Chapter 197
“The agents who have come in over the past few years have never even met you, sir, and are quite curious to see just how fierce you are, sir.”
The International Bureau of Investigation, ibi, was established quite early, with the basic structure in place at the beginning of the twentieth century, but it was still only a prototype.
It wasn’t until the second half of the twentieth century, when the Internet emerged, that ibi was completely in the public eye.
However, because of the lack of elite staff, ibi did not have a high level of prestige.
It took another twenty years, thanks to the tireless efforts of many of the founding fathers, for the ibi to achieve the prestige it enjoys today.
There are quite a few investigation bureaus, and only one that can be called international.
But after so many years, the patriarchs have all grown old, and there is no way to keep running it even if they wanted to.
So three years ago, there was an unprecedented riot at ibi.
There were many factions in ibi, from all countries, all at the elite level.
At that level, it was difficult to convince anyone to get on board.
So ibi is on the verge of splitting, and once it does, the General Bureau of International Investigations will cease to exist and the darkness that is hidden will be exposed.
The patriarchs had a headache, but there was nothing they could do.
Until two years ago, a man came to ibi.
Very young, only twenty years old.
With a thunderous hand and a murderous force, he cleaned up all the rebellious forces in the ibi.
Reorganised the shattered situation and made it even more ironclad than before.
Unbelievable.
After that, the patriarchs were able to retire and transfer the power.
It was also during these two years that the ibi’s reputation grew once again, putting all evil forces to shame.
Anyone who was on the ibi’s most wanted list was basically untouchable.
Whether it’s the big plutocrats of the O Continent, the top families in the Imperial City, or other international powers, no one would be unaware that the ibi has a new chief.
He did not hold the position of director, but the director was also under him.
However, apart from the director and a limited number of detectives, no one else at ibi had ever met this officer.
Even if they had, they didn’t know what he looked like.
Because every time he appeared in ibi, he was not his real face.
So according to their estimation, this officer is also a disguise master, just don’t know if he is on the nok’s disguise master list.
ibi recruits new agents every year, and the selection test is not as difficult as the Norton University exam.
There are quite a few psychology graduates from Norton University
Last year, their chief at least came up with a set of questions.
This year, the questions didn’t even bother to come out and let them buy a set from Norton University.
But where is Norton University that it is so easy to give them logic questions that they have produced in-house?
They had to go on the nok forum and post a reward post.
As a result, another Inspector’s story got out, and the forum’s bigwigs were excited to discuss it for a long time.
The first thing Fu Yunshen heard was not the words coming out of his old black phone, and he turned his head.
He turned his head and met the girl’s eyes.
He, Fu Yunshen, was slightly stunned, obviously not expecting her to come at this time.
He hung up the phone in his hand before walking over to the table and picking up the old-fashioned big brother.
“Then you show them the lions in the animal world.” Fu Yunshen’s peach blossom eyes narrowed and changed to a cynical tone, lazy, “I’m a bit more handsome and fierce than a lion, and probably a bit more powerful.”
The detective on the other end of the phone: “……”
He, for one, shouldn’t hold out any hope.
Fu Yunshen put both phones down before he walked towards the door.
The man’s expression had not changed much, his eyebrows were scattered.
The same dude who was able to capture the attention of everyone in Shanghai when he stood on the street.
He is still the same fop who can grab everyone’s attention in Shanghai.
Fu Yunshen leaned over slightly and also naturally took the medicine bottle from the girl’s hand: “Don’t want to ask anything?”
He would have defended himself against anyone.
But not her.
“Well-” Ying nodded slightly, “You see I have no power and no authority, what if he arrests us?”
“……”
“Little friend, that’s too much again.” Fu Yunshen’s long, slender fingers flexed slightly and tapped her on the center of her forehead, “How come you usually don’t notice that your memory is still so good?”
The first time they met, he casually said a sentence, and he remembered it up to now?
“I do everything depending on my mood.” Ying yawned, unhurriedly, “How come there’s not much gossip about you in the nok forum.”
Because there are quite a few hunters on the list that are on ibi’s focus list.
As long as it’s not illegal, then it’s fine.
Otherwise there’s any kind of movement and ibi’s agents can fall from the sky.
The speed is the same as when you stick a straw in a cup of milk tea on the underground and before you can drink it, the staff come and stick a ticket on you.
