A widower's entertainment

Chapter 336 [Life and Love] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

As a snowfall fell, the year 1990 came to an end, and the New Year's Day of 1991 arrived.

The courtyard in Xinghua Hutong was bustling with activity during the New Year's Day holiday, but the west wing was devoid of festive joy. Lin Zhaoqing was still studying English with Xie Shuhua, essentially making up for lost time in this fundamental subject. Of course, this was also because Lin Zhaoqing's academic performance wasn't particularly outstanding to begin with, not to mention his previous experience in Decheng, where his English was naturally even worse.

"Teacher Xie, this English is too difficult!"

Because Lin Zhaoqing will be taking the high school entrance exam next semester, Xie Shuhua is tutoring him in English again. However, it is obvious that Lin Zhaoqing's grades are not as good as his older sister Lin Zhaoxi's, and English is not an easy subject for him.

Xie Shuhua said with a smile, "Your dad is very good at learning English, so you can too."

Because Lin Youcheng had previously dealt with film and television companies in the United States, especially with Times Publishing Company, he could naturally learn some English. Of course, Lin Youcheng was just pretending to learn English.

Hearing Xie Shuhua's words, Lin Zhaoqing couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed. Lin Youcheng was indeed also learning English on his own, although he wasn't studying all the time, but his learning progress was much better than his. He said, "Dad, he's so amazing."

Xie Shuhua was actually quite surprised that Lin Youcheng had started learning English so well.

Clearly, neither Xie Shuhua nor Lin Zhaoqing knew that Lin Youcheng had deliberately lowered his English level by not studying it. Otherwise, if Lin Youcheng suddenly spoke a few words of English, perhaps before any scientist would emerge from the children of the courtyard, a talented translator with a knack for English would appear.

After all, this translator was a late bloomer, only starting to learn English in middle age.

"If he can do it, you definitely can too."

Clearly, Lin Youcheng never imagined that one day he would be used as a comparison to his child in learning English, or even as an example for his child's English learning. The fact that he can persist in learning even in middle age truly embodies the great leader's saying, "One is never too old to learn."

Lin Zhaoqing seemed to feel that he shouldn't be inferior to his father in learning English, so he continued to learn from Xie Shuhua.

The children in the other rooms were watching the cartoon "Doraemon" on TV.

It's quite cold outside now, so watching cartoons at home is much better. The key is that the cartoons the kids watch are the imported Japanese series, *Doraemon*. After the Japanese anime version of *Doraemon* was released in 1979, its popularity rapidly increased throughout Asia. Subsequently, Hong Kong television stations imported *Doraemon*, translating the different character names according to the language conventions of the time. The voice actor for *Doraemon* was Lam Po-chuen. In the Hong Kong TVB version, Doraemon's name was translated as "Ding-dang," while the Guangdong provincial television station, in 1989, translated it as "Ding-dang." The character names are quite interesting.

After being introduced to Guangdong Province, CCTV also dubbed the Doraemon anime, which is the version of the robot cat that is more familiar to those born in the 80s and 90s. The names of the main characters were also translated: Nobita → Nobita, Shizuka → Shizuka, Suneo → Nobita, Gian → Nobita. This continued until 1999, when the name "Doraemon" was standardized across all versions in honor of the author.

This is why some people remember that Gian was called Nobita.

Of course, only a few children were watching cartoons. As for Lin Zhaoxi, he didn't particularly like "Doraemon" and was helping Song Ma and Lin Youcheng make dumplings in the kitchen.

While wrapping dumplings, Song Ma glanced at Lin Zhaoxi, looking somewhat hesitant, as if she had something to say.

Lin Youcheng naturally noticed this and asked, "Song Ma, is there something you want to say?"

Of course, Lin Youcheng had no idea that what Song Ma wanted to say was actually related to him.

Song Ma hesitated for a moment, glanced at the room in the west wing, and couldn't help but say, "Teacher Xie is working very hard tutoring Zhaoqing in English."

Clearly, Song Ma wanted to know more about the relationship between Lin Youcheng and Xie Shuhua, but given her position, she couldn't say too much, especially with Lin Zhaoxi's child present. She could only subtly mention Xie Shuhua.

Lin Youcheng raised an eyebrow, understanding what Song Ma meant by her hesitant expression, and said with a smile, "Have Xi'er send the first batch of dumplings over to them later."

