Yilan was stunned for a rare moment, and it took him nearly ten seconds to react.
The process was really... too fast.
Based on her experience in handling thousands of academic disputes since she started working, it is very difficult to determine that the winner of the first prize of the Roentgen Award has committed academic fraud.
But she didn't expect, no, or most people didn't expect that Qi Yan would reveal the hidden truth to the public with just five questions.
As the architect of the work, it is impossible for them not to answer questions related to the core of the architecture. If it is just one question, it can be attributed to other issues, but if five questions cannot be answered in a row, it can only mean that the five people standing on the podium did not participate in the architecture of the work at all.
Aeron said: "This academic inquiry—"
"Wait!" Jiang Qi suddenly interrupted Yi Lun. He tightly grasped the trophy in his hand, trying to ignore the various looks from the audience, and turned to Yi Lun, "I have something to say."
Aeron gestured "please".
Jiang Qi knew very well that once he was found guilty of academic fraud, he would no longer have a place to stand, not only in Turan, but also in all the schools in Leto.
His future will be completely ruined, and he will never be able to escape this stigma in his life.
Everything had just begun. He was brought back to the Qi family. He had just come of age and had already entered Turan. No matter what he did in the future, everything would go smoothly. He would also take over all the businesses of the Qi family...
He had to stop what was about to happen!
Jiang Qi showed his most appropriate smile, appearing humble and polite: "Hello, I am Jiang Qi, a freshman at Turan College. It has been less than a month and a half since I enrolled."
When Ye Pei heard this, he frowned and whispered, "What does he want to express?"
"I admit that out of vanity, I found a team of four Tulane juniors and seniors and expressed my desire to join. But because I was only a freshman and knew basically nothing and couldn't help at all, they rejected me."
At this point, Jiang Qi blushed, "But I really wanted to participate and wanted my family and friends to praise me, so I offered to pay a certain amount of money if they let me join, and they agreed."
Stanley, who was standing on the stage with Jiang Qi, had already realized Jiang Qi's purpose and his face turned ugly.
When freshmen join the competition team, anyone with a discerning eye can tell that they are just trying to gain experience. Most of them come from well-off families and want to gild themselves - this is not uncommon in Leto, and although it is not encouraged, it is also tolerated.
Compared with academic fraud, describing oneself as a vain rich kid who uses money to get ahead is almost painless! In the future, when joking, one can even say "I almost got into trouble because I didn't know people well enough".
"After I joined the team and was sure that I would be on the list of winners if I won the prize, I never participated in the structure of the work again. That's why I couldn't answer the question." Jiang Qi was ashamed and at a loss, "I'm just too vain and too impatient. I... I didn't expect to encounter such a thing. Academics are noble and cannot tolerate even the slightest bit of fraud!"
At the same time, on the page of StarNet broadcasting the Roentgen Prize ceremony live, different voices emerged amid the public outrage.
"—Although I don't agree with spending money to gild my resume, it seems to be a common practice for the rich kids in Leto? This first-year student is a bit pitiful. He obviously didn't expect that he spent money and ended up with a mess!"
"—Eighteen years old, indeed a vain and face-conscious age, but one still knows that academic fraud is unacceptable."
"—I hope he learns a lesson and studies hard in the future."
Jiang Qi finally said: "But no matter what, I will still be responsible for what I have done."
As he said this, he bowed deeply.
Stanley couldn't help sneering in his heart.
With just a few words, you think you can get yourself out of this easily
They were convicted of academic fraud, but Jiang Qi was simply implicated? Then, within a month, when the matter was over, Jiang Qi could still go back to Turan to study.
But what about them
Jiang Qi has been picked out, so they will naturally be completely regarded as abandoned pawns.
Stanley looked in the direction of Jiang Yunyue in the audience. He knew without guessing that the woman must be looking at them with a warning, asking them to protect Jiang Qi, otherwise, they would be retaliated against.
