Chapter 169: Grandpa Can

The seal carving was a skill Li RuLong had practiced since childhood; Wei Ming commissioned him to carve a seal for himself: "Wei Ming of the Butt."

Combining a place name with a personal name, this seal expressed the author's nostalgia for his homeland.

Besides dedications, Wei Ming also wanted to imprint his first seal on the book, and if a patron sent too much money, he would personally write the envelope.

Since Long had come, he stayed to help; seven of them worked for over two hours, and with the many signatures Wei Ming had already written the previous day, they finally finished before the Longzheng cafeteria closed at nine.

They ordered a full table of hearty dishes, with beer and soft drinks; since no other guests remained, they enjoyed a splendid meal, talking loudly and merrily.

Liang Zuo finally felt the trip was worthwhile; hearing that Wei Ming often treated people to meals, he decided he could accept this brother—but not the uncle.

In the end, everyone received a copy of Wei Ming's personally signed "Ferocious Animals"; Liang Zuo got two, saying he'd give one to his mother.

Since it was already quite late, Long stayed overnight in Wei Ming's dormitory; there were spare beds, though some were covered with letters.

That night, Long also showed Wei Ming several new styles of wuxia comics he had recently drawn.

After a month of trial and error, Long had finally begun to grasp the basics.

Wei Ming picked one drawing and called Biaozi and Xiao Mei over to see which one they liked best.

Everyone unanimously chose the same one Wei Ming had favored; in this comic, the character design was appealing—serious scenes portrayed strength and majesty, while comedic ones turned into chibi style, like "Slam Dunk."

Long used additional techniques to make the fight scenes feel more powerful, as if each punch and sword strike warped space, delivering intense visual satisfaction that appealed greatly to boys.

Since this was a fighting action comic, exaggeration beyond the original was acceptable; capturing the boy market was most important.

Biaozi was thrilled: "Long, draw faster! When it's published, I'll buy the whole set!"

Long was even more excited: "Then I'll stick to this style and draw a full chapter first."

Wei Ming suggested: "Aren't there classmates in your class who need money?"

"To put it bluntly, I used to be the richest in class, and now that my family's fallen on hard times, I'm still the richest," Long joked; nowadays, hardly anyone had enough money.

Wei Ming smiled: "Good. It's too inefficient for one person to draw an entire comic series. Long, start building your team—delegate time-consuming but less critical tasks to them so they can earn some pocket money."

"Team?" Li RuLong murmured the word, suddenly knowing what he needed to do.

The next day, when the mail carrier arrived at the South Gate with letters, he stared in shock at the mountain of mail packages; even if he'd come on a motorcycle, he couldn't carry it all away!

Wei Ming laughed: "No problem, Brother Wang—you can make multiple trips. I'll settle the bill first; I still have to go to work."

Normally this would require going to the post office, but Wei Ming was special—exceptions were made for him.

Mail carrier Brother Wang said: "Alright, let me count it up. Oh, by the way, you have a letter from Hong Kong."

Wei Ming quickly took it, feeling the envelope bulging; his face lit up—had Grandpa been generous and sent back all his royalties?

He didn't open it on the spot, keeping it in his pocket until noon, when he returned to the dorm after work and quietly slit it open.

But no Hong Kong dollars spilled out—instead, a thick stack of newspapers emerged: "The New Evening Post!"

On the newspaper, Wei Ming saw the serialized "Heroes Rise Young," but only three or four thousand characters—roughly one-tenth of the full story.

Then he opened Grandpa's letter.

The old ghost wrote that after submitting the manuscript, he received a quick reply from "The New Evening Post": the piece had been accepted, with a rate of fifty yuan per thousand characters.

That meant the forty-thousand-character novella earned two thousand Hong Kong dollars in royalties in Hong Kong!

Converted to RMB, that was about seven hundred—slightly better than "Story Magazine," but not by much.

But if those two thousand Hong Kong dollars were remitted to Beijing and exchanged on the black market without using foreign exchange vouchers, Wei Ming could get three or four thousand RMB!

Yet his beloved grandfather, moved by his filial devotion, decided to keep the royalties for himself.

Seeing Grandpa praise him as a "great grandson," Wei Ming was dumbfounded—Old Man, at least leave me something! I need to buy a house, a car, and a wife!

And I might not marry just one~

Clearly, Grandpa couldn't be relied upon—only Min could help. Her letter should arrive soon.

Since "Heroes Rise Young" had now been published in Hong Kong, Wei Ming felt he could approach Beijing Film Studio about filming.

The next day, Wei Ming took leave to go out and ran into Old Master Wu Zuxiang, who tossed him a small red booklet.

"What's this?"

"Your Writers' Association membership card has arrived."

