Chapter 397: Burning
Nowadays, there are Chinese students studying abroad, not only in Europe and the United States, but in almost all developed countries. The vast majority of these people have never thought about returning to China.
With such a rich material life, who would be willing to go back to their home country and eat coarse food?
But in fact, most of these people lived a life of luxury before going abroad, but they became unhappy after coming abroad.
For example, Cheng Danqing, who did not know English in the college entrance examination, was admitted to the university as an exception. At a young age, he created the "XZ Series", which was the most popular painting in the domestic painting world in the past few years.
But I couldn't let it go and insisted on studying abroad, and ended up being a mixed bag. I neither had the spirit I had when I was painting the "XZ Series" in China, nor did I learn the essence of Western painting. I became just like everyone else.
His experience is almost a replica of most people who study abroad in this era.
But even if these people don't do well abroad, they will still be treated as guests of honor when they return to China.
Therefore, it is not accurate to say that people would have to eat coarse food if they returned to China. It was just that the material conditions were not as convenient and abundant as those in the West today, but life was still much better than that of most Chinese people.
Although Lin Weimin acted calm during today's meeting, these people's behavior still made him feel a little uneasy.
This feeling is very contradictory. On the one hand, I understand their consideration of material needs, but on the other hand, I despise their spinelessness.
After returning to the apartment, he lay in bed until midnight, but couldn't fall asleep, so he got up and went to the desk.
Lin Weimin had no intention of criticizing the behavior of these people, but he felt that he should criticize something.
Who to criticize?
Of course it’s capitalism that caused all this!
With motivation, the words in my mind are like the rising tide, surging towards the shore.
The next day, at the Barrymore Theatre.
Arthur Miller looked at Lin Weimin yawning repeatedly and asked, "Lin, where have you been hanging out lately?"
"Slander! Arthur, you are slandering me. There is no good young man as honest as me in the whole United States."
During these two months, they met almost every day, and Lin Weimin and Arthur Miller became more familiar with each other and had no scruples when joking with each other.
"Come on. The front desk clerk at the apartment told me..." Arthur Miller lied.
How could Lin Weimin not know his tricks? He has done nothing wrong and is not afraid of ghosts knocking on his door.
"Put away your tricks, Arthur. I have nothing to fear if I am innocent." Lin Weimin said sternly.
Seeing how confident he was, Arthur Miller couldn't help but ask, "What's the matter with your drug-like behavior?"
"I'm writing a new novel!" Lin Weimin explained.
Arthur Miller exclaimed: "When I was young like you, I had so much inspiration!"
"Come on. You've only written a dozen or so plays in your entire life. If I were you, I would have just banged my head against the wall and died!" Lin Weimin said sarcastically.
Arthur Miller glared at him, "You young boy, won't you get old in the future?"
Lin Weimin counted on his fingers and said, "It seems like I still have nearly fifty years to go before I'm as old as you!"
Arthur Miller was silent and stared at Lin Weimin for a long time. "Damn it! Damn genius!"
"Thank you for the compliment!" Lin Weimin replied shamelessly.
After joking for a while, the two got down to business.
The script of "The Kite Runner" has been out for twenty days. The first four acts have been polished, and the last four acts will be almost finished in a week or two. Arthur Miller is preparing to prepare the crew.
"Are you really not going to stay a little longer? Staying on Broadway to witness the premiere of The Kite Runner would be a good choice!"
"No. I've been out for a long time and I miss home a little." Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Arthur Miller shook his head. "Lin, you really don't look like a young man!"
He sighed and said: "There are very few young people who can resist the prosperity of New York."
"But this is not their home after all. New York's legs are only open to the rich!"
Arthur Miller said, "But you seem to be a rich man!"
“Although I have some money, I would rather waste my youth on the land I love.”
Arthur Miller stared at Lin Weimin and suddenly became serious, "Lin, you are a patriot!"
Lin Weimin blinked at Arthur Miller and said, "You speak as if you are not the same."
After they finished talking, they smiled knowingly.
The crew of The Kite Runner was about to select actors, and Arthur Miller asked Lin Weimin for his opinion. He said, "Everything can be done according to your ideas. However, please leave two roles for me."
"One is for Jack and the other one is for whom?" Arthur Miller asked ambiguously.
"I'm really afraid that when I reach your age, I'll be as gossipy as you!" Lin Weimin teased.
Arthur Miller spread his hands and said, "Lin, we will eventually become what we hate!"
In the play "The Kite Runner", the important roles are almost all played by men. There are very few female characters and they don't have many parts.
Lin Weimin wanted a role, and Arthur Miller agreed without hesitation.
In the next few days, Lin Weimin spent most of his daytime communicating with Arthur Miller about the script of "The Kite Runner" and various issues concerning the crew.
At night, he stays in his apartment and writes his new novel.
In a blink of an eye, it was the end of June, and it was time for Lin Weimin to return.
Early that morning, Arthur Miller and his wife and Huang Guangsheng drove him to the airport, but they used two cars because they had to bring too many things, mainly books.
There are so many second-hand bookstores in New York and the rich resources that people like Lin Weimin who work in the literature feel like they have entered a treasure trove. It would be a pity if they didn't take some away with them when they leave.
In addition to these books, there were also a bunch of gifts.
When I arrived at the airport, I had to check in my stuff because I had so much stuff, which cost me a few hundred dollars more.
After completing all the check-in procedures, there was still half an hour before the plane took off and the broadcasting was already calling on passengers to board the plane.
Lin Weimin took out a manuscript from his bag and handed it to Arthur Miller.
"The typewriter in the apartment is really cool, but it's a pity that it can't print Chinese characters!" Lin Weimin said with a smile.
