Chapter 58

Originally, Yuan Ye had been planning on staying sprawled out on Fang Shaoyi for a bit longer. This way, he could swing onto the other’s front half as soon as he hung up the phone. However, this phone call ended up lasting almost an hour. Eventually, Yuan Ye climbed off Fang Shaoyi’s back by himself. Seeing as the call probably wasn’t going to end anytime soon, he turned to pull his pants back on.

Fang Shaoyi watched as he put his pants on. While doing so, Yuan Ye grinned at him. Fang Shaoyi gestured for Yuan Ye to come. Yuan Ye walked over and sat on the couch with him. Fang Shaoyi’s arm rested on his shoulders. He said into the phone, “Un, please speak.”

Yuan Ye diligently listened to the phone call. Later on, Fang Shaoyi simply put the call on speaker. Yuan Ye quietly listened to their conversation, not interrupting. Wei Hua’s voice was already raspy through the phone. He sighed and said, “That’s the situation. I don’t need to go into too much detail with you. We’ve already been filming for three months. Even without me telling you, you know how hard things are right now.”

“I do.” By the end, Fang Shaoyi’s expression had darkened considerably too. He told Wei Hua, “I’ll give you my response tomorrow? Don’t be too worried now. Don’t get sick either. The path of success is often littered with obstacles.”

Director Wei laughed bitterly through the phone. “Hopefully so. To tell you the truth, I’ve grown several ulcers on my mouth. The other teachers in our film crew told me to call you from the start, but I wasn’t willing to. You know me. I’m really unwilling to force others into anything. Things filmed reluctantly won’t turn out well either. But I honestly have no other choice right now. There truly isn’t anyone else I can find who’s free at this moment and can handle my films.”

Fang Shaoyi said, “I understand.”

Wei Hua continued, “I won’t say anymore. Just think of it as you helping me out last minute. I’ll wait for your call. Tell me if you’re okay with it or not.”

Fang Shaoyi replied, “Definitely.”

After he hung up, Fang Shaoyi looked at Yuan Ye. Yuan Ye had been staring at him too. Without waiting for Fang Shaoyi to say anything, Yuan Ye spoke up first. “Ge, you have to go.”

Fang Shaoyi made eye contact with him. Given how well they understood each other, he didn’t need to say anything else. Yuan Ye furrowed his brows and continued, “It’s fine if you refused to take this role prior to the start of filming, but right now, the director needs you to save him. No matter what, you have to go. My guess is that Director Wei wouldn’t have called you unless he really had no other ideas. Disregarding the fact that you’re free right now with nothing to do, even if you really had something to do, you’d still have to do your best to push those arrangements off first.”

The phone call Wei Hua had made just now was truly about official business. Fang Shaoyi hadn’t accepted the invitation to join 《Utterance》, but he had also told Director Wei way in advance so that the other would have time to prepare. And Director Wei had really started preparing early on. After going through many different actors, he finally chose one. Prior to the start of filming, he had dropped the other off in Shanxi to allow him to get used to village life. This was to help him disperse that exaggerated celebrity air surrounding him. Things had gone relatively smoothly after the start of filming too. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had even visited set during the initial stages of filming. That actor was alright at acting, and also pretty explosive.

However, they had learned through the phone call just now that that actor had asked for a day off to celebrate his girlfriend’s birthday last week. After that, he was never able to return to set again. He had gotten arrested for using drugs.

Right now, his management company was doing all they could to keep the news under wraps. They didn’t want any headlines. However, these types of things couldn’t be kept secret. They would explode sooner or later. No matter what, this actor couldn’t be used anymore. All the scenes previously filmed needed to be refilmed with someone else too. They had already started filming for a long time. There was no way to pause the production. The costs for the entire film crew each day were practically burning through their finances. The only thing to do now was to immediately find a replacement actor. Fang Shaoyi was the top choice for this replacement, but Director Wei had only called him now, even though the incident had occurred a week ago. It was easy to tell that he had tried to come up with other solutions. He didn’t want to force Fang Shaoyi into doing something because of their close relationship. By now, he was probably already at the end of his wits.

It wasn’t that he couldn’t find any actors; it was that all the good actors had already finalized their schedules over a year ago, some even earlier. Right now, if he wanted to find someone who could immediately enter the film crew to start filming – and this someone’s acting skills had to be good enough for Wei Hua’s movies – there really wasn’t anyone else.

Fang Shaoyi pinched the spot between his eyebrows. Yuan Ye squeezed the other’s wrist. His palm was very warm. He gazed at Fang Shaoyi and said, “I know why you don’t want to film. We’ve never had a conversation about this topic either. One reason is that I’m scared that we’re going to start arguing again if we talk about it. I have no brain to mouth filter. Additionally, I want you to take this opportunity to get a good rest too. You’ve been too tired these past two years.”

