Exciting 1979!

Chapter 360: Gong from the South and Zhu from the North Meet the Parents; Mr. Why's First Attempt at English Writing
Zhu Lin was puzzled after hanging up the phone. Why did Wei Ming's mother want to invite her to dinner?
Could it be that Xiao Wei confessed to his parents?
Zhu Lin blushed and her heart started racing. She plopped down on the sofa and then noticed two pieces of paper on the coffee table.

The first piece of paper was written by Xiaoxue to Xiaowei. She said that the Shanghai Film Studio had sent her a script for a period drama set in the Jin and Southern and Northern Dynasties. The role was very good, and she wanted to give it a try, so she was going to Shanghai today and would be back soon.

Zhu Lin smiled indulgently: "If I film period dramas, you'll film period dramas too. You're such a copycat."

The letter below reads: "Xiao Wei, I've met your parents, your grandmother, and your aunt..."

"What!" Zhu Lin tensed up. You brat, you jumped the gun, didn't you!

After reading the rest, it became clear that Gong Xue didn't take the initiative; rather, she was called to the Overseas Chinese Apartment by Wei Ming's mother to comfort her grandmother, and even ate and spent the night there.

Seeing her description of the harmonious relationship with Wei Ming's family, Zhu Lin still felt a pang of sadness.

I haven't even visited my parents since I got back to the capital. My first stop was here to find Xiaoxue. I was hoping to have a big get-together with her from the north and south. But look at you, you almost stole my house!

The letter was written by Xiaoxue to Xiaowei, but she never expected that she would suddenly return from the Northeast and intercept such important intelligence.

Now she understood why Aunt Xu had made that call; it was for Xiaoxue, but she didn't know it was actually her own home.

It's okay, I'll pretend I don't know anything about what happened before. I'll just shamelessly go to eat, and I'll get the same treatment as Xiaoxue.

But of course, she had to get dressed up first. It was her first time formally meeting her parents, so she had to take it seriously. Zhu Lin took out Gong Xue's makeup case and started using her face mask.

Zhu Lin had already figured it out, but Xu Shufen was just a little confused, wondering why Xiaoxue's voice sounded a bit off.

You can hardly hear Gong Xue's southern accent normally. Her Mandarin is very standard and her pronunciation is clear, which is why she has been a host several times. But now, why does she sound a bit like a Beijinger?
Xu Shufen didn't take it seriously, assuming that the child had lived in Yanjing for too long and had picked up the smell.

She busied herself preparing the dishes, including fish and meat, and a greedy black cat she had cut up was waiting to eat the scraps.

Now, Xu Shufen also knows how to enjoy life. There is a tape recorder in the kitchen, playing the Hong Kong version of the album "Tomorrow Will Be Better", and she hums the song while working.

Around 5 p.m., Zhu Lin arrived. He was quite early, thinking he could help with some work.

But after knocking for a long time without hearing Yinxing's call, she saw that the door was ajar, so she simply pushed it open and went in.

"Auntie!" Zhu Lin called out, carrying two large bags.

"Coming, coming," Xu Shufen said, wiping the water from her hands. "Why are you here so early? Auntie hasn't even arrived yet..."

Xu Shufen's voice stopped abruptly halfway through her sentence.

She blinked. Why did Gong Xue look so much like Zhu Lin today?

Zhu Lin stepped forward and said, "Auntie, you haven't finished cooking yet, have you? I can help you out. Oh, I also brought you some local specialties from Northeast China. Do you think you can use them?"

Did you come back from Northeast China?

Xu Shufen realized that it wasn't a problem with her eyes, but with the phone itself—a crosstalk, right?
"Xiao Lin, you're here, why bring a gift?" After her initial surprise, Xu Shufen quickly changed her mind. Whether it was Gong Xue or Zhu Lin, they were both her son's good friends.

Xu Shufen looked at the things Zhu Lin had brought with a slightly unnatural expression; after all, she didn't have Lao Wei's acting skills.

"Oh my, these are all good stuff. These mushrooms smell so good," Xu Shufen asked. "You said you came back from Northeast China?"

"Yes, I came back from Changchun. I'm filming a movie at Changchun Film Studio."

