After lunch, everyone returned to Sanlian Bookstore leisurely after having a good meal and a few drinks.

They picked their teeth with toothpicks, chatted, talked and laughed, and spent the short lunch break lazily.

Pan Yaoming invited Fangyan to his office on the pretext of having tea.

But when the door was closed, what was placed on the table was not tea set, but two magazines, “Comic World” and “Yulang Comics”.

Fangyan immediately understood, “What’s going on? Is there any action from Huang Yulang?”

Pan Yaoming nodded and said, “Huang Yulang’s comic magazine published a brand new martial arts comic. Whether in terms of world view or setting, it has absorbed and borrowed a lot from “Xuanyuan Sword”. For example, the plot is about searching for the ten famous swords in the world…”

Fangyan flipped through the “Yulang Comics” with great interest. In addition to the old comics such as “Tathagata Palm”, “Dragon Tiger Gate” and “Drunken Fist” that are still being serialized, there is a new comic that has never been seen before. Its name is “The Great Swordsman”, not “The Mysterious Weapons”.

And it is indeed as Pan Yaoming said, there are faint shadows of “Xuan-Yuan Sword”.

He would like to call Huang Yulang the strongest “copy ninja” in the comics world, comparable to Hatake Kakashi with the Sharingan.

He sighed in his heart and smacked his lips at the same time, “Only a few months have passed, and I didn’t expect Huang Yulang and the others to act so quickly.”

“How can it not be fast? If it doesn’t happen fast, his company’s stock price and comics sales will plummet.”

Pan Yaoming took out tea set from the cabinet.

Fangyan then asked about the recent sales of “Comic World” and “Yulang Comics”.

Pan Yaoming said that Yulang Comics stopped the sales slump caused by the completion of “Chinese Hero” with “The Great Swordsman”.

Of course, the situation of “Comic World” is much better than that of “Yulang Comics”. Its popularity and sales are increasing day by day. Recently, it has also been negotiating cooperation with publishers in Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and other regions. This is all thanks to “Xuan-Yuan Sword” and “Ghost Blowing Out the Light”.

Fang Yan casually flipped through the comics of “The Great Swordsman”, but was not as amazed as he was when he read “The Legend of the Emperor” and “The Mysterious Weapons of the Gods” in his previous life.

“This is just a high-end imitation of Xuan-Yuan Sword. It’s not worth mentioning.”

“Besides this, don’t Huang Yulang and his men have any other tricks?”

“Naturally there is.”

Pan Yaoming cleaned up the tea sets: “Rongcheng is helping Yongsheng write the script for “Chinese Heroes”, so Huang Yulang found a lot of media and reported the news that “Chinese Heroes” will be adapted into a movie. He took this opportunity to announce that he would reprint “Chinese Heroes”.”

“It’s a good thing he could think of that.”

Fangyan raised his eyebrows. The so-called reprint is to make some modifications and improvements on the original comics and then publish them to make money.

“Yes, this trick is not new at all, but it works.”

Pan Yaoming said that there is a possibility that Yulang Comics will make a comeback, and Comics World must come up with some countermeasures.

“We might as well learn from Weekly Shonen Jump’s approach in this regard.”

Fangyan touched his chin.

“Weekly Shonen Jump?!”

Pan Yaoming was stunned.

He began to explain in a concise dialect, saying that Shueisha was a subsidiary separated from Shogakukan a long time ago.

Influenced by the first wave of comics craze in Japan in the 60s, they planned to create a comic magazine with teenagers as the main readership. However, they were severely suppressed by their former parent company, Shogakukan.

At that time, the comics market was dominated by Shogakukan’s “Shonen Sunday” and Kodansha’s “Shonen Magazine”.

A newcomer like Shueisha that barges in rashly is no different from an enemy to Shogakukan, which has already carved up a share of the market and established itself as a company.

Of course, it is not easy for Shueisha to grab market share from the old-fashioned Shogakukan and Kodansha.

Not to mention Kodansha, just Shogakukan at that time was at its peak and was full of great masters.

Its co-authors include Osamu Tezuka, the “God of Japanese Comics”, Shotaro Ishimori, who drew “Kamen Rider”, Fujio Akatsuka, the author of Japan’s earliest nonsensical comic “Osomatsu”, Fujiko Fujio, who drew “Doraemon”, and Mitsuteru Yokoyama, the author of “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”…

If “Weekly Shonen Jump” wants to emerge as a dark horse, it must take an unconventional approach and rely on hype to increase the magazine’s popularity in a short period of time.

As a result, Hiroshi Motomiya’s “King of Children” was published, which is equivalent to the Japanese version of the “Young and Dangerous” comics.

