A widower's entertainment

Xinghua Hutong, Beijing.

1997 arrived just like that. Although Lin Youcheng's father-in-law, Xie Zelin, was unwilling to move to Beijing to live, he would still come to Beijing to celebrate the Spring Festival with Lin Youcheng's family.

Because it's Chinese New Year, the day is naturally even more lively.

As usual, the eldest brother Lin Youcai and his family came to Lin Youcheng's house to celebrate the New Year together. After all, this is a rare occasion for them to reunite and have a New Year's Eve dinner. You should know that in normal times, Lin Youcai and Fang Mei would be busy with their restaurant business.

These days, the real joy of celebrating the New Year is when the whole family gets together for the New Year's Eve dinner.

Snow was falling outside the courtyard, but the house was warm and cozy. Life is good now, so there's nothing lacking for the New Year's Eve dinner. After all, the family lives well normally, and the most important thing is the sense of family reunion.

After the New Year's Eve dinner, the natural thing to do in the evening is to watch CCTV's Spring Festival Gala.

It can be said that as early as when the first Spring Festival Gala was broadcast in 1983, it became the best companion for every family to stay up together on New Year's Eve.

The TV was showing a skit called "Red Sorghum Model Team," and the future Golden Horse Award-winning actor Fan Wei was saying, "Hello, hello, everyone, you need to find this feeling. So this passageway is the catwalk of the Paris Fashion Expo. You are supermodels, you are world-class supermodels, you are world-class supermodels—Cindy Crawford. Listen to my command, one, two, three, come!"

It has to be said that the skit was really hilarious, and both adults and children laughed non-stop while watching it.

While watching the Spring Festival Gala, we naturally chatted as well.

Lin Youcheng then brought up the topic of moving to Beijing with his father-in-law, Xie Zelin, saying, "Dad, why don't you and Mom move to Beijing to live later?"

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Xie Zelin waved his hand and said with a smile, "There's no need yet. We'll talk about it after we retire."

Lin Youcheng knew that his words were unlikely to be accepted, but he still said them anyway, and could only let his parents-in-law have their way. Of course, the most important reason was that his parents-in-law were in good health.

After all, Xie Zelin, the father-in-law, wasn't much older than Lin Youcheng. You know, when Xie Shuhua and Lin Youcheng got together, it was like an old cow eating young grass. At that time, Xie Zelin and his wife didn't agree to Lin Youcheng and Xie Shuhua being together. But what could they do? Now their child is three years old after the New Year.

"What do you want to tell us in Tianjin?"

"Don't worry, it will happen. Tianjin is close to here."

Xie Zelin naturally understood Lin Youcheng's intentions, but none of them were ready to retire and enjoy life right now. Even if their son-in-law was rich, it was his own money, and he also had his own teaching and educating work.

Listening to Lin Youcheng and Xie Zelin's conversation, Lin Youcai couldn't help but say, "Youcheng, Tianjin is close by. When you have time, take Zhaoyuan there to see it more often. It's very convenient."

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded.

After their reunion on New Year's Eve, Xie Zelin and Zhang Aiqin returned to Tianjin after only a few days. As for the children, they wouldn't be able to play for long either, as the new school term would soon begin.

Lin Youcheng knew before the Lunar New Year that Zhao Gensheng's family was coming to Beijing, and knowing the exact time, he naturally went to the train station to pick them up.

Although Zhao Gensheng knew from the beginning that Lin Youcheng was very rich, he was still shocked when he actually saw Lin Youcheng pick up his family in a car. Clearly, he had no concept of how rich his uncle was, nor did he have any imagination about it.

Zhao Wenjie and Jiang Xiulian were naturally surprised as well. Although they had been to Beijing before, Lin Youcheng had not yet bought a car at that time.

However, Zhao Gensheng's family were all very honest people, so they didn't ask any more questions and followed Lin Youcheng to Xinghua Hutong.

"Uncle, this courtyard looks like it's been renovated?"

Jiang Xiulian saw the familiar courtyard house, but it seemed to have been renovated, so she couldn't help but ask a question.

Lin Youcheng smiled and nodded, saying, "Yes, it has been repaired."

Xie Shuhua knew that Zhao Gensheng's family would be coming, so she prepared a meal at home and said with great hospitality, "Don't be shy, make yourselves at home."

Since we had met before in Chunfeng Alley in Decheng, we weren't too unfamiliar with each other. Although we were still a bit polite, we weren't too distant.

