The two arrived at the restaurant and sat opposite each other.
Zheng Nanrong suddenly remembered something and said with a hint of annoyance, "Right, you helped me today, but I haven't even asked your name. What's your name? Which family's daughter are you?"
She observed the girl's designer clothes, assuming she must be from a wealthy family.
"My name is Shen Yaoyao. My father is the CEO of Shen Corporation." Shen Yaoyao appeared very well-behaved and polite when facing her. "Auntie, you must have heard of my father, right?"
Zheng Nanrong's expression turned peculiar. "Your father's name is Shen Zhizhong?"
"Yes."
Zheng Nanrong examined her from head to toe and then smiled lightly. "Is that so? What a coincidence. A few days ago, I just met your sister, Shen Qingqing."
She observed Shen Yaoyao's reaction and noticed her smile fade considerably, understanding dawning on her.
It seemed the sisters did not have a good relationship.
"What a coincidence indeed."
Although Shen Yaoyao maintained her smile, Zheng Nanrong could still detect her forced cheerfulness. She quickly changed the subject. "Your sister, she's not as sensible as you are."
Shen Yaoyao looked up abruptly. "Auntie, you and my sister..."
"Had a bit of a disagreement." Zheng Nanrong was still probing. "I'll be honest with you, I'm very dissatisfied with her. If you want to stand by your sister's side, I understand, after all, you are sisters."
Shen Yaoyao gave a wry smile and shook her head. "What kind of sisters are we? I thought she wanted to be good sisters with me, but who knew as soon as she returned, it was as if she had a grudge against us. She shows no sisterly affection towards me or our father. I truly can't consider her my sister."
"You've really had it tough." Zheng Nanrong said with pity. "Yaoyao, will you cooperate with Auntie?"
Shen Yaoyao paused. "What do you mean..."
Zheng Nanrong gave a knowing smile. "Don't worry, I will help you."
Shen Yaoyao bit her lip, appearing conflicted. Zheng Nanrong didn't rush her, waiting for her to figure it out herself, until Shen Yaoyao nodded heavily.
After reaching an agreement, the waiter brought the dishes, and the two began to eat with focus.
When the meal concluded, Shen Yaoyao escorted Zheng Nanrong to her car, demonstrating extreme politeness, which made Zheng Nanrong even more satisfied and fond of her.
After the car carrying Zheng Nanrong drove away, she took out her phone and called Chen Xiang.
"Everything is proceeding as planned."
...
In the early morning, Shen Qingqing went to Feiyang Group with her completed design drafts to submit them.
A junior assistant received her, saying it would take time and she would receive the results in the afternoon. Shen Qingqing had no choice but to return. That afternoon, she received a call from the manager of Feiyang Group.
She rushed to Feiyang Group and was arranged to wait in a reception room.
After a short while, someone arrived.
"You are Shen Qingqing?" The person who arrived was a man in his thirties, wearing glasses, looking very refined, extremely thin, and very tall, like a bamboo pole.
"Ruisi Group sent a designer like you?"
"What's wrong with me?" Shen Qingqing looked at herself. She was dressed appropriately and had even put on a delicate makeup today to show her sincerity. "Is there a problem?"
The manager pushed his glasses up, his eyes behind the lenses filled with disdain. "The design draft you submitted yesterday, did you draw it?"
Shen Qingqing nodded.
The manager took out the draft from his briefcase. It was a necklace.
The necklace seemed ordinary, but the pendant was thoughtfully designed.
The intricate pattern and the potential for sapphire inlay; he knew with just one glance how much of a sensation this necklace would cause among the ladies of high society once produced.
There would surely be many eager buyers.
He looked at Shen Qingqing and asked again, "Are you sure this is what you drew?"
Shen Qingqing nodded. "Yes."
"Liar!"
He suddenly roared, slamming the design draft onto the table. The sound was so loud that employees outside stopped their work and gathered at the doorway to watch the commotion.
The manager exclaimed loudly, "This design drawing already exists in our company. It's our new product that we were preparing to release. Well done, Ruisi Group. You actually dared to plagiarize our work and then brazenly come to discuss cooperation with me. You are truly shameless!"
Shen Qingqing stated firmly, "That's impossible!"
The manager snorted, "You don't believe me?"
He pulled out a timeline of Feiyang Group's latest design work that he had prepared. This timeline clearly indicated that the drawing was done three months ago.
Shen Qingqing frowned. "Let me see your company's design drawing."
The manager refused without hesitation. "You already know it, don't you? Otherwise, how could you have copied our company's design? Now this drawing is lost, and I didn't know what was going on originally, but now I'm sure. You stole it, didn't you?"
"Are you kidding me? I was at your company for the first time yesterday."
The manager, with his back to everyone, revealed a sinister smile. "Liar. This drawing was previously with President Xiao, but a few days ago he said it was lost."
"We were even planning to report it to the police. Now we know. This drawing was stolen by you."
He said piously, "I heard from President Xiao that you are President Xiao's relative. Considering this relationship, I won't pursue the matter of stealing the drawing. However, your plagiarism is an undeniable fact, and we will not cooperate with Ruisi Group."
"So, it was planned all along."
Shen Qingqing suddenly understood everything. To her surprise, when she said this, the other party laughed even more wildly, with a schadenfreude tone in his voice.
"I will personally speak to Master Fu about this matter."
He directly called for security to have Shen Qingqing removed.
"Don't touch me, I'll leave myself." Shen Qingqing berated the approaching security guard and glanced at the manager's name tag. "Wang Guangyi, I've got it."
Wang Guangyi said coldly, "What does it matter if you remember me? You should think about what you're going to do now."
Shen Qingqing retrieved her design draft and turned to leave. Upon returning to the company, she was summoned to an office. Fu Jingshu looked at her expressionlessly.
"Feiyang Group just called me saying you plagiarized and want to terminate the contract."
Lin Mo, standing beside him, looked grave. "It's a minor issue that Feiyang Group is terminating the contract with us. The most important thing is that we have to pay liquidated damages."
Plagiarism is a crime. It was already giving Master Fu face that they hadn't sued her.
Fu Jingshu glanced at Lin Mo and then looked at Shen Qingqing. "Do you have anything to say?"
Shen Qingqing had been looking down, not feeling wronged, but rather guilty. She hadn't been careful enough and had fallen into a trap. These millions in liquidated damages were also due to her.
Hearing his question, she slowly raised her head. Her voice was soft but firm. "I did not plagiarize."
Lin Mo said impatiently, "What's the use of you saying you didn't? The other party has produced evidence, and even the original drawing. What do you intend to do? This ten million..."
"I believe you."
Lin Mo froze abruptly and slowly turned to look at Fu Jingshu.
Did Master Fu just speak?
Fu Jingshu repeated calmly, "I believe that Scary, renowned in the design world, would not plagiarize. However, others may not necessarily believe you."
Shen Qingqing pursed her lips and said firmly, "I will investigate thoroughly. Give me some time."
"Master Fu, this matter..." Lin Mo was worried that Master Fu might be soft-hearted. Whenever it came to Shen Qingqing, Master Fu always broke his own bottom line. But this matter was different. Plagiarism was not a trivial matter. If not punished severely, rumors would surely spread throughout the company.
Fu Jingshu nodded slightly. "Alright."
Lin Mo fell silent.
Fine, he was the most superfluous person here anyway.