Exciting 1979!

Chapter 352 Paying Respects to My Mother-in-Law
"Xiaoming, is that the place?"

Wei Ping'an pointed to an old man and a young girl at the door.

Wei Ming's mouth dropped open. How did she get here too?!
Old Gui stood there without moving. When he saw Wei Ping'an, his eyes were moist as he waved to him, meaning that was it, he wouldn't come over, and Wei Ping'an didn't need to come over either.

For the sake of his child's future and to prevent the organization from suspecting him, Lao Gui suppressed his urge to go over and hug him.

But Zhou Huimin had no such thoughts in mind. Tall and long-legged, with slightly curly long hair, and wearing a youthful high school uniform, her dashing figure running through the crowd attracted the attention of many passengers, including Wei Hong.

She spotted Zhou Huimin immediately; the girl looked very familiar.

The moment a thought popped into their heads, the person was already right in front of them.

"Ah Ming, why didn't you tell me you were coming to Hong Kong?" Zhou Huimin spoke to him in Cantonese. She could tell that the people around Wei Ming were probably with him, and she realized she had acted impulsively.

"You're in school, and I'm just transferring flights; I'm flying away soon."

"Where are you flying to? London again?"

“This time it’s Frankfurt, Germany,” Wei Ming said. “There’s a world-renowned book fair there, and Melinda, as my editor, will be attending.”

Vivian Chow pouted and said, "Would you die if you didn't tell me? Why are you being so honest?"

Then Wei Ming added, "Let me introduce you. This is my sister, Ah Hong. Ah Hong, and this is Ah Min."

Wei Hong finally remembered—the little girl who led the singing was her brother's pen pal!
"Hello, Sister Ah Hong," Zhou Huimin said somewhat shyly, touching her pocket. "I came in a hurry and didn't bring a gift."

Wei Hong had initially quite liked this pen pal, but when she heard her call her "Little Sister Hong," Xiao Hong immediately crossed her arms and said, "Ah Min, I've heard my brother mention you. If I remember correctly, you should be a year younger than me."

Zhou Huimin looked at Wei Ming, and Wei Ming nodded, although it seemed like the other way around.

"Oh, Sister Hong." Zhou Huimin called out sweetly to Wei Hong, and everyone just talked about their own things.

Wei Hong was satisfied; the little girl was quite sensible.

Security checks had already begun, and Wei Ming explained the new store location to Zhou Huimin again before waving goodbye. Turning his head, he saw Uncle Ping'an and the other middle-aged and elderly people looking at him curiously.

Oh dear, I forgot to introduce it to the others.

Wei Ping'an wasn't actually concerned about that. He felt that Xiao Ming had already been somewhat ambiguous with two older female actresses in Yanjing, and he didn't expect him to meet such a pretty young girl in Hong Kong. He worried that if things continued like this, Xiao Ming could easily commit a moral offense.

He also hoped that his nephew could pursue a career in politics. With Xiaoming's status in the literary world, several top translators were doing English translations for him, and he was enjoying the same treatment as great figures like Lu Xun. If he maintained this momentum, he might even become the vice minister of culture when he was in his forties or fifties.

Wei Ming then briefly introduced his relationship with Zhou Huimin, saying that they were pen pals, and everyone smiled without saying anything.

Especially those two comrades in Hong Kong who understand Cantonese, judging from the tender and affectionate feeling they had when they were chatting just now, they definitely weren't just pen pals!

Once all the passengers had gone inside and disappeared from sight, Lao Gui said to Zhou Huimin, "Stop looking, let's go."

Vivian Chow sighed, "It's too short. There's so much left unsaid."

"So what did you just say?"

“I met his sister briefly, oh, and another one!” Zhou Huimin remembered the important matter, “Ah Ming said that Holiland could actually choose to open a new store at the airport.”

Upon hearing this, Lao Gui immediately turned back and began to examine Kai Tak Airport.

The customer traffic is incredibly dense!

Those who can afford to fly are usually quite wealthy and in a hurry, making Holiland a perfect fit!

Fast food and airports are a perfect match!

