Exciting 1979!

Chapter 423: Journey to the West Premieres, Wei Ming Enters Shanghai
Today's scene mainly features Emperor Xianfeng, Prince Gong, and Empress Dowager Cixi. Zhang Fengyi arrived early but couldn't see the female lead, so he had to film their scenes together first, pretending she was actually there.

Liang Jiahui and Zhang Fengyi have been going to and from get off work together recently and have developed a mutual respect. Liang Jiahui has even gone to the film academy with Zhang Fengyi a few times and is quite popular. As for Zhang Tielin, it's not time for his father-in-law An Dehai to make his appearance yet.

As it was nearing the end of the workday, Liu Xiaoqing finally appeared, her face covered in sweat as if she had run all the way. Everyone stared at her in silence. She knew she had made a big mistake, so she brought a lot of food to add to everyone's lunch.

Then she walked up to director Li Hanxiang and sincerely apologized: "Director, I'm so sorry. I was supposed to be back last night, but the train was delayed, which made me late."

Li Hanxiang was silent for about half a minute, then stood up from the director's chair: "Ms. Liu Xiaoqing, thank you for your hard work during this time. Please go back and tell your superiors that I need to replace the female lead and reshoot the previous scenes. I won't hold you accountable for this extra expense, as I know you can't afford to pay for it anyway."

When Liu Xiaoqing heard that Li Hanxiang was going to replace her as the female lead, she was terrified. The money wasted on reshooting the scenes that had taken a month was something she couldn't afford to pay back. But the foreign investors had suffered such a huge loss because of her, and it was unlikely that her company or China Film Group would forgive her.

Liu Xiaoqing, who had just acted nonchalantly and thought he could easily control Li Hanxiang, was now terrified.

"Director, please give me a chance. I really know I was wrong. Yesterday, when I knew I was going to miss the train, I wanted nothing more than to walk all the way back to Yanjing. I really..."

"Remember to leave the script with us." After saying this, Li Hanxiang stopped looking at her, his expression resolute. The actors who had previously been on good terms with Liu Xiaoqing did not dare to plead for her.

At the critical moment, Liu Xiaoqing saw Wei Ming walking over.

"Teacher Wei, please help me persuade Director Li. I really know I was wrong. Please don't replace me." Liu Xiaoqing's eyes were filled with tears. She had been strong-willed for half her life, but at this moment she really chickened out. She couldn't bear the terrible impact of being replaced halfway through filming. Her acting career might be ruined. Which director would dare to use her in the future?

Wei Ming sighed, pulled Liu Xiaoqing aside, and asked her in a secluded spot, "What have you been doing these past few days? Tell me the truth."

Facing the only person who might be able to persuade the director on her behalf, Liu Xiaoqing dared not hide the truth. She explained, "I went out with some friends to perform for some factories. We were paid."

He really did go out for a gig.

Wei Ming asked curiously, "How much did you earn?"

Liu Xiaoqing mumbled, "It's not much, it can't compare to yours, it's just, just a few hundred yuan."

The several hundred yuan was too tempting for her, a top-tier actress in China, almost a year's salary, so she took the risk. If it weren't for the extra performance she had to do in Handan, she wouldn't have missed her train back and caused such a big trouble.

After understanding the situation, Wei Ming led Liu Xiaoqing to Li Hanxiang.

"Director, are you calm now?"

Li Hanxiang snorted, "Pleading is useless, it won't matter who comes today!"

Wei Ming: "I just gave Liu Xiaoqing a severe scolding. Why don't you give her a chance? Look, I chose her, and this is what happened. I can't escape the blame either."

"I do not blame you."

"But I can't forgive myself. How about this: if you insist on replacing Liu Xiaoqing, then I must bear the losses caused by the reshoot, whether it's a million or whatever, I'll pay it!"

Liu Xiaoqing was so shocked she couldn't speak. One million! There really are people in this world who would take a million!
"What are you doing? I can't possibly take your money." Li Hanxiang waved his hand.

Wei Ming: "This matter started because of me. I can't let the people of Hong Kong feel disheartened, so I have to fill the gaps, unless you are willing to give Liu Xiaoqing a chance."

Liu Xiaoqing looked at Wei Ming with gratitude, then looked at Li Hanxiang with tears streaming down her face.

Finally, Li Hanxiang sighed, "Alright, alright, I'll give Xiao Wei face. Go change your clothes. You must finish filming all the scenes this afternoon. We can't delay the schedule."

Upon hearing that Li Hanxiang had finally relented, Liu Xiaoqing quickly bowed to the two men to express her gratitude, then ran off to get her makeup done. She probably wouldn't dare leave the film crew again.

Wei Ming and Li Heizi exchanged a knowing glance.

When Wei Ming suggested replacing Liu Xiaoqing, Li Hanxiang immediately objected. They had been filming for a month and spent so much money; how could they just replace her like that?

