This was the first time Lu Xi had taken a leisurely evening stroll around the villa community.
It felt nice.
She used to think walking was as boring as jogging, what was the fun in it? Especially pointless and dull. She wasn’t an old lady. If she wanted to lose weight, she’d rather swim a few laps in the pool.
But now, she found it quite enjoyable.
In this villa area, especially in their A-section, the population density was low, the pedestrian paths were separate from the roads, and there were hardly any disturbances.
The osmanthus flowers were in season, and the cool night air carried their faint fragrance. It was pleasant.
She thought, maybe she could make this a habit after dinner.
She also recalled that there were tennis courts, a nail salon, and a spa in the community. She could try them out when she had time.
At that moment, she had almost completely forgotten about Wang Qianru.
But then, Xie Yizhao spoke. “Have you confirmed how many of your works she plagiarized?”
Lu Xi was startled. “Huh? Not yet. I’ll go through them tonight.”
“You should do it as soon as possible.” Xie Yizhao frowned slightly, then added, “I’ll help you sort them out.”
“…Huh? Okay.”
Suddenly, she felt like a student being pushed by her teacher to finish homework.
Xie Yizhao was so strict!
He continued, “Did you have any proof of your original designs when you first created them?”
Lu Xi shook her head innocently. “No.”
Xie Yizhao had expected this answer. Lu Xi was a carefree person, and their son had inherited this trait. But it wasn’t a major problem.
He said calmly, “Then you need to provide other evidence to prove you were the original creator. Chat logs, screenshots… Witnesses would be even better.”
Before Lu Xi could respond, Xie Heng suddenly chimed in, eyes shining. “I have an idea!”
He was excited as he continued, “A recording can be used as evidence, right? I’ll go beat that guy up—uh, no, I mean, have a friendly chat with him. If he admits his mom plagiarized, can that count as evidence?”
Lu Xi : ?
Xie Yizhao : “…”
Seeing their simultaneous looks of speechless disdain, Xie Heng instantly shut up.
What? Was it not allowed? Or did he say something wrong?
He suddenly felt a little guilty.
Lu Xi sighed. “She wouldn’t tell her son about her misdeeds, would she?”
Xie Yizhao added, unhurriedly, “Besides, what you’re suggesting is coercion.”
“…”
That was true.
Embarrassed, the teenager scratched his head and pretended he hadn’t said anything, awkwardly looking away.
Lu Xi, however, couldn’t help but laugh.
These two…
She had already figured out her next steps. Besides hiring a lawyer, she had thought of the same points Xie Yizhao mentioned.
Even though she hadn’t officially registered her design drafts for copyright, she had emailed them, saved them to a cloud drive, and had records on her computer.
And if witnesses were needed, she could try reaching out to her seniors from the design department. Wang Qianru wasn’t the only one who had seen those school uniform designs.
But suddenly, she felt like she didn’t need to do anything. These two men would handle everything for her.
Xie Yizhao had found her the best lawyer and was even helping her gather evidence.
And as for her son… Well, he was trying his best.
Lu Xi suddenly felt a little emotional.
She hadn’t been that angry before, she had just wanted to make the plagiarist pay. But now, feeling the care from the two closest people in her life, she felt an overwhelming wave of emotion.
Her eyes grew slightly red.
Xie Heng had thought she was laughing at him. He already felt useless, and he was considering just leaving to avoid being a third wheel.
He was no help at all.
Unlike his Dad, who knew powerful lawyers, had experience, and could assist in gathering evidence.
He was completely unnecessary.
“What’s wrong?” Xie Yizhao was the first to notice his wife’s reddening eyes. He asked nervously, “Do you need a tissue?”
Lu Xi smiled at him. “I’m fine, I’m not even crying.”
But her voice carried a slight nasal tone.
Xie Heng froze, watching Lu Xi’s slightly sad expression.
The teenager clenched his fingers.
He might be immature and useless, but he didn’t want to just sit and do nothing, he wanted to contribute in his own way…
As they walked, they reached a fork in the path. To the right was the basketball court.
