Chapter 49 – Choose Me or Your Sister?

This time, Zhou Ziyi’s drawing was stolen, just like the last time when that regular customer came to expose the plagiarized drawing.

At that time, Zhou Ziyi didn’t know the organizers of the competition and didn’t recognize the ID of the drawing author. So, the original owner of the copyright said she would handle it, and Zhou Ziyi thought there would be no problem.

Later, Zhou Ziyi found out that this was actually a small-scale competition organized by a university, and the participants were only students from the university. Originally, it was an unknown competition, but after the results were released, it was discovered that the drawing was plagiarized, which caused a commotion.

First, some netizens and the copyright owner’s followers reminded them to take down the drawing, revoke the award, and ask for an apology from the author, but the school didn’t respond. The copyright owner then started to call out people, criticizing both the author of the drawing and the school. The girl who bought the drawing is also a well-known writer with many fans. When she criticized, a war of words broke out.

On the surface, the girl’s(the copyright owner) fans overwhelmingly criticized the school and the author of the drawing, but secretly, the students from the school also sent private messages to the girl. Some advised her kindly, while others used harsh words. Most importantly, there was even a message from the drawing author. She said it wasn’t intentional, and it was just a competition within the school, not wasting any social resources. She privately apologized, hoping not to be pursued.

She(the author who plagiarized the drawing) didn’t mention taking down the drawing or revoking the award, nor did she publicly apologize. Even the tone of her private message seemed indifferent. Especially when she said, “Don’t think you can casually cyberbully others just because you have many fans,” it made the girl(the copyright owner) extremely angry, and she immediately singled out the author of the drawing for criticism.

Wow, this made the situation even worse. Originally, only the author’s fans were discussing it, but now bystanders also joined in to watch the excitement. The girl even enlarged that statement about cyberbullying and posted it as a separate image, which greatly intensified the effect.

Although this matter has caused quite a stir, it originally had nothing to do with Zhou Ziyi. At most, he was just a victim of the traced image. Some netizens who liked the original image began to follow his Weibo account, and that was it. But the problem arose when one day, the person who traced the image suddenly made astonishing remarks.

She posted on W blog:
[This is a picture guided by a big brother I know. I couldn’t draw the draft well before, and he guided me to make adjustments. I really didn’t know this was someone else’s original picture. I will first verify this matter with him. Everyone, please don’t get agitated. I was also kept in the dark. After clarifying the facts, I will definitely give everyone an explanation.]

With this W blog post, some uninformed spectators or this person’s friends expressed their support for her. But the copyright owner being criticized was confused: What’s going on? How did another person get involved?

She went to ask Zhou Ziyi, who hadn’t been following the development of the situation. After she explained the situation to him, he was also puzzled.

But despite the confusion, Zhou Ziyi’s opinion was: [Regardless of who guided her, now that she has benefited from it, she should return these benefits.]

The copyright owner girl replied: [Oh, you’re right! I was totally confused by her sudden clever move! No matter how many people and stories are involved, I still have to hold her accountable!]

This girl went away confidently, looking quite satisfied with the argument.

While Zhou Ziyi was continuing to draw, another person’s message suddenly popped up.

Yan Meiyue: [Are you free? I want to make a voice call to you.]

Zhou Ziyi paid no attention, pretending not to have seen it at all.

But Yan Meiyue’s voice call came directly.

Zhou Ziyi ignored it for quite a while until it hung up automatically. However, Yan Meiyue persistently continued to call, so Zhou Ziyi had no choice but to answer to find out what was going on.

Of course, he had pressed the record button.

As soon as the call connected, Yan Meiyue urgently blurted out, “Zhou Ziyi, quickly help me issue a statement! Hurry!”

— What the heck?

Zhou Ziyi thought to himself that she might have dialed the wrong number, but since she called out his name right away, it seemed she hadn’t: “What statement?”

“It’s about that picture!” Yan Meiyue mentioned a Weibo ID, “Is this your account?”

Zhou Ziyi suddenly had a feeling: “…Yes.”

“Well, isn’t that it?” Yan Meiyue said, “You just say that you guided me in drawing, didn’t know I used it for a competition, and drew based on the draft. Then tell your client that we know each other, so there’s no need to pursue this further, okay?”

She was talking all over the place, and Zhou Ziyi almost couldn’t follow.

After reacting, Zhou Ziyi confirmed the speculation in his mind.

— The person tracing the picture is actually Yan Meiyue?

— Does she still expect me to come out and help her out?

Zhou Ziyi chuckled silently and pretended to be clueless, saying, “What thing? I don’t understand, why would I say that? Who’s asking?”

“You don’t know?” Yan Meiyue’s voice became suspicious, “That’s impossible. That girl sent a screenshot before, saying that you authorized her to handle this matter!”

Zhou Ziyi still replied, “I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

Yan Meiyue had no choice but to recount the ins and outs of the matter. However, her position was different, so naturally her description of the situation was also different. Zhou Ziyi could tell that she was trying to downplay her own responsibility with clumsy language and make the competition seem insignificant. He sneered inwardly.

To be honest, Zhou Ziyi had never been able to figure out which side Yan Meiyue was on.

She suddenly became Yan Wenwu’s proxy, mocking and sabotaging the marriage between Zhou Ziyi and Yan Xiuzhi. Then she would pretend to be close to Zhou Ziyi, actively adding him on WeChat and asking for pictures. Doesn’t she feel the contradiction herself?

