Chapter 53: I Lost My Job

Chapter 53: I Lost My Job

Huang Ying quickly stepped out, since Xie Feifei hardly ever visited her at work, which meant something important was up.

As she came out, she ran into Duan Yuzhen.

Duan Yuzhen’s face betrayed her panic; she knew this wasn’t going to end well.

Huang Ying frowned. "Yuzhen, what's with the nervousness?"

Duan Yuzhen averted her gaze, guilt written all over her face, and looked away.

"Nothing," she mumbled.

Huang Ying glanced at her before walking out.

Li Ling, who had been watching from the side, felt a wave of despair and urged, "Yuzhen, you need to go see Editor Wen right now!"

Duan Yuzhen's face darkened, clenching her teeth.

This job wasn’t even secured through her uncle’s connections in the first place.

Her uncle was all about saving face—there’s no way he’d help her cover this up.

Meanwhile, Jiang Yu had already laid out the situation in just a few sentences.

Holding the newspaper, Huang Ying was taken aback. This section wasn’t under her jurisdiction, and she had no idea someone had published an article under the pen name "Xiao Jiang."

"I’ll check with Editor Lan. She oversees the team responsible for this section."

Editor Lan, Duan Yuzhen’s direct supervisor, was known for being strict.

She had long lost patience with Duan Yuzhen. At first, she thought Duan was a talented writer, but after working with her, it became clear that Duan was all show and no substance.

But as Editor Wen’s niece, even scolding her was a challenge.

"Isn’t Xiao Jiang actually Duan Yuzhen?" Editor Lan asked.

Huang Ying was taken aback. "It can’t be Duan Yuzhen. Xiao Jiang is a friend of my daughter’s. She submitted two stories to the newspaper earlier. Don’t you remember, Editor Lan?"

"Of course I remember!" Editor Lan had personally reviewed those two stories—how could she forget?

What surprised Editor Lan the most was that when Duan Yuzhen signed up, her registration form clearly listed her pen name and representative works. I still have that form.

She had been wondering why someone who wrote so well would perform so poorly after joining the newspaper.

Editor Lan pulled out Duan Yuzhen’s registration form and handed it to Huang Ying.

Huang Ying’s expression darkened, and she snapped, "This is outrageous! Even as the chief editor’s niece, there’s no excuse for stealing someone else’s registration form!"

Editor Lan’s expression shifted. "Editor Huang, what are you saying?"

"This is the registration form of the person I recommended—Jiang Yu, the same Xiao Jiang I told you about earlier!"

It was clear that Duan Yuzhen had copied someone else’s registration form verbatim.

Huang Ying sneered. "No wonder Jiang Yu didn’t get her admission ticket for the exam. They were afraid the truth would come out."

Editor Lan’s expression grew serious. "We need to bring this to Editor Wen and hold a meeting to decide how to handle this."

No matter what, Duan Yuzhen had to go.

Huang Ying and Editor-in-Chief Lan walked to Wen's office with Duan Yuzhen's application form. Even before they stepped inside, they could hear furious shouting from within.

"How could you do something like this?! I thought you were exceptional and would make me proud. Now, you’ve disgraced me completely!"

The two exchanged glances. Whether Editor-in-Chief Wen was genuinely unaware or not, he had clearly taken a stand.

He gave Duan Yuzhen a thorough dressing-down and ordered her to pack her things and get out.

Ultimately, he called a meeting with the newspaper’s leadership, and the blame fell on Li Ling.

While Li Ling wasn’t fired, she was docked pay and given a formal reprimand.

When it came to Jiang Yu, Editor-in-Chief Wen’s expression tightened.

Logically, Jiang Yu’s application and exam results had been tampered with, so the position should have gone to her.

But Duan Yuzhen was Editor-in-Chief Wen’s niece, and now that she had lost face, he started to look at Jiang Yu with disdain.

"Besides, the newspaper isn’t too busy these days. Maybe we shouldn’t hire anyone new for now." It sounded like a suggestion, but it was clearly a final decision.

The other leaders nodded in agreement. "Agreed. Let’s hold off on hiring."

With everyone in agreement, Huang Ying didn’t feel she could voice a dissenting opinion.

In the end, they decided to fire Duan Yuzhen, but Jiang Yu wouldn’t be hired either.

This outcome left Xie Feifei feeling indignant.

"How is this fair? That position should have gone to Jiang Yu. It’s only right."

Huang Ying chuckled at her naivety. "Fairness? You’re kidding, right? Duan Yuzhen’s uncle is Editor-in-Chief Wen. If he wanted to, he could have swept this whole thing under the rug. Even if Duan Yuzhen hadn’t been fired, no one would have dared to speak up."

Society is a big melting pot, and they had sheltered Xie Feifei too much, making her somewhat naive about how the world really works.

But Jiang Yu was different. She had always been fighting on her own, and going through this would only make her stronger.

Jiang Yu understood this, so she wasn’t too discouraged.

She even comforted Xie Feifei. "Don’t be upset. Sometimes, having connections is a form of strength."

Without connections, you naturally have to work harder.

Huang Ying felt reassured. "Feifei, your mindset isn’t as mature as Jiang Yu’s."

Xie Feifei pouted, still feeling that it was unfair to Jiang Yu. Such a great opportunity had been ruined by Duan Yuzhen.

She went to talk to He Feiyan about it, and seeing that she was equally indignant, finally felt like she had someone who understood.

The two of them got together and thoroughly vented their frustrations about Duan Yuzhen.

He Feiyan had never liked Duan Yuzhen, and now she felt even more justified in her judgment—she didn’t like associating with people who had ulterior motives.

"I’m going back to expose Duan Yuzhen’s true colors to everyone in the compound."

With He Tingyue backing her, she wasn’t afraid of offending anyone.

As He Feiyan entered the compound, she immediately saw Duan Yuzhen slapping Jiang Ting.

Unable to find Jiang Yu, she vented her anger on Jiang Ting instead.

"You two are nothing but troublemakers, both of you! You messed up my job, and I’m not going to let you off the hook for this!"

The moment Wen Yan, Duan Yuzhen's mom, heard what was happening, she rushed out of the house.

"Yuzhen, what happened with your job?"

Seeing her family, Duan Yuzhen couldn’t hold back her tears any longer and burst into loud sobs, collapsing into her mother’s arms.

She had never felt so humiliated in her life, tossed aside like trash.

"Mom! Mom! I lost my job, all because of Jiang Yu!"

At that moment, the rest of the Duan family shot Jiang Ting accusing glares.

Since Jiang Yu wasn’t around, they had no choice but to take their frustration out on Jiang Ting.

Wen Yan, seething with anger, said sarcastically, "Hongxia, I’m not saying this to start trouble, but your family really made a mistake marrying that daughter-in-law. Those two sisters are nothing but troublemakers!"

Lin Donghua, hands on her hips, shouted, "Your sister ruined my sister-in-law’s job—she should pay for that! Jobs don’t come cheap these days, you know!"

Lin Hongxia’s face turned pale; it was a disaster for the family to have brought someone like Jiang Ting into their home.

They should have known better than to marry their son to a girl from the countryside.

She slapped Jiang Ting across the face and cursed harshly, "You ungrateful brat, your family is nothing but trouble!"

Jiang Ting covered her face, too afraid to retaliate, and protested tearfully, "Mom, I really didn’t know anything about it!"