I wrote novels in the Republic of China

Sang Jingyun also published books in her previous life, and every time she published a book, she would help the publishing house promote it.

This time, I happened to come across this opportunity and did some advertising for Nancheng Bookstore.

In her previous life, when she was filling out information about her work for publication, she could praise her own work without batting an eyelid. Now, she could naturally remain calm when talking to some strangers and say that the comic strip for which she wrote the script was a good book.

"If we want our country to develop, we must teach our people to read. If we want tens of millions of people in our country to be literate, it is imperative to promote vernacular Chinese, and it is also necessary to promote punctuation. This comic book may be the first book with punctuation in our country, and it is of extraordinary significance!" Sang Jingyun said righteously.

This is also her true feelings, and it is also the thoughts of many knowledgeable people in this era.

Classical Chinese is too difficult to learn and extremely difficult to promote, so everyone is trying every possible means to promote vernacular Chinese.

Only by promoting vernacular can we make reading and studying easier and enable everyone to receive education.

In fact, Sang Jingyun also thinks that Chinese characters should be simplified.

It is really difficult to write traditional Chinese characters. Specialized scholars or those who like related culture can study them in depth, but as an ordinary person, there is no need to learn characters like 亂竈龟龜鬱.

Sang Jingyun's views are somewhat radical. If she met old literati, she would inevitably be scolded, but her views are not the most radical.

These days, many people even propose abolishing Chinese characters, saying that "if Chinese characters are not eliminated, China will perish."

At this time, not everyone in Nancheng Bookstore agreed with Sang Jingyun's statement. Some people even felt that Sang Jingyun, a woman, was just trying to attract attention by making such irresponsible remarks.

But the vast majority of people were infected by Sang Jingyun.

People tend to follow the herd mentality. When they hear others say that a book is good, they will also think that the book is good. What's more, the book "Journey to the West" is really impeccable.

If you say that this book is too simple, it is because it is for children. If you say that the pictures are a bit crude, all the illustrations printed at that time are like this.

“This is the first book with punctuation. You should definitely buy it!”

"I will use this book to teach my child to read, and he will definitely be willing to learn."

"My wife is not very literate, so this book is suitable for her."

"My mother loves watching monkey shows. She will definitely like this book too."

"This punctuation should indeed be promoted..."

……

Seeing that the atmosphere had become heated and it was getting late, Sang Jingyun hurried away with Sang Jingying.

It was not until they left Nancheng Bookstore that he noticed that Sang Jingying's face was flushed and he looked extremely embarrassed.

"Aying, are you shy?"

"Sister..." Sang Jingying felt a little embarrassed.

Sang Jingyun said, "There is an old saying, 'An old face means a full belly.' My grandfather said that people should be honest, but they should not be too thin-skinned. People with thin skin are easily bullied and cannot do business."

Sang Jingying thought about it and nodded seriously: "Sister, you are right."

Sang Jingyun laughed again at this time: "Actually, I was a little embarrassed just now."

Sang Jingying couldn't help but laugh.

The two hurried to the Shanghai Daily, just in time for lunch.

Hong Yongxiang saw them and stood up with a smile: "Come on, I want to make a killing for you, you can treat me to a Western meal."

Sang Jingyun had seen Western restaurants in the concession, and one could tell just by looking at those shops that the prices were not low.

But she now had two hundred yuan in her pocket, so she could pay the bill: "Okay, let's treat Mr. Hong to a Western meal."

Hong Yongxiang smiled, turned around and took Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying into a roadside shop.

The words "Western food" were indeed written on the door of the store, but it was completely different from the Western food that Sang Jingyun had imagined.

This is a Chinese-style Western restaurant that serves ordinary people from ordinary families. Each guest pays 20 cents to have a Western meal here.

There is a knife and fork, the main course is fried pork chops, and there is unlimited bread and a bowl of soup.

"There are quite a few such stores in the concession. Many people who come to the concession to play will come here to eat Western food." Hong Yongxiang said with a smile.

Sang Jingyun also noticed that most of the guests here were dressed casually, and many of them did not know how to use knives and forks, but since everyone around him was doing the same, he did not think it was a big deal.

The three of them had a meal.

