He Meijun did not have much sense of belonging to the Qiao Family. For her, wherever her husband and children were was her home.
Thus, compared to her husband Qiao Chang, she was even more eager to move to the Capital to stay by her precious daughter’s side.
Moreover, the last time her daughter sent a letter home, she had mentioned that houses in the Capital were very cheap now. Whether for living or investment, it was a great choice.
House prices in the Capital would surely rise in the future…
Although He Meijun had no interest in real estate investment, she was still quite willing if they could buy a house at a discount.
That said, the “cheap” prices her precious daughter mentioned did not seem cheap to her at all.
“Alright, we’ll head to the Capital to be with our daughter sooner or later anyway. Buying early or late makes no difference.”
Qiao Chang thought for a moment and did not refuse. He nodded in agreement.
However, though both had this plan, the money they had was far from enough to buy a house in the Capital right away. They still needed to save for quite a while!
While He Meijun and Qiao Chang worked hard to buy a house in the Capital and move closer to their precious daughter, Qiao Shu’s career officially began!
On a fine day with birdsong and fragrant flowers, an auspicious occasion, the magazine centered around Qiao Shu officially opened for business!
But the magazine’s name made Qiao Shu frown slightly.
“Fairy Tale Beauty Magazine???”
However, that was not the most speechless name for Qiao Shu.
What really made her eyes go dark was her exclusive children’s publication—
“Fairy Tale Princess Children’s Magazine…???”
Qiao Shu looked at the printed proof issue, and the corner of her mouth twitched faintly.
She had thought she was bad at naming things, but unexpectedly, Weng Kanya’s names were even worse!
Look at these: Fairy Tale Beauty, Fairy Tale Princess—what kind of names were these!
“Can we change the names…”
Qiao Shu rubbed her forehead weakly and said with a hint of reluctance.
Unfortunately, Weng Kanya shook her head.
“No, we’ve already filed them with the authorities.”
Hearing Weng Kanya’s words, Qiao Shu had no choice but to helplessly accept these two names that made her teeth ache.
“Teacher Qiao, what’s wrong? Don’t you like the magazine and publication names???”
Weng Kanya looked at Qiao Shu’s expression and asked nervously.
“These two names were chosen together with Brother Jiang. He thought they were great too…”
“…”
Hearing Weng Kanya’s explanation, Qiao Shu felt a bit regretful. Back then, she had not participated much in their discussions about the magazine.
Whatever they told her at the time, it went in one ear and out the other. She had agreed to everything based on their ideas.
“Teacher Qiao, if you don’t like them, we can delay the launch. Tell me what names you like, and I’ll go change them!”
Weng Kanya, who always prioritized Qiao Shu’s ideas, immediately decided to revise the names.
Although Qiao Shu felt indifferent toward Fairy Tale Beauty or Fairy Tale Princess, thinking they lacked depth and grandeur,
once she realized changing them would be troublesome—especially having to come up with new ones herself—she decided the names were fine.
“No, no, no! The names are great, no need to change!”
Seeing Qiao Shu say this, Weng Kanya did not say anything more.
After all, while she prioritized her goddess’s ideas, she also wanted their magazine to launch quickly!
To make a stunning splash, shock everyone, and let all know that the Capital now had one more magazine society and one more amazing children’s magazine~!
Especially to slap the faces of Happy Children Magazine, where she and Teacher Qiao had worked before!
She could not wait to see Zhu Hao’s shocked, regretful pig face!
—Happy Children Magazine—
“Hey, is Qiao Xiaoqiao really not submitting to our magazine anymore? I’ve received so many letters from readers asking why this issue didn’t continue serializing the story Star Adventures!”
An editor in the magazine society said helplessly.
Because the story Qiao Shu submitted was a novella, its length was a bit longer than a short story. It was serialized in three parts: upper, middle, and lower.
But after Weng Kanya resigned, no one knew if she had said something, but Qiao Xiaoqiao never submitted the follow-up to Star Adventures.
“I called Weng Kanya about this a while ago. She said Qiao Xiaoqiao wouldn’t submit to our stingy magazine anymore. She’s ruthless—she took all of Qiao Xiaoqiao’s original manuscripts when she left and destroyed all of Qiao Xiaoqiao’s contact information. Now we can’t find Qiao Xiaoqiao at all…”
The new editor reassigned to handle Qiao Xiaoqiao could not help but complain about the matter.
Who would have thought Weng Kanya would be so thorough and unyielding?
She took everything related to Qiao Xiaoqiao, but the magazine did not lack one new author like that.
