A widower's entertainment

Chapter 329 [Terrifying Things] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

Although Tang Jun and Yang Xiao both really hoped that Lin Youcheng could write down and publish his special idea for "Metamorphosis," Lin Youcheng didn't particularly want to write it as a novel. Even if he did, he wasn't in a hurry. In fact, he even thought it would be better to write it as a movie script. Even if domestic film studios didn't make it, he could still communicate with Universal Pictures. Even if the copyright fee for the script wasn't as high as that for "The Time Traveler's Wife," it certainly wouldn't be much lower.

Especially compared to domestic script fees, exporting is undoubtedly a very good thing.

In Lin Youcheng's view, whether it's a story like "Everyday" or "The Beauty Inside," American film and television companies would be very interested, since such love stories are quite novel and unique, and the production costs wouldn't be too high.

Of course, Lin Youcheng felt that this could wait until after the filming and release of "The Time Traveler's Wife". If the film was successful, it would also have a good promotional effect on his other works, such as "The Untouchable Lover". The Times Publishing Company is already planning to publish his romance novel.

Whether it's "The Time Traveler's Wife" winning the Hugo Award or the novel being adapted into a film, these are all extremely important promotional events for Lin Youcheng, the Chinese author, in the world. Time Publishing Company is naturally well aware of this and will naturally want to continue to cooperate with Lin Youcheng to translate and publish other works.

If the movie "The Time Traveler's Wife" is successful, I'm afraid Lin Youcheng's other novel, "The Lake House," will also be eager to be adapted and filmed.

Therefore, Lin Youcheng was not in a hurry.

Tang Jun and Yang Xiao came to Xinghua Hutong to communicate with Lin Youcheng about science fiction writing and to discuss applying to host next year's World Science Fiction Convention. Since Lin Youcheng is not going, Yang Xiao will naturally accept the Hugo Award on his behalf.

Because Yang Xiao was going to the Netherlands later, Lin Youcheng knew that this group wanted to save money. They had prepared expenses for eight days and eight nights and had offered to provide some financial assistance, but Yang Xiao refused. Of course, they had enough money for the trip, but it was clear that these comrades just wanted to save money.

Lin Youcheng could only admire him; he couldn't imagine taking an eight-day, eight-night train journey to the Netherlands.

When Zhang Wei learned that Lin Youcheng didn't plan to go abroad to receive the award, he was a little surprised and said, "Youcheng, why don't you go abroad to receive the award? This is a very rare opportunity."

"What's so difficult about it? It's just going abroad."

Lin Youcheng waved his hand. If he wanted to go abroad, he would have had the opportunity long ago. Previously, "The Devotion of Suspect X" was a huge hit in Japan, and Japan repeatedly invited him to go. However, it was obvious that Lin Youcheng had no intention of going abroad and directly refused.

Although he had to take care of several children at that time, Lin Youcheng didn't yearn for foreign countries and didn't think that the grass was greener on the other side.

Hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Zhang Wei couldn't help but laugh. He knew that Lin Youcheng had never had any longing for foreign countries. So many people who wanted to go abroad couldn't find the opportunity, but Lin Youcheng actually had many opportunities, but he didn't care at all.

"I'd like to go abroad and see the world, but I don't have the opportunity."

Lin Youcheng glanced at Zhang Wei and said, "There will be plenty of opportunities in the future. Those people will be rushing back."

Zhang Wei didn't understand what Lin Youcheng meant. Although he didn't know if those comrades who had run away would come back, he could clearly feel that life was getting better and better.

Just like the Asian Games currently being held in Beijing, the achievements of domestic athletes are quite dazzling. They rank first in both gold medals and total medals, and even account for 3/5 of all gold medals. This not only means that the overall level of domestic athletes has a significant advantage in Asia, but also that they are undoubtedly a strong boost in the competition between Asian and European and American sports powerhouses.

It's worth noting that just two years ago at the Seoul Olympics, they only won 5 gold medals, which was a significant blow to the confidence of domestic sports.

"By the way, Youcheng, the houses in the Asian Games Village that you mentioned before are really going to go on sale."

