Chapter 326

What a beautiful song; it has a holy and transcendent quality. It feels very suitable for an occasion like a wedding.

At this moment, in Hong Kong, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and even the United States, Japan, South Korea... many young girls around the world who, like Zhou Hui, dream of fairy tales about princes and princesses, were singing along softly while pink bubbles of fantasy seemed to float around them.

However, Zhou Hui also detected a faint sadness in the melody of the lyrics.

That line: "Why your heart sighs / As your love flies / Only time."

And also: "Why your heart cries / When your love lies / Only time."

The meaning of the lyrics didn't seem to be filled with such overflowing happiness.

Wei Ming stared at the beautiful face behind the veil on the screen. Indeed, although this song, "Only Time," created by Irish singer Enya and her sister after experiencing life and death, is often used at weddings, it is not actually about romantic love.

Therefore, for the sake of a double insurance, Wei Ming had written another wedding ballad that was very fitting for the occasion; yet, what truly moved Diana was this song that wasn't quite as fitting.

Just as the song says, love may disappear, fate may be fickle, but only time is eternal. It is what heals the pain, what allows life to return to normal, and what one must rely on to obtain certain answers.

One could seem to hear a faint sadness, but it also possessed a unique charm that transformed sorrow into strength.

Princess Diana was captivated by the unique and stubborn temperament of this song. Walking down the red carpet and seeing Camilla, her husband's mistress, staring at her from the side, Diana felt more and more that her choices and persistence were correct.

Listening to this song, she told herself: let time do the talking, we shall see, I will not yield to you people.

Camilla Rosemary Shand, this noblewoman, was no simple character. She had once had an affair with Charles while she had a boyfriend, later married that boyfriend, and had children—her son even had Charles as his godfather.

The two had always been entangled, and even after he was with Diana, Charles still maintained close contact with this older woman who was inferior to her in both appearance and character.

Not long before the wedding, Diana had discovered that Charles had carefully selected an expensive bracelet to give to Camilla, with the initials of their names engraved on it; at that time, her mental state had nearly collapsed.

Charles explained that it was a parting gift, but even today, Diana discovered that the two were still chatting on the phone every day after "breaking up"!

At this moment, Camilla, who was watching the ceremony among the crowd, seemed more like she had come to show off. Diana couldn't see clearly, but the other woman should be wearing that bracelet on her wrist.

"Ah~" Wei Ming, in front of the television, let out a cry.

The manga artists asked with concern: "What's wrong, Wei Laoshi?"

A Long pushed up his glasses: "A Ming must have seen his ex-girlfriend."

That fiery red hair was truly too conspicuous; it was such a pure red, rarely seen even abroad.

An ex-girlfriend, that British exchange student? Gong Ying still wanted to take another look for her sister, but unfortunately, she couldn't see her anymore; she had flashed by in an instant, and now the camera was on Thatcher.

Those who had come from the mainland had all read reports about Wei Ming and knew he had indeed dated a foreign girlfriend, but the few Hong Kong people were very surprised.

Ma Ma Rongcheng exclaimed: "Wei Laoshi, this ex-girlfriend of yours must also be an aristocrat, to actually be invited to attend the British Prince's wedding!"

However, Wei Ming said calmly: "She is not an aristocrat; she attended on my behalf."

"On your behalf?!" The young men were even more surprised. Could it be that Wei Laoshi was related to the British royal family?

At this time, it was A Long who said: "This song right now was written by A Ming, so they invited him to attend the ceremony."

The one who wrote the song, as well as the two designers who made the wedding dress, had all been invited.

"What!" Whether it was the Hong Kong side or the few from the mainland, they all looked at Wei Ming in unison. This beautiful and holy English song was actually written by you!

This, is he this powerful!

What was powerful was not just the quality of the song, but that it could be selected to appear on such a major occasion; this was too rare and precious. Even the few who had come from the mainland felt it was incredible.

Diana walked on the red carpet for more than three minutes. When she and her father reached the Archbishop of Canterbury, Robert Runcie, and her father placed her hand into Charles's hand, the sound of "who knows - only time / who knows - only time" gradually faded away.

