Nie Weiguo arrived quite late, and since the flyer distributors didn’t recognize him, they handed him a flyer too. Looking at the contents of the paper, Nie Weiguo flew into a rage.

“Who’s spreading such nonsense? Who told you to distribute these? This is slander and defamation. Come with me to the police station!”

The flyer distributor had never encountered such a reaction before. There weren’t even any photos on the flyer.

“Someone paid me to distribute these. I don’t know anything else, and I’m not the only one handing them out!”

At the mention of the police station, the distributor immediately cowered, dropped the flyers, and tried to flee. Nie Weiguo gave chase for a few steps but couldn’t catch even a hair of him. His face turned as black as coal.

When he returned, he saw the good-natured Xing Lixin standing guard at the entrance and immediately grabbed his hand. “Group Leader Xing, someone is slandering me. You must do something about this!”

“Comrade Weiguo, don’t get agitated. Many people already know about the flyers… How can I control what everyone’s saying?”

Whoever wanted to destroy Nie Weiguo had done their homework. They had compiled various rumors about him into a short story with dramatic plot twists, and well-balanced details, and didn’t even bother to conceal his real name and workplace.

Was this merely distributing flyers, or was it more like posting a big-character poster? Word was that Nie Weiguo had previously posted such posters about others, bringing them down. Now, the same tactic was being used against him.

Xing Lixin, being the simple person he was, excelled at smoothing things over but wasn’t good at handling such sudden incidents.

Nie Weiguo burst into the conference room, shouting “Defamation!”

“Xia Xiaolan, did you do this? This is slander! I’ve already reported it to the police. You’ll go to jail for this!”

Xia Xiaolan shrank closer to Hou Qi.

Hou Qi blocked Nie Weiguo’s path. “She’s just a young girl who’s been staying at the guesthouse these past few days without going out. How dare you make baseless accusations against Young Xia?”

This kind of scheme didn’t seem like something a young girl could pull off. If she had done it, there would surely be some traces to follow. How could Xia Xiaolan be so meticulous as to leave no evidence?

With Hou Qi stepping up, Xia Xiaolan seemed to gain more courage: “Senior Nie, I didn’t print the flyers, nor did I hire anyone to distribute them. If you don’t believe me, go ahead and let the police investigate.”

Xia Xiaolan showed no fear at all.

Nie Weiguo himself began to hesitate.

Was it not Xia Xiaolan’s doing?

Could it be Ning Yanfan?

Silent dogs are the ones that bite – perhaps it was Ning Yanfan who orchestrated this.

Nie Weiguo’s hateful eyes fell on Ning Yanfan.

Mao Kangshan arrived late, holding a stack of flyers.

“Young Nie, do you know about the flyers?”

Nie Weiguo responded anxiously and grievously, “Teacher Mao, I was just about to tell you. This is slander against me. I’ll report it to the police for investigation.”

Mao Kangshan nodded, “We certainly need to report it. This matter needs to be cleared up – it’s not just about your discomfort, but also about the Architects Association’s reputation. You’re a member of the association. When have our members ever been involved in such a scandal?”

“This is a conspiracy against me—”

Mao Kangshan interrupted him, “It’s certainly a conspiracy, but to ensure the fairness of the symposium, Young Nie, you should temporarily not participate in this afternoon’s meeting.”

Mao Kangshan said this while standing in the conference hall.

Saying “temporarily not participate” was essentially forcing him to leave, wasn’t it?

With only half a day left in the symposium, Nie Weiguo hadn’t expected such a mishap.

“Teacher Mao…”

Mao Kangshan pointed to the stack of flyers he’d brought in, “Young Comrade Nie, I saw the situation outside getting out of hand and helped collect some of the flyers, but I’m old and weak and couldn’t gather them all. They’re not just outside the venue – they’re being distributed in every corner of Jiang City University. I suspect they’re even being handed out on the streets of Jiang City. Why bother attending the meeting? You’d better go stop this quickly!”

Hundreds or thousands of copies?

Perhaps even tens of thousands.

Such large-scale flyer distribution seemed designed to destroy Nie Weiguo.

Nie Weiguo’s face changed dramatically.

He worked at the Hubei Provincial Architectural Design Institute, which was typically located in the provincial capital, Jiang City. This symposium being held in Jiang City was through Nie Weiguo’s connections. Jiang City was his home turf, where he had the illusion of being able to punch Ning Yanfan and kick Mao Kangshan… After hearing Mao Kangshan’s words, Nie Weiguo hurriedly left.

In the conference hall, people stopped pretending and began discussing:

“Wasn’t Nie Weiguo about to become Institute Director? That’s probably not happening now.”

“That depends on whether the Design Institute investigates.”

“With such detailed accusations, how could they not investigate…”

How could they continue the meeting for the remaining half day? Everyone’s attention had been drawn to Nie Weiguo’s situation. Xing Lixin was on the verge of tears – what was all this about? Couldn’t the first Creative Symposium just end peacefully?

It must have been Xia Xiaolan’s doing!

Both Ning Xue and Gong Yang thought this.

They didn’t know how Xia Xiaolan had managed it, but this had to be her work.

Only Xia Xiaolan could be so efficient in execution.

Nie Weiguo probably thought the same thing. After the afternoon meeting ended hastily, just as Xia Xiaolan walked out of the conference room, several police officers were already waiting.

“Are you Xia Xiaolan? Come with us. We need you to explain some things at the police station regarding the defamation case against Nie Weiguo of the Provincial Design Institute!”

“Officers, there must be some mistake!”

“Yes, you must have the wrong person…”

The lead officer maintained a stern face, “This is just routine questioning. The police station is conducting an investigation – bystanders should not interfere.”

Xia Xiaolan remained calm and composed, “Officers, you’re talking about the case where someone distributed flyers exposing Comrade Nie Weiguo, right? I don’t know what this has to do with me. You can ask your questions right here. If you take me to the police station, what will others think of me? If you want to take me in for questioning, you need evidence! If you insist on taking me, you’ll need to notify my school first – I’m a student at Huaqing Architecture Department.”

Nie Weiguo had no evidence, even though flyers were being distributed throughout the city.

When Nie Weiguo reported it to the police, the distributors scattered quickly. They caught two who just said they were paid to distribute the flyers.

As for who paid them? They didn’t know!

Now Nie Weiguo could only focus his suspicions on Xia Xiaolan. He couldn’t make baseless accusations against Ning Yanfan in this situation.

But Xia Xiaolan wasn’t a pushover.

Nie Weiguo thought he could intimidate her with the police because she was a student, but was Young Miss Xia someone who could be scared so easily?

Nie Weiguo assumed that as a college student, she would naturally fear the police, but Xia Xiaolan had already thought to use her status as a university student for protection.

Of all people, you shouldn’t mess with university students.

You never know if targeting a minor figure might bring out someone more powerful – university students could include radical elements who might commit suicide at the police station.

The police officers began to hesitate. Then, a familiar voice rang out from beyond the crowd:

“You can take her to the police station, no problem, but I’m afraid getting her to leave won’t be so easy.”

Xia Xiaolan was both surprised and delighted, doubting her ears. How could he possibly be in Jiang City at this time?