A widower's entertainment

Chapter 351 [My Daughter's Thoughts] (Please Subscribe)
Beijing, Yenching University Affiliated High School.

Unlike Duan Long, who was far away in the new city, although they were both in the second year of high school, Duan Long had read Lin Youcheng's novel "If Love Has a Destiny" and planned to apply to the acting department of Yenching Academy of Drama this year. However, Lin Zhaoxi, who was in the second year of high school at Yenching University Affiliated High School, did not care about the novel published by his father.

Because in Lin Zhaoxi's view, she will be a senior in high school next semester and will face the college entrance examination next year. Her only thought is to get into Yanjing Medical University next year.

"Zhaoxi, are you going home? Do you want to come with me?"

When school was over, Lin Zhaoxi heard the words behind him, turned around and glanced at the boy who said it. He raised an eyebrow slightly, pushed his bicycle forward, and said, "No need."

The male student wanted to say something, but Lin Zhaoxi clearly didn't give him a chance and rode his bicycle towards Xinghua Hutong.

Lin Zhaoxi was not unaware that the male classmate was kind to her. She had read her father's novels in private, but she didn't particularly like "Love Letter" or "Under the Hawthorn Tree." Even with the recently published "If Love Has a Destiny," she had heard about the story from her classmates, but she didn't like it.

It was touching, but that was all it was—touching.

Lin Zhaoxi has her own goals and ideas, which she has always been very clear about. She knows very well that she will be a senior in high school in the second half of the year, which is also the most crucial time. She will take the college entrance examination next summer, and she hopes that she can be admitted to medical school. She is determined to become a skilled obstetrician and gynecologist in the future.

Even though she knew in her heart that no doctor, no matter how skilled, could save her mother, her mindset never changed.

Lin Zhaoxi rode his bicycle back to the courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong. As soon as he entered the courtyard, he saw that Lin Zhaole and the others had also finished school. Lin Zhaole was playing with Lin Zhaoman in the courtyard, while Xie Shuhua was helping Lin Zhaohuan re-tie her loose braids.

"Big sister, you're back."

Lin Zhaoman ran forward with a smile, intending to help Lin Zhaoxi push his bicycle.

Lin Zhaoxi adored his younger brother, Lin Zhaoman, who was the quietest among his brothers but very sensible. He patted Lin Zhaoman on the shoulder and asked, "Where's your second brother?"

"He is reading and studying."

Upon hearing Lin Zhaoxi's words, Lin Zhaoman couldn't help but smile and say, "The high school entrance exam is coming up soon, he can really study hard now."

Lin Zhaoxi nodded, saw Xie Shuhua braiding her sister's hair, and called out "Mom." Xie Shuhua naturally responded with a smile. Then Lin Zhaoxi went back to her east wing. Inside the room, Lin Zhaomei had red eyes and seemed to be reading a book. When she went over, she saw that it was the magazine "People's Literature."

Lin Zhaomei was startled by Lin Zhaoxi's sudden appearance. Although reading her father's novels wasn't a bad thing, she was still somewhat embarrassed and didn't let her father know. After all, besides writing pure love novels like "If Love Has a Destiny," her father had also written "The Reader," which contained some bold love stories that transcended conventional views and were not suitable for students.

"Are you crying?"

When Lin Zhaomei saw that it was her older sister Lin Zhaoxi, she wiped away her tears and said somewhat shyly, "Dad, the novel he wrote is really touching."

Hearing Lin Zhaomei's words, Lin Zhaoxi, as the older sister, naturally still wanted to keep an eye on Lin Zhaomei and said, "The novels that Dad writes are more suitable for you to read when you are older. You can't read them secretly now."

As he spoke, Lin Zhaoxi took the magazine directly from Lin Zhaomei's hand.

"Sister, please let me finish reading it."

Lin Zhaomei saw that Lin Zhaoxi had taken the magazine away. The key point was that she hadn't finished reading the story "If Love Has a Destiny" yet, and naturally she hoped that she could finish reading it.

Lin Zhaoxi shook his head and said, "No, you should wait until you're older to look at works like this. Have you been studying your textbooks properly?"

Because the other children were not interested in the works written by their father, Lin Youcheng, and did not think about reading those stories in private, only Lin Zhaomei liked to read some literary works, but at that age, she naturally had to be selective.

