Chapter 112: A Letter from Hong Kong (Base 2 updates, requesting monthly tickets)

News of Zhu Lin traveled from Mu Rong to Northern Qiao Feng, and finally, through word of mouth, reached Wei Ming's ears.

A film crew from the Xi'an Er Yingchang was looking for actors at the Institute of Health, and Zhu Lin had signed up. After a period of selection, she was chosen.

"It's not even a lead role, and it'll take up several months of her time. I don't know what she's thinking."

For Feng, a man from Shandong, a stable job was everything; he certainly couldn't understand Zhu Lin's choice.

But Wei Ming knew she wanted to see if she could walk a different path; she still had an artistic heart.

This film and this event were not influenced by the butterfly effect of Wei Ming's presence. Zhu Lin officially took on her debut film role, stepping one foot into the film and television industry.

Wei Ming didn't feel anything special, just a bit of regret that the several tapes he had dubbed for her were now essentially useless.

Northern Qiao Feng added, "I heard she's going to the Great Southwest to film soon. She's already left her unit, but they've kept her position open so she can go back to work when she returns."

Wei Ming smiled. "I don't think she'll be going back."

Beijing Film Academy.

Ma Jingwu, a teacher in the Acting Department, asked the Dean for leave before heading to class; he was the male lead in *The Traitor*.

Although the film wouldn't start shooting until after the semester ended, the production cycle was longer than the winter break, so he would be returning to school late.

Dean Zhong Jingzhi laughed, "No problem. We'll just have Teacher Li cover your classes."

Ma Jingwu and his wife, Li Ranran, were both teachers in the Acting Department at the Film Academy and were key faculty members.

Afterward, Ma Jingwu went to the classroom of the 78-class Acting Department to discuss the final exams. This class could be called a cradle of celebrities: Zhang Tielin, Zhang Fengyi, Zhou Lijing, Xie Yuan, Fang Shu, Shen Danping, and Liu Jia were all classmates.

After class, Zhang Tielin ran into Chen Kaige from the Directing Department in the cafeteria and immediately crowded over, "Kaige, when does your dad start shooting *The Herdsman*? Can you arrange a role for me? Even a bit part is fine."

Chen Kaige asked with a smile, "Do you want to play a lecher?"

"Get lost! I'm a righteous leading man!"

The cafeteria was filled with a happy atmosphere, but Chen Kaige wasn't happy when he got home.

His father told him that Wei Ming had ultimately chosen Director Xie Jin.

This infuriated Chen Kaige. With a local film studio right there, choosing to embrace the thigh of the Shanghai Er Yingchang instead—abandoning the near for the far—was he sick or something?

Besides, many people at school thought his father would be the director of the hit novel *The Herdsman*, and now it was all ruined!

This made Chen Kaige feel like he'd lost face. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got, and he immediately turned from a fan into a hater.

Whatever "ideals" he had, they weren't as good as his buddy Bei Dao's *Answer*, and that *Distance and Beauty* wasn't as good as Gu Cheng's new poem, *A Generation*.

"The dark night gave me black eyes, yet I use them to seek the light." It was so short, yet so powerful; that was what you called a classic.

"Wei Ming, bah! He's just a peasant!"

Wei Ming hadn't found Liu the driver from the school bus fleet yet when he was called over by Uncle Anping, who instructed him, "Get ready to handle the paperwork; you're about to become a Beijing resident!"

"Wow, that fast?" Wei Ming exclaimed. After all, he hadn't even been on the job for half a year, and he hadn't even joined the Writers Association yet.

Wei Anping said happily, "With the influence of your successive works being so great, Peking University has recognized you as a rare and special talent. The school is willing to speed up the process. From now on, your household registration will be at Peking University."

It was a collective household registration, unless he ever owned his own property.

But buying a house at this time was incredibly difficult. First, there were no suitable ones, and finding one took time; second, he hadn't saved enough money—what could 3,000-plus yuan buy?

"Also, prepare to study. The correspondence class for the Library Science Department starts next autumn!"

Wei Ming sighed. Could he pull strings? He remembered the novels, songs, and movies perfectly, but he had forgotten every single math formula. It looked like he would have to ask Xiao Hong to tutor him during the summer break.

Afterward, Wei Ming ran into the city for three consecutive days. Peking University was too remote; one government office took an entire day, and he wasn't even finished yet. He still had one more procedure to complete when he returned to his hometown during the winter break.

This made Wei Ming increasingly crave an efficient means of transportation, allowing him to use his precious time where it mattered most—reading, attending classes, writing, and women, things with more meaning.

"You want to buy a motorcycle!" Old driver Liu Wenjie exclaimed. Does writing novels make money that fast?

"Yeah. Master, do you know where I can buy one? Using RMB."

That last sentence blocked Bai Bai Lao Liu from saying, "Borrow foreign exchange from your red-haired girlfriend."

He put down his wrench and said, "Buying that thing isn't easy. Imported ones require overseas remittance coupons and foreign currency. Domestically, they are basically supplied to the post office and the military. Especially the post office; many are equipped with the 'Happiness 250'—bright red and very festive. If you have connections in those two areas, you might be able to buy some discarded ones and swap in parts to keep them running."

Wei Ming did have a connection in the military—the Air Force, no less—but that was too difficult to ask of them; it would be like holding a favor over someone's head.

