Chu Yuxin stared blankly at her workstation, which had been completely cleared out.
It took a while before she snapped out of it… clenched her fists tightly — she was fuming with rage and cold!It was one thing not to get paid. It was another thing for work to be halted. But now, not only had her pay not co in, even her workstation had been emptied?! This was just bullying! At least pay her before kicking her out!
No way!
The more Chu Yuxin thought about it, the angrier she got. She suddenly turned around, eyes fixed on Si Jinliang’s office, and strode straight toward it.
Murderous aura rising!
At the sa ti—
Tang Yao still hadn’t heard about anything going on outside. What had her more concerned right now was sothing Li Xue had said:“You said you want to reach out to soone? Forget that Rumi-sensei… you said Ou Congquan?”
To be honest—She really didn’t expect Li Xue to bring up that guy.
Sure, Ou Congquan was a well-known mangaka, famous for both himself and his works, and his art was decent too.
But ask him for help? Tang Yao felt that if they managed to see each other without trading insults, that’d already be a win.
“……”
Li Xue seed to predict her reaction, chuckling softly: “You haven’t been keeping up with The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword, have you?”
“I already quit… And I reviewed the storyboard for that next issue, so of course I didn’t pay attention. Why? Readers didn’t like it?”
“No, they loved it.”
Li Xue shook her head and explained, “Before release, a lot of readers were still flaming it. Sure, the Manga Award helped turn the tide, but plenty were still bitter. They weren't about to stop flaming Fate/Zero just because of that. But it was just pre-release backlash. Once that issue ca out, people cald down fast.
Even though so still harbored resentnt about that garbage twist from the last issue, most of them accepted that it was all just a hallucination. So even started sympathizing with the female lead — how she was affected by ‘All the World's Evils’ and was still only worried about the male lead dying.
And with the latest chapter tying up earlier foreshadowing through those hallucinations, plus deeper character developnt across the board… the overall reception’s been fantastic. A few readers even comnted that it feels like Ou Congquan is back at his peak. The last issue's damage still lingers, but he definitely weathered that storm.”
“……”
Tang Yao curled her lip. “Lucky him. But if he’s in the clear now, that just makes it even less likely I’ll reach out to him.”
“The thing is, when one of the readers praised him for being back to form, he replied saying it was all thanks to you.”
Li Xue looked at Tang Yao’s pretty little face, smiling as she said, “And I heard that the day you handed in your resignation, he personally called the Vice President at Wenxin Press. He kept asking if you quit because of him. Then he even showed up at the editorial departnt himself… You know a big-na mangaka like him never cos to the office.
The best part? After you resigned, the first person assigned a new editor was Ou Congquan… Word is, the new editor got summoned by him right away. The poor guy went to his house bracing for a verbal beatdown, but Ou Congquan’s attitude was shockingly nice — like he was a different person. He even sat down to talk plot.
You know how notoriously difficult that guy is… so the new editor was completely stunned, and couldn’t stop gossiping about it afterward. It stirred up quite a commotion in the male editors’ departnt.
As for why he changed so much… I think you know, don’t you?”
Tang Yao was quiet for a mont, then turned her face away. “...How would I know?”
“You really don’t know? Every guy in the male editors’ departnt knows exactly why.”
Li Xue couldn’t hold back a laugh seeing Tang Yao’s awkward reaction. “It’s all because of you. All your hard work wasn’t in vain. Sure, you weren’t the one who got the benefit in the end, but I bet the new editor working with Ou Congquan is grateful to you. You were the one who changed him.
Ou Congquan truly respects and appreciates you — that much is obvious. That’s why I think he’s worth reaching out to.”
“Forget it. The painful mories he left
with are way too fresh. I really don’t want to see him again.”
Tang Yao turned her head back, a little sulky. “And there’s no telling how long this new ‘nice guy’ act will last… I was just doing my job. It probably had nothing to do with .”
