Reprinted Youth

Fantasy Romantic Fashion Love Film 10

Scene 81 | Time: Day | Location: Design Department Director’s Office, Focus Fashion Company

Characters: Shi Meilin, Li Keni

△Lin Wenbin has a flower shop deliver a bouquet of perfume lilies, attached with a signed card. After Meilin signs for it, she places it on the coffee table in the office and continues working on official business.

△When Li Keni comes in to present a design draft, she sees the bouquet of flowers. Feeling rather jealous inside, she cannot resist asking curiously.

Li Keni: (envious) President Lin is really thoughtful, specially sending flowers and inviting Director to dinner together. So romantic!

Shi Meilin: If you like that bouquet of fresh flowers, then take it away.

Li Keni: (delighted) Thank you, Director.

Shi Meilin: I’m too busy with the work at hand to get away. Why don’t you go to this dinner in my place? There’s a restaurant admission ticket attached to the card.

Li Keni: (hesitating) But the person President Lin invited is you!

Shi Meilin: Just tell him that I’m rushing to revise design drafts and can’t get away, so I asked you to go in my place.

Li Keni: (secretly delighted) Alright then!

△Li Keni happily takes away the bouquet of perfume lilies.

Scene 82 | Time: Day | Location: An Upscale Western Restaurant in the East District

Characters: Lin Wenbin, Li Keni

△In a corner of the upscale Western restaurant, Lin Wenbin sees that the person who came is actually Li Keni. Although disappointed, he still maintains his composure and manners.

Li Keni: President Lin, Director Shi said that she couldn’t get away from the work at hand for the moment, so she asked me to come to this appointment in her place.

Lin Wenbin: Is Director Shi always this busy? Did men often ask her out before?

Li Keni: Actually, not really! Director recently got herself a boyfriend.

Lin Wenbin: Oh? I heard her boyfriend runs a bed-and-breakfast in Xiaoliuqiu?

Li Keni: I’m not very clear about that part. However, with conditions as excellent as yours, President Lin, you can definitely find someone more suitable.

Lin Wenbin: (smiling) You… is that a hint?

Li Keni: I’m just telling the truth! President Lin doesn’t need to ignore an entire forest for the sake of one tree.

Lin Wenbin: Let’s not talk about that for now. What would you like to eat? It’s on me.

△Lin Wenbin pushes the menu in front of Li Keni.

Lin Wenbin: (OS) Meilin, I will definitely win your heart.

Scene 83 | Time: Day | Location: Spring Fashion Presentation Venue

Characters: Lin Wenbin, Li Keni, Shi Meilin, Yan Yongkang, Cai Shinan, Su Mingyu, Models, Host, Guests

△At the spring fashion presentation venue, the host on stage is introducing the event organizers and the designers. Below the stage, every seat is occupied by elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies.

△When Cai Shinan enters the venue, he sees beside Meilin a sharply dressed young man in a suit, though with greasy hair and overly powdered looks (Lin Wenbin). The young man occasionally smiles at Meilin and whispers into her ear.

△Shinan feels uncomfortable inside, so he does not walk over to look for Meilin. He merely watches from the corner for a while, then turns around intending to leave.

△At that moment, Shi Meilin catches sight of Shinan’s figure, rises to her feet, and quickly chases after him all the way to the entrance.

Shi Meilin: Shinan, Shinan!

△Meilin hurriedly calls out to stop Shinan. Shinan halts and turns around. Meilin walks up, hooks her arm through Shinan’s arm, and brings him back into the venue. The two sit down in a corner by the runway stage, diagonally across from Lin Wenbin.

△When Lin Wenbin sees Meilin returning while holding onto another man’s arm, he rises and circles halfway around the venue to come before Meilin and Shinan. Before Wenbin can speak, Meilin introduces Shinan first.

Shi Meilin: My boyfriend, Cai Shinan.

Lin Wenbin: (handing over a business card) A pleasure to meet you, Brother Cai. I’m Lin Wenbin.

△A trace of contemptuous amusement flashes across Wenbin’s face. Immediately afterward, he deliberately acts gentlemanly and takes the initiative to shake hands with Shinan. Then he sits down on Meilin’s other side, forming the image of two green leaves flanking a single red flower, making both Meilin and Shinan feel extremely uncomfortable.

Lin Wenbin: Brother Cai, I heard you run a bed-and-breakfast in Xiaoliuqiu?

