酷米客公交

“Since when did this start?” Nan Yan’s voice was calm, but her tone was icy. Lin Zhiyan bit her lip, looked at the coldness in Nan Yan’s eyes, and lowered her head.

“About a week ago…”

Nan Yan pulled a chair and sat down next to the computer desk, urging Lin Zhiyan to tell her the whole story.

With a sigh, Lin Zhiyan began to explain everything. She couldn’t understand why she, who simply shared her artwork and daily life on Weibo, had become the target of accusations. The artist accusing her of plagiarism was said to be a formal member of an art association. Not only did this artist have ten times more followers on Weibo, but she also held numerous titles.

In theory, they should have had no interaction as they appeared to be on separate paths. However, the Weibo posts of that art association member contained many artworks that resembled Lin Zhiyan’s style.

A while ago, someone had left comments under her artwork, specifically asking if she had created those works herself because they looked similar to something they had seen elsewhere. At the time, she hadn’t paid much attention to it and had replied that the works were indeed her own creations, dismissing the comment from her mind.

But a week ago, a large number of netizens suddenly swarmed her, accusing her of plagiarism. They demanded that she immediately delete the alleged plagiarized artworks and issue an apology to someone named “Tang Tang.”

Tang Tang is that member of the art association.

“Yanyan, all my artwork is created by me, based on my own imagination. Furthermore, that ‘Tang Tang’ always posts after me, making it quite clear that she’s copying my work. But because I’m not as famous as her and I’m just an ordinary amateur artist, while she’s a member of the art association, those fans don’t bother to ask questions and accuse me of being a plagiarist without any reason,” Lin Zhiyan explained angrily.

She might be introverted and slightly social-anxious, but she wasn’t naive. Today, she saw the most recent artwork posted by Tang Tang on her Weibo, which she had spent two months creating and had only posted yesterday. Yet, Tang Tang had posted a nearly identical piece just seconds after her.

“That member of the art association is really shameless!” exclaimed Jiang Nai, filled with righteous indignation. “Are her fans all fools? Anyone with a brain wouldn’t think that Tang Tang copied your work!”

Nan Yan took a lollipop out of her pocket, absentmindedly unwrapping the candy and offering it to Lin Zhiyan.

“Don’t get worked up. Your heart is still fragile, so it’s best to avoid strong emotional fluctuations, especially anger.”

“I’ll handle this matter,” Nan Yan said.

Lin Zhiyan nodded vigorously while nibbling on her lollipop. She stood up and gave her computer to Nan Yan. Then, she turned her gaze toward Jiang Nai, looking somewhat curious and a bit reserved.

Jiang Nai blinked her large eyes and extended her hand warmly, saying, “Sister Zhiyan, I’m Jiang Nai, you can call me Xiaonai! I really like you and want to be friends with you. Is that okay?”

“Of course!” Lin Zhiyan’s eyes lit up. “I like you too. You’re so cute!”

The two girls instantly hit it off and began chatting.

Nan Yan, following the online trail, found Tang Tang’s account. It confirmed that she was a member of the art association. Judging from her highly edited photos, she was quite beautiful and had over five million followers. Her posts mainly consisted of her artwork and various selfies, cosplay photos, showcasing her love for the world of anime and manga.

As she scrolled through the artworks Tang Tang had posted, Nan Yan gradually understood what was going on. Tang Tang’s initial paintings were imitations of Lin Zhiyan’s, and when she first started posting, they had some differences and personal touches.

Later on, she completely copied Lin Zhiyan’s paintings, meticulously reproducing them. Toward the end, she stopped painting altogether, instead opting to steal the images directly. She would crop and edit them, change the backgrounds, add her own signature, and pass them off as her own work, committing identity theft.

Leveraging her larger number of followers compared to Lin Zhiyan, she intentionally incited people to insult Lin Zhiyan. Her goal was to force Lin Zhiyan to delete those artworks. Only then could those paintings become hers without any dispute.

Nan Yan curled her lips coldly, and her fingers began dancing across the keyboard. In less than ten minutes, she pinned a post to the top of the trending topics.

#Art Association Member Plagiarizes Amateur Artwork#

She didn’t say much in the post, only sharing the publication dates of all duplicated artworks by both parties. While her fans might be manipulated, the eyes of the general public remained sharp.

Soon, the post was filled with a series of comments:

[This isn’t just plagiarism, it’s outright theft!]

[What kind of art association accepts someone who steals the fruits of others’ labor?]

[The Art Association’s threshold seems way too low if they’re admitting people like this. If that’s the case, can I join the Art Association too? Or is there some kind of inside story?]

[I just checked both parties’ Weibo accounts, and it’s clear as day who plagiarized whom. Yet, a certain Art Association member actually encouraged her own fans to expose an amateur lady online. That’s just shameless! By the way, the amateur lady’s art is genuinely beautiful, and she has various styles. I’m going to follow her!]

[Indeed, all the artworks were posted by one person first, and they’re all from the amateur lady. Some people still claim that the amateur lady copied a certain Art Association member. Do they not have any common sense?]

[I’ve reported the certain member to the Art Association. I hope they investigate how she got in.]

[I’m reporting her too…]

While Tang Tang’s fans tried to defend her in the comments, the general public wasn’t blind and responded by calling them out.

Imperial Capital, a high-end apartment complex.

There was a loud crash from the room.

The computer, which had just been intact moments ago, lay shattered on the floor, its mainframe emitting smoke.

Tang Tang’s once-beautiful face was now filled with resentment and panic.

How could this happen?

This whole situation had been going according to her plan. What had gone wrong?

She had done her research thoroughly.

Tang Tang had stumbled upon Lin Zhiyan’s art by chance and found it to be full of vitality. So, she had started imitating her. In fact, the artwork she submitted when joining the Art Association was also a copy of Lin Zhiyan’s.

Now that Lin Zhiyan’s popularity was growing rapidly, with an increasing number of followers, Tang Tang began to worry that her artworks, which were quite similar to Lin Zhiyan’s, would be exposed as plagiarism.

That’s why she had taken the preemptive strike, deliberately inciting her own fans to expose Lin Zhiyan online.

A person with social anxiety and depression-like mental issues is undoubtedly emotionally fragile and powerless to resist.

She wanted Lin Zhiyan to delete those paintings, and she even secretly considered that if Lin Zhiyan couldn’t handle the stress, it would be even better if she were no longer around.

But the result…

Why did such a small matter trend on the internet?

And why was it at the top of the trending list?

Tang Tang forced herself to stay calm.

She needed to bring down this trending topic.

She had to suppress this matter quickly.

Otherwise, if the Art Association found out, things would escalate!

However….