Lin Zhaoxi naturally wouldn't refuse, and nodded with a smile, saying, "Okay, I'll send it to Teacher Xie later."

Although Lin Zhaoxi was unwilling deep down that Xie Shuhua would become her stepmother, she was a sensible child and understood what her uncle had said: her father couldn't stay single forever and had to move on, especially since her mother had been gone for many years.

Although she hasn't accepted Xie Shuhua yet, she's always been sensible and naturally wouldn't do anything rebellious, especially since Xie Shuhua had tutored her in English before, and they had a good relationship.

In fact, Lin Zhaoxi also had that thought in his heart. If it really came down to finding a stepmother for them, perhaps Teacher Xie Shuhua would be a good choice.

Song Ma glanced at Lin Zhaoxi. She knew Lin Zhaoxi was very sensible, but the more sensible she was, the more her heart ached for her. These children didn't have a mother to take care of them, and the girls might start menstruating when they grew up. Lin Youcheng, as their father, didn't know this and didn't say much. It was she who cooked that bowl of brown sugar water for them back then.

Song Ma genuinely thought that Teacher Xie Shuhua was a good person, cultured, and both she and Lin Youcheng were intellectuals and cultured people. As for Lin Youcheng's status as a widower, Teacher Xie Shuhua didn't care. Song Ma felt that Lin Youcheng should take more initiative and settle things sooner rather than later, instead of dragging it out.

Of course, Song Ma knew she couldn't make the decision on this matter. Although she was of an older generation than Lin Youcheng, she was still just a housekeeper. There were some things she couldn't say, so she asked instead, "Youcheng, you said before that your eldest brother's family would come to the capital later. What do you mean?"

These words piqued Lin Zhaoxi's curiosity, and he wanted to know if his uncle's family would come to the capital later.

Lin Youcheng shook his head and said, "I don't know yet. Maybe when the factory over there really can't hold on any longer, my brother might come to Beijing. Of course, it's not certain."

“I told him that I think my eldest brother will consider coming to the capital for the sake of the two brothers, Zhaoping and Zhaoan.”

Song Ma nodded and said, "If your eldest brother's family comes, it will be even more lively."

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, I also wanted to invite Xi'er's aunt and her family to Beijing, but they are doing very well in Jiangsu Province, so they definitely won't come. I can't say for sure."

In fact, Lin Youcheng had always kept in touch with his second sister, Lin Youfeng, in Jiangsu Province. In the past, it was not so convenient to exchange letters, but now they contacted each other more often by phone. His second sister was always very busy working at the newspaper and did not have time to come to Beijing. Otherwise, she would not have rarely gone back to visit relatives when she was in Dezhou.

Of course, my second sister's family is doing very well, and Lin Youcheng has invited them to visit Beijing so he can host them. It just hasn't happened yet. State-owned factories and newspapers are different. Print media like newspapers won't start closing down until much later, with the advent of the 21st-century information age. At that time, the closure of print media won't be a novelty, and no one will lament or regret it as many print media outlets close down, because it will truly be a case of "mass print media closing down, but nobody cares." But regardless, print media is currently at its peak, and news reporting is still highly regarded and popular. Journalism is also a sought-after profession; it's far from the point where in-depth investigative reporting will be extremely difficult and rare.

This is why Lin Youcheng didn't invite his second sister's family to Beijing; it was simply unnecessary.

The situation was different for the eldest brother, Lin Youcai. Besides the fact that his brother had always taken good care of his family, it was also because his brother's state-owned steel plant was about to go out of business and was facing its harshest winter.

During this harsh winter, everyone had no choice but to be laid off. The key point is that this freezing winter was only just beginning for state-owned factories.

As snowflakes fell outside, the house was warm and cozy, and freshly made dumplings began to tumble in the steaming hot water. Lin Zhaoxi specially delivered this first batch of hot dumplings to Lin Zhaoqing and Xie Shuhua.

As for the little guys, because there were dumplings to eat, they all reluctantly said goodbye to Doraemon and came to eat dumplings. The dumplings were quite delicious, each one with a large and juicy filling, and they all ate them very happily.

However, Lin Zhaoman still showed brotherly affection and a warm conscience when faced with delicious food. He remembered his second brother, Lin Zhaoqing, who was still taking English tutoring, and couldn't help but ask, "Dad, aren't Second Brother and Teacher Xie coming to eat dumplings?"