Wei Ming brightened: "With this, will my borrowing privileges at the Beijing Library be higher?" Wu Zuxiang blinked: "What? Have you already read everything in Peking University's library?"

"Not at all," Wei Ming explained. "I'm writing a new novel and need to borrow books from the Republican era—our school probably doesn't have any."

"Republican-era books?" Old Master Wu thought. "Peking University's Rare Books Room has some old Republican texts, but they're not open to the public. I can write you a note—you can go there and browse."

"That's wonderful—thank you, Master Wu!" Wei Ming was overjoyed.

Wu Zuxiang added: "Also, last year's national selection for outstanding short stories has concluded. Your 'Spring River Warms, Ducks Know First' was selected. The list will likely be published in 'People's Literature' next month."

Wei Ming blushed: "I just wrote it casually—I never expected to be selected. It's all thanks to the judges' kindness."

After selection, a collected volume would be published, and Wei Ming could earn another small royalty payment.

But it was just a drop in the bucket—he'd better see how much Beijing Film Studio would pay for his script.

Wei Ming rode his motorcycle rumbling to the nearby Beijing Film Studio.

He went straight to Director Wang Yang, but didn't immediately hand over the script—instead, he placed "The New Evening Post" on the desk.

"What's this?"

!

Wei Ming smiled: "My story was published in Hong Kong's 'New Evening Post'—and the reception has been excellent; Hong Kong readers loved it."

The second half was pure invention, but it startled Director Wang; he immediately picked it up and confirmed it was indeed "The New Evening Post."

After putting the paper down, Wei Ming suggested: "Director Wang, what if we collaborate with Hong Kong's left-wing film companies on a co-production? If we make the film well, its influence might spread to neighboring countries and regions."

Wei Ming tempted the old man with political achievements, but Wang, a veteran revolutionary, merely smiled: "You've already planned this, haven't you? Where's the script?"

Wei Ming then respectfully handed over the script: "I heard Miss Xia Meng just founded a film company with deep pockets—why not partner with her?"

This news had been reported in domestic media; as the three left-wing studios declined, Xia Meng's Bluebird was indeed a suitable choice.

Wang Yang said: "I'll read the script first."

"Take your time," Wei Ming added, "but could I also watch Beijing Film Studio's old documentary footage from the Republican era?"

"Documentaries?"

"Yes. I'm writing a long novel set during the War of Resistance. I'm too young to grasp the cultural atmosphere of that era, so I've been frantically collecting old documentaries—I've already finished watching all the treasures from Shanghai Film Studio."

Since Shanghai Film Studio had let Wei Ming watch theirs, Wang Yang didn't want to be outdone—he called the warehouse supervisor and ordered him to take Wei Ming to view the archive.

Wei Ming thanked him profusely, promising to return after viewing to discuss films further.

After Wei Ming left, Director Wang summoned a deputy director and the head of the literature department, Jiang Huaiyan, to consult whether the film should be made and if a co-production was suitable.

Originally, he'd preferred to produce it himself, but a recent incident made him think a co-production might be better.

Earlier this year, Zhang Xunhua from Shanghai Film Studio had fled with his script "The Mysterious Buddha" to Beijing Film Studio.

Shanghai Film Studio had originally promised him the director's chair, then reneged, so he came to Beijing Film Studio hoping to direct this highly entertaining martial arts film himself.

But unfortunately, "Heroes Rise Young" arrived earlier, and its theme was more upright.

Moreover, the current environment didn't permit Beijing Film Studio to produce two entertainment films at once; state quotas were fixed—more entertainment meant fewer serious, artistic films, and veteran directors seeking depth would object.

So Beijing Film Studio recommended Zhang Xunhua and his script to Emei Film Studio, since the story was set in Leshan—Emei was the natural fit.

Emei Film Studio gladly accepted Zhang Xunhua and "The Mysterious Buddha," and even its director personally came to Beijing to beg for the use of one of Beijing Film Studio's "Three Golden Flowers," Liu Xiaoqing, and Ge Cunzhuang.

Now "The Mysterious Buddha" looked increasingly promising; Beijing Film Studio didn't want its own "Heroes Rise Young" to lose to a project it had abandoned.

So either don't make it—or make it well, and make it better than "The Mysterious Buddha," turning it into the genre's benchmark.

Wei Ming arrived in the morning; at noon, the warehouse supervisor took him to the Beijing Film Studio cafeteria for a staff meal.

The cafeteria was crowded—with crew members, actors, and their families.

Hey, isn't that Cai Ming? He's so young!

That older woman must be Zhang Jinling—she played Chen Pei's sister in "Look at This Family."

Oh, this little girl looks like Jiang Shan—she's only thirteen, already showing signs of beauty. Wait—is she holding "Children's Literature"? And isn't that the newly released March issue?

(End of Chapter)