Chapter 39
Jiang Linchuan personally kept an eye on Fang Shaoyi’s scenes. He Sai’s extra plotline was being directed by the producer and artistic director. The fact that He Sai was adding scenes was actually quite troublesome. The entire film crew was very large. Because many actors also needed to film extra scenes due to this additional plot, they needed to extend the filming period even longer. Some actors had other movies after this one. They could only leave the set first and then come back to make up these scenes. The coordination of all these matters was very difficult. The one most stressed out ought to have been the director.
However, Jiang Linchuan seemed pretty unbothered. He didn’t mistreat He Sai on set either. Instead, he told the producer to film him well.
Fang Shaoyi was still filming according to the original script. His scenes hadn’t been changed at all. They had simply added a brand new plotline for He Sai. Even with this addition, the main plot hadn’t been touched. The actors themselves probably couldn’t tell while filming, but Yuan Ye could very clearly tell.
Jiang Linchuan ultimately hadn’t been able to bear editing his own movie. He Sai wanted extra scenes, so he had added them, but the director hadn’t even spent any energy thinking about that part of the movie. Normally, he could argue until the latter half of the night over the script. However, He Sai’s script was entirely the responsibility of the screenwriters. When they finished, they gave it to the director to look over. Director Jiang would then edit it slightly. There would be practically no arguments.
Everyone had their own difficulties, the things they couldn’t not compromise on. However, Yuan Ye still found everything about this very annoying.
Yuan Ye sat on set, watching the hustle and bustle of the film crew, observing each person’s face. He noticed all kinds of people among them. Ji Xiaotao took a stroll around the B set before slowly walking back. While he walked, his expression was still normal. But as soon as he squatted next to Yuan Ye, he couldn’t keep his inner desire to laugh a secret anymore. Sneakily, he called out, “Ye ge.”
Yuan Ye side-eyed him. “Speak.”
Ji Xiaotao squatted there and covered half his face. He secretly whispered, “I suggest you take a stroll over to group B. You’ll find happiness.”
Without even thinking about it, Yuan Ye shook his head. “No. Dumbass is showing off his nonexistent acting skills again? Your happiness is so easily determined? Kiddo.”
“No! What about that shitty acting could be happiness-inducing? Little Yang is the one providing my happiness today.” Ji Xiaotao squatted there and giggled. After he finished laughing, he said, “Little Yang is promising. I’m going to tell Geng ge to promote him well later on.”
Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow. “What?”
Ji Xiaotao stood up and dragged Yuan Ye over to see. Yuan Ye followed behind him. As soon as they reached the other side, Yuan Ye started laughing too when he heard Yang Siran speak.
“How could y-you be like this? Sen Cha is my renter……”
“——Cut,” the producer yelled. The entire film set was silent.
“I’m extremely sorry. Sorry, Teachers.” Yang Siran bowed at the producer and them from far away. Then, he bowed at the videographers and He Sai who were standing right next to him. “I’m too dumb. I’m causing trouble for everyone.”
Ji Xiaotao muffled his laughter from off to the side. Yuan Ye chuckled a few times too.
Yang Siran had been okay with his lines originally. But today, he had been influenced by He Sai and had consequently started speaking in a Taiwanese accent too: nothing too serious, just a subtle hint of one. But it seemed quite obvious on camera. It sounded a little comical, which meant the scene definitely couldn’t pass.
“What’s wrong ah, Siran?” The producer was very exasperated too. “We’ve spent almost half the day on these two scenes.”
“I’m truly apologetic.” Yang Siran’s expression reflected his words. “I’m not in the right condition today. I feel like I can’t get into character. Sorry, I’m too unprofessional. I’m delaying the progress for everyone.”
After saying this, Yang Siran bowed. Next to him, He Sai’s expression was extremely dark. Without saying a word, he headed off to the side to take a break. Yang Siran had been talking about himself, but everyone next to them who heard his words all glanced toward He Sai. The newbie had very smoothly passed all his scenes with Fang Shaoyi. When it came to He Sai, though, he couldn’t get into character and was also speaking in a Taiwanese accent. This was the equivalent of slapping He Sai across the face.
Yang Siran was a rookie anyways. He didn’t have any experience. If the person he was acting alongside was good at leading, he would be better at acting. If not, he wouldn’t be able to get into character. This was too normal.
Yuan Ye and Ji Xiaotao returned to their side of set. Yuan Ye chuckled and commented, “He’s a little fox too.”
“Un, he’s faking it.” Ji Xiaotao laughed, anger pacified. “Purposefully speaking like that.”
