Exciting 1979!

Chapter 249 Wei Ming's Key

The county leaders left immediately after finishing their meal. No matter how famous Wei Ming was, County Chief Qin was, after all, the local official in charge of the county. He could adopt a humble attitude to appear approachable, but he couldn't be too humble, or he would be seen as sycophantic.

However, during his conversation with Wei Ming, he genuinely felt that the young man was knowledgeable, well-versed in ancient and modern times, and had an international perspective on issues. He himself did not know about the foreign affairs that Wei Ming mentioned.

No wonder he has gained such fame at such a young age. In fact, they didn't have a proper conversation over just one meal, so County Magistrate Qin invited Wei Ming to visit the county town that evening.

There is a cultural performance at the county theater tonight to celebrate National Day, and he cordially invited Wei Ming to attend and watch it.

Given such a great favor, how could Wei Ming refuse? Even though he wasn't keen on participating in these politicians' activities, he readily agreed.

When County Chief Qin arrived, he did so quietly, and when he left, all the villagers stood outside the gate to see him off.

After the county magistrate left, Secretary Song of the commune sat for a while longer before leaving.

Then the villagers gradually left, while those who were close to the villagers or lived nearby stayed to help clean up. Soon the messy yard was restored to its original state. Of course, they also took some precious leftovers with them.

In the end, besides the Wei family, the only remaining people were the maternal uncle, close relatives like Fan Chunhua, and accountant Jia San and others.

Jia San handed the gift book and the collected gifts to Wei Jiefang, the rightful recipient, and exclaimed, "County Chief Qin is really generous!"

Old Wei glanced at the bill and exclaimed, "Good heavens, a whopping ten yuan!"
The other two officials, the director of the education bureau and the secretary of the commune, also received five yuan. This may be the only Tsinghua and Peking University student in Ping'an County during County Magistrate Qin's tenure, so it's no surprise that he was given special attention.

Accountant Jia tallied up the figures, and Lao Wei also calculated the expenses during this period. It seemed that apart from the pig they gave away for the New Year, the gift money could basically cover the expenses, and they only spent a dozen or so yuan more.

However, all this money was provided by his son, who directly handed Wei Ming a large handful of bills, both small and large.

He kept the gift book for himself, so he could pay for any future social obligations.

Looking at the huge pile of small bills in his arms, Wei Ming felt they were burning his hands, so he casually tossed them to Xiao Hong: "Why are you giving them to me? She's keeping the money she collected from her college entrance banquet."

Xiao Hong felt embarrassed to accept it, so she passed it on to her mother: "Mother, aren't you going to do business in the capital? Keep this as capital."

Seeing his mother hesitate, Wei Ming said, "Then you can take it. Consider it a token of Xiao Hong's filial piety."

In the afternoon, Wei Ming rested for a while, then ate some snacks before riding his motorcycle to the county theater.

It's a small county town after all, and there aren't many exciting programs. There are just some singing and poetry recitations, but not even a crosstalk performance.

The performers are mostly active members of the arts community from various enterprises and institutions in the county, and some of them are quite attractive.

The songs they sang and the poems they recited were all revolutionary songs and poems, which were a bit old-fashioned.

However, Wei Ming's two songs, "On the Hopeful Fields" and "The Same Song," were also included in the program. The former was sung solo, while the latter was performed by children from the county's No. 1 Primary School.

The "Same Song" premiere concert featuring new stars happens to be broadcast live nationwide starting today, but it had already been broadcast on the radio a few days ago, so this program was added at the last minute.

At the time, County Chief Qin did not expect that Wei Ming would come back to hold a graduation banquet. Tonight was a good opportunity for him to see the enthusiasm of the people in his hometown for him, a great writer and artist.

Normally, the audience would present flowers to the performers on stage, but tonight it was the other way around. The little girl performing on stage came on stage with a flower in her hand, and after the performance, she ran straight down to present the flower to Wei Ming.

To take on such an important task, the little girl was not only beautiful, but her parents were also government officials. Her teacher had also repeatedly told her to remember Wei Ming's face.

It's actually quite easy to remember; the youngest and most handsome one in the first row is the one that anyone with eyesight can recognize.

