"Did you write this?" The blockheaded man suddenly had a moment of clarity.

No. 51, East Xinglong Street, outside Chongwen Gate—the office of October Magazine.

Feng’s mother, Gu Xueqing, parked her bicycle and, from afar, spotted their editor-in-chief, Liu Xinwu. She greeted him with a cheerful, “Good morning, Lao Liu!”

“Good morning, Teacher Gu!” Liu Xinwu nodded warmly, returning her greeting as he parked his own bicycle. He asked, almost offhandedly, “By the way, Teacher Gu, did your daughter’s manuscript really get rejected?”

Yesterday, during the finalization of this issue, Liu Xinwu had inquired if Gu Xueqing’s daughter—the star student from Yanjing University—had finished revising her piece. If she didn’t hurry, it wouldn’t make it into this issue after all. But to his surprise, Gu Xueqing had told him it was scrapped for now, and her daughter wouldn’t be writing further!

This news had left several of their colleagues, who had high hopes for the piece, utterly stunned.

After all, Gu Xueqing was known in their office for her pride. Truthfully, her daughter’s manuscript was more or less good enough to pass. But Gu, ever the perfectionist, insisted on the highest standards. She refused to let anyone gossip that her daughter’s work was published just because of connections or favoritism.

Honestly, it wasn’t as if the bar was impossibly high. While the piece might not have reached a level of brilliance, it certainly met the publication threshold. With a Yanjing University background, how bad could her writing really be?

Yet Gu Xueqing was relentless, demanding further revisions, sending the manuscript back again and again to her daughter. In the end, nothing came of it.

Yesterday, when he asked, she had simply said it was scrapped.

Scrapped! A manuscript that was more than passable, perfectly publishable, simply thrown out?

As chief editor, Liu Xinwu hadn’t had time to ask for details, busy as he was with final layouts and deadlines. Could it have been a quarrel between mother and daughter? Perhaps something said in anger?

Now, collecting his thoughts, Liu Xinwu asked again, out of genuine concern, wanting to be sure.

“It’s scrapped! She’s not focused on this at all—each revision just made it worse, so I simply rejected it,” Gu Xueqing replied with a nod. Thinking of her troublesome daughter, she felt her anger rising and didn’t want to say more.

“That’s a real pity!” Liu Xinwu said as they entered the office together. He continued, “You know, Teacher Gu, sometimes you shouldn’t be too strict with Jiayou. She just returned from northern Shaanxi and this is her first time submitting something to us. We should be encouraging her, not scaring her off!”

“It’s good to have high standards, but if you’re too hard on her, she might become resistant—or worse, think October’s requirements are so high she never wants to submit again and chooses Yanjing Literature instead!”

Liu Xinwu knew that Gu Xueqing’s daughter, Feng Jiayou, had just been admitted to Yanjing University’s Chinese Department. If the standards were too daunting, it might not just scare off Jiayou, but also her cohort of classmates.

All of them were Chinese majors—the very future of literary magazines like theirs. If word spread that October was even tougher than Yanjing Literature, they might all flock to that rival publication. If that happened, they would be in real trouble.

“Uh… Lao Liu, you’re right,” Gu Xueqing replied, taken aback. Were he not her superior, she might have retorted, “She wouldn’t dare!” But in truth—

Her troublesome daughter had threatened more than once to submit to Yanjing Literature.

Just as Liu feared, while Jiayou might not dare switch journals behind her back, her classmates would certainly be curious whether her piece had been accepted. Once they learned her manuscript had been repeatedly rejected by October, would they all be frightened off to Yanjing Literature? Or even try their luck at People’s Literature?

Among the major magazines in the capital, the national-level People’s Literature was indisputably top-tier, with the highest editorial standards, followed by the ministry-level Yanjing Literature and their own October.

Other influential publications like Youth and Contemporary were still preparing for relaunch and not yet active.

If they were being honest, October’s influence was still noticeably below Yanjing Literature’s. If rumors spread that their editorial standards were even higher, it would seriously affect their ability to attract submissions.

After greeting a few early-arriving colleagues, Gu Xueqing returned to her desk, opened her briefcase, and began unpacking her documents. She also pulled out the manuscript her troublesome daughter had given her that morning.

She hadn’t expected much—her daughter’s “wild man” boyfriend had claimed it took two nights to revise, but she wanted to see what kind of mess they’d made.

Lost in reading, she didn’t notice half an hour slip by.

“Unbelievable!” she suddenly blurted out, startling the other editors, who turned toward her in shock.

“Teacher Gu, did you just discover a masterpiece?” someone called.

The editorial department specialized in sifting through submissions from across the country, hunting for publishable gems. As senior editor, Gu Xueqing was especially strict with the second round of reviews. Normally so composed and proud, her sudden outburst could only mean she’d found something extraordinary.

“I need to see Lao Liu!” she exclaimed, ignoring her colleagues’ questions as she hurried to find Editor-in-Chief Liu Xinwu.

Unbelievable! That infuriating daughter of hers—when had she suddenly had a breakthrough?

This time, the revisions were outstanding! Why had she hidden this, waiting until now to hand it over?

Just moments earlier, she’d told Liu the piece was scrapped, and now her daughter had dropped a bombshell on her.

“Teacher Gu, what’s going on?” Liu Xinwu asked as Gu Xueqing burst into his office.

“Lao Liu, take a look at this manuscript!” she said, slapping her daughter’s work onto his desk.

“A masterpiece?” Liu Xinwu’s eyes lit up at Gu Xueqing’s unusual excitement—had she discovered a gem?

“But isn’t this still Jiayou’s piece?” he asked, glancing at the manuscript. Hadn’t she said it was scrapped? What game were mother and daughter playing?

“Yes, it’s hers. Lao Liu, just keep reading,” Gu Xueqing nodded, urging him to continue.

Her troublesome daughter had indeed undergone a sudden transformation overnight. The revisions had elevated what was once a mediocre piece to a whole new level.

“Excellent!” Liu Xinwu said nothing more, standing to read on. His expression shifted from curiosity to astonishment as he progressed, until at last he finished and could only exclaim, “Excellent!”

“Lao Liu, you think these revisions are good, too?” Gu Xueqing’s eyes shone with gratitude at his approval.

“Teacher Gu, Jiayou’s revisions are outstanding! The manuscript has leapt from barely passable to genuinely excellent!” Liu Xinwu nodded. He immediately picked up his pen and wrote on the manuscript, “Accepted—publish this issue!”

“But Lao Liu, the layout was finalized yesterday, and the contributors’ fees have already been sent out!” Gu Xueqing pointed out, both pleased and regretful. They had missed their chance—if only her daughter had submitted the piece yesterday, it would have made it into this issue.

“Take my piece out and publish it next time. We old-timers should make room for the young and give them more opportunities!” Liu Xinwu said decisively.

“Let’s just wait until next issue. You’ve already finalized everything for this one,” Gu Xueqing replied, feeling awkward. She couldn’t bump the editor-in-chief’s own piece.

“Let’s do it this issue! If we wait any longer, all of Jiayou’s classmates might run off to Yanjing Literature!” Liu Xinwu insisted.

…