Exciting 1979!

Chapter 324 Mr. Why is promoting his song to 8 million viewers worldwide.
Whether Wei Ming can attend the wedding is not up to Weber; he has to ask Melinda.

Then Melinda called Wei Lingling, and the aunt learned that her nephew was actually working on two fronts, taking on a mission in London as well, and had won the favor of the Crown Princess, being invited to attend her wedding.

Wei Lingling felt gratified and proud. Melinda was going crazy. As a British person, she felt it even more strongly, as if she had been bestowed a yellow jacket by the emperor.

Wei Lingling called Wei Ming's hotel, but he wasn't there, so she asked the front desk to remind Wei Ming to call back.

That evening, Wei Ming took Amin home before returning to his hotel. After checking the London time, he immediately called Melinda's company.

"Is there good news?" Wei Ming asked.

"What wonderful news!" Melinda exclaimed. "Both of your songs have been selected, and Princess Diana really liked them. She even invited you to the ceremony. I heard that Diana only had 100 spots for family and friends to attend, which is very precious, especially since you are a foreigner."

Although Diana's family background was quite illustrious—her father was an earl, and even her eldest sister had dated Charles—the Spencer family was no match for the British royal family. There were 2000 seats available for the wedding ceremony, but the bride was only allowed to invite 100, sowing the seeds of conflict and misfortune long before the wedding.

Wei Ming thought to himself, Princess Diana was a person of great character. As an international superstar for the next decade or so, every move she made was big news, attracting the attention of countless media outlets. She naturally had a large following; otherwise, how could "Candle in the Wind" have become the best-selling single in the world?

Wei Ming also wanted to get to know this top celebrity, but it would take four or five days for him to come and go. The wedding was on July 29th, and the charity concert was tentatively scheduled for August 8th. It was a crucial time for preparations, and as the general coordinator, how could he abandon his post?

So he refused: "I can't go."

"What can't you go?"

“The charity work I’m doing right now is more important than getting to know a few royalty. The concert is scheduled to start in two weeks, so I’m very busy,” Wei Ming said. “But you could explain it to her in person. Maybe she’ll think you’re good-looking and invite you.”

Melinda's eyes lit up: "That seems like a good idea."

If you want to do business in the UK, getting to know these high-ranking people is very beneficial.

She immediately contacted Webber, hoping to convey Mr. Why's message to Diana in person. The next day, she was able to meet Diana.

"Oh, Mr. Why can't he come? Is it a visa issue? Do you need my help to coordinate? The Chinese Ambassador to the UK will also be attending the ceremony."

Diana looked at the red-haired lady who was just as tall and beautiful as herself. Although Europeans and Americans have some stereotypes about red hair, she really liked this hair color and felt it was very passionate and fiery.

Melinda shook her head: "You should already know that he is Chinese, and at this moment, Sichuan in western China is suffering from a once-in-a-century flood."

“I know that; it was reported in Time magazine.”

"Yes, Sichuan is one of Mr. Why's hometowns. There are kind people and adorable giant pandas there. This talented writer and musician carries a strong sense of social responsibility, so he is currently using his influence to organize a charity concert in Hong Kong in the hope of helping the disaster area and its victims."

“Oh my God, that’s amazing!” Diana exclaimed.

Although she was not yet known for her charity work at that young age, she deeply admired the idea of ​​helping others when one is successful, and believed that anyone who could do this was a remarkable and noble person.

So even though Mr. Why rejected her, Diana's respect for him deepened, and she wanted to befriend him even more.

“It’s a pity, I’m actually still a reader of The Lion King,” Diana asked. “Is there anything I can do?”

Unexpectedly, she offered to help. Melinda thought for a moment and said, "I think it would be the greatest help to him to use his music at the wedding, to make him known all over the world and to attract more donations."

She didn't actually make any specific demands, but her words solidified Diana's resolve to help Mr. Why gain fame.

Diana laughed and said, "Mr. Weber said that you recommended Mr. Why. You are truly a competent editor."

Melinda replied, "She's still a good ex-girlfriend."

"What!" Diana covered her mouth and looked at Webber beside her. Webber nodded.

Diana's eyes gleamed with gossip: "Did you fall in love because of work?"

"No, I studied at Peking University, one of the most prestigious universities in China. At that time, Mr. Why was an employee of the university, specifically a gatekeeper."

