Chapter 56
Qiao Yitang was worried all the way, watching the Weibo post being pushed to the top of the trending posts on Weibo. More and more people flocked to the comment section, insulting Tao Xi indiscriminately, and even Wenhua No. 1 Middle School and the CAC organizers were badly scolded.
She glanced at Tao Xi who was standing next to her. He was actually leaning back in his chair with his eyes closed, resting. She immediately turned off her phone in annoyance, thinking that this guy might have really been possessed by Lin Qinhe, and he could take such a big thing so lightly.
The taxi finally arrived at the Qiao family's villa. Qiao Yitang and Tao Xi got out of the car. She pulled Tao Xi into the house and rushed to complain to her grandfather to seek a solution. As a result, Qiao Henian grabbed Tao Xi's ears and scolded him as soon as he saw him:
"You little bastard, I told you so many times not to draw your competition work where other people are around, and to lock it up and not leave it lying around, but you ignored me! Now you've been copied by someone and you're being blamed!"
The calmness on Tao Xi's face disappeared, and he begged for mercy: "I was wrong, I was wrong, Grandpa."
Zhong Qiusheng, who was playing with a parrot in the living room, came over and said to Tao Xi calmly, "I have already told the chairman of this year's jury that you should have a video conference with them later, give them the evidence, and explain your creative ideas in detail. They will understand it at a glance."
Qiao Henian let go of Tao Xi's ear and slapped him hard on the back: "Go and get the copyright certificate you got earlier!"
Tao Xi ran upstairs in a hurry.
Completely confused, Qiao Yitang looked at his grandfather, then at Zhong Qiusheng who had appeared here for some reason, and asked in astonishment, "What copyright certificate?"
It was not until Tao Xi came over with the certificate and went to the study with Zhong Qiu Sheng to have a video conference with the judging panel of the CAC organizer that Qiao Yitang finally understood what was going on from his grandfather.
Half a month ago, after Tao Xi finished drawing the draft for the competition, he came to Qiao's house and went with Qiao Henian to register the copyright of the painting. Logically speaking, an artwork automatically has copyright from the moment it is completed, but if it is not published publicly, it is difficult to prove that the work is the author's original and pioneering work. There are countless examples of people taking advantage of this loophole to steal other people's achievements.
It was impossible for Tao Xi to publish his work in advance if he wanted to participate in the competition, but it was different after he registered the copyright. The completion date on the copyright certificate was much earlier than Feng Yadong's publication time at the Jincai Cup, and Feng Yadong could not have any evidence of publication earlier than him.
Not only that, that day Tao Xi also took her drawings and went to visit Zhong Qiu Sheng with Qiao Henian. This master of painting has served as the chairman and consultant of the CAC jury for many terms. This time, CAC received a lot of letters of complaint. If Zhong Qiu Sheng had not guaranteed and endorsed Tao Xi, it is very likely that Tao Xi's drawings would be withdrawn under pressure from public opinion.
The meeting lasted for half an hour. During the whole process, only Tao Xi talked to the CAC jury in front of the camera, while Zhong Qiu Sheng just sat far away and watched.
This year's jury chairman Tan Shan is actually Zhong Qiu Sheng's student, but he did not cover up for Tao Xi out of personal feelings. He asked Tao Xi many questions with a serious face. Tao Xi remained calm throughout the whole process. He calmly showed the jury his creative ideas and details, as well as many "evidences" to prove his originality.
One of the pieces of evidence made the judges feel relieved. Tan Shan even joked to Tao Xi: "You are so young, but you have prepared everything perfectly. Now those who slander you will have nothing to say."
After the meeting, Qiao Yitang walked quickly into the study and asked Tao Xi, "What did the jury say? They should believe you, right?"
Tao Xi nodded and said calmly: "My works will continue to be preserved."
Qiao Yitang breathed a sigh of relief and almost jumped up with joy: "That's great! I can still participate in the semi-finals!"
Tao Xi thanked Zhong Qiu Sheng respectfully. This time, thanks to Zhong Qiu Sheng's help, Zhong Qiu Sheng patted Tao Xi's shoulder kindly and said with a smile: "I, an old man, can't help you with those things on the Internet. I believe you can handle it yourself. I'm going to play chess with your teacher."
