Chapter 307: Zhou Huimin

After signing the contract, Wei Ming asked Shangguan Xiao Bao out of curiosity.

"Mr. Huang Yulang should already know about this. What was his reaction?"

Although Huang was his new boss, Shangguan Xiao Bao was happy to see the other party suffer a setback.

He laughed: "Of course he hoped our deal would fall through, but there's no helping it; you gave more than he did."

Wei Ming nodded. It seemed that he and *The Legend of Qin* had indeed brought some pressure to the Godfather of Hong Kong Comics.

If Huang Yulang wanted to unify Hong Kong and take his company public, he had to bring *Li Xiaolong* under his banner and had to coax Shangguan Xiao Bao; he couldn't use force.

But it was a different story for Wei Ming, a mainlander. After all, this was a violent extremist who dared to hire thugs to cripple Ma Rongcheng's hands just because he wanted to strike out on his own. Therefore, he had to nip the crisis in the bud and ensure his followers felt secure.

Looking at the company he had founded seven years ago, Shangguan Xiao Bao, feeling the "seven-year itch," finally shook hands with Wei Ming: "I hope *Joy News* can flourish in your hands."

Wei Ming reminded him: "From now on, it will be called *Madman Comics*."

The brothers Xiaobao and Xiaowei felt a deep sense of regret. Apart from these apprentices, there would no longer be any trace of them in this company in the future.

After signing the contract, the little aunt accompanied Wei Ming and Liu Rulong to meet the remaining employees. The first thing to do was to stabilize morale.

In addition to a dozen or so apprentices in their twenties, there were also a dozen or so older, full-time employees here who mastered every process of comics, from creativity and scripts to production and distribution.

Previously, *Joy News* was a weekly publication. Although it didn't make much money, it could build momentum and promote those stand-alone comic books. Making money basically relied on popular stand-alone titles like *Li Xiaolong*.

Now that those mature IPs had been taken to Yulang International by the two bosses, the company was inevitably anxious, especially the middle-aged employees with families to support.

Wei Ming started by raising salaries by 10%, which stabilized the hearts of the anxious veteran employees.

Because Ma Rongcheng had already tipped off his fellow apprentices beforehand that following Wei the Madman would lead to becoming a lead artist faster, the apprentices like Niu Lao, Feng Zhiming, and Li Zhiqing were all very calm.

It wasn't until Wei Ming took out the script for *Wind and Cloud: Dominating the World* that they could no longer remain calm.

Originally, he had intended to use *Chinese Hero* for practice, but Wei Ming discovered that this story had already been brought up by Yulang International and was currently being tested in the papers, so he decided to play his trump card directly.

*Wind and Cloud*, the most representative Hong Kong comic, could be said to be the work with the greatest influence in the Chinese world, aside from *Young and Dangerous*—though *Young and Dangerous* mostly had a negative influence.

The World Association, the generation's hegemon Xiongba, the Three-Point Return to Origin Qi, "The Golden Qilin is no creature of the pond; once it meets Wind and Cloud, it transforms into a dragon," the God of Wind Nie Feng, the Weeping Death God Bu Jingyun, the Peerless Good Sword, and so on.

Wei Ming only revealed a glimpse of the story, but these brand-new settings and cool divine arts left the young men in awe.

Although the mainland was poor, its cultural heritage was profound; otherwise, it couldn't have nurtured a young genius like Wei Ming, Wei the Madman.

Next, in order to familiarize himself with the comic styles of the various Shangguan disciples, Wei Ming gave them a topic.

"The story begins with a showdown between Xiongba and Nie Feng's father, Nie Renwang, at the Leshan Giant Buddha. Next, please use one frame to depict the battle in your hearts."

Fighting on giant sculptures was an old tradition in Ma Rongcheng's comics; the Statue of Liberty and the Leshan Giant Buddha were both victims.

At this time, the youngest, Li Zhiqing, asked: "What does the Leshan Giant Buddha look like?"

The other senior brothers laughed, but as they laughed, they couldn't continue, because they didn't know what the Leshan Giant Buddha looked like either; most of them didn't even know where Leshan was.

The Leshan Giant Buddha was also known as the Lingyun Giant Buddha, which was why the place where the Fire Qilin lived was called the Lingyun Cave.

"The Giant Buddha is located in Leshan, Sichuan. It is as tall as a twenty-story building, carved into the mountain..."

