Chapter 9: A career-threatening internal recommendation

Chapter 9: A career-threatening internal recommendation

Chapter 9: A career-threatening internal recommendation

"What's the matter? (I don't know where to start)."

Everything was settled, and in a good mood, Kitagawa Hide walked out of the Kodansha headquarters building quickly, humming the theme song of "Tokyo Love Story".

Because of time constraints, he couldn't complete the signing process with Rena Saito right here, so the two agreed to meet at the company after get off work to complete the formalities.

However, this kind of contract, which is more formal than substantial, is to give new writers a kind of psychological comfort, and at the same time to prevent the one in a million possibility -

In case the writer becomes popular elsewhere, you can take out the contract and file a lawsuit. Who knows, you may be able to dig up the potential new talent.

But even if it was just a contract that was more virtual than real, it gave Kitagawa Hide more confidence. He could go back and make Yumeko happy. Maybe in the future he could use it to temporarily shut up that vicious little woman, Jabami Rei.

Kitagawa Hide walked to the door of the security room and saw Hashimoto Yudai holding a telescopic baton, carefully scanning the employees who were gradually pouring in.

Seeing him coming, Hashimoto Yudai immediately greeted him: "It seems that everything is done. Congratulations, Kitagawa-san. When you become a great writer in the future, don't forget us friends."

"Thank you, Hashimoto-san. Without your help, things wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Regardless of whether I succeed or not, I will never forget this kindness." Kitagawa Hide bowed slightly to express his gratitude.

If it weren't for Yudai Hashimoto, progress might have been delayed for a long time.

For Kitagawa Hide now, time is money.

Therefore, he was really grateful to this honest and enthusiastic security guard.

The two chatted for a few more minutes and then prepared to return to their respective posts to start a new busy day at work.

Just before stepping out the door, Kitagawa Hide noticed a piercing gaze.

Following her gaze, I saw a woman with a pretty face, slightly curly red hair, who looked vaguely familiar.

The woman was walking towards this side in a hurry, carrying a branded handbag and wearing high heels. She must be late.

The woman's gaze made people feel uncomfortable, but considering that she should be an employee of Kodansha, Kitagawa Hide still nodded slightly at her with a smile on his face.

Then the woman shuddered inexplicably, showing an obvious expression of disgust, and ran away quickly with her head down.

Now Kitagawa Hide clearly felt the other party's disgust towards him.

Shouldn't it?

I thought to myself that I hadn't done anything annoying.

Moreover, although her face was not one in a million, judging from Saito Rena's reactions a few times, she was still one of those that were popular among girls.

It's so weird.

Kitagawa Hide was puzzled, but he soon put it out of his mind. The most important thing was to go back to King Records first. He was counting on the 6 yen salary this month to improve his quality of life!
the other side.

Tanaka Aoi, who rushed into the company, was dumbfounded.

She was extremely shocked and angry.

That guy standing at the door chatting and laughing with the security guard must be him!

I haven't seen him for a few months, but his face hasn't changed much.

But what did he mean by chatting up the security guard? Did he really blend into the lower-class social group?
After all, he was a rich second-generation young man, and the temperament of a child from a wealthy family on him still fascinated me.

Now, the only advantage is gone.

Also, what does that disgusting smile towards myself at the end mean?
Is he worried that I don’t know that he wants to get my attention again by submitting his article?
Childish, ridiculous and disgusting!

Tanaka Aoi felt that her good mood for the day was ruined.

She rushed into the editorial office area with her handbag in her hand. Several colleagues who came towards her greeted her enthusiastically.

Everyone knew that her transfer was a done deal.

Moreover, yesterday, editors-in-chief Akira Yasuhara and Muramatsu also approved Yomiuri Okata's novel. Now she is the favorite to win the Newcomer Award. This is a great start!

New people come, old people go.

The old friend who is going to leave is undoubtedly Reina Saito, who sits in the corner and is known as the flower of the editorial department.

Tanaka Aoi actually sympathizes with Saito Rena. She graduated from a prestigious university and has a first-class appearance and figure, but she is bullied because she repeatedly ignores the hints of Deputy Editor-in-Chief An Yuan.

Now, even the only potential newcomer under his command has been poached by himself.

On the brink of optimization, the worst of the worst.

On the other hand, Tanaka Aoi is also somewhat jealous and refreshing.

Many people think that she is a weakened version of Rena Saito, and she admits this in her heart.

From childhood to adulthood, what she hated most was the kind of woman who could become an enhanced version of herself.

If a fight really breaks out, I will be inferior to others in every way, which is very frustrating.

Fortunately, Saito Rena is a stubborn person. She has excellent physical conditions but doesn't know how to make use of them.

She must still be wondering why Okamoto Yomiuri was recruited by her!

Stupid woman, all men are the same.

Even if you have missing limbs, as long as the remaining limb can move, your mind will be full of that kind of thing.

And just grab their fifth limb.
Thinking so, Tanaka Aoi came to Saito Rena and sat right in front of her.

"Good morning, Teacher Saito." She smiled sweetly, and deliberately hung her own brand-name bag together with the handbag that Saito Reina had used for several years, then took out a box of small cakes from it and handed it over.

"Eh? Good morning, Tanaka-san." Saito Rena looked at her, somewhat puzzled.

"It's just a small token of my appreciation. I hope Mr. Saito will accept it."

Tanaka Aoi put the small cake on her table, then put her hands together, leaned over to her, and said apologetically,
"Teacher Saito, I'm so sorry about what happened yesterday! I really didn't know that Otomu-san was your author. I thought he was an ordinary blank slate author, so..."

