Chapter 90: The Scholarly Pavilion Bookstore

Wang Guohua was happily busy with it.

The paperback edition of Four Great Constables Shaking the East was now being distributed nationwide in physical bookstores, and it had also gone on sale online through Dangdang.

Before anyone knew it, the month of March had already slipped away.

On Zhang Tan’s bookshelf, there was now a blue-covered simplified Chinese edition of Four Great Constables Shaking the East. Since it was his own work, it had been placed in the most conspicuous spot on the shelf.

April fifth was the Festival for Sweeping Graves, and the school gave them three days off.

He had to go home to pay respects to his ancestors. Every year at this time, the entire Zhang family made the same arrangements: they would visit Grandmother’s grave, and also burn paper offerings and clean the graves of several elders from the same clan branch. This was a major duty that every male of the Zhang family had to take part in. Unless something important kept them away, they all had to come back for the ancestral rites.

At the same time, Tan Mingxia called and asked Zhang Tan to bring back a few copies of the simplified edition of Four Great Constables Shaking the East, so she could give them to people.

“Mom, I’m afraid I can’t give any away. The publisher only sent me one review copy.”

“Then go buy a few in the city. Didn’t you say it was already being distributed nationwide? A few books won’t cost much.”

“All right, I’ll go buy some.” Zhang Tan did not object much. If his mother wanted to show off, then let her show off.

After agreeing to buy the books, Zhang Tan, as usual, skipped the last three classes of the afternoon and took leave to go into Hefei.

He had only ever contacted Wang Guohua by phone, and knew that several major bookstores in Hefei had taken stock, probably including Aizhi, Science, Youth, Sanlian, and others. He vaguely remembered that Aizhi Bookstore was over by Sanxiaokou, near the municipal square.

He took a taxi to Sanxiaokou, but did not see Aizhi Bookstore. Instead, he spotted a rather prominent shop called the Broad Learning Pavilion Bookstore.

“Not sure if this place has it. I’ll go in and look.”

It was still early, so Zhang Tan gave up on looking for Aizhi Bookstore and went straight into the Broad Learning Pavilion Bookstore.

There were quite a lot of customers inside. Zhang Tan was just about to ask the proprietor whether they had Four Great Constables Shaking the East for sale when he noticed a discount section inside. On it lay a book unmistakably his own: Four Great Constables Shaking the East.

He picked up a copy at random and saw a price tag beside it: thirteen yuan as a special offer.

“Really? This is a new book, and it’s already on sale?”

New books were generally sold at full price. Only after the launch period would there be discounts, promotions, and the like. Or books that were not selling well would be discounted and sold as special offers.

But from what he had learned on the phone, his book was selling like wildfire, with plenty of orders. By rights, it should not have appeared in a discount section.

Suspicious now, Zhang Tan flipped through it at random and noticed some subtle differences. He had one review copy sent by the publisher, and the paper in that copy was very different from the paper in this book. The review copy used slightly yellow paper, while this book’s pages were whiter, and the paper felt a little better to the touch.

The cover was also smoother than the review copy he had received.

“The quality of this book is better than my review copy... That doesn’t make sense. Did the publisher improve the quality and still sell it for less?”

Frowning, Zhang Tan thought of one possibility.

“Could it be a pirated copy?”

After that thought, Zhang Tan walked out of the bookstore and called Wang Guohua.

“Hello, Director Wang. Are your new books already being discounted?”

“Discounted? No.”

“I saw that here in Hefei, Four Great Constables Shaking the East is in a special-offer section, only thirteen yuan.”

“How could that be? If a bookstore sold it for thirteen yuan, it would be losing money hand over fist. It’s a new book and it’s selling very well; there’s no way it’s being discounted. Did you run into a pirated copy?”

“That’s possible, but the pirated copy I saw was even better in quality than the review copy you sent me. I was just wondering whether your side had improved the paper.”

“That settles it. You’ve definitely run into a pirated copy. The paper from the print run we added at the press is the same batch as the paper from the first run.”

Once it was confirmed to be pirated, Zhang Tan immediately grew anxious.

