Chapter 21

These years, Yuan Ye had never used his looks to make a living. He had never paid attention in this regard. In all honesty, he was the stereotypical rough man. He often wore jeans or sweats with a t-shirt or sweatshirt: basically, whatever was simple to put on. Unless it was for a formal occasion, he never touched collared shirts. He had never thought that he would actually gain a bunch of appearance fans after this show.

Many little girls adored his type. Only those with good skull structure could pull off such short stubble. When he scanned you with his thin eyelids, the corner of his mouth quirked into a mocking smile, he seemed exactly like a bad boy. Or, more accurately, a bad uncle. Buzzcut-Uncle Ye was a style that nobody else could completely reproduce. Others didn’t have that omniscient look in their eyes. They weren’t sharp enough, so also weren’t as alluring.

In actuality, Yuan Ye was just lazy. His hairstyle hadn’t changed in several years – not to seem cool or anything, but because he had had this hairstyle since five or six. He had gotten used to it. Every day, all he needed to do was rinse his hair with some water while washing his face. He didn’t need to bother with styling or drying it. Things were fast and easy.

However, Yuan Ye’s appearance fans suffered greatly too. Aside from the show, they couldn’t catch a glimpse of him at all. He didn’t have any endorsements or ads. Other than the basic promotions for the show, his Weibo was empty. Other celebrities would have a bunch of airport photos while they were in the limelight from a show. Their fans would wait for them at the airport, taking photos and producing content by themselves. Sometimes, celebrities would also post a few pictures of themselves doing day to day things. This way, there would at least be something for fans to look at. But nobody had any clue what Yuan Ye’s schedule was. Thus, it was impossible for them to wait for him at an airport.

The new fans had nowhere to go, so could only spam the comments under his Weibo posts: “Do we have any organizations? Old geges, please lead the way! Us little bros have done it all before. We’re level 100 in professionalism 555555”

His old fans replied below these: “We don’t have any organizations. Even if there are, they’re all wild. Most of us are book fans. If you’re here to stay, be Buddhist. You’ll get used to it.”

Some old fans even started chatting in the comments. They said that an old lake had just had fresh water added to it. Things were pretty exciting.

After filming, Yuan Ye completely disappeared. If fans wanted to see him, they could only watch the show and the behind-the-scenes cuts online. Several platforms wanted to interview him, but Yuan Ye didn’t accept any of their invitations. What was there to interview about? The more he said, the more likely it was for him to say something wrong. Besides, he wasn’t willing to share his personal matters with others. When he wanted to say anything, he would write it into his books. He liked using his pen to relay stories, not his mouth.

Now, even Ji Xiaotao couldn’t get in contact with him at times. It took forever for him to reply to messages.

After Geng Jinwei had a conversation with the station manager, the production team temporarily stopped producing new drama. Actually, this situation had originally only been trivial. It was only for publicity. Additionally, Director Lin Wei had been angry, so would occasionally cause some trouble. He believed that Yuan Ye wouldn’t dare to say anything back. They wouldn’t do anything further, such as bring up the divorce. If that got exposed, the production team wouldn’t benefit at all. And, if he didn’t even avoid this lower limit, nobody would dare to collaborate with them in the future.

The last scene of Fang Shaoyi’s movie hadn’t been completed yet, and it had already been almost a week. This was also the last scene of the movie. For this shot, the director and screenwriter had never managed to reach an agreement. The director wanted Fang Shaoyi to remain alive, while the screenwriter wanted this character to ultimately die in battle. Thus, the previous scenes had all been filmed in accordance with both plotlines. There were slight differences. This last shot would also have several split shots. When editing, they would then compare and make a final decision.

This movie was called《Wind Wanderer》. It was about half the life of a jianghu swordsman. In his youth, he had wandered the lands with his sword, unafraid of anything. Later, because of a cup of tea, he became sucked into jianghu feuds. As a result, he ended up blind in one eye. Years later, war started. The jianghu was no longer the jianghu of old. Personal enmities and national rivalries combined. But regardless of life or death, the world was still the jianghu.

