Parental Love: Jiang Weimin's Life of Lying Down

The next day, the sun was shining and there was a gentle breeze.

Jiang Weimin and An Jie packed up early and set off for Qingdao Publishing House again with the prepared drawings.

When they arrived at the publishing house, Liu Shuo still greeted them warmly. After the three of them exchanged pleasantries, they walked together to Song Wenqing's office.

After entering the office, Song Wenqing stood up to greet them with a smile on his face, and kindly asked Jiang Weimin and An Jie to sit down.

"Comrade Xiao Jiang, Comrade An Jie, please take a seat. Old Liu, please ask someone to make us a cup of coffee." Song Wenqing said enthusiastically.

An Jie responded politely: "Thank you, President Song."

Song Wenqing smiled and waved his hand, indicating that you are welcome. Then, he turned his gaze to Jiang Weimin and asked, "Comrade Jiang, have you brought the draft?"

Jiang Weimin nodded, took out the sketch from his backpack and handed it to Song Wenqing. Song Wenqing took the sketch and said, "If you ask me, Comrade Jiang, you should still draw suspenseful crime-solving stories. Today's readers like this kind of stories very much, and we can take advantage of this popularity and continue to launch new works."

Jiang Weimin smiled and replied, "Uncle Song, Brother Tianshui is now drawing "Police Dog Attack - Rainy Night Chasing Murderer", and it will be finished soon. In this way, our publishing house can continue to publish new works under this popularity."

Song Wenqing smiled, shook his head and said, "Okay, I can't argue with you. But you have to help me with the adaptation of the next work. I've even prepared the adaptation fee, you can take it back later."

Jiang Weimin nodded without hesitation and agreed: "No problem, Uncle Song."

At this time, Liu Shuo had returned, followed by a young girl with two cups of coffee in her hands. She gently opened the door, carefully placed the coffee on the table, and then turned and left the room.

Anjie picked up a cup of coffee with a smile and sipped it slowly, enjoying the rich aroma and mellow taste.

Liu Shuo sat down, took the comic book handed to him by Song Wenqing, and looked at it carefully.

The cover reads "Father's War of Resistance - Sharpshooter Mao Yu". The painting style of the cover is quite novel, showing a soldier aiming his gun at a Japanese heavy machine gunner while the bullet is moving at high speed and frozen in mid-air.

Liu Shuo looked through the introduction and found out that the protagonist was a soldier named Mao Yu, who gradually grew from a new recruit to an outstanding sharpshooter.

Liu Shuo opened the album and carefully examined every page. He saw two fierce battles that Mao Yu participated in, including how he skillfully killed the enemy's heavy machine gunners and cunning Japanese officers. These plots made his blood boil, as if he were there.

Especially when depicting the scene of Mao Yu's duel with the Japanese sharpshooter, the details in the picture make people feel the tense and exciting atmosphere. Every stroke is full of power, showing Mao Yu's determination and courage.

When Liu Shuo turned to the last page, he could not help but be deeply moved. It turned out that Mao Yu finally defeated the devil's sharpshooter, but at the cost of losing his beloved squad leader. This scene made Liu Shuo feel endless sadness and anger, and at the same time he also respected this heroic soldier.

Liu Shuo raised his head and looked at Jiang Weimin, his eyes revealing admiration: "Friend Jiang, this work is really great! The story is very good and very appealing. Did you create the painting techniques in it yourself?"

"Uncle Liu, I got inspiration from watching movies and incorporated it into the comic strip to make it more expressive and appealing." Jiang Weimin found a more fitting reason.

Song Wenqing smiled and nodded. He was also deeply attracted by the work "Big Knife Wang Tieshan". He then said: "I think it can be published immediately. Comrade Xiao Jiang's paintings make the battle scenes look particularly smooth and fitting."

"President, Comrade Xiao Jiang is indeed a genius. He can always find a painting method that suits the subject matter. This painting method makes the battle more tense and exciting, but there is a problem. This method is not an orthodox comic book drawing method."

Song Wenqing asked doubtfully, "Is there any impact?"

Liu Shuo was a little stunned. After thinking about it carefully, he realized that it really had no impact. Except for Jiang Weimin, the big cat, the rest of Qingdao Publishing House were little cats with no say. Everything was decided by the president, and no one dared to question whether this way of painting was orthodox or not.

Moreover, Qingdao Publishing House is a small company. If you were to use such an unorthodox painting method in a larger publishing house, the editor might directly reject it. After all, the review model and painting method that have been in place for more than 20 years are not so easy to break.

"The president should have no influence on our publishing house, but may have an impact on Jiang Xiaoyou's future development."

Upon hearing this, An Jie quickly asked, "What impact did Editor Liu have on Wei Min's development?"

"Jiang Xiaoyou is now alone in the painting world, and there is no famous painter to support him. Moreover, Jiang Xiaoyou's current painting skills are still not good enough. I am afraid that someone will question or criticize him in the newspaper."

Jiang Weimin expressed his opinion after listening to Liu Shuo's thoughts: "Uncle Liu, if my works don't sell well, I don't think anyone will criticize me on purpose. If my works sell well and some people question it, it will only make me more famous, and more and more comic books will be sold.

Jiang Weimin glanced at Song Wenqing and continued, "Just like the battle between Uncle Song and Shandong Publishing House, the more they quarrel, the better the sales. If my work sells well, it means that readers agree with my way of painting. I hope someone will question me, so that I can use his fame to boost my own fame, but in the end I still need our Qingdao Publishing House to support me and continue to help me publish more comics."

"Comrade Xiao Jiang, what are you talking about? You are the painter of our publishing house. If we don't support you, who else can we support?"

"Thank you, Uncle Song. Can my comic strip with this kind of drawing style be published?"

"Yes, of course. Such a wonderful comic book can definitely be published! The story is also a masterpiece among war themes. Normally, 30 copies will definitely sell out."

"Uncle Song, can you give priority to publishing it? I want to see if readers can accept my way of drawing. If not, I will change the way of drawing immediately. I have two more books to finish in the next two months."

"Two in two months?" Song Wenqing looked unconvinced. After all, painters in the past could not finish a comic strip even in half a year.

"Well, I asked Brother Tianshui to help me draw a volume. Together with the two volumes now, it forms a complete story system. I plan to draw a long-running comic strip, just like the Railway Guerrillas."

"A long-running comic strip, the same as 'Railway Guerrillas'?" Song Wenqing looked at the sketch in his hand and analyzed the differences between the two comic strips.

But Song Wenqing still didn't dare to think about reaching the level of "Railway Guerrillas". Since it was published by Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House in 1955, it has been reprinted more than 10 times, with a cumulative print run of more than 2000 million copies.

Seeing Song Wenqing lost in thought, Jiang Weimin quickly explained, "Uncle Song, I'm talking about this long serialized story format. The protagonist of the story remains the same, and each volume is a new story. Don't compare it with the circulation of "Railway Guerrillas" or you will be disappointed."

"Oh, I see! Let me first confirm the existing orders and inventory, and see how I can help you arrange printing."

"Sorry to bother you, Uncle Song."

"Old Liu, call Yun Zhou and Zhao Jian over to sort out the printing volume and order situation.