Chapter 365

Three sheets of paper: two were written by Gong Ying, dated earlier; the last was written by Zhu Lin, yesterday.

After reading these three notes, Wei Ming's head buzzed—this, this was already meeting both sets of parents!

Gong Ying's first note mentioned going to the Magic City to audition for the female lead in "Pen and Affection," which Wei Ming had no objection to.

This historical film, featuring Bai Longma, Tang Sanzang, and Elder Jinchi, had solid production quality and strong public buzz—so long as the crew put effort into Xue-jie's ancient costume look.

The second note described her odd experience: invited home by her mother to comfort her grandmother, then staying over for a meal and a night.

But before Wei Ming returned, Zhu Lin unexpectedly came back to Beijing, accidentally received the phone call from Wei Ming's mother inviting Gong Ying to dinner, and ended up joining the two elders for a meal at the sihe courtyard.

Wei Ming could easily imagine how awkward his parents must have felt then.

Wei Ming was equally embarrassed—his image as the perfect son in his parents' eyes was utterly shattered: "I'm still a child!"

He guessed his parents would never see him as a baby again; perhaps this was the pain of growing up.

Zhu Lin also mentioned how popular Gong Ying had become: "My mom even asked me for Xue's autographed photo—I guess I can't count on her to vote for me at next year's Hundred Flowers Awards."

Although Wei Ming had just returned to China, he could feel the immense popularity of "Mother, Love Me Once More"—everyone he met brought it up, and some even teared up discussing its plot and songs.

This was clearly aiming to be the year's top blockbuster, on par with "Shaolin" standing unchallenged.

No wonder Shangyingchang immediately invited Gong Ying back to film "Pen and Affection."

But with Xue-jie and Lin-jie both away filming, he was left alone again like a left-behind child.

Sigh~

At the overseas apartment, mother and daughter finished dinner, watched TV for a while—the CCTV broadcast a single-episode drama called "The Girl Who Sold Bings."

The drama was directed by Song Chong of Shangyingchang, starring Guo Kaimin, Zhao Jing, and others.

At this point, Zhao Jing had already lost the chance to play the female lead in "Pen and Affection," but secured the female second lead.

After the drama ended, Xu Shufen said: "Serial dramas are better—episode after episode, something to look forward to every day."

Wei Hong said: "In Hong Kong, TV is all serials, but I only stayed one night—I didn't know the backstory or what came next, so I was totally confused."

After returning home, she told her mother many stories from outside, and her mother loved listening, so she went on to talk about Hong Kong TV dramas and programs.

At that moment, Old Wei opened the door and came in—he'd eaten at work—and seeing his daughter back, he asked: "Why only daughter? Where's your brother?"

Wei Hong replied: "My brother went to see Ping'an-shu off—he should be back soon."

Xu Shufen said: "Who knows? He might just stay out."

Old Wei understood what his wife meant and agreed: "He's probably not coming back."

Wei Hong didn't believe it: "No way—my brother just got back from abroad and already stays out all night?"

As if to answer her, minutes later, the roar of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle echoed from downstairs—Wei Ming was back!

What else would he do, stay alone in an empty house?

Seeing his parents again and realizing he was exposed, Wei Ming showed no embarrassment and instead gave an excuse for his late return.

"I went to Tuanjiehu to check on Yunyun and Grandma—they're due to give birth in about a week, and Xiao Mei's worried about the baby's name."

Old Wei chuckled: "Their surname really is hard to name for—look at their family: Mei Heping, Mei Shengli, Mei Wenhua."

Wei Ming thought: You and Wei Jiefang and Wei Anping aren't much better.

Xu Shufen said: "All three men's names are pretty dull—another boy, I wonder what 'Mei' they'll pick this time."

Wei Hong asked: "Did Yunyun and the others ask you for advice?"

"They did—I told Xiao Mei to save me a big red envelope on the day she gives birth, and I'll give them a great name." Wei Ming laughed and sat down.

"Son," Old Wei leaned close to Wei Ming, "I read in the paper you crushed it in West Germany and made a fortune in foreign exchange—how much did you actually make?"

"About a million," Wei Ming said. Seeing his parents jump to their feet in shock, he added: "I mean RMB."

"We stood up for RMB!" Old Wei exclaimed, then grew uneasy—such a sum needed spending to feel safe: "If not for Gangdan, I'd go back to the countryside and build another road."

Wei Ming smiled: "Building a road's no problem—but everyone's busy; we can wait until Spring Festival to go home and do it."

Xu Shufen sighed: "Will we even be able to spend the New Year in the countryside?"

Wei Hong grinned: "Spending it in Hong Kong's not bad either—then we'll all be together as a family."

Old Wei and Xu Shufen looked at their daughter in surprise: "Xiaohong, you..."

Wei Ming smiled: "We met Grandpa when we transited through Hong Kong—Xiaohong already knows."

Wei Hong said: "Don't worry—I won't blab. I'll keep it buried deep inside."

Old Wei asked: "Did you meet Ping'an-shu?"

"I did—they even talked privately behind our backs," Wei Hong said.

Old Wei felt a twinge of guilt—could they have been talking about his wife?

It was late; the family of four went to bed, but Wei Ming read an English novel for a while before sleeping.

Without a girlfriend, he poured all his energy into work and study.

The next day, Wei Ming and Wei Hong returned to Peking University together, speeding along.

