Translator:Ā Min_LeeĀ Ā Editor:Ā Tennesh
Fang Sheng was arrested on account of his song theft and alleged assault.
He had been struggling since heād been kicked out of Neon Culture. He wasnāt a talented composer, so he set his sights on music school students.
Qiāan was home to some of the continentās best music schools. Other than the Qiāan Academy of Music, there were two other decent music academies. Quite a few students attending these schools lived on a shoestring budget. Some worked part-time jobs, but competition for music-related part-time gigs was fierce, so some students chose to cover their tuition and expenses by other means. They would not take credit for their work, instead posting excerpts of their songs online to draw buyers and then selling the songs to the highest bidder. That was how certain pop starlets came by their original compositions. It was an open secret in the industry.
Fang Sheng was planning on buying a few decent songs from these poor yet talented students. He was more or less blacklisted in Qiāan, so he would move to a city far from Qiāan and sell the songs there to turn a profit.
He targeted students who were consumed in the creative process yet clueless about the business side of things, cheating them out of the fruits of their labor with extremely low prices. When he had built up a collection, he would flee to another city.
His marks were often students whose personalities resembled that of the original owner of Fang Zhaoās body.
He really got addicted to stealing.
The real reason was that this was such a killer shortcut. When heād stolen the initial three songs, next thing he knew he had a new apartment and a company car. The temptation of overnight riches was too seductive. If Fang Zhao hadnāt intervened, Fang Sheng would have done just fine.
Yet Fang Shengās latest ploy had failed. A prospective seller had balked at his offer, but he went ahead and tried to steal the studentās song anyway and was caught red-handed. The victim petitioned police to use a lie detector on Fang Sheng.
Fang Sheng crumbled under the dual pressure of the lie detector test and interrogation and confessed to stealing Fang Zhaoās three songs.
After arriving at the police station, Fang Zhao had his ID checked and was brought to a conference room. This wasnāt an interrogation room, so it wasnāt as intimidating. The walls were transparent. You could see the movement in a neighboring hallway. The room was also furnished with snacks and refreshments.
A man in his 40s with a square face, sitting in the room, raised his head and asked, āFang Zhao?ā
āThatās me.ā Fang Zhao sat down at the same desk to face the man.
āDid you bring the items we requested?ā the man asked.
āI did.ā Fang Zhao removed a notebook from his bag and handed it over.
The notebook was what the original owner of his body had used to compose. In it, he had jotted down all his scores. When Fang Zhao got the call from the police at the office, he was asked to bring proof that he was the actual composer of the three songs.
A second officer took the notebook for verification. Current-day technology could determine the rough date the notebook was written in and establish the timing of the compositions. Even though Fang Sheng had confessed to stealing the three songs from Fang Zhao, the laws of evidence required further proof. Having the actual compositions was even better.
The man who stayed in the conference room, the notetaker, noticed Fang Zhao turning his head and looking outside. He asked with a laugh, āDo you recognize the man in the blue-checkered shirt and the two folks next to him?ā
āWho?ā Fang Zhao responded as he gazed at the surface of the desk.
āThe girl who is crying is called Wei Qian. Sheās a student at one of the local music academies. Fang Sheng almost stole a song from her. If she hadnāt buried a signature code in her score, it might very well have been registered under Fang Shengās name.ā
āThe man standing in the middle, wearing the blue-checkered shirt, is her older brother, Wei Chi. Heās a student at the Qiāan University of Science and Technology. When he found out his sister had been robbed, he started asking around about Fang Shengās whereabouts. When he got a tip, he tracked Fang Sheng down. He caught Fang Sheng taking pictures of another personās score, so he detained him and called the police. He also borrowed money to hire a kick-ass lawyer. Multiple thefts and assaultāIām guessing Fang Sheng will be locked up for at least 10 years. You should thank them. If they hadnāt requested a lie detector test, we might not have found out about the theft of your songs.ā
Since Fang Shengās hired guns had failed to steal Fang Zhao bracelet and the attempt backfired on him instead, this time, Fang Sheng hadnāt dared outsource the job again. Heād done the deed himself, but he was caught in the act.
