Exciting 1979!

Chapter 395 Hong Kong Business Investment (Seeking Monthly Tickets!)
"It Seems Like an Old Friend Has Come" is sung by Jenny Tseng, with lyrics and music by Wei Ming.
After five songs, Hui Suk-fan and Wai Ling-ling were eliminated. However, Ah-min felt that she and Ghost Uncle were likely to lose as well. TVB seemed to be planning to make a big splash. Five songs were not enough!
Moreover, these five songs are currently hidden gems among the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, which is clearly a move to go against RTHK (Radio Television Hong Kong).

After Jenny Tseng finished her performance and left the stage, the emcee, Ho Sau-shun, joked with Lydia Shum, "Is today going to be an appreciation of Wei Ming's works?"

Lydia Shum: "Actually, I like all of his songs except for Ah Lek's. There are more than a dozen of them. If ten of them are selected, the others who didn't win will be embarrassed."

The camera focused on George Lam, Susanna Kwan, Michael Kwan, Liza Wang, and others, as well as Chan Pak-cheung, who had an innocent expression on his face.

With the announcement of the sixth winning song, Vivian Chow and Lao Gui were also eliminated.

"A Real Man," sung by George Lam, lyrics and music by Wei Ming!

"Six songs already!" Ah Min was even more excited. From now on, she would wholeheartedly support TVB and the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs. Although it seemed that her song had no chance, she was in a better mood.

However, people like Wei Lingling and Lao Gui, who are deep thinkers, considered things more carefully. They wondered if this situation was a bit of a case of praising A-Ming to death.
There are already six songs. If all ten of them are hits, will the Hong Kong music scene still be able to accommodate Ah Ming?
Old Ghost thinks that Mrs. Shaw is a shrewd and experienced woman, and probably wouldn't do anything that would damage the authority of the Top Ten Hits.

Lin Ni guessed seven, while Lao Wei and Li Zhi guessed six.

Grandma Ni started to worry: what if everyone guessed wrong and all their bets were for nothing?

Fortunately, the seventh winner was Roman Tam's "Red Cotton," composed by Chung Chiu-fung and with lyrics by Cheng Kwok-kong.

This song won the weekly champion on RTHK's music chart and is also one of Roman Tam's most important representative works.

Seeing this result, Lao Gui and Wei Lingling breathed a sigh of relief. Although A Ming was now the most outstanding among the trees, at least he didn't block out the sky and cover up all the other trees.

The eighth song is "Impression," written and performed by Sam Hui.

Moreover, this song recently won one of the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, making it the first song to win two awards at the same time, which also demonstrates the prestige of Sam Hui, the first generation of Cantonese music god.

When Sam Hui took the stage, the audience applauded enthusiastically, partly in recognition of his acting career.

"Aces Go Places" is incredibly popular, exceeding everyone's expectations.

Who would have thought that "Aces Go Places," which had already grossed 1000 million HKD before the three new films from Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and the Leftist, would still be the hottest movie on the market, surpassing the three new films in daily box office revenue.

At that moment, Cheng Long was watching TVB at home. When he saw Sam Hui, Lin Fengjiao, who was feeding him grapes, noticed that he suddenly stopped opening his mouth.

He didn't have any issues with Sam Hui, it's just that he felt he had completely failed in this Lunar New Year film season.

It's one thing that it couldn't beat the Hong Kong version of 007 starring Sam Hui and Karl Maka, but now the momentum of "Dragon Lord" has even been overshadowed by the mainland film "Shaolin Temple," with media outlets everywhere discussing that guy named "Li Lianjie."

Following Sam Hui, the ninth winning work was "The Season of the Wind," a classic by Paula Tsui, with music by Li Yasang and lyrics by Tang Zhengchuan.

That line, "A cool breeze gently blew and quietly slipped into my clothes." Summer stole away, unnoticed.

While Wei Ming's "Against the Current" for Xu Xiaofeng is also a classic, both songs are worthy of winning awards, and many people even feel that both songs are fully qualified to be included in the top ten of the year.

So, will the last song be "Against the Current"?

the answer is negative.

But this is also a song in which Wei Ming participated.

"Finally, let's give a warm round of applause to Ye Zhentang and his 'The Great Wall Will Never Fall,' composed by Li Xiaotian and with lyrics by Wei Ming. Congratulations!"

This result surprised many people. "The Great Wall Will Never Fall" is definitely a good song, and it also won one of the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs, making it the second song to win both awards at the same time.

