Exciting 1979!

Chapter 344 Teacher Wei, calm down! Your surname is Wei, not Cao!
Wei Ming quickly waved his hand: "That's not appropriate. After all, I didn't donate the money. I just shouted a few times."

“Teacher Wei, you are too modest. How can that be called shouting? With your call, you not only raised a precious HK$1.5 million for us from Hong Kong, oh, and now another HK$300 million, but you also spoke out in international media, attracting many overseas rescue teams and supplies. Many international humanitarian organizations came to Sichuan because of your call. The people of Sichuan remember your kindness!”

Wei Ming never expected that his influence abroad would also play a role.

Director Chen added, "Moreover, there are far too many bridges, roads, and schools in Sichuan that need to be rebuilt this time. The Hong Kong entrepreneurs who donated money and the artists who performed at the concert will also be given corresponding names."

Upon learning that he wasn't alone, Wei Ming felt relieved and readily accepted the suggestion to take a trip to Sichuan.

I can also take my grandmother and cousin back to their hometown for a visit. In addition, I need to rely on the power of the local authorities to help Chen Peter find his brother and grandmother.

Also, you can mention my aunt's matter while you're at it.

There's a high chance my aunt is still in Sichuan, and next year there will be the third national census since the founding of the People's Republic of China. Maybe we can find her then.

In this era where information flow is not well-developed, the power of an individual is ultimately limited.

After finishing the meal with Wei Ming, Officer Chen invited Wei Ming to have a casual dinner at their Beijing office guesthouse that evening: "Remember to invite your family too."

Besides being a guesthouse, it was also a Sichuan restaurant. He knew that Wei Ming's mother and maternal grandmother lived in Yanjing, and he was trying to play the "fellow hometown card." After all, Wei Ming could only be considered half a Sichuanese, but his maternal grandmother was a native of Sichuan.

"Let's talk about our plans to go back to Sichuan tonight. I also need to go back to Chengdu for a work report, so we can all go together."

Unable to refuse such hospitality, Wei Ming left work early that afternoon and went back to Tuanjiehu. He left a note for Sister Xue saying that he would be back late or not at all.

Then I went to Mei Wenhua's house and told my grandmother about it. The old lady was overjoyed. Whether she ate or not was not important. What was important was that she could finally go back to her hometown to visit.

She said to her granddaughter Yunyun, "Yunyun, don't worry, your mother and I will definitely come when you give birth."

Actually, Xu Yunyun also wanted to go back to her hometown, but she was eight months pregnant and definitely couldn't take the risk. Her in-laws were very nervous because she was carrying the eldest grandson of the Mei family.

Wei Ming said, "Why don't you come to dinner with us today, Yunyun? I've heard that the Sichuan cuisine at the Sichuan Liaison Office in Beijing is delicious, comparable to Sichuan restaurants."

Xu Yunyun had been holding back for a while: "Okay, okay, I'll call Wenhua and tell him, so he won't worry."

Wei Ming: "Then let Xiaomei take Xiaoyang over too."

Xiao Yang will eventually have to go back, so getting to know some officials won't hurt.

Afterwards, Wei Ming called the courtyard house again and asked his parents to come as well.

~
In the guesthouse of the Sichuan Provincial Government Office in Beijing, besides that staff member Chen, there were several other staff members, including Director Zhao of the Beijing Office, who looked like a leader. Before Wei Ming came, he had explained to Lao Wei that the head of the Beijing Office was a department-level cadre.

Old Wei thought to himself, "So what if he's the director of the Beijing Liaison Office? Everyone's one of those people."

Old Wei was a good drinker and a good talker, and he was very sociable. He livened up the atmosphere very well and soon became sworn brothers with Director Zhao. He even talked to the director about his experience of finding a panda cub in his hometown of Baoxing.

The director hurriedly said, "Brother Wei, Sichuan welcomes you back for a visit. You might even reunite with your panda son."

"Oh, is this alright?"

"What's wrong with that? Come on in, come on in! Hospitable Sichuan welcomes you."

Xu Shufen originally wanted to accompany her mother back home, and it would be natural to bring her husband along as well. However, now Lao Wei has an additional layer of official invitation.

