Are You Fucking Kidding Me?

"Maybe... should the vice president get in touch with Teacher Ou and ask him?"

Shang Tao had been watching the vice president's expression for a while. Seeing how conflicted and incredulous he looked, he suggested, "There's no point in guessing here. Why not just ask the person involved directly?"

He had a lot of confidence in Tang Yao.

"Should we go visit him now?"

Zhao Fang Sheng was tempted. "But we've already brought back the storyboards..."

"We can just call him."

Shang Tao shook his head. "We only need to confirm it with him and get an answer. We haven't contacted the manga artist himself yet, have we? This way, we can put our minds at ease."

"..."

Zhao Fang Sheng hesitated for a long while, then slowly nodded. He set down the storyboards, woke up the computer in front of him, and looked up Ou Congquan's contact information.

In a way, he was a traditional man, too.

But the traditions he upheld were different from Ding Yilong's. He believed that face-to-face conversation was the most effective way for people to communicate.

So whatever the matter, he preferred meeting in person rather than calling.

But...

He really did want an answer now, so tradition could wait.

Soon, he found Ou Congquan's contact information and called him.

The phone rang once before it was picked up.

"Hello?"

Zhao Fang Sheng was just about to introduce himself when the other person spoke. He could only listen patiently until Ou Congquan finished, then politely said, "No, no, I'm not Editor Tang. I'm Zhao Fang Sheng, vice president of the Literature House."

"That's right. I'm calling mainly to confirm something about this issue's storyboards."

"Yes, that's right. I've already read this issue's storyboards... Hmm? I don't know what Editor Tang thought of them. I received the storyboards from one of my subordinates."

"I've never met Editor Tang, either."

As he spoke, Zhao Fang Sheng glanced at Shang Tao.

Shang Tao stood to one side, puzzled... He couldn't hear Ou Congquan's voice, but he did notice how often the word "editor" came up.

"Mm, your storyboards for this issue are very good, but the previous issue..."

Zhao Fang Sheng turned his attention back to the matter at hand. "Forgive my bluntness, but the previous issue was truly awful. The difference between the two is like night and day. What surprised me, though, was that the issues seemed connected, as if you'd deliberately turned the characterization on its head. So I mainly wanted to ask: was that intentional, or..."

The voice on the other end spoke again.

He had quite a lot to say.

So Zhao Fang Sheng fell silent for a long time.

Only after a while did Zhao Fang Sheng speak again, his voice sounding a little hoarse. "You're saying you drew the previous issue without discussing it with the editor... but you discussed this issue with the editor?"

"Mm, no, wait. It was a revision draft? Detailed? How detailed?"

"...So the editor came up with everything, including AORI and the setting?"

"You only just saw that line about AORI, too?... The part about the heroine never hallucinating another man, and the second male lead hallucinating his mother's death, was also in the revision draft... I understand."

"..."

Shang Tao still couldn't hear what Ou Congquan was saying, but he could hear Zhao Fang Sheng.

So it was true...

Shang Tao felt a little moved.

Editor Tang hadn't lied. Which meant that the vice president's other theory from earlier... no, it wasn't a theory anymore. It was a fact.

Meanwhile, the call continued.

Zhao Fang Sheng's expression was extremely strange, his features almost contorted, but he still deliberately acted as though he were calm. "I understand. Thank you for explaining... You want a different editor? No, no, I'm not considering that for now... Oh, Editor Tang said that to you herself? So you mean...?"

"You're unwilling. I understand."

"Ding Yilong contacted you, too? He wanted to shift the blame onto the editor with you? I understand... I'll do my best to deal with the problem on his end. Sorry for the trouble."

"What? All right, we won't change editors without careful consideration. You can rest assured of that... I understand. I'll do my best to pass along an apology."

"Then I wish you the best with your work from here on out."

"..."

The call ended.

After politely saying goodbye, Zhao Fang Sheng sat there dazed for a while before stiffly lowering the phone from his ear. He murmured, "So it really was like that... Unbelievable."

"Yeah... unbelievable."

Shang Tao knew what he meant and echoed him.

Of course, he was also trying to back him up.

After all, Shang Tao had a truly excellent impression of Tang Yao. Not only had she proposed a plan for the Manga Award and the website launch that seemed thoroughly reliable, she had also helped clear away potential problems.

She was extraordinarily capable, incredibly efficient, and beautiful.

It was hard not to like her.

"Someone like her..."

Zhao Fang Sheng glanced at Shang Tao, then looked away and turned his attention to the storyboards on the desk, seemingly caught up in another dilemma.

Shang Tao had no idea what he was wrestling with this time.

He didn't ask.

