A widower's entertainment

Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

In the courtyard, on the color television in the main room, the animated series "Big Head Son and Little Head Dad" was playing on CCTV. As the theme song began, Lin Zhaole started singing along.

"Big-headed son, small-headed dad, two good friends, a happy father and son. The son's head is big and his hands are small, the dad's head is small and his hands are big. Big hand holding small hand, walking without fear of slipping, walking and walking and walking, in the blink of an eye the son has grown up..."

It must be said that although Lin Zhaole's singing is not as good as Lin Zhaohuan's, his cheerful children's songs have a happy atmosphere.

Lin Zhaole, who loves watching TV, especially cartoons, naturally wouldn't miss the newly aired animated series "Big Head Son and Little Head Dad." Lin Zhaohuan and Lin Zhaoman also watched it. As for Lin Zhaomei, she wasn't very interested in cartoons. In addition, with the college entrance examination approaching, even though Lin Zhaomei was confident in her academic scores, she still studied hard and worried about making mistakes and failing the exam. Especially since she was taking the college entrance examination early in her second year of high school, she naturally had to work even harder.

Lin Youcheng, as the father, didn't really control Lin Zhaole's watching of cartoons, but he would remind Lin Zhaole not to stare at the TV for too long. Of course, the most important thing was that Lin Zhaole could only watch TV after he finished his schoolwork.

Lin Youcheng didn't actually need to remind him of this, because if Lin Zhaole didn't finish his homework and his grades dropped, the teacher would naturally call his parents to school.

So far, Lin Youcheng has not been called in by his parents alone because of his child's academic performance or misbehaving at school.

This is why Lin Youcheng is particularly pleased with his children, who have always been very sensible. Even though the family's living conditions have improved, there has been no significant change in their behavior.

Of course, this was also because Lin Youcheng did not specifically tell his children that his family was now very wealthy. Just like the foreigner who came to their house earlier, they had also reached a script collaboration agreement for "The Sixth Sense" and received a rather astonishing script copyright fee. Such a figure would be quite crazy in Beijing in 1995.

Faced with such a staggering sum, Lin Youcheng naturally wouldn't just obediently deposit it in the bank, since the money would depreciate in the future. Lin Youcheng would first buy commercial housing in Beijing to rent out, and also, when the time was right, buy a few more suitable courtyard houses.

Although the price of courtyard houses has increased significantly since the 1980s when 10,000 yuan could buy one in Beijing, now it costs hundreds of thousands or even millions of yuan. The courtyard houses that Lin Youcheng bought initially have already increased in value many times over. However, even so, if Lin Youcheng spends money to buy a few more suitable courtyard houses, their value will continue to double.

It can be said that investing in a courtyard house in Beijing now will still yield geometric returns in the future, and this capital accumulation will be no less than other forms of capital accumulation.

After all, the price of housing in Beijing has reached around 4,000 yuan per square meter. Naturally, the price is even higher in better locations. But you have to know that at this time, the salary of an employee is only around 700 yuan, which is less than 1,000 yuan. You can imagine that the housing price is already quite astonishing, not to mention the better courtyard houses.

Originally, Lin Youcheng, as the father, had planned to leave a courtyard house for each of his seven children. However, it is now clear that his original goal has changed. Even if each child has two or three courtyard houses, it would not be a problem. Even if the area is demolished later, the compensation would not be small.

This is why Xie Shuhua has stopped asking Lin Youcheng to buy so many houses. Firstly, the figure for the film script copyright fee is simply unbelievable. Secondly, house prices are now genuinely rising, and Xie Shuhua is well aware of what this means.

After the animated film ended, Lin Zhaole came over with a big smile to play with Lin Zhaoyuan.

"Dad, my sister's hands are very small, and my hands are very big. We are holding hands now."

Lin Zhaole ran over, took Lin Zhaoyuan's little hand, and touched Lin Zhaoyuan's soft and smooth face, saying, "Little sister's face is so soft."

Lin Youcheng watched as Lin Zhaole reached out to touch Lin Zhaoyuan's little face and couldn't help but laugh, saying, "You were the same when you were little."