The song ended, but the lingering notes remained in the air.

The background music at this time changed to the chanting of a choir, as if changing back from the individualistic modern society to the traditional Middle Ages.

Princess Diana's personalized choice truly gave global viewers a refreshing and unforgettable impression. This was clearly a new song; no one knew the name of the song, the singer, or who the creator was, but they remembered its melody.

Even the few young princesses and princes behind the Queen and her husband were whispering to each other, saying that this song was so good to listen to, and that they would find their sister-in-law later to ask for the resources.

Elizabeth II frowned slightly, wanting to say what kind of decorum is this, why did she have to choose such an untraditional song? Now it's fine, the guest has overshadowed the host.

Melinda, sitting in the viewing area, also heard people behind her discussing the song just now. She turned her head to look and covered her mouth in surprise—it was actually Princess Grace of Monaco!

A great beauty!

When she was young, she worked in Hollywood, collaborated with Hitchcock on several classic masterpieces, and had even won an Oscar for Best Actress.

Although she was already 52 years old, she was still elegant and beautiful.

The socially adept Melinda struck up a conversation with her directly and told her that the song was called "Only Time," and was specially created for this wedding by a famous musician and writer, and the singer was Sarah Brightman.

Grace Kelly was hearing this name for the first time, but she was very familiar with Sarah Brightman.

"Is it the Sarah Brightman who sang 'Moonlight Shadow'? That song commemorating John Lennon."

"Yes, and that song was also written by him." Melinda continued to promote him.

At this time, it was the Archbishop's segment. He was speaking, and the two newlyweds were listening. After this segment ended, a middle-aged man with an Oriental face sitting diagonally in front asked Melinda.

"Is the one you mentioned Wei Ming from China?"

Melinda said directly in Chinese: "Are you the Ambassador from China?"

The other party was pleasantly surprised; it was too rare to find a foreigner in the UK who spoke fluent Mandarin.

Seeing his expression, Melinda knew she had guessed correctly. She said: "It is that Wei Ming. Your China has truly produced a great talent rare in both ancient and modern times, both at home and abroad. I think he could be a national treasure of China."

The Ambassador's mouth opened slightly, and he was stunned for a moment, then he asked: "Are you that exchange student ex-girlfriend of Mr. Wei Ming?"

This time it was Melinda's turn to open her mouth wide. She scratched her head; how embarrassing!

The Ambassador smiled slightly; he had also read domestic news. Although this girl was bragging a bit too extravagantly, if the news was true, this point could indeed be taken back to the country to make a big fuss about!

After more than an hour, the wedding proceedings concluded. Wei Ming had been waiting for his second song, "I Do," a work by the British band 911. Although its popularity was slightly less, it was very suitable for a confession or a wedding.

However, he didn't hear it; it seemed it should be for the cultural performance after returning to Buckingham Palace.

At this time, the Prince and Princess walked out of the church. The Princess took off her veil and, sitting in an open-top carriage, waved generously to the surrounding public and the cameras.

Elegant, beautiful, and confident, this Princess had earned back quite a few impression points for the British royal family, whose reputation had been declining recently.

From tomorrow on, her photo would appear in most English-language newspapers and magazines around the world, becoming a symbol of an era.

And when people talked about this young Crown Princess of the Empire, perhaps some would also think of that song that struck the soul when she walked down the red carpet.

What is the name of this song anyway?

Watching the wedding come to an end, a feeling of loss began to fill Zhou Hui, and she started to think about this question.

The phone in this house rang. She took the initiative to answer it, and then she knew: this song was called "Only Time."

After watching the broadcast of the century wedding, Wei Ming urged the employees to rest early, and then he went into the office and made a call to Zhou Hui's home.

And told her: "Tomorrow I will give you the lead sheet for 'Only Time,' but I think this song might be a bit too difficult for you."

Zhou Hui blinked her eyes, and after a moment of silence, she suddenly burst into a surprised scream: "You wrote it!"

The corners of Wei Ming's mouth continued to form a Nike swoosh.

However, Mother Zhou, who was pricking up her ears, was very worried; this daughter of hers was almost becoming a "pouting fish."

