Shi Nian didn’t notice Tang Yanqing, because she received a phone call as soon as she reached the building’s entrance. Follow current novels on novel-fire.net
She lowered her head to see the number on the screen was actually Xiong Jie’s.
She hesitated a bit but still answered.
Xiong Jie laughed triumphantly on the phone: "Shi Nian, we really have a connection, covering the Kangchuan University case, the two of us have bumped into each other again."
Shi Nian returned a cold laugh: "Are you trying to tell me you’re going to beat me on this topic again? Ok, let each use their abilities."
Xiong Jie let out a light snort: "Shi Nian, I heard the confidence in your tone. From that very point, I also believe you probably have better resources in your hand than I do; and judging by the feedback from the first issue, you also think you’re already at an advantage, don’t you?"
Shi Nian didn’t feel arrogant: "The days are long, I won’t judge the future based on the success or failure of the first issue. Xiong Jie, show your real skills, I actually hope we can both use each other’s presence to keep ourselves motivated to move forward."
"Unfortunately, that’s just your own thought, I don’t want to make trouble for myself." Xiong Jie’s tone was arrogant: "Shi Nian, I’m here to make a deal with you: stop covering the Kangchuan University story, don’t touch this topic anymore. This project is for me alone."
"Why?" Shi Nian was also quite surprised.
The journalism industry, of course, everyone wishes that a certain hot topic was theirs alone, saving the struggle of competition in perspective and timing with colleagues. Yet everyone understands, in this highly information-driven age, such thinking is just wishful.
Although Xiong Jie was always against Shi Nian, she hadn’t said something so domineering before. Because Xiong Jie, after all, had a journalist’s awareness and understood that no one in this world could monopolize news topics.
But this time, Xiong Jie said it outright... Shi Nian’s heart turned, Xiong Jie could do this likely for only one reason—she must be holding something against her, something Xiong Jie deemed enough to leverage as blackmail.
Shi Nian originally thought about her current disguised identity. Possibly Xiong Jie, from the interview that day, figured out her identity on campus during the past few days.
But then Xiong Jie said: "I’m not going to hide it from you, I now have a very good resource. I happened to film a street fight between a famous journalist and her lawyer husband, oh, and there was another woman beside them, seemingly a partner from her husband’s law firm."
Shi Nian was shocked: "What do you want?!"
Shi Nian’s tone made Xiong Jie very satisfied: "What do I want? Shi Nian, you are also a reporter, when you get such a good news story, what do you want to do? Isn’t it to publish it?"
Shi Nian took a deep breath: "I understand, you want to use this as coercion to make a deal with me. You want me not to touch the Kangchuan University case anymore, otherwise, you’ll write about my private matters."
"So clever." Xiong Jie knew she had the upper hand.
No matter how urgent the news is, it’s still just a job. Which reporter truly values work more than their own privacy? One news story doesn’t matter, there will be another one, but if one’s reputation is ruined first, then there’s no future.
"How about it? Let’s seal the deal. We both win." Xiong Jie was ready to celebrate.
Unexpectedly, Shi Nian just said blandly: "Sorry, I, Shi Nian, only accept healthy competition and do not yield to threats. If you want to write, the pen is yours, whatever."
After saying this, Shi Nian hung up the phone and directly removed her SIM card.
Shi Nian was somewhat perturbed by Xiong Jie, went straight upstairs into the room.
The room was quiet, as if Marina and Zhong Kui weren’t in.
The door to her and Spicy Girl’s room was open, so Shi Nian went in.
Spicy Girl was sitting on the bed, browsing online on her laptop. Seeing her enter, she greeted, "Hi, back already?"
Since Shi Nian already knew what kind of person Spicy Girl was, she couldn’t smile as usual, just nodded awkwardly: "Uh, back."
Spicy Girl looked back down at her computer: "Didn’t eat, did you? I didn’t see you at the restaurant, so I brought you a portion, it’s on the table and hasn’t gone cold, go ahead and eat."
Shi Nian’s heart trembled a bit, recalling the night Tang Yanqing swapped rooms with her, also voluntarily brought everyone dinner... Shi Nian smiled: "Uh, I’ve already eaten outside, you keep it for a midnight snack."