About three weeks ago, Hong Yu told Heero to publish the story that he told to the children. She told him the story was interesting, not only for the children, even an adult like her also found the story pretty interesting.
Moreover, if it sold well, he could also gain decent cash or even higher than his current pay. Heero did not expect that a mere story like this could be sold. Without hesitation, Heero agreed with Hong Yu's proposal. Then, she brought him to the publisher she knew who was also her friend.
Yun Xia Publisher was the publisher Hong Yu recommended which also belonged to her friend, Yun Xia. Now, Heero and Hong Yu were standing before the building that belonged to Yun Xia Publisher which was in the same district as Miao Miao Noodles Shop.
Lan Lan and Man Man also insisted followed them. They looked curiously at the building in front of them. It could be said, this Yun Xia Publisher was even more shabby than Butcher Wang's shop and Miao Miao Noodles Shop.
Even though the outside looked shabby, the inside was clean and neat. The building was the same size as Butcher Wang's shop, but the first floor was occupied with only books. There were many shelves filled with books.
On the left side, there were a few tables and there was also a counter while the right side was filled with shelves full of books. However, there was no one on the first floor.
The first floor was the library while the second floor was the workroom. The second floor was Heero's destination.
Hong Yu led the group to the second floor. If the first floor was neat and clean, then the second floor was chaos and mess. Papers were scattered everywhere, tables and chairs placed randomly. However, surprisingly, the second floor's air was more comfortable than the first floor.
Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!
The sound of keyboards resounded amidst the silence. Man Man and Lan Lan immediately turned toward the voice and found a person sitting behind a computer and typing crazily.
Behind the computer was a woman with shriveled hair, big glasses, wearing short pants and a casual shirt. The glasses woman kept typing as she was still not aware someone was coming.
Only when she heard footsteps, she stop typing and looked up. Seeing it was Heero and Hong Yu, she pointed her finger toward the table not far from Heero and said.
"Oh, you've come. The sample is on the table, you can check it there!" Then, the woman set her eyes back to the monitor.
However, she remembered something and tilted her head out, "If there's something you are unsatisfied with, just tell me and I will edit right away!"
Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!
The sound of keyboards resounded again.
Meanwhile, Heero walked toward the table and found two books along with scattered white papers.
The cover was a man with a black mask and behind the masked man was a tiny man in blue. In the middle top was the title "The Spirit And Trickster" book one, The Rise of Legend. It was a novel series for The Spirit And Trickster.
Besides this one, there was another book laying down. The same title, but a different version. Yes, there were two different versions, one for the children and the other one was for a general audience.
The story was about the same, but it had a different main character and spirit. For the children's version, the main character was a boy in his teens while for the general audience the main character was a grown man.
Moreover, the kid's version was a picture book which also much bigger than the novel series.
Lan Lan took the picture book upon seeing the cute spirit on the boy's shoulder. The hard copy was written in Chinese for both series.
Tak! Tak! Tak! Tak!
"You can take the hard copy back with you. We will start selling it in a week and also will release the digital book on the same date. Currently, I am still working on the English version. So can you please leave me alone for now? I can't focus on my work with you guys here."
"If you want to make some changes, please come back again in three days!"
Hong Yu really knew Yun Xia well. She did not like being disturbed when she was working. So Hong Yu brought Heero and the two little girls out.
When they reached out, Lan Lan and Man Man opened the sample of the kid version. The pictures were finely drawn, it was even better than the drawing Heero drew in the class before. Heero finally experienced the marvel of technology.
After getting the sample, Heero went back to Butcher Wang's shop. He still had to accompany these two little girls. He was so willing as Butcher Wang would give him a dinner, saving his money.
…
The next morning, on the way to the school, Heero found the road crowded with a sea of people. Many people were standing on the roadside. The north gate which usually closed also opened today.
This was a rare scene, Heero wondered what happened here. When he reached school, all the school's staff and teachers gathered at the front gate.
Heero walked toward Teacher Lin, "Good morning, Teacher Lin~ why do you guys stand on the roadside?"
