Exciting 1979!

Chapter 213: Too Bad! (Guaranteed -in-)

Aaron introduced himself: "I am Liu Rulong, the comics author of "Heroes Have Always Been Young."

As soon as he pointed his finger at Wei Ming, Zhuang Che responded, "Then you are not the original author, Wei Kuangren?"

Wei Ming nodded: "It's me."

Seeing him admit it, Zhuang Che looked at him more seriously: "So it's Wei what, Wei Ming, or the Ming who wrote "Slippery Girl" and "Dream Camel Bell"? "

Wei Ming's eyes widened. How did she know so much? Could it be...

Zhuang Che stretched out his hand and shook it: "Let me introduce myself. My name is Zhuang Che, Gong Xing's mother."

Wei Ming: It’s true. I thought we would meet, but I didn’t expect to bump into you at the door.

Zhuang Che: "Your brother Xizi lived in my house for a while before, and he has exposed all your secrets. Now everyone in our family, from the oldest to the youngest, is a fan of your books and songs."

"Hello, Auntie," Wei Ming immediately smiled brightly, "I should have recognized you earlier. You and Sister Xue look like real sisters. Alike, so alike!"

Zhuang Che didn’t expect that the famous writer Wei Ming would be such a flattering person, but I love to hear it!
Aaron: I didn’t expect that. I want to get to know him again.

Then, Wei Ming and Zhuang Che started to ask about each other's well-being, and Liu Rulong had no chance to get a word in.

After entering the publishing house, Aaron went to find his screenwriter. Wei Ming and Zhuang Che also sat in the reception area.

Aunt Zhuang is also a literature and film lover. She came from a good family. Uncle Gong was born in Pudong Village, but she grew up in Puxi. She started watching movies from the Republic of China period when she was a child, so she has a lot of style but not too vulgar. She is a very cultured old lady in Shanghai.

Wei Ming also asked her about the appearance of Shanghai in the 1930s and 1940s, which served as a way to accumulate material.

"I heard that you are still doing business? Clothing business?" Aunt Zhuang asked about this while chatting.

Wei Ming nodded and said, "It's just a stake, and it's mainly managed by my two friends."

If he was in Yenching, if Zhu Lin's parents had asked him, they might have disagreed with him doing this. Why should a great writer get involved in such money-related affairs? Businessmen are so unsafe. If they were asked, writers are not safe either, and it is better to be a worker.

But this is Shanghai, Aunt Zhuang praised him for his vision: "It is a bad idea to keep the money you earn in the bank. Now that reform and opening up have taken place, investing in business to make money is the smart way to do it. I am also optimistic about the clothing industry. The clothes that girls wear on the street are getting more and more beautiful. I don't feel bad at all for spending half a month's salary on a set of clothes."

Speaking of which, Gong Xing’s father is a graphic designer in a clothing company, no wonder Sister Xue has such good taste in clothes.

This gave Wei Ming an inspiration. If Oriental Plaza becomes bigger in the future, he can open a branch in Shanghai, as the city's consumption of clothing is more vibrant.

Finally, Aunt Zhuang invited Wei Ming to her home for dinner.

However, Wei Ming knew that her house was too small and he didn't know where to sleep at night.

So he refused: "Auntie, A-Long and I have to go to the Shanghai Animation Film Studio later. I don't know how long we will be busy."

"Oh, your novel "The Book of Heaven" is being made into a movie, right? My little grandson is looking forward to going to the cinema to watch "Dan Sheng" every day."

"Yes, that's why I'm here. I'll probably have to stay at the Shanghai Film Studio Guesthouse today. I'll come to bother you again when I'm free."

After a while, A'long had already received the manuscript fee, and Wei Ming took the opportunity to get up and say goodbye.

As soon as he left, Aunt Zhuang went into the darkroom of the publishing house to develop photos. She developed two more photos of her daughter and used them on the cover.

Looking at her daughter wearing Hong Kong fashion, Aunt Zhuang was very proud: I gave birth to her!
It is said that when there are many children in a family, the middle one is not valued, but she is the second most beautiful daughter, so it is hard not to value her.

