Chapter 290

Yanzi found out about this matter; after all, it wasn't Yanzi's husband, but she didn't dare let Yunyun know for the time being, as she didn't know how serious the injury was.

When Wei Ming and Biaozi went downstairs, they were both light-footed, fearing they would be discovered by Yunyun.

On the way, Biaozi also expressed the same sentiment as Wei Ming: "If only I had been on the night shift tonight; then the one injured would have been that murderer."

Wei Ming: "Don't talk about you; even if it were me, the one injured would definitely have been the murderer. Xiao Mei is still too weak."

Then Biaozi was even more annoyed: "I'm already twenty years old, with nothing but physical strength, yet I've never done a righteous deed. Even someone like Xiao Mei has done a righteous deed. Sigh!"

Wei Ming sighed: "It's better not to have the opportunity to do a righteous deed; it means society is stable and the people live in peace and work in contentment. But now, even Xiao Mei can run into theft and murder. I'm afraid such things won't be few in the future."

"Murder? Someone died!" Biaozi only then realized what Xiao Mei had actually experienced.

Wei Ming nodded: "I heard from Sun Suozhang that someone ran into the Xidan Shopping Center to steal things. When discovered by two shopping center staff members, he stabbed them, resulting in one death and one serious injury. When he came out, he was still holding a knife in his hand, covered in blood, and just happened to be run into by Xiao Mei, who was off work."

Biaozi made a "hissing" sound: "Xiao Mei still dared to go up while holding a knife? He really makes me look at him with new eyes. I always thought he was quite cowardly before; he could be scared to death by a cat while patrolling at night."

Wei Ming thought for a moment: "Maybe it's because he's about to become a father. From a boy to a man, he's grown up."

The two arrived at the Peking Union Medical College Hospital. After asking around, they went upstairs and found Mei Wenhua's ward. Only Mei Wenhua was inside.

Seeing his face without a trace of blood, his eyes dull without his glasses, both of them were terrified.

"Xiao Mei, are you okay? Where are you hurt?"

Seeing the two of them, Mei Wenhua pointed to the position of his leg under the quilt.

Wei Ming: "Leg broken?"

Biaozi: "Leg gone?"

At this moment, a nurse walked in, holding a hospital gown in her hand: "Bed 13, I've brought your pants. Hurry up and change into them; don't let them fester."

Mei Wenhua hurriedly and nimbly took the pants into the quilt and looked at the nurse vigilantly.

After the nurse went out, he changed into the hospital gown and threw the wet pants from under the quilt to the side. Wei Ming smelled what seemed to be a bit of urine.

Regardless of anything else, this kid had been a hero for once. Neither Wei Ming nor Biaozi laughed at him.

"Then where exactly are you hurt?" Wei Ming couldn't help but ask.

Xiao Mei said: "I don't know either. Anyway, I vomited at the time. Ouch, don't mention it; it was too scary. I have to check my whole body to be sure."

Biaozi could see that this kid was perfectly fine.

"That's not right. You caught the murderer, and you didn't even break your skin?" Biaozi felt it was incredible, and the other party was holding a knife.

"How could I not break my skin? Isn't this broken?" He pointed to his elbow, which seemed to have a small scrape. "And my glasses were even knocked off."

Wei Ming was speechless: "Tell me the process in detail."

Xiao Mei recalled painfully: "Isn't it the end of the month? And May Day is coming soon, so there's a lot to do in the shop. After the employees got off work, I was busy for another half hour. When I rode my bike past the Xidan Shopping Center, I saw a person holding a knife, and there was blood on his body. I was scared... I saw that this person had a problem, so I twisted the throttle to the end and crashed into him, and then a flying jump..."

Biaozi's expression began to twitch. A flying jump from a moving motorcycle? Could you be any more full of it?

"I jumped off the motorcycle, the motorcycle happened to press on him, and then I saw the Xidan Shopping Center, which had already closed, with its door open. One person was holding his stomach and shouting for help, and another person was lying on the ground. The ground was full of blood."

