Chapter 53

When Yuan Ye moved out of their house, he only brought some clothes and products he used daily. There was too much stuff. Additionally, he wouldn’t need most of them anytime soon, so he didn’t move all of them out. However, when he left, he took Fang Shaoyi’s jacket with him.

——The jacket that Fang Shaoyi had handed him that night. The one that he hadn’t accepted.

What had he been thinking while taking it with him? It seemed like he hadn’t been thinking at all.

Many times after, when Yuan Ye wasn’t in a right state of mind, he would wonder – if he had accepted that jacket back then, what would’ve happened? But n.o.body understood better than Yuan Ye that they hadn’t actually divorced simply over a jacket. What a joke.

Fang Shaoyi’s “I’ll make you feel it each time you say it” had truly caused Yuan Ye pain. Movies started playing his mind once more: scenes from the mess before their separation and flashes of the pages of the divorce agreement. Fang Shaoyi had used such an intimate, suggestive pose to squeeze his hand and force him to sign his name. This was both cruel and resolute.

However, Yuan Ye himself had said the wrong thing. He deserved whatever silent treatment Fang Shaoyi was giving him. Some things couldn’t and shouldn’t be said. No matter how much he got ignored after saying them, he deserved it.

Yuan Ye pleaded with Fang Shaoyi, “I’ve learned my lesson. Don’t be mad anymore, ge.”

Fang Shaoyi didn’t say anything. He only made a noise of acknowledgement.

But after this, their semi-cold, semi-warm relationship became a bit better than it had been before. Only a little bit, though. Fang Shaoyi still occasionally ignored him. During these times, Yuan Ye would obediently focus on his own matters. Sometimes he would ensure the other remembered his presence, a type of clocking in.

Ji Xiaotao was experienced. After so much time, he no longer worried about these two at all. Previously, he had hoped that they would quickly reconcile. Now that this couple had truly done so, small arguments and conflicts were only ways to spice up the relationship. Besides, he had previously been worried that their affections for each other had changed, but now, after a year, he didn’t need to worry about this at all. Thus, he let them fool around as they wished.

One was throwing a tantrum and acting tsundere. The other was cheekily placating him. How interesting, tsk tsk.

“Hi, Teacher Tao.” Yuan Ye was visiting Fang Shaoyi at the company and happened to see Ji Xiaotao in the lobby. He greeted him.

“Hahahaha, what Teacher Tao?!” Ji Xiaotao instantly walked over after noticing Yuan Ye. He said, “Good afternoon, Teacher Ye!”

“Am I so wild?” Yuan Ye c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. “Just call me Teacher Yuan.”

Next to Fang Shaoyi, Ji Xiaotao was just a little a.s.sistant. Back at the company, though, he definitely had high status. However, at the end of the day, he was still Fang Shaoyi’s a.s.sistant. Due to the fact that he was determined to remain Fang Shaoyi’s a.s.sistant, he didn’t have an official t.i.tle at the company. Even so, his words still held power. The other employees at the company all politely called him “Xiaotao ge.” One time, a young actor had called him “Teacher Tao,” which Yuan Ye had happened to hear. After this, Yuan Ye always used this nickname to tease him.

Ji Xiaotao glanced at the object that Yuan Ye was holding in his hand and playfully asked, “Bringing my ge lunch?”

“Yeah,” Yuan Ye answered while walking. “He’s upstairs?”

“Should be in his office, I think. If not, check Geng ge’s office.” Ji Xiaotao headed upstairs with him, but didn’t walk into Fang Shaoyi’s office. It was lunchtime. He needed to head downstairs for food too after setting his stuff down.

Yuan Ye knocked on Fang Shaoyi’s office door, not walking in until Fang Shaoyi called out. He pushed the door open and peeked his head in. Fang Shaoyi looked up. Yuan Ye made eye contact with him. He squinted and smiled, asking, “Can I come in, Teacher Fang?”

Fang Shaoyi waved at him after noticing who he was. “Hurry and come in. If someone b.u.mps into you from behind, you’ll end up with a squished neck.”

“Impossible.” Yuan Ye pushed the door open and walked in, then closed the door behind him. He set the object in his hand on the tea table before smiling and gesturing at Fang Shaoyi. “Come, baobei’er. A love-filled lunch.”

Fang Shaoyi padded over and asked, “Where did this love-filled lunch come from?”

“Where else could there be so much love? I definitely made this.” Yuan Ye gently nudged him a bit. “Expended all my efforts.”

