Exciting 1979!

Chapter 413: All Confessions Revealed, Wei Ming's Secrets Exposed; Gong Xue and Zhu Lin, Let's Reconsider the Three-Year Agreement.

"Hey, where the hell have you two been?" When Wei Ming answered the phone, he heard Zhu Lin's familiar and friendly voice, but also a little angry.

To make it in time for Gong Xue's birthday, she worked day and night to catch up on the schedule and finally finished the filming ahead of schedule. Moreover, after returning to Beijing, she did not go to her parents' home first, but went straight to Tuanjiehu.

It was getting dark, but not only was no one home, it looked like no one had lived there for a long time. There was a note on the coffee table, covered in dust.

It was Wei Ming's note: Sister Lin, call this number when you get back.

Wei Ming was admiring the newly authenticated "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" with Gong Xue when he heard Zhu Lin's voice and laughed, "We've moved! You stay at Tuanjiehu and don't move. I'll come pick you up."

Not long after, Wei Ming appeared at Tuanjiehu on his motorcycle and ran into his cousin Yunyun, who was taking her son for a walk. Now that the weather wasn't so cold, she dared to bring Mei Changsu, who was over four months old, out.

The little guy was chubby and fair-skinned, and seemed very well-behaved. Wei Ming teased his nephew and asked him a few questions about Xiao Mei and his aunt's recent situation before he felt relieved enough to go upstairs to pick them up.

"Where did you move to?" Zhu Lin asked, sitting on the sofa.

Nanluoguxiang.

Zhu Lin said, "I'm not moving. I'm so comfortable living in this apartment. I'm not going to suffer like you guys. I need to persuade Xiaoxue to move back in with me."

“But the location is good, it’s convenient for commuting to and from get off work,” Wei Ming sat down next to Sister Lin. “You’ve been filming movies for half a year straight, you must be exhausted. You should take a good rest now. In a few days, I’ll go with you to the Beijing People’s Art Theatre to sort out our work relationship.”

"Is it a deal?"

"Yes, it's settled."

Zhu Lin rubbed his hands together, eager to get started: "I'm actually quite curious about how a stage play is performed. I won't be taking on any more roles except for 'Journey to the West'."

Wei Ming told Zhu Lin not to bring anything, as there was a complete set of her personal belongings there: "That's your other home."

Zhu Lin asked with a smile, "Then when can I move into my third home?"

“Just wait, when the policy is better, I plan to dig up the bottom and add another floor on top. I also plan to install an elevator in the building, and we’ll retire there in the future.” Wei Ming envisioned his retirement life with his two elderly ladies.

Upon arriving at his home in Nanluoguxiang, Zhu Lin was very satisfied with his new home. The obvious advantage of a courtyard house over an apartment building is its spaciousness, especially since this was a two-courtyard house of over 700 square meters.

Upon arriving at the inner courtyard, she was pleasantly surprised by the swimming pool and other facilities, realizing that even a traditional courtyard house could be quite nice.

"Sister Lin, welcome home!" Gong Xue came out of the study. She had turned on the lights in the yard beforehand, so the yard looked just like daytime.

Zhu Lin pointed to the room she came out of and said, "That's the bedroom, right?"

Gong Xue: "Where? In the study."

Wei Ming: "I have something to ask you all. Come in with me. Turn off the lights in the yard."

Upon entering the spacious study, one could see a painting of "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" hanging on one wall. Zhu Lin leaned closer and asked, "Is this the one we dug up?"

Wei Ming nodded, and Gong Xue told her, "We were just admiring the painting. After being appraised by several senior scholars from Rongbaozhai and the Palace Museum, it can be basically confirmed that this painting is an authentic work by Qiu Ying from the Ming Dynasty."

Although there aren't many seals on the painting, some belong to collectors who actually existed in history. In addition, Mr. Zhu Jiajin, a close friend of Mr. Wei, recognized the handwriting of Wen Zhengming from a poem inscribed on the painting.

Wen Zhengming was also one of the Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty. He was much older than Qiu Ying, but the two had a good relationship. Wen Zhengming also mentored younger generations. Since Master Zhu believed that it was Wen Zhengming's own work, the probability that the painting was Qiu Ying's original work greatly increased.

They speculate that this might be a work made by Qiu Ying in his later years based on his first copy, so it lacks a bit of passion, but the technique is more skillful and mature, making it a very authentic piece.