△Lin Wenbin proactively chats with Shinan, probing into Shinan’s background. Meilin signals to Shinan with her eyes, telling him to speak less.

Lin Wenbin: Brother Cai, which university did you graduate from, and what was your major…?

△Of course Cai Shinan understands. Therefore, in response to Wenbin’s repeated questioning, he deliberately shakes his head and pretends not to hear clearly, avoiding the questions and leaving Wenbin helpless.

△Not far from the three of them, Li Keni witnesses the entire scene. Instead of feeling pleased that Lin Wenbin is being ignored, she begins to feel sympathy for him.

Li Keni: (OS) President Lin, the falling flower longs for love, but the flowing water is heartless. Why put yourself through this?

△The models’ runway show ends, and all the models line up across the stage.

Host: Please welcome the three designers, Shi Meilin, Li Keni, and Yan Yongkang, onto the stage.

△The host introduces the three of them to all the guests present. The strikingly beautiful Shi Meilin becomes the focus of all the camera flashes.

Scene 84 | Time: Day | Location: Entrance of the Commercial Building Outside the Spring Fashion Presentation Venue

Characters: Lin Wenbin, Li Keni, Shi Meilin, Yan Yongkang, Cai Shinan, Su Mingyu, Guests

△Su Mingyu, together with Shi Meilin, Li Keni, Lin Wenbin, and the others, walks out of the venue. Cai Shinan’s sedan is already waiting at the entrance.

△After Shi Meilin says a few words to President Su, she waves to Wenbin and Keni, then quickly walks over to Shinan’s car. Shinan opens the car door for Meilin to get in. Under everyone’s gaze, the sedan drives toward the broad avenue, leaving behind Lin Wenbin with three black lines across his face and Li Keni secretly laughing in schadenfreude.

Scene 85 | Time: Day | Location: Meilin’s Residence Living Room

Characters: Shi Meilin, Cai Shinan

△The two enter the house. Meilin switches on the living room lights. Shinan places a handbag on the table, takes out two bottles of red wine and a small box cake, then takes out a box of candles and inserts them into the cake.

△Meilin enters the room, changes into a white lace-trimmed nightdress, and walks back into the living room. Shinan turns around and, upon seeing Meilin’s exquisitely curvaceous figure, freezes in astonishment for a moment. Meilin walks forward, embraces Shinan, hooks her arms around his neck, and kisses him once.

Shi Meilin: Thank you for specially coming up to Taipei to celebrate my birthday with me.

▲Camera cuts.

△The two sit face to face around a small dining table. On the table is a cake with candles inserted into it. Shinan lights the candles on the cake one by one.

Cai Shinan: Happy birthday~~ First make a wish, then blow out the candles.

Shi Meilin: Mm.

△Meilin closes her eyes, clasps her hands together, and makes a wish with a devout expression. Opening her eyes, she blows out all the candles in one breath.

△Cai Shinan takes out a small box, grabs one of Meilin’s hands, and places the box in her palm.

Cai Shinan: This is for you. I already prepared it yesterday.

Shi Meilin: (opening it, pleasantly surprised) It’s so exquisite.

Cai Shinan: I went to several boutique stores before finally finding it.

Shi Meilin: (taking out the necklace and examining it closely) It must have cost a lot, right?

Cai Shinan: It’s alright. It didn’t exceed the budget.

△Shinan helps Meilin put on the necklace. Meilin rises to her feet, walks to the dressing mirror and turns around twice, then returns to her seat.

△Shinan pushes a bankbook toward Meilin.

Shi Meilin: (curious) This is…?

Cai Shinan: A gold savings passbook. Open it and take a look.

△Meilin opens the passbook.

Shi Meilin: (shocked) Five thousand ounces? Where did you get so much money?

Cai Shinan: My work savings.

Shi Meilin: Fine then! You’re showing me this passbook to tell me that you’re very rich, and then what?

Cai Shinan: I told you before that I truly don’t worry about food or clothing. I never planned to continue staying in metropolitan areas and living a busy life.

Shi Meilin: (unhappy) Are you trying to tell me that you can afford to support me?

Cai Shinan: No. I just want you to know that I no longer wish to become a slave to money.

Shi Meilin: Just because you have money, you can afford to act lofty. But I’m not the kind of woman who wants marriage simply to find a long-term meal ticket. I have my own career plans.

Cai Shinan: (smiling) So, shouldn’t we respect each other’s career plans?