Sang Jingyun had done a lot of exercise today and was already hungry, so he ate three small loaves of bread in one go. Sang Jingying had an even more amazing appetite, eating eight fist-sized loaves of bread in one go, and his stomach was slightly bulging.

Hong Yongxiang was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and at the same time felt a little sympathy for the two children in front of him.

A few years ago, the Sang family lived a much better life than the Hong family.

A meal cost two cents, which was not expensive in the concession. Sang Jingyun knew that Hong Yongxiang was saving money for them.

After eating, the three of them were not in a hurry to leave. Sang Jingyun told Hong Yongxiang what happened in the Nancheng Bookstore this morning and said, "Mr. Hong, you are a reporter. Can you write an interview for the book Journey to the West? A comic strip written in vernacular Chinese and with punctuation should be able to occupy a place in the Shanghai Daily?"

Sang Jingyun has read the Shanghai Daily.

There are some major news at home and abroad, but most of them are various things happening in Shanghai. The opening of some new stores will also appear in the newspaper.

It might be a good idea to publish an article in the Shanghai Daily, writing about "Journey to the West".

"Indeed, it is possible." Hong Yongxiang also thought it was feasible.

Sang Jingyun immediately gave Hong Yongxiang a copy of "Journey to the West: The Birth of the Monkey King".

Hong Yongxiang flipped through it and said with a smile, "I'll go find Fei Zhongxu and interview him later."

He was originally going to Nancheng Bookstore to help Sang Jingyun and Hong Yue deliver manuscripts, and it wouldn't hurt to do an interview while he was there.

After talking, Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying said goodbye to Hong Yongxiang.

Sang Jingying had been to the concession before, but the concession was changing with each passing day, which was also extremely tempting to him.

Sang Jingyun saw that he was eager to try, so he asked him to walk around the neighborhood while he found a place to sit down and rest.

She was already a little unable to walk and really didn't want to move.

Sang Jingying didn't stroll around for too long, about an hour, then came to find Sang Jingyun, and the two returned to the county town together.

After returning to the county town, Sang Jingyun said, "Let's go buy some cooked food and send some to Grandma Alan, and then go to Hongxing Paper to deliver Hong Yue's royalties."

Hong Yue had previously painted a book, and Nancheng Bookstore gave her four yuan as a fee. Hong Yongxiang asked Sang Jingyun to pass it on on his behalf.

Sang Jingying naturally agreed, and the two went to the delicatessen first.

The ducks at this time are relatively thin and have less meat, so Sang Jingyun still prefers to buy chickens.

She bought a salted chicken and had it cut in half, and also bought three pounds of braised and fried dried tofu.

After buying it, she went to where Alan lived.

Their home is in the southern suburbs of the county, Hongxing Paper Shop is in the south of the county, but the employer where Alan works is in the north of the county, so they don't come here very often on weekdays. But because the concession is in the north of the county, it is very convenient to visit her when he comes back from the concession.

In the past, Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying would visit Alan on weekends, so today, Alan glanced at the side door from time to time, hoping that the two would come.

When the two people showed up, she was overjoyed and warmly invited them in.

Sang Jingyun gave Grandma Alan half a salted duck, talked to her for a while, and then left.

Alan said, "Miss Yun, next time you come, you don't have to buy me anything. Just being able to come and see me is enough."

Sang Jingyun agreed with a smile, but decided to buy some food next time.

She now has a source of income, so it's no big deal for her to spend a little money.

Alan watched the two of them leave as usual, then returned to his kitchen to busy himself with his own things. He was so happy that he couldn't help but sing a few lines of opera.

She has been living a very good life recently. Firstly, she is no longer worried about her old age and what will happen after her death. Secondly, since she has a "backer", people around her are much more polite to her.

Before, she was an old widow with no children. Although the servants around her did not beat or scold her, they looked down on her and sometimes gave her the work they had left unfinished to do.

After all, no one would stand up for her.

But after Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying came to see her, the situation changed and those people dared not exploit her anymore.

After leaving Alan, Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying began to walk south.

It was also a coincidence that Zhang Zhuangmao was about to take the tram and happened to see the two of them.

This time, Zhang Zhuangmao was also with his classmates, but because Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying were dressed well, he greeted them without hesitation.