Xu Shufen immediately thought of the time her son went missing. When he returned, he brought back a lot of local specialties from Northeast China. Could it be...?

"So, is filming finished?" Xu Shufen asked again.

"No, we've been filming in the studio so far. We'll be shooting some outdoor scenes later, and then we'll be moving to Suzhou to film in a couple of days."

Xu Shufen: "Oh dear, Suzhou, that must be really far away, right? Do we have to take a plane there?"

Zhu Lin: "Then I'll have to ask. If there's an airport over there, I'll take a plane."

"Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou. Suzhou is such a big city, how could it not have an airport?" Xu Shufen smiled and welcomed Zhu Lin inside.

Only then did Xu Shufen have the leisure to carefully examine Zhu Lin. Beautiful, truly beautiful, she possessed a kind of beauty that evoked a sense of peace and prosperity.

Zhu Lin is less than half a year older than Gong Xue, but she looks more mature and poised. It's not that she's old; her skin is quite supple and smooth. Although she's not as fair as Xiao Xue, it's still exceptionally fair. However, when she stands next to her son, she clearly has the air of an older sister.

Zhu Lin felt a little shy being scrutinized like this by the mother of the man she loved.

So as soon as she sat down, she said, "Auntie, let me cook for you. What should we make?"

"Oh, you can just sit and rest. I'm almost finished."

"That won't do. If Xiao Wei finds out, he'll say I'm lazy again," Zhu Lin said with a smile, following behind his aunt. "My cooking skills are so-so, but I'm obedient. I'll do whatever you ask me to do."

Xu Shufen was overjoyed. While other girls her age were struggling with mother-in-law/daughter-in-law relationships, her two daughters were so sensible and well-behaved, and beautiful big stars at that. They were hard to find even with a lantern.

For a moment, I didn't know which one to choose. Oh dear, Xiaolin and I are joking around here, will Xiaoxue know?

Although her son is a scumbag, Xu Shufen doesn't have the mental fortitude of a scumbag mother-in-law at all; she's much more conflicted than her son.

As darkness fell, the sound of a motorcycle could be heard outside.

Zhu Lin immediately recognized Wei Ming's motorcycle and ran out from where she was starting a fire.

Then Wei Jiefang said, "Shufen, I saw a bicycle, is it small...?"

Luckily, Zhu Lin ran fast. Upon seeing her, Old Wei smoothly changed his tune, saying, "...Lin's here?"

"Uncle Wei, it's you! I thought Little Wei had come back."

Wei Jiefang took off the ginkgo necklace: "Haha, he bought a new one, and I'm using this one for commuting."

Are you still at work?

"Yes, I'm at the Beijing Zoo right now." Old Wei chatted with her naturally, as if Zhu Lin was the one he had invited today.

"Oh, Xiao Lin, close the door, don't let the sheriff escape."

"Okay!" Zhu Lin readily agreed.

Just as Zhu Lin was closing the door, Li Chengru happened to be passing by on his bicycle.

To avoid further complications, Zhu Lin pretended not to see and quickly closed the door, but Li Chengru did see it.

Wait a minute! Wasn't that my half-sibling classmate, Bei Zhulin?

But isn't this Teacher Wei Ming's house?

And back then, Teacher Wei was accompanied by Nan Gongxue!

What, what's going on here?

In just a short while, Lao Wei had already run to Xu Shufen's side: "Shufen, what's wrong with you? Can't you tell north from south? Didn't we invite Gong Xue? Why did Zhu Lin come?"

Xu Shufen started plating: "I don't know either, so I'm not going to bother. We'll just entertain whoever comes. Isn't Zhu Lin good enough?"

"Good, very good. This child is very outgoing. Look, he's still playing with Ginkgo outside right now."

Xu Shufen glanced at it and laughed, "We can still have fun together."

Old Wei wisely said, "That means she must have come here often before."

Xu Shufen was taken aback: "That makes sense!"

Because it was quite cool outside, and there were no mosquitoes or flies this season, Lao Wei turned on the yard light, and the three of them ate at the stone table outside.

