Chapter 35: Criminal Nemesis Wei Ming

After reading the novel, Professor Qu said: “Just make a few minor revisions and it’s ready for publication.”

“Alright, go ahead.”

After revising it, Wei Ming had Sister Chen Rong review it; she sighed deeply—writing novels truly requires talent!

He himself had less talent, only beginning to grasp the craft at forty, and wondered when his eldest son, who also loved literature, would ever enter the field.

“I’ve nearly finished my edits too. We’ve been holed up writing for days—how about we go out and have some fun tomorrow?”

Professor Qu said: “Count me in—I have no meetings tomorrow.”

Professor Qu also mentioned she had borrowed a camera from her family, and could take photos for everyone.

“And it’s a color camera.”

Hearing this, Wei Ming perked up—he had never taken a color photo in his life!

In fact, black-and-white photos were rare too; his family was poor, and every photo was a major event—he had taken fewer than ten photos before coming to Beijing, and only one solo portrait.

“Since I’ve finished revising, let’s talk about submission—who should I send this little piece to?”

“This piece might struggle to get into *Shouhuo*—not because it’s bad, but because *Shouhuo* is the stronghold of serious literature, and this story is too lighthearted. Besides, you’re already on their waiting list, so they won’t publish your work anytime soon. But *Yanjing Literature* and *Modu Literature* shouldn’t be hard.” Chen Rong said.

Professor Qu smiled: “He’s also on the waiting list for *Yanjing Literature*. Actually, I think you should consider newspapers.”

“Newspapers?”

“Yes.” Professor Qu went back inside and brought out a copy of *Wenhui Daily*.

*Wenhui Daily* is one of Shanghai’s top two newspapers, with a circulation of about 500,000 per issue, and a very long history—it was suspended multiple times for its anti-Japanese stance and opposition to civil war, then revived.

At one point it even spawned a Hong Kong edition; though now independent, both share the same origins, and Hong Kong’s *Wenhui Daily* and *Ta Kung Pao* are the two leading left-wing newspapers in Hong Kong.

In recent years, besides promoting policy, *Wenhui Daily* has published several weighty literary works—the story that named “Scar Literature,” *Scar*, was first published in *Wenhui Daily*.

Moreover, *Wenhui Daily* was the first major newspaper to openly support commercial advertising, and its editorial tone has always been open and inclusive.

Precisely because of its stance on advertising, Professor Qu believed submitting to *Wenhui Daily* was certain to get accepted.

“And you’re short on money—*Wenhui Daily* publishes daily, so they might respond faster.”

Wei Ming accepted Professor Qu’s suggestion: “I’ll send it there!”

To avoid middlemen taking a cut, he borrowed a bicycle from the guesthouse and rode straight to *Wenhui Daily* to submit in person, leaving his Beijing address and the guesthouse phone number.

The next day, Wei Ming, Professor Qu, and Sister Chen Rong began their one-day tour of Shanghai.

Beijing, Peking University.

Zhao Debiao counted the days—Brother Wei had been gone for how many days? Oh, four days.

Days without Brother Wei felt like years—even Mei Wenhua had become less lively.

Right now he was still at his post, but his mind had flown with Wei Ming to the great metropolis, into Jin Yong’s martial arts world.

Suddenly he saw Mei Wenhua dressed sharply, pushing a bicycle to leave, his hair slicked back with Stancon.

“Brooding beauty, just off night shift—where are you going?” He snatched back Mei Wenhua’s poem draft and circulated it among colleagues; thus “Brooding Beauty” became his nickname.

Mei Wenhua flicked his hair: “There’s a poetry recital at Yuyuantan Park today—I have to go!”

“Wait, you still haven’t given up on poetry?” Biaozi laughed.

“I’m not writing poetry—just reciting. My voice is still pretty good,” Mei Wenhua said. “Besides, we’ve got Wei Ming’s *Ideal*—this poem will crush the whole event!”

He had expected Wei Ming to write poetry, but never imagined it would be this good. Compared to the obscure poems he thought he could write himself, he felt Wei Ming’s balanced, rhythmic verses had real technical skill.

Mei Wenhua planned to seize the moment—while the poem was still only spreading among Peking and Tsinghua, before it went further—he’d claim it was written by his younger brother.

He heard film academy students would attend too—future actors, especially actresses. Maybe he could get their contact info and make friends through poetry.

He wouldn’t keep all the contacts for himself—he’d share: one for Wei Ming, one for himself, one for Biaozi, one for Feng Ge.

Hehe~

Mei Wenhua rode off, leaving behind a trail of bell-like laughter.

He had barely left when Liu Zhenyun arrived.

This guy had been coming three times a day lately—no choice, the girls were waiting to be entertained.

“Has Brother Wei not returned yet?”

“Not yet. He won’t be back for at least a week,” Biaozi replied.

Liu Zhenyun could only leave in disappointment. A few steps later, he spotted Senior Sister Zha Jianying and her group—and they looked delighted.

Cen Xianqing told Liu Zhenyun: “Our protest succeeded!”

!

The campus journal had planned to publish *Ideal* tomorrow, but the *Weiminghu* editorial team found out and led a protest: “We discovered it first—why are you stealing our exclusive rights?”

Eventually they reached an agreement: the campus journal would publish *Ideal* in the National Day issue on October 1st.

Coincidentally, the first issue of *Weiminghu* was also launching that day—so both journals would debut it simultaneously.

Liu Zhenyun was thrilled too, then quickly made up an excuse about needing to attend an early class and fled.

Once he left, the girls remembered they still hadn’t arranged dinner with Wei Ming.

But no matter—they were going to Laohudong to shop, and would pass the South Gate, so they could ask Wei Ming’s colleagues.

Yet as they neared the South Gate, they spotted two men in military uniforms, one old, one young, carrying packages.

Only when they got closer did they understand what was happening.

The two were from a military compound—one an old Red Army veteran, the other a current Air Force officer.

A few days ago, the old man fell ill, and the whole family was at the hospital caring for him. But family betrayal struck—the officer’s daughter was kidnapped by a distant relative and intended to be sold into the mountains.

Fortunately, on the train she met Wei Ming. His sharp eyes spotted the trafficker’s deception; with wit and courage, he subdued the criminal and rescued the girl.

The female students listened, stunned, their eyes shining—they thought Wei Ming was incredible, and their desire to invite him to dinner grew even stronger.

Seeing Wei Ming hadn’t returned, the soldier said: “We’ll come back in a few days—with the child and her mother. We should’ve come as a family, but after the incident, her mother fell ill from shock. Without Comrade Wei Ming, we wouldn’t have known what to do!”

Zhao Debiao grinned, holding the gifts. After seeing them off and dealing with the chattering female students, he immediately called Qiao Feng to deliver the good news.

Qiao Feng hung up and rushed straight to Wei Anping’s office to report in person.

“Good! Excellent!”

After hearing the story, Wei Anping excitedly slammed the table. The campus journal had canceled *Ideal*? Then replace it with this story—right now!

He’d already thought of the headline: *Peking University Guardian, Criminal Nemesis—Wei Ming!*

Wei Anping was a skilled writer—he had often drafted reports for leaders—and now he planned to write this one himself.

No choice—this nephew was bringing him too much honor; even if he didn’t speak up, the school would be fighting to make him permanent.

But he didn’t know the full details, so he called the Shanghai Writers Association to ask Wei Ming directly about the incident, check on the revision progress, confirm publication, and find out when he’d be coming home~

(End of Chapter)