Translator-Rhapsodite
Editor- yuki_shuichi, Proofreader- adjective
When Fang Wei accused Ruan Song of plagiarism, it was like lighting a firecracker, catching everyone in the ward off guard.
Fortunately, Yuan Yinhai’s condition wasn’t serious, and the man was saved by the doctor at his bedside.
This time, Ruan Song didn’t argue with him but instead gave up his seat to Fang Wei.
When Yuan Yinhai tremblingly opened his eyes to see Fang Wei, the person who had just come back to life suddenly felt worse again.
It would have been better for him to see Ruan Song instead!
Just like what Feng Xiao and Ruan Song experienced, Yuan Yinhai chose students for his screenwriting studio based not only on their expertise but also on their disadvantaged background, lack of support, and introverted nature—those who didn’t naturally fit in.
Out of an entire class of 23 students, all were twenty-year-olds who were at the age where they were most arrogant, and they were all pretty amazing if they were able to be admitted to University A.
Not to mention they were Dragons and Phoenixes among men, they were truly one in a million.
(T/N-Dragon and phoenix among men is a Chinese word that refers to the best among the crowd and the hero among men)
These kids had that unspoken sense of superiority in their hearts, and Yuan Yinhai knew it all too well. He knew well these children felt like they were a bit better than others, whether openly or secretly.
So what he needed to do was simply send a signal in the class and select a “special, preferential treatment” individual to create a disparity for the rest of the students.
It was very hard to avoid the fate of being shunned and chastised by others unless this person really did have an exceptional and uncommon talent.
These feelings of “jealousy” and “discontent” that arose from youth were Yuan Yinhai’s best protective shield.
He has been teaching at the school for so many years, using the same approach every time and never failing.
In fact, over time, it has become his reputation—treating all students equally and being happy to support those on the fringes of society.
The only student he has come across with exceptional talent that impressed everyone was Ruan Song.
Back then, he was glad that Ruan Song barely had Fang Wei, who could keep up with him. They formed a small group in the class to balance things out. They just needed someone with a simpler mind who blindly believed in authoritative teachers.
Yuan Yinhai sometimes used Ruan Song to provoke him, trying to intensify the conflict.
Little did he know that this provocation would backfire on him, like throwing a stone at his foot.
Now it seemed that Fang Wei was nothing but a foolish and ignorant person!
He was oblivious to his good fortune and thought that being “chosen” by him was some great thing. He insisted on bringing up things that were already in his favor!
Yuan Yinhai knew that once Ruan Song got angry, he would come back to cause trouble for him.
He thought that Ruan Song would expose him directly on a variety show, and he also thought that Ruan Song would confront him on Weibo.
But he never expected that Ruan Song would hold a cake, act dumb in front of him, and play out this deep master-disciple relationship!
If he got so frustrated for the first time, Yuan Yinhai still wouldn’t understand what Ruan Song was up to.
Well, now for the second time, he has finally realized his mistake, but it was too late. He couldn’t stop Fang Wei at all!
“Hello? Teacher Fang, are you still there? If there are no other questions, I’ll hang up now.” Gu Yuzhou’s conversation on the scene continued.
Compared to Yuan Yinhai’s illness, Fang Wei cared more about his innocence and his reputation, wanting everything to go back to where it belonged.
He quickly exclaimed, “Mr. Gu!” to stop the person on the other end of the phone from hanging up. “Please don’t hang up! Please wait! I believe there must be a misunderstanding. “First-Class Doctor” is my graduation work and my breakthrough piece. I originally hesitated to publicly address it out of consideration for our old classmates and to save Ruan Song’s face. But back then, he entered a competition with a story using the same setting as “First-Class Doctor” and almost failed to graduate. How can you say he didn’t plagiarize? And now you want to give my project to him?!”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Even the family members of other patients who happened to pass by were already taking out their phones to record the situation in the ward.
But as one of the people involved, Ruan Song, like everyone else, was filled with suspicion and uncertainty.
Meeting the gaze of each person in front of them, their eyes were innocent, silently indicating that they knew nothing.
In a calm and composed voice, Gu Yuzhou’s words came through the speakerphone once again, “We did verify the timeline according to the documents you provided. During the registration period of the competition Ruan Song participated, he submitted a preliminary competition file at the beginning of the registration period. My assistant has already checked the time records according to the standard procedure. If you need, we can send it to you, not only before Dean Yuan provided you with editing suggestions, but even before you created the document.”