So the hunters hate ibi, but sometimes they need its help.
They have no choice but to have fun with the Inspector’s gossip.
Fu Yunshen leaned across from her, his peach blossom eyes deep and glowing with a charming light.
The cold white skin against the scarlet lips, the two colours forming a great contrast, a seductive demon.
“No way.” He raised an eyebrow, “Cleanse yourself.”
“The medicine is for you, I’ll go back first.” Ying Ziyi didn’t ask any more questions and nodded, “Take care of your rest.”
“Yao Yao, there’s no rush.” Fu Yun Shen was thoughtful, the end of his eyes curved and he smiled, “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen uncle, I’ll see you off.”
**
Imperial Capital.
After Mrs. Mu got the design from Mu Shenzhou, she gave it to her mother’s family’s clothing company, Huaxiu.
Hua Xiu’s main focus was the ancient ink and water style, and this set of designs fit in well with Hua Xiu’s philosophy.
Madam Mu’s sister Ke Huizhu was the chairman of Hua Xiu and also a designer.
“Sister, who drew this?” Ke Huizhu sighed in admiration, “The design is just too bold, yet very clever, the drawing is very thick.”
“A thousand-year-old lady that Shenzhou knows in Shanghai City.” Mrs Mu sipped her tea lightly, “Not yet graduated from high school, not bad indeed.”
“A thousand-year-old lady from Shanghai City?” Ke Huizhu understood as soon as she heard it, “It seems that she wants to use this to please Shenzhou and hitch a ride with the Mu family.”
“How is that possible? Just let her think about it.” Madam Mu put her tea cup down, her words containing a bit of contempt, “The only ones who can compare with the Mu family are those three families of the Nie family, the others are not worthy at all.”
The Mu family had a history of several hundred years and had been firmly rooted during the imperial dynasty, so how could it be compared to those up-and-comers?
Madam Mu had never met Zhong Zhiyan, but she had spent so much time in the gentry, how could she not know what Zhong Zhiyan was thinking?
From her point of view, even if Zhong Zhiyan is outstanding, her background is not good enough for her.
What she could give to Zhong Zhiyan was just to put her name on this fashion design competition.
She would not give her anything else.
Mu Shenzhou was her son, and she believed that he understood these principles.
“That is.” Ke Huizhu smiled, “Sister, in this generation of the Mu family, Shenzhou is considered excellent, if you want to inherit the Mu family in the future, but you should choose a good marriage partner.”
Madam Mu rose gracefully, “The design is available, I’ll go back first.”
“Good, sister, thank you so much this time.” Ke Huizhu looked at the design and wrinkled her brows again, “But I feel like this should be a series of dresses only.”
“Shenzhou said she drew it in her free time, it’s good to have a set.” Mrs. Mu didn’t care, “But this set, it’s also enough to overpower the group.”
“That too.” Ke Huizhu nodded, “Sometimes inspiration is like that, maybe if you continue to paint, you’ll ruin the previous designs instead.”
**
o this year’s costume design competition held by the Royal College of Arts on the Continent, the participating designers as well as companies have to send their designs to the official email address first.
After the judges have seen them, the show will be held.
The show is scheduled for the end of July, twenty days from now.
That’s plenty of time to prepare.
However, the fashion design competition has been held for several years now, and each time only a few top designers in the industry have won.
The judges are able to tell from the style of the design which designer’s work it is.
Today, however, a design had caught the attention of all the judges.
There were four designs in total, each with a dress on it.
None of the judges had seen such a novel design before, especially the pattern construction on the dresses, which was really ingenious.
“First Light Media.” The woman next to her was surprised, “I remember this company, they didn’t win in the previous editions, but they were all four or five, very impressive.”
Being able to stand out from so many companies around the world, First Light Media’s designs had always been not bad.
“But this yippee their designs are so good.” Another judge nodded, “I don’t know which designer was hired, I don’t know if I can get first place, but second is definitely secure.”
“The designer’s name says charm.” The woman thought for a moment, “Never heard of it, it should be a new designer, we must pay special attention to it when the time comes.”
Several of the judges marked this one design and put it away carefully before they started to go through the next ones.
Only, with the one sent by First Light Media in front of them, the ones that followed were all missing something, nothing that stood out from the crowd.