“What should we do?”

There was a pause on the other end before Wang Guohua gave a sigh.

“Which bookstore did you see the pirated copy in?”

“The Broad Learning Pavilion Bookstore.”

“Broad Learning Pavilion? Never heard of it. Good, at least it’s not one of the major chains.” Wang Guohua gave a dry laugh. His voice over the phone sounded rather helpless. “There’s nothing we can do about pirated editions. We’ve already received reports from several places. There’s no good solution except to finish distribution as quickly as possible and make sure pirated copies don’t show up in the bigger bookstores.”

Zhang Tan was still unwilling to let it go.

“So we just let piracy run wild?”

“We’re racing pirated books for time now. That’s just the way things are...” Wang Guohua said resignedly. “Just think of it as piracy helping build your name.”

...

After hanging up, Zhang Tan looked at the crowded scene inside the Broad Learning Pavilion Bookstore and felt increasingly displeased.

But the situation was what it was, and too much could not be demanded.

He himself had grown up reading pirated books in his previous life. Official editions often cost several dozen yuan, which was simply unaffordable for ordinary people. Only once the economy improved and people had money in their pockets did awareness of正版 editions gradually strengthen.

“Forget it, I’m not that petty. I used to read pirated books too. Let’s just call it giving back to society.”

Quietly invoking a spirit of stubborn optimism, Zhang Tan went back into the Broad Learning Pavilion Bookstore.

After his initial irritation, he quickly accepted it. Piracy certainly harmed his interests, but if he thought about it another way, it was not without its positive side. At the very least, it let people who could not have afforded the book before be willing to spend money on a pirated copy, and after reading it, they might even become fans of Zhang Tan.

Compared with the small amount of royalty income, fans were the real gain.

Those fans would very likely become supporters later, when Zhang Tan’s works were adapted into television dramas, games, or films. Or readers who could not afford official copies now might support the legitimate edition when they had money in the future.

After all, Zhang Tan was not going to write only this one book.

Managing his pen name was even more important.

“For Four Great Constables Shaking the East to get a simplified Chinese edition is already an unexpected blessing. Earning a little more or a little less doesn’t make much difference. Like Wang Guohua said, I may as well take it as free publicity.”

Having come to terms with it, Zhang Tan quickly gathered ten pirated copies of Four Great Constables Shaking the East and went to the counter to pay.

“Boss, how much is it altogether?”

It was not that Zhang Tan was unwilling to spend money on an official edition, but he had not found Aizhi Bookstore, and he did not know where the others were either. Besides, he had to admit the pirated copies were of better quality than the official one.

Giving away pirated books somehow felt more dignified.

“Damn it, what sort of world is this? A pirated book has better quality than the official one!”

“Next time a book is published, I have to make a point of telling the publisher: the quality can’t stay this poor. If the price is that high, then it damn well has to be worth it.”

At the counter, the books were spread open.

The owner of the Broad Learning Pavilion Bookstore counted them and said with a smile, “That comes to one hundred and thirty yuan.”

“Give me a discount. One hundred.” Zhang Tan took out one hundred yuan and laid it on the table, saying sourly. Rationally, he had accepted the existence of pirated books, but emotionally he was still very unhappy.

“Student, you bought these from the special-offer section. They were already discounted, so they can’t be discounted again.”

“These are pirated books. You don’t even have to pay royalties, and you still sell them so expensively!”

The owner’s expression hardened. “You can’t make accusations like that. These are special-offer books, all legitimate!”

“Are you sure, boss?”

“Of course they’re legitimate.”

Zhang Tan pulled out his phone. “Believe it or not, I can call the Bureau of Industry and Commerce right now and report you for selling pirated books.”

Seeing that Zhang Tan did not look easy to bully, the owner immediately changed to a smiling face, took the hundred yuan, quickly wrapped up the books, and handed them over.

“Student, this... today I’ll treat it as my treat. One hundred it is. Come back next time and support us more. Selling books isn’t easy, and there isn’t much profit.”

...

By dusk, Zhang Tan returned to Gangji Town carrying ten pirated copies.