The gap between the two magazines became apparent on the first day of sales. People kept calling “Huayou” to request restocking, while “International Pictorial” gradually showed signs of decline and was basically unsellable by the afternoon.
“It’s old readers who are still buying it. As for new readers, they just take a look and find they’re not interested, so they put it down and leave.”
The newsstand owner said to An Yinong and greeted him: “You don’t like this one, would you like to look at something else? Our best-selling book today is “Huayou”. I don’t know why, but there are so many people asking about it today. I have already restocked it twice.”
This was the power of making a splash in the newspaper and going viral. Both “Huayou” and “International Pictorial” had entered the public eye, but whether they could keep this surprise depended on whether the magazines could retain people.
An Yinong picked up two books at random and checked out.
The boss looked at him while changing the money: “Why do you look familiar to me?”
“A common face.”
He picked up the two magazines and left. It took the newsstand owner a long time to remember: “Hey, wasn’t he on the cover of a travel magazine?”
In the evening, Xie Jiu, who always liked to work overtime, got off work on time. The housekeeper said that Mr. He from next door had delivered half a roast goose.
“He went out today?” Xie Jiu was considering whether he should buy the roast goose shop or hire the boss.
“I saw his car drive out this morning,” said the housekeeper.
“Really?” Xie Jiu took off his coat and walked upstairs. The parrot ‘Xiexie’ was standing there bored and looking at the world outside the window.
“Do you miss him too?”
He thought for a moment, picked up the black gold-rimmed fountain pen on the table, and took out a small piece of paper for communication.
“I received a gift from Xiao H. Is this your favorite Luo Ji Roast Goose? -X”
An Yinong, who was drawing comics, was a little surprised by the arrival of “Xiexie”. He took out a plate of nuts and fed the bird while looking at the small note and smiling. Now he had a full clay pot to put these little notes in. After confirming that Xie Jiu was the master, all the little notes had special meanings.
“I want to share everything I like with you. Do you like it? – H”
Looking at the letter sent back by “Xiexie”, Xie Jiu’s heart was pounding. Are young people nowadays so direct and enthusiastic in their speech?
Xie Jiu knew that the child had no other intentions and just wanted to share happiness with his good friends, but he really couldn’t help but think too much.
“I like it. I like it very much.”
The next morning, the sales figures of comic magazines for the previous day were released, and the sales of “Huayou” were twice that of “International Pictorial”.
“So, Gu Pan is sure to win?”
“No,” people who know Paul Lee shook their heads. “This man won’t give up so easily. He’s not an upright person. Maybe he’ll use some other tricks.”
What these people guessed was correct. On the second and third days, many overseas orders suddenly came in for hundreds or thousands of copies of Paul Lee’s magazines. It turned out that Paul Lee found himself at a disadvantage and immediately mobilized his overseas connections.
He vaguely characterized the incident as “the traditional and conservative Chinese are unwilling to accept the new world and new ideas, and are still dreaming of becoming a superior country. Now they are banding together to bully him, a Chinese who has returned from overseas.”
Overseas Chinese and American people were encouraged and spent money to support the event.
“Arghh!”
“It can’t be said that he is despicable. He has indeed made a name for himself overseas, so he has a certain readership base outside. These readers were also readers. In addition, International Pictorial already had an overseas English edition, and there were also some loyal readers of the magazine. Now that these people have been mobilized, it can’t be said that he is wrong.”
“It seems that Gu Pan is in danger. Huayou magazine cannot provide any help, and he himself is a newcomer.”
People in the industry began to be pessimistic about Gu Pan and “Hua You” again, but after a day, the wind turned again. “Hua You” also received many overseas orders. Moreover, this small comic magazine publisher actually produced an overseas English version without knowing when.
“When did this happen? No, why do people overseas know about this magazine and even order it?” Everyone was puzzled and felt that this battle was beyond their understanding and they couldn’t understand it.
Fortunately, there was a reporter who had been following the case. This person quickly figured out the whole story and published his findings in the newspaper. Others only then realized that just as Paul Lee was mobilizing readers overseas, the English version of “The Imperial Spirit Girl” appeared overseas.
At the same time when Paul Lee was complaining, advertisements were being published in well-known overseas newspapers and on television, saying that this was a new comic book that almost drove Paul Lee out of Hong Kong City and left him with no dignity to complain to others.
Because the protagonist was a woman, she was brutally oppressed by the male chauvinist Paul Lee. But the readers in Hong Kong have proved that they don’t care whether the protagonist is a man or a woman, they only care whether the work was good or not.
