Chapter 334: Wei Ming: The Sky Has Fallen!

Wei Ming went downstairs, refusing Amin's escort, his chest heaving with relief—he'd nearly made a mistake, but his will had held firm.

He looked up and saw Amin waving at him with a radiant smile.

Amin wanted to see him off at the airport, but Wei Ming refused—he'd need to return the car soon.

Amin could only watch the car disappear from her sight, then suddenly flung open the door and began climbing frantically, all the way to the rooftop terrace, where she could see the car again.

She knew he couldn't see her, yet she kept waving and singing "Tomorrow Will Be Better" until the Mazda vanished from view.

Wei Ming didn't head straight to the Xinhua branch office; instead, he found a store selling video equipment.

Yesterday, the branch's leadership had given him a videotape—the charity gala recording—capturing over half a month of his work.

To let his family see it, Wei Ming bought a complete Panasonic VHS system, then added several Hong Kong, Taiwan, European, and American movie tapes.

VHS tapes were already gaining popularity in the U. . and just beginning to take off in Hong Kong, with the industry still small.

To carry the machine and tapes, Wei Ming bought a suitcase, plus gifts for family and friends, for Xuejie and Linjie—three bags total.

He wasn't sure if the tapes would clear customs, but knowing they'd be inspected, he'd bought only legitimate films—he'd already seen the improper ones in Hong Kong.

At Xinhua, Song Duanyuan, the comrade who'd picked him up at the airport, now took him back there.

"Little Song, seeing you off a thousand miles still ends with parting—no need to see me in." Wei Ming said at the airport entrance.

"That won't do—I must see you board before I'm at ease."

"What, you think I'll stay in Hong Kong and refuse to leave?"

"Oh no, that's not what I meant, Teacher Wei, you're misreading me!" Song Duanyuan hurried to explain.

Wei Ming laughed: "Just joking—I've made plans to see them off first."

"Ohhh, got it—Melinda!" Little Song instantly understood; with this song's spread, Wei Ming's old romance with British exchange student Melinda would likely be remembered for years.

"But all this luggage?" Song Duanyuan stared at the trunk.

Wei Ming lifted two bags in one hand, effortlessly: "I'm off."

Song Duanyuan stood stunned—everyone said scholars were weak, but Teacher Wei was no ordinary scholar.

Wei Ming quickly found Melinda and Sarah, waiting to see him one last time.

"You bought all this?" Melinda stared at him in surprise.

Wei Ming: "The mainland lacks goods—many things are hard to get. So I bought extra here."

Besides, he still had plenty of U. . dollars in Hong Kong—he couldn't possibly spend them all.

Melinda: "Don't forget the Frankfurt Book Fair in October."

Wei Ming: "I'll try—it's a hassle to travel abroad."

Melinda pressed her cheek to his: "You must go. Your fame is high now—BBC interviewed you. Other countries may report on you too. Your works could sell more easily worldwide—in French, German, Japanese editions—all money. Don't miss this chance."

"Alright, I'll overcome every obstacle then," Wei Ming said seriously.

Wei Ming then chatted briefly with Sarah—she too would soon be sent by her company to the U. . to reinforce "Only Time" on the charts.

It was currently number one on Billboard for two weeks, while "Moonlight Shadow" had held four weeks at number one; barring surprises, "Only Time" would fully surpass it.

Sarah said: "My time in Hong Kong was wonderful—I hope one day I can visit the mainland."

"There will be a day. I'll arrange it. Though Beijing isn't as modern as Hong Kong, as foreign friends, your experience won't be lacking."

After half an hour of chatting, they boarded. Wei Ming saw them off first, then went to his own boarding area.

He'd planned to sit and read the newspapers Amin had given him, but people immediately surrounded him.

"Are you Teacher Wei Ming?"

"Wei Ming—the one who sang 'Pearl of the Orient'!"

"Teacher Wei, you did an amazing job!"

Many were mainland officials on official business in Hong Kong; a few were Hong Kongers doing business on the mainland. The former were especially enthusiastic; the latter looked at Wei Ming with approval.

While waiting for his flight, Wei Ming met many top figures from across the mainland—they even had business cards. Wei Ming collected a pile, but had none to give in return.

On the plane, Wei Ming finally read the newspapers—first, the Ming Pao, with an entire page devoted to the concert.

