Chapter 260

The *Harvest* editorial department also helped Wei Ming write an introduction letter, so he was unimpeded all the way. After walking for a while, he checked into the Suqian County Guesthouse that day.

After a long journey, he slept beautifully in the guesthouse for one night. Wei Ming carried his bag and started to go out to collect material with his camera.

In order to facilitate travel, he also borrowed a bicycle from the guesthouse, because the staff had read his novel and heard his songs, so they were so easy to talk to.

Since he wanted to observe rural life, Wei Ming rode toward the outskirts of the city all the way.

Suqian's water system is developed, possessing two major freshwater lakes, Luoma Lake and Hongze Lake. Many rivers such as the Grand Canal, the Ancient Yellow River, and the Huaishu New River pass through the territory.

Wei Ming rode along the canal for a while, saw a road, and rode all the way over. He stopped and went on the road, taking photos from time to time.

Since he could confirm that there were "lupines" here, he could add this element to the script with peace of mind.

He came to the fields again, communicated with the farmers in the fields using non-standard Northern Jiangsu dialect, and understood what crops were planted locally, what the harvest was like, and what the income was.

The old farmer thought Wei Ming was a cadre from above and only said good things. After he denied it repeatedly, he took a photo of the old man, and only then did the old man say some heartfelt words.

"Just farming isn't enough to eat, but both sons are running boats, so life can still be lived. It's just that they don't stay home, and there's no chance to talk about a daughter-in-law."

Wei Ming asked again what this place was called.

"This is Gou Dong Village. There is a town in front called Lailong Town. There is a market today, very lively. You can get there by walking along this road."

Hearing that there was excitement to join, Wei Ming drank two sips of water and set off again.

However, when he arrived, it was already noon, the market was about to disperse, and there weren't many people.

As soon as Wei Ming entered, he smelled a fishy smell. Someone was selling fish, and it wasn't just one family. After all, it was the South. Like their hometown, there were rivers, but the fishery resources weren't very rich.

Wei Ming took photos from time to time, attracting pedestrians to look sideways, but some people were very focused and didn't notice him at all.

A little boy of about six or seven, leading a little girl of three or four, was standing by the pork stall with eager eyes, four eyes staring intently.

The uncle selling pork sighed: "Kid, if your grandma doesn't come again, I'm going to sell this piece of fat to someone else."

The boy was tiger-headed and tiger-brained, swallowing his saliva and said: "Uncle, can you wait a little longer? Grandma will come over after selling the duck eggs."

Wei Ming smiled. People now prefer fat meat, and fat meat is easier to sell. However, the Wei family had already completed the transition from fragrant fat meat to healthy lean meat.

Because they could eat meat every meal, they didn't care so much about the grease supplemented by that bit of fat meat, and even started to be keen on buying ribs that others didn't look at.

Pushing the bicycle and walking a few steps, Wei Ming saw someone selling fried goods, and they were about to close the stall. Wei Ming went over to buy some melon seeds, and the taste was not bad.

Then he associated it with the Foolish Melon Seeds in neighboring Anhui. It seems that the scale is very large now, and there are many employees. It is said that there were already one million deposits last year, but they were also caught in a lot. If the steps are too big, it is easy to pull the eggs.

Wei Ming was walking when suddenly an old lady rushed out.

"Young man, buy duck eggs?" the old lady said with earnest eyes. She shouldn't be old, but she looked very old.

Wei Ming smiled and waved his hand: "Auntie, I'm from out of town, I can't eat them even if I buy them."

Seeing that he didn't refuse outright, Auntie hurriedly said: "These are salted duck eggs pickled by my own family. You can eat them with steamed buns and rice. If they don't taste good, don't pay."

Wei Ming thought of the two children he saw at the pork stall just now, and looked around. Only this one was still insisting on selling salted duck eggs. He thought it should be their grandma.

So he smiled and asked: "How much?"

"One yuan for four. I have nine here. Just give me two yuan."

Wei Ming had no objection to the price and took out the money readily.

The old lady strung the duck eggs with dry grass and hung them on Wei Ming's car. This hand, Old Wei also knew, but Wei Ming had never learned it.

The old lady who got the money immediately went in the direction Wei Ming came from, while Wei Ming prepared to find a restaurant in the town to have lunch.

After asking, he realized he had walked past, and then walked back to find the only small restaurant in the town.

Then he saw two children, one big and one small, supporting an old lady walking with difficulty. It was the aunt who had just sold him salted duck eggs. Besides supporting her, the little boy beside her was also carrying a piece of white, fat meat.

