Chapter 362

On the day the book fair ended, some people left overnight by train and plane, but these were all those who lived nearby.

Those who didn't leave that day were mostly scheduled for the next, so Frankfurt Airport that day was packed, shoulder to shoulder, everywhere scenes of farewell.

Ping Xintao of Taiwan's Crown Publishing and Shen Deng'en of Yuanjing Publishing, rivals at this moment, were saying their goodbyes.

Yuanjing Publishing this year was pushing Li Ao and Jin Yong, but Chinese-language works now, aside from Wei Ming, were hard to promote; even in Europe, their influence remained confined to East Asia.

Crown Publishing needed no further explanation: two years ago, Qiong Yao officially married Ping Xintao, and Crown and Qiong Yao's novels became inseparable; besides Qiong Yao, they also had Zhang Ailing and San Mao.

This year's sales clearly favored Crown, and Ping Xintao planned to take a trip to Italy, perhaps to buy Qiong Yao a handbag.

Shen Deng'en left first—he still had to return to Taiwan to fetch Li Ao, who had only been out of jail a short while before being locked up again.

"Mr. Gong!"

After seeing off Shen Deng'en, Ping Xintao spotted Gong Biyang of American Tangren Publishing; they had met through this book fair and had some collaborative projects, and North America still relied on him.

"Oh, Mr. Ping," Gong Biyang chatted briefly with Ping Xintao, but clearly his mind was elsewhere.

"Mr. Gong, are you waiting for a friend?" Ping Xintao asked.

"Yes, I forgot to invite him to visit San Francisco when we met yesterday," Gong Biyang said, hoping to make up for it at the airport.

Speaking of this, Ping Xintao felt a twinge of envy—he had assumed romantic French readers would be drawn to Qiong Yao's novels, yet they preferred Wei Ming's *The Ancient Warrior and the Love of Qin*.

He simply couldn't understand French tastes: was "I didn't come to break up this family, I came to join it" not romantic, or was "You lost only a leg, Zi Ling lost her love" not romantic enough?

"I saw in *The Book Trade Report* that Tangren acquired the traditional Chinese rights to two picture books," Ping Xintao chatted with Gong Biyang, "I forgot to warn you— he's a mainland writer; there might be resistance to publishing him in Taiwan."

Gong Biyang smiled: "Don't worry, the resistance has been cleared. Mr. Ping will soon be able to buy his works in Taiwan."

Ping Xintao murmured "Oh," his curiosity about Tangren's behind-the-scenes power deepening.

"Miss Wei!" Gong Biyang spotted Wei Lindi, the East German publisher who stayed at the same hotel; because of Wei Anping, they knew each other.

"Gong, are you leaving too?"

"Yes."

Then two people who barely knew each other stood silently watching the arrival gate.

Soon, a group of Asians appeared; both were about to wave happily, but then they looked closer—oh, the Japanese.

This time, the Japanese outnumbered the Chinese combined; each publisher operated independently, and their results were quite impressive.

Wei Ming's final promotional push focused mainly on Chinese comic books, while Japanese publishers all had signature manga titles.

Even Ichijo Publishing Group, with Shogakukan and Shueisha under its wing, held *Weekly Shōnen Sunday* and *Weekly Shōnen Jump* as twin powerhouses, dominating not just Chinese comics but also holding their own against American Marvel and DC.

In Wei Ming's packed bag, one section was reserved for manga: both Takahashi Rumiko's *Urusei Yatsura* and Toriyama Akira's *Dr. Slump*, plus some American comics.

He planned to hand them over to Ah Long and the others when he reached Hong Kong—these were peak works of American and Japanese manga, valuable for study.

"!"

When Wei Ming entered the airport with his companions, Gong Biyang waved enthusiastically at him.

Beside Gong Biyang, Wei Lindi walked straight over and, before everyone's eyes, hugged Wei Anping: "Goodbye, Alexander."

Wei Hong: "Alexander?"

Wei Ming: "Probably Anping's German name." Those involved in cross-border relationships usually took foreign names.

Wei Hong frowned: "So many people around—foreigners are too forward."

Confused, Wei Anping quickly recovered his composure, politely patting Wei Lindi's back: "We'll meet again. Welcome to visit China, come by Peking University—I can introduce you to my wife and children; they're both outstanding."

Wei Ming shook his head—his uncle Anping, that remark was cruel.

Melinda had come to the airport with Wei Ming; they hadn't formally said goodbye yet.

She tugged Wei Ming's sleeve: "We're not in the same waiting lounge—we have to part now."

Wei Ming immediately opened his arms.

But Melinda said: "Do you remember how you said goodbye to me when I left China?"

Of course he remembered—the Capital International Airport, under the cover of many fellow students, Wei Ming and Melinda had shared a kiss.

Here, no one could shield them, but there was no rule against public affection.

So after Gong Biyang and Wei Lindi parted, Wei Ming embraced Melinda and kissed her deeply.

Wei Ming had intended just a quick kiss, but Melinda clung to his head and held on for a long, lingering kiss.

"Ah!" Wei Hong's eyes bulged; the other Chinese travelers stared in shock, exclaiming, "This is outrageous!"

Even if they were no longer together, even if they were lovers or married, this was too much!

Bu Yun Suan merely calmly covered Wei Hong's eyes—children shouldn't watch.

Wei Hong gently pried open his fingers—everyone else was watching, why shouldn't my own sister see? Her throat moved as she watched.

