Writer 1978: I Need to Give the Literary World a Lesson

Chapter 548 Zhu Lin: Long time no see, how rare!
Liu Yimin hung up the phone, made a face at the two little ones' expectant eyes, and continued to play with them in the study.

Liu Yimin used a tape measure to draw a height chart on the wall of the study, and then measured the heights of Liu Lin and Liu Yu in turn, recording the height data on the wall.

The two will soon be three years old. Liu Lin is 81 centimeters tall and weighs 35 kilograms. Liu Yu is 73 centimeters tall and weighs 29 kilograms.

"Dad, I'm so tall, how come my brother is so tall?" Liu Yu said in a childish voice as she stood on tiptoe and touched the numbers on the wall.

"Come on, stand still, let Daddy take another look." Liu Yimin squatted down in front of the two children and carefully examined them.

Because of the heating at home, Liu Yu and Liu Lin wore clothes made of a pajama-like material, which were loose, soft, and clinging to their bodies.

Liu Yu has a head of fluffy short hair, which Zhu Lin thinks is neat and beautiful. Long hair is easy to compete with the body for nutrients, and food will also get on the hair when eating.

She has big, dark, and bright eyes. When she's being mischievous, she strains her eyebrows and eyes together, and the corners of her mouth turn up. You can tell what she's up to at a glance.

Compared to Liu Yu's mischievousness, Liu Lin was slightly more well-behaved, but only relatively speaking, and he tended to become increasingly naughty.

Liu Lin was much more well-behaved when Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin were home, but Liu Yu was different; she became much more mischievous.

Liu Lin was wearing overalls, and her chubby face sank down. Liu Yimin pinched her little cheek: "You didn't bully your little sister, did you?"

Liu Lin quickly shook his head. Upon hearing this, Liu Yu raised her eyebrows and secretly moved closer to Liu Yimin, saying something indistinctly, which Liu Yimin didn't hear clearly.

Just then, Zhu Lin returned and took Liu Yu and Liu Lin's little hands, saying, "Come on, let's go out and play. Daddy is tired, let Daddy rest for a while."

Zhu Lin winked at Liu Yimin, who then stood up and yawned. He was indeed sleepy and hadn't adjusted to the time difference yet.

As dusk fell, Ximei brought the steaming hot food to the table, and Zhu Lin handed Liu Yimin a pair of chopsticks: "Teacher Liu, eat quickly, and then go to sleep!"

"Okay, have you been doing alright at home these past few days?" Liu Yimin asked.

Zhu Lin said with a smile, "What could possibly happen? Nothing, don't worry. The two little ones don't cry or fuss when you're not around."

A table full of fragrant food, but Liu Yimin was a little sleepy and didn't have much of an appetite. He quickly ate a few bites to fill his stomach before taking a shower and going to bed.

Xi Mei looked at Zhu Lin and asked worriedly, "Sister Lin, is it because my cooking is too bad?"

"Ximei, don't overthink it. Teacher Liu is just too tired. I'll put the food in his bowl and leave it for him. If he gets hungry tonight, I'll get up and heat it up for him," Zhu Lin said.

"Okay, I'll go find a clean plate."

Xi Mei got up and went to the kitchen, where she served the food, covered it with something, and set it aside.

Liu Yimin took a hot shower and felt a little better, but as soon as he entered the bedroom, he was overcome with sleepiness and could barely keep his eyes open.

Lying on the bed, with his body in a "本" shape, he stretched his muscles as much as he could, let out a comfortable groan, and then closed his eyes.

While Liu Yimin was sleeping, Zhu Lin was not sleeping. Instead, she was holding Liu Yu and Liu Lin in the study, looking at the things or documents that Liu Yimin had brought back from the United States.

At ten o'clock, Zhu Lin rubbed his temples and put Liu Yu down: "Go find Aunt Ximei and get ready for bed!"

The two little ones wanted to watch more, so Zhu Lin indulgently pulled them along for another half hour. Xi Mei came in and told them to go to bed.

"Go on!" After the two little ones returned to their room, Zhu Lin got up, stretched, took a shower, and went into the room. Seeing Liu Yimin fast asleep, she smiled happily.

He lifted the covers and saw that Liu Yimin was still fast asleep. He turned off the light, crawled into bed, and hugged Liu Yimin's shoulders as he slowly fell asleep.

At seven o'clock in the morning, Liu Yimin woke up and turned over, waking Zhu Lin, who was next to him.

Zhu Lin rubbed his eyes and murmured sleepily, "What time is it? Teacher Liu, are you hungry? There's food in the kitchen, I'll go heat it up for you."

Liu Yimin pressed her down, and could already hear Ximei bustling around in the living room outside. He picked up his watch from the bedside and glanced at it: "No need, it's seven o'clock. If you're sleepy, go back to sleep."

"It's seven o'clock?" Zhu Lin looked out the window. "It's so dark?"

