Chapter 367: A-Ming, you

When the royalties from the Frankfurt trip hit his account, Wei Ming specifically went to the bank to withdraw ten thousand yuan, wanting to see if his balance had broken the two-million mark, only to be invited into the branch manager's office for tea.

It was tea in the literal sense; the branch manager and the deputy manager brewed it themselves. Outside the office, people were whispering, muttering sensational things about millionaires and the like.

No one was suspicious; after all, Wei Ming was already known throughout the bank as a major depositor, not only with a six-figure balance always sitting in his account but also with significant foreign currency coming in from time to time.

Moreover, the manager had seen the news. The reports didn't say exactly how much money Wei Ming had earned, but they did mention how successful his works were overseas and how he had earned a massive amount of foreign exchange for the country.

So, over a million was acceptable.

The branch manager mainly wanted to get to know Wei Laoshi and, incidentally, ask for a piece of his calligraphy.

"I heard Wei Laoshi's calligraphy stunned the foreigners in Frankfurt. I wonder if you could do me the honor?"

They had played right into Wei Laoshi's hands. Wei Ming had been practicing diligently at Wu Lao's home recently, his level had improved quite a bit, and he was just looking for a chance to show off.

As it happened, the manager was also a man of refined taste, and there were supplies in the office.

However, Wei Ming knew his limits. He was writing for the manager, not for the Bank of China; even if it was just a branch, it wasn't something a mere scholar like him could lecture.

So, he wrote famous aphorisms regarding the integrity of bank staff, such as: "Thousands of gold pass through these hands, not a single coin sticks."

The manager was very happy. He could see that Wei Ming's calligraphy level was above his own, and the sentiment was so well-put that it could serve as a motto.

"Once this piece is framed, I will definitely hang it in my office until I retire."

Wei Ming was also happy to receive someone's recognition. After returning to Tuanjiehu, he even showed off about it to Gong Ying.

"Mm-hmm, you're the most amazing."

Gong Ying was calmly practicing calligraphy. Practicing seemed to give her a certain charm of the ancients, even when she wasn't wearing period costumes.

Wei Ming couldn't bear to disturb her and watched quietly.

After putting down the brush, Sister Xue said, "But you've been living here for a long time now. Isn't it time to go home and stay for a few days?"

Only then did Wei Ming pull her close: "I've been staying out for so many days; if I suddenly go home to stay, I'm afraid I'll make my parents suspicious."

"Hmph, you just want to bully me."

Wei Ming looked at her and said seriously, "Are you tired? How about we take a break today?"

Gong Ying's face turned beet red from shyness. She was indeed a bit tired. Every day, he wanted it, and she gave it; he wanted it, and she gave it. She had thought there would be a day when he would call out that he was tired, but it turned out she was the one calling out.

The combination of high-frequency intimacy and high-intensity calligraphy practice was still very exhausting.

So, tonight, the two of them hung up the "no-war" sign. Held honestly in Wei Ming's arms, Gong Ying even thought, *If only Sister Lin were here. *

As soon as this thought popped up, she began to despise herself. How could she think like that? It was truly shameless.

Besides, if Sister Lin were here, with two people, he would probably be unable to handle it again.

Wei Ming could not agree with this; at twenty, he was in his prime.

Last night he only said to rest for a day, and the next morning, it was already the second day.

"Sister, time to get up and work!"

When Wei Ming arrived at his unit feeling refreshed and sat at his desk looking at the newspaper, he started to worry again. Asking him to translate his own work—he wasn't a professional translator.

Regarding the Xinhua News Agency's task, he had originally thought about rewriting it in Chinese himself, but later felt that wasn't challenging enough. Out of curiosity about different professions, Wei Ming wanted to handle this manuscript using a translator's logic.

So, in the afternoon, he made another trip to Mr. Yang Xianyi's home. Besides discussing the translation preparations for *The Human World's Righteous Path is Vicissitudes*, he also wanted to learn English-to-Chinese translation from the two of them.

Perhaps this would be of some help for his future creative writing directly in English.

Here he learned translation, and at five o'clock, he still had to go to the Wu family to learn calligraphy. His days were quite fulfilling.

However, the translated article in Hong Kong's *Ming Pao* came out earlier.

As a loyal user of *Ming Pao*, Wei Lingling hadn't seen the article yet before it was seen by Miss Li Zhi at home.

She also wanted to improve, so she basically looked over the newspapers subscribed to at home first, then helped Lingling filter the content, reminding her of what was particularly worth reading.

However, Miss Li Zhi wasn't interested in South Africa or apartheid; she was more interested in seeing media reports on how much money Wei Ming had earned in Germany and how sought-after he was.

That was what was exciting and stimulating!

And when Zhou Huimin saw this article written by Wei Ming, what she felt was A-Ming's great personality shining brightly.

When she was still stuck on caring for kittens and puppies, A-Ming had already begun to think about grand topics like race and humanity.

Also, she felt that when writing essays in the future, she seemed to have one more "Mandela" to use as material.

In the classroom, she was savoring A-Ming's article when her deskmate and best friend came in and complained to her: "*Madman Comics* actually raised its price; it costs four yuan a copy!"

A-Min defended it: "It was half-price before. It definitely can't keep operating at a loss. Only when the magazine makes money can there be a continuous supply of good works for you to see."

