《After Our Divorce, I Still Wore Your Jacket》


 Chapter 1

    <h4>Chapter 1</h4>


    A cigarette dangled between Yuan Ye¡¯s teeth. He squatted in the emergency vehiclene off the side of the freeway. His eyes were squinted because of the smoke as he looked at his phone. On it, a little director from a variety show was messaging him. The other sent him the details about the overview and contents of the program.


    Yuan Ye typed out a response and sent it, cutting off the other¡¯s endless messages: Wait a minute.


    The little director on the other end: What¡¯s wrong, Teacher Yuan?


    Yuan Ye: Who told you to contact me? Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t cancel the contract with you guys?


    Little director: ......Teacher Yuan, I don¡¯t understand what you mean.


    Yuan Ye: Fang Shaoyi¡¯s still attending this show? You guys confirmed with him?


    The other instantly became confused because of his questions. They didn¡¯t even dare to respond; they had probably rushed off to ask their boss.


    Yuan Ye clutched his phone tighter. He furrowed his eyebrows. Cigarette ashnded on his pants. He lowered his head and blew it off, then flicked away the remaining residue with his fingers.


    He had signed the contract for this show over a year ago. At the time, he and Fang Shaoyi had signed together as a CP, a package deal. It was a travel reality show for couples. A long time had passed since then, so the program hadn¡¯t even crossed his mind at all. Fang Shaoyi had never liked attending variety shows. This one had only been reluctantly signed as well. Yuan Ye had assumed that he had dropped out of it long ago. After suddenly receiving this little director¡¯s messages, he temporarily couldn¡¯t wrap his mind around the situation.


    A whileter, the little director replied. He said he had confirmed with Teacher Fang¡¯s side and that they didn¡¯t have any issues.


    Yuan Ye stood up. His legs were a bit numb from squatting for so long. He gently stomped his feet, then called Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant Xiaotao.


    The person on the other end answered very quickly. As soon as he picked up, he called out, ¡°Ye ge?¡±


    Yuan Ye greeted him before directly asking, ¡°You guys didn¡¯t cancel the show?¡±


    ¡°Which one?¡± Xiaotao inquired before realizing something. ¡°You mean¡¶In The Times¡·?¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Yuan Ye paused. He stuffed a hand into his pocket. He stayed like that with his head lowered. After a brief silence, he said, ¡°Since I¡¯ve already signed the contract, might as well go.¡±


    He was originally nning on going to the neighboring city to visit some friends today. Halfway along the freeway, he felt his car getting heavier and heavier. When he stopped on the side of the road to check, he realized that both his front tires were t. The car probably wouldn¡¯t be able to move anymore if he continued driving it. If someone hadn¡¯t purposefully popped his tires, he could only say that he had immensely bad luck. After hanging up, Yuan Ye directly sat on the railing by the side of the freeway and waited for someone to bring him tires.


    The wind was a bit harsh today. His face felt dry after spending too much time outside.


    When he got to his destination, the people in the private room had already consumed two rounds of alcohol. Upon seeing him enter, the one closest to the door, Ning Lu, walked over and swung an arm around his shoulders. He teased, ¡°Yo, Great Master, we haven¡¯t even finished up yet. Aren¡¯t you here a bit early?¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and made to leave. ¡°So what do you want me to do? Walk out ande back in againter?¡±


    The people in the roomughed and cussed at him. Ning Lu towed him over to sit down. He had arrived sote; there was no way he would be able to avoid getting forced to drink a few sses.


    Everyone in this room had been friends for several years. Some had been Yuan Ye¡¯s high school ssmates, so they had a great rtionship. These people would often meet up with each other, but Yuan Ye rarely hung out with them. With his stinkin¡¯ personality, it was exceptionally difficult convincing him toe out each time.


    In the room, Yuan Ye smoked his cigarette and watched the group of people joke around. All the ones here were influential in some regard. There was even one who was a fairly popr variety show host. Yuan Ye had known him for the longest. This person was one of his best friends. They had met as children.


    The host was named Guan Zhou. To outsiders, he was normally a mannerly gentleman. Behind closed doors and after some alcohol, he too was a giddy drunk. When a crowd had alcohol, theypletely lost their brain-to-mouth filters when speaking. Dirty jokes weremon and the topic of conversation would always turn indecent after a few sentences. Someone unknown asked, ¡°Zhou, I heard something ah. The famous actress who just won film empress is adamant about obtaining you. So? How are things? Will you submit to her? I heard that she even visited your house?¡±


    Guan Zhou cussed, ¡°Git.¡±


    ¡°Git what git. Share the gossip with us?¡±


    Guan Zhou shook his head. His lips were sealed. ¡°Quit being annoying. They¡¯re just rumors.¡±


    Old men became the most cunning while drinking. Annoyingly, they pestered Guan Zhou for some secret gossip within the entertainment industry. Guan Zhou worked on variety shows, so he had a reallyrge social circle. What didn¡¯t he know? But Guan Zhou rarely brought these things up with others, especially when alcohol was involved. It was almost impossible to hear any secret gossip leave his mouth. Thus, he got along well with many in the industry and was quite weed.


    Yuan Ye leaned against the back of his chair. He pointed at those people and tossed out, ¡°Got nothing else better to do?¡±


    Guan Zhou met his gaze, then smiled and said, ¡°Who said it isn¡¯t so? Ye ge, protect me.¡±


    Yuan Ye gestured for Guan Zhou toe to him. ¡°Come, Zhou. Sit here. Let me see who¡¯ll dare to act annoying again.¡±


    Guan Zhou grabbed his own ss and walked over with a smile. He tugged Ning Lu away from his original seat and squeezed in beside Yuan Ye. He clinked his ss against Yuan Ye¡¯s. The two drank.


    Everyone at the table were all bros, but were still separated into different categories. There were some in this room who were closer with Yuan Ye, such as Ning Lu and Guan Zhou. Guan Zhou and Yuan Ye¡¯s families had lived near each other when they were kids. As a child, Yuan Ye had been uncontrobly naughty. Since young, Guan Zhou had been protected by him. Later on, they grew up and nobody needed anybody else¡¯s protection anymore. Their statuses all changed, but that rtionship fostered across all those years remained. That wouldn¡¯t change. Guan Zhou still often popped out a ¡°Ye ge, protect me¡± from time to time as a joke.


    That year, Guan Zhou had been the host for Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mboyant wedding. Others thought that Guan Zhou had gone for Fang Shaoyi. After all, half the entertainment industry had been in attendance back then: for Fang Shaoyi, yes, but also for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s extremely important and influential father who was also in the industry. But only Guan Zhou hadn¡¯t. The person getting married was his bro. He had gone for Yuan Ye.


    Yuan Ye was thirty three this year. He hadn¡¯t been that naughty child from before in a long time. But when he sat there with his extraordinarily short hair ¨C basically only some stubble on his scalp, a cigarette dangling from his lips, a few scars from his mischievous youth still remaining on his handsome face, and stared at everyone from under narrow eyelids, he was clearly still that same person who had once been unafraid of anything.


    After two more rounds, everyone was a bit drunk.


    Guan Zhou made an exception and smoked a cigarette too. Normally, he didn¡¯t touch cigarettes or alcohol for fear that they would ruin his throat. He only loosened up asionally when hanging out with everyone else. He took a puff of his cigarette, then turned to look at Yuan Ye. He called out, ¡°Bro.¡±


    ¡°Un?¡± Yuan Ye looked over. His eyebrow was half raised as he responded.


    Guan Zhou stared at him and asked, ¡°I heard......you¡¯re going to attend our channel¡¯s show?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have much of a reaction. He only made a soft sound of acknowledgment, ¡°Ah.¡± Then, he asked without care, ¡°It¡¯s your channel¡¯s show?¡±


    Guan Zhou furrowed his brows. ¡°What channel it¡¯s on doesn¡¯t matter. You¡¯re sure?¡±


    Yuan Ye withdrew his gaze. He looked around at the people causing amotion and drinking alcohol. Everyone was having fun by themselves. No one could hear their whispered conversation. They seemed to be on the other side of a barrier. This was quite interesting. Yuan Ye chuckled and answered, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Just a show.¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± Guan Zhou took a puff of his cigarette. His expression looked foul. ¡°Just stick to writing your stuff. Why are you trying to get into this industry? If you go on the show, you¡¯ll have basically ced a foot in this industry. With your personality, are you waiting for people to cuss you out?¡±


    The rims of Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were a bit red because of the alcohol. He scoffed. ¡°Whatever. I can¡¯t see theirments anyways.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Guan Zhou was a bit exasperated. ¡°Those of you in the literary circle look down upon these things the most. Didn¡¯t you criticize them as well in the past? What¡¯s the point of attracting such a load of shit? In my opinion, you¡¯ve be a dumbass.¡±


    Yuan Ye had always been extremely stubborn and obstinate, like an unyielding donkey. He had a bad temper as well. Regardless of what Guan Zhou said that day, Yuan Ye maintained an unbothered expression. There was even a hint of a faint smile on his face. He never changed his mind.


    Eventually, Guan Zhou had another cup of alcohol with him. He downed the whole thing. Perhaps because of the alcohol¡¯s influence, his eyes turned red. He lowered his voicepletely before pointing at Yuan Ye and saying, ¡°......Quit bullshitting me!¡±


    Yuan Ye looked over.


    Guan Zhou rubbed his own face forcefully, then stared at Yuan Ye. He said, ¡°I heard about it so fucking long ago. You think I really didn¡¯t know just because I didn¡¯t ask you about it? You and Fang Shaoyi fucking split up already!¡±


    The hint of a smile that had been painted on Yuan Ye¡¯s face now disappeared. He looked directly at Guan Zhou. After a long pause, he asked lowly, ¡°Where did you hear that?¡±


    Guan Zhouughed coldly. He looked at Yuan Ye like the other was an idiot. ¡°There are no secrets in this industry at all. Who can you hide these things from? Has water gotten into your brain for you to attend that dumb show with him? And to fake being a couple with him on it? I love you and you love me? If people don¡¯t expose youpletely, I¡¯ll consider myself overly naive!¡±


    For a long time, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything. He only silently turned his head to the side and lit a cigarette. His addiction had been really badtely. People who stopped smoking then picked it up again always experienced return addiction with a vengeance.


    ¡°Ye ge,¡± Guan Zhou called him.


    Yuan Ye answered.


    This time, Guan Zhou was more straightforward with his questions. He left no room for misinterpretation. ¡°You really got divorced? When?¡±


    Yuan Ye set down his lighter. When the small, metal object made contact with the ss table, it made a clear clink. Yuan Ye nodded and answered, ¡°Ah, we really got divorced.¡±


    He lifted a hand and removed the cigarette from his mouth. The smoke flitted before his eyes. Yuan Ye was expressionless. ¡°It¡¯s been about a year.¡±

 Chapter 2

    <h4>Chapter 2</h4>


    Yuan Ye had been a little rascal since birth, often causing trouble. He seemed to have naturally been born without rule-abiding bones, never allowing his family members to rx. His father, Yuan Anping, was a professor of the humanities: he was a researcher of ancient Chinese culture. Thus, for his entire life, he had been boring and disciplined. He often stated with an exasperated smile, ¡°The only thing I¡¯ve done in this lifetime that was out of line was giving birth to Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye and his father werepletely different. He was too talented, and also extremely intelligent. In elementary school, he consecutively skipped three grades. He skipped a grade in middle school as well. Later on, because of a fight with someone in high school, he got held back a year after injuring the other person.


    He was naughty, rebellious, and had a bad temper. As a consequence, he often caused trouble and was also a ma for trouble. Though his parents would get angry at him for this, too, they ultimately indulged in him in their hearts. Which boy wasn¡¯t naughty? Rascals were all like this ¨C the really well behaved and really obedient ones didn¡¯t act like boys.


    When it came time for splitting sses in high school, his family wanted him to choose sciences. But Yuan Ye chose humanities of his own ord. After spending a year there, he then transferred to the sciences ss. Two monthster, he found it utterly boring, so returned to humanities. Even though his family wanted to control him, they couldn¡¯t. He had too many ideas, to the point that there was no use in his family lecturing him because he wouldn¡¯t listen anyways.


    When Yuan Ye started university, he was three to four years younger than everyone else in his sses. Everyone else was eighteen or neen in their first year of university; Yuan Ye was only fifteen. He had already promised his parents he would apply for a management rted major, but when it actually came time for filling out applications, he suddenly changed his mind and applied for a Chinese major. In his case, nothing seemed to follow protocol or progress normally. Regardless of the situation, he would definitely manage toe up with a bad idea eventually. His family had already gotten used to these habits. They knew this was his personality.


    But eventually, when Yuan Ye was twenty, he suddenly came home and said that he was getting married.


    It was summer. Yuan Ye thought that it was too hot, so shaved his head bald. He had only just grown out some stubble about the length of someone¡¯s beard. At the time, he rubbed his hairless head and smiled a shameless smile. ¡°Dad, Mom, I¡¯m getting married.¡±


    That day, Yuan Anping kicked Yuan Ye out of the house in anger.


    His family had always treated his rtionship with Fang Shaoyi as two boys ying around. They were waiting for him to announce their split someday. Before Yuan Ye had even graduated from his master¡¯s program, he had gone home and told his parents that he was going to get married to Fang Shaoyi. His family was firmly against this, telling him it was impossible. Yuan Ye was only twenty, still an immature child. Getting married to someone who acted in movies? The entertainment industry was a giant mess. How could they let Yuan Ye marry someone who was part of that crowd?


    They couldn¡¯t officially get married at age twenty anyways. Two more years passed. The day after Yuan Ye¡¯s twenty second birthday, he and Fang Shaoyi got their marriage certificates.


    Only then did he head home and cheekily cate his parents.


    At the time, his dad told him, ¡°You aren¡¯t taking yourself seriously enough. Sooner orter, you¡¯ll feel regretful.¡±


    Back then, Yuan Ye had been at that age where he wasn¡¯t scared of or impressed by anything. He nodded and said, ¡°If I end up regretful, I¡¯ll take it. Life itself is a y. No matter how we live, it¡¯s a y. I¡¯ll act out my own y.¡±


    Yuan Ye isn¡¯t an author or anything, only a stubborn person.


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi had nced at him, then furrowed his brows and said, ¡°What bullshit are you saying.¡±


    Yuan Ye answered with a grin, ¡°I¡¯m being serious.¡±


    In front of everyone else, these two had to be secretive when exchanging conversation. Their expressions didn¡¯t change; the elegant and mannerly smiles remained on their faces. Only when they were close enough that nobody else could hear did Fang Shaoyi lower his voice and whisper, ¡°Little monkey, don¡¯t act wildly. Today I¡¯m getting married. Shut your infuriating mouth.¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye had leaned his head back and roared withughter. His entire being emanated an aura of ruffian silliness.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze back then had been full of exasperation and indulgence when looking at Yuan Ye. He had never been able to do anything about this wild monkey. Since the very beginning, he had always been an honest person, disdainful of hiding his rtionship, uncaring of whether or not it would affect his future career. He disregarded all else and was determined to publicly date and get married, announcing their passionate and fervent love for each other to the whole world. That mboyant and eye-catching wedding had been the most highkey move that this usually lowkey person had ever made.


    Guan Zhou asked Yuan Ye why they had gotten divorced. What was the reason?


    Yuan Ye finished smoking his cigarette and tossed the butt into his ss of alcohol. He picked up a wet wipe, unfolded it, then wiped his face. After, he calmly said, ¡°Seems that we reached the end of our fate.¡±


    When they had gotten married, Yuan Ye had been just over twenty. Now, he had long since passed the age of thirty. His life had reached a new stage, and many of the things surrounding him had changed. Back then, he had been young and bold, almost wishing to be able to have the whole world at his feet. He needed to own what he wanted, desired to trek through the path of life with carefree steps. Now, he had passed the year of independence. Some readers had even started calling him ¡°Uncle Ye¡± in jest already. From ¡°Little Yuan¡± to ¡°Uncle Ye¡±, theyers of life asionally increased, asionally decreased. With more and moreyers removed, he somehow managed to remove Fang Shaoyi too.


    Yuan Ye scoffed. He stood up, turned around, and left. It was stuffy and loud in the room. Outside, the cold air in the hallway ambushed him. Immediately, the thoughts and feelings giving him a headache disappeared.


    Prior to the official start of filming, two more members of the program¡¯s staff arrived and had him sign a few more contracts. Ji Xiaotao told him that he could rest assured and sign those contracts, because their side had already finished discussing all that needed to be discussed. Asking Yuan Ye to sign was only part of protocol; there was nothing to worry about. On the other end of the phone, Yuan Ye told him, ¡°As long as you guys don¡¯t find anything wrong with it. I¡¯m toozy to check.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao smiled and answered, ¡°Okay Ye ge, you don¡¯t need to worry about these things. Just treat it like you¡¯re going on a few trips for fun.¡±


    ¡°Un.¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s tone was light. ¡°Call me if anythinges up.¡±


    ¡°Okay, ge. Rest early.¡± Ji Xiaotao and Yuan Ye had known each other for so many years, so actually had quite a close rtionship. But he was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant after all. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had made a clean cut. Thus, Xiaotao could no longer contact Yuan Ye so frequently ¨C things didn¡¯t work like that.


    Yuan Ye agreed, then hung up. It was ten at night. He showered before smoking a cigarette. Honestly, it was bedtime. However, his mind was still wide awake,pletely without any indication of feeling sleepy.


    Yuan Ye felt slightly annoyed thinking of that show. He had always hated having a camera trained on him. The lens made one restrict themselves. Coincidentally, he disliked being limited in such a manner. A camera lens would box him into a perfect square, like the monkeys that performed at zoos. That wasn¡¯t freedom. Honestly, Guan Zhou had been right. There was water in his brain for agreeing to this.


    Yuan Ye turned on hisputer. He didn¡¯t want to write, so was only casually flipping through old photos. He didn¡¯t like getting his picture taken, but liked taking pictures of other things. This had started when he was still a student. Looking at the world through the viewfinder made it seem like the entire world was still. Even if the image had been moving in that instant, it would ultimately stop. Beautiful or horrendous, vast or diminished. In the end, they were only the culmination of a million instants. They woulde to a halt eventually. Things always did.


    The pictures weren¡¯t in any kind of order. They had been saved randomly. Yuan Ye had never liked organizing things. Previously, Fang Shaoyi would help him deal with his pictures when he wasn¡¯t busy filming. The pictures from the past two or so years had been mindlessly saved, though, without a hint of structure.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s gaze fell on a certain picture among the rest. It stayed there for two seconds. Then, he clicked it open.


    The scene was filled with brilliant gold. Sunlight covered every inch of the photo, illuminating the small plot ofnd behind their house. It was an average photo, not particrly beautiful or ugly. He had only thought that the lighting had been nice, so pressed down on the shutter in passing. Looking back on it now, he could still see that dazzling brightness through the screen.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s gaze seemed calm. He stared at that photo for a long time. In the middle, he even furrowed his brows. His hand reached for his cigarette box, but at thest moment, he pulled away. Finally, heughed and sat in the chair, stretching his arms to rx.


    It was quiette at night. Humans¡¯ brains often couldn¡¯t help running away in thought under such circumstances. Formerly, Yuan Ye had always considered himself carefree. Now, he thought that he was asionally melodramatic.


    ¡ª¡ªHe missed that little plot ofnd.


    Whatever. Since he missed it, he would go visit it.


    Yuan Ye had lived in this house for a decade, starting from the year that he and Fang Shaoyi had gotten married. That year, this area was still considered as being in the suburbs. Only a few neighborhoods filled with vis were present. Now, the city was continuously expanding. Their district had also be a part of the inner city. It had been a year since Yuan Ye had visited. He had always felt that this house was too big, too empty. The two room apartment he lived in now was just right: not too big and not too small. The perfect size for him to stay in alone.


    He drove over. The sensor by the gate beeped, but the door didn¡¯t move at all. The gate could automatically recognize car license tes. His and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s cars had both been recorded into the system. Right now, his car was parked outside the door, but the gate wasn¡¯t budging. Yuan Ye sat in the car and felt like a joke.


    He was just about to turn around and leave when the security guard ran over from the guard station. He greeted, ¡°Yuan ge¡¯s back? It¡¯s been a long time since I¡¯ve seen youe back. What were you off busy with?¡±


    As he spoke, he used the remote to open the gate.


    Yuan Ye lowered the car window. He waved his hand in greeting, then asked the security guard, ¡°Un, I was out. What¡¯s wrong, door¡¯s broken?¡±


    ¡°Not that I know of. I thought it was an outsider¡¯s car just now and only realized it was yours after stepping out.¡± The security guard also didn¡¯t know what was going on. He said, ¡°Come on in first, Yuan ge. I¡¯ll ask the property manager what¡¯s going onter.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded, then told him, ¡°No need. I bet the system¡¯s been updated. I¡¯ll head in first, but will probably still need you to help me open the gate when I leave.¡±


    ¡°No problem, Yuan ge. Come on in. Just give a honk when you¡¯re heading out. I¡¯ll be listening for it.¡±


    Yuan Ye gently pressed his car horn in thanks after entering the gate. The little security guard waved from behind. Yuan Ye stared at him in the rearview mirror, then gently shook his head andughed.


    Did anything need to be asked? He and Fang Shaoyi had gotten divorced long ago. He had even moved out of this house already. There was no reason for him to return, so his license te had probably been removed from the system. He had forgotten about this; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t havee today.


    He hadn¡¯te solely for that small patch of grass, but also because there were a few cameras and lenses he had forgotten here. When he had left previously, he had been in a rush. There were several things he hadn¡¯t had time to pack up, so had just left behind. He kept thinking that he would pick them up when he had the time, yet he had nevere back.


    But he ultimately needed to remove those things. After all, he couldn¡¯t keep taking up space in someone else¡¯s house.

 Chapter 3

    <h4>Chapter 3</h4>


    The grass in the little plot ofnd in the backyard had grown quite long. Without him here, nobody else would trim it. The pool was empty too. It looked a bit rundown, a bit dirty.


    No one was in the house. The furniture was still the same as when he had left, though. Nothing had really changed. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t look or stay around for too long. He packed up his own things and sat for a bit on thewn. After taking a few pictures, he left. After all, this wasn¡¯t his home. Arriving to pick up things without notifying the owner in advance was already pretty bad. If he started acting like the owner, moving and touching objects in the house, that would be unforgivable. A clean cut was a clean cut; it needed to be definite to give the other freedom. One shouldn¡¯t act like they were still in the past. That would only make everyone feel awkward.


    After he left, he ultimately decided to send Ji Xiaotao a message: Xiaotao, I went back to the house in the Eastern district to pick up some things. Tell your ge about thister.


    Ji Xiaotao was probably busy, so didn¡¯t answer immediately. He finally received a response in the afternoon: Okay Ye ge, no problem.


    Fang Shaoyi was on set for a movie, thus out of town. Consequently, the two of them didn¡¯t meet prior to the beginning of filming. They didn¡¯t speak to each other beforehand and the show directly started filming. On the day of recording, the camera crew first headed to where Fang Shaoyi was. Yuan Ye flew over by ne alone. They would meet at the airport, then fly straight to a certain Asian ind two hourster.


    The itinerary had been confirmed ahead of time. Yuan Ye was fairly confident in how well he had memorized the schedule, so felt confident. Even so, the moment the ne started taxiing on the ground afternding, he still slightly furrowed his brows. His expression seemed somewhat displeased.


    Yuan Ye had a ski cap on. When he walked out with both hands in his pockets and his head lowered, he heard someone shout his name¡ª¡ª¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    The leg he had put out imperceptibly trembled. Following this, he immediately returned to normal. He was too familiar with that voice. He could tell exactly who this person was just from hearing one word.


    He lifted his head and looked over, immediately meeting that person¡¯s gaze. They made eye contact. Only they knew what they felt in their hearts in this instant.


    Yuan Ye smiled faintly and walked over. Looking into the other¡¯s eyes, he smiled and called out, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    After, he shifted his gaze away to wave at the camera crew following this person. He introduced himself to the camera, ¡°Hello everyone. This is my first time meeting you; I¡¯m Yuan Ye. My apologies, my flight was dyed.¡±


    He was about half a meter away from Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi took a step forward and swung an arm around Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulders. A familiar scent surrounded Yuan Ye, catching him off guard. He lowered his gaze and heard the other say, ¡°Let me introduce everyone again officially. This is Teacher Yuan Ye, an intellectual.¡±


    The young follow PD smiled off to the side and said, ¡°I¡¯m Uncle Ye¡¯s fan. I own all of your books.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked over. He cocked an eyebrow and asked, ¡°Why do you keep looking at me?¡±


    Yuan Ye stared at him and answered, ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve seen each other. Let me get a good look.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mouth twitched. An extremely handsome face that always appeared extra enticing with such a smile. But as Fang Shaoyi smiled at him like this, Yuan Ye suddenly discovered while looking at him that there were wrinkles at the corners of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes. Thin lines that spread out from the very edges of the eyes actually added a weathered look. It was very appealing. The image of student Fang Shaoyi from many years ago suddenly shed through Yuan Ye¡¯s mind. Following this, he lowered his head and smiled.


    A thirty six year old Fang Shaoyi and twenty year old Fang Shaoyi were ultimately different.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked him.


    Yuan Ye lifted his head to ask with a teasing tone, ¡°You mustn¡¯t have diligently applied your essence or massaged your face while filming, huh?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t really understand what he meant. He subtly raised an eyebrow.


    Yuan Ye told the cameraman, ¡°Here, camera, give him a close-up. Look at Teacher Fang¡¯s face. He already has wrinkles. You¡¯re only thirty six. Don¡¯t you feel unsightly?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He shook his head and said, ¡°We¡¯re filming right now, don¡¯t make such jokes. I¡¯ve gotten old?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yuan Ye shook his head. Heughed softly and answered, ¡°You¡¯re still young.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had reached fame as a youth. He had started acting as a young child. His father was Fang Han, an extremely famous artiste in the film industry. In the earlier years, many people said that all of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s achievements were because of his dad. He waspletely a second generation celebrity. In the past, Yuan Ye had even expressed his anger about this on Weibo. He had never been in the habit of holding back his temper. He spoke whatever was on his mind. At that time, he posted on his Weibo: Fuck ¡°second generation celebrity¡±. He hadn¡¯t gotten angry when others said his books were bad or trash, but he couldn¡¯t handle hearing others criticize Fang Shaoyi. He lived by if you attack him, then I¡¯ll attack you.


    These years, there were less and less people who made that argument. Practically nobody brought it up again, because anyone with eyes could tell that Fang Shaoyi was truly hardworking. He wasn¡¯t any less talented than his father had been back in the day. Normally, he was also very lowkey. When he wasn¡¯t working, one practically couldn¡¯t hear anything about him in the entertainment news or gossip. He never got mixed up in any messes. A few years ago, he won two domestic film emperor trophies with the movie¡¶Cerulean Dust¡·. Nobody could say he didn¡¯t deserve them. A father like a tiger could not beget a son like a dog. Fang Han was incapable of raising a bad son.


    After so many years in the industry, the only unexpected thing Fang Shaoyi had ever done was get married at such a young age. He had caused such amotion, making so many people treat it like a joke. But the Fang family hadn¡¯t been against his marriage at all. Once, Fang Han had said in an interview that he and his wife wouldn¡¯t overly butt into their son¡¯s love life. There was no need. The arrival and departure of fate was decided by each individual. His family wouldn¡¯t try to control him, because it wasn¡¯t their business.


    This year, Fang Shaoyi was thirty six. He could still be considered a ¡°little fresh meat¡± in the industry: in the prime of his youth. Most male celebrities at this age still needed to hide the fact that they were dating, much less married. But in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s regard, he had been married for over a decade. Speaking of, there was something quite interesting. There was another couple thirty-something in age on the show, but they were in the young group because they had only started dating recently. Normally, they went for the ¡°little fresh meat¡± and ¡°little flower¡± image, so had charming appearances. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye were thirty six and thirty three respectively. They weren¡¯t any older than those two, but had been split into the old CP group.


    Married for a decade and still not an old CP? Teachers, you both need to stop ying. If this were a heterosexual couple, the child would already be several years old.


    The two of them chatted on and off. Though they didn¡¯t say much, they also didn¡¯t let the conversationpletely die down so that there would be something for the cameras to film. The airport was a busy ce after all. With several cameras trained on them, they had a strong presence. There would definitely be passersby who would recognize Fang Shaoyi. But Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t a celebrity with a huge online following anyways, so didn¡¯t have any fans who were wildly passionate and hard to control. When strangers recognized him, they only greeted him and asked for an autograph, which was nothing.


    Yuan Ye only heaved a sigh of relief after they boarded the ne and found their seats. At an angle that the cameras couldn¡¯t see, he furrowed his brows and looked outside. His expression seemed a bit agitated.


    Fang Shaoyi was sitting next to him. These two people had already acted for long enough in front of the cameras. Now that the camera wasn¡¯t filming them, neither spoke up. Fang Shaoyi turned around to look at the cameraman; the other had his head lowered and was fidgeting with his machine. Fang Shaoyi leaned over to quietly ask the little director, ¡°Are we filming on the ne?¡±


    The little director responded softly, ¡°We just need to film a few segments after takeoffter. The cameraman will notify you in advance. You and Teacher Yuan can take a nap first if you¡¯re tired.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi turned around. He didn¡¯t make a sound as he put on an eyemask to cover his eyes. He lowered his seat and seemed to actually fall asleep.


    Yuan Ye looked over. He took off the mic pinned to his cor.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were covered, so Yuan Ye could boldly stare at him. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s elegantly shaped nose and closed mouth were exposed even with the eyemask. His thin lips were slightly pressed together ¨C his side profile and jawline were extremely sharp and attractive. Yuan Ye stared at this face. The person before his eyes was someone he was infinitely familiar with. The face was one that he reveled in and was entranced by.


    Though he had mentally prepared himself a long time ago, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shout of his name in the airport had still made Yuan Ye temporarily panic. In front of the cameras, he could still put up somewhat of a front, but his heart had been in his throat the whole time.


    This was Fang Shaoyi after all.


    When he had gotten together with this person, he hadn¡¯t yet reached twenty. He had clearly only been a wild monkey, but had been recklessly adamant about taking a bite out of the moon.


    A self-mocking smile was painted onto Yuan Ye¡¯s face. He closed his eyes too and leaned back against the seat.


    Why the fuck was he thinking about all these random things? Useless and annoying.


    Being in a ne for hours on end wasn¡¯t veryfortable, but Yuan Ye could still put on a decent act for the camera. He could still chat and joke with the camera crew. To his side, Fang Shaoyi appeared slightly glum. When this person wasn¡¯t speaking or smiling, he seemed a bit somber. Halfway through, Yuan Ye even patted his face and told the camera, ¡°See? Teacher Fang¡¯s old already, so is always in a seriously bad mood when he wakes up.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi caught his hand and removed it from his face. After, probably for the cameras, he didn¡¯t let go. Yuan Ye¡¯s palms were sweaty. He licked his lips. His tobo addiction was kicking in and he wanted a cigarette.


    This was a show thatbined travel and games. It was pretty rxing and was basically an extended vacation. Their first destination was a beautiful little ind. The two of them had been here before. They were the first to arrive, so the other three celebrity couples were nowhere to be found.


    Ji Xiaotao had already gotten here ahead of time. He needed toe early to see if there was anything else that needed to be prepared. When he saw Yuan Ye, he rushed over and shouted with a smile, ¡°Ye ge!¡±


    ¡°Ey, I heard you. If you were any louder, you would¡¯ve knocked me over,¡± Yuan Ye smiled. ¡°Be a bit quieter. Be mindful of the ears of us old people.¡±


    He casually lifted a hand to tug on his ear. Only now did his and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands separate.


    As soon as they did, his wet palm instantly became exposed to air, bing an expanse of cold.

 Chapter 4

    <h4>Chapter 4</h4>


    There were four couples total on this show: two same-sex and two opposite-sex. Each group contained one couple that had been married for a long time and a couple that had either just started dating or had just gotten married. Before evening fell, the other couples arrived as well. The production staff was determined to get high viewer ratings, so weren¡¯t stingy with their money. These four duos were all very valuable. Aside from Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye, one couple was an early Hong Kong film empress and her wealthy husband, one was the ¡°fresh meat¡± and ¡°fresh flower¡± couple the same age as Fang Shaoyi, and thest was a pair of youths. Both youths were just past twenty, making them the youngest CP on the show. They hadn¡¯t publicized their rtionship yet, so were going for that ambiguous feeling.


    These two old CPs were extremely influential. With Fang Shaoyi and film empress Chen Ru¡¯s statuses, it had taken great effort to get them to sign the contracts. The other two young CPs were in charge of the show¡¯s online poprity: they all had an abundance of fans, bringing with them trending topics and marketability. Their online influence was impressive, so signing them hadn¡¯t been cheap either.


    With every group¡¯s arrival, they exchanged greetings. Fang Shaoyi and Chen Ru had worked together before on a movie many years ago, so could be considered old acquaintances. However, Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye werepletely unfamiliar with the other two duos. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t even heard of them before. The two youngest kids were the most polite and respectful. Everyone around them were their seniors. Even though they currently had a lot of fans, the difference in status between them was still substantial.


    Dinner had been arranged in the hotel. Everyone sat down to eat. They were going to film the show together, so gathered for a meal to get to know one another better. Lin Tian was the one in charge of keeping the mood alive in this group. She was a usual guest on several different types of variety shows, so knew how to maintain the flow very well. The two youngest, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun, also had some experience. Their feel for variety was pretty strong. Chen Ru and her husband were from Hong Kong, so weren¡¯t prudish at all; they could really let themselves go. Among them, only Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye spoke little. Neither took initiative to speak. Sometimes, they couldn¡¯t even keep up with the others¡¯ train of thought, bing confused as to what they were ultimately trying to express.


    Yuan Ye kept his head lowered and ate. Fang Shaoyi asionally added food and soup to his bowls.


    ¡°Teacher Yuan, don¡¯t just focus on eating. Come chat with us. Haha, Teacher Yuan is too down to earth!¡± The topic of conversation had switched to him. Yuan Ye looked up at Lin Tian. The other was smiling at him. Yuan Ye grinned at everyone and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s chat.¡±


    His extremely serious response caused everyone at the table to burst intoughter again. The emotions expressed in variety shows were always exaggerated.


    ¡°Let him eat. When Teacher Yuan gets hungry, he starts eating in a rush. He can¡¯t stand being too hungry.¡± Fang Shaoyi sat next to him and added anotherdle full of soup to his bowl. He chuckled and told everyone else, ¡°He¡¯s also not much of a talker. If you make him speak, the conversation will get awkward.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him, then nodded with a smile. ¡°Un, my friends normally don¡¯t include me in their conversations. They find me infuriating.¡±


    It was hard to find news about these two normally. They each focused on their own work. In the first few years, Yuan Ye had also posted a lot of stuff on Weibo, but these years, he rarely did. To the outside world, they were somewhat mysterious. Two lowkey people had finally appeared in the public eye. The production crew had already leaked out that they would be attending the show long ago, so the audience had been waiting in anticipation since.


    Lin Tian asked with eyes curved into a smile, ¡°So how do you guys chat at home normally? I feel like both geges don¡¯t speak much. Don¡¯t you feel stuffy at home?¡±


    Yuan Ye thought to himself, who¡¯s your gege? You¡¯re even a year older than me. He joked, ¡°We don¡¯t chat. We just look at each other andmunicate through our eyes. Our house is silent.¡±


    Everyone at the tableughed once more.


    Fang Shaoyi butted in, taking initiative to chat with everyone else. He gently pressed a hand to Yuan Ye¡¯s lower back, telling him to keep eating, then removed it. Yuan Ye nced at him. Since he wasn¡¯t needed anymore, he would simply keep eating. This was nice. Yuan Ye felt that his patience was reaching its limits. He honestly disliked these situations. The ruckus gave him a headache and everyone¡¯s smiles were probably fake. Keeping an act up was tiring. Fang Shaoyi knew him extremely well, so obviously knew that Yuan Ye had already used up almost all his patience.


    Yuan Ye finished eating and set down his chopsticks. He wiped his mouth silently. Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of conversation with someone else, but turned around to ask him, ¡°Full?¡±


    ¡°Un.¡± Yuan Ye nodded, ¡°I noticed that you didn¡¯t eat much.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi bumped up the thermostat. He walked over and patted Yuan Ye¡¯s leg. ¡°Go shower first.¡±


    Yuan Ye opened his eyes to look at him. They made eye contact. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t speak, only staring at him silently. Then, he removed his gaze and scanned the cameras surrounding them. He reached a hand out to grab a pillow before covering his face. The voice that sounded out from under the pillow was stuffy. ¡°They¡¯re still filming. I¡¯m shy.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled. When he smiled, the corners of his eyes and the angle of his brows would be softer. He stood at the edge of the bed, prodding the sprawled out Yuan Ye with his knee. Amused, he said, ¡°Lies. They won¡¯t go in and film you showering. What¡¯s there to be shy about?¡±


    ¡°Either way, I¡¯m just shy. You shower first. I¡¯ll showerter,¡± Yuan Ye responded.


    Both his arms were pressing down on the pillow. His words were barely understandable.


    Fang Shaoyi pulled his pillow away. ¡°Don¡¯t suffocate.¡±


    The pillow got removed. Probably because he had just been stuffed under it, causing his breathing to be restricted, Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were red.


    Fang Shaoyi stood there, staring into his eyes. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t meet his gaze. As if throwing a tantrum, he flung his arm out and flipped over, preventing the camera from filming his face.


    After, it seemed like he had fallen asleep. Heid there, unmoving. Fang Shaoyi entered the bathroom to shower. The cameraman walked closer to get a closeup of Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye used his hand to block the lens. His eyes were still closed as he buried his face in the bed, half sprawled out. His voice sounded a bit nasally. Heughed and pleaded, ¡°Bro, stop filming. You¡¯ve already filmed me all of today, let me catch a breath.¡±


    Thus, the camera could only catch the back of his head and one ear.


    The first day of filming ended here. Fang Shaoyi walked out after drying his hair. The cameramen packed up and left. Yuan Ye maintained his position, flopped over on the bed. He appeared to be asleep.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s footsteps were very light. He walked over to the window and stood there, looking outside. The room had fallen into absolute silence. They couldn¡¯t even hear each other¡¯s breathing. Outside, the ocean breeze was a bit gusty. Just looking at it made one feel cold.


    When the sound of a phone vibrating suddenly appeared in this room, it seemed out of ce. Yuan Ye reached over and pulled his phone out of his pocket. He answered and glued it to his ear. Still lying down, he said, ¡°Hello?¡±


    ¡°Un, I made it. We¡¯ve already filmed for a whole day.¡±


    ¡°......He¡¯s here too.¡±


    ¡°No worries. Rest assured.¡±


    Yuan Yeid there,ughing. The sound got muffled by the bed. At least hisughter sounded a bit more rxed. With slight amusement, he said, ¡°I didn¡¯t even see you guys worrying about me this much when I was twenty three. Now I¡¯m thirty three, olddy. I¡¯m an independent, grown male. Hurry and start worrying about yourself and Professor Yuan, okay?¡±


    He only held a brief conversation over the phone before hanging up.


    He had even answered a call, so couldn¡¯t keep faking being asleep. Yuan Ye heaved out a long sigh and jerked upright. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t turn around. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t call out to him either.


    It had been too long since the two of them had stayed in a room together. However pleasant andfortable it had been before was how awkward and solemn it felt now. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t fallen asleep at all. How could he? This wasn¡¯t even his room. Only, the image just now of Fang Shaoyi telling him to go shower had suddenly ovepped with scenes from the past. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t know what nerve had snapped in his brain either. His emotions had suddenly welled up and he hadn¡¯t been able to hide the twinge in his nose.


    Fang Shaoyi looked over. His voice waspletely calm and emotionless. He asked, ¡°Everything¡¯s good at home?¡±


    ¡°Un, pretty good.¡± Yuan Ye replied with the same tone.


    Fang Shaoyi turned around and stood there. Yuan Ye sat off to the side, arms around his knees, casually crossed in front of his body. Neither spoke. A whileter, Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Can I smoke in here?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. ¡°Smoke?¡±


    Yuan Ye patted his pocket. He wasn¡¯t carrying around any cigarettes because of filming today. He shook his head, chuckled, and said, ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    He knew Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was locked on him. When those eyesnded on a person, they felt tangible and also carried warmth. Yuan Ye could tell when Fang Shaoyi was staring at him even without looking up; he could feel it.


    This space was too stuffy. The tension could be cut with a knife. Yuan Ye sighed. He stood up and rubbed his head out of habit. The small scar by his eye happened to catch the light, so seemed a bit obvious. He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°It¡¯ste. Rest early. I need to head back, shower, and sleep too.¡±


    The production crew had prepared a suite for them, but there was only one bed. It was impossible for Yuan Ye to stay here. Earlier, he had told Ji Xiaotao to reserve another room for him. His stuff had already been moved over. When he was almost at the door, Fang Shaoyi called out, ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye turned around and made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Fang Shaoyi lowered his voice and said, ¡°If you find this show too annoying, we can stop filming. I¡¯ll have Geng Jinwei discuss with them when I get back.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and looked over. ¡°You¡¯re annoyed? Whatever you want. If you want to stop filming, then stop. I¡¯m fine with whatever.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. He stared straight at Yuan Ye. ¡°Quit bringing me up. I¡¯m asking about you.¡±


    Yuan Ye was wearing a casual jacket and ck jeans. Right now, he had both hands in his pockets and was half turned around. With a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile, he stared at Fang Shaoyi. After showering, Fang Shaoyi had changed into a t-shirt and joggers. He looked clean and fresh, very homey. Yuan Ye had a set of these clothes too. Coincidentally, he had also brought them along as pajamas this time.


    Yuan Ye suddenlyughed. He turned around to face Fang Shaoyi straight on. He closely observed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face, then nodded. Cold amusement resounded in his voice. ¡°I¡¯m so fucking annoyed.¡±


    The depths of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were still and dark. Without waiting for the other to answer, Yuan Ye continued, ¡°......But I still want to keep filming.¡±


    Yuan Ye took two steps forward. His face was in front of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. He grabbed the other¡¯s t-shirt and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you think I¡¯m batshit crazy?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi focused on the tiny scar at the corner of his eye. This scar had been there for many years. Back then, it had been pretty obvious, but now, it was almost imperceptible unless Yuan Ye was under a direct light source. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Just say the word when you want to stop filming. No need to force yourself.¡±


    Yuan Ye agreed softly. At the same time, he rubbed his fingers together. It was a tiny, reflexive action; he actually just wanted to smoke a cigarette. Yuan Ye turned around and left, lifting an arm in farewell.

 Chapter 5

    <h4>Chapter 5</h4>


    At dawn, Yuan Ye woke up and got ready, then headed to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room. Ji Xiaotao was there too. He greeted, ¡°Ye ge, you¡¯re up pretty early.¡±


    ¡°Not really. I didn¡¯t sleeptest night.¡± Yuan Ye gestured inside the room with his chin and asked, ¡°Is your ge up yet?¡±


    ¡°Yep. He went for a run,¡± Ji Xiaotao responded. Then, he asked, ¡°How are you, Ye ge?¡±


    Yuan Ye sat on the sofa. He rubbed his face and smiled. ¡°Same as always. How else could I be?¡±


    Yuan Ye had a good idea of what was going to happen during today¡¯s filming; it had been written in the itinerary. Today, they needed to hike a mountain. They would hike up the mountain and spend the night at the top. The four groups would be split into two teams. One team would be able to stay in the little cabin at the top of the mountain while the other would have to sleep in tents. Yuan Ye felt ufortable thinking of how he had to pass the day once more with cameras following his every move. But he had agreed to this of his own free will. He had wanted to film, so shouldn¡¯tin.


    They drew straws to determine the teams. Yuan Ye ended up in the same team as the two kids, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun. Each youth carried a hiking backpack, appearing quite professional. Yuan Ye patted Chi Xing¡¯s backpack and asked with a grin, ¡°What¡¯s inside?¡±


    Chi Xing¡¯s smile was a bit shy. He lowered his head and giggled. ¡°Neither of us have really gone hiking before, so didn¡¯t know what to prepare either. We have some water, food, and a bit of everything.¡±


    Yuan Ye himself was also carrying a backpack, but his seemed irrelevantpared to theirs. He only had a backpack to put stuff into: today¡¯s game wasparing which group would find the most things. The show¡¯s sponsor had hidden things in the mountain. Whichever team found the most would get to sleep in the cabin. It was easy to tell that their opposing team wasn¡¯t as prepared as them. They seemed slightly lost.


    Lin Tian asked her boyfriend, ¡°Howe you don¡¯t have a backpack?¡±


    Her boyfriend replied innocently, ¡°Didn¡¯t you tell me not to bring one?¡±


    ¡°You didn¡¯t bring one just because I told you not to bring one? Howe you aren¡¯t this obedient normally?¡±


    Chen Ru and her husband were both empty handed too. She nced at her wealthy husband meaningfully. The man immediately understood and winked at her. Then, he quickly lunged over and grabbed onto Cheng Xun¡¯s backpack. ¡°Let us borrow it, handsome kid!¡±


    ¡°Ey!¡± Cheng Xun wasn¡¯t paying attention to what was going on behind him. The other¡¯s vigorous lunge scared him quite a bit. Without much of a struggle, his backpack got removed.


    Chi Xing started eximing in protest, ¡°Geges and jiejies are bullying the little kids.¡±


    ¡°You two are carrying too much.¡± Chen Ru stood in front of her husband and told Chi Xing with a smile, ¡°We¡¯re helping share the load.¡±


    The two kids originally hadn¡¯t really dared to stand up to their seniors anyways. They were only yfully arguing a bit, but didn¡¯t actually intend to ask for the backpack back.


    There were two paths. Each team chose one to hike up. Yuan Ye and them chose the path that seemed a bit harder to hike. Filming on a mountain was pretty inconvenient. There needed to be cameras in front of and behind them. The camera crew had it much harder than the guests. Chi Xing asionally handed the cameramen water. Each time, he said, ¡°Teachers have worked hard.¡±


    The two kids normally had extremely packed schedules. They needed to practice singing, practice dancing, work out, act, and attend variety shows. This required a lot of stamina. When taking their age into ount as well, they should¡¯ve been the most energetic. But the trail was honestly too difficult. After not even two hours, they started losing steam. They looked up at Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye and discovered that the two of them had already disappeared.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s ¡°wild monkey¡± nickname wasn¡¯t for naught. He had grown up climbing and swinging from the beams of his ceiling. His grandmother¡¯s house was in the mountains. When he was young, he used to climb up the mountain to pick baskets of wild mushrooms. The mountain they were hiking now wasn¡¯t very high either. To him, it was just like ying. The cameramen were all professionals whose work normally epassed following celebrities around, but even they could barely keep up with him.


    ¡°That won¡¯t do.¡± The cameraman didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry anymore.


    ¡°It¡¯ll have to do even if it won¡¯t do,¡± Fang Shaoyi joked. He asked them, ¡°Can you guys catch up to him?¡±


    When Yuan Ye turned back to look for them, there were already several little wooden boxes from the sponsors in his backpack. Inside were piles of prop gold coins. He squatted on an old tree and waved in their direction. ¡°Here.¡±


    He threw a bunch of bananas at Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi caught them and shared them with everyone. Then, he looked up and told Yuan Ye, ¡°Don¡¯t run off too far. There¡¯s no signal so we aren¡¯t able to keep track of you.¡±


    ¡°No worries. I found a box. There¡¯s so much money.¡± This was probably the first time Yuan Ye had smiled with true happiness in these past few days. He was already thirty something, but when he smiled, he looked like a kid. He swung the backpack on his back around and asked, ¡°Yi ge, want coconut water? I¡¯ll pick a coconut for you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. ¡°No need. Have fun by yourself.¡±


    Yuan Ye would also asionally stop to wait for the two little ones behind them, then throw them bananas. Chi Xing was running out of energy. The trail was too hard; his face was red with sweat and there was a towel draped across his neck. Cheng Xun handed him a bottle of water.


    After taking a drink, Chi Xing handed it back. Cheng Xun drank straight out of the same bottle.


    Yuan Ye smiled. They were going for that ambiguous feeling. Fans would probably start exploding when this segment got broadcasted. The two of them really knew how to express this bit of ambiguity, and also controlled the amount of ambiguity very well. If they acted too intimate, they would really be considered a couple. To fans, that wasn¡¯t as exciting as something ambiguous.


    Chi Xing asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Yuan Ye ge, how do you have so much stamina? I haven¡¯t even seen you pant.¡±


    When Yuan Ye was with them, he didn¡¯t act the same as when he was with Fang Shaoyi. After all, his age was out there. He seemed like a cool uncle. He raised his chin and pointed at a scar on his neck. Then, with slight amusement in his eyes, he exined, ¡°When I was young, I was the king of the mountain we lived by. This scar is from a wild dog that bit me in the mountains as a kid. Fucker almost killed me.¡±


    Chi Xing asked, ¡°You lived in the mountains?¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°My grandma¡¯s house was by the mountains. My childhood was spent fooling around there.¡±


    Cheng Xun had remained silent all this time. Now, he added from the side, ¡°I knew that. I read it in your book once. There were lots of stories about that mountain.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at him and cocked an eyebrow. Then, he questioned with a faint smile, ¡°You read¡¶Stubborn¡·? How old are you even.¡±


    Cheng Xun nodded. ¡°Yes. I liked it a lot.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled, but didn¡¯t respond. From the side pocket of his backpack, he pulled out two fruits and threw them at the two kids. In a few steps, he was gone again.


    Yuan Ye carried his backpack and explored the whole mountain. In the middle of his venture, he almost ran into the opposing team. From afar, he saw the presence of cameras, so turned around and disappeared off to who knows where once more. The prop wooden boxes had been stuffed into his backpack, filling itpletely. They were actually pretty heavy. It had been a long time since Yuan Ye had wandered through a mountain like this, at least a couple years. Ever since his grandma had passed away, he hadn¡¯t returned to those mountains. Or, it could be said that he hadn¡¯t really gone anywhere in the past few years. Thinking back, he couldn¡¯t even clearly remember what he had liked in the past. The Yuan Ye before had roamed the whole world carefreely. He had felt that the entire world was his.


    Later on, his world got smaller and smaller. As he reminisced now, he could barely name what he had enjoyed once upon a time.


    That day, it was destined that Yuan Ye¡¯s team would win. Mountains were the territory of wild monkeys. Who could beat him?


    Eventually, when the two teams reconvened, the opposing team counted their boxes first. As they counted, Yuan Ye and Cheng Xun each pulled out boxes from their own backpacks. In the end, the other side counted a total of one hundred five. Their entire team was dead tired. The two girls couldn¡¯t bother with anything else and directly found a piece of wood to use as a cushion while they sat on the ground.


    Yuan Ye heard them say one hundred five. He pulled out two more boxes from his backpack and announced, ¡°That¡¯s it.¡±


    Cheng Xun also added, ¡°I have no more either. I don¡¯t think we have enough, ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled. ¡°Not necessarily.¡±


    In the end, they could only count ny six. This was nine less than the opposing side. Thus, they needed to give up the cabin for the others to stay in. Their two duos could only grab tents to sleep in.


    Fang Shaoyi pressed on Yuan Ye¡¯s prickly head. ¡°You wandered around the whole mountain today. For what?¡±


    Yuan Ye wobbled his head to avoid the other¡¯s hand. His smile was also a bit embarrassed. ¡°In the end, I got preupied with only wandering and forgot to find stuff.¡±


    ¡°No no, the two of us were a burden,¡± Chi Xing hurriedly said, ¡°We were too unpracticed. It was a blessing that we even made it up here in one piece.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. ¡°No worries.¡±


    The show was just designed like this. There were actually other ces to live in on the mountain top, but for the ratings, filming could only proceed in this manner. At night, they first found somewhere to bathe, then each returned to their tents. By the time Yuan Ye returned from his shower, Fang Shaoyi had already finished putting up the tent. The production team had prepared more than enough nkets in addition to two sleeping bags. The cameramen hadn¡¯t finished working yet. Yuan Ye crawled in and sat cross-legged on the nkets. He sighed and said, ¡°Pretty soft.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was standing outside. He looked down and said, ¡°Come out and look at the stars. You won¡¯t be able to when we get back.¡±


    Yuan Ye made his way outside. He grabbed a bedsheet and spread it out on the ground before lying down and staring at the star-filled sky. The night sky was truly beautiful here. Views like this were rare in the current day and age. Yuan Ye sighed and said, ¡°I didn¡¯t bring my camera.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t respond. He walked over and sat by Yuan Ye¡¯s side silently.


    For a long time, the two of them quietly stared up at the night sky. Neither spoke. A whileter, Yuan Ye cleared his throat and said, ¡°Thest time we came here, it was overcast. We didn¡¯t get to see the stars, so it was no use even though I brought my camera. This time, the sky¡¯s clear for a change, but I have no camera.¡±


    After saying this, heughed to himself and shook his head. ¡°Something¡¯s always wrong.¡±


    He used his arm as a pillow and turned to look at Fang Shaoyi. This person always held himself up so straight, even when they were sitting and rxing. He was always proper, always handsome, always so dazzling. No matter who was beside him, there always seemed to be a distance separating him from everyone else.


    Fang Shaoyi felt his gaze. He looked down and made eye contact. The corner of Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth pulled up. An indecipherable faint smile appeared on his face. Then, he nced away.


    After filming ended, Yuan Ye first wandered off to smoke a cigarette. When he came back, Fang Shaoyi was standing next to the tent waiting for him. Not so far from their tent was Chi Xing and Cheng Xun¡¯s tent. Fang Shaoyi was chatting with those two.


    Yuan Ye walked over to their tent. With practically no hesitation, he burrowed inside.


    Resources were limited. He had no energy to be melodramatic. They were old acquaintances: what was wrong with sleeping together?


    Chi Xing and Cheng Xun were very conscientious. Upon noticing that Yuan Ye had returned, they left together, saying that they wanted to take a stroll. After their departure, only Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi remained in the vast emptiness.


    Yuan Ye poked his head out. He crooked his neck and called, ¡°Come on, Yi ge. Bedtime.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him, then slowly shook his head.


    Yuan Ye raised an eyebrow. ¡°What? I grew quills on my body and might poke you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°There aren¡¯t quills on your body. The quills are in your mouth.¡±


    ¡°Oh, they pricked you?¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s gaze unconsciouslynded on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mouth. Those two slightly thin lips were always extremely sexy.


    Fang Shaoyi squatted and responded, ¡°You sleep. I can¡¯t sleep next to you.¡±


    After he said this, he scooted closer, even cing a knee on the ground. Squatting on the ground and speaking was a bit ufortable for someone so tall. He stared straight into Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. They directly faced each other; when he spoke, the air he expelled could reach Yuan Ye¡¯s face. He scoffed, then spoke so that only the people in the tent could hear. ¡°When you¡¯reying by my side......I only want to fuck you.¡±

 Chapter 6

    <h4>Chapter 6</h4>


    Fuck me?


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even try to look away. He maintained eye contact with Fang Shaoyi,pletely fearless. He opened his mouth and said, ¡°Then fuck me.¡±


    With their identities now, their words were simply attempts at provoking the other. Yuan Ye leaned back and fell straight into the pile of nkets with a thud. Heid there, t, and looked at Fang Shaoyi. A hint of a smile was still painted on his face. He reached a hand out and unzipped the zipper of his jacket, lifting the t-shirt inside enough to reveal his solid abs. With his hand still holding his shirt up, he said, ¡°Come fuck me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were dark. Yuan Ye was challenging him. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t step down from the challenge. He burrowed inside the nkets. He did this extremely quickly, actions carrying a sense of determination. But while he was fast, Yuan Ye was faster; he was determined, but Yuan Ye even more so. Yuan Ye rested his fingertips by the waistband of his pants and lifted his waist up, making to remove his pants. This set of motions didn¡¯t even take a second. They were in the wilderness, so were obviously only wearing sweatpants. There wasn¡¯t even a belt. As long as he tugged down, he could take off his pants instantly.


    Fang Shaoyi froze. Yuan Ye stopped moving too. He stilled, gently lowering his thumbs slightly. The extremely sexy section of skin below the belly button became revealed. The eyes locked onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s were full of provocation. He nced slyly at the other and asked, ¡°Are youing or not?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. Yuan Ye made his voice lower, then purposefully panted a few times. He attempted to lower his fingertips some more, squeezing out some seductive moans from his throat.


    Fang Shaoyi turned aside and cussed with furrowed brows. He grabbed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand before lifting the other corner of the nket and wrapping Yuan Ye up. He tugged forcefully, rolling him so he was now facing the other side. With a lowered voice, he said, ¡°Quit acting crazy. Hurry and sleep.¡±


    Yuan Ye was facing the tent. He startedughing. Only half his head was outside of the nket roll. His body started shaking to the rhythm of hisughs. Fang Shaoyi zipped up the tent from inside, thenid down beside him.


    Yuan Ye had acted coquettish for a while, causing himself to sweat. With his back to Fang Shaoyi, the smile on his face slowly disappeared. He opened his eyes and gazed at the tent before him. Every cell in his body was extremely excited. They could feel even the slightest shifts of movementing from the body only a nket away from him. Whenever Fang Shaoyi moved somewhat noticeably, he would get goosebumps. A whileter, he finally couldn¡¯t breathe in the stuffy nket roll anymore. He tugged it apart and swung an arm and half the nket over Fang Shaoyi.


    Like this, the two of them slept.


    It wasn¡¯t very awkward, nor were they sleepless. Nothing felt off. They even felt quitefortable. They were too familiar with each other: they had slept together for over a decade. Lying down next to this person was as natural as sleeping on a pillow or covering oneself with a nket. Separating for more than a year was quite long, but was irrelevantpared to the amount of time they had spent together.


    When Yuan Ye opened his eyes in the morning and immediately saw Fang Shaoyi, he froze for a moment. It took him some time to clear his mind. Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t awake yet; his face was to Yuan Ye as he peacefully slept.


    The sun wasn¡¯tpletely up yet outside. Right now, it was quite cold on the mountain. Yuan Ye actually needed to pee, but he didn¡¯t really want to move. Heid t on his back and looked up through the clear patch on the top of the tent at the sky outside. He saw a gray little square.


    He had once written something in one of his books. For some reason, it suddenly popped into his head right now:


    ying in water wasn¡¯t tiring. All they needed to do was y some dumb games by the ocean. Only one person was needed per family. Yuan Ye found a spot and hung up a hammock. Everyone else yed games for filming. Yuan Ye sprawled out off to the side, reading a book. The trees¡¯ shadows could basically cover himpletely. Such leisure time made him feel a bit sleepy.


    The little director said, ¡°Teacher Yuan, you look a bit toofortable.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at her. ¡°You want to try it?¡±


    The little director hurriedly waved her hands. ¡°No thanks. You can keepying there.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and closed his eyes again. ¡°I was just asking, don¡¯t take me so seriously. Even if you wanted to lie down I wouldn¡¯t let you. This is my noble consort chaise lounge. Would I let any random persony on it?¡±


    ¡°Teacher Yuan, you¡¯re too funny.¡± The little director couldn¡¯t stopughing because of him.


    Yuan Ye told her, ¡°When you¡¯re editing the episode, use rainbow colored words to write ¡®Noble Consort Yuan¡¯ by my face. Actually, no. How about ¡®Consort Ye¡¯? Sounds pretty wild. Suits me.¡±


    The little director burst intoughter again. She asked, ¡°Are you reading Teacher Feng¡¯s book? I bought it but haven¡¯t started reading it yet.¡±


    Thus, Yuan Ye waved the book at the camera. He purposefully said, ¡°Ah, then give it a closeup. Take a look everyone. This book was newly released by Feng Leizi ¨C it¡¯s the one with his own picture as the cover. Nobody read it.¡±


    He casually flipped through the book in front of the cameras, muttering, ¡°I said I don¡¯t want it, that I don¡¯t have time to read it. I could already guess the plot for whatever he wrote without reading it. But Feng Leizi was adamant about mailing me a copy. I took a look and lo and behold, I wasn¡¯t wrong at all. Still his usual sour clich¨¦s. I heard that it¡¯s number one in sales?¡±


    Yuan Ye asked the little director, ¡°Is it?¡±


    The little director shook her head whileughing. She answered, ¡°I really have no idea.¡±


    ¡°He beat me?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. He said straight into the camera, ¡°Are any of Yuan Ye¡¯s fans watching the show? Fans, don¡¯t buy this book. Just say Uncle Ye said this book isn¡¯t good.¡±


    After saying this, heid there andughed for a long time. Then, he startedining about Feng Leizi again. The cameraman filmed everything.


    Yuan Ye actually just wanted to borrow this tform as a way to help his friend promote his new book. Feng Leizi and him had been friends for too many years. The two of them had met in school. They were quite familiar with one another and had a solid rtionship. Everyone else also knew how well they got along, so Yuan Ye dared to casually joke about him like this.


    The groups with girls all allowed the girls to sit out and rest. In the group with the two boys, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun took turns ying. Only Yuan Ye stayed in ce, making no indication that he was nning to join in.


    Later on, the little director asked him, ¡°Teacher Yuan, aren¡¯t you going to at least participate?¡±


    ¡°Participate?¡± Yuan Ye replied, ¡°No need. Aren¡¯t they running in the water? Two of me don¡¯t even amount to one of Teacher Fang. Teacher Fang normally runs 10,000 meters just for fun. Did you forget that I¡¯m the noble consort?¡±


    A whileter, they started switching people in the game again. All the other groups switched participants. Chi Xing asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, aren¡¯t you tired? Should we have Ye ge take your ce?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi turned around to look in Yuan Ye¡¯s direction. He shook his head andughed. ¡°No need. He spent all of yesterday wandering around the mountain and climbing up trees. He¡¯s tired now. Let him rest.¡±


    After two days of filming, Yuan Ye had somewhat found the rhythm too. He no longer had nothing to say. Even though he wasn¡¯t participating in the games, he knew that he had to talk. This way, the cameras would have something to film. Since he signed the contract and was getting paid to film this show, he needed to provide them the content they wanted. With nothing to film or edit, the production team would¡¯ve spent all that money for nothing.


    Today was thest day of filming in this location. Everyone would need to pack up to head home tomorrow morning. At night, they were required to split up and film individual interviews. These days, each group¡¯s PD hadpiled a list of questions they wanted to ask regarding filming. After, these interview clips would be edited into the middle of the episode. This was especially important because it was their first episode. Originally, they were supposed to havepleted an interview before filming, but because of poor nning, all their interviews got moved to now.


    They each filmed alone. Yuan Ye went first. Fang Shaoyi was after him. The production team found a room and set up a background panel in the back. The interviews took ce here.


    The little director started, ¡°Teacher Yuan, you¡¯ve never really appeared in the public eye. You¡¯re too lowkey and have always been quite mysterious, even after marriage.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and looked at her. ¡°Am I mysterious? Not really. Look at all the books I¡¯ve written already. I also attend many promotional events. I shouldn¡¯t be that mysterious.¡±


    The little director said, ¡°You know I¡¯m talking about things in rtion to Teacher Fang. Things in the entertainment industry.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment and nodded. ¡°That¡¯s true. I¡¯m not part of the entertainment industry. I¡¯m just a normal person.¡±


    The little director questionned, ¡°You and Teacher Fang got married very early on. Back then, what were your thoughts? To make such a decision?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and rubbed his forehead. ¡°I didn¡¯t have any thoughts. At the time, I did whatever I wanted to. I wanted to get married, so I did. I didn¡¯t think about anything else.¡±


    The interview was pretty simple. The questions were all trivial. Yuan Ye cooperatively answered them. As they chatted, he thought in his heart, I really am getting old, epting interviews like these. In the past, would he let anyone ask him such revealing questions? It would¡¯ve been impossible for him to cooperate. Yuan Ye hated being interrogated like this by people unrted to him. Why do you care what I¡¯m thinking? Is it any of your business? Who are you?


    Now, though he still wasn¡¯t quite fond of it, he was no longer as resistant as before. That dangerous air of being unafraid of anything had also slowly dissipated with his age.


    After asking all the required questions, the little director then added an impromptu one. She smiled and blinked curiously, ¡°We all know that you and Teacher Fang have been in love for many years and that you¡¯ve always had a good rtionship. I want to secretly ask you, between you and Teacher Fang, who pursued the other first?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t refuse to answer this sudden question. People¡¯s gazes were always gentle when they reminisced the past. This held true even for Yuan Ye. The corners of his lips curled up. Very honestly, he said, ¡°I pursued him first. Even in the past, Teacher Fang already had an extremely dazzling presence. It would surprise nobody that someone would fall for him, right?¡±


    The little director agreed. ¡°Yes, Teacher Fang became famous at a very young age.¡±


    Yuan Ye had originally been prepared to end the interview and stand up, but thisst sentence caused him to pause. Then, he lowered his head and stared straight into the camera to say, ¡°Whether or not he¡¯s dazzling is unrted to whether or not he¡¯s famous. Even if he didn¡¯t be famous, he would still be Fang Shaoyi. Even after he won film emperor, he¡¯s also still Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi has always been exemr. This has nothing to do with his celebrity status or family background.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s touchy temper was well known. He was blunt when he spoke too. The production team had prepared for it in advance. During this round of filming, Yuan Ye had been quite easygoing. This was the first time he was expressing any bit of negative emotion. The little director¡¯s response had been somewhat on purpose. The hidden aim of that sentence had been to bring up Fang Shaoyi¡¯s second generation celebrity identity in a roundabout way. Everybody knew that Fang Shaoyi had be famous at a young age because of his dad.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t like their traps. He knew it was on purpose, but he still felt the need to respond. When he wanted to speak, he couldn¡¯t hold himself back. After saying this, he asked, ¡°We¡¯re done, right? Nothing else you want to ask?¡±


    The little director nodded. ¡°Yes. There are no more questions, Teacher Yuan.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment before standing up, pushing the door open, and leaving.

 Chapter 7

    <h4>Chapter 7</h4>


    Yuan Ye was sprawled out on the sofa chair, eyes closed as he sunbathed. His phone started ringing. He reached a hand out and groped around. After answering, he squeezed a hum out from his throat in greeting.


    The person calling said, ¡°Come out. Let¡¯s go drinking.¡±


    Without even opening his eyes, Yuan Ye answered, ¡°No.¡±


    The other asked again, ¡°Not even for tea?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were still closed. ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Old Tu, the person on the other end of the line, questioned. ¡°It¡¯s a nice sunny day. Why are you holed up at home?¡±


    Yuan Ye shifted onto his back from his side. He drew out his sybles, lethargically responding, ¡°I¡¯mzy. Just got back yesterday and I¡¯m tired.¡±


    The other chuckled and asked him, ¡°If you hadn¡¯t brought it up, I would¡¯ve forgotten. You¡¯re done filming? What¡¯s the situation? Nothing happened?¡±


    Yuan Ye was toozy to bother with him. He furrowed his brows and said, ¡°Why are you so annoying.¡±


    Old Tu cackled a few times, then announced, ¡°Okay, quit being wishy washy. Hurry ande out. We¡¯ll drink alcohol and eat meat.¡±


    ¡°Send your location.¡± After saying this, Yuan Ye hung up.


    He had returned by ne yesterday and had originally intended on spending all day sprawled out at home. In all honesty, Yuan Ye was simply azy person. Notzy in the way that meant he didn¡¯t like moving, though. If it was for something he liked, he wouldn¡¯tin no matter how troublesome or tiring it was. He had even climbed the Himyas before. However, for things that he didn¡¯t enjoy or ces he didn¡¯t like, his entire being waszy to an extreme. Going to film for the first episode of that show had taken only four days in total, but he still felt impossibly tired. His body needed to rx and his brain needed to rest.


    He had moved a chair onto the balcony and curled up like a cat to nap. He stayed like that for half a day. It wasfortable, but he was also starting to get hungry.


    Yuan Ye got up and tugged on a random change of clothes. He grabbed his phone and walked out the door, purposefully not driving. It was impossible to eat with Old Tu and not drink; this person was basically a giant vat waiting to get filled with alcohol.


    When he got to his destination, he found it was a barbecue restaurant. Meat could be grilled on mesh grills. He walked in. Old Tu was already sitting on a tiny stool and using a fire iron to prod the coal. There weren¡¯t individual rooms in this shop. It was only arge expanse of space covered by a tarp roof. A few walls separated the space into isted areas. Yuan Ye guessed that it probably got quite rowdy here at night.


    ¡°You¡¯re here?¡± Old Tu looked up at him. The man had a fairly square face and a beard on his chin.


    Yuan Ye sat down so his back was facing everyone else. But right now, it was the middle of the afternoon. There weren¡¯t any people around anyways. This table wasn¡¯t big, only about a meter both ways, and also low to the ground. Arger person would probably feel really ufortable sitting on such small chairs and at such a small table. The decor in the room was the usual brick wall with concrete flooring. Many people who wanted to get barbecue were here for this fiery, smoky environment.


    Yuan Ye lit a cigarette. He casually ced the box of cigarettes and his lighter on the ground. ¡°Another shop?¡±


    Old Tu startedughing again. Afterpleting the preparation and lighting a cigarette, he said, ¡°It¡¯s for Little Mei to y around with. Let her do as she wants.¡±


    Yuan Ye and Old Tu had known each other for quite a few years. This person had previously been the owner of a teahouse. Yuan Ye had often gone to his teahouse to drink tea. After a few rounds of conversation, they had gotten to know each other. To this day, Yuan Ye still couldn¡¯t remember what this person¡¯s name actually was. Either way, he kept calling the other Old Tu. He had to be at least ten years or so older than Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t know what this person had done for a living in the past, but right now, he dabbled in whatever he found interesting. He owned teahouses, restaurants, and bars. Some profited while others didn¡¯t. Regardless of whether they were earning money or not, though, this person didn¡¯t seem to care too much.


    Yuan Ye first ate some meat to fill his stomach with food before drinking with Old Tu.


    When the two of them drank, they never really drank beer. It was always straight to the baijiu. Yuan Ye had an alright alcohol tolerance, but not to the extent that he never got drunk. When he drank too much, he would get rowdy and intoxicated too. He was willing to drink with Old Tu because ultimately, Old Tu¡¯s personality fit Yuan Ye¡¯s. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to be friends. The other had a type of carefreeness that had previously made Yuan Ye feel like they were the same type of person.


    Living boldly and freely, being unbothered by all the matters of a mundane world. I do things because I enjoy them, not because I should do them.


    Old Tu used his tongs to flip the meat on the mesh grilling te. He cut therge piece of meat into little pieces; they sizzled and dripped oil. Yuan Ye picked up a piece and ate it. Then, he said, ¡°Unhealthy.¡±


    Old Tu scorned, ¡°If everything was healthy, life would be meaningless.¡±


    The owner of this shop wasn¡¯t Old Tu. It was a twenty-something little girl. She opened the door and returned from outside. Upon seeing Yuan Ye, she took off her jacket and bounced over. She sat down beside Old Tu and greeted Yuan Ye.


    Yuan Ye was familiar with her too. They chatted a bit.


    She asked if they needed her to stay here and grill the meat. Old Tu freed a hand and patted her lower back, saying, ¡°No need, I¡¯ll do it myself. Go on and y.¡±


    She smiled and said, ¡°Then I¡¯m really leaving. Don¡¯t say I¡¯m insensibleter.¡±


    The grin was still on Old Tu¡¯s face. ¡°I won¡¯t. Go ahead.¡±


    She stood up and told Yuan Ye, ¡°Then I¡¯ll go, Ye ge. Shout for me if you need anything?¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment and waved at her.


    After she left, Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Still not gonna get married?¡±


    Old Tu didn¡¯t respond. He only shook his head. There was always a somewhat insincere smile on this person¡¯s face. Others could never tell what he was actually thinking in his head. The girl just now had been with Old Tu for five or six years, starting from when she was twenty. Old Tu didn¡¯t have a family or kids, and also refused to get married. He had always been like this. From twenty to twenty six, the little girl stayed with Old Tu. It had already been a few years since she graduated from university. She spent every dayughing, almost as if she didn¡¯t worry about anything. Her life was pretty happy.


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t really the type to ask about others¡¯ personal issues. He wasn¡¯t interested in them either. It would be a blessing enough if he could figure out his own problems.


    He didn¡¯t continue prodding. He and Old Tu went back to chatting about random topics while drinking.


    Old Tu filled Yuan Ye¡¯s cup again. He asked, ¡°When you went back this time, did you see that person?¡±


    A cigarette dangled from Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth. With one eye half shut, he scolded Old Tu, ¡°I didn¡¯t ask you, so don¡¯t ask me.¡±


    ¡°You can ask. I¡¯m not scared of you asking questions,¡± Old Tu smiled and said.


    Yuan Ye shook his head and kept his mouth glued shut. He didn¡¯t like others digging into his personal life, especially his love life. This was because Yuan Ye felt, from the bottom of his heart, that love was an extremely intimate topic. Why did he need to share it with anyone else? That was too unpleasant. Ultimately, he still felt that this was something that should only be shared between two particrly intimate people. If two people were in love, they would definitely be the closest to one another.


    Yuan Ye drank cup after cup of alcohol. It was impossible that he wouldn¡¯t get drunk. He didn¡¯t have an absurdly high tolerance, so in the end, he felt a bit dizzy.


    More and more people started walking into the shop. The area started getting noisier and noisier too. This made Yuan Ye¡¯s brain feel muddled. When he drank too much, he could no longer control his thoughts. Those forgotten and unforgotten old memories would suddenly rise from the depths of his mind. He felt like his brain capacity wasn¡¯t enough.


    Earlier, someone had asked and he had refused to answer. Now, that person wasn¡¯t asking, but he couldn¡¯t shut up anymore.


    Yuan Ye rested his arms on his knees. His hands casually draped down ¨C his head was lowered too. A whileter, he abruptly started, ¡°There are two little kids on that show.¡±


    Lao Tu lifted his eyelids and gazed at him. ¡°They made you babysit?¡±


    ¡°Bullshit.¡± The yellow lightbulb above their heads was reflected in Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes, making his gaze appear distant and mncholic as well. In this position, he rubbed the top of his head and lowly said, ¡°......They¡¯re really so young.¡±


    ¡°Just over twenty. The best age,¡± Yuan Ye added.


    Lao Tu stopped talking. He sat across from Yuan Ye, eating meat and drinking alcohol. He remained quiet as he listened to Yuan Ye speak.


    ¡°That age is the bravest.¡± Yuan Ye scoffed, ¡°I was fucking brave once, too. Who hasn¡¯t gone through a period of being unafraid of anything?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re afraid now?¡± Old Tu cocked an eyebrow and asked.


    Yuan Ye nodded. Then, he nodded again. He said, ¡°I am...... How could I not be?¡±


    That day, it was already night by the time Yuan Ye and Old Tu finished drinking. Yuan Ye called a taxi to get home. Without even showering, he sprawled out onto his bed and fell asleep. When one was in a bad mood, drinking was very liberating. This was also the reason he had left the house today. Sometimes, alcohol was exceptionally annoying, but others, it really was a treasure. Certain emotions couldn¡¯t be released normally. Certain things wouldn¡¯t allow themselves to be thought of without the help of alcohol.


    Yuan Ye ultimately hadn¡¯t said everything when he was drunk.


    But he also didn¡¯t want to keep talking. Particr topics weren¡¯t to be shared with others.


    He slept deeply,pletely oblivious to his surroundings. In the middle of the night, he woke up because of his dder¡¯s protests. Yuan Ye furrowed his brows and got up to use the bathroom. Having slept for half the night already, the effects of the alcohol had pretty muchpletely worn off. He undressed and took a shower. The hot water sprayed down from above, brushing past his eyes and ears, then sliding down his corbone and shoulder des.


    Before, his favorite thing to do had been to act like a hooligan when Fang Shaoyi was showering. The way the water flowed down Fang Shaoyi¡¯s taut muscles was truly too fucking sexy. Fang Shaoyi had an amazing body. Even these days, when people on Weibo asionally mentioned male celebrities¡¯ physiques, someone would upload his pictures. Everytime fans did so, they would always say they wanted to lick the screen.


    In the past, Yuan Ye had oncetched onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s corbone and nced up at Fang Shaoyi from under hooded eyelids. He had purposefully smiled a wanton smile, then said, ¡°They¡¯re licking the screen. I¡¯m licking you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had squeezed his chin and told him to stop being coquettish.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t know what emotion ¡°embarrassed¡± was at all. He had never felt it. Two men doing it was the most unprincipled thing. They spoke what they wanted to, did what they wanted to. Yuan Ye had never been the type to be wishy washy or self conscious. Wasn¡¯t pleasure the ultimate goal of two men having sex?


    Yuan Ye leaned against the wall in his shower. He gazed at his own reflection that appeared on the ss. He stared at his own face. After making eye contact with himself for half a second, he nced at his torso. He wasn¡¯t as built as Fang Shaoyi because he didn¡¯t need to film movies, nor did he need to watch his figure. Sometimes, Fang Shaoyi even needed to have a gym instructor apany him to his filmings so as to maintain the best body condition. Yuan Ye looked over himself from top to bottom, then heaved out a long sigh.


    He was hard. What to do.


    The alcohol was messing up his brain. As he showered, his head was filled with those things. This way, that way, this and that way ¨C all Fang Shaoyi. Dressed, naked......


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes. Reys of the first time the two of them had done the deed shed through his mind. At the time, Fang Shaoyi had bitten Yuan Ye¡¯s nose, then very gently kissed it. Yuan Ye had rushed him, asking, can you hurry up? I¡¯m about to explode. Fang Shaoyi had disregarded his rushing, cocking an eyebrow and responding, then let me watch you explode.


    Yuan Ye had turned his head away and cussed.


    Too many scenes were appearing before his eyes. A storage of ten years that allowed him to retrieve memories at any time. Pages of recollections were flipped through quickly, until ultimately, they stopped on an overcast afternoon.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were terrifyingly red. He asked, ¡°Have you made up your mind?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t nod. He only blinked in silent confirmation.


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi squeezed his eyes shut, hard. He yanked the chain with a ring dangling from it off his neck and threw it at Yuan Ye.


    Yuan Ye reflexively reached a hand out to catch it. He just barely brushed the tail end of the thin chain. The metal ring slipped through his fingertips; when itnded on the ground, only an extremely soft clink could be heard.

 Chapter 8

    <h4>Chapter 8</h4>


    The first time Yuan Ye ever saw Fang Shaoyi was in his third year of university. That year, Guan Zhou had just started university. Actually, he was merely half a year younger than Yuan Ye, but Yuan Ye had skipped several grades so had entered university two years before him. On the day of orientation, Yuan Ye helped him carry his luggage and move into school. It was only the two of them.


    The upperssman originally in charge of weing the new students got called away halfway through their conversation and only pointed them in a general direction. Yuan Ye and Guan Zhou walked an entire circle around theke but still couldn¡¯t find their destination.


    It was so hot that there was ayer of sweat on Yuan Ye¡¯s forehead. His annoyance level kept rising. Even so, he was still very courteous when asking passersby for directions. Two people walked over from in front of them. Yuan Ye politely approached and asked them, ¡°Ey, hi ssmates! I want to ask where the dorms are?¡±


    Yuan Ye had thought that his call of ¡°ssmates¡± was very friendly and amiable; he was only asking for directions but had given them a title and had said ¡°hi¡±. But the person directly across from himpletely ignored him while the person off to the side was looking at him without a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile. Both of them were handsome. At the time, Yuan Ye had thought, a school that produces celebrities is truly different. I¡¯ve just run into two random people and they¡¯re already on this level?


    Actually, Yuan Ye had only been seventeen at the time. He also looked young. His face made him seem like a high schooler. Though he was already an old third year gege at his own school, to most others, he appeared to be an iing first year. He was even carrying luggage. He felt that he had already been extremely polite, but this honestly seemed like a first year newbie calling two important elders ¡°ssmates¡± instead of the more respectful ¡°seniors¡±.


    The two ¡°ssmates¡± across from him were Fang Shaoyi and Jian Xu. Both were currently popr young male actors. They didn¡¯t work unless it was with famous directors. At sixteen, Fang Shaoyi had acted in Director Wei Tong¡¯s¡¶Sandstorm¡·, which shot him to instant fame. Jian Xu was even more impressive. At age four, he had started acting in television dramas. Many of the extremely popr celebrities now had all acted as his parents before. But at the time, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t recognize either of them. This wasn¡¯t because they weren¡¯t famous enough or popr enough ¨C it was because Yuan Ye normally didn¡¯t pay attention to these things. He rarely watched TV. When he went online, it was only to y games or write. He hadn¡¯t cared about these things at all.


    In his eyes, these two were truly handsome, but were also a little annoying. One had his mouth glued shut and the other wasughing at who knows what. So disappointing.


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and asked the two of them, ¡°You don¡¯t know?¡±


    Jian Xu pointed behind himself and answered while stillughing, ¡°Walk forward and take a left when you get to the end.¡± After saying this, he added, ¡°Little ssmate.¡±


    ¡°Thanks,¡± Yuan Ye hiked the luggage higher onto his shoulders and responded. ¡°Little ssmate.¡±


    Since little, he had always been younger than everyone else in his sses. His teachers and ssmates would frequently call him ¡°Little Yuan Ye¡±. Thus, Yuan Ye hated when people focused on the fact that he was young. He had only taken a few steps so heard the person who had just answered his question say to the one who had remained silent, ¡°Haha, did you hear? He called me little ssmate.¡±


    This was the first time Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi had met. He asked Fang Shaoyi for directions, Fang Shaoyi ignored him. It was also because Guan Zhou was timid and too introverted. In actuality, Guan Zhou had been standing right behind Yuan Ye the whole time and had recognized the two. He didn¡¯t know who Fang Shaoyi was because he hadn¡¯t watched¡¶Sandstorm¡·, but he knew Jian Xu. He had watched this person¡¯s dramas before. However, he didn¡¯t dare to strike up a conversation with them. In his heart, he still felt a bit shy and hesitant about seeing celebrities, so hadn¡¯t dared to speak.


    Later on, Yuan Ye would always feel that their encounter was quite incredible. There were so many people at Guan Zhou¡¯s school, but how had he just so managed to ask Fang Shaoyi for directions? Yuan Ye often said that this was fate. They were destined to meet, destined to get together.


    His school was very close to Guan Zhou¡¯s. When he had nothing to do on the weekends, Yuan Ye would go visit Guan Zhou. At the time, Yuan Ye was still young. There were so many handsome men and beautiful women at Guan Zhou¡¯s school, but he had no eyes for them. He purely wanted to y with Guan Zhou.


    By then, Yuan Ye had also found out that the two people they had run into that day were celebrities ¨C actors. He specially found¡¶Sandstorm¡·to watch. After he finished it, he found that he actually liked it a lot.


    Many yearster, Fang Shaoyi mentioned that Wei Tong had made him refilm that take over two hundred times. He started practicing that smile from the first day he started filming, all the way until filming ended four monthster. Wei Tong didn¡¯t tell him anything, only making him smile all sorts of different smiles at the camera. Every one or two days, they would film a few smiles. Even on thest day of filming, he shot another take. This three second shot had been chosen out of those two hundred plus takes. Repeated immersion into that emotional state followed by return to the self was extremely difficult for a sixteen year old actor.


    Yuan Ye watched this film twice. Consequently, he recognized Fang Shaoyi immediately after encountering him again.


    Yuan Ye was leaving Guan Zhou¡¯s dorm and was about to head back to his own school. From afar, he spotted Fang Shaoyi in an instant. The other was wearing exercise gear and was followed by a few little girls who were watching him. Yuan Ye tantly walked up and clucked his tongue. He smiled and greeted Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Hi, ssmate!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked at him. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t tell if the other remembered him or not.


    Yuan Ye walked up beside him and was very generous with his praise. At the time, he was much shorter than Fang Shaoyi, so when he wanted to speak while walking next to Fang Shaoyi, he needed to look up. ¡°I watched your movie.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi seemed slightly hard to interact with. He probably got hit on like this quite often. He calmly raised an eyebrow. ¡°Am I supposed to say thank you?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Yuan Ye wobbled his head. There was still a smile on his face. ¡°It¡¯s my own business whether I watch it or not.¡±


    Their initial encounters were all Yuan Ye gluing himself to Fang Shaoyi like this. Back then, he hadn¡¯t thought too much of it. It was all because he really liked that movie, so also liked Fang Shaoyi by extension. Yuan Ye was actually someone with a terrible temper. He also wasn¡¯t patient enough to take initiative and get to know someone. Fang Shaoyi was the first. Yuan Ye was sweet with his words; every time Fang Shaoyi saw him on campus, he would greet the other with a delighted smile and a ¡°Yi ge¡±. This gave off the air of natural familiarity.


    After seeing the other enough times, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face was no longer so cold. He could also smile in response every time he encountered Yuan Ye. At that time, Fang Shaoyi had thought Yuan Ye also went to their school. One time, he asked, ¡°What major are you?¡±


    Yuan Ye answered, ¡°I¡¯m a Chinese major. Third year student.¡±


    Both Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyebrows shot up. He looked at the other, ¡°You¡¯re a third year?¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Yuan Ye nodded. With a smile, he added, ¡°I know you¡¯re a fourth year.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi observed his face again, then burst intoughter. ¡°How old are you?¡±


    For some unknown reason, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t tell the truth. But he also didn¡¯t lie. He vaguely answered, ¡°You¡¯re a fourth year, I¡¯m a third year. So I¡¯m a year younger than you.¡±


    Later on, to prove that he really was a third year, Yuan Ye even showed the other his student ID.


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Not from our school?¡±


    ¡°Nope,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°I¡¯m here to see my friend.¡±


    Back then, Yuan Ye would always visit on the weekends, but he wouldn¡¯t always see Fang Shaoyi. The other wasn¡¯t always at school. One time when he was visiting, Guan Zhou told him Fang Shaoyi had just returned to school. Yuan Ye¡¯s personality in those days made him act like a headstrong and stubborn little bull. He happily ran off to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s dorm. When Fang Shaoyi saw him after opening the door, heughed and shook his head, ¡°Well your news is quick.¡±


    ¡°I have spies.¡± There was a tiny scar on Yuan Ye¡¯s eyelid. Every time he smiled, there would be a tiny little dip there. It was quite interesting.


    Fang Shaoyi looked away. He turned to get out of the doorway. ¡°Come in and sit for a bit?¡±


    ¡°Ah, okay,¡± Yuan Ye nodded.


    Fang Shaoyi lived in a two person room. It was much more luxurious than Guan Zhou¡¯s. Only he was in the room. He told Yuan Ye to sit in his chair, then grabbed a bottle of water and handed it to him. Yuan Ye pulled out several little booklets from his own backpack and said, ¡°Yi ge, help sign some autographs.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°For what?¡±


    Yuan Ye answered, ¡°To sell. I n to keep developing this into my eventual side upation.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was already used to his amusing way of speaking. He took the pen and signed all the booklets for him.


    There weren¡¯t so many guessing games or hidden motives between interactions with boys. You¡¯re a celebrity, I¡¯m just a normal kid. So? I¡¯m still not trying to get anything out of you. I just like to y with you, so what? At most, I¡¯ll help the girls in my ss ask for a few autographs. Other than that, I haven¡¯t taken advantage of you in any way. Back then, in Yuan Ye¡¯s heart, Fang Shaoyi was his friend, his bro. In the beginning, he had found Fang Shaoyi¡¯s celebrity status new and interesting, but after enough time, it became irrelevant. Fang Shaoyi probably also liked how Yuan Ye could always surprise him with his thinking, so treated him like a little brother. When they had nothing else to do, he would tease him.


    Yuan Ye would eat with Fang Shaoyi too, in the school cafeteria. A bunch of girls sat around them. Yuan Ye quietly asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Yi ge, don¡¯t you ever get annoyed?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi answered, ¡°I¡¯m used to it.¡±


    ¡°If it were me, I¡¯d be royally pissed.¡± Yuan Ye bit into his corn, then added, ¡°I¡¯m even royally pissed now.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled. ¡°Just eat.¡±


    Guan Zhou quickly lost favor in Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. Yuan Ye had already hung out with him for over a decade; looking at him didn¡¯t feel fresh. In those days, Yuan Ye¡¯s only goal was to y with Fang Shaoyi. He even spent Christmas with Fang Shaoyi that year.


    Neither Fang Shaoyi nor Yuan Ye thought Christmas was too important. They treated it like an ordinary weekend. Yuan Ye was in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s dorm, sitting on his bed. His feet dangled casually over the edge and he would also swing them around asionally. Fang Shaoyi was sitting in a chair, reading a book. After a bit, he looked up and asked, ¡°Want to visit a film crew? I could take you.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Director Wei¡¯s film crew?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head and said with a smile, ¡°What, every film I participate in has to be Director Wei¡¯s?¡±


    Yuan Ye stated, ¡°Then no.¡±


    Though he said no, he still went in the end. That was Yuan Ye¡¯s first time visiting a film set. The magnificence surprised him. This was a historical movie with a slight wartime background. The crew was huge, easily several hundred people. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character was a young king. It wasn¡¯t his turn to film yet.


    At the time, Yuan Ye wore a round ski cap and carried a backpack on his back. From behind, he looked like a little boy working with the equipment team.


    Someone was moving stuff and had to pass beside them. Fang Shaoyi reached a hand out and tugged Yuan Ye closer to himself, saying, ¡°Don¡¯t let them bump into you.¡±


    Yuan Ye got squished by the guy moving stuff, causing his waist to bend and him to lose his bnce. Fortunately, Fang Shaoyi was standing next to him. Yuan Ye fell directly onto him, face getting buried in the other¡¯s cor.


    In that moment, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s body fragrance instantly traveled into Yuan Ye¡¯s nostrils. He had always loved the way Fang Shaoyi smelled. His dorm room was always filled with this faint aroma. It was really pleasant. Fang Shaoyi instinctively raised his arms to circle him slightly.


    Yuan Ye was glued to his body for about three to five seconds. He only straightened himself up after the person moving stuff hadpletely finished walking by.


    He put his hands in his jacket pockets, then took one out to rub his nose. After, he looked up to gaze at Fang Shaoyi. They made eye contact. The reflector close by was mirrored in his eyes, making it appear extra bright. Yuan Ye finished rubbing his nose andughed, pleased. He said, ¡°Yi ge, you smell so good.¡±


    Following this, Yuan Ye scooted forward once more so that his nose was where Fang Shaoyi¡¯s cor was. The tip of his nose even brushed against the other¡¯s chin.


    The weather was quite chilly. His nose was a bit cold. The moment they made contact with one another, it felt like a dragonfly gently tapping the water¡¯s surface, or like a butterfly shyly kissing a kitten.

 Chapter 9

    <h4>Chapter 9</h4>


    The day prior to the start of filming for the second episode, Yuan Yended in the city where Fang Shaoyi was currently shooting his movie. Their second destination was Inner Mongolia, the grasnd.


    After getting off the ne, Yuan Ye directly grabbed his luggage and headed to the film set, which was located in a little vige about 100 kilometers away from the city. On the way, the taxi driver kept telling him stories about all the celebrities who were here to film this time. It was rare for anyone to visit such a small ce, not to mention that so many people hade this time. The driver asked Yuan Ye what he was here for. Yuan Ye thought about it before answering, ¡°To do some odd jobs.¡±


    The driver looked at Yuan Ye through the rearview mirror. He shook his head and said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like it. You¡¯re good looking. You seem like you¡¯re here to act.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled. ¡°I¡¯m not. I hate cameras.¡±


    Because Fang Shaoyi needed to film the variety show, he needed to rush through his work on set in advance. Sometimes, he would film day and night consecutively. The people acting alongside him would then need to rush too. Everyone was working very hard. It was only because this person was Fang Shaoyi, with his family background and status out there, that others wouldn¡¯t outwardly express any resentment they felt, if they felt any.


    When Yuan Ye got there, Fang Shaoyi was sitting next to the director and watching a rey on the monitor. The director was exining the scene to a young actor. Fang Shaoyi sat beside him, silent. As he listened, he sipped on hot water.


    ¡°You need to immerse yourself in the emotions. When you¡¯re supposed to cry, you need to cry. Nobody is capable of not crying when faced with such a scenario¡ª¡ªyour family and friends dying in front of you, one by one,¡± the director said.


    The young actor was new. He had been chosen by Director Xin and this was his first time acting. He couldn¡¯t really get a good grasp on his character.


    The director told him, ¡°Though he¡¯s someone who¡¯s bad at expressing his emotions and has a somewhat dull personality, that doesn¡¯t mean he¡¯s cold-blooded or indifferent. He wouldn¡¯t make the same expression in every situation.¡±


    The young actor nodded. It seemed like he had understood, but he also appeared a bit stumped. He sheepishly smiled, ¡°Director, I¡¯m afraid that I won¡¯t be able to cry.¡±


    The director¡¯s expression was strict. With furrowed brows, he said, ¡°You need to cry. If you¡¯re unable to cry for this scene, you might as well never act again. This isn¡¯t crying for love or some other trivial matter; it¡¯s about life and death. Your entire family died in front of you and you¡¯re telling me you aren¡¯t able to cry? Then you¡¯re still you. You¡¯re not the character in this movie.¡±


    Yuan Ye had actually been here for a while. He stayed a bit off into the distance behind them and didn¡¯t move any closer. Nor did he speak. He sat on his own suitcase, both legs resting on the ground as he listened to the director exin. To be honest, he wanted to listen to Fang Shaoyi speak about the plot, but Fang Shaoyi was just holding onto a thermos sk and remainingpletely silent. In the past, Yuan Ye had loved hearing Fang Shaoyi talk about these things. He had also loved watching Fang Shaoyi act.


    Some people were born to be actors. As long as they were on set, their entire being would seem to start glowing. They became extremely charismatic. Fang Shaoyi was one of these people.


    The young actor left. The director looked at the rey on the monitor again and asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything, only gently shaking his head.


    The director sighed and smiled in exasperation. ¡°We¡¯ll have to take it slow. His image matches the character too well. A pity that he can¡¯t act.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. He took another gulp of water to soothe his throat, then lowered his gaze and said, ¡°Everyone goes through that stage. That¡¯s how we all got here.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed soundlessly from behind them. Fang Shaoyi was still Fang Shaoyi. Some people were born of different backgrounds than others. With different upbringings, their attitudes regarding resolving issues could be tremendously different. Though Fang Shaoyi had a high status, he never acted arrogant or brash on set. He rarely spoke, but not because he looked down on anyone. This was merely his personality ¨C he didn¡¯t really like talking so much. As long as young actors went up to him with questions, he would always answer them.


    This sounded simple, but was actually quite rare in the entertainment industry. This was a very materialistic industry. It praised the mighty but stepped on the poor. People¡¯s power originated from their worth and what resources they had. Fang Shaoyi appeared distant because of his constantly cold and aloof expressions, but he didn¡¯t act like he was better than anyone, nor was he interested in ruining anyone. He never held himself higher than anybody else, never looked down on the rest of the world.


    They were all film emperors, but there were differences in morals between film emperor and film emperor too.


    Later on, it was Ji Xiaotao who saw Yuan Ye first. He had just left to get medicine for Fang Shaoyi, so had headed to the vige along the way. He bought some stuff, including soup for Fang Shaoyi, the director, producer, and director of cinematography.


    When he saw Yuan Ye, he was a bit surprised. He shouted, ¡°Ye ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi and the director both turned around. Yuan Ye smiled at them and raised an arm in greeting. He asked Ji Xiaotao, ¡°Can you not be so loud every time you see me?¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t control myself.¡± Ji Xiaotao first walked over to give the director and them their soup and food. Then, he quietly asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Howe you¡¯re here, Ye ge? You should¡¯ve called me to go pick you up!¡±


    Yuan Ye answered, ¡°No need. I took a taxi over. Either way, we have to start filming again tomorrow. I¡¯m a day early so I can wait here.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced back at him, but didn¡¯t stand up or walk over. He remained seated next to the director, chatting with the other. The director drank his soup while speaking. Fang Shaoyi nodded and continued their conversation.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t walk over until they had finished their discussion. They hadn¡¯t seen each other in a week, but he didn¡¯t seem overly excited to see Yuan Ye. There were no extraneous expressions on his face. Ji Xiaotao handed a thermos sk to him. After Fang Shaoyi opened it, white steam drifted out. The director and everyone else had normal boxes for their food; Fang Shaoyi¡¯s was one he had specially brought for himself.


    Neither of these two were speaking to each other. Ji Xiaotao felt slightly awkward. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, have you eaten yet? Do you want to eat a pancake? He¡¯s a bit sick, so is drinking soup to try and sweat it out.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded and said, ¡°I already ate. No need to worry about me.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao responded, ¡°Ye ge, give your stuff to me. I¡¯ll arrange a room for you.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at Fang Shaoyi. This person was noticeably sick. His nose was a bit red. He asked Ji Xiaotao, ¡°You guys just stay here every night?¡±


    ¡°Un, we¡¯ve been staying in the vige. It¡¯s too far away from the city. Better to save the trouble.¡±


    Yuan Ye handed his suitcase over. Ji Xiaotao grabbed it from him. There was nothing else in Yuan Ye¡¯s hands anymore. He stood off to the side, watching Fang Shaoyi drink soup.


    This image was a bitical. All three of them were standing there, but nobody was speaking. Ji Xiaotao would asionally chime in a few times, but the other two barely even made eye contact. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even know what he was doing here. He hadn¡¯t thought too much of it prior toing. Either way, they would have to start filming again tomorrow. They couldn¡¯t possibly arrive from two different locations every time. Since they were acting like a couple, they needed to seem more realistic. Now, he was standing here with Fang Shaoyi, finally feeling like he probably shouldn¡¯t havee.


    With a camera filming right in front of their faces, they could still make conversation. Without that camera, they didn¡¯t even have anything to say to each other.


    Fang Shaoyi only drank half of that sk of soup. He had already drank two cups of hot water previously, so really couldn¡¯t consume anymore. His whole stomach was full of liquid. That afternoon, Fang Shaoyi acted when he needed to and slept in the car when he didn¡¯t. Yuan Ye stayed squatting next to the director, listening to him and the screenwriter continuously debate. He had interacted with this director before. In the past, Fang Shaoyi had acted in his movie and Yuan Ye had followed to the film set. He was pretty familiar with both this director and screenwriter.


    These two people were both stubborn about their own opinions. They were discussing whether or not the third male lead should eventually die or not. Yuan Ye squatted next to them, smoking a cigarette. asionally, he would hand each of them one too. Listening in was pretty interesting.


    ¡°Little Yuan, you tell me,¡± the director suddenly called for him. Yuan Ye paused, then smiled. ¡°What could I say? I haven¡¯t even read the script yet. I don¡¯t even know what the background is.¡±


    Director Xin looked at him, eyebrow cocked in displeasure. ¡°When haven¡¯t you been the first person to read the scripts for Shaoyi¡¯s films? What are you scared of? Speak. Let me hear what you think.¡±


    Yuan Ye froze in the middle of exhaling out smoke. After, he finally shook his head and responded seriously, ¡°Director Xin, I really haven¡¯t read this one.¡±


    Thest time Fang Shaoyi had worked with Director Xin was four years ago. That time, they would practically change the script on the spot every day. Oftentimes, Yuan Ye would participate too. He and the director usually had the same opinions, resulting in frequent arguments with the screenwriter. Yuan Ye was straightforward when he spoke. He always said what he thought, unafraid of insulting someone.


    The screenwriter chuckled off to the side, ¡°Yo, you two shouldn¡¯t fool around like that. I can tell that there¡¯s something wrong between the two of you. Don¡¯t cause any trouble when everything¡¯s going smoothly.¡±


    The people in this industry were all clever. Those who didn¡¯t have any idea what was going or who couldn¡¯t get a clear idea of how things were supposed to be wouldn¡¯t be able to survive in this circle. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s work schedule was extremely packed this year, to the point that he didn¡¯t even have a single day off. He lived on different sets, never going home. Yuan Ye never visited either.


    Director Xin and Teacher Liu, the screenwriter, always worked together. They had coborated for almost twenty years. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s dad had a great rtionship with them, so regardless of if the reason was their friendship with Fang Han or their work with Fang Shaoyi, these two acted like Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s uncles. They dared to scold them. If this were any other young couple, they wouldn¡¯t even say a single, extra word.


    Yuan Ye nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°Got it! Teacher Liu!¡±


    The director looked at him with a smile and said, ¡°Teacher Liu is saying that for your own good. Don¡¯t feel annoyed.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t,¡± Yuan Ye hurriedly shook his head. ¡°How could that be possible.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao took Yuan Ye¡¯s stuff to the room next door to the one they were staying in: a room in the same courtyard. However, the other room could only be used as a storage because it didn¡¯t have a bed. Normally, he and Fang Shaoyi each slept in their own beds in the same room. This night, he gave up his bed for Yuan Ye and went to squeeze with someone else in their room.


    Yuan Ye looked at these two rooms and didn¡¯t say anything. It wasn¡¯t possible for him to go and squeeze with someone, because this would send a tant message to other people. They might even say that the assistant had gotten a leg in and forced him out of the rtionship. So he also shouldn¡¯t act like an overdramatic person and say he wanted to head back to stay in the city. What were you doing earlier? Everyone¡¯s tired. It¡¯s already sote, so stop causing trouble.


    Thus, Yuan Ye nodded and said, ¡°Okay. You¡¯ve worked hard, Xiaotao.¡±


    At night, Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye each slept in their own beds, on different sides. Neither spoke to the other. Yuan Ye could hear Fang Shaoyi¡¯s muffled coughing. After enough time, his throat started getting hoarse.


    Yuan Ye pulled out his phone and sent Ji Xiaotao a WeChat message: Has he taken his medicine tonight or not?


    Ji Xiaotao sent back: I gave it to him, but I don¡¯t know if he ate it or not!


    Ji Xiaotao: How about you ask him?


    Yuan Ye replied: Un.


    Yuan Ye put his phone down and stuffed it under the pillow. He turned around so that he was facing the wall and no longer looking at Fang Shaoyi. He cleared his throat and spoke, ¡°Yi ge, did you forget to take your medicine?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Fang Shaoyi only responded a few secondster. In a raspy voice, he asked, ¡°I disturbed your rest?¡±


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows in the dark. He ced his arm over his head and responded, ¡°No, I just feel like you must be very ufortable.¡±


    After, the room fell intoplete silence. No one spoke again. No one coughed again. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t hear Fang Shaoyi¡¯s coughing anymore. He wanted to flip around to check, but also felt that it was honestly too quiet; flipping would be too loud.


    A long timeter, or maybe it had only felt like a long time but had really been merely a few minutes, Yuan Ye heard Fang Shaoyi speak up again. His voice was both low and coarse, filled with the slightest hint of mockery. As it traveled into one¡¯s ear through the dark, it felt like sandpaper, capable of rubbing off ayer of one¡¯s heart¡ª¡ª


    ¡°You can still feel whether or not I¡¯m ufortable?¡±


    ¡°Can you?¡±

 Chapter 10

    <h4>Chapter 10</h4>


    It was already autumn. Inner Mongolia was starting to cool down, but the fields were still green. This time, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t forgotten his camera.


    He had always loved the grasnds. That endless and vast green made even one¡¯s spirit feel free. He also liked the honest and simple way of life here. Herds of sheep slowly walked past, bringing with them that gamey smell unique to sheep. Yuan Ye looked into the camera and revealed a somewhat gentle smile. ¡°In the past, I told Teacher Fang before that when we get old, we should retire to the grasnds. We¡¯d be able to eat meat, drink alcohol, and watch the sunset everyday.¡±


    Lin Tian walked past him and chimed in with a giggle, ¡°How did Teacher Fang respond?¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at Fang Shaoyi who was only a few steps behind him. He chuckled and said, ¡°Teacher Fang said he¡¯s okay with living here with me, but he can¡¯t apany me in drinking alcohol and eating meat everyday. Teacher Fang¡¯s idol package is very heavy. He refuses to let himself turn into a fat old man.¡±


    Lin Tian said, ¡°If it were me, I would refuse too. Slowly bing old is part of life, but I still have to be beautiful even when I¡¯m old!¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. He ced both hands in his jacket pockets and sniffled. ¡°Un, Teacher Fang will also be handsome in old age, just as he is now.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi walked over and said, ¡°I seem to remember that you said I was already oldst time?¡±


    ¡°Nope, that didn¡¯t happen.¡± Yuan Ye patted his jacket and smiled. ¡°You¡¯re both handsome and young.¡±


    Last night, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s single question had left Yuan Ye sleepless for half the night. He couldn¡¯t respond to that question, but nor did he need to. There was no point to having such a conversation between the two of them. And, considering that things were already the way they were, there was no use either. Saying too much would be tedious.


    Today, with cameras following them and filming from both in front and behind, that indescribably awkward and dismal atmosphere between the two of them finally slightly dissipated. They could only speak rtively normally to each other in front of the cameras. For lunch, they had a Mongolian meal. It was mostly meat. Yuan Ye only remembered that the bowl of yogurt was really delicious. Considering the whole table, only Yuan Ye and Chen Ru¡¯s wealthy husband ate the most. Each time others chatted during mealtime, the two of them would incessantly eat.


    Eventually, Fang Shaoyi gave his bowl of yogurt to Yuan Ye too. Yuan Ye turned over and asked him quietly, ¡°Ufortable? Howe you aren¡¯t eating anything?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said while glued to his ear, ¡°Too greasy. I don¡¯t have much of an appetite.¡±


    His cold was pretty bad. When he spoke, even the air that brushed against Yuan Ye¡¯s ear was hot. In a crowd, such a small action was extremely intimate. Yuan Ye¡¯s heart became toasty warm because of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s breaths.


    Yuan Ye pushed the yogurt back over to his side. ¡°Drink this. It¡¯s pretty good.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. He didn¡¯t want to.


    Thus, Yuan Ye drank that bowl of yogurt too. Then, he wiped his mouth and quietly left the table.


    He returned after about twenty minutes. Before returning, he had thought that everyone else would probably be done. Who knew that they liked taking their time so much? It had been forty minutes, but they still hadn¡¯t finished lunch. Yuan Ye had already taken a step in after drawing back the curtain, so couldn¡¯t turn back around. Lin Tian asked him, ¡°What did Ye ge go off to do?¡±


    The cameraman wanted to get a closeup of the bowl of noodles. Yuan Ye smiled and covered it up, refusing to let him film it. ¡°Don¡¯t film my poor cooking skills. He¡¯s the only one who can stomach my noodles.¡±


    Yuan Ye pushed the bowl over. Since he had walked in, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes had been glued to his face. Even now, he was still looking at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye lowered his voice and told him, ¡°I only put in a few small pieces of meat. Eat.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lowered his gaze; he lowered his speaking volume too. ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Yuan Ye froze. A momentter, he burst intoughter. He shook his head and said, ¡°Why are you saying that to me?¡±


    After eating, they all returned to their own tents to rest. Fang Shaoyi took a nap after getting back. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even go back. He found a local and borrowed a horse.


    The little director initially didn¡¯t dare to let him ride alone. If he fell off or had an ident, she wouldn¡¯t be able to take responsibility. Yuan Ye guaranteed again and again that he wouldn¡¯t fall off, then hand wrote a responsibility waiver for her. After, he waved and headed off by himself. The cameras followed for a bit before getting left behind. Yuan Ye told them, ¡°I¡¯ll be back in half an hour. Don¡¯t film this part. Just pretend I went to take a nap.¡±


    How could Yuan Ye fall off while riding a horse? He had yed with horses since childhood. When he had been young, there hadn¡¯t been that many cars on the roads at all. Back then, when his grandparents needed to take a trip into the city, they had to hitch up a horse cart to go. His grandpa would be in the back, manning the cart, while Yuan Ye would plop himself on the saddle. Children weren¡¯t big. Sitting so high made him feel majestic and powerful. Yuan Ye patted the horse¡¯s neck and asked it, ¡°King, take me for a run?¡±


    The horse swished its tail. Its beautiful, big eyes didn¡¯t even blink.


    Yuan Ye added, ¡°Let¡¯s get the wind in our faces.¡±


    With one hand, he held onto the horse reins, keeping them casually lowered by his side. In the other, he held onto a whip. He folded it up and reached behind himself to gently tap the horse¡¯s rump. He softly urged it forward. This was arge, red horse. The horse slowly increased its speed, thenpletely let itself go. It started charging through the fields.


    Yuan Yeughed and looked up at the sky, then closed his eyes and felt the wind blowing past his face. He was naturally like this; he dreamed of these things, loved these things. Arge portion of the tangle of dark thoughts in his heart disappeared with the wind. Consequently, when he and the horse had had their fun and rode back, there was still a hint of a smile on his face.


    Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of conversing with the little director in front of their tent. Yuan Ye tugged on the reins and slowed down, meandering towards them. Fang Shaoyi told the director, ¡°See, I told you he would be fine. Let him do what he wants. Let him be. He knows his limits.¡±


    The little director didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Teacher Fang, you dare to, but we don¡¯t. If anything really happened, my boss would kill me.¡±


    Yuan Ye was still taking a stroll on the horse. Fang Shaoyi looked at him. A distant gentleness appeared in his eyes. He shook his head. ¡°Howe you aren¡¯t thinking: if even I can rest assured about it, why can¡¯t anyone else?¡±


    At first, the little director didn¡¯t understand. Soon after, though, she smiled and said, ¡°That¡¯s right. You¡¯re the one who knows him best.¡±


    Earlier, she had felt more and more regretful after letting Yuan Ye go. She felt that she shouldn¡¯t have let him go riding alone. If nothing happened, all would be well, but if even the slightest incident urred, she would be the first one held responsible. A scrape was even a big deal. Later on, she really couldn¡¯t calm down so went to find Fang Shaoyi. She asked him if he could call Teacher Yuan back. Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t panicked at all. He told her to rx. Thinking back now, she realized he was right. The significant other hadn¡¯t even blinked an eye ¨C others¡¯ concern meant nothingpared to that between couples. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t been worried at all, so they probably really hadn¡¯t needed to worry.


    Yuan Ye sat on the horse, looking down at them from up above. He asked, ¡°Talking behind my back again?¡±


    The little director stuck out her tongue yfully. ¡°I was scared you¡¯d run too far off and not be able to find your way back. I was so worried.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and patted the horse¡¯s neck again. He said, ¡°The horses here have been raised for riding by their owners. They¡¯re super obedient. The horse we owned previously was much more difficult to reign in than this one. Ask Teacher Fang how long it took me to train that horse.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. He caressed the hair of Yuan Ye¡¯s horse too, gently grazing it with the back of his hand. ¡°My horses have never been very obedient.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him. After, he pursed his lips together and jumped off the horse. He walked the horse back to its owner to return it. The little director told him, ¡°We¡¯re about to start filming, Teacher Yuan! Don¡¯t run off again!¡±


    Yuan Ye was holding onto the horse. He didn¡¯t turn around, only lifting an arm and gently waving it.


    That afternoon, there were so many things toin about regarding the show. Though Yuan Ye was extremely speechless, he still needed to do his best to continue filming. It was still the same concept ¨C he had epted their money, so should try hard to provide content.


    The production team made all of them change into sterile suits. After getting disinfected from head to toe, the guests entered the cow farm. Following aplete tour, the climax arrived. Each group needed to pick out a dairy cow. In a predetermined amount of time, the team that managed to get the most milk would be able to stay in the tent with a heating unit. There was only one deluxe room that included a shower and heating.


    This time, they had truly entered Yuan Ye¡¯s knowledge blind spot. This was no longer Wild Monkey¡¯s territory. As a child, his grandpa had raised cattle before, but they weren¡¯t dairy cattle. When had he ever milked a cow?


    The two girls were only interested in telling each cow how pretty or cute it was. The other group, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun, actually seemed like they knew what they were doing. They deliberated which one to choose.


    Yuan Ye said to Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Yi ge, just stand there. You¡¯re a film emperor. The image of a film emperor can¡¯t be ruined.¡±


    He turned around and told the cameraman, ¡°Here, film me.¡±


    Yuan Ye stuck his butt out and bent over, examining each one: which one looked the best, which one looked like it had the most milk, which one had a good temper so would allow for more milking.


    ¡°This one looks too skinny, at first nce I can already tell it doesn¡¯t seem very capable......¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s face was red with blood from having to stay bent over. His nose was stuffed too. When he spoke, his voice sounded muffled. ¡°No matter what, I¡¯m still a thirty-something old man. Making me sprawl out here to observe these things, ah? Does that seem right to you?¡±


    Beside him, Chi Xing couldn¡¯t stopughing. He said, ¡°Yuan Ye ge, are you done picking?¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him. ¡°What do you want?¡±


    Chi Xing answered, ¡°I can tell you¡¯re the most serious. Do you have a second choice? After you finish choosing, we¡¯ll just take your second choice.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He scolded, ¡°Certainly makes things easier for you.¡±


    This part of the show was purposefully designed to torment them. It needed to be filmed like this. After choosing a cow, they also needed to get it ready. This epassed thoroughly disinfecting the cow¡¯s important parts, wiping them, then giving them a message. A technique instructor stayed beside them, telling them how hard to squeeze, how to rub, and in what direction.


    When they all finished rubbing, the technique instructor gave them a live demonstration. He taught them where to squat and how to use the strength in their hands. Yuan Ye squatted on one side of the cow, holding onto one of the teats. He followed the instructor¡¯s directions and milked. ¡°I¡¯ve been defeated by you guys today. Just keep messing with me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi squatted on the other side, but he refused to work diligently. He only watched Yuan Ye andughed. Yuan Ye was muttering who knows what under his breath while squeezing. This image was too amusing. Off to the side, the little director had to keep a hand over her mouth from how hard she wasughing.


    ¡°Yeah, keepughing. Let¡¯s see how long it takes me to squeeze out a whole bucket myself. I want to see if you can still keepughing tonight when you get cold,¡± Yuan Ye said after ring at Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi was stillughing. Ever since they had met up with each other this time, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t seen the other so happy. Yuan Ye sighed, ¡°Fine, keepughing. I¡¯ll do it. As long as you¡¯re happy.¡±


    Yuan Ye tightened his grip, then loosened it. All the while, his hands moved up and down. The white milk remained on Yuan Ye¡¯s thin, pretty fingers. Fang Shaoyi stared at his hands. His eyes slowly started turning dark.


    Yuan Ye nced at him. A corner of his lips curved slightly upward. He gently chuckled.


    At an angle that the cameras couldn¡¯t catch, Yuan Ye used his thumb to slowly scratch the udder. Two drops of creamy white milknded on his fingertip. As he milked, he purposefully circled with his hand. It was quite a normal move, but he was determined to make it saucy. He and Fang Shaoyi made heated eye contact away from the cameras. Yuan Ye winked, using his eyes to throw Fang Shaoyi a tiny hook.


    Fang Shaoyi said something to him. No noise, only mouthed characters. But, Yuan Ye instantly understood.


    Everyone else only saw Yuan Ye suddenly sit on the ground and start guffawing in the middle of milking the cow. Heughed so hard that his eyes almost disappeared.


    Fang Shaoyi stood up, refusing to join in his antics. He walked away to observe how far along the others were.


    Yuan Ye remained on the floor. After hisughing fit, he still needed to continue squeezing. A certain film emperor refused to work, but he couldn¡¯t. If he stopped working too, they wouldn¡¯t have any heating at night. Teacher Fang was still sick; it would be bad if he froze in the middle of the night. Besides, if he happened to feel ufortable, resulting in a bad mood, andshed out at him again, Yuan Ye would remain sleepless for half the night once more.


    Yuan Ye shook his head. He thought of what Fang Shaoyi had said to him from out of sight earlier. He still wanted tough. Sometimes, Teacher Fang was honestly too cute.


    Just now, the other¡¯s gaze had been dark. His expression had clearly been exasperated, but he had needed to pretend like he wasn¡¯t affected. He lightly got out¡ª¡ª


    ¡ª¡ªHow are you so coquettish?

 Chapter 11

    <h4>Chapter 11</h4>


    The cow Yuan Ye had chosen was honestly pretty good. It definitely had enough milk, because he didn¡¯t need to squeeze too hard for milk toe out. But that didn¡¯t make up for the fact that he was the only one working. On the other side, there wasn¡¯t even a drop of liquid in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bucket. This person hadn¡¯t even reached his hand out. In the end, Yuan Ye was unable to win that deluxe room. He asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you help milk?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at the camera. In a low voice, he said, ¡°I don¡¯t like doing this stuff.¡±


    ¡°Oh, so I do.¡± Yuan Ye was so angry he startedughing. ¡°So I like to? I enjoy squeezing......cow......milk?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lowered his gaze. He smiled and said, ¡°Seemed to me that you did.¡±


    Yuan Ye thought to himself What is it that I actually like milking? The cow or something else?


    Cheng Xun and Chi Xing got the deluxe room. The two of them had had their heads down the whole time, furiously milking. They had been extremely serious. Yuan Ye scolded, ¡°Didn¡¯t you guys take the cow I chose earlier? You used the cow I chose, so doesn¡¯t that mean you should give me half the gains?¡±


    Chi Xing was now familiar with Yuan Ye. He was no longer as scared of speaking as he had been in the beginning. He held the bucket of milk they had just squeezed in front of Yuan Ye and said, ¡°There¡¯s no way to split the room. You can have all the milk.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed and turned his chin away. He ignored the other. ¡°Take it away. I don¡¯t want it.¡±


    The two little ones didn¡¯t say anything in front of the cameras, but came looking for Yuan Ye in private. Cheng Xun said, ¡°Yuan Ye ge, you and Shaoyi can stay in that tent. I can tell that Shaoyi ge seems a bit unwell.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at him, then patted him on the arm. He shook his head and replied, ¡°No need. I¡¯ve received your intentions.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s nothing. It¡¯s the same no matter where Little Xing and I sleep,¡± Cheng Xun added.


    Yuan Ye smiled at him, but still shook his head. He said, ¡°No thanks. Kind of you, though.¡±


    Yuan Ye had always had a pretty good impression of the two of them. These two little kids didn¡¯t have that many schemes, and also had high EQ¡¯s. They hadn¡¯t offered the room to them in front of the cameras, hadn¡¯t used this as an excuse to gain publicity on screen. This was very endearing. They entirely could¡¯ve announced to everyone during the room-splitting session after milking that they wanted to give the room they had won to Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. They also could¡¯ve mentioned that Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t feeling well to create an image of being polite and considerate. Once the show aired, everyone would be praising them.


    But they didn¡¯t. They had always been very measured in their actions. Yuan Ye liked kids like this a lot. At just past twenty, one shouldn¡¯t be so goal-orientated about everything. But if these two had been switched to the type of young people who could put on a show and actpletely different on screen, Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth wouldn¡¯t be able to catch a moment of peace. He would definitely continuously criticize them.


    Ji Xiaotao hadn¡¯te along this time. Either way, there was no use in himing along; he wasn¡¯t necessary during filming. After getting cleaned up that night, Fang Shaoyi prepared for bed. Currently, only he and Yuan Ye were in the tent. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t intend to be the first to start talking, but it didn¡¯t seem right for Fang Shaoyi to just fall asleep like this. Thest time after they finished filming, Ji Xiaotao had babbled on and on about this for a long time.


    Fang Shaoyi had alreadyid down. Yuan Ye hesitated, but still walked over. He squatted in front of the low kang and touched Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hair. He called out, ¡°Ey.¡±


    Yuan Ye cleared his throat. He said, ¡°It¡¯s a bit dry here. You¡¯re just going to sleep like that? Without even doing skincare?¡±


    After hearing him finish talking, Fang Shaoyi removed his gaze. He lightly said, ¡°No skincare.¡±


    Now that they were on this topic, Yuan Ye honestly didn¡¯t feel so great. In the past, when the two of them had still been together, Fang Shaoyi often felt tired after a day of filming. He would fall asleep after removing his makeup and washing his face. Yuan Ye would then start ying, sitting near the top of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head and massaging his face, applying lotion and essence. Many years ago, when Fang Shaoyi had been young, he had never really used such products. But after thirty, everybody, regardless of their identity, sumbed to old age. Though the body wasn¡¯t old yet, the skin definitely wouldn¡¯t be as good as it had been in the past. Skincare was like a mission that needed to bepleted every night.


    Yuan Ye was still there, squatting. He was in an unusually good mood today. Maybe because he had been able to rx during the horseback riding at lunch, or maybe because he hadughed a lot during milking in the afternoon. Either way, he didn¡¯t feel overly dismal right now. He touched Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head again, a shameless smile on his face. ¡°Yi ge,e wash your face.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. He buried his face into the nket and muttered, ¡°Why are you so annoying.¡±


    Yuan Ye remained smiling. He made to take out the skincare products from Fang Shaoyi¡¯s suitcase. Just as he finished unzipping the suitcase, though, Fang Shaoyi sat up. In a deep voice, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t touch my suitcase.¡±


    Yuan Ye froze. His hands were still on the suitcase, unmoving. He turned around to look at Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi was expressionlessly staring at him too. He repeated himself, ¡°Don¡¯t touch my suitcase.¡±


    Yuan Ye slowly blinked. His mouth curved into an angle that could have been a smile or something else. He nodded. ¡°Un.¡±


    Yuan Ye stood up and sighed. He ced his hands into his pockets, then tucked his chin so that only half of his face was visible outside of his jacket. The tip of his nose brushed against the top of the metal zipper. It felt slightly cold. He didn¡¯t look at Fang Shaoyi, only standing there and saying, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    He added, ¡°I¡¯m just used to being so careless. Don¡¯t mind me.¡±


    These words, when spoken, seemed to carry barbs. After they initially pierced into the heart and made holes, they also drew blood on the way out. It was a numbing kind of pain that hurt others but also the self. Yuan Ye walked outside with his hands in his pockets after saying this.


    The wind was a bit cold outside. He walked quite a long distance away. With his back to the wind, he lit a cigarette. The smoke entering his throat was dry and consequently stung. It made Yuan Ye start coughing. He used the hand holding onto the cigarette to wave away the smoke, but this only caused more smoke to umte. They formed a cloud and drifted around him.


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He turned around and cussed at himself into the wind. ¡°......Dumbass.¡±


    Previously, Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had at least been able to act in love in front of the cameras. Even though they didn¡¯t stick to each other as much as the other couples, they weren¡¯t very highkey in real life either. This was how they were normally, so nobody realized anything was wrong. But the next day of filming, even the little director couldn¡¯t help asking Yuan Ye, ¡°Teacher Yuan, what¡¯s wrong with you and Teacher Fang?¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye had been preparing his grass skis. His head was lowered as he greased his grass ski boots. Without looking up, he asked, ¡°Is there something wrong with us?¡±


    ¡°No, I just feel that both of you seem to be in a bad mood,¡± The little director carefully stated. ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with you and Teacher Fang, right?¡±


    ¡°Not at all.¡± Yuan Ye stood up and smiled at her. ¡°Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    From the start, Yuan Ye had been the one who was acting more diligently. He was always the one who tried to stick closer to Fang Shaoyi, setting the tone for how the two of them were going tomunicate on camera. He did his best to appear natural so that no one would be able to notice the truth. Last night, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s reprimand had affected Yuan Ye so much that even now, he couldn¡¯t get himself into a better mood, much less act.


    Why the fuck should he keep acting. In front of outsiders, they seemed sweet and in love, but it was all a farce. A single phrase could reveal the truth behind thatyer of intimacy they were faking.


    Considering Yuan Ye¡¯s temper, it was already a miracle that he had filmed and kept up the act for so long.


    Their mission today was to ski on grass. They were to first practice with an instructor before starting a grass skiingpetition. Each person got ready, waiting for their turn to get lessons. Actually, grass skiing was pretty much the same as regr skiing. A majority of the guests probably knew how to do it, but for that variety show effect, they pretended that this was their first time being exposed to this activity. After acting like they weren¡¯t that familiar with it, they could then purposefully fall a few timester on for theughs.


    But today, Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t willing to be a monkey acting for the enjoyment of everyone else. He put on his gear and shot off. He performed a clean skid turn after skiing down the slope, then rapidly disappeared out of sight.


    Chi Xing lookedpletely awestruck. Even his eyes were sparkling. He whispered, ¡°Yuan Ye ge¡¯s so cool.¡±


    ¡°No matter what activity we¡¯re doing, he always manages to vanish in the blink of an eye,¡± Lin Tian joked. ¡°What a pity that Ye ge isn¡¯t an athlete.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°He¡¯s just never able to stay still. A wild monkey. Let him be.¡±


    Yuan Ye finished a circle by himself. When he got back from behind, Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of slowing making his way down the slope. Yuan Ye had already fixed his mood. He quickly charged in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s direction.


    Fang Shaoyi turned around and immediately saw where he was heading. He didn¡¯t try moving away, only bending down lower to stabilize himself more. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t slow down. With his eyes on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back, heunched himself over. The momentum was a bit strong, causing Fang Shaoyi to lose his bnce. The two of them fell down together. Yuan Ye twisted his body so that the two of them wouldnd on their sides. They rolled around once. Disregarding the embarrassment, theynded one on top of the other, which actually appeared quite intimate.


    Like a maniac, Yuan Ye cackled for a long time. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was filled with slight exasperation. He patted Yuan Ye¡¯s arm and asked, ¡°Did you hurt yourself?¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head. He was slightly panting from how hard he hadughed.


    Nearby, Cheng Xun saw the two of them fall and made toe over. Yuan Ye waved, notifying him that it wasn¡¯t anything serious.


    The entire morning of filming, the two of them had both had on dark expressions. Now, they were tangled in a ball of limbs, looking much better. The little director exhaled a silent sigh of relief.


    Fang Shaoyi patted the leaf bits on his leg and attempted to stand up. Yuan Ye instantly grabbed onto his arm, tugging him close. While Fang Shaoyi was cocking an eyebrow, Yuan Ye had already leaned in.


    In all honesty, Yuan Ye had been holding his anger in the whole morning. ording to his thoughts, though the two of them were divorced now, they still had a history of over ten years. They were divorced, but neither needed to purposefully give the other attitude. It hadn¡¯t gotten to that point.


    Because of the anger in his heart, he couldn¡¯t focus on acting. But just now, he had skied a circle by himself and done his best to remove all those negative emotions. Now that he was back, he needed to properly film again. If he didn¡¯t do his best, the one getting affected would be Fang Shaoyi. After all, the other was part of the entertainment industry.


    But this didn¡¯t mean that Yuan Ye needed to keep everything bottled in. He was born incapable of holding his temper back. When he became angry, his heart felt ufortably stuffy.


    Yuan Ye held onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s arm. His face was smiling, but his eyes were staring straight into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s, maintaining eye contact. From afar, this scene seemed extremely romantic on camera. Later on, with the addition of some background music, the production team would be able to make this into a teaser for the episode.


    No one else could hear what Yuan Ye was whispering to Fang Shaoyi. Only Fang Shaoyi could clearly discern his words¡ª¡ª


    Yuan Ye had lowered his voice a lot. What he said was, ¡°Yi ge, I don¡¯t owe you anything, so don¡¯t keep refuting everything I say. Let¡¯s nicely finish filming this show. Or, you can just announce that you want to quit now. We can each head back to our own homes.¡±


    ¡°Gutter oil got into my brain at the time for me to agree to finish filming. I took one wrong step and now every step is wrong.¡±


    His tone at the same sounded like he wished he could bite Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear. ¡°I really, truly had oil in my head, but I didn¡¯te here to defer to you. I just......wanted to see you.¡±

 Chapter 12

    <h4>Chapter 12</h4>


    I just wanted to see you.


    Even Yuan Ye himself became surprised after saying this. He actually hadn¡¯t wanted to speak it out loud. He had only wanted to say the first part ¨C let¡¯s nicely finish filming this show.


    But since he had already said it, he could stop hiding it. He couldn¡¯t hide it anymore anyways. Yuan Ye coughed, then scoffed at himself. He asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Can I take that sentence back?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi silently stared at him first. A momentter, he finally said, ¡°You can try.¡±


    Yuan Ye squatted there, blindly feeling around in the grass. He patted a spot and stated, ¡°Yuan Ye has unsent a message.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stood up. He held his hand out in the other¡¯s direction. Yuan Ye looked up and smiled at him, then took his hand and stood up with his help.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s words had ced him in an extremely low position. Whatever he had said in the beginning became irrelevant. As soon as ¡°I just wanted to see you¡± came out, they all became attempts at seekingpromise and admitting defeat. But seekingpromise with Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t make Yuan Ye feel ufortable or lesser in value. After all, this was his Yi ge. Saying such things were nothing.


    Following this, the two returned to normal in front of the camera. They joked and chatted, seemingly fine. At night, before bed, one washed his face while the other sat, legs crossed, ying with his phone. It was quite peaceful.


    One dayter, they entered the desert. Dune buggying was something Yuan Ye liked too. After a day of ying around, he ended up with almost half a kilo of sand in the shower. Actually, if this program removed the part where they needed to be filmed by cameras all the time, it was actually very fun. It was only travelling everywhere and trying everything. There was no definite goal, nor was there a need to keep a phone in your pocket to return people¡¯s messages. Pretty nice.


    After filming, Yuan Ye went straight back to his own house, just likest time. Fang Shaoyi returned to his film set. Post-filming each time, Yuan Ye felt like he had lost half his life and needed to spend two days recovering. However, this time, there was more of a break before the next scheduled filming, which was to take ce twelve dayster.


    During this time in between, Yuan Yepletely rxed. On a certain day midway through, he needed to go record a show for the same TV station. It was considered promotion and had been one of the uses in his contract. At least one person needed to attend from their family; Yuan Ye volunteered himself.


