Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 24: Are You Stupid?

Ten minutes later.
Tang Yao had calmed herself down and returned to the big comic editorial office.
Since it was lunchtime, the office wasn’t very crowded.
Editor-in-Chief Ding Yilong was seated at his desk, looking more grim than ever before.
Next to him stood a man who looked to be in his forties—thin frame, wire-rimmed glasses, lacking the usual beer belly and greasy aura of middle-aged men. Instead, he gave off the quiet, nerdy vibe unique to engineering types.
Tang Yao didn’t recognize him. But judging by his clothes and presence, he probably wasn’t an editor… and his expression looked just as sour.
“……”
Tang Yao sized up the two of them, her brows knitting slightly. She could already smell trouble.
She slowly walked over.
The man in glasses caught sight of her and immediately looked stunned, clearly not expecting someone like her to work in the editorial department. He turned to Ding Yilong, as if to ask, Is she an editor?
Ding Yilong, face still stormy, gave a barely perceptible nod.
The man seemed to get the hint, glanced at Tang Yao again, then spoke before Ding Yilong could open his mouth:
“You’re the editor for The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword, right? Hello, I’m Shang Tao, the New Media Director. I have a few questions I’d like to ask.”
His tone was a little rushed, but not aggressive. In fact, he sounded quite polite.
“Hello… I was the editor for The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword. Tang Yao.”
Hearing his words, and remembering her earlier conversation with Miss Li, Tang Yao had a vague idea what this was about. She introduced herself, deliberately emphasizing the past tense.
“…Was?”
Shang Tao was momentarily surprised and looked back at Ding Yilong again.
Obviously asking, What’s going on here?
“Cut the crap.”
Ding Yilong, also anxious, still kept his stern face. He picked up a copy of the magazine, flipped to the last page of The Girl, the Boy, and the Sword, and slammed it down in front of Tang Yao.
“This! You wrote it, right? What’s the meaning of this?!”
Tang Yao glanced down casually and replied:
“The AORI.”
“What kind of bullsh*t answer is that?!”
Ding Yilong clearly wasn’t satisfied.
“Of course I know it’s the AORI! I’m asking what this AORI means! What does ‘embodiment of malice’ mean? Is it a dream or reality? You wrote something like this—so do you know something? Why did Mr. Ou write this kind of plot? What’s going to happen next? Explain it to me!”
“?”
Tang Yao slowly looked up, wearing the kind of expression you’d give someone brain-dead.
“Explain? Why he wrote this kind of plot? Editor-in-Chief, are you stupid?”
“What did you say?”
Ding Yilong froze. Then the veins on his forehead suddenly bulged.
Tang Yao calmly repeated:
“I said—are you stupid?”
BANG—
Ding Yilong slammed his hand on the desk, his face twisted with rage.
“You never learned how to respect your superiors, huh?! Is this how you talk to your boss?!”
“Was I wrong?”
Tang Yao raised her right hand and pointed to the stack of manuscripts on his desk—the ones for the next issue.
Because it was a biweekly, they had more lead time than weeklies, and many mangaka submitted early drafts in advance.
“You can’t even bother to look down at your desk? Why did Mr. Ou write this kind of plot? You’re asking me?
The manuscript lands on your desk every week. Now you’re asking me why he wrote what he did?
Didn’t I tell you two days ago? I remember saying it very clearly—he was totally going off the rails. And how did you respond?
‘You think you understand better than Mr. Ou? What, you know more than the mangaka?’
Did you forget? Even if you'd asked me right before the issue went to print, I would’ve given you an honest answer.
But now you’re asking me?
If that’s not stupid, what is it?”
Ding Yilong glanced down at his desk. His expression froze—but only for a moment. Then he snapped back into rage mode and raised his voice, trying to win by sheer volume.
“I’m asking you a question! Stop dodging and take responsibility!”
“Responsibility? You sure I’m the one dodging?”
Tang Yao stared him down, completely fearless.
“Why don’t you go take a good look in the mirror?
Now that something’s gone wrong, you want me to explain? Try to shift the blame?
Where was this urgency before?
Where was that overconfident attitude, like everything was under control?”
Ding Yilong got even more agitated. His voice rose again, face growing more distorted by the second.
“I’m the boss here! Or are you the boss?!”
“You’re the boss.”
Tang Yao’s expression remained unchanged. She smirked and replied:
“So you’re asking me a question, right? Fine, I’ll answer.
