Chapter 403: From Hong Kong to Los Angeles

Wei Ming drove, Lin Zhengyi sat in the back row, and Liu Shi sat in the passenger seat clutching Wei Ming's schoolbag, where he then spotted a small gadget peeking out from the side pocket.

"What is this? And it's Japanese-made."

"Just think of it as a small cassette player, for listening to music. You should try it," Wei Ming said. It was his Walkman, which he now brought everywhere; it was more relaxing than reading on the road.

Good habits are always forced by reality; if you can listen to music, who would read? If you can scroll through short videos, who would listen to music?

Wei Ming gave him a quick tutorial, and then Liu Shi put on the headphones and heard the sound: "Why is it all in a foreign language? Not good, not good."

Lin Zhengyi in the back said, "Should be to know yourself and know your enemy, right?"

Wei Ming laughed: "Brother Yifu is right. Going to the United States for the awards this time, I have to understand the musical style over there. Master, dig into the bag, there are some from Taiwan and Hong Kong."

"Oh my, Deng Lijun! You kid have some guts!" Saying this, Liu Shi tore off the cassette cover, put it in, and started listening, occasionally adding his own commentary.

Hearing Deng Lijun, Lin Zhengyi in the back was slightly startled. When they arrived at the airport to wait for their flight, he saw that Wei Ming wasn't using the Walkman, so he took the initiative to ask.

"Wei Laoshi, may I listen to your Walkman?"

"Oh, please do." Wei Ming was reading a newspaper. Not only did he see the news about how the movie *Shaolin Temple* had become a national hit and boosted the incense offerings at the Songshan Shaolin Temple, but he also saw reports about Director Yang Jie and her crew.

Lin Zhengyi heard the familiar voice of Deng Lijun again. It seemed to be a new song; he hadn't heard it before.

He had even met Deng Lijun once; back when she went to Kinmen to perform for the troops, the two of them had shaken hands.

His wife also loved Deng Lijun's songs, and listening to her voice made him miss his family even more.

It would be fine once he reached the United States. He couldn't go back, and his wife and children couldn't come over, but it would be no problem in the U. S. He would transition there and then bring them to Yanjing.

"Brother Yifu, listening to your accent, you sound like you're from Fujian."

Before boarding, Lin Yifu returned the Walkman to Wei Ming, and Wei Ming chatted with him.

"Hmm, I suppose so. I really like that song of yours, *It's Only When You Struggle That You Win*." He took the initiative to help Wei Ming with his luggage. After all, in his eyes, Wei Ming was a frail scholar, while he himself was from a military background; he positioned himself as an unofficial bodyguard protecting Wei Laoshi.

If economics didn't work, he was also slightly proficient in martial arts and firearms.

Their seats were also next to each other. The plane would first fly to Modu for a short stop, then fly to Hong Kong, where they needed to change planes with a slightly longer layover, and then fly directly to Los Angeles.

Wei Ming had known the exact time in advance and sent a telegram asking A-Long to tell his parents that they could meet at the Fairwood restaurant in the airport.

On the plane, Wei Ming began to talk freely with Old Lin about the development of the mainland economy. He had read Wei Ming's *In the Heat of the Sun*, and at the end of the novel, Wei Ming had predicted the dual-track system and the birth of a privileged class.

Yet Lin Zhengyi was more optimistic than Wei Ming, a native mainlander, so he held the opposite opinion; he felt the authorities would handle it well.

However, regarding the general development trend of China's economy, the two were in agreement; both were bullish that after the Reform and Opening-up, the mainland would usher in an era of rapidly improving material standards.

Arriving in Modu, a group of people got off, and some others got on, including a few foreign faces.

By the afternoon, the plane landed at Hong Kong Kai Tak Airport. Wei Ming and Lin Zhengyi got off the plane; they had five hours in between.

Wei Ming said to Lin Zhengyi: "My parents work in Hong Kong. We're going to meet in a bit. Where are you planning to go?"

"Your parents are in Hong Kong?"

Wei Ming: "My father is a temporary worker at the Beijing Zoo, and he and my mother were seconded to Hong Kong to deliver the giant pandas. They have to help raise them for a while after delivery."

"Oh, then where are you meeting?" he asked very responsibly.

"We won't leave the airport; just at the Fairwood fast-food restaurant in the departure hall. That's a business owned by my friend's family. Do you want to come over and try it?"