Although Zhu Lin didn't understand painting, he had heard Wei Ming talk about the amazing qualities of Qiu Ying's copy, not to mention that it also had Wen Zhengming's calligraphy on it.

"Then this is a national treasure!"

Wei Ming: "It is absolutely the most precious piece in my collection, to the point that even a provincial museum would enshrine it."

Gong Xue: "Let me show you this too. I'll put it away later."

Zhu Lin: "How could I possibly understand this? All I know is that it's incredibly difficult to draw so many lifelike little figures on a single painting. Did you perhaps use a magnifying glass to draw it?"

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Some great painters do have the ability to paint on a micro scale. Qi Baishi is a prime example. And our Hengzhou is famous for its inside-painted snuff bottles. Not only do they paint on a micro scale, but they also have to paint in a small space, which is also very challenging."

After looking at it for a while, Zhu Lin told Wei Ming to put it away quickly. Gong Xue asked, "Where should we put it?"

Wei Ming chuckled: "This is the secret I'm going to tell you today."

As he spoke, he walked to the largest bookshelf in the room, took out the top-ranked copy of "Journey to the West," and then poked it with a back scratcher.

Then the wall behind the bookshelf suddenly opened, and Wei Ming moved the bookshelf aside: "Come in and take a look, this is our family's treasure trove."

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin's eyes widened at the same time; there was actually a hidden secret in this study!
The interior was very cramped, containing only a safe and a bookshelf.

“This safe is very difficult to open with external force, and it’s also very heavy and difficult to move. It requires a combination to unlock,” Wei Ming said, entering the combination in front of them and reading it aloud, “12100316.”

Gong Xue opened his mouth and said, "Actually, you didn't need to tell us."

Zhu Lin exclaimed in surprise, "Is it our birthday?"

"Well, accidents happen to everyone, especially since I often travel abroad. Some places abroad are quite chaotic. If I don't come back one day, you can just open it yourself."

"Pah, pah, pah! You're not allowed to say such things!" Zhu Lin quickly said.

Gong Xue hugged him from behind, saying, "You'll be fine. Besides, it's so chaotic outside, why don't we just stay here?"

After processing the "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" scroll, Wei Ming put it away with his previous rare collection, closed the safe, and said to them, "This is the second secret I have to tell you."

He pointed to the bookshelf in the secret room, which contained not only some of his own original manuscripts and some ancient books, but also a large number of letters.

“Besides my correspondence with you, these letters also include my correspondence with Hong Kong. Actually, I have a close relative in Hong Kong, which is the main reason why I go there so often, and even brought my parents there.” Then Wei Ming told them the secret of Wei Senhao that only the Wei family knew.

Including my great-aunt from the United States, my great-grandfather from Taiwan, and what exactly is the background of my aunt Wei Lingling?

Wei Ming's confession startled the two of them, not because they were afraid of being implicated, but because...

Gong Xue asked worriedly, "Xiao Wei, why did you tell us everything? Is there something wrong with your health?"

Zhu Lin looked at him with concern: "Could it be that he's sick? My mom knows a lot of famous doctors."

"Go away, please stop cursing me, okay? I'm perfectly healthy, you'll see in a bit." He just wanted to go away for a while next year, and he wanted to tell them in advance so they wouldn't worry about him.

Wei Ming put his arm around one of them and said, "I already consider you all family, so I don't plan to hide these things from you anymore. I've told you everything without reservation."

Seeing that the brat had started teasing them, the two women finally felt relieved. Gong Xue said, "Grandpa is actually quite pitiful. He can't go home. This matter is probably hard to explain."

Zhu Lin nodded: "Then you should visit him in Hong Kong more often so that he can enjoy his grandchildren."

“How old am I? I’m not exactly enjoying my grandchildren. I think I should be enjoying my great-grandchildren more.” As he spoke, Wei Ming’s hands slid from his two older sisters’ shoulders to their waists, and then continued downwards.

"Ah, stop messing around~" Gong Xue weakly pushed away. She was dressed in thin clothes, and Xiao Wei's hand quickly sank in, while Sister Lin didn't even make a move to resist.

The bad boy had just opened his heart to her, even entrusting his life and fortune to them, so Zhu Lin didn't want to hold anything back anymore.

Originally, she was thinking that if she got emotional enough on Xiaoxue's birthday night, she would let the brat fulfill his dream, and that it would never happen again. But now it seems that she won't be able to wait until that day.