"Huh?" Diana was surprised again. She thought that the talented Mr. Why was a privileged young man who was well-versed in both Chinese and Western learning, and that such people were often the first to come into contact with popular music and foreign culture.

"Yes, he used to be a gatekeeper, but now he's a librarian. He has connections with a prestigious university and has achieved a level of success through self-study that is difficult for his peers to reach..."

Melinda spared no praise for Wei Ming with exaggerated words, which greatly increased Diana's goodwill towards this artist she had never met. No wonder a beautiful British female student could fall in love with a low-level worker from a backward country.

Melinda: "Of course, he wasn't as outstanding back then as he is now. I fell for him mainly because of his handsome looks."

Diana's eyes widened: Now she was even more curious.

"Melinda, since Mr. Why can't make it, why don't you attend my wedding in his place? Would you like to?"

"That's exactly what I've been waiting for!" Melinda exclaimed with feigned surprise, then replied with a double entendre, "I do!"

~
The next day, Wei Ming picked up Zhou Huimin and went to Ming Pao in Central to meet Jin Yong.

He came here to solicit donations, hoping that Ming Pao could advertise their charity concert for free.

"So that's why you came to Hong Kong this time."

Upon hearing that it was for charity, and that Wei Ming had written many songs for free to invite celebrities to participate, Jin Yong didn't hesitate. He also donated money and did a lot of charity work when he went back to his hometown.

"Would you like me to contact a few more media outlets for you, such as the Sing Tao Daily or the New York Times?" he offered.

These are all relatively neutral newspapers. Wei Ming smiled and said, "If I can get in touch with the Oriental Daily, that's fine with me too."

Oriental Daily News is considered a right-leaning newspaper and boasts the highest circulation in Hong Kong, two to three times that of Ming Pao. It wields immense influence, unlike Ming Pao, which leans towards a more upscale image.

After considering for a moment, Jin Yong said, "I can pass on a message for you, but I'm afraid they won't approve."

Wei Ming didn't care; it didn't matter if it didn't work out.

Hong Kong now has a high television ownership rate, with about 80% of households owning a television. Television media has a greater influence, so he also hoped that Jin Yong could introduce him to people from RTV and TVB to discuss the topic of television broadcasting of concerts.

Television media was also an important means of expanding the reach of this concert.

Jin Yong said, "Mr. Shao and I are from the same hometown in Zhejiang, so we have some connections. I can ask him if the time, location, and lineup for this concert have been confirmed yet."

"It's not completely confirmed yet. I'll give you the accurate information when the time comes."

After finishing their business, Jin Yong called Wei Ming over, took some banknotes from his drawer, and put them into an envelope: "This is the royalties for reprinting 'The Legend of the Heavenly Book.' It will be serialized at the end of the month, and seeing you today saves me the postage."

Wei Ming touched it; it wasn't thick. However, Jin Yong and Run Run Shaw must have had some things in common to become friends, such as being stingy.

Jin Yong was stingy with his authors, Yi Shu frequently asked for a raise, and Shaw Brothers was even more notorious for his stinginess, missing out on Bruce Lee and paving the way for Golden Harvest.

So Wei Ming took Amin out for a big meal with the money he earned from the manuscript, and they didn't even spend it all in one meal.

"How about we go see a movie?" Amin suggested. Besides "Old Master Q" (a popular children's cartoon), there's also Tsui Hark's "The Mastermind" (another popular children's cartoon). It's summer, so there are plenty of good movies to watch.

However, Wei Ming's mind was entirely focused on the concert and work; he couldn't concentrate on the movie. He hadn't come to Hong Kong to find love.

"Amin, I'm skipping the movie. Could you do me a favor?"

"what?"

"Aren't you in your school choir? Can you get these people together this summer? I hope you can also participate in this charity concert."

"Ah, can we... can we!"

“Of course, it’s just a harmony in a chorus song,” Wei Ming said. Of course, Amin can stand with celebrities and sing, but she’s different.

Amin said, "My teammates are all very kind, and I believe they would be willing, but the contact list is at home."

Wei Ming: "Why don't we just find your choir teacher and have her organize it?"

"Okay, but the teacher's phone number is also in my contacts, so I still need to go home."