Fang Shaoyi glanced at him. After, he shook his head and lightly chuckled, then unwrapped the meal layer by layer. Yuan Ye had a lot of free time these days, so had spent the entire morning steaming mini shumais. He had also made soup. In order to placate Fang Shaoyi, he was capable of doing anything. Actions spoke louder than words; to make up for his mistake of mouth, he acted with the rest of his body.

Fang Shaoyi opened one of the insulated boxes. In it, smack dab in the middle, were two fried eggs. Both were heart shaped. Fang Shaoyi hadn’t expected to see something like this. For a moment, he was unable to control his expression. The corners of his eyes were painted with amus.e.m.e.nt. “What are these?”

“Hearts.” Yuan Ye didn’t feel ashamed at all after doing something so dumb. He sprawled out on the couch. “Otherwise, how else could it be called a love-filled lunch?”

Fang Shaoyi wiped the expression off his face after laughing for a bit. He started solemnly eating. In the end, he finished every drop of soup and there were no shumais left. Yuan Ye pointed at the two innocent heart shaped fried eggs and sighed. “Teacher Fang, don’t discriminate against my hearts so.”

Fang Shaoyi was unbothered. Even until the end, he didn’t eat them.

Yuan Ye observed his expression. While packing up the boxes, he left the box with the fried eggs behind and said, “I can’t take my hearts back after giving them away. I’ll just leave them with you.”

Fang Shaoyi ignored him. He leaned against the back of the couch to digest.

The two of them sat there silently. One had his eyes closed and was resting while the other was quietly scrolling through his phone. When Geng Jinwei came by, he didn’t knock. Instead, he simply pushed the door open. Upon noticing the atmosphere between the two of them, he made a noise of surprise. While walking in, he asked, “Eating?”

“Done eating.” Yuan Ye nodded at him in greeting. “Have you eaten yet, Geng ge?”

Geng Jinwei answered, “No. There’s a serving for me?”

Yuan Ye smiled while saying, “That’d be impossible. There isn’t even a mouthful of soup left.” After sharing this, Yuan Ye glanced at Fang Shaoyi. Then, he said, “Although, if you aren’t disdainful of them, there are still two fried……”

“There aren’t.” Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes and cut Yuan Ye off. He asked Geng Jinwei, “Need something?”

Geng Jinwei shook his head. He chuckled, “I came over to call you out for lunch, but since you’ve already finished eating, nevermind. I’ll go eat at the cafeteria downstairs.”

Yuan Ye bent over to grab the leftover fried egg box on the tea table. He told Geng Jinwei, “Here, Geng ge. Take it downstairs with you……”

Fang Shaoyi pressed his arm down and interrupted once more. He side-eyed Yuan Ye and calmly stated, “Geng ge doesn’t eat chicken eggs.”

“Ah, then nevermind.” Yuan Ye laughed. He flipped his hand over to hold hands with Fang Shaoyi, then gently scratched the other’s palm. After, he pulled his hand back and sat up straight before drawling out, “Since Geng ge won’t eat them, nevermind.”

Geng Jinwei looked between the two of them. There was nothing bad to be said about his professionalism; his expression didn’t even change in the slightest. Even so, he didn’t want to stay here and continue watching this couple. He turned around and left. “Okay, you two stay put.”

Following Geng Jinwei’s departure, Yuan Ye sat there and laughed for a long time. He stared at Fang Shaoyi, shoulders quivering with laughter.

These days, Yuan Ye visited the company often. In the eyes of the company’s employees, this seemed like he was very diligently pursuing Fang Shaoyi. Additionally, Fang Shaoyi was very secretive. This fit too well with the theories the outside world had about them. Someone even secretly “exposed” online that Yuan Ye had been pursuing Fang Shaoyi for a whole year, but that Fang Shaoyi still hadn’t given in yet. According to this, it was easy to a.s.sume that Yuan Ye probably didn’t have much of a chance anymore. After all, following so many years of affection, if Fang Shaoyi wanted to reconcile at all, he ought to have done so way earlier. There was no need to drag things out until now and not give in to Yuan Ye.

Half of the CP fans felt sorry for Yuan Ye. They felt like this was going to be a BE. The other half were still excitedly eating sugar. It had already been a year and Fang Shaoyi still hadn’t flat out refused. Was this having “no chance”? If not sugar, what else could this be? Had everyone else forgotten about the birthday pictures on set last year? These two were simply playing around!

