Chapter 378

However, since it was going through the company's accounts, Wei Ming didn't have anything else to say. This bargain had to be taken; after all, the Pacific Company was indeed too profitable!

At 6.9 yuan per cassette, the two albums Wei Ming participated in this year contributed over 5 million cassettes, roughly over 30 million in revenue, with profits exceeding 10 million. The exorbitant profits of the Pacific Company were simply shocking; it's better to do monopoly business after all.

If Hong Kong musicians knew this, they would be envious to death. Over there, 50,000 copies is a platinum record. Of course, two cassettes equal one vinyl record, recorded as 1 in sales.

However, the days of Pacific's monopoly on the cassette industry would only last these two years. Both the Magic City and Yanjing were applying to establish audiovisual companies, and the China Record Corporation was also seeking resource integration. By then, there would be three music centers from north to south, and one could record and release cassettes anywhere.

Listening to Liao Mingzu's apologetic words, Wei Ming expressed that he could understand: "After all, it's not your business, and you don't have it easy either."

"Sigh!" Liao Mingzu let out a sigh and began to vent his grievances, "We did indeed make a lot of profit this year, so I thought about introducing some new foreign equipment to improve our cassette craftsmanship and recording effects. As a result, the Guangdong station set its sights on this money, preparing to take it to build a TV station building."

So he took advantage of the fact that the money was still in the company's accounts to organize this Lark Award, seeking some benefits for the musician teachers within the scope of his power. By tomorrow, famous musicians from all over the country would almost all be gathered here. After one meal, Wei Ming had already seen several acquaintances.

Actually, Liao Mingzu had one more thing.

"Teacher Wei, the song 'Clanking Rose' has been rumored outside for a long time, why has there been no movement? Is there any difficulty? You can tell me."

This song had been circulating for over half a month through the mouths of the women's volleyball team members, but only its name was known, not its sound.

Wei Ming said: "The difficulty is that the currently known singers are not suitable for the style of this song, so Teacher Gu Jianfen and I have found another new singer. Once she finishes training, we can record the song."

"Oh, then I'm relieved. Listeners across the country are waiting." Liao Mingzu wasn't worried about the heat passing; with the heat of the women's volleyball team, unless they played like dog shit in the next competition, it wouldn't easily drop.

And the next international volleyball tournament was the World Championships in the second half of next year. He had confidence in selling two million copies of this song, even if no one had heard it yet.

Wei Ming also told Old Liao: "Recently I also wrote a song, which is a gift for the graduating class of the Peking University Class of '77, called 'Wishing You a Smooth Journey'."

Liao Mingzu said happily: "This is good. I think it should be recorded as soon as possible so that the first graduating class after the resumption of the college entrance examination can hear it."

Wei Ming: "I have the numbered musical notation with me; I'll give it to you in a while."

So they spent the dinner revolving around "Wishing You a Smooth Journey," and Wei Ming also ate several gourmet delicacies he hadn't tried before, accumulating material for a gourmet manga, and every one of these dishes was more expensive than his song.

The next morning, Wei Ming attended the Lark Award ceremony and received a 1,000 yuan bonus; about ten people received this bonus.

Because he was in a hurry to go to Hong Kong, he left without even eating lunch.

Later, he heard that the top leader of Guangdong specifically published a letter in the newspaper to congratulate these ten musicians, and Wei Ming, who was the youngest, was ranked first.

Guangzhou was not far from Hong Kong, so Wei Ming took the train directly. Trains have a more down-to-earth atmosphere, where one can most truly feel the local people's state of mind and mental outlook.

In the inland and northern regions, they might still need to emancipate their minds, but the people of Guangdong didn't need to; they had long since completely opened up. Now they were single-mindedly focused on making money and getting rich, and the market performance was very active and bold. After sitting on the train for the whole journey, Wei Ming bought a bag of small commodities.

The train station arrived, and after some procedures, Wei Ming finally arrived at the territory under the jurisdiction of the British Hong Kong government.

Compared to taking a plane, taking the train made Wei Ming miss the opportunity to eat at the Holiland airport branch; he could only eat some snacks outside the train station.

After filling his stomach a little, Wei Ming got into a taxi and rushed toward Hong Kong Island.

After weighing the priorities, he felt it was better to see Old Ghost and A Min first.

The taxi headed straight for the Holiland store in Central. This store was open 24 hours, and what's more, it wasn't late yet. The store was playing the new song "Prayer of a Young Girl" by the Holiland Princess.

Quite a few of her teenage fans were eating burgers while listening to A Min's songs, and they were also holding "Madman Comics" in their hands.

Seeing this kind of customer, Wei Ming's eyes were full of affection—they were all high-quality customers!

There were also those who brought children, ordering a children's meal for the child. The happiest moment for the child was digging out a small plastic toy from inside, and those small toys all came from the Langning Toy Factory.

"Where is your Ghost Boss?" Wei Ming saw Old Ghost's Mazda parked outside the door.

This store manager recognized Wei Ming and hurriedly said politely, "Young Master Ming, the boss drank some alcohol and took a taxi back."

Wei Ming asked with a smile: "Then are the car keys there?"

The other party immediately gave him the car keys. After getting the keys, Wei Ming was just about to go out when he suddenly turned back and asked: "Do you know why he drank?"

"It seems he won money betting on horses and was happy."

"Oh." Wei Ming's smile faded. After arriving at the place, he went upstairs to find Old Ghost first.

"Who is it?"

It was the voice of the step-grandmother, Lin Ni.

"It's Xiao Ming. You've come to Hong Kong!" The step-grandmother looked around at the door, "Your father didn't come?"

"No. I heard Grandpa drank alcohol; did he drink a lot?"

