Started as a comics editor

Chapter 30: Reality is not a cartoon. There is no misunderstanding and harmonious relationship.

Chapter 30: Reality is not a cartoon. There is no misunderstanding and harmonious relationship.
living room.

After Tang Yao asked this question, there was a brief silence.

Li Jiang, who was standing at the kitchen door, had a face twisted in shock... because he really couldn't imagine that such a cute girl could be so tough.

And it seems that Teacher Ou was left speechless?
……ah?

Li Jiang stood at the kitchen door, deeply shocked. He felt that it was not right to go forward, and it was not right not to go forward either.

After a while.

He mustered up the courage and cautiously walked over to the two of them with tea in his hand.

"That...tea."

He carefully placed two cups of steaming tea in front of them.

Ou Congquan ignored him and continued to stare at Tang Yao.

Tang Yao turned around and said thank you.

Because this is a family education issue.

"Why... do you know?"

The appearance of Li Jiang seemed to break the deadlock, and Ou Congquan spoke again.

"I'm an editor. Although I haven't been in this field long, I will do what I should do and take on the responsibilities I should take on."

Tang Yao said matter-of-factly, "After learning I'd become your editor, I read all of your previous series, including your two previous short stories. And putting aside the already completed chapters, just looking at the Hell chapter that's currently wrapping up, starting with issue 102 at the end of last month, you've been deliberately describing the male lead's expression when he sees the female lead and the second male lead interacting. While not directly, you've clearly put a lot of effort into indirectly conveying his annoyance."

Ou Congquan opened his mouth slightly, wanting to say something, but no words came out.

Because he did start describing the protagonist's inner knot from that issue.

"Why……"

"Are you a repeater? I told you I'm an editor."

Tang Yao took a deep breath. "I won't interfere with what you want to draw, and I'm not interested in actively interfering. But out of professional ethics, and just in case, for example, if you take the initiative to discuss it, I must understand your work before I can offer any suggestions. Also, like in the last issue, when you clearly went off track, I also have to understand your work before I can offer any constructive suggestions."

Ou Congquan: “…”

"You're afraid that I might influence you for that childish and ridiculous reason, but you forget that the editor is the first reader."

Tang Yao stared at Ou Congquan: "Your attitude is like you removed the brakes and the passenger seat, and then drove a car without brakes on the highway, thinking you were great. You even ridiculously thought that the brakes would compete with you for the steering wheel, just because the brakes failed once.

What? Did you replace the long handle after your brake broke?

Ou Congquan's face gradually turned red.

Li Jiang on the side widened his eyes, feeling that something was wrong, and was about to signal Tang Yao with his eyes to stop talking.

"Your development of this episode is so inexplicable, and your starting point is wrong! You clearly didn't care about this issue in the previous chapters, and now you suddenly want the male protagonist to care?"

But Tang Yao didn't seem to notice Li Jiang's hint and continued, "You read the readers' comments, right? They mentioned this problem, and there were some comments about the same old storyline, like the male protagonist is a saint. Then, you suddenly had an idea and started to increase the male protagonist's strength, and at the same time, came up with this completely different storyline, which is a piece of shit."

Ou Congquan's face gradually turned a deep red. "So what? Shouldn't I change? Should I stick to my old ways? Is it good to keep everything the same?"

"It's not wrong to want to change, but your problem is..."

Tang Yao raised her snow-white chin slightly and looked at him as if he were looking at garbage: "I completely ignored the editor's opinion. Just because of that childish and ridiculous reason, I was afraid of being influenced and didn't even look at it. I didn't even have the courage to judge."

"What's the point of watching it? Is it going to change anything?"

Ou Congquan seemed a little annoyed. "Did I even communicate with you and tell you what I wanted to draw? What practical and effective advice can you, an outsider, give me? You still want me to change it! You stop me? Does that make sense?"

Tang Yao asked back: "Have you tried it?"

"I don't need to try! You're so confident, so tell me now! What should I do?"

Ou Congquan said stubbornly, "Now that it's happened, of course you can sit there and make decisions! After all, it's not you who's being scolded! So tell me what I should do!"

Tang Yao simply pushed the document bag in front of her over.

"..."

Ou Congquan looked at Tang Yao's expressionless face, then at the revised manuscript she handed over, and said in disbelief: "Are you kidding me?"