"Are there no other channels?"

"Then it would have to be through unofficial channels, but you'd need connections in the South." Like Liu Long's maternal grandfather, who got that Suzuki motorcycle through Long's father—but Long's father was currently locked up.

Wei Ming sighed. In that case, he'd just have to wait until he earned foreign currency. So, back to writing novels it was.

Even if he bought a house later, foreign currency would be more competitive.

Wei Ming had been seeing related reports recently: the number of people flowing out of Beijing was increasing—over 1,700 in 1978, and over 2,100 last year—mostly overseas Chinese and their relatives going abroad or to Hong Kong and Macau under the guise of visiting relatives or inheriting property, and most never returned.

This further highlighted the significance of *The Herdsman* in providing positive guidance, and Wei Ming was even more concerned about the properties they left behind.

"Wait!"

Bai Bai Lao Liu suddenly remembered something.

"Last year, two communes not far from us, Sijiqing and China-Japan Friendship Commune, sent some farmers to Japan for agricultural exchange. They brought back quite a few Japanese motorcycles. I know people in their commune; I can help you ask around later."

"Wow, that's great! Master, you really do have connections!"

Liu Shi waved his hand, "Don't get your hopes up. Who would be willing to part with good stuff?"

"I'm just looking for something to get around on; it doesn't matter if it's a piece of junk, as long as it runs. Anyway, please help me ask around, and I'll treat you to a meal later."

Afterward, Wei Ming stayed in the library until nearly 5:00 PM. The date of Melinda's departure was getting closer, and he had to hurry.

At mealtime, Biaozi came to deliver Wei Ming's food and brought a letter from *Story Magazine* in Shanghai.

Then Biaozi ran off to the international students' TV room to watch television.

CCTV was currently airing the American NBC series *The Man from Atlantis*, a sci-fi show. For the Chinese people, whose cultural life was extremely barren, it was a cultural feast and soon swept through major cities across the country.

Biaozi and Mei Wenhua were already addicted. It only aired one episode a week, and the 17 episodes would take months to finish—fortunately, there were reruns.

It was a pity that you couldn't buy "toad glasses" (aviators) in Beijing yet. If someone went to the South to stock up on some, they would definitely make a fortune in Beijing, though there would be some risks.

Wei Ming opened He Chengwei's envelope. It was a remittance slip for *Heroes Emerge from Youth*—450 yuan, 10 yuan per thousand words!

There was also a 50-yuan illustration fee for Liu Long.

Editor-in-Chief He was indeed generous; no wonder *Story Magazine* was growing so strong.

Sending him the payment meant that *Story Magazine* had already been published.

Wei Ming's hometown, Dog Village.

At the village primary school, Qi Kexiu walked into the office with a magazine, just in time to run into Teacher Hu Qiuyang.

Qi Kexiu was thick-skinned, but little Teacher Hu didn't dare to look him in the eye.

The "streaking" incident had passed a long time ago, but the influence remained. Little Teacher Hu had wanted to transfer, but she was only a substitute teacher with no connections or strings to pull, so she ultimately had to continue working awkwardly with Qi Kexiu at the same school.

After taking a sip of water, Qi Kexiu took out the magazine he was holding and continued reading—it was the January issue of *Story Magazine*.

Qi Kexiu sighed while reading, "This 'Wei the Madman' writes so well!"

He had seen the previous issue of *Story Magazine* from someone else and hadn't expected it to be quite good—the short stories were all wonderful, especially *Such Love*. So he had subscribed to the magazine, and looking at it today, it was even more attractive.

Especially the martial arts novel *Heroes Emerge from Youth*. In this day and age, the martial arts stories they could see were all antiques; it was rare to see a story with such fresh ideas.

Qi Kexiu even remarked: "Same surname Wei, yet Teacher Wei the Madman's work is much more down-to-earth than Wei Ming's. What he writes, I don't even care to read."

However, just as Qi Kexiu was reading with great interest, seeing the little wife descend like a god to save the "Great Husband," there was nothing left after that!

"To be continued"—he had to wait another two months!

After school, on his way home, Qi Kexiu passed the brigade headquarters and saw the postman from town, whose ride had also changed from the old, broken "Flying Pigeon" to a bright red "Happiness 250."

"Old You, not bad! Trading the bird gun for a cannon!"

"Teacher Qi, hehe, it's all thanks to the government. But there are a few of us who have to take turns riding it; I have to ride my Flying Pigeon again tomorrow."

After saying that, the postman Old You rumbled toward the edge of the village and arrived at Wei Jiefang's house.

He could just leave the other letters at the brigade headquarters, but this one had to be delivered personally and handed to the right person.

After all, this was the home of the famous writer Wei Ming, who had shaken all of Hengzhou!

Wei Jiefang joked enviously about Old You's motorcycle and even asked, "Are you selling it?"

"Brother Jiefang, you're joking. This is government property. By the way, this package was mailed by the great writer Wei Ming from Beijing."

Old You handed over the package and added, "Also, there's a letter here from Hong Kong. I asked around—the old lady in your family is named Fan Erxiu, right? She passed away many years ago. The recipient is her, so since it's from Hong Kong, you'll have to sign for it."

Old Wei was stunned, "What the hell? Hong Kong?! And it's for my old mother!?"

(End of chapter)