Chapter 12: Growing Faith
"It's alright, Old John."
At the Messenger Newspaper office, having accepted his employee's apology, Colin shook his head and replied.
"You haven't done anything wrong. In fact, even I wasn't a hundred percent confident that these decisions would succeed."
Everything Colin had done with *The Messenger*.
To put it bluntly, it was simply the same tactic as the "Hate Marketing" of later generations.
By disseminating some extreme opinions, he attracted the attention of a segment of the public, thereby increasing the newspaper's sales.
This method of creating opposition was commonplace in later eras, even becoming a serious social issue at one point.
And now, Colin had adapted it for use during the Great Depression.
It could be said that he was giving the people of this era an early taste of the toxicity of the future.
"To think that the first change I'd bring to this era would be Hate Marketing."
Perhaps, one day, someone would have an epiphany and realize this was wrong.
However, Colin could guarantee that day would definitely not come during the Great Depression.
In reality, compared to before, more people of this period considered minor criminal acts, such as shoplifting or stealing electricity, to be justified.
That's right, the "Zero-Dollar Purchase" had already occurred as early as the Great Depression.
Evidently, this was a historical sentiment rooted in the people of the United States. As soon as social turmoil or economic conditions worsened, people would instinctively resort to this move.
History is a cycle, and so is the "Zero-Dollar Purchase."
...
"...Boss, Boss!"
In a daze, Old John's voice pulled Colin's wandering thoughts back.
Coming to his senses, he saw the old Newspaper Office employee approaching him, asking cautiously.
"Regarding the content for next week's *The Messenger*, should we continue with this week's style, or..."
"Continue with it."
Nodding, Colin replied in an affirmative tone, then added as if he had just remembered something, "Also, about the newsboys, you can tell them that my promise is still valid."
In this era, news from the newspaper media spread far slower than in later times, where one could know about major and minor events on the other side of the Earth with the flick of a finger.
This was especially true for a small newspaper agency like the Messenger Newspaper. Even if its sales increased, its reach was limited to just a few blocks around the Newspaper Office. Any further, and its strength would wane.
There were three main reasons for this situation. The first was the newsboys. In an age with underdeveloped transportation, the primary method of newspaper distribution relied on the legs of newsboys. Although there were newsstands, they were far from widespread. To sell their papers, the newsboys each carved out their own territories.
Little Jimmy and the others Colin had met before were the newsboys responsible for the blocks surrounding the Messenger Newspaper.
To deliver the newspaper to more distant areas required a delivery person's truck. But this created another problem: the newsboys in other districts were unaware of the discount Colin was offering. The past poor sales of *The Messenger* also made these newsboys more willing to buy the major, highly competitive newspapers than to stock Colin's *The Messenger*.
The second reason was the Newspaper Office's own printing capacity. As a small local paper, *The Messenger* didn't have substantial capital. The equipment used in the office was mostly old, barely sufficient for printing a few thousand copies. If the quantity increased, the machines themselves wouldn't be able to handle it.
Having said all that, the most crucial factor was the last one.
That was the Newspaper Office's own financial situation, which was insufficient to support expanded printing for *The Messenger*. The cost of paper and ink were major expenses. The office had been able to rely on its existing inventory for printing, but after this week, new paper would need to be purchased.
This was why Colin had previously considered that night his last at the Newspaper Office.
Because if *The Messenger*'s sales had failed this week, the Newspaper Office's remaining funds would have made it impossible to publish again.
Fortunately, the current situation was proceeding smoothly.
Next, as long as Colin took a slow and steady approach to gradually turn around the Newspaper Office's business situation, he should be able to scrape through this difficult opening period.
"Alright, Boss."
Nodding, Old John turned to return to his workstation to continue the layout for next week's news.
"By the way, Old John."
Just then, Colin suddenly spoke up.
"Do you know the specific sales figures for *The Messenger* this time?"
Hearing Colin's question, Old John's face grew thoughtful. He calculated silently for a moment before answering, "Right now, since many newsboys are still working, I can't give you an exact number. But based on the number of newsboys who came to buy newspapers this morning, it should be around six thousand copies."
Six thousand newspapers. For major papers that routinely sold a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, or even a million copies, this was a number so small it was insignificant. Currently, the highest-circulation newspaper in New York sold over a million copies alone, with its influence covering the entire city and even surrounding areas. Therefore, *The Messenger*'s meager six thousand didn't even amount to a fraction of their numbers.
However, for Colin's Messenger Newspaper, this was an incredibly encouraging figure.
*Actually, to be precise, it's six thousand three hundred copies sold.*
After hearing Old John's calculation, Colin nodded and silently added a correction in his mind.
At the same time, he lifted his gaze slightly, scanning the text before his eyes.
In the text column, the number that was originally marked as 32 had, at some point, changed to—[Faith (93/1000)].
Evidently, the number marked in the [Faith] column was strongly correlated with the sales of *The Messenger*. This also indirectly reminded him of the meaning of the previous number, 32, which corresponded exactly to the sales of the newspaper published the week before, right when Colin had just transmigrated.
"So, these numbers also help track newspaper sales?"
Of course, Colin knew that this text appearing before him couldn't be for something as simple as just tracking newspaper sales.
Behind it, there was likely a deeper purpose.
But for now, with the numbers not fully collected, Colin could only use it as a temporary tracking tool. After all, in this special period where even getting a meal was a problem, making money was the absolute priority. Everything else would have to wait until he had satisfied this basic need before he could have the peace of mind to think about it slowly.
(end of chapter)