āHey, how come you didnāt sue him when your songs were stolen?ā the officer asked Fang Zhao.
āI had no proof. I had no case,ā Fang Zhao responded.
āTrue. This kidās a sly bastard. He never left any concrete proof. Typically, the lie detector isnāt used before a conviction.ā The man gave Fang Zhao a sympathetic look. Knowing your work had been stolen but not being able to do anything about it, seeing someone profit from the fruits of your laborāthat had to have been a horrible feeling.
There were strict rules governing the use of the lie detector. They could only be used in certain types of cases and the scope of questioning was limited.
The officer who processed evidence returned to the room and returned the notebook to Fang Zhao.
After the notebook was deemed legitimate evidence, Fang Zhao proceeded to fill out a bunch of paperwork that reverted ownership of the three songs from Fang Sheng to himself.
Neon Culture had immediately recalled the three songs that Fang Sheng had stolen when they got word from the police, transferring their rights to Fang Zhao.
āCan I see Fang Sheng?ā Fang Zhao asked.
Fang Zhao was led to a temporary detention center.
āThere are headsets on the wall.ā The officer whoād brought Fang Zhao to the detention center showed him where the headsets were located and left. The Qiāan police were quite careful about privacy issues.
Fang Sheng looked skinny and downcast. He didnāt know what had gone wrong. He didnāt get it. Was it simply bad luck? Everything was supposed to go according to plan. How come things always went south at critical moments?
Fang Sheng had intended to buy Wei Qianās song for 50,000. Fifty thousand was a bonanza for someone like her who didnāt know the market and wasnāt calculating. It was enough to cover her tuition for six years and obtain certain luxuries. But just when sheād been about to sign the contract, a call from her older brother sowed doubt in her mind.
But Fang Sheng hadnāt wanted to wait, so heād stolen Wei Qianās score instead. Who knew that it was planted with her own signature code?
What was worse was that, after he stole Wei Qianās score, heād moved on to another school where he got a student drunk and was about to steal his score. He had wanted to buy it for a bargain, but this student was more business savvy and asked for at least 150,000. Fang Sheng had no intention of shelling out that much money, so he decided to steal again. He had even planned on fleeing Qiāan that very night, yet Wei Chi had caught him red-handed.
If heād had a choice, Fang Sheng wouldnāt have confessed to stealing Fang Zhaoās songs, but heād known he couldnāt beat the lie detector test. And if heād stonewalled, he wouldāve face an even heavier sentence. After weighing his options, heād decided to come clean.
There was no escaping jail time now. But in the worst-case scenario, he would be locked up for 10 yearsāno big deal. He might be released earlier on good behavior. In the end, he would have served six or seven years. He would be only 30 then. There was plenty of time left. Even though he had depleted his savings, he could still mount a comeback.
Fang Sheng plotted his next move. He wasnāt feeling greatāhis face was still swollen and he was missing a few teeth.
As he pondered, he saw an officer bring in Fang Zhao.
āFang Zhao! Big Zhao! Iām sorry. I shouldnāt have stolen your songs. Please forgive me on account of the fact that we grew up together.ā
If Fang Zhao forgave him and spoke on his behalf, he could apply for parole. Even if he couldnāt shave a few years off his sentence, a few weeks or a few months was still something.
After shouting for about a minute, Fang Sheng realized they were separated by a transparent barrier and Fang Zhao couldnāt hear him. He scrambled to grab his headset and indicated Fang Zhao to do the same. He thought Fang Zhao didnāt know he had to use them.
But Fang Zhao stood there motionlessly and stared at him coldly, as if observing a stranger.
