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The tentative name for this magazine was “All Water Tales”. Its contents would contain a variety of stories and unorthodox literature. Lin Lixuan didn’t intend to mix in unorthodox literature. He only intended to make an interesting booklet.
It would be used to help people pass the time.
Whether it would be put up in the store for sale or sold to the traveling merchants to relieve boredom on their journey, it would be nice to have as a souvenir. Lin Lixuan liked to read strange stories like these, and there were only a few essays here that could satisfy him, so he would make it himself. He’d find people to compile the stories himself.
During this time, he’d been planning on doing this, but that woman Shen Youyun kept persisting him. The plan had been in the planning stage for a while, and now that he had time, he had to find more authors for this booklet.
Now that he had a printing workshop and Mr. Shen behind him, he wouldn’t have any problem creating this monthly magazine. The only difficulty was… where was he going to find all these creators? They had to be in line with his preferences too. He wouldn’t be able to find them all before the first publication, so he could only do it himself.
She shamelessly asked Chu Zihang to write two stories for him and asked Huang Yuan to draw a serial comic for him. Lin Lixuan also picked up a few jokes from some brothers and wrote a serialized martial arts novel. He attached several anagrams, and after some adjustments, the first All Water Tales was produced and printed.
The first issue of the magazine was issued. Lin Lixuan didn’t promote it anywhere but his own store. It wasn’t Songyun Bookstore, but his restaurant, Lin’s Restaurant. How did he promote a book in a restaurant? He used his skills.
Weren’t there several puzzles attached to the back of the book? Lin Lixuan first announced at the store that if you could solve the anagram, you could write the answer on a slip of paper and throw it in the red box at the entrance of the store. In the middle of the month, ten lucky readers could get a free voucher for food in the shop.
Each voucher was equivalent to 100 yuan. Everyone who got a voucher could get food at Lin’s Restaurant worth equivalent to 100 yuan for free.
Although it was just a small gimmick, it still attracted some homebodies to come to his store and study. A free meal was important, but showing off their skills was even more important.
After reading the puzzle, it was inevitable to read the contents of the book as well. Of course, they would become addicted as well too.
Only 800 copies of the first volume of All Water Tales were printed. He put 10 copies in his store for people to read for free. Those who came to the restaurant for lunch could rest and drink tea while reading it.
Those who wanted to buy the magazine were welcome to as well too. If someone wanted to read it for free, they had to eat there. Either way, Lin Lixuan wasn’t making a loss. Using this trick, the number of people who usually came to his restaurant increased by 30%. Not only was it crowded during mealtimes, people also came to drink tea, eat snakes, and read the magazine during off times as well.
In the afternoon, Huang Daniu lazily sat by the door of the restaurant and flipped through the book. There weren’t many customers at that moment, so he was leisurely. he could relax and read for a while. At first, he didn’t know how to read, but since there were so many books in the restaurant, it would be a waste not to read them. The boss was nice and taught him how to read during spare time. Therefore, Huang Daniu had time to read while managing the restaurant.
For a few days now, there was a customer who would order a pot of tea and a plate of melon seeds and sit in their restaurant while reading.
He wore a gray shirt. He wasn’t too tall or too short. He was of medium stature and had a slightly darker complexion. He spread the book on the table and read it very seriously.
It was inevitable to get some oil stains on the table when eating. Lin Lixuan wrapped a thick layer of oil paper over these booklets to reduce their wear and tear. On the oil paper, there were five words, the first three words were written in big letters that read: All Water Tales. Below that were smaller two words that read: Volume One.
People who saw this person couldn’t help but ask: “Lao-Liu, I’ve known you for 20 years now…Aren’t you illiterate?” “Why are you sitting there pretending to read…”
“Although I can’t read, my son knows how to. He went to school for several years and taught me a lot of words…”
“Hmph, you’re as illiterate as I am… Can you even understand it?”
“Of course I can. It’s not very difficult… Do you want me to tell you the story?”
“Tell me…”
“This is about a chivalrous man… Do you understand that word?” Lao-Liu said in front of the people he knew.
“I didn’t expect you to actually understand it…”
“Of course. It’s not hard.” Lao-Liu himself also felt strange. He couldn’t understand those textbooks in school, but these books…Although he only knew a few words, when he opened the page, he even understood the story with only having to guess a bit. According to the context, he could understand the meaning of the words he didn’t understand.
