E-Ladies: Navigating the Wired World-Chapter 51 - Episode 51 Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism 13

Chapter 51: Episode 51 Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism 13

Chapter 51: Episode 51 Zero Tolerance for Plagiarism 13

“I, I came to help because your nephew asked for me, and now that the magazine sales for October have increased, you want to dismiss me? I… I can take this to arbitration!” Luo Haojun, seeing that a soft approach was ineffective, blustered with a tough stance, “Then, then why didn’t you say anything after the September issue was released?”

“It was you who didn’t allow me to intervene in the content. The deputy editor-in-chief understood when she suggested you not to simply copy content from the internet, but you didn’t listen. It’s not that we didn’t try to stop you…” Ya Rui couldn’t sit still anymore and began to accuse Luo Haojun.

“If it weren’t for Wang Xin going into premature labor, we wouldn’t have asked you to be a lifesaver on such short notice…” Ya Rui said regretfully, thinking that she should have known better from the start.

“Anyway, we’ve signed the contract in black and white, if you want to fire me, you have to give me corresponding compensation! Otherwise…” Luo Haojun, a veteran in the workplace, made threats as soon as he opened his mouth.

“Speaking of signing a contract… come, take a look for yourself, what does it say in the additional agreement?” Li Lingli had prepared Luo Haojun’s signed contract and placed it in front of him.

The explicit terms stated: employees have the duty to keep the company’s secrets, must not harm the interests of the company in any form, and must not engage in actions such as plagiarism or defaming the industry… Violations will result in fines, termination from the company, and blacklisting within the industry as per industry regulations.

“Confidentiality agreement… Employee code… Media person’s declaration…” Luo Haojun, seeing his own signature on the documents in black and white, felt like he was slapping his own face.

“I… I was wrong, I was young and impulsive, I didn’t understand industry norms… Please give me one more chance. I promise not to do this again! I beg you…” The man who had been so arrogant before now lost all his backbone, kneeling once more in front of Li Lingli, pleading for her to forgive his ignorance.

“Sorry, but as media professionals, we have to abide by certain bottom lines, and you’ve crossed that line. Our group can’t keep you. And in Beijing’s print media industry, I’m afraid you’re already on the blacklist,” said Li Lingli helplessly, shaking her head, and handed him another paper.

On the paper was a collective boycott by Beijing’s magazine publishers…

“I… Is a small mistake really worth a collective boycott?” Luo Haojun still mumbled his defense softly.

“A small mistake? Sure! For cultured people, how can it be called copying? If you were to take inspiration, that’s fine, no problem. But what about you? You’ve directly copied content from the internet onto our magazine, how is that not plagiarism?” Li Lingli’s patience with Luo Haojun had run out, “Just sign here quickly, leave a good impression. If you keep making a fuss, you’ll lose even more!”

“Sign, what are you waiting for? If you sign now, you can still get your October salary. If you want to drag this out, go through the company’s procedures, you might even have to compensate us for your September salary…” Ya Rui intimidated him with a stern tone.

“…” There’s always somewhere for a man who won’t stay here, and Luo Haojun signed his name on the resignation form. Dejectedly gathering his things, he left Fashion Xinrui.

In fact, ever since Ya Rui and Zhou Xueyin met, she had told Li Lingli about Luo Haojun’s plagiarism.

Li Lingli utilized her connections in the print media industry, and after a little investigation into Luo Haojun, found that he was not as impressive as his resume had shown.

Even though Luo Haojun’s former employers were not implicated by his malpractice, they were more or less aware of the dirty deeds he’d done during his tenure.

They didn’t make a big deal out of it only because the sales had indeed increased and the company hadn’t suffered too much damage.

Moreover, the targets of Luo Haojun’s plagiarism were often forums used by girls in their spare time for social media interactions with friends. Even if these forums transformed or closed down, those individuals wouldn’t suffer much financial loss. The most they would do is vent on other forums.

However, this time Luo Haojun had the “bad luck” of choosing 51buy as his plagiarism target, intending to use the same tactics to force it to shut down, which affected 51buy’s interests.

Given the temper of Zhou Xueyin and the others, how could they not retaliate? So, they declared their affiliations and sought them out to demand an explanation.

After learning about these developments, Li Lingli, in order to better capture evidence of Luo Haojun’s plagiarism, collaborated with Ya Rui, the deputy editor-in-chief, and the group’s technical support staff. They took advantage of his absence from the company, accessed his computer, and gathered evidence of him paying for an internet army to frame and set traps for others.

As the saying goes, “Caught red-handed,” he could not find any excuses to dispute the evidence even if he wanted to.

As for the online posts exposing Luo Haojun’s misconduct, it was Ya Rui who had provided all the evidence to Zhou Xueyin. They worked together to write it, which was quite a cathartic release for them.

An unexpected outcome was that some webmasters who had previously been targeted by Luo Haojun came forward to denounce his actions, contributing to his eventual forced resignation.

After Luo Haojun left, there were less than two months until Wang Xin’s return. During this time, the deputy editor of Fashion Xinrui temporarily managed all content production.

Zhou Xueyin proposed an idea to Ya Rui, “Ya Rui, you see, now online media and traditional media are competing for the market. But what if we collaborate? It might benefit both sides.”

“Oh? Yinyin, how do you wish to collaborate?” Ya Rui showed great interest.

Since Luo Haojun’s resignation, Ya Rui felt refreshed and clear-headed. Even without him to save the magazine, she was confident she could find other ways to boost sales.

“We can provide some fashion content to the magazine in the form of submissions …” Zhou Xueyin paused midway, waiting for Ya Rui’s reaction.

“Providing content through submissions … that’s a great idea! Firstly, it won’t interfere with the enrichment of your website content, and secondly, it won’t involve copyright issues,” Ya Rui agreed with the idea.

“There is just one condition in exchange …” Zhou Xueyin smiled, “Can you bring traffic to our forum? We can create a special section just for Fashion Xinrui’s interactive platform, which would also allow us to promptly collect feedback from readers, right?”

“This…” Ya Rui pondered.

The reality was that the rise of the internet had a significant impact on print media, with sales plummeting compared to the past. Gathering reader feedback was indeed troublesome …

The idea of launching a forum had crossed their minds, but they were constrained by the group’s policy and feared that the investment might not yield proportional returns, leaving the project in limbo.

If Zhou Xueyin could provide forum support to the magazine for free, and all the magazine needed to do was direct traffic to their forum, it seemed like a good option.

“Don’t worry, we just need the magazine to bring us traffic; it’s just a partnership,” Zhou Xueyin said casually, “Besides, our site has just launched. Ya Rui, you can use our forum as a testing ground without any downside, right?”

“Offering us both forum space and content, and all you really want is traffic?” Ya Rui looked at Zhou Xueyin skeptically.

“For a website, traffic is everything!” Zhou Xueyin affirmed.

“Alright, I’ll discuss it with General Manager Li tomorrow. If there’s no problem, we can sign the contract!” Although Ya Rui was tempted, she still needed to consult with senior management.

But generally, anything that doesn’t cost money is easy to negotiate.

Soon, Zhou Xueyin and Ya Rui signed a mutually beneficial cooperation agreement.

The thought of a large influx of users coming to the forum after the magazine’s November issue was released made Zhou Xueyin so happy, she felt like laughing even in her dreams.

However, she had forgotten one very important thing …