In the 90s, you could acquire max-level skills every 14 days.

"Oh, by the way—" Zhang Yong added a spoonful of braised pork. "Any news from 'October' magazine?"

When Zhang Yong asked this question, Tan Xingguo's expression became lively, as if he wanted to laugh but was holding it in.

"Oh dear, Zhou Deqing was so angry that he changed his train ticket the night before last and went back to Beijing ahead of schedule."

Zhang Yong's chopsticks paused briefly on the braised tofu.

Zhou Deqing was originally scheduled to return the day after tomorrow, but he has come back earlier.

"He was originally scheduled to attend a mid-year project meeting outside, but before the meeting was even over, he changed his ticket and arrived this morning," Tan Xingguo said. "You don't know what kind of person Lao Zhou is. He seems very easy to talk to—but actually, he hates it when someone tries to take advantage of him behind his back."

Zhang Yong nodded.

Lin Xuechang took Zhou Deqing's seal and, while Zhou was away on a business trip, went to the author's home to pressure him—this kind of thing would be called "falsely conveying military orders" in the military.

"There's more to it than that. Later, Director Tao's secretary contacted me." Tan Xingguo drew a circle on the table with his finger. "Tell me, after Director Tao left your house that day, he called Zhou Deqing again."

"I relayed every word Lin Xuechang said at your house—what he called 'a dead end' and what he called 'the right to authorship is given to Chen Ping.'"

Tan Xingguo leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Guess what Lin Xuechang's expression is right now in the conference room?"

Zhang Yong didn't reply, he just smiled.

"But Zhang Yong, you shouldn't show your face in October. It's not a good idea to go then."

"Editor-in-Chief Tan," Zhang Yong said, looking at him. "You mean, I'm just going to watch the show now?"

Tan Xingguo gave a thumbs up.

"clever."

"You have enough cards now, so don't panic. Watch for a while. Let Zhou Deqing clean up his mess."

He slapped the table.

"The worst thing you can do is to keep pushing forward after you've already won."

"If you go now, it will make things difficult for Lao Zhou—he'll have to consider your feelings. If you don't go, he can do whatever he wants, and he'll be done with it cleanly."

Zhang Yong thought these words through in his mind.

Correct.

At this point in the game, he has done all he could.

The remaining battleground is now Zhou Deqing's, as the editor-in-chief.

"Understood," Zhang Yong said.

"Editor-in-Chief Tan, I'm here today not only to thank you, but also for this."

He took out a large envelope from his canvas bag. "A new manuscript, the one I mentioned last time, about abnormal car water temperature and a simple analysis of the cooling system, and I also wrote about fixing the ceiling fan and checking the telephone line in the summer."

Tan Xingguo's eyes lit up! He took it immediately.

"Good lad, why are you only taking it out now!"

"I've been waiting for you!"

He glanced at the remaining meatballs in the oil paper package—four or five left—and gulped them down in three bites.

"Yongzi! Sit down for a bit, I'll go and read it through carefully first!"

Zhang Yong nodded, sat down on a mat in the courtyard, and continued eating his braised pork.

[Auto Repair Lv.5: Progress 17% (AFK... 30x speed)]

……

Zhang Yong didn't get home until 6:30 p.m.

He chatted with Tan Xingguo for an afternoon, and Tan Xingguo even happily disassembled the ceiling fan in the editorial office to study it.

He flipped through the manuscript repeatedly, praising Yang Yong's practical methods.

Now, as soon as he enters the community, he looks towards the guardhouse first; it's become a habit.

Sure enough, Liu Jianguo made the call, and he called back.

"Zhang Yong—" Liu Jianguo's voice carried a hint of joy, "Editor-in-Chief Zhou came back early today, and our office had a meeting all afternoon."

"Let me tell you, Editor-in-Chief Zhou is really serious this time."

Zhang Yong leaned against the doorframe. "How so?"

