Exciting 1979!

Chapter 457 Laba Festival, Filming Wrapped Up, Hugo Award

Although large-scale masterpieces like Qi Baishi's "Pine and Eagle" are rare among more than 9000 paintings and calligraphy works.

Although an auction price of 400 million does not mean that the market price will remain stable at 400 million.

However, given the staggering number of 9145 pieces, even with a lower average price, a figure of 100 billion is still within reach.

Even though he didn't know that these paintings by modern artists would be so valuable in the future, Gong Xue felt that Uncle Jiefang had made a good deal from the moment he saw this "Pine and Eagle" painting.

The next day, in order to make a good impression on Xu Shufen, Zhu Lin and Gong Xue got up very early, but they were still a step behind Xu Shufen, who had already prepared breakfast.

Worried that the two girls would feel uncomfortable, Xu Shufen left after finishing her meal and hurried home to talk to her husband.

“There’s no trace of my son living in that house, so we probably didn’t live together,” Xu Shufen said.

Old Wei nodded: "At least he's a bit cautious. Even men would keep this kind of thing to themselves. How could a literary guy like him make such a big fuss?"

Xu Shufen has now accepted that her son inherited his grandfather's traits from his grandparents. Her father-in-law had an ambiguous relationship with Ping An's mother even though he was married to her.

While his mother-in-law and mother-in-law were still alive, he married Aunt Lin in Taiwan, so his son can be considered to have inherited his father's traits.

Fortunately, Jiefangren is honest and a reliable man.

Wei Jiefang added, “Last night I drank quite a bit with Wenhua and got a lot of information out of him. His son is quite good at balancing things. The house in Tuanjiehu is for Zhu Lin, the two-courtyard house in Nanluoguxiang is for Gong Xue, and Gong Xue also has an old villa in Shanghai, so he bought a three-courtyard house in Houhai for Zhu Lin.”

Hearing that there were so many houses, Xu Shufen said anxiously, "Oh dear, if they have them, does Amin have to have one too?"

“Of course,” Old Wei said. “My son definitely has enough money to buy a house. He can afford it. He just doesn’t have time to choose a house. I know what I need to do next.”

"What are you doing?"

Old Wei: "Help Amin find a decent house. I'll ride my old bicycle around town, collecting antique furniture and looking for houses for sale."

Xu Shufen wondered if this was spoiling that brat too much, but if she were to advise him to settle down, she would feel bad if she had to give up any of these girls.

Oh well, let them be.

"You've got something to do, but what am I supposed to do?" Xu Shufen was worried. Now that Xintiandi's employee meals had a stable supply channel, there was no need for her, the "Empress Dowager," to cook anymore, and she was too bored.

"Just cook for me, okay? I saw in my son's book 'A Bite of China' that there are so many things I've never tried. You can cook them for me."

Xu Shufen nodded: "Alright, I'll take a look. My son is such a picky eater, I don't know which of those three girls I can count on."

~
At this moment, in the Emei Film Studio in Chengdu.

The entire crew watched as Pan Hong wrote a final letter with tears in her eyes, which was eventually passed on to Liu Luoguo through Emperor Qianlong.

This scene depicts the home of Mr. and Mrs. Zhong, which has two distinct appearances. Previously, the home featured many musical elements, including a record player, but now it has become much more desolate.

After writing the letter with tears in her eyes, Teacher Zhong's wife walked out of the house, where a lake was not far away.

It was an outdoor scene filmed at night, which had already been shot before. So when Pan Hong walked out of the house, Wei Ming clapped and said, "Great, perfect! That's a wrap!"

After nearly five months, Wei Ming's feature film debut has finally wrapped up filming.

To celebrate, Wei Ming specially asked Feng Xiaogang to buy some fireworks and set them off at the Emei Factory, not at Mount Emei or the Himalayas.

All the participants were very happy. It was a very enjoyable filming experience. First of all, the budget was ample, and we ate meat almost every day.

Moreover, director Wei Ming's talent has won over everyone. He is not an amateur. Even Chen Kaige and Zhang Yimou, two academics, have to bow down in front of him. Most of the amazing movie shots and scene mise-en-scène are controlled and completed by Wei Ming.

After filming was completed, Wei Ming would stay at the Emei Film Studio for a few more days to check the footage that had already been shot. With the set still set and the main actors present, any problems could be reshot promptly.

