Exciting 1979!

Chapter 120 Zhou Huimin (4 updates to celebrate the New Year)

Qi Kexiu came in expectantly and saw, hey, guess what?

There was only one bone left, and it was eaten so smoothly!
He is an elementary school teacher and a former master of Beijing. How could he do such a thing as scratching bones?
Disgraceful to gentlemen!

Qi Kexiu wanted to turn around and leave, but he had already walked into the trap, so how could Wei Jiefang bear to let him go?

"Kexiu, I really regret not learning cultural knowledge as well as you." Old Wei suddenly sighed in self-blame.

Oh, now you know how to reflect on yourself and realize your nouveau riche nature?

Qi Kexiu sat down steadily: "Brother, it's not too late. Although you didn't understand much in junior high school, at least you are at the level of a senior primary school student. You are far from being illiterate."

Lao Wei picked up a bottle of white wine and filled it up for Qi Kexiu: "Drink with me."

Qi Kexiu looked around but didn't see any other good wine, so he had to make do with this.

Lao Wei added: "I am OK in other subjects like math and Chinese, just barely enough, but I don't understand English at all, do you understand?"

Qi Kexiu: "Nod yes and shake your head no. Come is come and go is go. It's very simple. We have seen foreigners in Yanjing. We just went up to them and talked to them until they were dizzy. What? You have seen foreigners in Yanjing too, right?"

Wei Jiefang: "No, I'm just afraid that our Xiao Ming will find a foreign wife in the future. I wish I could have your English level."

Qi Kexiu paused while drinking, and said with a slight twitch of his lips: "Brother, you worry too much."

Lao Wei: "Ah? I'm overthinking?"

"Too many! Our Xiao Ming is indeed quite outstanding. He is the most handsome young man in the surrounding area, and he can also write. Even in Yanjing, he is considered a well-known figure. But foreign countries are so developed, and they all live in high-rise buildings. How could they be interested in me? Oh, if you are talking about foreign girls in Africa, that's another story. Anyway, I don't like them. I don't want them even if I give them to you."

Lao Wei: "It's not from Africa, it's from Britain."

Qi Kexiu was a little confused: "What is this? It's British?"

His wife Fan Chunhua hadn't left yet, and she sighed, "Our Xiao Ming is dating a British girl, what a capable person he is!"

Qi Kexiu felt a chill in his heart. Wei Goudan, you are so good. It turns out that you were waiting for me here. Does he have more ability or capital?

And since Lao Wei dared to say it, it must be true. I just don’t know if it’s a bald, buck-toothed fat British woman.

Qi Kexiu tried hard to maintain his composure, not letting Lao Wei succeed: "That's great. Bring her back someday to open our eyes. Chunhua has never seen a foreigner before."

Lao Wei sighed, "I can't bring him back. He has graduated and has returned to England. So we parted ways."

Oh, we broke up!
Qi Kexiu breathed a sigh of relief. He smiled and waved his hands: "This kind of thing is hard to last long. These foreigners are probably just playing around. They are very casual."

Old Wei added, "Yes, you said so, so you divided it. You also gave my son a watch, saying it was a famous Swiss watch, worth... Shufener, how much is it worth?"

Xu Shufen, who was sorting and sorting luggage in the inner room, replied: "They said it's worth more than 10,000 yuan."

"Yes, more than ten thousand, and they glow when it's dark, like gems!"

Fan Chunhua didn't even notice her husband's livid face. She exclaimed, "My goodness! There aren't even any millionaires in our commune. A watch is worth that much. Do you think she still has feelings for our Xiao Ming?"

Wei Jiefang nodded: "She was the one who took the initiative to pursue Xiao Ming. I was afraid that she would come back after two years, so I thought I should learn foreign languages quickly. I will learn from Ke Xiu in the future because he knows a lot. By the way, do you think this watch is worth more than ten thousand?"