    Yuan Ye took advantage of this break to go back to his parents¡¯ ce. The first thing his mom said after seeing him was, ¡°My goodness. Howe you¡¯ve lost so much weight?¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. He patted his mom¡¯s shoulder and said, exasperated, ¡°Can you not repeat this same phrase everytime you see me?¡±


    He walked around but didn¡¯t see his dad. Yuan Ye raised his voice and shouted in the house, ¡°Where is Professor Yuan Anping?¡±


    His dad¡¯s voice sounded out from the balcony, scolding, ¡°Your voice is loud enough to be heard two kilometers away from here.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and walked over, teasing the birds his dad kept as pets. He asked, ¡°No ss today, Professor Yuan?¡±


    Professor answered, ¡°Where would I get so many sses that I need to teach everyday? I only have two sses a week.¡±


    But the old couple hadn¡¯t said anything. They hadn¡¯t rubbed salt in Yuan Ye¡¯s wound by mocking him, hadn¡¯t said, ¡°See, I told you already that you would regret it.¡± They simply hadn¡¯t brought it up. Yuan Ye¡¯s personality had been like this from a young age. Nobody could talk him out of decisions he had already made. He would ept whatever losses or sufferings that resulted, neverining.


    ¡°Where¡¯d you go this time?¡± His mother asked him during dinner.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Inner Mongolia.¡±


    ¡°When will it broadcast on TV? I¡¯ll watch too.¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head while smiling. He gave her some more food. ¡°Forget about it. Don¡¯t watch. I¡¯m too stupid on it. After watching, you won¡¯t even be able to recognize me anymore.¡±


    ¡°So you still act like you¡¯re not dumb?¡± His momughed. ¡°You¡¯ve been dumb for so many years already. I¡¯m used to it.¡±


    Yuan Ye paused. After, he said, ¡°It¡¯s not the same kind. This kind has no dignity.¡±


    His dad responded as he nced over, ¡°But you still went?¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. ¡°I already signed the contract. I agreed, so needed to go. Besides, it¡¯s quite a lot of money. Why pass up on that, right?¡±


    His dad didn¡¯t continue talking to him about this, only responding, ¡°In your first thirty years of life, you only did things to make yourself happy. Hopefully, you can live like this in the future too. As long as you¡¯re happy. But life can¡¯t always be only happy. Every person will go through difficult times. Follow your heart. You see the truth and have a clear understanding of things. We won¡¯t say any more.¡±


    Yuan Ye froze for a moment. After, he looked at his dad with a smile. He had no alcohol, only a cup of juice. He forced his dad to pour a cup of juice too, then used his own cup to bump into his dad¡¯s. He took a gulp. His dad was disdainful of how weird he was being, but still drank as well.


    ¡°Just eat your food normally,¡± his dad scolded. ¡°So annoying.¡±


    ¡°But why did you drink it if I¡¯m annoying?¡± Yuan Ye cackled. He loved this strict but gentle expression on Professor Yuan¡¯s face.


    Actually, Yuan Ye¡¯s environment growing up had been very unrestricted. His parents had basically let him grow up freely. They very rarely controlled his actions ¨C either way, he wouldn¡¯t listen even if they did. Inparison to Ning Lu and Guan Zhou, his family was the least overbearing. When Ning Lu had been young, his dad had broken two belts whipping him. Guan Zhou didn¡¯t have it as bad, but his family was still quite strict with him. He had to attend extracurricr sses everyday.


    Only Yuan Ye spent the whole day fooling around. However, his grades were also the best. Completely unreasonable.


    Originally, this show wasn¡¯t scheduled to start airing until next month, but something unexpected had suddenly happened to a different show on the channel. Because of certain sensitive topics, one of the guests on the show had to be removed. The government had sent down an order, blocking the show from broadcasting. The production crew could only take that show off air first and rece it with this one. Their next step would be finding someone else to take that guest¡¯s ce, or something simr.


    So, teaser photos, from when they had been filming for the show previously, appeared online out of the blue. These were released couple by couple. This was Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s first time on a variety show, so people talked about them the most. Later on, the production team also released some gifs on Weibo for promotion. The guests all needed to repost that original post. Yuan Ye gave his Weibo ount to Ji Xiaotao, telling him to deal with it. He was toozy to do so himself.


    Yuan Ye only looked over everything roughly in the beginning. After that, he never bothered to again.


    One day, he was in the middle of casually chatting and joking around in his group chat with Ning Lu and them when he suddenly received a phone call. Yuan Ye cocked his eyebrow as soon as he saw the name.


    ¡°Yo, CEO Geng?¡± Yuan Ye greeted after answering.


    The person calling was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s past manager, Geng Jinwei. Right now, he was the person in charge of Fang Shaoyi Studio. Fang Shaoyi had been under his management since his teenage years. Back then, he had just graduated. After, he almost immediately got chosen by Fang Han. Now, everyone knew that Fang Han hadn¡¯t made a wrong decision. This was someone who could get things done by any means. He was currently one of the gold medal managers in the industry. However, his rtionship with Yuan Ye had always only been average. They got along fine, but weren¡¯t as close as Yuan Ye and Ji Xiaotao.


    Geng Jinwei wasn¡¯t like Ji Xiaotao, an innocent white bunny. If he had such a personality, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to be a manager either. All these years, Fang Shaoyi had never epted roles in shitty films. Instead, he always managed to get a continuous flow of high quality offers. Aside from the fact that he was Fang Han¡¯s son and truly a good actor, this was also because Geng Jinwei had the means and connections to get and keep such resources. He knew exactly how to seed in this industry.


    He and Yuan Ye rarely contacted each other in private. Yuan Ye almost never received calls from him, so was now slightly surprised.


    Geng Jinwei greeted him, ¡°Long time no see, Ye di.¡±


    This person also had an old smoker¡¯s throat. His voice sounded extremely deep and hoarse. Yuan Ye said, ¡°It has been pretty long. What¡¯s up, CEO Geng?¡±


    ¡°CEO my ass.¡± The other chuckled and scolded, ¡°Geng ge. What, you two got divorced so now you won¡¯t even call me ge? Then does that mean I¡¯ll have to call you Teacher Yuan?¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, I¡¯m just joking,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    Geng Jinwei wasn¡¯t the type to call if nothing was wrong. But it wasn¡¯t anything extremely bad. He only asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Have you gone online in these past few days? Someone started talking about how you guys are divorced. Did you see?¡±


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows. ¡°What? I didn¡¯t look.¡±


    ¡°No worries. Just a post. I¡¯ll have someone delete itter.¡± Geng Jinwei continued, ¡°I¡¯m not here to ask you about that, though. I just want to ask you, Ye di.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment and said, ¡°Ask.¡±


    Geng Jinwei asked, ¡°What are your thoughts about the situation between you and Fang Shaoyi?¡±


    This question was too direct. Something snapped in Yuan Ye¡¯s brain. After, heughed and said, ¡°What are my thoughts? I have no thoughts. Say whatever you guys need to say. I don¡¯t mind either way. If it really gets publicized someday in the future......I just want as few consequences as possible for Fang Shaoyi. You could say I cheated? I¡¯m fine with anything.¡±


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t bother being polite through the phone. He cussed before saying, ¡°I can¡¯t deal with you guys messing around. Geng ge¡¯s old. I told you guys to drop out of this show but you both wanted to film it. Going on such a show when you¡¯re already divorced, are you treating everyone else like they¡¯re idiots? Nobody¡¯s going to get off easy when the truthes out.¡±


    ¡°I already thought about that.¡± Yuan Ye rested against his sofa, squeezing the phone in his hand. He closed his eyes and leaned back so that his head was also on the sofa. ¡°If such a day reallyes......me it all on me. The divorce was because of me, I was also the one who wanted to go on the show. As for the specifics, you don¡¯t need me to tell you. You definitely have a better idea than me. On that day, there¡¯s no need to worry about me, Geng ge. I¡¯m not an entertainer, nor am I part of your guys¡¯ entertainment industry. I don¡¯t care either way.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand Fang Shaoyi?¡± Geng Jinweiughed coldly. ¡°Is he that kind of person?¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not, but you are,¡± Yuan Ye chuckled. After chuckling, he said, ¡°Really. I¡¯m not scared of anything. No matter what, bring it on. I¡¯m someone who relies on my pen to eat. How many writers aren¡¯t casanovas? Isn¡¯t that right, Geng ge?¡±


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t continue the conversation. He only said, ¡°We¡¯ll speak about itter. Without any idents, it probably won¡¯t be revealed. Even if it does, I can still keep it under control. You two are going to be the death of me someday.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed again. A few sentencester, they ended the call.


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes and leaned back. He pinched the spot between his eyebrows. A momentter, he picked up his phone and logged into Weibo.


    Netizens were starting to make summaries of his and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s romantic history again. Before, others had posted about it. Now, those posts had been dug out again. Yuan Ye clicked into each of them. Some things still caused one to feel warm and gentle even when only reading others¡¯mentary on it.


    Yuan Ye opened a video. It was from the day Fang Shaoyi had won his first film emperor award.


    The video was several years old. The quality wasn¡¯t very high, but Yuan Ye could still clearly see that extremely dazzling person standing in the center of the big screen. Fang Shaoyi was wearing a suit. He held the trophy and stood there, looking extremely handsome. At the time, he said, ¡°Thank you Director Qin, thank you to the film crew, and also thank you to all the seniors who acted alongside Little Fang. You guys have helped me mature a lot. Thank you.¡±


    After saying this, he nced down at the trophy in his hand. Then, he waved it around. With a focused and gentle gaze, he smiled and said, ¡°I want to give today¡¯s award to my love, Yuan Ye¡ª¡ªWild Monkey, happy birthday.¡±


    <b>The author has something to say:</b>


    Yuan Ye: Why do you guys always want me to sprain my ankle?

 Chapter 13

    <h4>Chapter 13</h4>


    Guan Zhou came to be a guest MC on the show that Yuan Ye needed to film for. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t attended such variety shows before. The recordingsted a few hours and basically only followed the script provided ahead of time. However, the program was designed quite well, with lots of jokes. Even just following the script didn¡¯t make Yuan Ye appear unexciting.


    After filming, Guan Zhou didn¡¯t let him head straight home. The two of them had a meal together.


    Guan Zhou told him, ¡°Based onizens¡¯ responses, you¡¯re pretty popr.¡±


    ¡°Is that so,¡± Yuan Ye was quite unbothered. ¡°Is even a single one of the couples not popr?¡±


    ¡°Well you were pretty mysterious in the past,¡± Guan Zhou joked with a smile. ¡°How about epting invitations for more shows from now on? I think you¡¯d do okay.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled and cocked an eyebrow. He asked, ¡°You joking?¡±


    Guan Zhou smiled. A momentter, he wiped the expression off his face and told Yuan Ye, ¡°Oh right, you two still need to be careful. Don¡¯t know if they told you already or not, but the news about your guys¡¯ divorce keeps getting leaked.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked up at him. ¡°Didn¡¯t it get deleted?¡±


    ¡°It did, but there are more than one,¡± Guan Zhou said. ¡°The past few days, the station¡¯s been keeping it under wraps. We have no idea who keeps trying to spill the beans. Bet Fang Shaoyi and them have heard the news already too.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. He didn¡¯t say anything else, only keeping silent and eating.


    Guan Zhou seemed pretty serious. With his and Yuan Ye¡¯s rtionship, he was very concerned for the other. ¡°If even I know about it, it isn¡¯t a secret in this industry anymore. I think a lot of people probably know that you guys are divorced, so we can¡¯t be sure who¡¯s ultimately trying to cause trouble this time. It might also be our opposing channel trying to increase the viewer ratings for their own show. Either way, as long as there¡¯s no evidence, it¡¯s nothing. But, if someone really does post something in the next few days, it won¡¯t be that easy to keep secret anymore.¡±


    ¡°Un, got it.¡± Yuan Ye looked at Guan Zhou. He smiled at the other, ¡°Don¡¯t worry about me, bro.¡±


    Guan Zhou appeared extremely exasperated. ¡°You can still smile?¡±


    The corners of Yuan Ye¡¯s lips twitched. He said, ¡°Smile or not, there¡¯s nothing else I can do anyways. Besides, nothing has happened yet. Why worry?¡±


    Yuan Ye was truly unbothered. This time, he had taken a few pictures during their trip to Inner Mongolia. With nothing else to do at home, he started editing them. There were a few he really liked; one of these was a photo of Fang Shaoyi standing in the desert, looking back at him. His expression was a bit cold, his brows even slightly furrowed. Maybe because of the ring sunlight, maybe because of the relentless wind.


    Yuan Ye used this as hisptop¡¯s wallpaper. Everytime he moved his cursor across the screen, he would always pause over Fang Shaoyi¡¯s figure.


    Ji Xiaotao instantly sent him a voice message back. He sounded extremely tired with barely any energy left: ¡°We haven¡¯t wrapped up yet, Ye ge...... We¡¯re gonna have to film through the night again.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at the time. Two in the morning. He didn¡¯t know what to say. There also wasn¡¯t anything fit for him to say. In the end, he only sent: You¡¯ve worked hard.


    Ji Xiaotao replied with a voice message again. His tone was slightly amused: ¡°Not at all. When you guys go film the show, I can get lots of days off.¡±


    Yuan Ye casually exchanged a few more messages with him before setting down his phone.


    In the blink of an eye, they had already filmed two episodes of the show. There were five destinations in total. After another episode, they would be done with half the required filming. Yuan Ye had been quite cooperative this entire time and had followed everything on the itinerary, doing everything the directing team told him to do. Previously, he had thought it would probably be quite difficult, but after a few days, found it actually wasn¡¯t that bad.


    This time, their destination was Japan. Unlikest time, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t head to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s film set in advance. The crew had already moved to Shaanxi. He and Fang Shaoyi departed separately, so filming started in the airport. On the ne, the little director told them that there would probably be a few changes to thest episode.


    Prior, the show had scheduled for theirst episode to be filmed in Australia. Now, because of certain reasons, they needed to switch locations, possibly to Canada.


    As soon as he heard this, Yuan Ye looked at her and asked, ¡°How many days in advance?¡±


    The little director answered, ¡°The usual would be about two days in advance. This way, all of our guests would have time to get over jetg. But you all have very tight schedules, so it¡¯ll probably have to be based on everyone¡¯s schedules. Might be a day or two.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t inquire further. He only shook his head and said, ¡°No.¡±


    The little director hadn¡¯t thought that Yuan Ye would be so direct in his refusal. Besides, to these guests, filming was still filming despite the location. Though the sudden change would affect things somewhat, to them, it was only part of the job.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Teacher Yuan?¡± The little director asked him.


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi had been sleeping off to the side with a sleep mask on. Yuan Ye lowered his voice a bit and told her, ¡°Let¡¯s do what the contract says and go to whatever location we decided on in advance. Canada won¡¯t work. Or, you guys choose somewhere closer. India, Thand, Saudi Arabia ¨C these would all work. A destination overseas won¡¯t.¡±


    The little director waspletely lost. She had thought this would be resolved in only a few sentences. Unexpectedly, Yuan Ye had such a big reaction. She tried once more, ¡°Teacher Yuan, can I ask why?¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head. The expression on his face seemed to say that he didn¡¯t want to discuss further. He said, ¡°No reason. I just don¡¯t like sudden changes. I¡¯ll only film what we agreed on in the contract. The contract said we¡¯d be filming in Australia. You can¡¯t make a decision and then notify me, switching locations out of the blue. Wouldn¡¯t you say that¡¯s unreasonable?¡±


    The little director didn¡¯t know how to handle this situation anymore either. She had never anticipated something like this happening. As soon as she got off the ne, she hurriedly reported it to her boss, telling him everything Yuan Ye had said. On that side, her boss immediately called Yuan Ye, asking him what he thought. Yuan Ye spoke very politely, but made it clear that he wasn¡¯t going to change his mind. ¡°Sir, we cane to a different agreement. If we¡¯re not going to Australia, then we can choose a closer country. I¡¯m for sure not going to Canada.¡±


    Just now, on the ne, Fang Shaoyi had been asleep. Yuan Ye had lowered his voice while speaking, so he didn¡¯t know about this. Currently, while Yuan Ye was on the phone, the little director repeated the situation to him. Fang Shaoyi nodded and told her he understood. He looked at Yuan Ye; Yuan Ye was still on the phone. His expression was starting to be impatient.


    Fang Shaoyi reached a hand out and tugged on his wrist. He shook his head at the other.


    Yuan Ye nced at him, then told the person on the other end of the line once more, ¡°Okay. We¡¯ll discuss furtherter.¡±


    After hanging up, he gave the phone back to the little director. Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Don¡¯t be so feisty.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked over. He said, ¡°I wasn¡¯t trying to be feisty. I just don¡¯t want to go.¡±


    There were too many people around them. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. He only tugged Yuan Ye over while the other had his head down, making sure he wouldn¡¯t run into anyone. Fang Shaoyi said to the little director, ¡°Don¡¯t mind him. We¡¯ll discuss againter.¡±


    ¡°Un, okay Teacher Fang,¡± the little director hurriedly nodded. ¡°No problem at all.¡±


    Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi had flown in from the north. They got there the earliest. The other few groups were all in southern cities, so their flights wouldn¡¯t arrive until afternoon. Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi holed up in the hotel. Fang Shaoyi was really short on sleep. Heid in bed catching up on rest while Yuan Ye sat off to the side, ying on his phone.


    Guan Zhou¡¯s news was fast. At lunch, he sent a WeChat message asking Yuan Ye: What¡¯s wrong with you now? What hell are you raising?


    Yuan Ye replied: Daily hell-raising.


    Guan Zhou: Well raise hell a bit more gently, gege. Don¡¯t piss so many people off.


    Yuan Ye: I always speak extremely politely.


    Guan Zhou: I just heard Lin Weiin briefly to our executive channel director about how you¡¯re too fussy. It¡¯s only because your family has a high status that he didn¡¯t say more. If this were another person, Lin Wei would definitely have started cussing already. He¡¯s someone with no brain to mouth filter. But the status of that person in your ¡°family¡± has nothing to do with you now, gege. Make sure you know that.


    Yuan Ye tsk¡¯d, then sent him another message: Get back to work. You don¡¯t need to worry about me.


    Guan Zhou was really busy too. After sending these few warnings, he really didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s schedule was extremely tight. Who knew how much sleep he was missing? Heid on his side in the bed, breaths slow and even. He remained fast asleep.


    Later, only Chen Ru and her husband hadn¡¯t arrived yet. The other two groups were already here. Yuan Ye nced at the time. The little director was probably going toe call them soon. Yuan Ye walked over while purposefully making sure his footsteps weren¡¯t too loud. He stopped on the side of the bed Fang Shaoyi was facing. Yuan Ye squatted, then opened his mouth and made to wake Fang Shaoyi up. But as soon as he opened his mouth, he couldn¡¯t bear to make a sound.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face was truly exceptionally handsome. His features were deepset, his nose very prominent. Yuan Ye had always really liked his nose. In the past, he would often bite and nibble at this nose, also not sparing the nose-bridge. Fang Shaoyi was very peacefully asleep. He looked quitefortable too. His expression waspletely rxed. Looking at him sleep, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t bear to wake him from thisfort.


    When he got tired of squatting, he simply sat on the floor and scooted closer to the edge of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed. Then, he fell asleep too.


    But he only napped for about eight to ten minutes. It was almost time. He still needed to wake Fang Shaoyi up. Yuan Ye stretched his arms out and stood. He tapped Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shoulder, calling out, ¡°Yi ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had no reaction. Thus, Yuan Ye called him again. ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyshes fluttered. A few secondster, he finally opened his eyes.


    He had been too deeply asleep. The temperature in the room was just right too. He probably had also had a pretty good dream. His barely opened eyes still carried a bit of perplexion. After being woken up, he didn¡¯t even furrow his brows. Yuan Ye had to hold back the impulse to reach a hand out and caress the other¡¯s face. He only smiled and told him, ¡°......Stop sleeping.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi blinked. He looked at Yuan Ye. The two of them made eye contact. Currently, there were noplicated emotions in their gazes; everything was very simple and very calm.


    Yuan Ye wanted to say something else to help Fang Shaoyi wake uppletely, but before he had the opportunity to, Fang Shaoyi suddenly reached out and circled his arms around Yuan Ye. After his sleep, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s body temperature was extra high. This dry warmness suddenly broached Yuan Ye¡¯s airways, causing him to fall into a daze.


    His face was buried in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chest. The other¡¯s scent made him feel afortable sense of familiarity. It was very pleasant. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything. He only closed his eyes.


    His eyes were coincidentally where Fang Shaoyi¡¯s corbone was. The hard bone was a bit painful to rest on. One of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands was on the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head. His slightly warm palm was glued to the other¡¯s scalp. This temperature was so enjoyable that Yuan Ye really wanted to take a nap.


    Eventually, Yuan Ye was the first to move. This position was a little tiring for him. He took a deep breath in, then reached a hand out to remove Fang Shaoyi¡¯s arm. He lifted his head to look into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes. When their gazes met once again, Yuan Ye smiled anew. As if nothing had happened, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared at him, silent for a moment. Then, he looked away and squeezed the spot between his brows. ¡°Nothing. Just had a dream.¡±

 Chapter 14

    <h4>Chapter 14</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi said he had had a dream. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t ask him what the dream was about. He only smiled at Fang Shaoyi again. When he smiled, his eyes appeared very small. They were pleasant to look at.


    Because of this agreeable ident, filming passed by extremely smoothly this time. Neither of them criticized the other; in front of the camera, they were like a real couple that had been in love for several years. Every gaze revealed how in sync they were with one another. Yuan Ye suddenly felt that filming a variety show and acting in front of the camera was pretty interesting. He wondered whether he or Fang Shaoyi was better at acting. However, Fang Shaoyi was a film emperor, after all. He probably wouldn¡¯t be able to beat the other.


    Yuan Ye had been to Japan a few times. He didn¡¯t like it all too much. Mainly, he didn¡¯t like the food. Previously, Yuan Ye had tagged along during one of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s filming trips. In two months, he had lost almost 10 pounds.


    This time, they also visited the hot springs. Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi secretly went while everyone else was asleep. The two of them even had a midnight snack in the hot springs.


    In actuality, this was all scheduled by the production crew so that it could be filmed.


    This scene was slightly difficult. Yuan Ye kept himself submerged in the water, not daring to stand up. In his heart, heined that the production team was either doing this on purpose or was stupid ¨C two people sitting in the water, facing each other and having a conversation. Was it possible for nothing to ur? Especially in such a unique setting. There were simr, spicy memories in Yuan Ye¡¯s memory storage. Because of different reasons, the two of them stayed extremely still in the water. Neither dared to step out.


    Eventually, Yuan Ye shooed the cameramen away, telling them to go back and sleep.


    Near the end of filming, the little director mentioned the Canada situation to Yuan Ye again. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t changed his opinion at all. He didn¡¯t like Canada. No was no.


    The little director had no other options. She could only turn to ask Fang Shaoyi. She felt that Fang Shaoyi was more agreeable. After all, Fang Shaoyi was more tactful than Yuan Ye. He only told her, ¡°Directly talk to mypany about this. Go discuss with them. There¡¯s no need to ask Yuan Ye again. He won¡¯t change his mind.¡±


    His attitude to outsiders was always the same as Yuan Ye¡¯s. He wouldn¡¯t try to be the nice guy and agree when Yuan Ye had already said he wouldn¡¯t go. But in private, Fang Shaoyi still said to Yuan Ye, ¡°Going anywhere is the same. Don¡¯t be angry with them. There¡¯s no need.¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head. He didn¡¯t waiver in the slightest. ¡°No.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared at him and surprisingly didn¡¯t say anything else. He only nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Later, they ended up not going to Canada. The others didn¡¯t care, only Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye were adamant about switching locations. In the end, they went to Australia as originally nned.


    The production team was probably quite unhappy, but they didn¡¯t say anything. At the end of the day, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s status was still there. Besides, they couldn¡¯t say anything: the contract had already been signed beforehand and it was normal for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s side to be against changing it. After he got home that day, Yuan Ye received a message from the program¡¯s chief director, Lin Wei. He said: Teacher Yuan Ye, we¡¯ll go with what you want. We¡¯ll stick with going to Australia.


    Yuan Ye responded: Sorry Director Lin. I¡¯ve caused you trouble.


    Lin Wei: What are you saying, Teacher Yuan. It¡¯s also our fault for not discussing with you ahead of time.


    Yuan Ye figured that the other probably hadints in his heart, but going to Canada with only one or two days in advance was simply a joke. And, if they left too many days in advance, Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t have the time. In others¡¯ eyes, this situation most likely seemed like Yuan Ye being dramatic, but Yuan Ye was truly this type of person. He wouldn¡¯tpromise on things he didn¡¯t agree with. Perhaps only Fang Shaoyi could persuade him to change his mind. However, Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t try to.


    The production crew had, after all, spent a fortune. The initial promotion had also been perfectly executed. All the CP¡¯s had been hyped up for several days. The two young couples were originally currently popr celebrities with huge online followings. Thus, the first episode¡¯s viewer ratings were pretty great.


    These years, Fang Shaoyi had remained lowkey, only filming movies. Yuan Ye was also someone outside of the entertainment industry. Quite a lot of the little girls now didn¡¯t know much about them. Round after round of introduction posts got dug up from the depths of the Inte. There was even a short video from their wedding back in the day. ¡°Shape CP¡± temporarily ended up on the trending searches list. The production team edited parts of thest interview out and inserted them in the middle of the episode. Within the first few minutes of broadcast, they had already yed Yuan Ye¡¯sst answer. In the camera, Yuan Ye¡¯s expression was slightly cold as he said, ¡°Even if he didn¡¯t be famous, he would still be Fang Shaoyi. Even after he won film emperor, he¡¯s also still Fang Shaoyi.¡± Several little girls all felt that during this part, he was extremely Sue. In addition, Yuan Ye¡¯s thin eyelids and short stubble made him look like a bad boy. A bad boy saying such things was very attractive.


    Many of Yuan Ye¡¯s fans were pretty nervous. They were originally calm, Buddhist fans. This suddenrge influx of people put them instantly on high alert. They wondered if it was necessary to create a set of rules for the new fans. Joining Uncle Ye¡¯s side means turning Buddhist. Don¡¯t cause trouble. If you¡¯re only following the hype for a few days, you might as well leave. He¡¯s just a book author. Your fandom culture isn¡¯t suited for us.


    A small portion of Yuan Ye¡¯s fans had started paying attention to him because of his identity as Fang Shaoyi¡¯s lover. The remaining were almost all his readers. Those that had started following him since the beginning were all grown up now, with families and children of their own. This time, several old fans said that they felt quite surprised upon seeing Uncle Ye on TV. After searching online, they discovered that it truly was Yuan Ye.


    Ament under one of Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo posts rose to the top because it got the most likes. The personmenting was a girl: ¡°Two days ago, I became a mother. I feel at ease seeing that you¡¯re still as happy as you were before. The first time I read one of your books was in my senior year of high school. At that time, I wanted to be like you ¨C stubborn and brave. These few years, you haven¡¯t really posted much on Weibo anymore. I always wondered if that naughty youth who had wandered the mountains and dove into holes in trees was less happy. Today, I saw you smiling in the show, just as arrogantly as you had before. I honestly think that¡¯s great.¡±


    But exactly because most of Yuan Ye¡¯s fans were his readers, many of them were unwilling for him to film a variety show. They felt disappointed in him, feeling that such an act was too unbing. To them, it seemed like he cared too much about money now.


    Regardless of the type ofment, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t read any of them. He didn¡¯t even login to Weibo. Nor did he watch that episode of the show. In fact, he hadn¡¯t even gone online since returning from Japan. Though he had filmed the show, he still didn¡¯t like watching himself on screen. That was a strange feeling, almost as if he was watching someone else. It felt like watching a stranger act alongside Fang Shaoyi.


    He was probably the worst actor out of all the ones Fang Shaoyi had coborated with.


    It was several dayster when Yuan Ye finally went online again. After everyone joining in the hype had finished doing so, he checked WeChat atst. He didn¡¯t reply to any useless messages. Feng Leizi had contacted him one day, first sending him a photoshopped image created byizens. It was an image of Yuan Ye squatting in a tree, throwing bananas ¨C they had photoshopped Yuan Ye into a monkey. Feng Leizi said: Hasn¡¯t this photo been photoshopped quite nicely?


    Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been on Weibo, so hadn¡¯t seen this image. Heughed as he cussed and sent a voice message: ¡°Your bro has professional photos now too?¡±


    Feng Leizi simply replied with a voice call. Yuan Ye answered. Feng Leizi said, ¡°I don¡¯t even know how to talk to you anymore after watching that show. In the past, I always thought that you were a deep andposed old man. Now, I feel like you¡¯re a fucking little cutie.¡±


    ¡°Was I not cute before?¡± Yuan Ye lit a cigarette and said, ¡°I¡¯ve always felt that I¡¯m very cute.¡±


    Feng Leizi cussed too. Then, he said, ¡°Not here to make shitty jokes with you. I have official business.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Saw the ad I did for you? Want to give me dividends?¡±


    ¡°What ad.¡± Feng Leizi didn¡¯t understand what he was saying.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°If you haven¡¯t seen it, whatever. Probably hasn¡¯t been broadcasted yet.¡±


    Feng Leizi said, ¡°Official business. The script I told you about before. Did you think about it?¡±


    Yuan Ye answered fairly quickly. ¡°I don¡¯t really remember it. My brain wasn¡¯t working that well these past few months.¡±


    Feng Leizi paused for two seconds. Then, he lowly cussed a few times before saying, ¡°Before, I gave you a general rundown of it. The one about the mute. I feel like you would do a good job writing it. Wanna try? You¡¯re the best at writing this kind of stuff.¡±


    Yuan Ye flicked the ash off his cigarette and said, ¡°I remember now. Didn¡¯t someone else write itter on?¡±


    Feng Leizi scoffed. ¡°He can¡¯t write for shit.¡±


    Yuan Ye actually wasn¡¯t in the mood to write anything right now. Recently, he¡¯d been extremelyzy:zy for about a year. Feng Leizi had mentioned this script to him in the past. It was a screeny Yuan Ye was pretty interested in, but in his current condition, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to write anything good. Because of this, he hadn¡¯t epted the offerst time. This time, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t confirm anything either. He only said, ¡°I¡¯ll think about it. Let you knowter.¡±


    ¡°Un.¡± Before hanging up, Feng Leizi switched to a teasing tone and told Yuan Ye, ¡°Old bro, couldn¡¯t tell that you guys are pretty lovey-dovey? Earlier, I heard people saying that you guys had gotten divorced. Now, after watching, you¡¯re divorced my ass. ¡®You say something, then I say something.¡¯ Don¡¯t you guys find yourselves cringey?¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. ¡°We¡¯re alright.¡±


    After hanging up the call, Yuan Ye stubbed his cigarette out in the ashtray. With brows furrowed, he stretched his arms. Feng Leizi was a clever person. He didn¡¯t say things for no reason. Though thest few sentences sounded like a casual joke, they were actually a message for Yuan Ye. Even I know about the fact that you¡¯ve gotten divorced. It was a hidden warning so that Yuan Ye would know.


    Yuan Ye sighed. Hezily sat on his couch and felt around for the remote. Then, he turned on the TV.


    After what this person had said just now, Yuan Ye suddenly wanted to watch the show too. He wanted to see how the two of them had been cringey, and also wanted to see what Fang Shaoyi had been like.


    The first two minutes almost made Yuan Ye give up from awkwardness. Most people wouldn¡¯t be able to handle seeing themselves on TV like this. It made them seem too dumb and too fake. Everytime he came on camera, Yuan Ye¡¯s entire being felt ufortable. He fast-forwarded through all these scenes. Later on, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s scenes became more frequent. The shots of the different groups were all interwoven. A few minutes in, he actually found it quite interesting.


    During the hike up, because Yuan Ye had gone wandering around the mountain by himself, he didn¡¯t know much about what had happened. At the time, Fang Shaoyi had smiled and told the cameraman, ¡°Let him go y. Here, you guys can film me.¡± On the screen, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was so gentle. The lighting was warm too. The entire scene appeared soft and tender.


    The first episode only contained scenes up to when they got to the top of the mountain and started splitting up dwellings. The show ended with Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyiying next to their tent, looking up at the stars. That scene seemed quite romantic.


    Though watching this kind of stuff made him feel like a dumbass, it was still pretty satisfying. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t turn off his TV even after all the ads had finished ying. He sat on the couch in a slight daze. The TV automatically started ying the next rted video. This was the unabridged version of their ending interview. The first group was Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye.


    The interview was edited in a fairly interesting manner. Their individual interviews were broadcasted so that the two of them spoke one after another. Yuan Ye watched this segment until the very end. He obviously knew exactly what he had said, but he really wanted to know how Fang Shaoyi had answered certain questions.


    The little director asked Fang Shaoyi, how long have you and Teacher Yuan been together for?


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Quite long. It¡¯s about to be over fifteen years. From here on out, it¡¯ll be our sixteenth year.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s really quite long. ording to these calctions, you guys got together at around age twenty or so?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s usual serious expression was gone. In front of the camera, he appeared gentler. He nodded. ¡°Back then, we were still young.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s answers were practically the same as Yuan Ye¡¯s for these basic questions. They knew each other very well.


    Later, the little director asked with a smile, ¡°Can I ask you something? In the beginning, between the two of you, who pursued who first?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi answered very quickly. ¡°I pursued him first.¡±


    The little director confirmed with him once more, ¡°You pursued him first? Are you sure?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and said, ¡°Yes, I pursued him first.¡±


    Yuan Ye said he had pursued Fang Shaoyi first; Fang Shaoyi said he had pursued Yuan Ye first. The show edited the two of them together so that one was on the left and the other was on the right. In the middle were threerge, colorful question marks.


    Yuan Ye cocked his eyebrow in front of the TV. He looked at the Fang Shaoyi on the screen. After a moment, heughed and shook his head.


    The interviews all took about the same amount of time. In the end, the little director only had one question left. ¡°Teacher Fang, what do you have to say about your rtionship? What does your encountering each other and so many years of interaction mean to you?¡±


    Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been asked this question. Probably because he had gotten slightly angry at the end, so the director hadn¡¯t dared to keep asking. He sat up straight and listened for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s response.


    This question made Fang Shaoyi fall silent for a few minutes. His head was half lowered and he wasn¡¯t looking into the camera. The lighting was very soft, so even though the angles of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face were very hard, right now, he looked much gentler. Eventually, he pressed his lips together and started lowly, ¡°You¡¯ve stumped me. What does it mean to me? How should I answer.¡±


    A pauseter, he blinked and looked straight into the camera. That gaze could travel through the screen and reach the heart of the person on the other end. He opened his mouth and said, ¡°Just......I¡¯m thankful for this encounter, thankful for fate, I guess. Who enters whose life might all be predestined. So, thank you for this destiny.¡±

 Chapter 15

    <h4>Chapter 15</h4>


    One sentence from Fang Shaoyi hadpletely melted Yuan Ye¡¯s heart.


    You¡¯re too gentle, Yi ge.


    Yuan Ye was the type of person who didn¡¯t care about anything when he felt a certain way. Right then and there, he reached for his phone and sent a WeChat message to Fang Shaoyi. He said: Yi ge.


    A few minutes passed before Fang Shaoyi finally replied to him: What¡¯s wrong?


    Yuan Ye chuckled on his end of the phone, then sent: Thank you for this destiny.


    This time, Fang Shaoyi responded very quickly, but his response was only one word: Un.


    In the interview, both Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi said that they had pursued the other first. Both of their fansmented under the show¡¯s official Weibo ount: ¡°Director, please confirm which one of them lied for us! Thank you!¡±


    ¡ª¡°My guess is Uncle Ye pursued Fang Shaoyi first! Uncle Ye is obviously someone who hits straight balls! Aaah Uncle Ye was only 17 at the time, only a wee thing! Just thinking about it makes me want to explode!!¡±


    ¡ª¡°I actually think it might be Film Emperor who pursued him first! Film Emperor doesn¡¯t seem like the type of person to lie about these things (just a random guess)¡±


    ¡ª¡°Either way, I don¡¯t care who pursued who first, I just feel that this CP is too fucking sweet 1551¡±


    The above screenshot was sent to Yuan Ye by Ji Xiaotao. Looking at it made Yuan Yeugh quite a bit. These days, Ji Xiaotao often sent Yuan Ye screenshots when he had spare time. While Fang Shaoyi filmed, he woulde looking to chat with Yuan Ye. Sometimes, Yuan Ye would get annoyed and ask him: Don¡¯t you have anything to do?


    Ji Xiaotao: Ye ge! I¡¯ve received money from the fans! Which one of you guys pursued the other!


    Yuan Yeughed and sent him a voice message: ¡°Git.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao refused to give up: Ye ge! They gave me a million! Which one of you guys pursued the other!


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t want to respond to him. He only said: Go ask Fang Shaoyi.


    Ji Xiaotao showed no signs of backing up as he sent sticker after sticker: He¡¯s filming so doesn¡¯t have time to bother with me. Actually, even when he¡¯s not filming he ignores me too.


    Yuan Ye: Are you not straight anymore? Howe you¡¯re so wishy washy now.


    Ji Xiaotao: Ye ge I love you.


    Yuan Ye locked his phone and stopped replying.


    Ji Xiaotao had worked with Fang Shaoyi for several years. In the beginning, he had only been a little fan. Because of a stroke of luck, he became Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant. After all these years, he had remained hardworking and diligent. Now, he could also handle most situations by himself. However, he wasn¡¯t someone who had big dreams. He simply wanted to keep being Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant.


    Several times, Geng Jinwei had expressed interest in wanting to get him back to thepany to help teach the newbies. Ji Xiaotao had cried and whined, refusing to go. In the end, Fang Shaoyi had said, ¡°If he wants to stay with me, let him. We¡¯ll talk about it when he wants to leave. I¡¯m used to having Xiaotao around too.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was actually the type that needed a long time to feel familiar with someone. It took forever for him to ept anyone new into his life. Ji Xiaotao had taken care of him for so many years. Fang Shaoyi had long since gotten used to him.


    Ji Xiaoto stopped for only a few minutes. In the time that it took for Fang Shaoyi to take a quick break then head out to film the next scene, he started bothering Yuan Ye again: Ye ge, which one of you pursued the other!


    Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t tolerate his messages anymore. He muted the chat and threw his phone off to the side.


    At the time, Jian Xu had been filming a campus drama. In it, he had the role of a campus grass. This drama had actually invited Fang Shaoyi too, but Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t act in TV dramas, so didn¡¯t ept their offer. Jian Xu had originally debuted through filming TV dramas. The two of them weren¡¯t following the same career path. At the time, Jian Xu¡¯s expression had been annoyed. He furrowed his brows and said, ¡°I really don¡¯t fucking want to go back to set. Each time I go back I feel so ufortable. I even want to throw up when I eat.¡±


    Jian Xu said, ¡°There¡¯s an assistant director there who told me previously¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°Stop,¡± Fang Shaoyi interrupted. He nced at Yuan Ye and said, ¡°He¡¯s still young. Don¡¯t go around saying any and everything.¡±


    Jian Xu bit back the words he was about to say and looked over at Yuan Ye too. He smiled. ¡°I really did forget that there¡¯s still an underage kid here.¡±


    Their conversation made Yuan Ye unhappy. He rolled his eyes and asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Who¡¯s young? I¡¯m only a year lower than you guys. You¡¯re fourth years, but I¡¯m already a third year too.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment.


    He was just like this. He would respond calmly to anything you said, but actually, he hadn¡¯t changed his mind at all. Yuan Ye questioned Jian Xu, ¡°The assistant director wants to subject you to the unspoken rules?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and red at Yuan Ye. ¡°Is this the kind of stuff you should be asking about?¡±


    Yuan Ye pouted and said, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with asking?¡±


    Jian Xu didn¡¯t think of Yuan Ye as a young child either. Besides, even at age seventeen, they had already understood everything they needed to. They were all boys; Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t a girl, so what was there to worry about? Jian Xu shared with an expression of disgust, ¡°He wants to subject me? He should take a good look at himself. To do that, he would need to be able to subject me. Fucker wanted me to subject him!¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t bother being polite at all. He cackled for the longest time, then said, ¡°You guys have it pretty hard too.¡±


    Jian Xu said, ¡°There are all types of monsters in this industry. When I was twelve, someone had already begged me to¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°Stop, stop.¡± Fang Shaoyi called him to a halt once again. Jian Xu swallowed the other half of the word on the tip of his tongue. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. ¡°Stop talking.¡±


    He looked like he was being serious. Jian Xu also felt that sharing this stuff with a kid outside of the industry was a bit inappropriate. Thus, he didn¡¯t continue speaking. Yuan Ye looked back and forth between Jian Xu and Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi looked at him too. He said, ¡°Eat.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. ¡°Okay, Yi ge.¡±


    Actually, even though Jian Xu hadn¡¯t finished speaking, Yuan Ye could guess what he had been about to say. Hearing this truly made him a bit nauseous.


    After returning to his dorm room that day, Yuan Ye sent Fang Shaoyi a text message. He asked: Yi ge, is it always like that when you guys go film?


    Fang Shaoyi replied very quickly: Not always. It also depends on what the film crew is like. Stop thinking about this stuff.


    The old-fashioned keypad phones only had tiny screens. Recently, Yuan Ye often texted Fang Shaoyi, wanting to chat with him. Any topic was fine, as long as they could have a conversation.


    Yuan Ye said: Have you encountered it before?


    It took Fang Shaoyi a moment to respond: It¡¯s already ten. You¡¯re still not sleeping?


    Yuan Ye: I¡¯m not sleepy.


    Fang Shaoyi: I¡¯m sleepy. My phone¡¯s out of batteries.


    Yuan Ye worried at his lips with his canines. Fang Shaoyi simply didn¡¯t want to answer this question, so was switching the topic. Yuan Ye sent again: Doesn¡¯t matter if you¡¯re sleepy. I want to know the answer. Yi ge, have you encountered it before?


    Fang Shaoyi probably couldn¡¯t do anything else about him. In the end, he still responded: It doesn¡¯t matter if I¡¯ve encountered it before or not. I won¡¯t do such things. Also, no one can force me to do anything.


    Yuan Ye: Because your dad¡¯s Fang Han?


    Fang Shaoyi: Yes.


    Fang Shaoyi: Now are you sleepy?


    Yuan Ye pondered a bit, then inquired again: What if the other was a beautiful girl? And both of you were willing?


    Fang Shaoyi: What are you actually trying to ask?


    Yuan Ye had originally been used to hitting straight balls. Hinting at the topic all this time had been pretty tiring too. After enough pretense, he finally asked straightforwardly: Are you still a virgin?


    Though Fang Shaoyi was used to Yuan Ye¡¯s asional random responses, he was probably truly shocked by this one. For a long time, he didn¡¯t reply. Yuan Ye¡¯s eyebrows were furrowed so tightly that they became one line: You......aren¡¯t?


    Fang Shaoyi still didn¡¯t respond.


    Yuan Ye sat up in bed. He sat there, click-cking at his keyboard. His texts didn¡¯t stop.


    ¡ªYou aren¡¯t?


    ¡ªAren¡¯t you?


    ¡ªAre you not?


    ¡ªAre you or not?


    ¡ªWhy have you stopped replying to me?


    Fang Shaoyi remained silent. In the end, Yuan Ye stopped sending messages too. He flipped off the bed andnded on the ground. His roommate was scared out of his wits by this. He asked, ¡°You fell off?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°No, I jumped off. It¡¯s fine, go back to bed.¡±


    Yuan Ye slept in shorts and a t-shirt, all clothes that could be worn outside. Thus, he only pulled on shoes and ran out.


    With his personality, he couldn¡¯t keep anything in. He had to do what he wanted to. Normally, if Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t respond to his texts, Yuan Ye would simply go to sleep. But today, Yuan Ye felt extremely angry for some reason that Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t messaging back. Thinking about the fact that Fang Shaoyi had already slept with someone else also made him feel ufortable. The thoughts in his mind swirled like a maelstrom. He couldn¡¯t sit still at all.


    Nine thirty at night. Fang Shaoyi was still lounging in his chair, reading. The urgent knocking at his door surprised him.


    Fang Shaoyi walked over and opened the door. Yuan Ye had taken a taxi to the front gate before running into the school. He had charged straight to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s dorm. Right now, he was still panting. There were two little balls of fire in Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. He red at Fang Shaoyi, an expression of determined anger on his face. Fang Shaoyi was very surprised. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? What happened?¡±


    Yuan Ye stared straight into his eyes and asked, ¡°Howe you stopped replying to my texts?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi blinked. ¡°My phone ran out of batteries. Didn¡¯t I tell you? What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s lips were pressed tightly together. He still looked pretty angry. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what was wrong with him. He reached out and tugged the other in by the arm, then closed the door. After he closed the door, he finally asked softly, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, you?¡±


    Yuan Ye never hid his feelings. He always said how he felt. ¡°I¡¯m angry.¡±


    ¡°Angry about what?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked.


    Yuan Ye looked away. ¡°You didn¡¯t reply to me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He couldn¡¯t help himself from rubbing Yuan Ye¡¯s head, holding it down and patting the back of it. ¡°This angry because I didn¡¯t reply to your messages?¡±


    Yuan Ye caught the hand on his head and kept it there. His eyes were glued onto Fang Shaoyi as he inquired, ¡°You¡¯re not a virgin anymore? You slept with someone before?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. ¡°What random stuff are you spewing?¡±


    His phone had run out of batteries after he had sent thatst message. Fang Shaoyi walked over and turned on his phone, standing there to wait for the unreceived messages to send. A whileter, his phone started beeping endlessly. He lowered his head and read them all, then looked over at Yuan Ye. After reading all the messages, he didn¡¯t know what kind of expression he should have. In the end, he only smiled in exasperation and waved his phone at Yuan Ye. ¡°Look, I really ran out of batteries.¡±


    Even without him saying, Yuan Ye had already realized too. He stood there like a stubborn little bull, resolutely asking Fang Shaoyi, ¡°So have you slept with someone before or not?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Fang Shaoy didn¡¯t even hesitate at all. He repeated his answer again, ¡°No. Come here.¡±


    The cause of Yuan Ye¡¯s anger had been removed. There was nothing for him to be angry about anymore. Fang Shaoyi told him toe, so he did. After he walked over, Fang Shaoyi asked him in return, ¡°What if I said......I had?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t look up. He wobbled his lowered head a bit and said, ¡°You just said you haven¡¯t.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°You believe it just because I said it?¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded his head very confidently. ¡°Yes. I believe anything you say.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed and gently lifted an arm to tug his ear. He even seemed a bit exasperated. ¡°Look at the time. You ran all the way here from your dorm just because of that? Are you nning on running back now?¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his nose, then looked up at the other. After, he used both hands to hold onto the railing by the bed and hopped up. He flipped over the railing and onto the bed. From above, he sat there, legs dangling, and looked down at Fang Shaoyi. His shameless smile appeared once again. ¡°I¡¯m not running anymore. Tonight, I¡¯m sleeping in your bed. You sleep in your roommate¡¯s bed.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked at the little depression that appeared on his eyelid when he smiled and nodded.


    At that time, Fang Shaoyi thought in his heart, forget a bed. I¡¯ll give you anything you want.

 Chapter 16

    <h4>Chapter 16</h4>


    Yuan Ye went to their school practically every other day. Sometimes, he didn¡¯t even leave when it got toote after a day of fooling around. One night, he was ying cards in Guan Zhou¡¯s dorm room. Guan Zhou said, ¡°Just don¡¯t go back tonight. We can squeeze in my bed together.¡±


    There were paper strips all over Yuan Ye¡¯s face. He shook his head, ¡°Sleep on your own. I¡¯m not squeezing with you.¡±


    ¡°Or I can sleep on Little Ding¡¯s bed too. He went home tonight,¡± Guan Zhou said.


    Yuan Ye still shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m not sleeping here. Hurry and keep ying.¡±


    Guan Zhou threw out a card bomb and asked him, ¡°It¡¯s already sote. Even the main gates are gonna be closed soon.¡±


    Yuan Ye set down some cards while saying without much care, ¡°I¡¯ll go stay in Yi ge¡¯s room.¡±


    The roommate ying with them looked up. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, you¡¯re going to the celebrity dorms again? Goodness. You can even sleep with celebrities now??¡±


    Yuan Yeughed at his exaggerated expression. He threw out two two¡¯s ¨C no one could beat this hand. Thus, he then threw out all his other cards too. ¡°Okay, I¡¯m not ying anymore. You guys sleep earlier too! I¡¯ll head out now!¡±


    After saying this, Yuan Ye took off the paper strips on his face, stood up, and left. If not for the fact that Guan Zhou had reminded him just now, he would¡¯ve forgotten what time it was. Guan Zhou asked him, ¡°Does he even have extra space?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t turn around. He only lifted an arm and waved. ¡°Yep. Stop worrying. Hurry and clean up.¡±


    Yuan Ye was extremely familiar with the route from Guan Zhou¡¯s dorm to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. It only took him five minutes when running. Before knocking, he looked up to check Fang Shaoyi¡¯s window. Oops. The lights were off. Yuan Ye knocked very lightly on the door. After a few knocks, he quietly asked, ¡°Yi ge, are you asleep?¡±


    There were no soundsing from inside. Yuan Ye knocked again. He figured Fang Shaoyi had already fallen asleep, so turned around to leave and check if the main gates were locked yet. If they were, he would just head back to Guan Zhou¡¯s room for the night. He had barely taken two steps when the door behind him opened.


    When Yuan Ye turned back, the smile on his face was bright as could be. With such a smile, he ingratiatingly called out, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had his hand on the door, an eyebrow raised as he asked, ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    ¡°I thought that you were asleep, so was going to go back to school or make do with Guan Zhou.¡± Yuan Ye scratched his head and grinned while saying, ¡°I was ying cards in Guan Zhou¡¯s room, so I forgot the time.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nted his body. Yuan Ye kept his head down and burrowed under the other¡¯s arm, like a monkey.


    Fang Shaoyi had truly been asleep. It appeared that he had specially gotten up to open the door for Yuan Ye. The nket on his bed was in a tangle. Yuan Ye felt a bit embarrassed. ¡°Go back to sleep, Yi ge. Don¡¯t worry about me. When I finish washing up, I¡¯ll just sleep in that empty bed.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. Right now, he didn¡¯t look like a celebrity, just a normal, handsome student. Only the little deskmp was still on in the whole room. The light was faint, but made the atmosphere feel warm.


    Yuan Ye really did like sleeping in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed. His bed was the same scent as the light fragrance on Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Yeid on his pillow; all around, this scent surrounded him. It was veryfortable. He buried his face deeper into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s pillow. He couldn¡¯t really express what he was feeling in his heart, but it was just...... He didn¡¯t know how to say it. It was just quite interesting.


    The next morning, Yuan Ye still had a ss, so woke up pretty early. He was normally in the habit of jumping out of bed, so flipped over the railing and hopped off. Fang Shaoyi had just returned from outside. At the doorway, he heard a thud from inside. He hurriedly opened the door, only to see Yuan Ye pulling on his slippers.


    Fang Shaoyi scanned him up and down a few times in great concern. ¡°Did you fall?¡±


    ¡°No, no,¡± Yuan Ye shook his head. He had just straightened himself, so his smile looked a bit silly. ¡°I jumped off.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and scolded, ¡°Why are you always jumping? You¡¯ll fall.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m used to it.¡± Yuan Ye remained smiling. Back then, he had been in the habit of smiling a lot. ¡°I won¡¯t fall. When I was young, I even jumped off our ceiling beams. This bed isn¡¯t that high up at all.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was helpless against him. He didn¡¯t continue chiding the other, only shaking his head and saying, ¡°Howe you¡¯re so naughty?¡±


    After washing up, Yuan Ye sat on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s desk, eating breakfast. Fang Shaoyi had bought it for him after his morning run. Yuan Ye was quite heartless. Back then, he went looking for Fang Shaoyi all the time, not even wondering if he was bothering the other or not. He also didn¡¯t feel like there was any distance between him and Fang Shaoyi. Whereas others were extremely cautious when simply speaking to Fang Shaoyi, Yuan Ye boldly wore the other¡¯s clothes, sat in his dorm, and ate the breakfast he bought.


    At the time, Yuan Ye had truly been too young. He had merely been seventeen. This, in addition to the fact that he wasn¡¯t thinking of anything rted to love at all, meant that the only thing on his mind was ying. When faced with any situation, he would simply feel the emotions without thinking too much about them. He wasn¡¯t in the habit of considering why he felt certain ways. If there had been more thoughts in his head, he probably wouldn¡¯t have been so unrestrained around Fang Shaoyi.


    During that time, Fang Shaoyi had technically already graduated. There were still several months left before graduate school was set to start. Later, Fang Shaoyi no longer stayed at school and left to film. After he departed, Yuan Ye finally realized how boring things were. He was toozy to go find Guan Zhou again, so normally all he did in his dorm was watch movies, read books, or write about any random topic.


    When he really became bored out of his mind, he could also call or text Fang Shaoyi. However, it was rare for Fang Shaoyi to contact him first. It was always Yuan Ye taking that first step. But Fang Shaoyi always replied very quickly to him. Yuan Ye knew that this was simply Fang Shaoyi¡¯s personality. Basically, he rarely took initiative to contact ormunicate with others. He was always in a very passive position when it came to socializing. This also made it seem more like he was a distant person, someone who was hard to pin down.


    But Yuan Ye didn¡¯t care about this. He never actually considered these things. If it¡¯s slow for you to warm up to people, I¡¯ll be warmer. If you don¡¯t call me, I¡¯ll call you. Exactly because Fang Shaoyi rarely called first, though, meant that Yuan Ye always felt exceptionally happy when he received a call from the other.


    On this day, Yuan Ye was squirreled away in his dorm, randomly scratching at a piece of paper as he wrote. As soon as his phone rang, he reached for it and answered. He squeezed it between his shoulder and ear. ¡°Who is it?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice sounded out from the phone. ¡°Me.¡±


    Yuan Ye recognized his voice. His tone instantly became more cheerful. ¡°Yi ge? I was just about to call you in a bit.¡±


    ¡°Un. What are you doing?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked him.


    Yuan Ye also didn¡¯t have any sses now. Many of his ssmates had already gone out to find internships. He was right in the middle of being bored. He told Fang Shaoyi that he had almost started growing mold in his dorm room. Fang Shaoyi heard him mutter endlessly,ints galore, and felt quite amused. Heughed and asked, ¡°Do you want toe y on set?¡±


    Yuan Ye thought about it. ¡°y what?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Anything you want.¡±


    The director for that film was an uncle Fang Shaoyi was extremely familiar with; he could even be considered Fang Shaoyi¡¯s father¡¯s best friend. One was Fang Shaoyi, someone who had practically grown up on set so didn¡¯t think too much of these things. One was Yuan Ye, someone who was unafraid of everything and missing a nerve in his brain. Thus, Yuan Ye really did go.


    The train ridested over six hours. At the time, Yuan Ye packed up a few outfits, then towed his suitcase to the train station and bought a ticket. He got there that same night.


    Fang Shaoyi was waiting for him at the station. When Yuan Ye got out, he dragged his suitcase along and ran over, a smile on his face. Fang Shaoyi hugged him before smiling at him too. The moment he saw the other¡¯s smile, Yuan Ye felt ted. All the negativity from these few days of boredom and restlessnesspletely disappeared.¡£


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi put all of Yuan Ye¡¯s stuff in his room. He asked, ¡°Are you okay staying with me?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even have the mind capacity to wonder about this question. He smiled like an idiot and asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Where else would I sleep?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t help pinching his cheeks after observing his idiotic appearance. He said, ¡°I think you can sleep in the warehouse.¡±


    ¡°Nope. I¡¯ll stay with you,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    Thus, Yuan Ye stayed in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room. Every day, they left and returned together. Though Yuan Ye was only seventeen, Fang Shaoyi was already twenty one. In this industry, twenty one was an age that wasn¡¯t considered old, but definitely wasn¡¯t considered young either. Those in the film crew couldn¡¯t be med for overthinking things when they noticed Fang Shaoyi bringing a boy around with him everywhere. Fang Shaoyi kept a close eye on him, scared that he would run off by himself. As a consequence, Yuan Ye would often bring a little stool over and sit, watching Fang Shaoyi act. He really loved watching. This was his first time watching Fang Shaoyi act live. He felt like this Fang Shaoyi was a bit unfamiliar, yet very mesmerizing.


    Sometimes, Fang Shaoyi would tell his assistant of that time, ¡°Keep an eye on him.¡± His assistant back then was a girl just shy of thirty. She had started working in the entertainment industry since she had graduated and was quite sensitive to certain things. In those days, she had been slightly mistaken about Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s rtionship.


    After enough time, Yuan Ye started noticing. He felt that when she spoke about him and Fang Shaoyi, her tone seemed suggestive. After work one day, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi after they returned to the room, ¡°Yi ge, I think your assistant is overthinking things?¡±


    As he read over the script, Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°What things?¡±


    Yuan Ye had always been one to get straight to the point. ¡°I think she thinks we¡¯re together.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi removed his gaze from the script and moved it onto Yuan Ye. He asked, ¡°What together?¡±


    ¡°You know, a couple.¡± Yuan Ye nted his butt on the bed. He didn¡¯t even feel awkward speaking about such a topic. ¡°She spoke with me for a long time today. I could tell from her tone of voice that she thought I was your significant other.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi surprisingly didn¡¯t say anything else. He only made a noise of acknowledgment.


    ¡°What are you ¡®un¡¯-ing about ahahaha. Don¡¯t you find it strange?¡± Yuan Ye sprawled outpletely on the bed. He turned his head to look at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°Even made me feel a bit embarrassed.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi rested his gaze on him. He couldn¡¯t help revealing a faint smile and teasing, ¡°I can¡¯t tell that you¡¯re embarrassed at all. I can only tell that you¡¯re pretty happy.¡±


    And Yuan Ye was truly quite happy. However, he normally couldn¡¯t understand his own emotions anyways. He didn¡¯t know why he felt certain ways or how to express these feelings. He continued to ask Fang Shaoyi, ¡°In the entertainment industry, is it that normal for two boys to be in a rtionship?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him. ¡°You¡¯re interested in this stuff?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m just asking,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    ¡°It¡¯s pretty normal anyways. Gender has no role in deciding who likes who,¡± Fang Shaoyi answered lightly.


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgement and didn¡¯t say anything else. Heid there by himself for a bit. A few minutester, he turned around to stare at Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what thought had struck him; when he spoke again, his voice was a lot softer. His chest rose up and down slowly as he quietly asked, ¡°Yi ge, do you......like boys?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked over. He nodded very curtly, and also very carefreely. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked. He noticed the tiny smile on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face. Then, the other spoke while making eye contact with him, ¡°I like boys.¡±


    At the time, his gaze made Yuan Ye feel nervous for some reason. Yuan Ye propped himself up with his arm. ¡°Oh!¡±


    The back of his head was facing Fang Shaoyi, but he still heard Fang Shaoyi start, ¡°Do you like......?¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his nose and asked, ¡°Do I like what?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi slowly spoke. He only said one word¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Me.¡±

 Chapter 17

    <h4>Chapter 17</h4>


    After the second episode aired, the nickname ¡°Consort Ye¡± wentpletely viral. The way Yuan Ye hadid on the hammock at that time and had told the editors to emphasize this for him was too amusing. The editors had actually followed his instructions. The whole screen was covered with those two words, circling around Yuan Ye. For a whole segment of the episode, every time Yuan Ye spoke, those two words surrounded him.


    The audience were all beside themselves withughter. They immediately headed to Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo toment.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have a clue about this. These days, his mood had been extremely calm; his emotions barely fluctuated. He was quite satisfied with his current state and felt very good about himself.


    For the fourth episode, they went to a vige in Guizhou. Yuan Ye liked the environment, with its mountains and rivers, and the ethnic culture there. Additionally, there were no more arguments between him and Fang Shaoyi. The two of them were incredibly in sync, terrifically harmonious and loving. This was the second tost episode. Each new filming session meant one less remaining.


    There was a pretty long period of time before the filming for thest episode. This was because there were difficulties inmunication between the production team and their local coborators in Australia. The props and itinerary hadn¡¯t been prepared, so they kept pushing the time back. If the other side wasn¡¯t finished with preparations, they definitely wouldn¡¯t let them go. However, the times had all been decided ahead of time. Changing them back and forth now would be troublesome to arrange with all the couples. They needed to keep coordinating the filming dates. The production team was stuck in the middle of this,pletely stressed out.


    Chief director Lin Wei had even posted an update to his own Weibo. He spewed a bunch of random stuff that basically meant work is difficult, nobody is easy to please. The onlookers were all waiting to get some gossip. A B-list variety show celebrity he had coborated with in the pastmented under this post andforted him. Lin Wei even replied: ¡°Not as easy as working with you guys.¡±


    Everyone knew that¡¶In the Times¡·was reaching the end of its filming period. Because he posted such an implicating Weibo at this time, in addition to gossip promotional ounts misleading the attitude of onlookers, everyone¡¯s fans started fighting. Fang Shaoyi and Chen Ru were ultimately celebrities who were rarely active in the eyes of the audience. Thus, they had less impulsive fans and, consequently, less anti fans. Among them, the fans for Lin Tian and her boyfriend and Cheng Xun and Chi Xing fought the most viciously. They cussed and yelled at each other, to the point that their fight got onto the trending topics list. There was also a small group of fans who scolded Lin Wei for being melodramatic and causing drama like a sissy.


    The show¡¯s official Weibo ount didn¡¯t post anything, allowing this battle to get bigger. Why would they refuse free publicity? Eventually, the official ount and Lin Wei even tried to blur the situation even more: first, they said the two kids, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun, were very modest. The fans on their side obviously became more confident and started announcing that their opposing side had too much drama, which caused the production team to join in. Later on, Lin Wei replied again and said Tian Tian had a high EQ, making their coboration very pleasant. Now, Lin Tian¡¯s fans started feeling in the right.


    These two fangroups fought and fought, all because of the production team¡¯s misleading efforts. They didn¡¯t know if the official crew was purposefully mediating the battle or if they had gotten the wrong people from the start. Or, this was all a ploy by the production team for publicity.


    Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye looked out a lot for Cheng Xun and Chi Xing in the show. The younger two had also publicly stated that they really liked these two geges. Thus, their fans didn¡¯t point their cannons at each other. Instead, they startedining about Chen Ru¡¯s wealthy husband. Chen Ru didn¡¯t even have a Weibo ount, so let themin as they wished. She didn¡¯t care at all.


    Lin Tian¡¯s fans also slowly started pointing their fingers at Yuan Ye. They said Yuan Ye always went off to do his own things, never participating in games. They also said that he still faked being better than everyone else even though he was already filming for the show. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t speak much either. The two of them weren¡¯t suited for variety shows at all. They said that the no-longer-popr film emperor was filming a show to make easy money, but still acted like a big shot to the production team.


    Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s fans naturally wouldn¡¯t ept this. We normally are more Buddhist, but you¡¯re already in our faces. Do you think we won¡¯t fight you and will actually indulge you?


    Because of Lin Wei¡¯s Weibo post and the misleading from gossip promotional ounts, this battle between several different fangroupssted many, many days.


    But they still needed to film the show. The guests¡¯ attitudes didn¡¯t change because of this situation. They all acted like they didn¡¯t know what was going on. When thest episode of filming finally started, everyone joked around,menting that this was already thest episode. They wondered if there was going to be a next season.


    It was difficult to tell with anyone else, but Yuan Ye truly didn¡¯t know what was going on. He never looked at these things online. The screenshots Ji Xiaotao sent him were only funny things. He wouldn¡¯t send those fights for Yuan Ye to see.


    There was a peaceful calm between him and Yuan Ye. The two of them did their own things. It was silent between them, but they were still connected. In others¡¯ eyes, they were a whole.


    Later, Yuan Ye suddenly called out to him, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°It¡¯s almost thest episode. We can still film for one week.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked up and stared at Yuan Ye. He asked, ¡°So?¡±


    Yuan Ye made eye contact with him, then blinked. He smiled. ¡°So, I almost can¡¯t bear to film.¡±


    The emotion in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes was indecipherable. He had been an actor for so many years; if he didn¡¯t want anyone to be able to read what emotions he was feeling, nobody would be able to. He looked straight into Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes and asked, ¡°There are still things you can¡¯t bear to do?¡±


    ¡°Of course,¡± Yuan Ye answered. ¡°Many.¡±


    From the time of their divorce to right before the beginning of filming, a little over a year had passed. The two of them practically hadn¡¯t seen each other in that time. After returning this time, the same thing would probably happen. It might even be for a longer period ¨C years before they could see each other again. Yuan Ye lowered his head and chuckled. He was just about to start speaking when Fang Shaoyi interrupted him.


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°Do you feel regretful?¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at him. He smiled and questioned in response, ¡°Do you feel regretful?¡±


    At first, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. A whileter, the corners of his mouth twitched. He said in a deep voice, ¡°No.¡±


    Yuan Ye spaced out. After, he smiled and turned his head back to continue looking out the window. He nodded. ¡°Alright ba.¡±


    He had purposefully added such an utterance to seem funny. But now, he felt like an idiot. Fang Shaoyi observed his side profile for a long time.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t enjoy ne rides. After such a long flight, he felt like he had no strength in his legs anymore upon getting off of the ne. This time, they had a different director following them around. It wasn¡¯t the little girl from before anymore, but was a tall, sturdily-built man. The whole way, Yuan Ye barely spoke to him. However, he hadn¡¯t said anything either. He had spent the whole trip either asleep or faking a state of deep thought.


    It was three in the afternoon when they exited the airport. Fang Shaoyi held hands with Yuan Ye while walking. They would asionally appear more intimate in front of the cameras. Thus, Yuan Ye swung his arm and leaned closer to Fang Shaoyi to ask, ¡°Do you feel ufortable?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Tell me if you do.¡±


    ¡°Un,¡± Fang Shaoyi answered. ¡°I¡¯m fine here. Don¡¯t remember?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled. He turned back to look at the cameras, then turned around again to quietly say, ¡°If I didn¡¯t, I wouldn¡¯t have signed the contract for this location.¡±


    Nobody was particrly alert after getting off the ne. Consequently, they weren¡¯t nning on filming anything important today. They would all just spend a few minutes filming a few shots. However, the second morning, they all needed to wake up early for skydiving.


    He and Fang Shaoyi had now gotten used to sleeping in the same bed. After so many episodes of filming, they had done it a lot. At first, they had avoided sleeping together because of their identities as ex-husbands. But after enough times, they disregarded that principle. Sometimes, they would even wake up in each other¡¯s arms in the morning. Whoever woke up first would then turn around to the other side as if nothing had happened.


    Before it was time to sleep, Yuan Ye sprawled out on the bed. Heid there with his belly up. Fang Shaoyi walked out from the bathroom. Yuan Ye suddenly called him, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    He always said ¡°Yi ge¡± ¡°Yi ge¡± these days. It sometimes gave people an illusion, an illusion that they had always been like this, that nothing had changed. Fang Shaoyi nced at him. He waited for the other to start speaking.


    Yuan Ye hooked his thumbs through the belt loops of his shorts. He pulled them up, then let go. They gently snapped back against his abdomen.


    Fang Shaoyi raised an eyebrow.


    Yuan Ye blinked. Heughed very unashamedly. After he was doneughing, he sat up and lit a cigarette. With one leg propped up, he tilted his head and looked over suggestively. ¡°It¡¯s thest episode.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi knew he was going to be coquettish again. In response, he only repeated the question he had already asked during the day. ¡°Do you feel regretful?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t answer. He just shook his head.


    Fang Shaoyi casually threw the towel back into the bathroom. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Skincare.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. ¡°Not today.¡±


    A whileter, Yuan Ye flipped off the bed with the cigarette still dangling between his teeth. He washed his hands and spat out the butt of the cigarette. When he returned, he threw all of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s skincare bottles onto the bed, then sat at the foot of the bed. He gave Fang Shaoyi a meaningful nce before patting his ownp.


    Fang Shaoyi stood still in ce for two seconds. After, he walked over and silently climbed onto the bed, resting his head on Yuan Ye¡¯sp.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s fingers were very pretty. They were both thin and long. Since the past, Fang Shaoyi had always enjoyed watching Yuan Ye type and write. The tendons in his hands rippled; it was very sexy. At the time, Yuan Ye would seductively say my hands are sexy doing lots of things. I¡¯ll show you tonight.


    Yuan Ye himself never used these products. He didn¡¯t need them, because he didn¡¯t need to wear makeup and also wasn¡¯t a celebrity. But he had a pretty solid understanding of the entire procedure. When his fingers made contact with Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face, he chuckled and said, ¡°Teacher Fang¡¯s skin condition hasn¡¯t been that great recently.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi responded with his eyes closed, ¡°Don¡¯t imitate the makeup artist¡¯s speech.¡±


    Yuan Ye used his palms to rub Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face. Heughed lightly. ¡°I¡¯m telling the truth.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°I¡¯m old now. When I can¡¯t get a good night¡¯s sleep, this is what happens.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s fingers gently pressed the sides of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes, close to his temples. The first time he had helped Fang Shaoyi do skincare, both of them had felt that this was girly behavior. They both wanted tough. Now, Yuan Ye was already extremely familiar with how all these things worked. Heughed softly. ¡°Don¡¯t bezy anymore. See, Jian Xu¡¯s still filming idol dramas. His face seems fine to me.¡±


    ¡°Probably because of all the makeup,¡± Fang Shaoyi said. ¡°We¡¯re all the same. Who¡¯s better than who?¡±


    Two people: oneying on the other¡¯sp, one helping the other apply eye cream and essence. They chatted normally, talking about some unrted, strange topics. This kind of peaceful calm was rare. They very tacitly worked to preserve it.


    Later on, there was nothing else to put on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face. Thus, Yuan Ye gently massaged his scalp. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s breathing was steady. It seemed that he had fallen asleep.


    Yuan Ye gently poked the spot between the other¡¯s brows with his thumb. In his heart, he thought, don¡¯t furrow your eyebrows anymore. There¡¯s a crease here.

 Chapter 18

    <h4>Chapter 18</h4>


    At four in the morning, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi walked downstairs together. Yuan Ye yawned while asking, ¡°Are you ufortable at all?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Fang Shaoyi seemed very alert and well. ¡°You, on the other hand. Get some more sleep in the car.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgement and yawned again.


    Last night, Yuan Ye had given Fang Shaoyi a massage. Fang Shaoyi had fallen asleep on hisp. Yuan Ye had been reluctant to move, so sat there until midnight like an idiot.


    From the start of filming to now, there was finally a mission that Chen Ru¡¯s wealthy husband was good at. In the past, no matter what they were ying, he was alwaysst. However, he and Chen Ru truly had a good rtionship. The intimacy and synchronization in their gazes couldn¡¯t be faked. Chen Ru often joked that he needed to exercise more; it was a little embarrassing that he gotst all the time.


    Today, as soon as he walked out of the hotel, he smiled and told everyone, ¡°I really know how to do today¡¯s sport.¡±


    Yuan Ye greeted him and responded with a smile, ¡°I really don¡¯t know how to do today¡¯s sport.¡±


    Chen Ru tugged at her husband and scolded yfully, ¡°You¡¯re still bold enough to say? Quit unting.¡±


    Today, they would be skydiving. Previously, the production team had repeatedly confirmed their health conditions ¨C whether their blood pressure and heart rates were normal, whether or not they were scared of heights, etc. Among them, only Lin Tian didn¡¯t dare to participate. However, the production team wouldn¡¯t force her. Everything was voluntary. After all, if anything really happened, nobody could handle the responsibility. For the viewers, though, she still needed to keep up appearances. She still needed to get on the ne, but wouldn¡¯t really jump off it.


    It was about two hours to get to the skydiving facility. In the front of the car was the driver and one cameraman. The follow PDs and other workers were on thest bus. On the way there, Yuan Ye leaned back against his seat. His eyes were sometimes open and sometimes closed. It was hard to tell if he had fallen asleep or not.


    There had been two times prior when Yuan Ye had wanted to try skydiving. However, both times, because of the weather, he ultimately hadn¡¯t been able to. Today, the cloud cover was a bit thick, but there was no rain. This meant that the ne¡¯s flight path wouldn¡¯t be affected. Among them, only Chen Ru¡¯s husband could go solo. He went skydiving often and even had a license. In total, there were eight instructors and a few professional aerial videographers. The director told them each to pick one that suited their tastes. Chen Ru cackled and immediately chose the most handsome one.


    In the end, only two remained. Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi both didn¡¯t care. They walked over and shook hands with the instructor closest to them. They had already signed their waivers ahead of time. After a simple training session, everyone split up and got into two nes. Yuan Ye was thest one to get into the ne, so would also be the first one to jumpter. He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Yi ge, I¡¯m actually a little nervous.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked over and joked with him, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, rx. Ye ge¡¯s the best in the world. You don¡¯t need to be nervous.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had done this twice before. Both instances had been because of filming needs. The first time he needed to shoot a parachuting scene, the director had asked him if he was okay with it. If so, they would try to minimize their use of a stunt extra. Fang Shaoyi had said he was fine with anything. For today¡¯s flight, they basically didn¡¯t need to do anything. All they needed to do was wait for the instructor to open the parachutes. At the time, though, Fang Shaoyi had also added a few motions; additionally, he had needed to control his expressions. That shot had been retaken many, many times. By the end, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ears became ufortable. It took him several days to recover.


    Besides the two of them, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun were also on the ne. It was easy to tell that these two kids really did like them. They were willing to be paired with them no matter what. Chi Xing was just a little fanboy. When he looked at these two geges, there were stars in his eyes. There were cameras in every corner of the ne. These would record the moments before their jump. Chi Xing asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Has Yuan Ye ge done this before?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°We¡¯ve entered my knowledge blind spot today. I really haven¡¯t.¡±


    ¡°Rare of you to say you don¡¯t know how to do something.¡± Chi Xing was quite amused. ¡°Not a swordsman anymore today.¡±


    ¡°I never have been,¡± Yuan Ye replied with a smile.


    He looked over at Fang Shaoyi. His smile was quite immodest. He asked, ¡°Yi ge, this doesn¡¯t count as cheating, right?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled, but ignored him.


    Fifteen thousand feet. Yuan Ye and the instructor tied to him jumped down together. In that moment, Yuan Ye actually felt a bit regretful. How nice it would be if the person with him was Fang Shaoyi. He had a pretty strong desire to fly like this with Fang Shaoyi at least once.


    Freefalling through the cloud cover. This was a fascinating experience. One¡¯s entire being was zoned out, to the point that even the feeling of weightlessness had disappeared. Yuan Ye wanted to turn around and see if Fang Shaoyi had jumped or not. However, he couldn¡¯tplete this action at all. He couldn¡¯t control his body.


    He couldn¡¯t hear anything other than the wind in his ears. His entire being felt like it was in a separate void. He seemed to have been singrly detached, then squeezed through the tiny slot between space and time.


    There was a sensation of intense loneliness in a sea of people.


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes behind his goggles. At this time, many thoughts shed through his mind, as well as many impulses.


    After the parachute came out, the feeling of weightlessness slowly returned. Thus, it didn¡¯t feel that magical anymore. Yuan Ye opened his eyes and observed the mountains and ocean, experiencing the process of heading back to society, bit by bit. He smiled at the camera in the instructor¡¯s hand. Flying around in a circle like this was truly pretty fun.


    The aftereffect of such a journey was muffled hearing. It felt like there was a filter over his ears. When Fang Shaoyinded, he took off all the equipment attached to himself and headed toward Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye smiled at him, then scooted his head close and whispered something into the other¡¯s ear.


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He raised his voice and told him, ¡°You know I can¡¯t hear you clearly, but you still spoke so softly.¡±


    Yuan Ye heard this phrase. He shouted too, ¡°I know you can¡¯t hear me clearly, which is why I spoke so softly!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. He asked, ¡°What did you say that you¡¯re so scared of me hearing?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled, turned around, and left. He yelled, ¡°Sweet nothings!¡±


    Stepping on the solid ground again after travelling through the sky made it feel like he had returned to society. But the true return to society would be after the filming for this episode.


    That night, they stayed in a manor. The manor took up more than ten acres ofnd and had a little pond, along with arge apple orchard. The geography here was very interesting. The streets were like rolling hills. Yuan Ye told the male director he wanted to borrow a bicycle. He didn¡¯t know if the director heard him or not, but the other turned around and disappeared. In the end, Yuan Ye had to go out himself and borrow the bike. He borrowed two racing bikes. Seeing such uneven roads made him want to bike.


    Fang Shaoyi apanied him. There were also two cameramen trailing behind them.


    Yuan Ye bargained with them, asking, ¡°How about taking a break for a bit? We¡¯ll just bike around a little.¡±


    The cameramen smiled and shook their heads, telling them to bike as they wished. They would film while following them in the car.


    Yuan Ye was used to getting filmed now. These days, he mostly acted like the camera didn¡¯t exist. Fang Shaoyi was wearing athletic clothes. He looked really rxed, and also very young. The two of them hadn¡¯t really ridden bikes together before. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s identity was out there. Since they had gotten to know each other, they hadn¡¯t had the opportunity to bike around.


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°What did you say during the day?¡±


    Yuan Yeughed,pletely unrestrained. He leaned his head back, shook it, and said, ¡°I actually didn¡¯t even say anything. I only blew a breath of air into your ear.¡±


    ¡°Lies.¡± They were headed downhill. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t slow down, directly charging forward. Yuan Ye followed closely behind. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t continue asking about this either. Nobody could get an answer out of Yuan Ye when he didn¡¯t want to say anything.


    They would stay here overnight. For the remaining two days, they would head to Melbourne, then fly straight back home from Melbourne. When they got back, this show would be officially done with filming. There were still a few trivial matters to be taken care of after, but Fang Shaoyi probably wouldn¡¯t appear again. Yuan Ye removed his hands from the handlebars and very boldly spread his arms. Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Didn¡¯t fly enough during the day?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and nodded. ¡°Un, it was pretty fun.¡±


    The corners of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were slightly crinkled in amusement. He said, ¡°I knew you would like it.¡±


    Now that the show¡¯s filming was drawing to a close, the atmosphere between Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi had truly started bing warmer. Both of them had withdrawn the quills surrounding themselves. Sometimes, they seemed like a couple with manymon memories. Other times, they seemed like two old friends incredibly familiar with one another. Regardless of in public or private, they were so in sync that it made people deeply believe that the two of them were a whole. Outsiders wouldn¡¯t be able to butt in no matter what.


    Probably because of the fact that he had flown once during the day, Yuan Ye¡¯s nerves were a bit excited. At night, he experienced slight insomnia. After Fang Shaoyi fell asleep, Yuan Ye put on a jacket and walked out alone. He also carried a bottle of local beer in his hand.


    The stars here were very bright. Yuan Ye sat beside the pond, gazing at the stars and the moon reflected in the water.


    Someone sat down beside him. Yuan Ye turned to look. Surprisingly, it was Cheng Xun. Yuan Ye smiled and cocked an eyebrow. He asked, ¡°Can¡¯t sleep either?¡±


    Cheng Xun smiled too. He sat there next to Yuan Ye and very sincerely shook his head. ¡°I only came out cause I saw you here.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Something up?¡±


    Cheng Xun answered, ¡°No, I just want to sit and chat for a bit with you. We¡¯re done filming already, but I haven¡¯t had much of a chance to talk to you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s chat.¡± Yuan Ye took a sip of his beer and nced at Cheng Xun, indicating for him to say what he wanted to.


    Yuan Ye knew that Cheng Xun and Chi Xing were two very different people. Between the two of them, one was like a fox and the other was like a rabbit. Cheng Xun was that little fox. Oftentimes, what he thought in his heart was different from what he portrayed to the audience. Yuan Ye could tell that he considered more than he let on, but this didn¡¯t annoy him. Cheng Xun wasn¡¯t a bad kid.


    ¡°I¡¯ve read all of your books before, Yuan Ye ge,¡± Cheng Xun started.


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°You¡¯re twenty two this year, right?¡±


    ¡°Un, at the time, I was only in middle school. It was on a shelf in our house. I don¡¯t know if my dad or sister bought it,¡± Cheng Xun said with a smile. ¡°I wasn¡¯t a good student, nor did I like reading. But I really liked that title.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°¡¶Stubborn¡·?¡±


    ¡°No, ¡¶Moon Mountain¡·.¡±


    ¡°Un,¡± Yuan Ye nodded. Heughed. ¡°Around that time, I was about the same age as you are now. What did I know about writing?¡±


    It was easy to tell that Cheng Xun really did like Yuan Ye ¨C because he was able to name this book. Further into their conversation, Cheng Xun suddenlyughed. He used his left hand to gently tug at his right earlobe. He said, ¡°In my youth, I sincerely adored you.¡±


    ¡°Hold up.¡± Yuan Ye looked at him. ¡°What are you going to say next? I¡¯m very faithful, didi.¡±


    ¡°No, it¡¯s not what you think. I¡¯m pretty faithful too. I like Little Chi so much.¡± Cheng Xun chuckled a few times. After, he said, ¡°It was purely a type of......yearning? Admiration? I don¡¯t know, I¡¯m bad with words. I just felt that the world you created with your pen was very cool. You were also very carefree. I wanted to live like you did, wanted to mock people incisively like you did in the past too.¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. Cheng Xun continued, ¡°Later on, I entered this industry. Thus, it became practically impossible for me to live like that. In this industry......we¡¯re fortunate to merely stay alive.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Why did you enter this industry? Do you like singing or acting? Or do you just like being a celebrity.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. It was all a jumbled mess. But oh well. I¡¯ve never been particrly inclined towards anything anyways.¡± He lowered his head and paused for a moment. Then, he said, ¡°Sometimes, I feel like it¡¯s really a bit meaningless. There¡¯s so much stress and I feel like I can already see what the rest of my life is going to be like: staying in this industry, rising and sinking in fame, for several years. In old age, I¡¯ll then get eliminated.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Don¡¯t be so pessimistic. You¡¯re only just past twenty. Besides, Little Chi is following the same path as you, which is good.¡±


    Cheng Xun shook his head. In a low voice, he said, ¡°You and Shaoyi ge were so perfect together, but didn¡¯t you two get divorced too?¡±


    He had been really straightforward with his words, but also very honest. Yuan Ye was shocked at first. After, heughed and patted the other on the shoulder. He shook his head and said with a smile, ¡°Where are all of you getting this news......Regardless of how Shaoyi ge and I are now, when we were just past twenty, we never considered all those things. When I was your age, I had already gotten married to Fang Shaoyi. Young people have a young way of living. Do what you want to do, take what you want to take. Don¡¯t think about so many burdensome things.¡±


    In actuality, Yuan Ye could also understand the emotions Cheng Xun was feeling. Everyone in this industry faced their own difficulties. He and Cheng Xun chatted some more. It was pretty nice to be able to have such a conversation on sleepless nights like these. Cheng Xun also admitted that in the beginning, they had epted the show¡¯s invite because they had heard that Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi would be attending. He and Chi Xing both liked the two of them. However, they hadn¡¯t expected that they would reallye.


    He asked Yuan Ye why he hade on this show.


    After only a briefly serious conversation, Yuan Ye started joking again. He leaned back and chuckled, squeezed the ss in his grasp, shook it around, and casually said, ¡°Because of love, I guess. Haha.¡±

 Chapter 19

    <h4>Chapter 19</h4>


    Yuan Ye returned after smoking a cigarette outside. When he got back, he gently closed the door, then headed into the bathroom to wash up again. He did his best to keep the volume low in order to prevent himself from disturbing Fang Shaoyi¡¯s rest. When he got out from the bathroom, he nced at his phone to check if he had any notifications. He had previously left it in the room to charge, so hadn¡¯t had it on him. There were a bunch of notifications on the screen. Yuan Ye scanned them quickly, then set his phone down once more.


    As soon as he did so, he turned around and suddenly heard Fang Shaoyi ask him, ¡°Where¡¯d you go?¡±


    Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t expected for him to be awake. He softly responded, ¡°Did I wake you up? I couldn¡¯t sleep just now, so headed outside to rx for a bit. Go back to sleep.¡±


    The curtains were very tightly drawn. Not even an inch of light could pass through. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t see Fang Shaoyi clearly. The temperature in the room was just right ¨C quite warm. Yuan Ye smiled and said, ¡°I already did my best not to make any noise, but I still woke you up.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°No, I woke up by myself a few minutes ago and saw that you weren¡¯t here.¡±


    Yuan Ye changed and felt around to find the bed. He climbed in and told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Alright, I¡¯ll stop making amotion. Sleep, Yi ge.¡±


    Normally, the two of them kept to themselves before falling asleep. Neither touched the other. However, when they lost consciousness, it was difficult to predict whether or not one would roll closer to someone else¡¯s side or not. Yuan Ye closed his eyes and prepared to sleep, only to feel Fang Shaoyi reach out and touch his hands. He lowly asked, ¡°Where¡¯d you go? Your hands are so cold.¡±


    Yuan Ye froze. This unexpected touch caused his brain to go numb. His fingers reacted to this physical contact before his brain could. Before he regained his wits, he had already grabbed onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. After doing this, Yuan Ye suddenly realized that this instinct was a bit inappropriate. He let go and said, ¡°Sat by the water for a brief period just now. It was pretty cool, but unfortunately, there were mosquitoes. They bit me so much.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked again, ¡°Just you?¡±


    ¡°No. With Little Cheng,¡± Yuan Ye answered very openly. He smiled too. ¡°We chatted for a bit, about love and life.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. His voice was pretty low. He calmly asked, ¡°You guys talked about love?¡±


    Yuan Ye finally realized that something was wrong. He turned his face, but the room was too dark, so he still couldn¡¯t see Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye suddenlyughed. He questioned, ¡°Then who else would I talk with about love?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he asked again, ¡°So you want to talk with someone about love?¡±


    If this were during the day, Yuan Ye probably would¡¯ve started teasing again. But now, it was toote. Fang Shaoyi normally didn¡¯t get enough sleep when filming for his movies; he also needed to wake up early every day to film this show. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t willing to let him use his precious sleep time to chat. Thus, he chuckled andpromised, ¡°No, not at all. Hurry and sleep, baobei¡¯er. Look at the time.¡±


    His words sounded slightly superficial. Upon hearing this, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t want to piss him off. He treasured the current peaceful atmosphere between them. He had hidden all the fangs in his mouth already, well behaved as could be.


    But heading out for over an hour to talk about love with a young boy and only saying ¡°no, not at all¡± after returning was honestly too provocative for an old man over the age of thirty.


    Yuan Ye only felt that Fang Shaoyi had lifted the nket on his side. He didn¡¯t even realize what was going on until he had already been pressed down by Fang Shaoyi. His entire person was covered in a bubble. Only Fang Shaoyi was in this bubble.


    ¡°What do you want to talk about?¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s fingers were pretty forceful. Yuan Ye¡¯s chin hurt. ¡°I¡¯ll listen.¡±


    Yuan Ye said with eyebrows still scrunched, ¡°I¡¯m not messing with you. Let¡¯s finish filming nicely.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi scoffed. ¡°Then who do you want to mess with?¡±


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t someone with a good temper either. He had held back his anger for a long time and was now pretty much at his limit. He reached out and pushed away the hand Fang Shaoyi was using to squeeze his chin. Then, he pped the switch to turn on the bedsidemp. Light suddenly flooded the room. Their eyes were already adapted to the dark, so such sudden brightness made them very ufortable. Yuan Ye narrowed his eyes and red at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°What do you want to do?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else to him. He also wasn¡¯t willing to observe the other¡¯s furrowed brows and re anymore. He quickly lowered his head.


    As Fang Shaoyi bit Yuan Ye¡¯s lips, Yuan Ye instantly reacted. He lifted a hand, wanting to push the other away, but ultimately didn¡¯t. Yuan Ye let the other do as he pleased. His chest rose up and down rapidly. He was angry too. As if trying to take out his anger, Fang Shaoyi ravaged Yuan Ye¡¯s lips until the metallic taste of blood erupted in their mouths.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes werepletely red. He red at Fang Shaoyi. Several secondster, he scoffed. There was a mocking expression on his face. He asked, ¡°Do you want to fuck me? If you do, say it straight. We¡¯ve been together for so many years. I wouldn¡¯t not let you.¡±


    ¡°Seems to me like I¡¯m not the one missing love. You¡¯re the one missing love, right gege?¡± Yuan Ye continued.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t want to listen to him talk. He used his hand to press down on Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth, then bit Yuan Ye¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple. Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth was very talented. When he intended to stab you in the heart, one sentence could create a hundred holes. Each one would bleed.


    Both of them were now agitated. In their hearts, they both couldn¡¯t do anything about the person in front of them. They looked at each other every day ¨C every day, something was stuck in their hearts. Now, that trapped emotion had been awakened by the other.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth was covered by Fang Shaoyi, but that didn¡¯t mean he would calm down. He opened his mouth and bit a tiny piece of flesh on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s palm. He held on and wouldn¡¯t let go.


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows because of this, but still didn¡¯t remove his hand. When his other hand touched Yuan Ye¡¯s pants, he paused, thenughed softly. That gaze made Yuan Ye feel like someone had pped him across the face. His ears were ringing.


    After getting bitten and nipped at all over, if Yuan Ye still didn¡¯t have a reaction, he wouldn¡¯t be a human. His reaction was right there for Fang Shaoyi to see. This made Yuan Ye feel very cheap. He could control his mind, but couldn¡¯t control the lower half of his body.


    ¡ª¡ªThis was Fang Shaoyi.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were red as he panted. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand was bleeding from where he had bitten it too. Yuan Ye still didn¡¯t let go.


    A chaotic round. An unexpected night.


    Neither of them said anything, but they certainly did a lot. By the end, neither remembered how anything had started. Men¡¯s logical reasoning skills always surrendered to desire. Everything returned to the most primitive urges.


    Yuan Yeid there, silent. He looked up at the ceiling, unsure as to what emotion he should be feeling right now.


    The corners of his lips quirked up. Heughed silently, then cussed, ¡°Fuck.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi brought out a pack of wet wipes from the bathroom. Yuan Ye got off the bed, barefoot, and walked over to pull out a cigarette from his jacket. He lit one; the area where his lip was split still hurt. The cigarette dangled from his mouth as he padded over and embraced Fang Shaoyi from behind. His arms circled Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck. The cigarette was in his mouth, causing a thin trail of smoke to appear right in front of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes. Yuan Ye chuckled deeply. His voice sounded really nasally, and also a bit raspy. He asked right next to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear, ¡°Who gave you the right?¡±


    Actually, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for him to ask Fang Shaoyi this either. If Yuan Ye really hadn¡¯t wanted him to, Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t have done anything. If he had really wanted to push, Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold him down. At the end of the day, this was a mess caused by the both of them. Yuan Ye¡¯s chest was glued to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back. He trailed his arms down, quickly groping Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chest muscles. Then, heughed again and took the cigarette out of his mouth to say, ¡°Yi ge, we¡¯re both assholes.¡±


    The filming for thest episode of the show ultimately couldn¡¯t be nicelypleted.


    Yuan Ye was never soft on himself. He harshly bit himself right where Fang Shaoyi had, causing the wound topletely split open, erging it. Then, he did it again. Now, that spot waspletely ruined. As soon as Fang Shaoyi looked up and saw his mouth, he furiously furrowed his brows. He said, ¡°Don¡¯t fuck around.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed, ¡°Then what should I do? How would I exin this?¡±


    That day, in front of the camera, Chi Xing suggestively asked him what was wrong with his mouth. Yuan Ye pointed at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°Fucker bit me.¡±


    Chi Xing answered with a smile, ¡°Whose teeth could cause such a big bite mark? Yuan Ye ge, do you have a canker sore?¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgement and nodded, unbothered. ¡°Don¡¯t know if I identally said something bad about someone. Now my mouth is rotting.¡±


    Chi Xing said, ¡°Then you should take some vitamins.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and shook his head. ¡°No thanks. I only want to eat meat. Not eating beef in Australia?¡±


    It was only in front of the cameras that Yuan Ye could still maintain a smile. As soon as he got out of the camera¡¯s view, Yuan Ye¡¯s expression fell. His gaze was cold and he kept it lowered. Anyone could tell that he was in a bad mood.


    When they reached Melbourne, Yuan Ye got out of the car and asked the director what the next mission was.


    That director¡¯s head was down as he looked at his phone. It appeared that he hadn¡¯t heard.


    For the whole trip, this person had acted this way: he seemed to be more of a guest than Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t get him to do anything, nor could he get him to answer any questions.


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows. He asked again, ¡°I¡¯m asking you what we¡¯re filming this afternoon. Little bro, is there something wrong with your ears?¡±


    The little director lifted his head and scanned him. He said, ¡°We¡¯ll notify you about what we¡¯re filming when the timees, Teacher Yuan.¡±


    The words ¡°Teacher Yuan¡± were spoken very formally and purposefully carried certain emotions.


    Yuan Ye expressionlessly asked him, ¡°Have something against me? Don¡¯t like me?¡±


    ¡°What are you saying,¡± that director said. ¡°Who are you and who am I? I¡¯d have to have the guts.¡±


    Yuan Ye was toozy to bother saying more than needed to him too. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to argue. He only told the other, ¡°If you have something against me, either tell me or keep it to yourself. Do the job that¡¯s in your job description. Right now, you¡¯re a director. Be more professional.¡±


    The other looked up at Yuan Ye and didn¡¯t respond. Yuan Ye turned around and left.


    Thest few days, this director finally calmed down a bit. At least, he stopped acting like a deaf person. In actuality, he simply didn¡¯t think Yuan Ye was important at all. When he came, he already had such feelings. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t in the mood to keep an eye on him either ¨C that person could do whatever he wanted ¨C Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have the extra time or energy to pay attention to someonepletely unrted to him.


    Thest night of filming, everyone got together to eat dinner together. They also drank. It was pretty emotion-inducing. Someone asked Yuan Ye how he felt filming a variety show for the first time. At the time, Yuan Yeughed and waved his hand. He didn¡¯t answer.


    This show was already at the end of filming. After tonight, they would be flying back tomorrow. As soon as theynded, he and Fang Shaoyi would have to go their separate ways. If that argument and ident hadn¡¯t happened two nights ago, the two of them might have had something to talk about now. At least, they would¡¯ve been able to bid each other farewell nicely.


    But a strange hookup had caused all sorts of emotions to flood into their minds. Thus, they were no longer able to speak to each other normally.


    A separated couple, or more urately, a divorced pair, had acted in a film¡ª¡ªFinally, it was time to empty out the set once more.


    <b>The author has something to say:</b>


    Yuan Ye: Uncle Ye hasn¡¯t sprained an ankle even while jumping off the ceiling beams as a kid. You guys want me to sprain my ankle, but it won¡¯t be so easy.

 Chapter 20

    <h4>Chapter 20</h4>


    Yuan Ye actually hadn¡¯t considered a lot of things when agreeing toe onto this show. He had only thought of it as a mission toplete. However, after filming, he realized that it really did somewhat affect his life. For example, these days, it wasmon for people to recognize him. It was no longer so easy to go out.


    In the past, Yuan Ye had been a free person. There were very few people who actually recognized his face. When walking down the street, rarely did anybody know that this person was Yuan Ye. Now that the show had started broadcasting, there were quite a lot of young people who watched. It always felt a bit awkward when he got recognized by others outside. Yet, this had a time limit too. After the show finished airing, he would stop showing up in public. A few monthster, everything would blow over. Thus, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t make too big of a deal out of this.


    Old Tu had a pub. Yuan Ye sat at the bar and chatted with him. He didn¡¯t drink any alcohol, only crunching away at a small basket of pistachios. Out of his peripheral vision, he saw two little girls staring at him. They muttered between themselves; they probably wanted toe over to confirm, but also didn¡¯t really dare to.


    Old Tu pointed in their direction with his chin. He chuckled, ¡°Your fans?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t have any fans.¡± Yuan Ye stuffed a newly shelled pistachio into his mouth and said, ¡°Probably viewers. At any rate, I¡¯m someone who appears on TV quite frequently now.¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that so. My girl is glued to her tablet on Friday evenings just to watch.¡± Old Tu told the bartender to bring them two bottles of dark beer. He opened them both, then pushed one over to Yuan Ye.


    Yuan Ye took a sip and nced at the little girl singing on the mini stage off to the side. The little girl seemed pretty young. She was also singing quite well. Yuan Ye said, ¡°What a great voice.¡±


    ¡°Truly. I really like listening to her sing too,¡± Old Tu replied.


    Yuan Ye nced at him andughed. ¡°Didn¡¯t you used to like rock and roll? The kind that could burst your eardrums.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m old now,¡± Old Tuughed too. He shook his head and said, ¡°Now I like gentler things as well. They¡¯reforting to the heart.¡±


    The show had finished filming a little more than half a month ago. This was the first time Yuan Ye hade to drink at Old Tu¡¯s ce. Previously, he had gone to the TV station to make up an interview. After getting back, he rarely left the house. He nned to stay inside as much as possible until the poprity from the show died down. These little fangirls only greeted you and asked for pictures because they liked you. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t the type to be rude or reject them, so cooperated every time. However, he wasn¡¯t used to this behavior after all. He also didn¡¯t like it.


    He wasn¡¯t suited for this kind of lifestyle.


    Yuan Ye also hadn¡¯te out today with drinking in mind. He had only wanted to sit around and let off some steam. He casually tugged on a jacket ¨C a light down jacket in dark green ¨C and a pair of jeans. He didn¡¯t even shave, so there was currently a thinyer of stubble on his chin. Sitting there, he was the stereotypical handsome uncle.


    The little girl onstage sang for the whole night. Singing for four hours consecutively could earn her about five hundred. When Old Tu had to leave, Yuan Ye sat there, listening to her sing. She had a very pure voice that was also the slightest bit raspy. Listening to it was quite enjoyable.


    Someone sat down next to him, leaning against the bar counter to stare at him. Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and stared back. This person pushed his phone forward. On it was a Wechat QR code. Yuan Ye chuckled and shook his head. Those who were looking for a good time wouldn¡¯t be too bothersome after a rejection. Everything was about consent. If you weren¡¯t willing, the other would just shrug and take their phone back to leave.


    When Old Tu came back, he teased Yuan Ye, ¡°It¡¯s over for you. After going on a show, you don¡¯t even dare to randomly pick up a one night stand.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked down and continued shelling his pistachios. He said, ¡°I¡¯ve never picked anyone up.¡±


    He had never picked anyone up. This had nothing to do with the show. He wasn¡¯t that type of person. Yuan Ye appeared to be a very wild person, sometimes even extremely flirty with his words. He seemed quite coquettish, but in actuality, he was very conservative in this regard. He couldn¡¯t ept doing the deed without any romantic feelings.


    On his way back from Old Tu¡¯s pub, Yuan Ye received a message from Ji Xiaotao. It was a voice message asking him: ¡°Ye ge, did that asshole piss you off?¡±


    Immediately after, he received another message: ¡°Where did this tiny piece of trashe from? He sure is dramatic.¡±


    Yuan Ye waspletely perplexed and replied with a question mark.


    Ji Xiaotao said: ¡°Just that director who followed your group around for thisst episode. He said you scolded him? And now he¡¯s apologizing! Apologize my ass.¡±


    Yuan Ye: Ah.


    Ji Xiaotao: ¡°What happened, Ye ge?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied with a voice message after getting out from the shower: ¡°Nothing much. He kept making a face at me, which I couldn¡¯t be bothered to deal with. Did he tattle on me? Whatever.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao exploded: ¡°Whatever? That¡¯s too interesting. Does he think nobody¡¯s home?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even know what was actually going on. Even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t be able to resolve it. Right now, even his Weibo was being managed by Ji Xiaotao. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t handle these things. He always said the wrong thing. Getting scolded was nothing. However, he was ultimately a couple with Fang Shaoyi. It would be bad if what he said negatively impacted Fang Shaoyi.


    Yuan Ye told Ji Xiaotao: ¡°I don¡¯t understand your industry. Do what you need to. I¡¯d only cause more trouble.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said: ¡°We don¡¯t need you to do anything! Go on and sleep, Ye ge!¡±


    Yuan Ye: Okay. You¡¯ve worked hard, Xiaotao.


    Ji Xiaotao: ¡°What are you even saying.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao carried a few pain relief patches into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room to wait. Fang Shaoyi was discussing the screeny with the director in the other¡¯s room. This director¡¯s habit was to film while editing. Many times, he would change scenes a day or two prior to filming. asionally, he even changed scenes on set. Then, the actors would need to immediately start memorizing their new lines. This film was close to finishing. Fang Shaoyi still had two important shots to film. After these two, he would basically be done.


    When Fang Shaoyi got back, he saw that Ji Xiaotao was still there. He asked, ¡°Why are you sitting here instead of going back to sleep in your own room?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao waved the pain relief patches in his hand around. ¡°It¡¯s going to rain tomorrow. I¡¯m scared your shoulder will hurt.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had old injuries on his shoulder and knee. When it got cold, they hurt. This career path was full of danger; it was inevitable. Additionally, Fang Shaoyi rarely partook in easy movies. Most of the time, the films he acted in requiredplex action scenes. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Leave them here. I¡¯ll apply themter myself.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not sleepy.¡± As Fang Shaoyi showered, Ji Xiaotao stood outside the door and exined the situation with the asshole little director.


    Fang Shaoyi walked out of the bathroom after his shower. He said, ¡°Let me see.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao pulled up the other¡¯s Weibo for him to see. After reading the post, Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and threw his phone back.


    That Weibo post was a long apology from that young man. The general gist of it was saying that during thest episode of filming, he got temporarily transferred into this crew. He wasn¡¯t familiar with the work and had limited capabilities, causing untimelymunication during this period. Because of this, he caused a lot of trouble for the two teachers. He would remember Teacher Yuan Ye¡¯s scoldings clearly.


    This sounded like a polite thank you, but in actuality was an attempt at acting pitiful. He was young and got transferred over to fill in for someone. Thus, he hadn¡¯t had experience with anything. Still, though, he got scolded by Yuan Ye. Originally, this little director¡¯s Weibo only had a few thousands fans. Nobody had even seen his post. But, the main director Lin Wei liked his post andmented: ¡°Jiayou.¡±


    In the beginning, half thements were positive and half were negative. Many linked this post with Lin Wei¡¯s previous post. They all mocked Yuan Ye for being the one in the show who had the lowest status but acted like the biggest shot. However, just now, the argument had gotten slightly turned around. Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s fans joined in. Additionally, fake onlookers started taking part in the discussion too. Now, most people were cussing out the little director for being overdramatic.


    On the other end, fans started bringing up posts describing in detail how Yuan Ye had silently helped others during filming. Yuan Ye was always the best at every mission. Each time, he would secretively help other people when away from the cameras. In the first episode, when they were splitting the houses, Yuan Ye actually had left at least half of his boxes in his bag. He purposefully allowed the two female guests to live in the house. Even when only counting the treasure chests he had found in the footage that got edited in, the total number had been more than what their final amount had been. Such instances were quite numerous. Though they all happened off-camera, slight hints had still been discovered by careful viewers.


    One side got publicized while the other got hidden away. The post didn¡¯t manage to cause much of amotion.


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°Jiayou my ass. This show is really shitty. Annoying.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi wiped his hair while saying, ¡°This is because they know Yuan Ye doesn¡¯t have any background. They want to use him as a stepping stone. There are only eight people total on the show. Other than him, they can¡¯t afford to piss anyone else off.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao looked up and asked, ¡°They can afford to piss off Ye ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°After getting divorced, he¡¯s only Yuan Ye. In this industry, anybody can afford to piss him off.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao cussed quietly under his breath, ¡°Pieces of shit.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi finished drying his hair. He asked, ¡°Did you get people to join in?¡±


    ¡°Un, it¡¯s mostly done.¡± Ji Xiaotao looked up and observed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression. He carefully asked, ¡°Should I have taken care of the situation?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything. He only made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Fang Shaoyi sent Geng Jinwei a message telling him to talk to the people at the TV station. That director Lin Wei didn¡¯t look like a trustworthy person.


    Geng Jinwei replied: That was my n too.


    After, Geng Jinwei called him, asking when he would be finished with this movie. They also discussed a few other topics. Prior to hanging up, Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Tell their station not to use Yuan Ye as a topic of conversation anymore.¡±


    Geng Jinweiughed. He asked, ¡°Why?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. He only added, ¡°Talk straight to the station manager. Tell him to tell his subordinates not to cause drama using Yuan Ye again.¡±


    Geng Jinwei stillughed. He said, ¡°I fucking told you guys back then not to get divorced. Both of you faked anger to me, determined to get divorced. Seems to me like you guys are simply messing with me. How about just getting a marriage certificate again. It¡¯s inevitable that he would get cussed out for attending this show. Didn¡¯t I tell you ahead of time?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi remained silent.


    Geng Jinwei continued, ¡°Yuan Ye said that if the divorce really gets exposed one day, to push all the me on him. He wants to make sure there are no negative consequences for you. You guys refused to maintain your good, happy life, instead choosing to fucking mess around like this.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi only stood up and looked out the window after his shoulder started hurting. It really had started raining.


    He stood in front of the window, watching the raindrops forcefully hitting the ground. He reached around with his hand to feel his shoulder joint. A tender soreness emanated from there. It wasn¡¯t intense, but it was very continuous and very painful. It was probably the difort from these old injuries that made Fang Shaoyi feel so agitated. Or, it might have been because he had just seen someone else cuss Yuan Ye out.


    At the time, he should¡¯ve listened to Geng Jinwei and declined the show¡¯s invite. He shouldn¡¯t have epted it.


    Thinking about Yuan Ye also made him remember thatst idental mess.


    After, Yuan Ye had glued himself to him and asked: Who gave you the right?


    It was true that the two of them shouldn¡¯t have had that hookup. However, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t feel very regretful afterwards either. They had already done it. This was nothing.


    His monkey had been wild for too long and didn¡¯t recognize his owner anymore. He needed to be taught a lesson.

 Chapter 21

    <h4>Chapter 21</h4>


    These years, Yuan Ye had never used his looks to make a living. He had never paid attention in this regard. In all honesty, he was the stereotypical rough man. He often wore jeans or sweats with a t-shirt or sweatshirt: basically, whatever was simple to put on. Unless it was for a formal asion, he never touched cored shirts. He had never thought that he would actually gain a bunch of appearance fans after this show.


    Many little girls adored his type. Only those with good skull structure could pull off such short stubble. When he scanned you with his thin eyelids, the corner of his mouth quirked into a mocking smile, he seemed exactly like a bad boy. Or, more urately, a bad uncle. Buzzcut-Uncle Ye was a style that nobody else couldpletely reproduce. Others didn¡¯t have that omniscient look in their eyes. They weren¡¯t sharp enough, so also weren¡¯t as alluring.


    In actuality, Yuan Ye was justzy. His hairstyle hadn¡¯t changed in several years ¨C not to seem cool or anything, but because he had had this hairstyle since five or six. He had gotten used to it. Every day, all he needed to do was rinse his hair with some water while washing his face. He didn¡¯t need to bother with styling or drying it. Things were fast and easy.


    However, Yuan Ye¡¯s appearance fans suffered greatly too. Aside from the show, they couldn¡¯t catch a glimpse of him at all. He didn¡¯t have any endorsements or ads. Other than the basic promotions for the show, his Weibo was empty. Other celebrities would have a bunch of airport photos while they were in the limelight from a show. Their fans would wait for them at the airport, taking photos and producing content by themselves. Sometimes, celebrities would also post a few pictures of themselves doing day to day things. This way, there would at least be something for fans to look at. But nobody had any clue what Yuan Ye¡¯s schedule was. Thus, it was impossible for them to wait for him at an airport.


    The new fans had nowhere to go, so could only spam thements under his Weibo posts: ¡°Do we have any organizations? Old geges, please lead the way! Us little bros have done it all before. We¡¯re level 100 in professionalism 555555¡±


    His old fans replied below these: ¡°We don¡¯t have any organizations. Even if there are, they¡¯re all wild. Most of us are book fans. If you¡¯re here to stay, be Buddhist. You¡¯ll get used to it.¡±


    Some old fans even started chatting in thements. They said that an oldke had just had fresh water added to it. Things were pretty exciting.


    After filming, Yuan Yepletely disappeared. If fans wanted to see him, they could only watch the show and the behind-the-scenes cuts online. Several tforms wanted to interview him, but Yuan Ye didn¡¯t ept any of their invitations. What was there to interview about? The more he said, the more likely it was for him to say something wrong. Besides, he wasn¡¯t willing to share his personal matters with others. When he wanted to say anything, he would write it into his books. He liked using his pen to ry stories, not his mouth.


    Now, even Ji Xiaotao couldn¡¯t get in contact with him at times. It took forever for him to reply to messages.


    After Geng Jinwei had a conversation with the station manager, the production team temporarily stopped producing new drama. Actually, this situation had originally only been trivial. It was only for publicity. Additionally, Director Lin Wei had been angry, so would asionally cause some trouble. He believed that Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t dare to say anything back. They wouldn¡¯t do anything further, such as bring up the divorce. If that got exposed, the production team wouldn¡¯t benefit at all. And, if he didn¡¯t even avoid this lower limit, nobody would dare to coborate with them in the future.


    Thest scene of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s movie hadn¡¯t beenpleted yet, and it had already been almost a week. This was also thest scene of the movie. For this shot, the director and screenwriter had never managed to reach an agreement. The director wanted Fang Shaoyi to remain alive, while the screenwriter wanted this character to ultimately die in battle. Thus, the previous scenes had all been filmed in ordance with both plotlines. There were slight differences. Thisst shot would also have several split shots. When editing, they would thenpare and make a final decision.


    This movie was called¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·. It was about half the life of a jianghu swordsman. In his youth, he had wandered thends with his sword, unafraid of anything. Later, because of a cup of tea, he became sucked into jianghu feuds. As a result, he ended up blind in one eye. Yearster, war started. The jianghu was no longer the jianghu of old. Personal enmities and national rivalriesbined. But regardless of life or death, the world was still the jianghu.


    Thest scene was also the most important scene in the movie. Several hundred extras joined filming too. Fang Shaoyi¡¯sst wounded makeup look needed practically three hours for application. With so many extras, it was hard to control the set. The wall¡¯s explosion had also already failed once. To fix it up again, at least three days were needed.


    Director Xin personally carried a speaker around as he started ordering the crowd. His voice was hoarse the entire time. The artificial rain continuously poured down. To be water resistant, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s makeup was extra sticky and solid. After filming, it took over an hour to remove it all and shower. This scene was too difficult to film. The prop team and explosion team especially, were under enormous pressure. If the timing wasn¡¯t controlled exactly, everything would be for naught once again.


    The director asked the lead cinematographer, ¡°It¡¯s three right now. Can we get another take before dark?¡±


    The lead cinematographer shook his head. ¡°The lighting is no good after four. It¡¯ll take at least forty minutes to get all the machines set up again. We won¡¯t have enough time.¡±


    Director Xin furrowed his brows. A very deep ditch appeared between his eyebrows. However, he had no other option. Filming was like this. Sometimes it went smoothly, sometimes it didn¡¯t. He needed to deal with both situations. The director said, ¡°We¡¯re done for today. Everybody head back and get some rest. We¡¯ll do our best to pass this shot tomorrow.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°Seems to me like that wall¡¯s going to bepletely destroyed if we blow it up again. We¡¯d have to wait three more days for it to get fixed.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi took off his costume and walked into the dressing shed shirtless. The fake blood had already dried onto the clothes, so they wouldn¡¯t be able to be used again tomorrow. He needed new clothes everyday. The costume team had rushed out over a dozen sets. It took two days to make one set look well worn. Nobody knew how much longer they needed to film, so the costume team had been continuously making them.


    Several assistants were needed to remove most of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s makeup so he could head back. Cleaningyer afteryer of fake blood off of the face felt like the skin was getting sanded. It was very ufortable and very damaging to the skin. The assistants didn¡¯t dare to rub too hard. They carefully rubbed his face.


    Fang Shaoyi sat very properly. His back was straight the entire time. Those in charge of rubbing his face rubbed his face. There were also some squatting down and rubbing his legs. On the floor were several buckets of water. Applying and removing makeup took about five hours every day. It was very tiring. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was also a bit hoarse. He told them, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, rub harder. The earlier we can get this removed, the earlier you can finish up and leave.¡±


    The girl rubbing his face said softly, ¡°We don¡¯t dare to. Rubbing so hard daily is too damaging to your face. Teacher Fang, you really need to take care when you get back.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and made a noise of acknowledgment. He waited for them to take off all theyers.


    Ji Xiaotao grabbed a dish heater and pointed it at Fang Shaoyi. There were no dressing rooms for these outside sets. Thus, everyone used temporary sheds. The temperature inside was the same as that outside: both humid and cold. Fang Shaoyi was only wearing shorts. Everything else was uncovered. Nobody could handle these conditions every day.


    These days, Ji Xiaotao wasn¡¯t very talkative. He knew Fang Shaoyi was too tired, so was worried about disrupting his rest. He took a picture of Fang Shaoyi, whose eyes were closed, getting his makeup removed. After brief thought, he sent it to Yuan Ye.


    Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes and looked at him. In a deep voice, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t post it on Weibo.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao squatted there and nodded. He said, ¡°I¡¯m not. I sent it to Ye ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and stared. He said, ¡°Fooling around.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not fooling around. I¡¯m in pain,¡± Ji Xiaotao said softly.


    Recently, he contacted Yuan Ye quite frequently, unlike the year before the variety show filming. That year, they rarelymunicated. Ji Xiaotao hadn¡¯t had a clear understanding of what the two of them thought. If these two people really were adamant about cutting off all contact, it wouldn¡¯t be right for him to get involved in the middle. However, since filming had ended, he had maintained contact with Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye¡¯s attitude wasn¡¯t cold either. He could still joke with Ji Xiaotao and such. Ji Xiaotao felt that there was a chance to turn the situation around.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Unsend it.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao tried, then said, ¡°It¡¯s past the time limit.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t scold him again. He only furrowed his brows before closing his eyes once more.


    Half an hour passed before Yuan Ye replied. Fang Shaoyi still hadn¡¯t finished removing his makeup, but was almost done. He sat there with his eyes closed; it seemed that he was asleep.


    Yuan Ye: What are you guys filming?


    Ji Xiaotao responded: Thest scene. It¡¯s already been a week, but we still haven¡¯t seeded.


    Yuan Ye: Where do you apply makeup?


    Ji Xiaotao: Shed.


    Yuan Ye replied with one word a few secondster: Fuck.


    Ji Xiaotao took a picture of the dish heater and sent it over, adding: I did my best, but we only have this.


    Yuan Ye: Un.


    Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t dare to say anything more. He was scared that Fang Shaoyi would prevent him from doing so. Besides, if they purposefully acted overly pitiful, that wouldn¡¯t be ideal either. This was just enough. Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t respond. He didn¡¯t know if he was doing the right thing. Logically, he shouldn¡¯t get involved in someone else¡¯s rtionship problems, but he was pretty familiar with these two people. This was the only reason he dared to try.


    A whileter, Yuan Ye sent another message: You guys can¡¯t go back to do it? Tell the makeup assistants to follow you to your room to remove the makeup.


    Ji Xiaotao hurriedly replied: Yi ge won¡¯t let us. It¡¯s inconvenient. That stuff is all powdery or oily. We have to get in the car to get back. It¡¯d be hard with all the makeup.


    Fang Shaoyi had opened his eyes at some unknown time. He asked, ¡°What did he say?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°Ye ge asked why we aren¡¯t heading back to the hotel to remove your makeup.¡±


    There were too many people around them. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything, only replying, ¡°Don¡¯t say anything bad.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I didn¡¯t say anything else,¡± Ji Xiaotao said.


    The makeup assistant looked up at Fang Shaoyi from the side. With a smile, she said, ¡°I watched¡¶In The Times¡·too. You and Teacher Yuan Ye have such a great rtionship. Does Teacher Yuan Ye have a bad temper......?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°No, he has a pretty good temper.¡±


    At night, the director came to hang out in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room. He chatted with Fang Shaoyi for a bit. In actuality, they had passed the date on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s contract for the end of filming long ago, but it was extremelymon for filming tost longer than scheduled. The director was also someone he was familiar with, so this wasn¡¯t a big deal. Not to mention that he had skipped out on filming to go participate in the variety show. Though he had already done his best to rush and finish those scenes earlier, he had still caused quite a bit of trouble for the film crew.


    The director told him, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. This scene is hard to film.¡±


    ¡°Everybody¡¯s worked hard,¡± Fang Shaoyi smiled. ¡°It takes time to create a masterpiece.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s nothing wrong with your following schedule, right?¡± Director Xin asked him with a smile. ¡°Has Old Jiang made things difficult for you? Do you need Uncle to call him for you?¡±


    Director Xin and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s dad had a close rtionship. On set, he called the other ¡°director¡±, but in private, he called him ¡°uncle¡±. Fang Shaoyi shook his head and said, ¡°No. Rest assured and keep filming. I¡¯m not in a hurry. Director Jiang won¡¯t rush me if it¡¯s your film.¡±


    ¡°If he does, tell me. I¡¯ll speak with him,¡± the director said.


    Fang Shaoyi nodded with a smile. After a few more minutes of conversation, he walked the director out.


    As soon as the director left, Ji Xiaotao shot up from his chair. He stuffed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s phone into his hand. ¡°Ge! Ye ge called just now!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows, then looked down at his phone. On it, a notification for a missed call was disyed. It truly was from Yuan Ye.


    The nickname was the same as before: he had saved it as ¡°Monkey¡±. Now, looking at it feltical.


    Fang Shaoyi set his phone off to the side. He wasn¡¯t nning on calling back. He figured Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t call again either. Unexpectedly, though, before ten minutes had passed, his phone started ringing again.


    ¡ª¡ªIt was still ¡°Monkey¡±.


    Fang Shaoyi was slightly surprised. He pressed his lips together and picked up.

 Chapter 22

    <h4>Chapter 22</h4>


    ¡°Un?¡±


    The sound that Fang Shaoyi made as he answered the phone was truly alluring. His voice was deep, but he gently lifted his tone at the end. If anyone heard it, they would be captivated.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s voice sounded out from the phone. It sounded really quiet on his side. He called out, ¡°Yi ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made another noise of acknowledgment. He asked, ¡°What?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao was incredibly conscientious. He pulled up Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shirt and ced a pain relief patch on his shoulder. Then, he added a heat pack outside to keep it warm. After everything, he made a hand gesture at Fang Shaoyi and went back to his own room to sleep.


    Yuan Ye cleared his throat and said, ¡°Nothing, just asking how you¡¯ve been recently.¡±


    The two of them hadn¡¯t called for a long time. To hold a simple conversation through the phone gave off a familiar, intimate feeling. However, because of the year in between, this familiar sense of intimacy also seemed vaguely unreal. The lighting was warm and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart felt tender. When his voice sounded from the phone, it was deep and smooth, causing Yuan Ye¡¯s heart to beat faster. ¡°I¡¯m alright.¡±


    He tugged a pillow over to ce behind his body as he leaned against the headboard. He heard Yuan Ye ask, ¡°It¡¯s quite cold where you guys are, right? Is your shoulder still okay?¡±


    ¡°Un, just fine,¡± Fang Shaoyi said.


    Yuan Ye actually had no other reason to make this call. It was only because his heart had felt stuffy after seeing the picture Ji Xiaotao had sent over. He was worried, so simply decided to make a call and ask. After asking, the two of them had nothing else to say. It had been too long since they had called each other. They had both forgotten what could be said over the phone. Or, they actually didn¡¯t know what they could talk about given their current identities.


    A brief moment of silenceter, Fang Shaoyi spoke first. He asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    A soft tone. It could even be considered gentle. Yuan Ye instinctively used his finger to caress his phone on the other end of the line. He answered, ¡°I wrote something.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him again, ¡°What?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°The same thing as before. I never really finished it. Recently, I¡¯ve felt more at peace, so started continuing it.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement. After, neither of them spoke. For a long time, the only thing that could be heard through the phone was the sound of their breathing. Later, the sounds of Yuan Ye typing away at his keyboard appeared too. But surprisingly, nobody said anything about hanging up. Fang Shaoyi held his phone up with one hand; Yuan Ye nted his head to hold his phone between his ear and shoulder. It was unclear why they remained on the call. Perhaps they had forgotten about hanging up, or perhaps, they merely wanted to hear the other¡¯s breathing.


    A long timeter, Yuan Ye softened his voice to ask, ¡°Asleep?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°No.¡±


    Yuan Ye instantlyughed. He said, ¡°I thought you fell asleep already. It¡¯s sote, howe you aren¡¯t sleeping yet? Don¡¯t you need to film tomorrow?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes. His Adam¡¯s apple bobbed up and down imperceptibly. Heughed too, then said, ¡°I can¡¯t bear to sleep.¡±


    The sound of Yuan Ye tapping away at the keyboard instantly stopped. It waspletely silent on the other end of the line. Then, Yuan Ye cleared his throat and called out, ¡°Ge.¡±


    ¡°Un?¡±


    The soft click of a lighter. Yuan Ye lit a cigarette before blowing out the first mouthful of smoke. With one hand on his phone, he squatted on the chair and suddenly said, ¡°......Sorry.¡±


    ording to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s personality, he normally wouldn¡¯t keep asking after such a response. But today, he surprisingly continued to inquire, ¡°Such as?¡±


    Yuan Ye squatted there. He lowly chuckled. Through the line, hisughter carried with it the tones of a man who had been worn down by time. ¡°Such as that chaotic evening, I guess. I had been too annoying with my words.¡±


    After that event, the atmosphere between the two of them had been a little awkward. But now that Yuan Ye spoke about it, that awkwardness disappeared. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. I¡¯m to me.¡±


    ¡°Ey, forget it.¡± Yuan Ye leaned forward and flicked the ash off his cigarette. He said, ¡°We already slept together. Why are we still hung up over it? Both of us are pretty shameless.¡±


    The Yuan Ye of today was honestly too gentle. To an extent, he didn¡¯t even seem like himself anymore. He was soft and no longer had his quills. That hard shell covering his body was gone, leaving only the soft flesh underneath.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Go sleep. Rest earlier and look out for your health. You¡¯re not young anymore, Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi answered, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He softly said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll hang up now?¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed at him. Hisughter travelled through the phone and sounded quite warm. ¡°Okay.¡±


    The phone call tonight had been extremely unexpected. For both of them. Yuan Ye had called because something had snapped in his brain after he saw the picture. Fang Shaoyi had softened his attitude because of this call. Yuan Ye had then taken the initiative to lower his head because of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s attitude. This one phone call allowed the two of them to calmly and peacefully hold a conversation. There were no sharp remarks, hidden mockings, or loud arguments. When the call ended, both of their hearts felt warm.


    The next morning when Ji Xiaotao walked in through the door, Fang Shaoyi was still asleep. Ji Xiaotao turned on the lights. ¡°Time to wake up, Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and sat up. He said, ¡°Got it.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao went to grab the other¡¯s clothes. He couldn¡¯t keep the urge to gossip from bubbling to the top. As he handed Fang Shaoyi his clothes, he asked, ¡°What did Ye ge say during his phone call yesterday?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him. He put on his pants and headed to the bathroom. ¡°He asked why you¡¯ve be so annoying these days.¡±


    ¡°......¡± Ji Xiaotao thought to himself you seem to be in a great mood. So energetic in the morning.


    They still needed to slowly finish filming. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s makeup couldn¡¯t be avoided. Shirtless, they first added the fake blood and wound prosthetics onto his body. After he put on the costume, though, they still needed to add more. In the movie, he was blind in one eye. That eye was very hard to apply makeup to. It wasn¡¯t as easy to be superficial in movies as it was for dramas. Movies were extremely detailed and held to the highest standards. The details were the most important.


    Thest scene was a very tragic shot. Regardless of if the main character died or not, this was still a scene demarking the fall of a nation. As long as they didn¡¯t finish filming this shot, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mood needed to remain dark. He needed to immerse himself in that sort of despair. When he got on set, the time needed for his makeup to bepleted was also the time for him to get into character. Basically, as soon as he was done with makeup, Fang Shaoyi was no longer himself. With the makeup on, he became his character. When he walked out of the dressing room, he was the half-blind wanderer from the movie.


    He didn¡¯t need anybody to exin the scene to him anymore. By now, they were continuously encountering problems not because of the two actors, but because of the cooperation between each team and also because of unpredictable situations.


    When Geng Jinwei arrived, Fang Shaoyi was next to the director, watching a rey on the monitor. They had just finished shooting the scene, but it hadn¡¯t passed. The explosion hadn¡¯t caused an ideal effect: the wall hadn¡¯t been destroyed. Fang Shaoyi pointed to the young actor on the monitor and said, ¡°Little Wei¡¯s expression was wrong. I didn¡¯t even finish speaking, but you already started crying.¡±


    The young actor said from behind them, ¡°Something got into my eye. A tiny pebble flew in. I wanted to persevere a little longer.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Next time, if you encounter such a situation, you can yell ¡®cut¡¯. As long as the explosion hasn¡¯t happened yet, it¡¯s not a big deal. Don¡¯t try to push yourself. You might hurt your eyes that way.¡±


    ¡°Okay, Shaoyi ge.¡± The other hurriedly nodded.


    Ji Xiaotao called out to Fang Shaoyi from off to the side, ¡°Ge, Geng ge¡¯s here.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi turned around. Geng Jinwei walked over with a kid and shook hands with the director. He smiled and greeted, ¡°Director Xin.¡±


    The director smiled and pointed at him. ¡°Oh, the busy person¡¯s here?¡±


    ¡°Not even.¡± Geng Jinwei gently nudged the boy next to him forward. He told the director, ¡°I just signed this kid. He still needs a lot of practice.¡±


    The boy looked to be in great condition. He had good body proportions and a clean, pale face. He looked quite profound. He politely said, ¡°Hello, Director,¡± then nodded at Fang Shaoyi and added, ¡°Hello, Shaoyi ge.¡± The director smiled and praised, ¡°Not bad. Given the opportunityter, give him to me. I¡¯ll make sure he gets enough practice.¡±


    The boy pursed his lips and answered politely, ¡°Thank you, Director.¡±


    Geng Jinwei actually hadn¡¯t speciallye to visit. He had gone on a trip to Guangdong, so had stopped on set for a day on the way back. After greeting the director, Geng Jinwei started conversing with Fang Shaoyi. He used his chin to point at the boy standing off to the side. ¡°I told you about him before. Brought him here so you could see him.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi could only use one eye. The other was still covered. He nced over and nodded. ¡°Not bad. I can¡¯t tell anything else right now. You¡¯re in charge of these things.¡±


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°I want you to bring him along with you for Director Jiang¡¯s movie. He¡¯s never acted before. Teach him a bit.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°Ask if there are still any avable characters over there. Discuss with them.¡±


    Geng Jinwei was forty-something now. He usually wore a white cored shirt with dress pants. Now, it was cold outside, so he also had on a coat. His face was all hard angles, making him appear quite harsh and distant. But his status was there. He had a pretty high status from all these years in the industry. When others passed him, they all stopped to say hi.


    After talking about the newly signed kid, Geng Jinwei lit a cigarette and dragged Fang Shaoyi over to the side. He said, ¡°And your situation. I¡¯m giving you a heads up. You¡¯ll need to be prepared.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked at him. ¡°What¡¯s my situation?¡±


    Geng Jinwei responded with a question, ¡°You¡¯re asking me about your own situation?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°The divorce?¡±


    ¡°Un, someone contacted me.¡± Geng Jinwei nodded, ¡°Wanted money.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°Who?¡±


    ¡°A new littlepany. They only have fake ounts, so don¡¯t have much influence. Their n was to ckmail us for some money. If unsessful, they would use your situation to cause trouble,¡± Geng Jinwei said.


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°How did you answer?¡±


    ¡°I ignored them.¡± A cigarette dangled from Geng Jinwei¡¯s mouth. He nced at Fang Shaoyi and added, ¡°Your situation can¡¯t be kept a secret forever. We don¡¯t know where the news got leaked from, but no living person has privacy these days. When everyone knows, there¡¯s no use in keeping it a secret anymore. Maybe one day things will explode. More than one party will expose you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything. He kept his head down and remained silent. After, he said, ¡°It can¡¯t be kept a secret forever. Let them do as they wish.¡±


    Geng Jinwei furrowed his brows and said, ¡°Your situation is a fucking sword dangling over my head. If I can¡¯t get out of the way fast enough and it falls down, all of us will get beheaded. I¡¯ve already notified the public rtions department. We have an emergency n prepared; I¡¯ll send it to you to look overter. However, there¡¯s no need to be worried about this right now. Things are secure, so it won¡¯t get exposed anytime soon. At least, definitely not before the show finishes broadcasting. We can discuss things after.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. ¡°Nobody cheated and we didn¡¯t produce any negative news. It¡¯s just a divorce. People would only discuss it for the novelty for a few days. It won¡¯t be a big deal. Let them gossip as they want. There won¡¯t be any real consequences. It was a peaceful separation. Don¡¯t make it be anybody¡¯s fault, you know?¡±


    Geng Jinweiughed. He turned to the side and cussed, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t push the me onto Yuan Ye? You could¡¯ve just said it straight.¡±


    Thus, Fang Shaoyi repeated himself, ¡°Un, he¡¯s not part of this industry, so doesn¡¯t understand these things. Don¡¯t push the me onto him.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was still dressed as that dpidated swordsman. He wasrgely expressionless, maintaining a calm demeanor. As he spoke, his tone was light, but no matter what he said, he only had one main point¡ª¡ªmake a normal PR n. Don¡¯t me Yuan Ye.


    Geng Jinwei chuckled. He scolded, ¡°You really are a swordsman. Why are you acting like a righteous and tender person now? Truly have nothing fucking better to do.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled too. He didn¡¯t say anything else.


