[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-rising-in-1979":3,"chapter-rising-in-1979-rising-in-1979-chapter-170":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Rising in 1979",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2260878,4412,"Chapter 170: Ten-Thousand-Yuan Household and Young Readers (Guaranteed Second Update)","rising-in-1979-chapter-170",170,"\u003Cp>Wei Ming assured himself he hadn’t meant to bother the little girl—he was just curious what she was reading so intently, not even noticing a handsome big brother sitting nearby.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So after eating, Wei Ming walked around behind Jiang Shan and glanced at her book, then saw the illustration of “One-Ear,” whose ear had just been cut off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The first story of “Black Cat Inspector” mainly tells of the inspector battling the warehouse rat; Black Cat Inspector Mimi met his archenemy “One-Ear” right then.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Is this story good?” Wei Ming wondered how his young reader felt about it, especially a female one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Shan was deeply absorbed when suddenly someone asked her from behind; she turned and saw a handsome guy, froze for two seconds, then nodded.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s really interesting!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How so?” Wei Ming sat beside her and asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Shan: “It feels super sci-fi, and the Black Cat Inspector is drawn beautifully—big eyes, full of energy. There’s a cat just like him in our courtyard—he’s amazing at catching mice!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The little girl mentioned “sci-fi,” which was precisely what Wei Ming had intended—he’d woven in many “prophecy-style” sci-fi concepts, like smartphones, electric cars, and AI intelligence.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even though it was for children, Wei Ming hoped to convey deeper meaning, sowing seeds of science within the story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Beyond these futuristic sci-fi ideas, Wei Ming would later introduce obscure biological facts in subsequent chapters; to prepare, he bought a full set of the “One Hundred Thousand Whys” series and built up solid knowledge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing Jiang Shan’s answer, Wei Ming left satisfied—he figured this novel was already a hit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As soon as he left, Cai Ming hurried over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Little Jiang Shan, who was that guy?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I don’t know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you don’t know him, why were you chatting so happily?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jiang Shan: “He came up to talk to me—I couldn’t just stare at him with a frown, could I?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Cai Ming had no reply; it made sense, but who was that guy? His appearance—he must be an actor too?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming watched more documentaries for a long time and took extensive notes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Until Beiyingchang’s workday ended, Director Wang Yang came over personally.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He told Wei Ming: “We’ve read the script—it’s witty and serious, packed with action scenes. Beiyingchang really can’t handle it alone; a co-production is the best choice. I’ll contact Ms. Xia Meng directly and recommend hiring a Hong Kong director and action team.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming: “Would you be willing to hear one more suggestion?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Don’t drag it out, kid.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming: “For the main actors—especially those with fight scenes—hire athletes from the martial arts team. It’ll save tons of time in both prep and filming.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Director Wang thought for a moment: “It’ll save time on action scenes, but what if the dramatic scenes drag everything back?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Still better than actors getting injured during filming—if a lead actor gets hurt, delays multiply. Using professional athletes minimizes injuries as much as possible.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The same logic applies to hiring a Hong Kong team—they’ve been doing this for decades and know how to make action look spectacular while minimizing harm to actors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yang nodded: “We can discuss this with our partners later.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now Wei Ming had to raise another critical issue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What about the royalty fee…” In the past, with a few thousand yuan in hand, Wei Ming hadn’t rushed for cash—but now he needed to buy a house.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wang Yang laughed: “The payment slip’s already approved—go to finance and collect your fee. If you wait too long, they’ll close.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming stood up and hurried off.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The slip listed 1,600 yuan—Beiyingchang was deliberately matching Shangyingchang, determined to outdo them.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After this money arrived, Wei Ming’s cash flow broke ten thousand yuan for the first time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After returning to 1979 for over half a year, he’d finally become a ten-thousand-yuan household through hard writing!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meiyingchang still owed him money for a feature-length script.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But it was still far from enough to buy a house—he still had to work hard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Oh, and there was “Er Niu” too! First, get that screenwriting fee.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back at school, Wei Ming saw Pu Shu again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was holding “Children’s Literature.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming knew he’d come for him: “Shu, what do you need?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Pu Shu asked shyly: “Big Brother Wei, have you already written the next episode of ‘Black Cat Inspector’?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not yet. Wait two more months. Didn’t Auntie Xiaoyan give you a copy of ‘The Book of Heavenly Secrets’? Reread it.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing he’d have to wait two months, Pu Shu was miserable—he’d been left with a cliffhanger: the rat “One-Ear,” smarter than ordinary mice, still hadn’t been caught. Many other kids felt the same, like Pan Ying, a year younger than Pu Shu, a native of Xicheng’s Dazhalan hutong, whose father was a policeman and had sent him to drawing lessons since childhood.