CH 044

TL: Moonlit

The Spring Breeze Art Exhibition is the most prestigious national-level painting competition. Countless people take pride in receiving the gold award at the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition. Qi Fenghua, with his millions of followers, suddenly revealed an incident of plagiarism at the exhibition, which quickly became a hot topic.

This edition of the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition received unprecedented attention.

Qi Yuyu’s reputation plummeted, and many artists who were unaware of the truth started boycotting and forwarding posts to have Qi Yuyu disqualified from the competition.

After publicly accusing Qi Yuyu of plagiarism at his exhibition, Lin Hanchuan sensed that the matter wouldn’t end so easily. He hired several private investigators to investigate Yi Wusheng’s connections, and he himself went to Yi Wusheng’s school to gather information about him.

Due to their identical appearance, everyone could instantly see the connection between Lin Hanchuan and Yi Wusheng. They also believed Lin Hanchuan’s lie about “wanting to learn about his brother.” As a result, they informed Lin Hanchuan about the situation at Yi Wusheng’s school.

From the professors and classmates of Yi Wusheng, Lin Hanchuan roughly pieced together Yi Wusheng’s outward image.

He appeared refined and possessed extraordinary talent, but was not arrogant. He was honest, kind-hearted, and slow in matters of the heart. He was a genius artistic painter, nearly perfect in every aspect.

However, among those who were closer to Yi Wusheng, Lin Hanchuan heard several names of “rumored boyfriends” and “rumored girlfriends.” Each name belonged to a relatively famous teenage artist in recent years.

What amused Lin Hanchuan was that none of those names included Qi Fenghua.

In Yi Qinglou’s impression, Yi Wusheng was handsome, arrogant, and possessed extraordinary talent. His character was so cold and selfish that he cared only about himself. He always wore a perfect mask of warmth and gentleness in public, but only when he returned home did he remove the mask, revealing his inherent arrogance.

The original text was written from Qi Fenghua’s perspective, depicting a perfect Yi Wusheng. He was Qi Fenghua’s eternal white moonlight, pure and flawless, without any flaws. His early demise added a touch of tragic aesthetic to his story.

Yi Qinglou was nowhere near Yi Wusheng’s level. He was jealous and competed with him for their parents’ attention, but he continuously retreated. In the end, even he admitted that Yi Wusheng was a talented artist whom he couldn’t catch up to.

Throughout his life, he couldn’t shake off the shadow of Yi Wusheng.

Lin Hanchuan was somewhat curious. If Yi Wusheng’s perfect halo were shattered, would Qi Fenghua still hold deep feelings for him?

Qi Yuyu recognized several faces from Lin Hanchuan’s photo album. They were outstanding artists who had previously sold their paintings through him.

“How could they be involved with Yi Wusheng?!” Yue Hong also saw these people and was extremely surprised. “They have nothing to do with each other, and they’re not even acquainted.”

Being part of the industry, they had all met each other to some extent. Yue Hong couldn’t recall any special ambiguous atmosphere between these people and Yi Wusheng, despite his best efforts to remember.

“That’s the interesting part,” Lin Hanchuan put down his phone, his gaze probing.

If it was just ordinary friends or relationships, there was nothing scandalous about it. Even if the pace of changing partners was fast, for artists, it wasn’t a big deal. Why did Yi Wusheng have to be so cautious and not let anyone discover any clues?

Even Qi Fenghua, who claimed to be Yi Wusheng’s boyfriend, seemed to be oblivious to these things.

After contemplating for a few seconds, Qi Yuyu sent a message on his phone: “Ask them, and you’ll know.”

He had the contact information of several of those people, and it was the perfect opportunity to use it.

Lin Hanchuan thought for a moment. It was indeed a good idea.

Online public opinion was already brewing, but conducting an investigation alone would take time. Lin Hanchuan conveniently packaged all the information he had gathered and sent it to the investigation team formed by the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition. As professionals, they should be pleasantly surprised when they compared Yi Wusheng’s artworks with those of his rumored lovers.