Seeing the child run off the stage towards him, Wei Ming was taken aback for a moment before quickly standing up to accept the flowers, shaking hands with her, and saying, "Thank you, little one."

That's not all; some people even took photos of the two of them together.

County Chief Qin had praised himself a bit too highly, so when he asked Wei Ming for advice on how to develop Ping'an County's economy after the party, Wei Ming really racked his brains to come up with ideas for him.

"There are three types of industries. The first industry is agriculture. Has County Chief Qin considered developing greenhouse vegetables?"

Greenhouse vegetables?

"Correct."

County Chief Qin: "I remember going to the capital for a meeting the year before last. It was winter, but I was able to eat vegetables that grow in summer, such as citrus fruits and cucumbers. I heard there were even watermelons, but I didn't get to eat them."

Wei Ming: "Yes, that's the advantage of greenhouse vegetables. They can enrich people's dining tables in winter and have better economic benefits. For example, most of the fresh vegetables in the capital are grown by the Sijiqing Commune in Haidian. I also know the people in the Sijiqing Commune."

He would occasionally see the old farmer Bu Dachun driving a mule cart to deliver vegetables to Peking University, while Bu Dachun's son, Bu Suanzi, had already gone to study in the United States.

County Chief Qin's eyes lit up. As expected of Wei Ming, the king of connections in the capital!

Wei Ming continued, "If the county decides to do it, I can help you contact people to learn the technology. The greenhouse technology of Sijiqing Commune was all learned from Japan."

County Chief Qin was intrigued and asked about the details of greenhouse vegetable technology and pricing. When he heard that the price could even double compared to the summer, his eyes lit up even more.

Wei Ming not only talked about the prospects, but also about the risks: "In winter, there is a huge gap in the demand for fresh vegetables in the capital. At most, the supply of Sijiqing can meet the needs of the cadres in Yanjing. If there is any surplus, it can be given to college students. Ordinary people can not get much. Although Ping'an County is not far from Yanjing, it is not Yanjing after all. Vegetables are not resistant to bumpy transportation, and we do not have a direct train to Yanjing. This is something that needs to be considered and investigated."

Wei Ming was afraid that officials would make decisions on a whim and guide the people to plant this or that, raise this or that. In his previous life, Old Wei had been fooled in this way, only to find that no one would buy the crops or that they could not be transported out at all.

Therefore, Wei Ming reminded the county magistrate that he must play a leading role in overall planning and not leave the risks to the people.

We are currently in a transitional phase of the land system. Several large meetings have been held to send signals that previously, the entire production team would collectively cultivate and work the land, but in the future, each household will be responsible for its own land, and the risks will be distributed from the village collective to each household.

After listening to Wei Ming's suggestions on agriculture, County Chief Qin said, "What about the secondary industry, manufacturing?"

Wei Ming thought for a moment: "Do you know what wire mesh is?"

He shamelessly adopted the methods used to build his fortune in neighboring Anping County, and whether County Magistrate Qin would approve of them was not up to Wei Ming.

As for the tertiary industry, it's really a bit of a challenge for Ping'an County. It's also inappropriate to talk about it now, since the people haven't even gotten rich yet, so what's the point of talking about the tertiary industry?

After watching the program and chatting with the county head for so long, it was already very late. Wei Ming tucked the flower behind his ear and rode his bicycle home.

Before leaving, Wei Ming left his home phone number with County Chief Qin, saying that if he wanted to visit Sijiqing Commune, he could contact him in advance.

Back in the village, Wei Ming made a special trip to the old Party Secretary's house to tell him about the greenhouse vegetables.

“If the county decides to conduct an inspection, I will have them invite you, and you can bring a villager who is good at handling vegetables to come and learn from them.”

"Good, good!" The old Party Secretary knew that this was a way for Xiao Weiming to make money for them. This is called getting rich without forgetting the hometown!
Tomorrow, Wei Ming and Xiao Hong will return to Beijing. Wei Ming will not only continue his writing, but also prepare for the correspondence university exam in the middle of the month.

As for Lao Wei and his mother, they will stay at home for two more days to take care of some things. After all, if they leave this time, they may not be able to return home until before the Spring Festival.

After Lao Wei sends his mother back to Yanjing, he will return to the film crew in Shandong to accompany them on their final journey.

