Chapter 60

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 glanced 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 relationship 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’ve come 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.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

“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 explanation, 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 to come 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 relationship. 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 village; 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 had come here, he had stolen a strip of red cloth from the prop team. In the movie, after the two main characters confirmed their relationship, they often tied a red cloth onto the tree, determined to use it as a symbol of their love. Quite flashy. 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 explaining the next scene to the actor acting alongside Fang Shaoyi. Fang Shaoyi glanced at the time and turned around to ask Ji Xiaotao, “Has your Ye ge left yet or not?”

Ji Xiaotao glanced 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 explaining 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 to come 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 flashed 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 a commotion and come 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 accidentally 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, black 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 Fang comes 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 you land on?”

Yuan Ye pointed at his foot that was resting flat on the ground.

Fang Shaoyi untied his shoelaces 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 to laugh too. No matter what, though, he still respected Teacher Yuan Ye’s need for maintaining some dignity. He forced the laughter back in. Yuan Ye took off his other shoe too, then tied the shoelaces of both shoes together. He held the shoes by the laces 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 to come 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. While landing, 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 plane 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 collared shirt with blue pants and a pair of old leather shoes. He hadn’t even bothered to change into regular 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 placed it over the other’s foot. Yuan Ye laid there, playing on his phone. Fang Shaoyi scolded, “Don’t use your phone while lying down. It’ll make your eyes uncomfortable.”

“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 again later 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 had come 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 and laughed while saying, “You really don’t need to. I can wash myself.”

Fang Shaoyi lathered 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 still laughing. “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 kept laughing 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 uncomfortable. 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 and laughed 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. After laying 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 hilarious. 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 accident, 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 to lay 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 Shaoyi laughed 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. He laughed 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.