Chapter 23

The ruined city walls were full of holes. Fang Shaoyi stood there with his sword tucked against his back. Behind him, stood the last 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 and laughed. His laughter traveled for miles, startling the blackbirds 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 irregular pit pats seemed to be urging this last 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 – the good, the bad – 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. The last of his energy wasn’t enough for him to complete 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 flashed 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 slaughtered a horse. He s.n.a.t.c.hed a frail boy out from under the horse’s hooves.

Then, the swordsman hid him behind the pillar 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——

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.

The last defenses had fallen. The citizens mourned. Ashes and smoke rose. The remaining soldiers didn’t shift, didn’t move.

——“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 been laying on the ground. The prop director finally pressed the power b.u.t.ton, turning off the fake rain that was still pouring onto the actors. From afar, Fang Shaoyi shouted, “Director, does this take pa.s.s?”

The director yelled at him through the speaker, “Yes! It pa.s.sed!”

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 playing 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 fl.u.s.tered 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 pa.s.sed, but they still needed to make up a few shots. The version of the ending where Fang Shaoyi’s character hadn’t died had been completed 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, congratulate your Teacher Fang for successfully wrapping up.”

The people around them immediately smiled and congratulated 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 relax.”

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 to laugh 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, come 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 Xin laughed 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 doc.u.mentary for later. Fang Shaoyi smiled at his camera too.

They had worked on this shot for about half a month. Now, they had finally successfully 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 been completely 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 s.p.a.ce. Eventually, Fang Shaoyi told Ji Xiaotao to put them away.

All the young actors had come 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 – 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 accepted 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 desolate little village. 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 collaborated 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 village 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 while later, 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 director laughed 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.

Before he left, Fang Shaoyi gave the director and them a heads up. Then, he and Ji Xiaotao headed straight to the airport. Unlike certain big shot celebrities who needed to bring their own teams everywhere, everytime he travelled to act, he only brought Ji Xiaotao with him. Fang Shaoyi would only bring one person: the production team would arrange for everything else. In this regard, he was the same as his father. Actually, in many ways, Fang Shaoyi was very similar to his dad, regardless in appearance or personality.

When Fang Shaoyi arrived, Director Jiang was in the middle of a scene. Two a.s.sistant 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 village blacksmith 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 to come 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, “Come come come, 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 delayed your progress.”

The director waved and said, “You were filming Elder Xin’s movie. What dare I say?”

Fang Shaoyi laughed. “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 blacksmith 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 plan 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’t completely 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 thin compared to how his character needed to be. The swordsman in the last 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 slanted 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 the layered and flavorful 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 a.s.sistant over too. Ji Xiaotao sat on a small stool next to Fang Shaoyi, listening to them chat. A while later, 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 a.s.sistant anymore.”

??? Several question marks flashed 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 started laughing. 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 becomes 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 in common with his character and understand him completely.

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 blame me for getting angry.”

After he spoke, everyone laughed. 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 a.s.sistant.”

Ji Xiaotao shrunk back. This task was honestly too hard to complete. He asked, “Director……how about the two of us get bullied together? Like two brothers facing difficult times? Is that okay with you?”

Fang Shaoyi laughed and pushed the back of his head playfully. 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 b.u.t.t. While laughing, 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, n.o.body said anything to Fang Shaoyi. It was even more impossible for anyone to dare to nod and say “Teacher Fang” when they saw him. According 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 hold combs like this.”

“Okay,” Fang Shaoyi replied.

Behind him, someone called out, “Sen Cha, help me get Lin ge’s a.s.sistant.”

“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 and laughed. 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 to complain to Fang Shaoyi, “Is this even useful? Seems to me that Director Jiang is purposefully messing with us because we arrived late.”

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 the last 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 pa.s.sing 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 planned 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, “f.u.c.k!”

“What’s wrong?” Fang Shaoyi glanced at him.

Ji Xiaotao squeezed his brows tightly together. He looked up at Fang Shaoyi and said, “What is this trending topic?!!”

