"The third point is to subtly bring joy to the readers," Jiang Ye said. "This is a promotional piece, after all. You need to make the Whalers feel a sense of anticipation for the future. But don't state it overtly, don't make it too obvious. Let the Whalers unknowingly touch upon a beautiful future."
"These are the three points for now. You try writing a first draft, and then I'll tell you how to revise it," Jiang Ye instructed.
"When is the deadline?" Jiang Senlin asked.
"As soon as possible. The situation on Whaler is complex and volatile, with various factions like a pot of stew. The economic war will be waged hour by hour. The sooner your draft is out, the sooner the 'First Voice' newspaper can start exerting its influence," Jiang Ye said seriously.
"I understand. I'll go back and prepare to write then," Jiang Senlin said, standing up.
Jiang Senlin's writing speed was incredibly fast. Jiang Ye had expected to see the first draft at least three or four days later, but to his surprise, Jiang Senlin knocked on his office door with the draft the very next afternoon.
"Dad, please take a look and tell me what needs to be changed," Jiang Senlin said.
Jiang Ye took the manuscript and quickly scanned it. Instead of giving immediate feedback, he waved at the sweeping robot busy in the corner. "Come here."
The sweeping robot paused. "You called me?"
"Yes."
Jiang Senlin looked bewildered as the flat, round sweeping robot crawled towards his father.
Jiang Ye placed the manuscript in front of the sweeping robot. "Don't sweep it away; it's not trash. Take a look at this draft and tell me any words you don't understand. Don't use internet search."
"Okay, I'll take a look," the sweeping robot said, beginning to read the manuscript.
Jiang Ye picked up a pen, and for every word the sweeping robot pointed out, he circled it.
Soon, the sweeping robot finished reading the draft. "Is this okay?"
"Yes, you can go back to your work now," Jiang Ye nodded.
Jiang Ye picked up the manuscript, which was now covered in circles, and handed it directly to Jiang Senlin.
"Take it back and revise it. Avoid the circled words. If you absolutely must use them, provide a brief explanation for the word," Jiang Ye said. "The article needs to be so simple that even household appliances can understand it."
Jiang Senlin was stunned but still nodded, taking the manuscript back to revise.
Over the next two days, Jiang Senlin returned to the office every few hours with the manuscript.
Jiang Ye's review time was always brief, just a few minutes for a quick read. This gave Jiang Senlin the illusion that "this time it must be good." However, each time Jiang Ye finished reading, he would circle a large number of issues and patiently offer revision suggestions.
"This part is too textbook-like. Add an example. No one likes dry theories; a small story is better. It doesn't need to be a complex story with a beginning, middle, and end; just a small incident in two or three sentences will do."
"What's going on here? Why are you using inverted sentences? Don't bring Jiang Ye Star's dialect to Whaler."
"This is too wordy; trim it down."
"Delete this paragraph; it's prone to ambiguity and not conducive to our propaganda."
"Don't brag too much about your dad. Whaler isn't mine, although it might eventually be. Officially, it won't be. Whaler is an affiliated planet, so be low-key."
"Don't harshly criticize the warlords of Whaler. The war on Whaler isn't over yet, and who knows which warlord will eventually ascend to the throne? Today he's a bandit leader, and tomorrow he might be the emperor. Will you revise this article then or not? Don't name them directly; just refer to them as warlords."
"This part is too flippant. We are a serious newspaper."
Jiang Senlin had no choice but to patiently take the manuscript back and revise it repeatedly, almost rewriting the entire article several times.
Finally, Cen Yemeng couldn't stand it anymore and flicked her husband's forehead with her finger. "Stop bullying our son. Can't you just revise it yourself?"
"How is this bullying our son? This is training!" Jiang Ye shielded his head. "Alright, the draft is almost ready. I'll give it a final polish and send it out. Son, your writing skills are decent, but you need more practice. From now on, I'll have you write any drafts."
"Don't bully our son! Once is enough; why are you still at it?" Cen Yemeng, protective of her child, flicked her husband's forehead again.
"Yes, Dad, I can write during my vacation, but when school starts, I'll have a lot of homework," Jiang Senlin also felt apprehensive. The revisions over the past two days made him feel sick, and he really didn't want to write anymore.
"Don't high school students need to practice composition?" Jiang Ye said righteously. "The college entrance exam has a composition score of sixty points, doesn't it? Why wouldn't you practice for such a high score?"
"But the college entrance exam doesn't have this format of essay..." Jiang Senlin struggled.
"Hey! You little rascal!" Jiang Ye laughed. "Isn't this simple? When you take the college entrance exam, I'll personally set the composition topic for your year, and it will be this format! Or I'll talk to the statistics department and have your composition score counted as full marks. Then it's all settled!"
Jiang Senlin was taken aback. Could it be done this way?
Thinking about it, it made sense. His father was the planetary leader; such matters could indeed be handled casually.
"The draft I assigned, you should write it well. This kind of writing will train your abilities in multiple aspects, which is much better than rote exam education!" Jiang Ye declared domineeringly with a wave of his hand. "If you can write really good articles, besides composition, I can even turn your articles into reading comprehension questions! You won't need to study Chinese too hard, saving time to review other subjects. Isn't that good?"
Jiang Senlin was speechless.
Cen Yemeng looked at her husband, also rendered speechless.
...
Two days later, the first issue of the 'First Voice' newspaper was published.
The main base was Whaler, but advertisements were also placed on other planets.
Considering that more than half of Whaler's regions did not yet have civilian internet access, the first issue of 'First Voice' was printed in large quantities – one hundred and fifty million copies – and quickly distributed to the Jiang Unified Zone.
They also purchased ten billion worth of online advertising to promote the electronic version of 'First Voice' on Whaler's online platforms.
There were also fifty million secretly printed, miniaturized versions of 'First Voice,' with a page size only a quarter of a normal newspaper, like a small notebook.
These fifty million copies were not for public sale. Instead, they were channeled through various means into the territories ruled by the warring warlords and quietly distributed to the populace there.
The distribution methods were numerous.
Thousands of spies, wearing woolen coats, carried a few miniature copies of 'First Voice' in their arms, sneakily approaching people on the streets to sell them. "I have some news from the Jiang Unified Zone. Not much stock, ten credits a copy. Want one?"
'First Voice' was also mixed in with the cargo of some interstellar smugglers, transported to the warlord territories. Workers unloading the cargo would often, out of curiosity, quickly tuck a copy of 'First Voice' into their clothes and find a restroom to read it in secret.
Some were dispersed via drones across the borders. A small drone, the size of a brick, could carry over thirty copies of 'First Voice' and accurately drop them onto passersby, or even into the open handbags of pedestrians.
In some warlord-controlled libraries and newsstands, 'First Voice' also quietly appeared, usually tucked between best-selling books and newspapers, with a "Gift" tag attached.
Thus, hundreds of millions of people across Whaler read Jiang Senlin's article intensively within a few days.