Wei Ming and Biaozi understood. It was just that Xiao Mei, in his fright, had crashed into the fleeing murderer. In the panic, the motorcycle fell, accidentally controlling the murderer. In fact, there was no subjective intention of doing a righteous deed, but in terms of facts, he had indeed done a righteous deed. The police were called by his shouting.

"I haven't asked yet, how are those two people at the Xidan Shopping Center?" After finishing his heroic deeds, Mei Wenhua asked again.

Wei Ming: "You don't know yet? One died, and one was seriously injured."

Hearing that one of them had died, the expression on Mei Wenhua's face immediately froze, and his body stiffened.

"What kind of person is this? A professional killer? So ruthless!" He found it hard to understand. Thinking about it now, he was still terrified. This was the closest he had ever been to death.

Wei Ming: "Alright, since you don't have any major problems, we're going back. You're sure you're not coming with us, right? Your wife doesn't know about this yet."

Mei Wenhua hesitated: "I just changed my pants; do I have to change them back?"

Biaozi: "We can go take a bath, scrub a bit, and get rid of the bad luck."

"Eh, this is good, this is good!" Xiao Mei then agreed to be discharged.

However, just after finishing the procedures, Sun Suozhang came, and he told Wei Ming and the others: "That murderer is also being treated for trauma in this hospital. We just finished interrogating him."

"What!" Xiao Mei shuddered again after hearing this. That person was too cruel.

Wei Ming asked curiously: "What is this person's background? Why is he so ruthless?"

Sun Suozhang shook his head: "You definitely wouldn't guess; even if you were beaten to death, you wouldn't guess."

Biaozi: "Is he your colleague?"

"Go, go, go, really out of line," Sun Suozhang said, "He's a student at Beijing Foreign Studies University, studying French, and he's excellent in character and learning, just preparing for the postgraduate entrance exam."

"What? A student? This student is too ruthless!" All three felt it was incredible.

Sun Suozhang said: "According to this Feng Daxing's confession..."

Feng Daxing? Hearing this name, Wei Ming was startled. Dead memories began to attack him. So it was him!

This person was very famous in the early 80s and triggered a great discussion in society.

Initially, for the sake of study and the postgraduate entrance exam, he stole a French-Chinese dictionary from Xinhua Bookstore. He wasn't discovered, so his courage grew larger and larger.

If he didn't have money but wanted good things, he would go steal.

Once, when he was caught stealing at the Xidan Shopping Center, in order not to be caught and delay his bright future, he actually committed a crime against the two staff members on duty, causing a tragedy of one death and one injury. And he was sentenced to death a few months later.

This incident was regarded as a typical case of value collision during the social transformation period at the beginning of reform and opening up, triggering a discussion in Chinese society about "Can those who are excellent in talent and career cross the moral line?", prompting society to re-examine the balance between material pursuit and spiritual construction.

In his previous life, Wei Ming had heard this name and this incident in many newspapers. He didn't expect his brother-in-law to run into it.

Sun Suozhang told them about the same as what Wei Ming understood. He thanked Xiao Mei on behalf of the people: "Tomorrow, push your motorcycle over, and also get a silk banner."

Mei Wenhua understood the gold content of this silk banner and hurriedly shook Sun Suozhang's hand to express his gratitude, but he still had a question: "How much money were the things that Feng Daxing stole worth?"

"Just some fountain pens and notebooks; at most, they could be worth ten yuan."

Hearing this, the three people were silent. Ten yuan—the profit from one of their clothes could be almost ten yuan. But for Feng Daxing, it was worth one and a half lives, and the other half was still being rescued.

The place to take a bath now was a real bath; you couldn't see a single person of the opposite sex in the bathhouse.

The three people first rinsed off, then went into the pool to soak. Biaozi even bought a bottle of wine. Today's matter was quite distressing, and everyone wanted to drink a little. There were no wine glasses, so everyone took a sip from the bottle.

Xiao Mei took the wine bottle and glanced at it: "38 degrees, not bad, the alcohol content isn't high."

Wei Ming suddenly said: "Xiao Mei, I found that you don't seem to be affected when you walk and look at things without glasses? What is your prescription?"

Originally, Wei Ming just wanted to judge the probability of his nephew being born with myopia, but Xiao Mei picked up the wine bottle and took a big sip, his face turning red: "Actually, I'm not nearsighted."

