Exciting 1979!

Chapter 414 A Gathering of Young Friends: A Hong Kong Tale

The day after returning to Yanjing, Zhu Lin took his luggage to his parents' home and said that he would stay for the next period of time to spend with his parents.

However, she ran off again when it was time for dinner, saying she wanted to celebrate Xiaoxue's birthday and stay there that night.

It's just that homosexuality isn't prevalent yet, otherwise Zhu's parents would definitely be wondering if the son-in-law they've been longing for is Gong Xue, or perhaps their daughter-in-law?
Wei Ming went to the Friendship Store early today to order a birthday cake. It wasn't too big, but it was enough for three people.

It turned out that it wasn't enough. The cream cake on the plate was just so-so, and it got greasy after a while. But changing the medium made all the difference.

For example, when cream was smeared on his two older sisters' faces, Wei Ming ate it with extra gusto.

Later, to avoid getting their clothes dirty, the three of them took off their clothes to eat the cake. And the cake wasn't just on their faces anymore; at that moment, their imaginations were truly unleashed.

By the end, not a drop of cream was left, but some cake base was still there; it was quite tiring for the person who ate it.

The three of them were sticky and uncomfortable. They helped each other take a shower and lay on the bed, still shaken. Gong Xue was worried about the floor that they had just dirtied, but unfortunately, he was too weak to get up.

After two days of indulgence, Gong Xue and Zhu Lin felt they couldn't continue like this. Even if Wei Ming's body could handle it, they were already feeling the strain. So, after Xue Jie's birthday, the three of them separated.

The main idea was to separate Wei Ming and let him live alone, so that he could return to the Overseas Chinese Apartment. Gong Xue and Zhu Lin would still live together as a couple, and then the two of them would each become Wei Ming's spouses, one on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, and the other on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays.

As for Sundays, if everyone has time, they'll spend some time alone together. Every Sunday, Wei Ming gets excited and shouts like a little calf.

Actually, this is good. Wei Ming is living alone in the Overseas Chinese Apartment and has resumed his normal routine of going to work, writing, and coming home. His writing efficiency has improved a lot.

Finally, a week later, he finished his first English novella.

This novel was not easy to write; it took him more than four months to complete, whereas he could usually finish a Chinese novel of the same length in half a month if his thoughts were flowing smoothly.

Of course, these four months were a process of learning and writing at the same time. Through the creation of an English novel, Wei Ming felt that his English writing skills had improved significantly. If it were now, he could translate works of difficulty like The Lion King by himself.

Of course, there is still a gap between his work and the level of writing in his native language. The work needs to be edited and corrected before it can be published. So Wei Ming made a copy and immediately sent it to Melinda in the UK.

This document has quite a few pages, and faxing it would be too expensive, probably costing over a thousand dollars. It's not that Wei Ming can't afford it, but there's no need for it, and he's not in a rush.

If it's just a page or two, faxing it for efficiency is fine. But for a novella, which is dozens of pages long, it's better to save the effort.

Next, Wei Ming will begin translating the novel into Chinese, and will also send a copy to Ming Pao.

This job is relatively simple; Wei Ming expects it to be completed in about ten days.

During this time, Sister Lin got bored and wanted to go to work. Since she had officially resigned from her original job, Wei Ming accompanied her to the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

He took him directly to the office of Dean Cao. The Beijing People's Art Theatre had mixed feelings about accepting Zhu Lin, a nationally popular movie star.

There are concerns about whether the film actress's acting skills can keep up with the intensity of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and whether she will drag the performance down. At the same time, there are expectations for what kind of contribution she can make to the theatre's attendance.

Next, Zhu Lin was taken away to complete the onboarding procedures, while Wei Ming stayed behind to chat with Cao Lao and Yu Shizhi.

Wei Ming inquired about the release date of the film version of "Teahouse." He was quite looking forward to this version, as it basically featured the original cast of the stage play. Not many people across the country could see a Beijing People's Art Theatre play, but the film's reach was much wider.

"We were thinking of putting it out during the Chinese New Year period, but thankfully we didn't, otherwise who would watch us?" Yu Zhizhi laughed.

Wei Ming: "Shaolin Temple is indeed very popular. It's been almost two months, and it's still showing in theaters."

