Chapter 42

Fang Shaoyi had spent many years in the movie circle. He truly had debuted at a high point. With his background, there actually weren’t many people he had publicly become enemies with. His personality was like this. He wasn’t the type to easily feud with others. Besides, he didn’t act like he was better than anyone else. There generally weren’t any reasons for him to be on opposing sides with anyone.

This time, he technically had a public conflict with He Sai’s team. It was so bad that neither of them really communicated with each other. This lack of communication was mainly because of Fang Shaoyi’s side. He Sai and them wanted to communicate, but couldn’t find the opportunity to. However, this wasn’t considered a battle between their two teams. They couldn’t be compared to one another: one was too low, with methods that weren’t admirable at all, while the other was too lazy to bother with them.

Some fans actually managed to tell what Yuan Ye meant in his Weibo post, especially because CP fans were extremely sensitive to the nickname “Big Boss” in the first place. Because He Sai and Fang Shaoyi hadn’t collaborated or interacted in the past, many of the fans only learned that He Sai was also filming Director Jiang’s movie after that caption with “Big Boss.” Later on, Yuan Ye used this nickname too. Thus, He Sai was forced to delete his post whether he wanted to or not. Otherwise, what would he be considered?

When Ji Xiaotao brought the food in, Yuan Ye was in his pajamas. He had finished washing up and was waiting to eat. Fang Shaoyi was still sleeping in bed. Ji Xiaotao found it hard to keep his excitement hidden after seeing Yuan Ye. He soundlessly howled. Yuan Ye made a “sh” gesture at him, telling him to be quiet. Ji Xiaotao didn’t dare to stay for too long. He went back to his own room after staying for a short while.

Later, Fang Shaoyi flipped over, seemingly awake. Yuan Ye turned around to check on him. Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes and looked at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye tilted his head and smiled at the other, asking, “Get up and eat something before going back to sleep?”

Fang Shaoyi shook his head. Voice still raspy, he said, “Not hungry.”

Yuan Ye wasn’t adamant about getting him to wake up. He responded, “Then keep sleeping.”

Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes and blearily asked, “When are you going to be done eating?”

Yuan Ye’s shoulders shook with laughter after realizing what he was implying. He said, “Very soon.”

Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. In only a few seconds, he fell asleep again.

Yuan Ye got back in bed after he ate. He leaned against the headboard, scrolling through his phone. Fang Shaoyi swung an arm over him. Yuan Ye laughed silently, then used his fingers to gently scratch the other’s arm, like a cat. Yuan Ye made a post to his friend circle, saying: Fang Seven Years. The accompanying photo was a candid shot he had taken on set a few days ago. At the time, Fang Shaoyi had been sitting on the stairs outside the barbershop, looking at Yuan Ye. He had originally been deep in thought, but after discovering that Yuan Ye was taking a picture of him, his expression suddenly softened. He smiled too. He naturally looked handsome when he smiled, but in addition to the ray of sunlight, the picture appeared to have a peaceful and warm air.

Fang Shaoyi wrapped up all his scenes at the end of April. Yuan Ye needed to stay behind a few more days, because there were still some other shots that needed to be filmed even after Fang Shaoyi finished his scenes. He wasn’t completely done with his work yet. Fang Shaoyi’s last day on set was overcast. The last scene wasn’t the beginning or the end of the movie. It was only an ordinary scene with Fang Shaoyi giving someone a haircut. This was one of Jiang Linchuan’s habits. He liked shooting the special scenes during the middle of the filming period. The first and last scenes would only be normal scenes. Actors were most in character at the end of shooting, but he wanted them to use this strongly emotional state to shoot these ordinary things. The outcome always carried a slightly restrained air: smooth and soundless, long lasting and timeless.

That day, Yuan Ye was squatting on set. He watched as Fang Shaoyi brushed off the hair clippings from that person’s face and ears, like usual, after finishing the haircut. Then, he brushed off his neck. In the end, he robotically helped the person take off the barber cape and expressionlessly said, “Three RMB.”

That person glanced up at him. In the end, he only paid two RMB.

Fang Shaoyi stuck the money into the drawer and didn’t ask any other questions.

Things were always like this in the little village. He was always bullied and mistreated. Sometimes he realized, sometimes he didn’t. He was a killer. His purpose in coming here was to find someone and kill them. Originally, by the end of the movie, everyone in the village was supposed to seem like the person he wanted to find. But everyone also seemed like a killer that wanted to kill him. What each person’s identity truly was, what Sen Cha’s identity truly was – truth and lies, a muddled mess.

