Chapter 650: Don’t Let Your Child Lose at the Starting Line

Qu Xiaowei looked bewildered as he faced his son's crying.

Little White Dragon? What is that?

Liu Haiyan, still angry about her son's mischievous behavior, scolded, "Little White Dragon, I think you look like a Little White Dragon! Those are all things in books, not real. What are you looking for at your godfather's place?"

"Godfather...Dad wrote it, he...must have it."

Qu Xiangnan cried miserably but his innocent words made Lin Weimin and his parents laugh and cry.

This time Lin Weimin finally understood why the boy was crying and shouting about coming to his house.

After beating the child, Liu Haiyan still had to coax him.

A slap in the face or a sweet treat is useful for office workers, and it is even easier to deal with children.

After a while, Qu Xiangnan's face turned from rainy to sunny. He couldn't help but ask Lin Weimin: "Godfather, is there really no Little White Dragon?"

"I don't know. Maybe there is, but no one has seen it. Maybe there is nothing at all."

Lin Weimin did not give Qu Xiangnan a definite answer. It is not a bad thing for children to keep some innocent fantasies.

After coming out of the study, Qu Xiangnan followed Lin Weimin closely, asking him questions and showing unprecedented intimacy. Even his biological father Qu Xiaowei was a little jealous.

Qu Xiaowei asked Liu Haiyan, "What is Little White Dragon?"

Liu Haiyan glanced at him irritably, "You only know how to set up your stall all day long, and you don't care about the children at all. Xiaobailong is a character in Spirited Away..."

Liu Haiyan accompanies her children to do homework and read books every day. Qu Xiangnan is only in the third grade of primary school. He does not recognize many words in the novel, and it was she who read it to him. He knows the story of "Spirited Away" by heart.

Since June, "Spirited Away" has been published in four consecutive issues of "Children's Times", and more than half of the content has been serialized.

"Spirited Away" is a rare long work of children's literature, and it was written by Lin Weimin. The quality is extremely outstanding and it is highly valued by "Children's Times".

The layout is in the best position, with careful typeset design, and finally exquisite illustrations, which can be called top-level treatment.

After the novel was published, it lived up to the expectations of Children's Times Publishing House and was warmly welcomed by readers and children from the first issue. Many children who could not even write complete characters wrote letters to the magazine with the help of their parents to express their love for the novel.

They would also enclose gifts in the letters. Some said they were for the author Uncle Lin Weimin, while others said they were for Chihiro. The gifts were not expensive, just snacks or small toys for children, expressing the children's recognition and love for the novel.

As time goes by, the influence of "Spirited Away" is gradually increasing, and more and more children and even teenagers are becoming loyal readers of this novel.

Children's literature is a niche genre because most of its readers are children who cannot even speak for themselves, so it is difficult to form a strong wave of public opinion in a short period of time like excellent pure literary works.

But after four issues of the work, Children's Times Publishing House was surprised to find that the sales of the magazine, which had been declining for many years, had actually increased to a certain extent.

In the 1980s, the sales of "Childhood" once reached a peak of 1.2 million copies, but the good times did not last long. In recent years, the sales of the magazine have been declining. Before June this year, the sales of each issue could only be maintained at around 400,000 copies.

The June issue that published the first issue of "Spirited Away" has sold more than 500,000 copies since its release, the July issue has sold 550,000 copies, and the August issue has suddenly jumped to more than 800,000 copies.

The September issue has only been on the market for a few days, so the final sales volume cannot be determined yet. However, according to the feedback that Children's Times Publishing House has received from various bookstores and post offices, the sales trend of the September issue is only stronger than the previous issues, and 800,000 copies is not a problem at all.

Shanghai, Children’s Times Press.

Over the past two months, the atmosphere in the Children's Age Club has been joyous.

Since the peak sales in the 1980s, they have rarely tasted the joy of having their publications sell well.

The September issue was extremely popular after it was released, and more than half of it was sold out in just a few days. Bookstores and post offices did not care whether it was a weekend or not, and sent messages hoping that Children's Times Publishing House could print more copies in advance.

Logistics are not well developed at this time. If we wait until the magazine inventory is exhausted before reprinting and shipping, it may take several days.

According to the current trend, the September issue of "Childhood" is bound to sell well, so it is not excessive to print more in advance.

But Qiu Shilong was conflicted about the number of copies to print.

There hadn't been any talk of reprinting "Childhood" for many years, and now that it happened out of the blue, he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to strike the right balance, and that if the copies were piled up in the warehouse, it would backfire.

Qiu Shilong spent a long time studying the sales chart of "Childhood" for the past three months.

From the sales of the June issue, we can see that the increase in magazine sales is closely related to the publication of "Spirited Away". In the July issue, sales rose slightly, which should be the period of word-of-mouth fermentation of "Spirited Away".

By the August issue, word of mouth among readers began to feed back into sales, resulting in a significant increase in magazine sales.

Now it is September, and the momentum of the September issue is even stronger than that of the August issue. This proves that the potential readers brought by "Spirited Away" to "Childhood" are far from saturated, and there is still a lot of room for exploration.

After understanding this truth, Qiu Shilong felt full of confidence.

First print an additional 200,000 copies, and keep an eye on the feedback from bookstores and post offices in various places. If there is a shortage of stock, print more copies immediately.