Shi Meilin: Let’s not talk about this issue now. I don’t want to ruin tonight’s atmosphere…

Cai Shinan: Alright then, it’s time for you to cut the cake.

▲Camera cuts.

△In the bedroom, on the bed, Meilin and Shinan lie beneath a thin blanket, facing each other in silence.

Shi Meilin: (OS) Where did Shinan get so much money from?

Cai Shinan: (OS) Why do you insist that I must listen to you…

Shi Meilin: Shinan, what do you like about me?

Cai Shinan: (smiling bitterly, thinking for a moment) I can’t really explain it myself.

Shi Meilin: Even my mother says I’m spoiled, willful, and as difficult to tame as a mule. Yet you’re the first man who ever wanted to tame me.

Cai Shinan: (smiling bitterly) Tame you? I’m afraid I don’t have that ability. Sigh…

Shi Meilin: I know you want to live a simple and peaceful life, but I want to find my own achievements and place in the workplace.

Cai Shinan: Our states of mind are different because I’ve already walked through it. I’m at the river’s estuary, while you are still at the river’s upper reaches. Your life is filled with momentum…

Shi Meilin: Please, Cai Shinan, exactly how old are you? Why is there such a sense of world-weariness in your words? Like some lifeless middle-aged or elderly man?

Cai Shinan: I really… sigh! In the future, you’ll understand.

Shi Meilin: When we first met, you already told me that your reason for returning to your hometown was because you wanted to treat yourself well and live the life of a recluse. At the time, my intuition told me that you must have suffered many setbacks in the workplace before developing such negative and escapist thoughts.

Cai Shinan: Oh, I merely awakened to the truth of the first half of my life.

Shi Meilin: The first half of your life? Hey! There you go again!

Cai Shinan: (smiling bitterly) The first half of my life was hardly worth mentioning. I was so poor that all I had left was money.

Shi Meilin: That’s exactly what confuses me so much. When you showed me that gold savings passbook, no matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t understand why you would have such considerable savings. In the workplace, you obviously haven’t undergone long-term experience and struggle!

Cai Shinan: If I told you that I’ve already spent fifteen years struggling in the workplace, would you believe me?

Shi Meilin: Bullshit! Do you take me for an idiot?

Cai Shinan: (smiling bitterly) Then there’s nothing I can do. Let’s sleep… If we keep talking, neither of us will get any sleep tonight.

△Shinan closes his eyes. Meilin gazes at him for quite a while.

Shi Meilin: (OS) Shinan, I understand you less and less…。

Scene | 86 Time | Day Setting | Female dormitory of a homeless shelter, hospital emergency room, operating room, ward
People | Lin Daihua, Song Xinlian

△Lin Daihua was going down the stairs when she missed a step, rolled down the stairs, hit her head on the floor, bled, and lost consciousness.
△Administrator Song Xinlian and several roommates heard the sound and rushed over to check.
△Lin Daihua was taken by ambulance to the hospital emergency room.
△Lin Daihua was wheeled into the operating room by nurses.
△In the ward, the doctor and Song Xinlian were talking. Lin Daihua regained consciousness, her head wrapped in bandages.

Doctor: The intracranial hematoma in the patient has been removed. We will observe for a while. If we confirm there is no concussion, she can be discharged.
Song Xinlian: But she keeps losing her memory, and we cannot contact her relatives or friends.
Lin Daihua: My name is Lin Daihua. I am from Taichung.
Song Xinlian: (surprised) 109, you remember?
Lin Daihua: Yes, I am Lin Daihua. I recently returned from Silicon Valley in the United States.
Doctor: It is possible that the previous hematoma pressed on the nerve cells, causing memory loss. Such cases have been recorded in previous medical literature.
Song Xinlian: What did you say your name is, Lin what Hua?
Lin Daihua: Lin Daihua, “Dai-green youth.”

Scene | 87 Time | Night Setting | Male bathhouse pool of Cai family homestay, Shinan’s bedroom
People | Cai Shinan, guests

△Late at night, Shinan wrapped in a bath towel came out of the men’s bathhouse and returned to his room.
△On the desk, the laptop screen showed an email titled “SOS,” with the sender signed Gman・T.
△Cai Shinan sat down and looked at the screen.

Cai Shinan: (to himself) Gman・T? Isn’t that me? September 21, 2016? Isn’t that the night I accidentally traveled through time?
△Shinan curiously opened the inbox. Inside there was only one photo, with no explanatory text. The photo showed him, Shi Meilin, and a pair of twin siblings. The background was the walkway at Sun Moon Lake Shuishe Pier, and the shooting date was September 21, 2010.
△Shinan noticed that the images of Meilin and the twin siblings in the photo were semi-transparent. He studied the photo on the screen repeatedly, unable to understand it.

Cai Shinan: (to himself) What exactly is this photo implying? Who should I ask?

Scene | 88 Time | Day Setting | Living room of Cai family homestay, Shinan’s bedroom
People | Cai Shinan, Cai Shifen, Zhang Yahui

△Zhang Yahui came to the Cai family homestay to look for Shinan. In the living room, Cai Shifen was reading a newspaper.
△Cai Shinan was in his bedroom studying that photo.

Zhang Yahui: Shifen, where is your brother?
Cai Shifen: My brother? He has been cooped up in his room all morning and hasn’t even come out for breakfast. Go wake him up. He still has to go out to sail later.
△Zhang Yahui walked toward Shinan’s room and knocked on the door.

Zhang Yahui: Shinan, it’s Yahui.
Cai Shinan: Come in.
△Yahui pushed open the sliding door. Shinan turned around.

Zhang Yahui: Shinan, I need your help with something.
Cai Shinan: Please speak.
Zhang Yahui: I want to help my graduating students fulfill a dream—to take a sightseeing fishing boat and go on a sketching trip along the Blue Highway of southern Taiwan.
Cai Shinan: Sure. When is it roughly?
Zhang Yahui: Early June, ten days. First go to Kenting, then Orchid Island, Taitung Chenggong, Hualien, and return from Hualien.
Cai Shinan: Okay. That’s before summer break.
Zhang Yahui: But in that case, your homestay here…
Cai Shinan: I’ll ask You Sihai to send a boat to support the homestay. Let him earn the money.
Zhang Yahui: Let me make it clear first—my students’ travel budget is limited, although they have been saving hard all year.
Cai Shinan: You’ve helped me so much. How could I haggle with you over that?
Zhang Yahui: (happy) Straightforward! It’s settled then.

△Yahui noticed Shinan looked gloomy, as if something was on his mind.

Zhang Yahui: What’s wrong? Something on your mind?
△Cai Shinan buried his fingers in his hair, his expression very troubled.

Zhang Yahui: Just say it. Friends should help each other.
△Cai Shinan opened the laptop inbox and showed her the family photo with Shi Meilin.
△Zhang Yahui examined the photo and the sending date, deeply shocked yet confused.

Zhang Yahui: Who sent this photo? Why is the sending date 2016?
Cai Shinan: Yahui, I’ll be honest. Don’t think I’m crazy.
Zhang Yahui: Go on then.
Cai Shinan: This photo was sent by me fifteen years in the future.
Zhang Yahui: Incredible! Emails can really travel through time.
Cai Shinan: Actually, I came back from the timeline of 2014.
△Zhang Yahui looked up and studied Cai Shinan closely.

Zhang Yahui: It doesn’t feel like it. There are no wrinkles on your face, and your body hasn’t changed at all.
Cai Shinan: I’m not lying. In September 2014, I suffered an acute stroke due to overwork and nearly died. After that, I reunited with my first love Lin Daihua. We originally agreed to start over and start a business together, but on the way back to my hometown, I accidentally fell into a time wormhole and returned here.
Zhang Yahui: Wow! This is even more exciting than cross-strait time-travel dramas!
Cai Shinan: After I met Shi Meilin, we started dating, but she asked me to act as a “stand-in boyfriend.” I didn’t want to lose her, so I reluctantly agreed. But I could feel Meilin was willing to accept me; she just wanted me to accommodate her.
Zhang Yahui: I’ve heard you mention this before. Judging from this photo, you and Shi Meilin will eventually succeed and form a family with children.
Cai Shinan: This SOS email sent from 2016 has no explanatory text, but something must have changed. I urgently need to figure out what message this photo is trying to convey.

△Yahui asked Shinan to print the photo. The two brainstormed and discussed it.

Zhang Yahui: My interpretation is this: after you and Shi Meilin form a family, you have a pair of children. The semi-transparent images of the three in the photo suggest that some external force or accident intervened, causing the images to become semi-transparent, meaning your fate with Meilin has been changed.