After adding the subplot, all the important parts, aside from the main character’s lines, were given to He Sai. The village’s introverted and gentle tailor became the side character with the most screen time. Originally, each person seemed like a killer, but also didn’t. After this edit, it seemed more like a conflict between the tailor and the main character. Now, the two of them were both killers and were each other’s targets. The existence of the other villagers was merely a cover-up for the tailor, a mystifying barrier from the truth.

Later on, they made up a few extra scenes between Fang Shaoyi and He Sai. He Sai didn’t dare to drag out the filming like he had done before. He did his best to act alongside Fang Shaoyi. However, he still somewhat failed. His aura was much weaker, meaning that his acting skills seemed much worse in comparison. Though he wasn’t young in age, his acting was young. Fang Shaoyi had always been a talented actor. Additionally, he had acted in movies from his teens till now. Compared to those actors who had never acted in movies and also never been forced to act better by directors, the distance between them was tens of thousands of miles. Each time the director yelled, “Stop,” He Sai would say something to Fang Shaoyi. Sometimes, this was, “Thank you, Shaoyi ge.” Others, it was, “Sorry, Shaoyi ge.” Fang Shaoyi usually would nod, but not say anything else to him. However, he wouldn’t purposefully make things difficult for the other. There was no need. He wasn’t so ill-mannered.

The entire feeling of the movie had changed. This was also why Yuan Ye and the director argued over every scene. This script was unacceptable in his eyes. Everything was illogical and contrasting. The cogs didn’t fit together. They got stuck with each rotation.

Fang Shaoyi needed to leave after filming all his scenes. There was a bunch of business at the company waiting for him. Geng Jinwei had started rushing him long ago. Fang Shaoyi had incessantly filmed movies for over a year, spending almost two years on different film sets. He had barely gotten a break. Yuan Ye was going to need a few more days. Fang Shaoyi returned first and waited for him.

After the usual celebrations, Fang Shaoyi wasn’t in a rush to leave. He waved at Yuan Ye, gesturing for him to come over. The film crew had already gone back to filming another scene. There weren’t too many people around them. Fang Shaoyi told Yuan Ye to sit in the chair. He gave him another haircut. The two of them were already very practiced at this; Yuan Ye watched from the mirror. Fang Shaoyi used a buzzer to go over his hair first before adding on the right clip size.

Yuan Ye asked him, “You need to go to France next month, right?”

Fang Shaoyi nodded. “Yes.”

Fang Shaoyi’s hand brushed Yuan Ye’s head. He made eye contact with Yuan Ye before lightly chuckling and saying, “Then I’ll wait for you.”

Yuan Ye looked at Fang Shaoyi in the mirror and made a noise of acknowledgment. With a smile, he said, “Just now, everyone was pushing around. I didn’t get the opportunity to say congratulations for wrapping up, Teacher Fang.”

Fang Shaoyi carefully buzzed the other’s hair. He said, “Thanks for all your care, Teacher Yuan.”

“You’re too polite,” Yuan Ye said while looking at him. “There’s still a lot of time left in the future.”

Prior to leaving, Fang Shaoyi left Ji Xiaotao for Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye didn’t know whether to laugh or cry as he pushed the other away, saying he didn’t need the accompaniment. Fang Shaoyi was worried that he would be at a disadvantage on set. Yuan Ye kept shaking his head. “I won’t. The director’s looking out for me. Besides, I’m not a little kid anymore. What, am I always at a disadvantage?”

Fang Shaoyi still couldn’t rest at ease, but Yuan Ye refused to let Ji Xiaotao stay behind, no matter what. Ji Xiaotao got pushed back and forth between the two of them. Neither of them wanted him. Xiaotao ge was a glorious existence at their company. But in actuality, nobody knew that Xiaotao ge got treated with disdain everyday and was often threatened with getting fired.

Yuan Ye truly wouldn’t be disadvantaged in any way. The movie was almost done filming. The last few scenes would only take a few days. It just happened to be that Yuan Ye was the type who liked doing things from start to finish. Otherwise, he could entirely leave along with Fang Shaoyi. No matter how dumb He Sai and them were, they didn’t actually dare to get into another argument with Yuan Ye. Who couldn’t tell that he and Fang Shaoyi had already reconciled?

When Fang Shaoyi returned, he needed to go to the company for several consecutive days. Shortly after, he would need to head to Cannes. Director Xin was taking《Wind Wanderer》, which meant that Fang Shaoyi definitely needed to go too. He had spent more time than scheduled on set and hadn’t left at all. In the next few days, he needed to decide on a suit and slightly work on his physique. He also needed to take care of his skin. These past few years, Fang Shaoyi had ruined himself so much that he almost appeared unhuman. He very rarely paid attention to his face.