When Aunt Zhuang was a child, she loved taking her second daughter to the movies.

The child was just too unlucky. When they were supposed to go to the countryside, her elder sister and brother were already working and her younger sister was too young, so it was her turn. She ended up wandering outside for so many years and suffered a lot.

But now it's okay, my luck has finally turned.

But Aunt Zhuang thought of that young man Wei Ming again. What kind of relationship did he have with Xiaoxue? It seemed that there was a big age difference between them.

If they are of similar age, even if there is only a difference of three or four years, he would be a perfect candidate for son-in-law.

~
Next, Wei Ming and Liu Rulong went to the Shanghai Animation Film Studio again. It was not the first time that Wei Ming came there. He just said something to the security guard and went in.

It was Aaron's first time here, and with a pilgrimage mentality, he thought he would see all kinds of animation elements on the walls of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, but in the end the walls were clean, which made him a little disappointed.

However, once you enter the office building, you can see those familiar cartoon characters everywhere.

Aaron wanted to stop and take a look almost every step he took, and the first thing he came to mind was of course the face of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, the Monkey King who made trouble in heaven.

Then there are Nezha making trouble in the sea, Avanti riding on a donkey upside down, the tadpole who can't find his mother, the kitten fishing, Zhu Bajie eating watermelon, the fool and the unhappy, the proud general, the little carp jumping over the dragon gate and many other characters.

Aaron looked at the remaining blank space and felt that the egg life he drew would definitely have a place.

Because they had already discussed it before, he was not surprised when Wei Ming brought A Long to knock on the door of the office of Wang Bairong, director of the production workshop.

Not surprising, but exciting.

"Mr. Wei, congratulations. You have brought honor to our country!" He held Wei Ming's hand tightly.

It seems that the successful overseas release of "Jumanji" is also very encouraging to these animators.

Previously, some copyrights of "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King" were sold abroad, and now Mr Why has also made a name for himself overseas. Therefore, "The Magic Book" jointly created by Shanghai Film Studio and Mr Why will be much more convenient when it comes to overseas promotion in the future.

He even thought that if Wei Ming could quickly increase his fame overseas in the next two years, maybe he could help "The Magic Book" sell more foreign exchange!

After Wei Ming sat down, he introduced A Long to Wang Bairong: "In the next two months, Director Wang, please take good care of my brother. Although he is usually a bit dull, his love for animation is sincere. When he entered the building just now, he couldn't walk when he saw the characters on the wall."

"Okay, okay. Xiao Liu is also a talented person. The image of the egg-born you designed and many scenes have been adopted by the director in the movie. Your name will also be on the credits of the movie."

Aaron's face turned red with excitement after hearing this. This was the third animated feature film produced by Shanghai Animation Film Studio. It was his honor.

Afterwards, Wang Bairong tentatively asked Wei Ming: "Do you think it is possible for Jumanji to be made into an animation?"

He wanted to strike while the iron was hot and continue to go overseas to earn foreign exchange. This leader is indeed very motivated and energetic.

Wei Ming said: "I definitely have no objection here, but can the Shanghai Animation Film Studio produce two films in the short term?"

Now is the era of planned economy, and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio also needs to plan how many minutes of animation to produce each year.

An animated feature film will take up a considerable proportion of the annual production plan, leaving room for other works. In addition, feature films are difficult to shoot and require a high level of precision, so in the past few years, short films of more than ten to twenty minutes have been shot.

This is indeed a problem. If one more feature film is made, several short film projects will have to be cut. Wang Bairong pondered and said, "If it is a co-production, maybe they can be more relaxed and give us more plans. I will talk to the leaders about this matter."

Wei Ming: "Then I have no problem."

A novel can be filmed only once, but each time it is filmed, you get paid for it, so he wishes everyone would come and film it.

If Beijing Film Studio or Shanghai Film Studio takes a fancy to the film and wants to make a live-action version, I will also strongly support it.

The special effects of this era certainly cannot be achieved with CG, such as the lions and crocodiles in novels, but it is still possible to shoot with real lions and crocodiles, but it may require more actors.