Qi Yuyu contacted a person named Jing Shan Yue, a young oil painter. She had chosen a café in the city center as their meeting place.

Lin Hanchuan and Qi Yuyu arrived at the designated café half an hour early. When they arrived, they saw that Jing Shan Yue was already there.

“Mr. Qi, long time no see,” Jing Shan Yue smiled at Qi Yuyu. She wasn’t wearing any makeup and appeared somewhat tired.

Qi Yuyu greeted her, and he and Lin Hanchuan sat opposite her. “Miss Jing, it’s been a while.”

Jing Shan Yue intertwined her fingertips, forming a tower shape on the table. She gazed melancholically out the window, her expression dim. “You said… Yi Wusheng… had many boyfriends and girlfriends. Is that true?”

Lin Hanchuan remained silent, passing a document to her, indicating that she should take a look herself.

Jing Shan Yue looked at the document on the table as if she had seen a ferocious beast. After a while, she took a deep breath and mustered the courage to open the document.

In addition to a detailed timeline of Yi Wusheng’s romantic relationships, the document also contained several intimate photos of Yi Wusheng with other people. Yi Wusheng had a gentle expression tinged with a hint of aloofness in the photos, while the people beside him were smiling brightly. Compared to other couples who wore similarly radiant smiles, it appeared particularly ironic.

Jing Shan Yue’s eyes reddened. “He was once my youth.”

Jing Shan Yue still remembered that shortly after entering university, she was attracted to the gentle and talented Yi Wusheng. There were so many people who liked Yi Wusheng, and she was just one of the ordinary ones.

Never in her wildest dreams did she expect the distant moon in the sky to come by her side… They secretly dated for three months, which was the happiest time for Jing Shan Yue. She had the best person in the world.

Although three months later, Yi Wusheng broke up with her because he didn’t want to hinder his painting, Jing Shan Yue didn’t hold any grudges. She even felt grateful to Yi Wusheng. He had fulfilled a girl’s youth and taught her many painting techniques, guiding her hand in hand.

When Jing Shan Yue received the news of Yi Wusheng’s death in a car accident, she secretly cried under the covers for a long time. Her mind was in a daze for two or three months before she slowly recovered from the grief.

She never expected that after so many years, someone would find her and tell her that this beautiful memory of youth was nothing but a bubble.

Lin Hanchuan sighed inwardly and handed Jing Shan Yue a tissue, his tone unusually gentle. “Yi Wusheng’s ‘Ode to Beethoven’ bears some resemblance to your painting style. Do you know why?”

Wiping away her tears in a sorry state, Jing Shan Yue looked at Lin Hanchuan’s face, lost in thought for a few seconds, and then answered, “That was a painting we created together, a symbol of our love…”

No wonder. Lin Hanchuan and Qi Yuyu exchanged a glance, suddenly understanding.

No wonder Yi Wusheng hasn’t encountered any setbacks for so long.

He used his perfect image to lure those talented young artists into secret relationships, using their emotions to “paint” a work that closely resembled the artwork of their love interest, claiming it as a symbol of their love.

Inexperienced teenagers wouldn’t notice anything amiss; instead, they would be moved by Yi Wusheng’s deep affection and wholeheartedly put in effort to create art for each other.

After completing the artwork, Yi Wusheng would break up and, rather audaciously, request to take away that “symbol of love.”

This operation was extremely simple, but to leave no trace, it required careful calculation and a profound understanding of human nature. No one would believe that the aloof and solitary Yi Wusheng could do such a thing.

Lin Hanchuan, Qi Yuyu, and Jing Shan Yue talked for a long time. It was already nightfall, and the café was about to close when they finally left.

Qi Fenghua had set the official account of the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition as a special focus and anxiously waited for the exhibition to announce its decision regarding Qi Yuyu’s plagiarism incident.

He waited for two days, but the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition seemed as if nothing had happened. They neither disqualified Qi Yuyu’s artwork nor released any official statement.

Qi Fenghua felt increasingly anxious, and online public opinion was in an uproar. There were countless demands for strict action against Qi Yuyu, and numerous conspiracy theories emerged.