The teacher was initially worried that his star student would be deceived. "What? A charity concert? Amin, aren't you too naive? Society is very dangerous."

"Teacher Bai, don't worry. Tam Yung-lun and Danny Chan will both participate, and it will be broadcast on TVB. It's definitely not fake. You can even see Alan Tam during rehearsals."

Ms. Bai is a big fan of Tan Yonglin. Upon hearing this, she immediately agreed to help Amin gather more people. Although some students were unable to participate due to traveling abroad or other reasons, it was still not a problem to gather about 70-80 people.

Summer vacation has been over for almost a month, and students have started to go from excitement and joy to boredom and numbness, and even long for the start of school to come soon.

Now that they have such a meaningful opportunity to do something, and they can even share the stage with popular celebrities, of course everyone is willing to do it.

While Teacher Bai was calling for more people, Wei Ming took out that song and taught Amin line by line. It was a Mandarin song, which was a challenge for both the Hong Kong star and the students.

~
However, this is no problem at all for Gong Xue and Zhu Lin. They both come from arts groups and are good at singing and dancing. After a day of learning with Teacher Gu, they will start the official recording today.

Liu Xiaoqing walked out of her room and knocked on the door next door. She didn't know how Zhu Lin and Gong Xue slept last night, but she didn't hear any fighting or cursing.

I don't understand what these two are thinking. They clearly don't like each other, yet they insist on sharing a room.

Hearing the knock on the door, Gong Xue nudged Zhu Lin on the bed and asked, "What time is it?"

Zhu Lin opened her eyes: "Oh dear, we have to record a song today!"

One sentence completely snapped Gong Xue back to reality: "What are you doing in my bed?"

Zhu Lin: "This is my bed. You forgot? You got the bed wet from drinking water, and I kindly took you in."

Gong Xue remembered and praised, "You're actually a pretty good person."

Zhu Lin chuckled and called out, "Who is it?"

“Me, your sister Xiaoqing.”

Gong Xue: "Xiaoqing, wait a moment, we'll be right out."

They were pleasantly surprised to see Wei Ping'an, Wei Xi, and Wei Le in the cafeteria; they had arrived the night before.

Because Lü Xiaoyan is currently busy with the inaugural issue of "King of Fairy Tales," and Wei Ping'an is not so busy because school is on holiday, he is responsible for bringing his daughter to record this time, with Xizi just joining in.

Xizi was overjoyed to see Xue's mother and rushed into her arms. Gong Xue couldn't help but think of the plot of "Mom, Love Me Again" and hugged Xizi tightly with some emotion.

Seeing Lele staring blankly at her brother, Zhu Lin quickly went over to tease her, and Lele sensibly called out "Sister".

Upon seeing Gong Xue and Zhu Lin appear, Wei Ping'an's heart skipped a beat, and a thought popped into his head: Xiao Ming is in danger!
However, the two seemed to get along well, so they probably didn't know that their nephew was also good friends with the other person. Sigh, this kid is nothing like his father; I wonder who he takes after.

Most of the singers arrived yesterday, and those who haven't arrived yet will arrive today, so let's start recording now, starting with the individual singers.

Although each person was only required to record one line, Gu Jianfen insisted that everyone record the entire song once, and then have a final chorus, from which a song would be pieced together.

Furthermore, since you're recording audio and video, you need to be mindful of your facial expressions.

The recording studio at Pacific Recording Studio has the best environment and equipment in mainland China. General Manager Liao put in a lot of effort, and the results speak for themselves. Wei Ping'an, who was listening in, felt very encouraged.

The day isn't over yet, but tomorrow will be almost over.

After finishing work in the afternoon, Liu Xiaoqing, who was visiting bustling Guangzhou for the first time, suggested: "Why don't we go out for a stroll? My deepest impression of Guangzhou is the food at Beiyuan Restaurant that Wei Ming wrote about. Let's go there for dinner."

It was supposed to be an event for three beautiful female celebrities, without the pretty boys and those with thick eyebrows and big eyes.

As a result, Xizi became attached to Gong Xue, and Xizi and Lele were inseparable. Wei Ping'an couldn't let his children out of his sight, so he added the three of them, father and sons, to the mix.

Liu Xiaoqing is a good organizer; he hailed a taxi and headed straight for his destination.

