Huayu: Returned Overseas Chinese

As Lin Dan spoke, Chen Jingming took careful notes. His notebook was already filled with dense notes, all of which were business districts in first- and second-tier cities in China, or addresses of properties under negotiation.

After Lin Dan finished speaking, Chen Jingming looked at the questions he had marked on his notebook and asked directly, "Mr. Lin, according to your plan, how many screens will we have after we complete the entire installation?"

Upon hearing this, Lin Dan put down his teacup and smiled, gesturing to a middle-aged man diagonally opposite him. The middle-aged man understood, opened his notebook, and stood up.

"Mr. Chen, hello. I am Zhao Lei, the company's financial director. Let me introduce myself to you in detail."

"According to our plan, we expect to invest a total of one billion RMB in the cinema industry, including building our own cinemas and acquiring and renovating projects. Once completed, we will have approximately two hundred screens. According to the company's estimates, this scale is expected to account for about 10% of the national market."

Upon hearing this, Chen Jingming lowered his head to take notes in his notebook, then asked, "Approximately how long will it take to complete both the self-construction and the acquisition and renovation?"

"The company's forecasting department predicts a timeframe of eighteen months," Zhao Lei said after finding the relevant records.

Upon hearing "eighteen months," Chen Jingming jotted it down in his notebook. He thought the timeframe was acceptable; after all, self-built projects couldn't be rushed, and he understood that.

"The scriptwriting team will stay; everyone else can leave now," Chen Jingming said with a smile as he closed his notebook.

Upon hearing this, everyone got up and left, except for a woman in her early thirties who remained seated.

Once only three people remained in the conference room, Chen Jingming smiled and said, "Let's start by introducing ourselves."

"Hello, Mr. Chen, I am Yang Jie, the head of the scriptwriting department." Yang Jie stood up and said to Chen Jingming with a smile.

"Hello, Ms. Yang. The scriptwriting department is the department I value most. The quality of a script is the foundation of our film and television company. So next, you need to hurry up and recruit people to build a scriptwriting team. Let's start with fifty people and expand as needed. Try writing a few scripts first." Chen Jingming waved his hand, gesturing for Yang Jie to sit down.

"President Chen, we already have over a dozen colleagues on staff, and we're recruiting others gradually. We've also started brainstorming for the script. But there's one thing I'd like to ask you about," Yang Jie said, opening the notebook on her desk and looking at the key points she had written down.

"Tell me, what's the problem?" Chen Jingming asked directly. Yang Jie continued, "Regarding the copyright issue, should we write the entire script ourselves, or can we acquire the copyrights of existing novels or scripts?"

"Of course we can buy it back. I haven't had a chance to talk to President Lin about this yet. Copyright-related matters need to be handled by a dedicated department, as there are many issues involved. If your screenwriting department comes across a good novel or IP, you can also notify the copyright department to negotiate," Chen Jingming explained with a smile.

Yang Jie nodded upon hearing this, then closed the notebook, looked at Chen Jingming, and indicated that she had no further questions.

Seeing this, Lin Dan waved his hand, and Yang Jie immediately stood up, nodded to the two of them, and then walked out.

"How do you plan to set up the copyright department? It's not a small department, and it costs money like water," Lin Dan whispered after Yang Jie left.

"I'm not afraid of spending money, I'm afraid of spending it unwisely, and even more afraid of someone colluding with us to embezzle company assets. Don't we still have about 600 million left? Let's take out 100 million and allocate it to the copyright department. This is our company's greatest asset, so don't be stingy with spending it. If it's not enough, I can inject capital at any time," Chen Jingming said decisively. He knew that in the future, having a rich copyright library would be the real gold mine for a film and television company.

Lin Dan nodded, realizing that only a film and television company with a high-quality copyright library could truly have a voice in the industry in the future.

"That's enough for today, I'm heading back now." Chen Jingming put the notebook into his briefcase and said to Lin Dan with a smile.

"Aren't you going to check out your office?" Lin Dan stood up and walked out side by side with Chen Jingming, asking casually.

"Maybe next time. Besides, I won't need it, and school starts soon." Chen Jingming shook his head and gestured for Lin Dan to see him to the elevator. Stepping into the elevator, Chen Jingming finally breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, it was his first time holding a meeting with so many people, and he was still a little nervous.

After leaving the China World Trade Center and getting into the car, Chen Jingming said "Back to the hotel" and then closed his eyes.

He had only been resting for a short while when his phone rang. Chen Jingming frowned as he looked at the unfamiliar number, but answered it anyway.

"Hello, who is this?"

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Chen Jingming? We are from the Jiangsu Provincial Overseas Chinese Affairs Office," a young woman's voice came from inside.

Chen Jingming was taken aback upon hearing this, then said, "I am Chen Jingming. May I ask what business you have with me?"

"Hello Mr. Chen. Three months ago, you submitted an application at the Chinese Embassy in the United States to return to China to find your relatives. After three months of investigation, we have found your hometown, where you still have relatives. We only learned that you had already returned to China when we notified the Overseas Chinese Affairs Office, so we apologize for bothering you." The young woman spoke slowly but clearly, explaining the situation.

Chen Jingming then remembered that when his grandfather, Chen Yueshan, passed away, he had instructed him to return to his roots, so he submitted an application at the embassy. In his busy schedule, he had completely forgotten about it.

"Thank you. I'm starting school soon, I'll contact you again during the National Day holiday," Chen Jingming said politely. The young woman wrote down her contact information in her notebook before hanging up.

Hearing the busy tone on the receiver, Chen Jingming smiled and shook his head, then closed his eyes again to rest.

"Mr. Chen, we've arrived." A short while later, the car slowly came to a stop, and Xu Hu's voice came from behind. Chen Jingming opened his eyes wearily, rubbed them casually, and got out of the car.

Over the next few days, Chen Jingming explored Beijing, familiarizing himself with the streets. Before he knew it, it was September 3rd. That day, Chen Jingming dragged his luggage out of the New Century Hotel and headed towards the Beijing Film Academy.

Banners welcoming new students have already been hung at the entrance of the Beijing Film Academy. Chen Jingming slowly approached, dragging his suitcase. Dressed casually, he was not conspicuous in the crowd.

He found the registration desk for the Department of Public Administration, where there was only a small table with a girl wearing glasses sitting there.

"Hello, I'm a freshman in Public Administration from the class of 2000. Is this where I register?" Chen Jingming asked with a smile.

"Yes, I'm from the class of '99. You can just call me senior sister." The girl didn't give her name, and Chen Jingming nodded without asking any further questions.

After writing his name in the registration book and receiving his dormitory room number, he walked into the campus.

Walking through the school gate and taking a casual stroll, Chen Jingming discovered that the Beijing Film Academy was indeed not very large these days. It was less than the size of ten standard football fields, and there weren't many buildings. At a glance, there was only one main teaching building, a performance building, an art building, a library, and an office building—you could count them on one hand.

Arriving at dormitory building number one, Chen Jingming went inside and glanced down at the room number—303. He walked up the stairs to the third floor, counted the third room, and gently knocked on the door.