Wei Ming and his group were on a Lufthansa flight to Frankfurt. On the plane, before takeoff, Pan Yaoming of Joint Publishing (Hong Kong) introduced an elderly man to Wei Ming.

"This is Mr. Liu Yichang, who is traveling with us."

Pan Yaoming wanted to introduce Liu Yichang further, but he didn't expect that Wei Ming actually knew Liu.

“Hello,” Wei Ming shook hands with the old man with slightly gray hair. “I have read your novels, ‘The Drunkard’ and ‘The Inverted’.”

Liu Yichang laughed and said, "My books don't sell well, and they don't read as smoothly and easily as Jin Yong's novels. I didn't expect you to like reading them."

Wei Ming: "I wouldn't say I like it."

Liu Yichang was stunned, and Pan Yaoming next to him was also dumbfounded, just about to say something.

Wei Ming continued, "My purpose was rather utilitarian. In order to understand Hong Kong as soon as possible and create Hong Kong-related scripts and songs, I read a lot of Hong Kong literary works for a period of time. But what real literature is there in Hong Kong, except for the works of Liu Yichang?"

Wei Ming's assessment is quite high. It is true that Hong Kong is a cultural desert, which is why it lacks cultural depth and popular literature is prevalent, with Jin Yong as a representative of this.

There are far fewer people who engage in serious literature. In the field of serious literature in Hong Kong, Liu Yichang is probably the only one who can be compared with Jin Yong.

He is hailed as the "godfather of Hong Kong literature," and his novel "The Drunkard" is considered the first stream-of-consciousness novel in China. Wong Kar-wai is a staunch supporter of his work and has been deeply influenced by it.

Films like "In the Mood for Love" and "2046" are like visual versions of Liu Yichang's works.

This is also why Wei Ming can't say he likes it that much, because it's really not that easy to understand.

Wei Ming spoke frankly, and Liu Yichang was not angry. He also expressed his opinion on Wei Ming's work.

"My favorite is your latest novel, 'In the Heat of the Sun,' which blends reality and fiction, just like youth itself." This novel was reprinted by Wen Wei Po shortly after its publication in October, and it was also available in Hong Kong.

As the plane took off, Pan Yaoming, in order to make it easier for the two literary figures from the mainland and Hong Kong to chat, specially changed their seats so that they could sit together.

Pan Yaoming, the business director of Joint Publishing, later joined Ming Pao as the editor-in-chief of Ming Pao Monthly and was also an important promoter of Hong Kong literature.

Liu Yichang is from Shanghai, the same hometown as Sister Xue. She started writing in Shanghai before the founding of the People's Republic of China, but was unknown at the time. She finally achieved great success after coming to Hong Kong.

His works incorporated many Western writing techniques, which greatly helped Wei Ming understand the landscape of Western writers. Wei Ming would also tell him about the emerging new writers in mainland China. The two chatted happily all the way.

Because it was a German airline, Wei Ming got to eat German sausages and drink German beer in advance.

Germany is the land of sausages, with a wide variety of types and different ways of eating them. The classic way they eat sausages is grilled sausages with bread and a squeeze of mustard sauce.

The sausage was made of beef, without any gamey smell, and was packed with meat. Wei Ming, who loves meat, ate it very happily and even thought about taking some back with him.

Because of the time difference, they set off at noon and arrived in Frankfurt, West Germany, just as it was getting dark, after a 12-hour journey.

Frankfurt Airport is very large, reportedly the third largest airport in Europe, after London Heathrow and Paris Charles de Gaulle. It is also Germany's largest passenger and cargo hub.

Before the plane landed, Wei Ming and his group could see the airport packed with planes. Wei Hong exclaimed in surprise, "Wow, it's spectacular!" Everyone longed for the day when their country would have such a large airport and so many planes.

Arriving in this unfamiliar place, everyone was both excited and apprehensive. Wei Ming told Xiao Hong to stay close to him.

There are more people here than at any other time of year, and many of them are publishers or cultural figures attending the book fair.

After landing, Deputy Director Liu, the team leader, first exchanged some West German marks at the airport. Wei Ming quickly followed suit, as he didn't intend to spend the country's money this time, so he also exchanged some for himself.

