"Sanqian, tell me honestly, did you do something sneaky last night? You're practically falling asleep today." Ma Jun leaned closer.
At this question, Su Shichen couldn't help but recall last night. After Wang Ni went to bed, she fell asleep easily, but Su Shichen couldn't sleep at all. His left hand would touch Wang Ni's body with every movement, so Su Shichen didn't know where to put his hands. He was also afraid of disturbing Wang Ni if he moved, so Su Shichen was in that state all night, which directly led to him coming to class with panda eyes today.
"Wei—come out, wei—come out, snap out of it! I was just asking casually, but looking at your reaction just now, did you really do something sneaky last night?" Everyone has a gossipy nature.
"What are you talking about? I want to buy a computer after school, but I don't know where to find cheap ones."
"Buy a computer? I know about that. Sanqian, what kind of configuration do you want? I generally divide computer configurations into three types. The best one can play any large game and also supports running two or three games simultaneously without freezing. This kind of computer is quite expensive. Are you interested?"
"No need, I don't play games much."
"Then the mid-level one supports general games, which is the typical student computer configuration. The lowest-level configuration can only be used for reading novels and playing online mini-games; even general games run very slowly. So, Sanqian, which type do you prefer?"
"Tiger, why are you so familiar with computers?"
"Of course! My dad sells computers."
"That's perfect then. I'll go support your dad's business."
"We're best friends, so I'll ask my dad to give you a discount. By the way, Sanqian, which configuration are you buying?"
"Just the lowest one. I don't play games."
"The lowest one? Then why are you buying a computer, Sanqian?" In Ma Jun's understanding, students buying computers are naturally not for studying, but for playing games.
"I won't tell you that for now."
"Tiger, how much does the computer configuration I'm buying cost?"
"The lowest one is very cheap, definitely less than four thousand yuan. The exact amount needs to be asked from my dad."
"I almost forgot! Yesterday, I already asked my uncle. If you want to learn painting, just go and learn with him, no problem. As for the money, you don't need to pay. Hehe, how about that? Am I good to you?" Ma Jun had a look that screamed, "Praise me!"
Su Shichen took a deep breath. Su Shichen was in his thirties mentally, so it was naturally impossible for him to genuinely treat Ma Jun as a best friend, just like a little kid. However, Ma Jun's help to him was completely unconditional.
"Today, I'm treating you to Dicos," Su Shichen said grandly with a wave of his hand.
"Dicos? Can I order a hamburger?" Being a foodie was Ma Jun's weakness, so as soon as food was mentioned, Ma Jun immediately became energetic.
"Order whatever you want, as long as you can finish it."
The buyout contract for Journey to the West had been signed, and Wang Ni naturally gave the money to Su Shichen. Originally, it was supposed to be transferred to a card, but Su Shichen didn't have one. So, this morning, while Wang Ni was taking Su Shichen to school, she went directly to the bank and withdrew five thousand yuan for him. Logically, the money should have been deposited into his parents' card, as he was only fourteen years old.
If that happened, his parents would save the money, and his plan to buy a computer would be indefinitely postponed. Of course, it's not that parents would truly care about this small amount of money; as parents, they are just afraid of their children misusing money and wasting it, much like New Year's money. Therefore, Su Shichen came up with a plan: act first, report later. He would buy the computer and bring it home first.
The class teacher, Zhou Bi, stood on the podium, "Before class, I have some good news. Su Shichen's micro-novel, 'Wei—come out,' has been selected by the school newspaper and has also been unanimously rated as the main feature article by the teachers of the school newspaper department. Students, let's applaud Su Shichen."
Immediately, there was a round of applause.
Although Su Shichen wasn't particularly excited about being the main feature article of the school newspaper, out of politeness, he naturally stood up, bowed, and saluted.
"Su Shichen, don't be arrogant. Continue to write even better works. All right, let's begin class now."
During self-study class, Su Shichen tried to draw comics. As a result, in a forty-minute class, he only managed to draw two characters and couldn't even complete a full comic. Without having learned drawing, simply imitating comic images searched from his mind step by step was too difficult. Japanese manga artists on Earth could draw one episode a week, but at his current speed, drawing one episode a month was already a luxury.
It seems that learning to draw cannot be delayed.
According to the information Su Shichen gathered over the summer vacation, the comic industry in this world is naturally good. Of course, the comic giants are still the island nation and the United States. Although the island nation in this world doesn't have hot-blooded shonen manga like Naruto, Dragon Ball, Bleach, One Piece, etc., its comic industry is also very developed and has produced many excellent animations. The peak works are almost on par with One Piece. Speaking of the United States, on Earth, American animation is most famous for its superhero series. This series influenced a generation of people born in the '80s and '90s on Earth. Who among the '80s and '90s generation doesn't know Spider-Man? Who doesn't know Batman?
However, in this world, the United States' main focus is not the superhero series of animation, but rather some educational or comedic animations, much like Tom and Jerry or Cars on Earth. Furthermore, the United States' production quality is very high, and most animations can be produced as animated films.
