Chapter 294: My original manuscript has returned; it can serve as a family heirloom

Upon arriving at the post office, besides a telegram from Melinda, there was unexpectedly a remittance slip from Hong Kong—the reprint royalties for the June issue of *The Human World is Full of Vicissitudes* sent by *Ta Kung Pao*.

Even for a reprint, they offered a rate of 80 Hong Kong dollars per thousand characters. Calculated at 100,000 characters for the month, they paid 8,000 Hong Kong dollars. This price was significantly higher than Wei Kuangren's works; fame truly influences price.

Left-wing media treated Wei Ming as a renowned author already. Many articles by gentlemen like Mao Dun and Ba Jin were also published in Hong Kong media, with standards much higher than those on the mainland; this was also an important source of their royalties.

Wei Ming accepted it calmly. A monthly income of 8,000 Hong Kong dollars was no longer stimulating enough for him; the income Melinda brought him was the real bulk of it.

In her telegram, she told Wei Ming: "Mr. Webber invites you to London to enjoy his invitation."

Having written so many characters, a fair amount of money had been spent, but the matter was stated very clearly.

Wei Ming immediately replied with a telegram, telling her that he was about to go to Hong Kong, and if the foreign affairs department granted permission, he could fly to London via Hong Kong to meet after finishing his business in Hong Kong.

Invitations for Chinese literary and artistic workers to visit abroad like this were not rare; Mr. Shen Congwen had been invited to visit the United States to give lectures last year.

However, usually only well-known artists received such treatment. Wei Ming was, after all, still too young, so when the British Embassy relayed this invitation, the foreign affairs staff handling it were still somewhat surprised.

One, they were surprised that Wei Ming was "Wei Shenme"; Melinda had provided Wei Ming's Chinese and English names as well as his workplace.

Two, they were astonished that his novel about a lion was actually valued so highly; the British musical theater circle actually wanted to collaborate with him? He himself hadn't felt it was that good; the British really hadn't eaten anything good.

Wei Ming had already been approved to go to Hong Kong. This time, he ran to the foreign affairs department again and was finally approved to go to the UK.

Anyway, he was already going to Hong Kong; if he really wanted to run, he could run from Hong Kong, so adding the UK didn't matter.

It was just a matter of how to tell Sister Lin and Sister Xue about this. Wouldn't they misunderstand that he was going to the UK to rekindle an old flame?

Walking on the Peking University campus, Wei Ming, preparing to ask for leave, felt somewhat worried.

"Brother Ming!" Liang Zuo called out to stop Wei Ming.

"Oh, Little Zuo, what's up?"

Liang Zuo, who was four years older than Wei Ming, didn't mind; as long as he wasn't made to call him uncle, he considered himself lucky.

"My mother invites you to our home as a guest; she has something to consult you about."

"What does she have to consult me about?"

"It's about writing a screenplay. There's a film studio that wants to adapt her novel, and you have a lot of experience in this area."

Wei Ming perked up: "Which novel?"

"*People at Middle Age*."

Wei Ming chuckled; it really was this one: "Alright, I'll go to your place tomorrow night; tell your mother."

The key to *People at Middle Age* was finding a suitable soul-stirring heroine, and it just so happened that Wei Ming had a suitable candidate for the lead actress on hand.

However, that same evening, Chen Rong called the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

She began by scolding her son: "I'm the one asking you for help; it should be me visiting you. That brat Liang Zuo is also ignorant, actually agreeing directly to let you come over."

"Oh, Big Sister, you're being too formal. Besides, Editor-in-Chief Fan has taken good care of me, yet I haven't even met her; I've wanted to visit for a long time. As long as you don't mind me disturbing you."

"Not a disturbance, I'm just afraid you're picky and won't be used to home-cooked meals, haha."

The next afternoon, Wei Ming bought some fruit and snacks, and brought a tin of Longjing tea to the *People's Daily* family compound. Chen Rong sent her second son, Liang Tian, to welcome Wei Ming.

"Teacher Wei, please this way."

"Liang Tian, right? I often hear your brother talk about you."

"He definitely didn't say anything good about me, did he? Was he mocking my small eyes?" Liang Tian said with self-awareness.

"Haha, no one knows a brother like a brother."

