Chapter 389

Just a few days ago, Gu Gu Jianfen brought her second disciple to record that legendary "Clanging Rose." Although the physical cassette hadn't been sold yet, it could already be heard on car radios. As expected, it caused a nationwide sensation and was sung by everyone, and the spirit of the women's volleyball team was completely linked to the four words "Clanging Rose."

"Wind and rain, rainbow, clanging rose, carry all the sorrow and pain on your own back..."

Li Li Hanxiang sat with his legs crossed: "Hmm, this song has a lot of spirit."

Wei Ming: "I wrote this."

Li Li Hanxiang laughed: "No wonder it has so much spirit."

The next song played was "Lubinghua." Li Li Hanxiang asked: "Very moving, it couldn't be that you wrote this too, right?"

"That's right."

"Yo, are you Wei Laoshi Ming? Hey, I didn't expect to pick you up! I was just wondering why the magpies were chirping this morning..."

The driver in front spoke up. Wei Ming knew that the person leading the conversation in this car would inevitably be the one in front.

This was a driver from the Beijing Hotel. Wei Ming asked the driver to drop him off at the Beichizi courtyard house, so there was no need to go into the hutong. Li Li Hanxiang could go to the China Film Group to sign the contract himself in the afternoon.

Wei Ming carried a backpack, a luggage bag in his left hand, and a heavy cardboard box in his right hand.

Old Wei had left a motorcycle at the courtyard house, and Wei Ming also wanted to see the mental state of the cat and dog.

Just as he was opening the door, a "Wei Laoshi" made him stop his movements, and then he continued.

"Li Chengru, come in and talk."

Li Li Chengru pushed the bike into the courtyard. Ginkgo was still as enthusiastic as ever—a suck-up, after all.

Perhaps because he hadn't seen his relatives for a long time, even the Sheriff rubbed against Wei Ming's leg. Wei Ming touched him, feeling flattered.

Once the point was made, the Sheriff immediately darted back up the tree.

"What is this?" Li Li Chengru pointed to the box Wei Ming was carrying.

Wei Ming laughed: "Treasure! For your crew. What stage have you reached now?"

Li Li Chengru said: "We've already determined which stories to film. Next, we will follow the clues you left to scout locations and meet the candidates for the main actors. The two screenwriters have started script creation in Beijing simultaneously. We'll set off in two days; I estimate we'll have to spend the Spring Festival outside."

Wei Ming praised: "Commendable spirit, swift and decisive. I'll go to your unit with you this afternoon."

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

"Just got off work. My mom said she made Zha Jiang Mian (noodles with soybean paste) for me."

Wei Ming sighed: "No roast duck, braised pork, or mutton hot pot can compare to that bowl of Zha Jiang Mian made by one's mother. That really is the full taste of Mom."

"Yes, yes." Li Li Chengru said.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go. I'll go to your place to deal with a meal, saving myself from having to light the stove."

Li Li Chengru: "..."

My name is Li Li Chengru. I never expected that not only did I not get a treat from Wei Laoshi, but I even had to contribute a bowl of noodles.

However, when the whole family saw Wei Laoshi visit, they all felt honored and had face. Other neighbors in the courtyard were envious, feeling it was even more enviable than when Li Li Chengru joined the TV station.

Moreover, Wei Ming didn't come empty-handed. He brought snacks brought back from Hong Kong, and the packaging was very exquisite; one look and you knew it wasn't cheap.

"Wei Laoshi, what is this cake called? It's quite delicious." Li Li Chengru's mother said.

Wei Ming: "Auntie, this is called a Wife Cake."

"What, Wife Cake? This..." Li Li Chengru's mother peered into the cake, as if wanting to see a wife inside.

Li Li Chengru: "Mom, stop looking. Can there really be a wife inside a Wife Cake? Wei Laoshi, tell us the story behind it."

"This Wife Cake originated in Chaozhou, Guangdong. Legend has it that it was pioneered by the wife of a Chaozhou pastry chef, hence the name Wife Cake. Actually, there isn't a very deep meaning."

Li Li Chengru's mother took the opportunity to add: "Daru, when will you have a wife? Look at how old you are."

Li Li Chengru was 27 this year; he could indeed be called "not young anymore."

He had his reasons: "Didn't you watch the news? Now they advocate late marriage and late childbearing."

"The news also says it's good to have only one child. Why don't you have one?" The old lady didn't lose the upper hand.

After finishing the Zha Jiang Mian, Li Li Chengru hurriedly wiped his mouth and slipped away. Fortunately, they were going on a national tour next, which was great.

Li Li Chengru simply didn't ride his bike; he hugged Wei Ming's box and took Wei Laoshi's motorcycle to CCTV.

After gathering director Yang Jie, cinematographer Wang Wang Zhongqiu, and Vice Station Chief Hong, Wei Ming opened the box and introduced: "Japanese-made Ikegami HK-323 three-tube camera, weighing 12 kilograms, shoulder-mounted operation. 'The Legendary Fok' was filmed with this thing. Besides the 1 million Hong Kong dollars, Mr. Chiu Te-ken also donated one of these machines, specifically for filming 'Journey to the West'."

Only then did Li Li Chengru know that Wei Laoshi had actually secured a sponsorship of 1 million Hong Kong dollars!

Yang Jie asked: "How much is this machine?"

"Fifty thousand US dollars, I guess."

"Good, good! Having two cameras makes things so much more convenient!" Yang Jie shook Wei Ming's hand. In her view, this machine was more important than that 1 million Hong Kong dollars. Two cameras could not only speed up the filming progress but also save money and effort.