When she arrived at the restaurant, she was stunned by the price. Wei Ming had only said that these delicacies were very particular, but he hadn't mentioned that they were so expensive!
A dish costing over ten yuan—is that something a normal person can afford?

Seeing that Liu Xiaoqing was having second thoughts, Wei Ping'an, who had the highest salary, the highest position, and the oldest person present, said, "I'll treat you to this meal."

Liu Xiaoqing immediately seized the opportunity and began to flatter Wei Chu: "When I was filming with Brother Jiefang, he often praised you as a reincarnation of the God of Literature." The two had worked together on "Niu and Niu Er".

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin didn't say anything. In their view, Wei Ping'an was an elder, so it was reasonable for him to invite them, the younger generation, to dinner.

Uncle Ping An now owns an extra third of an old-style house and can collect some rent every month; otherwise, it would be painful for him, as a third of his monthly salary would be gone after just one meal.

However, these dishes are just like the ones Xiaoming described in his essay—exquisite, extremely exquisite!
During the meal, Liu Xiaoqing mentioned her roommate Zhang Yulai at the hotel.

"I heard from Zhang Yu that Chen Chong has already arrived in the US. School hasn't started yet, and she's washing dishes at a restaurant to earn her living expenses." Zhu Lin: "Really? She's so famous in China, and she's washing dishes over there?"

“Even washing dishes, they earn more than us. I bet a day’s salary is equivalent to a month’s wages for us,” Lao Qing fantasized. “From what Zhang Yu said, she also wants to go abroad, but she can’t speak English. Now she’s always holding a vocabulary book and studying.”

Chen Chong was an English major at a foreign language university. Both her parents had experience studying abroad. At that time, her mother was studying and working in the United States, and the place where she worked was where the guy who shot Reagan was being held.

Gong Xue was a little embarrassed. She hadn't been filming for a while, but she had actually been learning English. Xiao Ming had encouraged her to learn, saying that she could go out and see the world in the future.

While eating, Liu Xiaoqing talked about Chen Chong and Zhang Yu, and then about Gong Xue and Zhu Lin.

"A new generation replaces the old, and right now the two of you are the most popular in China. Zhu Lin, have any film studios approached you for roles recently?"

Gong Xue said on her behalf, "Yes, quite a few. She's already taken on two films for Changchun Film Studio."

"Oh?" Liu Xiaoqing thought, "As expected, the one who knows you best is your enemy!"

Upon learning that Zhu Lin had two more film contracts, Liu Xiaoqing breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that Zhu Lin should no longer be competing for the role in "The Empress Dowager".

Even Gong Xue and Zhu Lin, who were closest to Wei Ming, weren't involved. Given his own connections with both Wei Ming and Wei Ming's father, he was confident of a win.

Back at the hotel, Gong Xue's bed was dry; she would be sleeping alone tonight.

When Zhu Lin saw her memorizing English words, he leaned closer to her bed and asked, "Can you understand it?"

“I have made a note.” (This is a Chinese annotation.)

Did he make you learn it?

Gong Xue hummed in agreement.

Zhu Lin chuckled. He hadn't let him learn it. Could that brat be planning to trick Xiaoxue into going abroad? Then he'd be all alone in the country!

Feeling content with his mental victory, Zhu Lin casually reached for the newspaper on the bedside table and started reading.

Guangzhou is really different. Many of the conversations were about doing business, and some even involved Hong Kong. The atmosphere was so open.

"oops!"

"What's wrong?" Gong Xue asked.

Zhu Lin: "The concert that Xiao Wei organized was reported in the news!"

"Let me see," Gong Xue immediately leaned over.

"On August 8th, at the 8-seat stadium, Wei Ming invited Hong Kong's top male and female singers to gather together!"

The two were looking around when someone knocked on the door.

"Who is it?" Zhu Lin guessed it was Liu Xiaoqing again.

"It's me, Zhang Yu. Have you seen Liu Xiaoqing?"

The two opened the door and saw Zhang Yu with a righteous expression: "Isn't it time to go to sleep? I noticed that Liu Xiaoqing hasn't come back yet."

Gong Xue said, "We ate out and came back together, but before we went into the hotel she said she was going to buy some southern fruits."

Zhang Yu pointed to her wrist: "What time is it? I hope nothing bad has happened."

