Married The Crybaby Childhood Crush First, Then Fell in Love - Chapter 28.1

Before going to bed that night, Lin Wanqing only thought to herself, is Yan Qiu really such a frugal person?

That piece of cloth was so worn out, yet she still kept it in her pocket.

The next morning was the day of the preliminary round for the fashion design competition.

The theme for the first round was — Gauze.

The competition was not only attended by students from Y University but also jointly organized with three nearby colleges. It was a highly anticipated event within the entire fashion industry.

Under the spotlights, rows of tables were set up in the auditorium. Many students came to watch, encircling the area in a dense crowd.

Lin Wanqing used her large tailor’s shears to cut the fabric. She specifically chose clear, almost transparent white gauze and three shades of blue gauze.

She layered at least three sheets on the mannequin, with a piece of light gray sandwiched in the middle, giving the overall blue color more depth and layers.

“Lin Wanqing is so beautiful. She just looked up and saw me. Does she like me?”

“If you had a single peanut, you wouldn’t be this drunk. Last week, Lin Wanqing borrowed a pen from me in class, am I bragging about it?”

“She’s too beautiful. She might not attract guys, but she definitely attracts girls.”

“That’s weird, why is the design sketch of contestant number 68 the same as Lin Wanqing’s?”

The theme for this competition was announced half an hour before the start, requiring contestants to draw their blueprints and proceed with cutting and creation on the spot.

Lin Wanqing flipped through her portfolio. She had done a similar assignment last semester and only needed slight modifications to present a new work.

Contestant number 68 was on her right, her probing gaze subtly landing on Lin Wanqing.

Initially, Shi Li had only used a single, pitiful layer of white gauze, but after seeing Lin Wanqing’s design, she quietly adjusted her approach.

She secretly pulled out a notebook from her bag that was extremely similar to Lin Wanqing’s.

If Lin Wanqing saw this, she would definitely recognize it as her stolen class notebook.

Yu Fei: “There are too many people. Please be careful, don’t get jostled.”

Yan Qiu’s wheelchair was parked at the highest viewing spot in the auditorium. This area was cordoned off, accessible through Yan Qiu’s connections.

There were so many people crowding inside and out that even Yan Qiu’s jacket got slightly wrinkled.

Yan Qiu: “Lin Wanqing didn’t tell me there was a competition today.”

Her tone was rather resentful.

Yu Fei’s eyes flickered back and forth between her boss and Lin Wanqing. She was deeply concerned for this little couple.

“Miss Lin didn’t want you to worry.”

Yan Qiu brushed past Lan Xiaoxiao while entering the auditorium and brought her along.

Yan Qiu stroked her ebony cane, her expression unfathomable. “Did she tell you about the fixed first place?”

Yu Fei: “No, no. Miss Lin is a very upright and righteous person. How could she do something so sneaky?”

Unlike me, who can skillfully steal past assignments under surveillance.

Yan Qiu’s lips were pressed into a straight line.

Yu Fei’s tone shifted: “I’m just a mere secretary. Why would Miss Lin discuss this kind of thing with me? Naturally, she would need to make the request to you, Boss.”

Yan Qiu’s eyes softened, though it was unclear if she had taken the hint.

Lan Xiaoxiao leaned on the railing, noticing something was very wrong. “President Yan, that idiot number 68… that contestant, is clearly plagiarizing Lin Wanqing’s design!”

How dare she, in broad daylight!

Lin Wanqing used three shades of blue gauze to form the skirt, with a black tight-fitting bustier for the upper body.

Even just the silhouette made people imagine the vast, boundless starry sea, with waves of varying depth crashing against the shore, and white, snowy foam.

Yan Qiu put on her gold-rimmed glasses and squinted at the scene.

It was true.

Lan Xiaoxiao was furious. “This is too much. That person has no shame, openly scrutinizing Lin Wanqing.”

Yan Qiu leaned back in her wheelchair, narrowing her eyes, and slowly sipped her tea.

She rubbed the small, teeth-chewed handkerchief fragments in her pocket, the fabric intertwining between her fingers like silk.

That thing has been dirtied and washed clean countless times.

Yu Fei leaned in and whispered, “Shi Li is the dean’s niece. She’s preparing to study at Florence’s art institute on a scholarship, but she has many failing grades in her past.”

Lan Xiaoxiao couldn’t understand. “Isn’t President Yan angry?”

She herself was about to burst with anger.

Lin Wanqing was Yan Qiu’s wife! As a partner, shouldn’t she unconditionally side with her lover?