Garlic bird, garlic bird, check if the bed in this house is big enough.

The secret room was too small, making it uncomfortable and restrictive for the three of them. This was their first time, and it had to be a wonderful memory.

They emerged from the secret room one by one, and embraced in the study. The atmosphere became hazy. Gong Xue was the first to break free and go to the bedroom to prepare, while Wei Ming picked up Sister Lin and headed straight for the bedroom.

That night, Wei Ming's body withstood the test, as did the imported mattress he bought from the Friendship Store.

Zhu Lin's final comment: Great!

Gong Xue remained silent, only reflecting on the experience.

Actually, a bedroom had been prepared for Zhu Lin in the house, but tonight no one left the master bedroom, and none of the three of them held back anymore.

Wei Ming was planning to be exhausted by the next day, but he was too healthy. Not only did he not die the next day, he was also the first one up and went out to buy them breakfast.

As soon as Wei Ming left, Gong Xue was the second to open his eyes and nudged Zhu Lin.

When Zhu Lin woke up, she found Gong Xue opposite her. She twisted her waist and moved closer to take Wei Ming's place and hugged Xiao Xue.

Gong Xue sighed, "What are we going to do now that things have turned out like this?"

Zhu Lin closed his eyes: "Isn't there a three-year agreement? There's still... a year and a half left."

Next November, Wei Ming will turn 22 and will be eligible to get married.

Seeing that Gong Xue remained silent, Zhu Lin opened his eyes: "What, are you afraid he will choose me, or are you afraid he won't choose me?"

Gong Xue: "I can't accept either outcome. I can't live without him, and I can't live without you either."

These words sounded like a confession, but Zhu Lin understood what she meant. The three of them had done that yesterday; they were in a relationship where they had done bad things together. They had seen each other's most private side and were closer than sisters. The two of them were already an unbreakable alliance. The two of them hugged each other tighter, and Zhu Lin asked, "Then what do you suggest? There's only one Xiao Wei after all. We can't just cut him in half, can we?"

Gong Xue thought for a moment and said, "How about this: one of us marries him first, and then divorces him and marries the other. One of us will be his ex-wife, and the other will be his current wife. That way, we'll have a reason to be together."

Zhu Lin asked, "Then who is the ex-wife and who is the current wife?"

Gong Xue: "Whoever gets pregnant first should get married first, so that they'll have a reason to be closer in the future if they have a child."

“That makes sense,” Zhu Lin nodded. “If he touches me again, I can’t refuse to wear it.”

“You…” Gong Xue was speechless. She also knew the problem with this plan. Both the ex-wife and the current wife would benefit, but the current wife would definitely benefit more. In the future, she would be the rightful Mrs. Wei, while the ex-wife would only have an advantage.

"Then what do you suggest? This is the best solution I can think of. We can't just have the three of us living together without any proper status," Gong Xue asked Zhu Lin for advice.

Zhu Lin thought for a moment and said, "It's like you said, whoever gets pregnant first gets married first, and after the baby is born, they get divorced and marry someone else. But after the other one gives birth, they also have to get divorced."

"Oh, both of them are ex-wives?"

Zhu Lin: "It doesn't sound right for a man to have a wife and still have an unclear relationship with his ex-wife, and it's also fair."

It would indeed be fairer and could motivate people to have children, making the benefits of having the first wife very obvious, but...

Gong Xue asked, "We'll both be divorced, and we probably won't be young anymore. He'll be single, aren't you afraid...?"

As she finished speaking, Zhu Lin's heart skipped a beat. This was indeed a problem. By then, they would be old and faded, but there would be plenty of young girls, and Wei Ming would be in his prime.

"Honey, I'm home! Dinner's ready!"

At this moment, Wei Ming had already returned with the lunchbox. His call of "Wife" made the two women sit up and look outside. Listen carefully, could you call me a couple more times?

~
Wireless training course.

After more than half a year of acting training, most of the students from the Class of '81 have already appeared in TVB dramas. They will graduate in a few months, and TVB has already prepared contracts with the students. Several promising talents have attracted much attention, including Andy Lau and Leung Ka-fai for the men, and Carrie Ng and Jaime Chik for the women.

However, when the contract was presented to Liang Jiahui, he hesitated.

This contract is simply outrageous.

Firstly, the contract is for ten years, and the monthly salary is only two or three thousand Hong Kong dollars. For someone like Leung Ka-fai, who has a university degree, he would earn more than that as a white-collar worker.