Tang Yao didn't say anything.

"Okay! I want to see what you wrote!"

Ou Congquan was furious. He grabbed the file bag on the table and roughly tore it open. He took out the revised manuscript inside and flipped through it while panting, "You think you are..."

just.

Halfway through the sentence.

Suddenly disappeared.

Ou Congquan was holding the revised manuscript and suddenly froze on the sofa as if petrified.

On the other side, Li Jiang, who had been extremely nervous from the beginning and was ready to pull Ou Congquan away at any time, was also stunned and looked at Ou Congquan, who suddenly stopped moving, in confusion.

Ou Congquan didn't notice Li Jiang's gaze and stared blankly at the revised manuscript in front of him.

Don't use death as a way to build character; that's stupid.

[The relationship between the male and female protagonists cannot be sublimated by the death incident, and the relationship between the second male lead and the female protagonist cannot be resolved by the crisis. The reason is the same as above.]

[If you want the hero to get rid of the saint label, you can use another method. The current method is too extreme. See below for details.]

[You cannot use the 'Breath of Lament' that appeared in the first chapter to revive the male protagonist. This will make all the settings of the second chapter a joke.]

[The 'Hell's Geomantic Wheel' mentioned at the beginning of the third chapter has not yet appeared in this chapter.]

【…】

The first page of the revised manuscript.

A whole page of opinions was densely packed.

If it was just an opinion, Ou Congquan wouldn't be stunned.

But...what was said above were all what he was going to draw next, and many of them he had never told anyone else. They were just a prelude and existed in his mind.

This is exactly the same as his idea.

He even forgot some things himself, such as the setting of the 'Hell's Geomantic Wheel'... but it appeared on the paper.

"..."

Ou Congquan looked at the first page for a long time before slowly turning to the next page.

[Death events have been changed to mechanics. The final boss of Hell is too low-brow. It's suggested that the setting be changed from pure force crushing to "untouchable" or "the collection of all evil" - that is, anyone who approaches her will face their inner fear and darkness, and fall into an illusion constructed by their own darkness and fear.]

【…】

The first page points out the problems, and the rest are suggestions for revisions... There is more content, and unexpectedly, there are even illustrations.

Anyone can see the care and effort put into it.

Ou Congquan was stunned for a moment, then read it word by word.

then.

The more he looked, the wider his eyes became, and the brighter they became, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

Just now it was because of anger, but now it is because of excitement.

Li Jiang clearly sensed Ou Congquan's emotional changes and was even more shocked. She slowly turned her head to look at Tang Yao - what kind of magic was this?
Tang Yao didn't notice. And about fifteen minutes later.

Ou Congquan finally looked up. He clutched the revised manuscript tightly in his hand, as if grasping at a lifeline. With a slight tremor in his voice, he asked, "What does a malicious collective... mean?"

...exactly the same.

Really exactly the same!
The revision suggestions at the end of the revised manuscript were exactly what she wanted to express, except that the technique was more sophisticated.

And most importantly, according to the idea of the revised manuscript, it can be completely connected with the development of this issue and make up for the harm caused to readers by this issue.

"I remember it was clearly written there."

Tang Yao replied, "You don't need to ask to confirm something that is clear and obvious."

"That……"

Ou Congquan's eyes were still bloodshot, but unlike before, they were no longer filled with anxiety, but instead had light in them.

He wanted to ask something else.

Tang Yao stood up directly, then met Ou Congquan's surprised gaze and asked, "Excuse me, have the revision suggestions been conveyed?"

Ou Congquan said subconsciously: "It has been conveyed..."

"Then please refer to it as appropriate."

Tang Yao nodded and continued, "Of course, if you want to draw according to your original idea, please feel free to do so."

Say it.

She turned around and was about to leave.

"and many more."

Ou Congquan looked at Tang Yao, who was about to leave, in surprise, and said anxiously, "I actually have some questions I need to confirm with you..."

"confirm?"

Tang Yao paused, then turned back and pointed at the startled Li Jiang. "I've come to visit you four times, and three of those times I was blocked at the door, only to see Assistant Li. And except for the first time, I asked Assistant Li to hand over the revised draft you have in your hands the other three times. Now, are you going to confirm this with me? Should I sit up straight and listen carefully to what you have to say?"

Ou Congquan: “…”

"Do not make jokes."