Zhang Wei couldn't help but ask, "After the Asian Games, a lot of residential properties over there will be sold off, and I heard the prices aren't low."

The Asian Games Village refers to the athletes' village built for the Asian Games, where athletes, coaches, and team officials lived together during the Games; it later became known as Huiyuan Apartments. More broadly, the Asian Games Village refers to the current Asian Games Village Subdistrict in Chaoyang District, encompassing 10 communities and 12 residential areas.

Because of the Asian Games, more houses are being sold to foreigners. Of course, many people from Beijing also want to live there, valuing the status symbol of the Asian Games Village. The saying "Have a mobile phone, drive a car, live in the Asian Games Village" has now spread without anyone noticing.

Lin Youcheng planned to buy six houses there, treating them all equally, but he didn't particularly care whether they were Huiyuan Apartments or not.

Because he knew very well that the Asian Games Village, which was also located in Chaoyang District, would not be too bad.

"The current price is not low, and it will definitely be higher in the future."

Lin Youcheng is not short of money. Not to mention the royalties from his novels, the one million US dollars film and television rights fee for "The Time Traveler's Wife" is enough for him to choose any house he wants there. However, Lin Youcheng is also very clear that the so-called high-end residences are not that great, and the buildings built in other places later will not be any worse.

Lin Youcheng looked at Zhang Wei and said, "I'm planning to buy a house for Zhaoxi and his wife. Whether they live in a courtyard house or an apartment after they get married, it's up to them."

Lin Youcheng did indeed go to the Asian Games Village after the Asian Games to buy houses for his children in the same Guanyuan community. Although he didn't know if the siblings would be willing to live in the same community in the future, he, as their father, could decide that. At worst, they could just move to a different house later.

Lin Youcheng was well aware that buying a house was now a business investment, and that this investment had a better business prospect than Ma Weidu opening a nightclub.

Knowing Lin Youcheng's abilities, Zhang Wei couldn't help but exclaim, "You're really something!"

Zhang Wei knew that Lin Youcheng had previously bought courtyard houses, planning to make six courtyard houses, one for each of the six children. It seemed that he would definitely buy six more in the Asian Games Village, one for each of the six children. Zhang Wei couldn't help but marvel at how only Lin Youcheng could come up with such a large sum of money. The copyright fee given by the American film company was enough.

Of course, Zhang Wei did not think that Lin Youcheng was thinking about future price increases and that it was a business investment. He just thought that Lin Youcheng's family did have six children and would indeed need these houses in the future. He just felt that if they could buy houses in the Asian Games Village, they should not buy those dilapidated courtyard houses. How could their children live in such dilapidated courtyard houses in the future?

"But Youcheng, don't just stop writing altogether later on." As an editor, Zhang Wei naturally asked Lin Youcheng about his thoughts on future works, fearing that Lin Youcheng might be corrupted by the copyright fees of the capitalist world, which would really make him very anxious.

Hearing Zhang Wei's words, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but laugh and said, "Of course I'll write if I have an idea. Even Yang Xiao, the editor-in-chief of Science Fiction World, has been asking me to write articles and keeps urging me to write down the stories I told him."

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Zhang Wei's eyes lit up instantly, and he asked, "What story?"

Lin Youcheng then briefly told Zhang Wei the story of "Every Day".

Zhang Wei stared at Lin Youcheng in astonishment, completely admiring Lin Youcheng's genius-like imagination. After carefully considering the story Lin Youcheng had told, a soul without a body awakens in different people every day, the whole story is just like the metamorphosis in Kafka's "The Metamorphosis". He said, "This story is wonderful, you should write it down."

The more Zhang Wei thought about it, the more fascinating the story seemed. A person's soul could manifest in different bodies, capable of doing whatever it pleased—whether it brought joy, happiness, rebellion, madness, upheaval, or depravity—according to its own will. But he didn't. He knew that every choice he made on a whim would drastically change the life of the body's original owner. He had no right to alter someone else's life.

Even the most ingrained beliefs can be broken. When love arrives, he's willing not only to sacrifice his own soul, but even to destroy and disrupt others' lives. This can be described as love between two souls. He saw her deep within his heart, and she, too, fell in love with him, in an unknown body but with the same soul. They were drawn closer by their shared love of the same song. No matter whose body he awakens in, or how far away he is, he will do everything in his power to see her.