Cai Shinan: I think so too. This semi-transparent image may indicate that Meilin and the two children died in an accident, or that an external force intervened, changing the original fate where I should have been with Meilin and formed a family. In other words, because of external interference, Meilin and I never actually got married, and of course we never had those two children.

Zhang Yahui: Your reasoning is very possible. You must quickly identify the possible external factors involved, or be careful to prevent potential accidents after you and Meilin get married—for example, travel accidents on planes or ships, where the mother and two children might die together.

△Cai Shinan looked solemn, while Zhang Yahui felt emotionally conflicted.

Scene | 89 Time | Night Setting | Zhang Yahui’s dormitory
People | Zhang Yahui

△Zhang Yahui dragged her heavy steps back to the teacher dormitory.
△Zhang Yahui sat at her desk, looking out the window at the moonlit sea shimmering with waves and the lights of fishing boats dotted with stars.
△In her mind, the family photo Shinan had shown her kept replaying.

Insert:
Zhang Yahui: Who sent this photo? Why is the sending date 2016?
Cai Shinan: Yahui, I’ll be honest. Don’t think I’m crazy.
Zhang Yahui: Go on then.
Cai Shinan: This photo was sent by me fifteen years in the future.
Zhang Yahui: Incredible! Emails can really travel through time.
Cai Shinan: Actually, I came back from the timeline of 2014.

Back:
Zhang Yahui: (to herself) Shinan only treats me as a confidant. The woman he loves is Shi Meilin—Shi Meilin. Oh God, why am I only the matchmaker?
Zhang Yahui: (OS) If Shi Meilin and those children completely disappear from the image, does that mean I might have a chance to replace Meilin in the future…?
Zhang Yahui: (to herself) How could I have such a gloating expectation? As long as Shinan can have a happy marriage in the future, even if the heroine is not me, Zhang Yahui… moreover, my body, my ovaries might not even be preserved—what right do I have to compete with Shi Meilin for Shinan…

Scene | 90 Time | Day Setting | Hospital lobby, Lin family home
People | Lin Daihua, Lin father, Lin mother

△On the day of discharge, Lin Daihua first sent an email to Shinan from the hospital.
△Lin Daihua returned home to see her parents; both parents were surprised.

Lin Mother: (surprised) Daihua, why didn’t you call before coming back?
Lin Father: (unhappy) You suddenly ran back from California without a word. Are you planning to give up your graduate studies? I don’t agree!
Lin Daihua: Dad, Mom, you almost would never see your daughter again.
Lin Mother: (confused) Daihua, what happened? Why are you saying such strange things?
△Lin Daihua parted her hair, revealing two surgical scars on her scalp.

Lin Father: (concerned) When did you get injured?
Lin Mother: (heartbroken) Daihua, how did you get hurt?
Lin Daihua: Mom, Dad, please listen calmly and don’t doubt me.
Lin Father: Go ahead.
△Lin Daihua briefly explained what had happened. Her parents were stunned, looking at each other.

Lin Mother: Daihua, wait a moment. I’ll call your dorm in California to check.
△Lin Mother picked up the phone and made an international call.

Lin Mother: Hello, is this Qiu Meijun? I’m looking for Lin Daihua. What? You don’t know Lin Daihua? She is your roommate on that floor, Lin Daihua from Taichung… There is no Lin Daihua living there? You really don’t know her? Sorry to bother you.
Lin Mother: (confused) How can this be?
Lin Father: Could she be possessed?
Lin Daihua: Dad, Mom, I’m not lying. I really am your daughter. I unexpectedly came back from 2014.
Lin Father: Alright. I believe you.
Lin Daihua: Dad, I want to get married. Please accept Cai Shinan.
Lin Father: (firmly) No! If you stay with that poor fisherman boy, you will suffer for the rest of your life. I do not agree!
Lin Daihua: Dad, I’ve already died once in a sense. I want to seize happiness in time. Mom, please help me persuade Dad.
Lin Mother: Daihua, your father is thinking about your future too!
Lin Daihua: Mom, Shinan and I have agreed that after marriage we will start a business in Taichung Central Taiwan Science Park and open a tech company.
Lin Father: Start a business? Where will you get the funding?
Lin Mother: Dear, if they are willing to stay and develop in Taichung, then don’t insist anymore. Don’t you want a son-in-law? Don’t you even want your daughter?
Lin Father: (softening) Daihua, go bring that boy here. I will speak to him face to face and make things clear.
Lin Daihua: (grateful) Dad, thank you!