Exciting 1979!

Chapter 254 The First Showdown Between Nan Gongxue and Bei Zhulin
During this time, in addition to wandering around looking for bargains and buying antiques, Li Hanxiang also read several of Wei Ming's representative works, and had no more doubts about his literary skills.

He also visited the Beijing Film Studio, where he discussed the possibility of co-producing "The Empress Dowager" with Director Wang, and they also talked about Wei Ming.

Factory Director Wang Yang praised the talented young man, Xiao Wei, and also revealed the relationship between Wei Ming and Wei Kuangren.

He can write serious literature and martial arts novels; he's a real talent!

Afterwards, Li Hanxiang also called director Xie Jin to say hello and mentioned the movie "The Herdsman".

Xie Jin said the film will be released in December: "If you are in mainland China then, I will treat you to the movie."

“It’s a pity. I have film contracts to work on in Hong Kong and I’ll be leaving soon. It’s really a shame,” Li Hanxiang then talked about the original novel and screenplay of the film. “I recently met Wei Ming, the author of your film. I heard that he also wrote the screenplay.”

"Yes, and that was his first time writing a screenplay, just as amazing as his first time writing a novel."

"Oh, tell me more..."

Through subtle inquiries with his old acquaintances in the mainland film industry, Li Hanxiang discovered that this young man seemed like a good screenwriter candidate for him.

However, Wei Ming declined, explaining, "I'll be quite busy lately. Although the novel is almost finished, there's still a long revision period. I also have an original screenplay and a children's science fiction novel to write, which are all quite urgent."

“I’m not in a hurry,” Li Hanxiang said with a smile. “I’m going back to Hong Kong to film a movie soon. I still have two film contracts with Shaw Brothers. If you can finish writing them next year, that’s fine.”

"Next year?" Wei Ming pondered. Was there really that much time? Wei Ming was tempted.

Fearing he might not be tempted, Li Hanxiang added, "Don't worry, the royalties will definitely be higher than the mainland standards, and I can pay in Hong Kong dollars."

In fact, Wei Ming doesn't need that much money anymore. This month, he received another 20,000 yuan in dividends from Oriental New World, and he now has more than 50,000 yuan in his hands.

Even in foreign exchange, there are over 20,000 dollars in my HSBC Hong Kong account.

However, the advantages of taking this job are very obvious, such as being able to use this connection to go to Hong Kong.

Because of his grandfather who can't come back, Wei Ming's biggest wish right now is to go to Hong Kong legitimately. That's why "Heroes Have Been Born Since Ancient Times" is going to be a collaboration with Hong Kong. But once the film is released next year, there won't be any other reason to go to Hong Kong.

Coincidentally, "The Burning of the Yuanmingyuan" and "The Empress Dowager" have been connected again!
Just then, Li Hanxiang walked to the table, gritted his teeth, and handed the richly illustrated complete edition of "Jinping Mei" to Wei Ming.

"Besides the scriptwriting fee, I'll also give you this precious ancient book." Li Hanxiang was very reluctant to part with it, but what could he do? Wei Ming was a young prodigy, a chosen one of heaven.

Wei Ming smiled and pushed it over: "A gentleman does not take what he loves. I can agree to this, but I don't need the book."

Although Li Hanxiang doesn't keep a diary, he does write columns. His "Thirty Years in Detail: A Beginning" is a very important resource for many filmmakers studying film history, and it has been cited by many film-related content creators.

If in the future Old Li were to write something like this: I wanted to invite writer Wei Ming to write the screenplay for "The Empress Dowager", but he declined. I offered him a high salary, but he still refused. It wasn't until I presented him with the complete script of "Jinping's Demise" that he readily agreed.

He would be laughed at by future generations of filmmakers, so even if Wei Ming really wanted to collect it, he resolutely refused.

Of course, the screenwriting task depends on his own schedule. Wei Ming can only consider this Qing Dynasty story after he finishes his own writing plan.

Upon hearing Wei Ming's agreement, Li Hanxiang was overjoyed and promised to mail his collection of books about the Qing Dynasty, especially the late Qing Dynasty, to Wei Ming from Hong Kong.

"It's not a gift for you, but I'm lending it to you for your creative purposes."

