“Mom, I’m heading out.”
After finishing lunch, Qiao Shu took a short nap. When she saw that the time was about right, she tidied up and prepared to go out.
He Hong knew that Qiao Shu was going to meet an editor from the magazine, and the meeting was at a teahouse near their Military District Compound, so it was very safe.
Even so, she still couldn’t help but worry about Qiao Shu.
“Shushu, how about Mom goes with you?”
Hearing He Hong’s words, Qiao Shu quickly waved her hand.
“Mom, no need. You go ahead with your things. I can manage on my own. Besides, Brother Xiao Li is driving me there. With him watching over me, it’ll be fine.”
After saying that, Qiao Shu changed into her outdoor shoes and slowly got into the car.
Soon, the car arrived at the teahouse where Qiao Shu had arranged to meet Weng Kanya.
Although it was the weekend, the area near the Military District Compound was somewhat remote, so there weren’t many people in the teahouse.
Qiao Shu chose the most corner spot, by a bright window, and sat down.
No sooner had she sat down than a server from the teahouse came over, her face red, holding a menu.
“Comrade, what tea would you like?”
Taking the menu, Qiao Shu glanced at the tea options and suddenly missed the wide variety of teas and drinks from her later life.
“I’ll have a pot of Pu’er tea. Oh, and prepare two sets of tea ware.”
After ordering, Qiao Shu handed the menu back to the server and politely smiled at her.
The girl, who had two braids and looked especially pure-hearted, immediately turned as red as a big apple.
She stammered for a long time without saying a word, then ran off as if fleeing.
Seeing the server’s reaction, Qiao Shu blinked helplessly. She had often encountered such situations in her previous life when she went out to eat.
If she guessed right, this young server was probably about to bring her something extra…
As Qiao Shu thought this to herself, sure enough, the female server soon came back carrying a tray.
On the tray was not only a pot of Pu’er tea but also two plates of delicate tea pastries.
“Comrade, th-this is for you.”
Qiao Shu watched the server blush as she spoke and sighed helplessly in her heart.
Truth be told, this was exactly why she didn’t like going out to shop. No matter what she bought, they either refused payment or gave little gifts, which made her, with her thin skin, feel burdened.
Over time, she simply stopped going out.
“Alright, thank you.”
Qiao Shu knew that even if she refused, it would be pointless, so she didn’t bother arguing. She figured she could just leave money for the pastries when she left.
Seeing Qiao Shu accept them, the female server looked clearly delighted.
Her flushed face was full of satisfied smiles.
Qiao Shu ignored the female server and the gazes of the other people in the teahouse. She calmly poured herself a cup of Pu’er tea and looked out the window at the scenery, quietly waiting for her editor, Weng Kanya, to arrive.
Five minutes before their appointed time, a young woman clutching a briefcase hurried in from outside the teahouse.
Seeing the young woman with the briefcase and black-framed glasses, out of breath from running, Qiao Shu immediately guessed that this was her editor—Weng Kanya.
“Comrade, table for how many?”
Panting, Weng Kanya rushed into the teahouse and checked her wristwatch, letting out a heavy sigh of relief.
She thought to herself with relief that she had made it—she wasn’t late!
This was her first time coming to such a distant teahouse, and she wasn’t familiar with the routes. She could have arrived half an hour early, but she took the wrong bus on the way, and after going back and forth, she had almost been late.
“Two… two people. I arranged to meet a friend here. She might not have arrived yet…”
Before Weng Kanya could finish, a clear, sweet voice came from beside her.
“You must be Editor Weng Kanya.”
Hearing her own name, Weng Kanya responded instinctively without even seeing who had spoken.
“Yes! I’m Weng Kanya!”
Only after speaking did Weng Kanya realize that her goddess, Teacher Little Qiao, was already there.
She nervously straightened her disheveled hair from the run, then looked toward the voice with eager anticipation.
When she looked and clearly saw Qiao Shu’s unbelievably beautiful face, she froze completely.
The briefcase in her hands dropped to the ground with a “bang.”
Before meeting her goddess Teacher Little Qiao, she had imagined what the author of such wonderful fairy tales might look like.
She had thought of countless possibilities: gentle, cute, stern, even a middle-aged person.
But she had never imagined that her goddess Little Qiao would be such a stunningly beautiful young girl, so beautiful that she outshone everything else in the world.
The moment you saw her, your eyes could see nothing else—just her, because she was so radiant…
Yet, this dazzling, shining girl was the talented author of those wonderful fairy tales, Teacher Little Qiao. How could Weng Kanya not be shocked!
Under such a tremendous impact, Weng Kanya felt that her goddess was like a deity. She already had such incredible talent, and now this unparalleled beauty too!
Who wouldn’t praise her as truly exceptional…
“Editor Weng? Are you alright?”
Seeing Weng Kanya staring at her with wide eyes, more shocked than anyone else, Qiao Shu asked helplessly.
“G-good, I’m fine!”
