Chapter 359

Wei Ming kept dialing the same number; over time, Xu Shufen could recognize the digits just by watching him dial.

If her guess was right, the person on the other end should be Gong Yu; she hesitated repeatedly, feeling that only Gong Yu, the actress who portrayed Lotus, could calm her mother down in this state.

As for whether this would disrupt her son's rhythm, she no longer cared—truthfully, she longed to meet her future daughter-in-law and get her autograph.

At this moment, Gong Yu was writing a letter to Wei Ming; before he returned, she needed to go back to Shanghai for a screen test.

The female lead, Wen Juan, in "The Love in the Pen" didn't have many scenes, but her character was excellent—virtuous and talented, beautiful inside and out—and Gong Yu truly loved her; moreover, Shanghai Film Studio was pressing hard, so she decided not to wait for Wei Ming's opinion.

In the letter, Gong Yu told Wei Ming not to worry; she'd finish her makeup test, spend two days with her parents, and return soon—the film's shoot was still some time away.

As she wrote, the phone rang—strange, since Xiao Wei left, it hadn't rung once—who could it be?

"Hello?"

"Hello, is this Xiao Xue?" Xu Shufen thought calling her "Comrade Gong Yu" too formal, so she simply said "Xiao Xue."

Gong Yu was stunned—someone calling her Xiao Xue? But the voice didn't sound like her mother's.

"I'm Gong Yu. May I ask who's speaking?"

It really was Gong Yu—Xu Shufen smiled: "I'm Wei Ming's mother. Are you free now?"

Gong Yu's body jolted as if struck by electricity—nervous yet excited—this was Aunt Xu, who loved her more than a biological mother!

"Auntie, what can I do for you? I'm free right now." Gong Yu's voice trembled slightly.

Xu Shufen: "It's like this."

She explained the whole story: "I just wondered if you could help comfort Xiao Ming's grandmother."

Gong Yu replied without hesitation: "I'm coming right over!"

Once she confirmed Gong Yu was coming, Xu Shufen didn't yet tell her mother; she asked her sister-in-law to look after her, then tidied the house and prepared dinner.

Before dark, Gong Yu arrived at the Overseas Chinese Apartment on her bicycle.

The gatekeeper, Old Sun, saw her wearing a mask and acting suspiciously, so he stopped her.

When she removed her mask, Old Sun immediately stood up: "Nan Gong Yu—you're Nan Gong Yu, right?"

Old Sun hadn't seen the movie yet, but he'd read plenty of newspapers; the recent buzz linking the two great beauties—North and South—had deeply penetrated public consciousness.

"Uncle, I'm here to visit a friend. May I come in? I can register." Gong Yu pleaded sincerely.

"No need to register—come in, come in!"

Watching Gong Yu's back, Old Sun felt a quiet pride—this Overseas Chinese Apartment truly hosted only the refined, never the vulgar; now even a movie star had visited.

Formerly, Bei Zhu Lin often visited Xiao Wei's home—he wondered who Nan Gong Yu was here to see.

"Knock knock knock~"

After Gong Yu knocked, the door opened quickly, and she saw Xu Shufen dressed formally—she'd put on her New Year's clothes, all elegant, though a bit hot.

"Auntie Xu." Gong Yu didn't come empty-handed; she'd bought some New Zealand kiwifruit at the Friendship Store—Wei Ming's foreign exchange coupons at home were still unused.

"Xiao Xue, come in, why bring gifts?"

Xu Shufen finally got to examine Gong Yu up close again; newspapers said she was twenty-eight, but she didn't look it—her skin was so soft, like a girl barely out of her teens, even younger and more radiant than last year.

Was this what they meant by "red aura nourishing the body"?

Gong Yu nervously endured Xu Shufen's full-body scrutiny, but she still felt confident in her makeup and attire.

"Mom, sister-in-law, look who's here!" Xu Shufen quickly called out her mother and sister-in-law.

Xu Shufen introduced her: "This is Wei Ming's grandmother."

Gong Yu bowed politely: "Grandma, hello."

"This is Wei Ming's eldest aunt-in-law."

"Aunt-in-law, hello."

Xu Shufen: "I'm Wei Ming's mother."

"Nia…"—she nearly blurted it out, then blushed and corrected herself: "Auntie, Auntie, hello."

Xu Shufen hadn't meant to tease her—how could anyone expect her to be so sweet? She adored her more than ever.

Originally, Wei Ming's grandmother had fallen asleep from crying, but her daughter woke her; seeing Gong Yu call her "Grandma," the tragic fate of Lotus in the film and its tear-jerking songs flooded her mind, and tears flowed like water without cost.

Xu Shufen thought: Oh no—I've made things worse.

Gong Yu, knowing beforehand what upset the grandmother, immediately hugged her arm and offered targeted comfort.

"Grandma, don't be sad. Though Lotus suffered greatly, she eventually reunited with her son. I believe you can too."

The grandmother shook her head: "I know—movies are all lies."

"This time it's not a lie—the newspapers all reported it: in real life, Little Gourd found his real mother; after seeing her son, Lotus became much more lucid."

"Really?" Xu Shufen asked too.

Gong Yu pulled out the newspaper she'd tucked in her pocket before leaving; since the Chengdu Evening News ran the follow-up report, media nationwide had reprinted and tracked the story—the latest update showed Lotus, clean and neat, cooking for her son in a heartwarming scene; reportedly, her mental clarity had improved greatly.

The grandmother felt embarrassed: "I can't read."

