Exciting 1979!

Chapter 333 Wei Ming: The sky has fallen!

Wei Ming went downstairs without letting Amin see him off. He patted his chest with a pounding heart, realizing he had almost made a mistake, but thankfully he had a strong will.

He looked up and saw Amin waving at him in the bright sunshine.

Amin wanted to take him to the airport, but Wei Ming refused, as he needed to return the car later.

Amin could only watch the car disappear from her sight from home. Then she suddenly opened the door and began to climb desperately upwards until she reached the rooftop, where she could see the car again.

Even though she knew he probably couldn't see her, Amin still waved and sang "Tomorrow Will Be Better" until the Mazda was no longer in sight.

Instead of going to the Xinhua News Agency branch immediately, Wei Ming went to a store that sells video recording equipment.

Yesterday, the branch office leader gave him a videotape, which was a videotape of a charity gala, recording his work over the past two weeks.

In order to let his family see the movies, Wei Ming came here specifically to buy a Panasonic cassette recorder, and then bought some videotapes of Hong Kong, Taiwan and European and American movies.

Videotapes are now becoming popular in the United States, but they are just starting out in Hong Kong, and the industry is not yet large.

In order to buy the machine and the videotapes, Wei Ming bought another duffel bag, as well as gifts for family and friends, and for Sister Xue and Sister Lin, making a total of three bags.

I just don't know if those videotapes will be able to get through customs. I know they'll be inspected. Wei Ming only bought legitimate films; he'd already watched the illegitimate ones in Hong Kong.

Upon arriving at Xinhua News Agency, Comrade Song Duanwu, who had initially picked Wei Ming up from the airport, also took him back to the airport.

"Teacher Song, we must part ways eventually, so there's no need to see me in," Wei Ming said at the airport entrance.

"No, I can't rest easy until I see you board the plane."

"What, are you worried that I'll stay in Hong Kong and not leave?"

"Oh dear, that's not what I meant, Teacher Wei, look at you." Song Duanwu hurriedly explained that that wasn't what she meant.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Just kidding. I made an appointment with someone to see them off first."

"Oh, I get it, Melinda." Teacher Song immediately understood. With the spread of this song, Wei Ming's past relationship with Melinda, a British exchange student, will probably be talked about for many years to come.

"But there's so much luggage?" Song Duanwu looked at the trunk.

Wei Ming, carrying two bags in one hand, said casually, "Let's go."

Song Duanwu was dumbfounded. Everyone said that scholars were weak and powerless, but Teacher Wei was a different kind of scholar.

Wei Ming quickly found Melinda and the other person who were waiting for him to see them one last time.

"You bought so much stuff?" Melinda looked at him in surprise.

Wei Ming: "There is a shortage of supplies on the mainland, and it is not convenient to buy many things, so I might as well buy more here."

Besides, I have a lot of US dollars in Hong Kong, more than I can spend.

Melinda: "Don't forget the Frankfurt Book Fair in October."

Wei Ming: "I'll try my best, it's too much trouble to go out."

Melinda pressed her cheek against his and said, “You’d better go. You’re very famous right now. The BBC interviewed you, and maybe other countries will report on your story too. Perhaps a few of your works can be sold more easily all over the world, in French, German, Japanese, and other languages. That’s all money. You must seize this opportunity.”

“Okay, I will definitely overcome all difficulties when the time comes,” Wei Ming said earnestly.

Afterwards, Wei Ming chatted with Sarah for a bit more. She was also going to the United States as arranged by the company to solidify Only Time's performance on the charts.

It's currently at number one on Billboard for two weeks, while Moonlight Shadow has held it for four weeks. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, Only Time will completely surpass Moonlight Shadow.

Sarah said, "I had a very enjoyable experience in Hong Kong this time, and I hope to visit the mainland someday."

“That day will come, and I will make the arrangements then. Although Beijing is not as highly modernized as Hong Kong, your experience as foreign friends will not be bad.”

They chatted for about half an hour before boarding their flight. Wei Ming saw them off first before going to his own waiting area.

He wanted to sit down and look at the newspapers Amin had given him, but then he was surrounded by people.

"Is this Teacher Wei Ming?"

"Wei Ming, who sang 'Pearl of the Orient'!"

"Comrade Wei Ming, well done!"

Many of these people were leaders from various departments across the mainland who were in Hong Kong on official business, while a small number were Hong Kong people who came to the mainland to do business. The former were naturally more enthusiastic and proactive, while the latter looked at Wei Ming with some approval.

During the short wait for his flight, Wei Ming met many prominent figures from various sectors across the country. They even had his business cards, which Wei Ming collected in large quantities, but unfortunately, he didn't have any for himself.

Once on the plane, Wei Ming finally had time to read the newspapers. The first one was Ming Pao, which had an entire page dedicated to the concert.

The list includes Yi Shu's high praise for Wei Ming's musical talent and analysis of each song, as well as Ming Pao's list of philanthropists, which lists the donations of various tycoons. The two shipping magnates topped the list, making it a tie, with Li Ka-shing following closely behind.