On the way upstairs, Liang Tian discussed *The Human World is Full of Vicissitudes* with Wei Ming. He was in the military, and according to him, the military library had received five copies of this issue of *Harvest*, and they were all checked out that very day. This series was quite popular there.

Wei Ming expressed his gratitude for the praise.

Entering the home, except for Liang Zuo who was at school, the family of four was all there, and dinner was already prepared, just waiting for him, the honored guest, to arrive.

Wei Ming got to know them one by one and sat down to eat and chat.

"I've already heard from Liang Zuo that someone wants to adapt *People at Middle Age*?" Wei Ming got straight to the point.

Chen Rong nodded: "Yes, the Changchun Er Yingchang has this idea, and they hope I can adapt it myself, but I've never written a screenplay."

"Big Sister, you're asking me? I just suffered a defeat at the Golden Rooster Awards," Wei Ming joked.

"A nomination is an affirmation. Out of so many films last year, only you and Ye Nan were nominated; how can that be considered a defeat? It's clearly the cream of the crop."

Liang Tian echoed his mother: "Exactly, exactly. Our military has shown both of these films, and *Herdsman* is clearly more popular."

He also had a thought hidden in his heart: his comrades all loved Comrade Gong Xue too much.

Since everyone said so, Wei Ming boldly shared some knowledge about screenwriting. After all, he was a veteran screenwriter of several decades, and he spoke about these things with great authority.

However, no matter how much he said, it was better to improve oneself through practice.

"I brought a copy of *Film Creation* today; *Herdsman* was published in this issue, so it's a very standard screenplay format. How about this, Big Sister, you can try imitating it to write a segment first, and then I'll help you pick out the flaws and point out some problems for beginners."

"Alright, but after I finish writing, you have to help me vet it too."

"Can do, but next month I'm going to Hong Kong, and then I have to fly to London. You can write a segment as soon as possible for me to see, and we can discuss it after I return."

"Going to the UK? Why are you going to the UK?" Editor-in-Chief Fan asked with a journalist's sensitivity.

Wei Ming didn't hide anything, saying that *The Lion King* had been noticed by someone, and they invited him to watch the musical and incidentally discuss licensing.

"Whoa!" Liang Tian exclaimed; he would have plenty to brag about when he returned to the military.

"Big Sister, do you have any thoughts on who should play Lu Wenting?" Wei Ming asked about the lead actress again.

Chen Rong: "Ah, as a screenwriter, can I even have a say in who plays the lead actress?"

"Others might not know, but anyway, for my novel-adapted films, I need the actors to satisfy me. After all, when we are creating, we all have an imagination of the characters under our pens; no one understands the characters better than us."

Chen Rong smiled: "That's true, but actually I don't watch many movies, and I don't know many actresses; I only know the most famous ones, but they are all too young, their age isn't suitable. Actually, I think Zheng Zhenyao's temperament is quite fitting; I've seen her stage plays, but she's a bit too old."

The lead actress of *People at Middle Age*, Lu Wenting, is an ophthalmologist under forty, with exquisite skills and over ten years of clinical experience; she wasn't someone who just came out of a 4+4 program.

When they finished eating and Wei Ming sat opposite Big Sister Chen Rong on the sofa, he took out a photo.

"Big Sister, take a look at how this actress is."

This was a photo of Zhu Lin from when she used to work; she was wearing a white lab coat, looking at reagents in the laboratory, her expression focused, her attitude professional.

Chen Rong's first impression was that she was a very beautiful doctor; she looked kind and comfortable.

"Is she an actress?"

"She used to be at a medical research institute, and now she's preparing to become a professional actress. She has already acted in a few plays; in Director Shui Hua's *Regret for the Past*, she played Zijun."

"So it's her!" Chen Rong also knew the news of this film adaptation; Zijun was a typical representative of the intellectual young woman.

And her imagination of Lu Wenting was also that kind of typical intellectual—knowledgeable, cultured, and with backbone.

However, this female intellectual of hers was a bit too beautiful. Chen Rong thought of the beautiful Gong Xue, whom she had met twice; because of Ma Xiaowei, Gong Xue was one of the few actresses she knew, but her temperament was too weak.

"What is her name?"

"Zhu Lin."

This Zhu Lin's temperament was indeed very fitting for Lu Wenting, and she had also studied medicine: "How old is she?"

Wei Ming: "She's 30."