I warned you in advance that Mr. Ou was going off the rails.
But you ignored it.
As for what happens next? Sorry, I’m no longer responsible for Mr. Ou.
Just like you said two days ago—I’m ‘hopeless’, ‘not fit’ to be his editor.
And that AORI? I was just doing my job.
I wrote a promo blurb to build anticipation based on the content of this chapter.
That’s it.
Anything else you want to know?
You think I knew the full plot and could magically fix it because of that line?
Or do you just want me to cry in front of you, say it was all my fault, and take the fall for everything?”
Ding Yilong’s expression turned bright red, as if she had just called out his exact thoughts.
“Stop twisting things! I’m asking about the AORI!!”
“Yeah, I wrote the AORI.”
Tang Yao nodded and tilted her pale chin upward.
“So what? I already explained it. What do you want to hear now?
Tell me what you need me to do. Go ahead and instruct me, Chief Editor.”
“……”
Ding Yilong was speechless.
Truth was, he had dragged Tang Yao in just to pin the blame on her.
This whole thing had gotten out of hand.
Vice President Zhao Fangsheng’s attitude had him seriously worried.
Sure, Zhao had said to use the AORI to calm readers. But how to do that? Ding had no idea what direction the story was even headed.
That’s when he needed the editor in charge to step up.
Didn’t matter if she could actually fix anything—just bowing her head and saying “sorry” would be enough for him to hand off the mess.
Whether it got fixed or not wouldn’t be his concern anymore.
After all, the mangaka was managed by a subordinate. The AORI was written by a subordinate. At worst, he could be blamed for poor oversight.
But he hadn’t expected Tang Yao to show zero fear—and to hit back even harder than he came at her.
His face went from green to white, anger, resentment, and shame all crashing down at once. He exploded.
“Isn’t this your fault?! What kind of attitude is this?! Take responsibility!!”
“My fault? Responsibility?”
Tang Yao gave him a look like she was staring at trash and said coldly:
“I ran around four times in one week, trying everything to convince Mr. Ou to change his mind.
I brought it up to you twice.
The first time, you brushed it off.
The second time, you called me hopeless and said I was harassing the mangaka.
Now you want me to take the blame?
You think you’re qualified?
Where were you back then?
Why did Ou Congquan draw that kind of plot?
You should know, right? Oh wait, you don’t. Because you’re such a self-important, arrogant idiot that you didn’t even bother to read the damn manuscript!
Now that things blew up, you’re looking for someone to throw under the bus.
Because of one line in the AORI, you think I’ve got a solution? That I’ll take responsibility?
I’ll tell you now—this is YOUR responsibility. I’ve got nothing more to give.
I already did my best last week.
If you want me to do something now, say it out loud.
Give me clear instructions, and I’ll follow them.
But you, with all your empty posturing—
do you even have a real plan?”
Ding Yilong’s eyes bulged. He suddenly stood up.
BANG—
In his panic, his fat body smacked against the desk, making a loud thud that drew the attention of the few other editors still in the office.
Tang Yao didn’t flinch. She took a step forward and stared him down:
“Say it.
What do you want me to do?
Since this blew up, have you done anything besides blame others?
Before you came looking for me, did you try to contact Ou Congquan yourself?
Did you even think about how to fix this?
Have you even read—Ou Congquan’s manga?”
“……”
Ding Yilong opened his mouth but couldn’t say a word.
“All you can do is push blame, right?
You’re the editor-in-chief, and you don’t even read the manuscripts.
All you care about is sales, sales, sales.
You don’t understand the key creators under you.
You ignore your editors’ feedback.
You don’t think about the readers who pay for this magazine every week.”
Tang Yao’s stunning porcelain face showed nothing but contempt.
“Before the problem, you strutted around, arrogant and smug—
Now that something went wrong, you’re clueless and helpless.
And your first reaction is to find someone to blame.
You can’t even come up with a real solution.
Look at the nameplate on your desk.
Do you really think you deserve the title of Editor-in-Chief?”
At that—
She took her hands off the desk and straightened her back.
“You’re a f***ing joke. Dead weight.”
With that, she turned and walked away.
Ding Yilong’s breath caught in his throat.
He stared at Tang Yao’s retreating back, his eyes widening.
He felt the blood rush straight to his head—his entire face turning crimson.