Yan Liqiang sat on the master seat in one of the manor's lounges, looking at the silent group hanging their heads dejectedly. He smiled and took a sip of his tea before he broke the silence. "There's no need to feel so down, everyone! Our newspaper is a new thing. We've done a pretty good job for selling 318 copies on the first day. 318 sounds just like 'the desire to prosper' [1], and that's a really an auspicious number. If we can sell more than three hundred copies today, we may be able to sell thirty thousand or even a hundred thousand in the future…!"
"Well… According to the youths selling our newspapers, the crowds in the teahouses, restaurants, and on the streets were quite curious about what they were selling. Several people approached them, but not many bought one in the end. They were only asking, and some even commented that six copper coins for a copy was too expensive. Quite a few them were trying to get a discount…" Xu Enda reported awkwardly.
[1] The Chinese pronunciation of ‘318’ is ‘san yao ba’ which sounded just like ‘xiang yao fa’, the desire to prosper .