However, the activity that attracted the most attention from readers was the "Choose your favorite song from the August 8 charity performance" activity. This activity encouraged readers to vote and listed all the songs that Wei Ming had newly composed for the charity performance, as well as the singers.

On this newspaper, Amin had already made her choice; she had checked "Tomorrow Will Be Better".

Wei Ming also felt that the three non-Cantonese songs, "Tomorrow Will Be Better," "Pearl of the Orient," and "Only by Fighting Will You Win," might actually get more votes, since there are fewer competing songs and it's not easy to split the votes.

In another article by Jin Yong, he highly praised the success of this charity performance and believed it could serve as a model for future generations to learn from and emulate.

But this thing is really not easy to imitate, and Wei Ming felt that he could not do it a second time.

Wei Ming also read through the other newspapers, and even the right-leaning newspapers reported relatively objectively.

Just as he was about to arrive in Yanjing, a batch of newspapers was also delivered to Wei Muchun's home in Taiwan. The newspapers were even more abundant than those Wei Ming had, including not only major newspapers but also second- and third-rate tabloids.

He put on his reading glasses and began to read carefully. Although he had already received a call from Lingling, he still wanted to see what the media thought of his talented grand-nephew.

~
After inspection, Wei Ming's luggage passed through Yanjing International Airport without incident.

However, he had too much stuff and was too lazy to take the bus, so he called Biaozi at the airport to ask if he was free to pick him up.

"I definitely need to be free, Ming-ge, you're waiting!"

While waiting, Wei Ming bought some recent domestic newspapers, but had not yet seen any reports about his actions in Hong Kong.

The hot news in mainland China recently is Huang Zhicheng's defection. He is the 90th Kuomintang air force personnel to return to the people's embrace in his 42nd plane.

Moreover, the day he flew back happened to be the same day Wei Ming was holding a concert, which made Wei Ming worry for Mr. Chen Peter.

Wei Lingling: You still don't understand your uncle's capabilities.

~
Biaozi didn't come alone; Xiaomei came too.

Seeing Wei Ming sitting in the middle of four suitcases, he laughed and said, "It's a good thing I came, otherwise how would you have managed to transport all this stuff back?"

Wei Mingxian took out a notebook from his backpack: "This is what Gong Ying asked me to bring to you. She used her spare time to help you design clothing that is more in line with the trends in mainland China."

Mei Wenhua took it and immediately looked through it: "Wow, Sister Ying is so generous!"

Biaozi leaned closer and said, "And it feels like your skills have improved!"

"Alright, put it away. Take me back to the Overseas Chinese Apartment first."

On the way, Xiaomei asked Wei Ming, "Brother Ming, how's your fundraising going?" Biaozi replied, "Yeah, Xiaoyang has been concerned about it."

Wei Ming: "It was quite successful."

"How much money was raised?"

Wei Ming: "More than one hundred million."

"Screech!" Both motorcycles slammed on their brakes at the same time, and Wei Ming was almost thrown off by the inertia.

He added, "I'm talking about Hong Kong dollars, which is about 5000 million yuan."

The two of them still stared at him in disbelief. In the black market, Hong Kong dollars and RMB were exchanged one to one. In an era when people with ten thousand yuan were rare, they heard from their friend that he had a hundred million yuan so casually!

Even at Oriental Plaza's current rate of making money, they wouldn't earn this much in their lifetime.

“It’s not my money. It’s all going to be used in the disaster area. And there are millions of people affected by the disaster. So when you calculate it, the average amount each person gets is not much.”

Although the money was raised by Wei Ming, he had no right to interfere with how it was used, and it was estimated that more than half of it would be used for the repair and construction of public facilities.

A heavy rainstorm paralyzed several major railway lines in Sichuan and forced some areas of the province to close for a month, resulting in enormous losses.

Then the two of them started asking Wei Ming incessantly about the details of the fundraising, unable to understand where the more than 100 million came from. Are all the people of Hong Kong so generous?

Later I realized that it was because Hong Kong's tycoons were just too extravagant.

Wei Ming gave them a brief introduction to Li Ka-shing's rise to wealth, saying that his net worth is now estimated to be over 10 billion.

"Ten billion!"

The two had already lost their imagination about the concept of "hundred million," and now that they heard about billionaires, their minds almost went blank.

Upon arriving at the Overseas Chinese Apartment, the three of them worked together to carry their luggage upstairs. Now, only Grandma and Xu Yunyun were at home.

Yunyun is pregnant now, so Xiaomei won't let her go to the store to sell clothes anymore. She's here to keep her grandma company, and Xiaomei will pick her up later.

When her grandson returned, the grandmother quickly told him that she had contacted his uncle and aunt and that they were all safe. Because of their high altitude, their area had not suffered much damage, but transportation was disrupted and they were short of food and clothing.