Mei Wenhua was a little downcast; he was reluctant to part with his grandmother and Long Xiaoyang.

With her grandmother by her side, Yunyun felt much better, which eased her anxiety about giving birth. Her grandmother could also cook her hometown food that suited her taste.

Long Xiaoyang is equally important. This young man may not be tall, but he is quick-witted, intelligent, and eager to learn. In the past few months, he has become his capable assistant at Oriental Plaza.

Zhao Debiao is now preoccupied with his wife and daughter, so he can't be relied on. With Xiaoyang gone, his burden will become even heavier.

After finishing their meal and leaving the guesthouse, Mei Wenhua called Long Xiaoyang aside, took out a stack of money from his wallet and gave it to him, all of them ten-yuan bills.

Long Xiaoyang knew from the thickness of the note that it was a huge sum of money, a thousand yuan.

"Brother-in-law, what's going on?"

Mei Wenhua said, "Take this back and give it to your uncle. After your sister gives birth, everyone should come and visit Yunyun whenever they have time. She will definitely want to see her family. This is for travel expenses."

He knew that even the cheapest hard-seat train ticket from Sichuan to Beijing would probably cost his father-in-law's family more than a year's harvest from the fields, so he prepared the money in advance.

After all, a thousand yuan is an astronomical figure for them, but for him, the second boss of Xintiandi, it's just a drop in the ocean. He's now planning to follow his brother-in-law's example and buy a courtyard house, and he's even planning to have five children with Yunyun.

Long Xiaoyang nodded solemnly and accepted the money: "I'll sew it into my underwear when I get back."

Wei Ming witnessed this scene and heard Long Xiaoyang explain it to him on his way home.

Xu Shufen remarked, "I used to think Xiaomei was impulsive, but now she's much more mature and composed, and she's very thoughtful."

Old Wei said, "He's about to become a father, and he's even become the prototype for the male protagonist in our son's novel. He's bound to improve."

Old Wei is too good at praising his son. Wei Ming thinks that the position of general manager of Oriental New World is good for training people. If it weren't for the limitations of the times, Xiao Mei could have had a much broader stage.

However, Mei Culture does care a lot about the novel "In the Heat of the Sun" and is very proud of it. The male protagonist is named Mei Xiaojun, and many parts of the novel are based on his description.

He had read this novel more than three times. Today, after Yunyun went to bed early, he started reading it again. What he was most curious about in this novel was the prediction of the future plot at the end of the article.

Will it really be possible for someone like me, a privileged child from a high-ranking compound, to earn enough money to buy a jeep with just a simple note in the future?
Is it really like this?

~
Wei Ming and his family did not travel together with Chen, because Wei Ming insisted on not taking advantage of public resources and wanted to pay for his own plane ticket to Chengdu.

As Chen's rank was not high enough for air travel, he could only buy a hard seat and depart two days earlier.

By the end of September, Wei Ming's family, including Wei Ming, Wei Jiefang, Xu Shufen, his grandmother, and Long Xiaoyang, were preparing to go to the airport, while Wei Hong could only watch them leave from home.

During this period, she could only spend time with her roommates and also had to take on the responsibility of feeding the cats and dogs.

Wei Ming said, "I've already asked the school for leave, and I've also asked for leave for you. I'll take you abroad when I get back from Sichuan."

Upon hearing this, Wei Hong's gloom vanished, and she prepared to use the last few days before going abroad to cram in German with her classmates from the Spanish Department.

This trip to Frankfurt will not only broaden my horizons, but the publisher will also need to settle the book royalties with Wei Hong. Although Wei Ming is listed as the author, he said he doesn't want a penny and will leave it entirely to Xiao Hong to handle. It should amount to tens of thousands of dollars.

When the plane landed at Shuangliu Airport, Officer Chen Lian was already waiting for them. Unexpectedly, he could drive a Jeep to pick up Wei Ming and the others.

That day, they first stayed in Chengdu. Wei Ming used the afternoon to visit Mr. Ma Shitu, and the two had a friendly exchange on the language style of "In the Heat of the Sun".

Wei Ming inquired about the creation of "Ten Tales of the Night," which is said to be nearing completion and will be finished around next year. "The Tale of the Thief Official" has already been published.

