Fleet Street,

Office of The Scotsman.

Editor-in-chief Charles Alfred Cooper listened to the report of his clerk and couldn't believe his ears,

"You mean, sales increased by 3,700 copies?"

Scott, who was on the side, laughed out loud and corrected: "It's 3751 copies, you heard it right." In addition, I must remind you that this number is due to the fact that you have only 8,000 newspapers in London, and the upper limit of the increment is there, 3,751 has already been reached. ”

Cooper was still incredulous.

After a long time, he waved his hand and motioned for the clerk to go out, and then slumped in his chair, rubbing his brow with his fingers, digesting the shock that this incident had brought to his heart.

"No One Survives", it's on fire!

In one day, the Scotsman's Wednesday supplement soared in price on the second-hand market.

There's no shortage of smart people in the UK, and they know how collectible this thing is.

It's like the 1887 "Beaton Christmas Yearbook", because it published Holmes's debut work "Scarlet Study", which has been fried to three hundred pounds.

Everyone wants to make money lying down.

(Funnily enough, Doyle's manuscript fee was only £25 at the time.) ）

With the explosion of "No One Survives", the mysterious name Lu has also spread in the streets and alleys.

People are wondering what kind of person he is.

Cooper sighed, "I didn't expect it to be a Chinese......"

As editor-in-chief, he is an ambitious man,

When he first took over The Scotsman, the Scotsman was a remote local newspaper, and it was he who made up his mind to hire a telegraph line between London and Edinburgh, and later became the first newspaper outside of London's traditional newspapers to set up an office on Fleet Street, before the Manchester Guardian.

It's a pity that Edinburgh is too far behind in industrialization, and the printing cost has not been reduced, plus it is too far away from London, and the transportation cost is also high.

People's newspapers sell 1pence, and his newspapers sell 4pence.

How can this be beaten?

What's more, "The Scotsman" has a sharp point of view, which is more pioneering than "Manchester Guardian", and the audience is not much.

In this case, it is predictable that sales will continue to decline.

I couldn't imagine that I could rely on a novel to counterattack directly,

At this moment, he was still confused, as if in a dream.

Scott stretched,

"After a while, those two Oriental students will come over, you know what to do, right?"

Cooper said calmly, "Of course. I've already figured it out, even if I don't take into account the factor of buying a horse bone, just to objectively evaluate the level of "No One Survives", the manuscript fee of 50 pounds for a chapter is too low, and it is more reasonable to double it. ”

50 pounds doubled is 100 pounds,

This is undoubtedly a huge amount of money.

In 1900, an income of £100 a year was enough for a London citizen to live quite well.

And you can earn 100 pounds in one chapter.

Scott picked up a briefcase from his feet,

"By the way, I'll make you a favor, it's a good thing."

As he spoke, he patted the box and continued: "The Underwood No. 5 commemorative model is versatile, smooth typing, and has a low failure rate. It's not Oliver and Remington, it's American. ”

When Cooper heard the words "Underwood," "Oliver," and "Remington," he knew that there was a typewriter in the box.

He stammered, "Tut-tut...... When did our British Empire also start to worship American goods? Don't forget, the typewriter is our invention. ”

Scott laughed,

"No, the facts are wrong, the typewriter is an Italian invention. Also, you're Scottish, don't say, 'We're the British Empire.'" ”

Cooper almost kicked the other man in the ass,

"Fxxk, I'll you."

The two laughed.

Not long after, there was a knock on the door outside,

The clerk's voice sounded: "Editor-in-chief, Mr. Lu and Mr. Xia Mu have arrived." ”

The two men in the room immediately sat upright,

Cooper said, "Invite them in." ”

Soon, Lu Shi and Natsume Soseki pushed the door in.

Cooper got up and took the initiative to shake hands with the two,

Especially Lu Shi, he was not ready to let go of his hand when he pulled the landing, and at the same time he did not forget to compliment: "Mr. Lu, reading "No One Survives" these days, I can't help but feel that there is such a magical way to construct stories in the world, which is amazing." ”

The sedan chair is carried by everyone,

Lu Shi waved his hand,

"Novels are just pastime reading, and Mr. Cooper has won the prize."