It included Yi Shu's high praise of Wei Ming's musical talent and analysis of every song, plus Ming Pao's list of wealthy donors, ranking major tycoons' contributions: the two shipping magnates led, tied for first, with Li Ka-shing close behind.

But readers were most interested in the poll: "Choose your favorite song from the August 8 charity performance," encouraging votes, listing all new songs Wei Ming composed for the event and their performers.

On this paper, Amin had already voted—she checked "Tomorrow Will Be Better."

Wei Ming agreed: "Tomorrow Will Be Better," "Pearl of the Orient," and "Only by Striving Can We Win" might get the most votes—they weren't Cantonese, so fewer competing songs meant less vote-splitting.

There was also an article by Jin Yong, who lauded the charity event's success and called it a model for future efforts.

But such an event was hard to replicate—Wei Ming felt he couldn't do it again.

Wei Ming read every other newspaper too—even right-leaning ones reported objectively.

As he neared Beijing, a batch of newspapers arrived at Wei Muchun's home in Taiwan—richer than Wei Ming's, including major papers and lesser ones.

He put on his reading glasses and studied them carefully. Though he'd received Lingling's call, he still wanted to see how the media judged this talented nephew.

After inspection, Wei Ming's luggage passed Beijing International Airport without incident.

But he had too much to carry and was too lazy to take the bus, so he called Zhao Debiao: "Are you free to pick me up?"

"Of course I am, Big Brother Wei—wait!"

While waiting, Wei Ming bought recent mainland newspapers—no reports yet on his Hong Kong activities.

The mainland's hottest news was Huang Zhicheng's defection—he was the 90th KMT air force officer to return to the people's embrace, flying in the 42nd aircraft.

And he returned on the very day Wei Ming held his concert—Wei Ming couldn't help worrying for Mr. Chen Peter.

Wei Lingling: "You still don't understand Uncle's strength."

Debiao didn't come alone—Xiao Mei came too.

Seeing Wei Ming sitting amid four bags, he laughed: "Lucky I came—if not, how'd you ever get all this back?"

Wei Ming pulled a notebook from his backpack: "Gong Ying asked me to bring this—she made clothing designs during her free time, tailored to mainland trends."

Mei Wenhua took it and flipped through immediately: "Oh my, Yingjie is so generous!"

Debiao leaned in: "And her skill's clearly improved!"

"Enough—put it away. First, take me back to the Overseas Chinese Apartment."

On the way, Xiao Mei asked: "Big Brother, how'd your fundraising go?" Debiao: "Yeah, Xiao Yang's been curious."

Wei Ming: "Very successful."

"How much did you raise?"

Wei Ming: "Over a hundred million."

"Screech!" Two motorcycles braked simultaneously—Wei Ming nearly flew out from inertia.

He added: "I meant Hong Kong dollars—about fifty million RMB."

They still stared at him in disbelief—in an era where ten-thousand-yuan households were rare, and the black-market rate was 1: , they'd just heard "a hundred million" from a friend's casual lips.

Even with the current profit rate of Dongfang Xintiandi, they'd never earn that much in a lifetime.

"It's not my money—it's all for disaster areas. With millions of victims, the per-person share is small."

Though Wei Ming raised the money, he had no say in how it was used—most would likely go to rebuilding public infrastructure.

Heavy rains had paralyzed several railway lines in Sichuan, isolating parts of the province for a month—losses were enormous.

Then they bombarded Wei Ming with questions about the fundraising details—how could one possibly raise over a hundred million? Were Hong Kong people really that generous?

Later they realized—it was the Hong Kong tycoons who were just that generous.

Wei Ming told them Li Ka-shing's rags-to-riches story—he was now worth over ten billion.

"Ten billion!"

They'd barely grasped "hundred million"—now they heard "ten billion," and their brains nearly shut down.

At the Overseas Chinese Apartment, the three carried the luggage upstairs—only Grandma and Xu Yunyun were home.

Yunyun was heavily pregnant; Xiao Mei had forbidden her from working at the store, so she came to keep Grandma company—Xiao Mei would pick her up soon.

Seeing her grandson return, Grandma told him: "Your uncle and aunt have contacted us—they're safe. Their area's higher ground, so little damage, just cut off from transport, short on food and clothes."

Wei Ming held Grandma's hand: "Everything will get better soon."

"Oh, your father and mother," Grandma dialed the Sihe Academy—"Tell Wei Jiefang and his wife to come back right away—Xiaoming's back."