Hearing Qiao Shu’s words, Weng Kanya finally snapped out of it.
She took a deep breath to steady herself, then shakily picked up her briefcase from the floor. Feeling like she was dreaming, she walked to the seat across from Qiao Shu and sat down.
“Y-you’re Teacher Little Qiao??”
Weng Kanya still couldn’t believe that the talented Teacher Little Qiao was such a beautiful young girl.
“Mm, that’s me, Little Qiao. My real name is Qiao Shu.”
With that, Qiao Shu smiled and poured Weng Kanya a cup of Pu’er tea.
Hearing Qiao Shu reveal her real name, Weng Kanya finally fully believed that this unbelievably pretty girl was indeed her goddess, Teacher Little Qiao.
“Hello, Teacher Qiao. S-sorry, I just didn’t expect you to be so beautiful…”
Weng Kanya blushed as she looked at Qiao Shu, feeling so flustered by that face that she nearly forgot her own name. Her mind was dizzy, and she completely forgot why she had come.
“It’s fine. So, about the royalties you came to discuss today—what’s the situation?”
Seeing that Weng Kanya’s attention was entirely on her face, Qiao Shu proactively steered the topic to royalties and got straight to the point.
Hearing this, Weng Kanya’s focus snapped back.
“Ahem! Teacher Qiao, it’s like this. Your royalties… the chief editor at Happy Children Magazine has always refused to increase them…”
Though it was hard to bring up, Weng Kanya quickly explained the whole story clearly, from beginning to end.
Only then did Qiao Shu learn that her royalties had always been three yuan, not four.
The extra yuan she received each time had all been covered by Weng Kanya herself.
For a moment, Qiao Shu looked at Weng Kanya with a complicated expression.
She truly didn’t understand Weng Kanya’s behavior.
“Why… did you do that?”
Qiao Shu voiced her confusion.
“I…”
Weng Kanya had originally planned to say something nice, blaming it all on her love for Qiao Shu’s fairy tales and her willingness to contribute without compensation.
But facing Qiao Shu’s clear, bright, beautiful eyes, she revealed her hidden motive.
“To be honest with you, Teacher Qiao, on one hand, I genuinely love your fairy tales—I’m your most loyal reader.
On the other hand… I’m an editor. I can see that you’re an exceptionally talented fairy tale writer. You may be a newcomer now, but I believe that if you keep writing, you’ll become a famous author.
And I… this is my own kind of investment in you. I want to work for you, serve you, show you my value and dedication, so you’ll let me be your editor forever and help me become an influential editor in publishing.”
Hearing Weng Kanya’s words, Qiao Shu’s confusion cleared up.
“That makes sense…”
Qiao Shu nodded in understanding and sighed.
She had wondered why Weng Kanya, who had never met her, would go so far.
Turns out, she had her own little motives…
“Teacher Qiao, I know my thinking is despicable. Please forgive me!”
Weng Kanya stood up from her seat and bowed respectfully to Qiao Shu, apologizing sincerely.
Seeing Weng Kanya make such a big deal of it, Qiao Shu smiled and shook her head, saying softly.
“It’s fine, no need to apologize. I think having those motives is perfectly normal. If you didn’t, I’d actually be a bit wary. Besides, didn’t you say you made a reader survey report for me? I think you’re great. I like you.”
“…T-Teacher Qiao, y-you said you like me…”
In an instant, Weng Kanya—who had been anxious and worried that her honesty would make her goddess dislike her—froze upon hearing those words.
The panic and nervousness on her face turned into a silly smile, her eyes staring blankly at Qiao Shu.
Qiao Shu didn’t take to heart how her casual “like” had stunned the other woman. She simply quietly looked through the reader survey report that Weng Kanya had handed over earlier.
Page by page, she had to admit that Weng Kanya really had something special.
Reader survey reports might not be rare in the future, but this was the 1980s!
Thinking to use a reader survey report to understand why magazine sales were rising was indeed forward-thinking.
Especially since Weng Kanya was so young and had gathered so many readers for this report—it was truly impressive.
From this alone, Weng Kanya was someone smart, patient, hardworking, and capable of getting things done.
“This reader survey report you made is excellent. I bet your chief editor didn’t even look at it.”
Qiao Shu skimmed through it quickly, placed the reader survey report on the table, and said calmly.
Seeing that her goddess had finished reading it and even mentioned her former chief editor, Weng Kanya perked up immediately.
“He did look, but he claimed my reader survey report was fake, that I forged it myself! So… I’m really sorry, Teacher Qiao. It’s because of my feud with that Zhu Hao that you couldn’t get your royalties raised…”
Later, with pointers from others, Weng Kanya realized that part of the reason Qiao Shu’s royalties hadn’t increased was her own fault.
Thinking of this, she felt even more guilty toward Qiao Shu.
“Teacher Little Qiao, I’m sorry. It’s my fault you didn’t get the royalties you deserve with your level of work…”
Seeing Weng Kanya apologize again, Qiao Shu cut her off.