As a result, Deputy Director Liu was embarrassed to discover that Wei Ming had exchanged more Marks by himself than the entire team had combined. This kid is too rich!

At present, 1 US dollar is roughly equivalent to 2.5 marks. Wei Mingxian exchanged 10,000 marks and still had some US dollars left for emergencies.

When they came out, a cultural officer from the embassy was holding a sign to greet them. China and West Germany had established diplomatic relations in the 70s.

"Hello, Comrade Mike." Deputy Director Liu Gao shook hands with the embassy official who came to pick him up. They obviously knew each other before. This wasn't a foreign name; his surname was Mai and his given name was Ke, and his English name was Mike.

Mike introduced himself to everyone, and was particularly excited to see Wei Ming. Being abroad, he could always hear about the brilliant achievements of a compatriot, which was very inspiring.

Mike not only bought two Sarah Brightman singles, but also has English versions of "Jumanji" and "The Lion King" picture books.

He seemed somewhat surprised when he learned that Wei Ming's sister had also come.

Wei Ming explained, "My sister and I co-authored a book about Rubik's Cubes, which will be published by Macmillan Publishers and will be showcased here."

Mike remarked that they were indeed a family of scholars, a whole family of cultured people; Wei Ping'an, the director of Peking University, was actually his uncle.

Wei Ming then asked, "Mike, do you know where the people at Macmillan Publishing live?"

Mike said, "Macmillan is a major British publishing house, so I guess they'll choose to stay at the Frankfurt Hotel or the Bartsauds Hotel."

Wei Hong hurriedly asked, "What about us?"

A hint of embarrassment flashed across Mike's face: "Everyone, follow me."

Wei Ming and his colleagues bid farewell to Liu Yichang and other colleagues in the Hong Kong publishing industry, as they had already arranged their accommodations in advance.

During the Frankfurt Book Fair, hotels in Frankfurt become extremely sought after, with prices increasing by 30% to 50%, and rooms are almost always unavailable without advance booking. Some even book for next year's dates in advance.

Mike prepared a minibus, which carried more than a dozen people into the city.

Although it was night, the streets were brightly lit, giving it the feel of a modern city, which was dazzling to everyone.

Actually, there are still many ancient buildings here. Famous European cities have well-preserved ancient buildings, but when it comes to modern skyscrapers, you have to look to cities like Hong Kong, New York, and the future Shanghai.

After crossing the Main River and passing St. Paul's Church, they arrived at a street in the Bornheim district in less than half an hour and were pleasantly surprised to find that there was a Chinese restaurant there.

Frankfurt has a small population, and even fewer Chinese people, so there is no dedicated Chinatown. This area is where most Chinese people live, with two Chinese restaurants. One of them also operates a hotel on the second floor, where you can go downstairs to make dumplings and upstairs to sleep.

Two people shared a room: Wei Ming shared a room with Uncle Ping An, and Wei Hong shared a room with Aunt Suo from Zhonghua Book Company.

"The hot dumplings are here! Everyone, enjoy them while they're hot!" A woman from Northeast China, who has lived in Germany since childhood, served them dumplings.

It's really delicious, a classic pork and scallion filling. Although my sister-in-law has never been to China, her skills and accent were passed down from her parents.

However, Wei Ming can eat dumplings at home. If he still eats dumplings abroad, wouldn't that be a waste of his trip? Besides, the living environment is just so-so, even worse than the Peking University guesthouse.

The residents were mostly Chinese, along with some backpackers from other Asian countries, all there to save money.

If it weren't for organizational discipline, Wei Mingzhen really wanted to go to a fancy hotel, get a room, take a hot bath, and have two German pork knuckles.

The Frankfurt Book Fair officially starts on October 7th and lasts for five days. Today is the 10th, so I came a bit hastily, mainly because I wanted to save money. Everything is expensive abroad.

Fortunately, some books had already arrived in advance, and Mike and his colleagues were responsible for helping to set up the venue, which was basically completed.

After all, this was a great platform to promote China, and the Chinese Embassy in West Germany was very supportive. Mike and his companions acted as drivers, translators, and laborers all at the same time.