Liu Yimin patted her shoulder and laughed, "It's winter, it gets light late, and besides, the curtains are mostly drawn."

Zhu Lin rubbed his face and tidied his hair back: "I was still half asleep. My first thought was that you were hungry in the middle of the night. Teacher Liu, you didn't wake up in the middle of the night?"

"I'm too sleepy, I haven't woken up yet, I haven't even gone to the bathroom." Liu Yimin put on his clothes and walked to the window, gently pulling back a corner of the curtains. The gray sky outside was gradually brightening.

After Zhu Lin got up, Liu Yimin drew all the curtains open and opened the windows to let in fresh air. As soon as the windows were opened, a rush of cold air rushed in. After leaving the room, he closed the door to prevent the cold air from blowing into the living room.

"Professor Liu, Sister Lin, the eggs are cooked, but the vegetables will take a little while longer."

Zhu Lin washed his hands first: "Teacher Liu, you go wash up first, I'll peel an egg for you, you must be starving."

"It's alright!" Liu Yimin said, but his stomach rumbled loudly as soon as he finished speaking.

Zhu Lin smiled and patted Liu Yimin's butt: "Hurry up and brush your teeth, don't just stand there."

After washing up, Zhu Lin had already peeled the eggs and placed them on a plate, while the millet porridge beside them was steaming. Because he had slept for more than ten hours straight, Liu Yimin was in exceptionally good spirits.

Liu Yimin took a small bite of the egg, and seeing Zhu Lin staring at him, he burst out laughing, "Why are you looking at me like that? Is there something on your face?"

Zhu Lin chuckled: "Teacher Liu has flowers on her face! It's been so long since I've seen that, it's a rare sight!"

Xi Mei, who was busy in the kitchen, quickly shut her ears. How could she listen to such words? However, when she poured the food into the plate, she subconsciously glanced behind her.

Liu Yimin raised his eyebrows at Zhu Lin and mouthed "evening." Zhu Lin quickly glanced at Xi Mei, afraid of being seen. Seeing Xi Mei serving the dishes with a normal expression, Zhu Lin blushed and got up to wake the two little ones.

"Sister Lin, let me do it. You eat first, you have to go to work later," Xi Mei said hurriedly.

"Okay." Zhu Lin stopped and sat down again, preparing to eat.

When Ximei entered the bedroom, Zhu Lin glared at Liu Yimin, telling him to watch his behavior and not be too presumptuous.

"Hehe, the eggs Zhu Lin peels are so delicious." Liu Yimin chuckled, telling Zhu Lin to eat slowly and not to rush, as he would drive her to work today.

Seeing that Zhu Lin was about to refuse, Liu Yimin said, "It's so cold outside, riding a motorcycle is too cold. It will take a long time to warm your hands up when we get to the People's Art Theatre. Look, your hands have been chapped by the wind after a while." Upon hearing this, Zhu Lin quickly touched the back of his hands and, seeing that they were smooth as before, said, "It's not as scary as you say, but since Teacher Liu is willing to give me a ride, I'll enjoy it this time."

After Liu Yu and Liu Lin got up, Liu Yimin and Zhu Lin had almost finished eating. Zhu Lin straightened the two little ones' clothes and said gently, "Mommy is going to work. You two have to listen to Aunt Ximei at home."

Liu Yu and Liu Lin nodded, pointed to Liu Yimin who was about to leave, and Liu Yimin said, "I'll take your mother to work."

Xi Mei said, "Come on, let's see who eats the best."

Zhu Lin and Liu Yimin walked out of the house with smiles, waving to the two little ones as they closed the door.

As they went down the stairs, Zhu Lin smiled and took Liu Yimin's hand, telling him about what had happened at home recently, mainly about Liu Yu and Liu Lin's mischievous antics, or how the two of them had fought over a toy in the living room.

"The two of them were crying their eyes out, and Ximei couldn't control them at all. Helpless, she could only call me. When I got back, they were both exhausted from crying and were lying on the sofa with red eyes, not moving at all." After Zhu Lin finished speaking, he couldn't help but burst into laughter again.

"Haha, you've had a tough time. The two little ones are just starting to get mischievous. Liu Lin is alright, but I really can't bear to deal with Liu Yu," Liu Yimin said helplessly.

“My mom said that’s how all dads are. When I was little, if I suffered even the slightest grievance, my dad would be heartbroken.”

Liu Yimin started the car and let it warm up for a while before driving towards the Beijing People's Art Theatre. On the way, Liu Yimin didn't forget to teach Zhu Lin how to drive.

"When starting the car, you must coordinate the brake and clutch properly. Use the key to start the engine, push the left and right forward to engage first gear, release the handbrake, and slowly accelerate, otherwise the car may stall. Pay special attention to the handbrake; release it when starting and engage it when stopping, otherwise the car may roll away," Liu Yimin patiently explained.

