World of Wonders 2

Ji Chunhua came over with a big shaved head, no eyebrows, and a face full of brutish flesh. At one meter seventy-eight he was not a short man. He wore a black cotton-padded jacket hanging open. Veins stood out on his thick neck. His fierce triangular eyes glared at the other man, and he said in a rough voice, "What are you yelling for? Is this a place for you to shout your head off?" "G-g-ghost..." The troublemaker fell back a step, his face full of fright. My Prince Sihanouk! Wasn't this Ghost Face, straight out of the movie? "Ghost, what ghost? And you still dare insult people!" "It's written clear in black and white. Every other comrade understands. You're the only one who doesn't? One look and I can tell you came to take advantage. Go on, out!" Ji Chunhua shot out a big hand, seized the man by the collar, and carried him out the way one lifts a chicken. The onlookers were delighted to a man. Some even clapped and cheered. "Didn't come for nothing today. We saw Ghost Face!" "What's he doing here? Guarding Prince Duan?" "Don't tell me the editorial department is a cover, and inside is actually a secret base, researching ancient martial Tai Chi, the limits of the human body, and special powers?" The crowd talked of everything under the sun. The one thing no one felt was that Ji Chunhua had given offense. Please. This was nothing. Common folk had long been steeped in the overbearing manner of state-run service and were used to it. At least the wall wasn't posted with "Beating readers without cause is forbidden"! Having dealt with one troublemaker, Ji Chunhua simply planted himself in the doorway, arms folded, and swept his eyes over the crowd like a baleful door god. Most behaved themselves. A few clueless louts who couldn't read the situation were thrown out as well. "Aiyo!" Feng Xiaogang sidestepped and saw the mangliu who had been ahead of him in line flung out with a whoosh. He swallowed at once. He hadn't thought World of Wonders not only published exquisite pieces, but also knew a thing or two about fighting! Trembling under Ji Chunhua's gaze, he stepped through the gate. Straight ahead was still that screen wall, carved with plum, orchid, bamboo, and chrysanthemum, a great water vat set beneath it. He turned left, gave the front courtyard a rough look, felt it extraordinarily grand, and dared not look long. He went into the editorial office on the left. "Hello, comrade. Are you here to hand in a questionnaire too?" Five readers came in at a time. Four junior editors, Liang Xiaosheng among them, were all busy, and by now they received people with practiced ease. Feng Xiaogang nodded. "I'm from Xicheng District too. Figured I wouldn't bother mailing it, and just came myself." "Please, sit, sit!" Dai Hanhan received him, took the questionnaire, wrote down his contact information, and said with a smile, "If you win a prize, we'll notify you." "Oh, all right... um, there's something I don't know whether I ought to say?" "Of course you may!" "This magazine of yours is truly well run. It's only that the kinds of fiction are a little narrow. If they were richer, it would be even better. This is just a sincere opinion from me as a reader. Please don't mind." "Not at all. We were collecting your opinions to begin with. Thank you for your support!" "Eh, all right, all right. No need to see me out!" Feng Xiaogang came out with his neck pulled in, feeling he had done something worthwhile. Truly a fulfilling day. He slipped off, thoroughly pleased. "..." Across the courtyard, Chen Qi saw it all clearly through the big glass window. He said abruptly, "Give him a second prize!" "It's bitter cold out there. Let the people lined up outside come in, and have them wait in the editorial department. Pull Old Liang out to tell everyone why we founded the magazine. Don't leave him receiving people one by one..." He finished. Nothing stirred. He turned his head. Li Jianqun turned her head too and pointed at herself. "You want me to go?" "The only idle ones left are the two of us. Would I be the one to go? I do pay your wages, after all." "Then your bureaucratism and bourgeois thinking are pretty thick!" Li Jianqun shot that back, but she went all the same. She first called to Ji Chunhua to let the people in, then let Liang Xiaosheng know. Liang Xiaosheng was drawn away from receiving visitors one by one and switched to receiving them as a