Exciting 1979!

Chapter 311 Mr. Why Wei Ming?! One million is a humble way of saying it.

When Wei Ming and his aunt boarded the flight back to Hong Kong, it was already July.

In early July, a wave of popularity swept across major and medium-sized cities across the country with a film called "Joyful Reunion". This rural family drama film with comedic elements touched almost the entire nation and was widely loved by audiences. Its popularity even surpassed that of the blockbuster film at the beginning of the year, "The Legend of the White Snake", which was also produced by Shanghai Film Studio.

Even in a metropolis like Shanghai, where a petit-bourgeois lifestyle prevails, it's said that you can hear 50 laughs per show.

In the north, the film was even more popular, reportedly eliciting 80 laughs from audiences in Jinan and as many as 100 laughs in Yantai, where it was filmed.

The director and screenwriter even took a copy to the rural area where the film was shot to show it to the villagers. The rural audience was even more enthusiastic, and the laughter lasted almost the entire time.

At this time, there were more and more reports about "Joyful Reunion". Because it explored issues such as conflicts between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law and the care of the elderly, it was even called "a movie that changes social trends" by the media. Many viewers saw themselves in the different characters in the movie.

As the epitome of the perfect daughter-in-law and sister-in-law in the film, the female lead "Shui Lian" naturally attracts a lot of attention, and many newborn girls are named "Shui Lian" by their parents.

The name and photos of actress Zhu Lin, who achieved success later in her career, have frequently appeared in major newspapers and magazines, and people have only now realized that a gem has been hidden from view until today.

Given the excellence of the film and the special relationship between the female lead, Zhu Lin, and her son, Xu Shufen decided to watch the film for the third time.

The first time was after she finished her work lunch. She happened to see a movie poster and Zhu Lin's name when she passed by a movie theater, and she watched it alone.

The second time, I watched it with Wei Jiefang. After the movie, the two of us went to a courtyard house and stayed out until very late.

The third time, we prepared to watch it as a family, so we invited Xiaohong and her grandmother. We were mainly waiting for Xiaohong, as she had just finished her final exams for the second semester of university. So the four of us went straight to the Daguanlou Cinema in Dashilan.

The tickets cost 1.2 yuan for four people, but Xu Shufen didn't feel reluctant. The tickets had been prepared long ago. Now, Lao Wei had a good relationship with Wang Qiankun, a waiter at Daguanlou, so he was very free to buy tickets.

Xiao Wang often showed Lao Wei a thumb ring or a snuff bottle, and he was very satisfied if Lao Wei gave him a "very impressive" evaluation.

It's been half a month, and cinemas are still packed every time "Joyful Reunion" is shown, with audience enthusiasm undiminished. Meanwhile, "The Soulmate," starring Zhang Yu, which was released earlier than "Joyful Reunion," has already lost its audience in big cities.

This time, the trivialities of family life won over the hero and the beauty.

Grandma and Wei Hong watched the movie very attentively, bursting into laughter from time to time, as it was their first time seeing it.

From "Shui Lian," Grandma saw the wonderful qualities in Aunt Wei Ming. Although she was disabled, Grandma was very glad that her son had found such a daughter-in-law. With a virtuous wife, everything in the family goes smoothly.

In her family, the situation is completely reversed. Unlike in the movie where the eldest daughter-in-law makes dumplings and hides them from the elderly, in this family, the daughter-in-law will lie to her that she has already eaten and encourage the elderly to eat more.

Thinking of her hometown in Sichuan, the old lady thought that she should go back to her hometown when her grandson came back.

Wei Hong put herself in her sister-in-law Renfang's shoes. Thinking about how her eldest sister-in-law interfered with Renfang's life, while her second sister-in-law tried her best to help her get things done, she realized that in a family, the virtue of the sister-in-law is directly related to the happiness of the younger sister-in-law!

No, brother, you must be very selective when choosing a sister-in-law. You must find one who is as virtuous and beautiful as "Shui Lian".

Then she thought of Zhu Lin, the actress who played Shui Lian, and said that Zhu Lin was a good actress, but she was much older than her brother, which was a pity.

Zhu Lin: Girl, you have no idea how good your older sister is!
After leaving the movie theater, Lao Wei immediately decided: "This movie is great, it's very educational. When the students come to the city, we can make watching this movie a project."

