University to this list?

Lin Xi'er took a deep breath.

She confirmed it.

This song is an original work.

100% original.

Because there is no other released song in the world that matches the melody and lyrics of "The Actor".

She used her extensive music library, accumulated over more than a decade, as collateral.

No.

Not a single one.

After confirming this fact, Lin Xi'er's breathing became even more rapid.

A third-year university student.

They wrote a song of this caliber.

They can also improvise variations on the spot.

Where did this person come from?

......

on the stage.

The host has completely given up on trying to control the situation.

Because she realized she couldn't control herself.

Jiang Che had completely ignited the emotions of the entire audience, with applause and cheers rising in waves, more frenzied than any other year's school anniversary gala.

at the same time.

The school forum completely exploded.

"Original! It's original! Jiang Che improvised a variation on the spot!!!"

"I recorded it! I recorded it! The video has been sent!"

"Where are the people who just questioned plagiarism? Come out here! Have you no shame?!"

"Sorry, I posted that questioning thread. I formally apologize now. Jiang Che is awesome!"

"Is this even human? A third-year university student??? This level of skill would be top-tier even in the professional market!"

"He was dumped by his ex-girlfriend and he still managed to write this amazing song? I'm crying."

"So this song was written for Lin Wei? He sang it on stage in front of the whole school for his ex-girlfriend?"

"Holy crap, that's some serious attitude. While others drown their sorrows in alcohol after a breakup, he writes a song and performs it in public."

"Waaaaah, Jiang Che, you're so pitiful! You're so talented, why did you get dumped?!"

"Feeling sorry for him +1"

"Feeling sorry for him +2"

"Feeling sorry for him +10086"

The sentiment on the forum took a complete 180-degree turn in just a few minutes.

The doubts disappeared.

The mockery disappeared.

Instead, there was an overwhelming sense of heartache.

Everyone thought this was a heartfelt story of "writing a song for love but being cruelly abandoned".

A lovelorn man wrote a stunning song for his ex-girlfriend and sang it in front of the entire school on the day they broke up.

How tragic.

How romantic.

How heartbreaking.

The whole school felt sorry for Jiang Che.

No one knows the truth.

The truth is that the "lovestruck" person on stage, who is smiling and giving thanks, is actually thinking about something else entirely.

If this song becomes popular, we should register the copyright as soon as possible.

......

P.S.: "The Actor", sung by Xue Zhiqian, lyrics by Xue Zhiqian, music by Xue Zhiqian.