Looking at Lin Zhaole, who is already twelve years old this year, Lin Youcheng couldn't help but sigh that time flies by like water. The little Lin Zhaole was already twelve years old and in the fifth grade. He will be in the sixth grade next semester.

Lin Zhaole blinked, asking incredulously, "Really?"

Before Lin Youcheng could answer, Lin Zhaoman, the older brother, said, "Yes, you were just as well-behaved as Yuanyuan when you were little."

Lin Zhaole seemed to think that the word "well-behaved" was not suitable for a boy like him, and said, "I'm a boy, how can I be like a little sister?"

Lin Zhaohuan, on the other side, also said with a smile, "You were the same when you were little, but Yuanyuan is prettier than you."

Lin Zhaole was not angry when he heard Lin Zhaohuan's words. Instead, he felt it was a matter of course and said with a smile, "Of course, my sister is naturally more beautiful."

Listening to Lin Zhaole's words, Lin Youcheng saw Lin Zhaole holding Lin Zhaoyuan's hand. The two siblings were indeed holding hands, walking without fear of slipping. They walked and walked and walked, and in the blink of an eye, the children grew up one by one.

……

Lin Youcheng's collaboration with Warner Bros. to sell the screenplay for "The Sixth Sense" undoubtedly caused a huge stir in the American film industry. Other film companies had been eyeing Lin Youcheng, this Eastern screenwriter, but Warner Bros. beat them to it, which made the producers of other film companies feel regretful and disappointed.

As for the copyright fee for screenwriter Lin Youcheng's script, it's actually nothing in Hollywood. After all, the success of the film is enough to make Lin Youcheng's copyright fee a matter of course. Of course, such news will still attract a lot of attention when it comes out in the domestic film and literary circles.

Although this is not the first time such a thing has happened, which domestic literary or film worker can remain calm in the face of such figures? Even if they have heard about it many times, they will still sigh every time that the copyright fees are truly insane.

However, Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to the discussions, because the most important thing right now was that his daughter, Lin Zhaomei, was going to take the college entrance examination.

Although Lin Zhaomei's grades were quite good, she still took the college entrance exam a year early. As her father, Lin Youcheng naturally cared about her and hoped she could successfully get into the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy. After all, she had already passed the professional exam; it would be a real pity if she failed the academic exam. In fact, it wasn't just Lin Youcheng who was concerned. Director Tian Zhuangzhuang, who was on the set of "The Great Song Dynasty Forensic Examiner," also asked Lin Zhaomei how her college entrance exam preparations were going. Clearly, the film academy also highly valued Lin Zhaomei as a promising talent and didn't want her to make any mistakes in the academic section.

Actually, Lin Youcheng's nephew Lin Zhaoan is also taking the college entrance examination this year. In addition to Lin Zhaoan and Lin Zhaoxi, Lin Zhaoman is also taking the junior high school entrance examination. It can be said that they are the family members who have received a lot of attention during this period.

Apart from Lin Zhaoyuan, who was unaware of what was happening at home, the others were all very sensible and did not play around in the courtyard, afraid of disturbing Lin Zhaomei and Lin Zhaoman's studies. Even Lin Zhaoxi, the older sister, would occasionally take time out of school to come back and see Lin Zhaomei, thinking of explaining the problems to her, and was also very concerned about Lin Zhaomei's exams.

And so, the day of the college entrance examination in July 1995 arrived.

Compared to Lin Zhaoxi and Lin Zhaoqing, Lin Youcheng was only worried about Lin Zhaomei's college entrance examination score, not her college application. He believed that as long as her academic score reached the required level, she would definitely be admitted to a good university and would not be rejected by a lower-ranked university.

It's worth noting that Lin Zhaoxi, for the sake of caution, ultimately didn't apply to Peking Union Medical College but instead applied to Yenching Medical University. Keep in mind that Lin Zhaoxi's college entrance exam score at that time was high enough for Peking Union Medical College. This highlights the limitations of college application today; people apply without considering scores or rankings, or even the feeling of the exam itself – it's truly a high-stakes gamble.

Lin Zhaomei was different; it was very clear that she applied to the Directing Department of Yenching Film Academy.

Speaking of which, Yenching Film Academy and Yenching Medical University were on the same path. Both universities were considered for merger into Yenching University, but in the end only Yenching Medical University was merged into Yenching University. Otherwise, Lin Zhaomei could have become alumni with Lin Zhaoxi.

Of course, if Lin Zhaomei were to be admitted to Yenching Film Academy, given that it is in the film industry, she would naturally have many famous alumni.

The intense days of the college entrance examination began and ended in the sweltering heat of July.

After the exam, Lin Zhaomei felt pretty good. Although she was definitely not as good as her older sister Lin Zhaoxi, as a student who took the college entrance exam early in her second year of high school, she was very confident in getting good grades in the academic subjects after estimating her score.

Although Lin Zhaomei felt she had done well in the college entrance examination, the courtyard did not relax, as Lin Zhaoman was still taking the middle school entrance examination.

It was after Lin Zhaoman took the high school entrance exam that the school started its summer vacation. Lin Zhaoman was successfully admitted to Yanjing No. 10 Middle School, which, although not the best high school, was still a pretty good one.

Lin Zhaomei also successfully received her admission letter from Yenching Film Academy.

Even though Lin Zhaomei was very mature and knew that her score was fine, she was still very excited when she received the admission notice. After thanking the postman who delivered the notice, she excitedly ran into the courtyard.

"Dad, I got into the directing program at the film academy!"

Undoubtedly, Lin Zhaomei's words enlivened the entire courtyard. It should be said that everyone in Xinghua Hutong knew about this joyous occasion: Lin Youcheng's family had produced another college student, and one who had been admitted to the directing department of the Beijing Film Academy, and was going to become a film director in the future.

No matter when or where, if a family produces a college student, it is definitely a joyous occasion to celebrate.

Now, it's not just Lin Youcheng celebrating this joyous occasion in the courtyard; Lin Youcai, the eldest uncle, will also come to celebrate, especially since his son Lin Zhaoan has been admitted to Yanjing Electric Power College. Although it's only a junior college and not as prestigious as Lin Zhaoan's older brother Lin Zhaoping, Lin Youcai is genuinely happy. You see, in this highly competitive environment, being admitted to a junior college in the capital is something Lin Youcai is extremely pleased about.

Lin Youcheng was naturally happy for his nephew Lin Zhaoan. Although Yanjing Electric Power College was a junior college, it would later be merged into Northern Jiaotong University and transferred to the management of the Ministry of Education. Later, Northern Jiaotong University would be renamed Yanjing Jiaotong University. Even if job placement was gradually stopped, Lin Zhaoan's employment would not be a big problem. Not to mention, the Lin Youcai family's restaurant business in Beijing was getting better and better, and they were already planning to open another branch. This was enough to prove that the Lin Youcai family's conditions were getting better and better, and they were making a lot of money from the restaurant. Of course, Lin Youcheng had also told his elder brother to buy a house in Beijing as soon as possible, and it was clear that Lin Youcai also had plans.

Of course, what makes these two families happiest right now is that their children have been admitted to university.

Since there's no ban on firecrackers in Beijing, Lin Youcheng will naturally have a lively celebration at the courtyard house.

"Zhaomei, get your camera out, let's take a picture together!"

Just as Lin Zhaomei was thinking about it, Lin Youcheng smiled at her and said that they should take a picture together as a family on this happy day.

Lin Zhaomei naturally smiled and took out the camera, then asked her cousin Lin Zhaoping to take a group photo of the whole family. Clearly, the family was all smiles.

After the whole family finished taking a group photo, Lin Zhaomei, holding Lin Youcheng's arm, said, "Brother Zhaoping, take another picture of me and my dad."

Lin Zhaoping then took another photo of Lin Zhaomei and Lin Youcheng together.

At that very moment, the very popular TV show "Big Head Son and Little Head Dad" was playing on television, regardless of whether Lin Zhaomei and Lin Youcheng would become a director's daughter and a screenwriter's father in the future.

At least for this moment, Lin Zhaomei, holding her father Lin Youcheng's arm and seeing his happy expression, knew very well that she still had a long way to go before she was admitted to the directing department of the film academy.

After all, her father is so accomplished. If she wants to become a good director and win the Palme d'Or that she talked about when she was a child, then she, as his daughter, naturally has to work even harder. (End of Chapter)