But Sang Jingyun was a woman after all, so he greeted Sang Jingying: "Jingying, long time no see."

Sang Jingying didn't like the Zhang family now, but Zhang Zhuangmao had no conflicts with them, so he didn't show any displeasure and just replied calmly, "Long time no see."

"What are you doing in the county town?" Zhang Zhuangmao asked again, glancing at Sang Jingyun.

He asked Sang Jingyun to help make clothes, but Sang Jingyun hadn't finished yet, so why did he come to the county town again?
Zhang Zhuangmao was very nice, and Sang Jingying didn't want to get angry, so she said, "Come and buy something."

Zhang Zhuangmao smelled the fragrance coming from Sang Jingying's backpack and knew that they had bought cooked food. He felt a little unhappy.

The Sang family is in a bad situation and relies on his family for support. Why do they still buy cooked food?
They should be more frugal.

"Brother Zhang, if you are any later you will miss the tram." Zhang Zhuangmao's classmate walked a distance and found that Zhang Zhuangmao had not caught up, so he hurriedly called out to Zhang Zhuangmao.

Upon hearing this, Sang Jingying quickly said, "We have something else to do, so we'll leave first."

After saying that, he took Sang Jingyun away.

From beginning to end, Sang Jingyun didn't say a word, just glanced at Zhang Zhuangmao indifferently.

Zhang Zhuangmao felt a little disappointed, but he was in a hurry to study and could only walk quickly to catch up with his classmates.

Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying went to the Hongxing Paper Shop, gave Hong Yue's royalties and a copy of "Journey to the West: The Birth of the Monkey King" to Manager Hong, then went to pick up Sang Jingxiong and went home as usual.

Zhang Zhuangmao told his classmates about Sang Jingyun: "The girl before was my fiancée."

Zhang Zhuangmao's classmate didn't actually see Sang Jingyun's appearance clearly, but he still smiled and said to Zhang Zhuangmao: "That girl is a beauty. Brother Zhang is very lucky."

Zhang Zhuangmao was delighted when he heard this.

It was almost dark when they arrived at the school.

The two of them ate two bowls of noodles near the school before returning to their residence.

As soon as they arrived downstairs of the dormitory, they saw several classmates standing together reading a book.

"What are you looking at?" Zhang Zhuangmao asked curiously.

One of them said, "We are reading a comic book."

Zhang Zhuangmao was a little amused: "You are so old, and you still read comic books?"

"Brother Zhang, this is not an ordinary comic strip. It is not only written in vernacular, but also uses punctuation. The painting style is also different from ordinary comic strips. It borrows some foreign paintings."

After hearing what his classmates said, Zhang Zhuangmao also became curious about the book and went over to take a look.

Upon taking a look, he found that this comic strip was indeed different from what he had seen before.

Not to mention the words and punctuation, the person in the painting also looks much more handsome.

This is actually related to the fact that Hong Yue has never studied painting seriously and has always been painting according to illustrations.

In addition, Hong Yongxiang had given her a foreign comic book before, and Sang Jingyun talked to her about storyboards. The things she drew were different from the characters in previous comic strips.

In addition, in some previously published illustrations of "Journey to the West", Sun Wukong was very short, not even as tall as Tang Monk's waist, and his appearance was not good-looking. However, the Sun Wukong drawn by Hong Yue is of normal height and looks much more handsome.

These middle school students found the book very novel and couldn't put it down.

Zhang Zhuangmao also likes this book very much.

But when he saw the editor's name written as "Yun Jing, Jing Ying" on the cover of the book, he felt it was a little strange.

These two names are very similar to Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying.

However, although Sang Jingyun had read some books, he read very little, and Sang Jingying only attended elementary school. It was impossible for the two of them to become editors of such a comic book.

It should be a pen name given by someone, which happens to be similar to their names.

Zhang Zhuangmao didn't think that the editor of this comic strip would be his fiancée.

Fei Zhongxu didn't know that the lady who helped him promote himself today was Yun Jing.

Hong Yongxiang decided to write a report to talk about the unique comic books published by Nancheng Bookstore.

But he had work to do in the afternoon, so he didn't go to see Fei Zhongxu until the evening.

