What Zhuo Chuan didn't know was that, after his poor editor received the picture of the goddess that afternoon, he immediately dived into the Yuanyue Society's library of works.
When Chu Li sent him a text message to complain, she was just walking out of the Yuanyue Society's works library with moonlight all over her body and frost on her feet, preparing to go home: This was because she was afraid that Ergou would get hungry at home and climb up to the roof to tear off the tiles and take down the sofa.
Otherwise she thought she could spend the night in the library.
After returning home in the evening, Chu Li fed Er Gouzi and ate something casually. She washed up, put on her nightgown, and put on a facial mask before lying on the sofa with her legs crossed in an indecent position. She and the big dog occupied half of the sofa: the big dog was full and rested his head on the armrest of the sofa, watching TV sleepily, while Chu Li put one foot on the natural warm pad of the big dog, holding her mobile phone and typing away to start a new round of war——
The finished product pictures received this morning were sent by Chu Li to the WeChat work group.
After posting the picture, Chu Li explained in detail that "the artist did not show the drafting process to me, and only showed me a single sketch at the beginning, and then ignored the editor's comments, and forced me to submit the finished draft directly in order to avoid revisions."
Teacher Xia was indeed furious.
You can imagine how beautiful it would be to see a 55-year-old educated person, who is not so familiar with modern communication equipment, slowly typing on his mobile phone to finish the first ceremony of holding the goddess of the cocoon.
【Lao Xia: If she doesn’t let you see it, then you won’t see it? Then what is the purpose of an editor?】
【Lao Xia: This painter's behavior is shameful! 】
[Lao Xia: We are used to being flattered by those petty publishing houses, which makes us lose our temper and damage our professional ethics! Yuanyue Publishing House is such a big publishing house, we are not used to it! ]
【Lao Xia: You may consider not using this picture and just use the words directly.】
【Lao Xia: Anyway, I don’t think the painter is that famous.】
Teacher Xia spent fifteen minutes just typing the Five Elements Speech. However, during the process, the entire group was as quiet as a chicken. People didn't dare to say a word and waited for him to curse at them word by word... During this time, Ah Xiang even privately knocked on Chu Li's door and sighed-
【Flying Elephant: I’m so glad no one reminded Teacher Xia that WeChat has a voice function.】
[The navy hired by the monkey: We have been bombarded once during the day, who is so shameless as to want to be picked on again before going to bed at night? Do you think you can review your homework and follow the three meals a day... Even Lao Miao would not be so shameless. ]
【Flying Elephant: ...Look! The teacher said that the Coffin Queen is not that popular.】
[The Monkey’s hired navy: I’m just forcing myself to say something that’s not that bad, hahahahahahahaha! ]
Chu Li and A Xiang, two of Yu Yao's minions, were trembling with fear, trying to laugh in the midst of hardship. Yu Yao was left alone in the crowd to confront Teacher Xia. Yu Yao gave Teacher Xia a heartfelt analysis of the situation.
First, the current book market environment determines that young people are the main consumer group. Books with beautiful character covers tend to attract them more. Even if they don’t know who the author is, they will pick up the book and flip through it out of curiosity...;
Secondly, calligraphy itself can attract some readers who like it, and the size of the calligraphy itself will not affect their consumption impulse;
Finally, Yuanyue Publishing wants to bring the routine concept of selling traditional serious literature into new areas, and perhaps it will accidentally create a new path - but the old path was paved by predecessors using RMB and failure experience, and we cannot blindly believe in it. It should be noted that the concept of selling "Luohe Divine Book" is completely different from that of selling "Dream of Red Mansions"...
Yu Yao advocated using a portrait as the cover. After all, the picture had been received, and the relevant marketing plan had already entered the warm-up stage and the effect was good, which showed that readers still liked this approach (*referring to the fact that Teacher Xia had asked Lao Miao to post a promotional Weibo). Changing it now would be a mistake and a waste of time.
After reading Yu Yao's words, Teacher Xia fell into a long silence.
Yu Yao waited for a while but got no response, and became extremely worried. He returned to his own small group in the Moonlight magazine department and started typing away.
[Yu Yao: It's over, why no response? Will Teacher Xia be mad at me to death?]
