Chapter 9

Qin Zhao tripped Zhang Zhen as he walked past her.

Zhang Zhen fell to the ground, staring at Qin Zhao with a twisted expression as he pointed at her, about to angrily scold her...

Before he could speak, Qin Zhao said, "Oh I'm so sorry, I wasn't paying attention just now."

Zhang Zhen thought Qin Zhao was genuinely apologizing, but then heard her continue, "Why weren't you watching where you were going?"

Zhang Zhen nearly spat out a mouthful of blood, his face flushing red.

Zhang Lin and Chen XiaoYong tried to hold in their laughter. They were often bullied by Zhang Zhen, so they felt vindicated now.

They looked at Qin Zhao with new respect, but were also worried about how she would fare in the future.

Zhang Zhen pointed at Qin Zhao, "You, you, you..."

He couldn't get a full sentence out for half a day.

Qin Zhao was too lazy to waste time chatting with him. She simply said, "Group leader, stop lying on the ground. Let's get to work. You don't want to just lie there and be lazy, the company doesn't keep idlers around."

Zhang Zhen struggled to his feet, rushed off in exasperation, throwing over his shoulder, "Just you wait!"

Then he left the temporary office area.

Qin Zhao sat down, flipping through the pile of materials Zhang Zhen had given her. They were all classics and popular books, like Hamlet, Don Quixote, Wuthering Heights, Oliver Twist, Dune...

She had read most of them already. Although these characters were classic, directly using them wouldn't work.

Some characters needed the right storylines to showcase their appeal. Without the story, they would seem flat or out of place.

But Qin Zhao didn't have much say here, so she didn't plan on arguing with the other three. As long as she did her part well, that was enough.

She skimmed through each book, recalling memories about them, and started jotting down the character profiles.

Near the end of the work day, Zhang Zhen came by again. Seeing the thick stack Qin Zhao had written in just an afternoon, he looked surprised. Then he said, "Qin Zhao, don't mess around. You can fool me but if you dare fool around with work, you'll be fired, just you wait."

Qin Zhao smiled. "It's not up to you. If I want to stay, you'll be fired before me. If I want to leave, no one can stop me."

Zhang Zhen was angered and amused by Qin Zhao's arrogance. "You and that smart mouth. With such low EQ, you'll get your just desserts sooner or later!"

The clock struck five. Qin Zhao wasn't interested in chatting with Zhang Zhen. She tidied up and turned to leave.

Zhang Zhen watched Qin Zhao's retreating figure, his face black as the bottom of a pot. He asked Zhang Lin and Chen XiaoYong, "What do you think, how long can she remain so cocky?"

Zhang Lin and Chen XiaoYong didn't want to talk to Zhang Zhen. They didn't dare retaliate against Zhang Zhen, so they really admired Qin Zhao.

The two pretended not to hear Zhang Zhen and hurried after Qin Zhao.

This was the first time they had gotten off work on time since starting at the company. Qin Zhao had given them some courage.

Only Zhang Zhen was left in the temporary workspace, both angry and annoyed, but no one cared.

After leaving the company, Qin Zhao saw Ye Chenxi standing next to an SUV, as if waiting for someone.

She didn't want to greet him, and walked left towards the next intersection to hail a taxi.

But she had barely taken a few steps when Ye Chenxi called out, "Qin Zhao, over here!"

He sounded like he was in a good mood.

Qin Zhao pursed her lips and walked over to Ye Chenxi.

Ye Chenxi pointed at the car and asked, "Shall we go for a drive?"

"Chairman Ye, you're a taken man. Don't do things to upset Miss Nan." Qin Zhao said.

But Ye Chenxi continued inviting her, "Can't regular friends go for a drive together?"

Qin Zhao mentally rolled her eyes. Just as she was about to decline, a strong female voice called out, "Chenxi!"

Qin Zhao turned to look. A middle-aged woman bearing some resemblance to Ye Chenxi stood a few meters away.

She must be Ye Chenxi's mother.

Seeing Qin Zhao look over, she glared fiercely at Qin Zhao! Ye Chenxi called out, "Mom, what are you doing here?"

Cao ShuFen laughed as she walked over, stroking Ye Chenxi's face. "Mom was just passing by. What a coincidence to see you entangled by a vixen. Mom came over to see if your soul was still intact." Ye Chenxi was a little embarrassed. "Mom, she's an employee of my company, you could say she's my friend. We were just casually chatting."

Cao ShuFen looked Qin Zhao up and down. "Is that so? She seems to have the allure of a fox spirit to me."

Qin Zhao wasn't annoyed at all, taking it as praise for her beauty. She looked at Ye Chenxi, "Chairman Ye, I have an appointment to get to, I'll be going first."

Ye Chenxi couldn't ask her to stay, so he just nodded. "Take care on the road."

But he was a little displeased that Qin Zhao had ignored his mother. He thought he would have to find a chance to suppress her someday. He couldn't let her be so brazen just because he liked her!

After Qin Zhao got home, she saw a notification for 999+ new emails in her inbox.

She had only publicly shared this email address on the forum, so these emails must all be related to the comic.

The sudden influx could only mean one thing.

The comic had blown up!

Qin Zhao opened the emails with a mixture of delight and apprehension.

The emails were from readers who had seen the comic on the forum, with praise, criticism, and encouragement.

One email in particular caught Qin Zhao's attention.

The reader who sent it seemed important. They offered to purchase rights to the comic and suggested meeting Qin Zhao over the weekend to discuss details.

To preempt any rejection, they guaranteed in the email that the licensing fee would be no less than 5 million RMB.

This number was astronomical for ordinary comic artists. Comic licensing fees were typically under 500,000 RMB. The high price made Qin Zhao suspect it was a scam.

Qin Zhao asked the system, "Did you send this person?"

System 502 denied it. "Host misunderstands. I planned to only promote your comic after 40 chapters, so I haven't done anything yet. The current popularity is entirely due to the host's own efforts."

Hearing the system's words, Qin Zhao was calm on the surface, but ecstatic inside. Her heart was beating much faster!

Although she didn't mind relying on the system, she hoped she could still accomplish something herself.

Qin Zhao didn't hesitate for long before deciding to meet them. If it was a scam, she would just beat them up.

If they really wanted to buy the rights at a high price, that would be ideal. It would solve her money issues in this world.

The next day at work, something unexpected happened!