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My publishing house is located on Fifth Avenue in New York, one of the largest commercial development areas in the city. Any building in front of it could be a Fortune 500 office building.
In this place where every inch of land is valuable, my parents left me a publishing house, which can be said to be quite remarkable.
I stepped out of my luxury car, wearing a suit and leather shoes, with a bit of tiredness in my eyes but a smile on my face. I walked into the building where my publishing house was located.
As a successful and young entrepreneur, I was very popular in this building, and I politely responded to everyone's greetings.
The elevator door slowly opened, and the office was quiet. More than a dozen desks were neatly arranged, and everyone was starting their day's work.
Seeing my arrival, the employees greeted me one after another. After all, I was the boss.
A middle-aged man with a neat haircut walked out of the office steadily, looking at me with a relieved expression.
"Jason, you're here," he said.
John Turner, a traditional middle-aged man, always dressed impeccably, acted steadily, and had excellent abilities. He had come to the United States with my parents many years ago and was my father's right-hand man.
After my parents died in a car accident, he continued to help me manage the publishing house.
He is the editor-in-chief of the publishing house, and usually, when I'm not there, he handles all the affairs of the business.
I trust him very much, and we have a great relationship.
"Good morning, Uncle John," I replied.
John patted my shoulder and asked with a smile, "You haven't been here for the past few days. Did you go out with that girl?"
I shook my head and replied, "I wish, but I haven't had the chance lately. Alright, let's get down to business."
After entering my office, John's expression became serious, his years of experience showing when to adjust and when to be earnest.
He pulled a form out of his briefcase, and we sat down at the coffee table.
"This is the profit report for the publishing house this quarter," he said in a heavy voice. "It's three points lower than the previous quarter. Due to the impact of the Internet, the influence of traditional media is declining further, making it increasingly difficult for us in the publishing industry. I think it's time we plan for the future."
I took the form and glanced at it briefly, showing little interest.
John, seeing my lack of enthusiasm, thought I was under too much pressure and tried to comfort me. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Jason. It's not just us; our peers are also struggling."
He assumed my high standards were the cause of my demeanor, but he didn't know that I already had a solution in mind.
"Uncle John, call everyone over. I have something important to announce."
John immediately picked up the phone and notified the assistant. Soon, all the employees gathered in the conference room.
Looking at everyone, I took out the original manuscript of the Captain America comic from my folder and handed it to John first.
"Take a look at this," I said.
John was the first to read it. As he saw Captain America on the cover, wearing his battle suit and holding his shield, he sighed in relief.
Luckily, despite the market being saturated with American hero themes, there was still some demand.
Having witnessed my growth and knowing my character well, John feared I might go against convention and disrupt the existing market.
As he flipped through the pages, John's brows furrowed. The protagonist was a thin young man!
Shouldn't Captain America be tall and mighty? Shouldn't he have a perfect, muscular physique? What does this mean?
But as he continued, seeing the young Captain America being repeatedly rejected, joining the army time and again, ignored by women, and bullied by hooligans, yet remaining optimistic and determined to serve his country, John's frown eased.
He thought I might be depicting an inspirational story of a captain with a dream, striving toward success step by step, which was quite desirable.
But at the end, when Captain America injected the serum and transformed from a thin young man into a mighty strong man, John almost did a double-take.
Shouldn't Captain America's growth be indomitable and hardworking, succeeding step by step?
If such a comic is published, John could already predict the fans' disbelief. This comic subverted all traditional images of Captain America. It was... almost mythically absurd.
Shaking his head slightly, John found it hard to accept such a heroic image with his old-fashioned mindset.
John passed the original manuscript to the others, and after they read it, their expressions mirrored his.