Chu Li almost jumped out of the car when she arrived at the printing factory, and ran all the way into the printing factory without even closing the door. Zhuo Chuan watched her walk very fast in high heels, watched her jump up the stairs like a rabbit, and watched her go away. He could only weakly call out, "Slow down, don't fall"... As soon as he finished speaking, he saw that she sprained her ankle. She took off her high heels decisively, and ran away with the high heels in her hand without any hesitation.
Zhuchuan: “…”
The man shook his head, got back into the car decisively, closed the door, and parked his car in the parking lot... He went upstairs and was about to text Chu Li to ask where she was, but when he walked into the corridor of the printing office and before he could get close, he heard Chu Li's incredulous roar from the end of the corridor: "What?! You told me that after you changed the waistband, you directly used the first edition of the printing order as the third edition?!"
Zhuo Chuan paused, stopped at the door of an office, and poked his head in. He saw Chu Li wearing a high-heeled shoe on one foot, and the other foot was hooked like a red-crowned crane, and she hadn't had time to put on the half-worn shoe. She had her hands on the desk, her eyes were bigger than copper bells, and she was waiting for a child in his twenties...
It looked like she wanted to take off her high heels that she hadn't put on yet and hit him on the head.
"I gave you two versions of the cover. Have you ever thought about what the second version is for? Have you ever been to Taobao? Have you ever thought about what the six words "Online Pre-sale Exclusive" mean? I put a question mark on the cover of the book for "Online Pre-sale Exclusive" in the promotional picture but didn't announce what it looks like. What does the online bookseller's online pre-sale exclusive look like? Not only do you not know that the regular version is a special edition, but you also don't know that the online channel and the physical bookseller channel are the same. This must mean there is something wrong with the book?!"
Chu Li was so angry that he couldn't breathe.
Seeing Comrade Xiao Wang looking confused, she raised her hand——
"Okay, even if you really made a mistake with the printing order, what about the sample book? Since there was no proof in advance, the contract stipulates that the sample book should be sent to the editorial department three days in advance. Why didn't you send it? The contract also clearly states that both covers must be given as sample books. I also called you to remind you. Didn't you react when I called you..."
"You did make the phone call, but you didn't come to the printing factory to check it out." Xiao Wang's face turned pale, as if he knew that his series of mistakes had caused a disaster...
"I come to the printing factory every day to supervise?! You don't make other books?! What's the contract for? Doesn't it say that if I don't come to the printing factory every day to supervise the printing, I will bear all the consequences?!" Chu Li slammed his hands on the desk, and the movement seemed to smash the desk. "It didn't say that! But the contract said that you can send out sample books - the process of "Luohe Divine Book" is more complicated than this, and I didn't come to supervise the printing every day! How come there is no problem with "Luohe Divine Book"!"
"I came from an assembly line and am not familiar with the business..."
"So I told you to take your time and ask me if you have any questions. Did you ask me? There was such a big document like the second edition cover lying there, but you just declared it scrapped without even asking me..."
Chu Li was so angry that the blood rushed to his head.
I took out my phone and looked at it——
It has been just 30 minutes since the first reader posted a message questioning the issue. In the past 30 minutes, dozens of people have discovered that the online version and the physical bookstore version are exactly the same...
Although there are only a few dozen at present, it is actually a very scary number.
If the first ceremony is not held immediately, before the afternoon get off work time, those people in the same city who received the book on the same day will gather together and directly occupy the entire "Moonlight" official Weibo and bombard it... and then they will go to the author's Weibo to make trouble, and the author will definitely ask Yuanyue Publishing House to give an explanation.
Chu Li realized that she didn't have time to argue with Xiao Wang anymore. The contract was there anyway, and the one who didn't do it was the printing factory. And now she shouldn't continue to argue with him about who was right and who was wrong...
——Since something has happened, the most urgent thing is to stop the damage in time. There is no point in arguing about who is right or wrong.
At least that’s what Chu Li still thought at this time.
Three minutes later.
