Exciting 1979!

Chapter 394 They've met each other's parents; the wedding date is set.
However, Raymond Chow wasn't without options. He could find fault with Wei Ming's manuscript and lower the requirements.

By then, he'll have already written it, and it's even tailor-made for Jackie Chan. He'll have no choice but to sell it.

On this day, something far-reaching happened in the Hong Kong film industry: Film Biweekly announced that it would establish and present a prestigious film award this year aimed at encouraging Hong Kong films and filmmakers—the Hong Kong Film Awards.

But nobody paid them any attention at this point. Isn't box office success all that matters for a movie? Awards? Can awards put food on the table?
At least not now.

Although there were few responses, Shu Qi and others are still actively preparing, and the award ceremony is tentatively scheduled for March.

~
On January 21, the festive atmosphere in Hong Kong grew stronger. Three major new films were released at the same time, among which the most anticipated was Golden Harvest's "Dragon Lord," starring Jackie Chan, another period kung fu movie set in the Republican era.

Then came Shaw Brothers' "The Eighteen Kung Fu Masters," directed and starring Lau Kar-leung, with other actors including Fu Sheng, Kara Hui, and Lau Kar-fai.

Finally, there's "Shaolin Temple," produced by the newly established Chung Yuen Film Company, a group of left-wing companies. Director Zhang Xinyan was quite well-known in Hong Kong, having adapted Liang Yusheng's representative works such as "The Jade Bow and the Cloud Sea" and "The Legend of the White-Haired Witch" for the screen.

As for the lead actors Li Lianjie, Yu Hai, Ding Lan, and Yu Chenghui, who are they? I've never even heard of them.

But they would soon hear about it.

Meanwhile, Cinema City's "Aces Go Places," which had taken the lead in the Lunar New Year film season, officially announced that its box office had surpassed 1000 million!
"Ten million? That's amazing! I definitely have to go see it after I finish watching 'Shaolin Temple,' it's so good." Old Wei was currently dragging Xu Shufen to see "Shaolin Temple," which was directed by Biaozi's junior brother. They had heard about it before and definitely had to come and support it.

Moreover, this is the flagship cinema of the Shuangnan Cinema Circuit, and I heard that the lead actors will also come to perform before the screening.

Sure enough, Li Lianjie appeared before the movie started. His appearance immediately won the audience's favor. Then he performed a set of Shaolin boxing that was both elegant and powerful, winning rounds of applause from the audience.

After Li Lianjie stepped down, the movie officially began. A young monk next to him asked, "Brother Li, do you think Hong Kong people will like our movies?"

"Master Yongxin, we put a lot of effort into this film, I'm sure everyone will like it. Okay, let's go back to the hotel."

To promote this major film personally orchestrated by Liao Gong, the mainland authorities adopted two approaches: one diplomatic and one military.

The martial arts figure is Li Lianjie, and the literary figure is Abbot Xingzheng of Shaolin Temple. He is responsible for exchanging ideas with the Buddhist community in Hong Kong. The 17-year-old boy next to Li Lianjie is Abbot Xingzheng's chubby disciple.

As Li Lianjie returned to the hotel with his comrades from the mainland, he rested his chin on his hand and looked out the window. He wished he could run into Sister Xiaoli again, and wondered how she was doing.

The film "Shaolin Temple" did not disappoint Lao Wei and Xu Shufen. Like "Heroes Since Ancient Times", it selected a lot of beautiful mountains, rivers and scenery in mainland China, which greatly satisfied the curiosity of Hong Kong people about the mainland.

Secondly, the fighting was also exciting. Although it wasn't as brutal as "Heroes Since Ancient Times", it was more entertaining to watch.

Most importantly, the male lead isn't a child, but a handsome young man; Li Lianjie's appearance is just too endearing.

Even after leaving the movie theater, Lao Wei was still excitedly discussing with Xu Shufen the stories about Shaolin monks that he had read in comic books.

This to some extent lessened their longing for their hometown and children.

They had no choice but to spend the New Year in Hong Kong. Compared to other zookeepers, they were lucky, at least they still had relatives like Lao Gui and Lingling, as well as friends like Zhou Ma, Liu Bin, Teacher Yang, and Along.

Oh, wait, Liu Bin and his family have gone back to the mainland, and we don't know when they'll be back.

While Wei Ming was still writing in the old house, he received a phone call from Gong Xue, who lived near her home.

"Good news, good news!"

"What's wrong? You're pregnant?"

