Chapter 82: Stealing Manuscripts (Part 2) It turns out he’s a habitual thief of manuscripts! …

When someone falls, someone else will naturally take over. This is the inevitable law of the development of things.

Therefore, Yao Zhizhi knew that those vacant positions would inevitably be taken up by emerging forces.

However, as long as it is not a monopoly like Director Hu, it generally will not cause too much harm.

But she never expected that this danger would befall her first.

For writers, the nature of having their manuscripts stolen is extremely bad.

To put it nicely, it's like destroying her job. To put it bluntly, what's the difference between that and stealing her child?

That's all her hard work!

She will definitely not be able to swallow this.

But what Li Jing said made sense. This woman did have some background, and it would be ugly if she just started making trouble. She had to think of a way to outsmart her.

So she took out the magazines and newspapers she had read during her vacation and found that her manuscripts had not been published in these two paper media. It can be seen that Lu Yuan still has some brains.

Then there are only two possibilities. One is that it was hidden, and the other is that it was sent to other print media, such as Lu Yuan's parents' home.

Isn't this Lü Yuan from out of town? As long as it's published in a local publication, Yao Zhizhi might not even discover it.

To catch a thief, she had to find evidence. Fortunately, those manuscripts were prepared for the next few issues of the magazine, not the revolutionary incidents she serialized, so she had discussed them with other colleagues before taking leave.

Lu Yuan came here after her vacation, so she definitely didn't know about it, so there was no need to worry about witnesses.

She called Evergreen.

"Uncle Chang."

"Xiao Yao, do you have something to talk to me about?"

"Do you have any students from Weicheng?"

"Yes, several."

"Could you help me find out which print media outlets are available in Weicheng? And also help me buy all the magazines and newspapers from January to April this year. I'll wire the money to you this afternoon."

"What are you buying? Aren't there sample copies of these things before they're published? I'll have my students order some and send them to you. You can just pay the postage to my students."

"That's great, thank you Uncle Chang, come visit us when you have time."

"Okay!"

Yao Zhizhi breathed a sigh of relief.

She never imagined that a locked drawer could be pried open.

That's outrageous.

I looked at the time and there was no time to tidy up the office, so I had to go to the meeting first.

When I arrived at the conference room, I finally met the substitute editor.

She is pure and innocent, with a baby face. You can't tell how old she is. She wears a pair of glasses and looks timid and pitiful when she looks at people.

Yao Zhizhi hates this kind of people the most. You can tell at a glance that they are pretending.

At the end of the world, there were two such people in the team at the beginning. They played a few disgusting tricks and were kicked out by her.

Later, she was bitten by a zombie and killed it with her own hands. Unfortunately, there was no crystal core. It was such a waste of time.

Now seeing this scheming little white flower pretending to be pitiful, she felt really disgusted.

Fortunately, she had a considerate Tongzi, who had already sounded the alarm for the source of the melon.

When I saw it, I was amused. It turned out that he was a habitual manuscript thief!

Since she couldn't continue working at her mother's hometown paper media organization, she came to Yicheng to get married. After marriage, she wanted to return to her old job, but unfortunately, many companies now have one position for one person, so she could only stay at home and have a child first. Now the child is a little over two years old, about the same age as Xiao Xingxing. Maybe we can be classmates in the future.

When Director Hu passed away last year, a lot of positions became vacant.

Unfortunately, Lu Yuan was from another place, and was a step behind, so she didn't get the position she wanted and could only be a proofreader.

She made a fuss at home for several months, asking her parents to step in and find a better job for her, but her parents did not dare to go against the law and asked her to wait. Yao Zhizhi happened to have gone to give birth, so they asked Lu Yuan to take over and see how the situation went.

Now that Yao Zhizhi is back, Lu Yuan can only return to that job that she despised, as a proofreader.

She was angry and naturally wanted to teach Yao Zhizhi a lesson.

Yao Zhizhi observed her calmly, held a meeting as usual, and put forward some work requirements for the proofreading team.

The reviewing part will naturally not be left behind. After all, the editor-in-chief is a person with connections and is absent from work all day long. Currently, she is basically in charge of the editorial department.

Lu Yuan was silently writing the minutes of the meeting the whole time, occasionally looking up at her timidly, as if she were some ferocious monster.

Yao Zhizhi ignored her and only called out her name when the meeting was over: "Lü Yuan stays, everyone else go get busy."

Lu Yuan stood beside the conference table with her head down, looking cautious.

Yao Zhizhi looked at her calmly: "Have you been filling in for me during this period?"

"It's me. Did I do something wrong? Did I make my sister angry?" Lu Yuan is 25 years old this year, older than Yao Zhizhi, but she relies on her baby face and always likes to pretend to be young.

Yao Zhizhi smiled and said, "How should I know? My colleagues should have their own opinions on what's good or not. But, isn't it a bit inappropriate for you to leave my office like that? Shouldn't you clean it up?"

Lu Yuan's tears immediately fell: "Sister is really angry. I didn't mean it. I just received the notice yesterday and didn't have time to clean up. I will clean it up for you now. Will sister forgive me?"

Yao Zhizhi stood up and helped her wipe the cat urine with a smile: "Of course, we will be colleagues in the same unit from now on, so why bother with so much? I'm not an unreasonable person, right?"

"Ah...well, sister, you are so nice, thank you sister." Lu Yuan didn't expect that this woman would not be fooled. She had heard that this woman usually had a very bad temper.

Damn it, I couldn’t let this woman lose her temper in public. I’m at a huge disadvantage.

Could it be that they didn’t find the lost manuscript?

