A guide to survival in a heavy girl's world

As Nagasaki Suyo said, compared with the gorgeous and eye-catching layouts of other brands, Chihaya Tetsuya's booth can be said to be very strange.

Apart from a mysterious device still hidden under the huge curtain, the other part of the booth, including tables, chairs, bookcases and a bar, made the [StarrySky] booth look like a lounge area for this joint exhibition.

"Will other brands and customers think we're just here to make up the numbers?"

While Nagasaki Suyo was still worried about this, an extremely unfamiliar voice suddenly came from behind the two of them -

"Long time no see, Chihaya Tetsuya."

"……what."

Looking in the direction of the voice, Chihaya Tetsuya was subconsciously taken aback at first, and then responded very politely:

"...Long time no see, Mr. Di Ye."

"!"

After hearing this name, an indelible look of astonishment and vigilance suddenly appeared on Nagasaki Suyo's face.

The person who appeared in front of the [Starry Sky] booth at this moment was none other than the evil plagiarist, Di Yeqing, who had plagiarized Chihaya Tetsuya and caused him to drop out of Yihua University!

"I thought you'd be quiet for a while after leaving Yihua... I didn't expect that only a year has passed, and not only did you not give up the design industry, you even started your own brand..."

As Di Yeqing spoke, he turned his gaze to the clothes displayed by Chihaya Tetsuya——

"[Real Clothes] Ah... hehe."

Di Yeqing's eyes were filled with obvious contempt.

"Although you have left Yihua, you should remember what we learned in the first lesson of our design class about the mission of us designers, right?"

"Yes, of course I remember."

Faced with Di Yeqing's arrogant attitude, Chihaya Tetsuya's response was extremely calm.

“[Excellent fashion designers have the obligation to discover new trends]”

"Yes, that's right, every word is correct."

Di Yeqing nodded, then looked at the Starry Sky booth again.

"In that case, it seems I don't need to consider you as my competitor anymore."

He shook his head lacking interest.

"After all, your work...no matter how you look at it, it really has nothing to do with 'trends'."

"...!"

After hearing this, Nagasaki Suyo subconsciously frowned.

Although she had long known that Di Yeqing was an irredeemable villain, she had never imagined that he would deliberately come to Chihaya Tetsuya to deliberately provoke him. Moreover, as an insider, she knew very well that the reason Di Yeqing could be so condescending and critical of [StarrySky] was entirely because he had plagiarized the work of the world's top designer, Jean.

On the other side, after hearing Di Yeqing's evaluation, Qian Zaozhe was stunned for a moment, and then a helpless smile appeared on his face involuntarily.

"For Mr. Di Ye, the so-called trend... should be something that can be recognized by everyone. For example, the design I originally entered in the competition, a set of casual wear that should have been bought out by the Sanfeng Chamber of Commerce, and the work of world-renowned designer Jean."

"Varied!?"

After hearing what Chihaya Tetsuya listed, Di Yeqing's expression changed subconsciously.

For Di Yeqing, it was not surprising that Chihaya Tetsuya knew about his plagiarism during the competition. However, whether it was the plagiarism at last year's Sanfeng Chamber of Commerce or at this exhibition, Chihaya Tetsuya should not have known about it...

Where did he get this information from? And how much did he know about what he had done?

"…I'm so sorry, I have no idea what you're saying."

Realizing that continuing this conversation would only harm him, Di Yeqing pretended to be calm and said:

"Anyway, you definitely can't beat me this time."

"Eh? Just this once?"

Chihaya Tetsuya, who already fully understood the other party's true nature, blinked in surprise.

"Didn't I lose to you once before at Yihua? Why does Mr. Di Ye act as if he's lost to me before?"

"Tsk..."

After his bluff was exposed, Di Yeqing became even more furious.

"You only have time to show off your eloquence now. As fellow brand owners, let the results of this exhibition speak for themselves!"

"As a result, speaking... that's right."

Chihaya Tetsuya smiled and responded in a neither humble nor arrogant tone:

"Well then, I'll definitely be looking forward to the final results of [NozAK!]'s exhibition."

……

"...Tsk, after all, you're just an uninformed amateur, and you dare to participate in this kind of exhibition just for 'daily clothes'."

Di Yeqing gritted his teeth as he left the Starry Sky booth.

"This time I have that Jean's design. He is not worthy of being compared with me—"

Just as Di Yeqing was trying to refute the imaginary enemy whom he had never defeated in his mind with these harsh words that no one could hear, a commotion not far away made him raise his head involuntarily.

"What's all the fuss...huh?"

The source of the noise came from several models walking out of the dressing room.

Di Yeqing naturally recognized the models' identities. Two of them were members of Summer Zodiac, the currently popular idol group that NozAK! couldn't hire no matter how much they paid. According to official sources, they were now StarrySky's exclusive models...

"I don't know how that poor orphan got involved with this idol group."

Thinking of this, Di Yeqing's eyes suddenly became more jealous.

"But it doesn't matter. If I can get the top brand spot this time, I'll be able to work with world-class models. By then, being a mere idol won't be a problem at all... Eh?"

Just as he was about to look away, the clothes on these models suddenly made him stand still.

"...Wait, are they really wearing the clothes that Chihaya Tetsuya just displayed?"

Although Di Yeqing wasn't a qualified designer, he did have basic knowledge and common sense about clothing. Even from a considerable distance, he recognized that the clothes on the models were the same ones he had seen at the booth.

But... this is impossible?

