How can you ascend to heaven when you are a star?

Chapter 449 Making a Conclusion
On the morning of the 28th, 40 hours had passed since the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee issued its announcement, but the public outcry had not cooled down; on the contrary, it had intensified.

The comment section below the announcement has become a battlefield for netizens to vent their frustrations. Some are more tolerant and demand answers, while others are more irritable and resort to insults.

Some people even followed Sun Shiping's example and swore on behalf of others that if the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee did not release the investigation results within 48 hours, they would make all the members of the organizing committee suffer from dementia.

Although the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee reminded the public in its announcement that unscientific speculations such as "swearing to come true" could easily lead to the spread of false information and advised everyone to view it rationally, when it really came to this, they were also worried that they might suffer from Alzheimer's disease like Tian Boyang and his son Tian Yu. Therefore, Liu Jiahui, the head of the public relations department, immediately contacted the chairman to report on the online public opinion.

She couldn't bear the responsibility if her negligence led to everyone in the association developing Alzheimer's disease.

"President, what do we do now?" Liu Jiahui asked cautiously.

In the past few days, she hadn't seen the president smile at all; he always had a stern face, as if someone owed him money.

Zheng Jinpeng picked up the report, his gaze sweeping over the dense text, his expression growing increasingly grim.

The hashtag “Golden Melody Awards statement lacks sincerity” has garnered over 100 million views, and the video of Sun Shiping collapsing outside his hospital room has accumulated over 10 million views across various platforms. Some netizens have even edited the video into numerous parody videos to satirize the music association’s evasive behavior.

"Damn it!" Zheng Jinpeng slammed the report onto his desk.

He originally wanted to hold back for a few days to let the heat of the matter die down before slowly releasing the conclusion that 'Tian Boyang violated regulations'.

What he didn't expect was that netizens' attention to this matter not only didn't subside, but instead continued to harp on it and even started playing tricks on him.

It seems we can't delay any longer!
"Immediately draft an 'investigation report,' stating that the investigation is complete, and then pin all the blame on Tian Boyang. The reason given is favoritism and cheating. As for the outcome, the Music Association will officially dismiss Tian Boyang from his advisory position, remove him from his positions as head of the judging panel and all related posts, and permanently ban him from employment," Zheng Jinpeng said coldly.

"Release it now? Aren't we waiting for 'evidence'?" Liu Jiahui was stunned. As far as she knew, the investigation team was only established yesterday and had not yet begun questioning the members of the review panel.

"What evidence are we waiting for?" Zheng Jinpeng said irritably. "If we keep waiting, we won't get any evidence, but the reputation of the association and the Golden Melody Awards will be ruined first."

"What about the awards? Which awards will be adjusted?" Liu Jiahui asked.

Zheng Jinpeng pondered for a moment before saying, "Let's adjust the awards for Best Lyricist and Best Newcomer Group and give them to Zhang Wen and Future Girls. By the way, don't announce the adjustment results in this survey statement yet. Just say that we are currently re-statistics and will make a decision based on the trend later."

"Okay, President." Liu Jiahui didn't ask any more questions and turned to leave the president's office.

Half an hour later, the official Weibo account of the Golden Melody Awards Organizing Committee updated again with the title: "Preliminary Investigation Report on the Irregularities in the Judging of This Year's Golden Melody Awards".

Dear music lovers, media friends, and people from all walks of life:

Following an urgent investigation by a special investigation team, the preliminary investigation report on the irregularities discovered during the judging process of this year's Golden Melody Awards is as follows:

I. Verification Results. The investigation team, through reviewing the judging records and verifying the testimonies of relevant personnel, confirmed that the head of the judging panel, Tian Boyang, committed serious misconduct during the judging of this year's Golden Melody Awards. Due to personal preferences, he arbitrarily modified the judging scores of the entries, thereby compromising the impartiality of the judging process.

II. Determination of Responsibility. All of the aforementioned violations were committed by Tian Boyang abusing his position. The Golden Melody Awards Organizing Committee was completely unaware of these actions prior to their conclusion. This behavior constitutes a serious violation of the judging rules, undermines industry fairness, and damages the reputation of the Golden Melody Awards, thus constituting gross dereliction of duty.

