Chapter 1206 - 808: Pu Wei—Your Husband Knows Her Well

"Seventy-two percent duplication rate." Chi Lun said, "Plagiarism is the number one taboo at Beijing Foreign Studies University."

Su Xiaomeng looked at the two manuscripts in front of her, quickly skimmed through them, and honestly, aside from the different names on the two pieces, the content was practically identical.

One was the version she’d published in London Language in early September, and the other was a paper posted at the end of August on an academic forum by someone named Pu Wei.

Chi Lun leaned against the desk beside her, still holding a freshly brewed cup of coffee, his gaze intense on Su Xiaomeng as he tried to read her reaction...

After all...

"Professor, do you suspect me?" Su Xiaomeng drew a deep breath, steadied herself, and asked Chi Lun.

Chi Lun shrugged. "Isn’t it only natural to suspect you? It’s the same paper, and the other party published before you."

"I don’t know who this Pu Wei is, but this paper is my master’s thesis. I can produce every version from first draft to final draft, and each version was reviewed by my adviser, Ben. I spent five months writing this thesis. Just because she posted it online before I did, that makes me the plagiarist?"

Su Xiaomeng couldn’t help shooting Chi Lun a sidelong glance, her face full of doubt.

Chi Lun took a deep breath and hurriedly chuckled. "Don’t get so worked up. I suspect you, and I suspect the other person too. Until the truth comes out, as someone dragged into this mess, you’ll have to accept being under suspicion. That’s not unreasonable, is it?"

"..." Su Xiaomeng withdrew her displeased gaze and sighed. "Who is this Pu Wei?"

"Take a guess."

Chi Lun smiled, the corners of his lips curling into an expression like he was settling in to watch a good show.

"Professor Chi, is it just me, or are you getting more and more snarky? You’re nothing like you were when I first met you—so straightforward and bubbly..."

"Listen to yourself. My TA just ran into a huge mess like this, and you expect me to be straightforward and bubbly? Su Xiaomeng, my heart’s not that big, okay?"

"Then just tell me already, who is this Pu Wei? She actually dares to plagiarize my paper... hmph!"

Su Xiaomeng muttered under her breath, which made Chi Lun burst out laughing.

"Well, plagiarism only happens when a paper’s good enough to copy. You should be proud." Chi Lun winked at her, earning a fierce glare from Su Xiaomeng.

"Alright, I won’t string you along. This Pu Wei—your husband knows her better than I do."

"Huh?"

"The Pu Family is a clan of professors. From Pu Wei’s grandfather’s generation to her father’s and then to her, not one of them isn’t a professor at a top university. Pu Wei also has a younger sister—one’s a translation studies professor in the language department, the other’s a professor of surgery in the medical school."

"Wow... a family of overachievers..."

Hearing that, Su Xiaomeng couldn’t help swallowing.

"Scared?" Chi Lun found her reaction very amusing.

Su Xiaomeng straightened her back and chest in a hurry. "Scared? Is my family background so lacking in comparison? Hmph! My parents are... My parents may be ordinary, but they’re people of great wisdom, simple yet principled, not chasing fame or going with the flow! My father-in-law’s impressive, right? And my mother-in-law was once our country’s top diplomat—"

"Do you still want to hear the rest?" Chi Lun quickly raised a hand to stop her.

"Fine, go on..."

"If you count it out, Pu Wei must be in her mid-thirties now... tsk tsk, and still single to this day. Makes you wonder who she’s staying single for..."

Chi Lun drawled, his tone clearly loaded with meaning.

Su Xiaomeng quickly turned her head to look at him; she obviously hadn’t forgotten what he’d said just a moment ago...

"Don’t tell me this really has something to do with my husband?"

"See... women’s sixth sense really is accurate."

Chi Lun pointed at her and generously gave her a big thumbs-up.

"Professor Chi, be a good man and just tell me everything in one go, okay?"

"Go home and ask your husband. Back when he was young, he was way more debonair than I ever was." Chi Lun drawled on with a perfectly innocent expression.

But Su Xiaomeng had already figured it out—Chi Lun was seizing the chance to get back at Yin Shixiu...

"What’s the faculty saying about the plagiarism right now? Does Professor Qi know?"

"My teacher’s caught between a rock and a hard place. Beijing University wants him to give them an explanation as soon as possible. Pu Wei’s on the faculty there, her reputation has always been excellent, and her family background is solid. At least to outsiders, she’s not someone they’d readily suspect."

"I didn’t plagiarize. I’ll get in touch with my adviser Ben; he can testify for me. I’ll also gather every piece of evidence I can find to prove the work is original. Give me three days."

"Three days... isn’t that a bit long?"

Chi Lun rubbed his chin as he asked.

Su Xiaomeng sighed. "Ben is in London. Even if I reach him, it’ll take some time. Three days is just to be safe. If things go well, I can have it done by tonight. So I’ll have to trouble you to speak to Professor Qi for me."

"Mm, alright."

Chi Lun smiled and agreed. He glanced at the time and set his coffee cup down. "Su Xiaomeng, Pu Wei’s abilities are widely recognized. She’s not that old, but she’s already a major academic authority. She’s published four or five books just on linguistics."

"...So?"

"I’m inclined to believe you. If she really plagiarized your thesis, it’s definitely not because your writing was so brilliant."

