147: Chapter 147 Chang Yuan fabricates evidence, sparking a war of words

Chang Yuan smiled, patted the gym bag beside him, and unzipped it. Inside was full of stacks of red bills, neatly arranged. A rough look showed at least several hundred thousand.

'See that? This is the down payment Yunqi Technology gave us. I'll give you 100,000 first, and the rest after the job is done.' He pointed at the money, his tone seductive. 'Besides, Director Lu from Yunqi said that as long as we take down Zhang Fan, I can become the technical director of Yunqi with an annual salary of one million. By then, I'll arrange a technical consultant position for you, with an annual salary of several hundred thousand, no problem at all, with full social insurance and housing fund. It's a hundred times better than you just muddling along now!'

Gu Feifei's eyes lit up instantly. An annual salary of several hundred thousand and a technical consultant position—this would not only allow her to escape her current predicament but also re-establish herself in the industry, and perhaps even reconcile with her parents. She stared at the cash in the gym bag, her breathing becoming rapid.

'As long as I come forward to testify, all of this will be mine?' Gu Feifei confirmed, her fingertips already touching a stack of red bills. The tactile reality made her heart race.

'Of course!' Chang Yuan hugged her shoulders, his tone firm. 'We're old flames; would I lie to you? Tomorrow we'll go to Singularity Technology to make a scene. You bring out your old work records as evidence, and I'll accuse Zhang Fan of stealing technology. Once the media reports it, Zhang Fan will be finished, and our good days will be here!'

Gu Feifei did not hesitate any longer. She took a stack of cash and stuffed it into her bag, her eyes full of greed: 'Fine, I'll help you! But remember, if you dare to go back on your word after it's done, I'll expose all the dirty things you did back then!'

'Don't worry, I keep my word.' Chang Yuan smiled even more smugly. He thought he had grasped Gu Feifei's greed, but he didn't realize that this woman, whom he regarded as a pawn, had long been calculating her own plans.

She wanted more than just money and a position; she wanted to use this opportunity to drag Zhang Fan down with her, even if it meant mutual destruction. She couldn't let him live better than she did.

The next morning, the conference hall of the Jiangcheng International Hotel was packed with media reporters.

Arranged by some people at Yunqi Technology, Chang Yuan, wearing a borrowed custom suit and clutching a stack of 'evidence,' stood on the press conference stage.

At this moment, there were deliberately squeezed-out tear tracks on his face, and his voice was choked as if he had suffered a great grievance: 'Three years ago, I developed the 'Sok Engine' at Blue Whale Games. It was the fruit of my labor after over seven hundred sleepless nights! But Zhang Fan, who was just an intern at Blue Whale back then, secretly copied my core code. Now he has repackaged it as the 'Star Core Engine' and made a fortune with 'star path: reboot', while I was framed by him and spent three years in prison!'

He held up a yellowed 'R&D log,' and the cameras immediately focused on it—it had 'Sok Engine core parameters' scrawled on it, dated March 2021, half a year before Singularity Technology was founded.

'Everyone look, this is my original R&D record from back then. Every parameter, every line of algorithm, is highly overlapping with the current Star Core Engine!'

Chang Yuan also took out a 'joint testimony' with Gu Feifei's signature and thumbprint on it. 'Gu Feifei participated in the R&D with me back then. She can testify that Zhang Fan is a thief who stole others' achievements!'

The reporters below instantly boiled over, and microphones were raised like a forest: 'Mr. Chang, do you have evidence to prove that Zhang Fan copied your code?'

'Ms. Gu, why didn't you come forward to testify back then?'

Gu Feifei sat on the chair beside him, her hands nervously wringing her clothes. Her eyes dodged, but she still bit the bullet and spoke: 'Back then, I... I was threatened by Zhang Fan and the Gu family. How could a wage earner like me fight against capital? Even if I wanted to say it, I didn't dare. Now that Director Chang has stepped forward, I decided I can't let him be wronged again. I can't let an honest man be harmed again. I am here to certify that the underlying logic of Singularity Technology's Star Core Engine is copied from the Sok Engine of our former company, Blue Whale Games!'

Halfway through the press conference, the topic #Zhang Fan Technology Thief# rocketed to the top of the Weibo hot search list, followed by a glaring 'Explosive' tag.

Netizens' anger was instantly ignited: 'So Singularity Technology's technology was stolen! They were bragging about independent R&D before, it's disgusting!'

'Chang Yuan went to jail, while Zhang Fan profited. There must be a dark secret behind this!'

'I'm not playing 'star path: reboot' anymore. I support Mr. Chang in seeking justice!'

'Demand a thorough investigation into the dark forces and capital behind Zhang Fan. Chang Yuan was threatened by the Gu family, @Jiangcheng Police.'