[The navy hired by the monkey: …]
【Flying elephant: ……】
【Meow meow: ……】
【Chirp, chirp, chirp: ……】
In panic, Chu Li, as the editor-in-chief, could not continue to leave Yao behind and let her face all this alone. After blaming Empress Xu, she remained silent for most of the night. Now she finally spoke up and said something human -
[The water army hired by Monkey: Don't worry, Mr. Xia, I will definitely solve this problem - the worst case scenario is to make preparations for both situations. The best plan is definitely to use the cocoon's picture according to the original plan and continue with the original plan... If you want the title to be big, don't waste the calligraphy. No problem, although there is not much space left on the cover of the book, we can use the vertical waistband to make up for it. Just print a huge book title on the waistband and then cover it in the place of the book title. It's OK - that's the waistband, we have the final say on the size, which means that the waistband can be as big as the characters! ]
[The water army hired by Monkey: I specially looked at it in the work library this afternoon. When Yuanyue Publishing House made "The Time Traveler" before, the base map was too large and the title was too small. This book adopted a vertical waistband at that time, and the effect was very good. 】
Chu Li's words caused a huge uproar, especially Yu Yao who had been scolded all night and reacted the fastest -
[Yu Yao: Hey, this is fine! Really, Chu Li, you actually thought of the waist belt. The waist belt is indeed something that can be used! ]
Chuli: “…”
If I don’t think of a solution, do I have the courage to report the situation to Teacher Xia tonight!!!
[The Monkey’s hired navy: In addition to this, we can also prepare a plan B. In addition to the vertical waistband, if it really doesn’t work, we can also use plain text. Modern printing technology is so advanced. Axiang @会飞的象 said that even using plain text can produce very good results. ]
【Flying elephant: ……】
【Flying elephant: Right.】
After Ah Xiang had been pretending to be a corpse for a whole night, she was finally forced to surface by Chu Li’s forced tag. Afterwards, she was speechless and asked Chu Li why he did such an inhumane thing.
Chu Li laughed and said that we are all grasshoppers on a rope, what can you do? Besides, it was you who decided to come up with "PLAN B". It was also you who said that pure words can be made to look good, wasn't it?
Ah Xiang thought about it and it seemed that it was indeed what she said, so he could only give up...
Fortunately, at this time, Chu Li's "vertical waist belt" proposal and "It's okay, we still have Plan B" completely calmed Teacher Xia's rage, and people realized that Chu Li was really well prepared tonight!
Yu Yao was very satisfied with this.
That night, after a short meeting, Chu Li forced herself to work overtime. She communicated with Queen Yu on Q and said again what she had said when she drew the first character draft:
Teacher, your picture is very good, but we originally agreed that it should span across the page. Your entire picture is on the right side, so how can you tell us where to span?
Teacher, your picture is very good, but we said at the beginning that the title of the published manuscript should be on the right or in the middle. Your entire picture occupies the right and middle. Where should we put our book title?
Teacher, the picture is very good, but please let me see the process of drawing the draft, composition and tracing the line draft. Don’t jump from 10% to 100% at the beginning. Who can bear this? If the picture composition is not suitable, all the design plans decided by our artists before will be overturned and started again...
To this, the answer of the Queen is——
[Po�: Oh, really? I forgot about it because I haven't drawn a manuscript for a publisher for a long time because I was paid too little. But I didn't think that it wouldn't work if I put it across the page to the right, hahahaha! ]
[Po繭: I have drawn right-side compositions before, and my previous publishing editors never said it was bad... Why do you think it is bad? QAQ]
[Breaking the Cocoon: When it comes to drawing, I just draw when inspiration strikes. I am used to drawing things in one go, so it is normal to turn off Q when drawing, so it is also normal that I cannot report the news all the time, right? ...Please understand, every artist has different personal habits! ]
Chu Li: "..."
You sent me away with just a few words like "I forgot", "I haven't thought about it", "Other editors can do it, why can't you"?
You're still trying to be cute in front of me, fuck you! The editor wants your manuscript, not your cuteness, okay, friend? !!!
To borrow the words of the opera teacher, why do painters always have to
Chu Li was under tremendous pressure at the moment, and he also had to start preparing for "PLAN B" that he had agreed to with Teacher Xia an hour ago. He really didn't have the time to waste arguing with the artist... So he told Niang Niang to prepare the second draft quickly and hand it in quickly. Since the composition of the cover one was already right-composition, then the composition of the cover two should also continue to the right. It is impossible for a set of two books to have one title on the left and the other on the right. How stupid would the picture look?
Niangniang agreed vaguely.
Finally, Chu Li emphasized——
[The water army hired by Monkey: Teacher, we signed a contract and the manuscript was to be submitted before the beginning of August. Now it is already August 4th... If the submission date is delayed, it will be considered a breach of contract. I'll say this in advance. It's okay once. It's considered that we didn't communicate well. But we have delayed the progress of our work because your drawings don't meet the requirements. You have to pay double the deposit.]
Niangniang was silent for a while, and finally answered her with an "OK" and disappeared.