So, that was right before Fang Wei started preparing for his graduation project!
“If you insist that Ruan Song plagiarized you in terms of content, then based on the most straightforward publication timeline, we can just as easily suspect that you plagiarized Ruan Song.”
Gu Yuzhou made the final decision, delivering the decisive blow, “And to be honest, it was also because of this consideration that we ultimately decided to go back to using Ruan Song.”
After all, no one could guarantee that a script written for someone with a history of plagiarism would be clean.
Fang Wei’s voice almost broke as he heard this, and the completely overturned situation made his temples bulge, “How is this possible? How could I have plagiarized Ruan Song?!”
Gu Yuzhou replied, “We can’t disclose the specific reasons, but based on the evidence presented so far, you have no grounds to accuse Ruan Song of plagiarism.”
Everyone in the ward had been listening for a while.
Sun Kaizi was the first to break the deadlock, taking the lead in persuading from the side, “Wei ah, we’re all storytellers. Accusing someone of plagiarism is a serious matter. Just because you lost your project, you can’t go around tarnishing others’ reputations. It’s bad karma to ruin someone’s livelihood; we can’t do that.”
“Yeah, if we lose this project, it’s lost. But there will always be another one.”
All the senior colleagues and old classmates in the industry seemed to be trying to downplay the situation. They were advising him to let it go and not make a big deal out of it. “It’s just one project, it’s not like we need this bowl of rice to eat. If anything, there will be similar projects in the future where we’ll call you.”
Plagiarism was indeed quite common in their industry.
But even so, there was still a considerable chance of making mistakes.
Understandably, everyone could misunderstand when they see similar stories, considering how deeply Fang Wei loved and cherished his hard work. But Fang Wei’s face turned red with anger as he held his phone.
“Am I fighting for just this one project? Do I need this project? It’s just that I can’t swallow that feeling in my heart! Why does everyone believe in Ruan Song? Why does nobody want to listen to me?!”
“But the issue is that the situation is pretty black and white right now, and they’ve already investigated it clearly for you. Ruan Song had submitted before you, you know.” Sun Kaizi crossed his arms, looking like a bystander enjoying the show, but his words hit Fang Wei right in the heart, adding fuel to the fire.
Fang Wei indeed became anxious; his chin lifted as he looked at them all. “You don’t believe what I say, do you? You should at least trust Dean Yuan’s words! He was the first one to discover and tell me about it! Teacher, please, say something and tell everyone what happened back then!”
In the eyes of everyone, Fang Wei, who was now cornered, appeared to be unreasonable and seeking support from his parents like a stubborn child.
Ruan Song subtly raised an eyebrow and smoothly found Dean Yuan, who regained consciousness for the second time on the hospital bed and “luckily” could speak again, within the crowd’s line of sight.
Now the pressure was on Director Yuan.
If there weren’t so many people watching, Fang Wei would probably just remove the troublesome ventilator from Yuan Yinhai directly, shaking his shoulders and urging him to reveal the truth to everyone.
But who even knew what Yuan Inhai was thinking now? All he wanted was for Ruan Song not to expose Fang Wei’s “plagiarism” in return. With a hoarse voice, he uttered three words, “……He didn’t plagiarize.”
Fang Wei was stunned. “……What did you say?”
“Ruan Song didn’t plagiarize, Fang Wei. Don’t turn into this because you’re jealous of how well I treat Ruan Song…” Yuan Yinhai, in an attempt to protect himself, even tried to make a deal with Ruan Song, turning the tables on Fang Wei.
Fang Wei’s immediate response, “??????”
He was completely shocked, mouth agape, unable to utter a word.
But since Yuan Yinhai was lying on the bed, practically on his deathbed, he simply turned his face away, closing his eyes and refusing to meet Fang Wei’s gaze, as if he couldn’t stand the sight of him.
Ruan Song was enjoying the show, sandwiched between the two of them.
Getting slapped on the left and hit with a stick on the right, after everything was done, he was still able to watch it all over a wall. He was imperceptibly able to transform his and Fang Wei’s problems into Fang Wei’s and Yuan Yinhai’s problems and took advantage of the good fortune.
In other words, the situation now was either Fang Wei was lying or Yuan Yinhai was lying.
