Chapter Sixty-Three: Building Momentum and the Bracelet

This was truly a confrontation with her own teacher, a battle to the end. The matter spread rapidly throughout the school, igniting a storm of controversy.

No wonder—it was simply outrageous, utterly shocking. Professor Mill was extremely prestigious; not only him, but even several of his students had won countless international awards. Such a teacher, accused of plagiarizing a student’s idea? Of committing academic theft? How could that possibly be true?

No one would believe such a claim, but Jiang Yunzhou’s evidence was irrefutable. The short film she released came with a timestamp. Editing a video is far harder than retouching a photo; it must be done frame by frame, and the slightest mistake would break the continuity and expose the forgery. Even with a magnifying glass, there was not a single flaw in Jiang Yunzhou’s video. Moreover, not even an octopus could have edited it so seamlessly in such a short time!

This was the original.

Sitting at her computer, Jiang Yunzhou stirred her coffee gently, watching as the opinions on the campus forum reversed. The people who had previously attacked her fell silent, and she couldn’t help but chuckle softly. She had to admit, Professor Mill was cunning. Most people would have suffered this injustice quietly. But who was Jiang Yunzhou?

Back when she worked as Secretary for Shen Ruizhang and managed the young actors in his company, she’d resolved countless such incidents. It was second nature for her to leave traces and backups in her work, never expecting that Mill would walk right into her trap.

She was just taking a sip of coffee when her phone rang. It was Mill.

He was in a panic, his British accent laced with jargon from some unknown dialect. Even though Jiang Yunzhou had grown up in the country, she almost couldn’t understand him.

“Miss Jiang, you’ve won. You delete your post, I’ll delete mine, and we’ll pretend none of this ever happened.”

“You’ve only just started school. I’m your teacher. You’ve ruined my reputation, but that won’t do you any good. I’ve been teaching for years, I have everything I need. A bit of negative press won’t affect me—but what about you?

“If you’re prepared to face expulsion, then keep pushing!”

Jiang Yunzhou nearly laughed aloud.

“Professor Mill, this may be the last time I call you that. I thought you were calling to admit defeat and apologize, but instead, you’re threatening your student. I underestimated your shamelessness.”

“So you refuse to cooperate?” Mill’s voice was icy.

Jiang Yunzhou whistled softly, letting the syllable of “of course” hang in the air. Then, in an even colder tone, she said,

“I’m not the one who should delete the posts—it’s you. You ought to issue a statement on the campus network, on X, and to the committees that nominated you for awards, admitting you plagiarized a student’s work, acknowledging your fault, and apologizing to me. Otherwise, I’ll make sure you pay the price you deserve!”

The other side spat out a curse.

No sooner had she hung up than another call came in. It was Shen Tingxiao.

His voice was a bit hoarse, as though he had just woken up. “How are you? Mill is a big name, with deep roots. He’s not easy to handle. Do you need my help?”

“Thank you for your kindness, but it’s not necessary. You just rest and watch—I’ll show you what I can do.”

Shen Tingxiao seemed to chuckle. “Alright, I’m watching.”

Jiang Yunzhou was always swift and decisive. She put down her phone and immediately did two things: she sent both forum posts, Mill’s competition entry and its timestamp, and her own original work to the school’s oversight system inbox. To prevent the school from covering up, she made a copy and uploaded it to all major platforms across the country, spending hundreds of thousands in promotional fees. The posts went viral in an instant.

That very night, they topped the trending lists of every major social media platform!

Jiang Yunzhou still thought it wasn’t enough. She unleashed the company’s hired influencers to stir up buzz all over, publishing press releases—criticizing Mill, praising Jiang Yunzhou.

She was painted as a prodigy, as a young woman running a business, possessing both beauty and brains. The praise was so extravagant that even Jiang Yunzhou felt a little embarrassed reading it.

In just a few days, the student threatened with expulsion was still comfortably at school, with a new mentor, while the once overbearing Mill had already slunk off, carrying a cardboard box.

Jiang Yunzhou almost wanted to thank him; if not for his scheming, how could she have become so famous?

She was now the school’s most talked-about figure, and her company was flooded with contracts. She couldn’t even count the private messages inviting her to shoot new films!

After a frenzied month, she finally managed to snatch a day off. It happened to coincide with Sang Bai finishing work, so they made plans to relax at a bar together.

In the quiet bar, the guitarist’s singing was melodious. Sang Bai nudged Jiang Yunzhou with her elbow: “Yunzhou, look at that blond kid—what do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“Should we sign him? I just searched—he’s singing his own original songs. If we sign him and give him some packaging, he’ll definitely become popular!”

Jiang Yunzhou laughed, swirling her glass. The golden-red liquor shimmered under the dim lights, as bright and captivating as her eyes.

“Yes, he’s quite good-looking. Look at his eyes—they’re blue like gemstones, so beautiful.”

Suddenly, a cough sounded behind her, the deliberately lowered voice tinged with coldness: “Beautiful? I doubt it.”

Those last words were especially spat out through clenched teeth.

Jiang Yunzhou turned to see Shen Tingxiao, his face dark. For some reason, Jiang Yunzhou felt an inexplicable guilt, as if she’d been caught doing something wrong.

“Why are you here? Are you alright now?”

“I’ve been fine for a while.” Shen Tingxiao sat down, ordered a drink, and glanced at the glass in Jiang Yunzhou’s hand, raising his brows: “Drinking again?”

“After last time, I don’t dare anymore. Look—it’s cola mixed with syrup.”

The blond kid finished his song and started another, titled “Deep Blue.” As soon as the intro played, Sang Bai’s eyes lit up, and when the song reached its climax, Jiang Yunzhou sat up straighter.

Her company was just starting out and couldn’t expand too quickly, but talent like this might be snapped up by someone else if she waited too long.

Seeing Jiang Yunzhou grow more attentive, Shen Tingxiao suddenly coughed loudly and straightened his back: “I don’t think he’s any good. Yunzhou, look here.”

Jiang Yunzhou instinctively turned. Shen Tingxiao held out his fist; as he opened his hand, a shining blue bracelet dropped before her.

“Wow, is that sapphire? It’s gorgeous!” Sang Bai exclaimed.

Jiang Yunzhou had grown up surrounded by jewelry. Shen Ruizhang had given her many such things; she’d tossed or sold most of them. But...

Looking into Shen Tingxiao’s clear eyes, she could tell he was pretending to be casual, but those eyes couldn’t hide their anticipation and cautious hope.

It was different. Shen Ruizhang had never shown such an expression. Even in his best years, he’d always spoiled and indulged her, but his gaze was that of a benevolent elder toward a well-behaved child.

Jiang Yunzhou’s face gradually bloomed with the same delight as Sang Bai’s, rippling like waves on a lake.

“It’s beautiful!” She stretched out her wrist. “Put it on for me.”