Tao Xi sent Zhong Qiu Sheng to the living room downstairs, and then discussed with Qiao Yitang in the study how to post a counterattack on Weibo.
"Having this certificate should be enough. Feng Yadong certainly can't produce evidence published earlier." Qiao Yitang sat in front of the computer and drafted a long Weibo post, putting the photo of the certificate at the first post.
"But he can continue to make a fuss, saying that he was negligent in not leaving any evidence of the original creation, and then turn the tables." Tao Xi sat aside with his chin propped up, analyzing calmly.
Qiao Yitang frowned and thought for a while. It was indeed as Tao Xi said. Although from a legal perspective, Tao Xi had absolute copyright and could directly sue the other party for infringement and defamation, the other party had obviously hired a lot of Internet trolls to stir up trouble on the Internet in the name of a vulnerable group. If they wanted to slander Tao Xi's copyright registration as a deliberate and premeditated plan, it was not impossible. After all, this kind of thing had happened before.
She was thinking hard when she suddenly saw Tao Xi take the mouse and open the painting he had created. The details of the painting were clearly visible on the large computer screen.
"Look at this painting carefully, can you find anything?" Tao Xi looked at her and smiled.
Qiao Yitang stared at the painting in a daze. It was an abstract oil painting titled "Self". She had seen it many times. The painting style had a hint of Suprematism, full of seemingly irregular lines and geometric shapes, presenting movement and collision in the invisible chaos on the surface, expressing the exploration of self and the universe in a limited concentration of colors.
She observed it attentively for a while, and suddenly found that there was something different about some of the lines in the lower right corner of the painting. This part accounted for a very small proportion and was integrated with the whole painting. If you didn't look carefully, you couldn't see it.
"What is this?" Qiao Yitang pointed to the lower right corner of the painting.
Tao Xi leaned back in his chair and said slowly, "This is my signature, in Morse code."
Qiao Yitang suddenly realized that she could understand Morse code. In the lower right corner, the thickness and length of each line were not random, but together formed the five English letters corresponding to the Morse code - taoxi.
There are many different forms of signatures for oil painters. Many painters will sign directly on the corners of the paintings, while many painters will integrate their signatures into the props and patterns in the paintings. For example, in one of Van Gogh's sunflower paintings, the signature is on the ceramic vase. Tao Xi did not sign his name directly, but integrated the Morse code of his name into the painting.
Qiao Yitang quickly opened Feng Yadong's painting on the computer again, and after enlarging the lower right corner, he found that this person had completely copied Tao Xi's painting, even the signature of others was painted exactly the same.
"This name is the main reason why the CAC jury believes in me." Tao Xi said jokingly as he looked at the signature on the "replica".
Paintings can be replaced with other paintings, and the time of publication can be unclear, but the creator's signature cannot be reversed, although ironically, the name did not originally belong to him.
Qiao Yitang couldn't help but fall back on his chair and laughed out loud, saying, "Not only did Feng Yadong copy the painting, he copied it exactly without changing anything."
Tao Xi took a sip of water and said with certainty: "This painting should not be drawn by him. I can tell from his previous paintings."
Just like an art teacher once said, drawing is like writing. No matter how the handwriting of the same person is disguised, it is recognizable. Some handwritings are so familiar that you can never change them in your lifetime. The same is true for drawing.
"If it's not him, then who is it?" Qiao Yitang was stunned, tilted his head and thought for a while, "But it makes sense, he is a college student, and he doesn't know you, where did he get your painting from?"
Tao Xi clasped his hands in front of his chest and asked, "Yes, where did you get it from?"
Qiao Yitang suddenly turned her head to look at Tao Xi, who had been terrifyingly calm from beginning to end. She narrowed her eyes and asked, "Do you already know who did this?"
She even had a more ridiculous idea. After finishing the competition draft, she immediately applied for copyright registration and took the painting to meet Zhong Qiu Sheng, the chairman of the jury of CAC in previous years. She also deliberately left the Morse code of her name in the painting, leaving it so inconspicuously... Perhaps it can be explained that this person is extremely cautious, but how could such a cautious person accidentally leak her own painting?
