I wrote novels in the Republic of China

After lunch, Sang Jingyun sat at the door of the main hall and continued writing "The Two-Faced Demon Lord".

She worked absorbedly for an hour and wrote about a thousand words.

After finishing writing a thousand words, Sang Jingyun put down his pen and started walking in the yard, exercising his fingers.

Sang Jingli saw this, ran behind Sang Jingyun, and followed Sang Jingyun in circles.

Sang Jingyun turned to look at her, and she smiled sweetly at him.

Sang Jingli was an overly obedient child. Her family told her not to disturb Sang Jingyun when he was writing novels, so she only ran to Sang Jingyun when he got up and walked around.

Such a well-behaved and quiet little girl is always likable, and Sang Jingyun would give her a piece of candy every day.

There is no more. If children eat too much sugar, it will be bad for their teeth and bodies.

Sang Jingyun took Sang Jingli's hand and walked around the yard twice.

The little girl is very cute, but she has never raised a child, doesn’t know how to comfort a child, and doesn’t have the time to do so. She doesn’t know how to get along with this child.

Just as he was thinking this, Sang Jingyun suddenly saw the rooster feathers that had been sorted and collected by Sang Qianshi in the yard.

There was no garbage in this era. Every once in a while, someone would shout "chicken feathers for sugar" and go door to door to exchange for chicken feathers.

Sang Jingyun said to Sang Jingli, "Ali, do you want a shuttlecock?"

Sang Jingli didn't understand.

There were also shuttlecocks at that time. The original owner of Sang Jingyun's body had played with them when he was a child, but Sang Jingli had never played with them.

At first she couldn't play because her calves were too short, and later the house was a mess and no one wanted to play with her.

Sang Jingyun looked at Sang Xuewen and said, "Dad, make a shuttlecock for Ali, and then tell her about the comic book I brought back yesterday."

Sang Xuewen nodded and went to ask Sang Qianshi for copper coins.

Today's shuttlecocks are made by stacking two or three copper coins together, stuffing chicken feathers into the small hole in the middle, and then wrapping the copper coins with cloth.

She didn't have time to do it, but Sang Xuewen did.

Originally, Sang Xuewen was very good at playing shuttlecock.

After asking Sang Xuewen to make the shuttlecock, Sang Jingyun went to find Lu Ying again: "Mom, take Ali out more often in the future. She stays at home all day and has no one to play with. It's boring."
Sang Jingyun always felt that it was not good for Sang Jingli to stay at home all day. She had no playmates at home, and Sang Xuewen would have attacks from time to time, which was not conducive to the child's growth.
But Sang Jingli was too young, and she couldn’t take Sang Jingli with her as she had to travel so long to the county town every day.

Sang Qian had to look after Sang Xuewen, so it was impossible for her to take Sang Jingli out.

The only one I can count on is Lu Ying.

Lu Ying was puzzled: "Isn't it always like this?"

Sang Jingyun was slightly stunned and his eyes fell on Lu Ying's feet.

The Lu family has very strict education. Lu Ying has had her feet bound since she was a child, so she probably had little chance to go out.

It was not until after her marriage that she had the opportunity to go out with Sang Xuewen.

Perhaps because she was locked up at home since she was a child, Lu Ying is a very quiet person and has little sense of presence at home, just like Sang Jingli.

Sang Jingyun said, "Mom, I read in a book that children need to move around more to stay healthy. Look, my two younger brothers are always running outside, so they are healthy, right? Ali and I don't run much, so our health is not that good."

Sang Jingli is just like the original owner of this body, with average health and getting sick from time to time.

Lu Ying said: "Then I'll take her for a walk in the yard."

"Mom, why don't you take her out to make some friends?" Sang Jingyun said.

There are some farmers living near their home, and Sang Jingli can play with their children.

Lu Ying did not agree, her face full of hesitation.

Sang Jingyun knew that Lu Ying seldom went out, which was obviously because she was timid.

"Mom, ask Dad to make a few more shuttlecocks, and you can take Ali out to play shuttlecock. If there are children who come to play with Ali, you can give them some sunflower seeds and peanuts."

