Chapter 285: First Printing of One Million, A Preface

When Wei Ming got off work and walked out of the library, he saw several freshmen from the Spanish Department passing by him with a volleyball, and they even shouted "Wei Laoshi, hello" to him very politely.

Among them was Yu Yu Minhong. This guy hadn't suspended his studies yet?

Wei Laoshi replied with a smile. Seeing the volleyball, he remembered that there seemed to be an important volleyball match today, it seemed to be the Men's Volleyball World Cup qualifier, which decided whether the Chinese men's volleyball team could qualify to participate in the Men's Volleyball World Cup.

Who were they playing against? Oh, it seemed to be the Koreans.

Because of the hatred in the Korean War, everyone hoped that the men's volleyball team could take down the Koreans to participate in the World Cup.

When he returned home, Lao Lao Lao Wei also turned on the TV and waited to watch this live broadcast. Wei Ming only then knew that the location of this China-Korea battle, which decided who could participate in the Volleyball World Cup held in Japan, was Hong Kong.

On the rooftop of the Queen Elizabeth Stadium in Hong Kong.

Old Ghost and Liu Bin met here. As soon as they met, he congratulated him: "A-Bin, congratulations on being promoted to store manager of McDonald's!"

Liu Bin looked helpless: "Big Brother, I go home every day. Can't we talk about things at home?"

"That's different. Doing underground work requires the appearance of doing underground work. Going home is life. We must distinguish between work and life and not mix them up."

"Fine," Liu Bin sighed, "Then when can I restore my identity?"

"Don't be in a hurry. This is a good opportunity to learn from the barbarians to control them. We must not only learn their technology but also learn their management and business philosophy. Being able to open so many stores in the world must have its unique features," Old Ghost glanced at him, "Why, in a hurry?"

"Can I not be in a hurry? I work at McDonald's during the day and have to manage the accounts of Haolilai at night. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm a human or a ghost." Although he worked two jobs and got two salaries, his heart was tired!

At this time, Old Ghost stimulated him in a timely manner: "I just received a letter from the mainland, your son will come to Hong Kong in June."

"What!" The decadent Liu Bin suddenly ignited.

Old Ghost: "When the time comes, you father and son chat well. Alright, let's go down and watch the ball game."

"When did you like volleyball?"

"I don't like it. I just like the Koreans who bully others by relying on their own power." Old Ghost pulled Liu Bin to the game scene.

However, Old Ghost couldn't be arrogant soon. Why were they beaten 2:0 by others!

At this time, in the TV rooms of various dormitories at Peking University, especially the male dormitories, the boys all moved small stools or stood outside to watch this heart-wrenching live broadcast. It was said to be live, but it was actually later than the actual game.

When they saw the Chinese men's volleyball team beaten 2:0 by the Koreans, the situation Old Ghost saw in Hong Kong had changed to 2:1. The Chinese men's volleyball team finally pulled back a game, and the state was getting better and better.

And when Wei Ming's family in the Overseas Chinese Apartment excitedly watched the Chinese men's volleyball team catch up with the Koreans, and the score came to 2:2, Old Ghost and Liu Bin in Hong Kong had already stood up excitedly.

"Won! The Chinese men's volleyball team won!"

This meant that the Chinese men's volleyball team would participate in the Men's Volleyball World Cup held in Japan in November. Not long after, the women's volleyball team also qualified, but the sensationalism was far less than this time for the men's volleyball team.

At Peking University, when the game on TV ended, seeing the Chinese men's volleyball team complete a super comeback and win the victory and qualification, the Peking University students couldn't help but shout and rush out of the dormitory excitedly.

Overnight, the road at the gate of Yanyuan was bustling with noise and excitement.

At first, the slogan everyone shouted was "Long live the Chinese team!", then it became "Long live China!", later, someone started singing *Unity is Strength*.

Wei Hong, who was on the girls' dormitory building, also saw this scene and hurriedly asked what was going on.

A girl in the next dormitory told her: "The Chinese men's volleyball team defeated the South Korean men's volleyball team and can participate in the World Cup! The students are celebrating!"

"That's great, I'm going down too!"

Ning Xin, the roommate on the side, was strange: "I didn't find you so passionate about sports before."