She took the magazine from her deskmate: "Hey, it seems to have gotten thicker too. It's a great value!"

The deskmate snatched it back: "I'll read it first. After I finish *The Legend of Qin* and *History Meow*, I'll let you read it."

The female deskmate wanted to read *The Legend of Qin*, while several male students in the class accepted the price doubling of *Madman Comics* in order to see the subsequent plot of *Wind and Cloud*. Several copies of *Madman Comics* appeared in the classroom at the same time.

This was the most sought-after fashion item among students recently, more so than *Long Humen* and *Li Xiaolong*. Even the price doubling didn't seem to stop the explosive sales momentum.

Zhou Huimin smiled: "No need, I'll buy it myself in a while."

Best friend: "Buy? The nearby shops are already sold out. Hey, there's a new comic this time too!"

Ever since Zhou Xingchi stopped going to school, he had done many jobs, but none lasted long because he had decided to take the wireless training class next year, firmly believing that he would definitely become an actor in the future.

Now he was running errands at a teahouse. After finishing a day's work and returning home, he saw a middle school boy in the neighborhood reading a copy of *Fight Back to School*.

"Wow, a new one is out, and it seems to have gotten thicker."

"It's gotten more expensive too, Brother Xing. How about I sell it to you after I finish reading it? Only two yuan. I spent four yuan when I bought it."

"You brat~" Zhou Xingchi's eyes rolled: "Unless you give it to me now, and return it to me after I finish reading."

The young man struggled for a moment and said: "Then two yuan?"

"Deal, come over to get it tomorrow." He prepared to pull an all-nighter tonight.

He was also following *The Legend of Qin* and *Wind and Cloud*, but he preferred the funny *Diary of Sha Seng* and *History Meow*. *Happy Ghost* was also not bad.

However, this time he found there was an extra new comic called *Fight Back to School*. The male lead was a handsome guy named Wen Xingxing, and everyone called him "A-Xing."

A-Xing was an ace member of the Flying Tigers. In order to solve a case, he was sent by his leader Cao Dahua to go undercover at a middle school, where he met a teacher named He Min, who had a great figure and was beautiful, leading to a series of hilarious stories.

Watching it, Zhou Xingchi couldn't stop laughing, causing his mother and sister next door to keep hitting the wall, telling him to sleep earlier.

Then he hid under the quilt and used a flashlight to read. Actually, he wasn't someone easily amused, but this story utilized the contrast between the identities of a policeman and a student, and the punchlines were very dense.

This lead artist was named Gan Xiaowen. Zhou Xingchi had seen his short comics before. This time, the story wasn't finished after a dozen pages, which made him look forward to A-Xing's subsequent stories at school even more. If he could hook up with Teacher He as a student, it would be perfect.

After finishing the comic *Fight Back to School*, Zhou Xingchi suddenly didn't want to return the magazine to that neighbor kid. How could he welsh on the deal?

This issue of *Madman Comics* also mentioned on the last page of *If History Were a Group of Meows* that this comic would cooperate with Langning Toy Factory to launch *History Meow* dolls, which made many readers who liked this comic eager to try.

At this moment, Wei Lingling was in the factory holding a meeting to study how to make *History Meow* toys.

Some felt they should make plush toys; after all, cats themselves were soft.

But others insisted on making plastic toys because they were backed by Taiwan. Wei Muchun had a plastic industry in Taiwan, and the toy factory could become a downstream industry of the plastic factory.

Finally, Wei Lingling decided to proceed on two tracks. The output might be larger than previously expected, but *History Meow* wasn't rootless; it had an original work foundation.

"By the way, what issue is this *Madman Comics*?"

Wei Lingling made a call to *Madman Comics*, and A-Long told her: "100,000 copies were printed this time."

"100,000 copies already!" Wei Lingling said, "That should be one of the best among comic magazines in Hong Kong."

"It's number one for comprehensive comic magazines. If you count single-volume comic sales, it's second only to *Long Humen* and *Li Xiaolong*, ranking third." The single-issue sales of these two comic leaders were both over 100,000.

In just over two months, to be able to reach this point, Wei Lingling felt it was already quite amazing. This was equivalent to at least 100,000 people who had known about *History Meow* long ago.

However, Liu Rulong was still not satisfied. He hoped to be number one in Hong Kong comics, or even number one in Chinese comics, so he hoped to achieve a comprehensive surpassing of Huang Yulang.

As for whether to continue increasing the print run for the next issue, judging from the current market feedback, there was a certain risk.

Just then, Wei Lingling suggested: "Let me introduce a friend to you; perhaps it will be helpful for your magazine sales."

"A friend?"

The next day, Gong Biyang landed in Hong Kong from Taiwan and visited *Madman Comics*.

He had long heard Wei Ming mention this comic magazine he invested in. Yesterday, the translation work for those two picture books, *The Lion King*, had been explained clearly. He had originally planned to return directly to San Francisco from Taiwan, but was called to Hong Kong by a phone call.

Gong Biyang had also seen Hong Kong comics in Chinatown, but the influence was too small, and they were still funny comics like *Old Master Q*.

In addition, he had some understanding of typical Hong Kong comics like *Long Humen*, but he felt there shouldn't be much of a market overseas. ===== CHAPTER 368 =====