Exciting 1979!

Chapter 109 1980 (Monthly Ticket 2000 plus more!)
"Haha, stay where you are, it's my turn to go!"

On the bed in the dormitory, Melinda picked up the dice and threw it casually, "Six!"

Then she picked up her white chess piece and jumped forward six steps, and was rewarded: Please go back to the starting point.

Wei Ming didn't laugh at her. This was how the game worked. You never knew who would win until the very end.

This is what Melinda found out of her own suitcase. She played with it with her first roommate when she first went abroad to study, but then put it away. She found it today when she was packing up and quickly shared it with Wei Ming.

Xiao Cha: It turns out that I am not worthy.

Melinda didn't even go back to the dormitory today. She played games openly at Wei Ming's place before locking the door. After locking the door, she pulled the curtains and continued to play more fun games.

After the game was over, she told Wei Ming: "I have finished my paper."

Wei Ming paused slightly while stroking her waist: "Then it's time to defend your thesis."

"Ah."

Wei Ming: "When are you leaving?"

Melinda: "It should be the middle of next month."

Wei Ming then asked: "Do you have any unfulfilled wishes, or any places you want to go that you haven't been to yet?"

Melinda drew circles on Wei Ming's chest and said, "I want to eat donkey fire."

Wei Ming was happy. He didn't expect that she was still thinking about this.

"Okay, there's still more than half a month left, I'll find a way."

Two days later, Wei Ming completed the movie script of "The Shepherd". This was not difficult for him, and most of his effort was spent on re-copying it.

This would be easier if I had a computer.

Every time he went to the Nange Art Troupe to visit teacher Gu Jianfen, when he passed by the Beige Computer Room, he wondered if he could use the computers in there to write novels.
In his previous life, he had no idea about computers before the 90s, and he didn't know how far computers had developed at that time.

However, he knew that the typewriter should be relatively mature. Lin Yutang had invested in typewriters during the Republic of China, and the Wan brothers had also filmed an animated commercial for typewriters. It was just that he didn't have his own home, and putting such a thing in the dormitory would take up too much space and disturb people's sleep.

Moreover, text typed on a typewriter cannot be modified, and mistakes have to be corrected with a pen. However, revisions are inevitable when writing novels, so the advantage is not obvious for Wei Ming.

After finishing the script, Wei Ming did not delay and submitted it directly. In order to save every second, he went directly to the Beijing Film Studio.

Just like there is "Poetry" magazine for poetry, "Ci" magazine for lyrics, and "Script" magazine for drama scripts, and movie scripts are basically submitted to "Film Creation".

The script of "Legend of Tianyun Mountain" was published in "New Film Works", which was just launched this year by Shanghai Film Studio to compete with "Film Creation".

Director Xie Jin meant for him to submit his film to Shanghai Film Group's "New Films" and then he would work on "The Shepherd" after he finished "Legend of Tianyun Mountain".

But Wei Ming pretended not to understand and directly submitted it to the more famous "Film Creation", and personally came to the Beijing Film Studio.

The current Beijing Film Studio is located at No. 77 North Third Ring Road Middle, also in Haidian, not too far from Peking University.

The old security guard at the Beijing Film Studio asked about this guy's background. Although he had never heard of him, he sounded like a very powerful person, so he solemnly took his manuscript.

When Cao Shuolong, the editor-in-chief of Film Creation, came to work, he immediately handed the script to him.

"The Horse Shepherd?" Chief Editor Cao was very surprised. This novel is very popular now, and several major official media are reporting and discussing it. He didn't expect that the original author would adapt it into a script so quickly and submit it in person.

After bringing it back to the office, Cao Shuolong immediately began to read it carefully.

He hasn't read the original novel yet. Lao Jiang from the Literature Department bought a copy of "Contemporary" and was about to read it, but he didn't know which grandson took it away and he couldn't find it anymore.

But it’s also good this way, I can read a completely unfamiliar story.

Cao Shuolong still had a smile on his face as he finished watching the film at noon.

"Emotions are the foundation of faith. Here is the land soaked with my sweat, here are my relatives and friends who have shared weal and woe, here is my wife who has supported me through thick and thin, and here are the roots of my life..."

After spending a week with his father, Xu Shengfang finally decided to stay. The last scene of the script is when Xu Shengfang, his wife Wei Fenfang, and his son Xiao Qingqing return to the ranch and run towards each other.

"That's great~"

Cao Shuolong repeated these two words in his mouth. When he said "it's great", he was not referring to the script. Of course, the script must be excellent, but the most important thing is the feeling of having ideals, beliefs, and family waiting for him to go home. It's great!

He immediately decided to publish the script of "The Shepherd" in the January 1980 issue. At the same time, he went to the Literature Department of Beijing Film Studio and found the director Jiang Huaiyan.

……

After submitting the script, Wei Ming did not return to Peking University immediately. Instead, he wandered around restaurants of all sizes in Yanjing City, asking people if any sold donkey meat hotpot. If not, he would settle for the next best thing, and ask if any sold donkey meat.

If you don’t find it today, try again tomorrow.

If you can’t find it in the city, look for it in the village.

He had just returned from Mentougou that day, and then he saw a young man wearing glasses and dressed more fashionably than most people standing at the South Gate Post, pacing back and forth due to the cold.