Of course, Lin Zhaomei herself was selective in what she looked at.

Lin Zhaomei knew her eldest sister Lin Zhaoxi's temperament; she simply took the magazine and didn't say anything more, since the eldest sister held a very high position among her younger siblings.

"Sis, haven't you read Dad's novel?"

"Yes, I've seen them. Not just the novels, but also the movies and TV series."

Upon hearing Lin Zhaoxi's words, Lin Zhaomei hesitated, knowing that her father had written many works and that she herself had acted in stories written by her father, such as "The War Meridian" and "My Brothers and Sisters," but that was not what she wanted to ask.

"Sister, I find the romance novels that Dad writes to be very unrealistic."

Hearing Lin Zhaomei speaking, Lin Zhaoxi walked over to her, sat down, and said, "Whether it's true or not, you can think about this when you're older. You'll be in the second year of junior high next semester, and the third year next year. Have you thought about what you want to do in the future?"

"I want to be a film director in the future! I want to make the stories my dad wrote into movies, and I also want to win the Palme d'Or."

When Lin Zhaomei heard Lin Zhaoxi ask this question, the tears in her eyes disappeared instantly. As if she had thought of something particularly interesting, she said with a serious face, "Sister, do you know the Palme d'Or? It's a very prestigious film award. I want to win this award in the future. No female director in our country has won this award yet. The last one to win it was a director from Taiwan, and it was for 'The Devotion of Suspect X,' a film about my father."

Lin Zhaoxi watched Lin Zhaomei talk enthusiastically about wanting to be a film director in the future and couldn't help but laugh and say, "If you want to be a film director, you should study hard and apply to the directing department of a film academy in the future."

"Sis, I know. I'm just reading the stories Dad wrote after class. Please let me finish reading 'If Love Has a Destiny'."

As she spoke, Lin Zhaomei wrapped her arm around Lin Zhaoxi's and began to act coquettishly.

Lin Zhaoxi knew that his younger sister Lin Zhaomei's grades weren't bad, but she really liked stories like this. She would take pictures of them from time to time because she knew that there was nothing particularly inappropriate about the story "If Love Has a Destiny". In the end, she couldn't resist Lin Zhaomei's coaxing and returned the magazine to Lin Zhaoxi.

Actually, even if some literary works published in magazines like *People's Literature* have a slightly explicit content, they're not particularly serious. If they were, they'd be very difficult to publish. Lin Zhaomei took the magazine from Lin Zhaoxi and said, "Thank you, sister, you're the best."

Lin Zhaoxi just smiled when he heard Lin Zhaomei's words and said, "You, the future great director, don't forget to study hard."

"Sister, don't worry, I will study hard. Uncle Cheng from Yan Film Studio told me that whether you are a director or an actor, you should read more books and study hard."

"As long as you know."

Hearing Lin Zhaomei's words, Lin Zhaoxi nodded, walked to the door of the side room, looked at Lin Zhaohuan, Lin Zhaole, and Lin Zhaoman in the courtyard, and asked, "Zhaohuan, are you going to piano lessons this weekend?"

"Yes, Dad hired a teacher for her and plans to buy her a piano to put in the courtyard next door as her practice room."

Lin Zhaomei spoke without any jealousy or feeling that her father favored Lin Zhaohuan. Her father had asked them if they wanted to learn piano or painting, but none of them wanted to. Only Lin Zhaohuan liked to sing and started learning piano and singing.

Even if Lin Youcheng, the father, wanted to treat his children equally, his children might have their own ideas. Some might not like drinking water, some might prefer to drink Arctic Ocean soda, and some might not want to drink water at all and just want to eat ice cream.

Lin Zhaoxi nodded when she heard Lin Zhaomei's words. She also thought that Lin Zhaohuan sang very well. Maybe her sister would not only become a film director in the future, but also a musical singer.

I wonder if Lin Zhaomei will really become a film director, and if Lin Zhaohuan will really have musical talent.

Of course, this thought only flashed through Lin Zhaoxi's mind and she didn't think about it much. These were things she couldn't know. The only thing she knew and was sure of was that she wanted to be a doctor.

She was absolutely certain of this.

