Xu Tongyong was still the same Xu Tongyong.
Whether it was then or now, he hadn't changed a bit.
Back when Chen Hao worked at the newspaper office, Xu Tongyong had already been editor-in-chief. Although Chen Hao had joined earlier, Xu was still his direct superior.
Before Xu came on board, the workplace atmosphere was laid-back. As long as you didn't mess up major deadlines, you were free to explore ideas. Once you finished interviews and article revisions, you had time for your own projects.
But after Xu Tongyong arrived, everything had to follow the rules.
Even when a breaking story dropped in their lap, unless it was approved by a supervisor, they weren't allowed to cover it. Private interviews were strictly forbidden.
As a result, the paper missed out on major stories again and again.
After just a few months under that management, Chen Hao couldn't take it anymore and transferred to another company.
Soon after, the rest of his colleagues began to jump ship too.
By 2015, that newspaper had shut down completely.
As for what Xu did after that, or where he went, Chen Hao hadn't paid any attention.
If Huohuo Publishing House hadn't been the only place in Jianghai City with actual experience publishing manga, he wouldn't have even considered coming to Xu in the first place.
But in the end, it turned out to be pointless anyway.
Since Huohuo didn't work out, Chen Hao used his Memory Library to search through city records and found that Jianghai had three major publishing houses in total.
Aside from Huohuo, there were Chaoshang Publishing and Chenghsiang Publishing.
However, the latter two were significantly smaller in scale. Chaoshang focused mainly on fashion magazines, while Chenghsiang primarily handled newspaper printing.
After thinking it over, Chen Hao decided to try his luck at Chenghsiang.
If that didn't work, he'd just look elsewhere.
Still, he couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated. In his mind, getting a manga serialized shouldn't have been so difficult. But he'd overlooked something critical—it was still 2006, not 2019.
Hot-blooded manga and shounen anime—the ones he knew by heart—were barely known in this timeline.
Without the Memory Library, Chen Hao wouldn't even have known these smaller publishing houses existed. He'd only entered the media industry after most of them had disappeared—including Huohuo.
After getting off the bus, Chen Hao arrived at the Chenghsiang Publishing House.
At least, that's what the address said.
In reality, the building looked more like a worn-down warehouse than a publishing company. It was a single-story structure, weathered and faded.
If not for the faint scent of ink and paper in the air, he might have thought he was in the wrong place.
There were bundles of books and stacks of newspapers piled throughout the entrance. A few old printing machines were still running in the back. From what Chen Hao could see, only four people were working inside.
A young girl stationed near the entrance looked up as he stepped in.
"Excuse me, who are you looking for?"
"This is Chenghsiang Publishing House, right?"
"That's right."
Chen Hao glanced around. "You guys don't even have a signboard."
The girl smiled awkwardly. "There used to be one above the door. But they're widening the road this month, so it had to come down. We just haven't put it back up yet."
She paused for a moment before asking, "So, what brings you here?"
Chen Hao thought for a second, then said, "I wanted to ask if you'd be interested in serializing a manga."
The girl blinked in surprise. "A manga?"
"I'm not sure about that. Let me call my dad." She turned and shouted, "Dad! Someone's here to see you."
A middle-aged man stood up from a nearby workbench and made his way over.
"This student is asking about publishing a manga," she explained.
The man gave Chen Hao a once-over—he looked about the same age as his daughter.
After a short silence, the man shook his head. "We're just a small-time publisher. Most of our work comes from printing for newspaper offices. We've never done manga serialization ourselves."
Chen Hao said, "I checked. You publish a magazine called City Corner, right? I was thinking maybe my manga could run in that."
The man gave a wry chuckle. "City Corner hasn't been printed in a while. Sales were never great to begin with. Adding comics won't change that. Besides, that magazine targets adults. Comics are… more for kids, don't you think?"
For kids, huh…
Chen Hao held back a sigh.
In the eyes of many people—especially those in the older generation—manga and animation were nothing more than childish distractions.
"I actually read a few issues of City Corner," Chen Hao said. "I thought the quality was pretty high."
"Quality's one thing," the man replied, "but it doesn't pay the bills. You're not wrong that we aimed to make something meaningful. That was our intention. But if the magazine doesn't sell, then the publishing house can't survive. What good is quality if we can't even cover printing costs?"
He paused, then added, "Besides, if you're really serious about manga, you should be looking for a magazine or newspaper office, not a printing house like ours. If you're struggling to find options, I can give you a couple of leads."
He reached over to a shelf and pulled out two business cards.
"Reader's Digest and Yisen Weekly. Both of them are doing well lately and have a dedicated manga section. Give them a shot."
Chen Hao didn't take the cards. Instead, he looked the man in the eye.
"If you trust me, I promise you this—City Corner can become a hit. I just need a chance to prove it."