Xu Shufen hurriedly replied: "We'll bring dinner to the store and come right back!"

Mei Wenhua said: "Auntie, tell Xiao Yang and Xiao Hong to leave work early."

Now Wei Hong helped manage accounts at Xintiandi—she did it better than Mei Wenhua, proving the value of Peking University's math department.

Then Wei Ming called Uncle Anping—he was indeed home babysitting. Wei Ming invited his whole family to dinner.

Uncle Anping knew his nephew went to Hong Kong for something big, but didn't know the results. Hearing he was back, he immediately grabbed Xile and prepared to leave.

With only his two lovers absent, Wei Ming's close circle was now complete—he began installing and testing the VHS player.

Yunyun and Grandma found it unfamiliar, but Xiao Mei and Debiao knew it well—they'd watched plenty during trips to Shenzhen for inventory.

But they'd only seen improper films, so they now felt eager—wondering what new work Master Li Hanxiang had released.

After setting up the machine, Wei Ming first showed Grandma and the others an old film: Hu Jinquan's "Dragon Gate Inn."

Though a woman, Grandma loved martial arts films—she preferred "Heroes from Youth" and "The Mysterious Buddha" over "The Herdsman" and "Joyful Family."

Hu Jinquan's masterpiece quickly drew attention—Debiao and Xiao Mei watched with delight; Hong Kong and Taiwan films had more than just pillows and fists—they were interesting too.

Wei Ming tugged Debiao, pulling him aside: "Go pick up Yanzi—she's eating here tonight. Also tell Linjie I'm back."

Debiao gave the TV one last reluctant look: "Alright."

Facing Wei Ming, Debiao hesitated—he wanted to say that Xuejie and Linjie often spent time together.

But Yanzi forbade him to spread gossip, saying: "Sometimes it's better to be foolish."

Uncle Anping arrived quickly with the two kids—"Dragon Gate Inn" was halfway through when Xizi asked: "Culture-ge, what happened before?"

"How much have we raised?" Uncle Anping asked Wei Ming in the study.

Grandma just asked too, but Wei Ming didn't answer: "You'll find out soon. Instead of me saying it over and over, just watch."

"Watch?" Wei Anping glanced at the video recorder outside.

Wei Ming said: "I brought back the recording of the charity concert."

"Oh!"

Next to arrive were Wei Jiefang, Xu Shufen, Wei Hong, and Long Xiaoyang.

Same question, same reply from Wei Ming: "Once everyone's here, we'll watch the concert video."

Xu Shufen: "Then I'll start cooking."

Old Wei swung his motorcycle keys: "I'll go buy some ready-made food outside."

Wei Ming thought Old Wei ought to have a motorcycle—it didn't cost much.

Before, buying a motorcycle was a huge hassle; now Wei Ming could just walk into Friendship Store and pick one up, no need to worry about price or exchange rates.

Then Wei Hong and Lele came over with a cassette tape: "Ge, will we get to hear another version of 'Tomorrow Will Be Better'?"

Wei Ming took the tape: "Yeah, I also sang a song myself."

Wei Hong grew even more eager, but Wei Ming stared at the tape and froze.

The cassette cover listed the mainland version's performers of "Tomorrow Will Be Better"—sure enough, a galaxy of stars, even actors: Zhang Yu, Liu Xiaoqing, Gong Ying? Zhu Lin!

Wei Ming told Xiao Hong to help their mother, then asked Lele: "Lele, when you went to Guangzhou to record, did you meet both Sister Gong Ying and Sister Zhu Lin?"

"Yeah."

Wei Ming's heart dropped—he was doomed, the two queens had met!

Had his rotten deeds already been exposed to them?!

"Ahem~" Wei Anping overheard their conversation and pulled his nephew aside. "I took Lele and Xizi to Guangzhou. Gong Ying and Zhu Lin shared the same room."

Hearing this, Wei Ming staggered back two steps.

At that moment, the door behind him opened—Biaozi arrived with Yanzi, heavily pregnant.

Biaozi gave Wei Ming a look, and they stepped outside to talk.

"Big Brother Ming, Sister Lin isn't home, but..."

"But what?"

Biaozi pulled him farther away: "But Sister Xue is here~"

(Finally, all's well—today I'll chill, tomorrow I'll add an extra chapter!)

(End of Chapter)