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The computer on the table was on, and the screen displayed Luo Mingjing’s live stream. Wang Zhenyu sat at the edge of the table in an odd posture, leaning close to the socket with his phone charging.
The phone had become scorching hot, but calls kept coming in despite it being 2:30 AM.
Notifications for text messages, emails, and missed calls flooded in one after another. After finishing an international long-distance call, Wang Zhenyu barely had time to curse before answering another call inquiring about the situation.
Some were collaborators asking him to contact them during work hours to discuss contract termination. Others were investors informing him that they had received news and planned to replace him as a consultant, demanding an explanation of the current situation. There were also friendly colleagues calling to ask questions and offer comfort.
As for his other phone—the one registered under the Weibo account Zeus-Thunder-In-Hand—it had been powered off since receiving calls from Yuefeng Entertainment and Yang He’s agent two hours ago.
When Yuefeng Entertainment and Yang He’s agent called, they directly addressed him as Mr. Wang Zhenyu and requested that he visit Yuefeng Entertainment the next day.
Both parties spoke euphemistically and arranged to meet at the same location, claiming they wanted to help him resolve the issue and hoping he would cooperate to handle this crisis.
Wang Zhenyu immediately ended the call and turned off the phone.
He deeply regretted his impulsive decision to hang up on Luo Mingjing earlier. Nervously staring at the screen, he watched as the familiar laptop was gradually disassembled. The young man with black-framed glasses appeared to be repairing the data.
Wang Zhenyu thought, “I shouldn’t have hesitated back then…”
He realized he wasn’t ruthless enough to achieve great things. At that time, he should have taken the laptop with him.
Back then, after failing to receive the third draft and hearing that Luo Mingjing had been detained, he went to Haishi to investigate. After learning the situation, he discussed with Li Xiang: “Let’s list you as the main designer and put him last. This is causing delays. With the exhibition hall already being set up, we can’t afford to waste time. Hurry up and get the third draft… Oh right, won’t his enrollment be revoked? Can he still graduate? His thesis grade will likely be affected too. What bad luck I have, ending up with such a team…”
Li Xiang didn’t want to talk much over the phone and simply told him he was busy, instructing Wang Zhenyu to wait at the studio until he returned in the evening to discuss further.
Wang Zhenyu knew that Li Xiang, like Luo Mingjing, looked down on him for piggybacking on their graduation project. With Luo Mingjing in trouble, his graduation and thesis were uncertain, and Li Xiang might have been plotting to monopolize the project.
Wang Zhenyu arrived at the studio in Haishi and waited. The place looked like it had been vandalized—broken windows and doors, walls splattered with paint—but someone seemed to have tidied up. The sofas and tables in the rest area were rearranged, though the TV screen was shattered, the floor was clear of debris.
Strangely, no one was guarding the place. Unable to sit still, Wang Zhenyu wandered around the studio, opening drawers to examine their contents. The studio, which Li Xiang and Luo Mingjing co-owned, was used for advanced high school art classes. The cabinets were filled with students’ assignments, both corrected and uncorrected.
Next to the rest area was a small storage room. Wang Zhenyu opened the door and found it piled with Luo Mingjing’s belongings.
Unfinished drafts, a laptop, and various daily necessities like a toothbrush cup and a half-empty bottle of water…
Everything appeared to have been hastily dumped there without being sorted or cleaned.
As Wang Zhenyu flipped through the drafts, a dangerous idea suddenly emerged in his mind. The mere thought of it excited him to the point of trembling.
He rolled up the drafts and stuffed them into a drawing tube. Biting his tongue, he turned on the laptop and tried possible passwords on the keyboard.
Unfortunately, he knew too little about Luo Mingjing and failed to unlock the computer after two attempts.
Just then, Luo Mingjing’s younger sister returned. The girl’s shrill voice erupted into curses as soon as she saw him entering a password. She lunged at him, scratching wildly.
Recalling the incident, Wang Zhenyu still felt angry.
He fought with the girl, leaving scratch marks all over his arms. In a fit of rage, he grabbed her by the hair and shoved her aside, glaring and shouting, “Accusing me of stealing, huh?”