Zhao Gensheng naturally expressed his gratitude, saying, "Thank you, Aunt Xie, for your hard work."

"I didn't suffer, it was Sister Zhou who suffered."

Zhao Gensheng and Jiang Xiulian both knew that Xie Shuhua was referring to the nanny, Sister Zhou. This was because Lin Youcheng's family was well-off and had a nanny who could help with cooking.

At first, Zhao Gensheng was worried about what would happen if he couldn't find a job after coming to Beijing. However, Lin Youcheng told him directly that he could work as a teacher at a school or work for his company, and he could even stay at his place.

This is also why Zhao Gensheng was able to decide to leave Decheng and come to the capital. He came to rely on Lin Youcheng, just like Lin Youcai's family did back then.

There was nothing much going on at the dinner table. After finishing their meal, Lin Zhaoman and the others took Zhao Wenjie out to play.

Zhao Gensheng handed over the money from the demolition of Chunfeng Lane to Lin Youcheng, who naturally accepted it. He knew that some things had to be clarified, since the house originally belonged to their family and was only lent to Zhao Gensheng. Just like now when Zhao Gensheng came to Beijing, he was staying in a house in the Asian Games Village, which happened to be the house where his elder brother Lin Youcai had lived before.

As for the eldest brother, Lin Youcai, he had already bought another house in Beijing. This was because his younger brother, Lin Youcheng, kept urging him to buy a house in Beijing. Otherwise, he might still be thinking about saving money to do business.

Lin Youcheng accepted the money and asked, "I've already inquired about the 271 Middle School for you. You can attend classes there, and Wenjie can also study there. Zhaoping and Zhaoan also studied there before."

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Zhao Gensheng knew that Lin Youcheng had truly made arrangements for him, and quickly said, "Thank you so much, Uncle."

Lin Youcheng waved his hand and said, "It's alright. If you want to go to school yourself, I'll ask the middle school." Actually, this was also due to Lin Youcheng's status and influence. Otherwise, even if the school needed to recruit teachers, they might not necessarily choose Zhao Gensheng. It was only because Lin Youcheng had helped with the enrollment of Lin Zhaoping and Lin Zhaoan when his older brother Lin Youcai's family came to live in Beijing that he knew them.

To be honest, Lin Youcheng could ask Xinghua Middle School, which is not far from Xinghua Hutong, but he felt that it was a bit far from where he was staying in the Asian Games Village. Of course, if No. 271 Middle School didn't need any teachers, then Lin Youcheng would naturally ask Xinghua Middle School. If they didn't need any, then he would look for someone else. In Lin Youcheng's opinion, this was a small matter.

"Xiulian, if she wants to work at my company, then let her. She doesn't have much to do anyway, so she can just take care of the logistics."

Jiang Xiulian, standing to the side, was naturally willing, but she was also worried that she wouldn't do a good job, saying, "Uncle, there's so much I don't understand, I'm afraid—"

“It’s alright. If he doesn’t understand, he can learn. Actually, if Gensheng wanted to, he could go to the company, but he prefers to teach, so let’s leave it at that.”

Upon hearing Lin Youcheng's words, Jiang Xiulian naturally replied, "Uncle, don't worry, I will definitely study hard."

Lin Youcheng didn't pay much attention to Jiang Xiulian's words. After all, it wasn't a big deal to arrange one or two positions in his own company. They weren't particularly professional positions. Of course, Lin Youcheng would never let Jiang Xiulian do truly professional positions.

A truly professional position should be like his daughter, Lin Zhaomei, who, even before graduating, is a non-contracted director in his company and also his future successor.

There weren't many changes for Zhao Gensheng's family after they came to Beijing; perhaps the only difference was that Lin Zhaohuan and Lin Zhaole had another playmate on weekends.

After the new school term started, the children all went to school, and Lin Zhaomei also went to school, but now she is planning to shoot a feature film.

Obviously, the rumor that Lin Zhaomei was going to make a feature film has attracted a lot of attention. Lin Zhaomei, who previously made a short film called "Destiny" which won the Best Short Film Award at the Berlin Film Festival, is now planning to make a feature film, which is undoubtedly very interesting.

Of course, this is also due to Lin Zhaomei's identity, and behind her is the halo of her father, Lin Youcheng.