"Get lost! It's Ah Ying! Ah Ying and the others are back from Hong Kong!"

At this moment, the Liu family of three is visiting the Gong family. Meanwhile, the Liu family has also booked a private room at the Peace Hotel to host a banquet for the Gong family to discuss the wedding date. Gong's mother asked Gong Xue to call her eldest sister and brother-in-law's family, and she thought of Wei Ming.

Wei Ming chuckled: "Why don't we just meet the second and third daughters together?"

"What do you mean?"

Wei Ming: "For a millionaire like me, going to the Peace Hotel for a meal shouldn't be a problem, right?"

After a moment of silence, Gong Xue said, "Then, go ahead. Eat more and talk less."

"okay!"

Gong Xue: "Leave a note for Sister Lin. It's not good to keep this from her."

"I know."

Gong Xue: "Then you should go now. We don't plan to stay at home any longer. The place is too small, and there's hardly any room to stand."

After hanging up the phone, Gong Xue turned around and saw Gong Ying walking towards her.

"Second sister, let's go to the alley entrance and take a taxi there. They'll be down soon."

"Mmm." Gong Xue couldn't get enough of looking at her younger sister. "You've changed so much. You look so good in this outfit."

Gong Ying laughed and said, "It's not like I didn't send you fashion from Hong Kong. If you wear it, what chance do I have?"

"Now when I go out, I just hope that no one can see me. I dare not dress too eye-catchingly."

“I know, I know, you’re a big star now. If you were in Hong Kong, you would be…” Gong Ying thought for a long time but couldn’t think of a female star in the Hong Kong film industry who could rival her second sister. The Hong Kong film industry is completely a man’s world.

"What is it?"

"It's Zhao Yazhi. You might not know 'The Beach,' but it was very popular in Hong Kong." After thinking for a while, she finally thought of Zhao Yazhi.

"Yes, I know. I've even seen it."

"what?"

“The videotape that Ah Ming brought back from Hong Kong, Feng Chengcheng is indeed very beautiful.”

Gong Ying lowered her voice: "Second sister, tell me, Wei Ming didn't do anything wrong to you, did he?"

Gong Xue's heart skipped a beat. Did she know about Sister Lin's affair?
No, why do you ask that?

"It's nothing. He's just too popular in Hong Kong. He's a great writer, a great musician, and very rich. Even pandas were introduced to Hong Kong because of him."

Gong Xue smiled and said, "What's the use of Hong Kong people liking him? His roots are in mainland China."

As they spoke, the two reached the entrance of the alley, and the neighbors looked at the two sisters with envy in their eyes.

Originally, I thought it was already amazing that Gong Xue became a big star, but I didn't expect that the third daughter of the Gong family would be even more amazing. She actually married into a wealthy family in Hong Kong, and I heard that he was the simple-minded son of a wealthy family. She's set for life now, and the entire Gong family will never have to worry about anything again.

Ah Long: Damn it, I think I heard someone chirping at me.

~
Wei Ming acted quickly. When he arrived, neither of the two families had arrived yet, so he wandered around the lobby. Fortunately, he was a celebrity and a regular customer, so no one rushed him.

Finally, Wei Ming was strolling around when he saw a group of people come in. He quickly found a table, sat down, picked up the menu, and pretended to order.

Then we heard Ah Long's delighted voice: "Ah Ming!"

He jogged over directly.

Gong Xue also feigned surprise, but it couldn't fool Gong Ying at all; they must have conspired together!
Immediately afterwards, Liu Bin and Teacher Yang also went over to greet Wei Ming, and they really thought it was a chance encounter.

After chatting with the Liu family for a while, Wei Ming went over to greet them again: "Sister Xue, Aying, Uncle and Auntie, hello."

Gong Yuandong and Zhuang Che nodded. They knew that Wei Ming had worked with his second daughter many times and had a close relationship. They usually addressed each other as brother and sister. But my Aying is older than you, so why don't you call her sister anymore?

Ah Long then suggested, "Uncle and Auntie, why don't you let Ah Ming come with us? We all know each other anyway."

Gong Xue's elder brother, Gong Xu, said, "I don't know him yet."

He excitedly grasped Wei Ming's hand, expressing his deep respect for Teacher Wei. Then came his wife, and finally his son. The whole family were fans of Wei Ming's books, and because of Gong Xue's relationship with Wei Ming, Wei Ming had even written many autographs for them.

Liu Bin and his group stayed directly at the Peace Hotel; with their income, staying there was no problem at all.