At this time, the Leshan Giant Buddha's popularity among mainland tourist attractions wasn't very high yet; after all, it was tucked away in a corner, and its development was late. During the process of tourism development, film and television works like *The Mysterious Giant Buddha* and *Wind and Cloud* played a very important role in promoting it.

Wei Ming felt that words might not be intuitive enough, so he took a piece of paper, grabbed a pen, and started drawing.

With the skills of a decades-long third-level artist still intact, Wei Ming simply sketched out the scene of the Leshan Giant Buddha, and it had a very turn-of-the-century style.

Everyone was surprised; they hadn't expected that a literary talent would also know how to draw, and the quality wasn't bad at all!

Of course, the Leshan Giant Buddha itself was a shock to the teenagers who grew up in Hong Kong, even giving rise to a sense of yearning.

Wei Ming: "Alright, you can begin. When integrating characters into the scene, you can add your own styles. I will write stories for you based on your individual styles."

Upon hearing this, the young men immediately forgot the sadness of their master leaving and began to rub their hands in anticipation. They hoped even more to be chosen by Wei Ming to be the lead artist for *Wind and Cloud*, after all, this story was already fully formed and looked to be of high quality.

While they were drawing, Wei Ming asked A Long to draw one as well, and then he chatted with Wei Lingling on the side.

"Aunt, have you been to the Langning factory to take a look?"

"Not yet. It won't be too late to go after I return from the Magic City with you and finish handling the matters at hand. There is a manager sent from Taiwan there."

Wei Ming: "So you came back from the United States all by yourself? You didn't even bring a trusted aide? Won't it be very hard for you alone?"

Wei Lingling laughed: "What? Don't want to return to the mainland, want to work with me? I welcome it. Although the Langning factory doesn't rank high in Hong Kong, it still has more prospects than your comic company."

Wei Ming: "No, no, no, I want to introduce an assistant to you. I have a friend..."

He told her about Li Zhi and even took out her photo.

This was an old photo of Li Zhi; she was still relatively plain, and it didn't capture anything below her neck.

So in Wei Lingling's eyes, she was just a mainland girl who looked passable, with nothing special about her. Just looking at her face, she couldn't compare to Mao Mao Amin. She didn't think Wei Ming would take a fancy to a woman with such minor beauty.

So Wei Lingling was very curious: "Why do you want to help her?"

Wei Ming: "We are all from the mainland; I help if I can. Otherwise, young girls like this are easily led astray when they encounter the impact of the capitalist world."

These words made Wei Lingling think of the experiences of some Asian immigrant girls she had seen in San Francisco. Her nephew's concern was not without reason.

"I don't keep idlers around me," Wei Lingling asked, "If you want me to hire her, what traits does she have?"

This was the start of an interview, but it was through himself, the middleman.

Wei Ming thought for a moment: "She is from the Magic City, has a high school education, can speak Mandarin, the Shanghai dialect, and also knows some simple Cantonese. Moreover, she is very motivated and is currently self-studying English."

Wei Lingling: "In other words, she can't speak Cantonese well, and she almost doesn't know English. My business is mainly in Hong Kong and the United States. This is a minus for me."

Although Wei Ming really wanted to help Li Zhi, he couldn't lie. He nodded: "Your summary is very accurate."

Wei Lingling said: "How about this: I am planning to rent an apartment near the factory and need a personal assistant to take care of my daily life. If she is willing, she can come over for an interview. If I can see obvious progress in her, I don't rule out promoting her further in the future."

An assistant and a personal assistant were very different; she could be called a nanny or a live-in housekeeper.

But the little aunt offered the possibility of advancement. Wei Ming felt that for Li Zhi, this was already a very good opportunity; he just didn't know if she would be willing to accept it.

"Okay, I will tell her. I plan to take the employees out for a meal later; would you like to join us?"

"No, I still have to look at apartments. If it weren't for helping you, I would have already moved."

"Looking at apartments? Wait a moment."

Wei Ming made two calls using the company phone. The first call was to Old Ghost from Holiland; he told him about his aunt looking for an apartment.

Old Ghost had been in Hong Kong for so many years and was considered half a local. Renting an apartment would certainly be more reliable than Wei Ming and Wei Lingling. Wei Ming called him over with one phone call, also to help the father and daughter repair their relationship.

