BAD MORNING INDEED

Liu Yang swallowed a mouthful of saliva as her mouth ran dry from nervousness.

Thankfully no one noticed her. Looking for her seat, she almost cursed loudly when she saw it near the Chief's seat at the front, next to Xu Wan Li, one of her best friends, who is also an editor at the publishing. Liu Yang straightens and braces herself up. Pushing the door slowly, she tried hard not to make a sound.

The conference room is quiet. The meeting has not started yet and only the tapping of a finger on the wooden table could be heard. But Liu Yang could not care less, she is busy trying not to get caught. And definitely, luck is not on her side, the door made a sound the moment she closed it. Due to the sound, everyone in the room looked towards her.

Liu Yang froze as she closed her eyes, she could feel that everyone's eyes are on her, especially Min Chu, and it made the hairs on her back prickle. Should she be thankful that today's meeting is only composed of editors and not the whole publishing, right? But still, there are twelve editors from different departments including her, and it turns out she is the only one missing.

Opening her eyes slowly and scanning everyone's faces, only to land on Xu Wan Li whose head is bowed down with his hand covering his face. Liu Yang grits her teeth at the sight of him.

Min Chu, on the other hand, who is still tapping her fingers with her eyes glued on her, remained impassive and elegant on her seat at the middle.

Liu Yang did not know what to do with all those eyes on her.

"Apologies everyone, Ms. Min, for being late. The streets are rather busy today," she finally said then, bowed her head. Her wet long hair falls on the side, covering her face.

Min Chu gives her a deadpan expression. "Thank you for arriving 10 minutes late, Editor Liu. Finally, we can officially start the meeting. Just take your seat, please." Those words were simple yet heavy.

Liu Yang felt embarrassed after hearing Min Chu's words, if only she could dig the ground right now. It was not her first time being scolded at work but today is a little different. Her hands were already sweating and her heart's already in her throat. She bowed once again and took big strides towards her designated seat.

The moment Liu Yang's butt kissed the leather seat, Min Chu grabs a handful of papers and slams it on the long table.

*bang!*

The sound was almost deafening and made everyone in the room jumped out of their seat. They stared at the paper splayed on the table and noticed that they were manuscripts of the novels to be published for the coming season.

What's the meaning of this?

"Is this really all you've got? You call this hard work?"

Everyone, including Liu Yang keeps their lips sealed.

What did they just do?

All of them have no idea what the Chief is talking about.

A brave one extended a hand to see what the pieces of papers are all about. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw what was in front of him.

"Uh, Chief, this was supposed to be published. Why…?"

"Why??" Min Chu looks at him scornfully that made him shy away. She continues, "Yes, those, were supposed to be published but thankfully, I stopped them on time."

"I know all of you are wondering why I'm giving all of these back." Min Chu said this while scanning each and everyone's faces while raising her brows, and looking even more intimidating.

"My husband," a pause, she clears her throat and continued, "I mean, President Niu and the board, are not happy with the current situation of the Publishing. We all know that Yinyang Publishing is only a subsidiary company of Yinyang Enterprises. Year after year, each subsidiary companies are evaluated by the headquarters according to its sales. And sadly, the Publishing is losing its touch each passing year, and now I see all of these works?! They're trash!" Min Chu yelled.

"If we don't make it to the end-of-the-year quota this time, then they don't have any other choice but to drop our smalltime company. Even if the publishing is established by the president's mother, it's still business, and the other executives might not like it having to drag the headquarters' name. I know all of you don't like that."

"We have been leading the market since day one, and now this?!" Min Chu takes another pause to massage her temples and to compose herself. "Maybe I have been too complacent all this time that you are giving me all these trashy works."

As of until now, no one is uttering a word nor making a move from their seats. Afraid that they will aggravate Min Chu even further. They might even forget how to breathe right now.

Min Chu – the Editor-in-Chief, and the wife of the President of Yinyang Enterprise, Niu Guan Qing, is known for her good work ethics. She is strict towards her colleagues and subordinates, and she also works flawlessly and efficiently without making any single mistake. Making her worthy of being the President's wife.

Nobody wants to be on her bad side or they might awaken the dragon, although days like these rarely comes. They all even wondered how the handsome President of Yinyang Enterprise could take this beautiful demon.

Well, today is their lucky day to witness her wrath! Not they have not witnessed it at all, but today seems different from the usual. She seems more furious than usual.

"I want those manuscripts be shredded today! All of it!" she roared again.

Wait, what?! Shredded?!

They could not utter any word; they're all on the verge of crying. Can Chief be more considerate?! Does she know how many sleepless nights they spent just to submit those manuscripts on time?! How many cups of coffee they consumed just to finish those? Everyone protested in their thoughts. They wanted to cry but shed no tears.

What will they tell their authors about this?

Min Chu raised a brow and flatly said, "Within two months, I'm expecting a newly revised plots about your novels. Discuss it with your authors and teams immediately."

She massages her temples before continuing, "I'll let my secretary email you the details later. Meeting adjourned," and coldly exits the hall without any room for argument.