Zhan Xi picked up the bag that Luo Jingyu had dropped on the ground, not even checking what was inside, and held hands with him as they walked home together. They were both in good spirits, and after a brief exchange, they realized they had been thinking about the same thing.
This must be what they call being in sync?
When everything first happened, everyone was thrown into chaos – going to the hospital, the police station, and Zhan Xi even got a concussion from her mother’s beating, leaving her dazed for several days.
Finally, when they were able to settle down and think things through carefully, there was an unexpected turning point in the situation.
When they got back to apartment 1504, Zhan Xi remembered to check what was in the bag. She pulled out two takeout boxes, one large and one small – it was curry crab and lemongrass chicken!
Zhan Xi looked at Luo Jingyu in disbelief, yelling: “Oh my goodness! Luo Jingyu, I spent half the day talking with the lawyer, and you went out drinking by yourself? And eating Thai food?”
Luo Jingyu: “…”
He didn’t know how to explain to Huanhuan. The evidence was right there on the table – he had indeed gone out drinking and eating Thai food. Not only that, he had also gone to the park and karaoke. He didn’t dare say anything about that – if he did, Huanhuan would probably be furious.
Red-faced, he pointed at the two boxes and signed: [Do you want some? I can heat it up.]
Zhan Xi loudly replied: “Yes!”
Luo Jingyu quickly grabbed the bags and headed to the kitchen.
While he was heating up the food, Zhan Xi went to the guest room that was being used as storage, which was filled with many things, including materials from the Maker Fair. She searched around and found the raffle box.
The raffle box contained all the tickets from customers who had participated in workshops or purchased pressed flower pieces during the three days of the Maker Fair. On the last day before closing, Zhan Xi had drawn the winners and called to notify them. The grand prize winner received a personally customized accessory from Teacher Luo, while second and third place winners also got small gifts. All prizes had already been sent out.
Thank goodness the raffle tickets hadn’t been thrown away.
She dumped all the tickets onto the dining table – there were quite a few. Apart from the first day when business was slow, both the workshops and finished products sold well on the following two days. Luo Jingyu had even brought accessories from their home inventory to restock. Zhan Xi counted – there were over 60 tickets in total, each with a phone number.
In her eyes, these tickets were now priceless treasures!
Although the situation was urgent, it was already too late that night – almost 11 PM. Zhan Xi felt it would be inappropriate to send texts or make calls to customers at this hour, worried it might backfire. She decided to handle it first thing in the morning.
She smoothed out and stacked the tickets one by one. Soon after, Luo Jingyu finished heating up both dishes and had even cooked some dumplings, bringing everything out to eat with Zhan Xi.
“You should have cooked rice,” Zhan Xi said shamelessly as she picked up a large crab leg and munched on it happily. “Curry tastes better with rice.”
Luo Jingyu pointed at the wall clock, thinking who would cook rice this late? He signed: [If you want curry, I can make it for you – chicken, beef, or crab, whatever you like.]
Zhan Xi glared at him: “Oh! So you get to eat at restaurants while I only get homemade food, is that it?”
She was just being difficult, but Luo Jingyu still felt guilty and didn’t dare argue back. He quickly tried to make amends: [If you want to eat out, I’ll take you. You can have whatever you want.]
Seeing him looking both anxious and apologetic, Zhan Xi burst out laughing. Still nibbling on the crab leg, she said: “I’m just joking with you. I’m not that petty. But you’re really something – what were you thinking, going out alone to eat and drink? Is this your way of relieving stress?”
Luo Jingyu: “…”
He wanted to move past this topic. This was his first time trying such a stress relief method. When he first went out, he had been feeling terrible, and only started feeling better after finding the matchmaking token.
“Go ahead and eat, don’t just stand there.” Zhan Xi put a large piece of crab in Luo Jingyu’s bowl and smiled sweetly at him. “Little Fish, I’ll start sending texts to those customers tomorrow morning. As long as we can successfully find that girl, we can turn this around.”
Looking at her, Luo Jingyu gradually smiled too. He nodded, picked up his chopsticks, ate a dumpling, and started working on the crab.