However, Paul Lee was not willing to give up and continued to spread rumors and cause trouble. Now, this new cartoonist has challenged the conservative male chauvinist Paul Lee, and the loser will receive the most severe punishment.
My goodness, Paul Lee said Gu Pan was a racist, and Gu Pan said he was sexist in return. This wave was a battle between magic weapons and magic weapons, and it ended in a draw.
This promotion attracted a wave of curious foreigners, who bought “Imperial Spirit Girl (I)”.
The style of “Imperial Spirit Girl” was light-hearted and passionate, and it was easy to understand in a different language environment. So these curious people really started reading it, and they enjoyed it very much, until the end, at the critical moment, when it came to an abrupt end.
“What’s next? What about the follow-up?” Overseas readers expressed the same painful cry as domestic readers.
Therefore, in order to continue reading the sequel, these people placed orders for the overseas edition of “Hua You” according to the address on the comic book. Some bookstores saw the business opportunity and directly ordered hundreds of copies. This was the truth behind why “Huayou” suddenly received so many overseas orders.
“Hong Kong comics don’t adapt to the local environment once they leave Hong Kong? People from overseas won’t even look at them? If you don’t have the ability, don’t blame the society. You and I are different.”
Gu Pan’s words appeared in the newspaper, and he was so angry that Paul Lee almost died.
“It is said that newspapers in more than a dozen overseas states have placed advertisements. It is a big deal and must have cost a lot of money.”
“But it’s effective. If spending this much money can achieve the same effect, I think many magazine publishers will not be stingy with this little money.”
“That’s right. Gu Pan and “The Imperial Spirit Girl” have also gone abroad. Is he the first of the new generation of cartoonists?”
“Have you forgotten ‘Yinong’? It’s hard to say who is the first one.”
“Yinong’s painting style is too classical, so he is only suitable for martial arts themes. Gu Pan is a man after all, so he can only paint adventurous female themes. They each have their limitations.”
Cartoonists were buzzing with discussion. The comic magazine targeted the top management of Huayou.
“The new president of ‘Huayou’ had expected that Paul Lee and his team would use foreign resources, right? He even took the opportunity to promote himself by stepping on Paul Lee and ‘International Pictorial’, and even launched an overseas edition of ‘Huayou’. He really planned for everything.”
Cartoonists are just chess pieces, and the real winner was the chess player hidden behind the chess pieces, that is, the new president of “Huayou”!
New President of Huayou: …You may not believe it, but it was arranged by my sixteen-year-old boss. He invested the money, made the plan, and I just executed it.
The editor-in-chief of “International Pictorial” said: Haha, I don’t believe it.
“He actually sucked our blood?”
The president of International Pictorial was so angry that he had spent so many years to open up the overseas market and let Hong Kong comics enter the overseas comics circle. Unexpectedly, this fledgling “Huayou” actually stepped on them and went abroad?
The editor-in-chief of International Pictorial, who had just been held accountable by the board of directors, was so angry at the thought that he could not eat. He had lost all his hard-earned reputation as well as both face and dignity.
There were only two days left in the gambling competition, and the sales volume of Paul Lee and Gu Pan’s magazines were still far apart. Even if a peerless expert came, there was no way to reverse the result, unless they falsified the data. But with so many people watching, it was difficult to change the numbers.
If they thought about it carefully, the situation was hopeless.
Because of its overseas edition, International Pictorial had always considered itself an international comics magazine with a high profile. Could it be that today it will be overtaken by a nearly bankrupt magazine?
The president looked at the data and felt a burning pain in his heart. Sure enough, there were no more accidents after that.
When the results of the competition came out, Paul Lee lost face and although he was not asked to quit the Hong Kong comics circle, he probably couldn’t continue to work there after seeing the article in the newspaper.
Everyone who paid attention to this incident was waiting with a smile for Paul Lee to call him daddy, but no one expected that Paul Lee would be so unable to accept defeat that he flew abroad that same day, leaving International Pictorial to face the criticism of the public.
This incident shocked everyone, and An Yinong’s class was also discussing it. Those who read comics and those who didn’t are all talking about this gambling incident and Paul Lee’s escape.
Zhao Gang, who once liked Paul Lee very much, was so angry that he turned from a fan to a hater. He felt that Paul Lee was a complete coward who couldn’t afford to lose. As a fan of Paul Lee’s books, he was even angrier than the fans of “Gu Pan”.
