The video, just over twenty seconds long, soon finished playing.
Qin Siyang was utterly stunned by Zhong Dingming's words in the video.
The sudden reversal once again caught everyone in the room off guard.
Today's hearing was growing more bewildering by the minute.
Li Tianming immediately called Zhong Dingming again, hoping to verify what had happened.
After a moment of shock, Qin Siyang sprang to his feet and challenged it. "That video is fake! It's fabricated! Professor Zhong would never authorize you to vote for him!"
Xiao Zhigang answered calmly, "What's real cannot be made false, and what's false cannot be made real. I played Professor Zhong's video in front of all these people. If it were a fabrication, even as minister of education, I doubt I could bear the consequences."
"Even if it isn't fake, you must have forced him to record it!"
"Threaten Zhong Dingming? Do you think I would openly present evidence, in full view of everyone, that I threatened Western Glory University's distinguished professor and a standing director of the Paper Review Committee?"
"It's entirely possible!" Qin Siyang said coldly. "That move carries some risk, but it gives you an excellent chance of winning!"
"Everyone knows Professor Zhong has been threatened more than once or twice, yet he has never come forward to say anything. As long as you bluff your way through this hearing, who could overturn the outcome afterward?!"
"Besides, I asked Professor Zhong before coming here. He said he wouldn't attend the hearing or get involved in it! There must be something fishy about this video!"
Xiao Zhigang picked up a handkerchief and elegantly wiped his forehead. "He has not broken his word. Professor Zhong indeed did not come here or participate in the hearing. He merely entrusted everything to me. If you