Chapter 106

Xie Jin had been in the film industry for more than 20 years. In 1960, at the first Hundred Flowers Awards, he won Best Film and Best Director with *Red Detachment of Women*. He had already been a first-line big director 19 years ago.

After the turmoil, Xie Jin filmed two movies, *Youth* and *Ah! Cradle*. Although the response was not bad, they could only be considered middle-to-lower in his sequence of works.

He was already 56 years old. In terms of energy and physical strength, he had passed his prime, but his creative thinking and film techniques were at their peak. He hoped to take advantage of the fact that he could still film to shoot a few more movies that kept pace with the times.

Especially after the Literature and Art Congress, he knew that the spring for filmmakers had arrived. He had to hurry; who knew when it would be winter again.

At this moment, looking at this novel called *The Herdsman*, he had a very strong creative impulse, especially this male protagonist, Xu Shengfang. Although he was perfect to the point of being unbelievable, wasn't film originally an idealized presentation?

And the author used exquisite dialogue and contrast to build a convincing story, and the director only needed to let the audience believe it after watching it.

As early as a few months ago, he had heard the name Wei Ming. The spring river water warms the ducks first, right? He even joined in the fun and bought two bottles of Ginseng-Antler Nourishing wine.

However, Director Shi also had a very good eye, so Xie Jin looked at the script adapted from *Legend of Tianyun Mountain* again.

*The Herdsman* was more inclined toward scar literature. Although it also had lashings at that era, the core was positive and gave people strength.

*Legend of Tianyun Mountain* was a relatively standard reflection literature. The story was also very excellent. The author used the protagonist's mouth to say things many people dared not say. It was just that the characters were a bit stereotyped and might need to be changed again.

And this was a story about the anti-rightist movement. Would there be any risks in filming this now?

In Xie Jin's heart, his balance leaned more toward *The Herdsman*, but *Legend of Tianyun Mountain* already had a complete script, which could be used after some changes, and a team could be built to film it very quickly.

Filming a movie might not take much time, but sometimes writing a script could take a year or a half. Xie Jin liked to let the original author write it himself, and then have it revised by a professional screenwriter.

And Wei Ming seemed to be only 18 years old, right? Could he write a script?

So he sought out Old Brother Sun Daolin. After returning from Yanjing, he had mentioned that he had made a little friend, the writer Wei Ming.

"Writing a script?" Sun Daolin smiled after hearing Xie Jin's question. "You shouldn't be wrong looking for him. He even wrote a script for the Shanghai Animation Er Yingchang before."

"Ah, Shanghai Animation Er Yingchang? An animated film script?" Xie Jin felt it didn't match.

"That's right, that kid has many skills. So he should have no problem writing a script. You can call Peking University and ask him to change it into a script and send it over for you to see."

Xie Jin nodded: "Then let him write first. I'll talk to Director Shi about *Legend of Tianyun Mountain* first. He values this project quite a bit."

He thought that maybe he would film *Tianyun Mountain* first. By the time Wei Ming finished writing *The Herdsman*, he reckoned he would have finished filming *Tianyun Mountain*.

And after Xie Jin left, Sun Daolin dug out the envelope Wei Ming mailed to him from the drawer. It had the phone number of the Nanmen of Peking University on it. This kid was thoughtful.

Coincidentally, after Wei Ming sent Ah Long away, he was at the Nanmen at this moment and happened to receive a call from Mr. Sun Daolin from Shanghai.

After answering the phone, Wei Ming expressed his gratitude to Teacher Sun again and again. This news was too timely for him!

Fame should be sought early, and adaptation is best early too.

He hoped Xie Jin could film his *The Herdsman* first, so that he would have a famous work in the film circle, and maybe it could drive the adaptation of the previous few novels, and the adaptation value could also rise.

With a few more adaptations, he could buy a car and a house!

The biggest effect of Teacher Sun's call was letting Wei Ming know that he still had a competitor, and Xie Dao liked *The Herdsman* more, so he had to be fast!

If he waited for the *Tianyun Mountain* project to officially start, it would be too late, and he would have to wait at least another year.

Although with such a good story foundation as *The Herdsman*, other directors would definitely covet it and he wouldn't worry about not finding a "husband's family," in Wei Ming's view, there was no director in the mainland at this time who was better than Xie Jin. He was the most suitable candidate.

Not long after Wei Ming hung up the phone, Uncle Anping's call came through, also looking for him.

"Hello, Director Wei."

"Comrade Wei Ming, good news!" Wei Anping said excitedly. "Xie Dao Jin from the Shanghai Er Yingchang just finished reading your *The Herdsman* and called the school to ask if you are interested in changing the novel into a script. He is very interested in this story!"

Wei Ming said calmly: "Alright, I'll change it right away. Please say hello to Xie Dao for me."

After hanging up the phone, Wei Anping felt strange. Why did it feel like Xiao Ming wasn't excited at all? That was Xie Jin! The Xie Jin of *Red Detachment of Women*!

Wei Ming's excitement was all at the tip of his pen. Originally, he wanted to accompany Melinda in the afternoon, but now he decided to rewrite the script immediately.

And while he was doing the adaptation work, the 200,000 copies of *Contemporary* were completely digested by the market in just three days.

The literary world was shocked by the "Wei Ming Effect" again. After Liu Zhenyun, many articles began to set aside one of Wei Ming's novels and directly comment on Wei Ming, study Wei Ming, and even summarized a "Wei Ming Effect."

It had quite the atmosphere of Wang Shuo and Wang Xiaobo in later generations. He might be far from being the hegemon of the literary world, but he was a real idol of the literary world, and his ability to drive sales was super strong.

And the People's Literature Publishing House reacted very quickly, urgently reprinting another 150,000 copies and quickly sending them to all parts of the country!

*Contemporary* skyrocketed from a circulation of 100,000 to the 300,000 level, directly advancing to a first-line literary journal.

Bai Shurong also called to tell Wei Ming that their person in charge, Mr. Yan Wenjing, had suddenly suffered an acute cerebral thrombosis and was hospitalized.

Wei Ming was startled: "It wouldn't be because the magazine sold too well, right?"

"There might be reasons for that, but it's mainly because he's old. Mr. Yan's health has always been poor. After this illness, I reckon he will have to step down from this position."

"Which hospital is Mr. Yan in?" Wei Ming asked. "Friendship Hospital. It's enough that you have this intention. I will help you convey it, but now we are not allowed to visit," Bai Shurong said.

"Alright then." Wei Ming sighed.

Bai Shurong added: "By the way, your novel has once again caused quite a bit of controversy. Getting close to the newsstands, I feel that every newspaper is discussing *The Herdsman* and discussing Xu Shengfang. What do you think?"

"I'm looking at it while sitting." In front of Wei Ming was a newspaper, and a commentary article on it was criticizing *The Herdsman* for being "false, big, and empty."

Wei Ming felt that this kind of commentary was also quite good. The commentator believed that people have selfishness and the biological instinct to enjoy a beautiful life, so Xu Shengfang appeared not real enough.

In the past, such thoughts couldn't even be thought of. Now he thought of it, wrote it out, and published it.

This was a kind of progress.

Although more readers were moved by Xu Shengfang's choice, and *The Herdsman* was also regarded as a positive example, with many official newspapers pushing it, there were quite a few such questioning voices.

However, *Daily* soon gave a powerful counterattack.

On the third page this day, they published a story of a real-life "Xu Shengfang and Wei Fenfang" raising pigs in Ningxia: *The Choice of Brazilian Overseas Chinese Couple Yan Jitong and Wang Bailing*.

!

On the same day, Wei Ming also published an article in *China Youth Daily*, *My Father and Mother*, first talking about his motivation for creating *The Herdsman*.

"Initially, I just wanted to record the story of my father and mother falling in love after marriage. Later, I saw the report on the couple Yan Jitong and Wang Bailing in Ningxia, so I integrated their story into it. That's how *The Herdsman* came about..."

Afterward, Wei Ming told some stories about his parents based on his childhood memories, and at the end of the article, he revealed his intention to find people.

*China Youth Daily* was very cooperative and didn't delete a single word, and Wei Ming also promised to give them a formal interview in a few days.

Yanjing Railway Station.

43-year-old Zhang Xianliang finally returned to Yanjing again.

More than 20 years ago, he had studied in Yanjing.

Ten years ago, he had hopped on a train to escape from the reform farm back to Yanjing to visit his mother. That was also his last meeting with his mother, and his last time returning to Yanjing.

And this time, he was invited back to Yanjing as an author. The Beijing Er Yingchang wanted to adapt his novel *The Gypsies*, so they invited him to Beijing to discuss related matters.

Just after getting off the train, Zhang Xianliang hurriedly found a newsstand, wanting to buy the third issue of *Contemporary*.

Because in the two days and two nights on the train, he had borrowed many newspapers from different people to read, and many of them were discussing the novel *The Herdsman*.

However, it was a pity that the newsstand said it was already sold out, but the new magazine would arrive soon.

Asking several places, it was all the same.

Fortunately, after arriving at the Beijing Er Yingchang, Zhang Xianliang borrowed a copy from Jiang Huaiyan, the director of the Literature Department, and finally got a glimpse of the true face of Mount Lu.

After finishing this novel, Zhang Xianliang finally understood why Wei Ming could be so hot.

The degree of "playing tricks" in this novel was far inferior to *Two Oxen* and *Two Donkeys*, and the fun was slightly worse, but the writing was solid. Once you read the beginning, you couldn't stop, and you couldn't stop until you finished it.

It was hard to imagine that the other party was only 18 years old. He was truly a monster!

Immediately, he thought that the prototype of the story was in Ningxia, but he wasn't as keen as someone far away in Yanjing. Zhang Xianliang felt regretful.

Spoon Garden Girls' Dormitory, in Melinda's dormitory.

Wei Ming was writing a script when someone approached from behind and hugged him.

From the obvious touch on his back, Wei Ming knew Melinda was back.

He wanted to go to the library to write the script in the morning, but he didn't get a seat. Plus, Xiao Zha basically didn't come back during the day. After seeking Melinda's opinion, he temporarily came here to seek some peace and quiet.

Melinda bit Wei Ming's ear: "I've already locked the door. Do you want to... in the dormitory?"

Wei Ming's hand grabbed her leg from behind: "Indulging in lust during the day is not good, and I still have to eat lunch."

"Isn't eating me enough?" Melinda went around to the front, and her little mouth leaned over.

Wei Ming smacked his lips twice: "Already ate, time to eat."

"How about we eat at the international student canteen today? After eating, you go with me to return the tape, and by the way, I'll introduce you to Teacher Gu..."

(End of chapter)