Chapter 10, The Wind and Moon Gazette

What Chen Wuge gave to Chen Qiang were actually past issues of the Fengyue magazine

This fellow is the one who asked Chen Qiang what his name was after seeing him run fast a few days ago. He is the fifth child in his family, so older people call him "Little Five," while younger people refer to him as "Brother Five".

"Chen Qiang, come here for a moment!" Chen Wuge waved his hand at Chen Qiang

Although some romantic tales are quite vulgar, ordinary people still find such lowbrow stories rather enjoyable, which is why various types of sensational tabloids can continue to thrive

Can we improve the meals this week? Just look at these gossip tabloids! Chen Qiang weighed the newspaper in his hand, but in his heart, he began to ponder how to sell these gossip tabloids.

Do you recognize this? Chen Wuge asked.

According to the regulations, expired newspapers are to be treated as waste paper, which is certainly not valuable. However, there are some resourceful individuals in the newspaper office who come up with ways to sell the old newspapers, even if at a lower price, it is still better than the price of waste paper

In fact, the romantic stories featured in such tabloids are not truly obscene or pornographic in the strictest sense; at most, they merely skirt the edges of propriety. If the content were genuinely unhealthy, it would not dare to be published openly in newspapers. However, this is sufficient to stimulate the purchasing desire of certain individuals

To get back to the point

Extra! Extra! Employees of the Russian company on Zhongdong Road are on strike

Chen Qiang, upon knowing that there was a profit margin of 50%, did not hesitate to take on this business

"Fifth Brother, what is it that you need from me?" Chen Qiang walked over with a beaming smile.

Chen Qiang glanced at the stack of newspapers, scanned the headlines, and immediately recognized what they were.

Extra! Extra! Japan steps in to mediate

Chen Qiang nodded, and then Chen Wu Ge asked: "Do you recognize many characters?"

Chen Wuge chose Chen Qiang primarily because Chen Qiang was one of the older boys among the newsboys. The tabloid contained various romantic stories and some suggestive content; it would be ineffective to sell it with a young child who knows nothing about such matters, so it was only natural to seek someone older.

The "Shenbao" sells for 4 cents for six large pages, while many gossip tabloids, which only contain one large page, also sell for 4 cents. Despite the same price, the gossip tabloids have only one-sixth of the production cost of a book, making the profit margin quite evident.

People in the past were quite precocious; even during the Republic of China, it was not uncommon for individuals to marry at the age of thirteen or fourteen. Therefore, it is not considered inappropriate for fifteen-year-old Chen Qiang to sell erotic newspapers

Extra! Extra! Soviet divisions have arrived in Northeast China

During the day, while selling newspapers, Chen Qiang continues to run 10,000 meters to earn points for tasks. After sleeping at night, he practices sprinting and works on his physical fitness in the training space. This has become Chen Qiang's daily routine

For instance, each issue of "Men's Health" features a beautifully dressed woman in tattered clothing on the cover. A male magazine deliberately creates such a cover, not just to attract readers to purchase it

On weekdays, the newsboys purchase newspapers from the distribution office at a discounted price of 20% off, allowing them only a 20% profit margin. However, this tabloid has a profit margin of 50%, which means the newsboys can earn more.

"Wait a moment." Chen Wuge then assumed a mysterious demeanor, and from a pile of old newspapers, he pulled out a stack and handed it to Chen Qiang

Certainly, those who truly wish to read this type of newspaper will not care about the 4 cents.

I believe that many men buy this magazine for the first time not to learn how men should be fashionable or how to become more refined, but rather to appreciate the beautiful older sister on the cover with an artistic eye, and to anticipate whether the older sisters inside the magazine will use even less fabric.

"First take it to sell, sell as much as you can. I will take half of the discounted price from what is sold," said Brother Chen Wu.

The things that later generations have grown tired of have become the driving force for Chen Qiang's survival in this era. Being able to eat meat brings him a profound sense of happiness

This thing is somewhat similar to certain online writers, whose updates are lackluster, fishing for three days and drying nets for two, recalling to write another chapter, but once they become lazy, they stop updating. Who knows, on a bad day, they might just abandon it altogether.

A copy of the gossip newspaper sells for 4 cents, and he can earn 2 cents from it. Selling 10 copies of the gossip newspaper amounts to a day's meal. If he sells all the gossip newspapers he has in hand, it would be enough for Chen Qiang to buy a piece of pig's head meat to satisfy his cravings

On that day, when Chen Qiang went to Chen Rujis to deliver the newspaper, he was stopped by a clerk with the same surname, Chen.

Chen Wuge nodded: "Not bad, you young man still recognize this. However, at your age, you should be familiar with it. These are several recent issues, and there are quite a few varieties. Don't say that Wuge has good things without thinking of you; take these and sell them."

Brother Chen Wu collects old newspapers that should have been sold as waste paper and then hands them over to newsboys for sale. Even if they are sold at half price, it is still more profitable than selling them as waste paper, and he can earn a profit from the price difference

In terms of pricing, various types of entertainment tabloids are generally not inexpensive. For instance, comprehensive newspapers like "Shen Bao" and "Xin Wen Bao" attract many advertisers, allowing them to offset costs and even turn a profit through advertising revenue. In contrast, smaller tabloids have lower circulation and consequently lack advertisements, resulting in higher prices.

"I heard that you can read?" Chen Wuge asked.

... ...

The tabloid does not contain any serious content, and those who buy the newspaper feel that reading such a publication is somewhat disreputable. Regular newspapers are typically sold through newsstands and are rarely sold by newsboys.

"Is this the Fengyue Newsletter?" Chen Qiang asked tentatively

The "Fengyue Xiaobao" does not contain much current news; its content primarily focuses on stories. It is referred to as "Fengyue Xiaobao" because most of the content consists of romantic tales.

"Common newspapers are understandable," Chen Qiang replied

"Fifth Brother, how much do these cost?" Chen Qiang asked.

In recent days, Chen Qiang has finally had some meat; in addition to meat-filled buns, he has also eaten eggs twice.

The circulation of such frivolous tabloids is not large, typically ranging from one to two thousand or three to four thousand copies. Generally, the lower the circulation, the more risqué the content tends to be, while as the circulation increases, the risqué content decreases. If the circulation exceeds five thousand copies, the content becomes decidedly serious, as a larger presence attracts attention, and the newspaper is wary of causing trouble.

As Chen Qiang had anticipated, this chaotic era is not lacking in extra news content. An incident on the Middle East route allows Chen Qiang to sell extra news every day, which effectively means he can earn an additional 20 cents daily

The meaning of Brother Chen Wu is quite simple: first, let Chen Qiang take these newspapers to sell. If he sells them for one yuan, he just needs to give Brother Chen Wu fifty cents in return. In other words, these newspapers have a full fifty percent profit margin

... ...

The Fengyue Xiaobao is a unique product from the Republic of China era. This type of newspaper was published by small, relatively unknown press agencies, many of which did not have a fixed publication schedule, with some issues released every three to five days, while others were published weekly. Some may have only released a few issues before ceasing publication due to poor sales