⌈”Qi Yuyu has connections at home; this matter is nothing. They’ve already resolved it long ago.”⌋

⌈”Has the influence of capital infiltrated such a prestigious competition like the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition? @Official, you must thoroughly investigate!”⌋

⌈”I heard that someone is protecting Qi Yuyu. No matter how big the online commotion is, it won’t affect Qi Yuyu winning the gold medal…”⌋

⌈”Qi Yuyu is only bullying the deceased Yi Wusheng, who can’t speak up. Isn’t he afraid that Yi Wusheng will come to him in the middle of the night?”⌋

⌈”It’s such a pity for Yi Wusheng. He was so young and had unlimited potential. He tragically passed away and is being sucked dry by such a blood-sucking mosquito. It’s really pathetic.”⌋

The online public opinion became more and more outrageous. Qi Fenghua was so disgusted by it, but he knew that the more outrageous the comments became, the more likely the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition would take Qi Yuyu’s case seriously. So he didn’t clarify anything.

Even if the person being slandered was his own brother.

With no interest in painting, Qi Fenghua kept scrolling through his phone. Whenever he came across compliments for Yi Wusheng, he would like them. He even felt a bit happy that even after Yi Wusheng’s passing, his own talent was still being noticed by the public.

While scrolling, he stumbled upon a video. He recognized the person in the video, it was Yue Hong, the youngest gold medalist of the Spring Breeze Art Exhibition.

Yue Hong’s number of fans couldn’t compare to Qi Fenghua’s, but it still numbered in the hundreds of thousands. When he uploaded the video, his fans thought he was speaking up for Yi Wusheng against Qi Yuyu, so they instinctively liked it.

But then they saw the content of the video, and everyone went ballistic.

Yue Hong faced the camera and said, “Today, I won’t be teaching painting techniques. Instead, I’ll share some gossip from the art circle. There was this talented young artist who tragically passed away, and he had numerous love interests. The dating periods with several of his partners even overlapped…”

In an instant, not only was Qi Fenghua angry, but even his fans couldn’t tolerate it.

⌈”Yue-ge, you should say less. There’s no need to wade into this mess.”⌋

⌈”The person is already dead, can’t we just let it go? It’s only a matter of lacking personal ethics.”⌋

⌈”Artists are naturally sensitive and romantic, it’s not a big deal…”⌋

⌈”How much did you get paid? Sharing someone’s private matters at this time, are you trying to divert attention from Qi Yuyu?”⌋

This was a recorded video, so Yue Hong couldn’t see these inflamed comments. In the video, he calmly continued, “I have no personal interest in this matter. I just can’t stand the fact that someone, just because they died, is being put on a pedestal undeservingly. The living can never compete with the dead, but there are some things that can’t be erased just because of death.”

Such as those who were deceived emotionally, such as plagiarism.

Even if the dead cannot be held accountable, at the very least, everything the living have suffered should be brought to light, and everyone should know about their actions.

Qi Fenghua’s hand holding the phone couldn’t stop trembling. He directly commented using his main account.

⌈”You’re slandering him!”⌋

But this reply was quickly drowned out by a multitude of abusive comments. The brief video had already finished playing, and Qi Fenghua remained unable to regain his composure.

He knew that everything was Yue Hong’s slander. Yue Hong had always been jealous of Yi Wusheng, and that’s why he struck at a time like this.

Trying to console himself, Qi Fenghua couldn’t shake off a sense of unease. He repeatedly unlocked his phone with his fingerprint and quickly locked it again. After an unknown amount of time passed, his phone made a crisp sound.

It was the notification sound for a post from the official account he was especially following. The Spring Breeze Art Exhibition had made a post.

Qi Fenghua’s heartbeat skipped a beat.

Author’s Note:

Today, there was also a very cute young reader who asked when Yi Wusheng would get his lunchbox…

Me: Yi Wusheng hasn’t even appeared. He’s been holding onto his lunchbox the whole time, never putting it down.