A widower's entertainment

Chapter 375 [Nominated for an Oscar] (Please Subscribe)
Regardless of the situation in the north or the tense situation in the outside world, life in the Xinghua Hutong courtyard remained largely unchanged, just as usual.

The snow continued to fall. Lin Youcheng tightened the scarf around his neck and took out a number of letters from the mailbox outside the courtyard gate. These letters were clearly from readers to him, the author of "The Plot".

Lin Youcheng took the letter back to his house. The house was warm and cozy. He glanced at the snow falling outside, then turned to Xie Shuhua, who was writing something, and said, "This year, I'll go to Tianjin to bring my parents over to celebrate the New Year together."

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Xie Shuhua put down her pen and said, "My dad said they can just take the train themselves; Tianjin isn't far away."

"It would be better if I went to pick it up."

Although Lin Youcheng knew that his father-in-law and mother-in-law didn't need him, their son-in-law, to pick them up, he also knew that it would be better for him to go and pick them up himself, and Tianjin was indeed not that far away.

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Xie Shuhua didn't say anything more. She understood that this was Lin Youcheng's good intention. Fortunately, Tianjin was not far away. She said, "Then I'll go with you to pick them up."

“I can go by myself. Song Ma will be going back to her own home later. You should stay home and take care of the children.”

Lin Youcheng added, "We'll invite my eldest brother's family over too, so we can celebrate the New Year and have New Year's Eve dinner together—"

As he spoke, Lin Youcheng added in a low voice, "It's a pity that the hotels outside don't offer New Year's Eve dinners right now."

Clearly, the hotel in 1992 had not yet started offering New Year's Eve dinner services; people were having their New Year's Eve dinner at home and celebrating the reunion with their families.

Xie Shuhua didn't hear what Lin Youcheng said after that. She just thought that if her elder brother's family were brought over to celebrate the New Year together, the courtyard would be very lively. Fortunately, Lin Youcheng already had three courtyards in Xinghua Hutong. Even if there wasn't enough room here, he could stay in the other two courtyards. It wasn't far to walk there, not to mention that there were enough rooms here.

Xie Shuhua noticed Lin Youcheng opening the readers' letters, walked over, and asked with a smile, "Are these letters still about the Wind Catcher behind 'The Plot'?"

Lin Youcheng looked at the contents of the letter, nodded, and said, "Someone is asking, it seems they're still waiting for the story to continue in 'The Plot'."

Xie Shuhua picked up the opened letter on the table, read its contents, and couldn't help but say, "It's not just about waiting for the story after 'Plot Against,' but also about how well you wrote the character Huang Yiyi. I want to ask you whether An Zaitian truly loves her."

In fact, most of the letters sent by these readers are asking these related questions.

In fact, Xie Shuhua herself also really liked the character Huang Yiyi created by Lin Youcheng, and she also felt very sorry for Huang Yiyi's ending. Of course, she also knew that this was an artistic creation in literature. Obviously, the Huang Yiyi portrayed by Lin Youcheng was very impactful, impressive and unforgettable.

Upon hearing Xie Shuhua's words, Lin Youcheng said, "Whether Huang Yiyi loves him or not is no longer important."

Xie Shuhua understood what Lin Youcheng meant, smiled, and said nothing more. She then glanced at the snow outside and said, "The snow keeps falling."

"A timely snowfall promises a bumper harvest, so next year looks like it will be another year of plenty."

Lin Youcheng said with a smile.

Xie Shuhua nodded, a smile on her face.

The snow in Beijing was falling heavier and heavier, but the children had all started their winter vacation. Lin Youcheng made a special trip to Tianjin to pick up his parents-in-law to spend the New Year in Beijing. Although Xie Zelin had said before that he didn't need Lin Youcheng to pick them up and that the two of them could spend the New Year in Tianjin, Xie Zelin was still happy that Lin Youcheng actually went to Tianjin to pick them up to spend the New Year in Beijing.

This shows that Lin Youcheng, as a son-in-law, cares about them.

