Chapter 2
Yuan Ye had been a little rascal since birth, often causing trouble. He seemed to have naturally been born without rule-abiding bones, never allowing his family members to relax. His father, Yuan Anping, was a professor of the humanities: he was a researcher of ancient Chinese culture. Thus, for his entire life, he had been boring and disciplined. He often stated with an exasperated smile, “The only thing I’ve done in this lifetime that was out of line was giving birth to Yuan Ye.”
Yuan Ye and his father were completely different. He was too talented, and also extremely intelligent. In elementary school, he consecutively skipped three grades. He skipped a grade in middle school as well. Later on, because of a fight with someone in high school, he got held back a year after injuring the other person.
He was naughty, rebellious, and had a bad temper. As a consequence, he often caused trouble and was also a magnet for trouble. Though his parents would get angry at him for this, too, they ultimately indulged in him in their hearts. Which boy wasn’t naughty? Rascals were all like this – the really well behaved and really obedient ones didn’t act like boys.
When it came time for splitting classes in high school, his family wanted him to choose sciences. But Yuan Ye chose humanities of his own accord. After spending a year there, he then transferred to the sciences class. Two months later, he found it utterly boring, so returned to humanities. Even though his family wanted to control him, they couldn’t. He had too many ideas, to the point that there was no use in his family lecturing him because he wouldn’t listen anyways.
When Yuan Ye started university, he was three to four years younger than everyone else in his classes. Everyone else was eighteen or nineteen in their first year of university; Yuan Ye was only fifteen. He had already promised his parents he would apply for a management related major, but when it actually came time for filling out applications, he suddenly changed his mind and applied for a Chinese major. In his case, nothing seemed to follow protocol or progress normally. Regardless of the situation, he would definitely manage to come up with a bad idea eventually. His family had already gotten used to these habits. They knew this was his personality.
But eventually, when Yuan Ye was twenty, he suddenly came home and said that he was getting married.
It was summer. Yuan Ye thought that it was too hot, so shaved his head bald. He had only just grown out some stubble about the length of someone’s beard. At the time, he rubbed his hairless head and smiled a shameless smile. “Dad, Mom, I’m getting married.”
That day, Yuan Anping kicked Yuan Ye out of the house in anger.
His family had always treated his relationship with Fang Shaoyi as two boys playing around. They were waiting for him to announce their split someday. Before Yuan Ye had even graduated from his master’s program, he had gone home and told his parents that he was going to get married to Fang Shaoyi. His family was firmly against this, telling him it was impossible. Yuan Ye was only twenty, still an immature child. Getting married to someone who acted in movies? The entertainment industry was a giant mess. How could they let Yuan Ye marry someone who was part of that crowd?
They couldn’t officially get married at age twenty anyways. Two more years passed. The day after Yuan Ye’s twenty second birthday, he and Fang Shaoyi got their marriage certificates.
Only then did he head home and cheekily placate his parents.
At the time, his dad told him, “You aren’t taking yourself seriously enough. Sooner or later, you’ll feel regretful.”
Back then, Yuan Ye had been at that age where he wasn’t scared of or impressed by anything. He nodded and said, “If I end up regretful, I’ll take it. Life itself is a play. No matter how we live, it’s a play. I’ll act out my own play.”
That year, Yuan Ye also wrote a book. It was named&#k300J;Stubborn&#k300K;. When flipped open to the first page, there was only one sentence where the author’s introduction was&#k2014;&#k2014;
Yuan Ye isn’t an author or anything, only a stubborn person.
That year, Fang Shaoyi was twenty five. Yuan Ye was twenty two. They were the youngest to get married in the entertainment industry. Everyone else treated it as a joke. They couldn’t tell if these two were doing it for the publicity or were truly so naive. Either way, most people were waiting to see when they would divorce. Fang Shaoyi was extremely charming. That day, he wore a white suit: tall and handsome, terribly attractive and charismatic. Yuan Ye was so endeared that his eyes became red with desire. At the time, Yuan Ye had jokingly told the other, “Ey, if we end up getting divorced in the future, you’re never allowed to wear a white suit again.”
