Offstage—
“What’s wrong with camellias and cyclamen?”
Jiang Fuyue: “Camellias typically bloom between January and March, and cyclamen prefer warmth and fear heat—during summer, they go into semi-dormancy. Both are winter-season plants, so how could they be in full bloom during a scene set in the height of summer with light clothing?”
“If the missing red mole was a minor detail mistake, then the camellias and cyclamen are common-sense errors. I don’t know where the artist got the garden scene—maybe they saw it somewhere and painted it from memory. That’s possible. However—”
“Ah! The moment Sister Yue uses that tone, I know something big is coming!”
“When she pauses, my spine tingles. I can already tell someone’s about to get smacked down.”
Jiang Fuyue: “There’s a painter who specializes in illustrating human body parts—his name is Shan Shanke. In issue 62 of Scarlet Art Digest, ‘Butterfly Column,’ pages 21–22, he showcased a piece titled ‘Girl Bathing in a Flower Garden’…”
As she spoke, someone in the audience quickly pulled out their phone to search.
Scarlet Art Digest… Shan Shanke… Issue 62…
They hit “search”—and what popped up stunned the crowd—
“Holy cr*p! This is from twenty years ago?!”
“And it’s kinda… um… a little… spicy…” One risqué full-body portrait after another left everyone red-faced.
“This just shows how broad Sister Yue’s knowledge is! She’s seen everything, knows everything!”
“Exactly! She’s like a basket—she can carry the good and the bad. She’s a beast!”
“Keep flipping… D*mn! She’s right! It’s actually on pages 21 and 22. Her memory is unreal—I don’t want to mess with her.”
“I bet if someone farted during class, she’d remember exactly who, when, and where. Decades later at a reunion, she’d call them out and make them relive it.”
“Gah! I just got goosebumps…”
“Clearly, you’re someone who farted in class a lot.”
“…Shut up. I can’t even argue.”
“Look! The garden scene really does look like the one in Blind! Maybe not 100%, but at least 95%.”
“Oh my god! That means Blind is plagiarized!”
At this point, the judges were clearly checking their phones too. Their expressions darkened.
They had nearly let a plagiarized piece win. That would’ve been a complete humiliation!
Even Tosaki Naohara was staring at the reference on his screen in stunned silence, then grew visibly frustrated.
By now, it was obvious to anyone with eyes: Blind was most likely copied. But Jiang Fuyue still kept it professional—
“Without conclusive evidence, I won’t outright accuse the author of plagiarism. However, I recommend a formal comparison and plagiarism investigation.”
“That’s why I gave Blind a zero.”
At this point, the winner was already clear.
But one of the judges couldn’t help asking, “Then why did you give School Uniform a full 100?”
She could’ve given it a 98 or 99—but a perfect score?
His instincts told him there had to be a reason.
Even the audience forgot to clap or cheer—they were just too curious.
“Because—”
The entire room fell silent, waiting for her explanation.
“Details and theme.”
“Hmm… Details maybe. But it’s just a story about puppy love. What kind of deep theme could that have?”
“Can that even compare to fraud and murder like in Blind?”
“Even if Blind was plagiarized, its message was powerful.”
“Can School Uniform really beat that?”
Jiang Fuyue swept her gaze across the audience and dropped a bombshell: “There are two female leads in this series.”
“What?!”
“Two? Where?”
“Are you talking about the baby in the last picture? But that’s a boy, right?”
Voices rose in the crowd. Even the judges began reexamining the series.
Two?
Where?
Jiang Fuyue: “The third image has the same campus tree-lined path as the previous two, but the male and female leads are no longer wearing school uniforms. That shows they’ve graduated. The distance between them implies emotional drift.”
“The key is in the fourth image. Again, it’s the same campus path. This time, a man and a woman are holding a child, revisiting old memories. But the woman is not the same one from the previous images—because her height relative to the man is different.”
“Whoa! That’s true! In the first three pictures, even if it was during their student years, their heights are fixed by the third frame—she reaches the man’s shoulder. But in the fourth, she only reaches his arm!”
“But I heard some women grow taller after childbirth?”
“Come on, sis, this isn’t about growing taller—it’s shorter. So, no. That’s not the same woman!”
“The more I think about it, the creepier it gets! I never noticed this!”
“Yeah! The silhouettes are so similar. Only the height gives it away.”
“Holy cr*p—do you think the guy married someone who looked like his ex on purpose and had a kid with her?”
“OMG! This is full-on substitute lover drama. I’m imagining a million-word CEO novel already.”
Jiang Fuyue: “There’s one more detail. It’s what gives this series its true theme. In the background of the fourth image, there are students walking home from school. In the top left, under the tree shade—look closely…”
“GASP!” someone cried out.
Even the judges’ eyes widened.
“This… This is creepy! What’s going on?! I’m so confused!”
“This is disturbing! Especially the fourth picture… I’m scared to look deeper now…”