However, Deputy Director Liu was still a little worried, so he asked Mike to take him to the convention center to see how the setup was going, and told everyone to get some rest and adjust to the time difference, as they had essentially lived through 30 hours in one day.

Wei Ming hurriedly reported to the team leader: "Director Liu, my English editor asked me to contact her as soon as I arrive. We may need to discuss tomorrow's publicity plan."

Director Liu Gao asked, "Can you take a taxi yourself?"

"Why take a taxi? I'll give you a ride, we have a car," said Brother Kuai, the husband of the Northeastern woman.

"Then let me use the phone first."

With the telephone and the phone book, Wei Ming found the Frankfurt Hotel and inquired whether Macmillan Publishing House was staying there, but it turned out they weren't.

Then I called the Bart Soden Hotel and got a positive answer.

"Brother, why don't I go with you?" Wei Hong asked expectantly. "After all, my book will be exhibited tomorrow, and Sister Mei will definitely have something to say to me."

Wei Ming: Sister, you're being a bit immature.

He said to Wei Hong, "You didn't sleep on the plane. What you need to do now is go to sleep early so you'll have the energy to talk about the exhibition tomorrow. Don't worry, you'll see her tomorrow."

Wei Hong just wanted to meet her older brother's first love and practice her English speaking skills with her. Her brother's accent was better than hers, a Peking University student, so Melinda must have taught him well.

After appeasing Wei Hong, Wei Ming and Brother Kuai set off immediately. It took them half an hour to reach their destination. The environment was really nice, and the hotel was beautiful; it was clearly not cheap.

"Teacher Wei, I'll be waiting for you outside. When are you coming out?"

"Brother, you should go back first. I don't know how long we'll be talking. Don't keep you from resting. I see there are plenty of taxis outside the hotel. I'll just take one back."

"Huh? Is this appropriate?"

"Don't worry, I have money on me."

"Then I'll write down our address in German for you, and that way you'll be able to find us."

"Okay, take care." Wei Ming took the note and saw the car off. Actually, he wasn't going back; he was staying there tonight.

However, once inside, the receptionist refused to help him find the person, saying it was dark and the guest might already be asleep. Unless he could provide the guest's room number to prove that they had communicated beforehand, they wouldn't let him in.

Why are you so stubborn? Wei Ming said, "Then I'll just rent a room myself, okay?"

"Sorry, there are no rooms available."

Brother Kuai, come back soon! Wei Ming regretted not asking beforehand, and besides, he couldn't use his face in Germany.

Just as he was hesitating about taking a taxi back, a taxi stopped outside, and a foreign man in his thirties got out of the car.

Wei Ming didn't know him either, but to his surprise, the other man greeted him in English: "Are you Chinese?"

Wei Ming was taken aback, then replied, "Yes."

“Great, it’s rare to meet a Chinese person. Where are you from? Mainland China? Taiwan or Hong Kong?” The other person communicated with Wei Ming directly in Chinese.

Wei Ming was overjoyed; it was incredibly rare to meet a foreigner who could speak Chinese in Germany in 1981.

“The mainland,” he replied.

The other party was even more eager to hunt, as such specimens are even rarer on the mainland.

Wei Ming asked him in return where he was from and what he did for a living.

"I am British and a Chinese translator."

No wonder he speaks Chinese so fluently. "So, what works do you have?" Wei Ming asked.

The other party proudly said, "Dream of the Red Chamber."

Upon hearing these three words, Wei Ming looked at him suspiciously, wondering if he was sure it was Dream of the Red Chamber?

The British man, feeling somewhat guilty under Wei Ming's gaze, said, "My translation of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' hasn't been published yet; it's already going through the process. However, my father-in-law's translation of 'Dream of the Red Chamber' is quite influential in the world. He translated the first 80 chapters by Cao Xueqin, and I translated the last 40 chapters by Gao E."

"May I ask your name, brother?"

The other party cupped his hands in greeting: "No need for formalities. My surname is Minford, John Minford. You can call me by my Chinese name, Min Fude, which means 'blessed and virtuous.' Isn't that clever?"

It turns out to be you!
Wei Ming wasn't very familiar with him, but he knew that there were two most influential English translations of "Dream of the Red Chamber": one was the version by Yang Xianyi and Gladys Yang, and the other was the version by Hawkes and Minford, a father-in-law and son-in-law.

