activa-t Chapter 295 The Incident Occurs! Utter Devastation!
Chapter 295 The Incident Occurs! Utter Devastation!
Chapter 295: The Incident! Utter Collapse!
Shi Mubai had considered the possibility of trending on social media.
However, given CL Group's current influence in the jewelry industry, having beautiful designs alone is not enough; there also needs to be a marketing angle.
Only then can it go viral and trend on social media.
Shi Mubai had already finalized the plan with the marketing team, intending to launch the marketing campaign on the day of the competition. However, before the day of the marketing campaign even arrived, their work had already become a trending topic.
This was an unexpected surprise for Shi Mubai.
This not only saves manpower and resources, but also saves a lot of marketing expenses.
Shi Mubai became more and more excited as he thought about it, and he was so excited that he couldn't sleep anymore. He immediately sat up in bed and said, "Chengze, what did I say? Our design drawings are sure to be a huge hit!"
This is not.
It's trending on social media?
Big Explosion?
Upon hearing this, Qi Chengze's eyes betrayed no emotion. He sighed deeply and then said, "Mu Bai! You'd better log into Weibo right away!"
Shi Mubai picked up the laptop from the bedside table with one hand, turned on the computer, and clicked to log in to Weibo.
Almost as soon as Shi Mubai logged into Weibo, he saw the words "CL Jewelry" prominently displayed on the trending topics list.
A smile immediately appeared on Shi Mubai's lips.
But soon.
Shi Mubai could no longer laugh.
Because the term "CL Jewelry" is followed by another term.
CL plagiarized!
Plagiarism?
Whose work did you copy?
At this point, Shi Mubai hadn't realized the seriousness of the problem. "Which brand copied us? We must hold them legally accountable!"
Only by respecting originality can the jewelry industry develop better and better.
Shi Mubai hates plagiarism the most!
This is actually why domestic jewelry brands cannot go international. Whenever a big brand releases a best-selling product, some unknown jewelry brands will blindly follow suit and copy it.
In fact, Shi Mubai had considered that his renderings would be copied after they were released, but he did not expect that they would be copied so quickly.
It's only been a few hours!
If they put the same effort into original creation as they did into plagiarism, they wouldn't have remained stagnant.
Qi Chengze's voice came from the other end of the screen again, "Mu Bai! It's not about who plagiarized us now! It's about us being suspected of plagiarizing others!"
"What do you mean?" Shi Mubai burst out laughing. "Chengze, are you confused?"
Does a design genius like him need to plagiarize others?
Simply ridiculous!
"You'll see if you click on the trending search terms," Qi Chengze's voice followed.
Shi Mubai clicked on the trending search terms.
When you see trending topics.
Shi Mubai was completely stunned, his mind went blank, and his ears were ringing.
OMG!
What exactly is going on?
why?
Why are the renderings of the new model from the Zheng Group exactly the same as theirs?
That's not even the most fatal thing!
The most fatal flaw was that the Zheng Group posted the picture ten minutes earlier than them.
That is to say...
They are the ones who plagiarized!
"How could this happen?" Shi Mubai suddenly remembered Zheng Mingtao's smug face at the meeting yesterday and said angrily, "It was Zheng Mingtao! It must be Zheng Mingtao! That shameless scoundrel Zheng Mingtao! He stole our design drafts!"
At this point, Shi Mubai continued, "Was it you? Chengze! Did something go wrong on your end? Did someone leak the design drawings to Zheng Mingtao?"
Aside from the problem being with Qi Chengze, Shi Mubai couldn't think of anyone else.
Shi Mubai is very anxious now.
The submitted work is suspected of plagiarism, so both its listing and winning awards will be impossible now!
The group's reputation will suffer a severe blow, resulting in incalculable losses.
It's almost impossible for them to turn things around again.
Upon hearing this, Qi Chengze was so angry he laughed.
"Brother! What are you saying! I've been living alone all this time to finish the design drawings as soon as possible! I haven't even left the house! But you!" Qi Chengze felt a throbbing pain in his head. "Didn't I remind you not to let your cousin into the study? Did you listen? Not only did you not listen, but you're also trying to shift the blame!"
"Let me tell you, the one who stole the design blueprints and gave them to the Zheng Group is none other than your dear cousin!"
For this jewelry competition, and also for the company's successful IPO, Qi Chengze hasn't had a good night's sleep in three months.
I finally managed to get two full nights of sleep these past few days, and now this has happened!
This caused his three months of hard work to go down the drain.
More than three months of hard work will be in vain.
Their previous reputation in the jewelry industry will also be lost.
Qi Chengze never dreamed this day would come. The more he thought about it, the angrier he became, and he was on the verge of a breakdown.
If he hadn't reminded Shi Mubai, then it would have been fine.
But he clearly reminded Shi Mubai to be careful of Tang An.
But Shi Mubai simply didn't listen to what he said!
Did Tang An steal the design drawings?
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Upon hearing Qi Chengze's words, Shi Mubai retorted immediately, "An'an is my sister, she would never do such a thing!"
In Shi Mubai's heart, Tang An has always been a pure and flawless being.
She would never stoop to doing such a thing.
"Who else could it be but her?" Qi Chengze took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down. "Before Tang An came, we never had any problems with our important design drawings. But since Tang An came, the results of our three months of hard work have become someone else's!"
Even a fool would know that Tang An was responsible for this.
"It wasn't her! It definitely wasn't her! She had no reason to do this to me." Shi Mubai still couldn't believe it, and his face turned pale with anxiety.
"Who says she has no reason? That 60 million is her reason!" Qi Chengze continued, "Don't forget, Tang An has already been kicked out of the Shi family. She has nothing now. Let alone 60 million, she would agree even if it were 6 million!"
Sixty million?
