I have few friends, but many childhood sweethearts.

Chapter 71. Comic Book Preparation 3
“Comic book, a model!” On Monday, after morning reading, Zhang Yiyi took out a comic book about the thickness of a little finger from her schoolbag and handed it to Xu Qingfan.

"Oh? You already have a sample so quickly?" Xu Qingfan exclaimed in surprise as he took the comic book.

"How is it? Yi Yi and I checked it yesterday. If Brother Qing Fan thinks it's okay, Aunt Zhang can arrange for printing!" Lin Wanning happily leaned closer.

"Let me see!"

Xu Qingfan gently ran his fingers across the book cover, feeling the smooth, raised texture of the comic book title and pen name.

Because many of the jokes in the book take place in daily life, Xu Qingfan named the comic "Hilarious Daily Life". Of course, he didn't use the pen name that Lin Wanning mentioned last time, but Xu Qingfan suggested the name "Deep Affection (Qing)". After the two of them looked up the meaning of the idiom in the dictionary, they happily agreed.

The paper used for the hard-edged book is of very high quality; it is soft, smooth, and makes a crisp swishing sound when you turn the pages.

[How much would it cost to print one copy of this comic?] Xu ​​Qingfan was a little unsure.

Xu Qingfan was naturally unaware that, in order to support the comic book career of the three little ones, Zhang Chunxue suddenly spent 300,000 yuan to pay the publishing house for printing and distribution.

Including promotional expenses, the publisher printed 100,000 copies of "Hilarious Daily Life" at once.

According to the publisher's suggestion of a price of eight yuan per book, even if all 100,000 copies are sold out, the cost of the books will barely be recovered from the initial investment of 300,000 yuan.

After all, the profits are split layer by layer in the distribution channels, and after deducting production costs, the three of them can only earn a little over three yuan for each book sold.

After calculating the taxes, it was indeed not enough to repay the 300,000 yuan that Zhang Chunxue had advanced.

However, this 300,000 yuan includes nearly 100,000 yuan for channel promotion. If the pre-launch hype is successful, the hole can be quickly filled when the second batch of comics is printed and put into the market.

"I think it's great!" Xu Qingfan gave it high praise after reading the entire comic.

"Hehe, Ningning thinks so too! Then we can go back and tell Aunt Zhang this afternoon!" Lin Wanning couldn't hide her excitement. "Brother Qingfan, hurry up and sign it too! We're going to give the first book to Aunt Zhang!"

"Signature, table of contents!" Zhang Yi helped him turn the book cover to the first page.

The signatures of Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning were left on it at some point. Yiyi wrote her normal pen name, "一往情深" (Deep Affection), while Wanning wrote "一晚情深*(^o^)/*" (Deep Affection for One Night *(^o^)/*), followed by a cute smiley face symbol.

Xu Qingfan looked at the smiling face above and subconsciously smiled, then picked up a pen and wrote "一往庆深" in the blank space.

"It's finished. Please thank your mom for us!" Xu Qingfan handed the comic book back to Zhang Yiyi.

"Mmm!" The little girl nodded cutely.

Chen Qiuyue, who had been watching the whole thing with envy, was quite envious. In fact, Lin Wanning had asked her if she wanted to draw comics together, but she always slacked off in her art classes and was not confident in her drawing skills, so she waved her hand and refused without hesitation.

"Why can't I do anything right?" The little girl was lost in her own worries.

"Brother Qingfan, do you think our comics will be sold?" After the initial excitement, Lin Wanning began to feel anxious again.

"How could no one buy it? Our comics are so well drawn, they're sure to sell like hotcakes!" Xu Qingfan flicked the little girl's forehead and said with a laugh.

“Mom said, the publishing house has high hopes!” Zhang Yiyi chimed in from the side.

"Yes! It'll definitely be a huge hit!" Lin Wanning pumped her fist in affirmation. "After we make money, Ningning will buy tons and tons of strawberry cakes and treat everyone to them every day! I'll buy a whole bedroom full of stuffed animals, and sleep on a twenty-layer mattress like the Princess and the Pea. And... wait, Qingfan, someone's looking for you!"

Lin Wanning suddenly looked out the window, and Xu Qingfan, Zhang Yiyi, and Xia Xiaoxiao, who was pretending to read but actually eavesdropping behind him, all turned their heads. Wu Lingyu was standing in the corridor outside the classroom at some point, her face frozen with a small expression of wanting to call Xu Qingfan out but not daring to. Seeing that the class bell was about to ring, she looked very anxious.

"What's wrong?" Xu Qingfan got up and leaned against the window, communicating with the other person through half a wall.

"Here, this is for you!" Feeling inexplicably nervous under the gaze of so many people, Wu Lingyu timidly handed the plastic bag she was carrying to Xu Qingfan.

"Why are you making it for me again?" Xu Qingfan asked in surprise as he accepted it.

"Mom said the fried skewers won't cost more than a hundred yuan, thank you!" Wu Lingyu bowed slightly and then turned to run away.

Xu Qingfan grabbed the little girl's hand before she could pull it back and said, "Why are you in such a hurry to leave? Wait for me in the classroom at noon, and we'll have lunch together!"

Wu Lingyu felt her heart pounding, and she was so nervous that she only dared to look at the badge on Xu Qingfan's school uniform.

"No, no need, I..."

Wu Lingyu wanted to say something more, but Xu Qingfan interrupted her: "It's settled then. If you dare not wait for me, I will never eat fried skewers at your house again!" Xu Qingfan released her hand and gently patted the little girl's head.

Wu Lingyu hesitated for a while before finally saying, "Oh, I'll wait for you. Don't forget to come and eat the fried skewers!" The little girl said this with her head down, then nervously turned and ran away.

After Wu Lingyu left, the three women cast questioning glances at Xu Qingfan.

"Brother Qingfan, are you having lunch with Wu Lingyu?" Lin Wanning asked with wide eyes.

"It wasn't me, it was us!" Xu Qingfan tapped the little girl on the head.

"Brother Qingfan hit me again!" Lin Wanning said, covering the spot where she had just been hit, feeling wronged.

"Alright, alright, here's what happened," Xu Qingfan said with a smile, patting Xiao Wanning's head as he told them about what happened when he and Xiao Xiao had fried skewers over the weekend.

Lin Wanning was outraged after hearing this: "How could this landlord do this! Isn't this cheating people?"

“Yeah, don’t you think our Deeply Affectionate Squad should stand up for what’s right?” Xu Qingfan asked.

"Absolutely! We have to make them go bankrupt and close down, just like those bad kindergartens!!" Lin Wanning said, clenching her little pink fist.

"I'm going to lunch too!" Xia Xiaoxiao, who had been eavesdropping in the back, suddenly nudged Xu Qingfan's shoulder and said.

"Okay, let's go together." He turned around and pinched the little girl's cheek, but Xia Xiaoxiao was prepared and picked up the Chinese textbook on her desk to block Xu Qingfan's mischievous hand.

"Brother Qingfan, why didn't you call Ningning and Yiyi when you ate fried skewers last week?" Lin Wanning suddenly asked.

"Um, let's try the braised duck necks made by Wu Lingyu's mom!"

Upon hearing that there was food, Lin Wanning decisively abandoned the question: "Yay, let's eat duck neck!"

Watching the little interaction between the two, Zhang Yiyi's face lit up with a bright smile.

(PS: My collection count has been so low lately, did I mess up something in my writing? o(╥﹏╥)o)

(End of this chapter)