Auntie said embarrassedly: "Just ran too fast, fell down."

Wei Ming saw that this old and two small were really pitiful. Who knows when they would get home if they walked slowly.

It happened that he also wanted to find a rural sample, so he took the initiative: "Auntie, you sit on my car, I'll send you home."

"Ah, this isn't appropriate, too much trouble for you."

"Not trouble, not trouble, helping others is a pleasure. But you have to treat me to a meal, doesn't matter what."

"Grandma said we'll eat rice mixed with lard today," the six or seven-year-old boy beside him said excitedly.

His younger sister also said excitedly: "Grandma, I want to eat rice mixed with lard too!"

Auntie hurriedly said nervously: "It's too late at noon, let's eat it at night."

The little old lady had quite a lot of heart. Wei Ming smiled: "I can leave at night."

Auntie: "..."

Wei Ming pointed to the salted duck eggs: "Let's eat this at noon."

The two children swallowed their saliva. This is also excellent. Usually, Grandma couldn't bear to let them eat it.

Helping Auntie onto the car, Wei Ming pushed it back to the village. The older brother supported Grandma, and the younger sister was too short, so she helped her brother carry the fat meat.

"Young man, what do you do?" Auntie saw Wei Ming dressed in bright clothes, and the thing hanging on his neck seemed to be a camera. This wasn't something ordinary people could afford.

Wei Ming: "Haha, I'm a novelist, here to collect material."

"What is collecting material?" the little boy asked.

Wei Ming: "It's a behavior to make the story closer to life. For example, I want to write a story about Suqian rural areas, but I haven't lived here, so I need to come and see."

The little boy nodded with understanding. The younger sister still didn't understand and asked him: "Brother, what is collecting material?"

Little boy: "It's just finding bitterness when you're idle."

Wei Ming laughed. This child is quite transparent.

The village wasn't far from the town, and they arrived in more than half an hour. A little partner who knew the little boy by the roadside asked: "Dongzi, did your family buy meat today!"

The little boy named Dongzi said proudly: "Mm, Grandma sold the duck eggs! Three catties of big fat meat!"

Wei Ming was stunned. Dongzi?

He looked at the little boy behind him. This tiger-headed and tiger-brained look was like an old friend.

Then he thought that this was Suqian. Historically, the most famous was Xiang Yu, and the second most famous was that Dongzi.

So he asked Auntie: "Auntie, your two children are really sensible, how old are they?"

"Oh, one is six, one is three."

The age basically matched. He asked again: "Do you usually take care of them? Is it hard?"

"Yes, their parents are busy."

"Busy making big money?" Wei Ming smiled.

"What big money? Just hard-earned money, following people to run boats, running south and north on this canal, and can't even take care of the children," Auntie sighed.

Parents running boats, this point also matched. The ancestors of Jingdong's Dongzi actually had good conditions, with several boats running commercial transport. In the special era, the boats were confiscated, and Dongzi's father also dropped out of school early, running boats with people before and after marriage, but the family style of doing business didn't change.

By the 1980s, they sold family assets and borrowed money again, finally buying a boat themselves, and only then did life get better, even becoming the first in the village to build a bungalow and buy a TV.

But later, thinking of changing small boats to big boats, they increased investment, and then were cheated by people, owing a lot of money, so the family conditions were indeed average when Dongzi went to college.

"Young man, what's your name?" Wei Ming asked Dongzi.

"My name is Liu Qiangdong."

Wei Ming was happy. Hey, it's you!

At this time, Dongzi's grandma's house arrived. The old man greeted them immediately upon seeing the situation and listened to them explain the situation.

Dongzi's grandpa hurriedly expressed his gratitude to Wei Ming and asked him to stay for a meal.

Wei Ming also offered the salted duck eggs he had just bought, and they would eat this at noon.

"Oh my, this isn't good, this is what you bought."

"It's quite good. I didn't find a restaurant, I'm already very grateful that you can take me in for a meal."

Dongzi's grandpa said: "The chickens at home laid eggs, I'll add a dish, sit down, sit down."

Wei Ming looked at this typical Northern Jiangsu rural courtyard and took out his notebook to start recording.

After he finished, Dongzi curiously leaned over and asked: "Uncle Ma Xiaowei, what have you written?"

Wei Ming smiled and asked: "Have you heard of *Black Cat Detective*?"

He shook his head.