The last scene was also the most important scene in the movie. Several hundred extras joined filming too. Fang Shaoyi’s last wounded makeup look needed practically three hours for application. With so many extras, it was hard to control the set. The wall’s explosion had also already failed once. To fix it up again, at least three days were needed.

Director Xin personally carried a speaker around as he started ordering the crowd. His voice was hoarse the entire time. The artificial rain continuously poured down. To be water resistant, Fang Shaoyi’s makeup was extra sticky and solid. After filming, it took over an hour to remove it all and shower. This scene was too difficult to film. The prop team and explosion team especially, were under enormous pressure. If the timing wasn’t controlled exactly, everything would be for naught once again.

The director asked the lead cinematographer, “It’s three right now. Can we get another take before dark?”

The lead cinematographer shook his head. “The lighting is no good after four. It’ll take at least forty minutes to get all the machines set up again. We won’t have enough time.”

Director Xin furrowed his brows. A very deep ditch appeared between his eyebrows. However, he had no other option. Filming was like this. Sometimes it went smoothly, sometimes it didn’t. He needed to deal with both situations. The director said, “We’re done for today. Everybody head back and get some rest. We’ll do our best to pass this shot tomorrow.”

Ji Xiaotao said, “Seems to me like that wall’s going to be completely destroyed if we blow it up again. We’d have to wait three more days for it to get fixed.”

Fang Shaoyi took off his costume and walked into the dressing shed shirtless. The fake blood had already dried onto the clothes, so they wouldn’t be able to be used again tomorrow. He needed new clothes everyday. The costume team had rushed out over a dozen sets. It took two days to make one set look well worn. Nobody knew how much longer they needed to film, so the costume team had been continuously making them.

Several assistants were needed to remove most of Fang Shaoyi’s makeup so he could head back. Cleaning layer after layer of fake blood off of the face felt like the skin was getting sanded. It was very uncomfortable and very damaging to the skin. The assistants didn’t dare to rub too hard. They carefully rubbed his face.

Fang Shaoyi sat very properly. His back was straight the entire time. Those in charge of rubbing his face rubbed his face. There were also some squatting down and rubbing his legs. On the floor were several buckets of water. Applying and removing makeup took about five hours every day. It was very tiring. Fang Shaoyi’s voice was also a bit hoarse. He told them, “Don’t worry, rub harder. The earlier we can get this removed, the earlier you can finish up and leave.”

The girl rubbing his face said softly, “We don’t dare to. Rubbing so hard daily is too damaging to your face. Teacher Fang, you really need to take care when you get back.”

Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and made a noise of acknowledgment. He waited for them to take off all the layers.

Ji Xiaotao grabbed a dish heater and pointed it at Fang Shaoyi. There were no dressing rooms for these outside sets. Thus, everyone used temporary sheds. The temperature inside was the same as that outside: both humid and cold. Fang Shaoyi was only wearing shorts. Everything else was uncovered. Nobody could handle these conditions every day.

These days, Ji Xiaotao wasn’t very talkative. He knew Fang Shaoyi was too tired, so was worried about disrupting his rest. He took a picture of Fang Shaoyi, whose eyes were closed, getting his makeup removed. After brief thought, he sent it to Yuan Ye.

Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes and looked at him. In a deep voice, he said, “Don’t post it on Weibo.”

Ji Xiaotao squatted there and nodded. He said, “I’m not. I sent it to Ye ge.”

Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows and stared. He said, “Fooling around.”

“I’m not fooling around. I’m in pain,” Ji Xiaotao said softly.

Recently, he contacted Yuan Ye quite frequently, unlike the year before the variety show filming. That year, they rarely communicated. Ji Xiaotao hadn’t had a clear understanding of what the two of them thought. If these two people really were adamant about cutting off all contact, it wouldn’t be right for him to get involved in the middle. However, since filming had ended, he had maintained contact with Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye’s attitude wasn’t cold either. He could still joke with Ji Xiaotao and such. Ji Xiaotao felt that there was a chance to turn the situation around.

Fang Shaoyi told him, “Unsend it.”