    That afternoon, Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t leave. He still had other business he needed to discuss with Fang Shaoyi. In the afternoon, he brought that newly signed boy to set and watched Fang Shaoyi act with him. The boy was named Yang Siran. He looked young, but was actually already twenty five. Geng Jinwei told him, ¡°Be diligent and learn how to act from him. When he was your age, he was already the designated male lead for Wei Hua.¡±


    Yang Siran nodded. ¡°Okay, Boss Geng.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao ran over. With a big smile on his face, he said to Geng Jinwei, ¡°Hi, Geng ge.¡±


    ¡°Hi my ass, hi. Every time I tell you toe back and help me train some people, you act like you¡¯re deaf,¡± Geng Jinwei scolded.


    ¡°I can¡¯t train anyone. My ge wouldn¡¯t be able to survive without me.¡± Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t even feel embarrassed saying this. ¡°My ge is old now. He can¡¯t handle switching assistants.¡±


    While Ji Xiaotao was chatting with Geng Jinwei, a makeup assistant ran over from the other side to tell him, ¡°Tao ge, someone sent something. They¡¯re waiting for you to sign for it.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Ji Xiaotao asked while walking in that direction. He turned around and made a hand gesture at Geng Jinwei.


    ¡ª¡ªAfter filming that day, Geng Jinwei noticed that Fang Shaoyi had two electric heaters on his left and right. He closed his eyes and sat in his chair, waiting for the assistants to remove his makeup. He seemed like an extremely big shot. Ji Xiaotao said that both heaters were gifts from his Ye ge.


    Geng Jinwei looked on for a bit. He scoffed, then turned and walked out to smoke a cigarette.


    They really fucking knew how to stir things up. But in the end, who were they causing trouble for?


    Both fucking lunatics.

 Chapter 23

    <h4>Chapter 23</h4>


    The ruined city walls were full of holes. Fang Shaoyi stood there with his sword tucked against his back. Behind him, stood thest soldiers of the Great Yao Kingdom. Before him, stood the youngest general of their enemy country, as well as tens of thousands of brave soldiers. Rain poured down. Fresh blood mixed with dirt to form blood-colored mud.


    ¡°Swordsman!¡± The enemy general held his horse reins in one hand. Chin slightly tilted up, he sounded out his words from his diaphragm. With the wild roughness of a martial artist, he yelled, ¡°The entirety of your jianghu now belongs to the You Dynasty. What are you still guarding?¡±


    The swordsman who had once been elegant and striking was now covered in blood. His un-blind eye was open. Though in such a state, he still stood tall and proud. Calmly, he stated, ¡°I¡¯m guarding my city.¡±


    ¡°Your city?¡± The general threw his head back andughed. Hisughter traveled for miles, startling the ckbirds resting on the city towers. ¡°Your king blinded you. Yet, you now guard his city for him. Those from the jianghu say that you¡¯re foolish and slow-witted, but I never believed them. From what I see today, though...... Nevermind!¡±


    The horse trotted forward. Following its movements, the general¡¯s body slightly bobbed up and down too. He pointed the long sword in his hand at the swordsman. Even the fierce rainstorm couldn¡¯t hide his bloodthirsty gaze. ¡°I don¡¯t want to kill you.¡±


    Large droplets of rainwater washed the blood off of the swordsman¡¯s face, revealing the wounds that had already turned pale and had started rotting. A smile on such a face ought to have been somewhat gruesome and terrifying, yet he somehow managed to make it seem innocent. His one remaining eye still carried that carefree and dauntless glint from ten years ago. He loudly called out, ¡°If you don¡¯t kill me, then I will kill you, General. Kill me if you must. There¡¯s no need to say anything extraneous.¡±


    Their eyes met. Only the general¡¯s eyes were filled with sorrow.


    Rundown walls. Soldiers pale with death. A half-blind, half-paralyzed old swordsman. As long as their army marched forward, they would be able to trample them.


    But the general still got off his horse. Sword in hand, he walked over. As he walked, his armor clinked to the rhythm of his steps. Rain poured onto his iron clothing; the irregr pit pats seemed to be urging thisst battle into existence too.


    The soldiers behind the general followed his every step. When the general put one foot forward, his soldiers did as well. When the general stopped, his soldiers stopped.


    There was no need for words when they fought. They had already said all that should¡¯ve been said. It was a silent battle. Move after move. Everything stopped when the general¡¯s sword paused next to the swordsman¡¯s neck.


    Blood had already covered his one remaining eye. The general held the sword in his hand. Though they already stood so close to one another, the general still raised his voice and shouted, ¡°Swordsman.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was forced to raise his chin because of the sword. He gazed at the other through a veil of blood.


    The general lowered his eyes. His voice thundered, ¡°Those of you from the jianghu ¨C the good, the bad ¨C have all submitted to my king. A country has a ruler, but the jianghu doesn¡¯t. The world is still the world, the jianghu is still your jianghu. Is that not good?¡±


    The swordsman slowly blinked the eye covered in blood. When he smiled, his face was pale, his breaths faint. Thest of his energy wasn¡¯t enough for him toplete a whole sentence. He stuttered out, ¡°What is the jianghu...... What is the world...... In such a chaotic universe, the jianghu......is nothing but an illusion. I¡¯m not guarding anybody¡¯s country......nor anybody¡¯s world. I¡¯m guarding that which......I have relied on for half my life.¡±


    After he spoke, he closed his eyes. The messy jianghu battle ten years ago shed in his memory. Both the good and the bad had been blinded by their desire to kill. At the time, the swordsman had agilely flown across the battlefield and ughtered a horse. He snatched a frail boy out from under the horse¡¯s hooves.


    Then, the swordsman hid him behind the pir of an inn. He smiled and told the boy, ¡°It¡¯s chaotic outside. Hide well and don¡¯t go out.¡±


    The boy¡¯s face and lips were both pale. He imperceptibly nodded.


    The clink of armor. An arm lifted, a sword fell¡ª¡ª


    The city walls behind them crumbled with an enormous crash. Smoke and ash rose into the air from all around.


    The general¡¯s fingers trembled slightly from where they were wrapped around the sword. His gaze was lowered as he looked at the person before him. What he saw was that nimble figure breaking through the window, and those bold and reckless smiling eyes from when he had turned around: a memory from so many years ago.


    At that time, the sun had brightly lit up the sky. But now, the heavens were pouring, covering the sky with a curtain of water.


    Thest defenses had fallen. The citizens mourned. Ashes and smoke rose. The remaining soldiers didn¡¯t shift, didn¡¯t move.


    ¡ª¡ª¡°Cut.¡±


    The director abruptly stood up from behind the monitor. His eyes were red as well. The cinematographer turned around and looked at the director, then nodded and held up his thumb. For a moment, the entire set was silent. Everyone was still immersed in that scene. The tragic and painful atmosphere was still present. None of the workers moved.


    Eventually, Fang Shaoyi stood up from where he had beenying on the ground. The prop director finally pressed the power button, turning off the fake rain that was still pouring onto the actors. From afar, Fang Shaoyi shouted, ¡°Director, does this take pass?¡±


    The director yelled at him through the speaker, ¡°Yes! It passed!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He walked over and hugged the ¡°general¡± with one arm before patting him on the shoulder. ¡°Your future is boundless.¡±


    The person ying the character of the young general was a young actor. He had just graduated from film academy two years ago. Previously, he had only acted in TV dramas; this was his first movie. After hearing Fang Shaoyi say this, the young actor seemed a bit flustered by his praise. He hurriedly said, ¡°Because Shaoyi ge taught me well. I¡¯ve learned a lot from acting with you.¡±


    The long take had passed, but they still needed to make up a few shots. The version of the ending where Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character hadn¡¯t died had beenpleted a few days ago. It had stopped prior to when the swordsman and general had started fighting. In actuality, the resolution was unchanged. Only, that take allowed it to remain mysterious. This way, viewers would have something to hold onto. However, the director would probably end up using this version in the end. Removing a segment would take away from the overall shock factor, after all.


    After making up a few small shots, the director walked over and personally stuffed a bundle of red cloth tied together with thin string into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. Then, he turned around and told the staff, ¡°Come, congratte your Teacher Fang for sessfully wrapping up.¡±


    The people around them immediately smiled and congratted him. Fang Shaoyi joked, ¡°Who knows how happy you guys all are in your hearts. When I leave, there won¡¯t be any more important scenes to film. The remaining ones will be easy, so you¡¯ll be able to rx.¡±


    The director wanted to hug Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi sidestepped and stopped him with a smile. ¡°Don¡¯t, don¡¯t. Director! Uncle!¡±


    ¡°Look at what I¡¯m wearing.¡± Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. He took another step off to the side. ¡°It¡¯ll be hard to get off if it gets on your clothes.¡±


    ¡°Come, take a picture of our main character¡¯s wrap,¡± the artistic director said from next to them.


    Fang Shaoyi asked with a smile, ¡°You want me to take a picture right now? Dressed like this?¡±


    ¡°No worries,e on!¡± Ji Xiaotao walked over and put a big coat over Fang Shaoyi. He said, ¡°Either way, it¡¯s always like this after wrapping up. Just take it.¡±


    Director Xinughed loudly and called everyone over. They took Fang Shaoyi¡¯s picture. This picture would definitely be extremely ugly if publicized, but Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t care about that at all. He generously stood at the very front, peaceful smile on his face.


    The videographer had been filming this entire segment as well. It would probably be edited into a behind-the-scenes documentary forter. Fang Shaoyi smiled at his camera too.


    They had worked on this shot for about half a month. Now, they had finally sessfully finished it. Normally, they would always shoot an extra shot to be safe, but this scene was too difficult to film. The city walls had beenpletely destroyed too. They didn¡¯t have the conditions to shoot another shot. The director, screenwriter, cinematographer, and special effects director looked over the video twice on the monitor. After confirming that nothing was wrong, they waved their hands and finally let Fang Shaoyi go.


    During makeup removal, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s dressing shed experienced a neverending flow of visitors. Everyone had worked together for several months. Regardless of if they were actors or workers, they felt a sense of familiarity. They all came over to give Fang Shaoyi gifts. Some of the little girls who had been in charge of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s makeup had even started crying. Though Fang Shaoyi had a high status, he was also easy to get along with. Additionally, he never purposefully made things difficult for others.


    Fang Shaoyi sat in the chair, chatting with the people here to visit him while getting his makeup removed. The dressing shed was only so big. The electric heaters honestly took up too much space. Eventually, Fang Shaoyi told Ji Xiaotao to put them away.


    All the young actors hade over to bid Fang Shaoyi farewell. They gave him flowers. Fang Shaoyi told them, ¡°You guys are almost done too. In the remaining time, be diligent and learn well from the director. Director Xin¡¯s films are all very powerful.¡±


    The young actors immediately said, ¡°We¡¯ve learned a lot from you too.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s good.¡± Fang Shaoyi said with a smile, ¡°I wasn¡¯t as good as you guys when I was young. Jiayou.¡±


    The younger actors hurriedly smiled while shaking their heads. They didn¡¯t dare to respond. Some people were naturally born to act ¨C they were more talented than you, and were also more hardworking than you. They would stand before you as a goal. When you became unsure of how good you wanted to get and how hard you needed to work to get there, you could look up at them to find out.


    Normally, there would be a period of rest after an actor finished one film. This would allow them to bounce back from being in character. It would also be a break that could be used to maintain one¡¯s physique. But, these two movies that Fang Shaoyi had epted had originally been scheduled very close to each other. And Director Xin had gone overtime. Director Jiang had already been filming for quite a bit, yet the male lead still wasn¡¯t present.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t have the time to take a break. He needed to head straight onto his next film set. He needed to remove himself from the emotions of this film, then immerse himself into the emotions of another.


    In the next movie, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character was a handsome young man. Only, he was slightly dumb. He traveled to a strange and deste little vige. At first, he was the victim of everyone¡¯s bullying and exclusion. This was a movie that contained hints of dark humor, Director Jiang¡¯s usual style. He had started preparing for this movie almost two years ago. The main cast had changed multiple times, except for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character. Director Jiang had named him specifically and was adamant about him taking the role.


    Fang Shaoyi and Director Jiang had coborated before, but that had been seven to eight years ago. Jiang Linchuan had always liked filming movies with absurd plotlines. It was a bit difficult working with him, regardless of if you were an actor or another staff member. This was because it was really hard to be on the same wavelength as him. His thoughts were always very unique; sometimes, they could even be considered strange.


    The setting for this movie was a little vige in the south. Prior to leaving, Ji Xiaotao asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, let¡¯s not take the electric heaters? They¡¯re hard to bring along.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked at him. A whileter, he nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Ji Xiaotao brought them over to the director and set them up on both sides of the other. The directorughed and said, ¡°Take them, I won¡¯t need them.¡±


    ¡°You use them. We can¡¯t take them with us. It¡¯d be too inconvenient,¡± Ji Xiaotao said cheekily.


    When Fang Shaoyi arrived, Director Jiang was in the middle of a scene. Two assistant directors drove to the airport to pick him up. When they got on set, Ji Xiaotao stayed at the hotel to unpack. Fang Shaoyi headed straight to see the director.


    This was a scene with the vige cksmith and his wife. Fang Shaoyi had worked with both these actors before. When Director Jiang saw him, he raised his eyebrows and gestured for him toe closer. Director Jiang only stood up and patted Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shoulder after they had finished this scene and yelled ¡°cut¡±. He told the people around them, ¡°Comeee, our male lead is here.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan was a stereotypical northerner. His voice was loud and his personality was rough and straightforward. Fang Shaoyi shook hands with everyone, then finally told the director, ¡°Sorry Director. I¡¯ve dyed your progress.¡±


    The director waved and said, ¡°You were filming Elder Xin¡¯s movie. What dare I say?¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed. ¡°Say whatever you want. Director Xin isn¡¯t here right now anyways. I definitely won¡¯t tattle on you.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan chuckled. His chuckle was a bit dangerous. He looked at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°There¡¯s a lot waiting for you from here on out. Just make sure you can handle everything.¡±


    The actor for the cksmith walked over. With a smile, he said, ¡°Director has been waiting to deal with you. He¡¯s been waiting for several days already.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook hands with him. He greeted, ¡°Lin ge.¡±


    ¡°Now I feel nervous because of what you¡¯re all saying,¡± Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He asked, ¡°How does Director n on dealing with me?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯ll find out soon enough,¡± the cinematographer said from off to the side.


    This was the first day Fang Shaoyi arrived. At night, all the actors and heads of each team held a meeting. The director said that they weren¡¯t in a rush to film the male lead¡¯s scenes yet. Fang Shaoyi had just finished another movie, so hadn¡¯tpletely removed himself from that character. If they immediately started filming, it would feel awkward. They would first film the subplots; Fang Shaoyi would use this month to get into character by staying on set. Additionally, he needed to tweak his physique. Right now, he was a bit too thinpared to how his character needed to be. The swordsman in thest movie had been quite run-down by the end. As a consequence, Fang Shaoyi had lost a lot of weight too.


    The director said, ¡°Do you have a fitness instructor you always use? If not, I¡¯ll arrange for one for you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and answered, ¡°I do.¡±


    ¡°Call him over and tell him to stay on set. You also need to learn how to cut hair. We won¡¯t need to get a special instructor for that, though. Teacher Liu, who¡¯s head of styling, is waiting for you.¡± The director used the rolled-up script in his hand to point in Liu An¡¯s direction. Liu An was nted in his chair. He raised a hand in greeting, grin on his face.


    Liu An was among the best stylists in the industry. Many of theyered and vorful characters in historical movies had been brought to life by him. Fang Shaoyi had met him many times before. They were good friends. He smiled and said, ¡°Okay. I¡¯m troubling you, An ge.¡±


    For today¡¯s meeting, the director had specially ordered Fang Shaoyi to bring his assistant over too. Ji Xiaotao sat on a small stool next to Fang Shaoyi, listening to them chat. A whileter, the director¡¯s rolled-up script pointed at him. Ji Xiaotao went on high alert. The director told him, ¡°Kiddo, from today on, you¡¯re not his assistant anymore.¡±


    ??? Several question marks shed through Ji Xiaotao¡¯s mind. He was a bit lost.


    ¡°Not only you.¡± The director scanned the crowd and said, ¡°All of you. From today onwards, don¡¯t worship him. He¡¯s not Teacher Fang or some film emperor anymore. Nor is he so and so¡¯s son.¡±


    Before he could even finish speaking, Fang Shaoyi startedughing. Director Jiang really liked joking around. He was normally an interesting person to speak with too. Fang Shaoyi heard him continue, ¡°He¡¯s just an idiot barber. Don¡¯t treat him too well. I¡¯m not kidding. If anyone treats him respectfully, they¡¯re breaking taboo. Don¡¯t make me upset. When Director Jiang gets angry, he bes very scary. You all know this.¡±


    In the movie, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character was a little idiot who often got mocked and bullied by everyone else. Director Jiang wanted him to get in character quickly, to find something inmon with his character and understand himpletely.


    The director¡¯s expression was very serious. He told everyone, ¡°You must follow my rules obediently. On set, don¡¯t pretend you¡¯re in a skit and simply order him around a tiny bit, then turn around and start bowing at him. ¡®Teacher Fang, I had no other choice either. Teacher Fang, don¡¯t hold a grudge.¡¯ If anyone dares to be like that in private, don¡¯t me me for getting angry.¡±


    After he spoke, everyoneughed. The director added, ¡°He definitely won¡¯t hold a grudge. You¡¯re all helping him get into character. Later on, he¡¯ll even have to thank you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and smiled. ¡°Yes, I won¡¯t hold a grudge. Do as the director says.¡±


    After the meeting that day, when they all started walking out, the director specially reminded Ji Xiaotao, emphasizing, ¡°Keep up the act for me. No matter who bullies him, don¡¯t act like it¡¯s a big deal. You go bully him too. Doesn¡¯t he normally order you around a lot? Take this opportunity to order him around as well. Make him your assistant.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao shrunk back. This task was honestly too hard toplete. He asked, ¡°Director......how about the two of us get bullied together? Like two brothers facing difficult times? Is that okay with you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed and pushed the back of his head yfully. He said, ¡°Can you have a bit more ambition?¡±


    The director patted him twice too. ¡°Exactly, can¡¯t you have a bit more ambition?¡±


    ¡°No......¡± Ji Xiaotao was still wearing a snapback on his head. With his hand on the bill, he quietly said, ¡°I honestly can¡¯t. From the bottom of my heart, I can¡¯t act that way! Director, tell the others to bully me as well!¡±


    The director was exasperated at his failure to live up to expectations. Eventually, he became so angry that he kicked Ji Xiaotao in the butt. Whileughing, he scolded, ¡°Look at how honest this kid is!¡±


    Jiang Linchuan had a bad temper. Everytime he directed a movie, he would throw a few tantrums on set. The crew members were all part of his team, so naturally had to listen to him. The next few days, nobody said anything to Fang Shaoyi. It was even more impossible for anyone to dare to nod and say ¡°Teacher Fang¡± when they saw him. ording to the director¡¯s orders, not only could they not greet him, they also needed to find tasks for him to do.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s daily activities on set included working out and doing odd work. At first, everyone was a bit shy. Later, though, they got used to ordering him around, so treated him like a normal worker. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t have much of a temper. He would do whatever anyone else told him to do. He was quick to adapt.


    ¡°Your hands. They¡¯re too tense.¡± Liu An wriggled his fingers. The scissors spun in a circle in his hand and ended up around one of his fingers. ¡°Be more agile. These days, when you have nothing else to do, just keep the scissors in your hand. Spin them around when you¡¯re bored. When you¡¯re grabbing things, try your best to keep them hanging off your finger. You also don¡¯t holdbs like this.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Fang Shaoyi replied.


    Behind him, someone called out, ¡°Sen Cha, help me get Lin ge¡¯s assistant.¡±


    ¡°Sen Cha¡± was the name of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character. Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of learning how to cut hair from Liu An. He turned around and asked, ¡°Can someone else do it? I can¡¯t leave right now.¡±


    The other shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    Sometimes, Fang Shaoyi admired these workers greatly. They had gotten into character so quickly. Fang Shaoyi turned around again to look at Liu An. ¡°An ge, wait ten minutes for me?¡±


    Liu An smiled and shook his head. ¡°In ten minutes, I¡¯ll be gone.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked between the two of them. Then, he told the worker, ¡°Get someone else. I can¡¯t leave right now.¡±


    The young man blinked. He probably also didn¡¯t know how to respond at this time. He thought about it for a long time. In the end, when Fang Shaoyi and Liu An had already started continuing their conversation, he finally picked up something offhandedly and threw it onto the dressing table. He muttered, ¡°Who do you think you are...... You¡¯re just a barber......¡±


    The sound caused by this was quite loud. Fang Shaoyi and Liu An both froze. After, Liu An shook his head andughed. He lowly said, ¡°......Must¡¯ve been hard for the kid.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao himself had chosen to be on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s side. These days, he was also extremely tired after having to finish so many tasks. At night, he returned toin to Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Is this even useful? Seems to me that Director Jiang is purposefully messing with us because we arrivedte.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi took his clothes off and threw them into the washing machine. Ji Xiaotao walked over and tried to start the cycle. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I¡¯ll do it.¡±


    He even washed Ji Xiaotao¡¯s dirty clothes too.


    Ji Xiaotao still felt a bit unused to this. His phone vibrated in his pocket. Thus, he curled up in a chair off to the side and looked at his phone.


    Their set was a world of its own, separated from reality. As soon as they entered, it felt like there was a veil disconnecting them from the outside world. During filming for thest movie, Fang Shaoyi had had to leave often to film his reality show. Thus, the disconnect hadn¡¯t felt so obvious. This time, they didn¡¯t have any reality shows to film. Ji Xiaotao was also getting excluded from the rest of the crew with him. Thus, he felt like time was passing by very quickly. Each day, he only felt like he had returned to reality when he picked up his phone.


    Fang Shaoyi took out the clothes he nned to wear tomorrow and set them off to the side. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard Ji Xiaotao yell in shock, ¡°Fuck!¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fang Shaoyi nced at him.


    Ji Xiaotao squeezed his brows tightly together. He looked up at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°What is this trending topic?!!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°What?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao jumped out of his chair and handed his phone to Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi scanned it. The first trending topic on the list had a dark red ¡°exploding¡± indication next to it. The tag after that was #Fang Shaoyi Yuan Ye Divorced#


    Fang Shaoyi walked over to his jacket and pulled out his own phone. After doing so, he finally saw that Geng Jinwei had called him twice ten minutes ago. While returning the call, he clicked into that tag.


    ¡°I¡¯ll give you a big one. The ¡®Shape¡¯ CP you guys keep saying is cute actually separated a long time ago.¡± The first post on the hashtag page said this. The ount was a small promotional gossip ount. Under the text, they uploaded a few pictures too. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. The pictures had been taken on the day they had gotten divorcedst year. They were from very far away so weren¡¯t too clear, but the car was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s car. The two silhouettes seemed simr enough to Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye.


    In half an hour, this post already had thirty-something thousandments. Fang Shaoyi briefly scanned the most popr ones.


    ¡°Those pictures are as blurry as can be. The person in the photo looks 175 cm at most. Fang Shaoyi is over 184 cm. The pictures are too fake.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true. The two of them got divorcedst year. My ssmate¡¯s older brother works at the Ministry of Civil Affairs for x City. I found out the day they got divorced.¡±


    ¡°[ Eating melon ][Eating melon][Eating melon] While watching¡¶In The Times¡·I already felt that this couple was awkward. When I told others, they all told me that I didn¡¯t want the two of them to be fine. I really did want the two of you to be fine; I actually don¡¯t want to eat this melon. Hopefully nobody will force it down my throat. What a fucking mess......¡±


    ¡°Aaaaaah can promotional gossip ounts go die! I¡¯m so sick of you lot. You don¡¯t have morals and do anything to be viral! And the one in the topments who talked about their ssmate¡¯s older brother. If you¡¯re so amazing, what were you doing earlier...... I hate you people who keep talking about your ssmates¡¯ older brothers and sisters!!!! Get get get get get the fuck out!!!¡±


    ¡°Picking up and carrying Yi ge and Uncle Ye away. Trash promotional gossip ounts, our couple doesn¡¯t want to have anything to do with you. Yi ge is filming and Ye ge is writing. Neither have time to pay attention to you. Have some self respect.¡±


    ¡°[Smile] Waiting for a follow up. If in the end they say they got divorced to buy a house, I¡¯m going to die fromughter......¡±


    Nobody could get through to Geng Jinwei. He was on a call with someone else.


    This incident had urred out of the blue. Not even Fang Shaoyi had expected it. Logically speaking, it shouldn¡¯t have happened at this time. However, upon further consideration, the timing was about right. There were only two more episodes left before the show was going to finish broadcasting. This CP already had all the poprity they were going to get and were at the peak of their poprity. After the show finished airing, everybody would be eagerly waiting to expose them at the first possible opportunity. Thus, there would definitely be those who couldn¡¯t resist and wanted to beat everyone else. The effect was honestly pretty good. In barely over half an hour, this promotional gossip ount rapidly gained two hundred thousand fans.


    Fang Shaoyi called Geng Jinwei. He threw Ji Xiaotao¡¯s phone back at the other. ¡°Chat with your Ye ge. Ask him what he¡¯s doing.¡±


    ¡°Okay!¡± Ji Xiaotao sent Yuan Ye a message asking if he was busy or not.


    Yuan Ye replied very quickly: No, speak.


    Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t dare to be direct. After a long time, he sent: Ye ge, do you want to visit set?


    Yuan Ye: ......I don¡¯t currently have ns to do so.


    Fang Shaoyi got through to Geng Jinwei. As soon as the other picked up, he asked, ¡°Did you see it?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t get in contact with you just now, so didn¡¯t do anything on my side. There¡¯s no need to worry. The poprity right now is all fake. I¡¯ve already spoken with the bigpanies. They won¡¯t repost it right now. The mainstream media ounts are all waiting too. On their own, they won¡¯t be able to cause much trouble. Right now, the numbers are all fake because they¡¯ve been bought. If they have nothing else after this, they won¡¯t be able to do anything with just this picture. I want to ask you what you¡¯re actually nning on doing? Seems to me that you haven¡¯tpletely cut Yuan Ye off yet. If you two still have feelings, we¡¯ll say that you haven¡¯t gotten divorced. All we need to do is publicly deny it. In this instance, even if they posted your divorce certificates, we could say those were photoshopped. How could they prove anything? But if you guys are sure you won¡¯t get back together, we can use this opportunity to make a clean cut. This way, we¡¯d also be able to rest at ease. Or if you haven¡¯t made up your mind yet, we can continue keeping things under wraps. What do you say?¡±


    Geng Jinwei said everything all in one breath. He had asked all the questions that needed to be asked. Fang Shaoyi remained silent for a few seconds. After, he said, ¡°Leave it be for tonight.¡±


    ¡°What about tomorrow?¡± Geng Jinwei inquired.


    Fang Shaoyi stood up. He walked over to the window and pressed a hand against the windowsill, then looked outside. He couldn¡¯t answer this question.


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t wait for his response. He was extremely busy right now. He said, ¡°Take your time to figure it out. We¡¯ll talk about it again tomorrow.¡±


    After hanging up, Ji Xiaotao looked up at Fang Shaoyi. He quietly said, ¡°I don¡¯t think Ye ge knows. He didn¡¯t even mention this situation.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi maintained his straight posture. He continued staring outside the window. He made a sound of acknowledgement, but didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Someone knocked on the door. Ji Xiaotao opened it. A young man was standing outside. He said, ¡°Shaoyi ge, the director is looking for you.¡±


    ¡°Okay, thanks,¡± Fang Shaoyi said.


    The other cast members had probably seen the news too. Otherwise, they would¡¯ve called him ¡°Sen Cha¡± and not ¡°Shaoyi ge¡±.


    The director called him over. He was very straightforward, ¡°I heard about it. They¡¯re all trivial matters. Don¡¯t be affected. If you need any help, let me know.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan had never been scared of the media. He had always disregarded what outsiders said. To him, this situation waspletely irrelevant. He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°No matter how you take care of it, these trivial matters will pass in a few days. Don¡¯t let them affect your mood. Stay calm.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. He smiled as he replied, ¡°Thank you, Director. I know. I can handle it.¡±


    The director had called him over with the true purpose of observing his mood. Upon seeing that Fang Shaoyi was calm and unbothered, he let the other go.


    When Fang Shaoyi got back to his room, he noticed that Ji Xiaotao had both his phone and tablet out. He was taking turns looking between the two of them. After noticing Fang Shaoyi¡¯s return, he turned around and said, ¡°The viewer ratings for¡¶In The Times¡·tonight are definitely going to skyrocket.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Has Yuan Ye called or not?¡±


    ¡°No......¡± Ji Xiaotao shook his head. ¡°I bet he¡¯s cut off the Inte again.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded before heading into the bathroom to rinse his face. He seemed too calm. This made Ji Xiaotao rx a bit as well.


    The truth was, Fang Shaoyi really wasn¡¯t that nervous. This situation would¡¯ve been exposed sooner orter. It was only that it had happened a few days earlier than nned. He had never been afraid that anybody would share this news. However, he truly didn¡¯t know how to respond to it. He didn¡¯t know how to respond not because he wanted to avoid negative consequences, but because he couldn¡¯te to a decision.


    If he, alone, posted a denial, Yuan Ye would be forced to keep acting as his significant other indefinitely. This wasn¡¯t fair. But Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t willing to use the other PR n either.


    This was also the reason they had kept the divorce a secret until now.


    Since the previous call, he and Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t contacted each other again. It had been quite a long time. This time, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t want to keep things a secret anymore. It was either this way or that way. He needed to choose a path.


    At night, Fang Shaoyi looked over his script as usual, pondering the lines and characters. He circled the parts he felt were questionable. Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t return to his own room. He stayed holed up in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room, scrolling through his phone. Everyone online was still waiting for a follow up. While waiting, they watched the newest episode of¡¶In The Times¡·. This was already content from theirst trip to Australia. After this week¡¯s episode, next week¡¯s episode would be thest episode of the season.


    Before today, many fans felt very reluctant. Especially Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s fans. The two of them normally didn¡¯t have any sugar for everyone to eat. After finishing filming for the show, theypletely disappeared. It would be difficult to eat their sugar again when the show ended. However, as soon as this news broke today, fans¡¯ moods became conflicted. Detective fans had already started digging into the details of each episode, pulling out those illogical segments and making long summary posts. They used these to provide evidence for the fact that the two of them truly had gotten divorced. The most convincing piece of evidence was that from start to finish, the two of them had never worn their rings. Many people had started causing a fuss under the show¡¯s official Weibo ount, telling them to give an exnation. They asked that if these two had truly gotten divorced, would this be considered as the show lying to their audience?


    Right now, the head director Lin Wei had also stopped messing around. He obediently stayed hidden. Aside from promotion for the episode¡¯s broadcasting, he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Ji Xiaotao was using his tablet to watch¡¶In The Times¡·too. As he watched, he said, ¡°My Ye ge¡¯s truly handsome. Not handsome in the traditional sense, I guess. Either way, there¡¯s something about him that others can¡¯t imitate.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi ignored him. He didn¡¯t even look up.


    ¡°Goodness, this skydiving thing is enough to scare me to death,¡± Ji Xiaotao was still muttering. ¡°Ge, were you scared at the time? I feel like my heart¡¯s about to stop beating and I¡¯m only watching. If this was me, my heart might¡¯vepletely stopped beating in midair.¡±


    In the show, after Yuan Ye and his skydiving instructor got tied together, he asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°This doesn¡¯t count as cheating, right?¡±


    Because of this question, the Inte exploded again. Everyone screenshotted this phrase and asked if it was evidence that the two of them had truly gotten divorced. The reason for their divorce was that Yuan Ye had cheated. This happened all the time. When you already had a conclusion and were only looking for things to support it, you would feel that any and everything was evidence.


    Netizens now practically wished that they could watch the show through a magnifying ss. They wanted to observe every detail. Some wanted to disprove that they had gotten divorced and prove that everything was a lie by the promotional gossip ount. Others were only there for the drama. They were extremely dedicated to eating their melons,pletely unafraid of any possible karma.


    The show had edited the skydiving portion beautifully. Each person fell straight down from high in the sky and passed through the cloud cover. The wind messed up their hair, causing it to stand almostpletely on end. Their faces also changed shape. Among them, Yuan Ye was the one who looked the best. This was because he didn¡¯t have any hair at all. Thus, his appearance hadn¡¯t changed.


    Yuan Ye had been smiling as he free fell. His expression had been extremely satisfied. It felt like everyone else had been acting for the show, but only he was truly enjoying the skydiving experience. He seemed to be having a lot of fun.


    ¡°My Ye ge looks awfully good while skydiving,¡± Ji Xiaotao said.


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement. He thought of how Yuan Ye had looked at the time too. He had jumped after Yuan Ye, so they hadn¡¯t been too far apart. While falling, his eyes had been locked onto Yuan Ye¡¯s figure. Back then, all Fang Shaoyi had been thinking was that Yuan Ye was definitely enjoying this greatly. He loved trying all sorts of new things.


    During that time, he had only been able to see an endless white expanse. A pure, white world that only contained Yuan Ye.


    In the show, as soon as Yuan Yended, he immediately looked up to find Fang Shaoyi. He silently held a hand out and pointed, then revealed a huge smile. It was a very simple and carefree smile. After, he kept his gaze on Fang Shaoyi, waiting for him tond.


    Ji Xiaotao became silent. A whileter, he turned to Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°Ge......I think you should watch this episode.¡±


    For some unknown reason, Yuan Ye¡¯s smile just now had made his nose twinge. That smile was too simple. It hadn¡¯t contained anything else, clean and pure.


    Netizens said this too. Based on Uncle Ye¡¯s gaze and how he lifted his arm to point, I refuse to believe that they¡¯re divorced.


    Ji Xiaotao scooted closer to Fang Shaoyi and tugged the script out of his hands. He rested the tablet between the two of them, then rewinded the video a bit so that it started ying right when Yuan Yended on the ground.


    Fang Shaoyi watched. Afternding, Yuan Ye¡¯s first reaction wasn¡¯t to test his ears, wasn¡¯t to undo the gear on his body and separate from the instructor, but was to look up and find someone. After finding him, he smiled. That smile was extremely simr to his smile at around seventeen or eighteen. It was utterly delighted.


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at the Yuan Ye in the video. His gaze was extremely gentle, soft, and warm.


    On camera, Yuan Ye separated from his instructor and tugged at his ears. He said, ¡°I can¡¯t hear anymore.¡±


    His voice was a bit loud because he couldn¡¯t hear himself and thus couldn¡¯t control his volume. The instructor told him to rx, then said that he would need about an hour to recover. He understood from lip-reading.


    The camera cut to the other groups skydiving. Several minutester, it finally returned to Fang Shaoyinding. After hended, he undid the gear on his body and walked toward Yuan Ye. Right now, the video was from the perspective of the cameraman behind Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye was facing the camera.


    At the time, Wild Monkey had probably forgotten too that even though Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying, even though he himself couldn¡¯t hear what he was saying, the microphone still could.


    The camera revealed everything to the audience. Yuan Ye¡¯s secret also became exposed on the screen.


    In the show, Yuan Ye smiled and scooted close to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear. He softly said¡ª¡ª


    ¡°Baobei¡¯er, I want to pursue you one more time.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao instantly turned to look at Fang Shaoyi. His eyes werepletely round. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was locked on the screen; he hadn¡¯t ever looked up. The production team added background music during this segment. They also edited it into a romantic pink color.


    The Inte was a mess too. Half ofizens were praising this romance to be godly and were mesmerized by Yuan Ye¡¯s rarely seen tenderness. The other half were convinced that this phrase was evidence that the two of them had gotten divorced. Otherwise, why would he say ¡°pursue you one more time¡±? They¡¯re obviously divorced!


    If the previous incident hadn¡¯t urred, this phrase probably wouldn¡¯t have caused anyone to think in that direction. But with the divorce news from before, Yuan Ye¡¯s words became confirmation and weren¡¯t easy to exin.


    ¡°Goodness......¡± Ji Xiaotao¡¯s voice was really soft. He had been triggered by his Ye ge. He carefully looked at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°Ge, Ye ge said he wants to pursue you one more time......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything. He watched the episode until the end.


    Later on, Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth was wounded the next day. His expression also seemed a bit dark. Nobody else knew the reason except Fang Shaoyi.


    During the day, Yuan Ye had just whispered such a phrase into his ear. That night, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what nerve had snapped in his brain, but he had done the other.


    ......Too chaotic.


    Five minutes after the episode ended, Geng Jinwei was already calling. Fang Shaoyi picked up. Geng Jinwei immediately opened his mouth, ¡°I¡¯m going to fucking die because of you two. What the hell did Yuan Ye say during the show?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi thought back to what Yuan Ye had told him that day. Heughed and repeated it, saying, ¡°Sweet nothings.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s the n for the two of you? Remarriage?¡± Geng Jinwei sounded extremely agitated. He was probably close to being annoyed to death.


    Fang Shaoyi was stillughing. ¡°I don¡¯t know ah. He said he¡¯s going to pursue me. I¡¯ll wait.¡±


    ¡°Then what should I do tomorrow?¡± Geng Jinwei¡¯s voice sounded a bit hoarse. ¡°The first decade of your career, you were as well-behaved as could be. Howe you¡¯re starting to cause trouble now that you¡¯re old?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was still softlyughing. He said, ¡°Geng ge has worked hard.¡±


    ¡°I really fucking have,¡± Geng Jinwei said.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Post it tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°What should it say?¡±


    ¡°That we haven¡¯t gotten divorced,¡± Fang Shaoyi said.


    Geng Jinwei cussed, then added, ¡°Alright.¡±


    After Fang Shaoyi hung up, Ji Xiaotao scooted close. He looked up at the other and asked, ¡°Ge, are you going to get back together with my Ye ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡±


    ¡°I could feel that you guys would get back together. You guys were insane to get divorced in the first ce. Bored with nothing else to do......¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s words just now had given Ji Xiaotao courage. Now, he was brave enough to say anything and everything. ¡°Could you guys even live with anybody else?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. His expression was calm, but the corners of his eyes were soft. They were angled into gentle crescents.


    ¡°So to outsiders, we¡¯re saying you¡¯re not divorced?¡± Ji Xiaotao asked again.


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Ji Xiaotao was a bit excited. He didn¡¯t want to go to sleep, so deliberately stayed by Fang Shaoyi¡¯s side. Fang Shaoyi found him annoying, so told him to hurry and go back to his own room. Ji Xiaotao refused.


    However, not long after, Geng Jinwei made another call.


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Geng Jinwei cussed as soon as he opened his mouth. ¡°I¡¯m really fucking done.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow.


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°We won¡¯t be able to post it anymore. Look online yourself. He really fucking is a wild monkey. Good thing he isn¡¯t an artist under my management. Otherwise, I would skin himpletely. He¡¯s too good at causing trouble.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi removed his phone from his ear. As soon as he opened Weibo, he noticed that the first few trending topics were all rted to Yuan Ye.


    ¡ª#Yuan Ye#


    ¡ª#Yuan Ye Pursue You One More Time#


    ¡ª#Yuan Ye¡¯s Reply#


    ¡°How about this. You too decide among yourselves, then give me a final n of action. It¡¯s a good thing I didn¡¯t post anything yet. If I had, it would be really fucking lively now. Just like new year¡¯s celebrations,¡± Geng Jinwei said on the phone.


    Fang Shaoyi clicked into one of the topics. The first post was from Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo.


    A picture. The picture was of two rings on a book. Two simple and unembellished rings.


    ¡ª¡ª¡°I heard someone wants to expose me. That won¡¯t do. I¡¯ll expose myself. It¡¯s all my fault. I brought it up. You don¡¯t need to use this trivial stuff as explosive content to expose. What does it matter? During the show¡¯s filming, I thought that the whole world would be deaf too because I was deaf. But it seems like I was the only one who was deaf. Since I already said it, now the ball¡¯s in your court, Fang Shaoyi. Can I pursue you one more time? If you say yes, I¡¯ll do it. If you say no, I¡¯ll try again next year.¡±

 Chapter 24

    <h4>Chapter 24</h4>


    The trending topics had practically beenpletely taken over by Yuan Ye. Everyone on Weibo was discussing this news. Weibo practically crashed because of all the people searching up Yuan Ye.


    Ji Xiaotao exploded too after seeing that Weibo post. He couldn¡¯t stop chitter-chattering in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear; eventually, Fang Shaoyi pushed him away, then told him to go back to his own room and to stop being annoying.


    Chi Xing reposted Yuan Ye¡¯s weibo with the caption: ¡°[Big smile][Big smile] Yuan Ye ge is so direct! Hahaha, hurry and pursue him! Are these two geges purposefully hurting us?¡±


    Cheng Xun reposted it through Chi Xing¡¯s repost, saying: ¡°Supporting Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    Feng Leizi and the other writers were also very diligent in joining in the fun. They wanted tough at Yuan Ye, so theirments were all mocking when they reposted. ¡°Uncle Ye has encountered another spring after the age of thirty.¡±


    ¡°Come, see how coquettish you¡¯ve made your Uncle Ye.¡±


    ¡°Nice and steady, Ye ge.¡±


    At this time, smart people wouldn¡¯t repost Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo. They also wouldn¡¯t interact with him. This was because currently, Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t made a move yet. Nobody knew for sure what result woulde out of this post by Yuan Ye. It might pass, or it mightpletely flop. If the two of them had long since been on bad terms and Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t reply, or directly refuted him, Yuan Ye would immediately get pushed into the mud. More extensively, if in the future, someone else dug up news about Yuan Ye cheating or something else negative, the people who reposted his post today would also be affected. Others would only dare to make their opinions known after Fang Shaoyi replied.


    It didn¡¯t really matter that Feng Leizi and them had reposted it. Yuan Ye and them were the ones in the same circle. At the end of the day, they actually didn¡¯t really care about the gossip in the entertainment industry. However, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun¡¯s almost immediate responses were truly quite surprising. Did the two of them not know about the hidden andplicated thought processes behind this? Impossible. Even if they didn¡¯t, theirpany would. The two of them had always really liked Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi. This had been obvious in the show. Now, they disregarded everything else and quickly appeared to help Yuan Ye change the flow of conversation, slowing down the sharp inquisitions and mocking. It was easy to see that these two kids were quite loyal and cared for their friendships.


    Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t let Yuan Ye remain at the cusp of public attention by himself for too long. He very quickly replied by reposting Yuan Ye¡¯s post. He only added one word: ¡°Pursue.¡±


    As soon as he replied, Weibo became even livelier. The celebrities in the entertainment industry all started reposting Yuan Ye¡¯s post, saying that these two really knew how to y around and abuse dogs. Fang Shaoyi called Yuan Ye as soon as he reposted the Weibo, but the call didn¡¯t go through. The other¡¯s phone was turned off.


    Upon thinking about it, he realized this made sense. Yuan Ye¡¯s phone was definitely exploding right now as different messages and calls tried to reach him. ording to Yuan Ye¡¯s personality, the other would definitely be annoyed, so had simply turned his phone off to avoid it all.


    Geng Jinwei¡¯s side had also already started working: he filtered thements to try and lead the direction of the conversation. He ensured that when entertainment ounts reposted, theirments were all rted to promotion for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s new film. This would allow the rumors about Yuan Ye cheating to be suppressed. With this news, it was impossible for them not to get cussed out at all. Therefore, he decided to try and get people to cuss out Fang Shaoyi for trying tomercially exploit this poprity rather than another topic. This would minimize the negative influences the most.


    But not everything could bepletely suppressed. Some negativements regarding other things became popr.


    ¡°PR 666. You¡¯vee up with a n of action so soon. After getting divorced, you still went on a dating reality show and treated your fans like idiots. Now that you¡¯ve been exposed, you¡¯re forcing someone outside of the industry toe and take the me for you. How quick was it for you to change the story into ¡®a couple ying around¡¯. I don¡¯t even know if this year¡¯s onlookers are stupid or if thepany¡¯s water army is too amazing.¡±


    ¡°XX Station is as trashy and immoral as always. Could the production crew not have known that they were divorced? Yet they, too, kept it hidden from the audience. Now that this thing¡¯s been exposed, they don¡¯t even dare to make a single noise.¡±


    ¡°When I was watching the show, I felt like Yuan Ye was too troublesome. Fang Shaoyi kept following him around. Saying he¡¯s straightforward is so hrious. More like he¡¯s straightforward with his ploys. As soon as he says this, Fang can¡¯t even reply. Nobody would publicly refute him like this, not to mention that Fang normally isn¡¯t the type to refute anybody. Isn¡¯t this just him forcing the other to get back together with him? Sorry about this, but I¡¯m going to be direct. This whole situation is so annoying.¡±


    ¡°You went out and had enough fun, but now you want toe back and eat the grass you already had. And you still say your image is stubborn and carefree. Ou. [ Husky ][Husky]¡±


    Unexpectedly, not even a few minutes had passed before Yuan Ye had already called back. Fang Shaoyi stared at the name on the screen, ¡°Monkey¡±. For a moment, he didn¡¯t know what expression to make as he answered.


    ¡°Yi ge,¡± Yuan Ye called out as soon as the call got picked up.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was very deep. ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°Hahaha, why are you so aggressive? Didn¡¯t you just say that I could pursue you?¡± Yuan Yeughed unashamedly. ¡°Turning around and pretending you don¡¯t know me. Not sticking to your promise.¡±


    Originally, Fang Shaoyi was actually a bit angry. But upon hearing his cheerful voice, he couldn¡¯t remain angry. He only felt exasperated. With brows furrowed, he said, ¡°Who told you to say those things? Are you looking to get cussed out?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s the truth though.¡± Yuan Ye chuckled again, then added, ¡°Let them cuss me out. I won¡¯t see thosements anyways.¡±


    ¡°The truth?¡± Fang Shaoyi scoffed. He asked, ¡°You pursued me? You brought up getting a divorce?¡±


    ¡°Ey, it¡¯s all the same,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°No matter who pursued who, didn¡¯t we get together in the end anyways? No matter who brought up the divorce, didn¡¯t we end up......getting divorced anyways? So all of that stuff doesn¡¯t matter. It truly was my fault. I was being overdramatic.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi listened to Yuan Ye speak. As he did so, he slowly rxed his furrowed brows. This was Yuan Ye. This was something Yuan Ye would say. When Fang Shaoyi had first seen that Weibo post, he really felt furious. This furiosity originated from the fact that in Yuan Ye¡¯s post, he had pushed all the me onto himself, causing Fang Shaoyi to remain as innocent as could be. Regardless of whatever happened to them in the future, it wouldn¡¯t be Fang Shaoyi¡¯s fault. If they got back together, it would be because Yuan Ye had begged for it to happen. If in the end they remained separated, that would be because Yuan Ye was reaping what he had sowed. In others¡¯ hearts, Fang Shaoyi was still that high and mighty, polite and gentle, film emperor.


    Yuan Ye had made that Weibo post on impulse. Actually, he knew better than anyone what his own intentions were. How could Fang Shaoyi be willing for him to carry all the me? But Yuan Ye acted first. He had already ensured that Fang Shaoyi was in a passive position.


    However, the impact this Weibo post had on Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t merely be described with the word ¡°furious¡±.


    Had his heartbeat not quickened?


    Impossible.


    ¡°Yi ge, I¡¯ve been thinking a lot recently.¡± Yuan Ye was probably smoking. Fang Shaoyi could hear the sounds of him exhaling smoke. ¡°For me, you don¡¯t need to take what I said so seriously. I¡¯m not forcing you. I just don¡¯t want everyone else to dig into our divorce like it¡¯s some scandal. That¡¯s no fun.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t interrupt him. He listened to him continue.


    ¡°I said that because I wanted to leave a second path for us.¡± Yuan Ye chuckled lowly. ¡°I was scared that you would directly confirm that we had gotten divorced. I acted wretchedly for once because I didn¡¯t want us to separate sopletely.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment before asking, ¡°What do you want if you don¡¯t want us to separate?¡±


    Yuan Yeughed again. Hisughter was a bit raspy, but listening to it was veryforting. ¡°Must you make me say it out loud?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied very generously, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Yuan Ye was stillughing. After he finished, he answered, ¡°I want to get back together with you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes. He used his finger to scratch the back of his phone. He heard Yuan Ye continue, ¡°Ge, I¡¯m going to be honest with you. Before going on this show, I thought that we were over already. I just wanted to see you. As a person......you know me. I¡¯m not willing to turn back even after hitting the south wall. This was the first time in my life that I wanted to turn back. This entire time, I¡¯ve only wanted to turn back.¡±


    Regardless for the speaker or the listener, this speech was a bit sorrowful. This was because the two words ¡°turn back¡± carried a feeling of regret.


    ¡°But I posted that Weibo because of panic and because I had no other options. Don¡¯t feel like I¡¯m forcing you to get back together with me. Humans need to suffer for their own decisions. In the beginning, I didn¡¯t always use the best methods to resolve things, so chose the most extreme route. Therefore, all the awkwardness and pain today are the consequences I have to bear.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll just leave things to time, and to fate,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    Fang Shaoyi was so angry that he felt his vision go ck. Who are you waiting for to decide whether or not we have fate? God? Life?


    Fang Shaoyi opened his mouth, but didn¡¯t say anything. He had no way of replying to Yuan Ye. He felt like his words were stuck in his throat.


    Fine, you can listen to fate then.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never witnessed you listening to anyone in almost half your life,¡± Fang Shaoyi said lowly. Then he scolded, ¡°No matter what you¡¯re going to say in the future, you need to ask me first. Don¡¯t put all the me on yourself. I don¡¯t need you to carry anything for me. Behave yourself and let me rest slightly more at ease.¡±


    ¡°Alrighty,¡± Yuan Ye answered with a smile.


    The next day, Fang Shaoyi officially posted a Weibo discussing this incident: ¡°I won¡¯t share our family matters with the public in the future. This was a trivial matter that doesn¡¯t need to cause everyone worry; let¡¯s allow emotions to resolve emotional troubles.¡±


    This one post was only two sentences, but these were two loaded sentences. Starting off with ¡°family matters¡± caused many to ponder. Resolving through ¡°emotions¡± was also quite mysterious.


    Some CP fans cried while eating dog food: ¡°Got stabbed once yesterday, but now this couple has helped fill in my wound one after the other. Charge, Uncle Ye!¡±


    ¡°O K. I love watching this show.¡±


    ¡°qaq I¡¯m begging the two geges! You absolutely need to be fine! You two really, really are myst hope! If you actually get divorced, I¡¯m honestly never going to believe in love again wuwuwuwuwu!¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I still feel like the two of them are so invigorating. Even after their divorce I still think they¡¯re so cool. I suppose there¡¯s no cure for me now......¡±


    Ji Xiaotao got a few fake ounts too and joined in the fun. Hemented: ¡°Seems to me like you two simply had nothing better to do. Hurry and get remarried!¡±


    After hemented, he also sent Yuan Ye a message asking: ¡°Ye ge, how do you n on pursuing him? Do you need his schedule? How about his room number?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied with a voice message: ¡°Can you stop sending me messages? So annoying.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao: ¡°What tone are you using to speak to me? There are plenty of things you¡¯re going to need me for! Reconsider well!¡±


    Yuan Ye lightly responded: ¡°I don¡¯t need anyone.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao: ......


    Quite bold.


    Ji Xiaotao: ¡°Ye ge, when are you going to start pursuing?¡±


    Yuan Ye: ¡°None of your business.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao asked him: ¡°Ye ge, are you really not going to visit our set? The two of us are very pitiful right now. We do the busy work for the entire crew. Sometimes we don¡¯t even have food to eat.¡±


    Yuan Ye was very cold and responded with two words: ¡°Not visiting.¡±

 Chapter 25

    <h4>Chapter 25</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi was already really good at working with his scissors now. When he stood there, he actually seemed quite simr to a young barber ¨C except for the fact that he was a bit tall. The chair needed to be raised as high as possible for him tofortably reach someone¡¯s hair. Liu An said that he was fine now. As long as he was good with scissors, ab, and a blowdryer, that was enough. Liu An casually grabbed a kid over and said, ¡°Come, your hair¡¯s getting long. Let your Shaoyi ge give you a haircut.¡±


    The boy¡¯s gaze was filled with horror, but he didn¡¯t struggle. As if preparing for death, he sat in the chair and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made eye contact with him in the mirror and smiled. ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s impossible......¡± The boy¡¯s expression was pained. ¡°But my hair grows really fast, so it¡¯s fine.¡±


    Liu An patted him on the shoulder, leaned against a chair off to the side, and sipped at his milk tea. He said, ¡°If it turns out bad, I¡¯ll get someone to fix it for you.¡±


    The boy nodded. He sat there and allowed Fang Shaoyi to fiddle as he wished.


    In all honesty, he was getting more than he thought he would. Not only was this a haircut, but it also included a head massage. The background setting for the film was a bit ambiguous, but wasrgely set in an era simr to the 90¡¯s. Thus, reclining chairs like the ones in modern salons didn¡¯t exist. During the application of dry shampoo, the client could only remain sitting in the chair while the barber rubbed their hair until it started foaming. This would be both a hair wash and massage. These were a film emperor¡¯s hands ¨C as Fang Shaoyi rubbed his hair, the boy started smiling. He said, ¡°I really ought to take a picture right now and send it to my girlfriend. She really likes Teacher Fa......Sen Cha.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi joked with him too. He nced at the other in the mirror, then said, ¡°You should¡¯ve turned on a livestream for your girlfriend when you were ordering me around yesterday.¡±


    ¡°My goodness.¡± The boy blinked. He nced over at Liu An who wasughing off to the side and softly said, ¡°Director already said that Teacher F......he! Said that he won¡¯t hold a grudge.¡±


    The onlookers startedughing too. The atmosphere around them was only a bit more rxed because Fang Shaoyi was working. If he had nothing to do, these people were required to find more tasks for him toplete. They also needed to exclude him. Either way, everyone was used to it now. Sometimes, they even forgot that he was Fang Shaoyi in their hearts. They had already sessfully brainwashed themselves.


    There was one week left until Fang Shaoyi would start filming. This period of time that hadsted almost a month had been pretty rough to live through. Sometimes, the multitude of people purposefully making things difficult and specifically targeting him became too much. Everything was only okay because this was Fang Shaoyi. If this were any other actor of the same status as him, they probably would¡¯ve long since been unable to hold back their temper and exploded.


    Yuan Ye had said that he would pursue Fang Shaoyi, but after saying so, nothing else happened. The conversation regarding their divorce had stopped spreading online as well. It ended with Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Weibo post. All that followed were only considered trivial arguments. Most people were merely onlookers blindly guessing and analyzing. After the parties involved stopped appearing, everything stopped. The two of them didn¡¯t have any gossip worth digging deep into anyways. However, this was also partially because Geng Jinwei and thepany¡¯s PR department were continuously suppressing and monitoring thements. These past few years, Fang Shaoyi had rarely used his PR department. This was the first time that he had needed such arge-scale operation.


    Geng Jinwei was beyond exhausted because of these two. It had been several days since he had called.


    A whileter, Ji Xiaotao led someone into the dressing room. He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, thepany¡¯s rookie is here.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi turned around and nced at them. The boy Geng Jinwei had previously brought along smiled at him. He nodded in greeting, ¡°Shaoyi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded back at him and asked, ¡°Have you seen the director already?¡±


    Yang Siran answered, ¡°Not yet. I just got here.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°Has thepany assigned you anybody yet? Is someone following you around?¡±


    ¡°Yes, Boss Geng has arranged for an assistant for me,¡± Yang Siran nodded.


    ¡°Okay,¡± Fang Shaoyi said. ¡°If you need anything, you can also tell Xiaotao.¡±


    In private, Ji Xiaotao told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°I feel like the kid¡¯s not bad. He¡¯s pretty obedient and doesn¡¯t have any unforgivable issues. He¡¯s in good condition as well. If we promote him properly, he should be able to be popr.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t really in contact with the kid all that much. Geng Jinwei wanted to promote him, so he would help the other out, but he didn¡¯t really have any opinions.


    The rookie was, after all, signed to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s studio. Besides, Fang Shaoyi himself was on set too. Thus, everyone treated him quite well. Yang Siran was extremely polite to everybody, even the film crew¡¯s workers. He never tried to act important either. However, many rookies acted this way prior to getting popr. If they became famous in the future, they would practically switch personalities. The entertainment industry was just this motivated by wealth and fame. Kissing up to those better off than you while stepping on those worse off than you had already be a habit.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s first scene was in coboration with him. This was also purposefully arranged by the director. Of the entire cast, Yang Siran was the only newbie. The director scheduled for his first scene ever to be with Fang Shaoyi because he wanted to use this as an opportunity to get the other into character faster. Besides, he was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s artist. Fang Shaoyi had brought him on set, so he was responsible for teaching Yang Siran how to act and practicing lines with him.


    Prior to the start of filming, Yang Siran told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Shaoyi ge, I¡¯ve never acted in a movie before. If I¡¯m doing anything wrong, just tell me straight. You don¡¯t need to save face for me or anything.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. There¡¯s no need to be nervous. Since Boss Geng signed you, that means he sees potential in you. Take it slow.¡±


    ¡°Un, I¡¯m just scared of causing trouble or holding you back.¡± He smiled in slight embarrassment. ¡°So if I perform poorly in any way, tell me.¡±


    But unexpectedly, this kid had a pretty good feel for acting. The first scene was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s initial arrival at the little vige and how he rented a room. Yang Siran¡¯s character was Sen Cha¡¯sndlord, a very cowardly college student with sses. After graduation, he became assigned to the pharmaceutical factory for work. Later, because of his poor health, he quit. When Sen Cha arrived at the little vige, he was in the middle of loitering around at home, collecting rent to maintain a living.


    Sometimes, it took several days for a newbie to pass the first scene. However, it only took four takes before they passed this one. Some people had a natural feel for the camera. Though they¡¯d never acted before, they had very strong impulses regarding how to behave on camera. Directors liked these types of people more: their favorites were people who had never really acted before but were talented, because that meant that they were extraordinarily clean tes. They had never learned multitudes of techniques before. And, in addition to their natural skills, they were easier to mold. After the molding procedure, there might even be an unexpected surprise.


    Later, Director Jiang said to Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Little actor¡¯s not bad.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and replied, ¡°He¡¯s alright. He¡¯s lucky to be debuting in your film too.¡±


    ¡°Luck?¡± Director Jiang scoffed. ¡°Your Boss Geng stuck him in. There was originally a more fitting little actor who got squeezed away by you guys.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled. He could be more straightforward when speaking with Jiang Linchuan. He said, ¡°Boss Geng wants me to help him.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan didn¡¯t say anything else. At the end of the day, this wasn¡¯t an important character. Besides, the kid, Yang Siran, wasn¡¯t bad.


    Movies with modern backgrounds like this one weren¡¯t as difficult to film as historical ones. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t have to suffer as much, so Ji Xiaotao was able to rx a lot more. Because of this, he started worrying about useless matters. He asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, has my Ye ge pursued you yet or not?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°What does it look like to you?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t seen anything happen between you two.¡± Ji Xiaotao tentatively asked, ¡°When is Ye ge going to start pursuing?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even look up. ¡°Go ask him.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not replying to my messages because he¡¯s tired of me,¡± Ji Xiaotao said.


    These days, Yuan Ye had truly stopped replying to his messages. This pissed Ji Xiaotao off so much that he was extremely close to blocking the other.


    Fang Shaoyi scolded, ¡°I told you not to keep annoying him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m scared that if I don¡¯t contact him, you guys won¡¯t speak to each other again for a long time. Aren¡¯t I just anxious?¡± Ji Xiaotao handed the script for tomorrow¡¯s scenes that the assistant director had given him to Fang Shaoyi. He said, ¡°For us, we have to stay here filming until May of next year. All you do is stay on set. You never go anywhere. If I don¡¯t call Ye ge over, when are you guys going to be able to get back together?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was annoyed at him too. He pointed his chin at the door and signaled, ¡°Hurry and go back to your room. Go to sleep. Don¡¯t stay here and lecture me.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao was originally nning to head back too. He said, ¡°Then you sleep earlier too, ge. You have to get up at six in the morning tomorrow. I¡¯lle wake you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi waved, wanting him to leave. Ji Xiaotao closed the door behind himself.


    Yuan Ye was too unreliable. He said he wanted to pursue Fang Shaoyi, but disappeared after a phone call. The CP fans online asked about Yuan Ye¡¯s progress everyday, dreaming about the day that they would be able to get a mouthful of dog food again. However, this person had vanished once more. After getting one¡¯s hopes up, he hid.


    Fang Shaoyi grabbed his phone and sent Yuan Ye a message.


    Their chat was still stuck on their conversationst time, when Yuan Ye had texted Fang Shaoyi ¡°Thank you for this destiny.¡± After, they hadn¡¯t messaged each other again. Fang Shaoyi pressed his lips together and sent to Yuan Ye: Waiting for fate tond on your head?


    He wasn¡¯t counting on Yuan Ye to reply. Who knew when the other would check his phone again?


    When Yuan Ye replied, Fang Shaoyi had already fallen asleep. In the middle of the night, he said: Hahahahahahaha.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s phone was at the head of his bed. He grabbed it and nced at the screen, then furrowed his brows and directly replied with a voice message: ¡°What are you dumblyughing about.¡±


    He was half asleep, so his voice was deep and raspy. When it travelled through the phone line and reached Yuan Ye, it could even make Yuan Ye¡¯s ear feel numb. Yuan Ye responded with a voice message too: ¡°You¡¯re seducing me, ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and sent him a voice message: ¡°Seducing your what?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied very quickly: ¡°Seducing my ear.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even open his eyes; they were still shut: ¡°You¡¯re hard?¡±


    Yuan Ye first sent over ellipses. Several secondster, he sent a two second voice message. Whileughing, he said: ¡°Fuck......¡±


    These two people were pretty insane. One probably hadn¡¯t gone to bed yet, while the other was half asleep. Then, they chatted back and forth, holding a meaningless conversation.


    Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi: ¡°Has Xiaotao be gay? Seems to me that he acts less and less like a straight man these days? He dilly-dallies as much as an auntie.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know.¡± Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t pay that much attention to his assistant¡¯s love life. He knew nothing on the topic. ¡°If he keeps annoying you, just block him.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t do either. Sometimes he has official business.¡±


    It had been too, too long since they had spoken with each other like this ¨C messaging each other purely to chat. Thest time had been several years ago. At that time, they hadn¡¯t thought too much about anything. They did as they wanted.


    Later on, Yuan Ye simply called. Fang Shaoyi answered. Yuan Yeughed and said, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi responded with, ¡°Un.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Do you feel like right now, we¡¯re acting like two coquettish uncles who are imitating how the young men chat these days?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°We can¡¯t chat if we¡¯re not young men? They applied for a patent?¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter again. He started coughing because of this.


    After Yuan Ye finishedughing, Fang Shaoyi called out, ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye really liked listening to Fang Shaoyi shout his name. He really, really liked it. It was the same two words, but nobody else could call them out with the same feeling Fang Shaoyi did. It only sounded extra nice when he did it. Yuan Ye answered, ¡°Ey.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°Quit smoking maybe?¡±


    Yuan Ye paused for a moment. After, heughed and said, ¡°I knew you would bring this topic up.¡±


    Previously, Yuan Ye had smoked for a period of time. Many writers had this problem: they would casually pick up a cigarette as they wrote. He always coughed. After enough time, Fang Shaoyi forced him to quit.


    Now, his addiction was pretty serious. It probably wouldn¡¯t be easy to quit. Yuan Ye said, ¡°I¡¯ll smoke less.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything extra. He made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Just like this, they kept the call going. Both glued their phones to their ears, listening to the other lowly whispering to them,te at night. This was prettyfortable. Eventually, it got toote. Fang Shaoyi still needed to film. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Sleep now. Otherwise, it¡¯ll be hard to apply makeup tomorrow.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi agreed. He reminded, ¡°You sleep earlier too. Don¡¯t stay up toote. You¡¯re already thirty-something.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Alright.¡±


    Both of them were waiting for the other to hang up first. Prior to ending the call, Fang Shaoyi called out to Yuan Ye once more. Yuan Ye inquired, ¡°What?¡±


    With closed eyes, Fang Shaoyi softly asked him, ¡°When do you n oning out to find fate?¡±

 Chapter 26

    <h4>Chapter 26</h4>


    This phone call ended up being a tangled mess of emotions.


    Ji Xiatao didn¡¯t know yet that those two had already called each other in the middle of the night. He continued worrying uselessly, stressing greatly. However, he didn¡¯t even dare to say anything about this.


    Fang Shaoyi was too calm. He was always like this. When you looked at him, you wouldn¡¯t be able to tell what he was thinking at all; you also wouldn¡¯t be able to guess.


    ¡°Tao ge, busy?¡± Yang Siran¡¯s assistant was named Chen Tong. He was also someone who had worked at thepany for a long time. Ji Xiaotao and him were fairly close.


    Fang Shaoyi and Yang Siran were practicing their lines together. Chen Tong walked over to Ji Xiaotao and squatted down next to him.


    Ji Xiaotao greeted him, then scooted his butt over to sit in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chair. He pointed at the one he had originally been resting in and said, ¡°Sit.¡±


    Chen Tong smiled and sat.


    Ji Xiaotao hugged the big bag that Fang Shaoyi kept his clothes in and chatted with Chen Tong, ¡°Are you going to stick with him long term?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know yet. I¡¯ll just listen to orders, I guess,¡± Chen Tong sighed. ¡°Actually, I¡¯ve been feeling a bit incapable recently. These past few years, I¡¯ve be worse and worse at staying upte.¡±


    Ji Xiaotaoughed. He nced at the other. ¡°How old are you? Already can¡¯t stay upte?¡±


    Chen Tong said, ¡°My body condition isn¡¯t good. Far worse than you, Tao ge. I can¡¯t pull all-nighters. When I do, I get headaches.¡±


    Two messages arrived on Ji Xiaotao¡¯s phone. They were from Jian Xu¡¯s assistant. He didn¡¯t have any important business ¨C he had just sent two silly stickers over. Ji Xiaotao replied with a sticker too while saying, ¡°Then submit a request to the leaders about transferring to be a manager. It¡¯s more rxing, but you still might have to follow newbies around for half a year to a whole year.¡±


    ¡°Un, I mentioned it to Lin gest time,¡± Chen Tong said. ¡°Following artists around for filming is really a bit too much.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao chatted on and off with him, all the while having a sticker war with Jian Xu¡¯s assistant on WeChat. These days, Jian Xu was still a reliable TV emperor. With him in a drama, the viewer ratings were guaranteed to be good. As long as the script wasn¡¯t horrible and post-production was passable, he could always pull in views. Fang Shaoyi and him had maintained a good rtionship through the years. Their graduating ss had produced quite a few celebrities, but the two of them had the highest statuses. Jian Xu¡¯s assistant had just turned twenty four. He had only started working in this industryst year, so always treated himself as a rookie. He was also a bit silly, so loved to send stickers.


    Ji Xiaotao asked him on WeChat: Still in Beijing?


    Jian Xu¡¯s assistant was named Dong Lin. He replied: Nope, in x City. We¡¯re very close ya.


    Ji Xiaotao: Speak properly.


    Dong Lin: Hahahaha why do you think I¡¯m teasing you? My Jian ge said that since we¡¯re so close, we can hang out.


    Ji Xiaotao: Really? Here to film?


    Dong Lin: Rea~lly.


    Ji Xiaotao: So gay.


    In actuality, the kid was straight; he also wasn¡¯t girly, he was just purposefully acting silly. Ji Xiaotao and him chatted for a bit. After Fang Shaoyi finished filming, Ji Xiaotao told him, ¡°Jian ge¡¯s in x City. Wants to meet for a meal.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°What¡¯s he here for? Filming?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao answered, ¡°Yes, I heard Dong Lin say that they¡¯re scheduled to film here for around 40 days.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and said, ¡°Pick a time then. When we¡¯re both free, I¡¯ll head over to have a meal with him.¡±


    Yang Siran and Chen Tong weren¡¯t that far away from the two of them. Ji Xiaotao heard Yang Siran whisper, ¡°Can you not check my phone in the future? Just leave it alone if there are messages.¡±


    He didn¡¯t hear what Chen Tong¡¯s reply was. His voice was too soft. He probably didn¡¯t dare to speak too loudly because Fang Shaoyi was so close. Ji Xiaotao nced in that direction, then turned back around to continue speaking with Fang Shaoyi.


    The shot they had just filmed hadn¡¯t passed. In a bit, they needed to retake it. During these breaks between shots, Fang Shaoyi normally didn¡¯t speak that much. He needed to maintain his emotional state. Unrted topics would cause his emotions to disappear.


    Yang Siran took a few steps in the opposite direction. Chen Tong followed. Thus, Fang Shaoyi and Ji Xiaotao could no longer hear their conversation. Yang Siran gently furrowed his brows, seemingly in slight disagreement with Chen Tong¡¯s reply. He kept lowering his voice and saying something.


    Ji Xiaotao handed a bottle of water over to Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi silently took it from him and drank a gulp to soothe his throat.


    This time, Jian Xu hade to the film studio to film a movie. He was only less than two hours away from Fang Shaoyi by car. Fang Shaoyi found the spare time to go visit him on set.


    The director was a young, new, and innovative director. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t coborated with him before, but had seen the other a few times during film festivals. They had also conversed before. Right now, they were filming a casual, modern romance. Jian Xu¡¯s character was an outwardly sullen but inwardly coquettish PE teacher. This was a ssic Valentine¡¯s Day movie that could be easily finished while eating popcorn and drinking Coke. The director didn¡¯t have any wild ambitions. It also wasn¡¯t that tiring filming these types of movies.


    The director sipped at the iced tea Ji Xiaotao had brought and cheerfully spoke with Fang Shaoyi. He was a year younger than even Fang Shaoyi, so was honestly considered young in the directing circle. He said, ¡°Shaoyi ge, take a visiting pictureter. We¡¯ll post a Weibo.¡±


    The people surrounding themughed. Jian Xu asked, ¡°Then should we take the picture sitting?¡±


    ¡°Nevermind. It¡¯s the same anywhere. Photoshop my legs longer when you post it,¡± the director said.


    That day, Fang Shaoyi and Jian Xu had a meal together, along with Ji Xiaotao and Dong Lin. They were all old friends, so it didn¡¯t matter that their assistants were sitting with them. There weren¡¯t that many extra considerations. Actually, in the past few years, Fang Shaoyi and Jian Xu hadn¡¯t seen each other too many times. However, with their rtionship, they didn¡¯t feel more distanced from the other at all. Each time they met, they still had a lot to talk about. Everyone knew that they were very good friends ¨C and truly, they were extremely good friends.


    In the private room, Jian Xu took off his shirt. Thus, he was only wearing a wifebeater. Ji Xiaotao chuckled and said, ¡°Jian ge¡¯s muscles are looking good recently.¡±


    Jian Xu scoffed and looked askance at him. ¡°Mocking me? In front of your ge, I still have the face to bring up my muscles?¡±


    ¡°You are a bit less toned than my ge,¡± Ji Xiaotao cackled. ¡°But if they don¡¯t look at my ge and only look at you, yours are still really good.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t even know if you¡¯replimenting me orplimenting your ge.¡± Jian Xu unscrewed a bottle of iced beer for himself. He asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Want some?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi rarely drank alcohol. He poured himself a cup of tea.


    Jian Xu bumped his ss onto the other¡¯s. ¡°Let¡¯s clink sses, bro. It¡¯s been half a year since we¡¯ve seen each other.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°You got any more gigs after this?¡±


    ¡°Yep. I have a historical drama after this film. After that, nothing so far. I want to take a break,¡± Jian Xu said.


    During the meal, Jian Xu didn¡¯t eat much. Later, he ordered a sd and slowly chewed it. While eating, he said, ¡°My instructor won¡¯t let me eat most things. He also told me to eat eggs, but I haven¡¯t. I fucking hate eggs the most.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Eat something else as a substitute. Same effect.¡±


    Jian Xu and Fang Shaoyi were the same age. These years, Fang Shaoyi had never really filmed any romanticedies, but Jian Xu had filmed a lot. However, he was thirty six too. In a few years, he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue down this path. He needed to consider changing images.


    Fang Shaoyi and him were buddies. There wasn¡¯t anything that couldn¡¯t be said between them. Back then, when they were in school, they spent all day together. Throughout all these years, they hadn¡¯t gotten into any arguments either. They were among the few true bros in this industry. Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°If you want to change your image, you need to stop epting invitations for these types of films. The audience might ept you for one or two, your fans might ensure that you make enough ticket sales, but after enough time, your image will be set. There are no pros.¡±


    Jian Xu filled up the other¡¯s tea cup again before bitterly chuckling. He said, ¡°Nobody asks for me, ge. These days, the ones inviting me are all for the third male lead or lesser. I never even get any invites for the second male lead. Even if there are, they¡¯re all for shitty movies. The role this time is actually alright; at least the script is passable. I¡¯d even be okay with guest starring in a movie. How am I supposed to act as the third or fourth male lead?¡±


    Jian Xu was a true A-list celebrity in the drama circle. For all these years, he hadn¡¯t lost his ce. However, he no longer acted in idol dramas anymore. Currently, there were only so many different genres of dramas that could be aired in this industry. Disregarding the war dramas, there were many limits on what could be filmed. Justst year, he had filmed a post-marriage family drama that had received fairly high reviews. But filming too many of those made even the actors annoyed. It was rare for big production political ploy dramas to be avable every year too; Jian Xu couldn¡¯t afford to wait.


    A very awkward situation. His studio andpany¡¯s resources were all in the TV drama industry. They couldn¡¯t reach into the film industry, so couldn¡¯t receive offers from big directors for big productions. Many famous directors also had their own go-to actors. Jian Xu didn¡¯t want to act in a subpar film either. Thus, year after year, he had dragged on. This was why he was still filming dramas.


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°The third or fourth male leads in some movies aren¡¯t bad either. I heard that you rejected Director Wei¡¯s offerst year. I¡¯ll keep an eye out for you. If there¡¯s a suitable role in the future, I¡¯ll let you know. Then you can let yourpany go ask about whether it¡¯s usible or not.¡±


    Each year, Fang Shaoyi rejected a lot of film offers because of his schedule. But he and Jian Xu werepletely different types. In general, movies that invited him weren¡¯t necessarily the best fit for Jian Xu. Besides, the other wasn¡¯t a rookie at thepany who could get squished into the role of a trivial character after simply discussing with the director. Jian Xu needed to y important characters. It was impossible to get such characters in films by famous directors merely through asking for them.


    ¡°Thanks, bro. As for Director Wei¡¯s film......the female lead was my ex-girlfriend, gege!¡± Jian Xu threw his head back andughed. He looked at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop talking about me. Let¡¯s talk about you. Pretty busy recently, huh?¡±


    Dong Lin had kept himself silent for a long time. Now, he could finally butt in. ¡°Hahaha, has Yuan Ye ge pursued you? Shaoyi ge.¡±


    Most people wouldn¡¯t casually joke about this topic after seeing Fang Shaoyi. Yet, there was nothing Jian Xu wouldn¡¯t say. Forget Fang Shaoyi ¨C he was even extremely familiar with Yuan Ye. Back in the day, when Yuan Ye had still been a tiny bean, he had already known the other. The three of them had often eaten out together. At the time, he only treated Yuan Ye as a littleckey. Unexpectedly, Yuan Ye had truly managed to get together with Fang Shaoyi in the end.


    Later on, they truly got divorced too.


    Ji Xiaotao elbowed Dong Lin and said, ¡°What are you blindly trying to inquire about?¡±


    Jian Xu scolded, ¡°Don¡¯t elbow my assistant. Come, Dong Lin, ask. Ask your Shaoyi ge if he¡¯s gotten back together with Yuan Ye yet or not.¡±


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi ignored all of them. He took a bit of food and didn¡¯t say anything.


    Jian Xu said, ¡°Is it that you guys have been together for so long that you feel ufortable without causing a bit of trouble? I told youst year that you guys simply had nothing better to do. What kind of ¡®spicing up¡¯ is this?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t like talking about himself and Yuan Ye at the meal table. He also didn¡¯t like bringing this topic up. Even though this was Jian Xu, he still didn¡¯t want to say anything.


    Besides, Fang Shaoyi had nothing to say either. What could he say? Could he say that after posting that Weibo, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t actually pursued him? The other didn¡¯t even reveal a hint of intent to pursue, but right now, they could asionally share a phone call at night and chat with each other.


    Telling the truth was honestly a bit embarrassing. Monkey was unreliable.


    What was Monkey so busy with recently that he could be so unreliable?


    Yuan Ye squeezed his phone between his ear and shoulder. While boiling a pot of tea, he kept making noises of acknowledgement.


    ¡°So after everything you just said, this is still a shitty script.¡± Yuan Ye carried his tea over and set it on his table, then stretched his arms. He said, ¡°What the hell were you doing earlier? Why didn¡¯t you ask me before you bought it?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not being perfunctory with you. I read that script character by character and finished the whole thing. No is no.¡±


    ¡°Six million? Admit that you lost a bunch of money buying this script and get over it. If you spend this extra six million, you¡¯re going to be crying a lot in the future. Otherwise, hire a few people and get them to rewrite the script for you. Change itpletely.¡±


    ¡°Quit thinking about the plot. There¡¯s no fucking plot.¡±


    ¡°Me? I won¡¯t write it. I can¡¯t write these things. It¡¯s not about money. I wouldn¡¯t write it for a million, nor for eight million. Even if you killed me, I wouldn¡¯t write it.¡±


    ¡°Grow a brain before you spend money in the future, okay? Bye bye, little cutie.¡±


    Yuan Ye hung up the call and casually threw his phone onto the table. He reached a hand behind and squeezed his neck. Recently, he had been too dedicated to rushing out his manuscript. He felt like all the bones in his body were stiff; every time he moved, they creaked and snapped.


    Just now, Ning Lu had called him. He had spent an enormous sum of money buying a script off a top-tier screenwriterst month. He felt that he would be able to make a huge profit off this, so sent it over to tell Yuan Ye. The n was to spend six million and make a movie. He wanted to surpassst year¡¯s¡¶Fairytales of the Wilderness¡·.


    Yuan Ye had been in possession of the script but never read it. Recently, he had a lot of business to attend to. Yesterday, Ning Lu urged him to hurry and read it. Yuan Ye flipped through a few pages and scanned it, then immediately felt an impending sense of doom. Later on, he diligently read through it and realized that it truly wouldn¡¯t do. When he finally made it to the ending, he discovered that if someone really made a movie with this script, they would lose a lot of money.


    This script was something used to fool dumb, rich investors. Ning Lu was that dumb, rich investor.


    This incident was a coincidence, too. Prior to buying it, Ning Lu had asked Yuan Ye to help him look it over. However, that was the period of time after Yuan Ye had posted his Weibo post, so he had disappeared for several days. Ning Lu hadn¡¯t been able to get in contact with him and had been fooled by the screenwriter, so couldn¡¯t bother with too many other matters. He quickly bought the script and was even waiting for Yuan Ye to praise him. The blow Yuan Ye had given him had caused half his heart to go cold. He was reluctant to admit that he had wasted several hundred thousand dors just like that.


    Ning Lu was truly a great investor: he was dumb and had a lot of money. Any project that managed to get him to invest in it was pretty fortunate. Yuan Ye shook his head and rolled his neck. There were honestly an infinite amount of things to worry about when working with such a dumb, white, sweet rich person.


    A whileter, Yuan Ye ultimately couldn¡¯t bear to be so harsh. He pulled up Ning Lu¡¯s trashy script and wrote him a thousand-word plot outline. He pointed out the important characters and wrote a short summary.


    ¡ª¡ªIf you trust me, you wouldn¡¯t film this. See if you can sell it for a low price. If you¡¯re determined to make it a film, these are some usible thoughts I had. Look everything over again.


    Yuan Ye sent Ning Lu an email, then notified him over WeChat.


    This previous year, he had spent too much time not doing anything. Now, he was in a lot of debt. During this period of time, he had returned most of it. He had been working on his own book for two years. It was only missing the ending; he would probably be able to finish it in a few days.


    He nced at the time. Ten at night. He called Fang Shaoyi. The phone rang for a long time. It did get picked up eventually, but the person who answered wasn¡¯t Fang Shaoyi.


    ¡°Ye ge? Ye ge are you looking for my ge? My ge is at a meeting in the director¡¯s room!¡± Ji Xiaotao shouted.


    ¡°Okay, then I don¡¯t need anything.¡± After Yuan Ye finished saying this, he made to hang up.


    Ji Xiaotao called him to a halt, ¡°Ye ge!¡±


    In exasperation, Yuan Ye said, ¡°Don¡¯t shout for me so desperately. Feels like something bad has happened to me or something.¡±


    ¡°Ye ge, you¡¯re finally making a move!¡± Ji Xiaotao sounded extremely excited. ¡°I thought that you had disappeared!¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. It seemed like the other didn¡¯t know about his secret phone calls with Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Yeughed, ¡°Ah.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°Ye ge, what are you busy with?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have any time to make small talk with him. He said, ¡°I really am busy. Tao-ah, I have a bunch of stuff left to do. I¡¯ll hang up first.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao very quickly said, ¡°Okay, okay, bye bye,¡± and hung up. A whileter, he told his ge to return the call. Actually, this was all because Ji Xiaotao hadn¡¯t checked Fang Shaoyi¡¯s phone. If he had, he would¡¯ve known that these two had an abundance of call histories and WeChat chat histories.


    After a few minutes, Fang Shaoyi called. Yuan Ye picked up and put the phone on speaker. He set it on the table. ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    ¡°Headed out for a bit just now,¡± Fang Shaoyi said.


    ¡°I know,¡± Yuan Ye chuckled. ¡°Xiaotao told me.¡±


    When Fang Shaoyi went to take a shower, he left his phone outside and on speaker. Yuan Ye¡¯s phone was on his table anyways, so he didn¡¯t hang up either. The call remained connected. Yuan Ye heard Fang Shaoyi walk out. He asked, ¡°Done showering?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. Yuan Ye added, ¡°Then do some skincare?¡±


    These days, the two of them had these types of calls asionally. Honestly, they didn¡¯t say anything much, but the calls would alwaysst quite long. This feeling was very fresh and interesting.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Today I went to visit Jian Xu on set.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s filming over there too? The film studio?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and inquired.


    ¡°Un, he¡¯s filming a movie.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s filming movies now?¡± Yuan Ye asked. ¡°What kind?¡±


    ¡°Nice and easy. A romance,¡± Fang Shaoyi answered.


    ¡°Ah,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°Xu ge¡¯s still not changing his image?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s hard to.¡± Fang Shaoyi picked up the new script he had just received from the director. While reading it, he chatted with Yuan Ye. ¡°He can¡¯t get any good movies, but also doesn¡¯t want to ept roles in bad movies.¡±


    Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi talked for a long time. Even though it seemed pretty immature, he really liked talking to Fang Shaoyi like this.


    When the two of them finished conversing, it was already almost twelve. Yuan Ye was actually fairly tired, but he didn¡¯t really want to go to sleep. Because of this, he continued working. He needed to hurry and finish all the tasks still iplete.


    The next few days, Fang Shaoyi had a scene that needed to be shot at night. Yuan Ye sent him a few WeChat messages, but didn¡¯t call. When Fang Shaoyi was filming, Yuan Ye rarely called him. He was scared of disrupting the other¡¯s work. Besides, the two of them didn¡¯t have anything truly important to talk about anyways. It would be too much if he called while the other was filming.


    On Friday, Yuan Ye sent a file attached to an email. Then, he sent a voice message on WeChat: ¡°Boss Zhang, I¡¯ve sent the file to your inbox. I won¡¯t worry about anything else now. After you edit it, send it to my email. I don¡¯t want to include any pictures in this book. You can decide the rest.¡±


    The other said, ¡°Okay Ye ge, I¡¯ll look at itter.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and told him, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard. I¡¯m rarely around, so if you call me and I don¡¯t answer, just leave me a message. I¡¯ll return the call when I see it.¡±


    The other once again replied, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Yuan Ye stood up and stretched. In the past, if Fang Shaoyi was nearby and he had been sitting for too long, Fang Shaoyi would walk over and force him to stand up. Teacher Fang¡¯s rules were usually pretty strict. If he didn¡¯t follow them, he would get taught a lesson. Now, he was free; nobody was by his side, controlling him. He was bold andwless.


    Yuan Yeughed. He bent over and closed the tab logged into his email.


    A news page automatically popped up on theputer screen. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t pay attention and simply made to close it. These pop-ups were always very annoying. They couldn¡¯t even be blocked. Just as he was about to close the page, it scrolled down to the entertainment section. Yuan Ye¡¯s hand reflexively paused.


    People were always extra sensitive to their own names. Not to mention that this also included Fang Shaoyi¡¯s name.


    Yuan Ye scanned over the page quickly. After, he silently heaved a sigh.


    He had deleted the Weibo app and also never used his phone to read the news. Unless he needed to send a message, he rarely checked WeChat. But in the current society, it was impossible topletely cut off the Inte. Just like now ¨C he couldn¡¯t avoid things even though he wanted to.


    Yuan Ye shook his head and directly turned off hisputer.


    Just now, the headline, pictures, and text had taken up the entire gossip section.


    The headline, in dark font and bolded: Fang Shaoyi Spends Evening in Young Male Celebrity¡¯s Room Until Midnight. Netizens: Yuan Ye, Are You Still Going to Pursue Him?


    The apanying pictures were extremely blurry andpletely covered with ¡°XX Entertainment Exclusive¡± watermarks. The photos were a y by y of Fang Shaoyi opening the door for the young man to walk in, followed by the young man leaving an unspecified amount of timeter.

 Chapter 27

    <h4>Chapter 27</h4>


    Now, things were truly lively. Fang Shaoyi was on set, but could still make the headlines.


    ¡ª¡ª¡°Why has there been so much drama regarding Fang Shaoyi recently? Has he gone cold? Using his personal life to gain poprity. I¡¯m so annoyed reading about it.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡°Who is this man? Where did this ¡®young male celebrity¡¯e from? Is he an 18th tier wild model? He seems to have a good figure, but I can¡¯t recognize his face. However, Fang is divorced anyways. Even if he really did something, he wouldn¡¯t be in the wrong.¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡°[Eating melon][Eating melon] Since he pushed Yuan Ye out to take the me, I¡¯ve turned into his antifan. In the past, I felt that he was quite gentlemanly. I must¡¯ve been blind and misinterpreted hypocrisy to be gentility. ¡®Let¡¯s allow emotions to resolve emotional troubles¡¯ ¨C so he¡¯s resolving them like this? How are his ¡®family matters¡¯ now?¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡°I don¡¯t think that these pictures can prove anything? When watching¡¶In The Times¡·, I could tell through Fang¡¯s gaze that he truly likes Yuan a lot......¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡°Gentlemanly......I¡¯mughing so hard. After getting divorced, he still went on a marriage and dating variety show. Is lying to fans considered gentlemanly? [Slight smile] Regarding the neighboringment, how amusing that you¡¯re still observing his gaze. Did you forget that he¡¯s a film emperor?¡±


    ¡°Shaoyi ge, I¡¯m extremely apologetic for causing trouble for you.¡± Yang Siran properly bowed to Fang Shaoyi. His expression was fairly dark too. ¡°Do you need me to say something? I can make a Weibo post to exin. Or, I can cooperate with whatever thepany¡¯s arrangements are.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi leaned against the windowsill. He didn¡¯t get angry at the other, only saying, ¡°It has nothing to do with you. It¡¯s not your fault. You can leave.¡±


    Yang Siran observed him, then turned to look at Geng Jinwei. After, he nodded and said, ¡°If there¡¯s something I can do, just tell me.¡±


    Geng Jinwei nodded at him. Yang Siran left; he closed the door behind himself.


    This news had suddenly popped out of nowherest night. Previously, that XX Entertainment had had a passable rtionship with them. They were on speaking terms. But this time, unexpectedly, they had posted this article without even notifying them ahead of them.


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°Someone¡¯s watching us.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. Right as he was about to speak, his phone rang.


    He nced at the screen. It was his dad.


    ¡°Dad,¡± Fang Shaoyi called out after answering.


    Through the phone, Fang Han asked him, ¡°Howe there¡¯s so much news about you recently? Can you handle it?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. He lowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I can handle it.¡±


    The old man was currently filming in Europe. At such an age, he was still very dedicated to acting. He sounded very healthy, too. ¡°You didn¡¯t actually act out of line?¡±


    ¡°Not at all. How would I dare to?¡± Fang Shaoyiughed. He joked with his dad, ¡°I¡¯m scared that you¡¯d hit me if I did.¡±


    Fang Hanughed too. He said, ¡°As long as you didn¡¯t actually act out of line, let them do whatever they want. If you¡¯re standing up straight, you won¡¯t be scared of your shadow being crooked. Say what you need to.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°Okay. Take care of your health. Don¡¯t worry about me. These are all trivial matters.¡±


    Aside from the contributions he had made to movies, the reason Fang Han had maintained such a high status all these years was also because of the air of justice that emanated off him. He was an honest and true old artist. He had never done anything messy that broke his moral bounds. Since young, Fang Shaoyi had grown up in a strict family. Though he was a second generation celebrity under the public eye, he wasn¡¯t allowed to do anything out of line. He was forced to strictly hold himself to the standards of normal people, forbidden from acquiring an abundance of bad habits like others often did in this industry.


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°Just film your movie. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything else. You don¡¯t need to give a response to this news either; it¡¯s not worth it. I¡¯ll just tell them to use the studio¡¯s official ount to release a statementter.¡±


    This kind of news that exposed people made one feel disgusted just look at it, regardless of the content. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and asked, ¡°Where did the picturese from?¡±


    ¡°The fake flowers in the hallway.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s brows furrowed even more tightly together. ¡°When did the camera get put there?¡±


    ¡°Day before yesterday.¡± Geng Jinwei pulled a tiny object out of his pocket and squeezed it. ¡°I checked the security footage. Someone walked over, ced it there, and left. They wanted to get some gossip about you. This happened because they finally managed to get some content to post and fool the public. If you didn¡¯t give them this opportunity, they probably would¡¯ve wanted to post that you had spent the night in the director¡¯s room.¡±


    Geng Jinwei scoffed. Then, he told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°I¡¯ll take care of it. Keep filming your movie.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Are you leaving today?¡±


    Geng Jinwei answered, ¡°I was originally going to, but I won¡¯t for now. We¡¯ll talk about it in the afternoon.¡±


    As soon as the news got out, the atmosphere on set became more or less strange. Yang Siran had originally been a rookie under Fang Shaoyi anyways. The film crew had taken good care of him. With this news, even less people dared to bully him. Yang Siran had never filmed movies before or spent time on set, so didn¡¯t have a good understanding of these things. However, he knew that speaking less was the right thing to do: the more you said, the more likely it was for you to say the wrong thing. After filming his scenes, he would directly make his way next to the director and listen to the director exin the scene, or, he would sit there by himself and think about it. He rarely even spoke to Fang Shaoyi. When he could, he hid from the other.


    Ji Xiaotao noticed that he seemed quite pitiful, so walked over and handed him a cup of water. He said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so nervous. These are all trivial matters.¡±


    ¡°Thank you Xiaotao ge.¡± Yang Siran received the cup from him. He smiled at the other and said, ¡°I just keep feeling like I¡¯ve caused trouble for everyone.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao shook his head and told him, ¡°It¡¯s not your fault. Rx.¡±


    Yang Siran nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao inquired, ¡°Where¡¯s your Chen ge? Not following you around?¡±


    Yang Siran said, ¡°Chen ge doesn¡¯t feel that great today. I told him to rest. Either way, I¡¯m just filming here. I¡¯ve already gotten used to everything.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Ji Xiaotao asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your phone? Who¡¯s holding onto it for you?¡±


    Yang Siran replied, ¡°I turned it off and asked Hua ge to carry it for me.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°Then give it to me. I¡¯ll help you hang onto it.¡±


    Yang Siran hurriedly thanked him, ¡°Thank you, Xiaotao ge.¡±


    It was hard to tell if his personality was truly so calm or if he was faking it. Either way, even until now, Ji Xiaotao liked Yang Siran quite a bit. Normally speaking, after those pictures got posted, Yang Siran would obviously be a suspect. But Ji Xiaotao got the feeling that the other wasn¡¯t the type to do such a thing. However, this industry wasn¡¯t about whether or not people seemed like the type to do something. They were either truly well behaved or were truly good actors.


    But to start using Fang Shaoyi as soon as he got signed to thepany, that was too bold. Pissing off the boss before you had even started working?


    Fang Shaoyi called Yuan Ye twice, but both times, the call didn¡¯t connect. That person had turned his phone off again. Fang Shaoyi left Yuan Ye a message: Turn on your phone and return my call.


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t leave that day. He stayed on set and invited the whole crew to dinner. The producer was an old friend of his; he had also coborated with Director Jiang before. Geng Jinwei had always been able to hold afortable conversation with them. In a private room with twenty-something people, Geng Jinwei had drinks with the director, producers, and main cast. Jiang Linchuan was a rough northerner. When he told stories, his tone would be filled with a brisk energy. Since they had already eaten, there was no need to drink stuffily. They were drinking, so ought to be drinking carefreely.


    These asions had nothing to do with assistants. Ji Xiaotao sat in the car outside and waited. This way, he could send whoever had be drunk back to the hotel. The other few assistants were waiting in their own cars too. Sometimes, they would also get out and chat with one another.


    Normally, Yang Siran wouldn¡¯t have been invited to such an asion: he wouldn¡¯t be allowed to sit at the table. However, he attended that day as well. The kid was very conscientious. When he walked over and poured alcohol for the director, Geng Jinwei said, ¡°Director Jiang, I didn¡¯t get the chance earlier to thank you for giving me so much face.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan waved his hand and said, ¡°Kid¡¯s not bad. He¡¯s a very talented actor.¡±


    ¡°Director has taught him well,¡± Geng Jinwei said. He nced at Yang Siran. Thus, Yang Siran helped fill the director¡¯s ss up to the brim. He lowly said, ¡°Thank you, Director. I¡¯m pretty dumb, but I also have thick skin. If I do anything wrong, feel free to scold me. I¡¯ll do my best to change.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan sipped at the alcohol he had poured. He said, ¡°Learn well from your boss. He¡¯s an expert at socializing.¡±


    Nobody knew if he was talking about Geng Jinwei or Fang Shaoyi. Either way, both of themughed.


    On the surface, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t skip out on eating or speaking at all. But his phone was always in his grasp. He would asionally nce down at it.


    He called Yuan Ye again. The other¡¯s phone was still turned off.


    Usually, his phone wouldn¡¯t be off at this time. Even if he didn¡¯t call, he would at least send a message or something. Right now, the two of them were basically at that stage prior to when two young people would be getting into a rtionship: stuck to each other like glue. But his phone was off today, which clearly meant that he had seen the news. However, he hadn¡¯t even asked about it. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what he was thinking.


    Nobody pursued people like this.


    Fang Shaoyi wanted to send Yuan Ye a question: Did I pursue you in this manner back then?


    ¡°Is Shaoyi waiting for a call?¡± The executive producer asked from across the table. He joked, ¡°I noticed that you haven¡¯t set your phone down this whole time.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked up and smiled, but didn¡¯t answer.


    Jiang Linchuan scoffed. He said, ¡°He¡¯s done something wrong. Don¡¯t know who he¡¯s pissed off, but now he¡¯s waiting for that person.¡±


    As soon as the director said this, everyone startedughing. Only Yang Siran felt a little awkward. Fang Shaoyi begged for mercy, ¡°Leaders, quit scolding me already. You guys keep chatting.¡±


    The private room was bustling with noise. When Geng Jinwei was present, it was impossible for the atmosphere to get too cold. Nobody noticed that someone was knocking at the door at first. Eventually, it was Yang Siran who heard it. They all thought that it was a server, so someone shouted, ¡°Come in!¡±


    ¡ª¡ª¡°So lively?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi instantly looked over as soon as he heard this voice.


    The door was open just a crack. Yuan Ye peeked his head in. He was wearing an athletic jacket, zipper pulled up all the way to his chin. With a big smile, he looked around the room and asked, ¡°I¡¯ming in now, leaders. Is that okay?¡±


    Jiang Linchuanughed very loudly. He called out, ¡°Hurry and get in here. Why are you peeking through that crack like a rat?¡±


    Thus, Yuan Ye stood up straight. He used his shoulder to ram the door open, then walked in with his hands in his pockets.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes had yet to leave his figure. Yuan Ye made eye contact with him, then cocked an eyebrow. His gaze was quite meaningful. There was originally an actor from the same set sitting next to Fang Shaoyi. Now, he instantly stood up and told Yuan Ye, ¡°Come sit here.¡±


    Yuan Ye thanked him with a smile before plopping down.


    Everyone sitting at the table was looking at him. Yuan Ye grabbed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ss and poured himself some alcohol. He smiled and held the ss up, then leaned his head back and downed the drink.


    In actuality, Yuan Ye knew some of the people at this table, but he was unfamiliar with most of them. There were some he had never met before either. However, that didn¡¯t mean that they wereplete strangers and couldn¡¯t sit down to have a meal together.


    Among everyone, the one he was most familiar with aside from Fang Shaoyi was Geng Jinwei. Geng Jinwei asked him, ¡°Are you visiting the set?¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded at him in greeting and called out, ¡°Geng ge,¡± then answered, ¡°Nope.¡±


    As Yuan Ye spoke, he casually scanned the room. His gaze happened to pass Yang Siran. This scene seemed a bitical. Yang Siran nodded at him, faint smile on his face. He was polite and respectful.


    Everyone else thought that he was joking when he said he wasn¡¯t visiting. Geng Jinwei cocked an eyebrow and asked him, ¡°If you¡¯re not visiting, does that mean you¡¯ve traveled thousands of kilometers just to have a meal?¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He turned his head to the side to first nce at Fang Shaoyi, then at the director. After, he said, ¡°Would I dare to enter this room if I was only visiting?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi kept his gaze locked on Yuan Ye¡¯s profile. He felt like Yuan Ye had lost a lot of weight, but he still looked very alert. There was always this feeling of power emanating off of him that made others feel energetic just by looking at him. Yuan Ye sat in the chair, smile reaching his ears. He said, ¡°Who does this room need? Seems to me that it needs an on-site screenwriter.¡±


    <b>The author has something to say:</b>


    (Little Yuan: I already said I refuse to visit.)

 Chapter 28

    <h4>Chapter 28</h4>


    On-site screenwriter.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was astounded as he looked at Yuan Ye. He honestly hadn¡¯t expected this. But very soon after, he shook his head andughed. That was right, too. If you could expect it, then it wouldn¡¯t be Yuan Ye anymore.


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°I¡¯m resigning myself to your guidance, Teacher Fang.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter and told him, ¡°Listening to your orders, Teacher Yuan.¡±


    Yang Siran quietly walked over to tell the server by the door to add another set of tableware. Then, he personally brought it over and set it down next to Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. Yuan Ye looked up and smiled at him. He said, ¡°Thanks, little bro.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too polite, Yuan Ye ge.¡± Yang Siran pressed his lips together and smiled back.


    In actuality, Yuan Ye had notified Director Jiang early in advance. He had also confirmed quite early on that he would being. Jiang Linchuan was always in need of screenwriters when he filmed: there could never be too many on-site screenwriters. This movie had already had eight screenwriters during the preparation period who all wrote their own scripts. In the end, Director Jiang had picked out the parts he liked, then added his own thoughts. This had all beenbined to form a single script. There were actually screenwriters on-site too, but they were all apprentice-level. This was because Jiang Linchuan rarely discussed with others after filming started. He had his own ideas. The screenwriters on set now were basically just editing the script ording to his intentions.


    For Yuan Ye to be an on-site screenwriter, he was actually lowering his own value and finding trouble for himself. Nobody was willing to be an on-site screenwriter. If one encountered a director who constantly wanted to edit the script, they would have to stay upte almost every night toplete the task. It also wasn¡¯t a job that earned much.


    At the dinner table, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say much to him. It also wasn¡¯t convenient to.


    After the gathering ended and the two of them sat in the car, Fang Shaoyi finally scolded him, ¡°Foolish. Aren¡¯t you scared it¡¯ll be tiring?¡±


    ¡°How tiring could it be? It¡¯s nothing.¡± Yuan Ye smiled, then turned around and told him, ¡°Besides, even if it is tiring, I¡¯d still be required toe. I still need to ask for love.¡±


    ¡°......¡± Ji Xiaotao snuck a nce at the two of them through the rearview mirror from where he was sitting in the front. He did his best to hide his presence, not making a sound.


    Fang Shaoyi calmly said, ¡°I thought that you had given up.¡±


    Yuan Ye hurriedly wobbled his head. ¡°How could I? I need toe protect you. I heard you two have been bullied by the rest of the crew? Come, Ye ge will protect you guys.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao asionally peeked behind him, silent the entire time. He had already finished being excited over Yuan Yeing. Yuan Ye had only called him, asking where he was, after he had checked into the hotel. Ji Xiaotao was also the one who had told him the number of the private room.


    Fang Shaoyi inquired, ¡°Where are you staying?¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his hair. He tilted his head and looked over to ask, ¡°Is your room okay?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. The corner of his mouth gently lifted up a bit. He answered, ¡°Nope. There¡¯s already someone in my room.¡±


    Yuan Ye went pft before shaking his head. ¡°I¡¯m not going to eat this vinegar. It¡¯s not the right taste.¡±


    The entire way back, Ji Xiaotao had worked hard too, being the third wheel. After returning to the hotel, he said goodbye to the two of them before hurriedly rushing back to his own room. Yuan Ye said to Fang Shaoyi with a big smile, ¡°I¡¯ll go sit in your room for a bit.¡±


    While walking, Fang Shaoyi turned to ask him, ¡°Not scared of someone taking pictures of you?¡±


    ¡°Let them take pictures if they want. I¡¯m already like this. Should I really be scared of them taking more pictures?¡± Yuan Yeughed again before saying, ¡°Whatever.¡±


    Naturally, nothing needed to be said about the reason why Yuan Ye hade on set. Both knew exactly why in their hearts. He hade for that one person.


    But right now, he and Fang Shaoyi truly hadn¡¯t reached that stage where they could directly get remarried. The year that they had spent divorced symbolized all the things that were now different from before. After deciding to start over, there were many things that needed to be reorganized and resolved. Getting back together immediately following a confusing regaining of contact was too irresponsible. It also indicated that previously, they had been very disrespectful towards their romantic rtionship and marriage.


    Yuan Ye sat on the sofa in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room and rubbed his own head. He told the other, ¡°Yi ge, I¡¯ve almost finished figuring myself out. After Ipletely finish with myself, I¡¯ll start figuring you out. We can start over.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi walked past him, offhandedly rubbing his head. The stubble was a bit prickly. It had been quite long since Fang Shaoyi had felt this sensation. He liked it a lot. Fang Shaoyi chuckled; Yuan Ye remained gazing at him with a smile. His smile was always very captivating. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Did I say I want to start over with you?¡±


    ¡°Ah, you did.¡± Yuan Ye reached out and grabbed his hand. He stared straight into the other¡¯s eyes, then tilted his head andughed. ¡°Even if you didn¡¯t say it out loud, that¡¯s what¡¯s in your head. If you¡¯re going to be coquettish, do it obviously. Don¡¯t hide it. Be a bit more honest.¡±


    Because of his words, Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. He couldn¡¯t handle such a direct yer. He flipped his hand over and squeezed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand.


    Their palms were still filled with that dry, familiar warmth.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s room was two floors above Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. He went back after only spending a brief time in the other¡¯s room. A film set was still a film set. It was somewhere where people worked and filmed. Doing so might make others believe that the two of them hade here to blindly fool around, so Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t sleep in the same room as Fang Shaoyi. They also hadn¡¯t reached that stage yet and didn¡¯t want to act so hastily.


    Yuan Ye had read the script long ago. He had taken the initiative to ask toe, so had obviously done a lot of preparation. The original on-site screenwriter had already given him the newly fixed sections of the script to see. Yuan Ye asked the other, ¡°How much have we already finished filming?¡±


    The original screenwriter was quite young too. He was very respectful to Yuan Ye. ¡°Just this bit.¡±


    Yuan Ye was quite surprised, ¡°Only so little?¡±


    ¡°Yes. Probably because we haven¡¯t found the rhythm yet. It¡¯s very difficult for the director to pass a shot too. We keep having to repeatedly film each take.¡±


    ¡°Un,¡± Yuan Ye chuckled and said. ¡°How much money did investors give you guys for you to waste it like this?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s arge amount for a low cost movie. We¡¯re as willful as can be,¡± screenwriter Little Gao said.


    It was honestly so. Aside from Fang Shaoyi, this film wasn¡¯t using any other valuable actors. Though everyone had great acting skills and were talented, and though there were many old, experienced actors, the only member of the main cast was Fang Shaoyi. Thus, there was only one person who needed to be paid a lot of money. Even so, his rate wasn¡¯t as high as some other people in the industry. There weren¡¯t any extremely grandiose shots in the entire movie, so the team didn¡¯t need to spend enormous sums creating special effects either. Aside from setting up a small film studio, there was nothing else to spend on.


    On the first day of filming, Yuan Ye stayed on set the whole day. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and sat next to the director the entire time, watching through the monitor. He wanted to figure out the director¡¯s line of thought. Director Jiang chatted with him quite a bit. He even asked, ¡°Have you noticed anything?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and said, ¡°I can¡¯t tell at all.¡±


    Director Jiang told him, ¡°Being unable to tell would be right. I don¡¯t even know what feeling I¡¯m going for. Still looking for it.¡±


    With the script in his hand, Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Director, when are we going to have a meeting?¡±


    The director answered, ¡°If you want to talk about the script, you cane find me whenever you want.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Previously, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t joined the crew yet. He had read the script and carefully thought about it,ing up with a lot of ideas, but because he wasn¡¯t on set, he had no one to talk to about them. Jiang Linchuan¡¯s thoughts were very difficult to understand. There were several scenes in the movie that Yuan Ye simply could not wrap his head around. Whether he considered deeper or shallower meanings, he still couldn¡¯tprehend what the director was ultimately trying to express.


    It was impossible for movies like these to have even one line of useless speech. Each word carried its own purpose. The reason why Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t tell anything from the scene being filmed today was because in his eyes, this scene waspletely useless.


    Fang Shaoyi walked over after finishing a take. Yuan Ye stood up and scooted over, leaving the little stool next to the director free for him to sit in as he watched the rey. Fang Shaoyi nced at him. His face was expressionless and he didn¡¯t speak, but his gaze was warm. Yuan Ye smiled at him and stood behind them, listening.


    Fang Shaoyi asked the director, ¡°How was that shot?¡±


    The director stayed still for a long time before replying. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what he was thinking about. A whileter, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s do it one more time. Be a bit looser with your acting this time.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment and nodded. He didn¡¯t say anything else.


    This scene was between Sen Cha and the cksmith. During a haircut, the two of them shared a strange and illogical conversation. As long as they couldn¡¯t pass this shot, the cksmith needed to continuously add new hair extensions. Then, he would have to let Fang Shaoyi cut his hair again during each take. When the two of them were acting, Jiang Linchuan very rarely exined the scene to them. He allowed them to bounce off each other. He would only give fairly detailed exnations for Yang Siran and other actors who had just started acting and didn¡¯t have much experience.


    Yang Siran was in the next scene, but it was uncertain if they would get to him or not today. Even when it wasn¡¯t his turn, he still needed to wait on set with his makeup on. He stayed seated, watching Fang Shaoyi and them act. His phone remained gripped in his hand; he asionally nced at it.


    When Yuan Ye returned, he happened to pass by the other. Yang Siran suddenly called out to him, ¡°Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    ¡°Ey, what¡¯s wrong?¡± Yuan Ye stopped in ce and looked at him.


    Yang Siran stood up and gazed at him. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°The news before...... You didn¡¯t misunderstand, right? Don¡¯t overthink things, I didn¡¯t......¡±


    Yuan Ye lifted his hand and interrupted the other with a chuckle. ¡°I didn¡¯t think too much of it. You don¡¯t need to, either. You¡¯re only treating this as a big deal because you¡¯ve just entered the industry. Even if we took a million steps back and thought about it, the whole world already knows that we¡¯re divorced. You don¡¯t need to be so nervous and exin to me. This has nothing to do with me. Everybody¡¯s free to do as they want.¡±


    ¡°No, it isn¡¯t important if you and Shaoyi ge are divorced or not. I still have to exin. Shaoyi ge is my boss,¡± Yang Siran said.


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter, ¡°Okay, then I know now.¡±


    Yang Siran nodded and said, ¡°Then I¡¯ll let you get back to your work.¡±


    Thus, Yuan Ye returned to the director¡¯s side and squatted down once again.


    Ji Xiaotao had already exined the situation to Yuan Ye. The room in the picture wasn¡¯t even Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. That day, Geng Jinwei had arrived. Fang Shaoyi had gone looking for his manager. Yang Siran had done the same. Ji Xiaotao had been there too. When Yang Siran got there, Fang Shaoyi happened to be the person closest to the door. Thus, he had been the one to walk over and open the door.


    Paparazzipanies would release any news for the sake of poprity, as long as the news could cause a ssh. Even they themselves knew that pictures like these, ones that had been cropped then edited together, wouldn¡¯t amount to much. As long as Fang Shaoyi¡¯s side posted the security footage, they wouldn¡¯t even need to exin anything. Fang Shaoyi had left the room not even twenty minutes after he had opened the door. He had returned to his room and hadn¡¯t left again. What else needed to be exined? All they needed to do was post a statement for appearance¡¯s sake. Even though this was the case, thepany could still gain quite a bit of poprity from simply posting such a piece of news.


    Yuan Ye squatted there, thinking unknown thoughts. Someone stood behind him and tugged up the hood on his sweatshirt to cover his head. Yuan Ye actually already knew who this was without even needing to look back. He did his best to lean his head back, but the hood still covered his line of sight and he couldn¡¯t see the person.


    Yuan Ye lowered his head and said with a smile, ¡°How old are you? Don¡¯t you feel childish?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Thirty six. Only slightly.¡±


    Yuan Ye swung his head back forcefully and finally saw Fang Shaoyi. Because of the force of this action, he lost his bnce and couldn¡¯t remain squatting. Only after holding himself up with an arm did he avoidnding on his butt on the ground. When Yuan Ye startedughing, his shoulders shook. A whileter, he still ended up directly sitting on the ground afterughing.


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°What are you doing now?¡±


    Yuan Yeughed, ¡°I¡¯ve be dizzy because of how handsome you are.¡±

 Chapter 29

    <h4>Chapter 29</h4>


    They were on the same set, so spent every day together. Even if they didn¡¯t say much to each other, the feeling was still different. Making eye contact was a form ofmunication: I know that you know.


    The crew often had meetings, both big and small. Every meeting, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi would instinctively gravitate towards each other. They always sat side by side. During meetings, if the topic turned to something unrted to both of them, the two of them would start making eye contact. When you nce at me once, I¡¯ll nce at you once. Yet, neither made facial expressions during this time, almost as if everything was unintentional.


    On this day, during their meeting, the director grabbed Yuan Ye and said, ¡°Sit with me.¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Yuan Ye rubbed his nose. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi walked over to sit too. The director pointed across the table, ¡°You sit over there. You think I¡¯ll let you two fool around again?¡±


    ¡°Haha, we never fooled around.¡± Yuan Ye sat there and rubbed a hand over his lowered head. ¡°We followed the meeting rules.¡±


    ¡°You think nobody saw?¡± Director Jiang pushed Fang Shaoyi again. ¡°Go sit on the other side!¡±


    Even Yuan Ye felt a bit embarrassed about getting called out by the director. He chuckled and didn¡¯t lift his head up. There was a cough drop in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mouth. He nodded and sat on the other side, following the director¡¯s orders.


    The meeting needed to be formal. When speaking about official business, Yuan Ye was quite professional. During his first few days on set, he rarely shared his own opinions because he hadn¡¯t been the one who had written the script. Prior to figuring out the director¡¯s intentions, he couldn¡¯t say too much ¨C even if he had, it would¡¯ve been useless. Now, he had observed the director for several days, so it was time to say what needed to be said.


    Jiang Linchuan had set the key very high. His stuff was never close to the audience¡¯s lives; he never tried to make things more rtable. Though Yuan Ye had been able to tell this when he had read through the script earlier, Jiang Linchuan had made many changes during the actual filming. The audience probably wouldn¡¯t be able to understand the movie if they kept filming in the manner that Jiang Linchuan wanted.


    Yuan Ye was straightforward with his words. He directly told the director, ¡°You can¡¯t keep raising the key. At its heart, the movie is still just a small town story. Sen Cha is ultimately an assassin who¡¯s here to find someone and then kill them. The story only has so much capacity. If you add too much, it¡¯ll fly away. Director, what do you think?¡±


    Jiang Linchuan thought about it, then said, ¡°Right now, we haven¡¯t surpassed its capacity yet. We still need to talk about humanity.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°There¡¯s enough space now, but you keep adding things. Almost every character has had something added to them. The hardware store and car shop originally didn¡¯t have their own stories, but now they do. I think that we need to reign things in a bit. Please reconsider.¡±


    The biggest problem with Jiang Linchuan¡¯s films wasn¡¯t that they contained too much content. The biggest problem was that the audience needed to carefully go over every line. Every scene was a test for viewers. If the director got too into it, everyone else in the film crew needed to help hold him back. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t scared of insulting others at all. One needed to do the job they were hired for. Though he hade here mainly for Fang Shaoyi, he was already here, so felt obligated to do what he was tasked to do.


    As soon as he said this, he naturally affected some others¡¯ benefits. There were only actors who felt that they didn¡¯t get enough scenes, not actors who felt like they had gotten too many scenes. It was better than great if the director was willing to add screentime or lines. But Yuan Ye didn¡¯t want him to, didn¡¯t want him to continue raising the moral ground for all these characters. If this were anyone else, onlookers would maybe think that this was the screenwriter telling the director to make the plot clearer, but since it was Yuan Ye, people would think that he was purposefully decreasing the amount of screentime supporting characters got so that the emphasis would remain on the lead actor. He wanted to ce all the focus on the main character.


    This was toomon in film crews. Many people of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s status even brought their own directors and screenwriters on set. While filming, they would continuously increase their own screentime and lines.


    Jiang Linchuan looked at Fang Shaoyi and asked, ¡°What about Shaoyi? What do you think?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi thought a bit before answering, ¡°Up to now, things are still okay.¡± He nced at Yuan Ye, then said, ¡°But we¡¯re not talking about my scenes. Each respective actor has the best understanding of their own characters. It¡¯d be better to ask for the others¡¯ opinions.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at him too. After, he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    At night, Fang Shaoyi called Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye answered. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Come down for a midnight snack.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Alrighty. On my way.¡±


    The film set right now wasn¡¯t in a vige. There were plenty of restaurants nearby. Ji Xiaotao ordered takeout to eat. Yuan Ye journeyed downstairs in his slippers and pajamas. Ji Xiaotao opened the door for him. As soon as Yuan Ye smelled the food, he said, ¡°Look at how your face looks now. Still eating spicy food thiste? Seems to me like you don¡¯t want to find a significant other anymore.¡±


    Yuan Ye stared at the beads of water on the other¡¯s body. Heughed and asked, ¡°Just finished showering?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement while scooting to the side a bit, making space for Yuan Ye to sit.


    Yuan Ye sat down and moved closer to the other. He looked up at him and lowly said, ¡°Your body wash smells quite nice.¡±


    ¡°You two are too much.¡± Ji Xiaotao had long since gotten over his initial excitement about the two of them. Now, his expression waspletely nk, ¡°Either way, you¡¯re only flirting. Quit flirting, I can¡¯t leave now. I still have to eat.¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Fire him.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re the boss,¡± Fang Shaoyi nodded.


    The midnight snacks were spread out all over the tea table. Ji Xiaotao and Yuan Ye ate while Fang Shaoyi watched them. Fang Shaoyi told Yuan Ye while he was eating, ¡°You¡¯re not a kid anymore. Howe you¡¯re still so direct with your words?¡±


    After he heard this, Yuan Ye paused in his actions. He looked up at Fang Shaoyi and asked, ¡°You¡¯re talking about the script?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. While maintaining eye contact, he said, ¡°You told the other actors to their faces that they were getting too many scenes. That¡¯s inappropriate. None of them said anything outright, but they definitely have opinions they¡¯re keeping to themselves.¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head. He only responded with, ¡°My words were slightly insulting, but I¡¯d rather say things to their faces. I can¡¯t act nice and friendly in public then privately say such things to the director. That¡¯s too low. I couldn¡¯t do that. Even if I have to insult someone, I¡¯d rather do it to their face.¡±


    Yuan Ye had always been like this. Fang Shaoyi liked this about him too. Yuan Ye lived in his own manner; Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t want to circle him in or control him, didn¡¯t want to tell him how to live. However, in human society, especially in a cannibalistic industry like this one, there was no way for humans to be this open forever. Yuan Ye knew these things too, even if Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say them. But he was still determined to be himself. This wasn¡¯t right or wrong and was prettymendable.


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at Yuan Ye. His eyes were filled with a gentle light, yet were also slightly distant. The other had been like this when he had been seventeen and eighteen. In the blink of an eye, that age had almost doubled, but he was still so stubborn


    Fang Shaoyi reached a hand out and rubbed his hair. He said, ¡°When the director¡¯s filming, the idea in his mind might not bepletely clear, but as soon as we finish filming everything and they edit the raw film, he¡¯ll be able to tell. If there¡¯s too much stuff, he¡¯ll cut the extra scenes out. You¡¯ve watched a lot of his movies; you know he has good control over these things.¡±


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows, but still shook his head. ¡°Being a director is lonely enough. We can¡¯t just leave the whole movie to him and expect him to figure it out himself. You clearly recognize that he¡¯s wrong and going down the wrong path, but you¡¯re just watching him continue to do so. And then, you just wait for him to straighten himself out again. But what if he can¡¯t? If the movie flies away, the director takes all the me. That¡¯s too cold, ge.¡±


    ¡°Even if you say it, the director might not listen. Otherwise, why do you think there are only two little screenwriters on set? Director Jiang¡¯s movies are all fights with himself. It¡¯s hard for him to change something he believes in,¡± Fang Shaoyi told him.


    Yuan Ye said while gazing at him, ¡°It¡¯s his business whether or not he listens. I still need to say what should be said. It¡¯s a good thing that I wasn¡¯t the one who wrote this script: it¡¯s not my son. Otherwise, I would have much more to say.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t continue down this topic. He used his palm to rub the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head. He chuckled softly and said, ¡°Okay. Then do things the way you want. Keep eating.¡±


    In all these years, Yuan Ye only ever listened to Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi was a few years older than him and had been surviving in the industry since young. He was very mature in his social interactions. When Yuan Ye had been younger, he had actually relied on Fang Shaoyi a lot. Or, this emotion could be described as admiration. Who didn¡¯t like apassionate, gentlemanly person? But he couldn¡¯t be like Fang Shaoyi. He was destined to be a sharp and contentious person. His personality often wasn¡¯t weed.


    However, after Fang Shaoyi spoke to him, Yuan Ye more or less changed a bit. For some things that didn¡¯t necessarily need to be said, he no longer opened his mouth. He also wasn¡¯t the only one speaking up on set. The producers, artistic director, and even head cinematographer were all trying to limit Jiang Linchuan, refusing to let him put all his thoughts into the movie.


    The screenwriter, Little Gao, told Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, you just have to tell me how you want to edit it. I¡¯ll do the rest.¡±


    Yuan Ye threw a bottle of water at him. He smiled, ¡°Thanks.¡±


    ¡°It ought to be like this anyways. You¡¯re the one who takes care of us too much,¡± Little Gao said while catching the water bottle.


    The screenwriters at the lowest level were there only to work. They were always working, but in the end, might not even be able to get their name in the credits. Some never even earned money for this work. In the earlier years, Yuan Ye had done this job too. The other party had kept dying the second half of the payment, to the point that Yuan Ye had thought that he would never get it. In the end, though, they had found out he was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s spouse, so had been extremely diligent and transferred the money over immediately. Yuan Ye patted him and said, ¡°Take it slow.¡±


    ¡°Un, with a master to help me, things have gotten a lot better,¡± Little Gao replied.


    Yuan Ye stood on set, avoiding the workers carrying things around. Suddenly, someone tapped him from behind. Yuan Ye turned around, only to see Chi Xing and Cheng Xun. Behind them were their two assistants.


    ¡°We¡¯re visiting your set!¡± When Chi Xing smiled, his eyes curved into crescents. His appearance was very endearing. ¡°Long time no see, Ye ge!¡±


    Next to him, Cheng Xun greeted him too. He called out, ¡°Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye felt quite surprised seeing the two of them. He scooted slightly to the side, emptying out a path. He asked them, ¡°What are you two doing over here?¡±


    ¡°We have a guest appearance. On the other side of the film studio,¡± Chi Xing said.


    Yuan Ye asked the two of them, ¡°Jian Xu¡¯s film?¡±


    ¡°Un, yep.¡±


    Their assistants handed out all the items they had brought. Yuan Ye asked the two of them, ¡°How about getting dinner before you guys leave tonight?¡±


    Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t expected that after attending a variety show, he would gain two new young friends. And their friendship wasn¡¯t only for appearance¡¯s sake. Now, they had already finished filming the variety show, so the two kids were even more honest with their words. They said whatever they wanted to. It was only now that Yuan Ye realized ¨C Chi Xing was actually aint king. Heined about all the celebrities he had ever coborated with, including Lin Tian and her husband, who had been on the show with them.


    Hisints were too amusing. Even Fang Shaoyi startedughing. He told him, ¡°Don¡¯t say these things to anybody else.¡±


    ¡°I won¡¯t. Aren¡¯t I always a little cutie in front of everybody else?¡± Chi Xing said, expression innocent.


    Yuan Yeughed, ¡°I always thought that you were a dumb rabbit. At the end of the day, you¡¯re the one that¡¯s actually the little fox?¡±


    ¡°Exactly. It was all an act,¡± he said honestly. ¡°I¡¯m not a dumb white sweet at all. I¡¯m actually a sly boy.¡±


    Cheng Xunughed off to the side. He said, ¡°We¡¯ve all been fooled by his physical appearance. In the past, he always acted so pitiful before me. I only helped him because I noticed that he kept getting bullied in his group. Turns out he was faking everything on purpose.¡±


    Chi Xing nodded. ¡°Yep, everything was an act. Only you were sincere. I just wanted to date you.¡±


    The vibrant energy that young people had was truly quite contagious. After eating a meal with the two of them, Yuan Ye felt like he had lost a few years of age. All night, he listened to Chi Xingin. When Chi Xing sometimes got too out of line, Cheng Xun would remind him to watch his words from off to the side. Yuan Ye smiled and said, ¡°Let him speak. Otherwise, I¡¯m scared that he¡¯ll feel stuffy. How long has he been holding all this in?¡±


    In actuality, this was because they knew that Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi could be trusted. Besides, they weren¡¯t on the same level: the two of them were practically a generation apart from Fang Shaoyi.


    Originally, their flight had been for 5 PM that night. In order to eat this meal, they had switched it to the midnight flight instead. Yuan Ye drove a sedan and dropped the two of them plus their assistants off at the airport. On the way back, only he and Fang Shaoyi remained.


    Just now, while they had been chatting, Chi Xing had mentioned that he also wanted to be like the two of them and get married as soon as he and Cheng Xun reached legal age. He didn¡¯t dare to be so highkey and hold a wedding ceremony, but he wanted to secretly get their marriage certificate. At the time, Yuan Ye joked, ¡°Isn¡¯t dating forever good too? You can always be in the honeymoon phase.¡±


    Chi Xing said, ¡°Then why were you determined to get married back then?¡±


    Yuan Ye was driving, so kept his eyes forward. He answered, ¡°I felt that marriage wouldst a lifetime. After getting married, everything would settle down.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s what I think too,¡± Chi Xing said while gazing at Cheng Xun.


    Cheng Xun squeezed the other¡¯s ear, amusement in his eyes. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    The following events weren¡¯t suitable to be spoken about; they would only cause pain if spoken ¨C Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had gotten married, but marriage didn¡¯t guarantee a lifetime.


    On the way back to the hotel, Yuan Ye was still driving. Fang Shaoyi sat in the passenger seat. Suddenly, he asked, ¡°You regret getting married back then?¡±


    Without even thinking about it, Yuan Ye shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at him, ¡°Hearing what you just said, I thought that you felt regretful.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled. The corners of his eyes crinkled into gentle crescents. ¡°Back then, neither of us thought that we were young. We felt very mature. But looking at them now, I always feel like they¡¯re still kids. Isn¡¯t getting married at such a young age a joke? It¡¯s fortunate and rare when two kids can have a sessful rtionship while dating. Hearing them speak about marriage makes me feel like they¡¯re just messing around.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at Yuan Ye from his seat. The other¡¯s eyebrows, nose bridge, thin lips, and side profile all proved that he was a handsome, mature man. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. The part of his arm revealed was unspeakably sexy. Men of this age had a charisma that couldn¡¯t be found in young people.


    Having experienced things before, he could see things clearly now. Even the light in his eyes was distant and calm.


    Yuan Ye suddenly turned to make eye contact with him. Then, he said, ¡°The contract of marriage is so precious for a rtionship. If you get it when you¡¯re too young, it¡¯s almost as if you don¡¯t know it should be treasured. You only feel the pain after it¡¯s gone. But when you feel the pain, it¡¯s already toote.¡±


    His words were honestly very touching. They could instantly prod the gentlest parts of one¡¯s heart. Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and asked, ¡°And now?¡±


    ¡°Now? Ha, what is that saying again? Winning your wife back again is hell,¡± Yuan Ye said, corners of his eyes curved in amusement.


    Fang Shaoyi smiled too. He heard Yuan Ye add, ¡°After you realize that you lost the most precious thing to you, you¡¯ll understand that your bones have disappeared...... The person in pain will know, I guess.¡±

 Chapter 30

    <h4>Chapter 30</h4>


    As painful as losing bones.


    And it was true that only those who had experienced this pain before knew what it felt like.


    Ever since Yuan Ye had arrived on set, he acted quite different from before. He could outright say whatever he was feeling in his heart. This was probably because he had already confirmed in that Fang Shaoyi still felt something for him. Now that he had an understanding of the situation between them, he no longer needed to tentatively test the other at every turn.


    Now that their conversation had already reached this point...... Only individuals understood their own emotions.


    On set, Fang Shaoyi was still ¡°Sen Cha¡±. Director Jiang hadn¡¯t said that they didn¡¯t need to exclude him anymore, which meant that he still needed to keep experiencing the feeling of being bullied. This was to ensure that his gaze and mannerisms when he was being excluded and made fun of during filming would be more natural, more like these acts happened every day.


    Yuan Ye thought to himself we can act this out simply through acting technique. We don¡¯t need to experience this anymore.


    During lunch, Ji Xiaotao waste to pick up their food, so there were no boxes left. He was shocked, ¡°What era is this? Such things still exist?¡±


    Someone else had delivered Yuan Ye¡¯s food into his hands. He told Ji Xiaotao, ¡°Just order some more food to eat. How pitiful.¡±


    ¡°My goodness,¡± Ji Xiaotao was in utter disbelief. ¡°Ye ge, look at the people on this film set. Aren¡¯t they too in character? They aren¡¯t even delivering our food to us anymore. How many times has it been?¡±


    There was no pressure for Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi to eat from the same bento. He told Ji Xiaotao, ¡°Order a pizza for me. The two of us can eat some after, too.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao mumbled and grumbled while ordering takeout. He thought to himself next time, I definitely have to get Geng ge to reject Director Jiang¡¯s movie invites. We can¡¯t ept them. This director knows how to y too well. He could y us all to death.


    There was one other person as pitiful as the two of them. While ordering, Ji Xiaotao also ordered a serving for Yang Siran. His assistant had been called back, so now it was just him on set. Geng Jinwei had also told Ji Xiaotao to look out for him in advance. If nothing was needed, he could just let the other do whatever he wanted. Either way, he would be finished filming in a few more days.


    Ji Xiaotao normally looked out for Yang Siran only when necessary. Most of the time, though, he didn¡¯t bother the other. In all honesty, these types of young artists didn¡¯t even have as much standing in thepany as Ji Xiaotao. After all, Ji Xiaotao was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant. It had to be said that he was a good person. If this were anybody else, they might not even take care of rookies like Yang Siran at all.


    The scene they needed to film in the afternoon wasn¡¯t easy. Yang Siran wore sweats while sitting on set. When they filmed in the afternoon, he would need to take off his pants. The scene today was one where the lock of Sen Cha¡¯s store had been broken into. The money in his drawers had all been stolen. In a fit of despair, he hade charging into hisndlord¡¯s house. At the time, hisndlord had been taking his afternoon nap and was only wearing a wifebeater and boxers. After Sen Cha suddenly pushed the door open, he jumped in fright and shot up from the couch to grab a pillow and cover himself.


    It wasn¡¯t known yet if Yang Siran could sessfully portray the pitiful look of a timid and ashamed youth shyly hiding himself.


    When Ji Xiaotao gave him the pizza, he also told Yang Siran, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be nervous or shy. For artistry, it doesn¡¯t even matter if you strip naked.¡±


    Yang Siran was a bit embarrassed. He nodded and said, ¡°I know. Thanks, Xiaotao ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye walked over to the director¡¯s side, carrying a slice of pizza. The director scolded, ¡°Don¡¯t stand next to me and eat. Can¡¯t you be a bit more thoughtful? You didn¡¯t even give the director any, but now you¡¯re eating next to the director?¡±


    Yuan Ye hurriedly ran back and carried the box over. There were still two slices left inside. He gave them all to Director Jiang to eat. Yuan Ye said, ¡°How could I have known that you eat this kind of food too? If I had known earlier, I would¡¯ve brought you some earlier!¡±


    ¡°I really don¡¯t, but the bentos are honestly too disgusting,¡± the director took a bite and said while chewing.


    Yuan Ye scooted in next to the director to look through the monitor. In it, Yang Siran was in the middle of taking off his pants. Fang Shaoyi was talking to him. The director was holding onto the walkie-talkie in his other hand, preparing to yell action in a bit. Yang Siran was sitting on the couch in his underwear and hadn¡¯tid down yet. He bit his lips and appeared a bit shy. The director furrowed his brows. Yuan Ye said, ¡°The kid¡¯s bashful. Let him take it slow.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stood in front of Yang Siran; his back was facing the camera. He suddenly turned around and made a hand gesture, then said, ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    The director said into the walkie-talkie, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s the issue, Shaoyi ge?¡± The pper loader asked.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Wait a moment for me, please. Sorry.¡± Then, he bent over and said something to Yang Siran. Yang Siran put on his pants and followed him off camera.


    Fang Shaoyi led Yang Siran to the dressing room. Ji Xiaotao came over and purposefully told Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, my ge led a little boy away!¡±


    Yuan Ye finished his pizza and dusted off his hands, then very seriously said somethingpletely incongruous, ¡°Guess your ge¡¯s in the midst of a delightful spring breeze. On one hand, his ex-boyfriend is chasing him all over the film set. On the other, he¡¯s flirting with his rumored younger boyfriend. Tsk, this life.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi led Yang Siran away for approximately twenty minutes. When they returned, Yang Siran was much more rxed. He bowed at everyone and said apologetically, ¡°My apologies. I¡¯ve wasted everyone¡¯s time.¡±


    Nobody knew what Fang Shaoyi had taught him during this time, but Yang Siran seemed to bepletely different from before. He did whatever he was told to do and stopped being so awkward about everything. Ji Xiaotao kept sneaking secret nces at Yuan Ye to see how he was doing, but Yuan Ye¡¯s expression waspletely calm. Ji Xiaotao couldn¡¯t tell anything from it.


    This scene was theoretically easy, but still took many takes. As long as they couldn¡¯t pass the shot, Yang Siran wouldn¡¯t be able to keep his pants on. His two long, pretty legs were in in sight for everyone to see. Even though he immediately pulled his pants up when the director yelled cut, it was honestly still pretty alluring.


    Yuan Ye thought to himself that Geng Jinwei was honestly amazing at picking out people. This one might be a prime moneymaker in the future. It was a pity that Fang Shaoyi¡¯spany wasn¡¯t primarily invested in promoting celebrities through online poprity. Otherwise, this kid would definitely be able to be popr much quicker.


    Smoking wasn¡¯t allowed on set. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have any cigarettes in his pocket. He felt around and ultimately pulled out one of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s cough drops to eat.


    At the end of the day, this was still a very formal scene. The two of them didn¡¯t evene into physical contact with each other. In the past, Yuan Ye had even been on set while Fang Shaoyi had filmed more intimate scenes. Though he couldn¡¯t say that he didn¡¯t feel anything watching these, he truly wouldn¡¯t overthink anything. This was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s job. In this regard, there was no need to be dramatic. As long as nothing was overly intimate, it didn¡¯t matter to what extent things got. Besides, Fang Shaoyi himself wouldn¡¯t ept the invitations to those types of films. He had always maintained a certain sense of moral character. These past few years, Fang Shaoyi had never filmed any kiss scenes. He also refused to act in movies that required extremely intimate scenes.


    After they passed this take, Yang Siran put on his pants and lowly thanked Fang Shaoyi again.


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head at the other. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    He still had a scene to shoot at night. Fang Shaoyi needed to change outfits and also get a different makeup look. Yuan Ye cheerily chatted with another worker on set. When Fang Shaoyi came back, he flicked Yuan Ye on the head. Yuan Ye looked up at the other. Fang Shaoyi crooked his finger at him before leaving.


    Yuan Ye told the person he was chatting with, ¡°My leader has given me an order.¡±


    He jumped up and chased after Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi brought him into the little barber shop ¨C the one he owned in the movie. Fang Shaoyi rested a hand on the back of his neck and gently pushed him to the little sink inside to rinse his hair. Yuan Ye finally thought to ask after his head waspletely wet, ¡°What are you doing, ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi held the showerhead in one hand while gently brushing Yuan Ye¡¯s hair with the other. He softly said, ¡°Your hair¡¯s getting long. I¡¯ll buzz it for you.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Yuan Ye was extremely cooperative. He bent over to allow Fang Shaoyi to rinse his hair, then casually grabbed a towel to dry it off. He sat in the chair.


    The two of them made eye contact in the mirror. The next scene wouldn¡¯t be filmed here. There were plenty of people walking to and fro outside, but nobody else was in this little shop. Fang Shaoyi held a buzzer in his hand. He smiled at Yuan Ye in the mirror and asked, ¡°How many millimeters?¡±


    Yuan Ye grabbed a haircut cape from off to the side and handed it to Fang Shaoyi so the other could put it on for him. After, he said, ¡°Up to you.¡±


    He had never cared much about his hair. If you gave him a buzzer, he would even be able to shave his own head. Because Fang Shaoyi liked to feel the stubble on his head, he decided to be selfish and shaved the hair really, really short.


    Halfway through, Yuan Ye burst intoughter first. While looking into the mirror, he noted, ¡°You might as well shave me bald.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was quite pleased with his handiwork. He said, ¡°This looks nice.¡±


    Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t considered it a big deal in the first ce anyways. He let the other do as he wished.


    It was quiet in the small room: only the sound of an old-fashioned buzzer could be heard. Yuan Ye kept his gaze on Fang Shaoyi in the mirror. From start to finish, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head was lowered. He was very carefully shaving Yuan Ye¡¯s head. This scene was warm. There was a silent, suggestive ambiguity connecting the two of them.


    That day, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t head back early. He stayed on set waiting for Fang Shaoyi to finish filming. When he finished, it was already almost nine. The weather was great. There was only a hint of wind, which felt reallyfortable when it blew past. The two of them didn¡¯t take a car back to the hotel. Instead, they slowly walked.


    When they passed a small supermarket, Yuan Ye walked in and bought a pack of cigarettes. He lit one. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything.


    Cigarette dangling from his lips, Yuan Ye nced at Fang Shaoyi, then called for him, ¡°Ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Yuan Ye suddenly asked him, ¡°Do you like young ones or old ones?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi froze first, before bursting intoughter. He reached a hand out and rubbed the hair he had just buzzed for Yuan Ye today. ¡°What are you trying to ask?¡±


    Yuan Ye answered, ¡°Just, I suddenly felt old today.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were still filled with warmth. He told the other, ¡°When I was young, I liked the young ones. Now that I¡¯m old, I like the old ones.¡±


    There wasn¡¯t a single problem with his answer. As expected from Fang Shaoyi, who was always immacte. Yuan Ye took a puff of his cigarette, then pointed at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°You¡¯re too cunning.¡±


    That day, the two of them casually strolled down the street, slowly walking along the side of the road. Sometimes, when they encountered a bench, they would sit down too and share a conversation about some random topic. This feeling was quite nice. Fang Shaoyi told Yuan Ye that during the day, he had led Yang Siran away because he had noticed that the other had bruises on his legs. This wouldn¡¯t look good on camera, so he had taken the other to get some concealer applied.


    Yuan Ye squatted on a nearby rock stump, cigarette dangling from his mouth as he stared at Fang Shaoyi. He shook his head, ¡°I¡¯mpletely uninterested in that.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed and asked him, ¡°Is that so? I thought Teacher Yuan was feeling a bit jealous.¡±


    Yuan Ye narrowed one of his eyes, looking up from under his eyelid at Fang Shaoyi suggestively. The cigarette was dangling from his mouth, so both his arms were resting on his knees. This was a very improper position, but also very rebellious. It was very attractive as well. Like this, Yuan Ye stared at Fang Shaoyi, asking him, ¡°If I said I wasn¡¯t, would you believe me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. Slightly teasing, he joked around with what Yuan Ye had just said, ¡°But he¡¯s young.¡±


    Yuan Ye jumped off from the rock stump. He was only one step away from Fang Shaoyi. He removed the cigarette from his mouth and scoffed. When he spoke again, it was with that carefree and unafraid tone unique to Yuan Ye¡ª¡ª


    ¡°When you first got together with me......I was only seventeen.¡±


    ¡°Now you¡¯re trying to rile me up with a twenty-something year old. I honestly don¡¯t feel threatened at all.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s young? Who could be younger than me?¡±


    <b>The author has something to say:</b>


    Uncle Yu: Who could be more youthful than me?

 Chapter 31

    <h4>Chapter 31</h4>


    Warning: Mentioned (briefly) rape


    He wasn¡¯t wrong at all. This person, that person: none of them were as young as Yuan Ye had been.


    Back then, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s, ¡°Do you like me?¡± had directly smashed onto seventeen year old Yuan Monkey¡¯s head, instantly causing him to nk out.


    Yuan Ye trembled while stuttering out, ¡°What do you mean l-l-like you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi ultimately couldn¡¯t bear to keep teasing him after seeing his nervous appearance. Yuan Ye was still young. Fang Shaoyi shook his head andughed, then gestured at the other, ¡°I¡¯m just kidding with you. Come here.¡±


    Yuan Ye scooted over. He sat next to Fang Shaoyi and heaved a sigh of relief. ¡°You scared me so much. I thought you wanted to date me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gently knocked him on the head with the script in his hand. He said, ¡°Silly.¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his head, then said, ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about this stuff.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement from behind him. The angle of his eyes and eyebrows were both gentle. ¡°No rush.¡±


    Yuan Ye honestly hadn¡¯t thought about it before. However, it wasn¡¯t like he was aromantic. Although Fang Shaoyi had said that he was just joking around at the time, as long as Yuan Ye thought about it, he would realize that their rtionship was slightly strange. Additionally, he had an inexplicable admiration for Fang Shaoyi. He wanted to y with the other, wanted to talk with the other. There ought to be a reason for all this.


    Only, he had never carefully thought about it before. However, Yuan Ye had never been dumb. He had a clever brain.


    When he hadrgely sorted his thoughts out, he strolled around the film set. He kept his head lowered as he walked, so identally ran into someone. Yuan Ye leaned back and apologized, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    The other was a forty-year old man. Yuan Ye had seen him quite often on set. Fang Shaoyi had probably told him who this person was, but he never paid much attention to these things. The other used both hands to hold Yuan Ye¡¯s arms to help him regain his bnce. His smile was very warm. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°Be careful when you¡¯re walking.¡±


    His palms were sweaty, so didn¡¯t feelfortable against Yuan Ye¡¯s skin. However, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t think much of it and only took a step back, avoiding the other¡¯s hands. Then, he nodded and walked away, head lowered.


    He didn¡¯t know if he was overthinking things or overly sensitive, but in the instant that he had moved away, it had felt like that person¡¯s fingers had squeezed his arm. It might not have been on purpose, but this idental physical contact made Yuan Ye feel somewhat disgusted. The sticky feeling on his arms made him slightly ufortable.


    Two people carrying a reflector passed by behind him. They shouted, ¡°Passing through, please excuse us!¡±


    Yuan Ye hurriedly hopped to the side to leave a path for them. And then he started looking around for Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of a conversation with the director. Yuan Ye lowered his head and walked over beside him, silent. He waited for Fang Shaoyi to finish speaking; he looked very well-behaved andpliant. As Fang Shaoyi spoke to the director, he turned around and nced at the other, then turned back to continue his conversation with the director. Only, he reached a hand out and grabbed Yuan Ye¡¯s wrist in greeting. He wanted Yuan Ye to know that he realized he was there.


    After the conversation ended, Fang Shaoyi dragged Yuan Ye off to the side. Yuan Ye stuck his arm out further and pointed at the spot the other man had grabbed. He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Touch me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what he was thinking again. He sometimes couldn¡¯t keep up with Yuan Ye¡¯s thoughts. Thus, he caressed the area Yuan Ye pointed at. Yuan Ye pointed at the other side. ¡°Here.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Fang Shaoyi gently pinched his arm, then rubbed it while asking, ¡°Did they bump into you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yuan Ye finally smiled. He said, ¡°I just wanted to feel it.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t do anything about him. He squeezed the back of the other¡¯s neck and said, ¡°What is in your head all the time?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled at Fang Shaoyi, revealing a mouth full of white teeth. ¡°Yi ge, I want to pursue someone!¡±


    This sentence caused Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart to fall into his stomach. He gently furrowed his brows and asked, ¡°Who?¡±


    Yuan Ye started shamelesslyughing again. Then, he answered, ¡°The moon!¡±


    ¡°What moon,¡± Fang Shaoyi said in a low voice. ¡°You¡¯re still young. Don¡¯t get involved in such things.¡±


    ¡°Haha, I¡¯m almost eighteen! Can¡¯t I start dating if I¡¯m almost an adult?¡± Yuan Ye asked while looking at him. ¡°I don¡¯t know how to pursue people. Teach me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi refused to answer him. He left him on the little stool and turned around to keep filming. Thus, Yuan Ye propped his head up with one arm and happily watched Fang Shaoyi act. The other was wearing a white cored shirt. Paired with his short hair, he looked extremely handsome.


    After reaching an epiphany about some things, the thoughts that followed were often like a ze setting fire to the ins. At this age, others started thinking day and night about the girl they had a crush on. Yuan Ye started thinking day and night about that clean and extremely handsome youth. However, his youth was too impressive. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t the only one thinking about him. He was also a celebrity. One of them was in the sky while the other was on the ground. From background to identity to everyday life, they had absolutely nothing inmon. Fang Shaoyi was the bright, white moon hanging in the sky while he was that monkey squatting in the tree and looking at the reflection in the water.


    Yuan Ye felt like there was nothing really likeable about himself. He didn¡¯t have a good temper, was extremely stubborn, and had a one-track mind. But so what? He still decided to try. If he couldn¡¯t sessfully pursue the other, he would worry about that after he actually failed. He at least needed to try first.


    Yuan Ye sent a text to his childhood best friend, Ning Lu: How do you guys normally pursue girls?


    Ning Lu very shamelessly replied: Ge never needs to pursue anyone. It¡¯s always the girls who pursue me.


    Yuan Ye ignored his bluffing and asked again: Then how do girls pursue you?


    Ning Lu: Stuff like watching me y basketball, asking me out to eat, giving me love letters.


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t quite satisfied with these options. How could they be so old-fashioned? These methods had already been overused by movies and dramas. They weren¡¯t innovative at all. These techniques could only be used to pursue people on your level. They¡¯re too rudimentary to be used to pursue my Yi ge.


    These days, Fang Shaoyi ignored Yuan Ye a lot because Yuan Ye kept asking him how to pursue people. Fang Shaoyi was unhappy in his heart but also couldn¡¯t bear to get angry at the other. Thus, he only decided to rarely speak to him. He didn¡¯t know where the heck the other had gotten a moon from on set. Fang Shaoyi had purposefully kept Yuan Ye close so he could keep an eye on him, but had still failed.


    One night, he was showering in the bathroom. Yuan Ye knocked on the door and leaned against the doorway to say, ¡°Yi ge, I want to give you something.¡±


    The water was loud. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t clearly discern what he was saying. He thought the other was asking him for lessons on pursuing again, so only answered, ¡°Wait until Ie out.¡±


    Thus, Yuan Ye stood there the whole time and waited. When Fang Shaoyi walked out, he had already finished dressing. Yuan Ye pulled something out from behind him and stuffed it into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands ¡°For you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was slightly surprised. He looked down at his hands and saw the carved wooden......trophy? It was probably a trophy. He cocked an eyebrow. ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Yuan Yeughed a bit sheepishly. He scratched his head and answered, ¡°A trophy. Film emperor, you know. I¡¯m giving it to you in the hopes that my Yi ge will be able to be a film emperor sooner. It¡¯s a bit ugly, but I didn¡¯t have any tools. If I had tools, it would be slightly prettier.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart felt soft and full. He asked the other, ¡°When¡¯d you make this?¡±


    ¡°These few days,¡± Yuan Ye blinked. ¡°Didn¡¯t you notice that I haven¡¯t been staying on set and watching you film these days?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi rubbed the monkey at the top of the trophy. He chuckled and softly said, ¡°I thought you went to pursue someone.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re right, I was pursuing someone,¡± Yuan Ye nodded.


    The two of them made eye contact and remained silent. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was tentative and filled with questions. Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were clear. That¡¯s right, I am pursuing you.


    Fang Shaoyi previously hadn¡¯t made this connection. Mainly because he honestly hadn¡¯t thought that Yuan Ye¡¯s immediate answer of ¡°the moon¡± had anything to do with himself. He didn¡¯t know where such a response came from. The repetitive and varying emotions prior to a rtionship were always sour or sweet. When one was submerged in them, they would only find this experience pleasant. Who could bear to end everything in advance?


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s lips curled up to form a beautiful crescent. He asked, ¡°What award is this for?¡±


    Yuan Ye licked his lips and said, ¡°Golden......Monkey, I guess. Golden Monkey Award.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Fang Shaoyi nodded. He joked, ¡°Thank you to the judges, thank you to the guest presenter.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed for a long time. After, he said, ¡°You¡¯re wee. Keep up the good work and continue working hard!¡±


    Yuan Ye was actually very good at making these types of things. After all, he had grown up in the mountains. There weren¡¯t any high-tech contraptions there, so since young, his toys had all been these natural things. His grandfather was very good at carving. Yuan Ye would stay by his side and imitate him step by step. If you gave him a reference, he could make a masterpiece. But if he didn¡¯t have anything to model his carving after and was forced to rely on his own thoughts, he couldn¡¯t do that great. Additionally, tools were needed. How could Yuan Ye have any suitable tools on set? Besides, it had been several years since he hadst carved anything, so he was a bit out of practice. After having two knives in his hands these days, he had grown a couple blisters. He always tore the blisters open as soon as they grew; there were also little cuts he had identally made. He was toozy to even put on a bandaid and didn¡¯t care much for these trivial injuries.


    He didn¡¯t care much about them, but someone else couldn¡¯t handle them at all. Looking at them made that person¡¯s eyes hurt.


    After showering, Yuan Ye washed his underwear in the bathroom. Fang Shaoyi passed by the door and heard Yuan Ye hissing in pain. He stopped in his tracks and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head and said, ¡°Nothing. The water¡¯s cold.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s warm water.¡± Fang Shaoyi walked over and turned on the faucet, adjusting the temperature for him.


    Yuan Ye bumped him with his shoulder. ¡°No need. I¡¯ll do it myself. Don¡¯t you know that I¡¯ll feel ashamed if you¡¯re standing here while I wash my underwear?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t helpughing. He said, ¡°I¡¯ve never seen you ashamed before.¡±


    As he spoke, he lowered his head and saw Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. Then, he furrowed his brows. Fang Shaoyi turned off the faucet and grabbed Yuan Ye¡¯s hands to observe the other¡¯s fingers. He furrowed his brows tighter and tighter together.


    There were actually quite a few old scars on Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. They were remnants from his rowdy days in the mountains. The few round scars on his thumb were from when a rabbit had bitten him. Originally, after he ripped open his blisters, they would be able to heal in two days. However, touching water honestly made the wound hurt. Right now, the way Fang Shaoyi kept staring at him made him feel a bit embarrassed. He said, ¡°Yi ge, what are you doing?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi used a towel to gently rub his hands. When he dried thempletely, he tugged the other out, brows furrowed tightly. In a low voice, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t touch water these days. Your hands are already like this but you¡¯re still washing stuff? If you get soapy water on your wounds, you might get an infection. Wouldn¡¯t that hurt?¡±


    ¡°Haha, it¡¯s not that bad. They¡¯re just a few blisters. No need to be so careful.¡± Yuan Ye withdrew his hands and told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Look, I shower, wash my face, and wash my underwear daily, but haven¡¯t gotten infected. This is nothing. I¡¯ve been this naughty since youth, so I¡¯m not as precious as you celebrities.¡±


    ¡°Be quiet,¡± Fang Shaoyi scolded. ¡°From now on, don¡¯t make any more carvings.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t do,¡± Yuan Ye furiously shook his head. ¡°I still need to pursue someone.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Switch methods.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked over at him, cocking an eyebrow to say, ¡°Then you teach me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at the little dip in his eyelid and nodded. ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll teach you how to pursue them.¡±


    There were only bandaids in the room, but if you put bandaids on small injuries, this would actually aggravate the injuries more easily. Fang Shaoyi kept Yuan Ye¡¯s hand in his and refused to let go. He needed to find his assistant to ask for the first aid kit. Thus, Yuan Ye went with him.


    Though he honestly felt like he didn¡¯t need anything, being tugged along by Fang Shaoyi felt nice too. Heh.


    The assistant¡¯s room was one level lower. Fang Shaoyi dragged Yuan Ye down the stairs. They needed to pass through a rtively long hallway.


    A few people walked out from a certain room. Yuan Ye recognized thest person who walked out. It was the one he had seen on set. However, the closer Yuan Ye got, the more he widened his eyes.


    The people were actually towing someone out. Two people grabbed his arms while thest person grabbed his legs. That person¡¯s back and butt never left the ground. He kept being towed along. His pants weren¡¯t on properly. As they dragged him forward, his buttocks became revealed.


    Fang Shaoyi suddenly let go of Yuan Ye¡¯s hand and quickly turned around. He used his hand to cover Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes and lowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t look...... Close your eyes.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s face waspletely pale. His eyshes fluttered against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s palm.


    Fang Shaoyi had blocked his view toote. Yuan Ye had already gotten a clear look at everything.


    The person being towed was a specially arranged actor. His status was only slightly higher than the extras or walk-on actors. He had several scenes to film. The reason Yuan Ye had an impression of him was because this boy¡¯s nose was quite simr to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. Thus, Yuan Ye had taken a few extra nces at him. He thought the other was pretty handsome too. Perhaps in the future, he could be popr as well. But now, his face was deathly pale. He didn¡¯t look alive at all. Though he was being towed away in such an embarrassing posture, his eyes remained closed and he didn¡¯t move in the slightest.


    His pants and butt were both covered in blood.


    Though Yuan Ye was naughty and wild, the environment he had grown up in was ultimately pure and clean. His years in the mountains gave him mountains and rivers. After leaving the mountains, he received the strict but forgiving education provided by literature professors. Yuan Ye had never had the opportunity to encounter anything else. He was still confused about whether he liked someone and how to pursue someone. When you suddenly put such a frightening scene before his eyes, the psychological impact was very strong.


    That group of people walked further and further away, towing the person in the direction of the elevator. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand was still covering Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. Yuan Ye lifted a hand and squeezed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand: even his fingertips were cold.


    Fang Shaoyi uncovered his eyes and reached his arms out to hug Yuan Ye. He used his shoulder to block Yuan Ye¡¯s line of sight. Yuan Ye¡¯s forehead bumped against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shoulder. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s scent surrounded him. Yuan Ye did his absolute best to focus on the smell, furiously sniffing at that delicate fragrance. This scent could allow him to rx.


    Fang Shaoyi circled him, reaching behind to caress his hair. He gently rubbed the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s skull, whispering into his ear, ¡°Don¡¯t be scared.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t lift his head up either. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s stroking made him veryfortable. He really wanted to fall asleep just like this. He leaned against Fang Shaoyi, softly breathing.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s palm was dry and warm. Against the scalp, it was extremely gentle. Yuan Ye quietly asked, ¡°Yi ge, what¡¯s wrong with him......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had no answer for this question. This had also happened because just now, he had only had Yuan Ye¡¯s hands in mind. When those people had walked out, he hadn¡¯t even nced over. When he noticed, it was already toote. Otherwise, he would¡¯ve covered Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes immediately. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even let Jian Xu talk about the things on set. He didn¡¯t want Yuan Ye to listen to those stories; he was too young and pure. Fang Shaoyi had never wanted these things to pollute his ears. But today, Yuan Ye had directly witnessed the worst possible scenario.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression was frighteningly dark. He lowly and gently repeated by Yuan Ye¡¯s ear a few times, ¡°It¡¯s nothing, don¡¯t be scared.¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his forehead against Fang Shaoyi a bit. His mouth was glued onto Fang Shaoyi as well. His voice sounded a bit stuffy. When he spoke, his lips gently vibrated, scratching at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart. Yuan Ye raspily said, ¡°Ge, this industry......is too terrifying.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi forcefully closed his eyes. Aside from caressing the other¡¯s hair infort, he had no other response.


    <b>The author has something to say:</b>


    Seventeen year old Monkey Yuan: Youthful, naughty, rowdy, obedient. All him.

 Chapter 32

    <h4>Chapter 32</h4>


    Warning: Mentions of past rape (brief, not explicit)


    That day, Fang Shaoyi kept telling Yuan Ye to not be scared. In actuality, Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t scared. However, that scene was stuck in his brain. He kept remembering the boy¡¯s pale, deathlike face as he got towed away.


    Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Is he......dead?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head and replied, ¡°He won¡¯t die.¡±


    He wasn¡¯t only saying this tofort Yuan Ye. No matter what, a second assistant director wouldn¡¯t actually dare to fool around with someone until they died. At most, what had happened was that he had lost control and acted impulsively. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression wasn¡¯t great either. After grabbing the first aid kit and returning, he helped clean up the little cuts on Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. Yuan Ye¡¯s hands rested in his palms: the other¡¯s fingers remained cold the entire time.


    When he finished, Fang Shaoyi squeezed Yuan Ye¡¯s hands and softly told him, ¡°Stop thinking about it. Sleep?¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment and nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cleaned up and stood. He rubbed Yuan Ye¡¯s head again.


    Because of this ident, Fang Shaoyi still decided to send Yuan Ye away ¨C back to school. He couldn¡¯t guarantee that they wouldn¡¯t see the group of people they had seen that day again. If they encountered each other once more, Yuan Ye would definitely be scared or nervous. In the past, he had felt that he was familiar with the director, which was why he had let Yuan Yee. He had believed that nothing would go wrong, but an ident had still urred.


    Upon hearing that Fang Shaoyi wanted to send him away, Yuan Ye first nodded, then immediately shook his head instead. ¡°I won¡¯t leave. I¡¯m going to apany you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I don¡¯t need apaniment.¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head again. He didn¡¯t want to leave. He knew that Fang Shaoyi¡¯s background guaranteed that he would be safe no matter where, but he still felt worried. He always felt anxious about leaving Fang Shaoyi alone on set, even though he couldn¡¯t even do anything here.


    This caused the ze in Yuan Ye¡¯s heart to wither a little. He still liked the other the same amount and still thought about him the same amount. His feelings hadn¡¯t changed, but his nervousness and fear of this industry had taken up half of his emotional capacity. This kind of nervousness and fear would slowly cause someone to be resistant and aversive. If they heard more storiester on about these dirty, immoral, andpletely hical behaviors, this feeling would then transform into a form of disgust. A type of disgust that originated from the depths of the heart, a type that believed this luxurious and exaggerated industry was propped up by dark and hideous shadows.


    He never saw that young actor on set again. His scenes would probably all be switched out too. However, Yuan Ye did see those people who had towed him away again. They acted like nothing had ever happened. Theypleted their daily tasks and could still chat and joke around casually. This was quite repulsive. This was the worst side of humanity.


    Prior to everything, Yuan Ye had kept bugging Fang Shaoyi to teach him how to pursue someone. After this, he stopped. Every day, he followed Fang Shaoyi around, acting like a littleckey again. He guarded the other quietly and diligently. He wasn¡¯t willing to leave, so Fang Shaoyi kept him by his side. Either way, he would be able to wrap up soon.


    In his free time, Fang Shaoyi asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Not pursuing that person anymore?¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded and said, ¡°I am. I have to.¡±


    ¡°Then howe I haven¡¯t heard you say anything about it?¡± Fang Shaoyi continued to ask.


    Yuan Ye licked his lips and lowly said, ¡°I¡¯m not going to pursue them here anymore. I¡¯ll pursue them again when we get back.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was very gentle. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    This ce was too dirty. Any emotions felt here had been polluted. It wasn¡¯t the fact that a few people had done that to a youth that was dirty. It was that they could so casually do that to someone and continue working on set, that they could possibly move on to the next person, or next next person. It wasn¡¯t like no one knew. Even if you saw, you were blind. If you heard, you were deaf. This included Yuan Ye himself too.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s face and neck couldn¡¯t be considered pale. This was because he often ran around outside during the summer. His skin had been tanned by the sunlight: it was a very solid and healthy golden brown. His eyelids were thin, his eyshes long. There was a tiny scar near the end of his eye. This scar wasn¡¯t ugly. In contrast, Fang Shaoyi liked it a lot. He always found it very fascinating.


    Fang Shaoyi picked up a small brush off the counter and dabbed it in some powder. With slight amusement, he gently brushed it against that tiny dip.


    His actions were too light. This caused them to be slightly itchy. Yuan Ye¡¯s eyshes fluttered a bit. He opened his eyes to look at Fang Shaoyi. The other¡¯s hand was in his line of sight.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t move at all. He stayed sprawled there, asking, ¡°Yi ge, what are you doing?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled at him and softly questioned, ¡°I¡¯ll give you some light, okay?¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Yuan Ye smiled from where he was sprawling. His smile was simple and peaceful. He asked, ¡°What kind of light?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi thought about it, then looked him in the eyes and said, ¡°Moonlight. Is that okay?¡±


    He was too gentle. Too gentle. Such a Fang Shaoyi caused Yuan Ye¡¯s entire heart to go soft, like a ball of cotton that had been kept out in the sun all day. Yuan Ye reached out a finger and touched the wooden handle of the little brush in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. He blinked and answered, ¡°That¡¯s more than okay.¡±


    The sun and the moon were different. The sun was blinding and scorching. It could give you light, but you didn¡¯t dare to look at it. You also knew that you would never be able to touch or feel it. The moon was different. Moonlight was equally as bright and beautiful, but you could stare at it for a long time and your eyes wouldn¡¯t hurt. It was always clear and cold, but also gentle and quiet.


    So even though Fang Shaoyi was so warm and dazzling, Yuan Ye had never felt like he was the sun. He was more like the moon, elegant and noble.


    Fang Shaoyi said he was going to put moonlight in his eyes. That was truly beyond great.


    Later on, Yuan Ye habitually started touching his eye, feeling the dip on his eyelid. It originally ought to have been ugly. After this, though, he didn¡¯t find it ugly anymore.


    Yuan Ye was ultimately Yuan Ye: a naughty kid who never kept too many thoughts on his mind. The distraction on set affected him for a few days, but not enough to cause him to be depressed forever following it. After Fang Shaoyi brushed some moonlight onto his eyes, Yuan Ye felt like he hade back to life. The task he had dyed previously could be started up again.


    He started pondering about the youth in his mind again. Those young thoughts started causing waves in the ocean of his brain once more.


    But he absolutely wouldn¡¯t pursue him on set. Though his mood had recovered, the aversion he felt towards film sets still remained.


    When they returned, summer vacation hadn¡¯t yet ended. The two of them headed home separately. Yuan Ye¡¯s family knew that he knew Fang Shaoyi, and also knew that Yuan Ye had visited the other¡¯s film set during break. At home, Yuan Ye rarely brought up stuff about the film set, but he often mentioned Fang Shaoyi. His family had never cared what kinds of friends he made as long as he was happy. Besides, they couldn¡¯t control him anyways. Even if they tried, he wouldn¡¯t listen.


    At night, Yuan Ye would text love poems to Fang Shaoyi. He wrote them very discretely and also very artistically. He could write several of these every night, even with his eyes closed. He asionally would send Fang Shaoyi a bunch.


    Fang Shaoyi had no idea how to reply to these things. Most of the time, he only replied with a: Received.


    Thus, Yuan Ye would ask: Yi ge, if I were pursuing someone and their responses were as cold as yours, what would this mean?


    A whileter, Fang Shaoyi responded: They¡¯re happy.


    Yuan Ye: They¡¯re happy so they said ¡°received¡±?


    Fang Shaoyi: Un, that¡¯s what a happy response looks like.


    Yuan Ye: Ah......


    asionally, Fang Shaoyi would send Yuan Ye a text, saying: If you¡¯re pursuing someone, you need to take the initiative to call them.


    When Yuan Ye saw this text, he instantly called. As soon as the other picked up, he said, ¡°Yi ge, good evening!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice sounded especially nice through the phone. ¡°Good evening.¡±


    ¡°I want to go back to school,¡± Yuan Ye told Fang Shaoyi. ¡°When are you going back, ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi answered, ¡°Just let me know when you¡¯re heading back.¡±


    ¡°Are you going toe back when I do?¡± Yuan Ye squatted in the little yard downstairs, tugging at a de of grass that had grown out of a crack in the brick.


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Thus, the second day, Yuan Ye texted Fang Shaoyi: Yi ge, I¡¯m back.


    Guan Zhou had returned too. Yuan Ye sat cross-legged on his bed in the dorms and ate a popsicle. Guan Zhou asked him, ¡°Ye ge, are film sets interesting? Did you see any celebrities?


    Yuan Ye shook his head. ¡°They¡¯re not interesting.¡±


    Guan Zhouughed and said, ¡°But you still went.¡±


    Yuan Ye thought to himself I regret it too. I never want to go back again. But Fang Shaoyi needed to join innumerous film sets in the future. If he went, Yuan Ye probably would want to go too.


    When it was almost nighttime, Fang Shaoyi called Yuan Ye, saying that he would get there in an hour. They would be able to eat dinner together. Yuan Ye told Guan Zhou immediately after hanging up, ¡°I won¡¯t be eating with you tonight.¡±


    Guan Zhou¡¯s expression was bewildered. They had already made ns to eat barbecue tonight. Why the sudden change of ns?


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Find someone else to get barbecue with you. I¡¯ll pay.¡±


    Guan Zhou was lost. ¡°Ye ge, what¡¯s the situation? Whose call is so important that you¡¯ve thrown me away without hesitation?¡±


    Yuan Ye was quite honest. ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    ¡°Your Yi ge,¡± Guan Zhou furrowed his brows, slightly speechless. ¡°Your Yi ge is basically the same as your boyfriend.¡±


    ¡°I wish.¡± He got a text. Yuan Ye looked down at it while saying, ¡°I wish he were, even in my dreams.¡±


    The text was a message from Fang Shaoyi. It was only two simple phrases, short and to the point: Roses to pursue someone. Five are enough.


    His response almost scared Guan Zhou to death. He scooted in close to carefully observe Yuan Ye¡¯s face, then repeated what the other had said earlier. He tentatively asked, ¡°Even in your dreams...... What does that mean?¡±


    ¡°Take it literally.¡± Yuan Ye put his phone in his pocket and pushed open the door. He only left a, ¡°I¡¯m pursuing him,¡± for Guan Zhou before leaving.


    Without giving Guan Zhou any time to make further inquiries, Yuan Ye ran off. It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to yell such questions down the hallway either, so as Guan Zhou watched Yuan Ye¡¯s figure run off, he felt like his soul had frozen in ce. He had never heard Yuan Ye mention anything about this, and had also never seen him pursue anyone. The two of them had grown up together. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t seem to be wired for romance; he had never disyed any inclinations towards this subject matter. All he knew to do was y around wildly and be a general menace. All of a sudden, this person mentioned that he wanted to pursue someone. Unexpectedly, that someone was actually Fang Shaoyi.


    A man. And a movie star.


    Goodness. Had he gone crazy?


    Yuan Ye squatted next to the entrance to the school, waiting for Fang Shaoyi. When he saw the other pushing his suitcases while walking over, he jumped up and ran toward him. There was a big smile on his face as he greeted Fang Shaoyi. Both his hands were empty: not a flower was in sight.


    Fang Shaoyi scolded, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you waiting inside the dorm? It¡¯s hot outside. Where¡¯s your key?¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his head and replied, ¡°I forgot to bring it.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared at the thinyer of sweat on his forehead and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t you usually jump in through the window?¡±


    Normally, if Yuan Ye forgot the key, he would jump in through the small window above the door. Thus, Fang Shaoyi never locked that particr window. Yuan Ye shook his head and tried to fool Fang Shaoyi with a smile. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    He couldn¡¯t say that the dorm room felt suffocating. It also made one......extremely embarrassed.


    Fang Shaoyi needed to drop his stuff off before the two of them could go out to eat. He led Yuan Ye back to the dorm and told the other to wait while he went to take a shower first.


    Yuan Ye offhandedly made a noise of acknowledgment.


    Fang Shaoyi pushed open the door. The next instant, he froze, then turned around to gaze at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye¡¯s head was turned to the side; he refused to look at Fang Shaoyi.


    ¡ª¡ªThere were small bouquets of bright red roses all over the dorm. One on the chair, one on the table, one on the dresser, and arge pile on the bed.


    Fang Shaoyi wanted tough, but couldn¡¯t bear to. He turned and gently asked Yuan Ye, ¡°What¡¯s the situation?¡±


    Yuan Ye tugged at his ear and furiously shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t know......I think.¡±

 Chapter 33

    <h4>Chapter 33</h4>


    He couldn¡¯t stay in this dorm anymore. That day, no matter what Fang Shaoyi said, Yuan Ye refused to sleep over. He left after eating dinner.


    How could he stay there? Looking at that pile of roses made even Yuan Ye¡¯s hair feel embarrassed. He had never done something like this before, so felt very ashamed. Because Yuan Ye was so embarrassed, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t ask him where these flowers hade from. The two of them reached an unspoken understanding.


    That night, Fang Shaoyi texted him: Did you get back yet?


    Yuan Ye instantly replied: Yep. I¡¯m already lying down.


    Fang Shaoyi scolded him: All this extra work. You¡¯re still going toe over tomorrow.


    Yuan Ye bit his lip and responded: I refuse to sleep over in your room.


    Yuan Ye thought to himself there are flowers on your bed. They¡¯re prickly.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else either. He only sent: Then sleep earlier. Goodnight.


    Yuan Ye sent back: Goodnight, Yi ge!


    Between the two of them, one was excitedly pursuing while the other had long since seen through the act and was merely enjoying this sweet, ambiguous atmosphere. They each had their own fun. This was Yuan Ye¡¯s first time pursuing someone in his life. He felt very aplished. He didn¡¯t know if Fang Shaoyi realized that he was pursuing the other; he believed that he was actually being quite obvious. However, the person in question was often the most confused during these situations. Either way, he wasn¡¯t in a rush. This continuous pursuit was actually quite interesting, ha.


    Yuan Ye made a call home and asked his mother, ¡°Missus, I¡¯m about to turn 18. Soon, I¡¯m going to be an adult. I can start dating now, right? I¡¯m almost going to graduate from university.¡±


    ¡°Who are you going to start dating, huh?¡± His mother, Mrs. Lin, wasn¡¯t in agreement. ¡°How old are you? What kind of person are you going to date? Don¡¯t fool around.¡±


    At the time, how could his family have known that Yuan Ye was thinking about a young man? They all thought that he was the same as the other boys his age and had a crush on a little girl. Yuan Ye said, ¡°I won¡¯t tell you who I¡¯m going to date. Either way, I won¡¯t act out of line. This isn¡¯t considered an early romance anymore!¡±


    His mom actually didn¡¯t want to control him too much. Besides, a naughty boy of this age couldn¡¯t be controlled anyways. She let him do as he wanted.


    Yuan Ye hung up and called Fang Shaoyi instead. Right now, he was extremely dedicated to making these phone calls. As soon as the other answered, he yelled, ¡°Yi ge! Want to watch a movie?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°What movie?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Let¡¯s watch a romance!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was gentle and smooth. ¡°Okay.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s favorite thing was listening to Fang Shaoyi say ¡°okay¡± each time. When he did, it was easy to realize that the other was an extremely gentle person.


    With the stem in his pocket but the petals outside, it would¡¯ve been strange if the flower had been able to stay. Besides, it didn¡¯t look nice like this anyways. Fang Shaoyi looked at Yuan Ye¡¯s lowered head and chuckled. He pulled the flower out and held it in his hand, saying, ¡°You actually know to bring a flower?¡±


    Yuan Ye looked up at him, then put his head down again. He quietly said, ¡°Didn¡¯t......you teach me?¡±


    With this, he was already being quite obvious. Yet, Fang Shaoyi purposefully chose not to burst that bubble. He didn¡¯t respond to Yuan Ye.


    Half of Yuan Ye sighed in relief to himself while the other half felt anxious. Why couldn¡¯t Fang Shaoyi understand his hints? How else did he need to say it?


    The movie wasn¡¯t very good. Perhaps, though, this was because Yuan Ye was too picky. He kept thinking that the male lead wasn¡¯t handsome enough. Additionally, the plot wasn¡¯t exciting enough. In actuality, how exciting could a romance be? Halfway through, Yuan Ye¡¯s interests were no longer on the movie. Fang Shaoyi was a celebrity. As such, if he walked into a movie theater to watch a movie,pletely uncovered, he would get recognized. Thus, he normally wore a snapback to ces where there were a lot of people; he would lower the cap as low as it could go. Yuan Ye turned to look at Fang Shaoyi and observed his side profile that was visible under the cap.


    Previously, he had purely thought that Fang Shaoyi was handsome while looking at him like this. Now, every time he looked at Fang Shaoyi, he would think to himself, when will I finally be able to sessfully pursue such a good-looking person?


    Fang Shaoyi could feel his gaze. He turned around and looked at the other, mouthing at him: What¡¯s wrong?


    Yuan Ye shook his head and smiled. His smile was very silly.


    Their ambiguous rtionship started in the summer that Yuan Ye turned seventeen. It was like a ss of sweet lime tea. Later on, Yuan Ye wrote in one of his books: ¡°That summer is probably one I¡¯ll keep thinking back on even at the end of my life. It was too beautiful. Before it, my entire world was a blur of chaos. After it, I gained a shower of forever-peaceful moonlight.¡±


    When seventeen-year-olds had crushes, it was always a matter of life and death. The only thing in Yuan Ye¡¯s entire heart was Fang Shaoyi. Boys that had never thought of romance in the past were the ones who eventually experienced love more strongly. However, at the time, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t actually been overtaken by impulse. He had still been very logical. In his heart, he knew that there was a great distance between himself and Fang Shaoyi. Thus, he didn¡¯t want to force anything. If he actually seeded, that would naturally be great, but if he didn¡¯t, he wouldn¡¯t mind the regret either. After wholeheartedly fighting for something, there would be no regret upon encountering failure.


    This was exactly what he said to Fang Shaoyi.


    The two of them slowly circled around the littleke on campus. Yuan Ye was wearing shortsleeves. His arm would asionally bump into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. This momentary physical contact caused his heart to beat faster. Yuan Ye stared at the surface of theke and suddenly said, ¡°Yi ge, if I say something that scares you one day, can you not cut off all contact with me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked at him. After, he smiled and shook his head while saying, ¡°You can¡¯t scare me. Feel free to say what you want, when you want.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked. A momentter, he added, ¡°I don¡¯t know what kind of response you¡¯ll give me after I say it, but I hope it¡¯s a good one.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi softly asked him, ¡°What if it isn¡¯t?¡±


    Yuan Ye pressed his lips together, thought about it, and said, ¡°If it isn¡¯t, I¡¯ll be pretty happy too. As long as I¡¯ve tried. Humans¡¯ desires know no bounds. There¡¯s no way that we can fulfill each and every one of them. Why should we be able to? Either way, I¡¯d feel very brave because I tried. I feel quite proud of this fact.¡±


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi had looked at him. His eyes had been filled with this boy who stood before him, iming to be brave. Fang Shaoyi lifted a hand and gently rubbed Yuan Ye¡¯s head. He rubbed it from the very back to the very front, then said, ¡°Being brave is the right thing to do, no matter the situation. You¡¯ll never be disappointed.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded and replied, ¡°Hopefully...... My desire is too extravagant.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi always wanted to leave the opportunity to rify their rtionship to Yuan Ye. The other had pursued him for so long already. How happy would he be to seed? Thus, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else at this moment. If he did, everything would basically be over.


    Fang Shaoyi had already pondered this question many times in his own head. Every time Yuan Ye shamelessly smiled at him, a thought would always rise in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart.


    ¡ª¡ªWhat could you want that I wouldn¡¯t give you?


    Yuan Ye had originally already decided to make things known. Regardless of the consequences, he wanted to hurry and end this suffering quickly. But in the end, before he had even finished preparing, Fang Shaoyi got caught up in dating rumors first. When Yuan Ye saw this, he was shocked.


    Back then, the biggest social mediums were still newspapers and TV. Yuan Ye stared at the newspaper his roommate had brought back. There was a ratherrge headline on it that said Fang Shaoyi and Chen Yuange seemed to be in a rtionship. Yuan Ye gaped at it for a long time, nked out. The past few days, Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t been at school because he had gone to attend some g. The picture in the newspaper was of Chen Yuange wearing Fang Shaoyi¡¯s jacket. The two of them looked quite familiar with each other.


    Yuan Ye knew who this Chen Yuange was. She was three years older than Fang Shaoyi and was technically a family friend. Chen Yuange¡¯s father, Chen Weilin, and Fang Han were old friends. Fang Shaoyi and Chen Yuange had known each other since childhood as well.


    Actually, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t really believe this story. However, his heart still beat faster. He felt a bit hesitant. These news articles were always like this: how could one tell what was real and what was fake? Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi were so close, but even he couldn¡¯t determine the truthfulness of this. However, Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t the type to hide things in his heart and think them over himself. When he had a question, he always asked Fang Shaoyi at the first possible instant.


    Thus, Yuan Ye texted: Yi ge, are you in a rtionship?


    Quite a long timeter, Fang Shaoyi finally replied: Who am I in a rtionship with?


    Yuan Ye said: Chen Yuange.


    A while after, Fang Shaoyi responded with a question: What do you think? Who do you think I¡¯m in a rtionship with?


    Yuan Ye thought to himself I think that you¡¯re in a rtionship with me. But I daren¡¯t say that. Yuan Ye squatted on his chair and scratched his head. He sent: I don¡¯t know.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t reply to this message. His heart had been stabbed by Yuan Ye¡¯s ¡°I don¡¯t know¡±. Dumb Monkey said he didn¡¯t know. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know what was going on in the other¡¯s head all the time.


    For two days after, the two of them didn¡¯t contact each other again ¨C no phone calls or texts. Yuan Ye felt a bit hesitant. Fang Shaoyi was waiting for Yuan Ye to take the initiative. But Yuan Ye was too passive. In the end, Fang Shaoyi was still the one to message first. Before he returned, he sent Yuan Ye a text: How do you n on pursuing someone by being so passive?


    Yuan Ye responded extremely quickly. Based on the speed, he had probably been keeping his phone in his hands the whole time: Yi ge, when you areing back?!


    Fang Shaoyi asked him: Why?


    Yuan Ye: I miss you!


    Thus, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s temper disappeared. He told Yuan Ye: Tonight.


    After he sent this, he immediately followed up with another text: Confess?


    Yuan Ye had already gotten into the habit of doing whatever Fang Shaoyi ordered. After doing it, he could alsoe up with some excuse to cover up why he had done it. However, he definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to make up an excuse to cover up today¡¯s task. He needed to be truthful.


    As soon as he set down his phone, Yuan Ye immediately started looking through his drawers to find the love poems he had written. He sessfully located several piles. He picked and chose through them, trying to find the best one to bring along today. After looking through all of them, he found them all unsatisfactory. Additionally, he wasn¡¯t capable of writing another one on the spot. He tried for a long time. In the end, Fang Shaoyi had almost arrived, but Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t even had the time to buy a flower.


    Yuan Ye said that he would be waiting for him by theke. Fang Shaoyi dropped his stuff off before going to theke to look for the other. After searching around for two circles, he didn¡¯t find anyone. Just as he was about to pull out his phone and make a call, he suddenly heard a voice ring out from above his head. It wasn¡¯t that far away. ¡°Yi ge, here.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi followed the voice and looked up. Immediately, he cocked an eyebrow. Yuan Ye was sitting in a tree, one leg bent and the other swinging. He was also holding a willow branch in his hand. Fang Shaoyi walked over and leaned back to tell him, ¡°Come down.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled at him, then looked down at their surroundings. There weren¡¯t any other people around. Thus, Yuan Ye said, ¡°Then you have to catch me.¡±


    ¡°How am I supposed to catch you?¡± Fang Shaoyi was shocked. After, he scolded, ¡°Come down nicely by yourself. You might fall.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even listen to him. Before Fang Shaoyi could finish speaking, he had already jumped down in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s direction. Fang Shaoyi instinctively reached out to catch him, but this was too difficult. Besides, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t given Fang Shaoyi enough time to prepare; he couldn¡¯t catch him at all.


    Yuan Yended on the ground in a very awkward position.


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and squatted down to observe him. He couldn¡¯t do anything about this kid. Though slightly angry, his expression was more exasperated than anything. ¡°Howe you¡¯re so naughty? Did you hurt anything?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s mind was full of things he wanted to say. He couldn¡¯t bring himself to say them to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face, so rapidly rolled around on the ground and grabbed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s arm. Then, like an agile monkey, he jumped onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back.


    Fang Shaoyi had originally been squatting. After being pounced on, he nted his hands on the ground in front of him before standing up. He also didn¡¯t care that Yuan Ye had just rolled on the ground and thus was covered in dirt. He reached around and piggybacked Yuan Ye, not knowing if he shouldugh or cry. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you today?¡±


    Yuan Ye held out his hand and the willow branch that was still stuffed in it. He even waved it around. ¡°I didn¡¯t have enough time to buy flowers today. Just pretend these are flowers.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked down at that willow branch. He reached a hand out to grab it, then burst intoughter. ¡°How could I do that? That¡¯s too perfunctory.¡±


    ¡°You can. They¡¯re all nts, so they¡¯re all the same.¡± Yuan Ye sprawled out on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back. Both of his arms were wrapped around the other¡¯s neck. He leaned his face in closer to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear to say, ¡°Yi ge, I have something to say, but I¡¯m too scared to look at you. I want to say it like this.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had already guessed what he was going to say. He gently nodded and warmly said, ¡°Speak.¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his face against Fang Shaoyi. His mouth was extremely close to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear, almost as if this would make the sound of his voice softer. If his voice was softer, he wouldn¡¯t feel as embarrassed.


    When he spoke, his mouth practically brushed against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear. It was very tickly and very enthralling. It could make that half of one¡¯s shoulder feel numb.


    Fang Shaoyi heard Yuan Ye take in a deep breath. After, he still spoke quite loudly as he said, ¡°Yi ge, I want to be in a rtionship with you.¡±

 Chapter 34

    <h4>Chapter 34</h4>


    Thus, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been unreasonably confident when he had asked, ¡°Who could be younger than me?¡± When he had gotten together with Fang Shaoyi, he truly had been youthful, dewy to the point that he ought to have been covered in water droplets. The person who had taught him everything about love and romance was Fang Shaoyi. When he had wanted to pursue someone, wanted to date someone, that person had always been the same one.


    But Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯tpletely agree with his ¡°when you first got together with me.¡±


    ¡°I got together with you?¡± Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. Heughed, ¡°Didn¡¯t you get together with me?¡±


    It had been a long time since Yuan Ye had been that naive and innocent seventeen or eighteen year old kid. He had long since learned everything there was to know about rtionships. Currently, he was an uncle-level, thirty-three year old man. He pointed at Fang Shaoyi, shoulders shaking as heughed. He scolded, ¡°You were just a big, bushy-tailed wolf! You just watched me dumbly pursue you. You acted like a pig to eat the tiger.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re a tiger?¡± Fang Shaoyi shook his head and slowly walked forward. ¡°A tiger? Back then, you were at most a little puppy.¡±


    Yuan Ye followed behind. Strolling around like this at night, reminiscing memories of the past amidst the moonlight, made him very nostalgic. At that time, he had used his entire being to like Fang Shaoyi. He had been bold and unwavering, but in the end, he had somehow managed to lose Fang Shaoyi.


    Yuan Ye suddenly reached a hand out to grab Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. They gently held hands; both their fingers were warm.


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He looked up at Fang Shaoyi. When their eyes met, Yuan Ye told him, ¡°Thank you.¡±


    Why thank you, thank you for what, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t need him to exin either.


    The two of them returned quitete that night. This caused Ji Xiaotao to stare at them rather judgingly when they finally did. It was almost as if he wanted to find some unspeakable romance between the two of them. When Yuan Ye passed by him, he pushed the other¡¯s face away and sat on the couch. He said, ¡°The way you keep staring at me everyday is kind of scary. If you keep being so abnormal, I¡¯m going to make your boss fire you. Then, we¡¯ll switch to a more well behaved assistant.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao waspletely unbothered. While pouring out cups of water for the two of them, he said, ¡°Not that I¡¯m trying to imply anything, but if you two switched assistants now, you wouldn¡¯t even be able to survive.


    Yuan Ye received the water and blew on it for a long time. He took a sip and said, ¡°Your face is big enough to horizontally cover the Pacific Ocean.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao had a grin on his face. He scooted close to casually chat with Yuan Ye. Fang Shaoyi went to shower in the bathroom. Yuan Ye waited for him to walk out, then notified the other that he was leaving before heading upstairs. It was quite tiring following the film crew around all day. He needed to head back, shower, and sleep earlier.


    After he left, Fang Shaoyi told Ji Xiaotao, ¡°When you¡¯re free, go chat with Yang Siran.¡±


    ¡°About what?¡± Ji Xiaotao cocked an eyebrow. ¡°What¡¯s wrong with him?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. He only told Ji Xiaotao to ask about it when he had time. At the end of the day, Yang Siran was hispany¡¯s artist. If something really had happened to him under Fang Shaoyi¡¯s watch, that would be uneptable.


    Ji Xiaotao nodded and said, ¡°Alright. I¡¯ll find an opportunity to ask. He seems quite shy. I¡¯m scared he¡¯ll feel embarrassed.¡±


    During the day, Fang Shaoyi had bent over to say something to Yang Siran on camera, then led him away. He had taken the other to the dressing room. Nobody had spoken about this outright, but they had all exchanged eye contact and found it quite strange. Especially because Yuan Ye had been present too. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t overly exin to Yuan Ye, only saying that the other¡¯s legs were bruised so he had taken him to get some concealer. This was also because of his personality. Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t the type to take the initiative to share other people¡¯s personal matters, even if the person listening was Yuan Ye.


    That afternoon, Yang Siran had seemed a bit hesitant while sitting on the sofa. His eyebrows had been furrowed the entire time and he had been unwilling to take off his pants. It shouldn¡¯t have been such a big deal for a male actor to show his legs on camera. He looked to be very stressed about something. Later on, after Yang Siran took off his pants, because Fang Shaoyi was standing nearby, he noticed that there were some very suggestive fingerprints at the base of the other¡¯s thighs. Some were still green, while others had already faded to a light yellow.


    Fang Shaoyi was experienced. He knew exactly what had caused those bruises. Regardless of if Yang Siran was a member of hispany or not, even if this were a normal young actor, Fang Shaoyi would have taken care of them when it was needed. If his legs showed up on camera, everyone would be able to see. For an actor, this was a very embarrassing situation. They weren¡¯t even leaving him a fig leaf. At the time, he had furrowed his brows and turned around to tell the surrounding workers, ¡°Wait a moment.¡±


    He only told Yuan Ye that the other¡¯s legs had been bruised, but he hadn¡¯t said in what manner they had been bruised. Yuan Ye was most annoyed at the dirty business transactions in this industry. Thus, it was impossible for Fang Shaoyi to go into detail when exining things to him.


    Ji Xiaotao was quite confused by this situation too. Logically speaking, such a transaction wouldn¡¯t ur. Geng Jinwei was very against artists selling their own bodies to earn resources. He also never hinted for his artists to engage in such activities. Theirpany had quite a good reputation in this industry. Geng Jinwei was capable, but never harmed others. Additionally, signing to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s studio meant that there would never be ack of resources. Director Jiang himself didn¡¯t participate in these messy matters. As a consequence, his crew also didn¡¯t dare to.


    Thus, unless Yang Siran had consented, nobody would actually be able to do anything to him.


    Yuan Ye said he didn¡¯t care, which meant he truly didn¡¯t care. Prior to his arrival, Yang Siran and Fang Shaoyi had ended up on the news together, but Yuan Ye was still quite polite to him. When he spoke to the other, he always called him ¡°little bro.¡± At his age, he couldn¡¯t handle being groundlessly jealous of a little kid. He also wasn¡¯t the type to.


    Sometimes, he didn¡¯t wake up that early in the mornings. After eating, it would already be almost noon. He would stroll to the film set. If Fang Shaoyi was acting, then Yuan Ye would move a little stool over and sit off to the side, watching. If Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t acting, then Yuan Ye would wander around blindly.


    Old Tu sent a message to his phone, asking when he was returning. A new shipment of good tea leaves had arrived at the teahouse. He was telling Yuan Ye toe try them out.


    Yuan Ye said: Don¡¯t know if I get time off during Lunar New Year. If I do, I¡¯ll head back. If I don¡¯t, I¡¯ll just stay with the film crew.


    Old Tu sent another message: Little Mei told me to tell you to jiayou. We¡¯re wishing that you can sessfully pursue him sooner.


    Head lowered, Yuan Yeughed while replying: Then thank Little Mei for me, I guess.


    He kept his eyes on his phone as he walked, causing him to identally bump into someone. Yuan Ye immediately moved to the side. Without even looking back, he apologized. The other was young worker for the film crew. Upon noticing who he had bumped into, he hurriedly apologized too, ¡°Sorry, Teacher Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye waved his hands and said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry,¡± with a smile.


    When he reached set, he habitually went looking for Fang Shaoyi. After finding the other, he discovered that his face looked a little pale. His eyes were closed as he rested. There was a thin nket over him. Yuan Ye quietly asked Ji Xiaotao, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°He¡¯s not toofortable. They just newly painted that roomst night. The smell¡¯s too strong. He¡¯s filmed there all morning.¡±


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows and asked, ¡°Why¡¯d they paint it?¡±


    ¡°Last night, the director and them observed it and said that the color was too bright on camera. They hurriedly repainted overnight.¡± Ji Xiaotao was annoyed too. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t really handle extremely pungent smells. When he smelled these, his head hurt. These few days, they needed to film in the tailor shop of the little vige. As soon as they finished filming, the actors needed to leave because of the smell. There were still several more days left that they were required to smell this paint. Yuan Ye lowered his head and looked at Fang Shaoyi. The other was probably asleep. He didn¡¯t even move when the nket over him slipped off.


    While tugging the nket up higher with one hand, Yuan Ye asked Ji Xiaotao, ¡°Did you bring the Tiger Balm?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Ji Xiaotao pulled the container out of his pocket and handed it over. ¡°I was just about to apply some for him, but he didn¡¯t allow me to.¡±


    Yuan Ye grabbed it, then scooped out a bit with both his index fingers. Following this, he slightly bent over and gently started rubbing circles on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s temples.


    Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes to look at him. Yuan Ye softly told him, ¡°I¡¯ll rub them for you. Sleep.¡±


    This massage truly could ease the pain a lot. Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and continued to sleep. Ji Xiaotao moved a chair over so Yuan Ye could sit. Yuan Ye shook his head and didn¡¯t sit down ¨C sitting would prevent him from reaching Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi had always been unable to handle special smells. Yuan Ye knew this. Sometimes, it would take several days for him to recover from smelling extremely pungent smells. Each time Yuan Ye saw how ufortable he was, he would always get the impulse to want Fang Shaoyi to stop acting.


    He had started acting since young. This year, he was already thirty six. He was too dedicated to his work. Things had gotten a bit better these past few years: in the past, he had epted invites for a lot of action films. Every film, he would acquire at least one injury. Back then, Yuan Ye¡¯s heart often felt stuffy. He really didn¡¯t want the other to continue down this career path. By now, though, he had already made peace with himself. After reaching a certain age, it was easy to understand certain things clearly. Humans always had things that they stood by and were passionate about. The more they epted, the more they naturally needed topensate for.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t eat lunch. He didn¡¯t have an appetite. His brain felt muddled and his head felt like it was going to explode. Yuan Ye kept the Tiger Balm in his pocket. As soon as Fang Shaoyi finished a scene, he would immediately scoop some out and massage Fang Shaoyi¡¯s temples. Ji Xiaotao secretly took a picture of the two of them and sent it to Jian Xu¡¯s assistant, Dong Lin. He discreetly showed off: The two in my family are so lovey-dovey daily, but still haven¡¯t gotten remarried. Don¡¯t know what they¡¯re ying at.


    Dong Lin sent him a sticker that was captioned ¡°an awkward but still polite smile¡±. After, he asked: What¡¯s wrong with Shaoyi ge? He looks kind of ufortable ya.


    Ji Xiaotao: Ah, nothing much. He¡¯s dizzy because of paint fumes.


    Dong Lin: Ya, is it serious or not ya?


    Ji Xiaotao: If you ¡°ya¡± one more time I¡¯m going to block you.


    Dong Lin sent two more stickers. After, he said: Hahahahahahahahahaha, okay, I won¡¯t send any more.


    Right now, Ji Xiaotao was the equivalent of a mother about to wed off her daughter. Every cell in his body couldn¡¯t help wanting to show off. He told Dong Lin: Actually, even though my ge normally is ufortable after smelling so many paint fumes, he definitely wouldn¡¯t start acting like Daiyu in these situations. Ey, but isn¡¯t Ye ge here? So dramatic over some minor illnesses and difort. He¡¯s just different because he has someone looking after him, ha.


    Dong Lin probably didn¡¯t know how to respond. He replied with a long chain of ¡°ha¡±s before starting to send a bunch of stickers again.


    At night, Yuan Ye told Ji Xiaotao to order two servings of porridge and side dishes. They would eat in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room. Ji Xiaotao was extremely conscientious. After ordering the food, he left and returned to his own room to watch TV while eating meat. In the other room, Fang Daiyu still didn¡¯t have an appetite. Who knew how much he would need to be coaxed in order to eat a few bites. At a time like this, it would be better if the assistant didn¡¯t stay around to watch.


    In the other room, Yuan Ye opened the bowl of porridge and turned around to ask Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Come, Yi ge. Have some porridge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. He said lowly, ¡°No, my head hurts.¡±


    ¡°Then what will it take for it not to hurt?¡± Yuan Ye asked with a smile.


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him, then expressionlessly stated, ¡°Tiger Balm.¡±

 Chapter 35

    <h4>Chapter 35</h4>


    Yuan Ye kept the little container of Tiger Balm in his pocket for several days. Fang Shaoyi honestly and truly suffered for many days. Though there weren¡¯t a lot of scenes to film, they didn¡¯t go too smoothly. Each scene would be very troublesome. The person ying the tailor was a Taiwanese actor, He Sai. He was a year or two younger than Fang Shaoyi and had beenrgely unpopr until this year, when he suddenly started gaining some traction. However, he was seriously bad with his lines. His Taiwanese ent was too strong. Director Jiang also refused to dub things overter, so each scene had to be cut off halfway at least once.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head hurt really badly. He basically didn¡¯t speak during the breaks in between filming. The director had evene over to ask if there were any difficulties. Fang Shaoyi had shaken his head and said no.


    During filming, Yuan Ye remained sitting in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chair, looking over the script. He had a pen and was drawing and scribbling on the script. Later, he went looking for the director to discuss some edits. He wanted to decrease the amount of interactions between Fang Shaoyi and the tailor to give some more lines to other actors. The director discussed with him for a long time; he didn¡¯t directly reject the idea. Yuan Ye truly had some selfish goals in editing the screeny. But the edited version was also definitely logical. It even made the other characters more interesting. That night, after work, the director called Yuan Ye over again. The two of them went over the script for half the night, practically already deciding on the edited version.


    In the end, though, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t seed.


    He Sai came to find Fang Shaoyi. He very politely asked the other if he wasn¡¯t getting into character enough.


    Fang Shaoyi waved his hands with a smile and said, ¡°What are you saying?¡±


    ¡°Then I¡¯ll be able to rx, Shaoyi ge,¡± He Sai responded. ¡°I was worried that you didn¡¯t want to act with me anymore because I¡¯m too bad at acting.¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye had nced at him from the side. Then, he had turned around and lit a cigarette.


    After He Sai left, Yuan Ye said, ¡°Doesn¡¯t even want to get more lines. What¡¯s he thinking?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes. ¡°Though he¡¯d be getting more lines, there¡¯d be less interactions between his character and the main character. So he¡¯s still unwilling.¡±


    Because He Sai¡¯s side was unwilling, they didn¡¯t end up changing the script. The director shared with Yuan Ye in private, ¡°Nevermind. Either way, there aren¡¯t so many days of filming left. We¡¯ll still follow the original script.¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye had asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t we already reach an agreement? Director, the edited version is slightly better.¡±


    This wasn¡¯t a lie. It took away some of the main character¡¯s lines, but added some more characteristics to the cksmith and tailor. It made these two characters more realistic. The director had agreed with this too. However, in the end, he had still told Yuan Ye, ¡°Nevermind.¡±


    Previously, He Sai had only been a little actor with no status. It was already a great blessing that he could act in Jiang Linchuan¡¯s film. But things were different now. Now, he had a sugar daddy. Their movie was a big production for a small movie. No matter how domineering Jiang Linchuan was, he couldn¡¯t disregard the investor¡¯s suggestions. He Sai¡¯s sugar daddy was the biggest investor of this film. At the end of the day, these trivial changes weren¡¯t very important. They weren¡¯t part of the main plot, so weren¡¯t major. There was no need to get into an argument because of this little change.


    In actuality, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t really understand He Sai¡¯s side¡¯s reasoning. From a screenwriter¡¯s perspective, the edited tailor was much more alive and spirited than the original version. Even though they had cut out some scenes with the main character, this exchange would definitely be advantageous. The next couple of days, Fang Shaoyi even needed to take headache medicine to keep filming. He was too sensitive to smells. Staying in such a ce from morning to night even caused Yuan Ye difort, not to mention him. Additionally, He Sai couldn¡¯t pass his scenes. Actors truly feared having to practice scenes like this. Nobody could immerse themselves into these emotions at the snap of a finger. Repeated attempts would only cause the previous emotions to get stuck.


    Yuan Ye watched as He Sai opened his mouth and started speaking in his Taiwanese ent again. He furrowed his brows, already knowing that this wasn¡¯t going to end well.


    As expected, the director yelled cut.


    He Sai said, ¡°My apologies, my apologies. I forgot again. Sorry, Director. Sorry, Shaoyi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. These things are bound to happen.¡±


    Yuan Ye was very pissed while watching. He sat there and lowly muttered, ¡°Annoying piece of shit.¡±


    The next scene, the director yelled cut halfway through. He said into the speaker, ¡°The emotions aren¡¯ting out.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a hand gesture. He said, ¡°Sorry. Let¡¯s try again.¡±


    ¡°He doesn¡¯t have any fucking emotions......¡± Ji Xiaotao muttered lowly from where he was squatting. ¡°He¡¯s not even as good as Little Yang. Even Little Yang doesn¡¯t get as many cuts as him.¡±


    After a day of filming, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face was pale even after getting his makeup removed. His eyes were bloodshot too. Actually, if they could leave the room alone for only a few days, the smell wouldn¡¯t be so bad. However, they didn¡¯t have that much time. The other actor was in a rush. As soon as he finished with this film, he needed to directly fly to his next film set. He said that he had already signed the contract.


    When Yuan Ye heard Ji Xiaotao say that they would be flying straight to the next film set, heughed. He said, ¡°Which film crew is so badass that they¡¯re starting to film right before the Spring Festival?¡±


    After He Sai finished his scenes, it would basically already be the Spring Festival. Most film sets would be on break during this time. No film crew would make an actor join their set at such a time. Even if he went, they would be on break. Typically, they wouldn¡¯t start until after the holidays. Thus, his reasoning sounded quite fake. However, there couldn¡¯t be any rebuttals ¨C that was the excuse he had given, so that was the excuse they needed to ept. After they finished filming, the smell would most likely bergely dissipated too. By that time, though, Fang Shaoyi would probably get paint poisoning.


    Fang Shaoyi slept early after taking his medicine. Even asleep, his breathing was very heavy. Yuan Ye normally went back to his own room after Fang Shaoyi fell asleep, but recently, his mood wasn¡¯t too great. He was angry but didn¡¯t know who to take it out on.


    ming the main content creators? If the color of the paint was wrong, why hadn¡¯t they changed it earlier? That wasn¡¯t reasonable. It was too normal for film sets to fix their props prior to filming. The equipment team also didn¡¯t have the time to find environmentally friendly paint for you. These weren¡¯t issues. ming He Sai? He had been against changing the plot, and now was wishy washy with his filming, causing many scenes to not pass. He also wasn¡¯t willing to change his times. But at the end of the day, he wasn¡¯t required to do any of these things. None of these things were unreasonable.


    Ultimately, it was his own problem.


    On the Minor New Year, Fang Shaoyi treated the film crew to food. He ordered several servings of New Year-tier dinners to be sent to the film set. They covered the entire restaurant. He invited all the workers to eat. Fang Shaoyi was always like this when he ended up celebrating a holiday on set: he celebrated each and every holiday, not missing out on anything. However, he himself only took a few bites before he stopped eating. In the past few days, he had already lost some weight.


    At night, Yuan Ye walked back with him again. His head was full of formaldehyde. Letting the wind blow against his face helped clear his mind. Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Do you feel okay? If you¡¯re tired, call Xiaotao over so he can bring us both back.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine,¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was slightly raspy. After saying this, he cleared his throat and chuckled softly. ¡°Getting old.¡±


    ¡°The kid who does tracking shots is only twenty four. Even he can¡¯t get up,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°He has it way worse than you. You can still film, but that kid had to be given time off by the director. He won¡¯t be back until after the new year.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything. He slowly strolled along with Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye continued, ¡°If this were anyone else, they wouldn¡¯t care about all these things. They¡¯d just stop filming and only start again when the smell disappeared.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi only smiled and said, ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡±


    He Sai was in a rush. Additionally, while signing the contract, they had truly only signed up to the new year. If Fang Shaoyi said he couldn¡¯t film anymore, that would be making things difficult for the director. In actuality, Yang Siran¡¯s contract had only been up to the new year too, but they would probably continue rushing He Sai¡¯s shots prior to the new year. The sooner they finished filming, the sooner he would be able to leave. Thus, Yang Siran¡¯s side didn¡¯t mention the time at all. Either way, he wasn¡¯t famous right now. His work schedule wasn¡¯t rushed either. The director had already told Fang Shaoyi that Yang Siran¡¯s time might have to be pushed back. Fang Shaoyi told the director to rest at ease and keep filming.


    Fang Shaoyi had technically been mildly poisoned. After braving the difort and finishing thest few days of filming, their side finally heaved sighs of relief. If filming had to drag on a few more days, Fang Shaoyi probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to participate even if he wanted to. During Lunar New Year, the film crew gave everyone five days off. Upon finishing thest scene, they were technically on break. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t nned on leaving at all. He gave Ji Xiaotao ten days off, telling him not to rush to and back from home. Either way, there wasn¡¯t anything important to do on set. Each year, Fang Shaoyi would transfer some money to Ji Xiaotao before the other headed home. This was considered his end of the year bonus. Ji Xiaotao had a very high sry. By now, their rtionship wasn¡¯t as simple as that of one between a boss and an employee. Fang Shaoyi was very kind and considerate of him in every regard.


    It had almost been a year since Ji Xiaotao had headed home too. His parents were missing him at home. He had booked the ne tickets in advance; there wasn¡¯t really a reason to not head back.


    Very quickly, the film set became half empty. The remaining half didn¡¯t want to deal with the extra travel, didn¡¯t want to have to fight through this spring festival exodus. Those who had left were mostly workers and assistants. The ones in critical positions wouldn¡¯t leave. Yuan Ye asionally used the kitchen in the hotel restaurant to cook for Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi liked to eat his cooking, regardless of what it was.


    Life seemed to have been abruptly paused. Their fast-paced work life suddenly disappeared. The surrounding atmosphere became gentle and warm too. It had actually been a long time since the two of them had experienced this kind of life, but they didn¡¯t find it unfamiliar.


    On New Year¡¯s Eve, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi both called home. However, their rtionship right now was a bit awkward. Thus, they didn¡¯t say too much to each other¡¯s parents, only sending greetings over WeChat. The remaining members of the film crew all celebrated together. Later on, the main cast members headed into the director¡¯s room to drink. Jiang Linchuan had too great of an alcohol tolerance. Given his current condition, Fang Shaoyi definitely wouldn¡¯t be able to drink anything. Yuan Ye drank two cups of baijiu before stopping. He didn¡¯t want to get drunk today. The two of them together couldn¡¯t even beat the amount the director was drinking. The directorughed at them, ¡°Look at your alcohol tolerance. It¡¯s a good thing you guys don¡¯t need to go get sponsors and investors. Otherwise, what would you guys do?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and begged for mercy, ¡°Teachers, let us live. I still need to go set off fireworkster. If I drink some more, I won¡¯t even be able to light the fire.¡±


    Gatherings with alcohol were nevercking in dirty jokes, especially because everyone had already had a few drinks now. The assistant director said, ¡°Seems to me like you guys aren¡¯t going out to set off fireworks. Right now, the two of you are drinking alcohol so timidly, like two girls. Who knows what you¡¯re nning to do when you get back?¡±


    Everyone in the roomughed. Nobody would take the dirty jokes during these situations seriously. Yuan Ye waved his arm around to block the words. All he needed to do was remain silent; there was no need to be too hung up over this. He turned around and nced at Fang Shaoyi, then scooted close and lowly asked him, ¡°Still good? Does your head still hurt?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. His gaze wasn¡¯t too clear. A headache plus alcohol made him more or less bleary-eyed. He looked at Yuan Ye and said, ¡°No.¡±


    Yuan Ye then inquired, ¡°Then do you still feel dizzy?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi blinked. Slowly, he stated, ¡°A little, I guess.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled and said, ¡°So be it. Let¡¯s go?¡±


    He didn¡¯t wait for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s response to his question before standing up and telling everyone else, ¡°You know what, you guys keep drinking. The two of us are gonna head out.¡±


    The assistant director had just joked about the two of them. Now, Yuan Ye was saying that they were going to leave. Everyone naturallyughed. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t bother exining further. He allowed them to keep joking. He downed the alcohol still left in his ss and said while tugging at Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Leaders, Happy New Year! Stay healthy, stay safe, and I hope everything goes your way!¡±


    After he finished speaking, he grabbed Fang Shaoyi and ran away.


    Jacket slung over his arm, Fang Shaoyi followed Yuan Ye out. He didn¡¯t ask where they were going.


    As soon as the cold wind blew past him outside, he instantly recovered half of his wits that had been lost while drinking. Fang Shaoyi put on the jacket and stayed next to Yuan Ye the entire time. Eventually, he held onto Yuan Ye¡¯s hand. Yuan Ye looked over and smiled at him.


    Yuan Ye led him all the way to the suburbs. He had parked his car here previously. Yuan Ye told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Stand here and wait for me.¡±


    He pulled something out from the car and set it on the ground. Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He watched as Yuan Ye made trip after trip, setting up those fireworks. He walked over to help him move them. Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°How old are you?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Already thirty three. There¡¯s no rule that says that thirty three year olds can¡¯t set off fireworks, right?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°It¡¯s not environmentally friendly.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked and answered, ¡°I specially came out to this empty area in the suburbs to set them off. Besides, I¡¯m super environmentally friendly every year. This year, I¡¯m pursuing my ex-husband. I hope our nation will be able to forgive me this once.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed. He watched as Yuan Ye lit a firework. Yuan Ye told him, ¡°Stand further back.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi followed his instructions and retreated to stand next to the car. Yuan Ye lit the fireworks one by one, then ran over to stand beside Fang Shaoyi. Above their heads, spiral after spiral of bright light burst open. Fang Shaoyi looked up. The image in his mind slowly became ovepped with a time when Yuan Ye had still been twenty-something. At that time, Yuan Ye had been extremely rowdy every New Year. He would always fill up a whole car with firecrackers and fireworks. Later on, at some unknown time, he had stopped setting these things off. And not only this. The childish air about him dissipated bit by bit. Fang Shaoyi thought back on it now, but couldn¡¯t remember exactly when Yuan Ye had transformed from a naughty kid into a mature man. Change and transformation often were unnoticeable when they urred right before you.


    ¡°Yi ge,¡± Yuan Ye called out by his ear.


    Fang Shaoyi turned around to look at him. Yuan Ye¡¯s face was right there, shadows dancing across it. However, the other¡¯s eyes remained bright. Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°Here.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled at him. After shouting, he didn¡¯t say anything else. He only stared at Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi reached up and softly tapped Yuan Ye¡¯s eyelid.


    That was the spot where Yuan Ye¡¯s scar was located on his eyelid.


    Yuan Ye lifted a hand to touch it. His thumb gently scratched over the area Fang Shaoyi had just touched. Then, he stared at Fang Shaoyi. His lips curled up in a smile as he held his finger against them. Then, he kissed the thumb that had just touched the scar.


    Fang Shaoyi instantly burst intoughter. It was impossible for Yuan Ye to maintain a formal attitude. Given the chance, he would definitely start being coquettish. Between two adults, this action was flirtatious, but also a challenge. Yuan Ye slightly raised an eyebrow and gazed at Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyiughed and shook his head. He suddenly reached a hand out to grab the cor of Yuan Ye¡¯s shirt. He tugged the other over, then bit him on the lips.


    After Fang Shaoyi let go of him, he asked, ¡°Is that what you mean? Need to be bitten?¡±


    Yuan Ye licked his lips and shook his head. He still looked so infuriating. He said, ¡°......Need to be fucked.¡±


    He already needed to be fucked ¨C if Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t react in any way, it would seem like he wasn¡¯t capable. When the two of them returned, Fang Shaoyi pushed Yuan Ye into the bathroom. There was only half an inch of space between them. His eyes were full of Yuan Ye. Throat hoarse, he asked, ¡°Do you still need it?¡±


    Yuan Ye made eye contact with him, not looking away at all. ¡°Bring it.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s hairstyle wasn¡¯t one of his weaknesses. Sometimes, when others wanted to grab his hair, there was nothing to grab. Fang Shaoyi could only hold onto the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head. He couldn¡¯t do anything at all about this person.


    Fang Shaoyi pulled out a red envelope from his pocket and stuffed it into Yuan Ye¡¯s hand.


    Yuan Ye lifted it up to observe. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared into his eyes and said, ¡°Lucky money.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Where are the blessings?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gently kissed the tip of his nose. He softly said¡ª¡ª


    ¡°I hope Little Monkey will be healthy and safe, carefree and happy, free and unrestrained.¡±

 Chapter 36

    <h4>Chapter 36</h4>


    From seventeen until now,st year had been the only year that Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t received a red envelope or Fang Shaoyi¡¯s simple blessings that sounded like sweet nothings. Last New Year¡¯s Eve, he had spent the first half of the night with Professor Yuan and his mom. The second half of the night, he had been at Old Tu¡¯s, drinking until the sun came up. When Old Tu drank, he wasn¡¯t willing to have the little girl stay next to him. Thus, it was only the two of them. That day, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been very talkative. He wanted to use the alcohol to numb his nerves.


    But that day remained extra clear in his mind. What he had gained and lost during all these years, what actually caused him more pain, remained stuck in his brain.


    This day, the two of them ultimately didn¡¯t go all the way. Neither of them wanted to ¨C or, more urately, neither could bear to. Back then, they had fucked shamelessly and messily during the show filming. That had been because both of them had felt stuffy in their hearts at the time. With so many emotions twisted together, unable to find a good method of catharsis, they felt like they would never get to do anything again if they didn¡¯t do it now. Additionally, it had already been thest episode.


    However, that wasn¡¯t the case now. Now, the other was right in front of their eyes. Their romance was slowly healing. Thus, they couldn¡¯t bear to use sex again to either end or begin this rtionship. Sex would cause the ambiguous stage to immediately end. And then, the two of them would naturally be together again. But this ultimatelycked a bit of ceremony.


    With a practically irrelevant distance between them, Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth was curved in a calm, gentle smile. His voice was slightly raspy. ¡°Yi ge, I¡¯ll help you rub one out?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and lowly hummed in response. After, he asked, ¡°Don¡¯t need to be fucked anymore?¡±


    Yuan Ye was stillughing. Once he finished chuckling, he said, ¡°I have a big mouth. You know that.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi squeezed Yuan Ye¡¯s chin and forcefully bit it before telling him softly, ¡°All you can do is bluff.¡±


    ¡°Un, exactly.¡± Yuan Ye was finally well behaved now. ¡°I¡¯m the most cowardly.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gently ground his teeth against Yuan Ye¡¯s chin, then turned off the lights with a smack of his hand. Only a small night light remained lit by the headboard of the bed.


    These days, Yuan Ye was so well behaved he didn¡¯t seem like a wild monkey: he seemed like a tamed monkey kept in someone¡¯s home. His words no longer carried thorns and he thought a lot more before acting. On set, his rtionship with the film crew and directors was very good. As long as he was next to Fang Shaoyi, he would automatically hide his quills away, doing his best to make himself seem calm.


    Yuan Ye even gave the other two young, on-site screenwriters red envelopes for the new year. Little Gao seemed ttered. ¡°Yuan Ye ge, you¡¯re too kind. Thank you, ge. You¡¯ve always taken care of us.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and responded, ¡°Happy New Year. Hopefully work will go smoothly in the new year.¡±


    Yang Siran had stayed on set over the Spring Festival too. He was someone in Fang Shaoyi¡¯spany, so Yuan Ye gave him a red envelope as well. When he ran into him in the hallway, Yuan Ye called him to a halt. Yang Siran stopped in his tracks and asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Yuan Ye ge?¡±


    Yuan Ye pulled out a fairly thick red envelope from his pocket and threw it at him. ¡°Catch! Jiayou.¡±


    Yang Siran caught the red envelope in slight surprise. He blinked, but surprisingly didn¡¯t manage to say anything in response. A long timeter, he finally got a ¡°thank you¡± out. He had even forgotten to add Yuan Ye¡¯s name. His expression looked extremely panicked.


    Yuan Ye startedughing because of his reaction. He said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so nervous.¡±


    There were still two days of break left. Fang Shaoyi fell asleep in Yuan Ye¡¯s room. Yuan Ye obediently started doing chores beside him,pletely silent. A whileter, Fang Shaoyi fell into a deep sleep. Yuan Ye changed the temperature of the thermostat and ced a thin nket over Fang Shaoyi. Then, he left to get some fresh air alone.


    It was slightly cold outside. Yuan Ye exhaled before putting his hands in his pockets and randomly walking around. His brain went nk. These moments were the most rxing.


    Yang Siran had a hat on. His ears were stuffed with earphones. He ran over from the opposite direction. Yuan Ye raised a hand to greet him. Yang Siran stopped to chat. He called out, ¡°Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Running?¡±


    Yang Siran nodded. ¡°Yes. I feel sleepy if I stay in my room.¡±


    At first, because Yuan Ye was talking to him, Yang Siran followed the other and started slowly walking as well. Later on, it would be improper if he finished the conversation and turned around to run off in the opposite direction. Thus, the two of them started walking together. This pair seemed ipatible, but in actuality, were fine.


    Yuan Ye inquired, ¡°What are you listening to?¡±


    The other had taken his earphones out long ago. Because of Yuan Ye¡¯s question, Yang Siran handed them over. He said, ¡°Just an instrumental. No lyrics. Yuan Ye ge, do you want to listen?¡±


    He had already handed them over, so Yuan Ye grabbed them and stuffed them into his ears. There was a piano piece ying. It was very slow, but very nice. Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Whoposed this instrumental?¡±


    Yang Siran switched to the next song. Shyly, he smiled and said, ¡°I did. It¡¯s not too polished. Just don¡¯tugh at me.¡±


    Yuan Ye was aplete outsider when it came to music. He actually couldn¡¯t tell anything, but the melody was veryfortable to listen to. All the songs were pretty good. Yuan Ye was quite surprised. ¡°They¡¯re all written by you?¡±


    ¡°Un, yes.¡± Yang Siran nodded before smiling softly. ¡°Actually, I studied music.¡±


    Yuan Ye truly hadn¡¯t expected this. He gazed at Yang Siran, then asked, ¡°Why did you sign to theirpany if you studied music? They only film movies. You like acting?¡±


    Yang Siran zipped his jacket up all the way, so that it was touching his chin. He nced at Yuan Ye before shaking his head. ¡°Actually, I didn¡¯t really like acting in the beginning. It was very unnatural. Butter on, it got better because I got used to it. It¡¯s a lot easier for us newbies to act when it¡¯s alongside someone like Shaoyi ge.¡±


    ¡°Un, he helps you get into character. Learn well from him,¡± Yuan Ye replied.


    This strange pair actually strolled and conversed for a long time. When Yuan Ye returned to the room, Fang Shaoyi was already awake. He asked, ¡°Where¡¯d you run off to?¡±


    Yuan Ye was still surrounded by the cold air that he had picked up from his walk outside. On the other hand, Fang Shaoyi was nice and warm. Yuan Ye stuck his hands under the other¡¯s nkets. Upon remembering what had happened in the past, he purposefully stated, ¡°Took a stroll with a young kid.¡±


    Thest time he had held a nighttime conversation with a young kid, he had been taught a lesson. Now, he still had the face to bring this up again. He was trying to cause trouble with his words. Fang Shaoyi remembered too. Eyebrow cocked, he inquired, ¡°Talking about emotions again? About life?¡±


    Yuan Ye stuffed his hands between Fang Shaoyi and the bed. The temperature was alluring. With a cheeky smile, he answered, ¡°Ah, I was chatting about emotions with Little Yang. I asked my ex-husband¡¯s rumored overnight little boyfriend about his love life and future dreams. That sort of stuff. Gotta know the enemy, right?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He didn¡¯t keep joking with Yuan Ye, instead lifting an arm and wrapping it around the other to hug him. Yuan Ye took this chance to flop on him. Fang Shaoyiughed and asked, ¡°Touching ceramics? I didn¡¯t even put any strength into my arms.¡±


    Yuan Ye was touching ceramics. As soon as Fang Shaoyi had neared him, he had directly flopped over. Now, heid there,ughing, for a long time. After, he said, ¡°Your body is always quite warm when you wake up. I¡¯m sharing the heat.¡±


    Their ages added together was close to seventy, but they weren¡¯tcking in the slightest when acting in this suggestive manner. It was a good thing Ji Xiaotao wasn¡¯t here now. Otherwise, he would definitely beining to himself about these two old men acting like two young people in love. So shameless.


    Such a brief break passed in the blink of an eye. By the time work started up again, everyone felt extremelyzy. The first night, they held an important meeting in the conference room. This meetingsted three hours. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t skip out on working out; he had tasks to aplish every day. Previously, he had lost some weight during the period that he had been gued by a headache. His fitness instructor had eventually switched up his workout n. After Yuan Ye finished the meeting, he returned to organize the script for the next day. Tomorrow, they definitely wouldn¡¯t be editing scenes or lines. The first day back at work needed to be filled with good luck. They had specially chosen a scene where Fang Shaoyi was acting alongside an old, experienced actor. The first day, filming went extremely smoothly.


    On this day, Geng Jinwei visited too. He had returned to his family home for the Spring Festival. Prior to heading back to thepany, he first came to take a look at their set.


    When Fang Shaoyi finished filming for the day, it was already dark. After he removed his makeup and changed, he shared a meal with Geng Jinwei. Yuan Ye had headed over to the director¡¯s room to edit the script. Thus, he hadn¡¯t tagged along.


    During dinner, Geng Jinwei said, ¡°Your movie¡¯s investor wants to edit the script. Has the director mentioned it yet?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°A major edit? About what?¡±


    Geng Jinwei answered, ¡°They want to add another main character. You¡¯ll still be the male lead, but they¡¯re adding a second male lead. However, I assume that Director Jiang and the producers will be able to hold their own against the pressure. Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have not mentioned it. Everyone knows about his terrible temper. If he gets angry and simply quits, everybody would be dumbasses.¡±


    Investors who didn¡¯t try to cause trouble were too rare. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t really think too much about this. Jiang Linchuan¡¯s crew would be able to stand their ground against the pressure. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°The new crew Linchuan has switched to is a bit unstable, but won¡¯t be too annoying. Let him be.¡±


    Not everybody¡¯s movie would allow investors to mess around. Jiang Linchuan¡¯s temper wouldn¡¯t ept this. Thus, he hadn¡¯t even mentioned anything. It wouldn¡¯t pass in his books.


    On the eighth day of the new year, Ji Xiaotao came back, dragging his big suitcase. There were quite a lot of delicious snacks in it, all from home. He gave some out to the directors and producers he was familiar with, then went to knock on Yuan Ye¡¯s door. ¡°Mr. Screenwriter! Open the door, I¡¯m gifting you care!¡±


    Mr. Screenwriter¡¯s door was opened by the film emperor.


    Ji Xiaotao and Fang Shaoyi stared at each other. Ji Xiaotao thought to himself I only left for ten days. Where in the rtionship have you two progressed to now?


    These two people hadn¡¯t responded to any of his messages for the past few days. They found him annoying. After returning to the film set, he hadn¡¯t seen Fang Shaoyi in his own room. Instead, he now saw him in Yuan Ye¡¯s room.


    Yuan Ye shouted from inside, ¡°What care are you gifting? Let me see.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao scurried in and ced a pack of jerky next to Yuan Ye. He lowly asked, ¡°Mr. Screenwriter......Remarriage?¡±


    Mr. Screenwriter picked up a piece of jerky and stuffed it into his mouth. He answered, ¡°You can leave now that you¡¯ve gifted the care. Take your ge with you too. Let me have some peace and quiet.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao turned around and left,pletely unbothered. As he walked, he said, ¡°Only I¡¯m annoying. My ge isn¡¯t annoying at all. Let him stay here!¡±


    After he left, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi made eye contact. Bothughed. Fang Shaoyi told Yuan Ye, ¡°Sleep earlier. I¡¯ll head back now.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. ¡°Okay.¡±


    However, before Fang Shaoyi could leave, Ji Xiaotao knocked on the door again. Fang Shaoyi opened the door for him and Ji Xiaotao squeezed in. With furrowed brows, he asked, ¡°Didn¡¯t He Sai finish his scenes before the new year? Howe I saw his manager again?¡±


    Yuan Ye had originally been sprawled out very haphazardly on the table. Now, he instantly sat up straight, one eyebrow raised extremely high. ¡°He¡¯s back again?¡±


    ¡°Ah, I saw him. In the hallway,¡± Ji Xiaotao answered.


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°Probably because his acting is bad. Maybe one of the scenes he filmed previously couldn¡¯t pass, so the director called him back to make it up.¡±


    ¡°Quit messing around. They want us to go back and keep sniffing the smell of paint?¡± Ji Xiaotao scoffed. ¡°He¡¯s in such a big rush, but still has time toe back and make up some shots?¡±


    ¡°Technically he should be done already.¡± Yuan Ye furrowed his brows. ¡°But I can¡¯t say for certain. I¡¯ll go check it out tomorrow.¡±

 Chapter 37

    <h4>Chapter 37</h4>


    In the end, he didn¡¯t need to go check it out the next day, because that same night, Yuan Ye managed toe face to face with He Sai¡¯s manager.


    After Fang Shaoyi and Ji Xiaotao went back downstairs, Yuan Ye organized the script for the next day. He came up with an idea, so put on his shoes and headed downstairs to find the director. He often went to the director¡¯s room, thus no longer considered the act a big deal. The assistant director opened the door for him after he knocked. Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Busy, Leaders?¡±


    The assistant director told him, ¡°Talking about business. Need something, Little Yuan?¡±


    ¡°Ah, no......¡± Yuan Ye had originally been about to leave, but halfway through his response, he looked up and saw that He Sai¡¯s manager was inside the room as well. The other was staring at him. His gaze made Yuan Ye slightly ufortable. Yuan Ye smiled, ¡°I¡¯m looking for the director to talk about tomorrow¡¯s scenes. I have some thoughts.¡±


    He raised his voice again to ask, ¡°I¡¯ming in, Director?¡±


    After saying this, he directly walked in, also greeting that manager on the way, ¡°You¡¯re here?¡±


    Yuan Ye had been on set for a long time already. Additionally, he had spent every day over the new year with these people, eating with them. The director and assistant director didn¡¯t treat him like an outsider either. Jiang Linchuan pointed at the couch off to the side, signalling for him to sit. Yuan Ye sat down, smiling as he said, ¡°You guys chat. I¡¯ll talk about my business when you¡¯re done.¡±


    As soon as he sat down, the manager stopped talking. He smiled at the director and said, ¡°So let¡¯s leave it like this first. Director, do what you need to. And also, please carefully consider what we discussed just now. I¡¯ll be waiting for your response.¡±


    The director didn¡¯t nod or shake his head. The manager stood up and added, ¡°Hopefully, Director can give us a chance.¡±


    Yuan Ye gazed at him. He had an epiphany. His brain had always worked fast; he reacted fast too. There was something obviously wrong with this sentence. Yuan Ye asked, ¡°What kind of chance do you want?¡±


    ¡°Teacher Yuan.¡± The other had a smile on his face. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about matters between me and the director.¡±


    Yuan Ye sat on the couch, arm resting on his knee. A whileter, he lowered his head and rubbed his hair with his hand. He suddenly chuckled and asked, ¡°Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re trying to make a U-turn......Didn¡¯t get enough screen time, right?¡±


    As soon as Yuan Ye finished speaking, he knew that he had guessed correctly because of the other¡¯s gaze. Yuan Ye cussed to himself. He remained in that position, head lowered and hand on his head. He drawled out, ¡°I was right? Then how can you say it¡¯s none of my business? If you want to edit the script, you should at least ask me.¡±


    Yuan Ye had been holding his rage back all this time because he had no outlet for it. Now, upon seeing that they actually wanted toe back and edit the script, heughed with anger. How could they be so shameless? His words were a bit too direct. Neither of them could maintain the fake smiles on their faces anymore. Jiang Linchuan called out to him, ¡°Little Yuan.¡±


    ¡°Ey, I¡¯m here,¡± Yuan Ye responded. However, he didn¡¯t stop talking at all. He continued staring at the other. ¡°How do you want to edit it? Adding screen time? How many minutes extra?¡±


    He Sai was Taiwanese, but his manager was an old, experienced mainder. Ultimately, Yuan Ye was unimportant in the industry. He had no status. Disregarding the current rtionship between him and Fang Shaoyi, these people clearly weren¡¯t scared of insulting Fang Shaoyi, since they were already here. Each of Yuan Ye¡¯s words were an attack. The manager stopped being perfunctorily polite too. He scoffed softly, then used an insulting tone to say, ¡°That depends on what the investor wants. The higher ups want to change the movie into one with double male leads. No matter how busy we are, we still have to find the time toe, you know?¡±


    He gazed at Yuan Ye, eyes remaining crinkled in a slight smile. He continued, ¡°How we¡¯re going to add screen time, how long we¡¯re going to add the screen time for, actually doesn¡¯t have anything to do with you. You didn¡¯t write the script, so you aren¡¯t in charge when ites to major edits. Boss Liu has already chatted with the screenwriter, Teacher Leng. How about you ask what the higher ups want in terms of editing?¡±


    Jiang Linchuan cleared his throat. He told the manager, ¡°Head back first. Wait for my response.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t.¡± Right now, Yuan Yepletely burst intoughter. He looked back and forth between them and asked, ¡°Who¡¯s gonna give me the final verdict? What do you mean by ¡®double male leads¡¯? What are ¡®double male leads¡¯? Two male leads?¡±


    ¡°Little Yuan, nothing¡¯s set in stone. We can discuss itter.¡± The assistant director gave Yuan Ye a meaningful look. He was scared the other would be too offensive with his words.


    ¡°How do you want to discuss it?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. He gently scratched his fingers against his pants. Someone knocked at the door. The assistant director opened it. Yuan Ye stared at the manager and continued, ¡°Based on your actor¡¯s half-assed acting skills, you think he can handle a movie with double male leads?¡±


    ¡°What are you guys chatting about?¡± Yuan Ye looked over when he heard this voice. The one who had walked in was Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi had already heard the second half of his sentence after he had walked in. He nced at Yuan Ye, then strolled over to stand next to the couch the other was sitting on.


    The assistant director said, ¡°Shaoyi, head back with Yuan Ye first. We¡¯ll talk about it tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s expression was dark now too. He shook his head and said, ¡°I want to hear what you mean by ¡®double male leads.¡¯¡±


    This situation had truly pissed Yuan Ye off. The manager¡¯s ¡°double male leads¡± had ignited the bomb inside him. His previous, held-back anger seemed like nothingpared to now. Yuan Ye had always been annoyed with the dirty deeds and rtionships somon in the entertainment industry. After getting a sugar daddy, the other now wanted toe back and be double male leads with Fang Shaoyi, even though he had already finished filming all his scenes. Too fuckingical.


    From start to finish, the director hadn¡¯t expressed his opinion. Typically speaking, this meant that he had basically agreed.


    In his anger, even Yuan Ye¡¯s eyelids twitched a few times. He pointed at the scripts on the tea table, the ones he had just brought in. ¡°Let¡¯s film exactly how we discussed when signing the contract. Having double male leads is impossible. Before you eat a piece of meat, make sure you can digest it first. I¡¯m going to say it straight. Your actor¡¯s acting skills are only enough for him to go back and film his idol dramas. He isn¡¯t even good enough for romance dramas. At best, he can only handle a third or fourth male lead.¡±


    ¡°Yuan Ye,¡± Fang Shaoyi spoke up. He lowly said from beside him, ¡°Don¡¯t throw a tantrum.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not, I¡¯m telling the truth.¡± Yuan Ye gazed at the manager. ¡°Dog with a master. How old is your actor? In the thirty-somethings? How many more years can he rely on his sugar daddy? He¡¯s a bully today, but when he can¡¯t rely on his sugar daddy anymore, there¡¯ll be plenty of people waiting to beat a drowned dog.¡±


    His words were too unpleasant. Fang Shaoyi reached a hand out and pressed down on his back. He furrowed his brows and deeply called out, ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye stood up and said, ¡°My ge has a good temper, but I don¡¯t. I¡¯m an unprincipled person from the mountains. I¡¯m uncivilized.¡±


    After speaking, he turned around to look at the director. He probably had more to say, but Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t give him this opportunity. He directly tugged Yuan Ye away. Prior to leaving, Fang Shaoyi nodded at the director and assistant director. Then, he nced at the manager who was standing off to the side and lightly said, ¡°If you have anything else to say, say itter. To me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi led Yuan Ye back to his room. Yuan Ye¡¯s brows were furrowed. His expression was extremely dark. ¡°Why are you tugging me? I wasn¡¯t done speaking.¡±


    ¡°What else did you want to say?¡± Fang Shaoyi pushed him onto the couch and rubbed his head. ¡°If you said anything else, you would¡¯ve been targeting the director.¡±


    ¡°This time, Director wasn¡¯t righteous.¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s anger hadn¡¯t dispelled yet. His words were very hurtful. ¡°Why do you keep holding me back when I¡¯m trying to speak?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi poured him a cup of water. In actuality, his expression was pretty dark too. However, he didn¡¯t make anyments because Yuan Ye was still outraged. He only said, ¡°Next time, call me if something¡¯s wrong. Don¡¯t go argue with anyone yourself.¡±


    ¡°I happened to be in time for it. It¡¯s not like I could specially call for you. Also, if I had, you wouldn¡¯t have let me speak anyways.¡± Yuan Ye didn¡¯t drink that cup of water. He lit a cigarette. ¡°I¡¯ve been pissed at them for a long time. If you still refused to let me say anything, I would¡¯ve been close to exploding.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi sighed. He sat down next to Yuan Ye and told him, ¡°If you feel like exploding, yell at me.¡±


    Yuan Ye had nothing to yell at him for. Also, yelling at him was useless. Fang Shaoyi was the gentle type. Or, technically not ¡°gentle.¡± In actuality, he just didn¡¯t care. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t need roles or films; he also didn¡¯t care which actor in which film got however many more or less scenes. Even if he found out about this situation, he probably wouldn¡¯t oppose it too passionately. It wasn¡¯t worth fighting over screen time with a trivial actor of such low status. But Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t like this. Regarding things he didn¡¯t care about, he wouldn¡¯t take a second nce even if the situation escted immensely. Regarding things he did care about, though, he couldn¡¯t stand even the slightest bit of sand in his eyes. There were too many pieces of trash hidden in the shadows of this industry. Normally, they politely called one ge to one¡¯s face, but in private, who knew how unimpressed they were. Given the opportunity, they would be delighted to stand on someone else¡¯s head to dance.


    Last time, when Fang Shaoyi had had a headache and been in pain, who knew how pleased they had felt in their hearts. These types were the ones Yuan Ye disliked the most ¨C the dumbasses who didn¡¯t deserve respect.


    In actuality, when Fang Shaoyi had headed to the director¡¯s room today, he truly hadn¡¯t known that Yuan Ye was there. Previously, he hadn¡¯t mentioned this situation when he had been in Yuan Ye¡¯s room because he had been scared that Yuan Ye would explode after hearing it. He had gone to the director¡¯s room to ask about it. However, he hadn¡¯t expected for Yuan Ye to already have exploded inside the room. When the other was mad, he cared for nothing and wasn¡¯t scared of insulting anyone. He was very wild.


    Later on, when Yuan Ye was about to head upstairs, Fang Shaoyi swung an arm around his shoulders. He lowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t be mad anymore. Why are you getting mad at them?¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment. After, he turned around to look at Fang Shaoyi. He asked, ¡°Have I made things difficult for you?¡±


    ¡°No, not at all.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was sincere. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°I simply don¡¯t want you arguing with people. Not everyone is like you, saying things to people¡¯s faces. You¡¯re in in view, but they¡¯re hidden. Let me deal with these situations. Or, let thepany deal with them.¡±


    How could Yuan Ye not know about this? He chuckled, then shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not scared of that stuff. Whatever.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not whatever for me.¡± Fang Shaoyi tugged his ear, slightly exasperated. ¡°Keep your temper in check.¡±


    At first, Yuan Ye opened his mouth, but ultimately closed it. He nodded and didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Actually, Yuan Ye had already reigned his temper in quite a lot. Previously, when He Sai and them had been purposefully causing trouble for several days, he hadn¡¯t said a word. When he was together with Fang Shaoyi, Yuan Ye did his best to be more like the other. He wouldn¡¯t do anything that would make things more difficult for Fang Shaoyi. However, sometimes, like today, he honestly couldn¡¯t hold himself back.


    Regardless of how many years it had been, Yuan Ye still couldn¡¯t immerse himself in this industry. He had never liked the rules and society of this industry. He had also never been able to understand them. He liked being straightforward: saying, discussing, and resolving everything in in view. Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t do anything behind anyone¡¯s back. Yet, not doing so seemed to mean that he wasn¡¯t part of this world that viewed fame and status as being more important than anything else.

 Chapter 38

    <h4>Chapter 38</h4>


    Yuan Ye was the type to not feel regretful even after throwing a tantrum. After expressing his emotions in the moment, he wouldn¡¯t think back on them. The past was in the past. He never looked behind.


    Thus, when he had said, ¡°Right now, I only want to turn back,¡± Fang Shaoyi had been touched. Because it hade from Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth, this sentence was extra precious.


    Regarding this incident, he meant what he said about Jiang Linchuan not being righteous. Given Jiang Linchuan¡¯s attitude and how he normally spoke, his silence at the time had been a silent agreement. There wasn¡¯t a right or wrong in this case; the investor had even sought out the original screenwriter. That meant that he was determined to add a subplot for He Sai. Jiang Linchuan didn¡¯t want to have a falling out. This was understandable too.


    Later on, Fang Shaoyi held a private conversationsting over two hours with the director. After this conversation, everything became settled.


    The description ¡°double male lead¡± was a bit exaggerated, but He Sai¡¯s lines really did get changed a lot. The only person he had less screen time than was Fang Shaoyi. It could be said that Yuan Ye waspletely disgusted by this situation. He felt sick. However, this was something Fang Shaoyi had already agreed to. Because of this, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t say anything else. The two of them needed to be one when facing outsiders. Otherwise, if the two of them said two different things, others would merelyugh at them. Who were they ultimately supposed to listen to?


    Definitely Fang Shaoyi. From any perspective.


    Consequently, Yuan Ye released his anger just that once before having to hide it away again. A silent cannon. No matter how much he couldn¡¯t ept the fact that He Sai had returned and now had more screen time, he could no longer speak so rudely to the other¡¯s manager.


    ¡°Ye ge, don¡¯t stay mad at dumbasses,¡± Ji Xiaotao told him.


    Yuan Ye nodded, but didn¡¯t say anything. His head was down as he fiddled with his phone. Recently, he had quite a lot of free time. He Sai had brought his own screenwriter in to deal with his lines. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t need to participate. Additionally, he refused to participate. He would only edit He Sai¡¯s lines in the other¡¯s dreams.


    Yuan Ye had thrown a tantrum in the director¡¯s room. This was quite bold. Nobody dared to be so out of line before the director, no matter their identity. Though Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been targeting the director at the time, his attitude had been fairly clear. However, Jiang Linchuan didn¡¯t express any dissatisfaction towards him. He still treated him the same as before. Jiang Linchuan really liked Yuan Ye because he himself was actually very straightforward too. But in this industry, it was destined that nothing could always go the way one desired. Nobody had the conditions for that to happen. There was an aura about Yuan Ye that nobody else had: something simr to the arrogance and fearlessness of litt¨¦rateurs. Yet, sometimes, he was gentle and careful as well. His entire existence was an oxymoron.


    After spending too much time in this industry, one¡¯s heart would be cold and selfish. But not Yuan Ye. He was still honest. Everytime Yuan Ye talked about the script with the director, he was always serious. He had sincerely considered the script. During passionate discussions, the two of them would practically start arguing. Jiang Linchuan¡¯s movies were hard to film and even harder to write. He was stubborn too. It was very rare for him to find someone like Yuan Ye who was determined to argue with him. The director understood this. He wouldn¡¯t have any bad thoughts about Yuan Ye because of this incident.


    Yuan Ye fiddled with his camera in his room. Ji Xiaotao had gone to borrow the kitchen on set to cook. He made a few dishes and brought a portion of them over to Fang Shaoyi. He took the remaining servings with him back to Yuan Ye. In the middle of their meal, Director Jiang unexpectedly knocked on the door.


    Ji Xiaotao hurriedly greeted, ¡°Yo, Director, howe you¡¯re here?¡±


    Director Jiang directly walked in. With a smile, he said, ¡°I saw you cooking just now. Do I get any?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao responded, ¡°Yes yes yes. Please sit!¡±


    Yuan Ye called out to the director. The director walked over and sat down beside him. Yuan Ye asked, ¡°You aren¡¯t keeping an eye on things today?¡±


    Ji Xiaotaoughed sheepishly and pulled a little stool further away. He sat there, looking at his phone.


    Right now, they had split the crew up into groups A and B to film simultaneously. They had singled out He Sai¡¯s scenes to film on the other side of the set. Yuan Ye and the director chatted for a bit. After, he asked, ¡°With his acting skills, aren¡¯t you scared the movie¡¯s going to flop?¡±


    The director nced at him andughed. ¡°There must be anger in your heart, right?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re not righteous.¡± Yuan Ye was very straightforward. ¡°You¡¯re just taking advantage of the fact that my Yi ge has a good temper. Bullying the one with a good temper.¡±


    Jiang Linchuanughed a few times. He pointed at Yuan Ye, ¡°There¡¯s nothing you don¡¯t dare to say.¡±


    ¡°Aren¡¯t I telling the truth?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. He looked at the director. ¡°You can¡¯t y people with good tempers like this. Originally, I thought that you were different from the other directors. But because of how easily you conceded, half of my heart has already gone cold.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan sighed. He set down his chopsticks and told Yuan Ye, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t understand all the messy twists and turns of the situations even if I told you. I¡¯ve coborated with Lingdong too many times.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. He used the back of his hand to rub the tip of his nose. He said, ¡°Logically, I can understand. But emotionally, I can¡¯t. If you had decided to film like this in the beginning, my ge might not have epted the invite. You know how strict Fang Shaoyi is when he¡¯s choosing his films. After changing the plot of this movie, the main message has be unclear. You¡¯re trying to create a double message, but it¡¯s not working. Even if I didn¡¯t say anything, you would already know this. Yet, you still agreed to change it.¡±


    From start to finish, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even smile once as he spoke. Instead, it was the director who keptughing. Jiang Linchuan observed Yuan Ye before saying, ¡°You must think I¡¯m cowardly, right?¡±


    ¡°Not to the extent of cowardly,¡± Yuan Ye shook his head. He calmly added, ¡°I just think that you¡¯ve lost the most basic quality of a cinephile.¡±


    Even Ji Xiaotao had started trembling off to the side after hearing this. Gege, can you hold yourself back a bit more, please?


    Yuan Ye was basically directly telling Jiang Linchuan that he was unworthy of making movies, unworthy of being a cinephile. They were talking about feelings of nostalgia and about the initial heart. Speaking about them out loud was asical as a joke: these two things had long since been overused. But cinephiles needed to have things that they absolutely stood for. If, just because of an investor, a movie could casually arrange for a new character and different plot for an actor with poor acting skills, this movie was destined to fail. Even if it barely managed to meet an intellectual standard, this movie wouldn¡¯t have a soul.


    The director didn¡¯t be angry even though he said these things. Instead, he started chuckling. That day, the director told Yuan Ye before he left, ¡°Everyone has difficulties in their positions. I was naive too in my youth. I was stubborn once. In the end, a movie I filmed for a year and a half couldn¡¯t pass review. A waste. Sometimes,promise is for a better bnce. You can only start listing conditions when you¡¯re standing on the line of bnce. If you fall off it or end up crooked, you¡¯ll have to suffer.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgement. Very calmly, he said, ¡°But I hope that this line of bnce won¡¯t be pinned down to the ground because of past professionalism and theziness of humans. It should constantly be shifting. For this line, we should be constantly moving forward, testing and scoping. This line marks the extremes of human capability; it shouldn¡¯t be an excuse to mark out one¡¯sfort zone.¡±


    After he said this, the director fell silent for a moment. Then, he stared deeply into Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes before patting him on the shoulder.


    These days, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t show up to set very often, whereas he had previously gone daily. At the end of the day, he felt disgusted by this incident. This resulted in him being extremely disappointed in the whole film crew, including Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t really care about these things. He had always been like this. These trivial matters couldn¡¯t cause him to feel displeased or outraged. Ultimately, he felt above the mess. In actuality, he had epted the invite for this movie back then in order to pay back a favor to Director Jiang. He truly didn¡¯t care how much more or less screen time the other characters got. It wasn¡¯t that Yuan Ye didn¡¯t like this quality about him. It could actually be said that he liked it a lot ¨C he liked how kind and gentlemanly the other was, but when faced with certain issues, he still felt very much suffocated.


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t like Fang Shaoyi, though. A few years ago, Yuan Ye had suffered losses too. The amount of losses he had suffered were innumerable, but Yuan Ye had only waved his hands and gotten over them. He had been unbothered. At the time, Feng Leizi had asked him do you even have a bottom line anymore, dumbass?


    At the time, Yuan Ye had thought about it for a long time. In the end, he nodded.


    Of course he had a bottom line. His bottom line was Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi was ultimately Fang Shaoyi. When He Sai saw him on set, he still needed to politely lower his head and greet him. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even look at the other. He made a noise of acknowledgement and walked past.


    He Sai¡¯s manager used Fang Shaoyi¡¯s break time between scenes toe talk to him. With a smile on his face, he called out, ¡°Teacher Fang?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him. The manager grinned and said, ¡°Previously, I had a little misunderstanding with Teacher Yuan. We had a bit of a fight, but I haven¡¯t gotten the opportunity to apologize to Teacher Yuan or anything. Teacher Yuan won¡¯t give me the opportunity to speak either. Last time, I was the one in the wrong. When you head back, can you tell Teacher Yuan to not remain mad at a lowly person like me? Or, can you tell me when Teacher Yuan has time so I can officially apologize to him?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Fang Shaoyi turned the thermosk in his hand around. Without even looking up, he said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize to him. You also don¡¯t need to speak to him one on one. He has a direct temper. If he¡¯s said anything offensive, just tolerate it.¡±


    The manager replied, ¡°What do you mean? That¡¯s simply Teacher Yuan¡¯s personality. Actually, I¡¯ve always admired him a lot.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi took a sip of water, after which he said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to admire him. As long as you stay out of his sight. Yuan Ye¡¯s not the type toe up with a bunch of twisty-turny ns. I also hope that nobody will try to drag him into their messy ns.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi scanned him up and down before continuing, ¡°There are very few things I care about. If you guys want something, earn it using your own capabilities. If it¡¯s something I don¡¯t want, I won¡¯t stop you either. However, Yuan Ye is one of those things that no one can touch. You can¡¯t even harbor a wrong thought about him. When I was twenty five, still young and powerless, I dared to get married to him. Now, I¡¯m thirty six.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi rarely spoke so directly. He didn¡¯t seem like himself anymore. These past few days, he had been waiting for this manager toe find him. He needed to say what had to be said. This was it. When I had been a young kid at twenty five, I had been determined to protect him. Now, I¡¯m thirty six: middle-aged. I¡¯m naturally much more capable of protecting him.


    ¡°I understand, I understand.¡± The manager hurriedly nodded. He added, ¡°I understand.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi took another sip of water and made a noise of acknowledgement.


    In actuality, Yuan Ye had already been here for a while. But upon noticing that Fang Shaoyi was speaking with He Sai¡¯s manager, he didn¡¯t approach. If he did, he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to keep his emotions in check. After a few lines of conversation, he would be ready to explode once more. Even if he held his temper in and didn¡¯t say anything, his heart would feel stuffy. Thus, it was better simply not to go over. He didn¡¯t walk over until the manager left after speaking. He gently tugged at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hair twice.


    Fang Shaoyi looked up at him, then smiled.


    Yuan Ye stood behind Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chair. Fang Shaoyi leaned back. Thus, Yuan Ye reached his hands out and caressed the other¡¯s neck. His fingers gently scratched at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple. This was a bit tickly. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple slightly bobbed up and down.


    ¡°Where¡¯s Xiaotao?¡± Yuan Ye asked.


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Who knows where he ran off to,¡± Fang Shaoyi said.


    ¡°How bold. Left the celebrity here and ran off to who-knows-where by himself,¡± Yuan Ye chuckled and said. ¡°Seems to me like you need to fire this assistant.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. He lifted an arm to hold onto Yuan Ye¡¯s hand instead. He gently pinched the back of his hand. His smile towards Yuan Ye was quite gentle. ¡°Anything¡¯s fine. Up to you. As long as you¡¯ll feel a bit happier.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked. He circled around so that he was in front of Fang Shaoyi and squatted down. This way, he looked up at the other from a nted downward angle. His expression was very cool. Fang Shaoyi leaned forward too, to make eye contact with him. There was slight amusement in his eyes. One squatted while the other sat. One was cool while the other was gentle. This was an extremely calm andforting scene.


    Ji Xiaotao walked back from the kitchen. From far away, he could already tell that these two were being silly again. He immediately pulled out his phone and took a picture. As soon as he did this, he directly sent the picture to Dong Lin.


    Ji Xiaotao: Tsk, look at them. The whole film crew¡¯sughing.


    Dong Lin replied instantly: Don¡¯t send these things to me these days. My ge recently broke up with his girlfriend. It¡¯s too much if you show off like this.


    Ji Xiaotao: Isn¡¯t it normal for your ge to break up? When has your ge had a stable girlfriend?


    Dong Lin sent a few infuriated stickers. After, he said: Only your ge does.


    Ji Xiaotao was very honest: Exactly. My ge does. My ge has only had this one person. They¡¯ve been together for eleven years.


    Dong Lin, with a cold expression: But your ge got divorced.


    Ji Xiaotao shrugged and responded: My ge hasn¡¯t even switched people after divorce. Have the old dude in the television drama industry get a feel for the moral character of a film emperor.


    Dong Lin didn¡¯t reply until a long timeter: I¡¯m blocking you.

 Chapter 39

    <h4>Chapter 39</h4>


    Jiang Linchuan personally kept an eye on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s scenes. He Sai¡¯s extra plotline was being directed by the producer and artistic director. The fact that He Sai was adding scenes was actually quite troublesome. The entire film crew was veryrge. Because many actors also needed to film extra scenes due to this additional plot, they needed to extend the filming period even longer. Some actors had other movies after this one. They could only leave the set first and thene back to make up these scenes. The coordination of all these matters was very difficult. The one most stressed out ought to have been the director.


    However, Jiang Linchuan seemed pretty unbothered. He didn¡¯t mistreat He Sai on set either. Instead, he told the producer to film him well.


    Fang Shaoyi was still filming ording to the original script. His scenes hadn¡¯t been changed at all. They had simply added a brand new plotline for He Sai. Even with this addition, the main plot hadn¡¯t been touched. The actors themselves probably couldn¡¯t tell while filming, but Yuan Ye could very clearly tell.


    Jiang Linchuan ultimately hadn¡¯t been able to bear editing his own movie. He Sai wanted extra scenes, so he had added them, but the director hadn¡¯t even spent any energy thinking about that part of the movie. Normally, he could argue until thetter half of the night over the script. However, He Sai¡¯s script was entirely the responsibility of the screenwriters. When they finished, they gave it to the director to look over. Director Jiang would then edit it slightly. There would be practically no arguments.


    Everyone had their own difficulties, the things they couldn¡¯t notpromise on. However, Yuan Ye still found everything about this very annoying.


    Yuan Ye sat on set, watching the hustle and bustle of the film crew, observing each person¡¯s face. He noticed all kinds of people among them. Ji Xiaotao took a stroll around the B set before slowly walking back. While he walked, his expression was still normal. But as soon as he squatted next to Yuan Ye, he couldn¡¯t keep his inner desire tough a secret anymore. Sneakily, he called out, ¡°Ye ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye side-eyed him. ¡°Speak.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao squatted there and covered half his face. He secretly whispered, ¡°I suggest you take a stroll over to group B. You¡¯ll find happiness.¡±


    Without even thinking about it, Yuan Ye shook his head. ¡°No. Dumbass is showing off his nonexistent acting skills again? Your happiness is so easily determined? Kiddo.¡±


    ¡°No! What about that shitty acting could be happiness-inducing? Little Yang is the one providing my happiness today.¡± Ji Xiaotao squatted there and giggled. After he finishedughing, he said, ¡°Little Yang is promising. I¡¯m going to tell Geng ge to promote him wellter on.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°What?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao stood up and dragged Yuan Ye over to see. Yuan Ye followed behind him. As soon as they reached the other side, Yuan Ye startedughing too when he heard Yang Siran speak.


    ¡°How could y-you be like this? Sen Cha is my renter......¡±


    ¡°¡ª¡ªCut,¡± the producer yelled. The entire film set was silent.


    ¡°I¡¯m extremely sorry. Sorry, Teachers.¡± Yang Siran bowed at the producer and them from far away. Then, he bowed at the videographers and He Sai who were standing right next to him. ¡°I¡¯m too dumb. I¡¯m causing trouble for everyone.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao muffled hisughter from off to the side. Yuan Ye chuckled a few times too.


    Yang Siran had been okay with his lines originally. But today, he had been influenced by He Sai and had consequently started speaking in a Taiwanese ent too: nothing too serious, just a subtle hint of one. But it seemed quite obvious on camera. It sounded a littleical, which meant the scene definitely couldn¡¯t pass.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong ah, Siran?¡± The producer was very exasperated too. ¡°We¡¯ve spent almost half the day on these two scenes.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m truly apologetic.¡± Yang Siran¡¯s expression reflected his words. ¡°I¡¯m not in the right condition today. I feel like I can¡¯t get into character. Sorry, I¡¯m too unprofessional. I¡¯m dying the progress for everyone.¡±


    Yang Siran was a rookie anyways. He didn¡¯t have any experience. If the person he was acting alongside was good at leading, he would be better at acting. If not, he wouldn¡¯t be able to get into character. This was too normal.


    Yuan Ye and Ji Xiaotao returned to their side of set. Yuan Ye chuckled andmented, ¡°He¡¯s a little fox too.¡±


    ¡°Un, he¡¯s faking it.¡± Ji Xiaotaoughed, anger pacified. ¡°Purposefully speaking like that.¡±


    Nobody knew if Yang Siran was acting this way on purpose. Butter on, He Sai and his manager¡¯s gazes changed while they looked at Yang Siran. They were probably extremely pissed. It could be said that Yang Siran was incredibly bold and brave. He was fearless. No matter how you red at him, he acted like he couldn¡¯t see it. Even if he did see it, he acted like he couldn¡¯t understand it.


    He Sai¡¯s manager walked over, lowered his voice, and told him, ¡°Little brother, you can¡¯t act like this.¡±


    Yang Siran politely replied, ¡°I¡¯m very, very sorry. I¡¯ve never learned how to act. Sorry for wasting everyone¡¯s time.¡±


    A fist smacked against cotton. He Sai turned around and started chatting with the producer. Yang Siran was, after all, a member of Fang Shaoyi¡¯spany. It wouldn¡¯t be appropriate to actually scold him too harshly. Additionally, his boss was still on set. If someone scolded him, this could be construed as them scolding Fang Shaoyi in a roundabout manner.


    At night, after filming, they returned to the hotel. Ji Xiaotao, while carrying a pack of snacks he had just bought, coincidentally ran into Yang Siran in the hotel lobby.


    Ji Xiaotao called out to him, ¡°Little bro!¡±


    Yang Siran was in the middle of a call. Upon noticing Ji Xiaotao¡¯s smile, he waved his hand in greeting. Ji Xiaotao pulled out a box of crackers and threw it at him. He also held up a thumbs up to him. ¡°Little bro¡¯s acting was pretty good today.¡±


    Yang Siran pressed his lips together and smiled. He caught the crackers and answered, ¡°Thank you, Xiaotao ge.¡±


    Yang Siran only acted this way the first two days he had to act alongside He Sai. Later on, though he didn¡¯t act as well as he had with the other actors previously, still making slow progress, he acted passably. After they finished filming these scenes, Yang Siran was officially done. He had alreadypleted all his scenes in the movie.


    Acting in Jiang Linchuan¡¯s movie was a very high ce to debut from. However, this rookie was too new, after all. He didn¡¯t even have an assistant beside him. Nobody gave him flowers. After wrapping up, Ji Xiaotao ordered a bouquet of flowers for him. Yang Siran smiled and epted them, slightly surprised. ¡°I get flowers?¡±


    ¡°Why not?¡± Ji Xiaotao said. ¡°Congrattions, little bro, for sessfully wrapping up your first movie!¡±


    Yang Siran smiled again and thanked him.


    The day after he wrapped up his scenes was the day Yang Siran¡¯s flight back to thepany was scheduled for. Ji Xiaotao was the one who took him to the airport. On the way, Yang Siran seemed quite rxed. Ji Xiaotao chatted with him, saying, ¡°You seem quite happy.¡±


    Yang Siran nodded. He rubbed his nose and said, ¡°Un, I¡¯m finally done filming.¡±


    ¡°How do you feel?¡± Ji Xiaotao asked.


    Yang Siran thought about it. After, he smiled very faintly and slowly said, ¡°Pretty good. It¡¯s very niceing in contact with something I didn¡¯t really know much about at first, then slowly bing better at it. Shaoyi ge taught me a lot and the director was very nice too. Yuan Ye ge also gave me a red envelope for the new year. And you, Xiaotao ge, always took care of me. The slow contact period was very beautiful. I¡¯ll cherish it.¡±


    This seemed to be the first time Ji Xiaotao had heard him say so many things in one breath. He turned around, slightly surprised, to look at him. Then, he chuckled and said, ¡°Jiayou.¡±


    That day, after sending Yang Siran to the airport, Ji Xiaotao suddenly remembered something. He hadn¡¯t found the opportunity to ask at the time, then had forgottenter on. Now, he remembered, so asked Yang Siran, ¡°Oh right, little bro. I never got the chance to ask you previously. Is there anyone on set who bullied you?¡±


    Yang Siran nked for a moment, then shook his head. He seemed slightly confused. ¡°No. Shaoyi ge was there, so nobody was mean to me.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao nodded. He walked him over to the departures area and said, ¡°That¡¯s good. You can go now.¡±


    Life on set was always a messy rush. Each day felt like a new battle, but after leaving and looking back, it was actually the same, boring things repeated over and over. This movie would probably need to keep filming until May or June, perhaps even longer. Eventually, after enough time, nobody called Fang Shaoyi ¡°Sen Cha¡± anymore. They also didn¡¯t need to keep purposefully mistreating him. However, Fang Shaoyi still used this excuse toin to Yuan Ye; at such an age, he still acted so childish.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything about it, but actually, he resented this film crew in his heart. Each time he saw He Sai and his manager, he would lower his gaze and walk past silently. He never looked up. He Sai and them¡¯s existence was thepromise of humans in his eyes. Forced topromise, he didn¡¯t disy any obvious emotions, but Fang Shaoyi could still sense his mood.


    Nine at night, Yuan Ye engaged in another endless argument with the director over the script. There were other members of the main cast in the room. Fang Shaoyi sent a message over. Yuan Ye¡¯s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and nced at it. Fang Shaoyi said: Teacher Yuan Ye,e.


    Yuan Ye quickly responded: No time.


    After sending this, he continued angrily bickering with the director. Prior to the He Sai incident, Yuan Ye had argued with the director too. But after the incident, he became even stricter about the script. They argued every discussion. This was normal on set, so it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Yuan Ye¡¯s incisiveness wasn¡¯t him purposefully throwing a tantrum because of the anger in his heart. It was because he felt, from the bottom of his heart, that this script was done for. Consequently, their discussions never ended well.


    Neither could convince the other. They could only set the problem off to the side first. Yuan Ye headed to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room, still angry. There was also a cigarette dangling from his mouth.


    Yuan Ye knocked on the door. After Fang Shaoyi opened the door, he noticed the other¡¯s expression. He chuckled once before asking, ¡°Got in an argument with the director again?¡±


    ¡°Seems to me like this shitty film is over.¡± Yuan Ye walked into the room and said, ¡°It¡¯s trash no matter how we film it.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cated him, ¡°Director Jiang is still worth trusting.¡±


    After hearing this, Yuan Ye blinked, then nced at Fang Shaoyi. He didn¡¯t answer. When he finished smoking the cigarette, Yuan Ye asked, ¡°What¡¯d you call me over for?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s smile was very open. ¡°Nothing much. You¡¯ve stopped pursuing me recently.¡±


    ¡°......¡± Yuan Ye was a bit speechless. However, it was true that he had mostly stopped pursuing recently. He Sai¡¯s incident had ruined his moodpletely. The mess before him was too antagonizing. At the end of the day, he was simply a rather stubborn person. He felt disgusted and irritated from the bottom of his heart. He disliked this environment, so had set everything else all off to the side.


    He had changed a lot, but at the same time, seemed like he had never changed.


    Fang Shaoyi sat there. He had just finished working out and had also finished showering. He stretched his arms and said, ¡°You need to keep pursuing me.¡±


    By now, Yuan Ye had started smiling too. With an exasperated, indulgent expression, he said, ¡°Okay, I will, I will.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi slightly leaned against the headboard. There was a pillow behind his back. The little yellow light on the headboard made him look exceptionally handsome. Yuan Ye¡¯s heart softened. He asked, ¡°Have you done skincare yet?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything. While staring at Yuan Ye, he shook his head.


    ¡°Want a face mask?¡± Yuan Ye asked, eyebrow raised.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t express any sign of disagreement.


    Yuan Yeughed. He grabbed a container of face mask cream and sat on the bed, then patted his ownp.


    Only now did Fang Shaoyi smile faintly. He scooted over toy down across Yuan Ye¡¯s legs. Yuan Ye¡¯s fingers pressed and massaged each part of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face in order to spread the cream evenly.


    Such an atmosphere on such a night, how could anyone not feel soft in their hearts? The two of them quietly breathed. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were closed. Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were open as he lowered his head and looked at the other.


    This was a person before his eyes, but it was also time.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s index finger gently tapped Fang Shaoyi¡¯s nose. Then, amusement filled his gaze.


    Fang Shaoyi opened his mouth, calling out, ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a soft noise of acknowledgement.


    Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes. He made eye contact with Yuan Ye; both of them could see their own reflections in the other¡¯s eyes. Fang Shaoyi slowly told him, ¡°You can¡¯t stop treating me warmly because you don¡¯t like something. Like the fact that you hate certain people in the film crew. You can¡¯t stop pursuing me just because of that.¡±


    Yuan Ye suddenly burst intoughter. He asked, ¡°Are you acting wronged? Because I haven¡¯t properly pursued you this past period of time?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Fang Shaoyi continued staring at him, staring deep into his eyes. His voice was calm and deep. ¡°I¡¯m telling you that I can sense what you¡¯re feeling in your heart, your emotions. I might have disappointed you, you might dislike this ce, but you need to tell me. If you don¡¯t say anything, don¡¯t express your emotions at all and simply act cold all the time, that will make me wonder if you¡¯re tired of pursuing me.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t respond at first. After, he gently squeezed both of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ears and said, ¡°I¡¯m not. Losing certain things once is enough, baobei¡¯er.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi sighed and said, ¡°I¡¯m old now. I can¡¯t bring myself to say some things anymore.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed. ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes. Lowly, he answered, ¡°I can tell just from a nce when you feel that there¡¯s ayer separating us. It makes me feel panicked too.¡±

 Chapter 40

    <h4>Chapter 40</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s words were the equivalent of a knife harshly stabbing into Yuan Ye¡¯s heart. For a long time, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t say anything. He was in shock. Fang Shaoyi very rarely spoke to him like this. In the past few years, they hadn¡¯t really talked about their feelings at all. Since young, Fang Shaoyi had always seemed like someone in control. Today, he was saying that sometimes he felt panicked too. This caused Yuan Ye to be very surprised.


    This was a very strange feeling. Yuan Ye knew that Fang Shaoyi actually wanted him to be able to distinguish the person from the environment. Yuan Ye truly had this problem: when he became disappointed in an environment, he would be disappointed about everything regarding the environment, including anybody in it.


