Chapter 343

A monthly sales volume of 500,000 copies, even if only half of that was consumed within Hong Kong itself, still left Zheng Donghan marveling at Wei Ming's talent and strength.

So, after he heard "First Love" on the radio, he immediately contacted Zhou Huimin through Tan Yonglin, wanting to sign her.

Signing Zhou Huimin was practically equivalent to signing Wei Ming!

However, A-Min refused. Firstly, her mother didn't approve; with their family's current circumstances being so good, there was no need for her to be out in the public eye.

Secondly, A-Ming also hoped she could get into university; as a high school student, how could she be worthy of A-Ming, who was taking correspondence courses from Peking University?

But in truth, she still really wanted to sing in her heart. She often observed the reactions of young customers in the shop when they heard "First Love," and seeing everyone like it gave her a special sense of accomplishment.

Moreover, the song's performance on the radio was getting better and better. As the popularity of the *Tomorrow Will Be Better* album began to wane, this new work by Wei Ming started to charge all the way to the front, though it still couldn't break into the top five.

At this very moment, Zhou Huimin already had a name for herself in the music scene, it was just that many people still couldn't connect her to the pretty young girl who led the singing of "Tomorrow Will Be Better" at the charity concert.

Wei Jiefang and Wei Pingan returned from the Magic City. After arriving home, Lao Lao Lao Wei had an extra set of keys in his hand, which he gave directly to his son.

"Take them. I don't really go to the Magic City often anyway, so I don't need them." There was an underlying meaning to Lao Lao Lao Wei's words; his eldest son might very well have to run to the Magic City often in the future.

Wei Ming accepted them, but how could he possibly live in two old Western-style houses?

On the other side, after Wei Pingan got home, he immediately rummaged through boxes and cabinets, digging out an old photo of his mother.

That photo hadn't been displayed because it was a torn one—a whole photo cut in half from the middle.

His mother said the other half of the photo was his father, whom he had never met. His uncle Wei Senhao said his father was involved in underground work, so it was normal that no photos were left behind.

But this time, visiting the Jue Garden house in the Magic City, Wei Pingan felt that a corner of that house looked familiar. After returning and comparing it with this photo, he was right—the place where his mother took the photo was exactly Jue Garden House No. 2!

Was his mother from the Magic City? How could she have taken a photo there?

Only at this moment did Wei Pingan realize he didn't understand his mother at all. He didn't even know where she came from or where her ancestral home was. He only knew she wasn't a local of Hengzhou; anything more was a blur.

Clutching the photo in his hand, wanting to know more information about his mother and understand why she had taken a photo at Jue Garden, he feared only that cousin of his currently in the United States could provide the answer.

Wei Pingan thought there would be a chance. Next, Fang Zheng would be inspecting the PC industry, and he might possibly go abroad with the experts.

He heard there was a place called Silicon Valley in the United States, where companies like HP, Apple, and Intel were all located, and both Silicon Valley and that cousin were in San Francisco.

In the evening, Lu Xiaoyan picked up the two little ones and came back, complaining to him. It turned out that Xizi had given his Black Cat Detective doll to a female classmate in his class, Xiaomei, whom he liked very much.

Lu Xiaoyan insinuated, "Some people start dating in high school, and some start being dishonest in elementary school. It really is like father, like son."

Wei Pingan laughed awkwardly, "Giving a gift isn't a big deal."

Lele pouted, "He gave away the one that was mine!"

Wei Pingan: "He deserves a spanking!"

After finishing dinner and hurriedly coaxing the two children to sleep, Lu Xiaoyan immediately returned to their bedroom, and Uncle Pingan had already washed himself clean.

Half an hour later, Wei Pingan exhaled a puff of smoke: "Xiaoyan, there's something I have to confess to you."

Lu Xiaoyan's heart skipped a beat: "Did you meet your first love?"

"What kind of nonsense is that," Wei Pingan said, "It's about the trip to the Magic City."

"Work stuff?"

"Family stuff," Wei Pingan said selectively, "You should know that Brother Jiefang has a biological aunt in the United States."

"Hmm, I've heard you mention it, and there's an uncle in Taiwan. It's fortunate that the relationship is distant, otherwise Peking University wouldn't have dared to accept you back then."