"I'm not passionate about sports, I hate the Koreans. My grandfather died on the battlefield of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, and his bones couldn't even come back!" After Wei Hong finished speaking, she immediately went downstairs too.

At this time, the slogan of the Peking University student team had been determined to be "Unite and Revitalize China," and even people from the neighboring Tsinghua University followed suit.

Later, this eight-character slogan also appeared in the *People's Daily* the next day, and gave a special big headline.

This slogan spread rapidly on the land of Shenzhou, making the people of the whole country feel the blood-boiling and patriotic heart of contemporary college students, and also made Wei Ming think of the May Fourth Movement of that year.

Besides receiving the newspaper of the day from his mailbox, he also received a letter from Shandong.

This was the first letter from Zhu Lin after *Happy Family* started filming.

After the movie started filming, she was so busy every day that her feet didn't touch the ground. Besides her work as an actor, she also served as the crew doctor, prescribing medicine for crew members who were sick due to the change of seasons. She joked that she was almost becoming a barefoot doctor.

After a month, the crew had entered a stable stage, so she took the time to write this letter to him to express her lovesickness.

"The crew members are all very friendly. Comrade Zhu Zhu Shimao has thick eyebrows and big eyes and is a gentleman. Comrade Wang Huang Shuqin has a spicy and calculating personality in the play, but is very straightforward in real life. Comrade Wang Yumei is as kind and kind as in the movie..."

After praising the crew members, she boasted that she had learned to drive a tractor.

"I didn't learn it when I went to the countryside. At that time, the production team treasured that tractor very much and wouldn't let us girls touch it at all. And the tractor in our crew was requisitioned for filming, so I learned it in my spare time."

Seeing that Sister Lin could even drive a tractor, it seemed that she had entered the role very thoroughly. There was a feeling of a rural woman.

Zhu Lin also enclosed a recent photo of herself in the letter, grinning and smiling very simply, but still hard to hide her stunning beauty. After the movie is released, this second sister-in-law will definitely fascinate a large area, right?

Wei Ming also hurriedly replied to Sister Lin, and attached a photo of himself receiving an award with Sister Chen Rong and others at the Writers Association.

The next day, Wei Ming went to work. When passing by the newsstand outside Peking University, the old man took the initiative to greet him.

"Wei Laoshi, three more days."

What he said was three days until the March issue of *Harvest* went on sale.

This time, the old man at the newsstand applied to his superiors for two hundred copies of *Harvest*. He felt that it wouldn't take a day to sell out.

The previous issue of *Harvest* sold too well. In fact, the theme of *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes* was not the type that college students were keen on, but it couldn't stand that teachers and school staff liked it. There were many elderly people queuing up to buy it.

In the past, Wei Ming's readers were mostly young people and teenagers, but this time it attracted many middle-aged and elderly readers.

After entering the school, Wei Ming saw Uncle Ping'an coming out of the staff canteen with Lele. Lele was not going to school today, but he had to go to work.

"Uncle, why don't you let Lele follow me? Find her a notebook to write and draw for a day and it will pass."

"Will it delay your work?"

Wei Ming laughed: "What work can I have."

Wei Ping'an didn't be polite with him: "That's great. There is an important meeting today."

So Wei Ming took his cousin to the Peking University Library. The beautiful little girl made Wei Ming an object of envy. Wherever she went, someone stuffed her with candy.

She accepted it politely, then put it in her pocket. She had general interest in sweets, but her brother liked them, so she could save them for him to eat when he came back.

"Big Brother, what should I draw?" Lele, who got blank paper and a pen, was confused.

Wei Ming: "You draw *Only Mother is Good in the World*."

Lele thought about the lyrics of this song and knew what to draw.

At the same time, Gong Xue, Xizi, and other cast and crew members, accompanied by Long Long Xiaoyang, had lived in the village where Song Fei Lian and Lotus lived for a few days.

Gong Xue's eyes were swollen from crying. During this period, she completely substituted herself into Lotus's miserable encounter, and a surging maternal love emerged from her body.

She dared not imagine if she had a child in ten months of pregnancy in the future, but was forcibly taken away by Wei Ming to be raised with Zhu Lin, how could she live?

Gong Xue also wrote a letter to Wei Ming that night, telling a lot of inner drama, but also told him not to reply, because the director had collected enough materials, and next they were going to experience life in Subei. It was not certain where they would live.

