A widower's entertainment

Chapter 391 [Children and Capital] (Please Subscribe)
Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

The interview with Time magazine did not have any impact on Lin Youcheng. Of course, because the film "Love" won the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, Lin Youcheng and the short story "Love" naturally became more popular in China. In fact, it can be said that not only in China, but also abroad, there has been a constant discussion about Lin Youcheng, this Eastern screenwriter.

Of course, even without the Golden Lion Award for the film "Love", writer and screenwriter Lam Yau-shing has always been very influential. Otherwise, Hong Kong and Hollywood would not have been vying for Lam Yau-shing's script for "Infernal Affairs".

Now it's not just movie scripts anymore; TV stations are also approaching Lin Youcheng wanting to adapt his novels into TV series.

Actually, there's nothing we can do about it. Although the No. 3 document on domestic film mechanism reform will be launched next year, and China Film Group will no longer be able to purchase and distribute domestic feature films, each film studio must be responsible for its own profits and losses, leading to a production dilemma for major film studios, in reality, some film studios are already facing numerous difficulties. Otherwise, apart from a few mainstream films that have received some attention, the number of films produced by some film studios would be very limited.

Even a film studio like Xi'an Film Studio, which enjoyed a golden age after 1985 due to the rise of the Fifth Generation directors—with films like *Wild Mountain*, *The Black Cannon Incident*, *Old Well*, and *Red Sorghum* winning numerous domestic and international film awards and accounting for 25% of the country's total film exports, ranking first nationwide—began its decline after 1989. To survive, many Xi'an Film Studio employees switched to producing television dramas, commercials, or running cultural companies. In terms of film, aside from the occasional mainstream film winning awards, most productions were co-productions with private capital and Hong Kong and Taiwan. Many of these involved selling the studio's logo, as only film studios had production rights; as long as the studio was paid, a film could be produced under the Xi'an Film Studio's brand.

The people who came to Lin Youcheng to discuss adapting his novel into a TV series were people from Xi'an Film Studio (formerly Xi'an Film Studio, now Xi'an Film and Television Production Co., Ltd.). They wanted to adapt and film Lin Youcheng's novel "My Chief and My Regiment" into a TV series.

"It won't be easy to adapt this novel into a TV series!"

Lin Youcheng looked at Jiang Hui, the producer who had come to talk to him about "My Chief and My Regiment," and couldn't help but say this.

Speaking of which, Lin Youcheng's previous war quartet, such as "The Message" and "The Meridian of War," have been adapted into movies. Even his later novel "The Dog," set after the war, has been brought to the big screen. However, the novels "My Chief and My Regiment" and "Bright Sword" have not yet been adapted. This is partly because some of the content in the novels is sensitive, and partly because they are quite long and not easy to film.

Jiang Hui naturally understood Lin Youcheng's meaning and said with a smile, "We also know that this novel is not easy to adapt into a TV series, but I personally really like your novel. When I first read it, I was deeply moved and I especially hope that this novel can be adapted into a TV series."

Upon hearing Jiang Hui's words, Lin Youcheng knew that Xi'an Film Studio was indeed planning to adapt "My Chief and My Regiment" into a TV series. Lin Youcheng had no reason to refuse, especially since he had spoken with Jiang Hui and knew about Xi'an Film Studio's plans. He also knew that the later series "The Passionate Years" was also produced by Xi'an Film and Television Company.

Lin Youcheng agreed to Jiang Hui's request. Although the script copyright fee was certainly far less than that from the United States, he still paid 30,000 yuan, which was not low. After all, Zhang Guoshi only paid Yu Hua 26,000 yuan for the film copyright of "To Live".

Jiang Hui was also embarrassed to ask Lin Youcheng, an internationally renowned screenwriter, to write a TV series script. He knew Lin Youcheng's status as a screenwriter and the author of the novel "My Chief and My Regiment." He was also worried that the price might not be appropriate. Since Jiang Hui didn't mention it, Lin Youcheng naturally didn't ask either.