    Eventually, Yuan Ye scratched his finger against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s nose. He softly said, ¡°Got it.¡±


    In certain regards, Fang Shaoyi was simr to a guide. He always guided Yuan Ye into learning how to feel and sense.


    After this evening, the two of them started being silly again. Ji Xiaotao always felt like they were sickly sweet, yet they clearly weren¡¯t even doing anything special. He looked between the two of them, but didn¡¯t notice anything suspicious. Instead, he got red at.


    Ji Xiaotao retracted his gaze and peacefully looked at his phone. On the screen, he had just asked Yang Siran how he felt about returning to thepany; he had also asked what thepany¡¯s next arrangement for the other was. Yang Siran replied that he was still waiting and that there temporarily weren¡¯t any new ns.


    Ji Xiaotao asked: Have they assigned you an assistant yet?


    Yang Siran: Not yet.


    Ji Xiaotao asked again: Who¡¯s in charge of you? Who¡¯s your manager?


    Yang Siran: I don¡¯t have one yet either.


    Ji Xiaotao: Ah, then keep waiting for now......


    After finishing this conversation, Yang Siran pocketed his phone once more. He was wearing a simple, casual outfit that made him look like the boy next door. He seemed clean and neat. There weren¡¯t that many people who recognized him at thepany yet. Yang Siran obediently waited in the office, not even daring to observe his surroundings. When he wasn¡¯t looking at his phone, he flipped through a magazine on the tea table.


    He had already been sitting in this office for over two hours, waiting.


    ¡°No,¡± Yang Siran answered. ¡°Everyone took quite good care of me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll arrange for another movie for you next month. y some minor characters for practice first,¡± Geng Jinwei said.


    Yang Siran didn¡¯t object. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    They discussed everything necessary for work, which was a lot. After, Geng Jinwei stated, ¡°You can leave.¡±


    Only now did Yang Siran seem a bit uneasy. He first nced at Geng Jinwei, but Geng Jinwei had already lowered his head to look over something else. He wasn¡¯t paying attention at all. Yang Siran walked around the office desk and quietly bent down. Half-squatting, he rested his face against Geng Jinwei¡¯s leg, his skin brushing against the pant leg. He lowered his voice a lot, making even his breathing softer. Cautiously, he said, ¡°......I missed you so much.¡±


    Geng Jinwei lowered his head to look at him. Yang Siran lifted his face to make eye contact. His eyes were filled with sincere affection.


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t say anything. He only looked at him; his expression was unreadable. Yang Siran blinked. His handsome face was leaned back as he carefully asked, ¡°Can I go to your house tonight?¡±


    Yuan Ye left the film set for a few days in the beginning of April. Their little circle of writers had gatherings too. Feng Leizi was the screeny coordinator for a certain famous director. When they reached a certain stage ofpletion for their script, they would gather a bunch of people to look over the script and criticize it or give suggestions. This way, they could collect the opinions of over a dozen writers, listening to everyone¡¯s thoughts, and see if any creative sparks would fly.


    Yuan Ye definitely needed to be present. He had a very unique view of things and was also sharp-tongued. Additionally, he dared to speak his mind. Consequently, after repeated coaxing, Feng Leizi finally got him to attend. Yuan Ye asked for a few days off from the film set and departed, all to look over someone else¡¯s script. Even Jiang Linchuan scolded him after hearing that he was leaving to help someone else with their screeny. He hadn¡¯t even finished dealing with his own mess, but was now taking over an outsider¡¯s mess.


    However, Yuan Ye was already disgusted from looking over their script during this period of time. Right now, the script he had was trash. They could refine it day after day, but wouldn¡¯t be able to get anything good out of it. He couldn¡¯t convince the director to edit the plot, but also couldn¡¯t convince himself that there wasn¡¯t anything wrong with the added scenes. Thus, he was very agitated each day.


    Filming was at its end. In about another month, Fang Shaoyi would probably be able to wrap up filming.


    Yuan Ye departed the set to see everyone else. When they saw him, they naturally started teasing him. At the time, he had very confidently stated on Weibo that he was going to pursue Fang Shaoyi, behavior that was quite coquettish. These people had been waiting since long ago to tease him. Now that they were finally seeing him in person, the jokes wouldn¡¯t stop.


    Yuan Ye waspletely unbothered. Cigarette dangling from his mouth, he said, ¡°Don¡¯t be annoying.¡±


    ¡°Embarrassed?¡± Someone asked him. ¡°Uncle Ye knows how to feel embarrassed?¡±


    Yuan Ye was toozy to bother with them. The director hadn¡¯t arrived yet, so he walked out onto the balcony to smoke.


    Ji Xiaotao sent him a WeChat message. It was an attachment, a short video of Fang Shaoyi acting.


    Yuan Ye: Don¡¯t annoy me as soon as I leave set.


    Ji Xiaotao: I¡¯m gifting care, you know?


    Yuan Ye: I¡¯m not suffering that much. Give it a rest.


    Screeny editing was a very tormenting process. It couldst up to several days; during this time, the script would repeatedly get pulled apart and rewritten, continuously. After so much editing back and forth, the final product could very well bepletely different from the initial draft. Writers always seemed introverted to others, but screeny editing was basically a war. By the end, each person¡¯s throat was hoarse.


    During times like these, Yuan Ye was both sharp and creative. He was always the first to disagree with others¡¯ perspectives, but these writers also couldn¡¯t help but admit that his arguments were logical. This was extremely annoying. Neither of them admired each other, but they also had to admit that he was right. Of course, Yuan Ye¡¯s ideas got shot down too. What emerged at the end was simply up to fate. Perhaps someone woulde up with a sudden epiphany and produce an extremely special idea that could be epted by almost everyone else.


    His brain was constantly working. This was very tiring, but this was Yuan Ye¡¯s way of life. This was the process he was most familiar with and was a lot more satisfying than sneakily discussing the screeny on set. He didn¡¯t need to worry that he was insulting a certain actor, nor worry that the prop team wouldn¡¯t be able to keep up with an extreme edit. The initial stages of a screeny were the purest parts of a movie. There was only one goal for everyone, and that was to turn the script from a rock into gold. Each eventual step in the process would only deplete this purity.


    Yuan Ye escaped for a screeny discussion. When he returned, his entire being seemed to be in a better mood, like he had left to charge up and recover. As soon as he got back to set, he sought out Fang Shaoyi. Coincidentally, Fang Shaoyi had just finished the day¡¯s work. He had changed out of his costume, removed his makeup, and was about to head back. Yuan Ye shouted, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked back at him. There was the hint of a smile on his face. ¡°You¡¯re back?¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Yuan Ye nodded. ¡°Finished charging.¡±


    ¡°How was your discussion?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked.


    Yuan Ye shrugged. ¡°Same old. Couldn¡¯t make a decision. There¡¯ll probably be a second, third, or even fifth draft. I might have to go back at that time too. Feng Leizi is the best at these things. Everyone elsees up with the ideas while he, the screeny coordinator, waits to put them together. The most cunning of them all.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He wanted to walk back with Yuan Ye. However, halfway back, he got called away by someone to discuss business. Yuan Ye squatted on a bench by the side of the road. Originally, he wanted to smoke a cigarette, but upon remembering that he was already back on set, he silently put the cigarette away again.


    When Fang Shaoyi returned, Yuan Ye was in the middle of a conversation with a little girl. The little girl looked four or five at most. Yuan Ye caressed her little pigtails. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t hear what they were talking about.


    On the way back, Fang Shaoyi told Yuan Ye, ¡°Tonight, you can go watch the rough edit of the movie that the director made.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Edited in these past few days?¡±


    ¡°Un, he didn¡¯t edit much,¡± Fang Shaoyi nced at him and said.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t think too much about it, not even considering it a big deal. He wouldn¡¯t even add his own name onto the credits when the dumb film was done. He felt that it would be embarrassing to have his name at the bottom of the list of screenwriters. Yuan Ye had done his best, but there was nothing to be done. Just earlier, he had sincerely brainstormed a bunch of ideas for a new script; abruptly turning back to see how carelessly they had added a plotline to this one only made this movie seem even more trashy inparison.

 Chapter 41

    <h4>Chapter 41</h4>


    Yuan Ye had expressed his opinions to the director long ago too. He was only epting a small portion of a screenwriter¡¯s usual sry for appearance¡¯s sake, because he wasn¡¯t here for the money. Thus, there was also no need to put his name in the credits. This wasn¡¯t simply a matter of whether or not the script was good; he didn¡¯t want to add his name in no matter how good the movie was. In the past, Yuan Ye had rejected several invitations to be a screenwriter. Among them, many had been from people he was familiar with or had worked with before. He had rejected all of them.


    If they heard that he was an on-site screenwriter for this movie, it would be prettyical and quite difficult to exin.


    He hade here this time purely for Fang Shaoyi. It was a very simple reason.


    Yuan Ye headed over to greet the director after returning. This was also his way of notifying the other that he was back from vacation. The director had waited for him for several days. When Yuan Ye was on set, the two of them argued everyday. After he left, the director had no one to argue with anymore. He felt quite unused to this, always feeling like something was off when he discussed the script with others.


    The director¡¯s door wasn¡¯t closed. Yuan Ye simply pushed it open and walked in. The director noticed him and made a sarcastic noise of surprise. ¡°Oh, Teacher Yuan¡¯s back?¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his head and said with a grin, ¡°Don¡¯t tease me, Leader.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan scoffed. ¡°Who¡¯s your leader? Which subordinate would leave their leader behind and run off on their own?¡±


    ¡°Ey ey ey, spare me.¡± Yuan Ye sped his hands together. He was still very smiley as he said, ¡°You¡¯re my leader, my big leader.¡±


    There was one scene that Jiang Linchuan had been waiting to discuss with him. Thus, as soon as Yuan Ye got back, he was held captive by the director for four hours. In the end, Yuan Ye already felt sleepy, but the director still made no indication of wanting to let him go. Yuan Ye forced his eyes open and continued the discussion, only leaving when he honestly couldn¡¯t stay awake anymore. Prior to returning to his room, he first visited Fang Shaoyi¡¯s room. Fang Shaoyi had just finished exercising and was in the shower. Yuan Ye pushed open the shower door and walked in, scaring Fang Shaoyi. With eyes practically closed, Yuan Ye kissed the other: the kissnded on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s nose.


    The water sshed all over Yuan Ye. Fang Shaoyi turned off the water and asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Yuan Ye was barely able to open his mouth to speak. He mumbled, ¡°I¡¯m heading back to sleep now. I¡¯m so sleepy.¡±


    ¡°Then go. Why¡¯d you have to get yourself all wet?¡± Fang Shaoyi replied.


    The corners of Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth tugged up into a smile. After, he reached out and hugged Fang Shaoyi, then smiled and said, ¡°I missed you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart felt warm after noticing how tired Yuan Ye was. He was just about to say something else, but Yuan Ye had already turned around and left. He truly was too sleepy to do anything else. Yuan Ye even wished he could walk with his eyes closed. Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He and Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t contacted each other very often during the time Yuan Ye had been gone. They were past that age, so no longer messaged each other incessantly when they couldn¡¯t see each other. Yuan Ye had left to deal with his own business. Fang Shaoyi needed to film too. They couldn¡¯t call each other everyday.


    Yuan Ye was simply leaving Fang Shaoyi a message. We haven¡¯t seen each other in several days, but I didn¡¯t stop thinking about you.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s birthday was in April. The day before his birthday, filming started at sunset. This scene was one where Sen Cha snuck into the cksmith¡¯s shop at night to find clues. However, this was actually a trap set by the cksmith. The two fought in the dark. In the end, Sen Cha¡¯s arm got wounded, so he ran.


    After repeated attempts, there always seemed to be something missing. The director didn¡¯t feelpletely satisfied. Yuan Ye nced at his phone. It was already three in the morning. Fang Shaoyi had already told Yuan Ye to head back and rest many times during his breaks in between shots. It was no use to stay up with the crew. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t try to argue. He agreed, but didn¡¯t actually leave.


    When they finished this scene, it was just past four. Everyone was a bit tired. The lights were still off on set, rendering their surroundings half-dark. The director said into his speaker, ¡°Don¡¯t turn on the lights yet. Everyone has worked hard today. Get a lot of restter. Catch up on sleep during the day tomorrow.¡±


    Before he could finish speaking, someone suddenly pushed a cake out from behind Fang Shaoyi. It was a tripleyered cake with candles. Fang Shaoyi watched this scene unfold, a faint smile on his face. He even turned to look at Yuan Ye. This dummy had stayed up all night too. Fang Shaoyi wanted him to hurry and head back to sleep.


    When he made eye contact with Yuan Ye, the other was smiling. He was holding onto a speaker too. He shouted, ¡°Happy birthday, baobei¡¯er!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was slightly surprised. A momentter, he finally came to a realization. Then, he shook his head and burst intoughter. He had truly forgotten; the thought hadn¡¯t even crossed his mind.


    All the lights got turned on. Fang Shaoyi smiled and thanked everyone. The director walked over and ordered, ¡°Come on, you guys. Sing the happy birthday song for your Teacher Fang.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was already extremely familiar with this scene. His birthday would often ur on set. Normally, the film crew would celebrate with him. While the others sang, Fang Shaoyi turned to look for Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye reached out from behind him and squeezed his hand once.


    Fang Shaoyi was very used to celebrating his birthday on set. He had done thisst year too. That time, Ji Xiaotao had still been stressed everyday because of Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s divorce. Fang Shaoyi, the director, and the others had gone out to eat. Ji Xiaotao had stared at his phone, waiting for Yuan Ye¡¯s call. But until the day ended, no call came in.


    That day, Yuan Ye had posted a Weibo post that only he could see: Happy 36.


    Things were different this year, though. Yuan Ye was on set too, right next to Fang Shaoyi. Their rtionship was slowly healing as well. Everything was great.


    Yuan Ye had prepared a gift for Fang Shaoyi. It was a carving he had personally made. This took several days of sneaking around; he had also messed up a few prior versions. However, Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t super creative when it came to gifts. He gave Fang Shaoyi a monkey every year.


    This year¡¯s was a bit coquettish. It was a monkey swinging its tail, hugging and kissing a tree. One could even see its puckered lips.


    Fang Shaoyi held it in his hand, caressing the top of the monkey¡¯s head with his finger repeatedly. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°You need to make upst year¡¯s gift.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. He smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯ll give it to you when we get back.¡±


    He didn¡¯t need to make it up at all. He had already made it. Only, with the status of their rtionshipst year, he hadn¡¯t been able to give it away.


    That night, Fang Shaoyi slept in Yuan Ye¡¯s room. After filming, celebrating, and eating cake, it was already five thirty in the morning. By the time he fell asleep, it was already a little past seven. It could be said that Fang Shaoyi spent his entire birthday in Yuan Ye¡¯s room, never stepping foot outside.


    Ji Xiaotao and Dong Lin chatted on WeChat for a long time. It was unclear what mindless things they talked about.


    There was nobody on set who couldn¡¯t tell what was up between Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. They had understood early on. These two were publicly divorced, but in private, continued being lovey-dovey. They had reconciled long ago.


    There definitely needed to be a Weibo post on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s birthday. Ji Xiaotao chose a photo that had been taken while he was cutting the cake. He captioned it: Celebrating on set. Treating everyone to cake. Will continue to work hard.


    Though the lighting was fairly dim in the picture, keen-eyedizens still instantly spotted Yuan Ye, who was standing next to Fang Shaoyi. Originally, a lot of people asked Yuan Ye under his Weibo why he wasn¡¯t doing anything for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s birthday. CP fans were still preupied with what Yuan Ye said about pursuing Fang Shaoyi. But after that post, there had been no progress. Fans had been agitated for a long time.


    After this photo got posted, the sugar arrived unexpectedly and with great difficulty. It was the new year.


    Our Uncle Ye has already visited the set and is celebrating Fang Shaoyi¡¯s birthday with him! Aaaah, isn¡¯t that proof enough?!


    Many celebrities reposted Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Weibo and wished him happy birthday. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even look at any of them. He was busy sleeping. Where could he find the spare energy to check Weibo?


    Among them, Chi Xing¡¯s repost seemed a bit different. When he reposted, he added thement: Hahaha, I, the number one Shape CP fan, can finally see clear skies!


    Underneath this, his fans, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s fans, and Yuan Ye¡¯s fans allmented ¡°hahahaha.¡± They were very satisfied with this number one CP fan.


    Cheng Xun reposted this repost: ......Shaoyi ge, happy birthday.


    Underneath this, their fans started ¡°hahahaha¡±ing again. Our Xun¡¯s usual daily speechless ellipses. Little Chi, don¡¯t make Little Cheng stress so much!


    He Sai reposted Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Weibo too: Big Boss, happy birthday. What a pity that I wasn¡¯t scheduled to shootst night, so I didn¡¯t get any cake. I¡¯ll make up a sliceter.


    This repost almost pissed Ji Xiaotao off to death. Who the fuck is your Big Boss?! This nickname was used very cleverly. It sounded very intimate. Who are you? Only I can use that nickname. Who do you think you are? And making up a slice. I¡¯m going to feed the uneaten cake to dogster, thanks.


    They would always encounter each other on set daily. Ji Xiaotao somehow managed to avoid talking to the other¡¯s manager almostpletely. To each their own. These two actors weren¡¯t even of the same status. Additionally, they interacted with others inpletely different manners too. Let¡¯s hurry and say goodbye to each other immediately after filming. Don¡¯t try and act close with us. Have some shame, okay?


    Downstairs, Ji Xiaotao was still cussing. Upstairs, there was someone who had just woken up and was cussing too.


    It had been too long since Yuan Ye had used Weibo. The previous uproar had passed, but when he logged on, his Weibo was still full of angryments. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even look at these. He had logged on mainly to post a blessing. Before he had gone to sleep this morning, Fang Shaoyi had muttered inint about how Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t posted a blessingst year. Their tradition of many years had ended just like that. At that time, he had been almost asleep, but his brows had still been furrowed. Yuan Ye had tapped the spot between the other¡¯s brows and said, ¡°I did, I did.¡±


    Thus, Yuan Ye kept thinking about this matter after waking up. He hurriedly decided to post a Weibo before the other woke up. He noticed that Ji Xiaotao had used Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ount to make a post. After clicking into it to check, he instantly noticed He Sai¡¯s words.


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows on the spot. He cussed to himself.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t like their entire team of assholes. This caption was honestly quite disgusting.


    Ji Xiaotao continued chatting while scrolling through Weibo. A whileter, he received a notification in his special following list. Ji Xiaotao clicked into it; Yuan Ye had made a Weibo post.


    It was a photo of the monkey he had gifted Fang Shaoyist night. The caption was only a few words long: ¡°Happy 37, Big Boss.¡±


    ¡°Badass!¡± Ji Xiaotao couldn¡¯t resist quietly shouting.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s use of ¡°Big Boss¡± was honestly tooforting. What was their rtionship? Even though they were divorced, they still had an ambiguous rtionship. After Yuan Ye used ¡°Big Boss¡±, where did that leave He Sai?


    As expected, when he checked back in ten minutes, He Sai had already deleted his repost.


    Ji Xiaotao sent Yuan Ye a message: Ye ge, I love you!


    Ji Xiaotao: I love you!


    Ji Xiaotao: I almost died from anger because of that dumbass! Thanks for saving my life, Ye ge!


    Ji Xiaotao: I love you!


    Yuan Ye¡¯s response to all these confessions was very cold: Don¡¯t you know to bring some food upstairs?

 Chapter 42

    <h4>Chapter 42</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi had spent many years in the movie circle. He truly had debuted at a high point. With his background, there actually weren¡¯t many people he had publicly be enemies with. His personality was like this. He wasn¡¯t the type to easily feud with others. Besides, he didn¡¯t act like he was better than anyone else. There generally weren¡¯t any reasons for him to be on opposing sides with anyone.


    This time, he technically had a public conflict with He Sai¡¯s team. It was so bad that neither of them reallymunicated with each other. Thisck ofmunication was mainly because of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s side. He Sai and them wanted tomunicate, but couldn¡¯t find the opportunity to. However, this wasn¡¯t considered a battle between their two teams. They couldn¡¯t bepared to one another: one was too low, with methods that weren¡¯t admirable at all, while the other was toozy to bother with them.


    Some fans actually managed to tell what Yuan Ye meant in his Weibo post, especially because CP fans were extremely sensitive to the nickname ¡°Big Boss¡± in the first ce. Because He Sai and Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t coborated or interacted in the past, many of the fans only learned that He Sai was also filming Director Jiang¡¯s movie after that caption with ¡°Big Boss.¡± Later on, Yuan Ye used this nickname too. Thus, He Sai was forced to delete his post whether he wanted to or not. Otherwise, what would he be considered?


    When Ji Xiaotao brought the food in, Yuan Ye was in his pajamas. He had finished washing up and was waiting to eat. Fang Shaoyi was still sleeping in bed. Ji Xiaotao found it hard to keep his excitement hidden after seeing Yuan Ye. He soundlessly howled. Yuan Ye made a ¡°sh¡± gesture at him, telling him to be quiet. Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t dare to stay for too long. He went back to his own room after staying for a short while.


    Later, Fang Shaoyi flipped over, seemingly awake. Yuan Ye turned around to check on him. Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes and looked at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye tilted his head and smiled at the other, asking, ¡°Get up and eat something before going back to sleep?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. Voice still raspy, he said, ¡°Not hungry.¡±


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t adamant about getting him to wake up. He responded, ¡°Then keep sleeping.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and blearily asked, ¡°When are you going to be done eating?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulders shook withughter after realizing what he was implying. He said, ¡°Very soon.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. In only a few seconds, he fell asleep again.


    Yuan Ye got back in bed after he ate. He leaned against the headboard, scrolling through his phone. Fang Shaoyi swung an arm over him. Yuan Yeughed silently, then used his fingers to gently scratch the other¡¯s arm, like a cat. Yuan Ye made a post to his friend circle, saying: Fang Seven Years. The apanying photo was a candid shot he had taken on set a few days ago. At the time, Fang Shaoyi had been sitting on the stairs outside the barbershop, looking at Yuan Ye. He had originally been deep in thought, but after discovering that Yuan Ye was taking a picture of him, his expression suddenly softened. He smiled too. He naturally looked handsome when he smiled, but in addition to the ray of sunlight, the picture appeared to have a peaceful and warm air.


    Fang Shaoyi wrapped up all his scenes at the end of April. Yuan Ye needed to stay behind a few more days, because there were still some other shots that needed to be filmed even after Fang Shaoyi finished his scenes. He wasn¡¯tpletely done with his work yet. Fang Shaoyi¡¯sst day on set was overcast. Thest scene wasn¡¯t the beginning or the end of the movie. It was only an ordinary scene with Fang Shaoyi giving someone a haircut. This was one of Jiang Linchuan¡¯s habits. He liked shooting the special scenes during the middle of the filming period. The first andst scenes would only be normal scenes. Actors were most in character at the end of shooting, but he wanted them to use this strongly emotional state to shoot these ordinary things. The oue always carried a slightly restrained air: smooth and soundless, longsting and timeless.


    That day, Yuan Ye was squatting on set. He watched as Fang Shaoyi brushed off the hair clippings from that person¡¯s face and ears, like usual, after finishing the haircut. Then, he brushed off his neck. In the end, he robotically helped the person take off the barber cape and expressionlessly said, ¡°Three RMB.¡±


    That person nced up at him. In the end, he only paid two RMB.


    Fang Shaoyi stuck the money into the drawer and didn¡¯t ask any other questions.


    Things were always like this in the little vige. He was always bullied and mistreated. Sometimes he realized, sometimes he didn¡¯t. He was a killer. His purpose ining here was to find someone and kill them. Originally, by the end of the movie, everyone in the vige was supposed to seem like the person he wanted to find. But everyone also seemed like a killer that wanted to kill him. What each person¡¯s identity truly was, what Sen Cha¡¯s identity truly was ¨C truth and lies, a muddled mess.


    After adding the subplot, all the important parts, aside from the main character¡¯s lines, were given to He Sai. The vige¡¯s introverted and gentle tailor became the side character with the most screen time. Originally, each person seemed like a killer, but also didn¡¯t. After this edit, it seemed more like a conflict between the tailor and the main character. Now, the two of them were both killers and were each other¡¯s targets. The existence of the other vigers was merely a cover-up for the tailor, a mystifying barrier from the truth.


    Later on, they made up a few extra scenes between Fang Shaoyi and He Sai. He Sai didn¡¯t dare to drag out the filming like he had done before. He did his best to act alongside Fang Shaoyi. However, he still somewhat failed. His aura was much weaker, meaning that his acting skills seemed much worse inparison. Though he wasn¡¯t young in age, his acting was young. Fang Shaoyi had always been a talented actor. Additionally, he had acted in movies from his teens till now. Compared to those actors who had never acted in movies and also never been forced to act better by directors, the distance between them was tens of thousands of miles. Each time the director yelled, ¡°Stop,¡± He Sai would say something to Fang Shaoyi. Sometimes, this was, ¡°Thank you, Shaoyi ge.¡± Others, it was, ¡°Sorry, Shaoyi ge.¡± Fang Shaoyi usually would nod, but not say anything else to him. However, he wouldn¡¯t purposefully make things difficult for the other. There was no need. He wasn¡¯t so ill-mannered.


    The entire feeling of the movie had changed. This was also why Yuan Ye and the director argued over every scene. This script was uneptable in his eyes. Everything was illogical and contrasting. The cogs didn¡¯t fit together. They got stuck with each rotation.


    Fang Shaoyi needed to leave after filming all his scenes. There was a bunch of business at thepany waiting for him. Geng Jinwei had started rushing him long ago. Fang Shaoyi had incessantly filmed movies for over a year, spending almost two years on different film sets. He had barely gotten a break. Yuan Ye was going to need a few more days. Fang Shaoyi returned first and waited for him.


    After the usual celebrations, Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t in a rush to leave. He waved at Yuan Ye, gesturing for him toe over. The film crew had already gone back to filming another scene. There weren¡¯t too many people around them. Fang Shaoyi told Yuan Ye to sit in the chair. He gave him another haircut. The two of them were already very practiced at this; Yuan Ye watched from the mirror. Fang Shaoyi used a buzzer to go over his hair first before adding on the right clip size.


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°You need to go to France next month, right?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand brushed Yuan Ye¡¯s head. He made eye contact with Yuan Ye before lightly chuckling and saying, ¡°Then I¡¯ll wait for you.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at Fang Shaoyi in the mirror and made a noise of acknowledgment. With a smile, he said, ¡°Just now, everyone was pushing around. I didn¡¯t get the opportunity to say congrattions for wrapping up, Teacher Fang.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi carefully buzzed the other¡¯s hair. He said, ¡°Thanks for all your care, Teacher Yuan.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re too polite,¡± Yuan Ye said while looking at him. ¡°There¡¯s still a lot of time left in the future.¡±


    Prior to leaving, Fang Shaoyi left Ji Xiaotao for Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry as he pushed the other away, saying he didn¡¯t need the apaniment. Fang Shaoyi was worried that he would be at a disadvantage on set. Yuan Ye kept shaking his head. ¡°I won¡¯t. The director¡¯s looking out for me. Besides, I¡¯m not a little kid anymore. What, am I always at a disadvantage?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi still couldn¡¯t rest at ease, but Yuan Ye refused to let Ji Xiaotao stay behind, no matter what. Ji Xiaotao got pushed back and forth between the two of them. Neither of them wanted him. Xiaotao ge was a glorious existence at theirpany. But in actuality, nobody knew that Xiaotao ge got treated with disdain everyday and was often threatened with getting fired.


    Yuan Ye truly wouldn¡¯t be disadvantaged in any way. The movie was almost done filming. Thest few scenes would only take a few days. It just happened to be that Yuan Ye was the type who liked doing things from start to finish. Otherwise, he could entirely leave along with Fang Shaoyi. No matter how dumb He Sai and them were, they didn¡¯t actually dare to get into another argument with Yuan Ye. Who couldn¡¯t tell that he and Fang Shaoyi had already reconciled?


    When Fang Shaoyi returned, he needed to go to thepany for several consecutive days. Shortly after, he would need to head to Cannes. Director Xin was taking¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·, which meant that Fang Shaoyi definitely needed to go too. He had spent more time than scheduled on set and hadn¡¯t left at all. In the next few days, he needed to decide on a suit and slightly work on his physique. He also needed to take care of his skin. These past few years, Fang Shaoyi had ruined himself so much that he almost appeared unhuman. He very rarely paid attention to his face.


    Geng Jinwei told him, ¡°I chose two good scripts. One starts filming in September and the other at the end of the year. If you don¡¯t want to film either, just let me know. I¡¯ll find a way to reject the invitations for you. One of them is by Director Wei and the other is by Director Zhuang. I figured they¡¯ve already mentioned their films to you before. No matter what, though, I still had to wait for you toe back and look over the scripts, otherwise I won¡¯t be able to reject them.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. ¡°Un, they both spoke to me already. I do truly want to take a break, though.¡±


    Geng Jinwei cocked an eyebrow. ¡°I¡¯ve been telling you to take a break for a long time. Did you ever listen?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled and didn¡¯t answer. He asked, ¡°What month is Director Wei¡¯s?¡±


    ¡°End of the year,¡± Geng Jinwei said. ¡°It¡¯s still early. Decide for sure before the end of June. If you decide not to ept, tell them earlier so they can start finding the next person.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi squeezed the spot between his eyebrows and said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Originally, Geng Jinwei wanted to hold a meeting now that Fang Shaoyi was back. There were some newly signed artists in theirpany that Fang Shaoyi had never met before. But Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t really want to attend a meeting. He said he would think about itter. He had never been too invested in thepany; Geng Jinwei was in charge of all that. Geng Jinwei had long since stopped being a manager. Currently, Fang Shaoyi was the only one who still got resources from him. Additionally, there was also Yang Siran, who didn¡¯t have a manager.


    After returning, Ji Xiaotao felt quite surprised to find out that Yang Siran still didn¡¯t have a manager. When he saw the other at thepany, he asked, ¡°What¡¯s up? Still no manager?¡±


    Yang Siran smiled and greeted Ji Xiaotao after seeing him. He first called out, ¡°Xiaotao ge,¡± then nodded and answered, ¡°Yeah, no manager.¡±


    ¡°But previously I heard that you were working with Old Yan? Yan ge is good.¡± Ji Xiaotao liked Yang Siran quite a bit. Little Yang had sided with Fang Shaoyi on set, purposefully annoying He Sai while filming with him, which caused Ji Xiaotao to feel close to this kid. In private, he said, ¡°Yan ge¡¯s a pretty good person and has a lot of resources too. You¡¯d do well with him.¡±


    Yang Siran didn¡¯t say anything. He only shook his head. ¡°Yan ge¡¯s not managing me.¡±


    ¡°So what¡¯s your situation now?¡± Ji Xiaotao asked him. ¡°Who¡¯s in charge of your work? Do you have an assistant?¡±


    Yang Siran said, ¡°I do have an assistant. As for work......Boss Geng is still the one giving me my schedules.¡±


    Ji Xiaotaoughed, very amused. He even joked, ¡°If you never get a manager and end up stuck with Geng ge, that¡¯d be great. The star treatment. It¡¯s been a long time since Geng ge has managed anyone new.¡±


    Yang Siran lowered his head and pressed his lips together. He lowly said, ¡°Boss Geng doesn¡¯t want to manage me either.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao patted him on the shoulder andforted, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You¡¯ll get a manager sooner orter. I¡¯ll help you put in a good word. They¡¯ll choose a good manager for you.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao obviously held some power in thepany. Yang Siran very sincerely thanked him. ¡°Thank you, Xiaotao ge. You¡¯ve always taken care of me. But I don¡¯t need a manager right now. I feel that everything now is... already fine.¡±


    Ji Xiaotaoughed, ¡°Are you dumb? Geng ge technically isn¡¯t your manager. It¡¯s really easy for you to get dropped if you continue down this current path. How could it be possible for Geng ge to manage something as trivial as your schedule? He doesn¡¯t have the time or energy. Have you gotten any other schedules since you¡¯ve returned from set?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yang Siran slowly said. ¡°Boss Geng told me not to ept other random schedules. I should be dedicated to acting.¡±


    ¡°Then listen to him. Act diligently. You¡¯ll be able to walk steadily forward if you do so,¡± Ji Xiaotao replied.


    Yang Siran nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°I¡¯ll listen to everything Boss Geng says.¡±


    Later on, Ji Xiaotao mentioned this matter to Fang Shaoyi. He said that right now, Yang Siran still didn¡¯t have a manager. The other was a promising artist, after all. Given proper guidance, it was very possible that he would be popr. Even if he didn¡¯t have a personal friendship with Yang Siran, Ji Xiaotao would¡¯ve still brought this topic up. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t take care of these matters, though. He didn¡¯t even recognize all of the managers in hispany.


    Additionally, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t dare to butt into this youth¡¯s business anymore. After all, he had ended up in aical scandal with him in the past. Thus, he wouldn¡¯t mention Yang Siran too much. Whether to avoid suspicion or for any other reasons, he wouldn¡¯t mention him.


    Fang Shaoyi had been on set, filming, for over a year, rarely returning. Even when he did return, he didn¡¯t stay at home. The grass had already died in the yard. At the time, he had arranged for such a tight schedule for a reason. Those close to him knew this reason, even if he didn¡¯t say anything about it. Jian Xu had even teased him because of this. ¡°You¡¯re divorced. Why aren¡¯t you immediately using this opportunity to enjoy the single life? You¡¯re still going to spend all your time on film sets?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had truly spent all his time on film sets this year.


    The little house was the same as when he had left. Nobody had cleaned it during the past year. The pool was filled with dirt; property management had weeded the little garden in the front of the house, but hadn¡¯t dared to touch anything else. Prior to leaving, Fang Shaoyi had specially said that nobody needed to clean this ce. They could just leave it alone.


    Nothing had changed inside, either. It was the same as before. After Fang Shaoyi returned, Ji Xiaotao found someone topletely clean the interior, mainly to get rid of the dust. The house had been empty for over a year. Though nobody had been living in it, dust still gathered. When the cleaning process was finished, the bedsheets also got changed into a brand new set.


    After cleaning everything up, Fang Shaoyi offhandedly took a picture and sent it to Yuan Ye. He said: Waiting for you.


    Later, Yuan Ye replied to him: Not going.


    Fang Shaoyi sent him a question mark.


    Yuan Ye responded with a smiley face.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know where Yuan Ye¡¯s strange smile wasing from. He called. Yuan Ye whispered, ¡°I¡¯m in a meeting, baobei¡¯er.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lowered his voice too, ¡°You dare to answer calls during meetings now?¡±


    ¡°The director¡¯s not looking at me. He¡¯s talking to someone else.¡± Yuan Ye lowered his voice even more and casually flirted, ¡°Miss you.¡±


    Suddenly, Jiang Linchuan¡¯s loud voice sounded out from the other end of the phone. ¡°Who are you missing? Come, put your phone on speaker. We¡¯re in a meeting. Let me see who you¡¯re missing.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled and said, ¡°Then go back to your meeting.¡±


    Yuan Ye sighed and replied, ¡°......I¡¯ll call you back when I¡¯m done.¡±


    Three hours had already passed by the time Yuan Ye ended his meeting. When he called Fang Shaoyi back, his voice was a bit hoarse. ¡°Are you asleep yet?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°No, I was waiting for your call.¡±


    ¡°My flight¡¯s the day after tomorrow.¡± Yuan Ye chuckled, ¡°I¡¯ll be flying back the day after tomorrow.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed too. ¡°Then I¡¯ll go pick you up.¡±


    ¡°No need, just tell Xiaotao toe. Do what you need to do.¡± Yuan Ye seemed to have lit a cigarette, because Fang Shaoyi heard the soft click of the lighter.


    Fang Shaoyi scolded, ¡°Your voice is raspy. Smoke less.¡±


    ¡°Okay, okay,¡± Yuan Ye agreed with a smile. ¡°Okay, ge.¡±


    The two of them basically didn¡¯t contact each other over the next two days. The second day, Fang Shaoyi spent the whole day picking out an outfit. After much deliberation, he ultimately decided on two suits. The day Yuan Ye returned, Ji Xiaotao said he would pick him up, but Fang Shaoyi told him to head back to thepany. He personally drove to the airport.


    Right now, the two of them were basically a honeymooning couple. The previous ten years seemed to not have existed. Their desire for romance wasn¡¯t even the slightest bit less than those of youngsters. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t dare to get out of his car to pick Yuan Ye up from inside the airport. He sat in the car and sent Yuan Ye a message, telling him where he was waiting.


    He waited for almost an hour before Yuan Ye came out. Yuan Ye put his stuff in the trunk and slid into the passenger seat. He smiled at Fang Shaoyi and called out, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. He made a noise of acknowledgment.


    On the way, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say much. Because he didn¡¯t take the initiative to speak first, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say much either. He only asked if Yuan Ye was tired or not and if he wanted to eat anything.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Not hungry, but I am a bit tired. I¡¯ll go back and nap for a bit?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi hummed in agreement before asking him, ¡°Back home?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was talking about the home they had shared previously. But Yuan Ye shook his head. He thought about it and said, ¡°I mean back to my ce. Do you know where that is?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him and nodded. ¡°Yes.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed. With an eyebrow raised, he asked, ¡°You know?¡±


    ¡°I know.¡± Fang Shaoyiughed too. ¡°I¡¯ve always known.¡±

 Chapter 43

    <h4>Chapter 43</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi parked his car downstairs. Yuan Ye smiled and tilted his head. ¡°Want to sit for a bit upstairs?¡±


    ¡°Not today. You can head up and rest earlier,¡± Fang Shaoyi answered.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything else. He nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment, then said, ¡°I¡¯ll call youter.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Fang Shaoyi smiled and replied.


    Fang Shaoyi only wiped the smile off his face after Yuan Ye headed upstairs. He gently furrowed his brows. Coincidentally, he received a call at this time. Fang Shaoyi put the call on speaker and drove away.


    The first thing Yuan Ye did after getting back was head home ¨C home to his parents¡¯ ce. He had been gone for about half a year without visiting. He unlocked the door with the key. The olddy jumped in shock upon seeing him. Yuan Ye hurriedly said, ¡°Don¡¯t panic, it¡¯s me.¡±


    ¡°When¡¯d you get back?¡± The olddy¡¯s expression was pleasantly surprised. She pulled out a napkin and wiped her hands, then walked over and took the things Yuan Ye was carrying from him.


    Yuan Ye reached out and embraced her before saying, ¡°Today. Took an afternoon nap at home and headed over as soon as I woke up. Where¡¯s the professor?¡±


    ¡°Professor went out to draw.¡± She patted Yuan Ye¡¯s back, eyes curved into crescents. ¡°You¡¯ve gotten thinner. Truly, this time.¡±


    ¡°I know I¡¯ve gotten thinner,¡± Yuan Ye said whileughing. ¡°The food on set wasn¡¯t tasty.¡±


    Yuan Ye called his dad, asking, ¡°Professor, where are you drawing? I¡¯ll go pick you up when you¡¯re done?¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± Professor Yuan inquired through the phone. ¡°At home?¡±


    ¡°Ah,¡± Yuan Ye replied.


    Professor Yuan said, ¡°I don¡¯t need you to pick me up. It¡¯s just a five minute stroll back. You can wait at home.¡±


    During dinner, his mom said that Shaoyi had visited twice in these past few days. Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°He came over?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not troublesome,¡± Yuan Yeughed while shaking his head. ¡°He¡¯s used to it.¡±


    Thus, Mom asked again, ¡°So you guys have made up?¡±


    Yuan Ye thought about it and answered, ¡°Technically.¡±


    Their family never discussed his rtionship. In the beginning, when he was getting married, they had tried to stop him, but failed. After that, they never really brought it up again. Before getting divorced, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t notify his family. Now, he and Fang Shaoyi were reconciling, but he still wasn¡¯t saying anything. He was thirty-something. There was no need for them to be worrying about him anymore. He had long passed the age where he needed to start taking responsibility for his own life. He needed to deal with the consequences for all of his own decisions.


    That day, Professor Yuan only told him, ¡°Live in whatever way makes you happy. As long as you¡¯re willing.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded and hummed before saying, ¡°I know.¡±


    Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s marriage was a bit different from the average marriage. He and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s identities had been worlds apart when they had first gotten married. It could be said that their families had absolutely nothing inmon. After marriage, their families basically nevermunicated with one another either. Even until right before their divorce, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been able to call Fang Shaoyi¡¯s parents ¡°Dad¡± and ¡°Mom¡± when he saw them. This feeling was too strange. He couldn¡¯t say ¡°Dad¡± and ¡°Mom¡±, but calling them ¡°Uncle¡± and ¡°Auntie¡± also seemed inappropriate. They probably felt the same awkwardness when facing Yuan Ye. This was also rted to Yuan Ye¡¯s personality.


    Fang Shaoyi was a lot more natural than him. These years, during periods where he wasn¡¯t acting, he would often head home with Yuan Ye. He also had always called Yuan Ye¡¯s parents ¡°Dad¡± and ¡°Mom¡±. When he was here, nobody could tell that he was a celebrity. He only looked like a normal, educated young man.


    In this regard, Fang Shaoyi had done much better than Yuan Ye.


    Yuan Ye stayed at home for one night. The next morning, as he was leaving, he called Fang Shaoyi. He said, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment and asked him, ¡°Where are you?¡±


    ¡°Back at my mom¡¯s ce.¡± Yuan Ye asked too, ¡°You came over? What identity did youe over with, ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lowly chuckled and said, ¡°Half a son, I guess.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed at him, ¡°If my mom really asked you if we¡¯re nning on getting remarried or not, would you feel awkward?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯d deal with it,¡± Fang Shaoyi answered. ¡°What else could I do?¡±


    The two of them didn¡¯t manage to see each other after this call. Yuan Ye went to Old Tu¡¯s ce to drink and eat meat. Fang Shaoyi stayed at hispany, looking over a few contracts. In the afternoon, he also had an interview. All these years, Fang Shaoyi rarely showed up to charity events. His name couldn¡¯t be found on the list of guests for the mostmon charity programs. However, he and Yuan Ye had actually continuously been donating to several different charity organizations and funds. Additionally, they weren¡¯t stingy with their donations. Years ago, Yuan Ye would also asionally head into the mountain districts with the charity volunteers. Each time he did, he would take many pictures. Later on, he stopped going almost entirely. His time had basically all be dedicated to Fang Shaoyi. The remaining time was needed for him to attend to his own business.


    Today¡¯s interview was because a certain charity project wanted to do a special episode on Fang Shaoyi. They had waited for several months for Fang Shaoyi toe back. Originally, they had wanted to interview Yuan Ye too, but this got rejected by Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t like filming this interview. Doing charity was a very private matter. Why did it always need to be discussed publicly? Some celebrities started public discussions to gain more traction and to attract more people to join the cause. This was understandable. However, in Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes, certain people seemed like they were only doing things for appearance¡¯s sake. They always needed to make it public knowledge when they did anything, which was extremely fake.


    Yuan Ye drank alcohol at Old Tu¡¯s restaurant. He and Old Tu hadn¡¯t met up for over half a year. This person still looked the same; he hadn¡¯t changed in the slightest.


    Old Tu asked Yuan Ye what the current situation was. Regarding his rtionship, Yuan Ye always kept his mouth shut. However, today, he surprisingly opened his mouth, which was extremely rare. He said, ¡°Right now, I¡¯m just molding and shaping. I need to fix myself up first, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Fix yourself up how?¡± Old Tu gazed at him. His expression was always slightly amused. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°A descaled fish?¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. He lit a cigarette, then shook his head and said, ¡°Not to that extent.¡±


    It wasn¡¯t that painful, and also not that exaggerated. But, he truly needed to change a bit. The bnce between losses and gains was measured by oneself. Each individual had a scale in their own hearts. Yuan Ye had realized this long ago. He knew very clearly what he wanted. After understanding this, he stopped hesitating.


    But sometimes, he still felt like his emotions were a bit spread out. Throwing away some of the things he had stood by for so many years made him feel slightly ufortable. Even lonely.


    Prior to Yuan Ye¡¯s departure from the film set, the director finally told him the truth. The meaning behind his words was that he had never actually wanted to add more screen time for He Sai. He wouldn¡¯t edit that subplot into the final film. The director only revealed this bit of information after he had gotten drunk. Previously, Yuan Ye had never thought in this direction. Upon suddenly hearing this, he actually didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    Emotionally, he felt great. Blissful. Only looking at the end product, he was definitely satisfied. But looking back at the process, disregarding all the efforts He Sai and his team had put in, this entire procedure had been wrong. All the work the entire film crew had put in for all this time, including but not limited to the B group workers, the enormous amount of human and material resources, the scenes all the actors had to make up ¨C some even had to return to set even after leaving ¨C these were all built upon that subplot. If the director edited the subplot out, all of this work would be for naught. Filming for no reason wasn¡¯t a big deal, but the director had known about this the whole time. The entire process had also proceeded in a way the director and a small group of people had wanted. This felt extremely wrong.


    Those left in the dark had been wholeheartedly treating this newly added subplot, including Yuan Ye himself. Even though he wasn¡¯t in charge of He Sai¡¯s scenes, Yuan Ye still considered both plots when looking over all the other scenes. How to ensure that these two plotlines would be able to link together and merge? He needed to do his best to make each scene be the most useful version of itself, given the fact that the entire script had already veered off its original path. During this process, he even argued with the director everyday. The props team spent restless days and nights incessantly rushing out props, but in the end, these wouldn¡¯t even appear in the movie at all.


    This was ultimately very different from the way Yuan Ye did things. Though Yuan Ye was disgusted by He Sai and his team, he was the type of person to express these feelings publicly. He simply wouldn¡¯t have agreed to add the new scenes in the first ce. No matter how many difficulties gued him, he wouldn¡¯tply. However, sometimes, the way he did things was wrong. This might have caused the entire film crew¡¯s efforts to go to waste; his refusal to take a step back would have resulted in greater losses.


    He had to admit that the director¡¯s way of doing things was the smartest. After the movie became released and everything became set in stone, they could throw however many tantrums they wanted. There would be no fear of identally insulting the investors either. That wouldn¡¯t matter anymore.


    At the time, Yuan Ye had asked the director, ¡°So why were you still so serious about filming those scenes? All that work for nothing.¡±


    ¡°Not for nothing.¡± Jiang Linchuan nced at him and shook his head. He scoffed at himself, ¡°There are too many changes during movie making. If I¡¯m unable to edit the scenes out in the end, I¡¯ll have to add them in.¡±


    Yuan Ye asked, ¡°What¡¯s the probability that you won¡¯t be able to edit them out?¡±


    Jiang Linchuan answered, ¡°Very small.¡±


    For this small probability, the entire film crew,posed of over two hundred people, worked continuously for more than a month. The amount of money thrown into the pit didn¡¯t even make a clink.


    Fang Shaoyi probably knew the truth from the beginning, but he didn¡¯t say anything. After, Yuan Ye remembered the times that Fang Shaoyi had told him to go watch the rough edits made by the director. Yet Yuan Ye himself had never been interested, so hadn¡¯t ever taken these opportunities. Later on, he mentioned once that he wanted to watch it, but the director changed the subject and didn¡¯t bring him along to the viewing. Thus, until the end of filming, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t known that his worries had been useless. The director had actually never wanted to ruin the script that, in Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes, was alreadypletely ruined.


    There was no actual right or wrong. If forced to answer, Yuan Ye would even say that the director had been right. He had been doing his best to protect his movie. Previously, Yuan Ye had said that he had lost the most basic qualities of a cinephile; he now needed to take these words back. He still had the basic qualities of a cinephile, that passionate desire for movies. He hadn¡¯t wronged his own film.


    But this was too different from Yuan Ye¡¯s personal moral principles. He even felt that this way of doing things was somewhat absurd and wild.


    Fang Shaoyi had previously said that Yuan Ye¡¯s moods weren¡¯t a secret from him. He could feel whenever there was something in between them just from a gaze. After, though the two of them didn¡¯t meet up, they didn¡¯t stop texting or calling each other. They also seemed quite normal.


    But Fang Shaoyi instantly knew that there was something off about Yuan Ye after he walked out of the airport. He had been a bit strange these past few days. Eventually, Fang Shaoyi guessed the reason.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t change his attitude when talking to him, almost as if nothing had happened. Thus, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t ask him any questions.


    The day prior to leaving for France, Yuan Ye called. He asked Fang Shaoyi if he had finished all the necessary preparations in the past few days.


    Fang Shaoyi answered that he had.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s voice sounded very calm, but also a bit gentle. Through the phone, he told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll apany you.¡±

 Chapter 44

    <h4>Chapter 44</h4>


    In total, four cast members of¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·were attending. In addition to all of their assistants, the stylists for Fang Shaoyi and another young actor, and Yuan Ye, their entire team contained over ten people.


    Fang Shaoyi and them didn¡¯t leave with the others. They were scheduled to fly over three days in advance. The small town of Cannes had long since been surrounded by reporters. Thousands of reporters from all around the world had already started waiting there. It wasn¡¯t a secret when any celebrity arrived. Thus, in order to ensure peace across the next couple of days, they weren¡¯t flying directly to Cannes. They would first stop in Paris for three days and wait for the director and the rest of the team before leaving Paris together.


    Ji Xiaotao had booked the hotel rooms a month in advance. He had worked with Fang Shaoyi for several years. Each time they came to Europe for a film festival, there were challenges. Not only for film festivals, though ¨C other scheduled events were the same. Only, Fang Shaoyi always rejected the invitations to other events if he could, as long as they weren¡¯t film festivals. Sometimes, when Fang Shaoyi needed to film movie scenes outside of the country, Ji Xiaotao also needed to schedule things in advance. Travelling internationally was a very strenuous and difficult task.


    On the way to the airport, they first stopped by Yuan Ye¡¯s ce to pick him up. The car was a van. As soon as Yuan Ye got in, he reached his hand out to stroke Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. He greeted, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi wrapped his hand around the other¡¯s. He smiled and asked, ¡°Have you eaten yet?¡±


    There were other people in the car, after all. Yuan Ye was too embarrassed to keep holding Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand for too long. They basically just squeezed each other¡¯s hands for a moment before retreating. Yuan Ye chuckled and answered, ¡°I¡¯ve eaten.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. Yuan Ye asked too, ¡°Have you eaten? Have you taken your medicine?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Fang Shaoyi gazed at him. Then, heughed and lowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t be nervous.¡±


    ¡°Un, I¡¯ve already been through this many times.¡± Yuan Ye blinked at him yfully. ¡°Watch me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lifted his hand and brushed Yuan Ye¡¯s hair with his fingers. Yuan Ye openly tilted his head in the other¡¯s direction, allowing him to brush more. Because of this minute action, Fang Shaoyi smiled again faintly. There were slight wrinkles by the corners of his eyes when he smiled. This made him look extra gentle.


    After getting on the ne, Yuan Ye immediately ced the pillow behind Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck, then handed him the eye mask. Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He epted the items and said, ¡°I¡¯m not sleepy. Let¡¯s chat a bit.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Yuan Ye turned around and nced at Ji Xiaotao and the stylist. The two of them were conversing quietly. Ji Xiaotao smiled dumbly at Yuan Ye upon making eye contact. Yuan Ye turned back around to tell Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Xiaotao¡¯s not young anymore.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. ¡°I¡¯ve talked with him about it, saying that I want him to stay at the office. But he doesn¡¯t want to.¡± Fang Shaoyi used a voice low enough that only the two of them could hear. This seemed slightly intimate. ¡°Xiaotao is too loyal. He can¡¯t let me go and also doesn¡¯t want to switch jobs.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°If he wants to follow you around, just let him. There¡¯s no rush. When he decides himself that he wants to live a more stable lifestyle and doesn¡¯t want to rush around all the time anymore, arrange for another job for him. Otherwise, no matter how you phrase it, it¡¯ll seem like you have a cold heart. Which would be quite disheartening.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and started talking to Yuan Ye about his work. He asked, ¡°Is there anything you¡¯re busy with these days? What are you writing?¡±


    ¡°That means you want to write it,¡± Fang Shaoyiughed and told Yuan Ye while gazing at him.


    Yuan Ye paused for a moment. After, he smiled and nodded, ¡°Seems like it.¡±


    Like this, the two of them held a normal conversation. It was veryfortable and natural. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t express any other emotions; he was even less passive than usual and gentler. He took the initiative to discuss his work matters with Fang Shaoyi, gossipping about the interesting stories and rumors of the literary circle. For example, he spoke about how Feng Leizi was scared of his wife and howst time, Han San¡¯er got teased by a certain someone at the dinner table for half the evening because of his Shandong ent. Usually, they likely wouldn¡¯t hold a long conversation about these things. Yuan Ye also wouldn¡¯t take the initiative to talk about them. When they were together, Yuan Ye was more used to talking about Fang Shaoyi¡¯s business and his movies. Or, they wouldn¡¯t speak at all, only quietly apanying the other.


    When Yuan Yeughed, Fang Shaoyi wouldugh too. Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Do you know Tao Li? I don¡¯t think you do.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Keep speaking.¡±


    Yuan Ye continued. If this were normally, he might not have. He always felt like Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t interested in these things. Fang Shaoyi was so busy. When he wasn¡¯t working, Yuan Ye usually wanted him to rest more. But right now, they were on a ne and bored. Yuan Ye was worried that the other would have nothing to do, so was chatting with him to distract him. Thus, he spoke nonstop.


    ¡°Tao Li¡¯s gay too, and quite annoying. That facetious person always asks me about that stuff. So bothersome.¡± Yuan Ye tsk¡¯d upon thinking about Tao Li. He shook his head and said, ¡°His writing always heads straight to theher regions. Previously, a team bought the license for one of his books and wanted to turn it into a movie. The fucker said he needed to be the screenwriter, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t sell the copyright. As the screenwriter, he wanted practically half the scenes to be filmed in bed. That wouldn¡¯t have been a mostly closed off set anymore. It was close to beingpletely porn.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°And then? They got a different screenwriter?¡±


    Yuan Ye shook his head. ¡°No, things fell through. He said that this was the way he wrote and he wouldn¡¯t change his writing to pass a review. Thus, he refused to sell the license. The usual proud lit¨¦rateur nonsense.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter and shook his head. Yuan Ye added, ¡°Han San¡¯er says that sometimes, we¡¯re actually all dumbasses who only think that we¡¯re rebellious and unconventional swordsmen with tendons of steel and bones of iron.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t agree with this statement. He lowered his voice to tell Yuan Ye, ¡°You really are an unconventional swordsman with tendons of steel and bones of iron.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him and promised, ¡°I¡¯ll change. I¡¯ll make myself a bit softer.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and replied without thinking. Then, he stared straight at Yuan Ye and repeated himself, ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled. He didn¡¯t say anything else, only nodding.


    The flight was more than ten hours long. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t eat anything the entire time. He only drank a cup of milk and two cups of coffee. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t force him to eat either. Fortunately, Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t hungry in the first ce. Later on, Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t let him keep talking. He only allowed Fang Shaoyi to close his eyes and go to sleep. Actually, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t fall asleep at all. He felt ufortable, but in order to allow Yuan Ye to rest at ease, he kept his eyes closed the entire time, almost as if he was truly asleep.


    There were a few times during this that Yuan Ye reached a hand out to check the temperature of his forehead. His palm was hot and felt veryfortable pressed against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s skin.


    After Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes, Yuan Ye pulled out a book to read. Halfway through, a flight attendant walked over, wanting to help cover Fang Shaoyi with a nket. Yuan Ye quietly stopped her. ¡°Thank you, but there¡¯s no need. He feels warm.¡±


    Things were okay in the beginning, but starting in thest few hours of the flight, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face slowly got paler and paler. By the time they needed to disembark the ne, even his lips were practically colorless. His entire face was pale as a sheet.


    The stylist was someone Fang Shaoyi had worked with for many years. They knew each other extremely well. There was no need to ask questions.


    There was a car from the hotel waiting to pick them up at the airport. The entire way, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say a word to Fang Shaoyi. He only kept holding onto the other¡¯s hand, allowing the warmth of his palm to transfer over to him. In a daze, Yuan Ye seemed to see himself from many years ago, when he had first apanied Fang Shaoyi to Europe. At that time, he had been very panicked. His heart had also continuously twinged with pain.


    That had been the first time Yuan Ye had discovered that Fang Shaoyi had a weakness too. So the perfect face under the spotlight dealt with so many difficulties in secret.


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t eat anything at all, not even a bite. He couldn¡¯t drink any water either. A seven hour time difference caused Fang Shaoyi¡¯s entire nervous system to copse. Each of his nerves seemed to have stopped working. Fang Shaoyi kept his head lowered as he sat on the edge of the bed after taking off his jacket. His arms rested on both his knees. His hands were loosely sped together as they dangled down. He was still dressed properly in a white dress shirt and pants.


    Yuan Ye knew he was ufortable. Yuan Ye knew that right now, Fang Shaoyi had a headache, felt nauseous, his chest hurt, and he was having heart palpitations.


    Yuan Ye pulled out a thin,fortable pair of pajamas from the suitcase and walked over to gently caress Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face. His voice was low and soft, ¡°I¡¯ll change you out of your clothes, baobei¡¯er.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s breathing sounded a bit rough. He said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll do it myselfter.¡±


    Yuan Ye undid the buttons of his shirt one by one, then put the pajamas on him. He very rarely took care of Fang Shaoyi like the other was a child, because since the beginning, regardless of if they considered age or status, Yuan Ye had always been the one getting taken care of, though not to the extent of what he was currently doing. It was true that Fang Shaoyi had always been the stronger one in their rtionship.


    So the first time Fang Shaoyi had suddenly passed out, face ashen pale as he copsed against Yuan Ye, eighteen year old Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been much better off than Fang Shaoyi. He had been too panicked and scared. As he hugged Fang Shaoyi, he felt excruciating pain in his heart, but he also didn¡¯t know what to do.


    At that time, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant told Yuan Ye that there was no need to go to the hospital. Fang Shaoyi just needed to head to the hotel and sleep it off. Yuan Ye sat cross-legged on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed. He stared at the other until he woke up four hourster. When Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes, Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were already red from how long he had been staring. He softly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong with you, ge?¡±


    A monkey pretending to be calm. His voice sounded rxed, but his expression was very pitiful.


    Fang Shaoyi reached a hand out to him and spread his arms. His voice was raspy as he said, ¡°Come.¡±


    Yuan Ye thus buried his round head against one of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s corbones. His eyshes gently fluttered against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck. Fang Shaoyi chuckled. As he did so, his chest vibrated. He asked, ¡°Scared?¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck. He didn¡¯t make a noise.


    One of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands rested on the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head. He gently caressed it a few times, then said, ¡°Don¡¯t panic. It¡¯s fine.¡±


    ¡°How could I not panic?¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s voice sounded out, muffled. ¡°You didn¡¯t even say anything before passing out. I was so scared I almost spat my heart out.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed and said, ¡°So spit it out for me to see.¡±


    Yuan Ye opened his mouth, pretending to spit. However, as soon as he opened his mouth, he closed his teeth around Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck. Then, he ground his teeth together, biting on the tendon in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck to vent his anger. Fang Shaoyi slightly hesitated, as if wanting to say something. In the end, though, he onlyughed and stroked Yuan Ye¡¯s head; he didn¡¯t say anything, letting the other do as he wished.


    At that time, Yuan Ye had still been a child. He hadn¡¯t encountered anything like this before, hadn¡¯t felt such grueling pain in his heart before. These emotions appeared aggressively and suddenly. He didn¡¯t know how to deal with them.


    The result of him using someone else¡¯s neck as a chew toy was that this person could no longer wear the shirt he had already decided upon for the film festival. He had to make an impromptu change into a high-cored dress shirt.


    Too many of his initial emotional experiences hade from Fang Shaoyi. That experience had left an extremely strong impression on him. To the point that even now, every time Fang Shaoyi headed to any location with a time difference, Yuan Ye would get very nervous. Even though heter lived through many other situations, and also now got called ¡°Uncle¡± by children, he still felt nervous.


    When Fang Shaoyi woke up, he quietly looked at Yuan Ye. After, he suddenly chuckled. He opened his mouth and asked, ¡°Are you going to bite again?¡±


    These six words seemed to havee from fifteen years ago. They carried with them an aura that seemed to have transmigrated through the years.


    Yuan Ye sat on the couch nearby. His gaze was filled with a warm and distant light. He gently snapped his teeth together in front of Fang Shaoyi, pretending to bite. Then, he walked over and leaned down before softly kissing the other¡¯s neck.


    When his lips brushed against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s pulse, it seemed almost as if he had touched the other¡¯s heartbeat¡ª¡ªlike he had used his lips to kiss that gentle and strong heart.

 Chapter 45

    <h4>Chapter 45</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi had been born with this time difference syndrome: a strange illness that nobody was sure could be considered an illness. Time differences caused his nervous system to copse. The greater the difference, the worse the impact. Yuan Ye had only learned that such a syndrome existed from Fang Shaoyi. Others probably only needed one night¡¯s sleep to recover from their jeg, but Fang Shaoyi needed three to four days, sometimes even more. Additionally, he basically couldn¡¯t do anything else during these few days. It was extremely ufortable.


    However, Fang Shaoyi had chosen this career path. As an actor, he often needed to leave the country. Flying across time zones was alsomon. Yet, time differences were honestly a limit to his work. Thus, Ji Xiaotao always needed to schedule everything in advance prior to his flights. The days before and after the flight needed to be empty of schedules. If they were tight on time, Fang Shaoyi did his best to avoid events that needed to be attended internationally.


    Only those close to Fang Shaoyi knew about this. Others only thought that Fang Shaoyi was too cold and distant, meaning that it was hard to get him to ept invitations. In actuality, it was because he couldn¡¯t ovee his jeg.


    During their few days in Paris, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t really leave the hotel room. asionally, when the weather was honestly too nice outside, he would call Yuan Ye toe along for a walk and to feel the breeze. The stylist left early in the morning and returnedte at night everyday. How could someone part of the fashion world resist not leaving their hotel room when in Paris? He had long since made ns for these few days prior to their departure. Sometimes, Ji Xiaotao would follow the couple around, but mostly, he stayed at the hotel or went out to have fun by himself. When he found good food, he would bring some back for the other two.


    Here, there was no need to be dramatic and book two rooms anymore. Besides, considering the state Fang Shaoyi was in, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t want to leave him by himself either. Thus, they stayed together the entire time.


    Since the day Yuan Ye had returned from set until now, the two of them hadn¡¯t talked about that movie. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t share his opinions and Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t bring up the topic. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t express that he disliked this incident; his emotions were hidden under a mask. Regardless if he felt conflicted or against the situation, he was digesting these emotions himself. Fang Shaoyi had almost instantly be someone who needed special care during this period that he was oveing his jeg. These past few days, Yuan Ye¡¯s tone was always careful and soft when speaking to him.


    Thest evening in Paris, Fang Shaoyi knew that he was pitiful, so purposefully yed this up.


    Under the warm yellow light, Yuan Ye was on his phone, reading the script Ning Lu had sent him. The further he got, the more he furrowed his brows. In the end, he tsk¡¯d and quickly replied, fingers a blur.


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Yuan Ye told him, ¡°Ning Lu. Dumb son. He¡¯s already thirty-something, but still has mush for brains. He got lied to by someone.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow in confusion. Yuan Ye continued, ¡°He spent a lot of money buying a script from Shi Song, but it¡¯spletely unusable. He himself, though, treats it like a treasure that needs to be hidden from people who want to steal it. I told him to rewrite it, so he hired a group of screenwriters. But the stuff they¡¯ve written is poison to the eyes.¡±


    ¡°Shi Song?¡± Fang Shaoyi thought for a moment. ¡°The one who wrote¡¶Ten Steps in Red Dust¡·? Then there shouldn¡¯t be a problem, right? Back then, when I was filming¡¶Ten Steps in Red Dust¡·, I remember that you and him got along quite well.¡±


    ¡°Un, that¡¯s him.¡± Yuan Ye scoffed and said, ¡°There¡¯s nothing bad to be said about Teacher Shi. He¡¯s an experienced screenwriter. But that script was probably just something the screenwriting apprentices under him pieced together from cliches. You write a segment, then I¡¯ll write a segment. Happens all the time. They use that stuff to scam investors after pping the teacher¡¯s name on.¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t ask you to look over the script prior to buying it?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked.


    Yuan Ye nced at him. With a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile, he said, ¡°That was when the variety show had just finished airing. I disappeared for a period of time, remember?¡±


    At that time, Yuan Ye had taken the me for their divorce and announced that he would re-woo Fang Shaoyi. After that, he had entirely cut off contact with the outside world to get some peace and quiet. Fang Shaoyi chuckled. Yuan Ye picked up his phone and sent Ning Lu a voice message: ¡°Looked at it. Not good. I told you to sell this script for a bit cheaper than what you bought it for, but you wouldn¡¯t listen. Wait for me to get back. I¡¯ll go to your house and tell you in detail.¡±


    Ning Lu replied very quickly. He had probably been waiting for Yuan Ye¡¯s message: ¡°Still no good? Master...... I¡¯m not trying to win any awards with this or anything. As long as I don¡¯t lose money, it¡¯s okay if the profit is minimal. Can you lower your standards ordingly and look over it again? Treat it like a blockbuster that¡¯s going to cast two ticket-selling actors?¡±


    After he said this, even Fang Shaoyiughed. Exasperated, Yuan Ye responded: ¡°Not trying to win awards...... What are you thinking? With your trashy script...... Weren¡¯t you nning on investing sixty million? If you want to rely on celebrities to get you sixty million in ticket sales, you aren¡¯t even paying enough to hire them. Don¡¯t show off your naivety to me anymore. Wait for me to get back, then we¡¯ll discuss, honey.¡±


    Yuan Ye flung his phone off to the side after saying this. He shook his head and added, ¡°Guan Zhou always says that Ning Lu is getting dumber as he ages. In the past, I didn¡¯t find it a big deal. But now, I¡¯m a bit concerned too.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi blinked, then made eye contact and told him, ¡°Let¡¯s chat.¡±


    Yuan Ye noticed something in his gaze. He paused for a moment before smiling and saying, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s chat.¡±


    But what was there to chat about? It could be said that the two of them had intensely deep understandings of the other. They already knew what the other was thinking without them even needing to open their mouth. There had never been great differences between their moral values: the two of them were quite simr in certain regards. In general, they shared a tacit understanding. However, there were also slight deviances in this understanding. These deviances were decided by their environments growing up, their personalities, and how they handled different situations.


    They hadn¡¯t appeared out of the blue, but also wouldn¡¯t eventually disappear.


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t directly told Yuan Ye that the director had other ns. One reason was because he was worried that Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t be able to ept the n. Now, Yuan Ye was the only one who had been left in the dark. He felt astounded and in disbelief. Though he could understand why the director had done this, deep down, he still felt that doing things this way wasn¡¯t open enough. However, he wouldn¡¯t me himself anymore. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t been part of the ¡°small group¡± who had been in power. Thus, he hadn¡¯t needed to force himself topromise and find a bnce. The other reason was that Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know how to tell him; it was very difficult to simply tell Yuan Ye. He also wasn¡¯t willing to talk about all the hidden ploys and maneuvers taking ce in this industry. He himself was part of this environment. In Yuan Ye¡¯s heart, when he felt resistant and suspicious of these things, Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t be separated out.


    Yuan Ye understood all these things. Consequently, he very sincerely stated, ¡°I know. I can understand. I also don¡¯t feel any negative emotions, ge. I know that everyone has their own difficulties. You don¡¯t need to tell me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was holding a cup in his hands. Using one hand, he gently twisted the cup against the palm of his other hand. Yuan Ye¡¯s gaze was clear. It was very rare for such a clear and pure gaze to be seen in the eyes of a thirty-something adult. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I¡¯ll do my best to not make you feel conflicted.¡±


    He hadn¡¯t recovered from the time difference yet. Right now, his face was still pale. Fang Shaoyi was saying such things in such a state. Yuan Ye felt like his heart was beating irregrly. He hurriedly shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no need. There¡¯s really no need. Ge, this isn¡¯t my first day being together with you. I can deal with my emotions by myself.¡±


    This was originally a normal conversation. They chatted about those unspeakable external factors that had caused their estrangement, then discussed their individual thoughts. Everything was sincere and honest. This was the process of two hearts moving closer to one another.


    Later on, Fang Shaoyi took a sip of his tea and slowly said, ¡°I¡¯ve been considering this sincest year. In the future, I might act less and start living more......I¡¯m not young anymore. It¡¯s time I take a break.¡±


    However, this caused a very big reaction from Yuan Ye. He had been sitting on the edge of the bed, cross-legged, but had actually stood up after hearing this. He red at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°......Quit joking, ge.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not joking,¡± Fang Shaoyi smiled. ¡°I¡¯ve been acting for twenty years. A long time. I can¡¯t spend my entire life doing the same thing, right?¡±


    Yuan Ye deeply furrowed his brows. He only shook his head. ¡°No. Stop talking about this.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi ced his cup off to the side and held a hand out to Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth twitched. He walked over and touched the other¡¯s hand before saying, ¡°I want a cigarette.¡±


    Yuan Ye knew Fang Shaoyi too well. He didn¡¯t say things without meaning them.


    Because of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s words, the atmosphere between the two of them suddenly became slightly different. Ji Xiaotao very perceptively sensed that something had happened between them ,but he assumed that it wasn¡¯t a big deal. Either way, the two of them were often like this. It was almost a way of spicing up their romantic life.


    After Director Xin and them arrived in Paris, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s group travelled with the rest of the team to Cannes. Things would be different after reaching Cannes. The environment wouldn¡¯t be so rxed. They would be pulled taut from dawn till dusk. Right now, this ce was basically a city just for socializing. All the moviemakers in the world were gathered here. Why else did so many celebrities try to find a way in even without an invite? This was an extravaganza, but it didn¡¯t only contain a famed and glorious red carpet. The value of this gathering was probably difficult to assess for many people.


    Though Yuan Ye hade all this way with them, he didn¡¯t go to the actual event. Such asions made him feel like he was suffocating. There were also a few writers that Yuan Ye knew from his writing circle here. Some hade of their own ord while others had been brought along by directors to up the numbers. While multitudes of celebrities convened to dazzle, Yuan Ye and them found a ce to eat and drink. Among them, one person was watching the livestream online. He kept refreshing the pictures. Yuan Ye pointed at him and said, ¡°You¡¯ve got nothing better to do? Why not go watch in person?¡±


    ¡°How could watching in person be as festive as now?¡± That person scoffed. ¡°Who¡¯s looking at the images? I¡¯m reading the rainbow farts thatizens are leaving.¡±


    ¡°Why do you care what they¡¯re farting.¡± Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t understand his actions. ¡°Let them say what they want to.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t want to get involved in these festivities. He also wasn¡¯t interested. A whileter, that person pushed his phone over and gave Yuan Ye a meaningful look. ¡°Here, your Yi ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled, but didn¡¯t push the phone away. He tugged it closer to himself and used his finger to swipe at the screen. Fang Shaoyi was wearing a tuxedo and had one hand in his pocket. He was in the middle of talking to Director Wei off to the side. His head was lowered and he was smiling softly. The pictures hadn¡¯t been taken from close up; they were just a few shots from far away. There was nothing negative to be said about Fang Shaoyi¡¯s aura. Regardless of physique or face, he was very attractive. Netizens said that this was a textbook male god smile. They praised him to the heavens.


    But after all, he had gotten divorced from Yuan Ye, then hidden this fact from the audience and filmed a variety show. These actions affected the audience¡¯s opinions of him greatly. Though it couldn¡¯t be said that Fang Shaoyi had never received criticisms before ¨C nobody could receive zero criticisms in this world ¨C he had relied solely on his prowess these past couple of years. He was also lowkey and didn¡¯t cause trouble. He had been quite popr with the general public previously. The huge mess fromst year caused many people to mock him for being a fake gentleman in thements. They said that he was of poor moral character and disgusting.


    This was unavoidable. He truly had done those things. He really had gotten divorced and really had filmed the variety show after his divorce. There was nothing to be said. If this were in the past, Yuan Ye probably would¡¯ve found thesements annoying. He couldn¡¯t handle seeing anyone saying bad things about Fang Shaoyi. But now, he had learned to let a lot more go. Thus, he didn¡¯t care too much.


    He pushed the phone back and smiled while saying, ¡°Netizens aren¡¯t only leaving rainbow farts. I think their praises are excellent.¡±


    As soon as he said this, everyone elseughed. They said that he was shameless. Yuan Ye shrugged and drank his alcohol.


    Fang Shaoyi had been born like this. He had always been extremely dazzling. Even in such an environment, he could still socialize with ease. Director Wei was among the best directors in China, almost godly. Fang Shaoyi had coborated with him many times before. Some people said that Fang Shaoyi was Director Wei¡¯s go-to male actor. This wasn¡¯tpletely false. It was true that he often saved a spot for Fang Shaoyi in his movies.


    The moon hung high in the sky, nice and stable.


    Such a Fang Shaoyi said that he wanted to take a break, that he had been acting for twenty years and that this was long enough.


    Upon thinking of this, Yuan Ye¡¯s fingers subconsciously twitched. He picked up his ss of alcohol and took a sip, then slightly furrowed his brows.


    That absolutely wasn¡¯t allowed. Impossible.


    There were always important guides in each person¡¯s life: their Boles and spiritual elders. To Fang Shaoyi, Director Wei was definitely one of these guides. The first movie that Fang Shaoyi had acted in at age sixteen had been directed by Wei Hua. That smile that had been filmed over two hundred times had directly raised Fang Shaoyi¡¯s starting point in performance a whole tier. It allowed him to start in a much better ce than everyone else. He had obvious talent and was also a versatile actor. Back then, Director Wei¡¯s polishing and guidance had definitely been important too. In hister movies, the director had also helped Fang Shaoyi out a lot. From his adolescence until now, the first person Director Wei thought of when he wanted to film a movie and had a suitable character was Fang Shaoyi.


    The people in this industry had cold hearts. Theycked emotions, but still, there was always pure sentiment, honest respect, and guidance with no expectation for repayment. This was possibly out of their passionate love for film, their desire to keep even the slightest imperfections out from film. It was also possibly simply due to their admiration. This was favor. To be more dramatic, it was also grace.


    ¡°You¡¯re still in good health? Holding up?¡± Wei Hua asked Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi was much taller than him. Thus, he lowered his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m fine. I arrived a few days early.¡±


    ¡°You still don¡¯t look that great to me.¡± When Director Wei spoke to Fang Shaoyi, he used a tone that indicated the intimacy between a senior and junior. It had been almost a year since they hadst seen each other, but they didn¡¯t seem unfamiliar with each other at all. ¡°Come to my ce and chat after this.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement and told him, ¡°When we get back, I¡¯ll go to your house for a meal. I want to eat Teacher Shi¡¯s pancakes again. I¡¯m craving them.¡±


    Director Weiughed, ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll tell her to make some for you.¡±


    Before Fang Shaoyi had finished filming his previous movie, Director Wei had already sent him the script for his new movie. Fang Shaoyi had looked over it. It was a melodrama. The script hadn¡¯t been finished yet; Fang Shaoyi had read a draft. It very much exuded Director Wei¡¯s style and was, once again, an emotionally potent movie.


    Director Wei said, ¡°Your character is too important. You must live up to it for me. I haven¡¯t found an actress yet. It¡¯s very likely she¡¯ll be a rookie. You¡¯ll need to help her for me.¡±


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t respond. He gazed at Director Wei, then sighed heavily and asked, ¡°Leader, do you have a second choice?¡±


    Director Wei nced at him. Without even thinking, he said, ¡°No. The script was written with you in mind.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. Director Wei asked him, ¡°What? Scheduling issues? When do you have time? Let me know.¡±


    It was impossible for Fang Shaoyi to lie. He only responded with, ¡°No, it has nothing to do with my schedule. I just want to figure myself out first. Take a break and bring myself down to earth.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need toe down to earth.¡± Wei Hua waved his hands and said, ¡°I¡¯ve been keeping an eye on you. You haven¡¯t floated off. I watched¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·. Not bad.¡±


    At this point, they couldn¡¯t keep conversing. The setting wasn¡¯t right, so it wasn¡¯t suitable. Fang Shaoyi stopped talking. He lowered his head and softlyughed, then said, ¡°You¡¯ve been keeping an eye on me. The pressure is too great.¡±


    Wei Hua looked up at him from under his eyelids. His deep set eyes had always been able to see through everything. At the time, Director Wei scolded him, ¡°Movies are an art. That¡¯s what you¡¯re doing. After entering this industry, you must ready yourself to die in this industry. Moviemaking isn¡¯t a career path. If you say it has a physical embodiment, then it does. If you say it doesn¡¯t, then it doesn¡¯t. Not only is it something that actually and physically exists, it¡¯s also something that can be described as a fabricated concept. Humanity was birthed from thought. Thought creates movies. As long as you still think, you cannot retreat.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t interrupt. Thus, Director Wei continued, ¡°Cinephiles have no path of retreat. Look at me: I¡¯m sixty-something, but have I taken a break?¡±


    This wasn¡¯t a ce where they could hold a long conversation. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t continue the discussion. He nodded and said, ¡°Okay, Leader.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao ran around in a big circle before scurrying up to Fang Shaoyi. He first nodded towards Director Wei in greeting. ¡°Hello, Director!¡±


    They were all familiar with each other. Director Wei smiled at him in a friendly manner too. Ji Xiaotao quietly told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Big Boss, you can¡¯t keep staying here to chat with Director Wei! Director Xin is losing face! Director Xin told me to capture you and bring you back. Which film crew are you part of?!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. ¡°Got it.¡±


    After saying this, Ji Xiaotao nced at Director Wei again. He whispered, ¡°Director, the actors from your film crew are unhappy too. They can¡¯t find you. What are you two doing chatting over here?!¡±


    Wei Hua waved his hands before smiling and saying, ¡°Okay, got it, got it.¡±

 Chapter 46

    <h4>Chapter 46</h4>


    Director Wei called Fang Shaoyi a ¡°cinephile¡± and not a ¡°celebrity.¡± Fang Shaoyi had been practicing the art of acting for twenty years. The air of cinema surrounded him. He had a film spirit: he belonged to film.


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. He could only briefly bring up the topic. They would hold a longer conversation given the opportunityter.


    Many people left after attending the opening ceremony, then returned for the closing ceremony. But Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t handle so much travel. Thus, they all stayed in Cannes until the end of the film festival.


    Going forwards in time was more painful than going backwards. The days after returning were once again painful. This time, Yuan Ye headed straight back to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ce with them. The little house waspletely different from when Yuan Ye had returned to pick up stuffst time. That deste and deserted feeling had disappeared. Instead, it felt more like it had before he had moved out. Vitality filled the ce.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Thest time I came here, it was like a haunted house.¡±


    With closed eyes, Fang Shaoyi softly hummed. It was a bit tiring for him to speak. His breathing was slightly heavy. ¡°I didn¡¯t let anyonee clean.¡±


    Yuan Ye had lived here for a decade. This was his home. He was more familiar andfortable with this ce than anywhere else.


    Ning Lu waited day and night, finally surviving until Yuan Ye¡¯s return. He couldn¡¯t even wait an extra minute. Consequently, Yuan Ye told him toe over. Ning Lu had visited several times in the past, so was familiar with this house. Yuan Ye chatted with Ning Lu all afternoon on the little patch of grass in the backyard. They drank two entire pots of tea.


    Ning Lu really liked the story he had purchased. He was still adamant about filming it. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t understand him, but didn¡¯t try to coax him out of it again. After all, there was no need to absolutely deprive someone of their enjoyment regarding a topic, even though sometimes, this enjoyment was inexplicable to everyone else. However, life asionally needed these impulses for enjoyment. There was no need to ask about their origins.


    He liked it, so Yuan Ye needed to help him. They had grown up together. No matter how unwilling he said he was, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t really leave Ning Lu to waste money of his own ord.


    In Ning Lu¡¯s stead, Yuan Ye contacted a few screenwriter friends he was familiar with and asked if they were free. In actuality, he was just trying his luck. But unexpectedly, there really was one who was free right now, which was rare. It was Ning Lu¡¯s extremely good fortune that allowed him to find a good screenwriter who wasn¡¯t busy. The other was originally supposed to be working on a film at this time, but something unexpected had happened, so that film had been dyed. Yuan Ye told him, ¡°Do me a favor, Jian ge. My bro wants to do something. He wants to film this movie. There¡¯s nothing to be said about his personality; he¡¯s definitely righteous. However, he doesn¡¯t understand these things. Take care of him.¡±


    They had basically reached an agreement after this phone call. Yuan Ye told Ning Lu, ¡°Don¡¯t be stingy with your money. Pay for the work after each step of the process. Don¡¯t pay all at once, but don¡¯t dy payment either.¡±


    Ning Lu nodded. Yuan Ye added, ¡°If you really want to join the filmmaking industry, you need to find a reliable screeny coordinator. Spend some money and hire an experienced one with keen eyes. Don¡¯t buy scripts by yourself anymore. You don¡¯t know how to choose them.¡±


    Ning Lu looked at him, not bothering with pretending to be polite at all. He said, ¡°I¡¯m not hiring anyone. You¡¯re my coordinator. Name your price, bro.¡±


    A cigarette dangled from Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth as he furrowed his brows and kicked Ning Lu¡¯s chair. He side-eyed the other. ¡°Bullshit.¡±


    Ning Lu shook his head. ¡°I¡¯ll think about itter. Don¡¯t you know me? I only do things for novelty. Who knows how long I¡¯ll be making films.¡±


    That day, Ning Lu had dinner at Yuan Ye¡¯s ce. There was an older woman in charge of cooking. She made beef baozis and soup in addition to a few other dishes. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t have an appetite, but still came downstairs to eat with the two of them. He ate a baozi and drank a bowl of soup. It had been a long time since Ning Lu and Fang Shaoyi had seen each other, but not so long that they acted unfamiliar with one another. They had already be good friends during all these years. While eating, they chatted. Ning Lu asked a lot of questions about the movie industry. Fang Shaoyi exined some things to him.


    In the past two years, Ning Lu had invested in two movies. He had profited from both. In the beginning, movie making was basically the equivalent of ying the stock market. But this person truly had good luck when it came to money. He earned money no matter what he did.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Do your best to not fund the entire project. It¡¯s enough to just invest a small portion like you did in the past. Whether a movie will earn money at all, how much money it earns ¨C these are all uncertain. You don¡¯t understand the concepts behind them, so funding an entire project is too risky.¡±


    ¡°I wasn¡¯t nning on investing too much,¡± Ning Lu said. ¡°I won¡¯t pay if they ask for too much.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled and shook his head. ¡°If the projected amount is fifty million, you¡¯ll need to spend about a hundred million. If you really start filming, the project will be like a ck hole. In the end, you might not even earn back what you spent. There¡¯s no need to take this risk.¡±


    ¡°You need to listen to what my Yi ge says,¡± Yuan Ye added from off to the side. ¡°We¡¯re trying to change your mind for your own good. Don¡¯t go charging at the south wall.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Ning Lu slurped at his soup and smiled while saying, ¡°Thank you, Masters.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had previously been rushing to film. His schedule had been packed very tight. Right now, he had finished the movies he was scheduled to do and also didn¡¯t have to promote anything. It suddenly felt like he was on vacation. He instantly slowed down his pace of life. Aside from heading to his fitness instructor¡¯s gym every other day and asionally making a trip to thepany, he really had nothing else to do. He watched ys, read books, and woke up early every morning to work out. He spent the majority of his remaining time apanying Yuan Ye.


    Yuan Ye lived in two locations. Sometimes, he stayed at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ce. Others, he went back to his own ce. Fang Shaoyi had a lot of free time, but Yuan Ye was starting to get busy. He had a lot of his own work to do too. Previously, he had freed up his schedule to travel with the film crew. Now that he was back, he needed to finish up his required tasks.


    Every once in a while, Fang Shaoyi would act as his chauffeur, sending him to and from his destination. He was very professional. When Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t working, he spent the majority of his time with Fang Shaoyi. Even if they didn¡¯t do anything, it felt really nice to simply spend time with each other.


    The rtionship of an old couple: a passionate love was great, but a calm and peaceful romance wasn¡¯t bad either.


    This day, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have much to do. Fang Shaoyi needed to attend a meeting at thepany. Yuan Ye tagged along. It was a normal beginning-of-the-month meeting. It had been too long since Fang Shaoyi had attended one, so Geng Jinwei told him to make an appearance. Yuan Ye sat off to the side, listening. He also looked over the newbies at thepany. They truly were quite promising.


    Among them, he had only seen Yang Siran before. However, this little brother didn¡¯t seem to be in too good of a mood today. Yang Siran¡¯s manager was an old member of thepany. His surname was Qi and he was almost forty. He was a pretty decent person. After the meeting, Yang Siran greeted Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°Take it slow.¡±


    Yang Siran¡¯s expression seemed a bit put out. He nodded and pressed his lips together. ¡°Thank you, Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and asked him, ¡°Something up? You don¡¯t look too happy.¡±


    Yang Siran shook his head. He chuckled and lowly said, ¡°No. I¡¯m probably just a little tired from all the practice I¡¯ve been doing these past couple of days. I¡¯m a bit ufortable.¡±


    ¡°What practice?¡± Yuan Ye asked.


    Yang Siran answered, ¡°Physique, vocal, performance.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± He didn¡¯t want to say too much, so Yuan Ye didn¡¯t continue asking. He only told the other, ¡°Then practice well.¡±


    ¡°Un I will. Thank you, Yuan Ye ge.¡± Yang Siran nodded at him, polite as always.


    Ji Xiaotao naturally got confined to the office by Geng Jinwei after returning. It was impossible for him to go on vacation like Fang Shaoyi had. Prior to walking down the stairs, Yang Siran nodded at Ji Xiaotao and greeted, ¡°Xiaotao ge.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao smiled at him. After Yang Siran had already left, Ji Xiaotao told Yuan Ye, ¡°He looks soft, but is actually hard to deal with.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Why?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°He¡¯s already gone through three managers. None of them worked out.¡±


    This was quite surprising. Yuan Ye asked, ¡°The reason?¡±


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t listen,¡± Ji Xiaotao told Yuan Ye as they walked down the stairs. ¡°Apparently, he couldn¡¯t get along with his managers and refused to listen to anything they said.¡±


    Yang Siran had always seemed like a pitiful person who was easy to order around. It was hard to imagine that he could refuse to listen to his managers. Yuan Ye said, ¡°What about Boss Geng? He¡¯s such a nice person now? The rookie¡¯s wreaking havoc yet he isn¡¯t teaching him a lesson?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know. Can¡¯t tell what he¡¯s thinking,¡± Ji Xiaotao responded. ¡°But this time, Geng ge said too that Qi ge is going to be hisst manager.¡±


    Yuan Ye was only casually listening to this information. He didn¡¯t take it too much to heart. After, he nodded and said, ¡°It¡¯s hard to tell what young people are thinking these days. Got no clue. There¡¯s a generational gap.¡±


    ¡°Quit it,¡± Ji Xiaotao said whileughing. ¡°You weren¡¯t even on the same wavelength as your peers when you were young. They had a generational gap with you too.¡±


    Yuan Ye started chuckling because of his response. He shrugged in innocence.


    After reaching the lower floor, Yang Siran headed to his manager¡¯s office. He called out, ¡°Qi ge.¡±


    His manager told him, ¡°Sit.¡±


    Yang Siran said, ¡°I¡¯ll stand for a bit. No sitting.¡±


    The manager didn¡¯t care about this. He told Yang Siran about his following work schedule and said, ¡°One of ourpany¡¯s movies is about to start filming. When it does, I¡¯ll give you a role in it. There are going to be some people from ourpany there. Make sure to maintain a good rtionship with them. Don¡¯t hold grudges against people in yourpany.¡±


    Yang Siran didn¡¯t answer. He furrowed his brows in slight hesitation, not agreeing, but not disagreeing either.


    His manager looked up at him. He called out Yang Siran¡¯s name before asking, ¡°Did you not hear what I just said?¡±


    A whileter, Yang Siran said, ¡°I don¡¯t want to film movies.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you want to do?¡± His manager¡¯s smile was cold. ¡°Quit testing me. You need to do what I tell you to do. I¡¯m not asking for your opinion. You can only obey; you can¡¯t refuse. We¡¯re not that much of a democracy here.¡±


    He was actually being quite polite in his speech. The rtionship between managers and these newly signed artists with little to no background was one of absolutemand and execution. Rookies didn¡¯t have the right to say no. Forget normal work schedules ¨C even if they told you to participate in prostitution, your only option was to go. Your manager was your guide in this industry. If you insulted them, how could you survive? They could lead you anywhere.


    However, there weren¡¯t any particrly dirty managers in theirpany. They each had their own ways of dealing with things. Some were dirty, but not extremely so. The manager told Yang Siran, ¡°You got lucky to be signed to ourpany, but you can¡¯t keep being so naive just because you¡¯ve never encountered a bad person. You can only do what I tell you to do. From now on, every time you say ¡®no,¡¯ you¡¯re going to take a break for a month. You can infinitely rest, I don¡¯t care. You¡¯re not irreceable.¡±


    These words caused Yang Siran¡¯s face to pale considerably. He kept his lips shut the entire time. Even at the end, he didn¡¯t manage to say a single thing.

 Chapter 47

    <h4>Chapter 47</h4>


    During the summer, Yuan Ye headed back with Fang Shaoyi to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s parents¡¯ house. They stayed there for ten days. The old man had rested for two months after wrapping up hisst movie and was now preparing for his next one. As soon as they arrived, the old man kidnapped Yuan Ye to discuss the script with him for several days. Each day, Yuan Ye needed to use all of his brain power to ponder over certain details. After all, this leader was in his family. There was a difference between him and the outside leaders.


    Outside, when Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t reach an agreement with the other party, he said whatever he wanted. Sometimes, his words were straightforward and sharp. However, when faced with Fang Han, Yuan Ye spoke very politely and carefully. He didn¡¯t dare to be too bold either. This was his fucking father-inw, for goodness¡¯ sake.


    ¡°Enough. We¡¯re here for vacation.¡± Fang Shaoyi stood outside the door of the study and crooked a finger to knock on the door. With faint amusement, he said, ¡°Yuan Ye,e out for a walk.¡±


    ¡°We¡¯re not done talking yet. What walk?¡± Fang Han red at Fang Shaoyi, then ignored him. ¡°Go out on a walk with your mom.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi walked in and sat on the arm of Yuan Ye¡¯s armchair. He loosely wrapped his arm around the other¡¯s shoulder and said, ¡°You keep Yuan Ye in here all day and make him work for you. Have you paid him screenwriter fees? Either you pay him right now, or we¡¯re going to go on a walk.¡±


    ¡°Quit ying.¡± Yuan Yeughed while elbowing him. ¡°Don¡¯t ask for money using my name. Don¡¯t cause trouble.¡±


    ¡°Are you paying or not?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked while staring at his dad.


    Fang Han nodded very straightforwardly. With a smile, he said, ¡°I¡¯ll pay.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not asking for too much. Just a hundred thousand is enough.¡± Fang Shaoyi gently tapped his fingers against Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulder rhythmically. He was very rxed.


    Fang Han snorted. He stood up and made to take out his checkbook from the desk drawer. Yuan Ye hurriedly stopped him; he grabbed onto the other¡¯s arm and said, ¡°Ey, ey, Dad.¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Fang Han nced at him, eyebrow cocked.


    Yuan Ye smiled and said, ¡°I¡¯d have to dare to ept your money. Stop joking around with me.¡±


    ¡°I dare to.¡± Fang Shaoyi tugged him back a bit and stated, ¡°I asked for the money. It¡¯s technically not yours.¡±


    In the end, Fang Shaoyi really did ask for money; he truly got a hundred thousand from his dad. Yuan Ye was extremely speechless. At night, he told the other in private, ¡°Am I crazy? Asking my father-inw for money.¡±


    ¡°What are you scared of?¡± Fang Shaoyi leaned against the headboard of the bed and read his book. He didn¡¯t look up. He only chuckled. ¡°He¡¯s keeping my man in custody to work for him. Can¡¯t I ask him for some money?¡±


    ¡°Dishonest merchant,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    Fang Shaoyi nodded very openly. ¡°Exactly right.¡±


    Previously, they had decided to go on vacation. In the end, though, Fang Shaoyi was on vacation ¨C the weather wasfortable at the little beach town, he could observe the flowers and birds, and he had even gone out to sea a few times with the fishing boats ¨C but Yuan Ye really and truly spent several days working overtime.


    When they got back, Fang Shaoyi used this hundred thousand to buy a watch for Yuan Ye.


    ¡°Right.¡± Yuan Yeughed while shaking his head. ¡°Right.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s birthday was at the end of August. Originally, they had nned to spend a few days on a little ind, but this time coincided with when Yuan Ye had a lot of business on hand to take care of. He honestly couldn¡¯t catch a break. Besides, older people didn¡¯t ce much of an emphasis at all on birthdays. Thus, they didn¡¯t end up going.


    But just because he didn¡¯t find it important didn¡¯t mean Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t. Even though all of their ns had been cancelled, Fang Shaoyi still celebrated Yuan Ye¡¯s birthday very attentively. He prepared a gift ¨C a car, made a cake, and even updated his status on Weibo. He tagged Yuan Ye and said happy birthday.


    That day, the two of them stayed at a mountain retreat newly opened by their friend. They both had some alcohol.


    Yuan Ye found Fang Shaoyi¡¯s actions too extravagant. He was already so old, but still getting such treatment. After dinner, they stepped out to take a walk. Yuan Ye sat in a tree while Fang Shaoyi sat in the chair under the tree. Yuan Ye said, ¡°So embarrassing.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Fang Shaoyi was still holding a rose in his hand. He had left the other roses in their room. Yuan Ye only pulled one out to hold; after a while, it became Fang Shaoyi who was holding the rose.


    ¡°Thin skin,¡± Yuan Ye said after a chuckle. ¡°I have thin skin.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled, but didn¡¯t say anything. The two of them stared at the water¡¯s surface. One stared from below and the other stared from in a tree. A whileter, Fang Shaoyi suddenly asked, ¡°How old are you?¡±


    Though Yuan Ye didn¡¯t know what the other intended to say, he still answered, ¡°Thirty four.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and drawled out, ¡°Back then, you were seventeen.¡±


    He had already doubled in age. Thinking back, it seemed like things had passed in a bit of a blur. This was quite frightening.


    Fang Shaoyi stood up and took a few steps in Yuan Ye¡¯s direction. He looked up at him and said, ¡°Come down.¡±


    Yuan Ye gazed at him. With a chuckle, he asked, ¡°Can you catch me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said he could.


    Fang Shaoyi turned around. Yuan Ye jumped. His legs wrapped around Fang Shaoyi¡¯s waist and his arms circled the other¡¯s neck. Like a monkey, he hung from Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back. The Fang Shaoyi of now was much better built than he had been back in the day. He wasn¡¯t as thin as before. After getting pounced on by Yuan Ye, Fang Shaoyi stumbled, but still managed to stay standing. He wouldn¡¯t let Yuan Ye fall on the ground again.


    His back was half bent over. Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Am I heavy?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Fang Shaoyi slowly walked forward while piggybacking him. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°It¡¯s been so long since I¡¯ve carried you.¡±


    They calmly experienced their rtionship. Things were just like before, but also slightly different. It was rare in the past for them to have leisurely time like they did now. They often needed to fly between different film sets; even the times when Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t filming were filled with work. He needed to prepare for his next movie and travel for promotions. Their vacation days, too, needed to be strictly scheduled. Like this, vacation also seemed like work.


    Right now, Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t scheduled for anything that was going to take up copious amounts of time. Aside from¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·, which was about to start promotions, he basically had nothing else to do. His previously rapid-paced life came to an abrupt halt. Instead, Yuan Ye became the busier one.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t ept the invitation for Director Wei¡¯s film. Regarding this, Yuan Ye and him shared contrasting opinions.


    Yuan Ye told him, ¡°It was written with you in mind. Anyone can tell from reading the script. This is a good movie. From a film perspective and from a rtionship perspective, you should ept the invitation.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was shaving his beard while looking in the mirror. He rubbed his stubble and continued. ¡°So many passionate scenes. There are kiss scenes and bed scenes.¡±


    ¡°Sacrificing your body for art,¡± Yuan Ye joked.


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow before turning around to look at him. ¡°You said that. You¡¯ll let me sacrifice my body?¡±


    Yuan Ye hurriedly smiled and shook his head. ¡°Impossible. I was joking. Act in the same way you did in the past. Don¡¯t even think any crooked thoughts.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi flicked Yuan Ye¡¯s head while passing by. After, he said, ¡°I won¡¯t take the role. I¡¯d need a body double for all the passionate scenes. That¡¯d just make things more difficult for the director.¡±


    In actuality, this was just a random excuse. Using a body double wasn¡¯t even a big deal at all. Fang Shaoyi simply didn¡¯t want to act in this movie.


    Yuan Ye wiped the smile off his face. He very seriously asked the other, ¡°Yi ge, you¡¯ve already been resting for four months. How long do you want to rest?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t made up my mind yet.¡± Fang Shaoyi changed into a different set of clothes. His shoulders gently quivered as he tugged the pajama top off. ¡°Aren¡¯t things fine right now?¡±


    ¡°Fine how?¡± Yuan Ye furrowed his brows. ¡°It¡¯s a script you like. Also, this is a favor you can¡¯t reject. Why aren¡¯t you taking the role? What are you thinking?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi finished changing. He walked over and pulled the other downstairs. As they walked, he said, ¡°I¡¯m tired. You need to let me take a break from time to time.¡±


    ¡°Tired my ass.¡± Yuan Ye was a bit agitated. ¡°This movie doesn¡¯t start filming until January. You¡¯ll still be tired at that time?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand pressed against the top of Yuan Ye¡¯s head and he wobbled it around a few times. Then, he answered, ¡°I¡¯ll take other roles when I¡¯m not tired anymore.¡±


    Yuan Ye shifted his head a bit to the side. The two of them got off the stairs. Fang Shaoyi headed into the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Yuan Ye followed behind him. Last night, they had already scheduled the cooker to make porridge. While scooping the porridge out, Yuan Ye spilled a drop onto his hand. It was pretty hot. He put his finger in his mouth and sucked on it before suddenly telling Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Yi ge, don¡¯t tell me you¡¯re doing this for me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even pause in his movements after hearing this. He acted like it wasn¡¯t a big deal. ¡°What am I doing for you? I¡¯m not epting any movie invitations for you?¡±


    Yuan Ye only furrowed his brows and looked at him. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He scolded, ¡°Hurry and keep your thoughts in check, Consort Yu. There aren¡¯t so many secret orplicated exnations.¡±


    They knew each other too well; they knew each other¡¯s weaknesses and what hurt the other the most. They also knew what was taboo for the other. Yuan Ye said, ¡°We¡¯re already at this age. Forget adults. I think we¡¯re almost senior citizens. Be more mature. Don¡¯t be foolish.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi followed his train of thought, ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t it be nice to live like a senior citizen now?¡±


    ¡°Nice my ass.¡± This was the second time Yuan Ye was speaking like this this morning. He had been thinking about this matter for a long time. Fang Shaoyi refused to schedule work. Yuan Ye felt uneasy. Since they were already on this topic today, why not continue it? Continue until they could clear things up.


    Yuan Ye gazed at Fang Shaoyi and told him, ¡°You know what my biggest fear is. If our rtionship ultimately needs you topromise by not acting anymore, if you lose these things because of me, I¡¯d rather¡ª¡ª¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d rather what?¡± Before Yuan Ye could even finish speaking, he had already been interrupted by Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi stared straight at him. His gaze suddenly became very heavy. ¡°Say it.¡±


    Yuan Ye shut his mouth. He didn¡¯t say anything.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was very low. He repeated, ¡°You¡¯d rather what?¡±


    Yuan Ye pressed his lips together. He furrowed his brows and turned his head to the side. After, the entire atmosphere became silent. Nobody ate and nobody spoke. Yuan Ye sat on one side, face turned away andpletely quiet. Fang Shaoyi sat across from him, staring. They stayed this way for a long time.


    Eventually, Yuan Ye turned around first. He sighed and said, ¡°You¡¯re the most important thing to me.¡±


    This sentence had been very direct. It sounded like a plea to reconcile. But Yuan Ye was speaking from the bottom of his heart. He didn¡¯t need Fang Shaoyi to make sacrifices in order to maintain the peace and stability of their rtionship. He also couldn¡¯t ept the other doing so. Such a simple but straightforward solution seemed like a joke. It was impossible.


    But at this time, this sentence was actually inappropriate. It caused the opposite reaction as intended.


    Fang Shaoyi scoffed. He stared at Yuan Ye and asked him, ¡°I¡¯m the most important thing. So? What were you going to say earlier? What would you rather?¡±


    Yuan Ye rubbed his head with his hand. After, he replied, ¡°I said the wrong thing...... Sorry, ge.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d rather not have this rtionship anymore, right?¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was very cold. His expression was cold and nk as well. ¡°Rather separate from me?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were now a bit red. He reached out and squeezed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand, then gently scratched his thumb against the back of it. He lowly said, ¡°I spoke foolishly without thinking about what I was saying. Ge, don¡¯t be angry.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi pulled his hand away. He gazed at Yuan Ye, eyes red as well. Eyes locked on him, he asked, ¡°You haven¡¯t been divorced for long enough, is that it?¡±

 Chapter 48

    <h4>Chapter 48</h4>


    Yuan Ye truly had said the wrong thing. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t given him the chance to finish his sentence and had stopped him just in time. Though Fang Shaoyi had asked question after question following this, asking him what he would rather do and what the unfinished part of his sentence was supposed to do, he didn¡¯t actually want to hear him finish speaking. Each question was a reminder and a warning.


    Each time the other repeated the question, Yuan Ye would realize even more that he had made another mistake and almost said the wrong thing. The subsequent apologies, admissions of wrongdoing, and pleas for reconciliation had all been from the bottom of his heart.


    But even though Fang Shaoyi was usually easy to get along with ¨C almost as if he didn¡¯t have a temper at all ¨C when he really became angry, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t handle his anger. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face had turned ice cold because of the unfinished half of Yuan Ye¡¯s sentence. His expression was no longer gentle. He even refused to speak to Yuan Ye.


    That day, thest two things Fang Shaoyi said to Yuan Ye were: ¡°Is it always so easy for you to say these types of things? We¡¯ve been divorced for two years already, but have you still not learned how to cherish things yet?¡±


    Each word seemed like a knife puncturing Yuan Ye¡¯s heart. Each puncture resulted in a hole that wept blood.


    However, he had already said what he said. He couldn¡¯t take his words back. Yuan Ye could only repeat, voice hoarse, ¡°......I made a mistake, ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t speak to him again. He gazed deeply at Yuan Ye; that gaze was like a sword directly stabbing into Yuan Ye¡¯s soul. Fang Shaoyi left such a gaze and then left. He didn¡¯t even look back. He was truly angry.


    In all these years, Fang Shaoyi had only be truly angry a few times. He rarely got genuinely angry at Yuan Ye. That was his personality ¨C he was always forgiving towards those around him. Yuan Ye basically couldn¡¯t cross the line that would make Fang Shaoyi furious. But each time that Fang Shaoyi had actually be angry, Yuan Ye suffered greatly.


    After,¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·started promotions. Fang Shaoyi needed to coordinate with the director to visit other cities. No matter which film crew he was in, Fang Shaoyi was always very cooperative in this regard, unless he honestly couldn¡¯t free up his schedule. Besides, these details had been written into the contract at the very beginning. He would attend all the necessary promotions. Thus, Fang Shaoyi often wasn¡¯t home during the period of time after their argument. He needed to fly all over the country with the director.


    Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t physically meet up with him, but Fang Shaoyi would answer his calls. However, it was easy to tell that his tone of voice was different from before.


    Who had found Ji Xiaotao annoying back in the day? Who had oftentimes ignored him? Now, Ji Xiaotao finally had a chance to prove his worth. Yuan Ye took the initiative to send him a message: Tao ah.


    Ji Xiaotao: Huh?


    Yuan Ye asked: Where are you guys right now?


    Ji Xiaotao replied fairly quickly: In Guangzhou.


    Yuan Ye scratched his head and asked again: When are youing back?


    Ji Xiaotao said: Don¡¯t know yet. We¡¯re going to Nanjing the day after tomorrow.


    Yuan Ye also scratched his nose. He continued to ask: Then your ge......is still angry at me?


    Ji Xiaotao snuck a peek at Fang Shaoyi over his phone. They were in the car now, and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were closed. He didn¡¯t know if the other had fallen asleep yet or not. Ji Xiaotao replied to Yuan Ye: I can¡¯t tell either, Ye ge, but my ge truly has been in a pretty bad mood these past few days. How did you piss him off? Things shouldn¡¯t be that bad......


    It was inconvenient to share the reason with him. Yuan Ye squatted on his own couch and thought a bit before sending Fang Shaoyi a message: Yi ge?


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t respond. Yuan Ye asked again: Are you still angry?


    There was silence after these two messages. Nobody replied.


    Their originally fine rtionship suddenly froze over once more, and only because of half a sentence Yuan Ye had said. This seemed a bitical.


    But was there anything that could be absolutely coincidental? In actuality, they were going to have this argument sooner orter. The true state of their rtionship, under this half a year of peace and calm, wasn¡¯t so peaceful and calm at all. The two of them knew this in their hearts.


    Otherwise, howe nobody had mentioned remarriage yet?


    Fang Shaoyi was flying all over the country, so Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t see him. He had a lot of personal business to attend to as well. He sent in a draft for Feng Leizi¡¯s script about the mute character. Later on, he would possibly have to edit this draft at least four or five times more. Or, this draft would bepletely eliminated after the second edit and they wouldn¡¯t be able to keep working together. Yuan Ye¡¯s teacher also kept urging him to hold a guest lecture at his alma mater. He had also invited several other mildly sessful authors. Yuan Ye definitely needed to attend.


    The two of them were both busy with their own matters. Their previous argument also hadn¡¯t beenpletely cleared up. Thus, right now, their rtionship was somewhat awkward, almost as if they had suddenly be extremely distanced again. It was as if they had returned to a few months ago.


    As such, their rtionship for this past half a year seemed like ayer of foam: fragile and illusory. If even only one side loosened the string pulled taut between the two of them, the fake peace between them would be a broken illusion.


    But there were still some things different from before.


    Though Yuan Ye had said the wrong thing, he didn¡¯t actually want to break up. The emphasis of that sentence had been in the first half. The second half had only been a way of stressing the gravity of the situation. Fang Shaoyi really cared about that sentence. After it, his expression had be chilly. Yuan Ye deserved all this ¨C he knew that he had made a mistake. It was his own fault for making Fang Shaoyi so angry.


    Last year, when their rtionship had been the most awkward and Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t taken that step forward yet, they had both been testing each other. But ever since Yuan Ye had decided to restart this rtionship, he hadn¡¯t ever considered giving up. It was enough to lose certain things and certain people once. He had also told Fang Shaoyi this before.


    Thus, this time, Yuan Ye maintained a good mentality. If you¡¯re angry, I¡¯ll cate you. If there¡¯s a conflict, we¡¯ll resolve it. If we can¡¯t clear things up, then let¡¯s try again slowly. However, he wouldn¡¯t think about separating again. He also wouldn¡¯t give up.


    In private, Fang Shaoyi needed to call Director Xin ¡°Uncle.¡± When there weren¡¯t outsiders around, they spoke about private matters.


    Director Xin asked him, ¡°What¡¯s up? I heard that you¡¯ve been keeping your schedule free this entire time. Haven¡¯t epted any new film offers?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say no. He nodded and said, ¡°Un, I want to sort myself out a bit.¡±


    Director Xin nced at him. ¡°I heard from Wei Hua that you didn¡¯t even ept the invitation to act in his movie. What do you mean by that? You want to change career paths? Be a behind-the-scenes worker?¡±


    ¡°I haven¡¯t put too much thought into it yet,¡± Fang Shaoyi said. ¡°I¡¯ll think about itter.¡±


    Actually, Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t nning on bing a behind-the-scenes worker prior to reaching forty. He had different ns for his different stages of life. His passion for movies needed to be expressed through performance first and foremost. After bing a behind-the-scenes worker, this method of expression would bepletely different from now. Though there actually wasn¡¯t any conflict with being both an actor and behind-the-scenes worker, there would be more responsibilities in a single period of time. For Fang Shaoyi, though, he still wanted his performance to be more pure in his youth. If he had to shoulder other pressures, he wouldn¡¯t be able to entirely submerge himself in his character.


    Also, at the end of the day, was there really so much of a difference between working behind-the-scenes and in front of the camera?


    ¡°There¡¯s no rush......¡± Director Xin nodded. He lowly said, ¡°There¡¯s a disaster film I want to make next year. Are youing?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. He shook his head and said, ¡°Uncle, I haven¡¯t thought so far into the future yet. You don¡¯t need to specially create a character for me or something. I¡¯m not even sure what condition I¡¯ll be in next year.¡±


    Director Xin waved his hand andughed too. ¡°Nevermind. I was just asking. Actually, I want your dad toe act in it.¡±


    ¡°Then you¡¯ll have to ask himter. It might be a bit difficult,¡± Fang Shaoyi said while smiling. ¡°He¡¯s working on his own movie now, so might not have time next year.¡±


    Director Xin exhaled loudly and replied, ¡°The friendship saved up from our youth haspletely disappeared. The old thing doesn¡¯t feel a sense of brotherly duty at all!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t criticize his dad with the other. He didn¡¯t respond. A few momentster, he mentioned, ¡°Uncle, if you have a suitable character, can you consider Jian Xu?¡±


    Director Xin cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Your friend? I¡¯ve watched him act before. He debuted through TV dramas, so his acting is more or less a bit impetuous. His emotions aren¡¯t internalized.¡±


    ¡°Un, he¡¯s been filming dramas for a long time,¡± Fang Shaoyi admitted. ¡°But he has good acting skills. After some adjustment, he¡¯ll be able to find the correct rhythm.¡±


    ¡°Okay, I¡¯ll think about itter,¡± Director Xin responded.


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. He didn¡¯t say anything else on the topic. The two of them started chatting about something else.


    ¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·was released on National Day. There wasn¡¯t too muchpetition during this year¡¯s National Day break, only an American sci-fi blockbuster and a few other Chinese films. Their movie originally hadn¡¯t been expecting any record-breaking ticket sales anyways. The film¡¯s subject matter and its ending meant that it was destined to not have high ticket sales. But this was Director Xin and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s movie after all. In addition to the fact that they had promoted it as a sentimental wuxia film, the audience¡¯s expectations were pretty high. On the premier day, the movie reached approximately sixty million in ticket sales. Not bad.


    Yuan Ye went to watch it on the release date. At midnight, he headed to watch the premier alone. The movie was two hours long. Yuan Ye watched every scene.


    This was the first time Director Xin was trying this theme. The plot wasn¡¯t particrly good or bad, but the cinematography and use of colors were truly beautiful. The fight scenes were also very praise-worthy: the moves were designed to be smooth and beautiful. The effects of several scenes caused the audience to feel both stunned and astounded. There was nothing negative to be said about Fang Shaoyi¡¯s acting. In the second half of the movie, one of his eyes was blind. He could only rely on one eye to express his emotions, but this didn¡¯t impact his performance at all. The young swordsman was noble and free. The middle-aged swordsman was broken and scarred. In thest scene, the tip of a sword rested against his throat as he stated, both sadly and whileughing, ¡°I¡¯m guarding that which I have relied on for half my life.¡±


    After watching the entire movie, one¡¯s mood became much more depressed. Perhaps because the movie ended as a tragedy.


    Even after Yuan Ye exited the movie theater and started on his way home, his heart was still trembling. From start to finish, the movie had a glum atmosphere. Nobody could maintain a rxed state after watching it, probably. But Yuan Ye¡¯s emotions weren¡¯t solely due to the film. It was likely that they were mostly due to Fang Shaoyi. In the movie, he had closely observed each gaze and action performed by Fang Shaoyi. He hadn¡¯t missed a single one.


    These past few years, it was rare for there to be a movie that Fang Shaoyi acted in but Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t participated in too. This movie was one of the few. From the script to the filming process, Yuan Ye had no clue about what had gone on. Aside from the day that Yuan Ye had arrived early on set to film for the variety show and stayed overnight, he hadn¡¯te into contact with this movie at all.


    Thinking back, there were some regrets. Thus, Yuan Ye was extra diligent while watching the movie. He wanted to see the Fang Shaoyi of that year through the one on the screen.


    Yuan Ye called Fang Shaoyi as soon as he got home. At first, no one answered. Yuan Ye called again after getting out of the shower. This time, someone answered.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice still sounded very cold through the phone. Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Yi ge, where are you?¡±


    ¡°Home.¡± Fang Shaoyi only spared him one word.


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± Yuan Ye was a bit surprised, because Ji Xiaotao had said that they wouldn¡¯t get back until two dayster.


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. After, he didn¡¯t say anything else.


    Yuan Ye told him, ¡°I just went to watch the movie. It¡¯s really good.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi still didn¡¯t say anything.


    Yuan Ye tentatively asked, ¡°Can Ie over? Can Ie find you?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Fang Shaoyi lightly said. ¡°Don¡¯t fool around.¡±


    Yuan Ye sighed. Heughed and said, ¡°What can I do for you to forgive me...... How much longer are you going to be mad?¡±


    ¡°Until you remember.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s tone remained the same: no emotional changes. However, Yuan Ye could still tell that he was actually displeased. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Each time you say it, I¡¯m going to make you feel it. I¡¯m going to make sure you learn. Can everything be spoken so carelessly?¡±


    Yuan Ye had originally thought that he was quite calm, but his heart still twinged in pain following Fang Shaoyi¡¯s sharp words. He sincerely stated, ¡°I really know I was wrong.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t speak, so Yuan Ye did all the talking. He leaned against the headboard and slowly told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Just now, I went to watch your movie. It was really good. I like all of your characters. Actually, I think I could only give the movie itself a 6 out of 10, but because you acted in it, your acting raised the score to 8 or 9 out of 10. Maybe even 10 out of 10.¡±


    ¡°Movies made you, but you can make movies too.¡± Yuan Ye smiled faintly. Even the corners of his eyes were filled with pride. ¡°You were born to make movies.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi knew what he was about to say. He quietly waited for the other to finish before asking, ¡°So?¡±


    Yuan Ye gently sighed. He lowly said, ¡°So how could I let you give up on film just for me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice had more or less softened. Even if Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t said these things, he would¡¯ve understood them too. But Yuan Ye had still said them. This definitely made him feel more forgiving. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I didn¡¯t say I was going to give up. Even if I really did give up one day, that would only be for myself.¡±


    These words sounded a bit sharp, but Yuan Ye didn¡¯t believe him at all.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s tone had already be slightly less severe. Yuan Ye obviously needed to seize this opportunity. He softened his attitude again. Everything he said was from the bottom of his heart. ¡°There truly are a few problems between us, but since we already made a mistake back then, I never nned to make that same mistake again. I only said the wrong thing. My mouth was faster than my brain. Ge, don¡¯t take it too seriously.¡±


    ¡°I already feel very lucky to be able to pursue you again and get together with you again. Last year, I didn¡¯t know if you were still willing to reconcile with me. Prior to going on the variety show, I really was only thinking about being with you again. Even if it was fake, even if it was only an act for everyone else, I could still enjoy myself once more.¡±


    Here, Yuan Ye chuckled. He continued, ¡°I¡¯m so embarrassing.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi waited for him to finish speaking. After, he fell silent for a moment.


    The atmosphere suddenly became a bit awkward. In order to ease the tension, Yuan Ye wanted to say something. Just as he was about to, Fang Shaoyi finally spoke up.


    ¡°While we were on setst year, you told me that you only learned how painful loss was after losing certain things.¡± Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Do you still remember?¡±


    ¡°Yes, of course I remember,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°You¡¯re my bones.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was low and deep. He slowly stated, ¡°You only felt the pain after losing those things, but when you said that you were ready to give up......I had already felt the pain.¡±


    Yuan Ye forcefully closed his eyes, then rested his cheek against his knees. His eyes and nose quickly soured; all his organs trembled in pain too.

 Chapter 49

    <h4>Chapter 49</h4>


    Yuan Ye had married Fang Shaoyi at twenty two. At that time, no one around him had been supportive. Everyone disagreed with the marriage, including his parents and his friends. Even Guan Zhou, who had watched their rtionship bloom, didn¡¯t think the marriage would end well. In his third year of university, Guan Zhou had already started interning at a TV station. By chance, he happened to end up onstage as the MC for a variety show. When Yuan Ye got married, Guan Zhou had already be somewhat popr. He had also long since witnessed all those perhaps obvious, perhaps hidden immoralities of the entertainment industry. He was very unwilling to let Yuan Ye actually get married to Fang Shaoyi. The two of them were too far apart: why were people from two worlds so determined to get together? It was like a soap opera.


    But Yuan Ye didn¡¯t listen to anybody else¡¯s opinions. He walked straight into the unknown. Back then, he had truly liked Fang Shaoyi a lot. Not only liked ¨C he had plunged in head first, almost as if he had gone crazy. Fang Shaoyi was his faith.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t let him down either. He had never disappointed Yuan Ye in reciprocating this emotion. He hadn¡¯t hidden his rtionship and had also nned a spectacr wedding. Fang Shaoyi was gambling with a lot more than Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye was someone who relied on his pen; Fang Shaoyi was the one in the entertainment industry. His wedding meant that he was giving up on many possibilities. He was making his own career path narrower, but he had never minded this.


    The love of two youths. It was passionate, brave, pure, and almost sacrificial in the way that theypletely threw themselves into this rtionship. Neither cared about the consequences or the future.


    In their decade of marriage, Fang Shaoyi became a film emperor respected by many. Yuan Ye became a carefree writer quick to speak up in his circle of authors. The two of them were masters in their own fields and became the spokespeople for true love in the entertainment industry. But gains and losses were always bnced. Perfection in one regard needed to be made up with sacrifices in other regards.


    These past ten years, Yuan Ye rarely scheduled time for himself. His schedule was always the same as Fang Shaoyi¡¯s. Fang Shaoyi often left for several months, perhaps even half a year, when he filmed. Most of the time, Yuan Ye followed him. Their career paths had set the tone for this early on. After several years, not much had changed.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s time was truly more flexible, after all. His main job was to write. It didn¡¯t matter where he wrote or how long it took him to write. If he didn¡¯t follow Fang Shaoyi around, they would have to spend most of their time in a long distance rtionship; there wouldn¡¯t be many months in the year where they would be able to see each other. In their youth, they had thought themselves a match made in heaven. They were destined toe together. No other couple was aspatible as they were.


    Marrying Fang Shaoyi meant stepping one foot into the entertainment industry. He had never liked this environment that only valued status and prestige, but had to live in it. In the early years, Yuan Ye dared to say what he liked and disliked without any fear. His words were sharp and harsh. When he couldn¡¯t stand something, he would say it. This was very cathartic. Later on, he realized that he wasn¡¯t only himself: more importantly, he was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s partner. His words affected Fang Shaoyi. Slowly, he learned to shut his mouth and stop talking.


    However, this didn¡¯t mean that he could ept these matters. He was still disgusted by those things he found disgusting.


    Yuan Ye spent his thirtieth birthday on set. Fang Shaoyi knew he didn¡¯t like making a big deal, so didn¡¯t tell anyone else. The two of them privately celebrated Yuan Ye¡¯s birthday in their room. At first, Ji Xiaotao was there too, but he left after eating cake. That day, Fang Shaoyi kissed him, then said, ¡°Our Little Monkey is thirty now too. Three decades.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed and nodded. ¡°A middle-aged man.¡±


    Yuan Ye said I hope everyone will be fine. After, he couldn¡¯t think of anything else to say. He already had all that he wanted. His other wishes couldn¡¯t be fulfilled anyways.


    The movie was still halfplete, but the details had already been leaked. People said that the investors had already spent over two hundred million. The portion of filming that really needed a lot of money waster on. Nothing had happened in the first half, but they had already spent more than two hundred million. That meant that things definitely wouldn¡¯t go well in the second half. At night, when they returned to their room, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi discussed this matter. Only then did Fang Shaoyi say that the film crew was telling outsiders that they had spent sixty million hiring him.


    Sixty million was too exaggerated. In actuality, he wasn¡¯t getting paid anywhere near that amount.


    Yuan Ye furrowed his brows. ¡°What are they ying at?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say too much to him. He wasn¡¯t willing for Yuan Ye to hear about these dirty matters. What were the investors ying at? All thismotion couldn¡¯t be for anything else but profit. Through crowdfunding, the movie had sucked in several hundred million in production fees. After the movie became released and ticket sales started rolling in, the investors needed to pay dividends out of the additional profits. Going to all this work was simply to announce a fake production cost to raise the bar higher first. Then, when the movie ¡°lost money,¡± they could simply swallow the dividends for themselves.


    Though Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t told him, Yuan Ye had always been clever. He was very perceptive; it all depended on if he wanted to think about the topic or not. He had known from the start that the movie had outside investors. Without too much consideration, he already knew what was going on.


    This kind of crowdfunding used the money of normal people from outside of the industry. In actuality, this money was the money of the people. Some had a guaranteed interest rate while others didn¡¯t ¨C these people only had dividends. This type of profit was slightly higher too. Many people felt that movies were high-ss. In addition to silver tongued middlemen coaxing them, after looking at the director and actor lineup, they would believe that this was a business deal sure to produce profit. Thus, they would easily invest hundreds of thousands.


    There were too many movie investment scams. Every step was a trap, but there were also some people who really did earn money in this manner. It all depended on one¡¯s perceptibility, whether or not they could tell truth from lies.


    There were three main male actors in this movie. Fang Shaoyi was one of them. Looking at the movie alone, it really was a good film. After learning about the investors¡¯ tricks, though, Yuan Ye honestly couldn¡¯t stay on set anymore. Having spent so many years in the industry, Yuan Ye was already numb to many aspects of it. Since he had first gotten to know Fang Shaoyi till now, thirteen years had passed. He couldn¡¯t possibly be as naive as before.


    There was no need to get angry at the director and actors because of the investors¡¯ actions. But Yuan Ye really and truly couldn¡¯t ept Fang Shaoyi acting in this film. When stripped to the barest of bones, this movie was a scam. Yuan Ye could close one eye to the dirty deals and hidden transactions of the industry, but he absolutely couldn¡¯t stand by knowing that the investors had already reached their hands out of the industry to scam the general public of their money. This was an honest sin.


    In his heart, Fang Shaoyi understood what the investors were doing. But he epted this and silentlypromised with it. He wasn¡¯t willing to speak with Yuan Ye about these matters; this was basically cing himself on the same side as the film crew and cing Yuan Ye on the opposing side. He couldn¡¯t say that Fang Shaoyi was wrong. Even though there was something wrong with the production team, there was nothing wrong with Fang Shaoyi. He was righteous. The investors were the ones doing all the dirty deeds. However, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t convince himself. If he could manage to ept this deal expressionlessly, he really wouldn¡¯t be himself anymore.


    Yuan Ye turned around and left. Fang Shaoyi could remain on set to film, but Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t. When he left, he was actually furious, both at this fucking film crew and also at Fang Shaoyi. His rage was a result of his disappointment.


    He departed with anger. Fang Shaoyi called him, asking him what was wrong.


    There was no use saying it out loud. Talking about their differences in moral values would only result in an argument. Besides, even if Fang Shaoyi had an idea in his heart, he couldn¡¯t do anything. He was already halfway through filming for the movie. This matter could also be considered out of his control. Yuan Ye understood these things. Sharing his opinion would only increase Fang Shaoyi¡¯s burden. Thus, Yuan Ye shut his mouth and didn¡¯t say a word.


    Keeping things in wouldn¡¯t resolve any questions. The next few days, even their phone conversations were awkward.


    Fang Shaoyi had ced Yuan Ye on his opposing side, but after thinking things through, Yuan Ye realized that he couldn¡¯t treat himself like he was on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s opposing side. He still needed to say what he was thinking. After all, only the two of them were the most intimate. If he had really epted the fact that they were on opposing sides, how were they supposed to interact in the future? This rtionship would be extremely ufortable.


    Thus, Yuan Ye sincerely told Fang Shaoyi through the phone, ¡°Yi ge, this movie¡¯s a scam. You know that.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi admitted, ¡°Un, I know.¡±


    ¡°Let¡¯s not film it anymore, okay?¡± Yuan Ye lowly asked. ¡°I can¡¯t ept this. There are lots of things about this industry that are dirty, but we can¡¯t control them. We can only act like we never saw them. However, I can¡¯t ept you participating in the mess.¡±


    When Yuan Ye spoke, his tone was very serious. He was willing to share his thoughts with Fang Shaoyi. ¡°I know that you¡¯re troubled. Right now, I¡¯m standing on a higher moral ground and ordering you around. I¡¯m not the troubled one, I know. Actually, I¡¯ve pondered this over and over for many days already. I¡¯m still a bit overly naive, but I don¡¯t want there to be a wedge in between us in the future. Because of this, I¡¯m going to tell you what I¡¯ve been thinking. You can decide by yourself. I¡¯ll support you either way.¡±


    On the other end of the phone, Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Tell me.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°I don¡¯t care that capitalists are repeatedly pulling tricks and making business deals. However, there are hundreds of thousands from outside the industry. These couple hundred millions are filled with tears. I¡¯mpletely disgusted by this issue. I can¡¯t possibly help everyone do everything; I¡¯m not that capable. I also can¡¯t possibly act dumb and cause you trouble again.¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye lit a cigarette, then sighed and said, ¡°I can ept the fact that we¡¯re bing colder and colder because of this industry, but I still hope that we won¡¯t touch that tear-filled money. I hope that coldness won¡¯t cause our hearts to turn ck too.¡±


    After he spoke, there was a long pause where Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t speak. In the end, he said, ¡°Okay.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s words were always powerful. He had said okay, so within a week, had left set. He had also paid arge sum to make up for his breach of contract. They had been halfway through filming, so all the prior footage was now useless. The film crew needed to find a new actor and spend money again. Fang Shaoyi had basically insulted everyone on set, but that wasn¡¯t the end of it.


    The day Fang Shaoyi left, he also made a Weibo post. First, he apologized to the director and the entire film crew ¨C because of personal health reasons, he was no longer able to continue filming. Additionally, he had returned the money they had already paid him, as per contract. He had also paid a certain amount for his breach of contract.


    The sixty million others had previously said became disproved without explicit mention.


    Yuan Ye had said that he couldn¡¯t help everyone do everything. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t either. But he had directly shared the amount of his sry. This was too out of line. At the end of the day, though, he had still technically done something. After sharing the amount, he finally felt like he was worthy of Yuan Ye¡¯s chivalrous, moral, and righteous heart.

 Chapter 50

    <h4>Chapter 50</h4>


    As humans, there were always some things that people admired and revered from the bottoms of their hearts. Even if they managed to possess these things eventually, they would still carefully cradle them in their hands, protecting and cherishing them: like the brightness of a light, the fiery passion of a me.


    Yuan Ye was that ball of me cradled in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands.


    He had travelled between film sets with Fang Shaoyi for a decade. From some unknown time, he had already stopped persevering in those matters he found morally right. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t ept those transactions and was disgusted by those deals, but it had been a long time since he had spoken out about them. This had been a cause of pain for Fang Shaoyi for a long time. Reality had boxed Yuan Ye in with its rules and regtions, causing him to be more and more silent. This silence apaniedpromise. A distinction for love and hate, a loathing for evil ¨C Yuan Ye had been like this in the beginning. Later on, because of multiple different reasons, these identifying qualities about him became less and less obvious.


    For a very long period of time, Fang Shaoyi had believed that Yuan Ye¡¯s ball of me had extinguished. Fang Shaoyi could only still get a glimpse of the qualities carved into the other¡¯s bones while reading his books.


    Thus, the fact that Yuan Ye had spoken up this time, his honesty, those sincere words spoken from the bottom of his heart, all were extremely precious to Fang Shaoyi. During the period that Yuan Ye spoke, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t make any noise. Several thoughts quickly shed through his head; there was a lot that he wanted to say, but in the end, they culminated into an okay.


    The words that Yuan Ye had said out loud. The words that he hadn¡¯t said out loud. Fang Shaoyi had been in love with him for so long. How could he not understand?


    What hade out of his mouth was I don¡¯t like this. Don¡¯t film this movie anymore to fulfill my wish. The warnings that hadn¡¯t been explicitly stated rang like an rm by Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ears. How could Fang Shaoyi not understand them? He had worked in the entertainment industry for so many years. Was that line in his heart still clear? Could he still determine right from wrong? Maintain basic justice or reap the benefits from staying in yourfort zone. What¡¯s your choice?


    If they didn¡¯t share an intimacy resulting from years of love, if not for the fact that Yuan Ye had a thorough understanding of his lover¡¯s personality and moral values, Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t have said these things.


    Fang Shaoyi was sentimental and thankful about this. He didn¡¯t say anything extraneous and spoke with his actions instead. No matter what, he needed to protect the me that was Yuan Ye. But was he only protecting Yuan Ye?


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s actions had ultimately offended many people: investors, producers, the director, the other actors. He had displeased all of them. This was the cost of staying true to oneself. Yes, you¡¯ve reached a moral high ground. You¡¯ve escaped this dirty corporation obsessed with profit, but what about the actors still in it? What was going to happen to the work already invested into the movie? There would be no way topensate for the damage done to the investors. Only Fang Shaoyi dared to act this way. His status and background all ensured that he wouldn¡¯t need to worry about not being able to deal with the subsequent consequences. No matter how agitated the investors were, they didn¡¯t dare to truly stab him in the back.