Lin Zhaoxi turned around and saw that Lin Zhaomei was already reading the magazine, so he didn't say anything. He took out his homework and started doing it. After a long time, Lin Zhaoxi heard Lin Zhaomei crying softly.

"Why are you crying again?"

Is the story really that sad?

Lin Zhaoxi handed the handkerchief to Lin Zhaomei, who took it, wiped her tears, and whispered, "It's very touching."

“These stories are all fake. Don’t be too sad. Your father made them up.”

"..."

Lin Zhaomei was taken aback by Lin Zhaoxi's words, and for a moment her grief was broken.

Well, of course she knew that these were all stories written by her father, none of them were true, they were all made up, but she still felt very sad.

This was actually Lin Zhaoxi's true thought. It wasn't that she hadn't read the love stories written by her father, Lin Youcheng. Perhaps because she was too rational, although she found some of the stories very touching, she wasn't so heartbroken when she thought that they were written by her own father.

This may also be another reason why Lin Zhaoxi chose science; she was naturally more rational when faced with such literary stories.

Lin Zhaoxi studied science at Yenching University Affiliated High School, which was a science-oriented program that had been in place since the resumption of the college entrance examination. Since Lin Zhaoxi wanted to study medicine in the future, he naturally chose science.

Of course, this doesn't mean that science and humanities are completely different.

It's important to know that the old system of separating arts and sciences is still in place. Arts students take six subjects: politics, Chinese, mathematics, history, geography, and foreign language. Science students take seven subjects, including biology, hence the "six arts and seven sciences" system. This system was gradually simplified after 1994 to Chinese, mathematics, English, plus physics and chemistry. In some areas, it was five subjects. Finally, in the mid-7s, the "3+2" model was promoted, which required three subjects plus two elective subjects.

An exceptional case was the implementation of a special arts and sciences division for the 1991 college entrance examination. Hunan, Hainan, and Yunnan provinces conducted college entrance examination reform experiments, refining the arts and sciences division into four subject combinations, with each category having four subjects: humanities, foreign languages ​​and science, foreign languages ​​and medicine/agriculture, and foreign languages ​​and geology/mining. This reform aimed to take into account students' interests and strengths by refining the subject combinations, but it ended after only one year due to problems such as the complex admission mechanism.

Of course, this Lin Zhaoxi is unrelated; she will be taking the college entrance examination next year.

As Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaoxi were talking, Lin Zhaohuan, with her new braid, ran into the east wing and said with a smile, "Eldest sister, third sister, it's time to eat."

Lin Zhaohuan noticed that Lin Zhaomei's eyes were red, as if she had been crying, and the smile on her face had disappeared. She asked softly, "Third Sister, were you crying?"

Lin Zhaomei returned the handkerchief to Lin Zhaoxi, then quietly closed the People's Literature magazine and placed it aside, weighing it down with another book, saying, "No, Third Sister just got sand in her eyes."

"Is it ready? Do you want me to blow on it for you?"

Upon hearing Lin Zhaomei's words, Lin Zhaohuan naturally stepped forward with concern and asked, wanting to give her third sister, Lin Zhaomei, a piece of her mind.

"Okay, it's okay."

Lin Zhaomei stood up, took Lin Zhaohuan's hand, touched Lin Zhaohuan's braid, and said, "Let's go, let's go eat."

Lin Zhaoxi couldn't help but laugh when he heard Lin Zhaomei's lies come out so easily. No wonder she was an actress who had acted in movies. Watching Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaohuan walk out hand in hand, his gaze couldn't help but fall on the magazine "People's Literature". He wondered if his father's book "If Love Has a Destiny" was really that sad and touching.
Although the thought had crossed Lin Zhaoxi's mind, she had also heard the story from her classmates. She just felt that the story her father wrote was too coincidental. She didn't believe in such a coincidence. She didn't believe in fate. She might not be a staunch materialist at the moment, but she was definitely a good student who believed in science.

Lin Zhaoxi looked away, not intending to read the story, but instead walked out of the room to go eat.

Clearly, just as readers and literary critics may have different opinions on Lin Youcheng's novel "If Love Has a Destiny," Lin Youcheng's daughter will also have different feelings, whether rational or emotional, and these are all real feelings.

Lin Youcheng was unaware of his daughter's thoughts. He was thinking about something else entirely: establishing a film and television company. So, what should the company be called?
(End of this chapter)