Chapter 18: Plagiarism

On the road, Qiao Weiwei’s gaze fell upon the violin case beside her.

"I'm sorry, Uncle." She kept her head low, not daring to meet Gu Jinnian's eyes. "I didn't protect your violin well."

The violin had sat in the music room for so many years without a speck of dust on it, yet the moment it reached her hands, it was ruined.

"You didn't break the string, so why are you apologizing?" Gu Jinnian spoke softly, his thin lips barely moving, his tone devoid of any blame.

Qiao Weiwei looked up in surprise. "You really aren't blaming me?"

"No."

She couldn't help but smile, excitedly gripping the man's arm. "Uncle, you're so good to me!"

Only after hearing Assistant Chen’s phone call earlier did she realize that Gu Jinnian had pushed aside a very important meeting today just to watch her performance. In her previous life, even though Gu Zhiyuan had protected her in many ways, he would still forget his promises to her for the sake of company business. Aside from her parents, no one had ever valued her words so highly. Thinking of this, Qiao Weiwei felt a sting in her nose and quickly lowered her head to hide the tears in her eyes.

Faced with this sudden intimacy, a flash of something unusual crossed Gu Jinnian’s eyes. It seemed that other elders were this close with their juniors... He stopped himself from pulling his hand away and let Qiao Weiwei hold his arm.

When Qiao Weiwei looked up again, she arched an eyebrow at him. "Uncle, did I play well?" Her eyes were filled with a plea for praise.

Gu Jinnian recalled the performance on stage. Although the venue was dim, the golden threads on her red dress had shimmered faintly. While others were busy praising the singing of the other girl, his focus had remained entirely on Qiao Weiwei. Dressed in red, she was completely immersed in her performance. Despite the lack of spotlights, she had shone with radiance. For the first time, he felt that this violin was unworthy of the girl before him.

During the curtain call, he had spotted the bloodstain on her left hand and immediately ordered Chen Li to call the school doctor. He had also contacted an overseas luthier, determined to have a new violin custom-made for her. As he met the girl’s sparkling eyes, a tremor went through his heart, though the feeling passed in an instant, leaving only faint ripples before he could even identify it.

"Very well."

"Just two words?" Qiao Weiwei frowned, feigning annoyance. "Uncle, you are really insincere when you praise people."

Gu Jinnian was momentarily speechless. Seeing his boss thwarted, Chen Li couldn't help but chuckle. This was the first time he had seen such a vivid expression on Gu Jinnian’s face.

"Miss Qiao, please have mercy on Mr. Gu," he teased. "I've been by his side for ten years and have never heard him praise anyone with a single word."

Gu Jinnian was extremely strict with people and matters; even a misplaced punctuation mark in a contract would make him icy and intimidating. He was even more demanding of himself—he had once gone a full month without getting five hours of sleep at a time just to push a project forward. Asking him to offer praise was harder than ascending to heaven.

"That's not good, then," Qiao Weiwei laughed. "Uncle, praise is a traditional virtue of the Chinese people."

Perhaps she didn't realize it herself, but she was now teasing the very demon she had tried so hard to avoid in her previous life.

Gu Jinnian swept a cold gaze over her. "Qiao Weiwei, have you grown bolder?"

Seeing his cold expression, Qiao Weiwei sat up straight. "Uncle, you're so fierce." She tilted her chin slightly, exposing her smooth, delicate neck. Though she said she wouldn't dare do it again, her expression was full of perfunctoriness.

They chatted and laughed all the way back to the old family estate. As soon as they stepped inside, the elder Madam Gu greeted them and cupped the girl’s face. "How was it? Did the performance go smoothly? My Weiwei must have wowed everyone."

"Of course!" Qiao Weiwei brushed her index finger across her right eyebrow. "Uncle even praised my playing!"

Hearing this, Madam Gu’s mouth fell open in disbelief. "Xiao Nian, you actually know how to praise someone?"

Gu Jinnian looked a bit embarrassed and coldly tossed out, "Go to sleep early," before heading upstairs.

"He's even shy," Madam Gu chuckled.

Shy? Qiao Weiwei couldn't connect that word to Gu Jinnian at all.

Madam Gu continued to ask her about the school performance. Noticing the gauze on her hand, she frowned in distress. "What happened? How did you hurt your hand?" Gu Jinnian had once been a violinist himself, so Madam Gu knew very well how important hands were to a violinist. Seeing such thick gauze, she wondered how much it must have hurt.

Qiao Weiwei didn't want to worry her, so she lied, "A glass broke, and I accidentally cut my hand."

"Nonsense," Madam Gu said, clearly not believing her. "How could a cut from a glass be this serious?"

"It just looks scary, but it's actually a minor injury. It'll be fine in a couple of days," Qiao Weiwei quickly changed the subject. "Grandma, what good food did you prepare tonight? I didn't eat dinner so I could fit into my dress, and I'm starving."

"You glutton!" Madam Gu gently tapped her round, perky nose. "It's all your favorites, but you can't have the sweet and sour fish; it might cause the wound to get infected."

When they reached the dining room, Qiao Weiwei saw a face that made her lose her appetite.

"Weiwei, this is Zhiyuan. You can consider him your older brother." Not knowing about the conflict between them, Madam Gu explained warmly, "Zhiyuan was a champion in math competitions. Weiwei, isn't math a struggle for you? You can ask Zhiyuan for help."

She truly liked Weiwei, and since the two children were of similar age, she thought it would be wonderful if they could get together.

Qiao Weiwei resisted the urge to roll her eyes and declined, "I heard from Uncle that Young Master Gu is in charge of overseas projects and must be very busy, so I shouldn't trouble him. Uncle will hire a tutor for me for my studies."

Gu Zhiyuan, naturally, was unwilling to let go of the chance to get close to her. "It's no trouble. The overseas matters are mostly handled; others can take care of the finishing touches. If you have any questions, Weiwei, feel free to ask me anytime." Just like before...

But he didn't know that in the past, Qiao Weiwei had pestered Gu Zhiyuan for tutoring only to spend more time with her crush. Now, she didn't need that anymore. Besides, Uncle’s way of explaining things was far superior to Gu Zhiyuan’s.

Qiao Weiwei just smiled and said nothing.

...

Just after washing up, her phone screen showed a dozen missed calls. Qiao Weiwei called Fang Xue back, and sobbing came from the other end.

"What do I do, Weiwei? People online are saying I plagiarized 'Like a Dream'."

"Don't panic. I'll look into it right now."

While comforting Fang Xue, Qiao Weiwei opened Weibo and saw that someone had posted a video of the school anniversary performance, with the user's homepage showcasing the inspiration and musical score for the composition.

An anniversary performance would usually not spark much discussion. However, someone had coincidentally posted a video of Zhou Bing offering to take Fang Xue as an apprentice. Because it involved a superstar of the music industry, it immediately trended. Zhou Bing’s rivals took the opportunity to smear them, claiming that Zhou Bing and Fang Xue were "birds of a feather."

Some musicians went live to compare the two scores, showing an eighty-percent similarity. Internet celebrities jumped on the trend, humming the score posted by the accuser. Many netizens took the accuser's side.

"I knew the original was better. Look at what this plagiarism turned into."