It's like he could predict the future.
Tao Xi shook her head, looking innocent: "I don't know either."
Qiao Yitang was skeptical and only said, "Let's check it later. Let's slap Feng Yadong in the face first."
The two began to write long Weibo articles. Tao Xi wrote the clarification text herself, and Qiao Yitang helped Tao Xi organize the timeline and evidence on the computer. In addition to the copyright certificate, there were also daily progress photos taken by Tao Xi since the first day of drawing the first draft. Each photo was marked with a date, which could clearly show the complete creation process of the painting.
At eight o'clock in the evening, a newly registered Weibo account posted a long article with a title of only seven words: To the plagiarist Feng Yadong.
The long article clearly presents various pieces of evidence, including copyright certificates, photos of the creation progress, hidden signatures of the paintings, creative inspiration and ideas... In addition, there is a clarification of Tao Xi's family background, but Tao Xi did not adopt Qiao Yitang's suggestion to exaggerate how poor his family is in the article. He simply and objectively stated that he benefited from the remote live broadcast project and had the opportunity to study at Wenhua No. 1 Middle School.
The last sentence of the long article is: I will hold Feng Yadong and the slanderer accountable according to law.
There was no room for leniency for Feng Yadong.
The new Weibo post received no attention at all. Fortunately, Su Yun helped them contact an online public relations company, which led to many influential bloggers in related fields reposting the Weibo post and also invited some online media to report the matter.
With large-scale online publicity, the number of reposts and comments on this Weibo post surged, and it quickly became a hot topic on Weibo, with far higher popularity than the defamatory Weibo post.
The text of the entire Weibo article is rational and restrained, without the slightest emotional rendering or exaggeration. The evidence is clear and the matter is obvious. The slanderous Weibo post has been completely overturned. The person who accused plagiarism is the plagiarist himself. The high school student who was rumored to have come from a powerful family and taken shortcuts is the poor kid who has achieved excellence in both character and academic performance through his own hard work.
The dramatic reversal is the most likely to attract attention and discussion from netizens, especially the Morse code signature in the painting, which instantly destroys all slander and doubt. After all, no one would be stupid enough to sign someone else's name in their own painting.
"I thought it was solid, but it turned out to be reversed? And it was reversed so completely? I was a righteous netizen helping Feng Yadong report him for swearing at noon, but now I feel as disgusted as if I had eaten a fly!"
"I apologize for the comment I made at noon. The evidence in this counter-article is much stronger than that Weibo post, especially the signature. Feng Yadong, this idiot, stole other people's paintings, and also stole their names. Would his parents be mad to death if they knew their son changed his name?"
"Feng Yadong is really the villain who complains first. He is a college student who has no originality and plagiarizes other high school students' paintings. He even throws dirty water on them. How can there be such a mean person!"
"This high school student is too smart. If he hadn't kept a trick up his sleeve, he would have been killed by Feng Yadong and the stupid netizens."
"I heard that this high school student had the opportunity to study at Wenhua No. 1 Middle School because he ranked first in the poor county. If Feng Yadong succeeded in his plan today, he would most likely be sent back and his life would be ruined. I strongly support him in suing Feng Yadong, and sue him hard! This kind of rubbish is not worthy of wasting national educational resources."
"I now seriously suspect that the award Feng Yadong received before was also fake. Is there anyone who can help check it out?"
"How could Wenhua Academy of Fine Arts produce a scum like Feng Yadong? Shouldn't he be expelled so that he can continue to cause trouble for others?"
…
The netizens who were fooled were furious, and the comment section of the defamatory Weibo was filled with fierce condemnation and insults. Feng Yadong's secondary Weibo account was dug out and posted in the comment section. Every Weibo post was criticized by netizens, and the latest selfie Weibo was criticized particularly harshly.
The official Weibo account of Wenhua Academy of Fine Arts was also affected. The comments on the usual goodnight post were full of saliva. Many netizens demanded that the school punish or even expel Feng Yadong, which scared the operator of the school's official Weibo account so much that they opened a selected comment section overnight.