Hawkes was responsible for translating the first 80 chapters, which have been published in three volumes by Penguin. He even resigned from his position as head of the Chinese Department at Oxford University to dedicate ten years to translating the book.

It's unclear whether Old Huo wanted to promote his disciple and son-in-law, or whether he didn't like the 40 chapters that were written, or whether he simply lacked the energy, but ultimately chose to hand over the last 40 chapters to Minford.

And frankly, because they are translators whose native language is English, they pay more attention to the reading experience of English readers, so their versions are more popular and have a greater influence internationally.

In many Western rankings of world classics, only one Chinese novel, "Dream of the Red Chamber," makes the list, and its influence largely stems from the translations by these two authors.

"What is your name?" he asked Wei Ming again.

“Wei Ming, you can call me by my English name, Mr. Why.”

As expected, Wei Ming saw a look of surprise on Minford's face. As a Briton, Mr. Why has become very famous in Britain recently, not only for his two best-selling children's picture books, but also for his two highly popular songs and his legendary experience of independently organizing charity concerts.

Even recently, British media have been reporting that the Chinese government is preparing to send two giant pandas to Hong Kong as a thank-you gift, and Mr. Why has been credited for this.

McMillan and the BBC invested a great deal of news resources in Wei Mingke, and even scholars like Minford knew his name.

Minford shook hands with Wei Ming solemnly: "Mr. Why, do you also live here? You must know a lot about the Red Mansion. Perhaps we can have a heart-to-heart talk tonight."

Wei Ming shook his head; he preferred to sit down with Melinda and get straight to the point.

"I am indeed well-versed in Dream of the Red Chamber, but I don't live here. I came to find my editor, but it's too late, and the hotel staff won't help me call someone."

“It is indeed too late. Who is your editor? Maybe I know where he lives. After all, we are both from England.”

"Do you know Melinda Gaskell from Macmillan Publishing?" Wei Ming asked expectantly.

Minford's mouth dropped open: "I don't know her, but my editor's last name is also Gaskell, I can ask her for you."

Wei Ming: "?"

A short while later, Minford nervously knocked on the door of his editor, Charlotte Gaskell, a senior editor at Penguin Books, in a room upstairs.

Ms. Gaskell has been working with Hawkes and his son-in-law since Hawkes' first book, "Dream of the Red Chamber," and has achieved remarkable success in the industry. She holds a very high position at Penguin Books and is known as the Iron Lady of the publishing world.

Penguin was one of the leading publishing giants in the UK, and later merged with Random House to become Penguin Random House.

"Who is it?" the person inside asked.

“Ms. Gaskell, it’s me, Minford. I met a Chinese scholar downstairs named Mr. Why. We had a very pleasant chat, but…”

Before he could finish speaking, the door opened, and a brisk young redhead asked, "Where is he?!"

"Is he/she downstairs?"

Melinda came downstairs in her pajamas, muttering, "Damn it, why are you so late!"

After a while, Charlotte came out wearing a coat; this woman had a very strong presence.

"John, you should go back to your room and rest. See you tomorrow." With that, she went downstairs.

However, when Charlotte Gaskell came downstairs, the two men were gone. Her room was on the third floor, but her daughter's room was actually on the second floor.

~
"Where's your luggage?" Melinda asked after leading Wei Ming to the room.

"I'm staying at the hotel with my Chinese companion."

"What a pity, the company booked a room here for you and Xiaohong."

"Huh?" Wei Ming was thinking of finding an excuse to move over with Xiao Hong tomorrow; they couldn't let it go to waste.

The two hugged and kissed for a while before getting into bed.

Melinda asked, "Do you know whose bed I was just in?"

"If I'm not mistaken, this must be your mother?"

"Hahaha!" Melinda laughed. "I never expected you would meet the author of Mom's book and then find your room."

Wei Ming, who had originally intended to go straight in, suddenly felt a little guilty: "Since we've already bothered Auntie, should I pay her a visit?"

Melinda, eager to lead the troops into the pass, said, "Tomorrow, tomorrow will be the same~"

(End of this chapter)