Chapter 94: You’ve Walked into Someone’s Trap!

Chapter 94: You've Walked into Someone's Trap!

In a dormitory building next to a hospital, the narrow corridor was cluttered with piles of coal blocks.

Chui Zhu and his subordinate, Editor Luo, were panting as they climbed to the fifth floor.

Editor Luo checked the address on the envelope and pointed to the right, "It must be this way."

Editor Luo walked ahead, passing two doors before seeing a house number painted in red on the wall beside a door.

"503, Editor-in-Chief, this is it."

The corridor was cluttered with various items. In late November, Hong Kong's weather was still mild, and cockroaches scurried about.

Chui Zhu frowned, taking in the messy surroundings.

Gu Pingan living in such a place showed how strapped he was for cash.

He felt somewhat regretful, realizing that cutting the manuscript fees too much had led him to take leave without hesitation.

Knock, knock, knock!

Knock, knock, knock, knock, knock!

Editor Luo knocked impatiently.

But after knocking for a while, there was still no response.

The neighbor next door heard the knocking and opened the door; a middle-aged woman peeked out silently.

Editor Luo walked over and asked, "Ma'am, we're here to see Mr. Gu in 503..."

The woman replied, "I don’t know him."

Editor Luo pressed, "How many people live next door? Is it just Mr. Gu and his wife?"

The woman shook her head. "I just moved here; I’m not familiar with the neighbors."

Editor Luo and Chui Zhu exchanged glances and had no choice but to wait by the door.

After waiting over an hour, Gu Pingan still hadn’t appeared, but several neighbors did.

The neighbors didn’t seem to know much about the person in 503. Only one said, "Usually, it’s just a man living there—seems like he’s a driver for the hospital leadership."

Gu Pingan, a driver?

They were surprised.

Though being a driver was a respected profession back then, it was completely unrelated to the image of a cultured person.

Editor Luo peered through the door crack but couldn’t see anything.

He said, "Could Gu Pingan have accompanied his wife to the hospital to have a baby?"

Chui Zhu thought about it. That was also a possibility—it might be inconvenient for the wife to give birth here, or they might have gone to stay with relatives.

They could only slip a note through the door crack.

They asked Gu Pingan to call the editorial office of "Splendor" as soon as he saw the note, and that the manuscript fee could be negotiated for an increase.

After leaving the hospital dormitory, they went to visit Fan Yi.

Fan Yi lived in a relatively nicer place, on the third floor of a residential building.

Shortly after they knocked, a man with a crew cut answered the door.

Editor Luo looked at the man with the crew cut and, unsure if he was Fan Yi, greeted him with a smile: "Hello, we're looking for Fan Yi, the writer Fan Yi."

Since the checks sent to Fan Yi were always made out to someone named Yang Dong, they weren't sure if Yang Dong was Fan Yi's real name, so they couldn't explicitly say they were looking for Mr. Yang Dong.

Yang Dong, who opened the door, was actually a local young man hired by Kang Nian to run errands for Tie Long. He gave an awkward smile: "Fan Yi is not here."

It seemed they were at the right place. Editor Luo smiled and inquired: "Where's he gone?"

Yang Dong countered: "Where are you from?"

Editor Luo quickly introduced himself and Chui Zhu: "We are the editors from 'Splendor' responsible for Fan Yi's work. Do you know when he'll be back?"

Yang Dong shook his head: "I'm not sure."

Chui Zhu asked: "Can we wait here for him?"

Yang Dong did not invite them in: "He probably won't be back today."

Editor Luo: "Huh? Why? Is his wife having a baby?"

Yang Dong looked at them very cautiously, only vaguely saying: "Maybe."

Chui Zhu and Editor Luo had no choice but to leave their phone number, asking the young man to pass it on to Fan Yi.

Chui Zhu: "Please make sure he contacts us. Our magazine recently changed its strategy, and there is room for an increase in remuneration. I'll do my best to get him higher pay."

Yang Dong took the note and slammed the door.

They waited for a few days, and with the latest issue of the magazine about to go to print, there was still no news from Fan Yi or Gu Pingan.

Chui Zhu went to discuss with Mrs. Muir: "We can't leave a gap, we'll have to use short stories to cover two issues."

Mrs. Muir: "We've just hit a steady forty thousand copies. If both the northern and southern stars take leave simultaneously, sales will definitely take a hit. How could it be such a coincidence that both their wives are having babies?"

Chui Zhu also thought it was too much of a coincidence: "I can't figure it out either, why is it such a coincidence? They have no drafts saved, and they both need to take leave. I suspect..."

"What do you suspect?"

"I suspect they might have taken money from 'Panorama' and cut off our supply at the same time."

In other words, 'Panorama' might have lured them away with higher remuneration.

This was indeed a strong possibility.

