Chapter 417

"Later, the Snake Spirit and Scorpion Spirit threw the Seventh Boy into the alchemical furnace, only to find the Seven-Star Pill hadn't formed. Grandpa said it was because the Hulawas had grown divided—they weren't united anymore, so even the pill couldn't be forged."

"At that moment, Grandpa pretended to surrender, claiming he had a way to make the Hulawas become one in heart—but the spirits had to release him. The two demons, desperate, let Grandpa approach the furnace. Suddenly, he pulled out the Seven-Colored Lotus and hurled it into the furnace. The Lotus emitted a radiant glow, awakening the Seventh Boy's memories—he recalled the joy of swinging on the vine, remembered how the spirits had captured him along with the gourd."

"So the seven brothers united, shattered the alchemical furnace—but Grandpa was seized by the Scorpion Spirit. They used him to threaten the Hulawas. To subdue the spirits…" Wei Anping sighed, "in the end, Grandpa died beneath the Scorpion Spirit's blade, so the Hulawas wouldn't be held hostage."

Yuele's eyes welled up: "So the Hulawas never had Grandpa again?"

Xizi also spoke mournfully: "Just like us?"

Wei Anping thought: Not necessarily like you.

He said: "Birth, aging, sickness, death—all are natural laws. Let's keep watching."

Later, to eternally suppress the two spirits, the seven Hulawas transformed into a seven-colored mountain, crushing the magic gourd that had trapped them.

It seemed a tragic tale, but Wei Ming left a tail end: the Hulawas weren't dead, only asleep—and one day, the sleeping Hulawas would awaken.

Wei Anping murmured: "So there's a sequel?"

"A sequel? Of course there is. But Xiao Ming said he needs to take a break," Lu Xiaoyan told everyone.

Lu Xiaoyan was hosting a small dinner for the entire staff of "The King of Fairy Tales."

This was a victory banquet, celebrating how "The King of Fairy Tales" had for the first time outsold "Children's Literature" and "Youth Literature," truly becoming the top children's magazine!

Of course, this achievement owed much to Wei Ming's two novels: one was the completion of "The Hulawas," the other was the latest episode of "Black Cat Detective," in which One-Ear successfully escaped prison.

Though One-Ear had been off-screen for a long time, children hadn't forgotten this cunning villain. Later detectives faced many criminals, but none matched One-Ear's intelligence and tenacity—even the detective himself often muttered his old rival's name, deepening readers' obsession with him.

This episode made One-Ear nearly the protagonist; Black Cat Detective merely appeared at the start, locking away a criminal and catching a distant glimpse of One-Ear, then shifted entirely to One-Ear's life inside prison.

He learned many criminal techniques there, behaved well, and constantly sought opportunities to escape.

One day, the criminal brought in by Black Cat Detective suddenly collapsed—prison guards prepared to remove the body—when One-Ear secretly reported that the man wasn't dead, he was faking it.

"How could he not be dead? His body is stiff, breathing and heartbeat stopped, even the stench of rotting flesh is rising!"

"I tell you he's not dead—he's an opossum, my distant relative. His greatest skill is playing dead. Don't believe me? Call a forensic expert to dissect him—see if he comes back to life."

This time, One-Ear himself handled the science lesson, thoroughly educating children on the opossum's unique ability.

Since the "King of Fairy Tales" artists didn't know what opossums looked like in the Americas, Wei Ming found a science book and gave it to them.

Later, the guards tested it—the opossum was indeed faking death to escape. In playing dead, he was truly a master.

Because of his tip, One-Ear gained the guards' trust: his cell was no longer searched, and he was allowed to supervise other prisoners, leading them in labor and calisthenics.

But one day, One-Ear vanished from prison—no trace could be found.

Helpless, the guards summoned Black Cat Detective again to help find One-Ear.

When Black Cat Detective arrived at One-Ear's cell, he found a poster of himself taped to the wall—wearing his uniform, saluting, looking sharp.

One guard explained: "One-Ear said he was captured by you, admires you deeply, so he wanted your portrait on his wall—to look at you every day and remind himself not to commit crimes again."

Black Cat Detective walked to his own poster, smiled faintly, then pulled it down—and behind it was a hole: a rat hole!

One of the guards, a mole and tunneling expert, rushed over: "This hole's been here a long time!"

This was an interaction with "The Hulawas"—the mole who had finished filming there had now become a prison guard here.

Then the perspective shifted to One-Ear's: having earned the guards' trust, he led other prisoners in labor and exercise daily, rolling dirt into his pant legs and shaking it out on the ground—over time, he dug a tunnel out of the prison.

When he finally escaped into the open, rain poured down. One-Ear threw back his head and laughed loudly—and the rain washed away his footprints, leaving his whereabouts a mystery.

This plot was Wei Ming's parody of "The Shawshank Redemption." Stephen King's novel might have been written by now, but hadn't been published yet—so it was merely a coincidence, and Wei Ming had beaten him to it.

Thanks to One-Ear's escape, "Black Cat Detective" reached a new peak in popularity; young readers eagerly awaited the next cat-and-mouse game.