The curry crab was really fragrant, he thought as he ate. It would be even better with a bowl of rice.
—
The next day at 8:30 AM, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu were already sitting side by side at the workstation.
Zhan Xi had composed all the text messages and organized the phone numbers. A few raffle tickets appeared to have QQ or WeChat IDs instead of phone numbers – she set those aside for now.
Her plan was to send texts first and wait for calls. While waiting, she would try reaching out through those WeChat and QQ contacts. If there were no results by noon, she would start calling people one by one. After all, there were only about 60 people total – she refused to believe they wouldn’t be able to find the right person.
Luo Jingyu anxiously asked: [Did she fill one out?]
After thinking for a moment, Zhan Xi replied: “She should have. You weren’t there at the time, and there weren’t any other customers at the booth. If she bought something, I definitely would have had her fill one out. I remember most customers who bought things were willing to fill them out – the chances of winning weren’t bad, eight winners out of sixty-some entries.”
At exactly 9 AM, Zhan Xi got to work. She had already saved all the phone numbers in her contacts. After selecting them all, she sent out a mass text.
Luo Jingyu watched nervously as she worked. After she finished sending, they both sat quietly, eyes fixed on Zhan Xi’s phone.
Half an hour passed with no calls or texts.
Zhan Xi wasn’t discouraged. She started adding and messaging the QQ and WeChat contacts, while Luo Jingyu continued to sit quietly by her side.
By 11:30 AM, Zhan Xi was getting anxious. Luo Jingyu didn’t feel like cooking either. After a brief discussion, they decided to start making calls.
Zhan Xi used Luo Jingyu’s phone to make calls. After just three calls, her own phone suddenly rang. She picked it up and saw the caller ID: [Maker Fair 26]
Her heart pounding wildly, she answered. A young woman’s voice came through: “Hello, is this Xiyu Pressed Flowers?”
Zhan Xi’s voice trembled as she replied: “Yes, this is Assistant Xiao Zhan from Teacher Luo’s Xiyu Pressed Flowers.”
The other person said: “Hi, I saw your text message. That lotus hairpin you mentioned – I think that’s the one I bought. I was in class this morning, so I’m only calling back now.”
Zhan Xi was almost in tears: “That’s fine, that’s fine! May I ask where you are now? Could I borrow the hairpin back? Or even buy it back at double the price? I explained everything in the text. I hope you can understand and help Teacher Luo. Thank you so much.”
The girl said: “I can help, but I’m not in Qiantang – I’m at university in Yong City. School just started; I was just visiting the Maker Fair during summer break. The hairpin is in my dorm room. What should we do?”
“I’ll come find you. I’ll come right now,” Zhan Xi said without hesitation. “It’s only an hour by high-speed rail. Is that okay?”
“That’s fine. This is my phone number. My surname is Zhao. I’ll text you the school address, just call me when you arrive.” The girl’s tone was very gentle. “I just checked Weibo and basically understand what happened. I saw that person’s pictures and the hairpin – it’s exactly the same as Teacher Luo’s, but Teacher Luo made his earlier. Don’t worry, I can help prove it for you.”
“Thank you! See you this afternoon then. I’m leaving right now.” Zhan Xi hung up, turned around and hugged Luo Jingyu tightly, shouting “Ahhhh” while excitedly jumping up and down.
Luo Jingyu knew they must have found something. His heart was filled with indescribable emotions as he watched Zhan Xi jump up and say: “Little Fish, let’s go! Come with me to Yong City to get the evidence!”
They quickly left, traveling light. They took a taxi straight to the high-speed rail station, bought tickets for the 1:50 PM train, and by 3 PM were in another taxi heading to Xiao Zhao’s school. At 3:40 PM, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu met Xiao Zhao on campus.
Xiao Zhao was a helpful and sensible third-year student, waiting for them with the lotus flower hairpin in hand. Zhan Xi took the hairpin and examined it with Luo Jingyu – Fish Playing with Lotus – it was almost identical to the one in Luo Jingyu’s initial draft, even using the same metal hairpin base. Luo Jingyu had designed it specifically to match the metal hairpin bases they had in stock at home.
