Chapter 180

[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.Follow the latest novels at novelhall.com

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."

"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.