However, no one expected that after the new issue of Joyful Children Fairy Tales went on sale, they received a flood of reader complaints asking why there was no continuation of Qiao Xiaoqiao’s Star Adventures from the previous issue.
Some well-off readers even called directly to inquire, and there were quite a few.
“Look, all these letters from readers asking why Star Adventures is gone.”
One editor opened a cabinet, revealing it stuffed full of letters.
“I’m really starting to suspect our magazine’s sudden sales surge wasn’t because of Tiger King, but because of this Qiao Xiaoqiao. Why else would so many reader letters be addressed to Qiao Xiaoqiao instead of Teacher Tiger King???”
“Didn’t Weng Kanya say before she left that our sales rose because of Qiao Xiaoqiao’s fairy tales?”
“From the current situation, it’s probably true. Our children’s magazine sales spiked because of Qiao Xiaoqiao.”
“Think about it—didn’t our sales start rising right after Qiao Xiaoqiao began submitting…”
“Hey! That’s right! Didn’t our Editor Zhu just—drive away our magazine’s God of Wealth???”
“Yeah! Weng Kanya only had one request: raise Qiao Xiaoqiao’s pay. But Editor Zhu held a personal grudge against her and abused his position to suppress it.”
“Editor Zhu offered Teacher Tiger King 40 yuan per thousand characters but wouldn’t give Qiao Xiaoqiao even 10. He really…”
“This time, he’s done for! The president knows about it too…”
…
At that moment, Zhu Hao stood trembling before President Wan Zhuo. Though he was a bit older than Wan Zhuo and Wan Zhuo’s brother-in-law, with this incident, he did not dare act superior!
He had never imagined that what Weng Kanya said was true—the rise in their children’s magazine sales was indeed because of Qiao Xiaoqiao.
Even more unexpectedly, this young woman was so cunning. Even after resigning, she sent her Reader Survey Report back—and straight to Wan Zhuo!!!
If the new issue had sold without so many reader letters about Qiao Xiaoqiao, that dubious report would not have mattered.
But heaven knew why these readers were so idle—sending letters and making calls about Qiao Xiaoqiao’s Star Adventures. Some with connections even called President Wan Zhuo directly.
He was finished!
“Pa—!” Wan Zhuo slammed the Reader Survey Report onto the desk in front of Zhu Hao.
The sudden noise made Zhu Hao’s plump body shudder.
“President Wan, I, I really didn’t know it would turn out like this. That little girl Weng Kanya set me up…”
Zhu Hao trembled and hurriedly defended himself.
But Wan Zhuo ignored his excuses entirely.
He only knew that such a God of Wealth had come to his magazine, only to be driven away by the brother-in-law he had pulled strings for!!!
“She set you up? Did she set you up or did you set her up? I brought you in to help, and this is how you edit? You don’t even review manuscripts! You ignore a young woman’s diligent Reader Survey Report! I’ve only been away a week, and you drive away our God of Wealth on your own!”
After learning the whole story, Wan Zhuo was so furious he wanted to kill someone.
If Zhu Hao were not his newlywed wife’s brother, he would have fired him long ago! He would not waste words!
“President Wan, I didn’t expect Weng Kanya’s Reader Survey Report to be real, not made up. You don’t know, from Qiao Xiaoqiao’s first submission, she kept nagging me to raise her pay. I thought they were relatives, so I assumed…”
Seeing Zhu Hao still defending himself, Wan Zhuo was so angry he wanted to hit him.
“Shut up! Go apologize to Weng Kanya right now! Get her and Qiao Xiaoqiao back no matter what! Otherwise, don’t come back.”
Wan Zhuo coldly cut him off, resolute.
Hearing this, Zhu Hao knew Wan Zhuo meant it—no joke.
But he also knew his relationship with Weng Kanya was irreparably sour. She had no fondness for him before, and after those events, even if he begged on his knees, she would ignore him.
Not to mention… groveling before such a young girl!
“But what if she, she just won’t come back…”
Zhu Hao said softly, preemptively laying groundwork. If rejected, it would not be his fault.
“Hasn’t she always wanted a raise for Qiao Xiaoqiao? Start there—raise it to 40 yuan per thousand characters, or 50 if needed! Boost Weng Kanya’s salary and position too. As long as they return, everything’s negotiable!”
Wan Zhuo said painfully. The terms he offered were unmatched by other magazines!
And originally, he did not need to—everything was because of this fool before him!
