Chapter 14

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 accident, 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, he complained that the production team was either doing this on purpose or was stupid – two people sitting in the water, facing each other and having a conversation. Was it possible for nothing to occur? Especially in such a unique setting. There were similar, 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 my company 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 planned.

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 had complaints 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’t compromise 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 popular 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 Internet. 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 the last interview out and inserted them in the middle of the episode. Within the first few minutes of broadcast, they had already played Yuan Ye’s last answer. In the camera, Yuan Ye’s expression was slightly cold as he said, “Even if he didn’t become 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 sudden large 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.

A comment under one of Yuan Ye’s Weibo posts rose to the top because it got the most likes. The person commenting 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 – 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 unbecoming. To them, it seemed like he cared too much about money now.

Regardless of the type of comment, 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 collaborated with.

It was several days later when Yuan Ye finally went online again. After everyone joining in the hype had finished doing so, he checked WeChat at last. He didn’t reply to any useless messages. Feng Leizi had contacted him one day, first sending him a photoshopped image created by netizens. It was an image of Yuan Ye squatting in a tree, throwing bananas – 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. He laughed 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 and composed 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 it later 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 extremely lazy: lazy for about a year. Feng Leizi had mentioned this script to him in the past. It was a screenplay 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 accepted the offer last time. This time, Yuan Ye didn’t confirm anything either. He only said, “I’ll think about it. Let you know later.”

“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 the last 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. He lazily 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 uncomfortable. 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 play. 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 Shaoyi laying 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 playing. He sat on the couch in a slight daze. The TV automatically started playing the next related 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. According to these calculations, 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 three large, 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, he laughed 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 relationship? 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 pause later, 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.”