Otherwise, Lin Zhaomei wouldn't be the only one filming a feature film at school. For example, Section Chief Jia is also planning to film his first feature film. The script is already written and the title is "Jin Xiaoyong's Buddy, Hu Haimei's Husband, Liang Changyou's Son: Xiaowu".

When Section Chief Jia heard that Lin Zhaomei was going to shoot a feature film, he rushed over and asked curiously, "Zhaomei, do you have the funds for your filming?"

Hearing this, Lin Zhaomei smiled and, without trying to hide anything, said directly, "It was my dad who invested in me."

Obviously, there's nothing to hide. After all, Lin Zhaomei received over 100,000 NTD from Lin Youcheng for her short film "Destiny," so naturally, her father, Lin Youcheng, would support her in making a feature film.

Otherwise, why would other film companies invest in a feature film by a college student like Lin Zhaomei? Of course, it's not impossible, since Lin Zhaomei has won awards at the Berlin Film Festival, but even if they did invest, they might not have enough funds.

When Section Chief Jia heard Lin Zhaomei's words, he felt that it was indeed true and felt a little envious. She still had a good father!

However, Director Jia also knew that Lin Zhaomei had good filming skills and was very talented. Otherwise, how could her first short film have won an award at the Berlin Film Festival? Moreover, the two-part film structure was quite novel and unique.

"So, do you have your script yet?"

Lin Zhaomei smiled and nodded, making no attempt to hide anything, and said directly, "It's a movie script my dad wrote for me."

Well, once those words are spoken, it'll just spark more envy, jealousy, and resentment!
Section Chief Jia stared wide-eyed at Lin Zhaomei. Although he knew Lin Zhaomei didn't need to worry about filming funds, he still didn't expect that it was Lin Youcheng who wrote the movie script for Lin Zhaomei.

This is really too much!

Well, Section Chief Jia was purely jealous.

It was actually written by Lin Youcheng!
This is so unsportsmanlike!
I'm so envious!

More than the funding for the filming, Section Chief Jia envied Lin Zhaomei's film script. If he could, he would also like to collaborate with Lin Youcheng!
It's fair to say that the news that Lin Youcheng wrote the screenplay for Lin Zhaomei really caused a stir at the entire Beijing Film Academy. It wasn't too surprising that Lin Zhaomei, a directing student, was going to make a feature film, but the most surprising news was that the screenplay for the film she was going to make was written by her father, Lin Youcheng. This was truly something to look forward to and get excited about.

You have to understand, that's Lin Youcheng!

Countless domestic film directors want to collaborate with Lin Youcheng, but it's clear that it's not that easy. Look at the directors Lin Youcheng is collaborating with now: besides Hollywood film companies, there are Chen Aige, Hou Xiaoxian, Li Shaohong, and recently, director Li An.

It's fair to say that getting Lin Youcheng to write a script usually requires either a very high price, like in Hollywood, or the involvement of a top director. But now, this internationally renowned screenwriter, Lin Youcheng, has written a film script for Lin Zhaomei. How could this not surprise the teachers and students of the film academy?

That's right, it's a teacher-student relationship. Even many teachers at the film academy are very curious about what kind of script Lin Youcheng wrote for Lin Zhaomei this time.

It's worth noting that Lin Youcheng primarily wrote television scripts in China, with very few film scripts. Most of his film scripts were collaborations with Hollywood film companies, and original film scripts from China are now extremely rare.

Li An's novel "Strange Tales of the Human World" was adapted from Lin Youcheng's novel of the same name. The earlier film script was probably the movie "Love" which was directed by Hou Xiaoxian.

The script for that movie, "Amour," was quite brilliant, and the film even won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival.

Now that Lin Youcheng has written a feature film script for his daughter, how could this not arouse curiosity and anticipation among many people?

Obviously, the movie script Lin Youcheng wrote for his daughter could not be a simple story. After all, the stories in Lin Youcheng's previous scripts were quite amazing, and this time it is his daughter's first feature film.

That's definitely going to be good!

Lin Youcheng is especially noteworthy as he is China's top screenwriter, having won two Academy Awards.

After all, who would dare to imagine that a screenwriter who has won two Academy Awards for Best Original Screenplay would write a screenplay for a directing student who hasn't even graduated yet?
This is truly unimaginable!
If this news were to spread, probably no one would believe it, but it is now undeniably true.

There was no other reason; it was simply because this student was the screenwriter's daughter. (End of Chapter)