Exciting 1979!

Chapter 474 Cannes Film Festival Nomination, Buying a House in Hong Kong

Not to mention foreign countries, some people in China also did this later. Look how big that gymnastics prince's brand became.

Of course, this was only possible if the founder's name had enough influence. Pierre Cardin was a famous designer, and the gymnastics prince was the Chinese athlete who won the most Olympic gold medals at the time.

Mei Wenhua, on the other hand, is far less famous and lacks market recognition. He is not as well-known as De Biao. Now he is already a representative figure of Chinese hard-core kung fu stars. Once "The Legend of Martial Arts" is released, he can even directly endorse menswear brands.

Mei Wenhua had a clear understanding of this, so he decided on the spot to create the "Debiao" brand of menswear, which was roughly in the style of later brands like Jinba and Seven Wolves, and belonged to the hard-core menswear category.

If done well, it can not only supply Oriental Plaza, but also seize counter space from other clothing stores.

Menswear is just a trial run for clothing branding. Mei Culture believes that womenswear is easier to command higher premiums, so the focus should be on developing womenswear brands in the future.

Wei Ming pointed out the potential of sports brands, because next year is the Olympics, which will be the first Olympics that Buzz will participate in, and it will inevitably trigger a nationwide sports craze.

It's a pity that the Plum Blossom brand is now the undisputed official uniform of the national team, otherwise this would be a great advertising opportunity.

The three of them were at the Overseas Chinese Apartment. Not long after, Xu Shufen and Wei Jiefang returned one after the other, one to buy groceries and the other to pick up the child.

"Brother~ Brother~"

As soon as Lao Wei entered the door, Wei Ming heard a chorus of shouts as Xizi and Lele rushed in at the same time.

Recently, Uncle Ping An went to Canada on a business trip, and Aunt Xiao Yan's workplace was also busy. Since Lao Wei and his wife had nothing else to do, they took on the task of picking up the children in the evenings. Lao Wei rode his bicycle with one child on the back and another on the front bar.

Biaozi and Xiaomei hurriedly got up to say goodbye, as their family had prepared a meal for them.

At the dinner table, Xizi asked Wei Ming, "Brother, when are we going to Hong Kong to film a movie?"

Ever since he found out about this, he's been thinking about it constantly. He's already bragged about it to Xiaomei in his class, and he even said he'd help Wang Fei bring something to her dad.

"Didn't I say we have to wait until summer vacation?"

Hearing that they would have to wait another two months, Xizi was extremely upset. Wei Jiefang said, "We can't go to Hong Kong for now, but we can go to the Northeast next month!"

"What's so fun about Northeast China? It's not like I haven't been there before."

His maternal grandfather was the commander of the Northeast, and he visited often; it was nothing new for him.

Old Wei laughed and said, "I've never been there. Since you have, could you introduce me to two Siberian tigers when you go?"

Xizi: "I don't recognize Siberian tigers, but I do recognize some Siberian roe deer."

The two chatted back and forth until they finished eating. Then Wei Ming went into the study with Lele. Wei Ming was asking Lele for advice on some songs he had recently written for Amin.

An hour after the meal, Lü Xiaoyan came to pick up the children, and the two little ones immediately ran into their mother's arms.

While comforting the two children, Lü Xiaoyan chatted with Wei Ming about work for a while. The article "Dear, I Shrank the Child" received a good response.

"So have you had any new works recently, like the kind that are similar?"

Wei Ming did write it and sent it to Melinda, but it wasn't translated into Chinese because it wasn't suitable for the Chinese context.

"Why is it not suitable? Let me see."

“You wouldn’t understand even if I showed it to you, so let me tell you.” Then Wei Ming told a story about a killer clown who appeared in a small town, and how the children worked together to fight the demon.

Melinda had previously suggested in a letter that the horror level of the Goosebumps series could be increased, as American children are quite resistant to frights. Therefore, Wei Ming wrote two stories in a row this time.

One titled "The Clown's Horror" is already completed, while the other titled "Child's Play" is still in development.

After listening to Wei Ming's brief introduction, Lü Xiaoyan quickly waved her hand, goosebumps rising on her arms: "Then we don't need this story. Also, you and your brother can see us off. We won't come home this late again next time."

Besides Wei Ming's story, it's also because the current public security environment is too chaotic, especially at night, with all kinds of criminal activities emerging one after another.

Although Lü Xiaoyan grew up in the military and knew some martial arts, she was a woman raising two children alone, so she was helpless if something really happened.

The Ministry of Public Security has now posted wanted notices for the two kings of Northeast China all over the country. They are becoming increasingly rampant, and we must mobilize the vast ocean of the people to take them down.

This unprecedented bounty for wanted persons since the beginning of feudal China also signifies the severity of the social atmosphere. Perhaps the authorities were afraid that too strict control would affect economic development, so they were still hesitant.

Uncle Ping An won't be able to return to China from abroad until early May, while a letter from France arrived in Yanjing at the end of April.

The reply from Cannes was sent directly to the Children's Film Studio. Liang Xiaosheng personally called Wei Ming and asked him to come to the studio.

"Is that a reply from Cannes?"

"Ok!"

"What did they say?"

"I don't know, the factory manager didn't let me see the letter."

Wei Ming immediately set off for the Children's Film Studio. In addition to Director Yu Lan and Liang Xiaosheng, Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaoning, two employees of the Children's Film Studio, were also there.

They were all waiting for Wei Ming to come so they could see the letter, but in fact, Director Yu Lan had already read the letter, which is why she went to the trouble of gathering everyone together.

Logically speaking, if it were a rejection letter, there would be no way this could happen, so Wei Ming guessed, "They must have been shortlisted."

Yu Lan smiled as she opened the envelope and took out the invitation: "Congratulations, Xiao Wei, your first film has been selected by the Cannes Film Festival. The festival opens on the 7th of next month and closes on the 19th. Do you have time?"

“Of course, I can make the trip,” Wei Ming said, then asked, “How many people can go this time?”

Hearing this, Chen Kaige looked at Factory Director Yu Lan expectantly. France, Cannes! Going there would make him a superior person!
Yu Lan said, "You definitely have to go. In addition, the Film Bureau will also send a comrade to accompany you. There is one more spot available."

She glanced at Chen Kaige and Feng Xiaoning and said, "Let's ask Li Baotian if he has time first."

That's the truth. If the lead actor had the time, there would be no way the assistant director would get a chance.

Actually, Wei Ming really wanted to bring Xizi along, but unfortunately he has to film Journey to the West next month and doesn't have the time, so he had to give up.

The fact that "The Shepherd's Spring" was nominated for Cannes did not cause a stir in China. After all, Chinese films had been nominated for the three major European film festivals many times before, and animated films had even won some awards, but live-action films had not won any awards, not even consolation prizes. So everyone agreed that it should be kept low-key.

In fact, "Under the Bridge" was also submitted to Cannes, but it was not selected. So Shanghai Film Studio planned to submit it to Venice as originally planned, and Wei Ming and Sister Xue would not be able to meet in Cannes.

When Wei Ming left the Beijing Film Studio, he met Liu Xiaoqing. The two films of "The Empress Dowager" had been completed, and Liu Xiaoqing's autobiography had been published. She was now waiting for "The Empress Dowager" to shine at home and abroad so that she could surpass Gong Xue in the south and Zhu Lin in the north.

She was holding a newspaper and immediately waved to Wei Ming to stop him when she saw him: "Teacher Wei, have you read the newspaper? Comrade Gong Xue attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony of a foreign-funded factory in Shenzhen!"

"Really?" Wei Ming genuinely didn't know. He took it and looked at it. Oh, it's the Langning factory. He didn't expect it to start construction so quickly. He guessed most of the factory area was still under construction. Capitalists really are racing against time to make money.

"There were also Hong Kong stars who performed. I heard that these ribbon-cutting events usually come with a fee. How much do you think Comrade Gong Xue will get?" She's recently become addicted to doing gigs and is very curious about how much actors of the same level can earn, so she can compare herself to them.

Seeing Liu Xiaoqing's strong thirst for knowledge, Wei Ming speculated on his aunt's style: "I think it would cost at least tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars."

"What!?" Liu Xiaoqing screamed and whistled. She participated in an event, acting as a host, singing and dancing, and even organizing gatherings and recruiting people, earning only a couple hundred yuan. Gong Xue, on the other hand, could earn tens of thousands of yuan in one go? In Hong Kong dollars!
"Can it really be that high? This foreign investor is really overpaying!" Liu Xiaoqing said incoherently. "I'm not saying that Comrade Gong Xue isn't worth that much, but that's tens of thousands of Hong Kong dollars!"

Seeing that her resolve was crumbling, Wei Ming laughed and said, "I was just saying it casually. Some of the top stars I know in Hong Kong are charged this price. Maybe it will be different in mainland China."

"Yes, yes, how can the standards on the mainland be the same as those on Hong Kong?" Liu Xiaoqing secretly encouraged herself, "That must be it."

If she had Gong Xue's contact information in Hong Kong, she would definitely have written to ask how much the service fee was, at least to give herself a rough estimate.

Oh dear, why hasn't Gong Xue returned from his family visit yet?
Gong Xue didn't take the 50,000, but now he suddenly has 680,000 Hong Kong dollars in his hands.

Because the works by deceased contemporary painters such as Zhang Daqian and Qi Baishi that had been given to Liu Rulong had already been sold, after deducting institutional commissions, this was all that was left, and Liu Rulong handed them all over to Gong Xue.

Originally, it wouldn't have sold for this much, but Zhang Daqian's death at the beginning of the month did stimulate some wealthy people who liked his works, resulting in some premium prices.

This left Gong Xue deeply moved. Back then, Uncle Jiefang spent HK$30 to buy more than 9000 paintings, but now he has sold just a few of the more ordinary paintings for so much money!

Based on this auction price, those paintings and calligraphy works are now worth hundreds of millions!
Xiao Wei really has a great eye!
Gong Xue quickly wrote to Wei Ming again, asking him what to do with the money.

~
The director's film was shortlisted for Cannes, but unfortunately neither of his two older sisters were by his side, and he had no one to share his joy with. Wei Ming was heartbroken. He had just written a letter to Sister Lin to tell her about it and was about to write one to Sister Xue as well when he received a letter from Gong Xue.

Six hundred thousand yuan wasn't a huge sum for Wei Ming, so he simply replied, "You and your aunt don't know how long you'll be living there. If it's too long, it might affect Ah Long and Ah Ying's married life. So why not buy a house in Hong Kong? You and your aunt can stay there temporarily, and I won't need to stay in a hotel anymore when I go there. As for where to buy a house, Ah Long and your aunt can help you decide."

HK$68 could buy a house in Hong Kong at that time that was in a better location and of higher quality than Taikoo Shing.

Then Wei Ming wrote to his aunt, asking her to help him look into buying a house. He also advised her to buy a villa, since she and Lizhi were still renting.

“Not only can you stay here, but this will also save us the trouble of finding another filming location. You can look at the rooms first, and when I pass through Hong Kong on my way back to China from Cannes in May, we can finalize the booking together.”

Along with the letter, Wei Ming's new script was also sent to Wei Lingling. The purpose of showing her the script was to help her choose a house based on it.

Although the news from Cannes was good, Wei Ming wasn't so lucky; he wasn't notified before the Nebula Awards ceremony.

Now we can only wait for the Hugo Awards. "District 9" has been successfully nominated for the Hugo Awards, and the awards ceremony will be held around July.

~
May 4th is Peking University's anniversary; this year marks its 85th anniversary.

Wei Ping'an returned from North America before the school anniversary. Although his destination was Canada, he still risked making a mistake by meeting the wealthy old lady in the restaurant of their hotel while passing through San Francisco.

He couldn't leave his colleagues' sight for too long, so he had no choice but to invite this elder to the hotel for a chat.

Wei Lindi praised Wei Ping'an's handsome appearance, saying he was worthy of being Cheng Ziyan's son. She claimed that she was very good friends with Wei Ping'an's mother, and they first met when they were investing in movies.

However, when Wei Ping'an tried to ask her about his father, Wei Lindi fell silent.