Wei Ming: "*Heavenly Book Legend*?"

He still shook his head.

Then it is estimated that other works haven't been heard of either. Dongzi, you are not as good as the little friend Ma Huateng in Hainan.

Wei Ming asked again: "Have you heard of songs like *Picking Mushrooms*, *Where Is Spring*, and *Grass*?"

Dongzi, who felt he was a bit ignorant, finally felt proud: "Heard of it, heard of it, I can even sing *Where Is Spring*!"

Then he didn't wait for Wei Ming to speak, and insisted on performing talent, shaking his head to pretend to be cute while singing.

After singing, he asked again: "Did you write these songs?"

Wei Ming nodded: "I mainly write novels, and I also write songs."

Dongzi praised: "Too amazing!"

He said it so much that he wanted to see the Black Cat Detective that Wei Ming just mentioned.

Afterwards, Wei Ming chatted with Grandpa and Grandma about their rural life, also taking notes while chatting.

After eating, he proposed: "Can I take a photo? Just take this courtyard."

"What's good about taking this broken courtyard?" The old couple didn't understand.

Wei Ming explained: "Creation needs."

In addition, he also took the initiative to propose taking a family photo of their family of four. They could understand this completely, and were very excited and solemn.

Wei Ming waited for more than ten minutes, waiting for them to change into their best clothes, and then took a photo. This was Dongzi's second photo, and his younger sister's first photo, and also their first group photo.

Wei Ming asked clearly about the name of the village: "After I return to the county, I will wash the photos and mail them to you."

And he would also write "Gift from Wei Ming" on the back of the photo. After all, Dongzi was face-blind, but not illiterate. As long as the photo was there, maybe he could recall this experience when he grew up.

Dongzi's grandma pulled Wei Ming and asked him to leave at night: "I've already boiled the lard, and my legs are better. I'll stir-fry two dishes for you at night."

This time she was sincerely inviting him.

However, it would take some time to ride back to the guesthouse, and it would be too late after dinner. I don't know if the rural areas in Northern Jiangsu at this time are safe. This body of his is quite worth robbing.

Wei Ming had to politely decline.

It's quite difficult to come into contact with Wei Ming's novels in such a poor rural area, but movies will be easier.

So he told Dongzi's grandpa and grandma again.

"If there is a movie called *Mom, Love Me Once Again* coming to the village to be shown in the future, you must watch it. This movie was written by me."

In order to help them deepen their memory, Wei Ming prepared to write the movie name on the back of the photo.

When he returned to the county, it was already dark. Wei Ming didn't have time to wash the photos. After entering the guesthouse room, he started to organize what he saw and heard today.

The next day, he washed the photos, wrote what should be written on the back, and went to the Xinhua Bookstore in the county for a turn before mailing the letter. Fortunately, he found the newly published *The Lion King* and the reprinted *Animal Fierce*, so he mailed them to Dongzi together.

Then he changed direction, continued to go deep into the countryside, and became one with the locals.

The next day, he mailed another letter, this time to Sister Lin in Yanjing, chatting about his new script and that he was collecting material in the rural areas of Northern Jiangsu for the new script.

Then he inadvertently revealed that his mother had watched *The Traitor* and had a high evaluation of her.

After three days like this, Wei Ming accumulated a considerable amount of material, and only then did he set off to return to the Magic City.

And at this time, Dongzi and the others had already received Wei Ming's letter.

The photo was taken very well, with words written on the back, and there were even two books, both were the works of Writer Wei, but why were the author names of the two books different?

It was Dongzi's grandpa who was well-informed: "Don't even know this? His surname is Wei, his name is Ming, and his courtesy name is 'What'."

Everyone suddenly realized. Dongzi liked the cover of *The Lion King* very much and urged his grandpa, who was the most learned in the family, to tell him the story on it.

It's not impossible that the mascot of Jingdong in the future won't be a dog, but a lion.

Wei Ming ran out for a week this time. When he came back, Sister Chen had already revised the manuscript and was preparing to return to Beijing.

So Wei Ming invited her to eat something good outside at noon, local braised pork, which was a farewell.

In the evening, he contacted the film studio guesthouse to find Comrade Gong Xue.

Then Sister Xue told him good news.

"The old Western-style house has been completely vacated, the Bai family has all moved away!"

Wei Ming's spirit lifted: "Oh, moved so fast?"

Gong Xue: "Maybe they also want to receive the final payment as soon as possible. Uncle also put in a lot of effort."