Then, Xiao Zhao gave Zhan Xi another unexpected surprise: “Actually… I posted about it on my Moments the day I bought it. Would you like to see?”
Zhan Xi: “!”
Racing against the closing time of a Yong City notary office, the three of them rushed to appear before the notary.
After hearing their request, the notary began processing Xiao Zhao’s case.
After confirming that Xiao Zhao’s WeChat account was registered to her phone number and the phone number was under her name, the notary had Xiao Zhao operate her WeChat app and recorded video evidence of her accessing WeChat, issuing a notarization certificate on the spot confirming the authenticity of the date and content of Xiao Zhao’s Moments post.
Zhan Xi had consulted with a lawyer by phone and also submitted her own request for evidence preservation notarization. The “Xiyu Pressed Flowers Art” Weibo account was registered under her phone, with the phone number being used by her personally. In front of the notary, she operated her Weibo account and had all the Weibo posts from [rrmft0429] and [Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers] during that period notarized for evidence preservation.
When they received the notarization certificate, Zhan Xi burst into tears of joy.
Good things really do come to those who persevere! She couldn’t help but hug Luo Jingyu. With only one day left before Huanshang’s final deadline, while [rrmft0429] was still causing trouble on Weibo, she and Luo Jingyu had finally obtained evidence – ironclad evidence from the notary office!
“Let’s go home,” Zhan Xi said to Luo Jingyu. “I’m not sleeping tonight. We have to make a big move! We’ll make them admit defeat this time!”
They said goodbye to Xiao Zhao at the entrance of the notary office. Zhan Xi transferred her 600 yuan and promised to make her a new hairpin after everything was settled – she could choose any flower design she wanted.
“I’m just glad I could help,” Xiao Zhao smiled. “I didn’t get to see Teacher Luo the day I bought the hairpin, but I finally met him today. Teacher Luo is so handsome!”
The swelling on Luo Jingyu’s face had gone down, restoring his originally handsome appearance. The remaining slight bruising and scabs from the cuts only added to his masculine charm. After understanding Xiao Zhao’s lip movements, he became a bit embarrassed, his ears turning red.
Zhan Xi linked arms with him proudly and said: “Teacher Luo isn’t just handsome, he’s also very talented! He just gets shy easily – look, he’s blushing when you compliment him.”
Xiao Zhao giggled and continued: “I don’t understand! How could they be so mean? Bullying Teacher Luo like this isn’t just about copying designs anymore – it’s framing him!”
Zhan Xi sighed and pointed to a promotional slogan in the notary office lobby: “Respect the law, value integrity, uphold justice, seek truth. Those two people don’t come close to any of these eight characters, that’s why even heaven won’t help them.”
That evening, Zhan Xi and Luo Jingyu took the high-speed rail back to Qiantang.
On the train, Zhan Xi shared the news about obtaining evidence with Zhan Jie and Luo Xinran, who were both relieved and happy. She also told Susu, though to be safe, she didn’t specify what evidence they had or send photos of the notarization certificate, just telling her to watch Weibo for updates.
Luo Jingyu flipped through the notarization certificate – it was his first time seeing what one looked like. Looking at that big red seal, he felt so excited, like the government was backing him up. He was innocent; he hadn’t plagiarized! These few thin pieces of paper could prove his innocence.
Luo Jingyu told Zhan Xi why he had wanted to make that lotus flower hairpin.
After Fang Xu took photos of the initial drafts but hadn’t given any feedback, Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi were busy with the Maker Fair and didn’t have time to follow up. On the second day of the fair, after the morning workshop ended, Luo Jingyu had some free time at lunch and took out the half-finished pieces he’d brought from home to continue working – that’s when he made this lotus and koi fish hairpin.
His thoughts were simple – he just wanted to make a sample to see how the actual piece would look. When the client’s feedback came back, he could show them the actual product photos to make communication smoother.
This hairpin was a sample and wasn’t meant to be sold. He had planned to give it to Huanhuan to wear on the third day – it would have matched well with her light pink hanfu dress.
