I Will Never Submit to Miss Grim Reaper - Chapter 50

In the somewhat noisy second floor of the convention center, I locked eyes with the familiar uncle ahead.

At that moment, I paused with the pen in my hand, and he stopped in his tracks as he approached.

“…”

“…”

“Huh?”

After a few seconds of silence, the man who had come with the uncle, seemingly puzzled, broke the “quiet.” He patted the uncle on the shoulder, “What’s going on, Old Lu, do you know this young lady?”

“Uh… well, not… not really,” the uncle regained his composure and somewhat awkwardly replied, “I saw her once a few days ago when I was buying… buying groceries. She’s quite cute, so I remember her.”

“Is that so?”

The man, wearing a shirt with the Honeydew Bun mascot printed on the chest, was likely the “Honeydew Editor-in-Chief” Ai Luodi had mentioned earlier. He had a strong build and appeared to be at least six feet tall.

“That’s quite a coincidence.”

As he spoke, he walked over to me, saying, “Are you here to enjoy the comic convention? Interested in buying some books?”

“Editor…”

My editor Ai Luodi quietly reminded me, “She’s here to sign a contract.”

“Sign a contract? What kind of contract?”

The man referred to as the Editor-in-Chief seemed somewhat unaware, “We don’t have any events going on here today, do we?”

“A novel contract.”

Ai Luodi pointed at the contract document in front of me and said, “Here.”

“A novel contract? Didn’t our website switch to electronic contracts a long time ago?”

The Editor-in-Chief still looked puzzled, “What is this?”

“Boss, this is the contract for that book I signed a couple of days ago. The author mentioned that their phone’s camera is broken, so they couldn’t use electronic signatures.”

Instead, a woman with long hair down to her shoulders, wearing a badge around her neck, dressed in a gentle big sister style, leaned over to the Editor-in-Chief’s ear and whispered, “Coincidentally, that author is from Shenzhen City, so I had Xiao He print out a physical contract for them to sign in person.”

“Oh, now I remember. That’s right, there was such a situation.”

With this reminder from the woman next to him, the Editor-in-Chief seemed to awaken from a daze, “So, is this young lady brought here by that author?”

“No.”

Ai Luodi shook her head, and her two ponytails swayed slightly, “She is the author Uncle Loves Loli.”

“What?”

“…”

Ai Luodi’s statement elicited completely different reactions from the three people in front of me.

The Honeydew Editor-in-Chief wore an incredulous expression. He glanced at me and then at the woman beside him, wearing a badge, with a “Did you sign a contract with a child against the rules?” accusatory look.

The woman with the gentle big sister vibe, sporting long hair, on the other hand, gently shook her head, her expression saying, “I really didn’t know she was a child,” while simultaneously displaying astonishment and confusion at having signed a contract with such a young girl.

As for the man standing on the far left, the one I was most familiar with, his facial muscles seemed to go through a complex combination. He appeared to have deduced from the conversation between the two editors earlier that the “cute young girl sitting on the chair had once been the Eightfold Hall author.” Then, he likely remembered his own loss of composure at the market’s entrance a few days ago, receiving a cotton candy, the group of authors going to the Mingzhu Building to demand their pay yesterday, and the fact that now, he wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry. His mouth twitched, as if he wanted to say something but ultimately remained silent. Beads of sweat, the size of soybeans, slowly dripped down from his forehead. He avoided my gaze and nervously rubbed his hands, coughing dryly several times.

“She’s of legal age.”

Perhaps sensing the awkward atmosphere, Ai Luodi spoke up voluntarily, “I checked her ID, and she’s over 18.”

“Phew…”

The woman with the work badge around her neck seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

“Such a young girl is already an adult?”

Appearing somewhat incredulous, the tall and imposing Editor-in-Chief walked over to me and bent down, “Little girl, what’s your name? Can you tell us?”

Then, perhaps feeling that it was a bit impolite to ask, the man straightened up and said, “Oh, I almost forgot to introduce myself. I’m Big G, the Chief Editor of Honeydew Bun Novels, and this is Honeydew Editor Tuzi.”

