As soon as these words were spoken, the room fell silent.
Seeing the hesitant expressions on Dean Gao and Professor Li's faces, Jiang Si suddenly had a bold guess.
"Does my design proposal resemble someone else's?"
"You knew?" Professor Li was surprised.
"I didn’t before, but now I do," Jiang Si answered honestly.
Hearing this, Dean Gao and Professor Li exchanged glances.
Both had spent their lives in the field of design and were naturally uncompromising when it came to integrity.
The reason they hadn’t spoken up immediately was that the situation seemed too unbelievable.
After a moment of contemplation, Professor Li said, "Jiang Si, let me be frank—your design proposal is 90% identical to the winning one."
"Ninety percent?"
"Yes."
Jiang Si fell silent for a moment.
To say she wasn’t shocked at all would be a lie, given the complexity of the project.
Even if two people had similar inspiration, it was impossible for the designs to overlap so completely.
But she wasn’t entirely surprised either.
Perhaps it was preconceived notions, combined with what she had witnessed earlier at the People’s Daily.
Frankly, she had no favorable impression of Shen Dong.
Now, hearing this news, Jiang Si felt a sense of "I knew it."
Compared to her calm composure, Huo Tingzhou’s expression had turned downright grim.
No one understood better than him how much effort his wife had poured into this design.
She had just recovered from childbirth at the time, often working on the drafts for entire days.
Blisters on her fingers were a common occurrence.
That was why he had been so heartbroken when she didn’t win.
Now, to learn that it wasn’t because her design wasn’t good enough—but because her hard work had been stolen—how could Huo Tingzhou not be furious?
With these thoughts in mind, he turned to the two men present.
"This design proposal was my wife’s labor of love. At the end of last month, my mother personally brought it back to the capital."
"After that, it was sent via express registered mail from the capital’s central post office."
Originally, Mother Huo had planned to deliver it herself, but the Ministry of Construction had strict rules to ensure fairness.
All design submissions had to be sealed and mailed anonymously to the ministry, with only the review panel authorized to receive them.
To be extra cautious, Mother Huo had even opted for express registered mail.
For local deliveries, it was guaranteed to arrive within two days.
The receipt had been given to Jiang Si just yesterday.
1970s Registered Mail Receipt
"Professor Li, here’s the postal receipt." Under the cover of her bag, Jiang Si retrieved the receipt from her space and handed it over.
Just as she was about to mention that she had also taken photos for backup, Professor Li immediately voiced his stance.
"Jiang Si, rest assured, we will investigate this thoroughly and ensure justice is served."
Professor Li had seen countless people in his lifetime, and from the moment he met Jiang Si, he knew she was an intelligent and talented young woman.
Her confidence and poise while explaining her design had left a deep impression on him.
In her, he saw a reflection of his younger self.
Moreover, given the Huo family’s current status, as their daughter-in-law, she had no reason—nor any need—to resort to such actions.
"Thank you, Professor Li."
Jiang Si hadn’t expected Professor Li to take her side so firmly even before she presented any evidence.
But she never fought unprepared battles.
If she was going to demand justice, she needed solid proof.
After lunch, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou first escorted Professor Li and Dean Gao home.
Then they drove to the Capital Artists Association.
Fang Wenjun had just finished her meal and was both surprised and delighted to see the young couple.
She quickly ushered them into her office. "When did you return?"
As she spoke, she looked Jiang Si up and down. "You look thinner than last year. Is raising the children too exhausting?"
Touched, Jiang Si replied that they had returned just two nights ago.
With a smile, she added, "You, on the other hand, look even younger, Teacher Fang."
"Oh, you always know how to flatter me."
Fang Wenjun playfully patted her hand. "Sit down, both of you."
She then took out a tin of tea leaves from the cabinet.
"There’s not much work this afternoon. Why don’t you two come home with me? We can have a simple dinner together."
Knowing Jiang Si had given birth to twins, Fang Wenjun had prepared gifts for them to take back.
But Jiang Si stopped her. "Teacher Fang, please don’t trouble yourself. Actually, I came today to ask for your help."
Fang Wenjun frowned. "What’s wrong? Did something happen?"
Jiang Si explained the plagiarism of her design. The submitted version was the final archived draft.
Though anonymous, text annotations were still required in certain areas, with strict guidelines to use only a specific font.
Given the tight deadline, it was unlikely the plagiarist had time to redraw the entire design.
Jiang Si suspected they had simply submitted her original work, possibly altering the annotations and lines with a scraping tool or by tracing over them.
The truth would only be clear once they saw the original submission.
"Outrageous!"
Fang Wenjun’s eyebrows shot up in anger.
"He must have assumed the designs wouldn’t be made public, so no one would notice the theft right away."
"Don’t worry, I’ll handle this. I have an old friend at the Cultural Relics Bureau who specializes in handwriting analysis—his skills are impeccable. I’ll call him later."
Then she asked, "You mentioned you took photos as backup?"
"Yes," Jiang Si nodded.
She had taken the photos out of habit, never expecting someone would actually steal her work.
"Perfect. Give me the negatives."
This was crucial evidence—the clearer the printed photos, the better.
Fortunately, the association had close ties with the Capital Photo Studio.
Fang Wenjun said, "I’ll deliver the negatives to them today. They’ll have the enlarged prints ready by tomorrow morning at the latest."
Moved, Jiang Si said, "Thank you, Teacher Fang. I’m sorry to trouble you like this."
Fang Wenjun gave her a reproachful look. "Nonsense, there’s no need for formalities between us."
After chatting a while longer, Jiang Si stood to leave as it was getting late.
Knowing they had other matters to attend to, Fang Wenjun didn’t press them to stay.
Once Jiang Si was gone, she hesitated briefly before dialing a familiar number.
After a long pause, a refined male voice answered on the other end.
Meanwhile, on the other side.
After leaving the Art Association, Jiang Si and Huo Tingzhou hurried straight to the Beijing Central Post Office.
The design drafts had been mailed from here, so the issue had to lie either in the mailing process or with Shen Dong having connections at the Construction Ministry.
Otherwise, the drafts couldn’t have simply fallen into his hands.
Just as the car came to a stop, Huo Tingzhou suddenly grasped her hand.
“What’s wrong?” Jiang Si turned to look at him.
Huo Tingzhou didn’t speak, instead nodding subtly toward the post office entrance.
It was the start of the afternoon shift, and a group of postal workers in green uniforms, aluminum badges pinned to their chests, were walking in twos and threes toward the building.
Jiang Si’s gaze swept over the crowd before suddenly freezing on a familiar figure.