When separating from Long Long Xiaoyang at the Chengdu Railway Station, Gong Xue also asked at the newsstand if there was the latest *Harvest*.

"Comrade, you asked at the wrong time. *Harvest* will arrive tomorrow morning. It's not here yet."

"Oh, that's fine. I'll buy it after I arrive at the station tomorrow." Gong Xue said regretfully.

The newspaper seller also asked an extra question: "Do you want to see *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes*?"

Gong Xue said "Hmm," although it was not difficult for her to want to see Wei Ming's spare manuscript, she wanted to support the sales more.

The previous issue of *Harvest* issued 1 million copies due to the popularity of this long serial, but that was not the limit of *Harvest*.

She certainly hoped that this limit could be broken by her little man.

The editorial department of *Harvest* and the Shanghai Literature and Art Publishing House also held this hope, but things couldn't be too extreme. If the first release quantity was too high, what if the readers were because the second volume was about the old-fashioned War of Resistance story, which was not as popular as the first volume's Whampoa Military Academy plot?

So the final first printing quantity was determined to be 1 million copies, which was the same as the final distribution volume of the previous issue, and this was already the highest first printing record for literary publications in the country.

But at the same time, the publishing house and printing factory agreed to reserve publishing materials for them and be ready to reprint at any time.

What if, Wei Ming's War of Resistance story was more attractive?

After all, Wei Ming had written a rather special War of Resistance story *Er Niu* before, which was deeply loved for its unique style, and was even filmed into a movie by the Xi'an Er Yingchang.

Before the March issue of *Harvest* was officially released, Wei Ming received a letter from Wu Tianming of the Xi'an Er Yingchang.

In the letter, he regretfully explained the resistance in the process of filming *A Terracotta Warrior*. It was about immortality medicine, and people living to modern times. This was too unmaterialistic. From top to bottom, it was not recommended that he film this movie, so he could only temporarily stop the pace of developing this project.

Wei Ming fully understood this. A *The Mysterious Buddha* didn't even have a definite date for release now. *A Terracotta Warrior* was indeed too advanced.

Finally, Wu gave a piece of good news: *Cow and Cow Two* had passed the review and started to make copies. It could be released nationwide in April.

Wei Ming was very gratified. His second movie was about to be introduced to the world. Although there was not much attention in society before or after filming, this movie had not only himself but also his father participating. After returning home, he immediately told Lao Lao Lao Wei the good news.

Lao Lao Lao Wei sighed: "I don't know how Cow One, Cow Two, and Xiao Chen Qiang are doing. I really miss their taste."

"Cow One, Cow Two, Xiao Chen Qiang?"

"That's the three dairy cows in the crew."

"Why is the third one not called Cow Three?"

Lao Lao Lao Wei: "Because it is particularly stubborn and has a stubborn temper, so I called it Xiao Chen Qiang. Under normal circumstances, Cow One and Cow Two are filming, and it is just mixing food."

"Then what is the matter with their taste?"

"I mean the taste of milk."

Never expected that Lao Lao Lao Wei had this treatment when he was in the crew. Milk was enough.

The next day, Shanghai.

New writer Wang Wang Anyi hadn't received the sample book of *Harvest*, but she couldn't wait to run to the bookstore to buy this issue of *Harvest*, because she published a novella *Finale* in *Harvest* for the first time.

Never expected that she got up so early and still encountered a long queue, and what was hateful was that someone bought five copies at once.

Could this person be a scalper? Wang Wang Anyi couldn't help but worry.

After all, the number of books the bookstore imported was limited, and there were so many people queuing. If it sold out when it was her turn, she couldn't see it first today.

The bookstore clerk was also worried about this problem and asked the young man a few extra questions.

He said: "My grandfather, my grandfather, and our leader all like to read *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes*, and I like it too. Is it not okay to buy a few more copies to give to others? It's not like I didn't pay."

Someone asked again: "Your grandfather, your grandmother, your leader, plus you, that's only four people. Why did you buy five copies?"

The young man said shyly: "I still have a partner. Her father likes it too."

The scene was full of happy air.