The table in the private room was large enough to seat twenty people. After everyone was seated, they chatted while waiting for the eldest sister's family.

Wei Ming had met Gong Xue's mother, Zhuang Che, before, but this was the first time he had met his father and older brother's family.

Besides paying attention to their third son-in-law, Ah Long, they are also very curious about Wei Ming. The biggest news about Wei Ming recently is his nomination for the American Music Awards, and they are quite interested in whether he will go to the United States.

"I should go if I have time. I've always felt that traveling ten thousand miles is worse than reading ten thousand books. I've read enough books, and now it's time to travel the world."

Gong Ying smiled and exchanged a glance with her second sister. "You just said that your roots are in the mainland, and now you're going to travel the world. Be careful you can't keep an eye on things in the future."

Gong Xue's attention was focused on Wei Ming's conversation with his family. Although this was A Ying's in-laws meeting, she also treated it as her first time introducing her boyfriend to her parents.

About an hour later, the eldest sister, Gong Chen, and her family also arrived. In that hour, Liu Bin had already explained his business in Hong Kong. To put it simply, he was the third shareholder of a well-known fast-food chain.

His son, Aaron, is the head of a comic book publishing company and its second-largest shareholder.

This whole family is full of talented people!
It's just that all the big bosses have the surname Wei.

After introducing themselves, the older woman said, "Guess who I ran into down there?"

"Who?"

The older sister said, "That Bei Zhulin, he must be here to eat. His family is quite well-off."

Gong's mother said solemnly, "That's Xiaoxue's good friend."

Then Gong Xue looked at Wei Ming, and then at Gong Ying.

The only main characters at this dinner were Gong Ying and A Long.

Gong Ying said, "Then please invite him over. I'm also very curious about this big star who's on par with my second sister."

Gong Xue immediately stood up: "I'll go call her."

At this moment, Zhu Lin was taking out an insulated lunchbox from his cloth bag.

She knew Wei Ming liked the stewed beef here, and she thought that besides pretending to run into an acquaintance and having a meal together, she could also pack some to take home. After all, Wei Ming was leaving tomorrow, and she wanted to have a good meal for his last time.

I had just ordered the food and was waiting when I saw Gong Xue.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Are you two on a date?" Zhu Lin asked in a low voice.

"Don't you know we're here?"

"I don't know, I'm here to order food to take home."

Gong Xue asked, "Have you already ordered?"

"Clicked."

"Let's tell the waiter to bring it upstairs. Our family is eating here today."

Zhu Lin: "A family dinner? Is that appropriate?"

"He's here too."

Zhu Lin was shocked: "You've all come this far?!"

Gong Xue: "It's my sister and A Long's engagement party. You two are practically friends among relatives, so you're just freeloading."

"Huh?" This table is indeed a bit chaotic. The third daughter is getting engaged, and not only has the second daughter's boyfriend come, but also the second daughter's boyfriend's girlfriend.

The third daughter only knows her second sister's boyfriend, but the third daughter's husband knows the second sister's boyfriend's girlfriend.

Seeing his two sisters-in-law come in together, he remained calm on the surface, but he was already terrified. Meanwhile, his brother Ming was able to laugh out loud and even led the applause to welcome Comrade Zhu Lin's arrival.

It's true that a scumbag needs a strong heart!

Zhu Lin sat next to Gong Xue and first offered his blessings to the newlyweds: "I've known A Long for a long time, but this is the first time I've met A Ying. They are a perfect match, a match made in heaven."

After they finished exchanging pleasantries, Wei Ming handed the menu to Gong Xue's parents and Uncle Liu and Teacher Yang, letting them order. The engagement banquet officially began.

The main topic of today's meal is to finalize the couple's marriage arrangements.

Because they couldn't do without Uncle Liu and Ah Long in Hong Kong, they were thinking of holding a wedding in Shanghai as soon as possible to invite Ah Long's maternal grandfather and important relatives from their hometown in Foshan. Once the date was set, they would contact them as soon as possible.

As for the marriage certificate, it needs to be obtained in Hong Kong, because Ah Long is too old to get one in mainland China.

Upon hearing that men in Hong Kong don't need to be 22 to get married, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin exchanged a knowing smile, thinking, "Why didn't you say so earlier?"

The Gong family didn't really want to marry their child off so hastily, but the son-in-law and his family were indeed busy, and time was of the essence.

Finally, the wedding date was set for the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, about ten days later, at the Peace Hotel.

