Chapter 3 — Evidence That Doesn't Lie

"If there is an injustice, it should be addressed through the proper, formal channels, not by staging a public trial via a live-stream broadcast."

Lu Cheng immediately shifted his tone.

"Miss Tran, perhaps you do not fully grasp the situation. I am the President of the Student Union, and I was personally in charge of inspecting the equipment for today. The flash drive belonging to Lam Van was indeed handed over to me personally by her, and we have the formal log of the exchange."

"The President of the Student Union?"

Tran Tri Vi let out a cold, sharp laugh.

"You are both the person in charge of the equipment and someone directly involved with the students competing for the direct admission slots. Under these circumstances, your testimony must be disqualified due to a clear conflict of interest."

Lu Cheng’s expression stiffened. I stared at him, feeling a rare, sharp sense of satisfaction. Just moments ago, he had stood on a pedestal of moral superiority to judge me; now, someone had finally dragged him down from it. Tran Tri Vi turned to face me.

"Lam Van, you mentioned wanting to verify certain things. What were they?"

I responded immediately, my voice steady.

"The academic department’s official email. At nine forty-two this morning, I submitted my formal speech documents."

"The university’s document management system. It contains the entire version history of my files, from the very first draft to the final copy."

"The hard copies at the printing office, which bear the signature and timestamp of the faculty member in charge."

"The sign-in sheet recording when Lu Cheng received my flash drive."

"The security camera footage from the Student Union office and the control room."

"The system operation logs from the backstage computer."

"The plagiarism report and the authenticity certification signed by the professor that Hua Thanh Le claimed to have provided."

As I finished speaking, a ripple of collective intake of breath swept through the audience. Perhaps no one had expected that I would not be intimidated into silence. I had been prepared for this for a long time. Lu Cheng stared at me, and for the first time, a flicker of panic darted across his eyes.

"Lam Van, when did you go through all the trouble to..."

He cut himself off before finishing the sentence. I gave him a cold, mocking smile.

"What is wrong? Is there anything strange about me keeping a record of my own submission history?"

He had no answer for that. The Vice Dean frantically ordered the staff to cut the live stream, but it was too late. The previous segment had already been recorded and shared by countless viewers. Faculty members from the anniversary organizing committee rushed toward the stage. My academic advisor stepped up to me and lowered her voice to ask:

"Lam Van, are you certain that all these documents can be verified?"

I replied calmly:

"Professor, if I am willing to stand here and demand this, then I am fully prepared for the university to investigate this matter to the very end."

Hua Thanh Le suddenly burst into tears.

"Lam Van, why are you doing this? You know very well that I would never harm you."

I almost laughed out loud at the absurdity.

"Hua Thanh Le, you were the one who publicly dragged my name through the mud on a university-wide live stream. Now that it is time to verify the evidence, are you suddenly afraid?"

The blood drained from her face instantly. Lu Cheng rushed to stand in front of her.

"Lam Van, Thanh Le is not feeling well; do not provoke her."

I looked at this pair—the protector and the damsel in distress. They were truly a perfect match. Tran Tri Vi spoke in a frigid tone:

"Since both parties are present, we will conduct the investigation right here and now. No one is permitted to leave until the truth is brought to light."

The first item to be verified was the academic department’s email. A staff member projected the computer screen onto the side monitors. After logging into the system, they searched for my email. The timestamp was indisputable: nine forty-two in the morning. The recipients included the Journalism and Communication Faculty’s anniversary document group, the academic advisor, the project supervisor, and the anniversary secretariat. There were four attachments: the presentation, the speech manuscript, the raw data analysis, and the compiled survey results. The professor opened the presentation file, and my original version appeared on the screen. On the seventeenth slide, the sample size was recorded as three hundred and seventy-two. The footer formatting was standard, and the notes section was completely clean. It was entirely different from the "evidence package" that had been displayed on the giant screen earlier. The academic advisor’s expression visibly relaxed.

"This is indeed the official version submitted by Lam Van."

However, Hua Thanh Le immediately interjected:

"Emails can be sent retroactively. Perhaps she realized that her plagiarism had been discovered and sent this as a last-ditch attempt to cover her tracks."

I looked at her steadily.

"Hua Thanh Le, are you so nervous that you have lost all sense of time? I sent that email at nine forty-two. Lu Cheng did not sign for my flash drive until ten-oh-six."

A staff member brought the sign-in sheet forward. It was written in black and white: Lam Van, speech document flash drive, ten-oh-six, signed by Lu Cheng. Tran Tri Vi looked toward Lu Cheng.

"Explain this."

Lu Cheng’s throat moved as he swallowed hard.

"This only proves she sent one version; it does not prove she did not steal Thanh Le’s work."

I nodded. "Very well. Let us move on to the second piece of evidence."

The university’s document management system was opened, displaying the complete and unalterable upload history of my files.