Fang Shaoyi c.o.c.ked 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 account was a small promotional gossip account. 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 divorced last year. They were from very far away so weren’t too clear, but the car was Fang Shaoyi’s car. The two silhouettes seemed similar enough to Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye.

In half an hour, this post already had thirty-something thousand comments. Fang Shaoyi briefly scanned the most popular 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 divorced last year. My cla.s.smate’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 n.o.body will force it down my throat. What a f.u.c.king mess……”

“Aaaaaah can promotional gossip accounts go die! I’m so sick of you lot. You don’t have morals and do anything to become viral! And the one in the top comments who talked about their cla.s.smate’s older brother. If you’re so amazing, what were you doing earlier…… I hate you people who keep talking about your cla.s.smates’ older brothers and sisters!!!! Get get get get get the f.u.c.k out!!!”

“Picking up and carrying Yi ge and Uncle Ye away. Trash promotional gossip accounts, 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 from laughter……”

n.o.body could get through to Geng Jinwei. He was on a call with someone else.

This incident had occurred 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 popularity they were going to get and were at the peak of their popularity. 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 account 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 plans 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 popularity right now is all fake. I’ve already spoken with the big companies. They won’t repost it right now. The mainstream media accounts 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 planning on doing? Seems to me that you haven’t completely 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 was completely irrelevant. He told Fang Shaoyi, “No matter how you take care of it, these trivial matters will pa.s.s 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 Internet again.”

Fang Shaoyi nodded before heading into the bathroom to rinse his face. He seemed too calm. This made Ji Xiaotao relax a bit as well.

The truth was, Fang Shaoyi really wasn’t that nervous. This situation would’ve been exposed sooner or later. It was only that it had happened a few days earlier than planned. 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’t come 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 plan 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 their last trip to Australia. After this week’s episode, next week’s episode would be the last 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, they completely 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 account, telling them to give an explanation. 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’ve completely 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 Internet 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 gla.s.s. 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 account. Others were only there for the drama. They were extremely dedicated to eating their melons, completely unafraid of any possible karma.

The show had edited the skydiving portion beautifully. Each person fell straight down from high in the sky and pa.s.sed through the cloud cover. The wind messed up their hair, causing it to stand almost completely 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 Ye landed, 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 to land.

Ji Xiaotao became silent. A while later, 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 playing right when Yuan Ye landed on the ground.

Fang Shaoyi watched. After landing, 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 similar 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 relax, 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 minutes later, it finally returned to Fang Shaoyi landing. After he landed, 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——

“Baobei’er, I want to pursue you one more time.”

Ji Xiaotao instantly turned to look at Fang Shaoyi. His eyes were completely 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 Internet was a mess too. Half of netizens were praising this romance to be G.o.dly 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 occurred, 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 explain.

“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. n.o.body 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 f.u.c.king die because of you two. What the h.e.l.l did Yuan Ye say during the show?”

Fang Shaoyi thought back to what Yuan Ye had told him that day. He laughed and repeated it, saying, “Sweet nothings.”

“So what’s the plan for the two of you? Remarriage?” Geng Jinwei sounded extremely agitated. He was probably close to being annoyed to death.

Fang Shaoyi was still laughing. “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 hoa.r.s.e. “The first decade of your career, you were as well-behaved as could be. How come you’re starting to cause trouble now that you’re old?”

Fang Shaoyi was still softly laughing. He said, “Geng ge has worked hard.”

“I really f.u.c.king 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 place. 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 f.u.c.king done.”

Fang Shaoyi c.o.c.ked an eyebrow.

Geng Jinwei said, “We won’t be able to post it anymore. Look online yourself. He really f.u.c.king is a wild monkey. Good thing he isn’t an artist under my management. Otherwise, I would skin him completely. 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 related to Yuan Ye.

—#Yuan Ye#

—#Yuan Ye Pursue You One More Time#

—#Yuan Ye’s Reply#

“How about this. You too decide among yourselves, then give me a final plan of action. It’s a good thing I didn’t post anything yet. If I had, it would be really f.u.c.king 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.

——“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.”