III. Decision. The Music Association has officially expelled Tian Boyang from membership, and the Golden Melody Awards Organizing Committee has removed him from his positions as head of the judging panel and all related posts, barring him from future employment. Furthermore, a new review process has been initiated for any works involving modified scores.

IV. Rectification Commitment. The organizing committee will improve the review and supervision mechanism. In the future, members of the review panel will be required to sign a "Commitment to Integrity in Review," which will be made public online. The entire review and scoring process will be video-recorded and archived. Five netizens will be invited to participate in the review and supervision to ensure transparency of the process.

We appreciate the supervision and tolerance from all sectors of society. The Golden Melody Awards will learn from this incident, uphold its commitment to fairness, professionalism, and transparency, eliminate any violations, and safeguard the development of the music industry.

Hereby declare.

Golden Melody Awards Organizing Committee.

After the statement was released, the internet instantly went wild again, with the number of reposts exceeding 20,000 in just a few minutes.

However, public opinion has been divided on this statement, sparking a new debate online.

"Finally, there are results. I didn't expect the investigation team to be so efficient. Thumbs up to the investigation team."

"The investigation team is amazing; they caught Tian Boyang so quickly."

"Despite the criticism, the organizing committee's attitude is commendable, especially the dismissal of Tian Boyang, the re-evaluation, and the improvement of the oversight mechanism. These three points are all to the point, and I hope they can be truly implemented. I look forward to the next Golden Melody Awards."

"Tian Boyang, as the head of the judging panel, actually altered the results without authorization. He deserves to suffer from dementia; this is retribution."

Some people approve of the organizing committee's quick response and call for giving the committee a chance to correct its mistakes; however, others feel that the organizing committee is shirking its responsibility.

"Hilarious! Putting all the blame on an elderly person with dementia? Doesn't the organizing committee bear any responsibility at all?"

"How could Tian Boyang arbitrarily change the scores? Didn't anyone else see it? Didn't anyone question the results? He's clearly treating everyone like fools."

"The excuse of individual behavior is untenable. The organizing committee has a duty to supervise the judging panel. The fact that Tian Boyang's violation went unnoticed for so long is itself a dereliction of duty."

"Which works did Tian Boyang change the ratings for, and why hasn't it been announced?"

Unsurprisingly, the latest survey report released by the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee has once again become a trending topic.

However, compared to the last time, there were significantly more netizens supporting the organizing committee this time. After all, the fact that the investigation results were released so quickly is extremely rare. This speed alone was enough to extinguish the anger of many netizens and gain their forgiveness.

In his office, Zheng Jinpeng looked at the supportive comments online and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

He leaned back on the sofa, took a sip of his tea, and felt a sense of relief after days of anxiety.

Although there are still doubts, at least most netizens accepted the survey results, which can be considered to have stabilized the situation.

"Let's hope nothing else goes wrong."

Zheng Jinpeng muttered to himself.

Shenzhen Central Hospital.

Zhang Wen sat on a bench in the courtyard, his phone screen still displaying the survey statement recently released by the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee.

"Personal behavior?" Zhang Wen frowned, a mocking sneer curling at the corner of his mouth.

The investigation report appears to be swift and efficient, but it is actually riddled with loopholes.

Tian Boyang is only the head of the judging panel. The final judging results will be handed over to the organizing committee. Anyone would believe that the organizing committee knows nothing.

And Tian Boyang did all that work on changing the ratings all by himself?
how can that be!

It's clear they're pushing Tian Boyang out as a scapegoat.

Zhang Wen is not the kind of person who holds a grudge, but the organizing committee's repeated evasive handling of the situation has completely worn him down.

What is this called?
This is called not knowing how to seize an opportunity.

It's like toothpaste; you only squeeze out a little bit each time, which shows a complete lack of sincerity.

The news has been trending for so long, it's time to bring it to a close.

Zhang Wen put his phone away, got up and walked into the hospital, but instead of taking the elevator, he went into the emergency exit.

He took a white coat out of his bag and put it on, took off his hat and stuffed it into the bag. When he got to the 12th floor, he threw the bag into the corner, straightened his back and walked out of the emergency exit.