    Fang Shaoyi could handle these minimal repercussions, especially when they had been caused by his rare silent stand against the shadowy influences and dirty transactions of the industry. This was also why Yuan Ye dared to speak to him about this matter, to warn him against bing numb andcent in the dark. Sometimes, ¡°it¡¯s out of my hands¡± was only an excuse used to exin the way one was too ustomed to staying in theirfort zone. As someone not without morality, it was necessary to remain alert and steadfast: even if you were unable to stop those evil deeds from happening, you should at least refrain from bing part of the evil.


    There was no need to rify what this thanks was for. They still had this bit of tacit understanding.


    In the past decade, Yuan Ye had always stayed beside Fang Shaoyi. He had actually given up a lot of things. The focus of their life together was mostly on Fang Shaoyi, with Fang Shaoyi as the center of gravity. Yuan Ye was willing to adjust his life and schedule to match Fang Shaoyi¡¯s, willing to follow him from film set to film set. This was easy to do for a year or two, but definitely wasn¡¯t when kept up for eight to ten years.


    They were both career-oriented men with admirable aplishments in their own fields. One was willing to be the other¡¯s follower forever. In its essence, this was already a type of sacrifice.


    However, upon realizing that this kind of sacrifice had actually be a type of burden and restriction to the other, this would cause the sacrificing party to be suspicious. Suspicious if the manner they had been interacting with each other for the past decade had been wrong.


    Three months after Fang Shaoyi left the film crew, the news reached Fang Han¡¯s ears. Someone told him to get his son under control. Fang Han didn¡¯t even ask a single question about the situation. He only said, ¡°Don¡¯t you deserve this for wanting him to film that type of movie? Don¡¯t do it again.¡±


    The old man didn¡¯t say anything to Fang Shaoyi. He didn¡¯t say that he had done wrong. The old man had acted for his entire lifetime and never lost his spirit. How could he scold Fang Shaoyi for being wrong about this incident?


    Had Fang Shaoyi done wrong regarding this matter? Impossible. He had definitely done the right thing. But he had acted too scathingly: not tactful and proper enough. It wasn¡¯t appropriate to resolve matters in this manner in the industry. If one didn¡¯t follow the rules of this industry, they would end up with a lot of enemies, which was never a good thing.


    Eventually, Yuan Ye found out about Fang Shaoyi¡¯s original n from Geng Jinwei. By then, everything had already blown over. The topic had onlye up during a casual conversation. Geng Jinwei said that Fang Shaoyi had been together with Yuan Ye for too long. He had started being impulsive too. Geng Jinwei had smiled as he said this, but no matter what, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t force himself to smile in response.


    ¡°There was a scer on where he was supposed to jump out of a car. We were capable of causing an ¡®ident¡¯ during that scene and he would¡¯ve be mildly injured. This way, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to continue filming,¡± Geng Jinwei said while looking at Yuan Ye. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t have had to pay for a breach of contract because it would¡¯ve been a work injury. But he still would¡¯ve needed to pay a bit, otherwise, he would¡¯ve felt guilty. After paying, the investors would¡¯ve even had to say thanks and express their gratitude.¡±


    Yuan Ye stared at Geng Jinwei. For quite a long time, he couldn¡¯t respond. He opened his mouth several times but couldn¡¯t find the right things to say; he also couldn¡¯t really describe what he was actually feeling. Everything was tooplex. In the end, Yuan Ye pulled out a cigarette and lit it. He also handed Geng Jinwei one. The two of them smoked cigarettes while maintaining eye contact. In the end, Yuan Ye managed to smile too. He shook his head and looked down at the cigarette in his hand before saying, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t ask Fang Shaoyi why he hadn¡¯t shared his initial n with him. Since Fang Shaoyi had never mentioned it from start to finish, there was no need for him to ask. Fang Shaoyi originally could¡¯ve had a proper reason to leave the film crew a monthter ¨C he wouldn¡¯t have needed to offend so many people and wouldn¡¯t have truly gotten caught up in any shady business. He had his own considerations and his own methods. However, because of Yuan Ye¡¯s words, Fang Shaoyi ultimately left the cast in such a manner, ending up on the opposing side of the rest of the film crew.


    At a time like this, thinking back on what Yuan Ye had said back then was simplyical.


    How could Fang Shaoyi lose his sense of justice? That was something carved into his bones, a righteousness inherited from his father. Even if Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t said anything to him, he wouldn¡¯t have lost it.


    Later on, Fang Shaoyi became furious after learning that Geng Jinwei had told Yuan Ye this. It was rare for him to get so angry, especially towards his coborators. However, that time, he truly threw a tantrum, leaving after mming the door closed.


    He hadn¡¯t wanted Yuan Ye to find out about their ns at all. Using the unspeakable methods of the entertainment industry to escape the supposed swamp ¨C who was better than anyone else?


    The two of them actually shared a conversation because of this. Yuan Ye said that he was still too naive. He was already past the age of thirty, but still hadn¡¯t mastered being tactful. Fang Shaoyi told him that he wouldn¡¯t be able to learn being tactful even at age sixty: he didn¡¯t need to learn it either. That was something he was disdainful of. If you said it was being tactful, it was. If you said it was being evil, though, it also was. Things were fine as they were now.


    Fang Shaoyi had never hoped that he would change. His absolute sincerity and passion made him that ball of me cradled in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands.


    Since that incident, Yuan Ye followed Fang Shaoyi around a lot less. He originally had a lot of personal business anyways. These past few years, he had always lived his life with Fang Shaoyi as his center of gravity. Looking back, though, it seemed like he hadn¡¯t added anything worthwhile to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s life. Without fail, Fang Shaoyi had his own ideas and ns. Additionally, his ideas and ns were right and more suitable. Thus, Yuan Ye no longer nned on getting too involved. He couldn¡¯t help at all, so might as well not make things worse.


    Fang Shaoyi was naturally very sensitive to the changes in Yuan Ye¡¯s thinking. There were a few times he wanted to talk with Yuan Ye, but some things were always like this. Both of them wanted to get better and were truly working towards it. But in some unknown segment, a problem had urred. No matter how hard they tried, they couldn¡¯t fix it.


    Yuan Ye spent a decade of his life turning himself into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s essory. He really and truly became that monkey squatting on the tree. Those qualities belonging to himself slowly but surely disappeared. The things he needed to ept andpromise with steadily reced them. In a rare asion, he had stood by his own morals and maintained his own integrity, but this had been a joke. The two of them were clearly together all the time, yet ten years hadn¡¯t reduced the distance between them. All that had been there in the beginning remained.


    Thus, Yuan Ye told Fang Shaoyiter on, ¡°Yi ge, I feel like us being tied together all the time is somewhat of a burden. In all respects.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was always gentle and quiet. After hearing this, he asked, ¡°So?¡±


    ¡°I feel a bit lost.¡± Yuan Ye stared into his eyes and very seriously told him, ¡°Like I can¡¯t find myself anymore. I can¡¯t clearly see who I am anymore. I need to find myself, and also find the path between us.¡±


    Saying what he thought was a very alluring quality of Yuan Ye¡¯s personality. Fang Shaoyi never needed to guess what he was thinking. He would always honestly share what he was considering and wondering. As long as Yuan Ye spoke, Fang Shaoyi would very wholeheartedly listen, then do his best to respect the other¡¯s opinion.


    Recently, there had been a tension between the two of them. Even though they had cleared up the previous incident and it had passed, they truly needed some time to submerge themselves and carefully consider things. Both of them.


    Sometimes, the urrences of certain events would leave traces, even if the event was very trivial. However, the pieces of sand left behind would incessantly grate against one¡¯s skin. As time passed, this difort would be more and more unbearable. The time when they could tear open the wound,pletely remove the sand, and clean up all the surrounding areas, would be the time when they could finally truly calm down and continuefortably living.


    At the time, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice had been low and deep as he asked, ¡°Are we separating?¡±


    Yuan Ye immediately answered, ¡°No, no. Definitely not.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had been sitting across from him. Yuan Ye reached a hand out to quickly hug Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck. He smiled and said, ¡°What are you saying? How could that be possible?¡±

 Chapter 51

    <h4>Chapter 51</h4>


    He had never thought about separating. Why would they separate? How could it be possible that they would separate?


    The friends around them went through on and off rtionships. Additionally, there were plenty of people in the entertainment industry who got divorced. However, Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had always been two parts of a whole. In the beginning, nobody believed that the two of them wouldst. Eventually, none of their closest friends suspected their love for each other anymore. They were definitely going to stay together for a long time: anybody else could get divorced, but these two wouldn¡¯t.


    However, there truly was a problem between them. And this problem had existed for a long time.


    In appearance, everything had started after the matter with the film crew. Things had begun changing following that incident. No matter how hard the two of them worked, they couldn¡¯t return things to how they had been. They had clearly already straightened everything out and were no longer hung up over that incident, but still, life couldn¡¯t go back to normal.


    Yuan Ye had said that he wanted to find himself, but what was a ¡°self¡±? Where could one find a ¡°self¡±? Ten years of marriage had long since caused him to be ustomed to this way of living ¨C scheduling everything around Fang Shaoyi¡¯s schedule, thinking about things from Fang Shaoyi¡¯s perspective first before anything else. All these years, he hadn¡¯t found anything wrong with this lifestyle. Especially in recent years. Most of the time, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t even remember that he was ¡°Yuan Ye¡± anymore. His first identity was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s lover. Only after that was he himself. From blurting things out to considering if something could be said or not, many of his thoughts and opinions that he wanted to share simply ended up staying in his head.


    The things in his heart and on his mind ended up flowing into his pen. His literary works started bing sharper and more realistic, but were no longer as straightforward as before. His words were like a sword that stabbed in whatever direction they pointed at. Yet, there was always something covering the target. Previously, his writing had been down to earth ¨C some people said that he was romance personified by the culmination of spiritual energy in the mountains. Later on, this romantess became weaker and weaker. This was probably rted to his age. Past the age of thirty, people¡¯s ways of thinking changed too.


    But ultimately, this change was wrong. Additionally, the way they had been interacting all this time was unhealthy as well. After two people became split into two separate entities, no longer tied together, these thoughts became more and moremon, more and more prevalent.


    Feng Leizi called Yuan Ye at almost every opportunity. The film industry had a severeck of screenwriters: there were never enough experienced screenwriters to go around. However, there were too many low-level screenwriters. The disconnect was quite malformed. Yuan Ye was like a sizzling piece of meat ced on a te. Literary coordinators all kept a close eye on him. Using his personal friendship with Yuan Ye, Feng Leizi always wanted to get him to join his own projects.


    ¡°Ye di, help a desperate friend out.¡± Feng Leizi chattered on through the phone, ¡°My boss wants me to find someone. After listening to all the requirements he listed, I thought, fuck, isn¡¯t that my Ye di?¡±


    Yuan Yeughed while cussing him out. Then, he said, ¡°I can¡¯t write the story your boss wants. He¡¯s too troublesome.¡±


    ¡°How can you get something good without going through trouble?¡± Feng Leizi was a bit panicked. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°It¡¯s¡¶Fire¡·, little bro. We won the fight for the copyright license with three other directors.Given the storyline, it¡¯ll definitely win something.¡±


    ¡°Then why aren¡¯t you writing it yourself?¡± Yuan Ye scoffed. He exposed the other¡¯s thoughts, ¡°The better the story is, the easier it is for the screenwriter to get med if the movie doesn¡¯t win an award.¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t write it!¡± Feng Leizi started being shameless, ¡°Ye di, Ye ge, Uncle Ye! Help me out, okay? Are you going to help me? If I can¡¯t find someone soon, I won¡¯t need to keep working either.¡±


    Feng Leizi¡¯s boss was Lin Feng, a director of melodramas. He had received innumerous foreign awards, but wasn¡¯t too popr domestically. His movies never sold too many tickets. However, that wasn¡¯t his goal anyways. His goal was to pursue good stories. He didn¡¯t care too much about the domestic market. If Yuan Ye epted this job, that would basically mean he was going to be tied to this story. Lin Feng was famous for being absurdly detail-oriented. Yuan Ye would never be able to leave. At minimum, he would be gone for six months to a year. It was also possible that he would need to leave for two to three years.


    In the time after, Fang Shaoyi went to Europe alone. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t go with him. He only stayed with the other for one week in the very beginning beforeing back.


    With the time difference and differences between their work and break schedules, sometimes, the two of them went several days without managing a call with each other. When they did manage to both be present to pick up the phone, they talked about their own matters for a few minutes. They were still intimate. When Yuan Ye had time, he would fly over to visit the film set and stay for a few days before returning. This was a bit troublesome. It also caused his schedule to be packed tight, but seeing Fang Shaoyi was worth it.


    Even so, though, their rtionship wasn¡¯t able to return to the way it had been before. It always felt like something was missing.


    In the middle of this period of time, Fang Shaoyi sent Yuan Ye the proposal n for a variety show and asked him if he wanted to attend or not. Yuan Ye spent two days looking over it. The two of them never participated in these things. Yuan Ye hated them and Fang Shaoyi disliked them too. But this time, Fang Shaoyi had sent him the n. It was for a dating and vacation variety show. They would visit several ces and use the show as an opportunity to go on multiple dates.


    Strangely, both of them signed the contract.


    The faked naturalness and pretentious calm presented by both parties were, at the end of the day, only illusions of peace. Even the slightest issue was capable of ruining this tacit harmony.


    Because of a situation concerning the other actors, there was about a ten day break in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s scenes. There were two meetings that Yuan Ye needed to attend. After, unless something unexpected came up, he would be able to fly over for a few days. They had decided on this n of action previously. It had been almost two months since they hadst seen each other, making it impossible for them not to miss each other.


    Yuan Ye sent Fang Shaoyi a message: Wait for me, baobei¡¯er. I¡¯m going to see you.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t reply to this message. Yuan Ye put his phone away after sending it, then changed and left to eat dinner with someone. There was some business that needed to be discussed over the dinner table. By the time he finished, it was already nine at night. He had just returned too. Previously, he had been staying in a different city and hadn¡¯t paid attention to the temperature change. He was wearing too little.


    Yuan Ye instantly realized that something was off when he opened the door. He saw Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shoes. Yuan Ye immediately looked up and noticed the jacket resting on the couch.


    Amusement quickly filled Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. A small surprise from his lover. This was very useful against him.


    But shortly after, he furrowed his brows.


    Yuan Ye walked upstairs. The bedroom door wasn¡¯t closed. The light was on too. Fang Shaoyi had his eyes closed and was lying there, asleep. His face was as pale as a piece of paper. Yuan Ye softly padded over and ced one knee on the bed. He leaned over to test the other¡¯s body temperature, forehead pressed against his forehead.


    It was slightly warm. Yuan Ye sighed to himself, but didn¡¯t get up. Fang Shaoyi suddenly reached out and held his head in ce. He pressed a kiss against Yuan Ye¡¯s lips.


    Yuan Ye softly asked him, ¡°Not asleep yet?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. He sounded very nasally and hadn¡¯t let go yet. He maintained the same posture and continued to keep Yuan Ye still. While pressed against the other¡¯s lips, Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Waiting for you.¡±


    His breathing was very harsh. His voice was very hoarse. Yuan Ye closed his eyes; when he opened them again, they were red.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s return had been a spontaneous decision. He hadn¡¯t taken any medicine beforehand. Also, the return flight was travelling back in time. This was practically enough to kill him. Yuan Ye asked, ¡°Why didn¡¯t you wait for me to go to you......¡±


    ¡°I couldn¡¯t wait anymore.¡± Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He softly said, ¡°I couldn¡¯t wait two more days.¡±


    This was sweet talk. Sweet talk was naturally touching, but it was never the truth. Yuan Ye understood him so well. The truth was that Fang Shaoyi was worried that Yuan Ye would get too tired, worried that he kept having to make the time to fly to Europe, worried that this rtionship could only rely on the sacrifices of one party to heal.


    At the time, Yuan Ye sprawled out next to Fang Shaoyi and wrapped his arms around the other. He buried his face against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s corbones, quietly embracing him for a long time. Fang Shaoyi was always so warm. This warmth was dry andforting. It caused one to be submerged and infatuated.


    Fang Shaoyi had flown back. Removing the days needed for Fang Shaoyi to recover from jetg, there wasn¡¯t much time left in the ten day break.


    Yuan Ye watched as Fang Shaoyi suffered in difort. He only had a mouth to speak with, but after several attempts, couldn¡¯t figure out what to say. If this were in the past, Yuan Ye probably would¡¯ve gotten angry and felt pained while scolding Fang Shaoyi. You had nothing better to do? It¡¯s only ten days. What are you messing around for? All you had to do was wait for me. Don¡¯t you know that you can¡¯t get over jetg?


    But right now, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t get any words out of his mouth. His emotions were in too much of a mess. They were all squeezed together. Yuan Ye was an author, yet he couldn¡¯t find the right words to describe his feelings at this moment.


    When was the day that they had started needing to interact like this? Looking back at things now, everything seemed a bit like a failure. The harder they tried, the greater the defeat felt.


    One morning, Yuan Ye finished making breakfast as Fang Shaoyi walked down from upstairs. He poured out a cup of water and took a sip. Yuan Ye smiled at him.


    Fang Shaoyi actually couldn¡¯t stomach much, but in order to help Yuan Ye rest at ease, he still forced some porridge down. He still looked a bit pale, meaning that he hadn¡¯t fully recovered. Yuan Ye stared at his dry and unnaturally colored lips and suddenly blurted out, ¡°Yi ge, are you tired?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at him and asked, ¡°What do you mean, tired?¡±


    ¡°Being with me.¡± Yuan Ye lowered his head. A whileter, he added, ¡°I feel like you¡¯re exhausted right now.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi set down the things in his hand. His fingers gently brushed against each other. He asked, ¡°You¡¯re tired?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything. He only shook his head.


    ¡°We......¡± Yuan Ye started. He didn¡¯t know how to continue. What was wrong with them? Actually, nothing much. But why did things feel so ufortable? They had already said what needed to be said long ago. Even if they had another conversation, it would only be about the things they had already discussed in the past.


    Two thirty-something men had turned their problemless rtionship into a mess. Thinking back, they couldn¡¯t even remember the reason. This was too hrious.


    Fang Shaoyi was expressionless, but his gaze was heavy. He stared at Yuan Ye. After, he asked the other, ¡°What do you want to say?¡±


    Yuan Ye looked up at him. He didn¡¯t continue speaking. He had already said all that could be said.


    ¡°What do you want?¡± Fang Shaoyi asked him again. His voice was low and deep. ¡°If you want something, just tell me.¡±


    Yuan Ye sighed again. He rubbed his head and even kind of wanted tough. He innocently said, ¡°I don¡¯t want anything. What could I want?¡±


    After saying this, he really didugh. He reached out and stroked Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. He shook his head and said, ¡°Nevermind, let¡¯s not talk about this anymore. I just want you to be okay. Don¡¯t be unhappy.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi grabbed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand too. His fingers squeezed the other¡¯s ring.


    Yuan Ye smiled at him.

 Chapter 52

    <h4>Chapter 52</h4>


    Their interactions had already gone off the path. As if walking across thin ice, they carefully took each step forward, fearful that one wrong stride would send them tumbling.


    But how could this mode of interactionst forever? They would either truly take that wrong step and end up falling through the ice or they would find a better path and walk forward steadily.


    It was obvious that neither of them had found that better path.


    They had ultimately separated.


    Even though Yuan Ye repeatedly said that they wouldn¡¯t separate. Even though he was always so confident each time he said this.


    In the end, they still went down their own paths.


    Perhaps this was something that had been predestined long ago. At the bottom of their hearts, they were two different people. In all these years of interaction, they had relied heavily on love to cover up the conflict and friction that had originally existed in their rtionship. There was ultimately going to be a day where they would have to face these. In essence, there hadn¡¯t even been a catalyst for their separation: there was no need for one. Or, it could be said that before anything could happen, their separation had already urred during that peaceful state. Sometimes, only a bullet hole the size of a fingertip was needed for ss to crack. Such a tiny hole was enough to make the entire pane of sspletely shatter. Many days and years had passed. The cracks had been there since long ago.


    In recollection, the story was quiteical. Their end had surprisinglye to be solely because of a jacket.


    A few days had passed since Fang Shaoyi had finished filming for that movie. It had been less than a week since he¡¯d flown back from Ennd, so the aftereffects of the time difference hadn¡¯tpletely dissipated yet. Yuan Ye was on a tight schedule. This wasmon between them. While Fang Shaoyi rested, Yuan Ye was usually quite busy. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t scheduled anything else after the movie. He wanted to take a long break; after Yuan Ye finished working, the two of them could go disconnect from the rest of the world for a bit.


    Yuan Ye often needed to travel between two cities. He was truly very busy.


    One day, Yuan Ye drove back and picked Fang Shaoyi up from thepany. The two of them went to Yuan Ye¡¯s parents¡¯ ce for dinner. When Yuan Ye spoke, his voice was a bit nasally. It sounded like he was sick.


    The car was parked slightly far away. After dinner, they needed to walk for some time to reach it. Yuan Ye was only wearing a short-sleeved shirt. It had just rained, so the temperature was slightly cool. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and scolded, ¡°You¡¯re wearing so little.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t find this a big deal. He was used to being so casual. He also had a strong immune system, so never cared too much about these things. On the other hand, Fang Shaoyi still had a bit of a low fever. Yuan Ye chuckled and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m not cold.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t you tell that you have a cold?¡± Fang Shaoyi took off his jacket and handed it over. ¡°Put it on.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t ept the jacket. He only shook his head. ¡°I don¡¯t have a cold. You wear it. I¡¯m really not cold.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t keep arguing with him. He spread the jacket out and directly ced it over Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye jumped off to the side to avoid him. After, he cheekily said, ¡°We¡¯re outside, ge. Don¡¯t be so touchy. We¡¯re going to end up on Weibo again if someone takes a picture. You wear it.¡±


    His jump off to the side was a bit exaggerated. Fang Shaoyi froze in ce. He had missed his target, so his arms were still held out.


    After, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. He silently put the jacket back on. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t the most sensitive person. He looked down at his phone to check his messages, not even looking up in the slightest.


    Thus, when Fang Shaoyi suddenly spoke up again, Yuan Ye was quite confused. He couldn¡¯t follow the other¡¯s train of thought. Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Why are you so stubborn?¡±


    ¡°Un?¡± Yuan Ye looked up at him. ¡°What?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t turn to meet his gaze. He only asked again, ¡°What do you feel awkward about?¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked. It took a few seconds before he finally understood. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression was a bit dark. Yuan Ye was halfway through replying to the messages on his phone. He pursed his lips together and finished replying before putting his phone back into his pocket. Then, he reached out to touch Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand. He grabbed onto it and squeezed it, then asked with a smile, ¡°You¡¯re angry?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi answered, ¡°No. I just don¡¯t know what¡¯s actually going on in your head.¡±


    When they reached the car, Fang Shaoyi yanked his hand back. Yuan Ye¡¯s palm felt empty. He reflexively tightened his hand into a fist, but wasn¡¯t able to keep anything.


    Right now, this was their usual state of being: inexplicable conflicts followed by cautious reconciliations. An endless cycle.


    Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t someone who got hung up over small issues. He very rarely got angry at Yuan Ye, including now. He wasn¡¯t truly mad. Only, the long term stress of maintaining this rtionship had already caused both of them to be overly sensitive. The more one cared, the more invested they became. The more one thought, the more sensitive and perceptive they would be. No matter how famous one was, no matter how great their background was, at the end of the day, they were still a normal human. Nobody could avoid these things.


    Affection could tear even gods off their pedestals. Who was of clearer mind than anyone else?


    After getting in the car, a long silence followed. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was deep and dark. Yuan Ye took a nce at him before turning away and not looking again.


    Eventually, Yuan Ye broke the silence first. He asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Baobei¡¯er, you need to let me know why you¡¯re angry first before I can cate you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression remained unchanged. He kept staring forward. A whileter, he lowly said, ¡°You need to let me know what you¡¯re thinking about too. I really want to know as well.¡±


    As he said this, his tone was filled with fatigue. Yuan Ye could instantly tell. This wasn¡¯t the only problem between them. From some unknown time, their interactions had started bing very deliberate. But nothing good hade out of this deliberation.


    They were both quite tired. Nobody was rxed.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s tone was filled with exasperation and helplessness. It seemed to electrocute Yuan Ye¡¯s heart, causing a burning pain.


    A thought shed through Yuan Ye¡¯s head. With no brain to mouth filter, he directly blurted out, ¡°Since we¡¯re so tired, we might as well......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi turned his head and looked over. He stared straight at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye ultimately couldn¡¯t get thest two words out. He couldn¡¯t bear to. Those words were too painful; he couldn¡¯t say them.


    He didn¡¯t finish speaking, so Fang Shaoyi turned back around. He didn¡¯t even ask any questions.


    The entire drive was silent. The air in the car seemed to have solidified. It was a suffocating atmosphere.


    In the end, when they reached home and parked, Fang Shaoyi said while stepping on the brakes, ¡°Finish your sentence.¡±


    Yuan Ye undid his seatbelt. He looked down and made to pull out a cigarette, but he had already stopped smoking for quite some time.


    Reality was before their eyes. The two of them knew better than anyone what their current state was. Things couldn¡¯t be cleared up anymore.


    No matter how hard it was to say something, that something still needed to be said in the end. Before bed that night, Yuan Ye softly said into the dark, ¡°I want our love to be young and fresh forever. Let¡¯s not turn it into something old and sick.¡±


    From start to finish, Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t said anything. His silence almost made it seem like he didn¡¯t exist. Even his breathing noises were exceptionally quiet.


    How much energy had it taken Yuan Ye to say that? He had used all his energy from the past ten years.


    He truly had caught a cold. Though he hadn¡¯t been able to tell previously, when he woke up this morning, every muscle in his body felt sore. He had lost his voice too. The burning sensation in his throat also made him not want to speak. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t checked on him at all. After waking up in the morning, Fang Shaoyi had gone downstairs. He had visited thepany in the morning and brought porridge back for Yuan Ye at lunch.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have much of an appetite, but still finished the entire serving. He didn¡¯t even leave a single grain of rice behind.


    From beginning to end, Fang Shaoyi remained calm, as if nothing had happened. When Yuan Ye finished eating the porridge, the two of them sat at the dining table, motionless. Fang Shaoyi suddenly reached a hand out to touch Yuan Ye¡¯s forehead. He asked, ¡°Do you have a fever or do I have a fever?¡±


    Neither of them had a fever. They were both quite clear headed.


    Fang Shaoyi looked into Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. He asked, ¡°You¡¯ve made up your mind?¡±


    Yuan Ye had used up all his energy to say what he had saidst night. No matter what, he couldn¡¯t respond to this question.


    Fang Shaoyi waited a long time for his response. Eventually, Fang Shaoyi stood up. His voice was a bit low, but very calm. He inquired once more, ¡°Have you made up your mind or not?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s head felt like it was going to explode from pain. Every inch of him hurt. As he stared at Fang Shaoyi, his eyes slowly turned red. They made eye contact. Yuan Ye blinked and kept his mouth glued shut. Fang Shaoyi heaved out a long sigh.


    When Fang Shaoyi tugged off the ring, which had been ced onto the ne around his neck, and threw it at Yuan Ye, Yuan Ye reached out to catch it. Usually, when they threw things around like this, Yuan Ye never missed a catch. He was very nimble. But today, perhaps because of the fact that he had a cold, or because of some other reason, he wasn¡¯t able to catch that thin chain. The small metal ringnded on the ground, softly clinking.


    That faint sound seemed to drum against Yuan Ye¡¯s heart. His heart was like a pane of ss that had been shattered into infinite pieces. The shards of ss dug into his skin and flesh.


    After leaving, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t return. Yuan Ye called him several times. Fang Shaoyi never picked up. Later on, Yuan Ye called Ji Xiaotao; Ji Xiaotao could also tell that there was something wrong between the two of them. His tone was careful as he spoke, rying that Fang Shaoyi was fine and telling Yuan Ye that he didn¡¯t need to worry.


    Yuan Ye had practically never regretted anything that hade out of his mouth. He also never hesitated about things he had made decisions about.


    But he didn¡¯t feel carefree at all after making this decision. Additionally, he very quickly felt regretful.


    Yuan Ye was thirty two. He had been in a rtionship with Fang Shaoyi for almost fifteen years. He basically couldn¡¯t recall the first half of his life that had been spent without Fang Shaoyi. How were they supposed to separate?


    Yuan Ye truly felt regretful. Even though nobody knew better than him that this was the only path left for them right now, he still felt regretful.


    The next time Fang Shaoyi returned, he brought the divorce papers with him. He ced them by Yuan Ye¡¯s hands and told him, ¡°Sign.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s voice was so raspy he could barely speak. He asked, ¡°Did you get the messages I sent you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t reply. He repeated, ¡°Sign.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked over those papers. The two of them didn¡¯t have kids, so there was no need to worry about custody after their divorce. The agreement was mostly about the separation of their finances. Yuan Ye scanned it, then burst intoughter. Fang Shaoyi was truly very generous.


    Yuan Ye shook his head and cleared his throat before saying, ¡°Ge, let¡¯s have another chat.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stuffed the pen into Yuan Ye¡¯s hand. His voice got colder. He furrowed his brows and told the other, ¡°No. Sign.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s nose soured. He put the pen down and rubbed his nose with his hand a bit, then softly said, ¡°It¡¯s not right to split our finances like this. Do it again.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi pulled a chair out and sat down. He nodded. ¡°Okay. Tell me how you want to split things.¡±


    Yuan Ye ced both his hands on his head and tugged at his stubbly hair. He buried his face into his arm and said, ¡°I want to give everything to you......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes. After a brief pause, he finally replied, ¡°Tell me what else you want. If there¡¯s nothing you want, then sign.¡±


    Yuan Ye maintained the same posture and didn¡¯t move. He cleared his throat a few times, wanting to talk, but didn¡¯t lift his head up. In the end, when Yuan Ye finally spoke, his voice was shaky. This, in addition to his hoarse throat, his words were practically iprehensible. It was rare for him to allow himself to appear so put out. Yuan Ye said, ¡°......Ge, I don¡¯t want to sign. I don¡¯t want to get divorced.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared at him silently. Yuan Ye put his arms down andid on the table. He buried his face into the table and rubbed his forehead against his wrist a few times. He choked out, ¡°Can I take back what I said? I¡¯ll cate you......is that okay? How am I supposed to sign......Can you cut my hand off and use it to sign?¡±


    It was raining outside. The spatters of rain on the window made the room feel slightly colder. Fang Shaoyi gazed at the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head from where the other was sprawled out. His irises werepletely dark, a bottomless void. The whites of his eyes were red now, though: a scattered red pattern of veins.


    ¡°Say something, ge,¡± Yuan Ye continued, still face down. ¡°I¡¯ll be diligent in cating you, okay......Let¡¯s tear these papers up.¡±


    It was rare for Yuan Ye to speak in this manner, using this tone. He was truly begging. From start to finish, he didn¡¯t look up. His voice was muffled and very nasally.


    He had never begged Fang Shaoyi like this for anything. They only fooled around like this asionally in bed. He never needed to plead so hard for things he wanted. Besides, there wasn¡¯t anything that Yuan Ye desperately desired. His only obsession in this lifetime was Fang Shaoyi.


    Yuan Ye pushed the papers back to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s side. He sat up straight and stared straight at the other while asking, ¡°Let¡¯s start over, okay ge?¡±


    Yuan Ye knew how to shamelessly make a scene. Fang Shaoyi was also willing to watch him shamelessly make a scene. But right now, Yuan Ye was shamelessly refusing to sign, yet Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t convinced in the slightest. He grabbed those pieces of paper, creating wrinkles from how hard he was squeezing. Fang Shaoyi stood up; the chair released an ear piercing squeak as it grated against the ground. Fang Shaoyi threw the papers down next to Yuan Ye¡¯s hand with a thud.


    Fang Shaoyi walked over and stood behind Yuan Ye. He stuffed the pen into the other¡¯s hand, then grabbed onto that hand. He was squeezing harshly, truly using all his strength.


    ¡°How long did you think about this?¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was practically coated in ice. Their hands were wrapped together, one on top of the other. Both were forceful, causing the pen to tremble. In this position, Fang Shaoyi had basically entrapped Yuan Ye into his embrace. His mouth was glued next to Yuan Ye¡¯s ear as he spoke. This was an extremely intimate pose.


    ¡°You wanted to say those things for a long time. Don¡¯t take them back after you¡¯ve already spoken them into existence.¡± As Fang Shaoyi spoke, puffs of air blew into Yuan Ye¡¯s ear. Half of Yuan Ye¡¯s body had gone numb. Fang Shaoyi continued, ¡°It¡¯s been fifteen years. When have I not given you what you wanted?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi squeezed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand, harshly mming it against the papers. Both of their hands hurt. The tip of the pen stabbed the paper, leaving a tiny ck spot. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Don¡¯t you want this? Then why are you still hesitating?¡±


    How could Yuan Ye be stronger than Fang Shaoyi? Fang Shaoyi had acted in numerous action movies and had spent several years going through formal kickboxing training. Yuan Ye¡¯s knuckles were practically getting smushed. With Fang Shaoyi squeezing his hand, he was forced to sign ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    Yuan Ye had always been someone who stuck to their decisions, but wasn¡¯t Fang Shaoyi the same? Fang Shaoyi rarely changed his mind about his choices too. He almost never expressed his emotions, almost like he didn¡¯t have much of a temper. Yet, when he stubbornly wanted something ¨C like now ¨C Yuan Ye knew very clearly that he couldn¡¯t stop him.


    Fang Shaoyi wanted to get divorced, which meant that this divorce was absolutely happening.


    Yuan Ye shook out the hand that had been squeezed by Fang Shaoyi a few times, opening and closing his fingers to ease the ache. Then, he used this numb hand to touch the area over his heart.


    This ce felt numb too. It was empty.


    Fang Shaoyi had been twenty. Yuan Ye had been seventeen. That year, they had both been passionate youths. They had been hesitant and conflicted before naturally starting a rtionship.


    After five years of love, these two wild youths recklessly dered their rtionship to the world. What was there to be scared of? With love, there was nothing to be afraid of. They were going to get married.


    Another ten years passed. A divorce agreement and a stamp: in return, they received their divorce certificates.

 Chapter 53

    <h4>Chapter 53</h4>


    When Yuan Ye moved out of their house, he only brought some clothes and products he used daily. There was too much stuff. Additionally, he wouldn¡¯t need most of them anytime soon, so he didn¡¯t move all of them out. However, when he left, he took Fang Shaoyi¡¯s jacket with him.


    ¡ª¡ªThe jacket that Fang Shaoyi had handed him that night. The one that he hadn¡¯t epted.


    What had he been thinking while taking it with him? It seemed like he hadn¡¯t been thinking at all.


    Many times after, when Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t in a right state of mind, he would wonder ¨C if he had epted that jacket back then, what would¡¯ve happened? But nobody understood better than Yuan Ye that they hadn¡¯t actually divorced simply over a jacket. What a joke.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ¡°I¡¯ll make you feel it each time you say it¡± had truly caused Yuan Ye pain. Movies started ying his mind once more: scenes from the mess before their separation and shes of the pages of the divorce agreement. Fang Shaoyi had used such an intimate, suggestive pose to squeeze his hand and force him to sign his name. This was both cruel and resolute.


    However, Yuan Ye himself had said the wrong thing. He deserved whatever silent treatment Fang Shaoyi was giving him. Some things couldn¡¯t and shouldn¡¯t be said. No matter how much he got ignored after saying them, he deserved it.


    Yuan Ye pleaded with Fang Shaoyi, ¡°I¡¯ve learned my lesson. Don¡¯t be mad anymore, ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything. He only made a noise of acknowledgement.


    But after this, their semi-cold, semi-warm rtionship became a bit better than it had been before. Only a little bit, though. Fang Shaoyi still asionally ignored him. During these times, Yuan Ye would obediently focus on his own matters. Sometimes he would ensure the other remembered his presence, a type of clocking in.


    Ji Xiaotao was experienced. After so much time, he no longer worried about these two at all. Previously, he had hoped that they would quickly reconcile. Now that this couple had truly done so, small arguments and conflicts were only ways to spice up the rtionship. Besides, he had previously been worried that their affections for each other had changed, but now, after a year, he didn¡¯t need to worry about this at all. Thus, he let them fool around as they wished.


    One was throwing a tantrum and acting tsundere. The other was cheekily cating him. How interesting, tsk tsk.


    ¡°Hi, Teacher Tao.¡± Yuan Ye was visiting Fang Shaoyi at thepany and happened to see Ji Xiaotao in the lobby. He greeted him.


    ¡°Hahahaha, what Teacher Tao?!¡± Ji Xiaotao instantly walked over after noticing Yuan Ye. He said, ¡°Good afternoon, Teacher Ye!¡±


    ¡°Am I so wild?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Just call me Teacher Yuan.¡±


    Next to Fang Shaoyi, Ji Xiaotao was just a little assistant. Back at thepany, though, he definitely had high status. However, at the end of the day, he was still Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant. Due to the fact that he was determined to remain Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant, he didn¡¯t have an official title at thepany. Even so, his words still held power. The other employees at thepany all politely called him ¡°Xiaotao ge.¡± One time, a young actor had called him ¡°Teacher Tao,¡± which Yuan Ye had happened to hear. After this, Yuan Ye always used this nickname to tease him.


    Ji Xiaotao nced at the object that Yuan Ye was holding in his hand and yfully asked, ¡°Bringing my ge lunch?¡±


    ¡°Yeah,¡± Yuan Ye answered while walking. ¡°He¡¯s upstairs?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi waved at him after noticing who he was. ¡°Hurry ande in. If someone bumps into you from behind, you¡¯ll end up with a squished neck.¡±


    ¡°Impossible.¡± Yuan Ye pushed the door open and walked in, then closed the door behind him. He set the object in his hand on the tea table before smiling and gesturing at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°Come, baobei¡¯er. A love-filled lunch.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi padded over and asked, ¡°Where did this love-filled lunche from?¡±


    ¡°Where else could there be so much love? I definitely made this.¡± Yuan Ye gently nudged him a bit. ¡°Expended all my efforts.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him. After, he shook his head and lightly chuckled, then unwrapped the mealyer byyer. Yuan Ye had a lot of free time these days, so had spent the entire morning steaming mini shumais. He had also made soup. In order to cate Fang Shaoyi, he was capable of doing anything. Actions spoke louder than words; to make up for his mistake of mouth, he acted with the rest of his body.


    Fang Shaoyi opened one of the insted boxes. In it, smack dab in the middle, were two fried eggs. Both were heart shaped. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t expected to see something like this. For a moment, he was unable to control his expression. The corners of his eyes were painted with amusement. ¡°What are these?¡±


    ¡°Hearts.¡± Yuan Ye didn¡¯t feel ashamed at all after doing something so dumb. He sprawled out on the couch. ¡°Otherwise, how else could it be called a love-filled lunch?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi wiped the expression off his face afterughing for a bit. He started solemnly eating. In the end, he finished every drop of soup and there were no shumais left. Yuan Ye pointed at the two innocent heart shaped fried eggs and sighed. ¡°Teacher Fang, don¡¯t discriminate against my hearts so.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was unbothered. Even until the end, he didn¡¯t eat them.


    Yuan Ye observed his expression. While packing up the boxes, he left the box with the fried eggs behind and said, ¡°I can¡¯t take my hearts back after giving them away. I¡¯ll just leave them with you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi ignored him. He leaned against the back of the couch to digest.


    The two of them sat there silently. One had his eyes closed and was resting while the other was quietly scrolling through his phone. When Geng Jinwei came by, he didn¡¯t knock. Instead, he simply pushed the door open. Upon noticing the atmosphere between the two of them, he made a noise of surprise. While walking in, he asked, ¡°Eating?¡±


    ¡°Done eating.¡± Yuan Ye nodded at him in greeting. ¡°Have you eaten yet, Geng ge?¡±


    Geng Jinwei answered, ¡°No. There¡¯s a serving for me?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled while saying, ¡°That¡¯d be impossible. There isn¡¯t even a mouthful of soup left.¡± After sharing this, Yuan Ye nced at Fang Shaoyi. Then, he said, ¡°Although, if you aren¡¯t disdainful of them, there are still two fried......¡±


    ¡°There aren¡¯t.¡± Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes and cut Yuan Ye off. He asked Geng Jinwei, ¡°Need something?¡±


    Geng Jinwei shook his head. He chuckled, ¡°I came over to call you out for lunch, but since you¡¯ve already finished eating, nevermind. I¡¯ll go eat at the cafeteria downstairs.¡±


    Yuan Ye bent over to grab the leftover fried egg box on the tea table. He told Geng Jinwei, ¡°Here, Geng ge. Take it downstairs with you......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi pressed his arm down and interrupted once more. He side-eyed Yuan Ye and calmly stated, ¡°Geng ge doesn¡¯t eat chicken eggs.¡±


    ¡°Ah, then nevermind.¡± Yuan Yeughed. He flipped his hand over to hold hands with Fang Shaoyi, then gently scratched the other¡¯s palm. After, he pulled his hand back and sat up straight before drawling out, ¡°Since Geng ge won¡¯t eat them, nevermind.¡±


    Geng Jinwei looked between the two of them. There was nothing bad to be said about his professionalism; his expression didn¡¯t even change in the slightest. Even so, he didn¡¯t want to stay here and continue watching this couple. He turned around and left. ¡°Okay, you two stay put.¡±


    Following Geng Jinwei¡¯s departure, Yuan Ye sat there andughed for a long time. He stared at Fang Shaoyi, shoulders quivering withughter.


    These days, Yuan Ye visited thepany often. In the eyes of thepany¡¯s employees, this seemed like he was very diligently pursuing Fang Shaoyi. Additionally, Fang Shaoyi was very secretive. This fit too well with the theories the outside world had about them. Someone even secretly ¡°exposed¡± online that Yuan Ye had been pursuing Fang Shaoyi for a whole year, but that Fang Shaoyi still hadn¡¯t given in yet. ording to this, it was easy to assume that Yuan Ye probably didn¡¯t have much of a chance anymore. After all, following so many years of affection, if Fang Shaoyi wanted to reconcile at all, he ought to have done so way earlier. There was no need to drag things out until now and not give in to Yuan Ye.


    Half of the CP fans felt sorry for Yuan Ye. They felt like this was going to be a BE. The other half were still excitedly eating sugar. It had already been a year and Fang Shaoyi still hadn¡¯t t out refused. Was this having ¡°no chance¡±? If not sugar, what else could this be? Had everyone else forgotten about the birthday pictures on setst year? These two were simply ying around!


    The two of them were truly having a lot of fun. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t loosened up or softened his attitude yet, but Yuan Ye was quite patient. Slowly cating the other was fine too. However, he couldn¡¯t not say what needed to be said. The required discussions needed to be properly held as well.


    In the middle of October, Director Wei called Fang Shaoyi to his house for a meal. Yuan Ye tagged along too. Yuan Ye had always liked Director Wei Hua a lot. The first movie he had watched that Fang Shaoyi had been in had been directed by Director Wei. Director Wei¡¯s movies always reflected his own thoughts. Basically, each film was the equivalent of him emptying himself out, grounding his thoughts up, then slowly piecing them together again. He had once said, ¡°Making a movie is a bit like being in a rtionship with the plot. It needs to be impactful and romantic. Otherwise, you won¡¯t be able to make a good movie.¡±


    He had been Fang Shaoyi¡¯s first director. The first for anything was always incredibly important. Thus, many of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s beliefs and opinions had been greatly influenced by him.


    This entire lifetime, Director Wei had used his whole heart to make movies. He was a rare pure cinephile. Yuan Ye respected him a lot. He had liked the other¡¯s works since young. Later on, Fang Shaoyi participated in more of his films, so Yuan Ye got to interact with the director quite a bit. They were somewhat familiar with each other as well.


    During dinner, Director Wei brought up the topic and asked Fang Shaoyi how his break was going.


    Yuan Ye answered for Fang Shaoyi. He told Director Wei, ¡°Director, he¡¯s being stubborn. You need to persuade him.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s he being stubborn about?¡± Wei Hua nced at him, then at Fang Shaoyi. With a smile that wasn¡¯t quite a smile, he asked, ¡°What are your thoughts? Tell me.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t listen to his stories,¡± Fang Shaoyi said. ¡°At this age, everyone needs some time to settle down.¡±


    Director Weiughed and pointed at him. He said, ¡°Lies.¡±


    ¡°No, the truth.¡± Fang Shaoyi refilled the other¡¯s cup of alcohol. ¡°I wouldn¡¯t lie to you.¡±


    Wei Hua nced at him. He shook his head and chuckled.


    That day, Director Wei and Fang Shaoyi talked about a lot of things. They had half of their conversation while eating and the other half during tea after their meal. Yuan Ye actually didn¡¯t say much; he didn¡¯t butt in. Director Wei wasn¡¯t trying to coax Fang Shaoyi into epting the role. He had found a recement actor and was already training the other. Filming was all about consent and agreement. You couldn¡¯t force someone to film a movie just because of your rtionship with them. For a majority of time, the two of them talked about movies. Both of them had a deep understanding regarding this topic. Thus, there was a lot for them to converse about.


    Director Wei asked Fang Shaoyi about his understanding of the male lead in this new movie. Fang Shaoyi had only read the initial draft, which had only been a rudimentary version of the final draft. The focus of this film was its characters: there were lots of scenes that required reflection of inner thought processes. Each character needed to be carefully observed and understood. This conversation couldst the entire evening without ending. Fang Shaoyi shared his own thoughts and also his thoughts about a few other characters in the movie. All directors enjoyed having discussions with others about scripts and characters. Eventually, Director Weimented, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m notpletely confident. Half of the scenes with silent reflection might need to be deleted.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Film some first and see? Maybe you¡¯ll be surprised.¡±


    Were surprises so easy toe across? Director Weiughed and admitted, ¡°I¡¯mzy now too. After getting used to using people I¡¯m familiar with, I¡¯m toozy to train new people.¡±


    Director Wei had been making movies for so many years. He had long sincepiled a cast that he was most familiar with. Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t the only one in this cast. There were also a few other celebrities. Tacit understanding was rare. To be able to understand each other without saying anything, onlymunicating through gazes ¨C how convenient was this?


    As they chatted, Yuan Ye quietly sat off to the side and listened. Fang Shaoyi had always been very alluring while speaking about these things. It was already quite alluring to watch any random person talk about the things they were most familiar with.


    Later on, before they could finish their conversation, Yuan Ye fell asleep. He was leaning against the couch nearby and was pretty deeply asleep.


    Fang Shaoyi took off his jacket and made to cover Yuan Ye with it. Director Wei said, ¡°Tell someone to bring a nket over.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need,¡± Fang Shaoyi said softly while shaking his head. ¡°This is fine.¡±


    Yuan Ye was holding a little essory from Director Wei¡¯s home in his hand. Fang Shaoyi gently pried it out of his hand and set it off to the side.


    Director Wei observed his gaze and suddenlyughed. He said, ¡°Lover.¡±


    After hearing this, Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He looked in Yuan Ye¡¯s direction while saying, ¡°He¡¯s the one that¡¯s a lover.¡±

 Chapter 54

    <h4>Chapter 54</h4>


    After a month in theaters,¡¶Wind Wanderer¡·totaled seven hundred million in ticket sales. Not bad, and slightly better than expected. This was also because there wasn¡¯t fiercepetition in the film industry recently. There were no foreign superhero films or moneymakingedies. The movie investors hadn¡¯t paid anybody an extravagant sry. There were a lot of rookies in this movie, so most of the money had been spent on setting up the film set and props. All in all, they had profited in the end. Filming something they personally enjoyed while not losing money for the investors: this was considered a sess for the film crew.


    Fang Shaoyi received a lot of good critiques regarding this movie. There was nothing toin about. Some movie critics said that he was too introverted in his acting ¨C he wasn¡¯t expressive enough. There was no need to argue against these. Different people had different tastes, after all. You like him, but he doesn¡¯t like him. We just need to agree to disagree.


    The filming for this movie had been free from worry. Basically no drama had urred on set. Aside from filming, all they did was more filming. Yet, the conditions of the film set had honestly been difficult. A true test of character.


    After the movie stopped showing, Director Xin scheduled a celebratory banquet. He invited all the main cast members of the movie and a few other important actors. None of them were in the same city. If this were an ordinary celebratory banquet, Fang Shaoyi might not have gone. However, given his rtionship with Director Xin, he definitely needed to attend. Even more coincidentally, Yuan Ye¡¯s new book had just been released. He was scheduled for book signings in several major cities. The two of them happened to be heading to the same city.


    Yuan Ye very proactively booked two tickets for them. It was time to express his passion. Ji Xiaotao asked if he needed to tag along. Yuan Ye said, ¡°No need. Do what you need to do, Teacher Tao.¡±


    Before Ji Xiaotao could respond, Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Yes, tag along.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at Fang Shaoyi. He thought Fang Shaoyi was doing this on purpose. Perhaps he was being tsundere again. But it was fine whether or not Ji Xiaotao tagged along. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have any opinions about this. Thus, in the end, the three of them left together. Ji Xiaotao bought his own ticket.


    Actually, Fang Shaoyi mainly wanted Ji Xiaotao to follow Yuan Ye around. Yuan Ye always did everything alone. Though the publishingpany would definitely arrange for someone to take care of him for the book signing, Fang Shaoyi still didn¡¯t feel even the slightest bit more rxed.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t really like book signings and other events like these. But this had been part of the contract that he had already signed while publishing the book. All these years, he had continuously worked with the same publisher. Their coboration was pretty satisfactory, too. He was technically returning a favor this time, so agreed to a few book signings.


    Ji Xiaotao was both an assistant and bodyguard. His old nanny¡¯s heart couldn¡¯t catch a break. After the event, Yuan Ye went to eat dinner with his coborators. Fang Shaoyi called Ji Xiaotao and asked, ¡°Done yet?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao whispered, ¡°Yeah. He¡¯s eating right now.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi inquired, ¡°You¡¯re following him?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao lowered his head and made a noise of acknowledgment. He responded, ¡°Yes.¡±


    ¡°Then tell him not to drink too much. If he gets drunk, call me,¡± Fang Shaoyi said.


    ¡°Alrighty. Got it!¡± Ji Xiaotao replied. After hanging up, Ji Xiaotao thought to himself, can¡¯t you directly call him yourself? What kind of bad habit is this, always making me y messenger?


    It was impossible for Fang Shaoyi not to drink any alcohol while eating with Director Xin and them. Who could avoid drinking at such a celebratory banquet? The director and Fang Shaoyi were uncle and nephew in private. There was even less reason for worry. How could Fang Shaoyi avoid drinking too much? Prior to arriving, he hade up with a good n. He would find a reason to say he wasn¡¯t going to drink anything at all. In the end, though, he still failed in doing so.


    His voice sounded a bit rough. When Ji Xiaotao hung up, he turned around and told Yuan Ye, ¡°It¡¯s over. He¡¯s drunk.¡±


    Yuan Ye thought about it and said, ¡°You head back and take a break. I¡¯ll go.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao very conscientiously left. Yuan Ye took a taxi to the hotel. When he arrived at the private room, the atmosphere was still festive. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t go inside. He waited outside the door. If he walked in, he would have to drink too. How were they going to get back if they were both drunk? It would be better if he hid outside.


    As everyone was leaving, Yuan Ye acted like he had just arrived. The director saw him. Yuan Ye hurriedly greeted, big smile on his face, ¡°You guys are already done? I¡¯mte?¡±


    The director asked with a smile, ¡°Little Yuan¡¯s here? How about we go for another round of drinks?¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Yuan Ye shook his head. ¡°I¡¯m here to pick up my ge.¡±


    Director Xin turned around to nce at Fang Shaoyi. He pressed down on Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulder and didn¡¯t leave until saying a few things to him. The rest of the film crew walked in front of them. Yuan Ye scooted close to Fang Shaoyi and whispered, ¡°How much did you drink?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze was already dazed. He had honestly drank quite a lot. However, there was nothing obviously different about how he was walking or acting. He didn¡¯t answer, only shaking his head.


    Yuan Ye secretly held onto his hand, then walked alongside Fang Shaoyi. They exited, shoulder to shoulder. All the leaders had people picking them up. Those who didn¡¯t had hotel chauffeurs responsible for sending them back. Thus, Yuan Ye thankfully didn¡¯t need to worry about them. Celebrities weren¡¯t in the habit of conversing in public. They had already said all that needed to be said at the dinner table. After exiting the door, they simply bade each other farewell. There was nothing else to be said.


    The two of them didn¡¯t take the hotel¡¯s car. Yuan Ye casually gged down a taxi, then slipped inside and gave the driver the address. The driver was a middle-aged man who didn¡¯t recognize the two of them. The entire trip passed in rtive silence.


    Out of the public eye, Fang Shaoyi could finally rx. He leaned against the back seat, breathing heavy. With the smell of alcohol surrounding him, he really looked like a drunkard.


    Eventually, the driver nced back a few times before carefully telling Yuan Ye, ¡°Please don¡¯t let him vomit in the car......¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°He won¡¯t. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    It had been a long time since Fang Shaoyi had drunk so much alcohol; at least, it had been a long time since Yuan Ye had seen him so drunk. When Fang Shaoyi became drunk, he was normally quite quiet. He wasn¡¯t annoying and was likely to directly fall asleep after returning home. Fang Shaoyi reached a hand over, eyes closed. Yuan Ye very naturally ced his hand in the other¡¯s hand so that he could hold it. Thus, Fang Shaoyi slept the entire way back while squeezing his hand. During the trip, Yuan Ye nced down at their sped hands and Fang Shaoyi¡¯s peaceful face a few times. He thought to himself, how well behaved.


    After returning to their room, Fang Shaoyi finally regained some rity. He undressed and obediently took a shower. This entire time, he didn¡¯t cause any trouble. He did whatever Yuan Ye told him to do. When Yuan Ye finally got Fang Shaoyi settled down, he took a shower himself. Fang Shaoyi was quietly sleeping in bed, nkets wrapped around him, when Yuan Ye got out of the shower.


    Yuan Ye ced a bottle of water on the bed because he worried that Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mouth would feel dry after waking up. Fang Shaoyi abruptly opened his mouth and muttered, ¡°Are you sleeping or not......¡±


    ¡°Coming.¡± Yuan Ye nced at him and answered, ¡°Coming,ing.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t actually fallen into deep sleep. After returning to the room, he was no longer so sleepy. Yuan Ye was being slow and taking forever to get in bed to sleep. Thus, Fang Shaoyi had started rushing him.


    Under the influence of alcohol, his usual cold demeanor had disappeared too. He could no longer hide his true attitude like he had been doing before. The person next to him was someone he didn¡¯t need to be guarded against in the slightest. All his walls hade down.


    Yuan Ye held onto Fang Shaoyi and patted his back. As if coaxing a child, he whispered, ¡°Sleep, baobei¡¯er.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. At this time, he suddenly randomly blurted out, ¡°How could your heart be so cruel?¡±


    Yuan Ye first froze for a moment. Then, he burst intoughter. He lowly asked, ¡°Where did thate from......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyebrows were still furrowed. He scolded, ¡°Shut up.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked silently. Then, he reached a hand out and tapped the spot between Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyebrows. Hisugh was very soft. He said, ¡°You¡¯re the cruel one.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi leaned back to avoid his hand. He replied, ¡°You deserved it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, I did.¡± Yuan Ye patted him again. ¡°I really deserved it. Don¡¯t furrow your eyebrows.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi quieted down and stopped speaking. Yuan Ye spoke up first instead. He touched the other¡¯s chin and asked him, ¡°Why don¡¯t you want to film anymore?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t reply. Thus, Yuan Ye asked again, ¡°Do you not believe that I can sort myself out?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Fang Shaoyi scooted forward a bit. He buried his face against Yuan Ye¡¯s neck and kissed the other on the corbone. His voice was muffled, ¡°......I do, which is why I¡¯m unwilling.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s heart felt sore. He tugged at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hair a few times before turning off the lights. He kept gently tugging at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hair. This type of scalp massage was reallyfortable. Fang Shaoyi fell asleep very quickly.


    After the book signing at this location, there were several other destinations Yuan Ye still needed to go to. Ji Xiaotao followed Yuan Ye around for the subsequent few days. He had done this before in the past, too. The celebrity assistant asionally worked part-time as the author¡¯s assistant as well. When Yuan Ye finally finished dealing with all these matters, it was already December. In about a dozen or so days, it was going to be Christmas.


    In his free time between flying around, Yuan Ye still needed to edit the script for Feng Leizi and them. He had already turned in his third draft. Yuan Ye¡¯s biggest fear was that they would tell him, ¡°Come over when you have time. Let¡¯s talk face to face.¡±


    Nothing good coulde out of talking face to face. Each conversation wouldst at least a whole evening. Last time, they had directly conversed for over ten hours. Yuan Ye had honestly been too tired to continue, but the director¡¯s eyes had still been extremely bright. He had told Yuan Ye to drink a few more cups of coffee.


    This movie was called¡¶Utterance¡·. It was a melodrama set in the background of the past. The male lead was mute; his younger brother was also half-mute. The younger brother got quite a lot of screen time as well. He was a character that was very pure and animated. When discussing him, Feng Leizi offhandedly mentioned a few actors. The director didn¡¯t express his opinions about them. Yuan Ye had an epiphany. Then, he said, ¡°I happen to have an actor to rmend. He suits the role quite well.¡±


    Actually, Yuan Ye had more than one actor to rmend. He rmended two people: one was Yang Siran, the other was Cheng Xun. Yang Siran¡¯s previous movie had been filmed alongside Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye had watched him act before. He was very talented. Cheng Xun¡¯s image was very simr to that of the character¡¯s. However, Yuan Ye had no idea if his acting skills were on par. In all honesty, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t actually watched him act before. Yuan Ye just happened to like Cheng Xun and Chi Xing a lot. Rmending Cheng Xun was technically a bit selfish.


    A rmendation didn¡¯t really count for much. Whether or not they would get used depended on the director. They still needed to send their materials to the director so he could make the final decision. At the time, Yuan Ye had actually only offhandedly mentioned their names. He hadn¡¯t been too serious about this. After all, this character was rather important. Casting needed to be performed extremely diligently. However, Yuan Ye still mentioned this to Cheng Xunter on. He told the other to organize his materials and send a copy of them to the director when he had the time. Chi Xing happened to be next to Cheng Xun. Heined that Ye ge was too biased.


    Yuan Yeughed while saying through the phone, ¡°You look too cheery. You don¡¯t have that mncholic aura around you.¡±


    It had been a long time since Yuan Ye had seen Yang Siran. Because of this, Yuan Ye asked about him. When he did so, Ji Xiaotao stated, very exasperated, ¡°I think it¡¯s almost over for him.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Wasn¡¯t thepany keen on promoting him?¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t know what¡¯s going on in his head. Couldn¡¯t tell that he was so stubborn back then when we were on set,¡± Ji Xiaotao said. ¡°He can¡¯t get along with his manager. His attitude and temper are fine, but he simply won¡¯t do anything he¡¯s told to do.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s such a situation?¡± At the time, Yang Siran had been a pretty good kid on set. Quite well-behaved. Though he had ended up on the headlines with Fang Shaoyi, from their interactions, he wasn¡¯t the super cunning type of youth. Back then, he had silently helped Fang Shaoyi get back at the other actor. Yuan Ye actually hoped that his future development would go smoothly.


    Ji Xiaotao sighed and said, ¡°Geng ge never dotes on anyone. Aside from my ge, there isn¡¯t any other actor in thispany who¡¯s so uncooperative. It¡¯s been several months already. My bet is Geng ge¡¯s going to toss him.¡±


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°There¡¯s a role that he¡¯s quite suited for in a script that I¡¯m currently working on. Tell thepany to send his materials over and try. We just signed him. If we toss him, his future¡¯s over. There¡¯s no need to be so resolute.¡±


    ¡°Tough luck,¡± Ji Xiaotao said. ¡°Geng ge isn¡¯t even mentioning him at thepany anymore. Doesn¡¯t talk about him during meetings at all. He probably won¡¯t promote him from now on.¡±

 Chapter 55

    <h4>Chapter 55</h4>


    Geng ge wasn¡¯t going to promote him anymore? Not promoting a signed artist just like that...... Yuan Ye thought to himself, Geng ge is truly the boss of everyone. However, after spending several months together in the same film crew, even celebrating the new year together, he and Yang Siran technically had a semnce of a friendship. If the other got ignored like this for a few years, he would no longer be able to be a celebrity anymore. Though Yuan Ye didn¡¯t know what Yang Siran had done, he believed that it probably didn¡¯t warrant such harsh punishment.


    Thus, the next time Yuan Ye saw Geng Jinwei, he specially mentioned Yang Siran¡¯s situation, then asked if Geng Jinwei wanted to send the materials over. Lin Feng¡¯s movies were of very high quality. If he really got chosen, this would be a great opportunity.


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t say if he was going to send the materials or not. He only said, ¡°Okay, got it.¡±


    Yuan Ye added, ¡°I¡¯ve watched Little Yang act before. He¡¯s not bad.¡±


    Geng Jinwei gazed at him. There was a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile on his face. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°He and Fang Shaoyi had a rumored romance. You¡¯re not hung up over that?¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. He had originally been nted in the office chair, but now, he stood up and patted down his pants while saying, ¡°How old am I? Besides, when have I ever been hung up over anything?¡±


    Geng Jinwei chuckled too. Yuan Ye added, ¡°On set, Little Yang and I had a pretty good rtionship. He¡¯s a well-behaved kid and isn¡¯t unlikeable. Let me speak up for him. If he isn¡¯t listening, just give him a lecture. However, I¡¯m simply saying this; you¡¯re simply listening to me say this. I definitely won¡¯t forcefully butt intopany matters.¡±


    ¡°Ye di.¡± Geng Jinwei lit a cigarette. He tossed the box at Yuan Ye and called his name, then said, ¡°You¡¯re causing distance between us. If you and Shaoyi were willing to worry aboutpany matters, I¡¯d be in full support.¡±


    Yuan Ye wobbled his head. The corners of his lips quirked up. ¡°We aren¡¯t willing. You¡¯ve worked hard, Geng ge.¡±


    Since they were talking about Yang Siran, in the end, Geng Jinwei said, ¡°I¡¯ll send his materials overter. Whether or not he gets chosen is a different matter. Either way, you can try and help out too.¡±


    ¡°Will do.¡± Yuan Ye smiled while nodding. ¡°After all, he¡¯s ourpany¡¯s actor.¡±


    There were innumerous actors in theirpany. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t help all of them individually either. Yang Siran only happened to have spent time with him in the same film crew. They had an okay rtionship. No matter what, this was a type of fate. This was the reason Yuan Ye was speaking up for him. Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t get involved inpany matters. Fang Shaoyi could ask about them, but it wouldn¡¯t be right for Yuan Ye to do the same. He also wasn¡¯t willing to say too much.


    This incident was over after he told Geng Jinwei. He didn¡¯t think too much about it either. Two dayster, Yang Siran sent Yuan Ye a message over WeChat: ¡°Thank you for speaking up for me, Yuan Ye ge. I¡¯ve troubled you.¡±


    They had added each other on WeChat while on set, but hadn¡¯t contacted each other since then. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even remember that he had added the other on WeChat before. Yuan Ye replied: ¡°Jiayou. Keep your temper in check.¡±


    Yang Siran replied: ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll remember that. Thank you again, Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    Even when he had been young, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t had such nice looking legs. He was too naughty. His legs weren¡¯t that pale and he had a lot of muscle. However, if someone showed his legs to Fang Shaoyi, though they weren¡¯t that pretty, they¡¯d still definitely be alluring. Yuan Ye suddenly shook his head whileughing. It was a normal morning. Why was he being so coquettish out of the blue?


    Fang Shaoyi walked in and inquired, ¡°What are youughing about?¡±


    Yuan Ye answered honestly, ¡°Chatting with a little boy.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi, expressionless, ¡°Again?¡±


    ¡°Ah, cause you won¡¯t chat with me anyways,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°What are you chatting about that¡¯s got you so happy?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°Legs.¡±


    ¡°Legs?¡± Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. He observed Yuan Ye¡¯s cheeky smile and walked over to wrap the other in a one-armed embrace. He asked next to Yuan Ye¡¯s ear, ¡°Missing love again?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s biggest fear was Fang Shaoyi speaking into his ear. He moved his neck and pleaded, ¡°We weren¡¯t chatting about legs. Would I dare to?¡±


    After saying this, he reached back and pinched Fang Shaoyi¡¯s leg. He told the other, ¡°These are the only legs that could make me want to chat.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was calm. He grabbed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand and forced it lower and onto the other¡¯s body. ¡°Let¡¯s chat about this?¡±


    ¡°......Okay.¡± How could Yuan Ye handle this? He felt like he was close to exploding.


    Fang Shaoyi let go of him and expressionlessly walked to the side to pour out a cup of water. He slowly drank this cup of water. Yuan Ye inhaled deeply before saying with a smile, ¡°Chatting is useless, though. You can¡¯t use mine. Even if we were to chat, we¡¯d have to chat about yours.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth couldn¡¯t shut up for even a moment. When his mouth got bored, he always had to make a cheekyment. Fang Shaoyi gazed deeply at him for a few seconds, then ignored him. Yuan Ye needed to leave in a bit. They didn¡¯t have any time. Fang Shaoyi lifted a hand and pointed at him. Yuan Ye chuckled and stopped speaking, no longer provoking the other.


    The two of them happily and peacefully remained in their rtionship. Because of this, time passed really quickly. Previously, one had been cating while the other had been acting cold. Eventually, after enough time, this had basically be a purposeful mode ofmunication between them ¨C used as a way of spicing up their rtionship. Quite interesting. Outsiders who didn¡¯t know the truth would believe that Yuan Ye was shamelessly sticking to Fang Shaoyi. The pursuit was very tedious. Only those who knew the truth would understand that these two honestly knew how to y. Normal life was getting too boring, so they found some fun for themselves.


    For example, Ji Xiaotao. He had already gone numb from watching these two being lovey-dovey all day. His heart was like still water. At first, he would asionally send messages to Jian Xu¡¯s assistant, Dong Lin, to brag. Eventually, he had already bragged enough. After a long time without receiving any messages, Dong Lin took the initiative to ask: Your ges have broken up again?


    Ji Xiaotao replied, expression dark: ......Your ge¡¯s the one that broke up again.


    During this period of time, Yuan Ye¡¯s cooking skills had improved greatly. He could stew soup or boil noodles at will. asionally, he would also mix things up and gift Fang Shaoyi some hearts. For Christmas, he brought a Christmas tree home too. It was a gigantic tree, covered in gifts. At the time, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even know how to react. He could imagine how Yuan Ye had hung up all the presents; Wild Monkey wouldn¡¯t even have needed adder. He could climb up using only his hands and feet. However, Fang Shaoyi honestly couldn¡¯t think of a way to get the gifts down. The tree was over two meters tall. To reach the box at the top of the tree, he would need to use a longdder. Fang Shaoyi was almost forty. Why couldn¡¯t Santa us have simply stuffed the present under his pillow if he was nning on giving one? So much trouble.


    Though his expression was unwilling, on Christmas Eve, he still spent around half an hour taking pictures. He took about a dozen pictures. In the end, he chose three to post on Weibo ¨C one was a panorama, one was him plucking gifts off while sitting on adder, and one was him sitting on the carpet in the room, long legs surrounded by colorful gift boxes. His smile was slightly pleased and cute. He captioned these: Happy holidays, Fang Seven Years.


    Under this post, all the fans were either hahaha-ing, aoaoao-ing, or yingyingying-ing. They all said that he was abusing dogs. The fans weren¡¯t wrong at all; he really had done this on purpose. He truly did have that goal. Someone exposed the ¡°Fang Seven Years¡± caption that Yuan Ye had added to one of his Moments previously. Juxtaposed, the meaning behind these pictures was obvious.


    CP fans didn¡¯t need to say anything else. All they needed to do wasy there and eat sugar. They didn¡¯t care about what others were saying. There was too much sugar to eat.


    Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t see Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Weibo post, but there were caring people in his friend circle. His phone kept ringing with notifications. After looking through these messages, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi, slightly speechless, ¡°Ge, what are you showing off for?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t even finished unwrapping his presents. At first, he had still maintained a disdainful expression on his face. Eventually, though, he couldn¡¯t keep the act up anymore. The amusement in his eyes couldn¡¯t be kept hidden at all. His voice still sounded normal, though. He said, ¡°You¡¯re not the boss of me.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not.¡± Yuan Ye helped him unwrap the presents. There were over a dozen. At this speed, Fang Shaoyi was going to take years to unwrap them all. ¡°How dare I be your boss? You¡¯re the big boss.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi pointed at the box in Yuan Ye¡¯s hands and ordered, ¡°Put it down.¡±


    ¡°Ah, okay.¡± Yuan Ye looked at him and paused. Then, he sighed and set it down. ¡°Okay, okay.¡±


    Yuan Ye was full of these crazy ideas. Inparison, Fang Shaoyi seemed really boring. During holidays, birthdays, and anniversaries, he would give the other gifts as needed and do what was required. These would all be thoughtfully prepared, but wouldn¡¯t be as creative as Yuan Ye¡¯s ideas.


    This Lunar New Year, they celebrated with Fang Shaoyi¡¯s parents. After the second day of the new year, they went back to Yuan Ye¡¯s parents¡¯ ce. On New Year¡¯s Eve, while in private, Yuan Ye gave blessing after blessing. Each time he said a blessing, Fang Shaoyi would give him a red envelope. By the end, Fang Shaoyi had already run out of red envelopes, but he still hadn¡¯t finished giving blessings.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, exasperated, ¡°I don¡¯t have any more. Stop saying them.¡±


    There was a whole pile of red envelopes next to Yuan Ye that he had gotten from Fang Shaoyi. His smile was a bit wicked. He suddenly leaned over and stuffed his hand into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shirt pocket. As expected, he pulled another red envelope out. Whileughing, he said, ¡°You thought I wouldn¡¯t be able to guess that you were hiding one?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi became even more exasperated. ¡°At least leave one for me. That was the post-sex red envelope I prepared.¡±


    Yuan Ye instantly burst intoughter. ¡°You don¡¯t need to give me a red envelope post-sex. That¡¯ll make me feel like I¡¯m a...... you know.¡±


    ¡°Know what?¡± Fang Shaoyi licked his lips. Though he was expressionless, this was still very enticing in Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes.


    Yuan Ye scratched his head and blinked at the other. He mouthed, ¡°Prost¡ª¡ªitute.¡±


    He had already spoken so explicitly. That meant he was basically begging for it. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t possibly disappoint him. He definitely needed to grant Yuan Ye¡¯s wish for countdown sex.


    When they finally finished, the countdown had already ended and it was the new year. Yuan Yeid there, looking through his clothes for a cigarette. Fang Shaoyi pulled out another red envelope from some unknown location and stuffed it into Yuan Ye¡¯s hand. He gently bit the other¡¯s lips and said, ¡°Lucky money. For peace.¡±


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. ¡°I ultimately failed to unearth them all. Howe you still have another one?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Even if you did find this one, I¡¯d have yet another one. I have to leave some lucky money for you no matter what.¡±


    Yuan Ye held the lucky money next to his lips and kissed it. Then, he reached under his pillow and pulled out a red envelope too. He handed this to Fang Shaoyi, softly saying, ¡°You¡¯re the one who gives me lucky money every year. This year, I want to give you some too. I¡¯m giving all possible blessings to you. This will hold things steadily in ce.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi epted this red envelope and stared at it. He remained silent for a long time.


    Yuan Ye lifted his hand and caressed the other¡¯s face. He lowered his voice and said, ¡°In the past, I was pretty insensitive. I wasn¡¯t very detail-oriented. I couldn¡¯t think of many things. Looking back now, I always feel like I wasn¡¯t good enough to you.¡±


    ¡°From now on, I¡¯ll think about things more carefully. If I say something wrong, tell me. If I do something that makes things more difficult for you, you need to let me know too.¡± The little light at the head of their bed made everything seem intimate and gentle. Yuan Ye continued, ¡°We still have a long road ahead of us. I want to be better to you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared straight into his eyes. They made eye contact and could see their own reflections in the other¡¯s eyes. Fang Shaoyi had originally wanted to ask Yuan Ye where he had gotten this wrong impression from, but he also felt like there was no need to say this. His lover was making his good intentions known. All he had to do was ept them.


    Thus, in the end, Fang Shaoyi only nodded and said, ¡°Okay.¡±

 Chapter 56

    <h4>Chapter 56</h4>


    Now that they were peacefully together, each day was full of tenderness. There was no conflict and no debate. The wonder resulting from all this calm could slowly heal their past regrets and wounds.


    Fang Shaoyi had been resting since wrapping up filming and returning in April. Now, almost an entire year had passed. Aside from attending some promotional events and film festivals, he hadn¡¯t participated in any work this year. His pace of life had suddenly be very slow; it could even be said that his pace of life had almostpletelye to a standstill. He had to admit, though, that in this year, his and Yuan Ye¡¯s rtionship had be a lot better, and very quickly too. After all, there hadn¡¯t really been any irreconcble differences between the two of them. If the outer world didn¡¯t start any fires, they themselves would be fine. However, as soon as a fire started outside, it was hard to tell if the same thing would happenst time, where the fire directly blew up their rtionship.


    Prior to the new year, Fang Shaoyi had participated in a few promotional events and activities. Jiang Linchuan¡¯s movie managed to squeeze into the celebratory listings. It became extremely popr. In the second half ofst year, Fang Shaoyi had filmed two different movies consecutively. They were practically released one after the other. These two movies were of twopletely different styles, but he had acted well in both of them. Netizens praised his acting skills to the heavens. Film critics gave mixed reviews about these movies, but were kind when critiquing Fang Shaoyi. This was also because there was honestly nothing toin about. For an actor, everything relied on their acting skills. If the movie was bad, that was the director or screenwriter¡¯s fault. As long as actors¡¯ acting skills met expectations, they wouldn¡¯t be critiqued too harshly. Additionally, in respect to being a celebrity, prior to his divorce scandal, Fang Shaoyi had never really had any negative points. He had always been a virtuous artist.


    Last year, Fang Shaoyi had attended a variety show and released two movies. They had all been very popr. If this were anyone else, they would definitely be trying to improve their poprity following all this attention. This was the time when they would be able to get double the results for half the effort. But Fang Shaoyi surprisingly paused. Aside from previous contractual work, he rejected all other invites.


    Geng Jinwei wouldn¡¯t have too strong of an opinion about these things. After all, Fang Shaoyi was already mature enough. Besides, given their rtionship, Geng Jinwei was even less likely to say something ¨C especially in matters regarding earning money. If Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t want to take new job offers and earn more money, Geng Jinwei overly convincing him to do so would make it seem like he had other intentions. It was enough for him to simply give the other a reminder. Even after so many years of coboration, they had never had any conflicts. They had always been verypatible and in tune with one another. This was also rted to the fact that both of them had very clear minds. In any given situation, they could always think of all the possible pros and cons for the other. Geng Jinwei never forced Fang Shaoyi to earn money, never made him ept work. From start to finish, he maintained his respect of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s own desires. On the other hand, Fang Shaoyi also did his best to cooperate. Normally, if Geng Jinwei told him to help a newbie along, he would do it to the best of his abilities. All rtionships were based on interaction. It was always the least stressful working with sensible people.


    At the beginning of the year, Geng Jinwei created a work n for Fang Shaoyi, as usual. Fang Shaoyi epted it. Geng Jinwei said, ¡°Give it to me straight. When do you n on resting until? This way, I¡¯ll be able to make better ns. You need to at least give me all the facts.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He said, ¡°I really don¡¯t know. Don¡¯t schedule any work for me this year. In the past, I lived my life in between work. Now, I want to live more than work.¡±


    ¡°Retiring from the big screen?¡± Geng Jinwei¡¯s dark eyebrows shot up. He observed Fang Shaoyi. ¡°You¡¯re able to let everything go?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked down and thought about it. Following a short pause, he seemed tough. He calmly said, ¡°Probably.¡±


    Geng Jinwei was always really busy at the beginning of the year. He often needed to take business trips. When he had the time, Fang Shaoyi would go work at thepany to help him with some of the workload. However, Geng Jinwei ultimately didn¡¯t manage to ease up. The busier one was, the more likely it was for trouble to ur.


    However, the person who had caused trouble wasn¡¯t Fang Shaoyi. Instead, it was Yuan Ye.


    Ji Xiaotao shot downstairs looking for Fang Shaoyi. He showed the other a Weibo post. At first, Fang Shaoyi had thought that it wasn¡¯t a big deal. After reading the post, though, his expression became a bit dark. He first called Yuan Ye, saying that he would go pick the other upter. Yuan Ye probably hadn¡¯t seen the post yet. His tone was still quite cheery. He asked Fang Shaoyi what he wanted to eat for dinner.


    Fang Shaoyi softly said to him, ¡°You decide. I¡¯m fine with anything.¡±


    ¡°Churn the waters first.¡± Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. ¡°They¡¯re trying to lead the argument. Churn the waters now to stabilize the situation, then tell PR to take care of it.¡±


    While Fang Shaoyi had been speaking, Geng Jinwei had called. Ji Xiaotao answered while replying to Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Got it, ge.¡±


    The Weibo post just now had been made by He Sai. He had directly tagged Yuan Ye, pointing straight at him: Yuan Ye. Teacher Yuan. No wonder why you said those things back then. I finally understand what they mean now. You said that I was a dog with a master. But where is the master I use to bully people? I find itical just thinking about all the hard work and effort! Now, you can finally beat a drowned dog.


    The apanying picture was one that had been taken while he had still been filming on set. Additionally, there was a screenshot of a previous Weibo post where He Sai had hinted at the movie having double male leads.


    His manager reposted this post and added: ¡°Dog with a master¡± and ¡°drowned dog¡± were all spoken from Teacher Yuan¡¯s mouth. They were extremely humiliating, but in order to avoid affecting filming for this movie, He Sai didn¡¯t say anything. But his pain didn¡¯t result in any equivalent gain. I¡¯m speechless. I hope the Heavens will be kind to hardworking and determined people!


    Under this, fans¡¯ments had already taken over the high ground. They felt sorry that He Sai had been duped by the film crew, that he had still had to suffer through bullying and exclusion even on set. Yuan Ye¡¯s words had been a bit too ill-intentioned.


    After clicking into the trending topic, all the posts were basically also sharing how He Sai had worked so hard for many years, but had never gotten popr. They included shots from his idol drama days to bring out nostalgia from the young female poption. These were all tagged with #The Teenage Dreams He Sai Gave Us in Those Years#. Some also used the word ¡°apparently.¡± Apparently, Yuan Ye had always been very domineering on set. Fang Shaoyi abused his celebrity status too. These two often bullied rookies and had once even yelled at a young actor until he cried.


    Thements under these posts were already too brazen to look at. In a little over ten minutes, the topic had already rapidly risen up the trending list. This had all been prepared ahead of time. Baseless criticisms were consecutively getting thrown at Yuan Ye. With the fact that he had attended the variety show while divorced as a basis, people had alreadye up with the concept that Yuan Ye¡¯s moral character was bad. With this in ce, all other critiques could be ¡°exined.¡±


    Fans didn¡¯t know what was actually going on. At first, they didn¡¯t really dare to say anything because they couldn¡¯t tell who was right and who was wrong either. They feared that if they said the wrong thing, they would get mocked. This made it very difficult to argue back. As such, their firepower was greatly reduced.


    There were a lot of people waiting to watch the drama unfold under Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibos. They urged them to reply in thements. Neither parties said anything. Instead, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s assistant made a statement using his own ount. He posted a picture ¨C the order of actors on the original script. This order had been decided based on screen time. Fang Shaoyi was first, He Sai was fifth. His caption was: [Smile] ording to the order, he¡¯s at most the fourth male lead. Where did this ¡°double male leads¡±e from?


    He had already spoken up. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s fans dared to speak now too. They instantly mocked the other back, specifically choosing to rub salt into He Sai¡¯s wounds. They mocked his poor acting skills, asking how he dared to be double male leads with Fang Shaoyi with those acting skills. Wasn¡¯t he scared of being beaten into the ground? They also started looking into all the immoral things He Sai had done these past few years. He had been with this producer and that director. Your Saisai has truly been very ¡°hardworking.¡± You¡¯ve worked hard, Saisai!


    He Sai had truly been tricked by the film crew. He had added all those scenes for nothing. They hadn¡¯t made the final cut at all. No matter what, he couldn¡¯t act like this hadn¡¯t ever happened. However, the director and even the entire film crew added together weren¡¯t as popr as Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. Even if he wanted to start a fight, he needed to start with these two. This seemed like a win-win situation.


    There were always certain people in this industry who were willing to throw all their shame away to gain poprity and attention.


    Geng Jinwei called Fang Shaoyi. He said, ¡°I¡¯m returning tonight. Don¡¯t say anything. Both of you.¡±


    ¡°Do what you need to,¡± Fang Shaoyi lowly replied. ¡°You don¡¯t need toe back. It¡¯s not really a big deal. I¡¯ll go talk about it with PR myself.¡±


    ¡°Forget it,¡± Geng Jinwei scoffed. ¡°You¡¯re incapable of remaining calm when things are rted to Yuan Ye. I¡¯ll take care of it.¡±


    Geng Jinwei asked again, ¡°Did Yuan Ye say those things?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. ¡°Yes. They practically forced him to say it, with the way they were talking. Even if he hadn¡¯t, I would¡¯ve.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯d never.¡± Geng Jinwei chuckled first before saying, ¡°Some people deserve to get cussed out. When this dumbass crawls off his sugar daddy¡¯s bed......¡±


    He didn¡¯t finish the sentence. After he crawled off, Geng Jinwei would be waiting. He had allowed the other to do as he wished for so long only out of respect for his current sugar daddy. Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t really want to burn bridges with the other¡¯s sugar daddy. Fang Shaoyi had a good temper, but that didn¡¯t mean hispany had a good temper too. All these years, anything that Fang Shaoyi needed to say that was negative had all been said through hispany. Geng Jinwei knew that he didn¡¯t have as great of self restraint as Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°I¡¯m not even sure if I¡¯m going to keep acting in the future. I¡¯m not scared of being cussed out. I don¡¯t care.¡±


    The meaning of this was that they needed to do their best to remove Yuan Ye from this matter, to lessen the negative impact on Yuan Ye. Geng Jinwei instantly understood after hearing this. He sighed and said, ¡°You don¡¯t want Yuan Ye to get cussed out, but I don¡¯t fucking want you to get cussed out either. I¡¯m bound to teach this fucking piece of shit a lesson sooner orter. How annoying. What¡¯s he doing, jumping around in my line of sight?¡±


    He hung up only after cussing a few times.


    After putting down his phone, Fang Shaoyi squeezed the spot between his eyebrows. He really felt annoyed. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t ept other people yelling at Yuan Ye. Those words burned his eyes when he read them.


    Yuan Ye was one of the few ¡°good people¡± in this industry. He really was a good person, for all intents and purposes. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s understanding of himself, on the other hand, was that he was only ¡°not bad.¡± He couldn¡¯t be considered ¡°good.¡± All the money Yuan Ye had spent these past few years on free book rooms, libraries donated to schools in underdeveloped areas, and charity medical funds took up about seventy percent of his entire ie. Fang Shaoyi had always believed that there was the big love of litt¨¦rateurs present in him. Watching him being baselessly criticized was very painful for Fang Shaoyi.


    When Fang Shaoyi picked Yuan Ye up, the other clearly hadn¡¯t heard about this incident yet. His expression was still cheery. He huddled in on himself and burrowed into the car, then said, ¡°It¡¯s way too cold today.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re wearing too little,¡± Fang Shaoyi responded with a smile as well. ¡°I told you to wear more this morning, but you didn¡¯t listen.¡±


    ¡°I thought that since you were going to pick me up either way, why does it matter what I¡¯m wearing?¡± Yuan Ye used the back of his hand to touch Fang Shaoyi¡¯s cheek. ¡°But I forgot how far the distance from the main door to the car is. Froze my ass off. Is my hand cold?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi touched his hand and softlyughed while saying, ¡°No.¡±


    Yuan Ye gazed at him. A whileter, he suddenly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? I feel like you¡¯re not too happy today?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had originally wanted to say, ¡°I¡¯m fine.¡± ording to his usual way of doing things, he would definitely have told Yuan Ye, ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong.¡± But when these words were at the tip of his tongue, he changed his mind and didn¡¯t manage to get them out. Instead, he waited until they reached red lights. He stepped on the brakes; when the car stopped, he asked Yuan Ye, ¡°If I never act in movies again, would Teacher Yuan pay for my living expenses?¡±


    Yuan Ye very diligently listened as he spoke. In the end, though, he got such a question. Yuan Ye burst intoughter. Without even thinking about it, he said, ¡°Absolutely.¡± Only after did he ask, ¡°Why aren¡¯t you acting in movies again?¡±


    This time, Fang Shaoyi surprisingly didn¡¯t hide anything. Voice low and deep, he told the truth. ¡°He Sai made a Weibo post andined about how you said he was a dog with a master. You¡¯re getting cussed out again.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked and gazed at Fang Shaoyi. The amusement on his face hadn¡¯tpletely faded yet. He rubbed his head and softly asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°I¡¯ve caused trouble for you again, right?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. He said, ¡°I¡¯ve just suddenly started feeling disgusted by all this too......like never before.¡±

 Chapter 57

    <h4>Chapter 57</h4>


    Director Jiang Linchuan had made the decision. He had also been the one who had decided the final cut of the movie. Though Fang Shaoyi had known about everything since the beginning, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t. He had really and truly only found out at the really end. At the end of the day, though, the two of them were taking the me ¨C mainly Yuan Ye. Fang Shaoyi was being criticized simply in afterthought. However, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi were tied together. If they said Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t known about this situation, nobody would believe them. How could that be possible? You two live together. It¡¯s not wrong at all for you to take the me.


    But Jiang Linchuan wasn¡¯t a turtle cowering in his shell. He had made this decision back then out of exasperation and after weighing his pros and cons. He understood that this would definitely cause trouble eventually. For the movie, he would ept this trouble too. He had chosen to start this trouble when everything was already set in stone and couldn¡¯t be changed anymore. However, he truly hadn¡¯t expected that He Sai¡¯s side would directly jump out and point fingers at Yuan Ye. Jiang Linchuan posted an announcement that night saying that due to length issues and also the overall viewing effect, the final cut of the movie was actually the result of a culmination of all the core film crew members¡¯ opinions. The first version of the movie had edited out a lot of scenes, but had still been over two hundred minutes long. Thus, a lot of actors¡¯ scenes had been cut out in the final product. This was unavoidable in cinema.


    This Weibo post¡¯s exnation hadn¡¯t been wless enough. There were lots of illogical points that could be used in counterarguments. Thus, the majority of the firepower got concentrated on yelling at him instead. This took away from some of the firepower attacking Yuan Ye.


    ¡°What are you saying, Director?¡± Yuan Ye said to Jiang Linchuan through the phone. ¡°If you say it like that, you¡¯re creating distance between us.¡±


    Jiang Linchuan had personally called Yuan Ye, saying that Yuan Ye had truly been wronged this time. He owed Yuan Ye a favor. Yuan Ye replied through the phone, ¡°I¡¯ve been dissed so many times throughout the years, I¡¯ve long since gotten used to it. It¡¯s not a big deal. Don¡¯t worry about it. Also, those words really dide out of my mouth. I have nothing to refute.¡±


    Yuan Ye had said that He Sai and his manager were dogs with masters in front of the director. At that time, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t respected anyone. He had directly insulted everyone. Only he was capable of saying these things. At the time, that manager had already been so cocky; if Yuan Ye could¡¯ve held himself back from not saying anything, he wouldn¡¯t have been Yuan Ye. The reason Fang Shaoyi had told him to keep his temper in check was to prevent something like this from happening. He had warned them not to target Yuan Ye, but had ultimately failed in stopping them.


    Fang Shaoyi sat off to the side, listening to Yuan Ye¡¯s call. He stood up to make a pot of tea for the other.


    There were lots of helpless situations like this one. As much of a great background and high status Fang Shaoyi had, he couldn¡¯t possibly ensure that Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t get affected every time. When he had been young, he hadn¡¯t wanted Yuan Ye to get wrapped up in this mess at all. Onlyter did he realize that as long as he was in this industry, that waspletely impossible.


    Yuan Ye had truly said those things. Thus, he wasn¡¯t mad about getting yelled at over this matter at all. However, he was slightly angry about the fact that Fang Shaoyi had gotten dragged in too: not only was he outraged, but his feelings were also very conflicted. He more or less felt a bit disappointed. He had messed things up again.


    He told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°At the time, you told me to stop being impulsive and to keep my temper in check. I was still mad back then, so I wondered how much more I was supposed to reign my temper in. But now I understand.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi rubbed his head. He said, ¡°Then don¡¯t reign it in. Just be like this from now on.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s pretty nice too,¡± Yuan Yeughed. ¡°Either way, I¡¯ll get yelled at no matter what I do. Might as well let my anger out first and then worry about the consequencester. My only regret now is that I didn¡¯t say anything worse at the time. If there¡¯s a next time, I¡¯m definitely going to say what makes me feel better. That way, I won¡¯t feel disadvantaged when I get criticized eventually.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi suddenly felt like his reasoning made a lot of sense. In the past, he had always wanted Yuan Ye to control himself a bit more, to not leave any implicating evidence behind. This was because he didn¡¯t want the other to get yelled at. Thinking about things now, if they had done what Yuan Ye had always wanted, he would at least be freer than he currently was.


    Yuan Yeughed too. He could barely stop. When he finally did, he asked, ¡°I¡¯ll log into Weibo and cuss them out?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi grabbed the tablet next to him and handed it over. ¡°Here.¡±


    Yuan Ye epted it and actually logged into his own Weibo. He couldn¡¯t stopughing. He wouldn¡¯t really start cussing. He Sai and them wanted attention. Starting a fight would only benefit their side. They weren¡¯t scared of being criticized at all. In fact, they practically wished that Yuan Ye would expose the entire conflict between them. These days, people didn¡¯t get yelled at for having sugar daddies or knowing how to climb onto others¡¯ beds anymore. At most, onlookers would just check out the drama. This would result in more avable topics to buy onto the trending list. Later on, He Sai would only be teased, at worst. He was more than willing for this to happen.


    As soon as Yuan Ye logged into Weibo, the first post on his front page was a notification that Ji Xiaotao had reposted Yang Siran¡¯s post: I spent several months on set. Yuan Ye ge always took great care of me. He even gave me a red envelope during the new year. I was originally very nervous about my first time joining a film crew. Much gratitude to Yuan Ye ge and Shaoyi ge for their guidance and advice. I learned a lot. In the entirety of all those months, they never made any harshments. From beginning to end, they patiently taught me. Thank you.


    There was also a hands sped together emoji at the end of this.


    Yuan Ye tsk¡¯d. He said, ¡°Did PR arrange for Little Yang to post this?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked over. Largely uncaring, he said, ¡°Not sure.¡±


    Yuan Ye added, ¡°I hope he didn¡¯t post this himself. He¡¯ll get yelled at. Whoever stands up for me gets dragged in right now.¡±


    It was actually something that Yang Siran had posted himself. He hadn¡¯t discussed with anyone beforehand about posting it. Right now, he had technically debuted too. His performance in the movie wasn¡¯t bad either. Additionally, his looks happened to be very appealing to the audience. His character in the film was a bit dumb, but also slightly cute. Now, he had some fans as well ¨C the majority of them were fans of his appearance. Apparently, Geng Jinwei had gotten him into a variety show about acting that was going to start filmingter. All the guests in it were new actors. If they promoted well, Yang Siran was probably going to be able to achieve some small fame.


    This Weibo post had been made a bit impulsively. His assistant had a horrible headache. He scolded, ¡°I told you that if you want to post anything now, you just need to post pictures! Don¡¯t say so much! Don¡¯t say so much! Why can¡¯t you remember? Look, originally nobody was bringing this up, but now, they¡¯ve dug up the rumored romance from before again. With such a scandal at the beginning of your career, do you still want your image or not?!¡±


    Yang Siran lowered his head and apologized. ¡°Sorry, Zheng ge. I was impulsive.¡±


    ¡°Normally, rookies aren¡¯t even allowed to control their own Weibo ounts. I only gave you ess to yours because I felt that you were obedient. But what are we supposed to do now?¡± Zheng Guang furrowed his brows and said, ¡°What am I supposed to say if the higher-ups ask about you? We¡¯re both going to get scolded!¡±


    ¡°Just say that you didn¡¯t know anything. That I posted it myself,¡± Yang Siran told him apologetically. ¡°That¡¯s the truth anyways. It¡¯s my own fault.¡±


    Zheng Guang heaved out a long exhale. ¡°Can you please stop pissing Boss Geng off, ancestor......¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to piss anyone off.¡± Yang Siran pursed his lips together. ¡°Yuan Ye ge has been pretty nice to me. I just wanted to speak up for him.¡±


    ¡°This isn¡¯t the time for you to be righteous,¡± Zheng Guang said while looking at him. ¡°The entertainment industry isn¡¯t the ce to be righteous and loyal.¡±


    Yang Siran nced at him before looking away. He didn¡¯t respond.


    However, though this Weibo had been posted impulsively, it wasn¡¯t actually a big deal. The people cussing out Yuan Ye had gone crazy ¨C they would cuss out anyone who was supporting the other. Even though Yang Siran had gotten yelled at, he had also gained some poprity. Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi had many more fans than antifans. Additionally, Yang Siran was an artist signed to Fang Shaoyi¡¯spany anyways. Though nobody had announced this fact at the moment, he would get tied to thepany sooner orter.


    It wasn¡¯t a big deal. Otherwise, Ji Xiaotao wouldn¡¯t have reposted his Weibo either. Ji Xiaotao represented the higher-ups.


    In the end, Yang Siran ultimately didn¡¯t get a manager. Eventually, they simply gave him the assistant he currently had. This person acted as a part-time assistant and part-time manager. Yang Siran was very cooperative with him too. Later on, Zheng Guang secretly asked him why he had been so troublesome in the past. He had almost thrown his career away.


    Yang Siran hadn¡¯t answered. He had only gently shaken his head. He simply didn¡¯t want a manager. Aside from this matter, he was always very obedient and cooperative in regards to everything else.


    This incident had been an ident. Yang Siran knew about the drama around the film crew. He ultimately couldn¡¯t bear to watch Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi get yelled at. Even though he didn¡¯t have too many fans, he still needed to say what had to be said. His assistant told him that the entertainment industry wasn¡¯t the ce for being righteous and loyal. He didn¡¯t know if this was right, but, no matter the ce, humans still ought to keep some of their humanity, right? Humans had emotions. ces with emotions shouldn¡¯t be so cold.


    As the party directly tagged, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t keep remaining silent. No matter what, he needed to reply at least once. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t want this situation to carry on forever and ever. The other side was waiting for him to reply in order to use his response as a means of inciting more drama. Yuan Ye needed to ensure that their mouths remained shut. Also, it was too below him and Fang Shaoyi to engage in this fight ¨C this was like a dog biting another dog. If they wanted to say something, he would let them say it. Thus, in the end, Yuan Ye apathetically posted: Jiayou, everyone. Actors should do their job and act, writers should do their job and write. If you stop trying toe up with wrongful and immoral ns, you¡¯ll achieve everything you want.


    It was enough for him to make such a post. He wouldn¡¯t need to bother with this incident again. The rest could simply be left to Geng Jinwei; he could resolve these trivial matters very easily.


    If you said that this rotten situation could actually cause a horrible impact, that was mostly untrue. Yuan Ye still did what he needed to do. However, it also truly did impact one¡¯s mood. Originally, the two of them had been happily in their rtionship, but these past few days, Fang Shaoyi had been in a continuous bad mood. Yuan Ye casually walked down the stairs, initially nning on flirting with Fang Shaoyi a bit. Unfortunately, the phone started ringing at a bad time again.


    Yuan Ye nced at it. The person calling was Guan Zhou. The two of them hadn¡¯t contacted each other in a while. That meant that he couldn¡¯t not answer now. Yuan Ye told Fang Shaoyi before he picked up the phone, ¡°Smile.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked up at him. He was very cooperative. As the corners of his lips quirked up, he showed off an extremely beautiful smile.


    Yuan Ye stared at his phone and sighed. Before answering, he grinned cheekily at Fang Shaoyi and performed a hip thrust.


    ¡°......¡± This action meant that he had started being coquettish again. Yuan Ye turned around to leave. Fang Shaoyi reached out and grabbed his waistband. Yuan Ye looked back at the other. Fang Shaoyi signalled through his gaze for Yuan Ye to sit next to him. He wanted Yuan Ye to answer the call right here.


    ¡°Hello?¡± Yuan Ye greeted Guan Zhou. While smiling, he sat down next to Fang Shaoyi.


    Guan Zhou had just wrapped up the usual end-of-the-year busy period. This g and that g had finally finished, which meant he finally had the time to call. They hadn¡¯t even seen each other during the new year, so he wanted to schedule a meal with Yuan Ye.


    ¡°No problem.¡± While talking on the phone, Yuan Ye also took off his belt. He leaned against the back of the couch, tone calm. ¡°Just tell me in advance when you¡¯re free. Invite Dumb Lu too. I¡¯ve been meaning to ask him how much of his sixty million he¡¯s spent.¡±


    After this call, Yuan Ye had already gotten into the right state. They could directly start whatever activity they wanted to do. Just as he reached his hands out to Fang Shaoyi, the phone rang again. This time, it was Fang Shaoyi¡¯s phone.


    Fang Shaoyi stood up to answer. Yuan Ye grabbed his pants, the same way Fang Shaoyi had just grabbed his waistband. Fang Shaoyi looked back at him and burst intoughter. ¡°At least let me get my phone.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked. In less than a second, he had already monkeyed onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back. ¡°Go ahead.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t do anything about him. He piggybacked Yuan Ye over to his phone and asked, ¡°Are your hands itchy because you haven¡¯t climbed a tree in too long? Why do you keep climbing onto me?¡±


    Yuan Yeughed. His breaths brushed against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear. ¡°Absolutely right.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi reached one hand around to hold onto Yuan Ye. With his other hand, he picked up his phone. He nced at the screen before answering. ¡°Hello? Leader.¡±

 Chapter 58

    <h4>Chapter 58</h4>


    Originally, Yuan Ye had been nning on staying sprawled out on Fang Shaoyi for a bit longer. This way, he could swing onto the other¡¯s front half as soon as he hung up the phone. However, this phone call ended upsting almost an hour. Eventually, Yuan Ye climbed off Fang Shaoyi¡¯s back by himself. Seeing as the call probably wasn¡¯t going to end anytime soon, he turned to pull his pants back on.


    Fang Shaoyi watched as he put his pants on. While doing so, Yuan Ye grinned at him. Fang Shaoyi gestured for Yuan Ye toe. Yuan Ye walked over and sat on the couch with him. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s arm rested on his shoulders. He said into the phone, ¡°Un, please speak.¡±


    Yuan Ye diligently listened to the phone call. Later on, Fang Shaoyi simply put the call on speaker. Yuan Ye quietly listened to their conversation, not interrupting. Wei Hua¡¯s voice was already raspy through the phone. He sighed and said, ¡°That¡¯s the situation. I don¡¯t need to go into too much detail with you. We¡¯ve already been filming for three months. Even without me telling you, you know how hard things are right now.¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± By the end, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression had darkened considerably too. He told Wei Hua, ¡°I¡¯ll give you my response tomorrow? Don¡¯t be too worried now. Don¡¯t get sick either. The path of sess is often littered with obstacles.¡±


    Director Weiughed bitterly through the phone. ¡°Hopefully so. To tell you the truth, I¡¯ve grown several ulcers on my mouth. The other teachers in our film crew told me to call you from the start, but I wasn¡¯t willing to. You know me. I¡¯m really unwilling to force others into anything. Things filmed reluctantly won¡¯t turn out well either. But I honestly have no other choice right now. There truly isn¡¯t anyone else I can find who¡¯s free at this moment and can handle my films.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I understand.¡±


    Wei Hua continued, ¡°I won¡¯t say anymore. Just think of it as you helping me outst minute. I¡¯ll wait for your call. Tell me if you¡¯re okay with it or not.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°Definitely.¡±


    After he hung up, Fang Shaoyi looked at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye had been staring at him too. Without waiting for Fang Shaoyi to say anything, Yuan Ye spoke up first. ¡°Ge, you have to go.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made eye contact with him. Given how well they understood each other, he didn¡¯t need to say anything else. Yuan Ye furrowed his brows and continued, ¡°It¡¯s fine if you refused to take this role prior to the start of filming, but right now, the director needs you to save him. No matter what, you have to go. My guess is that Director Wei wouldn¡¯t have called you unless he really had no other ideas. Disregarding the fact that you¡¯re free right now with nothing to do, even if you really had something to do, you¡¯d still have to do your best to push those arrangements off first.¡±


    The phone call Wei Hua had made just now was truly about official business. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t epted the invitation to join ¡¶Utterance¡·, but he had also told Director Wei way in advance so that the other would have time to prepare. And Director Wei had really started preparing early on. After going through many different actors, he finally chose one. Prior to the start of filming, he had dropped the other off in Shanxi to allow him to get used to vige life. This was to help him disperse that exaggerated celebrity air surrounding him. Things had gone rtively smoothly after the start of filming too. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had even visited set during the initial stages of filming. That actor was alright at acting, and also pretty explosive.


    However, they had learned through the phone call just now that that actor had asked for a day off to celebrate his girlfriend¡¯s birthdayst week. After that, he was never able to return to set again. He had gotten arrested for using drugs.


    Right now, his managementpany was doing all they could to keep the news under wraps. They didn¡¯t want any headlines. However, these types of things couldn¡¯t be kept secret. They would explode sooner orter. No matter what, this actor couldn¡¯t be used anymore. All the scenes previously filmed needed to be refilmed with someone else too. They had already started filming for a long time. There was no way to pause the production. The costs for the entire film crew each day were practically burning through their finances. The only thing to do now was to immediately find a recement actor. Fang Shaoyi was the top choice for this recement, but Director Wei had only called him now, even though the incident had urred a week ago. It was easy to tell that he had tried toe up with other solutions. He didn¡¯t want to force Fang Shaoyi into doing something because of their close rtionship. By now, he was probably already at the end of his wits.


    It wasn¡¯t that he couldn¡¯t find any actors; it was that all the good actors had already finalized their schedules over a year ago, some even earlier. Right now, if he wanted to find someone who could immediately enter the film crew to start filming ¨C and this someone¡¯s acting skills had to be good enough for Wei Hua¡¯s movies ¨C there really wasn¡¯t anyone else.


    Fang Shaoyi pinched the spot between his eyebrows. Yuan Ye squeezed the other¡¯s wrist. His palm was very warm. He gazed at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°I know why you don¡¯t want to film. We¡¯ve never had a conversation about this topic either. One reason is that I¡¯m scared that we¡¯re going to start arguing again if we talk about it. I have no brain to mouth filter. Additionally, I want you to take this opportunity to get a good rest too. You¡¯ve been too tired these past two years.¡±


    Yuan Ye swung one of his legs over so that he was sitting on top of Fang Shaoyi, facing him. Both his knees were pressed against the couch. Yuan Ye pinched the other¡¯s chin and lifted his head up so that they were making eye contact. Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow and lightly chuckled. ¡°......This move.¡±


    ¡°Handsome?¡± Yuan Ye asked whileughing too. After, he wiped the smile off his face and became serious again. ¡°Ge, don¡¯t be muddle-headed. We can sort out our problems slowly. Also, I believe that the two of us won¡¯t make the same mistake a second time. I believe in both you and myself.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s gaze was very determined as he said ¡°believe.¡± At this time, the charisma he was exuding was probably very hard for anyone who called themselves his lover to withstand.


    One of Yuan Ye¡¯s hands reached forward to rest against the couch so that he could maintain his bnce. His other hand was on the back of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head. He gently tugged at the other¡¯s hair and asked, ¡°What are you scared of?¡±


    ¡°A lot of things.¡± Fang Shaoyi lowly repeated, ¡°A lot of things.¡±


    Yuan Ye had very hard bones. He was a man from the mountains. He had grown up while tumbling and stumbling, so both his skeletal structure and personality were tough. He didn¡¯t have elegant lines of muscle like Fang Shaoyi, but he was definitely quite strong. His chest and back were full of the strength and power of a grown man.


    ¡°You¡¯re scared that I won¡¯t like it?¡± Yuan Ye softly asked. ¡°Scared that I¡¯ll do what I did in the past and push both you and the environment away?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. A whileter, he slowly exined, ¡°I¡¯m scared too that you¡¯ll still want to leave one day......that you¡¯ll want to speak up but not be able to, again and again.¡±


    His one sentence had crushed Yuan Ye¡¯s heart into pieces.


    Fang Shaoyi had never said anything like this before. He seemed to never share his innermost thoughts with others, whether at a young age or now. He never said what he thought; you needed toprehend and guess his thoughts for yourself. Yuan Ye knew he was like this and was also used to it. He very rarely interrogated the other. This was simply Fang Shaoyi¡¯s personality. There was no need to forcefully change him into someone else. Just like how Fang Shaoyi never forced Yuan Ye to stop talking ¨C aside from times when he worried that the other would offend someone else. One was extraverted and one was introverted. They had always been like this.


    This was the first time in a long time that Yuan Ye had heard Fang Shaoyi talking about his feelings. He hadn¡¯t been roundabout or tried to express his message in a different way. Instead, he had straightforwardly said it: he was scared. But this was too lethal. Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were even a bit red. He kissed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head and said, voice hoarse, ¡°Don¡¯t be scared.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°I can only bear the cost of separating once. There won¡¯t be a next time.¡±


    Yuan Ye could understand Fang Shaoyi¡¯s emotional struggle. Right now, he really didn¡¯t want to ept any new roles. Especially given the trouble He Sai and them had just caused. This made Fang Shaoyi more resolute about not participating in any films within a short period of time. If Yuan Ye¡¯s other identity wasn¡¯t Fang Shaoyi¡¯s lover, if he was only a litt¨¦rateur, he would be a lot freer than he was now. There also wouldn¡¯t be so many people criticizing him. Weren¡¯t the frustrations of this industry that Yuan Ye experienced also frustrations for Fang Shaoyi? Each character and word cussing Yuan Ye out was also stabbing Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart.


    But the person calling was Director Wei. Fang Shaoyi had benefited from the other¡¯s kindness before and their rtionship was extremely close. He needed to help the other out in his time of need. Fang Shaoyi looked cold, but inside, he was a very loyal person. Each sentence Director Wei had said during this phone call had been from the bottom of his heart. During such difficult times, if Fang Shaoyi could still coldly watch on from the side, he wouldn¡¯t be Fang Shaoyi anymore.


    Later on, Yuan Ye said, ¡°I want to watch you act in films. I fell in love with you initially because of your movies too.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi silently pressed a kiss onto Yuan Ye¡¯s corbone. He listened to Yuan Ye¡¯s deep and gentle voice as the other gently chuckled by his ear, then said, ¡°The you by my side is my heart......but the you in movies is my dream.¡±


    Yuan Ye went to the film set with Fang Shaoyi. They directly flew over the next afternoon. There was no need to say anything after arriving on set. When they handed the contract over, Fang Shaoyi merely scanned it before signing. His wages were extremely low, much lower than any previous time. Director Wei said, ¡°I¡¯m not trying to scam you. We wasted too much money in the early stages, almost to the point that we can¡¯t afford to refilm all those scenes. I still need to bargain with the investors. I can¡¯t give you too much money, but I¡¯ll remember this favor and repay it in the future.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. ¡°Leader, between us, there¡¯s no need to talk about such things.¡±


    Wei Hua¡¯s throat was hoarse. The ulcers around his mouth had already scabbed over. He looked really frail too. It was always very troublesome switching actors halfway through a production, not to mention that the actor getting switched out was the male lead. All their prior work had gone to waste. Also, nobody liked old things. It would be very difficult bringing out the same emotions when filming the second time aspared to the first. Thus, Fang Shaoyi was even more needed. Using his acting skills, he could do his best to rejuvenate the entire cast¡¯s emotions once more. If each new scene was better than the original, refilming wouldn¡¯t be considered ast resort anymore. It would be aplete upgrade.


    This film wasn¡¯t a blockbuster. Director Wei was in pursuit of the movie¡¯s plot and didn¡¯t care for anything else. But the producers, investors, etc. all had very high hopes for this movie. Not for ticket sales, but for awards. The investors understood things quite clearly. If they invested more money and the film didn¡¯t win any awards, on top of theck of ticket sales, they would be losing money. The investors didn¡¯t want to pay any more. Director Wei¡¯s own studio had also invested eight million already. He honestly couldn¡¯t afford spending anything else.


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I¡¯ll pay for what¡¯s still missing. You guys just rest at ease and film. Don¡¯t worry about anything else.¡±


    The executive producer had been present too. He was in charge of the finances. At the time, he had patted Fang Shaoyi¡¯s shoulder, but hadn¡¯t said anything.


    Wei Hua shook his head and replied, ¡°I don¡¯t need you to. I¡¯ll figure something out.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t waste time thinking about these things. You simply need to use your brain to figure out how to change the plot.¡± After saying this, Fang Shaoyi told the producer, ¡°I¡¯ll have Geng ge contact you tomorrow. You can go over the details with him.¡±


    Actually, in this past week, the entire film crew had long since started panicking. In the beginning, only a few core members of the team knew that the actor had been arrested. They had tried to keep this news under wraps in order to avoid causing general panic. But how could that work? For a long time, the actor didn¡¯t appear. They couldn¡¯t keep the secret for too long. This week, all of the film crew members had been anxious. What¡¯s going to happen to our movie? Will we be able to continue filming it? It won¡¯t die here, right?


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s arrival undoubtedly gave everyone new courage. The director hadn¡¯t randomly grabbed an actor off the street to fill in the hole. This was the first choice actor from when the script had initially been written. Not only was he a good actor, he was also bringing money and resources onto set. He himself had resolved two big issues. Everything remaining was only trivial.


    Yuan Ye hade over to help look over the script. Previously, because Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t acting in this movie, they had deleted a lot of scenes requiring a subtle emotional performance. This was because they had feared that the other actor wouldn¡¯t be able to express these emotions. Now, a lot of scenes needed to be edited. Lines needed to be changed too.


    The screenwriter asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Little Yuan, stay here and help me?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°I¡¯ll definitely do what I can, but I also have a different job on hand. When they don¡¯t need me, I¡¯ll be able to help.¡±


    ¡°While you stay the next couple of days, you can discuss with me.¡± The screenwriter was one of Director Wei¡¯s old coborators. In both the screenwriting circle and literary circle, he was an extremely respected senior: one of the people at the topmost part of the pyramid. Yuan Ye had always admired him greatly. This had started when he had been quite young.


    Yuan Ye nodded and said, ¡°Okay, no problem.¡±


    The two of them had arrived on set suddenly. Ji Xiaotao was still at thepany. He still had a bunch of matters to take care of ¨C it wasn¡¯t like he could just drop them and go. There at least needed to be someone he could dump this stuff on. Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°Or you could just stay at thepany. You¡¯re not that young anymore.¡±


    ¡°No, no no no,¡± Ji Xiaotao replied without thinking about it. ¡°I need to follow you around until I¡¯m old. When you¡¯re not filming, I¡¯ll stay at thepany. But when you head out to work, I¡¯m definitely tagging along. Ye ge¡¯s leaving in a few days. Who¡¯s going to talk to you if you¡¯re alone?¡±


    The phone was on speaker. Yuan Ye chuckled and said, ¡°How nice would it be if you were a manager at thepany. Are you stupid?¡±


    ¡°Ye ge, don¡¯t start siding with my ge to try and persuade me! How lonely would it be?¡± Ji Xiaotao asked. ¡°Or is it that I¡¯ve done a bad job? You guys think I¡¯m too old? You want to switch to a younger one?¡±


    Because he said this, Yuan Ye immediately responded, ¡°No! Come! Come immediately! Come tomorrow!¡±


    Ji Xiaotao¡¯s voice lowered. He sounded quite disappointed. ¡°Either way, if you guys want to switch assistants, I don¡¯t mind. I¡¯ll find a hardworking and honest one for you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed. Yuan Ye did too. Yuan Ye said into the phone, ¡°Okay, quit faking it. We¡¯re not telling you that you can¡¯te. Stop acting so childish.¡±


    ¡°Hahahaha, okay.¡± Ji Xiaotao stopped acting too. He cheerily said, ¡°I¡¯ll be over after I deal with the mess on my hands!¡±


    Actually, the shitstorm online hadn¡¯t even ended yet. He Sai¡¯s side had finally benefited from acting pitiful. ¡°Righteous¡±izens pitied him for a different reason everyday. Some extremely absurdizens had even started perceiving Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi as horrible bullies. He Sai was determined to flirt with death. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t possibly argue with him publicly. That was too below him. However, it also wasn¡¯t possible for Geng Jinwei to let He Sai¡¯s disgusting transactions remain hidden.


    Those scandals had all been unearthed by izens¡±. Some had also been exposed by gossip ounts. Truth and lies became mixed together, but these scandals continued one after the other. Didn¡¯t he want attention? If you want attention, then we¡¯ll give you attention. There were also a lot of people who, after reading the news about He Sai, felt that Yuan Ye had definitely felt disgusted by him too. Otherwise, why hadn¡¯t he criticized anyone else? You were the one who shamelessly asked to be double male leads. Simply cussing you out can¡¯t even be considered that bad.


    He Sai wasn¡¯t scared of being criticized at all. Celebrities these days simply weren¡¯t scared of scandals. Aside from cheating, domestic abuse, using drugs, and other irreparable crimes, everything else could be justified in time.


    The attention had been given to you now. Whether or not you would be given the opportunity to redeem yourself was unknown, though.


    There was a bunch of stuff to do after Fang Shaoyi arrived on set. The two of them no longer had the time to pay attention to those rumors online. They had better things to do. No matter how exhrating the arguments got online, they couldn¡¯t see them. Nobody else on set was bored enough to pay attention to those baseless rumors either. The film set had basically closed and then reopened. Their prior work had all been deleted. All things, both trivial and critical, needed to be reset. Even the clothes needed to be remade. The two male leads were a size apart. Fang Shaoyi was bigger than the original actor.


    This time, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character was an educated youth. After spending several years in a vige, unable to return, that aura denoting him as a city-dweller had long since been eroded away. In his youth, he had fallen in love with a girl in the vige. The two of them spent an extremely romantic period of time in these mountains and forests. At the time, he had been an immature and gentle youth, but also a little bit reckless. However, he was adorably stubborn. This kind of boy was bound to be enchanting. The eventual story was destined to be unhappy, though. The girl became pregnant. Their romance became discovered by others. During a struggle, he personally watched as the girl started bleeding, then was sent away to the hospital in the city, face deathly pale.


    And then she never returned. Some people said she ran away, others said she had passed away.


    Year after year, he waited. But year after year, he was disappointed. The cloth strip tied onto the highest branch of the tree, the lookout spot at the top of the mountain ¨C all were for naught. Later on, he often muttered to himself. Nobody else could understand what he was saying. Many said that he had gone crazy. He was sometimes normal, sometimes stuck in his own world. Even until the end, nobody could discern what he was muttering. Finally, his mutters fused with the sound of the wind blowing through the cloth strip at the top of the tree. They sounded like the utterances of the wind.


    This topic was very bold. Even starting the project had required a bit of effort. Stories from certain time periods were less and less likely to be allowed to air, especially because some parts of the plot were challenging the regtions of inspection. It was probably going to be hard to avoid extreme editing and deleting of scenes eventually.


    The female actress was a rookie. She was only twenty two, very young. Director Wei had mentioned her before. After so much practice, she could finally get into character. When she saw Fang Shaoyi, she was a bit nervous. She bowed and greeted him, calling out, ¡°Teacher Fang.¡± Then, she looked at Yuan Ye and called out too, ¡°Teacher Yuan.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi waved. He said, ¡°There¡¯s no need to be so polite. Just call us Shaoyi ge and Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    The female actress smiled a bit shyly. She said, ¡°I¡¯m a little nervous.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He asked her, ¡°Are you scared that the two of us are gonna yell at you because you read the stuff online?¡±


    As soon as he said this, everyone around them startedughing. The little girl hurriedly shook her head. ¡°No, no. I didn¡¯t believe that stuff. Everyone in the film crew says that you two teachers are very kind.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and said, ¡°They¡¯re just cating you. When Teacher Fang¡¯s expression darkenster, he¡¯s going to start scolding someone.¡±


    The onlookers startedughing again. Fang Shaoyi gently knocked Yuan Ye¡¯s head with his script. ¡°Quit making stuff up.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m brightening up the atmosphere for you guys. All of your faces look so glum. Almost scared me to death.¡± Yuan Ye chuckled while saying.

 Chapter 59

    <h4>Chapter 59</h4>


    It was also fortunate that this movie had only started filming after Fang Shaoyi had been resting for almost a year. If this had beenst year or even just a few months ago, the condition of his skin would¡¯ve made it very difficult for him to portray such an immature, handsome youth. The previous two films had been very tough to film, especially Director Xin¡¯s. Sand got blown into his face daily. Also, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t care too much about skincare. If he had needed to immediately portray someone young after that, it would¡¯ve been extremely tough to aplish.


    ¡°While you were confirming the makeup look today, I nced over and wow, you looked quite young.¡± The essence had already been heated up between his palms. Yuan Ye pressed his hands against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face, rubbing in circles to massage the other¡¯s skin.


    Fang Shaoyiid in hisp and closed his eyes to enjoy this adoring treatment. Yuan Ye had already booked a flight back. It was for next week. Then, there would be several weeks where he wouldn¡¯t be able to visit the film set. The two of them had already gotten used to sticking to each other everyday. Thus, Fang Shaoyi acted extraordinarily childish and clingy the few days prior to Yuan Ye¡¯s departure. Yuan Ye had originally wanted to discuss the script, but Fang Shaoyi held onto him and refused to let go. He was determined for the other to help him do skincare.


    How could Yuan Ye handle this? What was a script and why did they need to discuss it? He set his things down and instantly washed his hands before carrying all the necessary bottles and containers over.


    The condition of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s skin was truly pretty great right now. He had been resting for so long, after all. Additionally, his romantic life and normal life were both going smoothly. Yuan Ye patted his fingers against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face to massage it. He suddenly spoke up, ¡°I think you might look younger than me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cracked his eyes open to look at Yuan Ye. From this angle, the first thing he saw was Yuan Ye¡¯s chin. He lifted a hand and stroked it before saying, ¡°Shave your stubble.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t shave this morning,¡± Yuan Ye replied with a grin. ¡°On purpose. I noticed that you¡¯ve been looking pretty young recently. Thus, I¡¯ve started acting older.¡±


    ¡°Why?¡± Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow.


    Yuan Ye answered, ¡°In order to seem older than you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi burst intoughter. ¡°......What kind of goal is that?¡±


    ¡°Haha, I want to hear you call me ¡®ge¡¯ once,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    This was entirely a kink of his. He had called Fang Shaoyi ge for over a decade. Recently, this silly idea had popped into his head. After sharing it, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t help bursting intoughter. ¡°Something¡¯s wrong with my brain.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi ignored him. He left the other to dumblyugh alone. When Yuan Ye finishedughing, he continued putting lotion on Fang Shaoyi. The longer he applied lotion, the more he found Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face appealing. He lowered his head and bit the corner of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mouth.


    Arriving on Director Wei¡¯s film set was likeing home for Fang Shaoyi. He was very familiar with the entire crew. Everyone had a good understanding of each other too. Previously, he had been adamant about not taking the role. But now that he had, now that he had truly joined the crew, there weren¡¯t so many excess things to think about. He needed to instantly get into character. Director Wei had discussed the plot with him once. After, they didn¡¯t really talk about it much again. The two of them had simr perceptions of the character and also simr general outlooks on the plot. They only needed to focus on the details when they got there.


    While trying to find a location, the team in charge had taken over a hundred photos. Director Wei had been immediately taken with this vige. Using Director Wei¡¯s reasoning ¨C filming a movie is like dating the plot ¨C that was love at first sight.


    Yuan Ye apanied Fang Shaoyi in sitting there too. From dusk to nightfall, the two of them sat on the ground in their normal clothes. Perhaps neither would speak for a long time, or perhaps they would share a brief, quiet conversation. Sitting there daily would really cause one to feel different things towards this tree. Most of the time, when Fang Shaoyi sat under the tree, he was thinking about the movie and the man who had been stubborn his entire life. Following a long period of time, this would cause a sort of subliminal messaging. When he reached this tree, a strange sense of bitterness and sorrow would arise in his heart.


    Later on, Yuan Ye stopped sitting there next to him. He was scared that Fang Shaoyi would get distracted after seeing him. He started sitting on the tree; sometimes he alsoid down. It was spring. The pagoda tree¡¯s leaves were still quite sparse. Green shoots had just started sprouting from the branches. It was the best time toy in the tree, close one¡¯s eyes, and nap. He didn¡¯t have so many sad emotions to discover. He also didn¡¯t need to discover them.


    The first scene Fang Shaoyi shot for this movie was under this tree. It was a very important scene between the male and female leads, Kong Chen and Bai Ru. It was also the first scene under the tree after the two main characters got to know each other. Previously, the other male actor had already filmed this scene. It was a very simple scene and hadsted two days. Everything that could be said had already been said. Thus, there was no need to remind the female actress of anything again before filming. They could directly start rolling the cameras.


    Because this was the first scene, Yuan Ye was more or less a bit nervous. Actors couldn¡¯t spend too long away from set. When they did, they would slowly fall out of practice. He pulled up a stool and sat down next to the director to look into the monitor. He really liked watching Fang Shaoyi through the monitor. This was probably rted to the fact Yuan Ye also liked taking pictures. He always felt like the world looked different through a square little screen. But when the pperboard pped shut, Yuan Ye was no longer nervous.


    Fang Shaoyi had always been very fast at getting into character. The director yelled action into his walkie-talkie. The entire set fell silent. This entire process only took one to two seconds, but Fang Shaoyi¡¯s gaze had already changed. When the pper boy finished reading out the take number and pped the pperboard, Fang Shaoyi had entirely be the immature and reckless youth in the movie. His eyes were very bright.


    The aspect ratios on the monitoring screen were the same as those on the big screen in movie auditoriums. This was necessary for the director to be able to most urately view the effects of his adjustments. On the screen, Kong Chen called Bai Ru to a halt, then reached out and grabbed the bucket of rocks from out of her hands. Bai Ru made a sound of protest. Before she could react, the wooden bucket had already ended up in the other¡¯s hands. Kong Chen had used a bit too much strength. One stone bounced out of the bucket andnded on his foot. Bai Ru hadn¡¯t even gotten the ¡°thank you¡± out when she noticed that Kong Chen had been hit on the foot. She was a bit hesitant. ¡°You...¡±


    On the screen, Kong Chen smiled. Largely unbothered, he shook his head and asked, ¡°It¡¯s nothing. Why are you carrying these rocks?¡±


    Girls were always a bit ufortable when speaking with members of the opposite sex in this manner. She was a few steps away from Kong Chen. She slightly lowered her head. There was a thin sheen of sweat on her forehead while her face was bright red. She replied, ¡°The day before yesterday, it rained, which ruined the seedlings. I¡¯m preparing some rocks to hold down the cloth for when it rains again.¡±


    Bai Ru didn¡¯t speak very loudly, but her voice was quite pleasant. It was very bright.


    Kong Chen asked again, ¡°Howe they made you carry these yourself? Where are the others?¡±


    Bai Ru didn¡¯t answer. She gently shook her head.


    Even though she didn¡¯t say anything, Kong Chen still understood. Regardless of the time period, those too eye catching would always be mistreated due to jealousy. Bai Ru was too pretty. She was also naive and honest. Among the female educated youths who hade to this vige, she was always bullied.


    At that time, the two of them hadn¡¯t been too familiar with each other. Kong Chen didn¡¯t say anything else. Only, while the two of them remained silent, Bai Ru nced up at him. He shed her a crisp smile in response. It was more blinding than the spring sun.


    Fang Shaoyi was too good at smiling. Yuan Ye had fallen for the sixteen year old Fang Shaoyi because of that striking smile in his movie. This time, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s smiling face caused Yuan Ye to feel slightly dazed once more. This wasn¡¯t Fang Shaoyi ¨C it was clearly a gentle youth who wore his heart on his sleeve. Forget Bai Ru. Whose heart wouldn¡¯t start beating faster because of such a brilliantly transparent youth?


    As expected from Wei Hua, a director Yuan Ye had liked for many years. This scene was too beautiful. It was spring. The sunlight was perfect; the trees were just starting to shoot off new branches. Two clean faces. The initial encounter of two souls. From the monitor, vitality and youth seeped through.


    After filming this take, the director yelled cut. Yuan Ye turned his head over and asked, ¡°Was that okay, Leader?¡±


    The stone on the foot had been an ident. Originally, the stone was supposed to fall onto the ground. But the director hadn¡¯t yelled cut and Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t looked like he intended to stop. He had finished acting out the scene. The director didn¡¯t say that this take was bad. When the two actors walked over, the director only said, ¡°Let¡¯s try another take in a bit.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t ask any other questions. He nodded and replied, ¡°Okay.¡±


    The next take, Fang Shaoyi reigned in his emotions a bit. The female actress followed his lead. After, when he released his emotions once more, the female actress did the same again. Fang Shaoyi was very good at leading his costars. In actuality, it was very easy for other actors to act alongside him. Director Wei didn¡¯t say that anything was wrong with these takes, which meant that they were all fine. He only wanted to see if the effect would be better given different methods of performance. This was the reason why Fang Shaoyi was giving him different portrayals each time. This was an understanding between the two of them: without the other having to say too much, Fang Shaoyi could understand what the director meant.


    The actress was named Qiao Shiyu. After the first day of filming, she bowed to Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°Teacher Fang has worked hard.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made to help her up. He didn¡¯t actually touch her. He told her, ¡°You don¡¯t need to be so polite all the time. You¡¯re very good at acting.¡±


    Qiao Shiyu rubbed her hands, smiled, and said, ¡°Actually, I¡¯m super nervous.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need to be. All wille in time.¡± After saying this, Fang Shaoyi headed in Yuan Ye¡¯s direction.


    The little girl was too young. She was aplete rookie. The first movie she was acting in was Director Wei¡¯s movie. And, her costar was Fang Shaoyi. It could be said that she had gotten a fast ride to the top. However, these fast rides were very stressful for rookies. Not all of them could withstand the pressure. They needed to be polite and careful around each new person. Everything about this industry was brand new to them.


    Yuan Ye had watched the entire day of filming. Now, he was emotionally and physically satiated. This was probably because he personally liked these types of stories more. He also had rose-colored sses on when it came to Director Wei. The satisfaction he felt from a day of watching was something he had never experienced on Jiang Linchuan¡¯s set. This wasn¡¯t because Jiang Linchuan¡¯s movie was bad ¨C only, dark humor was always a bit nonsensical. Inparison, Yuan Ye liked the more traditional styles better.


    When Fang Shaoyi walked over, Yuan Ye gave him a thumbs up. He sincerelyplimented, ¡°Awesome.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head andughed. He scolded, ¡°The director¡¯s right next to you. He hasn¡¯t even said anything yet, but you¡¯ve already startedvishing praise?¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Yuan Ye looked at the director. While grinning, he asked, ¡°Am I wrong, Director?¡±


    The director looked back at Yuan Ye. He smiled too, then asked, ¡°Well, you¡¯ve already praised him. What else can I say?¡±


    In actuality, they were only joking around. Fang Shaoyi was Director Wei¡¯s go-to actor. He definitely approved of him a lot. The rarest quality about Fang Shaoyi was that even after so many years of coboration, he still often surprised people with his acting skills. He didn¡¯t have a set style. If you gave him a character and gave him enough time to understand this character, he would give you a great performance. This sounded easy, but was actually very difficult. He hadn¡¯t stuffed himself into a certain box. With each film, he always emptied himself out first before refilling himself in.


    Ji Xiaotao brought gifts for everyone after arriving on set. Xiaotao ge had spent so many years alongside Fang Shaoyi. He was very good at getting along with everyone everywhere. Assistants also had different rankings. He was among the best of the best. After being ordered around by Geng Jinwei for a year at thepany, he was finally allowed toe on set again. He felt like his entire soul had been freed.


    Now that he was here, Yuan Ye needed to leave soon. As such, Ji Xiaotao cheekily asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, will you still find me annoying if I chat with you? Do you need any information about my ge? Pictures? Whether or not he¡¯s had any inappropriate social interactions with the young people on set?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s head already hurt listening to him drone on and on now. He said, ¡°If you dare to send me anything, I¡¯m definitely going to block you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi added, ¡°Your Ye ge had a lot of business to attend to when he gets back. Don¡¯t send him random things when you¡¯re bored.¡±


    ¡°Un, okay.¡± The two of them had reconciled, so Ji Xiaotao wasn¡¯t as determined to send these things anymore. He was already extremely calm. He even told Yuan Ye, ¡°But when you can¡¯t contact my ge, you¡¯ll still have to reach out to me.¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled and raised an eyebrow. ¡°I can¡¯t call him? We call each other every night and flirt, you know.¡±


    ¡°Phone sex partners?¡± Ji Xiaotao expressionlessly asked. ¡°Filming movies and writing scripts is so tiring. You guys still have so much energy?¡±


    ¡°Get the fuck out!¡± Yuan Ye kicked him. Ji Xiaotao cheerily ran off.

