Three People

"Both works were proposed for serialization by Sister Su. The Garden of Words got a chance to run in Ink Shadow, and even came in first in votes for several weeks in a row."

"By comparison, if my work really were excellent, then surely one Deputy Editor-in-Chief's opposition wouldn't be enough to stop it from being published so easily!"

Su Ruo said nothing. Zhao Qinyin was right. Song Jiayu had a lot of power, but he was nowhere near having the final say at the Ink Fish Manga Company. There was still the editor-in-chief above him, as well as the management and the board of directors...

But if a work's quality far surpassed all the others, even Song Jiayu couldn't suppress it without reason.

The problem was that nowadays, any work handled by Su Ruo was doomed as soon as Song Jiayu interfered, even if it was no worse than the works handled by other editors, or even a little better.

Even if it wasn't doomed, a work that might have been published in a first-tier magazine could only appear in a second-tier one, while a work that might have made it into a second-tier magazine could only appear in a third-tier one...

In Su Ruo's opinion, Zhao Qinyin's latest work had a real chance...

Zhao Qinyin let out a long breath and said,

"Even though I didn't get the chance to serialize this time, I'll work harder next time."

"Uh!" Zhao Qinyin's few words left Su Ruo unsure how to say what she'd originally wanted to.

But in the end, Su Ruo forced herself to say it.

"Actually, besides wanting to be honest with you about all this, there's something else I wanted to suggest..."

"You know my situation. That Deputy Editor-in-Chief is targeting me at the manga company, and the manga artists I work with are suffering along with me. I can introduce you to another editor, someone whose character is beyond reproach. You could switch to..."

"You don't have to finish!" Zhao Qinyin looked at Su Ruo. She more or less understood what she wanted to say, and shook her head.

"Sister Su, do you remember?"

"Three years ago, when I first went to submit a story to the Ink Fish Manga Company, my first work was terrible..."

"After you read it, you criticized me while explaining what was wrong with my manga, and even helped me revise the pages."

"After seven rounds of revisions, that work finally got serialized..."

"Even though it was canceled after just seven chapters, honestly, I was really happy..."

"Although the nine works I've made since then have never gotten the chance to be serialized."

"But if that canceled work hadn't been serialized back then, I might not have been able to keep drawing manga until now."

"I think you're great... I don't want to switch to another editor..."

"If you ever stop working at the Ink Fish Manga Company, I probably won't submit anything to them anymore, either."

Hearing that, Su Ruo was filled with complicated feelings.

It hadn't just been Zhao Qinyin's first manga submission. It had also been Su Ruo's first submission from an artist after she'd started working. Naturally, she'd done everything she could to help, but she hadn't expected Zhao Qinyin to treasure the experience so much.

Part of her thought Zhao Qinyin was a little foolish, but she was also deeply touched.

Just then, Su Ruo's phone vibrated with a WeChat message.

"Mm, I understand now."

"I was wondering why you were sleeping at my place that night and kept shouting, 'Song Jiayu is a big jerk!' Turns out he really is that much of a bastard!"

"Honestly, even though things aren't going well for you at the manga company, you still managed to get The Garden of Words serialized in Ink Shadow for me. That's a lot better than the other two manga companies I submitted it to, which never got back to me."

"As for switching editors, forget it. You've been really responsible as my manga editor, and I'm afraid I wouldn't get used to someone else. Mm, I won't say anything else. That's it!"

At home, Chu Yu thought it over, then sent Su Ruo the message he'd been working on for ages.

If Su Ruo hadn't laid everything bare, Chu Yu would never have guessed that she was in such a difficult position at the Ink Fish Manga Company.

After all, they'd spent two months working together. Beyond being an artist and editor, Chu Yu and Su Ruo had become friends through the meals she'd treated him to and their everyday work chats.

If he'd known about Su Ruo's situation when he first submitted The Garden of Words, Chu Yu would certainly have kept his distance. But now, asking him to switch to another editor while Su Ruo was having a hard time was something he couldn't bring himself to do.

Chu Yu wasn't like the manga artists under Su Ruo who had long relied on the Ink Fish Manga Company for their livelihood. Their ties were all to the company, and they weren't especially skilled themselves. Naturally, they had a lot to think about when their editor offended the Deputy Editor-in-Chief. Faced with Song Jiayu, they could only keep their heads down.

