Chapter 3: Revealing the True Face—What, Surprised to See Me?
“You want evidence? Then I’ll give you evidence!”
After a burst of output, Jian Minglang only barely remembered the elegance he had thrown into a forgotten corner.
He slowly reached out and smoothed the wrinkles he had created in his clothes due to his agitation. Living up to Le Can’s request, he used the information provided to drag Dan Man down from the clouds, step by step.
“Someone told me that hidden inside this award-winning jewelry set is a string of numbers.”
Hearing this sentence, the teeth biting Dan Man’s lip suddenly lost their strength. The taste of salty, metallic blood spread in his mouth, but he had no mind to care about that.
Because no one knew better than Dan Man who these inspirations and designs came from. He couldn’t help but suspect—did Le Can really keep a trump card and bury evidence in the initial drafts?
Even so, knowing the truth was one thing; admitting it even unto death was another.
“What numbers? As the designer, how could I not know there are numbers hidden in my own design?”
Two consecutive rhetorical questions seemed to give Dan Man strength, and the more he spoke, the more confident he became.
“This set, Deep Sea Illusion Dream, is right under everyone’s eyelids. If there really were numbers, how come no one has discovered them until now?!”
Speaking of this, Dan Man remembered something.
When he first got the items, he had also examined them repeatedly in awe. While envy and jealousy surged together, Dan Man wanted to modify the pieces to make them his own, but no matter how he changed them, he wasn’t satisfied.
After changing this and that, the drafts submitted and the subsequent finished products were ultimately exactly the same as Le Can’s original design.
The moment Le Can saw the items, he knew this. He didn’t know whether he should rejoice at Dan Man’s greed and stupidity, or despise his greed and stupidity.
Although he was just a budding designer, it was impossible for Le Can to be completely without any sense of precaution.
Stealing a design and using it exactly as is—was it past successes that blinded Dan Man’s eyes? Or did he trust the formerly easy-to-deceive Le Can too much, or perhaps Lu Zhangping who helped him steal it?
Thinking of Lu Zhangping, one of the targets of the snatching, Le Can’s appetite, which wasn’t good to begin with, suddenly became even worse.
Thinking back now, when he agreed to the other’s pursuit… aside from drifting almost helplessly through the first half of his life and wanting the comfort of a home, perhaps he had also just given up and let things slide after being pursued too relentlessly.
If he had known Dan Man liked Lu Zhangping, Le Can would absolutely have wished this couple well from the bottom of his heart. Wished for them to be locked together, together for a lifetime.
Jealousy? Resentment? Le Can genuinely searched his own heart. Even now, after being betrayed, what he felt more of was just emptiness.
Crippling Lu Zhangping was due to his disgust for the man himself. Once a human is dominated by their lower body, they are really no different from uncivilized animals. When an animal is in heat, neutering it is fine; Le Can didn’t mind doing it in passing.
As for exposing Dan Man’s true face? Le Can just wanted to take back his own “child.”
Wu, forgive him for being a newly poor jewelry designer; every bling-bling treasure born from his hands was his biological cub. Even closer than biological ones!
On the other side, Dan Man spoke with certainty.
Seeing him insist so firmly that there was nothing, Jian Minglang hesitated for a moment.
But things had already reached this point. He looked up at the uncertain crowd around him, closed his eyes, gritted his teeth, stomped his foot, and shouted out everything written on the note at the top of his lungs.
Those little Easter eggs Le Can had poured into the design day and night were found one by one.
Not just the numbers hidden in each individual piece, but also some of Le Can’s design inspirations and little ingenuities. Those bits and pieces, details that held special meaning for him.
Dan Man and Lu Zhangping could conspire to steal his drafts, trick out and destroy the records. But there were always some things they couldn’t steal.
Jian Minglang looked at the Deep Sea Illusion Dream set worn by Mother Dan. “Dan Man, if you really have a clear conscience, then why not let everyone have a look?”
“See if those places I mentioned really have the four numbers 0718.”
