Chapter 458: Laba Festival, Wrap, Hugo Award

Although such a large-scale masterpiece like Qi Qi Baishi's *Pine and Eagle* is a minority among the more than 9,000 pieces of calligraphy and paintings.

Although an auction price of 400 million does not mean the market price is stable at 400 million.

But in the face of such a terrifying quantity of 9,145 pieces, even if the average price is lower, 10 billion is still something to look forward to.

Even though she didn't know these modern painters' works would be so valuable in the future, from the moment she saw this *Pine and Eagle*, Gong Ying felt that Uncle Wei Jiefang hadn't lost out on this wave.

The next day, in order to perform well in front of Xu Shufin, Zhu Lin and Gong Ying got up very early, but they were still one step behind Xu Shufin, who had already finished making breakfast.

Worried that the two girls would feel uncomfortable, Xu Shufin left after eating, hurrying home to communicate with the old man.

"There are no traces of the son having lived in that house; they probably didn't live together," Xu Shufin said.

Lao Lao Lao Wei nodded: "The kid still has some vigilance. Even for a man, this kind of thing is something to be hidden away; how could he, someone in literature, make a big scene out of it?"

Xu Shufin had now accepted the fact that her son inherited his grandfather's traits across generations; back in the day, when his father still had his mother, he was still involved with Ping'an's mother.

While both his mother and Ping'an's mother were still alive, he married Aunt Lin in Taiwan; the son could be considered to have followed his roots.

Fortunately, Wei Jiefang is an honest person and a reliable man.

Wei Wei Jiefang added: "Last night I drank quite a bit with Mei Wenhua and pried a lot of information out of him. The son actually understands the way of balance quite well; the house in Tuanjiehu is for Zhu Lin, the two-courtyard Sihe Academy in Nanluoguxiang is for Gong Ying, and Gong Ying also has an old Western-style house in Modou, so he bought another three-courtyard Sihe Academy in Houhai for Zhu Lin."

Hearing there were so many houses, Xu Shufin was a bit anxious: "Oh my, they have them, will A'min have to have them in the future too?"

"That goes without saying," Lao Lao Lao Wei said, "The son definitely isn't short on money to buy houses; he can afford it, he just doesn't have time to pick them. I know what I need to do next."

"What are you going to do?"

Lao Lao Lao Wei: "Help A'min look for where there are still satisfactory good houses. In the future, I'll ride a '28-inch' bicycle, roam the streets, collect some antique furniture, and at the same time see where people want to sell houses."

Xu Shufin wanted to say that this would be spoiling that stinky brat too much, but if she were to persuade him to settle down, she would feel heartache for whichever of these girls he gave up.

Forget it, let them be.

"You at least have something to do, what about me?" Xu Shufin was worried. Nowadays, the employee meals at Dongfang Xintiandi have a stable supply channel, and they don't need her, the Empress Dowager, to be in charge of the ladle anymore; she was too bored.

"You just cook for me. I see that son's book *A Bite of China* has many things I haven't eaten; you make them for me."

Xu Shufin nodded: "That's fine, I'll study it. The son's mouth is so picky, I don't know which of those three girls can be counted on."

At this time in Chengdu, inside the Emei Studio soundstage.

All the crew members watched as Pan Hong was shedding tears while writing a final letter; in the end, this letter was passed to Liu Luoguo through Emperor Emperor Qianlong.

This scene is the home of Teacher Zhong and his wife, which has two states. Previously, the home had many musical elements, and there was a record player, but now it is much more desolate.

Writing this letter with teary eyes, Teacher Zhong's wife walks out of the house, and not far away is a pool of lake water.

That was a night exterior scene, which had already been filmed before, so the moment Pan Hong walked out of the house, Wei Ming applauded and said: "Very good, perfect! Wrap!"

Lasting nearly five months, Wei Ming's feature film debut finally wrapped.

To celebrate, Wei Ming specifically had Feng Feng Xiaogang buy some fireworks to set off. Setting them off at Emei Studio, not Mount Emei, and not the Himalayas.

All the participants were very happy. This was a very pleasant filming experience; first of all, the funding was sufficient, and there was meat to eat almost every day.

Furthermore, Director Wei Ming's ability conquered everyone; he really is no layman. Even academic-style directors like Chen Chen Kaige and Zhang Zhang Yimou have to defer to him in his presence. Most of the stunning film shots and mise-en-scène were controlled and completed by Wei Ming.

The filming work was completed, but Wei Ming still had to stay at Emei Studio for a few days to check the footage that had already been filmed. Taking advantage of the sets that had been built and the fact that the main actors were all there, if there were any problems, they could still be reshot in time.

In the evening, Han Han Sanping checked the accounts with Wei Ming.

The Children's Film Studio invested 200,000, and Wei Ming spent nearly 400,000 in RMB and Hong Kong dollars. After finishing post-production, it should steadily exceed 600,000.