Wei Pingan said: "I used to think the relationship was distant too, but now it seems the affection is quite close. Do you know? That aunt of mine left a Western-style mansion in the Magic City, and it has already been reclaimed from the government. She is old and doesn't want to return to the country, so she decided to leave it to us brothers."

"Ah?"

"This time going to the Magic City, I took the opportunity to go and see it. Three floors, each floor is several hundred square meters, and the courtyard is big too." Wei Pingan took out the keys, "In the future, if we go to the Magic City, we'll have a place to stay."

Lu Xiaoyan's first reaction wasn't happiness, but worry: "Won't this violate any policies?"

Wei Pingan said: "It won't. My name didn't even appear on the property deed; it's all held by Brother Jiefang. If this house is sold in the future, our share will be given to us."

"That's alright then," Lu Xiaoyan breathed a sigh of relief, not worried at all about Brother Jiefang's character, "But for such a distant aunt, she really is excessively good to you."

"Maybe she had deep feelings for my parents." Wei Pingan was still thinking about that half-photo.

The next morning, Wei Ming went out dressed very formally.

Today was the day the Lu Xun Museum in Yanjing reopened after its expansion, and the Lu Xun Former Residence in Yanjing was also opening at the same time, so a ceremony was specially held.

Wei Ming was invited by the officials; after all, he had expressed his admiration for Mr. Lu Xun on many public occasions, and he had a lot of traffic recently.

Walking in the Lu Xun Former Residence, Wei Ming thought, he didn't know if the Sihe Academy he lived in would have a chance to become a celebrity former residence a hundred years after he was gone.

By then, that window pushed open by him and Sister Xue would definitely be a key point of the tour, and he would have to build a statue for the cat-and-dog pair, Ginkgo and Sheriff.

Here, Wei Ming also met Mr. Lu Xun's son, Zhou Haiying. He was also a Peking University alumnus, and the two talked happily, but he wasn't very familiar with this former residence of over 400 square meters.

He grew up in the Magic City when he was a child, and after the founding of the country, this house no longer belonged to him, including his father's collection of books and cultural relics, all of which were donated to the state by his mother without compensation.

He only knew that his father bought it for 800 silver dollars, and Mr. Lu Xun's monthly salary when he worked at Peking University was 300 silver dollars, equivalent to being able to buy a one-entry Sihe Academy with three months' salary.

Wei Ming was very interested in the past events of Mr. Lu Xun working at Peking University, but it was a pity that Zhou Haiying hadn't been born yet at that time and only knew some things through his mother's memories.

Zhou Haiying majored in radio and later entered the Broadcasting Bureau, which was the predecessor of the SARFT, but he was responsible for the technical side, so he couldn't talk to him about the topic of filming TV dramas.

After attending the ceremony, Wei Ming slipped away. He had one more thing to do today, which was to look at houses.

He had looked at several houses he intended to give to Sister Lin, but he hadn't been satisfied with any of them. After all, he had high standards—he wanted a three-entry courtyard, and he wouldn't compromise on location or transportation.

Fortunately, with the implementation of policies, more and more good houses were being returned to individuals, and a large portion of these people, who were like birds startled by the mere twang of a bowstring, had their first reaction after getting the house be to change their environment.

This provided an opportunity for Wei Ming to buy a house, and it was still Li Guangfu who was helping him arrange it.

He joked: "Even if I resign from the People's Art Theater, I reckon I won't have to worry about finding a way to make a living. I can help people buy houses."

Wei Ming also laughed: "Private house trading will definitely heat up in the future. It's not bad for you to find such a part-time job."

Starting from the last two-entry Sihe Academy, Wei Ming insisted on giving Li Guangfu a commission.

At first, he declined, but later, when Wei Ming said he would give him foreign exchange certificates, he "reluctantly" agreed. He became even more active in helping Wei Ming find houses, spending almost all his spare time outside of work walking through streets and alleys.

The Lu Xun Museum was in the Gongmenkou Second Alley in the Xicheng. The one Li Guangfu helped find wasn't far from there, right in the area of Gongmenkou Fourth Alley and Fusuijing Alley.