Soon, the official Weibo account of the CAC competition released an announcement, stating that it had rejected the previous report and would continue to retain Tao Xi's entry. The official Weibo account of the inferior Jincai Cup competition also posted a Weibo overnight, stating that it had revoked Feng Yadong's winning work.
But simply revoking the application obviously cannot quell the anger of netizens. Someone quickly found out that in the numerous competitions Feng Yadong participated in over the past two years, several of his paintings were actually plagiarized works of domestic and foreign creators. It turned out that most of his seemingly brilliant resume were fake. Some people even contacted these plagiarized creators, and one painter expressed his intention to sue Feng Yadong.
It was nearly nine o'clock when everything was done. Qiao Yitang kept reading the comments on the two Weibo posts, laughing from time to time. Tao Xi told Qiao Henian and Zhong Qiu Sheng about the situation on the Internet. The two old people finally felt relieved, and Zhong Qiu Sheng stood up to say goodbye.
Tao Xi sent Zhong Qiu Sheng to the entrance of the yard. After watching the old man leave in the car, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his nerves that had been tense for most of the day temporarily relaxed.
He stood alone in the courtyard quietly, stretched, and looked up at the night sky.
A winter snow had just fallen and the sky was not yet completely clear. The moon was half hidden in the slowly moving thin clouds, soft and hazy.
He suddenly missed Lin Qinhe a little. After a busy day, he and Lin Qinhe only had time to communicate briefly on WeChat.
The cell phone vibrated, Tao Xi quickly took out the phone and looked at it. As if by telepathy, it was Lin Qinhe calling.
"Let me tell you, I can solve it myself!" Tao Xi jumped onto the stone table and sat down, he said with his chin slightly raised, pride evident in his voice.
Lin Qinhe's voice was deep and serious: "This matter has not been completely resolved. I have contacted a lawyer who will help you sue Feng Yadong and the person who submitted the anonymous defamation article."
He paused, his voice getting deeper, "How do you want to deal with the instigator behind this?"
Tao Xi lowered his eyes, was silent for a while and then said: "If I also want to hold someone responsible, would you feel embarrassed?"
He didn't say who was the culprit because it was a tacit knowledge.
Feng Yadong was just a cover. He already knew clearly who stole his paintings, who copied them, and who hired Feng Yadong.
Lin Qinhe said without much hesitation: "I said, whatever you want to do, just do it, don't worry about me making things difficult for you."
Tao Xi remembered that Lin Qinhe had said that he would unconditionally favor him. He looked up at the furry moon in the sky, swung his legs, and laughed again:
"Okay, then you should participate in the competition well, and I will wait for you to come back."
The two talked about other things for a while. Tao Xi seemed to have endless things to say. In the end, she was speechless and just stayed silent with Lin Qinhe, listening to each other's breathing.
Qiao Yitang saw a satisfying and funny comment on Weibo and was eager to share it with Tao Xi. She ran to the courtyard, only to see Tao Xi sitting on a stone table and making a phone call, with one hand supporting the desktop behind her back, her legs swinging like a child, with a calm and pure smile on her face. The dependence in the corners of her eyes and eyebrows was completely different from the calmness and composure she saw today.
She was suddenly a little dazed. She used to think of Tao Xi as someone who was sponsored and protected by Lin Qinhe. Even after the accident today, her first reaction was to protect him like Lin Qinhe. But now she suddenly realized that Tao Xi had never been a fragile, dependent person. He could get here because he was smart and brave enough.
After a night of fermentation, the truth has been settled. "Wenhua Academy of Fine Arts Matters" deleted the anonymous Weibo post in the middle of the night and issued a special announcement stating that the platform only accepts submissions and the content of the submissions does not represent the platform's views. It is obvious that it is eager to shirk responsibility.
With the reposting of reports by many big V bloggers and online media, more and more netizens paid attention to this matter. Many angry netizens flocked to the voting website of the CAC competition, vying to vote for Tao Xi's No. 82 work. Even the website server was overwhelmed and crashed for several hours.
Tao Xi was unaware of this and did not care. He went back to school the next morning like all the other students. As soon as he entered the classroom, his classmates surrounded him and congratulated him for his "vindication". Their joy was much more enthusiastic than that of the person involved.