However, this was the theme song for the hit TVB drama "The Legendary Fok" on RTV last year, which completely overwhelmed TVB at the time.

It's truly unexpected that Mr. Shao would willingly place this song at number one.

It's actually normal. The idea for the Top Ten Hits was Wei Ming's, and now that he's recruited Li Xiaotian, it's not a big deal to take care of their collaborative work. On the contrary, it can enhance the authority of the Top Ten Hits.

"Seven songs, it's seven songs!" Lin Ni was even more excited than Zhou Huimin, because she had won!
She pocketed all eight hundred-yuan bills.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong audiences were debating which award result, the Top Ten Jade Solid Gold Songs Award or the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Award, they found more convincing.

“I think it’s unreasonable for TVB to have chosen so many songs written by Wei Ming.”

"But I've obviously listened to more of the songs selected from the Top Ten Hits list. We can't deliberately suppress someone just because so many good songs were written by the same person!"

“I agree. Even if all ten songs were written by Wei Ming, I would still be fine with it. I listen to the songs and the singers, not whether the songwriters are one person or several people.”

"I still think it's unreasonable that he has seven out of ten songs. Did Joseph Koo and James Wong not write a single good song that resonated with people last year? How come none of them were selected!"

“I saw Wong Jim and Joseph Koo sitting in a row, and they didn’t seem to have any complaints.”

"You guys don't know this, do you? Both of them are judges for the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards. Maybe they didn't choose their own works to avoid suspicion."

"I think they want to put Wei Ming in a very difficult position."

"Don't think of people in such a dark way. If we follow your logic, wouldn't it be better to just choose ten of his songs?"

"Alright, stop arguing, there are still awards to be given out!"

Many similar discussions have taken place in families of all sizes in Hong Kong.

Next up is the award for Most Popular Male and Female Singer, which is what distinguishes this award from the Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs Awards. The latter awards are given to a lyricist, a composer, and the top prize is given to one person.

This section awards one male singer and one female singer, with the highest prize being a song.

Ultimately, without any surprise, the Most Popular Female Singer award went to Paula Tsui.

Her songs "The Season of the Wind" and "Against the Current" in 81 were both top-tier masterpieces of the year, classics that will be passed down through generations. Her personal influence in the Chinese entertainment industry is also among the top three female singers.

There was some controversy surrounding the most popular male singer, but not much.

The winner is Rowan.

Many people think it should be Sam Hui, the "God of Songs," but even Sam Hui wouldn't dare say he'd definitely beat Roman Tam.

As an idol, Sam Hui is definitely stronger than Roman Tam, but Roman Tam is older and has masterpieces like "Under the Lion Rock" that represent the spirit of Hong Kong, whose influence has lasted from the Mandarin song era to the Cantonese song era.

Once the influence of the Top Ten Hits Awards increases, the winners of these two awards will be dubbed "King" and "Queen".

In the end, there was only one award left: the Jade Solid Gold Best Ten Music Award.

Zhou Huimin stared intently at the television screen, silently reciting the names of Wei Ming's works, such as "Pearl of the Orient," "Tomorrow Will Be Better," "Against the Current," and "First Love."

The winner of this award is: "Congratulations to 'Tomorrow Will Be Better,' congratulations to all the singers who performed this song, and congratulations to Amin who wrote this song!"

Tam Yung-lun looked left and right. This song had more than one singer. Theoretically, it would be most appropriate for the lyricist and composer to go on stage, that is, to accept the award on his behalf. However, he felt it would be better to call everyone up to accept the award. So he pulled up Anthony Chan and Kenny Bee next to him, and then pulled up Danny Chan and Leslie Cheung. In the end, more than a dozen people crowded onto the stage.

Zhou Huimin nodded in satisfaction: "It's perfect."

Linni then took the last hundred yuan from her daughter: "I'm satisfied now!"

Finally, the program included some content explaining the judging rules.

The emcee also admitted that due to time constraints, the selection of songs based on popularity was mainly based on votes from fan letters, and there were bound to be omissions and shortcomings.

"Therefore, in 1982, TVB established a program called Jade Solid Gold, which had a weekly chart competition. The program would comprehensively consider multiple dimensions such as song sales, radio airplay, and public popularity, ensuring that no good song was overlooked and that a song was not excluded simply because it had not topped any charts."

This statement is clearly a diss of the "Top Ten Chinese Gold Songs" next door. It is indeed a great pity that Wei Ming's many classic works were not selected because they never reached the top of the weekly chart.