Nothing much happened, and Liu Xiaoqing strolled back half an hour later. As for why she was delayed, she told Gong Xue the next day.

"If you ask me, Chen Chong and Zhang Yu are just stupid. If they want to make money, they have to go abroad. Yesterday, I was wandering around and went into a place where some people were drinking tea, some were drinking alcohol, and some were singing. Do you know how much they get paid to sing a Cantonese pop song there?"

Gong Xue: "How much?"

Liu Xiaoqing held up one hand: "Five yuan! One song! Only a few minutes!"

She only earns a little over 50 yuan a month. Lao Qing's worldview collapsed last night. He realized that making money in the South is so easy. It's just singing, right? I can do that too. I'm a celebrity myself. Asking him for six yuan a song isn't unreasonable, is it?

At that moment, the seed of making money through gigs was planted in Liu Xiaoqing's heart.

~
After finishing the recording, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin prepared to go back. They looked towards Hong Kong, but unfortunately, they couldn't find anyone when they arrived in Shenzhen.

At this time, Wei Ming's concert lineup has been expanded to include several more big names.

One is Paula Tsui, the highest-paid female singer in Hong Kong, and the other is Liza Wang, a senior actress from TVB, who also announced her participation. This made Ah Min very happy, as she really likes Liza Wang.

Liza Wang will not only be responsible for singing, but also for hosting. Her co-host will be Carol Cheng, a new generation host and actress who will play Ah Min's mother in the future.

Because Carol Cheng's ancestral home is Zigong, Sichuan, which is also a disaster-stricken area, TVB rejected her application.

RTV then sent Lai Siu-tin to be the host. Lai Siu-tin is not only a songwriter, but also a very good host.

This gala was jointly broadcast by two major television stations, and Wei Ming put in a lot of effort for it.

Uncle Shao finally agreed to broadcast the show, but demanded exclusive broadcasting.

Later, Wei Ming gave up the broadcasting fee, which led to the cooperation between the two TV stations, but he asked Uncle Shao to attend the event, which he agreed to.

As long as the people showed up, that was enough. In addition to Run Run Shaw, Wei Ming also extended invitations to several other Hong Kong tycoons, of course, in the name of Xinhua News Agency's Hong Kong branch, which was very formal.

~
77 Broadcast Drive, Kwun Tong District, TVB Chairman's Office.

"Sixth Brother," Fang Yihua said worriedly, "that kid surnamed Wei invited you to his concert, could it be that he wants you to donate money to the mainland?"

If you say Run Run Shaw was stingy, at least he had a sense of style. Mona Fong, on the other hand, was even more so, and she saved money in every little detail, truly mastering the art of frugality.

Uncle Shao waved his hand: "If the stage effects are really good, it doesn't matter if I donate a little. But if you're thinking of giving me a political lesson, then I'm sorry, I won't donate a single penny."

Hearing him say that, Fang Yihua felt relieved, but she was afraid that the old man might act impulsively.

Uncle Shao added, "The most urgent thing now is the broadcast on the 29th; we absolutely cannot let anything go wrong."

"I see."

July 29th is the wedding day of Prince Charles and Diana. As a colony, Hong Kong's two radio stations will broadcast the wedding simultaneously.

Not only Hong Kong, but also other Commonwealth countries such as Canada, Australia, India, South Africa, New Zealand, and Malaysia will broadcast this grand event on their national television.

Even in the United States, which has separated from the UK, many people are interested in this wedding.

As for major European countries like Germany, Italy, and France, they would also like to see what this legendary beautiful princess looks like on television.

Therefore, Prince Charles's wedding was a global spectacle, with at least 700 to 800 million viewers worldwide, if not a billion.

~
On July 29th, Wei Mingtian arrived at Kuangren Comics before dark after finishing his concert work. Ah Long and Ah Ying were both there.

Having been here for a few days, Ah Ying has gradually adapted to life in Hong Kong and has broadened her horizons considerably. No wonder everyone wants to go abroad; here, resources are abundant, and as long as you have money, you can buy anything without being restricted by various tickets.

The language barrier is something they still need to overcome, but fortunately, there are several shops downstairs in their rented place run by people who have immigrated from Shanghai, so they can manage to get by speaking Shanghainese.

"Have you written to your sister?" Wei Ming asked.

