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Ms. Zhang was unusually excited tonight, bustling between rooms before finally settling into Shi Min’s bedroom. Wrapping herself in a blanket, she climbed onto the bed, cradled Shi Min’s face in her hands, and said, “Come on, tell Mommy all about it.”
Shi Min replied, “You were too obvious—he noticed.”
“That’s the point!” Ms. Zhang exclaimed. “You don’t understand. With kids like him, you have to be obvious with your care. If you’re not, they won’t notice, and their hearts will grow cold. Come on, tell Mommy what’s going on. I already asked your brother—he says he doesn’t know.”
“Mom, is he a good person? What do you think?”
“He’s a good kid,” Ms. Zhang said confidently. “I could tell the first time he came to our house. How could someone who watches my shows be a bad kid? I saw the light in his eyes—the way he gets teary-eyed when he’s happy. A child who cries when they’re happy and whose eyes light up when they reminisce about their childhood is a good child. Mommy knows!”
Ms. Zhang lay down, rocking her daughter gently as she asked, “So, what’s the story? Tell Mommy quickly so she can figure out how to nurture this little one properly.”
“I’m not sure—he hasn’t told me much yet,” Shi Min replied. “When he does, I’ll let you know. Stop asking—it’s late, and I’m tired.”
Disappointed, Ms. Zhang patted her daughter’s head lightly and said, “You’re still tired… Your father wanted me to remind you subtly that work is important. You need balance—young people shouldn’t stay cooped up in one place all the time. Your brain needs regular use to stay sharp.”
“I know,” Shi Min said, rolling over in bed with a sigh. “I’ve got a big project on my hands—I haven’t been resting. The preliminary research is almost done. Let’s sleep.”
“What project?” Ms. Zhang prodded curiously. “Didn’t you hand everything over to your brother?”
“This one isn’t for him,” Shi Min said. “It’s exclusive to me… Dating is also a major project, and it requires strategy. It’s mentally exhausting.”
Realization dawned on Ms. Zhang, and she smacked her daughter’s head affectionately. “Tsk! Little rascal—still full of roundabout ways.”
The bed in Shi Min’s room smelled wonderful. Luo Mingjing sank into it, enveloped by the comforting scent reminiscent of Shi Min. Before long, he drifted off to sleep, only to be gently awakened by Shi Min later.
She hadn’t turned on the lights. The room was dim, still carrying the essence of night. The glow from the streetlamp filtered through the sheer curtains, casting a warm light over half of Shi Min’s face. Her features softened in the amber hue. Luo Mingjing’s first thought was that she intended to sleep beside him, so he shifted to make room for her.
But instead, Shi Min said, “Mingjing, wake up. There’s something I need you to tell me right now.”
Luo Mingjing sat up. Shi Min turned on a small orange bedside lamp, dimmed her phone screen, and handed it to him. “Mingjing, do you have any proof that you’re the designer of Chinese Crane ?”
At the mention of Chinese Crane , Luo Mingjing snapped fully awake. He gripped the phone tightly, staring at the tweet on the screen. His expression shifted rapidly—disgust, confusion, and finally settled on sadness.
International Famous Designer Kevin Wang: @Smiling-Qianxi, see for yourself. Here’s the copyright certificate for Chinese Crane , both domestic and international, all certified by authoritative institutions. Also included are archived photos of Chinese Crane from my graduation exhibition at T University’s Fashion Design Department five years ago. Chinese Crane is my independent creation. As for the esteemed Professor Ke Ge you mentioned, he’s my thesis advisor—a man of virtue and artistic excellence. Do not slander him.
To this netizen: Prepare yourself—I’ll have my lawyer send you a cease-and-desist letter. Additionally, I reviewed your internet celebrity master’s 24 Solar Terms series. In design matters, it’s hard to say outright if something is plagiarized—similar styles can happen. Something similar occurred a year ago in Milan. A junior designer deeply admired me and confided, “Master, I’m in pain because as a designer, I’ve always looked up to your work, especially Chinese Crane . Subconsciously, I’ve been influenced, and now my creations bear traces of Chinese Crane , leaving me conflicted.” My response was: “It’s due to your limited perspective and underdeveloped aesthetic sense. You haven’t seen beyond the walls, so you lack your own insights and originality. You can only walk paths others have tread, forever living in the shadow of masters.” [Image]
Luo Mingjing’s brow furrowed deeply. His fingers trembled as he scrolled through the retweets. It was nearly midnight, yet this famous designer’s post had garnered nearly ten thousand shares.