Fei Zhongxu had just got off work and when he saw Hong Yongxiang, he said he wanted to treat Hong Yongxiang to a meal.

They went into a small restaurant, and Fei Zhongxu ordered Song Sao fish, stewed pig's trotters and two vegetarian dishes, and spent another dime to buy a pound of Shaoxing Huadiao wine.

"Yongxiang, I have good news to tell you." Fei Zhongxu said with a smile.

"What's the news?" asked Hong Yongxiang.

Fei Zhongxu smiled and said, "One hundred copies of the first volume of the Journey to the West comic book were bound this morning and have all been sold out. Many people have also ordered the whole set of books." As he spoke, Fei Zhongxu told the story of what happened today, and emphasized that there was a young girl who helped with the promotion.

As soon as Hong Yongxiang heard it, he knew that person was Sang Jingyun.

He thought Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying went shopping, but he never imagined that they actually went to Nancheng Bookstore to work as "babysitters".

"That girl is really beautiful. Although she is dressed simply, her family must be rich, otherwise she wouldn't be so knowledgeable." Fei Zhongxu expressed his great liking for Sang Jingyun.

Hong Yongxiang asked: "Brother Fei, Miss Sang sent another manuscript today."

Fei Zhongxu said: "I have already guessed it, please give me the manuscript quickly."

Hong Yongxiang smiled, gave Fei Zhongxu the manuscript of "The Two-Faced Demon Lord" and the subsequent drawings of "Journey to the West", and took out the bag of roasted melon seeds and ate them with Fei Zhongxu.

Fei Zhongxu first read "The Two-Faced Demon Lord" and praised while reading: "Miss Sang has so many wonderful ideas. Not only did she come up with so many strange poisons, but she also came up with a dual cultivation method. The people she wrote about in this story are also very interesting, and the plot is closely linked without any redundancy."

Fei Zhongxu couldn't bear to look down.

"What kind of person do you think Miss Sang is?" Hong Yongxiang asked with a smile, thinking that Sang Jingyun and Fei Zhongxu had met today.

Fei Zhongxu said: "She should be a heroic little girl."

Hong Yongxiang did not tell Fei Zhongxu about Sang Jingyun's specific situation. When he mentioned Sang Jingyun, he only said that she was his niece.

And his niece Hong Yue actually met Fei Zhongxu once.

Hong Yongxiang was nice to his nephews and nieces and would occasionally take them to the concession to play. They ran into each other that time.

Hong Yue was only about ten years old at the time, chubby and childish. Fei Zhongxu thought she was cute and bought her a stick of malt candy.

Hong Yongxiang classified Sang Jingyun as his niece, but the person who drew the picture was still Hong Yue... Fei Zhongxu felt that Sang Jingyun was the same age as Hong Yue.

Still a child!

However, this kid can write a work like "The Two-Faced Demon King", so she must be a tomboy.

Fei Zhongxu's mother died early, and his father paid little attention to him after he remarried. He ran away from home at a very young age to make a living on his own, and met all kinds of people.

Once he saw a ragged child snatching the slop thrown by the restaurant. He was extremely ferocious and refused to put down the food in his hand even after being beaten with a bloody head. He thought the child was very brave, so he rescued the child and sent him to the hospital. In the end, he found out that the child was a little girl.

It’s probably the same for Miss Sang.

Hong Yongxiang smiled and said, "Ms. Sang is indeed different."

I don’t know how Fei Zhongxu will react when he finds out that Sang Jingyun is different from what he imagined.

Fei Zhongxu finally finished reading The Two-Faced Demon Lord, and then said, "The young lady today praised the comic book Journey to the West. If she read this novel, she would definitely like it even more."

There was another reason why Fei Zhongxu did not doubt Sang Jingyun's identity, and that was that Sang Jingyun praised the "Journey to the West" comic book again and again at Nancheng Bookstore today.

Most people wouldn't do something like praising their own work like this.

Hong Yongxiang suppressed his laughter and nodded, then said, "By the way, I have something else to ask you today."

Fei Zhongxu was curious: "What else?"

Hong Yongxiang said: "I want to write a report about the comic book Journey to the West and send it to the Shanghai Daily."

