"Quick report second?" Gao Qiao, who was eating dinner, heard the news, and the instant noodles in his mouth fell out.

And the number of votes for the first-place "Adventure King" is very close, and this newspaper is likely to get the first place. ”

"This is the best result in my history!! you must know that I have only won the fourth in the first word!" Gao Qiao said excitedly.

"Don't be too happy, the editor-in-chief didn't promise to cancel the halving plan, and if you can't continue the serialization, it's useless to get any rankings. Lear poured cold water on him.

"That's right...... It's okay, I'm ready for the worst. Gao Qiao picked up the instant noodle bucket and sucked a handful of noodles. He was so hungry.

In the manga shop, he was somehow regarded as a pervert by that group of junior high school students, and the bear child called the police. In the police station, he was watched as a pervert for the whole afternoon, and Gao Qiao was greatly tortured psychologically and physically.

"By the way, how's the progress of the third episode?"

"With the help of an assistant, I can come out tonight. Gao Qiaoxili snorted and finished the noodle soup and threw the noodle bucket into the trash.

"That's good. By the way, do you know what's going on with the scarf topic list? How did Wanyouwang's card game become popular?"

"Probably someone spontaneously promoted it, but I don't know the details. But I went to the manga café today, and a lot of junior high school students rushed to play our game. ”

"Oh, so popular? But we've printed hundreds of copies, and a lot of people can't play the game. ”

"yes, I think it would be nice to print more. But we can print with a printer, and we can print hundreds of sheets a day. It's useless. ”

"Why don't you just find a printing shop?"

"But I don't know the people in the printing house, and it takes time to print, right, what if the game is out of breath before then?" Gao Qiao still has no confidence in himself.

"Isn't it because you took out the cards to test this time that you have the current popularity? If you can get more peripherals, maybe more people will pay attention to the comic "Wanyou King", and more people will vote. ”

Li Er and Gao Qiao are now in a relationship of both prosperity and loss. Of course, he hopes that Gao Qiao's results can be better, and the second place in the quick report is not enough to affect the judgment of the editor-in-chief.

"Well, you have a point. Gao Qiao pondered for a moment, "It just so happens that I made some money from the game this time, and my previous savings should be enough for peripherals." Can you help me ask the printers how much they will cost to print once?"

"Okay, I'll ask for you. ”

As soon as Li Er hung up the phone, a noise comparable to a chainsaw rang from downstairs at regular intervals. It seems that the landlord's son has started to practice electric guitar again. Lear sat up helplessly and almost hit his head. A ten-square-meter snail house is too narrow for a man of 1.8 meters.

But he can't complain about anything, in this Shangjing, where every inch of land is expensive, if you want to be cheap, you can't get convenience. He walked out the door with his phone, and the strange smell of life hit his face.

This is a small, old-fashioned three-story house, with nearly 100 residents living on the first floor. The landlords were very clever and divided each room into four or five dwellings with cheap boards, and the income could be doubled compared to renting it out alone.

Most of the tenants come from all over the world, and there are people who do everything. Most of them are drifting north with dreams.

There was a lot of traffic outside, and all kinds of noises converged into a strange symphony.

It was getting late, so Li Er found a café at random, and his ears finally quieted down. Looking at the expensive menu, he ordered the cheapest drink under the disdainful eyes of the waiter. Then cheekily asked for the WIFI password.

Lear found the phone number of an old classmate who worked in a printing factory and called him. In less than two seconds, it was picked up. A female voice as crisp as a yellow oriole came from the other end: "Great talent, why do you want to call me?"

"You didn't sleep, I didn't bother you. ”

It's quite noisy on the other side, and it seems to be a party. Suddenly, it was quiet again, as if the other party had closed the door: "What's the matter, you can't go to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing, you can just say anything about it." ”

"I heard from others that you are now working at the No. 5 Printing House in Shangjing, are you still there?"

"Yes, the benefits of paper media are not very good now, so I just eat with my mouth. It's not like you, big tyrant!"

"Hehe...... "What kind of tyrant is he now." After severing ties with his family, all his credit and bank cards were discontinued. If he hadn't been self-reliant since he was a child, he might not even be able to live a normal life.

His parents are very old-fashioned people, and they think that anime and everything are just things for children to watch. Ever since he expressed his desire to stay in Beijing and work as an editor at a comic magazine, his family's opposition has not stopped. His father even disowned him.

The older generation always thinks that comics are villain books and cannot be put on the table, even if the Chinese comic industry has existed for more than 100 years. Maybe the editors of literary magazines like "Friends" and "Confidants" are decent jobs in their eyes.

"Can your printing house print merchandise?"

