American manga: I drew Superman in the Great Depression

"Old John."

After interrupting Old John's persuasion, Colin turned to look at the old newspaper employee.

"Do you think there is any essential difference between earning 5 cents more from the newsboy and 5 cents less from the Courier's current sales situation?"

"..."

Colin's rhetorical question, as expected, caused Old John to fall into silence. He lowered his head and adjusted the brass glasses on his face, and after a while he shook his head helplessly.

"Maybe you're right, boss."

Indeed, the sales of "The Courier" have now hit rock bottom, not even one-fifth of their peak.

Such sluggish sales have long been unable to support the newspaper's operations.

The three people in the newspaper office all knew this, but no one wanted to expose it.

After all, once the bubble bursts, what they will have to face is the bloody reality of the Great Depression.

"So, instead of worrying about the 5 cents in the hands of the newsboy, it is better to think about how to get the remaining news out of the Courier before publication on the weekend."

Colin's words made Old John come back to his senses from the tangle. He turned his slightly sore wrist and looked back at the typesetting machine behind him. Old John said with some distress: "The rest is fine, it will be used for publication."

I have asked Little John to prepare all the materials, but the most critical front page position has never been secured."

Originally, John Sr. planned to publish a photo of the female star Virginia Cherry on the front page of the newspaper.

The same actor who co-starred with Chaplin as the heroine Pygmalion in "City Lights".

Although the popularity of the movie has long subsided by now, and having Virginia Cherrill as front-page news is somewhat of a slap in the face, with the current situation of "The Courier", there is not much room for pickiness.

What a pity that even such an opportunity did not favor Old John and others.

As Colin heard outside the newspaper office, the shooting of Little John did not go smoothly, and in the end, no clear photo of Cheryl was taken as the cover photo of the newspaper.

"If it's the front page of a newspaper, I actually already have an idea."

Seeing Old John's troubled expression, Colin made a confident expression.

Then, with the other party's surprised expression, he handed over the press release paper and photos he had written long ago.

"This is?"

Subconsciously reaching out to take the manuscript paper handed over by Colin, Old John lowered his head and scanned the contents on the paper, then frowned and said hesitantly: "Would such content be too..."

Although Old John did not say the rest of his words, Colin still understood the second half of his meaning from his expression.

"So, do you think there is anything wrong with what I wrote?"

Faced with Colin's rhetorical question, Old John read the content in his hand again, then shook his head and said: "Indeed, as you said, boss, there is no problem with the content, except for the ruthlessness in the wording.

outside."

It's so merciless.

He added silently in his heart. On the surface, Old John did not dare to refute any more, because he had already seen that since Colin had already prepared the news manuscript, no matter what he said, it would be useless.

If that's the case, why would he do the opposite and make his boss unhappy for nothing?

"Since there is no problem with the content, let's start typesetting immediately. There is not much time left before the publication date."

Today is already Friday, and after all calculations, there is only less than a day and a half left before the publication date of The Courier.

The typesetting of newspapers in this era is far less convenient than that of later generations. Even the best typesetting workers need to spend several hours to complete the typesetting of a newspaper.

Therefore, after receiving the affirmative instruction, Old John no longer hesitated and immediately took the manuscript paper in his hand to the typesetting machine and started arranging it word by word according to the above content.

Here, old John started working, and Colin on the other side was not free either.

There are only three people in the Courier Newspaper. He is not only the boss, but also serves as the editor of the newspaper.

Sitting at his desk, Colin picked up a pen filled with ink, combined with the various news materials collected by Little John, and started writing quickly.

Fortunately, as a reporter in another world, Colin was already familiar with the news production process. Although losing the convenience of the computer made his writing process much slower, the urgency of time forced Ke Lin to

Lin rushed out the manuscripts as quickly as possible.

Pat pat pat——

Unconsciously, the sky outside the street gradually darkened.

After finally finishing the typesetting work in hand, Old John breathed a sigh of relief and twisted his sore shoulders. When he turned around, he saw Colin still leaning on his desk, writing furiously.

"Ahem..."

Seeing this, Old John hesitated for a moment, then put his hand to his mouth and deliberately coughed.

"What's wrong?"

Old John's coughing sound did not attract Colin to the desk, but instead woke up Little John who was napping with his chin in his arms.

After smacking his lips and looking at the surroundings in confusion, Little John asked Old John with a half-asleep look on his face.

"Never mind your business."

After giving Little John a speechless look, Old John replied with a stern face while coughing louder.

"Cough, cough, cough!"

This time, Old John's cough had an effect.

Disturbed by the sound of coughing, Colin at the desk stopped the manuscript paper in his hand and turned his sore wrist.

When I looked up, I noticed the dark night outside the newspaper office.

"It's already so late."

Seeing this, Colin put down the pen in his hand, noticed the gazes from Old John and his son, blinked his eyes, and his expression suddenly became a little confused.

"Sorry, I was so absorbed in writing that I forgot to inform you."

"It's okay, I just finished formatting the press release in my hand."

Hearing this, Old John responded quickly and never mentioned the cough he just had.

He shook his head and stood up from his desk.

Colin knew very well that the reason why the two of them stayed so late could not be as simple as being dedicated to their duties and loving their work.

Therefore, without saying anything, he reached into his pocket and took out the money bag, and then poured out two stacks of coins while Old John and Little John watched.

"Thank you for your hard work, be careful on the road."

After handing the two stacks of ten-dollar coins to Old John and Little John, Colin gave a casual instruction.

"thank you boss!"

After taking over this week's salary from Colin, Old John showed a faint smile on his skinny face. As for Little John on the other side, he couldn't help but smile.

Watching John and his son leave the newspaper office, Colin sighed and weighed the weightless purse in his hand.

After paying the weekly wages to the workers, the Courier and Newspaper Company is really on the verge of running out of money.