Under the watchful gaze of the public, Andrew Fort stepped forward slowly, raising the microphone with a hoarse voice.
"We sincerely apologize. After multiple reviews, we have definitively concluded that the new industrial software developed by Dragon Country has no relation to our company's industrial software. The alleged plagiarism was merely a misunderstanding."
"We wish to extend our most sincere apologies to Dragon Country and Professor Jing Mingqiu. We are willing to compensate one million US dollars as compensation for reputational damages."
"We are truly sorry for this incident!"
With that, Andrew Fort bowed deeply to the cameras once more.
Andrew Fort's apology on behalf of the Fort Group was just the beginning. Subsequently, Boyin Company, Mona Television manufacturer, and the companies mentioned by Professor Jing Mingqiu all came forward, unprompted, to issue apologies.
Seeing the disheveled state of these major corporations, netizens mistakenly believed their protests had worked, leading to a public uproar and widespread celebration.
Unlike these uninformed netizens, Jing Mingqiu's lips curved into a subtle smile as he watched the performance of these Western giants, a hint of coldness flashing in his eyes.
"After causing such a stir, do they think a simple apology and a bit of compensation will make it all go away? It's not that easy."
"Now that you've backed down, your allies won't just give up. They're too slow; let me give them a little push."
With a few casual keystrokes, Jing Mingqiu simultaneously dispatched tens of thousands of whistleblower reports.
Before the reports could ferment, the artificial intelligence Cang Yue personally intervened, acting as an online commenter to spread rumors that Dragon Country's industrial software was superior to Western counterparts because Andrew Fort and others had sold their company's core secrets to Dragon Country.
Conspiracy theories always found the most receptive audience, especially in the years of the East's decline when many "submissive individuals" habitually looked up to the West, fostering a sense of arrogance among Westerners.
"I knew it! No wonder Dragon Country suddenly developed such powerful industrial software; it turns out we had a traitor!"
"Do you know how important industrial design software is to modern industry? It's the brain of industry. Andrew Fort, you traitor to the nation, get out of the United States immediately!"
"Traitor, get out!"
Compared to foreign enemies, internal traitors were even more detested. Soon, many American citizens spontaneously formed protest groups, surrounding the headquarters of the Fort Group, demanding an explanation.
Andrew Fort, looking down at the dense crowd of protesters, was enraged.
"Damn it! They want to pin all the blame on me, make me die for them, right? Not happening!"
"Although I can't figure out who's instigating this, only the US government could achieve this in such a short time."
"If you are unjust, do not blame me for being unrighteous! Someone, call a press conference and release all the files on this USB drive!"
As a flood of information detailing collusion between officials and businesses spread online, Joseph Biden's reputation plummeted, and his public approval ratings began to fall sharply.
To secure his position as President, Joseph Biden immediately began to counterattack. Andrew Fort, however powerful, was merely a company president and no match for the President of the United States.
Just as Joseph Biden was on the verge of a decisive victory, successfully shifting all the blame and definitively branding Andrew Fort as a traitor.
The other company executives who had apologized alongside Andrew Fort, feeling the sting of his misfortune, began to attack Joseph Biden as well, in a bid to save themselves.
Although the United States was a capitalist society, it was difficult for just a few wealthy businessmen, without the involvement of military firearms, to bring down a US President.
However, by being willing to go to prison and making public all their covert collaborations, they managed to put Joseph Biden in a corner, causing him immense distress and embarrassment.
Jing Mingqiu calmly observed their infighting, waiting until both sides were mutually damaged. Only then did he slowly step forward and release decisive evidence, completely clearing the name of Dragon Country's industrial software from the stigma of plagiarism.
He reopened his livestream, a small blackboard behind him. To the bewildered gazes of everyone watching, he picked up chalk and began to explain how to use ancient Chinese programming.
Starting with the most basic structures and progressing to a simple program, Jing Mingqiu lectured for three hours straight. Most people, unable to comprehend, drifted away. However, among the remaining viewers were professional programmers and sharp-minded individuals.
After Jing Mingqiu's initial explanation, they had a general understanding of what ancient Chinese programming was.
Jing Mingqiu took a sip of water, ignored the myriad questions in the chat, and left a message saying he would continue teaching tomorrow before abruptly ending the livestream.
For the next period, Jing Mingqiu held daily livestream lectures, with Cang Yue and a team of AI providing offline assistance to answer questions during the learning process.
Unknowingly, a month passed. A considerable number of programmers had initially grasped this programming method using ancient Chinese as code, with some of the more intelligent ones even beginning to experiment with building new software using it.
During this process, people also fully recognized the power of ancient Chinese programming, which differed from computer languages based on English.
While the twenty-six English letters appeared flexible, they were in reality rigid and cumbersome. Many words had monotonous meanings and were forcibly pieced together from numerous root words.
Ancient Chinese, on the other hand, might seem to have more characters, but only a little over three thousand were commonly used. Their combinations provided sufficient complexity. Furthermore, due to the inherent ambiguity and polysemy of Chinese, it could significantly accelerate processing speeds.
During this time, Andrew Fort and others, having finally recovered, along with US President Joseph Biden, attempted to cooperate again to discredit Jing Mingqiu's reputation and completely stifle Dragon Country's industrial software in its cradle.
But no one was foolish. A new, superior programming language was enough to shatter all doubts and render all their schemes futile.
"Alright, the course ends here," Jing Mingqiu said, dropping his chalk and pushing away the keyboard. "The rest is up to you. Class dismissed!"
With that, Jing Mingqiu unhesitatingly ended the livestream at lightning speed.
The viewers who had followed Jing Mingqiu for over a month were stunned as the livestream abruptly went dark.
At that moment, a white bullet comment drifted across the black livestream screen.
"Thank you, teacher! I will definitely work hard!"
Everyone then realized what was happening and quickly sent bullet comments to express their gratitude.
Soon, Jing Mingqiu's livestream was filled with "Thank you, teacher!" in various languages.
Seeing this, Cang Yue, filled with confusion, finally voiced the question that had been weighing on her heart for a long time: "Brother, ancient Chinese programming can greatly improve software performance. Aren't you enemies with the West? Why teach it to them?"
"If the goal was merely to prove that Dragon Country's industrial software wasn't plagiarized, we had better ways to do it!"
"Hahaha," Jing Mingqiu roared with laughter, patting Cang Yue's little head. "That's a long story. Come over and help me rub my shoulders, and I'll explain it to you slowly..."