After Our Divorce, I Still Wore Your Jacket - Chap 2

Ever since he was born, Yuan Ye was a troublemaker, always getting into trouble. It seemed like he was born without a sense of discipline, causing his family constant worry.

Yuan Ye’s father, Yuan Anping, was a literature professor who studied ancient Chinese culture. He lived his life by strict rules and regulations, and many times he would laugh helplessly and say, “The only thing I did out of the ordinary in my life was having Yuan Ye.”

Yuan Ye was nothing like his father. He was incredibly talented and intelligent, skipping three grades in elementary school and one grade in high school. However, he got into a fight with someone in high school and injured them, causing him to repeat a grade.

He was mischievous, rebellious, and had a bad temper, often getting into trouble. Although his parents sometimes got angry, they actually indulged him. What boy isn’t mischievous? If a little boy isn’t like that, he’s not really a boy.

When it came time to select his division for the high school classes, his family wanted him to study science, but he secretly chose humanities. After a year in the humanities class, he transferred to the science class, but after two months, he felt bored and went back to humanities.

His family couldn’t control him, and his stubbornness was too strong. Even if they talked to him, he wouldn’t listen.

In college, Yuan Ye was three or four years younger than his college peers. While they were eighteen or nineteen years old when they entered college, Yuan Ye was only fifteen in his freshman year. He had planned to study management, but in a moment of confusion during the application process, he ended up choosing Chinese.

Yuan Ye was never one to follow the rules or do things in a conventional way. He always managed to come up with some unconventional ideas. His family was used to it and knew that he had a mischievous streak.

Then, when Yuan Ye turned twenty, he suddenly came home and announced that he was getting married.

It was summertime, and Yuan Ye had shaved his head because of the heat. He had only a short stubble of a beard on his young face. With a bald head, he shamelessly grinned and said to his parents, “Mom and Dad, I’m getting married.”

This enraged his father, Yuan Anping, who angrily kicked him out of the house.

He and Fang Shaoyi talked about how their friends always saw them as playing around, waiting for the day he would come home and say it was over. But instead, before graduating from his master’s program, Yuan Ye went home and announced that he was going to marry Fang Shaoyi.

His family would never agree to this, as Yuan Ye was only twenty and still immature. How could they let him marry someone from the entertainment industry, which was full of scandals? Besides, he was too young to even legally get married.

But two years later, on Yuan Ye’s twenty-second birthday, he and Fang Shaoyi got their marriage certificate.

He returned home and playfully coaxed his parents, but his father warned him, “You’re treating yourself like a joke. You’ll regret it sooner or later.”

At that time, Yuan Ye was in his youthful arrogance, thinking he was invincible. He nodded and said, “I regret nothing. Life is a play, and I will act out my own role.”

That year, Yuan Ye wrote a book called “The Axis”. When you open the first page, the author’s introduction only has one sentence – Yuan Ye is not a writer, just a person who spins the axis.

At the age of 25, Fang Shaoyi was the youngest groom in the entertainment industry, while Yuan Ye was only 22. Many people thought their wedding was a joke and couldn’t figure out if it was a publicity stunt or if they were just naive. Most people were waiting to see when they would divorce.

Fang Shaoyi was so handsome that day, wearing a white suit and looking tall, handsome, and charming. He had everyone, including Yuan Ye, mesmerized. Yuan Ye joked with him, “Hey, if we ever get divorced, you can never wear a white suit again.”

Fang Shaoyi looked at him and frowned, “What nonsense are you talking about?”

Yuan Ye grinned and said, “I’m serious.”

In public, both of them had to speak in hushed tones, with unchanged expressions and a poised smile always on their faces. Only in their private conversations could they speak freely.

Fang Shaoyi lowered his voice and said to him, “Don’t act up, little monkey. Today is my wedding day, so shut your trap.”

At that moment, Yuan Ye looked up and burst into laughter, looking like a complete rascal.

Fang Shaoyi looked at him with a helpless and indulgent expression. He had never been able to control this wild monkey. He was always an honest person, never willing to hide his love or worry about how it might affect their future. He threw caution to the wind and declared his passionate love to the world.

For someone who was usually low-key and steady, the most flamboyant and extravagant thing he ever did was his grand and magnificent wedding.

……

Guan Zhou asked why Yuan Ye had divorced and what had caused it.

Yuan Ye finished smoking a cigarette, threw the remaining cigarette butt into a wine glass, and picked up a wet towel to wipe his face. After wiping, he said lightly, “Our fate had come to an end.”

When Yuan Ye got married, he was in his early twenties, but now he’s in his thirties. Life has entered a new stage, and many things around him are different.

When he was young, he wanted to conquer the world and get everything he wanted. He lived his life recklessly. Now, some readers jokingly call him “Uncle Wild”. From “Little Yuan” to “Uncle Wild”, life grows through its paces, stages layering on each other, until Fang Shaoyi disappeared from his life.