On the way, they discussed it—Wei Ming said: "When the Publishing Bureau pays me, I'll hand you the portion you planned to donate to the Rubik's Cube Society."

"That's a lot of money!" Wei Hong exclaimed.

"About forty or fifty thousand—I'll just give you fifty thousand. A small club suddenly getting that much cash isn't necessarily good."

Wei Hong: "I've already thought of it—we'll deposit it in the bank and set up a scholarship under the Rubik's Cube Society's name to help underprivileged students."

"That's a good idea—it's part of social practice too. Good luck."

Wei Ming entered the library and was immediately greeted with praise from his colleagues.

He promptly brought out the German sausages he'd brought back and shared them; colleagues cheered, calling Professor Wei a paragon of virtue and talent.

One colleague reminded him: "Professor Wei, don't forget you have an exam."

Correspondence students also had exams, so besides reading English books and writing serialized stories, Wei Ming now had to review library science materials—he'd need to write a thesis when he graduated in two years.

But news of Wei Ming's return from Germany spread quickly through campus; by noon, Liu Zhenyun came to find him.

"Professor Wei, have you seen the latest issue of 'Literary Arts'?" he asked.

"No—about Germany?"

"Not just that—it also reprinted Mao Dun's preface to your book, announced that Yang Xianyi and Dai Naidie will translate it, and reported that sales have already surpassed one million copies—in just half a month!"

One million copies in half a month—clearly 1. million sets won't be enough; another printing is needed.

"The Right Path of Humanity" even sparked a brief surge in popular literature focused on that era, especially in "Story Weekly" and the newly launched "Ancient and Modern Legends."

Liu Zhenyun added: "With the influence of our book, the Mao Dun Literature Prize is practically already in our hands."

Wei Ming waved his hand: "Don't flatter me—what do you really want?"

"Hehe, hehehe," Liu Zhenyun looked embarrassed. "I borrowed Brother Liang Zuo's camera and took some photos—of me, of Meizi, and of Jiefang-shu's giant panda—but I haven't developed them yet."

Wei Ming: "Bring them over—I need to develop a batch of photos I took in Germany too."

Photography was one of Wei Ming's great hobbies—he found joy in it.

Liu Zhenyun saved money and cheerfully treated Wei Ming to lunch at the student cafeteria—this time even ordering a meat dish.

As they ate, their table and surrounding tables filled up—mostly familiar Chinese Department students; Wei Hong couldn't even squeeze in.

Classmates bombarded Professor Wei with questions about his experiences at the Frankfurt Book Fair and global literary trends.

Wei Ming said: "Latin American magical realism is currently a global trend—I predict Marquez's 'One Hundred Years of Solitude' will soon win the Nobel Prize in Literature."

One Hundred Years of Solitude? Marquez?

These names were still alien to Peking University's literary youth—they wouldn't be officially published in Chinese until 1984, when they'd sweep across China and profoundly influence writers like Mo Yan, Yu Hua, and Su Tong.

By now, translation was likely already underway—without the author's permission.

It was nearly time for class, but Liu Zhenyun and the others still didn't want to leave. Wei Ming smiled: "Wait—I'll write a series of articles about my Frankfurt trip. You can wait for them."

From among the crowd, Liang Zuo chimed in: "So you're waiting to see which German sausage tastes best, right?"

Since his family had high-ranking officials, Liang Zuo understood Germany—but most didn't; only Wei Ming got the joke.

Wei Ming laughed: "I'll write about which sausages taste best—and which books are worth reading."

He'd planned to return to the sihe courtyard at noon, but now it was back to work—he returned to his library desk and kept studying, occasionally chatting with professors and teachers who came to borrow books—college life was good indeed.

This library job, where he could slack off anytime, was even more comfortable than not working at all.

After work ended in the afternoon, Wei Ming didn't linger—he first went to the second courtyard of Nanyuogu Lane to check on construction progress.

The swimming pool project was tough for Master Lei—he'd only ever been a carpenter.

Later, he consulted construction teams from city swimming pools and even hired a pump specialist, finally coming up with a plan.

The pool was small, tucked into a corner of the inner courtyard, but enough for a few people to splash around; no tall buildings surrounded it, ensuring privacy.

Master Lei said: "When you don't want to use it anymore, you can keep fish in it."

Wei Ming smiled: "Master Lei, once this is done, there's another big project waiting for you."

Hearing this, Master Lei's face twisted in a mix of joy and dread—working for Professor Wei paid well, but the projects kept growing larger and harder.

To satisfy Professor Wei, his team kept upgrading—staffing became more complete. If he lost Professor Wei as a client, where would all these people find such work?

Master Lei had to work overtime with his apprentices, aiming to finish before the end of 1981. Then Wei Ming returned to Beichi, passing by Li Chengru's hutong entrance and exchanging greetings.

Seeing Professor Wei, Li Chengru thought of Zhu Lin.

"Professor Wei's back from abroad!" Li Chengru greeted him.

"Yes, Chengru—has your class graduated yet?"

"Graduated, graduated," Li Chengru said. "I'm no longer at the garment factory—I'm at the TV station now."

"Is it CCTV?"

"Yes—CCTV's Arts Group." He straightened his back as he said it; though he was still doing menial work, he felt he'd soon become a leading actor and reach the peak of his life.