Dan Man took two steps in front of Mother Dan, blocking Jian Minglang’s line of sight. Clenching his teeth, he squeezed out words of rebuttal.
“Just because you say you want to see, we have to show you? Young Master Jian, throwing your weight around in our house is going a bit too far!”
Jian Minglang took a deep look at the pale-faced Dan Man. Although the other party vehemently denied it, they had dealt with each other countless times.
The absence of an arrogant reprimand already indicated the problem within.
“Then 0718—do you know what this date represents?”
“I don’t care what it represents!” Under the pressing interrogation, the speaker didn’t even realize his own slip of the tongue.
Jian Minglang didn’t care about Dan Man’s attitude; he continued on his own: “0718 is the time the designer’s last relative in this world passed away.”
“He never told anyone this point.” Jian Minglang implied pointedly, “Of course, that includes his ex-boyfriend, your current boyfriend.”
Mn, since the plagiarism incident had distracted everyone from the scumbag, a certain enthusiastic citizen surnamed Jian very thoughtfully helped everyone review it again.
“The reason the designer originally chose a theme related to the deep sea wasn’t because you (emphasis added) liked it, as you simply proclaimed to the outside world.”
Recalling the reasons described in two or three sentences on the note, Jian Minglang’s voice involuntarily lowered. “His relative chose to have their ashes scattered into the sea by their descendants after cremation.”
“That designer didn’t have the chance to go to the bottom of the sea, so he entrusted his longing to the jewelry. He wanted to embody lively jellyfish, beautiful coral, free swimming fish… to go to the place where his relative sleeps in his stead.”
“Deep Sea Illusion Dream? Heh…”
Jian Minglang laughed mockingly. “Clearly the name written on the draft from the start was Meeting in a Dream, wasn’t it?”
Meeting in a Dream, Meeting in a Dream… it was clearly expressing the designer’s longing for his relative from the very beginning, and even more so, the regret of being unable to meet again.
What a huge piece of grass (a plant/curse word)!
The waitress girl who delivered the note covered her mouth tightly with both hands to prevent her inner thoughts from leaking out.
Poaching someone’s partner, plagiarizing creativity, twisting a work commemorating the deceased into praise for the deep sea. Listening to piece after piece, she wasn’t the only one shocked into silence.
Anyone who heard these things couldn’t help but think: Did the original designer dig up the Dan family’s ancestral grave or something? Otherwise, what kind of deep hatred would necessitate catching this one sheep and shearing it so hard?
Le Can gazed at Dan Man, who was trembling all over with anger, and slowly tilted his head. Actually, he was also very curious about the answer to this question.
If his memory wasn’t confused, the two of them were supposed to be friends before. At least in Le Can’s view, Dan Man was once his friend.
But thinking back carefully, he couldn’t recall what the other looked like when they first met. Not his appearance, but what kind of micro-expressions were on his face.
Dan Man was introduced to him by Lu Zhangping. Perhaps from the very beginning, the other’s intention in approaching him was mixed with other things…
After waiting a while and not getting the desired feedback, Jian Minglang frowned. “Dan Man.”
He called Dan Man’s name: “After hearing so much, don’t you have anything you want to say?”
Dan Man, who had barely suppressed his anger, took a deep breath to calm his heaving chest. He looked at the extremely arrogant Jian Minglang, who seemed to have won a round, and forced a fake smile onto his lips.
“After all is said and done, this is all just Young Master Jian’s one-sided story.”
“Isn’t it just four numbers? Even if they really exist, who knows if someone who dislikes me bribed the mold maker to secretly add something without my knowledge?”
Jian Minglang, feeling like a basin of dirty water had been splashed on him: “…”
Not far away, Le Can, who took this scene into his eyes, sighed silently and slowly stood up.
Although he had eaten a few pieces of cake, how could his physical weakness really be replenished in such a short time? Standing up too quickly might make his vision go black and cause him to faint again—not worth it.
Le Can’s worry before sending the note had come true.