With a chuckle, Yuan Ye stood up and walked out. The room was stuffy and hot, but as soon as he stepped into the corridor, a cool breeze blew over him, instantly clearing his mind of all the jumbled thoughts.

Just before the official recording of the program, two more members of the production team came to him with a few more contracts to sign. Ji Xiaotao assured him that he could sign the contracts without worry, as everything that needed to be discussed had already been taken care of on their end.

Yuan Ye simply replied over the phone, “If you guys say it’s okay, then it’s okay. I’m too lazy to read it.”

Ji Xiaotao laughed and said, “Okay, Brother Ye, don’t worry about it. Just treat it as a few trips out of the house.”

“Mm,” Yuan Ye replied in a flat tone. “Call me if there’s anything else.”

“Okay, bro, get some rest,” said Ji Xiaotao. He had known Yuan Ye for many years and their relationship was quite close. However, as he was Fang Shaoyi’s assistant, and Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had cut ties cleanly, he couldn’t really become close friends with Yuan Ye. It just wasn’t possible.

Yuan Ye hummed in agreement and hung up the phone. It was already 10 pm and he had taken a shower and smoked a cigarette. He should have gone to bed, but his mind was still alert and he wasn’t feeling sleepy.

Thinking about that program made Yuan Ye a little annoyed. He always hated being filmed by a camera. The lens made him feel restrained and he didn’t like being confined, being framed in a square lens like a performing monkey in a zoo, without any freedom. Guan Zhou was actually right, his mind must have been clouded when he accepted this job.

Yuan Ye turned on his computer, not in the mood to write anything, just casually flipping through his photos. He didn’t like being photographed by others, but he loved taking pictures, ever since he was in school.

Looking at the world through the viewfinder, the whole world was still, even if the scene was moving at the time, it would eventually come to a stop. Whether it was beautiful or ugly, open or closed, it was nothing more than a collection of countless moments, always stopping, always being frozen in time.

The photos were not arranged in order, they were all jumbled up. Yuan Ye never liked organizing things, and in the past, when he had free time, Fang Shaoyi would help him sort them out. But in the past year or two, the photos were all randomly stored, without any rules.

Yuan Ye’s gaze fell on a certain photo, lingering for two seconds before he clicked on it.

The scene was a brilliant gold. The sun poured down from the sky, illuminating the lawn behind the small building. It was just an ordinary photo, neither beautiful nor ugly, but the sunlight made it look nice, so it was taken on a whim. Now, even through the screen, you could see the bright and dazzling light of that moment.

Yuan Ye looked at the photo for a long time, his eyes seemingly calm. He even furrowed his brow at one point. He reached for his cigarette case, but then decided against it and put it back. Finally, he let out a laugh, sat back in his chair, and stretched his arms out to relax.

Late at night, the mind can’t help but wander. Yuan Ye used to think of himself as carefree, but now he felt like he was occasionally being melodramatic.

He couldn’t help but think of that small patch of land.

Forget it, he thought, might as well go take a look.

For ten years, Yuan Ye has lived in this house since he married Fang Shaoyi. Back then, this area was still considered suburban, with just a few villa communities. But as the city expanded, their neighborhood became a district within the city.

It’s been almost a year since Yuan last visited, and he still feels like the house is too big and empty. His current two-bedroom apartment is just right for him, not too big or too small.

As he drove up, the sensor at the gate beeped, but the door didn’t budge. The gate is supposed to automatically recognize the license plates of his and Fang Shaoyi’s cars, but now, with his car parked right in front of it, the gate remained unresponsive.

Sitting in his car, Yuan couldn’t help but feel a bit ridiculous.

He was about to turn around and leave when a security guard ran out of the gatehouse and greeted him, “Hey, Brother Yuan is back? It’s been a long time since we’ve seen you. What have you been up to?”

As he spoke, he used a remote control to open the gate.

Yuan Ye rolled down his car window and waved as a greeting before asking the security guard, “Yeah, I’ve been out. Is something wrong with the gate?”

“No, it’s not broken. I thought it was a car from outside, but then I saw it was your car,” the security guard replied, unsure of what was going on. “You can go in first, Brother Yuan. I’ll ask the property manager later.”

Yuan Ye nodded and said, “No need. I think the system just updated. I’ll go in first, and you can help me open the gate when I come back out.”

“Okay, Brother Yuan, you can go in. Just give me a shout when you come out, I’ll be able to hear you,” said the security guard.

Yuan Ye entered the gate and lightly honked his horn as a thank you. The guard waved at him from behind. Yuan Ye looked at him through the rearview mirror and shook his head with a faint smile.

Did he even need to ask? He and Fang Shaoyi had separated long ago, and he had already moved out of this house. There was no reason for him to come back, and his license plate was probably already removed from the system. He had forgotten about this, or else he wouldn’t have come today.

He didn’t just come here for the small lawn from the photo, but also because he had left behind a few cameras and lenses. When he left in a hurry, he didn’t have time to collect everything, and he had always planned to come back for them. But he never got around to it.

But his belongings should eventually be brought away, it wasn’t right to take up others’ space.