In the end, Xiao Wang still felt that he was rescued by a tall man dressed in black who suddenly rushed in from outside the door. The man walked in, picked up Chu Li who was leaning on the table and looked like she could eat him alive, and put her on the table. Then, before she could react, he bent down and put on her high heels...
At this time, this tall, handsome and cold-faced man was as important as Tuxedo Mask in Comrade Xiao Wang's eyes.
At this moment, Chu Li stared at the big hand holding her ankle in a trance.
"If you have any questions, go back to Yuanyue Publishing House first. Immediately notify the marketing department to have online booksellers stop shipping the books that have not been shipped yet, and start preparing compensation measures."
The man held her with one hand, lowered his eyes, bent down and carefully put on her shoes.
When Chu Li jumped down from the table holding Zhu Chuan's hand, he could feel her palms were cold, covered in cold sweat and trembling slightly... The man paused and said nothing. He just helped her walk out and found that she was limping. He glanced at her feet and realized that the side of her foot where she had put on the shoe earlier was swollen, probably because she had really sprained it just now.
Sighing, he walked over to her and squatted down. This time Chu Li said nothing and obediently lay on his back. Her lips touched his soft hair, and she rubbed it, as if she had just come to her senses and said, "...I just told Ah Xiang before that it is not a good thing for readers to know the existence of editors. If nothing goes wrong, it's fine. If something goes wrong, the editor will be in trouble--"
“…”
"Tell me," Chu Li whispered on his shoulder, "Do you think I have a crow's mouth?"
"Well," said Zhuchuan helplessly, "that's quite crow-mouthed."
"Zhuchuan."
"Um."
The hug around his neck tightened slightly, and the person lying on his neck breathed warm, moist air on his neck.
"My feet hurt."
The man walked steadily towards the outside of the printing factory. Only after the two of them walked out of the factory gate did he say calmly, "Don't be afraid."
Chu Li didn’t know what exactly “don’t be afraid” meant… She just changed her look in front of Comrade Xiao Wang, the man-eating beast, and became as docile as a tamed puppy. She lay on the man’s back and buried her face deeply in his neck. She was so scared that she wanted to tremble when she thought of the questions that had appeared and were about to appear on Weibo, but this time…
But for the first time ever, she didn't cry.
…
After returning to Yuanyue Society, Chu Li got off the car. The man watched her limping away, and she followed him out of the car almost uncontrollably. After only two steps, Chu Li turned back as if she suddenly felt something... When she turned back, she saw the man walking from a distance as if he was about to follow her. She was stunned at first, then she raised her hand and waved at him, and then forced a smile.
Zhuchuan wanted to say that this smile was uglier than crying.
But he still returned to the car obediently. When he received a text message from Chu Li asking him to go back first, he did not move, but just replied -
【Zhuochuan: Returning to the car is already the biggest concession, don't push it any further.】
【Zhuchuan: Go ahead. 】
【Zhuchuan: Waiting for you here. 】
Chu Li stood there, staring at her phone for a long time, then she put it away and continued to walk towards the editorial department like a disabled person. When she finally reached the door of the editorial department, she found that the entire editorial department was in chaos...
The expressions on everyone's faces were all ugly in their own ways, especially Yu Yao, who for the first time held up his phone and said in such a tough tone, "The printing factory has breached the contract and you must ask the printing factory for help to resolve this issue"... As for the comments under the official Weibo at this moment, Chu Li didn't even dare to read them.
The marketing department and the editorial department brought the heads of each department to hold a meeting in the conference room. According to a preliminary statistical analysis, most of the online pre-sales had already been shipped, and all those that had not yet been shipped or transported were urgently recalled. However, even so, there were still about 8,000 books on their way to buyers.
Eight thousand copies.
"Reprint the book covers and then distribute them to readers." Chu Li sat at the table. "The printing factory itself breached the contract first. How much will it cost to reprint 8,000 book covers? Isn't it urgent to come up with a plan to appease the readers?"