That evening, Han Sanping and Wei Ming went over the accounts.

The Children's Film Studio invested 20 yuan, and Wei Ming spent nearly 40 yuan in RMB and HKD. After post-production, it should easily exceed 60 yuan.

"This is quite an investment. Will the overseas market be able to recoup the 40?" He was a little worried for Wei Ming. Although Wei Ming didn't say it explicitly, based on his understanding of Wei Ming, if DreamWorks Pictures had nothing to do with him, he certainly wouldn't be so extravagant.

It's normal for someone who can easily earn foreign exchange and raise hundreds of millions in Hong Kong to have a company overseas.

Wei Ming said, "I'm not really sure myself. This film isn't very commercially viable. We'll see if it wins any awards at the Cannes Film Festival. If it does, it shouldn't be difficult to recoup the costs."

Wei Ming was being modest. If Han Sanping knew how much money his ten-minute short film "The Witness" had made overseas, he certainly wouldn't have had this worry.

There are still four months left. I wonder how Hu Weili from Yanjing is doing with his music.

During his last few days in Chengdu, besides reviewing the filming footage with Chen Kaige and the others, Wei Ming also took some time to visit the Science Fiction World magazine office and meet Brother Lao Wan.

Although District 9 was not first published in Science Fiction World, the three Jurassic Park books have revitalized the magazine and made it a leader in domestic science fiction literature.

Wei Ming's arrival drew a crowd of editors, who were all proud of him because "District 9" was China's first science fiction novel with global influence, and it was already considered a classic by Chinese science fiction fans even though it had only been published for six months.

The Jurassic Park series actually sells better overseas, but it doesn't yet evoke the same level of pride or elation among Chinese people.

The inclusion of political elements, giving the novel depth and making it difficult to ponder, is what truly showcases Wei Ming's status as a "science fiction master author."

Besides articles in the commentary field, awards can also be used to cultivate a sense of sophistication.

So when Wei Ming came over this time, he made a suggestion: "When I went back to Yanjing to receive the Mao Dun Literature Prize some time ago, I was thinking that there is the Mao Prize for pure literature, and there is also the National Excellent Children's Literature Award for children's literature. I heard that even Story Club plans to award a reader's favorite story award every year, but science fiction literature does not seem to have such an authoritative award."

Wei Ming's words were a wake-up call. The editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World immediately had this pioneering idea and asked Wei Ming to name it.

Wei Ming thought for a moment and said, "In the international science fiction literary world, the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award are the most prestigious, one to commemorate a person and the other to look to the stars."

The editor-in-chief said, "Among domestic science fiction writers, Mr. Zheng Wenguang is the most respected. His works, such as From Earth to Mars and Towards Centaurus, have influenced two generations. He was also the most internationally renowned science fiction writer in my country before Mr. Wei."

The deputy editor said, "Naming it after Mr. Wenguang is probably inappropriate. He is too famous and attracts a lot of attention, which may bring him trouble."

The editor-in-chief nodded, agreeing that it was indeed inappropriate and might put the old gentleman on a pedestal. He looked at Wei Ming and said, "How about Professor Wei bestows a name upon me?"

Wei Ming initially declined modestly, but finally reluctantly nominated a "Galaxy Award".

“The universe is too vast, so we can start with the Milky Way,” Wei Ming said. “Of course, this is just my opinion, and perhaps you all have other better options.”

However, everyone agreed that the "Galaxy Award" was quite good.

In fact, Wei Ming's proposal for the design award in "Science Fiction World" was inspired by Melinda.

In a recent letter from the UK, she told Wei Ming that she had applied for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for District 9 and Jurassic Park, respectively.

Jurassic Park applied for both awards last year but was not nominated. This time, with Jurassic Park III, Melinda thinks we should lower our expectations for the Nebula Awards, but we might win the Hugo Awards instead.

Although the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award are both top international science fiction awards and are known as the twin stars, the awards are slightly different.

Simply put, the Hugo Awards are a readers' award; the winning works are more readable and influential, and better represent science fiction fan culture.

The Nebula Award, on the other hand, is a judges' award that places greater emphasis on literary merit and professional competence.

Wei Ming's two science fiction works cannot compare with those of native English speakers in terms of literary quality, at least for now. Wei Ming needs to practice his English writing further, and it would be best to immerse himself in that language environment for a period of time.

