Chapter 9

The day prior to the start of filming for the second episode, Yuan Ye landed in the city where Fang Shaoyi was currently shooting his movie. Their second destination was Inner Mongolia, the grassland.

After getting off the plane, Yuan Ye directly grabbed his luggage and headed to the film set, which was located in a little village about 100 kilometers away from the city. On the way, the taxi driver kept telling him stories about all the celebrities who were here to film this time. It was rare for anyone to visit such a small place, not to mention that so many people had come this time. The driver asked Yuan Ye what he was here for. Yuan Ye thought about it before answering, “To do some odd jobs.”

The driver looked at Yuan Ye through the rearview mirror. He shook his head and said, “Doesn’t seem like it. You’re good looking. You seem like you’re here to act.”

Yuan Ye smiled. “I’m not. I hate cameras.”

Because Fang Shaoyi needed to film the variety show, he needed to rush through his work on set in advance. Sometimes, he would film day and night consecutively. The people acting alongside him would then need to rush too. Everyone was working very hard. It was only because this person was Fang Shaoyi, with his family background and status out there, that others wouldn’t outwardly express any resentment they felt, if they felt any.

When Yuan Ye got there, Fang Shaoyi was sitting next to the director and watching a replay on the monitor. The director was explaining the scene to a young actor. Fang Shaoyi sat beside him, silent. As he listened, he sipped on hot water.

“You need to immerse yourself in the emotions. When you’re supposed to cry, you need to cry. Nobody is capable of not crying when faced with such a scenario——your family and friends dying in front of you, one by one,” the director said.

The young actor was new. He had been chosen by Director Xin and this was his first time acting. He couldn’t really get a good grasp on his character.

The director told him, “Though he’s someone who’s bad at expressing his emotions and has a somewhat dull personality, that doesn’t mean he’s cold-blooded or indifferent. He wouldn’t make the same expression in every situation.”

The young actor nodded. It seemed like he had understood, but he also appeared a bit stumped. He sheepishly smiled, “Director, I’m afraid that I won’t be able to cry.”

The director’s expression was strict. With furrowed brows, he said, “You need to cry. If you’re unable to cry for this scene, you might as well never act again. This isn’t crying for love or some other trivial matter; it’s about life and death. Your entire family died in front of you and you’re telling me you aren’t able to cry? Then you’re still you. You’re not the character in this movie.”

Yuan Ye had actually been here for a while. He stayed a bit off into the distance behind them and didn’t move any closer. Nor did he speak. He sat on his own suitcase, both legs resting on the ground as he listened to the director explain. To be honest, he wanted to listen to Fang Shaoyi speak about the plot, but Fang Shaoyi was just holding onto a thermos flask and remaining completely silent. In the past, Yuan Ye had loved hearing Fang Shaoyi talk about these things. He had also loved watching Fang Shaoyi act.

Some people were born to be actors. As long as they were on set, their entire being would seem to start glowing. They became extremely charismatic. Fang Shaoyi was one of these people.

The young actor left. The director looked at the replay on the monitor again and asked Fang Shaoyi, “What do you think?”

Fang Shaoyi didn’t say anything, only gently shaking his head.

The director sighed and smiled in exasperation. “We’ll have to take it slow. His image matches the character too well. A pity that he can’t act.”

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Fang Shaoyi didn’t say anything else. He took another gulp of water to soothe his throat, then lowered his gaze and said, “Everyone goes through that stage. That’s how we all got here.”

Yuan Ye laughed soundlessly from behind them. Fang Shaoyi was still Fang Shaoyi. Some people were born of different backgrounds than others. With different upbringings, their attitudes regarding resolving issues could be tremendously different. Though Fang Shaoyi had a high status, he never acted arrogant or brash on set. He rarely spoke, but not because he looked down on anyone. This was merely his personality – he didn’t really like talking so much. As long as young actors went up to him with questions, he would always answer them.

