Gold Medal Mediator [Quick Transmigration] 59p1

Chapter 59: I’m Really Not the Female Lead of a Novel (VI) p1

Lin Wanxiu was shocked by Jiang Xue’s unscrupulous determination to get out of being single.

She looked at the sticker on her phone in front of her, and then at her friend. In the end, she forced a smile and said to Jiang Xue:

“Well… your way of showing love is very creative.”

Jiang Xue completely ignored every bit of reluctance on her friend’s face and was only willing to see the curve of her lips. Hearing this, she immediately nodded in agreement.

“Hey, I can’t help it. She has a bit of a temper, but who asked me to like her?”

She tried her best to make her tone sound light and casual.

But she didn’t notice the fear in her friend’s eyes. Besides a messy nod, she had no other reaction. It was not until Jiang Xue had finished showing off to her heart’s content and continued to reply to the content that Lin Wanxiu slipped away to the side, took out her phone, and said to her boyfriend:

“Baby, let me tell you! Jiang Xue has gone mad… In order not to see me show off my love, she actually went so crazy as to just find a friend who was fighting with her and say that person was her partner, and she even wanted me to wish them a happy life!”

Her boyfriend was also shocked by Jiang Xue’s move. After a long while, he replied:

“Single dogs these days, in order to get out of being single, they really will do anything…”

Lin Wanxiu nodded vigorously, holding her phone and shrinking in a corner, sending kisses in a small voice. She did not dare to get close to Jiang Xue and pour dog food like a celestial maiden scattering flowers. After all, her friend now looked a little insane.

* * *

Hua Baihe still didn’t know how much damage that picture had caused. She thought for a moment and asked the System:

“For a business partner’s private relationship, is it better to turn a blind eye?”

Otherwise, if this Firefly failed to hit on her and got angry, and never bought anything from her shop again, wouldn’t she lose a big client?

The System felt that her words were reasonable and agreed, “That makes sense. It’s better not to talk about her problem.”

Hua Baihe nodded, deeply convinced.

Then, she saw “the other party is typing…” displayed on the dialogue box. After a long while, a long sentence popped up:

“I really don’t have a partner. I just went along with it before because I wasn’t familiar with you. You know, after my book became a bestseller, countless readers want to add me every day, and some of them want to develop a relationship with me beyond that of an author and a reader. I’m so annoyed by it, so I just let it be known to the public that I have a partner.”

After Jiang Xue sent this message, before her anxious feelings had time to brew, she heard a very quick reply from the other side:

“I know, I understand everything. You don’t have to explain.”

With that, she also sent her a standard system default smiling face sticker.

Jiang Xue always felt that this sentence had a slight hint of mockery, and she was also worried that she had misunderstood. She sent another sentence to confirm:

“Really?”

Hua Baihe clicked her tongue.

Is it interesting to deceive yourself?

She was completely disappointed in this author’s character in her heart. Fortunately, they were separated by a network, and the other party could not see her expression. So she replied with a complicated expression:

“Really. If you say no, then it’s no.”

You are the great author. Whatever you say is right.

Jiang Xue, who saw the reply: “…”

No, what do you mean by “if you say no, then it’s no”?

She really didn’t have a partner???

Jiang Xue stood there with her phone, and the air around her was filled with a low pressure.

Lin Wanxiu in the corner secretly glanced at her and noticed the “I’m not happy, I’m very unhappy” aura around her. She took out her phone and started typing silently:

“Oh my god? Jiang Xue is so good at acting. She just pretended to have a partner, but now she’s immediately in a state of being angered to the point of a Buddha coming into the world by her sweetheart. She’s so good at acting…”

* * *

Just as Hua Baihe was chatting with Firefly, the matter of Firefly being plagiarized on the internet had already caused a storm. Because there were not many restrictions on published literature in China now, and freedom of speech was extremely high, when it came to literary creation, regardless of what vulgar things the author wrote, everyone had reached a consensus on respecting the author’s copyright.

Although Firefly was not famous, her book The Happy Life of Xue Ling, according to a market survey conducted by some bored people, was almost a must-read for young adults. Its status was already similar to that of a “modern spring palace encyclopedia”!

Especially now, under many posts asking for recommendations for fragrant web novels, the first on the book list was always this book.