In the corridor, a dozen or so reporters and netizens remained outside ward 1208.

Despite the hospital's deployment of security guards to maintain order in the VIP area, it couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of reporters and netizens for Tian Boyang and Tian Yu.

"Please be quiet, everyone." Zhang Wen walked over, his voice serious and authoritative. "This is the VIP ward area. Patients need to rest quietly. Your noise will disturb the other patients' rest."

Reporters and netizens are used to being driven away and warned by hospital staff, so they didn't pay much attention to what the 'doctor' said.

One reporter even raised his phone, recording a video while asking, "Doctor, we just want to know about Tian Boyang and Tian Yu's condition, please tell us."

“We will inform the family about the patient’s condition; it’s none of your business,” Zhang Wen said calmly. “Now, please step back and don’t block the ward door. I’m going in to make my rounds.”

People instinctively made way for them, and even the hospital security guards assumed it was a doctor making rounds and didn't stop him.

Zhang Wen pushed the door open and went inside. As he closed the door, he reminded everyone, "Keep your voices down, don't disturb the patients. This is a hospital, not a market."

The ward was quiet, with the curtains half-drawn.

Tian Boyang and Tian Yu sat on their respective hospital beds, staring blankly out the window, like two soulless sculptures, showing no reaction even when people came to the ward.

Zhang Wen summoned the divine artifact, the Discipline Ruler, from the Wenqu Tower. He first went behind Tian Boyang, tamed the Foolish Demon King above Tian Boyang's head, and put it into the Wenqu Tower. Then he went behind Tian Yu, tamed the Foolish Demon King above Tian Yu's head, and put it into the Wenqu Tower.

After doing all this, he didn't linger. He turned around, opened the door, and, still in the demeanor of a doctor, walked expressionlessly through the crowd, heading straight for the safety passage.

Time passed by minute by minute.

In the evening, a commotion suddenly came from ward 1208.

"Xiaoyu, what are you doing here?" Tian Boyang was the first to come to his senses, looking at his son sitting behind him with a puzzled expression.

Also, why is this a hospital? Shouldn't I be backstage at the New Year's Eve rehearsal?
Tian Yu was startled and turned his gaze away from the window.

Looking into his father's clear eyes, his own eyes were filled with disbelief. "Dad, you...you recognize me?" Tian Yu quickly got out of bed and went to his father, waving his hand in front of the man's eyes. "You, you're better?"

"What's this about good or bad? You haven't gotten into any trouble again, have you?" Tian Boyang asked, his eyes wide.

Hearing the familiar words, Tian Yu breathed a sigh of relief and explained, "Dad, you had cognitive impairment before, and you didn't even recognize me. You kept repeating 'The trophy belongs to Zhang Wen,' which scared me to death. So, when I heard the news, I immediately rushed from Beijing to take care of you. Thank God, you're finally better."

“Cognitive impairment?” Tian Boyang frowned, trying hard to recall, but apart from what happened backstage at the rehearsal, he couldn’t remember anything else.

"It's Alzheimer's disease, it's even on the news." Tian Yu said, taking his phone out of his pocket, only to find that it was out of battery.

"Me, Alzheimer's?" Tian Boyang's lips twitched, then he retorted angrily, "Who are you cursing? How could I possibly have Alzheimer's? Your dad's perfectly sharp."

"You still don't believe me? I'll go find a doctor right now and have him tell you." Tian Yu said, and went to open the door. Just as he was about to go out, he was blocked by a surging crowd.

A dozen reporters and netizens held up DSLR cameras and mobile phones, all pointing their lenses at Tian Yu and the hospital room.

After several days of waiting, the reward finally came.

"What are you trying to do?" Tian Yu asked, frowning.

This question stunned everyone outside the door.

This person seems fine; they don't appear to have cognitive impairment.

"We...we'd like to interview you," one of the reporters said quietly after regaining his composure.

A reporter nearby tugged at the sleeve of the colleague who had just spoken, then looked at Tian Yu and tentatively asked, "Do you know who you are?"

“I’m your father!” Tian Yu said irritably.

Do they think he's an idiot? How could they ask such a mindless question?
He didn't want to argue with these people, so he pushed them aside while saying, "Get out of the way, I need to find a doctor."

