Exciting 1979!

Chapter 162: Life as a Human Being (Guaranteed 1 more chapters, please give me a monthly ticket!)
"Mr. Wei, welcome, welcome." Pacific's general manager Liao Mingzu came out personally to greet Wei Ming.

If there were any music charts at this time, "In the Fields of Hope" has actually become the most popular song in mainland China today, surpassing "Homesickness" and "Camel Bells".

It is no wonder that Liao Mingzu attaches so much importance to Wei Ming. He also hopes that Wei Ming will create more glory and write more good songs.

However, when he asked about Wei Ming's recent work, Wei Ming said that he had been busy preparing a new novel.

"This is a novel set during the Anti-Japanese War, and a large part of the story takes place in Guangzhou, so I came here to seek inspiration."

Although Liao Mingzu felt regretful, he thought about it and it made sense. The songs he had written before were obviously to match "The Sheep Class".

However, his attitude has not changed much. He still needs Wei Ming, because several singers including Zhu Fengbo want to challenge "In the Fields of Hope" in their new album, which requires Wei Ming's approval. Of course, Wei Ming can also make a little money from it.

Although the money is little, he can make money every time someone covers his songs.

"Then, Writer Wei, is there anything I can help you with?" Mr. Liao asked enthusiastically.

Wei Ming: "It would be great if you could help me find a tour guide who I can talk to and take me around the former site of the Whampoa Military Academy."

"That's no problem." Liao Mingzu agreed immediately, and then took Wei Ming to visit the Pacific Company.

It is mainly a high-end recording studio and tape production workshop. The recording studio can be used for recording by large symphony orchestras. One thing that Liao Mingzu was not very satisfied with about "The Shepherd Class" was that the recording conditions of Wei Ming's five songs were a bit poor.

Here Wei Ming also heard a familiar melody.

"'Morning on Campus'?"

Liao Mingzu was surprised and said, "Have you heard of Writer Wei? Oh, that's right, you know Teacher Gu."

"Yes, she is my mentor in music," Wei Ming said with a smile, "I heard the demo of this song last year."

Liao Mingzu said: "We have invited two talented singers, Wang Jieshi and Xie Lisi, to sing this song. We are also planning to release an album with more songs in the future."

Wei Ming nodded: "You sang very well."

These two are the music sales kings of this era, one man and one woman, but they are not in a relationship, a bit like the Phoenix Legend.

The name of their tape seems to be "When Will We Meet Again", and it has also sold millions of genuine copies.

After accompanying Wei Ming around the company, it was almost time for dinner, so Liao Mingzu called two company managers to personally accompany Wei Ming for dinner.

If he was just a songwriter, he wouldn't have such a big presence, but Wei Ming is still a popular writer, and the two managers are very happy to get to know someone like Wei Ming.

The place to eat is Beiyuan Restaurant near Yuexiu Park.

Wei Ming had rarely been to Guangzhou before, but he had heard of Beiyuan Restaurant and Nanyuan Restaurant.

Nanyuan Restaurant is famous for its steamed dishes, of which Buddha Jumps Over the Wall is a specialty, while Beiyuan Restaurant is renowned for its delicacies from land and sea and rich dried goods.

As for the dishes on the menu, Wei Ming had eaten in many big restaurants in Yanjing, but he had never seen any of them like this. Moreover, the prices were high, and it felt like a meal cost dozens of dollars.

The names of dishes like "Scallop Net in Shatian", "Golden Cup and Silver Basin", "Chicken in a Tile Pot with Flower-Diao Painting", and "Duck with a Hundred Flowers in Full Bloom" all have a hint of capitalism, and each dish is prepared very delicately.

Take the Hundred Flowers Duck for example. It is made of fried duck with crab roe, goose kidney, shrimp paste, squid and other ingredients. Not to mention the richness of these ingredients, it is very rare to find crab roe in winter.

Liao Mingzu was worried about what Wei Ming, a writer from the capital, would think when he saw such fancy food. He explained: "Because Guangzhou often receives Hong Kong businessmen and foreign guests, the superficial work is a bit too much."

These delicacies have perfect color, fragrance and taste, and are very visually pleasing.

Wei Ming smiled and said, "I heard from some of my friends that restaurants in Beijing used to be so exquisite. Later, they became public canteens through public-private partnerships, and they were not so sophisticated anymore. Although some old brands are starting to recover now, the old chefs have died or retired, so they won't be able to reach the level of the past in a short period of time. I feel sorry about that."

Seeing that Wei Ming was not disgusted and even talked about the cuisines of the north and south, Liao Mingzu couldn't help but ask, "Oh, Writer Wei, are you also a foodie?"

Wei Ming smiled even more happily: "I spent a lot of my royalties on various restaurants in Beijing."

Liao Mingzu: "Then let's start eating?"

"Please come in, Mr. Liao."

Everyone was eating and talking about music. Liao Mingzu didn't expect that Wei Ming was so knowledgeable about Hong Kong and Taiwan music. It seemed that he really liked music and often listened to those illegal tapes. It would be a pity that he didn't continue to write songs.

Although the income from songwriting is not high, Mr. Liao's emotional investment is really in place. He eats delicious food and stays at the Baiyun Hotel. Before the White Swan of the Huo family, the Baiyun Hotel was one of the most luxurious foreign-related hotels in Guangzhou.

Although Wei Ming's room was not on the top floor, it was still quite high. Standing in front of the window and looking north, he could see the vast green Baiyun Mountain. Mr. Liao said that Wei Ming could stay as long as he wanted and any expenses in the hotel could be directly recorded in the account.

