Chapter 404: Gao Sanwa's Growth
San Shier's sudden outburst made Gao Sanwa jump.
The back of his head connected with San Shier's chin with a dull thud.
San Shier clutched his chin and crouched down, while Gao Sanwa also clutched the back of his head and crouched. Both groaned, too pained to speak for a long moment.
After a while, the pain subsided.
Gao Sanwa rubbed the back of his head. "Who do you think I am, Manager San? How could I possibly deface the Heavenly Lord's sacred image? No matter how mischievous I get, I know better than to do something like that. I haven't even thought about it! It's you who had that thought, wasn't it?"
San Shier found himself in an awkward spot. "I certainly did not!"
Gao Sanwa insisted, "You definitely did!"
San Shier declared, "I absolutely did not!"
Realizing he couldn't bluff his way out, San Shier quickly changed the subject. "What are you doing here, young man?"
"Oh?" San Shier was greatly surprised.
"Oh?" Li Daoxuan was also greatly surprised.
Gao Sanwa explained, "Last time, didn't Sister Yiye pay for the printing of 'Dao Xuan Tian Zun's Demon-Slaying Adventures' herself? I want to publish a book I drew the same way, but my parents won't give me money, so I had to come to Sister Yiye."
San Shier grumbled, "Since when did you get interested in this sort of thing?"
Gao Sanwa replied, "I've always liked it! Anyway, I'm not good at studying. Especially when I moved up to higher grades and started learning middle school mathematics, physics, and chemistry, I completely couldn't understand it. So, I used my class time to draw a comic book."
Li Daoxuan chuckled. *This guy, he reminds me of myself back in the day. Though I could keep up in middle school, by high school, I was completely lost in math and science. I barely scraped through high school by copying assignments, then I went into art and design, and finally became a freelance designer.*
After listening, San Shier pondered for half a second, then sighed. "Not all children are suited for academics. There are indeed people like you... Sigh..."
He extended his hand. "What did you draw? Let me see."
Gao Sanwa protectively clutched his original manuscript. "You won't burn it, will you? This is my only copy."
San Shier couldn't help but laugh. "I'm not your mother; I won't restrict your hobbies."
Gao Sanwa considered this and, finding it reasonable, carefully handed over the manuscript.
San Shier opened it, and Li Daoxuan quickly "focused" and zoomed in to examine the images.
It turned out Gao Sanwa had drawn a story filled with battles and fights. The gist was about a child who left home to become a Daoist, seeking tutelage, but was scorned by his master for his mediocre aptitude. The master's appearance, incidentally, bore a striking resemblance to Ma Tianzheng.
*Well, Gao Sanwa has probably only ever seen one Daoist in his life, and that's Ma Tianzheng, so he had to use him as inspiration.*
Ma Tianzheng – no, his master – refused to properly teach the child the Quanzhen sword techniques. The child was bullied by his fellow disciples. These fellow disciples' appearances, incidentally, looked a bit like Young Master Bai and Third Miss.
*These two are Gao Sanwa's good friends, often playing pranks together, and now they've been drawn into the book as villains.*
Young Master Bai and Third Miss — no, Senior Brother Bai and Junior Sister San — along with other disciples, ganged up on the protagonist. The protagonist became furious and declared a famous saying: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river; one day, you'll all know my true strength."
He had even interspersed a few lines of dialogue into the comic!
Li Daoxuan gasped internally. *Holy crap, is this kid a transmigrator? How does he know that meme?*
At this point, San Shier laughed. "The saying, 'Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river,' describes the section of the Yellow River between Shaanxi and Shanxi. Because it often changes course, a village might sometimes be on the east bank, and other times on the west... This saying must have come from Heyang County, right? You actually managed to use this proverb in your book. Not bad, you're not completely empty-headed after all."
Li Daoxuan exclaimed, *Oh? So that's where that phrase came from? Ahhh! I'm such an ignoramus.*
The protagonist in the book then began to strive tirelessly, practicing his sword skills desperately. Eventually, his swordcraft reached mastery; he not only defeated Senior Brother Bai and Junior Sister San but even his master, Daoist Ma, was no match for him. Finally, having perfected his skills, he descended the mountain, wandered the world with his sword, and eventually became a legendary hero.
Li Daoxuan thought, *It's an underdog story! That's incredible! This kid actually invented the underdog genre in the Ming Dynasty. He's going to soar!*
San Shier finished reading the manuscript and remained silent for a long moment. After a while, he suddenly spoke, "For this book, you don't need to ask the Saintess for money to publish it. I'll have the Gao Family Village Bookstore publish it for you."
"What?" Gao Sanwa was overjoyed. "Really? Manager San, don't trick a child."
San Shier gave him a sidelong glance. "You are already sixteen years old, no longer a child. I will treat you as an adult, so we must discuss the publication of this book properly. The bookstore will fund the printing, and the profits will be split fifty-fifty with you. Do you accept?"
Gao Sanwa was ecstatic. "As long as it gets published, I don't even need a share of the profits. I just want to see my book printed."
San Shier scoffed, "You think that now, but when it sells tremendously and earns a lot of money, you'll feel that the bookstore cheated you out of your share, and you'll resent it. Therefore, establishing the profit-sharing rules beforehand is the way adults handle things."
Gao Sanwa was still young and didn't quite grasp such principles, but understanding that San Shier was willing to help him publish, he cheered and jumped up. "Oh, whatever you say! Just help me publish it quickly, quickly! I want to take my own book and show it off to my parents."
San Shier smiled, shook his head, and took the manuscript into the Gao Family Village Bookstore, arranging for the engravers and printers to handle the book.
Li Daoxuan watched the entire event, and his heart stirred slightly. *This development is quite good!*
Currently, the Gao Family Village Bookstore primarily printed the textbooks he provided for various subjects like language, mathematics, physics, and chemistry, as well as classic comic books like "Generals of the Yang Family," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," and "Water Margin." The only original work was Gao Yiye's "Dao Xuan Tian Zun's Demon-Slaying Adventures," but that work was too heavily promotional and not truly a good story.
Now, this original work submitted by Gao Sanwa might just spark a new trend, leading to the development of "comic books" or "manga," which is a very promising artistic direction.
*Heh, it all depends on whether Gao Sanwa's work can set the trend.*
*Alright, with that distraction handled, it's time to find my main focus: Where is Gao Yiye?*
*Where did that little girl Gao Yiye run off to?*
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