At the same time, at the London headquarters of PolyGram Records, several senior executives were watching the live broadcast of the Prince's wedding in a conference room.

PolyGram was the king of the classical music field at this time, and the copyrights to several pieces of music at the wedding belonged to them. However, the several senior executives who watched the entire wedding had the same thought at the same time.

"We must sign that song from the red carpet!"

"Go find someone to ask who sang this song!"

"Absolutely cannot let EMI snatch it first!"

PolyGram was an international record company founded in 1972, formed by the merger of Polydor, a subsidiary of Germany's Siemens, and Phonogram, a subsidiary of the Netherlands' Philips.

This German-Dutch joint venture established its headquarters in London, while its Asian business was mainly placed in Hong Kong. At this time, it was already the strongest record company in Hong Kong; Teresa Teng and Alan Tam were both under PolyGram.

EMI Records had a longer history and was native to the UK, formed in 1931 by the merger of the British Gramophone Company and the British Columbia Graphophone Company.

PolyGram and EMI both had their headquarters in London and were the two companies with the most direct and intense competition, but they were also the two companies that pushed for the cassette standard together.

The president of EMI Records also realized the huge commercial value of this song and the musician behind it, and immediately sent his subordinates to find someone to ask about the author of this song, absolutely not letting this song fall into the hands of PolyGram.

However, MCA (Universal) in the United States smiled slightly. They efficiently transferred the teacher's third payment, and Sarah Brightman had already been signed by them. This song now belonged to MCA, and they were already preparing to start promoting this song on the charts.

Under the gaze of 800 million viewers worldwide, this song put on a fierce show. It was foreseeable that this "Only Time" would definitely create commercial value exceeding that of "Moonlight Shadow."

Two attempts, both high-quality blockbuster hits. It seemed they needed to re-evaluate their cooperation with him; such talent must be seized!

Now, Wei Ming's novels and music works were all placed in DreamWorks for international operation. The two songs he had just written were also signed with MCA through DreamWorks.

However, to contact DreamWorks, one needed to dial the phone number of a workstation at Macmillan Publishers.

At this time, naturally, it couldn't be reached. Melinda was not at work today. She had just finished attending the wedding and had another long-distance call with Wei Ming. At this moment, Wei Ming had already returned to the hotel. Hearing that many people in the viewing area were discussing this song, including the Princess of Monaco and the Chinese Ambassador.

Wei Ming smiled: "Now you can invite Sarah to Hong Kong."

"Only Time" is actually also very suitable for use in scenes of such great disasters. In the previous life, after the 9/11 incident, this song was often used to mourn the deceased, and it could also increase the international gold content for this concert.

"Hmm, Sarah should be performing a cultural show at Buckingham Palace now. Tomorrow I will go ask her. Smart people know what to do."

Wei Ming could make her world-famous by writing two songs; who would dare to offend such a top-tier musician?

If it weren't for the relationship Melinda had with Wei Ming, Sarah probably would have wanted to do it herself. Compared to the young, handsome, and talented Wei Ming, her other mentor, Andrew Lloyd Webber, only had talent left.

The next day, Wei Ming drove to Zhou Hui's place, handed the sheet music for "Only Time" to her, and asked with a smile: "If Sarah Brightman comes to Hong Kong to sing this song, do you want to sing it with her?"

Zhou Hui shook her head like a rattle-drum: "You can just say it directly if you want me to make a fool of myself."

She still had a clear understanding of herself. Sarah was a singer aiming to be a musician, while she was currently just an amateur singing enthusiast.

Although she had studied with Teacher Dai for a month and had improved a lot compared to before, she could only sing these little girl songs. If she sang "Only Time" without singing it into people's souls, it would just be moaning without an ailment.

Wei Ming touched Zhou Hui's head: "Then you practice first, I'm going to Qingniao."

Hai Xia Meng's Qingniao had already received the Hong Kong box office share and overseas copyright income for "Heroes Born of Youth." Except for Japan, it had also been sold in several Southeast Asian countries. Now, with strong strength, they had directly started two films.