It is indeed difficult to ask Lu Ying to take Sang Jingli to find others to play with, but they can wait for those children to come to Sang Jingli to play on their own.

As long as Sang Jingli can have some fun toys, that's enough.

With Lu Ying watching, those children would not bully Sang Jingli.

Lu Ying agreed.

Sang Jingyun still had a book to write, so he quickly returned to his seat and continued writing.

Sang Xuewen used to be a playboy who was addicted to fun and could make his own toys. Making shuttlecocks was not difficult for him. He spent an afternoon making two shuttlecocks, and Lu Ying even decorated them with scraps of cloth.

Sang Jingyun tried to kick it, but he could only kick one or two, and he was unwilling to kick it anymore.

She was not interested in such boring sports.

Sang Jingli was different. Perhaps she had too few things to play with, so she was particularly fond of these two shuttlecocks.

Realizing that Sang Jingli lacked toys, Sang Jingyun went to the county town the next day and bought a small bamboo chair, some bamboo whistles, and a bamboo dragonfly for Sang Jingli in a shop selling bamboo products.

When Sang Qian saw Sang Jingyun spending money, she said nothing.

The first three children in the family had no shortage of toys. When they were young, the servants took them to play with them.

Sang Jingli hasn't even gone out of the yard a few times in the past six months, which is really pitiful.

After shopping, Sang Jingyun went to Hongxing Paper Store as usual.

Boss Hong was very happy when he saw Sang Jingyun: "Ayun, come and read the newspaper!"

Sang Jingyun was somewhat happy when he heard this: "Grandpa Hong, has my book been published?"

Shopkeeper Hong said, "No, there is still no "Two-Faced Demon Lord" in the New Novel Newspaper. It was the Shanghai Daily that wrote about the comic book "Journey to the West" published by Nancheng Bookstore."

That's it!

Sang Jingyun came to Manager Hong to read the newspaper, and sure enough, he saw the relevant report in the Shanghai Daily.

No matter what, this is a good thing. Sang Jingyun was in a very good mood: "Grandpa Hong, I need to show this newspaper to A Yue and then keep it."

"Of course," Shopkeeper Hong said with a smile, "The comic strips you made are very good, I like them too. If you have a new book coming out, you must buy it for me."

"Okay." Sang Jingyun agreed immediately.

Sang Jingyun was very happy to see this report, but some people were not so happy after seeing it.

Huang Peicheng, editor-in-chief of the New Novel Newspaper, came to the editorial office early this morning.

He was all smiles and in a very good mood.

Just yesterday, he received the manuscript from Yun Jing. Now he has more than 70,000 words of the manuscript of "The Two-Faced Demon Lord" in his hand, and he can start serializing it.

Most importantly, he had someone make lead type with punctuation marks, and it is now ready.

This novel will appear in tomorrow's "New Novel Newspaper"!
Huang Peicheng does not intend to use punctuation for other novels serialized in "New Novel Newspaper". After all, some people may not be used to it.

He didn't even plan to replace the novel he was serializing with "The Two-Faced Demon".

Nowadays, many newspapers only have one sheet of paper, but the New Novel Newspaper, which publishes novels, requires more space, so it has always had three sheets of paper and sold for three copper coins per copy.

Starting from tomorrow, Huang Peicheng plans to increase the number of pages of "New Novel Newspaper" to four, one of which will be specifically used to publish "The Two-Faced Demon Lord".

Increasing the space will increase the cost of the newspaper, but it will also allow for more advertisements and will not result in a loss of money.

"The Two-Faced Demon" is a very good novel. In addition, he knows how to use punctuation when publishing this novel. Their "New Novel Newspaper" will definitely become famous.

Huang Peicheng has always been ambitious. He wants to publish the best-selling novel newspaper in Shanghai!
"Our newspaper uses punctuation when others don't. Although this may cause controversy, it is also a huge selling point! People always say that our newspaper is not presentable, but we are actually at the forefront of the times!" Huang Peicheng spoke to his editors in a good mood.

His editors all agreed: "We are also supporting cultural reform!"