The company takes a cut of over 70% of all performance income from its contracted artists, including film, television, advertising, and commercial performances. If an artist takes on outside work without going through the company, they will be penalized with three times their monthly salary.

Furthermore, one must unconditionally comply with TVB's work arrangements; refusal will be considered a breach of contract.

In addition, the breach of contract clauses are quite domineering; once you're in, you'll have to be skinned alive to leave.

So after a moment's thought, Liang Jiahui put down his pen and indicated that he would not sign.

The person on the other end said, "Then you can leave TVB now. Goodbye."

Liang Jiahui nodded and left without looking back. Liu Dehua and Xu Jinjiang, who were usually on good terms with him, found this scene hard to understand.

You've been studying for over half a year, and you'll soon be highly regarded by the company. Why bother?

Liang Jiahui shook his head: "Let's have a drink another day, I'm leaving now."

When Liang Jiahui was leaving, he ran into Wang Tianlin and called him "Uncle".

Wang Tianlin nodded. He already knew that Liang Jiahui had refused to sign the contract. The two families were related; Wang Tianlin's wife and Liang Jiahui's father were cousins, meaning that Wang Jing and Liang Jiahui were cousins.

When filming "The King of Gamblers," he also had Tony Leung and Andy Lau stand next to Chow Yun-fat as his underlings, but those two took it upon themselves to add scenes and were severely scolded by A-Du.

However, because his wife was a gambling addict, which forced him and his son to work hard making films to pay off her debts, Wang Tianlin was not very close to his wife's family. He didn't say anything about Liang Jiahui's departure, nor did he think of helping him out.

According to his aesthetic standards, Leung Ka-fai is indeed not as good-looking as Andy Lau, who was in the same class. That kid will become TVB's next big thing, and he will be given a leading role in a TV series this year. Ah Fai, you'll regret it then.

Whether Liang Jiahui regrets it or not is unknown, but his girlfriend invited him to her home that very day.

"My dad wants to meet you."

"what?"

Liang Jiahui was a little nervous when he met the renowned director Li Hanxiang in person for the first time.

Li Heizi feigned friendliness and asked, "How are you doing in the wireless training class?"

"We just finished our studies early today."

"Oh, graduating early?"

Then Liang Jiahui explained why he refused to sign the contract when offered one, and stated that he had not given up his dream of acting.

Li Hanxiang immediately slammed his hand on the table: "Good, good!"

"Ah, Daddy, is this alright?" Li Dianxin asked, puzzled.

“Now you’re free! No one can control you. Ah Hui, I’m planning to go to the mainland to film a movie in Beijing. Do you want to come with me?”

"what?"

Go to the mainland? Go to Yanjing (Beijing)? Wouldn't that mean we could see the Forbidden City and the Great Wall?
Liang Jiahui said happily, "Can I? Then I can help you out, Uncle, okay? I'm very capable!"

"Alright, alright, it's settled then. We'll set off in a few days. Get ready." Li Hanxiang took a sip of wine and said with a smile.

Liang Jiahui also had some drinks and was still a bit excited when he got home. He turned on the TV and found that a TVB drama was playing, so he simply turned it off. Suddenly, he remembered something and quickly turned on the radio.

Thankfully, it's only just begun!
On the evening of March 15th, the inaugural Hong Kong Film Awards, jointly organized by Film Biweekly and RTHK, was held at the Shouson Theatre in the Hong Kong Arts Centre.

No TV station was willing to work with them this time, but it would be good to have a radio station to cooperate with. Old Wei and Xu Shufen could find out the results at Ocean Park, and even Gangdan and Bass could hear it.

However, Zhou Huimin wanted to go to the scene in person to see if Ah Ming could win the award. Fortunately, she had some connections in the entertainment industry at the time, and finally found Aunt Xia Meng. She gave Ah Min two audience tickets, and Ah Min invited Ni Nai along.

Because of the buzz surrounding the nominations, quite a few stars attended the Hong Kong Film Awards this year, and almost all of them wore formal attire, even someone as unconventional as Hung Chun-po dressed very formally.

Jackie Chan was standing next to his senior brother, who was nominated for Best Action Choreography. Jackie Chan didn't win any awards, but he was the presenter.

As the familiar actors entered the venue one after another, Vivian Chow looked around but didn't see Danny Chan. She guessed he wouldn't be coming. In Vivian's opinion, this was the most despicable thing the Hong Kong Film Awards had ever done.

