British writer

Three days later, at noon.

White Star Line London Branch.

Under the leadership of foreman Kleiner, a group of workers gathered in the corner, gnawing bread and eating bacon.

Since the former Prime Minister Robert Gascoigne-Cecil was brought down half a year ago, their treatment has been much better.

At least, the wages paid now support them to eat meat regularly.

There are even more opportunities to go drinking.

The workers chatted,

"Sigh... I would die if I didn't watch "Lord of the Rings"."

"Can we read a book? It's obviously listening to a book~"

"However, what he said is right. After the completion of "Lord of the Rings", "The Miracle of Mandy" recently serialized by "Mirror" although it is also a fantasy work, it does not have the same taste and does not have that refreshing feeling."

…

They were all discussing the novel version of the Mirror.

At this moment, Nansen, the factory accountant, walked over with the "Mirror" under his arm.

He plopped down next to Clennel,

"Boss, I'm here."

Kleinel nodded,

"There's another series today, right?"

Nansen nodded,

"right."

As he spoke, he picked up the water bottle and took a sip into his mouth.

As a result, it was this act of drinking water that attracted everyone’s attention.

stare--

All the workers’ eyes were bright.

"Gu..."

Nansen swallowed and whispered, "What's wrong?"

Kleiner glared at the other person and warned: "You kid, do you really think we can't smell what you put in the kettle? Are you crazy to drink in the factory in broad daylight? If the supervisors find out, they can give it to you. To put it another way...well...that's right, you are the accountant of the factory, and the supervisor cannot control you."

As Kleiner spoke, he pointed to the other party's kettle.

The smell of alcohol is noticeable.

Nansen was surprised,

"Can you really smell it?"

Kleiner felt helpless for a while.

"Boy, we drink every day, how can we not smell it? Anyway, you should be careful, don't make a mistake when settling the accounts and pay the wrong wages."

Nansen waved his hand,

"That won't happen. I'm drinking and playing board games at the same time, so the damage is not considered missed~"

grass!

Ten thousand grass and mud horses ran wildly through Kleinel's heart.

A worker came over next to him.

"Give me a bite."

Kleinel went up and kicked him, saying, "Do you want to die!?"

The worker immediately became obedient and sat back in his original position.

He asked in a low voice: "Nansen, what's the matter with you? Recently, you haven't even gone to drink when I asked you to drink. As a result, you've been sneaking around here during the day."

Before Nansen could answer, Kleinel next to him spoke for him.

"You forgot, his wife just gave birth."

"Ah this..."

The worker immediately looked worried.

"I'm a dad too. I understand."

He patted Nansen on the shoulder,

The two sides communicated with each other, and everything was unspoken.

Kleinel next to him smiled bitterly,

"It was actually fine when the child was first born. The older half of my family was at the age when dogs would bother them, and they kept making noises all day long. In the past, I could never understand those male compatriots who liked fishing and sat by the river. What’s the point? Now I understand that sitting still is also a kind of enjoyment.”

"Pfft! Hahahaha..."

Everyone laughed.

Kleiner glared,

"Laugh your ass off!"

The others quickly fell silent.

Clennell sighed and said to Nansen: "Okay, let's not talk about the yes and no. You can go on to read "The Miracle of Mandy" to us. Where did you talk about last week?"

After saying this, the workers couldn't help but look at each other.

They all found that they seemed to have no impression of the previous plot.

It can only be said that "The Miracle of Mandy" is far worse than "The Lord of the Rings" and cannot even leave an imprint in the memory.

The two books are not on the same level at all.

Nansen asked: "Do you still listen?"

Kleinel nodded,

"Listen to it. I've been listening to it for a few months. If I don't continue, I feel like I'm at a loss."

This is a question of silent costs.

Just like catching up on updated web articles,

Some books draw out the battle line too long, and there is a tendency for it to get longer and longer, and it is easy to become a useless thing that is "no meat to eat, but a pity to discard".

Nansen nodded,

"Then I read it."

He flipped the newspaper all the way back, looking for the novel version.

Suddenly, his movements stopped,

"This is... Come and take a look, the Mirror has a new page!"

"What page!?"

The others came forward,

Although they are big bosses, they particularly like some pages of the Mirror.

for example,

People's livelihood version of drawing charts,

Gender versions that tell various outrageous love stories,

Jokes and leisure,

comic version,

…

Even if you don't know much about literacy, you can still read these pages and it's very fun.

Nansen said: "The new section is called children's literature."

Upon hearing this name, the workers all gasped in boredom.

Then, as if someone remembered something, he joked to Kleinel: "Boss, maybe you need this~ Didn't you just say that your children and dogs are annoyed by the sight of them?"

Clennel was furious;

"Go away! I'm a stickler at home, do you need to rely on these little tricks to stabilize the child?"

However, although his mouth is stubborn, his body is very honest.

He came forward,

"Nathan, read it to me."

Nansen shook his head and said: "There is no need for me to read it. Because it is children's literature, the words are very simple. You can do it yourself."