crowd. It was plain talk anyway. He told the group how they had gotten the magazine going, the difficulties they had run into, and so on... Chances to visit the editorial department did not come often, and everyone was quite interested. Before they knew it, at last no one else came. When the last reader had been seen off, the several of them sank into their chairs as one and let out a long breath. "My old granny, I'm dead tired!" "I've said more today than in half my life!" "Wah, it's already dark!" Liang Xiaosheng was parched too. Cradling a mug of hot tea, he drank as he spoke. "We'd better not hold events so lightly. This is only the first day. If it goes on like this, who can stand it? It'll throw off our regular work." "How about we stop receiving people and have them all send letters?" "They've come. We can't very well drive them off, can we?" "Then limit the numbers. Or simply sell tickets!" "Let me say a few words..." Chen Qi motioned for quiet and said, "The inaugural issue event has to be held. Afterward we'll see how things stand. But we can't say we won't hold them, or put restrictions on readers. The main thing is that we don't have enough people, and not enough space. Once we've grown, I'll specially set up a Reader Service Center, and you won't have to wear yourselves out." "All right. Everyone worked hard today. Tonight we eat out. My treat!" ...... "Wontons are here!" At the Qianmen Large-Bowl Tea headquarters, a bowl of steaming wontons was set on the table. The wooden room was snug enough, with a little stove inside for warmth. Six people sat at three tables, and not one of them looked at the wontons. A while later came another call. "Wontons are—oh!" Huang Zhanying laughed. "What has you so spellbound? Those wontons have gone cold. Hurry and eat!" "Ah? Oh, oh!" One of them came to, took a sip of the hot soup first, chopsticks in his right hand, while his left still cradled an unremarkable little book. Another asked, "Comrade, is that book of yours for sale?" "It is. Whatever the marked price is, that's the price!" "Then I'll buy a copy!" The man neatly produced two mao and five fen and lined them up on the table. Once he took the lead, the others followed in a rush. In the blink of an eye six books were gone, and a subtle heat of excitement rose among them. Five Phoenixes Facing the Sun Saber came to eight volumes in all. The first was about ninety thousand characters. Each issue carried roughly thirty thousand characters. Bimonthly—once every two months—that came to the equivalent of five hundred characters a day. Hmm... The whole book was under a million characters. Don't take that for too little. This was a novel on paper. Even Jin Yong's longest, Demi-Gods and Semi-Devils, was only a bit over 1.5 million characters. A Deadly Secret, The Book and the Sword, Fox Volant of the Snowy Mountain, Ode to Gallantry, and the rest were all a few hundred thousand characters. Writers of the old school could never have imagined the internet age to come, that way of updating ten thousand or twenty thousand characters a day. As they ate, someone—no telling who—came out with, "Wu Fenglou assassinated Wei Yinping's father. Who knows how that will end?" As if with a boom, the already subtle mood caught fire, and they all started talking at once. "Wei Yinping gave her heart away in secret long ago, and she isn't a bad person, either. Isn't she likely to turn from wickedness to good, and leave the dark for the light?" "Hardly. She's a commandery princess, and her uncle is Wei Zhongxian. Wu Fenglou is the descendant of a loyal minister. That's an irreconcilable blood feud. How could a change of sides come so easily?" Wuxia novels are fairy tales for adults! —Hua Luogeng After Reform and Opening Up, the wuxia craze lasted more than twenty years. Later, wuxia only changed shape, turning into tales of immortal heroes and into arcane fantasy. The essence was the same. In the wonton shop, a few wuxia fans talked until the place was boiling. At one point they went red and white in the face and nearly came to blows, and someone had to talk them down in earnest. Each had a view on where the plot was headed, but in the end they agreed on one thing: "Too little in the updates!" "The next issue isn't until March!" The few of them left deeply fulfilled. Huang Zhanying came in to clear the tables, took one look, and said, "Well now, they really did sell out!"