Tang Yao looked down at Ou Congquan with a cold expression, as if she was looking at garbage: "You are a famous cartoonist, you can use your status to tell the editor to get out of here as soon as possible, but this does not mean that after you pretend to be humble and ask for advice, reality will become like a cartoon, with misunderstandings resolved and then everything will go well. Reality is not a cartoon.

Although I am an outsider, I don't understand character creation, plot, or even drawing, and I have eaten less rice than you have eaten salt.

But I can choose who to bother with, and there is no doubt that you are not worthy... nor do you deserve it.

I'm giving you this revised manuscript, ultimately, only for the readers and for myself who took the trouble to be an editor for the first time last week.

It also lets you know what stupid things you did last week.

If you had just glanced at the revised draft last week, perhaps things would have been different, but your arrogance and pride have allowed things to develop to this point."

Ou Congquan held the revised manuscript in his hand and was stunned when he looked at the beautiful handwriting on it.

If you watched last week...

Ou Congquan recalled the contents of the revised manuscript, and then thought of what he had drawn this time...feelings of regret began to surge wildly.

He subconsciously lowered his head, looking a little... embarrassed.

Li Jiang was also stunned when he saw Tang Yao, whose face was full of indifference and looked like an ice-cold beauty. Then he turned his head away abruptly, not daring to look at her again.

"Ask yourself, if you were sitting here right now, what would have happened to you last week?"

Tang Yao looked at Ou Congquan, who lowered his head slightly and tightly grasped the draft, and said coldly, "Think about it carefully. Are you trying to keep me because you know you are wrong, or because the revised draft can help you get rid of the current predicament of being chased and criticized by readers... I guess it's the latter, because you are just like Ding Yilong. The arrogance and pride engraved in your bones will never disappear. It will only be temporarily restrained when something goes wrong.

Admit it, even if you had to do it again, you would still make the same choice and use your status as a cartoonist to humiliate a novice editor for a ridiculous reason.

Now you are just immersed in the feeling of being saved, don't act like you have a sudden realization.

Because it’s really disgusting.”

Ou Congquan pinched the drawing even harder, and Tang Yao couldn't see it because of the angle.

But when Li Jiang turned his head, he clearly saw that Ou Congquan, who was over fifty years old, had an embarrassed look on his face.

"Also, don't think that just following the revised draft will solve all the problems."

Tang Yao continued, "Don't treat your readers as fools. The damage caused to them by your foolish plot in this episode will not go away. They will never forget the picture of your fingers intertwined in your final drawing. The good reputation you built up through your dedication will be tainted with an indelible stain. Many readers will be so angry that they will simply abandon the show."

Look at next week's reader survey, and then the sales of the next book... but you asked for it."

"that's it."

"If you feel angry or insulted, you can just tear up the revised manuscript and throw it in the trash, just like I did the last few times I visited you."

Tang Yao retracted her gaze and finally said, "I don't want to, and I'm not interested in, answering your questions now. My patience has been exhausted last week. After this storm subsides, I don't want to be responsible for your work anyway. Even if Ding Yilong doesn't change it in the end, I will take the initiative to resign and let other editors take charge of your work.

Just keep using that ridiculous excuse to guard against the next editor... I hope I never see you again."

Say the last sentence.

Tang Yao nodded to Li Jiang, thanked him, and said, "Goodbye."

then.

Turn around and leave.

It was not until Tang Yao turned around that Ou Congquan slowly raised his head. He looked at Tang Yao's back with some complicated feelings, and at the editor who was about the same age as his daughter. He wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say.

Soon, Tang Yao left.

Ou Congquan retracted his gaze and looked down at the revised manuscript in his hand... Anyone could tell that it was a revision that had taken a lot of effort and was very insightful.

silent.

Yes.

Why didn't you watch it sooner?

If I had seen it sooner...

Ou Congquan thought of the readers' disappointed attitude and angry shouting, and then thought of what Tang Yao had just said.

If I had read this revised draft last week...

Thinking about it
His expression became a little distorted...

But this time it wasn't out of anger, but out of... regret.

at the same time.

After watching Tang Yao leave, Li Jiang turned to look at Ou Congquan.

At this moment, Ou Congquan's cell phone on the table also vibrated.

Li Jiang noticed... and also saw the name of the caller - Ding Yillong.