Wei Ming saw the Fusuijing Building at a glance; this was a rare residential building with an elevator in Yanjing.

If he wanted to buy a house in the future, he would first have to consider elevator apartments and villas.

This was a quite upright three-entry Sihe Academy. The location wasn't considered popular and was hidden a bit deep, but fortunately, the alley was quite spacious, so cars entering and exiting wasn't a problem.

Standing in the courtyard, Wei Ming could see the White Pagoda directly by finding the right angle.

It was the White Pagoda of Miaoying Temple, very famous. Literary youths especially liked this place. Wei Ming used to often talk about scripts and investments with people in cafes around the White Pagoda.

The owner of the house was a bearded middle-aged man who looked a bit mentally absent.

Li Guangfu told him that this person had just been released not long ago, but his wife had run away and his job was gone. Although he was left with a house, he was a bit disheartened and was thinking of going to join relatives in Australia.

Yo, an early Australian immigrant. Now, Australia wasn't yet a popular choice for Chinese immigrants; there was no one to talk to even if he went.

Although this house wasn't perfect in terms of location—it belonged to the interior of the alley cluster and required turning a couple more corners to reach the main road—the house was very good. It could be around 1,000 square meters, and it was well-maintained. Previously, three units had been working here, but now they had all moved away.

After hesitating again and again, Wei Ming decided on this one. This way, Sister Xue was in the East City, Sister Lin was in the Xicheng, he had a home in both the east and west, and there was that one in Beichizi in the middle.

Moreover, the two houses were one quiet and one bustling; if they got tired of living in one, the two could swap homes.

Although the guy selling the house was depressed, he wasn't stupid. He knew Wei Ming and also knew that this person had earned a lot of foreign exchange by writing songs and fairy tales.

But he knew even better that Wei Ming had once raised over 100 million Hong Kong dollars in donations for the disaster area.

So he directly shouted his bottom line: "20,000 US dollars."

20,000 US dollars included a 1,000-square-meter three-entry Sihe Academy, as well as some antiques, calligraphy, and paintings left behind by the landlord.

Wei Ming was strange: "You aren't taking these away? They don't take up space."

"My father liked these, but as a result, he didn't get anything good because of these old items. I don't have any special hobbies for these things. You are a man of letters, you might as well keep them. Actually, the best ones are all gone. If there isn't a peaceful and prosperous age, the remaining ones aren't worth much money."

Money didn't matter. Wei Ming mainly liked paintings. He was happy to look at paintings that suited his taste every day even if they weren't worth money, such as that painting of a panda holding bamboo by Wu Zuoren.

The other party was straightforward, and Wei Ming was also crisp—20,000 US dollars was 20,000 US dollars.

"Deal!"

Later, he could let Lao Lao Lao Wei come over to appraise these things, whether to keep them here or put them in Beichizi was up to him.

He finally bought a big house for Sister Lin, but the procedures would have to wait for her to come back to handle them. However, this landlord gentleman was quite anxious; he hoped to sell it as soon as possible and leave as soon as possible.

Landlord: "As long as you buy the house as soon as possible, even giving a little less is fine."

Wei Ming: "How about I give more, and you wait a few more months."

Just when both were in a dilemma, Zhu Lin returned!

Because in a few days it would be the 100th anniversary of Mr. Lu Xun's birth, which was also the day the movie *Regret for the Past* was released, the *Du Shiniang* crew specially adjusted the filming schedule and gave Zhu Lin five days off, letting her return to Yanjing City to participate in related activities.

In order to stay in Yanjing for two more days, Zhu Lin directly bought a plane ticket and flew back; more than a month's salary was gone just like that.

Having been with Wei Ming for a long time and hearing his theory that money can buy time, it was inevitable to be a bit extravagant sometimes.

After returning to the capital, Zhu Lin immediately made a phone call to the Overseas Chinese Apartment.

Thus, after Wei Ming got home at noon, he learned from his grandmother that a girl surnamed Zhu had contacted him.

Wei Ming immediately called Tuanjiehu, but no one answered. He called the Beijing Film Studio and probed around evasively, but Zhu Lin wasn't there either.

Could it be that she went back to her parents' house?

Wei Ming hesitated for a moment and decided to go to Tuanjiehu to take a look.