Xie Zelin had long since gotten used to hearing the six children call him "Grandpa." Although they weren't his biological grandchildren yet, he still loved them dearly. This was partly due to his daughter, Xie Shuhua, and also because his son-in-law, Lin Youcheng, treated them very well, calling them from time to time to invite them to stay in Beijing for a while. People are ultimately empathetic, especially since Lin Zhaoxi and the others were all very sensible children, whom Xie Zelin and Zhang Aiqin loved from the bottom of their hearts.

However, despite her affection, Zhang Aiqin would still ask Xie Shuhua some questions in private.

"You and Youcheng aren't planning on having children?"

As Xie Shuhua's mother, Zhang Aiqin naturally still kept this matter in mind and would definitely ask Xie Shuhua about it in private.

Xie Shuhua glanced at the children outside who were building snowmen and having a snowball fight in the yard, looked at her mother, smiled a little embarrassedly, and said, "I have plans. He bought another courtyard house earlier, just to prepare for that child, saying that he wants to treat them equally."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Aiqin understood that it was Lin Youcheng and Xie Shuhua's meaning. It was just that Xie Shuhua wasn't pregnant yet, not that they didn't plan to have any more children. She nodded.

This is also Zhang Aiqin's selfish desire as a mother. No matter what, she still hopes that her daughter can have her own biological children. Of course, this does not mean that she, as the maternal grandmother, does not love those children. It's just that some thoughts are human nature and hard to avoid.

The whole family helped with the New Year's Eve dinner, making it a very lively occasion.

The Lin family's small restaurant in Beijing is doing better and better, and the family has finally established itself in the capital. Although there is no need for the brothers to say special words of thanks, Lin Youcai is very clear in his heart and made a special effort to thank Lin Youcheng. After all, he knows that his family's good life in Beijing is something he never expected after being laid off from the factory in Decheng, and it is all thanks to the help of his younger brother Lin Youcheng.

Life is truly getting better and better.

After a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, the children naturally began to happily set off fireworks and firecrackers in the yard.

Lin Youcheng watched the children playing with fireworks outside, their faces beaming with smiles. It started snowing again, a truly auspicious sign for a bountiful year; every year to come would be a harvest year. Regardless of whether next year would be a year of harvest, there was no doubt that 1991 had been a very fruitful year for Lin Youcheng. And just as 1992 began, after Lin Youcheng's family had finished their New Year's Eve dinner and celebrated the reunion, more good news reached the courtyard house in Xinghua Hutong.

Chen Aige's film "Atonement" was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.

But that's not all!
Chen Aige arrived at Xinghua Hutong with great enthusiasm to share the good news and also to wish Lin Youcheng a Happy New Year. However, Chen Aige was clearly surprised to find that in addition to Lin Zhaoxi and his six children, Lin Youcheng also had two nephews in the courtyard. The whole courtyard was bustling with activity, and the six red envelopes he had prepared for the children were not enough.

"Youcheng, I really didn't expect your older brother and his family to be spending the New Year at your house, and they didn't even prepare anything for those two kids."

Chen Aige felt a little embarrassed. He had just given New Year's red envelopes to Lin Youcheng's children, and Lin Youcheng had also given red envelopes to Lin Zhaoping and Lin Zhaoan on their behalf.

Lin Youcheng smiled and waved his hand, saying, "You've given me enough in this red envelope. I'll make up for it later, double it."

However, even if Lin Youcheng were to double the amount of money he could give Chen Aige later, it would still be difficult, since Lin Youcheng has six children, and it would be very difficult for others to compare with him in this regard.

Clearly, Lin Youcheng knew that Chen Aige gave the child a red envelope for two reasons: firstly, it was a New Year's greeting, and secondly, Chen Aige and Lin Youcheng had achieved great success in their collaboration on "Atonement," with the film now nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, which greatly excited Chen Aige.

"Our film, 'Atonement,' has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film!"

Lin Youcheng wasn't particularly surprised by the news. After all, the film had won the Grand Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival, its box office performance in the United States wasn't bad, and it had even been nominated for a Golden Globe. So, its nomination for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film wasn't unexpected.