Zheng Yuanjie took a small sip, not drinking much—he too looked forward to his own cat-and-mouse game, though in his stories, the mouse was the hero and the cat the villain.

Previously, he'd tried his hand with a short story, "The Mouse Who Flew a Helicopter," published in the neighboring "Children's Literature." Now, "The Magic Cube Building" was about to end, and he wanted to expand Shuke's story into a longer novel.

Oh, Shuke was the name of the mouse who flew the helicopter; there was also a wicked flower cat named Mili—absolutely no reference to Black Cat Detective's Mimi.

At this point, he'd only thought of giving Shuke a cat rival—he hadn't yet considered adding another mouse as his companion.

After the victory banquet ended, Lu Xiaoyan returned home to find Wei Anping had already put the two little ones to sleep. Xiaoyan Aunt waved the wine bottle at Wei Anping; they prepared for a quiet drink, just to warm up.

"Wei Ting, why do you seem so weighed down lately?" They sat on the sofa; Lu Xiaoyan pressed Wei Anping's head against her chest.

Wei Anping: "Nothing. Just worrying about the country and its people."

Lu Xiaoyan: "Why not next time you go with Xizi when he shoots a film? Just to get some fresh air."

Wei Anping shook his head: "I'll go with him when he shoots in Hong Kong. Come on, let's clink glasses again."

The Hong Kong Film Award trophy had been mailed to Wei Ming's home via Qingniao Film Company—he'd left his address as the Overseas Chinese Apartment. Wei Hong had once gone to the post office to mail a letter and picked it up for him; the mailman knew her well enough now to let her collect for her brother.

Seeing the trophy, Wei Hong felt a bit embarrassed—it was a nude woman, though thankfully the film reel covered the key parts.

Seeing the trophy reminded Wei Hong of the Hundred Flowers Award voting. She quickly pulled out the household subscription of "Mass Film."

Last year had many box-office hits, but "Heroes Born in Youth" wasn't on the list because it was a co-production. Among the dozens of domestic films from 1981, the top contenders were "Happy Family," "Mother, Again I Love You," "The White Snake," and "The Mysterious Buddha."

Voting had begun last month. Wei Hong had voted for "Happy Family" and Zhu Lin last time; this time she chose "Mother, Again I Love You" and Gong Ying—both her brother's good friends, her own good sister—she had to be fair.

Results would be announced next month; the Hundred Flowers and Golden Rooster Awards would be presented together in May.

In terms of popularity, "Happy Family" and Zhu Lin were less hot than "Mother" and Gong Ying.

But luck intervened: Changchun Film Studio released a new historical epic, "Du Shiniang."

Half a month ago, the film version of "Teahouse" had premiered, receiving much coverage and decent attendance—but "Du Shiniang" completely overshadowed the gloomy "Teahouse."

Zhu Lin's ancient-costume photos from "Du Shiniang" appeared on every major newspaper and magazine nationwide, instantly enchanting audiences. "Zhu Lin, you are the god of ancient costume!" Fans flocked to theaters to support her.

Changchun Film Studio had full confidence in the film, producing the second-highest number of prints this year, only behind "Shaolin Temple."

Crucially, the film's quality was excellent, with sky-high attendance—it successfully claimed the cinema's top spot after "Shaolin Temple." When Du Shiniang angrily sank her treasure chest, viewers watching the villain's mad despair felt deeply satisfied.

Audiences aren't always rational. With "Du Shiniang" at its peak, feelings for Zhu Lin grew stronger; many voters inevitably leaned toward her under the influence of the new film.

While in Yangzhou, Wei Ming had seen a newspaper article detailing the fervor of the "Mass Film" Hundred Flowers voting, ending with a question: Would Gong Ying prevail, or would Zhu Lin rise on this momentum?

The author of the article was clearly a fan of both women, ignoring all other actresses entirely.

In fact, Liu Xiaoqing had "The Mysterious Buddha," Li Xiuming had "Xu Mao and His Daughters," and Zhang Yu had "Zhiyin."

This year's Hundred Flowers voting rivaled the later Super Girl contests—though not quite involving the entire population, it still gathered one or two million votes. Whenever the Hundred Flowers began, "Mass Film" had no rival in circulation across mainland China—even "Story Meeting" had to step aside, and literary journals couldn't match it even combined.

The greatest voter motivation came from the Best Actress race; even the "Journey to the West" crew discussed it. Every time someone appeared with a copy of "Mass Film," others rushed to vote for their favorite actress.

Among them, Chi Zhongrui and Li Chengru led two factions, backing Gong Ying and Zhu Lin respectively.

Wei Ming only wanted to watch "Du Shiniang" with Xuejie and Linjie—but he still had to supervise their filming.

"Sixth Brother, your movement is too exaggerated. Do it like this… like this…"

Today, finally, the scenes of Tang Sanzang and his disciples began filming. Wei Ming boldly offered his opinion on Sixth Teacher's performance—essentially using his later, more mature Sun Wukong to correct the early, experimental version, helping him avoid unnecessary detours.