The Argument

Su Ruo stood up, her pretty face fearless.

For the past few months, Song Jiayu had been targeting her in all kinds of situations. Because of their superior-subordinate relationship, there wasn't much Su Ruo could do about him.

Now that she finally had an opportunity, she couldn't back down—not just to give Chu Yu's new work a good platform, but also to vent the anger she'd been holding inside.

Who cares if you're a deputy editor-in-chief? You already hold a grudge against me, so why should I keep putting up with you?

So Su Ruo didn't mince words.

"Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song, please remember that the main purpose of this meeting is to discuss the quality of the works."

"Given Teacher Dong Yun's standing, even if her work doesn't pass this serialization meeting, I'm sure the company will still give her a chance to serialize it in Man Ying. So how can you say she won't be able to serialize it?"

"But Teacher Dong Yun knows that her work will be considered at this serialization meeting. If we don't decide to serialize her new work here, how will that show our sincerity?"

"As a flagship creator for Tian Yin Comics... she came to Man Ying, and we can't even give her a serialization seat..." Song Jiayu frowned, glaring at Su Ruo with fury in his eyes.

"So what? The comics industry is an industry where you have to earn a living through your ability..." Su Ruo cut him off.

"After being rated by all the editors, Rurouni Kenshin scored higher than Secret Girl. The strong rise, the weak fall. It's a simple principle. Why drag in things that have nothing to do with the comics themselves?" Su Ruo raised her voice.

"I admit that the first three chapters of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal are indeed excellent, and the editors' scores for it were higher than those for Secret Girl."

"But I still want to point out that everyone is only judging the first three chapters of these two works."

"Teacher Dong Yun has been a manga artist for many years and has drawn two or three long-running series. It's only natural for her new work to have a slow start, which is why it was outscored for the time being by the work of an unknown creator."

"But if you think about the long term... between an established creator with a large fanbase and a newcomer who's been in the industry for only two months, who would you rather trust?"

"I admit that the first three chapters of Rurouni Kenshin are high quality, but haven't we all seen enough works that start strong and end poorly?" Song Jiayu continued.

"Before this, the author of this work, Shui Xin, serialized a short comic of just seven chapters on Ink Shadow. After The Garden of Words ended, quite a few readers said it had a bad ending."

"If even a work of just seven chapters turned out like that, do you really believe Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal can maintain its quality later on? I doubt it."

"Compared to Teacher Dong Yun's experience, Shui Xin is still too young!" Song Jiayu said gravely.

"What Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song just said is completely groundless. First of all, starting from its fourth week of serialization, The Garden of Words ranked first in popularity votes on Ink Shadow for four consecutive weeks. More readers supported its ending than opposed it." Su Ruo slapped both hands on the table.

"What work doesn't have a few haters? Forget The Garden of Words—even those hugely popular works currently being serialized on RB Island have plenty of people calling them boring. Is Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song going to blindly follow the crowd, too?"

"And Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song's speculation is pure fabrication. What reason do you have to believe the quality of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal will decline later on? And what reason do you have to think the same problem won't affect Teacher Dong Yun?"

"Aren't there plenty of examples of veteran manga artists whose work has flopped?"

"You're turning a blind eye to the difference in the works' quality right now, judging their future prospects solely by their past achievements and how long they've been creating. Is that really something a responsible editor would say?"

"If everyone did things the way Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song does, we might as well dismiss all the young manga artists under contract with the company and bring back those teachers in their sixties who retired a few years ago to keep drawing comics!"

"You..." Song Jiayu's face turned livid. He was at a loss for words and could only force something out after a long while.

"I've read the name for the rest of Teacher Dong Yun's new work. I can only say that the story after the first three chapters is much better. Her new work is absolutely worth looking forward to. There's no question of its quality declining."

"What a coincidence!" Su Ruo took a stack of manuscripts out of her bag.

"These are the names for chapters four through nine of Rurouni Kenshin. I want to point out that not only has he drawn three chapters of the manuscript during this time, he's also completed the names through chapter nine."

"I asked Teacher Shui Xin about it. He said the first three chapters are only the beginning, and the story afterward will be even more exciting."

"There's no question of its quality declining, either!"

"Editor-in-Chief, you can look them over before making your decision."

Su Ruo had guessed long ago that Song Jiayu would target her today, so she'd been prepared for what he might say. That was why she'd brought the names for the rest of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.

She hadn't made any copies, though, so she only handed them to the editor-in-chief to read.

Song Jiayu clenched his fists. He wanted to vent his anger, but managed to hold himself back.

All at once, the two who had been at each other's throats fell silent.

Pang Feng took the names and flipped through them carefully.

Page after page, he remained unhurried, even with dozens of people waiting for him.

Twenty minutes later.

He closed the names and looked at everyone.

"Indeed, the story later on is just as good. There's no decline in quality."

"All right, that's enough discussion. Let's move on to the vote."

"Those who support Secret Girl winning this meeting, raise your hands."

About eight or nine people in the seats below raised their hands, scattered among the crowd. An ordinary editor's vote counted for one point, while Deputy Editor-in-Chief Song's counted for three.

Even so, the total only came to about twelve points.

Song Jiayu looked furious. As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter if Dong Yun lost her chance to serialize her work.

But if he, a deputy editor-in-chief, got overturned by a mere editor like Su Ruo, where would that leave his authority? He could already imagine the hundreds of people at the company gossiping about him over the next few days.

He stared daggers at Su Ruo.

Su Ruo didn't care in the slightest. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Now, those who support serializing Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal in Man Ying, please raise your hands."

As soon as he finished speaking, Editor-in-Chief Pang Feng was the first to raise his hand.

That meant he'd cast his five-point vote in favor of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.

Su Ruo was the second to raise her hand.

The editors below exchanged glances.

If the sky fell, the editor-in-chief would hold it up. Even if the worst came to pass, Song Jiayu would go after Su Ruo anyway.

Besides, they'd been unhappy with Song Jiayu for a long time. His connections at the company ran deep, so they'd only dared to be angry in silence.

Now that they had a chance, they might as well annoy him a little.

One after another, more than twenty people raised their hands.

Song Jiayu took a deep breath. He knew the matter was settled, and his expression returned to normal.

Su Ruo's excitement was beyond words.

"In that case, Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal will take the vacant serialization slot in Man Ying. It will begin serialization in the Man Ying issue released two weeks from now!" Pang Feng's usually stern face finally softened into a slight smile. He looked at Su Ruo with a gaze full of encouragement.

Whatever else could be said, Su Ruo was a junior he'd personally mentored. He'd long been unhappy with the way Song Jiayu had used all sorts of tactics to bully her at the company these past few months.

But given Song Jiayu's connections in Modu and on the board of directors of Ink Fish Manga Company, and the fact that even though he was nitpicking, there was always some semblance of reason behind it, Pang Feng hadn't been able to act.

But today, Song Jiayu had chosen to pull this stunt at a serialization meeting, and happened to run up against a work like Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal. He had no one else to blame.

Half the reason he'd been slapped in the face was that he'd stuck it out himself.