Normally, this set of rules works perfectly fine. Under normal circumstances, a good song will most likely win the weekly championship. If it doesn't, it means it's not good enough. But who would have thought that someone would release more than a dozen amazing songs at once?

Regardless of how many topics the two award ceremonies generate, Wei Ming will definitely be the center of attention. No matter which award ultimately prevails, Wei Ming will certainly not lose.

Now, all the record companies in Hong Kong want to get close to Wei Ming. However, even if Tam Yung-lun wants Wei Ming to write songs now, he is too lazy to write them. He won't make much money from them anyway. In the future, he will just write songs for Ah Min to make her happy.

The day after the awards ceremony, Wei Ming and Wei Hong finally arrived in Ping'an County after a long journey of most of the day.

As soon as I stepped out of the bus station, I saw a familiar figure.

"Delong?"

"Brother, sister, you're finally back! I thought you weren't coming back for the New Year this year!" Qi Delong dropped his donkey whip and ran over to help them with their luggage. "Hey, where are my uncle and aunt?"

Wei Ming: "They were sent to work in Hong Kong because of work requirements."

"What? Hong Kong!?" He was surprised. The school had maps of China and the world, and the teacher had mentioned Hong Kong's prosperity.

"Did you come here specifically to wait for us?" Wei Ming asked.

Qi Delong: "Yes, I've been waiting for several days. I was worried that you had a lot of luggage and one motorcycle wouldn't be enough, but it turned out to be just the two of you."

But we still had a lot of luggage, thanks to the donkey cart.

Seeing his cousin staring at the luggage, Wei Ming opened one of the boxes, took out a bottle of Coca-Cola, cracked it open on the donkey cart, and handed it to him.

This wasn't bought with foreign exchange certificates at the Friendship Store, but directly at the Wangfujing Department Store.

Starting in January of this year, Coca-Cola officially began to be sold in major shopping malls in Yanjing, and Chinese people can now also drink Coca-Cola.

Of course, since it costs three times as much as Arctic Ocean soda, most people just observe, and a small number buy a bottle to try it out, and that's about it.

"Brother, what is this stuff? It tastes so weird," Qi Delong asked, frowning. Wei Hong replied, "It's 45 cents a bottle."

Qi Delong: "I tasted it carefully, and it's really delicious, sweet!"

Besides drinks, candy was also a must; Wei Ming stuffed a bag full of it into his hand.

Wei Hong bought too much, thinking she would stay in her hometown for a few more days, but in reality, she could only stay for two days.

Wei Ming drove the donkey cart to Grandpa Yang Songqiao's house first, wanting to see if A Long and the others had arrived home yet.

As a result, he saw the family seeing off a guest at the door, along with a jeep. Wei Ming recognized the guest as County Chief Qin.

"Oh, Teacher Wei!"

Wei Ming hadn't seen this local official for a year. In that year, County Chief Qin saw news about Wei Ming no less than ten times, most of which were in the major newspapers that officials always read.

Goodness, he earns millions and millions, raises hundreds of millions, and receives all sorts of honors from Hong Kong, the United States, and the United Nations.

Looking at Wei Ming now, County Chief Qin's posture became even more subdued. He used to be able to look Wei Ming in the eye as an equal, but now even as a division-level cadre, he felt he needed to rely on Wei Ming, this international celebrity.

"County Chief Qin, who are you looking for, my Grandpa Yang?" Wei Ming first clarified their relationship, hoping that if things didn't turn out well, County Chief Qin would have to consider his feelings.

County Magistrate Qin said, "Teacher Wei, to be honest, I heard that a Hong Kong businessman came to the county, so I rushed over to pay him a visit to see if there was any possibility of investment. Unfortunately, it seems there is no room for cooperation."

This Hong Kong businessman is none other than Uncle Liu Bin. In fact, his Mandarin is very standard, but in order to make things easier in mainland China, he has been speaking Cantonese. Moreover, his clothes clearly indicate that he is a Hong Kong businessman, which is why he was targeted.

Although the eight kings forbade it during this period, the general policy of developing the economy remained unchanged, and foreign investment was still very welcome. Wei Ming called his aunt and asked her about opening a factory. She replied that everything was going smoothly, the process was very efficient, and construction would begin soon.

