Chapter Eighteen New Year

  The figure of the 80s suddenly disappeared, and the footsteps of the 90s quietly arrived. Ryan Jenkins was ten years old, but unfortunately, he knew for sure that he was born in 1980, but didn't know what specific day his birthday was. It's a pity to say that this is a very sad thing.

  After entering the 1990s, many major events occurred in the world. The situation in the Middle East suddenly became tense, and that hanging president seemed to be about to ignite a powder keg. The red empire had begun its sunset mode, and it was about to collapse. The drastic changes in Eastern Europe were unstoppable, and another huge market was about to open its doors wide for Hollywood movies.

  But all of this has nothing to do with him. What excites Ryan the most as he enters a new year is finally having a long holiday, and not having to go back to that damned school again.

  After filming "The Sixth Sense" and returning to school, Haley easily passed the test, but at first, Nicole was a bit of a disaster, just one week later, she was summoned by the principal, the old principal listed out a string of charges against Haley, not listening in class, not interacting with others, disrespecting teachers, always doing his own thing and never telling anyone what he was up to.

  If the old principal were fluent in Chinese, he would certainly use a phrase to describe Ryan's guilt - it's hard to write with a brush!

  "Miss Kidman, as your guardian, we hope you can have a good talk with Ryan Jenkins." These were the principal's words at that time.

  How could Nicole not know about Ryan's old antics, after all, when they were in London, she wasn't often invited to school by the principal, but what was giving her a headache was that she really didn't know how to solve it, Ryan's grades were all A's, except for liking to daydream and occasionally being absent-minded, in every aspect, even among children of higher age groups, he was the most outstanding.

  Sometimes, she wonders if she should let Ryan drop out of school and hire a private tutor for him, but thinking that the boy doesn't like to interact with his peers anyway, doing so would only make him more reclusive, and she quickly strangles this idea.

  "Dear Nate, congratulations on once again taking the stage at the community theater. Unfortunately, you are far away in New York and I won't be able to attend your performance. In your last letter, I disagreed with your views on art. In my opinion, all forms of art exist as entertainment before they become art. Art that cannot be accepted by the masses, no matter how rigorous, profound or meaningful it is, will only lead to its own demise. History has proven this point time and again. If possible, I would love to engage in a face-to-face debate with you..."

  After returning to Los Angeles from Philadelphia, Ryan and Natalie almost exchanged letters every week. Although they encouraged each other, they argued more often, especially about art, where their views were worlds apart. Each letter would express their own opinions in order to refute the other's.

  She stuffed the letter into an envelope and sealed it. Ryan heard the door open and assumed it was Nicole returning from her photo shoot.

  "Hey Nicole, you look a bit tired, want something to drink? Juice or coffee?"

  As Ryan walked into the living room, he saw that Nicole's face was etched with exhaustion and voluntarily went into the kitchen.

  "Juice is fine, I don't dare let you brew coffee again, otherwise the neighbors will definitely complain!"

  Upon hearing Nicole's words, Ryan's face was filled with black lines. Just after New Year's, he finally discovered his worst talent - cooking. The only time he actively tried to make coffee, he almost blew up the entire kitchen.

  "Alright." Ryan poured two glasses of strawberry juice and placed them on the coffee table in front of the sofa.

  "Ryan, how did you solve your lunch?" Nicole went to Malibu today and didn't come back at noon as the time was tight.

  "Takeout from Mr. Zhou's restaurant!"

  It turns out that Ah Tong Ge is also very meaningful. If it weren't for him, Ryan wouldn't have known about this authentic Chinese restaurant either.

  As for Ah Tong, he still hasn't given up on Nikki. After Christmas, he asked her out again. Unfortunately, Ryan answered the phone. The ruthless young man didn't hang up on him this time, but instead asked, "How's the feeling of washing your face with chili water, Tom Cruise?"

  "Nico, I just composed a new song today, want to give it a listen?"

  As time went on, Ryan's composition level improved very quickly, although he hadn't changed his voice yet, but his voice was much more mature than before, and the songs he sang were much more pleasant to listen to. The neighbors around him rarely came to find fault with him anymore, and many people even felt that listening to him sing was a pleasure.

  Nicole Kidman is also included.

  Ryan took out the handmade rosewood guitar from the room, sat on a high stool and strummed the strings, and the tinkling music sounded.