Under his insistence, the first print run of the September issue of "Childhood" had been increased to 800,000 copies. With the additional 200,000 copies, the circulation has reached 1 million copies, and is gradually approaching the 1.2 million copies reached during the peak period of "Childhood"!

Qiu Shilong believes that this record that has been shelved for many years will not remain there for too long. Perhaps in the November issue, or perhaps in the October issue, "Childhood" will definitely break the record from many years ago and advance to a new record.

When he thought that the Children's Times Society would reach its peak again in his hands, Qiu Shilong couldn't help but tremble with excitement.

Looking back at the 1980s today, it is not difficult to find that it was a golden age of literature. Given the people's love for literature at that time, it was easy for any literary publication to sell over one million copies.

Two million copies of "Contemporary", six million copies of "Story Club", and nine million copies of "Popular Movies". In that hot era, no matter whether it was pure literature, popular literature or entertainment publications, their sales seemed to have no end. With the pursuit of countless readers, they continued to create one sales miracle after another.

At this point in time, everything has changed. "Popular Movies" has fallen from its pedestal, and "Story Club" and "Contemporary" are barely able to maintain their status. It is extremely difficult to reproduce the glory of the 1980s.

But at this time, "Spirited Away" came out, and the sales of "Childhood of the Times" followed suit and soared, breaking the record that had been dormant for many years in just a moment.

The difficulty of achieving such an achievement is no longer comparable to that of the past, and it is of great value.

The excitement gradually subsided, and Qiu Shilong's heart was filled with joy. He thought that "Spirited Away" had been serialized for more than half, but he had not called Lin Weimin to express his gratitude, which was indeed a bit rude.

Thinking of this, Qiu Shilong picked up the phone.

"Editor-in-Chief Qiu, you are too flattering. It is all thanks to the readers that we have achieved such results."

“I also look forward to your magazine breaking records and recreating its past glory!”

…

"Okay, okay, we must get together when we have time."

"Be sure to keep in touch. Bye!"

After hanging up the phone, Lin Weimin came out of the house.

On this September morning, the heat has gradually passed and although the sun is shining brightly, it is still very comfortable.

Qu Xiaowei is working hard to burn charcoal, preparing to have a barbecue at noon.

Several female comrades are working together to cut, marinate and skewer the meat. The process is orderly and busy but not chaotic.

Qu Xiangnan, a primary school monk, was standing beside Xiao Doubao's stroller, full of joy.

Even if there is no Haku, having a little Chihiro will be fine!

Looking at the little baby still in the cradle, he couldn't help but fall into fantasy.

This is Chihiro when she was a child. When she grows up, the story of “Spirited Away” will happen. Her godfather and godmother will turn into pigs, and little Chihiro will have to go through untold hardships to save them.

As he thought about it, Qu Xiangnan became distressed. Why was I not involved in this?

No, I want to be the little white dragon and carry my sister Chihiro on adventures.

Little White Dragon, how handsome!

Qu Xiangnan's little head was filled with beautiful fantasies, his thoughts roaming in the magnificent world of imagination. He stared fixedly at the little bean bun who was sleeping soundly, and laughed like a pervert.

His laughter aroused Lin Weimin's vigilance. There was something wrong with this kid.

Why are you staring at my daughter?

You are so young and don't learn your lessons. You are just like your father!

Teacher Lin is an upright person. Even if his godson goes astray, he will still sacrifice his own son for the greater good.

"Erbao, come here!"

Lin Weimin spoke, and Qu Xiangnan ran over and said, "Godfather wants to ask you, how did you do in the final exam last semester?"

Qu Xiangnan hesitated when he heard this, "You did very well in the exam."

"How good is good?"

"Hmm..." Qu Xiangnan looked left and right but refused to answer Lin Weimin's question. After being forced into a corner, he reluctantly told him his final grades from last semester.

After hearing this, Lin Weimin's face suddenly showed a worried expression, "You can't go on like this!"

After saying that, he turned to Liu Haiyan and said, "Haiyan!"

Liu Haiyan, who was working, raised her head and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Erbao, you two have to pay more attention to your studies. Things will not be like this for us in the future. In recent years, the country has been studying to cancel the guaranteed job placement for college students.

When they grow up, don't expect to be assigned a job. If they don't get into a good university, it will be difficult for them to find a job in the future.

You two, don't let your children lose at the starting line!"

Teacher Lin's words were earnest and heartfelt, which resonated strongly with Liu Haiyan.

"That's right. I've told Xiaowei so many times, but he doesn't care at all. He just studies his shabby stall all day long."

"You can't count on him. He didn't even get into college. You're different. You're a serious college student."

After hearing what Lin Weimin said, Liu Haiyan suddenly felt a sense of superiority in terms of academic qualifications.

She stared at Qu Xiangnan, who looked bewildered. "That's right. This child is already in the fourth grade. If he continues like this, he won't even be able to go to a decent junior high school. What will happen then?"

"Find a teacher to give the child extra lessons. He can't fall behind in elementary school." Lin Weimin said sincerely.

Liu Haiyan pondered for a moment and nodded seriously.

After Lin Weimin’s “guidance”, the Haidian mother’s passion for pushing her child to success was officially awakened.

"You're right. Let's do this. We must not let our children lose at the starting line."

(End of this chapter)