Chapter 35: The Squeaky Wheel Gets the Grease

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Just as Zheng Fei had left Advanced Publishing House, the editor named Zhang Jijin arrived. Mo Changshan chatted with him briefly and clarified the whole situation. It seemed that publishing this comic would still face difficulties.

Advanced Publishing House was merely a joint venture publisher; the final approval authority did not lie with him but with the chief editor of People’s Fine Arts Publishing House.

After talking with Editor Zhang, Mo Changshan still decided to publish the comic "Storm and Cloud." He had long been dissatisfied with the old comrades at the publishing house. They liked to form cliques, and from the moment a comic project was initiated, it was already clear who would be pocketing the profits.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

“Secretary Chen, this is Changshan.”

After knocking several times, someone inside the chief editor’s office of People’s Fine Arts Publishing House replied, “Come in, the door is not closed.”

“Secretary Chen, I have something to report to you.”

Having dealt with Zhang Jijin, Mo Changshan naturally knew that the “hot potato” of “Storm and Cloud” was being kicked over by this sly old fox sitting before him.

Having scraped by in this circle for so many years, he knew which words could be spoken and which could not.

“It’s like this: our publishing house recently received a comic submission. Editor Xu and I have reviewed it and consider it an outstanding work. Would you like to take another look?”

Seated was a middle-aged man with graying temples, dressed in a Zhongshan suit, who did not immediately answer but changed the subject.

“No rush. You haven’t been here in a while. What tea would you like?”

“Anything is fine.”

Since the 1950s, having cultivated good relations with the elder brothers in the north, they learned from their experience and did not set up the position of a president. So currently, the chief editor was the top person in the publishing house and also a Party official responsible for all management.

“Changshan, I’m not saying this to criticize, but now that Advanced Publishing House is an independent entity, I think such matters don’t need to come to me.”

“That won’t do. Advanced Publishing House is still in its infancy and trial phase. We can’t grasp many directions firmly. If we don’t communicate with you, Secretary Chen, we’ll be unsure.”

Chen Lida poured some tea for Editor Mo and continued.

“In fact, we have already held a meeting about ‘Storm and Cloud.’ Most comrades are quite satisfied with it.”

But such a work was highly controversial; it couldn’t be decided by one or two meetings.

Your publishing house is considered progressive, so I had Xiao Zhang introduce the young comrade Zheng Fei to you.”

Mo Changshan smiled on the surface but was inwardly annoyed. Controversial, so they just tossed it to our publishing house, huh?

“So what’s your position on this?”

Chen Lida said, “If your publishing house wants to publish it, I certainly have no objection.”

Mo Changshan twitched the corner of his mouth. That statement was quite clear: if things went wrong, it would be their publishing house’s fault, but if successful, People’s Fine Arts Publishing House would claim part of the credit.

However, shortly after Mo Changshan entered the chief editor’s office, a leader came in behind him. Upon seeing the "Storm and Cloud" manuscript on the table, he immediately said:

“Secretary Chen, our own publishing house can’t even print its own comics. You can’t just hand over resources to other publishers.”

Seeing this person, Mo Changshan already guessed who was causing trouble. With him sabotaging things, no wonder Secretary Chen had to assign this comic to their publishing house.

Back when he was still at People’s Fine Arts, Mo Changshan might have feared him, fearing he would cause trouble. But now it was different.

They had separated; this fellow no longer had power over him. Mo Changshan smiled brightly and said:

“Editor-in-Chief Jiang, I don’t like what you’re saying. At the start, we agreed that this would be a joint venture.”

Editor-in-Chief Jiang said coldly:

“You’re capitalists, and we’re socialists. How can we be the same? Besides, ‘Storm and Cloud’ is an imported product—besides fighting and killing, what good does it bring to the people?”

Mo Changshan hated this argument the most. Every time a new, innovative work emerged, they used this excuse to suppress it.

He had endured it for a long time, but now he was no longer at People’s Fine Arts; he was walking straight into the gunfire.

Mo Changshan was unwilling to tolerate it any longer and pointed at Jiang’s wristwatch.