Old Wei took out another photo, which was of their family of three having dinner in a restaurant, and it happened that the unique watch on Wei Ming's wrist could be seen.

What a vicious and smooth little combo!
Qi Kexiu took a quick look and said perfunctorily, "I can't tell. I don't really know much about watches."

Lao Wei: "Then did you realize that this was Lao Mo?"

"Lao Mo?!" Qi Kexiu looked at him several times in a hurry. Is this the legendary Lao Mo?
Wei Jiefang: "I just mentioned it, and Xiao Ming insisted on taking me and my wife to eat this Soviet food. It's not interesting and expensive, but the vodka is quite strong, and it looks like the real deal. I even brought a bottle back. I'll ask the old secretary to come and try it someday."

Qi Kexiu stood up suddenly, but he was still a little shaky because he had drunk two glasses of wine.

"Xiu, what's wrong? Chunhua, help him quickly."

Qi Kexiu pushed Fan Chunhua away and said, "It's okay. I just remembered that I haven't finished marking the homework in class yet. I'll leave first."

Seeing Qi Kexiu walk away in a daze, Wei Jiefang felt a little worried. He thought he would not have hurt him too much. He couldn't let him lose heart, otherwise who would he play with in the future?
Qi Kexiu: How ridiculous! How could I be defeated so easily?
After returning home, Qi Kexiu took out a notebook and wrote three big words on it: "Qi Kuang Ren"!
Humph, Wei Jiefang is a villain who becomes arrogant when he succeeds. Isn't it just because he relies on his son who is a writer?

Now, I want to be his son too! Pah, pah, pah, I want to be a writer too!
Qi Kexiu patted his head. What a low-quality wine. It makes people who drink it think disordered.

Forget it, I’ll write it tomorrow. I’ve already chosen the pen name “Qi Kuang Ren” today, and the magazine I’ll submit my work to is “Story Club”.

This has already taken two major steps forward, surpassing 99% of people in the world. Great, let’s take a nap!

~
After waking up, Wei Ming clocked in at the school magazine office in the morning and went to attend the class. He listened carefully, took photos after class, and actually chatted with the professor to prepare for writing an article.

Yang Hao and the others didn't care what they did, he just wanted to write something good, not too long, but not sloppy.

At noon, Wei Ming took away another batch of his letters at the South Gate. When he saw that one of the letters was sent by "Zhu Lin", he opened it immediately.

Zhu Lin mentioned in the letter that she was going to join a crew as an actor soon.

"Little Wei, when you receive this letter, I may have already boarded the train to Yunnan, and I can't spend the New Year at home. My parents and my partner blame me for being willful, but I think this is a rare opportunity. I am usually so well-behaved and obedient to everyone. What's wrong with being willful occasionally? Maybe I won't be able to make movies in the future. I missed a movie called "Hai Xia" before, and I don't want to miss it this time.

"By the way, I came to you to buy tapes a few days ago, but you were not there. I saw your mother, she is so young. I think I should call her sister, hahaha. I will find you when I come back from Yunnan, or I will invite you and Qiao Feng and Mu Rong to the wedding when I get married."

The word "marriage" seemed to be written with great force. Wei Ming smiled lightly. It seemed very abrupt to mention this suddenly, sister.

Could it be that she knew that she already had a partner, so she deliberately announced that she was about to get married?
After reading the letter, Liu Rulong pushed the door open casually as if he were entering his own dormitory.

"Aming, when are we leaving?" he asked.

Wei Ming told him about publishing a book yesterday, and he couldn't wait, so he went to "Children's Literature" today.

Wei Ming said: "Ah Long, can you help me find out where your school's teacher Ma Jingwu is filming in Yunnan?"

Liu Rulong: "Ah, why are you asking about this?"

"Don't ask about this."

Liu Rulong scratched his head: "Okay, Mr. Ma's wife, Ms. Li, is still in school, I'll think of a way."