Kleinel became even more curious and took the newspaper.

"Le Petit Prince\

,""The Little Prince\

,""little Prince?"

Kleinel was surprised,

“And, it’s actually bilingual!?”

Nansen explained: "This is not difficult to understand. The main readers of children's literature must be children~ Sir Lu values ​​education, so he adopts a bilingual model. It is always good for children to learn another foreign language."

Although British education has always been a dual-track system, there was no such thing as a magical happy education at the beginning of the 20th century.

Everyone should roll up or down.

Poor families like Kleinel also know the importance of reading.

He nodded in agreement,

"That makes sense. Let me read it first."

He didn't know French, so he only read English.

I thought it was for children, so I just had to read it briefly by myself.

But for some reason, he was immersed in it without even realizing it.

Time passes minute by minute,

suddenly,

Jingle Bell--

The bell to remind you to go to work rang.

Only then did Clennell break away from the atmosphere created by "The Little Prince" and unconsciously handed the newspaper back to Nansen.

Nansen whispered: "Boss, you..."

With that said, he handed over the handkerchief.

Kleinel was surprised,

"how?"

Nansen did not answer directly, but silently pointed to the corner of his eyes.

Kleinel touched his right cheek,

Somewhat moist.

"I cried?"

He looked in disbelief.

Nansen didn't want to embarrass his boss, so he turned away and pretended not to see it.

Kleinel had infinite emotion in his heart, but he just didn't know how to express it.

He sorted out his words for a long time before saying: "Nansen, I never thought that an author could express the indescribable feelings in people's hearts so vividly with such fairy tale and innocent words."

Nansen was stunned.

"Boss, it turns out you are quite polite, how could you say such a thing?"

Kleinel couldn't help but laugh,

"I really should take this fairy tale back and read it to the brat at home. Of course, I'm not saying that I can't control him, but...it's just..."

Clennell was speechless.

Nansen patted him on the shoulder,

"Boss, don't explain anything. I understand."

Kleiner glared at the other person, and then asked: "Whose work is this fairy tale? If possible, I will go to the market to buy some of his books."

Nansen glanced at it and then looked shocked.

"Lu!? It's actually Lu!?"

Kleinel was surprised,

"It turned out to be the master who wrote "The Lord of the Rings". What? This book was written by him. Is there anything to be surprised about?"

Nansen scratched his head, unable to explain.

Because the co-workers don't read particularly profound works, they naturally don't know "Animal Farm", the Childlike Innocence Trilogy, and "The Moon and Sixpence".

Therefore, they cannot understand the huge difference in style between "The Little Prince" and these books.

Lu has so many writing styles that he is a genius.

Seeing that Nansen didn't speak, Kleinel didn't ask further questions.

He continued: "Is there a sequel to this fairy tale? I think it looks like a serialization."

Nansen said: "There should be."

Kleinel sighed,

"It would be great if instead of updating once a week, it would be updated once a day."

…

evening.

Fleet Street.

Not far away, the Fleet River flows quietly, with splashes of water.

Outside the "Mirror" newspaper office, many readers surrounded the door.

"Please update "The Little Prince" tomorrow!"

"Without a follow-up story, my children will definitely pull out my beard. Help..."

"Please, give us parents a way to survive."

…

So many people cry for father and mother,

Tragedy fills the land.

In the editor-in-chief's office, the current editor-in-chief of "The Scotsman" is Charles Alfred Cooper, who was staring at Lu Shi with an expression of watching a good show.

He joked: "When The Hobbit was first serialized in The Scotsman, the newspaper was out of stock. I was in the same situation as you. I was like an ant on a hot pot. I couldn't stand or sit."

At this time, Lu Shi was indeed extremely depressed.

He never expected that "The Little Prince" would cause such a big sensation.

On the other side, Picasso, who was in charge of illustration, smiled bitterly.

"Shouldn't bedtime stories be read at night? Why do these readers start pushing for manuscripts in the afternoon?"

Lu Shi said, "Don't ask. Draw a sketch first."

Picasso's head is full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

I continued to draw illustrations for "The Little Prince".

Cooper on the side said: "Maybe the child is taking a nap~ hahahaha!"

This guy is not too big a deal to watch the fun.

Lu Shi pondered,

With the word count of "The Little Prince", the newspaper only needs four to five pages to complete it.

But this definitely won't work.

In modern times, "The Little Prince" has become the best-selling fairy tale. In addition to the wonderful story, a big reason is the wonderful illustrations in it.

Illustrations are one of the souls of children’s literature.

It can help children understand text content and associate words and pictures, enrich cognition and improve concentration.

The illustrations undoubtedly take up a lot of space.

Therefore, Lu Shi divided it according to content:

Chapters 1~9, meeting the little prince for the first time and telling what happened before the little prince left the planet;

Chapters 10 to 16 tell the story of several planets that the little prince passed before arriving on earth;

Chapters 17 to 26 tell the story of the little prince coming to the earth, meeting a fox, and seeing many roses until he meets the author;

Chapter 27 talks about the author's nostalgia for the little prince.