So, after discussing with the Beijing Film Studio, we plan to release it next month.

Next month, Wei Ming thought, "Du Shiniang is going to be released next month, and she's not someone to be trifled with."

Yu Shizhi added, "Our top priority now is to train the younger generation of actors. Your 'The Tale of Two Donkeys' is basically being rehearsed by young actors. I estimate that it will be able to sell tickets in a while. We are very optimistic about the box office performance. It is quite vivid and interesting."

Wei Ming knows that the male lead is Yang Lixin, and Liang Guanhua plays his childhood friend, Song Dandan plays the village beauty, and Jin Yaqin plays the female production team leader.

Although working at institutions like the Beijing People's Art Theatre offers secure jobs and eliminates concerns about box office revenue affecting one's livelihood, there are other theatrical troupes in Beijing. If a production fails to attract audiences and its box office performance is inferior to that of other troupes, it would damage the reputation of the Beijing People's Art Theatre.

In order to increase the box office of Beijing People's Art Theatre and to make its reputation shine brighter, the theatre is very proactive in launching new plays. In addition to promoting young actors and catering to Wei Mingshu's fans with "The Tale of Two Donkeys", Cao Xueqin also visited Arthur Miller with Ying Ruocheng when he went to the United States to give lectures some time ago.

Arthur Miller was a giant of American theater. He had an ex-wife named Marilyn Monroe and a son-in-law named Daniel Day-Lewis.

This time, Mr. Cao, representing the Beijing People's Art Theatre, reached a cooperation agreement with Miller to bring Miller's classic play "Death of a Salesman" to China, and Miller will personally participate in the directing work in China.

Wei Ming remembers that the male lead in this version was Ying Ruocheng, and the female lead was Zhu Lin, a senior figure in the drama world. Perhaps Zhu Lin will be able to take over Zhu Lin's role in the future.

"Little Wei," after chatting for a while about the progress of "The Tale of Two Donkeys," Old Cao and Old Yu exchanged a glance, and then Old Cao spoke up, "that new script you promised us..."

In order to make Renyi Art Theatre happy to accept Sister Lin's joining the company, Wei Ming promised to dedicate his first stage play script to Renyi Art Theatre and write an original stage play script for Renyi Art Theatre. He didn't let Sister Lin know about this, but she will definitely find out passively in the future, so let her be moved.

"Don't worry, Mr. Cao, I'm thinking about it. I'm currently busy with a novel and have also taken on the script adaptation of 'The Shepherd's Spring.' I'll definitely be able to submit the manuscript this year once I finish these projects."

If the manuscript is submitted this year, then rehearsals will likely begin next year, which they can completely accept, given that they already have "The Tale of Two Donkeys" and "Death of a Salesman" this year.

The fact that Wei Ming agreed so readily led the two elders to speculate even more about the relationship between Wei Ming and Zhu Lin.

When Wei Ming went out, Sister Lin was chatting with Grandma Jin Yaqin, and there was also a pretty young woman named Song Dandan next to her.

After returning from filming "Du Shiniang", Grandma Jin joined the cast of "The Tale of Two Donkeys" and mingled with the young people. Usually, she played supporting roles in big drama troupes, but this time she finally became the female lead.

Zhu Lin plans to stay at the Beijing People's Art Theatre today, while Wei Ming went home by himself. Then, in the evening, he received a call from the Yanjing Hotel while at the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

"Amin, I'm here. Want to come over for a meal?"

Li Hanxiang arrived on the last day of March.

Wei Ming: "Okay, I'll call someone else."

He called Biaozi along, and Li Hanxiang wasn't alone either; he also brought a middle-aged man and a young man.

The middle-aged man was Yang Lin, a photographer he had worked with before, and also part of the main crew he was filming in mainland China this time. The other one was Liang Jiahui.

Wei Ming wasn't surprised to see him at all, but he was more surprised that Lao Li hadn't told him he was going to play the male lead. Liang Jiahui had always thought he was in the mainland for a vacation to relax and then do odd jobs for his uncle.

"Mr. Wei, we meet again." Liang Jiahui politely shook hands with Wei Ming.

"Just call me A-Ming, this guy is A-Biao."