Compared to "The Beauty Inside," the protagonist of "Everyday" undoubtedly faces a more difficult situation because it involves a choice of human nature: whether or not to change the life of the person whose body it originally belonged to.

This is also why Zhang Wei admires Lin Youcheng's amazing imagination. With the same setting, a slight modification can create a completely different story. Whether it's "Inner Beauty" or "Every Day," they are both about falling in love with someone's soul, where the body is not important. Of course, as a literary editor, in his opinion, there is no doubt that the story of "Every Day" is more profound. It contains discussions about human nature, and even the idea that loving someone should not lead them on an unknown journey. Love does not necessarily mean possession; love is about making another person's life better.

Seeing Zhang Wei's excitement, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but smile and said, "I plan to write this story into a movie script."

"A movie script?"

Zhang Wei was stunned for a moment.

Lin Youcheng said, "While a novel would also work, I think this story would be more interesting to make into a movie, or even two different movies."

Although Zhang Wei is an editor at the magazine, he thinks such a story would make a great movie, saying, "It would be good to make a movie."

"There's no rush for this script. Once 'The Time Traveler's Wife' comes out, we can ask Universal Pictures if they're interested in it."

Zhang Wei's eyes widened instantly, and he asked, "Youcheng, are you planning to sell this script to Universal Pictures?"

Clearly, Zhang Wei also witnessed firsthand that Lin Youcheng's film adaptation rights for "The Time Traveler's Wife" were finally negotiated for one million US dollars with a foreign friend. Now Lin Youcheng plans to write the story into a screenplay and sell it to the United States. Does this mean he's going to earn another million dollars in royalties?
Lin Youcheng naturally saw through Zhang Wei's thoughts and said, "That's not necessarily true. Maybe Global Company wouldn't be interested."

That being said, Lin Youcheng was quite relaxed. In his view, Hollywood in the United States wasn't just home to Universal Pictures.

Zhang Wei opened his mouth, wanting to say something, his heart filled with shock. For some reason, he just felt that the United States would not reject the script. In fact, he felt that it was very likely that Lin Youcheng would not only negotiate this copyright fee with the American film and television company, but there might be more later.

Thinking about the potential royalties Lin Youcheng might receive in the future, Zhang Wei suddenly realized that no matter how high the house prices were in the Asian Games Village, it wouldn't be a problem for Lin Youcheng, and it wouldn't matter how many houses Lin Youcheng bought.

Lin Youcheng had no idea what Zhang Wei was thinking. Even if he did, he would only nod in agreement. Besides, even without the film copyright fee, those houses were not a problem for him anyway.

"Youcheng, if your later novel scripts are sold to American film and television companies like your 'The Time Traveler's Wife,' that would be really scary."

Lin Youcheng waved his hand and said with a smile, "It's not that bad."

It's nothing more than exported literature, the primitive accumulation of capital.

"Why not!"

Zhang Wei knew very well that the one million US dollar film and television rights fee that Lin Youcheng's "The Time Traveler's Wife" finally negotiated with Universal Pictures had really blown up the entire literary world. If Lin Youcheng were to pull something like that again, it would be a really scary and terrifying thing.

After all, it's quite astonishing that such a thing has happened once in a lifetime. If it continues like this, who knows what will happen?

Zhang Wei found the thought terrifying.

The key point is that Zhang Wei also clearly felt that such a thing might actually be true, because just like the story Lin Youcheng had just told him, it was very exciting. If such a script were to be taken by a film and television company in the United States, even if it didn't come with a million dollars in copyright fees, it certainly wouldn't be much less.

"Youcheng, I think your movie 'Il Mare' might be bought by an American company too."

Lin Youcheng smiled and said, "I don't know about that, but since that novel didn't win the Hugo Award, the price probably won't be that high. Of course, if it really gets bought, that would be a good thing."

"Yes, it's a good thing!"

Zhang Wei opened his mouth, wondering how the literary world would react if this good thing really happened again.

(End of this chapter)