"What!" Wei Ming and Biaozi said at the same time. Biaozi said, "Then you wearing glasses is just to pretend to be a cultured person?"

Mei Wenhua closed his eyes and poured water on his head: "If I tell the truth, can you not laugh at me?"

Wei Ming: "Just say it; we're all brothers. Who doesn't know each other's embarrassing things?"

Biaozi: "That's right. Just like I'm a 'licker' (sycophant) and Brother Ming is a 'scumbag.' No one is perfect."

Wei Ming rolled his eyes: *Why do I feel like you're quite proud of being a licker? You've finally learned a few new terms I taught you. *

With Biaozi's words, Xiao Mei took another sip: "Today, I'll just let you recognize the real Mei Wenhua. Did I say I participated in the battle to encircle and suppress 'Little Bastard' when I was eight years old?"

"You said it."

"Actually, I was dragged there by my brother. I was just shouting slogans on the very outside. I didn't even see the person when he was alive, but I did take a look when he was dead, and I was so scared I peed my pants."

Wei Ming comforted him: "You were still young after all."

Mei Wenhua: "No need to comfort me. Actually, I'm just cowardly. I grew up in a military compound since I was a child. The compound kids like to play with dangerous things, but I don't like them at all. But to make myself look gregarious, to make myself look awesome, I still foolishly followed those kids older than me to fight and play.

"Actually, I think they are quite stupid. Who is the boss in the gang doesn't depend on ability, but on whose father has a higher rank. But I followed them to play, willingly being a follower for others. I'm even more stupid."

Speaking of this, Wei Ming called the bathhouse attendant. After a while, he sent over a pack of cigarettes and a lighter. All three of Wei Ming's group lit up.

With cigarettes and wine to help, Xiao Mei's self-analysis was more thorough.

"Actually, I liked playing with girls more when I was a child. What we played didn't matter; the key was that playing with girls wasn't dangerous. At most, we pulled hair. But mixing with that group of bastards, I've had stitches twice and broken bones three times. I feel pain just thinking about it now."

"When you play with girls when you're a child, boys can bully you to death, unless you can fight like me." Biaozi said proudly. He had loved playing with Yanzi since he was a child.

"Later, when I was a little older, mixing with them had some benefits. These compound kids are well-informed and like to talk big. By junior high and high school, they were especially popular with girls. There were quite a few little girls who liked to mix with us. Do you remember Mi Qing?" Xiao Mei blew a smoke ring.

Biaozi gestured in front of his chest: "I remember, after all, they were so big."

Wei Ming thought of Li Zhi—the chest scale was similar, but the face was prettier and whiter.

"I haven't met her at school recently." Wei Ming worked in the library and saw many students, but he hadn't seen her.

Xiao Mei said: "She went abroad to study in Japan. When I got married, her parents also came. They were so proud."

Biaozi smiled: "You must have liked her quite a bit before, right?"

Xiao Mei confessed: "At that time, she was the most popular with men in our small circle. The boys liked to crowd around her, probably thinking they could take advantage of her. But she was closest to the leader of our circle. Once, that guy beat me up in front of everyone for no reason, making me embarrassed. Thinking about it now, it should be because I was close to Mi Qing, and he wanted to show off in front of Mi Qing, showing off his big brother's prestige. That day, I held on in front of everyone and even pretended to be indifferent with a cheeky face, but on the way home, I cried my eyes out. I remember it was raining heavily that day. I'll remember that rain for the rest of my life."

Biaozi took a sip of wine and handed the wine bottle to Xiao Mei, who was lost in memories.

He felt that Xiao Mei was really a man at this moment. Who didn't have some embarrassing things in their puberty? But Xiao Mei could say it out loud—awesome.

Xiao Mei continued his narration: "Later, I went to the countryside. I requested it voluntarily, just wanting to stay away from this group of people. When I came back, my father hoped I could be a soldier. After all, our whole family were soldiers. He felt that only the army could train me, like a man of the Mei family. But I didn't dare, because at that time, we were about to fight the Vietnamese devils. I was afraid of going to the battlefield; I was afraid of death. So, from that time on, I became nearsighted."

