Starting as a Manga Editor-Chapter 82: The Cuckoo in the Nest

The next day,
Fate/Zero’s popularity was still surging.
“What a genius…”
Si Jinliang sat in his office, staring at the manga on his screen, unable to hold back a sigh of admiration. “Forget the character art—just the story alone is god-tier!”
But soon, his tone shifted sharply: “But why isn’t this author publishing in a magazine? Spending that much on those gorgeous animated sprites… is this idealism? Sigh…”
To be honest—
He really thought it was a pity. He didn’t believe this was some anime production in the works.
He was an old otaku—he knew how anime production worked. No anime project would go to such lengths with this kind of thing.
So he leaned toward this being the Fate/Zero mangaka doing all this out of some idealistic dream, some deep love for manga.
But in his eyes, that kind of thing wouldn’t last. It was just hype—for now. It wasn’t even monetized…
So yeah, a pity.
Speaking of idealists…
Wasn’t there one next door?
Si Jinliang suddenly thought of the girl next door—the one so beautiful it was almost absurd—and sighed again…
Thanks to her, he didn’t even have to go looking for buyers for Mingyu Tech’s equipment. People literally came to pick stuff up, bought it on the spot, and he managed to scrape together enough to pay off some wages.
Still… he felt kinda guilty.
Because from Si Jinliang’s perspective, all that gear he sold? It was just going to loop back anyway—whoever was buying it was most likely Tang Yao…
He had tried to warn her. Told her not to repeat his mistakes. But she just wouldn’t listen.
Thinking about that—
Si Jinliang was silent for a moment. Then, in a rare move, he stood up, left his office, and decided to head over there… maybe give her one more piece of advice.
Only—
He had barely stepped out of his office when he spotted several familiar figures chatting near the operations team.
He froze.
These were all former employees of Mingyu Tech—his most capable team members.
But why… why were they back here?
The company was already like this… Were they just feeling nostalgic? That’d be strange…
He was baffled. After a moment of hesitation, he still walked over and greeted them, “Wan Li, Chen Chuan, Chang Zhanhao… what are you doing here? I’ve already paid your final wages. Did you leave something behind?”
Across from him—
The group chatting with the operations team turned to look. Their expressions were a bit complicated… and a little awkward.
After a while—
One tall guy responded, “We’re not here for Mingyu Tech…”
“Not here for Mingyu Tech? Then what are you doing here?”
Si Jinliang blinked. He still hadn’t processed it.
Just then, Tang Yao stepped out from the Avalon Studio office, apologizing, “Hi, sorry to keep you waiting…”
Following her out was one of Si Jinliang’s former art department aces—Chu Yuxin.
Si Jinliang slowly turned his head… and stared at Tang Yao, and at Chu Yuxin walking beside her, utterly dumbfounded.
Tang Yao also spotted him—and froze mid-sentence, looking slightly embarrassed.
…Caught red-handed.
The two locked eyes.
In the end—
Tang Yao raised a hand and waved awkwardly. “Hey…”
Si Jinliang slowly came back to his senses. He looked at his former top employees, then back at Tang Yao. His eyes gradually widened.
Wait a minute!
It’s not just the equipment!?
You poached my people, too!?
…
“…So that’s the situation.”
Since they’d bumped into each other—
There was no way around it.
After getting the new hires introduced by Chu Yuxin settled in, Tang Yao gave Si Jinliang a brief explanation.
After all, they still crossed paths often—it was better to clear up any misunderstandings.
“…”
Si Jinliang had calmed down by now. He glanced back toward Avalon Studio with a complicated look, then turned to Tang Yao’s fair, delicate face and said bitterly, “Why do I feel like… you’re treating Mingyu Tech like your own personal blood bank?”
Tang Yao shook her head like a rattle drum, vehemently denying it: “No way! I’m just short on people…”
“…”
Really?
Si Jinliang didn’t quite buy it… but after thinking it over, he didn’t press the issue. He just sighed and asked, “Aren’t you afraid of ending up like me?”
“Failing, you mean?”
Tang Yao shot the question back with a soft smile. “I’m not afraid. And I actually took Chu Yuxin’s advice—I promised them that if I can’t pay salaries in the end, they can leave right away… and even take their computers with them.”
Welp.
Now she didn’t even need to sell off equipment.
Si Jinliang let out a wry laugh, then said, “But in the end, you’ll be left with nothing.”
“It’s a bit early to say that.”
Tang Yao neither confirmed nor denied, clearly not wanting to dwell on the topic. She shifted gears instead, “Anyway, if I caused you any trouble with all this, I sincerely apologize. Sorry… I just really want to finish this game. I’m sure you understand that feeling.”
Si Jinliang rubbed his mess of bedhead: “Of course I do…”
“Then that’s great!”
Tang Yao’s eyes lit up. She leaned forward slightly, full of excitement. “So… can I buy a few more pieces of equipment from you? And maybe rent a bit more space? Like that area right outside.”
She lifted a pale, delicate finger and pointed to a few workstations closest to Avalon Studio.
Then turned back and added, “I’ll pay, of course. Let them work there—it’s familiar to them anyway…”
“…”
Si Jinliang looked at the eager girl in front of him and said nothing.
You still say you’re not doing it!?
She was about to start working inside Mingyu Tech!
She’d bought the equipment, hired Mingyu’s people, and now she wanted them to work at their original desks…
Wasn’t this a little too much?
On the side—
Tang Yao, perhaps realizing what he was thinking, reined herself in and apologized, “Okay, yeah… this might be going too far. How about I pay a little extra on the rent?”
Si Jinliang snapped back to reality. Looking at this “by any means necessary” version of Tang Yao, he couldn’t help but think of his past self.
He used to be like that too…
He went silent for a bit, then rasped, “I’ll sell you the equipment. But forget the extra space. If you’re out of room, just let them work outside… But I hope you don’t regret this. I don’t know how you still have so much confidence—even after seeing what happened to me. How you still dare hire people I used to lead.
But now, I hope you succeed… even if the chances are slim.”
Tang Yao blinked, then gave him a careful once-over. She seemed to realize something. “Thank you for the kind words.”
“And don’t let your expectations get too high. Especially don’t let your employees’ expectations get too high. Keep things realistic. Most important of all… keep your investors steady.”
Si Jinliang advised seriously, “Best to use agile development. Be flexible. Iterate and deliver continuously…”
Hearing that, Tang Yao thought back to her own investor—that gorgeous, long-legged, gentle “big sis.”
Didn’t seem like she’d need any “stabilizing”...
But she still nodded with a serious face. “Got it. I understand.”
“…Maybe my advice as a failure doesn’t mean much.”
Si Jinliang saw how serious she looked, opened his mouth again—but in the end, didn’t continue. He just said, “Good luck.”
With that—
He waved a hand and turned back toward his office.
Tang Yao watched him go and raised her voice: “Thank you!”
Si Jinliang didn’t respond—just shook his head.
“……”
Tang Yao watched him walk away, then pulled her gaze back, lightly bit her glossy red lip, bounced slightly on her toes in delight, then spun around and headed back toward Avalon Studio.
“Time to get to work!”
The team was assembled. Si Jinliang was dealt with.
Now—full speed ahead.
Time to make this game happen!