Chapter 14: Chapter 14: Caught in a Plagiarism Scandal

She had just finished listening to the message when a call from You Wei came in.

He sounded a little cautious. “Miss Jiang, have you seen the stuff online?”

“Online?” Jiang Qin was a bit confused. “I just woke up.”

She could clearly hear You Wei let out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good. Stay off the Star Network for now. It looks like a rival is making a move on us. I’ll find someone to handle this.

Just relax and stay in your apartment. Don’t worry about work. Wait for my word before you come back.”

Jiang Qin didn’t know what had happened, so she could only agree for the time being.

After hanging up, she went on the Star Network to check.

It was just slander about a small bar on a Second-class planet, yet it was trending in the top ten across the entire Star Network. One could only imagine how much money the people behind it must have spent.

Based on You Wei’s guess, he suspected it was a dirty trick from another bar on the same street.

But Jiang Qin had her doubts.

’I rejected so many companies’ offers yesterday. Could it be that some of them wanted to teach me a lesson?’

Moreover, on the new song chart, “As Wished” had already climbed to number eight.

But now, the download numbers had almost completely stalled. Netizens were all accusing her of plagiarism.

There was also contempt for her being a female from a low-level star, and disgust for her ungrateful behavior.

The Jiang Family didn’t step forward to clear her name.

This was within her expectations.

She had known this would happen from the moment the Jiang Family avoided the public eye, secretly sending a private ship to pick her up and refusing to publicly announce her existence.

They, too, were ashamed of her origins. They were even more disdainful of how, when she first arrived at the Jiang Family’s home, she couldn’t even use a housekeeping robot and was barely literate.

The only reason she could read now was that she had memories from her past life after being reborn.

In her previous life, she hadn’t been able to attend school, but she never gave up. She always remembered the words posted on the school wall in her first life.

Knowledge changes destiny.

So, since she couldn’t go to school, she took online courses on the Star Network, starting with the kindergarten curriculum.

Even if she couldn’t compare to a top student now, calling her illiterate was a real exaggeration.

But no one knew that. Everyone had already decided she was illiterate. How could someone who supposedly couldn’t read a single word and had never been to school know so many new songs?

They must have been plagiarized.

So now, everyone was calling for the three songs she uploaded to be taken down, claiming it was unfair to other singers otherwise.

Jiang Qin fell into deep thought.

’I suddenly realize that even though I’m a homebody, I have quite a few enemies.’

First, there were the people she had rejected. It was possible someone wanted revenge for losing face.

Then there were the bar’s competitors.

And the new song chart.

“Anonymous Comfort” was about to climb into the top ten. Barring any surprises, when the month’s rankings were settled, at least two of her songs would be in the top ten.

If her songs were taken down at this moment, then the rankings would shift to the next two songs below…

It was well known that the top ten of the chart was a different world from eleventh place and below. It was a dividing line.

And since she was just a C-level female, a soothing master with no background, taking up two spots, it wasn’t strange that someone would make a move against her.

The last suspect was Jiang Ruming.

Although the Jiang Family disliked her, she was, after all, a female with a blood relation to Jiang Yulian, so no one would act against her.

Even Jiang Ruhai could only throw a few vicious words at her.

The only one who would move against her was Jiang Ruming. But that woman’s actions were somewhat illogical, and Jiang Qin had no idea what circumstances would lead her to cause harm.

Because in her past life, even when Jiang Yulian already disliked her immensely, Jiang Ruming still harmed her. But after harming her, she would then try to help her.

It gave off a discordant feeling, as if she were harming someone and atoning for it at the same time.

***

When You Wei said he’d find someone to handle it, what he really meant was getting people to continuously report the posts and comments to have them deleted.

Then, he asked a lawyer friend of his to send legal notices, one by one, to those sensationalist marketing accounts, suing them on charges of cyberbullying a female, disseminating a female’s personal information, and so on.

As for slander and spreading rumors, he didn’t actually dare to sue on those grounds.

Although he didn’t know Jiang Qin very well, most of the things being spread online were actually true.

So he wasn’t sure whether Jiang Qin had actually plagiarized anything.

To be safe, he decided to ignore that part. The other charges were enough anyway.

Interstellar People paid quite a bit of attention to matters concerning females.

After the reports were filed, all the posts and trending topics had disappeared by noon.

But the news had already spread far and wide, and the accusations of plagiarism still hadn’t stopped.

Pan Yangxia was a music student at Mocha University. Ever since he stumbled upon the video of Jiang Qin’s piano performance, he had become a devoted fan.

He didn’t believe the slander that had suddenly appeared online. He chose to trust what he had seen with his own eyes.

So he also made a post online, with the title:

“The Piano, an Ancient Musical Instrument”

I woke up to find the internet flooded with slander about my idol.

She’s just a soothing master at a small bar. I don’t understand whose toes she stepped on.

I don’t know about the other slander, but I can’t agree with you questioning her songs.

First, let me tell you all about the instrument Jiang Qin plays during her performances. It’s called a piano, with origins that can be traced back three thousand years.

It’s an instrument from ancient times, and today it’s only recorded in a few old texts, so most people probably don’t recognize it.

But not only does Jiang Qin recognize it, she can also play it. Doesn’t that alone speak to her skill level?

In an age where any sound can be synthesized, doesn’t someone who understands how to play an ancient instrument deserve to be called a musician?

Or are you all just discriminating against her because she’s a female from a Barren Star?

Although Pan Yangxia was just an ordinary student, he had a decent number of fans because he occasionally streamed himself singing.

After all, he was handsome, and even before graduating, several companies had already contacted him with contract offers.

He had only turned them down because he wanted to make his official debut after graduation.

As soon as his post was published, his fans received a notification and eagerly went online.

But what they saw was their favorite streamer speaking out for someone else…

[…Speechless. I thought Yangxia finally remembered the password to his Light Brain Number, but it turns out he only came online to defend someone else.]

[Yangxia, you should delete the post. In situations like this, they always go after the one who sticks their neck out. It’s better to play it safe.]

[Yeah, and you don’t even know that female. What if it’s all true? Then everyone will come and flame you.]

[Sigh, I really liked those two songs, too. What a shame. I guess we won’t be able to listen to them anymore.]

[They’ll probably be taken down soon, right? As long as enough people report them, they’ll go under review.]

[I don’t think so? If she plagiarized, there has to be someone she plagiarized from, right? If she really did it, why hasn’t the original artist come forward?]

[Whoa, are you a psychic? The person she supposedly plagiarized has come forward. Everyone, go check it out!]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep