Chapter 35

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 playing the tailor was a Taiwanese actor, He Sai. He was a year or two younger than Fang Shaoyi and had been largely unpopular until this year, when he suddenly started gaining some traction. However, he was seriously bad with his lines. His Taiwanese accent was too strong. Director Jiang also refused to dub things over later, 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 even come 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 screenplay. 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 succeed.

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 relax, 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 glanced 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 blacksmith 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 place from morning to night even caused Yuan Ye discomfort, 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 accent 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’t coming 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, he laughed. 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 – that was the excuse he had given, so that was the excuse they needed to accept. After they finished filming, the smell would most likely be largely 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.

Blaming 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. Blaming 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 discomfort and finishing the last 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 the last scene, they were technically on break. Yuan Ye hadn’t planned 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 salary. By now, their relationship 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 plane 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 occasionally 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 relationship 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 director laughed 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 fireworks later. If I drink some more, I won’t even be able to light the fire.”

Gatherings with alcohol were never lacking 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 planning to do when you get back?”

Everyone in the room laughed. 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 glanced 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 naturally laughed. Yuan Ye didn’t bother explaining further. He allowed them to keep joking. He downed the alcohol still left in his glass 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 into laughter. 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 Shaoyi laughed. 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 overlapped 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 occurred 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 into laughter. 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 Shaoyi laughed and shook his head. He suddenly reached a hand out to grab the collar 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 – 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——

“I hope Little Monkey will be healthy and safe, carefree and happy, free and unrestrained.”