It's just that Director Ann Hui was still revising the script for "Boat People" and hadn't gone to Hainan to film yet. Fortunately, this allowed Wei Ming to invite a powerful singer like George Lam to participate in the concert this time.

And for the other film, "Esprit d'Amour," the director found was also a representative figure of the New Wave, Patrick Tam, whose representative work was "Nomad" starring Brigitte Lin and Chin Han.

When Patrick Tam was casting, he discovered a little girl named Ye Tong, only 18 years old, but she was full of acting ability and extremely talented.

However, the male lead hadn't been decided yet.

After Wei Ming entered, he first praised Hai Xia Meng for how popular "Heroes Born of Youth" was on the mainland.

"It is estimated that 100 million people have already watched this movie."

Hai Xia Meng had also read leftist newspapers and knew that the enthusiasm of mainland audiences for watching movies was even higher than in Hong Kong.

She said: "After filming these two films on hand, we can consider another co-production, but neither of these two has started filming yet."

Subsequently, she talked about the problems she was currently encountering. Director Ann Hui was striving for perfection, and Wei Ming couldn't easily intervene in this, but Wei Ming had an idea for the male lead.

"What do you think of Kenny Bee? I just happened to write a new song for him, and I feel it's very suitable for 'Esprit d'Amour'."

Kenny Bee had basically been developing in Taiwan for the past few years, collaborating with Joan Lin on "The Story of a Small Town" and "Good Morning, Taipei," and collaborating with Lu Xiuling on "Two Two" and "Clothes of Dreams."

He collaborated with all "Qiong Yao girls" and followed the path of a romantic young man.

Hai Xia Meng thought for a moment; the image was indeed suitable: "But is he willing to return to Hong Kong to film?"

Wei Ming smiled: "He is currently preparing his second Cantonese album, and it is estimated that he is going to return to Hong Kong completely. I will go talk to him; it shouldn't be a big problem."

After all, the song he wrote for him was the most important representative work of his life. Even Alan Tam and Leslie Cheung felt envious after hearing it. Once Kenny Bee finished singing it, he would know that he would have a place in the Hong Kong music scene in the future.

Wei Ming helped Auntie Hai Xia Meng solve the problem, and then raised his own problem.

"Isn't it just a job? No problem, you tell her to come over." Hai Xia Meng agreed readily.

Originally, this clothing factory of hers and her husband's was indeed half-dead, but after asking Seeing Biaozi to run an advertisement, it actually showed signs of coming back to life. Now men's clothing was selling extremely well, and they needed to add more manpower.

Subsequently, he went to find Zhang Zhang Yaorong and took a look at the venue at the Hong Kong Stadium. There was still more than a week left, and there were still teams using it, so they could only set up the stage on August 4th.

Uncle Yao had experience in this aspect, but Wei Ming had even richer experience from the later generations. He often took his little girlfriend to concerts, especially Jacky Cheung's, because he held the most.

Therefore, Wei Ming also put forward some feasible suggestions, which greatly inspired Zhang Zhang Yaorong. Sure enough, a genius is a genius; he could draw inferences about other cases from one instance, and his brain was too useful.

In the afternoon, the two had been discussing the stage plan. Wei Ming was as energetic as a spinning top. Before dark, he ran to Madman Comics again.

One was to tell A Ying about the work, and the other was to discuss with A Long about the linkage between "Madman Comics" and "King of Fairy Tales." Last time, he was too busy watching TV.

"I plan to put small comics like 'If History Were a Group of Cats,' which integrates popular science and cute pets, into the country."

This kind of comic only serves as a seasoning in "Madman Comics," but it is very novel to children on the mainland.

If "King of Fairy Tales" only had text, it would also appear boring. It is human nature for children to like reading comics.

A Long naturally had no problem: "Then the manuscript fee issue..."

Wei Ming smiled: "They can only settle in RMB."

"That's fine too. It can be used as a subsidy for those colleagues on the mainland. However, those two classmates of mine only came for half a month, and now they don't want to leave. They have also become addicted to things like silk stocking milk tea."

Are you sure it's silk stocking milk tea and not silk stockings?