Afterwards, Wei Ming made another trip to Science Fiction World, where he received a warm welcome from all the editors and staff, including Lao Wan. Editor-in-Chief Tan Kai and President Yang Xiao personally received him.

Thanks to Wei's two Jurassic Park issues, this once little-known magazine has now reached a peak circulation of over 100,000 copies, specifically the issue with Jurassic Park 2. However, due to a lack of outstanding works recently, its circulation has dropped back to around 70,000 to 80,000 copies, but it is still much better than at the beginning.

This time, Wei Ming personally delivered the manuscript of the final installment of the Jurassic Park series. They knew that if they couldn't seize the opportunity to rise to prominence, Jurassic Park 3 would be the last peak of Science Fiction World.

Speaking of the future of Science Fiction World, Wei Ming also offered two suggestions.

The first is translating classic foreign science fiction works. After all, the level of science fiction literature in China is relatively low now, and after a wave of setbacks, even fewer people are willing to write it. Translating classics can at least maintain readers' love for science fiction, and many authors are converted from readers.

Secondly, an award related to science fiction literature could be established to attract creators' enthusiasm and sense of honor.

Wei Ming remembers that the Galaxy Award was established five years later, but the science fiction literature environment had improved a lot by then, and the winning works already featured themes such as surrogacy and cryopreservation.

The two leaders and several editors all agreed that Wei Ming's words made sense and planned to put them into practice.

When Lao Wan saw Wei Ming off, he asked him a question: "Will you still write science fiction in the future?"

"Write it! Science fiction has a bright future." It's also very lucrative. Many famous film and television IPs in the future are based on science fiction. Wei Ming will not give up this blue ocean.

That evening, Wei Ming was invited to dinner and met a leader in charge of post-disaster reconstruction work, who was now in charge of allocating and using the donated funds.

This leader is a department-level cadre, surnamed Qi.

During dinner that evening, Qi Ting asked him, "Teacher Wei, we've always wanted to thank our compatriots in Hong Kong. After discussing it, we've decided to send a pair of giant pandas to Hong Kong. You've been to Hong Kong; based on your understanding of Hong Kong people, do you think they'll like it?"

Wei Ming was taken aback. Could it be that Hong Kong was going to have giant pandas more than a decade ahead of schedule?
“Of course, no one can resist the charm of giant pandas!” Wei Ming said confidently.

In the original timeline, after Hong Kong's return to China, to celebrate the second anniversary of the handover, the mainland presented two giant pandas, An An and Jia Jia, one male and one female.

An An lived to be 35 years old, and Jia Jia lived to be 38 years old, both of whom are very old and are centenarians among pandas, which shows that they lived quite comfortably in Hong Kong.

Later, on the 10th anniversary of the handover, another pair was given as a gift, and twins were born in Hong Kong. At its peak, Hong Kong had six giant pandas.

Hearing Wei Ming approve of his suggestion, Director Qi was delighted. Wei Ming then suggested, "However, Hong Kong's climate isn't suitable for giant pandas. We need to discuss as soon as possible which organization will care for them and how to ensure their quality of life in Hong Kong. After all, giant pandas are extremely precious; they're treasures of the world. Even foreign countries have to rent them if they want them." Director Qi laughed and said, "That was your suggestion back then! But Hong Kong is part of China, so we can make special arrangements. We'll send one to Taiwan after its return to China."

“We absolutely have to send him,” Wei Ming laughed along. “But if we’re going to send him, we have to make sure he survives, and he’ll live well, even better than he does back home.”

"Don't worry about that. Our Wolong Giant Panda Reserve has a lot of experience in this area. Once we reach an agreement with the receiving party, we will send people over to guide the creation of the pandas' living environment. Once we confirm that the environment meets the standards, we will send the pandas and their keepers over together. We will also be responsible for training local keepers in Hong Kong."

As for the recipient, Wei Ming did not offer any suggestions, even though he was more familiar with Mr. Qiu Degen of Liyuan, and Mr. Qiu had also generously donated money.

But one thing is one thing, another is another. Lai Yuen is in decline. Its facilities and financial strength cannot compare with Hong Kong Ocean Park. It will have to close down in a few years. The elephant tug-of-war is a small hot spot that can't change anything.

