A suffocating workplace
He excitedly picked up his phone, wanting to send her a message, but when he glanced at the time, it was already late at night.
The phone screen remained on their chat history, and his finger hovered over the top of the screen, but he ultimately couldn't bear to disturb her.
He closed the interface, lay back on the bed, and slowly fell asleep.
The next morning, just after seven o'clock, Qi Xu got up and was the first person to arrive at the company.
She remained seated in her office, finding things to do even when she hadn't received any assignments.
I put the books on the table aside, turned on the computer, connected the drawing tablet, and began to conceive and draw the characters.
She was completely absorbed in her work, and had already conceived a character, but no one else came to the office.
The studio was eerily quiet, which made one suspicious; even the sound of cicadas chirping outside the window could be clearly heard.
During her work hours, the director in charge of the comics department glanced at her at the door and then left.
She sensed something was wrong, got up and went outside, where she saw her colleagues gathered for a meeting outside the large conference room.
At that moment, everyone in the conference room looked out the window at Qi Xu, but only glanced at him briefly before returning to the meeting.
Qi Xu looked at everyone in the conference room with a calm expression, but felt a tightness in his chest, as if something was blocking his breath.
She stood outside for a while, then turned and left.
Back in the studio, holding the electronic pen, I stared blankly at the tip, unable to bring myself to write.
A tear fell onto the drawing board, and she quickly picked up a tissue from the table to wipe the moisture from the corner of her eye and the tip of her nose.
She took a deep breath and deleted the character she had just drawn on the computer.
He hurriedly packed up his things and prepared to leave.
In a daze, she suddenly remembered the words her adoptive father, Qi Yansheng, had told her since she was a child:
"Only when you become strong can no one stop you from reaching the highest peak and make all those who bully you unable to reach you."
"Let your strength speak for itself, crush others directly, and make everyone willingly follow you and work for you."
“Purple Butterfly, I gave you this nickname in the hope that even without your father by your side, you can fly to the highest mountain like a butterfly.”
"Purple represents power, and I hope that you can have your own voice in your career."
"That's why all the little things I bought for you are purple."
Qi Xu had just stepped out the door when he pulled his foot back.
His eyes instantly changed from a look of grievance, helplessness, and confusion to one of determination, unwillingness, and resilience.
She took a step back, sat back down at her workstation, and arranged everything neatly.
I took on a new task for myself and devoted myself to figure painting.
Later, after the other people finished their meeting, they walked in one after another from outside the door.
Seeing Qi Xu still sitting at his workstation, focused on his artwork, I couldn't help but feel a heartfelt appreciation and admiration.
Everyone vaguely remembers the scene when they first joined the company:
Back then, I was ostracized by everyone and even considered leaving because I couldn't stand it. In the end, I was able to stay because of inside information revealed by my colleagues in the studio.
Knowing this information allowed him to successfully pass the subsequent challenges and stay on.
Some new young girls, relying on their abilities, become arrogant and disobedient, eventually choosing to leave, believing that their talents will shine anywhere.
Some people didn't understand the hints from the senior employees and left regretfully after failing the company's assessment.
Qi Xu was the first newcomer who was so young to pass the first test, and who remained calm and focused on his work without crying or making a fuss.
If no one assigns her tasks, she finds things to do on her own; if there is news of new tasks, she takes the initiative to seize the opportunity.
The more she worked, the more confident she became; the more confident she became, the stronger her indomitable spirit grew.
At this moment, Qi Xu's confidence was at its peak.
The director's assistant suddenly came to the comics department. After looking around, his gaze lingered on Qi Xu for a moment before he looked away and said, "A novel has recently become a hit. We need to compete for the comic adaptation rights. Whoever gets it gets it."
"The opportunity has been given to you, but you have to fight for it yourselves. We need strong people, not weak people."
Before leaving, he glanced at Qi Xu one last time, and then sent the novel information to the work group.
After that, everyone picked up their phones and started discussing the novel with the people around them.
Qi Xu put down what he was doing, looked around, and saw that everyone was looking at their phones. He also opened his phone, but there were no messages in the work group.
She got up, left the studio, went to the director's office, and knocked on the door.
After hearing the director's reply, he went straight in: "Director, I need information about the novel's author."
"The information? I've already sent it to the studio group. Just pay attention and don't rely on others for everything."
Qi Xu was unconvinced and stood there for a moment.
"Aren't you leaving yet? Do I have to ask you to leave?" The director was somewhat dissatisfied with Qi Xu's attitude, and his tone was clearly filled with anger.
She didn't answer, and turned to walk out.
Back at his workstation, Qi Xu carefully observed the people around him. On the surface, he was working diligently, but in reality, he was paying attention to everyone's words and actions, hoping to find an opportunity.
Sitting at my workstation, I couldn't hear what my colleagues were saying at all.
So she slowly stood up, took her cup, pretended to be very tired, moved around, and slowly walked behind each employee to eavesdrop.
But every time she got close, everyone would immediately stop talking and silently start working.