"Why are you asking this? Do you want to introduce me to business? ”

"I have a friend who wants to find a printing shop to print some game cards, but I don't know if you can do it. ”

"How old is it?"

"It is 5.9 centimeters wide and 8.6 centimeters long, and it is better to use coated paper. "Li Er actually measured it in Gao Qiao, and remembered this number.

"It's not a standard size. You are lucky, there are not many machines of this size that can be printed in Beijing, and our factory happens to have them. By the way, color printing or black and white?"

"Colorful. ”

"Then the cost is a little bit higher. Wait, I'll calculate the cost. Plus the electricity cost for start-up, manual ...... The cost of one is probably around two dimes. ”

"It's so expensive, and it doesn't cost two cents a page of our magazine!"

"You don't have a standard specification, you have to use a special machine to cut and polish the corners. And it is necessary to use coated paper, which is naturally expensive. If you want to print only the minimum print run, you need 200,000 pieces. ”

"200,000?!Is it so much to make a peripheral?"

"Do you think that the printing plant is not like computer printing, you can just do whatever you want. He's going to make plates. You can't make a version and print a little bit, so don't print it. 200,000 is already the lowest price, and no matter how low it is, there is no profit in the factory, so it will not be accepted. For the sake of my classmates, I'll give you a preferential price!"

"Well, this is my friend's print, I'll ask him and I'll give you an answer. Li Er hung up the phone, just as his coffee was served. After taking a sip, it doesn't feel as good as instant coffee, and he doesn't know why so many people are chasing hand-ground coffee, anyway, he can't understand it.

After calling Gao Qiao's phone, Li Er said to Gao Qiao, Gao Qiao was silent for a while, and said, "200,000? ”

is like the serialized writer of "Shangjing Boy", Lv1's is about two or three hundred thousand annual salary, and Lv5's is more, three or four million. At that time, cartoonists no longer lived on the magazine's fees, and most of their income came from copyrights and royalties.

Lv1 manga artists are able to make money only a few. After all, you have to afford to hire assistants, rent a house, and some miscellaneous expenses, except for a small number of studios in small places, most of them can barely maintain a balance of payments. Yes, I didn't earn much as I did when I was an assistant.

So there are a lot of cartoonists who can't get along and have changed jobs to become professional assistants.

Although Gao Qiao also published two single books, they didn't sell well. In addition, the price of this place in Shangjing is expensive, so it is very likely that you have not saved any money.

After a while, Gao Qiao said dejectedly on the phone: "Every coin on my body has been pulled out, and it is only 174,000 and 5 yuan and eight cents." Of these, ten thousand were to be used as a salary to pay assistants, and they could not be moved. That's only 160,000. There are still 40,000 ...... left."

Li Er was afraid that he would slap his swollen face and become fat, so he persuaded him: "Actually, if you don't want to print, don't bother, I'll tell my classmates." ”

"No, I thought about it later. This time, the topic of scarf dropped, and it dropped immediately after it went up, because there were too few card prints, and many people didn't play it. If I can make some merchandise and sell it, maybe more people will vote for me, and you will be more relaxed, right? So this card, I must print. But I don't have enough money...... Hey, it would be nice if the manuscript fee could arrive earlier, and the publishing house still hasn't given me 40,000 or 50,000 manuscript fees. ”

“…… In this case, I have 40,000 here, you can use it first. Li Er was silent for a while and said.

Gao Qiao hurriedly said: "How can this work, how can I ask for your money!"

"I mentioned this matter, and it makes sense for me to bear a part of it. If you really don't want to go, it's good to pay me back when the manuscript fee arrives. Presumably, you, a serializer with an annual salary of hundreds of thousands, will not rely on me to pay back the 40,000. Li Er said jokingly.

Gao Qiao still refused, but Li Er stubbornly transferred the account with his mobile phone.

Gao Qiao saw the balance change prompt, and did not refuse again, but said: "I will definitely return the money to you as much as possible." ”

"No, not really. Li Er hurriedly said, "Since you have decided to print." Then I'll discuss it with my classmates, bye-bye. ”

Li Er called his classmates again and made an appointment to visit the printing house tomorrow, and Li Er hung up the phone.

Look at the time, it's almost ten o'clock. Thinking that the landlord's son should finish practicing, Li Er saw that there was still more than half a cup of coffee in the cup, and forced him to drink it in one go.

As a result, when I returned to the cramped bed, I couldn't sleep.

Li Er was curled up in a ten-square-meter room, and the thin blanket could only cover half of his body. It's fine in the summer, but it's in the winter.

Lear looked at his ceiling, and in the air between his eyes and the ceiling, hung a small sparkling television.

Where does his future hold?