Even more fatally, Singularity Technology's investors saw the public opinion spiraling out of control and began to sell off shares urgently. The company's valuation plummeted by 10% in one hour. Zhou Yurou's phone was bombarded with urgent calls from investors, her tone full of anxiety: 'President Zhang, if we don't think of a way to clarify this, our financing will fall through! Overseas partners have also sent emails saying they want to pause the launch plan for 'star path'!'

In the Technology Department office, Liu Ruyan was facing the computer screen, her fingers flying as she organized the R&D files of the Star Core Engine, fine beads of sweat seeping from her forehead.

Wang Chengsi stood beside her, looking at the negative comments scrolling on the screen, and couldn't help but sigh: 'These reporters don't look at the evidence at all; they just follow Chang Yuan and stir up trouble! We have the original code records and patent documents, why doesn't anyone believe us?'

'It's not that no one believes us; it's that Chang Yuan is setting the pace too fast.' Liu Ruyan rubbed her sore eyes and pulled up a code submission record with a timestamp. 'Look, we submitted the first version of the Star Core Engine's core code in October 2021, seven months later than the log Chang Yuan forged, but we have GitHub's real-time submission records and the patent office's acceptance receipt. These are ironclad evidence!'

In the conference room, Lin Wanyi looked at the hot search on her phone, her heart full of anxiety. She had just finished the rehearsal for 'Chinas Good Voice' when she saw this farce and immediately rushed to Singularity to help. 'President Zhang, should I post another Weibo to help you clarify?' She looked at Zhang Fan, her tone full of worry.

Zhou Yurou held the public relations department's emergency plan, her tone anxious: 'There are two options now. Either issue a statement immediately to refute it and release real evidence, or find an authoritative institution to conduct a technical appraisal and use a third-party report to speak. But issuing a statement will be called 'guilty conscience,' and an appraisal takes time. We can't afford that!'

Everyone's eyes turned to Zhang Fan. He sat in the chair, holding the live replay of Chang Yuan's press conference in his hand. There was no panic on his face, but his eyes were deeper than usual.

He pressed the pause button and pointed to the 'chat records' in Chang Yuan's hand on the screen: 'This screenshot is forged. In 2021, I wasn't even interning at Blue Whale. I was doing my graduation design at school, and my advisor and classmates can testify to that. And Gu Feifei's 'work records'—she was involved in the early planning of 'star path' back then and never touched the core code at all. These are all points we can refute.'

'But will netizens believe us if we say this now?' Zhou Yurou urged, 'They are only willing to believe the 'weak defending their rights' drama and don't want to look at boring evidence!'

'They will believe it, as long as we find the right method.' Zhang Fan stood up and walked to the window, looking at the reporters still gathered downstairs. 'Chang Yuan and Yunqi are rushing to jump out because they want to force us to lose our footing. We can't fall for it.'

Just then, Zhang Fan's phone rang. It was Lu Qingyan calling.

He picked up the phone and heard Lu Qingyan's deep voice: 'President Zhang, Chang Yuan's press conference was arranged by Yunqi Technology. Right now, my older brother is negotiating with people from Polaris Capital. They promised Chang Yuan the 'Yunqi technical consultant' position without consulting my brother; it was promised privately by Polaris.'

Zhang Fan's eyes lit up. This was an important breakthrough. 'Thank you, President Lu.'

His tone was calm. 'If you have any evidence of internal divisions at Yunqi, please help me collect it. It might come in handy.'

After hanging up, Zhang Fan looked at the anxious team in the office, his tone firm: 'Everyone, don't panic. This crisis is a crisis, but it's also an opportunity. We not only need to refute Chang Yuan's lies but also use this opportunity to let more people know that the Star Core Engine is our independent R&D achievement and let everyone understand that Chinese game companies can also produce good technology on their own.'

Meanwhile, in the president's office at Yunqi Technology, Lu Qingping was roaring at the representative of Polaris Capital on the other end of the phone: 'Why didn't you tell me that Chang Yuan's evidence was forged? Now, although public opinion is scolding Zhang Fan, it has also dragged Yunqi into it! If it's found out that we arranged the press conference, Yunqi's reputation will be ruined!'

The voice on the other end of the phone was cold: 'President Lu, our goal is to take down Singularity. As long as we can achieve our goal, the process is not important. If you don't dare to continue, then the 'cloud service cooperation' we discussed before will probably fall through.'

Lu Qingping hung up the phone and looked at the sky outside the window, feeling a sense of powerlessness for the first time—he thought he was 'protecting his sister,' but he didn't expect that he had long become a pawn of Polaris Capital, dragging everyone into the abyss step by step.