Exciting 1979!

Chapter 418 Wei Ming's English Science Fiction Novel Premieres Globally!

After dinner, Wei Ming returned to the Overseas Chinese Apartment. Xiao Hong also came back; Wei Ming had called her back because the Overseas Chinese Apartment would be conducting a census the next day.

Unlike other Peking University students whose household registration is at the university, Xiaohong's household registration was transferred to the Overseas Chinese Apartment long ago, and Wei Ming is the head of the household.

The next day, as the two were enjoying the fragrant, yolky salted duck eggs from Gaoyou, someone knocked on the door. When they opened it, they saw Grandpa Sun with Grandma Sun from the neighborhood office; they were a couple.

Behind the two was a police officer named Brother Sun, their son.

Wei Ming laughed: "So you three are here as guests? Come in, come in, we're eating right now."

Grandpa Sun laughed and said, "Teacher Wei is joking. We are here to conduct a population census."

"Okay, I'll cooperate however you want."

Grandma Sun asked, "Teacher Wei, where are your parents' household registrations?"

Wei Ming: "We're still in our hometown. It's just me and Xiao Hong in this household."

Grandma Sun took out a form and began to record information, including name, relationship to the head of household, gender, age, ethnicity, marital status, education level, occupation, and place of origin.

After Wei Ming finished speaking, Wei Hong took over, while he chatted with Grandpa Sun and Brother Sun.

"Our country's population must exceed one billion this time." Wei Ming remembered that the second census had a population of 7.2 million, which was in 1964.

Grandpa Sun: "I think it's about right. Besides, the population of Yanjing is estimated to be around ten million. It's still better to have a Yanjing household registration. Haven't you seen that even the big star Gong Xue has settled in Yanjing?"

It turned out that Wei Ming was right; the total population exceeded one billion. However, Grandpa Sun overestimated it. Beijing eventually had over 9 million people, while Shanghai exceeded 10 million.

Brother Sun said, "Although family planning is being strictly enforced now, I think the population will still increase. With so many mouths to feed, we'll probably have to tighten our belts and live a hard life for a few more years."

After cooperating with the census, Xiaohong went to school, while Wei Ming first went to Houhai to deliver his mother's bicycle to the courtyard house there before going to work.

Although he was supposed to be at work, he was mainly busy working on the script for "The Shepherd's Spring." In between, Liang Xiaosheng even went to Peking University to check on things.

Based on his understanding of Wei Ming, he estimated that a mere script could be completed in half a month, after all, Teacher Wei was known for his speed, and this wasn't his first time writing a script.

But Wei Ming told him to wait a little longer, that there was no rush.

Liu Zhenyun was also a little anxious, as the Class of '78 would be graduating and leaving in two months.

“Professor Wei, the school anniversary is coming soon, what about the song you promised us…” He came to the library on behalf of all the Peking University students from the Class of '78.

Wei Ming laughed and said, "I've already written it. Tomorrow, I'll bring my guitar to your dorm."

"Alright, alright, then we'll be all set for you!"

Wei Ming then asked with concern, "Has your assigned work unit been determined?"

Liu Zhenyun whispered, "It's basically the China Farmers' Daily now. I'll continue to use my writing skills."

This workplace is pretty good. The newspaper is a central-level newspaper founded in 80, and the workplace is located in Yanjing, so I won't have to be in a long-distance relationship with my girlfriend.

After work, Wei Ming first went to Tuanjiehu, where he had left his guitar. He picked it up and then began to play, sing, and compose music.

Zhu Lin had just come out of the shower, and the towel could only cover part of her body, making her look quite erotic.

Wei Ming was in no mood to play the piano or compose music. He was about to turn into a werewolf when Zhu Lin said, "I'll pack your things later, and you can take this piano with you. It'll save us from being found out that we're living together."

"Huh? It can't be that bad. It would be so inconvenient for me to stay overnight here in the future, since there aren't even any spare clothes."

“You can bring your own change of clothes. You can use mine for pajamas. We were just too careless before. Today I saw people from the neighborhood committee going up and down the stairs, checking household registrations door-to-door. It was terrifying,” Zhu Lin said.

After saying that, she lay down on Wei Ming's lap like a kitten: "Keep playing, it sounds beautiful, I love listening to it."

Wei Ming put away his guitar: "I'm not playing anymore, I'm going to practice percussion!"

~
The next day, Wei Ming brought his guitar to work. In the afternoon, Liu Zhenyun invited him to have lunch at the No. 1 canteen. It was Liu Zhenyun and several classmates who served Wei Ming a meal with both meat and vegetables, showing their sincerity.

