Exciting 1979!

Chapter 250 Wei Ming, Wei something, and Wei Madman share the stage for the first time.
Old Wei only stayed at home for one night before taking the train to Shandong the next day.

On this day, Xu Yunyun officially moved to the house in Tuanjiehu with Mei Wenhua. This shy and gentle woman from Sichuan and Chongqing finally had a space of her own in Yanjing.

The couple didn't mention that Wei Ming owned a house in Tuanjiehu, because Wei Ming told them that it was bought by Zhu Lin's sister.

"I was just looking at houses for someone."

Mei Culture: Guess whether I believe it or not.

After seeing Wei Jiefang off at the bus station in the morning, Xu Shufen felt a sense of emptiness. So she went to the courtyard to tend to his two vegetable plots and then noticed that the house seemed to be missing several pieces of furniture.

~
At Peking University Library, after lunch, Wei Ming noticed that there seemed to be far fewer students visiting the library today.

Teacher Lin, who works at the library, said, "Many students, regardless of whether they have money or not, have all gone to the book fair at the Cultural Palace."

"Oh, I see." Then Wei Ming also went to the book market.

His job allowed him to simply lock the door and leave, which made his colleagues extremely envious.

Because of prior media coverage, the scene was packed with people; the Working People's Cultural Palace had at least several thousand people at the same time.

With nearly 10,000 people gathered in a 3,000-square-meter exhibition and sales area, and so many books on display, you can imagine the atmosphere at the scene.

When Wei Ming came in, he wanted to find the China Children's Publishing House, but the first people he encountered were people from the Children's Publishing House and the Shanghai-based "Juvenile Literature" magazine.

Although Wei Ming wasn't particularly close to them, he had two works published by this publishing house at the time: "Jumanji" and "The Lion King".

At the beginning of this month, Juvenile Literature completed the Chinese serialization of The Lion King, and then couldn't wait to launch a single-volume book version. The first print run was 60 copies, and the money and sample copies have already been sent to Wei Ming.

However, it had not been officially released to the market before. This was the first time that "The Lion King" had met children. The cover showed Simba standing proudly on the edge of a cliff. The illustration was not as good as the Disney version, but a lot of people were gathered around it.

A little boy, holding a book, looked at his mother expectantly: "Mommy, it's Simba!"

The mother looked helpless. She had already bought "Juvenile Literature" and told him the story, but she didn't expect the little guy to want it again.

Mom flipped through the newly released book. To make it thicker, the illustrations were also more abundant, making it worth buying to collect.

"Okay, give us one."

The people in charge of collecting money were so busy that they had to keep up with the demand, as hands were reaching out to give them money from all around.

Although this novel is not as popular as "Black Cat Detective", Wei Shenme is currently very popular and highly praised by the media. He is also widely recognized by parents. When children don't know what to read, they will recommend Wei Shenme's works first, believing that children's literature that even foreigners like must be good.

Moreover, the stories of creatures on the African continent are indeed captivating. Aside from the second installment, which brought many children to tears with Mufasa's death, the final installment, with Simba's growth and victory, still thrilled children.

Although Wei Ming had collaborated with "Juvenile Literature" twice, he was not actually very familiar with the magazine or the publisher behind it, and he didn't even know their editors.

He lingered in front of the stall for quite a while without being recognized, until...

"You've finally arrived!" Aunt Xiaoyan patted Wei Ming on the shoulder. "Come on over here, and sign some autographs for your young readers while you're at it!"

Lü Xiaoyan had been keeping a close eye on the situation at the Children's Publishing House. She had previously suggested compiling and publishing "Black Cat Detective," which had already been serialized for four issues, but the suggestion was not approved. The leadership wanted to do this after the series ended.

Now things have turned out differently. The Children's Publishing House has two new works by Wei, one of which is the new book "The Lion King," while the China Children's Publishing House's flagship product is only "The Legend of the Heavenly Book," and the rest are old books by veteran authors.

Although this book is a very important one in Wei's works, it is an old book from last year, and it was already reprinted last year, so its sales potential is actually very low, unless the animated version is released.

"Aunt Xiaoyan, I was just looking for you too, let's go."

However, just as they were about to leave, a middle-aged man jumped out from the children's publishing house booth.

"Editor Lü, wait!" He had been staring at Lü Xiaoyan ever since he saw her coming, but he hadn't expected to overhear important information. Could this young man in front of him be Teacher Wei something?
"Is there something you need, Lao Ren?" Lü Xiaoyan asked the editor of "Juvenile Literature".

Ren Dalin smiled and asked, "Excuse me, is this Mr. Wei...?"

"Yes, so what?" Lü Xiaoyan did not deny it.

She knew what was going on without Ren Dalin answering.