Fei Zhongxu's eyes lit up when he heard this.

If this happens, it will be free advertising!
There are many wealthy people in Shanghai, and all of them are willing to spend money on their children. Even ordinary families can be stingy and buy a house for their children.

This comic can also be sent to other places for sale.

By then, their bookstore will not only make money, but also become famous.

Fei Zhongxu immediately discussed the matter with Hong Yongxiang.

At the same time, Sang family.

As soon as Sang Jingyun got home today, she told her family that she had already received the royalties for writing "Journey to the West" and "The Two-Faced Demon King", which totaled one hundred silver dollars.

She also took out a hundred-dollar bill and showed it to her family.

The Sang family was very excited.

Sang Jingyun was afraid that Sang Xuewen and Sang Jingxiong would think that she made money easily, so she took the opportunity to play a pity game: "I racked my brains to come up with the plot every day. I lost a lot of hair and couldn't sleep well at night. Fortunately, I got the money!"

Sang Qian heard this and asked worriedly, and advised Sang Jingyun to write less: "Ayun, the family is not so short of money now, your health is more important."

Sang Jingyun said: "Grandma, I will definitely have a good rest after I pay off my debts."

Sang Qian's eyes turned red when she heard this, and Sang Xuewen also lowered his head and remained silent.

Sang Jingxiong said: "Sister, you haven't been writing all the time. You still go to the county town every day."

"Going out for a walk can clear my mind, and I can come up with a plot on the way there and back." Sang Jingyun said, "If you think writing a book is easy, you can go ahead and write it."

Sang Jingxiong closed his mouth and dared not speak anymore.

Seeing that Sang Jingyun and Sang Jingying were making money, he privately thought about writing a novel, but after struggling for a long time, he could only write a few hundred words and had no idea what to do.

He really couldn't write.

Sang Jingyun bought five books in total. She gave one to Hong Yongxiang, one to Hong Yue, and took the remaining three home.

She took one volume herself and gave the other two to Sang Jingying: "Aying, you can arrange these two volumes."

Sang Jingying nodded seriously, and then said, "I will take a copy to school tomorrow to show my classmates."

"Brother, I want one too!" said Sang Jingxiong.

There are very few extracurricular books for children these days. If he had a comic book like this one, everyone would envy him.

Thinking of this, Sang Jingxiong said again: "Brother, please give me a copy. I want to take it to the pastry shop tomorrow and show it to the people in the shop."

Sang Jingxiong kept pestering Sang Jingying, and Sang Jingying finally agreed: "I'm lending you this book, not giving it to you. You can't damage it. If you damage the book, you have to compensate me."

Sang Jingxiong agreed readily.

The next day was Monday.

Sang Jingyun went to the county town as usual, and then found that his novel was still not published in the "New Novel Newspaper".

However, since she had already received the royalties, she didn't care much about these things.

After arriving at the Hongxing Paper Shop, Sang Jingyun went to the money shop with Sang Qianshi.

The two men had no intention of touching the two hundred-yuan bills they had just received yesterday.

But they cashed in the remaining fifty-yuan note and exchanged it for silver dollars.

After receiving the silver dollars, Sang Jingyun said to Sang Qianshi: "Grandma, we need to eat some meat every day from now on. Jingying and I are too thin, so we need to eat something to replenish our body."

Sang Qian said, "Okay."

Sang Jingyun said again: "Grandma, yesterday's salted chicken was very delicious. Shall we buy half a chicken today?"

Sang Qian said: "The money for buying half a saltwater chicken can already buy a big rooster. If you buy a big rooster and kill it yourself, you can also get the chicken blood and chicken organs. It's still more cost-effective to buy a chicken."

Sang Jingyun had no objection to this and agreed to buy a rooster to eat.

Even if the chickens at this time are not free-range, they eat natural food and the meat is very good. She likes to eat it even if it is just cooked in plain water.

The two bought a chicken and killed it when they got home. At noon, Sang Qian chopped the chicken's innards into small pieces and fried them into a dish.

Sang Jingyun didn't like to eat these in modern times, but now, her body is clamoring for oil and water, so she eats them with great pleasure.

When Sang Jingyun was eating fried chicken offal, Sang Jingying was having dinner with his classmates.