It was clear to everyone who they would believe at first sight.
When Fang Wei finally realized that he had been “betrayed” and decided to confront Yuan Yinhai about how he could favor Ruan Song and disregard the truth, Sun Kaizi suddenly stepped in.
Before anyone could figure out what was going on, Sun Kaizi, despite being small in stature, used all his strength to push Fang Wei away from the bedside, advising, “Alright, alright, it’s just a misunderstanding. There’s no need for physical fighting, just use your words.”
Once again, Fang Wei, “?????”
When did he want to fight?
But perhaps it was the atmosphere at the time that led everyone to unquestioningly join Sun Kaizi in pushing Fang Wei away, accompanied by a chaotic round of persuasion.
Fang Wei’s face turned red.
Rising within him was not only the injustice of being wrongly accused but also the frustration and intense sense of unfairness of being once again defeated by Yuan Yinhai’s favoritism.
The surging emotions made him feel like a wild beast; the more he protested his innocence and claimed he didn’t want to fight, the more he seemed like he wanted to fight.
More and more people stepped forward to stop him, eventually forming a human wall.
Several seniors who witnessed the whole farce shook their heads beside Jiang Zhi, frowning and sighing, “Such a disgrace…”
It wasn’t until everyone finally joined forces to push the disheveled Fang Wei onto a chair that Ruan Song slowly spoke up about the incident, disappointment evident in his eyes as he looked towards Yuan Yinhai on the sickbed, “I thought you would have told Fang Wei the truth as well.”
Everyone, “?”
Yuan Yinhai, wearing an oxygen mask, nervously clenched the bedsheet inside the blanket, afraid that Ruan Song would reveal everything in front of so many people.
Fortunately, in the face of everyone’s questioning, Ruan Song just lowered his eyelids with a “desolate” expression, shook his head, and then sincerely said, “Let’s leave it at that for today. If we continue causing a scene, Teacher’s health will suffer. Thank you to all the seniors and classmates for taking the time to come to the hospital. I will thank every one of you another day and treat you all to a meal.”
Even at the end, Ruan Song walked up to Fang Wei.
Sun Kaizi, with a frail body, clung tightly to him, especially nervous, afraid that Fang Wei would impulsively harm him.
Fang Wei, who never intended to lay a hand on anyone from the beginning to the end, was left completely speechless.
Ruan Song looked at his old classmates and said, “If you have any future class reunions or activities, I would really appreciate it if you could invite me. I would love to be included.”
With those words, there was nothing left for the audience to misunderstand.
Wasn’t this just blatantly showing that everyone was neglecting and excluding him?
Netizens, watching the live stream secretly filmed by a passerby outside the ward, were already expressing their heartfelt sympathy in the barrage.
[Exactly who did Teacher Ruan offend to be treated like this by you guys??]
[No wonder he had to change his pen name after graduating from his Masters’ program. I’m really fucking speechless; they even wrongly accused him of plagiarizing. Wipe sweat.jpg]
[Also, it sounds like those classmates didn’t want to invite Teacher Ruan to the class gatherings just because they’re not as good as him, so they just directly excluded him and didn’t call Teacher Ruan to play. How old are they? Middle schoolers?]
[I’ve been truly disgusted by Fang Wei. I can’t believe I used to think that the amazing screenwriter who was able to write ‘First-Class Doctor’ definitely wouldn’t be bad, goodbye.jpg]
[The sister above, don’t be sad too early. Now I have reasonable suspicion that Fang Wei copied Teacher Ruan, and ‘First-Class Doctor’ might be Teacher Ruan’s creation. Or else why would the movie producer change the screenwriter. I suggest we dig deeper, eating melons.jpg]
[Also, “First-Class Doctor” is totally in the same category as the serial murderer case that they were talking about this time, a suspenseful thriller.]
[Ahhhhhh, I’m really very unhappy. I might as well ask, if Teacher Ruan didn’t become famous, then would no one be willing to listen to him? As a ‘big screenwriter’, Fang Wei would’ve been able to splash dirty water on him casually!]
[No need to guess; the dirty water has been splashed long ago. I just asked a few of my friends who are in the industry. Several people in the industry all know that Fang Wei doesn’t get along with Ruan Song, because in university, Fang Wei was never able to win the dean’s favor and has always harbored hard feelings. After they graduated, Fang Wei rushed to the top and was even less willing to see Teacher Ruan, and whenever there was work, he would always snatch it up.]
