A widower's entertainment

Chapter 327 [Striving for Glory and Commissioning Articles] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

Just like Lin Youcheng's life, nothing particularly changed. After the huge explosion and the resulting copyright fees, life went on as usual. But it was clear that Lin Youcheng's children were subtly sensing that life was getting better and better.

Just like now, they know that their father has prepared tickets for them to watch the opening ceremony of the Asian Games, which undoubtedly makes them quite excited and thrilled.

Because the opening ceremony of the Asian Games is on September 22nd, after the start of the new school term, the children are now looking forward to the start of school sooner.

"Dad, aren't Zhaoping and Zhaoan coming?"

Lin Zhaoqing looked at his father, Lin Youcheng, and then asked Lin Zhaoping and Lin Zhaoan if they wanted to come to Beijing for summer vacation.

Lin Youcheng shook his head and said, "They're not coming this summer vacation."

Lin Youcheng naturally wouldn't mind his two nephews coming to visit during the summer vacation, but his elder brother Lin Youcai felt there was no need to go to Beijing every summer. When Lin Youcheng suggested watching the Asian Games opening ceremony, Lin Youcai refused, saying it was too far away. After all, the two children had already started school, so it wouldn't be appropriate for them to make such a long trip.

Lin Zhaoqing was somewhat disappointed upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, and then said, "So they're not going to watch the Asian Games either?"

"Your uncle said it's fine to watch it on TV."

Lin Youcheng naturally wouldn't care about the ticket fee, but his older brother Lin Youcai felt it was unnecessary to go through all that trouble. They could watch the Asian Games opening ceremony on TV in Decheng, so they didn't want to make a trip to Beijing for the children's school year.

"It's a pity."

Lin Zhaoqing was still a little disappointed, after all, it was the opening ceremony of the Asian Games.

Indeed, as Lin Zhaoqing felt, it was a pity. The opening ceremony of the Asian Games was a moment that would be recorded in the history of Asian sports, especially since the opening ceremony was held at the Workers' Stadium in Beijing. The scene was sure to be very exciting.

As the start date of the Asian Games in Beijing approaches, the atmosphere surrounding the Games is becoming increasingly intense throughout the city.

Students had been eagerly anticipating September 22nd, as it was still a single-day weekend, and Beijing hadn't implemented a city-wide holiday for the Asian Games. Since it fell on a Saturday, schools in Beijing didn't have a unified holiday. However, some districts and schools, aware of the Asian Games, adjusted their schedules accordingly, giving students a day off on the opening ceremony so they could go home and watch it.

Lin Youcheng also took several children to the Workers' Stadium. It has to be said that it was hard for him to take all six children to the opening ceremony by himself. Fortunately, his older sister and brother, Lin Zhaoxi and Lin Zhaoqing, helped to look after them, which made things much easier.

As this was the first time the event was being held as the opening ceremony of a large-scale international multi-sport event, security and order were naturally managed by dedicated personnel, and nothing untoward happened.

It must be said that the atmosphere at the scene was absolutely fantastic. The children were all incredibly excited, watching the performance in the center of the stadium with great enthusiasm. Of course, their tickets were first-tier, so their seats were in the best row.

As the opening ceremony began, the sports delegations from various countries entered the stadium, cheering and shouting wildly. Following that was the opening ceremony performance, which was truly spectacular.

"Dad, look!"

"Wow!"

"Sister, look there! It's amazing!"

The children were incredibly excited as they watched the large-scale group gymnastics performance in the center of the stadium.

Seeing the children's surprised and excited smiles, Lin Youcheng was in a good mood. He had to admit that the Asian Games opening ceremony performance would be absolutely spectacular even in the future. Although it lacked high-tech stage design and lighting effects, every performance was incredibly impressive, and even Lin Youcheng had to admire it.

In fact, the entire Asian Games opening ceremony program can be described as having undergone countless refinements. The "Sports Heroes" segment, for example, was extremely difficult, consisting of eight sets of movements that only national-level gymnastics athletes of level three or above could perform. Crucially, to successfully execute "Sports Heroes" at the opening ceremony, 1000 soldiers were selected from tens of thousands of others. From the moment they received the assignment, these soldiers trained for more than ten hours a day, each undergoing high-intensity training despite injuries. They truly had to hone their skills to create those spectacular moments.

But that's not all. In addition to the highly difficult gymnastics moves, there was also a skydiving performance that was rarely seen in later sports meets.

