Huayu: Returned Overseas Chinese

Upon hearing Aunt Lin's words, a hint of melancholy flashed in Chen Jingming's eyes, and he nodded.

Aunt Lin also noticed Chen Jingming's gaze. Although she didn't know why he was like that, she didn't intend to get to know Chen Jingming better. After all, she hadn't been able to empathize with her son's situation in this life through Chen Jingming.

The car came to a smooth stop at the entrance of the film studio. Chen Jingming and the other two got out, and Aunt Lin said goodbye and left. Xu Hu stood to the side, watching Chen Jingming gaze at Aunt Lin's departing figure for a long time. A hint of suspicion flashed in his eyes. After hesitating for a moment, he still spoke softly:

"Mr. Chen, what about Aunt Lin...?"

Before Xu Hu could finish speaking, Chen Jingming waved his hand, interrupting him, and then said:

"Keep an eye on it. If anything happens, tell me immediately, but don't let her find out."

Xu Hu nodded. After giving Xu Hu his instructions, Chen Jingming composed himself, sighed inwardly, and walked alone into the film studio.

The completion of the film and television city in early 2002 spurred development in the surrounding area. With the Lunar New Year approaching, many people who had early holidays brought their families to visit.

Along the way, people kept greeting Chen Jingming, most of them were villagers from the original Chenjia Village, and they were already very familiar with each other. The villagers got along well, and the atmosphere along the way was relaxed and harmonious. He strolled leisurely along the street, observing the daily operation of the park.

After strolling around for a while, I found the scenic area to be well-ordered, with no instances of tourists being cheated or overcharged. There were also spontaneously organized patrol teams on the streets, their members wearing red armbands, which genuinely reassured visitors.

After touring for a long time, Chen Jingming's legs gradually became tired. He happened to see the park's shuttle bus, so he and Xu Hu took the bus together and went directly to the hotel inside the park.

As soon as they entered the lobby, they saw Zhang Jiandong and Sha Jing sitting in the waiting area, talking quietly. Chen Jingming led Xu Hu over.

"Director Zhang, President Sha, what are you talking about?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiandong and Sha Jing immediately turned to look at Chen Jingming. Zhang Jiandong smiled and said:

"I'm chatting with Director Sha about the fun things that happened during filming. Director Chen, the filming locations here were all finalized yesterday. When are we heading back to the capital?"

"Let's do it tomorrow then, since we'll be coming back in a few days anyway."

Chen Jingming thought for a moment and responded with a smile.

Zhang Jiandong nodded upon hearing this. Seeing that the two had finalized their itinerary, Sha Jing immediately asked:

"Mr. Chen, how about we hold an annual meeting at this branch office?"

Chen Jingming was taken aback upon hearing this, then fell into deep thought, and after a long while, he finally spoke:

"If you were to hold an annual meeting, how would you plan to arrange it?"

"Mr. Chen, if we're going to hold this event, how about we set up a stage and put on a grand opera for several days in a row?"

Sha Jing blurted out, clearly having already come up with a well-thought-out plan.

Chen Jingming nodded upon hearing this: "Okay, then let's have a traditional opera performance, which will fit the local atmosphere."

Sha Jing nodded in response.

Chen Jingming looked somewhat tired. Seeing that the two had nothing else to discuss, he slowly began to speak:

"I'm going back to rest now. I had a high fever last night and I'm still a bit weak."

"Mr. Chen, are you alright?"

Zhang Jiandong and Sha Jing immediately stood up, their faces full of concern as they inquired. Neither of them knew that Chen Jingming had not stayed overnight.

"It's alright, I've already had an IV drip. You two can continue chatting."

Chen Jingming waved his hand gently in response, then nodded to the two of them before turning and leaving.

......

The night passed in the blink of an eye. The next day, on the plane back to the capital, Chen Jingming took his medicine and rested with his eyes closed for a while. He slowly woke up about forty minutes before the plane landed.

He got up and went to the restroom to wash up quickly. When he returned, he saw Zhang Jiandong bent over, carefully sketching on a piece of paper. Out of curiosity, Chen Jingming walked over slowly and looked at it closely.