At the time, Fang Shaoyi had glanced at him, then furrowed his brows and said, “What bullshit are you saying.”
Yuan Ye answered with a grin, “I’m being serious.”
In front of everyone else, these two had to be secretive when exchanging conversation. Their expressions didn’t change; the elegant and mannerly smiles remained on their faces. Only when they were close enough that nobody else could hear did Fang Shaoyi lower his voice and whisper, “Little monkey, don’t act wildly. Today I’m getting married. Shut your infuriating mouth.”
At the time, Yuan Ye had leaned his head back and roared with laughter. His entire being emanated an aura of ruffian silliness.
Fang Shaoyi’s gaze back then had been full of exasperation and indulgence when looking at Yuan Ye. He had never been able to do anything about this wild monkey. Since the very beginning, he had always been an honest person, disdainful of hiding his relationship, uncaring of whether or not it would affect his future career. He disregarded all else and was determined to publicly date and get married, announcing their passionate and fervent love for each other to the whole world. That flamboyant and eye-catching wedding had been the most highkey move that this usually lowkey person had ever made.
Guan Zhou asked Yuan Ye why they had gotten divorced. What was the reason?
Yuan Ye finished smoking his cigarette and tossed the butt into his glass of alcohol. He picked up a wet wipe, unfolded it, then wiped his face. After, he calmly said, “Seems that we reached the end of our fate.”
When they had gotten married, Yuan Ye had been just over twenty. Now, he had long since passed the age of thirty. His life had reached a new stage, and many of the things surrounding him had changed. Back then, he had been young and bold, almost wishing to be able to have the whole world at his feet. He needed to own what he wanted, desired to trek through the path of life with carefree steps. Now, he had passed the year of independence. Some readers had even started calling him “Uncle Ye” in jest already. From “Little Yuan” to “Uncle Ye”, the layers of life occasionally increased, occasionally decreased. With more and more layers removed, he somehow managed to remove Fang Shaoyi too.
Yuan Ye scoffed. He stood up, turned around, and left. It was stuffy and loud in the room. Outside, the cold air in the hallway ambushed him. Immediately, the thoughts and feelings giving him a headache disappeared.
Prior to the official start of filming, two more members of the program’s staff arrived and had him sign a few more contracts. Ji Xiaotao told him that he could rest assured and sign those contracts, because their side had already finished discussing all that needed to be discussed. Asking Yuan Ye to sign was only part of protocol; there was nothing to worry about. On the other end of the phone, Yuan Ye told him, “As long as you guys don’t find anything wrong with it. I’m too lazy to check.”
Ji Xiaotao smiled and answered, “Okay Ye ge, you don’t need to worry about these things. Just treat it like you’re going on a few trips for fun.”
“Un.” Yuan Ye’s tone was light. “Call me if anything comes up.”
“Okay, ge. Rest early.” Ji Xiaotao and Yuan Ye had known each other for so many years, so actually had quite a close relationship. But he was Fang Shaoyi’s assistant after all. Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had made a clean cut. Thus, Xiaotao could no longer contact Yuan Ye so frequently – things didn’t work like that.
Yuan Ye agreed, then hung up. It was ten at night. He showered before smoking a cigarette. Honestly, it was bedtime. However, his mind was still wide awake, completely without any indication of feeling sleepy.
Yuan Ye felt slightly annoyed thinking of that show. He had always hated having a camera trained on him. The lens made one restrict themselves. Coincidentally, he disliked being limited in such a manner. A camera lens would box him into a perfect square, like the monkeys that performed at zoos. That wasn’t freedom. Honestly, Guan Zhou had been right. There was water in his brain for agreeing to this.