Last time in Beijing, she hadn't kissed him enough; now Melinda kissed him thoroughly—even foreign travelers turned to look, some clapping and cheering.

Some had already recognized Wei Ming; over the past five days, he'd been featured repeatedly in Frankfurt's local papers and was the top topic among returning publishers worldwide—a literary star.

Only when she nearly ran out of breath did Melinda reluctantly release Wei Ming, then she smiled.

Wei Ming's lips were red from her kiss.

"You should reapply your lip gloss—it's smudged."

Melinda wiped her lips—she hadn't eaten properly lately, so she had to make this kiss count.

"Goodbye."

Wei Ming didn't feel Melinda's melancholy—he'd be traveling again in two years, and they'd have many chances to meet.

After Melinda vanished into the crowd, Gong Biyang finally approached Wei Ming to say farewell.

"Welcome to visit San Francisco anytime—if you wish, we'll formally invite you to the U. ."

Hearing this, Wei Anping's heart stirred—could he be taken along too? He wanted to go to San Francisco to ask his aunt some questions.

Or perhaps he could ask his uncle during this stop in Hong Kong.

Bu Yun Suan was on the same flight as Gong Biyang—they were both flying to San Francisco; Bu Yun Suan was currently studying biology at Stanford.

Everyone bid farewell to the young man, then Deputy Director Liu spoke for the group about Wei Ming.

"Too showy—Chinese people should be reserved."

The most suitable person to criticize Wei Ming was his uncle Wei Anping, but he had his own issues with Wei Lindi, so he stayed silent—only the team leader could speak.

Wei Ming smiled: "Shall I write a self-criticism—in both Chinese and English?"

Deputy Director Liu: "No need for a self-criticism—just be more careful next time. After all, you're single now."

He wouldn't write a self-criticism—he'd already faxed the results of his Frankfurt trip back home; by the time he returned, domestic promotion would already be underway, and Wei Ming had earned the top credit.

"Also, none of you should gossip or spread rumors after returning home—people sometimes lose control of their emotions."

After criticizing Wei Ming, Deputy Director Liu warned the others: no matter how minor, any leak would

Everyone hurriedly promised not to talk freely, but they could write it in their diaries!

Next, they went to wait for their flight; everyone's luggage was much heavier than when they arrived, as each had been allocated foreign exchange to buy fresh local items to bring home—after all, these days everyone loved business trips, and going abroad was the most desirable kind.

Wei Ming's belongings were especially numerous, and the younger members of the team had to help carry them, but what he bought was mostly books—something that earned everyone's admiration, as Teacher Wei was so studious.

While waiting for the flight, he casually pulled out a book to read—it was Robert Ludlum's The Bourne Identity.

This was the second-best-selling literary work on last year's North American bestseller list, later adapted into a film series called The Bourne Ultimatum.

Many classic Hollywood films actually had very early source stories—the original TV series of Mission: Impossible, for instance, already existed in the 1960s.

The book had strong storytelling, but Wei Ming was no longer just reading for the plot—he was now studying grammar and vocabulary, having read too many old English books in Peking University's library and needing to quickly find the style of contemporary literature.

Otherwise, he'd end up writing educated youth novels that felt like they came from the May Fourth era.

Wei Anping struck up a conversation with Deputy Director Liu, asking how long he'd be staying in Hong Kong.

Deputy Director Liu said, "We'll spend one night in Hong Kong, but everyone must stick with the group and not fall behind."

Everyone else could relax on this overseas trip, but as the team leader, he couldn't let his guard down—he had to bring back exactly as many people as he'd taken out; now, only Hong Kong remained.

If they'd arrived in Hong Kong earlier in the day, they'd have taken a car straight to Shenzhen to stay.

Hearing they'd spend a night in Hong Kong, Wei Ming's eyes flickered—could he arrange for Old Ghost to meet Ping'an Uncle and Xiao Hong?

Now, Xiao Hong was the only one in the family still unaware.

On the plane, Wei Ming kept reading; after finishing The Bourne Identity, he grew drowsy and immediately tilted his head to sleep.

Wei Anping had slept even earlier; only Wei Hong remained energetic, reading an English math journal with great interest, occasionally sketching calculations on scrap paper.

Before Wei Ming's group arrived in Hong Kong, Hong Kong's newspapers had already published reports about their visit to Frankfurt.

Hong Kongers generally had little interest in reading, so they naturally didn't care about book fairs.

But because Wei Ming was at this book fair, when newspapers carried news of Wei Ming's sensation in Frankfurt, the papers themselves sold out.

More than three months had passed since the "Tomorrow Will Be Better" charity concert, yet Hong Kong was still digesting Wei Ming's influence; the music, literature, and manga scenes were one thing, but recently there had been a massive public debate about giant pandas, which ended with overwhelming support for Hong Kong to receive a pair.

Zhou Hui Min stared at the photo of Wei Ming writing calligraphy in Ming Pao and couldn't help falling into a daydream.

Jin Yong had his own publishing house, Ming He Press, but it published only his works, so this time they sent only Ming Pao reporters to Frankfurt, determined to get exclusive news.

Last year's coverage of the book fair had drawn little interest, but this year it boosted Ming Pao's sales.

Even proud Hong Kongers couldn't help puffing out their chests when they heard Wei Ming's works had sold dozens of global translation rights and earned him hundreds of thousands of dollars.