Chapter 210: 202 Slap it on Zhong Zhiwan's face [2 updates]

Hearing such a remark out of the blue, Xiu Yu gasped sharply.

In the past, she would have thought Ying Zijin was joking.

But not this time.

A casually drawn oil painting had attracted the attention of a distinguished professor from the O continent’s Royal Academy of Arts; designing clothes would surely be no harder.

Xiu Yu glanced around, lowering her voice, “Daddy Ying, when did you sneak into Chuguang Media?”

“Not sneaking,” Ying Zijin yawned lazily, “I did it openly and aboveboard.”

“Sigh, I also want to get into Chuguang Media,” Xiu Yu said eagerly, “Daddy Ying, how about after I graduate I go work as a junior cleaner at Chuguang Media, just to clean the rooms for our kids?”

Jiang Ran, who was on the verge of falling asleep, perked up a bit at her words, “What? You want to do cleaning work? Then come to my house, I’ll pay you a hundred thousand a month.”

With a ‘pop’, Xiu Yu smacked an apple onto Jiang Ran’s head.

Ying Zijin turned her head to glance at the two of them, her thoughts inscrutable.

There was no doubt Jiang Ran and Xiu Yu came from the imperial capital.

But their reasons and objectives remained unknown.

Ying Zijin’s eyes slightly lowered.

Jiang Ran practiced ancient martial arts and was inevitably linked to the Ancient Martial World; he was no ordinary person.

With her current power of Divine Calculation, she indeed couldn’t deduce any significant information.

Moreover, there was another strain of inner strength within Jiang Ran’s body that did not belong to him, clearly from a stronger ancient martial artist.

As for Xiu Yu, she reminded Ying Zijin of a major clan from the imperial capital.

“Ah, I’m quite a mean person, I take joy in others’ misfortunes,” Xiu Yu said with glee, “I’m really eager to see what expression Zhong Zhiwan has.”

As if to fulfill her wish, the live broadcast’s scene shifted at that moment.

The cameraman gave Zhong Zhiwan a full-frame close-up.

On screen, Zhong Zhiwan’s face was pale as paper, her sweat-drenched makeup making her look like a drowned rat.

Her teeth kept chattering, her body shaking like a sieve.

Zhong Zhiwan caught sight of the camera pointing at her, she wanted to flee, but everyone’s gaze was fixated on her.

Their eyes were filled with disgust, as if looking at some trash.

It was a spine-chilling sensation, burning hot.

At the judges’ seat, Martha stood up once again.

With a microphone in hand and a faint smile on her face, she said, “This ‘Four Spirits’ series from Chuguang Media is the best design I have seen in the several years I’ve been a judge.”

“It’s unique and fresh; it almost made me believe that this designer from Hua Country had truly seen these Divine Beasts.”

As her voice resonated, the big screens on both sides displayed the information of the Chuguang Media designer.

There was no photo, no gender.

Just a single word.

Charm.

“Unfortunately, she couldn’t be here because of some matters,” Martha continued, “but that doesn’t stop her from owning the first place in this competition.”

No one wanted to argue.

Let alone four dresses, even just one taken out would outshine all the others.

“So, Zhong Zhiwan—” Martha’s gaze shifted, and her smile instantly faded, “I asked you before if you were sure that the dress was your design, and you answered ‘yes’, very firmly.”

“I, I didn’t…” Zhong Zhiwan was in a state of panic, she took several breaths before she could barely calm herself, “It was my design, I never expected it to collide with the elements, to be so similar.”

With nowhere to retreat, she decided to fight a desperate battle.

Little did she know, Martha’s expression turned even colder, “At this point, you still won’t admit it, tech booth.”

At this command, the big screens displayed the four dresses from Chuguang Media.

The backstage staff zoomed in on the patterns of each dress.

“Please look,” Martha raised her hand, “I had to consult with Chuguang Media to find out that there’s more than meets the eye with these four dresses.”

“This pattern is not just for aesthetics; it also contains the designer’s name in Hua Country’s seal script.”

On the big screen, the pattern was outlined emphatically.

At this moment, Martha added, “Now please take a look at Luxurious Embroidery’s dress.”

The big screen split in two, the right side displaying Luxurious Embroidery’s dress with the pattern enlarged as well.

To the people of Hua Country, seal script wasn’t as recognizable as regular script and somewhat abstract.

But that didn’t stop them from seeing that the patterns on both sides were identical.

This was irrefutable evidence of plagiarism.

[Wow, I’ve never seen such shameless behavior, plagiarizing is bad enough, but to bite the bullet and not admit it, where’s the pride?]

