Si Mingjing said, "Didn’t Mu Genggeng claim to have stayed up for three consecutive nights, examined countless dical records, and consulted nurous references to develop this prescription? Similar to the notebook provided by the young man, let her present the books she read, the references she consulted, and her personal thought process. What if her work genuinely bears a resemblance? We mustn’t wrongly accuse Mu Genggeng; she’s a rare talent nurtured by our departnt."
Si Mingjing’s words seed to defend Mu Genggeng.
Everyone present thought it made sense.
Mu Genggeng’s face, however, turned deathly pale in an instant.
Provide her personal thought process? How could she possibly provide that?
Dean Chen also considered this a good solution. He said to Mu Genggeng, "Mu Genggeng, please list all the books you stayed up late reading these past few nights. Let everyone see which books you read, what notes you took, and from which page of what material you derived the basis for your prescription. That shouldn’t be difficult, should it?"
Clutching the trophy tightly, Mu Genggeng forced herself to remain calm. "Dean, I read e-books."
Dean Chen replied, "E-books? That’s even simpler. Show us your reading history."
Mu Genggeng stamred, "I... I read without keeping a history. I set it to incognito mode."
Dean Chen said, "That’s fine. Just provide the list of books. Surely you haven’t forgotten every single one, have you?"
Mu Genggeng, however, couldn’t produce a list. She explained, "I... I was so exhausted those nights. I skimd through a vast amount of material without specifically rembering which books."
Dean Chen’s gaze hardened as he scrutinized Mu Genggeng, his eyes filled with a probing, reflective intensity.
"Is it possible you can’t rember even a single book?"
Mu Genggeng hesitantly nad a few well-known classics of traditional Chinese dicine.
Students and professors from the Traditional Chinese dicine departnt present opened their e-books and found the titles she ntioned.
When asked for specific Chapters, key concepts, or case studies, Mu Genggeng couldn’t answer. Beads of sweat ford on her forehead from anxiety.
All eyes were on her, their expressions a mixture of shock, disappointnt, suspicion, and even anger.
Seeing Mu Genggeng speechless, the young man sneered, "Why can’t you answer? Didn’t you claim to have developed this prescription over three sleepless nights? You don’t even know which books you read or their specific content? Do you have the seven-second mory of a goldfish?"
"It’s been many days; it’s normal not to rember. Besides..."
"Stop pretending!" The young man had no interest in listening to Mu Genggeng’s excuses. "Do you take for a fool, or everyone else here for fools?"
Dean Chen saw it too. He was no fool. As much as he wanted to protect Mu Genggeng, he now recognized the problem.
If she had truly summarized it herself after reading dical texts, how could she fail to provide even a hint of her thought process? Her stamring, her evasiveness, the sweat on her brow—it all scread guilt.
Dean Chen was so furious he felt he could vomit blood. This was the star student he had intended to promote vigorously, and now... it was a complete fiasco! He had invited so many dia representatives, and now all their caras were pointed at them! This was going to be an utterly humiliating scandal for Yecheng University!
Dean Chen said, "Mu Genggeng, you have disappointed imnsely. You do not deserve this trophy!"
Dean Chen walked over, snatched the trophy from Mu Genggeng’s hands, and offered it to the young man with a sincere apology. "I’m sorry. This trophy belongs to your grandfather."
The young man didn’t want the trophy. He considered it tainted, having been touched by Mu Genggeng.
The young man stated, "I’ve already reported this to the police. Let this be handled through legal channels!"
With that, he turned and left.
Sure enough, police officers soon entered the auditorium. They approached Mu Genggeng and said, "Mu Genggeng, you’ve been reported for allegedly manufacturing an epidemic, endangering the safety of Yecheng, causing a serious public safety incident, and plagiarizing soone else’s prescription. Please accompany us to the police station for investigation."
"No, I didn’t! I really didn’t..." Mu Genggeng shook her head, extrely agitated.
The police, however, weren’t interested in her explanations. "You can tell your story at the police station."
With that, they handcuffed her and led her away.
Mu Genggeng, unwilling to go, shouted and struggled, creating a deeply embarrassing scene.
The award ceremony eventually concluded in disarray.
Stepping out of the auditorium, Ye Siyuan could hardly contain her laughter. Draping her arm over Si Mingjing’s, she said, "Mingjing, how are you so brilliant? I thought you were going to personally expose her, but it turns out we just had to sit back and watch. That young man did great."
Si Mingjing smiled faintly. "Considering my status, directly confronting her would have been beneath ."
As the Queen of Mu Continent, how could she possibly stoop to such an undignified act as openly berating soone?
Ye Siyuan said, "I’d like to see how Song Pianlan manages to spin this!"
Si Mingjing wasn’t very optimistic. "This isn’t concrete evidence, rely public judgnt. The law requires proof, so Mu Genggeng might not necessarily fall. Besides, she has the entire Mu Family supporting her. Her reputation, however, is utterly ruined."
"So, no complete chain of evidence was found?" Ye Siyuan frowned.
Si Mingjing shook her head. Unless evidence could be found proving Mu Genggeng sent that box of soil, convicting her legally would be difficult.
Ye Siyuan huffed. "Regardless, I bet Dean Chen is livid. Song Pianlan can forget about continuing her studies at Yecheng University as Mu Genggeng. Dean Chen might seem approachable, but he’s actually very hard-nosed. Mu Genggeng made him lose face completely; he won’t tolerate her staying!"
"Mm," Si Mingjing acknowledged. She had noticed that as well.
The more Dean Chen had favored Mu Genggeng before, the more intensely he would despise her now. The fact that Mu Genggeng would no longer be an eyesore to her two masters was indeed a small victory.
Si Mingjing said, "Let’s go ho and continue knitting."
"Still knitting?" Ye Siyuan, eager for so fun, suggested, "I heard from a friend that a new coffee shop opened on North Sea Road. They supposedly make excellent coffee. How about we go check it out?"
Without waiting for Si Mingjing’s reply, Ye Siyuan grabbed her arm. "Co on, let’s go! Let’s take today off. We can grab so coffee, go to a concert, or maybe watch a movie at the cinema and relax."
Si Mingjing said, "I’d like to visit my mom."
"I’ll go with you! I miss Aunt Bai’s cooking. We can conveniently stay for dinner."
Anyway, Ye Siyuan just wanted to stick close to her.
Si Mingjing nodded with a smile.
The two drove to visit Bai Danfeng, stopping at a supermarket on the way to buy so groceries. After all, one shouldn’t arrive hoping for a al empty-handed.
Unexpectedly, there were guests at Bai Danfeng’s ho: Hua Jinse and Lu Jinyi.
Hua Jinse and Lu Jinyi had both completed their quarantine, and Lu Jinyi had recovered from his illness. They were planning to return to Mu Continent and had co to visit Bai Danfeng before leaving.
Bai Danfeng had studied painting under Grandmother Hua, who was her ntor, so she was relatively close to Hua Jinse.
Sitting in the living room, Hua Jinse said, "My mother ntioned she’d like to co and stay in Yecheng for a while. Ever since Jingzhe left, my mother has been feeling particularly lonely. She often talks about wanting to co to Yecheng to see her grandson. When that ti cos, she hopes she might be able to stay with you temporarily, Aunt Bai."
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