C90

Yin Qinghuan's design could be said to be completely different from Joanne's, but in terms of craftsmanship, she was superior.

Qi Yan and Shang Fei's thin lips curled up into a smile. They could not deny that they had indeed underestimated Yin Qinghuan. Not just her, but her design.

Joanne naturally noticed the change in the man's expression. She clenched her hands into fists and a look of unwillingness flashed in her eyes. It seemed that it would be impossible to eliminate Yin Qinghuan this time. Her true rival was here.

Regardless of whether it was a man or the position of ST's chief designer, she would never lose to Yin Qinghuan!

Yin Qinghuan looked at the conference table below her. Those people threw her praising and incredulous looks. She returned a smile and calmly walked down the stage.

Sitting back, she lifted her eyes to Joanne's cold smile. She chose to ignore him and turned her gaze to Yi Chen, who was still sitting motionlessly beside her.

Judging from Yi Chen's expression, she didn't seem to be in a good mood. Just as she wanted to ask in a low voice, Gu Wenliu had already spoken — —

"Yi Chen, it's your turn."

However, there was no response.

The atmosphere in the meeting room suddenly became quiet.

Everyone turned to look at Yi Chen, but other than the silence, there was no other movement.

Seeing this, Gu Wenliu's beautiful eyebrows knitted together. He saw the woman, who had been unmoved the entire time, slowly stand up.

However, she did not walk up to the stage. Instead, she tore the design script in her hand into two in front of everyone.

The voice was exceptionally ear-piercing in the overly quiet meeting room.

The light in Yin Qinghuan's eyes trembled. She didn't understand what Yi Chen was doing?

"I forfeit."

There were no superfluous words, no expression, and the three words, Yi Chen, were spoken with ease.

Everyone present was shocked, and Shishui frowned as she blurted out.

"What did you say?"

Did she hear it right? Yi Chen actually said, 'abstain?'?!

Gu Wen Liu's gaze darkened as he pinched the space between his eyebrows. Today's assessment was really … Surprisingly.

"Sorry for taking up your time."

Having said so, Yi Chen bowed towards the direction of Qi Yan Shang and Gu Wen Liu, then picked up the remaining manuscript on the table, turned around and walked towards the door of the meeting room.

"Wait a minute — —" Gu Wenliu's special assistant saw that such an accident had occurred in the middle of the match, so he naturally wanted to go forward and stop them. But a figure, a step faster than the helper, followed him out of the conference room.

Seeing Yin Qinghuan chasing after her, the smile on Joanne's face became even more proud. She did not expect Yi Chen to give up just like that. She had thought that there would be an argument soon. After all … More than 50% similarity of the design is defined as plagiarism of the work.

When Yin Qinghuan chased after him out of the meeting room, she saw a woman quickly walking away with high heels. She had walked very quickly and her footsteps were heavy.

"Yi Chen!"

"Ah!" Yin Qinghuan called out before running to catch up with him. She reached out her hand to grab Yi Chen's arm, wanting her to stop and explain the situation.

Why did he suddenly give up? What was going on?

Yi Chen's arm was grabbed by the woman, and he stopped in his tracks, the piece of trash in his hand falling to the ground.

Yin Qinghuan bent down to pick up the design script that had been torn into two halves. When she saw the diagram on it, her body trembled as a ripple flashed across her eyes.

This design, and Joanne's... Almost exactly the same!

The similarity reached 80%.

How could it be like this, this design script...

"Satisfied?"

Yi Chen, who was standing on the spot, looked down at the woman in front of him and said those words clearly. She was suppressing her emotions, digging her nails deep into her palms, as if she could no longer feel the pain.

Yin Qinghuan stood up and looked at the design script in her hand. Her mind flashed with the friendly attitude that Joanna had towards her.

Could it be that Joanne had stolen Yi Chen's scheme and wanted her to misunderstand that it was her secretly helping out?

"Yi Chen, it's not what you think! "I …"

However, the other party did not even give her a chance to speak. Yi Chen took away the piece of paper in her hand. An indescribable hatred filled her eyes, a gaze that Yin Qinghuan had never seen before.

Not only was he angry, he was also … An unspeakable pain.

"Yin Qinghuan, I thought you were different from them."

But it turned out that everything was just a trick they wanted to cover up.

"I didn't do it. Let's go back now and tell everyone the truth!"

Not to mention who had sold Yi Chen's blueprint to Joanne, the current situation was such that Yi Chen could not leave. Once she left, it would mean that she had given up on this competition, as well as giving up on her original goal.

But the word 'truth' sounded especially funny to him. Without another word, she gave a cold laugh, turned around, and left.

"Yi Chen …"

Yin Qinghuan wanted to continue chasing, but Gu Wenliu had already rushed out of the meeting room and grabbed her arm.

"Stop chasing!"

The competition had its rules. Yi Chen left midway and announced that she was forfeiting. She no longer had the qualifications to compete.

"Hurry up and go back. Director Gu is going to announce the results of this assessment."

