The year 1996 was a slightly special one.
In this year, the NBA welcomed its '96 Gold Generation;
in this year, the computer science program at Mizuho University likewise welcomed its '96 Gold Generation.
Yet at the same time, this was the darkest hour for the Hong Kong film industry and even Huaxia cinema as a whole.
After passing through the deepest darkness, however, dawn could not be far off.
For it was also in this year that the Central Academy of Drama and Beijing Film Academy—the two most prestigious higher education institutions in Huaxia's film and television industry—jointly nurtured their own '96 Gold Generation, individuals who would grow to become the backbone of the entertainment industry to come.
August 29, 1996. Registration day, at the gates of the Central Academy of Drama.
Liu Zhou carried a heavy wooden suitcase, gazing at the modest school gates of the Central Academy of Drama.
At this moment, Liu Zhou still felt somewhat dazed.
How was it that upon waking up, he had suddenly found himself on a train bound for Beijing?
Liu Zhou clearly remembered having a few drinks with some friends before going for a foot massage, after which he had drifted comfortably and sleepily off to bed.
Yet upon waking, he discovered he was on a slow, green-skinned train.
As for these green-skinned trains that carried the memories of two or three generations, Liu Zhou had almost completely stopped riding them once he became capable of earning his own money.
Moreover, airplanes and high-speed rail had later covered nearly the entire country, and the old green trains were slowly exiting the stage of history.
Now, suddenly finding himself aboard one of them, Liu Zhou felt utterly bewildered.
At first, Liu Zhou thought he must be dreaming, but he found that this dream refused to end for a long time. Unable to help himself, he pinched his thigh—it hurt quite a bit.
And seeing that everything around him appeared completely real, Liu Zhou realized this might not be a dream after all.
Although Liu Zhou worked with words, and web fiction was no longer a niche industry at the time—meaning he had come into contact with a great deal of it—
he had read plenty of time-travel and rebirth novels, yet had never believed such things could actually happen.
That was until Liu Zhou caught sight of his own familiar suitcase, an heirloom passed down through three generations; then he felt he truly might be that fortunate soul.
The miracle of rebirth had actually happened to him.
This suitcase had been used since his grandfather's days, and later his father had used it while pursuing his studies, right down to when Liu Zhou himself entered high school and had to live on campus, picking up the suitcase once again.
Furthermore, Liu Zhou clearly remembered using this very same suitcase during his first year of university as well, only switching to a different piece of luggage later on due to a misplaced sense of pride.
Afterward, this suitcase—steeped in family history—was shelved, only to be dug out when they moved house. Despite not having been used for a long time, it was still sturdy and not the least bit rotted.
Now, seeing this familiar suitcase and remembering that he was still on the train, Liu Zhou knew he was on his way to report for university.
And the university Liu Zhou was going to attend was none of other than the Central Academy of Drama.
Not for the acting program, however, but for dramatic literature.
Liu Zhou's father was a lecturer in the Chinese language department at Jinan University, and his mother had previously been a newspaper editor before resigning to open a bookstore after her health suffered following his birth.
Consequently, Liu Zhou had been influenced from an early age and developed a keen interest in the written word.
Yet the main reason that decided Liu Zhou on taking the exams for the Central Academy of Drama was his Uncle, a screenwriter at the Pearl River Film Studio.
What Liu Zhou loved most as a child was visiting the Pearl River Film Studio, because stars could frequently be seen there, and every now and then, even stars from Hong Kong.
Regarding Liu Zhou's decision to apply to the Central Academy of Drama, his parents raised no objections; at that time, the literature program at the Central Academy of Drama was its flagship major, boasting numerous industry heavyweights and a level of professionalism that rivaled the literature departments of key universities, differing only in that its training direction leaned more heavily toward drama.
Liu Zhou did not disappoint, successfully gaining admission to the Central Academy of Drama just as he wished. He simply hadn't expected that on the way to register, his mind would be flooded with the life experiences of his own next twenty-odd years.
What made Liu Zhou feel even more fortunate was that he hadn't transmigrated into someone else's body. Even so, he kept trying to calm his racing thoughts.
Until he arrived at the familiar gates of the Central Academy of Drama, Liu Zhou still felt a sense of unreality.
Taking a deep breath, regardless of whether it was real or not, Liu Zhou walked inside the campus gates.
As soon as he stepped through, he saw the welcome tents for various departments. Although the Central Academy of Drama did not enroll as many students as comprehensive universities, a considerable number of freshmen had still arrived since it was the first day of registration.
Welcoming newcomers was invariably the favorite volunteer activity for senior students, especially upon catching sight of pretty or handsome junior students, at which point they would swarm forward to help.
The moment Liu Zhou walked in, he spotted the most famous current student at the Central Academy of Drama—Xia Yu, who had already won Venice Film Festival and Golden Horse Best Actor awards—enthusiastically hovering in front of a pure and lovely young woman.
Looking closer, his taste wasn't bad at all; wasn't that Zeng Li, the future campus belle of the Central Academy of Drama?
And looking closer still, Liu Zhou couldn't help being amused. Wasn't that petite figure squeezed aside by Xia Yu actually Yuan Quan?
He wondered if Yuan Quan would still remember this scene after they got married.
Just as Liu Zhou was about to step forward, a figure suddenly stopped beside him—roughly the same height, with a similar build, though not as handsome as himself.
Like him, the person was lugging a wooden suitcase and looking around with curiosity, clearly another freshman.
At that moment, the person beside him also noticed Liu Zhou. Unfazed by strangers, he warmly greeted him with a slight Northeast accent:
"Hi, my name is Liu Ye, and I'm from Changchun, Jilin. Are you in the acting program too?"