 Chapter 60

    <h4>Chapter 60</h4>


    When Fang Shaoyi returned from the director¡¯s room to his own room, Yuan Ye was in the middle of packing up his suitcase. His flight was in the afternoon tomorrow. Ji Xiaotao was helping him. He handed an underwear roll over. Yuan Ye nced at it and said, ¡°That¡¯s your ge¡¯s.¡±


    ¡°Oh.¡± Ji Xiaotao put it back, then pulled out a different roll. ¡°What about this one?¡±


    Yuan Ye scanned it. ¡°Also your ge¡¯s. Okay, you don¡¯t need to bother with the underwear anymore.¡±


    There weren¡¯t that many things to fuss about between men. Given their rtionship with Ji Xiaotao, it was no big deal for the other to be touching their underwear. Ji Xiaotao helped Yuan Ye fold up an article of clothing before handing it over. He smiled and said, ¡°It¡¯s really been too long since I¡¯vee out with you guys. I can¡¯t even recognize my ge¡¯s underwear now.¡±


    ¡°If anyone else heard your words, wouldn¡¯t they think that the assistant is an usurper?¡± Yuan Ye asked him with a grin.


    ¡°Who¡¯s he usurping?¡± Fang Shaoyi walked in and coincidentally heard this question.


    ¡°I, Little Taozi, am usurping Consort Ye. From now on, he¡¯s going to retire and I¡¯m going to be His Royal Highness, Consort Tao,¡± Ji Xiaotao replied.


    ¡°What random things are you talking about?¡± Upon hearing this exnation, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t really want to respond. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Are you done packing yet?¡±


    ¡°Almost. I don¡¯t have that much stuff anyways.¡± After replying to Fang Shaoyi, Yuan Ye turned around to question Ji Xiaotao. ¡°Consort Tao? Do you think you look like a consort?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao cheekily responded, ¡°I don¡¯t want to! You look like a consort! You can be the consort!¡± Fang Shaoyi had already returned. Ji Xiaotao quickly escaped after saying this. How obedient.


    Fang Shaoyi asked Yuan Ye, ¡°What do you guys talk about all day?¡±


    ¡°Random shit.¡± Yuan Ye zipped up his suitcase and towed it over to the corner of the room. He turned around and smiled at the other. ¡°Come, give me a hug.¡±


    Thus, Fang Shaoyi walked over and embraced him. He kissed Yuan Ye on the cheek and said, ¡°I need to go film after waking up in the morning. You don¡¯t need toe say goodbye to me. Just directly leave. Don¡¯t let me see you.¡±


    He was obviously acting like a spoiled child by saying this. Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulders shook with amusement. He reached a hand up and ruffled Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hair, then nodded and said, ¡°Okay. Then I won¡¯t go see you on set.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement and said, ¡°Just leave.¡±


    This conversation was akin to one between two kids in a new rtionship. It could cause headaches for outsiders listening in. But prior to leaving, Yuan Ye truly didn¡¯t go see Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi was filming in the vige; the next two days of filming would all be conducted indoors. Yuan Ye also didn¡¯t want anyone seeing him. He towed his suitcase close to the old tree and, while nobody was paying attention, crouched down and dashed over. Then, he scurried up the tree in seconds.


    Before he hade here, he had stolen a strip of red cloth from the prop team. In the movie, after the two main characters confirmed their rtionship, they often tied a red cloth onto the tree, determined to use it as a symbol of their love. Quite shy. When Fang Shaoyi eventually came to ¡°date¡± this tree, he would look up and see a little strip of cloth waving in the wind. How nice.


    On set, Fang Shaoyi had just finished a take. The director was in the middle of exining the next scene to the actor acting alongside Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi nced at the time and turned around to ask Ji Xiaotao, ¡°Has your Ye ge left yet or not?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao nced at his phone before saying, ¡°He should¡¯ve left by now. I¡¯ll ask him?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a sound of acknowledgement. The director had finished exining the scene. The actor needed to practice once more. Ji Xiaotao called Yuan Ye, but the other didn¡¯t answer. He figured that Yuan Ye was already on the road. Thus, he sent Yuan Ye a WeChat message: Ye ge, tell me when you reach the airport.


    Before Fang Shaoyi had even finished a take, though, the director yelled cut. The actors looked over. Ji Xiaotao¡¯s eyebrows were scrunched together. He was in the middle of gesturing for Fang Shaoyi toe over. Fang Shaoyi did. The director told him, ¡°That¡¯s all for your scenes today. Hurry and go check.¡±


    ¡°Who fell? Teacher Yuan?¡± Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°Yuan Ye?¡±


    The little assistant nodded and said, ¡°Yes. Teacher Yuan Ye.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and replied, ¡°Impossible.¡±


    Truly, the first thought that shed through Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mind was impossible. He didn¡¯t believe them. One reason was because Yuan Ye should¡¯ve already left by now. If he hadn¡¯t left yet, he wouldn¡¯t be able to catch his flight. Additionally, anybody could fall, but Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t. Even if he had, he was capable of getting right back up and running around again. Was there a need to cause such amotion ande find him?


    ¡°What do you mean it¡¯s impossible?!¡± Even Ji Xiaotao was exasperated. He wanted to shake Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head and see what the other was thinking. ¡°What are you thinking, ge?! My Ye ge really fell! He fell out of the tree!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression instantly changed. He practically instantly ran off. He remembered that Yuan Ye liked napping in the tree branches. It wasn¡¯t impossible for him to identally fall into deep sleep while up there. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression was already dark. All these years, Yuan Ye had never fallen before. Thus, Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t had to worry about these things before.


    When Fang Shaoyi got there, Yuan Ye was really sitting underneath the tree. He was wearing a hooded sweatshirt, ck jeans, and had a backpack on his back. One of his legs was bent up. His arms rested on this knee as he buried his face into his arms. He could no longer face the world. His other leg rested against the ground, held out straight. Someone leaned over and told him something. Yuan Ye covered half of his face and said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about me. Wait until Teacher Fanges over in a bit before discussing anything.¡±


    He waved his hand around to shoo the others away. ¡°Go, go do what you guys need to do. Don¡¯t stay here and stare at me. Teacher Yuan¡¯s self esteem has shattered into a million pieces. Don¡¯t dance on the shards, bros. Go.¡±


    There weren¡¯t that many people around him anyways. They had probably all been sent away by Yuan Ye.


    Someone noticed Fang Shaoyi. They said, ¡°Teacher Fang¡¯s here!¡±


    Yuan Ye looked up and over, a bitter smile on his face. Fang Shaoyi noticed that the other looked alright. His face wasn¡¯t overly pale, which meant that he was fine. Fang Shaoyi exhaled in relief. He walked over and squatted down next to Yuan Ye, then asked, ¡°What did yound on?¡±


    Yuan Ye pointed at his foot that was resting t on the ground.


    Fang Shaoyi untied his shoces and took off his shoe. He was very gentle, but Yuan Ye still slightly furrowed his brows in pain. He sighed and said, ¡°It¡¯s not broken. No need to look at it.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi touched his ankle and asked, ¡°Does it hurt?¡±


    ¡°I can¡¯t put any weight on it, but it doesn¡¯t hurt when you touch it.¡± Yuan Ye heaved out a long exhale and said, ¡°I told you it¡¯s not broken. I just twisted it a bit. It¡¯s been......thirty years since I¡¯ve twisted my ankle......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°How did you fall?¡±


    Yuan Ye buried his face into his arms again. He weakly got out, ¡°I don¡¯t know. That was a path of movement I¡¯m unfamiliar with. I don¡¯t want to rethink it. Don¡¯t ask me about it either.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was actually quite worried, but upon seeing that the other was fine, he suddenly kind of wanted tough too. No matter what, though, he still respected Teacher Yuan Ye¡¯s need for maintaining some dignity. He forced theughter back in. Yuan Ye took off his other shoe too, then tied the shoces of both shoes together. He held the shoes by theces and said to Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Give me a piggyback ride back. Otherwise, they¡¯ll keep staring at me.¡±


    All the onlookers dispersed after hearing this. They immediately left.


    Fang Shaoyi first helped him up, then bent down to piggyback him. Yuan Ye sprawled out on his back and asked into his ear, ¡°I¡¯m old now. I have to admit it, right?¡±


    His tone was more or less a bit sad. Fang Shaoyi honestly couldn¡¯t help himself anymore. He softly chuckled and said, ¡°Can¡¯t climb trees anymore?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything. A storm cloud brewed over his head.


    Actually, this incident didn¡¯t necessarily mean that Yuan Ye was old and couldn¡¯t fool around anymore. At the time, he had almost made it. When he had been about toe back down after tying the cloth, one of his feet missed a foothold by an inch and he basically stepped on air. It was also true, though, that something like this would¡¯ve never happened in the past. Even if he had really stepped on air, he would¡¯ve been able to hold on with his hands. Whilending, he also would¡¯ve been able to do his best to minimize any damage. He hadn¡¯t expected to twist his ankle this time. This was really embarrassing.


    He definitely couldn¡¯t leave now. The ne had already flown off. Fang Shaoyi took him to the hospital to get some X-rays; he really hadn¡¯t injured the bone. He had only hurt his tendons and ligaments. It also wasn¡¯t bad enough that he couldn¡¯t walk at all, but in the first few days following the injury, it would be better for him not to move around too much. He needed to slowly wait for recovery. His foot started swelling at an impossibly quick speed. It looked quite terrifying.


    Yuan Ye had never expected, even in his wildest dreams, that one day, he would need to wait for his foot to recover. This was too hard of a blow against a wild monkey. He didn¡¯t even have the face to keep this nickname.


    From start to finish, Fang Shaoyi remained in his movie outfit: a white cored shirt with blue pants and a pair of old leather shoes. He hadn¡¯t even bothered to change into regr clothes. On the way to the hospital, he also hadn¡¯t had the energy to check if anyone had taken any pictures of them. Ji Xiaotao was following behind him, but even he didn¡¯t tell them to be careful about these things. Neither of them were wearing hats or masks. If there were pictures, so be it.


    When they got back that night, Fang Shaoyi iced Yuan Ye¡¯s foot for him. He wrapped an ice cube in a towel and ced it over the other¡¯s foot. Yuan Yeid there, ying on his phone. Fang Shaoyi scolded, ¡°Don¡¯t use your phone while lying down. It¡¯ll make your eyes ufortable.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m replying to a message,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°I need to tell Feng Leizi and them, at least. I¡¯ve already stood them up.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a soft sound of acknowledgement before asking him, ¡°Does your foot still hurt?¡±


    ¡°No.¡± Yuan Ye shook his head uncaringly and said, ¡°It¡¯s gone numb.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯ll start hurting in a few days.¡± Fang Shaoyi stared at him and said, ¡°Take your time and wait for it to heal. If it doesn¡¯t fully recover, you¡¯ll be more likely to twist it againter on.¡±


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°Impossible.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi often got hurt, meaning that he often needed to spend time to recover, like Yuan Ye was doing now. Yuan Ye had always been the one nursing the patient back to health. This was the first time that the roles had been switched and Fang Shaoyi was the one taking care of Yuan Ye. The entire film set all came to check on him, like they were visiting a patient in a hospital. Some even brought red envelopes. They all got kicked out by Yuan Ye, regardless of if they were bringing red envelopes or fruit baskets. He told them to get back to where they hade from. This was simply too embarrassing for Yuan Ye to bear.


    A normal person would definitely be thinking: Why¡¯d you climb a tree out of the blue? Aren¡¯t you stupid?


    If he hadn¡¯t fallen out, everything would¡¯ve been fine. But now that he had, thinking back, he really had been quite stupid.


    There was no bathtub in the bathroom. Yuan Ye could only stand on one foot in the shower. Thus, Fang Shaoyi grabbed a chair for him to sit in, then stood off to the side and helped him shower. Yuan Ye lowered his head andughed while saying, ¡°You really don¡¯t need to. I can wash myself.¡±


    Fang Shaoyithered the shampoo into his hair and said, ¡°I want to wash you.¡±


    ¡°But still, you don¡¯t need to wash my hair.¡± Yuan Ye was stillughing. ¡°I don¡¯t have much hair anyways. Given the amount of hair I have, I just need to rinse my hair while washing my face.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi tsk¡¯d. He forcefully shook Yuan Ye¡¯s head and asked him, ¡°Why do you have so much to say?¡±


    Yuan Ye keptughing as he allowed Fang Shaoyi to use the showerhead to wash him. This was quite a wonderful feeling. As the shower progressed, he kind of wanted to do that. However, his foot was already like this, meaning it was a bit inconvenient. Turning this way and that on one foot was very tiring and ufortable. Thus, there was no way to actually do anything.


    Fang Shaoyi inquired, ¡°What are you thinking about in that head of yours?¡±


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes andughed carefreely, ¡°Can¡¯t you see what I¡¯m thinking about?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi flicked him on the forehead and scolded, ¡°Your brain can never catch even a fraction of a break.¡±


    There was no need to mention the simple things that had happened in the bathroom. These were inevitable. Afterying back down in bed, Yuan Ye fell peacefully asleep. Fang Shaoyi returned to the bathroom to take another shower.


    Actually, though Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t said anything, this incident had more or less been a bit depressing for him. Fang Shaoyi understood. To Yuan Ye, falling from a tree and twisting his ankle was the equivalent of a fisherman¡¯s son choking on water in the ocean. The initial response was oh, how hrious. Subsequently, he would feel at a loss.


    It was like he had really gotten old out of the blue. Regardless of the fact that he had missed a step and that everything had been an ident, in the past, something like this would¡¯ve never happened.


    While Yuan Ye had observed his foot and chortled, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart had felt a bit pained.


    When he came out after his shower, Yuan Ye was already fast asleep. Fang Shaoyi turned off the lights and walked over toy down beside him. He had already propped Yuan Ye¡¯s foot up for him. Right now, the other¡¯s foot was still nicely propped up. A tranquil sleeper.


    Fang Shaoyi softly asked, ¡°Asleep?¡±


    Yuan Ye actually opened his mouth and responded, ¡°No. Haha.¡±


    ¡°Why were you faking sleep then?¡± Fang Shaoyi reached out and gently tugged at the other¡¯s ear.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°I was reminiscing about what happened just now.¡±


    Fang Shaoyiughed at him. ¡°Someone might think that I starve you everyday and don¡¯t let you eat your fill.¡±


    ¡°Did I eat today?¡± Yuan Ye twisted the top half of his body over. ¡°What did I eat?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t do anything about him. Heughed again and answered, ¡°Shut up, you. Go to sleep.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled a few times. In the dark, he closed his eyes. The corners of his lips were still turned slightly upwards. He reached a hand out and gently scratched Fang Shaoyi¡¯s scalp.

 Chapter 61

    <h4>Chapter 61</h4>


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t the type to obedientlyy in bed for a whole day. He behaved quite well the first evening. The second morning, Fang Shaoyi reminded him over and over that he couldn¡¯t get out of bed and walk around. Yuan Ye very cheerily agreed, but within thirty minutes of the other¡¯s departure, he had gotten up.


    He just couldn¡¯t stay lying down. He also didn¡¯t like lying down. Yuan Ye pulled a chair over to use as a footrest and leaned back against the couch. He spent the whole day reading.


    When Fang Shaoyi returned in the afternoon, Yuan Ye had already woken from a nap on the couch. He was in the middle of hopping on one leg out of the bathroom. Yuan Ye had originally wanted toy back down in bed, nice and neat, prior to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s return. This way, he could pretend like he had been obedient the whole day. However, before he could finish hopping back to the bed, the door had already opened. It was clearly toote for him to fake anything. Thus, Yuan Ye simply decided to pounce on Fang Shaoyi and sprawl out on the other as if he had no bones of his own. He said, ¡°My foot hurts. Piggyback me.¡±


    ¡°Still walking around even though your foot hurts?¡± Fang Shaoyi knew that he couldn¡¯t possibly obediently stay in bed. He also hadn¡¯t counted on it.


    Yuan Ye chuckled and said, ¡°But I wanted to pee. How was I supposed to pee without getting up?¡±


    As he spoke, he hopped forward another step on his sole functioning leg. He hopped behind Fang Shaoyi and wrapped his arms around the other¡¯s neck. ¡°Piggyback.¡±


    ¡°Piggyback.¡± Fang Shaoyi directly picked him up, took a few steps over to the bed, then set him down again. He pointed at Yuan Ye¡¯s foot.


    Yuan Ye very conscientiously lifted his leg up and rested it on its side against the edge of the bed. He looked up and told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, I booked a flight for the day after the day after tomorrow. I¡¯ll have to leave two days after tomorrow.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi instinctively furrowed his brows and said, ¡°That¡¯s too soon.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll definitely be fine in two days.¡± Yuan Ye was very nonchnt about his injured ankle. ¡°They¡¯re waiting for me. I have to go. Don¡¯t worry, I know what I¡¯m doing. Rx.¡±


    Could Fang Shaoyi rx? But it also wasn¡¯t possible for Yuan Ye not to leave. He had been scheduled to leave yesterday. This tiny ident had given him a few days leeway.¡¶Hoarse¡·was close to the start of filming. There was a bunch of stuff lined up for Yuan Ye to do. He couldn¡¯t dy everyone else simply because of his own personal issues. This wasn¡¯t Yuan Ye¡¯s style. Also, taking time off work to stay at home and recover due to a mere twisted ankle was an insult to Yuan Ye¡¯s spirit.


    Fang Shaoyi asked for a day off from filming to personally send him off. Yuan Ye did his best to prevent the other from doing so, but ultimately failed. Speechless, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, have I gotten injured too few times these past few years? I¡¯ve finally gotten injured once so now you don¡¯t know what to do? I only twisted my ankle, but you¡¯re going with me? Taking the flight there and back with me?¡±


    ¡°Shut your mouth,¡± Fang Shaoyi scolded. His eyebrows were furrowed. ¡°How many more times do you want to get injured?¡±


    ¡°I just want to tell you that you don¡¯t need to send me.¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s gaze was very sincere as he coaxed, ¡°That¡¯s too much. I¡¯m not even limping when I walk now. What¡¯s the purpose of you sending me off?¡±


    ¡°Why do you care?¡± Fang Shaoyi covered the other¡¯s mouth with his hand. ¡°I want to.¡±


    Yuan Ye could only nod in exasperation. With a smile, he said, ¡°Okay, okay.¡±


    Actually, it was truly very hard to tell with the naked eye that Yuan Ye had twisted his ankle. He walked exactly the same way he always did. But Fang Shaoyi still sent him to his destination and made sure he had settled in nicely before returning. He flew back the same day. Someone even asked the two of them how they were doing at the airport ¨C they also asked how Yuan Ye¡¯s foot was.


    Yuan Ye waved his hand while smiling to say that he was fine.


    The news had gotten exposed that same night. Articles said that Yuan Ye had broken a bone, so Fang Shaoyi had taken him to get X-rays at the hospital. Several different reasons for the broken bone spread among the general public. The most usible one said that the two of them had gotten into a car ident on the way to the film set. Fang Shaoyi had scraped by, unharmed, but Yuan Ye had broken his leg. Neither of them looked over the stuff online; these ¡°news¡± articles were extremely annoying. However, they worried that their fans would get too anxious, so Ji Xiaotao eventually used Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo to make a post summarizing the situation. He said that Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t broken his leg ¨C he had merely twisted his ankle. Then, he told everyone that there was no need to worry.


    There were also a lot of people under Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo saying that he deserved this. They said that this was karma after how many bad things he had done. Suchments were very vile. Fans immediately jumped in and started arguing back, refuting these maliciousments one by one. Then, onlookers and antifans continued their attack. Back and forth, these two groups of people cussed each other out. In the end, Ji Xiaotao deleted all these unharmoniousments. Regardless of if they were meanments from antifans or retorts from fans, there was no need to keep them.


    Even though Ji Xiaotao had been working in this industry for so many years, he still felt a bit ufortable reading these ill-intendedments. He still wasn¡¯t calm enough. In the beginning, he even used a private ount toment under the post too: What bad things have Yuan Ye done? Did you see him do them? If even he has to suffer bad karma, then the powers above must be blind.


    After posting this, though, he also felt like he had nothing better to do with his time. Why was he arguing with these stubborn antifans?


    Yuan Ye happened to be very apathetic about these matters. If one cared about each rumor and fake story about them, their entire life would be passed in depression. Why do that?


    ¡°Your foot¡¯s fine?¡± This was the first question Feng Leizi asked after seeing Yuan Ye.


    ¡°What does it look like to you?¡± Yuan Ye sat in a chair and lifted up the foot he had twisted. ¡°Agile as a cat.¡±


    ¡°Well, you recovered quickly,¡± Feng Leizimented.


    Yuan Ye only chuckled in response. He changed the topic to start talking about official business.


    Actually, Yuan Ye was faking all this. The first two days, his ankle had swelled and only felt a bit warm and numb. On the third and fourth days, the pain really started. He couldn¡¯t put pressure on his ankle, but Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t stand having to limp. He was also scared that Fang Shaoyi would start worrying too much, so acted like everything was fine.


    How could Fang Shaoyi not know he was acting? A thin sheen of sweat had formed over his forehead while he had been walking.


    Thus, when Fang Shaoyi called that night, he reminded Yuan Ye, ¡°Keep your foot propped up at night. Soak your feet, use a warmpress, and don¡¯t bezy.¡±


    ¡°Ey, I¡¯m almostpletely healed.¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s voice was pretty rxed. He told the other, ¡°I can¡¯t really feel anything anymore. Film diligently. Don¡¯t always think of me.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi remained silent for over ten seconds. Yuan Ye¡¯s tone was questioning. ¡°Un?¡±


    Before speaking again, Fang Shaoyi inhaled deeply. After, his voice carried the intent topromise. However, it was also slightly solemn. He said something that caused Yuan Ye¡¯s nerves to tremble. ¡°If this were in the past......I probably wouldn¡¯t be exposing your act.¡±


    For a long time, Yuan Ye had no response. Eventually, he startedughing, but he still hadn¡¯t said anything.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was very soft. Through the phone, it sounded like he was right next to Yuan Ye¡¯s ear. He questioned, ¡°What are youughing about?¡±


    Yuan Ye rested his arm against his forehead. He lowered his voice and honestly replied, ¡°Right now, my foot hurts. It hurts so much that I can¡¯t fall asleep.¡±


    He had said it. Saying it hadn¡¯t been a big deal.


    Fang Shaoyi lowly gave a sound of acknowledgement. After, he said, ¡°I know.¡±


    Yuan Ye used a finger on the hand holding his phone to gently scratch at the edge of the phone. He heard Fang Shaoyi say, ¡°You thought that I couldn¡¯t tell you were in pain?¡±


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes. He suddenly felt veryfortable at this moment, like the pain had greatly lessened because he had spoken about it.


    ¡°You¡¯ve changed a lot.¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were shut as heughed. He told Fang Shaoyi through the phone, ¡°asionally, I¡¯m a bit unused to it.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled too. He asked, ¡°Then should I go back to the way I was before?¡±


    ¡°Maybe not,¡± Yuan Ye answered. ¡°I really like the new you.¡±


    Later, Fang Shaoyi told him, ¡°If this were in the past, I would¡¯ve immediately asked for a few days off and flown back. I would¡¯ve told them to film the next few scenes first and to let me leave for a few days. Then, you would¡¯ve acted like you weren¡¯t in pain while I would¡¯ve acted like I was worried for no reason. This would¡¯ve been fine.¡±


    His words caused a faint smile to appear on Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth. Fang Shaoyi continued, ¡°But we ultimately have to do things a bit differently now. Otherwise, these past three years would¡¯ve all been for naught, right?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°I can always tell when you¡¯re acting in front of me. I¡¯ve mentioned this to you in the past too. So, if you want me to stop worrying, if you want me to stop overthinking, you need to tell me the truth.¡±


    He spoke very slowly. On a night like this, his voice sounded very endearing andforting. ¡°If you say you¡¯re in pain, I¡¯ll be able to rx. If you say you¡¯re fine and fully recovered, my heart will be in my throat from morning to night.¡±


    At this time, Yuan Ye carefully listened to each word the other said. Almost instantly, heughed and replied, ¡°Whoever isn¡¯t in pain is a bastard. I¡¯m in so much fucking pain I want to fuck the heavens.¡±


    Yuan Ye truly liked the way Fang Shaoyi was now. Also, he was starting to like this feeling of smooth sailing more and more. Sometimes, change urred very suddenly. But also, it often urred slowly, bit by bit in one¡¯s unconscious mind. No matter what, though, if it was a beneficial change, then those affected by the change would definitely have an emotional response to it.


    Such a response could give one a sense of security. It could also disperse certain worries from times past. Everything about this was great.


    Previously, the project initiation for¡¶Hoarse¡·had gone rtively smoothly. In the blink of an eye, they were close to the start of filming. Yuan Ye absolutely needed to stay on set. These were also part of the conditions he had agreed to in the contract he had signed.


    Yang Siran had really been cast as the younger brother of the male lead. One reason was because his appearance suited the character. The director had also seen his performance in Director Jiang¡¯s movie. Yang Siran had honestly done well. In addition to Yuan Ye¡¯s rmendation and Geng Jinwei¡¯s methods and money, it was no surprise that he had ended up with the role. It wasn¡¯t so easy to get resources for melodramas. If melodramas couldn¡¯t win any awards and sell their copyright to foreign countries, it was very likely that they would lose money. Thepany had invested in this movie, so technically, Yang Siran was joining the crew with resources. However, the director had actually carefully chosen him. Yang Siran had gone through three rounds of auditions. Additionally, there had been three finalist actors in total for the role. Yang Siran hadn¡¯t been confirmed until the really end.


    At the opening ceremony, Yuan Ye and Yang Siran were both present. There were a lot of people walking to and fro. Yang Siran walked up next to Yuan Ye and silently blocked him from the flow of people. Sometimes, when someone came over, he would gently hold onto Yuan Ye¡¯s arm. This way, he would be able to help Yuan Ye maintain his bnce quicker if someone actually bumped into him.


    Yuan Ye smiled at him and said, ¡°Thanks, little bro. However, you really don¡¯t need to hold onto me. Your Ye ge isn¡¯t that frail yet.¡±


    Yang Siran softly replied, somewhat embarrassed, ¡°I¡¯ve twisted my ankle before too. It was actually half a year before I could rest all of my weight on that ankle again. If someone really bumps into you, you¡¯ll definitely fall over.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him, then sighed and said, ¡°Don¡¯t expose me like that, little buddy.¡±


    Yang Siran chuckled. He acted like ackey and often followed Yuan Ye around. In reality, he hadn¡¯t changed much fromst time: in Director Jiang¡¯s film crew previously, he had always followed Ji Xiaotao around too. Aside from the fact that he was a newbie and thus needed to be more diligent ¨C hence taking the initiative to help Ji Xiaotao with tasks ¨C he was actually looking for a sense of belonging. This was the reason he actively tried to stay close to the people he was more familiar with while in a foreign setting.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t dislike him. They had gotten pretty familiar with each other previously. Yang Siran wanted to follow Yuan Ye around, so Yuan Ye let him. Following Yuan Ye around was a very easy task. His conversations with others were usually quite interesting. Listening to him talk was often a pleasure. Additionally, following him around was a great learning experience, even if the things learned weren¡¯t necessarily rted to filming.


    asionally, when they had nothing else to do, they also chatted with each other. Yuan Ye recalled a question he had had before, so asked, ¡°Why did you sign to thispany if you like music so much? There weren¡¯t any musicpanies that wanted to sign you?¡±


    Yang Siran nodded before saying, ¡°There really weren¡¯t. Also, I wasn¡¯t nning on getting onstage initially. Writing songs is enough. It¡¯s freeing.¡±


    ¡°Then howe you started acting in movies?¡± Yuan Ye questioned again.


    ¡°Boss Geng said I¡¯m suitable for acting, so I signed with him,¡± he said with his head lowered while softly chuckling.


    Yuan Ye observed his expression out of the corner of his eye. After a few seconds, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked, ¡°Little bro, do you like anyone?¡±


    Yang Siran lifted his head and gazed at Yuan Ye. Then, he nodded and said, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him again. He burst intoughter with a pft. Yang Siran asked him, ¡°Ge, what are youughing about?¡±


    Yuan Ye stared directly into the other¡¯s eyes and straightforwardly inquired, ¡°You like Geng ge, right?¡±


    His question caused Yang Siran to freeze. Yang Siran opened his mouth, but didn¡¯t answer. Yuan Ye sat up straight and stretched his arms. He told the younger, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. You don¡¯t need to share with me.¡±


    ¡°I-it¡¯s not something I can¡¯t share with you.¡± Yang Siran lowered his head and tugged at his ear. He lowly said, ¡°Yes, I like Boss Geng.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. He wasn¡¯t nning on saying anything else. Idle conversation was fine, but he didn¡¯t really want to pry into anybody¡¯s private matters.


    But Yang Siran followed this up with, ¡°......I¡¯ve liked him for many years already.¡±

 Chapter 62

    <h4>Chapter 62</h4>


    There were millions of different types of rtionships in this world. Each had its unique characteristics. Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi were among the luckiest: they had encountered each other in their youth, then fallen in love and gotten married. Though they had eventually gotten divorced, their affection for each other was still there. They also hadn¡¯t lost their hearts that desired love.


    Inparison to them, Yang Siran belonged to the most pained group. He had fallen in love at a young age, too, but rather than saying that he had dedicated his life to a single person, it was more urate to say that he had dedicated his life to a bitter period of yearning.


    In the blink of an eye, it seemed like several years had already passed.


    ¡°He......¡± Yuan Ye gazed at the other¡¯s face. He was a bit hesitant and almost couldn¡¯t bear to, but he still asked, ¡°Liking Geng ge must be quite tiring, right?¡±


    Yang Siran¡¯s expression was calm. The sparkle of joy in his eyes remained. He shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    Matters of love never needed to be coaxed. Each mature adult was more than capable of taking responsibility for their own feelings. As long as one felt that their choice was worth it, that was enough. Yuan Ye patted Yang Siran on the shoulder and replied, ¡°That¡¯s good. As long as you¡¯re happy, that¡¯s good.¡±


    Yang Siran had never told anyone about these matters. He hadn¡¯t wanted to, but also, he hadn¡¯t had anyone to tell them to. However, he surprisingly didn¡¯t keep any secrets from Yuan Ye on this day. He was even quite enthusiastic while speaking. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t interacted with Geng Jinwei much these past few years. The other was unmarried with no girlfriend or boyfriend that he knew of. Thus, he hadn¡¯t ever spoken about this topic before. Unexpectedly, he was getting an earful of gossip about Geng Jinwei¡¯s love life today.


    Affection oftentimes appeared out of the blue. When Yang Siran had first developed a crush on Geng Jinwei, he had been seventeen too. Back then, nothing had needed to happen. He had only seen the other; after the first nce, he had already been head over heels. This affection didn¡¯t need a reason either. It was the supposed ¡°love at first sight.¡±


    At that time, Geng Jinwei had lived on the floor above him. They would asionally encounter each other in the elevator, sometimes by intention, others by ident. Geng Jinwei seemed to never notice that there was a little boy living on the floor under his. Many times, Yang Siran, dressed in his school uniform with a backpack on his back, would stand behind that tall, sturdy figure. He could see the other¡¯s face reflected in the elevator walls, but Yang Siran never dared to look. He always kept his head lowered, catching glimpses of those legs wrapped in suit pants instead. This was enough to cause Yang Siran¡¯s heart to beat faster. The rush of blood in his ears blocked out all other noises.


    He had even calcted the timing and their paths of movement. When Geng Jinwei reached out to press the elevator button, he purposefully reached his hand out at the same time and acted like he needed to press the button as well. His fingers gently brushed against the back of the man¡¯s hand. After, he immediately curled his burning fingertips into his palm. The man slightly lowered his head to observe him. Yang Siran instantly felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest.


    Yuan Ye was more or less a bit surprised after hearing this. He hadn¡¯t expected for Little Yang to be a lover.


    ¡°Badass......¡± Yuan Ye stood up and shook out his legs. His ankle couldn¡¯t handle standing around like this all the time. He turned back to nce at Yang Siran and asked, ¡°Then how did he happen to sign you? You nned that too?¡±


    While speaking of this, Yang Siran¡¯s eyes seemed to light up a bit more. He said, ¡°It was really a coincidence. We coincidentally encountered each other.¡±


    It truly had been a coincidence. Yang Siran had gone to an entertainmentpany to sign his contract. He had written a few songs that weren¡¯t very valuable, but he still needed to sign a contract to sell them. He had instantly spotted Geng Jinwei in the building, then had held his breath and greeted the other. After moving away, Geng Jinwei hadn¡¯t seen Yang Siran again. However, he still remembered the other. He cocked an eyebrow and calmly stared at Yang Siran. Yang Siran stuttered out an exnation about how he had used to live on the floor below Geng Jinwei¡¯s.


    A very esoteric greeting. There wasn¡¯t anything else to be said following it.


    Later on, Geng Jinwei surprisingly asked Yang Siran if he wanted to act or not. Yang Siran thought about it for half a minute before nodding and saying okay.


    He was honestly very promising. He had a great outer appearance. Geng Jinwei handed him a business card. When Yang Siran epted it, he did his best to hide the fact that his hands were shaking. He realized that at the time, the other probably believed that he had only nervously greeted him with the goal of getting signed.


    After hearing this, Yuan Ye chuckled. He gave the other a thumbs up.


    Yang Siran rubbed his nose and smiled shyly. Following this, Yuan Ye offhandedly asked, ¡°Does Geng ge know?¡±


    ¡°No,¡± Yang Siran replied almost instantly.


    He blinked and looked a bit nervous. He said, ¡°He doesn¡¯t know. Don¡¯t tell him either. Please?¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow.


    Yang Siran lowered his gaze. His voice softened a bit as he slowly said, ¡°It¡¯s my own business that I like him. Why do I have to tell him about the past? They¡¯re all meaningless memories. How much I like him, how many years I¡¯ve liked him ¨C at the end of the day, I was the only one who felt anything. I can¡¯t use these memories to force anyone else into doing anything...... That¡¯s too terrifying.¡±


    Yuan Ye had originally just been treating this as a story. He had noticed that Yang Siran seemed to really want to share it, so he had listened. But right now, Yuan Ye turned to look at Yang Siran after hearing thest few words out of his mouth. He suddenly realized that he had probably underestimated the other in the past.


    The other had a very mature mentality. He hadn¡¯t expected for Yang Siran to be so sensible.


    Yuan Ye gave him a thumbs up again. He didn¡¯t say anything else. After, he patted the other and nodded with his chin into the distance, gesturing that they needed to head back.


    That evening, during their call, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t tell Fang Shaoyi what Yang Siran had told him. He wasn¡¯t in the habit of gossiping about other people¡¯s private matters. The two of them also didn¡¯t call each other every day. Sometimes, their schedules didn¡¯t line up.


    Fang Shaoyi asked him through the phone, ¡°Does your foot still hurt?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°A little bit. It¡¯s not too bad.¡±


    ¡°Take care of yourself. Otherwise, you¡¯re going to be twisting your ankle every other day in the future. That¡¯d kill me.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s throat was a bit dry. He took a sip of water to wet it.


    ¡°That¡¯d kill me too. Doesn¡¯t Teacher Yuan Ye still need his dignity?¡± Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t helpughing. ¡°Crippled monkey?¡±


    ¡°Monkey?¡± Fang Shaoyi joked through the phone, ¡°Can you still climb a tree?¡±


    Yuan Ye answered, ¡°Definitely not right now. We¡¯ll talk about the future when ites.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement. He didn¡¯t say anything else. In actuality, after twisting an ankle, vigorous exercise was banned for a short period of time. Climbing a tree, which involved climbing up and jumping down, was even less allowed. However, Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t tell him these things. How could Yuan Ye himself not know?


    Fang Shaoyi basically only had to act while in Director Wei¡¯s film crew. There was nothing to worry about. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have any big problems on his film set, either, but there was a never ending stream of little problems. Since Yuan Ye had left, the two of them hadn¡¯t seen each other for over two months. Neither of them had the time. On the day of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s birthday, Yuan Ye waited until midnight to post on Weibo. Surprisingly, Fang Shaoyi reposted this Weibo post.


    Through the phone, Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Don¡¯t you feel childish, Teacher Fang? We¡¯re going to end up on the trending list again tomorrow.¡±


    ¡°I wanted to repost it,¡± Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Why would I worry about so much other stuff?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t specially fly over this time to celebrate Fang Shaoyi¡¯s birthday with him. One reason was because Yuan Ye honestly couldn¡¯t catch a break. Another was that there were only two months left before Fang Shaoyi would be finished with filming. The more in sync the film crew was with each other, the faster filming could bepleted. Recently, all of the scenes Fang Shaoyi was filming were crucial points of the movie¡¯s plot. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t dare to visit. He worried that if he did, he would disrupt Fang Shaoyi¡¯s emotional state. Either way, he would be returning soon. Thus, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t head to the film set. The two of them made do by sharing a private phone conversation.

 Chapter 63

    <h4>Chapter 63</h4>


    ¡°Teacher Yuan Ye?¡± The director¡¯s assistant approached to speak to Yuan Ye. He leaned down to call out to the other. It was raining, so they had stopped filming. Yuan Ye had his earphones in and was in the middle of listening to some songs Yang Siran had given him. Upon hearing someone call his name, he took out the earphones. The assistant told him, ¡°The director asked you to go see him. He has something to discuss with you.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Yuan Ye handed the phone back to Yang Siran. He smiled at the director¡¯s assistant and said, ¡°Just call me next time. You don¡¯t need to run all over the ce.¡±


    The director¡¯s assistant scratched his head and smiled. ¡°You¡¯d have to be able to hear the calls.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. He pulled out his phone and saw the missed calls on his screen. He chuckled. ¡°Ha, I guess I really didn¡¯t hear them.¡±


    It was Director Lin Feng¡¯s rule that those in his film crew needed to keep their phones on silent. Everyone used walkie-talkie headsets tomunicate. Nobody was allowed to speak too loudly on set; the entire film set was very quiet. This wasn¡¯t only because of the topic of the movie. His previous film sets had all been like this too. Lin Feng simply disliked having his surroundings sound like a noisy market when he filmed. Because the main character of this movie was mute, it was even more crucial to maintain a silent atmosphere.


    ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Feng ge?¡± Yuan Ye reached the director¡¯s tent. The person next to the director left a spot open for Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye sat down and asked, ¡°What¡¯s up?¡±


    Lin Feng called out to him, ¡°Little Yuan.¡±


    ¡°Un?¡± Yuan Ye nodded. ¡°Please speak.¡±


    Lin Feng asked him, ¡°Do you think it¡¯s usible to change these two scenes into rainy day scenes?¡±


    Yuan Ye immediately shook his head. ¡°No.¡±


    Beside them, the producer furrowed his brows. With a pained expression on, he said, ¡°Teacher Yuan, the weather conditions have been ced before us. We have to leave next week. There are almost ten clear sky scenes that we haven¡¯t filmed yet. If the skies never clear upter, it¡¯ll be very awkward for us.¡±


    Recently, it truly had been raining a lot. It was wet season locally. They couldn¡¯t do anything about this. Yuan Ye asked the director, ¡°What has the weather station said? Have you asked yet?¡±


    ¡°There are two clear days next week. Everything else is going to be rainy.¡± Lin Feng sighed and ruffled his hair, stressed.


    ¡°When are we leaving?¡± Yuan Ye questioned again.


    ¡°Next Wednesday,¡± the producer answered from nearby. He added, ¡°There isn¡¯t enough time.¡±


    Yuan Ye lowered his head and thought for a long time. Then, he looked up and asked the director, ¡°Feng ge, your thoughts?¡±


    Lin Feng pinched the spot between his eyebrows. First, he lowly cussed. After, he said, ¡°If all the scenes are fucking rain scenes, the atmosphere of the movie is going to be so glum it¡¯ll be like a ship about to sink. A fucking mess.¡±


    Yuan Ye sighed as well. Did he even need to say anything? The director understood too that they couldn¡¯t add anymore rain scenes. Since they had arrived here, they hadn¡¯t filmed many scenes under clear skies. The ones they had had been rejected too. The director didn¡¯t want to change the scenes either. He had called Yuan Ye over to get his opinion on the matter. If Yuan Ye agreed to change them, he could possibly force himself to change his mind.


    Prior to their arrival, the local weather station had already verified the predicted weather for the period of time they would be here. At that time, they had said that the skies would be mostly clear for over half the time frame. They could film the clear sky scenes and the rainy scenes separately, which was perfect. But how many days of clear skies had there actually been after they had reached this ce? Nobody could do anything about this. Weather reports were only an approximation. They weren¡¯t extremely urate.


    They had only rented out the little ind for forty days. After arriving, they had realized that they wouldn¡¯t be able to finish filming in that amount of time, so had extended the reservation by ten days. But they absolutely needed to leave by next Wednesday. The ind had already been rented out for the next time slot. The conditions truly weren¡¯t forgiving. However, this movie was one that Yuan Ye had personally edited over and over again. This was his biological son. He definitely couldn¡¯t be the one who would allow the director and producer to heave out sighs of relief.


    In the end, Yuan Ye still shook his head. ¡°There¡¯s no way to change them. There¡¯d be too much rain. It would alter the entire tone of the movie.¡±


    The scenes they were filming now could be described as the rtively more rxed scenes in the entire movie. The main character and his little brother lived on the ind. There was a distanced type of freedom about this. It also allowed the audience to rx. They originally should¡¯ve finished filming quite easily. The director had chosen this location because it was beautiful: a very lively little ind. However, upon arrival, they had filmed mostly rain scenes. The scenes they had already filmed were a bit depressing.


    The producer said, ¡°You guys, be more realistic. The objective conditions aren¡¯t permitting. Can you slightly lower your expectations?¡±


    The director didn¡¯t answer. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t speak either. There were many film crew members in the filming tent, but none of them said anything.


    In the end, Yuan Ye was the first to clear his throat and speak up. ¡°My opinion is that we can¡¯t change those scenes. But the conditions truly are very limiting. Take my opinion with a grain of salt. If you decide to change things, tell me. I¡¯d have to edit the script.¡±


    From start to finish, the director remained expressionless. The producer¡¯s expression, on the other hand, became unpleasant. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t really look at him. He continued, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a suggestion. I don¡¯t know if it¡¯s usible or not. For these two scenes, film versions in the rain and keep them just in case. Then, shoot a few wide shots of the entire ind when the skies are clear. If we really don¡¯t have time, we can film the detailed scenes back in Qingdao. After everything, we¡¯llbine these shots and see the final effect during editing.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even falter as he walked. He only shook his head and chuckled.


    Actually, Yuan Ye had been called over by the producer too. The other had wanted to find someone on his side to help him in coaxing the director. In the end, though, Yuan Ye hade, but hadn¡¯t said anything beneficial to his argument. The producer felt a bit displeased, but Yuan Ye honestly couldn¡¯t care about this. He couldn¡¯t understand. They were on different sides and viewed things through different lenses. The producer used his left brain to work. He calcted expenses and processes. The entire film set¡¯s operation depended on him. The director and screenwriter used their right brains to work, though. They relied on emotions; they were in pursuit of an artistic effect. Nobody could say the other was wrong. There was no right or wrong.


    It was raining where Yuan Ye was. It was also raining quite heavily where Fang Shaoyi was. After severalrge rainstorms, the entire vige had be muddy. Fang Shaoyi wore a raincoat and rain boots. After returning from set, he drank a bowl of ginger water and told Yuan Ye through the phone, ¡°Take care. Don¡¯t get sick.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m fine. I¡¯m very sturdy. You know that,¡± Yuan Ye chuckled and responded.


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement. He admitted this fact too. Between the two of them, Fang Shaoyi was the one more likely to get sick. He had a worse immune system than Yuan Ye.


    ¡°Take care of yourself.¡± Yuan Ye softly asked him, ¡°Has your shoulder started hurting these past few days? It¡¯s too humid.¡±


    It had been too long since they had seen each other. Yuan Ye¡¯s voice had even be a bit pouty. Fang Shaoyi missed him. He lowered his voice and said into the phone, ¡°A little bit.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed. He said, ¡°Tell Xiaotao to give you a massage. Remember to use your massager too.¡±


    This was the problem left behind by old injuries: a fear of overcast and rainy days. Previously, Yuan Ye only had to worry about Fang Shaoyi during rainy days. Now, he himself couldn¡¯t avoid this pain either. As soon as the air started getting humid, his ankle started hurting. Yuan Ye sat on the bed, legs criss-crossed, and subconsciously reached out to squeeze his ankle. He heard Fang Shaoyi say, ¡°I won¡¯t use him.¡±


    Yuan Ye leaned his head back and chortled. He purposefully asked, ¡°Then who are you going to use?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer either. He only said, ¡°Who knows.¡±


    Yuan Yepletely burst intoughter. He sat there, shoulders curled up, and couldn¡¯t stopughing. After hisughing fit, he softened his voice and cated, ¡°I¡¯ll give you a massage. Not only on your shoulders. I¡¯ll massage wherever you want me to massage.¡±


    Sickly sweet.


    To outsiders, these two were stubborn, thirty-something, mature men. Who knew that they were actually so lovey-dovey in private? And Fang Shaoyi really liked acting this way. They hadn¡¯t seen each other in a long time already. Even his breathing got a little heavier. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Where else do you want to massage?¡±


    ¡°A lot of ces.¡± Yuan Ye coughed softly. He suddenlyid down and inhaled deeply. He dragged his words out and said, ¡°If you keep flirting with me, you¡¯ll have to deal with the consequences on your own.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi inquired again, ¡°Deal with them how?¡±


    Yuan Ye covered his face with his arm. He clenched his teeth together and bit out, ¡°Wait until I see you again. Don¡¯t even think about getting a good night¡¯s sleep. You¡¯ll just have to be a pile driver. My pile driver.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi finally stopped flirting. He burst intoughter, then scolded, ¡°That¡¯s all you think about in your head all day.¡±


    ¡°Fine, fine.¡± Yuan Ye nodded on the other end of the phone. He said, ¡°Only I think about this stuff in my head. Your head is super clean.¡±


    Added together, the two of them were already over seventy in age. They bantered back and forth, saying meaningless things. Halfway through their conversation, someone knocked on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s door. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°Wait a moment for me.¡±


    Yuan Ye joked and replied, ¡°Let me see which little demon it is.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi went to open the door. Initially, he had assumed that it was Ji Xiaotao at the door, and that the other had forgotten to bring his key card. When he opened the door, however, it actually wasn¡¯t Ji Xiaotao.


    There was a young boy standing outside the door. He was the actor for a character belonging to the group of educated youths who had travelled to the vige with Fang Shaoyi¡¯s character in the movie. He was only twenty one this year. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t expected it to be him. He kept his hand on the door handle and didn¡¯t let go. Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°Do you need something?¡±


    The boy handed the box in his hands over. His voice was very soft. He was also stuttering. Quietly, he asked, ¡°Teacher Shaoyi, I heard that you have an old injury on your shoulder. I brought this for you. My dad gets pains a lot too. I always help him out. You- Should I give you a massage?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi squeezed the phone in his hand. Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow on the other end of the line and burst intoughter. It really was a little demon?


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t respond. The boy¡¯s face had already flushed red. He was a bit embarrassed. Fang Shaoyi asked him, ¡°Your manager told you toe?¡±


    The boy was slightly surprised. He looked up. Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°Go back. Thanks for the kind thoughts. You can give the stuff to my assistant tomorrow. I won¡¯t ept them today.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lifted his hand and waved his phone. He added, ¡°The one back home keeps me under close watch. Please understand.¡±


    Because he had moved his hand, his phone had lit up. The screen indicated that Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of a call. The boy felt extremely awkward. He nodded and said, ¡°Good night.¡± Then, he bowed and left.


    Fang Shaoyi closed the door. Yuan Ye tsk¡¯d through the phone. ¡°Teacher Shaoyi, howe you didn¡¯t ept the gift? It carries the other¡¯s good intentions, after all.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi felt slightly awkward too. Yuan Ye had happened to witness such a situation, and was now even using it to tease him. Fang Shaoyi asked, ¡°Then should I call him back? Tell him to immediately give me a massage?¡±


    Yuan Ye softly chuckled. He calmly said, ¡°If you dare to, you can try.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi truly didn¡¯t dare to. How many nights of pile driving would he have to do if he really did try?


    That night, the two of them coincidentally had nothing to do. Additionally, they both missed each other. Thus, they shared a rather long conversation over the phone. They talked until Fang Shaoyi fell asleep. His breathing evened out. Yuan Ye softly asked, ¡°Asleep, baobei¡¯er?¡±


    Nobody responded. Yuan Ye kissed his phone before hanging up.


    After so long without seeing Fang Shaoyi, Yuan Ye honestly longed for him a little. He couldn¡¯t rest at ease. He didn¡¯t know where this worry hade from. Logically speaking, Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t someone he needed to worry about. Nobody in Director Wei¡¯s film crew dared to offend him. Ji Xiaotao was also by his side. Everything about this situation was safe.


    But recently, Yuan Ye often felt like something was amiss. Something tugged at his heartstrings anxiously. He somewhat regretted not being able to visit Fang Shaoyi during the other¡¯s birthday. The two of them were basically in the honeymoon phase of their rtionship. Even after a separation and reconciliation, their love for each other was still very strong. Fang Shaoyi was always on his mind, mainly because he hadn¡¯t seen the other in a long time. At the end of the day, he really missed him.


    This anxiety peaked two dayster. On this day, it was raining terribly hard. The entire ind the film crew was on was covered byrge, dark storm clouds. The clouds were too low to the ground, causing everyone to find it hard to breathe.


    In the end, Lin Feng didn¡¯t agree to change the scenes to rainy scenes. On a clear day, they would get some wide shots. After, they could figure out the close-ups when they got back. Or, when they finished filming everything else, given the opportunity, they could return to this location and make up those scenes.


    It was raining so hard. They couldn¡¯t film anything at all. The machines would be damp. Yuan Ye felt too stifled in his room, so he wanted to go out for some fresh air. He pulled a raincoat on and decided to walk around outside. While passing by Yang Siran¡¯s room, he offhandedly knocked on the younger¡¯s door. However, he didn¡¯t stop walking. He simply lifted his hand and knocked. After knocking, he continued walking.


    Yang Siran peeked his head out and looked around. He noticed Yuan Ye and called out, ¡°Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye turned back around and asked, ¡°I¡¯m going out for a walk. Coming?¡±


    ¡°Yes! Wait a moment for me!¡± Yuan Ye dashed back into his room and grabbed a raincoat. Just as he was about to make his great escape, his assistant called out from inside the room, ¡°Where do you think you¡¯re going on this rainy day?!¡±


    Yang Siran smiled. ¡°I¡¯m going out on a walk with Yuan Ye ge. It¡¯s too stuffy inside.¡±


    After saying this, he put on the raincoat and ran out in pursuit of Yuan Ye,pletely ignoring his assistant¡¯s roars from inside the room. In actuality, when it was raining so hard, people felt more carefree. They no longer needed to cover themselves up, because it was mostly of no use. With a raincoat on, they could disregard how hard the rain was falling. There was truly a sense of delight that came with walking in the rain. Yuan Ye sat down on a tall rock on the beach. Yang Siran apanied him. When they looked out before them, the endless ocean through the curtain of rain carried an indescribable feeling of vastness and majesty.


    Authors really liked these situations, but in the eyes of others, such behavior was a sign of insanity.


    Coming out to get poured on by the rain like this, then getting blown by the wind ¨C all those thoughts that couldn¡¯t be settled or exined got dispersed too. Yuan Ye shouted above the wind to ask Yang Siran, ¡°Should we head back?¡±


    ¡°If you haven¡¯t spent enough time outside, we can sit around a bit longer!¡± Yang Siran yelled back. ¡°This feels quite cathartic!¡±


    Yuan Ye had gotten used to having ackey around everyday too. asionally, when the mood struck, he also teased the other by bringing up Geng Jinwei. Everytime he brought this topic up, Yang Siran would get very happy. He really liked Geng Jinwei. When he spoke about that person, the pride in his eyes couldn¡¯t be hidden despite his best attempts.


    When the two of them went inside, Yuan Ye told him, ¡°Take a shower when you get back. If you catch a cold, I¡¯ll be in big trouble.¡±


    ¡°What would it have to do with you?¡± Yang Siran asked while shaking his head. ¡°I wanted to go outside for a walk too. It¡¯s too stifling in these rooms.¡±


    Yang Siran¡¯s assistant opened the door after hearing voices outside. Upon seeing the two of them, he clutched onto Yuan Ye¡¯s arm and shouted, ¡°Ye ge!¡±


    Yuan Ye nked out because of this. In a daze, he asked, ¡°What?¡±


    The assistant tugged him into the room, closed the door, and asked with brows knit closely together, expression extremely agitated, ¡°You didn¡¯t bring your phone, right? Xiaotao has almost gone crazy trying to get in contact with you! He even called me! I was just about to go looking for you guys!¡±


    Almost instantly, Yuan Ye¡¯s heart fell into his stomach. Extremely tense, he felt around his pocket. He really hadn¡¯t brought his phone. Eyebrows furrowed too, Yang Siran asked his assistant, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    The assistant, who was older than Yang Siran, looked at Yuan Ye and could only say, ¡°Xiaotao didn¡¯t exin, but he sounded really worried.¡±


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°Okay, got it.¡± Then, he turned around and left.


    Some gut feelings developed in the unconscious mind and were very urate. While opening the door, only one thought remained in Yuan Ye¡¯s mind: he had clearly been anxious all this time, but why the fuck hadn¡¯t he called Fang Shaoyi?


    He scooped his phone up and called Ji Xiaotao. No matter how many times he called, the other¡¯s line was always busy. Yuan Ye¡¯s fingertips started trembling. His lips slowly paled. He called for two minutes straight. For the entirety of these two minutes, Ji Xiaotao was on another call. If another call came in during a call, the phone would notify him. Yet, Ji Xiaotao still remained on his first call. Yuan Ye hung up and sent Ji Xiaotao a message: Return my call. Immediately.


    In the minute or so he waited for the call, Yuan Ye had already taken off his raincoat and picked up his ID, passport, and wallet. When the call came in, Yuan Ye was ready to head out the door at a moment¡¯s notice.


    He picked up the phone and made a noise of acknowledgement.


    Ji Xiaotao¡¯s voice sounded out from the other end of the phone line. As soon as he opened his mouth, it was easy to tell that his throat was practically smoking. It was so hoarse that he practically couldn¡¯t say anything. He called out, ¡°Ye ge.¡±


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes. He made another noise of acknowledgment.


    Ji Xiaotao was practically whispering the words out, ¡°Can you make it back right now? My ge......¡±


    He was a bit hesitant as he spoke. Yuan Ye interrupted, ¡°How is he, to what degree, and where is he now? Tell me in one sentence and don¡¯t make me repeat myself.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao paused for a moment before saying, ¡°The tire of the prop car exploded.¡±


    After hearing these words, Yuan Ye¡¯s pupils trembled again. His breathing even stopped for a few seconds. Ji Xiaotao continued, ¡°The car lost control and flipped over, trapping my ge under it. He¡¯s still in the emergency room. We didn¡¯t know what condition he was in, so sent him to the nearest county hospital. We might have to transfer him to another hospitalter. The film crew¡¯s locked the news, so it hasn¡¯t gotten leaked out yet.¡±


    A few secondster, Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°Before you sent him to the hospital, where were his visible wounds?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao replied, voice dry and hoarse, ¡°Head, shoulder, rebar......through the chest.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll be back immediately.¡± Yuan Ye closed his eyes. HIs lips trembled, but his voice still sounded very calm as he said, ¡°Stay strong, Tao.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao instantly choked up. He couldn¡¯t respond.


    Prior to hanging up, Yuan Ye called out to Ji Xiaotao again. He knew the answer in his heart, but still asked, ¡°Did he maintain consciousness?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao answered, ¡°......No.¡±

 Chapter 64

    <h4>Chapter 64</h4>


    Yuan Ye got off the ne a whole thirty hourster. A storm had struck locally. All the flights at the airport had gotten suspended. That day, Yuan Ye had tried everything he could, but ultimately couldn¡¯t leave the ind.


    Ji Xiaotao pitifully said through the phone, ¡°......Ye ge, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment. He told Ji Xiaotao, ¡°If anything happens, call me immediately.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush, Ye ge,¡± Ji Xiaotao said.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s throat was hoarse too, but he still sounded calm. Or, it could be said that he sounded collected. Ji Xiaotao wanted to keep talking to him: it seemed like talking to him could make one feel safe.


    Aside from the film crew members, it had originally only been Ji Xiaotao at the hospital. He had handled everything himself, and had done a great job at it. But no matter how strong he was, he only lookedposed. He was actually very panicked and scared in his heart. The only two people who he felt, from the bottom of his heart, that he could rely on, were Geng Jinwei and Yuan Ye.


    Neither of them were here, but neither of them had sounded agitated over the phone. Since they weren¡¯t agitated, it didn¡¯t seem like anything terrible would happen. Thus, Ji Xiaotao was willing to believe that the scariest possibility wouldn¡¯t ur. As long as that didn¡¯t ur, he could handle anything else.


    Geng Jinwei arrived at midnight on the day of the incident. When Ji Xiaotao finally saw him, he had already lost his voice. Geng Jinwei¡¯s face was as dark as a moonless night. He scanned the hospital hallway, sharp gaze sliding across each person¡¯s face. He didn¡¯t reply to a single greeting, heading straight toward the set designer instead. Geng Jinwei grabbed the other by the hair, forcing him to lean his head back. Then, he punched the set designer twice on the chest. Each punch was intended to damage.


    ¡°Boss Geng, Boss Geng......¡± Nobody dared to say anything else to calm him down. Nobody reached out to stop him either. There was even a perverse sense of pleasure visible in Ji Xiaotao¡¯s eyes. Each punch Geng Jinwei threw gave him joy. He leaned against the opposing wall, coldly watching. As long as Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t actually beat the guy to death, it didn¡¯t matter.


    Right now, it was unsure if Fang Shaoyi would live. If he survived, everything would be fine, but if anything actually happened to him, then nobody would be able to live. The driver for that car would be the first to go; the set designer wouldn¡¯t be able to escape responsibility either. The car belonging to the set design team had been carrying junk and driving way too fast. While making a turn, the tire had suddenly exploded, causing the car to lurch forward uncontrobly. Even two houses had copsed. It was incredibly fortunate that Fang Shaoyi and the other two actors hadn¡¯t been too close to the road. Otherwise, there probably wouldn¡¯t have even been a need to send him to the hospital.


    Such a serious ident had already urred. Almost all the important film crew members were present. The little area around the emergency room was crowded with people. Director Wei was obviously there as well. He looked very frail and like he had suddenly aged many years. In the end, he was the one who stepped forward and stopped Geng Jinwei from continuing. Geng Jinwei¡¯s blood red eyes made eye contact with him. Director Wei silently shook his head at the other.


    Right now, Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t want to give anyone face. He stopped at this time only because he couldn¡¯t kill this person yet. There was no other reason.


    After, Geng Jinwei walked over and wrapped his arms around Ji Xiaotao briefly. Then, he forcefully patted the other¡¯s back. Several parts of Ji Xiaotao¡¯s lips had already cracked open. His voice finally started shaking now that he was talking to Geng Jinwei, face to face. ¡°Geng ge, I¡¯m......quite scared.¡±


    After letting go of him, Geng Jinwei lowly said, ¡°Don¡¯t worry. Don¡¯t be scared.¡±


    A call at such a time wouldn¡¯t necessarily be a good thing. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t even figured out with what emotion he should answer the phone in case it really did start ringing.


    But fortunately, the first thing that Ji Xiaotao said when Yuan Ye called him after getting off the ne was, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Ye ge. He¡¯s temporarily stable.¡±


    Temporarily stable. This was only temporary, but for Yuan Ye, it was already enough. Yuan Ye replied, ¡°I still need two more hours.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t rush. Everything¡¯s fine,¡± Ji Xiaotao told him.


    There was already someone waiting outside the airport. As soon as Yuan Ye got out of the airport, he headed straight to the county hospital. When he got there, there weren¡¯t that many people in the hospital anymore. They had all been kicked out by Geng Jinwei. Only six people remained: all of their faces were ashen pale. All of them looked worse for wear.


    Yuan Ye had run up the stairs. He wasn¡¯t in the mood to wait for the elevator. He nodded at the director and them. Ji Xiaotao had already walked over. He told Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, don¡¯t worry. Just now, the doctor said he¡¯s still stable.¡±


    Yuan Ye was still panting. He didn¡¯t want to hear these things. He simply asked, ¡°Is he still bleeding?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao nodded. ¡°Yes. The doctor also asked if we want to transfer hospitals.¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yuan Ye said without second thought. After saying this, he turned to look at Geng Jinwei. ¡°We need to transfer, right Geng ge?¡±


    On this matter, he and Geng Jinwei shared the same opinion. Since it had been an emergency, they had taken Fang Shaoyi to this small hospital for emergency treatment. Now that he was stable, they needed to transfer hospitals. But right now, the hospital wasn¡¯t letting them leave. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t gotten out of critical condition yet. It was too risky to transfer. The hospital¡¯s suggestion was to wait a bit longer.


    Yuan Ye had already gotten a summary of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s injuries when he had called earlier. The other¡¯s cor bone was broken. The rebar had pierced through his right chest and stabbed the right lower lobe of his lung. The hospital had asked for a specialist from the provincial hospital toe do the surgery. They had repaired the puncture and tried to stop bleeding, but the results weren¡¯t ideal. As for the head wound, it was actually the least serious one. The injured area had been stitched five times. The loss of consciousness at the time of injury was likely due to concussion.


    As soon as he heard these results, Yuan Ye actually exhaled in relief to himself. There were too many organs in the human chest. The four words ¡°rebar through the chest¡± had caused Yuan Ye to stop breathing for a few seconds when he had heard them. He didn¡¯t even want to think about the consequences if Fang Shaoyi had injured his heart or an important artery. However, this didn¡¯t mean that a lung injury wouldn¡¯t be life-threatening. Only,pared to the other organs, having the lungs injured could allow Yuan Ye to heave a slight, slight sigh of relief.


    ¡°Director.¡± Yuan Ye walked over and lowly told the director and them, ¡°We won¡¯t talk about those extra things right now. I just have one request. You absolutely need to keep this information a secret. Not even a single phrase can get leaked out.¡±


    The producer replied from beside him, ¡°Little Yuan, don¡¯t worry about that. Nobody from the film set will say a word.¡±


    Director Wei held onto Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. He didn¡¯t say anything. His palms were very cold. Yuan Ye knew that the director was actually suffering just as much as everyone else. To him, Fang Shaoyi was basically half a son. Additionally, he had been the one who had asked Fang Shaoyi to act in the film as a favor. Now that such an incident had urred, the director was definitely the one in the most pain.


    Yuan Yeforted him, ¡°Heaven helps good men. My ge will be fine. You ought to head back and rest too.¡±


    Director Wei shook his head. He sat in the chair and didn¡¯t move.


    Yuan Ye was too calm. He was so calm that he didn¡¯t even seem like a human anymore. Even Geng Jinwei had punched someone without saying anything when he had first arrived. However, from beginning to end, Yuan Ye had maintained his rationality. He only kept his eyes glued onto the door leading to the ICU. This hospital was too crude; it didn¡¯t even have a private sterile care room. It only had one big room in the ICU that contained all the ICU patients.


    Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t woken up during all this time. Each time someone walked out, they gave the same answer. Each doctor had the same expression on. In the end, Yuan Ye simply stopped asking.


    However, staying like this forever wasn¡¯t a n either. It had been over thirty hours, but Fang Shaoyi still hadn¡¯t opened his eyes. The blood flow in the drainage pipe had never stopped either. They had already gotten into contact with a better hospital. The ambnce was waiting outside too. Yuan Ye and Geng Jinwei had the same idea. They weren¡¯t going to wait anymore. They were going to transfer hospitals immediately.


    A young doctor brought the transfer form over. They needed a family member¡¯s signature. Yuan Ye stood up and reached his hands out to ept it. The doctor hesitated for a moment. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Give it to me.¡±


    The doctor handed it over. Yuan Ye quickly wrote his own name in the name nk. After, when he saw the ¡°rtionship to patient¡± nk, Yuan Ye felt like he had been stabbed in the eye. The tip of his pen started quivering.


    The doctor had been staring at Yuan Ye from the beginning. At this time, he tentatively asked, ¡°You¡¯re no longer the patient¡¯s spouse, right?¡±


    Yuan Ye had stayed up for over a dozen hours straight. His eyes were already bloodshot. Right now, he stared straight at the doctor. He looked a bit terrifying, but his countenance also caused others to feel a strange sense of pity. The doctor reached out and quietly pulled the form out from Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. He turned around and handed it to Geng Jinwei.


    Geng Jinwei epted it, nced at Yuan Ye, then lowered his head to sign his own name.


    From when Yuan Ye had received that first call till now, Ji Xiaotao had only seen and heard a calm,posed Yuan Ye. He spoke logically and acted logically, as if he believed, from the bottom of his heart, that this was only something trivial. That there was no need to panic.


    But a simple transfer form seemed to have suddenly crushed Yuan Ye into a million pieces. His hands trembled uncontrobly.


    ¡°Ye ge......¡± Ji Xiaotao called out to him.


    Yuan Ye returned to his senses. He shot a nce at Ji Xiaotao, then waved, gesturing that he was fine. Somewhat stiffly, he walked over to the stairwell. He felt around in his pocket. He wanted to light a cigarette for himself, but he didn¡¯t have any cigarettes.


    Yuan Ye leaned against the wall and slowly squatted. His arms blocked the view of his head. His entire being was curled up in a manner that suggested he was rejecting the whole world.


    The person lying in there was Fang Shaoyi, the man Yuan Ye had loved for eighteen years.


    Even when Fang Shaoyi merely had a headache or slight fever, Yuan Ye felt like this was a big deal. Right now, he wasying in the ICU, unconscious and with a forty-degree fever that wouldn¡¯t go down. There were also various tubes stuck into his body while the drainage pipe incessantly drew blood out of him.


    Such a Fang Shaoyi was lying in that room, but Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t able to sign for him. All the people around him ¨C Geng Jinwei, Ji Xiaotao, even the director ¨C had more of a right to sign than he did. What could Yuan Ye write in the ¡°rtionship to patient¡± nk? Ex-husband? Or friend?


    This was tooical and too cruel.


    The ambnce sped into the city, driving on the green road the entire way. As they carried the stretcher into the emergency room, a young doctor yanked up the nket and covered the patient¡¯s face.


    All sorts of people passed to and fro in the hospital. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face couldn¡¯t be seen by outsiders. Even Yuan Ye and Ji Xiaotao were covering their faces; the doctor was doing this with good intentions. However, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t gotten any time to prepare before the doctor had acted. His immediate response was to fling the covering the doctor had ced on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face off and to remove his jacket and use that instead. Covering Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face with a white cloth was too painful. It wouldn¡¯t do. He already had no color on his face. How could they cover him in white too?


    The patient had been safely transferred. The entire trip, his vital signs remained rtively stable. This, at least, could allow others to slightly rx. But prior to the stretcher being brought into the emergency room, Yuan Ye glued his face to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s for a brief moment, disregarding the doctor¡¯s opposition. His eyelids were trembling very hard. His eyshes fluttered against Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face.


    Ji Xiaotao¡¯s nose instantly soured. He turned away and wiped his eyes.


    That day, Yuan Ye softly whispered something into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear. ¡°I¡¯ve returned my light to you......I don¡¯t have any light left.¡±

 Chapter 65

    <h4>Chapter 65</h4>


    To those waiting outside, a transfer from the ICU unit of one hospital to the sterile ICU room of another hospital made no difference. They still couldn¡¯t see or touch the patient. Ji Xiaotao asked the hospital why their rooms weren¡¯t made of ss. Everybody ignored him.


    The hallway outside of the ICU couldn¡¯t be upied by too many people overnight. Eventually, only Yuan Ye stayed behind. Everyone else found their own spots to rest. Or, they headed back to the hotel to sleep. Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t leave even for a moment. Nobody tried to make him leave either. Lin Feng called, asking about the situation. Yuan Ye said things were okay. It wasn¡¯t too big of a deal.


    Before he had left, he had given the director a basic rundown of the incident. He had also notified the other that he probably wouldn¡¯t be able to continue working on the movie. Lin Feng hadn¡¯t mentioned anything extra. He only told Yuan Ye to hurry and head back, and that he wouldn¡¯t have to worry about this film. Yuan Ye had even been capable of calling Feng Leizi and telling him to make a trip over. He told the other to keep an eye on the script. He hadn¡¯t been panicked at all. Very calmly, he had sorted out his responsibilities.


    Yuan Ye either stood outside the ICU or walked up and down the hallway outside it. If one viewed this scene in stop motion, Yuan Ye¡¯s figure would be paused in a different ce each frame, just like in the movies. The loneliness and destion were obvious. There were two health care workers in the private ICU room. They asionally came out for fresh air.


    Yuan Ye would ask, ¡°Is he awake yet?¡±


    They would shake their heads. Then, he would ask again, ¡°Is he still bleeding?¡±


    They would say, ¡°A little bit.¡±


    Yuan Ye nodded. He didn¡¯t have any other questions.


    Half past two in the morning, one of the health care workers walked out. Yuan Ye noticed him and strided over from the other end of the hallway. He walked very softly, making no noise at all. The health care worker had a slight smile on as he said, ¡°The patient¡¯s awake.¡±


    Yuan Ye closed his eyes briefly and nodded. Then, he nodded again. He checked the time on his phone. Even his voice was soft as he asked, ¡°Can he speak?¡±


    ¡°He didn¡¯t say anything,¡± the other replied, ¡°but he looked pretty alert.¡±


    Yuan Ye inquired, ¡°Has his fever gone down?¡±


    The worker shook his head.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Got it. Thank you.¡±


    The other waved his hands before entering the room again.


    Yuan Ye rested against the wall. He leaned back and thought, he¡¯s awake? I don¡¯t know if he¡¯s of clear mind or not, or what he¡¯s thinking about. If he can sigh, he¡¯s probably going to sigh. Then, he¡¯d have to think about all the follow-up matters.


    There was a chair next to the bed. Yuan Ye sat there. The machines in the room beeped from time to time. This sound made people feel an inexplicable sense of difort.


    Perhaps Fang Shaoyi could still sense something. As soon as Yuan Ye sat down, Fang Shaoyi slowly opened his eyes. There was still an oxygen mask on his face. The way it pulled at his skin made his cheekbones appear very high. He was no longer handsome. Yuan Ye stared at him, just like this. The two of them made eye contact. Through each other¡¯s eyes, they looked into the other¡¯s soul. Suddenly, Yuan Ye pulled the corners of his lips up. He smiled at Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi was still staring at him. It was a bit hard for him to smile. Yuan Ye scooted closer. He didn¡¯t touch Fang Shaoyi; he only heaved out a long sigh of relief before chuckling, eyes red. In a raspy voice, he said, ¡°......You scared me to death.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was still in critical condition. As long as his fever didn¡¯t go down, anything could happen at any time. Additionally, his bleeding still hadn¡¯t gotten fully stopped. During the uing doctors¡¯ consultation, they would need to determine their next n of action. It was crucial to find the area that was bleeding. If they still couldn¡¯t stop the bleeding, they¡¯d have to open up Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chest again. This was all very troublesome, but things weren¡¯t so bad that the only thing Fang Shaoyi could do wasy there and breathe. He wasn¡¯t speaking because it wasn¡¯t convenient to speak with an oxygen mask on. He could still move, though.


    Fang Shaoyi reached a hand out. There was still an IV drip attached to his hand. Yuan Ye instinctively reached for him too, but he hesitated for a moment. He didn¡¯t know if he could touch Fang Shaoyi or not. The nurse whispered behind him, ¡°It¡¯s fine. I¡¯ll wipe him off againter.¡±


    This was truly sterile quarantine. Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t get contaminated right now. However, it wasn¡¯t so serious that they couldn¡¯t even hold hands. Yuan Ye knew too that he was being overly nervous. Heughed at himself, then bent over and glued himself to the edge of the bed. He took off his mask and allowed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s palm to rest against his face.


    ¡°I got skinnier, right?¡± Yuan Ye inquired.


    Fang Shaoyi gently squeezed his face.


    ¡°I definitely got skinnier,¡± Yuan Ye added. ¡°At least five fucking catties. Five catties that I gained after mouthfuls and mouthfuls of food. In the past few days, you scared me so much that I lost all that weight.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi softly slid his hand over Yuan Ye¡¯s head to caress his stubbly hair. He also stroked Yuan Ye¡¯s neck and the dip of his corbones.


    Yuan Ye clutched onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand and pressed a kiss to his palm. When Fang Shaoyi touched his face again, he noticed a slight wet sensation. He used his fingertips to find Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes. Then, he wiped away those tears filled with horror, agitation, and despair.


    This was the only visiting time allowed for the first half of the day. Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye. Their time was up after an extremely brief conversation. Before Yuan Ye exited the room, he wiped his index finger and middle finger against his lips. Then, he pressed these two fingers to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s forehead. Fang Shaoyi stared into his eyes. Yuan Ye sighed and said, ¡°Hurry and lower your fever. Hurry. If you don¡¯t get back to a normal body temperature, you¡¯ll still be stuck here. That way, you won¡¯t be able to see me. If you miss me and start crying in here, I won¡¯t know either.¡±


    There was slight amusement in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes. He blinked yfully.


    Yuan Ye suddenly turned back around after walking to the doorway. He stood next to the bed and announced, ¡°I feel wronged.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°I wasn¡¯t fucking allowed to sign the documents. The doctor wouldn¡¯t let me sign. Geng ge signed all the papers. When you¡¯re not sleeping, just stay here and think of a n. Back then, who forced me to sign? Sign all the future papers the same way you made me sign my name on the divorce papers that year. Don¡¯t you know how to write my name? Only you do, only you¡¯re capable. Sign for me again. I don¡¯t know how.¡±


    After saying this, Yuan Ye turned around and left. Fang Shaoyi watched him until he hadpletely disappeared.


    Yuan Ye told the nurse, ¡°Wipe his hands and face, please. You¡¯ve worked hard.¡±


    The nurse shook his head and said, ¡°Just doing what I should be.¡±


    Geng Jinwei asked Yuan Ye, ¡°How is he?¡±


    Yuan Ye smiled, nodded, and answered, ¡°Great.¡±


    This was Yuan Ye¡¯s answer for everyone. Fang Shaoyi was great. Fang Shaoyi was fine.


    But in actuality, how great could he be? Even Yuan Ye himself felt like he could barely breathe when he saw Fang Shaoyi. He almost wanted to take the oxygen mask off and put it on his own face instead. Fang Shaoyi had injured his lungs. Right now, every breath was excruciatingly difficult. He had lost so much blood. If he was in a good state, he wouldn¡¯t need to be wearing something like an oxygen mask now. He also wouldn¡¯t have failed to wake up until midnightst night. His breathing was so shallow that it practically wasn¡¯t noticeable. Merely a few days prior, he had seemed so handsome and alive during their video call. Now, he wasying there, unable to say even a single word.


    Yuan Ye shamelessly told Fang Shaoyi that he wouldn¡¯t sign anymore. He pushed the me for their divorce onto Fang Shaoyi, deliberately being dishonest. He was determined to tally this incident as Fang Shaoyi owing him. Some things were lethal when not spoken out loud. After sharing them, the burden could be lessened, but it still hurt. Also, Fang Shaoyi was the one who owed him. If he didn¡¯t fully recover so they could get married again, how else was he going to pay Yuan Ye back?


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s parents arrived in the afternoon. In the beginning, Ji Xiaotao hadn¡¯t notified them immediately. He wanted to wait for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s condition to stabilize a bit more before telling them. He didn¡¯t dare to tell them. He had only called them after Yuan Ye had arrived yesterday. These things couldn¡¯t be pushed off. Nobody was more terrified than Yuan Ye that something would happen to Fang Shaoyi, but no matter what, nobody had the right to keep this a secret from Fang Shaoyi¡¯s parents. What if? If certain things truly happened, shouldn¡¯t they be allowed toe see him?


    After his visit into the room, Yuan Ye had already called them and given them an update on the situation. Now that he saw them approaching, Yuan Ye walked over and hugged Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mother. Then, he held onto Fang Han¡¯s hand and told the two of them, ¡°Dad, Mom, he¡¯s mostly fine now. When his fever goes down, he¡¯ll be able to transfer to a regr room. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Fang Han nodded. His voice was still as strong andposed as ever, but the rims of his eyes were clearly red. ¡°I¡¯m not worried. It¡¯s no big deal when you get a trivial injury or sickness on set. I¡¯ve ¡®died¡¯ so many times over all these years, but aren¡¯t I still alive and kicking?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Yuan Ye said. ¡°He¡¯s exactly like you, Dad.¡±


    Geng Jinwei and Ji Xiaotao were both present. The director and producer were present too. Fang Han¡¯s face was dark. His voice was harsh as he asked, ¡°What actually happened? Where did the rebare from? You used rebar during filming?¡±


    ¡°It was junk from when we took apart a bridge,¡± Ji Xiaotao replied. ¡°They needed to take apart a Japanese bridge in the movie. After filming, the useless parts needed to be taken away. The tire of the car carrying the junk exploded.¡±


    ¡°Why would the tire explode?¡± Fang Han¡¯s eyebrows were tightly furrowed together. He stared straight at the producer and asked, ¡°Tell me the truth. Even if you don¡¯t, I¡¯m going to investigate. Was this an ident?¡±


    ¡°It truly was an ident.¡± These past few days, the producer had been so stressed that his hair had started graying. He looked at Fang Han and sincerely stated, ¡°Elder Fang, right now, the truth is before our eyes. Saying this sounds like a joke, but you¡¯re familiar with our film crew too. Everyone is very well-behaved. It was really only an ident.¡±


    ¡°The car was driving fine, but somehow managed to explode right next to my son? You¡¯re trying to cate and fool me by saying it was an ident?¡± Fang Han¡¯s sharp gaze focused on the producer. Even though Fang Han was now old, still nobody could handle this re.


    At this time, Director Wei Hua spoke up. ¡°Elder Fang.¡±


    Fang Han waited for him to continue. ¡°Speak.¡±


    ¡°It was an ident, but it was also caused by human error.¡± Wei Hua didn¡¯t hide anything. He shared the whole truth, every piece of it. He couldn¡¯t keep it a secret forever anyways. Besides, Wei Hua wasn¡¯t the type to try and sweep things under the carpet. He was partially responsible for this ident as well.


    All the cars belonging to the film crew had been bought secondhand. When there was no filming urring, they would remain parked in ce for up to one or two years. The tires would degrade. Prior to being brought onto set for use again, they needed to maintain or change the tires. The driver in charge of the car had handed in receipts to be reimbursed for two new front tires, but hadn¡¯t actually switched to the new tires. In actuality, those two tires had already been on theirst legs. However, it wasn¡¯t realistic to leave the set and spend a lot of time mending the tires. Thus, the driver merely took out a spare tire and used that instead.


    The driver did this for a living. He was very sure in his heart. Trucks weren¡¯t that sensitive; it wasn¡¯t a big deal if one or two tires weren¡¯t up to standard. Under usual circumstances, these tires could¡¯ve absolutelysted until the end of filming. If he hadn¡¯t felt confident to a certain degree, he wouldn¡¯t have acted in this manner.


    Things had started going downhill because the junk was too heavy. The tread pattern on the two coaxial front tires were different. Additionally, the old tire was too badly worn down. Given that the tire pressure wasn¡¯t high enough and the car was driving too fast, a simple dip in the road had caused it to explode.


    Wasn¡¯t this an ident? It truly was an ident. However, this was an ident that entirely could¡¯ve been prevented. The driver had the greatest responsibility, but then again, who wasn¡¯t responsible? Nobody could avoid taking responsibility. Inspecting down the line, the root cause of everything was also the fact that the higher-ups hadn¡¯t carefully checked the conditions of the tires.


    There were two other actors who had gotten injured at the same time as Fang Shaoyi. The two little actors had sought Fang Shaoyi out so he could help them with their lines. Fang Shaoyi usually never rejected such requests. During lunch, Ji Xiaotao went to help Fang Shaoyi grab his food. Otherwise, given the way the two of them always stuck together, he probably would¡¯ve ended up critically injured too.


    Fang Shaoyi had filmed so many movies across the years, after all. A good portion of these had also been action films. He had a really fast reaction speed. The moment of the incident, he had already lunged forward while pushing the two other actors away. Otherwise, he¡¯d definitely have been hit in the head. If that had really happened, his skull would¡¯ve shattered. Had Fang Shaoyi not protected the other two actors, he actually would¡¯ve been able to get out of the way. At least, he wouldn¡¯t be as seriously injured as he was now. But how could he not care for them? Could he watch them die? Would that still be Fang Shaoyi?


    Fang Han¡¯s pupils trembled incessantly. His eyes became bloodshot. He asked, ¡°Where¡¯s the driver? Did he die?¡±


    Geng Jinwei answered, ¡°He¡¯s resting in the hospital. Not dead. He¡¯s not even as heavily injured as Shaoyi.¡±


    ¡°He¡¯s not even as badly injured as my son?¡± Fang Han was truly furious. He had been righteous his whole life, had spent an entire lifetime with no secrets. This was the only reason he was able to say something like this now. ¡°He was the one who sought death, but he wants my son to bear the consequences in his stead?¡±


    ¡°If something really happens to my kid, what are you guys going topensate me with?¡± Fang Han pointed at the producer. Then, he turned his gaze towards Wei Hua. The man who had just said, ¡°It¡¯s no big deal when you get a trivial injury or sickness on set,¡± now mmed his hand against the wall and shouted at these two. ¡°A steel bar passed through my son¡¯s chest. If it had really punctured his heart, what would you guyspensate me with?!¡±

 Chapter 66

    <h4>Chapter 66</h4>


    What couldpensate for Fang Shaoyi? Nothing.


    There was always blood filling Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chest tube, an amount that was abnormal for post-surgery. The color of the blood was really dark too. They needed to wheel him out for a lung examination. After the consultation, the doctor said he would wheel Fang Shaoyi downstairs at ten for a CT scan to look at the areas that were bleeding. Yuan Ye told everyone else to head back. Only he, Geng Jinwei, and Ji Xiaotao remained in the hospital. Even if anything happened, or if they needed to wheel Fang Shaoyi around anywhere for an examination, the three of them were enough. It was useless for there to be too many people; the hospital would get annoyed too. What did it seem like when everyone was blocking the hallways? Just looking at such a scene could cause anxiety. Besides, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t really want others seeing how Fang Shaoyi looked right now. He didn¡¯t want Mother and Father Fang to start worrying. Also, he didn¡¯t want anyone else seeing how worse for wear Fang Shaoyi seemed.


    Yuan Ye understood him. If not for the fact that he was scared of something suddenly happening and there not being enough people present, Yuan Ye would¡¯ve made every single person leave. Only he himself would need to stay behind.


    Nobody mentioned anything about the movie. Right now, Fang Shaoyi was in such a state, so nobody dared to bring it up at all. Whether or not he would wake up and whether or not he would recover were all difficult to tell, because he hadn¡¯t even passed the critical stage yet. It was even more unknown if he would be able to return to filming the movie after recovering. The director didn¡¯t mention this. He didn¡¯t have the energy to think about these things.


    If Fang Shaoyi stopped bleeding now, he would be able to slightly move around. They¡¯d also make him practice breathing exercises and coughing or something. However, he kept bleeding from an unknown location. The doctors didn¡¯t dare to let him move at all. If it was a main blood vessel that was bleeding,rge movements could cause it to erupt, which would be very dangerous.


    Regardless of where he went now, there was always a young doctor following him around. Whenever he needed to travel, he used the doctor ess hallways. He didn¡¯t need to go outside and wait for the elevator with everyone else. Fang Shaoyi was awake. Yuan Ye and Ji Xiaotao both had their masks on. Right now, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t have his oxygen mask on, though. He looked pretty alert. He told Yuan Ye while in the elevator, ¡°You haven¡¯t rested at all, right?¡±


    Yuan Ye looked down and smiled at him. The smile on his face was covered by his mask, but the warmth and amusement in his eyes weren¡¯t. Yuan Ye said, ¡°I did rest.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi blinked and slowly said, ¡°You¡¯re lying.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao butted in from the side, ¡°Ge, he¡¯s lying.¡±


    Yuan Ye nced at him. ¡°You¡¯re sure quick to snitch.¡±


    This was the first time Ji Xiaotao was talking to Fang Shaoyi since the ident. These past few days, he had been there every step of the way. Thinking back now, he didn¡¯t even know how he had lived through that panic and fear. He had originally been okay, but after saying the first thing to Fang Shaoyi, he suddenly suffered a mini emotional breakdown. He couldn¡¯t help the souring of his nose.


    Geng Jinwei patted him. Fang Shaoyi called out, ¡°Xiaotao.¡±


    ¡°Ey!¡± Ji Xiaotao sniffled. Voice hoarse, he replied, ¡°I¡¯m here, ge. What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was very low. It seemed that speaking was difficult for him. ¡°You stay tonight. Shoo him back for some rest.¡±


    ¡°I shoo him every day and night, but he doesn¡¯t listen.¡± Ji Xiaotao tugged at his mask and snitched on Yuan Ye, ¡°Right now, he¡¯s actingwlessly. Ge, teach him a lessonter on.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgement and silently chuckled. He turned his gaze onto Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye blinked yfully at him.


    In the afternoon, the team of doctors that Geng Jinwei had transferred over arrived. They looked over the various test results and reports regarding Fang Shaoyi and held an hour long meeting with the local doctors and the doctors who had performed the emergency surgery at the county hospital. Right now, there were two areas that were bleeding inside Fang Shaoyi. One was the area of his lungs that had been stapled. The other was a blood vessel next to the injury. The doctors would keep a close eye on his condition. If he still didn¡¯t stop bleeding, they would have to perform another thoracoscopy. Yuan Ye was very unwilling for this to happen. It would require Fang Shaoyi going under general anesthesia again, which was the equivalent of getting another surgical procedure done.


    Continuous cropping over and over again, who could bear this? Yuan Ye¡¯s heart had already gotten dug out and stomped into pieces once. Now he needed to dig it out again?


    Yuan Ye told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ge, hurry and stop bleeding for me. Don¡¯t get surgery again. That¡¯d kill me.¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye had been half-squatting. Fang Shaoyi lifted his hand and rested it on Yuan Ye¡¯s head. With a smile, he told the other, ¡°Okay. I¡¯ll do my best.¡±


    Yuan Ye clung onto his hand. He wanted to squeeze it, but didn¡¯t dare to hold Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand too tightly: there was a needle in it.


    They could only briefly converse on the way to and back from checkups. The remaining time, they were still separated by a door.


    Each day Fang Shaoyi spent in the ICU, Yuan Ye stayed with him. He never left, never returned to his room to sleep. There were a few times in between where he went to the hotel that Ji Xiaotao was staying at, which was next to the hospital, and took a shower and changed, but he always immediately returned. Right now, he couldn¡¯t be separated from Fang Shaoyi for too long. He was always scared that when the nurse came out, he wouldn¡¯t be there. Yuan Ye¡¯s heart was glued to the door of the ICU. Even when he went downstairs, he felt like his heart wasn¡¯t in his chest.


    Hearing news through the phone. Yuan Ye already hated this feeling to an extreme.


    The number of days Fang Shaoyi spent inside was the number of days Yuan Ye waited outside. Even Fang Han¡¯s orders for him to go back and sleep were useless. He didn¡¯t listen to anybody. At night, he would sit in a chair in the hallway and nap. The nurse had told him several times that there was no need for anyone to stay behind now. If anything happened, they would call him. However, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t leave. His heart was right here. He couldn¡¯t take even a step away.


    Fortunately, Fang Shaoyi eventually stopped bleeding, meaning he didn¡¯t need to get another surgical procedure done. Because of this, Yuan Ye gave the other a big kiss on the lips when he came in to visit.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hair had all been shaved off. When he had gotten the stitches on the back of his head, the doctors had shaved off a small portion of hair. Thus, he decided to simply shave all his hair off when it came time to change the medicine. It would make things easier while staying in the hospital too.


    The day he transferred out from the ICU, he walked out himself. There was still a needle in his hand. He slowly lifted his arms and embraced Yuan Ye. Both of them had lost weight, and not an unnoticeable amount. Yuan Ye was really scared while hugging him. He didn¡¯t know where to put his hands. Fang Shaoyi had wounds on his chest and back. Yuan Ye also couldn¡¯t let his face touch the other¡¯s corbone. He softly sighed and asked, voice stuffy, ¡°My hands......Where should I put my hands?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stared at him. He knew that Yuan Ye was suffering in his heart, so he softly chuckled and said by the other¡¯s ear, ¡°......Put them on my butt.¡±


    ¡°Un?¡± Yuan Ye let go of him and turned around to nce at Ji Xiaotao. Then, he looked at the young doctor who was following them before finally returning his gaze onto Fang Shaoyi. He softly told him, ¡°You mean that you¡¯re not going to do it anymore in the future, right? It¡¯s up to me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled. He shrugged imperceptibly. ¡°Okay.¡±


    The corners of Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth quirked up. ¡°Keep dreaming.¡±


    A lot of people were waiting for him in the sick room. When Fang Shaoyi walked in, he even joked, ¡°Wow, what a scene. Scared me.¡±


    His parents were both here. Mother Fang¡¯s eyes instantly turned red. She was a very dignifieddy. Right now, she had to do her very best to stop herself from crying out loud. Fang Shaoyi slowly walked over and hugged her. He said, ¡°I¡¯m fine now. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Mother Fang caressed his face. She didn¡¯t like saying too much in front of others. She only repeatedly stroked him.


    His father, Fang Han, said, ¡°It¡¯s good that you¡¯re fine. These things are inevitable. Little Yuan has worked too hard these past few days. Let him get some rest! How nonsensical!¡±


    Yuan Ye cheekily replied, ¡°Actually, after you guys leave every day, I just turn around and find some ce to sleep. Who actually stays all night? You really believe that, Dad?¡±


    In front of others, Yuan Ye was still his usual shameless self, capable of joking andughing. When everyone else left the sick room, though, Yuan Ye grabbed a towel and gently wiped Fang Shaoyi¡¯s head. This was pretty nice. They didn¡¯t even need to wash his hair anymore ¨C they just needed to wipe his head. Right now, the two of them had somewhat matching hairstyles. Fang Shaoyi had also shaved his head once in the past for filming. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t unfamiliar with this look on him. However, he hadn¡¯t been so skinny at the time. He hadn¡¯t looked so frail either.


    Yuan Ye stopped in the middle of wiping the other¡¯s hands. Fang Shaoyi slowly looked up at him. Yuan Ye wasrgely expressionless. He only stared at Fang Shaoyi and said, ¡°You¡¯re not pretty anymore.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi felt his own face. He smiled at Yuan Ye and said, ¡°I¡¯m no longer good looking, right? Give me some time.¡±


    ¡°Will you be able to recover to the way you were before if I give you some time?¡± Yuan Ye held the towel in one hand. He used the back of this hand to rub his nose. His voice was a bit hoarse. ¡°You can¡¯t be even the slightest bit different from before.¡±


    ¡°Okay.¡± Fang Shaoyi sped onto his hand. He looked up at Yuan Ye. Expression very solemn, he promised, ¡°I can do that.¡±


    He said he was capable of doing this. His gaze was also soforting. Fang Shaoyi was trying to send aforting message to him ¨C Yuan Ye looked at him for several minutes,pletely still. Neither of them spoke. They only maintained eye contact. Since this injury, they often stared into each other¡¯s eyes in this manner. It was almost as if many things didn¡¯t need to be spoken out loud anymore.


    How could they not know what the other was thinking in their heart?


    Though Fang Shaoyi had been moved out of the ICU, that didn¡¯t mean that he was fine. He had really and truly suffered serious injuries. These had resulted in him removing a little less than half of a lung lobe. Everyday, he needed to use a nebulizer and practice lung strengthening and capacity increasing exercises. Yuan Ye followed the doctor¡¯s orders and bought a bag of balloons. He ensured that Fang Shaoyi blew these up daily.


    When Wei Hua walked in, Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of having a discussion with Yuan Ye. He was asking if he could stop blowing for now.


    Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°It hurts?¡±


    ¡°Yeah.¡± Fang Shaoyi purposefully acted pitiful. ¡°It hurts. Let¡¯s stop, okay?¡±


    ¡°Blow. See how little you¡¯ve blown up?¡± Yuan Ye was unconvinced. He sat nearby, slicing fruit for the other. Ever since this injury, Fang Shaoyi had be an expert at acting pitiful. He was already so old, which made this very unbearable. Yuan Ye needed to cut the fruit up into little pieces and mix them together before Fang Shaoyi would eat them.


    ¡°It hurts. My lungs......¡± Halfway through his sentence, Fang Shaoyi noticed that Director Wei had walked in. He smiled and greeted the other¡ª¡ª¡°Leader.¡±


    ¡°What¡¯s going on here?¡± Director Wei entered and stood next to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed. He told him, ¡°You look quite well.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi flung the balloon in his hand out so the other could see. He exined, ¡°Yuan Ye watches me to make sure I blow these up everyday.¡±


    ¡°Then blow diligently,¡± Director Wei told him, slightly amused.


    Since Fang Shaoyi had already left the ICU and his condition had basically stabilized, the people here to see him no longer painted their worries and sorrows on their faces. Doing so would be unlucky. The director came to visit him practically everyday. This day, Fang Shaoyi proactively brought up the movie with the director. Actually, there weren¡¯t that many of his scenes left anyways. However, he hadn¡¯t filmed any of the scenes in thetter portion of the movie where the main character had gone insane yet. Director Wei said, ¡°Take good care of your health. You don¡¯t need to worry about anything else. I¡¯lle up with a n.¡±


    The current situation this movie was in was truly difficult. The one most stressed was the director. Right now, some people in the film crew were discussing in private about how this movie had been cursed from beginning to end. The director and that old tree didn¡¯t get along, so everything was going badly. Director Wei had been making movies for his entire life; none of his film sets had been as unfortunate as this one. Halfway through filming, the lead actor had encountered trouble, so they had switched actors. Now, the recement actor had gotten into an ident and almost died. Yuan Ye had also fallen out of the tree and twisted his ankle. Nothing had gone smoothly. A strangelyrge number of idents had urred. At this time, they didn¡¯t know if Fang Shaoyi would be able to recover. Even if he did, would he still be able to film? If not, would Fang Shaoyi allow them to get someone else to film the scenes and just have his face edited in?


    Right now, nobody dared to ask about this at all. Whether or not this movie would die in the womb was something nobody could confirm. Should they even continue filming such an unlucky movie? What would be the results if they did? These couldn¡¯t be predicted. From start to finish, the director didn¡¯t say anything. Everyone kept their mouths shut.


    Fang Shaoyi needed to start holding onto his ribs and coughing every few sentences he spoke. Coughing was a good thing. After he finished coughing, Yuan Ye handed the fruit over to him so he could wet his throat. Fang Shaoyi even joked with the director, ¡°My current body size and weight are perfect for theter scenes. But I can¡¯t film the scenes where he¡¯s young anymore. My image doesn¡¯t match. Time to find a body double, I guess.¡±


    Director Wei didn¡¯t respond. He only waved his hands.


    Fang Shaoyi knew what he was thinking. He called out, ¡°Director.¡±


    Director Wei gazed at him. There was a permanent crease in his forehead because of how often he was furrowing his brows together. Fang Shaoyi solemnly said, ¡°You know what condition I¡¯m in right now. It¡¯s true that I won¡¯t be able to rejoin the crew anytime soon. If you wanted me to get up and continue filming next month, that¡¯d be unrealistic. I wouldn¡¯t be able to. But since I¡¯ve epted this role, I have to finish filming it. I know what pressures you¡¯re dealing with now. Tell everyone to rest at ease. Aside from the inevitable dy in time, nothing else will be affected.¡±


    How difficult was it for Fang Shaoyi to say so much in one breath? As soon as he finished speaking, he started incessantly coughing. Yuan Ye walked over and gently patted him. Director Wei watched them. For a long time, he didn¡¯t say anything. When he spoke up again, he heaved out a long exhale first. As usual, his voice carried with it the wisdom of a man who had experienced many difficulties in life. This wisdom was a culmination of a lifetime of encounters. ¡°Child......I¡¯m not here to discuss the movie with you.¡±


    This call of ¡°child¡± made one feel a bit dazed. It had been several years since Fang Shaoyi had heard Director Wei referring to him like this. He had only been sixteen when he had filmed his first movie. At that time, Director Wei would always call him ¡°child¡± when talking to him. Later on, he continued using this term too. Eventually, though, Fang Shaoyi grew up. It no longer became appropriate to call him ¡°child.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t initially epted this role. Director Wei had been the one who had asked him to save the movie. Fang Shaoyi had almost lost his life there. Everybody could tell what pain the director was suffering though.


    Fang Shaoyi smiled at him in a slightly childlike manner. It was a very simple and somewhat innocent smile. He held his hands out at the other, saying, ¡°I¡¯m only an actor. If you won¡¯t discuss the movie with me, what can we discuss?¡±


    Regarding this, Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t had a conversation yet. It wasn¡¯t important. Yuan Ye knew Fang Shaoyi too well. He had never suspected that Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t finish filming this movie.


    Yuan Ye had just gone outside to give the string of balloons Fang Shaoyi had inted to the kid in the sick room next door. Recently, he gifted these balloons everyday. The little kid was very happy. As soon as Yuan Ye returned, Fang Shaoyi called out to him, ¡°I want to use the restroom.¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. He agreed, then revealed a slightly wicked smile. He purposefully asked, ¡°I¡¯ll help you catch it?¡±


    ¡°Would you cut it out already?¡± Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Do you have some sort of obsession? If you¡¯re absolutely determined to catch it for me, if you¡¯re going to feel ufortable if you don¡¯t, I can satisfy your desires once.¡±


    There had been a few days in the ICU where Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t been able to move at all. At that time, there had been a bedpan. When he had moved out of the ICU, the nurse had brought all his stuff over too. Yuan Ye kept wanting to try using the bedpan once, but right now, Fang Shaoyi could already move and walk around. How could it be possible for him to use that thing?


    ¡°Am I the one with the obsession?¡± Yuan Ye walked over and helped him up. He walked Fang Shaoyi over to the restroom. ¡°Am I the one with the obsession or are you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was absolutely capable of going to the bathroom himself, but he was determined to get Yuan Ye to help him ¨C the entire time. Ever since he had gotten injured, he had been like this. Yuan Ye stood behind him, helping him. In this position, he was basically embracing the other from behind. This wasparable to the most intimate positions. It could even be considered more intimate than making love. If one didn¡¯t absolutely love the person before them with their entire soul, they wouldn¡¯t treat them in such a manner. They also wouldn¡¯t be capable of being so naturally intimate.


    After, the two of them stood up together and washed their hands in the sink. Fang Shaoyi adjusted the water temperature. After squeezing out some hand soap andthering it in his palms, he caught both of Yuan Ye¡¯s hands and carefully started scrubbing them for him. Four hands were intertwined together, their smooth fingers tightly entangling. Added together, they were over seventy in age, but they actually spent a really long time ying with bubbles like this. Eventually, Yuan Ye burst intoughter first. He asked, ¡°What are you doing?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lowered his head and said, ¡°Washing your hands for you.¡±


    There was another bed in this room that could be used by the family member who was staying behind to care for the patient. This was Yuan Ye¡¯s bed. Previously, Yuan Ye had spent so many nights in the hallway. Now that he had a bed, he still couldn¡¯t sleep too peacefully. He always woke up in the middle of the night to check on Fang Shaoyi. He knew each time Fang Shaoyi turned over or coughed overnight.


    Fang Shaoyi tried to cough softly a few times. Then, he sat up. Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°What¡¯s wrong, ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked over. He asked, ¡°I woke you up?¡±


    ¡°No. I can¡¯t sleep peacefully.¡± Yuan Ye stood and walked over. He poured Fang Shaoyi a ss of water and handed it over for him to drink.


    Fang Shaoyi knew he couldn¡¯t sleep peacefully. He thought about it before saying, ¡°Move your bed over. I¡¯ll hold you while you sleep.¡±


    Yuan Ye actually carefully considered this. Ultimately, he still shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t. I might identally bump into something and hurt you.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi turned on the light by the head of his bed. Yuan Ye¡¯s expression was gentle and full of adoration. He inquired, ¡°Not sleeping anymore?¡±


    Yuan Ye¡¯s chin had gotten sharper. Fang Shaoyi observed his face and suddenly said to him, ¡°Sorry.¡±


    Yuan Ye froze because of this. After freezing up, he burst intoughter. He asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your apologying from? What are you sorry for?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lifted his hand and gently stroked the spot over Yuan Ye¡¯s heart. Then, he softly cated, ¡°......Don¡¯t be scared.¡±


    Things had originally been fine and Yuan Ye had been acting like nothing was wrong. Now, Fang Shaoyi had used three words to cause all of Yuan Ye¡¯s walls to break down. This breakdown could even be heard ¨C one by one, each brick snapped in half.


    In the beginning, the first time that Fang Shaoyi had passed out in front of Yuan Ye because of his jetg syndrome, Yuan Ye had been so scared that his lips had turned white Even though he had only been a young adult at the time, he was now close to turning thirty five. He was truly an adult who could handle a lot of stress. He had handled it for so many days already. How badass.


    Yuan Ye first froze in ce. Then, he suddenly bent over and buried his face against the edge of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed. He curled up, shoulders trembling. The trembles got more and more obvious. In the end, he started shaking like he was spasming.


    Fang Shaoyi caressed his head repeatedly. He also repeatedly apologized to him.


    ¡°I don¡¯t ept your apology.¡± When Yuan Ye spoke, his voice sounded really nasally. His anger was filled with petnce. He clung tightly to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s nket, his entire back trembling. ¡°What use is your apology......¡±


    ¡°These past few days, my heart has been yanked out and stomped on until it shattered into powdered pieces. What can an apology make up for?!¡±


    ¡°It kept raining on the ind. I couldn¡¯t get back to the maind. Xiaotao said that you were injured, that rebar had passed through your chest, and that you had lost consciousness. But I couldn¡¯t get back!¡±


    Yuan Ye had already lost control of his voice. He buried his face into the edge of the bed and took a few deep breaths. ¡°You think I¡¯ll stop feeling scared just because you¡¯re telling me to? You want to try?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯ll beying inside while you stand outside. You try it!¡±


    ¡°I almost wished I could swim back......Do you know what despair is......¡±


    Fang Shaoyi continuously stroked Yuan Ye¡¯s head, gently patting his neck and back. He never stopped apologizing and telling Yuan Ye that there was no need to be scared anymore.


    Broken gasps escaped from Yuan Ye¡¯s throat uncontrobly. He waved Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands away. ¡°I wanted to dig my lungs out and give them to you, as long as you would stop bleeding and recover from your fever!¡±


    ¡°These past few days, I......You don¡¯t even know how fucking regretful I¡¯ve felt these past few days......Why did I give you lucky money this New Year? I never gave you any in the past. What the fuck was wrong with me to give you lucky money this year?! I simply shouldn¡¯t have given it to you. I didn¡¯t manage to hold anything down......¡±


    Right now, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s heart had been pulled out and stomped into pieces too. Every word Yuan Ye said caused his heart to twist in pain. Fang Shaoyi knew the other was scared. Whether at age seventeen or now, Yuan Ye had never changed. He had always been very timid in this regard.


    Which was why the only thought on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s mind before he had lost consciousness had been Yuan Ye. What a mess. Little Monkey is going to be scared to death.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were blood red. He looked down at Yuan Ye, pressing his palm against the back of the other¡¯s head. In a deep voice, he said, ¡°How could I leave you to be alone in this world?¡±


    Yuan Ye forcefully rubbed his face against the bed a few times. Then, he vigorously lifted his head up to stare at Fang Shaoyi. His voice was hoarse as he softly shouted, ¡°Bullshit! You almost died! Everything is bullshit!¡±

 Chapter 67

    <h4>Chapter 67</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi was saying that he wouldn¡¯t leave Yuan Ye alone in this world. After he had spent so many days in the ICU.


    How could Yuan Ye ept this promise? Yuan Ye kept his eyes glued to Fang Shaoyi. ¡°You even lost consciousness. But now you¡¯re telling me you won¡¯t leave me. That¡¯s bullshit.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi agreed with whatever he said. He nodded and admitted, ¡°Yes, all bullshit. I was wrong.¡±


    Yuan Ye red at him. That day, he said a lot of things. Each time he said something, Fang Shaoyi would nod and admit it. Then, he would apologize and say that he had been wrong.


    This midnight breakdown that resulted in an almost hysterical query had caused Yuan Ye to bepletely fatigued. The energy that he was using to force himself to stay strong had seemingly disappeared. He sat in his own bed. His entire being was in a state of extreme rxation. He wasn¡¯t sitting up straight at all.


    Fang Shaoyi softly said, ¡°Sleep. I¡¯ll watch you sleep. I¡¯ll definitely recover well. Watch as I do?¡±


    After Yuan Ye¡¯s cathartic release, his mind felt a bit nk. There were no thoughts in his head; it was practically empty. However, a great feeling of fatigue made him not want to move either. He didn¡¯t even have the energy to go wash his face. Heid down to go to sleep. Yuan Ye was sleeping on the side facing Fang Shaoyi. Prior to bed, he gave Fang Shaoyi another meaningful look.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s tenderness was a continuous presence. He looked in that direction, ensuring that Yuan Ye would be able to feel his gaze even with his eyes closed.


    After Yuan Ye fell asleep, Fang Shaoyi got out of bed. While holding onto his wound, he slowly walked over to the bathroom and grabbed a warm towel. He sat down on Yuan Ye¡¯s bed and wiped the other¡¯s face for him. His movements were very gentle. Yuan Ye had lost so much weight. At this age, it was very easy to look old when one got skinnier. Yuan Ye had originally looked younger than his true age, but now, he finally looked his age. Fang Shaoyi softly pressed a finger onto Yuan Ye¡¯s eyelid. He stroked that pretty little dip over the other¡¯s eye.


    Yuan Ye fell into a deep sleep. He didn¡¯t even wake up in the morning when everyone else arrived. Ji Xiaotao walked in while carrying breakfast. Fang Shaoyi just so happened to being out of the bathroom after washing up. Ji Xiaotao put the food down and walked over to help him. Fang Shaoyi made a sh gesture at him.


    Ji Xiaotao lowered his voice and said, ¡°Uncle and Aunt are going to be arrivingter. I¡¯ll be picking them up.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. ¡°We¡¯ll talkter. Let Yuan Ye sleep first.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao made a noise of acknowledgement. He looked at Yuan Ye. His heart felt very sore. ¡°It¡¯s been too long since my Ye ge has properly slept. He really kept himself pulled taut this entire time. Previously, I was scared that he would cause himself to snap.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi lowered his gaze onto Yuan Ye¡¯s figure. He softly shook his head. ¡°He wouldn¡¯t.¡±


    Without truly rxing, he wouldn¡¯t heave out that final sigh of relief. He would be capable of remaining pulled taut until then. Fang Shaoyi quietly said something to Ji Xiaotao. Ji Xiaotao nodded in agreement. After, he said, ¡°Okay, ge.¡±


    That day, Yuan Ye slept all the way until the afternoon. During this time, group after group of people visited the sick room. When the nurse made his rounds, he said a lot of things. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t even twitch. No matter who came in, Fang Shaoyi would always faintly smile and make a sh gesture at them. Normally, nobody was allowed to be sleeping in the apanying bed at this time. They at least needed to wait until the doctor had finished making their rounds in the morning. However, this room was a bit special. The doctors and nurses wouldn¡¯t force them to follow this rule.


    When Fang Shaoyi¡¯s parents arrived, Fang Shaoyi urged them to go home. After all, they were old already. Fang Shaoyi honestly worried about them a lot because they were staying here. Fang Han said, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about us. Just take good care of yourself.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°When you¡¯re here, I¡¯m worried. Besides, I¡¯m going to need a long time to recover. Don¡¯t waste time here with me. Dad, go back and do what you need to do. I¡¯ll live at home when I leave the hospital.¡±


    Mother Fang said, ¡°Your dad will go back. I¡¯ll stay.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t,¡± Fang Shaoyi told her with a smile. ¡°Yuan Ye¡¯s enough. I can¡¯t rx either when you¡¯re here.¡±


    Because he had said this, they didn¡¯t really need to stay anymore. They truly couldn¡¯t help with much anyways. Also, Fang Shaoyi would be distracted by the need to worry about them.


    Yuan Ye ended up getting scared awake. After a loud bang, Yuan Ye abruptly opened his eyes.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, it¡¯s fine.¡± After a short pause, Fang Shaoyi hurriedly told him, ¡°Keep sleeping.¡±


    Yuan Ye grabbed his phone and checked the time. He was slightly shocked that it was already this time of day. With a smile, he shook his head and answered, ¡°No.¡±


    He stood up and folded the nkets up nicely before going to wash up in the bathroom. Fang Shaoyi softlyined to Geng Jinwei, ¡°I said not to blow balloons now, but you made me.¡±


    ¡°Did I make you?¡± Geng Jinwei¡¯s still had a smile-not-smile on. ¡°The nurse made you.¡±


    ¡°Hurry and leave,¡± Fang Shaoyi gently furrowed his brows and told the other.


    ¡°I¡¯ll leave tomorrow.¡± Geng Jinwei shrugged. He picked up the report on the nearby cab, rolled it into a tube, and smacked Fang Shaoyi on the leg with it. ¡°You think I want to be here? Would I be visiting you if nothing had happened? Am I that bored? You really know how to make me worry.¡±


    Yuan Ye walked out after washing up. While using a towel to wipe his face, he threw out, ¡°There¡¯s someone who won¡¯t make you worry.¡±


    The two people on the other side of the room looked over. Geng Jinwei raised an eyebrow, asking, ¡°You? Bullshit. You¡¯re an ancestor too.¡±


    Whileughing, Yuan Ye said, ¡°I¡¯m not an artist at yourpany, nor am I a celebrity.¡±


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t say anything. He didn¡¯t continue this conversation.


    Yuan Ye walked over to the other side of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed. He squatted down and observed the bubbles in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s drainage tube. He looked up and inquired, ¡°Have you eaten any fruit yet today? How many balloons have you blown up?¡±


    Right now, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands itched because Yuan Ye was squatting next to him. It would be very ufortable if he didn¡¯t touch the other. He ced his hand on Yuan Ye¡¯s head, stroking it repeatedly. ¡°I did eat fruit. I did blow up balloons. There¡¯s the food Xiaotao brought for you. Hurry and eat it.¡±


    ¡°I asked how many you blew up.¡± Yuan Ye refused to let him skip over the topic. He cocked an eyebrow and looked up.


    ¡°Not even a single fucking one,¡± Geng Jinwei butted in from the side.


    Yuan Ye threw the balloons onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯sp. ¡°Keep blowing.¡± After saying this, he stood up to go eat.


    The past few days, the number of phone calls that Yuan Ye had received had obviously increased. There were no true secrets. Guan Zhou had also always been a hub for all sorts of new information. While Yuan Ye was eating, he called. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, Zhou¡¯er?¡±


    Guan Zhou asked on the phone, ¡°Ye ge, I heard something happened on Shaoyi¡¯s film set? Is he okay?¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t deny this. He made a sound of acknowledgement and said, ¡°He was injured, but he¡¯s fine now. Don¡¯t worry.¡±


    Guan Zhou replied, ¡°I heard he was pretty seriously injured. Anyways, no matter what happened, let me know if you need me to do anything.¡±


    ¡°Okay,¡± Yuan Ye answered with a chuckle. ¡°No problem.¡±


    People started exposing the news online too. Someone said that Fang Shaoyi had gotten into an ident on set. This had resulted in serious injuries and he hadn¡¯t been sessfully resuscitated.


    They had originally all treated these rumors as made-up stories. Celebrities were often ¡°forced to die.¡± Nobody took this piece of news to heart. However, the power ofizens wasn¡¯t something to be overlooked. They started following all sorts of obscure clues. The story about Fang Shaoyi getting into an ident was true anyways. As long as someone brought the topic up, there would be varying types of evidence revealed.


    The fans truly started panicking. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye¡¯s Weibo ounts practically exploded. Fans were all crying and begging them to say something so that they would know Fang Shaoyi was fine. Onlookers were doing the same.


    Netizens had already started making up stories about how this was rted to the previous enmity they had formed with He Sai. He Sai had taken his revenge on them. But fans weren¡¯t even in the mood to cause a ruckus under He Sai¡¯s Weibo posts. They were deathly terrified.


    Right now, Fang Shaoyi¡¯s condition had slowly stabilized. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t scared of letting others know anymore. Injures were injuries; there was nothing scary about announcing their presence. Yuan Ye told Ji Xiaotao to use both their Weibo ounts to make a statement. Ji Xiaotao said that there had only been a few minor injuries and that there was no need to worry.


    Yuan Ye sat on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s bed and took a picture. He was leaning back at an angle. His eyebrows were raised as he cheerfully made a silly expression. Only half of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s body and one hand appeared on camera. His hand was resting on Yuan Ye¡¯s head.


    Fans only truly calmed down after seeing this picture. They then continued to pray while crying. Even though Fang Shaoyi was really wearing a patient gown, even though they could tell from his wrist that was exposed that he had really, really lost a lot of weight, at least all those previous ¡°news reports¡± hadn¡¯t been true. See, he had managed to get sessfully resuscitated, right?


    Yuan Ye¡¯s parents eventually arrived too. Previously, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t told them the news. He feared that they would worry. Later, Fang Shaoyi recovered from critical condition, so it was no longer a big deal. The old couple got on a ne and arrived the very next day.


    Yuan Ye hugged his mom and said, ¡°Ey ey, olddy. Don¡¯t cry ah. If you cry, he¡¯s going to start feeling pressured.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m not crying, I¡¯m not.¡± The olddy wiped away her tears. She sat down next to Fang Shaoyi and stroked his arm and hand. ¡°You¡¯ve suffered, Shaoyi.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi truly looked terrible now. The difference was stark inparison to how he had looked before. His hair was all gone. There were also still tubes in his body. Anybody who looked at him would feel ufortable. Fang Shaoyi was technically half their family¡¯s son too. Who could handle seeing him like this out of the blue?


    ¡°I¡¯m fine, Mom. I¡¯ll be back to normal in two months,¡± Fang Shaoyi cated her.


    ¡°Normal? Don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know.¡± The olddy wiped her eyes. ¡°Those were your lungs. How could recovery be so easy?¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t matter. Young people heal fast,¡± Yuan Ye said from off to the side. ¡°He¡¯s honestly fine.¡±


    The old couple didn¡¯t stay too long either. They left two dayster. There were always peopleing and going at the hospital. It wasn¡¯t convenient for them to stay. Besides, they couldn¡¯t help with anything even if they did stay.


    Aside from their actual close friends and rtives, Yuan Ye rejected all of the other people who said they wanted toe visit. Fang Shaoyi needed to rest. If they really opened their doors to visitors, there would be no need to do anything else. They¡¯d spend entire days waiting for people. Fang Shaoyi was so severely injured. If visiting was allowed, it was possible that half the entertainment industry would be lining up out the doors. If that were the case, it wouldn¡¯t be appropriate for anyone who had even the slightest connection to him to note.


    Thus, it was better for nobody toe at all. They refused to see anybody.


    Even Jian Xu had to secretly visit in the middle of the night. As soon as he got out of the airport, he headed straight to the hospital in a cap and mask. His assistant, Dong Lin, carried a big backpack and trailed behind.


    Fang Shaoyi stared at him, exasperated. ¡°Why are you joining in on themotion? What time is it?¡±


    ¡°Oh fuck. There are all sorts of stories out there. I can¡¯t rest at ease if I don¡¯t personally see you.¡± Jian Xu¡¯s eyebrows were furrowed. He cussed a few times. After, he told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Don¡¯t stay here anymore. The conditions here suck. I¡¯ll get in contact with a rehabilitation center for you. A nice ce that¡¯s quiet and calm.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head with a chuckle. ¡°No thanks. I don¡¯t want to deal with the trouble of leaving this hospital right now. It¡¯s the same no matter where I am.¡±


    Jian Xu was currently filming a movie. It was a detective film. Previously, Fang Shaoyi had rejected the invitation for the role and then directly suggested Jian Xu instead. It was only because they honestly had a great rtionship that he had done this. Otherwise, the other might¡¯ve made too many assumptions and expressed dislike for this way of getting a role. You¡¯re giving me your leftovers? It was fine if the movie was sessful. In case the movie flopped, though, the other would more or less me him a bit in their heart. You wanted me to film this shitty thing? And I even have to treat this as a favor?


    Which was why unless two people were really close friends, nobody would give resources to other people. It was a veryplicated matter.


    There weren¡¯t so many nuances in Fang Shaoyi and Jian Xu¡¯s rtionship. Jian Xu truly needed to consider changing his style. Fang Shaoyi was also truly helping him. He had rmended Jian Xu to all the suitable projects he could. Jian Xu said, ¡°After filming dramas for so many years, I¡¯ve kind of started losing my roots in acting. Right now, I always feel like there¡¯s something missing. There¡¯s just onest breath that I can¡¯t get out.¡±


    ¡°Take it slow,¡± Fang Shaoyi told him. ¡°The style is different. If you have a score of ten, you¡¯ll have to force yourself to be a twelve when filming a movie. Otherwise, you won¡¯t be able to seed. It¡¯ll look like something¡¯s missing when you watch on the big screen.¡±


    ¡°How about the two of us costar sometime?¡± Jian Xu half-joked. ¡°I can be your second or third male lead.¡±


    ¡°Me?¡± Fang Shaoyi scoffed at himself. ¡°Look at me now. It¡¯s also difficult to tell what I¡¯ll look like in the future.¡±


    ¡°Fuck, what¡¯s wrong with you?¡± Jian Xu scolded. ¡°Before I came here, I thought that you would be a lot worse off than you really are. This is fine. Fine.¡±


    It was the middle of the night. Jian Xu couldn¡¯t stay too long either. Fang Shaoyi needed to rest. After about half an hour, Jian Xu departed. Before he did, though, he asked the two of them, ¡°Have you guys gotten remarried yet?¡±


    This question was too sensitive. Fang Shaoyi nced at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye nced back at him. Neither of them could respond.


    ¡°Okay, I can tell already.¡± Jian Xu looked at the two of them after saying this. ¡°Then when are you two nning on getting remarried?¡±


    ¡°Remarriage?¡± Yuan Yeughed. ¡°What marriage?¡±


    Jian Xu¡¯s smile was a bit suggestive. He gave Fang Shaoyi a meaningful look and said, ¡°Look at you now. No appearance, no youth. It¡¯s over for you.¡±


    ¡°Why are you so annoying? Hurry and leave,¡± Fang Shaoyi shooed him.


    Jian Xu cheekily pulled his little assistant along and left.


    Now that he was gone, Fang Shaoyi called Yuan Ye over toe sit next to him. His voice was very low. ¡°You¡¯re not getting remarried to me?¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Yuan Ye shook his head. ¡°I wasn¡¯t the one who wanted to sign the divorce papers anyways.¡±


    Though he wasn¡¯t the one who had signed the papers, there was actually nothing to argue about regarding their divorce. Neither of them were innocent. If you had to ce the me on someone, Yuan Ye had been the one who had first brought the topic up. Yuan Ye knew this very well in his heart. He was purposefully saying this now too. Either way, there was someone willing to cooperate.


    ¡°Yes, I was the one who wanted to get divorced.¡± Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t want to argue back at all. ¡°Why was I so impulsive back then? But right now, my lungs hurt.¡±


    Twopletely unrted sentences. He had recently gotten into the habit of saying this. No matter what they were talking about, as long as he added a ¡°my lungs hurt,¡± Yuan Ye would definitely give in.


    Yuan Ye had already startedughing because of his words. ¡°Your corbones don¡¯t hurt?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi answered, ¡°No. Only my lungs hurt.¡±


    ¡°Then what do you want to do?¡± Yuan Ye asked him, ¡°How can I stop them from hurting?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression waspletely solemn and sincere. ¡°They¡¯ll stop hurting if we get remarried. They¡¯ll instantly heal.¡±

 Chapter 68

    <h4>Chapter 68</h4>


    Neither Fang Shaoyi nor Yuan Ye liked showing up on news headlines or gossip ounts too frequently. But now that Fang Shaoyi was injured, stories about him incessantly appeared. Fang Shaoyi told Geng Jinwei to do his best to keep the attention minimal. There was no need to use this incident as a way of garnering attention; it was actually best if nobody mentioned him at all. Over the next period of time, people were probably going to get really annoyed after receiving numerous news suggestions that had headlines starting with ¡°Post-injury, Fang Shaoyi......¡± They needed to delete as many of these articles as they could.


    Right now, Fang Shaoyi had already turned into a spoiled brat because of Yuan Ye¡¯s indulging. It felt like even his personality had changed because of this incident. He had be clingier andzier. Regarding a lot of things, he was no longer willing to listen to or think about them.


    This ident wasn¡¯t trivial. Two houses had copsed and four people had gotten injured ¨C one of them had even gotten critically injured. The driver in charge of the car was clearly responsible. The set designer hade to ask Fang Shaoyi to be merciful, but he honestly wasn¡¯t shameless enough to ask outright. If this were in the past, Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t have actually required the other to be held ountable. He would¡¯ve waited until Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t around and said, ¡°Nevermind.¡± But right now, Fang Shaoyi was holding a ss bowl and eating fruit. He didn¡¯t even look up to respond to the set designer¡¯s pleas.


    Yuan Ye had cut the fruit. These days, Lord Fang only let this one person wait on him. He refused to eat fruits cut by anybody else. He wouldn¡¯t even put them into his mouth. In Ji Xiaotao¡¯s words, he had lost thirty years of age after bumping his head. Fang Shaoyi was acting like a child under the age of ten.


    Fang Shaoyi pointed Yuan Ye out to the set designer. He didn¡¯t dare to say anything about this matter. He was also toozy to bother dealing with it. Thus, he directly pushed it onto Yuan Ye. He told the set designer, ¡°I don¡¯t make the decisions.¡±


    Yuan Ye threw a napkin onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯sp and said, ¡°We¡¯re not going to make things especially difficult or try to take revenge. We¡¯re just going to do things the way they should be done. We won¡¯t ask forpensation. He wouldn¡¯t be able to afford thepensation anyways. If he deserves to be convicted, he¡¯ll need to be convicted. If he deserves to go to jail, he needs to go to jail. Nobody¡¯s going to make sure he gets a heavy sentence or anything like that. He can also hire his ownwyer to try and reduce the sentence. Whatever the judge decides is what he needs to ept. That¡¯s it.¡±


    The set designer was honestly too ashamed to say anything else. Though Fang Shaoyi had a great rtionship with the film crew, it was also true that he had almost died because of that driver¡¯s bad decisions. Who could provide thepensation for Fang Shaoyi¡¯s life? And this was considering the fact that he was still alive right now. But even though he was alive, that was at the cost of cutting off almost half a lobe of lung and spending several months in rehabilitation.


    Yuan Ye added, ¡°Even if we didn¡¯t want to hold him ountable, we¡¯d be acting lenient, but Geng ge at thepany wouldn¡¯t let things slide so easily. As a person, he¡¯s......he has dark methods, Teacher Xue. Let things be the way they ought to be.¡±


    The set designer had originally only wanted to try his luck anyways. He hadn¡¯t even been shameless enough to make much of an argument. In actuality, he was really angry about this incident too. He¡¯d been holding his anger in these past couple of days, which had been quite painful. But ultimately, that was someone who had worked with him for so many years. At the end of the day, he couldn¡¯t bear to be so heartless. He decided to try and help the other just once. If things went well, that would be great. If not, the other deserved whatever punishment he was doled. Right now, he was even sighing in relief before Yuan Ye was. He felt a slight sense of catharsis.


    In actuality, Yuan Ye honestly couldn¡¯t find it in himself to be forgiving regarding this incident. He wasn¡¯t a bad person. Faced with questions of principle, he could retain kindness in his heart. However, he definitely wasn¡¯t a saint either. From the ident until now, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t even seen that driver once. It was possible that he would feel murderous if he did see him, especially if he had seen him during the period of time where Fang Shaoyi had still been in the ICU and it had been uncertain whether he would survive or not. idents were truly unpredictable, but this ident clearly could¡¯ve been avoided. One needed to pay for their mistakes. There was no such thing as an easy solution ¨C they couldn¡¯t count on the victims to not press charges or for forgiveness.


    Later, when the set designer had already left, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°What do you think?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had just finished eating his fruit. He handed the bowl over to Yuan Ye; he was a bit tired from eating. After catching his breath, he said, ¡°I think that everything you said was right.¡±


    ¡°I bet that if things were up to you, you¡¯d probably forgive him, right?¡± Yuan Ye asked while looking at Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi truly wasn¡¯t the vengeful type. However, he shook his head. Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s expression was somewhat solemn. He stared into Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes and said, ¡°If I had only broken a corbone this time, I might¡¯ve forgiven him.¡±


    Yuan Ye kind of wanted tough now. He asked, ¡°No forgiveness because your injuries were too severe?¡±


    ¡°Un.¡± Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t deny this. He nodded. ¡°I hurt my lungs, got surgery, and stayed in the ICU. Even I can¡¯t be a saint after this.¡±


    At the time, Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t really understood what Fang Shaoyi had meant. He had merely smiled and turned around to wash the dishes. While doing so, he reconsidered what Fang Shaoyi had just said. Suddenly, he understood what Fang Shaoyi was thinking.


    Yuan Ye honestly didn¡¯t cry too much. Since Fang Shaoyi had first gotten to know Yuan Ye until now, he had only cried that hard twice. Once was the year that Fang Shaoyi had forced him to sign the divorce papers. The other was that night.


    His uncontroble breaths and cries and each sorrowfulint that defiantly escaped from his throat caused Fang Shaoyi to feel hatred. That ball of mes that Fang Shaoyi had carefully held in his hands all these years had almost gotten extinguished. Yuan Ye¡¯s crying fit after their divorce had only been because of pain, despite its hysterical nature. There had been pain and reluctance, but no fear and despair.


    It hadn¡¯t been on the same level as the pain and extreme terror that Yuan Ye had felt this time. How could Fang Shaoyi not feel hatred?


    Cutting off half a lobe of lung wouldn¡¯t actually affect life too much. After a good recovery, it was possible that Fang Shaoyi could return to the state he had been in before. However, a good andplete recovery required at least half a year of rehabilitation.


    The hospital wasn¡¯t a ce that was worth spending a lot of time at. The day the doctor said that Fang Shaoyi could leave, Fang Shaoyi and them headed off to begin the discharge process. Originally, Ji Xiaotao should¡¯ve gone to fill out the necessary documents. Before he could even leave, though, Fang Shaoyi had called him to a halt. Ji Xiaotao turned around. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, ge?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gestured for him toe back. Then, he turned around and told Yuan Ye, ¡°You do it for me.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao was speechless. He had honestly had more than enough of these two the past few days.


    Yuan Ye found him troublesome too. ¡°I¡¯m not going. How old are you?¡±


    ¡°No matter how old I am, you still need to do it for me.¡± Fang Shaoyi clung onto Yuan Ye¡¯s hand and swung it back and forth. ¡°If you don¡¯t fill out the documents for me, I¡¯m not leaving the hospital.¡±


    There was no way to stay in this sick room. Ji Xiaotao stuffed his hands into his pockets, lowered his head, and walked out. Yuan Ye honestly couldn¡¯t do anything about Fang Shaoyi. He red at him for a long time. Eventually, though, heughed too. He asked, ¡°Aren¡¯t you annoying?¡±


    ¡°Yes.¡± Fang Shaoyi nodded rather solemnly. ¡°But it¡¯s not the first day I¡¯ve been annoying.¡±


    ¡°So you realize?¡± Yuan Ye let go of his hand and headed off to find the nurse. He needed to get Fang Shaoyi¡¯s medicine before the other could get discharged.


    ¡°Of course,¡± Fang Shaoyi replied. He didn¡¯t let Yuan Ye remove his hand; as soon as Yuan Ye let go, he grabbed on again. Then, he pulled out a ring from his pocket and very naturally slid it onto Yuan Ye¡¯s ring finger. Finally, he lifted his head up and gently smiled at Yuan Ye. ¡°Sign your name boldly. Write whatever you want in the nk when it asks for your rtionship to me. Anything you write is true.¡±


    Yuan Ye looked at him, then looked down at his own hand. There was a lengthy silence. Then, he lifted his hand and held it up to his eyes. His eyebrow slowly raised. ¡°Where¡¯d you get this?¡±


    When Fang Shaoyi wanted to be shameless, he was very, very shameless. He didn¡¯t feel guilty at all as he responded. He even generously announced, ¡°Stole it. You just put it in your drawer. Who wouldn¡¯t be able to see it?¡±


    ¡°You stole my ring?¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s expression was filled with disbelief.


    ¡°Xiaotao stole it,¡± Fang Shaoyi admitted.


    ¡°You told him to steal it?¡± Yuan Ye inquired again.


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. ¡°Yeah.¡±


    Yuan Ye originally should¡¯ve felt touched. But now, he didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°Can you two have a bit of shame? You guys couldn¡¯t have bought a new ring?¡±


    Not in a rush at all, Fang Shaoyi started feeling around in his other pocket too. Then, he tugged Yuan Ye¡¯s hand over and took off the ring. While doing so, he said, ¡°I was prepared for this. If you want a new one, I have a new one. If you want the old one, I have the old one. Whether you want to reminisce the past or start afresh, I¡¯m fine either way. I¡¯ll give you anything you want.¡±


    ¡°Really?¡± Yuan Ye smiled while sniffling. He lifted his other hand to rub the tip of his nose. Then, he squatted down and looked up at Fang Shaoyi. He stared at the other¡¯s face that was still incredibly thin but also just as handsome as before. He observed the way the bridge of his nose was sharp and straight before trailing his gaze down to Fang Shaoyi¡¯s thin lips. Finally, he made eye contact with Fang Shaoyi and lowly said, ¡°I want your chopped off lung lobe to return to the way it was before. Can you give that to me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi couldn¡¯t answer this question. He was speechless. Heughed bitterly and shook his head. Yuan Ye crooked a finger and used it to gently lift up Fang Shaoyi¡¯s chin ¨C he looked like a little hooligan who was flirting with a beauty. After, he quirked up one side of his mouth and gave Fang Shaoyi a wicked smile. He stood up and didn¡¯t say anything before turning around and walking off.


