A widower's entertainment

Chapter 328 [Script Story] (Please Subscribe)
Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to Yang Xiao's request for articles, because many editors had asked him for articles. However, Lin Youcheng was also very clear that editors like Yang Xiao were genuinely sincere in asking him for articles.

Yang Xiao looked at Lin Youcheng with anticipation in her eyes.

Although Yang Xiao knew that literary giants like Lin Youcheng usually published their works in top-tier literary journals like People's Literature, or in literary magazines like the four famous opera singers in China, and rarely published in other literary magazines, this was because Lin Youcheng's novels were always excellent, so it was impossible for him not to publish in top-tier journals, but instead in local-level journals.

However, Yang Xiao was still very much looking forward to Lin Youcheng, the Hugo Award-winning author, publishing articles in domestic science fiction magazines. If they could get a manuscript from Lin Youcheng, that would be a really impressive thing. So he said with anticipation, "Youcheng, our Science Fiction World magazine is very much looking forward to publishing your work."

Hearing Yang Xiao's words, Tang Jun couldn't help but think to himself that he hadn't expected Yang Xiao to pull this stunt. His magazine, "UFO Exploration," also wanted to commission an article from Lin Youcheng, but he knew the chances were slim and there was no need to bring it up and make things difficult for Lin Youcheng.

Lin Youcheng smiled and replied directly, "If I have a suitable work, I will submit it to Editor-in-Chief Yang. Just don't reject it."

Regardless of whether Lin Youcheng's words were just polite or sincere, Yang Xiao was naturally delighted and repeatedly said, "How could I possibly reject your work? That's absolutely impossible."

Tang Jun looked at Lin Youcheng's words and thought they were quite good answers. As for what constituted a "suitable" work, he didn't know and didn't continue the topic. Instead, he said, "Speaking of which, Youcheng, you've written two novels before. One is 'The Time Traveler's Wife,' which won the Hugo Award, and the other is 'The Lake House.' Both are related to science fiction. Have you thought about writing any new science fiction stories since then?"

In fact, Tang Jun and Yang Xiao were well aware that Lin Youcheng's two novels did not contain many science fiction elements. They were just simple science fiction concepts without much complex science fiction data. They were more like romance novels full of fantasy and imagination. However, this did not prevent the two novels from being regarded as science fiction works by the domestic science fiction literature community and from being deeply loved by science fiction readers.

Lin Youcheng looked at Tang Jun, shook his head, and said, "Not yet. I'm writing other stories too."

Tang Jun and Yang Xiao naturally knew that Lin Youcheng, this literary master, had been publishing other literary works, all of which were quite amazing, such as last year's "Atonement" and this year's "The Reader," both of which were absolutely amazing. Even though they were the editors of a science fiction magazine, they still read other literary works, especially novels by Lin Youcheng, which they naturally wouldn't miss.

"Youcheng, I've read both 'Atonement' and 'The Reader' that you wrote, and more than once. They're so well written!"

Yang Xiao couldn't help but share his feelings about the two novels with Lin Youcheng, saying with admiration, "The novels are absolutely brilliant in their portrayal of both love and human nature."

Tang Jun nodded in agreement, saying, "Our editors are also deeply moved. Every time one of your novels is published, they pay close attention, read it immediately, and have very heated discussions about it."

In fact, whether it is literary workers or readers, they rarely read only one type of work. For Lin Youcheng's works, it can be said that they are essential reading for countless young literary enthusiasts and literary workers in China. There is no way around it, because Lin Youcheng's reputation as a great writer is there. Even "The Time Traveler's Wife," which may have had some doubts before, has now won the Hugo Award abroad, not to mention Lin Youcheng's other works, each of which is quite a classic.

Works like "Atonement" and "The Reader," which are considered to be on par with the Mao Dun Literature Prize, are naturally something no one would miss.

Lin Youcheng responded modestly to Tang Jun and Yang Xiao's comments. In fact, he had heard similar remarks many times before, and many readers had written to him with these words.

Yang Xiao looked at Lin Youcheng and suddenly asked, "Youcheng, your previous two science fiction novels both combined science fiction with romance. What do you think of these two themes?"

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "No matter what the theme is, the most important thing is the story itself. The Time Traveler's Wife is essentially a story about someone who is forced to leave their lover. This uncontrollable departure can be time travel in science fiction, but in reality, it may be due to some real-world reasons, such as the torrent of the times. Like Lin Qi in The Human World, that story is actually considered more of a fantasy story, but the boundary between fantasy and science fiction is not so clear here. It all comes down to the plot itself."

Yang Xiao nodded in agreement when he heard Lin Youcheng's words. He was especially excited when Lin Youcheng mentioned the novel "Strange Tales of the Human World" which won the Mao Dun Literature Prize. He said, "Yes, the line between science fiction and fantasy is not so clear. In fact, I think your novel could also win the Hugo Award."

Clearly, as the editor-in-chief of a science fiction magazine, Yang Xiao is very clear about the Hugo Awards. The Hugo Awards have never been set up solely for science fiction works; fantasy works are also an important part. It can be said that this has never changed. Both science fiction and fantasy works are eligible to win awards.

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "Haha, then the novel 'Strange Tales of the Human World' might need to be rewritten. Unexplained fantasy settings can be directly changed to science fiction settings. That might be that Lin Qi's mother was injected with a special gene-enhancing drug, which forced him to grow in reverse."

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Tang Jun and Yang Xiao couldn't help but laugh, and they were equally impressed by how Lin Youcheng could provide a science fiction explanation with such a simple premise.