This sounded simple, but was actually quite rare in the entertainment industry. This was a very materialistic industry. It praised the mighty but stepped on the poor. People’s power originated from their worth and what resources they had. Fang Shaoyi appeared distant because of his constantly cold and aloof expressions, but he didn’t act like he was better than anyone, nor was he interested in ruining anyone. He never held himself higher than anybody else, never looked down on the rest of the world.

They were all film emperors, but there were differences in morals between film emperor and film emperor too.

Later on, it was Ji Xiaotao who saw Yuan Ye first. He had just left to get medicine for Fang Shaoyi, so had headed to the village along the way. He bought some stuff, including soup for Fang Shaoyi, the director, producer, and director of cinematography.

When he saw Yuan Ye, he was a bit surprised. He shouted, “Ye ge?”

Fang Shaoyi and the director both turned around. Yuan Ye smiled at them and raised an arm in greeting. He asked Ji Xiaotao, “Can you not be so loud every time you see me?”

“I couldn’t control myself.” Ji Xiaotao first walked over to give the director and them their soup and food. Then, he quietly asked Yuan Ye, “How come you’re here, Ye ge? You should’ve called me to go pick you up!”

Yuan Ye answered, “No need. I took a taxi over. Either way, we have to start filming again tomorrow. I’m a day early so I can wait here.”

Fang Shaoyi glanced back at him, but didn’t stand up or walk over. He remained seated next to the director, chatting with the other. The director drank his soup while speaking. Fang Shaoyi nodded and continued their conversation.

Fang Shaoyi didn’t walk over until they had finished their discussion. They hadn’t seen each other in a week, but he didn’t seem overly excited to see Yuan Ye. There were no extraneous expressions on his face. Ji Xiaotao handed a thermos flask to him. After Fang Shaoyi opened it, white steam drifted out. The director and everyone else had normal boxes for their food; Fang Shaoyi’s was one he had specially brought for himself.

Neither of these two were speaking to each other. Ji Xiaotao felt slightly awkward. He asked Yuan Ye, “Ye ge, have you eaten yet? Do you want to eat a pancake? He’s a bit sick, so is drinking soup to try and sweat it out.”

Yuan Ye nodded and said, “I already ate. No need to worry about me.”

Ji Xiaotao responded, “Ye ge, give your stuff to me. I’ll arrange a room for you.”

Yuan Ye looked at Fang Shaoyi. This person was noticeably sick. His nose was a bit red. He asked Ji Xiaotao, “You guys just stay here every night?”

“

Thus, Yuan Ye nodded and said, “Okay. You’ve worked hard, Xiaotao.”

At night, Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye each slept in their own beds, on different sides. Neither spoke to the other. Yuan Ye could hear Fang Shaoyi’s muffled coughing. After enough time, his throat started getting hoarse.

Yuan Ye pulled out his phone and sent Ji Xiaotao a WeChat message: Has he taken his medicine tonight or not?

Ji Xiaotao sent back: I gave it to him, but I don’t know if he ate it or not!

Ji Xiaotao: How about you ask him?

Yuan Ye replied: Un.

Yuan Ye put his phone down and stuffed it under the pillow. He turned around so that he was facing the wall and no longer looking at Fang Shaoyi. He cleared his throat and spoke, “Yi ge, did you forget to take your medicine?”

“No.” Fang Shaoyi only responded a few seconds later. In a raspy voice, he asked, “I disturbed your rest?”

Yuan Ye furrowed his brows in the dark. He placed his arm over his head and responded, “No, I just feel like you must be very uncomfortable.”

After, the room fell into complete silence. No one spoke again. No one coughed again. Yuan Ye couldn’t hear Fang Shaoyi’s coughing anymore. He wanted to flip around to check, but also felt that it was honestly too quiet; flipping would be too loud.

A long time later, or maybe it had only felt like a long time but had really been merely a few minutes, Yuan Ye heard Fang Shaoyi speak up again. His voice was both low and coarse, filled with the slightest hint of mockery. As it traveled into one’s ear through the dark, it felt like sandpaper, capable of rubbing off a layer of one’s heart——

“You can still feel whether or not I’m uncomfortable?”

“Can you?”