Liang Jiahui: "I've seen your movies, and you remind me of my friend Xu Jinjiang."

“Old Xu, we know each other too,” Biaozi said cheerfully.

Liang Jiahui: "Oh, really? We're students from the wireless training class."

Having mutual friends, Liang Jiahui quickly started chatting with Biaozi. He even asked Li Hanxiang, "Uncle, can I go out for a walk tonight? Biaozi said he'll go with me."

"Remember to bring your identification." Li Hanxiang agreed.

Actually, there's not much to do in Yanjing at night; most shops are closed. Biaozi plans to take him to Oriental Plaza, where the opening hours are longer.

Wei Ming then discussed the specific filming plans with Li Hanxiang. He will spend a month preparing for the shoot, which is scheduled to begin in May. The first scenes will be filmed in Beijing, including the major scene of the burning of the Old Summer Palace. In June, the filming will move to the Summer Palace to shoot the major scenes of the emperor's northern exile and the death of Emperor Xianfeng.

"Perfect timing, I should be back in Yanjing by the time filming officially starts."

Biaozi asked in surprise, "Ming-ge, are you going out again?"

“Well, I’m planning to go to another city to film with the ‘Journey to the West’ crew in a few days.” Since he was the chief consultant, Wei Ming wanted to take some responsibility. “Biaozi, do you want to come with me? The ‘Journey to the West’ crew still needs a martial arts director. This is a pilot episode, and I plan to hire someone from Hong Kong when we start filming.”

Biaozi: "Where are we going?"

"Yangzhou."

"Well, let me discuss it with my wife," Biaozi said.

There was no problem with Yanzi; she was capable enough to manage on her own, not to mention the help of her mother and mother-in-law. She told Biaozi to go out and explore with Wei Ming without worry.

The crew of "Journey to the West" initially filmed some temple scenes at Jietai Temple in Yanjing. Wei Ming went there on the day filming started and saw the four Tang Monk and his disciples in full makeup. They looked quite convincing, so he took a group photo of the four of them.

On the second day of filming for "Journey to the West", Wei Ming set up barbecue equipment in the courtyard of Beichizi and invited Liang Jiahui, a guest from Hong Kong, along with Biaozi and Xiaomei. For the past two days, the two of them have been accompanying Liang Jiahui to visit famous attractions in Yanjing.

Liang Jiahui was very happy to be invited to Wei Ming's home. He did not complain about having to do chores and cook, and even winked at Wei Ming's cats and dogs.

A while later, another person came to the door; it was Liu Zhenyun and Li Chengru.

Liu Zhenyun was invited by Wei Ming. He was about to graduate, and every time they met again, it would be one less time to see each other. Wei Ming ran into him at school when he got off work and told him to come to Beichizi for dinner if he had time after class.

Li Chengru went home after finishing work, and then smelled the meaty smell coming from Wei Ming's courtyard. He followed the smell and came over, even making up an excuse to report on the filming progress.

Wei Ming introduced them to each other. Upon hearing that Liu Zhenyun was a talented student from Peking University and the top scorer in a province, Liang Jiahui immediately shook hands with him and spoke in Mandarin with difficulty.

“My friend from Hong Kong, Professor Wei truly embodies the saying: ‘All men are brothers under heaven,’” Liu Zhenyun then looked at Li Chengru, “And who is this brother?”

Wei Mingdao said, "Old Li and Ah Hui are a bit similar. They both attended acting training classes. You were at TVB, and he was at Yenching Film Academy, which is considered the highest institution of film acting in mainland China."

"Oops, disrespectful."

"I'm just in a continuing education program, but a big star came out of our class." Liu Zhenyun quickly asked, "Zhu Lin is in your class, right?"

"Yeah."

Liu Zhenyun then asked, "Guess who first proposed the idea of ​​'Southern Gong Xue and Northern Zhu Lin'?"

Li Chengru: "Could it be you, brother?"

Liu Zhenyun glanced at Wei Ming, then nodded shamelessly: "That's me."

Li Chengru: "Oh dear, I really have to say I'm sorry for my rudeness."

Liang Jiahui whispered to Biaozi, "What's 'Southern Gong Xue, Northern Zhu Lin'?"

Biaozi laughed: "They are the two most beautiful and popular female stars in mainland China right now."

