Chapter 1

A cigarette dangled between Yuan Ye’s teeth. He squatted in the emergency vehicle lane off the side of the freeway. His eyes were squinted because of the smoke as he looked at his phone. On it, a little director from a variety show was messaging him. The other sent him the details about the overview and contents of the program.

Yuan Ye typed out a response and sent it, cutting off the other’s endless messages: Wait a minute.

The little director on the other end: What’s wrong, Teacher Yuan?

Yuan Ye: Who told you to contact me? Geng Jinwei didn’t cancel the contract with you guys?

Little director: ……Teacher Yuan, I don’t understand what you mean.

Yuan Ye: Fang Shaoyi’s still attending this show? You guys confirmed with him?

The other instantly became confused because of his questions. They didn’t even dare to respond; they had probably rushed off to ask their boss.

Yuan Ye clutched his phone tighter. He furrowed his eyebrows. Cigarette ash landed on his pants. He lowered his head and blew it off, then flicked away the remaining residue with his fingers.

He had signed the contract for this show over a year ago. At the time, he and Fang Shaoyi had signed together as a CP, a package deal. It was a travel reality show for couples. A long time had passed since then, so the program hadn’t even crossed his mind at all. Fang Shaoyi had never liked attending variety shows. This one had only been reluctantly signed as well. Yuan Ye had assumed that he had dropped out of it long ago. After suddenly receiving this little director’s messages, he temporarily couldn’t wrap his mind around the situation.

A while later, the little director replied. He said he had confirmed with Teacher Fang’s side and that they didn’t have any issues.

Yuan Ye stood up. His legs were a bit numb from squatting for so long. He gently stomped his feet, then called Fang Shaoyi’s assistant Xiaotao.

The person on the other end answered very quickly. As soon as he picked up, he called out, “Ye ge?”

Yuan Ye greeted him before directly asking, “You guys didn’t cancel the show?”

“Which one?” Xiaotao inquired before realizing something. “You mean《In The Times》?”

Yuan Ye made a noise of acknowledgment.

“No. They contacted you? I was planning on telling you about it soon, Ye ge,” Xiaotao said from the other end of the line.

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Yuan Ye paused. He stuffed a hand into his pocket. He stayed like that with his head lowered. After a brief silence, he said, “Since I’ve already signed the contract, might as well go.”

He was originally planning on going to the neighboring city to visit some friends today. Halfway along the freeway, he felt his car getting heavier and heavier. When he stopped on the side of the road to check, he realized that both his front tires were flat. The car probably wouldn’t be able to move anymore if he continued driving it. If someone hadn’t purposefully popped his tires, he could only say that he had immensely bad luck. After hanging up, Yuan Ye directly sat on the railing by the side of the freeway and waited for someone to bring him tires.

The wind was a bit harsh today. His face felt dry after spending too much time outside.

When he got to his destination, the people in the private room had already consumed two rounds of alcohol. Upon seeing him enter, the one closest to the door, Ning Lu, walked over and swung an arm around his shoulders. He teased, “Yo, Great Master, we haven’t even finished up yet. Aren’t you here a bit early?”

Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow and made to leave. “So what do you want me to do? Walk out and come back in again later?”

The people in the room laughed and cussed at him. Ning Lu towed him over to sit down. He had arrived so late; there was no way he would be able to avoid getting forced to drink a few glasses.

Everyone in this room had been friends for several years. Some had been Yuan Ye’s high school classmates, so they had a great relationship. These people would often meet up with each other, but Yuan Ye rarely hung out with them. With his stinkin’ personality, it was exceptionally difficult convincing him to come out each time.

In the room, Yuan Ye smoked his cigarette and watched the group of people joke around. All the ones here were influential in some regard. There was even one who was a fairly popular variety show host. Yuan Ye had known him for the longest. This person was one of his best friends. They had met as children.

The host was named Guan Zhou. To outsiders, he was normally a mannerly gentleman. Behind closed doors and after some alcohol, he too was a giddy drunk. When a crowd had alcohol, they completely lost their brain-to-mouth filters when speaking. Dirty jokes were common and the topic of conversation would always turn indecent after a few sentences. Someone unknown asked, “Zhou, I heard something ?” Yuan Ye looked over. His eyebrow was half raised as he responded.

Guan Zhou stared at him and asked, “I heard……you’re going to attend our channel’s show?”

Yuan Ye didn’t have much of a reaction. He only made a soft sound of acknowledgment, “Ah.” Then, he asked without care, “It’s your channel’s show?”

Guan Zhou furrowed his brows. “What channel it’s on doesn’t matter. You’re sure?”

Yuan Ye withdrew his gaze. He looked around at the people causing a commotion and drinking alcohol. Everyone was having fun by themselves. No one could hear their whispered conversation. They seemed to be on the other side of a barrier. This was quite interesting. Yuan Ye chuckled and answered, “It’s nothing. Just a show.”

“Bullshit.” Guan Zhou took a puff of his cigarette. His expression looked foul. “Just stick to writing your stuff. Why are you trying to get into this industry? If you go on the show, you’ll have basically placed a foot in this industry. With your personality, are you waiting for people to cuss you out?”

The rims of Yuan Ye’s eyes were a bit red because of the alcohol. He scoffed. “Whatever. I can’t see their comments anyways.”

“What’s wrong with you?” Guan Zhou was a bit exasperated. “Those of you in the literary circle look down upon these things the most. Didn’t you criticize them as well in the past? What’s the point of attracting such a load of shit? In my opinion, you’ve become a dumbass.”

Yuan Ye had always been extremely stubborn and obstinate, like an unyielding donkey. He had a bad temper as well. Regardless of what Guan Zhou said that day, Yuan Ye maintained an unbothered expression. There was even a hint of a faint smile on his face. He never changed his mind.

Eventually, Guan Zhou had another cup of alcohol with him. He downed the whole thing. Perhaps because of the alcohol’s influence, his eyes turned red. He lowered his voice completely before pointing at Yuan Ye and saying, “……Quit bullshitting me!”

Yuan Ye looked over.

Guan Zhou rubbed his own face forcefully, then stared at Yuan Ye. He said, “I heard about it so fucking long ago. You think I really didn’t know just because I didn’t ask you about it? You and Fang Shaoyi fucking split up already!”

The hint of a smile that had been painted on Yuan Ye’s face now disappeared. He looked directly at Guan Zhou. After a long pause, he asked lowly, “Where did you hear that?”

Guan Zhou laughed coldly. He looked at Yuan Ye like the other was an idiot. “There are no secrets in this industry at all. Who can you hide these things from? Has water gotten into your brain for you to attend that dumb show with him? And to fake being a couple with him on it? I love you and you love me? If people don’t expose you completely, I’ll consider myself overly naive!”

For a long time, Yuan Ye didn’t say anything. He only silently turned his head to the side and lit a cigarette. His addiction had been really bad lately. People who stopped smoking then picked it up again always experienced return addiction with a vengeance.

“Ye ge,” Guan Zhou called him.

Yuan Ye answered.

This time, Guan Zhou was more straightforward with his questions. He left no room for misinterpretation. “You really got divorced? When?”

Yuan Ye set down his lighter. When the small, metal object made contact with the glass table, it made a clear clink. Yuan Ye nodded and answered, “Ah, we really got divorced.”

He lifted a hand and removed the cigarette from his mouth. The smoke flitted before his eyes. Yuan Ye was expressionless. “It’s been about a year.”

Ahh so excited to be starting this novel huhu.