[So young and with such a long road ahead, why plagiarize? What do you gain?]

“At first, I thought quite highly of this girl, attractive and with a good temperament, but it turns out she’s just a plagiarizing dog, disgusting.”

Zhong Zhiwan looked at the cluster of patterns in disbelief, her face turning pale once again.

She had never anticipated that the pattern would actually be the name of the designer from Chuguang Media!

She had thought it was just for aesthetics.

As if a multitude of bees had entered, Zhong Zhiwan’s head buzzed loudly.

The light fell on her face, as if mocking her ignorance and disfigurement.

“The design world doesn’t need designers who live off plagiarism.” Martha nodded to the camera, “I also take this opportunity to announce that Luxurious Embroidery is banned from participating in any design competitions and talent shows, Zhong Zhiwan—”

“I thought you were young and ignorant, which is why I asked you repeatedly. If you had the courage to admit your mistake, I would have given you a chance, but you didn’t.”

Zhong Zhiwan’s lips trembled violently, her face drained of color.

“So, I’m sorry to say that within the design world, you’re blacklisted. I also hope dear guests here can take this as a warning; plagiarism is absolutely unacceptable at any time!”

Meanwhile, in the audience.

Ke Huizhu was also shocked.

She never imagined that Zhong Zhiwan’s plagiarism incident could affect the entire Luxurious Embroidery.

But with the designer’s plagiarism and strong concealment, how would they know?

“Sister, what kind of person did you bring in?!” Struggling to contain her anger, Ke Huizhu made a call to Madam Mu in the Imperial Capital, grinding her teeth, “Do you know? She plagiarized! And she plagiarized Chuguang Media, Luxurious Embroidery is ruined!”

“Sister, I trusted you to help me find a designer, but who did you find for me?! Have you stopped caring about us after marrying into the Mu family?”

“What?” Madam Mu’s expression changed, “Plagiarism?”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Yes, plagiarism!” Ke Huizhu scoffed, “You should watch the live broadcast!”

With that, she hung up the phone.

**

At the same time, Luo Ziyue was also panicked.

Originally, as a model hired by Luxurious Embroidery, she could completely distance herself from the brand.

But her previous comments on Weibo had blocked her own way out.

It wasn’t Xie Manyu who plagiarized, but her.

“Luo Ziyue!” Her agent was angry like never before, “What did I tell you? Wait and see, Xie Manyu is not someone you can trample on. Look now!”

Luo Ziyue stared blankly at the smartphone her agent tossed over, feeling a chill in her limbs.

It was 9:30 PM in Hua Country, afternoon in O continent.

However, the night was when netizens were most active.

Fashion design is a blind spot for many people, and most of them are not particularly interested.

But with the involvement of a top influencer like Shang Yaozhi, many watched the live broadcast.

What the netizens didn’t expect was that their viewing would reveal major breaking news.

#Chugang Media, Luxurious Embroidery#

#Zhong Zhiwan, Plagiarized#

#Luo Ziyue, Clumsily Imitates Best Actress Xie#

Three trending topics firmly occupied the top three spots on the trending list, absolutely immovable.

Those who hadn’t watched the live broadcast soon understood the situation after checking the trending topics.

“I’m dying of laughter, Luo Ziyue really is a ‘beautiful star’ persona, but actually, she’s a pitiful ‘little white flower’ who has finally crashed. Congratulations are in order.”

“Strongly demanding a ban on Luo Ziyue, with such poor dancing and singing she could debut on ‘Youth 101’ and yet she tries to imitate Best Actress Xie, does she even deserve to stay in the entertainment industry?”

“Has anyone heard of the Ke family? From Imperial Capital? A wealthy family?”]

“Never heard of them, they must not be famous. I’ve only heard of the Nie Family, the Mu Family, the Xiu Family, and the Di Wu Family. Only a small and insignificant family would do something so humiliating.”

“Who is this Zhong Zhiwan? Dig up some info; worse than plagiarism is refusing to repent.”

“A disgrace to the whole world, utterly destroyed.”

On one side, netizens began to employ their detective skills to hunt down Zhong Zhiwan.

On the other, the competition concluded.

Chuguang Media was crowned first place, while Luxurious Embroidery not only won no awards, but was also expelled.

Ke Huizhu found it difficult even to breathe, dizzy with rage.

She turned sharply, looking towards the disoriented Zhong Zhiwan with disgust in her eyes and an icy demeanor.

Ke Huizhu stepped forward, not caring about the many people around.

She raised her hand and slapped Zhong Zhiwan’s face fiercely without mercy.

“Do you think you can set foot in the Imperial Capital?”