Finally, it was Wang Wang Anyi's turn. Fortunately, it was said that the first printing quantity was large this time, and the bookstore's stock was sufficient. Wang Wang Anyi successfully bought this issue of *Harvest*. Opening the directory page, she hadn't seen her *Finale* yet, and was attracted by *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes·Middle*, which was in bold font.

So this was not the finale yet! There was still a "Lower"!

Many people actually didn't know that *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes* was serialized in three issues. They all thought they could see the finale this time. Never expected that the money was spent, but the finale couldn't be seen.

Wang Wang Anyi looked at the page number. It was estimated that this time it was more than 200,000 words, so after three issues, *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes* was at least a big long novel of more than 600,000 words!

Good fellow, Wang Wang Anyi was 27 years old this year, debuted for five years, and had never written a long novel. In five years, the novellas and short stories plus essays and miscellaneous articles she created didn't add up to 600,000!

How much royalties would 600,000 be? No wonder he liked to treat people to dinner so much.

At the beginning, at the literary lecture hall in Beijing, Wang Wang Anyi was also one of the students, and was a beneficiary of Wei Ming's treat.

Wang Wang Anyi, who regarded Wei Ming as a target to catch up with on the literary road, found a quiet place and began to read *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes·Middle* seriously.

And in bookstores and post offices in many cities across the country, similar situations appeared. Eager readers bought *Harvest* and immediately found a place with no one to read it urgently.

Connecting to the previous episode, after the Xi'an Incident, the Kuomintang and the Communist Party began to cooperate on the surface again, and Jiang Jiang Limin also began a military career facing the Japanese devils. Wei Ming drew on some classic bridges of fighting against the devils in *Bright Sword*, writing it both cool, happy, and tragic.

Compared with Li Liu Yunlong, Jiang Jiang Limin had much more culture, but there were also times when he was mixed and didn't care, and he was also good at using ghost ideas to win by surprise.

And an important character in this plot was Wang Wang Yaowu. He was a classmate of Jiang Jiang Limin in the third phase of Whampoa and also a typical figure of the Kuomintang's frontal resistance.

Here he acted as the role of Chu Chu Yunfei, and in fact, Chu Chu Yunfei's classic line "Even if there are tens of thousands of pigs, the Communist army would have to catch them for a few days if they want to catch them all" was also said by Wang Wang Yaowu himself. This film and television image of Chu Chu Yunfei borrowed a lot from Wang Wang Yaowu.

Until the July 7th Incident broke out and the comprehensive anti-Japanese upsurge was set off, Jiang Jiang Limin led the charge in a battle in order to win, and was unfortunately injured.

Because the local medical conditions were limited, the organization arranged for him to go to Shanghai for treatment and recuperation. This was obviously borrowing from the experience of General Chen.

Tang Tang Shengming's home.

Old friends like Tang Tang Shengming, Shen Zui, Wen Wen Xiaoqiang, Yang Botao, and Zheng Tingji gathered at Tang Tang Shengming's home. Everyone was reading, each with a copy of *Harvest*, all bought by Tang Tang Shengming.

Tang Tang Shengming was even more excessive, asking the nanny to buy six copies of *Harvest* in one breath.

When seeing the previous plot, several alumni of the Merit Forest missed Wang Wang Yaowu, the old boy. It was a pity that he was specially pardoned in 1959 and passed away in 1968.

And when seeing Jiang Jiang Limin go to Shanghai, Shen Zui's eyes were straight, because he saw "Yan Yan Shuangying"!

In Wei Ming's novel, Jiang Jiang Limin and Yan Yan Shuangying were two people. Yan Yan Shuangying was still Jiang Jiang Limin's subordinate and was the person responsible for the specific action.

Seeing this name, Shen Zui knew that this young author must have consulted some secret files.

Tang Tang Shengming pointed to the memory he saw and said: "Sure enough, a large part of Jiang Jiang Limin's prototype came from Brother Chen. There is my scene here. When Brother Chen came to Shanghai to recuperate, I helped him sweep away those petty people. It's a pity that he left too early, not even sixty years old."

The other few thought, otherwise you wouldn't have entered the Merit Forest. You were a big cadre directly, and you were flirting with the Communist Party from the beginning.

After Jiang Jiang Limin came to Shanghai due to injury, he directly took over the underground work here and began another legend.