Liang Jiahui then asked, "Is the female lead in our 'Reign Behind the Curtain' one of them?"

Biaozi: "No, the female lead is Liu Xiaoqing, who is second only to the two of them, but is more senior."

Mei Wenhua: "The fire's hot, we can start grilling!"

Wei Ming: "Come on, young friends, there's plenty of food and drink tonight, let's have a toast first."

Liang Jiahui was immediately infected by the atmosphere, and the six young people raised their glasses together: "Cheers!"

They quickly ordered a batch of lamb skewers, and while eating and chatting, Liang Jiahui became the center of attention, as everyone wanted to learn about Hong Kong from him, a local.

"Ah Fai, what's going on in Hong Kong's literary scene right now?" Liu Zhenyun asked curiously.

Leung Ka-fai waved his hand: "Hong Kong is a cultural desert. Since Jin Yong stopped writing, even martial arts novels haven't developed much. However, comics are very popular recently. The two magazines, 'Madman Comics' and 'Jade Man Comics,' are fighting hard with various preferential policies. What I miss most about coming to the mainland this time is the serialization of 'Qin's Moon' and 'Storm Riders.' Oh, and now there's also 'Transformers,' which is quite interesting."

Wei Ming took a bite of the kidney. Now, the sales of "Madman Comics" per issue have stabilized at 25. This is the sales volume in Hong Kong, Taiwan and overseas. Hong Kong is almost saturated. The only way forward is to expand to external markets.

Meanwhile, the competing magazine "Jade Man Comics" has just surpassed 10 copies sold. The Hong Kong comics market is indeed showing a trend of being more popular than novels. After all, the cultural level is relatively low, and the picture stories are more direct and interesting.

Li Chengru asked curiously, "What's a Transformer?"

Then Liang Jiahui briefly explained what Transformers are, and even imitated Optimus Prime's transformation on the spot, reminiscent of Vision from the TV series "iPartment".

Li Chengru clapped his hands and exclaimed, "Bravo!"

After Liang Jiahui got up from the ground, Li Chengru toasted him, showing his impressive physical expression.

Liang Jiahui patted his knees and looked at Wei Ming: "Actually, I think it's really amazing that A-Ming can create so many wonderful stories. Sometimes I'm really curious about what's in your head."

Wei Ming felt a chill run down his spine upon hearing this; he knew he would definitely have to wear a helmet when he went fishing with him in the future.

Liu Zhenyun asked in surprise, "So you're involved in this too?"

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Of course there are. I write most of the stories. This 'Madman Comics' is actually a company that I started with Liu Rulong. I write the stories, and he and other cartoonists are responsible for drawing them."

Liu Zhenyun exclaimed excitedly, "I miss Ah Long so much! He actually went to Hong Kong and made a fortune!"

"And she even got married; she spent the Chinese New Year in Shanghai."

Hearing Wei Ming say this, Liu Zhenyun sighed even more and asked, "Do you have that 'Madman Comics' here? I really want to read it."

Wei Ming: "They're not here. They're at the Overseas Chinese Apartments. I'll get you a few later, but I don't think they're your type."

Biaozi said, "That sounds like my type."

Mei Culture then asked Liang Jiahui what fun things there were to do in Hong Kong.

"The most fun thing right now is those two giant pandas at Ocean Park."

Mei Wenhua: "I know, it was raised by my second aunt and uncle."

"Yes, yes, yes." Liang Jiahui already knew about Xiaomei's relationship with Wei Ming.

"What else?"

"Other things? Oh, blind box toys are really popular now. My girlfriend has bought a lot of them, and she spends all of her monthly salary on them."

Wei Ming scratched his head, picked up a skewer of kidneys, and silently began to eat.

By nearly ten o'clock, all the meat skewers and vegetables that Wei Ming had prepared were gone. Even the two cats and dogs were so full they could barely walk. They didn't drink much alcohol, mainly because Li Chengru, who lived nearby, was the one who drank it.

Li Chengru was also the first to stagger away.

Then Liu Zhenyun slowly rode his bicycle back to Peking University. The strange tales he had heard in Hong Kong today were enough for him to talk about for days in his dormitory.