Of course, regarding Jiang Hui's suggestion to invite Lin Youcheng for guidance, Lin Youcheng also expressed that he would help consider any opinions he might have. It should be noted that Lin Youcheng had previously collaborated with Xi'an Film Studio, such as the first novel, "Under the Hawthorn Tree," which was directed by Wu Tianming.

However, to be honest, although Chinese films are winning awards abroad, the film market is not optimistic, while TV dramas are becoming increasingly popular.

Lin Youcheng had originally planned to establish a company. Now that even people from film studios are starting to make TV series, Lin Youcheng is also considering whether he should consider making TV series after the company is established. If he really does make TV series, then what will be the company's first TV series?

After all, if this is the first TV series, it can be considered the company's first child.

Lin Youcheng naturally considered this matter as well. It was during this period that domestic TV dramas began to become popular, and the entire television industry entered a period of rapid development. A large number of classic TV dramas emerged, such as "Aspiration," "A Native of Beijing in New York," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms," "Water Margin," and "I Love My Family," all of which are quite classic. If he really wanted to write a TV drama for the company, what kind of script would be suitable?

Although Lin Youcheng had been thinking about this, he wasn't in a hurry. After all, he knew that even though domestic TV dramas were very popular at the moment, it would be better for him to write movie scripts for Hollywood companies in the United States. After all, the foreign exchange fee of millions of dollars was a truly astonishing amount.

This was actually what Lin Youcheng had thought of from the very beginning: exporting the script to the United States, which could be considered the initial accumulation of capital.

Such initial capital accumulation is actually quite easy. Just like selling the screenplay for "The Departed" to Warner Bros., now that Paramount Pictures has achieved great success with "The Truman Show," they value him as a screenwriter even more and have been in contact with him, wanting to continue collaborating with him, as well as Universal Pictures.

Lin Youcheng was also considering exporting other film scripts to Hollywood to earn foreign exchange capital. Although he had been buying houses and planned to invest in stocks, the easiest thing for him right now was still the script, since the scripts written by this internationally renowned screenwriter were even more lucrative.

……

"How are you doing, Xi'er? Are you adjusting well to school?"

Since Lin Zhaoxi went to university, he was able to come back on weekends. He didn't come back during the freshman military training period, but now that the freshman military training is over and Lin Zhaoxi has officially started school, he naturally has time to go back to Xinghua Hutong on weekends.

Lin Youcheng naturally asked Song Ma to prepare some dishes, and while serving food to Lin Zhaoxi, he smiled and asked Lin Zhaoxi about his time at school and military training.

Military training actually started as early as 1985, but it was only with the rapid economic development and the increasing emphasis on national defense education that military training began to be widely popularized throughout the country, especially in colleges and high schools, where it became a compulsory course. Now, key universities in Beijing also attach great importance to it, and some key universities even take students directly to the military for military training.

Lin Zhaoxi naturally knew that her father cared about her, and she also understood that it was truly rare for someone like her to be able to study in the city and come home on weekends. She smiled and said, "I'm doing well at school."

These are Lin Zhaoxi's honest thoughts. It's really rare for someone like her to be able to go home on weekends during her university years.

Of course, even if it wasn't the weekend, if Lin Zhaoxi didn't have classes in the afternoon and had plenty of time, he could go back to Xinghua Hutong, since the school was in Beijing and not far from Xinghua Hutong.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "I was thinking about whether to visit you at school later, but I felt like I was bothering you. If you need anything at school, just call home and I'll bring it to you."

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Lin Zhaoqing quickly interjected, "Sister, I'll deliver it to you then."

"I want to go too!" Lin Zhaole also insisted on going.

Hearing Lin Zhaoqing and Lin Zhaole's words, Lin Zhaoxi smiled and said, "Later, I'll take you to see my school."

In fact, when the new semester started, Lin Youcheng, as Lin Zhaoxi's father, naturally went to send him to Yanjing Medical University for registration. He knew that it was a top medical university in the capital, so it must be good. He also knew that medical students like Lin Zhaoxi worked very hard, so he thought that if Lin Zhaoxi needed anything, he would send it to him as soon as possible.

On the other side, Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaohuan, as well as Lin Zhaoman who hadn't spoken, were also thinking about going to Lin Zhaoxi's school to take a look.