Moreover, the last time she asked Zhou Ziyi for a picture, he ignored her. Now she directly traced the picture. What, if Zhou Ziyi had drawn for her last time, is she now ready to not even bother drawing anymore?

After Yan Meiyue finished speaking, she heard Zhou Ziyi not saying a word on the other side, and reminded, “Did you hear that? When will you help me issue a statement?”

Zhou Ziyi chuckled, “We’ll talk about it later.”

Then, without waiting for Yan Meiyue’s reply, he directly hung up the voice call and blocked her.

“What the hell…” Zhou Ziyi looked at his phone and truly felt the emotions of that copyright owner girl after receiving the private message. She was so commanding when asking for a favor. Did Yan Meiyue think she was someone important, like a princess from some country?

She had been living under the care of the Yan family for so many years, but she still managed to develop this personality. It’s quite interesting…

Just then, Zhou Ziyi heard some commotion outside the gate, it should be Yan Xiuzhi coming back.

— Alright, let’s let Mr. Yan hear about this commotion and see what kind of person this Yan Meiyue really is.

Yan Xiuzhi looked at the post on W blog and listened to Zhou Ziyi’s recording, showing no surprise. He just glanced at Zhou Ziyi and said, “You always have a recording.”

Zhou Ziyi had just put down the water he poured for Yan Xiuzhi and said, “President Yan, you’re not suspecting me of being some kind of industrial spy, are you?”

“What?”

“I saw Yan Meiyue making a voice call to me, and I thought she wouldn’t do so without a reason, so I subconsciously recorded it,” Zhou Ziyi raised an eyebrow, “Do you think I’m recording all the time?”

“…That’s not what I meant,” Yan Xiuzhi said, “It’s just a thought, you don’t have to be so sensitive.”

“…” Zhou Ziyi decided not to dwell on this issue and get to the point, “So, what do you think I should do?”

Yan Xiuzhi said, “I think you already have an idea and are already doing it, do you still need to ask me?”

“She is your sister after all,” Zhou Ziyi said, “I don’t want to decide on my own, then later your family holds a struggle session and forcibly kicks me out, citing disrupting family unity as the reason.”

Yan Xiuzhi leaned back on the sofa, pressed his temple, “Yan Meiyue doesn’t have that much power yet.”

“Are you sure?” Zhou Ziyi sat on a single sofa, “But you heard it too, she seems to think she can command my actions. It seems like it’s not the first time she’s thought like this, ever since I visited your house, her attitude towards me has been incomprehensible.”

“In that case, you don’t have to understand,” Yan Xiuzhi closed his eyes, “The majority of the responsibility for this matter lies with her, she should bear the corresponding responsibility. Your response is not wrong… but, if I’m not mistaken, it seems like you haven’t responded to anything yet?”

“Yes,” Zhou Ziyi stood up and walked towards the kitchen, “I feel like there’s no need to respond to anything, after all, the copyright is not mine. The paying party has done well enough, hasn’t it?”

Yan Xiuzhi wanted to say something, but when he looked up, he found that Zhou Ziyi had already gone into the kitchen, so he fell silent for a moment.

Zhou Ziyi did something inside, there was some noise, and then quickly returned to the… entrance of the kitchen, leaning against the door frame and speaking to Yan Xiuzhi, “Or, does President Yan have any other suggestions?”

“None,” Yan Xiuzhi said, “Ignoring her and blacklisting her is enough – if you don’t want to exert more effort.”

Zhou Ziyi said, “You won’t try to persuade me to change my mind after you answer her call, will you?”

“No,” Yan Xiuzhi paused and then said, “Yan Meiyue generally won’t get those unreasonable things she requests from me, and usually, she doesn’t dare to find me.”

“…It’s not hard to see,” Zhou Ziyi actually wanted to ridicule the relationship between Yan Meiyue and Yan Wenwu, which seemed more like a parent-child relationship than the one between Yan Xiuzhi and Yan Wenwu. At least Yan Meiyue would act like a spoiled little princess, taking advantage of her uncle’s power. But that would be a bit harsh, and it would also be prying into other people’s family secrets, so Zhou Ziyi stopped there, “So, should I handle this matter the way I want to?”

“You can,” Yan Xiuzhi said indifferently, “If you need a lawyer…”

When he said the second half of the sentence, Zhou Ziyi went back into the kitchen. Yan Xiuzhi was startled for a moment and then stopped again.

A few minutes later, Zhou Ziyi came out with a bowl and placed it on the table in front of Yan Xiuzhi. Inside the bowl was a spoon, filled with the hangover soup that Yan Xiuzhi was familiar with.

Previously, this was always kept in the fridge after the housekeeping was done, but Yan Xiuzhi generally couldn’t be bothered to do it. After Zhou Ziyi moved in, sometimes he would help Yan Xiuzhi, which actually increased the number of times President Yan drank the hangover soup.”

“Thank you,” Yan Xiuzhi was actually feeling a bit drunk, not severe, but Zhou Ziyi still noticed. He took a few sips of the hangover soup and asked again, “Do you need a lawyer for this matter?”

“Hmm? Not necessary,” Zhou Ziyi said, “I told you, I don’t need to respond to this matter.”

“Okay,” Yan Xiuzhi put down the bowl and continued, “Then, may I borrow a few minutes of your time to talk about something else?”

Zhou Ziyi was puzzled for a moment, “What?”

“Your recent attitude,” Yan Xiuzhi looked at him. Perhaps it was the effect of alcohol, or perhaps it was Zhou Ziyi’s initiative to cook the hangover soup, that made him ask the question that had been bothering him recently.

“Have you been avoiding me recently?”