The final exams are over, and it's time for the annual scholarship award ceremony at Gouzitun Village Primary School. Old Wei is about to head back to the village.

I missed it last time, so I can't miss it this time. Besides, I still chose to bring the students to Yanjing. Li Guangfu's family is counting on these naughty kids to get rid of people.

Xu Shufen asked, "When do you plan to leave?"

"After my son comes back, I wrote a letter to the old Party branch secretary, asking them not to announce the results for the time being, and to wait until I get back before making a decision."

Grandma sighed, "Then let's wait for my son-in-law to come back from his hometown before I leave."

Wei Hong asked, "When is my brother coming back? It's been almost a month since he left. Is he not coming back? I heard Hong Kong is a glamorous and decadent world."

Xu Shufen poked her daughter with her finger, blaming her for having a bad mouth.

Old Wei thought, "Who knows? After all, the old man is there, and who knows what kind of good life his son is living over there."

Zhu Lin was not worried about Hong Kong, but more worried about Britain. He thought that the business trip to Britain would only take one or two days, or at most three or four days, but it has been so long.

"Okay, click, Zhu Lin did a great job, take a break."

In a small courtyard on the outskirts of Beijing, the graduation project "The Courtyard" by the 78 class of film school students officially began filming, with three directors and three cinematographers.

Watching Zhu Lin quietly drink water, Tian Zhuangzhuang and the other two directors exchanged glances, feeling delighted. The choice of this leading lady was excellent. When she was chosen, she was still unknown and didn't even ask for money. By the time filming began, she was already famous. "Joyful Reunion" directly changed Zhu Lin's career path, making her a household name five years ahead of schedule.

Two days ago, Zhu Lin and Gong Xue went shopping in Dongcheng. The number of people who recognized her was almost as many as Gong Xue.

However, as Wei Ming failed to return, her anxiety grew day by day, which coincided with the state of her character in the movie.

After finishing work, Zhu Lin went to the Beijing Film Studio to find Gong Xue. Gong Xue came downstairs shyly. What kind of situation was this? Her boyfriend wouldn't go shopping with her, but his girlfriend came to accompany her.

Moreover, Zhu Lin is truly despicable. Ever since she became famous, she has especially liked to ask me to go shopping. A couple of days ago, the number of fans who could recognize them on the street was about 50/50. Now, I guess Zhu Lin is even more well-known in Yanjing City.

Zhu Xiaolin, you must be very proud of yourself.

Today, Zhu Lin not only wanted to go shopping with her, but also wanted to ask her about her filming plans at the Beijing Film Studio. However, Gong Xue just shook her head.

Although she joined the Beijing Film Studio, she was still relatively new to the industry, and she lost to Li Xiuming again when competing for the lead role in the mythological film "The Peacock Princess".

“I auditioned for the role of Xiao Fuzi in ‘Rickshaw Boy’ a while ago, but I was rejected because I was too old.”

Gong Xue was frustrated when she talked about this, but she had read the original novel and realized that she was indeed too mature to play Xiao Fuzi. She was more suited to playing Xiao Fuzi, who had been a prostitute for several years, as her age and experience were both appropriate.

Speaking of experience, she's almost at zero; she hasn't tasted meat in ages.

Zhu Lin sighed, "After all, I'm almost thirty. Now I'm taking on scripts like 'Middle Age'."

She had already boasted to Gong Xue about how Wei Ming had personally helped her secure the lead role in "Middle Age" from Chen Rong, and that Changchun Film Studio had already sent people to contact her and were very satisfied with her.

Gong Xue glanced at her sideways: "The novel 'Middle Age' is so popular, don't act innocent after getting a good deal. You're buying dinner tonight."

“Okay, I’ll treat you, but you have to sleep with me tonight,” Zhu Lin said.

Gong Xue retorted nonchalantly, "Fine, I'll sleep then."

Zhu Lin was not only lonely but also scared when he was alone in Tuanjiehu. Having more people around would give him more courage.

When the two returned to Tuanjiehu, they saw two pregnant women, Xu Yunyun and Huang Qiuyan, taking a walk together. Huang Qiuyan's belly was already very big, and it was very close to the birth of their son, Xiao Biaobiao.