"Printing book covers is not expensive, but what about the postage?" Liang Chonglang glanced at Chu Li. "Postage is eight to ten yuan. Let's take eight yuan. Eight thousand copies of postage is more than sixty thousand yuan. Add the cost of printing book covers, and it's at least one hundred thousand yuan. Do you want the printing factory to pay for this?"
"What if you don't take the responsibility?" Chu Li raised his eyebrows. "What about the readers?"
"?" Liang Chonglang said nothing, and Chu Li raised his eyebrows even higher.
"This is the only one of the top three printing factories in the country that is located in City G. They have been cooperating with our Yuanyue Press for many years without any mistakes," Lao Miao took over the topic at the right time. "Next, we will cooperate with them on cosplay albums and various full-color art albums. These things have very high requirements for printing technology. Considering the printing technology, process maturity and degree of cooperation, these must be done in this printing factory. If something goes wrong at this juncture, it is inevitable that they will not continue to accept our orders and are willing to continue to cooperate..."
Chu Li: "But they were the ones who made the mistake and broke the contract."
"They are the ones who can't afford the compensation." Liang Chonglang interrupted Chu Li calmly, "Everyone knows that this year's business is worse than last year. A large number of old employees left the factory at the beginning of the year, and now if they have to pay compensation again, the factory will be in big trouble."
"What's wrong with being hurt? If you're worried about being hurt, you should be more serious about your business... No, you're speaking for the printing factory?" Chu Li couldn't believe his ears. "No compensation? What about the readers?"
"It will be very difficult for us to cooperate with the printing factory after we pay compensation. They will not accept our orders after such a bad situation," a henchman from the marketing department jumped in and said, "Where will we print the books? We will have to find a new printing factory in the next city, and we will have to stop working on many projects. How will we calculate the shipping fee after the books are printed? Do you know how much loss this will be?"
Liang Chonglang smiled and glanced at his henchman and said, "Xiao Ma is right. We need to take a long-term view."
"Oh," Lao Miao came out and said in a conciliatory tone, "No one wants to see something like this happen. Chu Li, if you had been more careful and gone to the printing factory more often, this wouldn't have happened."
The topic suddenly turned to Chu Li.
Chu Li stood beside the table, her eyes swept over Lao Miao and Liang Chonglang one by one, and not surprisingly saw that the expressions on their faces were very similar...
——These two men are wearing the same pair of trousers.
Chu Li became more and more expressionless.
"For things like this, it would be best if we could make a big deal out of a small one, or a small matter out of nothing," said Lao Miao. "Readers these days don't seem to be that difficult to deal with. They're so angry right now, but they just want an explanation from Yuanyue Society."
"Yes, yes, yes, just give an explanation, it doesn't cost a penny, just apologize." Liang Chonglang said, "No one has to spend money, and we can continue to cooperate, why not do it?"
Yu Yao, Chief Editor Xia and Chu Li all frowned.
Yu Yao: "What do you mean? The printing factory is not taking the blame for this incident. Are you going to let someone apologize and resolve the issue? Who should go? The author?"
Editor-in-Chief Xia: "Just because the sales volume is not that big, you don't want to pay a penny, and just pretend to be dead and muddle through? You make books like this..."
"...are you just treating readers like this?" Chu Li asked more directly, "What have readers done wrong to come and buy books?"
"Don't be so full of yourself," Lao Miao looked directly at Chu Li, "You can't say you have no responsibility for this matter, editor-in-chief, editor-in-chief, if you could be a little more diligent in printing, why don't you know that the printing order was wrong?"
Chu Li choked.
After thinking for a while, he said, "Okay, I am partially responsible for this matter—"
Yu Yao kicked her hard from below.
She was stunned, and before she could say "but", she saw Lao Miao and Liang Chonglang looking at each other. Liang Chonglang nodded and said with a smile, "That's right, the editor-in-charge is supposed to take responsibility. I think you should just apologize and let it go. Readers forget things after a few days of anger... You just make a sacrifice, it's actually nothing. The boss just called me and told me that he also hopes this matter can be resolved peacefully."
