Sweetie, don't look at him, kiss me.

Jiang Yao's voice continued on the other end of the phone: "She said she has copies of your design drafts from when you were in school, as well as some chat logs between you and her. She told me that if you don't voluntarily withdraw from the collaboration with the Italian buyer, she will expose all of these things and let everyone know that you are a 'habitual plagiarist'."

Lin Qingmian's fingers tightened slightly as she gripped her phone.

There was a moment of silence in the study. Ji Linzhou's gaze fell on her face, and his brows furrowed slightly, but he did not interrupt her call.

"When did she contact you?" Lin Qingmian asked, her voice much calmer than she had imagined.

"Just now," Jiang Yao said anxiously, "she came directly to my mother's hospital room, saying she was 'visiting her on the way,' and while I was getting water, she said a lot of nonsense to my mother. When I came back, my mother was in a bad mood."

"Mianmian, what's going on with your design drafts? How did she get your drafts?"

Lin Qingmian closed her eyes and let out a long breath: "Those drafts were drawn by me when I was in college."

"She said she would help me submit my work to a competition, so I gave her the original manuscript. Later, the competition announced the winners, and she was the finalist, not me."

She said she had "borrowed" my idea and didn't expect it to be shortlisted. I thought we were family, so I didn't pursue the matter.

Jiang Yao was silent on the other end of the phone, then muttered a curse under her breath.

"So now she's turning the tables and accusing you of plagiarizing her?"

"Hmm." Lin Qingmian's voice was indifferent: "This isn't the first time she's done something like this."

Jiang Yao's voice trembled with anger: "What do we do then? What if she really leaks those things? What about the cooperation you just finalized?"

Lin Qingmian remained silent for a while.

"Let me think of something," she said. "Yaoyao, don't worry, just take good care of Auntie. I'll handle this myself."

"How are you going to handle this alone...?"

"I have a way," Lin Qingmian interrupted her, her voice carrying a certainty she herself didn't realize: "Don't worry."

After hanging up the phone, the study was quiet for a few seconds.

Ji Linzhou leaned back in his chair, his gaze fixed on her face: "About Lin Qingqing?"

"Hmm." Lin Qingmian put her phone on the table, sat down in the chair, shrank back into the chair, and stared blankly at the ceiling for a while: "She said I plagiarized her work."

"You copied it?"

"No." Lin Qingmian turned to look at him. "Those drawings were all done by me. She took my drawings and submitted them under her name. In the end, she accused me of plagiarism."

Ji Linzhou did not speak immediately.

He looked at her, his gaze calm and focused, as if he were listening intently to every word she said.

"What are you planning to do?" he asked.

Lin Qingmian thought for a moment: "I want to talk to her first. Let's see what she really wants."

"What if she refuses to talk?"

"Then let's take legal action." Lin Qingmian's voice was steady. "She has copies of my original manuscript, but I have the original draft and revision records. I also have the original files I sent her in my email. If we really go to court, I might not necessarily lose."

Ji Linzhou looked at her, a barely perceptible hint of approval appearing in his eyes.

"Okay," he said. "If you need a lawyer, I can arrange it."

Lin Qingmian nodded: "Thank you."

"You're welcome." Ji Linzhou stood up, walked to her side, bent down and placed a very light kiss on her forehead: "You are my wife. Your affairs are my affairs."

Lin Qingmian looked up at him, a steady and reassuring warmth welling up in her heart.

The next morning, Lin Qingmian arranged to meet Lin Qingqing at a coffee shop in the city center.

When she arrived, Lin Qingqing was already sitting in a booth by the window. The woman was wearing a beige trench coat, her hair was loose, her makeup was exquisite, and there was a latte in front of her that was already half cold, so she had obviously arrived a long time ago.

Seeing Lin Qingmian walk over, she raised her eyebrows slightly, her face showing a confident expression.

"Have a seat." She gestured to the seat opposite her. "I didn't expect you'd actually dare to come."

Lin Qingmian sat down opposite her, ordered a hot Americano, and then looked up at her: "Just tell me your conditions."

Lin Qingqing chuckled, examining her fingers painted with red nail polish, and slowly said, "It's so much easier talking to smart people."

"My condition is simple—you withdraw from the partnership with that Italian buyer."

Lin Qingmian did not answer immediately.

She picked up the Americano that had just been served and took a sip. The slightly bitter liquid slid down her throat, making her mind clearer.

"And then?" she asked.

"That's it." Lin Qingqing leaned back in her chair, arms crossed, looking languid. "As long as you leave, I'll pretend nothing happened. I won't publish those articles either."

"What if I don't return it?"

Lin Qingqing's smile faded for a moment, but she quickly regained her composure.

"Then you can wait and see what the trending topics will be tomorrow." She said, taking a stack of papers out of her bag and spreading them out on the table: "These are all copies of your design drafts from college, with my annotations and revisions on them."

"If I just send it to the media's email address, along with a few screenshots of our old chat logs, who do you think people will believe?"

Lin Qingmian looked down at the few sheets of paper on the table.

She was very familiar with the lines on the paper—it was a series she had spent a whole month drawing during her sophomore year of college, with the theme of "Deep Sea and Starry Sky," and she had poured all her heart and soul into each drawing.

She remembers excitedly showing the manuscript to Lin Qingqing, saying she wanted to submit it to a competition.

Lin Qingqing smiled and said, "Little sister is great. Let me help you vote. It's your first time participating, so you might not be familiar with the process."

The more she trusted her back then, the colder her heart must feel now as she looks at those manuscripts with altered signatures and annotations.

"Lin Qingqing." She raised her head, looking calmly at the woman opposite her: "You've taken more than enough from me since you were a child."

"Tribute, quotas, opportunities, even parental favoritism."

"Now you're even using the design draft that I spent a whole month drawing to threaten me."

"Don't you think that's going too far?"

Lin Qingqing's eyes flickered slightly, but she quickly regained her hard expression.

"Too much?" She laughed, her voice carrying a sharp, suppressed grievance: "Lin Qingmian, you've never had to do anything since you were little, yet people still like you. Ji Xingye likes you, Ji Linzhou married you, and even the buyers are interested in your designs."

"Me? I have to fight for everything myself."

"I stole your trophy because if I didn't, you'd never know what it feels like to have something stolen from you."

Lin Qingmian stared at her for a while, then suddenly felt it was somewhat absurd.

"So you think everything you did was right?"

"Right or wrong isn't important." Lin Qingqing turned her face away and looked out the window. "What matters is the result."

"Lin Qingmian, withdraw from the cooperation, and I'll let you go."

The café was quiet for a few seconds.

A pedestrian passed by outside, casting a blurry shadow through the glass window. Lin Qingmian looked down at the slightly cold Americano on the table and gently tapped the rim of the glass twice with her fingertips.

Then she raised her head, looked at Lin Qingqing, and said in a calm but firm voice, "I will not back down."

Lin Qingqing's expression changed instantly.