He skimmed through quickly. Some well-known peers had retweeted in support, while T University students cheered on Professor Ke Ge and their senior alumnus. Further down, Luo Mingjing recognized some familiar IDs—loyal fans from his live streams. After reading a few of their comments, he suddenly laughed.
Pick-Up-Fairy-And-Run: …Wait, can someone explain what this designer Wang is trying to say? What’s the main idea of that last paragraph??
Fairy’s-Great-Sword-Team: [Screenshot] Let me highlight the key points for everyone. “Internet celebrity master…” Blogger, this word choice and tone make me want to lash out at you. No particular reason—I just really want to. Maybe my BS radar detected that you’re not a good person.
Maserati-Has-No-President: I don’t know what’s going on, but I stand with Fairy. I’m an unapologetically loyal fan. I don’t understand this design drama. Honestly, even if the blogger’s avatar were beautifully designed, I wouldn’t buy it. But if Fairy gave me a piece of rag, I’d still buy it. That’s how capricious rich aesthetics can be.
Shi Min asked him, “Do you have it, Mingjing? Tomorrow morning, we need to go to the company—Wang Zhenyu will be there too. After Wang Zhenyu’s tweet, we received a call from Yang He’s studio. Tomorrow, our collaborators will definitely ask about this. If we don’t handle it properly, it might affect future sales. We’re now caught in plagiarism allegations, which could harm the brand image.”
Back in the meeting room, Luo Mingjing hadn’t explained to her what he’d said to Ke Ge. When Shi Chu asked if Chinese Crane was also something he’d worked on, Luo Mingjing had simply nodded, then shook his head, remaining silent.
Luo Mingjing seemed to retreat into himself. Shi Min spoke softly, “Take your time—relax. Don’t feel pressured. Tell me slowly: do you have any evidence proving that Chinese Crane is your work?”
“You believe me,” Luo Mingjing looked up at her, his expression complex. “Shi Min, I’ve only said it once, but you believe me when I say it’s true.”
“I don’t know much about design, but some things are interconnected—I can feel it,” Shi Min said. “Chinese Crane is lively and gentle. I like it because the seven pieces in the series are both dazzlingly vibrant and authentically mysterious, embodying the subtlety of Eastern culture. It’s a thoughtful, sincere design—more like you than Kevin Wang.”
Shi Min continued calmly, “When you mentioned three collaborators and two betrayals earlier, you were referring to Chinese Crane , weren’t you? Wang Zhenyu claims Chinese Crane is his independent creation. What about the other collaborator?”
“The other person… submitted a new thesis, completed their studies, and graduated,” Luo Mingjing replied. After a long pause, he added, “Sorry, compared to Wang Zhenyu, I don’t want to talk about him… He has nothing to do with Chinese Crane . Please… don’t ask about him anymore.”
“Alright.”
“Shi Min…” Luo Mingjing stared at the sheets, asking softly, “Am I… too much trouble? Sorry for bringing all this…”
Before he could finish, Shi Min covered his mouth. Though seemingly angry, she smiled as she said, “Luo Mingjing, no matter how slow you pretend to be, you can’t fool me. You know I consider you family. Between family, there’s no such thing as trouble. Helping you get rid of trouble is what family does. Besides…”
Her left corner of the mouth twitched slightly as she smiled. “What’s your level of trouble? My mom’s issues with the TV station, my dad’s affairs, my brother’s drama with Yang He—all of them caused upheavals. Big troubles follow small ones. Compared to those, your trouble is just a sesame seed—we don’t even blink at it in our family.”
Luo Mingjing remained silent. Shi Min twirled a strand of his limp hair between her fingers and said, “It’s fine if there’s no evidence to prove it—I’m prepared. If you had evidence, you wouldn’t have stayed silent for so many years… Don’t worry, Luo Mingjing. Wang Zhenyu is easy to deal with. And public opinion? Pfft…”
Shi Min sneered. “For a family like ours, with four generations in entertainment, public opinion is the easiest thing to control. Whether or not you can prove yourself, I have ways to keep you far from the center of attention. It won’t affect you in the slightest, so don’t feel too pressured.”
“I have evidence.”
Suddenly, Luo Mingjing looked up and said to Shi Min, “I have evidence proving Chinese Crane is mine.”
“…Really?”
“Shi Min, the current owner of Chinese Crane is Wang Zhenyu. He holds the copyright certificates, and all honors are in his name,” Luo Mingjing said. “Both domestically and internationally, everyone in the design world knows the creator of Chinese Crane as Kevin Wang. If I… if I want to reclaim what’s mine now, you should know that this will cause a huge stir worldwide. It’s difficult, Shi Min… very difficult. Five years have passed. He’s built his resources, connections, and profit chains around Chinese Crane . This is no longer a simple rights protection issue…”
But Shi Min lightly flicked his forehead and asked, “Mingjing, what do you usually call me?”
