Chapter 389

Just a few days ago, Gu Jianfen and her second disciple recorded the legendary song "Kangqiang Meigui"; although physical cassette tapes hadn't been sold yet, the song was already playing on car radios, and as expected, it sparked nationwide sensation and mass singing, with the spirit of the women's volleyball team now inseparably linked to the words "Kangqiang Meigui."

Through wind and rain, a rainbow, a resolute rose, no matter how much sorrow or pain, carry it yourself…

Li Hanxiang sat with one leg crossed over the other: "Hmm, this song has real spirit."

Wei Ming: "I wrote it."

Li Hanxiang laughed heartily: "No wonder it's so spirited."

The next song played was "Lüguihua." Li Hanxiang asked: "Very moving—could this one also be yours?"

"Yes."

"Oh, you're Teacher Wei Ming? Hey, I never expected to hitch a ride with you! I knew this morning's magpies were chirping for a reason…"

The driver up front spoke up; Wei Ming knew that from now on, the conversation in this car would be led by this man.

This was the driver from Yanjing Hotel; Wei Ming told him to drop him off at Beichizi Sihe Academy, no need to enter the hutong, since Li Hanxiang could go to Zhongying himself in the afternoon to sign the contract.

Wei Ming carried a backpack on his back, a suitcase in his left hand, and a heavy cardboard box in his right.

Lao Wei had left a motorcycle in the Sihe Academy; Wei Ming wanted to check on the condition of the cat and dog.

As he was opening the gate, a voice called "Teacher Wei," making him pause—then he continued.

"Chengru, come in."

Li Chengru pushed his bike into the courtyard; the ginkgo tree was as enthusiastic as ever—typical dog behavior.

Perhaps it had been too long since seeing family, even the police dog rubbed against Wei Ming's leg; Wei Ming, pleasantly surprised, patted him.

Satisfied, the police dog immediately leapt back up the tree.

"What's this?" Li Chengru pointed at the box Wei Ming was carrying.

Wei Ming grinned: "Treasure! For your crew—how far along are you?"

Li Chengru said: "We've finalized which stories to shoot; next we'll scout locations based on your notes, meet a few main actor candidates, and both screenwriters have started drafting scripts in Beijing—we leave in two days, and we'll probably spend the Spring Festival on the road."

Wei Ming praised: "Impressive energy, decisive action. I'll go with you to the unit this afternoon."

Seeing Li Chengru had no intention of leaving, Wei Ming put down his things: "You haven't eaten yet?"

"Just got off work. My mom said she's making fried sauce noodles."

Wei Ming sighed: "No roast duck, no braised pork, no hot pot compares to my mom's fried sauce noodles—that's real mother's flavor."

"Exactly, exactly," Li Chengru agreed.

"Then what are we waiting for? Come on, I'll come to your place for a bite—save you the trouble of cooking."

Li Chengru: "..."

My name is Li Chengru. I never imagined I wouldn't get invited to eat by Teacher Wei—and instead ended up contributing a bowl of noodles.

But the whole family felt honored that Teacher Wei had visited; neighbors in the courtyard were envious—even more so than when Li Chengru first joined the TV station.

And Wei Ming didn't come empty-handed—he brought snacks from Hong Kong, beautifully packaged, clearly expensive.

"Teacher Wei, what are these cookies called? They're delicious," Li Chengru's mother asked.

Wei Ming: "Auntie, they're called wife cakes."

"What? Wife cakes? This..." Li Chengru's mother peered into the pastry, as if searching for a wife inside.

Li Chengru: "Mom, stop staring—there's no actual wife inside wife cakes. Teacher Wei, tell us the story behind them."

"These wife cakes originated in Chaozhou, Guangdong. Legend says a Chaozhou pastry chef's wife invented them, hence the name—there's no deeper meaning."

Li Chengru's mother seized the chance: "So when are you going to get a wife, Da Ru? You're not getting any younger."

Li Chengru was twenty-seven—definitely not young anymore.

He defended himself: "Didn't you see the news? Now they encourage late marriage and late childbearing."

"The news also says having one child is best—so why haven't you had one yet?" the old lady shot back.

After finishing the fried sauce noodles, Li Chengru quickly wiped his mouth and slipped away—luckily, they were about to tour the country, which was perfect.

Li Chengru didn't ride his bike; instead, he carried Wei Ming's box and hitched a ride on Teacher Wei's motorcycle to CCTV.

After gathering Director Yang Jie, Cinematographer Wang Zhongqiu, and Deputy Director Hong Minsheng together, Wei Ming opened the box and said: "This is the Nippon Ikegami HK-323 three-tube camera, weighing twelve kilograms, shoulder-mounted. 'The Heroic Huo Yuanjia' was shot with this exact model. Besides the one million Hong Kong dollars, Mr. Qiu Degen donated one of these cameras specifically for 'Journey to the West.'"

Li Chengru only then realized Teacher Wei had secured a one-million-Hong-Kong-dollar sponsorship!

Yang Jie asked: "How much does this camera cost?"

"About fifty thousand U. . dollars."