Her nominal age was 30; he wasn't lying.

Wei Ming deliberately stated it on the older side; Chen Rong still felt she was slightly young, but with makeup, it would be fine.

Chen Rong was somewhat curious about what relationship this Zhu Lin had with Ma Xiaowei, but she didn't ask too much, instead saying: "How about you meet me next time when you check my homework."

Wei Ming: "Can do, then I'll notify her later."

If this matter was accomplished, Wei Ming didn't dare to hope that Sister Lin could win the Golden Rooster Best Actress like Pan Hong, but at least it could become her representative work; the female intellectual was completely in her comfort zone, and she would be even more at ease acting it out.

By early June, as the day of Wei Ming's departure drew closer, he finally rushed out the manuscript for the second part of *Jurassic Park* and started writing Hong Kong film scripts as a hobby.

And Big Sister Chen Rong also called, arranging to meet tomorrow.

Wei Ming immediately called Tuanjiehu; fortunately, Zhu Lin was there. Wei Ming arranged for her to go to the People's Art Theater to watch a play tomorrow.

Zhu Lin's voice was gentle: "Then what about today~"

Damn!

You forced me into this.

Wei Ming put down his work, rode his motorcycle, and went out.

Having hooked Wei Ming over, Zhu Lin told him a piece of good news: "My relative has arrived."

Wei Ming hid his disappointment well and said calmly: "If they've arrived, they've arrived. Come, come, I just happen to have something to tell you about tomorrow."

"Isn't it just watching a play."

"Watching the play is just incidental; the main thing is to have you meet someone." Then Wei Ming told her about Chen Rong and the adaptation of *People at Middle Age*.

This novel, along with *Spring in the Sheep-Herding Class*, won the first prize for the National Excellent Medium-Length Novel; its strength and influence were not bad at all. Zhu Lin had also read it and liked the lead actress Lu Wenting very much; she saw the shadows of her mother and her mother's colleagues in Lu Wenting.

She never expected that she would actually have a day to play Lu Wenting.

"Don't be happy too early. Even if Big Sister Chen Rong approves of you, it only means she can recommend you to the director and the film studio. Usually, screenwriters aren't as strong-willed as me," Wei Ming said complacently.

Zhu Lin: That's true, having Gong Xue act in both works, so bossy and unyielding.

However, Sister Lin still threw herself into his arms to express her gratitude to the little man, her palm moving on his chest.

Actually, by hooking Wei Ming over today, Zhu Lin wanted to inquire about the content of Melinda's telegram.

She didn't expect that before she even asked, Wei Ming confessed it himself.

"I'm going to Hong Kong on Monday," Wei Ming told her.

"You told me before, I know."

Wei Ming: "Besides going to Hong Kong, I also have to go to the UK."

"What?!"

Wei Ming took out the invitation letter given by the British Embassy.

"No choice, the British invited me with sincerity, and the foreign exchange involved in this deal is not small. I also don't trust Melinda; after all, those not of my race must have different hearts, and I'm afraid she might help her British compatriots cheat me," Wei Ming deliberately chose what Zhu Lin liked to hear.

Sure enough, Sister Lin's brows relaxed. She didn't reveal her worry and even said magnanimously: "If you go, go. Go, go, go, earn the foreigners' foreign exchange fiercely, and win glory for the country."

Wei Ming smiled: "Must win glory!"

When the two lay in the quilt, Zhu Lin's head suddenly buried itself in; physically inconvenienced, she was using another way to make things convenient for Wei Ming.

"Good sister~"

Wei Ming had only one word of praise left; if only Sister Lin could wear the white lab coat she used to work in at this moment.

The next day, arriving at the People's Art Theater, Chen Rong, seeing Zhu Lin in person for the first time, had only one feeling: if the Lu Wenting under my pen were like this, surely many people would like her.

She had already started to consider problems from the perspective of a film; the image and temperament of the lead actress had an additive effect on the character.

Next, the three entered the venue and chose seats further back, making it convenient to talk without affecting others.

Zhu Lin told Chen Rong about her own experiences; in her heart, her mother was a female doctor like Lu Wenting, so she had an innate advantage in playing this character.

And Wei Ming sat on the side with a pen, grading the homework, making annotations on these few pages of the screenplay by Big Sister Chen Rong.