Mrs. Muir frowned, regardless of whether it was true or not, she first scolded: "If that's the case, Chui Zhu, your responsibility is too great. Knowing how important the northern and southern stars are to us, why didn't you increase their remuneration?"

Chui Zhu wanted to curse—wasn't controlling costs and compressing their remuneration your idea, boss lady?

He didn't dare to retort directly, only said: "They never asked for an increase in remuneration."

"Scholars are too proud! You should have offered it proactively!" Mrs. Muir scolded Chui Zhu harshly.

After scolding, Mrs. Muir sighed: "If they really have been poached by 'Panorama,' be mentally prepared—they will continue their serialization in 'Panorama'!"

Chui Zhu was unwilling to give up: "We've elevated them so high, and now they stab us in the back. Don't blame me if I end up writing articles to call them out!"

Just as he was speaking, Editor Luo knocked on the door and entered, his face lit up with excitement.

It turned out that Gu Pingan had sent a reply, stating in his letter that there was no need to increase the fee, and that he would return as scheduled after two issues.

The next day, a letter from Fan Yi was also received, in which Fan Yi promised to return as soon as possible, leaving the fee to be decided by the editor.

This finally reassured Chui Zhu and Mrs. Mill.

But when Mr. Mill found out, he blew up!

He pointed at Mrs. Mill and Chui Zhu, who had come to report, and questioned: "Are you telling me the next issue’s sales will take a nosedive?"

Mrs. Mill: "Most likely. Even if we don’t hit 40,000, it’s no big deal. We’ve already achieved our target for this year by November. It’s fine to take a hit on ad revenue and make less in December."

"No, it’s not!" Mill lost his temper, "I… I promised the old man we’d rake in over 100,000 in profit these last two months. November has already been overachieved. Now I’m not asking for 16,000—just 9,000 to hit the target, but the premise is that you push the sales to 40,000 copies!"

If we don’t hit 40,000 copies, ad revenue per issue will drop from 18,000 to 9,000. How could he then achieve the target of 100,000 profit?

Missing the 100,000 profit target isn’t just about losing 2 million, but all the shares he holds, including those held on behalf of his mother, would be lost!

He couldn’t afford to lose!

"Whatever it takes, you’ve got to push sales above 40,000 copies for the next two issues!" Mr. Mill gave them a strict order.

But Mrs. Mill and Chui Zhu had no other options. They had no choice but to reach out to the hottest writers around, shelling out big money for two short stories, hoping to boost the sales.

*

Sun Jingxi brought over two handmade baby outfits and a box of Lin Yufan’s favorite rice balls, and came to Zhao's garden.

Lin Yufan nibbled on the rice balls, listening to Sun Jingxi talk about the two concubines moving to Weiyin Apartment.

Sun Jingxi: "Your uncle got Geng Dongping a job in the hospital pharmacy, helping out with sorting medications. If she keeps it up, she could work her way up to being a pharmacist."

Lin Yufan nodded: "That's quite a good job."

"Of course. You hardly ever ask your uncle for favors, so he was thrilled. And that Chen Dandan, oh my, she's such a delicate lady, unwilling to cut her nails to learn typing. Xiao Qing said she wouldn’t teach her anymore, and only then did she reluctantly cut her nails. She’s sharp and picks things up fast."

Lin Yufan took a sip of warm water: "Take it one step at a time—just taking that first step is a big deal."

Sun Jingxi smiled and asked: "How did you manage to win them over? Instead of living a comfortable life as concubines, they want to become independent women, supporting themselves with their own hands!"

Lin Yufan put down her cup: "What does it have to do with me? They’ve come to their senses—it’s their decision."

"They made the right choice, relying on oneself is better than relying on others. And I heard them say that they don’t even have concubine documents, so legally, they are not considered Zhi Ao's concubines. They don’t have children, what will they live on when they get old? Your conscience?" Sun Jingxi said with a small laugh, "You can’t count on someone’s conscience."

Lin Yufan laughed and retorted: "Sounds like you think we’re heartless."

Sun Jingxi also laughed: "Zhi Ao has a conscience, you have a conscience, but what if your children don’t recognize them? Who can predict the next generation? But they probably aren’t short of money. I heard Zhi Ao also gave them houses."

Lin Yufan: "They didn't want them. They are now living in this apartment, I don’t charge them rent, but they insist on paying. Later, Zhi Ao still had a lawyer write a property deed in their names, as a safety net for them."

Sun Jingxi nodded: "You two have gone above and beyond. With the three concubines gone, you must feel relieved."

As she spoke, she gently patted the back of Lin Yufan's hand.

Lin Yufan smiled: "I don’t mind. Now that they’re gone, I have to rope in my mother-in-law when I’m short on mahjong players."

She never really liked playing mahjong with Wang Junyao.