"I'm fine, just drank a little," Old Ghost made a sound, then said to Lin Ni, "You go across the street and tell A Min that Xiao Ming is here."

"Isn't there a phone? Just make a call."

Old Ghost: "You don't exercise usually; climbing stairs is good for you. You're a nurse, don't you even know this."

After much persuasion, Old Ghost got Lin Ni to leave. Wei Ming hurriedly asked: "You rarely touch alcohol usually. I heard you bet on horses; did you win or lose?"

Old Ghost sat down: "Betting on animals, it's impossible for me to lose. I won, I won a lot."

Wei Ming believed this, and he said: "Then why are you still drinking sorrowful wine? Are you unhappy even after winning money?"

Old Ghost sighed: "When I was young, I was quite greedy for play. Once, during a mission, because I played a little at a gambling den, I was targeted and followed by thugs, which almost delayed the important task of delivering messages and also caused a comrade to be exposed, and that line of his was completely scrapped. At that time, I swore never to gamble again, and since then, I really never touched that stuff again."

"Then why did you break the rule this time?" Wei Ming asked, "Is the company expanding and out of money?"

"We have it. We got a loan, and the fourth and fifth stores are being renovated at the same time," Old Ghost said, "I wanted to buy a house, but the money I had on hand really wasn't enough. Seeing that your father and the others are about to come over, I, I broke the rule once."

Wei Ming understood. The promise to buy a house for his son in Hong Kong weighed on him, causing him to betray his own oath. He felt very guilty and self-reproachful in his heart, feeling that he had betrayed his faith, which was why he was drinking to drown his sorrows.

Wei Ming could only pat him on the shoulder to comfort him: "It's already a peaceful era now. Actually, you don't need to keep yourself so tense anymore. Appropriately relaxing and having fun is beneficial for longevity. You also want to live to see four generations under one roof, right."

Old Ghost looked up and said: "Your father and I had children early. If you strive a bit, five generations under one roof is not impossible."

Wei Ming laughed: "Good, it's a deal. You can't hang up early before five generations under one roof."

Old Ghost shook his head: "It's just that A Min is still too young; I have a long wait."

It doesn't have to be A Min, Wei Ming guiltily changed the subject: "By the way, how much did you actually earn betting on horses?"

Old Ghost: "2 million."

"How much!?" Wei Ming's voice almost tore apart. Are you the God of Gamblers or the Saint of Gamblers!

"Don't make a fuss, okay? My principal was 500,000, and it wasn't just one bet. This was accumulated over half a month of winning and losing, and only then did it reach 2.5 million," Old Ghost said, "However, I have already investigated the situation of those horses, and the winning rate will be even higher later."

Wei Ming thought to himself, then why are we still opening fast-food restaurants? Betting on horses makes money so fast!

This was faster than him writing songs; writing a song still requires waiting for market reaction.

But thinking about it again, this was too morally incorrect and easily taught children bad things, so he gave up.

"You have 500,000 in principal; buying a house shouldn't be a problem, right."

"It's possible to buy a smaller one in a worse location, but we have a whole family—me, your step-grandmother, your father and mother, your little aunt, your Uncle Ping'an's family, and you. It's too inconvenient to live together."

Wei Ming laughed: "You're thinking too much. When I come, I can stay in a hotel or at the manga company. When my parents come, they should also have dorms allocated by Ocean Park. It's also impossible for my Uncle Ping'an to bring his whole family over to live for a long time."

"You all don't have to live there, but I can't not have it," Old Ghost insisted, "This is my requirement for myself as a father."

"Alright, then you have 2.5 million now. How big of a house do you plan to buy? Do you have any ideas?" Wei Ming asked expectantly.

Speaking of this, Old Ghost became conflicted again: "I'm still considering whether to buy one big one or two small ones."

Wei Ming said directly: "Buy two."

"Is that what you think? Then wouldn't that make your father feel alienated?"

"Living separately is comfortable for everyone. If you're afraid he'll be alienated from you, take him to bet on horses twice and you'll get close," Wei Ming suggested. He felt that Old Ghost also had his own married life to live, and it was too inconvenient to live with his young wife and his son and daughter-in-law.

At this moment, A Min's energetic voice came from outside the door.

"A Ming!"

Wei Ming: "A Min, wait a moment, I have something to discuss with Old Ghost."

Old Ghost opened the door and let A Min in: "It's fine, let A Min listen. It just so happens you can help me pass a message to your mother."

"What message?"

Old Ghost said: "I know your mother wants to buy a house but doesn't have enough money. Tell her to buy it without worry; I'll lend her whatever she's short of."

"Really!" A Min was so happy she was about to jump up. These low-rent houses were prepared for the bottom-level people who had no property. Now that their family had opened so many stores, it wasn't appropriate to continue occupying public resources, and she had long wanted to change her living environment.

It's just that she also knew the stores were constantly expanding, and the cash her mother had on hand wasn't actually much.

"Wait a moment!" Wei Ming suddenly remembered something, "You can't buy a house now!"

"Why?" The old and the young said in unison.

Wei Ming: "Buying now would be a loss. It's better to rent first and wait for the housing prices to drop before bottom-fishing."

A Min: "A Ming, you even understand buildings? Then how are you sure housing prices will drop?"

Wei Ming: "One look and I can tell you don't care about the trends in the mainland. At the latest, by next year, China and Britain will definitely start negotiations on the Hong Kong issue. Within three years, the situation of Hong Kong's return will be settled. And Hong Kong will definitely be returned. Just based on the terrible rendering of the mainland by Hong Kong media for so many years, guess what housing prices will be like then."

A Min was still blinking her eyes, but Old Ghost had already made a judgment: "They will fall, plummet!"

"That's right!"