Chapter 63

“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 place.”

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 to communicate. 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 plausible 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 placed 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 up later, 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 place? Nobody could do anything about this. Weather reports were only an approximation. They weren’t extremely accurate.

They had only rented out the little island 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 island 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 relatively more relaxed scenes in the entire movie. The main character and his little brother lived on the island. There was a distanced type of freedom about this. It also allowed the audience to relax. They originally should’ve finished filming quite easily. The director had chosen this location because it was beautiful: a very lively little island. 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 plausible 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 island when the skies are clear. If we really don’t have time, we can film the detailed scenes back in Qingdao. After everything, we’ll combine 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 had come, 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 calculated 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 several large rainstorms, the entire village had become 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 become a bit pouty. Fang Shaoyi missed him. He lowered his voice and said into the phone, “A little bit.”

Yuan Ye laughed. 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.”n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yuan Ye completely burst into laughter. He sat there, shoulders curled up, and couldn’t stop laughing. After his laughing fit, he softened his voice and placated, “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 places.” Yuan Ye coughed softly. He suddenly laid 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 into laughter, 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 village 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 into laughter. 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 to come?”

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 accept 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, how come you didn’t accept 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 had come 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 relationship. 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 days later. On this day, it was raining terribly hard. The entire island the film crew was on was covered by large, 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 become 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, completely 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 accompanied 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 – all those thoughts that couldn’t be settled or explained 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 a lackey around everyday too. Occasionally, 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 blanked 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 explain, 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 accurate. 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 hospital later. The film crew’s locked the news, so it hasn’t gotten leaked out yet.”

A few seconds later, 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.”