So the two put on this show, one playing the bad cop and the other the good cop, with the aim of scaring Liu Xiaoqing so that she wouldn't see the benefits of making money through gigs and commit the same mistake again in the future.

This film will take more than half a year to shoot, and we will be working together for a long time afterward. The female lead, who has the most screen time, has to listen to the director, otherwise she won't be able to work.

After helping director Li Hanxiang tame the wildest female star in mainland China, Wei Ming returned to school and had to ask for leave again.

Because there was "Journey to the West" to watch that evening, Wei Ming went straight to Nanluoguxiang after work and even called Tuanjiehu to ask Sister Lin to come over and watch TV together.

The color TV in Tuanjiehu is the biggest among Wei Ming's several homes, and it looks the best. This color TV is a full 29 inches in size, and it sat in the Friendship Store for a year before Wei Ming finally bought it.

Zhu Lin wasn't after the big color TV; he just thought that he and Xiaoxue were going to Shanghai soon, so he decided to indulge himself one last time.

When Zhu Lin arrived, Gong Xue hadn't gone home yet; it was just the two of them, Wei Ming and her. They started by watching the news.

Gong Xue didn't go home until the weather forecast came out.

"I ran into Liu Xiaoqing when I came out of the factory," Gong Xue said as soon as he returned.

Wei Ming asked, "Oh, how is she?"

"That's great. Oh, by the way, she also said she wanted to treat you to dinner, and she's already booked a place," Gong Xue said with a playful look in his eyes. "Why would she invite you to dinner for no reason?"

Wei Ming smiled and put his arm around Xue Jie, saying, "You'll know when you come to dinner."

Gong Xue: "Okay, then I'll definitely go. I've already made a reservation at Quanjude tomorrow."

Zhu Lin hurriedly said, "Can I join in? I'm also curious why she's looking for my man."

Gong Xue: "Wouldn't that be a bad idea? Quanjude is quite expensive."

Wei Ming laughed and said, "You don't need to think about saving her money. She's not short of money now. It's settled. Tomorrow, the three of us will eat at her place. She should be able to spend this little bit of money."

The two looked at Wei Ming with suspicion. Just then, the weather forecast ended, and Journey to the West began!

Since it's just one episode, there's no opening theme song. It just shows a single scene introducing the story: Journey to the West, adapted from Wu Cheng'en's novel, about exorcising demons in Wuji Kingdom, and then it begins.

Because there is no opening credits, there are no introductions such as director or chief consultant; the film jumps straight into the main feature.

The four main characters (master and disciples) did not appear at the beginning; instead, the storyline focused on the King and Queen of Wuji Kingdom and the prince.

The two clever girls immediately noticed that something was wrong with the king. Wei Ming smiled and revealed the secret: "That's right, he's a monster." The two girls weren't annoyed by the spoiler; instead, they proudly declared how clever they were.

A few minutes later, the four members of the pilgrimage team finally appeared after much anticipation.

Upon seeing the familiar face of Chi Zhongrui playing Tang Sanzang, Gong Xue nodded: "He's quite convincing."

Then the three disciples appeared, and Zhu Lin exclaimed, "Wow! This Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie really look alike, how did they do that?"

Wei Ming explained the special effects makeup for the two of them. When they heard that they had to use glue to stick monkey hair and pig heads on their faces, Zhu Lin and Gong Xue sighed. Filming this movie must have been really tough. Luckily, they weren't playing demons.

"Journey to the West" can be considered the first fantasy drama in mainland China. Moreover, it had a high investment and exquisite production. Compared with previous TV series, it has a movie-like quality. Of course, it was shot on film.

Immediately afterwards, the master and disciples arrived at the temple. Sun Wukong made a move, displaying many extraordinary skills. Gong Xue and Zhu Lin watched with great interest. Later, there was even a special effect of Tang Sanzang's soul leaving his body. Wei Ming had also come up with the idea for all of this, leaving the viewers in front of the TV stunned.

It's beautiful and interesting!
Of course, there's also a bit of horror, but this episode is already the limit of horror in "Journey to the West".

Right now, Wei Ping'an's family of four, Li Chengru's courtyard house, Wei Hong and her roommates in the TV room of the dormitory building, and millions of other TV viewers are all watching this TV series without blinking.

This episode was relatively easy to film, but it was much more appealing than previous TV series, and even comparable to the imported "Huo Yuanjia". The fight scenes shown by Sun Wukong were outstanding, making boys want to pull out a stick as soon as they saw them.

Wei Ming had a premonition that the release of this drama would drain the savings of many families, just for a television set, and that the number of sets sold nationwide would soon exceed 3000 million.

An episode of the TV series is only forty minutes long and ends quickly, leaving viewers wanting more. Gong Xue said, "I reckon CCTV's phones will be ringing off the hook tomorrow."

Zhu Lin: "I also want to see other well-known Journey to the West stories, such as Havoc in Heaven, Three Battles with the White Bone Demon, and The True and False Monkey King."