What he saw at the booth just now were clearly just some everyday clothes that could be found everywhere, but why... what he saw was completely different from what he had imagined?

What is that unique yet unified feeling? What is that aura that is so different from the entire venue?

What kind of design did Chihaya Tetsuya come up with this time?!

……

"Ah, you're back."

Chihaya Tetsu also went to meet the four models who had already changed their clothes and attracted the attention of the whole audience.

"Come on, now that everything is ready, it's time for us to complete the final steps."

As he spoke, he reached out to the curtain beside him, and the other models stood in different positions, ready to unveil it with him.

"……kindness?"

At the same time, Sankaku Hatsuka noticed Nagasaki Suyo with a very ugly expression on the other side.

"What's wrong, Shigaraki-san? You look very unhappy."

"...Nothing, I was just bored by a guy who's really bad at telling jokes."

Nagasaki Motoyo shook her head, and then stood in front of the device covered with a huge curtain with Chihaya Tetsuya.

After hearing Nagasaki Motoyo's explanation, Chihaya Tetsuya couldn't help but chuckle twice, but he didn't intend to waste any more words.

After all, in this joint exhibition, he has only one opponent, and that is Rang.

As for Di Yeqing... he had never taken him seriously from the beginning.

"Since that guy wants to speak with results, then let him do as he wishes. Come on, everyone, just unveil the curtain as I said before, 3, 2, 1——"

The next second, with Chihaya Tetsuya's order, the huge curtain was suddenly unveiled by several people.

When the device under the curtain was officially unveiled, almost everyone who saw it exclaimed at the same time:

"Astronaut?!"

137

Chapter 137: Have plagiarists ever encountered reference answers that they could not understand?

When the exhibition officially opened and all the media and buyers rushed into the exhibition hall, they immediately saw a very strange scene.

Apart from the various fashion brands scattered throughout the exhibition hall and participating in this exhibition with great enthusiasm, what they found most incomprehensible were the three key brands placed in the deepest part of the exhibition hall by the organizers.

For some reason, [JP] and [NozAK!], which are very similar in style, theme, and even the main costumes, and [StarrySky], which has a huge planetarium and doesn't look like it's participating in a fashion show at all...

“…Let’s start by looking at other brands.”

The editor-in-chief of a fashion magazine said to his assistant:

“I have a feeling we’re going to end up wasting a lot of time on those three brands.”

Years of work experience had made him acutely aware of the carefully crafted incongruity between [JP] and [NozAK!]. As for [StarrySky], though he had only glimpsed it from afar, the massive planetarium device had indeed piqued his curiosity.

On the other side, the other practitioners who had also heard the editor-in-chief's words exchanged glances. Finally, under the leadership of the veteran editor-in-chief, the visitors consciously formed a line and began to browse the brands one by one, starting from the outside...

……

"……very good!"

Looking at the visitors' route, Di Yeqing's face showed irrepressible joy.

Based on their current trends, his brand would naturally rank ahead of JP's. At that point, as long as he could maintain his usual "first move, win" strategy, providing these designs along with fabricated evidence to the models, they would become his! And this internationally renowned designer, like Chihaya Tetsuya had a year ago, would become a stepping stone on his path forward!

"Talent, attitude... in the end, it's just a picture and some pieces of cloth."

Feeling that he had already secured victory, Di Yeqing puffed out his chest and looked triumphantly at Chihaya Tetsuya who was not far away.

In his opinion, since he was already standing on the shoulders of world-class designers, there was no possibility of him losing at all.

As for that famous designer who came here from overseas with great difficulty... let him go back to where he came from!

As long as they can take first place in this joint exhibition and use the gimmick of being the finale brand of [TGC] for publicity, the future of the Japanese fashion industry will soon belong to [NozAK!]!

Just when Di Yeqing was still feeling complacent about his bright future, a fashion model he invited suddenly began to show an uncomfortable expression on her face without him noticing, and began to adjust her cuffs with imperceptible movements.

In order to avoid being noticed by others, she deliberately did not lower her head. Because of this, she was completely unaware that in less than half an hour after she put on the dress, an extremely conspicuous red mark was left on her arm.

……

"Wow, I've already seen half of the brands in less than half an hour..."

Nagasaki Suyo stood on tiptoe and looked nervously at the crowd approaching the booth.

"And I don't know if it's my imagination, but it seems like they haven't placed many orders at all."

"After all, this exhibition will largely determine the evaluation and quality of this [TGC], so these invited buyers should also be aware of their role as [TGC] judges."

Yutenji Wakamugi, who had done his homework beforehand, explained:

"Because of Mr. Rang's antics, this year's TGC has become a nationwide event. However, due to such immense publicity and attention, even the wealthy NozAK! couldn't bribe the judging panel in such a public manner."

"Everything is going according to Mr. Jean's plan..."

Chihayatetsu couldn't help but once again admire the foresight of this great senior, but at this moment, his phone suddenly rang with a notification tone -

[The new song has been submitted to the record company for approval. I will be leaving soon.]

"It looks like Xiangzi will arrive at the booth after the first batch of judges finish their review..."

Chihaya Tetsuya said the same thing.

On the other side, Nagasaki Motoyo, who also received the call, also put down her phone.

"The live venue over at Aine's place has been set up as well. I'll go meet up with them once more passersby gather."

"…Everything is going well."

The successive pieces of news made Chihayatetsu smile involuntarily.

On the other hand, Hoshino Ai, who had been sitting at the bar waiting since she changed her clothes, was getting a little impatient.

"Zhe, is it really true that Chuhua and I just need to sit like this?"