"It's okay, Tanaka-san, I don't mean to blame you."

Saito Reina nodded calmly and reached out to pick up a piece of letter paper. Inside was "Hear the Wind Sing", the manuscript she was going to recommend at the meeting today. "I'm sorry, Mr. Saito, I really don't know this. If you mind, I can talk to Mr. Otomu."

Tanaka Aoi's acting skills can't be said to be bad. There was a hint of mist in her eyes, and she looked pitiful, like a lamb to be slaughtered.

From an outsider's perspective, one would think that Rena Saito was bullying an intern in the workplace.

"Oh, Tanaka-san, don't worry. Editor Saito is very generous. It's just one author. Besides, he volunteered to submit his work to you. It can't be considered poaching. Don't you agree, Editor Saito?"

Some male editors began to speak up for Tanaka Aoi.

More and more voices echoed this.

There are many single male editors in the editorial department of "Gunzo" who are interested in Saito Rena, but over the past year, those who dared to confess their feelings have all been rejected without exception, and the reasons for rejection are all the same: I want to focus on work and have no plans to fall in love for the time being.

Over time, although Rena Saito was known as the flower of the club, she had a bad reputation among male employees.

On the contrary, girls like Tanaka Aoi can easily win the favor of most people.

Saito Reina started to have a headache.

Tanaka Aoi’s level of green tea role is not very high, but she wins by having excellent acting skills.

If she accepted this apology, it would be tantamount to proving that she had bullied the other party in the workplace and was asking a young intern to apologize.

If she doesn't accept it, it would seem that she is narrow-minded and has no ability to retain the author. Now she is relying on her seniority and seniority to embarrass Tanaka Aoi.

In short, when this atmosphere was formed, Saito Rena was already at a disadvantage.

She doesn't like workplace struggles.

Or in other words, I don't like anything that is not related to work.

Fortunately, a sudden voice broke the deadlock.

"Everyone, it's time to come to the conference room for the editorial meeting." Editor-in-chief Muramatsu Tomoshi waved at them.

Saito Reina suddenly felt reborn. She immediately picked up Kitagawa Hide's manuscript and smiled at Tanaka Aoi, saying, "Then I'll go over first, Tanaka-san."

She seems to be alive again?

Tanaka Aoi knew that her biggest rival after becoming a regular employee would be Saito Rena, so she took the initiative this time with the intention of wearing down and attacking her opponent.

During the meeting yesterday, when she took out Yomiuri Okata's manuscript, Rena Saito was obviously hit hard.

He was in a dilemma just now.

How come she came back to life when there was a meeting?

Looking at Rena Saito's back and her two swinging ponytails, Aoi Tanaka bit her lip, immediately picked up the lecture notes and followed.

Within a few minutes, a bunch of editors from the editorial department rushed into the conference room, each holding a handout, and sat down with a serious look on their faces.

Editor-in-chief Tomomi Muramatsu pulled a large whiteboard to his side and wrote down a string of numbers as usual.

"498741." Muramatsu Tomoshi circled the number with a black marker, and then wrote another number next to it, "571124."

"The former is the total sales of our Qun Xiang magazine in the country last month, and the latter is the total sales of the month before that, a decrease of 12.67%."

Muramatsu Tomomi looked serious, erased the number, and wrote a big "6".

"Sales have been falling for six consecutive months. Our competitors, such as New Wave, reported total sales of 62 copies last month."

Originally, sales issues should be the responsibility of the operations department and the publicity and promotion department.

However, the successive decline in sales has caused people to doubt the editorial department’s ability to select and sign books.

The heavy burden suddenly fell on Muramatsu Tomoshi.

The atmosphere in the conference room was solemn. Everyone present lowered their heads at the same time, not daring to look him in the eye.

"Therefore, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Yasuhara and I asked the boss to increase the prize money for this Gunzo Newcomer Novel Award to 200 million yen to attract more new authors to submit their works."

Muramatsu Tomoshi knocked heavily on the whiteboard with his hand, and everyone looked up again.

"Gentlemen, the situation in the first quarter of this year is not optimistic. I hope that I can rise again in the second quarter with the help of the Newcomer Award. I beg you to review the manuscripts carefully!"

"Yes!" The editors holding the handouts responded one after another.

After talking about the serious situation, Muramatsu Tomomi returned to his seat and began the routine editorial meeting.

The first question is whether there are any internal recommendations.

As the submission period approached the end, most of the manuscripts that needed to be recommended had been pushed out, and the editors present were completely silent.

Just as Muramatsu Tomoshi was about to move on to the next stage, Saito Rena, who was sitting in the corner, suddenly raised her hand.

"Editor-in-Chief Muramatsu, I have a new manuscript that I want to put directly on the shortlist for the Newcomer Award."

Everyone's eyes turned to Saito Rena.

This new editor, who is beautiful enough to be the heroine of a TV series, has always attracted much attention.

But just yesterday, her most promising new writer was snatched away by intern Tanaka Aoi, causing her to make a fool of herself at the editorial meeting.

At this time, Saito Rena came up with a new manuscript, which made people suspect that she was a little angry, as if she had given up.

"Take it out and let us see it." Muramatsu Tomoshi didn't say much, waved his hand and asked Saito Rena to hand over the manuscript.

"Yes, editor-in-chief." Saito Rena stood up, her hands holding Kitagawa Hide's manuscript slightly sweaty.

It would be a lie to say I wasn't nervous and worried.

Every internal recommendation is a verification of the editor’s ability.

Moreover, after what happened yesterday, he pushed out the new manuscript at the speed of light.

She is risking her career!
(End of this chapter)