"Then what is it?"

"It’s because she wants that plagiarist label firmly stuck on you—and for you to never be able to take it off."

With that, Chi Lun waved at her. "Good luck. I’m off to class."

Left alone at the office desk, with the day’s work still waiting, Su Xiaomeng found it hard to focus on anything else with those two manuscripts lying right in front of her.

After thinking for a bit, Xiao Meng still picked up her phone and dialed Yin Shixiu.

"Xiao Meng. What’s up?"

"Do you know Pu Wei?"

"Who?"

"Pu Wei."

"What Pu Wei?"

On the other end, Yin Shixiu had been looking over a project proposal. Hearing Su Xiaomeng suddenly pop out this completely unfamiliar name, he thought for a long time but still couldn’t remember ever knowing anyone called Pu Wei...

"Pu as in ’fan’, Wei as in ’rose’. You don’t know her?"

Su Xiaomeng frowned tightly, glancing suspiciously at the empty desk nearby. Could it be that Chi Lun was just talking nonsense?

"Don’t know her. What’s going on?"

Yin Shixiu put down his work, leaned back in the big leather chair, and listened to Su Xiaomeng’s tone and the time she was calling. Something had obviously happened.

"My master’s thesis was published in ’London Language’ in early September, and then at the end of August, a translation studies professor named Pu Wei posted a paper online that was pretty much the same. The overlap rate was as high as seventy‑two percent."

"Someone plagiarized your paper?"

"..." Su Xiaomeng’s words paused, then suddenly her heart warmed, and she couldn’t help muttering, "Did you not catch the dates? She published first..."

"Could my wife possibly stoop to plagiarizing someone else’s paper?"

Yin Shixiu asked, amused.

The smile at Su Xiaomeng’s lips unconsciously widened, to the point she couldn’t rein it in...

"Of course I wouldn’t plagiarize anyone’s paper!"

"Then there you go. Has this blown up in the university already?"

"For now it’s still okay, but Beijing University wants Professor Qi to give them an answer as soon as possible, so tonight I have to organize some materials to prove my innocence... Tell me, what kind of life is this? I’ve only been teaching for a few days and already such a big mess pops up again?"

Su Xiaomeng muttered, full of grievance.

"Alright, don’t let it get to you too much. I’ll have someone look into this Pu Wei’s background. We’ll talk through the rest when we get home, okay?"

"Mm. Are you... really busy?"

"Not too bad. The big project from before has all been implemented. Madam, thank you for your hard work and patience these past two years."

"Hmph, as long as you know to be grateful."

After finishing the call with Yin Shixiu, Su Xiaomeng suddenly felt filled with strength. She tossed the two manuscripts aside and started on her own work...

The rumor that Su Xiaomeng had plagiarized Professor Pu Wei’s paper spread among the teachers on campus very quickly. Over the course of the day, Su Xiaomeng inevitably received quite a few "respectful" looks from others.

There was nothing she could do. Before the matter was clearly right or wrong, her words were just a flimsy sheet of paper. Whether people believed her or not really wasn’t up to her.

It’s just that, even if you’ve gone through big storms, that doesn’t mean you’re no longer afraid of them. Standing right at the eye of the storm, when people act like one glob of spit could drown you, you really do feel exhausted.

After work, Xiao Meng clocked out right on time, grabbed her car keys, and headed to the parking lot, only to see a familiar car parked right next to hers.

Yin Shixiu got out of the car, dressed in a black trench coat, suit trousers, and shiny black leather shoes... Standing in front of her, he was tall and imposing, an extremely commanding figure.

"Don’t drive. I’ll take you to work tomorrow."

Su Xiaomeng clenched her car keys in her hand, and suddenly her nose stung. She walked up to Yin Shixiu and muttered softly, "You made a special detour over here; you don’t find that troublesome?"

"If I thought it was troublesome, I shouldn’t have gotten married, right?"

Yin Shixiu looked at her, amused.

Su Xiaomeng lifted her hand and gave his chest a light thump, her eyes full of sweetness.

"Tired, huh, today..."

"Mentally exhausted."

Su Xiaomeng admitted honestly. Once they got in the car, Yin Shixiu walked around to the driver’s seat and handed her a cup of milk tea. "It wasn’t far from the school gate, so I bought one. You used to love drinking this, didn’t you?"

"Wow... milk tea... I really haven’t had this in ages."

She finished speaking, then bit down on the straw and took a sip, after which she let out a very satisfied breath. "Having a husband is great."

Yin Shixiu smiled lightly.

"Actually it’s not that big a deal. Whether I plagiarized or not, I’ll naturally be able to prove it. But I just had to be a new teacher... and a very controversial new teacher at that!"

"Meng Meng, Pu Wei... I looked into her."

"Oh, right! What’s the deal with this Pu Wei anyway? You really don’t know her?"

"Ahem..." Yin Shixiu cleared his throat and said, "I do know her."

Su Xiaomeng’s expression immediately froze. Her eyes widened as she stared straight at him. "Are you... about to confess something..."

"Confess? Of course I have to confess! Isn’t that exactly what I’m doing..."

Yin Shixiu said with a placating smile.

Su Xiaomeng gripped the milk tea in her hand, suddenly feeling... this warmth wasn’t quite so pure anymore.