The eccentric relatives were dealt with by the people sent by Mingyan, Qiao's mother found a job and no longer had to be idle every day, and Qiao Zhen also had to get busy with work related to Ming's company.
As for Mingli, no one knew that the core inside his tiny body had been replaced.
Qiao Zhen went to work at Ming's on Monday to keep an eye on the plagiarism incident. Before she could find out anything, Qiao Zhen and Zhou Ruoyun were summoned to Director Shen's office.
Zhou Ruoyun showed no sign of guilt, but Qiao Zhen had no reason to be short of breath.
Director Shen felt a headache coming on when she saw the two of them. Zhou Ruoyun was the most promising designer in the design department, while Qiao Zhen was an employee personally nominated by the president. She picked up her coffee from her desk. "The company's video recordings showed abnormalities during that period, so whether it was Qiao Zhen or Zhou Ruoyun who plagiarized, there is no clear evidence. Plagiarism is the most taboo thing in the design industry, especially blatant plagiarism. It concerns your careers, so I can't make a decision lightly. This afternoon, President Ming will be in the conference room to listen to your ideas, so you have five hours to prepare."
"I accept." Qiao Zhen calmly agreed. She had drawn the design draft, and although the concept was simple, it was still challenging for the average person to understand.
Zhou Ruoyun agreed without backing down, "Okay, thank you for troubling Director Shen with this matter."
Director Shen raised an eyebrow. "Go out."
Qiao Zhen and Zhou Ruoyun went out, and Zhou Ruoyun glared at Qiao Zhen before leaving.
"Tsk tsk tsk." Qiao Zhen felt that her worldview had been refreshed. She plagiarized someone else's artwork and still dared to show off with such confidence. She didn't know if she was really confident or just stupid.
Zhou Ruoyun was so busy she didn't even have time to drink a cup of coffee, while Qiao Zhen was leisurely watching online dramas on her phone and had even ordered takeout.
When Mingyan came to inspect, he saw Qiao Zhen sitting with her legs crossed, enjoying the air conditioning, munching on duck neck, and watching a web series. He reached out and tapped twice on Qiao Zhen's desk. "Is the manuscript finished?"
Qiao Zhen raised an eyebrow at Ming Yan, then took out her design draft from the drawer. "Use it as you like."
She finished those drafts overnight in the Ming family's courtyard, and the colors were bold and the style was quite different, creating a strong visual impact. One look was enough to confirm it—it was a color that would attract attention.
He made it clear that he was taking the manuscript with him.
At 2 p.m., Qiao Zhen and Zhou Ruoyun brought their drawings into the conference room.
Director Shen said calmly, "You two discuss who should go first." After she finished speaking, she glanced at Mingyan.
Qiao Zhen tilted her head and looked at the drawing in her hand. "I don't care. It depends on what Miss Zhou thinks."
Zhou Ruoyun was still a little nervous, but the more nervous she was, the more she had to remain calm. "Let me go first, I should be better prepared than Miss Qiao."
Qiao Zhen gestured for Zhou Ruoyun to proceed, then stood aside and listened to her rambling. Just as she was starting to doze off, Zhou Ruoyun finally finished her performance.
Director Shen couldn't stand Qiao Zhen's arrogant attitude and scolded, "Be serious!"
Qiao Zhen handed one copy of the sketch to Director Shen and another to Mingyan. She unfolded the large sketch and integrated the three patterns from the skirt hem onto the projection, then wrote the character "祭" (sacrifice) on the whiteboard. "These three drawings aren't just random scribbles; they're patterns from Taoist talismans. When combined, they form the shape of the character '祭'. This drawing doesn't have many fancy concepts; I simply wanted to blend Western style with Eastern Taoism. It's a very bold idea, but undeniably, the first draft is quite good."
Mingyan raised an eyebrow. "First draft?"
Qiao Zhen nodded. "Yes, it's a first draft." She flipped the large sketch in her hand to the back, revealing her completely new structure, even an entire series. "Without clear evidence or a specific concept, it's inherently difficult to determine who plagiarized. After all, everyone has different feelings about the same work. But making a more refined, even more complete, design based on Aokiji's original technique—that's the best evidence, isn't it?"
"Clap, clap, clap." Mingyan clapped three times, the applause crisp and clear. "Yes, this is the best evidence. What does Director Shen think?"
He didn't wait for Director Shen's reply, but got up, pushed open the door, and left Qiao Zhen with the words "Come to my office."
As Director Shen passed by Zhou Ruoyun, he sighed in disappointment, "You were the one I had the most faith in in the design department, but unfortunately, you were ruined by a single wrong decision."
Zhou Ruoyun's eyes immediately reddened.
Qiao Zhen didn't linger. She took the design draft, pushed open the door, and left, but returned halfway. "When you go and acknowledge my work, you've already admitted defeat."
Zhou Ruoyun plagiarized Qiao Zhen simply because she thought Qiao Zhen's designs were excellent and that she couldn't catch up with them. Otherwise, why would she plagiarize Qiao Zhen's designs and try to claim them as her own?
Qiao Zhen went straight to Ming Yan's office after leaving. She pushed open the door and went in. "President?"
Mingyan gestured for Qiaozhen to sit down, raising his chin slightly. "It's a bit of an overkill to have you take care of Mingli. Have you been having a good time lately?" He took out an invitation from his drawer. "This is a competition organized by Mr. Morotto. I'd like you to represent the company in the competition."
Qiao Zhen sat opposite Ming Yan, took the invitation from his hand, and shook her head with a pout. "Mr. Mo Ruotuo? I'm afraid I can't do it. I'm sorry."
Mingyan was somewhat surprised. "Really? I thought you would be interested in the first place prize of 600,000." He reached out as if to take the invitation from Qiao Zhen's hand.
Qiao Zhensong's fingers suddenly tightened, and she said in a serious tone, "Yes, I am very interested. You saw my sketch just now. To be honest, I still have many creative ideas that I haven't drawn, and some embroidery techniques that I haven't shown. You can't bear to see a gem go to waste, can you?"
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