Wei Ming laughed even more happily: "Capitalism is too corrosive, so we must still take economic construction as the key link. Everyone is not short of food and drink, and can watch TV casually, so naturally, they won't look up to the outside world."

Afterwards, Wei Ming cared about the progress of several works of "Madman Comics."

At this time, there was still one month left before the revised version of "Madman Comics" was launched. The temporary plan was a semi-monthly magazine. Their ultimate goal was a weekly magazine, benchmarking against "Weekly Shonen Jump," to build a Whampoa Military Academy of domestic comics with Hong Kong as the core, radiating to Asia.

Wei Ming took a look. "Feng Yun" had already been drawn for two episodes, but the first issue would not let it go up. Save some stock. After all, Ma Ma Rongcheng was taking the lead for the first time, and he was doing it relatively slowly.

"Qin Shi Ming Yue" could already support seven or eight issues, and it was the most exquisite.

"Li Wang" and "Kai Xin Gui" had both been drawn for four or five episodes, and would be the main features of the first issue together with "Qin Shi Ming Yue."

In addition, there were some miscellaneous small short stories, which could almost support the content of one issue. Wei Ming requested to gather the content of three issues before the official publication, ensuring that it would not stop publication even if the main writers left within a month.

"Alright, you guys rest early too," Wei Ming just wanted to leave, but suddenly thought of a question, "You guys rented a two-bedroom apartment, right? Then how do you sleep?"

A Long answered honestly: "Mom and Dad have one room, A Ying has one room, I sleep on the sofa."

Wei Ming patted him on the shoulder: "Brother, keep it up."

A Long said solemnly: "I will draw well. Besides 'Qin Shi Ming Yue,' I will also draw some short stories."

Wei Ming: You still don't understand.

Driving back to the hotel, Wei Ming saw someone waiting for him at the door. It was Comrade Song Duanwu from the Xinhua News Agency, and next to him was his colleague Zhao Zhao Liuyi.

"Teacher Xiao Song, Teacher Zhao, looking for me so late?"

Song Duanwu asked: "Wei Laoshi, we received an overseas telegram. There is a matter we want to verify with you."

"What is it?"

Middle-aged Zhao Zhao Liuyi said: "Wei Laoshi, we want to confirm, there is a song called 'Only Time' at Prince Charles's wedding in the UK. Did you write this song?"

Wei Ming: "Yes."

The two looked at each other in surprise, and then they had nothing else to do. Tomorrow they could release news announcing that Wei Laoshi was responsible for this song.

Watching the two leave, Wei Ming entered the hotel lobby, not expecting that someone was still waiting for him.

"Little Aunt, what's wrong? Did the Transformers R&D encounter setbacks?"

Wei Wei Lingling said: "It's indeed not that easy, but it's not about this. I want to ask, do you have VIP seats at your concert? I want to go listen."

"Yes, but those VIP seats are reserved for those big shots in Hong Kong. You..."

"Don't worry, I will also donate money when the time comes. I still have hundreds of thousands."

"When did you become so rich!?" Wei Ming was astonished.

"Of course it's not my money, it's a little bit of Uncle's heart for the motherland."

Wei Ming said "Oh." His recent actions in Hong Kong were known to his Great-Grandfather in Taiwan, and he also heard the new song created by Wei Ming at home yesterday.

For this, the old man was very gratified. The old Wei family was indeed full of talents, and none of them were freeloaders.

However, Wei Wei Muchun knew that except for a few individual rich merchants in Hong Kong who had high moral integrity, the rest were pure businessmen. Even if they did charity, they had to look at the returns. He was afraid that his grand-nephew's concert would be cold, so he specially approved a sum of money for Wei Wei Lingling to support it, which could also be considered his own little heart for the people of Sichuan.

"Also, does your concert need Taiwanese singers?"

"Ah?" Wei Ming was stunned, "Which Taiwanese singer is so bold?"

"You just say whether you want it or not."

"Of course I want them to come. I even want the British. Taiwan is also an inseparable part of China. I open my arms to welcome them!"

(There is more at night~ asking for monthly tickets!)

(End of chapter)