A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

"I'm stubborn? I just want to showcase the unique characteristics of my hometown and gain wider recognition for our designs. Am I wrong?"

"You're not wrong?"

If you hadn't insisted on producing gift boxes and hadn't fought tooth and nail with companies over copyrights, would we have ended up in this situation?

Ayiguli would never betray us for money!

Now not only have we not received our practical training credits, but we also have to worry about being sued by counterfeiters. It's all your fault!

"You can't say that, even Zelinur didn't expect it to turn out like this..."

Someone felt sorry for Guzalinur and quietly retorted.

"I didn't expect that? She was only thinking about her own design and didn't consider our situation at all!"

It's too late to say all this now. I think this team should just disband and everyone should find their own way out.

Upon hearing this, some people lowered their heads and sighed, while others packed their things to leave. The once united team instantly fell apart.

Guzalinur stood there, looking at the chaotic scene before her, feeling as if her heart was being cut by a knife.

The poor quality of the counterfeit products completely ruined the reputation of Cotton Field Silk Road. There was a barrage of criticism online, and the sales of genuine gift boxes were halved. Hundreds of sets were left unsold in the warehouse.

That day, as Guzalinur and her team were figuring out how to salvage their reputation, the company's legal counsel sent a letter to the school.

When they opened it, everyone was stunned.

The company not only completely broke the cooperation agreement and refused to pay the previously promised design fees and profit sharing, but also sued them in court.

"How is this possible? They clearly switched the materials and refused to acknowledge copyright, and now they're turning around and blaming us?"

The legal letter clearly states that the company is using the voluntary training agreement signed by the students to claim that the team leaked the design plan without authorization during the training period, resulting in a flood of counterfeit products and causing huge economic losses to the company, and therefore demands compensation for the losses.

Guzalinur rushed to the company with the letter to confront General Manager Li: "General Manager Li, you can't be so unreasonable. You changed the materials first and didn't discuss copyright. The leak of counterfeit products has nothing to do with us, so why are you suing us?"

"Be reasonable? The agreement clearly states that you voluntarily participated in the training and have an obligation to protect the confidentiality of the design. Now the counterfeit product is exactly the same as your design. If it wasn't you who leaked it, who was?"

"That was leaked after Aygul left the company, it has nothing to do with our team!" Guzalinur hurriedly explained.

"I don't care who leaked it, you're a team, so if something goes wrong, you have to take responsibility together."

"Either you obediently pay up, or you'll have to wait for the court summons. Not only will you have to pay money, but your student records will also be tarnished. Think carefully."

Guzalinur was trembling with anger, but there was nothing she could do. The agreement was indeed signed by them, and now they couldn't defend themselves no matter what they said.

She took out her phone to call Chang Peng for help, but found that Chang Peng's work privileges had been suspended because of the education reform issue, so he couldn't help at all.

They messaged Lin Wei, but she only told them to collect evidence. However, besides the original design drafts, they had no other solid evidence.

"Are we really going to have to admit defeat?" Guzalinur gritted her teeth, her heart filled with resentment.

Just then, the court summons arrived at the school, with the court date written in black and white.

Everyone in the team panicked, and some even suggested, "Why don't we run away? We're just students, we have no money or assets, they can't do anything to us."

"No!"

Guzalinur immediately retorted, "We didn't do anything wrong, we can't just back down like this."

Even if we can't afford to pay compensation, we'll still sue them and get the truth out of them!

Despite saying that, she still felt uncertain about the compensation and the irrefutable evidence in the agreement.

That morning, as soon as Guzalinur turned on her phone, she saw a local news push from her classmate with the headline "Students at a vocational college in Xinjiang are suspected of plagiarism in their cultural and creative products, copying mainland designs and reskinning them to make money."

When she clicked in, she was so angry she was trembling all over.

The news report compared the design of Miantian Silk Road with imitations from other regions, insisting that the genuine product plagiarized a cultural and creative brand from the mainland. It also quoted an anonymous insider who said that the students had no originality and simply changed some Xinjiang elements to other people's designs, which was purely a scam to make money.

What's even more outrageous is that the reporter couldn't even distinguish between genuine and counterfeit products, attributing the poor workmanship and messy design of the counterfeit products to Miantian Silk Road. The reporter also wrote that the local cultural and tourism department had taken note of the matter and would suspend the recommendation of such products to avoid misleading consumers.

"This is pure fabrication!"

Our design drafts have time records and Mr. Lin's guidance records, so how can it be considered plagiarism?

The group members also saw the news, and they were all both angry and anxious.

"It must be the work of counterfeiters or that company."

They can't beat us, so they resort to these despicable tactics to slander us!

"What do we do now?"

The news has been released, and many people have believed it. Our reputation is completely ruined.

Guzalinur quickly called Chang Peng.

After seeing the news, Chang Peng was extremely anxious and immediately went to the local cultural and tourism department to explain.

However, the staff of the cultural and tourism department were indifferent: "Teacher Chang, it's been reported in the news now, and the public opinion impact is very bad."

Our suspension of recommendations is a last resort. Unless you can provide solid evidence to prove you didn't plagiarize, this matter will be difficult to resolve.

"We have the original design drafts, the creation process records, and proof from Dalian Vocational College. Aren't these enough?" Chang Peng said hurriedly.

"These are all provided unilaterally by you, and they are not convincing enough."

Moreover, there's a lot of criticism online right now, so we have to consider the public's feelings.

"We'll consider reinstating the recommendation once you've clarified the plagiarism issue."

"Without the recommendation from the cultural and tourism department, it's even harder to sell our genuine gift boxes. We were already struggling with counterfeit products, and now without official endorsement, we can't survive!"

"Those reporters are so irresponsible! They don't even bother to investigate before writing whatever they want. Do they know they're ruining us?"

"I think we should give up. Now that we've been accused of plagiarism, even if we win the lawsuit, no one will want to buy our products."

Looking at everyone's dejected expressions, Guzalinur recalled the days she stayed up all night drawing design drafts, the team's efforts in revising the plan, and the hot sales of the gift box when it was first launched. Looking at her current situation, she couldn't help but shed tears.

She gritted her teeth and said, "I can't give up!"

We didn't plagiarize, so why should we admit defeat?

Even without official endorsement, we must produce evidence and clarify the truth!

But even so, how easy is it to collect evidence?

Counterfeiters and those behind the scenes have long since covered their tracks, and reporters refuse to come forward to clarify. Even if they have a record of their work, it will be difficult to reverse the public's impression in a short period of time.

What made them even more desperate was that the online criticism was getting fiercer and fiercer. Some people said that Xinjiang's cultural and creative products were all plagiarized, some said that they would never trust student designs again, and some even started to make personal attacks on Guzalinur and her team.