Moreover, these two works don't offer anything new in terms of scientific settings, but they have an explosive global influence, so they may achieve something in the Hugo Awards, which are voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Association.

The Hugo Awards are now in the judging phase, starting with the nominations. To be on the safe side, Melinda will try to get District 9 into the shortlist.

The World Science Fiction Association allows members to become members and gain nomination and voting rights by paying a membership fee of a few dozen dollars.

~
London.

Melinda is currently reviewing the illustrations for "Night at the Museum" at the company. This is Wei Ming's new work and the most anticipated piece since the company's founding. In the two months since its establishment, the company has published two works, which can be considered as a training exercise.

After nearly half a year of polishing, Melinda felt that "Night at the Museum" was ready for publication. She was very confident in the story and the picture book series, and planned to release it simultaneously in the UK and the US, along with a promotional campaign.

Besides the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award, Melinda also wanted to help Wei Ming get the Hans Christian Andersen Award.

With this award, it's easier to pry open the wallets of those parents.

However, this possibility is even lower than that of the Nebula Award, because the Hans Christian Andersen Award, the highest honor in the world of children's literature, is awarded every two years, and an author can only receive it once in their lifetime. It is usually awarded to middle-aged and elderly people.

So young Wei Ming probably has to wait a while longer. When he has enough children's literature works, he might be able to surpass Hans Christian Andersen in his prime.

Currently, Wei Ming's only works that are truly considered children's literature overseas and have a certain influence are "Jumanji" and "The Lion King," which is not enough, far from enough.

In fact, Wei Ming was already working on his next children's literature work while filming, and it would still be written in English.

However, due to my limited English writing skills, it is still a short or medium-length story.

By the time they set off back to the capital, this little story was nearing its end.

Next, Zhang Yimou returned to Xi'an Film Studio, Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaoning returned to Children's Film Studio, and Feng Xiaogang returned to the military to complete the formalities in preparation for reporting to Yanjing Television Studio.

Meanwhile, Han Sanping and Mi Jiashan from Emei Film Studio have also confirmed that they will go to Beijing after the New Year to study at the Beijing Film Academy.

Wei Ming said goodbye to Lao Han and Lao Mi: "See you after the New Year. I'll treat you to Peking duck when I come to Beijing."

To show his spirit of sharing joy with the people, Wei Ming took the train with everyone, but he bought plane tickets for Long Xiaoyang and his grandmother so that his grandmother could travel to Beijing comfortably.

This day was the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month.

Wei Hong finished one subject's final exam and happily went home to drink Laba porridge. Then she saw two big stars helping out in the kitchen.

"Sister Zhu Lin! Sister Gong Xue!" Wei Hong exclaimed with delight, "What brings you here!"

Old Wei came out of the bedroom: "Recently, Xiao Gong helped me out, and Xiao Zhu was also busy with something, so I invited them over for a meal."

Without thinking much of it, Wei Hong laughed and said, "I can already smell it! Wow, this is such a feast today!"

As she spoke, Wei Hong placed a piece of paper in the center of the table. When the dishes were served, Gong Xue was the first to notice it: "What is this?"

Wei Hong: "Oh, it's nothing, my TOEFL test results just came out."

Gong Xue glanced at it: 66 points, 66 points, 66 points.

She comforted him, saying, "It's a foreign language exam after all, and you passed it all, which is great."

Zhu Lin followed closely behind and also saw the score. He nodded and said, "Although there is still room for improvement in the exam results, being able to get such an auspicious score means that our Xiao Hong will definitely have a smooth and successful future."

Old Wei also came over and saw the report card. Seeing that he got 66 points in all three subjects, he said angrily, "You've been abroad and often talk to foreigners, how come you only got such a few points?"

Xu Shufen brought over a bowl of eight-treasure porridge: "Alright, alright, if you didn't do well this time, there's always next time. It's not like you're going abroad right now."

After they had all finished speaking, Wei Hong calmly said, "Who said I didn't do well on the test? Do you know what the maximum score for the TOEFL is?"

"How much?" Four heads and eight eyes all looked at her.

Having garnered enough attention, Wei Hong pointed to her scores and said, "I got 66 out of 68 in listening comprehension, 66 out of 68 in grammar, and 66 out of 67 in reading comprehension. My scores are all close to full marks!"

"Oh, really?" Old Wei asked suspiciously. "How come your score has whole zeros and even zeros? That's ridiculous."

