Chapter 404: Gao Sanwas Growth
Chapter 399 of "The Great Ming in the Box" introduces the scene: Startled by Thirty-Twoâs scare, Gao Sanwa jumped up in terror.His occiput âthumpedâ against Thirty-Twoâs chin.Thirty-Two... Keep going!
Startled by Thirty-Twoâs scare, Gao Sanwa jumped up in terror.His occiput âthumpedâ against Thirty-Twoâs chin.
Thirty-Two covered his chin and squatted down, Gao Sanwa also covered the back of his head and squatted down, both groaned in pain, unable to speak for a long while.
A long time later, the pain finally subsided!
Gao Sanwa rubbed the back of his head and said, âWow, Thirty-Two, what kind of person do you take me for? How could I ever scribble on the sacred statue of the Deity? Even as mischievous as I am, I know thatâs off-limitsâIâve never even thought about it, but you were the one having such ideas, werenât you?â
Thirty-Two felt a burst of awkwardness, âDefinitely not!â
Gao Sanwa retorted, âYou surely did!â
Thirty-Two declared, âI did not!â
Seeing he couldnât avoid trouble, Thirty-Two quickly changed the subject, âKid, what on earth are you here for?â
Gao Sanwa realized he couldnât dodge either and confessed, âI⌠drew a comic book⌠and came to find Sister Yiye to ask her for some money to print it out.â
âHuh?â Thirty-Two was greatly surprised.
âHuh?â Li Daoxuan was also greatly surprised.
Gao Sanwa explained, âDidnât Sister Yiye publish âDao Xuan Deityâs Demon Elimination Taleâ by funding it herself? I want to publish my own drawn book in the same way, but my parents wonât give me the money, so I came to find Sister Yiye.â
Thirty-Two replied with annoyance, âSince when did you get into this sort of trouble?â
Gao Sanwa said, âIâve always liked it! Anyway, Iâm not good at studyingâespecially since moving up to higher grades and starting junior middle school math, physics, and chemistry. I canât understand a word, so I used class time to draw a comic book.â
Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly: That kid, he reminds me of my own youth. Though I kept up in junior middle, I was totally lost in high school math, physics, and chemistry. I barely scraped through high school by cheating on exams, then took the path of art design, eventually becoming a freelance designer.
After listening, Thirty-Two pondered briefly and sighed, âNot every child is suited for studying; there are kids like you⌠sighâŚâ
He stretched out his hand, âWhat have you drawn? Show it to me.â
Gao Sanwa protectively shielded his original artwork, âYou wonât burn it, will you? This is my only copy.â
Thirty-Two laughed helplessly, âIâm not your momâI wonât curb your hobbies.â
Gao Sanwa carefully considered this and, reassured, hesitantly handed over the original.
Thirty-Two opened it to look; Li Daoxuan also paid âclose attention,â drawing the scene near to scrutinize it.
It turned out Gao Sanwa had drawn an action story, roughly about a child who became a taoist, apprenticed and learned skills, but due to average talent, was despised by his master. The masterâs appearance somewhat resembled Ma TianzhengâŚ
Fine, Gao Sanwa had probably only ever met Ma Tianzheng among taoists, so that style had to be borrowed.
Ma Tianzhengâno, his masterârefused to properly teach the child the Quanzhen swordsmanship, so the child was bullied by fellow apprentices. The appearances of these fellow apprentices resembled Young Master Bai and Third MissâŚ
These two were actually good friends of Gao Sanwaâs, often joking together, yet now they were drawn as villains in the book.
Young Master Bai and Third Missâno, Senior Disciple Bai and Junior Sister Sanâteamed up with other apprentices to bully the protagonist. The protagonist flew into a rage, shouting a famous line, âThirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the riverâIâll prove myself one day.â
He had actually added brief dialogue to his comic book!
Li Daoxuan gasped in shock, âHoly crap, is this kid a transmigrator? How does he know that trope?â
At that moment, Thirty-Two laughed, âThe phrase âthirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the riverâ describes the Yellow River segment between Shaanxi and Shanxiâit frequently changes course, so villages might be in Hedong sometimes, Hexi others⌠that saying comes from people in Heyang County, right? Kid, you actually used that proverb in your book, pretty impressiveâyouâre not all empty-headed after all.â
Li Daoxuan thought bemusedly, âHuh? So that saying originated here? Aah! Iâm ignorant again.â
The protagonist in the book began to strive diligently, practicing swordsmanship fiercely until he mastered it. Not only did he defeat Senior Disciple Bai and Junior Sister San, but even his master Daoist Ma was no match for him. Finally, he descended the mountain as a skilled swordsman, traveled the realm, and became a great hero.
Li Daoxuan marvelled inwardly, âItâs a trash-to-triumph story! Incredible! The kid actually invented the âwaste-material risingâ trope during the Ming Dynastyâheâs gonna skyrocket.â
After finishing the original, Thirty-Two remained silent for a long while before finally speaking, âFor this book, no need to ask the Saint Lady for publishing fundsâIâll have the publishing house put it out.â
âWhat?â Gao Sanwa was overjoyed, âReally? Thirty-Two, you mustnât trick a kid.â
Thirty-Two rolled his eyes, âYouâre over sixteen nowâno longer a child. Iâm treating you as an adult, so letâs properly discuss publishing. The publishing house will fund the printing, and profits will be split fifty-fifty. Acceptable?â
Gao Sanwa exclaimed in delight, âI donât need a split! Iâd be happy even without it, as long as it gets publishedâI just want to see my book in print.â
Thirty-Two snorted, âYou think that now, but if it sells big and rakes in cash, youâd feel the publishing house ripped you off and grow bitter toward them. Setting the share rules upfront is the adult way of handling it.â
Gao Sanwa was still young, not fully grasping this logic, but thrilled that Thirty-Two was helping, he cheered loudly and jumped up, âAh, just do whatever! Hurry up and publish it quickâI want to show off my book to my parents.â
Thirty-Two shook his head with a smile, took the original into the publishing house, and assigned the woodcarver and the printer to handle the book.
Li Daoxuan watched it all unfold and was inwardly struck: This development is great!
The publishing house at Gaojia Village printed various textbooks he provided for language, math, physics, and chemistry, plus comic books like âYang Family Generals,â âRomance of the Three Kingdoms,â and âWater Margin.â Its only original work was Gao Yiyeâs âDao Xuan Deityâs Demon Elimination Tale,â but that one reeked of propaganda and wasnât a good story.
Now, with this original submission from Gao Sanwa, a new wave might emergeâleading to the rise of âcomic booksâ or âmanga.â This was a highly promising artistic direction.
Heck, whether Gao Sanwaâs work could spark a trend remained to be seen.
Alright, the distraction was overâtime to focus. Where was Gao Yiye?
Where had that little girl Gao Yiye run off to?