Jian Minglang was straightforward and outspoken, without too many twists and turns in his brain. Faced with someone stubborn and scheming, there was a high probability he couldn’t hold them down.
Unfortunately, Dan Man belonged to the elite of that category.
But the problem wasn’t too big. Le Can, who had muddled his way from a small place to a big city and a big company, could quickly find direction in a predicament as long as he cast aside the intelligence-lowering, dragging emotions.
It was so with Lu Zhangping’s imprisonment. It was also so with the dilemma facing Dan Man now.
Amidst the whispering, Le Can pushed through the crowd step by step, walking toward the two stalemated people in the center of attention.
Passing by the equally enthusiastic waitress, facing her instantly widened eyes, the young man with still-pale lips pressed them together silently and nodded gently at her.
It was a greeting, and also an expression of gratitude.
“Young Master Jian wouldn’t do such a thing.”
A voice like a clear spring in a mountain stream suddenly brushed past ears, dripping into everyone’s restless hearts.
The clear and cold voice was like opening an iced soda on the hottest summer day. With a fizz, every pore on the body relaxed, cooling right to the bottom.
People who were still making various guesses turned their eyes one after another to the third person entering the center of the topic—Le Can.
The moment he heard Le Can’s voice, Jian Minglang clearly saw Dan Man’s pupils contract violently. His somewhat rusty brain spun fast at that moment, and before long, Jian Minglang had already guessed Le Can’s identity.
The person who gave him the note, or rather, the true victim himself!
Le Can didn’t look at Dan Man. He walked around to Jian Minglang’s side, reached out to take the note clenched in the other’s palm, and said casually:
“What, surprised to see me?”
The casually torn paper was already wrinkled from being rubbed vigorously. He meticulously unfolded the corners, then smoothed out every crease bit by bit.
After waiting a while and not getting an answer from Dan Man, Le Can wasn’t surprised.
He explained indifferently: “Lu Zhangping didn’t follow your instructions to send me away. Instead, he kept me here, tonight.”
Mentioning the time specifically might leave outsiders confused, but he believed Dan Man definitely understood.
Le Can’s gaze swept over the tightened jaw of the person in front of him. “I have to thank him, otherwise I wouldn’t have had the chance to stand here.”
Dan Man finally couldn’t hold back: “Le Can!”
Le Can nodded nonchalantly, turning to face Jian Minglang. “Thank you, Mr. Jian, for speaking out for justice. Let me provide the final missing evidence.”
Jian Minglang’s ears turned red with embarrassment, and he waved his hands frantically. He knew his own situation; the main reason he stuck his neck out was that he didn’t want Dan Man to be too arrogant.
Le Can raised his hand, and a small object slid from his fingertips, dangling and swaying in mid-air.
Everyone, ears already pricked up, couldn’t help but crane their necks to look. An old-fashioned USB drive with a plastic casing came into view.
“You wiped all traces from my computer, and even smashed it to prevent future trouble.”
Le Can paused for a moment, taking a deep breath to suppress the heartache that was about to burst the dam. That computer was old, but fully equipped; to save money to buy it back then, Le Can had eaten steamed buns for two months.
“But what I didn’t tell you is that besides the cloud drive you tricked the password out of, there was also this fish that slipped through the net.”
“Aren’t we missing key evidence? Just open this and…”
Before Le Can could finish his sentence, a burst of force grabbed the dangling USB drive, yanked it away, and threw it on the ground. Immediately after, Dan Man, eyes red, stomped on the fragile casing.
Green plastic flew up and fell back down.
Le Can sighed lightly with regret. Buying this second-hand USB drive back then had cost him over twenty yuan.
Retracting his gaze from the ground, this young man, thin as a wafer, sighed again. Compared to the sincere emotion a second ago, this sigh seemed somewhat fake.
“Actually… if you open it, there’s nothing there.” Le Can spread his hands.
“But look,” the person with pale lips hooked up the corners of his mouth, “someone has already proactively delivered the other evidence.”
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