The second call was to the supermarket where Li Zhi worked; she was just about to change shifts.

Wei Ming told the truth: "I'm sorry, my relative has high requirements. The assistant she needs must be proficient in Cantonese and skilled in English. However, I kept praising you for being diligent and motivated, and that you are preparing to self-study English, so she is willing to give you a chance to start as a personal assistant. I don't know if you are willing."

"What does a personal assistant do?"

"It means living and eating together, serving her daily life. Although you also need to do chores, you are the boss's confidante. You can learn a lot by being exposed to it."

"Ah? Living and eating together!" Li Zhi's face turned red instantly. She couldn't help but ask, "Is your relative a man or a woman?"

"Of course a woman. I call her Aunt."

Hearing him say this, Li Zhi breathed a sigh of relief and asked again: "Then where is she now?"

"Right here at my comic company."

"You bought it?"

"Yes."

Li Zhi: "Tell me the address; I can interview right now."

She was interviewing the new boss, but also interviewing Wei Ming to see if he really had a new company.

Being so kind to help her find a job, he must have ideas about her. Now that she had seen the strength of the great writer Wei, Li Zhi didn't reject further development.

She didn't know that there really were good people in the world who didn't seek returns; Wei Ming was purely helping others for fun.

In a Hong Kong with Mao Mao Amin, his eyes would at most give Li Zhi some peripheral attention.

Originally, Wei Lingling wanted to go look at apartments directly, but she was dragged by Wei Ming to wait for Li Zhi.

The first time she saw Wei Lingling, Li Zhi felt a sense of inferiority. She was too fashionable, too beautiful, and had too strong an aura. Wasn't this her ultimate goal?

And Wei Lingling's first impression of Li Zhi was: looking at her face alone, she didn't feel much, but with the real person standing in front of her, she actually gave people a feeling of brightness.

Tall, big, white—a top-tier product!

She even rethought her nephew's purpose in helping others for fun.

Wei Lingling simply asked a few questions: could she cook, could she clean rooms? These were no difficulty for Li Zhi. Having no father or mother since childhood, she certainly had to master necessary survival skills; even her Shanghai-style home cooking was quite good.

In addition, having a high school diploma was considered a high education in Hong Kong. Even if Wei Lingling were recruiting an administrative assistant, she wouldn't have dared to hope for a college student.

"What was your monthly salary before?" she asked again. "Five, five hundred, but this was the probation period. The boss said there would be 800 after becoming a regular employee in three months," Li Zhi said.

Wei Ming felt a toothache. This meager salary was on par with those apprentices in the comic company, but they could learn skills.

Wei Lingling said: "One month probation, monthly salary 1000, 1500 after becoming a regular employee. However, there is no fixed rest time. You can take a break when I take a break. If I can see your progress, I might promote you to be an administrative assistant in the future. It's not impossible for your salary to double then."

"Thank you, thank you, boss!" Hearing this salary, which was comparable to her father's, Li Zhi just wanted to join President Wei's team immediately.

Wei Lingling said: "You can start working from today. Come with me to look at apartments later. Your salary will be calculated from today."

"I have no problem with that!"

After completing this interview, Old Ghost also arrived. Wei Ming immediately led them downstairs and handed the two women over to him.

Wei Lingling hummed and hawed, unwillingly letting him get into the car. Li Zhi couldn't figure out the relationship between this old man and the beautiful boss for a moment, nor what role Wei Ming played in it.

However, Wei Ming had said that as a personal assistant, one must remember "three more, one less": see more, listen more, do more, speak less.

She obediently followed the two to Kwun Tong District. The factory was over there, and the apartment was also planned to be rented near the factory.

On the other side, the little cartoonists of Madman Comics had already completed their assigned writing task.

"Come, come, come." Wei Ming asked everyone to appreciate them together.

Ma Rongcheng's brushwork was delicate and realistic. He copied the background Wei Ming drew most realistically, showing quite extraordinary basic skills. This comic captured a confrontation where the two were evenly matched, embodying his ultimate imagination of Xiongba's Three-Point Return to Origin Qi and Nie Renwang's Snow Xue Xue Yin Kuangdao. Two words—dazzling!

Niu Lao's style was very Jianghu-violent, and he had no taboos. The head of the Leshan Giant Buddha was even sliced off, and Xiongba stood at the severed head, looking down at the corpse of Nie Renwang floating in the river. His blood stained the river red.