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He loved “Children’s Literature” too, though he didn’t know many characters yet—he copied the illustrations. “The Book of Heavenly Secrets” had been his favorite; now he preferred “Black Cat Inspector,” finding the inspector cuter than Dan Sheng.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He’d already mastered drawing the inspector and had heard the story twice from his parents—he desperately wanted to see the next episode.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because the Black Cat Inspector had made a promise with kids like him: “See you next issue.” That was the final illustration of the story.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because “See you next issue” carried special meaning, the editorial team placed “Black Cat Inspector” at the very end of the magazine as the climax—turning to the last page revealed the inspector’s “See you next issue,” designed to lure young readers into renewing their subscriptions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This issue of “Children’s Literature,” since “The Book of Heavenly Secrets” had ended, was conservative—first print run was only 400,000 copies—but the trend suggested another print run was coming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Now, children across the country who received “Children’s Literature” had begun writing letters to “Brother Wei,” their enthusiasm surpassing even that for “The Book of Heavenly Secrets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In Dongfang County, Hainan—which still belonged to Guangdong at the time.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A little boy named Hua Teng was preparing to write a letter to Wei Ming after reading “Black Cat Inspector.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though only a primary school student, he’d loved astronomy since childhood and was fascinated by new things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Today, he accidentally saw a copy of \"Children’s Literature\" from a classmate—the story \"The Black Cat Inspector\" opened his eyes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the story, the inspector used only a device called a “mobile phone” to both communicate and watch TV.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Their cars were all electric—plug them in for a while and they’d be fully charged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The police station had a “Smart Brain” that knew all knowledge in the world and helped the inspector solve cases.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The story gave little Hua Teng’s imagination wings—he urgently wanted to share his thoughts with Brother Wei, so he acted immediately.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Back at school, Wei Ming also acted immediately—he began writing a script for Xiyingchang.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The film needed a more appealing title; “Er Niu” was too weak. Wu Tianming actually wanted to change it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming had already decided: call it “The Ox and Er Niu.” If he didn’t like it, he could change it later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day at work, Wei Ming began reviewing for the college entrance exam—the textbooks were still provided by Uncle Anping.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Seeing him study, Yang Hao immediately leaned over, surprised: “Are you retaking the college entrance exam?!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming shook his head. If he retake it, getting into university wouldn’t be hard—but getting into Peking University was nearly impossible.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>His math was terrible; physics and chemistry were even worse.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Plus, as a literature-leaning student, he hated politics—but politics was one of the three core subjects, required for both arts and science tracks, guaranteeing he’d never score high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Also, attending university properly would take four years, but Wei Ming planned to travel widely once the environment loosened up—he didn’t want university to become a constraint.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>So correspondence courses were enough.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>At noon, Wei Ming rode his bicycle to a Xinhua Bookstore near Peking University and Tsinghua University, wanting to check sales of “Ferocious Animals” and “The Book of Heavenly Secrets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Since this bookstore mainly served faculty and students of the two universities, Wei Ming’s influence far surpassed “Brother Wei”—outside, a blackboard clearly announced: “Wei Ming’s Short Story Collection ‘Ferocious Animals’ Now On Sale.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wei Ming was well-covered and hadn’t ridden his motorcycle, so no one recognized him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Behind the counter, staff were handing out stacks of freshly opened copies of “Ferocious Animals,” one by one, to university students waiting in line.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though many had already read all Wei Ming’s stories in magazines, few could afford to collect every issue—a copy of “Contemporary” cost over a yuan, “Harvest” the same—poor students couldn’t afford it!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But “Ferocious Animals” was only fifty fen—barely a day’s meals—bite the bullet and buy it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In the children’s literature section, fewer people—mostly parents, some with kids—eight out of ten bought “The Book of Heavenly Secrets.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The advertising effect in “Children’s Literature” was still very clear.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And because the bookstore was unprepared, the illustrated “The Book of Heavenly Secrets” was the first to sell out.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The next day, Wei Ming rode his motorcycle into town, visiting several more bookstores—sales of both books were impressive; he might even earn extra royalties from reprinting.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When he rode back to school, the first batch of letters from young readers about “Black Cat Inspector” had arrived at “Children’s Literature”—mostly from kids in Yanjing.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Xiaoyan had taken Xizi to Ningxia—no one had brought them to Wei Ming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, the parcels Wei Ming had sent to his readers were starting to arrive~\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>…\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(What songs from that era do you like? Let’s share—I’ll take notes~)\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>(End of Chapter)\u003C\u002Fp>",1611,"2026-06-19T16:30:57.111Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","b29373334f224a3c5bcde5703e0e8f73f84ebc0ed7b837a3bee1b5e4549b682e","rising-in-1979-chapter-171","rising-in-1979-chapter-169",509,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Frising-in-1979-cover.jpg"]