In contrast, Ocean Park was funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club, which has substantial financial resources. Now it is managed and operated by the Hong Kong government, making it a public institution. There is simply no comparison.

Wei Ming's parents also attended the dinner. As Old Wei listened to Qi Ting's words, his eyes started to dart around. Did becoming a panda keeper mean he could go to Hong Kong openly?

After discussing the topic of gifting giant pandas to Hong Kong, Qi Ting added, "I heard from Xiao Chen that you were looking for someone, and you've already found them."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shufen's expression changed, and her eyes widened. She had thought her younger sister had been found.

However, what Qi Ting wanted to say was that they had found the younger brother of the Taiwanese musician, but their maternal grandmother had already passed away.

Wei Ming: "Thank you so much. I'll go see him tomorrow."

"There's no rush. We can meet again after we return from the groundbreaking ceremony in Baoxing."

They're going to Baoxing early tomorrow morning, and they've even brought a photography team to document the process.

~
Coincidentally, the filming team was from Emei Film Studio, and Wei Ming even spotted Han Sanping in the crowd.

"Actually, it wasn't a coincidence. I heard that the factory had taken on this task, so I volunteered to come." Comrade Han shook hands with Wei Ming. As a friend with some acquaintance, he naturally hoped to maintain his friendship with Wei Ming.

That's how it's continued.

Even though two months have passed since the floods, you can still see signs of road damage or water damage when driving on the road.

Some roads have been repaired, but most of them are difficult to travel. They set off before dawn and didn't arrive at their first destination until noon.

The car first took them to Dagou Village, where the grandmother lived. The village had been notified, and the uncle, aunt, great-aunt, great-uncle, and other villagers had been waiting for a long time.

When they saw them getting out of the car with the provincial leaders, the relatives were a little hesitant to go forward to acknowledge them. It was only after Wei Ming called out "Uncle" that they stepped forward under the envious gazes of the other villagers.

"Mother, Shufen, brother-in-law, leader..." The honest and simple Xu Cunmao never expected to shake hands with a high-ranking leader from the province, and he was a little nervous.

The leaders were pressed for time, so Wei Ming didn't linger. He gave his uncle a few instructions and got into the car to continue on his way.

As soon as the group left, Dagou Village erupted in chaos.

"Last time it was one car, this time it's a convoy of cars. Cunmao's nephew is getting more and more capable!"

"And there were provincial leaders with him, didn't you see that Wangcai couldn't even squeeze to the front?"

"That's right, they donated 1.5 million yuan to Sichuan!"

Long Xiaoyang quickly corrected, "It wasn't my brother who donated it, it was him who raised the money. My brother doesn't have that much money."

Otherwise, they would really think that their cousin was incredibly wealthy, and that they and their maternal uncle were royalty.

However, to be fair, thanks to his successful nephew Wei Ming, Xu Cunmao, who was once a poor villager, now holds a very high position in the village. He was already a prominent figure in the village before the flood.

During the flood, traffic was blocked and every household had nothing to eat. Xu Cunmao took the initiative to take out all the quail eggs from his own home and share them with everyone. Later, he even ate all the quail eggs.

Xu Cunmao could take this opportunity to switch to the feed business and gain immense prestige. At this point, if he were to raise his voice, he could probably replace the Party Secretary Wangcai.

~
Wei Ming and Qi Ting, along with other leaders, arrived at the site where the bridge was being built on the Qingyi River, a tributary of the Dadu River.

By now, the three characters "Weiming Bridge" could be seen, and judging from the distance between the two banks of the river, the bridge was quite large, probably worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan, much more impressive than the small bridge in my hometown.

Wei Ming completed the groundbreaking ceremony with the leaders, and then returned to Chengdu with them that same day. The next day, he was going to meet Chen Peter's brother, which was also filmed in a documentary and served as strong evidence of the close ties between the two sides of the Taiwan Strait.

That evening, Wei Ming invited Han Sanping to dinner again. Old Han was flattered and even invited Pan Hong, the leading actress of Emei Factory, and her husband, his good friend Mi Jiashan, to join them.

Upon seeing Teacher Pan Hong, Wei Ming blushed, a rare occurrence. This sight startled Mi Jiashan. "Teacher Wei, I respect you greatly. What do you mean by this?"