"Yes, I sent letters home and to Yanjing to let them know I'm safe."

Wei Ming: "Knowing that you are doing well here puts their minds at ease."

"It's good, but it's too boring. I want to go out and work," Gong Ying said. She wasn't good at comics and couldn't be of much help at Kuangren Comics.

Ah Long held his girlfriend's hand and said, "I told her to learn Cantonese before she goes out to work, but she can't stay idle, and you're getting impatient."

Wei Ming smiled and said, "I can introduce you to work at Ms. Xia Meng's clothing factory, but you may not be able to become a designer at first."

"No problem, even the female workers here earn a good income," Gong Ying said happily.

"Okay, then let's do it tomorrow. I'm going to Qingniao tomorrow, and I'll ask for you while I'm there."

"Teacher Wei, would you like to watch TV? Everyone's watching the Crown Prince's wedding," Ma Rongcheng said as he entered.

"Oh, so it's starting already?"

It's time to leave work, but nobody wants to go.

Firstly, we wanted to draw more. In addition to the basic salary, Madman Comics also adopted a piece-rate system, where employees were paid for each drawing, which was more motivating.

Another point is that these children come from poor families, many of whom belong to the 20% of households without a television. They can at least watch TV here.

The TV is showing a TVB broadcast. Although it's called a rebroadcast, the delay isn't that big. Right now, at least hundreds of millions of TV sets around the world are watching this scene.

The scene shows a street full of cheering crowds, with a luxuriously decorated carriage in the middle of the road, ridden by riders on tall horses.

The carriage had no windows, so you could see the bride with her veil and the mature prince. Several colleagues from the mainland watched most intently. This kind of grand wedding of a prince has disappeared in China for decades. It's rare, really rare.

Niu Lao chuckled and said, "You know what, this princess is really beautiful."

The veil was thin, but it couldn't hide Diana's youthful and beautiful face.

Wei Ming nodded, while A Long dared not offer any comment.

"This wedding dress is so long and so beautiful!" Gong Ying exclaimed when she saw Diana's wedding dress, and even had the idea of ​​designing her own wedding dress for her future wedding.

One of Ah Long's classmates was about to say that it was similar to wearing mourning clothes, but quickly swallowed his words.

He asked, "Have we arrived at the Louvre?"

Teacher Chen Qing said, "The Louvre is French, this should be Buckingham Palace."

Wei Ming corrected, "The wedding was not held in the palace, but in a church."

This is St. Paul's Cathedral in London. Wei Ming visited it recently. It's in the Baroque style and is the second largest cathedral in England.

As he entered, the instruments began to play. Wei Ming wondered when his song would be released, while simultaneously searching for Melinda via video call. She had called back earlier, saying she was going to attend the wedding of the century.

Wei Ming also took a closer look at the two maids who were helping Diana hold up the train of her wedding dress; it wasn't her.

He did catch a fleeting glimpse of Camilla in the crowd of onlookers. Hey, that woman.

"Why does the camera keep focusing on this old lady in the blue dress?" a guy from the Shanghai Film Studio asked.

Huang Guoxing laughed and said, "Brother Wei, that's the Queen of England."

"Oh, it's her." The mainland Chinese man's tone lacked any deliberate respect.

"And who is this old man who is holding the princess's arm?"

Li Zhiqing said, "It must be the princess's father."

On the long red carpet, Count Spencer held his youngest daughter's hand, his expression resolute, when Wei Ming heard the familiar melody of the prelude.

~
At Zhou Huimin's home, she, her mother, and Lao Gui were present.

Amin called Uncle Gui over to watch TV and join in the fun, but unfortunately Amin was nowhere to be found, otherwise it would have been even more exciting.

When Amin saw the scene of the father leading his daughter down the aisle, she sighed softly. She thought to herself that even when she got married, her father would no longer be there to hold her arm. What a pity.

Then the music changed. The previous part was classical chanting, but this part was like pop music. The intro gave people a sense of holiness, and even a little sadness.

Then came a familiar female voice, singing, "Who can say/where the road goes/where the day flows/only time..."

The song is specifically mentioned here, "Only Time," meaning only time...

(A long chapter of 7000 words, full of sincerity, please vote with monthly tickets! I'm a little nervous and not sure when the next chapter will be released, so please don't wait~)

(End of this chapter)