Yuan Ye swung one of his legs over so that he was sitting on top of Fang Shaoyi, facing him. Both his knees were pressed against the couch. Yuan Ye pinched the other’s chin and lifted his head up so that they were making eye contact. Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow and lightly chuckled. “......This move.”

“Handsome?” Yuan Ye asked while laughing too. After, he wiped the smile off his face and became serious again. “Ge, don’t be muddle-headed. We can sort out our problems slowly. Also, I believe that the two of us won’t make the same mistake a second time. I believe in both you and myself.”n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Yuan Ye’s gaze was very determined as he said “believe.” At this time, the charisma he was exuding was probably very hard for anyone who called themselves his lover to withstand.

One of Yuan Ye’s hands reached forward to rest against the couch so that he could maintain his balance. His other hand was on the back of Fang Shaoyi’s head. He gently tugged at the other’s hair and asked, “What are you scared of?”

“A lot of things.” Fang Shaoyi lowly repeated, “A lot of things.”

Yuan Ye had very hard bones. He was a man from the mountains. He had grown up while tumbling and stumbling, so both his skeletal structure and personality were tough. He didn’t have elegant lines of muscle like Fang Shaoyi, but he was definitely quite strong. His chest and back were full of the strength and power of a grown man.

“You’re scared that I won’t like it?” Yuan Ye softly asked. “Scared that I’ll do what I did in the past and push both you and the environment away?”

Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment. A while later, he slowly explained, “I’m scared too that you’ll still want to leave one day......that you’ll want to speak up but not be able to, again and again.”

His one sentence had crushed Yuan Ye’s heart into pieces.

Fang Shaoyi had never said anything like this before. He seemed to never share his innermost thoughts with others, whether at a young age or now. He never said what he thought; you needed to comprehend and guess his thoughts for yourself. Yuan Ye knew he was like this and was also used to it. He very rarely interrogated the other. This was simply Fang Shaoyi’s personality. There was no need to forcefully change him into someone else. Just like how Fang Shaoyi never forced Yuan Ye to stop talking – aside from times when he worried that the other would offend someone else. One was extraverted and one was introverted. They had always been like this.

This was the first time in a long time that Yuan Ye had heard Fang Shaoyi talking about his feelings. He hadn’t been roundabout or tried to express his message in a different way. Instead, he had straightforwardly said it: he was scared. But this was too lethal. Yuan Ye’s eyes were even a bit red. He kissed Fang Shaoyi’s head and said, voice hoarse, “Don’t be scared.”

Yuan Ye said, “I can only bear the cost of separating once. There won’t be a next time.”

Yuan Ye could understand Fang Shaoyi’s emotional struggle. Right now, he really didn’t want to accept any new roles. Especially given the trouble He Sai and them had just caused. This made Fang Shaoyi more resolute about not participating in any films within a short period of time. If Yuan Ye’s other identity wasn’t Fang Shaoyi’s lover, if he was only a littérateur, he would be a lot freer than he was now. There also wouldn’t be so many people criticizing him. Weren’t the frustrations of this industry that Yuan Ye experienced also frustrations for Fang Shaoyi? Each character and word cussing Yuan Ye out was also stabbing Fang Shaoyi’s heart.

But the person calling was Director Wei. Fang Shaoyi had benefited from the other’s kindness before and their relationship was extremely close. He needed to help the other out in his time of need. Fang Shaoyi looked cold, but inside, he was a very loyal person. Each sentence Director Wei had said during this phone call had been from the bottom of his heart. During such difficult times, if Fang Shaoyi could still coldly watch on from the side, he wouldn’t be Fang Shaoyi anymore.

Later on, Yuan Ye said, “I want to watch you act in films. I fell in love with you initially because of your movies too.”

Fang Shaoyi silently pressed a kiss onto Yuan Ye’s collarbone. He listened to Yuan Ye’s deep and gentle voice as the other gently chuckled by his ear, then said, “The you by my side is my heart......but the you in movies is my dream.”

Yuan Ye went to the film set with Fang Shaoyi. They directly flew over the next afternoon. There was no need to say anything after arriving on set. When they handed the contract over, Fang Shaoyi merely scanned it before signing. His wages were extremely low, much lower than any previous time. Director Wei said, “I’m not trying to scam you. We wasted too much money in the early stages, almost to the point that we can’t afford to refilm all those scenes. I still need to bargain with the investors. I can’t give you too much money, but I’ll remember this favor and repay it in the future.”

