[Damn, I always thought the National Embroidery Competition was an authoritative contest. I never imagined there could be bribery of judges.]
[Plot twist, everyone! Yesterday the champion was so confident, now how will they save face?]
[You know what, this champion's husband is a famous entrepreneur in Rong City, worth billions. Bribing judges is nothing to them.]
[What a slap in the face!]
[And to think I was saying last night how beautiful and talented this woman was.]
[To be fair, even without bribery, her work could have won first place. After all, there are so many photos of the winning piece online, and even videos of the live embroidery. We can still judge for ourselves whether it's good or not.]
[I don't care, bribery is wrong. No matter how good her embroidery is, she's not a good person. This is cheating and she should be disqualified.]
[It's a shame that such a talented person has been caught up in this scandal.]
The online public opinion was roughly divided into three camps: those blindly criticizing, those believing the champion deserved the win, and those insisting that bribery was wrong regardless.
Also caught up in this storm were the four judges who had accepted money.
They were in a difficult position, unable to explain themselves. They had indeed taken the money, but they hadn't compromised their professional ethics.
The public outcry grew increasingly fierce, with more and more people criticizing them.
But then their bribery records were leaked online, showing hundreds of thousands of yuan in deposits.
If there was an innocent party in this bribery scandal, it would be Shen Yin, who had been unfairly accused of bribery.
Shen Yin knew she had nothing to hide, but in the age of the internet, public opinion could be deadly, and cyberbullying could put anyone in a difficult situation.
"Don't be afraid, I've already asked people to investigate. I have friends in Hua City too," her husband reassured her.
Shen Yin nodded.
Su Jin called immediately.
"Shen Yin, your work didn't need any bribery to win. You had the skill to win first place, and I saw how confident you were. So when I heard this news, I didn't believe for a second that you would do such a thing. Are you in some kind of trouble, or have you been wrongly accused? Tell your mother-in-law, and I'll stand up for you."
Shen Yin was touched by Su Jin's trust in her.
"Mother-in-law, I didn't bribe anyone. I don't know what's going on."
In truth, Shen Yin had an idea of what was happening. It must be Qi Yan's false accusation, but she couldn't say it. She and Qi Yan had been at odds since that auction, and then there was that incident at Qi Ji's wedding. She wasn't stupid; Qi Yan had been at the competition yesterday. After a moment's thought, she knew Qi Yan was behind this.
"Alright, I understand," Su Jin said. "We've already reported this to the police. No matter what, we'll get to the bottom of this and clear your name."
After hanging up, Su Jin called a meeting. She wanted to know what those four people who had taken the money were thinking.
Qi Yan, blinded by hatred and jealousy, never considered the consequences of her actions, only looking at immediate benefits and not thinking things through.
Stupid and foolish, she hadn't considered that by exposing the four bribed judges, she was also giving them a chance to speak out. She only thought they would be too scared to come forward, but she hadn't anticipated that while they had indeed taken money, they hadn't followed her instructions.
Su Jin called the four judges into a separate room.
Su Jin's demeanor changed completely. At nearly 70 years old, she had seen her fair share of major events. She not only commanded respect but could also keep her composure in difficult situations.
"Is the bribery allegation true?" Su Jin's tone was unreadable.
Often, the calm before the storm is the most terrifying. If she had simply berated the four judges, they might have felt better.
But she didn't.
The four became even more nervous. Their lifelong reputations were already ruined, and now they deeply regretted it. Was it really worth it for a mere 5 million yuan?
"The bribery is true," one judge said.
Another judge quickly added, "We took the money, but we didn't compromise our professional integrity."
"Oh? You took money but didn't compromise your integrity?" Su Jin had never heard such an absurd statement.
"That's right. Our final scoring still adhered to fair and just principles. We didn't deliberately manipulate scores because of the money."
"Well, your professional ethics must be quite impressive then," Su Jin said with a sardonic smile.
Her expression made the four even more afraid.
Madam Su had always been their top-level leader, with a powerful background and a lifetime of achievements.
"Tell me, where did you get the money from? Explain the whole process and the reasons behind it." Su Jin turned on her phone's voice recorder.
The other three judges looked at the one who had initially accepted the bribe.
This judge, feeling a chill down his spine, stammered as he began to explain.
"Someone named Qi Yan got my number somehow and contacted me. She offered me 5 million yuan to give Qi Shengwen full marks during the scoring. I refused at first, but she said Qi Shengwen had the skills to deserve it, and she was just paying to ensure a guaranteed win."
"Go on," Su Jin urged.
"She also said she was the daughter of the deputy mayor of Rong City, with both power and money, and that the matter wouldn't be exposed. I couldn't resist and agreed, so she gave me 5 million yuan."
"You agreed for just 5 million? If I remember correctly, none of you four are short of that kind of money. What about the rest of you?"
Su Jin sat in her chair, holding her walking stick. Though advanced in years, her presence was still formidable.
"The three of us were pulled in by him," the other three said in unison.
"He pulled you in, and you just joined? Are you all so spineless? You're all respected figures in the folk art world, are you really so desperate for money?"
Su Jin lost her temper, slamming her walking stick on the ground.
The four were so frightened they dared not lift their heads.
"You, did you only receive 5 million?" Su Jin pointed her walking stick at the judge who had spoken first.
"I... eight... eight million," the man could barely speak coherently.
Su Jin was heartbroken. Their folk art community already had such a low profile, only wanting to promote traditional culture, relying on government support all these years.
Now they had become famous, but for all the wrong reasons, trending at the top of Weibo for half a day already.
"What do you intend to do from now on?" Su Jin asked calmly, her voice devoid of emotion.
"We promise we'll never accept money again in the future," they replied.
"Do you really think you'll have the chance to accept anything in the future? If we consider The People's Alliance as a martial arts sect, what I'm about to do next is to clean house."
Su Jin rested both hands on her cane.
The group, terrified, hurriedly begged for mercy.
"Elder Su, we were wrong. We won't dare to do it again. We took the money, but we didn't compromise our professional integrity."
"You shouldn't have accepted that money in the first place. This is a matter of principle. Even if I were to keep you on, how could you face yourselves? What would your colleagues think of you? Would you be able to show your faces? Would anyone participate in our competitions in the future?"
Su Jin fired off a series of questions.