Since Yi Chen had taken the initiative to abstain, the situation did not require a vote. It had already become a foregone conclusion.

He could not let Gu Wenliu announce that Yi Chen had been eliminated. Otherwise, all of Yi Chen's previous efforts would have been in vain!

In the meeting room, Gu Wen Liu cast a glance at the silent man beside him and slowly said —

"According to the rules of the competition, Yi Chen has been found …"

"Wait a minute!"

When Yin Qinghuan rushed back, she made a sound to stop Gu Wenliu's words.

Gu Wenliu frowned. What was this Yin Qinghuan trying to do now? He then shifted his gaze to Qi Yan, only to see that that person's expression remained the same, as indifferent as before.

"We can't just carelessly eliminate Yi Chen like this, she …"

Seeing this, Joanne immediately interrupted Yin Qinghuan's words with a hint of sarcasm: "She was the one who voluntarily gave up. Why is this called hasty?"

Right now, Yin Qinghuan didn't have any evidence to prove that Qiao Annie stole Yi Chen's design. Yi Chen had left and the design wasn't in her hands. Even if she said it now, no one would believe her.

This matter could only be solved by coming back with the intention of confronting Joanne face-to-face.

It was imperative for Gu Wenliu to delay announcing the results of the competition.

Yin Qinghuan's gaze turned to Gu Wenliu's wife who was sitting beside her. Although she didn't know what had happened, she immediately understood when she saw the expression in her eyes and said: "Yi Chen doesn't seem to be the type of person who would voluntarily give up. Maybe he has something to hide, but it won't be too late to announce the result after we find him and ask him clearly."

"Do you think this match is for show? If we don't announce the results of the competition, how will we proceed with the third round of the examination? "

Joanne's aggressiveness was not without reason. If the outcome was not decided now, it would be disadvantageous to her.

Yi Chen took the initiative to forfeit. As long as she announced the elimination of her opponent, even if this matter caused another commotion in the future, Yi Chen wouldn't have the qualifications to question her again.

"Yeah, who told her to give up?"

"You have to be fair to the other two designers..."

"It must be that Yi Chen couldn't compare to her, so she left knowing her limits."

"…"

For a moment, all the higher-ups in the hall spoke up, but they all stood on Joanne's side. It could also be said that they stood on the clear rules of the competition. If they forfeited, they would be eliminated.

Gu Wen Liu coughed lightly, and the meeting room fell silent once again. Everyone turned to look at him, waiting for him to announce the results. They didn't want Director Gu to say the words —

"Director Qi, what do you think about this matter?"

Right now, Gu Wenliu no longer had the heart to care about this matter. Yin Qinghuan's blueprints filled up his mind. He only wanted to end this match as soon as possible and talk to Yin Qinghuan alone, asking her about everything.

They might as well hand everything over to the most prestigious person here. Hmm, that would be the most appropriate decision.

Qi Yan Shang's eyes dimmed, his thin lips curled into a line as he looked at Yin Qinghuan, who was ten meters away from him. She was standing in front of the meeting room's door, staring at him.

Everyone was waiting for his verdict, whether they would announce the elimination or agree to the postponement was up to Qi Yan.

Joanne could not bear to see the two of them looking at each other, so she thought of something and lowered her voice, pretending to be depressed as she said, "Director Qi, we can't delay any longer. Big sister's last wish before she died was to go and participate in the international jewellery design competition. What we need to do now is to fulfill her last wish as soon as possible."

She was well aware of his feelings for Qiao Yonuo now, and when she said so, she would immediately give him a verdict.

Yin Qinghuan didn't expect Joanna to say something like this. She really did not hold back and showed off Qiao Yonuo's value to the fullest.

"But Yichen is Qiao Qiao's apprentice. I believe that she is blessed by the heavens and does not wish to see someone using perverse means to win the competition, causing those who are truly capable to lose their qualifications!"

— Someone had used an unorthodox method to win the match.

It was unknown how many people had heard this sentence. In any case, Shi Qian was shocked for a moment before asking: "What do you mean? Could it be that there's someone who's faking it in this competition?"

Qi Yan Shang's eyes were calm as he slowly said, while lifting his lips …

"Those who give up, don't have the qualifications to continue."

No matter what the reason was, only a coward would bring up these two words.

When Joanne heard this, she smiled happily. She knew it would be like this.

"Yi Chen is eliminated." In the end, nothing could change the situation.

When she heard him say these four words, anger rose from the depths of Yin Qinghuan's eyes. She didn't know if it was for Yichen or herself.

Hearing Director Qi's words, the special assistant at the side immediately announced the results again. Everyone present also nodded their heads in agreement.

Yin Qinghuan could no longer hold back her emotions. Her voice was firm, her words were clear — —

"Qi Yan Shang, you have no right to do that!"

When he said that, the surrounding people gasped, unable to believe what this designer Yin just said.

She called him by his full name and dared to say …

A hint of gloom flashed through Qi Yan's cold eyes. That chill shot towards the other party, as though she was the only one in this meeting room.

"Say it again."

Again, who doesn't have the qualifications?