When the play ended, Chen Rong proposed: "Let's find a place to eat and chat."

Zhu Lin said confidently: "Alright."

She could see that Teacher Chen Rong was interested in her; there was a chance!

When she returned home at night, opening the desk lamp to look at Wei Ming's annotations, and thinking of the Zhu Lin she met today, Chen Rong took out a stack of new manuscript paper and started writing the screenplay again. And when writing about Lu Wenting, she automatically substituted Zhu Lin's image, feeling that it was smoother to write.

That night, Zhou Huimin also wrote things for a long time.

Today she saw two pieces of news about Ah Ming.

One came from the European and American music circle; *Moonlight Shadow*, written by Ah Ming, had consecutively topped the music charts in the UK, Germany, Italy, and other countries, and this week it officially topped the Billboard Hot 100, which symbolizes the global pop music trend!

She didn't know if any Chinese musician had achieved this, but Zhou Huimin only knew this one. She really wanted to tell Tan Yonglin and Zhang Mingmin that Mr. Why was Ah Ming; their expressions would definitely be very wonderful.

The second was that *New Evening Post*, a subsidiary of *Ta Kung Pao*, started serializing his long novel *The Human World is Full of Vicissitudes*; she heard it caused a sales frenzy.

She suddenly realized that Ah Ming was such a remarkable great writer and great man of letters; would she be too much of a simpleton compared to him? She was even too lazy to pick up a pen to write letters, insisting on using cassette tapes for recording instead.

It seemed that starting from cassette tape communication, Ah Ming gradually didn't have such a strong desire to express himself.

So today she picked up paper and pen again, continuing to communicate with Ah Ming through text.

It was just that because she was dissatisfied with her own writing, she modified it after writing, and then transcribed it stroke by stroke on scented letter paper.

After finishing all this, Zhou Huimin rubbed her eyes before lying on the bed to sleep.

Tonight she had a dream; in the dream, Ah Ming traveled thousands of miles to Hong Kong to find her, and she even sang *Moonlight Shadow* for him. He said she sang it even better than Sarah Brightman.

And just as Ah Min's letter was sent out, Wei Ming was about to set off for Hong Kong.

They would fly from Yanjing to Guangzhou, and then take a train to Hong Kong.

The people going to Hong Kong this time included Wei Ming, Zhao Debiao, Liu Rulong, and Wu Jing. Biaozi was acting as Wu Jing's guardian.

Biaozi felt he was so tired; he had to watch Brother Ming so he wouldn't go wild, and also watch Jingzi so he wouldn't wet the bed.

Everyone agreed to meet at Wei Ming's house, and before they arrived, Wei Ming received a call.

"Comrade Wei Tao?"

"Comrade Wei Ming, are you at home now? Your original manuscript has been completely found; I just came out of Old Xia's house."

Wei Ming: "I'm at home, but I'm leaving in an hour to catch a flight."

"Oh, there's enough time, there's enough time, I'll send it over to you right now." After speaking, the person hung up the phone.

Alright, then he would wait; if this manuscript wasn't delivered to his hands, he estimated the other party wouldn't be at ease.

About ten minutes later, the door rang. Wei Ming thought it was Wei Tao, but it turned out to be little Wu Jing carrying a very large bag.

Behind him was his father, Wu Jinquan. He handed his son over to Wei Ming, telling his son he must listen to his big brother, and then left with peace of mind. The father had no reluctance, and the son didn't cry or make a scene.

Wei Ming's grandmother immediately took fruit and candy for the little kid to eat.

Lao Lao Lao Wei sighed: "He's so small, can he act?"

"Xizi is even smaller than him, and he acts very well," Wei Ming asked, "Jingzi, do you watch TV?"

"Are there Astro Boy and Donald Duck?"

"Not right now, then you read a book for a while." Wei Ming flipped out his Chinese version of *The Lion King*.

Wu Jing said awkwardly: "I can't read it."

He almost forgot, he was only in the first grade of elementary school and didn't know many characters.

Just as it was awkward, someone knocked on the door again.

This time it was Comrade Wei Tao.

"I'm not late, am I?" he asked.

"No, there's still more than half an hour before leaving," Wei Ming smiled.

"That's perfect, let me tell you." Wei Tao pulled Wei Ming to sit down and took out the thick manuscript from his bag, which had now been arranged in order.