This feeling is quite nice. It's a novel experience for Zhu Lin, who grew up in a tenement building. She's starting to look forward to the finished look of her three-courtyard house.

However, we have to do it one by one; Gong Xue's system isn't even finished yet.

Although Zhu Lin's arrival was unexpected, Lao Wei and his wife still started chatting as they had rehearsed.

Simply put, it's like "checking household registration."

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin had met more than once, and often at the movie theater, but they didn't know much about the specifics of their family situation.

Zhu Lin had nothing to hide, so she told him about her parents' jobs, their hometown, and that she had a married older sister.

Hearing this, the elderly couple began to whisper among themselves. The father was a professor, and the mother and sister were both doctors, and they were from Beijing. It was perfect, just perfect!

They vaguely knew that Gong Xue's family was all involved in the arts, and that he had many siblings. Moreover, the family lived in Shanghai, which was so far away. In this respect, Zhu Lin had the upper hand.

Zhu Lin's eyes crinkled with laughter as she drank the soup; she could tell that her family background was a big plus for her uncles and aunts.

Xiaoxue, I won't let you have your way anymore.

The meal was very enjoyable, mainly because Zhu Lin didn't ask them how they got his phone number and invited him.

Zhu Lin didn't mention that she was living with Gong Xue.

So the elderly couple still had doubts and couldn't figure out what the situation was between Wei Ming and these two.

"Xiao Lin, why don't you stay here tonight? It's so late, and the neighborhood isn't very safe right now."

“Sure.” Zhu Lin didn’t hesitate like Gong Xue did and agreed immediately.

“Shufen, you can stay with Xiaolin here. I’m going home to sleep,” Old Wei said, still mindful of his image. “I’ll come pick you up tomorrow, and we’ll go see Yunyun.”

Xu Shufen lay down in the side room early on. Today had been a thrilling day for her, and she couldn't sleep for a while.

Zhu Lin was equally excited because her relationship with Xiao Wei had finally taken a huge step forward. Although it was in sync with Gong Xue's, it didn't matter, as long as she didn't fall behind.

Unable to sleep, Zhu Lin simply looked for a book to read in the study. She remembered there was a copy of Playboy there; on a lonely night, a little excitement was welcome.

~
At the same time, the Frankfurt Book Fair came to its final day, and Wei Ming's last live-streaming sales event also came to a successful conclusion.

Deputy Director Liu Gao excitedly shook Wei Ming's hand: "Little Wei, we've set a record! This book fair was a huge success!"

Although there is still a trade deficit, the trip only cost a little over $300,000. Wei Ming deserves great credit for this, as he not only sold his own works well, but also helped various publishing houses sell multiple copyrights.

Impressive achievements!
Wei Ming pointed to the books on the bookshelf and said, "I've seen some foreign publishers sell these exhibition books at low prices to save on shipping costs. Why don't we sell them too?"

“That’s good too, it’s too much trouble to transport them back and forth,” Liu Gao said. “Let the embassy staff and students choose first, as many as they want. We’ll sell the rest at a low price.”

Wei Ming said, "Then let's have a farewell dinner, it's on me today."

Deputy Director Liu interrupted, saying, "Xiao Wei, listen to me this time. Let the organization treat you this time. You've treated us so many times, and we still haven't used up our meal budget."

Other comrades from China also chimed in, "Yes, yes, let the organization foot the bill this time."

They were all feeling a bit embarrassed about eating. Wei Ming sighed, "Alright then, what should we eat tonight?"

Liu Gao said, "How about we make dumplings tonight?"

"Eek!" everyone exclaimed in unison.

Liu Gao laughed and said, "Just kidding. I found out about an Italian restaurant. Let's go eat Italian food."

The crowd immediately cheered.

When Wei Ming saw Gong Biyang passing by their booth, he asked him to take a group photo of them. Their booth was in the background, and everyone was holding several books and looking very energetic.

Wei Ming took the camera: "I'll print a few more photos and send them to everyone later."

Bu Suanzi said, "There's no need to send it to me specially, just give it to my dad."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Alright, I've been seeing Uncle Dachun quite often in the cafeteria lately."

Upon hearing that they were going to sell these books at a low price, Gong Biyang said, "Then just sell them to me. Our Tangren Bookstore also sells simplified Chinese books."