Wei Hong said proudly, "That's how it's set up. With this TOEFL score, I'm going to formally apply to Stanford after the start of the semester. I'm determined to get in this time!"

Gong Xue and Zhu Lin immediately applauded their sister-in-law in unison. They desperately hoped that their future children would inherit the intelligence of this top student and not struggle with math like Wei Ming did in junior high school.

After everyone sat down to eat, Wei Hong continued, "This score also exceeded my expectations. It's the highest TOEFL score ever achieved by a Peking University student. I have a lot to thank Amin for this..."

She frequently sent Wei Hong relevant study materials and tapes.

However, before Wei Hong could finish speaking, her mother shut her up with boiled beef. "Xiao Gong and Xiao Zhu are here, why bring up Amin?"

After lunch, Wei Hong went back to school, but she would come back for dinner that evening.

Xu Shufen wanted to chat with the two girls for a while, but then Xu Yunyun called to say that her grandmother had come to Beijing.

So Gong Xue and Zhu Lin took the opportunity to return to Tuanjiehu together, met their grandmother, and learned that Wei Ming was already on the train back to Beijing.

~
After nearly two days of long train journey, Wei Ming and his group arrived in Yanjing in the early hours of the morning.

After all, it's the capital city, and there are pedicabs available for hire even late at night.

They all went home. Wei Ming had keys to several houses in his bag, and he chose to go to Nanluoguxiang, which was relatively close, to take a gamble.

He lost the bet; he didn't see the lock.

He won his gamble; the fact that the door wasn't locked meant the person he wanted to see was inside.

Waking the two beauties at this time was a bit abrupt, so Wei Ming walked around the courtyard to make sure there was no way they could climb in before he dared to knock on the door.

Unexpectedly, the door opened within a minute, and Gong Xue and Zhu Lin pulled him in with flashlights.

Did you know I'd be back tonight?

It turned out that the two had just been warming themselves by a fire in a room in the outer courtyard. When they met, Zhu Lin rubbed his hands together, while Gong Xue, a farmer, put his hands in his pockets.

Zhu Lin said, "Based on the departure time provided by my grandmother, I guess it should be this time, since I've taken this train before."

Gong Xue: "Originally, we thought we would each guard one house, but then we realized that Tuanjiehu is a bit far from the station, so we all came here."

Wei Ming took their hands with concern: "It's so cold here. It's not as warm as an apartment building. Let's squeeze in tonight, and stay at Tuanjiehu tomorrow."

Upon entering the inner courtyard, Gong Xue saw Wei Ming glance at the west wing and said, "Uncle has temporarily placed those calligraphy and paintings here. Would you like to take a look?"

Oh dear, my parents have found out about another secret hideout.

Wei Ming waved his hand: "Let's talk about it when we have time. There are more than 9000 pieces. It would take a long time to see them all."

Even if you look at one picture per minute, and look at them non-stop for 10 hours a day, it would still take half a month.

Fortunately, Gong Xue had idly flipped through the paintings beforehand and found several exquisite pieces of extremely high quality, which Wei Ming could appreciate as soon as he entered the bedroom.

When Wei Ming saw Qi Baishi's "Pine and Eagle Painting", even though he knew the painting would fetch a very high price in the future, he was not too surprised.

But when Wei Ming saw a small painting titled "Thousands of Mountains Ablaze with Red, Forests Dyed in Autumn Colors," he was no longer calm.

"No way, this painting is actually here?!"

As mentioned before, Li Keran painted a total of 7 versions of this painting. Apart from one large version collected by Wei Ming, two other versions were officially collected, and the whereabouts of the rest are unknown. Unexpectedly, the History Museum actually has one of them!
Wei Ming hadn't considered going to the history museum because he was in the dark.

However, it's highly likely that due to limited exhibition space, most of the calligraphy and painting works have been sitting in the warehouse collecting dust. If it weren't for this clearance sale, we wouldn't have known there were such good things among them.

Wei Ming was quite tired after two days of train travel, but now he suddenly wanted to compare the differences between the two paintings of "Mountains Ablaze with Red".

"Ahem~" Seeing Wei Mingshang appreciating the painting so intently, Zhu Lin coughed lightly.

When Wei Ming turned around, he noticed that the women who had been wearing down jackets had somehow changed into thin, smooth silk pajamas.
(Today's guaranteed minimum)
(End of this chapter)