The serialized cartoon stories were particularly interesting. They were drawn by someone named Xiao-Yunzi. They were very exciting. Lao-Liu read the cartoons a few times and thought it was very interesting and funny.
“Let me see the book in your hand…”
“Go lost and go find yourself another copy.”
“Where are the books?”
“Over there. It’s on the platform at the top of the stairs.”
“They’ve all been taken…”
“Then you have to come earlier tomorrow. I’m reading this one.”
“…”
A month later, the number of copies sold of the first issue was 30% of the number printed. Among them, Huang Yuan bought the most copies. This was the first time his work was shown to the world, so he was eager to buy all the copies and collect them.
“Do you want to buy the remaining 500 or so copies?”
“I want to, but I can’t afford it!”
“You really want to…Don’t even think about it. Go back and make a draft for next month’s issue!”
After the first volume was released, Lin Lixuan only earned back the capital that was put in. This was including the profits from his own store. After a month of operation, the earnings were still neither a profit or a loss. However, the energy he used, now that was a big loss. But Lin Lixuan didn’t care. He could still accept this kind of loss.
It was only the first try.
Lin Lixuan asked the workshop to work overtime to print books. At the same time, he also spread the news that he was receiving manuscripts.
On the last page of All Water Tales, there was a note: After reading this, those who were willing to submit manuscripts to Songyun Bookstore could send them directly there on Seventh Street in All Water County.
After all, this was only the first month. After Lin Lixuan’s shoutout for more stores, he didn’t receive a single manuscript.
All Water Tales was a monthly magazine. Once a month, with the foreshadowing of the first book, the second and third were released one after another. Lin’s Restaurant would always carry the newest issue, and you could read it there.
“Hey, what about last month’s? I haven’t finished reading it yet.” Someone stopped Huang Daniu and asked him why there were no books from last month.
“You can only read the current month’s issue in store,” Huang Daniu replied, telling them all the old issues had been removed.
“If I’d known earlier, I would have finished reading yesterday before leaving. This is a big loss. Oh right, Daniu, where can I find last month’s?” The man was disappointed and annoyed. After he finished speaking, someone beside him pushed him. “I saw a neighbor buy a copy. You can ask him to borrow it.”
“This…works too…But it’s so troublesome. If I’d known, I would’ve finished reading before leaving yesterday. Such a big loss. I really wanted to read the martial arts serial.” After reading yesterday, the person kept thinking about it and planned on coming back today to finish it.
“Didn’t you already hear what happens?”
“But I want to read it for myself.” There was a big difference from hearing it from someone else and reading it for yourself!
“Then it can’t be helped.”
At first, All Water Tales were only spread within All Water County. Some travelers would buy a copy to bring to other places. The first issue had little influence, then came the second and third issue… One came after another, until one day, a businessman from someplace else arrived at Songyun Bookstore to buy several copies.
“My old buddies wanted to buy it themselves, but they didn’t have the time. When they heard my ship was docking here, he kept nagging at me to buy a book called All Water Tales before leaving. As businessmen, how do we have time to read!”
“Buying one copy is fine, but they wanted me to buy ten. By the way, they’re also asking if you have last month’s issue?” Sold out? None left? Not sold anymore? And only sold on the month of? Doesn’t that mean if one missed it, they wouldn’t be able to buy it anymore?
Something like this that was released once a month required a lot of people. Each story had to be cut up in the right place, and each issue needed a handful of stories. There was a cause and effect. Not only did it have to continue on from the previous issue, they had to continue the story content as well. At the same time, they had to attract the attention and understanding of those who might not have read the previous issue. Therefore, Lin Lixuan had to carefully consider each story within All Water Tales.
Lin Lixuan racked his brains to sort the contents for next month’s issue. He scratched his ears and cheeks, wondering how he should break up this chapter. It was more of a headache for him than actually writing a story.
He put in a lot of work in the layout of the issue, and the results were obvious. After the fourth and fifth issues were released, people would always come to ask: How can I read past issues? Would they reprint old issues?
Of course not!
More and more people wanted to read it, and the number of free copies for viewing inside Lin’s Restaurant was raised from 10 to 20.