However, if the academic fraud is proven, it will be impossible for them to stay in Leto or even in the central administrative district in the future.
Stanley looked at the person next to him. When Ellen asked, "Is what Jiang Qi said true?", he glanced at Jiang Qi's calm expression and said, "Of course not."
Jiang Qi turned his head suddenly, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Stanley smiled wickedly and quickly let the story slip: "My other three teammates and I had originally prepared another work, which was above average in quality and we didn't expect to win any prizes. About half a month after the start of the school year, Jiang Qi approached us to discuss cooperation. The conditions he offered were very attractive, and he guaranteed that we could win the first prize of the Roentgen Prize, absolutely no risk. After we discussed it, we agreed. Afterwards, someone gave us the structured work, yes, the one that won the first prize. That person also explained it to us from beginning to end and asked us to remember it in case anyone asked questions about the work."
He looked at Qi Yan and said, "I didn't calculate those two fixed quantities at all, so of course I don't know what's going on. And what about the Appleton-Hermann function? I've never heard of it."
Jiang Qi didn't know how to react for a moment, and could only stiffly refute: "You are slandering!"
"Slander?" Stanley sarcastically said, "I am a student from Kepler Region, with an ordinary family and no power or influence. How dare I slander you? Oh, everyone must be confused, why is Jiang Qi so sure that he will win the first prize, and it is foolproof? Because Jiang Qi's mother, Ms. Jiang Yunyue, injects a large amount of star coins into the Roentgen Foundation every year. This is the original words."
The whole audience was in an uproar, and the comments on the Star Network live broadcast page were blank for a moment.
Stanley gave up and looked at Ye Pei again: "By the way, do you know why you didn't win the award? Because the day after you successfully submitted your work, it was deleted by the people from the Roentgen Foundation."
Jiang Qi was shaking, but he knew that he couldn't admit it: "You have no evidence—"
"I'm really sorry, I do have evidence." After seeing Jiang Qi's sudden change in expression, Stanley pulled out a recording from his personal terminal.
First, a female voice spoke slowly: "This is a small matter. I will not allow those people's works to appear in the selection process. Just wait patiently. The first prize will only go to you."
Then Stanley's own voice: "But—"
The female voice asked slowly, "Why, are you worried?"
The recording was very short, as if it was recorded in a hurry. At this point, Stanley had no scruples: "I was afraid that Jiang Qi and his mother would go back on their promise, so I found an opportunity to secretly record it. It's better to be prepared. You can use it to compare the voiceprint to see if it is Ms. Jiang Yunyue's voice!"
The people at the scene and those watching the live broadcast on StarNet had almost the same reaction.
"—This development of events is beyond my imagination..."
"—Is this dog-eat-dog?"
"—I just want to know what the truth is! Not only did they commit academic fraud and internally select the first place, but they also used their power to delete other people's submitted works? Who gave them the power! "
Information spreads extremely quickly nowadays. In just five minutes, the Internet was abuzz with the news. The Roentgen Award jury had to pause halfway and said that they would give a clear explanation after rigorous discussion.
During the event, Jiang Qi stood on the podium with empty hands - the trophy had been taken back by the staff.
Every second seemed like a torture.
He wondered how he could turn the tables, how could he lose here, how could he be stepped on by Qi Yan
But the reality is that he can't do anything.
Stanley didn't say anything else. He stood with the other three people, waiting for the final result.
On behalf of the Academic Arbitration Committee, Yilun personally supervised the discussion process and found someone to restore the deleted works of Qi Yan and the other two as quickly as possible.
Half an hour later, the Roentgen Prize jury's discussion came to a conclusion.
After discussion, it was decided to take back the awards and trophies given to Jiang Qi and five others, and to ban them from participating in the selection of the Roentgen Prize for life.
At the same time, after repeated reviews, the jury re-evaluated the works of Qi Yan and three others as the first prize of this year's Roentgen Award.