Before Teacher Lin could give her answer, a sweet voice entered his ears, "We are here to welcome the Heroes. The central government announced it last night, a party of Heroes under the lead of Gold Class Rank 1, Bai Xin Yue is back from the expedition. They are fighting for us, so this is what we the normal civilians can do for them."
Heero turned around and found Hong Yu was walking toward him. She stood beside Heero and looked toward the north gate, waiting for the heroes to come back.
The children also followed, they stood in front of the staff and teachers. Even Principal Fang was also with them here to welcome the heroes.
It did not long before a group of black cars entered the city. Cars were rarely seen in the outer city, but today many black cars were entering the city. These cars were off-road cars and carried six heroes each.
The crowd broke into cheers when the car entered. It was said that the expedition was a success. The children also cheered excitedly as this was a rare chance to see Gold Class Hero in person.
However, there was one little girl that looked anxious, Kang Myung Hee. Yes, Heero found Kang Myung Hee was busy scanning each black car passed them. She was looking for someone.
After all the black cars passed, Kang Myung Hee still could not find the person she was looking for. Her eyes turned red and tears fell from her eyes. Yes, she was crying.
Heero immediately approached Myung Hee, "Myung Hee, what's wrong?"
Kang Myung Hee shook her head. She did not want to say why she cried or what made her cry. But Myung Hee hugged Heero and cried amidst the cheer.
Heero picked Kang Myung Hee and brought her to the back. He could do nothing but rub her back to calm her down.
The other teachers wanted to know why Myung Hee cried, but Heero shook his head, telling them to leave them for now. After a group of black cars, a big truck entered, it was much bigger than the black cars.
This truck brought the mutated beast that Heroes killed. When the truck entered the city, it brought a big uproar to the masses. The truck was bringing a giant mutated beast. The first truck brought a big bird, the second truck brought a giant lizard, and the third was a big winged lizard.
There were nine trucks in total, the other six trucks were bringing a smaller mutated beast. However, the crowd was talking about the giant mutated beast. Awe exclamation could be heard everywhere. The masses were praising the heroes, especially Bai Xin Yue, the rank first of Gold Class.
Heero however frowned upon seeing the giant mutated beast. The beast was somehow similar to the beast in Dramonia.
After all the cars passed, many people followed the parade while the others left. Of course, the staff and teachers of Hope Preschool stayed. They still had the same class as usual.
Just as they wanted to enter the school, there was an old man with grey hair who approached Heero. The old man was wearing a black suit and had a scar below his mouth. Based on the aura only, everyone could tell this old man was not just a healthy ordinary old man.
"I will take Young Miss back with me, she will not attend today's class."
This old man was a butler of the Kang Family. The one who always picked and delivered Kang Myung Hee.
Heero nodded his head and handed Kang Myung Hee who was sleeping. Yes, after crying for a long time, Kang Myung Hee fell asleep in his embrace.
Heero still did not know what this three years old girl cried for. But it must be something very important to her. As he handed Myung Hee to the gray-haired old man, Heero wanted to ask something but hesitated.
In the end, Heero decided not to ask. The grey-haired old man left the school with Myung Hee. Meanwhile, Principal Fang accompanied the butler to the car.
Today's class went per usual, As for Kang Myung, Her absence did not change the class atmosphere since she was always alone. The children were in a good mood after welcoming the heroes.
The class went as per usual. Though Myung Hee's incident bothered him, it was still a great day for Heero.
Just like that, another three months passed. Heero enjoyed his life, though he was still homeless. Four months of his earnings were not enough for him to buy a house, not even close.
But today was different than the usual day. Hope Preschool had a special event each year, an outdoor activity. The activity was held outside the city, at Hope Park.
Hope Park belonged to Principal Fang. The park was located in a safe zone, at the hill near Star City. The children were super excited about today's event. They were beaming with happiness.
However, the outdoor event that was supposed to be pleasant turned into a horror show for the children. Right at noon, the group was surrounded by a group of mutated wolves. The children cried in horror at the sight of the mutated wolves. Hope Park that supposed to be a green zone turned into a red zone.
From today onward, the leisure life that Heero experienced in the last four months came to an end.