Time Travel: The Queen's Coronation

"Wei Qing, regarding the plagiarism issue, you can try to find your colleagues! Maybe there are some clues!" Shen Junhui said to me before taking the child away.

"Why?" I was confused.

"Didn't Changheng pee on my car last time? When I went to wash my car, there were two people washing cars next to me. They said that Blue Forest was being targeted, and the general meaning was that Blue Forest was going to be in trouble. But at that time, the news of Blue Forest and Chideng's cooperation hadn't spread, so those two people must have known some inside information. At that time, I thought they were mocking Blue Forest, but now that Blue Forest is in trouble, it's just as they expected, so I remembered this matter."

"Who are those two people?" I became alert.

“I remember the document they took had the logo of Jamie’s studio on it.”

"Okay, I understand!" I replied thoughtfully.

I later checked the car wash's security footage and had a private investigator look up the two people, and we finally tracked them down. One of them was leisurely sipping coffee in a cafe when I casually sat down across from him. At first, he didn't seem to mind, but when he recognized me, he was surprised. He greeted me and moved to the empty seat next to me. I followed him, and after following him several times, he finally couldn't help but ask questions.

"Boss Wei, what can I do for you?"

"Mo Xiaolong, right?" I said calmly. He was a little surprised that I knew his name.

"Yes! What does Mr. Wei want to talk to me about?"

"It's okay, I just wanted to chat with you! Don't be nervous!"

"Mr. Wei, I'm just a small employee. There's nothing much to talk about with you, a big boss, right?" Mo Xiaolong smiled awkwardly.

"You're quite talented! I've seen your designs, they're excellent!"

"Are you trying to poach me? Mr. Liu has been very nice to me, so I don't have any thoughts of changing jobs for the time being!"

"I know that your Jamie was a rising star for a while, so how come you were accused of plagiarism?"

Speaking of this, Mo Xiaolong's eyes were a little flustered, "Why bring up what happened back then? I was just young and lacked inspiration, and then I made a mistake! Fortunately, Mr. Liu was able to tolerate me and let bygones be bygones!" After saying that, Mo Xiaolong wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"But don't you think what's happening to Blue Forest right now is exactly the same as what Jamie encountered back then?"

"Maybe you do this because you have no inspiration! Mr. Wei, inspiration is very important in our industry. Sometimes we are under a lot of pressure and have no inspiration, so we will also make some references..." Mo Xiaolong didn't dare to look me in the eyes when he said this, and seemed very guilty.

"The designer of the work that Freese accused us of plagiarizing is called Ling Chong. I remember he came to Blue Forest after graduating from the Hong Kong Design School. Do you know him?"

"I don't know him!" Mo Xiaolong answered very confidently.

"Don't you know Nie Shuyu from SC, Wei Ming from Sunshine, and Luo Jun from Bright?"

"Boss Wei, there are so many people in the Design School, I can't possibly know them all!"

"But I didn't tell them they were from the School of Design. How did you know that?"

Mo Xiaolong's smile froze on his face, "I heard it wrong!"

"The Freese Group often donates to the Island Design School, and you've all received Freese Scholarships!"

"Mr. Wei! I really don't know them. I have something to do, so I'll leave first!" Mo Xiaolong fled in panic.

Seeing his panic, it seemed like there must be a secret behind it! Later, I asked the same question to several other people, and they all had the same reaction as Mo Xiaolong, but I stopped the last one, Nie Shuyu, from leaving.

"Mr. Wei, I beg you, I really don't know anything!" Nie Shuyu begged me to let her go.

"I haven't asked anything yet and you say you don't know!" I stared at her meaningfully.

"Mr. Wei, I beg you, I'm just an ordinary person and I really need this job!" Nie Shuyu was a little excited.

"Who do you think is stronger, Zhong Ding or Fries?"

"Mr. Wei, you are the richest man in Hong Kong Island, so of course you are strong." Nie Shuyu was very reluctant to answer my question.

"In that case, with my protection, do you need to be afraid of Fries?"