With that thought, Wan Zhuo’s gaze toward Zhu Hao grew even more disgusted.
Yet Zhu Hao, oblivious, continued—
“What if they still refuse?”
“Then quit as editor and go sell sweet potatoes at home!”
In the end, Wan Zhuo kicked Zhu Hao out of the magazine society, telling him not to do anything else recently but apologize to Weng Kanya—even if on his knees kowtowing, he had to bring her back.
Under such pressure from President Wan, Zhu Hao had no choice but to buy big and small gifts from the department store and head to Weng Kanya’s home according to the address.
Unfortunately, Weng Kanya had been busy with the magazine opening lately and rarely went home. With the large space and few employees, she mostly stayed at the magazine society.
“You’re looking for our Xiao Ya? I’m really sorry then. She’s been very busy lately and hasn’t come home much.”
The one who opened the door for Zhu Hao was Weng Kanya’s mother. After she learned his purpose, she said very politely.
As soon as he heard that Weng Kanya had been busy lately, Zhu Hao immediately had a bad premonition in his heart.
Because her being busy meant she had things to do. Could it be that she had already found a new job???
She wouldn’t have jumped ship to another magazine with Qiao Xiaoqiao, would she!!!
Once he thought of this possibility, Zhu Hao immediately panicked.
“So it’s Xiao Ya’s mother. Hello, hello. I’m the editor-in-chief from Xiao Ya’s previous magazine. I’ve come back this time to invite her to return.”
No matter what Zhu Hao was thinking in his heart, the moment he considered that if he didn’t bring Weng Kanya back, he might really lose his job, his face was piled full of smiles.
He fawned over Weng Kanya’s mother with all his might.
As the saying goes, you don’t hit a smiling face—especially one with some social status who had come bearing expensive gifts.
So, very soon, under Zhu Hao’s deliberate guidance, Mother Weng revealed that Weng Kanya had started a magazine with someone else.
The moment Zhu Hao heard that Weng Kanya had actually founded a magazine with someone, the smile on his face froze instantly.
“What?! Xiao Ya started her own magazine?!”
Zhu Hao had thought of the worst outcome, but what he hadn’t expected was that there was an even worse one!
“I never imagined… your family is so wealthy to support her like this in her nonsense. She just graduated from university, right? Magazines aren’t that easy to run…”
Zhu Hao clenched his fist tightly and forced a dry laugh as he sighed.
Mother Weng, hearing him say this, deeply agreed.
“Sigh, wealthy? Our whole family opposed this child starting a magazine. How could we give her money to open one? That would just be throwing money into a pit! An inexperienced young girl fresh out of university has no ability to run a magazine—just like you said, it’s pure folly. But this girl, who knows who she found. She actually got the magazine up and running. Now she’s busy with it all day, never coming home…”
Zhu Hao endured Mother Weng’s nagging patiently. Though very impatient in his heart, for the sake of keeping his editor-in-chief position, he bore it all.
Finally, after Mother Weng finished complaining about Weng Kanya, she belatedly asked what Zhu Hao wanted with her.
Seeing that Mother Weng’s nagging had finally stopped, Zhu Hao breathed a heavy sigh of relief inwardly, then said with a very sincere smile.
“Heh heh, I’m here to invite Xiao Ya back to work. There was a misunderstanding last time, so I’ve come personally to apologize. And our president said that capable and hardworking people like Xiao Ya are too rare, so this time we want to rehire her—not only with a raise, but also appointing her as deputy editor-in-chief!”
Mother Weng, who had just been complaining about her daughter, perked up the moment she heard Zhu Hao say they would raise her girl’s salary and promote her to deputy editor-in-chief.
“Really?! Oh my! That’s great news! So your magazine’s president values our Xiao Ya that much…”
“Of course! Xiao Ya just graduated from university and she’s already deputy editor-in-chief. Who could imagine that? In the future, she might even take my seat as editor-in-chief before thirty! As long as she comes back, her future is boundless!”
Seeing that Mother Weng was clearly moved, Zhu Hao hurriedly painted a rosy picture and boasted.
“Ah! That’s indeed good, but…”
Mother Weng was indeed tempted by what Zhu Hao said. After all, in their family’s eyes, Weng Kanya’s so-called magazine venture was definitely doomed to fail.
Magazines weren’t easy to run these days, and their whole family worked in the industry—they had seen far too many go bankrupt.
That’s why they didn’t want their daughter starting one.
Even if they had money, they wouldn’t give it to her for that.
But she also knew her daughter’s stubborn temper. Even without a penny of family support, she had gotten the magazine started.