Upon hearing this, everyone's faces showed surprise. This was clearly not a cognitive impairment; he was just a normal person.

"Family members!" an online influencer who was live-streaming excitedly shouted, "Breaking news! Breaking news! Tian Yu has regained consciousness! Tian Yu's Alzheimer's is cured!"

One sentence was enough to wake everyone up.

The crowd cornered Tian Yu again, bombarding him with questions.

"Tian Yu, how did you recover so quickly? The news and doctors said you had cognitive impairment. Was it a misdiagnosis by the hospital, or were you faking it?" A reporter in the front row asked first.
"Tian Yu, you were diagnosed with Alzheimer's a few days ago. Was it caused by that oath? Now that you're getting better, have you realized your mistakes?"

"Family members, if you have any questions, type them in the chat and I'll ask them for you..."

Tian Yu looked at the people in front of him with a puzzled expression and said, "You've asked the wrong person, haven't you? I'm Tian Yu, and the one with Alzheimer's is my dad."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at each other, thinking: Could it be that Tian Yu has recovered, but has forgotten what happened when he had Alzheimer's?
However, no sooner had Tian Yu finished speaking than a roar came from the ward: "You're the one with dementia! I've already told you, your dad is perfectly fine."

The area outside the ward fell silent instantly. The reporters' hands, holding up their DSLR cameras, froze in mid-air, and the anchors' hands, holding up their phones, also stopped. Everyone stood motionless as if they had been struck by lightning, all with shocked expressions, as if they had seen a ghost.

There were only two people in ward 1208: Tian Yu and Tian Boyang.

Standing in front of everyone now is Tian Yu, so the voice coming from the ward should be... Tian Boyang's?
Tian Yu in front of them was clear-headed and had a fiery temper, while Tian Boyang in the ward had a loud and energetic voice. Neither of them seemed to have any cognitive impairment.
"Mr. Tian, ​​you're awake now?" The reporter in the front row was the first to react, sticking his DSLR camera through the crack in the door and starting to press the shutter, regardless of whether he could actually get a picture.

The ward door was then pulled open, and Tian Boyang, wearing a hospital gown, walked out, saying angrily, "What do you mean by 'sober or not'? I'm not sick at all, what are you all doing blocking the door and making a fuss about?"

His appearance instantly caused a stir in the corridor.

The camera shutters clicked away incessantly, and the live stream comments on the phone refreshed at a rate of dozens of messages per second. The internet celebrity was so excited that his voice cracked.

"Family members, breaking news! Tian Boyang is cured too! Both father and son are cured! It's a miracle! What do you all think about this? If you think it's fake, type 1; if you think it was a misdiagnosis by the hospital, type 2; if you think there's more to it, type 3."

The reporters swarmed around Tian Boyang, surrounding him completely.

"Teacher Tian, ​​it's rumored online that you suffered a cerebral hemorrhage because of Zhang Wen, which led to your cognitive impairment. Is that true?"

"Teacher Tian, ​​there were rumors that you had Alzheimer's disease and didn't even recognize your son, and kept saying 'the trophy belongs to Zhang Wen.' What's going on?"

"Teacher Tian, ​​the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee issued a statement this morning saying that you 'personally violated regulations by modifying scores,' and also removed you from your positions as head of the judging panel and all related posts. The Music Association has also expelled you. Are you aware of these things?"

"What did you say?" Tian Boyang stood there, stunned.

A reporter took out his phone, found the survey results released by the Golden Melody Awards organizing committee, and then displayed the screen in front of Tian Boyang.

Tian Boyang took it and read it word by word. The more he read, the darker his face became and the worse his mood got.

Although he didn't know when he developed Alzheimer's, he clearly saw the content on Weibo. The Golden Melody Awards committee was pushing all the blame onto him, clearly trying to make him take the fall.

Why? Why betray him?
He was clearly following Chairman Zheng's instructions, isn't this just discarding someone after they've served their purpose?

"Mr. Tian, ​​what would you like to say about this statement?" the reporter asked.