Upon hearing this, Chu Li wanted to say "fuck you" but he glanced at Editor-in-Chief Xia, who seemed to be hesitant to speak, and swallowed the words back into his stomach.
——She suddenly understood something.
Regardless of whether Lao Miao and Liang Chonglang were in the same boat in the past, at least now, they have joined forces. This incident is a godsend for them. They use the excuses of "maintaining friendly cooperation with the printing factory" and "neither the printing factory nor Yuanyue Society can suffer losses and must minimize the losses" to make full use of their power...
No matter what, I want to kill her——
That's why you dislike her?
"I can't take the blame for this," Chu Li propped himself up on the table with one hand, straightened his back, and endured the pain in his ankle to make himself look less weak. "Think about it yourself and see if it's reasonable or not. The person who really made the mistake is hiding in the back and not saying anything, while pushing the editor out to take the blame. I don't agree!"
After Chu Li's words, the whole conference room fell silent. Ah Xiang's eyes turned red; Xiao Niao covered half of her face with a folder, her eyes wide open; Yu Yao also frowned and looked at Editor-in-Chief Xia.
Editor-in-Chief Xia said, "Chu Li didn't do what he said. We need to discuss this matter further. Don't jump to conclusions."
Liang Chonglang: "Not urgent? Ask the readers if it's urgent?"
Yu Yao: "Liang Chonglang, you are going too far! How do you talk to Teacher Xia?"
Liang Chonglang glanced at Yu Yao and stopped talking. Lao Miao came out and said with a smile, "Ah, Lao Liang is telling the truth. I think the readers really can't wait another hour... If you continue to make trouble, it will damage the reputation of Yuanyue Society and it will be difficult to explain to the boss."
…
After the meeting.
Chu Li herself didn't know how she got back to Zhuochuan's car. She opened the door and got in. The man leaned over and fastened her seat belt without saying anything. Chu Li still sat in the car like a wooden sculpture.
Chu Li opened his phone and ignored the numerous requests for an explanation on the official Weibo account. He numbly scrolled through Weibo and saw a series of messages from Suo Heng.
[Suo Heng: We are aware of the shipping error of the online pre-order version and have notified Yuanyueshe.]
【Suo Heng: Please stay calm, I believe that society will provide a good solution in January. 】
[Suo Heng: I am also waiting for the results, please don’t worry. ]
【Suo Heng: ...I'm sorry.】
【Suo Heng: How about we all return the goods? 】
The finger hovering over the phone screen pauses.
Chu Li clicked on Suo Heng’s Weibo and took a look——
In the past, my daily Weibo posts would have a maximum of 20 to 30 replies, sometimes zero retweets, and single-digit comments were also very common; but today, I posted five consecutive Weibo posts, each with hundreds of retweets and comments. When I clicked on them, all of them were -
So disappointed;
I sincerely hope you can make a comeback and support both versions, but this happened;
My heart is so tired;
I hope you can give an explanation to the fans;
I have been a fan for five years. I bought three online copies and queued up early in the morning to buy three physical bookstore copies. Now I am faced with six identical books. I am speechless and don’t know what to say.
You are really unlucky.
…
Chu Li put down her phone and brushed the strands of hair in front of her eyes behind her head.
She calmly watched the scenery passing by outside the window. She took a deep breath, but found that her chest was full of depression, so much so that she couldn't breathe.
Suo Heng's Weibo hasn't been active for several years. Finally, hundreds of people came and joined, but all of them were this kind of... this kind of, I don't know how to describe the comments and reposts.
But what did the reader do wrong?
What did the author do wrong?
Who is to blame?
…
Twenty minutes later.
When Zhuchuan looked at the rearview mirror and slowly backed the car into the garage, the person sitting in the passenger seat who had been silent all the way suddenly moved - Zhuchuan slowly withdrew his gaze from the rearview mirror and set his eyes on the person next to him.
He saw that her eyes were sparkling.
"I'll take the blame this time." His two hands on his knees slowly clenched from being stretched out powerlessly, "But I'm making this clear today. One of Lao Miao and Liang Chonglang must die."