Now, convincing her to quit and go back to the old magazine wouldn’t be easy.
“Editor Zhu, my daughter has a stubborn temper. Once she sets her mind on something, ten oxen couldn’t pull her back. So… I’m afraid she won’t agree. I’m her parent, but she’s grown up now, and I can’t control her…”
Hearing Mother Weng say this, Zhu Hao was somewhat disappointed but didn’t give up.
“Could you tell me the name and address of the magazine Weng Kanya founded? I’ll go find her myself.”
“I don’t know the name or address of the magazine, but… she left me their magazine’s phone number. Wait a moment, I’ll find it for you…”
In the end, all Zhu Hao got from the Weng family was a phone number to contact Weng Kanya.
But even just this simple clue of a phone number allowed Zhu Hao to quickly find out the name and address of the magazine Weng Kanya had opened.
“Fairy Tale Beauty Magazine…?”
When Zhu Hao found the magazine founded by Weng Kanya, he stared at the grand signboard in front of him. The location wasn’t remote at all, and more importantly, the magazine’s space inside was large, with clean and bright renovations. He was truly shocked.
Because whether it was the location, the size of the magazine, or the renovations, none of it was cheap—far beyond what Weng Kanya could afford.
He had assumed her magazine would be some rundown old office in a remote spot.
But now…
Instantly, Zhu Hao’s heart sank, because he realized the chances of persuading Weng Kanya to come back had shrunk even further.
“Zhu Hao? What are you doing here?!”
Weng Kanya’s voice quickly interrupted Zhu Hao’s thoughts. He looked up and saw Weng Kanya, dressed in a sharp black skirt suit, appear before him.
It had to be said that Weng Kanya had changed a lot since leaving Happy Children Magazine.
She used to love casual clothes, but now her outfits were mostly sharp and mature.
No choice—she was the president of a magazine now, dealing with all sorts of people. She had to make her young self look more mature and reliable, so her style had changed greatly from before.
Plus, lately she had been by Jiang Zheng’s side, meeting all sorts of big shots in publishing. This had given her unprecedented training, transforming both her abilities and insight, as well as her entire temperament.
If not for her familiar face, Zhu Hao might not have recognized this sharp young woman exuding an air of authority as the little editor who had worked under him before.
“Heh heh, Xiao Ya, I’ve come this time to apologize to you. Before, it was all my…”
Zhu Hao hadn’t finished speaking when Weng Kanya interrupted him.
“Stop—! Zhu Hao, my time is precious right now. I don’t have time for your nonsense. Say what you came for directly. No beating around the bush.”
Weng Kanya gave Zhu Hao a faint glance. Actually, she held no anger toward him anymore. In fact, she was quite grateful—without him, she wouldn’t have partnered with her goddess to start a magazine!
“Uh…”
Facing Weng Kanya’s cold, composed gaze, Zhu Hao gave an awkward smile. He could tell that she was no longer the little editor he could manipulate.
So he could only honestly state his purpose in coming.
And the result was obvious—
“Forget it. I’m not going back. And neither is Teacher Qiao Xiaoqiao.”
“Weng Kanya, President Wan said as long as you come back, the deputy editor-in-chief position is yours! And Teacher Qiao’s fees will rise to forty—no, fifty…”
Weng Kanya scoffed at the “tempting” conditions Zhu Hao offered.
In their eyes, these might seem generous, but her goddess was the boss now! What fees? The whole magazine’s profits were hers!
Would she settle for these peanuts???
However, Weng Kanya knew that rejecting him outright would just lead to him pestering her and wasting her time, so she simply proposed a condition he would never accept—
“Fifty per thousand characters? Heh, Teacher Qiao wouldn’t look at that. Our Teacher Qiao’s fees start at… at least a hundred per thousand characters!”
“As for the president promoting me… a mere deputy editor-in-chief. Make it deputy president, and maybe.”
Hearing Weng Kanya say this, Zhu Hao immediately flew into a rage.
“You! What kind of attitude is that!”
“That’s my attitude. My conditions are on the table. If you agree, I’ll consider bringing Teacher Qiao back. Your choice.”
In the end, Zhu Hao left with this non-result of a result.
President Wan was initially very displeased at Weng Kanya’s arrogant demands and even started to waver on inviting Qiao Xiaoqiao back.
But soon, after Fairy Tale Princess was released, he realized that Weng Kanya’s conditions weren’t much at all! Even if he couldn’t bear it, plenty of others were scrambling to agree!