Although Li Zhiqing was young, his drawing style already had the makings of future success. He drew the landscape very beautifully, with the beauty of an artwork, and then replaced the two protagonists, Xiongba and Nie Renwang, with two small dots. He said embarrassedly, "I didn't have time to draw the people."

The even younger Feng Zhiming's brushwork was still very immature. He also didn't have time to draw too many details, but he drew Nie Renwang's Snow Xue Xue Yin Kuangdao in great detail. In the whole painting, the "blade" became the protagonist.

Huang Guoxing was a gag cartoonist as famous as the nonsense master Gan Xiaowen. Since the boss let them play freely, he played a little: during the showdown, the Leshan Giant Buddha came to life, grabbing Xiongba with one hand and pinching Nie Renwang with the other, with dialogue attached: "Moving earth on Buddha's head, seeking death!"

Seeing this painting, everyone laughed happily, while A Long took notes seriously, recording everyone's characteristics.

When all the apprentices' works had been displayed, Wei Ming asked them who they thought drew the best.

The highest acclaim went to Ma Rongcheng, followed by Niu Lao.

That was fine; Wei Ming could push the boat with the current and hand this work to Ma Rongcheng.

"Finally, let's look at the work of Deputy Editor-in-Chief Liu Rulong."

A Long displayed his last, and everyone went "Wow," stunned!

Everyone had about the same time, and the text descriptions they read were the same, but A Long had many details. Others generally only drew Nie Renwang and Xiongba, and at most added a Yan Ying.

But in A Long's painting, there was also the young Nie Feng.

The picture was divided into three parts from top to bottom: Xiongba standing on top of the Giant Buddha's head, hugging Yan Ying in the posture of a winner.

In the middle was Nie Feng, secretly poking his head out from the Lingyun Cave, his expression sorrowful.

At the very bottom, at the feet of the Buddha statue, Nie Renwang was leaning on a large blade with one hand, kneeling on one knee, but he was not yielding; instead, he was roaring at the sky, his eyes blood-red, his muscles bulging all over, as if he were about to make a final explosion, using one man and one blade to win back his dignity as a man.

Not to mention the level of detail in the composition of this drawing, it is also highly effective at stirring the reader's emotions; to think that such small figures could have their facial expressions rendered in such detail.

Even if he had known the topic in advance, in the same amount of time, the content of the other person's drawing was far superior to his own.

The manga apprentices, who had originally been somewhat unconvinced by this boss's good friend, were now left speechless.

I heard that this Deputy General Manager Liu is a professionally trained graduate of the Beijing Film Academy and also once pursued advanced studies at the Shanghai Animation Film Studio—that's the place that gave birth to "Where is Mama" and "Havoc in Heaven"—so it seems he really does have some genuine skills.

This assessment not only allowed Wei Ming to grasp the strength and style of each apprentice but also established A-Long's authority; it could be called killing two birds with one stone.

Next was a good meal and drinks to build up strength for the launch of "Madman Manga."

The place for the meal was Yung Kee Restaurant, famous for its "Flying Roast Goose," which counts as a rather high-end establishment on Hong Kong Island.

While eating, Wei Ming discussed the management direction of "Madman Manga" with A-Long and several management talents.

At the same time, Wong Yuk-long of Jademan International held a grand welcome ceremony to welcome Shangguan Xiao Bao and Shangguan Xiaowei to join Jademan International; from then on, the two major giants of Hong Kong manga, "Oriental Heroes" and "Bruce Lee," both belonged to Jademan International.

However, amidst the flourishing success, Wong Yuk-long could not help but worry about Wei Ming, this disruptor; he was not sure if he could crush the other party once "The Legend of Qin" went online.

Just then, Wong Yuk-long's top disciple, Qi Wenjie, knocked and entered with a tabloid.

"Master, look here, news about that mainlander, Wei Ming."

Wong Yuk-long took it and glanced at it; it turned out to be a mocking news piece, and anyone with a sharp eye could tell that this was a leak from one of the parties involved, Raymond Wong himself.

It said that Wei Ming had gone door-to-door to pitch a script, but because he was dissatisfied with the price, he boasted that he could earn millions by writing a single song; the editor's words did not hide their contempt for the mainlander's wild fantasies.

Although he was also of mainland origin and had only escaped to Hong Kong as a child, living a very bitter life growing up, Wong Yuk-long couldn't help but laugh after reading it, and even more disdain grew in his heart.