The two of them were truly having a lot of fun. Fang Shaoyi hadn’t loosened up or softened his att.i.tude yet, but Yuan Ye was quite patient. Slowly placating the other was fine too. However, he couldn’t not say what needed to be said. The required discussions needed to be properly held as well.

In the middle of October, Director Wei called Fang Shaoyi to his house for a meal. Yuan Ye tagged along too. Yuan Ye had always liked Director Wei Hua a lot. The first movie he had watched that Fang Shaoyi had been in had been directed by Director Wei. Director Wei’s movies always reflected his own thoughts. Basically, each film was the equivalent of him emptying himself out, grounding his thoughts up, then slowly piecing them together again. He had once said, “Making a movie is a bit like being in a relationship with the plot. It needs to be impactful and romantic. Otherwise, you won’t be able to make a good movie.”

He had been Fang Shaoyi’s first director. The first for anything was always incredibly important. Thus, many of Fang Shaoyi’s beliefs and opinions had been greatly influenced by him.

This entire lifetime, Director Wei had used his whole heart to make movies. He was a rare pure cinephile. Yuan Ye respected him a lot. He had liked the other’s works since young. Later on, Fang Shaoyi partic.i.p.ated in more of his films, so Yuan Ye got to interact with the director quite a bit. They were somewhat familiar with each other as well.

During dinner, Director Wei brought up the topic and asked Fang Shaoyi how his break was going.

Yuan Ye answered for Fang Shaoyi. He told Director Wei, “Director, he’s being stubborn. You need to persuade him.”

“What’s he being stubborn about?” Wei Hua glanced at him, then at Fang Shaoyi. With a smile that wasn’t quite a smile, he asked, “What are your thoughts? Tell me.”

“Don’t listen to his stories,” Fang Shaoyi said. “At this age, everyone needs some time to settle down.”

Director Wei laughed and pointed at him. He said, “Lies.”

“No, the truth.” Fang Shaoyi refilled the other’s cup of alcohol. “I wouldn’t lie to you.”

Wei Hua glanced at him. He shook his head and chuckled.

That day, Director Wei and Fang Shaoyi talked about a lot of things. They had half of their conversation while eating and the other half during tea after their meal. Yuan Ye actually didn’t say much; he didn’t b.u.t.t in. Director Wei wasn’t trying to coax Fang Shaoyi into accepting the role. He had found a replacement actor and was already training the other. Filming was all about consent and agreement. You couldn’t force someone to film a movie just because of your relationship with them. For a majority of time, the two of them talked about movies. Both of them had a deep understanding regarding this topic. Thus, there was a lot for them to converse about.

Director Wei asked Fang Shaoyi about his understanding of the male lead in this new movie. Fang Shaoyi had only read the initial draft, which had only been a rudimentary version of the final draft. The focus of this film was its characters: there were lots of scenes that required reflection of inner thought processes. Each character needed to be carefully observed and understood. This conversation could last the entire evening without ending. Fang Shaoyi shared his own thoughts and also his thoughts about a few other characters in the movie. All directors enjoyed having discussions with others about scripts and characters. Eventually, Director Wei lamented, “Actually, I’m not completely confident. Half of the scenes with silent reflection might need to be deleted.”

Fang Shaoyi said, “Film some first and see? Maybe you’ll be surprised.”

Were surprises so easy to come across? Director Wei laughed and admitted, “I’m lazy now too. After getting used to using people I’m familiar with, I’m too lazy to train new people.”

Director Wei had been making movies for so many years. He had long since compiled a cast that he was most familiar with. Fang Shaoyi wasn’t the only one in this cast. There were also a few other celebrities. Tacit understanding was rare. To be able to understand each other without saying anything, only communicating through gazes – how convenient was this?

As they chatted, Yuan Ye quietly sat off to the side and listened. Fang Shaoyi had always been very alluring while speaking about these things. It was already quite alluring to watch any random person talk about the things they were most familiar with.

Later on, before they could finish their conversation, Yuan Ye fell asleep. He was leaning against the couch nearby and was pretty deeply asleep.

Fang Shaoyi took off his jacket and made to cover Yuan Ye with it. Director Wei said, “Tell someone to bring a blanket over.”

“There’s no need,” Fang Shaoyi said softly while shaking his head. “This is fine.”

Yuan Ye was holding a little accessory from Director Wei’s home in his hand. Fang Shaoyi gently pried it out of his hand and set it off to the side.

Director Wei observed his gaze and suddenly laughed. He said, “Lover.”

After hearing this, Fang Shaoyi chuckled. He looked in Yuan Ye’s direction while saying, “He’s the one that’s a lover.”