"This investment is not small. Can the overseas market earn back these 400,000?" He was a bit worried for Wei Ming. Although Wei Ming didn't say it explicitly, based on his understanding of Wei Ming, if this DreamWorks Pictures had nothing to do with him, he definitely wouldn't be so lavish.

Someone who can easily earn foreign exchange and can raise one or two hundred million in Hong Kong is a player; it's normal to have a company abroad.

Wei Ming said: "I'm actually not sure myself. This film doesn't have strong commercial attributes; it just depends on whether it gains anything at the Cannes Film Festival. If it can win an award, recovering the cost won't be difficult."

Wei Ming was being modest. If Han Han Sanping knew how much money the ten-minute short film *The Eyewitness* had sold for overseas, he definitely wouldn't have this worry.

There are still four months left, and he didn't know how Hu Hu Weili in Yanjing was doing with the music.

In the last few days in Chengdu, besides watching the footage with Chen Chen Kaige and the others, Wei Ming also took time to visit the *Science Fiction World* magazine office and met Big Brother Wan.

Although *District 9* was not premiered in *Science Fiction World*, the three *Jurassic Park* books had already revitalized this magazine and made it the leader in domestic science fiction literature.

Wei Ming's arrival triggered a crowd of all the editors. They were all proud of Wei Ming because *District 9* is China's first science fiction novel with world influence, and even though it had only been published for half a year, it was already regarded as a classic by Chinese science fiction fans.

The overseas sales of the *Jurassic Park* series were actually higher, but in the hearts of the Chinese people, it hadn't reached the level of pride and glory.

And *District 9*, which involves some political elements and appears to have depth and is worth pondering, can highlight Wei Ming's status as a "Science Fiction God Author."

Besides articles from the critical circle, the highlighting of status can also be shaped through awards.

So this time, Wei Ming came over and made a suggestion: "A while ago, I went back to Yanjing to receive the Mao Dun Literature Prize. At that time, I was thinking that in terms of pure literature, there is the Mao Prize, and children's literature also has the National Excellent Children's Literature Award. I heard that even *Storytelling* plans to evaluate an annual Reader's Favorite Story Award, but science fiction literature seems to lack this kind of authoritative recognition."

Wei Ming's words awakened the dreamer. The editor-in-chief and deputy editor-in-chief of *Science Fiction World* immediately conceived this idea of daring to be the first in the world and asked Wei Ming to bestow a name.

Wei Ming thought for a moment and said: "Awards in the international science fiction literature circle are respected by the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award; one commemorates a person, and the other looks forward to the starry sky."

The editor-in-chief said: "Among domestic science fiction writers, Mr. Zheng Zhang Wenguang should be respected. *From Earth to Mars* and *Flying to Pegasus* influenced two generations, and he is also the most well-known science fiction writer in our country internationally before Wei Laoshi."

The deputy editor-in-chief said: "Naming it after Mr. Zhang Wenguang is probably inappropriate. He is a tall tree that attracts the wind, and it might instead bring him trouble."

The editor-in-chief nodded; it was indeed inappropriate and easy to put the old gentleman on a pedestal. He looked at Wei Ming: "How about Wei Laoshi bestows a name."

Wei Ming first modestly declined, and only in the end reluctantly nominated a "Galaxy Award."

"The universe is too big; we can start from the galaxy first," Wei Ming said, "Of course, this is just my one-sided opinion; perhaps you all have other better options."

However, everyone unanimously agreed that the "Galaxy Award" was very good.

Actually, Wei Ming's proposal to design an award in *Science Fiction World* was also inspired by Melinda.

In a letter sent from the UK recently, she told Wei Ming that she had applied for the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award for *District 9* and *Jurassic Park*.

*Jurassic Park* had already applied for these two awards once last year but didn't make the shortlist. This time it was the third *Jurassic* book, but Melinda felt that the expectations for the Nebula Award could be lowered, while the Hugo Award might perhaps have a harvest.

Although the Hugo Award and the Nebula Award are both top international awards for science fiction literature and are known as the twin stars, the awards are slightly different.

Simply put, the Hugo Award is a reader's award; the winning works have more readability and influence and can better represent science fiction fan culture.

And the Nebula Award is a judge's award, which attaches more importance to literary quality and professionalism.

Wei Ming's two science fiction works cannot compare to authors whose mother tongue is English in terms of literary quality, at least there is still some gap for now. Wei Ming's English writing still needs more practice; it would be best to throw himself into that linguistic environment for a period of time.

Moreover, there is nothing new in the scientific settings of these two works; instead, their global influence is explosive, so it is possible to achieve something in the Hugo Award, which is voted on by members of the World Science Fiction Society.

Now the Hugo Award has entered the evaluation stage, first is the nomination. For the sake of safety, Melinda will operate to get *District 9* onto the list.

For the World Science Fiction Society, as long as you pay a membership fee of a few dozen dollars, you can become a member and obtain nomination and voting rights.

London.

In the company, Melinda is reviewing the picture book drawings for *Night at the Museum*. This is Wei Ming's new work and also the work with the highest expectations after the company was established.