Chapter 191: Hiss! Terrifying!
May 4th, an unusual day.
On this day in 1919, a student movement led primarily by young students erupted in the capital of the mainland, involving a wide range of participants from various social strata, including ordinary citizens, businesspeople, and workers. The movement consisted of demonstrations, petitions, strikes, and violent confrontations with the government, representing a patriotic movement against imperialism and feudalism in China.
To commemorate this historic day, May 4th of each year was designated as "Youth Day"!
On May 4th, 1978, across the sea, *Huaxia Youth* magazine and *Huaxia Youth Daily* resumed publication.
And on this side of the strait, the future-influential *Fengyun Daily* was also launched on this day!
...
Early in the morning, delivery employees who had been prepared for a while donned their uniforms and rode their bikes through the streets of Hong Kong, constantly delivering newspapers and magazines.
As usual, Ma Hui arrived at his uncle's newsstand, taking out a large stack of newspapers and magazines and placing them on his uncle's stall.
"Uncle, here are the 150 copies of *Jiuding Daily* you wanted, ten copies of *Economy* magazine, and fifty copies of *Fengyun Daily*. Count them."
Ma Hui said casually to the newsstand owner.
The newsstand owner responded with a hearty laugh, "Count? Do you think you can shortchange me?"
He then started sorting the newspapers, first taking out the ten copies of *Economy* magazine and placing them in the most prominent position on the stand. Next, he placed the *Jiuding Daily* in the middle of the pile of newspapers. Finally, he put the *Fengyun Daily*, which he was seeing for the first time, next to the *Jiuding Daily*.
Shaking his head with a sigh, the newsstand owner placed *Fengyun Daily* beside *Jiuding Daily*, giving it a very visible spot. Even though he had never seen it before, he was confident in *Fengyun Daily*.
This confidence came from the fact that over the past few months, both *Jiuding Daily* and *Economy* magazine had left him with a solid impression of high quality. Therefore, *Fengyun Daily*, being from the same publisher as these two, was expected to be of similar quality.
Moreover, and most importantly, these two had been the most profitable for him!
"Hui Zi, you'd better get busy. If *Fengyun Daily* runs out, I'll call your company immediately!"
"Okay, Uncle, I'm off now! I'll come by your house tonight to play with my cousin!"
After finishing his words, Ma Hui hopped on his bike and headed to the next newsstand.
"Hey, handsome, check out *Fengyun Daily*. With such a big name, you should take a look!"
Seeing a customer who was about to pay for a copy of *Jiuding Daily* and leave, the newsstand owner quickly picked up a copy of *Fengyun Daily* and tried to sell it to him.
The customer raised an eyebrow, showing interest. He didn't mind paying for the extra newspaper and took the copy, saying casually, "Then I'll take a copy of *Fengyun Daily* as well!"
After receiving the change from the owner, the customer started reading the newspaper while walking. He was immediately drawn to the news from outside Hong Kong, especially from places like the United States and the United Kingdom. The strong sense of novelty piqued his interest, and he read it with great enthusiasm.
"Boss, I heard that *Fengyun Daily* is being released today. Do you have any copies here?"
"Yes, yes, it's right next to *Jiuding Daily*. Help yourself!"
...
This scene was not only happening in Hong Kong and Macau but also throughout Southeast Asia.
As a result, the actual sales of *Fengyun Daily* began to rise continuously.
Luo Yanming, the editor-in-chief of *Chengbao*, immediately had his subordinates buy copies of *Fengyun Daily* to start browsing and analyzing them.
"The political news is very accurately grasped, and the writing is sharp. Let me see, it turns out it was written by him. When did he join Jiuding Newspaper Company? No wonder this article is so well-written!"
"This one too, and that one, these are all industry veterans, yet they have become employees of Jiuding Newspaper Company!"
"The livelihood news is also quite good, and the focus is the same as ours in *Chengbao*!"
"This international news…"
Upon seeing the international news section, Luo Yanming frowned and started reading carefully, then closed his eyes to ponder.
"Hmm…"
After a long time, he opened his eyes, exhaled deeply, and looked very serious.
Although he was reluctant to face it, he had to admit that the news in this section was indeed very compelling. Even with a scrutinizing eye, he couldn't help but read it with great interest.
Moreover, he found that each piece of international news was very significant, capable of attracting readers' attention. Such heavy-hitting news is not something that happens every day in Hong Kong; having even one such piece a day is quite impressive.
But what shocked Luo Yanming was that every piece of international news in *Fengyun Daily* was significant, naturally having strong appeal to many people.
Luo Yanming couldn't help but compare *Chengbao* with *Fengyun Daily*, and was disheartened to find that the news that seemed somewhat appealing in his own newspaper appeared quite dull compared to these heavyweight stories!
Comparison is indeed the thief of joy!
Without comparison, there's no harm! Luo Yanming was deeply hurt!
And there's one thing to consider: how is the authority of a newspaper established?
The most direct manifestation is in exclusive news!
When other newspapers don't have it, if one's own newspaper suddenly breaks a major exclusive news story, it will naturally boost sales significantly. More importantly, it creates an impression among readers that other newspapers are inferior because they missed out on such significant news. Isn't that a sign of weakness?
Now, *Fengyun Daily* is not only publishing major news but also exclusive stories. This advantage is too obvious!
It's not just that *Fengyun Daily* has something others don't; it's that it has something of a higher level that others can't match!
However, thinking about it, Hong Kong is just a small place in the world.
*Fengyun Daily* has gathered the most important events from major countries around the globe in one day, consolidating all the highlights and presenting them uniformly.
How many major events can happen in Hong Kong in a day? Even if there's one significant event a day, it would only fill a small section of the newspaper. Even if they shamelessly add a few more articles, it wouldn't take up much space!
The gap is evident!
Not just *Chengbao*, but all newspapers in Hong Kong and even Southeast Asia, are inferior to *Fengyun Daily*.
*Fengyun Daily* is just too valuable!
At this moment, Luo Yanming felt despondent. Such a gap cannot be bridged in a short time, and for some smaller newspapers, it might take decades to catch up. After all, they don't have the resources to deploy a global network of reporters.
The formidable role of Jiuding News Agency is well demonstrated in *Fengyun Daily*!
Throughout Hong Kong, Luo Yanming is not the only one paying attention to *Fengyun Daily*.
The owners and editors-in-chief of major newspapers, upon seeing *Fengyun Daily*, were all struck with alarm and dread.
With their decades of trained insight, they could see that *Fengyun Daily* would definitely capture readers' attention.
Although *Fengyun Daily* had just been released, and sales data wouldn't be available until the evening,
It was already clear in their minds that *Fengyun Daily* had succeeded!
If even such an outstanding performance doesn't succeed, then they don't know what could possibly succeed!
Jiuding Newspaper Company has indeed raised another big shark, and it's an exceptionally fierce great white shark among sharks!
Their troubles have returned!
*Brothers, please vote!*