Lin Youcheng said with a smile, "Your eldest sister sent it to them."

Upon hearing this, Lin Zhaole put down the bowl full of dumplings in his hand and said with a smile, "Then I won't deliver them."

Clearly, Lin Zhaole still remembered sending dumplings to Teacher Xie Shuhua. He had long held a place for Teacher Xie Shuhua in his heart, even if that place could be held by another name.

Lin Youcheng couldn't help but smile as he watched the child enjoying his dumplings.

After the New Year's Day holiday, it's time for those who need to go to work to go to work and those who need to go to school to go to school.

Because the two-day weekend system wouldn't be implemented until 1995, and of course, it would only be a two-day weekend in name only. As for whether it would actually be a single or double weekend, only the capitalists knew. The New Year's Day holiday was still very short.

The students in the creative writing graduate program at the Lu Xun Academy of Literature are about to graduate and will no longer need to attend classes.

Yu Hua hadn't expected that Mo Yan and the others had already finished their graduation theses; he was the only one in the class who hadn't even started yet.

You really need to work on this paper quickly!

At this point, Cheng Hong could only urge Yu Hua to finish her graduation thesis, and then asked, "Will you go back to Jiaxing after graduation?"

Yu Hua understood what Cheng Hong meant and nodded. He really wanted to stay in Beijing, but he was definitely going back to Jiaxing. After all, he hadn't resolved things there yet, and if those things weren't resolved, he naturally wouldn't be able to be with Cheng Hong.

Seeing Yu Hua nod, Cheng Hong didn't know how to feel. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Hurry up and write your graduation thesis."

After Cheng Hong and Yu Hua finished speaking, Cheng Hong walked up to Xie Shuhua and said, "He is going back to Jiaxing."

Xie Shuhua knew who Cheng Hong was referring to when she was going back to Jiaxing. She glanced at Cheng Hong and, for some reason, felt that she was much more relaxed than Cheng Hong, since at least Lin Youcheng was single. She said, "I think you shouldn't worry too much about it."

Cheng Hong nodded, knowing she didn't need to worry too much, and then asked, "What about you? Are you planning to go back to Tianjin?"

People like Yu Hua and Xie Shuhua studied at other institutions, so they should naturally return to their original institutions after the creative postgraduate program ends.

Xie Shuhua shook her head and said, "I want to stay in the capital."

Clearly, Xie Shuhua had already made up her mind. She did not intend to return to work at the "Fiction Monthly" magazine in Tianjin. She planned to stay in Beijing, and the reason was quite clear: it was because Lin Youcheng wanted to stay in Beijing.

What did your parents say? Do they still disagree?

Hearing this, Xie Shuhua looked somewhat disappointed, shook her head, and said, "They still don't agree."

Although Xie Shuhua's father, Xie Zelin, knew very well that it would be difficult to persuade his daughter, he still did not want her to be with a widower with six children, even if the widower was very talented. As parents, they ultimately did not want their daughter to suffer and become a stepmother to six children.

This is understandable.

Clearly, Xie Shuhua understood this as well, and knew why her parents disagreed, but ultimately, some things were her own decision to make.

Of course, in many cases, the parents will eventually give in, because they can't win against their children.

Xie Shuhua didn't know if her parents would give in, but she didn't want to leave Beijing and return to Tianjin because she was very clear about her choice. Perhaps, like Yang Ju and Jiang Xia in "The Reader," even with a large age gap, love can still exist.

Not to mention, the age difference between her and Lin Youcheng isn't that significant.

It could even be said that Lin Youcheng's age, status, family, and children have nothing to do with love. Or perhaps it's like the script Lin Youcheng sold to the United States, unrelated to appearances; what he fell in love with was only the soul, only love itself.

Xie Shuhua thought of the story in Lin Youcheng's script, and couldn't help but recall that passage from the script: "What does a person feel in the instant of falling in love? How can such a brief moment contain such intense emotions?... The moment you fall in love seems to have been destined centuries ago, all for this precise and meaningful encounter. In your heart, in your bones, no matter how dull-witted you are, you will feel that everything is leading here, all the secret arrows are pointing here, and endless time and space have already arranged it..."

Xie Shuhua looked out the window; the snow was falling even harder. She couldn't help but smile and say, "However, it's good that I agree."

(End of this chapter)