They exchanged cordial, friendly, and in-depth exchanges for a while, and then they let go of their hands and sat down separately.

Cooper hesitated for a moment and asked, "Mr. Lu, your work is very popular, have you ever thought of republicizing it?" Of course, the royalties for reprints will not be low. There is also the manuscript fee for the following chapters, we are willing to give 100 pounds for a chapter, what do you think? ”

This is the first time it was published and is it going to be republished?

Lu Shi looked at Cooper, knowing that the hesitation on the other party's face was just a performance,

100 pounds a chapter is not a small amount, Cooper must have thought about it a long time ago, and is willing to give this price, it must be ready to use "No One Survives" as a gimmick to rush sales, and take the opportunity to gain a foothold in London, the red sea of paper media.

Lu Shi did not immediately take a breath.

Cooper knows that he can't bear the wolf,

He pushed the toolbox over,

"Mr. Lu, I see that what you handed to the newspaper before was a manuscript, and if you write down tens of thousands of words, I am afraid that your fingers, arms, and cervical spine will be unbearable, right? Would you like to try this? ”

Lu Shi was curious: "What is this?" ”

Cooper opened the box, took out the typewriter inside, and introduced, "The Underwood 5 commemorative model is versatile, smooth typing, and has a low failure rate. It's not Oliver and Remington, it's American. ”

Scott's face darkened, thinking to himself, isn't this what he just said?

He took a sip, secretly despising Cooper.

Cooper didn't see the old friend's right to compete, and continued: "I don't know if Mr. Lu will use ......"

Before the words fell, Lu Shi had already taken over the conversation: "Of course I will use it." Typewriters can really improve work efficiency, but I don't know if this one is useless. ”

I was fortunate enough to see this cross-era product, and his voice was full of excitement.

You know, the Underwood No. 5 quickly became the best-selling typewriter after its release, with more than half of the market share, and it is an absolute legendary product.

Lu Shi tried to press,

"I'll try."

Cooper reminded, "Mr. Lu, you ...... Forehead...... That one...... Would you like to read the instructions for use? ”

Lu Shi shook his head with a smile,

As a modern person, there are many opportunities to come into contact with QWERTY keyboards, not to mention that he is also engaged in translation work, dealing with words every day, and typing at ridiculously fast speeds.

He carded the paper and tapped the typewriter's keyboard casually: "Dinner is almost over." Wine and food, Rogers is very attentive. The people seated were all elated. They began to talk to each other more freely and affectionately. ”

This is the beginning of the third chapter of No One Left Alive.

The two Brits were stunned,

Cooper swallowed and said, "Mr. Lu, don't you need to look at the keyboard?" ”

Lu Shi said: "For a writer, blind typing is the most basic operation. ”

While answering, the fingers tapping on the keyboard did not stop, and even faster and faster, like a rapid dance, accompanied by a crackling sound, and typed a whole long paragraph of the article.

Cooper and Scott couldn't help but look at each other,

The first time they met a suspense fiction writer who started writing a text without making an outline,

Because suspense novels are quite meticulous in their logical requirements, they are written directly without an overall control, and it is easy to be inconsistent and make the donkey's lips not match the horse's mouth.

can see that Lu Shi's pen has divine help, and it doesn't look like he will eat books later.

And Lu Shi's typing speed is so fast that it is beyond the comprehension of the two editors-in-chief.

Just when they were dumbfounded, Natsume Soseki's voice suddenly came: "Lu! You wait! Land! Is that machine ...... Is it smoking? ”

Lu Shi noticed that a paddle inside the typewriter was red and looked very hot.

He leaned in to observe,

"Well, it's the pick of the letter E. No way, E is used the most in English writing, and it's no wonder that the paddle overheats. It seems that we can only wait. Alas, Underwood 5 isn't as godly as I thought......"

Hearing this, Cooper and Scott were messy in the wind,

Where did this TM come from!?