And Wei Ming saw someone else's handwriting on the first page, writing a small line of characters in the blank space.

Wei Tao apologized: "The experience of these manuscripts is somewhat tortuous; they have been read by many old comrades. Some old comrades like to take notes and make comments when reading books, and some couldn't help but write something. I apologize to you on their behalf."

"No, no, no," Wei Ming looked at the small line of characters, "This old comrade just cursed the little Japanese, and I feel it's very intimate; I just don't know which old comrade this is?"

Wei Tao said a name, and Wei Ming immediately stood in awe: "The old leader is indeed a man of temperament; I didn't expect him to be my reader too."

"And the old leader likes this novel very much; when he saw the exciting parts, he couldn't help but write a few sentences. There are quite a few more behind." Wei Tao flipped to the back and pointed out a few places.

But it was far more than just this one old leader who posted "bullet comments" on Wei Ming's original manuscript. On the last page of the novel, Wei Ming saw at least seven or eight different handwritings.

Driven by this old leader, many old comrades who received the manuscript later expressed their views directly on the original manuscript one after another.

Some were purely cheering, some involved themselves, sighing about the past, and some raised corrections to some of Wei Ming's descriptions, explaining the real situation at that time.

Wei Tao came this time to tell Wei Ming whose handwriting these were, so he could have a bottom line in his heart. In some places, if it wasn't a matter of principle, they could be changed when published in the future.

"I also heard it from Old Xia; he has a wide range of contacts and can judge the writer by the handwriting." Wei Tao started to introduce them one by one from front to back.

"Ah, this old person is also reading this book at such an old age!"

"I didn't expect this leader's handwriting to be so elegant; it's really a surprise."

"I know this one; that's a tiger general of our army!"

"So it's that person's son; excuse my ignorance, excuse my ignorance."

After recognizing the handwriting of dozens of old comrades, when he heard another name, Wei Ming said in surprise: "Ah, this person actually read my book too?"

Wei Tao: "I'm not familiar with this one; it seems it's because the protagonist's name is very similar to his."

Wei Ming nodded; this original manuscript must be properly treasured in the future. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to treat it as a family heirloom, right?

While Wei Tao was talking to Wei Ming, Lao Lao Lao Wei stood at the door and blocked Biaozi and A Long outside. Just now he also heard a few sentences, and hearing those names, he knew his son was talking about major events.

When Wei Tao finished speaking, he looked at his watch: "Fortunately, it shouldn't have delayed your flight, so I'll leave first."

"Take care, I'll see you off; it just so happens we are going down too," Wei Ming said with a beaming smile.

He deliberately lagged a few steps behind, handed this manuscript to Lao Lao Lao Wei, and stuffed a handful of foreign exchange coupons.

"Dad, find time to buy me a safe, and then lock this original manuscript inside."

"Got it, I'll go buy it after seeing you off. Also..."

Lao Lao Lao Wei said solemnly: "Kowtow three times for me when you see him."

Wei Ming patted his father's shoulder, indicating he would definitely bring it to him.

Arriving at the airport, little Wu Jing found everything fresh.

"What is this, why is it blocked?" he asked, staring at a mural that was blocked.

Wei Ming smiled: "Behind it are little girls without clothes."

Wu Jing, with the innocence of a child, didn't understand: "Why don't they wear clothes? Is it because they don't have money to buy them?"

Wei Ming laughed: "Maybe it's just to be cool."

After queuing for a while, the three adults and one child successfully boarded the plane. The little kid turned into "one hundred thousand whys" again, becoming curious about the principle of the plane flying into the sky.

Wei Ming threw him to the patient A Long, and A Long made Wu Jing quiet down with just a paintbrush.

"Brother Long, draw me a wolf again! A wolf standing up~"

After Wei Ming and the others went into the sky, *Mom, Love Me Once Again*, filmed in the Subei countryside, announced its wrap.

Gong Xue decided to return to her home in Modu first to accompany her parents, eat something good, gain back the weight she lost, restore her state to the best, and then return to Yanjing.

Although she knew that Wei Ming had most likely already gone to Hong Kong, wasn't there still Zhu Lin? She couldn't lose face in front of her~

(January 6,000 monthly tickets, 7,000 monthly tickets added update!)

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 295 =====