She brought a sum of HK$100 million in foreign exchange with her to cooperate. Of course, she couldn't come up with HK$100 million all at once, but the total investment was aimed at that scale. The Shenzhen government attached great importance to it, and Wei Lingling was now a distinguished guest.

Faced with the sincere and earnest County Chief Qin, Liu Bin really wanted to benefit his wife's hometown, but Holiland had no room for development in mainland China. The people were too poor, and they needed a large enough consumer group that could afford hamburgers and fried chicken.

He's not considering Beijing or Shanghai for the time being, let alone this impoverished county.

Wei Ming reiterated Uncle Liu's difficulties, and County Chief Qin nodded, "I understand."

As County Chief Qin was about to leave, he mentioned to Wei Ming, "I originally wanted to conduct a pilot project for rural electrification in your Gouzi Village, but Secretary Zhou refused to pay for the electricity connection. Go back and talk to him properly; electricity is very important."

Wei Ming remembered that in his previous life, it would take another two years for the village to get electricity. At first, he was not very willing, but later that year, someone bought a black and white TV and became the coolest kid in the whole village.

"This is indeed a good thing, County Chief Qin. How much money is still short? I'll make up the difference."

“Teacher Wei really cares about his neighbors. It’s not much to you, just two thousand yuan, but you can’t just hand it over quietly. Tomorrow is the first day of the Lunar New Year. I’ll go to Gouzi Village to visit him.”

Wei Ming understood: "Okay."

County Chief Qin laughed and said, "We'll go to Weiming Bridge and take a group photo then."

Finally, he whispered to Wei Ming, "If he really is an acquaintance, please try to persuade this Hong Kong businessman again. The county is in dire straits."

Wei Ming nodded.

After County Chief Qin walked away, Liu Bin complained to Wei Ming, "You know the situation in our store. Even if the mainland market were good, we wouldn't have any surplus grain."

That's true. They used all their money to expand their stores, and now they still owe the bank several million.

Wei Ming said, "Uncle Liu, I actually think Ping'an County isn't without investment value. At least it's a high-quality wheat producing area in China."

Liu Bin: "Wheat? What can you make with that? Steamed buns or noodles?"

"I'll discuss it with the Party Secretary when I get back to the village." Then Wei Ming chatted with the old man again, and thanked him for promoting the Jimei Society's "Journey to the West" abroad.

At this point, Ah Long had already brought out his grandfather's motorcycle, and the two chatted for a bit more about the wedding.

Wei Ming then got on his motorcycle and went home with Qi Delong and the others. Before they even reached the Hutuo River, Qi Delong stood up on the donkey cart and said, "Weiming Bridge is just ahead!"

Wei Hong hurriedly said, "There's also a Wei Mingqiao in Sichuan, and he's much longer than this one!"

Upon entering, he saw that the small bridge could only accommodate one car at a time, and he slightly regretted not paying more.

Wei Ming even stopped to check the materials used in Wei Ming Bridge. The design wasn't fancy, but at least the materials were solid, which was quite satisfactory. It could withstand the weight of a regular truck.

At both ends of the bridge are stone piers engraved with the bridge's name and origin. Wei Ming felt a warmth in his heart as he looked at them, a feeling that made him want to spend money again.

Today is Lunar New Year's Eve, and Qi Delong had his mother prepared paper money for burning in his car, so the car took a detour to the grave first.

However, looking at her grandfather's grave and thinking about the old man in Hong Kong, Wei Hong felt something was off.

Moreover, because Qi Delong was there, they had to pretend to worship their grandfather so that he could take money to spend down there and not have to be frugal.

Chunhua was very thoughtful. When we arrived home, not only was the yard spotless, but even the kang (a heated brick bed) was heated.

"I knew it, they should be back by today at the latest. Hey, where are my brother and sister-in-law?"

Wei Ming directly asked Qi Delong to repeat it.

Upon hearing that her brother and sister-in-law had gone to Hong Kong, and after hearing Wei Ming explain what Hong Kong was, Fan Chunhua was excited, joyful, and a little envious.

Qi Kexiu, who was standing to the side with his hands in his sleeves, had a much simpler situation: pure envy. His brother-in-law had already made it to Hong Kong, while he was still just an ordinary acting honorary principal.

That's right. Before leaving, Wei Jiefang entrusted him with the title of honorary principal, gave him a raise, and made him a powerful figure.

Wei Ming opened the luggage and took out two down jackets, one large and one small, for Chunhua Gu and Qi Delong.

"Oh, so this is the down jacket made from collected duck and goose down? It's so light and beautiful!"