“Big Sister… President,” Luo Mingjing replied blankly.
The cat named President meowed in the room.
Shi Min chuckled. “Do you think my title as President is just a name, like the cat’s?”
She continued, “Luo Mingjing, I’m behind you, and behind me stands eighty years of Haolan International—a cornerstone of the entertainment industry. It’s not arrogance, but getting back your stolen work from a nobody like Wang Zhenyu is no challenge at all. You have concerns, but I don’t.”
She asked, “Where’s the evidence?”
“On my old computer,” Luo Mingjing hesitated, pushed aside his doubts, and took a deep breath.
Retrieving his Clear Sky Cranes from Wang Zhenyu and Li Xiang… these are two separate matters. Wang Zhenyu likely wouldn’t bring up the unrelated incident to divert attention.
Luo Mingjing said, “The old computer is in the studio, but it might need time to repair.”
As he changed clothes, he explained, “That piece was originally called Clear Sky Cranes . The inspiration came from… casual conversations over meals with my childhood friend. Initially, we agreed it would be our joint thesis project. Later, our advisor, Professor Ke Ge, brought in Wang Zhenyu. Wang Zhenyu is a distant relative of Ke Ge’s, and since our graduation grades were at stake, we couldn’t refuse. But I resented it and planned to file a complaint against him once I got my diploma…”
Luo Mingjing forced a bitter smile. “My childhood friend and I were in Hai City… working on drafts in the studio we co-owned. Wang Zhenyu never participated in the design process. But that was expected—this so-called collaboration only involved adding his name to the final product. I didn’t mind; it was better if he stayed out of the design process.”
He put on his coat, tied his hair, and lowered his gaze. “In May, after submitting the second draft, something serious happened at home… Things got complicated. I ended up in the police station. Wang Zhenyu said he’d come to Hai City to visit me, but actually, he came to…”
He struggled for a moment, searching for the right words. Finally, under Shi Min’s gentle touch, he slowly continued, “When I got out in September, only Qianqian was there. She brought me my laptop, saying that Wang Zhenyu had taken all the paper drafts except for two or three surviving ones. Someone had poured water on the computer, and she didn’t dare touch it. She dried it bit by bit and asked me to check if it still worked.”
Luo Mingjing subtly avoided Shi Min’s gaze, quickly wiping away the tears threatening to spill, and forced a smile. “Actually, what I originally intended to create would have been even better than the current Chinese Crane . They took the second draft, and Ke Ge made some refinements… added some cloud patterns. So, Shi Min, apart from those cloud patterns, everything else in the seven-piece Chinese Crane series is mine. They don’t know why I created seven pieces or why the second draft had a ‘to-be-revised’ mark on the left sleeve. Although it’s called Clear Sky Cranes , the theme isn’t cranes—it’s the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove.”
Shi Min asked softly, “Have you never tried opening that computer to look?”
“…No.” Luo Mingjing exhaled deeply. “By the time I wanted to retrieve my work, years had passed. Shi Min, I’m sorry… Right now, I’m just trying my hardest to live. I can’t afford to think about anything else.”
“I know. I understand,” Shi Min said with a faint smile. She turned around, dialed the company’s number, and her smile vanished instantly. Coldly, she ordered, “Unleash the leash. Expose his alternate accounts. I need you to buy us a day. Also, everyone in PR and affairs—first conference room, 8 AM tomorrow.”
“Understood.”
Luo Mingjing asked, “What?”
“Wang Zhenyu’s alternate account,” Shi Min explained. “The same person who mocked your education level. Soon, someone will expose the similarities between two Weibo accounts, revealing that Zeus-Thunder-In-Hand belongs to Wang Zhenyu. Then, we’ll shift the focus to the people implicated in his alternate account—like Yang He, respected elder Shao, and the Three-Terrace stage director. Once the spotlight shifts, we’ll have time to prepare our countermeasures. Naturally, public trust in him will collapse. Everyone he’s insulted—collaborators, colleagues, elders—will become a web trapping him.”
Shi Min narrowed her eyes, smiling faintly. “The time we buy should be enough to repair the computer and retrieve the design drafts. Let’s go, Mingjing. No rush—we’ll take it step by step.”
Shi Min extended her hand and said, “Let me teach you something—a saying from our grandfather.”
“When dealing with enemies, show no mercy. Roll right over them—slowly, until they’re crushed.”
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