At this time of night, it was bustling.
On the court, many familiar faces greeted Xie Heng.
“Brother Heng! Long time no see!”
“Come play with us, Brother Heng—”
Xie Heng was about to yell at them to shut up when suddenly, an idea struck him.
He looked at Lu Xi, and a captivating glimmer flashed in the young boy’s clear eyes: “Wait a second, I’ll show you something fun.”
Lu Xi blinked in confusion. “What?”
She and Xie Yizhao stopped walking together.
Xie Heng didn’t explain, his eyes mysteriously twinkling.
He took long strides onto the court, caught the ball his friend threw him, and spun it around his index finger a few times. Looking at Lu Xi, he lifted his chin, smiling confidently and boldly.
Then, he dribbled the ball beautifully, took three steps, jumped high, showcasing his incredible jumping ability, dunked the ball, and made a perfect shot.
Lu Xi was stunned.
So… handsome!
She squinted her eyes, tightly gripping Xie Yizhao’s hand, her heart racing with excitement. “The cub is so handsome!”
Xie Yizhao glanced at his son showing off, unable to help but laugh and shake his head.
Isn’t it just a basketball shot?
It’s the same as what he used to do back in the day.
The young boy shook the sweat off his forehead and ran back like a gust of wind.
Finally, she smiled… Xie Heng immediately looked delighted, feeling much better inside.
Normally, when he played basketball at school, just running around a bit and making a shot would cause a crowd of girls to scream and cheer.
At the time, he found it quite noisy.
But using this trick to make Lu Xi happy seemed to work wonders!
Lu Xi raised her phone to take a picture of Xie Heng, her eyes curving into a crescent moon, urging, “Hurry, do it again. I want to film it for my Moments.”
“…” Xie Heng’s lips twitched, reluctantly saying, “Alright, but this is the last time.”
It felt so embarrassing to be filmed and posted.
But what could he do? His wife, Lu Xi, loved posting on Moments. He had no choice but to cooperate.
That night, Lu Xi went to bed early, not feeling disturbed at all by some boring people.
Apart from the school uniform, she also found three other pieces of clothing and several works from Wang Qianru in the past that were highly similar to her designs, suggesting possible plagiarism.
For now, that was all.
But it was enough to sue Wang Qianru.
The next day, Lu Xi went to the company with Xie Yizhao to meet the lawyer he had arranged for her.
The lawyer, named Xu, was a middle-aged man who looked very professional. He seemed familiar with Xie Yizhao and was very polite to Lu Xi.
Professionals are truly professional. He only talked about the case the entire time, never expressing any curiosity about Lu Xi’s identity.
After reviewing all the materials, Lawyer Xu’s expression softened, and he confidently told Lu Xi, “The probability of winning this lawsuit is very high, so you don’t need to worry.”
Lu Xi smiled.
She wasn’t worried at all.
Lawyer Xu glanced at Xie Yizhao and suddenly showed a mysterious expression. “There’s one more thing I need to confirm. How far do you want to make Wang Qianru pay for her actions?”
Lu Xi froze.
“Isn’t that up to the court to decide?”
She knew that in civil cases, there wouldn’t be prison time, only fines and public apologies at most.
Lawyer Xu’s question sounded a bit strange.
What else could be done to Wang Qianru? She couldn’t just have her son beat her up, like Xie Heng might think?
Seeing Lu Xi’s reaction, Lawyer Xu suddenly realized that in the heart of this lovely lady, the world’s rules seemed simple. She probably thought that if the other party copied her work, a lawsuit would be enough… but it was far more complicated than that.
The person in question had offended Mrs. Xie.
Despite Xie Yizhao being calm from start to finish, just thinking about his ruthless methods in the business world made it clear that he was definitely not someone to be trifled with.
A simple solution, like just making the other party pay money, was only the superficial trouble.
Since Xie Yizhao was so protective of his wife, that person would likely pay a much greater price.