The film "Unemployed" stars Leslie Cheung, Danny Chan, and Paul Chung. The three are close friends and had previously collaborated on the film "Cheers." They are known as the "Three Young Masters of Central."

In this movie, Paul Chung had fewer scenes, while Leslie Cheung and Danny Chan had similar roles. However, the Hong Kong Film Awards nominated Leslie Cheung for Best Actor and Danny Chan for Best Supporting Actor, which stirred up a hornet's nest.

Both are currently very popular idol singers. Danny Chan was more popular in the past, but with "Melinda," only Leslie Cheung has caught up and is gaining momentum. The Hong Kong Film Awards' nomination of him may well be intended to boost his popularity.

However, things went too far, and Danny Chan was given a Best Supporting Actor nomination. Danny Chan's fans couldn't accept this, so they started attacking Leslie Cheung. Leslie Cheung's fans then retaliated, making both of them feel awkward. According to gossip tabloids, Danny Chan said he would never share the stage with Leslie Cheung again.

This report was originally not very credible, but now that Danny Chan is not present, the gossip newspapers have something to talk about again.

However, neither of them won an award. The Best Supporting Actor award went to Lo Lieh for his role as an assassin in Ann Hsu's film "The Story of Woo Viet".

The Best Actor award went to Michael Hui for "Security Unlimited". All four Hui brothers were present at the event today, perhaps knowing the result beforehand and showing their support for their eldest brother.

Besides Leslie Cheung, the other nominees for Best Actor who didn't make the cut include Chow Yun-fat for "The Story of Woo Viet" and Eddie for "The Outsider".

In addition, the Best Supporting Actress award was given to Cherie Chung for her role in "The Story of Woo Viet". At that time, Chung was still quite young, only 22 years old, and was a newcomer valued by Shaw Brothers. She did not yet have the charm that she later possessed, which could arouse men's interest with just a gesture or a glance.

The female lead in "The Story of Woo Viet" is Cora Miao, a talented and elegant woman who has been romantically linked to Chow Yun-fat and Patrick Tse. She later married Wayne Wang, a Chinese-American director who made films such as "The Joy Luck Club" and "Snow Flower and the Secret Fan".

She also didn't win Best Actress, losing to Cecilia Yip, who was only 19 years old and making her acting debut in "Seven Days of Wrong Love".

Cecilia Yip won the Hong Kong Film Award for Best Actress a year ahead of schedule. It's a pity that Kara Hui missed out on the first Best Actress award and can only take the path of late bloomer.

Zhou Huimin was just as happy that the actors who starred in Wei Ming's work won awards. Wei Ming and Brother B had already won a Best Song award for "Let Everything Go with the Wind," so this was the second award that "Seven Days of Wrong Love" had received.

The third award, also an individual award for Wei Ming, was for Best Screenplay of "Seven Days of Wrong Romance," which Xia Meng accepted on his behalf.

Many people at the event were disappointed not to see Wei Ming in person, especially Shu Qi and others from the organizer, "Film Biweekly." However, they at least managed to ride the wave of attention: "Wei Ming has won major awards at both the Grammys and the Hong Kong Film Awards!" That's how tomorrow's headline will be!

Although the Hong Kong Film Awards were just an obscure award at that time, and might not even be awarded a second time, Ah Min was genuinely happy. It showed that Hong Kong filmmakers accepted him. So, when can you come back to make some movies again, and keep me company while you're at it?
Two more major awards were given: Best Director and Best Film, both to Fang Yuping, the director of "Father and Son," who is also a New Wave director.

Upon hearing the result, Liu Rulong and Gong Ying, who were listening to the radio, were very disappointed. It was a pity for "The Story of Hu Yue" and director Xu Anhua, who had helped them edit their wedding video and the result was very satisfactory. They could only hope that Director Xu would be the big winner next time.

Finally, the Hong Kong Film Awards announced the top ten Chinese-language films and the top ten foreign-language films, among which Wei Ming's "Heroes Have Been Born Since Ancient Times" and "The Wrong Wedding Night" were both selected.

After returning home, Amin began writing letters to tell Amin the good news. The letters included her own photos and the latest photos of her uncle and aunt.

Actually, Wei Ming and Amin's correspondence was also on the bookshelf in the secret room. Luckily, the two women, blinded by love, didn't look at it closely. Right now, their minds are filled with thoughts of marriage, divorce, and having children.
……

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