But Chu Yu had plenty of excellent manga from the Different Dimension, so he wasn't worried about his future prospects. Now that he knew what kind of person Song Jiayu was, he had no intention of catering to him.

Besides, his contract only tied him down for a year, and two months had already passed. At worst, if he didn't enjoy drawing manga here, he could just leave the Ink Fish Manga Company next year.

Su Ruo's nose stung. Recently, the manga artists under her had been distancing themselves from her one after another, afraid that they'd get caught in the crossfire and incur Song Jiayu's resentment.

There weren't many authors willing to keep working with her now. She'd planned to be honest about what was happening and let the artists under her decide for themselves.

If, in the end, no one wanted to keep working with her, she'd give up the place where she'd worked for three years and leave the Ink Fish Manga Company.

But she hadn't expected that some of the artists who'd worked with her for years would seem regretful on the surface, yet move quickly to switch editors.

And her two youngest artists were both high school students.

Yet they were so loyal.

"All right, let's eat!" Su Ruo wasn't one to get overly sentimental.

Since they were willing to support her, she couldn't dampen Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin's enthusiasm.

If anything, she was more fired up than ever!

"Oh, I nearly forgot. There's something I need to tell you two!" Su Ruo said as she ate, picking up her phone at the same time.

"You two?" Zhao Qinyin asked, puzzled.

"Who else?"

"Mm, the person you mentioned earlier, the author of The Garden of Words, Teacher Shui Xin!" Su Ruo said as she typed a message on WeChat.

"Ding-dong!"

A notification sounded on Chu Yu's phone.

Su Ruo had sent him a message.

Chu Yu opened it. When he saw what it said, his eyes narrowed.

"Two weeks from now, the company will hold a serialization meeting to fill a vacancy in the manga magazine Man Ying left by a completed series. The Garden of Words will be ending around then, too."

"Kid, if you have an idea for a new series and want to compete for this opportunity, you'd better try to draw at least three chapters over the next two weeks!"

"A series in Man Ying has to run for at least six months. Shorter series are unlikely to be approved, just like The Garden of Words. Keep that in mind, kid! If you want to compete for this chance, your new manga needs to be at least medium length!"

Chu Yu thought for a moment, then replied,

"Got it!"

Su Ruo chatted with Chu Yu while also telling Zhao Qinyin the news.

"So, do you want to give it a shot?" Su Ruo asked.

"No!" Zhao Qinyin thought it over.

"Black Magician has been taking up all my thoughts lately. I don't have any ideas for a new work yet..."

"I see!" Su Ruo nodded.

It wasn't as if entering the competition guaranteed anything.

When the time came in two weeks, there would probably be more than twenty works competing for the opening. It was just as well Zhao Qinyin was giving up. Otherwise, having two works in a row rejected for serialization within two weeks would be too pitiful!

"Um..."

As Su Ruo thought it over, Zhao Qinyin hesitated, then said,

"What is it?" Su Ruo looked up at Zhao Qinyin.

"You've been chatting with Teacher Shui Xin on your phone this whole time, right?" Zhao Qinyin asked after hesitating for a moment.

"Mm, that's right!" Su Ruo nodded.

"What kind of person is he?" Zhao Qinyin asked.

"Are you interested in him?" Su Ruo smiled.

"Mm. The Garden of Words is wonderful, whether it's the art, the story, the paneling, or so many other things. He's much better than me! It's hard to believe he's a newcomer."

"I really like The Garden of Words, and I'd love to meet him!"

"Why do you want to meet that guy?" Su Ruo took a sip of tea and looked at Zhao Qinyin.

"Because I think he's amazing. His very first work after debuting achieved so much, so I guess I admire him!" Zhao Qinyin said earnestly.

"I see. Then I think you'd better not meet him. It would ruin your image of Shui Xin."

"I don't quite understand," Zhao Qinyin said, puzzled.

"Is he not the beautiful manga artist people have heard about, but an older auntie of a manga artist?"

"Beautiful? Auntie?" Su Ruo was taken aback, then couldn't help laughing.

"So that's the rumor about him?"

Zhao Qinyin didn't really understand what Su Ruo was laughing about, so she didn't dwell on it.

Instead, she asked the question she'd been wanting to ask.

"Will Teacher Shui Xin be attending the serialization meeting in two weeks?"

Su Ruo's phone happened to receive a message just then, and she checked it right away.

"Oh, perfect... I just got a message from him!"

Su Ruo looked up at Zhao Qinyin.

"He replied. He said he's going!"