Just as they were about to leave, A Biao and A Mei came back.

They talked about something: "The winter vacation duty schedule has been arranged, and the two of us will spend the New Year at school."

Wei Ming asked: "Will there be a New Year subsidy?"

Mei Wenhua: "Subsidy is nothing."

Zhao Debiao: "What he meant was that maybe an egg would be added to breakfast, but nothing else."

Mei Wenhua: "The advantage is that we can have winter vacation early, and we can have a long vacation in two days."

Biaozi: "Brother Ming, I can't bear to leave you, but Peking University is too far from home, I guess we'll have to meet after the New Year."

Wei Ming patted their shoulders and said, "When it's time to eat, go to the Changzheng Canteen and grab a seat. If Brother Feng is here, call him along. When he comes back, we'll have dinner together."

After hearing this, the two of them felt much better, but also a little embarrassed. They asked Wei Ming if he had anything they needed copied and didn't want any fees.

"It's gone, it's gone, gone."

Wei Ming and A'long rode for an hour and a half to the editorial office of Children's Literature at No. 12, Dongsi North 21th Street.

However, the publisher of this publication is actually China Juvenile & Children's Publishing House, which is directly affiliated to the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League and is the only national professional children's book publishing house in China.

Note that the name must be complete. If "China" is missing, it means "Children's Publishing House", another powerful children's book publishing house in Shanghai. So in addition to the people from "Children's Literature", there is also an editor from the publishing house to contact them.

The purpose of this meeting was mainly to determine the income issue of the two persons.

As for Liu Rulong, there were 28 original illustrations, and he had to draw 12 new ones. He would designate which segment to draw, so it was a total of 40 pictures, in black and white, 10 yuan each, so a total of 400 yuan was paid in one go.

Liu Rulong swallowed his saliva and said, Oh my god, he posted it himself!

Wei Ming was thinking that since there were 40 illustrations in this book, it would probably not be cheap and the publisher would make a lot of money.

As for Wei Ming, the main text totaled 10 words, and he wrote a preface to make up 400 words. He was paid yuan per thousand words, which made a total of yuan in basic royalties.

Also!

In addition, there is the printing volume remuneration. For every 2 copies printed, Wei Ming can get % of the basic remuneration.

That is to say, if 50 copies of the book were printed, he could still get 400 yuan.

This cannot be compared with royalties, but it is a huge improvement over last year.

Coincidentally, the number of copies set by China Juvenile & Children's Publishing House for the first print run was 50, so Wei Ming could take 800 yuan at one time!
If you need to reprint later, you don't need to pay the basic fee again, just pay the reprint fee directly.

Lu Xiaoyan said: "Xiao Ming, do you want to find someone to write a preface for you? The publishing house will also pay for the preface."

Wei Ming smiled and said, "I'm a little greedy, can I have two?"

"Oh, who do you want to ask for it? Do you know any seniors?" Aunt Xiaoyan asked.

"One is Professor Qu Yude from Peking University. She helped me a lot when I was writing this novel. The other is..." Wei Ming looked at Editor-in-Chief Jin, "And I'm sorry to bother Editor-in-Chief Jin. I grew up reading your works."

Mr. Jin Jin, who was about to step down, laughed and said, "Just don't mind that my writing is outdated. But you still have to write a preface. There are too many prefaces. Let me write the postscript."

The postscript is placed at the end.

Wei Ming cupped his hands and said, "Mr. Jin is a man of high character!"

So the matter was settled. Afterwards, Mr. Jin chatted with Wei Ming for a while about the new novel "Jumanji", which had a novel content. He also praised it highly and said that the young people were formidable.

Aaron: "Ah, you have new works again?"

Wei Ming slapped his forehead and said, "Editor Lu, can I take the manuscript back and let Aaron read it first? I also need him to draw illustrations."

"Okay, remember to send it back quickly."

On the way back, Wei Ming said, "Don't read novels while riding a bike."