Wei Ming held his grandmother's hand: "Everything will be alright soon."

"Oh, your father and mother," Grandma called the courtyard house again, telling Wei Jiefang and his wife to come back as soon as they finished their work, "Xiaoming is back."

Xu Shufen quickly replied, "Okay, we'll deliver dinner to the shop and then head back!"

Mei Wenhua said, "Second Aunt, why don't you let Xiaoyang and Xiaohong leave work early?"

Wei Hong is now helping with the accounting at Xintiandi, and she does an even better job than Mei Wenhua in this regard, which reflects the high quality of Peking University's mathematics department.

Then Wei Ming called Uncle Ping An, who was indeed at home taking care of the child. Wei Ming invited the whole family of four to come over for dinner.

Wei Ping'an knew that his nephew had gone to Hong Kong to do something important, but he didn't know how successful it would be. When he learned that his nephew had returned, he couldn't wait to take Xile and prepare to set off.

In this way, apart from his two lovers, Wei Ming's relatives and friends could all be present, so he began to install and debug the video recorder.

Yunyun and her grandmother found it unfamiliar, but Xiaomei and Biaozi were quite familiar with it; they had seen it many times when they went to Shenzhen to buy goods before.

However, since all the content I've seen is rather unconventional, I can't help but feel a bit of anticipation, wondering what new works Master Li Hanxiang will release this time.

After setting up the machine, Wei Ming first showed his grandmother and the others an old movie, King Hu's "Dragon Inn".

Despite being a woman, my grandmother quite enjoyed watching martial arts films. She preferred "Heroes Since Ancient Times" and "The Mysterious Buddha" to "The Herdsman" and "Joyful Reunion".

This masterpiece by King Hu quickly attracted the attention of several people. Biaozi and Xiaomei also watched it with great interest. Besides pillows, fists are also quite interesting in Hong Kong and Taiwan movies.

Wei Ming pulled Biaozi, who was engrossed in his work, aside and said, "Go back and pick up Yanzi. We'll eat here tonight. Also, tell Sister Lin that I'm back."

Biaozi took one last, reluctant look at the television: "Okay."

Facing Wei Ming, Biaozi hesitated, wanting to tell Ming-ge that Xue-jie and Lin-jie often hung out together.

However, Yanzi forbade him from spreading gossip, saying that it's good to be confused sometimes.

Uncle Ping An arrived quickly with the two little ones. The play "Dragon Inn" was only halfway through when Xizi hurriedly asked Brother Wenhua what the previous part was about.

"How much have you raised?" Uncle Ping'an asked Wei Ming in the study.

Grandma just asked too, but Wei Ming didn't say: "You'll find out in a bit. Instead of me explaining it over and over again, you can just watch it."

"Watch it directly?" Wei Ping'an glanced at the video camera outside.

Wei Ming said, "I got the videotape of the charity concert back."

"Oh!"

Next to return were Wei Jiefang, Xu Shufen, Wei Hong, and Long Xiaoyang.

When asked the same question, Wei Ming gave the same answer: "We'll watch the concert videotape once everyone's here."

Xu Shufen: "Then I'll start cooking."

Old Wei swung his motorcycle keys: "I'm going out to buy some cooked food."

Wei Ming thought that Lao Wei should be given a motorcycle, since it didn't cost much.

Previously, buying a motorcycle was a huge hassle, but now Wei Ming can simply go to the Friendship Store and pick one up without having to worry about price or exchange rate issues.

Just then, Wei Hong and Lele came over with a cassette tape: "Hey, are we going to hear another version of 'Tomorrow Will Be Better' later?"

Wei Ming took the cassette tape: "Yes, I also sang a song."

Wei Hong was even more excited now, but Wei Ming was stunned when he looked at the tape.

The cassette tape cover listed the singers of the mainland version of "Tomorrow Will Be Better," and indeed, it was a star-studded lineup, including even actors like Zhang Yu, Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Xue, and Zhu Lin!
Wei Ming asked Xiao Hong to help her mother with chores, then asked Lele, "Lele, did you see both Sister Gong Xue and Sister Zhu Lin when you went to Guangzhou to record your song?"

"correct."

Wei Ming's heart skipped a beat. He was doomed; he was about to meet his maker!
Could it be that all those awful things I did have already been exposed to them?!

"Ahem~" Wei Ping'an heard their conversation and pulled his nephew aside. "I took Lele and Xizi to Guangzhou. Gong Xue and Zhu Lin even stayed in the same room."

Upon hearing this news, Wei Ming stumbled back two steps.

Just then, the door behind them opened, and Biaozi came in with a heavily pregnant Yanzi.

Biaozi gave Wei Ming a wink, and the two went outside to talk.

"Ming-ge, Lin-jie isn't home, but..."

"But what."

Biaozi pulled him a little further away: "But Sister Xue is here~"

(Finally reached 10,000 chapters! Time to relax for today, extra chapters tomorrow!)
(End of this chapter)