The fact that the wedding could be held at the Peace Hotel left the Gong family speechless; it was a great honor, and everyone would look up to the Gong family.

Because they ordered all the main dishes and opened two bottles of Maotai and two bottles of Wuzi, the meal cost more than 500 yuan, and everyone enjoyed themselves.

Gong Xue went home with her family and will sleep with her younger sister tonight.

Wei Ming hinted to Zhu Lin to wait for him, as he had something to say to A Long.

“I know what you’re going to say. This year, we published a special Spring Festival issue for the second time, which sold 16 copies and was very successful. Wong Yuk-long has completed the integration of its newspapers and magazines and is preparing to launch the bi-monthly magazine ‘Yuk-long Comics’ during the Spring Festival to compete with us.”

"So when do you plan to team up with him to publish the single volume?"

How about after the New Year?

“Sure, once you’ve made money, you need to accelerate the training of new talent, otherwise it will be difficult for the people under you to transition to weekly comics,” Wei Ming said. “Also, how’s Niu Lao’s Transformers drawing going?”

"I was originally planning to meet you when I went to Yanjing, but I'll just give it to you now. Wait a moment." Ah Long rummaged through his bag and took it out.

"Hmm, it's much better than I expected." Wei Ming nodded, without displaying the style of a gangster.

"After all, he has your character illustrations, and I also found a lot of Japanese mecha manga for him to refer to. He thinks it's quite challenging and is very excited now."

"Alright, let's release it at an opportune time. I've already finalized the animation production with Shanghai Animation Film Studio. We'll just follow his comic. Are you still going back to your hometown of Ping'an?"

"Yes, I'm going back. I'm planning to take the train back the day after tomorrow, and after the New Year, I'll bring my grandfather to Shanghai."

"Hey, what a coincidence, I'm going back to Yanjing tomorrow, and then I'm going back to my hometown with Xiaohong the day after tomorrow."

"Haha, then see you in our hometown, and then we can come to Shanghai together for the wedding."

"Okay, I'll give you a big red envelope later."

Then Ah Long went downstairs and had the Peace Hotel's car take Wei Ming and Zhu Lin away. Neither of them said a word in the car.

Upon arriving at their destination, Zhu Lin removed his mask: "I was suffocating! It's so much more convenient to have my own car."

Wei Ming cupped Zhu Lin's face in his hands: "Was dinner exciting today?"

Zhu Lin laughed and said, "It's nothing special, not as good as Ludo."

Wei Ming pinched her waist: "How about we play another round?"

"Okay, consider this a farewell gift."

The two immediately went upstairs to bed.

Wei Ming and Zhu Lin played until late at night, and Gong Xue and Gong Ying also talked until the early hours of the morning.

Gong Ying told Gong Xue many details about Hong Kong's prosperity: "What I wrote in my letter is less than a tenth of what it is. Second sister, you really should let Wei Ming have a chance to take you to see Hong Kong."

"Hmm, maybe there's a chance."

She was still thinking about Wei Ming; she had to film tomorrow and wouldn't be able to see him off.

Zhu Lin also had to film a movie, so Wei Ming left alone.

We flew to Yanjing at noon, took a pedicab into the city, bought tickets, and then went home to pack with Xiaohong, preparing to go back to our hometown for the Chinese New Year tomorrow.

Today, not only can Old Wei and his wife not go back, but Uncle Ping'an and the others have also been invited to Northeast China to spend the New Year by Aunt Xiaoyan's commander father.

Xiao Hong: "Brother, I feel like Chinese New Year is so boring today."

Wei Ming: "After we go home for the New Year, I'll take you to Shanghai to attend your brother A Long's wedding, which will be held at the Peace Hotel."

"Oh, really? That's great!" She immediately found it interesting.

This day also marked the inaugural TVB Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards ceremony.

Vivian Chow hesitated for a long time before deciding not to participate. This time it was broadcast live on television, and she seemed not ready to become a big star, so she declined the invitation from TVB.

If either I or Amin wins the award, Alan will have to accept it on our behalf.

That day at Lao Gui's house, he and his wife, Lao Wei and his wife, Zhou's mother and daughter, Wei Lingling and her little maid Lizhi, a total of eight people watched the program together. The more people, the more lively it was.

Amin would glance at Lizhi warily from time to time, and Lizhi would occasionally show a defiant look at Amin.

But all of this is subtle, existing beneath the surface.