That's good too, it saves us from finding a buyer. We sold nearly 5000 books to Gong Biyang for $500, and he thought it was a great deal.

After leaving the exhibition hall, Deputy Director Liu Gao said to Wei Ming, "Little Wei, why don't you invite your editor, Comrade Melinda, over as well? She's been a great help these past few days; her eloquence is truly excellent."

Ye Junjian laughed and said, "The coordination was seamless."

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Director Liu and Elder Ye, she also has an appointment and can't come, but I will convey your and the organization's gratitude."

~
Melinda is having dinner with her mother Charlotte right now. The two of them rarely see each other in England, but they have spent several days together because of this book fair.

But once Melinda returns to her home country, she will have to start living alone again, like an orphan.

Charlotte looked at the absent-minded Melinda and said, "Still thinking about your ex-boyfriend? Don't you two always spend a long time together every night? I could hear you from upstairs."

Melinda snapped out of her daze: "Our position doesn't allow us to touch the ceiling, so how did you hear me?"

Charlotte retorted, "If you gag me while you're doing it, I won't hear you."

Melinda snorted and changed the subject: "I'm not thinking about him, I'm thinking about my career."

In recent days, she has gathered a lot of information about small publishing companies and has begun to build the prototype of a publishing network covering Europe and America. The key is to control the markets of major book-producing countries such as the UK, the US, France, and Germany, which is very important for profitability.

Charlotte shook her head: "We're parting ways tomorrow, so I don't want to talk about work tonight. Let's talk about life. Your grandmother and I aren't good role models, so it seems you're going to follow in our footsteps."

It was rare to see such tender affection in her mother's eyes. Melinda pretended to be nonchalant and said, "It's good this way. Starting a family and raising children sounds exhausting."

“But you can’t go on alone forever. At least your grandmother gave birth to me, and at least I still have you.”

So what's your suggestion?

Charlotte laughed and said, "My suggestion is to hell with safety, why not try a dangerous and exciting game, and let the Gaskell name live on."

Melinda: "Does this sound like something a real mother would say?"

"These are my heartfelt words."

Melinda: "I'm still young, and my career hasn't even started yet. I don't want to be distracted."

"I can help you take care of your child."

"Don't give me that. You can even kill a turtle. I should thank Grandma, otherwise I would have..."

"How about we have your maternal grandmother raise the baby?" Charlotte boldly suggested.

That's really bold. Melinda was both amused and exasperated: "Grandma is almost eighty years old. Ms. Charlotte Gaskell, please have some decency."

The mother and daughter's last dinner in Germany did not go very well.

However, after returning to the hotel, Melinda started counting down the days, and finally sighed, "It's pointless whether I wear it or not."

Literally.

About an hour later, Wei Ming returned from outside. He had a few drinks and mainly ate the Italian trio of pasta, pizza, and seafood risotto.

Upon entering, he first checked his bags: "Are all the books I asked for here?"

"Okay, give me the money back later, okay? It cost me five hundred."

"Are you trying to extort money from me? Gong Biyang only spent $500 to buy all the books from the Chinese delegation."

“I paid with marks, and there were three big bags full of them. I was worried you wouldn’t be able to carry them.”

That's not cheap either. Foreign books are indeed priced much higher than domestic ones. This is also Wei Ming's secret to making money quickly. After Frankfurt, DreamWorks' cash reserves should reach $150 million or even more.

Wei Ming smiled and lifted the three large bags. He could carry them, but it was a bit of a struggle.

Seeing Wei Ming's muscular physique taut across his coat, Melinda lifted her nightgown and said, "Leonardo, come here for a second."

Wei Ming, however, remained hunched over his desk, saying, "Wait a minute, I have something to do."

"Writing isn't something that can be rushed; you're not doing a serialized work."

"That won't work, the manuscript is due tomorrow."

"Submit the manuscript? To whom?"

"You."

Wei Ming stopped talking and focused on the words he was writing.

Around 11 o'clock, Wei Ming put down his pen and pounced on Melinda: "My business is finished, now it's your turn."