Before leaving, he asked Wei Ming to remember to give the Class of '78 a graduation gift.

Then Biaozi and Xiaomei discussed who should take Liang Jiahui back to the hotel.

Liang Jiahui said, "No need to see me off, Ah Ming. Can I borrow your bicycle for a bit? I can ride back by myself; it's not too far."

Wei Ming looked at the secondhand bicycle that had accompanied him all the way and said, "You can ride it as long as you want. You'll be staying in Yanjing for at least two more months, so having a vehicle will make things more convenient. Just keep riding this one."

"Oh, thank you so much! I was just thinking of buying a new one."

"No need, no need."

Liang Jiahui happily rode his bicycle through the hutongs of old Yanjing, then circled the Forbidden City back to the Yanjing Hotel.

The car kept creaking and groaning, as if providing a pleasant accompaniment.

Slightly tipsy, I went upstairs and saw Li Hanxiang open the door to the room across the hall.

"Ahui, come here, I need to talk to you about something." Li Hanxiang beckoned to him kindly and led him to his room.

"Uncle, what's up?" Liang Jiahui hiccuped, his drinking was second only to Li Chengru's.

Li Hanxiang said, "It's our movie. I've chosen several male leads, but I'm not quite satisfied with any of them. Why don't you give it a try?"

"Okay."

Li Hanxiang was taken aback. He thought he would have to do some persuasion, but he didn't expect him to agree so easily. He really is a young man.

“You have to shave your head,” Li Hanxiang added.

“I shave it, my head shape looks good.” Liang Jiahui pointed to his head.

Li Hanxiang chuckled and said, "No rush, we can shave it when filming starts. Tomorrow I'll introduce you to the concubines in the harem."

"Okay, Uncle, I'm going to sleep now."

Liang Jiahui went back to his room and fell asleep immediately. When he woke up the next morning, he recalled the experience of the day before. Everything had been wonderful. He had made new friends with Wei Ming, had a great time chatting, and had eaten and drunk a lot of meat and wine.

Then, back at the hotel, what did Director Li Hanxiang say to me? Something like... he wanted me to play the male lead!?
~
Wei Ming had just woken up from the four pink arms. He had stayed up too late yesterday. Wei Ming was already strong, and he had been eating kidneys all night, so he was incredibly vigorous.

Looking at his two satisfied older sisters, Wei Ming felt as pleased as if he were looking at his own creation, and he wished every day was Sunday.

However, Wei Ming couldn't help but think of Melinda, who was far away in London. In terms of combat power, he felt that the combined power of Sheryl and Melinda was about the same as Melinda.

Wei Ming was hesitant to challenge all three of them at the same time.

But if it were two older sisters plus a younger sister from Hong Kong… Wei Ming suppressed his impulse.

"Stop fooling around, the sisters still need to catch up on their sleep."

It was late at night in London, and Melinda was working at her desk. When she put the last page of the manuscript aside, she stood up and stretched: "Finally finished revising!"

She received Wei Ming's novel last month and read it through immediately. She was deeply shocked after reading it. Although it is a science fiction novel, it is entertaining while blatantly alluding to the issue of apartheid currently facing South Africa.

My ex-boyfriend is such a good novelist!
However, to be fair, since it was written in English, there were still many problems. Melinda revised the draft day and night before she could confidently hand it over to the company for the next step.

Although the sales of this type of science fiction can't compare to children's literature, Melinda has already come up with a promotional strategy by adding the current hot topic of South Africa.

Not long after, Jin Yong, who works for Hong Kong's Ming Pao, also received the simplified Chinese manuscript sent by Wei Ming.

After reading this novel, he was as shocked as if he were reading Kafka's "The Metamorphosis" for the first time. He unilaterally declared that Wei Ming had won against Ni Kuang this time.

In his accompanying letter, Wei Ming informed Jin Yong that Macmillan Publishing in the UK had received the English manuscript and that they were preparing to publish it directly as a book.

Jin Yong's work will be serialized in Ming Pao, but the editors need to change it to traditional Chinese characters and reformat it first.

While Wei Ming's novel was being prepared for release in the UK and Hong Kong in different formats, he had already packed his bags, ready to go to Yangzhou with the cast and crew of "Journey to the West".
……

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