After Zhuang Nainai said this, the entire conference hall grew silent.
Everyone held their breath as they stared at Zhuang Nainai.
After it had gone quiet for a moment, someone asked, straight to the point, “Mrs. Si, what do you mean by that?”
“You aren’t going to confess that you’ve committed plagiarism?”
“Mrs. Si, are you trying to threaten Ms. Mi to stop?”
“Mrs. Si, what do you mean by a ‘face-off’? Do you want Ms. Mi to take back whatever she had said right in front of you?”
Zhuang Nainai: “…”
The questions swarmed toward her endlessly, and Zhuang Nainai clenched her fist.
She took in a deep breath. She was so nervous that even her fingers were shaking.
Ever since she had been a young child, besides being surrounded by the reporters last time, she had never seen such a huge spectacle. But she couldn’t succumb to stage fright at this moment. Yes, she couldn’t be scared.
She said this to herself on the inside, then spoke into the microphone. “I’ve never plagiarized anything before. Why would I admit to doing it?”
Before the crowd of people could bombard her with more questions, she continued, “I’ve been thinking about how the Internet has now become so accessible to everyone and how there are now a lot more news reports out there. But this has also caused people to become more impulsive. I’ve also been thinking about how, as reporters, you should be reporting facts with sufficient evidence to back them up instead of blindly following the crowd. You’ve outrageously announced that the Imperial Group is suppressing its employees, and you’ve been making such a big fuss based on the words of one person. You’ve hurt the Imperial Group’s reputation so badly. May I ask if doing so is in line with your profession’s ethics?”
The murmuring among the reporters grew into a loud outburst.
“We’re just calling a spade a spade! Mrs. Si, what do you mean by that?”
“Mrs. Si, are you angry with us for going public with what your company has done?”
“Mrs. Si, you’re being too subjective!”
Zhuang Nainai pursed her lips and said, “If you want to prove that what you did was fair, why don’t you quiet down and listen to what I have to say next?”
The reporters were taken aback. It was only then that they realized that they had fallen for Mrs. Si’s goading tactics.
They each pursed their lips. They weren’t too happy about this, but they couldn’t say anything more at the moment.
Zhuang Nainai continued, “Since she has the guts to go on television and to post on Weibo, why can’t she come here and engage in a face-off against me? And with all of you reporters present, I can’t possibly do anything to her, can I?”
The reporters fell silent.
Zhuang Nainai glanced at the clock on the wall. “I believe that Mi Nuo is now monitoring whatever’s going on here. This conference is not going to be broadcasted live on television but on the Internet. She’ll definitely be able to watch it. So, I’ll wait for her for half an hour. If she doesn’t rush over or doesn’t give us a call, don’t you think that there’s no point to this reporters’ conference?”
No point?
That was right. If she didn’t come over, then it didn’t matter if whatever she was alleging about the Imperial Group suppressing her was true or false. There would be no point.
The reporters held their breath. Zhuang Nainai walked to the side and Si Zhengting warmly helped her sit down.
Ji Chen walked out at this moment. A smile was always on this benign man’s face. “Alright, we also need to give Ms. Mi some time to rush over, so we’ve specially prepared some refreshments for everyone. Please keep calm and wait for a moment.”
The conference room was loud with murmuring.
The reporters were seated beneath the stage. As they murmured among themselves, they pointed at Zhuang Nainai and Si Zhengting, who were seated in the corner of the room.