Melinda dodged the question with amusement, saying, "That's not what I meant. I wanted to report on our achievements."

Wei Ming reached out with his large hand: "Let's do it and talk!"

Then Melinda stammered her report: "The best performing book is definitely 'The Lion King.' I believe it will break ten million in sales in a few years. I'm talking about actual sales."

Wei Ming was still silently chanting in his mind: One hundred million! One hundred million!

Melinda: "It will definitely have a place in the list of classic children's literature in the future. It is really not easy to create a classic fairy tale in this era. I will help it get some awards, such as the Hans Christian Andersen Award."

Wei Ming knew about this award; it was considered the Nobel Prize of Literature in the field of children's literature. Cao Wenxuan, a professor at Peking University, later became the first person in China to receive it, which made him incredibly proud.

"Jurassic Park performed very well, and we may have to reprint it when we get back. This time it's the novel version, but in a couple of years when the hype has died down, we can make a picture book version to keep the hype going."

Melinda will probably not even be at Macmillan anymore in two years.

"And then there's 'Jumanji.' Last year, the company brought the book to Frankfurt, but unfortunately it didn't generate much buzz. However, this year we've sold several major licenses, and the English version is also going to be reprinted. Do you know why?"

Wei Ming asked, enunciating each word clearly: "Why..."

Melinda: "Because today's Mr. Why is not the Mr. Why of last year. Fame is really important in our industry. Some writers can receive millions in royalties in advance without even writing a single word because of their fame."

Wei Ming understood that if it weren't for Mr. Why's current international fame, it would probably take until a film company made a movie about "Jumanji" before the book could regain its popularity.

Otherwise, they will end up like most excellent but not masterpiece children's books, disappearing after a year or two.

The two, a man and a woman who had just finished strenuous physical activity, lay flat on their backs for a while before Wei Ming took what he had written from the table.

"Here, this is my manuscript. I'd like to trouble you to submit it for me."

Melinda's eyes widened when she took it.

"An English manuscript?!"

"Well, this is my first time writing in English. It's just a short article, about 1500 words. Please give me your feedback, Teacher Mei."

The title of this article is "Glorious Years—Remembering a Fighter's Sixty Years!"

"The title is fine, it's quite good." Melinda continued reading.

"After all, I audited so many English classes at Peking University and even received one-on-one tutoring from you."

This article is about Mandela, written by Wei Ming based on what he saw and heard at the African Pavilion.

As Melinda said, fame is very important in the literary world; it can be directly converted into money.

Mandela was destined to become a world-class political star. Wei Ming didn't have that innate talent, but he could become the first internationally renowned writer to introduce Mandela to the world.

This article isn't without its problems either; Melinda circled them on Wei Ming's pen: "You actually used English allusions here."

Wei Ming smugly replied, "No need to praise me."

"Who praised you? This allusion is outdated. Using it in your writing now would make you a laughing stock, like telling an old joke. It should be changed like this."

Wei Ming said helplessly, "The original English books in Peking University Library are all antiques, so I bought so many new books."

He pointed to the two packages, which were his own tasks after returning to China, and then he started practicing English writing, beginning with short articles.

Melinda then understood his good intentions. Our Mr. Why is really ambitious.

"So you plan to skip translation and create directly in English in the future?"

“I’ve had that idea, but you’ll be very busy in the future and definitely won’t have time to help me with the translations, and your translation skills are also…” Wei Ming smiled, “so I’ll just earn the money myself.”

Of course, awards must also be considered.

However, they were still far from meeting the standards for judging awards. Melinda pointed out several more flaws, which the two corrected on the spot.

After calculating, Wei Ming made more than 30 mistakes in the 1500-word article, including spelling errors and tense errors. Some of these mistakes made Melinda laugh so hard she slapped her butt.

“Of course you’ve done very well,” Melinda said encouragingly at the end. “Even native English speakers will have their work criticized when they submit it, and most likely it won’t be as good as what you’ve written.”

"So where are you planning to submit my application?" Wei Ming asked.

Melinda smiled slightly: "If we're going to vote, let's vote for the one with the biggest influence, The Times!"

……

(Guaranteed minimum today!)

(End of this chapter)