"We'll go straight for the three-pronged approach," Liu Jianguo listed them one by one. "First, we'll get Lin Xuechang to hand over the seal, and from then on, only Editor-in-Chief Zhou will make the final decision."

"And the second one?"

"Then—his position as associate editor and reviewer was suspended, demoted to a regular editor, and he was moved to the proofreading team. You know what the proofreading team does, right? They're the ones who fix typos and punctuation marks; that's a job only newbies get."

Zhang Yong's lips curved into a smile.

This is even worse than simply dismissing someone.

It would be better to dismiss him decisively, but leave him with a lingering sense of unease, letting him sit at that table in the proofreading group every day, watching helplessly as his former subordinates are promoted—that's what you call destroying his spirit.

Article 3.

"Editor-in-Chief Zhou had originally been holding back Chen Ping's rebuttal paper. Today, we've directly postponed its publication, covered up the author's name, and asked several external experts to review it."

"Editor-in-Chief Zhou is very reliable," Zhang Yong said.

"That's right!" Liu Jianguo lowered his voice again, "The external reviewer said it wouldn't work, what does that have to do with our editorial department? Also, after the meeting, I was the only one left wiping the table when Editor-in-Chief Zhou called me back."

Zhang Yong's fingers tightened on the receiver.

He asked me, "Jianguo, when Lin Xuechang went to Zhang Yong's house that day, did you go with him?"

"I'm a coward, how could I dare to hide anything from him? I blurted out everything that happened that day. How Lin Xuechang threatened him with the exclusive agreement, how he forced Chen Ping to be listed as the first author, how he said it was a dead end... I told him everything without missing a single word."

"After saying it all in one breath, my heart sank. I figured I was definitely going to have to write a self-criticism this time, and maybe we'd have to proofread it together later."

"And guess what happened?"

"After listening, Editor-in-Chief Zhou didn't say anything and just told me to go back."

"I passed this hurdle!"

Zhang Yong was slightly taken aback.

Not making him write a self-criticism—that's the attitude. Making him write one would mean siding with Liu Jianguo and Lin Xuechang. Not writing one would mean acknowledging that Liu Jianguo was coerced and a victim.

Old Zhou's knife strike was spot on.

"Okay, Editor Liu, thanks. You've worked hard today."

"Oh, right, Zhang Yong!" Liu Jianguo called out to him again, his voice full of energy, "The external investigation has been expedited. I'll contact you as soon as I get the news."

"become."

……

The phone rang again in the reception area a little after noon the next day.

Zhang Yong had just returned from Old Zhao's place, his hands still covered in engine oil. Grandpa Chen shouted from downstairs.

"Yongzi! Editor Liu!"

Zhang Yong rushed downstairs.

"Editor Liu."

"The external audit report is back!" Liu Jianguo's voice dropped to a booming tone. "Old Zhou opened it himself!"

"How so?"

"The three external reviewers, acting independently, all reached the same conclusion!"

Liu Jianguo cleared his throat, as if he were going to read the conclusion to him word for word.

"The three core arguments cited by Chen Ping in his rebuttal paper—casting temperature range, alloy standard comparison, and pressure unit conversion—are all based on the 1986 edition of the old standard."

"The 1989 revised version made substantial adjustments to the relevant parameters, widening the range. Upon verification, the data involved in the article 'The Ingenuity of Great Powers' falls entirely within the reasonable range of the 1989 new standard."

Conclusion: The refutation of the article is unfounded.

Zhang Yong pressed the receiver to his ear but didn't speak.

When Chen Ping, in his graduate student dormitory at Peking University, said to himself, "What right do continuing education students have to talk about international journals?", he probably never imagined—

These adult education students are not from the traditional, unorthodox path.

"What was Lao Zhou's reaction after reading the report?" Zhang Yong asked.

"I laughed," Liu Jianguo said. "I just laughed, for more than half a minute."

"Then I was told to call Chen Ping immediately and ask him to come to the office and pick up the original manuscript of the paper himself."

......