Chapter 145: Handling [Chapter 1]

Home at last. Arriving in a new environment feels a bit unfamiliar, and writing feels quite unhandy. Ah, also, thank you to the book friend "Qi Sha Hao Shi Ya" for the consecutive tips twice! ...

The matter was very simple. Before the magazine manuscripts were bound into volumes, only a limited number of people—such as Wang Mengzi, Xu Jiang, and Zhang Danian—could see all of them. As for ordinary manuscripts, they were naturally distributed to various contracted editors for follow-up.

Because Zhang Ye's manuscripts had always been handled by Wang Mengzi, only those at the level of editor-in-chief and above in the entire magazine office were qualified to view them. In front of Wang Mengzi, Pan Xuri naturally did not dare to act presumptuously and behaved somewhat decently; however, in front of his colleagues, taking advantage of his identity as Wang Mengzi's relative, he frequently slacked off and engaged in bullying behavior.

This time, it was also by virtue of being Wang Mengzi's relative that he had persuaded the honest Zhang Danian to let him see the manuscript, which he then managed to take out...

"Who is the other party?" Zhang Ye was very strong. Especially after working out, although his body was still in the growing stage, his strength was much greater than that of an average strapping man.

Although Pan Xuri was older than Zhang Ye and had a fairly tall and large build, he still had no power to resist whatsoever in front of Zhang Ye. After receiving a few slaps from Zhang Ye, he was instantly dazed.

"Speak!"

Zhang Ye shouted.

The other party had been plotting against them all along, and a huge ball of anger had accumulated in Zhang Ye's heart.

Pan Xuri glanced at Zhang Ye with some fear, and then shook his head, saying, "I don't know. He only said he liked the novel *Journey to Immortality* and wanted to read it in advance... and was willing to give me a sum of money, which is why I helped him take it out. I really don't know who the other party is."

"Only *Journey to Immortality*, and nothing else?"

"Yes, just this one. I wouldn't dare steal more even if I wanted to."

"How much money did they give you?"

"Three to five hundred, I suppose..."

"Was it three hundred or five hundred?"

"Five... five hundred..."

"What did the other person look like, and what clothes were they wearing? Have you ever seen him before? When exactly did this happen?"

...

Zhang Ye asked question after question. Not daring to conceal too much, Pan Xuri answered them one by one.

"Which magazine office published the novel?" Wang Mengzi asked suddenly, standing to one side.

"It's Starry Sky Magazine, a small workshop-style magazine office without even an office space. They don't have a fixed business model and simply specialize in pirating hot-selling material to make money," replied an editor surnamed Fu within the magazine office.

As if afraid of causing misunderstandings among his colleagues, he added an explanation: "Someone in their magazine office is a childhood friend of mine, so I have some understanding of the situation over there. It was also because he called me early this morning that I found out about today's affair. Before this, even he wasn't quite clear on the specifics."

"Being able to discover the piracy is thanks to Fu Xing's early warning; otherwise, we might still be in the dark now," Xu Jiang explained in a timely manner.

Hearing this, everyone nodded in sudden realization.

"I suspect that this time it isn't just Starry Sky Magazine acting alone against us; there must be someone pushing things from behind. How about this, Fu Xing, can you ask your buddy about the situation regarding *Journey to Immortality* this time?" Wang Mengzi suddenly stood up tall and instructed Fu Xing.

"Alright, Editor-in-Chief," Fu Xing hastily nodded.

Dream Sky Magazine was developing well and possessed limitless potential. Naturally, he didn't want to lose his job not long after starting, especially working in such an environment.

"Editor-in-Chief Xu Jiang, please trouble yourself to accompany me to the Press and Publication Bureau later to pay another visit to Director Sun. We must at least keep the magazine office afloat," Wang Mengzi said, raising her head to look at the others. "As for the rest of you, carry on with your normal work. No matter what, before the fifteenth of this month, we must get the second issue of *Fantasy Youth* printed."

"But now that *Journey to Immortality* has been leaked, I'm afraid its appeal won't be enough by then," the entire magazine office knew that the most popular work in *Fantasy Youth* was *Journey to Immortality*. Now that the subsequent manuscripts of *Journey to Immortality* had been exposed, it would inevitably affect the sales of *Fantasy Youth*.

"You don't need to worry about that. I will revise and reorganize the subsequent manuscripts of *Journey to Immortality* in the next few days. Three days—I will give you the manuscripts within three days. Manuscripts with a completely different plot," Zhang Ye hastily stepped forward and said.

"Then what about him? How should he be dealt with?" Xu Jiang asked with some hesitation.

Pan Xuri was Wang Mengzi's relative, and he truly felt that this was rather tricky.

"Fire him, and then hand him... over to the Public Security Bureau," Wang Mengzi shook her head tiredly, turned around, and walked toward her office.

"Wang Mengzi, what are you doing? What do you think you're doing? I'm your cousin! How can you treat me like this? Let me go quickly, I..." Hearing this, Pan Xuri was momentarily stunned, and then reacted violently, charging toward Wang Mengzi.

However, Zhang Ye, who had been standing to the side all along, naturally wouldn't let him have his way. With a quick succession of moves, he knocked him to the ground, instructed an editor to report the case to the police, and then walked toward Wang Mengzi's office.

Before entering the magazine office, all editors had signed contracts. Anyone who harmed the interests of the magazine office would be penalized, and severe cases could even be handed over to the police for handling.

The leakage of the manuscript for *Journey to Immortality* caused immense damage and impact to the magazine office, so the culprit naturally had to be punished. Even if Pan Xuri was a relative of Wang Mengzi's, as long as he broke the rules, there could be no leniency whatsoever.

This was likewise a form of warning.

Killing a chicken to scare the monkeys!
...

"Aunt Wang, you..." Entering the office, Zhang Ye closed the door behind him and had just raised his head when he saw a purple figure rushing straight into his arms.

Reaching out to embrace her, feeling the subtle fragrance lingering on Wang Mengzi, a trace of joyful expression appeared on Zhang Ye's face.

This was the first time she had ever taken the initiative to be so intimate with him. In the past, always constrained by their generational gap and keeping a certain distance, which had also caused Zhang Ye distress, could this be considered finally tasting sweetness after hardship?

Very soon, however, Zhang Ye felt that his shoulders and back were growing somewhat damp. He instantly snapped out of it, silently cursing himself for having lust on the brain and still thinking about such things at a time like this. He hastily patted her back gently and comforted her in words: "Don't worry, it'll be fine. Everything is in the past now. Leave the rest to me; things will definitely get better."

"I'm sorry..."

"I'm sorry..."

"I didn't know this kind of thing would happen, I'm sorry..." Wang Mengzi's eyes were bathed in tears as she continued to apologize. The arms wrapped around Zhang Ye tightened even further.

"It's fine, it's all in the past. It's not your fault, I'm not angry." Zhang Ye was also somewhat flustered, reaching out to stroke her back slowly, stroke by stroke, while feeling a dull ache in his heart.

Because of the magazine office, she had been working far too hard these past few days.

"I knew full well that his reputation was bad, and yet..."

"Alright, it's all in the past. You did nothing wrong; it was my irresponsibility that piled all of this onto you..." Zhang Ye felt even more self-reproachful as he wiped away the tear tracks from the corners of her eyes and spoke.