Wei Ming: "Then let's go check the house today. If there's no problem, I'll pay the money. Do you have time tonight?"

"Mm, my scenes are basically completed, I'll have plenty of time in the future," Gong Xue hinted.

Wei Ming thought for a while, took off the bed sheet from the guesthouse, and stuffed it into his bag.

He was still very much looking forward to tonight, because without a house, he and Sister Xue had only been real once.

Not enough, not enough at all!

Same as last time, Gong Xue came to the guesthouse to find him, and then they went out together. Although the distance wasn't far, this time they took a taxi.

The courtyard was locked, but they both had keys. After entering in the dark, they locked the main gate again.

After that, there was another door. Wei Ming turned on the flashlight to turn on the living room light, and then saw an empty living room.

Gong Xue said as expected: "Sure enough, nothing left."

Wei Ming: "No matter, this also saves us from throwing it away. After renovation, all the furniture will be new."

They looked at several bedrooms, not even a bed.

Wei Ming picked a clean bedroom on the second floor and prepared to take out the bed sheet from the bag.

At this time, Gong Xue suddenly said: "By the way, I watched another movie while you were away."

"What movie?"

"Called *The Traitor*, from the Xi'an Er Yingchang."

Wei Ming's hand paused. Why did Sister Xue suddenly mention this? Could it be that she knew everything?

Wei Ming was feeling guilty when Gong Xue smiled and asked: "Don't you have a friend named Zhu Lin? The other girl on the poster outside New World, is she also in this movie?"

Wei Ming confessed: "Right, seems to play a supporting role. I haven't seen it yet."

Gong Xue smiled: "This is her first time filming, right? I see my former shadow in her."

The implication was that her acting skills weren't as good as her current self. So this was what Sister Xue cared about.

Although she was a few months younger than Zhu Lin, she entered the industry earlier than Zhu Lin, so she was a senior. She had to call herself sister.

Wei Ming breathed a sigh of relief and immediately changed the subject.

"Almost forgot to tell you, I received a letter from my mother before I left. Guess what it said."

"What?"

Wei Ming: "She said she watched this movie on the first day of *Good Things Come After Hardships*, and she especially liked the actress who played Liu Fang in the movie, and said this was simply a peerless good daughter-in-law."

Hearing the praise from her future mother-in-law, Gong Xue immediately became shy, her little body twisting and twisting.

Wei Ming seized the opportunity, hugged her, and started gnawing.

Gong Xue guessed what Ma Xiaowei wanted to do. She struggled: "Don't, it's not even dark yet." Sister Xue looked at the window shyly. Although she was taken advantage of by Ma Xiaowei last time, she didn't necessarily have the courage this time. So many people saw them when they came in.

Wei Ming sighed. Why hasn't that Old Fei made a move yet? Even an uncle, he's really a loser.

Wei Ming took the bed sheet out of the bag: "Make do with it. Tomorrow, tomorrow we'll buy a bed first."

When she saw the bed sheet, Gong Xue knew that her innocence today couldn't be kept. It wasn't that she wasn't determined enough, it was that the other party was too cunning!

Who brings a bed sheet when checking a house at night!

Wei Ming was very satisfied with this house because it was relatively far from the surrounding houses, and he could shout freely after closing the windows.

Although Sister Xue didn't shout very loudly, she didn't have to suppress herself anymore. The humming of the Wu dialect had a unique interest.

Wei Ming expressed: Love it to death!

The next day, Wei Ming settled the final payment and gave Sister Xue another sum of money.

Since she didn't have to film recently, the renovation matter was left to her.

But for safety's sake, she didn't need to deal with the renovation team directly. It was better to go through Old Fei.

Gong Xue said: "Why don't I let my father handle it."

"Oh? Does Dad have experience in this area?"

Gong Xue: "His master used to live in an old Western-style house, so he has a good idea of the aesthetic concept of old Western-style houses. I'll just say it's a friend's house and ask him to help supervise the renovation."

Wei Ming felt it was reliable after listening. Letting the future father-in-law renovate a house for ghost fire and intimacy with his daughter—the daughter didn't feel cruel, Wei Ming had even less of a problem.

By the time he knew the truth, he might have already returned to Yanjing.

So it was decided happily. Wei Ming expressed that he wanted to make a final sprint for the script, and asked Sister Xue to come see the finished product in two days. During this period, everyone shouldn't contact each other. He was afraid Zhu Lin would misunderstand.

Zhu Lin had already received Wei Ming's letter and was preparing to reply...