"Hello, my name is Liu Zhou, from Yangcheng. I'm in the dramatic literature program."
"You have the surname Liu too? Looks like we're quite destined to meet."
"We certainly are," Liu Zhou replied with a smile.
"It must have taken you quite a while to get here to Beijing from Yangcheng. It took me the better part of a day just taking the train from Changchun."
"It's pretty far indeed. I've been on the train for almost two days."
Liu Ye was rather quick to warm up to people—seemingly an innate talent of folks from the Northeast—and this kind of enthusiasm was far from off-putting.
In his past life, Liu Zhou hadn't been particularly close to him, and after graduation they had zero contact—though the main reason, of course, was that Liu Zhou could never reach his level.
Now that he knew Liu Ye would make it big in the future, Liu Zhou was naturally more than willing to befriend him. It wasn't out of any utilitarian motive; since he intended to make a living in this circle, connections were second only to capital as a wonderful asset.
As for whether they would actually become friends down the road, that would depend on how things went.
While the two were chatting, two young women walked over to Liu Zhou and Liu Ye.
"You must both be freshmen. My name is Yang Yuting, and Wu Jun beside me is from the Class of '95 acting department. Are you guys in the acting department too?"
Seeing that the two were from the acting department, Liu Zhou originally intended to yield the floor to Liu Ye, but the fellow who had been chattering nonstop just moments ago suddenly turned shy, leaving Liu Zhou to answer:
"Hello, Senior Sisters. My name is Liu Zhou, and his name is Liu Ye. I'm in the literature department, and he's in the acting department."
Seeing that both of them were hauling large suitcases, Yang Yuting couldn't help asking:
"Are you two brothers?"
"No, we just happened to bump into each other."
"Well, it's all the same then. Let us take you to register."
"Then thank you so much, Senior Sisters."
Perhaps because he was slightly better-looking than Liu Ye, the two senior sisters kept talking to him as they showed them around the campus along the way, while Liu Ye transformed into a pure, bashful young man who walked silently to the side.
Although the two senior sisters were quite decent-looking, Liu Zhou genuinely had never heard their names in his past life, so presumably they never really made it big in the industry.
Compared to the classes before and after it, the Class of '95 at the Central Academy of Drama was rather obscure. Perhaps the only ones people could remember were Xia Yu and Tian Yu—the former also starting high and ending low, debuting at his peak and then slowly declining, while the latter wouldn't become widely known until twenty years later after the release of *Goodbye Mr. Loser*. Another might possibly be Chen Ying, the actress who played Liu Hong, though she too was just a flash in the pan.
With over twenty years of extra life experience in human relations, Liu Zhou naturally knew how to keep things from getting awkward while conversing with two senior sisters who had not yet left the ivory tower, and they completed their registration amidst a harmonious and pleasant atmosphere.
It was clear the two senior sisters still felt a bit reluctant to part ways as they dropped Liu Zhou and the others off downstairs at the boys' dormitory before finally leaving with lingering affection.
After they left, Liu Ye seemed to instantly spring back to life, immediately turning to Liu Zhou to say:
"Liu Zhou, I've realized you are amazing. I bet you won't have any shortage of girlfriends throughout your four years of university."
"We came to university to study cultural knowledge, not to fall in love."
"Falling in love doesn't interfere with studying your professional knowledge. Besides, university life without a romance is incomplete."
"You've got it wrong. University life without failing a course is what's incomplete."
"Where on earth do you get such twisted logic?"
Liu Zhou simply ignored him and headed straight upstairs to find his dorm room.
Yet Liu Ye refused to let up, dogging his footsteps and even helpfully pitching in to make his bed.
Once everything was tidied up, Liu Ye still showed no signs of leaving. Liu Zhou took a sip of water and said:
"Spit it out, what are you up to? Showing courtesy for no reason means you're either up to no good or plotting something."
"Hehe, actually it's nothing much. I just want you to teach me how to pursue girls."
"Don't tell me you didn't date anyone during your three years of high school?"
"High school studies were so intense, where would I find time to date? Besides, I wouldn't have dared in high school."
"Alright, figured as much."
"Did you date in high school?"
"I didn't either."
"Damn, and here you were lecturing me."
"I didn't date in high school not because I couldn't, but because I didn't want to. Do you think you're the same?"
"Fine, you win. So teach me the tricks then."
"Actually, there aren't many tricks. It mainly boils down to three points."
"Which three points?"
"Have thick skin, have thick skin, and have thick skin!"
Having thick skin in university certainly made it easier to find a partner, but once you entered society, finding a partner required making money, making money, and more money.
"What kind of answer is that? I see you don't even know anything yourself."
Seeing that Liu Ye didn't believe him, Liu Zhou didn't mind. People nowadays still harbored lovely yearnings for romance.
"Believe it or not, suit yourself. You'll find out whether what I said is gospel truth when the time comes."
Liu Zhou stopped discussing the topic with him. After accompanying Liu Ye to his dorm to help him straighten up his living quarters, Liu Zhou returned to his own room.
The two of them had arrived among the earliest, and neither of their roommates had shown up yet.
It wasn't quite time for dinner yet either, and after a day of rushing about, Liu Zhou felt somewhat tired. He took a cold shower and lay down on the bed.
Taking a deep breath and slowly exhaling, Liu Zhou finally felt truly settled—he had genuinely returned to 1996.
Since fate had granted him this rare opportunity, Liu Zhou felt he could no longer afford to have ambitions soaring higher than the heavens while his fate proved thinner than paper, as he had in his past life; at the very least, he had to make a name for himself.
At this thought, Liu Zhou instinctively tightened his grip slightly into a fist!