“……”
Li Xue looked at the grumpy Tang Yao, her delicate and beautiful face breaking into a bright smile.
So serious and reliable… yet also tsundere.
Absolutely adorable…
“What?”Tang Yao noticed Li Xue grinning like an idiot at her and waved a pale little hand in front of her eyes.
Li Xue, as always, spoke her mind: “Nothing. I just think you’re cute.”
“……”
Tang Yao rolled her eyes. You know how they say, “You beco like the people you’re around”? After spending so much ti with Tang Xun and Li Xue—
She’d started picking up their habits without even noticing.
The old her would never have done sothing like this.
She really was starting to transition into a new identity…
“Forget Ou Congquan. As for Rumi-sensei…”
Tang Yao steered the conversation back on track. “She doesn’t seem very reliable either. A big-na mangaka like her would never agree to this. Maybe if we were making a ga based on her manga, but with no connection at all…”
“Didn’t she invite you on social dia to serialize in the magazine she’s with?”
Li Xue blinked at her. “She seems really interested in you. No harm in asking, right?”
“True… I’ll try reaching out then.”
Tang Yao thought about it and gave a nod.
Of course she’d seen Rumi-sensei’s work — the art was incredibly polished, and her character illustrations were especially amazing. She had a real knack for capturing the seductive side of female characters…
Honestly, she seed like a good fit. Sure, there were always so hiccups when switching fields, but it could also bring fresh style — and fa to boot.
Totally worth it.
Ti to act.
Tang Yao picked up her phone and sent a private ssage to Rumi-sensei.
Naturally, the reply wouldn’t co quickly — soone that famous probably got bombarded with DMs every day.
“All done.”
Tang Yao put her phone down. “Hopefully she follows the Third-Rate Artist account. Otherwise, who knows how long it’ll take for her to see it.”
“...Given the current hype around Fate/Zero, she’ll probably follow you.”
Li Xue reassured her. “And I’ll also help you find other mangaka open to crossing over into gas.”
“Thanks, Miss Li.”
“No need… But if you really want to thank , how about showing
your ‘cold and ruthless’ look?”
Li Xue pointed at the screen, still hung up on the fourth-phase Black Saber.
Because she really wanted to see Tang Yao wear it.
Tang Yao hadn’t expected her to circle back to that. She glanced at the screen, pictured herself in that outfit, and her pretty face flushed with a trace of shyness. She shot back, “...No way. I am cold and ruthless already.”
Li Xue pointed at the screen again. “I an that kind of cold and ruthless.”
“Then you wear it!”
“I did wear it.”
Li Xue stood up as she spoke.
Tang Yao was still sitting, so from her vantage point, Li Xue’s perfectly proportioned legs were right in front of her. The sheer black stockings clung to her skin, revealing a subtle hint of flesh around the knees. The look had a strangely soul-stirring charm.
Tang Yao took one look… then another.“…That’s just black stockings.”
Li Xue glanced at Tang Yao. Even seated, her impossibly long, perfect legs left nothing to criticize.
If she wore stockings…
“…Then you just wear the stockings. You’re taller than
— you’d look even better.”
“Nope.”
“Yes!”
Li Xue teased her: “They’re really comfy, you know. Just touch and see.”
“……”
Tang Yao, for so reason, reflexively reached out… and gently pinched her soft, shapely thigh wrapped in those silky stockings.
…Unexpectedly soft.
Li Xue’s body gave a small jolt — she hadn’t expected Tang Yao to actually go for it. A faint blush rose on her delicate, pretty face.
And right then—
Knock knock—
With a couple knocks, the door swung open.
“Sorry to bother you…”
Chu Yuxin walked in. And then… she froze.
She saw the two of them not far away, saw Tang Yao’s hand…
And suddenly realized what she was looking at.
She turned on her heel imdiately: “Sorry to disturb!”
Tang Yao’s face went bright red. She yanked her hand back from Li Xue’s thigh and shouted in embarrassnt, “You! Get back here!”
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