Even the few top designers that the judges were already familiar with.
“Hua Xiu.” The woman glanced at the company name first, “I remember this company too, it goes for a purely oriental style, but in previous editions it was ranked outside the top fifteen, the designs weren’t original enough.”
She clicked her mouse and opened the attachment.
A draft of the design was displayed in front of the judges’ eyes.
Chapter 198
Each design is projected onto a curtain at the front.
The details are magnified for all the judges to see.
After this one design appeared, the judges just took a glance at it, and before they could examine it carefully, their expressions all changed and sank in an instant.
The set of four drawings sent over by Primeval Light Media was based on the four divine beasts of Eastern mythology.
The element of the four divine beasts was not uncommon, it was in every costume design competition, after all, there were many designers and companies from China.
But that was the only set that had left a lasting impression on them since the competition was established.
The judges were also all top designers within the design world with a venomous eye.
Even if there were differences between the design sent by Hua Xiu and Primeval Light Media, they would not be unable to see that the former had copied the latter, but none of the essence had been copied.
Not to mention, the original product was four sets of dresses, while Hua Xiu’s design only had one set.
There have been many cases of plagiarism in this kind of design competition, but mostly from lesser-known designers.
There had never been a time when the plagiarism had directly copied another entry.
“This Hua Xiu, she has a lot of nerve.” The woman sneered, slapping the table and standing up, “Is not sure how many pounds they have anymore, even the design of First Light Media dares to copy?”
In the past, although Primeval Media did not go through the top three, it had to leave behind Huaxiu, who was ranked fifteen places behind.
The two were not even in the same league.
However, if Primeval Light Media had not sent in that set of designs this time, Hua Xiu would definitely have been able to make it to the top three with this pair of designs.
The other judges also looked serious.
One of them asked, “Is the designer of Hua Xiu, related to the designer of First Light Media, a colleague?”
Otherwise, how could it be copied so similarly?
Even the patterns on the cuffs were exactly the same.
“Let me see.” Another judge looked down, “The designer of the Chinese embroidery, signed underneath as ‘Zhong Zhiwei’, never heard of it, should also be a new designer, this age-”
His gaze shifted down and his expression changed again, “17 years old, it’s reasonable to think that a designer of that age could not have such profound design skills.”
Except for geniuses, of course.
It was just a pity that the design had been copied in the first place.
“There is no doubt that it was copied.” The previous judge’s face was ugly, “This kind of design would not even make it to the final round, and if word got out, it would really be a laughing stock.”
What is the most taboo in the design world?
It’s all about plagiarism.
As long as this word was branded, the designer’s life would be over.
“Just send it back.” One of the judges on the right also nodded, “Since Hua Xiu dared to use a plagiarized work this time, there is no guarantee that it will be used again next time.”
“China Embroidery and its designers must be banned from future fashion design competitions!”
“No.” The woman raised her hand to stop her, saying indifferently, “Since they are so bold to send up plagiarised works, they must be quite confident.”
“At this point in time, the gowns should all have started to be made and the materials are all ready, we can’t let them waste their efforts.”
Hearing this from her, the other judges all looked over and were a little surprised, “What do you mean?”
The woman is thirty-six years old and her name is Martha Menuhin.
She is the youngest woman to have won one of the highest honours within the design world, and is also the head of the jury panel this time.
The big things, she was the one who had the say.
“I mean, let them go on to enter.” Martha nodded, “Move an extra spot for the final so that the plagiarised entries don’t take away from the other good ones.”
“Don’t you like plagiarism? Let this designer, Zhong Zhiwei, make a big fool of herself by copying in broad daylight.”
Martha had no good feelings about plagiarism and hated it even more.
She had once had her work plagiarised by a cla*smate.
If she hadn’t saved the bottom draft in advance, she would not only have been bitten back and thrown out of the design world.
She would also have had to watch the work that belonged to her, being stolen by someone else in exchange for unparalleled glory.
“Not a bad idea.” One of the judges agreed, “It’s also a wake-up call to other entrants to be able to put an end to this in the future.”
After the panel of judges finished their discussion, they singled out Hua Xiu’s design and went on to look at the other entries.
**
Three days later.
Ke Huizhu then received an invitation to the final.
Although this was not the first time Hua Xiu had received one, she was still excited.
