Chapter 150: Chapter 139: A Tooth for a Tooth, So Satisfying

Principal Zhou, who was standing to the side, naturally knew who Elder Meng was.

He was a titan in the landscape architecture industry.

Principal Zhou never imagined that Lu Fan would know such an important figure.

He recalled inviting Elder Meng to give lectures at Jiangsu Forestry University several times in the past. He had even offered to grant him the title of lifetime honorary professor, but Elder Meng had rejected every offer.

After all, Elder Meng worked with top-tier institutions like Tsinghua and Peking University. How could he possibly be interested in a provincial school like theirs?

At this thought, Principal Zhou’s regret deepened.

’Chen Laide, oh, Chen Laide, why on earth did you have to provoke President Lu?!’

Now look at this mess. Judging by Lu Fan’s demeanor, this wasn’t going to end well.

But Chen Laide was, after all, an honorary professor at his university. If word got out about this plagiarism incident, it would be a stain on the school’s reputation.

So, Principal Zhou quickly put on an awkward, apologetic smile. "President Lu, Professor Chen just had a lapse in judgment. And he just said that your daughter’s work didn’t meet the criteria for plagiarism anyway. Why don’t we just smooth this whole thing over? I’ll book a table for dinner, and we can talk it out over drinks."

Lu Fan looked at Principal Zhou and chuckled. "Principal Zhou, I know you’re a straightforward man, so I won’t hide it from you. I’ve already spoken with Elder Meng and the directors of the Jiangsu Province Garden Association. As for how they handle Professor Chen, that’s an internal matter for their association."

Hearing this, Chen Laide’s panic intensified.

He quickly pleaded, "President Lu, this whole thing really is a misunderstanding. Setting aside that one rendering, your daughter’s design is truly excellent. It was my poor judgment. I apologize to you, and I apologize to your daughter."

"How about this? I’ll call the organizers right now and have them add an alternate spot for her to enter the preliminary review. Getting her into the finals after that won’t be a problem."

Lu Fan knew perfectly well that Chen Laide’s sudden eagerness, a complete reversal of his previous attitude, stemmed from his fear that his reputation would be ruined if this got out.

In reality, the title of honorary professor at Jiangsu Forestry University wasn’t a particularly important credential for Chen Laide.

It was icing on the cake, at best.

What this really affected were the design projects he got from collaborating with design firms.

Once he made a blunder like this, mainstream design firms would refuse to work with him.

His ability to profit from his own design value would vanish into thin air.

That was why Chen Laide was so panicked.

After all, when your wallet was on the line, who wouldn’t be nervous?

Just as Chen Laide was about to try and make amends, his phone rang.

He glanced at the screen, unsure if he should answer.

Lu Fan reminded him, "That’s probably Elder Meng. You’d better take the call."

Hearing this, Chen Laide answered with a trembling hand.

Sure enough, Elder Meng’s angry voice came from the other end. "Chen Laide! You disqualified my student’s work for plagiarism based on a single, similar-looking rendering? I specifically asked the other judges. They all felt it was just a coincidence and didn’t look like plagiarism. But you insisted on the ruling, just because one of my student’s renderings bore some resemblance to your own student’s award-winning work."

"A single rendering! What can one rendering possibly prove? If she were really going to plagiarize, why wouldn’t she copy the entire main structure? Besides, you’ve been a teacher for so many years. Don’t you know that renderings are merely decorative elements in a project? What’s more important is to look at the student’s thought process and design direction."

"Just last year, at the National Garden Association conference, I gave a speech about focusing on the big picture and not getting bogged down in minor details when evaluating student work. But you?"

"Not only do you lead the charge in plagiarism yourself, but your students’ works have also been plagiarized. And now you have the gall to turn around and nitpick a single rendering."

Ripped to shreds by Elder Meng, Chen Laide felt his guilt mounting. "Uh... Elder Meng, please let me explain."

"There’s nothing to explain. I’ve already told the directors of the National Garden Association and the Jiangsu Province Garden Association about this. They will discuss the severity of your actions at the next leadership transition meeting." With that, Elder Meng hung up.

Seeing that the matter was more or less settled, Lu Fan stood up and said to Principal Zhou, "Well, Principal Zhou, since that’s resolved, I’ll be on my way."

Chen Laide frantically rushed in front of Lu Fan. "President Lu, this is truly a misunderstanding! Could you perhaps explain to Elder Meng? We can smooth this over. There’s no need to blow it up like this."

"Professor Chen, to you, this may be a small matter. But to me, my daughter’s work being falsely accused of plagiarism is a very big deal." After saying this, Lu Fan turned and left with a grimly serious expression.

The intensity of his departure was unsettling.

It was enough to inspire a sense of dread.

Seeing Lu Fan leave, Principal Zhou glanced at Chen Laide, sighed helplessly, and hurried after Lu Fan. "President Lu, let me see you out. By the way, I also wanted to talk to you about our school’s application for the honors scholarship next year..."

...

With Lu Fan and Elder Meng’s help, the matter was resolved quickly.

The event organizers also expressed their apologies, promising that future evaluations would be much more rigorous.

After learning this, Lu Fan planned to visit Jinling University that evening to share the good news with Jiang Silu.

However, the head of the landscape architecture department had also received the notification from the organizers.

He immediately gathered all the members of the design team and made a major announcement: "Alright, I have some big news for you all! After discussions between the university and the organizers, it’s been confirmed that your project is not plagiarism. In fact, your work is highly complete and fully qualifies for the preliminary review. Therefore, the organizers have added an extra spot, and you have all successfully advanced to the next round! You have a real shot at placing!"

At these words, all the team members erupted with excitement.

Kong Le immediately shouted, "Department Head, that’s wonderful! Thank you, sir!"

Peng Chengshuai chimed in, "You’re amazing, Department Head! We would have been wrongly disqualified without you."

Liang Jing was also thrilled. ’All our hard work wasn’t for nothing,’ she thought. ’We still have a chance to win a prize.’

Although Jiang Silu was also happy, she couldn’t help but feel that something was a little strange.

She took out her phone, opened WeChat, and looked at Lu Fan’s profile picture. ’Besides the university fighting for us,’ she wondered, ’did Dad have a hand in this too?’...