“This is also an imported product. Why do you wear it?”

“That’s nonsense! A watch isn’t the same as a work of art!”

Mo Changshan continued.

“You always talk about society and capital, but do you even know who earned the most in royalties last month?

If you ask me, you’re the real capitalist, abusing your power to indulge in privilege.”

“Mo Changshan, what are you saying? Don’t slander me, or I’ll sue you.”

“Go ahead and sue me. I’m just an editor with a thirty-yuan salary. Are you, a deputy editor-in-chief earning thousands in royalties each month, really going to scare me?

Why don’t we both report this and let the public judge who the real capitalist is?

Besides, I’ve heard from comrades at Xinhua Bookstore that the comics you publish don’t sell at all and are just collecting dust in warehouses…”

As they argued, many employees came over to watch.

Seeing Mo Changshan silence Editor-in-Chief Jiang, many felt immensely satisfied.

Mo Changshan wasn’t wrong. If his royalties were made public, he would certainly suffer a big loss.

As the crowd grew, Chen Lida cleared his throat and said sternly:

“Changshan, you’re causing a bit of a fuss. Editor Jiang is your senior; you should show him respect.”

With Secretary Chen speaking up and many people watching, Mo Changshan began to complain with a touch of grievance.

“Anyway, Advanced Publishing House is just a guinea pig being tested. At first, they talked about reform and innovation nicely, but then they restricted us everywhere...

We finally found a comic you were afraid to publish, and someone with seniority wants to use his veto power...

Everyone else is making a fortune, but our monthly salary is just thirty yuan, and they won’t even let us publish this book.

They say leave some wiggle room for others, but this is pushing us to the brink...

This time, I really want to make a big fuss and let everyone judge what ‘society and capital’ really mean according to Editor Jiang.”

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Seeing Mo Changshan getting more emotional, Chen Lida cleared his throat.

“Alright, I’ll sign off on this for you this time. That should be enough. If things really escalate, it won’t look good.”

After soothing Mo Changshan, Chen Lida looked at the flushed Editor Jiang and smiled.

“Old Jiang, I think we should let some things slide and give young people a chance. What the people like and what suits the people must ultimately be tested by the market.

Besides, our publishing house and Advanced Publishing House are indeed joint ventures; we should help when needed.”

With the chief editor’s words, Jiang Weishan had no choice. He glanced at Mo Changshan, snorted coldly, and left the office.

Chen Lida looked at the crowd outside the door.

“Everyone, please disperse and get back to work.”

Once Jiang Weishan left, Mo Changshan immediately brightened up.

“By the way, Secretary Chen, the submitter Zheng Fei said the first print run must be at least ten thousand copies; otherwise, he won’t cooperate.”

“That’s impossible. I can offer you at most five thousand copies. You must understand how tight paper supply is now. Besides, you requested 32K size—one book is equivalent to two.”

Mo Changshan knew well that since the Reform and Opening, publishers had been working at full throttle, with new books published almost weekly.

But the printing factories couldn’t keep up. They prioritized newspapers and periodicals before books.

Some local publishers even had to wait two years to print their books.

Two provinces had even quarreled over paper supplies—one threatened to cut off steel supplies if not given paper.

Mo Changshan looked troubled.

“How about this? I’ll discuss with Comrade Zheng Fei, and we’ll compromise at eight thousand copies. What do you think?”

“At most seven thousand.”

“Alright, seven thousand it is.”

Chen Lida sighed and shook his head.

“If we’re going to do it, let’s do it well.”

“Definitely. Secretary Chen, one more thing—I want to report that Suisui wants to become Zheng Fei’s comic assistant. What do you think about this?”

Hearing this, Chen Lida tapped the desk repeatedly.

“Where does this Zheng Fei create his comics?”

“At his own home.”

“Alright, I’ll allocate more funds for you. Set up an office, preferably spacious...

Also, editors and artists must keep proper distance, especially with male-female relationships—no excessive private contact.”

“Secretary, with me here, you can rest assured.”

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