I wrote novels in the Republic of China

Hong Yongxiang was shocked and also felt a little distressed.

The two children wrote so many words in just five days, probably because they were short of money.

They are not easy.

"Don't worry, Nancheng Bookstore reviews manuscripts very quickly. It won't be long before you get your royalties." Hong Yongxiang assured Sang Jingyun.

Sang Jingyun thanked him again and told Hong Yongxiang about the pen name.

From now on, she will use the pen name "Yun Jing". The comic book "Journey to the West" was written by her and Sang Jingying together. In addition to her pen name, Sang Jingying's pen name will also be published on it.

Sang Jingying's pen name is simpler than hers, just the two words "Jingying".

Hong Yue heard this and also gave herself a pen name, "Hong Ming".

Hong Yongxiang was surprised: "Ayue, why do you use such a name?"

"Yue and Ming look very similar. My father said that if I were a man, I should be called Hong Ming," Hong Yue said with some excitement in her eyes. "I use this pen name so that others will never guess that I am the one who drew this comic strip."

Hong Yue has already decided that when the comic book is published, she will buy some and give them to her friends whom she met during school. Then, when they are curious about who Hong Ming is, she will tell them that she is Hong Ming.

By then, they will certainly be shocked.

Of course, Hong Yue had her own thoughts when she chose this pen name.

She knew very well that if others knew from the beginning that she was a woman, they would certainly not look at her paintings fairly.

Even her mother kept complaining that she, as a woman, could not achieve anything great in painting.

She wants to become famous first, and then let people know that she is a woman.

Sang Jingying and Sang Jingyun came to the county town today just to give the manuscript to Hong Yongxiang.

So soon, the two of them got up and said goodbye.

Shopkeeper Hong said, "It's getting late, why don't you stay for lunch."

Sang Jingyun said, "Grandpa Hong, we have something else to do today, so we won't eat. Tomorrow I'll get my royalties and set up a table at Qingfu Building to treat you to a meal."

Shopkeeper Hong smiled and said, "Okay, I'll wait."

Only then did Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying leave.

As soon as they left, Manager Hong pulled Hong Yongxiang over and asked him what he thought of Sang Jingyun. He also disliked Hong Yongxiang for not knowing how to please women and not even inviting Sang Jingyun to dinner.

Hong Yongxiang had no choice but to return to the concession immediately after dinner.

Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying actually had nothing to do today, but they felt embarrassed to eat and drink for free.

"Let's go home quickly." Sang Jingyun said to Sang Jingying after leaving the paper shop.

She only had some porridge in the morning and had been out for so long, so she was already starving.

Sang Jingying nodded.
At this moment, he wanted to run back so that he could have lunch quickly.

But his sister was in poor health and couldn't run, so he could only suppress his anxiety.

Sang Jingyun knew that Sang Jingying must be very hungry.

She took out a piece of peanut candy from the one Hong Yue had given her and gave it to Sang Jingying: "Have a piece of candy."

Sang Jingying said: "Sister, I have grown up and don't eat candy."

"Eat it. I'm older than you and I need to eat candy too." Sang Jingyun said.

Sang Jingying ate the candy in the end. He held the peanut candy in his mouth and was reluctant to chew it.

Sang Jingyun was reluctant to chew it.

She always thought that she didn't like sweets, but now she realized that she didn't like them before just because there were too many things to choose from and she didn't care about that little bit of sugar.

When the two were dividing the candy, Sang Xuewen from the Sang family was trembling all over and breaking out in a sweat.

He's addicted to smoking again.

He was addicted to smoking and had all kinds of symptoms. For example, one day he suddenly pooped his pants.

Ever since he became addicted to opium, his life and self-esteem have been trampled into the mud.

His family members wanted to help him, but they were also dragged into the quagmire by him.

He's really nothing.

There was a time when Sang Xuewen felt that he was a good-for-nothing trouble and that his family was unlucky to have him.

He cheated Alan out of her pension money and also cheated Lu Ying out of her dowry when she got married.

But he really didn't expect that his father would die.

Sang Xuewen found Sang Qianshi and said, "Mom, lock me up."

Sang Qian locked him up, and Sang Xuewen lay on the smelly straw and began to recite his lessons.

