She had been close to the top end of her graduating class from Tsinghua University which is a major research university in Beijing, and a member of the elite C9 League of Chinese universities. An Arts History degree in hand, Changying found that, without connections, all her study counted for nothing in getting a job with the national museum in Beijing. Resigned to mediocrity, she took a job as a researcher for a publishing firm that specialised in historical biographies and fiction. It was there that she met Wang Wei, a young editor that had been fast tracked by his good looks and family connections. He was cocky and self-assured, but he had a reputation for being precise and methodical. His habits were seen as painfully exacting, exhibiting the diligence which takes infinite patience and attention to details.
Changying dismissed him early as an arrogant control freak who constantly berated the research department staff for misunderstanding hastily scribbled instructions. Confident and at ease with his good looks, he seemed to be oblivious to the way the other women of the company fawned over him. He was just the type of asshole her mother would like. Changying grimaced, her thoughts going down the stream of obnoxious partners her mother brought home and did her best to stay out of his line of sight.
Six months after starting with the publishing house Wang had come in waving a sheaf of paper above his head "Whom the fuck did this research on the Macedonia book?" His voice held an angry edge to it. Changying cringed and tried to hide. Her name was on the research if he had just looked, but she certainly wasn't going to help him out.
The dark eyes turned in Changying's direction, and she stood up straighter moving from behind the filing cabinet, "Instead of yelling at everyone you should look at the last page for a name and save your full wrath for the researcher." He had started to walk toward her, making her bravado crumble. She shakily added, "That researcher would be me," her voice Jackred out as he drew closer.
"A mouse like you, who can barely muster more than a squeak, decided to call some of the author's premises into question and still more outright lies?" Wang's voice still had an edge as if daring her not to back down.
In a quieter guarded voice, Changying explained, "If the author had even used Google as his point of reference, he would have come up with a more logical history of Macedonia than that."
"And these notes?" He asked and waved another piece of paper in front of her.
Several people around her gasped. Changying straightened her back and set her shoulders, "Suggested reading. The author clearly needed help with his own research before submitting the book again," she was mad, and the thought dawned on her that she was arguing with one of her bosses. Gulping she tried to soften it, "I thought he might like to try again. The story line was good even if the research was faulty."
His face became a cross between a smirk and a sneer, "Oh, so you're an editor now?"
What little bravado Changying had left crumpled, and she whispered, "No, of course not, I was just trying to help him after trashing his work."
He watched her fold under his questioning and smirked, "So you read the full manuscripts of what you research and yet still submit before the allotted deadline?" His voice was still darkly serious, but he was impressed he admitted to himself.
"I am sorry," she whispered, "I was just trying to do the job properly. Nobody said not to read the full manuscripts. How can I know what needs to be done if I do not understand the whole story? I don't like to disappoint a good author and I worried that my research had signed his rejection letter." Changying lowered her eyes unable to meet his critical gaze anymore.
Wang considered her then, tilting his head, "So you agree with the editor that recommended this book, even though you ripped it apart with your research?"
Her head popped back up as she answered, "Oh yes. It was absorbing if you didn't know the region or history at all," Changying wondered if the last words had pushed her luck.
Wang laughed uproariously and turned striding out of the department. Changying fell back into her chair. She liked to read the whole manuscript and get a feel for why an author used one reference or another. She knew she shouldn't have over stepped her brief, but it could be quite a good book if the author could just use better historical data to base certain aspects of it.
Changying promised her supervisor to just do her job simply in the future and went back to work. She found it difficult to concentrate as she worried over her first serious run in with Wang Wei. Although she knew the fall out would be serious, she had been surprised when twenty minutes later her supervisor gently told her that she had been called up to human resources. 'Oh god what have I done. I can't lose my job,' she berated herself again.