A parent overheard their conversation and quickly handed Wei Ming the copy of "The Lion King" that he had just bought for his daughter.

"Mr. Wei, could you please sign your name for my daughter?"

"Ah? Brother Wei is here!"

"Brother Wei, I even wrote you a letter!"

"Hey Wei, what's this? Son, come here right now! Bring your 'The Book of Wonders'!"

Lü Xiaoyan: "..."

Before Lü Xiaoyan could react, Wei, who had been frequently reported in the media but whose photos had never been leaked, was suddenly surrounded by enthusiastic readers.

Several mothers with children couldn't help but scrutinize Wei Ming's face. What a handsome young writer! It's like I've seen him somewhere before.

Wei Ming is now completely tied up and can only stand still to fulfill the children's autograph requests.

With Wei's endorsement, The Lion King was shipped even faster, and parents who were initially hesitant no longer hesitated at all.

Except for the first signature where he almost wrote "Wei Ming" instead of "Wei Ming," he quickly got used to it and wrote "Wei something" very quickly.

~
“There are so many people there!” Wei Hong said.

Today, she and several classmates also came to the book fair, ostensibly for the first team-building activity of the Peking University Rubik's Cube Club.

In order to find like-minded people who enjoy playing Rubik's Cube, Wei Hong specially established such a club, and she served as the president. After all, she was the first person to bring Rubik's Cube to Peking University.

There aren't many student clubs at Peking University right now, just a handful like the Literature Club and the Art Club. Most of them are revived from the past, such as Yingda, which is preparing to restart the Drama Club.

However, the Rubik's Cube Club was a brand new club, and it wasn't supposed to be approved so quickly. But Wei Hong had an Uncle Ping An, and the Rubik's Cube Club didn't need any venue approval or funding, so he just told his colleagues and it was established.

“President Hong, I want to buy Dream of the Red Chamber. Let’s go take a look over there,” her roommate Qiao Cui said.

"Oh, I didn't know you had such refined tastes, Cui Cui. Come on, let's go take a look."

However, as they walked, another roommate, Ningxin, got lost because she saw a stall displaying a bunch of "Story Collection" magazines.

This is the territory of the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House, which mainly publishes various serious literary works. The appearance of "Story Club" here is a bit out of place, but there are quite a few people who respond.

Ning Xin asked, "Will 'The Battle of Qin Terracotta Warriors' be published as a book after it's finished?"

He Chengwei personally came to Yanjing, not only to sell magazines and books, but also to visit Wei Kuangren. By this time, *Story Club* was on the right track and no longer relied as much on Wei Kuangren, but he still wanted to thank him. Besides, who knows what popular literature projects Wei might have planned? The more he visited, the less likely other similar products would poach his readers.

"Yes, yes," He Chengwei replied with a smile, especially excited when he saw the Peking University badge on the other person's chest. He never expected that Peking University would have their readers!
"You could also check out our 'Heroes Have Always Been Born Young,' which is the first martial arts novel published in mainland China after the founding of the People's Republic of China, and a movie version is coming out soon."

Ning Xin was tempted. She had already read the serialized version, but buying it would allow her to get Wei Hong's brother's autograph.

But just as she was about to pay, she suddenly heard someone next to her shout, "Come and see the comic version of 'Heroes Have Always Been Born Young'!"

This is the Shanghai People's Fine Arts Publishing House. They brought a lot of comic books and children's books this time, including this one.

"Since Ancient Times" is arguably Wei Ming's most comprehensive work in terms of copyright development, encompassing serialization, physical publication, comic adaptation, and film adaptation.

On the other side, Wei Ming's incredibly fast hand speed finally calmed everyone down a bit after he used up all the ink in his pen.

Not far away, Professor Wang Li, a linguist from Peking University, and Yao Xueyin, the author of "Li Zicheng," also came to the scene to feel the enthusiasm of the readers, but none of them were as enthusiastic as Wei Shenme.

The recent feature in the China Youth Daily about his relationship with his ex-girlfriend, a student studying in the UK, has piqued the curiosity of readers and parents alike. He must have some serious charm.

Wei Ming took the opportunity to go to Aunt Xiaoyan's place and offered to help her shout out a few times.

Aunt Xiaoyan, being one of her own, said, "Alright, you've already signed so many books and you're tired enough. Even though it's not one of our books, I'm happy to see how much you welcome it, so I won't promote it anymore. But I definitely need to mention the publication of 'Black Cat Detective' to the boss, otherwise, what's the point of promoting it?"

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Then I'll just wander around."

Lü Xiaoyan said, "I heard that Elder Ye will also be coming, but I don't know if it's today. If he comes later, you must come and meet him."