"The Right Protector threw the antidote on the ground, crushed it with his feet and stepped into the mud. The young man, who had been suffering for half a day because of the antidote cut off, saw it and rushed forward like a mad dog, opened his mouth to bite the mud, swallowed the mud and the medicine into his stomach, and then licked the shoes of the Right Protector. The Right Protector showed disgust on his face and kicked the young man to the ground. The young man turned over and got up, just kowtowing continuously. Seeing that the once unruly young man had become the dog of the Right Protector, Meng You was terrified, fearing that he would become like this too."

Sang Xuewen burst into tears as he recited the text slowly and incoherently.

"With a flick of the right guardian's hand, Meng You was thrown into a damp cave. He slammed into the stone wall, and his internal organs seemed to be displaced, but the pain was far less than the pain of the poison. After the poison took effect, every breath seemed to pull at his tendons and veins, and he would be torn to pieces and die. Living at this time was suffering. In a trance, Meng You thought of the boy that day. If someone threw the antidote in front of him now, he would probably turn into a dog."

Sang Xuewen continued to recite: "But he doesn't want to be a dog, he is a human being! He is a human being!"

The room was dark and damp, and Sang Xuewen began to recite the following content: "When Meng You was taken out of the cave after three days, he was no longer human. The right protector said "not bad", threw down an antidote, and walked away. Meng You wanted to snatch the antidote and put it in his mouth immediately, but he didn't know where he got the strength from, and finally threw the antidote into the cliff."

"My fate is in my own hands, he can't be controlled by a mere drug!"

It was unknown how long it took before Sang Xuewen came back to normal and burst into tears.

These days, his daughter often talks to him, but he can sense the coldness in his daughter's bones.

He thought his daughter would never forgive him in her life, but this book was clearly written by his daughter for him.

Sang Jingyun had no idea what Sang Xuewen was thinking.

When she wrote the book, her mind was filled with the indomitable spirit of resistance of the revolutionary martyrs she admired, and it had nothing to do with Sang Xuewen.

However, she did refer to the tragic condition of Meng You and others who were poisoned by the poisoning if she had a reference to the appearance of Sang Xuewen when he had a smoking craving.

Sang Xuewen used to be a decent man, although not a handsome man. But after his smoking addiction struck, he became a madman.

When Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying arrived home, Sang Qian had already prepared lunch and released Sang Xuewen.

They still ate porridge, pickles and fried peanuts given by Manager Hong.

There was only a small plate of peanuts, and Sang Qianshi and Lu Ying hardly touched their chopsticks.

After Sang Jingyun finished eating, he took out a peanut candy and stuffed it into Sang Jingli's mouth, then took out the oil paper bag and put it on the table.

There was only a small bag of candy, with eight pieces in total. Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying ate two on the way, and they just fed one to Sang Jingli, so there were five left.

She gave one to Lu Ying and Sang Qianshi each, and the rest she, Sang Jingying and Sang Jingli each gave one: "Dad doesn't like candy, Jingxiong has some cakes at the snack shop, we can each have one."

Sang Qian said: "No need to give it to me, just eat it yourself."

"Grandma, I want to honor you, you can't not give me this opportunity." Sang Jingyun said with a smile.

Sang Qian finally put the candy in her mouth.

Sang Xuewen felt a little envious when he saw this scene.

It’s not that he doesn’t like candy, it’s just that his daughter doesn’t want to give it to him.

He took a rag and skillfully washed the dishes. While he was washing, Lu Ying gave him half a piece of peanut candy.

Sugar is so sweet, he is such a piece of shit.

After dinner, Sang Jingying wanted to continue writing "Journey to the West".

This brother is really too enthusiastic. Sang Jingyun said helplessly: "Aying, people also need to rest. We have already written half of "Journey to the West". Let's take a rest today."

Sang Jingying said, "I have nothing to do anyway, so I write this as a break."

That’s fine... Sang Jingyun opened "Journey to the West" and while reading, he recalled the TV series "Journey to the West" that he had watched countless times in his previous life, and told Sang Jingying how to write the following story.

But she didn't write it.

The ulcer at the corner of her mouth had just healed and she wanted to take a day off.

By the way, think about the subsequent plot of "The Two-Faced Demon Lord".

Although the manuscript had been given out, the money had not yet been received, and the Sang family continued to live their lives as usual.

