Chapter 4: The First Step

Time flew by like a white horse passing through a crack, and four days quickly went by.

Looking at the thick stack of manuscript pages of *A Step into the Past*, Xia Yu felt a sense of accomplishment.

Although this novel wasn't his original creation, copying it wasn't easy either. The first three volumes had a total of about 190,000 words, and copying them in just four days was something most people couldn't accomplish.

"It's time to submit this!" Xia Yu murmured to himself as he hefted the thick pile of manuscript pages.

Then, Xia Yu carefully packed the manuscript into his backpack, said goodbye to his parents, and headed out.

During these four days, aside from being busy writing, Xia Yu hadn't wasted his free time. He had already considered how to submit the manuscript.

For a novel, the most direct way to profit is through publication. However, without any reputation, getting published is extremely difficult, and the royalties are very low.

Even if it were successfully published, the chances of it becoming a flop were quite high.

After all, even good wine fears a deep alley!

Xia Yu was self-aware enough not to naively believe that just because he was a reborn individual, his powerful aura would make publishers bow down, distributors fawn over him, and readers flock to him...

That scenario was entirely impossible!

Even if the quality of the work led to a positive reputation after publication, and it eventually became a hit, Xia Yu didn't have the time to wait! So the direct publishing route was not feasible.

Fortunately, in Hong Kong, serializing novels in newspapers was popular at this time. Once fame was established, the work could be published later.

This model benefited the newspaper, as it helped attract readers; it also benefited the publisher, as it helped screen for excellent works, reduce risks, and save on promotional costs; and it benefited the author, who could earn an additional income. It was a win-win for all parties!

So Xia Yu decided to follow this practice and submit his manuscript to a newspaper for serialization.

Since he planned to serialize the novel in a newspaper, choosing the right newspaper was crucial.

In Hong Kong, there were plenty of newspapers. Because the threshold for starting a newspaper was low—anyone with money could do it—newspapers sprang up constantly, making Hong Kong the region with the highest density of newspapers in the world.

Among them, the mainstream newspapers included *Oriental Daily*, *Ming Pao*, *Hong Kong Economic Journal*, *Sing Tao Daily*, *Ta Kung Pao*, *Sing Pao*, and *South China Morning Post*.

Of these, *Oriental Daily* was a grassroots newspaper, *Hong Kong Economic Journal* catered to high-level intellectuals, *Ming Pao* started at the grassroots but, thanks to Jin Yong's sharp commentary over the years, had also become popular among intellectuals, *Sing Tao Daily* targeted the middle and lower classes, and *South China Morning Post* was Hong Kong's largest English-language newspaper.

For Xia Yu, the first to be ruled out was the English-language *South China Morning Post*.

And because his goal in writing the novel was to make money quickly, the greater the influence, the better. This would be advantageous not only for the treatment of his next book but also for the subsequent publication and adaptation of *A Step into the Past*. Since the target audience for *A Step into the Past* was the general public, newspapers that didn't cater to the masses were also excluded.

With this in mind, *Ta Kung Pao*, *Hong Kong Economic Journal*, and *Sing Pao* were also ruled out.

That left *Ming Pao*, *Sing Tao Daily*, and *Oriental Daily*.

At this time, the top three newspapers by circulation were *Oriental Daily*, *Sing Tao Daily*, and *Ming Pao*.

*Ming Pao* ranked third, with an average daily circulation of around 130,000 copies. Compared to its peak when it was the top seller, its position had somewhat declined, partly because Jin Yong had already retired from writing and there was a lack of martial arts masters on par with him. Although *Ming Pao* had risen from the grassroots, Jin Yong had focused on intellectuals in recent years, neglecting the general public somewhat, which had relatively weakened its influence among the masses.

However, if Jin Yong were to come out of retirement or if there were a new master-level martial arts novel, sales would definitely soar again.

*Sing Tao Daily* belonged to the Sing Tao Newspaper Group, founded by Aw Boon Haw in 1938, and was now controlled by his daughter, Sally Aw, who was known as the "Queen of the Newspaper Industry." Currently, *Sing Tao Daily* had an average daily circulation of 160,000 copies. Over the decades, its distribution channels had already spread throughout Southeast Asia.

*Oriental Daily* was a newspaper deeply rooted in the grassroots, founded by the Ma family in 1969. They claimed to have held the top spot in sales for 35 years, with a peak circulation of 530,000 copies, reaching over 3.4 million people.

*Oriental Daily* was the Ma family's mouthpiece, a tool for cleaning up their image. However, one had to admit that they were serious about running the newspaper, and with a large customer base, it now had the highest sales, with an average daily circulation of 170,000 copies during this era.

Besides circulation, Xia Yu also considered the manuscript fee.