This second volume of *Human* was also divided into two stages: the front is the frontal battlefield, and the back is the enemy-behind battlefield. Not only did he have to face the Japanese invaders who were drooling over the Yangtze River Delta, but he also had to guard against the Wang puppet and the fickle Old Chiang. The story points were more dense, making people unable to stop watching.

In addition, the second volume also had Jiang Jiang Limin's emotional drama. To be precise, it was the second emotional drama. In the first volume, his teacher's sister had already died in the party purge, and the two had a hazy relationship. After that, Jiang Jiang Limin also experienced a few years of emotional window period.

"Hehe, never expected that Wei Laoshi is also a good hand at writing love. These two emotional dramas in *Human Righteous Path* are quite good. There is not much ink, but it adds a lot of color."

"But I always feel that this heroine cannot live to the third volume."

"Haha, I have the same feeling."

In the 78 Chinese Department where Liu Liu Zhenyun was, the discussion about this novel also began. One of them even wanted Liu Liu Zhenyun to invite Wei Laoshi over to discuss it together.

Liu Liu Zhenyun agreed readily and set off to the library to find someone.

It happened that Wei Ming came out of the library, his steps hurried.

"Brother Ming, our dormitory..."

Before Liu Liu Zhenyun finished speaking, Wei Ming said: "Old Liu, I definitely have no time today. Another day."

"Oh, fine." Liu Liu Zhenyun watched Wei Ming's back go away, annoyed. He should have asked what it was. Maybe he could help.

Just now a call was made to the library, looking for Wei Ming. After Wei Ming finished answering the call, he hurried out, rode his motorcycle directly to the Xiehe, and met Ba Lao, Wei Tao, and others here.

Everyone was waiting for a painful news.

During the waiting process, Ba Lao took out the last article Mr. Mao Dun wrote before his death and showed it to Wei Ming.

"He said this text would be used for the preface when *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes* is published. This is your honor and the honor of this novel. I hope you can also sharpen your progress, not live up to Mr. Mao Dun's expectations, and let this preface become a literary story."

It was also because of this fate that Ba Lao called Wei Ming to the hospital to send Mr. Mao Dun on his last journey together.

Wei Ming took those few sheets of paper. The article was not written by the gentleman himself, but dictated by the person himself and recorded by his son Wei Tao. These few sheets of paper were at least 2,000 words, and they were heavy in Wei Ming's hands.

"In the folds of history, there are always some undercurrents and bright lights, like a long river rushing, wrapped in mud and stars, finally carving uneven textures on the beach of the era.

The book *Human Righteous Path is Vicissitudes* is like a long scroll of fine brushwork, using the ups and downs of the two Jiang brothers as the warp and weft, weaving a magnificent picture of China's revolution for half a century. The people in the book walk on the blade of history, blood and tears intertwined with ideals, and faith torn with family affection.

"And the so-called 'Righteous Path' has never been a plaque hanging high in the temple, but footprints trudging in the mud, cold sweat of traitors waking up at midnight, and the shouts of the silent finally erupting..."

Next, Mr. Mao Dun also analyzed the main characters such as Jiang Jiang Limin, Jiang Jiang Lizhong, and Jiang Jiang Lihua one by one, and it was another long article.

The gentleman was really serious. These comments were pearls of wisdom, and did not reveal the fate of the characters, which could provide some help for readers who were preparing to read this novel, allowing them to enter the story faster. It was really intentional.

"Mountains and rivers crack silk, years become monuments. The weight of a book does not lie in how many storms it records, but in how it makes the breathing in the dust resonate with the stars.

Respectfully dedicate this book to all those who listen to the silence in the noise, piece together the completeness in the broken, and look up at the starry sky while crawling.

The human road is long, the righteous path is not yet ended, only hope that after the vicissitudes, we still have the courage to say to the years: This heart is bright, what else is there to say."

Seeing the words "This heart is bright, what else is there to say," Wei Ming's eye sockets couldn't help but get wet.

Although he and the gentleman didn't have much interaction and couldn't be called familiar, just a photo friendship, this preface written by the gentleman was extremely sincere and frank, and the quality was extremely high. Even if it was taken out separately, it was enough to be published in language textbooks.

Just as Wei Ming rubbed his eyes lightly, a doctor walked over...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 286 =====