"Also, son, about the puppy you mentioned, I remember there were some pine trees raised by hunters in the village where we were filming. They were big and strong, good for both guarding the house and hunting. What do you think?"

"Tusong, not bad." Wei Ming nodded. This dog is considered good-looking among native breeds. It is also big, intelligent, and can indeed intimidate people. In later years, a Chinese remake of "Hachiko: A Dog's Tale" used Tusong dogs.

The next day, Wei Ming and his sister bid farewell to their parents and set off for Beijing. On the train, Wei Hong took out her Rubik's Cube to show off as usual. If Wei Ming hadn't stopped her, she would have set up a stall on the train.

If you solve a Rubik's Cube and you win, I'll give you a piece of paper; if you lose, I'll only give you a dime.

She felt that if she did that, she could achieve financial freedom once she arrived in Beijing.

Playing this with ordinary people is really too unfair, so the day after returning to Beijing, Wei Hong couldn't wait to take the Rubik's Cube back to school to find her genius classmates.

Wei Ming finally had some peace and quiet. He wrote some books and reviewed his studies, and the day passed by.

However, Yunyun didn't come home last night, and she didn't come home for dinner when it was time to get off work today. So in the evening, Wei Ming rode his motorcycle to Oriental Plaza.

You can see Zhang Yu and Chen Chong's posters from afar. In contrast to Gong Xue and Zhu Lin's affectionate gazes, Mei Culture deliberately hung them up so that they didn't look at each other.

Regular customers will notice the changed posters and be pleasantly surprised to find that it features Chen Chong and Zhang Yu, thus creating an urge to come in and take a look.

However, it seemed difficult for Wei Ming to get in at this time, as there were too many customers.

During this time of year, there's no tourism during the National Day holiday. Aside from watching movies, people usually just go shopping. And shopping is an entertainment activity unique to big cities. There's not much to do in the streets of my hometown county.

So Wei Ming started chatting with Lan Qin, who was doing tailoring work outside the door.

"Teacher Wei is here... Business is booming! Especially these past two days, it's even better than before! Look how much work I have piled up, I can't keep up at all."

"Sister-in-law, you're about to give birth, aren't you? What are we going to do with this mess then?"

Lanqin laughed and said, "Don't worry, my mother-in-law can use a sewing machine too, she'll help me then."

As Wei Ming and Lan Qin's sister-in-law were chatting, Mei Wenhua, who had just received a sum of money, finally saw Wei Ming.

Wei Ming leaned closer and asked, "Yunyun didn't come home last night, is she coming back today?"

Xiaomei said with a smug look on her face, "We're not going back. Our house is already ready!"

"What!" Wei Ming exclaimed in surprise, "The house near Tuanjiehu is finished being renovated?"

"correct."

Upon hearing this good news, Wei Ming could no longer care about Xiao Mei and Yun Yun, and immediately rode his bicycle to Tuanjiehu.

As a result, Master Lei was still working at home with his apprentices.

"Teacher Wei, you've come at the perfect time! We were just packing up to leave. Do you think our disguise is acceptable?"

"It's only finished today?" Master Lei was a little embarrassed: "Yeah, I finished Manager Mei's house a couple of days ago. He said you went back to your hometown and weren't in a hurry to move in."

Little Mei, the immortal board.

At least Master Lei finished his job today.

They happened to have a tricycle.

Wei Ming said, "Master Lei, and all the other masters, could you do me a favor and help me move? It'll be my treat at Donglaishun tonight!"

One of Master Lei's apprentices, Xiao Fan, grinned and said, "I've long heard that Writer Wei likes to treat people to meals, but he only invites literary figures. I never thought that we poor laborers could also be invited by Writer Wei."

"Brother Xiao Fan, what are you saying? I think home decoration is also an art. Besides, we are all working people. My work involves using my hands. We are all working people, so no one should look down on anyone else, right?"

“That’s right!” The renovation workers felt warm inside after Wei Ming said that.

Actually, Wei Ming originally planned to go find Sister Lin after settling them in for this meal, but today he decided to eat with everyone and also learn about the interesting things the construction workers were talking about.

Once everyone gets to know each other well and their temperaments are stable, I'll introduce them to Zhou Lijing later.

