Chapter 1049: Chapter 1049: Accusing Rong Yan of Plagiarizing Her Work Chapter 1049: Chapter 1049: Accusing Rong Yan of Plagiarizing Her Work The staff member, however, wasn’t buying it, urging her, “Sister Xia Xue, this is what the higher-ups want. There’s controversy surrounding your performance, and if you don’t go up there, how can you prove your innocence?”

Xia Xue, who usually won over staff members with little favors, had the sympathy of some. They comforted her, “Don’t worry too much. You sing first, and she sings after you. No matter what, it can’t be twisted into you using her stuff. After all, it’s a live broadcast nationwide. No matter how powerful her backers are, the leadership can’t cover for her.”

Yan Qingqing looked at her with disdain, “I don’t know what you’re so scared of. How do you survive in this industry with such a small courage? Even the staff know what’s going on, and here you are, frightened of going on stage.”

“Are you going up or not? If not, I’m not waiting for you.”

Xia Xue took a deep breath, knowing that she couldn’t let Yan Qingqing go up alone. She braced herself with words of comfort for the two of them, prepared herself with a mental pep talk, and followed Yan Qingqing onto the stage.

As soon as she got up there, she immediately felt the overwhelming pressure.

The thrill and excitement of having tens of thousands of audience members cheering for you were now the source of immense pressure on her.

She wished there wasn’t a single person in the audience, unsure of how Rong Yan was planning to play her hand.

Yan Qingqing, unfamiliar with Rong Yan’s character, walked confidently, not showing any sign of fear, as if it were Rong Yan who had stolen something from her, striding with purpose.

“Dear judges, Director Dina,” she started after getting the microphone from the host, sweetly greeting the bigwigs in the audience first. Then she turned to face Rong Yan and confronted her, “I just heard about the earlier incident backstage. I haven’t released this new song to the public. When it was created, just to be on the safe side, I didn’t save it online in any form. I don’t understand how this ‘coincidence’ happened. Before hearing it I thought it was a ‘coincidence,’ but after hearing Rong Yan’s version, I think there are too many ‘coincidental’ parts. Just calling it a coincidence probably won’t cut it.”

Yan Hong couldn’t wait for Yan Qingqing to start the fight. As soon as Yan Qingqing did, she followed suit right away, “You mean to say Rong Yan plagiarized your work, is that correct?”

“It’s not a coincidence; I can only think of that possibility. But as for how she plagiarized it, I have no idea. Maybe she bribed someone on my team or the sound engineers, or else I can’t figure out how she could’ve gotten her hands on my original work.”

Yan Qingqing lied without batting an eyelash, attributing the shady deal she and Xia Xue made entirely to Rong Yan, brazenly saying so in front of tens of thousands of live audiences and the national viewership online.

Yan Qingqing came out so boldly, straight up accusing Rong Yan of stealing her work.

The venue erupted into a commotion.

“Damn, is it really not a coincidence?”

“I still think Rong Yan’s ‘Like’ sounds much better. Ah, was it really stolen?”

“Qingqing wouldn’t lie. It has to be Rong Yan who stole Qingqing’s new song, even deliberately changing the melody and lyrics. That’s disgusting.”

“Nonsense, Rong Yan would never plagiarize Yan Qingqing’s work. Yan Qingqing has had nothing to show since the competition started, can’t even find the right pitch, how could she possibly create a song on her own? It’s clearly slander. I think she’s the one who stole something!”

The fans on both sides were on the verge of starting a showdown.

“Should we send someone up to drop a hint to Yan Qingqing?” Backstage, the AQ leaders were collectively sweating bullets, afraid Rong Yan would be drowned in vitriol. They were joking, the VIPs who came today were all there for Rong Yan, and they couldn’t afford to offend a single one of them…