Liu Zhenyun kept saying, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Wei. It's not easy to write a song. It's because of our deep feelings for each other."

The surrounding area was mostly filled with students from the class of '78, including those from the Chinese Literature Department, Law Department, and Library Science Department. There were quite a few familiar faces around.

Everyone already knew that Teacher Wei had composed a new song for the 78th graduating class, and they were all very interested. Even though they were busy with their graduation theses and defenses, they still followed Wei Ming into the boys' dormitory after dinner.

Moreover, it wasn't limited to boys; quite a few female classmates who loved music and admired Wei Ming also came, and most of them brought tape recorders, ready to record the song as soon as possible and listen to it and learn it slowly.

Upon entering Liu Zhenyun's dormitory, all his roommates were present, along with Liu Zhenyun's girlfriend Guo Jianmei, his fellow Henan native Li Shulei, and female students from the 78 Chinese Literature Department, including Zhang Manling and Dai Jinhua.

Students like Luo Yihe and Hu Chunhua from the Chinese Literature Department of Class of '79 could only stand outside the door.

Wei Ming gently plucked the strings, feeling like he was being forced into becoming a powerful singer. The next song wasn't too difficult, but it was still a bit more challenging than "Wishing You a Smooth Journey." He would need to find a suitable person to sing it later.

Last year, I wished the Class of '77 a safe journey. This year, I have only two words for everyone: goodbye.

Liu Zhenyun winked and said, "That sounds a bit perfunctory."

Before Wei Ming could make a move, Guo Jianmei started to attack him, pinching his waist hard.

"Teacher Wei, please continue," Guo Jianmei said politely.

Wei Ming: "I'm giving you a self-accompanied rendition of 'Goodbye.' The lyrics are here; feel free to copy them."

This is a song from the 21st century. The style is still too trendy for this era, but the mood is perfect for bidding farewell to these college students.

Wei Ming didn't do any complicated arrangements; he just used a guitar to express his feelings.

"I'm afraid I won't have the chance to say goodbye to you, because maybe I'll never see you again. Tomorrow I'm leaving this familiar place and you, and we'll be separated. My tears will fall..." The students fell silent instantly, with only the faint sound of the tape recorder playing.

"I will remember your face forever / I will cherish the memories you gave me / These days will never be erased from my heart..."

After the song ended, Wei Ming noticed that some of his classmates had already started to shed tears. What's going on? I didn't mean to be sentimental.

Moreover, he felt that his singing was quite light and cheerful, with a kind of campus folk song style.

Whether they cried or not, everyone applauded after the music ended, the applause was so enthusiastic it almost lifted the roof off the dormitory.

At that moment, a path was cleared outside, and Ms. Cheng Yuzhui, the homeroom teacher of Class 78 Chinese, walked in.

"Teacher Cheng."

“Teacher Wei,” Cheng Yuzhu shook hands with Wei Ming, “this song is really great. From the simple word ‘goodbye,’ I can hear Teacher Wei’s deep affection for the students.”

Liu Zhenyun also said shamelessly, "I also think that the two words 'goodbye' are more meaningful than the six words 'wishing you a safe journey.' Teacher Wei really loves our Class of '78 more."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "Actually, I think we should have sung for you the day before you left school. Now we can release all the emotions of parting, otherwise you might not feel anything when you leave school."

“No, we’ll find someone who can sing to sing it again, and the emotion will probably be doubled.”

Wei Ming, hmm, that mouth of yours is really sweet.

Since most of the students were from liberal arts departments, they became interested in Wei Ming's new novel. Although some people liked Wei Ming's songs, most people felt that writing songs was just for fun, and that Wei Ming's articles, especially his novels, were the only ones that could truly convey moral principles.

"The novel should be available soon."

~
Hong Kong, headquarters of Langning Toys Factory.

Watching trucks carrying goods head straight for the dock, Wei Lingling was filled with ambition. Both the American Smurfs blind boxes and the Japanese Arale blind boxes had reached or even exceeded the expected sales, not to mention the local historical cat and Old Master Q.

Moreover, the truck that just left contained not only toys, but also blind box vending machines patented by Langning.

The factory also plans to develop claw machines.

She had just returned from Shenzhen today. She had recently returned from the United States and made another trip to Shenzhen to complete the groundbreaking ceremony for the first factory on the mainland.

