The call connected quickly, as if the person on the other end had been specifically waiting for it.
Before Li Xingyu could speak, Shao Yichen jumped in first: "I'm certain I didn't plagiarize! Not 'The Last Wish' or 'The Web' or that graduation project that appeared out of nowhere—"
"—I believe you."
Before Shao Yichen could finish, Li Xingyu responded this way.
Hearing these words, Shao Yichen's agitated heart gradually calmed down.
Her panic stemmed partly from worry about affecting others, but also from concern that people might genuinely misunderstand her.
Though she was certain she hadn't plagiarized, what if others saw this news and thought differently? What if they distanced themselves from her because of it?
She did want to lose money, but she refused to lose it because of such false accusations! She absolutely didn't want to return to her original world with only these misunderstood memories.
Especially regarding Li Xingyu, a friend with whom she had collaborated on two films—yes, though Shao Yichen hadn't said it aloud, she had already considered this so-called "junior" of similar age as a friend.
Now, hearing Li Xingyu so firmly affirm her innocence and stand by her side, Shao Yichen felt as if she'd taken a reassuring pill.
She composed herself and replied: "...Thank you."
"But about the suspects you mentioned in WeChat... do you actually know who's manipulating this public opinion?" After calming down, Shao Yichen's attention returned to the matter itself.
"I have suspicions, but no evidence," Li Xingyu's voice remained characteristically calm. "Since Director Shao watched my variety show today, you should know who the guests were."
Having just finished watching, Shao Yichen naturally had vivid impressions: "Yes, yes, I just finished watching. Your physical abilities are amazing—you never show that normally! But that Fu Lianghui was so infuriating—"
At this point, she suddenly stopped speaking.
Fu Lianghui—hadn't he had unpleasant experiences with both herself and Li Xingyu?
No way?
"...Are you suggesting that Fu Lianghui went to the trouble of digging up my dirty laundry just to smear me?" Shao Yichen asked incredulously. "Setting aside how petty that would be—he actually has time to hunt for dirt on a small director like me? Isn't he too idle?"
"I also think it's unnecessary, but it seems to be the reality," Li Xingyu responded from the other end of the line. "Besides, this episode was filmed a month ago, before your new film's auditions had started. No one knew you planned to open a media company then."
"He probably planned all this based on the possibility that you might sign with his company, since even if you did sign with his company, it would only harm him rather than benefit him," Li Xingyu analyzed. "When I was on set, I happened to overhear part of his conversation with his agent, and they seemed to mention 'delayed graduation' and 'plagiarism.' I didn't understand what it meant at the time so I didn't pay attention, but now it seems he's been planning this since then."
Shao Yichen listened with skepticism but still mentally marked Fu Lianghui with a heavy stroke—primary suspect, must remain suspicious.
"Beyond this... I have another baseless conjecture about this matter," Li Xingyu hesitated as he said this.
"What conjecture?" Shao Yichen asked.
Li Xingyu took a breath and began: "I know nothing about you from four years ago, but if something bad really happened during that time... it might involve someone else."
"Though I might be overthinking—but do you know Li Qiaoqiao?"
"The online film you're accused of plagiarizing was produced by her company, and she was in your class."
Li Qiaoqiao? Who was that?
Shao Yichen tried to search for this name in the original owner's memories, but the moment she attempted to recall, a strange pain suddenly assaulted her mind.
As if her memory was automatically preventing her.
Shao Yichen tried to ignore the pain, but even with her utmost effort, she could only recall a vague figure, unable to even remember the person's face.
Finally, she could only press her throbbing temples and reply: "I think there was such a person... I remember she was my roommate, but I've forgotten everything else. During that delayed graduation period, I seem to have—"
Shao Yichen swallowed the words "had mental issues" that nearly escaped her lips.
Though she knew the mental issues weren't hers, others didn't know that!
Directly saying she had mental problems felt strange.
Moreover, recalling this far, she began to distrust her own memories. Although she had previously been certain that neither version of Shao Yichen had plagiarized, the ambiguity in this world's memories created a sliver of doubt.
Had she really done such a thing? Delayed graduation due to being caught plagiarizing, and never recovered from it?
Fortunately, Li Xingyu on the other end didn't continue questioning. Seeing that Shao Yichen seemed unwilling to discuss this topic further, he changed the subject, preparing to conclude the discussion.
"In any case, the biggest question about this rumor concerns what happened four years ago," he said, softening his tone. "I'll continue to monitor this situation and investigate, but ultimately, I wasn't there. Some things only Director Shao herself knows the truth about."
Shao Yichen knew he was hinting that she should investigate what happened four years ago herself, but was afraid of upsetting her. However, Shao Yichen found it both laughable and sad—strictly speaking, she was almost as much an observer as he was.
"I will," she answered.
Li Xingyu responded with a few more sentences, preparing to end the call.