"That's different! Different professions are like different worlds. I work in this industry, and you don't. If I expose them, I won't be able to survive in this industry anymore!"

"What secrets are there in this business that make you all so afraid of Fries?" I directly expressed my doubts.

"I can't say it!" Nie Shuyu burst into tears with excitement, "Mr. Wei, I beg you, please let me go, okay?" After saying that, Nie Shuyu wanted to kneel down but was stopped by me.

"I just want to know the truth! That's all! You have to believe that I have the ability to protect you!"

"They are too powerful, you can't be their opponent!"

"You don't have to tell me now, but the truth will eventually come out! By then, you will be Fries's accomplices, and you and I will be on opposite sides. You know I will never show mercy to my enemies!"

"Can you really protect me? If this gets out and I can't continue in this line of work, can you compensate me?"

"If you're worried about losing your job, I can offer you a job! I always keep my word!"

After my repeated assurances, Nie Shuyu finally told me some inside information.

"Fries donates a large sum of money to our school every year, and the school also offers the Fries Scholarship. Students who receive the Fries Scholarship must plagiarize other people's works and publish them. Then the authors who were plagiarized will sue these students. Fries will act as a middleman to mediate the conflict between the two parties, and then the students will be forced to sign an agreement. The agreement requires us to help Fries when necessary, otherwise, the school will expose our plagiarism during our student days, make our degrees revoked, and ban us from the industry!"

"How much is this scholarship? Why don't you just choose not to take it?"

"This scholarship is specifically for students from poor families, so we poor people are very tempted by this scholarship! But in the end we can only fall into their trap and be slaughtered!" Nie Shuyu was very helpless.

"So how did Freese do it so perfectly and accuse us of plagiarism?"

"Because when we were designing, we were following the work that was plagiarized! It's like copying a cat! Even if it doesn't look like the original, it will still leave evidence that can be considered plagiarism!"

"No wonder we can't find any basis for rebuttal!"

"We don't want to do this either, but there's nothing we can do! Friis will suppress anyone who doesn't listen to him! There was once a talented senior who refused to do this dirty work for Friis, and then he kept suppressing her, and finally forced her to leave the industry! Another junior student also refused to become Friis's pawn and even reported him, but he was expelled from school and sent to prison for defamation. He even broke his hand in prison, and now he can't even pick up a pen to design!"

"Does Ferris have that much power?" I was curious.

"Money makes the world go round! Many people are very short of money. As long as they are paid enough, most people are willing to sell their conscience. After all, conscience is not worth much!" Nie Shuyu said with a bit of self-mockery.

"Won't you unite and resist?"

"Fries is a large company, and it has the support of a foreign financial group! Our alliance is like an egg against a rock! Mr. Wei, even though Zhong Ding is a large company, the foreign financial group that supports them cannot be underestimated! So you can only consider yourself unlucky this time!"

"Can you provide me with evidence that Fries instructed you to plagiarize?"

"No! When they see us, they'll check if we're carrying any recording or video equipment before letting us in. Every mission they issue is verbal, leaving no written evidence!"

"Will you testify?"

Nie Shuyu stood up in a panic, "Boss Wei! I told you I really need this job! I can't risk my entire future just to prove your innocence!"

"But you are now aiding and abetting the evil! It's not too late to turn back now!"

"Mr. Wei, I've said enough! I should go!" Nie Shuyu picked up her bag and turned to leave. After two steps, she turned back and said to me, "I know that you, Mr. Wei, are a gentleman, so I beg you to keep our conversation today confidential! My father is paralyzed in bed and cannot work. My mother also suffers from a chronic disease and needs to take medicine all year round. My husband divorced me because of my plagiarism. I am raising my child alone. I really need this job! At the same time, I love this job and I don't want to leave this industry!" Nie Shuyu finally bowed and left.

I went back and carefully studied the court documents, compared the two works, and sorted out several similarities between the plagiarism cases. But the only breakthrough now is people, and no one is willing to testify for us!