Who could have imagined? It was sold within minutes by Huanhuan.
Zhan Xi also shared her analysis with Luo Jingyu about why [rrmft0429] didn’t post the accessories on Weibo until July 21st.
“I’m eighty percent sure this person is Guan Rujie. Precisely because it’s Guan Rujie, she was also very busy during those days,” Zhan Xi explained thoughtfully. “She had to set up her booth on the 15th and 16th, exhibit from the 17th to 19th. Even if she got the designs on the 11th, she really only had the 12th, 13th, 14th, and 20th – four or five days – to redraw the designs and make the flowers.”
Zhan Xi counted on her fingers, “She also had to buy accessories matching your design and experiment – it’s impossible to make an exact copy on the first try. Anyway, I’m skeptical of her skill level. Oh, and that fish! She probably couldn’t make it, who knows what material she ended up using – it turned out so ugly! Think about it, if she knew it would be ugly, why insist on making a fish? It’s because she was following your design exactly. So she posted on Weibo on the 21st because that’s when she finally finished. If she could have finished earlier, she definitely would have posted earlier.”
Luo Jingyu thought her reasoning made sense. He typed on his phone to show her: [Resin.]
“What’s that?” Zhan Xi looked but didn’t understand.
Luo Jingyu signed “Little Fish” and then pointed to the word on his phone.
Zhan Xi suddenly understood: “Oh! You mean she made the fish out of resin?”
Luo Jingyu nodded. He could tell at a glance – that fish was really ugly. Guan Rujie had probably just learned how to do it.
After their chat, they fell quiet. Zhan Xi was tired and leaned on Luo Jingyu’s shoulder to rest.
This day trip to Yong City was Luo Jingyu and Zhan Xi’s second time taking the high-speed rail together. It was somewhat similar to their previous trip from Qiantang to Shanghai, just reversed.
Back then, Zhan Xi had been hit by the blow of her failed transfer, despondent the whole way, curled up in Luo Jingyu’s embrace as he comforted and protected her. Now, it was Luo Jingyu who had been attacked for “plagiarism,” and Zhan Xi stayed by his side, holding his hand tightly, encouraging him and helping him, repeatedly telling him not to give up easily.
Luo Jingyu looked once again at the high-speed rail window. Outside was thick darkness, and the glass was like a mirror, reflecting the image of two people leaning close together.
He suddenly felt very fortunate. If it weren’t for Huanhuan, he wouldn’t have known what to do facing something like this alone.
These matters were exactly his weak points, he admitted. Without Huanhuan, he probably wouldn’t have been able to escape Fang Xu’s control at all. Even if he had managed to break away and start his own business, he would have been sabotaged by Fang Xu – either failing in his independent venture or having to go back begging to reconcile, or worst case, being driven out of the pressed flower industry entirely.
Zhan Xi noticed Luo Jingyu staring at her and asked: “What are you thinking about?”
Luo Jingyu smiled with pursed lips and signed: [You’re wonderful, thank you.]
Seeing his thumbs bend a few times in the sign, Zhan Xi pinched his cheek and smiled: “Silly.”
When they got back to apartment 1504 at Blue Magpie Gardens, it was already past 9 PM. Zhan Xi didn’t rush to shower, instead sitting down directly at her laptop to work. After scanning the notarization certificate, she organized a bunch of screenshots and began carefully writing an article.
Luo Jingyu made her a cup of coffee and sat beside her, watching her fingers fly across the keyboard.
After 11 PM, Zhan Xi read through the article several times and sent it to Luo Xinran and the lawyer to check if any revisions were needed. When they said it was fine, Zhan Xi posted it on Weibo.
With clear evidence, the whole incident was presented clearly and completely before the public.
Background summary: On July 24th, 20XX, before Teacher Luo and Fang collaborated in operating “Little Fish Fish Handmade Pressed Flowers” (hereafter referred to as Little Fish Fish) studio for four years, with Fang responsible for customer relations, online store operations, packaging, shipping and after-sales service, while Teacher Luo was in charge of all pressed flower design and production, as well as photo and video shooting.