Winning money isn't even satisfying.

As they were chatting, the sound of a car was heard outside. Soon after, Gui Xiang came to report that Mrs. Xu and Mrs. Peng had brought some postpartum supplies to visit Mrs. Zhao.

With exactly four people, they set up a mahjong table.

At the mahjong table, Mrs. Xu brought up the currently popular "North-South Duo," saying, "That Chui Zhu's been on the radio a bunch, always taking jabs at Mrs. Zhao under the guise of the North-South Duo. He doesn't dare to name names, only referring to 'a certain lady,' really arrogant yet cowardly!"

Sun Jingxi knew that the North-South Duo was actually Mrs. Zhao, with one of them even using her family driver's address.

She laughed, "The North-South Duo actually writes quite good novels, but it's mainly the boss of Fenghua Magazine who's no good."

Mrs. Peng chimed in, "The Fenghua Magazine boss is British. Here in Hong Kong, Brits are top dogs; they wouldn't act so bold otherwise."

Mrs. Zhao seized the moment to pivot the chat back to Mrs. Xu, "I heard Mr. Xu has shares in Muir Media."

Mrs. Xu quickly clarified, "When Muir Media was short of money early on, they sought investment from Sir Luo, who then involved our old Xu. We acquired a 3.2% stake, but over the years, we've never received any dividends. With such a small share, we can't really have a say. It's almost as if we don't have any shares at all."

Mrs. Zhao casually inquired, "Has Mr. Xu considered transferring them?"

Mrs. Xu replied, "Who would want them? No dividends, and those Brits are sly as foxes. Even if someone wanted them, it's not easy to transfer, not worth much, and not worth offending them. In this world, it's better not to offend anyone, especially the media. Even someone as refined as you, Mrs. Zhao, once they've got their hooks in you, it's like a sticky plaster—impossible to peel off. Really annoying!"

Mrs. Peng chuckled in agreement, "Indeed, one must not offend media people. Did you see the newspaper the other day? A journalist from 'Hong Kong Daily' called old Chiang a dog of the Americans. Oh, my husband, Director Peng, couldn't stop laughing all morning after reading that."

"I saw it too—hilarious yet maddening," Mrs. Xu remarked, then tossed a tile.

Sun Jingxi, to Mrs. Zhao's left, called 'pong!' and then it was Mrs. Zhao's turn to pick a tile.

Mrs. Zhao had three white dragons, three red dragons, a pair of green dragon tiles, a sequence, and a pair of one dots.

She reached out and drew a 'green dragon tile,' suppressing her excitement, she gently placed the tile and declared, "Big Three Scholars!"

"What?" Sun Jingxi was even more excited than Mrs. Zhao, "Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Mrs. Zhao replied, "No mistake, look, three white dragons, three red dragons, three green dragons..."

Big Three Scholars, forty points!

"Wow, Mrs. Zhao, you're on a roll!"

"Haven't seen a Big Three Scholars in ages! Mrs. Zhao, your little one must be your lucky charm!"

As they were laughing and calculating the points to pay, Mrs. Zhao suddenly felt a tightness in her belly, starting to ache slightly.

"Is it time?" Sun Jingxi asked nervously.

The due date was just around these days, it really could be time.

Ms. Guan scrambled to get a car and the hospital gear ready, worried Mrs. Zhao might pop the baby out right there at the mahjong table.

Mr. Zhao was in a meeting at the company when Shen Te came in and whispered a few words to him. He put down his work and rushed to the hospital as fast as he could.

He got there fast, but not fast enough—Mrs. Zhao had already given birth.

Given Mrs. Zhao's usual delicacy, you'd think she'd struggle with childbirth. To make sure everything went smoothly, she'd been hitting the gym hard in the months leading up to the birth. Who would've guessed, the moment she hit the delivery room, out came the baby.

A few minutes more, and that baby might've made its debut en route.

Mr. Zhao arrived at the corridor outside the delivery room just in time to hear a nurse shouting, "She's hemorrhaging! Get the consulting doctor, stat!"

Hearing this, Zhao Zhiao felt a chill run through his body.

It's often said that giving birth is like walking through the gates of hell for a woman.

He knew he had a tough fate; as a staunch materialist, he rarely worried about such things, but now he was genuinely afraid he might have brought bad luck to his wife.

But there wasn't a single Zhao family member around. Just as he was about to ask for help, Lin Yuwu appeared around the corner.

"Zhi Ao, over here!"

Zhao Zhiao rushed over in a few quick strides: "How is she?"

"Congratulations, brother-in-law! A seven-pound boy. My sister did well, and the Zhao family now has an heir!" Lin Yuwu still held the old-fashioned belief that having a son meant having a successor.

Zhao Zhiao wasn't concerned about that. "How is Yufan? Is she okay?"