Once this comic book with bad boys as the theme was launched, it became an instant hit on campus, just like the Young and Dangerous movies that were all the rage in China back then. It also sparked widespread heated discussion and criticism in society, with some places even launching a campaign to “refuse to buy Weekly Shonen Jump”.

However, we can learn from historical facts that the more something is banned, the more likely it is to disappear. Instead, it will become more popular.

“From what you said, you don’t intend to publish a comic book about ‘Young and Dangerous’ in ‘Comic World’?”

Pan Yaoming shuddered.

“what are you thinking!”

Fangyan rolled his eyes. Even though Niu Lao, the man who drew Young and Dangerous, was already in his own company, he would not allow anything that could corrupt people’s worldview to appear in a comic magazine aimed at all age groups. After all, who knows how many young people were led astray by the Young and Dangerous movie back then.

“That’s fine, that’s fine.”

Pan Yaoming breathed a sigh of relief, “If that’s not what you meant, then what is your real plan?”

“Of course, we are trying to find ways to hype and market Comic World.”

Fang Yan said: “Didn’t Huang Yulang use the movie adaptation of “Chinese Hero” to promote his magazine? Can’t we do the same?”

Pan Yaoming’s eyes lit up, “Do you mean to let the Hong Kong Radio Station replay the radio drama “Ghost Blowing Out the Light”?”

“This is just one of them. Don’t forget, I still have three novels of Ghost Blows Out the Light on hand that have not yet been adapted into radio dramas.”

Fangyan held up three fingers.

“Yup!”

Pan Yaoming slammed the table and said, “I was wondering why you only published five volumes for now. It seems you are waiting here!”

“I didn’t think so much about it before, I just didn’t want to publish all three books at once.”

Fangyan smiled and had originally planned to wait for the price to rise for the remaining three books after the movie of “Ghost Blows Out the Light” came out.

However, given the current aggressive and menacing situation of Yulang Comics, it is the sixth novel of Ghost Blows Out the Light published by the publisher.

“That’s great!”

Pan Yaoming rubbed his hands excitedly.

“Look, he’s in a hurry.”

Fang Yan said: “This move alone is not enough. I think we need to expand the readership of Comic World.”

Pan Yaoming was puzzled. “How to expand? Where to expand?”

“It is naturally impossible to expand the male readership in a short period of time, but we can tap into the female market.”

Fangyan cited the example of “Tokyo Love Story”, a comic that is now very popular in Japan and has attracted countless female readers.

“But the environments in Hong Kong and Tokyo are different. I’m afraid that female readers in Hong Kong won’t be able to relate to Tokyo Love Story.”

Pan Yaoming said worriedly, “It won’t generate much interest, so if you want to publish it, it’s best to publish a story with a Hong Kong background.”

“Yes, Tokyo Love Story may not work, but we can definitely work harder in the field of girls’ comics.”

Fangyan gave a mysterious smile.

“Don’t keep me in suspense. If you have any good ideas, just tell me now.”

There was a hint of urgency in Pan Yaoming’s tone.

“There’s really no rush for this.”

Fangyan said that the prerequisite for developing the girls’ comics market is to find cartoonists who are suitable for creating girls’ comics.

………………

As we got off work, the sky gradually darkened.

The lights in the villa were bright, as bright as day. Lin Qingxia was kneading dumplings in the kitchen, while Fang Yan was helping her. Suddenly, there was a “click” sound of a door opening.

Fang Yan ran out of the kitchen, her face and hands covered with flour, “Brother, have you eaten?”

“No.” Fang Yan shook his head.

“That’s great. Sister Qingxia and I have made a lot of delicious food. You can have one too.” Fang Yan smiled.

Fangyan raised an eyebrow, “What delicious food are you making?”

“Dumplings!” Fang Yan blurted out.

When Fangyan heard the word “dumplings”, he was very surprised and looked curiously at Lin Qingxia who was carrying the dishes out of the kitchen.

“What kind of filling?”

“Your favorite cabbage and pork filling!”

“Oh, I haven’t had dumplings stuffed with cabbage and pork since the Chinese New Year. This time I can enjoy a feast.”

Fang Yan smiled and said, “Is it a lot? I can eat a whole plate by myself.”

“Enough, enough.”

Lin Qingxia’s eyes sparkled, “Yanzi and I made quite a few.”

Fang Yan nodded repeatedly, “Sister Qingxia and I also made other delicious dishes, a total of eight large plates!”

Under his gaze, Lin Qingxia blushed and said that most of them were actually ready-made cooked food bought from restaurants, and they just needed to be added with other dishes.

