Chapter 61

Yuan Ye wasn’t the type to obediently lay in bed for a whole day. He behaved quite well the first evening. The second morning, Fang Shaoyi reminded him over and over that he couldn’t get out of bed and walk around. Yuan Ye very cheerily agreed, but within thirty minutes of the other’s departure, he had gotten up.

He just couldn’t stay lying down. He also didn’t like lying down. Yuan Ye pulled a chair over to use as a footrest and leaned back against the couch. He spent the whole day reading.

When Fang Shaoyi returned in the afternoon, Yuan Ye had already woken from a nap on the couch. He was in the middle of hopping on one leg out of the bathroom. Yuan Ye had originally wanted to lay back down in bed, nice and neat, prior to Fang Shaoyi’s return. This way, he could pretend like he had been obedient the whole day. However, before he could finish hopping back to the bed, the door had already opened. It was clearly too late for him to fake anything. Thus, Yuan Ye simply decided to pounce on Fang Shaoyi and sprawl out on the other as if he had no bones of his own. He said, “My foot hurts. Piggyback me.”

“Still walking around even though your foot hurts?” Fang Shaoyi knew that he couldn’t possibly obediently stay in bed. He also hadn’t counted on it.

Yuan Ye chuckled and said, “But I wanted to pee. How was I supposed to pee without getting up?”

As he spoke, he hopped forward another step on his sole functioning leg. He hopped behind Fang Shaoyi and wrapped his arms around the other’s neck. “Piggyback.”

“Piggyback.” Fang Shaoyi directly picked him up, took a few steps over to the bed, then set him down again. He pointed at Yuan Ye’s foot.

Yuan Ye very conscientiously lifted his leg up and rested it on its side against the edge of the bed. He looked up and told Fang Shaoyi, “Ge, I booked a flight for the day after the day after tomorrow. I’ll have to leave two days after tomorrow.”

Fang Shaoyi instinctively furrowed his brows and said, “That’s too soon.”

“I’ll definitely be fine in two days.” Yuan Ye was very nonchalant about his injured ankle. “They’re waiting for me. I have to go. Don’t worry, I know what I’m doing. Relax.”

Could Fang Shaoyi relax? But it also wasn’t possible for Yuan Ye not to leave. He had been scheduled to leave yesterday. This tiny accident had given him a few days leeway.《Hoarse》was close to the start of filming. There was a bunch of stuff lined up for Yuan Ye to do. He couldn’t delay everyone else simply because of his own personal issues. This wasn’t Yuan Ye’s style. Also, taking time off work to stay at home and recover due to a mere twisted ankle was an insult to Yuan Ye’s spirit.

Fang Shaoyi asked for a day off from filming to personally send him off. Yuan Ye did his best to prevent the other from doing so, but ultimately failed. Speechless, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi, “Ge, have I gotten injured too few times these past few years? I’ve finally gotten injured once so now you don’t know what to do? I only twisted my ankle, but you’re going with me? Taking the flight there and back with me?”

“Shut your mouth,” Fang Shaoyi scolded. His eyebrows were furrowed. “How many more times do you want to get injured?”

“I just want to tell you that you don’t need to send me.” Yuan Ye’s gaze was very sincere as he coaxed, “That’s too much. I’m not even limping when I walk now. What’s the purpose of you sending me off?”

“Why do you care?” Fang Shaoyi covered the other’s mouth with his hand. “I want to.”

Yuan Ye could only nod in exasperation. With a smile, he said, “Okay, okay.”

Actually, it was truly very hard to tell with the naked eye that Yuan Ye had twisted his ankle. He walked exactly the same way he always did. But Fang Shaoyi still sent him to his destination and made sure he had settled in nicely before returning. He flew back the same day. Someone even asked the two of them how they were doing at the airport – they also asked how Yuan Ye’s foot was.

Yuan Ye waved his hand while smiling to say that he was fine.

The news had gotten exposed that same night. Articles said that Yuan Ye had broken a bone, so Fang Shaoyi had taken him to get X-rays at the hospital. Several different reasons for the broken bone spread among the general public. The most plausible one said that the two of them had gotten into a car accident on the way to the film set. Fang Shaoyi had scraped by, unharmed, but Yuan Ye had broken his leg. Neither of them looked over the stuff online; these “news” articles were extremely annoying. However, they worried that their fans would get too anxious, so Ji Xiaotao eventually used Yuan Ye’s Weibo to make a post summarizing the situation. He said that Yuan Ye hadn’t broken his leg – he had merely twisted his ankle. Then, he told everyone that there was no need to worry.