She could conclude that with this pair of designs, Hua Xiu would be able to gain a firm foothold in the international design world, and the invitations would keep coming in the future.
“Mr Ke, don’t you think that a high school student simply can’t design such a diagram?” The special a*sistant on the side still couldn’t hold back, “Moreover, this gown is actually still a bit flawed.”
For example, the line was a little uneven in that part of the waistband.
“Well, I’ve checked, the style of this ‘Vermilion Bird’ doesn’t belong to any famous designer.” Ke Huizhu waved her hand, “If it was unknown, do you think he would have the strength to fight with Hua Xiu? Probably not even the cost to make this gown.”
A casual payment for the sealing fee would be enough.
Although Hua Xiu wasn’t a big top company, but it was still possible to block a small designer’s path in the design world in the future.
The special a*sistant didn’t dare to speak again.
“Even if something really goes wrong, there’s still the designer to cover.” Ke Huizhu was not impressed, “This kind of thing is not for us to worry about.”
She cupped the invitation to the final, thought about it, and asked, “How is the production of the dresses coming along?”
“It’s already halfway rushed.” The special a*sistant was busy reporting, “According to your instructions, the materials used are of the finest quality, and the materials alone are worth three million.”
After the dresses were made, they had to hire models.
Only then did Ke Huizhu’s expression ease and she nodded, “Take me to have a look.”
**
Hua Xiu specialised in providing custom-made clothes to small and medium-sized families in the imperial capital, so naturally it had a large factory.
After entering, Ke Huizhu went straight to the innermost part.
Inside, there were twelve designers and tailors working on this gift set.
One of the designers was frowning at the right sleeve of the gown with a difficult look.
“What’s wrong?” Ke Huizhu walked over, “Time is running out, don’t waste it.”
“Mr. Ke, I find this cluster of floral patterns a bit strange.” The designer said, “If you remove it, it doesn’t affect the whole, but when it’s removed, the gown won’t have that wow factor again.”
“Then leave it off.” Ke Huizhu gave him a strange look, “The design has already been handed in, and you can still change it? ”
The designer swallowed back the words, “I think this cluster of patterns seems to form a word.”
“Get ready, you have eight more days.” Ke Huizhu clapped her hands, “In eight days, we’ll be trying on the models.”
**
Shanghai City.
First Light Media branch.
“Boss, the four sets of gowns you drew up have been made.” The female secretary placed the documents on the table with envy, “If they weren’t so expensive, I’d want to try them on too.”
“You like it?” Ying Ziji took the papers and flipped through them, “When the show is over, you can pick a set to take away.”
The female secretary was about to be ecstatic, but then she heard the next sentence.
“The cost of the materials will be deducted from your salary.”
“……”
“Then it’s better to forget it.” The female secretary was heartbroken to the core, “My monthly salary is not enough to buy a sleeve.”
If the design alone is not enough, the material used to make the garment is also of paramount importance.
Otherwise, not only would the beauty of the design not be felt, but it would look vulgar and unpleasant.
“These two sets, for Xie Manyu.” Ying Ziji mused, “She can hold up, the other two sets for Shang Yaozhi.”
This set of dresses with mythological elements, of which ‘Vermilion Bird’ and ‘White Tiger’ were for women, and ‘Green Dragon’ and ‘White Tiger’ were for men.
Xie Manyu is a double-golden film queen under First Light Media, and at thirty-two years old, she is in the prime of her actress life.
Although the flow of post-95 and post-00 young flowers is greater, the momentum is not enough.
“Okay, Queen Xie is flying back from abroad the day after tomorrow.” The female secretary nodded her head, “Emperor Shang Film has also just finished promoting ‘Pink Makeup Spy’.”
‘Pink Make-up Spy Shadow’ was the last drama Shang Yaozhi made for Starlight Entertainment.
It was obvious from the name that it was a drama with a big female lead, which showed how hard Star Entertainment sucked blood.
But bloodsucking is bloodsucking, the drama’s plot and characters are on line, or else it wouldn’t have made it to the stars.
The female secretary headed out with her ipad, still following the hot news.
“Boss, this gown ……” she suddenly paused, “how come it looks so much like ours?”
She rejoined her desk and handed over the ipad in her hand, on the screen was a tweet.
[@LuoZiYuev: Haven’t been out for a while, giving you a sneak peek at the material.]