The others noticed Qi Xu's actions and felt even more favorably toward her.
The woman who had previously made things difficult for her chuckled and whispered, "She's really clever."
The voice wasn't loud, but Qi Xu caught it. She looked up, but the other person had already composed themselves and was focused on their work, revealing no flaw whatsoever.
Qi Xu was already extremely cautious, but still couldn't find any clues.
She had no choice but to return to her workstation and search for the latest trending novels on her phone. Since the company wouldn't give her a chance, she could always find one herself.
Soon, she found the newly popular novel "Forget Worries" by the author Shana Fanghua.
Using her well-known account "Xiaoqi," she tried to contact the author to negotiate the rights to adapt the comic: "Hello, I am Xiaoqi. Your work suits my taste very well, and I am interested in adapting it. I hope you can grant me the rights."
In fact, Shana Fanghua had received many copyright acquisition requests from companies, but she did not want to sell. She already had a favorite cartoonist in mind, but she had not received a reply after contacting Xiaoqi several times.
She suddenly received another message. She wanted to refuse, but when she saw that the sender was a cartoonist she followed, she immediately became interested and replied, "No problem."
Qi Xu was somewhat bewildered upon receiving the reply, not expecting to acquire the adaptation rights so easily.
She maintained her respect for the author, sending him each character sketch she conceived, hoping to get feedback.
Upon seeing the message, the author's eyes lit up; the characters in the painting were all beautiful and handsome, a feast for the eyes.
What she initially admired was Xiaoqi's understanding of the role and her earnestness.
Moreover, Xiaoqi will not weaken the supporting characters in order to highlight the main characters. The comic adapted in this way will definitely be more popular than one that only relies on the main characters.
"I am Xiaoqi, an artist from Fengyu Guihua Company. I hope to cooperate with you on behalf of the company."
"I'm very satisfied with your abilities. I promise you, I've already sold the copyright to the company."
"Won't you reconsider?" After thinking for a moment, Qi Xu sent the message.
"I believe in you, and I believe in Fengyu Guihua."
And just like that, the novel adaptation rights that the director had been fighting so hard for were handed over on his own initiative, and he even specified that Xiaoqi should be in charge of the illustrations.
Looking at the adaptation rights that had been secured, the director knew without a doubt whose credit it was.
He never posted any information about the novel in the studio group.
A meaningful smile appeared on his lips: "Seven Xu, you really have the ability to get your hands on it."
However, the director did not assign this task to Qi Xu, but instead assigned it to another more experienced senior employee.
Upon learning the news, Shana Fanghua was extremely dissatisfied with the company's actions and immediately slammed a phone call into the company, demanding, "Why is your company so untrustworthy?"
The manager who received the call wasn't angry. Instead, he patiently explained to her, "She's a newcomer. Our company is testing her to see if she has the ability to pass the certification exam."
"You'd better do that! If your company is not satisfied with my ideas, I don't mind terminating the cooperation immediately."
“If your company doesn’t keep its promises, I won’t tolerate it. I will use my connections to damage your company’s reputation. Think it over carefully!” With that, the writer, Shana Fanghua, hung up the phone.
The director, despite being threatened by the writer, was not angry; instead, he looked at Qi Xu with even greater admiration.
"What method did you use to get the writer to protect you and specifically name you?" The director murmured, sitting in his chair, staring thoughtfully ahead.
She was waiting in the office for the director to assign her a task, but instead, the director's assistant came in and, instead of going to her, went to a senior employee and handed over the task.
Qi Xu was puzzled, but he was determined not to let his hard work go to waste.
She stared intently at her assistant, and seeing that the assistant was about to leave, she stood up and blocked her way: "What do you mean?"
Her tone was unwavering, firm and assertive, as if she wouldn't give up until she got the reason.
"A new employee who's only been here a few days and already this arrogant? Is this how you treat your superiors?"
"My attitude depends on your attitude towards me!"
"Ha, are you criticizing the company's rules?"
"That's your own business. I'm here to work, not to be bullied. If I'm wronged or treated unfairly, can't I stand up for myself?"
"Seven!" The assistant was thoroughly enraged by her retort and roared.
Although her position was not high, no one had ever dared to disrespect her. This was the first time she had been confronted at the door by a young newcomer who had only been there for a short time, and she was completely unable to fight back. Moreover, the other party's words were all reasonable.
Seeing that the two were getting along badly, the others quickly came over to try and stop them.
But Qi Xu persisted, pressing him relentlessly: "Why!"
Their stance remains firm.
An employee walked up to Qi Xu and advised, "Stop talking, stop talking."
"This is company policy, and we can't interfere."
"Rules! Do rules mean we should be at the mercy of others?" Qi Xu broke free from the employee's hand and took a few steps back.
"I don't care what you want to do! But I will never!"
The other employees sighed. If it were anyone else in this situation, they would probably just leave after saying a few words. But Qi Xu not only didn't leave, he also wanted to seek justice for himself.
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