Wei Ming enjoys reading, and the history of the late Qing Dynasty is also very interesting.

"Both of these cassette tapes contain my songs." As they parted, Wei Ming also gave him two albums, "Springtime in the Shepherd's Class" and "New Star Concert," and explained which ones contained his songs.

After leaving the Yanjing Hotel, Wei Ming went to the Beijing Film Studio.

When his mother brought him lunch today, she told him that Section Chief Zhu from the Beijing Film Studio called again last night.

Xu Shufen, who knew perfectly well what was going on, pretended not to know anything and passed on secret signals to them.

This time, Lin Jie had just finished her period, and the two of them were very uninhibited, so they didn't take any precautions.

When they collapsed onto the bed, exhausted, Sister Lin rubbed her chest, and that was it.

While Lin Jie was in a good mood, Wei Ming told her some bad news: "I'm going to Harvest magazine next week to revise my manuscript, and it might take a long time."

Zhu Lin, whose mind was blank, took a moment to realize that Harvest magazine was in Shanghai!
The name "Gong Xue" immediately popped into her mind.

"Will it take a long time?" she asked.

Wei Ming: "I might come back in the middle if Xiaomei and Yunyun get married."

"Oh." Zhu Lin responded somewhat disappointedly. Even if he came back, it was for something else.

Wei Ming added, "Yunyun is my cousin, and you also know Mei Wenhua. You should come and join in the fun."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lin's spirits lifted: "Are you serious?"

Wei Ming: "Of course."

Although he didn't say he would acknowledge their relationship, all of Wei Ming's relatives would be attending the wedding, which Zhu Lin knew was exactly what she wanted—she would be formally introduced to Wei Ming's family.

So Sister Lin invited Wei Ming to do it again, since she could do it herself.

Wei Ming was also thinking to himself that he absolutely had to catch up with Xue Jie's progress during this trip to Shanghai, otherwise he might lose her.
……

With the liberation of Nanjing, the war situation was no longer in doubt. In the end, Jiang Limin found his aunt and her son, who had been separated from him due to the war. This was her son with her brother-in-law Jiang Chixia, and he named him Jiang Lizu.

Of the four brothers and sisters of the Chinese nation, only the ethnic brother stayed in China, while Zhong went to Taiwan and Hua went to the United States. But Jiang Limin firmly believes that they will reunite one day.

With this, the novel "The Right Path of the World is Full of Vicissitudes" was completely completed, and Wei Ming roughly estimated that it would have 60 words.

Next, he will fly to Shanghai to revise the manuscript, aiming to complete the revision of the first 12 words before the end of December.

The old lady felt a little regretful. Her son's birthday was just a few days away, and she wanted to make him a bowl of longevity noodles herself. It's a family tradition: a bowl of noodles and a poached egg. They didn't celebrate together last year, and they couldn't celebrate together this year either.

"What's wrong with you leaving a couple of days later?" Xu Shufen complained.

Wei Ming was thinking of spending the birthday with Sister Xue, and he wondered what kind of birthday present she would give him.

Wei Ming ate the longevity noodles his mother had made in advance: "Consider this birthday a day celebrated early. We'll celebrate your 20th birthday together next year, and we'll make it a bigger celebration."

He then picked up a box.

"Mother, these are the Rubik's Cubes for Xiaohong. There are four in total. Give them to her when she comes back."

Amin's package arrived. She bought four items, including a Rubik's Cube and some cassette tapes of currently popular Cantonese songs for Wei Ming. The cost of these items definitely exceeded what Wei Ming had given her.

The girl is quite loyal. Wei Ming plans to reply to her after he goes to Shanghai and also bring her some Shanghai specialties, since her birthday is coming up soon.

Because he was unsure how long he would be away, Wei Ming left his mother a thousand yuan for spending money.

"If there is any emergency, you can go to the Post and Telecommunications Building to make a long-distance call. The phone number of the Shanghai Writers Association Guesthouse is in the phone book. Don't be stingy with the money."

Seeing so much pocket money, besides worrying about her son's relationships with women, the mother also started to worry about his finances. Is it really allowed by the government to earn so much money?

The next morning, Wei Ming changed into a Shanghai-brand watch, packed his bags, and headed to the Capital Airport. It was still Uncle Ping An who helped him get the ticket.

While waiting at the airport, Wei Ming went to buy a magazine and that's when he saw Sister Xue's face.

He took the November issue of Popular Cinema with a delighted expression. The cover featured Gong Xue, and it wasn't a still from a movie. She was wearing the latest outfit from Oriental Plaza, a gift from Wei Ming. She was smiling sweetly and looked gentle and charming.

The last time she appeared on the back cover of Popular Cinema was in a still from the film "The Herdsman" with Zhu Shimao.

This time, she secured the cover role as the female lead in both "The Herdsman" and "Good Things Take Time," which can also be seen as a form of promotion for these two films.

"The Herdsman" will be released in December, and "Good Things Take Time" which was filmed afterward will be released in November, it seems to be in the next few days. Xue Jie once said in a letter that she would not watch it after it was released, but would wait until Wei Ming went to Shanghai to watch it together.

Wei Ming glanced at the back cover again; it was a still from the film "The Last Song" starring Tomokazu Miura and Momoe Yamaguchi.

Momoe Yamaguchi, who married Tomokazu Miura last month, has already announced her retirement from acting. However, she is not very famous in China at this time, since "Blood Suspicion" has not yet been introduced to the mainland.

However, I heard that Astro Boy has been confirmed for import and will be broadcast this year.

Opening the magazine, Wei Ming also saw promotions for new films such as "The Mysterious Buddha" and "Bitter Love," but both of these films have recently encountered problems with censorship.

~
In Yanjing, at the Beijing Film Studio, when Zhu Lin was having lunch with her colleagues in the crew's canteen, she saw Cai Ming, who was also in the crew, come over with a copy of "Popular Cinema." Zhu Lin immediately recognized the person on the cover.

Gong Xue!

An actress who has yet to have any official representative works has already appeared on the cover of Popular Cinema magazine, and in a solo photo no less. It is estimated that she will be recognized by thousands of Popular Cinema readers across the country at the same time.

A male colleague standing nearby asked curiously, "Who is she? She's so beautiful."

Da Shichang: "Oh, this is our Comrade Gong Xue from Shanghai."

I've seen her before when I was at the Shanghai Film Studio. She's very beautiful, but she's not actually a member of the studio yet. However, it seems like it's a done deal, considering how many films she's worked on for the studio.

Cai Ming added, "Her dress is quite nice. I think I saw it at Oriental Plaza. I heard it's not available anywhere else. I wonder if she came all the way to Beijing to buy it."

These words once again triggered Zhu Lin's nerves. How could someone make a special trip to Yanjing just for a piece of clothing? There was only one possibility: it was a gift from Wei Ming!

After all, they did a lot of help for this store.

Thinking about Wei Ming's imminent arrival in Shanghai and the unpredictable events that might unfold between him and Gong Xue, Zhu Lin lost her appetite for the food in her bowl.

Then, Cao Cuifen, the older sister from the same film crew, brought another message: tonight the studio would be showing a movie, "Good Things Take Time," which was about to be released by Shanghai Film Studio. The male lead was Guo Kaimin, who was currently very popular, and the female lead was Gong Xue, the cover star of this issue of "Popular Cinema." "Who among you is going? I'll take a headcount," Cao Cuifen said.

Everyone was very enthusiastic, and when everyone's eyes fell on Zhu Lin, she smiled and raised her hand.

~
Having arrived in Shanghai again, Wei Ming took a taxi to the Shanghai Writers Association and the editorial department of Harvest magazine. Ba Jin was not there, so he handed a bag full of manuscripts to editor Li Xiaolin.

Next, she will cross-review the novel with several senior editors to find any errors or omissions.

Wei Ming writes very quickly, having only been writing for about four months. It's inevitable that he'll make mistakes. Li Xiaolin noticed some typos and incoherent sentences when she reviewed it before, but ignored them in order to finish reading quickly. This time, however, she'll find them all.

"It might take a few more days before I can return the previous draft to you, and then you can revise it from scratch. You can take a good rest these two days and explore Shanghai," Editor Li said enthusiastically.

Wei Ming nodded and put his luggage at the guesthouse. He was already quite familiar with the young lady at the guesthouse, so he specifically asked her to arrange a quiet room for him.

"The task of revising the manuscript will be very heavy in the coming period."

So he was assigned to the end of the third floor, with two of the four walls being exterior walls and the other two being empty rooms. Wei Ming was very satisfied.

Then Wei Ming went to the Shanghai Film Studio with a bag on his back, inside which was a mysterious box.

Once inside, he started asking where "Midnight" was being filmed.

Gong Xue has finished her role in "July Fire" and then immediately joined the cast of "Midnight", based on the novel by Mao Dun and directed by Sang Hu.

A while ago, Mr. Mao Dun, despite being ill, helped the film crew shoot an opening sequence of him reading late into the night, announcing the official start of filming for the movie.

In the original timeline, Gong Xue had few scenes in this movie, and his character was not particularly memorable. However, now that "The Herdsman" has preceded him, his status is different, and he is given different roles.

This time, she plays the second female lead, Zhu Guiying, a female worker in a silk factory. She even went to the factory to experience life there for a period of time beforehand.

Wei Ming did not trespass into the filming location, but instead wandered around outside, where he unexpectedly ran into an acquaintance.

"Writer Wei, is that you, Writer Wei?"

Wei Ming looked at the woman in front of him. Li Huanying? Oh, it's Liu Jia.

"Liu Jia, right? You're filming at the Shanghai Film Studio?"

Liu Jia, a student from the 78 acting class at Beijing Film Academy, was also in this production crew, playing Lin Peishan, the male lead's sister-in-law, a young woman.

"Yes," Liu Jia asked, "Are you looking for Comrade Gong Xue?"

Wei Ming's heart skipped a beat. They know everything about us?
He grunted in response and shook his bag: "I'll have someone deliver something to her."

Liu Jia: "She has a lot of scenes to film today, so she might not finish work until quite late. Why don't you wait at our guesthouse? I'm staying next door to her."

Wei Ming thanked her and followed her to the guesthouse, but did not go upstairs.

As Gong Xue's neighbor, Liu Jia knew that she often received letters from Yenching University. Once, she even saw the address of Peking University on the envelope, but she didn't see the sender's name. She guessed that it must be Wei Ming.

As the original screenwriter and the female lead of "The Herdsman," it's not hard to understand why they are a perfect match, except that their ages seem quite different.

Although this writer Wei is very famous, he is about the same age as me, and his eyes are as clear as those of a college student who hasn't left school yet.

After waiting for about an hour, Wei Ming saw Gong Xue walking towards him alone. She had changed into casual clothes and looked thin and frail.

Sister Xue's eyes were vacant, as if she hadn't yet recovered from the scene she had just played, where her character, Zhu Guiying, had just lost her fiancé.

To immerse herself in the role, she kept thinking about Wei Mingga in her mind, and it worked unexpectedly well; even the director praised her.

However, as she thought about it, she saw Wei Ming come back to life, and her eyes immediately lit up.

"You, why did you come today?!" A smile bloomed on her face.

She had always thought Wei Ming wouldn't arrive until the end of the month.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "I took a final leave to rush through the finale, and it was a little faster than I expected. So here it is. Have you eaten yet?"

"Not yet, I was thinking of eating at the guesthouse canteen."

"There's probably nothing left at this hour, let's go eat out."

"Okay, sure," she replied happily.

Liu Jia, who was upstairs, could see the two leaving the Shanghai Film Studio through her window. She wondered if Gong Xue would come back tonight. If not, was she spending the night with Wei Ming?
Because it was getting late, Gong Xue was starving, so they just found a restaurant nearby to eat at.

Wei Ming: "I'll treat you to another meal tomorrow."

After sitting down, Wei Ming opened the wooden box in his bag: "Guess what I brought?"

Gong Xue asked in surprise, "Is this a gift for me?"

“No,” Wei Ming said, “it’s a gift from A Long to A Ying.”

Wei Ming used to call her Sister Ying, but now he calls her "A Ying". According to Sister Xue, she is the younger sister-in-law, and according to A Long, she is the younger sister-in-law. In any case, it is not appropriate to call her "sister".

Gong Xue wasn't disappointed; in fact, she became even more excited upon hearing about other people's relationship updates.

"Do you know what's in there?"

Wei Ming: "We haven't seen it yet, how about we sneak a peek?"

Gong Xue took it and said, "I'd better not, it's not very ethical. I'll go home to stay today, that way I'll know what's inside."

Wei Ming: "Alright, but if you want to know what gift I brought you, you'll have to come with me to the Writers' Association guesthouse."

Gong Xue brushed a strand of hair behind her ear: "Tomorrow, we'll finish work earlier tomorrow."

Wei Ming: "Then I'll welcome you at the guesthouse by sweeping the bed."

"What do you mean 'sweep the bed to welcome me'? It means 'sweep the couch to welcome me'," Gong Xue said shyly. Had he blurted out his true feelings? Was he really sure he wanted to jump into this tiger's den?
Wei Ming just smiled. Although the smile wasn't lewd, and could even be described as quite sunny, Gong Xue still felt that he wanted to undress her.

The scenes that happened in the courtyard house kept replaying in her mind during this time. She longed to have an intimate relationship with the person she loved, but she was afraid that being too intimate would make her seem cheap, and she was even more afraid that rejection would break her lover's heart.

With nothing else to do, Wei Ming personally took the bus to escort Gong Xue home. As they passed a movie theater, Wei Ming saw a huge poster for the movie "Good Things Take Time".

"When can we see this movie?" Wei Ming asked. "I was thinking of inviting you to see a movie."

Gong Xue: "It will be available the day after tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it."

~
Zhu Lin, who had already watched the movie that day, walked out with the people from the Beijing Film Studio and heard a lot of their discussions, some about the plot, but more about the newcomer actor Gong Xue.

"Pretty!"

"beautiful!"

Almost all of these are the same reviews. Even Zhu Lin cannot deny Gong Xue's charm on screen. She is so pitiful and endearing, and her performance is very vivid.

Anyone who has seen her first work, "Sacrifice to the Red," knows how much she has improved.

If it weren't for Wei Ming's ambiguous relationship with the other party, Zhu Lin would probably have liked the character she portrayed, thus influencing her opinion of the actress herself.

Perhaps because he had been thinking about Gong Xue all day, Zhu Lin even dreamed about her last night, though he couldn't remember what they did in the dream.

The next day, when Zhu Lin was having lunch, someone came looking for her.

"Teacher Ma?"

The visitor was Ma Jingwu, a teacher in the acting department of the film academy, and also the male lead she had worked with on "The Traitor".

Ma Jingwu pushed his bicycle and said, "Xiao Zhu, I came to let you know that our film 'The Traitor' will be released the day after tomorrow. I just received a call from Xi'an Film Studio today, and I wanted to tell you this."

"Huh?" Zhu Lin asked in surprise, "So sudden?"

"It's not exactly sudden. Popular Cinema magazine had already promoted it before. It's just that because Xi'an Film Studio is located in a remote area, most of the promotional work can only be seen in the Northwest."

Zhu Lin: "Is there anything I need to do?"

Ma Jingwu thought for a moment and said, "No need. We can just ask our friends to support us. However, we have relatively few copies, and I don't know which cinemas in Beijing will show it."

Hearing Lao Ma say that, Zhu Lin felt a chill in her heart. When she thought about Gong Xue's "Good Things Take Time" which was also recently released, she felt even colder. She could clearly feel that their movie was not as good as the other one.

"Teacher Ma, how many copies of 'Good Things Take Time' were produced by Shanghai Film Studio?"

"There should be quite a few. I saw posters outside a movie theater when I passed by on my way here."

Zhu Lin: "..."

Although she wasn't the female lead and wasn't responsible for box office success, Zhu Lin still felt uneasy if she lost to Gong Xue.

So after finishing work in the afternoon, she made a point of riding her bicycle to visit a nearby cinema to see what was going on with the two movies.

The first cinema I went to showed "Good Things Take Time" but not "The Traitor".

As I passed a newsstand after leaving the cinema, I saw "Popular Cinema" magazine with Gong Xue on the cover prominently displayed.
Zhu Lin paused briefly and then rushed to the next movie theater. It was her first movie, and she had to make sure her parents saw it!

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