"We are the only newspaper with punctuation, so it will definitely attract attention."

“Although I may be scolded by some people, controversy brings popularity!”

……

Huang Peicheng also felt that controversy brings popularity. Previously, Gao Hanlin of the Shanghai Daily criticized a novel serialized in their newspaper, saying that the novel taught people how to go to brothels. After that, the sales of their newspaper increased a lot.

If someone scolds you now, it may not be a bad thing.

The most important thing is that his newspaper used punctuation when publishing vernacular novels, which put him ahead of the Shanghai Daily and allowed him to surpass Gao Hanlin.

After he finished speaking, Huang Peicheng heard a newsboy selling newspapers outside and immediately called him in.

Baotong was not very old, only about ten years old.

The newsboy was very thin and obviously had not had a good life, but his hands, face and patched clothes were all clean.

Cleanliness is a basic requirement for newsboys - newspapers are not cheap and only rich people buy them. Those rich people will not buy a newspaper from a dirty child.

The child was holding some newspapers in his hands, and there were many other newspapers in the cloth bag in front of him.

Huang Peicheng took out a few copper coins and gave them to him: "I want to buy a copy of Shenbao and a copy of Xinwenbao. Please show me your other newspapers. If there are any I want, I will buy them too."

The newsboy responded promptly and took out various newspapers for Huang Peicheng to read.

Huang Peicheng was not interested in other newspapers and picked out the Shanghai Daily to read.

He was not willing to spend money to buy the Shanghai Daily, as he would not do anything to aid the enemy.

But knowing yourself and your enemy will ensure victory in every battle, so he must read the Shanghai Daily.

"The news in this newspaper is either already known to everyone or is outdated. The rest are just trivial matters. There is really nothing interesting to read..." Huang Peicheng was disliking the Shanghai Daily when he suddenly froze.

There was a report in this newspaper saying that Nancheng Bookstore had published a cartoon with punctuation and called on everyone to use punctuation.

When Huang Peicheng saw the report, he almost vomited blood.

The Shanghai Daily had just called on everyone to use punctuation, and he used punctuation when publishing his novel, as if he was following the Shanghai Daily's instructions!
"How can this be possible!" Huang Peicheng said angrily.

If the Shanghai Daily report was published one day later, Gao Hanlin would be the one who would be embarrassed. Why is Gao Hanlin so lucky?
Seeing Huang Peicheng's strange expression, other editors of New Novel came over to read the newspaper.

After seeing the report in Shanghai Daily, they were also a little depressed.

They were preparing to make a splash, but their mortal enemy called out first...

"Sir, would you like to buy this newspaper?" asked the newsboy.

"This newspaper is not good to read. I won't buy it. I'll buy another copy of the Current Affairs Daily." Huang Peicheng took out money to buy another copy of the Current Affairs Daily. He gritted his teeth and read the report in the Shanghai Daily again. At the same time, he cursed Gao Hanlin in his heart.

After the newsboy left, the editors asked Huang Peicheng, "Should we print The Two-Faced Demon King as planned?"

Huang Peicheng said: "Yes!"

Having made so many preparations, how could he not print it?

What's more, he will be able to publish "The Two-Faced Demon Lord" tomorrow, which means he has already prepared it.

In short, the punctuation used by their New Novel Newspaper has nothing to do with the Shanghai Daily.

When Huang Peicheng was reading the Shanghai Daily, many people in Shanghai were also reading the Shanghai Daily.

In a beautiful and spacious villa in the French Concession, Tan Zhenghong was having breakfast.

He was eating beef rice noodles, which were not sold in Shanghai and were made specially for him by the chef he brought with him.

While eating breakfast, Tan Zhenghong read the newspaper.

After his father came to Shanghai, he subscribed to all the best-selling newspapers, and someone would deliver the newspapers to him every day.

The words on the newspaper were so densely packed that Tan Zhenghong felt dizzy. He picked out newspapers with neat layouts, read some current affairs, and then took out the Shanghai Daily to read.

Tan Zhenghong’s Chinese is not very good.

His father, Tan Dasheng, was a laborer who had to go to Southeast Asia to make a living because he could not make ends meet in his early years.