The four exchanged pleasantries for a while. Although Huang Qiuyan had seen Zhu Lin and Gong Xue together before, she still felt that there was something strange about the situation. Logically speaking, it shouldn't be this harmonious. This was too un-socialist.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Gong Xue took out her pajamas, which she had left there, to prepare for a shower. However, just as she entered the room, she heard the phone ringing in the living room. She quickly stopped and peeked out to eavesdrop on Zhu Lin's phone call.

What if it's Xiao Wei?

It turned out to be Chen Rong. She asked Zhu Lin to meet her the next day, but didn't say what it was about.

This made Zhu Lin a little uneasy. Could it be that there were some changes to "Middle Age"? He had just been showing it off to Xiaoxue today.

The next afternoon, after filming "The Courtyard," Zhu Lin didn't ask Gong Xue out again. Instead, she met Chen Rong at the Yenching Library.

"Xiao Zhu, do you know Du Shiniang?" Chen Rong asked directly upon meeting him.

"The one who angrily sank the treasure chest?"

"That's right, so you've read this story, haven't you?"

"Yes, I've read the novel." I read it from Wei Ming.

It's hard to find Ming Dynasty novels like "Three Words and Two Slaps" these days, which are considered poisonous weeds. Zhu Lin reads them as romance novels, and sometimes he finds the erotic descriptions quite exciting.

“That’s great,” Chen Rong said. “Here’s the thing: Changchun Film Studio is preparing the movie ‘Du Shiniang’. It just so happens that ‘Joyful Reunion’ is showing nationwide. The deputy director remembered that you were the lead actress for ‘Middle Age’, so he suggested to director Zhou Yu that we see if you could give it a try.”

At this time, Zhu Lin had not yet appeared in a period drama. The other party simply thought she was beautiful, could dance, and was currently very popular, so they called Chen Rong and asked her to help make contact.

"But what about 'Middle Age'?"

"Don't worry, I haven't finished writing the script yet. It would be good if we could film it next year, but 'Du Shiniang' will be filmed this year," Chen Rong said.

Zhu Lin muttered to himself, "Why is Teacher Chen Rong so slow? Xiao Wei is always so fast."

But Zhu Lin still had some concerns. Du Shiniang was a prostitute, even if she was the most beautiful courtesan. She was a girl from a scholarly family, and she couldn't get over the mental hurdle of playing such a role.

At this point, she couldn't help but admire Xiaoxue. She had the courage to try a role like Xiaofuzi, which she herself found tragic, let alone act in.

Zhu Lin voiced his concerns, and Chen Rong advised, "The people from Changchun Film Studio will be arriving in Yanjing soon. In addition, some people are going to Shanghai and Chengdu to select actors from various film studios. It wouldn't hurt to give it a try. We can take a look at the script then, and if we don't like the script, we won't act in it."

Zhu Lin thought of Gong Xue, who was currently without any acting roles. As an actor, it was indeed miserable not to have any roles. She herself was preparing to become a professional actor, so how could she back down because of a small problem?

"Alright then, I'll meet with them." Zhu Lin agreed for the time being, thinking that Xiao Wei should be back by then, and she could discuss it with him.

~
"Ah, Hong Kong, I'm back!"

On the plane, Wei Ming first talked to Wei Lingling about the bright future of DreamWorks, and then Wei Lingling pulled him aside to ask about the details of the Transformers story.

The two had been chatting all the way and were now a little tired. Wei Ming helped his aunt up and said, "How about we find a hotel and get a room?" The other passengers behind them glanced at Wei Ming with some envy when they heard this.

Wei Lingling: "Why stay in a hotel? Let's go home."

Wei Lingling's rented apartment in Kwun Tong District is very close to Kai Tak Airport, only a ten-minute drive away.

Moreover, she also wanted to catch Lizhi off guard and see if she followed the family rules or brought any disreputable people home. Therefore, she had to bring Amin along, in case he really did bring a man home, she would be outnumbered.

"You're thinking quite a lot. Okay, but where will I stay? Isn't your place a two-bedroom?"

Wei Lingling: "You can share a room with Lizhi, or you can stay in the living room, or you can let her stay in the living room. It's up to you to choose."

Anyway, it's impossible for her to share a room with Lizhi while her nephew has his own.

When Wei Ming visited the neighborhood for the first time, he found the environment to be quite nice and that it was clear that most of the residents were high-income earners. He then inquired about the housing prices.