Qi Wenjie immediately said, "Master, why should we worry about a young man like this who is wet behind the ears and just likes to brag?"

Wong Yuk-long sighed, "But that Liu Rulong under him is indeed very capable. Their 'The Legend of Qin' story and art style are both very strong. Aside from me and the Shangguan Xiao Bao brothers, no one in the entire Jademan International can draw works of that level."

Qi Wenjie added, "A Hong Kong that cannot cultivate a manga master of Master's level naturally needs to rely on the Taiwan market, but they are from the mainland."

A word awakened the dreamer; Wong Yuk-long slapped his head, how could he have forgotten this!

Although there is no free association in the manga world, because they are from the mainland, even if "The Legend of Qin" is strong, they can forget about touching the Taiwan market.

If he could make a big fuss about this, he could even restrict their entire company's works to Hong Kong alone; even if they could survive, it would be a miserable existence.

After figuring this out, Wong Yuk-long was in a great mood.

At the same time, Wei Lingling, having set her sights on an apartment, made a phone call to her uncle in Taiwan after returning to the hotel. After finishing talking about her situation, she mentioned Wei Ming's plan to get into manga in Hong Kong.

Having just finished her final exams and preparing to welcome summer vacation, Vivian Chow was in a great mood, until she saw that mocking report about Wei Ming in the tabloid.

"Pfft, what do they know! These guys have no idea how amazing A-Ming is!"

Vivian almost couldn't help but curse; in fact, on a different page of the same newspaper, one could see a report that the currently hottest global single, "Moonlight Shadow," had just received RIAA gold record certification.

The RIAA gold and platinum records are aimed at the European and American markets, and the standards are high: a gold record is 500,000 in sales, and a platinum record is 1 million.

Meanwhile, a platinum record in Hong Kong is 50,000, and a gold record is 25,000; 500,000 is a dream achievement that is out of reach for the Hong Kong music scene.

Moreover, the gold record was achieved at the beginning of the month, when it had just topped the Billboard charts; achieving a platinum record later was not a fantasy.

From record sales commissions alone, Wei Ming could earn nearly a million Hong Kong dollars, not to mention all kinds of licensing derivatives; one song was worth the sum of all his income since his rebirth!

So Wei Ming wasn't just talking big; he was actually being modest.

This made Vivian, who knew the truth, feel particularly uncomfortable; she only hated that she had no way to speak out, and could only give A-Ming a hug to comfort him.

Behind her mother's back, Vivian called Wei Ming, and the two agreed on a time and place to meet tomorrow.

"Go to a bar? That's not good, you're still young."

"We'll just listen to music, no drinking, okay?"

"Alright then, it's a good time for you to pick from those few songs."

Vivian asked excitedly, "How many did you write in total?"

Wei Ming: "Five, or you could say seven."

Among them, two have both Mandarin and Cantonese versions.

Of the other three, one is a Mandarin song, and two are Cantonese songs.

That day, Wei Ming packed his luggage; he was leaving for London tomorrow. Tonight, he kept his appointment and arrived at a bar that didn't look too chaotic.

At the entrance, he waited for Vivian, who had spent over an hour getting dressed up.

"Sorry, I didn't make you wait too long, did I?"

"No, I just got here too."

"What do you think of my outfit today?" Seeing the look of amazement in Wei Ming's eyes, Vivian asked for a compliment directly.

Wei Ming: "I'd rather know how you did on your final exams."

"You..." Vivian puffed out her cheeks, feeling that he was deliberately trying to annoy her.

After successfully annoying her, Wei Ming patted the little girl's head: "Let's go, let's go in."

After going in, there was a singer singing; Wei Ming didn't recognize them. He ordered two non-alcoholic drinks and then took out a piece of paper.

"These are the names of the five songs. Do you want to look at the lyrics first and then choose, or choose the song by looking at the title directly?"

Choosing a song by looking at the title, isn't that just a blind pick?

However, when Vivian saw this song list, she pointed directly at the name of the last song.

"I want this one."

"Oh, 'First Love', huh~"

Wei Ming smiled: "You can look at the lyrics and the simplified score before choosing."

"No need, this is it." Vivian hoped A-Ming would give "First Love" to her; no matter if first love is bitter or sweet, she would accept it all~

(End of chapter)