In late June, Teacher Luo planned to register for the Qiantang Maker Fair. While Fang was unwilling to register under the studio’s name, he didn’t interfere with Teacher Luo’s wishes. Teacher Luo then registered individually, bearing all costs himself.
On June 30th, Teacher Luo received notice from the Maker Fair organizers that his registration was approved, and was asked to submit a WeChat public account for promotion, but “Little Fish Fish” hadn’t registered one.
On July 2nd, to coordinate with the Maker Fair’s official promotion, Teacher Luo commissioned Zhan to register the “Xiyu Pressed Flowers Art” (hereafter referred to as Xiyu) WeChat public account, along with Weibo and Q platform accounts, but did not register a Taobao store.
On July 3rd, Huanshang Hanfu Studio (hereafter referred to as Huanshang) commissioned “Little Fish Fish’s” Fang to design and produce pressed flower accessories for two women’s outfits in their autumn “Tang Dynasty Splendor” theme collaboration. After Fang accepted the order, he informed Teacher Luo via WeChat and provided design requirements. Teacher Luo proactively promised to submit designs by July 13th. (Image 1, Image 2)
From July 4th-9th, Teacher Luo gradually hand-drew six initial “Fish Playing with Lotus” designs, including two hairpins, two hand flowers, and two hair crowns. (Image 3, Image 4)
On July 11th, Fang came to Teacher Luo’s home and, under the pretext of showing the designs to Huanshang for feedback, took photos of the six design drafts. Teacher Luo and Fang were still collaborating at this time, and out of trust in Fang, he didn’t suspect anything and didn’t keep electronic copies of the design drafts.
On July 15th, according to [rrmft0429]’s account, they went out for inspiration that day, saw lotus flowers and koi fish in a lake, got inspired, went home to start drawing designs, wanting to make pressed flower crafts. The screenshot is from their July 21st Weibo post. (Image 5)
July 15th-18th was when [rrmft0429] claimed to be drawing designs. In their August 26th Weibo post (Image 6), they claimed the designs weren’t shown to anyone.
From July 17th-19th, Teacher Luo and Zhan participated in the Qiantang Maker Fair.
On July 18th, Teacher Luo made a “Fish Playing with Lotus” hairpin at the Maker Fair following his initial design draft. Zhan sold it to Zhao for 600 yuan. Zhao posted photos of the hairpin from multiple angles on her Moments that afternoon. This Moments post has been notarized. (Image 7, Image 8)
On July 19th, the Maker Fair ended. That evening, Fang asked Teacher Luo via WeChat when he would design the October Hanfu Festival custom accessories. Teacher Luo replied he could send samples by July 23rd. At this point, Fang showed no signs of wanting to end collaboration with Teacher Luo. (Image 9)
On July 21st, [rrmft0429] posted on Weibo, showing photos of four pressed flower accessories they made and inspiration photos. (Image 10, Image 11)
Please pay special attention to Image 11 – this hairpin is copying the one Teacher Luo made on July 18th. Both hairpins match their respective design drafts, but don’t match Teacher Luo’s final design for Huanshang. The reason will be explained below.
On July 23rd, Teacher Luo sent the Hanfu Festival sample photos to Fang via WeChat. Fang shared them in various Hanfu groups and received some customer feedback, which he sent back to Teacher Luo. (Image 12)
On July 24th, Fang came to Teacher Luo’s home and threatened to not open the warehouse unless Teacher Luo signed a liquidation agreement terminating their “Little Fish Fish” collaboration. Through unfair terms, he took away all of Teacher Luo’s design copyrights from four years of work, as well as the copyright and physical samples of Teacher Luo’s Hanfu Festival custom designs.
