Fang Ruonan’s heart hardened: Yes, with the photo album as solid evidence, Qin He wouldn't escape!
As for her own reputation, it had long been ruined by Qin He. Now, the internet was filled with curses against her.
She hadn't dared to answer any of her father’s recent calls. Fang Ruonan could only imagine the punishment she would face upon returning home. That’s why she hated! No matter what, she had to drag Qin He down with her!
The second recording was also played, where Fang Ruonan instructed Li Ai to steal the formula.
Everyone present was shocked.
"Damn, this competition turned into a palace intrigue drama."
"Fang Ruonan is too insidious! It’s terrifying if she sets her sights on you!"
Amidst the murmurs, Fang Ruonan stood frozen.
Wang Qide looked at Fang Ruonan: "Miss Fang, do you have anything else to say? This is indeed your voice. If you still wish to argue, we can ask the technical department to verify if the voice is genuine or synthesized."
"No need to verify! It was me!" Fang Ruonan, with a sense of mutual destruction, stared fiercely at Qin He. "I admit I dislike Qin He and instructed Li Ai to steal Qin He's formula. But after stealing it, I discovered all those formulas were ones I had written myself. Qin He plagiarized my past achievements; she can't deny this!"
Qin He sneered: "Fang Ruonan, you claim this formula was written by you two years ago? Do you know that one of the medicinal herbs was only discovered last year and officially recognized as usable in medicine?"
Fang Ruonan's body stiffened.
She didn't understand anything about the medicinal herbs in those spices. When she got Qin He's formula, she simply concocted a fragrance according to the ingredients listed.
As for when the medicinal herb was discovered and recognized, she hadn't even considered that!
"So what?" Fang Ruonan stubbornly insisted. "My timestamp is clearly recorded there."
Li Ai also became anxious: "Fang Ruonan, you were the one causing trouble. You took Miss Qin's formula and asked Zhang Caiyu to retrieve the raw materials for you! I saw it all happen!"
Fang Ruonan had already decided to hold her ground. Gritting her teeth, with the release date as her solid evidence, she believed that if she persisted, things would blow over just like her assistant's incident.
Being expelled from the competition was inevitable, but Qin He had to suffer even more than her!
Lilac, what a load of nonsense!
"What about the release date?"
Qin He frowned: "Give me the URL of that photo album. I'll have someone investigate if there's any trickery involved."
Fang Ruonan stubbornly refused.
"What if you hire hackers to delete that photo, Qin He? Don't think you can destroy the evidence!"
The director, observing the situation, also saw the truth: "Miss Fang, this is a live broadcast to the entire internet. If that photo of yours suddenly disappears, Qin He will be implicated. Moreover, everyone has already seen the release date. I'm afraid there are thousands of screenshots from netizens by now. You really don't need to worry about it. If you're still concerned, you can give us your phone, and our directing team can be responsible for the investigation."
Amidst the chaos, a deep male voice rang out.
"No need to investigate."
Everyone turned to see Gu Qichen, who had arrived at some point, accompanied by a respectful Yu Jing.
His appearance immediately silenced the crowd.
Zhang Caiyu gazed at Gu Qichen's face with infatuation, her fingers subtly digging into her palm.
Today, she had to crush Qin He into the mud! Only then would Gu Qichen stop liking Qin He. What she couldn't have, Qin He wouldn't get either!
Gu Qichen walked to the organizing committee members and stood there. He spoke quietly to one of the judges, who immediately showed a furious expression.
Yu Jing, who had been holding a laptop, handed it over upon seeing this. The organizing committee member looked at the screen.
A few minutes later, the judge from the organizing committee nodded with a dark expression. Yu Jing took the laptop and walked to the projector.
After connecting it, the screen quickly displayed the interface of a laptop.
Yu Jing’s expression was calm, and he looked at Zhang Caiyu and Fang Ruonan with disdain.
"As the largest sponsor of this competition, Gu's Group began investigating this website immediately after the incident occurred. While everyone was arguing, I had already found the URL of the photo Miss Fang mentioned and contacted the company that owns the website, obtaining some internal data."
Yu Jing demonstrated on the screen.
"This website has a bug that has not been fixed. After uploading a photo, it is possible to modify or replace the photo later, but the photo's release date will not change."
Yu Jing continued: "Modified photos cannot show revision records. However, because we contacted the company that owns the website, we obtained the revision records for this photo."
Yu Jing pulled up the records.
On the large screen, the date was clearly displayed.
Upon seeing the date, everyone was shocked and enraged.
"Fang Ruonan, how shameless can you be? This photo was clearly modified and replaced this afternoon!"
Yu Jing then brought up the website's historical records: "Before this afternoon, this photo was a selfie of Miss Fang, and several men had liked it. If Miss Fang still doesn't want to admit it, we can contact those men."
Fang Ruonan felt her legs go weak. Her only trump card had been exposed by Gu Qichen!
A wave of despair washed over her. She stared at the large screen in disbelief.
She had discovered this bug in the website before, thinking it was a very secret matter!
Even if Qin He found out, it would be long after Qin He had been expelled from the competition!
What would it matter if Qin He spoke up then? Everyone would think she was trying to clear her name, and Qin He would still be stained.
But Gu Qichen!
How could this man be so fast?
While Fang Ruonan was in disarray and collapsing, Gu Qichen had already walked off the stage.
He walked up to Qin He and looked down at her: "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine." Qin He pursed her lips, wanting to add: Even if you hadn't come, I could have handled it myself.
But looking into Gu Qichen's affectionate eyes, the words wouldn't come out.
The weather was cool, so Gu Qichen took off his coat and draped it over Qin He's shoulders.
Before Qin He could refuse, he turned and walked towards Fang Ruonan.
Standing in front of Fang Ruonan and Zhang Caiyu, Gu Qichen's expression was colder than the winter sea.
"Fang Ruonan, I warned you not to provoke her for no reason."
"What's it to you!" Fang Ruonan had completely broken down. She glared angrily at Gu Qichen!
Her reputation, her entire reputation, had been ruined by Gu Qichen!
But as she met those deep, ink-black eyes, Fang Ruonan’s heart trembled!
Those eyes seemed to carry a murderous intent that suffocated her, making her legs feel weak.
Fang Ruonan dared not meet Gu Qichen’s gaze any longer. Gritting her teeth, she took two steps back.