Chapter 2: Bell of Evil Strategy (2)

  Although the manuscript of "Midnight Bell" was very good, the extremely high publication price quoted by Jerry made all three major publishing houses hesitant to take it on. A newcomer like him, how dare he quote such a high price! It wasn't until Tianzhong Caidie and Tanaka Nanasuke came to an initial agreement that Tianzhong Caidie finally agreed to a 12% share of the profits after Tanaka Nanasuke held out firmly for it. This was an extremely good result for Jerry, who had originally thought that getting a 7% share would be pretty good already. It made him look up to Tanaka Nanasuke even more!

  The 1200W bonus was quickly spent by Jerry, with little left over: a set of professional comic tools and a comic desk for Tanaka Nana, a set of finance books, law books, international economics books, game theory books, and management books for Bob! In short, according to Jerry's plan, he wanted to train this guy into a qualified broker, manager, investor, lawyer... until even Jerry himself felt that the books were piled too high! Apart from that, he bought a guitar, a violin, and a second-hand YAMAHA_KAWAI piano. Why was it second-hand? Because if it were brand new, Jerry could have pawned his underwear directly! Moreover, apart from that, he also had to buy a bunch of music books!

  Alas, a top student in the art department, after being reborn for four years, still has to start from scratch! Jerry looked at his tender and smooth hands, took a deep breath, and opened the piano cover to play!

  The sorrowful song "Until the End of the World" flowed out from his mouth in the basketball slam dunk master!

  Five-year-old Jerry Kim Roschelle can't sing that flavor yet, but the sorrow carried in the lyrics and melody is unforgettable! Jerry felt extremely pitiful because he was still developing, his finger length was not enough to make the necessary changes, which made him stop several times along the way!

  Alas, still too small, still need to exercise, still haven't forgotten!

  Jerry put down the piano lid and when he looked up, he was nearly scared out of his wits!

  Tanaka Nana stood in front of Bob without knowing when!

  "Miss Cai, didn't you know that walking without making a sound can scare people to death? And Bob, when you enter the house, don't you know to knock on the door?"

  Tanaka Nanae ignored Jerry's questioning and directly hugged him in her arms, gently patting his back.

  Huh? Wait, did this woman misunderstand something?

  "Jerry, don't be sad, you still have me and Bob, you're not alone! Jin Yuxiang must be quietly watching over you from somewhere in heaven, be brave!"

  It's true!

  Although misunderstood, Tanaka Nana's actions still moved Jerry deeply!

  Three people lived a peaceful yet busy life together: Jerry spent his days exercising, planning comics, practicing instruments and giving necessary guidance to Tanaka Kanako; Tanaka Kanako's only work apart from preparing three meals a day was to interpret the Midnight Bell and adapt it into a comic; Bob had it worse, with N subjects to study and N books to read, and what made it even more infuriating was that he couldn't understand these books from the start! Later, Jerry put down his work and joined in on studying and reviewing. This life continued until a month later, when the head of Sanbundo's publishing department, Watanabe Hiroshi, arrived.

  Sanseido is a Japanese comprehensive publishing house, established in 1881, with a long history and high qualifications. It mainly publishes dictionaries, middle school textbooks, reference books for learning, and books on various subjects, enjoying a good reputation in the field of textbooks. However, this publisher has never touched the field of manga before! This is Sanseido's first attempt at it! Who knew that the initial print run of 200,000 copies would sell out in just one month? Moreover, after a month of fermentation, the "Kuroneko craze" formed by Mayoi Kusakabe began to spread throughout Japan, causing all Sanseido bookstores to be in a state of emergency! The managers of each branch store called the headquarters, requesting an immediate reprint, because more and more people were coming to inquire about this book!

  Watanabe Hiroshi respectfully handed over a check of 22.5 million yen to Tanaka Nana, and when Tanaka Nana saw the number on the check, she was dizzy. Is this really 22.5 million yen?

  "Miss Cai, considering the current book market is in a state of emergency, our company has sent me to discuss with you further increasing the print run!"

  "Further increase the print run? Guang Let Jun, the 200,000 copies printed last time have already been sold out?"

  "Hey! They're all sold out! Our company is preparing to print an additional 500,000 copies to solve the current market shortage. Here's the contract, please take care of it, Miss Cai!"

  "Hi!"

  Thanks to Jerry's instructions, Tanaka Nanako checked the contract and soon signed on it.

  "Well then, Miss Cai Cai Zi, now that everything is settled, I'll be taking my leave!"

  "Wait a minute, Guang Rong Jun, I still have one more thing to ask of you!"

  "Hi!"

  "Actually, I've already finished writing the second volume of Midnight Bell, and I think if possible, how about printing it together with those 500,000 copies?"

  "Ah~ The second volume is already finished!" Watanabe Hiro felt himself somewhat out of place, hastily bowing ninety degrees, "I'm sorry, I'm really sorry, Kusunoki-san, I was truly too rude! Actually, I'm also a fan of your books! So when I heard the news that the second volume was already finished, I couldn't help myself! Miss Kusunoki, could you please sign an autograph for me?"

  Watanabe Kōjiro excitedly pulled out a book from his briefcase, which was "Seven Nights of Ghost Stories at Midnight". Nakanao was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and grabbed a pen to sign her name on the title page, "To my first fan, Watanabe Kōjiro-kun, Tanaka Nakanao!"

  The first bookworm, Watanabe Hiroshi, was excited beyond words. "Well then, I'll bring the second volume's contract a bit later!"

  Watanabe Hiro let out almost running out of the door, he can't afford to think about so much anymore, time is money, San Sheng Tang Bookstore is in a state of emergency, not to mention the contract for the second volume! If this contract is not completed within a day, then the second printing cannot be completed.