While getting his novel published in *Ming Pao* would bring great fame, Jin Yong was famously stingy with author compensation in Hong Kong. Xia Yu wasn't prioritizing fame at the moment; he needed money, as much as possible, so he didn't put *Ming Pao* at the top of his list.

*Sing Tao Daily* owed its high circulation to its extensive sales channels, spread throughout Southeast Asia. Moreover, Sally Aw, the boss, was known for being strong-willed, earning her the title of "Queen of the Newspaper Industry." Xia Yu also didn't put *Sing Tao Daily* at the top of his list.

As for *Oriental Daily*, the Ma family had always wanted to make *Oriental Daily* even better. Moreover, being the most recently established and with the weakest foundation, their reputation wasn't great. Most well-known writers, who were also scholars, valued their reputations and were reluctant to associate with the Ma family. As a result, *Oriental Daily* struggled with novel submissions.

Because of this, *Oriental Daily* had no choice but to attract submissions by offering high fees, hoping to attract more contributions and perhaps find some good novels among them. Therefore, *Oriental Daily* offered the highest manuscript fees.

Since *Oriental Daily* could provide both fame and profit, and had the upper hand in both, Xia Yu naturally chose to submit his manuscript to *Oriental Daily* first.

After changing buses several times, Xia Yu finally arrived outside the *Oriental Daily* building.

He looked up at the *Oriental Daily* sign and then walked inside with a confident smile.

At the reception desk, Xia Yu politely said to the receptionist, "Hello, I've written a novel and would like to submit it. Could you tell me the procedure?"

The receptionist was initially taken aback when Xia Yu walked in, as he was just a teenager. When he heard Xia Yu was there to submit a novel, he blinked in surprise, then smiled, a bit amused by Xia Yu's boldness. However, he didn't mock him outright. He pointed in a direction and said, "Submissions go to those rooms over there."

"Thank you!" Xia Yu replied, then headed toward the room the receptionist had indicated.

Watching Xia Yu's back, the receptionist shook his head with a smile and muttered, "Money really talks. The boss offered high prices for manuscripts, and now all sorts of people are coming to submit. Even kids are here, thinking it's that easy to make money. What kind of good novel could a kid write? Heh..."

Of course, Xia Yu didn't hear the receptionist's dismissive comments as he had already reached the door of an office. The sign on the door read "Manuscript Review Room." From the outside, he could see a middle-aged man inside, head down, reviewing manuscripts. The desk was piled high with a mountain of manuscripts.

After knocking, the middle-aged man didn't even look up and impatiently said, "The door's not locked, just come in."

"Hello, I'm here to submit a novel!" Xia Yu ignored the man's tone, walked in, and began taking out the thick stack of manuscript pages from his backpack.

When the middle-aged man heard someone was submitting a novel, he finally looked up, but upon seeing Xia Yu, his expression changed slightly. He cursed under his breath and, even more impatiently, said, "Put it on the desk and wait for a response." He then immediately went back to reviewing other manuscripts, not even glancing at Xia Yu.

Feeling unhappy with the man's dismissive attitude, Xia Yu kept his cool. Since he needed something from him, he held back, placed his manuscript on top of the pile, thanked him, and left.

After leaving the *Oriental Daily* building, Xia Yu shook his head self-deprecatingly. "Even though I was mentally prepared, it's still annoying."

Before coming here, Xia Yu had anticipated that his age might cause people to underestimate him. After all, the world is full of people who judge by appearances, and he hadn't expected to encounter one so quickly.

"Oh well, it's done now. I might as well buy some more notebooks and write as much as I can while waiting for a response. That way, I can get more money in one go." Xia Yu murmured to himself and then headed off to buy pens and notebooks.

He hadn't considered the possibility of his manuscript being rejected, as it was a work by a martial arts master. How could it not be accepted?

Unfortunately, things didn't go as Xia Yu had hoped. He hadn't anticipated that, in this world, truly exceptional talent is rare, and finding a discerning publisher is even rarer.

After Xia Yu left, the middle-aged manuscript reviewer picked up Xia Yu's manuscript and skimmed through it. Seeing that the story was about Xiang Shaolong traveling back to the Qin Dynasty, he sneered dismissively: "Still a kid and already trying to write novels, and about the Qin Dynasty at that. I don't even claim to understand the Qin Dynasty, what could a child possibly know? And this nonsense about time travel, it's just a mess!"

The middle-aged reviewer casually flipped through a few pages, scoffed, and tossed the manuscript aside, where it landed in the pile of rejected manuscripts.

"Still so many manuscripts to review, most of them are garbage, it's frustrating," the middle-aged editor grumbled, rubbing his eyes as he looked at the mountain of manuscripts on his desk. He cursed softly and continued his task of reviewing manuscripts.