Fang Shaoyi shook his head. “Leader, between us, there’s no need to talk about such things.”

Wei Hua’s throat was hoarse. The ulcers around his mouth had already scabbed over. He looked really frail too. It was always very troublesome switching actors halfway through a production, not to mention that the actor getting switched out was the male lead. All their prior work had gone to waste. Also, nobody liked old things. It would be very difficult bringing out the same emotions when filming the second time as compared to the first. Thus, Fang Shaoyi was even more needed. Using his acting skills, he could do his best to rejuvenate the entire cast’s emotions once more. If each new scene was better than the original, refilming wouldn’t be considered a last resort anymore. It would be a complete upgrade.

This film wasn’t a blockbuster. Director Wei was in pursuit of the movie’s plot and didn’t care for anything else. But the producers, investors, etc. all had very high hopes for this movie. Not for ticket sales, but for awards. The investors understood things quite clearly. If they invested more money and the film didn’t win any awards, on top of the lack of ticket sales, they would be losing money. The investors didn’t want to pay any more. Director Wei’s own studio had also invested eight million already. He honestly couldn’t afford spending anything else.

Fang Shaoyi said, “I’ll pay for what’s still missing. You guys just rest at ease and film. Don’t worry about anything else.”

The executive producer had been present too. He was in charge of the finances. At the time, he had patted Fang Shaoyi’s shoulder, but hadn’t said anything.

Wei Hua shook his head and replied, “I don’t need you to. I’ll figure something out.”

“Don’t waste time thinking about these things. You simply need to use your brain to figure out how to change the plot.” After saying this, Fang Shaoyi told the producer, “I’ll have Geng ge contact you tomorrow. You can go over the details with him.”

Actually, in this past week, the entire film crew had long since started panicking. In the beginning, only a few core members of the team knew that the actor had been arrested. They had tried to keep this news under wraps in order to avoid causing general panic. But how could that work? For a long time, the actor didn’t appear. They couldn’t keep the secret for too long. This week, all of the film crew members had been anxious. What’s going to happen to our movie? Will we be able to continue filming it? It won’t die here, right?

Fang Shaoyi’s arrival undoubtedly gave everyone new courage. The director hadn’t randomly grabbed an actor off the street to fill in the hole. This was the first choice actor from when the script had initially been written. Not only was he a good actor, he was also bringing money and resources onto set. He himself had resolved two big issues. Everything remaining was only trivial.

Yuan Ye had come over to help look over the script. Previously, because Fang Shaoyi wasn’t acting in this movie, they had deleted a lot of scenes requiring a subtle emotional performance. This was because they had feared that the other actor wouldn’t be able to express these emotions. Now, a lot of scenes needed to be edited. Lines needed to be changed too.

The screenwriter asked Yuan Ye, “Little Yuan, stay here and help me?”

Yuan Ye said, “I’ll definitely do what I can, but I also have a different job on hand. When they don’t need me, I’ll be able to help.”

“While you stay the next couple of days, you can discuss with me.” The screenwriter was one of Director Wei’s old collaborators. In both the screenwriting circle and literary circle, he was an extremely respected senior: one of the people at the topmost part of the pyramid. Yuan Ye had always admired him greatly. This had started when he had been quite young.

Yuan Ye nodded and said, “Okay, no problem.”

The two of them had arrived on set suddenly. Ji Xiaotao was still at the company. He still had a bunch of matters to take care of – it wasn’t like he could just drop them and go. There at least needed to be someone he could dump this stuff on. Fang Shaoyi told him, “Or you could just stay at the company. You’re not that young anymore.”

“No, no no no,” Ji Xiaotao replied without thinking about it. “I need to follow you around until I’m old. When you’re not filming, I’ll stay at the company. But when you head out to work, I’m definitely tagging along. Ye ge’s leaving in a few days. Who’s going to talk to you if you’re alone?”

The phone was on speaker. Yuan Ye chuckled and said, “How nice would it be if you were a manager at the company. Are you stupid?”

“Ye ge, don’t start siding with my ge to try and persuade me! How lonely would it be?” Ji Xiaotao asked. “Or is it that I’ve done a bad job? You guys think I’m too old? You want to switch to a younger one?”

Because he said this, Yuan Ye immediately responded, “No! Come! Come immediately! Come tomorrow!”

Ji Xiaotao’s voice lowered. He sounded quite disappointed. “Either way, if you guys want to switch assistants, I don’t mind. I’ll find a hardworking and honest one for you.”