Moving was from a courtyard house to Tuanjiehu. The key items were a bed, a table, and a chair. The table and chair were antiques, and the bed was made by Wei Ming beforehand; it was wide and large enough.

There was also a Simmons mattress bought at a high price from Friendship Store, as well as several quilts and bedding.

Once all these things are complete, I can stay with Sister Lin for several days and nights without any problem.

However, Zhu Lin is not so free. Now that she has more scenes to film, she is basically on set from morning to night. Only after dark does she have time to herself.

The next day, Wei Ming bought some more things for the new house, changed the locks, and got the gas cylinder installed, so that at least he could boil water or cook something.

Next, he plans to equip the courtyard house and this place with color TVs. He heard that Tianjin Radio Factory has imported a color TV production line from Japan, with an estimated annual output of 15 units. It should be easier to buy color TVs then.

Therefore, Wei Ming did not use foreign exchange for the time being, and waited to use RMB to buy it.

In the evening, he waited for Zhu Lin downstairs at the Beijing Film Studio guesthouse, and then he saw Zhu Lin and Da Shi returning together, chatting and laughing.

Upon seeing Wei Ming, Zhu Lin's expression became somewhat unnatural, while Da Shichang greeted the renowned writer Wei with a perfectly normal demeanor.

Wei Ming smiled and shook hands with Da Shichang. He was indeed a handsome man, and his height was about the same as Wei Ming's. He had a mature and refined air about him.

Da Shichang was a very tactful person. Although he knew that Wei Ming often came to see Zhu Lin, he rarely inquired about their relationship. This time, he chatted with Wei Ming briefly and then went upstairs alone.

Zhu Lin silently followed Wei Ming out of the Beijing Film Studio and got into his car; neither of them spoke during the journey.

Once they were far away from the Beijing Film Studio, Wei Ming asked, "You haven't fallen for someone else, have you?"

Zhu Lin punched him hard: "Go to hell!"

"Then what's with that expression? I thought I'd been cheated on," Wei Ming joked.

Zhu Lin: "I feel a little awkward, and I feel sorry for you."

Wei Ming slammed on the brakes: "What did you do to wrong me?"

Zhu Lin: "I was filming scenes recently, which were during the period when the male and female leads were deeply in love. I felt very immersed in the role and my mind was full of thoughts about the male lead. I couldn't get out of the role even after filming ended. Then I suddenly saw you and felt sorry for you."

Wei Ming restarted: "So you're still green. Look at Teacher Da, he can switch between roles so easily."

Zhu Lin: "I know I'm far from good enough, and I'm a little troubled by it."

Wei Ming laughed: "What's troubling you now?"

Zhu Lin: "I finally got into character, and the director even praised me today. But now that you're back, I have to readjust. I'm worried that when I see Da Shichang in tomorrow's filming, I won't feel anything anymore."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Then you can only imagine him as me."

"Sigh, this is the only way we can try," Zhu Lin sighed. "Where are we going? I've already eaten."

Wei Ming: "I've already eaten, now I'll eat you."

Zhu Lin's heart skipped a beat: "Your parents aren't home?"

Wei Ming: "There's no one in the house right now."

"This direction isn't the Overseas Chinese Apartments, is it?"

Wei Ming chuckled: "Let's go to Tuanjiehu."

Because it's a bit remote, Zhu Lin had never been here before, except when she bought the house. She didn't expect it to be already decorated.

What Wei Ming didn't expect was that when he rode his motorcycle past Building No. 1, he saw Xiao Mei's motorcycle. Looking up, he saw that the curtains were drawn in a window on the fourth floor.

Wei Ming: Oh no, I forgot to buy curtains!

However, there were no tall buildings in front of their building, and the Simmons mattress felt so good that Zhu Lin, who had been filming all day, lay down and didn't want to move, so he let Wei Ming do it.

At this moment, Zhu Lin lay on the bed, looking at the darkening sky outside: "Hmph, I'll let it go today, but I must buy curtains tomorrow. It's so embarrassing."

Wei Ming patted her and made her stick her head up.

This is new knowledge I learned before going back to my hometown last time. Although Sister Lin felt embarrassed, it was not bad.

