sinovels Chapter 100 Starting a Company: A Long and Arduous Task
Chapter 100 Starting a Company: A Long and Arduous Task
National Day is approaching.
Luo Jinnian rolled up his school uniform sleeves to his elbows and leaned on the table to listen to the history teacher's lecture.
The teacher was lecturing on the imperial examination system of the Tang Dynasty, while Gu Yanxi next to him was dozing off.
He copied "Those Things About the Ming Dynasty" into the blank space of his textbook: "The imperial examination system is a good thing; it gives the poor a way to climb up the social ladder. But it's also a bad thing; it makes everyone think that only climbing up the social ladder is right."
After writing it, he stared at the line for a while and felt that the words applied everywhere.
His phone vibrated in the desk drawer. He shielded it with his textbook and glanced down—it was a message from Director Qin: "The Silent Truth has passed censorship. Kiwi is asking when filming can start."
Luo Jinnian thought for a moment and replied, "During winter break."
Director Qin immediately responded with an OK gesture.
"The Silent Truth" was a script he started writing before "The Long Season" finished airing. It tells the story of a prosecutor who, to investigate a long-buried wrongful conviction, pays the ultimate price, allowing the truth to be revealed even after his death. This script is more oppressive than "The Hidden Corner," and more despairing than "The Long Season," but it possesses something that "The Long Season" lacks, something Luo Jinnian particularly admires—a tragic grandeur born of knowing the impossibility yet still striving to achieve it.
He shoved his phone back into the drawer and looked up to continue listening to the lesson. A few more words had appeared on the blackboard—"The Advantages and Disadvantages of the Imperial Examination System." The history teacher was writing on the blackboard, the chalk making a screeching sound.
I recently copied "Those Things About the Ming Dynasty" from books; it's making studying history all the more relevant.
Gu Yanxi glanced at him from the side, her gaze landing on a line of text in the blank space of his textbook. A slight smile curved her lips as she pushed her own textbook towards him. It also contained the line: "What you said still holds true today; it's not just the imperial examinations that create such intense competition."
He dared to say "Don't take me with you"—Luo Jinnian's description is truly reminiscent of the ancient imperial examination system.
The note was passed back with an extra line of Chu Qingning's handwriting, written in rounded characters: "Don't pass notes during class. Study hard."
Luo Jinnian glanced back at Chu Qingning, who was sitting upright with her eyes fixed on the blackboard.
As time went by, the older sister finally developed her own authority, and Gu Yanxi and he were still quite obedient to her.
After lunch, Luo Jinnian didn't go back to the classroom; instead, she wandered around the playground alone.
He found a shady spot under a tree and sat down.
He was considering a major issue concerning the company's development—Early Spring Culture was short-staffed.
The circulation of *Story Club* has risen to nearly 400,000 copies per month. Meng Zhaoming is extremely busy and has recently started packing sample copies himself. Things are going well in Jiabei, but after *New Sharp Reading* ceased publication, he hired three people to share the workload, which should keep things afloat in the short term. On the film and television front, after *The Long Season*, Director Qin has two projects on hand: *The Silent Truth* and *Ten Deadly Sins*, while Director Mo is preparing *Seven Deadly Sins* and needs support. On the online film front, *The Human Chair* received a good response, *The Village Corpse* is in production, and *Nightmare After Nightmare* is undergoing script revisions. With three projects progressing simultaneously, Director Qin's assistant director team is already struggling.
He took out his phone, opened the notes app, and typed: "Hiring. We need to hire for film and television production, book publishing, and new media operations."
There are also more specialized accountants.
Qin had always managed the accounts for Early Spring Culture, but he was, after all, a director, not a professional accountant. For a cultural company to grow, its finances needed to be handled by a professional. This person couldn't just be anyone hired from outside; they had to be trustworthy. Several names flashed through his mind, then he crossed them off one by one.
During evening self-study, Luo Jinnian finished his homework, handed in his paper early, and waited for Chu Qingning at the school gate. Less than five minutes later, Chu Qingning came out with two bottles of yogurt in her hand and handed him one.
The two were walking home.
"Brother, you haven't said much all day."
Luo Jinnian frankly expressed his problems.
Chu Qingning glanced at him, took a sip of yogurt, and as they walked, she suddenly said something he hadn't expected: "You can talk to Dad."
