Chapter 62: The Next Step

Although the people had been hired, their specific compensation had not yet been finalized.

Mo Changshan sought out Zheng Fei, wishing to consult his opinion since he was the one who had recruited them this time.

"Teacher Zheng, what do you think would be an appropriate salary for them?"

Zheng Fei pondered for a moment before replying, "These individuals all possess a certain foundation. I wouldn't advise paying them apprentice wages."

"Understood."

The following Monday, when they reported for their first day of work, Mo Changshan held a brief orientation meeting for the three new employees.

"According to our publishing house's regulations, comic assistants have a three-month probation period. During probation, your pay will be twenty-five yuan. Once you pass probation, the publishing house will raise your salary to forty yuan, with an additional five-yuan bonus each month for good performance."

Upon hearing this compensation package, the three of them exchanged glances in astonishment.

Since the recruitment notice had omitted any mention of salary, they had assumed this comic assistant position would be unpaid, just like a traditional apprenticeship.

Never had they imagined there would actually be wages, and that the pay would even exceed that of a fully qualified regular worker by several yuan.

At that moment, Zhou Weiguo felt as though he had been struck by a pie dropped straight from the heavens. He was so stunned that he reached out and slapped himself hard across the face twice.

"Damn it, that really hurts."

His stress levels had been exceptionally high these past few days. Ever since he had a falling out with his manhua master, his master's wife had gone to make a massive scene at his home.

She accused him of quitting midway and violating the spirit of the contract, demanding that he pay manhua apprenticeship fees.

However, Zhou Weiguo was no pushover. He immediately shot back, "I washed all the clothes and bowls in your house, and I even washed your intimate undergarments. Shouldn't we calculate that account properly too?"

Upon hearing this, his master's wife turned crimson with embarrassment, yet she still had no intention of letting him off the hook and planned to cause a scene at the publishing house where he had been hired.

Realizing she intended to stir up trouble at the publishing house—and having secured his precious spot as a comic assistant with such difficulty—Zhou Weiguo dropped a harsh ultimatum on the spot.

"If you dare to make trouble, I'll tell reporters that I drew almost all of those manhuas myself. As for that little affair between you and Old Wang next door, I'll air all of that out in public too."

Hearing this, his master's wife was instantly reduced to silence, lacking the courage to cause any more trouble.

Now, he had finally turned his fortunes around. He was actually going to be paid, and the employer was a publishing house! If word of this got out...

Which of his relatives at home would ever dare look down on him again? If he could even help draw for the magazine *Storm Riders*, would they perhaps add his name to it as well? By then, he could simply take the *Storm Riders* manhua with him to matchmaking sessions and secure himself a partner.

The publishing house, which was already far from spacious, felt even more crowded with the addition of three new people, but it also became much livelier.

Through these days of interaction, Zheng Fei discovered that the personalities of these three individuals were vastly different.

Li Ziwei, who came from an academic background, belonged to the steady faction. He approached his work methodically and possessed a very strong learning capability.

Before Zheng Fei had even begun tutoring him, he had already taken the initiative to research manhuas on his own.

As for Zhang Mingzhu, she belonged to the optimistic and radical faction—the type of person who dared to try anything, grinning even when she failed.

During her first few days at the publishing house, she had been blindly tinkering away on her own and had already ruined several sheets of draft paper with failed drawings.

Zhou Weiguo, meanwhile, possessed a people-pleasing personality. During his free time, he would even help pour tea and fetch water—a quintessential enthusiastic employee.

Zheng Fei suspected this was likely tied to his past experience as an apprentice.

With the recruitment of the three new comic assistants, the person most heavily impacted across the entire publishing house turned out to be Xu Sansui.

With more people around, she felt too embarrassed to maintain her usual slovenly appearance. However, what gave her the greatest headache of all was her cousin.

