Originally, sales of Joyful Children Fairy Tales, that children’s magazine, had been declining year after year. However, after Qiao Xiaoqiao began submitting manuscripts, sales finally started to pick up, with each issue selling better than the last.
But this positive trend only lasted for a short three issues!
After Weng Kanya took Qiao Xiaoqiao away, the issue without her submissions achieved the highest sales yet, but readers had flocked to it purely for Qiao Xiaoqiao’s work.
Thus, once that issue passed and readers, disappointed by the absence of Qiao Xiaoqiao’s pieces, lost interest, sales for the next issue plummeted!
Especially now, with the shocking debut of Fairy Tale Princess, it was foreseeable that future sales for Joyful Children Fairy Tales would become even more difficult.
Thinking of the “good deed” done by his brother-in-law, he truly wished he could dismember the man!
Qiao Xiaoqiao, that money tree of a teacher, had originally belonged to their magazine!
The sales of Fairy Tale Princess should have been their magazine’s sales!
It should have…
At this thought, Wan Zhuo flew into a rage and summoned Zhu Hao to berate him once more.
After unleashing a torrent of insults on Zhu Hao, who was older than him, without any regard for dignity, he coldly and mercilessly added, heedless of his own little wife’s face: “Get out! You’re no longer the chief editor of our magazine! Pack your things and scram right now! Don’t ever show your face in front of me again!”
After Wan Zhuo humiliated him like this, Zhu Hao’s face flushed red, his eyes filled with humiliated fury.
However, he didn’t dare say anything to Wan Zhuo.
After all, his sister had only recently married the man, and he hadn’t squeezed much money out of him yet—he certainly couldn’t afford to offend him now.
Thus, he clenched his fists, swallowed his anger, and left Wan Zhuo’s office.
Happy Children Magazine wasn’t large to begin with, so news of Wan Zhuo cursing out and firing Zhu Hao spread quickly to everyone.
As they watched Zhu Hao leave the magazine with a grim face, like a stray dog carrying his belongings, the crowd couldn’t help but gloat.
“Serves him right! Him strutting around in front of us just because he was the president’s brother-in-law.”
“Good riddance. No more wasting money on gifts to butter him up.”
“I really envy little Weng. Should’ve gone with her back then and started a magazine together.”
“Yeah, I heard Weng Kanya is now the president of Fairy Tale Princess Magazine. Tsk tsk tsk, that little girl is really something!”
“She’s got a great eye—spotted a talented writer like Qiao Xiaoqiao.”
“With a bestseller like Qiao Xiaoqiao under her now, she’s way out of our league from here on out.”
“If anyone’s the most unlucky, it’s President Wan. Qiao Xiaoqiao Teacher originally submitted exclusively to our magazine—what a huge opportunity! But alas…”
“Alas, he brought in his newlywed little wife’s brother as chief editor. The money tree that could’ve turned our magazine around and made President Wan rich got chased off by that brother-in-law.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, that’s why you should marry wisely. President Wan’s original wife was so good, but he got bewitched by a vixen, divorced her, and dumped the yellow-faced hag at home. Now karma’s hit.”
“Isn’t it just karma? I heard when they divorced, his original wife didn’t get much of the family assets at all. What a sin.”
“There’s that too? Then President Wan really deserves it. True karma.”
“I see our magazine’s sales tanking again. Probably more layoffs coming. We should start looking for better jobs.”
“I think going to Weng Kanya’s place sounds good. Wonder if she’d hire us.”
“No idea. Whoever’s close to her, give her a call and ask…”
…
The employees of Happy Children Magazine all began to waver, eager to jump ship to better magazines and latch onto Weng Kanya’s thigh.
Not just the regular employees—even President Wan himself wanted to latch onto Weng Kanya’s thigh!
After chasing Zhu Hao away, Wan Zhuo took a deep breath, mentally prepared himself, and then cheekily dialed Weng Kanya’s number.
He had no choice; given their magazine’s current state, if he didn’t get Qiao Xiaoqiao back soon, they truly faced the risk of closure!
Soon, the call connected.
Upon hearing Weng Kanya’s voice, Wan Zhuo spoke in an exceedingly eager and fawning tone.
“Hello, Xiao Ya? It’s Wan Zhuo, president of Happy Children Magazine.”
“Oh? President Wan, do you need something?”
Hearing Weng Kanya’s indifferent tone, Wan Zhuo’s brows furrowed slightly. After all, Weng Kanya was just a young woman in her early twenties, previously a lowly editor under him. Her attitude back then hadn’t been deferential, but it had shown respect.
Yet now, her attitude was utterly nonchalant, without a trace of enthusiasm.
Even so, Wan Zhuo knew he couldn’t show his displeasure, so he let out a few dry laughs and stated his purpose.
“Heh heh, Xiao Ya, I’m calling to apologize to you and Teacher Qiao. I’m truly sorry—it was my fault. I had no idea Zhu Hao would treat you that way and make you suffer…”
Weng Kanya merely smiled at Wan Zhuo’s apology and said nothing.
Neither forgiving nor lashing out.
Seeing her silence, Wan Zhuo immediately realized that this young woman, whom he viewed as inexperienced, was no naive girl easily fooled.
