Shui's adamant decision posed a big problem for Zhan Yahui. For the past five years, Jun had completely lost himself in grief and alcohol and this was the golden chance to put the last strike on his heart. It would break him forever.
But before Zhan Yahui could play the last card to force Shui, another problem crept before her in the form of Xing Bi.
Xing Bi, who had lost her job at Dream shortly after Ai left Beijing, passed the five years scraping by and hopping between multiple jobs, barely making any money for herself. But she had never stopped believing in Ai and one such day, she caught sight of one of the Summit's judges in a bar where she did odd jobs.
Xing Bi had recognized him and she immediately asked, "You are that judge…"
"Ah?" He was totally drunk but amidst his haziness, he managed to see her. "Who are you?"
"Zhou Ai's editor," she lowered her gaze. "...was her editor."
"Ah? Who is Zhou Ai?"
Xing Bi clenched her fists. "She is an awesome writer! She is the best writer! How dare you forget her! She participated in Authors' Summit."
"Huh…?" Suddenly his eyes widened. "Aahhhhh. THAT Zhou Ai? Where that other one won right…? W-what was her name?" He stammered, drunk. "Yeah Cai Guiying. The popular one right now…"
"Ai…" she bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. "Ai would have become popular too…super popular. Only if Dream High had given her a chance…"
He laughed. "No way…Zhou Ai would have never-" he hiccuped, "gone far hahaha…"
She glared at him, feeling an urge to punch him. "She is an awesome writer! I know it. She just needed good opportunities which Dream High never gave her…That doesn't mean that she didn't deserve rising to the top."
"You don't understand," he laughed again and made 'Sshh' gesture, "This is a secret…Nobody knows this. Only me and that o-other judge…"
Xing Bi furrowed her brows. "Secret?"
He chuckled and leaned forward, signaling her to do the same and whispered. "The Summit was fixed."
She froze.
"T-that Summit…and the re-results," he felt dizzier, "were already pre-decided…Doesn't matter what Zhou Ai did. My vote was bought for Cai Guiying and so for the other judge."
"...What?" Xing Bi stared at him, flabbergasted. "Y-You mean Ai was supposed to be the winner of the Summit?"
"...Ah?" His head rolled left and right. "What?"
"I am asking if Ai was supposed to win the Summit!?"
"Hey, hey don't shout. My h-head aches…" he hiccuped, "What do I know…We don't know who…was the winner, b-but it didn't matter. Irrespective of it…Cai Guiying would…have…won…"
Xing Bi couldn't believe the truth she accidentally stumbled upon. She had tons of questions to ask him but he had already passed out.
Who…? Who would have bribed the judges! This is preposterous and blatantly unethical!
She gnashed her jaw, feeling furious on Ai's behalf. If Ai was plotted against such a prestigious competition then how much of Ai's failure contributed to her own lack of talent all this time?
Was it really that Ai was less talented than Guiying or was she purposely pushed back to kill all competition against Guiying?
Suddenly all those past years of Ai's failures didn't feel so simple to Xing Bi, and so she promised to herself that she would unearth the truth at any cost.
For the following months, she did everything in her power, including talking to that judge she came across in the bar to know in detail about the rigged results, but nothing came to fruition. He refused any such claims of talking about the Summit to Xing Bi and neither did she have any evidence to support it.
But since Guiying won the Summit and she went so far in her career, her suspicions naturally upon her and Zhan Yahui.
"But Ai and Guiying were best friends! Why would she do this…"
She remembered that Ai broke up with Yating after which he began to date Guiying.
She gasped. "Is it because she felt jealous of Ai and Yating's relationship? Is it because she loved Yating too that she went against Ai?"
She didn't know if it was true or not but she swore upon her name that she would dig out the truth and give Ai her rightful place. After a certain point when she felt helpless to find out any way, she hired a private investigator to look into Guiying and Zhan Yahui.
A few months later, he too had suspicions that somebody was doing something in the background to make things in Guiying's favor. Majority of resources and promotions went to her. Yating's relationship with Ai had also fallen apart and the Chief Editor now dated the popular writer.
Everything was so perfect for Cai Guiying, whether career or love wise that even the investigator felt odd about it.
"They are being very cautious and also cunning about this. They are not leaving any evidence and they are not doing anything directly. It's like they are manipulating others to do what they want."
"Guiying or Zhan Yahui can hide or play smart as much as they want! But I won't let this go…" Xing Bi trembled. "I will prove it to the world that Ai was wronged!"
The stubbornness that Xing Bi showed naturally didn't bode well with Zhan Yahui, who was already aware that she was being investigated.
"I cannot let her roam around anymore," she coldly said to Hou Lin, "she won't stop until she digs out something against me. She is hell bent on bringing the truth out, and I cannot let that happen. Everything is going just as I wanted and I cannot let her of all people ruin it for me," she smiled. "It's unfortunate but she must die. We can deal with the investigator later."
The next day was the last day of her life as Xing Bi set out to meet the investigator to work upon the clues. But her car's brakes failed, and it skidded and crashed hard into a tree.
"Ai…I will…prove…just wait…please…Ai…" she mumbled as she took her last breath, her eyes getting blurred by the dripping blood from her forehead. Her injuries were so severe that she couldn't last until the ambulance arrived.
"Why is everyone gathered there?" A man asked sometime later as he looked out of his car's window, passing by that location.
"It seems an accident has happened, young master."
"I see..."
By then, the ambulance had arrived. Xing Bi was taken out of the car and laid on the ambulance stretcher.
A pair of black eyes stared at Xing Bi's dead body on that stretcher.
"Young master Nian? Is something the matter?"
Nian's stupor broke and he softly said, "Nothing," his eyelashes flickered once, "Or maybe yes. It's strange. I don't know who she is...was. But I feel this sense of loss as if…I have lost somebody really important to me."
This 𝓬ontent is taken from fre𝒆webnove(l).𝐜𝐨𝗺