"You should ask your uncle in Hong Kong about that."

He dismissed Wei Ping'an with a single sentence and returned to Peking University, where he saw Wei Ming preparing to go abroad.

"Xiaoming, look what I brought back." Uncle Ping'an showed Wei Ming two English books he bought in San Francisco: "Dear, I Shrank the Child" and "A Bite of China".

"I saw it in the most prominent place as soon as I entered the bookstore. I heard it sells very well and even made it onto the New York bestseller list."

Wei Ming had also heard Melinda mention this, but the one that made the list was "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids," and it was a huge hit.

While "A Bite of China" didn't make the list, its sales have remained stable, making it the top choice for Americans who want to learn about Chinese cuisine and culture.

The two walked and talked, and Wei Ming also asked about the meeting with Ni Guangnan.

"Not bad. Although he used to work at the Institute of Computing Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, he wouldn't mind switching to Peking University Founder Group if we fully support him. After all, both are government jobs with decent benefits, so he'll go wherever he feels comfortable."

This time, Wei Ping'an and Professor Wang Xuan personally took charge. Wang Xuan had already achieved great success and was a star in the scientific research community. His sincerity was also an important factor in Ni Guangnan's choice of Founder.

Uncle Ping An went straight back to school after getting off the plane, and after reporting the situation to the school leaders, he happened to run into Wei Ming.

When he returned home with his luggage, only Lü Xiaoyan and Lele were there. Two days earlier, Wei Jiefang had taken Xizi to Changchun ahead of time.

Right now, the "Journey to the West" crew is still filming the Women's Kingdom in Suzhou. Xizi set off early to wait for the crew there and also to introduce Uncle Jiefang to her maternal grandfather.

~
Hong Kong.

Gong Xue was very surprised when he received Wei Ming's reply, which actually asked him to buy a house in Hong Kong!
However, considering the decadent capitalist lifestyle in Hong Kong, it seems like it wouldn't be bad to come and stay for a while from time to time. I could come with Xiao Wei or experience it with Sister Lin. It would definitely be more suitable to have my own house.

When Gong Ying learned of Wei Ming's decision, she naturally hoped that her sister would buy a house in Taikoo Shing, so that the sisters could have each other for company in the future.

However, Ah Long figured out Wei Ming's intention: was this house really only prepared for his second sister?
Would it be inconvenient to live in the same neighborhood as them?
So Liu Rulong said, "Aying, we've looked at so many houses in Taikoo Shing before, and this one is practically flawless. All the other houses have some problems. Besides, Amin has prepared 680,000, and there aren't any houses this expensive in Taikoo Shing these days."

Gong Xue nodded: "Xiao Wei also said that we can ask Auntie for advice."

Liu Rulong: "Let's ask President Wei first. Now let's hurry up and set off, or we'll miss the concert."

Gong Xue nodded: "I'll go call Mom."

Today, Sam Hui will become the first person to hold a solo concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum. As the first generation of Cantonese pop music legend, his fans are very supportive. Tickets range from a minimum of HK$60 to a maximum of HK$300. All tickets were sold out for three consecutive days, generating more than HK$200 million in box office revenue.

Ah Long managed to buy four tickets for the first day through a lot of connections, and the seats were pretty good too.

However, Vivian Chow was even more impressive; she got a VIP ticket and could experience Sam's musical charm up close.

She was with her mother and Lin Ni this time, and seeing so many people waving glow sticks was an unprecedented sight.

The Hong Kong Coliseum can accommodate 12,000 people, which is a significant expansion for the scale of concerts in Hong Kong. Previously, indoor concerts only had a scale of one or two thousand people, which was basically just a larger nightclub, and the box office was naturally only about one-tenth of that of the Hong Kong Coliseum.

Of course, not everyone has the ability to hold a concert at the Hong Kong Coliseum. It requires the Hong Kong Coliseum, which is a stadium, to give up its slots and to be able to sell tickets.

Watching Sam Hui sing passionately on stage, with the audience singing along, Vivian Chow, as well as Anita Mui and Leslie Cheung in the audience, secretly resolved that one day they too would stand in the center of the Hong Kong Coliseum stage!

……

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