There are four parts in total.

Combine the last two parts,

In this way, the fairy tale will be serialized in three weeks, leaving plenty of time for Picasso.

Who would have thought…

There were cries of ghosts and howls of wolves coming from outside again.

"Without The Little Prince, I would have died!"

Lu Shi immediately raised one head and two heads.

He turned to Picasso,

The latter seemed to feel the extremely anxious gaze, keeping his hands on his hands, and at the same time buried his head lower, pretending not to know.

swish swish——

The pen tip made a scraping sound against the drawing paper.

Lu Shi coughed slightly,

"Pablo, time is tight and the task is heavy. Do you have confidence?"

Picasso knew he couldn't escape, so he rubbed his face depressedly,

"Jazz, don't tell me that you are going to serialize it for three consecutive days and just end "The Little Prince". If that happens, I won't be able to sleep."

Lu Shi said seriously: "It doesn't matter, I'll stay with you! Let's stay up together!"

After saying that, he glanced at Cooper who was resting next to him.

Cooper:? ? ?

"Lu, I'm not in charge of the Mirror now!"

Lu Shi said: "But as one of the founders, your soul is still with the Mirror. Now is the time for you to show your perseverance and work together with everyone to overcome difficulties."

Cooper was speechless;

What if Lu Shi could become KBE?

Their level of leadership (capitalist) is indeed high.

However, some things cannot be solved by willpower.

Even if Picasso finished the painting, there would still be typesetting and printing, and he would definitely not be able to make it in time for the newspaper delivery early the next morning.

Lu Shi has been involved in the media field for such a long time, so there is no way he would not understand.

He pondered for a moment,

"I have to go out and talk to the readers."

Cooper was startled and asked: "Lu, could it be that you want to adjust the publication time of the Mirror from morning paper to evening paper?"

Lu Shi said "Huh?" and turned around.

"Can it still be done like this?"

Cooper: "..."

Why say anything more?

I really want to give myself two words.

He shook his head,

"No, no, except for the impact of particularly important events like the death of the Queen, the distribution time of newspapers has always been fixed."

Lu Shi showed a thoughtful expression,

After a long while, he said: "I know what to do."

After saying that, he left the editor's office.

He went straight out of the newspaper office door,

The readership was instantly excited,

"Sir! Please be sure to update "The Little Prince" tomorrow!"

"Yeah yeah!"

"I don't want my family to be torn apart."

…

Pleas arose.

Lu Shi looked around and asked, "Everyone, do you all like "The Little Prince"?"

The readers here are all parents;

Therefore, they love and hate "The Little Prince".

I love it because, finally, there is a children's literature that can coax children to listen to it with full attention without making any noise;

And hate is because,

Why is it serialized! ?

Unable to hear what follows, the children all turned into demon kings.

Lu Shi spread his hands,

"Everyone, I understand your difficulties. However, you must also be considerate of "The Mirror". Because although the text part of "The Little Prince" has been completed, as children's literature, illustrations are indispensable, and we need time to rush the work."

Various complaints instantly erupted at the scene.

Someone shouted: "Can you please not have illustrations?"

Lu Shi had no choice but to talk about the relationship between children's literature and illustrations.

It is reasonable and well-founded, and no one can refute it.

After a while, someone asked again: "How long will it take to complete the illustration?"

Lu Shi said: "It will take at least 10 hours. But there is typesetting and printing later, so I will definitely not be able to catch up. Unless..."

Halfway through the words, I gasped for breath.

Everyone's attention was attracted,

"Sir Lu, if you have anything to say, say it directly!"

"Yeah! Don't show off!"

"My family depends on "The Little Prince", Sir Lu, help!"

…

Lu Shi chuckled and said, "Unless tomorrow's "Mirror" can be published twice. Once in the morning, all pages will be normal; once in the evening, a children's literature edition will be added to the basics, and the second part of "The Little Prince" will be serialized. "

Readers’ eyes are brightened,

Someone immediately shouted: "Just do it!"

Lu Shi hesitated,

"But it's very unfair to people who have subscribed to the newspaper for the whole year. They can't get a refund, and they have to pay again for the evening edition. Alas..."

He sighed deeply, with a strong smell of green tea.

As a result, everyone present fell into this trap.

"It doesn't matter!"

All the readers agreed in unison.

This is what Lu Shi was waiting for.

He reluctantly said: "In this case, the Mirror should fully cooperate to meet the needs of all readers."

As a result, "Mirror" created a historical precedent and became the first newspaper to publish twice a day.

What's even more outrageous is that the later version only has one more children's literature.

But Lu Shi finally misjudged the situation.

the next day,

The Mirror, which sold nearly 140,000 copies;

The "Mirror" children's literature special issue sold exactly 70,000 copies.

The reason why the latter is an integer is because there are only so many printed.

Sales estimates are still too conservative.