So now that the plagiarism incident broke out, many people were paying attention to this incident at the same time. Some high-minded scholars were disdainful of this kind of vulgar theme, but they looked down on “Boundless Romance,” who even copied this kind of novel. Some authors did not attack the content of the article, but only criticized this kind of plagiarism incident that was despised by scholars.

Even on the forum of “Boundless Romance”‘s own contracted website, some people who had paid attention to this incident immediately synchronized the content of Firefly’s blog post and mocked how some people would do anything shameless to become famous these days.

For a time, whether it was forwarded or commented on online, including many passersby, everyone began to pay attention to this matter.

It was said that “Boundless Romance” had released her article outline in her reader group overnight, and only said one sentence:

“I had already shown the outline to my editor at the beginning. I don’t know why it clashed with Great Author Firefly’s article, but this is really just a very coincidental clash of ideas. I swear I never do such a thing as plagiarism. Please believe me.”

The moment her comment was posted, some rational readers jumped out:

“But, great author, besides your text, there seem to be a few chapters of your author’s note that are exactly the same as the other party’s.”

The moment this comment was posted, all the members who had opened the dialogue box saw two system prompts on the page at the same time:

[Member ‘A Smile Relieves a Thousand Sorrows’ has been removed from this group by the administrator.]

[The administrator has withdrawn a message.]

So, the only ones who were still active in the group were this author’s loyal blind players:

“Yueyue, don’t worry! You can put up the outline you thought of before now. We’ll stand up for you right here! Our Yueyue is definitely not the kind of person who plagiarizes!”

“Yeah, I see your writing improving little by little every time, and you often write until three in the morning. Why do these people ignore your efforts and just slander you for plagiarism?”

“Yueyue, don’t be afraid! We’ll stand with you!”

“Yeah, justice will prevail!”

* * *

This matter continued to ferment for several days, so much so that the readers of both “Firefly” and “Boundless Romance” fought with their keyboards until late at night every day. The first thing they did when they woke up in the morning was to open Weibo and the forums, dedicated to relieving the worries of the people’s teachers and teaching the little friends of the opposing camp the correct principles of being a person.

This noon.

Xue Jiming and Zhao He, after they had each handed in the first draft of their thesis, arranged to have lunch together. It was cold and they were too lazy to go out of the school, so they temporarily decided to make do in the school cafeteria.

The Capital University was vast. The layout of the mountains and rivers on the campus had been designed by a famous master at the beginning. It not only had a lot of charm, but the design of some small places also imitated the layout of the five elements and the eight trigrams. If you took a wrong turn on a small road, by the time you came out after a few twists and turns, you would not know where you were.

—The campus was so big that the new students who came to school every year could explore it for a semester without getting tired.

Fortunately, Xue Jiming and Zhao He’s campuses were only separated by a narrow pedestrian path. Zhao He’s dormitory was also on the edge of the campus. After crossing that path, they would reach the literature department of Xue Jiming’s first campus. So the two of them directly chose the first cafeteria closest to the literature department to eat.

On the way, Zhao He was wearing a pair of thick gloves that exposed her fingers, and was typing quickly on her phone keyboard with her head down, until she saw her boyfriend standing under a street lamp.

Tall and slender, bright and clear, even the gray sky in the background seemed to be lit up by him.

When Zhao He met his smiling eyes, her cheeks couldn’t help but feel a little hot. It was not until she walked in front of Xue Jiming and heard him ask:

“It’s cold. Why aren’t you wearing thicker gloves? Look at your fingers, they’re frozen into purple grapes.”

Zhao He didn’t think that much when she went out. When she was getting her gloves, she was only thinking about getting the kind that wouldn’t stop her from playing on her phone. Now that she was reminded, she really found that her fingertips were so cold that the color in her nails was dark, and they were a little tingling, as if she had been pricked in the bone seams of her fingers by an ice needle.

She subconsciously locked the screen of her phone, which was in the middle of a fight with someone, put it in her coat pocket, and smiled at Xue Jiming in embarrassment.

Then, Zhao He cupped her hands to rub them, but unexpectedly, she saw Xue Jiming take off his own gloves, stuff them in his coat pocket, and then his warm hands took hers.

Not only did he cup her hands, but he also held them up and blew on them. A fine white mist leaked out from between his fingers and floated slowly past his focused and serious brows.

Zhao He was moved by his careful care. The “no need” that was on the tip of her tongue couldn’t be said. Perhaps it was because it was really too cold. She just greedily enjoyed the warmth of the other party.