Next, Director Wang told Wei Ming that "The Toothless Tiger" had been completed.

"Would you like to go and have a look?" Director Wang invited.

Wei Ming stood up and said, "Okay, there are too many excellent films from the Shanghai Animation Film Studio this year, and my story is a bit of a sham among them."

He is not being modest. After Buzz Buzz, the Shanghai Animation Film Studio was resurrected on the spot. It was still in the adaptation period in the first two years and used most of its elites on the tribute "Nezha Conquers the Dragon King", so the quality of the short films is average and not many of them are famous.

But this year it has basically returned to its peak state. In the first half of the year, it released a series of well-known high-quality animated short films such as "The Snow Child", "Three Monks", "Ginseng Fruit", and "Zhang Fei Judging the Melon". "Toothless Tiger" is really incomparable to these.

Wang Bairong laughed: "Writer Wei is too modest. After all, it's a debut novel, so there must be room for improvement."

Wei Ming and A'long followed Director Wang to watch "The Toothless Tiger" which had not yet been broadcast.

Next, they were taken to the production workshop of "The Magic Book", where they met the two directors Wang Shuchen and Qian Yunda, as well as Mr. Ke Ming who was responsible for the modeling design, and art designers Qin Yizhen and Ma Kexuan and others.

It is really not easy to watch them hand-draw the scenes in the movie one by one.

Wei Ming joked to Aaron, "You will do this starting tomorrow."

Generally speaking, the standard frame rate of a movie is 24 frames per second, that is, 24 pictures are shown every second.

That is to say, to complete one second of "The Magic Book", they need to draw 24 pictures, 1440 pictures per minute, and 86400 pictures per hour!
A movie usually takes 90 minutes, which requires a large number of skilled workers to draw.

Of course, this is the highest requirement. Most animations, especially TV animations, do not have such high requirements. Usually, they are drawn two frames at a time or three frames at a time. In addition, with the celluloid technology, it saves time and effort. Anyway, it doesn't cost money to watch it, so it's fine as long as it can be watched.

Director Wang Shuchen is very good at dealing with people. He smiled and said, "You definitely can't let Xiao Liu do this. He has talent and there are more important things for him to do."

When the bell rang, Director Wang Bairong said, "It's time to get off work. Writer Wei, Xiao Liu, how about we go to the cafeteria to have a meal?"

"Okay, how about the two directors come along?"

At his invitation, directors Wang and Qian also had dinner together. Wei Ming's main purpose was to introduce A Long to them.

Of course, he didn't really want Aaron to help them as a line-drawing worker. He hoped that Aaron could truly learn something from these famous directors.

After dinner, they were arranged to stay in a double room at the guesthouse of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. Aaron could live here for free for the next two months, but Wei Ming would leave the day after tomorrow.

Aaron was still excited, and when they were alone he became talkative, talking incessantly about how shocked he was to see so many people painting at the same time.

Wei Ming said: "You have almost two months to go. Don't just work hard. You should read more, learn more, and make more friends."

"Ah? You want to make more friends? Why?"

Wei Ming: "Because in the future we may be able to produce animations ourselves."

"what!"

Aaron was surprised by Wei Ming's ambitious words. He had never thought about it before. Since China already has the Shanghai Animation Film Studio, which has already done animation so well, is there a need for other companies to make animations? Wei Ming asked him, "Do you think China's production of animated films is sufficient?"

"That's definitely not enough. I've only watched two animated movies since I was a kid."

"Since it's not enough, we can just do it ourselves, okay?"

The glory of Shanghai Animation Film Studio will only last a few years. When the building collapses, the 90s generation will grow up under the bombardment of Japanese animation and Disney.

The policy's disregard for animation and its side effects are certainly primarily responsible, but this situation may change if policymakers can see the huge potential of animation.

Wei Ming felt that since he had chosen the path of a fairy tale writer and since he wanted to use stories to nourish this generation of children, he might as well do something more.

Moreover, Aaron's fate can be changed because of this and he can realize his personal value. There is no future in running a club in Japan. Can a club make 20 billion in 120 days?
Wei Ming patted Aaron on the shoulder and said, "Think about Walt Disney and Osamu Tezuka. They were able to achieve their respective great achievements through animation. Do you want to be the Disney and Osamu Tezuka of China?"