    He took a few steps forward before turning back around. Then, he dug the ring in Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand out and squeezed it between his own fingers. He shook it and said with a smile, ¡°Old or new, they¡¯re both mine.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t want to bother watching the two sickly sweet lovebirds in the room. He was in the middle of strolling up and down the hallways with his hands in his pockets. Yuan Ye ran into him while on his way to the nurses¡¯ station. While walking past the other, he purposely bumped into his shoulder. Ji Xiaotao took a step back from the impact. He rubbed his shoulder. ¡°What are you doing, Ye ge?¡±


    Yuan Ye waved the ring in front of his face. ¡°You stole my ring, huh?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao more or less felt a bit guilty. ¡°......My ge allowed it.¡±


    Yuan Ye bumped into him again and said, ¡°Okay.¡± Without looking back, he walked away.


    Originally, Fang Shaoyi needed to go home and get some peaceful rest. But it was true that the movie hadn¡¯t finished filming yet. If they waited half a year for him to recover before filming the remaining scenes, the movie was really going to die. Right now, his body had recovered quite well. He could move around normally and could even do aerobic exercises for a short amount of time. However, he couldn¡¯t pick heavy things up or do anything that was too extreme. Under such conditions, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t go home. He headed straight to the film set.


    There weren¡¯t a lot of scenes remaining anyways. Most of them were shots that disyed the main character¡¯s inner feelings. They didn¡¯t require too much physical exertion. However, there was nothing constant about filming. They could only take things one step at a time.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t stop him. They honestly needed to finish filming soon. After, Fang Shaoyi would be able to rest more at ease. They first filmed the scenes that Fang Shaoyi was capable of doing. Even if they shot a few less scenes than normal each day, they were at least continuing to make progress. Right now, aside from Fang Shaoyi¡¯s scenes, they had already finished the rest of the movie. The director had even mostly finished editing the film; they were just waiting for thisst portion. This was what was holding everything else up.


    Yuan Ye¡¯s film crew had already returned to the maind too. Yuan Ye had called both Director Lin Feng and Feng Leizi. At the time, he had just dropped everything and left. He had truly left very abruptly, but who couldn¡¯t understand these things? Especially Feng Leizi. He had known Yuan Ye for so many years. He knew very well how great Yuan Ye¡¯s rtionship was with Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say too much regarding his decision and why he had acted the way he had. He also didn¡¯t make any insincere excuses. Eachmunication, he only discussed official business. Distinctions needed to be made: given the ident, there was no way the severity of these two situations could bepared.


    Prior to leaving, Yuan Ye had called the director to notify him that he wouldn¡¯t be able to continue working with them on set in the future. He hadn¡¯t said anything else, only leaving a, ¡°We¡¯ll discuss everything elseter.¡± Later, though, Yuan Ye didn¡¯t say anything either. He only returned all the draft fees that he had been paid from the beginning of this project. Feng Leizi instantly transferred the amount back to him. Yuan Ye had already finished writing the entire script. In actuality, his work could¡¯ve ended there. Only, the contract had said that he needed to stay on set during filming too. If Yuan Ye had asked for that part to be removed from the contract back then, it wouldn¡¯t have even changed anything. Feng Leizi said over the phone call, ¡°Who are you working with, little bro? You¡¯re creating too much distance between us if you do this.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled and answered, ¡°Some things should be considered separately.¡±


    ¡°Even so, they shouldn¡¯t be considered separately in this manner.¡± Feng Leizi lowered his voice. After scolding Yuan Ye, he said, ¡°Have you be a dumbass? Whether or not you stay on set is just a triviality. How many of the screenwriters who said that they stayed on set actually stayed until the really end? And now you¡¯re returning the money. You think you¡¯re the only generous, glorious, and righteous one? Do you think you¡¯re returning the money to me or the director? That money¡¯s all going back to the investors. There¡¯s water in your brain.¡±


    Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t willing to argue over this topic for too long. After Yuan Ye expressed his determination to act in this manner, Feng Leizi simply deducted the final payment from his overall sry ¨C this was the amount the film crew was paying for Yuan Ye to stay on set. However, even though Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t on set in person, he still had a lot of stuff to take care of. Feng Leizi would asionally make a video conference call and Yuan Ye would have to stay in the meeting until midnight. After all, this script had been personally written and edited by Yuan Ye. His opinions were the most valuable.


    Yuan Ye was worried about disrupting Fang Shaoyi¡¯s rest. He went to Ji Xiaotao¡¯s room to take the call. When Fang Shaoyi woke up in the middle of the night, he hadn¡¯t returned yet. He also wasn¡¯t answering his phone. Thus, Fang Shaoyi walked over and knocked on the neighboring door while still in his pajamas.


    Ji Xiaotao was fast asleep in his bed. Yuan Ye stood up from a nearby chair and walked over to open the door. His earphones were still in his ears. He saw Fang Shaoyi after opening the door. Thus, he took out one earphone and softly asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao had sat up after hearing the sound of the door opening. When he saw Fang Shaoyi walk in, he felt a bit worried. ¡°What¡¯s wrong, ge?¡±


    ¡°Go back to sleep.¡± Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even look at him. ¡°Nothing¡¯s wrong.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao fell back into bed and was asleep in seconds.


    Fang Shaoyi nced at Yuan Ye¡¯s phone screen. There weren¡¯t any human faces at all; everyone¡¯s cameras were pointed at their ceilings. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. Displeased, he asked, ¡°Have a conference call if you want, but why are you in someone else¡¯s room?¡±


    Yuan Ye thought to himself so even your assistant is ¡°someone else¡± now? However, he didn¡¯t actually refute Fang Shaoyi. Instead, he took out both earphones and softly replied, ¡°I was scared that you wouldn¡¯t be able to sleep if I was talking. Okay, let¡¯s go. We¡¯ll go back.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stole an earphone from him and put it into his own ear to listen. The sounds of a heated argument could be heard. He returned the earphone to Yuan Ye and pulled him back into their own room.


    Yuan Ye coaxed this giant manchild who was acting like he was under the age of ten back into bed. He sat next to him, legs crossed as he listened to his phone. Fang Shaoyi lifted up Yuan Ye¡¯s pajama top and rested his hand on the other¡¯s stomach. Yuan Ye nced at him, but didn¡¯t treat this as a big deal. He stroked Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand through the shirt. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s brows were still furrowed. He closed his eyes and muttered, ¡°I had a dream and when I woke up, I couldn¡¯t find you. I felt panicked.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t have a temper anymore because of how Fang Shaoyi acted daily. He asionally would even feel pained and acquiescent. It was always a lot more effective when Fang Shaoyi said such things aspared to other people. Yuan Ye¡¯s heart softened considerably because of hisint. He ced his hand on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ear and squeezed it. While covering up his earphones¡¯ microphone, he kissed the other on the forehead and very quietly cated, ¡°Okay, stop acting pitiful. Sleep.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was still dissatisfied and unhappy. ¡°My lungs......¡±


    Yuan Ye immediately cut him off. ¡°I know. Your lungs hurt.¡±

 Chapter 69

    <h4>Chapter 69</h4>


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s original figure had been too sturdy for the character in thetter half of the movie. After suffering so much in the hospital, he was now the perfect fit for the character. The only part that was slightly off was his hair ¨C his current hair was too short. The character had messy hair that was always unkempt. Every day prior to filming, they always spent a lot of time styling his hair and doing his makeup to purposefully make him appear sickly pale. Even the cracks in his lips and the dried skin peeling off were carefully drawn on.


    The first time Yuan Ye saw Fang Shaoyi after he had finished applying his makeup, he hadn¡¯t been able to ept this. He had silently stared at Fang Shaoyi for a very long time. After, he had turned away and remained quiet for a long time too. Disregarding the hair, the paleness and frailness on his face instantly returned Yuan Ye to those days Fang Shaoyi had beenying in the ICU. Each day, he could only go in for ten minutes every morning and evening. He spent the remaining time wandering up and down the hallways. His feelings weren¡¯t only stirred up because of his memories from that period of time, though. These types of makeup always made people think about many different things.


    Fang Shaoyi had been born as a glorious person. It was possible that he would be this dazzling for his entire life. He might not ever look this beat down, even in old age, but Yuan Ye still couldn¡¯t help thinking about what he would look like when he got old.


    ¡°Does Teacher Yuan think this is okay?¡± The makeup artist asked him.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. Pretty good.¡± Yuan Ye stared at the Fang Shaoyi in the mirror. The two of them made eye contact this way; they had made eye contact in this manner many times in the past. The first time had been when Yuan Ye had been seventeen. Back then, he had gone to visit Fang Shaoyi¡¯s film set for fun. Everything had been new and interesting. The Fang Shaoyi in the mirror became even more handsome after getting makeup done. At that time, Yuan Ye had smiled at him without restraint. In return, Fang Shaoyi had given him a gentle smile that was reserved only for him. Right now, the Fang Shaoyi in the mirror was old and frail. After a long silence, the corners of Yuan Ye¡¯s lips tugged up. He gave Fang Shaoyi a faint smile from far away. The smile Fang Shaoyi returned to him also wasn¡¯t only filled with warm and gentle eptance anymore. It also contained the many, many memories shared between them after almost twenty years ofpanionship.


    Two pairs of eyes stared at each other like this. It was almost as if they had slowly and inadvertently spent the rest of their lives together while making eye contact.


    There was a scene where Fang Shaoyi needed to jump out of the old tree after climbing up it to tie a strip of cloth to a branch. Additionally, he needed to fall onto the ground after jumping out and roll because of the momentum. The director didn¡¯t even ask if he could do it; he simply arranged for a body double. Even if Fang Shaoyi had said that he wanted to try, the director wouldn¡¯t have let him. Right now, he was the film crew¡¯s top protection priority. He had never experienced such high-ss treatment before. In the past, Fang Shaoyi only used body doubles when he needed to film intimate scenes. He rarely had body doubles for stunts. Previously, he might not have even been allowed to use a body double for jumping off buildings or skydiving. Now, though, nobody even dared to let him try jumping out of a tree.


    This couldn¡¯t be helped, though. The film emperor was too delicate now.


    Yuan Ye had fallen out of this tree before. While watching the filming of this scene from off to the side, he could feel a slight tingling pain in his ankle. Yuan Ye walked over and patted the tree trunk. He chuckled and said to it, ¡°We worked on developing a rtionship daily. Seems like we ultimately failed in doing so. You didn¡¯t even hold back in the slightest when dropping me, huh?¡±


    The director heard this. He scolded, ¡°Was what you did called developing a rtionship? Didn¡¯t you onlyy up there and sleep?¡±


    ¡°Isn¡¯t that considered developing a rtionship?¡± Yuan Ye turned back and told the director, ¡°Seems to me like it¡¯s just a cruel and heartless tree.¡±


    The director didn¡¯t have the free time to have a silly argument with him. He ignored Yuan Ye. Fang Shaoyi filmed the scene where he had to roll on the ground by himself. After rolling around, he sat up and stared for two seconds at the closest camera, dazed. Then, he stood up and lifted his head to look at the cloth he had just tied.


    Such scenes weren¡¯t difficult to film. Fang Shaoyi was still rather in character. Besides, after experiencing such an incident, he had be even moreposed.


    While not filming, Fang Shaoyi needed to keep a mask on and do his best to avoid the rest of the crew. Ji Xiaotao walked over with a thermos. In it was iced pear juice. Fang Shaoyi unscrewed the bottle and peeked in. He shook his head and said, ¡°I¡¯m not drinking that.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao instantly turned around, looking everywhere for Yuan Ye. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and tugged his mask on. He refused to let Ji Xiaotao cause amotion. He whispered, ¡°You drink it. Hurry.¡±


    ¡°I drink it?¡± Ji Xiaotao¡¯s expression was full of rejection. ¡°I¡¯m not drinking it. If Ye ge finds outter, he¡¯ll kill me.¡±


    ¡°What use could this drink have?¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s brows were still furrowed together. He refused to take his mask off. ¡°Hurry and drink it. When your Ye gees backter, he¡¯s going to start watching me again.¡±


    In this regard, the film emperor was better than a hundred hims added together. Fang Shaoyi red at Ji Xiaotao, exasperated at how useless he was. Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and sniffed the thermos. Fang Shaoyi pointed at Ji Xiaotao. He even told Yuan Ye, ¡°He stole my stuff.¡±


    ¡°Hm?¡± Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes flitted between the two of them. ¡°He¡¯s not letting you drink it?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and made a sound of acknowledgement.


    Yuan Ye grabbed the thermos out of Ji Xiaotao¡¯s hands and stuffed it into Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hands. He told him, ¡°I stole it back for you. Go ahead and drink.¡±


    Since leaving the hospital, Fang Shaoyi had be hard to control. He refused to properly drink his water and wouldn¡¯t do anything he was told to do: he had developed a temper. This was a problem that he had only developed after this injury. In the past, he didn¡¯t care about these trivial matters at all. He had even been toozy to say anything extra about them. If he had the time to say something, he could¡¯ve already finished drinking the water. Right now, he refused to finish drinking the proper amount of water each day, so Yuan Ye was making him drink pear juice instead. The pears were steamed with rock sugar and then iced. This drink helped clear the lungs. After consecutively drinking this for several days, Fang Shaoyi stopped liking it too. He came up with numerous different ways to avoid drinking it.


    ¡°I¡¯ll steam some for you tonight. You don¡¯t like drinking the ones Xiaotao steams?¡± Yuan Ye asked him.


    Fang Shaoyi could only nod. Yuan Ye reached out and tugged off the other¡¯s mask. ¡°Drink.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi drank pear juice off to the side. Yuan Ye sat next to him, watching him drink. Ji Xiaotao squatted nearby, scrolling through his phone. Hemented, ¡°Little Yang¡¯s face is honestly too good-looking.¡±


    ¡°Un, it really is. He doesn¡¯t even have any scars or pimples,¡± Yuan Ye responded.


    Yuan Ye had spent every day with Yang Siran on the set of¡¶Hoarse¡·. After so much time together, they had truly developed a rather close rtionship. Yang Siran wasn¡¯t annoying either. He was a pretty good kid. Yuan Ye offhandedly asked, ¡°Where did you see him?¡±


    ¡°On the trending topics list.¡± Ji Xiaotao handed his phone over for Yuan Ye to look at. ¡°They¡¯re promoting a CP. Seems to me that the CP in the show they¡¯re filming is going really hard.¡±


    ¡°With who?¡± Yuan Ye asked.


    ¡°A kid on the show. He¡¯s not from ourpany.¡± Ji Xiaotao scrolled through the few CP photos and said while furrowing his brows, ¡°I need to talk to him when I get the time. It¡¯s okay to do this for promotion, but please don¡¯t start getting realistic. Then he¡¯ll end up being a dumbass.¡±


    ¡°There¡¯s no need.¡± Yuan Ye burst intoughter. He shook his head and said, ¡°He most likely won¡¯t.¡±


    Yuan Ye was good at understanding people. This was his job. When Yang Siran spoke about Geng Jinwei, the affection practically overflowed from his eyes. It couldn¡¯t be hidden at all. That was the sign of someone who was truly in love. If he could really get together with a kid he was randomly promoting a CP with, that might even be a good thing.


    Yang Siran had gotten pretty popr recently. That show had originally been an acting show. However, Yang Siran had sung a song during one of the scenes. As soon as this happened, he had gone viral. The video of him singing got spread around on Weibo multiple times. This was in part due to thepany¡¯s promotion. However, he truly was good at singing. People could tell that he had professional training when he opened his mouth. The other half of the CP he was tied to in the show was a twenty-something year old kid who had been starry eyed the entire time he had been singing. Later on, Yang Siran had ended up in the same group as him on the show. He also took pretty good care of the kid.


    The girls liked seeing this. The show had also been purposefully edited to make this rtionship seem more realistic. The editors really understood their audience.


    Yang Siran had followed Yuan Ye around on set for so long. Even after leaving the film set, he still asionally asked the other how he was doing. Yuan Ye would also casually chat with him a bit when he was bored.


    This day, Yuan Ye sent him a message: Your Xiaotao ge says he wants to talk to you about CPs.


    Yang Siran replied very quickly: Hello Yuan Ye ge! Xiaotao ge wants to talk to me about CPs? What CPs?


    Yuan Ye was actually just bored, since Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t here, so was teasing him. He chuckled and replied: The one from your show.


    Yang Siran: Ah! They¡¯re too annoying. Theirpany keeps dragging me into their CP promotions. I really hate it.


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t reply. Yang Siran followed up with: I already have a sweetheart ah.


    The word ¡°sweetheart¡± sounded quite romantic. Yuan Ye smiled at the screen. No matter what, Yang Siran¡¯s affection was worth respecting. Yuan Ye had never asked him about his and Geng Jinwei¡¯s rtionship. If he talked about it, Yuan Ye would listen. If he didn¡¯t, Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t ask. But right now, Yuan Ye suddenly wanted to ask. Thus, he sent a message over: Little Yang ah.


    Yang Siran: I¡¯m here, Ye ge.


    Yuan Ye: Your sweetheart......What¡¯s the situation between you two right now?


    He was very rarely so curious about other people¡¯s matters, especially in regards to rtionships. However, now that they were fairly close friends, he couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit worried. Mainly because in his heart, he actually didn¡¯t think this lengthy one-sided love would end very well. In his subconscious, he had already ssified it as a tragedy. After sending this message, Yuan Ye followed up with: I¡¯m just offhandedly asking. You¡¯re not required to answer. Don¡¯t feel pressured.


    Fang Shaoyi knocked on the door. Yuan Ye hopped up and opened it. Fang Shaoyi was covered in a thin sheen of sweat. He headed straight for the shower after grabbing a change of clothes. Yuan Ye didn¡¯t follow behind him. Thus, Fang Shaoyi said from inside the bathroom, ¡°My chest is ufortable.¡±


    ¡°Oh, you¡¯ve got new lines now?¡± Yuan Ye was smiling as he leaned against the doorway and stared at Fang Shaoyi, head tilted. ¡°I¡¯m done showering. You shower by yourself. Hurry and finish.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. ¡°You¡¯re not taking care of me anymore?¡±


    ¡°Do I dare not to?¡± Half of Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulder was inside the door. The other half of his body was still outside the door. ¡°Take a quick five minute shower ande out. Hurry. I¡¯ll help you do skincare after.¡±


    After saying this, Yuan Ye ran away. There were two messages from Yang Siran on his phone.


    ¡ªThere¡¯s no pressure. I¡¯m not scared of you finding out, Yuan Ye ge.


    ¡ªHaha, I¡¯m his lover right now.


    Doing skincare was quite pleasurable. Fang Shaoyi reluctantly took a shower alone. As soon as he got out, heid down on Yuan Ye¡¯sp, eyes closed as he waited for the other to start. Yuan Ye gently blew a puff of air at Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes. Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes to look at him. Yuan Ye told him, ¡°You¡¯re honestly too annoying these days.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi instantly lifted his hand and pressed it against the side of his chest. He didn¡¯t even need to say anything.


    Yuan Ye burst intoughter. ¡°Keep acting.¡±


    After messing around, they also talked about serious business. Yuan Ye¡¯s fingers pressed against the corners of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes and massaged them. He lowly called out, ¡°Yi ge.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t open his eyes. ¡°Hm?¡±


    Yuan Ye squeezed his lips together. A whileter, he asked, ¡°What are your ns......for the future?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s voice was very calm. He no longer used a joking tone. Slowly, he stated, ¡°Same as usual.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t pause in his motions. He softly said, ¡°A lot of people are guessing that you won¡¯t keep acting.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi still didn¡¯t open his eyes. He only chuckled and squeezed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand briefly. He gently stroked the other¡¯s palm. A long timeter, Fang Shaoyi finally answered, eyes still closed. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°The me in movies is your dream, right?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°He¡¯s my dream too.¡±

 Chapter 70

    <h4>Chapter 70</h4>


    In order to be a more dedicated actor, in the past, Fang Shaoyi had never considered working behind-the-scenes. After acting in enough movies, he did have some resources in his hands. Most people would start thinking about making their own movies at this point. Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t, though ¨C for him, performing was performing. Having another identity would doubtlessly distract him. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s way of acting was submersion. Each time, he would submerge himself entirely in a film. Each movie, he took himself apart and pieced himself together again.


    Fang Shaoyi had persevered for twenty years in the field of filmmaking, despite the fact that it had periodically had its ups and downs. Acting was his profession. Filmmaking had also always been his passion. Some people were destined to be certain things from birth: their entire lives would be dedicated to this one thing. Fang Shaoyi was born to enter this field. He had also given the first half of his life to movies. Everyone felt bewildered at times. It was inevitable for one to flounder in the uncertainties and sacrifices involved each step of the way. There had also been a few times when Fang Shaoyi had felt the stirrings of withdrawal.


    A lot of people were guessing that after this serious ident, Fang Shaoyi probably wouldn¡¯t be acting anymore. Some gossip ounts were even reporting this as breaking news.


    Director Wei had previously said that cinephiles needed to die in movies. This phrase had been a bit exaggerated, but it actually wasn¡¯t wrong at all. Every individual who dedicated their entire lifetime to making movies needed to endure a few encounters with life and death. There were very rarely any exceptions. The painful catastrophes behind the glory of being a cinephile were unavoidable. If Fang Shaoyi¡¯s filmmaking career ended, it wouldn¡¯t be because of an external factor such as injury, unless he honestly couldn¡¯t move anymore.


    He had always been Yuan Ye¡¯s pride. This had never changed.


    Fang Shaoyi had never filmed a movie as difficult as this one. There were a lot of struggles. Many things that he originally could¡¯ve easily aplished were now impossible. But fortunately, he ultimately finished filming in the end.


    The day Fang Shaoyi finished filming all his scenes, the director gave him a very thick red envelope. Fang Shaoyi held it in his hand and cocked an eyebrow to ask with a smile, ¡°Quite thick, huh?¡±


    The director didn¡¯t answer. He hugged Fang Shaoyi with one arm and gently patted him on the back. ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi held onto his bouquet of flowers while bowing to everyone. ¡°Everyone has worked hard. Because of me, it was really hard for everyone to pass all of their scenes. I¡¯ve troubled you.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t say that, Teacher Shaoyi,¡± someone said from nearby. After, everyone else also added, ¡°You¡¯ve worked hard.¡±


    That day, Fang Shaoyi shook hands with each main cast member and shared a short conversation with them. Technically, there needed to be a celebratory banquet, but Fang Shaoyi¡¯s current health prevented him from eating a lot of things. He also couldn¡¯t have any alcohol. Additionally, the cigarette smoke and smell of alcohol at these gatherings were unhealthy. Thus, they skipped the banquet. The director said, ¡°When you get back,e to my house. I¡¯ll make you whatever you want to eat.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nodded and replied, ¡°Call me when you get back.¡±


    Director Wei said, ¡°Recover well. We still have a lot of time left in the future. All the things you¡¯ve done for me, I¡¯ve noted in my heart. Wait and see.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shook his head. He furrowed his brows and said, ¡°Leader, you¡¯re being too distant.¡±


    Director Wei chuckled a few times. He then patted Fang Shaoyi¡¯s uninjured shoulder. After, he looked at Yuan Ye and said, ¡°Little Yuan has worked hard too.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled and shook his head. Hisughter was just as carefree as usual. ¡°There¡¯s no such thing as working hard or not for me. I¡¯m durable.¡±


    This movie hadn¡¯t beenpleted smoothly. From beginning to end, there had been hurdles after hurdles. But Fang Shaoyi had already done his best to ensure that it could be finished in a way that preserved thepleteness of the plot. Initially, he had epted this role as a means of saving this movie during a critical moment. Regarding the ident on set, Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t asked for even one cent ofpensation. With him leading by example, the two other younger actors couldn¡¯t bring up any requests either. Later, before he had evenpletely recovered, he had headed straight to the film set to finish his scenes after being discharged from the hospital. Given his rtionship with Director Wei, everything Fang Shaoyi had done proved how much he cared about this rtionship.


    True, heartfelt emotions were rare in this industry, but ultimately existed. Not everything was cold. There were always some ces that maintained their warmth.


    Fang Shaoyi returned from the film set. When the nended at the airport, the two of them still felt a bit dazed. Thest time Fang Shaoyi had returned had been when Yuan Ye had twisted his ankle. At that time, none of the following events had happened yet. Thepany sent a car over to pick them up. Ji Xiaotao told the driver, ¡°Come, little bro. Come down. I¡¯ll drive.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t, Xiaotao ge. You guys are already tired enough because of the flight.¡± The driver was terrified. ¡°I can drive. I¡¯m pretty good at driving, don¡¯t worry.¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t know whether tough or cry. ¡°I¡¯m telling you toe down, soe down.¡±


    The driver took off his seatbelt and came down from the car. Ji Xiaotao patted him on the shoulder and said, ¡°It¡¯s fine. Don¡¯t panic.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao dropped the driver off at thepany on the way back. The two people in the back seat were both asleep. Ji Xiaotao told the driver, ¡°Go on.¡±


    ¡°Then......¡± The driver still didn¡¯t really dare to leave. His original task had been to send all three of these people home. However, he hadn¡¯t sent even one of them home; instead, he himself had been sent back here by someone else.


    Fang Shaoyi nodded. He pulled out a mask and put it on.


    After parking the car carefully, Ji Xiaotao turned off the engine and undid his seatbelt. He removed his phone from his pocket and started filming with the camera pointed at the back seat.


    Fang Shaoyi woke Yuan Ye up. ¡°Ye ge, time to wake up.¡±


    This call of ¡°Ye ge¡± was too out of the blue. Yuan Ye¡¯s eyes were open, but he still felt like he maybe hadn¡¯t woken up. When had Fang Shaoyi ever called him this? Yuan Ye¡¯s expression was bewildered. He had just woken up, so his voice was a bit hoarse. ¡°What are you doing......What random nicknames are you calling out?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°We¡¯re here. Stop sleeping.¡±


    Yuan Ye sat up. He rubbed his eyes and asked, ¡°You just called me Ye ge, right? Have you fallen ill......¡±


    ¡°Nope.¡± Fang Shaoyi handed him a bottle of water. Yuan Ye epted it and took a sip. He looked up and saw Ji Xiaotao, thus furrowed his brows and asked the other, ¡°What are you filming? Why¡¯s your phone all up in our faces?¡±


    Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t answer. Instead, he told Yuan Ye, ¡°Ye ge, smile. Hold up a peace sign.¡±


    ¡°Peace sign my ass!¡± Yuan Ye hadpletely woken up. He felt like something was off. He nced outside the car window. ¡°Where are we? Are you two going to sell me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi ced his hand on the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head and wobbled it around. Then, he opened the door and got out of the car. After, he leaned over to tug Yuan Ye. ¡°Come out.¡±


    ¡°I refuse. I think there¡¯s a conspiracy going on.¡± Yuan Ye felt like these two weren¡¯t acting normal.


    Fang Shaoyi was mearing a mask over his face; his expression couldn¡¯t be seen. He grabbed Yuan Ye by the arm and pulled. ¡°Come down. Why are you sitting there?¡±


    ¡°Why would I get off?!¡± Yuan Ye didn¡¯t really dare to fight back. He was scared that if he made too big of a move, he would hurt Fang Shaoyi. Eventually, he startedughing and told Fang Shaoyi, ¡°You¡¯re making it seem like I don¡¯t dare to get off the car. Tell me what you guys want to do. If you¡¯re going to sell me, just tell me. I can even help you count the money. What¡¯s the meaning of pointing a camera at me and filming incessantly?¡±


    After saying this, Yuan Ye pushed the phone in Ji Xiaotao¡¯s hand away. ¡°Little brat. Keep colluding with your ge to trick me. I can¡¯t teach your ge a lesson right now, but I can teach you a lesson!¡±


    Ji Xiaotao¡¯s phone was still raised. He seemed like a stubborn reporter. ¡°Ye ge, I had no choice!¡±


    Yuan Ye poked his head out and looked around. After a few nces, he quite cleverly came to a general conclusion. Now that he understood, he absolutely couldn¡¯t get out of the car. He crossed his arms over his chest and remained with his butt glued to the seat. He leaned his head against the back of the seat, as stable as a Buddha statue.


    Fang Shaoyi tugged off his mask and lowly asked Yuan Ye, ¡°Are you getting off or not?¡±


    Yuan Ye squeezed his eyes shut and shook his head.


    Fang Shaoyi gazed at him. He had been leaning over for a long time. He let go of Yuan Ye and held onto the side of his chest. ¡°It hurts.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t mess around.¡± Yuan Ye nced at him. ¡°Quit faking.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi stood up straight and exhaled. He gently furrowed his brows. It looked like he really was slightly ufortable. ¡°You bumped into me just now.¡±


    Oh really? I bumped into you? Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t even dared to put any force into his actions. He hadn¡¯t pushed Fang Shaoyi at all.


    But Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t out-stubborn Fang Shaoyi when the other wasining about pain. Fang Shaoyi had a trump card and he didn¡¯t. Yuan Ye epted his fate and got out of the car. As soon as he did so, he reached out and gently rubbed the side of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s rib cage. He sighed, ¡°......Okay, okay. Stop hurting, Fang Jiaojiao.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi grabbed his hand and walked forward while holding onto it.


    Yuan Ye was led forward. Ji Xiaotao stayed right next to them, filming. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Are you nning on filming a documentary? That¡¯s enough.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao didn¡¯t dare to say anything. He trembled as he diligently held the phone up.


    Yuan Ye had been here before, twice. Including this time, this was his third trip here.


    The first time, he and Fang Shaoyi had gotten their marriage certificates. The second time, they had gotten a different type of certificate. There was no need to ask why they were here this time. While walking, Yuan Ye couldn¡¯t help wanting tough. They were honestly quite a troublesome couple.


    However, as soon as he entered the lobby, before he could even put his foot down, Yuan Ye¡¯s smile froze on his faze. ¡°......Good lord.¡±


    ¡ª¡ªIn the lobby, almost twenty camera lenses were pointed straight at them. The sound of shutters clicking could be heard continuously. Yuan Ye rubbed his head and used his arm to cover his face. He quietly asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Ancestor......what are you ying at?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi let go of him briefly to take off his mask. Then, he greeted everyone.


    ¡°You¡¯ve all worked hard. I¡¯m causing trouble for you guys.¡± Fang Shaoyi nodded at everyone in front of them. He clung onto Yuan Ye¡¯s hand again and refused to let go.


    ¡°My rtionship with Yuan Ye has been a point of interest these past few years. Today, I¡¯m borrowing everyone¡¯s camera lenses to say a few things. Additionally, I want everyone to be our witnesses.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s face was handsome; his voice was calm andposed. Though he was thinner than before, he didn¡¯t look sick at all.


    ¡°I¡¯ve never publicly talked about us. Everything has only been everyone¡¯s guesses. Actually, there isn¡¯t really anything to talk about.¡± Fang Shaoyi squeezed Yuan Ye¡¯s hand and said to the cameras, ¡°We fell in love in our youth, then got married. Everyone knows this. You also all know that we got divorced.¡±


    ¡°After our divorce, we participated in a dating and travelling variety show. That was truly ill-considered on our part. It was I who wanted to participate in the show. A lot of people said I did it to get money, but that¡¯s false. I donated all the money I earned. I purposefully wanted to join the show because I never wanted to actually get divorced from him. I joined the show just to see what his feelings were.¡±


    Here, Fang Shaoyi nced at Yuan Ye. The corners of his eyes were tinted with amusement. After, he continued, ¡°I brought up the divorce too. I forced him to sign the papers. There are a lot of different parts of our personalities that don¡¯t match. We got divorced to be able to recognize our innermost thoughts more clearly. I used the wrong method and suffered the consequences I deserved.¡±


    ¡°Yuan Ye is a very stubborn person. To everyone else, it seems like I work harder. But actually, over all these years, he¡¯s the one who¡¯s been indulging me more.¡± Fang Shaoyi had said too much. He coughed a few times. Someone nearby handed him a bottle of water. Fang Shaoyi waved his hand, signalling that he didn¡¯t need it.


    ¡°Actually, at the time, neither of us were of clear mind. There were many things that didn¡¯t need to be so clearly differentiated. No matter how hard a problem seems, there¡¯s always a better solution, one that¡¯s better than divorce. In the future, we might still have lots of conflicts and problems, but I believe him. I believe myself too.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s palm was always dry and warm. When one held onto it, it gave off a sense offort and strength.


    ¡°In the past, I always felt that there was no need to rush. We still had so much time. We could take our time with our rtionship and slowly grow old together. To us, marriage seemed more like a formality. He was right next to me. It didn¡¯t seem that important anymore whether or not we got married.¡±


    ¡°I suffered a few injuries while filming this time. It was technically a small ident.¡± Fang Shaoyi gently twisted the ring on Yuan Ye¡¯s finger. He coughed a few times again. After, his voice sounded slightly hoarse. ¡°When the ident happened, I honestly didn¡¯t know either if there was going to be a tomorrow for me. In those days, I finally felt regretful in my heart. If my life ended just like this, Yuan Ye wouldn¡¯t even be my legal partner.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi had said so much. This was no borate speech. Each word he said came from the bottom of his heart: each word was honest. From start to finish, Yuan Ye¡¯s head was tilted as he looked up at the other. The person before him wasn¡¯t wearing that white tuxedo he had worn back then. This year, he was thirty eight years old. Thirteen years had already passed since that wedding ceremony. Yuan Ye maintained a faint smile the entire time. Eventually, the rims of his eyes slowly became red.


    Fang Shaoyi stared into his eyes and slowly knelt on one knee. In a calm and determined voice, he asked, ¡°Can you get married to me one more time?¡±


    Yuan Ye instantly lowered himself too. He was kneeling on one knee as well. His jeans glued to his form and formed a beautiful, sensual curve. The corners of Yuan Ye¡¯s lips were turned up in a smile. Voice hoarse, he said, ¡°You¡¯ve caused such a big scene. If I say no, the fans are going to tear me to bits.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. ¡°So?¡±


    Yuan Ye held his hands out in slight exasperation. ¡°I can get married to you one more time, but you at least need to be prepared in advance. Did you bring our household registration booklets? What about our proof of residency? And the divorce certificates? Right now, there are so many long and short cannons......They¡¯re all documenting this. I¡¯m waiting to see how we¡¯re going to resolve this situation today. Don¡¯t you feel embarrassed......¡±


    Some of the people present couldn¡¯t helpughing out loud. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Please forgive us. After this injury, Teacher Fang has taken to asionally acting very stubborn.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t said anything, but Yuan Ye was alreadying up with ways to resolve this situation.


    Ji Xiaotao inched over from the side, back hunched. He asked someone else to hold the camera for him; the livestream couldn¡¯t be cut off. He shifted his backpack so it was hanging in front of his body. Then, one by one, he stuffed the necessary documents into Yuan Ye¡¯s hands. ¡°Divorce certificates......household registration booklets......proof of residency......¡±


    Yuan Ye held onto this big pile of stuff, speechless. There was still amusement on his face. His lips didn¡¯t move, but he clenched his teeth together and asked in a voice that only Fang Shaoyi could hear, ¡°You stole my stuff again?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gestured in Ji Xiaotao¡¯s direction with his chin. ¡°He stole them.¡±


    Yuan Ye stood up and tugged Fang Shaoyi up too. He carried that big pile of documents over to the registration area. They were clearly both very lowkey people, but every time they got married, they did so in such a mboyant manner. While filling out the application form, Yuan Ye lowly asked Fang Shaoyi, ¡°Where¡¯s your ring? You don¡¯t need me to put it on for you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi pulled it out from his pocket and put it on himself.


    Someone asked with a smile, ¡°Teacher Fang, howe you¡¯re not making Teacher Yuan put it on for you?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi smiled while shaking his head. ¡°I need to know my limits. Who knows how long I¡¯m going to have to act pitiful at home after this surprise.¡±


    ¡°Does acting pitiful work?¡± Someone else asked.


    ¡°Yes,¡± Fang Shaoyi nodded. He reached out with his right hand to cover Yuan Ye¡¯s hand that was holding the pen. Like this, he helped the other write ¡°Yuan Ye.¡± While writing, he said, ¡°It works. Teacher Yuan has a soft heart.¡±


    Yuan Ye was already letting him do as he wished. As long as Teacher Fang was happy.


    Fang Shaoyi had nned this very early in advance. Either way, there was a long period of time after where he would be out of the public eye. This time would also be spent recovering. It didn¡¯t matter if he was being highkey now. In the end, he would definitely be able to lose all the attention.


    Yuan Ye told the cameras, ¡°Don¡¯t get tricked by him. He¡¯s so confidently boasting right now, but it¡¯s actually all a n to gain poprity. The has-been film emperor is shamelessly sticking to the currently popr author. Don¡¯t fall for his lies, my fans. Do you see me blinking at you guys? That means I¡¯ve been kidnapped.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nted his head to look at Yuan Ye. ¡°Scorning me? No matter how unpopr the film emperor is, are you in a position to be scorning me?¡±


    Yuan Ye scoffed. ¡°The film emperor¡¯s lungs hurt. The film emperor needs to slowly recover. The film emperor won¡¯t be releasing any films for a long time after this.¡±


    What had just been a romantic and affectionate moment now became a strange scene in the blink of an eye. The two of them took turns taking jabs at each other. Between their conversation andughter, the two of them made eye contact. Reflected in their eyes and hearts was still clearly that youth they had loved for half of their lives.


    <b>The author has something to say:</b>


    The formal text isplete. Let¡¯s end here.


    Thankful, grateful, appreciative.


    There are three extra chaptersing up:


    1) Ch 71 ¨C Main CP (Fang Shaoyi x Yuan Ye)


    2) Ch 72 ¨C Main CP ft. guest appearance from the cast of Tattoo


    3) Ch 73 ¨C Side CP (Geng Jinwei x Yang Siran)

 Ch71 - Extra 1

    <h4>Chapter Ch71 - Extra 1</h4>


    ¡ª¡ªA sudden livestream? What¡¯s going on? ount got hacked?


    ¡ª¡ªount probably got hacked 233. People got here so fast, my video is soggy!


    ¡ª¡ªThe ount wasn¡¯t hacked! Isn¡¯t the one with the mask on Yi ge? Goodness, he lost so much weight......


    ¡ª¡ªConsort Ye hasn¡¯t even woken up yet. What¡¯s this livestream for?! I¡¯m crying, being able to see them is too great 555555


    Ji Xiaotao had just posted a link to a livestream on Fang Shaoyi¡¯s Weibo page without saying anything. The ones who had clicked into the link were still confused. When they finally realized what was going on, they all exploded. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s call of ¡°Yuan Ye ge¡± was too coquettish. The fans didn¡¯t even get any cooldown time ¨C the screen became covered by strings of ¡°aaah¡± and ¡°hahaha.¡± In addition to the fact that there were new audience members constantly asking what was going on, thements were flying across the screen so quickly that they were practically indiscernible.


    Because of Fang Shaoyi and Ji Xiaotao, Yuan Ye was immensely confused when he woke up. The person holding the phone was even telling him to make a peace sign. Yuan Ye¡¯s, ¡°Peace sign my ass,¡± also caused thements to fly faster across the screen. After, they never stopped again, instead getting faster and faster.


    Fang Shaoyi held onto the side of his chest and said his lungs hurt. Yuan Yeplied and got out of the car, saying, ¡°Stop hurting, Fang Jiaojiao.¡± Just this was enough for CP fans to cry for a whole year. This couple was too sickly sweet. Yuan Ye clearly knew the other was faking it, but the concern in his eyes was practically overflowing. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t an actor. For him, it was easy to tell whether this was natural affection or a faked performance.


    Livestreaming the attaining of their marriage certificates was too highkey. It was also quite bold. Nobody had done this before. As Fang Shaoyi spoke, all thements were crying. These two never really shared much about their rtionship to the outside world. Thus, when a slightly cold person like Fang Shaoyi sincerely expressed his affections, word by word, it was impossible to not be touched.


    Thements on the screen were begging them to hold another wedding ceremony, one as grand as their initial wedding ceremony. Fang Shaoyi chuckled and said, ¡°Speaking of, the two of us are both on our second marriages. Two people on their second marriages just need to be a bit more lowkey. We won¡¯t have a ceremony.¡±


    Yuan Ye scoffed and said, ¡°Well you¡¯re certainly being lowkey enough.¡±


    Since the two of them had filled in the request for remarriage, they had been bickering with each other. Even now, they hadn¡¯t finished yet.


    ¡ª¡ª55555 I¡¯ve used up a whole packet of tissues!


    ¡ª¡ªThe water of West Lake is made up of my tears! Today, I¡¯m going to make the waterline of West Lake increase by 5 cm!


    ¡ª¡ªI¡¯m really too touched. I really, really, really love them so much......


    ¡ª¡ªSecond marriages need ceremonies too aaah! We¡¯ve already prepared the wedding money aaaaaah


    ¡ª¡ªDid you see how Yi ge held onto Ye ge¡¯s hand to sign his name just now?! Did anyone take a screenshot? The one I took was blurry!!


    ¡ª¡ªMine was blurry too, just like how my eyes are now blurry with tears!


    ¡ª¡ªBut why did he have to hold onto Yuan Ye¡¯s hand to sign? Please don¡¯t tell me he¡¯s really forcing the other into marriage. I daren¡¯t think further......


    Before turning off the livestream, Ji Xiaotao said into the phone, ¡°That¡¯s it. I¡¯m going to turn the livestream off now.¡±


    Gifts kept popping up on the screen, telling him not to turn it off and to keep streaming for a bit. Ji Xiaotao said, ¡°I need to take them home. Afterpleting my mission, I¡¯m waiting for tomorrow so I can go find Ye ge to receive my death.¡±


    After saying this, he exited out of the livestream room with great determination. Very cold and heartless.


    He didn¡¯t even need to think to know that right now, the entire Inte would be exploding. On the way back, Yuan Ye squeezed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s neck, expression fierce. ¡°Do you have nothing better to do? You¡¯ve been in too great of health recently? You have energy now? What are you causing trouble for?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi twisted the ring on his finger. He smiled faintly, but didn¡¯t respond.


    Yuan Ye truly wished he could strangle the other. ¡°How old are you to be doing something like this? Don¡¯t you feel embarrassed? If not for the fact that there were too many people just now and I couldn¡¯t shame you in front of all of them, I absolutely would¡¯ve turned around and left, bro.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi shrugged, acting quite innocent. ¡°Then leave.¡±


    Yuan Ye was so angry that he was alreadyughing. But he couldn¡¯t do anything else. He pointed at Fang Shaoyi, speechless. Then, he sat up straight and instantly saw Ji Xiaotao, who was sneaking nces at them through the rearview mirror. Just now, he had been preupied with speaking to Fang Shaoyi, making him forget that there was still this little rascal left. Yuan Ye harshly patted him on the head andughed coldly. He scooted forward to ask the other, ¡°You¡¯ve be capable, huh, Tao?¡±


    ¡°Nope, not at all! Ye ge!¡± Ji Xiaotao shrunk in on himself. ¡°My ge threatened me with my sry. He said that if I didn¡¯t cooperate, he would fire me. Or, leave me behind at thepany and never bring me around with him anymore!¡±


    Their back and forth conversation was incredibly annoying to Yuan Ye. He ignored both of them as he closed his eyes and leaned against the back of the seat. He didn¡¯t say a single word.


    After helping them unpack upon getting home, Ji Xiaotao immediately left. He didn¡¯t even dare to stay an extra fifteen minutes.


    Yuan Ye only called his parents. They knew about what had happened too. Right now, probably nobody didn¡¯t know about it. Yuan Ye was impossibly embarrassed while on the phone. Even his voice was quiet. He softly muttered, ¡°Yes, we got married.¡±


    ¡°My aunt specially called you too?¡± Yuan Ye chuckled and said, ¡°Okay. Then answer the phone if she¡¯s calling.¡±


    ¡°Him? He¡¯s fine. Didn¡¯t you see him on TV?¡± Yuan Ye nced at Fang Shaoyi. ¡°If he wasn¡¯t in good health, would he be able to cause so much trouble?¡±


    ¡°Got it. Okay. I¡¯m hanging up now. I¡¯m turning off my phone. If anythinges up, call his private number. We¡¯ll go home tomorrow.¡±


    Yuan Ye turned his phone off and threw it onto the side after hanging up. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s phone had long since been turned off as well. There was still a private number avable. Very few people knew it. After turning off his phone, Yuan Ye wanted to go shower. While walking towards the bathroom, he undressed. Before he had even reached the bathroom, his clothes werepletely off.


    Just as Fang Shaoyi was about to stand up, Yuan Ye said, ¡°If you dare toe in, I¡¯m going to punch you in the lungs.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi paused for a moment. When Yuan Ye finished talking, Fang Shaoyi stood up,pletely unbothered. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Stand there and don¡¯t move. We haven¡¯t finished settling our scores yet.¡±


    His expression was slightly solemn. Following brief consideration, Fang Shaoyi obediently sat down once more. Thus, Yuan Ye left with that expression on and headed into the shower. When he closed the door and turned on the water, he couldn¡¯t keep the act up anymore. His expression slowly softened; his eyes were filled with gentle amusement.


    He was purposefully trying to scare the other. After being tricked by Fang Shaoyi, he was purposefully acting so unwilling. Everything was an act. How could he actually be angry?


    Fang Shaoyi had been lowkey for most of his life. The few times he had been mboyant and highkey had all been for Yuan Ye. Ultimately, he had caused such a big scene this time in order to publicly give Yuan Ye a status equal to his. He had even ced himself lower than Yuan Ye. This was because in the beginning, Yuan Ye had been the one to step forward and take the me for their divorce. Later on, the outside world had all believed that Yuan Ye was shamelessly sticking to and pursuing him. They had been waiting for him to make a fool of himself. If the two of them reconciled without saying anything, or they only announced their remarriage, everyone else would all assume that Yuan Ye had been the one who had begged for this reconciliation.


    Thus, Fang Shaoyi publicly asked for remarriage in front of everyone else. He hadn¡¯t said anything that hadn¡¯t been from the bottom of his heart. A good rtionship needed to be equal. Thest thing Fang Shaoyi wanted to see was Yuan Ye being disrespected.


    Could Yuan Ye not understand these things?


    That day, after both of them had showered, Yuan Ye came out of the bathroom wearing only a loose pair of shorts. Shirtless, he sat on the carpet, posture very carefree. One of his legs was bent up and his arm was resting on his knee. He wanted to have a chat with Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi very obediently walked over and sat down across from Yuan Ye. He asked, ¡°Are you helping me with skincare after our chat?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Do it yourself.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied very smoothly, ¡°I can¡¯t raise my arms for too long. My shoulders will hurt.¡±


    Yuan Ye scoffed. ¡°Then you can keep your dry skin. Don¡¯t do skincare anymore. Either way, you won¡¯t be acting again for a long time.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t argue back or say anything. He actually nodded. Now that he wasn¡¯t acting pitiful, he actually seemed more pitiful. Yuan Ye knew he was faking it. The film emperor¡¯s talent was all getting used on him now that the other wasn¡¯t filming. Even so, Yuan Ye still couldn¡¯t bear to see him with his lips pressed together, silent. He reached out and briefly cupped the other¡¯s chin. ¡°Quit acting.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked up at him. Yuan Ye said, ¡°There aren¡¯t any other people around now. We¡¯ve also resolved our issues. We¡¯ve finally made some time to clear some things up.¡±


    Clear what things up? What needed to be cleared up on the carpet during the night of their remarriage? Fang Shaoyi was extremely unwilling in his heart. Weren¡¯t they going to do something to celebrate their remarriage? They weren¡¯t pile driving, but were sitting on the ground and having a chat instead? An old couple needed to be like this? So unvigorous?


    But he didn¡¯t say anything at all. He obediently nodded.


    Yuan Ye leaned back against the side of the bed. He rested his elbows on top of the bed and nced askance at Fang Shaoyi. He asked, ¡°In front of the reporters, you said that you never actually wanted to get divorced from me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi looked at him and made a noise of acknowledgement.


    Yuan Ye scoffed and scolded, ¡°Lies.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°No, the truth.¡±


    ¡°Chronic liar,¡± Yuan Yemented once more.


    Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows together. His expression became serious too. He said, ¡°I didn¡¯t lie. Can¡¯t you tell if I ever really wanted to or not?¡±


    Yuan Ye stared at him. The two of them made eye contact, gazing straight into the other¡¯s eyes. Neither refused to look away first.


    A whileter, it was ultimately Yuan Ye who first spoke up. Teacher Yuan Ye was going to start bringing up old scores.


    ¡°You even removed my car from the system. Even property management didn¡¯t recognize my license te anymore. What do you have to say about that? What, I¡¯m not allowed toe to this house? This home has nothing to do with me anymore?¡± Yuan Ye asked him.


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even know what he was talking about. ¡°Why would I remove you from the system?¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. ¡°I couldn¡¯t even get my car in through the front gates. Are you trying to tell me property management automatically removed me from the system? How impressive of them.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi asked him, bewildered, ¡°Isn¡¯t the car in the garage yours? You didn¡¯t drive it inside?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Quit ying with me. I¡¯m talking about when we were divorced. Before we went on the show.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s brows were knit together. ¡°I really didn¡¯t. Xiaotao wouldn¡¯t either.¡±


    Yuan Ye knew that Fang Shaoyi wouldn¡¯t lie to him. At the time, though, he truly hadn¡¯t been able to enter. Later on, the both of them saw confusion in each other¡¯s eyes. Fang Shaoyi suddenly remembered something. He asked Yuan Ye, ¡°What year did you pay the property management fees?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°How am I supposed to remember? I even forgot how many years we paid in advance when we first moved in.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi replied, ¡°After you moved away, I didn¡¯te back here either. We had overdue fees for several months. My car couldn¡¯t get in as well. Xiaotao went to make up those fees. I¡¯m pretty sure that¡¯s what happened. If you hadn¡¯t mentioned it, I would¡¯ve forgotten.¡±


    Yuan Ye blinked. Back then, he had more or less felt a bit upset because of this incident. It had caused him to continually feel sad when he hade here to pack up his stuff. He had felt like Fang Shaoyi wanted to make a clean break with him. But in the end, it was because they had overdue fees? This exnation really made Yuan Ye not know whether tough or cry.


    He felt like he had once again been controlled by life.


    There definitely wasn¡¯t only one score to settle.


    Yuan Ye continued to question Fang Shaoyi. ¡°If you didn¡¯t want to get divorced from me, if you wanted to see what my opinion was, why did you keep attacking me during filming? Could I possibly get back together with you if you kept attacking me?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi nced at him and said, ¡°You attacked me first.¡±


    ¡°When did I attack you?¡± Yuan Ye tsk¡¯d. ¡°Besides, you forced me to sign the papers. Wasn¡¯t I in the right to be angry? Didn¡¯t you deserve to be attacked?¡±


    ¡°Yes,¡± Fang Shaoyi nodded. Then, he said, ¡°But I was very sad too. You were already thinking about separating in your heart, which meant I wouldn¡¯t be able to keep you anymore. You said you didn¡¯t want a young and fresh love to turn into something old and sick. This sentence was too hurtful. My love was old and sick? How did it be sick? Before it really fell sick, I needed to ensure its freshness.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s response was very reasonable. Each phrase prodded the softest part of Yuan Ye¡¯s heart. He was talking about the most painful time in their rtionship, but after clearing things up, it wouldn¡¯t hurt anymore. Everything had already passed. In the end, upon noticing that Yuan Ye really looked a bit forlorn, Fang Shaoyi added, ¡°Also, I never attacked you.¡±


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you?¡± Yuan Ye used the back of his hand to rub the tip of his nose. He couldn¡¯t be bothered with feeling sad anymore. All his other emotions had disappeared. ¡°¡®You can still feel whether or not I¡¯m ufortable? Can you?¡¯ ¡®Don¡¯t touch my suitcase.¡¯ ¡®Missing love?¡¯ Which of these didn¡¯t you say?¡±


    ¡°You were coughing so hard. How could I not feel that you were ufortable? Forget the fact that you were ufortable. Didn¡¯t I feel ufortable too? Was there gold in your suitcase? I was going to help you do skincare, but you so rudely told me not to touch your suitcase.¡± Here, Yuan Ye grabbed an orange and mmed it onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s leg. Expression dark, he said, ¡°Then why should I help you with skincare? Hurry and do your own skincareter. Little Yuan won¡¯t touch your stuff. Also, was I ¡®missing love¡¯? Whether or not I was missing love, didn¡¯t you fuck me anyways? You even bit my lip and broke skin. Seems to me like you just wanted to find an excuse to have sex. Aren¡¯t you annoying? If you want to have sex, just say it outright.¡±


    Yuan Ye had kept all these memories in his heart. He hadn¡¯t even forgotten one word.


    Fang Shaoyi picked up the orange and peeled it, then stuffed a slice into Yuan Ye¡¯s mouth. He responded very smoothly, ¡°I want to have sex.¡±


    ¡°......Get out,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    Fang Shaoyi scooted so that he was sitting closer to Yuan Ye. He slowly wrapped his arms around the other and said, ¡°Teacher Yuan Ye, spare me. Don¡¯t bring up old scores anymore.¡±


    Yuan Ye scoffed. ¡°My benevolence has already been disyed by the fact that I didn¡¯t start bringing them up with you in front of all those cameras.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t say anything else. He glued himself to the other and softly rubbed against him. He kissed Yuan Ye on the cheek and on the chin, wordlessly coaxing him.


    After so much settling of scores, if this conversation continued, Teacher Fang¡¯s lungs would have to start hurting. Yuan Ye sighed and said, ¡°Nevermind. I won¡¯t bring up stuff from too long ago. Let¡¯s talk about stuff that recently happened.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi cautiously asked, ¡°There¡¯s recent stuff too?¡±


    ¡°Of course.¡± Yuan Ye chuckled, but the amusement didn¡¯t reach his eyes. ¡°A little boy knocked on your door in the middle of the night, huh? Teacher Fang? The little boy also wanted to give you a massage. Quite sweet, right?¡±


    These matters of moral principle couldn¡¯t be taken lightly. Fang Shaoyi immediately shook his head. ¡°That never happened. You heard everything. I didn¡¯t let him in.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s true that you didn¡¯t let him in.¡± Yuan Ye nodded, then resentfully furrowed his brows. ¡°But you protected him from getting injured! And then you ended up critically injured. You almost killed me with that.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi gently tugged on Yuan Ye¡¯s ear and rubbed his earlobe. He didn¡¯t dare to make any more rebuttals. His injury was basically a knife in Yuan Ye¡¯s heart. Thinking back on it resulted in a bloody wound.


    A whileter, Fang Shaoyi softly said, ¡°I was wrong. But that had nothing to do with his identity. You know me. When have I ever looked at anyone else?¡±


    How could Yuan Ye not know this? The scores he was settling now were merely incidents he had felt ufortable or displeased about in the past; he was finally talking about them. Previously, they had ended up getting divorced because of ack ofmunication. Thus, they needed to go over everything clearly now. Not speaking up was uneptable.


    After so much talk, Yuan Ye felt tired. He stood up, stomped his feet a few times, and said, ¡°Okay, let¡¯s end our chat here today. I can only think of these things right now.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi grabbed onto his pants. He looked up. ¡°Where are you going?¡±


    Yuan Ye lowered his head to look at the other. Heughed, ¡°Where else could I go? I¡¯m going to wash my hands. Don¡¯t I need to help you with skincare? Fang Jiaojiao.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi released his grip and let Yuan Ye go wash his hands. He very conscientiouslyid t on the bed to wait for Yuan Ye to apply his skincare.


    Yuan Ye warmed his palms up by rubbing them together. Then, he helped Fang Shaoyi apply ayer of essence. He gently massaged it in between the corners of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes and his temples. While doing this, he said, ¡°This is all because I¡¯m softhearted. Otherwise, given that one time you were so rude to me, you¡¯d never get this treatment again in your life. How precious, right, Teacher Fang?¡±


    ¡°Not precious.¡± Fang Shaoyi¡¯s eyes were closed. He lowly said, ¡°I¡¯m not precious. My suitcase isn¡¯t precious either.¡±


    ¡°Is that so?¡± Yuan Ye offhandedly asked.


    Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes. He felt a bit embarrassed. He caught Yuan Ye¡¯s hand and kissed the other¡¯s palm. Then, he sighed and slowly said, ¡°In my suitcase......there was a copy of Teacher Yuan Ye¡¯s new novel and a notebook with a few dozen love poems in it. Those poems are really old. I take them with me wherever I go. When you touched them, it was like you were touching my heart......But at the time, I didn¡¯t dare to let you touch it yet. I didn¡¯t know if you still wanted it or not.¡±


    One of Yuan Ye¡¯s hands was being held onto by Fang Shaoyi. He blinked, but once again couldn¡¯t say anything. After so much mention of touching, he felt like his heart was the one that had been touched by someone else.


    Yuan Ye ultimately wasn¡¯t a match for Fang Shaoyi. He was much more than one level lower in rank. He had spent so long going over old scores, but each incident he had brought up had been rebuked by the other. At the very end, his heart felt incredibly soft. Additionally, Fang Shaoyi was continuously practicing the tactic of advancing by retreating and incessantly acting pitiful. This was what he was best at these days.


    At this time, he could truly understand what Fang Shaoyi had felt when he had said those things.


    ¡ª¡ªAlright. I¡¯ll give you whatever you want. Is this enough? What else do you want? Just tell me if you want anything else.

 Ch72 - Extra 2

    <h4>Chapter Ch72 - Extra 2</h4>


    ¡°Yuan Ye ge has gotten more handsome again. Let¡¯s take a picture togetherter. I¡¯ll hang it on my wall. You¡¯re technically a celebrity too now!¡± The girl greeted Yuan Ye with a smile.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Come, let¡¯s take one.¡±


    Old Tu walked in through the door. He was wearing a ck T-shirt that was covered in neon yellow images in the front. With a cigarette dangling from his mouth, he swung his arm around Yuan Ye¡¯s neck and tightened it slightly. Then, he tilted his head and narrowed his eyes. ¡°Why didn¡¯t you call me sooner? I almost left this afternoon. If you had called me even a little bitter, I would¡¯ve already been gone.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. ¡°Pretty busy, huh?¡±


    ¡°Started a mountain retreat with someone. It¡¯s not finished yet. Check it out when you have the time?¡± Old Tu asked.


    The girl tugged Old Tu¡¯s arm off Yuan Ye¡¯s shoulders. She scolded, ¡°Be more careful. If someone takes a picture of this, my Yuan Ye ge won¡¯t be able to exin. Having an arm around someone¡¯s shoulders is enough for the media to consider it cheating.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled while shaking his head. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad. Cheating depends on appearance too. Why the hell would I cheat with this old man? Your Yuan Ye ge has a heavenly immortal at home.¡±


    Old Tuughed and cussed at him. ¡°Weirdo.¡±


    It had been quite a long time since Yuan Ye hade to Old Tu¡¯s ce. This was because he hadn¡¯t been home previously. This time, he wasing to Old Tu¡¯s restaurant to eat meat and drink alcohol. Since Fang Shaoyi had hurt his lungs, he hadn¡¯t attended any events with alcohol. Yuan Ye also hadn¡¯t needed to attend any socialization events. Recently, they had been living a really healthy lifestyle. Today, Fang Shaoyi had gone to thepany. Yuan Ye hadn¡¯t; he went looking for a ce to be carefree instead.


    Old Tu¡¯s restaurant had pretty good business. It was very popr. These days, it had be an Inte-famous restaurant. The girl asked, ¡°A private room?¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°No need. Let whoever wants to take pictures take pictures. There¡¯s no atmosphere when you eat meat inside a private room.¡±


    There truly wasn¡¯t an atmosphere. He was here for that smoky, fiery, noisy atmosphere. Old Tu led Yuan Ye over to a section of the shop that was slightly less popted. The two of them sat on the small chairs. Old Tu threw Yuan Ye a pack of cigarettes.


    Yuan Ye picked it up and threw it back. ¡°No thanks. I quit.¡±


    ¡°Again?¡± Old Tu snorted and asked.


    Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment as he nodded. ¡°For lung health.¡±


    In the past, when he had asionally smoked, Fang Shaoyi would try to limit his cigarette intake. When he had felt annoyed or stressed, or when he had gotten stuck while writing, he would habitually want to smoke a cigarette. Now, he didn¡¯t need anyone to keep an eye on him at all. If anyone else smoked around Fang Shaoyi, Yuan Ye felt pissed. It was even more impossible for he himself to smoke.


    Old Tu questioned again, ¡°Have you quit drinking alcohol?¡±


    Yuan Ye replied with a smile, ¡°No. Why would I quit drinking alcohol?¡±


    Yuan Ye got a free meal at Old Tu¡¯s ce. When he waspletely sated and full, Fang Shaoyi came to pick him up. He waited outside for a bit. Yuan Ye scurried into the car as soon as he left the restaurant. He took his jacket off when he got into the car. ¡°I smell.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi said, ¡°It¡¯s fine.¡±


    Yuan Ye had drunk some alcohol. He had a big smile on his face as he scooted his head close to Fang Shaoyi and wobbled it. ¡°Smell.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi kind of wanted tough. He kissed the other on the top of his head. ¡°What would I be smelling? Everyone else gets the smell stuck to their hair. Do you have hair? Might as well let me smell your bear instead.¡±


    Yuan Yeughed while cussing. He sat up straight and put on his seatbelt. ¡°Why are you so annoying?¡±


    Yuan Ye had truly had a lot of alcohol, but he wasn¡¯t drunk. He was straddling the line of being not drunk but still very excited. When he got home, he took off all the clothes on him that smelled and took a shower so that his body would carry the faint fragrance of their body wash instead. While showering, little movies had already started ying in his brain. He didn¡¯t bother saying anything extra after he got out of the shower. Whatever had been going on in his brain just now needed to be immediately put into practice.


    Fang Shaoyi momentarily couldn¡¯t handle him because he had suddenly gone crazy. Sometimes, he shifted over here. Others, he shifted over there. There was no order to his actions. Eventually, Fang Shaoyi forcefully held his arms down and asked, voice hoarse, ¡°Can you behave yourself for a bit? What are you actually trying to do?¡±


    Yuan Ye lifted his chin and said, ¡°I can¡¯t.¡±


    He just needed to be taught a lesson. Every part of him. Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. These days, this monkey had gotten too spoiled. Fang Shaoyi casually grabbed a tie. If the other¡¯s hands weren¡¯t obedient, then it would be better to tie them up so they wouldn¡¯t be able to move around anymore.


    When he was teaching the monkey a lesson, Fang Shaoyi was domineering, cold, and very intimidating. When he wasn¡¯t teaching the monkey a lesson, he was still Fang Eight Years who was obedient and liked to act pitiful.


    Fang Shaoyi¡¯s marriage livestream got talked about online for a long time. He didn¡¯t mind because he didn¡¯t need to go see anyone these days. He refused to attend any events or film festivals: he hadpletely shut himself off from the rest of the world and gone on vacation. Even when he won awards, the directors helped him ept them. He only told the general public that he had yet to fully recover, so was healing in peace.


    In autumn, Director Wei Hua helped him ept a trophy. Jiang Linchuan helped him ept another one. During the award ceremony, they made a live call to Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi expressed his gratitude through a video. Both directors teased him a lot when they epted the awards for him. Everyone presentughed too. Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t need any awards. In the movie industry, he was still considered quite young. Fang Shaoyi had also never cared too much about these things. There was still a long way to go.


    After ending the video call, there was a smile remaining on Director Wei¡¯s face. His gazended on Fang Han, who was sitting in the front row. Director Wei lowered his head and fell silent for a moment. Slowly, he said, ¡°Shaoyi......Everyone knows that I was the one who helped him debut in the beginning. At that time, Mr. Fang Han gave me a call and told me that I didn¡¯t need to care whose son Fang Shaoyi was. If I needed to lecture him, I could do as I wished. There was no need to worry.¡±


    Director Wei Hua softly chuckled. A faraway look appeared in his eyes. He was a gentle and reliable person; he had always been such a person. No matter the situation, he always spoke patiently and calmly. ¡°Back then, I was actually under quite a lot of pressure. You weren¡¯t teaching your own son, but wanted me to lecture him?¡±


    The camera panned over to Fang Han, who was in the audience. Fang Han was roaring withughter. He pointed at Wei Hua through the camera lens.


    Wei Hua said, ¡°Thinking back now, all of that happened twenty years ago. I watched Little Fang get to where he is today, step by step. In the past, I actually asked Shaoyi once, ¡®How did your dad teach you?¡¯ Shaoyi said, ¡®My dad didn¡¯t teach me. He just gave me four words and told me to figure them out myself.¡¯¡±


    ¡°He said, ¡®Dependable, calm, inquisitive, hardworking.¡¯¡± Here, Wei Hua held up a thumbs up to the audience. He continued, ¡°Looking back now, he truly aplished these. He has the qualities of a ¡®cinephile¡¯. He also has the qualities of a ¡®good man.¡¯ I don¡¯t know what Elder Fang thinks, but everyone says Fang Shaoyi is half my son too. I know that I, at least, am satisfied.¡±


    ¡°Thank you to those cinephiles.¡± Wei Hua paused. He nced down at the trophy in his hand that belonged to Fang Shaoyi. Right now, his gentle voice was filled with strength. ¡°Times are changing. Newer generations are recing older generations. Film has repeatedly experienced bitter winters¡ª¡ªbut film remains alive.¡±


    The apuse from the audiencested for a long time. They were pping for the people he was talking about, but also for Wei Hua. He himself was also one of the outstanding cinephiles who had spent more than half of his life protecting movies. He too was one of the best guides in this industry, bringing domestic films to an international stage. He had spent his entire life stumbling and falling, doing his best to allow international audiences to see more Chinese movies.


    He was someone who absolutely deserved to be respected. Those people trudging forward silently, using all their strength, all deserved to be respected.


    This outstanding cinephile was wearing a suit and standing on a certainpany¡¯s ad photoshoot set. After he finished giving his thank you speech, he ended the call and took off his suit. While walking out, he said, ¡°I¡¯m leaving for a few days. Call me if anything happens.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao was holding a change of casual clothes for Fang Shaoyi. He walked into the changing room with the other. ¡°Ge, take me!¡±


    While changing, Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t even look back at him. ¡°I can take you, no problem. Just ask your Geng ge if he¡¯s going to let me take you on vacation with me.¡±


    ¡°I refuse!¡± Ji Xiaotao walked in circles next to him. ¡°All he knows is to exploit me! I¡¯m that peanut who had oil pressed out of it! Or sunflower seed! Or soybean! Ge! Take me!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi put on his pants and said, ¡°Even if I took you with me, your Geng ge would still call me and ask for you back.¡±


    ¡°You wouldn¡¯t answer!¡± Ji Xiaotao grabbed the suit that Fang Shaoyi had just changed out of. He needed to neatly put it awayter, thus didn¡¯t dare to fold or wrinkle it. ¡°Ge, I want to go on vacation too!¡±


    Fang Shaoyi found him annoying. He offered, ¡°Then go ask your Yuan Ye ge. See if he¡¯ll let me take you.¡±


    Ji Xiaotao¡¯s face twisted together in misery. He whispered, ¡°All your conditions are driving me into a dead end......Geng ge and Ye ge ¨C neither are kind people!¡±


    Actually, Yuan Ye had originally been the most soft hearted out of all of them. He was usually the most lenient regarding these matters. Fang Shaoyi still needed to worry about Geng ge, who was working hard at thepany. Only Yuan Ye didn¡¯t need to listen to Geng ge. However, ever since Ji Xiaotao had directly driven the car to the Ministry of Civil Affairs while Yuan Ye had been asleep and had also started a stupid livestream without telling Yuan Ye, Yuan Ye had never spoken up for him again. Yuan Ye had one-sidedly ended their rtionship.


    Ji Xiaotao could only keep pestering Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi truly was the most lenient, but he wasn¡¯t the one in charge. He himself wasn¡¯t even working. How could he dare to steal away one of Geng Jinwei¡¯s trusted subordinates who was also easy to order around? With Yuan Ye, he was also a pitiful little cutie everyday. Did he have any authority?


    Later on, Fang Shaoyi heartlessly left without caring about their brotherly rtionship at all.


    Old Tu¡¯s mountain retreat had been finished. Yuan Ye was going to go stay there for a few days with Fang Shaoyi. Either way, neither of them really needed to do anything right now. A few of Yuan Ye¡¯s friends were tagging along too. Feng Leizi was one of them. Yuan Ye owed him a favor fromst time regarding the matter with the film crew. However, considering their rtionship, they didn¡¯t take favors too seriously. All these years, Yuan Ye had helped him edit scripts for free. Their rtionship was rock solid.


    Old Tu was waiting for them by the entrance to the freeway. As soon as their car arrived, Old Tu opened the door and slid into the car. Fang Shaoyi greeted him. After getting remarried to Yuan Ye, Fang Shaoyi often saw Old Tu. They were already familiar with each other.


    Old Tu said, ¡°A few friends of Xuan¡¯er are here too, on the other side. Don¡¯t mind them. I know all of them. They¡¯re all open people. It¡¯ll be fine. They won¡¯t randomly take any pictures or say anything.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He looked back and nced at Old Tu. ¡°Have you been infected by your girl? There¡¯s no need to be so nervous.¡±


    Old Tuughed while cussing at him. Then, he said, ¡°Drive carefully. Before I headed out, Little Mei really did remind me multiple times about being careful. She said that you guys are both celebrities, meaning I shouldn¡¯t let anyone else take pictures of you two. Now I¡¯m all on edge too.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi chuckled as well. ¡°It¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°Don¡¯t. I¡¯m not a celebrity. At most, I¡¯m a celebrity¡¯s family member.¡±


    Someone like Yuan Ye, who had grown up so close to nature, needed to live in a down-to-earth manner. If you forced him to be so secretive and cautious all the time, that would be too painful. It was impossible.


    It was quite arge mountain retreat, probably epassing about half the mountain peak. Old Tu gave them directions from the back seat. Yuan Ye followed his instructions and drove up the path. Old Tu said, ¡°They¡¯ll be eating on their sideter. Should we go too? I might have to show my face. They¡¯re all people I¡¯m familiar with.¡±


    Yuan Ye didn¡¯t care about these things. He replied, ¡°You don¡¯t need to worry about us. I¡¯ll go take a peekter. Don¡¯t make a simple vacation seem like some high-ss excursion where we have to be quarantined away. That¡¯s awkward.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi was a public figure, after all. Yuan Ye himself didn¡¯t care about such matters, but he couldn¡¯t not care about Fang Shaoyi. It was true that many people had a sense of curiosity regarding public figures. When they saw celebrities, they would incessantly ask all sorts of questions. This was very annoying. Yuan Ye definitely needed to first see what kind of people the other guests were, especially because Fang Shaoyi wasn¡¯t an ordinary little celebrity. He was of rather high status. Yuan Ye was usually very careful about these matters.


    Old Tu said, ¡°Un, either way, they¡¯re all reliable people who are easy to get along with.¡±


    The mountain retreat was a joint investment between Old Tu and his friend. There were two groups of friends meeting up on different sides of the retreat. Yuan Ye wasn¡¯t willing to have things separated so starkly. This way, Old Tu and his friend would both feel awkward. Yuan Ye followed Old Tu over to say hi. The first person he met was Old Tu¡¯s friend. The other was dressed quite casually and looked rather young.


    Yuan Ye shook hands with him and said, ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    ¡°Lin Xuan.¡± The other smiled and said, ¡°If I say I like your books, don¡¯t think I¡¯m just blindly praising you.¡±


    Yuan Ye chuckled. He replied, ¡°Then I¡¯ll say thanks, I guess.¡±


    After a simple conversation, Lin Xuan asked, ¡°A few of my friends are here too. I¡¯ll introduce them to you? Do you mind?¡±


    Yuan Ye gestured with his chin and said, ¡°Let¡¯s go.¡±


    Lin Xuan led him towards the orchard in the back. While walking, he said, ¡°Basically, my friends are all rather unusual. There are people who work in every field. One of them is actually in the same field as you, though. There are also a lot of artists, but they know nothing about literature.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s all the same,¡± Yuan Ye said.


    ¡°They¡¯re also not all uneducated folks,¡± Lin Xuan exined with a smile. ¡°There¡¯s a schr too. A PhD who¡¯s a people¡¯s teacher.¡±


    Before Yuan Ye could respond, he saw someone. That person had his head lowered and was making a call. When he heard them approaching, he smiled and raised his arm in greeting. Lin Xuan lifted his chin in that direction and told Yuan Ye, ¡°People¡¯s teacher.¡±


    People¡¯s teacher stuffed his phone into his pocket and walked toward them. Yuan Ye whistled to himself in his heart. This person was quite handsome. However, Yuan Ye maintained a nk face so no one could tell what he was thinking.


    The person stopped when he reached them. He held out his hand first. His smile was veryfortable to look at. ¡°Teacher Yuan Ye? What an honor. I¡¯m Xiao Ke.¡±


    Yuan Ye shook hands with him, then shook his head. ¡°Don¡¯t. How am I a teacher? Don¡¯t make fun of me.¡±


    Lin Xuan added in from the side, ¡°Alright, you¡¯re both teachers. You¡¯re both qualified to teach us. Say, who¡¯s older between you two? Xiao Ke is the youngest among our friend group.¡±


    Xiao Ke shared his age first. Yuan Ye said, ¡°Then I¡¯m older.¡±


    Xiao Ke smiled again. ¡°Then I¡¯ll call you Yuan Ye ge.¡±


    He was a veryfortable person to interact with, and also very good looking. Yuan Ye followed them into a strawberry shed. A lot of people were squatting there and stuffing strawberries into their mouths. Lin Xuan said, ¡°Stop eating. I¡¯m introducing a friend: Yuan Ye.¡±


    ¡°Fuck, I know him!¡± The person closest to them was wearing a soft leather jacket. He jumped up and eximed, ¡°Shit, why didn¡¯t you tell me in advance? So I could dress myself up a bit.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t be coquettish. He¡¯s married, don¡¯t you know?¡± Lin Xuan scolded. ¡°Don¡¯t fucking start flirting.¡±


    ¡°Fuck,¡± that person said. ¡°I know. Who doesn¡¯t know? I honestly felt jealous for several months.¡±


    Lin Xuan told Yuan Ye, ¡°This is Cao Yuan¡¯er. You can just call him Old Cao. He¡¯s a craftsman.¡±


    He pointed at the remaining people and said to Yuan Ye, ¡°Old Zhu, Fang Xi, Zhou Zui.¡± Then, he leaned in a bit closer to say, ¡°He and Xiao Ke are a couple. Those two glued together are Zhou Zui¡¯s little bro and his significant other. Two kids.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. He turned over to look at Xiao Ke. Xiao Ke had heard Lin Xuan¡¯s words, so nodded with a smile. ¡°Yes, that¡¯s my Teacher Zhou. He¡¯s a tattoo artist. We¡¯re a couple. The bald one is my little bro, Xiaobei. His boyfriend is named Lin Cheng. The two of them are so sickly sweet. If you don¡¯t walk right up to them, they won¡¯t even look at you.¡±


    The ones eating strawberries in the distance all walked over. Yuan Ye greeted each of them. Zhou Zui was the furthest away. He hadn¡¯t eaten anything. He carried a little bucket over and handed it to Xiao Ke. Bright red strawberries filled the bucket. He shook hands with Yuan Ye. In his very deep voice, he said, ¡°Zhou Zui.¡±


    ¡°Yuan Ye.¡±


    The two of them had the same hairstyle. Both had buzzcuts. However, they exudedpletely different energies.


    Xiao Ke picked up a strawberry and ate it. He said, ¡°The strawberries here are honestly quite good.¡±


    They were all smart people. There was nothing negative to be said about them. Eventually, when Fang Shaoyi met them, nobody made a big deal out of this either. At most, they only told Fang Shaoyi while greeting him that they liked his movies.


    During dinner that night, everyone gathered together. Feng Leizi and them had arrived too. It was a huge table surrounded by over a dozen people. When men started drinking, it no longer mattered if they were familiar with one another or not. The sessful members of varying different fields were at a table together. Even though they were all part of different industries, they still definitely had stuff to talk about. After drinking alcohol together at one table, everyone could now be considered friends.


    Yuan Ye asked for a pot of tea for Fang Shaoyi. On the other side, Zhou Zui asked for a pot of soy milk for Xiao Ke. Even the little kid, Lin Cheng, could have beer. These two were the only finicky ones at the table.


    Xiao Ke told the person next to him, ¡°That¡¯s enough, Teacher Zhou. I can drink alcohol. It¡¯s not that bad.¡±


    Zhou Zui made a noise of acknowledgement and said, ¡°And then your stomach hurts after you drink it.¡±


    On this side, Fang Shaoyi was telling Yuan Ye, ¡°I can drink.¡±


    Yuan Ye stroked the other¡¯s leg under the table. ¡°That stupid shit causes heartburn and is bad for the lungs. Let¡¯s not drink it. Let¡¯s drink tea.¡±


    This mealsted until midnight. Halfway through, Lu Xiaobei took Lin Cheng back to sleep first. Everyone at the table was either thirty-something or forty-something. Lin Cheng couldn¡¯t join in on their conversations anyways. He was a kid who hadn¡¯t even graduated from college yet. All he knew to do was dumblyugh along at what they were saying. After a few cups of beer, Lu Xiaobei refused to let him drink anymore. Lin Cheng softly called him ¡°ge¡± to try and bargain with him. Lu Xiaobei pretended to act angry. Lin Cheng instantly started behaving. He ate some more food before scooting close and suggesting with a smile, ¡°Ge, let¡¯s head back? When we get back, we can do this and that.¡±


    Lu Xiaobei cocked an eyebrow and looked over. ¡°Which and what?¡±


    Lin Cheng always flushed red when he had alcohol. He normally blushed a lot too. He cheekily said, ¡°You know, that.¡±


    Lu Xiaobei nced askance at him. One of the corners of his mouth lifted up. Combined with his bald head, he looked really wicked. He stood up and raised his ss, then said, ¡°You guys keep drinking, big bros. We¡¯re going to go back and sleep first. Dou¡¯er has a strict sleep schedule. He¡¯s already sleepy.¡±


    Lu Xiaobei downed that ss of alcohol and walked away while holding onto Lin Cheng¡¯s hand. While walking, Lin Cheng turned back to nce at Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. He was young, after all. It more or less felt very interesting to see people he normally only saw online in person.


    Fang Shaoyi hadn¡¯t had any alcohol. He made eye contact with the other. Lin Cheng was quite embarrassed, so slightly shrunk in on himself. Fang Shaoyi smiled gently at him. Lin Cheng felt like he was about to melt.


    ¡°My goodness, have I sinned?¡± Lin Cheng turned his head back and muttered as he walked. ¡°Ge, Fang Shaoyi smiled at me just now. When he smiled, my heart trembled. Celebrities honestly are super good looking when they smile, right?¡±


    Lu Xiaobei cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. ¡°Then what? You want me to send you back?¡±


    Lin Cheng hurriedly shook his head. He glued himself to Lu Xiaobei¡¯s arm and smiled sweetly. ¡°No, you¡¯re my idol.¡±


    ¡°Ah.¡± Lu Xiaobei wasrgely expressionless. ¡°Is that so?¡±


    ¡°Yes. You¡¯re my husband,¡± Lin Cheng said while holding onto his hand.


    Lu Xiaobei dragged him back to their room. With a smile that wasn¡¯t really a smile, he said, ¡°There¡¯s no rush. You can call me thatter.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t call you that now too.¡± It was unknown if Lin Cheng was doing this on purpose or if he was honestly oblivious. He incessantly muttered, ¡°Husband, husband.¡± Lu Xiaobei nced at him. Lin Cheng was smiling so hard that his eyes had turned into crescents. He called out again, ¡°Husband!¡±


    ¡°Un.¡± Lu Xiaobei clenched his teeth together and pushed open the door. He stuffed the clean little boy inside and walked in too, closing the door behind himself. ¡°You didn¡¯t drink that bit of alcohol for naught.¡±


    The youngest two had left. The remaining old men at the table became even more unstoppable. Lu Xiaobei and them actually didn¡¯t mind. That little baldie¡¯s morality had long since gotten left behind somewhere. However, that college student was still quite pure. They feared being a bad influence to him. Old Cao had been holding so much obscenity back. He bantered back and forth with Fang Xi, showing off how low his lower limits were.


    A whileter, Old Cao looked over at Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. Then, he looked over at Zhou Zui and Xiao Ke. He tsk¡¯d. ¡°No wait. Say, what¡¯s wrong with you guys these days? Don¡¯t you feel like your numbers are shing? There¡¯s such a resource deficit, don¡¯t you know to share? What a waste.¡±


    Before Yuan Ye could understand what he was talking about, Xiao Ke startedughing first. Zhou Zui simply ignored him; he waspletely expressionless. Fang Xi said, ¡°Fucker needs to get fucked. He¡¯s crying out. For many years, he¡¯s been missing love. Don¡¯t bother with him.¡±


    Coincidentally, there was also a writer in Yuan Ye¡¯s circle who always acted interested in him. Now, he agreed with Old Cao. ¡°I agree. A pure waste of resources.¡±


    Feng Leizi was drunk too. He said to the two of them with a smile, ¡°Then wouldn¡¯t it work out perfectly if you twobined your resources? So people can quit thinking about the ones who are already taken.¡±


    ¡°That won¡¯t do.¡± Old Cao wobbled his head. ¡°It¡¯s easy to make do if you¡¯re the other number, but not for us. What are we supposed to do ¨C stare at each other and wait it out?¡±


    This person was so coquettish that the entire tableughed at him. Even Fang Shaoyi wasughing. He lifted his hand and gently caressed the back of Yuan Ye¡¯s head. He turned his head to observe the other. He really liked the rxed, natural smile on Yuan Ye¡¯s face right now. Fang Shaoyi thought to himself right now, you guys are only seeing how he is now that he¡¯s mature. That¡¯s why you think this way. You never saw how lively and full of ideas he was in his youth. He was just a baby monkey.


    Yuan Ye reached a hand out to scratch the back of Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand with his fingers. He exchanged nces with the other, then softly asked, ¡°Are you tired? I¡¯ll take you back so you can rest?¡±


    ¡°No need.¡± Fang Shaoyi shook his head. ¡°Focus on your conversations.¡±


    Among these people, the first person Yuan Ye added on WeChat was Xiao Ke. During the meal, the two of them headed outside to get some fresh air. They also scanned each other¡¯s QR codes.


    Yuan Ye said, ¡°When you have the time, let¡¯s hang out.¡±


    Xiao Ke smiled. ¡°Of course.¡±


    When the two of them got back, the meal was mostly over. It was already the middle of the night. Fang Shaoyi very rarely attended such gatherings. He basically didn¡¯t have any friends outside of the entertainment industry. The ones in the industry were few and far in between too. He always gave off a cold and distant feeling to others.


    Yuan Ye was his opposite. He had lots of friends and frequently attended these gatherings. asionally, Fang Shaoyi would tag along to one of his meetings too. This would feel very interesting and new. It was quite a terrifying thought to think that some lovers couldn¡¯t fit in with each other¡¯s social circles.


    Fang Shaoyi finished showering first. Yuan Ye showered after him. When he got out of the shower, he saw a tiny metal ring next to the sink. He cocked an eyebrow.


    ¡°What does this mean?¡± Yuan Ye closed his hand around the item and walked out to question Fang Shaoyi.


    Fang Shaoyi looked at him. ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Keep acting,¡± Yuan Ye chuckled. He jumped on the bed and sprawled out, then opened up his fist. Fang Shaoyi¡¯s ring was peacefully resting on his palm.


    Fang Shaoyi was shocked. He nced down at his own hand, then, as if just remembering something, said, ¡°I took it off during my shower, but then I forgot about it.¡±


    Yuan Ye raised an eyebrow and side-eyed him. Slightlyughing, he said, ¡°Your acting is a bit too exaggerated, Teacher Fang.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi calmly replied, ¡°I always feel like taking it off because I was the one who put it on. And then I forget to put it back on after I take it off. Maybe I¡¯ll identally lose it someday.¡±


    Yuan Ye buried his head into the pillow and forcefully rubbed his face against it. What was he supposed to do now that his lover was acting so petnt all the time? After rubbing his face, Yuan Yeid thereughing for a long time. Then, he grabbed Fang Shaoyi¡¯s hand and slid the ring onto the other¡¯s ring finger. He even lowered his head and pressed a kiss onto Fang Shaoyi¡¯s finger.


    ¡°Okay.¡± Yuan Ye rolled over andid down on his back. ¡°Is it okay now?¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Fang Shaoyi turned off the lights. ¡°Either way, if you weren¡¯t sincere, it¡¯s going to fall off again.¡±


    Yuan Ye hurriedly said, ¡°I was sincere! Quit messing around, please. Don¡¯t let it fall off. If you take it off too many times and actually lose it, where are you going to go find it again?¡±


    Fang Shaoyi didn¡¯t answer. Yuan Ye scooted close and kissed him. Only now did Fang Shaoyi feel satisfied. He quieted and went to sleep.


    Outside, the lights faintly lit up the night, warming up half of the window. Subdued silence and peace always followed eachrgemotion.


    After listening to the story, it was time to sleep.


    ¡ª¡ªThe night was almost over, but there was still a lot of time left before the end of this existence.

 Ch73 - Extra 3

    <h4>Chapter Ch73 - Extra 3</h4>


    Warning: mention of attempted rape (not explicit)


    ......A hidden, indescribable, embarrassing lust.


    Yang Siran tightly closed his eyes. He could almost still smell that person¡¯s faint fragrance. That oppressive gaze that made it hard for one to breathe ¨C these were all things he was addicted to. He panted roughly, doing his best to ignore those eyes that had appeared in his mind. He rested both his hands obediently on the piano keys, but his hands refused to listen to hismands. His fingers wouldn¡¯t press down on the keys.


    This was the first time that Yang Siran had felt such strong lust for a person. His sexual orientation, that had previously been blurry and uncertain, suddenly became clear at this moment. To Yang Siran, this was a beautiful, fated encounter¡ª¡ª


    It was a winter afternoon. This was supposed to be afortable time of day, with thezy afternoon sunlight nting in through the windows. However, it wasn¡¯t. It had just snowed outside. Not even a sliver of the sun could be seen. Looking out from the window, one only felt cold.


    Yang Siran had two evening self-study sses on Sunday. He left home quite early. Either way, it was just him. It didn¡¯t make much of a difference whether he was staying alone at home or in the ssroom. He wore a down jacket over his school uniform, which made him look a bit bloated. His chin and mouth were buried in the cor of the down jacket, revealing only half of his face. There were earphones in his ears. He was listening to a ylist full of English songs. These could be used as practice.


    There were a few marble steps outside of his apartment building. A thinyer of snow covered them, rendering the steps as slippery as the surface of a mirror. Yang Siran lost his bnce as soon as he stepped on. His entire person fell forward; he hadn¡¯t looked up just now, so hadn¡¯t realized until the moment he lost his bnce that there was actually someone in front of him.


    I¡¯m going to embarrass myself, Yang Siran thought as he closed his eyes. In that instant, he wholeheartedly believed that he was going to fall. However, his hands reacted on instinct before he could consciously make a decision. He reached out towards the person in front of him.


    His eyes fell on the smoke-grey, wool coat. When he breathed in, he smelled a scent that was both fragrant and tobo-like. Yang Siran¡¯s forehead bumped into the other¡¯s shoulder. His hand maintained a death grip on his arm.


    A very embarrassing position.


    After regaining his bnce, he lifted his head in a somewhat embarrassed manner. He saw the other¡¯s face. At that moment, Yang Siran very obviously felt his heart skip a beat.


    The other had a very cold face. His brows were slightly furrowed together and his gaze wasn¡¯t too friendly either. He looked distant and indifferent. Yang Siran was holding onto his arm. He only barely lifted his arm in response, somewhat helping Yang Siran remain upright.


    Yang Siran carefully and cautiously bowed deeply at the other. He softly said, ¡°Sorry......Thank you, Uncle.¡±


    Even his voice was shaking when he started speaking. He was that nervous. His heart was palpitating in a way that it had never done before. It furiously pounded in his chest. His chest rapidly raised up and down, hidden by multipleyers of clothes. He was only seventeen years old. In that moment, he had suddenly felt enlightened in regards to a certain emotion.


    The man across from him¡¯s gaze paused on his face for one second. Or perhaps it wasn¡¯t even a second? He only made a soft sound of acknowledgement before striding up the steps, not leaving even one additional nce behind.


    A miniscule ident that couldn¡¯t even be considered an interlude: a mere stutter in the originally smooth path of life. It hadn¡¯t affected an adult man at all, but had caused powerful, fierce waves to crash upon a high school boy¡¯s heart.


    Though several hours had already passed, though evening self-study was already over, his furiously pounding heart didn¡¯t seem like it was going to calm down anytime soon.


    Yang Siran vigorously shook his head from where he was sitting in front of the piano. He wanted to shake out the moment that was incessantly ying on loop in his mind. That face, those eyes ¨C in a mere ten seconds or so, they had gotten deeply engraved in his brain. There was a tight, swollen feeling between his legs. This continuously tormented his nerves. Eventually, Yang Siran sighed. He stopped holding himself up so straight, allowing his shoulders to copse in.


    It seemed like he had finally admitted defeat. He slowly removed his hands from the piano keys and secretly, gradually, inched them lower to take care of that sinful area of lust......He had developed a wrongful impulse towards a grown man. He really wanted to smell that faint fragrance again. That fragrance was addicting.


    A young heart had already lost control during this initial meeting. Many yearster, this fact still hadn¡¯t changed.


    The mix of cigarette smoke and a faint sweetness continuously tickled at his nerves. Wet palms, slightly furrowed brows, rapid breathing. All of this ultimately got interrupted by the sound of a door opening¡ª¡ª


    Yang Siran¡¯s eyelids trembled as he woke up from his dream. The sticky, taut feeling was still intense. He had had that dream again. This memory had innumerously snuck into his dreams in the past. Cold and dazed. It really seemed like a dream.


    He slowly opened his eyes and saw a portion of arge window, blinding sunlight passing through the clear ss. He suddenly jolted awake. While sitting up, he looked around. The man in his dreams currently had his cored shirt removed. His suit pants were still on, though. Firm muscles, broad shoulders, a lean waist. Yet, Yang Siran had no time to admire these features. He was holding a cored shirt belonging to the other in his hands. Because of his wet dream, his palms had started sweating. In addition to his subconscious wringing and rubbing, the shirt in his hands had practically already gotten ruined.


    The other definitely wouldn¡¯t wear it again.


    Yang Siran still kept a tight grip on the cloth in his hands. He was always like this. He always greedily stole one of this person¡¯s shirts in order to smell that lingering scent that belonged to him. This could ensure that the smell would enter his dreams. Yang Siran wanted it to help him see the two of them from that time again. This was perverse and embarrassing.


    The man noticed that he was awake. He turned around and nced at him. His expression was still cold. He offhandedly threw the shirt he had taken off over: it brushed against Yang Siran¡¯s face beforending in hisp. A slightly mocking smile appeared on the man¡¯s face. He spun on his heels and walked into the bathroom.


    Yang Siran instantly got out of bed. He padded across the floors, barefoot, and followed.


    When he came back out, his pajamas were alreadypletely soaked.


    He headed into a different room and changed into a different pair of pajamas. By the time that he had returned, Geng Jinwei was sitting on the edge of the bed and replying to messages. Yang Siran walked over and sat on the carpet by the other¡¯s legs. He was obedient and silent, not saying a single word. Even his breathing was quiet.


    After Geng Jinwei set down his phone, he looked at the top of Yang Siran¡¯s head. His hair had gotten a bit wet earlier, but notpletely soaked. It only looked a little damp. Yang Siran could feel his gaze. He looked up and made eye contact with Geng Jinwei. Geng Jinwei spoke up, asking, ¡°Were you well behaved?¡±


    Yang Siran answered with a smile, ¡°Very well behaved.¡±


    Geng Jinwei calmly raised an eyebrow. Yang Siran immediately added, ¡°I¡¯m the best behaved.¡±


    As if to prove his point, Yang Siran glued his face to the bed so that he was right next to Geng Jinwei¡¯s leg. Then, he pressed a soft kiss against the other¡¯s leg.


    On the surface, he was extremely obedient, but there was a stubbornness hidden in his bones. Geng Jinwei scoffed and stopped talking to him. He had justnded after returning from a week-long business trip. Though he hade home, he could only nap for two hours because there was still a gathering he needed to attend that night.


    Because Geng Jinwei wasn¡¯t saying anything, Yang Siran didn¡¯t speak up either. He walked around to the other side of the bed and curled up next to Geng Jinwei. There was a dry warmth under the nkets. It was veryforting. He had just slept, so couldn¡¯t fall asleep now, no matter what. Thus, Geng Jinwei slept for two hours as Yang Siran stared at him for two hours. Halfway through, while Geng Jinwei was flipping over, Yang Siran gently scooted close. Geng Jinwei lifted his arm and just so happened to wrap it around the other.


    Yang Siran revealed a pleased smile. The feeling of being surrounded by Geng Jinwei¡¯s scent was too addicting for him. Each part of his body was exuding satisfaction.


    There was no need to set an rm. Before two hours were up, Geng Jinwei had already woken up of his own ord. When he woke up and saw Yang Siran, who was glued to his side, he lifted his arm and got out of bed. While getting out of bed, he asked, ¡°Why did you glue yourself to me?¡±


    Yang Siran softly chuckled and replied, ¡°I wasn¡¯t the one who glued myself to you.¡±


    Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t expose his childish lie. It wasn¡¯t worth mentioning. As Geng Jinwei finished getting ready and started dressing, Yang Siran took the initiative to help him. He raised his arms to tie Geng Jinwei¡¯s tie for him. Geng Jinwei slightly lifted his chin up; he didn¡¯t look down. He only asked, ¡°Have you stayed here for long enough?¡±


    Yang Siran nced at him. He obediently replied, ¡°Yes.¡±


    Geng Jinwei told him, ¡°If you¡¯ve stayed here for long enough, go to thepany and find Qi Zhao. Apologize to him.¡±


    Yang Siran nodded and answered, ¡°I can apologize, but I don¡¯t want a manager.¡±


    Geng Jinwei lowered his gaze. He observed Yang Siran for a few seconds before saying, ¡°You still haven¡¯t stayed here for long enough.¡±


    Yang Siran didn¡¯t say anything. After tying the tie, he smoothed down Geng Jinwei¡¯s cor, stared into the other¡¯s eyes, and lowly said, ¡°I really don¡¯t want one. I can¡¯t have one. I want to be diligent, want to get better, want to be good.¡±


    ¡°I can ept any and all work arrangements. I¡¯ll listen to thepany, but I really don¡¯t need a manager. I don¡¯t want to develop under anyone¡¯s hand......except yours.¡± Yang Siran pressed his lips together and lowered his voice some more. In what was basically a murmur, he said, ¡°Uncle......¡±


    This call of ¡°Uncle¡± was both suggestive and clingy. Unless they were in bed, he rarely spoke like this. This was a desperate plea, an unspeakable obsession.


    Geng Jinwei scanned his face. He didn¡¯t say anything else before leaving.


    Yang Siran stood in ce. After Geng Jinwei¡¯s presence hadpletely disappeared, he finally headed upstairs to y piano. He had spent the whole afternoon with the person he longed for. Even the piano piece that he yed sounded drawn out and melodious. Music was always alive. It was rying a message.


    Yang Siran obviously couldn¡¯t have a manager. He was capable of being really obedient. He was only so stubbornly adamant in regards to this one thing.


    At the end of the day, an unimportant celebrity like Yang Siran, who didn¡¯t have any resources of his own, could only enter into a rtionship of absolute subordination and allocation with his manager. Yang Siran couldn¡¯t ept having anyone else being in total control of him. That waspletely impossible. From the bottom of his heart, he only obeyed Geng Jinwei and Geng Jinwei alone. This would never change.


    Perhaps his affections were a bit malformed, but Yang Siran was satisfied with them. Simrly, his admiration and idolization from all these years had been malformed too. Perhaps others didn¡¯t understand them, but Yang Siran was the one directly affected by them and he didn¡¯t mind at all. As long as emotional matters weren¡¯t breaching thew or morality, whether or not they were bitter or worth it were personal matters. Nobody else was in a position to criticize him.


    Yang Siran had never faltered in his persistence. Even though he was now being hidden away because he had gone through manager after manager, even though it was very likely that this was going to be his life for the foreseeable future, he was okay with it. He hadn¡¯t been determined to be a celebrity in the first ce anyways. Acting wasn¡¯t something he absolutely had to do. He had only done these things to get closer to that person. Now that he was close to him, he could asionally be really intimate with him too. This was great. Even if he could no longer be a celebrity in the future, things were already worth it.


    It was a bit of a pity, but he couldn¡¯tpromise just because of this.


    Yang Siran couldn¡¯t always live at Geng Jinwei¡¯s residence. Each time he came, he was very cautious. He knew the password for this ce, so always walked in with a backpack and snapback on. There would be a pair of pajamas and a change of clothes in the backpack. He would take them with him when he left, too. He wasn¡¯t the type to recklessly leave his own traces in that ce.


    A lover needed to know a lover¡¯s ce. He had always had a good understanding of this.


    In the beginning, he had needed to get Geng Jinwei¡¯s permission beforeing. Eventually, Yang Siran would alsoe even if Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t reply to his messages. When he did so, he wouldn¡¯t dare to take off his clothes. He would obediently sit in the living room; however, Geng Jinwei never truly shooed him out. After enough times, Yang Siran simply started heading over directly. Before he departed, he would text: ¡°I¡¯m going to your house. If I¡¯m not allowed to, reply to me.¡±


    Yang Siran never received a reply to these messages. He also wouldn¡¯t get chased out when he got there. In the past, he had been very frightened. Onlyter did he realize that being the other¡¯s lover was very easy.


    The first day he had be the other¡¯s lover, Yang Siran had still felt a bit panicked, despite the fact that he was getting what he had always wanted. There was fear at the bottom of his heart when he faced this person. But as more time passed, he discovered that it wasn¡¯t that difficult. This person wasn¡¯t as aggressive as he had thought. He wasn¡¯t gentle or affectionate, but also wasn¡¯t hard to get along with. He didn¡¯t take trivial matters to heart, and also would never mention them. Yang Siran was mostly well behaved. asionally, when he would tentatively try to cross the line, Geng Jinwei would only watch without scolding him.


    Additionally, he truly could feel that he was getting special treatment at times because he was the other¡¯s lover. Each time he realized this, Yang Siran would feel happy. He didn¡¯t think that it wasn¡¯t worth getting happy over because he had given up his body in exchange for it. Either way, regardless of why, he was truly a bit special, right? He had always been someone easily satisfied. This small bit of special treatment made it very easy for him to feel delighted.


    For example, even though he was switching managers so frequently, Geng Jinwei hadn¡¯t actually punished him in any way. How could a reckless newbie without any foundations dare to cause so much trouble at theirpany? If this were anyone else, it was very likely that they would suffer greatly. It wasn¡¯t that Yang Siran wasn¡¯t scared ¨C he was scared that after getting punished by Geng Jinwei, he wouldn¡¯t even get to be the other¡¯s lover anymore. Those few times, Yang Siran worked very hard. He practically asphyxiated in the bathtub.


    But Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t mention anything at all. He neither said that Yang Siran was out of line, nor did he coldly say that Yang Siran was impetuous. Thepany had even assigned him a different manager. This caused Yang Siran to feel like he truly had been given special treatment, despite how tentative he also felt. In the end, though, he had offended this manager too. Geng Jinwei had already said before that this was going to be hisst manager. After that, Yang Siran ended up staying home. He didn¡¯t have any work arrangements. He epted this. He wasn¡¯t purposefully acting more spoiled because of that bit of special treatment; he just honestly couldn¡¯t bear to have a manager. Not to mention that Geng Jinwei himself was a manager too. Yang Siran had been personally signed into thepany by him. In the very beginning, when Yang Siran hadn¡¯t had a manager, Geng Jinwei had been the one to make all his schedules. In a certain regard, this was the equivalent of Geng Jinwei transferring Yang Siran over to a different person.


    Yang Siran¡¯s convoluted affections refused to allow him to begin a rtionship of subordination and allocation with any other manager. This would cause him great pain.


    Geng Jinwei told him to go to thepany to find Qi Zhao when he was ready to stop being stubborn and had spent enough time away. Yang Siran never did. He had already prepared himself for the fact that he might never film another movie or be an actor again. When bored, he would write a few songs for money. This was pretty nice too. Wasn¡¯t this what he had done in the past?


    That night, Geng Jinwei came home drunk. Yang Siran was at the door, weing him. Geng Jinwei was honestly intoxicated. He scanned the other¡¯s face up and down. Yang Siran scooted close to kiss him; Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t reject him. There was a piece of sobering candy between Yang Siran¡¯s teeth. Using the kiss, he pushed it into Geng Jinwei¡¯s mouth.


    Geng Jinwei furrowed his brows. He asked, ¡°What¡¯s this?¡±


    Yang Siran softly replied, ¡°Sobering candy. Hold it in your mouth.¡±


    Geng Jinwei¡¯s brows were still tightly knit together. In the end, though, he didn¡¯t spit the candy out. However, he didn¡¯t hold it in his mouth either. He simply swallowed it. Yang Siran pressed his lips together and obediently helped the other shower. He didn¡¯t act out of line again.


    During the shower, Geng Jinwei subconsciously rested his hand on Yang Siran¡¯s head for a moment. His throat was a bit hoarse because of the alcohol. Thus, his tone didn¡¯t sound so serious anymore. ¡°You don¡¯t want to act again, right?¡±


    ¡°That¡¯s not it.¡± Yang Siran sprawled out against the other¡¯s chest. He said, ¡°I want to act.¡±


    ¡°If you want to act, why are you being so stubborn?¡± Geng Jinwei asked with his eyes shut. His voice always sounded a bit cold.


    Yang Siran had already gotten used to the indifference in his tone. He obediently replied without rubbing his head against the other¡¯s chest or acting pitiful, ¡°I¡¯m not being stubborn. I can be really well behaved.¡±


    When Geng Jinwei spoke, his chest slightly shook. The reverberations caused Yang Siran¡¯s ear to feel a bit numb. He heard Geng Jinwei say from near the top of his head, ¡°You want me to manage you. Who do you think you are?¡±


    Yang Siran immediately responded, ¡°I¡¯m nobody.¡±


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°Look at the people I¡¯ve managed in the past. For these past few years, Shaoyi remains the only one I¡¯m still managing. You want to be on the same level as him? Are you trying to raise hell?¡±


    Yang Siran¡¯s expression stiffened. He immediately stood up straight and sincerely answered, ¡°I¡¯ve never thought about that. I wouldn¡¯t dare to either.¡±


    ¡°Yes, you wouldn¡¯t dare to.¡± Geng Jinwei¡¯s eyes remained shut. He calmly said, ¡°You wouldn¡¯t dare to think about it. Everyone else would. Who are you for me to personally manage you?¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m nobody,¡± Yang Siran said. ¡°......I was wrong.¡±


    This day, Geng Jinwei had truly had too much alcohol. That was why he was saying these things to Yang Siran. His words weren¡¯t too kind: they were pretty hurtful. However, not only did Yang Siran not feel sad after hearing them, instead, he felt quite touched. In his eyes, the Geng Jinwei who was saying these things to him could even be considered gentle.


    Yang Siran was also very obedient and well behaved. After Geng Jinwei said these things, Yang Siran stopped thinking about going back to continue acting. Acting wasn¡¯t his original dream anyways. When Geng Jinwei asked him after this incident whether or not he wanted to continue acting, he would always immediately respond, ¡°Not anymore.¡±


    Geng Jinwei would scan him up and down a few times, but never said anything else in reply.


    Fiddling around with music and writing songs. This lifestyle was quite nice too. He wasn¡¯t in desperate need of money. If he saved all the songs he had written, he would be able to earn some money when he sold them one day. It had been a couple months since he hadst updated his Weibo. He had already been nning on retiring, just like this. One day out of the blue, though, he suddenly received a message from Geng Jinwei.


    ¡ª¡ªCome to thepany this afternoon.


    Yang Siran was quite surprised. He arrived very early and saw his assistant there. He also found out that thepany had previously been nning for him to go act in a movie. They were notifying him to go audition next week. Yang Siran stared at Geng Jinwei, dazed. After, he politely nodded. ¡°Okay, Boss Geng.¡±


    That night, in Geng Jinwei¡¯s room, Yang Siran lowly said, ¡°In the future, I......¡±


    Geng Jinwei said, ¡°In the future, have him follow you around. Just treat him as an assistant.¡±


    Yang Siran asked, ¡°Will this cause trouble for you?¡±


    Geng Jinweiughed coldly. He lowered his gaze and nced at the other. ¡°Well you sure worry about a lot of things. When you have the time, go thank Yuan Ye. Your Yuan Ye ge helped speak up for you. You certainly know who to be friends with.¡±


    Yang Siran nodded.


    That night, Yang Siran worked very hard. It seemed like he was using his body to repay his sugar daddy¡¯s gift. In actuality, only he knew that the heart in his chest had been furiously pounding for over half the night. Nobody understood his innermost thoughts. Since young, he had already lost his soul. Each reaction from the other made him feel extremely fortunate, even if it was just a small amount of affection that a sugar daddy gave to an obedient little lover. This was still enough for him to feel submerged.


    Geng Jinwei used his fingertips to squeeze Yang Siran¡¯s ear a few times. This tiny action resulted in half of Yang Siran¡¯s body trembling.


    Those years that had beenpletely saturated with affection, those dreams that had been filled with desire and lust ¨C these allowed Yang Siran topletely willingly lower himself into the dirt to look up at the other.


    Aside from the matter about managers, Yang Siran didn¡¯t have any other conflicts with thepany. His assistant was basically also working as a manager. He was the one making arrangements with all the other people. They had always had a pretty good rtionship. He didn¡¯t schedule anything too inordinate for Yang Siran. Additionally, Yang Siran himself never acted arrogant. He was easy to order around.


    Yang Siran wasn¡¯t disappointing at all. He was truly quite good looking. Since he was in Fang Shaoyi¡¯spany, nobody dared to be too mean to him, no matter where he went. The first few movies following his debut were all coborations with famous directors. Though he had only acted as trivial characters in them, this was a very high ce to start. He got popr rather quickly. In about two years, he had already joined the A-list of young, male celebrities. He could also start picking and choosing which resources he wanted now. He was talented, humble, and hardworking. In addition to the fact that hispany was powerful and capable, it was obvious that he had been destined to be popr.


    His schedule became tighter and tighter. Sometimes, he wouldn¡¯t even be able to return to thepany more than a handful of times over half a year.


    Yang Siran sat in the dressing room, allowing the stylist to style his hair. There was a perfect face looking back at him in the mirror.


    His assistant was sitting next to him. He looked up and gazed at Yang Siran, then asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong? Didn¡¯t get enough sleep?¡±


    Yang Siran said, ¡°Un, I¡¯ve been a bit tired recently.¡±


    His assistant chuckled and replied, ¡°Being busy is a good thing.¡±


    Yang Siran faintly smiled at him through the mirror. ¡°I know.¡±


    His phone was sped in his hands. He asionally checked to see if he had any messages. It was already almost time to leave, but his phone still hadn¡¯t buzzed. Yang Siran unlocked it and pulled up a chat. He sent a message over: I miss you.


    The chat was full of messages that he had sent. Thest time that the other had replied to him was a month ago. Sincest year, the other had started replying to him only asionally. Most of the time, he only sent an ¡°Un.¡± However, sincest month, he hadpletely stopped replying. The messages Yang Siran sent were like rocks sinking to the bottom of the ocean.


    Recently, thepany was promoting a new artist. Yang Siran ran into him at a fashion show. He was honestly young and handsome. The boy was just past the age of twenty. When he saw Yang Siran, he nodded and called out with a smile, ¡°Siran ge.¡± Thepany was promoting him very diligently. All his resources were excellent.


    Everyone at thepany was saying that Boss Geng was treating him exceptionally well. Things weren¡¯t so simple.


    After the fashion show in France, Yang Siran and his assistant got on a flight back home. Only now were there truly no outsiders around. His assistant noticed that the other¡¯s expression was a bit dark. Thus, he leaned over and lowered his voice to tell Yang Siran, ¡°Don¡¯t overthink things. Nothingsts forever in this industry. You¡¯ve been with him for four years already. It¡¯s been a pretty long time.¡±


    Yang Siran pressed his lips together. He didn¡¯t respond.


    ¡°You aren¡¯t the you of before anymore either. It¡¯s not like you won¡¯t be able to hold your own if you don¡¯t have anyone to back you. There will definitely be some difficulties, but not to the extent that you¡¯ll be bullied by anyone.¡± Yang Siran¡¯s assistant had been working with Yang Siran for over two years. Aside from their work rtionship, their personal rtionship was honestly pretty great too. He could say a few things in private to him. ¡°There¡¯s no need to be hung up over a kid. Let him do what he wants. You can each take what you need. Taking a million steps back......it¡¯s not necessarily a bad thing to remove yourself from this rtionship.¡±


    Yang Siran obviously couldn¡¯t hide his rtionship with Geng Jinwei from his assistant. It hadn¡¯t been a secret for a long time. However, Yang Siran still refused to answer. He turned his head to the side and looked out the small window. The cloud cover was pretty thick today: the clouds were packed tightly together. It was very beautiful, but it made one feel a bit stifled when they looked at it.


    Yang Siran immediately headed back to thepany when hended. He didn¡¯t go home first. He knocked on Geng Jinwei¡¯s office door and heard the other respond from the inside.


    Yang Siran opened the door and walked in. Then, he gently closed the door behind himself. He looked at Geng Jinwei and called out, ¡°Boss Geng.¡±


    ¡°You¡¯re back?¡± Geng Jinwei calmly asked.


    It had already been close to four months since Yang Siran hade back. The same amount of time had passed since he hadst seen Geng Jinwei. He quietly walked over to the other, eyes glued to him. He had really, truly missed him a lot. He was worth a lot more than he had been before, but some feelings wouldn¡¯t change.


    A few steps away from the office desk, though, he stopped in ce.


    ¡ª¡ªThat boy was sitting next to Geng Jinwei¡¯s legs. Yang Siran abruptly made eye contact with him. The boy was looking up at him. He even cocked his eyebrows and greeted Yang Siran.


    Yang Siran stood in ce. He pressed his lips together before nodding in greeting too.


    When he got out of the office, Yang Siran leaned against the wall next to the door. After a moment of silence, he heaved out a soft, long sigh.


    On the other side of the door, Geng Jinwei told that boy, ¡°You get out too.¡±


    The boy wasn¡¯t too willing. He still wanted to say something else, but Geng Jinwei¡¯s foul expression made him keep his mouth shut. Who dared to actually be defiant around him?


    There was no rule that said a sugar daddy could only have one lover. That wouldn¡¯t be a lover anymore ¨C it would be a beloved. Since the very start, Yang Siran had already prepared himself for this. Only, he had been rather fortunate. In the past few years, there hadn¡¯t been anyone else around Geng Jinwei. In times of peace, one would always forget that some things were originally supposed to happen. This resulted in a forceful impact to one¡¯s heart when these things really did happen. It was hard to ept. This was a bad habit that was the consequence of a peaceful life. Yang Siran looked at himself in the mirror and scoffed.


    He was wearing ck silk pajamas. This made his skin appear even paler. While sitting on the bed with one leg bent up, a strip of his pale, white ankle got revealed. This had a strong visual effect. It made him seem mesmerizing.


    In the throes of pleasure, Yang Siran bit Geng Jinwei¡¯s Adam¡¯s apple. Immediately after, he started feeling regretful. Thus, he gently kissed that area.


    Geng Jinwei had furrowed his brows because of this bite. He used his hand to squeeze the other¡¯s chin. Yang Siran was forced to lift his head. It was hard to tell what Geng Jinwei was feeling based on his facial expression. He lowered his gaze and asked, ¡°Angry?¡±


    Yang Siran maintained eye contact with him. He didn¡¯t look away at all. He still wasn¡¯t willing to lie. Sincerely, he answered, ¡°Not angry......but I am a bit sad.¡±


    Geng Jinwei stared into his eyes. He let go. ¡°Sad about what?¡±


    Yang Siran¡¯s voice was slightly hoarse. He honestly replied, ¡°Sad that you¡¯re not mine and mine alone.¡±


    This sentence was a bit out of line. It was probably the first time that Yang Siran had said anything of the like. After too many good experiences, anyone would start feeling a bit cocky. He wasn¡¯t an exception either.


    Yang Siran wrapped his arms around Geng Jinwei¡¯s neck. He buried his face in the crook of the other¡¯s neck and woefully called out, ¡°Uncle......¡±


    Geng Jinwei used his hand to rub Yang Siran¡¯s neck.


    When cold people did these slightly gentle things, it was always enough to suffocate someone. Yang Siran closed his eyes and asked, ¡°Does he call you that too?¡±


    Geng Jinwei nced at him again. His big hand randomly ruffled the other¡¯s hair a few times. His movements weren¡¯t gentle. Because of this, Yang Siran opened his eyes. Geng Jinwei stared at his eyes that were slightly red at the rims and didn¡¯t respond. He only said, out of the blue, ¡°There are so many young boys and girls out there. Aren¡¯t you going to try with them?¡±


    Yang Siran immediately felt a bit nervous. He blinked and asked, ¡°Have you heard something? I didn¡¯t. I¡¯ve never fooled around. I¡¯m clean.¡±


    He truly was clean. In so many years, even the amount of times he had touched himself was pitifully scarce.


    Was there anything Geng Jinwei didn¡¯t know? The person in his arms was always obedient in speech, but in actuality, was stubborn on the inside. That stubbornness was clearly visible in his eyes. The light in his eyes had never dimmed after all these years.


    At the end of that night, Yang Siran practically fainted. He hadpletely run out of energy. His palms were wet; he wanted to grab Geng Jinwei¡¯s hand, but failed to do so. Geng Jinwei suddenly told him, ¡°Let¡¯s stop here.¡±


    Yang Siran gently blinked his eyes. His eyshes started trembling. He didn¡¯t even dare to speak too loudly. Softly, he asked, ¡°......What?¡±


    Geng Jinwei removed a fallen eysh that was stuck to his face. In his deep voice, he said, ¡°Let¡¯s stop here. Don¡¯te over again.¡±


    Yang Siran was in his prime. These were the best years of his life. For some people, it was fortunate to be able to separate peacefully from their ex-sugar daddies. Most sugar daddies were very generous. After a considerable separation fee, they also usually wouldn¡¯t forget about their previous obedient lovers if they received any spare resources. Even Yang Siran¡¯s assistant told him in secret, ¡°This is a good thing. Boss Geng won¡¯t mistreat you. In the future, as long as you don¡¯t start a direct feud with Su Chen and don¡¯t obviously provoke him, life will be so easy. Let¡¯s not make things harder for ourselves. Right now, you¡¯re no longer a nobody in ourpany. We¡¯ll just diligently film movies and earn money. What a wonderful life.¡±


    The people who knew about this all thought that Yang Siran had lucked out. The past few years, his sugar daddy had wholeheartedly promoted him. Now, he was popr and no longer needed to worry about carrying this secret with him. He was clean.


    But Yang Siran¡¯s initial goal had never been for Geng Jinwei to make him popr. He had never thought about that.


    Thus, some things were like a person drinking water ¨C only the person drinking the water knew whether it was cold or warm.


    From the first time that Yang Siran had seen Geng Jinwei at seventeen until now, it had been almost thirteen years.


    When he had been with Geng Jinwei, he had lowered himself to the ground to like this person. All of this had been done willingly. He wanted to like that person in this manner. Perhaps others considered him cheap for doing so, but regardless of whether it was cheap or not, that was the kind of person he was. Since the beginning, his affections had formed in this manner. He didn¡¯t feel like this made his affections less valuable than others¡¯. These were all his own choices. There was no better or worse when it came to love.


    But this didn¡¯t mean that Yang Siran really didn¡¯t have any pride, really didn¡¯t care about his reputation anymore.


    Did he still like him? Of course, and not even the slightest bit less than before. However, Yang Siran really never went to Geng Jinwei¡¯s house again. He never glued himself to the other¡¯s legs in his office again. When they saw each other, he would politely call out, ¡°Boss Geng.¡± At most, he would merely turn around and silently stare at Geng Jinwei for a few seconds after he had walked away.


    No matter how much he liked him, he wouldn¡¯t pester him. He had already been blessed by fate to have spent a few years by his side. Not every romance coulde to fruition. Compared to so many one-sided crushes that never amounted to anything, he was already extremely fortunate.


    ¡°Shaoyi ge, Yuan Ye ge.¡± Yang Siran¡¯s seat was one row behind theirs. When he saw this couple, he immediately walked over to greet them. ¡°You two are so handsome today.¡±


    ¡°Are we not handsome normally?¡± Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow while smiling. ¡°Has your Yuan Ye ge be less handsome or has your Shaoyi ge¡¯s face be less appealing?¡±


    ¡°Neither, neither,¡± Yang Siran hurriedly said. ¡°It¡¯s mainly because you usually never wear suits.¡±


    Fang Shaoyi greeted him too. He lowly said, ¡°Director Zhou is over there. When everything¡¯s over, go say hi to him. Last time, you dropped out of his filmst minute. It was nice of him to not make things difficult for you. Don¡¯t offend him. Have a nice, long conversation with him.¡±


    These days, Yang Siran was often in contact with these two. They were technically quite close. Sometimes, Fang Shaoyi would lecture him like this. Yang Siran would always diligently listen and remember everything the other told him. He would also always follow the other¡¯s instructions.


    There was never ack of actors of celebrities at movie festivals. Yang Siran saw Su Chen too. All the rumors now were saying that Boss Geng spoiled him greatly. He was like a lust demon, given how good he was at coaxing people. The little boy truly did seem to shine when he smiled: he was quite likeable.


    He called Yang Siran to a halt, wanting to talk with him. He even affectionately addressed him as ¡°Siran ge.¡±


    Yang Siran was always friendly too. If others saw how well they were getting along, they could probably take a picture and start promoting a CPter. Yang Siran didn¡¯t want to promote a CP with this person. Since debut until now, he had already racked up quite a few CPs and often got tied to others for promotion. However, he didn¡¯t really want this to happen this time. Thus, when Su Chen scooted a bit closer, Yang Siran silently took a step back. He refused to give this person the opportunity.


    A sugar daddy¡¯s ex and current lovers. Such a CP was honestly a bit awkward.


    Su Chen didn¡¯t mind that he wasn¡¯t being cooperative either. He smiled and asked, ¡°Let¡¯s add each other on WeChat, Siran ge?¡±


    Yang Siran pulled out his phone and scanned the other¡¯s QR code. Su Chen lowered his head and quietly asked, ¡°The candy is delicious. Can Siran ge share a bite with me?¡±


    After sessfully adding each other, Yang Siran put his phone away. He lightly chuckled and said, ¡°Use your skills to take it.¡±


    The candy really was delicious. Yang Siran had cautiously kept it in his mouth for four years. Now, Su Chen was asking him to share a bite. Disregarding whether or not Yang Siran could bear to share with him, what did he have to share? He himself didn¡¯t even have the candy anymore.


    Yuan Ye knew about his situation. Yang Siran had told him a long time ago. Su Chen was just as friendly when he saw Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. He acted like a little fanboy. Eventually, Yuan Ye even joked with Yang Siran, ¡°Isn¡¯t this Geng ge¡¯s new lover?¡±


    He didn¡¯t know yet that Yang Siran and Geng Jinwei¡¯s rtionship had already ended. Yang Siran chuckled and said, ¡°I guess so. Looks like I lost my sweetheart.¡±


    Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and looked at him.


    Yang Siran sighed. His gaze was filled with slight sorrow. He softlyughed and said, ¡°He¡¯s young and energetic. Who wouldn¡¯t like him?¡±


    After Yang Siran said this, Yuan Ye scoffed. He pressed down on Yang Siran¡¯s head for a bit and threw out, ¡°Doesn¡¯t seem like that to me. You don¡¯t even understand your sweetheart. What a waste of so many years. Think long and hard about it.¡±


    Yang Siran looked up at him. Yuan Ye only said, ¡°Rack your brains.¡±


    What was there to rack his brains about? That person was already gone. He had already thought about his affections for over a decade. What else was there that he didn¡¯t understand? Only because he clearly understood the other could he stop himself from obstinately clinging to him, could he truly be so carefree, and could he refuse to mention that deep love that he had felt for the other since his youth. He had acted out the role of a greedy lover who had given up his body in exchange for resources. He wouldn¡¯t ask for anything else. He had long since figured the other out.


    Yang Siran very rarely took the initiative to contact him. He only sent out simple blessings during holidays.


    On the day of Geng Jinwei¡¯s birthday, Yang Siran sent him a message: Happy birthday. Wish you well.


    Geng Jinwei replied: Thank you.


    Yang Siran stared at those two words. He finger slid up and down his phone screen. Despite how impulsive and reluctant he felt, he ultimately didn¡¯t respond to this message.


    His former sugar daddy was truly generous. There was nothing bad to be said in this regard. Yang Siran¡¯s status in theirpany didn¡¯t change at all. He still had handfuls upon handfuls of good resources. Thepany would invest in movies for him; he also received endorsement offers for top tier luxury brands. Eventually, everytime Yang Siran received some valuable resource, he would send a message to Geng Jinwei: Thank you. Wish you well.


    Have a wonderful Mid-Autumn reunion. Wish you well.


    Merry Christmas. Wish you well.


    Happy New Year. Out with the old and in with the new. Wish you well.


    Geng Jinwei replied to this New Year¡¯s message: Happy New Year.


    Perhaps the fireworks outside were too stunning. Juxtaposed, Yang Siran seemed extra cold and lonely as he stayed in his room by himself. He stared at the three words on his screen. Surprisingly, he failed to control himself. As if scared that he would feel regretful or not dare to send the message, he quickly typed up a few characters and clicked send: I miss you so much.


    This message definitely wouldn¡¯t get a reply. Yang Siran wasn¡¯t an obsessive or clingy person. The other was even less of the hesitant type. Since they had cut things off, they needed to cut things off cleanly. There was no need to be wishy-washy.


    Someone like Yang Siran was nevercking in pursuers. There were male and female celebrities of about the same status as him in the industry. There were also younger celebrities eager to spend time with him. Or, there were a few sugar daddies who had money and influence. As long as Yang Siran agreed, he could find a very good recement. It wasn¡¯t like there weren¡¯t any young and handsome ones.


    But it was impossible for Yang Siran to agree. His heart waspletely dedicated to one person. Many years ago, it had already melted because of that one person. He didn¡¯t have his own heart anymore.


    He was signed under Fang Shaoyi¡¯spany. He was an artist under Geng Jinwei. Most of the time, it wasn¡¯t too difficult for him to avoid dangerous situations. Additionally, people usually wouldn¡¯t try to do anything to him if he didn¡¯t want them to. However, there were always certain instances when a capitalist would feel impulsive after too many rounds of drinks and Yang Siran would fail to figure out a way to properly remove himself from the situation¡ª¡ª


    He had gotten drugged at the meal table. At night, someone unlocked his hotel room with a spare card. Yang Siran was burning up in his sleep; each breath he expelled was hot air. Someone lifted up his shirt while he was dazed. Yang Siran couldn¡¯t see too clearly. Only, when he reached out and touched that person¡¯s arm, he broke out in a cold sweat.


    As soon as he touched the other, he knew it wasn¡¯t him. If it wasn¡¯t him, it wasn¡¯t okay. He reflexively flipped over to avoid the intruder. He had no strength in his arms or legs. Fortunately, he worked out regrly. In the end, he sessfully managed to escape.


    Yang Siran wasn¡¯t in the right state of mind. He pulled out his phone and actually dialled that number that was etched into his memory. The voice through the phone was raspy and deep, but it wasn¡¯t cold. To Yang Siran, it sounded warm. The man asked, ¡°What¡¯s wrong?¡±


    ¡°I......¡± Only when he started speaking did he realize that his throat was already so dry that he could barely speak. Under the influence of the drug, his brain was already muddled. In this state, he panted helplessly. While sprawled out on the ground, he said, ¡°I¡¯ve caused trouble for you......I beat someone up.¡±


    ¡°Who?¡± The other¡¯s voice always carried such strength. Without realizing it, Yang Siran actually started crying. He lifted his tired hands to wipe the tears away and heard that person say through the phone, ¡°Send me the address and room number.¡±


    Yang Siran practically muttered out with his hoarse voice, ¡°......I can only be yours.¡±


    People arrived very quickly. Even after they had already taken that person away, Yang Siran still didn¡¯t know who he had beat up. He didn¡¯t want to know either.


    When he opened his eyes again, he saw that figure that he had engraved into his heart many years ago. His eyes were still so deep set. The lines of his face were still so hard. He looked too aggressive and not gentle in the slightest.


    Yang Siran came back to his senses. He sincerely apologized, ¡°I¡¯ve caused trouble. Sorry, Boss Geng.¡±


    Geng Jinwei was standing next to the window. He looked over at Yang Siran and asked, ¡°Is this your first day in this industry? Did your sense of self-preservation get eaten by a dog?¡±


    Yang Siran didn¡¯t refute him. He nodded and said, ¡°I was careless.¡±


    ¡°You were careless?¡± Geng Jinwei strode over. In only a few steps, he had already reached Yang Siran. He stretched a hand out and grabbed Yang Siran by the hair, forcing the other to look up at him. The viciousness in his voice caused one¡¯s heart to tremble. ¡°You were careless? Should you be apologizing to me? Who should you be apologizing to?¡±


    Geng Jinwei threw back his nkets and ced a hand against his abdomen. He forcefully pressed down. ¡°You dare to put anything in your mouth and swallow it? You couldn¡¯t even tell that the drink was fucking drugged?¡±


    This sudden physical contact caught Yang Siran off guard. Even his heart started quivering.


    ¡°So now you dare to ept invitations for dinner gatherings even when your assistant isn¡¯t around? Really fucking badass.¡± Geng Jinwei¡¯s hand trailed down Yang Siran¡¯s body and stopped a few inches below his abdomen. He pressed down on that area as the vein in his forehead pulsed. ¡°If he had added just a bit more, you¡¯d be ruined. Do you know what ruined means? Fucked up? If he had gotten his hands on you, you would¡¯ve been getting carried out horizontally today!¡±


    Geng Jinwei tightened his grip on Yang Siran¡¯s hair. Yang Siran arched his back even more. Geng Jinwei was right in front of his face. He clenched his teeth and asked, ¡°Where¡¯s your brain? I asked you where your brain is!¡±


    He was truly outraged. He often got angry at other people, but this was the first time he was getting mad at Yang Siran. In all this time, Yang Siran had never done anything to make him angry. He saved people a lot of worry. This was the first time he had gotten entangled in anything, and it was a horrifying incident. If that person had really seeded, the consequences were unfathomable.


    Yang Siran incessantly apologized. Voice hoarse, he said, ¡°I made a mistake.¡±


    ¡°You did make a mistake.¡± Geng Jinwei let go of him. Because of this, Yang Siran lost his bnce. He only managed to remain sitting after propping his arm against the bed. ¡°You almost scared me to fucking death. Fuck.¡±


    Yang Siran forgot to respond. He looked up at the other. His face was still bruised from when he had injured itst night. He was ghastly pale and barely looked alive. He looked as pitiful as could be. Yang Siran had truly suffered quite a fright.


    Geng Jinwei reached out and tugged him closer to his own body. He kept a tight grip on the other while pressing Yang Siran¡¯s face against his chest. The hand on Yang Siran¡¯s head still couldn¡¯t be considered very gentle.


    His scent instantly rushed into Yang Siran¡¯s nostrils. Yang Siran¡¯s mind suddenly went nk. He couldn¡¯t think of anything. His mouth was open and his lips were trembling. For a long, long time, he couldn¡¯t say a word. His lips werepletely colorless. Thus, his furious sugar daddy lowered his head and bit down on his lips until they started bleeding.


    Geng Jinwei had kept him around for four years. In the beginning, aside from Yang Siran¡¯s assistant and Geng Jinwei¡¯s personal chauffeur and assistant, nobody had known about this. Yuan Ye had found out only because Yang Siran himself had admitted it. Aside from this, nobody else knew. Eventually, as time passed by, more and more people started making guesses. However, because of Geng Jinwei¡¯s cold face, nobody dared to actually spread any rumors. To this day, Yang Siran was still clean in the eyes of the outside world. There was nothing bad to say about him and he had no secrets to be exposed.


    This was how one treated a true lover. As for the ones where the whole world could hear about the rumors, they definitely couldn¡¯t be real.


    Later, Geng Jinwei squeezed Yang Siran¡¯s chin and asked him, ¡°Don¡¯t you have any idea how much I¡¯ve done for you?¡±


    ¡°I do.¡± Yang Siran incessantly nodded his head. ¡°You¡¯re good to me.¡±


    ¡°You do?¡± Geng Jinwei scoffed. ¡°If you do, would you still be thinking about me every fucking day? Are there no other men in this world aside from me? Nobody else can fuck you?¡±


    Yang Siran still nodded. He looked extremely obedient. ¡°There are. There are plenty of men, but they aren¡¯t mine.¡±


    ¡°Seems to me like you don¡¯t have a brain,¡± Geng Jinwei said.


    Yang Siran scooted close. He intimately nipped at Geng Jinwei¡¯s ear. His voice was low and deep. It was also filled with a cautious adoration. He didn¡¯t say anything extra. As usual, he only called out, ¡°Uncle......¡±


    Each individual needed to take responsibility for their own affections. Whether bitter or sweet, they were all one¡¯s own choices. They were one¡¯s faith; they were one¡¯s innermost desires.


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