When the colleague on guard saw Wei Ming, he immediately said to him, "You're back."

The man immediately took his hands out of his pockets and took off his leather gloves: "Hello, Mr. Lei, Writer Wei! Hello, Lei!"

The accent is a bit like Liu Rulong's. "Cantonese?"

"Yes, yes, I'm the editor of Huacheng, my name is Chen Wenbin." After shaking hands with Wei Ming, he even took out a business card.

As expected of someone from Guangzhou, he even has a business card. He is truly at the forefront of the times.

Wei Ming invited the person in and asked him to sit down.

But it was still cold inside the gate, and Editor Chen was still stamping his feet as he sat on his chair.

Although the heating has been turned on, the temperature at the gate is definitely not as high as that at the dormitory. The warmest place in Peking University right now is Shaoyuan where Wei Ming is.

Wei Mingze was thinking, you little brat, you finally couldn't help yourself and came to me in person to ask for an article.

Actually, Wei Ming would not make trouble. Both October and Contemporary are in Beijing, so it is normal for them to go to their homes in person to solicit manuscripts. It would be too expensive for a Guangzhou magazine to do the same.

As a result, he misunderstood. Although the other party also expressed the intention of commissioning an article, it was just a side job. In fact, he had other purposes.

"We, Huacheng Magazine, organized a symposium in Yanjing, and we want to invite some writers and scholars in the literary world to give us some suggestions on how to do better in the future."

Oh, the symposium.

Wei Ming asked about the time, place, and who would attend.

"I have just convinced Professor Hong Zicheng from the Chinese Department of Peking University."

Oh, Lao Hong is going.

Since it only took one day and meals were provided, Wei Ming agreed to go on the trip, but he had to ask for leave.

It seems that "Huacheng" is still very enterprising. Although it was defeated by its big brother "Shouhuo" in the last round, it still has advantages compared with other magazines such as "Dangdai" and "October".

Wei Ming took his letter from the gate and returned to Shaoyuan.

Recently, he has been writing more letters.

There is a peak period of receiving letters every time a new work is published. There are also a lot of letters from Children's Literature, with at least a hundred letters. After the second article is published, there are even more letters discussing the plot.

He would put the books back into his office cabinet in the dormitory after reading them, and the cabinet was almost full.

Wei Ming read these letters very carefully, because in addition to pure readers, there were also many people who provided him with information about finding relatives.

However, there were not many reliable ones. After reading them, Wei Ming sorted the letters separately and mailed them back to his hometown for his mother to sort them out.

As I was reading the letter, suddenly, something fell on the window.

Wei Ming turned his head and saw: Oh, it’s snowing.

After the snow falls, it is Christmas. On this day, international students from Christian countries, led by Britain and the United States, held a grand dance party.

Wei Ming not only participated himself, but also brought these two guys in at the request of Biaozi and Xiaomei, which greatly opened their eyes. This will give them something to brag about when they go out in the future.

There were also some accompanying students who participated, such as Cha Jianying.

Xiao Cha wrote in his diary that day: From Wei Ming and Melinda's unbridled and almost carnival-like dance, I only saw two words: reluctance.

On the last day of 79, Wei Ming and teachers Hong Zicheng attended the symposium held by Huacheng together.

On the way to the scene, Professor Hong also said to Wei Ming: "The academic community is also planning to hold a seminar on your "The Shepherd"."

Although it was published only half a month ago, "The Shepherd" is undoubtedly the most literary and influential of Wei Ming's works, and it is already a phenomenal work.

Wei Ming smiled and said, "Okay, you guys can discuss your own things then, and I'll show you the door. If you dare say anything bad, I won't open the door."

Hong Zicheng laughed. This little Wei has always been cynical, and he had experienced this in class.

In addition to Wei Ming and Hong Zicheng, writer Liu Xinwu, scholar Li Tuo and others also attended the symposium. Wei Ming was undoubtedly the youngest among them.

Seeing Liu Xinwu, Wei Ming's heart moved. In fact, apart from looking for donkey meat, he has been busy recently. He is currently conceiving a new work, which is also about his teacher.

After attending classes taught by so many teachers at Peking University and getting to know a music master like Gu Jianfen, Wei Ming wanted to write a story dedicated to educators.

So after the meeting, Wei Ming had a conversation with Liu Xinwu, and Liu Xinwu told him something.

"The 79 National Excellent Short Stories Selection will be held soon, and your "The Duck Knows the River Water Warms in Spring" is also on the list of candidates."

Last year was the first time that the country's outstanding short stories were selected. The final selected ones will be compiled into a book and published. Liu Xinwu's "Class Teacher" was selected with the highest number of votes, and this short story also established his position in the literary world.

Although scar literature is derived from Lu Xinhua's "Scars", the literary world generally recognizes that his "Class Teacher" is the masterpiece that pioneered scar literature, which, like Jiang Zilong, can be regarded as the founder of a new school of literature.

After the meeting, they had a sumptuous dinner and then Wei Ming and Lao Hong returned to Peking University under the cover of darkness.

That night, Wei Ming and Melinda, who had been together since 79 and 80, completed a very meaningful joint New Year's Eve celebration.

1979 is gone and I miss it very much...

(End of this chapter)