Chapter 127: The Crisis at the Forum
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Lei Qiming and Qu Xiao rushed to the venue with the project information at the Overseas Forum.
Shang Yan’s identity was special, so he did not accompany Qu Xiao. He was afraid that the scientific research faculty of other organizations would view the results of Lei Qiming and Qu Xiao’s hard work capitalistically and discount their efforts.
Qu Xiao followed the process of participating in the forum and handed the information and project declaration to the staff in front of the exhibition board.
The tanned man glanced at the information column of the application form and vaguely urged Qu Xiao to hand in other specific information.
Qu Xiao narrowed her eyes suspiciously and communicated with the other party in fluent English.
“You clearly stated that we only need to provide an introduction, and there was no need for specific details.”
“Which regulation are you relying upon now that requires us to hand in all the information?”
The man couldn’t answer, so he could only use rough movements to urge and push Qu Xiao.
A waiter from the forum passed by with a tray and accidentally spilled red wine on Qu Xiao. Half of her clothes instantly became wet.
Qu Xiao grabbed a tissue and wiped it. After informing Lei Qiming, she went to the bathroom to deal with it.
Lei Qiming stood alone on the spot. The eyes of the man who was in charge glinted, and he once again used mixed language and strong body movements to force Lei Qiming to hand over the USB that contained all the information to him. When Qu Xiao returned, she found Lei Qiming sitting on the bench, and she immediately had a bad feeling.
Half an hour later, the forum was held as scheduled.
Chinese medicine scholars from all over the world expressed their opinions. As the event progressed, the organizer prepared the list of winners and read it aloud, “The bronze award goes to the team from Canada, the silver award goes to the team from Switzerland, and the gold award goes to…”
Lei Qiming was already preparing to adjust his tie, muttering the thank you speech he needed to give when he went on stage.
“The gold award goes to the team from Korea.”
Lei Qiming had already stood up halfway. He looked at the team next to him awkwardly as they stood up to cheer and hug, and he sat back down grumpily.
Qu Xiao narrowed her eyes, feeling strange.
Their research could not possibly lose to anyone. Even if they could not win the gold award, they should still win the silver award!
Just as the Korean team was about to ascend the podium to receive the medal, Qu Xiao suddenly saw a familiar figure flash past their team. She suddenly realized the issue. She lowered her voice and asked Lei Qiming. After receiving an affirmative answer, she raised her hand and said in a booming voice, “I have objections!”
“I want to see their award-winning project!”
Qu Xiao stood up abruptly. The Overseas Forum’s Award list was transparent and open. The award winners would also discuss academic issues and project progress with other scientific research faculty every year. However, it was rare to see people openly provoke them as Qu Xiao did.
The organizers looked at each other. They originally wanted to refuse, but someone recognized Qu Xiao.
“She seems to be CEO Shang’s wife.”
The assistant with sharp eyes whispered into the forum manager’s ear. The manager immediately put on another expression and nodded in agreement, “Since this lady wants to know, we’ll invite the team that won the gold award to explain the concept of the project…”
The members of the gold award team looked a little embarrassed. They stuttered and plugged the USB into the computer but did not continue for a long time.
The participants below the stage noticed something was off and began to discuss.
Qu Xiao calmly walked to the front of the stage and skillfully opened the PowerPoint. She pointed to the watermark on the title page and said mockingly, “The time you took to steal the results was tight. You had time to change the name on the cover, but you didn’t notice that we inserted a watermark on every page, right?”
“With such a complicated operation process and composition, you can fool the judges, but you can’t fool your peers below the stage.”
Qu Xiao ridiculed the judges openly. The peers below the stage were all shocked with their eyes wide open, waiting for the organizers to withdraw the gold award in anger.
But what surprised them was that the organizers nodded and even complied with Qu Xiao’s words. “In the future, we will review the qualifications of the judges more seriously. This will not happen again. The gold award team of this forum goes to Ms. Qu Xiao and Mr. Lei’s team.”
“And your names will be removed from the forum in the future. We will not tolerate any team of thieves and plagiarists to participate.”
After the organizers finished speaking confidently, Qu Xiao raised her hand and invited Lei Qiming to walk onto the stage. She stuffed the gold award certificate into his arms and leaned over to Lei Qiming’s ear to say, “Professor, it’s up to you now. Quickly say your thank you speech!”
Lei Qiming’s emotions fluctuated like a roller coaster. He cleared his throat and said a few words into the microphone, “Thank you.”
“We will continue developing and promoting China’s Traditional Chinese medicine culture!”
Qu Xiao could not help but snicker while she took the lead in clapping when she heard his lofty thank you speech.
Soon, waves of applause erupted within the forum venue. Lei Qiming was so excited that he rubbed his eyes as he could not help but shed tears.
“Thank you.”
Lei Qiming thanked Qu Xiao from the bottom of his heart. If it were not for her, the results of his years of hard work would have been given to others for free.
Qu Xiao shook her head. “I should be the one thanking you.”