“I called on many people to support Paul Lee. Even though he lost, he should have lost with dignity as a real man. How could this bastard escape? He has brought shame to us, the fans of his book.”
“That’s right. Gu Pan was finally about to reap the fruits of victory, but this bastard actually escaped?”
Zhang Wei was the most indignant. They really didn’t know when he turned to “The Imperial Spirit Girl”. Didn’t he say before that only “The Legend of the Desert Heroes” was his true love?
“I think ‘Yinong’ and ‘Gu Pan’ may be good friends, so I will definitely support ‘Yinong”s friends.” Zhang Wei said.
“Isn’t it because ‘The Imperial Spirit Girl’ is also very good?”
Zhang Wei blushed: “Yes, this is also part of the reason.”
“So which one do you think is better, Yinong or Gu Pan?” One classmate asked a malicious question. “Many newspapers are discussing who is the dark horse this year and who has the greatest potential.”
“There’s this in the newspaper? Are you lying to me?” Zhang Wei was suspicious. He didn’t want to answer this kind of question.
“Why would I lie to you? Some people even started a bet to see who will be the first in the annual selection.”
A few students were curious and gathered around to discuss: “I think Gu Pan is very capable. He can drive Paul Lee back to America.”
“But Yinong’s comics were published a few months earlier, so it’s hard to say for sure.”
Some students supported Yinong and some supported Gu Pan, and they almost had a quarrel. The aftermath of this gambling incident did not subside with Paul Lee’s departure, but instead became known to more people because of his departure.
Paul Lee’s escape was dubbed “The defeat in Hong Kong” by local media, and “Gu Pan” became famous because of it. Although he was only a newbie cartoonist, his reputation was greater than those cartoonists who had been drawing for several years.
The martial arts circle that was previously criticized by Paul Lee was now proud. Although “The Imperial Spirit Girl” was not about martial arts, as the heir to a martial arts hall, the protagonist Su Xue had been practicing martial arts since childhood, and the fighting scenes in “The Imperial Spirit Girl” also showed that Gu Pan had an in-depth understanding of Chinese martial arts.
Such a comic book with a strong “martial arts color” could be exported and accepted by foreign readers. It can be seen that martial arts comics have great potential.
In fact, people in the Hong Kong comics circle were still very happy that local cartoonists are exploring the overseas market, which would be of great benefit to them in the future to develop overseas readers along this path. Therefore, when talking about “Gu Pan” and “Hua You” now, everyone only praised them, but as for “International Pictorial”…
“Damn Paul Lee, he was the one who agreed to the gambling, and now the matter falls on me?” The president of International Pictorial was furious in the office.
One of the two gamblers ran away, while the other generously decided not to pursue the matter. However, the onlookers became relentless and, unable to find Paul Lee, they went to him, the editor-in-chief of International Pictorial, and demanded an explanation.
This was just a mess, what did it have to do with him? And they still wanted an explanation? And that damn president of “Hua You” was fanning the flames. He was the one who benefited the most from this incident!
“Could it be that Gu Pan’s challenge to Paul Lee was also planned by him? He is really cunning and sly.”
The cunning president of “Huayou” sneezed. He was looking at the newly released overseas edition of “Desert Heroes: Devil City” in the printing factory.
If they wanted to promote classic comics, they have to find good translators, so he hired several translators at high salaries to translate and proofread together. The president read it and found that 80% of the original flavor was retained, which was very good. Because some things were really difficult to translate.
“Once this matter is over, the results will be sent overseas and this book will be released.”
In fact, the president himself was secretly muttering that other people’s sixteen-year-olds and his own sixteen-year-old were not in the same age group at all.
He was still in school at the age of sixteen, worrying about his studies and why the girl in the next class was so rude to him. But the young boss, at the age of sixteen, already knew how to turn danger into opportunity and promote the comic magazine publishing house to the international market.
There was only one thing he didn’t quite understand, which was why the small boss paid the author such a high salary. Not only did he give the domestic copyright, but the copyright of the translated version hired by the publishing house still belonged to the original author, and the profits were also paid according to the previous ratio.
“Maybe it’s to retain excellent authors? After all, for publishing houses, these cartoonists are the most important resources,” he thought.
“Magazine serialization, single volume, overseas publication.” An Yinong made a check mark on overseas publication, and the next step was animation and film and television adaptation.
“Things went so smoothly thanks to Mr. Paul Lee’s generosity.”
Smile.jpg.
WhiteMoon x BlackSun 