That's right, it was a skydiving performance. There were colorful ribbons falling, celebratory skydiving, aerial human pyramids, and celestial maidens scattering flowers. One by one, skydivers carrying flags landed on the Workers' Stadium at the opening ceremony. The scene was truly breathtaking.

The entire opening ceremony was a resounding success, with the crowds cheering wildly.

Lin Youcheng also felt that the ticket price was worthwhile, especially since the children were extremely excited, talking about the impactful performances they had witnessed. There was no doubt that watching the opening ceremony of the Asian Games live would be unforgettable for them. Now they were all full of energy, and even back in their courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong, they watched the Asian Games replay on TV again.

Clearly, the Asian Games only truly began in Beijing after the opening ceremony.

The atmosphere throughout the Asian Games was incredibly vibrant, with news reports frequently featuring athletes winning gold medals. It was truly a series of good news, and each athlete, as Lin Zhaoqing and Lin Zhaole had said, was genuinely bringing glory to the country.

Lin Youcheng didn't take any of the children to watch the Asian Games afterwards, since the timing of each competition was uncertain, and the children also had to go to school. They could just watch TV after finishing their homework at home.

Just as the Asian Games atmosphere was in full swing in Beijing, Xinghua Hutong received a visitor from afar.

Tang Jun, the editor-in-chief of UFO Exploration magazine, came to Xinghua Hutong, accompanied by Yang Xiao, the editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World.

Tang Jun said with a smile, "Director Lin, congratulations! Your novel 'The Time Traveler's Wife' won the Hugo Award. This is a great encouragement to our science fiction literature community!"

The Beijing Writers Association elected several new members to the six creative committees through democratic consultation and voting. The new committee chairperson and vice chairpersons were elected. Lin Youcheng was the chairperson of the new novel writing committee, which was a popular choice without any doubt. Of course, the vice chairpersons under the chairperson would naturally have to take on more responsibilities. After all, the entire Writers Association knew that Lin Youcheng had no intention of pursuing a career in politics and had not been particularly responsible for many organizational matters. But even so, Lin Youcheng's position was still there.

Of course, Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to being addressed as Director Lin.

Clearly, Tang Jun was aware of this as well, since his first visit to Xinghua Hutong was with Lin Jinglan from the Beijing Writers Association. "Don't call me Director Lin anymore, just call me Youcheng."

Lin Youcheng waved his hand and asked, "Editor-in-Chief Tang, is there something you need with Editor-in-Chief Yang this time?"

Yang Xiao looked at Lin Youcheng and couldn't help but say, "Director Lin—"

Seeing Lin Youcheng raise his hand, indicating that he should not use that title, he changed his address and said, "Comrade Youcheng, I came here today to ask when you plan to go to the Netherlands to receive the award? The World Science Fiction Association's annual meeting is about to be held."

Lin Youcheng instantly understood Yang Xiao's meaning, shook his head and said, "I didn't plan to go to receive the award. The Times Publishing Company also said that I don't need to go in person; they can accept it on my behalf."

"what?"

Tang Jun and Yang Xiao were clearly surprised that Lin Youcheng would not go to accept the award, and they were both stunned.

Yang Xiao was even more disappointed. He glanced at Tang Jun and said, "I didn't expect you to skip Youcheng?"

Lin Youcheng's achievement of becoming the first person in China to win the Hugo Award has greatly encouraged and excited the entire Chinese science fiction community.

For Yang Xiao, it was even more exciting, because they were planning to apply to host next year's World Science Fiction Association Annual Conference, which they wanted to hold in Sichuan Province, China. Now that Lin Youcheng's "The Time Traveler's Wife" had won the Hugo Award, it was undoubtedly a source of pride for Chinese science fiction literature. He also hoped that by taking advantage of Lin Youcheng's Hugo Award, the chances of Chinese science fiction literature applying to host next year's conference would increase.

Yang Xiao was genuinely surprised that Lin Youcheng didn't even plan to accept the Hugo Award.

Tang Jun glanced at Yang Xiao, then looked at Lin Youcheng and said, "Actually, Editor-in-Chief Yang came here this time to see you. He was thinking of asking you to help him apply for the World Science Fiction Association's annual meeting next year when he goes to receive the award, and to try to get the venue in Jincheng, Sichuan Province next year."

