Chapter 34

The publication of the second issue of the *People's Daily* was like dropping a depth charge into a calm lake.

The entire Shaoxing Prefecture was boiling.

The newspaper was completely sold out; Shaoxing City alone sold nearly eight thousand copies.

Not only that, but many merchants from other places saw business opportunities, and they rushed to the newspaper office to buy a large number of newspapers, even wanting the first issue.

In Shaoxing, a copy of the *People's Daily* only cost two wen.

They resold them to other places, and five wen could easily be sold; this was a two-and-a-half-fold profit.

You must know that in Shanghai, a newspaper generally cost ten wen.

If they also sold them for ten wen, that would be a fivefold profit; how could they not be excited?

While excited, they also secretly cursed the *People's Daily* for being stupid.

Setting the price so cheap was purely a loss-making shout; it probably wouldn't last long, so they had to fleece the sheep as much as possible. Once it went bankrupt or raised prices, there would be no money to make.

Tao Chengzhang and Lu Xun were also excited.

They suddenly understood why Yin Qi insisted on setting a low price.

It was probably because he hoped these merchants could sell the *People's Daily* across the country.

This was much easier than them building their own channels.

Anyway, for them, whether they made money or not didn't matter, and losing money didn't matter; the key was to promote the *People's Daily* and enlighten the people, so that they could find more like-minded people.

For the next five days, the *People's Daily* continued to be published at a rate of one issue per day.

Sales also climbed steadily.

The entire Shaoxing Prefecture maintained around ten thousand copies, but for external sales, by the fifth day, it had increased to sixty thousand copies.

Fortunately, they all had manuscripts in reserve, so they could support one issue per day.

However, Tao Chengzhang also posted a solicitation notice.

He believed that after surviving a month, the newspaper office would be on the right track, and they wouldn't need to write articles day and night.

In five days, Ximen Yaochuixue, Tao Ershanren, and Lu Xun became hot celebrities, especially Ximen Yaochuixue, who was sought after by young people and revered as a pioneer of the new era.

Five days later, the *People's Daily* appeared in Hangzhou, Ningbo, Suzhou, Nanjing, Shanghai, and other places.

It also caused a great sensation.

Liang Qichao, the chief editor of the Shanghai *Times*, was shocked after seeing several issues of the *People's Daily*, and even more delighted; he seemed to see a glimmer of dawn appearing before the dark morning.

"The *People's Daily* is truly the pioneer of the era!"

Immediately, he announced in the *Times* that all articles must use vernacular, supporting the New Culture Movement initiated by the *People's Daily*. At the same time, he sent a telegram to Tianjin, asking Tianjin to pass it on to Kang Youwei's people in Beijing.

That day, Kang Youwei and others received Liang Qichao's telegram, and they were also pleasantly surprised; they felt that they could completely incorporate the New Culture Movement into the scope of the reform.

So, under their instructions, reform societies in various places supported the New Culture Movement one after another, and newspapers adopted vernacular.

Just like that, the New Culture Movement swept across China like a prairie fire.

The New Culture Movement came too fast and too fiercely; while countless people were stunned, it had already spread across the country.

But how could the great scholars of the classics in various places allow the promotion of vernacular?

They cursed at home, but no one could hear them.

Even if they announced a boycott in public, it couldn't beat the propaganda of the newspaper, so many great scholars of the classics united one after another and established newspaper offices in various places.

They also wanted to master their own channels of expression to confront the New Culture Movement.

For a time, newspaper offices flourished all over the country.

………

Yin Qi ignored the disturbances outside.

He let Yin Hai buy many medical books, such as the *Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon*, *Shennong's Classic of Materia Medica*, *Treatise on Cold Damage and Miscellaneous Diseases*, *Compendium of Materia Medica*, and other widely circulated medical books.

He prepared to memorize these medical books first, and then find a famous doctor to learn from.

Although his comprehension had been raised to Heavenly Pride, mastering theory alone in medicine was definitely not enough; it required a lot of practice.

……

Shaoxing Prefecture, Jingxiong Society.

The Jingxiong Society was founded by Qiu Jin, and its members were all young women, the worst of whom were daughters of landlords.

It wasn't that the threshold was high, but rather that women from ordinary families dared not shout "women's rights."

The Jingxiong Society was essentially a poetry society, and they would meet every once in a while.

Everyone would discuss poetry and articles together, or exchange reading insights.

Of course, there were also insights on women's rights.

The publication of the *People's Daily* gave them something to talk about.

……

This day was the time for the Jingxiong Society meeting again.

Twenty or so young and beautiful young ladies were chirping, discussing in groups of three or two.

Yin Shishi and a sweet-looking woman gathered together, enthusiastically discussing the poems and articles in the newspaper.

Especially the poems, they were more interested in them.

If Yin Qi were here, he would recognize that this woman was the one who bumped into him on the street that day.

Her name was Zhang Youchu, and she was Yin Shishi's best friend.

"This Ximen Yaochuixue is really talented, and the vernacular poetry is so mature; he must have been writing it for a long time, but why have I never heard of this person before?"

Yin Shishi said worshipfully, a glimmer of brilliance flashing in her beautiful eyes.

Zhang Youchu pursed her lips and smiled, nodding slowly: "Mm, he is not only talented but also has a burning patriotic heart. Every time I read his patriotic poems, I feel like I can't breathe."

Yin Shishi nodded repeatedly: "Even my father said that this Ximen Yaochuixue is a patriotic activist, and our president also admires this person very much, saying she really wants to meet him."

"If only I could..."

Zhang Youchu stopped halfway.

She also really wanted to meet this Ximen Yaochuixue, but she wanted to meet that person from that day even more.

She was actually a good girl before, but since joining the Jingxiong Society, she had gradually been influenced by Qiu Jin's women's rights ideas and also wanted to become more independent.

So she went out secretly for the first time, without taking any maids or attendants.

She wanted to try the feeling of going out independently.

But she didn't expect to be stopped on the street by a missionary.

He even lewdly said she was an angel reincarnated and wanted to take her back to the church to serve God, which scared her so much that she kicked the missionary in the crotch and turned to run.

When she was about to despair, it was that person who injured the missionary, allowing her to return home safely.

To this day, whenever she closed her eyes, those warm, jade-like eyes and the sunny smile on that handsome face would always emerge in her mind.

For some days later, she deliberately took her maid to walk that road again, but she never met that person again.

Yin Shishi didn't notice Zhang Youchu's expression because Qiu Jin had arrived.

Qiu Jin had a beautiful face, a straight back, and a heroic spirit.

Seeing her walk over, the women stopped talking and looked towards her, their eyes filled with worship, because Qiu Jin was truly excellent, talented in both literature and martial arts, and acted cleanly and neatly.

Qiu Jin smiled and said: "Sisters, I presume everyone wants to meet Ximen Yaochuixue, Lu Xun, and Tao Ershanren. I have decided to go to the newspaper office tomorrow, hoping that the newspaper office can introduce them to us. If they agree, I will take four people to see them, or invite them to be guests at our Jingxiong Society."

"Good!"

Yin Shishi and the others were pleasantly surprised and cheered.

They didn't doubt Qiu Jin's words because she always did what she said, incomparable to ordinary women.

(End of chapter)