Wei Ming and Biaozi understood. Nearsightedness was just a means to avoid being a soldier. So he came to Peking University and became a temporary worker.

Wei Ming patted his shoulder: "Then will you still wear glasses in the future?"

Xiao Mei thought for a moment, then shook his head firmly: "I won't wear them. After today's incident, I feel I've grown up. Maybe next time I encounter such a thing, I'll take the initiative to ride my motorcycle and rush up."

Wei Ming nodded: "It's a good thing to regain courage, but sometimes don't try to be a hero. Don't forget you still have a wife, and you're about to have a child."

Speaking of his wife at home and the child in his wife's belly, Xiao Mei said "Oh my": "I'd better continue wearing glasses."

"Why?"

"Yunyun just likes the way I look with glasses, saying it looks like a cultured person."

Wei Ming and Biaozi: "Tsk!"

They had said enough, and they had soaked until they were soft. The three had the bathhouse attendant scrub them. Wei Ming was the cleanest; Sister Lin had even scrubbed him when he was in Shanghai.

When they were leaving, Xiao Mei sat in Biaozi's car. Wei Ming was about to part ways with them when Xiao Mei suddenly called out to Wei Ming.

"Big Brother, you wrote Biaozi's childhood story into *Heroes Are Born of Youth*. Do you think someone as ordinary as me can never become a protagonist?"

"You're also worthy of being ordinary," Wei Ming rolled his eyes at him. "Don't think too much. Go home, hold your wife, and have a good sleep. Biaozi, you drive slower; don't let Xiao Mei not be killed by the murderer but be killed by you."

"Don't worry, I can be fast or slow."

This bathhouse was near Beichizi. Wei Ming soon arrived home. Ginkgo barked twice and went back to the nest to sleep. Detective didn't show up at all.

It was almost twelve o'clock now. Wei Ming lay on the bed, thinking about Xiao Mei's true feelings after experiencing life and death today, but he couldn't sleep at all. The group of compound kids was really interesting.

In those ten years, they were well protected. When other children were either fighting heaven and earth or being implicated by their parents, they were idling, eating, drinking, and playing, and even enjoyed rock music more than a decade earlier than the masses.

When the dark clouds dispersed, they used their information advantage to eat up the dividends of the era, either getting rich in a low-key way or high-profilely using the cultural market to influence the whole country, acting as various types of idols.

This was a group with natural dramatic attributes, and this era needed to leave behind a novel that accurately described them—a novel not written by themselves, but by an outsider, with a more objective attitude.

Thinking of this, Wei Ming sat up abruptly from the bed, rummaged through the drawer by the bed to find a blank notebook, and took a pen to write a few big characters on it.

Estimating that Biaozi and Xiao Mei should have arrived home, Wei Ming picked up the phone that had been installed in the courtyard not long ago and called Mei Wenhua's house.

The call connected: "Hello."

"Yunyun, is Xiao Mei back?"

Yunyun: "Wenhua, my brother is looking for you."

Mei Wenhua took the phone: "Big Brother, I just got home and am changing clothes."

Wei Ming: "Nothing else, just want to say, actually you can also be a protagonist—the protagonist of my next novel."

"What!" Mei Wenhua's voice rose sharply.

"We'll talk in detail tomorrow. Alright, sleep." After speaking, Wei Ming hung up the phone.

Mei Wenhua held the receiver. How could he sleep now?

Originally, those experiences when he was a child were embarrassing enough. Now his brother-in-law wanted to write them into a novel and write a biography for him. Wouldn't that be embarrassing to the future? Probably people in 2025 would know about him peeing his pants.

But this was Wei Ming's novel after all. With his brother-in-law's influence, maybe a hundred years later, there would still be people reading his novels. By then, many people of his own era might have been forgotten, but there would still be people who remembered him.

In order not to disturb the pregnant Yunyun's sleep, the tossing and turning Xiao Mei simply went to the guest bedroom to sleep, imagining how to beg his brother-in-law to beautify him tomorrow. He wouldn't mention the peeing pants if he could.