But Shao Yichen, inexplicably, added: "Your variety show performance was really impressive, though. Do you often interact with children?"
Li Xingyu on the other end of the phone paused unusually, then answered: "Thank you. Perhaps I'm experienced in taking care of people who aren't mentally mature."
❀⋆｡°✿☆❀✿°｡⋆❀
After finishing the call, Shao Yichen returned to the filming location.
Abandoning an entire film crew mid-shoot to make a phone call was indeed problematic. Only after Shao Yichen sincerely apologized to the crew members led by Qi Gelong did filming resume.
However, affected by the rumors, Shao Yichen's attention was completely diverted from filming. She had no heart to critique performances anymore and completely delegated responsibility to the assistant director.
Thus, after the crew finished the day's scenes and dispersed, she eagerly called another person.
The phone rang for quite a while before being answered. From the other end of the connection, Zhao Kang laughed: "What brings you to call me again? Go ahead, what is it?"
Shao Yichen: ...
Director Zhao, you don't have to be so aware of your role as a tool...!
Couldn't it possibly be that your proud disciple suddenly wanted to chat with you?
But Shao Yichen did have something to discuss.
Since Director Zhao was so self-aware, Shao Yichen didn't bother with pretenses. After chatting briefly, she cut straight to the point: "Director Zhao, do you remember my delayed graduation?"
"What, you delayed your graduation?" Zhao Kang was shocked. "How could you delay graduation when you've already submitted your thesis? Didn't you already receive your diploma?"
Shao Yichen: "...Please rest assured, I didn't delay my graduate studies."
Zhao Kang breathed a sigh of relief: "That's good, you frightened me. I thought you had stayed back a year to continue living in the dormitory. If not graduate school, are you talking about your undergraduate years? So you delayed graduation as an undergraduate?"
"So Director Zhao, you didn't know about my undergraduate situation." From his tone, Shao Yichen immediately understood that Zhao Kang didn't even know about her undergraduate delay, let alone anything else.
On the other end of the phone, Zhao Kang scratched the back of his head and explained: "Well, not exactly. I did hear about you during your freshman year—a child admitted to our college, very young, not even fifteen. Everyone praised how impressive this child was."
"But during that period, my granddaughter was born," Zhao Kang chuckled on the other end. "I spent less time in my office, basically not going in if I didn't have classes or meetings."
"Besides, the college was considerate toward me then. My teaching responsibilities consisted of just one general film appreciation course open to the whole school. I didn't teach any specialized courses, so I had no opportunity to meet undergraduates like you."
Shao Yichen felt somewhat discouraged but tried another approach: "Were there any plagiarism rumors during the two years before my undergraduate graduation?"
"What do you mean?" The experienced Director Zhao immediately became alert. "Are there some unfavorable rumors circulating?"
Seeing she couldn't hide it, Shao Yichen straightforwardly told Zhao Kang the truth.
"How dare they slander you like this!" Zhao Kang slammed his desk on the other end. "I'll go to the college right now to provide a statement! I'll stake my reputation that such a thing couldn't possibly have happened to you!"
Shao Yichen was deeply moved.
Though Zhao Kang had become her advisor only after her rebirth, he had truly been good to her.
But she couldn't let her advisor wade into muddy waters before the situation was clear. After much persuasion, she finally convinced Zhao Kang to hold back.
"What I need now is evidence proving I didn't plagiarize. With evidence, I can prove my innocence without anyone vouching for me."
"At least there's no related disciplinary action from the college—I should be certain of that," said Zhao Kang. "I'll help you ask the counselor if they have your original thesis proposal from back then."
Shao Yichen wasn't hopeful, but ten minutes later, Zhao Kang actually forwarded her an electronic copy of the original proposal.
"Today's duty counselor is a graduate student who stayed at the school and took my general course—never mind the useless details, quickly check if you remember this proposal."
Shao Yichen opened the file and briefly reviewed it.
Indeed, the outline was very similar to that film.
But what was notable wasn't the content but the date.
Shao Yichen's thesis project was completed and submitted in April of her senior year, while the online film was released in March—chronologically, the film came first.
But the date on this proposal was clearly December of the first semester of her senior year!
A full two months before the online film's release!
This at least proved that she hadn't conceived this idea after seeing the released online film, but before it!
Even if she had plagiarized the online film, she couldn't have learned about it through normal channels but must have seen the internal film script through some means.
Or... perhaps the plagiarism relationship should be reversed entirely!
Author's Note: Today's update~
Thanks to the little angels who gave me Overlord Tickets or Nutrition Solution between 2020-09-10 12:32:18 and 2020-09-11 12:16:59~
Thanks to the little angel who threw a landmine: Fox Stop 1;
Thanks to the little angels who gave Nutrition Solution: Earthworm, gaial 1 bottle;
Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!