That one concise "OK" also showed that Chu Li's final tough tone made her feel unhappy, so after that day, no matter how Chu Li asked her about the progress, Queen Xun remained silent. But this time Chu Li was not in a hurry, so she prepared to move forward with "PLAN B" at ease——
The worst that can happen is that we just have to wait one more week. If the Queen is late and breaks the contract, then we can just go our separate ways, right?
After bidding farewell to Lady Xun, Chu Li took out her cell phone and hummed a song while texting her landlord:
[The water army hired by Monkey: Teacher, if Queen Yu refuses to cooperate again, we may resort to using pure text to design the cover. Is that okay with you? ]
[Zhuchuan: If I can’t sneer at you and mock you at this moment, saying “If I had known this earlier, I wouldn’t have done it then”, then no. 】
[The navy hired by the monkey: …]
【Zhuchuan: What are you doing? 】
[The navy hired by the monkey: I am talking to you. 】
There was silence for a while, and then the man replied:
【Zhaochuan: I ask Ergou, who cares what you are doing. 】
[The Monkey’s hired navy: …………………Why are you like this? Ergou is full and lying on the sofa watching “Animal World” and serving as a footstool for me! ]
【Zhuchuan: You are also on the sofa? 】
【Zhouchuan: Are you two both on the sofa?】
【Zhuchuan: The sofa is about to be crushed by you. 】
Chu Li looked at the screen of his mobile phone. His shaking legs paused for a moment. He sat up suddenly with a guilty conscience. The sofa made a strange "creaking" sound. Chu Li's face flushed slightly. He looked around and breathed a sigh of relief. He touched his cheek and sighed with relief: Fortunately, the actor can't see it.
[The monkey’s navy: Speak nicely, fairies have no weight! ]
…
Three days later.
Zhuochuan is still in Province S and has not returned yet.
What Chu Li didn't expect was that the person who appeared in front of her earlier than Zhuochuan was actually Empress Xun.
At that time, Chu Li was immersed in the proofreading of Ah Gui's article. When she was proactively knocked and received a very large file, she didn't react all of a sudden and felt a little dizzy. First of all, she felt that the illustrator was just habitually playing the role of a missing person. When your tone was not so serious and you didn't emphasize the "breach of contract" to her, she would procrastinate again and again until you seriously discussed the issue with her, and then she would work at a normal speed. Secondly, when she saw such a large file, before accepting and opening it, Chu Li had already prepared herself mentally: this was probably another finished manuscript.
Chu Li opened the software and took a look. He was not surprised at all. His guess was completely correct. The manuscript that Empress Xun handed over was indeed the finished draft.
This artist is really confident.
She just thinks that even if I don’t show you the draft, as long as you make the requirements clear and I take it a little seriously, the draft I hand in will definitely be qualified.
Chu Li could understand this arrogance. He was powerful. It was as difficult as asking Zhao Chuan to revise his manuscripts. A powerful person would not allow others to question him or give him too many orders. Chu Li’s words “You will have to pay if the manuscripts don’t meet the requirements” must have made Chu Li very angry. Chu Li even wondered if she turned around and complained to Zhao Chuan that your editor was sick…
Forget it, work progress is the most important.
Chu Li suppressed his anger and tapped the table with his fingers: "Finally the manuscript is submitted. I don't want to make an appointment with her again in this life. Ah Xiang is here to read the manuscript."
Chu Li was criticizing Empress Xu while inviting Ah Xiang to read the manuscript. They both leaned forward in front of the computer and discussed in whispers.
There was basically no problem with the picture that was handed over by the coil. The male lead was standing at the top, his back to the light, the wind blowing his battle robe, and there were thousands of troops under his feet; the second male lead was standing behind him, transforming into a beast, and the shadow covered the earth...
The picture is still good, still in the right composition, and this time, a blank space is left in the same position as the cover to place the title... Chu Li discussed the perspective and color of the picture with A Xiang, then put A Xiang back to continue working, and opened Q to discuss with the Queen of the Moon -
[The water army hired by Monkey: Although I was not shown the draft this time, fortunately it is basically OK. The only problem is that this character is backlit, and the overall skin tone is dark, so it may need to be brightened.]
【Break the cocoon:?】
[Po筭: No, dear, you are really not looking for trouble? 】
[Broken Coil: The light is coming from behind, so the character's face is shrouded in shadow, so of course it's dark. If it's bright as highlights, then I have basic knowledge of light and shadow wrong. If someone sees this picture, won't they laugh at me? ]
[Breaking the Cocoon: Can Motionless Art stop making such ridiculous comments? ]
When Chu Li saw that Zhui said that he was deliberately picking a fight, for a moment, he felt that the dissatisfaction that he had been suppressing for her not showing him the draft suddenly surged up in shock -
Are you looking for trouble with your grandfather? ! ! !
I work overtime every day to clean up your mess, why don't you tell me that I'm picking on you? ? ? ?