Wang Wang Zhongqiu tried it out. As a professional, he was even more delighted in his heart. The one the station had assigned to him before was a Hongqi brand 35mm film camera, weighing about 20 kilograms, and filming many shots required someone to assist. This Japanese machine was much better in every aspect.

Vice Station Chief Hong Minsheng reminded: "Don't let word of this machine get out yet. Wait until filming starts to bring it out, to avoid people coveting it or finding excuses not to equip you with another camera."

Where there are people, there is struggle. Yang Jie nodded: "Right, hide it. Don't show it off to anyone, understand?"

"Understood!"

She said to her husband: "Xiao Wang, go pick another cinematographer later. Add him when you do the test shoot."

"Okay."

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

Yang Jie said: "Decided, 'Eliminating Demons in Wuji Kingdom'."

"Good, I'll find you some martial arts stuntmen in Hong Kong when the time comes."

The test episode was very critical. The effect of this episode would determine whether the 3 million from CCTV would be available.

Actually, in the original timeline, the test episode was only barely passable. Later, it was re-filmed to unify the style with other episodes, wasting the 100,000 yuan spent on the test shoot. Because of a lack of experience and "crossing the river by feeling the stones," the Journey to the West crew indeed had a lot of waste, which was unavoidable.

Wei Ming thought about keeping a closer eye on things when the time came. After all, he was a veteran film and television person who had worked for decades; his experience was definitely more than the entire crew combined.

After delivering the equipment, Wei Ming prepared to leave. On the way out, he ran into "Tight-Ye" (Tight-Master), who was muttering to himself while holding a script, talking about spring, mating, and so on.

He was currently dubbing for "Animal World." This famous program was about to be broadcast.

The program basically took raw footage from the BBC's "Life" series of documentaries, Japan's NHK's "Earth Great Journey," as well as National Geographic and German ZDF documentaries, then re-edited and cut them, and finally added Tight-Ye's magnetic voice, becoming the natural science enlightenment for countless Chinese children.

Afterward, Wei Ming rode his motorcycle to Nanluoguxiang to see how the renovation of Sister Xue's two-courtyard house was coming along.

"Wei Laoshi, are you satisfied?" Master Lei's apprentice, Xiao Yu, led Wei Ming to take a look. They had just finished the day before yesterday. Because Wei Ming's whole family was away, he let Xiao Yu wait here for Wei Ming.

Wei Ming inspected it carefully. If there were any unsatisfactory parts, Master Lei could rework them immediately.

This wall was built very high, making it difficult to climb over without unconventional tools. However, the main gate was made very low-key, and the stone lions weren't very big either. They could be replaced when there was no need to be low-key.

A space for a garage door was reserved on one wall, but there was no need to open that door right now.

After entering, it was the first courtyard, which was also the outer courtyard. There was a screen wall, a reception hall, a garage, a guest bathroom, and staff housing, all in this courtyard.

Entering the inner courtyard, the first thing you saw was a small swimming pool, all tiled, with a retractable shed on top—manual. There was no water in the pool right now; they had to wait for summer to arrive. Storing water now would only allow for ice skating.

Eh, ice skating is fine too. I'll get some later.

Xiao Yu focused on introducing the water supply and drainage project, which was unique among Beijing residential houses; it just had to be cleaned by oneself.

Wei Ming asked: "Sewage and wastewater won't backflow, right?"

"Wei Laoshi, look at what you're saying. Could we do that kind of amateur work? This all uses drinking water, so please rest assured."

Xiao Yu continued to introduce. The inner courtyard was larger, and even the trees were newly transplanted. In a few years, there would be pomegranates and walnuts to eat.

He focused on introducing the main rooms and the east and west wing rooms. Every bedroom was equipped with a bathroom, and toilets were installed. The lamps were also very beautiful and novel styles, but unfortunately, it was daytime, so the effect couldn't be seen much.

Some furniture was hard for Master Lei to buy. Wei Ming had pre-approved some foreign exchange certificates for him, so the cost was not small.

The whole house looked like a classic courtyard house from the outside, but after opening it, it was all modern furniture that Wei Ming was more accustomed to.

After watching for more than an hour, it was almost dark. Only then did Wei Ming say with satisfaction: "Alright, I'll call your master later to settle the final payment."

"Alright, Wei Laoshi, then I'll be going."

"Go slowly."

It was still relatively empty here. Next, it needed to be filled with furniture and appliances, which would be another large sum of money. Now Wei Laoshi bought the best of everything, and good things were never cheap.

Wei Ming planned to leave Sister Lin's place in Houhai alone for the time being. It wasn't that there wasn't enough money for renovation—there was plenty, and renovation was cheap right now—but Sister Lin had a house in Tuanjiehu, which was enough to live in. At worst, she could live at Sister Xue's place.

So Wei Ming wanted to wait until things opened up more and technology iterated further, so the renovation could be done in one step, developing the underground space, raising the walls higher, and installing wire fences and cameras.

A three-courtyard mansion of over a thousand square meters might be the place where descendants gather every year in the future, so it had to be planned well.

Finally, Wei Ming changed to his newly bought lock before returning to the home in Beichizi.

Thinking that Xiao Hong was probably still at school, he didn't return to the Overseas Chinese Apartment and stayed here directly.

However, he first called Uncle Ping'an's house to tell him he was back.

"Good, then come to the house to eat tomorrow night. I'll call Xiao Hong too. You can tell us about things in Hong Kong."

"Hmm."

After hanging up, he started writing a script for Cheng Long. One million, ah, one million. Hmm, it might even be two million.

For this script, he chatted with Li Li Hanxiang for the whole flight about the early Hong Kong police, obtaining a lot of first-hand information.

The Sheriff was currently sitting on Wei Ming's desk, his two paws tucked in, looking cute and lovely.