Lin Youcheng actually knew about this, and he greatly admired Yang Xiao and his group. After all, taking a train from China to the Netherlands to secure the hosting of that annual meeting was absolutely impressive.

However, Lin Youcheng himself had never planned to accept the award in the first place, and he also knew that even without him accepting the award, Yang Xiao would have been able to get it approved. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Editor-in-Chief Yang, if you're going, why don't you accept the award in my place?"

"what?"

Yang Xiao was quite surprised that Lin Youcheng would ask him to accept the award on his behalf.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "I still have a few children at home that I can't leave behind, and I haven't been thinking about going there myself. Since you're going, Editor-in-Chief Yang, how about I trouble you to bring this Hugo Award back for me?"

Undoubtedly, if the Chinese delegation were to bid for the host city of next year's World Science Fiction Association Annual Meeting and also accept the Hugo Award on behalf of Chinese science fiction authors, it would be an incredibly prestigious achievement. Of course, the fact that Chinese science fiction works could win the Hugo Award is already a huge plus, as Lin Youcheng has made international science fiction writers aware that the East also produces science fiction works, and quite exceptional ones at that; otherwise, how could they have won the Hugo Award?

Tang Jun and Yang Xiao naturally knew about Lin Youcheng's family situation. It was already very difficult for one person to raise six children, and they could understand what Lin Youcheng meant. Although they still felt extremely regretful that Lin Youcheng did not go to accept the Hugo Award, they did not try to persuade him further.

As for accepting the Hugo Award on behalf of Lin Youcheng, there is naturally no objection.

Tang Jun looked at Yang Xiao and said, "I think it's great. Old Yang, you accepted the award on behalf of Youcheng, so it's like one of our own people got the award."

Yang Xiao naturally didn't think this was troublesome at all; in fact, he considered it an honor. After thinking for a moment, he said, "What trouble? If you trust Cheng, I'll help you bring that Hugo Award back."

"Thank you then."

Yang Xiao shook his head and said, "We should thank you. We all know that your novel 'The Time Traveler's Wife' won the Hugo Award, which really gave a shot in the arm for our domestic science fiction literature!"

"Of course, even without winning an award, your two novels, which are related to science fiction, have had a significant impact on domestic science fiction literature. They can be said to have opened a new door."

Tang Jun nodded repeatedly and said, "That's right, what you said at Yenching Normal University was quite inspiring for many science fiction writers, including myself! Now that your novel has won the Hugo Award, it is a source of pride for our entire science fiction community and has greatly enhanced the international reputation of our domestic science fiction literature!"

In the hearts of science fiction writers across China, Lin Youcheng winning the Hugo Award is a source of pride for the entire Chinese science fiction community, truly bringing glory and fame to the genre.

Lin Youcheng listened to Tang Jun and Yang Xiao's words, waved his hand to indicate that there was no need to say such things, and then said, "I didn't do anything. It's because of you that domestic science fiction literature truly has hope and will get better and better."

Yang Xiao looked at Lin Youcheng and said with a smile, "Yes, things will definitely get better and better."

In fact, Yang Xiao and Tang Jun were also very clear that, just as Lin Youcheng's current status as the director of the novel group of the Beijing Writers Association meant that he was definitely a writer in the mainstream literary circle, and his status was extraordinary. His previous literary works were also quite brilliant, and he had even won the Mao Dun Literature Prize. Although Lin Youcheng's two novels, "The Time Traveler's Wife" and "The Untouchable Lover," only had science fiction concepts and were considered soft science fiction, such novel creations already showed that Lin Youcheng, as a writer, did not look down on science fiction literature.

For this alone, Lin Youcheng had already made Yang Xiao and Tang Jun extremely grateful.

Tang Jun and Yang Xiao will naturally also exchange ideas with Lin Youcheng about the creation of domestic science fiction literature. After all, although Lin Youcheng, a literary master with great creativity and imagination, is not in the science fiction literature circle, he has always had an influence in the science fiction literature circle. Not to mention that Lin Youcheng has now won the Hugo Award, which makes him the most awesome figure in the science fiction literature world, without exception.

As Yang Xiao chatted with Lin Youcheng, she couldn't help but ask him to contribute a piece, saying, "Youcheng, you've won the Hugo Award, when are you going to publish a novel in our magazine?"

Well, no matter which editor it is, my feelings for him remain unchanged.

Everyone was trying to commission articles from him and urge him to finish them.

(End of this chapter)