Against the Light - Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Facing a Formidable Foe
Ming Zhen had already seen the dress Ye Ting designed on the way. She recognized it at a glance as the drawing Little Fairy had made, and she was livid.
"Young President Ming, fashion and design go hand in hand. Do you know this Ye Ting?"
"Of course I know her. Her reputation in the design world is equivalent to a Movie Queen in your entertainment industry. And she has a great business mind. She founded her own clothing brand, 【Chan Ye】, early on and specializes in collaborating with well-known corporations."
"So, does she collaborate with your Ming family?"
"No. We have our own design team. A second-rate designer like her isn't good enough for the Ming family."
"Wait, didn't you just say she was the Movie Queen of the design world?"
Ming Zhen raised an eyebrow. "Can't I diss a rival?"
"Fair enough."
"Interesting." Fang Yi, who was fiddling with her computer on the side, suddenly chuckled.
"How's it going? Did you find the old livestream video?"
"No. I hacked into the backends of several streaming platforms. When they aired it, they only played the edited version, and there haven't been any backend operations in the last few days." Fang Yi shook her head.
"Are there any other ways? Like… hacking the show's… director's computer!" Fang Jinghai's imagination ran wild.
"Good idea."
"What do you think I am? A Trojan horse? Able to get in anywhere?" she was met with Fang Yi's merciless retort.
"Hacking it would be useless anyway. I just asked a friend I know well. The production team only has the edited version too. The archives from the recording are gone. Apparently, the editor's computer got a virus, and the source material was corrupted." Lu Qing hung up the phone and shook her head at the group.
"How could the computer get a virus at such a critical moment? What a coincidence."
"Not exactly. I heard it was lost half a month ago. Because the websites bought the rights to a condensed version, the director didn't fuss too much over the livestream footage. They already got paid, so why would they care about that stuff?"
"So doesn't that mean there's no evidence now? Even if we all saw the design drawing with our own eyes, that's just witness testimony. Without physical evidence, the netizens won't believe it." Lin Guo was so anxious she was practically jumping up and down.
"Don't panic. I refuse to believe no one posted that picture online." Fang Yi said calmly, then went back to tapping away at her keyboard.
Everyone looked at each other. Their only hope rested on her.
"Strange. A Good Show was a phenomenal variety show. There must have been hundreds of thousands of people watching the livestream back then. How come no one noticed Ye Ting was plagiarizing?" Lin Guo asked, puzzled.
"Design competitions just don't get that much attention. Even someone like you, who loves variety shows, only just found out about this program, right?" Qin Qiong analyzed.
"True. What kind of crappy show is this? Don't they screen the contestants? That designer has some nerve! She's bound to fail!"
Ming Zhen sighed and shook her head.
"You guys probably don't know how deep the waters are in the fashion world. In this circle, plagiarism is very difficult to prove, especially when it involves a famous designer."
"Then look at this one: a comeback actress with a ton of scandals in her past."
"Compare the two. If you were an innocent bystander, a gossip-loving netizen, would you believe that the famous designer with a squeaky-clean record plagiarized an actress with a mountain of scandals? Or would you believe that a moderately famous actress was trying to make a comeback and maliciously framed a top designer?" Ming Zhen analyzed rationally.
Her family was a powerhouse in the fashion industry, so she had seen this kind of thing many times. The waters of the fashion world were no shallower than the entertainment industry's.
Everyone looked at each other blankly. From a bystander's perspective, it did seem more likely that a minor actress, desperate to be famous, would try to frame a designer.
"Besides, how many fans does Little Fairy have? How many customers does 【Chan Ye】 have? A clothing brand that's been developing for over a decade has a customer base larger than you can imagine. 【Chan Ye】's clothes include both affordable luxury styles, catering to a younger demographic with some spending power, and high-end luxury styles, catering to high society. Just in the entertainment industry alone, how many famous actors are their loyal customers, lining up to get their hands on the latest new arrivals? Even if you haven't seen it, you must have heard of it, right?"
After hearing Ming Zhen's explanation, everyone instantly deflated. It felt like they were facing a huge mountain they could neither climb over nor get around.
"So what you're saying is, we should just let her plagiarize? Do nothing? Since we can't win anyway?"
"If you want to fight, you can. But let me ask you all first, who among you dares to challenge the position of this top sister of the fashion world? The fashion and entertainment industries are symbiotic, with a complex web of interests behind them. To put it bluntly, you are just actors. The big shots can crush you with the lift of a finger."
"How would they crush us?" Lin Guo asked.
"First, let's talk about the obvious consequences. Once you're blacklisted by the fashion world, you won't get on magazine covers, you won't land high-end endorsements, you won't be able to move products, and you won't make money. Your commercial value will shrink. The entertainment industry moves so fast these days. Who would promote a star with no commercial value? Unless you want to be just an actor for the rest of your life, and even then, you might not even be able to land a leading role."
"Then there's what happens behind the scenes. The entertainment industry is full of snobs. When you're popular, they fawn all over you. When your career cools down, they can't wait to crush you underfoot. You've seen that happen, haven't you? Once you're blacklisted by a big shot, it triggers a chain reaction. People you know and people you don't, people you have a grudge with and people you don't—everyone will come out to kick you while you're down."