Aaron was so fooled that stars appeared in his eyes and he was so excited. Just as he was about to express his determination, someone suddenly shouted from downstairs.

"Room 303, there's a call for you."

Wei Ming poked his head out: "Who are you looking for?"

"Looking for Wei Ming."

"Okay, I'll be right there." Wei Ming let A Long digest it for a while before going downstairs to answer the phone.

~
Aunt Zhuang Che got off work early and was responsible for buying groceries and cooking. After she finished, family members arrived home one after another.

At the dinner table, she said calmly, "Today, two young people came to our publishing house. They are the comic writer and the original author of "Heroes Have Always Been Young."

Gong Ying reacted for a moment, wondering who this was. Gong Xian immediately asked, "Wei Ming is in Shanghai?"

Gong Ying: Oh, yes, yes, that guy who can transform three pure ones into one qi.

Zhuang Che: "Yes, the young man is very handsome and promising."

Then, elder brother Gong Xing and his nephew also asked their mother about this extraordinary man. The nephew even wanted to urge them to update "Black Cat Sheriff" in person. One episode every two months was too torturous.

They talked so much, but Gong Xing remained strangely silent.

But after dinner, she took the initiative to help her mother wash the dishes and asked, "Where is Wei Ming staying in Shanghai? Is it still the Writers Association Guesthouse?"

Zhuang Che: Wow, you still remember where you lived before.

"No, it's the guesthouse of the Shanghai Animation Film Studio. This time I came here for the animation 'The Magic Book'." She told the truth helplessly.

Sure enough, after a while, Gong Xing slipped away under the pretext of going to the store to buy something.

Of course she went downstairs to call Wei Ming. She was afraid that Wei Ming would leave after he finished his work. They were finally in the same city, and it would be a pity not to see each other. They hadn't seen each other for a long time.

Wei Ming picked up the phone and said, "Hello."

"Hello~"

"Sister Xue!" Wei Ming recognized her immediately. It was worth it for him to tell Aunt Zhuang where he lived. This useful information was successfully conveyed to her.

"I heard from my mother that you came to Shanghai." Gong Xing began to draw on the ground with his toes.

Wei Ming: "Well, I went to the Art Publishing House today. Guess what, I ran into Auntie downstairs. Then I talked to her for a long time. Auntie made me have a much better impression of the grandmas in Shanghai."

“My mother is a really nice person.”

"Did she praise me when she got home?"

"I complimented you, complimented you on your good looks and your promising future at a young age." Gong Xing continued to pick the ground awkwardly.

Wei Ming asked again: "How is the filming of your movie going? Is it almost finished?"

"It will take about another month to shoot."

Wei Ming: "Then when do you want to finish shooting tomorrow? I will treat you to a meal."

Pay back the money by the way.

What a coincidence, Gong Xing said: "I only have a show in the morning, and I can do whatever I want after that."

"That's great. I'll pick you up at the Shanghai Film Studio at noon. Please stay with me for the next half day. I'll be leaving the day after tomorrow."

Gong Xing suppressed her shyness and agreed. Xiao Wei spoke too directly and a little overbearing today, but she liked it.

Wei Ming: You have to be direct. Sister Xue, you have to catch up with Sister Lin’s progress, and you also have to be fair.

Since I can't bear to part with the two great beauties from the north and the south, I have no choice but to be a bit scumbag. Even though I will suffer condemnation from my conscience, this is the price of greed. Let myself be severely condemned.

Gong Xing happily paid the phone bill, but tripped when he was leaving. Who is so unethical as to dig a hole in the ground?

When Wei Ming returned to the room, Aaron was doing a handstand in a childish way, his face even redder.

"What are you doing?"

"Just now I started to have a lot of unrealistic fantasies, I calmed myself down," Aaron said, "Now I am calm, Ming, I want to say, let's work together to achieve the great cause of Chinese animation dominating the world!"