Not only did she read her manhua books without permission, but her mouth never stopped moving. Even the fact that the neighbor's cat had caught a mouse yesterday was something she had to bring up and recount.

Zheng Fei had finally figured it out.

These two cousins were complete opposites—one a hardcore shut-in, and the other an extroverted social butterfly. Their personalities were an absolute contrast.

After being tormented by Zhang Mingzhu for two days, Xu Sansui retreated straight into her bedroom and locked the door from the inside.

On the outer door, she posted a sign reading: *Zhang Mingzhu is forbidden from knocking, and forbidden from entering or leaving at will.*

Seeing that her cousin was ignoring her, Zhang Mingzhu grinned and sought out Zheng Fei. "Teacher Zheng..."

Before she could finish, Zheng Fei waved a hand at her. "Out the door, take a left, and make sure you close the door properly. I've already assigned your tasks—go and do your line art right now."

"Understood, Teacher Zheng!"

In truth, aside from being a non-stop chatterbox, this kid was exceptionally efficient at practical work. As long as she was given clear instructions, her line-art speed was not much slower than Xu Sansui's.

It was fair to say that Zhang Mingzhu was a naturally gifted talent favored by the heavens; she only needed a minimal amount of time to fully master a skill.

According to Chief Editor Mo, she had originally been assigned to the municipal academy of painting, but for some reason, she stubbornly refused to go. Upon hearing that they were hiring comic assistants here, she had simply bypassed the system to squeeze in through the back door.

Zheng Fei frowned in contemplation. Could it be that his personal charm was simply too overwhelming, causing even a genius of this caliber to be captivated by him?

Taking advantage of the bedding-in period, Zheng Fei briefly instructed them in some manhua drawing techniques.

For Zheng Fei, the notion of teaching apprentices while starving the master did not exist. Therefore, from the very beginning, he taught them with utmost dedication.

The three of them naturally felt Zheng Fei's sincerity. Even Zhang Mingzhu, usually so talkative, had recently quieted down and was pouring all her effort into refining her drawing skills.

With the injection of fresh blood, the entire publishing house exuded a palpable drive. During this period, Zheng Fei had not been idle either.

Over the course of a little more than a month, he had drawn the storyboard drafts for *Storm Riders* all the way up to the third volume.

Zheng Fei intended to hand over the entire *Storm Riders* manhua project to Xu Sansui's charge, preparing himself to become a hands-off boss. From then on, all he needed to provide were the simplified storyboard drafts and text, leaving the specific line art, textures, and coloring entirely to them.

As far as Zheng Fei was concerned, *Storm Riders* had reached its destination here; there was no need for him to keep pouring massive amounts of energy into this single title.

Right now, he had more important matters to handle. For the manhua industry to truly develop, a hundred flowers had to bloom simultaneously.

In his past life, a very significant reason for the decline of Hong Kong's manhua industry was that a few titles had become far too dominant, squeezing out the living space for other works.

The saying "Rise by the wind and clouds, fall by the wind and clouds" applied equally well to the Hong Kong manhua scene.

Zheng Fei believed that if manhua was to gain any real traction within a year or two, launching dedicated publications was an absolute necessity.

As it happened, the Shanghai Fine Arts Publishing House had taken the initiative to sever ties with Advanced Publishing House, a development that left Zheng Fei overjoyed.

Zheng Fei wanted to launch the *Hua Wang* magazine. If the finances hadn't been cleanly separated, then once the magazine started turning a massive profit, half of it would have had to be handed over to the Shanghai Fine Arts Publishing House.

The thought of them making money while simply lying down had deeply annoyed Zheng Fei. Now that the accounts were split, Zheng Fei immediately accelerated the application process for *Hua Wang* magazine.

Come to think of it, Zheng Fei felt quite grateful to that Deputy Editor-in-Chief Jiang. He felt as though that man was an assistant sent by the heavens; every single one of his arrogant and unwise decisions allowed Zheng Fei to take a massive leap forward.