The obstacle surrounding the Manga Award, the matter that concerned him, had been completely resolved.

After a long while, Zhao Fang Sheng seemed to reach a decision. He said quietly, "Let's wait a few years. She's too young. But Ding Yilong does need to be dealt with."

"What's wrong with Ding Yilong?"

Shang Tao had caught the name and asked without thinking.

"After he couldn't dodge responsibility in the Editorial Department, he actually planned to contact Ou Congquan and shift the blame onto the editor together, claiming the editor had interfered with Ou Congquan's creative process."

Anger surfaced on Zhao Fang Sheng's face. "What a bastard!"

"..."

Shang Tao's eyes widened. "Holy shit... That's awful."

You could do that? It was a route he'd never even imagined.

"I'll go see the president later."

Zhao Fang Sheng took a deep breath, tamping down his anger, and didn't elaborate. "Go get things ready for the early release of the work. We can go ahead now. There's nothing wrong with the storyboards."

With that, he handed the storyboards back to Shang Tao.

"Okay."

Shang Tao took the hint and didn't say anything more. Ding Yilong was as good as finished.

From here on out, he only needed to focus on his own work.

He stepped forward and took the storyboards Zhao Fang Sheng handed him.

"Also, pass a few words along to that Editor Tan... Hmm?"

As Zhao Fang Sheng passed him the storyboards, he started to say something else, but then noticed that Shang Tao was also holding a stack of original pages. He asked curiously, "What's that you're holding?"

Shang Tao took the storyboards, glanced down, and explained, "Oh, these are original pages Editor Tang gave me. They're apparently from a manga artist she discovered, who wants to submit a work for the Manga Award. We're planning to release a few works early, remember? She thought these two would be a good fit and recommended them to me.

"But I haven't had time to read them yet. I was going to look them over when I got back."

"Oh?"

Zhao Fang Sheng took interest and reached out again. "Let me see."

"You want to read them, Vice President? Sure."

Shang Tao didn't mind and handed over the two manga.

Zhao Fang Sheng took them, set them on the desk, and looked down at the first one.

"Uzumaki... Balloons?"

He stared at the title on the cover, surprised. What an odd name.

A head and a balloon?

What kind of manga was it?

Curious, Zhao Fang Sheng slowly opened the first volume.

Then...

Standing to one side, Shang Tao saw the vice president's expression change just as it had when he read the storyboards.

But when he'd read the storyboards, he'd been suspicious.

This time, at first, he was only interested. But gradually... his breathing grew faster, and an expression of shock appeared on his face.

Then, as he turned the pages, his expression began to twist... as though he'd seen something truly terrible.

Seeing this, Shang Tao couldn't help getting curious, too.

What kind of manga was it?

To make him look like that?

Flip, flip, flip—

Soon, Zhao Fang Sheng reached the final page and saw the ending.

Then he froze, staring blankly at the last scene. Just like Miss Li, he seemed to have fallen into some bizarre, terrifying world.

About ten seconds later, he suddenly snapped out of it, his whole body shuddering. He looked up at Shang Tao and murmured, recalling those twisted, bizarre, disturbing scenes that had made him uncomfortable, "Where on earth did she find this lunatic... I mean, such a genius manga artist?"

"Huh?"

Shang Tao was stunned.

"Too fascinating."

Zhao Fang Sheng shook his head and picked up the short manga titled Uzumaki. His face was full of admiration. "Ou Congquan managed to clean up that disastrous mess after taking the story in such a terrible direction, and she still managed to discover such a talented manga artist and such a great work... No, what are we waiting for? We can make an exception this once. There's a deputy editor-in-chief in the Shoujo Manga Editorial Department who's in her twenties. Thirty isn't even old!"

"???"

Shang Tao was even more confused, but the one thing he could be sure of was that the manga Tang Yao had recommended... had to be exceptional.

"This manga absolutely has to be included in the early release."

Having made up his mind, Zhao Fang Sheng set the manga down and said to Shang Tao.

"Uh... okay."

"One more thing."

Zhao Fang Sheng continued, "How old is that editor named Tang Yao? When you return the storyboards, ask her to pick a time. I want to meet with her."

He'd made up his mind, but wanted to confirm her age with Shang Tao first, so he wouldn't back down when he saw how young she was.

"The vice president wants to meet her?"

Shang Tao was taken aback. He thought of what Tang Yao looked like and answered without thinking, "How old? Uh... eighteen?"

"...How old?"

Zhao Fang Sheng froze, then slowly widened his eyes as he stared at Shang Tao. He was even more shocked than he'd been by Uzumaki, his expression seeming to say—are you fucking kidding me?