"I don't know if he can help," Chu Qingning said. "His company has outsourced its accounting to a firm for so many years, and he knows the people at that firm very well."
After listening, Luo Jinnian thought for a while and did not agree with the suggestion, but his sister's words gave him another hint - finance is a matter of nepotism, and he could hire his godfather to help manage the company's finances.
He walked ahead, his shadow trailing behind, while Chu Qingning followed, stepping on his shadow. The two walked like this, one in front of the other, neither overtaking the other.
The manuscript solicitation meeting lasted all day.
Jiabei led the editors through the manuscripts. The headline was about the Tianqi Emperor from "Those Things of the Ming Dynasty." The article told the story of a man who didn't want to be emperor but was forced onto the throne, then he left the affairs of state to Wei Zhongxian and hid in the palace doing carpentry.
The short story section features a new piece he wrote himself, titled "The Last Subway." It's about a middle-aged man who has been drifting in the city for thirty years, who encounters his younger self on the last subway train.
The two chatted the whole way. After they finished talking, the man got off the train, leaving his younger self on the subway. The train drove away and would never come back.
At the meeting, Meng Zhaoming raised a problem that had been troubling him for a long time: the circulation of *Story Collection* magazine was increasing too rapidly, and the printing plant's capacity couldn't keep up. The current printing plant they were working with was in Hebei Province; its equipment was new, and its capacity was among the best of all printing plants, but it had been rushing to meet demand for the past two months, and the workers were starting to complain. Meng Zhaoming suggested finding a backup plant to distribute the work, in case something went wrong in Hebei and the entire magazine couldn't be printed.
Luo Jinnian said it was okay, and then asked Meng Zhaoming if he had any suitable candidates.
Meng Zhaoming mentioned three companies: one in Tianjin, one in Shandong, and one in Guangdong. He preferred the one in Tianjin; its equipment was better, it was closer to Beijing, and communication costs were lower. The downside was that it was more expensive than the one in Hebei, adding a few cents to the cost per book. Luo Jinnian calculated that with hundreds of thousands of copies sold per issue, a few cents difference in cost wasn't a huge deal. "Let's negotiate. If we can reduce the price, we will; if not, we'll use it."
Meng Zhaoming wrote a line in his notebook.
The idea of new media was brought up by Luo Jinnian himself.
The print edition of *Story Club* is selling well, but online discussion is lacking. Many people discuss early spring tea on forums, but few discuss the magazine itself. Many readers buy the magazine to follow the serialized *Those Things About the Ming Dynasty*, but don't feel a strong connection to the magazine itself. Luo Jinnian's idea is to create an official account, not only on Weibo, but also on Douyin and Xiaohongshu. They plan to post a few pieces of content each week, creating soft, GG-like content such as "Highlights from this week's serialized story," "Daily life in the editorial department," and "Selected reader letters" to cultivate the magazine's intellectual property.
Jia Bei and Meng Zhaoming exchanged a glance; neither of them, who were a hundred years old combined, really understood this stuff.
"I'll find someone to do it," Luo Jinnian said.
It was already dark when the meeting ended. Luo Jinnian stood at the entrance of the office building waiting for his car. Director Qin's car drove out of the underground parking garage, parked on the side of the road, and rolled down the window.
"Get in the car."
Luo Jinnian opened the car door and got in. The air conditioning was on, and the cool air felt nice on his face.
"Regarding your new media matter," Director Qin said casually as he drove, "I know someone who used to work in public relations at Enlight Media, specifically in charge of new media. He left last year. If you need help, I can ask around for you."
Luo Jinnian turned to look at Director Qin and said something that made Director Qin's lips curl into a smile: "Uncle Qin, had you already made up your mind?"
Director Qin didn't answer, but simply turned up the volume of the car's music a little. The soundtrack to "The Long Season" was playing, and the intro to "Blue Moon" started playing in the car. Luo Jinnian leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes.
Luo Jinnian thought to himself that after the October issue was released, preparations for the November issue would begin. During the winter break, filming for "The Silent Truth" would start, "Seven Deadly Sins" was about to begin filming, the new media account for "Story Club" needed to be set up, and the company needed to recruit people. There were so many things to do, too many to schedule, but every single one was essential.
Starting a company is truly a long and arduous task.