Nobody knew if Yang Siran was acting this way on purpose. But later on, He Sai and his manager’s gazes changed while they looked at Yang Siran. They were probably extremely pissed. It could be said that Yang Siran was incredibly bold and brave. He was fearless. No matter how you glared at him, he acted like he couldn’t see it. Even if he did see it, he acted like he couldn’t understand it.
He Sai’s manager walked over, lowered his voice, and told him, “Little brother, you can’t act like this.”
Yang Siran politely replied, “I’m very, very sorry. I’ve never learned how to act. Sorry for wasting everyone’s time.”
A fist smacked against cotton. He Sai turned around and started chatting with the producer. Yang Siran was, after all, a member of Fang Shaoyi’s company. It wouldn’t be appropriate to actually scold him too harshly. Additionally, his boss was still on set. If someone scolded him, this could be construed as them scolding Fang Shaoyi in a roundabout manner.
At night, after filming, they returned to the hotel. Ji Xiaotao, while carrying a pack of snacks he had just bought, coincidentally ran into Yang Siran in the hotel lobby.
Ji Xiaotao called out to him, “Little bro!”
Yang Siran was in the middle of a call. Upon noticing Ji Xiaotao’s smile, he waved his hand in greeting. Ji Xiaotao pulled out a box of crackers and threw it at him. He also held up a thumbs up to him. “Little bro’s acting was pretty good today.”
Yang Siran pressed his lips together and smiled. He caught the crackers and answered, “Thank you, Xiaotao ge.”
Yang Siran only acted this way the first two days he had to act alongside He Sai. Later on, though he didn’t act as well as he had with the other actors previously, still making slow progress, he acted passably. After they finished filming these scenes, Yang Siran was officially done. He had already completed all his scenes in the movie.
Acting in Jiang Linchuan’s movie was a very high place to debut from. However, this rookie was too new, after all. He didn’t even have an assistant beside him. Nobody gave him flowers. After wrapping up, Ji Xiaotao ordered a bouquet of flowers for him. Yang Siran smiled and accepted them, slightly surprised. “I get flowers?”
“Why not?” Ji Xiaotao said. “Congratulations, little bro, for successfully wrapping up your first movie!”
Yang Siran smiled again and thanked him.
The day after he wrapped up his scenes was the day Yang Siran’s flight back to the company was scheduled for. Ji Xiaotao was the one who took him to the airport. On the way, Yang Siran seemed quite relaxed. Ji Xiaotao chatted with him, saying, “You seem quite happy.”
Yang Siran nodded. He rubbed his nose and said, “Un, I’m finally done filming.”
“How do you feel?” Ji Xiaotao asked.
Yang Siran thought about it. After, he smiled very faintly and slowly said, “Pretty good. It’s very nice coming in contact with something I didn’t really know much about at first, then slowly becoming better at it. Shaoyi ge taught me a lot and the director was very nice too. Yuan Ye ge also gave me a red envelope for the new year. And you, Xiaotao ge, always took care of me. The slow contact period was very beautiful. I’ll cherish it.”
This seemed to be the first time Ji Xiaotao had heard him say so many things in one breath. He turned around, slightly surprised, to look at him. Then, he chuckled and said, “Jiayou.”
That day, after sending Yang Siran to the airport, Ji Xiaotao suddenly remembered something. He hadn’t found the opportunity to ask at the time, then had forgotten later on. Now, he remembered, so asked Yang Siran, “Oh right, little bro. I never got the chance to ask you previously. Is there anyone on set who bullied you?”
Yang Siran blanked for a moment, then shook his head. He seemed slightly confused. “No. Shaoyi ge was there, so nobody was mean to me.”
Ji Xiaotao nodded. He walked him over to the departures area and said, “That’s good. You can go now.”
Life on set was always a messy rush. Each day felt like a new battle, but after leaving and looking back, it was actually the same, boring things repeated over and over. This movie would probably need to keep filming until May or June, perhaps even longer. Eventually, after enough time, nobody called Fang Shaoyi “Sen Cha” anymore. They also didn’t need to keep purposefully mistreating him. However, Fang Shaoyi still used this excuse to complain to Yuan Ye; at such an age, he still acted so childish.
Yuan Ye didn’t say anything about it, but actually, he resented this film crew in his heart. Each time he saw He Sai and his manager, he would lower his gaze and walk past silently. He never looked up. He Sai and them’s existence was the compromise of humans in his eyes. Forced to compromise, he didn’t display any obvious emotions, but Fang Shaoyi could still sense his mood.
Nine at night, Yuan Ye engaged in another endless argument with the director over the script. There were other members of the main cast in the room. Fang Shaoyi sent a message over. Yuan Ye’s phone vibrated in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at it. Fang Shaoyi said: Teacher Yuan Ye, come.
