Stubbornness ultimately led to mistakes.
The two argued for a moment, and the director came out of his office. He heard every word that Qi Xu had just said.
His face instantly darkened, and he stood silently behind Qi Xu.
When her colleagues saw the director behind her, they all fell silent and stood at attention. Some even quietly nudged Qi Xu's arm, signaling her to turn around.
"Are you done talking?"
Qi Xu's heart skipped a beat, and she turned her head sharply to see the director with a gloomy face walking towards her.
As his aura dissipated, Qi Xu's previous imposing presence weakened considerably.
"If you're done talking, pack your things and leave!"
"If you can't stand it, then leave! You're working for someone else here, and you're still being picky. Do you really think you're so capable? If you're so good, open your own studio and show us."
"If you don't have the ability, then shut up, get to work, and follow orders!"
The supervisor berated him harshly. When Qi Xu saw him arrive, she unconsciously stepped back, not daring to look him in the eye. She kept staring at his back. Although she was angry, she knew she had done something wrong. She silently walked back to her workstation, quickly packed her things, and prepared to leave.
As soon as Meng Jia returned to the company from school, she saw Qi Xu packing her things at her workstation. She immediately guessed that Qi Xu must have angered the director, violated the rules, or failed the assessment and was fired.
She asked her colleague next to her about the situation and learned that she had offended the director. Meng Jia immediately got up and walked quickly to her father's office.
She pushed the door open in a panic, leaning on the edge of the table and panting, "Dad, are you going to fire her?"
"Jiajia, do you know what she did?" Mr. Meng asked without looking up, still looking at the documents, his tone unhurried.
"She didn't pass the test?"
"On the contrary, she not only passed, but also directly obtained the resources, and the author specifically requested that she be in charge of the painting herself."
"Jiajia, do you think this is good news or bad news?" Mr. Meng finally looked up at her, a smile in his eyes.
Meng Jia instantly understood her father's meaning, turned around and prepared to go to the director's office to discuss Qi Xu's future.
Just then, Meng's father's voice came from behind: "Jiajia, you should understand, and it's time for you to make your own choice."
She understood the deeper meaning in her father's words. Her steps suddenly became heavy, and her expression turned grim.
But she still decided to help Qi Xu one more time, once because of admiration and once because of friendship. As for the third time, she would not help again.
Having figured these things out, my steps became lighter again, and my face relaxed considerably.
She went straight into the director's office.
When the director saw her arrive, he naturally knew why she had come: "Is it to plead for her?"
“Not entirely.” Meng Jia walked to the side and sat down, poured herself a cup of tea, and slowly savored it.
"You're becoming more and more like your father in terms of personality."
"If you fire her, how will you explain it to the writer?"
“The adaptation rights to ‘Forget Worries’ should rightfully belong to her. I did this simply to teach her a lesson and make her understand some workplace etiquette.” The director paused. “When you’re on someone else’s turf, you have to respect local customs. I thought you would plead for her, but I didn’t expect you to be thinking about the company’s reputation first.”
"You're only half right. I have selfish motives, but public-spirited motives outweigh selfish ones."
The director looked at her, a slight smile playing on his lips: "Meng Jia, you're quite the hidden talent. In everyone's eyes, you're just a spoiled rich girl, but I didn't expect you to have such ambitions."
“If I don’t keep a low profile, how will you lower your guard against me? How will I gain a foothold, and how will I get you to willingly recognize me and work for me?” Meng Jia raised her eyes, looking at the director with a half-smile.
By this time, Qi Xu had packed his things and, under the watchful eyes of his colleagues, carried his belongings out of the company.
My heart was filled with resentment, yet I was helpless.
She simply couldn't understand: Why? By what right? She had been wronged, yet she couldn't even resist; why did she have to endure such suffocating rules?
The more she thought about it, the angrier she became. When she got downstairs, she kicked a stone on the side of the road hard, her anger making no attempt to hide it.
She wandered aimlessly and unknowingly returned to her rented room. She put her things on the table, sat down on the sofa, and kept thinking about the question she had just asked.
A day and a night passed, and she still couldn't figure out why or on what grounds, she still couldn't understand this question, why exactly.
Her phone kept ringing and sending messages, but she seemed not to hear them, remaining curled up on the sofa, lost in thought.
Several days passed like this, and my eyelids grew heavier and heavier. Finally, unable to resist the urge to sleep, I slowly closed my eyes and fell asleep.
In her dream, she saw her father, Hao Nan, and some old friends.
Everyone gathered together to play, and the atmosphere was exceptionally pleasant.
In the dream, Qi Xu had already achieved great success, but he remained stubborn, insisting on his own opinions and refusing to listen to anyone else's ideas.
Even when others tried to persuade her, she still believed she was right and insisted on her own ideas.
Later, when she was alone in her room calming down and dealing with her work, she discovered that her ideas had flaws and that some problems were simply unsolvable.
After much hesitation, she tried using other people's suggestions, and to her surprise, they worked much better than her own methods.
In the end, she convinced herself that, although she was still unconvinced, she had to admit that other people's ideas were indeed better.