There were also a lot of people under Yuan Ye’s Weibo saying that he deserved this. They said that this was karma after how many bad things he had done. Such comments were very vile. Fans immediately jumped in and started arguing back, refuting these malicious comments one by one. Then, onlookers and antifans continued their attack. Back and forth, these two groups of people cussed each other out. In the end, Ji Xiaotao deleted all these unharmonious comments. Regardless of if they were mean comments from antifans or retorts from fans, there was no need to keep them.

Even though Ji Xiaotao had been working in this industry for so many years, he still felt a bit uncomfortable reading these ill-intended comments. He still wasn’t calm enough. In the beginning, he even used a private account to comment under the post too: What bad things have Yuan Ye done? Did you see him do them? If even he has to suffer bad karma, then the powers above must be blind.

After posting this, though, he also felt like he had nothing better to do with his time. Why was he arguing with these stubborn antifans?

Yuan Ye happened to be very apathetic about these matters. If one cared about each rumor and fake story about them, their entire life would be passed in depression. Why do that?

“Your foot’s fine?” This was the first question Feng Leizi asked after seeing Yuan Ye.

“What does it look like to you?” Yuan Ye sat in a chair and lifted up the foot he had twisted. “Agile as a cat.”

“Well, you recovered quickly,” Feng Leizi commented.

Yuan Ye only chuckled in response. He changed the topic to start talking about official business.

Actually, Yuan Ye was faking all this. The first two days, his ankle had swelled and only felt a bit warm and numb. On the third and fourth days, the pain really started. He couldn’t put pressure on his ankle, but Yuan Ye couldn’t stand having to limp. He was also scared that Fang Shaoyi would start worrying too much, so acted like everything was fine.

How could Fang Shaoyi not know he was acting? A thin sheen of sweat had formed over his forehead while he had been walking.

Thus, when Fang Shaoyi called that night, he reminded Yuan Ye, “Keep your foot propped up at night. Soak your feet, use a warm compress, and don’t be lazy.”

“Ey, I’m almost completely healed.” Yuan Ye’s voice was pretty relaxed. He told the other, “I can’t really feel anything anymore. Film diligently. Don’t always think of me.”

Fang Shaoyi remained silent for over ten seconds. Yuan Ye’s tone was questioning. “Un?”

Before speaking again, Fang Shaoyi inhaled deeply. After, his voice carried the intent to compromise. However, it was also slightly solemn. He said something that caused Yuan Ye’s nerves to tremble. “If this were in the past......I probably wouldn’t be exposing your act.”

For a long time, Yuan Ye had no response. Eventually, he started laughing, but he still hadn’t said anything.

Fang Shaoyi’s voice was very soft. Through the phone, it sounded like he was right next to Yuan Ye’s ear. He questioned, “What are you laughing about?”

Yuan Ye rested his arm against his forehead. He lowered his voice and honestly replied, “Right now, my foot hurts. It hurts so much that I can’t fall asleep.”

He had said it. Saying it hadn’t been a big deal.

Fang Shaoyi lowly gave a sound of acknowledgement. After, he said, “I know.”

Yuan Ye used a finger on the hand holding his phone to gently scratch at the edge of the phone. He heard Fang Shaoyi say, “You thought that I couldn’t tell you were in pain?”

Yuan Ye closed his eyes. He suddenly felt very comfortable at this moment, like the pain had greatly lessened because he had spoken about it.

“You’ve changed a lot.” Yuan Ye’s eyes were shut as he laughed. He told Fang Shaoyi through the phone, “Occasionally, I’m a bit unused to it.”

Fang Shaoyi chuckled too. He asked, “Then should I go back to the way I was before?”

“Maybe not,” Yuan Ye answered. “I really like the new you.”

Later, Fang Shaoyi told him, “If this were in the past, I would’ve immediately asked for a few days off and flown back. I would’ve told them to film the next few scenes first and to let me leave for a few days. Then, you would’ve acted like you weren’t in pain while I would’ve acted like I was worried for no reason. This would’ve been fine.”

His words caused a faint smile to appear on Yuan Ye’s mouth. Fang Shaoyi continued, “But we ultimately have to do things a bit differently now. Otherwise, these past three years would’ve all been for naught, right?”

Yuan Ye replied, “Yes.”

Fang Shaoyi said, “I can always tell when you’re acting in front of me. I’ve mentioned this to you in the past too. So, if you want me to stop worrying, if you want me to stop overthinking, you need to tell me the truth.”

He spoke very slowly. On a night like this, his voice sounded very endearing and comforting. “If you say you’re in pain, I’ll be able to relax. If you say you’re fine and fully recovered, my heart will be in my throat from morning to night.”

At this time, Yuan Ye carefully listened to each word the other said. Almost instantly, he laughed and replied, “Whoever isn’t in pain is a bastard. I’m in so much fucking pain I want to fuck the heavens.”