"I told you that Brother Xi will be fine!" Bi Chengfei put his arm around Tao Xi's shoulders and shouted at the top of his voice, "I was so fucking happy watching that twist last night that I even used my big account to scold Feng Yadong, that idiot!"
Jin Jing had also been following this incident all night and had stayed up late. At this moment, she smiled at Tao Xi with dark circles under her eyes, "Your story was really too thrilling. I was so angry when I saw it yesterday afternoon, and I was worried that you wouldn't be able to clarify it. Fortunately, you were well prepared and slapped him in the face, and didn't let the villain succeed!"
Li Xiaoyuan was the most thoughtful. In addition to being happy, he asked Tao Xi with concern: "I saw that they deleted that Weibo post. Will they deny it later?"
Tao Xi smiled and said, "It's okay, the lawyer has already collected the evidence, it's useless even if I delete it."
Everyone felt relieved and started chattering about voting for Tao Xi.
Class monitor Li Xiaoyuan had already called on all classmates in the class group to vote for Tao Xi. The popular Bi Chengfei specially set up a "cac voting group" to spread the voting link among students throughout the school. The always aloof and taciturn Huang Qing also posted a voting QR code on the glass door of her family's milk tea shop.
Tao Xi knew that the vote would have little impact, but he still expressed his sincere gratitude to his classmates. He sent out several big red envelopes in the class group, but they were all gone in one second. After sending them out, he had no money left on WeChat.
In fact, ever since he was accused of stealing headphones, he has been wary of many people in the class. This time, his classmates stood on his side from the beginning, which was beyond his expectations and also made him very moved.
During the morning break, Zhou Qiang came to the classroom, asked Tao Xi to go out, and found a secluded corner where no one was around to talk.
"Don't worry, the school attaches great importance to this matter. Principal Qiao also said specifically at the meeting this morning that the school will support you in defending your rights. If you need any help, just tell me and I will report it to the school." Zhou Qiang said to Tao Xi.
Of course, Principal Qiao would take this matter seriously. Apart from the personal aspect that Tao Xi is his father's student, this matter has too wide an impact and has caused too much trouble. If Tao Xi's evidence was not conclusive enough to reverse the matter, the reputation of Wenhua No. 1 Middle School would be affected. Tao Xi's identity was also related to the remote live broadcast project that the government had just approved, and no school leader wanted this project to be tainted.
In addition, there are many suspicious points in this matter. Why would the painting of a student from Wenhua No. 1 Middle School be plagiarized by a student from Wenhua Academy of Fine Arts, an unrelated university? Who stole Tao Xi's paintings? If you think deeply about these questions, you will find that there is something wrong.
"Taoxi, think carefully, who did you come into contact with when you were painting? Have you ever painted outside of school?" Zhou Qiang asked a question that both he and the school leaders had.
Tao Xi looked up at Zhou Qiang and said, "I have only painted in my dormitory, and the paintings have always been kept in my dormitory."
"Only in the dormitory?"
Zhou Qiang had a guess in his mind. It was he who arranged the dormitory for Tao Xi to move in. He was worried that Tao Xi would not be able to fit in, so he paid special attention to it. He remembered that there were two roommates, one was a student in Class 2 and the other was a student in the art class. At first glance, it seemed more likely that Tao Xi was a student in the art class.
As if seeing through his suspicion, Tao Xi said to him, "It can't be Pan Yan. Although he also studies painting, he has a good relationship with me."
Zhou Qiang immediately realized that Tao Xi actually had a suspect. He nodded solemnly and said, "Don't worry, if it was really a student from our school who stole your painting in the dormitory, the school will definitely not tolerate him. I will go back and talk to the principal and start investigating this matter immediately."
Tao Xi thanked Zhou Qiang, and soon the bell rang. He followed the crowd towards the classroom. When passing by Class 2, he looked inside the door.
Xu Ziqi was sitting in the first row. When she met his gaze, her face suddenly turned pale and her eyes were even filled with fear.
Tao Xi raised the corner of her mouth, smiled at Xu Ziqi, then looked away and continued walking towards the classroom.
The author has something to say:
It's too late
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