"Excellent! Excellent! With two cameras, this will be so much easier!" Yang Jie gripped Wei Ming's hand; to her, this camera mattered more than the million Hong Kong dollars—it would speed up filming and save both time and effort.

Wang Zhongqiu tested it; as a professional, he was thrilled. The camera previously assigned to him was the Red Flag 35mm film camera, weighing about twenty kilograms, requiring assistants for most shots. This Japanese camera was vastly superior in every way.

Deputy Director Hong Minsheng warned: "Don't announce this camera yet. Keep it hidden until shooting begins, so no one gets jealous or finds excuses to withhold your second camera."

Where there are people, there's struggle. Yang Jie nodded: "Yes, hide it. Don't show off to anyone. Understood?"

"Understood!"

She turned to her husband: "Xiao Wang, pick another cinematographer later and add him for the test shoot."

"Got it."

Wei Ming asked: "Have you decided which episode to test shoot?"

Yang Jie said: "Yes, 'Exorcising the Rooster Kingdom.'"

"Good. I'll find stunt performers for you in Hong Kong."

The test episode is crucial—its quality will determine whether CCTV releases the three million yuan.

In the original timeline, the test episode barely passed; later, to match the style of other episodes, they reshot it entirely, wasting ten thousand yuan on the first attempt. Due to inexperience, they were feeling their way forward, and the 'Journey to the West' crew indeed had many inefficiencies—unavoidable.

Wei Ming planned to keep a close eye on things; after decades in film and television, his experience far exceeded the entire crew's combined.

After delivering the equipment, Wei Ming prepared to leave. On the way out, he met Jin Ye, holding a script and muttering about spring and mating.

He was dubbing for 'Animal World'—the famous program was about to air.

The show essentially took raw footage from BBC's 'Life' series, NHK's 'Great Journey of the Earth,' National Geographic, and ZDF documentaries, re-edited them, and added Jin Ye's rich, magnetic voice, becoming the natural science Qimeng for countless Chinese children.

Then Wei Ming rode his motorcycle to Nanluoguxiang to check on Xue Jie's second courtyard renovation.

"Teacher Wei, what do you think?" Xiao Yu, apprentice of Master Lei, showed him around; they'd just finished two days ago. Since Wei Ming's family was away, Xiao Yu had been waiting for him.

Wei Ming inspected carefully; if anything was unsatisfactory, Master Lei could immediately redo it.

The walls were built very high—hard to climb without unusual tools—but the gate was modest, the stone lions small; they could be replaced later when discretion was no longer needed.

One wall had reserved space for a garage door, but there was no need to open it yet.

Inside was the first courtyard—the outer yard—with a shadow wall, reception hall, garage, guest bathroom, and staff quarters.

Entering the inner courtyard, the first thing seen was a small swimming pool, tiled, with a manual retractable canopy. The pool was empty now; water could only be added in summer—otherwise, it'd be for ice skating.

Hey, ice skating's fine too—I'll arrange that later.

Xiao Yu emphasized the water supply and drainage system, unique among Beijing residences, though it required manual cleaning.

Wei Ming asked: "Will wastewater backflow into the pool?"

"Teacher Wei, you're joking! Would we do something so sloppy? We're using drinking water—rest assured."

Xiao Yu continued: the inner courtyard was larger, with newly transplanted trees; in a few years, they'd have pomegranates and walnuts.

He highlighted the main house and east and west wing rooms: each bedroom had a bathroom with a toilet, and the lighting fixtures were elegant and modern—though today's daylight made it hard to appreciate fully.

Some furniture had been hard for Master Lei to source; Wei Ming had pre-approved foreign exchange coupons—costly indeed.

Outside, the whole compound looked traditionally ancient; inside, it was all modern living—exactly what Wei Ming preferred.

After over an hour of inspection, as dusk fell, Wei Ming finally nodded: "Good. I'll call your master to settle the final payment."

"Got it, Teacher Wei. I'll be off then."

"Take care."

The place still felt empty; more furniture and appliances needed to be added—a big expense. Now, Teacher Wei bought only the best, and the best wasn't cheap.

Wei Ming planned to leave Lin Jie's Beihai property untouched for now—not because of insufficient funds, but because it was more than enough. Renovating now would be cheap, but Lin Jie already had a home at Tuanjiehu and could always stay with Xue Jie.

So Wei Ming wanted to wait until further liberalization and technological advancement, then renovate once and for all—develop the underground space, raise the walls higher, install barbed wire and cameras.

A three-courtyard, thousand-square-meter mansion might one day become the annual gathering place for descendants—must be planned well.

Finally, Wei Ming replaced the lock with his new one and returned to his home in Beichizi.

Thinking Xiao Hong was probably still at school, he didn't go to the Overseas Chinese Apartment but stayed here instead.

But he first called Wei Anping's house to say he was back.

"Good. Come over for dinner tomorrow night. I'll invite Xiao Hong too—you can tell us about Hong Kong."

"Alright."

After hanging up, he began writing the script for Cheng Long: one million—maybe even two million.

To develop this script, he'd spent the entire flight with Li Hanxiang discussing early Hong Kong police, gathering plenty of firsthand material.

The police dog now sat upright on Wei Ming's desk, paws tucked neatly, adorably.