NOVPUBThe publication of the comic book had a bit of a mishap.
The post-production and typesetting went smoothly, but when Xu Qingfan and his two little buddies showed the printer’s sample to Zhang Chaoqun, he gave it high praise.
With his keen political instincts, he instantly saw the opportunity it represented.
If he could use the comic book’s promotion to reduce local fraud crime rates, it would be a significant achievement during his tenure.
Most importantly, the rate of fraud was very easy to track. By the end of the year, comparing the data with other regions, whether it be criminal cases or the amount of fraud, if the variance was huge, everyone could see the effort he had made during his tenure.
Hence, Zhang Chaoqun waved his hand and directly asked the three little ones for the printing rights to this issue of Hilarious Daily, to be published by the official publishing house.
Forgoing the traditional layers of agency processes, after the comic was printed by the publishing house, it was directly purchased by the Public Security Bureau and the Education Bureau, and finally distributed free to the school teachers, students, and local citizens.
Of course, the price was that the three little ones wouldn’t earn a single penny from this comic book publication.
Xu Qingfan didn’t really care about such a small amount in royalties, and Zhang Yiyi and Lin Wanning cared even less. From childhood, neither had ever worried about pocket money, and at this moment, they still didn’t have much concept of the amount of money involved.
...
"Liu Xiang is in the fourth lane, the race starts, and Liu Xiang’s takeoff is very smooth, he is currently in the lead, next to him are Kramer and Li Jiaersi, Liu Xiang is in the leading position..." 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓅𝓊𝓫.𝒸ℴ𝓶
"Liu Xiang! Liu Xiang has won, Liu Xiang has made history, a Huaxia man with yellow skin and black hair has become the world’s fastest man! Twelve point nine one, Liu Xiang has set a new world record!"
On TV, the commentator was passionately describing the events.
From above, the sound of vibrating floors could be heard, and though it was already the second day’s replay, the neighbors in Lianhua Courtyard were still ecstatic.
From ping pong to the women’s volleyball team, and now the first gold medal for a Huaxia person in track and field, the unspoken national pride was vented by every viewer in front of the TV, converging into a shouting frenzy.
Xu Qingfan’s home phone rang timely, and he ran to answer it, "Xiao Fan, you’re really amazing, all the inventory at the duck neck store is sold out, and there are still many people lining up. Today’s sales might break two hundred thousand!" Zhong Wenqing said excitedly on the other end.
"Sold out so quickly?" Xu Qingfan glanced at the wall clock, it wasn’t even eleven in the morning yet.
"Exactly—from early morning, there’s been a long queue, the duck necks in all forty-three shops are sold out, we had to temporarily close until we can continue in the afternoon!" Zhong Wenqing said tiredly but with a hint of surprise in her voice.
"I told you Liu Xiang could win the championship, you didn’t believe me then." Xu Qingfan chuckled lightly.
"Really impressed by you, little devil. I won’t talk, got hundreds of calls this morning about franchising; I’ll go handle them." After sharing the joy, Zhong Wenqing felt rejuvenated, now only wishing she could clone herself like the Monkey King, as every second wasted meant white shiny Silver slipping by.
Xu Qingfan was about to say something else, but Zhong Wenqing had already hung up the phone.
He shook his head and smiled, putting the phone back when Xia Xiaoxiao turned to ask him, "Who was it?"
"Sister Qingqing," Xu Qingfan settled back next to Xia Xiaoxiao.
The little girl had just cleaned her ears with a wooden ear spoon; Xu Qingfan lay back on Xia Xiaoxiao’s lap, only wearing shorts, "My ears itch, help me dig too!"
"This is my own, go get yours!" Xia Xiaoxiao pushed Xu Qingfan’s head resting on her thigh.
"I don’t mind, start now!" Xu Qingfan settled on his side.
"I mind!" Xia Xiaoxiao bounced her thigh, signaling him to get down quickly.
"I don’t allow you to mind, hurry up, my ears are itching to death!" Xu Qingfan shook his head, his hair poking into the flesh of Xia Xiaoxiao’s thigh making a "shasha" sound.
Xia Xiaoxiao rolled her eyes silently, wiped the spoon clean with a tissue, and then patted Xu Qingfan’s cheek, "Lie still, don’t move!"
"Okay."
Xu Qingfan closed his eyes and comfortably enjoyed Xia Xiaoxiao’s ear-picking service; he quite liked ear picking, the spoon gently moving in and out of his ear canal created a pleasant noise that tickled his heartstrings.
"The other side!" Xia Xiaoxiao cleaned off the dirt she had scooped out and disdainfully tapped his head.
Xu Qingfan obediently turned his head to the other side, his small face facing her.
"Your hair and nails are so long, why don’t you cut them!" Xia Xiaoxiao nagged like an old lady.
"It’s the holiday now, no need for appearance inspections so I forgot." Xu Qingfan said.
"Long nails can breed bacteria, it’s disgusting. Cutting nails is for your own good, not for the teacher to see, you’re just lazy!" Xia Xiaoxiao criticized.
"Yeah, I am lazy, I’m a big lazy dog!" Xu Qingfan said with pride.
"You’re not a dog, dogs are man’s best friend, you’re a big lazy pig!" Xia Xiaoxiao teased.
"Pigs are so cute, what gives you the right to talk about pigs, have pigs eaten your rice, why aren’t pigs man’s best friends?"
"Too lazy to bother with you, get up, it’s done!" Xia Xiaoxiao, already accustomed to her childhood friend’s daily rantings, stretched out her hand to push him off.
"I’ll go cut my nails, you’ll come with me to the market later." Xu Qingfan got up from the floor, grabbed a nail clipper from the drawer, and went to the hallway to cut his nails.