Because of his hard work, Tan Dasheng was noticed by his grandfather who had arrived in Southeast Asia earlier and opened a shop, and he married his mother.

Afterwards, Tan Dasheng borrowed money from his grandfather to start his business. Thanks to his good luck, his business grew bigger and bigger in twenty years.

Today, the Tan family owns several rubber plantations and mines in Southeast Asia, and is one of the richest people in Southeast Asia.

Tan Dasheng was determined to return to serve his motherland. In the late Qing Dynasty, he contacted certain officials and planned to return to China to invest and open a factory. Later, the situation changed and his trip was delayed. He only returned to China this year and was invited to Shanghai.

Influenced by his parents, Tan Zhenghong was also determined to return to China, and for this reason he even tore up the admission letter from Edward Medical College.

Seeing his firm attitude, Tan Dasheng brought him back to China.

Now that Tan Dasheng has a factory in Shanghai, he lives in the concession.

Tan Zhenghong was extremely uncomfortable with life in the concession.

He can speak Malay, English, Hokkien, and a little Teochew, but not Wu.

His Chinese is also very poor.
He knew the characters and had no problem reading some vernacular Chinese, but he could not understand much of the classical Chinese.
His handwriting is crooked and ugly.

This cannot be blamed on him, as he had been studying in a school run by the British since he was young, and all his teachers spoke English.

The seventeen-year-old speaks English without an accent, but his Chinese is only at the level of a senior elementary school student in Shanghai.

Because of this, after arriving in Shanghai, Tan Zhenghong made several jokes.

Nowadays, Tan Dasheng has invited a famous teacher to teach Tan Zhenghong Chinese, but this is not something that can be improved in a short period of time, and he doesn't like reading newspapers.

Tan Zhenghong likes to read Shanghai Daily because its news is written in very vernacular Chinese.

In addition, this newspaper contained a lot of local Shanghai news, and even published news such as a young man threatening to commit suicide because he was cheated on. Being a young man, Tan Zhenghong was very willing to take a look.

Today, he was still searching for interesting news in the Shanghai Daily.

At this time, he saw a report saying that Nancheng Bookstore had published a comic book version of "Journey to the West" with punctuation.

Tan Zhenghong was very interested in this. It happened that his Chinese teacher was busy and couldn't come to school today, so he decided to go out to Nancheng Bookstore to take a look at the comic book.

Tan Zhenghong tugged at his robe, rode his bicycle out, asked questions along the way, and soon arrived at Nancheng Bookstore.

There isn't much people can do at this moment.

Therefore, after seeing the report in Shanghai Daily, many people came to Nancheng Bookstore to buy the Journey to the West comic book.

Seeing so many people, Tan Zhenghong became more and more interested in the comic book, but the bookstore was crowded at that time, and he vaguely heard someone say that the comics were sold out.

Just then, he saw someone with a happy look on his face holding a comic book. Tan Zhenghong stopped the person and offered to buy the comic book from him for two silver coins.

The man sold the comic book to Tan Zhenghong without hesitation.

Tan Zhenghong stood where he was and started flipping through the pages.

He had never read Journey to the West, but had only heard of it. When he opened the comic book, he found it very interesting.

This stone monkey is quite interesting!
Tan Zhenghong reads slowly, but after a while, he finishes the comic book.

It happened that people in the bookstore were leaving because the books were sold out, so he squeezed in and said, "I want to buy the rest of the book!"

When Fei Zhongxu heard the voice, he looked over and saw a handsome young man who was half a head taller than him.

The young man was wearing the same silk robe as him, but his robe was an old garment given to him by a relative, while the young man was wearing a new garment that fitted his skin.

In addition, the other person's pants were made of silk and his shoes were made of satin, which showed at a glance that he was from a wealthy family.

"Only one volume of this book has been published so far," said Fei Zhongxu.

Tan Zhenghong looked disappointed.

Fei Zhongxu immediately said, "If you need it, you can pay to order the subsequent comic books. If you are willing to pay for the errands, Nancheng Bookstore can also deliver it to your door."