Wei Hong: "It's still warm to wear."

"It's not cheap, is it? It'll be a waste for me to wear it." Fan Chunhua smiled and was about to try it on when she saw the pitiful Qi Kexiu at the door.

Wei Ming: "My uncle also has one, in another bag."

Upon hearing this, Qi Kexiu straightened his back a bit, and many villagers watching around were envious of the family of three.

This is the closest relative of the Wei family left in the countryside!
The next day, before Wei Ming could go out to pay New Year's visits, he found that many people came to wish him a Happy New Year. They were mostly primary and middle school students from the village, as well as some middle-aged and elderly people who were older than him but of a lower generation.

After Wei Ming finished dealing with them, County Chief Qin had already arrived, and Wei Hong saw his car.

When Wei Ming arrived at the brigade headquarters, County Chief Qin was urging payment of the electricity connection fee, and the old Party Secretary looked troubled.

Team leader Zhao Chunlai also said that even if the connection is made, it will be useless: "The connection to the village is just the beginning. When it is made to the households, we will have to pay extra. Then we will also have to pay for the electricity. No one can afford the electricity. Oh, there is one household, the Wei family, who can afford it. I think the Wei family should pay for it."

Unexpectedly, the brigade leader said such a thing. County Chief Qin and the old Party Secretary Zhou Xingbang both glared at him fiercely, and even Accountant Jia didn't give him a good look.

Wei Ming walked out of the crowd with a smile: "I heard that Captain Zhao wants me to pay this money?"

Seeing that Wei Ming had actually appeared, Zhao Chunlai didn't dare to say anything. He was feeling frustrated because ever since the Wei family rose to power, he, as the team leader, had become increasingly powerless. Even the former lackey, Accountant Jia, no longer treated him like a nobody.

Old Party Secretary Zhou Xingbang hurriedly said, "No, how can you take all this money? The village should contribute; it'll be enough if we pool our resources."

The villagers also voiced their opinions.

"Yes, Wei Ming doesn't usually live in the village."

"We shouldn't have let Uncle Ming take it all by himself!"

"Zhao Chunlai, can you please shut your stinking mouth!"

Zhao Chunlai glared sharply toward the source of the sound, only to find it was Fan Chunhua's father, Wei Ming's maternal uncle. He immediately backed down, realizing he couldn't afford to offend this man.

Wei Ming was very pleased. Regardless of what they thought in their hearts, at least they didn't agree with Zhao Chunlai verbally and didn't start a commotion. That was commendable.

Wei Ming asked Accountant Jia with a smile, "When I came here yesterday, I saw that the greenhouses had already been set up in the village. How are the profits?"

Accountant Jia laughed and said, "Not bad. They were snapped up as soon as they were sold in the county. If they could be sold in the region, they would be even more expensive. The village is much better off than it was a few years ago."

Wei Ming: "But if you can't even afford 2000 yuan, it's too slow to get rich through agriculture. But if you want to open a factory, develop industry, or make big money through deep processing of agriculture, you can't rely on donkeys to pull the millstone. Without electricity, how can you develop, how can you get out of poverty and become well-off?"

Upon hearing Wei Ming's words, the old Party Secretary slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "County Chief Qin, the village paid for this. In fact, the village had more than two thousand yuan. I was just thinking of investing this money in next year's greenhouses and building more. Sigh, I'm such an old-fashioned person. Jia San'er, go and get the money from the account."

Upon hearing that he wouldn't have to pay out of pocket, Wei Ming was quite pleasantly surprised. He figured it was no big deal to spend such a small amount of money.

Upon hearing Wei Ming's words, County Chief Qin's face lit up with joy. He pulled Wei Ming aside and asked, "Teacher Wei, did you convince that Hong Kong businessman? Are you going to set up a factory?"

Wei Ming said, "It's not certain yet. County Chief Qin, you go ahead and get busy. I'll give you an answer before I leave tomorrow."

"Alright, alright, see you tomorrow then," County Chief Qin accepted the money. "The power bureau will come to connect the electricity after the fifth day of the new year. Anyone who wants to connect should register quickly. There are so many benefits to electricity. Teacher Wei has been to Hong Kong and even abroad, so he understands this best."

The old Party Secretary, with his sharp ears, asked, "Xiao Ming, are you leaving tomorrow?"

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Old Party Secretary, that's not the point. I'll come to your house later, and we can have a chat."

……

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