She deliberately provoked Yao Zhizhi: "Sister, let's make it clear first, you didn't lose anything, right? If I go in to clean now, I won't be able to explain if something is missing."

Yao Zhizhi laughed. This woman was indeed very skilled and could even turn the tables.

Are other people so easy to fool?

So she said vaguely, "Well, I really don't know. I just got here today and the meeting started, and the chairs haven't even warmed up yet. How about this, we call Xiao Song, who's in charge of typesetting, to go in and clean up together?"

"Well... forget it. Everyone has their own share of responsibility. I'll go and clean up." Lu Yuan quickly refused.

It would be difficult for her to pretend to be innocent when there are so many people around.

At that time, Xiao Song said that she had not seen the manuscript either. So when was the manuscript lost?

Don't you still have to doubt her?

Fortunately, Yao Zhizhi had been into the office after all, and she only said that the manuscript was lost after she finished cleaning, so she could turn the tables.

Then he turned around and prepared to go out.

Unexpectedly, Yao Zhizhi grabbed her. Lu Yuan quickly shrank her neck and pretended to be timid: "Sister, do you have any other instructions? Tell me all at once. But I'm just a small proofreader, and I may not be able to help you with any important work."

Yao Zhizhi smiled and looked up, brushing off the willow catkins on her body: "Look at you, there are so many willow catkins in your hair. If you accidentally get blinded, people who don't know will think I'm bullying you."

Lu Yuan was very grateful: "How could that be? Sister is so kind. Sister, you are busy, I will go to clean up."

Yao Zhizhi put away her smile and stared at the woman's back silently.

Have a brother who's in the military? Which unit? What rank? You'll have to ask Li Jing.

As for the father of the agency and the mother of the shopping mall, they are from other places after all and their influence is limited.

It would be better to start with her husband's family and see if there is any evidence.

If not, you can only write articles in the editorial department.

It’s funny to think about it. As expected, when a woman gives birth, all kinds of monsters and demons come out.

Some are because of the in-laws' dishonesty, some are because of colleagues at work taking up their jobs, and some are because their husbands have affairs. Everyone has their own sorrows.

As a woman, you must always be prepared to fight back. There is no other way. If I don’t hurt others, others will hurt me.

Yao Zhizhi turned around and went to the accounting department to see how the sales of the recent issues of the magazine were doing.

It actually declined.

She returned to the office, took the sample magazine off the table, and read it from beginning to end to see what was wrong with the content of the past few months.

Soon, she found the crux of the problem.

For example, the column "Mom and Dad, I want to tell you" was originally a place for children to express their true feelings, but in recent episodes it is all about praising their parents.

And it sounds very official, not like a child's writing style.

Another example is the Hundred Schools of Thought, in which the topics in recent episodes basically revolve around filial piety, respecting the elderly and loving the young.

Magazines are meant for children to relax, not to be lectured after class. No wonder they don't sell well.

No need to ask, it must be Lu Yuan's doing.

She called intern editor Xiao Jiang over and asked, "What's wrong with the manuscripts in these issues? Didn't I tell you that interns are editors too? They shouldn't feel inferior. If you have ideas about the manuscripts, you can put them forward. If they're accepted, you'll get paid. Don't you think there's something wrong with these issues?"

Xiao Jiang was helpless. He glanced at her office and whispered, "We tried our best."

Yao Zhizhi knew that walls had ears, so she called Xiao Jiang to the stairwell.

Xiao Jiang sighed, "Director Yao, the magazine is selling well, who wouldn't want to contribute their own article and earn some royalties? It's a pity that even if we volunteered, it would be useless."

Yao Zhizhi knew she had tried her best, and it was hard to say anything, so she could only ask, "Where is the manuscript you prepared? Let me see it."

Xiao Jiang was helpless: "It's lost."

"Lost?" Yao Zhizhi knew what was going on and pointed in the direction of the office.

Xiao Jiang nodded. She had no background and was just an ordinary college student who graduated from the Faculty of Arts. She didn't dare to offend Lu Yuan.

I could only whisper, "Director Yao, please think twice! This woman is unbearable to talk to. She starts crying the moment I talk to her, and then those stupid men accuse us of bullying her. I'm speechless. I've never seen such a disgusting woman."

Yao Zhizhi patted Xiao Jiang's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Think carefully about the content of the manuscript you lost. Try to recall it, and it's best to write it down. It will be useful in a week."

Although Xiao Jiang didn't know what the use was, she trusted Director Yao very much, so she hurried back and tried to write down everything based on her memory.

Yao Zhizhi also had to make the same preparation. People in their line of work all had good memory.

What's more, it's my own manuscript. Although the rewritten version may not be exactly the same, at least the overall outline is similar.

She was busy sitting at someone else's workstation when Lu Yuan suddenly ran over crying, "Oh no, sister, I accidentally knocked over the kerosene lamp on your desk and cut my hand. Can I go to the hospital first?"

The kerosene lamp is reserved for occasional power outages. It is made of glass and can indeed cut your hands.

However, Yao Zhizhi understood that cutting her hand was fake, and the real purpose was to make others think that she was oppressing her colleagues.

However, she was not so easily fooled and asked, "My kerosene lamp is locked in the cabinet, right? You actually have my key? No wonder my drawer was opened. But that's not right. The lock of my drawer was pried open. Did someone break into the editorial office?"

"Oh, yes, Sister Xiao Jiang did lose something a while ago. It's all my fault. I went home to take care of the children as soon as I got off work and failed to help the sisters protect their personal belongings. It's all my fault." Lu Yuan was stunned for a moment and continued to cry.