Seeing that Tan Zhenghong didn't quite understand, Fei Zhongxu even gestured and showed him a few words.

Tan Zhenghong immediately took out two silver dollars as a deposit and asked Nancheng Bookstore to deliver five copies of each new book to his home as soon as it came out.

Tan Zhenghong's parents' Mandarin was not good either. Tan Dasheng was born into a laboring family, and although he later studied hard, his Mandarin level was similar to Tan Zhenghong's. His mother did not even recognize many words.

He thinks this book can also be read by parents.

He has some friends who will probably like this book too.

After placing the order, Tan Zhenghong rode his bike home and sighed in boredom.

There are many things to do in the concession. For example, last year, a New World Amusement Park opened.

There are more than ten theaters inside, performing operas, folk arts, dramas, singing and dancing, magic, etc., and also showing movies.

But he couldn't understand opera, nor could he understand Wu dialect in plays. He had no interest in singing and dancing, and the only things he could watch were magic tricks and movies.

But there are only so many magic tricks, and there are only a few movies in total, and he has seen them all and more than once.

When he was in Southeast Asia, he studied from morning till night every day and had no free time. He thought that he would live a similar life after coming to Shanghai.

After all, his father had already arranged for him to study at Fudan Public School.

However, he was not good at Chinese. The teachers either taught in Wu dialect or in Beijing dialect, and he encountered the big problem of not being able to understand. He could only find a teacher to learn Chinese first and change the enrollment date to next year.

Tan Zhenghong wanted to find something to do and make some friends, but because someone had taken him to a smoking cesspool before, his father didn't dare let him go out to socialize.

Opium was also rampant in Southeast Asia, and there was a special opium tax, which was an important source of income for the colonists.

But people with insight know that this is a disaster. Tan Dasheng hates it deeply and is afraid that Tan Zhenghong will be led astray.

On the way back, Tan Zhenghong saw two foreign patrolmen beating a middle-aged man in tattered clothes who was carrying two baskets of sweet potatoes with sticks.

The middle-aged man didn't know why he was being beaten. He held his head and begged for mercy, but this made the policeman even angrier.

He immediately stepped forward and started talking to the foreign patrolman. Only then did he learn that the middle-aged man had lost his way and walked into the wealthy area, and was driven away. However, he just squatted there and begged for mercy, and refused to leave, so he was beaten.

This person is really wronged!

Tan Zhenghong took out two silver dollars and gave one to each of the two patrolmen, finally getting the two patrolmen to become assistants.

He then pulled the middle-aged man, who looked terrified and at a loss, away from the area.

Finally, he spent two silver dollars, three silver dimes and more than twenty copper coins to buy two large baskets of sweet potatoes picked by the middle-aged man, including the baskets and vegetables, and took them home on his bicycle.

The middle-aged man only wanted a silver dollar, but when he saw the man was covered in injuries, he took out all the remaining money he had, jumped on his bicycle, and pedaled hard.

The two baskets of sweet potatoes weighed more than 100 pounds in total. They were tied on both sides of the back seat, making it much more difficult to ride the bicycle. Moreover, he was trying his best to ride it at first.

Seventeen-year-old Tan Zhenghong had not yet regained his strength and was exhausted by the time he got home.

He asked the servants to clean up the sweet potatoes, and then he lay down on the sofa and didn't move.

After lying down for a while, he asked someone to bring him the new novel newspaper. He read it slowly, and circled the parts he didn't understand with a pencil.

This is what his Chinese teacher asked him to do, and he will explain it to him during class.

"New Novel Newspaper" was quite interesting, but Tan Zhenghong still felt sleepy while reading it.

He always thought he loved reading novels. Once, someone gave him an English version of "The Count of Monte Cristo", and he was so fascinated by it that he didn't sleep all night.

But he really couldn't read these novels.

Sang Jingyun was not clear about the various situations in the concession.

She returned home, gave the toys she bought to Sang Jingli, and then started writing her novel as usual.

She has some savings now, but it is still too little.

She had a lot of things to spend money on, and she also wanted her own house located in a relatively safe concession.

Work hard to make money!
(End of this chapter)