Fang Shaoyi laughed. Yuan Ye did too. Yuan Ye said into the phone, “Okay, quit faking it. We’re not telling you that you can’t come. Stop acting so childish.”

“Hahahaha, okay.” Ji Xiaotao stopped acting too. He cheerily said, “I’ll be over after I deal with the mess on my hands!”

Actually, the shitstorm online hadn’t even ended yet. He Sai’s side had finally benefited from acting pitiful. “Righteous” netizens pitied him for a different reason everyday. Some extremely absurd netizens had even started perceiving Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi as horrible bullies. He Sai was determined to flirt with death. Yuan Ye couldn’t possibly argue with him publicly. That was too below him. However, it also wasn’t possible for Geng Jinwei to let He Sai’s disgusting transactions remain hidden.

Those scandals had all been unearthed by “netizens”. Some had also been exposed by gossip accounts. Truth and lies became mixed together, but these scandals continued one after the other. Didn’t he want attention? If you want attention, then we’ll give you attention. There were also a lot of people who, after reading the news about He Sai, felt that Yuan Ye had definitely felt disgusted by him too. Otherwise, why hadn’t he criticized anyone else? You were the one who shamelessly asked to be double male leads. Simply cussing you out can’t even be considered that bad.

He Sai wasn’t scared of being criticized at all. Celebrities these days simply weren’t scared of scandals. Aside from cheating, domestic abuse, using drugs, and other irreparable crimes, everything else could be justified in time.

The attention had been given to you now. Whether or not you would be given the opportunity to redeem yourself was unknown, though.

There was a bunch of stuff to do after Fang Shaoyi arrived on set. The two of them no longer had the time to pay attention to those rumors online. They had better things to do. No matter how exhilarating the arguments got online, they couldn’t see them. Nobody else on set was bored enough to pay attention to those baseless rumors either. The film set had basically closed and then reopened. Their prior work had all been deleted. All things, both trivial and critical, needed to be reset. Even the clothes needed to be remade. The two male leads were a size apart. Fang Shaoyi was bigger than the original actor.

This time, Fang Shaoyi’s character was an educated youth. After spending several years in a village, unable to return, that aura denoting him as a city-dweller had long since been eroded away. In his youth, he had fallen in love with a girl in the village. The two of them spent an extremely romantic period of time in these mountains and forests. At the time, he had been an immature and gentle youth, but also a little bit reckless. However, he was adorably stubborn. This kind of boy was bound to be enchanting. The eventual story was destined to be unhappy, though. The girl became pregnant. Their romance became discovered by others. During a struggle, he personally watched as the girl started bleeding, then was sent away to the hospital in the city, face deathly pale.

And then she never returned. Some people said she ran away, others said she had passed away.

Year after year, he waited. But year after year, he was disappointed. The cloth strip tied onto the highest branch of the tree, the lookout spot at the top of the mountain – all were for naught. Later on, he often muttered to himself. Nobody else could understand what he was saying. Many said that he had gone crazy. He was sometimes normal, sometimes stuck in his own world. Even until the end, nobody could discern what he was muttering. Finally, his mutters fused with the sound of the wind blowing through the cloth strip at the top of the tree. They sounded like the utterances of the wind.

This topic was very bold. Even starting the project had required a bit of effort. Stories from certain time periods were less and less likely to be allowed to air, especially because some parts of the plot were challenging the regulations of inspection. It was probably going to be hard to avoid extreme editing and deleting of scenes eventually.

The female actress was a rookie. She was only twenty two, very young. Director Wei had mentioned her before. After so much practice, she could finally get into character. When she saw Fang Shaoyi, she was a bit nervous. She bowed and greeted him, calling out, “Teacher Fang.” Then, she looked at Yuan Ye and called out too, “Teacher Yuan.”

Fang Shaoyi waved. He said, “There’s no need to be so polite. Just call us Shaoyi ge and Yuan Ye ge.”

The female actress smiled a bit shyly. She said, “I’m a little nervous.”

Yuan Ye chuckled. He asked her, “Are you scared that the two of us are gonna yell at you because you read the stuff online?”

As soon as he said this, everyone around them started laughing. The little girl hurriedly shook her head. “No, no. I didn’t believe that stuff. Everyone in the film crew says that you two teachers are very kind.”

Yuan Ye smiled and said, “They’re just placating you. When Teacher Fang’s expression darkens later, he’s going to start scolding someone.”

The onlookers started laughing again. Fang Shaoyi gently knocked Yuan Ye’s head with his script. “Quit making stuff up.”

“I’m brightening up the atmosphere for you guys. All of your faces look so glum. Almost scared me to death.” Yuan Ye chuckled while saying.