The Great Ming in the Box

Chapter 404: Gao Sanwas Growth

Startled by Thirty-Two’s scare, Gao Sanwa jumped up in terror.

His occiput ‘thumped’ against Thirty-Two’s chin.

Thirty-Two covered his chin and squatted down, Gao Sanwa also covered the back of his head and squatted down, both groaned in pain, unable to speak for a long while.

A long time later, the pain finally subsided!

Gao Sanwa rubbed the back of his head and said, “Wow, Thirty-Two, what kind of person do you take me for? How could I ever scribble on the sacred statue of the Deity? Even as mischievous as I am, I know that’s off-limits—I’ve never even thought about it, but you were the one having such ideas, weren’t you?”

Thirty-Two felt a burst of awkwardness, “Definitely not!”

Gao Sanwa retorted, “You surely did!”

Thirty-Two declared, “I did not!”

Seeing he couldn’t avoid trouble, Thirty-Two quickly changed the subject, “Kid, what on earth are you here for?”

Gao Sanwa realized he couldn’t dodge either and confessed, “I… drew a comic book… and came to find Sister Yiye to ask her for some money to print it out.”“Huh?” Thirty-Two was greatly surprised.

“Huh?” Li Daoxuan was also greatly surprised.

Gao Sanwa explained, “Didn’t Sister Yiye publish ‘Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale’ by funding it herself? I want to publish my own drawn book in the same way, but my parents won’t give me the money, so I came to find Sister Yiye.”

Thirty-Two replied with annoyance, “Since when did you get into this sort of trouble?”

Gao Sanwa said, “I’ve always liked it! Anyway, I’m not good at studying—especially since moving up to higher grades and starting junior middle school math, physics, and chemistry. I can’t understand a word, so I used class time to draw a comic book.”

Li Daoxuan chuckled inwardly: That kid, he reminds me of my own youth. Though I kept up in junior middle, I was totally lost in high school math, physics, and chemistry. I barely scraped through high school by cheating on exams, then took the path of art design, eventually becoming a freelance designer.

After listening, Thirty-Two pondered briefly and sighed, “Not every child is suited for studying; there are kids like you… sigh…”

He stretched out his hand, “What have you drawn? Show it to me.”

Gao Sanwa protectively shielded his original artwork, “You won’t burn it, will you? This is my only copy.”

Thirty-Two laughed helplessly, “I’m not your mom—I won’t curb your hobbies.”

Gao Sanwa carefully considered this and, reassured, hesitantly handed over the original.

Thirty-Two opened it to look; Li Daoxuan also paid “close attention,” drawing the scene near to scrutinize it.

It turned out Gao Sanwa had drawn an action story, roughly about a child who became a taoist, apprenticed and learned skills, but due to average talent, was despised by his master. The master’s appearance somewhat resembled Ma Tianzheng…

Fine, Gao Sanwa had probably only ever met Ma Tianzheng among taoists, so that style had to be borrowed.

Ma Tianzheng—no, his master—refused to properly teach the child the Quanzhen swordsmanship, so the child was bullied by fellow apprentices. The appearances of these fellow apprentices resembled Young Master Bai and Third Miss…

These two were actually good friends of Gao Sanwa’s, often joking together, yet now they were drawn as villains in the book.

Young Master Bai and Third Miss—no, Senior Disciple Bai and Junior Sister San—teamed up with other apprentices to bully the protagonist. The protagonist flew into a rage, shouting a famous line, “Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river—I’ll prove myself one day.”

He had actually added brief dialogue to his comic book!

Li Daoxuan gasped in shock, “Holy crap, is this kid a transmigrator? How does he know that trope?”

At that moment, Thirty-Two laughed, “The phrase ‘thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river’ describes the Yellow River segment between Shaanxi and Shanxi—it frequently changes course, so villages might be in Hedong sometimes, Hexi others… that saying comes from people in Heyang County, right? Kid, you actually used that proverb in your book, pretty impressive—you’re not all empty-headed after all.”

Li Daoxuan thought bemusedly, “Huh? So that saying originated here? Aah! I’m ignorant again.”

The protagonist in the book began to strive diligently, practicing swordsmanship fiercely until he mastered it. Not only did he defeat Senior Disciple Bai and Junior Sister San, but even his master Daoist Ma was no match for him. Finally, he descended the mountain as a skilled swordsman, traveled the realm, and became a great hero.

Li Daoxuan marvelled inwardly, “It’s a trash-to-triumph story! Incredible! The kid actually invented the ‘waste-material rising’ trope during the Ming Dynasty—he’s gonna skyrocket.”

After finishing the original, Thirty-Two remained silent for a long while before finally speaking, “For this book, no need to ask the Saint Lady for publishing funds—I’ll have the publishing house put it out.”

“What?” Gao Sanwa was overjoyed, “Really? Thirty-Two, you mustn’t trick a kid.”

Thirty-Two rolled his eyes, “You’re over sixteen now—no longer a child. I’m treating you as an adult, so let’s properly discuss publishing. The publishing house will fund the printing, and profits will be split fifty-fifty. Acceptable?”

Gao Sanwa exclaimed in delight, “I don’t need a split! I’d be happy even without it, as long as it gets published—I just want to see my book in print.”

Thirty-Two snorted, “You think that now, but if it sells big and rakes in cash, you’d feel the publishing house ripped you off and grow bitter toward them. Setting the share rules upfront is the adult way of handling it.”

Gao Sanwa was still young, not fully grasping this logic, but thrilled that Thirty-Two was helping, he cheered loudly and jumped up, “Ah, just do whatever! Hurry up and publish it quick—I want to show off my book to my parents.”

Thirty-Two shook his head with a smile, took the original into the publishing house, and assigned the woodcarver and the printer to handle the book.

Li Daoxuan watched it all unfold and was inwardly struck: This development is great!

The publishing house at Gaojia Village printed various textbooks he provided for language, math, physics, and chemistry, plus comic books like ‘Yang Family Generals,’ ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms,’ and ‘Water Margin.’ Its only original work was Gao Yiye’s ‘Dao Xuan Deity’s Demon Elimination Tale,’ but that one reeked of propaganda and wasn’t a good story.

Now, with this original submission from Gao Sanwa, a new wave might emerge—leading to the rise of “comic books” or “manga.” This was a highly promising artistic direction.

Heck, whether Gao Sanwa’s work could spark a trend remained to be seen.

Alright, the distraction was over—time to focus. Where was Gao Yiye?

Where had that little girl Gao Yiye run off to?