"Director Zhang, is this the storyboard?"

Looking at the simple little figures in the drawing, accompanied by clear scene annotations, Chen Jingming asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiandong put down his pen, stretched his aching wrist, and then handed the storyboard on the table to Chen Jingming, saying with a smile:

"Take a look, how's the drawing? Does it match the image in your mind?"

Chen Jingming casually flipped through a few pages. Many of the images on the paper overlapped with classic scenes deeply etched in his memory, so he jokingly said:

"Director Zhang, do all directors have excellent drawing skills?"

Zhang Jiandong chuckled upon hearing this, then waved his hand and explained:

"My drawing skills are pretty good; I've received formal, systematic training. Don't go around saying things like that, or people will laugh at you. Especially Jiang Wen, whose unique stick figure style is well-known in the art world."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingming thought for a moment and immediately understood. In later years, Jiang Wen's hand-drawn storyboard drafts had also circulated on the internet. The style was extremely minimalist, and it was estimated that only he himself could understand them.

The two chatted and laughed all the way, passing the time on their journey. Soon, the plane landed smoothly at Beijing Capital International Airport. After disembarking, the two went straight back to school without lingering.

Chen Jingming quietly slipped into the classroom through the back door and sat down next to Li Yang. Li Yang was looking down, rapidly typing on his phone, his expression focused. Chen Jingming peeked over and saw that he was secretly sending text messages.

He gently nudged Li Yang with his shoulder, and Li Yang immediately stopped, looked up, and smiled when he saw that it was Chen Jingming. He carefully observed the professor lecturing ahead and asked in a low voice:

"When did you get back?"

"You just got off the plane, what are you doing? Secretly texting your girlfriend?"

Chen Jingming lowered his voice and asked curiously.

Upon hearing this, Li Yang shook his head and handed his phone directly to Chen Jingming. Chen Jingming took it and flipped through it, finding it full of internet jokes and humorous anecdotes. He casually browsed a few, and just as he was about to speak, the bell rang precisely on time to signal the end of get out of class.

As soon as the professor left, the classroom instantly became lively. Chen Jingming and his dorm buddies stood up together, and he smiled as he made a suggestion:

"Hey guys, let's go out to eat, it's on me."

Everyone immediately cheered and the group walked out of the teaching building together.

Chen Jingming walked beside Li Yang, recalling the contents of his phone earlier, and casually asked:

"If you watch these jokes every day, do you need to pay for a subscription?"

Chen Jingming had a superficial understanding of the early SP business, but not an in-depth one.

Upon hearing this, Li Yang exchanged glances with Liu Tiejun and the others beside him, all revealing amused smiles. Li Yang leaned closer and whispered an explanation:

"The basic content does cost a bit of money, but there's a lot of other fresh and good stuff in there."

After saying that, he raised an eyebrow at Chen Jingming, looking mysterious.

Chen Jingming was completely bewildered and asked with a puzzled expression:

"What good stuff could make you all so excited?"

Li Yang quickly looked around to make sure no teachers or others were paying attention before lowering his voice and whispering:

"Have you heard of passionate voice chat? It's super popular among college students right now."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingming instantly realized. Wasn't this the online voice chat that was all the rage in later generations? He frowned and asked疑惑地问道:

"Is this too explicit? Won't it cross the legal line?"

"What are you thinking about?" Upon hearing this, Liu Tiejun raised his hand and lightly patted Chen Jingming's shoulder, then explained with a smile:

"Although it's called 'Passionate Chat,' there's absolutely no inappropriate content. It's just that the female customer service representatives there speak in an exceptionally soft and gentle voice, so soft it could melt your bones. You wouldn't believe it, but that kid Wang Hao just topped up his phone with 100 yuan yesterday and chatted for over an hour straight until his phone was disconnected."

"Is it really that interesting?" Chen Jingming asked with surprise.

In 2002, a year with limited entertainment options, this novel interactive service naturally became very popular among college students. No wonder people later said that the SP industry was extremely profitable; it turns out that the voice chat model had already quietly emerged in that era, only its presentation was completely different from what we see today.