Soon, someone replied: “Not just ‘Autumn Thoughts’, ‘Words from the Heart’ also sounds a lot like Helen Turner’s new song.”

　　…Helen Turner?

　　Evan Clark’s hand slipped, and he exited the app.

　　He stared blankly at his phone’s black screen for a long time, sweat pouring from his body as if a nest of ants had exploded in every joint.

　　With trembling hands, he reopened the app. The famous rising pop star Helen Turner’s beautiful face appeared in the opening ad, smiling at Evan Clark.

　　That day, Evan Clark’s Weibo, which only had a few thousand followers, was flooded by the combined forces of Helen Turner’s millions of fans and hired trolls.

　　“F***ing plagiarist! Hope your whole family dies for copying!”

　　“Found a sheep and just keep shearing it, how shameless can you be?”

　　“For the full story and music analysis of the plagiarism incident involving the nobody Evan Clark, see the long Weibo post, link: http://t.cn……”

　　“Just casually checked out Evan Clark’s previous works. Curiosity made me click in, survival instinct made me click out.”

　　“Hahaha what the hell is this singing, wailing like a ghost, and people actually call this good? The fans are just hyping up garbage.”

　　“Wow, impressive, even the song title and the cover of Tang Goddess’s new album weren’t spared—copying the whole set?”

　　Evan Clark couldn’t be bothered with those nasty comments.

　　He put on his headphones, frantically replaying Helen Turner’s new song over and over, his eyes bloodshot, cold sweat pouring down.

　　…It really is the same.

　　Only some details were tweaked. You didn’t need to be a music professional—anyone with ears and a decent sense of music could tell it was a copy.

　　…But who copied whom?

　　Evan Clark could swear to his innocence. He hadn’t even listened to more than a few of Helen Turner’s songs before today, because he remembered a sharp-tongued music critic once said about Helen Turner—harsh but accurate:

　　“Helen Turner is good at singing cheesy love songs. So-called cheesy love songs are not just cheesy in lyrics, but she even sounds like she’s singing with a mouthful of saliva.”

　　Helen Turner’s smiling face spun before Evan Clark’s eyes, and on the digital cover of her new album was a line: “The Queen of Love Songs makes a glamorous transformation, singing out your words from the heart.”

　　—“Wow, impressive, even the song title and the cover of Tang Goddess’s new album weren’t spared—copying the whole set?”

　　Evan Clark clearly remembered that the title “Words from the Heart” was one he came up with himself, words he wanted to say to Brian Young—that kind of suppressed yet surging forbidden love. But Helen Turner sang it as a sweet, girlish secret.

　　Evan Clark felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation.

　　The worst blow he’d suffered before was coming out and failing; he’d never known what it felt like to be utterly disgraced and condemned by all.

　　Amid the overwhelming ringing in his ears, his mind was filled with only one person: Brian Young.

　　He dialed Brian Young’s number. The moment he heard that voice, all his pent-up emotions broke through, and he could only cry out with a sob: “Old Young, Old Young, come back.” Like a child who’d been terribly wronged.

　　In dealing with people, Evan Clark really was a child—his family had protected him too well.

　　So, when he clung to Brian Young, crying that his song had been stolen and he was being cursed out, Evan Clark didn’t notice the flash of panic in Brian Young’s eyes.

　　But Evan Clark had no idea this was only the beginning of his nightmare.

　　And now, the bucktoothed white rabbit Evan Clark, played by Little Ford, stood in front of Brian Young.

　　The former looked up at the latter with a smile, eyes shining.

　　Brian Young looked at the car and frowned, asking, “Did you buy this car?”

　　Evan Clark turned to glance at the car, boasting childishly, “Pretty, right?”

　　Brian Young asked, “How much did it cost?”

　　Evan Clark’s eyes curved: “Guess?”

　　So far, all these lines had happened in the original host’s memory, not a single word changed.

　　Brian Young frowned, and the favorability bar in Little Ford’s mind dropped by another two points.

　　Brian Young held back his temper, deciding to reason with this young master who didn’t know the value of money: “Little Clark, we’re together for the long haul. I really appreciate what you’ve done for me, breaking with your family for my sake. But you’ve lived a privileged life since childhood, and you don’t know how to live frugally. If you keep spending like this…”

　　These words were heartfelt and reasonable. According to the original script, the original host should have lowered his head in shame and admitted he was joking—the car was a gift from his brother Jack Clark.

　　Little Ford showed a suitably aggrieved expression: “…My brother gave it to me. I get carsick on the bus.”

　　Brian Young gently patted Little Ford’s hair: “Little Clark, you’re grown up now. You can’t rely on your brother for everything. He has his own life, and so do you. If he keeps interfering and spoiling you like this, you’ll never be able to leave your golden cage. Don’t you think so?”

　　Little Ford stayed silent, looking at him.

　　Brian Young was very confident.

　　Before, Little Clark had a friend who strongly opposed their relationship. After being lectured like this, Little Clark cut ties with that friend.

　　…Little Clark doesn’t understand anything, so it’s best for him to just listen to me, or else he’ll be easily led astray.

　　At this moment, Little Ford spoke up.