On July 27th, Teacher Luo and Zhan decided to collaborate on operating “Xiyu” and registered a Taobao store. Teacher Luo began redesigning the Hanfu Festival custom pieces, completely scrapping his previous designs given to Fang. (Image 13)
On July 31st, Huanshang contacted Teacher Luo to continue discussing the “Tang Dynasty Splendor” theme collaboration accessory design and production. That day, Teacher Luo made minor modifications to the initial designs, which Zhan sent to Huanshang. (Image 14, Image 15)
Please pay special attention to the hairpin in Image 15 – because Teacher Luo had sold a “Fish Playing with Lotus” hairpin on July 18th, and being very conscious of copyright, he scrapped that design and redrew it, resulting in Image 15’s version. When this hairpin design is placed alongside the other five modified drafts and compared with the six initial drafts, it’s very obvious that this hairpin has a different style.
On August 6th, Xiyu’s Hanfu Festival custom designs opened for pre-orders.
On August 10th, Teacher Luo and Huanshang signed the contract for design and production of “Fish Playing with Lotus” collaboration accessories. (Image 16, contract details redacted)
On August 12th, “Fish Playing with Lotus” accessories were finalized, and Teacher Luo began production.
On August 19th, Huanshang received six samples sent by Teacher Luo in Guangzhou.
On August 25th, Huanshang held their “Tang Dynasty Splendor” new product launch in Guangzhou, showcasing the “Fish Playing with Lotus” hanfu and accessories. That evening they updated Weibo, displaying the two “Fish Playing with Lotus” outfits and accessories in two separate posts, tagging Xiyu and noting it was a collaboration.
On August 26th, in the early morning, [rrmft0429] posted on Weibo claiming they were plagiarized, showing screenshots of their July 21st Weibo post and photos of their so-called “Fish Playing with Lotus” accessories alongside Huanshang’s posted accessory photos. (Image 17)
That day, Xiyu’s Zhan privately messaged [rrmft0429], stating Teacher Luo hadn’t plagiarized and had finished initial drafts by July 9th. [rrmft0429] asked Xiyu for proof, which Xiyu couldn’t provide at the time. [rrmft0429] immediately posted on Weibo, showing their design drafts, saying they were completed on July 18th and never shown to anyone. (Image 18, Image 6)
On August 27th, [rrmft0429] posted another long Weibo describing their supposed version of events, tagging many famous Weibo accounts in the pressed flower and hanfu communities, causing the incident to spread.
That evening, Xiyu posted a clarification Weibo, with content partially overlapping the above statement, not mentioning the conflict between Teacher Luo and Fang, and without the notarized evidence of Images 7 and 8, which is now being formally added.
After Xiyu posted their Weibo, Fang used the “Little Fish Fish” Weibo account to refute Xiyu’s clarification, claiming he never photographed Teacher Luo’s initial drafts.
From August 28th to September 2nd, [rrmft0429] and Fang posted daily on Weibo to stir up this incident, continuously attacking Teacher Luo for “plagiarism” and demanding explanations from Xiyu and Huanshang. Fang also took the opportunity to promote his new partner [Miss Rujie], and “Little Fish Fish’s” online store sales increased significantly due to this incident.
Meanwhile, “Xiyu’s” online store faced numerous refund requests and potential legal disputes with Huanshang. Teacher Luo’s pressed flower career hit rock bottom.
On September 2nd, Teacher Luo and Zhan contacted Zhao and obtained key evidence proving Teacher Luo had made the “Fish Playing with Lotus” physical hairpin following his initial draft on July 18th, with the timing certified by the notary office. (Image 7, Image 8)
At this point, “Xiyu” formally poses four questions to [rrmft0429], Fang, and [Miss Rujie], requesting serious answers from the three:
- Question for [rrmft0429]: Your four design drafts are extremely similar to Teacher Luo’s initial drafts in terms of flower pattern, fish design, drawing angle, color, and hairpin details – one party must be plagiarizing. You claim you completed your designs on July 18th and never showed them to anyone. How do you explain Teacher Luo already making a finished hairpin following one of these initial drafts on July 18th?
- Question for Fang: The only way Teacher Luo’s initial drafts could have leaked was when you took photos on July 11th. Now the facts are clear – Teacher Luo’s initial drafts existed before [rrmft0429]’s designs. Why do you continue to lie and refuse to admit this?