The Baiyun Hotel is a cooperative hotel of Pacific. Dealers from all over the country were arranged to stay here when they came at the beginning of the year.

This was the first time Wei Ming lived in a modern room after his rebirth. It had a soft big bed, bright lamps, hot water, a bathtub, a toilet, and everything else.

While taking a bath and drinking Coke, Wei Ming became more determined to buy a house in the Overseas Chinese Apartment. He also wanted to live a modern life!

In fact, he has a new song in his hand, and he was very touched by Mr. Liao’s hospitality today, but Wei Ming still decided to leave it to the Hong Kong singer.

Not only do they pay high fees, but they also have copyrights, and they get a share of the profits if sales are high. Pacific really can't compare to this, and he is also hoping to raise enough money to buy a house as soon as possible.

The next day, after Wei Ming finished his breakfast at the hotel, he went downstairs to the lobby and the receptionist told him that someone was waiting for him.

Wei Ming knew that this should be the tour guide arranged for him by General Manager Liao. He walked to the waiting area and stood in front of a young man with glasses and messy hair like a chicken coop.

"Hello, I'm Wei Ming."

The other party quickly stood up and said a little embarrassedly: "Hello, Writer Wei, I am your tour guide today. My name is Chen Pingyuan, but I am not a professional tour guide."

Wei Ming: "I noticed that you were just reading your notes."

Chen Pingyuan said embarrassedly: "But I know a lot about the Whampoa Military Academy, so you can rest assured. Besides, I majored in literature, so we should have more common topics."

Then he reintroduced himself, Chen Pingyuan, a native of Chaozhou, a junior student in the Chinese Department of Sun Yat-sen University, one of the first batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination, knowledgeable and outstanding among students of the same grade.

"Then how did they find you?"

"Pacific Company approached our school and originally booked a female student from the Chinese Department who used to be a tour guide, but she suddenly felt unwell today and couldn't come, so they called me to take over," Chen Pingyuan scratched his head. "I was sleeping at the time, it was indeed a bit sudden."

Wei Ming didn't expect this to happen, so he asked, "Do you want to pay me?"

"Should I give it to you?" Chen Pingyuan hesitated and began to touch his bag.

Wei Ming: "I mean they give it to you."

"I don't have money, but I can travel with writer Wei. I think this is a great learning opportunity. Why should I charge for it?" Chen Pingyuan felt that after hanging out with Wei Ming for a few days, he might even have a graduation thesis, so he would be willing to pay for it.

Wei Ming and his companion then left the hotel and took a taxi to the Whampoa Military Academy.

On the way, the two of them talked about literature happily. Wei Ming even suggested: "Have you ever considered applying for a graduate degree in the Chinese Department of Peking University?"

"Ah, me?" Chen Pingyuan said in embarrassment, "I haven't thought about it. I wanted to study for a master's degree in this school before."

Wei Ming nodded and said, "If the graduate students don't come, then the PhD student has to come too. Otherwise, he won't have a wife."

This Mr. Chen will be an academic giant and a professor at Peking University in the future. He is married to Xia Xiaohong from the Chinese Department of 77 who had dinner with Wei Ming.

The Whampoa Military Academy is located on Changzhou Island in the HP District of Guangzhou. At that time, Mr. Sun Yat-sen was engaged in two major projects in Guangzhou at the same time, one was the Whampoa Military Academy and the other was the National Guangdong University. Later, after Mr. Sun Yat-sen's death, it was renamed "Sun Yat-sen University".

So if Sun Yat-sen University is Chen Pingyuan’s alma mater, then the Whampoa Military Academy is his aunt’s school. He has been here more than once.

"In fact, the Whampoa Military Academy was in Guangzhou for less than three years. After the April 12 Incident, it moved to Wuhan. Less than half a year later, it was transferred to Nanjing because of the merger of Nanjing and Wuhan. Finally, it was moved to Chengdu because of the Anti-Japanese War."

Chengdu is too far away, so Wei Ming decided not to make the trip. He planned to visit the three campuses in Guangzhou, Wuhan and Nanjing.

The Whampoa Military Academy had a class every six months. Wei Ming remembered that his great-grandfather was a member of the sixth class of the Whampoa Military Academy and enrolled in 27. That means he was first in Guangzhou and then went to Wuhan. He should not have been directly involved in the April 27th Incident in .

At that time, my grandfather Wei Senhao was still a little kid. He was a dozen years younger than my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather had passed away by then. It is not an exaggeration to say that the eldest brother is like a father, but he was always fighting in the war and could not be with him.

Because his grandfather had always stayed in his hometown in Hebei, he happened to be in Yanjing when the July 13 Incident occurred when he was years old. After witnessing the shameless Japanese army's trampling on the mountains and rivers, he resolutely joined our army.

Later, my grandfather followed my great aunt to Shanghai and engaged in underground work. From that time on, the confrontation and conflict between the brothers officially began.

But Wei Ming certainly couldn't write like this, as he got into the topic too slowly, and there was a big gap between the rank of his grandfather in our army and the rank of his great-grandfather in the National Army.

Therefore, when writing the novel, Wei Ming needed to erase some of the age difference between the two brothers, so that they could experience the turbulent and treacherous years of the 20s at the same time.

As Chen Pingyuan introduced the Whampoa Military Academy, Wei Ming took photos while thinking about how to write the opening of the novel...

(End of this chapter)