Yuan Ye quickly responded: No time.
After sending this, he continued angrily bickering with the director. Prior to the He Sai incident, Yuan Ye had argued with the director too. But after the incident, he became even stricter about the script. They argued every discussion. This was normal on set, so it wasn’t a big deal. Yuan Ye’s incisiveness wasn’t him purposefully throwing a tantrum because of the anger in his heart. It was because he felt, from the bottom of his heart, that this script was done for. Consequently, their discussions never ended well.
Neither could convince the other. They could only set the problem off to the side first. Yuan Ye headed to Fang Shaoyi’s room, still angry. There was also a cigarette dangling from his mouth.
Yuan Ye knocked on the door. After Fang Shaoyi opened the door, he noticed the other’s expression. He chuckled once before asking, “Got in an argument with the director again?”
“Seems to me like this shitty film is over.” Yuan Ye walked into the room and said, “It’s trash no matter how we film it.”
Fang Shaoyi placated him, “Director Jiang is still worth trusting.”
After hearing this, Yuan Ye blinked, then glanced at Fang Shaoyi. He didn’t answer. When he finished smoking the cigarette, Yuan Ye asked, “What’d you call me over for?”
Fang Shaoyi’s smile was very open. “Nothing much. You’ve stopped pursuing me recently.”
“……” Yuan Ye was a bit speechless. However, it was true that he had mostly stopped pursuing recently. He Sai’s incident had ruined his mood completely. The mess before him was too antagonizing. At the end of the day, he was simply a rather stubborn person. He felt disgusted and irritated from the bottom of his heart. He disliked this environment, so had set everything else all off to the side.
He had changed a lot, but at the same time, seemed like he had never changed.
Fang Shaoyi sat there. He had just finished working out and had also finished showering. He stretched his arms and said, “You need to keep pursuing me.”
By now, Yuan Ye had started smiling too. With an exasperated, indulgent expression, he said, “Okay, I will, I will.”
Fang Shaoyi slightly leaned against the headboard. There was a pillow behind his back. The little yellow light on the headboard made him look exceptionally handsome. Yuan Ye’s heart softened. He asked, “Have you done skincare yet?”
Fang Shaoyi didn’t say anything. While staring at Yuan Ye, he shook his head.
“Want a face mask?” Yuan Ye asked, eyebrow raised.
Fang Shaoyi didn’t express any sign of disagreement.
Yuan Ye laughed. He grabbed a container of face mask cream and sat on the bed, then patted his own lap.
Only now did Fang Shaoyi smile faintly. He scooted over to lay down across Yuan Ye’s legs. Yuan Ye’s fingers pressed and massaged each part of Fang Shaoyi’s face in order to spread the cream evenly.
Such an atmosphere on such a night, how could anyone not feel soft in their hearts? The two of them quietly breathed. Fang Shaoyi’s eyes were closed. Yuan Ye’s eyes were open as he lowered his head and looked at the other.
This was a person before his eyes, but it was also time.
Yuan Ye’s index finger gently tapped Fang Shaoyi’s nose. Then, amusement filled his gaze.
Fang Shaoyi opened his mouth, calling out, “Yuan Ye.”
Yuan Ye made a soft noise of acknowledgement.
Fang Shaoyi opened his eyes. He made eye contact with Yuan Ye; both of them could see their own reflections in the other’s eyes. Fang Shaoyi slowly told him, “You can’t stop treating me warmly because you don’t like something. Like the fact that you hate certain people in the film crew. You can’t stop pursuing me just because of that.”
Yuan Ye suddenly burst into laughter. He asked, “Are you acting wronged? Because I haven’t properly pursued you this past period of time?”
“No.” Fang Shaoyi continued staring at him, staring deep into his eyes. His voice was calm and deep. “I’m telling you that I can sense what you’re feeling in your heart, your emotions. I might have disappointed you, you might dislike this place, but you need to tell me. If you don’t say anything, don’t express your emotions at all and simply act cold all the time, that will make me wonder if you’re tired of pursuing me.”
Yuan Ye didn’t respond at first. After, he gently squeezed both of Fang Shaoyi’s ears and said, “I’m not. Losing certain things once is enough, baobei’er.”
Fang Shaoyi sighed and said, “I’m old now. I can’t bring myself to say some things anymore.”
Yuan Ye laughed. “What do you want to say?”
Fang Shaoyi closed his eyes. Lowly, he answered, “I can tell just from a glance when you feel that there’s a layer separating us. It makes me feel panicked too.”