"No, your novel is too awesome!" Aaron rode his bike with one hand and read the novel with the other hand, "Okay, let's read it in the cafeteria."

It was already time for lunch when we arrived at the Changzheng Canteen. Ah Biao and Ah Mei waited for more than half an hour. "Brother Feng went into the city to see his sister-in-law again. It's just the four of us."

"Just watch, Aaron and I will talk about the illustration style of the new novel."

After the dishes were served and a few glasses of wine were drunk, Mei Wenhua suddenly became friendly with A-Long: "A-Long, you are from Guangzhou. Can you tell me, are the people there good at doing business?"

Liu Rulong: "Yes, after all, it used to be a trading port, there was a lot of trade, and everyone was very active."

Zhao Debiao: "Is there gold everywhere, like picking up money?"

Liu Rulong: "It's not that exaggerated, but if we bring the in-demand products there to Yanjing, we can still double the profit."

Mei Wenhua: "Will you go back home during the winter vacation?"

"Go back."

Mei Wenhua: "If you bring some goods here, won't you get rich?"

Aaron smiled innocently: "I think painting has a better future."

Mei Wenhua sighed: "You all have abilities. Biaozi and I don't have those talents. It's too difficult to make money."

Wei Ming narrowed his eyes and said, "Xiao Mei, something is wrong with you tonight. Just tell me what you have to say."

Mei Wenhua and Zhao Debiao looked at each other and he said, "Biaozi and I have discussed it. There is still one month before the New Year. We want to go to Guangdong to get some in-demand goods to sell in Yanjing."

Biaozi: "Yes, we want to make money too!"

I didn't expect them to have such an idea. They were probably stimulated by my extravagant life. Wei Ming said earnestly: "You two are unfamiliar with the place and you don't speak the same language. It's very risky to go there."

Mei Wenhua patted Liu Rulong on the shoulder and said, "Who said you are unfamiliar with the place? Isn't there A-Long here?"

Liu Rulong shook his head: "I don't understand those things, but I can be a translator."

Wei Ming: "That is, where to buy goods from, whether the price is inflated, what does he know? If you call him, he will be like three stupid and fat sheep."

Xiaomei and Biaozi looked at each other, feeling a little disappointed.

Liu Rulong added: "But my cousin has some connections in Hong Kong, he should be able to help."

"Oh?" Their eyes lit up.

Wei Ming: "The cousin you mentioned who has connections in Hong Kong can't be your father, right?"

"No, my cousin has a cousin in Hong Kong who is a truck driver. He transports goods from Hong Kong to Shenzhen. He really has connections."

Mei Wenhua: "Yes, yes, that's exactly the kind of relationship we want!"

Wei Ming asked A Long: "Is your cousin reliable? He won't cheat outsiders, will he?"

Aaron: "I will definitely trick them. I'll just say they are my brothers and there shouldn't be any problem."

Mei Wenhua and Zhao Debiao quickly toasted A-Long and called him "Brother Long!"

Wei Ming sighed and raised his glass as well: "Biaozi, bring your stuff, Xiaomei, be smart, then I wish you great fortune."

With Wei Ming's support, Mei Biao became more confident.

He even made the bold statement, "I'm going to Guangdong this time, and Hong Kong next time."

Aaron smiled bitterly. He thought of his father. It’s not easy to survive in Hong Kong.

……

A wooden house area on Sai Wan High Street, Central and Western District, Hong Kong Island.

There is a dilapidated wooden house that sells daily necessities, called "Zhou Ji Department Store".

The family's daughter, who was in the first grade of junior high school, came back from school with her schoolbag. The chubby little girl asked her mother first.

"Mommy, do you have a letter?"

"No," the mother was counting the money and said angrily after being interrupted, "Amin, go do your homework and don't go out to play, okay?"

"Okay~" She leaned half of her body out and waved in one direction.

……

(End of this chapter)