Yuan Ye truly liked the way Fang Shaoyi was now. Also, he was starting to like this feeling of smooth sailing more and more. Sometimes, change occurred very suddenly. But also, it often occurred slowly, bit by bit in one’s unconscious mind. No matter what, though, if it was a beneficial change, then those affected by the change would definitely have an emotional response to it.

Such a response could give one a sense of security. It could also disperse certain worries from times past. Everything about this was great.

Previously, the project initiation for《Hoarse》had gone relatively smoothly. In the blink of an eye, they were close to the start of filming. Yuan Ye absolutely needed to stay on set. These were also part of the conditions he had agreed to in the contract he had signed.

Yang Siran had really been cast as the younger brother of the male lead. One reason was because his appearance suited the character. The director had also seen his performance in Director Jiang’s movie. Yang Siran had honestly done well. In addition to Yuan Ye’s recommendation and Geng Jinwei’s methods and money, it was no surprise that he had ended up with the role. It wasn’t so easy to get resources for melodramas. If melodramas couldn’t win any awards and sell their copyright to foreign countries, it was very likely that they would lose money. The company had invested in this movie, so technically, Yang Siran was joining the crew with resources. However, the director had actually carefully chosen him. Yang Siran had gone through three rounds of auditions. Additionally, there had been three finalist actors in total for the role. Yang Siran hadn’t been confirmed until the really end.

At the opening ceremony, Yuan Ye and Yang Siran were both present. There were a lot of people walking to and fro. Yang Siran walked up next to Yuan Ye and silently blocked him from the flow of people. Sometimes, when someone came over, he would gently hold onto Yuan Ye’s arm. This way, he would be able to help Yuan Ye maintain his balance quicker if someone actually bumped into him.

Yuan Ye smiled at him and said, “Thanks, little bro. However, you really don’t need to hold onto me. Your Ye ge isn’t that frail yet.”

Yang Siran softly replied, somewhat embarrassed, “I’ve twisted my ankle before too. It was actually half a year before I could rest all of my weight on that ankle again. If someone really bumps into you, you’ll definitely fall over.”

Yuan Ye glanced at him, then sighed and said, “Don’t expose me like that, little buddy.”

Yang Siran chuckled. He acted like a lackey and often followed Yuan Ye around. In reality, he hadn’t changed much from last time: in Director Jiang’s film crew previously, he had always followed Ji Xiaotao around too. Aside from the fact that he was a newbie and thus needed to be more diligent – hence taking the initiative to help Ji Xiaotao with tasks – he was actually looking for a sense of belonging. This was the reason he actively tried to stay close to the people he was more familiar with while in a foreign setting.

Yuan Ye didn’t dislike him. They had gotten pretty familiar with each other previously. Yang Siran wanted to follow Yuan Ye around, so Yuan Ye let him. Following Yuan Ye around was a very easy task. His conversations with others were usually quite interesting. Listening to him talk was often a pleasure. Additionally, following him around was a great learning experience, even if the things learned weren’t necessarily related to filming.

Occasionally, when they had nothing else to do, they also chatted with each other. Yuan Ye recalled a question he had had before, so asked, “Why did you sign to this company if you like music so much? There weren’t any music companies that wanted to sign you?”

Yang Siran nodded before saying, “There really weren’t. Also, I wasn’t planning on getting onstage initially. Writing songs is enough. It’s freeing.”

“Then how come you started acting in movies?” Yuan Ye questioned again.

“Boss Geng said I’m suitable for acting, so I signed with him,” he said with his head lowered while softly chuckling.

Yuan Ye observed his expression out of the corner of his eye. After a few seconds, he suddenly raised an eyebrow and asked, “Little bro, do you like anyone?”

Yang Siran lifted his head and gazed at Yuan Ye. Then, he nodded and said, “Yes.”

Yuan Ye glanced at him again. He burst into laughter with a pft. Yang Siran asked him, “Ge, what are you laughing about?”

Yuan Ye stared directly into the other’s eyes and straightforwardly inquired, “You like Geng ge, right?”

His question caused Yang Siran to freeze. Yang Siran opened his mouth, but didn’t answer. Yuan Ye sat up straight and stretched his arms. He told the younger, “Don’t worry. You don’t need to share with me.”

“I-it’s not something I can’t share with you.” Yang Siran lowered his head and tugged at his ear. He lowly said, “Yes, I like Boss Geng.”

Yuan Ye nodded. He wasn’t planning on saying anything else. Idle conversation was fine, but he didn’t really want to pry into anybody’s private matters.

But Yang Siran followed this up with, “......I’ve liked him for many years already.”