That reminded Fang Sheng of the look on Fang Zhaoās face when heād returned to his black street in a company car to move after signing with Neon Culture.
A lightning bolt flashed through his head. Fang Sheng raised his head and stared at Fang Zhao blankly.
Fang Sheng looked like heād seen a ghost.
When heād hired thugs to grab Fang Zhaoās bracelet and was robbed instead, heād thought that was on account of Yue Qing. He thought the thugs had been afraid of Yue Qing, so theyād turned around and robbed him instead. Now, he realizedā¦
It was Fang Zhao all along.
He was the one who had turned the two black street thugs against him. He was the one who had played saboteur every time he was on the cusp of success.
Gritting his teeth, he glared at Fang Zhao, mumbling the words:
He finally got it. Heād never suspected because he had always based his thinking on Fang Zhaoās old personality, but the Fang Zhao standing before him struck him as a completely different person.
Coincidence or luckāthat was all irrelevant.
Fang Sheng turned pale, his eyes became bloodshot, and he gripped his fingers tightly, as if he was getting ready to rip his headset to shreds. But soon, his gaze went from projecting hatred to fear, because he noticed Fang Zhao laughing at him.
It was a casual laugh, but it sent through Fang Sheng a deep chill. He felt frozen all over.
If Fang Zhao had set everything up, what awaited him in prison? The more he thought, the more panicked Fang Sheng became.
āLet me out! Let me out!āĀ Fang Sheng yelled at the top of his voice. On the other side of the divider, Fang Zhao had stopped looking at him and left.
After leaving the detention center, Fang Zhao picked up his documents and left the police station. He walked along the street and made a right turn, where he met up with Wei Chi, who had already been waiting.
āIāve received your last installment. Iāve taken care of the legal fees,ā Wei Chi said.
Fang Zhaoād had eyes on Fang Sheng all this time. When he had found out that Fang Sheng was targeting Wei Qian, he reached out to Wei Chi and struck up a partnership. Fang Zhao funded the operation while Wei Chi was in charge of entrapping Fang Sheng.
āYouāre not going to tell your sister?ā Fang Zhao asked.
Wei Qian didnāt not know that Wei Chi had set a trap for Fang Sheng so he could steal her song easily. Later on, Wei Chi had seized the moment and caught Fang Sheng while he was stealing another personās score.
āIāll definitely tell her at some point, but not now. The whole point of this plan was to make her more guarded. As the saying goes, never set out to screw people, but also never let down your guard. She was too gullible, all set to pounce at the bait. Creative types like her donāt know how to watch out for schemers. Sheās only going to be taken advantage of when she enters the real world. I wonāt always be around to protect her. Thanks for your help; otherwise, I wouldnāt have come out of this unscathed.ā
Fang Zhao always carried a knife with him and heād had someone protect Wei Chi in secret. Otherwise, Wei Chi wouldnāt have emerged unharmed after detaining Fang Sheng.
Fang Zhao looked at the time. āI gotta run. Theyāre still waiting for me. Next time you wanna scamāno, I mean deliver justiceāremember to count me in.ā
Fang Zhao watched Wei Chi leave and kept walking. For him, Fang Sheng was only a sideshow. He had simply wanted to reclaim the three stolen songs as a gesture for the original owner of his body.
A flying car appeared in front of him. Fang Zhao checked the license plate. It was the cab he had ordered. He boarded the car in a hurry.
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āHeaded to Yanzhou Cemetery for Martyrs?ā the driver asked.
āItās almost Memorial Day. The cemetery is getting a lot of visitors. Iāve made two runs already.ā
āIs it always crowded this time of year?ā Fang Zhao asked.
āOf course. Youāve never been? The Yanzhou Cemetery for Martyrs in suburban Qiāan is the biggest such cemetery in the continent. Itās also one of the worldās 12 major cemeteries for martyrs. Word has it that everyone who died in Qiāan during the Period of Destruction is buried there.ā