Chapter 387

Xiao Wei, Lao Wei, and Lao Lao Wei sat on the mountaintop, the family gathered around a bucket of fried chicken, digging in.

Wei Ming smiled: "Old man really thought of everything—back home, with so many people watching, crying like this would've been so awkward."

Lao Wei scolded, embarrassed: "Even these delicious chicken legs can't shut your mouth, can they?"

Lao Gui affectionately said: "Go on, Gou Dan, try this wing—it's a bit spicy."

"My wife's from Sichuan, I'm not afraid of spice—but Dad, can you stop calling me that nickname? There are so many women at home—if they start using it, I'll lose all face."

Lao Gui laughed heartily: "Alright, alright. Actually, it tastes better hot. I've waited too long for you all."

Wei Ming: "We can grab a bucket to take back to them when we go."

"Exactly, let Shufen try this Western fast food—who'd ever imagined chicken legs and wings fried like this?" Lao Wei picked up another burger.

Lao Gui nodded: "Good. Jiefang, take a look at the empire your old man built."

Lao Wei sighed: "Call me whatever you want. Mom never changed it before she passed."

Speaking of Wei Ming's grandmother, Lao Gui sighed deeply, then remembered Gou Sheng's mother.

"Today, Father and son are reunited—but we're missing Lingling and Anping. If only Xiaohong and those two little ones could join us too, then we'd have a true family reunion." This was Lao Gui's second greatest reason to keep living.

His first reason was returning home with his elder brother, to be buried side by side with their parents.

We fought our whole lives, wandered our whole lives—yet we're nothing but two unfilial sons of Wei Donglai and Xu Qiuhui.

"Hey, where's Lingling?" Lao Wei remembered his sister.

Lao Gui: "She's in America, busy with business. She'll be back in two days—no telling how much she'll fleece the foreign devils this trip."

After finishing the bucket, Lao Gui pointed down at Hong Kong with his son: "There, there, and there—those are all our shops. Even the Kai Tak Airport has one. Stores in Kowloon and the New Territories are in the works. I only got the drive to do all this after reconnecting with you."

"Dad, you don't have to work so hard."

"Not hard at all—I enjoy it. A man at sixty is still meant to fight," Lao Gui declared boldly. "I fry more chickens, Xiao Ming writes more words, and you just sit back and enjoy the fruits."

Lao Wei scratched his head, embarrassed—damn, I just blurted out what he was thinking.

Wei Ming: "..."

You two are so filial, you're treating me like I'm not even human, right?

But remembering how, in his past life, Lao Wei had died young, and how Lao Gui had passed away without ever receiving a letter from his son back home, carrying his regret to a foreign land—he smiled faintly. This is good enough.

"Let's go home!" Wei Senhao ordered.

Lao Wei: "I'll come with you one more time, but I still have to work the night shift."

The old father said: "My son works hard—exactly right to be responsible. I'll drive you to work after this."

Back home, Wei Ming held up the bucket: "I brought a new dish for everyone!"

Xu Shufen, seeing her father-in-law for the first time, quickly pulled Wei Ming to kneel and kowtow.

Wei Ming: "Fourth time."

"Good, good—Jiefang's grown so plump and healthy, none of this would've happened without your wisdom as a wife. Marrying you was his fortune... hmm, what's this...?" He sniffed.

Zhou Huimin hurriedly brought out the stinky tofu, which Lao Gui supposedly loved.

Lao Gui's hand trembled slightly as he tasted a bite—it was the exact flavor his Jiefang's mother used to make!

Wei Ming stared at Amin's lips, wondering whether it smelled good or bad.

Everyone sat together now. Zhou Ma and Yang Laoshi both knew: Lao Gui was Wei Jiefang's father, Wei Ming's grandfather—blood relation. No one asked how he'd ended up in Hong Kong.

Amin was considering whether to switch to calling him "Ghost Grandpa"—it felt a bit off in terms of generational hierarchy.

Since they'd already eaten a whole bucket on the mountaintop, Wei Ming and the others ate little. Lao Gui focused on the stinky tofu; Lin Ni ate too—counteracting stink with stink. Otherwise, kissing would've been a disadvantage.

Wei Jiefang kept urging his wife to eat the bucket—the novel taste delighted Xu Shufen: "This bucket must be expensive, right?"

When Amin told her the price, she gasped: "In Beijing's Grand Hotel, this could feed a whole table!"

And that was after converting to RMB at official exchange rates—no real tech involved, just frying chicken in oil. But in Beijing, cooking oil was expensive—you needed ration coupons. Back home? No coupons needed—just grow enough peanuts or sunflower seeds.

Relatives back home deeply appreciated Wei Ming's contributions to the village. Every time someone from the village or county came to Beijing, they'd bring back peanut oil—rich, fragrant, and delicious.

Compared to her zoo job, Xu Shufen preferred studying cuisine and firmly tying her husband, son, and daughter-in-law's stomachs to her apron strings.

After dinner, Lao Gui personally drove his son to work, and along the way, they shared heartfelt words.