Lan Xiaoxiao clearly didn’t understand the dirty secrets of adults, her eyes filled with simple indignation.

Yu Fei thought that if there weren’t so many people, Lan Xiaoxiao would have beaten Shi Li until her mother wouldn’t recognize her right then and there.

Yan Qiu: “Let’s look at the competition results.”

The preliminary round would last for a few days, featuring more than one theme, and the judging would be conducted uniformly at the end.

Yan Qiu was in no rush to conclude.

Lan Xiaoxiao left for class when it was time, and the number of people in the auditorium gradually decreased.

Yan Qiu calmly ate a small chestnut pastry.

Yu Fei: “Boss, are you planning to…?”

The thoughts of adults are so dirty, the secretary was startled.

Yan Qiu used the handkerchief to wipe the crumbs from the corner of her mouth. “Number 68’s situation has nothing to do with me.”

Yu Fei zipped her mouth shut with her fingers: “I absolutely won’t say anything.”

Yan Qiu: “…”

Her little rabbit had a difficult journey, encountering many setbacks, with hardly any smooth days.

Although Yan Qiu wanted to train her to be a canary locked in a cage, a dodder growing dependent on a large tree, she knew that this would not be beneficial for Lin Wanqing.

It was better to let her face the storm. In the worst-case scenario, Yan Qiu would intervene to resolve it.

The competition for the day ended. All the works were sealed by the instructors, awaiting the start of the next day.

Lin Wanqing frowned at the dress that was identical to hers. “There’s no such thing as a completely identical design in the world. You are plagiarizing.”

Shi Li and Lin Wanqing attended the same school and had met a few times in large lectures.

Shi Li covered her mouth and laughed mockingly. “What is our campus belle saying? Could it be that the thief is crying ‘Thief’?”

Lin Wanqing looked at her coldly, her finger accidentally brushing against the scissors’ blade, causing deep red blood to flow.

Shi Li glanced at her Dean uncle sitting in the high viewing area, feeling emboldened.

“Bullying the weak and the young—the campus belle is really something. This dress is clearly a design from my online store. Don’t throw baseless accusations.”

Lin Wanqing raised an eyebrow. It’s already been commercialized? She looked at her phone; the sales were decent.

Hearing the commotion, more and more people gathered around, whispering and discussing.

The looks directed at Lin Wanqing were full of sarcasm and mockery.

The more people who liked her, the more people who hated her. Rather than believing that a person is both a top student and has good character, they would rather believe that she is a hypocritical liar.

Human malice will never be scarce.

Lin Wanqing suppressed her anger, catching a glimpse of the familiar notebook spread out on Shi Li’s workbench from the corner of her eye.

Although the notebook had been torn and separated into single pages, Lin Wanqing immediately recognized her handwriting on it.

The gauze dress design and several perfume bottle designs.

Plagiarism in a competition was a serious matter. Lin Wanqing needed to collect evidence.

Shi Li was waiting to see Lin Wanqing, who was praised as the high-mountain flower, reveal her distress and hysteria. But unexpectedly, Lin Wanqing just brushed past her without saying a word.

“No wonder her grades are so good. It turns out all her past designs were copied.”

“LOL, I can’t believe how well she usually pretends.”

“May all plagiarists’ families die.”

Lin Wanqing left the auditorium, and the cold wind made her shiver.

A throbbing pain went from her finger right into her heart.

She attended an exam in the afternoon and returned to the mansion very late.

The housekeeper took her coat. “Miss Lin, why the look of worry?”

Lin Wanqing managed a smile. “I’m fine. Do we have guests?”

Lin Wanqing saw two pairs of footprints at the entrance. The lights in the study upstairs were on, and the faint sound of a man’s voice could be heard.

Lin Wanqing could pretend to be calm about today’s plagiarism incident, but as soon as she returned to the familiar house, layers of fatigue nearly drowned her.

She changed into her slippers and walked upstairs. Just as she was about to approach the study door, it suddenly opened.

Lin Hui and Qiao Lihua emerged from Yan Qiu’s study, looking frustrated and anxious. When they saw Lin Wanqing standing at the top of the stairs, their eyes suddenly turned malicious.

Qiao Lihua: “Oh, who do we have here? It’s Madam Yan.”

Lin Wanqing did not greet her, her expression indifferent.

Lin Hui: “Did President Yan tell you that our family is about to go bankrupt?”

The middle-aged man’s stubble hadn’t been shaved, and he was wearing a suit that was barely formal. His body was hunched over, no longer able to support the fabric.