The "Old Ye" she was referring to was none other than the famous writer and educator Ye Shengtao, who is 86 years old this year, older than both Mao Dun and Ba Jin, and also holds a high political position.

Most importantly, he was the founder of the children's literature magazine and one of the founders of modern Chinese children's literature. As early as 1916, he published the fairy tale "The Scarecrow" and attached great importance to the development of children's literature.

Wei Ming nodded: "That's for sure. It would be even better if we could take a photo together with Elder Ye."

But the old gentleman is nearly ninety years old; is it appropriate for him to come to such a crowded place?

Wei Ming continued wandering around aimlessly, and then he saw Sister Zhang Dening with Liu Heng.

"Little Wei!" Zhang Dening recognized Wei Ming from behind.

"Sister Zhang, Editor Liu."

Liu Heng was flattered, never expecting that the great writer would still remember him.

Wei Ming and Zhang Dening hadn't seen each other for a long time. Since they couldn't submit novels to "Yanjing Literature" for a while, Wei Ming felt a little embarrassed and could only make up for it with two food essays, which were well received.

Therefore, Zhang Dening wanted to discuss with Wei Ming the possibility of having their publishing house publish a collection of food essays for him.

Wei Ming readily agreed.

Then Zhang Dening told Wei Ming another piece of news: Yanjing Literature and Art Journal would soon be renamed Yanjing Literature.

"I really want you to publish a novel in the renamed 'Yanjing Literature,' but I also know you've been busy writing a novel lately. How's the progress?" Since "Yanjing Literature" doesn't publish novels, there's no competition for this novel at all.

There's no point in competing; Wei Ming has already agreed to Harvest, unless they decide they don't want him anymore.

“We’ve already written more than half of it,” Wei Ming said. “It’s over 300,000 words now, and it’ll soon break 400,000 words.”

Zhang Dening: "It really is a long novel, it's heading for over 50 words!"

Wei Ming smiled. This was nothing compared to Yao Xueyin, whom he had just passed by. Yao Xueyin's novel, "Li Zicheng," was over two million words long and still hadn't been published. Even later online novels were no better.

"I just saw Li Xiaolin. I guess she really wants to see you right now," Zhang Dening reminded her.

Wei Ming has been keeping in touch with Editor Li recently, reporting his writing progress to her.

When Wei Ming arrived at the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House booth, he saw He Chengwei, but not Li Xiaolin. He was on a business trip to Beijing, and it was such a grand book fair, so he must have some books he wanted to buy.

He Chengwei smiled knowingly at Wei Ming: "Our book, 'Heroes Have Always Been Born Young,' should have sold very well, but the comic book version is right next door to us, and that seems to be more attractive."

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Ah Long's painting skills really do add a lot to the painting."

He Chengwei chuckled mischievously, "If I shouted that Wei Kuangren is here, I guess it would boost sales a bit."

Wei Ming shrugged: "I don't think it will have much effect."

Ten Wei Kuangren might not be as well-known as Wei Ming and Wei something.

He Chengwei then suggested visiting Wei Ming's home and bringing him some local specialties from Shanghai.

Wei Ming: "It's not far from my home, let's go over and sit for a while later."

"Okay!"

"Count me in." Li Xiaolin finally returned and patted Wei Ming on the shoulder.

"Li Editor, did you bring me some local specialties too?" Wei Ming said with a smile.

"I didn't bring it, but I'd like to take a look at the manuscript," Li Xiaolin said. The last time they communicated, it had already exceeded 30 words. Even though it wasn't finished yet, and even though the first draft was too rough, the basic quality was still evident.

So her first priority upon arriving in Yanjing was to read the main text of "The Right Path of the World is Full of Vicissitudes," hoping to correct any deviations in her thinking.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Okay, let's go together."

~
Meanwhile, Wei Hong and the others finally found Ning Xin, who was holding a set of the comic book "Heroes Have Emerged Since Ancient Times." She was looked down upon by male classmates who were unaware of the truth, who said, "How can you read something like this? Do you deserve the school badge on your chest?"

Hearing this, Wei Hong got angry: "What's wrong with this kind of thing? I don't believe you didn't see it when you were a kid. And who do you think you are if the masses like it?"

The boy was speechless after being rebuked by the president of the Red Club. Rank has a way of crushing you; after all, he was just the vice president.

Ning Xin chimed in, "That's right, that's right, this is the work of the great hero Wei Kuangren!"

Then Ning Xin smiled and said, "Honghong, didn't you say your brother's courtyard house is nearby? Why don't we go take a look?"

Wei Hong: "But I don't have the key."

Qiao Cui, who was standing nearby, said, "If you don't have a key, how about your brother?"

~
(Today's Buddha is short~)

(End of this chapter)