Wei Ming not only wanted to mention it, but also wanted to mention it repeatedly. The next day, he came to Dongfang Dongfang Xintiandi, called Xiao Mei to the warehouse, and started directly from when he was in kindergarten.

"We were all in collective kindergartens when we were in kindergarten. Parents threw us in and didn't have to worry. The country took care of us, and parents focused on working for the country. Hundreds of three or four-year-old children were like a small society."

This kind of kindergarten experience was indeed quite unique. Rural children like Wei Ming were hard to understand.

Wei Ming asked in detail and didn't allow Xiao Mei to hide anything, including his embarrassing story of drawing a map in kindergarten, which he understood thoroughly.

"Big Brother, tell me the truth, are you sure you're not teasing me? Do you really want me to be the protagonist in your novel?"

Wei Ming: "Could this be fake?"

Xiao Mei: "Also called Mei Wenhua?"

Wei Ming: "Do you want to be called this name?"

"I don't want to. You think of another name."

Wei Ming smiled: "That's fine, I'll think of another one."

Actually, this time Wei Ming wanted to use the first person. Now, writing short and medium-length novels in the first person was the mainstream, but Wei Ming had never used it. This time, he wanted to use the perspective of "I" to tell this story—the youth and pain of a compound kid.

Using the first person had more immersion and would have a feeling of personal pain.

The first person also needed a name. This didn't matter. Fang Qiangqiang, Ma Xiaojun, Zhong Yuemin—none of these were the point.

The point was that this would be the first novel to pull the group of compound kids out and dissect them bloody for the whole country to see.

Wei Ming not only wanted to write about the past and present, but even wanted to foresee some of the future, such as things after the dual-track price system.

This novel would have many adaptations and creations by Wei Ming based on Xiao Mei's experience, but there was a foundation below, and it was a secondary creation based on this foundation.

And this foundation was called *In the Heat of the Sun*.

The two were chatting enthusiastically. Wei Ming also wanted Xiao Mei to take him to visit his home—his parents' home, the place where he had lived since he was a child.

At this time, Sun Suozhang came and sent a silk banner by motorcycle.

He hurriedly ran out to greet him, temporarily getting rid of his brother-in-law who was digging into his roots. Moreover, this matter later made it into the newspapers, and Mei Wenhua and Oriental Dongfang Dongfang Xintiandi became famous once again.

Just when Wei Ming was preparing for his new work, the May Day holiday arrived. International students like Li Aiguo and Li Kui prepared to go to Beidaihe to play.

It just so happened that on the eve of departure, Li Aiguo received a package from his home in the United States.

It was the *Moonlight Shadow* record mailed to him by his father. Because of the time lag, when Li Aiguo's father mentioned this record, he said that its reputation was good, but the results were average, and it hadn't entered the Billboard Top 100 singles yet.

However, after listening to it, international students like Li Aiguo all expressed that this was the most moving song they had heard this year. A song of this quality could definitely enter the Billboard.

When Li Aiguo gave the record to Wei Ming, he also conveyed the students' love and gratitude for this song to him, thanking him for everything he did for Lennon.

After Wei Ming got this record, his first reaction was to share it with others.

Unfortunately, his parents didn't know how to appreciate English songs very well, and Wei Hong's praise was relatively perfunctory.

Fortunately, at this time, Zhu Lin rang the home phone. She had finished filming and was home!

"Then do you want to come to my house? I'll let you listen to something good."

"What good thing?"

"That English song I wrote."

Zhu Lin was indeed tempted: "Is anyone home tomorrow morning?"

"No one, no one. My parents and grandmother are all in the courtyard."

The next day was May Day, and Wei Ming didn't need to go to work. However, in the morning, he first received a package sent by Melinda from the UK.

Never expected that Melinda also mailed him the *Moonlight Shadow* record and tape, and there was Sarah Brightman's autograph on the record.

This wasn't enough; Melinda also had a photo with Sarah Brightman. At this time, Brightman was young and hadn't gained weight yet.

Never expected that these two people actually got together, and when Melinda wrote this letter, *Moonlight Shadow* had just broken into the US Billboard charts. Wei Ming couldn't wait to read this letter...

(Minimum guaranteed today)

(End of chapter)