Wei Ming: You are still fantasizing, but I like it!
The two held hands tightly, and Aaron also expressed his thoughts: "In the next two months, I will learn the entire process of animation production, and then get to know more like-minded people who can help us realize our ideals."

This guy is too enthusiastic. Wei Ming is a little worried. The market is actually not mature yet. Even Disney's production of animated films is very limited. So there is no need to be so anxious.

"We can start with comics to cultivate the audience's reading habits," Wei Ming said, "When I finish this long novel, I will write you a long comic story that will be enough to keep you busy until graduation."

"Oh my!" Aaron was very excited. "What are you talking about?"

Wei Ming had already had an idea when he was creating "Ancient and Modern Battles of Qin Terracotta Warriors". He said: "Qin Dynasty."

~
The next day, A'long went to the production workshop early in the morning to work hard for his dream, while Wei Ming took a taxi to Shanghai Film Studio to find director Xie Jin.

While others were in the editing workshop, Wei Ming visited the post-production of "The Horse Herder" with the permission of Director Xie, which was quite an eye-opener.

This is very different from the post-production that Wei Ming knew in his previous life. After all, there is a gap of twenty years, and the technology has been updated and upgraded in the past twenty years, so he watched it very carefully and asked questions when he didn't understand something.

When it was noon, Director Xie wanted to invite Wei Ming to have lunch in the cafeteria.

"No need for this. I have an appointment and need to eat out. Goodbye, Director Xie. Thank you for your teaching today."

When he arrived outside the Shanghai Film Studio, Gong Xing was already waiting for him. After two months of not seeing her, she looked much better than when she had just finished filming "The Shepherd", and her skin had become fairer and tenderer.

Gong Xing was a little surprised to see Wei Ming actually coming out, thinking that he would come outside to pick him up.

Then the two left the Shanghai Film Studio side by side.

"I came a long time ago. I was just watching Director Xie editing a film. I almost missed my work."

"No, I just finished my work," Gong Xing said, "Did you see me while you were editing the video?"

"I saw it. I saw the scene where you married the male lead. Then I couldn't watch it any further."

Gong Wei was embarrassed: "That was a movie, not real."

"I know, but I'm still unhappy," Wei Ming said, "Okay, let's not talk about those unhappy things. Let's go to the Bund."

"Aren't you going to eat?"

"Yes, let's go to the Bund for dinner, the Peace Hotel."

"Ah, Peace Hotel!" Gong Qian, a Shanghainese, had never eaten there before. "Let's not go there. It's too expensive."

Wei Ming smiled and said, "I went to your mother's workplace yesterday to collect the royalties for the comics. I got more than 200 yuan, which should be enough."

Gong Xing thought that a few more people would be enough, but it was still too luxurious.

"Oh, this is for you." Wei Ming took out a piece of paper and stuffed it into Gong Xing's hand.

"What is this?" Gong Xing looked at the green thing in his hand in surprise, and then reacted, "Oh, this is US dollars!"

As expected of a Shanghainese, he is well-informed. Sister Lin had never seen him before and even said to him: You are not going to fool me with Japanese yen, are you?
Wei Ming: "Well, you helped me take photos before, and you provided both labor and materials. Those photos must have cost a lot of money. I won't settle the bill with you. You can use this hundred dollars to exchange for foreign exchange coupons and buy whatever you want."

"We don't need so much." Gong Xing declined.

"You said it won't take that much, which means you want to settle everything with me." Wei Ming said with a straight face.

Gong Xing pouted and wondered why she was being so mean to him, then she stopped talking.

Wei Ming then smiled and walked side by side with her, touching her fingers from time to time.

"I have a surprise waiting for you when we get to the Peace Hotel."

"What surprise?"

"How can it be called a surprise if you tell me about it?" Wei Ming kept it a secret, and then the two of them took a taxi to the Bund, strolled around the Bund first, and walked along the river to the Peace Hotel.

On the way, they saw the Lover's Wall and lay down for a while. In fact, it was nothing special. What was important was the people around them.

Wei Ming looked at Sister Xue boldly, and Sister Xue also looked at him with affectionate eyes.

Until she heard a surprised voice behind her: "Second sister!?"

(End of this chapter)