Later, Wei Ming even took the initiative to toast Pan Hong, praising her excellent acting skills and calling her a benchmark for actresses of the same era. He made her extremely happy, as she intuitively felt that Teacher Wei was good-looking and had a pleasant voice.

Mi Jiashan became even more nervous. If it weren't for Han Sanping, he would have even wanted to pull his wife away on the spot.

Even Han Sanping sensed something was wrong. "Teacher Wei, calm down! Your surname is Wei, not Cao!"
Actually, they all misunderstood. Wei Ming was so proactive purely out of remorse. Although "Du Shiniang" had nothing to do with him, he did take the initiative to help Sister Lin with "Middle Age".

Both of these works, which can be considered Pan Hong's most important early representative works, are now lost.

However, Wei Ming believes that gold shines wherever it is, so Teacher Pan, you should work hard.

The following day, filming continued. Accompanied by Chen, an official, and staff from the civil affairs and united front departments, Wei Ming met Chen Peter's younger brother, Chen Zhenhua, who was two years younger than him.

He wore glasses, was very polite, and worked in an office.

He remained relatively calm when he heard that his parents and older brother were all doing well in Taiwan. After all, he was only three years old when they parted ways, and he was basically raised by his maternal grandmother, so his concept of parents and brothers was rather vague.

However, when Wei Ming took out the photos that Chen Peter had given him, Comrade Chen Zhenhua finally couldn't hold back anymore.

What he saw was a family photo, with his parents, his two brothers, and his grandmother all there.

"These, these are my parents?" Because his parents went to Taiwan, his grandmother destroyed all their photos after the founding of the People's Republic of China to prevent them from being implicated. So this was the first time Chen Zhenhua had seen his close relatives.

The photo seemed to awaken the deepest memories in his mind; his blurry parents finally appeared clearly, and his eyes welled up with tears.

Are my parents alright?

"Yes, they're all in good health and have already retired."

"What about my brother? Is he married?"

Wei Ming pulled out a photo from the back: "He got married, has two sons and a daughter, and is also a famous Taiwanese musician. He was the only Taiwanese singer on the Hong Kong disaster relief team this time. His courage is commendable and admirable."

Wei Ming was very well prepared this time, and even brought Chen Peter's major musical works.

Holding the cassette tape, Chen Zhenhua smiled through his tears and said, "Our family had originally planned to buy a tape recorder this year, but now the plan has to be brought forward."

As he left, Chen Zhenhua glanced at Wei Ming and asked, "Teacher Wei, do you think I'll ever have a chance to see them again?"

Wei Ming patted him on the shoulder: "It definitely will, don't worry."

We'll just have to wait a few more years.

On the way back, Officer Chen comforted Wei Ming, saying, "You'll definitely be able to find your aunt, don't worry."

Wei Ming hopes to resolve this matter as soon as possible while his grandmother is still healthy. If he hadn't been busy with concert preparations all summer, he would have liked to look for her in the southwest region.

The filming ended there. Wei Ming shook hands with Han Sanping and other friends from the Emei Factory to say goodbye. Then, Chen, the staff member, drove him to his grandmother's house.

This time, without prior notice and as it was getting late, the two quietly entered the village, but were still discovered by the villagers. The village secretary, Wangcai, put down his chopsticks and hurriedly ran to greet them.

"Xiao Wei, come on over, come to my house for a meal."

"Uncle Wangcai, no need, Grandma prepared it for me." Wei Ming refused with a smile, but Wangcai still followed him all the way to his uncle's house, and the escorting team grew longer and longer, including many children.

These children probably still remember the famous scene of Wei Ming handing out candy. Fortunately, he was prepared in advance and managed to give each child a piece of candy after emptying several pockets.

As I get closer to home, I can see a wisp of smoke rising from a chimney, so it seems I've arrived just in time.

My maternal uncle's family, my maternal grandmother and mother, and my aunt were all there.

"Hey, where's my dad?" Wei Ming asked, puzzled, not seeing Old Wei.

Xu Shufen said angrily, "I'm with your brother."

"My brother?"

"The black and white one~"

(End of this chapter)