However, Lin Youcheng felt that "Atonement" had little chance of winning an award, because it did not win the Golden Globe Award for Best Foreign Language Film. Although the Oscars are not always awarded according to the Golden Globes, as a precursor to the Oscars, the Golden Globes, as a bellwether, also indicated to some extent that "Atonement" was not guaranteed to win an award.

Of course, at the Los Angeles Film Critics Circle Awards, Atonement did win the Best Foreign Language Film award.

Clearly, this also proves that Atonement is not without the possibility of winning an award.

Chen Aige naturally hopes to win an award, after all, if he can win the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film, he can truly be considered the first person in Chinese-language cinema to do so.

Lin Youcheng knew that Chen Aige was really looking forward to "Atonement" winning an award. It should be noted that Zhang Yimou's "Raise the Red Lantern" was also nominated this time. Zhang's film represented Hong Kong, while "Atonement" represented the mainland. It was a rare occasion for two films to compete on the same stage. Of course, there are also films competing on the same stage in China. But just like the Oscars that Chen Aige was looking forward to, it was still unknown which film would win the Best Foreign Language Film award.

If Atonement were to actually win the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, it would undoubtedly make Chen Aige extremely excited.

Chen Aige looked at Lin Youcheng and said, "Youcheng, you're really something. The movie you wrote, 'Every Day,' was nominated for Best Original Screenplay."

Indeed, Lin Youcheng's screenplay for "Everyday" was a standout film last year due to its impressive box office performance. Warner Bros. naturally submitted it to the Oscars, but it was clearly too commercial and lacked artistic merit. However, it still received three nominations, which can be seen as a recognition from the Oscars for this romantic film with its remarkable box office success.

The Best Original Screenplay award alone is enough to prove how brilliant the script for "Everyday" is.

In fact, this award is the one most relevant to Lin Youcheng. Although the film "Every Day" was not nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, it was nominated for three awards: Best Supporting Actor, Best Sound Editing, and Best Original Screenplay. And the Best Original Screenplay award was given to Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter from the East.

This nomination can be described as groundbreaking.

Even though his previous film, "The Time Traveler's Wife," was nominated for an Oscar, the film version had little to do with Lin Youcheng. Only this film, "Every Day," which was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, truly bears Lin Youcheng's name.

It's fair to say that many people in the Chinese film industry have heard that Lin Youcheng was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay. This is actually why many Chinese film directors want to collaborate with this literary giant, Lin Youcheng, since which Chinese screenwriter has been nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay?

Putting aside the fact that he was shortlisted, who else in China writes screenplays for Hollywood film companies like Lin Youcheng?

It's fair to say that the biggest discussion within the Chinese film industry is that screenwriter Lin Youcheng's name has appeared on the Oscar nomination list. After all, there have been Chinese-language films nominated for the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film before, and this time, "Atonement" and "Raise the Red Lantern" are not the first. Of course, whether they can win the award is another matter.

Currently, the most discussed topic in the domestic film industry is Lin Youcheng, the screenwriter who was nominated for an Oscar.

Chen Aige said with a smile, "If you can win an award, that would be really amazing!"

Lin Youcheng shook his head and smiled when he heard Chen Aige's words. He didn't think his novel, "Everyday," could win Best Original Screenplay. However, he thought it had a chance if it were "The Truman Show," but it was just a hope. It would depend on whether Paramount Pictures would do some Oscar lobbying for "The Truman Show." After all, winning an award is not just about the film itself, but also about what happens behind the awards.

"It's hard to say, after all, it's an international film award."

Lin Youcheng has already won the Golden Rooster Award for Best Screenplay in China. As for the Golden Horse Award for Best Screenplay in Taiwan, Hou Xiaoxian's film "Love" might give him a chance to be nominated and compete for the award. However, it's uncertain whether he will win.

To be honest, it was an unexpected surprise that Lin Youcheng was able to win the Best Screenplay Award at the Cannes Film Festival for the film "Atonement".

However, Lin Youcheng was well aware that even if he didn't win an award, it wouldn't affect the film's excellence. If it was excellent enough, or rather, powerful enough, then not winning an award would be the one that would be questioned.

(End of this chapter)