  This is a very simple song, with a style leaning towards popular country folk. After a brief prelude, Ryan's slightly childish voice rang out, "Life is like climbing, the road ahead is always full of obstacles, those who never give up, run forward with their heads held high, until they reach the highest and most beautiful place..."

  The lyrics are not long and a bit simple, but full of motivational flavor, combined with bright rhythm, giving people a positive feeling.

  "How are you feeling, Nicole?" Ryan looked at the icy beauty with anticipation.

  "Rye, you're increasingly surprising me." Although she had been numbed by Rye's performance over the years, Nicole Kidman couldn't help but sigh, "I understand music to some extent, and this song, although simple, has already reached a producible standard!"

  "Wow, it seems I'm really a genius!" This time, the image of the red-haired monkey did not appear.

  "Ryan, what I'm saying is that you're learning too many things. A person's energy is limited, are you going to be a singer in the future or something?"

  "Why not?" Ryan spread his hands and made a matter-of-course expression, and before Nicole could speak again, he preempted her by saying, "Nicole, I understand what you mean. The principle of biting off more than one can chew is something I'm aware of. Don't worry, I have enough time and energy."

  "Feel at ease? In the past month, I have been invited by the principal of St. John's Primary School to go to school three times, how can I feel at ease?"

  Life is like that, you can't have everything, if you want to gain something, you have to give up something. Moreover, for a child, time is really precious, he can't waste the most precious thing on almost meaningless learning, right?

  Yes, perhaps in the near future, or after entering middle school, he must take out a certain amount of time to study, so as to avoid his grades being too embarrassing, but that is absolutely not the primary school stage.

  Compared to the somewhat frightening rote memorization education of his past life, American elementary school education was too easy, and strictly speaking, it was more like enlightenment education. These superficial knowledge, even if Ryan didn't know about American history in his past life, he could handle them with ease after reading through the textbook once.

  During the holidays, Ryan had more time to complete those two unfinished screenplays, but now there's no need to rush, just like he told Nicole Kidman, everything will be discussed after "The Sixth Sense" is released.

  Ryan always believed that even if David Fincher was directing a film for the first time, and it was several years ahead of its time, it wouldn't necessarily be worse than what some other director would have done. Moreover, as a producer, Harvey Weinstein had an infamous eye for poison, so as long as the two didn't get brain damage, the movie might not be much worse than what it could have been.

  Moreover, this subject is extremely rare and accurately reflects a focal issue that mainstream American society has always been concerned about - the family!

  A week later, Ryan went to Miramax's studio in Burbank to do voiceovers for the film which was still in post-production, of course only a few segments.

  "Wow, David, are you guys doing an edit?" Ryan asked, looking around the room at a bunch of equipment including a Steenbeck, to David Fincher who was supervising.

  "Yes, Ryan."

  "What are these machines for?"

  Ryan was like a book of 100,000 whys, throwing out a barrage of questions at director Mr. Fincher, who answered them until his throat started smoking.

  Compared with shooting, the post-production of a film is also a time-consuming and labor-intensive task, and it's even more troublesome if it's a large-scale sci-fi movie.

  To be honest, David Fincher didn't have much power in post-production. The edited footage had to be approved by Harvey Weinstein. No way around it, that's just how Hollywood works. This isn't Hong Kong, where the director has more control.

  Hollywood is dominated by the producer system, and unless a big director also serves as a producer, it's hard to get final cut rights. For new directors like David Fincher, it's even more impossible to have such power.

  "When is the movie going to be released, Harvey?"

  When he met Harvey Weinstein, Ryan curiously asked a sentence.

  "Of course, the sooner the better." Having known Ryan for nearly half a year, Harvey Weinstein has gradually figured out how to deal with him. When he discusses serious matters with you, never treat him like a kid, or you'll definitely be led astray. "It's set for early April now, depending on the progress of post-production."

  Ryan pinched his own chin, in his opinion, this movie is best arranged in the summer file, but he is just a screenwriter and actor, not stupid to the point of not distinguishing between his identity and weight, so he simply shut up.

  Besides, releasing in April is not without its benefits. This time slot has almost no heavyweight films, and it can sign a long-term contract with the theater chain to extend the screening time. As long as the box office can reach his bottom line, that's enough.

  Ryan recalled the seemingly frivolous contract he, Nicole and Mira Max had signed with Harvey Weinstein, wondering if he would fire the person negotiating with Goldie.