Wei Lingling: "60 square meters, 55 yuan."

The area includes shared areas, and the price is in Hong Kong dollars. Shared areas are a unique invention in Hong Kong, which originated with the Fok family in the 1950s and was popularized by Li Ka-shing and others in the 1960s.

Wei Ming calculated his savings. Although he could buy a set, he still needed to invest in the early operation of Kuangren Comics.

Before the revamped comic magazine came out, we were losing money. We only earned tens of thousands of yuan a month. After the magazine came out, we should lose less money. After all, we need to open up the market and offer discounts to readers, so we need to stock up more.

This price was also an unbearable burden for Wei Lingling. Although the jewelry she wore might be worth millions of Hong Kong dollars, it was a gift from her elders and could not be converted into cash.

From now on, the toy factory will pay her a monthly salary of over 10,000 yuan, but buying a house is still a long way off, and she is planning to buy a house independently in the United States.

Therefore, she was somewhat tempted by Wei Ming's proposal to build a media empire together. Maintaining an existing business is more difficult than starting one, and starting a business is more appealing than maintaining one.

Upon reaching the top of the stairs, Wei Lingling shushed her and gently turned the doorknob. As the door opened, she saw Lizhi, dressed in pajamas but still possessing a stunning figure, sitting on the sofa in the small living room. A TVB program was playing on the television, and Lizhi was drawing and writing in her hands.

There was a foreigner on the show, along with Danny Chan and Leslie Cheung. All three of them spoke English, since Chan studied in the US and Cheung studied in the UK, respectively.

"President Lingling, you're back! Hello, Mr. Wei...Ming." Lizhi quickly sat up, looking somewhat reserved, and a little surprised to see Wei Ming.

Young Master Ming? Wei Ming was slightly taken aback. What a capitalist way of addressing someone.

Wei Lingling looked around the room. Compared to the mess she left behind, it was much tidier and cleaner. Some of the layouts had also changed, making it more comfortable, and there were also some beautiful green plants.

During the week they were away, Lizhi put a lot of effort into maintaining the home.

"What are you writing?" Wei Lingling looked at Lizhi's notebook again.

Lizhi said, "I'm learning English by watching foreigners on TV."

Sure enough, the notebook was full of English words. She wrote down the words she heard that she recognized, and they were all the simplest ones.

Wei Ming put down his luggage, and Wei Lingling asked, "Do you know what they're talking about?"

“If you just listen, you won’t understand, but luckily there are subtitles,” she glanced at Wei Ming, “They’re explaining that there are fewer people.”

Wei Ming, now in his "Young Master Ming" mode, sprawled out on the sofa: "Xiao Li, what are they talking about me?"

Lizhi said, "This foreigner must be a singer from abroad, and quite famous."

Wei Lingling said directly, "Elton John."

Wei Ming sat up straight: "So he's Elton John!"

Looking at their expressions, Lizhi asked, "Is he very famous?"

Of course, although this "big aunt of the music scene" has been somewhat down recently, her past achievements were outstanding, and she will surely create even greater glory in the future.

To name a few, he sang songs like "Can You Feel the Love Tonight," "Circle of Life," and "Hakuna Matata" for the future film version of "The Lion King," winning the Academy Award for Best Original Song that year.

When his friend Princess Diana passed away, he was invited to perform "Candle in the Wind 1997," a song he specially adapted and composed for Diana, at her funeral. The song stayed at number one on the Billboard charts for 14 weeks and sold over 3300 million copies worldwide, making it the best-selling single in the world!

Compared to others, Moonlight Shadow's sales of just over a million at this point are really nothing to brag about.

These are Elton John's achievements in the 90s. He was also very successful in the 70s, with nearly ten Billboard number one singles. He is a treasure of a musician in Britain, second only to the Beatles.

John Lennon also mentored Elton John, and the "John" in Elton John's stage name even comes from John Lennon.

Elton John came to Hong Kong for his global tour and accepted an invitation to record a program on TVB, where he also had a conversation with Danny Chan and Leslie Cheung, two overseas-trained musicians.

At this time, Danny Chan already had many representative works, while Leslie Cheung was still far behind.

Because of the connection between the two "Johns," the conversation naturally turned to John Lennon, who passed away six months ago, leading to the global hit song "Moonlight Shadow," a tribute to John Lennon. The program confirmed that the single had already surpassed one million global sales last week, achieving platinum record status.

