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Chapter 397: Chapter 387
This morning, Shen Yunfang was bustling as soon as she got up.
"Pangpang, hurry up and brush your teeth and wash your face; your sister is going to need the bathroom soon. Come on, baby, stretch out your arms," Shen Yunfang said, sitting on the bed and dressing Manman.
"Mommy, I want cake," Manman requested with her big, blurry eyes still half-closed, proposing her breakfast wish to her mother.
"Alright, Mommy will give you cake, but now hurry up and get dressed, get out of bed quickly, we need to be faster this morning," Shen Yunfang couldn’t bear to refuse such a small request, especially since the cake she made had very little sugar, so it wouldn’t be harmful for the children even if they ate a lot of it.
"Manman knows, Mommy is going to school today," Manman tilted her little head to cooperate with her mom, stretching out her arms and legs, "When Manman grows this big, I also want to go to school." She stretched her arms wide to show how big she hoped to grow.
"Yes, when Manman grows up, she’ll go to school too," Shen Yunfang finished dressing the child, bent down to kiss Manman’s cheek, and patted her little bottom, "There, now go brush your teeth and wash your face like your brother."
"Okay!" Manman agreed with a loud voice and scurried off on her little short legs to the bathroom.
Shen Yunfang had already prepared the toothpaste for both siblings so they’d only need to pick up their toothbrushes and start brushing. Therefore, Shen Yunfang didn’t follow them to the bathroom but instead headed to the kitchen.
Initially, she had wanted to have porridge and buns for breakfast this morning, but since her daughter requested cake, Shen Yunfang decided to put the already cooked rice porridge into her space, then took out a few slices of cake from the space as well. After deliberating, she also took out a milk pot and poured some sheep’s milk from the space, tossed a few almonds into the pot, lit the gas stove, and boiled the milk.
"Babies, are you ready? Breakfast is already prepared!" Shen Yunfang shouted towards the bathroom.
"In a minute!" the two children yelled out together.
Five minutes later, the mother and her two children sat at the dining table, each with a slice of cake and a cup of sheep’s milk.
Soon after breakfast was finished, Shen Yunfang quickly washed the cups and then urged the kids to pack their backpacks, and the trio finally left the house before 6:50 am.
She walked the two children to daycare, "There are clothes in your backpacks, if you need to change, tell the teacher, okay?" After seeing both children nod, Shen Yunfang let them go inside.
Checking the time, it was already seven. She hurried towards the bus station; the Agricultural University was still some distance away, and walking would waste time. She was in a rush, so she could only take the bus.
It happened to be rush hour, and the bus was so packed it was like people were squeezing against each other. Shen Yunfang got on the bus with others pressed in around her and likewise was squeezed out when it was time to get off.
It had been many years since she experienced such a crowded bus. After getting off, she patted her chest, truly a bit scared.
When she finally managed to find her classroom, she discovered she was the last one to arrive again. But that was to be expected, as all the other classmates were living in the dorms and had arrived yesterday at the latest. They were naturally earlier than her, someone who lived off-campus and had to take care of two children.
On the first day of school, Teacher Zhu Zhengqi conducted a session to work through thoughts with everyone, and with that, the new semester officially began.
During the break, Ma Liang, with a stack of notebooks in hand, bounded over to Shen Yunfang, beaming with excitement.
"Shen student, I’ve finished drawing all of these, take a look and see if they are okay."
Shen Yunfang was puzzled by his happiness, wondering what had gotten into him over the vacation to be smiling so broadly.
She took the sketchbook and flipped through it page by page. Ma Liang’s drawing skills were unquestionable. Following the simple character sketches she had provided, he had exercised his imagination and fleshed out the characters in the sketchbook very well.
Shen Yunfang nodded while watching, very good, indeed very good. Of course, Ma Liang’s drawing skills were one factor, but the story she had adapted was also excellent.
After plotting "The Thirty-Six Stratagems," Shen Yunfang pondered for a long time about what else she should pirate. She didn’t have the talent for genuine works, so piracy was her only option.
After much deliberation, pirating content from her own country seemed somewhat disadvantageous and unfair to the vast working population, so she ultimately turned her predatory gaze toward the not-so-friendly M Country.
Among the classic films she knew, she settled on Transformers.
The Transformers movie was very popular at that time, with promotions everywhere, so it had impressed Shen Yunfang. It seemed that the film was based on a toy line and animated series launched in 1984 through collaboration between an American toy company and a Japanese company. This meant that there were no Transformers movies yet, so adapting it would come without any burden for her.
She adapted the story of the Transformers movie into a series of comic books, one volume per episode, planning to do a hundred episodes first. If it proved popular, she would then adapt Transformers 2, 3, and 4 as well. That would keep her busy for two or three years.
"Hmm, basically no problems, it passes." Shen Yunfang nodded seriously, as a boss she couldn’t be too friendly.
When Ma Liang heard Shen Yunfang say it passed, he let out a quiet cheer, then smiled like an eager puppy, blinking at Shen Yunfang.
Shen Yunfang couldn’t stand this sort of thing. "If you have something to say, get on with it. Stop smiling; it gives me the creeps."
As soon as Ma Liang heard this, he immediately reined in his expression, worried about annoying Shen Yunfang, and sat up straight as he cautiously asked, "Did you notice any difference between these comic books and the previous ones?"
Shen Yunfang suspiciously flipped through the comic book again, but she didn’t spot any difference, pleading vision ineptitude.
"What’s the difference?" Shen Yunfang wore an expression demanding an honest explanation.
"Heh heh, it’s like this, I was a bit tied up with some things during the holidays, and I didn’t have time to draw so much. I was afraid of delaying your business." Ma Liang’s smile was somewhat sycophantic again.
Shen Yunfang had a bad feeling about where this was heading.
"My older school sister from Agricultural University had nothing to do, so I gave her the comic books to draw. But when I got them back, I checked over them carefully; there’s no problem." Both individuals were taught by his father, so their artistic styles were somewhat similar, making it easy for them to emulate each other.
Upon hearing his explanation, Shen Yunfang’s expression suddenly turned cold. "If you didn’t have time to draw, you could’ve told me, and I would’ve found someone else. By giving these comics to someone else without my permission, do you realize what the consequences could be?"
Ma Liang was stunned by her comment, shaking his head blankly.
In reality, what consequences could there be? Not many people knew that her comic books would be sold abroad, so instances of copying were unlikely to occur. However, Shen Yunfang did not plan to simply let this matter slide. If Ma Liang continued to behave in this manner and let just anyone see her comics, it would be uncertain whether copying might happen in the future. It was essential to nip this kind of situation in the bud.
"You should know that these comic books are meant to be sold to foreigners, who take intellectual property seriously. Why else would they spend money to buy comic books from us, as if their country lacks people who can draw?" Shen Yunfang explained, though the logic was flawed.
Ma Liang shook his head dumbly.
"Also, by showing the comic books to someone else so casually and then if that person shows them casually to everyone else, what if someone copies them?"
Ma Liang wanted to protest that this couldn’t happen—who would bother to copy someone else’s small comic books? They were mostly for kids.
"And another thing..."