- Question for Fang and [Miss Rujie]: [rrmft0429] is a dummy account. This person clearly plagiarized Teacher Luo’s drafts, then turned things around and falsely accused Teacher Luo of plagiarism. Who is behind this person? What was the purpose of these actions? Who do you think ultimately benefited from this whole incident?
- Question for [Miss Rujie]: What role did you play in this whole incident? Before collaborating with Fang, did you know about the conflict between Fang and Teacher Luo? Did you know about the underhanded dealings between Fang and [rrmft0429]? Do “Little Fish Fish’s” customers know that you’re claiming Teacher Luo’s Hanfu Festival custom designs as your own?
Above all, Xiyu and Huanshang await answers from the three of you.
Additionally: Xiyu has had [rrmft0429] and [Little Fish Fish]’s Weibo posts notarized for evidence preservation – deleting posts won’t help. Xiyu will join with Huanshang to pursue legal action against [rrmft0429]’s plagiarism, defamation, and spread of rumors. This matter concerns Teacher Luo’s reputation – there will be no leniency or private settlement.
At the end of the long post, Zhan Xi wrote about Luo Jingyu:
[Xiyu Pressed Flowers Art]: Teacher Luo studied pressed flower techniques under Master Xu Qingyan for nearly ten years, maintaining his love and dedication to pressed flower art with consistent passion and persistent study. He never plagiarizes, puts his heart and soul into every piece, insists on quality first, and strives to use pressed flower accessories as a medium to promote traditional Chinese culture, letting the public see the beauty of handmade flower crafts.
As a designer, Teacher Luo has strong principles. When he says he’ll submit designs by July 13th, he definitely will. For commissioned commercial pieces, even if just one hairpin was sold unintentionally, he would scrap that design and start over, worried about potential copyright disputes.
Such a self-disciplined Teacher Luo has passed four years of customer scrutiny at “Little Fish Fish,” with his designed and crafted pieces loved by countless people. How could he, after going independent, plagiarize pressed flower work posted by an anonymous Weibo account?
Fortunately, heaven helps those who help themselves – we finally found ironclad evidence proving Teacher Luo’s innocence. For subsequent matters, Xiyu will follow up with Huanshang and lawyers, and will report specific developments on Weibo when the time comes.
The handcraft industry is a very niche field, with many traditional skills gradually disappearing. In today’s fast-paced life, it’s thanks to a group of handcraft teachers’ love and persistence for their learned skills that allows these crafts to maintain a place among countless industrial and fast-moving consumer products, letting more people experience the charm of handmade works.
And pressed flowers are niche among the niche. As a member of the handcraft industry, Teacher Luo vows to stand united with other principled, aspiring, law-abiding and honest craftspeople to defend their rights and strongly condemn the deliberate plagiarism and malicious framing that occurred in this incident!
Such people must face the stern punishment of the law.
Thank you everyone for your attention to this matter over the past week. Thank you to friends who have consistently supported Xiyu and Teacher Luo. We firmly believe that evil cannot triumph over justice.
—
After Zhan Xi posted this long Weibo, she followed [rrmft0429] and Fang Xu’s example and tagged a bunch of Weibo accounts – from the pressed flower community, the hanfu circle, other handcraft industry leaders… she tagged everyone she could.
After posting, she tossed aside her phone, hugged Luo Jingyu and gave him a thorough kissing, then they cooked something to eat, took showers, and went straight to bed.
The next day, sunlight filtered through the curtain gaps into the room, and Zhan Xi squinted as she woke from her dream.
She was sleeping in Luo Jingyu’s embrace, her back against his chest. She turned over to find him blinking as he watched her, not knowing when he had woken up, or if… he had even slept at all.
“Good morning.” Zhan Xi leaned over to kiss his cheek, and after stretching lazily, she grabbed her phone from the bedside table and asked, “Little Fish, are you ready? I’m going to look now.”
Luo Jingyu nodded, looking a bit nervous.
Zhan Xi felt quite calm as she opened Weibo in front of Luo Jingyu. Sure enough, there were messages everywhere.
They read through them one by one, heads together, and gradually began to smile.
Zhan Xi knew that in this battle, she and Little Fish had won.
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