Fuming, he smashed the laptop and poured water on it, yelling, “Fuck your grandpa! I came here in good faith to collect the assignment, and everything got ruined because of you! You wretched brat…”
The girl sobbed, clutching her scalp, blocking the door and cursing repeatedly in panic.
“Fuck off! Even if I’m trash, I’m not as trashy as Luo Mingjing! Keep cursing, and I’ll rip your mouth apart!”
Enraged, Wang Zhenyu acted like a mad dog. He remembered hitting her, anger burning his head. Leaving the studio, he panted heavily and called his uncle Ke Ge to vent his frustration: “What kind of bullshit is this? It’s driving me crazy!”
Later, still fuming, he passed by Hai Bridge and threw the drafts into the water, watching them soak and sink out of sight.
“Screw you for accusing me of stealing… Stealing your damn…”
At 3 AM, Wang Zhenyu deeply regretted his actions.
His temper was explosive, and when provoked, he only wanted to blow everything up. Having vented by throwing away the drafts, he returned empty-handed and endured a scolding from his uncle. Left with no choice, he worked overnight for two weeks based on the second draft his uncle had collected earlier, completing his graduation project.
He didn’t know what his uncle said to Li Xiang, but it likely involved leveraging the graduation certificate. In the end, on the night before the graduation exhibition, when the student responsible for labeling handed him the creator card for Clear Sky Cranes , he realized that his name was the only one listed as the creator.
Two months later, Li Xiang submitted a replacement project, and his uncle let him pass.
Afterward, Clear Sky Cranes was sent to a partner university as an outstanding graduation project. Later, Wang Zhenyu participated in a Sino-Italian exchange program, renaming it Chinese Crane and taking it overseas to gain prestige.
Despite some hiccups, everything went relatively smoothly overall.
Wang Zhenyu rubbed his temples and answered another call. On the other end was his uncle Ke Ge. A wave of grievance and indignation surged in his heart, and he cursed everyone over the phone. When his uncle mentioned that Luo Mingjing had hooked up with Shi Min, he kicked the chair in anger, shouting, “I knew it! No wonder! Damn those bastards who kick people while they’re down… He’s bringing up old accounts now, huh? It’s been so many years—why dig it up again? Doesn’t he feel ashamed? I sure do—it’s embarrassing even abroad! What a fucking idiot… How could he think he has the right to demand anything? Fine, he’s using his rich bitch to withdraw my investments and cancel my program collaborations, even dragging the shadow queen to pressure me. Who gave him the guts? Fuck…”
In the live stream’s chat, a few people asked, “If you kept the laptop, why are you tearing him apart now?”
“Yeah, Fairy, if you had evidence, why didn’t you speak up earlier?”
“Shut up, front-row idiots. Does exposing plagiarism need a special occasion?”
“Maybe he tried to claim rights before but failed? Just guessing.”
“Sigh, copyright in China is really messed up. Heartbroken for those who’ve been plagiarized…”
“Front-row folks, let me explain. Plagiarists usually have backing—understand the capital chain? You can offend anyone but money. That’s why it’s so hard for victims to claim their rights, especially for someone like Fairy who wasn’t famous back then.”
“Fairy, we’re all here! How can you lack support?! We’re all supporting you!”
“Damn it, thinking about my plagiarized goddess makes me want to cry. Fairy, keep going! Everyone who stands up to claim their rights deserves support!”
At 4:30 AM, Luo Mingjing dismantled the partition board in front of the studio and moved it in front of the camera, setting up a makeshift display board. The assistant delivered three printers and eight large stacks of paper.
Preparations for the presentation were complete.
He Xi whispered, “Ninety-eight percent recovered, almost done!”
Xu Qianqian sat outside the camera frame, crying intermittently on the sofa. Shi Min sat beside her, gently patting her back while monitoring the progress and communicating with the lawyer.
At 5 AM, He Xi said, “Brother, come take a look. If there are no surprises, everything should be recovered.”
Luo Mingjing rushed to the computer, nearly stumbling.
A few fans shouted on Weibo that the hard drive had been recovered. Instantly, the number of viewers in the live stream skyrocketed.