Back then, because Lin Qi's life in "Strange Tales of the Human World" was so realistic, many readers doubted whether such a person really existed. After all, even qigong was rampant, and some people thought that such an inexplicable person might really exist.

To this day, the reason why Lin Qi in "Strange Tales of the Human World" experienced the miraculous event of reversing aging has never been answered. It seems that this is the origin of the novel's title. This is a strange tale of the human world, without an answer, nor needing an answer.

Yang Xiao laughed and said, "Youcheng, what you said is very interesting. In the creation of some science fiction works, you can directly give the protagonist a gene serum and then use your imagination to create the whole story."

"Yes, that's a very interesting concept."

Tang Jun was also excited. It seemed simple, but it offered countless possibilities for science fiction. Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "Don't say that. You can think of it yourselves. I've talked to Editor-in-Chief Tang about science fiction writing before. Some things don't need to be too constrained by the theme. For example, 'The Untouchable Lover' can be turned into a story about a father and son, which is about family affection. Actually, these are all about imagination. As for whether it needs to be explained, it's not important at all. Just like we all know that in Kafka's 'The Metamorphosis,' a person wakes up in the morning and turns into a beetle. If a person turns into something else every morning, is it fantasy or science fiction? The line isn't so clear."

"If a person wakes up as a different person every morning, that would be another 'Metamorphosis'."

As he said this, Lin Youcheng suddenly thought of a story, a story about love, but not just about love. No, it could even be said to be two stories.

Unlike Kafka's *The Metamorphosis*, the films *Every Day* and *The Beauty Inside* are both about a person waking up as a different person every morning.

The other film, *Everyday*, is also adapted from the novel *The Unfinished Goodbye*. It tells the story of a strange journey of constantly switching lives, much like Lynch in *The Human Exemplar*, who has a particularly bizarre life. Every morning, the protagonist's soul inhabits a different body. Every day, he has a different appearance, enjoying various lives he doesn't have time to say goodbye to. Time changes, and from the moment he is born, he possesses different people's bodies, each time for 24 hours. At the age of six, he realizes that his tomorrow is different from ordinary people's tomorrows. His tomorrow will wake up in another person's body, living someone else's life, while ordinary people's tomorrows are still themselves. All he can do is not disturb the life of the body's owner and secretly keep a photograph as a memento. He gets used to this life until he meets her. From then on, his aimless life begins to have a purpose; he realizes for the first time that he needs a sense of belonging. However, time never stops for him; every day he wakes up as someone she doesn't recognize. For her, he begins to want to defy the arrangements of fate…

Even the protagonist is hard to define as a person or something else; he simply gave himself the name "A".

Compared to "Every Day", the movie "The Beauty Inside" has a similar setting. The protagonist also wakes up every day to find himself transformed into a person whose age, nationality, and gender are completely different from the previous day. Sometimes he is young and handsome, and sometimes he is old and frail. He has to adapt to his new self every day. The characters are similar in their design.

However, like the protagonist of "The Beauty Inside," the protagonist in "Every Day" changes his appearance periodically. But unlike the protagonist in "Everyday," the protagonist in this film doesn't have a physical body; more accurately, it's just a soul. Every morning, the protagonist "A" wakes up and is housed in a different person, while retaining the original host's memories, living as that person for a day.

Of course, the two stories may seem to have the same setting, but they also have differences, which naturally leads to different story directions.

Yang Xiao was also listening to what Lin Youcheng was saying. Seeing that Lin Youcheng seemed to be thinking about something, she couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong? Youcheng, is something on your mind?"

"I thought of a story."

"A story?"

Lin Youcheng smiled and told Tang Jun and Yang Xiao the story he had in mind. This immediately shocked Tang Jun and Yang Xiao. Neither of them expected that Lin Youcheng would have such a special story idea while chatting with them.

"Youcheng, you should write this story down."

Yang Xiao said excitedly, "This story is wonderful."

Tang Jun was equally excited. He had long witnessed Lin Youcheng's imagination and still remembered the story Lin Youcheng told at Yenching Normal University: "Let's think about it again. What if the people communicating between these two people from different times and spaces had a different relationship? What kind of story would unfold? What if a firefighter father died in a fire rescue accident when his son was only six years old? The son had dreamed several times that he wanted to stop the tragedy. His father's death left a deep scar on his heart, and even after he grew up to become a policeman, he still couldn't forget it. Later, on a stormy night the day before his father's death anniversary, he communicated with his past firefighter father through a walkie-talkie or telephone, and the two began to talk. What kind of story would unfold then…?"

"We can imagine what would happen if the story connecting the past and present were told through the dialogue between two police officers. Would it involve solving some unsolved cases from the past?"

At that time, Lin Youcheng's casual storytelling already excited the audience, because he was using his imagination to communicate with them, opening up their imaginations with one imaginary story after another. Even the same idea would generate completely different stories.

Back then, Tang Jun was terrified when he heard this, and now he is naturally very excited as well.

"Youcheng, you really can give us this story."

"Seriously, the idea for this story is brilliant."

Lin Youcheng remained calm and did not get particularly excited. He had not actually planned to write a novel and publish it. The theme of the story was actually very simple: would you still love someone if they didn't have a fixed body?

In Lin Youcheng's view, this theme discusses love for a person's soul rather than the body, and such a story seems more suitable for a movie script. After all, these two stories are more popular in movies, very simple, but touching.

Lin Youcheng originally planned to establish a film and television company. In his opinion, this story could be written into a script and made into a movie. Although it might be a very ordinary idea in the future, judging from Tang Jun and Yang Xiao's expressions, it was easy to tell that the idea was quite brilliant, especially since it was only 1990.

I wonder if film and television companies in the United States would be interested.

(End of this chapter)