Chapter 176

"Shaolin Temple"!

It can only be "Shaolin Temple"!

Last year, the Great Wall and Sun Luen, two of the three major leftist film companies, established the Zhongyuan Film Company and had already initiated the filming of a portion of "Shaolin Temple," but the results were not very good, so they brought in Zhang Xinyan to start over.

Zhang Xinyan revised the script, abandoned the originally selected actors, searched for suitable candidates in sports schools and martial arts teams across the country, and finally selected the 17-year-old Li Lianjie to play the male lead.

Wei Ming asked: "Then are you envious of Little Li?"

"Envious of him, my foot. Does he earn as much as I do!" Biaozi was very proud.

Wei Ming also laughed: "Then what if he becomes famous, gives up his nationality, goes to Hong Kong, or even the United States, and earns millions for one movie? Would you be envious then?"

Biaozi was surprised: "He has the guts? He can earn that much money?"

Wei Ming: "After all, he's someone who has been performing abroad since he was a child and has seen the prosperity outside. You felt a bit wild after going to Guangzhou, let alone someone who has been to the United States."

"Then, then I'm still not envious," Biaozi said, "I have Yanzi!"

Maybe this is what it means to be satisfied with love.

Wei Ming remembered something: "'Heroes Born in Troubled Times' should also be selecting actors soon. If I want Yanzi to play the female lead, would you be willing?"

"Why wouldn't I be willing? Yanzi is so suitable for this role. Didn't you write it based on her when you first wrote it?" Biaozi didn't think much of it.

Wei Ming continued: "But you have to understand that people change. If Yanzi becomes an overnight sensation because of this play and becomes a national celebrity, then she will definitely continue to act in the future. She might come into contact with many handsome male actors, and you, you are just a temporary worker at Peking University, at most plus a small vendor."

These words left Biaozi dumbfounded; he was speechless and didn't know how to answer Wei Ming's question.

Wei Ming knew that these words would make Biaozi very distressed, but this was something that could happen, and he had to make it clear to him in advance.

And even if he didn't choose Huang Jiaoyan, given her appearance and ability, she would probably still enter the film and television circle when filming "Kids from Shaolin" and "Martial Arts of Shaolin" in the future.

After a long silence, Biaozi finally said: "Brother Ming, am I not good enough for Yanzi?"

Wei Ming told the truth: "Right now you are barely good enough, but if she becomes a female star, your social status will be a bit disparate."

Biaozi thought for a while and requested: "Brother Ming, if Yanzi really becomes the female lead of 'Heroes Born in Troubled Times,' can you arrange for me to join the crew? I'll do anything."

Wei Ming: "If you don't have any requirements for salary, I think it shouldn't be a big problem. The crew needs many martial arts actors who can fall and take hits."

"Thank you, Brother Ming." Then Biaozi lay on the bed and stopped talking, seemingly wanting to try hard to sleep and see Yanzi in his dreams.

Although Wei Ming didn't drink much coffee, the effect was significant, and he couldn't sleep at all.

Bored, he took out the recent letters from young readers to take a look.

When he received these letters, his usual practice was to first feel the thickness. If it was relatively thick, it meant the reader had written a lot or had enclosures, so he would focus on reading those.

As for the others, he would open them to take a look when he had time, or pile them together like now when he didn't.

Most of the young readers' letters were of poor quality; some had typos + pinyin, and some would have their parents help write them, so the tone was childish, but the handwriting was very sophisticated.

When he picked up this letter from Hainan, Guangdong, Wei Ming was obviously stunned: Ma-Hua-Teng!

As for that internet tycoon, Wei Ming only knew he was from Shenzhen University; as for his childhood, he didn't know much.

He should be about ten years old now, right?

Wei Ming hurriedly opened the letter; the young reader claimed to be nine years old, the age seemed about right.

Looking at the content, he was a child who loved science and liked astronomy; it was even more like him!

He remembered that Pony Ma indeed had a hobby of astronomy; it seemed he had even joined a UFO club when he was in college.

Wei Ming, who had almost never written back to young readers, had the idea of writing back this time.

This way, maybe when Little Ma starts his business in the future, he won't be looking for Li Zekai for financing, but for himself!

Wei Ming suddenly realized that as a children's book author, his biggest advantage was not just that readers would continue to consume his works with their children after they grew up, but that when these children became pillars of the country and social celebrities in the future, their deepest impression of their childhood would be his works. The goodwill of these young readers was his greatest wealth.

Thinking of this, Wei Ming began to seriously examine these letters from young readers. How important is a person's childhood; before, Uncle was neglecting you all.

So Wei Ming took out a large handful of blank envelopes and a stack of letter paper, preparing to select some letters with content to reply to, answering the doubts in these children's hearts, hoping that he could play a positive and active role in their growth path.

However, these letters were basically urging for updates; they had no technical content, not even a picture of a beautiful woman.

Flipping through some more, Wei Ming saw a letter from a Beijing child named Pan Ying, who lived in Dashilan. He liked to draw and even sent the Egg-born and Black Cat Detective he drew to Wei Ming. Wei Ming put him together with Little Ma Huateng, and would reply to them together in a while.

After picking ten letters, Wei Ming started writing replies, and even took out some pocket money, preparing to give back to some children who had expressed despair about their poor lives in their letters.