Local officials hope that the factory will be export-oriented. No problem, they will let them make toys for export to Europe, America and Japan. Once the factory is fully operational, its production capacity is estimated to exceed that of the four factories in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The speed of development in Shenzhen impressed Wei Lingling. Perhaps the first phase of the factory will be operational next year, allowing for simultaneous production and construction.

The work on musical greeting cards and blind box toys is on track. What she cares about most now is "Transformers". The comics in the United States have not been officially released yet, and the Shanghai Animation Film Studio in Shanghai is producing the first animated film. So she asked Lizhi about the sales of "Madman Comics".

Lizhi is no longer a household assistant; the housework has been handed over to a housekeeper, and she now has a more important job.

Wearing an alluring office lady outfit, Lizhi said, "Mr. Wei, 'Madman Comics' is selling 20 copies per issue in Hong Kong recently, which is almost the limit of the Hong Kong comics market."

Wei Lingling: "What are your thoughts?"

The "Madman Comics" magazine now includes a review page at the end of each issue, where readers can rate the serialized comics to assess their popularity and reputation. They also hold a raffle to give away small gifts to readers who submit their review pages.

Lizhi also learned from there that this data was only collected internally by the company.

"Qin's Moon and Storm Riders still lead in terms of reputation and popularity, followed by Happy Ghost and Fight Back to School. Transformers has a decent rating, but it's not as popular."

Wei Lingling wasn't surprised. Hong Kong people don't have a strong sense of science fiction, so it seems that the toys won't need to be tested in Hong Kong. It's better to focus on the American market directly. Once it becomes popular in Europe and America, the news will spread back and the Hong Kong market will naturally accept it.

Moreover, whether or not she accepted it, Wei Lingling didn't care that much about the market of more than five million people. After achieving success in the American market, she realized how much of a benefit population is to businessmen.

Now, she hopes more than anyone else that China can become a highly developed economy where everyone is well-off. The United States, with its more than 200 million people, has already given her a taste of success, and she simply can't believe the potential of a mainland market with a billion people.

Of course, the mainland market is not very attractive to her now, and it is unknown whether it will become a vibrant consumer market in ten years. Hopefully, her nephew's prediction about the mainland is correct.

I heard he even plans to help his fellow villagers in his hometown build a factory; it's truly a case of the rich helping the poor.

After chatting for a bit, Lizhi left, leaving the May 1st edition of Ming Pao on Wei Lingling's desk before she left.

Wei Lingling quite enjoys reading Ming Pao, especially their current affairs section, which is neither too left nor too right and is relatively fair and objective.

However, today Lizhi directly opened the literature section and placed it on Wei Lingling's desk, allowing her to immediately spot the name of a novel.

The novel is called District 9, followed by a long subtitle: Wei Ming's latest sci-fi masterpiece makes its global debut!
~
Zhou Huimin also bought this issue of Ming Pao as soon as possible, because Ah Ming said that his new novel would be serialized in Ming Pao. So during this period, she would buy a copy of Ming Pao every day when she passed by the newsstand. After buying so many copies in vain for so many days, she finally got the one she wanted to read.

She brought the newspaper to school and started secretly reading it during class.

Today is also the release date of the new issue of "Madman Comics". Most of the students in the class are secretly reading comics, and Amin stands out from the crowd.

In science fiction, alien creatures are usually powerful and ferocious, posing a threat to Earth. At the beginning of District 9, an alien spaceship suddenly lands on Earth, and the Earthlings are on high alert.

This section is basically the same as the traditional science fiction trope of aliens landing on Earth. The major powers on Earth unite and target all their most advanced weapons at the mysterious and enormous alien spacecraft. Even the two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, temporarily join forces.

However, Amin believed that Amin would not write such a clichéd plot. Sure enough, what followed was quite surprising. It turned out that these aliens came to Earth not to invade, but to seek refuge. Their planet had been ravaged by war and was no longer habitable.

Here, Wei Ming expresses his anti-war sentiments, using the fate of aliens as a metaphor for Earth, and subtly satirizing the US and the Soviet Union at the time. He suggests that if the two superpowers drag Earth into the shadow of nuclear war, the fate of Earthlings might be even worse than that of aliens, because we haven't even built a spaceship yet and can only stay on Earth, unable to escape.

After a meeting and consultation, the leaders of the Human Alliance chose to accept the aliens over completely eliminating them. This was not out of a sense of saintliness, but rather because they did not know what price would be paid for eliminating the aliens.

Accepting them did not mean they could make Earth their home. Eventually, humanity designated a region in South Africa for the aliens to live in, but they could not leave this area.

This area is called District Nine...

(End of this chapter)