Geng Jinwei told him, “I chose two good scripts. One starts filming in September and the other at the end of the year. If you don’t want to film either, just let me know. I’ll find a way to reject the invitations for you. One of them is by Director Wei and the other is by Director Zhuang. I figured they’ve already mentioned their films to you before. No matter what, though, I still had to wait for you to come back and look over the scripts, otherwise I won’t be able to reject them.”

Fang Shaoyi nodded. “Un, they both spoke to me already. I do truly want to take a break, though.”

Geng Jinwei cocked an eyebrow. “I’ve been telling you to take a break for a long time. Did you ever listen?”

Fang Shaoyi smiled and didn’t answer. He asked, “What month is Director Wei’s?”

“End of the year,” Geng Jinwei said. “It’s still early. Decide for sure before the end of June. If you decide not to accept, tell them earlier so they can start finding the next person.”

Fang Shaoyi squeezed the spot between his eyebrows and said, “Okay.”

Originally, Geng Jinwei wanted to hold a meeting now that Fang Shaoyi was back. There were some newly signed artists in their company that Fang Shaoyi had never met before. But Fang Shaoyi didn’t really want to attend a meeting. He said he would think about it later. He had never been too invested in the company; Geng Jinwei was in charge of all that. Geng Jinwei had long since stopped being a manager. Currently, Fang Shaoyi was the only one who still got resources from him. Additionally, there was also Yang Siran, who didn’t have a manager.

After returning, Ji Xiaotao felt quite surprised to find out that Yang Siran still didn’t have a manager. When he saw the other at the company, he asked, “What’s up? Still no manager?”

Yang Siran smiled and greeted Ji Xiaotao after seeing him. He first called out, “Xiaotao ge,” then nodded and answered, “Yeah, no manager.”

“But previously I heard that you were working with Old Yan? Yan ge is good.” Ji Xiaotao liked Yang Siran quite a bit. Little Yang had sided with Fang Shaoyi on set, purposefully annoying He Sai while filming with him, which caused Ji Xiaotao to feel close to this kid. In private, he said, “Yan ge’s a pretty good person and has a lot of resources too. You’d do well with him.”

Yang Siran didn’t say anything. He only shook his head. “Yan ge’s not managing me.”

“So what’s your situation now?” Ji Xiaotao asked him. “Who’s in charge of your work? Do you have an assistant?”

Yang Siran said, “I do have an assistant. As for work......Boss Geng is still the one giving me my schedules.”

Ji Xiaotao laughed, very amused. He even joked, “If you never get a manager and end up stuck with Geng ge, that’d be great. The star treatment. It’s been a long time since Geng ge has managed anyone new.”

Yang Siran lowered his head and pressed his lips together. He lowly said, “Boss Geng doesn’t want to manage me either.”

Ji Xiaotao patted him on the shoulder and comforted, “Don’t worry. You’ll get a manager sooner or later. I’ll help you put in a good word. They’ll choose a good manager for you.”

Ji Xiaotao obviously held some power in the company. Yang Siran very sincerely thanked him. “Thank you, Xiaotao ge. You’ve always taken care of me. But I don’t need a manager right now. I feel that everything now is... already fine.”

Ji Xiaotao laughed, “Are you dumb? Geng ge technically isn’t your manager. It’s really easy for you to get dropped if you continue down this current path. How could it be possible for Geng ge to manage something as trivial as your schedule? He doesn’t have the time or energy. Have you gotten any other schedules since you’ve returned from set?”

“No,” Yang Siran slowly said. “Boss Geng told me not to accept other random schedules. I should be dedicated to acting.”

“Then listen to him. Act diligently. You’ll be able to walk steadily forward if you do so,” Ji Xiaotao replied.

Yang Siran nodded and made a noise of acknowledgment. “I’ll listen to everything Boss Geng says.”

Later on, Ji Xiaotao mentioned this matter to Fang Shaoyi. He said that right now, Yang Siran still didn’t have a manager. The other was a promising artist, after all. Given proper guidance, it was very possible that he would become popular. Even if he didn’t have a personal friendship with Yang Siran, Ji Xiaotao would’ve still brought this topic up. Fang Shaoyi didn’t take care of these matters, though. He didn’t even recognize all of the managers in his company.

Additionally, Fang Shaoyi didn’t dare to butt into this youth’s business anymore. After all, he had ended up in a comical scandal with him in the past. Thus, he wouldn’t mention Yang Siran too much. Whether to avoid suspicion or for any other reasons, he wouldn’t mention him.