Xue Jiming rubbed her hands until they were slightly red, and then took out the pair of gloves he had just taken off from his pocket. Because they were just a little looser than a certain classmate Zhao’s, they were very easy to put on her as another layer.

Zhao He, who was suddenly wearing two layers of gloves: “…”

She looked at her slightly “bloated” fingers with a mixture of amusement and helplessness. Only two words remained in her mind:

Straight man.

But Xue Jiming didn’t think there was anything wrong with it. He put one hand in his coat pocket and the other around her thin shoulders, leading her towards the cafeteria. “Let’s go. There should be fewer people in the cafeteria at this time.”

So, Zhao He logically forgot that she had just been fighting with a reader from the other side. She was carried away by her boyfriend’s charm and followed him to the first cafeteria with a light heart.

Until—

Xue Jiming went to the window to order, and Zhao He was idle in her seat. She took out her spoon and chopsticks and then took out her phone again.

Her behavior of leaving in the middle of a conversation just now had obviously made her opponent think she was at a loss for words. She had taken advantage of her victory and sent several more messages, all with the meaning of “You have nothing to say, right? I knew you people who frame others are guilty. Just admit that you slandered our Family’s Great Wind.”

Zhao He was instantly furious. She took off her gloves and started typing furiously again. It was not until Xue Jiming came over with their food that she was still in the state of wanting to bury her head in her phone.

Xue Jiming saw her concentration, put the rice in his hand in front of her, and moved all the dishes closer to her. Only then did he smile and ask:

“Are you fighting with someone? Your expression is so fierce.”

At that moment, Zhao He was racking her brains to think of how to refute the other party. Her fully-running brain only had the leisure to react to Xue Jiming’s words, but fabricating a lie, such a high-difficulty task, was obviously beyond her ability.

So she said quickly, “An author plagiarized an article by an author I like. I’m currently reasoning with that author’s reader.”

Xue Jiming immediately chuckled, looked at the spoon in his hand, and the bowl of steamed egg custard in front of him, and then at the person opposite him who was busy with both hands.

There were very few people dining at this time. Most of the students were either in class or staying in their dormitories waiting for takeout. No one was paying attention to them.

Xue Jiming felt relieved, took the spoon and scooped up a spoonful of Zhao He’s favorite egg custard, and brought it to her lips.

“Alright, we’ll reason with the other side after we’ve eaten. Ah.”

Zhao He didn’t think that much and subconsciously ate the egg custard. She didn’t taste anything and just swallowed it. It was not until Xue Jiming had fed her several more mouthfuls, and she saw the other side bow their head in the face of the solid color palette she had thrown at them, that she put down her phone with satisfaction and looked up.

“Some authors are really hateful. They plagiarize the fruits of others’ labor, and if they don’t admit it, they even incite their readers to wave flags and shout.”

“And those readers, the evidence is right in front of them, but they still don’t admit it.”

Hearing her indignant words, Xue Jiming smiled and actually thought for a long time along with her words. “Compared to ancient times, modern people write articles, especially web novels, and the profits are very rich. Where there is capital, there is a market. It’s actually very normal for plagiarism to occur—but it has to be said that this kind of behavior is in fact no different from theft.”

“As for the readers? Many people are only willing to believe what they believe. Imagine, if an author you really like is also involved in this kind of turmoil one day, will you speak up for her, or will you resolutely unfollow her?”

Zhao He blurted out, “Yingying is not that kind of author! It’s impossible for her to plagiarize!”

Because the last character of Firefly was similar to “Ying,” her fans had given her the nickname “Yingying.”

—The author herself had protested against this “Yingying” nickname many times, but it was obviously not effective.

Xue Jiming was noncommittal about her reaction and just casually asked another question, “Who is Yingying?”

“Firefly, you—” don’t you even know?

Zhao He’s words trailed off halfway, and she quickly raised her hand to cover her mouth.

Her whole person widened her eyes and looked at the Xue Jiming opposite her.

Oh… oh no… QAQ

It was still exposed!

What to do? Is it too late to change the subject now?

He’s a gentleman. It’s impossible for him to know who Firefly is, right?

Many thoughts flashed through Zhao He’s mind. At the same time, she found that Xue Jiming’s movements had paused. The chopsticks holding the beans were stopped above the plate and did not move. Only his face was very complicated, changing again and again.

