“Suggestion?”
Shang Tao’s fingers paused on his temple as he lightly rubbed it. He looked at the absurdly pretty girl in front of him—so pretty she didn’t even look like an editor.
“Yeah.”
Tang Yao turned her chair to face him squarely, organized her thoughts, then said, “About the Manga Award. Because of the controversy around The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword, the angry readers are now lashing out at the upcoming Manga Award too, right? They’re taking their rage out on anything related—even if it’s unrelated—and now they’re even boycotting the award. That’s giving you a headache because you don’t know what kind of impact this will have on the award and, more importantly, the website launch. Am I right?”
“Yeah.”
Shang Tao dropped his hand from his temple and sighed helplessly. “Don’t you think it’s risky? Readers are acting like the entire publishing house is guilty… If we keep pushing big promo campaigns for the Manga Award and the website, no one’s going to buy it. The promo posts are already filled with flaming comnts. At this rate, everyone’s just waiting for sothing to go wrong.”
“True.”
Tang Yao nodded in agreent. “Worst case, the readers might intentionally downvote the entries in the Manga Award once the site launches… even if it doesn’t get that extre, at this rate, launching the site would be aningless. The award’s supposed to drive traffic to the site, right? But now, with all this hate surrounding the Manga Award, that purpose might already be lost.
After all, The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword is one of our star titles. A sudden trash-tier plot twist like this must’ve already spread through the reader community.
Announcing the Manga Award and site launch at this point is like tossing fresh bait to readers who ca just to watch the ss. Potential entrants will hesitate, and readers might instinctively think our magazine can’t be trusted. That doubt will carry over to the other works in the award…”
Tang Yao didn’t finish the sentence.
But Shang Tao got the ssage. His breath hitched suddenly.
Her words snapped him out of the delusion he’d been clinging to.
It’s hard to see clearly when you’re right in the thick of things.
But the truth was, the situation had already spiraled out of control. Forcing the site to launch now was too risky… Ou Congquan’s stunt had likely spread far and wide among readers. Nothing they did could fix it. They were completely out of moves. The launch had to be delayed.
In that mont—
Shang Tao’s last thread of hope was cut.
Still…
He glanced at Tang Yao, who was now tilting her head to look up at him. There was a trace of resentnt in his eyes… It just felt weird to hear a death sentence like that coming from soone in the content departnt.
Because the whole situation was caused by the content departnt… What kind of karma was this? He hadn’t done anything wrong, and now, thanks to one of their star mangaka losing his mind, the person giving him the bad news was the editor responsible for that mangaka.
“……”
Thinking of that made his chest feel tight.
But even if it felt awkward, he knew—if it weren’t for Ding Yilong, things wouldn’t be this bad. At the end of the day, the girl in front of him was also a victim.
So he quickly collected himself and said politely, “I understand. Thanks for the heads-up. I’ll be taking my leave—”
Since nothing could be changed,
He needed to go back and figure out what to do next.
Only—
Just as he turned—
“Wait, Director Shang, I’m not done yet…”
Tang Yao sounded a bit exasperated. This world really was a little too… righteous. The warti mindset had lasted too long. She’d said all that, and he still didn’t get it.
“Hm?”
Shang Tao turned back, completely confused. His expression said, “What else could you possibly have to say?”
Tang Yao sighed inwardly, then shifted gears and began explaining again. “Director Shang, have you heard the phrase, ‘Bad press is still press’?”
“Bad press is still… press?”
“Yep. Because of this drama, the Manga Award and the website have beco collateral damage—that’s true. But at the sa ti, this also ans… if you take advantage of the mont and go big with the promo, all that pent-up rage from readers will be redirected—straight to the Manga Award and the upcoming website.”
Tang Yao raised a pale finger, looking dead serious as she started bullsh—no, laying out her plan.
“Think about it. Our magazine may not be in the top three in sales, but it’s still a major publication. And our flagship manga… Would you say it’s well-known among manga fans?”
Shang Tao answered instinctively, “Of course. Even readers who don’t normally subscribe probably know about The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword…”
“Exactly.”
Tang Yao patiently guided him, “So that ans—even fans who don’t follow that series already know what happened, right? It’s a major title from a big mag. A lot of manga lovers probably joined the discussion just to watch the chaos.”
“Right…”
“So for the past few days, the manga community’s been buzzing about this, right? Now imagine you start promoting the Manga Award and website right now. The readers who are already upset—they’ll start sharing it with others, won’t they? Like, ‘Look at this sht. Their flagship series is total garbage, and they’re still trying to hype so Manga Award and website. What a bunch of f**ing clowns. I bet everything on that site is just feeding readers more sh*t,’ sothing like that.
Promoting the Manga Award at a ti like this is definitely going to make people angry.”
Tang Yao lowered her hand and continued, “Then, all those readers who never followed The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword—when they hear that, and see all the promo flooding social dia, won’t they get curious and check out the site for themselves? Just to see the chaos?”
“……”
Shang Tao hadn’t connected the dots before.
But now that she’d laid it out this clearly, he would’ve had to be a pig not to get it.
His eyes slowly widened as he muttered, “You’re saying… use this controversy to drive more traffic to the site…? No no no, that’s—wait. Ou’s reputation is… well, whatever, that’s not the point. But won’t it ruin the site’s reputation too? Even if we get readers, what’s the point if it all turns to sh*t?”
“That’s where the big-na mangaka submissions co in.”