Lin Wanqing: “I know. The factory has been poorly managed, and funds were siphoned off, layer by layer, into my parents’ pockets. How could it not close down?”

Lin Hui gave Lin Wanqing a deep look. Qiao Lihua raised her hand, intending to slap her.

“What did you say! You slander me! You shameless, ungrateful wretch! You think just because you live a good life now, you can be so insolent? Raising you was worse than raising a dog—”

Before Qiao Lihua’s hand could fall, Yu Fei grabbed her wrist.

“Madam, if you have an issue with Miss Lin, or with President Yan’s decision, why not state it directly?”

Qiao Lihua wouldn’t dare have an issue with Yan Qiu. She shrunk back and lowered her hand.

“I was impulsive…”

In the narrow hallway, Yu Fei watched the farce, feeling that Lin Wanqing’s success was simply a gift from the heavens.

The Lin family doesn’t deserve Lin Wanqing.

Lin Hui: “Wanqing, why can’t you consider your sister? How is your sister going to face people? How is she going to attend private high school? How is she going to study abroad?”

The plagiarism incident had given Lin Wanqing a splitting headache. She had immediately gone to gather evidence after her exam.

Her connections in the school were good—surveillance, notebooks—and through Yan Qiu’s connections, she had tracked the timeline of the online store’s new product launch.

She didn’t have the energy to deal with her father and mother.

Yu Fei: “Miss Lin was not involved in the day-to-day operations of your factory. She doesn’t hold factory shares, nor has she ever received dividends. What does your family’s bankruptcy have to do with Miss Lin?”

Yu Fei escorted Lin Hui and Qiao Lihua to the door, speaking coldly in the dark night:

“Such a lack of distinction between public and private matters, combined with the spineless act of selling your daughter, means you can only wait for your downfall.”

Lin Hui’s pride as a middle-aged man would not allow him to be lectured by a young secretary. The frustration he had suffered earlier with Yan Qiu kept him from challenging Yu Fei.

He shivered in the cold wind, lowering his head and saying, “Lin Wanqing is the eldest daughter; she should bear the responsibility.”

She wasn’t as sweet as the younger daughter, and she had gained Yan Qiu’s affection. Shouldn’t she help the family more?

He wants the horse to run fast without feeding it grass.

Yu Fei smiled faintly: “I’ve recently uncovered some interesting things. I’ll give CEO Lin a surprise in a couple of days.”

Qiao Lihua suddenly had a terrible feeling. Before she could speak, the mansion’s main door was slammed shut.

“Old Lin, say something!”

“Shut up! If you hadn’t been so greedy for money, how could the factory have ended up like this!”

The couple, who were usually harmonious and warm, burst into loud wails and arguments at the door. Lin Wanqing heard it all clearly from the second-floor study doorway.

The legal proceedings had already reached the stage of compensating the victims. All that remained was to auction the factory buildings and machinery to pay off debts and apply for bankruptcy liquidation.

Yu Fei brought two bowls of bird’s nest soup. “Miss Lin, you must be tired from class today. You should rest early.”

Lin Wanqing managed a forced smile. “I’ll take the bird’s nest in. It’s getting late, Secretary Sister, you should go home and rest early.”

Yu Fei made a heart shape with her fingers and whispered in Lin Wanqing’s ear, “Don’t forget to ask the boss about fixing the competition results and beating that shameless competitor until her mother doesn’t recognize her, spit!”

Yu Fei crossed her arms and made a gesture of spitting.

Lin Wanqing thought, how are you so skilled?

Judging by the state of the two victims just now, your Huiyan company doesn’t seem like a legitimate one.

Yu Fei patted Lin Wanqing’s shoulder with an “I know what’s up” look. “Don’t feel pressured about the competition.”

After the secretary left, the entire mansion became even quieter.

Lin Wanqing held the heavy two bowls of bird’s nest soup, ready to knock on the study door.

Her phone buzzed twice in her pocket.

She opened her phone and saw a message from the old man.

Old Man: It’s cold and damp lately. Miss Qiu doesn’t want to go south for the winter. Please take care of her for me, Qingqing, and send me a picture.

Two minutes later, the old man sent another message: Miss Qiu doesn’t like me fussing. Take the picture quietly, don’t let her notice.

The old man sent a transfer of five thousand yuan.

Money came too easily, and Lin Wanqing accepted the money and dutifully followed the instructions.

The study door was knocked. Yan Qiu put the unrecognizable, torn handkerchief into her pocket.

“Come in.”

The little rabbit carried the cold air from outside, carefully poking her head in. “Sister Qiuqiu, have some bird’s nest soup.”