After having a full stomach of porridge at night, Sang Jingyun went to bed early. However, Hong Yongxiang found Fei Zhongxu's home.

There was electric light in the stable building where Fei Zhongxu lived. When Hong Yongxiang arrived, Fei Zhongxu was reading under the light.

Hearing the knock on the door, Fei Zhongxu opened it: "I knew you would come today. Has Miss Sang finished writing the manuscripts for the first ten volumes?"

"It's already been written." Hong Yongxiang took out the manuscript wrapped in the Shanghai Daily.

Fei Zhongxu was shocked when he saw the incredibly thick manuscript: "She wrote so much in ten volumes?"

"These aren't ten books. She wrote more than thirty in five days."

Fei Zhongxu had previously learned from Hong Yongxiang that Sang Jingyun was short of money.

This is also the reason why Fei Zhongxu agreed to pay Sang Jingyun a fee of two yuan per thousand words.

But now, after seeing so many manuscripts, Fei Zhongxu clearly felt how much this little girl needed money: "Has she slept these days?"

Hong Yongxiang said: "Take a look and see if this manuscript is acceptable."

Upon hearing this, Fei Zhongxu began to flip through the manuscript in his hand.

He had read the book "Journey to the West". He just read it for entertainment and did not like it particularly. He had almost forgotten the stories in it and only remembered a few scary plots.

For example, in the Lion Country, corpses were piled up into mountains, the hair of the dead was made into felt, and there were monsters everywhere eating people. The description made the young boy feel uncomfortable all over and had nightmares.

Now this book is well written, those terrible plots are not included in the book, and the whole story is full of childlike fun.

This is exactly what Fei Zhongxu wanted.

Fei Zhongxu is a very responsible person. He read it from beginning to end, making marks with a pencil as he read.

After reading it, he said to Hong Wenxiang: "There is no problem with this manuscript. There are only a few places that need to be changed. It's just that there is a problem with the manuscript fee..."

"What's wrong with the manuscript fee? Didn't you say it's two yuan per thousand words? Can you approve it directly?" Hong Wenxiang was puzzled.

Fei Zhongxu said, "I can approve this price directly, but I thought she would write at most ten books a month, and the editor-in-chief would never ask if I gave her 20 yuan a month. But now she has submitted so many manuscripts at once, if she wants to withdraw all the royalties, she needs the editor-in-chief's consent."

Regarding publishing a comic strip of Journey to the West, he wrote an application and showed it to the editor-in-chief.
It says that the estimated manuscript fee is 2 yuan per thousand words, and the estimated drawing fee is 10 cents per picture. A book has 20 pages and 40 pictures, so the total cost is 4 yuan.

The price was not high and the editor-in-chief had no objection, but he wanted to withdraw a large amount of royalties at one time, which would inevitably attract the editor-in-chief's attention.

Their editor-in-chief owns shares in the bookstore, so if he can lower the price, he will do so.

"What should we do then?" asked Hong Yongxiang.

Fei Zhongxu said, "If they don't need money urgently, I will hand over ten books a month and give them twenty or thirty silver dollars. Your niece can only draw ten books a month at most, right?"

Comic strips are not meticulous paintings, and because they are to be printed, only lines are needed when drawing. It is not difficult to draw and should not take much time.

But there are 400 pictures in ten volumes, so it will probably take a month to finish.

Hong Yongxiang said: "That's it for now. I'll go back in a few days and tell them about this."

"Okay." Fei Zhongxu said.

At this time, Hong Yongxiang also mentioned that Sang Jingyun hoped to add punctuation when making comic strips.

According to Sang Jingyun's idea, the words can be written in the blank space of the picture, and punctuation marks can be used directly when writing.

Fei Zhongxu said, "I think so too. Nowadays, many people hope to introduce punctuation marks. Last month, last year, Mr. Hu published "On Sentence Reading and Character Symbols" in the magazine Science. It would be great if our comic strip used punctuation marks."

After talking about punctuation, Hong Yongxiang continued, "Miss Sang has written more than 10,000 words for The Two-Faced Demon Lord, and has already chosen a pen name. You can help her submit the manuscript in the next few days, and decide on the price, publication date, etc. Miss Sang said that she can write 3,000 words every day and will never delay the manuscript."

