Shion’s Notes 102

Chapter 102: Seeking Comfort 

Things weren’t looking optimistic for Wenqing Publishing Group lately. While it remained the second-largest novel publishing house in the country, the situation this month was truly precarious. The most obvious sign was that, over the past two months, many authors under their banner had jumped ship to other companies or websites.

Originally, Wenqing, as the second-largest publishing house in the country, had a solid foundation. Although not as good as Qidian, it was still a leading giant in the publishing industry. Compared to other publishing companies like Huanshi and Wanwenku, Wenqing was still quite large.

However, morale at Wenqing was unstable. These past few years, it was the veteran authors who kept things afloat. Newcomers could never rise up the ranks. Even in the annual Newcomer Grand Prize, it was always veteran authors using pseudonyms; there hadn’t been a true newcomer winning the prize for many years. Except for Kongqi that one time, the position had belonged to veterans for at least eight years.

Perhaps because of this, many newcomers felt they had no future here, staying was useless, so they left one after another, not even fearing the penalty for breaching their contracts. For a time, Wenqing suffered heavy losses. A lot of young blood flowed to other companies, especially Qidian, which poached many newcomers from Wenqing, promising cultivation and development.

This year was destined to be a disastrous one for Wenqing. Even before the Newcomer Grand Prize began, so many newcomers started leaving; this was definitely a fatal blow to them.

“As everyone is aware, our editorial department has been experiencing a significant number of departures recently. Several groups of authors have already left. We need to come up with a solution.”

Editor-in-chief Tang He raised this issue at the meeting, his expression serious. Over fifty years old, his face was etched with the marks of time, but his eyes were still incredibly sharp. Having worked in the editorial department for a long time, his gaze was known for its sharpness. Although he no longer directly managed authors, he still had several editors under him, all capable individuals he had trained. Especially Chen Xi, his personally cultivated ace. He had even considered passing the editor-in-chief position to Chen Xi.

“Chief Editor, the market recently has been sluggish. While it appears prosperous, in reality, it has already withered. Many authors feel there’s no future for them here at our company and are jumping ship to other companies. In my opinion, we need to reform first, improve the reward system for authors; we need to retain talent. Have you noticed that we at Wenqing lack new authors?”

Chen Xi stood up and expressed her views on the current situation. Having worked here for several years, she naturally knew the situation here. She also understood that the current Wenqing was severely lacking in fresh talent. Just having veteran authors fighting on the front lines wouldn’t do; they needed new blood.

“Editor Chen, I disagree with this. Just consider, the reward system we offer is already good enough. Look, which company’s reward system is like ours, providing monetary rewards even for word count on online serialization? Do you see other companies offering this? In my view, these people are just being ungrateful. Let them go. We shouldn’t bother keeping those who don’t want to stay.”

“Editor Wu, please don’t be so emotional. Although what Editor Chen said was a bit conservative, the market we’re in is different now. Times change. If we don’t change, we will be eliminated.”

“I think our company’s reward system is good enough. It’s those people lacking in skills. We should recruit more talented individuals.”

“Then how do you propose we recruit talented people? By just talking?”

At the meeting, all the editors argued endlessly, their faces red with debate. But everyone’s starting point was for the sake of the company, for Wenqing. So the editor-in-chief didn’t dissuade them.

Tang He was just thinking about where their system was lacking, how it should be improved, and how to recruit better, more talented new authors. This was a question worth pondering.

Admittedly, Wenqing wasn’t without its super newcomers; Kongqi was one of them. But just relying on Kongqi wasn’t enough; they needed more new blood.
Although Zhao Yuyan was capable, she was very young, with a long way to go. Moreover, she was still a university student who hadn’t stepped into society. She was still somewhat lacking.

The industry appeared very prosperous, but it was only superficial; it was already withering.

The most profitable industries in the entertainment sector were undoubtedly film and television, novels and comics, and games. Among them, film and television was the largest, covering the broadest range. Although the novel industry wasn’t small either, the current situation was quite severe. The competition was too fierce, the strong became increasingly stronger, the weak increasingly weaker, to the point that many newcomers couldn’t bear it and left the circle directly.

Chen Xi sat in her chair, feeling quite exhausted.
How she wished she could make Wenqing do better, but the current situation was too difficult. The changing of the old guard for the new wasn’t happening effectively. Too many veterans, too many newcomers leaving, resulted in a fatal blow for Wenqing.

At this time, Chen Xi suddenly thought of Yu Linna, this girl who once surprised her. If only she could be recruited here; then the situation would improve somewhat, right?
That girl truly had talent. She could craft wonderful stories. Although those stories weren’t quite to the editorial department’s taste, in the readers’ mouths, it was a different story.