Wei Ming: "It's no use thinking about it. The earliest we can see other Journey to the West stories is next year."

There are still six months left, and we don't know how many episodes can be filmed, or whether Sister Xue and Sister Lin will be able to join the crew this year.

The next afternoon, Wei Ming made a special trip to CCTV to meet with director Yang Jie.

Sure enough, she said the station received many calls from people in Beijing today, asking if there would be any new episodes of Journey to the West airing tonight.

These days, people with telephones at home are rarer than those with televisions; they're not exactly ordinary people.

Yang Jie remarked with emotion, "The station director's criticism was very insightful; now we need to take real action."

"What are you planning to film next?" Wei Ming asked.

Yang Jie said, "Next, we will basically film in order. We will first film the Monkey King's first appearance and his appointment as the Keeper of the Heavenly Horses. We will also film all the scenes in the Heavenly Court, Flower Fruit Mountain, and Dragon Palace to save time for later."

If we manage to film Sun Wukong meeting Tang Sanzang within the next six months, that would be considered a success.

After spending some time at CCTV, Wei Ming went to meet Liu Xiaoqing at Quanjude, the restaurant they had arranged to visit.

Gong Xue asked Zhu Lin to come to the Beijing Film Studio to find her. When Liu Xiaoqing saw the two of them, she invited Zhu Lin along as well. Now that she was rich, she didn't care about having an extra pair of chopsticks and an extra mouth.

The manager of Quanjude specially arranged a private room for the three leading actresses and a young literary figure from China.

If it weren't for work, the manager would have loved to eavesdrop on the relationship between these four people.

However, when Liu Xiaoqing met Wei Ming, who mentioned Gong Xue on the left and Zhu Lin on the right, she managed to refrain from gossiping about the strange relationship between the three of them. Instead, she started talking about her own gossip, specifically about the matter of "The Wilderness".

"This matter has had a significant impact, so I thought I'd write an autobiography to clarify things and also address some of the misunderstandings the public had about me before."

Gong Xue was somewhat taken aback. Writing an autobiography? This act alone was bound to attract gossip. What actor writes an autobiography in their thirties? Many veteran artists in their fifties and sixties haven't even started yet.

However, Liu Xiaoqing didn't care about that. She wrote it anyway, and she could even earn some royalties.

She asked Wei Ming, "I've never published a book before. Should I write a preface for this? Would it be better to have a celebrity write the preface?"

Her eyes gleamed as she said this, clearly directed at Wei Ming, this contemporary literary giant.

Wei Ming waved his hand: "I don't think it's necessary. How many words can your autobiography possibly contain? At most, a little over ten thousand words. The preface might even be a few thousand words long, which could easily overshadow the main content."

Wei Ming has made it very clear that he won't write a preface for someone in the film and television industry unless they have a very good relationship with them. He might write a preface when Sister Xue and Sister Lin are writing their autobiographies, but he's afraid they won't dare to write their true autobiographies.

If written truthfully, it would probably sell out.

Hearing Wei Ming say that, Liu Xiaoqing stopped bringing up the matter, since Wei Ming had already helped her a lot.

Wei Ming said, "However, I can write a short preface for you, which can be placed on the cover or title page, summarizing the book in a simple sentence to entice readers to spend money."

"What did you say?" The three of them looked at him together.

Wei Ming directly quoted Liu Xiaoqing's later words: "It's hard to be a woman, it's even harder to be a famous woman, and it's extremely difficult to be a single famous woman."

Yes, Liu Xiaoqing is currently single; she just got divorced this year.

Last year, her ex-husband frequently came to the Beijing Film Studio guesthouse to cause trouble. Liu Xiaoqing is now a single woman, but she has met her future second husband, Chen Guojun, through filming. It was he who made Jiang Wen kneel down and write a confession a few years later.

He is a well-known actor at Changchun Film Studio and is working hard to transfer to Beijing Film Studio. He is also currently married.

Upon hearing Wei Ming's short preface, Liu Xiaoqing murmured it several times, then exclaimed, "This is exactly what I felt!"

After the event, Zhu Lin and Gong Xue went back to Nanluoguxiang together, while Wei Ming went back to the Overseas Chinese Apartment. He and Gong Xue agreed to meet at the airport the next day, as they were going to Shanghai together.

Due to strong audience feedback, "Exorcising Demons in Wuji Kingdom" was rebroadcast tonight; the people's demand for spiritual and cultural enrichment is simply too strong.

I wonder what people of this era would think if they saw the Transformers animated series.

At this time, Shanghai Animation Film Studio had already completed three episodes of the Transformers animation ahead of schedule and was waiting for Wei Ming's inspection.

To meet the deadline, they didn't even have time to do voice-over. However, Wei Ming said that voice-over is not necessary, and they will use local voice actors when entering the Taiwanese market.

Wei Ming's single sentence will determine whether they can earn the remaining two million Hong Kong dollars.
(End of this chapter)