My Years as a Copyist in Taiwan

Editor Gao sat in the first seat below the editor-in-chief, smoking to himself. Amidst the swirling smoke, he waited until everyone had finished speaking before stubbing out his cigarette in the ashtray and slowly saying, "Since when did I need you to teach me how to do things?"

No one uttered a sound; there were only seven people in the meeting. After the old editor-in-chief finished venting his anger, he saw that Lao Gao was about to lose his temper as well, so everyone shut their mouths.

"I bet you all that if these 30,000 copies don't sell out within a month, I'll buy the rest out of my own pocket! If they do sell out, I'll be in charge of all of Mr. Snail's manuscripts from now on, and no one will be allowed to interfere!" Editor Gao said resolutely.

The meeting room fell silent. Everyone looked at him. Everyone knew that Editor Gao had been an editor for over 20 years. Even though the president had appreciated him a few years ago and made him editor-in-chief, he didn't actually have much savings. If 30,000 books were stuck in his hands, he would be bankrupt.

"Gao Zhiyuan, have you thought this through?" the president asked in a deep voice.

"I've thought it through." Editor Gao stood up, his gaze sweeping over everyone. "I'm betting my entire twenty-year editing career that this book will be a hit. If I lose, I'll not only buy the book, I'll quit!"

When the news reached Laomucuo Alley, Zhao Wen had just begun copying "Love Letters".

"Don't worry, Editor Gao, you won't lose." Zhao Wen saw Editor Gao staring intently at the manuscript and quickly covered it with his hand.

"I'm not looking at it, I'm very busy. Keep this contract safe, and keep the money safe too." Editor Gao really didn't plan to look at it. He had only written a few pages. He would come back when he had more saved up.

"Wait a minute, Editor Gao, please wait a few minutes."

Zhao Wen picked up his pen and revised the cover and dust jacket that Jiu Ge had designed for "Those Years".

The original cover design was an abstract campus scene, but Zhao Wen changed it to a blurry school desk with a line of crooked words written in pencil: "Shen Jiayi, I like you."

On the waistband, he wrote only one sentence: "In everyone's youth, there is a Shen Jiayi."

When Editor Gao saw the new cover and blurb, he immediately went wild. "This is exactly the style I wanted!" he exclaimed. "Let's use this!"

As predicted by the veteran editors, the situation was indeed dismal in the first three days after the IPO.

Only a dozen or so large bookstores in Taipei and Tainan across the island were willing to stock the books, with each store displaying a maximum of five copies, all placed in the most inconspicuous corners.

Bookstore owners shook their heads: "We can't even sell all of Auntie's books, who would buy a newcomer's? Short stories can significantly boost your magazine's sales? But this is a novel!"

Editor Gao got desperate and rode his motorcycle all over bookstores in Tainan and Kaohsiung, personally helping the owners arrange the books and promising them a "money-back guarantee if not sold in full".

During this period, not only was Editor Gao distributing the book everywhere, but Jiuge Magazine would also include a few poignant lines from "Those Years" at the beginning of each issue.

So, after several weeks of hype, on the day of its release, many loyal readers of "Mr. Snail" still lined up early at bookstores and newsstands.

On October 28, the day of its release, the bookstore near Tainan First Senior High School was the first to sell out at 10 a.m., as they had only stocked 20 copies.

"Boss, do you still have 'You Are the Apple of My Eye'? Lots of my classmates want to buy it!"

"Me too! I just snatched one and read over ten pages, so cool!"

A group of students in school uniforms crowded in front of the counter, chattering excitedly. The shop owner looked bewildered and quickly called the publisher to restock.

Immediately afterwards, bookstores in Kaohsiung and Taipei also called one after another, all urging customers to restock.

Female factory workers pooled their money to buy a copy and took turns reading it. Even many office workers in their thirties and forties went into bookstores and picked up this book about youth.

In the afternoon, after it had just rained, Zhao Wen saw Zhao Wenwen walking carefully, afraid of getting her new shoes dirty, so he smiled and pushed her bicycle to take her to school.

Then I went to Jiuge Publishing House. As soon as I entered, I saw Editor Gao in his office, gripping the phone, his voice hoarse from talking.

"Reprint! Print an additional 50,000 copies immediately! The bookstore at Tainan First Senior High School is already sold out! The distributor in Kaohsiung is also urging us to restock!"

After hanging up the phone, Editor Gao wiped the sweat from his brow. Seeing Zhao Wen come in, he excitedly grabbed his arm: "It's a hit! It's a complete hit! In just seven hours since its release, all the bookstores in Tainan are sold out!"

Zhao Wen smiled; all of this was within his expectations.

But they didn't expect the old lady's counterattack to come so quickly and so insidiously.

At 5 p.m., the wind direction suddenly changed.

A bookstore owner who was very close to Editor Gao secretly called to inform on him:

"Editor Gao, the Golden Crown just called and said that if I dare to sell Mr. Snail's books, their rebate will be reduced from 18% to 8%, and they will no longer give me priority in supplying Auntie's new books."

Editor Gao's face darkened: "This is outrageous! This is monopoly! This is unfair competition! I'm going to sue her!"

Zhao Wen was certainly aware of King Crown's methods. In Taiwan in 1981, the aunt was a goddess in the publishing industry.

Each of her new books accounts for half of a bookstore's sales within the first three days of its release. Her 18% rebate is the highest in the industry, and priority supply is a benefit that all bookstores scramble for.

Anyone who dares to offend Kingcrown will have no chance of making it in the book industry.

Editor Gao paced back and forth in his office, muttering, "Damn it, I just printed an extra 50,000 copies. Am I really going to be stuck with this mess?"

Zhao Wen remained calm, poured him a glass of water, and handed it to him: "Editor Gao, don't worry. Bookstore owners are profit-driven; they won't keep treating you like a mother forever."

But even though he said that, Zhao Wen was actually on edge.

He only had a little over nine thousand yuan left in his pocket. The five thousand yuan he had advanced had been almost entirely spent in the past ten days. He had to supplement Wenwen's nutrition and buy her clothes, and he had also bought some random things for himself. Originally, he planned to take a relaxed approach and let word-of-mouth spread naturally—but Jinguan was completely unscrupulous, resorting to underhanded tactics!

If the bookstore owners slowly realize what's happening and put the books back on the shelves, the tens of thousands of copies that Editor Gao excitedly printed might take two or three months to sell. The royalties will be delayed, and the layout of "Love Letter" will be stalled.

Having been poor for two generations, Zhao Wen knows best the agony of waiting for money to arrive.

"It's too slow for them to realize this on their own," Zhao Wen looked up at Editor Gao. "I have a way to get all the bookstores on the island to put our books back in the most prominent positions within three days, and it can even double the sales."

Editor Gao looked up abruptly, forgetting even to light his cigarette: "What solution? Tell me quickly!"

"Place an ad in the newspapers and launch a call for submissions. Contact the supplements of the United Daily News and the China Times, and tomorrow publish a half-page ad with the theme: 'Those Unspoken Confessions from Years Across the Island.'"

He picked up a pen and quickly wrote down the rules on the back of the manuscript:

"First, there is no word limit. You can submit a sentence or a short paragraph. Talk about the thing or person you didn't dare to say out loud during your youth."

Second, submissions must be accompanied by a receipt for the book "Those Years" or a stamp from the bookstore to be considered valid.

Third, the one hundred selected confessions will be compiled into a booklet and included with the next reprint; each week, ten of the most touching confessions will be published directly in the newspaper supplement, and the authors will receive a complete set of my signed short stories, as well as a handwritten reply from me!