By the time he wrote the eighth letter, Mei Wenhua, who had finished work, sneaked into the room.

Then he saw Wei Ming sitting on the bed writing things and heard Biaozi's voice: "Little Mei is back."

Wei Ming and Mei Wenhua said in unison: "You haven't slept yet?"

Biaozi was not sleepy at all; he had been thinking about his and Yanzi's affairs just now, but he didn't know how he could be good enough for Yanzi, who was going to be a star.

Biaozi sat up from the bed: "Let's put it this way, I'm very awake right now, and I even want to go to work again."

Mei Wenhua teased: "What's wrong, did Yanzi dump you?"

Wei Ming coughed twice, telling Mei Wenhua to be cautious in his words and actions. Mei Wenhua was even more suicidal: "I didn't guess right, did I!"

Biaozi clenched his fists: "Little Mei, I can't sleep, let's practice wrestling."

"Ah Biao, I was wrong, can I introduce you to another partner? Ah!"

Finally, Wei Ming also brewed a bowl of coffee for the injured Mei Wenhua: "This was sent to me by a friend from Hong Kong. You drink it, and after drinking it, don't blame Biaozi anymore."

Mei Wenhua rubbed his shoulders: "Why are you so angry when you haven't been dumped? Are you sick!"

Then he said happily to Wei Ming: "Coffee! I've heard of it from international student friends. This is good stuff. In our dormitory, only Brother Ming is a good person."

Biaozi's anger also dissipated, and seeing Mei Wenhua wanting to drink coffee, he was even a little secretly happy.

"Why did you scold yourself?" Biaozi asked Little Mei.

Little Mei: "I don't want to be a good person. Good people can't earn money. I still hope to be a rich person... Oh my, why is it so bitter!"

Mei Wenhua drank coffee while talking big.

Biaozi immediately said: "Coffee is just like this, you country bumpkin."

!

To show that he was not a country bumpkin, Mei Wenhua drank it in one gulp and wiped his mouth, saying: "Although it felt a bit bitter at first, now I feel there's a bit of aftertaste."

Wei Ming and Biaozi looked at each other and laughed. Haha, now everyone can stay up late together!

The next day, Wei Ming and Biaozi got up to go to work listlessly. Mei Wenhua finally fell asleep; he could sleep until the afternoon, as he worked the night shift.

Wei Ming put the replies to the young readers at the South Gate, and would have the mailman take them away later.

Today, not only did he have to go to work, but after work in the afternoon, he was also responsible for sending Lele to Teacher Gu's place for class, and by the way, he took out a newly created song to ask Teacher Gu for advice.

Teacher Gu asked him: "Did that one sell before?"

Wei Ming nodded: "Hmm."

Teacher Gu advised him: "This is a good thing, but you must also pay attention to your health and don't push yourself too hard."

Wei Ming's dark circles were not too obvious.

Wei Ming sighed, if I drink coffee again, I'm a dog!

In the next few days, Wei Ming's state improved a lot, and the simple scores of several songs became more and more perfect. Teacher Gu once again expressed shock at Wei Ming's strong creative ability. If he were in the United States, he would probably be a regular on the Billboard charts.

If this child could go to Berklee for advanced studies, his future would be limitless!

One knows one's own affairs. No matter how Teacher Gu praised him, he was always very humble. He was just someone who loved listening to songs in his past life.

This day, he sent Lele back to Uncle Ping'an's house, just in time to run into Uncle Ping'an talking on the phone with Aunt Xiaoyan.

Uncle Ping'an didn't avoid Wei Ming, so Wei Ming learned that Aunt Xiaoyan, Xizi, and Gong Xue were going back to Shanghai to officially start filming.

"Oh, Little Ming and Lele are back." While chatting, Uncle Ping'an reported to his wife.

Lu Xiaoyan immediately said: "Then you ask Little Ming, Little Xue is by my side, do you want to chat for a couple of sentences?"

Wei Ming generously took the receiver: "Then let's chat."

It was a stalemate for a while on the other side before Gong Xue's pleasant voice came through the receiver.

"Hello."

Wei Ming: "Hmm, where are you calling from?"

Gong Xue: "Outside the train station, there's still an hour before departure."

"Is it a sleeper?"

"Hmm, a sleeper."

"That's good, but it's too hard to go from Yinchuan to Shanghai. Xuejie, you are young and strong, so you must take good care of my aunt and Xizi and the others."

Gong Xue couldn't laugh or cry; it was too strange to use words like young and strong on herself.

"I know, we will support each other," Gong Xue whispered.

Wei Ming continued: "If I have time, I will go over to see you filming."

Gong Xue told him: "We don't know how long we will be filming in Shanghai, and we will have to return to the Northwest by then."

"Hmm, okay, let's contact by phone then, so I don't make a wasted trip."

Wei Ming had Uncle Ping'an and Lele by his side, and Gong Xue had two pairs of gossiping eyes staring at her, so the two just exchanged a simple update on their recent situation and hung up.

Afterwards, Wei Ming had dinner at Uncle Ping'an's place. When he returned to the dormitory, he saw Liu Rulong lying on Brother Feng's bed.

This kid finally came back!

(End of chapter)