The 99th Divorce

Yu Lili understood Editor-in-chief Zhou’s implied meaning and felt a little annoyed.

Was there something wrong with what I said? Or is the editor-in-chief trying to get rid of me because she’s not happy with me?

Although she was furious, Yu Lili knew that she could not risk losing this job. She knew that it was hard to get, and she could tolerate difficulties to keep it.

So she tried to keep her tone respectful and patiently explained, “Editor-in-chief Zhou, yesterday you told me that I could go back to being an assistant editor, so I reported here this morning. If you tell me that I can’t work as an assistant editor and that I have to work at the front desk, then I won’t come back to the office. I will report to the front desk.”

Editor-in-chief Zhou was angry and said with a sneer, “Do you mean that this is my fault?”

“I just wanted to explain…”

“Are you blaming me, for this mix-up? I guess I didn’t make it clear enough for you. This time it’s my fault, ok? You should go to the front desk immediately.” After that, Editor-in-chief Zhou turned around and left.

Yu Lili was embarrassed and noticed that many of her colleagues were giving her judgemental looks. Especially Shan Yu, but there was sympathy in her eyes.

Yu Lili endured her feelings of disappointment and returned to the front desk to work. After she collected all the mail, she sat at the front desk and checked the contract thoroughly. Yu Lili didn’t know how long she at the front desk alone when Ye Qianqian held a cup of coffee to her and said, “You should take a break and have a cup of coffee with me.”

“Thank you so much,” she said gratefully and took the cup of coffee from Ye Qianqian.

Ye Qianqian smiled. She looked around carefully before she took the empty seat next to Yu Lili. She leaned in and whispered, “There was a receptionist that used to work here. You may have seen her once, on your first day. Editor-in-chief Zhou asked her to go home very suddenly. Then the next day, she asked you to work as an assistant editor and receptionist at the front desk. Do you think that you could have offended Editor-in-chief Zhou in some way?”

Yu Lili suspected that Editor-in-chief Zhou had embarrassed her in front of everyone on purpose, but it still made Yu Lili sad that a colleague would ask her such a question. After careful consideration, Yu Lili couldn’t think of anything she had said or done to offend the editor-in-chief.

So she shook her head. She looked at Ye Qianqian inquisitively and asked, “How long have you worked here?”

“I’ve been here for more than three months,” Ye Qianqian said with a sip of coffee and a laugh. “Eurasian Comics is a fairly new website. It’s only been running for about three months. The future of the company still seems very good. However, if you continue to work as a receptionist, your career has no future. It would be best if you became an assistant editor quickly so you can learn things step by step. You can become a cartoonist, but only if you are an editor first.”

How did Yu Lili not know this truth? Editor-in-chief Zhou was her immediate superior, and now it seemed that Yu Lili would never become an assistant editor. Yu Lili remembered that Editor-in-chief Zhou had an executive editor, but she didn’t come here very often. She heard that the executive editor-in-chief only stopped by now and then.

If I am right, the executive editor is the one who made Editor-in-chief Zhou so attentive and nervous on my first day. She must be the mysterious executive editor-in-chief of Eurasian cartoons.

As Yu Lili contemplated the woman dressed in pink, she thought about her recent misunderstanding with Editor-in-chief Zhou.

Is that woman the reason why Editor-in-chief Zhou is so determined to embarrass me? But why? When and how did I offend her?

Yu Lili frowned and thought for a long time, but could not think of anything that could have offended Editor-in-chief Zhou or the executive editor.

Speak of the devil, and he doth appear.

When Yu Lili looked up from her work, she saw the woman at a glance.

That is the woman who talked to Editor-in-chief Zhou very happily the other day and was suspected to be the editor-in-chief.