After Ming Zhen's analysis, even Lin Guo couldn't act tough anymore. The whole group deflated again.
"Let's get back to the current situation. The design drawing is gone, which means there's no hard evidence. Even if all of you come forward to testify for her… sigh, Ye Ting wouldn't even have to do anything. The public would drown you in their spit. Not only that, but Ye Ting's fame would even get a boost from being 'framed'."
"That… seems to make sense…"
"So… would it be useless even if you stepped in? You're the second young miss of the Ming family, after all. You should have some standing in the fashion world, right?" a staff member asked.
"That's the problem—my identity. Everyone in the industry knows the Ming family and Ye Ting don't get along. If I, as the second young miss of the Ming family, come forward and accuse her of plagiarism, what do you think the netizens will say? Won't they think I'm just jealous of her business?"
"Well…"
"What if we can find the design drawing?"
Ming Zhen shook her head again. "That brings us back to the problem I mentioned before. In this industry, plagiarism is very difficult to prove, especially in design."
Ming Zhen paused, took Su Yu's phone, and played a video. It showed Ye Ting explaining her design philosophy.
"Look. She can interpret every detail of this dress with her own design philosophy. And she didn't copy it exactly; she made some changes. In a situation like this, how do you expect the public to judge? Even if she generously admitted to 'drawing inspiration' from your design, it's just inspiration. That's on a completely different level from plagiarism."
After hearing Ming Zhen's analysis, their morale plummeted. Although what she said was infuriating, it was the reality. In the end, they were just actors. They had to be careful with every word and action just to maintain their public personas and likability. They seemed glamorous, but in reality, their influence was minuscule.
Just as Ming Zhen had said, the big shots could darken their futures with the lift of a finger, making all their efforts go to waste. They couldn't fight back.
Everyone looked at one another, then lowered their heads in unison, all of them dejected.
Gu Xinran had been sitting to the side, listening carefully. Ming Zhen's words had struck a chord with her, and the indignant expressions on everyone's faces warmed her heart.
She stood up, patted Lin Guo gently, and looked at the others.
"None of you are to get involved in this," Gu Xinran said in a low voice.
"What do you mean? You're going to go head-to-head with Ye Ting?" Ming Zhen's expression turned serious. She stood up straight. Did that mean everything she had just analyzed was for nothing?
"I can tolerate anything else she does, but this dress—I will absolutely not allow anyone to touch it." Gu Xinran's tone was exceptionally firm, leaving herself no room for retreat. Some people wanted to persuade her, but seeing her resolute attitude, they exchanged glances and gave up.
"Guozi, Teacher Lu, thank you. Just by coming here, you've given me the greatest support. Don't worry about this anymore. I'll handle it myself."
"How are you going to handle it?" Lin Guo grabbed her arm, worried she would do something drastic.
Gu Xinran looked at her, her expression softening. She chuckled lightly. "Of course I have my ways. I'm Little Fairy, what can't I do?" she said, feigning ease.
Lin Guo studied her face. She looked full of confidence, which in turn gave her some confidence. "Really?"
"Mhm." Gu Xinran gave a faint smile and looked at the others. "Don't worry, I have a way to deal with her. Everyone, please stay out of this. I can handle it alone."
Fang Jinghai had been with Gu Xinran for a long time and knew her well. Although she was smiling to reassure everyone, it was obvious she was also a bit at a loss. After Young President Ming's analysis, the current situation was extremely unfavorable for her.
"Er Gou, how's it going? Any luck?"
"Hold on, give me a little more time." Fang Yi's expression was unusually serious.
Gu Xinran glanced at her. There was sweat on her forehead, so things probably weren't going smoothly. Just as Gu Xinran was about to tell her to stop, she suddenly broke into a smile.
"I knew someone must have taken a screenshot and posted it online!" Fang Yi said, relieved. She turned the computer around for everyone to see. On the screen was a high-definition screenshot. It showed not only the design drawing on the ground but also Bai Yilan standing in front of it, staring blankly. It looked like the screenshot was meant to capture Bai Yilan and had included the drawing by chance.
"Hey, hey, hey, this is it! Look, you can see the villa behind Teacher Bai. Even though it's only half of it, it definitely matches the one from the show."
"Leave it to me." After saying that, Fang Yi worked her magic again, taking a screenshot of the complete villa from the variety show and perfectly overlaying it with the photo of the half-villa.
"This counts as ironclad evidence, right?" Fang Yi looked at Gu Xinran excitedly.
Gu Xinran nodded at her.
Ming Zhen watched everyone's excited reactions, sighed inwardly, but didn't say anything to dampen their spirits.
Jin Shuang took a picture of the image and went to show it to the people on Yu Hua's crew.
"Look. Now what do you have to say?" she said smugly.
"Whoa, for real? She really plagiarized?"
"It really does look similar. Holy sh—"
"I just bought her brand's new collection. I… I'm going to return it right now. I'll even save some money."
On Yilan's crew, everyone was staring at the design drawing on the computer, quietly discussing their chances of winning now that they had physical evidence. Gu Xinran was also looking at the computer, but she was watching the Yilan in the picture. One hand was holding back the hair by her ear, her gaze somewhat vacant as she stared blankly at the ground.
Gu Xinran looked at her eyes. In those pupils, something seemed to be glittering, reflecting the light.
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