“Apart from the dumplings, I made only the shrimp and winter melon soup, the blanched vegetables, and the tomato tofu…”

“Then I’ll have to eat a few more bites later.”

Fang Yan said, “The dishes you cooked yourself, Qingxia, are so delicious that others can’t even eat them. Now I can enjoy the feast.”

“It’s not as exaggerated as you say.”

Lin Qingxia smiled with her eyes curved.

Seeing the steaming dumplings being served on the table, Fangyan “ordered” the little sister to prepare a dipping sauce with chili oil for him.

Lin Qingxia picked up a dumpling, dipped it in the sauce, and then took a bite.

Looking at the younger sister busy in the kitchen, Fang Yan then cast a grateful look at Lin Qingxia: “You have worked really hard today.”

“Nothing hard.”

Lin Qingxia raised her hands and said that she had been staying at home for a long time and had been feeling suffocated for a long time. After playing with Fang Yan for a day, she felt much more relaxed.

“That’s good.”

Fang Yan lowered his voice and asked, “She didn’t cause you any trouble, did she?”

“No, no, your sister is very sensible. She even bought you a gift when she was shopping.”

Lin Qingxia pointed her finger at the large and small exquisitely packaged bags in the living room.

Fang Yan came out with sauce in her hand, and then excitedly shared what she saw and heard while shopping in Hong Kong.

“Brother, I also bought you a gift.”

Seeing her trotting into the living room, Fangyan shook his head and laughed.

“This is the belt I bought you.”

“And this one, this is a tie that Sister Qingxia bought especially for you. It took her a long time to choose it.”

“Cough cough!”

Lin Qingxia pretended to cough a few times, but still failed to interrupt Fang Yan who was talking incessantly.

Fangyan was very surprised. “How can this be possible? How can it cost you money?”

“It doesn’t cost anything. This is my thank you gift to you.”

Lin Qingxia supported her chin with one hand, her eyes full of tenderness.

Not to mention the friendship between the two, thanks to him, she, an out-of-date “literary goddess” who traveled across the ocean to Hong Kong to work hard, was able to successfully transform and have a second spring when almost everyone was pessimistic about her. Not to mention, he also helped her find her lost sister.

But although she thought so in her heart, she said thank you for his investment advice on buying a villa apartment.

After all, the price of villas in Deep Water Bay alone has skyrocketed by 12.1% in less than a year, which is equivalent to hundreds of thousands of dollars!

“It’s just a little effort.”

Fangyan unpacked it and put it around his neck in front of her.

Lin Qingxia asked: “How is it, do you like it?”

“That’s great! I’m going to the United States soon, and I can use all of this.”

Fangyan thanked him.

“Brother, you just returned to Hong Kong, why are you going to the United States again?”

Fang Yan said vaguely while eating dumplings.

Fang Yan rolled his eyes. “I just got the news today that my book The Three-Body Problem was fortunately nominated for the Nebula Award.”

“Really!?”

The two women looked at each other, and Lin Qingxia raised her glass, “Congratulations, and I wish you the best of luck in winning the prize this time.”

“Lend your auspicious words.”

Fangyan clinked his glass with hers, and then clinked his glass with his younger sister’s.

With a “Cheers”, the three of them drank the Coke in their cups.

“But brother, if you go to America, what should I do? You won’t leave me alone in Hong Kong, right?”

Fang Yan looked pitiful.

“Don’t I know your little tricks?”

Fang Yan said unhappily, “Don’t worry, you can come with me when the time comes, and we can also visit your sister Ruoxue and Mike’s family.”

“Great!”

Seeing Fang Yan so happy, Lin Qingxia said nothing, but a hint of loneliness flashed in her eyes.

However, no matter how well he hid it, he could not escape the sharp insight of the dialect, so he took the initiative to invite Lin Qingxia:

“If you are free, would you like to go together?”

“I?”

Lin Qingxia’s heart skipped a beat. “Is this…is this not appropriate?”

“There’s nothing inappropriate about it, as long as you don’t think the Nebula Awards are too boring.”

Fangyan waved his hand.

“how could be!”

Lin Qingxia said: “I went to the Nebula Awards ceremony with you last time. It was quite interesting and not boring at all.”

“Then Sister Qingxia, we have a deal!” Fang Yan was so excited that she almost jumped up from her chair. “I have never participated in the Nebula Awards. Brother, which one is more prestigious, this or the Hugo Awards that will be held in Rongcheng soon? Which award has higher gold content…”

Facing the little sister’s “100,000 whys”, Fang Yan patiently answered, and his eyes inadvertently met with Lin Qingxia’s. (End of this chapter)