Gong Yu said: "Grandma, sit properly—I'll read it to you."

Seeing how gentle and thoughtful Gong Yu was, Xu Shufen pulled her sister-in-law into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner.

The sister-in-law was puzzled: "Shufen, why did you bring a big star home?"

"Sister-in-law, this movie's script was written by Xiao Ming—he and Gong Yu are naturally friends. And don't you remember? Gong Yu came to Yunyun's wedding."

"Oh? She came? I don't recall." The sister-in-law blushed; back then, "The Herdsman" hadn't even been released yet, and Gong Yu's fame was still minimal—if Liu Xiaoqing had come, she'd have remembered.

Xu Shufen: "I even took a photo with her."

"This Comrade Gong Yu is truly beautiful—more beautiful than in the movie; her face is barely half the size of mine," the sister-in-law sighed, then nudged Xu Shufen, "Shufen, what kind of friend is Gong Yu to our Xiao Ming?"

Because there was still Zhu Lin, Xu Shufen dared not say too much: "Just good friends who share the same ideals. Come on, let's serve the food."

When they finished setting the table, Gong Yu had already finished reading the news; the grandmother was indeed comforted, and with such a beautiful guest present, she felt too shy to keep crying.

Gong Yu helped her to the table and sat beside her to easily serve her food.

Gong Yu asked: "Auntie, where's Uncle?"

"No need to wait for him—he's at the Beijing Zoo. He's got bamboo shoots, bananas, live chickens, and fresh fish—he won't go hungry."

Gong Yu laughed—those were the animals' rations.

"So you brought Gangdan back too?" The insightful Gong Yu guessed.

Xu Shufen nodded, thinking: Even this much Xiao Ming told her—did he mention the Hong Kong elder's matter?

"Xiao Xue, if you have time, go to the zoo to play with Gangdan—he's great at performing."

Recently, under Old Wei's training, Gangdan had learned many tricks; the kid had a strong desire to perform and was especially good at entertaining—if they hadn't already decided to send him to Hong Kong, the Chengdu Zoo wouldn't have let him go.

Gong Yu nodded with a smile.

Then the grandmother asked more questions about filming; besides Biaozi and his wife, this was her first encounter with a movie star, and she was curious.

"I noticed you were much thinner in the movie."

Gong Yu worried: "Grandma, am I getting fat?"

The grandmother: "Not at all—you're just right. Look around this room—among the four of us, you're still the slimmest. It's just that you were too thin in the movie."

Gong Yu relaxed: "I lost weight on purpose for the role—over ten catties."

"Good heavens, you were already so thin—how could you lose ten more catties? That's terrible!"

Gong Yu smiled: "If I didn't look that thin, how could the audience feel sympathy for me?"

Both the grandmother and Xu Shufen immediately picked up meat dishes from the table: "Eat up, replenish yourself."

The four women thoroughly enjoyed the meal; the grandmother and aunt-in-law tasted foreign kiwifruit for the first time and approved of its texture—Gong Yu and Xu Shufen silently avoided mentioning the price.

After dinner, Wei Ming's aunt-in-law called Yunyun, promising to visit her tomorrow; they'd been so focused on comforting the old lady that they hadn't even told their daughter they'd come to Beijing.

Gong Yu checked the time: "Grandma, Auntie, Aunt-in-law, it's getting late—I should head back."

Xu Shufen stopped her: "Why go back? It's dangerous for a girl to be out alone at night. We have plenty of rooms—you can sleep in Xiao Ming's room."

"That wouldn't be proper," she said, though she'd slept there before—only with Wei Ming.

The grandmother and aunt-in-law joined in urging her; security really was poor now—far worse than when Gong Yu first arrived in Beijing.

Eventually, she gave in. Lying on Wei Ming's bed, she couldn't help thinking: How wonderful it would be if she were Wei Ming's wife sleeping here.

She hugged Wei Ming's quilt as if embracing his young body—how much she missed him.

At this moment, Frankfurt had just passed noon; in the morning, Wei Ming wandered through various exhibition halls, spotting many new and old books, and even met Old Song from the International Bookstore.

Old Song had already bought many books for the state; Wei Ming asked him: "For this trip, is our country making a profit or a loss?"

Old Song understood—he meant whether more money was earned from selling books or spent on buying them.

He sighed: "Let me put it this way—last year, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, we spent over a million U. . dollars buying translation rights and original books. Foreign exchange is precious, but we've reached a critical point: we must urgently see the world. We've fallen too far behind in ten years. Literature is less urgent—we can buy less now and catch up later—but scientific and technical books are absolutely urgent."

That's why the global sensation "One Hundred Years of Solitude" had never been officially imported; we were mocked by Marquez over pirated editions, because compared to other needs, it was relatively unimportant—during hard times, precious foreign exchange must be spent wisely.

This imbalance stems both from our need to buy too many books and from the state's failure to buy enough of ours—so every year, we face a massive trade deficit.

Wei Ming asked: "What about this year? How's it going?"

Old Song smiled: "Thanks to you and your uncle—your books sold well, earning tens of thousands of U. . dollars, and Peking University's technology has drawn interest from African nations, and East Germany plans to purchase it too—this year, we'll surely keep the deficit under one million dollars!"

East Germany's deal came through Ping'an's connections—reliable; Africa's side relied on Wei Ming's network—but he wasn't sure if the African brothers would pay the final balance beyond the deposit.

Still, even if we made money, it went to Peking University—not the Publishing Bureau.