As soon as the jury representative finished speaking, Qi Yan spoke on behalf of the three people: "Sorry, we voluntarily give up the Roentgen Prize."
The scene was silent.
Everyone's eyes were focused on these three people.
Lu Fenghan stood in the corner of the venue, looking at Qi Yan with a firm tone.
He thought that this was a decision made at the last minute, but it was also completely expected.
Although Qi Yan is delicate and confused in his daily life, he is very determined in his heart, with clear goals and principles. One of his bottom lines is scientific research and academics, no, it should be said that it is the truth.
Lu Fenghan has been on the front lines filled with smoke and blood for many years, and has little time to understand and think about things that seem far away from him.
But at this moment, he suddenly understood why so many people throughout history have spent their entire lives calculating the answer to a formula or verifying whether a hypothesis is true or not.
Why, after the great technological destruction, there are still so many scientific researchers who fearlessly join the "Technology Renaissance Plan" and devote their entire lives to it
Why is it that even though the rebels' blades are everywhere and the blacklist is in everyone's heart, there are still so many people who waste their lives in vain
On the podium, after Qi Yan said that he would give up the Roentgen Prize, Ye Peijin's eyes lit up: "We don't think that an organization that would arbitrarily delete our successfully submitted works and give us perfunctory feedback like 'You didn't submit your works on time, so you are not included in the selection' when we inquired about them, would have much respect for academia."
Mondrian went on to say: “Similarly, we do not approve of any behavior that uses ‘academics’ as a stepping stone, a stepping stone, a tool for making money, or a way to improve one’s social status and reputation. Academics should be pure. Academics are the perseverance of countless people working day and night, the truth that countless people pursue throughout their lives without asking for anything in return. Academics are the earth beneath our feet and the starry sky above our heads.”
Mondrian stood up straight: "We don't accept the first prize."
The whole audience was silent.
At this time, four young men walked up to the podium. Compared with their bookish air, their military spirit was more obvious.
After returning the trophy in his hand, one of the thin boys smiled and said, "We are students of the First Military Academy. Although we are very happy to win the award and the prize money is very high, but... let's just consider it as we don't deserve it."
Then, another team stepped onto the podium.
The young girl with short black hair stood in front of the team, her back straight, and said, "We are students from Bergson College on Woz Star. Bergson College is not very famous and is very small, with only a few thousand students in the whole school. We were lucky enough to win the second prize this time, and we will probably be written into the school history."
She raised her shoulders and said in a carefree tone, "Now we will return all the trophies. The reason is... we don't deserve them."
"We are students of Tulane College," the third and fourth teams walked up to the podium, one of them facing the audience, "In front of the Tulane College History Exhibition Hall, there is a stone tablet that has stood for 200 years. On it is engraved a line of words, 'Glory to Truth'."
His eyes were clear and his words were sharp: "We pursue glory, but we pursue truth even more!"
Aeron looked deeply at the young men in front of him.
We pursue glory, but we also pursue truth.
From them, she vaguely glimpsed the future of the alliance.
That evening, numerous news stories with titles like “We pursue glory, but we pursue truth even more” appeared on StarNet, reporting on the controversy surrounding the Roentgen Prize and academic fraud.
Shortly after the Roentgen Prize ceremony, the Turan Academy issued an official announcement, expelling Jiang Qi, Stanley and five others from the school and never admitting them again. Several jury committees also issued notices, indefinitely banning Jiang Qi and five others from participating in academic selection.
"—I was watching the live broadcast at that time! Now I am watching the stone tablet in front of the Turan Academy History Exhibition Hall through the holographic mode! The original words of the person who erected this tablet were, 'The glory here belongs to the truth'! So exciting! I want to take the Turan exam! May I ask if the follow-up of the matter has been released?"