Wei Ming was asked to stay overnight—there were three rooms, after all.

"Alright, then Amin and I will see Yang Laoshi off—thank her for tutoring Amin."

Zhou Ma said: "Yang Laoshi, don't go home alone—let Abin come pick you up."

Lin Ni added: "Yes, yes—first three months need stability. You're an advanced-age pregnant woman now."

Xu Shufen instructed: "Xiao Ming, call Uncle Liu."

Wei Ming looked confused: "What are you talking about?"

Amin pointed at Yang Laoshi's belly and whispered in his ear.

"Ah!" Wei Ming gasped—Sister Ruyan's coming!

After Yang Laoshi left, Amin and her mother went home too. Lin Ni pulled Xu Shufen to watch TVB—family unity was everything.

Besides, Lin Ni spoke Mandarin—easy for Xu Shufen to communicate with her.

The second mother-in-law had even planned to take Xu Shufen shopping tomorrow—thankfully, Xu Shufen had to work, or she'd soon pick up all those bourgeois habits.

That night, TVB reported news about Bas. They'd called Ocean Park and confirmed the giant panda stuck by the head was safe—her name was Bas, a one-and-a-half-year-old girl.

"Bas" became an overnight sensation across Hong Kong. The locals even learned the Sichuan phrase "bashi."

Lao Wei saw it too, watching the sleeping Gang Dan with a smile: "Gang Dan, your wife's more famous than you now."

Gang Dan stirred in his sleep, startled—almost woke up.

The next day's newspapers all ran headlines about Gang Dan and Bas arriving in Hong Kong, dedicating large sections to the amusing incident of Bas getting stuck. "Seven Days of Mistaken Love" already felt outdated.

Yet, after ten days in theaters, this low-budget urban romantic comedy still earned a staggering HK$9 million—just one step away from ten million.

This news was huge in entertainment circles. Shaw Brothers, Golden Harvest, and Cinema City were all watching. Some even felt a new quadruple-power balance was emerging.

But even Cinema City wasn't yet seen as one of the Big Three, let alone Qingniao. Wait until Qingniao releases a film without Wei Ming's script that hits big.

Everyone knew the real talent was Wei Ming—but he was a mainland literary giant, capable of earning millions from a single English song or a children's fairy tale. Hong Kong's film industry simply couldn't afford him. No one knew how Xia Meng had managed to keep him.

Xia Meng, back from Hainan, immediately saw the news: box office had broken HK$9 million. Ten million was now certain—only tomorrow's contract with Golden Harvest's theaters would expire. If they'd held just one more day, they'd have crossed it by now.

And tomorrow, three major new films would flood the market—"Seven Days of Mistaken Love" would have to grind slowly.

She hadn't forgotten her promise to Wei Ming for a celebration dinner. She called the hotel—he wasn't there. Then she called Maniac Comics.

Right now, Wei Ming was teasing A Long about becoming an older brother—thanks to Amin's suggestion, if it's a girl, they'd name her Liu Ruyan.

But it wasn't certain—the timeline had shifted. He remembered Liu Ruyan wasn't born in '82, so maybe it'd be a boy.

The phone rang. A Long answered and handed it to Wei Ming.

"Hello, Aunt Xia Meng—you're back?... Yes, yes, I'll do exactly as you say."

Since not everyone was available, she scheduled the celebration for Thursday—most of the crew would be free then, and the box office would likely break ten million.

After hanging up, Wei Ming discussed character designs for "The Five Lucky Stars" with Huang Guoxing. Xingzi grew more confident in the story.

Seeing Niu Lao's hopeful gaze, Wei Ming gave him a "chill out, chill out" look—he was still writing.

He had to leverage Niu Lao's strengths without crossing the line. Though "Maniac Comics" wasn't officially labeled a shonen magazine, boys were their core audience. They didn't need to educate children—but they certainly couldn't lead them astray.

After staying two days at Lao Gui's, things were still a bit inconvenient, so today Wei Ming returned to the hotel.

Xu Shufen moved into the Ocean Park staff dormitory with Lao Wei. After work, she could watch all kinds of fish—especially the killer whale, which was terrifyingly nine meters long, bigger than an elephant.

Wei Ming and the others would just drop by Lao Gui's for meals—everyone was more comfortable that way.

On Tuesday, the whole family gathered again at Lao Gui's. Lao Wei and Xu Shufen had both taken leave—Wei Lingling had returned.

At noon, when Wei Ming drove down to the building, he saw his aunt's car—yes, the damage was completely repaired.

Upstairs, the two sisters-in-law were chatting—they'd already known each other half a day. Wei Lingling was outstanding, exactly the future Xiaohong that Xu Shufen had envisioned.

When Wei Ming mentioned the car, Wei Lingling said: "That car's for your brother to drive."

Xu Shufen panicked: "No way—that's too valuable! Absolutely not!"

To mainlanders, cars were priceless—even a national treasure like Wei Ming couldn't afford one.

Wei Lingling asked: "So, sister-in-law, you're rejecting it because it was in an accident? It's secondhand?"

"No, that's not it."