[Fuck, isn’t it just like today? Causing a ruckus and acting completely unscrupulous, goodbye.jpg]
[It’s more than that; I estimate that Teacher Ruan has been concealing his identity because he was afraid of being suppressed!! Damn, I’m so angry, ahhhhh!]
After everyone swept through a wave of sudden tears, they concluded.
[Exactly what kind of beautiful yet miserable script did Teacher Ruan get…… Wipes tears.jpg]
[Let’s just say, I completely get it now. I hope everyone doesn’t continue to dig for Teacher Ruan’s past sock puppets. Those who break off another’s livelihood have no mother, prayer hands.jpg]
Yet sandwiched between these comments were also several people who raised a new perspective.
[Could it be that I’m the only one who cares about the words that Teacher Ruan just said to Dean Yuan, “I thought you would have told Fang Wei the truth?” I feel that there’s still something fishy about this. Even though Fang Wei is stupid, I only think that he’s simple-minded and that he’s not that good at acting]
[Me! Too! I always feel that “First-Class Doctor” may have been Teacher Ruan’s creation, clenches fist.jpg]
[I just feel that once Teacher Ruan discovered that Fang Wei believed “First-Class Doctor” was his work, he was just a bit unhappy!!!]
[Anyway, in the future, I won’t watch the movies that Fang Wei wrote the script for, goodbye.jpg x3]
The current situation was confusing, and no one could clearly explain what happened back then.
The old classmates in the ward were unaware of the online disputes. They heard that Ruan Song was willing to attend their class reunion, and they were all thrilled, quickly gathering around to ask for Ruan Song’s WeChat.
Nowadays, Ruan Song’s value was not something that small fries could easily disrespect. They couldn’t even hold onto his coattails!
“We thought you had changed careers and stopped working; that’s why we haven’t invited you all this time. But now that this incident has happened…”
“To be honest, we’ve always wanted to get in touch with you. Everyone is concerned about you, but we just couldn’t reach you.”
“Song, don’t bother with Fang Wei. That’s just how he is. He’s a bit prideful. He talks big in front of us but then ends up messing up the project. It’s normal to feel unsettled about it.”
Ruan Song added them all and naturally said it was okay. He first generously said, “It’s not his fault,” then glanced back at the hospital bed, ultimately swallowing the words he wanted to say.
He only mentioned that Dean Yuan was tired and ushered everyone out of the ward.
He even remembered to politely ask the onlookers to put away their phones, making it difficult to refuse.
Fang Wei remained confused and resentful until his classmates pulled him out of the hospital. He couldn’t understand how something he had believed in for so many years could suddenly change.
When the people in the ward cleared out, only Sun Kaizi remained, happily enjoying the moment.
Ruan Song raised his hand and lightly tapped his shoulder with a clenched fist. “Thanks.”
“No big deal.”
Sun Kaizi excitedly moved his arms and rubbed his hands together, then said in front of Yuan Yinhai on the bed, “I acted well, bro. You’ve discovered a new talent in me. It seems that if I can’t find a male lead for my scripts in the future, I might as well write, direct, and act in them myself.”
Yuan Yinhai on the hospital bed, suddenly realized that Sun Kaizi had conspired with Ruan Song!
Just as he struggled to raise a finger, Sun Kaizi clapped his hands and pointed back at him, even more excitedly saying, “See! Even our Dean didn’t notice! I can do it on my own, bro!”
Yuan Yinhai, “…………”
Ruan Song was immediately provoked into laughing, and he pushed the other out, “You run your mouth too much.”
Jiang Zhi was waiting in the parking lot outside. As soon as they came out, he rolled down the car window and asked enthusiastically, “Did you come up with this idea yourself, Xiao Song? I thought you would confront them directly while the issue was still hot.”
Ruan Song immediately waved his hand with a smile. “I’m not a PR professional; I don’t have that ability. According to my original plan, I was going to gather evidence and send a lawyer’s letter directly to Weibo. It was a suggestion from Ren Qinming’s manager; she’s amazing.”
Thank You for the new chapter ♡(ღ˘⌣˘ღ)
That nasty Dean Yuan finally got face-slapped! Hope he gets even more.
Thank you for the chapter!