Elton John said he had met singer Sarah Brightman in the UK and seen her musical, and he praised the young singer highly.

"It's a pity I didn't get to meet Mr. Why, who wrote this song. He was a gentle musical genius."

Danny Chan and Leslie Cheung immediately echoed this sentiment, praising the musician's talent.

Then Elton John retorted, "You're Chinese too, don't you know him?"

"what?!"

Both of them were shocked. Mr. Why was actually a Chinese musician?

“Yes, I learned from a friend who works in musicals that his main job is writing fairy tales, and he only writes songs as a spontaneous expression of his feelings. His fairy tale is very popular in the UK, called The Lion King.” He then recalled, “Oh, I remember now, his Chinese name seems to be Weiming.”

“Weiming? Wei Ming!” Zhang Guorong’s voice suddenly rose.

~
Watching this on TV, Vivian Chow felt as comfortable as if she had just taken a sauna.

That's great! Finally, someone has spoken up for Amin; he really is that amazing!

Amin declared that he was now a fan of Elton John and would buy several of his records the next day, even if Elton John was gay.

Seeing Amin's distraught expression, Zhou's mother felt increasingly uneasy. This Amin was really driving Amin crazy.

TVB holds a dominant position in Hong Kong's television industry, and at that time, it was conservatively estimated that more than one million viewers in Hong Kong saw the program and witnessed this scene.

A while ago, a tabloid sparked a controversy, which led to major right-wing newspapers joining in to denigrate the flamboyant style of mainland writer Wei Ming, greatly damaging his image.

However, Wei Ming completely ignored it, and the left-wing newspapers wanted to fight back but couldn't find Wei Ming, who had already gone to England. They could only suffer in silence.

During this period, only Zhang Mingmin spoke out for Wei Ming through the media, but his voice was too weak and no one paid attention.

Unexpectedly, just over a week later, a world-renowned superstar actually defended Wei Ming on TVB!
That's right, the composer of "Moonlight Shadow," which became a global hit and sold millions of records—a feat unattainable in the Hong Kong music scene—was Wei Ming.

With a million sales, do you think this song could earn a million Hong Kong dollars?!
~
At Wei Lingling's house, the show had already ended. She and Wei Ming only found out what happened on the show from Lizhi's retelling.

Lizhi had also read the report. Although she was Wei Ming's friend, she vaguely felt that Wei Ming might have exaggerated. A million might not be much to his family, but how could a song be worth a million?

After all, even at the official exchange rate, one million Hong Kong dollars is more than 300,000 RMB. At that time, people with 10,000 RMB were rare in mainland China, let alone those with "hundreds of thousands of RMB".

This amount of money could buy a house in Hong Kong; it's a sum of money that Lizhi could never have imagined.

"Young Master Ming, can you really earn a million from one song?" she asked eagerly.

Wei Lingling chuckled and said, "The revenue share from record sales alone is more than a million."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "It's only a little over a million now, but we should have several million in the future."

The important thing is that this song helped Wei Ming successfully break into the European and American music scene, and even big names like Elton John took notice of him.

At this moment, Lizhi's gaze towards Wei Ming had become somewhat dreamy. They were both from the mainland, so why was he so terrifyingly strong?

Wei Lingling patted her nephew on the shoulder: "I bet after today, the newspapers will be full of reports about you again. Go to sleep early, you big star."

Wei Ming glanced at the sofa in the living room, and Wei Lingling teased, "Xiao Li, are you planning to let Young Master Ming sleep on the sofa, or in your bed?"

Lizhi immediately said sensibly, "Young Master Ming will sleep on the bed, and I'll sleep on the sofa."

Actually, she really wanted to sleep in the same bed as Wei Ming, but with the elders here, she understood the principle that haste makes waste.

Wei Ming declined a few times, but Li Zhi was very determined. The bed was filled with her scent, which could be considered as indirectly sharing a bed.

"Thank you, Xiaoli."

I must say, Lizhi's bed smells quite nice, not like perfume, but after all, she's only 20 years old, so it's still very fresh.

Before dawn, Wei Ming got up in the middle of the night. There was no bathroom in the bedroom, so Wei Ming went to the living room and saw Li Zhi on the sofa.

Is the neckline of her pajamas really that low?!
(End of this chapter)