Dragon Star Award Qualification

Compared to the annual gala on Saturday, Chu Yu was more concerned about the popularity poll results on Friday.

With Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal's seventh and eighth chapters both taking the top spot in Man Ying's popularity, as long as Chu Yu's popularity poll still held first place today, it would mean that one of Luo Province's three Dragon Star Award nomination slots belonged to Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal.

Precisely because of this, even though Chu Yu had told Zhao Qinyin to rest these few days and not come over.

She and Su Ruo still arrived at Chu Yu's home on time.

The feeling of everyone being present, waiting for the notification SMS, was perhaps also a joy of manga creation!

How would the work support be this week? Would the fan count increase?

However, the three of them tonight were less tense than usual for this time of day.

After all, considering that last week's eighth chapter's vote count exceeded Secret Girl by nearly ten thousand, with the total votes just shy of fifty thousand.

Whether it was Secret Girl, Magic Realm, or Tian Shu, the threat they posed to Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal was relatively small.

"Oh right, Chu Yu, Zhao Qinyin, the annual gala tomorrow starts at 6 PM and is expected to last until around midnight. The location is the Ming City Convention Center in the city center. The company has rented it out for tomorrow, so be prepared and don't get lost!" Su Ruo was practically lying on the heater, still shivering slightly after walking into Chu Yu's home from the sub-zero temperatures outside.

"Lost?" Chu Yu asked, confused.

"Aren't you driving with us tomorrow?"

"I'd like to, but to ensure Ink Fish's annual gala goes smoothly, our editorial department has been assigned tasks for the event. I have to get to the venue before noon, so you'll have to go by yourselves in the afternoon."

"Here, these are your two invitations. Remember to bring them tomorrow, or you won't be able to enter the venue," Su Ruo said, pulling out two red invitations and handing them to Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin.

"And Chu Yu, no matter what, you are now a top author at Ink Fish Manga Company. The company has arranged for you and some of our other well-known manga artists to go on stage and give a speech towards the end of the event, just before it winds down."

"Just go up there and say a few pleasantries, talk about how you owe your current achievements to the company's cultivation, the editorial department's support, and so on. Just show your face at the gala so everyone knows who you are. For the rest of the time, you can just sit below, eat, drink, and watch the performances," Su Ruo said, looking at Chu Yu.

"I have to go on stage to speak?"

"That sounds like too much trouble..." Chu Yu sighed.

"I wish I hadn't..."

"Don't complain. When your results weren't this good before, you had the option to refuse Ink Fish's invitation. But now? Just save it. Can the Ink Fish annual gala proceed without its top-ranking manga artists?" Su Ruo understood Chu Yu well and knew what he was thinking.

As she was speaking.

Su Ruo's expression turned serious, and she took out her phone from her pocket.

Is it here?

Chu Yu and Zhao Qinyin immediately turned their gaze towards her.

"Mm!" Su Ruo looked at her phone, then back at the two of them, a smile involuntarily appearing on her face.

"Although everyone guessed the result, now I can finally rest easy!"

"First place."

"And the number of people in the popularity poll has increased again, officially breaking the 50,000 mark..."

"Hahaha..." As she spoke, Su Ruo couldn't help but laugh.

Although she was restraining herself, her trembling shoulders let Chu Yu know how happy she was right now.

"What's wrong? It's not that serious!" Although Chu Yu was also very happy, Su Ruo was being too exaggerated.

"No... I just realized that with this issue, we got first place, which means we've topped Man Ying for three consecutive issues."

"That means the qualification for the Dragon Star Award has already been confirmed for Rurouni Kenshin: Trust and Betrayal..."

"I just remembered a few weeks ago, a certain guy actively raised an objection in the meeting regarding this year's Dragon Star Award qualification, acting like he had a sure win..."

"Now, that guy is probably getting angry somewhere!"

"Is it worth it for you to get worked up over something like this? I doubt you'll be happier than this even when you get married!" Chu Yu shook his head.

"You're an adult now, you need to be dignified."

While Su Ruo was laughing at someone, Dong Yun also received the SMS results and learned about this week's popularity rankings.

"Lost..."

Although Dong Yun's voice was low, she wasn't overly discouraged.

Because Dong Yun had always understood two principles: the first was that on the path of manga, she was excellent and talented.

The second principle was that on the path of manga, there were people in front of her who were even more excellent and more talented.

She had always thought that those true manga geniuses would have already gone to Shanghai, that bigger stage, to display their talents. She never expected to encounter such a person here in Luo Province, at Ink Fish Manga Company.

Losing the qualification for the Dragon Star Award didn't matter much to Dong Yun. After all, she had participated in the Dragon Star Award selection twice before, but was eliminated in the preliminary selection.

Although the market reaction for her new work, Secret Girl, was better than before, Dong Yun had no confidence when she compared it to the quality of works that could truly pass the preliminary selection.

This is good too. Since she was rejected, it saved her the trouble of being entangled.

However, Song Jiayu, who was in front of Dong Yun, had a much uglier expression.

Compared to Dong Yun's ability to easily accept the fact that she lost, Song Jiayu was clearly uncomfortable.

But regardless, this result was not surprising to Chu Yu and the others, or even most of the people at Ink Fish, before today's voting results.

So Song Jiayu quickly returned to normal.

"Speaking of which, besides his editor, has anyone in our Manga Company ever met that Manga Artist..."

Song Jiayu lit a cigarette and said to Dong Yun.

"That's right, that guy hardly ever comes to the Manga Company. All manga-related matters are handled by the editor who collaborates with him."

Dong Yun thought for a moment.

"Right now, all the Manga Artists in Ming City are extremely curious about this person. Judging by the current development trend of his works, it's not impossible that he'll soon be recognized by everyone as Luo Province's number one Manga Artist."

"After all, this work has only been serialized up to Chapter Nine. There's still a lot of room for development."

"Luo Province's number one..." Song Jiayu exhaled slowly.

"Then I'm really looking forward to meeting him tomorrow."

"Perhaps, that guy won't necessarily become my enemy..."

(Writer's block, a plot point isn't quite making sense. This is the only chapter tonight. I'll try to make it up tomorrow.)