"It's fake, all fake!" Tian Boyang denied it without hesitation. This matter concerned his reputation, and admitting it would be a disgrace to the entire music industry. "I, Tian Boyang, have been a judge for over ten years and have never done anything wrong. Every round of scoring has to be submitted to the organizing committee for review, and Vice President Sun Shiping even signed it. How could I change the scores by myself? Where is Sun Shiping? Where is he?"

These words immediately sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd.

The organizing committee said this was Tian Boyang's "personal behavior," but Tian Boyang said there was "review and signature," which is clearly contradictory.

Who is lying?

At the same time, the live streaming rooms of several online streamers also exploded. Originally, there were only a few thousand people, but now they all have more than 10 people, and the number is still rising.

"Holy crap! So the organizing committee knew all along, and Sun Shiping even signed off on it. Isn't this a case of collective cover-up?"

"It seems that the organizing committee was behind closed doors. They wanted to shift the blame to Tian Boyang, who suffers from dementia, when things went wrong. Who would have thought that Tian Boyang would recover?"

"I used to think the organizing committee handled things quickly, but now it seems like it was all a lie. Tian Boyang woke up just in time."

Tian Yu stood beside his father at this moment, "Dad, I told you you couldn't possibly have Alzheimer's. Someone must be pulling strings behind the scenes. Sun Shiping came to the ward a few days ago and told me not to mention to outsiders that 'you said the trophy should go to Zhang Wen.' Now that I think about it, he was just afraid that you would tell the truth when you were lucid!"

“Sun Shiping?” Tian Boyang raised an eyebrow. He had been with Sun Shiping backstage at the New Year’s Eve gala.

He returned the phone to the reporter, but his mind was filled with doubt. Why were they all saying he had Alzheimer's? When did he get Alzheimer's?
"Can any of you tell me what exactly happened?" Tian Boyang couldn't help but ask.

"I'll speak!" The reporter standing at the front raised his hand high and quickly recounted the events of the past few days, starting from when Tian Boyang was sent to the hospital.

After the reporter finished speaking, other reporters around him added their comments, and it wasn't long before Tian Boyang learned everything. Tian Yu also learned that he had been suffering from dementia for several days.

"I didn't swear, I'm innocent!" Tian Yu said loudly. "The photos on Weibo were all staged by Sun Shiping at my request, and the content on Weibo was also posted by Sun Shiping. It has nothing to do with me. He also promised to give me a kickback of 1.05 million yuan, but he still hasn't given it to me."

One stone caused a thousand waves!

The reporters all turned their cameras on Tian Yu again. Everyone had previously believed that what Tian Yu said on Tian Boyang's Weibo was true, but they never expected that it was all orchestrated by Vice President Sun Shiping.

Suddenly, everyone turned their attention to Sun Shiping, realizing that he was the one orchestrating everything behind the scenes.

An online influencer was so excited that his hands were trembling as he watched the number of viewers in his live stream increase rapidly.

20! We've already surpassed 20 people. We must seize this massive influx of traffic.

Then, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Family members, it's confirmed! It was all Sun Shiping's doing—staged photos, proxy postings, backroom deals—this vice president is too shady!"

Upon seeing this, a nearby anchor also shouted, "Family members, did you all hear that? Sun Shiping not only swore an oath for Tian Yu, but also promised to give Tian Yu 1.05 million yuan as hush money!"

Public opinion instantly shifted from Tian Boyang to Sun Shiping, and even the music association, which had been rarely mentioned, became the target of netizens' fierce criticism.

A five-star hotel in Shenzhen.

Sun Shiping was having dinner with some old friends, celebrating the end of the farce. He had just taken a sip of wine when his cell phone suddenly rang.

He picked up his phone and looked at the screen; it was Fan Cheng's number.

"Hey, what's going on?"

"Vice President, something terrible has happened! Tian Boyang and his son Tian Yu have woken up. Tian Boyang says that all the judging was approved by you, and Tian Yu says that you posted all the Weibo posts on his behalf. He also claims that you owe him 1.05 million yuan in hush money..."

"Crack!"

The phone fell to the ground. Sun Shiping sat there blankly, his face deathly pale, only two words echoing in his mind:
Finished!

He could already picture himself being pushed out by the chairman to take the blame.

……

(End of this chapter)