The hosts of the Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Songs Awards were TVB's two veteran MCs, Ho Sau-shun and Lydia Shum. The MC lineup alone was more impressive than the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards. The two witty remarks frequently amused the viewers.

This was also the first time that Hong Kong citizens had watched a music awards ceremony on television, and it felt very novel. The audience was packed with big singers!

However, most people watch this show to see how many awards Wei Ming's works can win, and whether their favorite songs and singers can win awards.

Before the official awards ceremony, Lydia Shum first explained the award categories.

"In addition to selecting the ten most popular songs of the year, this award will also select one most popular male singer and one most popular female singer."

This setup feels novel to everyone, awarding the prize directly to the singer. Winning the award must be incredibly exciting, and many fans of singers are wishing that their idols could win it.

He Shouxin said: "Actually, the judges selected a total of 11 good songs, ten of which were the top ten hit songs, and the other one was unanimously considered the best of the year, which we call the Gold Award for Hit Songs!"

Lin Ni said, "This is the highest honor. I bet it belongs to Xiao Ming. Who dares to bet with me?"

Nobody paid any attention to her, but her daughter chimed in: "I bet 100 yuan it's not him, let's see if we can pull off an upset."

Old Ghost said, "How about we bet on how many of Ah Ming's songs are in the Top Ten Hits?"

He pulled out a hundred-dollar bill: "I'll go first, five songs."

Old Wei quickly added a card: "My son is so good, I guess six."

Xu Shufen decided to give it a try: "Then I'll sing four songs, to be on the safe side."

Zhou Ma: "Three songs are about right."

Zhou Huimin disagreed: "I think there are five songs."

Lizhi: "Amin, you have so little confidence in Amin? I think he can do six songs."

Wei Lingling: "Four poems."

Finally, everyone looked at Lin Ni.

Lin Ni counted on her fingers: "We already have 3, 4, 5, and 6, so I'll take a big gamble and go for 7 songs!"

Lin Ni and her daughter each took out two hundred-yuan bills, one betting on the Top Ten Hits and the other betting on the Hits Gold Award.

The first one was announced while they were speaking.

"Nothing ventured, nothing won," please welcome Zhang Mingmin.

Zhang Mingmin confidently took the stage. After this song was performed, he became a household name in Hong Kong, especially among the Fujianese businessmen who treated him as an honored guest. The annual meeting performances were endless, and the song was indeed suitable for motivating employees and giving them a boost of enthusiasm.

After he went on stage to accept the award and thanked Wei Ming, he immediately started singing, and Lao Gui and the others were able to sing along.

Amin excitedly counted, "One song already!"

Then Lizhi said, "I thought you would be the first to win an award."

Seeing that Lizhi was actually being friendly to her, Amin was quite surprised, and then sincerely said, "Thank you."

Lizhi: That's not what I meant. I heard that the award is given out in reverse order of ranking, so even if you win the award, you should be last.

She was afraid that Vivian Chow would rank very high in the awards.

The second winner was Zhang Guorong. Although his mentor, Lai Siu-tin, had already hinted at it to him, Zhang Guorong still showed an expression of great joy.

The song "Melinda" propelled him from an unknown figure in the music scene to a Hong Kong pop idol, with his fan base rivaling that of Tam Yung-lun and Danny Chan.

Two weeks ago, he was not selected for the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, and countless middle school students felt sorry for him. This time, the preliminary evaluation of the Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Songs required fans to write letters to calculate popularity, and many fans voted to include themselves.

When Leslie Cheung sang "Melinda" with great enthusiasm, Amin said with mixed feelings, "That's two songs now."

Lydia Shum: "The next award winner is 'I Just Like You,' with lyrics and music by Wei Ming, and sung by Danny Chan!"

Zhou Huimin glanced at her mother: "Three songs then."

Lin Ni patted her best friend on the shoulder: "Looks like three songs definitely won't be enough to stop them."

Aunt Zhou said defiantly, "It's only a hundred yuan. I earn more than a hundred yuan an hour now. You can win."

Surprisingly, the fourth song was also by Wei Ming.

"Friends," lyrics and music by Wei Ming, written by Tan Yonglin!

After taking the stage, Tam Yung-lun immediately thanked his friend Ah Ming and joked, "I am the first person to have both the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs and the Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Songs at the same time. I feel so happy."

After the performance, Lydia Shum announced, "The next winner is 'It Seems Like an Old Friend'!"

Vivian Chow excitedly stood up: "Five songs!"

……

(Today's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)