Zhao He: “…?”

Wait! Does her boyfriend also know Great Author Firefly?

The couple’s gazes met in mid-air, and then they understood the meaning in each other’s eyes.

Xue Jiming did not want to know this author, but unfortunately, his memory had always been excellent. Besides, when he had met Zhao He, it was because he had knocked over her book. The character in the title of that book was exactly the same as his sister.

With so many coincidences, he had searched for this author on the internet some time ago…

And the things he had found were quite amazing.

It had made him blush in front of the computer for a long time. After he closed the page, he swore that he would never read the other party’s articles in his life.

At that time, he had selectively ignored the fact that his girlfriend’s reading hobby was a bit difficult to talk about. Now that it was brought up again, there was a sudden silence at the dinner table.

Xue Jiming had originally planned to lower his head and eat, and naturally wait for this awkwardness to pass. But seeing his little girlfriend’s face slowly turn pale from embarrassment, he couldn’t bear to watch anymore and could only bite the bullet and continue to chat:

“I’ve only heard of her name and haven’t read her books, so I may not understand very well. But recently, Weibo has been full of topics about ‘plagiarism.’ Was she the one who started it?”

Zhao He could only pretend that she was talking about a proper author. In the process of him speaking, she slowly adjusted her face, nodded and said:

“Yes, this matter has caused quite a stir.”

Xue Jiming nodded, indicating that he knew, and then persuaded her, “Now that we’re chatting over the internet, and it’s not a real-name system, it’s natural that some people are not willing to admit that they’ve misjudged someone. It’s also very normal to stand on the side of the plagiarist.”

For some reason, after he finished speaking, he inexplicably added a little more. “Besides, if that author’s family saw it and knew that writing novels could make so much money, they might also stand on his side.”

This was the reality. Many times, not everyone stood on the side of justice.

There would always be people who, for various purposes or interests, would speak up for those evil people.

Zhao He thought for a moment and actually felt that what he said was also the truth.

However, she was still a little angry. She lowered her head and said resentfully, “If I had such a family, I would definitely feel extremely ashamed.”

Xue Jiming raised his hand to pat her head and said with a smile, “Let’s eat first. We’re talking about something, how did it suddenly turn to yourself?”

Zhao He nodded at him, lowered her head and picked up her chopsticks, but her conviction was even more firm.

From this moment on, she decided to establish the correct values.

If one day, her favorite author really did such a thing, she might be disappointed, she might not believe it, but she would definitely not charge into battle for the other party like she did today.

Xue Jiming saw her determined look and just thought it was quite cute. He put the almost cold beans between his chopsticks into his bowl and ate them with the warm rice.

Perhaps because he had been chatting with his roommate about commercial films recently, which had greatly increased his interest in this theme. In his spare time while waiting for his advisor to grade his thesis, Xue Jiming’s curiosity was piqued, and he went to look up the history of film development, and also compared the development process of foreign films.

He found that he had developed a strong interest in this industry. Whether it was the orthodox literary films with a strong literary style in the country, or the fast-food commercial films for profit, they were slowly guiding him to think, and even made him often have the urge to write something.

It just so happened that now the internet was full of those things about creation being plagiarized.

Xue Jiming thought, if one day, the work in his heart could really be filmed, but was snatched away at the last minute.

Regardless of the work itself, as the creator, he would probably be very angry.

Who knows if it was because he was too emotionally invested, Xue Jiming found that his heart actually became particularly uncomfortable because of the assumption he had just made.

Anger, frustration, unwillingness.

The negative emotion was so strong that for a moment he even felt the evil fire that had shot up in his heart.

Fortunately, he was a person who usually cultivated his character and did not get angry easily when things happened. He was also very good at regulating his emotions. In just a moment, he regained his rationality.

Then, Xue Jiming looked up at the little girlfriend opposite him who was persistently talking to the plagiarist’s fans through the internet because she insisted on genuine copyright. Seeing the seriousness on her face, he couldn’t help but feel a little gratified.

Even if he was so unlucky… to encounter that day, as long as this person was by his side, could speak up for him like she did today, that would be enough.

Xue Jiming suddenly felt a little envious of the author named “Firefly.”

Even if what she wrote was not enough to give her a status in the literary world, but at the very least, now people had a scale of right and wrong in their hearts and understood what was most important.

* * *