The positions of the two major comic giants, the United States and the island nation, have not been shaken, but the animation industry in China has undergone significant changes.
In the previous life on Earth, China's animation could be described as utterly miserable. Firstly, it was impacted by piracy. Secondly, Chinese people did not have the habit of buying comics, unlike the island nation and the United States, where a single comic could sell over 100 million copies. As for animation production, the only presentable one was Qin's Moon, but it was critically acclaimed but not commercially successful. The only one that made money was Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf. Such a large China was only supported by a single Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf.
In the world Su Shichen is currently in, there are indeed a few best-selling comics, but they are still far behind those of the island nation and the United States. Moreover, the domestic comic industry is still far, far behind the literary industry. Su Shichen naturally has to shoulder the future of the nation's comic industry and embark on the great undertaking of plagiarism—no, of borrowing and learning.
After school, he followed Ma Jun to his uncle's training institution.
[Eight Great Mountain Men Training Institution]
"Isn't that a strange name? People who don't know might think this training institution trains farmers."
"This name is not bad either," Su Shichen nodded thoughtfully.
"This is not bad? Eight Great Mountain Men? The first time I saw this name, I thought it was for teaching people to dig and farm."
"Eight Great Mountain Men, in reality, refers to Bada Shanren, one of the Four Monks of the early Qing dynasty painting world, Zhu Da. Bada Shanren was merely a pseudonym Zhu Da adopted in his later years. Tiger, it seems your uncle must be very fond of Zhu Da's paintings, which is why he chose this name."
"Haha, this student is right. Kid, I told you to read more books when you have nothing to do. If you had listened to me, you wouldn't have made such a joke, saying it's a training institution for digging and farming. You brat, you're asking for a beating." Ma Zhongni, Ma Jun's uncle.
"I didn't expect this student to be so knowledgeable. The name Zhu Da is not as famous in the art world as Wu Daozi, but I do have a preference for Zhu Da's paintings." Ma Zhongni's words contained a hint of praise for Su Shichen. The name Zhu Da is not as widely known as Wu Daozi or Qi Baishi; even if you ask an adult who Zhu Da or Bada Shanren is, most wouldn't know. Yet, Su Shichen, merely a middle school student, could explain it clearly and logically, which is truly not easy.
"That's right, Sanqian is naturally knowledgeable. He just wrote an article that was selected by the school newspaper." Ma Jun's tone was proud, as if it were his own article that had been selected by the school newspaper.
"What are you showing off for? It's not your accomplishment. You said you had a friend who wanted to learn painting, is it this student?"
"Exactly, exactly! This is my best friend, Su Shichen." Ma Jun introduced, "Sanqian, this is my uncle."
"Hello, Uncle. I've always wanted to learn painting, but I haven't had the opportunity. I heard that Tiger's uncle runs a training institution, so I shamelessly asked Tiger to bring me here."
"Just for that 'Uncle,' I certainly won't refuse. Besides the summer and winter classes, classes here start at 2 PM on Saturday afternoons, for three hours. If there are no issues, we can start this week."
"No problem, of course no problem! How much is the tuition fee? I'll pay it all at once right now." Su Shichen currently had five thousand yuan in cash in his pocket.
"Since you called me Uncle, why mention money?"
"Isn't that inappropriate?" Su Shichen hesitated.
"Sanqian, don't be so polite. My uncle's training institution has several teachers and seventy to eighty students. One more or one less won't make a difference. Besides, my uncle is a rich local. He wouldn't even bother with such a small amount of money. You haven't been to my uncle's house; any famous painting he has collected there would be enough for me to eat many meals."
"You brat, all you know is eating, eating, eating. But what this brat said is true. With dozens of students, one more won't make much difference. And since you were introduced by this brat, if I charged you, this brat would probably go home and grumble again."
"Hehe, my parents gave birth to me, but my uncle truly understands me."
"You, don't try to use classical Chinese."
"Uncle, that's all for now. I'm going home." To thank Ma Jun, Su Shichen kept his word and treated Ma Jun to a big meal at Dicos, with hamburgers, ice cream, egg tarts, and more. Su Shichen was truly enlightened; Ma Jun ate more in one meal than he ate in an entire day.
After eating, led by Ma Jun, they arrived at his father's shop. Before even entering, Ma Jun loudly exclaimed, "Dad, I brought you a business deal!"
"What business?" Ma Jun's dad asked.
"This is my classmate, also my best friend, Sanqian. He wants to buy a computer. Following the principle of keeping good things within the family, I brought my classmate here. Don't you think I brought you a business deal?"
"Young student, are you buying a computer for gaming or something else?"
"I don't play games. I'm buying a computer to look up information and write some things."
"Not playing games? That's much better than this brat! In that case, Uncle recommends this computer to you. The speed is good, it has a 1TB hard drive. The external price is three thousand five hundred, but for you, an internal price of three thousand two hundred will do."
"Thank you, Uncle. I wonder if it's possible to have it delivered?"
"Of course! Fill out the address, and Uncle will deliver it to your home right now."
After writing down his home address, the computer was bought and on its way home!