Arthur Miller stroked the cover of the manuscript. "Is this the novel you have been writing?"
"That's right!" Lin Weimin nodded.
Arthur Miller looked at the title "Burning" on the cover and thought, "I wonder what kind of story it is!"
"Go back and read it. But remember not to spread it outside, it hasn't been published yet!"
Arthur Miller said unhappily: "Who do you take me for?"
Lin Weimin gave him a look that hurt Comrade Lao Mi very much.
Lin Weimin bids farewell to Arthur Miller and his wife, and Huang Guangsheng.
"Goodbye, Old Mi!" Lin Weimin hugged Arthur Miller.
During this visit to the United States, Arthur Miller took exceptionally thoughtful and considerate care of him, making Lin Weimin very comfortable during his two-month stay in New York.
"I hope the next meeting won't be too late!"
After saying goodbye, Lin Weimin boarded the plane with his suitcase.
Comrade Lao Mi was very particular and booked a business class ticket for him.
Lin Weimin's seat was by the window. Just before takeoff, he glanced at the terminal not far away.
Overall, my time in the United States was pleasant.
He finished the script of "The Kite Runner", had some fun eating and drinking in New York, made some connections, invested in "The Phantom of the Opera", and finally wrote his novel "Burning".
There is a typewriter in Dakota's apartment, which Lin Weimin used very easily when he wrote the script for "The Kite Runner".
This time when he wrote "Burning", he directly made a bilingual version, which was the printed English version of the manuscript that he gave to Arthur Miller. Because he had a typewriter, he could write it very quickly.
The Chinese version of "Burning" is a bit slower and has not been finished yet.
In addition to the copy of the English version of "Burning" given to Lao Mi, a printed copy was also mailed to Qiao Sen yesterday.
Since it is a book criticizing capitalism, it cannot be published only in the country. It also needs to be published in the US.
While Lin Weimin was daydreaming, the plane took off.
After more than ten hours, the plane arrived in Hong Kong and needed to stay here for one night.
Lin Weimin and his group of passengers took the airport bus to a nearby hotel, where they would stay for one night before flying to Yanjing.
After arriving at the hotel, Lin Weimin planned to go out for dinner. He found a tea restaurant, and the TV in the restaurant was actually playing "The Female Doctor".
It seems that the TVB said it would be broadcast in June, so CCTV should also be broadcasting it at this time.
Lin Weimin watched the episode with great interest. Although the dialogues were all in Cantonese, it did not stop him from enjoying the plot. He wrote the scripts, so he naturally knew the plot very well.
The investment scale of "Legend of Female Doctor" is huge, the entire process is shot on location, the script is solid, and the final film effect is also very good. It is at least one dimension higher than the current production standards of wireless TV stations.
While eating in the tea restaurant, many diners also stare at the TV with full concentration.
After finishing his meal, Lin Weimin chatted with his boss. He pointed at the TV and asked, "Boss, this TV series is pretty good. It's rare to see such realistic styles on Hong Kong TV stations!"
When the boss heard his accent, he said, "You're from the mainland, right? It's said that TVB boss Shao spent 10 million yuan to make this drama, real money. It's nothing like the old TV dramas, where the sets were so fake!"
When promoting "The Female Doctor", TVB deliberately avoided mainland factors and only mentioned the real-life shooting.
"How are the ratings?" Lin Weimin asked again.
"I don't know. I've never paid attention to it, but my neighbors are all watching this TV series."
The boss's answer brought a satisfied smile to Lin Weimin's face.
It seems that the ratings of "The Female Doctor" in Hong Kong should be good.
After dinner, I went back to the hotel to take a nap before boarding the plane again.
After a few more hours, the plane finally landed at the Capital Airport.
When he stepped on the land of Yanjing again, Lin Weimin felt a long-lost sense of intimacy in his heart.
Unconsciously, the city of Yanjing has become a place like home in his heart.
Unfortunately, before Teacher Lin could fully express his excitement of returning home, he was awakened by the cold reality.
"Comrade, there is no need to check each book one by one, right? These are all books on literature and art, and there is no sensitive content." Lin Weimin said helplessly to the customs officer.
Lin Weimin was helpless. He brought back very few books from his last trip to Hong Kong. When he passed the customs, he just flipped through a few and was let through.
This time when we came back from New York, things were different. There were hundreds of books, and the workload for the customs comrades was quite heavy!
Fortunately, they were flexible and directly transferred seven or eight people to speed up efficiency.
"Open this box and take a look!"
Lin Weimin opened the box, revealing a machine with a white shell.
"What's this?"
"Comrade, this is a laptop computer for office use."
"Laptop?" The customs officer looked at the casing of Toshiba T1000.
"It's a portable microcomputer." Lin Weimin explained.
Customs officers have certainly seen microcomputers, or computers, but they are unfamiliar with laptops, which were only introduced last year.
The customs officer checked the notebook for a while and found nothing special, so he asked Lin Weimin to put it back.
After being stuck at the airport for more than two hours, Lin Weimin finally passed through customs smoothly.
Next he had to face another problem: how to bring so much luggage home.
Teacher Lin suddenly had an idea and, speaking in authentic New York English, hailed two Crown taxis.
The driver took a look and said, "Oh! It's a returned overseas Chinese!"
He was very enthusiastic and helped Lin Weimin load all the things into the car without saying a word.
When we arrived at the Shichahai courtyard, the driver enthusiastically moved all our things down.
Lin Weimin happily paid the fare, "Thank you, master!"
After saying this, he went into the yard.
The two taxi drivers, holding the tickets, looked at Lin Weimin's back, feeling mixed emotions.
You are a Yanjing bumpkin, why are you pretending to be a returned overseas Chinese?
he~tui!
(End of this chapter)
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