Chapter 095: A Million-Dollar Bounty

“Pen name??”
“What does Lin Feng mean by that??”
“Is he implying that Lin Junjie is actually him??”

Most netizens were unaware that works uploaded to the copyright website could be submitted under a pen name, so they were puzzled. However, some knowledgeable users quickly offered an explanation.

“Let me clarify: registering on the copyright website requires real-name authentication. However, once registered, you can upload works using a pen name in the author field. Many famous creators have pen names. For instance, Shen Henshui used the pen name ‘Ye Qiu’ to publish two works, and Luo Zhongheng has at least three known pen names: ‘Fourth Lord,’ ‘Four Joys,’ and ‘Er Zhong.’ There are plenty of creators who publish under pen names, especially during copyright auctions; almost all the works are listed under pen names, and only those participating in the bidding might know the real author behind the pseudonym. So, if Lin Junjie is actually Lin Feng’s pen name, the accusations of plagiarism are baseless!”

“Thanks for the explanation above. It seems we may have wrongly accused Lin Feng.”
“I just learned that music creators can have pen names like novelists.”
“Even if the copyright site allows pen names, Lin Feng hasn’t provided any evidence. It’s just his word—who knows if it’s true!”
“While everyone’s focused on the pen name, I want to know what ‘you’re just a well’ means? Can someone explain?”
“Same question—what does ‘well’ mean? I really don’t get how Lin Feng’s ‘you’re just a well’ is supposed to be cutting.”
“I’d like to know too—any experts here?”
“……”

Yan Jiao.

Zhou Ziqian’s music studio.

After exposing Lin Feng’s “plagiarism” scandal, Zhou Ziqian was in an exceptionally good mood. At the moment, he was helping two of his students rehearse for the upcoming “Music PK Showdown.” He felt that simply exposing Lin Feng’s plagiarism wasn’t satisfying enough—he wanted to personally defeat Lin Feng before a national audience!

Among the students practicing with him, one was Sun Hao, who had been thoroughly beaten by Lin Feng on the stage of “Original Good Songs.” The other was a girl with the typical influencer look, named Chen Xi.

“Teacher, you finally avenged your student this time! Now everyone is criticizing Lin Feng—it feels so good!” Sun Hao said with a broad smile.

Zhou Ziqian smirked triumphantly. “He’s still too inexperienced to challenge me!”

“Teacher, since all the songs he used in the auditions were plagiarized, do you think the one he performed in the elimination round was plagiarized too?” Sun Hao still couldn’t get over how thoroughly he’d lost in the elimination round.

“What was the name of the song he sang in the elimination round?” Zhou Ziqian asked.

“‘Old Boy.’ Teacher, could you ask your friend to check into it again? I’m sure that one must be plagiarized too!” Sun Hao said.

Zhou Ziqian nodded and sent a message to his friend who worked at the copyright website.

“Mr. Zhou, Lin Feng has responded on Weibo,” said Chen Xi, the girl.

“Oh? He still has the nerve to respond? What did he say?” Zhou Ziqian asked, his tone full of contempt.

“You’d better see for yourself.” Chen Xi handed her phone to Zhou Ziqian.

“Zhou Ziqian, you’re just a well. Lin Junjie is my pen name!”

Reading Lin Feng’s Weibo post, Zhou Ziqian frowned. “Pen name? How could that be? Who would use a formal name like Lin Junjie as a pen name??”

In the public’s subconscious, pen names are rarely formatted like real names. Lin Junjie’s name didn’t fit the mold of a typical pseudonym. Moreover, Zhou Ziqian subconsciously didn’t believe Lin Feng was capable of writing a song of the caliber of “The Smiling Eyes,” so when he saw that name listed as the author, he never considered it might be a pen name.

“Lin Feng claims Lin Junjie is his pen name. Is that even possible?” Sun Hao said.

“I don’t believe it either. Lin Feng must be making excuses,” Chen Xi said.

Zhou Ziqian kept his brows furrowed. Though he didn’t believe Lin Feng’s claim, it wasn’t entirely impossible. If Lin Feng were telling the truth, he’d be thoroughly disgraced.

“Teacher, I think we should post on Weibo to search for the songwriter named Lin Junjie. If he’s willing to come forward, Lin Feng’s lie will be exposed instantly,” Sun Hao suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea. But if Lin Feng dares to say this, maybe he’s already made arrangements with Lin Junjie, so I doubt he’ll come forward,” Zhou Ziqian said.

“You don’t need to worry about that, Teacher. If we offer enough ‘sincerity,’ he’ll definitely step forward. Even if Lin Feng bought the song from him, it would only be for twenty or thirty thousand at most. I can offer a million as a reward—if he comes forward, he gets a million. I don’t believe he’ll stay silent!” Sun Hao said with a cold smile.

Zhou Ziqian nodded. “That’s an option. But is it worth spending a million for this?”

“Don’t worry about the money, Teacher. Our family isn’t short of cash. I’m willing to spend whatever it takes to bring Lin Feng down,” Sun Hao replied.

“Alright, I’ll post the search on Weibo right away. Once Lin Junjie steps forward, let’s see what Lin Feng has to say. I doubt we’ll even need to compete in the ‘Music PK Showdown’ the day after tomorrow!” Zhou Ziqian said with a menacing grin, then updated his Weibo.

“Pen name? That’s quite a clever excuse. But, I wonder if the songwriter named Lin Junjie will be hurt by this? His painstakingly created works have become someone else’s labor, and his name has become someone else’s pseudonym. I really feel for him! I know Lin Feng may have bought your work outright, or you may have some sort of agreement. But it doesn’t matter—if you’re willing to come forward and tell the truth, I’ll give you a million. The money isn’t for anything else—it’s just to reveal the truth to the public! Anyone who can provide leads to Lin Junjie will also be rewarded. Please share this post… so the songwriter named Lin Junjie can see it!”

Zhou Ziqian’s Weibo post immediately created a huge stir online—the million-yuan reward was simply too eye-catching. Even Zhou Ziqian hadn’t expected his post to have such an impact.

Within half an hour, the post had been shared over two hundred thousand times—a staggering number. Assuming each person had fifty followers, the post had reached tens of millions, and that was a conservative estimate; after all, in today’s age of social networking, even ordinary users have more than just a few dozen friends.

Zhou Ziqian’s post was widely endorsed by netizens, who generally felt the claim that Lin Junjie was a pen name was rather dubious.

“Bro, the netizens are back to criticizing you!” Lin Wen pouted, holding her phone.

“Let them rant. The truth will come out sooner or later,” Lin Feng shrugged indifferently.

“Bro, you could just post your registration info from the copyright website. Then all those critics would shut up!” Lin Wen suggested.

“No rush. Zhou Ziqian is offering a million for Lin Junjie—that’s money coming straight to me. Why wouldn’t I take it?” Lin Feng grinned broadly, then asked Qin Han, “Do you have a Weibo account?”

“Yes, but I don’t have many followers.” Qin Han curled his lip in disdain. “We don’t really use this in America. If I weren’t planning to develop my career back home, I wouldn’t even bother registering. Compared to American social media like ‘Facebook,’ this thing is really lacking—so many features are missing, and…”

“Okay, okay! If you have an account, please log in.” Lin Feng handed his phone to Qin Han.

“Alright, whatever, I don’t get what you’re up to. It’s just a small account…” Qin Han muttered, but still logged in to his Weibo account on Lin Feng’s phone.

……