An hour later, Wei Ming suddenly thought, "You said you absolutely had to buy curtains tomorrow, so are we coming back tomorrow?"

Zhu Lin pleaded, "I'm not coming anymore, I want to focus on filming. I'm sure the director will criticize me tomorrow."

Wei Ming gently patted her back: "Alright then, but you take this."

He handed the newly made key to Zhu Lin and told her to put it in her bag and keep it safe: "This will be your home from now on. I hope you can do a good deed and take in this poor homeless person every now and then."

~
The next day, after dropping Sister Lin off at the entrance of the Beijing Film Studio, he went to work at Peking University. There, he ran into Wei Hong in the library, who was fuming. She said, "I went home yesterday, but no one was home. I'm so angry!"

Wei Ming scratched his head: "I was at the courtyard house yesterday. As for Yunyun, I guess she's moving."

Xiaomei does want Yunyun to move out so the two of them can live together, which is legal anyway. However, Yunyun wants to wait for her second aunt and uncle to come back and tell them before moving out.

Coincidentally, the elderly couple returned today. Wei Ming even made a trip to Xintiandi to inform them, so that the two of them wouldn't have to go to Tuanjiehu again tonight.

However, when Wei Ming entered the store and saw how tired Xiao Mei looked, he thought he might be overthinking things.

Xiaomei: You're overthinking it. I'm just exhausted from working so hard for the shop! That's right, it's all for the shop!

He told Wei Ming, "On October 1st, our sales hit a new record, reaching 20,000 yuan! Brother, now I understand why capital has such a strong desire to expand. Looking at so much cash in the account, but not being able to use it to make more money, I really feel it's a pity!"

Actually, there are ways to solve this problem. For example, you can split the business, divide one store into two stores with different names, and each store still has eight people, but it's equivalent to having sixteen employees.

However, currently only Mei Culture is capable of serving as the manager and overseeing the overall situation, and the environment for separation is not yet mature. In the future, the other store will definitely decline quickly due to management problems.

Wei Ming's advice is to wait. The business environment will not truly improve until the 90s. In the 80s, people had to be extremely cautious in their buying and selling. It will take until at least the late 80s.

That evening at the Overseas Chinese Apartment, the Wei family gathered again. Upon hearing that her niece was moving out to live with Xiaomei, Xu Shufen knew this was normal, but she was still a little reluctant, since traditionally, a wedding ceremony was considered a proper marriage.

She asked, "So when do you plan to get married?"

Mei Wenhua said, "I estimate it will be at the end of next month. When Biaozi finishes filming, he can bring his father-in-law's family directly from Sichuan to Yanjing, and I will send him money."

Old Wei nodded: "Our crew should have finished filming by then."

This is a time when everyone is free.

Of course, Wei Ming might not be able to make that decision; he might be revising his manuscript in Shanghai at that time. But that's okay; he can just call from Beijing and fly back.

While they were eating and talking, the phone rang. It was Uncle Ping'an's house calling; Aunt Xiaoyan was looking for Wei Ming.

"Finally, someone's home! I couldn't get through on the phone yesterday." Aunt Xiaoyan first complained a bit, then got down to business.

"Tomorrow, Xinhua Bookstore will be holding a nationwide book fair, with more than 100 publishers from all over the country participating and tens of thousands of books on display. Of course, our bookstore will be there too. I'm letting you know, you can go and take a look. Whether you want to buy books or help us promote our reprint of 'The Legend of the Heavenly Book,' it's all possible."

"Wow, a national book fair! This is great news!" Wei Ming said sincerely.

Even though he's so rich, sometimes it's really hard for him to buy a book. When some popular new books come out, you can't buy them unless you line up in front of the bookstore.

He then asked, "How long does the book fair last?"

Lü Xiaoyan: "From the 7th to the 21st, for half a month, the location is the Working People's Cultural Palace."

"Okay, okay." This place is located on the east side of Tiananmen Square. It was originally the imperial family temple during the Ming and Qing dynasties and is not far from the courtyard house.

Actually, besides Lü Xiaoyan, People's Literature Publishing House also called to invite him to attend a couple of days ago, but no one answered.

"Animal Ferocity" is still a bestseller, and they plan to print an additional 50 copies for this book sale.
……

(Today's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)