With these suggestions, she perfectly solved the problems at work.
Qi Xu woke up with a start, his phone still ringing incessantly on the table.
She picked up her phone, and Hao Nan's name was prominently displayed on the screen. Still half-asleep, she answered the call, completely forgetting that the two of them had just had a fight.
"What's up?"
Hao Nan had called her countless times but no one answered, so he thought something had happened to her and was rushing to her house.
Hearing her voice, his tense nerves finally relaxed, and he slowed his pace.
"Are you alright?" Hao Nan's voice carried a hint of worry, and he was a little out of breath.
Qi Xu was taken aback for a moment, then quickly asked, "I'm fine. Were you jogging? Or did something happen?"
"It sounds like you're very tired."
“I was just too anxious… I called you 52 times, but you didn’t answer. I thought something had happened to you, so I rushed out to find you.”
Qi Xu fell silent. She suddenly remembered their previous argument, and for a moment she was speechless, staring blankly at her phone screen.
"Seven? Seven?" Hao Nan's voice kept ringing out on the phone.
“I’m here,” she replied immediately.
His gaze swept across the time in the upper left corner of his phone; it was already past 1 a.m. He was so worried about him, yet he'd made those jokes and said those hurtful things to him earlier…
The call hadn't ended, but both of them fell silent.
"Seven or so."
"Hao Nan".
They both spoke at the same time, then froze at the same time, and couldn't help but lower their heads and smile when the other couldn't see them.
"Feel sorry."
"Feel sorry."
The two of them still spoke in unison.
This time, Hao Nan wisely kept his mouth shut and waited quietly for her to speak. He walked slowly alone on the brightly lit street, a slight smile playing on his lips.
"It's past 1 a.m., don't you guys in the dorm care? Go back quickly, it's not safe outside."
“I’ve been staying with my mom for the past few days. She works the night shift, so I’m all alone at home.”
"Go back now, I'm really fine."
"Okay~ I'll do whatever you say, goodnight."
Hearing Hao Nan's gentle voice, Qi Xu felt a warmth in her heart, and her smile deepened.
"Okay, goodnight." After saying that, she hung up the phone, happily moved from the sofa to the bed, and fell into a deep sleep with a blissful smile.
Hao Nan continued walking slowly along the roadside, his expression gentle, his gaze fixed on the phone number Qi Xu on his phone screen. After a while, he turned around and slowly walked towards home.
The next day, Qi Xu was still sleeping in bed when a phone call woke her up.
She groggily reached for her phone, answered it, and mumbled, "Hello? Who is it? Why are you calling so early in the morning?"
"Seven Xu! Come back here. You need to finish the projects you left behind yourself." The director said, then slammed down the phone.
Immediately afterward, my phone rang again. It was the director again: "The writer specifically requested that you bring the artwork. The company can't handle this pressure. Come back as soon as possible."
Upon hearing the director's voice, Qi Xu instantly sat up in bed.
She rubbed her forehead helplessly and sighed softly. This was indeed trouble she had caused for the company, and she should clean it up herself.
After getting up and quickly washing up, she changed her clothes, hopped on her electric scooter, and headed to the company.
After returning to her workstation and preparing everything, she began her painting.
The moment she walked into the company, all her colleagues were stunned; no one expected her to come back.
Later, after hearing other people's explanations, everyone realized that the company had no choice but to bring her back because the author had specifically requested her to be in charge of the illustrations.
Some people even secretly envied her: she could always rise from the ashes and pull herself out of trouble.
While she was painting, an employee came in from outside and inadvertently glanced at her sketches, instantly amazed by her painting style.
The man quietly walked up behind her and carefully looked at the drawing. Every character was depicted vividly and realistically, and even the supporting characters were not weakened. Each one was lively and three-dimensional.
"Now I finally understand why the artist of 'Fleeting Beauty' insisted on having you paint it, and why it had to be you." The employee stared at the painting and exclaimed sincerely, "This painting is so pleasing to the eye; anyone who sees it will like it."
Hearing the sound, others also gathered around to look at her drawing.
A kind colleague advised, "There's an unwritten rule in this industry: supporting actors can't outshine the leads."
"In order to highlight the main character, the supporting characters are usually drawn to be weaker than the main character."
"I'm just offering a suggestion; it's up to you whether you take it or not. But since a writer has specifically requested you, there shouldn't be any major problems."
"Thank you for reminding me." Qi Xu continued writing, looked up at everyone, smiled, and sincerely thanked them.
After finishing the last stroke, she sent the manuscript to the director's email address.
Soon, the director's message came: "Draw the supporting characters a little weaker, and don't make them prettier than the main characters."
Qi Xu was initially very averse to this request, but after what had happened before, she had come to realize that stubbornness would not solve any problems.
Although I'm reluctant, it might be worth a try.
She had no choice but to revise it according to the director's instructions, and then resend it to the director.
The director was very satisfied this time and asked her to continue drawing according to the revised image.
However, after receiving the news, the writers unanimously opposed it and even made harsh statements to exert pressure.
The director had no choice but to compromise and allow Qi Xu to adapt the comic based on the first draft.
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