Seeing he was getting hooked, Tang Yao quickly laid out the next step. “To hype the Manga Award, we commissioned a bunch of famous and successful mangaka to submit works, right? A lot of those are high quality. You can use your social dia accounts, all your distribution channels—start releasing so of them early!”
Shang Tao was stunned. “Release them… early?”
“Exactly.”
Tang Yao nodded seriously. “Readers don’t actually have a problem with the Manga Award. If anything, it gives them easier access to great content. That’s a good thing. Online publishing is the future. It’s going to beco the main way people read manga.
The real issue I ntioned earlier—it’s all because of Ou Congquan. The website and award were just caught in the crossfire. All we need to do is show readers: the award is the award, and Ou is Ou. They’re not the sa thing. Release so of the excellent entries early, and readers will see that. If we do that, everything else will fall into place.
Of course, to make this work, the previewed submissions can’t be diocre. Even if they’re from big-na artists, they have to be handpicked—must be topical, hard-hitting, visually impressive…”
“……”
Shang Tao’s expression changed. A look of joy slowly erged in his eyes.
Of course!
Why didn’t he think of that?! Of course they could do this!
Readers weren’t mad about the site itself. They weren’t even mad at the award. All he had to do was show them that—make them see it!
And releasing so killer works early was the perfect way to do that! It would make it crystal clear that Ou and the Manga Award were totally unrelated.
This whole drama… might not just be harmless—it might actually help the site!
He could totally ride Ou’s ltdown to hype up the launch!
“Editor Tang, this might actually work!”
The more Shang Tao thought about it, the more convinced he beca, and his excitent grew. “You’re seriously the website’s lucky star…”
But halfway through his praise—
He suddenly froze, as if he’d just rembered sothing. His expression stiffened.
Tang Yao noticed the change. “What’s wrong?”
After a mont of silence, Shang Tao said, “…Your plan involves pushing the Manga Award promo hard, right?”
Tang Yao nodded. “Yup.”
He hesitated before saying, “If things go the way you’re predicting… won’t The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword be thrown to the wolves? Promoting the other award entries is fine, but what about Ou’s next chapter…”
He didn’t finish the sentence.
But Tang Yao understood. She nodded.
It was inevitable. The better the award submissions looked, the worse Ou Congquan’s trashy plot would appear by comparison.
“Then… it probably won’t work.”
Shang Tao gave a bitter smile. Thinking of the Vice President’s face, he shook his head. “At the end of the day… content is everything in a publishing house. That series is our most important serialization. We can’t just throw it under the bus. Vice President Zhao wouldn’t allow it.”
Bottom line—
The online manga platform was just an experint.
It was fine to bet on the future.
But sacrificing one of their top in-house mangaka for that future?
No way Zhao Fangsheng would go for that.
“……”
Tang Yao froze for a second. Then she lowered her head, falling silent.
She seed conflicted. After a while, she finally looked up again, scrunching her delicate little nose slightly, like she’d made a decision.
“Then let’s make that AORI I wrote co true. This chapter isn’t a breakdown—it’s just buildup for the explosive plot that’s coming.”
Shang Tao blinked. “You an…”
“Yeah. I’ll do everything I can to get Ou Congquan to change his mind.”
Tang Yao stood up and said seriously, “I’ll take full responsibility as the managing editor.”
Seeing the determination in her expression and hearing those resolute words, Shang Tao straightened up, full of respect.
He’d been right about her.
Compared to Ding Yilong… this editor was so much more reliable! She actually gave a dmn about the company! About the site launch! Even after all the sht she’s been put through, she’s still willing to fight!
At that mont—
Shang Tao wanted to march right up to Ding Yilong and yell in his face: Look at you! Now look at her!
“But…”
Just as Shang Tao was getting carried away,
Tang Yao narrowed her eyes slightly and added, “I have one condition… this isn’t about Ding Yilong. It’s because this is sothing you’re requesting for the sake of the Manga Award.”
“…Got it.”
Shang Tao ca back to his senses, glanced in Ding Yilong’s direction, and said with distaste, “Don’t worry. I’ll report everything exactly as it happened—including his behavior… This was a request from the New dia Departnt. The content departnt’s Editor-in-Chief played no role—just pointed fingers and dodged responsibility.”
“There’s one more thing…”
Tang Yao nodded, then her expression turned solemn—extrely serious. “Among the previewed works we release early, I’d like to recomnd two of them. I’ve read both. They’re excellent, and incredibly engaging! As an editor, I can’t bear to see them buried. I’ll give you the manuscripts to read. If all goes well… could you include these two in the early release lineup? I promise the readers won’t be disappointed!”
At last—The map of Yan has been fully unrolled.The hidden dagger is revealed.
“No problem. I trust your judgnt.”
Shang Tao looked at her with newfound respect and agreed without hesitation.
He really wanted to go back and point at Ding Yilong again: Look at her. Look at yourself.
She was still thinking about the mangaka under her, even now. And he?
“Then let
thank you on behalf of the artists.”
“No problem. What genre are those two series?”
Tang Yao yelled a triumphant YES in her head—but her face didn’t show a flicker. “Horror… and fantasy.”
“Horror and fantasy, huh.”
Shang Tao was a bit surprised, but still nodded. “As long as the quality’s good, no problem.”
At that mont—
Director Shang hadn’t realized: Tang Yao only said she wanted those two works included in the early preview lineup…
She never said they’d be entering the Manga Award, whose rights belonged to the magazine.
And she definitely didn’t say… that one of them was a serialized title.
Let’s just say…
Beautiful won can be deceptive.
Even if, deep down, Tang Yao saw herself as a man’s man…
Well, she was beautiful.
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