Ji Xiaotao tried, then said, “It’s past the time limit.”

Fang Shaoyi didn’t scold him again. He only furrowed his brows before closing his eyes once more.

Half an hour passed before Yuan Ye replied. Fang Shaoyi still hadn’t finished removing his makeup, but was almost done. He sat there with his eyes closed; it seemed that he was asleep.

Yuan Ye: What are you guys filming?

Ji Xiaotao responded: The last scene. It’s already been a week, but we still haven’t succeeded.

Yuan Ye: Where do you apply makeup?

Ji Xiaotao: Shed.

Yuan Ye replied with one word a few seconds later: Fuck.

Ji Xiaotao took a picture of the dish heater and sent it over, adding: I did my best, but we only have this.

Yuan Ye: Un.

Ji Xiaotao didn’t dare to say anything more. He was scared that Fang Shaoyi would prevent him from doing so. Besides, if they purposefully acted overly pitiful, that wouldn’t be ideal either. This was just enough. Ji Xiaotao didn’t respond. He didn’t know if he was doing the right thing. Logically, he shouldn’t get involved in someone else’s relationship problems, but he was pretty familiar with these two people. This was the only reason he dared to try.

A while later, Yuan Ye sent another message: You guys can’t go back to do it? Tell the makeup assistants to follow you to your room to remove the makeup.

Ji Xiaotao hurriedly replied: Yi ge won’t let us. It’s inconvenient. That stuff is all powdery or oily. We have to get in the car to get back. It’d be hard with all the makeup.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Fang Shaoyi had opened his eyes at some unknown time. He asked, “What did he say?”

Ji Xiaotao said, “Ye ge asked why we aren’t heading back to the hotel to remove your makeup.”

There were too many people around them. Fang Shaoyi didn’t say anything, only replying, “Don’t say anything bad.”

“Okay. I didn’t say anything else,” Ji Xiaotao said.

The makeup assistant looked up at Fang Shaoyi from the side. With a smile, she said, “I watched《In The Times》too. You and Teacher Yuan Ye have such a great relationship. Does Teacher Yuan Ye have a bad temper......?”

Fang Shaoyi said, “No, he has a pretty good temper.”

At night, the director came to hang out in Fang Shaoyi’s room. He chatted with Fang Shaoyi for a bit. In actuality, they had passed the date on Fang Shaoyi’s contract for the end of filming long ago, but it was extremely common for filming to last longer than scheduled. The director was also someone he was familiar with, so this wasn’t a big deal. Not to mention that he had skipped out on filming to go participate in the variety show. Though he had already done his best to rush and finish those scenes earlier, he had still caused quite a bit of trouble for the film crew.

The director told him, “You’ve worked hard. This scene is hard to film.”

“Everybody’s worked hard,” Fang Shaoyi smiled. “It takes time to create a masterpiece.”

“There’s nothing wrong with your following schedule, right?” Director Xin asked him with a smile. “Has Old Jiang made things difficult for you? Do you need Uncle to call him for you?”

Director Xin and Fang Shaoyi’s dad had a close relationship. On set, he called the other “director”, but in private, he called him “uncle”. Fang Shaoyi shook his head and said, “No. Rest assured and keep filming. I’m not in a hurry. Director Jiang won’t rush me if it’s your film.”

“If he does, tell me. I’ll speak with him,” the director said.

Fang Shaoyi nodded with a smile. After a few more minutes of conversation, he walked the director out.

As soon as the director left, Ji Xiaotao shot up from his chair. He stuffed Fang Shaoyi’s phone into his hand. “Ge! Ye ge called just now!”

Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows, then looked down at his phone. On it, a notification for a missed call was displayed. It truly was from Yuan Ye.

The nickname was the same as before: he had saved it as “Monkey”. Now, looking at it felt comical.

Fang Shaoyi set his phone off to the side. He wasn’t planning on calling back. He figured Yuan Ye wouldn’t call again either. Unexpectedly, though, before ten minutes had passed, his phone started ringing again.

——It was still “Monkey”.

Fang Shaoyi was slightly surprised. He pressed his lips together and picked up.