Like Hong Yongxiang, Fei Zhongxu was amazed by Sang Jingyun's writing speed.

He took the manuscript of "The Two-Faced Demon Lord" and looked at it, and suddenly thought of something: "Yongxiang, I have a way to get the editor-in-chief to pay all the royalties at once!"

"Really?" Hong Yongxiang was surprised.

"Really? I'll do it tomorrow morning. When I'm done, you can treat me to a Cantonese meal across from our bookstore."

In recent years, the concession has become increasingly prosperous, gathering many people from all over the world.

There are many people and shops in the concession, and all kinds of food from all over the world are available.

There is a Cantonese restaurant opposite Nancheng Bookstore. The white-cut chicken and steamed spare ribs there are absolutely delicious.

Unfortunately, the price of this Cantonese restaurant is not low, so Fei Zhongxu cannot go there often.

Hong Yongxiang agreed immediately.

Early the next morning, Fei Zhongxu came to Nancheng Bookstore and began to talk with the editors of the bureau about the promotion of punctuation.

Fei Zhongxu has a wealthy relative who knows many people. He mentioned: "Nowadays, many people want to promote vernacular Chinese and punctuation. Some people have written manuscripts and given them pen names, and asked me to help submit them."

Earlier, Fei Zhongxu talked about all the new-style writers who are currently committed to promoting vernacular Chinese and punctuation.

Now that he said someone had asked him to help submit an article, everyone subconsciously thought that the person who did this was one of those new-style writers.

Those literati were all very famous, and Fei Zhongxu actually knew them, which made everyone envious.

"Would you like to see the manuscript?" Fei Zhongxu asked.

Of course you have to watch it.

Seeing this, Fei Zhongxu took out the manuscript of "The Two-Faced Demon Lord".

The editor-in-chief immediately handed the manuscript over, and the other editors stood by to take a look.

The story of "The Two-Faced Demon King" is not that uncommon.

But it is indeed a clear and concise text in plain language, and many punctuation marks are used in the meticulously copied manuscript.

It's obvious that it was written by those new-style writers!

"This book is really good, and the punctuation is also well used!"

"Great story!"

"This chaotic world is very similar to the current situation."

"The poison here is a metaphor for opium, right?"

"Those foreigners have always wanted to destroy us with opium, but many people are still addicted to it..."

……

These people thought that the author of this book was one of the new-style writers who are currently in the limelight.

In their opinion, such a writer could not write an ordinary martial arts story, and when reading the book, they could come up with many profound meanings.

Fei Zhongxu felt a little embarrassed, but when he thought that it was all a misunderstanding and he had never said that the author was those famous modern writers, he became confident again.

It is not easy for a woman to write a book. She wrote so much in just a few days. It must be because the situation at home was too bad.

He should lend a hand and give her some help.

Thinking of this, Fei Zhongxu said, "Editor-in-chief, the comic strip of Journey to the West that I'm working on was actually her idea. She hopes that those children can read better books and that there will be some books that can help children learn to read. She also said that the future of this country lies in the children, so she wanted to add punctuation to the comics."

After Fei Zhongxu finished speaking, he handed all the manuscripts of Journey to the West written by Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying to the editor-in-chief: "He has already started writing this comic strip and has now finished half of it."

The editor-in-chief took it, flipped through it, and praised it repeatedly.

"The words are concise and the story is lighthearted. This is what children should watch!"

"My child will definitely like this book."

"With these punctuation marks, it is much easier to read."

……

When the editor-in-chief asked who the author was, Fei Zhongxu did not say, but only said that the author was a little special and did not want to reveal his identity.

The editor-in-chief felt that the author must have some background and was unwilling to reveal his identity. Perhaps he did not want people to know that he wrote these things for the time being, or perhaps he did not want to implicate them.

After all, some of them have offended many rich and powerful people, and they can only hide in the concession and dare not go out.

Thinking of this, the editor-in-chief happily approved 90 yuan for the manuscript to Fei Zhongxu, and asked, "Is this manuscript fee a little too little?"

Fei Zhongxu said, "Not a small amount. I have already agreed with her to pay two yuan per thousand words."

Upon hearing this, the editor-in-chief felt that he had gotten a great deal.

With someone like this writing comic strips for you, why worry about the comic strips not selling well?

(End of this chapter)