Why didn't you tell us that we were picking on you when we got scolded so many times for keeping this broken picture for you?? !!
[The sailors hired by Monkey: ...The character is facing away from the light source, and his face is very dark. In terms of the momentum of the picture, it is indeed the most powerful to have a dark face facing away from the light source and light in the eyes, but it is not suitable for the cover. The art editor suggested that when printing, due to the problem of the cover paper, you will not know whether this part will be too dark in color due to excessive ink absorption by the paper until you actually print it on the machine. If the character's face is too dark, it will easily turn blue and look like a dead person.]
[The trolls hired by Monkey: If fans see the original picture and say that your lighting is wrong, we can still explain it, but are you happy when someone in the book says that it looks like a dead person? ]
[The Monkey’s hired soldier: And if your face is originally dark, once it becomes too dark, it will be very troublesome to modify the file later...]
[The monkey's hired army: The printing factory will have to shut down to wait for your changes, which will disrupt the printing factory's printing schedule. For the sake of safety, we have found one of the largest printing factories in the country that is used for commercial books for the Luo River Divine Book. They will not agree to such a mess.]
[Po繭: What do you mean by excessive ink absorption? Damn, I am really impressed. You should ask the printing factory to innovate its technology! ! ! ! ]
Chu Li: "..."
He silently took a screenshot and sent this crazy statement that could send several people to a mental hospital to the work group. After receiving a series of "..." and "..." from Ah Xiang and others, Chu Li sighed and rubbed his head that was almost going to have a cerebral infarction.
[The monkey's hired navy: Do you think what you said is reasonable? ]
[The Monkey’s hired naval officer: The reason has been made very clear, and I am not looking for faults, so please take the picture back and make some changes.]
【Break the cocoon: No.】
[Broken Cocoon: The lighting and shadows of this picture are wrong after the changes. What do my fans think? 】
[The naval forces hired by Monkey: It was clearly written in the original contract that "the pictures must meet the publishing standards". Now that your pictures cannot be used as cross-page spreads, we have not said anything and are trying to find a way to accommodate your mistake. However, we cannot cooperate with the color problem of this cover itself. Tianda Dida Printing Factory has the highest level of craftsmanship.]
[The navy hired by the monkey: Please change the picture. 】
[Po筭: It is impossible to change. You are trying to pressure me by giving me less contract. Is that interesting?]
[Po筭: You had a lot of complaints from the beginning, finding faults for no reason, wanting to change the composition, saying my picture couldn't be used as a cross-page spread, and wanting to change the lighting, shadows, and skin tones - why are there so many problems? I've never worked with someone like this before. 】
[The Monkey’s hired naval officer: 66666666, didn’t I emphasize to you the various rules for publishing manuscripts? If you don’t listen, of course you have to revise the manuscript—and I’ve taken care of everything else for you. What’s wrong with changing the skin color? If it weren’t for the lack of time, I would have asked you to redraw the entire composition! ]
【Break the cocoon:?】
[Po筭: You asked me to redraw it? I stayed up all night drawing these two pictures.]
[Po繭: Did I provoke you? You must have complained to Master Chuan many times. You are just a flatterer. What are you so proud of?! ]
[The naval forces hired by Monkey: Hey teacher, what you said is interesting. What's wrong with me sucking up to someone? Editors make a living by sucking up to someone. Did you misunderstand something? If you don't suck up to the author, do editors write articles and submit them themselves? ]
[The monkey's hired navy: It's only natural that I hold this thigh! ]
[The Monkey’s hired naval forces: You don’t want to revise the manuscript, right? Fine, we don’t want this manuscript anymore. Please return the deposit and give me the compensation. Then everyone can do whatever they need to do——]
[The Monkey's hired naval forces: Why don't you modify this picture and give it to someone else? No one can choose who you want to give it to. At most, I won't expose you for reusing something we don't want. Isn't that kind?]
【Po繭: ??? I have been drawing for so long and now you just say you don’t want it?】
[The monkey’s hired navy: Yes, are you angry? ]
I'll make you so mad.
Anyway, I'm already pissed off at you.
The typing was so noisy that it could no longer be described as typing. For example, Yu Yao, who was sitting closest to Chu Li, even looked up curiously to see who was banging the keyboard... and at this time, banging the keyboard was obviously not enough to vent her anger. After finishing typing the last period, Chu Li was still angry and slammed the table with a "bang" -
Everyone in the editorial department was shocked. Lao Miao next to him even jumped up from his chair with a look of shock on his face: "What's wrong? What happened?!"
Chu Li retracted her numbed hand and said expressionlessly, "I'm rejecting the manuscript. Let her go."
Everyone was confused and immersed in the editor's anger. No one could react to what was going on.