There is no tuition fee for the enamel class, but two silver dollars are given every month, but food and accommodation are not provided.

However, the food in the school cafeteria was very cheap, so the two silver dollars were enough for the students to support themselves.

Most of the students in the enamel class come from ordinary families. When they go to the cafeteria to eat, they usually buy a copper coin worth of rice and another copper coin worth of vegetables.

Some people are short of money and only buy a copper coin worth of rice, which they eat with pickles they brought from home.

In the past, Sang Jingying always bought vegetables, but today he only bought a copper coin worth of rice.

Someone who was eating with Sang Jingying saw this and asked curiously, "Sang Jingying, you're not eating any vegetables today?"

Among all these classmates, Sang Jingying seemed to be well off, so why didn’t he eat?

Sang Jingying smiled and said, "I brought some food today."

Yesterday, Sang Jingyun bought three pounds of braised dried tofu in one go. After arriving home, they only ate one third of it, and the rest was divided into two portions by Sang Jingyun.

She asked Sang Jingying to bring one portion to school and share it with her classmates.

She asked Sang Jingxiong to take the other portion to the pastry shop and add a dish to it.

The pastry shop owner and his family are nice people, you can visit them.

Sang Jingying put the braised tofu in a small jar and brought it to school.

He took out the jar, gave a piece to each of his good classmates, poured the rest into his own bowl, and ate with them.

Dried tofu is not a rare thing, and only one piece is very little.

But the marinade used for braised tofu is really delicious!

Everyone felt their appetites whetted and they wanted to buy another penny's worth of rice.

"When I get the money at the end of the month, I will definitely go buy some braised food."

"Me too."

"Two silver dollars a month is enough to improve the food once a week."

……

In the past, they always asked their families for money, and they were very excited to think that they would get their wages at the end of the month.

At this time, Sang Jingying took out another book and said, "I went to the concession with my sister yesterday. My sister bought me a book. Do you want to read it?"

Sang Jingying's classmates naturally wanted to see it, so they took it and looked at it.

Modern students are certainly not interested in a comic book. How can a comic book be as interesting and fun as the one on a mobile phone?
But students at that time had very little entertainment, and their families were all of average means, so a comic book was enough to please them.

“This is a really nice painting.”

"Are all the books in the concession like this? The punctuation they use is a little weird."

"Sang Jingying, your sister is so nice to you!"

……

As everyone was talking, they suddenly noticed the words "Jingying" in the editor column.

They all asked, "Jingying, did you write this?"

Sang Jingying regretted not choosing a good pen name at that time.

At that time, he actually wanted to let people around him know that he had written the book and did not want to hide it.

It’s just that Fei Zhongxu lied, so it’s better for him not to publicize the fact that he is the editor.

Sang Jingying asked: "Do you think I wrote this?"

When everyone heard Sang Jingying say this, they all felt that this should not have been written by Sang Jingying.

Sang Jingying was the same as them, but she had just graduated from elementary school, so how could she edit a book?

If he really had the ability to write a book, he wouldn't be working part-time while studying.

Everyone stopped worrying about this matter and started reading the book seriously.

This comic strip is quite interesting. After reading it, they all want to read the original "Journey to the West"!

At the same time, Gao Hanlin, editor-in-chief of the Shanghai Daily editorial department, saw the interview transcript related to the "Journey to the West" comic strip sent by Hong Yongxiang, which was written after the interview with Fei Zhongxu.

This interview is mainly about promoting vernacular Chinese and punctuation.

Gao Hanlin was committed to promoting vernacular Chinese. After reading the report "Journey to the West: The Birth of the Monkey King" given to him by Hong Yongxiang, he immediately decided to publish this report in the newspaper.

At Nancheng Bookstore, after seeing Hong Yue's draft, Fei Zhongxu immediately hired a painter to continue painting the stone slab.

Hong Yue finished drawing three books in one week, which was very fast, but the pictures had some flaws.

But it doesn't matter.

If we really talk about painting skills, the master they hired to paint the stone slabs is far better than Hong Yue.

Just ask the painter to pay a little more attention when painting the stone slab and modify any imperfect parts.

(End of this chapter)