On the pink beach, everyone's heart sank slightly as they faced Qin He, who was presented with "ironclad evidence" and rendered speechless.
It turned out that Qin He, who had always seemed aloof yet approachable, had indeed plagiarized the formula of the overbearing Fang Ruonan!
Some were disappointed, some gloated, and others watched the gossip with detached interest.
Qin He pursed her lips and remained silent.
Wang Qide and the judges whispered to each other for a few moments before turning back to face the crowd.
"After discussion by the organizing committee, the following decision has been made—"
Qin He closed her eyes, sighed with disappointment, and opened her mouth to speak.
"Wait a moment!" a voice rang out from the crowd.
Qin He turned her head and saw Li Ai trying to walk away, only to be fiercely pulled back by Zhang Caiyu's assistant.
"Miss Qin did not plagiarize, it was Fang Ruonan who copied her formula!" Li Ai shouted.
The little assistant was so anxious she wished she could cover Li Ai's mouth, but Wang Qide's expression turned serious. "Let her go, let her speak!"
Zhang Caiyu turned and glared at Li Ai, but now was not the time to discipline her ignorant and penniless cousin.
"Director, Mr. Wang, this is my cousin."
Zhang Caiyu walked over with a smile, linked her arm with Li Ai's, and subtly pinched her hard.
"My cousin and I have always had a poor relationship, and she has always been close to Qin He. Her words are not to be trusted, so don't listen to her."
After speaking, Zhang Caiyu looked at Li Ai and smiled, "Little Ai, you are still young, and it's normal to be unable to discern people clearly. But you cannot go astray and provide false testimony for others."
"I am not providing false testimony for others, Miss Qin is a good person."
Li Ai broke free from Zhang Caiyu's arm for the first time and strode forward.
"It was me, it was me who gave Miss Qin's spice formula to Fang Ruonan!"
Fang Ruonan frowned, a flicker of panic in her eyes. "You're talking nonsense! You're just good friends with Qin He, so you're slandering me!"
Wang Qide looked at Li Ai. He had an impression of this girl; her scent creations were good, and she seemed honest, but she did indeed seem close to Qin He.
"Do you have any evidence?" the director asked.
Qin He let out a long sigh. She had already anticipated half of this scene today, ever since Li Ai left her room yesterday and she discovered the ingredient list was missing.
It wasn't that she didn't have evidence, but she wanted to wait for Li Ai to speak first, to give this pitiful girl one last chance. Fortunately, Li Ai had seized it.
Qin He looked up at the director, about to present her evidence.
"I do!" Li Ai suddenly announced loudly.
Qin He was startled and looked at Li Ai. "You have evidence?"
"Yes!" Li Ai's eyes reddened, and she took out her phone from her pocket. "Since my cousin Zhang Caiyu and Fang Ruonan found me and asked me to do things for them, I have been recording what they said."
Zhang Caiyu and Fang Ruonan looked at Li Ai in astonishment.
How could this be?!
Zhang Caiyu's heart pounded wildly as she looked at the phone in Li Ai's hand!
If Li Ai had truly recorded all their previous conversations, her future would be utterly ruined!
But Li Ai had always been a timid cousin, a poor relative who dared not say a word. Why would she suddenly do this?
Li Ai had never defied her before!
Zhang Caiyu spoke urgently, "Li Ai! Think about how I've treated you! I funded your education and brought you into the world of perfumery! I even paid for your mother's medical expenses. Are you now going to slander me and Miss Fang for an outsider?"
Qin He looked coldly at Zhang Caiyu. Zhang Caiyu's words sounded like an injustice, but anyone with a bit of sense could tell that Zhang Caiyu was threatening her!
"I'll cover the medical expenses. Li Ai, present whatever evidence you have."
Li Ai gritted her teeth, suddenly turned to look at Zhang Caiyu, a hint of hatred in her eyes.
"You funded my education only so I would work for you. When I was your assistant under your brand, I wrote many perfume formula sheets, but you either used them as favors or put your own name on them. You never truly considered me a cousin!"
"You just wanted to use me, and while using me, you constantly belittled me, telling me that the perfumes I designed were worthless and that I couldn't even feed myself without you, isn't that right?"
Li Ai's words silenced the entire crowd.
"It seems so. If Zhang Caiyu truly treated her well, why wouldn't she even assign her an assistant for this competition?"
"This is her own cousin, after all. Zhang Caiyu can be quite ruthless."
Li Ai had already handed her phone to Wang Qide.
"There are three recordings here. The first is from when they first found me and asked me to help them. They wanted me to search Qin He's room for clues, believing there was something fishy about her advancement to the top fifty in her first qualifying match. I refused, and then they sent Fang Ruonan's assistant.
The second recording is from this time, when they found me and asked me to steal Miss Qin's formula for this competition."
Li Ai took a deep breath. "I knew they wouldn't admit it, so I decided to make the matter concrete. I agreed and stole Miss Qin's formula, then gave it to Miss Fang. I wanted to see what else Miss Fang would do. The last recording is of Zhang Caiyu and Fang Ruonan verbally abusing Qin He. I didn't even record the more hurtful words."
Only by making the matter concrete could the wickedness of people be revealed.
Qin He's eyes grew warm. She had thought she was giving Li Ai a chance, but it turned out Li Ai had even stolen the formula to help her strike back at Fang Ruonan and Zhang Caiyu.
"If I hadn't done this, they would have covered it up as before, saying there was no evidence."
Li Ai bit her lip. "I know what I did also violated the competition rules, so whether I am disqualified or permanently banned from future competitions, I will accept it willingly."
Qin He stepped forward. "Mr. Wang, Li Ai's actions are understandable given the circumstances!"
"Let's listen to the recordings first before making a decision," Wang Qide said with a complex expression.
The recordings were played quickly.
As Li Ai had said, Fang Ruonan's voice in the recording sounded extremely sinister and vicious.
"Go into Qin He's room and search. That bitch absolutely doesn't have the ability to advance to the top fifty! She must have relied on the Qin family, or someone in the organizing committee was bribed by the Qin family!"
"The Ming family is also a possibility!"
The words from the recording played out one by one. Fang Ruonan felt like she was going to faint.
She gritted her teeth, forcing herself to stand there.
Zhang Caiyu had already turned and walked to Fang Ruonan's side, her voice lowered slightly. "It's alright, don't you still have the album as ironclad evidence? Li Ai doesn't know about this. As long as you can hold on!"