When Lin Zhaoxi first started school, he had thought about taking his younger siblings to see the university and let them see it. He hoped that this would give them a goal for their future university life and perhaps they would work harder in school after seeing it. However, at that time, Lin Zhaoqing's school was also starting a new semester and there was a big cleaning to be done at the school, so he did not go with Lin Zhaoxi to send him off to university.

Lin Zhaoqing, Lin Zhaole, and the others were also very curious about what university would be like, and they all asked Lin Zhaoxi what was on campus. Lin Zhaoxi would tell his younger siblings that the school had a large library, laboratories, and many other unexpected places. Naturally, this made Lin Zhaoqing and the others look forward to the university campus and they all wanted to visit Lin Zhaoxi's school as soon as possible.

After the meal, Xie Shuhua washed a lot of fruit, cut it up, and brought it to Lin Zhaoxi.

Lin Zhaoxi looked at Xie Shuhua, smiled, and said, "Thank you, Mom."

Although she was a stepmother, Lin Zhaoxi changed her address after Xie Shuhua and Lin Youcheng remarried. Of course, in her heart, her mother was still the same person.

Hearing Lin Zhaoxi's words, Xie Shuhua shook her head and said, "Why be so polite when you're at home?"

Lin Zhaoxi nodded. She knew that this politeness was because she still had another mother in her heart. She then turned to look at her father, Lin Youcheng, and talked to him about some things at school. She added, "Dad, several of my classmates really like your work. They often talk about your novels and movies."

Lin Youcheng asked with a smile, "Did you tell them—?"

"No."

Lin Zhaoxi smiled and said, "I didn't say anything; I felt it wasn't necessary."

Lin Zhaoxi didn't want to make herself look bad by telling her classmates that her father was the writer Lin Youcheng. In her opinion, there was no need to talk about such things. After thinking for a moment, she added, "Of course, if they ask, I will tell them the truth."

Lin Youcheng said with a smile, "If there's a chance later, you can bring your good classmates over for dinner. They might not live in this city like you."

Lin Zhaoxi nodded. She understood that Lin Youcheng was referring to good classmates. In fact, Lin Zhaoxi's previous classmates and friends were all in the vicinity of Xinghua Hutong. Because she had always been sensible and more mature and stable, she did not go out to play with her classmates in particular, so she rarely brought them to her home.

When Lin Zhaoxi returned to his room, Lin Youcheng looked at Lin Zhaoxi's back and felt that Lin Zhaoxi had really grown up now that he was in college. Even though he was studying away from home, he still took good care of himself.

"Xi'er, she really doesn't require any of my attention."

Hearing Lin Youcheng's sigh, Xie Shuhua couldn't help but smile and asked, "All the children in the family are very sensible. Which one has caused you any worry?"

Upon hearing Xie Shuhua's words, Lin Youcheng was taken aback, then smiled and nodded, saying, "That's true, they are all very sensible."

However, in Lin Youcheng's heart, Lin Zhaole was quite a worry for him when he was a child. At that time, it was not just worry, but a real headache for Lin Youcheng. He would cry in the middle of the night from time to time, making it impossible for him to sleep. He was really a little devil tormenting him.

Looking back now, Lin Youcheng feels that those days were truly miserable, and he really wanted to die.

Fortunately, those days are long gone.

Xie Shuhua, unaware of Lin Youcheng's thoughts or the genuine concern he felt for raising the newborn Lin Zhaole alone, instead asked, "How's your plan to start a company going?"

When Lin Youcheng heard Xie Shuhua ask this question, he couldn't help but smile and say, "I've already bought office space; the address is on Fuxing Road."

"It's not far from there!"

Xie Shuhua was just asking casually. She hadn't actually inquired about Lin Youcheng's plan to set up a company. As for Lin Youcheng's house, shops, and office floor, she hadn't asked any questions either, because she knew very well that Lin Youcheng knew what he was doing.

Lin Youcheng smiled. Fuxing Road is not far, and that area will be extremely valuable in the future.

In Lin Youcheng's view, buying houses there is a form of primitive accumulation of capital.

(End of this chapter)