Tang An's reason for stealing the design drafts was 60 million?
Upon hearing this, Shi Mubai found it utterly ridiculous.
Could it be that 60 million is more important to Tang An than his brother?
How is this possible!
Shi Mubai tried to calm himself down. "Chengze, don't rush to push all the blame onto An'an. Think carefully, have you done anything recently that could have caused the design draft to be lost?"
As the older brother, his job is to protect his younger sister.
Instead of joining outsiders in questioning her sister.
That's not how a good older brother should be!
Qi Chengze is only allowed to doubt Tang An, but Tang An is not allowed to doubt whether Qi Chengze has any problems.
"No," Qi Chengze said, trying his best to suppress his emotions. "You know my attitude towards my work. During this period, I have been living on Qingliang Island for three months, a full three months, and I haven't even left the house! Moreover, there are surveillance cameras in every room I live in! I can prove my innocence!"
At this point, Qi Chengze seemed to have grasped a key issue, "That's right! Surveillance! Didn't I tell you to install surveillance cameras in the study? Now, quickly review all the surveillance videos from the past few days."
"We can't overlook a single detail!"
With surveillance footage, it's possible to find out who stole the design drawings.
Upon hearing this, Shi Mubai's eyes dimmed. "There are no security cameras in my study."
Actually, there was a surveillance camera in Shi Mubai's study, but it broke down for some reason and hadn't been reinstalled.
After all, no one else comes to this study except him, so he felt that installing surveillance cameras would be redundant.
Later, when Tang An moved in, Shi Mubai became even less willing to reinstall the surveillance system.
He felt that reinstalling the surveillance cameras was an insult to Tang An!
He is the older brother.
A good brother shouldn't doubt his sister.
"Not pretending?" Qi Chengze could no longer suppress his anger.
Although Shi Mubai had said he wouldn't install surveillance cameras in the study, Qi Chengze felt that he would eventually do so for the sake of the design drawings.
did not expect.
That stubborn Shi Mubai didn't even install surveillance cameras!
Is this Shi Mubai's attitude towards work?
"Shi Mubai! I think you've gone mad! You've been bewitched by Tang An!" Qi Chengze felt a sense of powerlessness, like a slap that couldn't even penetrate a screen. "What did I tell you back then? Didn't I say that the human heart is the most unreliable thing? Driven by self-interest, people are more terrifying than ghosts!"
"Even if Tang An is your own sister, you still have to be wary of her, let alone if she has no blood relation to you!"
Qi Chengze did this very well.
He never talks about work with his family.
He wouldn't let his own sister, let alone his own mother, see such important documents.
This is about respecting yourself and respecting your partners.
"Enough! Chengze! Everything you've done so far is just your speculation! You have no concrete evidence!" Shi Mubai couldn't stand Qi Chengze's insults towards Tang An. "Here's what we'll do: let's conduct a self-examination over the next few days. If the document was indeed leaked from me, I'll give you an explanation!"
"An explanation? What explanation can you give me?" Qi Chengze's voice sounded weak. "Do you know that we're finished! CL is finished too!"
With such a huge public outcry, like a snowball rolling downhill, CL's losses are incalculable!
How could Shi Mubai's explanation alone solve the problem?
Shi Mubai raised his hand to press his aching head and said, word by word, "If the design drawings were indeed stolen by An An, I am willing to give up all my shares in CL Jewelry!"
"Give me some time, and I'm sure I can find the real thief and clear Tang An's name."
After saying that, Shi Mubai hung up the phone.
A few minutes later, Shi Mubai came downstairs.
Aunt Liu is preparing breakfast, and Tang An is arranging flowers.
Seeing such a beautiful scene, Shi Mubai found it even harder to believe that Tang An was the one who stole the design drawings.
If Tang An really stole the design drawings, would she still continue to live here?
Certainly not!
Normal people, after doing something wrong, will be eager to leave the scene of the crime.
and so.
It's definitely not Tang An!
It's definitely not Tang An!
"Brother Mu Bai." Tang An greeted him with a smile when he saw Mu Bai standing on the stairs.
Before Mu Bai could speak, Tang An continued, "Brother Mu Bai, why do you look so pale? Did something happen?"
Shi Mubai forced a smile. "It's nothing."
After saying that, Shi Mubai came downstairs, looked at Aunt Liu beside him, and then said, "Aunt Liu, come with me to the study."
Aunt Liu was stunned for a moment.
To the study?
You know, Shi Mubai usually doesn't let her into his study, so what's going on today?
He entered the study.
Shi Mubai closed the door.
"Aunt Liu, have you been to my study these past few days?"
Aunt Liu shook her head. "No."
In this house, besides him, there are only Tang An and Aunt Liu.
Tang An is his sister.
and so.
Shi Mubai's first suspect was Aunt Liu.
Hearing Aunt Liu's answer, Shi Mubai narrowed his eyes, "Are you sure?"
"Yes," Aunt Liu said, finding it strange. "Sir, have you lost something? Why would you ask such a strange question?"
Shi Mubai already suspected that Aunt Liu was the one who stole the design drafts.
Hearing this, I became even more convinced that Aunt Liu was the thief!
Otherwise, how did Aunt Liu know that he had lost something?
Thinking of this, Shi Mubai's expression immediately changed. "Aunt Liu, you've been working here ever since I bought this villa, and I pay you more than anyone else! Tell me yourself! How much did the Zheng family pay you to steal the design drafts?"
Stealing design drafts?
With such a huge hat on her head, Aunt Liu could barely stand. Her eyes instantly welled up with tears. Although she didn't know what a design draft was, she knew it must be something very important.
"Sir! I didn't steal anything! I really didn't! You said I couldn't come to the study, so I've never been here before! This is the first time!"