Even New Wave Entertainment tweeted: “How many insomniacs are following along with this year’s plagiarism scandal in the design world?”
The comment section filled with check-ins.
“I don’t understand anything, but I’m nervous.”
“Ahhhh!!! The moment the hard drive was recovered, I teared up inexplicably!!!”
“Raising my hand quietly. I’ve never been this invested in scandals like Black Friday Child Abuse or Love Affair Exposés. As someone who doesn’t understand design or know anyone involved, I’m staying up late to watch.”
“Me too… My social media feed is flooded. Even my programmer cousin is following along.”
“So exciting! This is definitely the event of the year!!”
“Hahaha, the editor loves drama too.”
“Let me explain for those halfway into the design world. Wang Zhenyu is considered a big name in the industry—the only newcomer in the past decade to establish himself internationally. But now, being accused of plagiarism is like an earthquake-level event in the design world. If the accusation holds, it’ll be a disgrace for our country’s design community and embarrass us internationally.”
“Overseas time zone gang here!! Foreign media just reported it!! The International Design Association tweeted that they’ll follow the developments! Ahh!”
Luo Mingjing opened the folder, and one by one, the drafts appeared.
Taking a deep breath, he said to the camera, “Let me explain… the design drafts.”
The printers began working, spitting out sheet after sheet. Luo Mingjing arranged them in order and pinned them to the display board.
With focused seriousness, he explained each piece as he pinned them up.
From the design theme to the creative process, every pattern, every cut, and every note was crystal clear.
The chat flew with comments: “Crying…”
“Me too. I don’t even know why I’m crying, but suddenly I feel so heartbroken…”
“I feel for Fairy…”
“This is definitely Fairy’s handwriting! This is Fairy’s artwork!”
“Wang Zhenyu, shameless! Wang Zhenyu, shameless! Wang Zhenyu, shameless!”
“Fashion design students bowing endlessly on their keyboards… Holy crap! They even incorporated the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove like this!”
“Clear Sky Cranes.” Luo Mingjing picked up the last few drafts and said, “This is the unfinished third draft—seven pieces of clothing representing seven people. Clear skies, white clouds, cranes in the forest… The left sleeve designs are different. The first represents Ji Kang… The waist pattern references the ancient qin’s ‘falling sunset’ style… It wasn’t finalized in the second draft, so it wasn’t added. ‘Man’s madness fills heaven and earth; heaven as clothing, earth as attire.’ Thus, there wouldn’t be any cloud patterns on this piece. The blank areas were meant for coloring…”
Shi Min said, “Qianqian, get your brother some water.”
Luo Mingjing looked pale, holding his forehead, his gaze slightly unfocused.
Shi Min thought, This man is like wine—uncontained by any bottle between heaven and earth. He lit himself and has been burning ever since. Once he burns out, it’s over.
“These are my Clear Sky Cranes,” Luo Mingjing said. “And just as I sketched, during the model presentation, the positions reference the brick prints of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove… Some lying, some standing, with varying orientations. It’s not a series meant to be displayed separately. The theme isn’t what Wang Zhenyu claimed—’celestial crane elegance.’ The crane is merely a spiritual symbol…”
The chat was overrun by professionals.
If the comments had sound, it might have been gasps and applause.
Luo Mingjing said, “This is my work. Wang Zhenyu, my demand is simple: remove everything that doesn’t belong to you and return it to me. Apologize to me.”
He continued, “You must apologize—to me, to my sister. Back then, you beat my sister to snatch the design draft. She was underage at the time—you owe her an apology.”
Xu Qianqian couldn’t hold back and burst into tears. He Xi’s bloodshot eyes glared fiercely. The usually mild-mannered college student now looked ready to bite someone.
“You must apologize,” Luo Mingjing said firmly. “But I won’t forgive you. I’ll contact you. At 9 AM today, face me, face my sister, and apologize to everyone you’ve deceived. And Professor Ke Ge—you too. I’m waiting for you.”
Wang Zhenyu opened Weibo and scrolled through a few comments. Without exception, they were all cursing him.
Wang Zhenyu muttered, “You brought this upon yourself, Luo Mingjing.”
He crushed his cigarette butt and typed a line on the keyboard.
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