Lin Zhengyi smiled and shook his head: "I just ate, not hungry. I'll just wait for you in the departure hall."

The two entered the departure hall, and Lin Zhengyi picked a seat where he could see the Fairwood restaurant, watching Wei Ming walk in.

When Wei Ming walked in, he found Zhou Huimin sitting in a corner by the window. In front of her, besides a few snacks, there was a stack of textbooks and homework.

He walked up to A-Min in surprise: "Did A-Long tell you I was here?"

"You finally came!" A-Min was so excited she almost pounced on him. She shook her head: "Uncle and Auntie told me, but they still have to work this afternoon, so I came early."

"How early?"

"I came at noon. It's the weekend anyway, no class." Wei Ming ruffled the little girl's small curls.

Wei Ming: "I have to leave in four and a half hours."

"What a pity. I really want to go to the United States with you, but unfortunately, I still have class tomorrow."

"You can't skip class," Wei Ming pointed outside the window, "Don't look, just know it. Out of caution, the country sent Zhongnanhai bodyguards to protect me this time, so it wouldn't be convenient for you to follow."

"Wow, Zhongnanhai bodyguards! Are they all experts like Jet Li?"

"Yo, you even know Jet Li now? I thought you were going to say Jackie Chan."

"Jet Li is super hot right now. That movie *Shaolin Temple* has already grossed 15 million! Almost all my classmates have seen it!"

As for Jackie Chan's *Dragon Lord*, it was still struggling to hit 10 million. Golden Harvest had given a death order to its affiliated theaters: Jackie Chan's movies absolutely could not gross less than 10 million.

Wei Ming chuckled: "Little Li is indeed very suitable to play a Zhongnanhai bodyguard, but he's still a bit green right now. Let's not talk about him; tell me, what's the latest gossip at your school? Let me see if I can write it into *Esprit d'Amour*."

"The biggest gossip is that everyone is playing with blind boxes! And it's not just our school; other schools have also been swept by a blind box craze. I bet Auntie Lingling must have made a fortune!"

"I wonder if she'll come over later too. I really want to hear her report on how much money she's made," Wei Ming said. However, it seemed blind boxes could really be combined with Scholar Zhu's ghost abilities; there was potential there.

"Does Auntie need to report to her nephew how much she's made?" A-Min giggled.

"Of course she needs to report. I own half the shares of that toy factory."

"Ah!?"

"Shh, I only told you."

A-Min quickly covered her mouth, feeling the happiness of being trusted by the one she liked.

After a while, Lao Lao Lao Wei and Xu Shufen arrived. A-Min took the initiative to sit next to Wei Ming, facing Lao Lao Lao Wei and his wife, and even ordered food for them.

When they couldn't see their son, they missed him quite a bit, but once they saw him, it was just "so-so." After all, this son was too worry-free.

Wei Ming mainly cared about when they would return to their hometown in Yanjing.

Xu Shufen, who had always followed her husband's lead, complained a bit: "Your dad is now a bit reluctant to leave, dazzled by capitalism."

Wei Ming was surprised: "Dad, you don't want to go back?"

"Who says I don't want to? I just can't bear to leave your grandfather, can't bear to leave Gangdan and Basi." Of course, he also couldn't bear to leave a society where you could buy most goods as long as you had money, couldn't bear the comfort of being able to drive a car around town, and the rich cultural and entertainment life—none of which could be compared to the mainland.

Of course, there were bad things here too. Because his Cantonese wasn't good, sometimes when eating or shopping, the service staff's attitude wasn't great, but overall, they were still much more polite than the sales clerks in state-run stores and restaurants.

Wei Ming said: "Actually, when Xiao Hong graduates next year, I'll definitely go abroad to study with her. By then, since neither of us will be at home, it doesn't really matter whether you go back or not."

"Ah, is Xiao Hong going to study abroad next year? Isn't she only a junior next year?"

"You don't know her learning speed yet? She'll definitely graduate early and study abroad; three years is enough."

Moreover, Wei Ming's correspondence courses would end at the end of this year, so he could logically go to the United States to improve his academic qualifications, avoiding the storm of '83. It was the best of both worlds.

Hearing their son say this, Xu Shufen's desire to go home faded a little. Of course, if Ocean Park could let them return to the mainland during holidays, that would be even better, even if they had to pay for the air tickets themselves.