These days there aren't many proper driving schools, so it would be a hassle for Zhu Lin if he wanted to learn.

Zhu Lin listened attentively, but after a while he became confused by the clutch, accelerator, and brake.

"Teacher Liu, driving is really difficult."

Liu Yimin is not used to manual transmissions either, but one advantage of manual transmissions is that you can experience the driving pleasure when shifting gears.

"Take your time to learn. You're so smart, you'll definitely learn it."

Upon hearing this, Zhu Lin pursed her lips: "Teacher Liu, your words have become sweeter?"

"What does it mean to have a sweet mouth? It means you've always been this sweet, okay? Try it tonight if you don't believe me."

Zhu Lin reached out and grabbed Liu Yimin's thigh: "Be serious!"

Hearing Zhu Lin's tone, Liu Yimin could no longer be serious. He parked the car in the courtyard of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, and many actors came over to greet him.

"Good morning, everyone, hurry up and get to work!" Liu Yimin said.

Zhu Lin got out of the car and awkwardly tossed her hair. She didn't want Liu Yimin to drive her because she felt everyone would be staring at her.

Liu Yimin took Zhu Lin's hand and walked into the Beijing People's Art Theatre building. Lan Tianye leaned over and asked, "How was your trip to America? Did it go well?"

"Not bad, the mission was successfully completed."

Su Min, holding the documents, leaned closer and said, "You could say that? We definitely exceeded our target. Yesterday, I saw that after Jia Bao received the call from the Ministry of Culture, he was all smiles, and the wrinkles on his face had lessened considerably."

"Old Su, if you keep making things up about Jia Bao Gong, I'll file a report against you in a bit." Lan Tianye laughed.

"Old Lan, you've said that quite often before."

When the two saw Yu Shizhi coming over, they quickly greeted him. Yu Shizhi is now basically the executive vice president of Beijing People's Art Theatre.

“Yimin, you look radiant. It seems you slept well last night. Jiabao has been talking about you lately. He'll be here soon, so you two can chat,” Yu Shizhi said cheerfully.

"Okay, you go ahead with your work, I'll wait in the teacher's office for a while."

Liu Yimin sat on the sofa in Cao Yu's office and casually picked up a book from the table. It was the same book, "A History of Chinese Spoken Drama." The last time he read it, it was a draft, but now it had been printed, and he estimated that drama students would be able to use it this summer.

After waiting in the office for a long time, Cao Yu slowly arrived at the Beijing People's Art Theatre. Seeing Liu Yimin's car, he knew he had arrived and quickened his pace upstairs.

Before he even stepped into the office, Cao Yu's laughter rang out: "Yimin, you did a good job this time."

"Teacher Wan, please take your time."

Seeing Liu Yimin stand up, Cao Yu pointed to the sofa and said, "Sit down, sit down. You did a good job with the China Film Group matter. How about your own matter?"

"It seems to be all settled. The contract has been reviewed by a professional lawyer, and a professional financial auditing team has been hired. There shouldn't be any major problems," Liu Yimin said with a smile.

"I had a cup of refreshing tea this morning, and Lao Shen told me about the China Film Group thing. It's not easy for this kind of film to make a box office hit worldwide. Lao Shen has analyzed art films from all over the world, and any art film that can gross over 40 million at the box office must be a classic film with a huge global influence," Cao Yu said with a smile.

Cao Yu also had many friends in the United States, and some of them, who knew that Liu Yimin was Cao Yu's student, sent back information about Liu Yimin's situation in the United States when they corresponded.

After sharing some of his experiences, Liu Yimin started chatting with Cao Yu about everyday things, such as Cao Yu's recent relationship with his teacher's wife. The atmosphere of their conversation was extremely relaxed, with them exchanging pleasantries. When Cao Yu mentioned that his teacher's wife, Li Yuru, was too strict with him, he asked Liu Yimin to put in a good word for him.

“Teacher, your wife is doing this for your own good,” Liu Yimin said cheerfully.

Cao Yu said wistfully, "I can't even sit in the study a little longer at night; I have to go to bed before ten. You know, we're all writers, and inspiration can come at any time!"

"You should write this down first, and then write it during the day. Your health is the most important thing; if you're not healthy, you can't keep creating," Liu Yimin advised.

Cao Yu tapped the armrest of the chair helplessly: "You and your master's wife are on the same side now. I thought you understood me!"

"Of course I understand you, but I also understand my teacher's wife!"

"You really are a master at smoothing things over," Cao Yu said helplessly.

Liu Yimin chatted with Cao Yu for a long time. When he got tired of sitting in the office, he went for a walk in the yard. It had been a long time since the two had such a pleasant conversation.

Standing in the cold wind, Cao Yu was in high spirits. The actors and directors of the Beijing People's Art Theatre, seeing the two of them, all felt that something was off about them, going out to suffer in the dead of winter.

(End of this chapter)