Yuan Ye turned on his computer. He didn’t want to write, so was only casually flipping through old photos. He didn’t like getting his picture taken, but liked taking pictures of other things. This had started when he was still a student. Looking at the world through the viewfinder made it seem like the entire world was still. Even if the image had been moving in that instant, it would ultimately stop. Beautiful or horrendous, vast or diminished. In the end, they were only the culmination of a million instants. They would come to a halt eventually. Things always did.
The pictures weren’t in any kind of order. They had been saved randomly. Yuan Ye had never liked organizing things. Previously, Fang Shaoyi would help him deal with his pictures when he wasn’t busy filming. The pictures from the past two or so years had been mindlessly saved, though, without a hint of structure.
Yuan Ye’s gaze fell on a certain picture among the rest. It stayed there for two seconds. Then, he clicked it open.
The scene was filled with brilliant gold. Sunlight covered every inch of the photo, illuminating the small plot of land behind their house. It was an average photo, not particularly beautiful or ugly. He had only thought that the lighting had been nice, so pressed down on the shutter in passing. Looking back on it now, he could still see that dazzling brightness through the screen.
Yuan Ye’s gaze seemed calm. He stared at that photo for a long time. In the middle, he even furrowed his brows. His hand reached for his cigarette box, but at the last moment, he pulled away. Finally, he laughed and sat in the chair, stretching his arms to relax.
It was quiet late at night. Humans’ brains often couldn’t help running away in thought under such circumstances. Formerly, Yuan Ye had always considered himself carefree. Now, he thought that he was occasionally melodramatic.
——He missed that little plot of land.
Whatever. Since he missed it, he would go visit it.
Yuan Ye had lived in this house for a decade, starting from the year that he and Fang Shaoyi had gotten married. That year, this area was still considered as being in the suburbs. Only a few neighborhoods filled with villas were present. Now, the city was continuously expanding. Their district had also become a part of the inner city. It had been a year since Yuan Ye had visited. He had always felt that this house was too big, too empty. The two room apartment he lived in now was just right: not too big and not too small. The perfect size for him to stay in alone.
He drove over. The sensor by the gate beeped, but the door didn’t move at all. The gate could automatically recognize car license plates. His and Fang Shaoyi’s cars had both been recorded into the system. Right now, his car was parked outside the door, but the gate wasn’t budging. Yuan Ye sat in the car and felt like a joke.
He was just about to turn around and leave when the security guard ran over from the guard station. He greeted, “Yuan ge’s back? It’s been a long time since I’ve seen you come back. What were you off busy with?”
As he spoke, he used the remote to open the gate.
Yuan Ye lowered the car window. He waved his hand in greeting, then asked the security guard, “Un, I was out. What’s wrong, door’s broken?”
“Not that I know of. I thought it was an outsider’s car just now and only realized it was yours after stepping out.” The security guard also didn’t know what was going on. He said, “Come on in first, Yuan ge. I’ll ask the property manager what’s going on later.”
Yuan Ye nodded, then told him, “No need. I bet the system’s been updated. I’ll head in first, but will probably still need you to help me open the gate when I leave.”
“No problem, Yuan ge. Come on in. Just give a honk when you’re heading out. I’ll be listening for it.”
Yuan Ye gently pressed his car horn in thanks after entering the gate. The little security guard waved from behind. Yuan Ye stared at him in the rearview mirror, then gently shook his head and laughed.
Did anything need to be asked? He and Fang Shaoyi had gotten divorced long ago. He had even moved out of this house already. There was no reason for him to return, so his license plate had probably been removed from the system. He had forgotten about this; otherwise, he wouldn’t have come today.
He hadn’t come solely for that small patch of grass, but also because there were a few cameras and lenses he had forgotten here. When he had left previously, he had been in a rush. There were several things he hadn’t had time to pack up, so had just left behind. He kept thinking that he would pick them up when he had the time, yet he had never come back.
But he ultimately needed to remove those things. After all, he couldn’t keep taking up space in someone else’s house.