Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

"So fast?" Zhou Muye was both surprised and delighted, and quickly put down the documents in his hand.

Teacher Chen also came over, and the two carefully untied the oilcloth and spread the painting on a table made up of several pieces of paper.

The office fell silent instantly, with only the soft rustling of paper scraping against paper.

Zhou Muyi and Teacher Chen flipped through the pages one by one, their expressions gradually changing from initial surprise to solemnity, and then to shock.

Zhang Dabiao's painting style has made new breakthroughs based on "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King".

If "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" is a work of unrestrained imagination and magnificent classical aesthetics, then "Heroes and Daughters" is a work of profound realism and extreme tragic aesthetics.

He employed a great deal of cinematic storyboarding techniques, creating strong contrasts in light and shadow, and his close-ups of characters' faces were extremely impactful. In particular, his depiction of war scenes was so vivid that the atmosphere of constant gunfire and billowing smoke seemed to burst forth from the page.

When I saw Wang Cheng on the position, facing the swarming enemy, holding a walkie-talkie and shouting with all his might, "For victory, fire on me!"—

Zhou Muye's eyes immediately reddened.

He reached out, wanting to touch Wang Cheng's young and resolute face on the screen, but his fingers trembled slightly in mid-air.

Mr. Chen, a man in his forties standing next to him, also turned his head away and quietly wiped the corner of his eye with his sleeve.

It's not that I'm afraid of looking ugly, it's that I'm afraid my tears will soak the picture.

"Wow...that's so well drawn..."

Zhou Muye's voice trembled slightly. He raised his head, looked at Zhang Dabiao, and his eyes were filled with indescribable excitement and admiration.

"Da Biao, this book...this book is even better than 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King'!"

He picked up the drawing and examined it carefully, as if he were admiring a priceless masterpiece.

"While 'Nezha Conquers the Dragon King' is an artistic pinnacle, this book, 'Heroes and Daughters,' is a spiritual monument! It has a soul!"

Zhou Muyi paced excitedly back and forth in his office. "This book is absolutely going to win the gold medal at next year's national comic book awards! It's a sure thing!"

Without saying a word, the group, like bank escorts, rode on Zhang Dabiao's motorcycle to the publishing house.

------------

When the editor-in-chief, Lao Li, saw the table full of drawings, his eyes lit up instantly.

Without saying a word, he picked up the sketch and started looking at it. The more he looked, the more shocked and excited he became.

As a senior editor, he understands the market value and contemporary significance of this set of illustrations better than Zhou Muyi and Teacher Chen.

When he finished looking at the last picture, depicting Wang Fang carrying on her brother's legacy and returning to the army, he slammed his hand on the table.

"print!"

Old Li's voice was resolute and full of energy.

"The first print run is 30,000 copies! No, 50,000 copies!" He held up five fingers. "Arrange for printing immediately! We must get this book, 'Heroes and Daughters,' to the people of the whole country before National Day!"

He grabbed Zhang Dabiao's shoulder and shook him hard: "Dabiao! You've done another great service to the comic book industry!"

Zhang Dabiao was a little dizzy from being shaken, and could only grin foolishly.

He knew that his hard work over the past four months had not been in vain.

The blockbuster film "Heroes and Daughters" is about to ignite a nationwide frenzy of heroism.

And his name, Zhang Dabiao, will become known to more people through this comic book series.

------------

The day after the artwork for "Heroes and Daughters" was delivered, Zhang Dabiao was still catching up on sleep at home when he was woken up by voices outside the fence at the entrance of the courtyard—his assistant, Chen Puqing, had run over.

"Da Biao! Brother Biao! This is great news! Huge good news!"

Zhang Dabiao yawned and opened the door: "Chen Puqing, what's got you so excited so early in the morning?"

"Early? It's almost noon!" Chen Puqing muttered, then couldn't contain his excitement as he exclaimed, "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King! Your foreign language edition of Nezha Conquers the Dragon King has been reprinted for a second time with an additional 100,000 copies, and it sold like hotcakes at this year's Canton Fair!"

Zhang Dabiao immediately sobered up.

The Canton Fair, officially known as the China Export Commodities Fair, was the most important window for China's foreign trade at that time.

Being able to sell things there means earning valuable foreign exchange for the country.

"Selling like crazy? How crazy?" Zhang Dabiao also became interested.

"Didn't they say they'd already sold 100,000 copies?"

"How crazy is it?" Chen Puqing's voice was full of pride. "We printed 100,000 copies of the foreign language version before, and they were ordered directly through the Ministry of Foreign Trade."

"So we printed another 100,000 copies to test the waters at the Canton Fair. We thought we could sell 30,000 to 50,000 copies at most. But guess what? Less than a week after the fair opened, all 100,000 copies were sold out! You couldn't even get one!"

"Those foreign businessmen, especially those from Eastern Europe and Russia, acted like they'd never seen anything like it before. They surrounded our booth, holding rubles, dollars, and all sorts of foreign currency—they were practically ready to fight!"

"Just now, the trade delegation from our big brother Russia came directly to our door and placed an order for another 30,000 copies! Several brother countries in Eastern Europe have also followed suit, so all in all, we'll need to print at least another 100,000 copies!"

Chen Puqing became more and more excited as he spoke, and in the end he almost shouted it out.

"Brother Biao! You've really launched a massive attack this time! 50,000 copies domestically, 100,000 already exported, 100,000 at the Canton Fair, and now we're printing another 100,000! A total of 350,000 copies! Do you know what that means? This kind of printing volume! The foreign exchange you've generated for the country is enough for our ministry to buy several advanced pieces of equipment!"

Zhang Dabiao listened quietly, a smile on his face.

"That's good." His reply was calm and simple.

This result was actually within his expectations.

The artistic value and commercial potential of the top-tier Chinese animations that have stood the test of the market in later generations are unimaginable to people of this era.

"Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" is just the beginning.

However, a book only costs three cents, and the exported foreign language version costs only seven cents per book. 300,000 copies would only cost 210,000 RMB, which is equivalent to only 85,300 USD. This is not a big deal for Zhang Dabiao.

But for the Ministry of Foreign Trade, this was pure profit, and there was no need to convert it into RMB for Zhang Dabiao.

"Hey! My brother Biao!" Chen Puqing was both amused and exasperated by his nonchalant reaction. "Why are you so calm? With sales of 350,000 copies, anyone else would be jumping for joy!"

Zhang Dabiao leaned back in his chair and said lazily, "It's no use me staying calm, Chen Puqing. I'm the one who launched the satellite, I'm the one who generated foreign exchange, but what does this money have to do with me? I don't get a single penny of it."

He was half-jokingly complaining.

Chen Puqing was speechless upon hearing this.

"Brother Biao, I knew you were thinking about this!" Chen Puqing laughed. "The money belongs to the country; not a penny can be touched. But don't worry, the ministry has kept track of all your achievements! Director Zhao said they'll remember every single one!"

Zhang Dabiao suddenly blurted out, "How clear are you?"

Chen Puqing was embarrassed.

[Damn, that's all what Director Zhao said. How would I know how detailed it is?]

[Do you even know how to have a conversation?]