The Editor-in-Chief extended his hand and gestured to the woman with the work badge around her neck next to him, saying, “If you’re Uncle Loves Loli, you should know her, right? She’s your responsible editor.”

“I do.”

I obediently nodded and waved at the woman, saying, “Hello, Editor Big G!”

As expected, the Editor “Tuzi” was also a young woman, and she had the appearance of a cute girl.

I discreetly sized up the Editor Tuzi in front of me.

She had shoulder-length, neatly cut hair, wore a headband that symbolized youth, and had on a one-piece dress that seemed like a mix of a schoolgirl sailor outfit and a professional female office worker’s attire. Her legs were covered in black stockings, complemented by a pair of high heels.

If I had to describe her, the real-life “Tuzi” editor gave me a vibe somewhat similar to an adult version of Kaguya Shinomiya from “Kaguya-sama: Love Is War” after she started working in society – the black-haired beauty with glasses.

She’s a completely different style of editor compared to Ai Luodi…

I quietly pondered to myself.

Ai Luodi was an online editor with a sharp-tongued, domineering lady style, but in reality, she was like “Rin Shima” from “Yuru Camp“, gentle in personality, and her voice was soft and cute.

And the Editor Tuzi, both online and offline, seemed to belong to the “gentle big sister” type.

But what I was more focused on right now…

I discreetly turned my attention to a certain uncle over there.

At this moment, it seemed like a classic scene from a Chinese football interview was playing in front of my eyes – “Throw the lemons, refund the money!”

If I didn’t hear wrong, the Chief Editor had just called him “Old Lu.”

And the parent company of the Eightfold Hall Novel Network was owned by Lu Xinjian.

Combining the various messages I had received this morning, such as “Boss Lu Xinjian and Honeydew representatives are meeting at the grand hotel,” “Tongmeng Video Network investing in Yae-Do,” “Honeydew acquiring Yae-Do Novel Network,” it wasn’t difficult to guess this person’s identity.

He was undoubtedly the owner of the parent company of the Yae-Do Novel Network, and previously, he was the owner of “Shenzhen Network Technology Co., Ltd,” the company that sold computer parts and owed me and Marisa significant amounts in royalties.

At the time, I encountered him in a state of emotional breakdown, crying at the market’s entrance, and in a fit of compassion, I bought cotton candy with my meager royalty balance to console him.

I didn’t expect that just a day later, he had changed his image from the desolate uncle and appeared here full of vigor.

I wondered whether it was due to the comforting gestures I made at that time, or perhaps this person had an exceptional ability to adjust himself. Did he receive the favor of Lady Luck?

“Um… *cough*…”

Perhaps sensing my gaze, the uncle over there also realized something. He asked, “You… you were the author for Yae-Do before, right?”

“Yes, she writes fantasy novels, and they update slowly. At that time, I thought she was a part-timer; I didn’t expect her to be such a young child.”

Ai Luodi took the initiative to explain, “So, for authors who are signed by two editors like this, how do you plan to handle them? Once the website maintenance and updates are completed, how will her book be handled? Do I take it?”

“No, I’ll take it,” Editor Tuzi chimed in.

The Editor Tuzi in front of me seemed unwilling to “give” me to Ai Luodi, “I’ve already brought her into the author group.”

“But, I’ve been with her for three years.”

Ai Luodi didn’t express any opinion, “There’s no contract signed yet on this side, so we can move her new book to the Yae-Do section. She still has the original contract from Yae-Do.”

“She approached me for the internal signing on her own. Her old book has been on hiatus for over half a month, and most of the readers have dropped off. It can stay there.”

“Ah… Then it’s up to the Chief Editor’s decision.”

What’s wrong with these two?

Never in my life have I been fought over like this.

Ai Luodi yawned, leaning back in her chair with a “puff” sound, “I need a nap…”

Huh? Sleep at this hour in the morning?

“I’d like to interrupt for a moment.”

The Editor-in-Chief hadn’t spoken yet, and the man I had confirmed as the owner of the Yae-Do seemed to have finally broken free from his guilt. He briskly walked to my side.

“May I have a private conversation with this girl?”

“……”

……