Chen Xi wanted to gamble, bring her into Wenqing to be nurtured. But she was unwilling to come in at all. This really troubled her.
How to lure her over became her biggest worry. Because she couldn’t possibly force someone to do something they didn’t want to do.


That evening, Yu Linna stayed at home, watching TV alone in the living room after dinner. Since she was alone again, she had grown accustomed to this kind of life. She recalled that around this time last year, she still had to work night shifts. Especially on New Year’s Eve, she worked a whole night as a courier, sorting packages, didn’t even sleep. That night, she earned less than two hundred yuan.

And this year, she no longer had to work.

She was being “kept” by Ye Zhiyun.

But she didn’t like this kind of life. It felt too comfortable. She was used to being busy; suddenly being this idle truly felt unusual. Moreover, Ye Zhiyun wasn’t related to her at all. Her being so good to her made her feel uneasy. She always wanted to find something to do, at least not be so idle like now.

Suddenly, the door opened. Yu Linna quickly got down from the sofa, wearing her fluffy slippers, and went to the genkan to welcome Ye Zhiyun home. The only person who would open the door at this time was Ye Zhiyun.

“Zhiyun, you’re back. What’s wrong? Did you drink?”

Seeing Ye Zhiyun’s state, she felt something was off. She didn’t have her usual coldness and pride but looked utterly dejected.

Yu Linna thought she had been drinking, but there was no smell of alcohol on her.

“Help me to my room. I’m tired.”

She pressed her forehead, looking truly exhausted.

Having gone through so much in one day, it was inevitable to be exhausted. Especially the Li Muqing matter, it had consumed all her energy.

Yu Linna quickly supported her. This was the first time she saw Ye Zhiyun like this. No matter what, the past Ye Zhiyun was always a strong and reliable person. On the day Yu Linna was almost taken away by Orange River, it was she who shielded Yu Linna with open arms, keeping her here.

But the current Ye Zhiyun looked incredibly unwell.

Supporting her, Yu Linna could clearly see her fatigue, the dark circles under her eyes, the bloodshot eyes. Although she was wearing makeup, her sallow skin was still visible.

“What’s wrong, Zhiyun? What happened? Have you eaten?”

“I ate. I want to sleep. Take me. I’m so tired.”

Ye Zhiyun hardly ever said she was tired. When she said she was tired, that meant she was truly exhausted, truly couldn’t hold on anymore.

Having just suffered blows in both career and love, how could Ye Zhiyun possibly be in a good mood?
But looking at Yu Linna’s face, her mood seemed to improve slightly. Especially the worry on her small face was mesmerizing.
For the first time, she noticed how pretty Yu Linna was, her eyes truly beautiful. Her lips, so cute. I really want to bite them.

She reached out, stroked her hair, leaned against her, and with her support, returned to her room. As soon as her feet stepped inside, Ye Zhiyun closed the door, then forcefully pulled Yu Linna forward, pushing her onto the bed. Before Yu Linna could react, the large bed before her turned into the ceiling, her whole orientation forcefully changed.

Just like that, Ye Zhiyun pinned her wrists down, looking from above at the bewildered blonde girl underneath her, feeling a sense of satisfaction.

“Zhiyun, what are you…?”

Yu Linna didn’t understand what was happening. She struggled forcefully, but it was useless; Ye Zhiyun was too strong.

That cute little person was right beneath her. This is so nice. I can’t help but want to take a bite.

“Nana, you’re so cute.”

She lowered her body, smelled her scent, a rush of satisfaction overwhelming her. Yu Linna’s whole body trembled; she struggled violently.

“What are you doing?! Let go of me!”

Let go of her? How could that be possible?
Ye Zhiyun didn’t want to let go.

She stuck out her tongue and licked her earlobe. Yu Linna instantly froze, her face flushed, letting out a small, incomprehensible sound, completely surrendering beneath her.

“No, don’t do this to me, please don’t!”

Just seeing her struggling inexplicably excited her. How could this girl be so cute?

“Nana, my business deal failed. I’m so sad. Things with Muqing also failed. I’m so sad. Just comfort me, okay?”

She leaned against her undeveloped chest, her voice weak. Such a fragile Ye Zhiyun, it was her first time seeing her. Yu Linna didn’t even have the heart to struggle anymore.
Seeing Ye Zhiyun like this, Yu Linna’s heart softened. Everyone had moments of weakness, Ye Zhiyun was no exception. She remembered how Ye Zhiyun had helped her when she was most helpless. She couldn’t bring herself to abandon her heartlessly.

“Zhiyun…”

Her arms wrapped around her back, pulling her closer, letting her head rest more comfortably against her chest.

It seemed like only this way could she comfort her properly.

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *