Exciting 1979!

Chapter 258 Li Zhi
"We're here, this is it." Old Fei pointed to a house in front of him.

This place is quite quiet. It doesn't face the street directly, and the surrounding area is full of similar villas, but this one is larger. There are two rare cherry trees in the yard, and the house looks better maintained.

It may also be because it is an ancestral property passed down from our ancestors, and therefore it has been taken better care of.

Wei Ming said, "Uncle, we came to see the house suddenly. Why don't you go in and let them know first? If it's inconvenient for them, we'll come another day."

Old Fei glanced at Wei Ming with some surprise, not expecting that this spoiled brat could be so thoughtful. He nodded and went inside.

Then Wei Ming quickly explained things to Sister Xue.

"Just say you bought this house later."

"Why?" Gong Xue asked, puzzled.

Wei Ming used the same trick again: "I already have two houses in Yanjing. I'm afraid that if I buy another one, I'll attract attention and it will have a bad impact. So this house needs to be registered in your name."

Gong Xue's heart pounded, and her first reaction was to refuse: "How can this be? This house is so expensive."

A villa costing around 30,000 yuan would require her to work until retirement to earn that much with a monthly salary of less than 100 yuan.

Wei Ming sighed, "What can we do? We can't just register it under Lao Fei's name, can we? Sister, you don't want people to say I'm a capitalist revivalist, do you?"

Gong Xue was politically astute enough to know that what Wei Ming was talking about wasn't impossible. If the political climate changed, it would indeed be dangerous for someone to own so many houses.

But this is a house, a luxury mansion. They're not even married yet, and they've already registered the house under their own names. Although it's supposed to be held on behalf of someone else, they handled all the paperwork themselves, so legally the house belongs to them.

Even though they had already done that kind of thing, Gong Xue still felt that Xiao Wei was too trusting, but she felt more sweet and touched by the trust of her lover.

Wei Ming gently hugged Xue Jie and said coquettishly, "Please?"

Gong Xue reluctantly agreed, just as he said, he couldn't let Lao Fei hold the shares on his behalf.

Seeing her nod, Wei Ming breathed a sigh of relief, but at the same time felt a little sorry for Sister Lin, since this old villa was much more expensive than a small apartment in Tuanjiehu.

Sigh, I'll think of a way to treat everyone fairly later.

Old Fei went inside for a while before coming out. He said to Wei Ming, "Mr. Wei, please. The old lady of the Bai family originally wanted to tell her sons and grandsons about this today. Since we came early, she told them in advance. They all agreed and are now eager to give you a good stab."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Anyway, I'm not in a hurry to use the house. If this one doesn't work out, we can talk to another one."

Old Fei's heart skipped a beat. Wouldn't that mean he would have to make several more trips to try and facilitate today's transaction?

As he was thinking, Wei Ming added, "There's one more thing. Miss Gong wants to buy this house today, so please don't say anything wrong, Uncle."

"Huh?" Old Fei was taken aback.

~
"Who's downstairs?" In the boudoir of Bai Mingzhu, the third generation of the Bai family, she and her high school classmate were listening to a Cantonese song cassette tape when they suddenly heard a noise downstairs. So she asked her cousin, Bai Laoliu, to go down and find out.

"It's nothing, just a friend of Grandma's. Ah Zhi, let's not listen to this, we won't understand it anyway. Let me tell you about things at Fudan University." He said with a hint of pride.

Bai Laoliu had good grades and was admitted to Fudan University in 78. However, his cousin Mingzhu and Mingzhu's classmate Lizhi did not have ideal grades.

Mingzhu failed the college entrance exam this year and has started to retake it, while Lizhi gave up on the college entrance exam and lives off her father in Hong Kong, making a living as an unemployed youth.

But this unemployed young man was a stunning beauty in the eyes of Bai Laoliu, a top student at Fudan University. He specially asked his cousin to invite her to his home under the pretext of appreciating music, so that they could get to know each other better.

Although Lizhi was all looks and no brains, she was aware of Bai Laoliu's feelings for her. She thought it wouldn't be bad to get to know him. If her father couldn't get her to go to Hong Kong, dating Bai Laoliu would be a good option.

Although he is not particularly good-looking, he is a student at Fudan University and will be a cadre upon graduation. Moreover, his family owns such a large old villa. Although there are many people living there, the sixth son is, after all, born to the eldest son, and may inherit the old villa in the future.

So she pretended to listen patiently as Bai Laoliu talked about the interesting things at university, but she didn't care at all.

As they were talking, Bai Mingzhu's younger brother, Bai Baoshi, came in. The Bai family has 35 members, and Bai Mingzhu, the eldest daughter, will have to share a room with her eight-year-old brother.

"Sister, Sixth Brother, Grandma says she's going to sell our family!"

Bai Mingzhu: "What!?"

Lizhi also stood up in surprise.

Bai Laoliu frantically tried to signal Bai Baoshi to stop him from continuing, because he understood that for Lizhi, this old villa was also a plus for her.

However, his bonus points may soon be gone, because his grandmother, father, and two uncles have all agreed to the decision, leaving him no room to object. When he starts working, he will have to wait in line at his workplace to be allocated a house.

But Bai Baoshi spoke too quickly and explained everything in no time.

"Three people came downstairs and said they wanted to buy a house. They're looking at houses right now, and they might come up in a little while."

Bai Baozhu said angrily, "Where are we supposed to live if he buys this place?!"

Bai Laoliu also said, "It's probably just a bluff. Can an ordinary person afford this house?"

Lizhi thought about it and agreed; such a big house must cost a fortune.

Bai Baozhu instructed, "Baoshi, continue to go down and investigate the situation."

~
At this moment, Wei Ming and Gong Xue had already met with the old lady of the Bai family, her three sons, and their daughters-in-law.

When Lao Fei pointed at Gong Xue and said, "It's this Miss Gong who wants to buy a house," the Bai family members were all stunned.

She's so young, and so beautiful!

Suddenly, the third son of the Bai family looked at Gong Xue excitedly and said, "Liu Fang? You're Liu Fang from the movie, right!"

Then he said to his second sister-in-law, "Didn't we watch this movie yesterday? It's called 'Good Things Take Time,' starring Gong Xue."

The second sister-in-law nodded, she remembered, she didn't expect that the person who wanted to buy their house was a movie star.

Gong Xue, who has acted in three movies, calmly admitted, "It's me, but I'm also helping someone buy a house. I have an aunt overseas who wants to return to her roots and asked me to look at an old villa."

This was also the explanation she and Wei Ming had just discussed outside, and it made more sense that way.

Grandma Bai said, "Let's take a look first. It has two floors. Originally, there were six rooms on each floor, but because there are more people living there, it has now been divided into more than a dozen rooms. However, the house is still quite clean."

The old lady has a deep affection for this home. She is over 70 years old and has lived in this house for 50 years. She cherishes every flower, tree, brick, and tile here. She keeps the house in perfect order, exuding the elegant atmosphere of old Shanghai.

But she also understood that the family could no longer stay together, and it was time to break up and live separately. When she brought it up, each of her sons and daughters-in-law readily agreed.

Wei Ming and Gong Xue then began to look at the house, checking the condition of each room.

The living room is nice, but when it comes to the bedrooms, apart from the old lady's room which is very tidy, the others are far from it, especially since there is a newborn baby in the house, making it a complete mess.

After he and Gong Xue finished looking at the first floor, they planned to go to the second floor. Bai Baoshi immediately went upstairs to report the situation to his sister Baozhu.

"Sixth Brother, Sister, the person who bought the house is a woman, very beautiful, and she's a movie star!"

Lizhi hurriedly asked, "Could it be Zhang Yu?"

Zhang Yu is currently the most popular person in Shanghai. In her opinion, being so popular means she must be making money quickly.

Gem shook his head: "It's not Zhang Yu, it seems to be called Gong Xue."

Bai Laoliu immediately perked up. Although he hadn't read "Good Things Take Time," his male classmates who had read it said that the woman was a fairy-like beauty.

He immediately put Lizhi out of his mind and went out to check the situation, where he happened to see Wei Minggongxue being escorted up by the Bai family.

Bai Baozhu and Lizhi also glanced out the window, but their focus was on Wei Ming, who was 1.83 meters tall and had six-pack abs. He had such a rich aura!

There's also a terrace on the second floor, which is a great place to drink tea, sunbathe, or read. However, they didn't look at the bedroom again; they just took a quick look around and went downstairs.

Bai Laoliu went over to join the fun for a while and then came back. Gong Xue was indeed beautiful, but thinking about Li Zhi's figure, and for the sake of his future child not going hungry, he decided to give Li Zhi a chance.

However, Lizhi speculated: "Was it really Gong Xue who bought the house? Could it be the man next to her?"

Bai Baozhu also said, "Yes, I think he asked more questions, which shows his aristocratic air."

Bai Laoliu snorted, "I found out that it was Gong Xue's relatives overseas who wanted to return to their roots, so they asked her to help them buy it. It has nothing to do with that man."

"Who is he? What's his relationship with Gong Xue?" my cousin asked again.

"How would I know? Maybe it's a real estate agent."

~
After going downstairs again, Wei Ming felt that there were no major problems with the house overall, and it was worth buying. The next step was to discuss the price.

The old lady of the Bai family, her three sons, and her two married grandsons gathered together to discuss the matter for a while and finally came up with a number.

"Thirty-five thousand."

Wei Ming laughed. "It's based on the number of people. There are 35 people, and each person gets a thousand yuan."

Even with 1,000 yuan per person, it's hard to buy a house in Shanghai, but you can stay at your mother-in-law's house or in your company's dormitory. This amount of money is enough to support you until your company provides housing. For older people, it's enough to rent a place until they die.

However, Gong Xue refused: "It's too expensive. My great-aunt didn't give me that much money. Let's think about it some more."

She looked helpless and regretful as she spoke, and then got up to leave.

Wei Ming felt that Xue Jie's acting skills had improved a lot and she was definitely a future Best Actress.

Seeing that the other party did not try to stop him, Wei Ming simply went out with Sister Xue, leaving only Lao Fei anxious.

"Sister, you guys are really asking for a lot more than you can handle. A one-year-old baby wants a thousand? A newlywed bride wants a thousand? And there are a few girls who are dating and getting married soon, and they want a thousand for that too?"

Not only was Lao Fei helping, but there was also a traitor within the Bai family. The third son of the Bai family was a movie enthusiast. He was initially a fan of Chen Chong, but after watching "Romance on Lushan Mountain," he switched allegiance and became a fan of Zhang Yu.

After watching "Good Things Take Time" yesterday, he became a staunch fan of Gong Xue and vowed never to switch allegiances again, dedicating his life to supporting only Gong Xue.

So the third son of the Bai family said, "Mother, I think Uncle is right. I doubt anyone can accept this price."

The second son of the Bai family said, "Third brother, what are you saying? They have overseas connections, how could they be short of money?"

The eldest sister-in-law said, "That's right. Why didn't our family have any overseas connections? Were we stupid to leave everything behind?"

She found it funny as she talked about it.

The old lady of the Bai family didn't like to hear this and snorted, "Since everyone insists on not giving in, then let's leave it at that for today and wait and see."

Her words made the family uneasy again. These days, even a family with 10,000 yuan could be featured in the newspapers and widely publicized. Not many people could come up with 30,000 yuan in one go. Even though there were so many people in their family, their total savings were less than 10,000 yuan. They really couldn't bear to part with such a big fat sheep.

So, before Wei Ming and the others had gone far, the third brother, on behalf of the whole family, called them back.

Just then, Lizhi, who was upstairs, saw Wei Ming and Gong Xue come out, so she quickly went downstairs to say goodbye, wanting to get a closer look at the rich people.

Then he came face to face with Wei Minggongxue, who had returned.

Wei Ming was first attracted by the woman's figure. Although it was already winter and she was wearing more clothes, she still had such an exaggerated S-curve. This woman was definitely exceptionally talented.

However, he only thought that this woman had a good figure and her face was only above average. He didn't recognize her as the famous second-generation Mrs. Jie after just a quick glance.

The Bai family then gave their second offer.

Thirty-two thousand.

Even with the price reduced by three thousand, Gong Xue still felt it was too high and directly called out, "Twenty-five thousand."

The other party couldn't accept 25,000 either, so Wei Ming took the initiative to take on the task of negotiation, and Lao Fei also helped. The Bai family members from upstairs and downstairs also came out, and opinions suddenly became mixed again.

Wei Ming made a clean break: "Twenty-eight thousand. If that's acceptable, Miss Gong can take it. Any more and we can only say we regret it. After all, the house has been renovated too much. Older generations of Shanghainese definitely want it to be original, so we'll have to spend a lot of money to restore it to its original state. That's quite an expense, so we hope you can understand."

Then he gestured for Gong Xue to leave and said to Lao Fei, "Uncle, if you reach an agreement, please let me know when the time comes."

With 28,000 yuan, he could buy a two- or even three-courtyard siheyuan (traditional courtyard house) in Yanjing.

After they left, Wei Ming and Gong Xue really left this time. Lao Fei stayed behind and did some more work. For those three spots, Lao Fei even offered to help them find rental houses for free.

Because of this house, Wei Ming and Xue Jie, who hadn't seen each other for several days, didn't get to spend much time together. Wei Ming then invited Xue Jie to come back to the guesthouse for a visit.

"It's just sitting, not doing anything, right?" Sister Xue teased.

Looking at her vivid little expressions, Wei Ming really wanted to punish her on the spot.

"What if I really want to do it?"

Sister Xue: "I'll help you in another way, but let's not do it. It's really too much of a commotion."

He wouldn't be happy if he made too much noise, but if he made too much noise, the whole guesthouse would know. He's a public figure, after all, and he needs to be careful about his image.

"Sister Xue, do you know director Li Hanxiang?" Wei Ming asked after returning to his room.

Sister Xue shook her head. She hadn't watched many of the films, otherwise she would have known that many of Director Li's erotic works had already been critically appreciated by some people.

Wei Ming: "I met him when I was in Yanjing. He likes collecting things. A while ago, he bought an illustrated edition of 'Jin Ping Mei.' I looked at it and there was a trick to it..."

However, Xiao Wei said that this is what people in ancient times did: "Society is progressing, we can't be more conservative than people in ancient times."

Half an hour later, Wei Ming took Xue Jie back to the Shanghai Film Studio and agreed that if there was any news about the house the next day, he would call Director Xie and ask him to help him find Xue Jie.

"Director Xie has gone to film 'Legend of Tianyun Mountain,' you should call the Shanghai Film Studio's guesthouse instead."

"Oh, that's it~"

Unexpectedly, Director Xie has so much energy. After completing the post-production of "The Herdsman", he immediately threw himself into the filming of "Legend of Tianyun Mountain".

Wei Ming and Gong Xue both slept well today, but the Bai family couldn't sleep at all. Selling their ancestral property was a big deal.

Price is one aspect, but a set of rules also needs to be established for how the funds will be allocated.

The next day, Wei Ming was writing a script when he felt the progress was slowing down. At that moment, Lao Fei went directly to the guesthouse to find someone.

"Wei Ming is a famous writer and poet. He wrote 'The Herdsman,' 'Springtime in the Shepherd's Class,' as well as 'On the Hopeful Field' and 'The Same Song,' right?"

After chatting with the waitress for a while, Lao Fei learned about Wei Ming's situation. Even though he had no interest in literature, he had heard of the name.

Wei Ming didn't care; a dazzling celebrity like him couldn't hide his brilliance.

"Although I am a writer, I can't budge on the price. This is the price."

"What if it's 28,800? That's 800 more." Old Fei asked.

Wei Ming: "They agreed?"

"We had a meeting all night and it was decided."

Wei Ming was still able to accept the price: "Okay, let me inform Miss Gong that we'll go through the formalities tonight or tomorrow."

Old Fei asked in surprise, "Is it really Miss Gong who bought the house?"

He always felt that Wei Ming was using Gong Xue as a front to negotiate prices, and that Wei Ming was the one who really wanted to buy the house.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Of course it's her. Oh, it's her great-aunt overseas. Where would I get that much money?"

At noon, Wei Ming called the Shanghai Film Studio. Gong Xue usually didn't go back to the guesthouse at noon, but today she was waiting for his call. Then the two of them confirmed that they would go over to sign the contract that evening.

Lao Fei helped with the specific procedures.

Moreover, Wei Ming has already bought three houses, so he has a wealth of experience in this area.

That day, Wei Ming also received a letter from the capital, written by his mother.

The content was strange. My mother talked about two movies she had watched recently, "Good Things Take Time" and "The Traitor." She didn't say much about the plot, but she praised the female lead of the former and the third female lead of the latter.

It's confirmed. My mother definitely knows about my relationship with them, but my kind-hearted mother hasn't exposed it.

Judging from how carefully she carried the water, she seemed to be both nervous and expectant.

At the end of the letter, she casually mentioned, "When I went to mail the letter today, I received a letter from your father. He has completely finished his work on the film set and said he will be back soon. He hopes you can come back to reunite with him soon."

Wei Ming sighed. Unable to handle his two older sisters' affairs properly, he would have to run between the two for the time being, and luckily, he had a legitimate excuse to revise the manuscript.

That evening, Wei Ming and Sister Xue went to Huating Road again and signed the contract at the Bai family's old villa. Gong Xue signed the contract.

She also signed an autograph for the third son of the Bai family.

We'll transfer the money after we get the housing management department to notarize it. Gong Xue is a public figure, so he still has some credibility.

For the next two days, Wei Ming was busy with this matter, and 30,000 yuan was missing from his account.

The purchase price was 28,800 yuan, and Lao Fei's agency fee was rounded up to 900 yuan. There were also some expenses to expedite the procedures.

The house payment was not paid in full at once. Twenty thousand yuan was given first, and the remaining eight thousand eight hundred yuan was paid to the old lady of the Bai family after all the houses were moved out. This process took as little as a week. (Masami Nagasawa)

Well, it could take a month or two, depending on how quickly Lao Fei helps them find a place to live.

However, just after the house matter was settled, Wei Ming told Sister Xue, "I need to leave for a few days."

"what?"

Wei Ming: "The script is almost finished, but I'm not satisfied with some of the details about rural areas in northern Jiangsu, so I plan to go to northern Jiangsu to take a look and polish the script a bit more."

Gong Xue admired Wei Ming's serious attitude. Before, Wei Ming had been pestering him to use some Shanghai dialect slang on the male protagonist's mother and new daughter-in-law to make them seem more mean.

"Then you must be careful." After saying that, Sister Xue squatted down. Since he was about to leave, she thought, let him have his wish this once.

Wei Ming looked up to the sky and roared, "Oh, dear sister!"

~
The manuscript that needed revisions hadn't been touched at all, and he still had to go out to gather material for another work. Luckily, Wei Ming hadn't taken the subsidy from "Harvest," otherwise he would have been too embarrassed to ask for it. But he had to keep the room for himself, and he would be back quickly.

Northern Jiangsu, also known as Subei, includes five prefecture-level cities: Xuzhou, Lianyungang, Suqian, Huai'an, and Yancheng.

There are now three regions: Suqian is still part of Huai'an, now called Huaiyin Region, while Lianyungang is a prefecture-level city.

Although these places are poor, just like Wei Ming's hometown, different regions have different ways of being poor.

Wei Ming traveled by car, first arriving in Yancheng, but finding it not poor enough, he continued north.

Lianshui County seems to be a breeding ground for mathematicians.

Then we arrived at Guannan, which seems to be the unit of measurement for Jiangsu's economic index.

However, I didn't stay in any of these places permanently; I just passed through them briefly.

Finally, the destination is Suqian, where the female protagonist in the script lives. Because Wei Ming dated a girl from Suqian in his previous life, he has some understanding of the local language and customs.

Walking through the fields with his bag on his back, Wei Ming took a picture of the lupins that were starting to wither by the roadside, and happily hummed "Lupin Flower."
(End of this chapter)