Invitation

"Damn it!"

In the office, Song Jiayu's face was grim.

For the past two days, the most frequently heard words in the industry were Shui Xin, Rurouni Kenshin... and every time he heard these words, he would think of that woman, Su Ruo.

He could even see some staff members secretly looking at him and laughing as he walked into the manga company.

He could guess what they were laughing about.

The entire manga company knew that Song Jiayu had failed to win Su Ruo's heart and, driven by hatred, had tried to suppress her to force her to yield.

But what was the result? After months of effort, he had failed to suppress Su Ruo at the manga company. Instead, Su Ruo herself had discovered a monstrous newcomer like Shui Xin. All his previous actions now looked like a joke.

More importantly, he felt a strong threat from the work Rurouni Kenshin.

A newcomer, with no existing popularity boost, had managed to rank fourth on Man Ying with just two chapters of serialization, garnering over ten thousand votes.

In Song Jiayu's opinion, it was only a matter of time before Dong Yun's Secret Girl completely surpassed the two pillar manga, Magic Realm and Tian Shu, in terms of popularity.

But what about Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal?

It was too terrifying. The first installment only had over four thousand votes, and the second installment had over fourteen thousand. What about the third and fourth installments?

Would it eventually overtake them?

If someone had told the staff of Mo Yu before that a newcomer manga artist would reach the top of Man Ying, it would have been met with ridicule and laughter.

But now, the thought of this possibility didn't make Song Jiayu want to laugh. Instead, he felt an invisible pressure.

After all, he, a person from Modu, had come to Luo Province, to Mo Yu, not for fun. His main purpose was to add some highlights to his resume.

For example, when he returned to Modu in the future and joined the manga company his Father had dedicated his life to, his resume would state that he had served as the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Mo Yu, Luo Province's top manga company, and had edited the number one most popular work on Man Ying, Luo Province's top manga periodical. This would undoubtedly be pleasing to the eye.

But what if that number one on his resume became second, or third...

Then it would be meaningless.

People would only remember the first place, not the second or third...

If that happened, his trip to Luo Province would have been in vain, and his Father would be disappointed in him.

Although his Father held a high position in that manga company, he wasn't powerful enough to cover the sky with one hand. There were many competitors and rivals, and everything had its rules. If he wanted to inherit his Father's position, connections, and relationships after his Father retired, he couldn't afford to lose at the start. If he couldn't achieve anything significant in a place like Mo Yu, how could others believe in his abilities when he returned to Modu?

No, this couldn't happen.

Song Jiayu looked up.

At this moment, his situation with Su Ruo was no longer just a battle of pride.

It was a competition for benefits.

"Hey, did you see it? The new issue of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal that Man Ying serialized last week?"

"Of course I did! Damn, Kenshin was so cool, his moves, his swordsmanship."

"Who's talking about that? I'm talking about the woman who appeared at the end. She's my new goddess in the making."

"Wasn't your goddess Xiao Jun Jiang? What, you changed goddesses after that work ended? You're really fickle..."

"Shui Xin really knows how to keep people hooked. Ending the second chapter like this, what's the name of the girl who appeared at the end? What's her identity? What's going to happen next? They didn't reveal anything, really keeping us on the edge of our seats."

"The fact that they can keep you hooked just proves the author is good. Otherwise, it wouldn't be hooking you. If a work isn't good and they do this, impatient viewers will just drop the manga instead of being hooked and continuing to read."

"I wish my future boyfriend was as cool as Kenshin."

"Stop dreaming. How are you going to get a boyfriend?"

"Heh heh..."

"But is this work really drawn by the same author who drew The Garden of Words? The difference feels so huge! Before, they drew romance manga, but what are they drawing now? War, political intrigue, passion, romance, it seems to have a bit of everything! But, it's really good!"

Just like Su Ruo, Chu Yu felt something different today.

For some inexplicable reason, the characters his classmates, those anime fanatics, were discussing had shifted from other manga works to Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal. Even Magic Realm and Tian Shu, serialized in the same issue, and Secret Girl, had less discussion than this work.

They were also puzzled why Chu Yu wasn't joining the discussion, as Chu Yu was usually very interested in similar topics.

In the past, his classmates who loved reading manga would gather after class to discuss the plots of currently popular manga. But when one day, they started discussing Rurouni Kenshin, Chu Yu truly realized that Rurouni Kenshin seemed to have really become popular.

It only took one week, one chapter.

Through the Man Ying platform, this work quickly spread throughout Luo Province, at a speed that was astonishing.

Fans spontaneously gathered, and Shui Xin's previous work, The Garden of Words, also became known to many manga fans. The Ink Shadow magazine that published The Garden of Words was even being sold online at two to three times the price to fans of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.

In Chu Yu's system space, World Points were also growing constantly, exceeding two hundred thousand. His bank account deposits were also steadily increasing!

Evening, at Chu Yu's home.

Chu Yu looked at the box of letters in front of him, feeling a bit lost.

"They're all addressed to me?"

"That's right," Su Ruo said.

"What should I do with them then?" Chu Yu looked at the pile of letters.

"Read them if you want. You can write back if you have time, or keep them, or figure out a way to deal with them yourself."

"You might get a lot of these in the future..." Su Ruo added.

"Oh, right. I came today because I have something to tell you," Su Ruo said, looking at Chu Yu.

"Something? What is it?" Chu Yu asked, a little confused.

"This is a supplementary agreement. After you sign it, your manuscript fee will increase from six hundred per page to one thousand per page," Su Ruo said with a smile, taking out an agreement from her bag.

"The Manga Company proposed this on their own, so you don't need to worry about anything. After all, the previous price of six hundred per page was just the standard for ordinary manga artists at Man Ying. After last week's voting results came out, the Manga Company will naturally adjust your corresponding manuscript fee based on your potential."

"My salary increased again." Chu Yu felt a bit numb. It had only been two weeks, and this was his second salary raise.

"Also, Chinese New Year is about two months away. We'll be holding an annual meeting before the year ends. We'll invite executives from major companies that collaborate with our Manga Company, the Manga Company's management, the chairman, and manga artists deemed significant enough by the Manga Company to attend this annual meeting." Su Ruo finally revealed the main point she wanted to convey.

"The Editor-in-Chief told me today that you're on the invitation list!"

"He asked me to confirm your decision. Do you... want to go?"

"Annual meeting?" Chu Yu looked at the supplementary agreement in front of him.

He wasn't particularly interested in such events, but since they were proactively increasing his pay and inviting him, he felt a little bad about refusing.

"Then... I'll go!" Chu Yu said cautiously.

"Alright!" Su Ruo smiled.

"Oh, and you can bring one person with you. A girlfriend, family member, or anyone else."

"I can bring someone?" Chu Yu glanced at Zhao Qinyin, who had been silent beside him.

Chu Yu understood that his invitation was definitely related to the success of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal. Regardless, Zhao Qinyin had contributed to the creation of Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal. Since he could bring someone, she was the first person he thought of.

"Do you want to go?" Chu Yu asked her.

"Huh? Me?" Zhao Qinyin hadn't expected Chu Yu to ask her.

She definitely wanted to go. As a struggling manga artist, the chance to meet so many well-known manga artists was something she couldn't ask for more.

However, thinking about Su Ruo's previous sentence, she felt a little embarrassed.

After a long pause, she managed to utter a single word.

"Yes!"

"Okay, then it's settled!" Su Ruo nodded.