  "What's it like to be admired by your own book fans?" Jerry asked, his hands in his pockets and leaning against the door with a mischievous grin at the still somewhat dazed Tanaka Nana.

  "It's all fuzzy and fleeting, but Jerry, this feeling is really great!" Tanaka Nana's cheeks were flushed with a hint of red, it seemed that signing for her first book fan had really excited her!

  "Alright, Miss Cai Cai Zi, I have a plan that will keep you floating on cloud nine for several days!"

  " Plans? Floating in the clouds for several days? Jerry dear~Jerry dear?"

  Jerry didn't say anything else and went back to his room, continuing his music practice!

  "Sign books?" Watanabe Hiroshi was, um, surprised by Jerry's proposal!

  "What, Guang Rang Jun, didn't you feel the excitement of getting your favorite author's signature at that moment?" Jerry took a sip of tea and said slowly, "Book signings not only enhance the connection between authors and readers but also give readers an opportunity to ask questions about the book. Authors can understand the social response to their work through book signings and correct bugs based on reader feedback. Thirdly, book signings can increase book sales. Fourthly, book signings can increase the popularity of the bookstore, which is a huge advertising effect. Based on this advertising effect, we can achieve the fifth point, which is advertising sponsorship! One move, five gains, why not do it, Guang Rang Jun?"

  Watanabe Hiro was so shocked that his mouth was wide open enough to fit an egg! Who is this little guy? He's actually come up with such a marketing ploy, it's really astonishing!

  "Alright! Guang Rang Jun, what do you think of my suggestion?"

  "It's really great! Let me reintroduce myself, I'm Watanabe Hiroshi. And you are... um, isn't this your son?"

  Jerry's a black-hearted swindler, he actually managed to cheat an old woman out of her money so easily, it's really too much!

  But Tanaka Nana had no sense of self-awareness at all, and instead, with a loving face, she stroked Jerry's head, "Kou Ryou-kun, this is my little son, Jerry-kun!"

  "Jerry?"

  "His dad is an American!"

  "So that's how it is! No wonder he's so talented!"

  The Japanese worship of Americans reached an outrageous height after the war!

  "As for the suggestion of signing and selling books, I will report it to the president as is! So, please allow me to take my leave first!"

  Watanabe Hiroshi came with just one contract, but when he left, he took away more than just a contract!

  Five days later, good news came from the Sanseido headquarters in Tokyo. The president, Moriya Masaaki, approved the signature sales plan proposed by Watanabe Hiroshi, and for Tanaka Nana's convenience, the venue was set at a cafe opposite the Sanseido bookstore in Nerima-ku, Tokyo. Of course, the number of sessions will be determined based on the sales situation on the day of the signing event!

  The 500,000 reprinted books were snapped up in just one week! The craze has reached a fever pitch again!

  For a Japan with a population of 125 million, extremely fond of horror and reasoning, 700,000 is not even a zero head! Watanabe Hiroshi's face has already laughed to the point of being out of breath, and headquarters has issued an order to add another 1 million copies, and the print run for the second volume has also increased by nearly double!

  The cooperative printing house of Sanshengtang has been working non-stop for 24 hours, but the consumption speed is still too fast to catch up! Their goal is only one, accelerate the speed, and then accelerate again!

  "The Master of Horror, skilled at creating atmosphere..."

  "No blood, no monsters, she uses ordinary words to create an extremely imaginative space for us, and takes us into a silent but ubiquitous and terrifying world..."

  The phone rang, the TV was snowing, she came...

  "The truth is approaching inch by inch, death is closing in step by step..."

  ……

  Suddenly, reports about the Midnight Bell Killer flooded in! Asahi Shimbun even opened up a phone line to schedule an interview with Tanaka Kanae, but under Jerry's guidance, she politely declined.

  Not enough, the fermentation is not strong enough!

  Under Jerry's instructions, hundreds of thousands of promotional flyers for the signing event were inserted into textbooks sold by Sanseido. On the flyer designed solely by Jerry, Sadako was shown crawling on all fours, with a huge shadow looming behind her and a giant red question mark: "Who is she? Sunday, April 6th, Showa 60, Sanseido Bookstore #1, let's uncover the truth together!"

  The plan for distributing leaflets on radiation to almost all junior high schools and above in Japan is going ahead with great enthusiasm.

  April 2, 1985, Water Day, a signing table was set up in the coffee shop across from Sanseido Bookstore! Since Sanseido had never done anything like this before, all the directing work was left to Tanaka Nanao, or rather, Tanaka's "little boy", Jerry!

  "Alright, build it a bit higher. Remember to prepare a large parasol here. Add stairs on both sides! Yes, the top part can be expanded into two advertising spaces! Hmm? You don't know what an advertising space is? Go call Ma Gongjun over!"

  "Kawagawa, where are the people in charge of delivering the guardrails? If we don't finish installing them today, the next two days will be very passive. What? They're not finished making them yet? You go tell Suzuki Corporation that if they can't deliver them today, then there's no need to send them over anymore!"

  "Lixiang, how's the progress on the advertisement spray painting? One-third done? Need to speed up!"

  "Yumei Jun, Yumei Jun, go buy me two bottles of water!"

  ……

  A group of high school students, college students and social figures who came from all over the province to attend the autograph session at San Sheng Tang's No. 1 store were shocked to discover that a 5-year-old boy was bossing around a group of adults at the event venue! The adults being ordered around just kept responding with "yes, yes" without showing any dissatisfaction. What is wrong with this world?!

  April 6th, Showa 60, early morning, everything is ready for the signing event!