It made sense—if Weng Kanya were that simple, how could she have achieved such great success with Qiao Xiaoqiao?
Thus, Wan Zhuo cut straight to the chase.
“Xiao Ya, I agree to all your previous conditions. I’ll make you vice president and offer Teacher Qiao a rate of 100 per thousand words! As long as you bring Teacher Qiao back to our magazine, any terms are negotiable!”
“Sorry, President Wan, that’s no longer the price. Some conditions you’ve offered have been topped by even better magazines, and some even went up to 200 per thousand words. But I turned them all down. So, why would I agree to yours???”
Hearing Weng Kanya’s merciless rejection, Wan Zhuo’s face darkened. He gripped the receiver tightly, cold sweat beading on his forehead.
“Xiao Ya, you were part of Happy Children Magazine once, after all…”
But Weng Kanya wasn’t swayed by Wan Zhuo’s appeal to sentiment. She replied coolly, “President Wan, I’ve already done all I could for Happy Children Magazine. Back then, to keep Qiao Xiaoqiao, I raised the issue of higher pay with Zhu Hao several times… but no one listened.”
Wan Zhuo’s heart ached like it had been stabbed upon hearing this.
He wanted to respond, but before he could, Weng Kanya interrupted again.
“President Wan, to be frank, those demands I made back then were just offhand to mess with Zhu Hao. It’s been so long, and you didn’t call me until after Fairy Tale Princess exploded in sales. You and Zhu Hao both thought I was asking an outrageous price, that Teacher Qiao and I weren’t worth it—probably even mocked us behind our backs. Otherwise, how would other magazines know about my 100-per-thousand-words demand?
“You all waited for Teacher Qiao and me to fail, planning to swoop in as the good guy and lowball us back…”
Wan Zhuo hadn’t expected a young woman in her early twenties to see through him so clearly. He realized then that no matter what he said, Weng Kanya wouldn’t bring Qiao Xiaoqiao back.
Yet what came next shocked Wan Zhuo even more—Weng Kanya and Qiao Xiaoqiao were even more formidable than he’d imagined!
From Zhu Hao’s description, he’d assumed Weng Kanya had roped in some fool investor, but—
“Teacher Qiao and I both hold shares in Fairy Tale Beauty Magazine, and I’m the president. How crazy would we have to be to come back? So, President Wan, please don’t make such rude requests again. I have things to do—hanging up now.”
Hearing the dial tone, Wan Zhuo’s face twisted in a mix of emotions, utterly humiliated.
He’d originally thought Zhu Hao was the only one at fault, unrelated to his newlywed little wife. But now, rejected so bluntly by Weng Kanya, he turned his anger toward his little wife.
Just thinking of how she’d whispered in his ear to bring Zhu Hao on as chief editor made him furious.
If Zhu Hao hadn’t joined their magazine, he wouldn’t have lost a money tree like Qiao Xiaoqiao…
The angrier he got, the less rose-tinted his view of his newlywed wife became.
Storming home in a rage, he beat his little wife soundly, turning the house into total chaos.
Their already shaky home was on the verge of falling apart…
Meanwhile, Weng Kanya—the ringleader of it all—remained blissfully unaware. Having vented for herself and her goddess, she hung up and continued recruiting new talent.
No one had anticipated Fairy Tale Princess’s massive hit.
She’d even thought at first that Jiang Zheng was too conservative, printing too few copies of the first issue.
But she hadn’t insisted on more, since none of them could guarantee it’d sell out.
After all… it was their magazine’s very first issue, with no reader base whatsoever.
But who could’ve imagined! Their debut children’s magazine sold so well!
They’d already reprinted twice! And with the current momentum, a third reprint seemed likely!
Circulation had now exceeded a full 100,000 copies!
And their children’s magazine wasn’t cheap—originally planned at three mao, but due to fewer stories, priced at two mao five fen.
Even at that price, it wasn’t inexpensive; after all, a jin of white rice cost just over two mao.
So they truly hadn’t expected their brand-new magazine to perform so spectacularly!
This sales figure surpassed many established magazines, creating a miracle in publishing!
After all, no magazine had ever achieved such terrifying sales for its very first issue!
And this was their magazine society’s inaugural publication’s first issue!
In other words, if they maintained this level, their magazine’s sales would only climb higher!
That was why so many people called her, offering high prices to solicit manuscripts from her goddess.
She figured that if the second and third issues exploded too, her goddess’s value would skyrocket again, making her the top figure in publishing!
At this thought, Weng Kanya felt full of vigor, bursting with energy!!!
“So… we must screen new hires carefully! Only the hardworking and talented ones…”
Muttering to herself, Weng Kanya reviewed resumes from recent campus recruitment drives at major universities…
While Weng Kanya busied herself thus, Qiao Shu donned a beautiful new dress, got into a small car, and headed to the school where He Anning and Jiang Lekang attended to pick up the kids!
He Anning and Jiang Lekang both went to the school in the Military Compound, specially set up for soldiers’ children; kindergarten and elementary were together.
Therefore, Qiao Shu did not need to take any detours and still had to pick up people from two schools.
Moreover, since the two little ones’ school was not far from the Military District Compound, Xiao Li soon drove the car to Red Star School, where He Anning and Jiang Lekang were.