"—Which follow-up do you want? Those who should be expelled have been expelled. According to the laws of the Alliance, the relevant personnel will also be held criminally responsible! In addition, it is useless for the Roentgen Award Jury to hold a meeting overnight. Not only the Academic Arbitration Committee, but the entire network is investigating them. Everyone suspects that they have cheated more than once, and may have done so before, otherwise they would not be so skilled!"
"—Sequel 1: The real architect of the work submitted by the team that won the first prize has been found out. It is said that he received 3 million star coins! He has been deprived of his scientific research qualifications for life!"
"—The executive director of the Roentgen Foundation was dismissed because he personally deleted the work submitted for the True First Prize. Jiang Qi's mother Jiang Yunyue also lost her membership in the foundation. This is very satisfying!"
"—Follow-up! The Roentgen Prize cannot be held next year, and the qualification has been revoked! All the above-mentioned people will be held criminally responsible!"
"—Is this probably one of the sequels? In the First Military Academy intranet discussion area, people are collectively reflecting on why the strongest losers in the alliance are so good at talking. How come they could only utter less than ten words when they threw the trophy!"
After leaving the Lyric Theatre, Qi Yan and the other two no longer cared to pay attention to how much of a stir this incident had caused on the Internet.
Ye Pei and Mondrian each fell in to pick them up in the hovercraft, closed their eyes and waved to Qi Yan and Lu Fenghan, and fell asleep in two seconds.
The black hovercraft stopped in front of them, and the two got in. Lu Fenghan put his hand on the joystick, and seeing that Qi Yan was not asleep, he said, "If you are hungry, remember to tell me. I brought nutritional supplements."
Starting from the 18th, Qi Yan, Ye Pei and Mondrian carefully reviewed all the works submitted by the winning teams from beginning to end.
After focusing his attention on the work of Jiang Qi's team, Qi Yan found all the papers and related materials that Stanley and his team had found since they entered school. After reading them all, he came to the conclusion very rigorously—the several core points involved in the architectural works were not within the scope of knowledge mastered by Stanley and his team at all.
Qi Yan also made a temporary search tool to search and compare the conventional logic, architectural habits and other information revealed in the first-prize works, and finally identified the real architect of this work.
This is not just because their works were maliciously deleted and they did not win the first prize of the Roentgen Prize, but for academic fairness.
For these four words, Qi Yan slept only four hours a day for three or four days, did not eat a single bite of food, and relied entirely on nutritional supplements to survive.
To this day, I was so tired that I couldn’t even swallow the nutritional supplement.
Lu Fenghan didn't try to persuade him—everyone has their own bottom line that cannot be touched, and principles that they must firmly defend.
Qi Yan was a few seconds slower: "I'm hungry."
With a slight smile on his lips, Lu Fenghan took out the orange-flavored nutrient solution, tore open the seal, and fed it to Qi Yan's mouth.
Qi Yan was listless and held it loosely in his mouth.
Lu Fenghan was very patient. He waited until Qi Yan finished drinking it in small sips before putting the empty package aside. He also poked Qi Yan's cheek in a naughty manner.
Qi Yan only half glanced at him and didn't dodge.
Holding the joystick, Lu Fenghan was satisfied.
When the hovercraft stopped at the door, Lu Fenghan turned his head and saw that Qi Yan had fallen asleep.
The cold and clear eyes were closed, the eyelashes were straight, soft and harmless, and the light shadow they cast was in sharp contrast with the fair skin under the eyes.
White porcelain is generally fragile.
After watching for an unknown amount of time, Lu Fenghan suddenly came back to his senses.
He got out of the car, walked around the front of the car, and stopped by the door. After the door slid open to both sides, he leaned over and carefully released the safety protection of the seat.
After making sure that Qi Yan showed no signs of waking up, he put Qi Yan's arm on his shoulders and held him in his arms.
The door of the hovercraft slowly closed behind him. Lu Fenghan held the person in his arms, his hands around her thin waist. He lowered his eyes to look at the sleeping Qi Yan, and thought helplessly—
Lost weight again.