Fang Shaoyi had been on set, filming, for over a year, rarely returning. Even when he did return, he didn’t stay at home. The grass had already died in the yard. At the time, he had arranged for such a tight schedule for a reason. Those close to him knew this reason, even if he didn’t say anything about it. Jian Xu had even teased him because of this. “You’re divorced. Why aren’t you immediately using this opportunity to enjoy the single life? You’re still going to spend all your time on film sets?”

Fang Shaoyi had truly spent all his time on film sets this year.

The little house was the same as when he had left. Nobody had cleaned it during the past year. The pool was filled with dirt; property management had weeded the little garden in the front of the house, but hadn’t dared to touch anything else. Prior to leaving, Fang Shaoyi had specially said that nobody needed to clean this place. They could just leave it alone.

Nothing had changed inside, either. It was the same as before. After Fang Shaoyi returned, Ji Xiaotao found someone to completely clean the interior, mainly to get rid of the dust. The house had been empty for over a year. Though nobody had been living in it, dust still gathered. When the cleaning process was finished, the bedsheets also got changed into a brand new set.

After cleaning everything up, Fang Shaoyi offhandedly took a picture and sent it to Yuan Ye. He said: Waiting for you.

Later, Yuan Ye replied to him: Not going.

Fang Shaoyi sent him a question mark.

Yuan Ye responded with a smiley face.

Fang Shaoyi didn’t know where Yuan Ye’s strange smile was coming from. He called. Yuan Ye whispered, “I’m in a meeting, baobei’er.”

Fang Shaoyi lowered his voice too, “You dare to answer calls during meetings now?”

“The director’s not looking at me. He’s talking to someone else.” Yuan Ye lowered his voice even more and casually flirted, “Miss you.”

Suddenly, Jiang Linchuan’s loud voice sounded out from the other end of the phone. “Who are you missing? Come, put your phone on speaker. We’re in a meeting. Let me see who you’re missing.”

Fang Shaoyi chuckled and said, “Then go back to your meeting.”

Yuan Ye sighed and replied, “......I’ll call you back when I’m done.”

Three hours had already passed by the time Yuan Ye ended his meeting. When he called Fang Shaoyi back, his voice was a bit hoarse. “Are you asleep yet?”

Fang Shaoyi said, “No, I was waiting for your call.”

“My flight’s the day after tomorrow.” Yuan Ye chuckled, “I’ll be flying back the day after tomorrow.”

Fang Shaoyi laughed too. “Then I’ll go pick you up.”

“No need, just tell Xiaotao to come. Do what you need to do.” Yuan Ye seemed to have lit a cigarette, because Fang Shaoyi heard the soft click of the lighter.

Fang Shaoyi scolded, “Your voice is raspy. Smoke less.”

“Okay, okay,” Yuan Ye agreed with a smile. “Okay, ge.”

The two of them basically didn’t contact each other over the next two days. The second day, Fang Shaoyi spent the whole day picking out an outfit. After much deliberation, he ultimately decided on two suits. The day Yuan Ye returned, Ji Xiaotao said he would pick him up, but Fang Shaoyi told him to head back to the company. He personally drove to the airport.

Right now, the two of them were basically a honeymooning couple. The previous ten years seemed to not have existed. Their desire for romance wasn’t even the slightest bit less than those of youngsters. Fang Shaoyi didn’t dare to get out of his car to pick Yuan Ye up from inside the airport. He sat in the car and sent Yuan Ye a message, telling him where he was waiting.

He waited for almost an hour before Yuan Ye came out. Yuan Ye put his stuff in the trunk and slid into the passenger seat. He smiled at Fang Shaoyi and called out, “Yi ge.”

Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow and looked at him. He made a noise of acknowledgment.

On the way, Yuan Ye didn’t say much. Because he didn’t take the initiative to speak first, Fang Shaoyi didn’t say much either. He only asked if Yuan Ye was tired or not and if he wanted to eat anything.

Yuan Ye said, “Not hungry, but I am a bit tired. I’ll go back and nap for a bit?”

Fang Shaoyi hummed in agreement before asking him, “Back home?”

Fang Shaoyi was talking about the home they had shared previously. But Yuan Ye shook his head. He thought about it and said, “I mean back to my place. Do you know where that is?”

Fang Shaoyi glanced at him and nodded. “Yes.”

Yuan Ye laughed. With an eyebrow raised, he asked, “You know?”

“I know.” Fang Shaoyi laughed too. “I’ve always known.”