"She just came out of the delivery room and is in the VIP ward. She's doing very well."

Hearing this, Zhao Zhiao finally let out a sigh of relief. Regaining his composure, he then asked, "Is it a boy or a girl?"

Lin Yuwu: "..."

His earlier congratulations had fallen on deaf ears.

In the VIP ward, Wang Junyao and Sun Jingxi were happily cooing over the baby.

Inside, Gui Xiang was giving Lin Yufan sips of warm water.

Seeing Zhao Zhiao enter, Wang Junyao chuckled, "Oh, little one, look, daddy's here."

With that, she passed the baby to Zhao Zhiao.

Having never held a baby before, Zhao Zhiao was a bit unsure, but this was his and Lin Yufan's child, a brand new life, and he couldn't refuse this first meeting as a father.

He awkwardly cradled the red, wrinkled little baby and walked over to Lin Yufan.

With so many people around, Zhao Zhiao couldn't bring himself to say the intimate words he had in mind. Seeing her safe and sound, he finally felt relieved.

"You've worked so hard, my love."

Lin Yufan glanced at him, sensing something was off: "What's wrong?"

Zhao Zhiao didn't want to bring up his earlier anxiety outside the delivery room.

He looked at her with concern, "Why are you so pale? Are you feeling weak?"

Sun Jingxi stepped in: "It's nothing, it's normal right after giving birth. She can't start on supplements yet; she needs to recover gradually."

Wang Junyao added, "Ms. Guan will have someone bring over some food later."

Lin Yufan reached for the baby, and Zhao Zhiao quickly handed the little one over. As he watched the baby sleep peacefully in her arms, Zhao Zhiao finally took a good look at their child.

A red, wrinkled little face with delicate features.

This was their child. Truly a miracle.

The December issues of both "Panorama" and "Splendor" magazines simultaneously announced a hiatus in their serialized works.

*

Lin Yufan from "Panorama" is on maternity leave to have a baby.

Why are the North-South Duo from "Splendor" taking leave? "Splendor" magazine didn’t specify, but rumors say they’re also on maternity leave.

Everyone thought the North-South Duo were men, and for men to take parental leave to care for their wives after childbirth, it’s either because life is really tough or they’re just amazing husbands.

"Splendor" magazine promised that even if the North-South Duo are on leave, their royalties would still be paid normally. They used this as a marketing ploy, getting someone to pretend to be a reader and call into a radio show to urge fans of the North-South Duo to continue buying "Splendor" to support their beloved writers.

However, most of the North-South Duo's readers are sharp, thoughtful readers. The more "Splendor" promoted, the more people realized this issue didn’t have the North-South Duo’s serial, and fewer people bought it.

This led to a sharp drop in sales to around 30,000 copies.

Mrs. Mill was mentally prepared; 30,000 copies sold met their expectations, but Mr. Mill couldn’t handle this outcome.

With sales below 40,000, according to the contract, they could only receive half of the ad revenue for this issue, which is 9,000 yuan, plus 7,000 yuan from magazine sales, bringing the total for this issue to 16,000 yuan.

Including the profits from the previous two issues, the combined profit for the three issues is 71,000 yuan.

They’re still 29,000 yuan away from hitting their 100,000-yuan profit goal.

Mr. Mill clenched his fists, his body rigid with tension.

There is only one last issue of the magazine left in December, and they need to sell over 40,000 copies to bring in 18,000 yuan in ad revenue, meaning the profit from magazine sales must be 11,000 yuan.

This goal, usually a piece of cake, is incredibly difficult today with soaring paper prices.

Mr. Mill braced himself against the table: "I have two demands for the last issue of this year. First, we need to sell over 40,000 copies; second, the profit from sales must be at least 11,000 yuan!"

Mrs. Mill shook her head: "Cutting prices might get us to 40,000 copies, but reducing prices will definitely result in a loss! Paper costs are over three times what they used to be! Go find out what that means! And you want me to make 11,000 yuan in profit? That’s impossible! To make 11,000 yuan, we must raise prices, but raising prices will make it impossible to sell 40,000 copies, and we might not even sell 30,000 copies."

"Impossible or not, I have no way out! Even if we have to cheat, you’ve got to hit that target!" Mr. Mill roared in frustration.

Cheat to hit the target?

Mrs. Mill looked at her husband in disbelief: "Nick, are you hiding something from me?"

Mr. Mill gritted his teeth. At this moment, he needed her cooperation and could no longer keep it from her.

He had no choice but to tell her.

After hearing her husband out, Mrs. Mill shook her head in disbelief: "You're crazy! You even mortgaged your mother's shares?"

Mrs. Mill paced the office, as if it all clicked, "So that's why the North-South Duo suddenly took leave together? You've fallen into someone else's trap!!"

"Shut up!"