After Our Divorce, I Still Wore Your Jacket - Chap 20
Before accepting this program, Yuan Ye didn’t think too much about it. He just saw it as a task to complete and be done with. But after recording it, he realized that it had some impact on his life. For example, he is now recognized by people more often and he doesn’t have the same freedom as before when he went out.
Yuan Ye used to be a free man. Walking down the street, not many knew who he was. But now that the program has aired, with many youths watching it, and being recognized outside makes him feel a bit uncomfortable.
However, this is only temporary. Once the program is finished airing, he will no longer be in the public eye, and in a few months, everything will calm down. So, Yuan Ye doesn’t take it too seriously.
Old Tu had a bar, and Yuan Ye sat at the counter chatting with him. He didn’t drink much, but snacked on a small basket of pistachios, cracking them open and munching away. Out of the corner of his eye, Yuan Ye noticed two young girls who had been watching him for a while, whispering to each other but too shy to approach.
Old Tu tilted his chin in their direction and chuckled, “Looks like you have some fans.”
“I don’t have fans,” Yuan Ye popped a pistachio into his mouth and said, “Just viewers. I’m on TV now, after all.”
“Indeed. My girl always watches you on Friday nights,” Old Tu signaled to the bartender for two bottles of black beer and handed one to Yuan Ye.
Yuan Ye took a sip and looked at the girl singing on the small stage. She looked quite young and sang well. Yuan Ye said, “She has a great voice.”
“It’s true, I also enjoy listening to her sing,” said Old Tu.
Yuan Ye glanced at him and laughed, “Didn’t you used to like rock music? The kind that’s ear-shattering.”
“I’m getting old, getting old,” Old Tu also laughed, shook his head and said, “Now I also like to listen to something gentle, it feels soothing to the heart.”
The show recording has been finished for over half a month, and this is the first time Yuan Ye has come to Old Tu’s place to drink. Before that, he went to the station for an interview and hasn’t been out much since he came back. He plans to stay indoors until the hype of the show dies down.
The young girls only come up to him for a greeting and a photo because they like him, and Yuan Ye doesn’t have the heart to refuse them. He always cooperates with them, but he doesn’t like it and isn’t used to it.
This kind of life is not suitable for him, no matter how long it lasts.
Yuan Ye didn’t plan on drinking today, he just wanted to come out and take a breather. He grabbed a jacket on his way out, a thin, green down jacket, and put on a pair of jeans. He didn’t even bother to shave, leaving a thin layer of stubble on his chin. Sitting here, he looks like a handsome uncle with a unique charm.
The little girl on stage sang all night, earning five hundred yuan after singing continuously for four hours. When Old Tu was being busy, Yuan Ye would listen to her singing. Her voice was very clean, with a hint of huskiness, and it was quite enjoyable to listen to.
Someone sat down next to him and leaned on the bar, watching him. Yuan Ye raised his eyebrows and looked over. The person pushed their phone forward, showing a WeChat QR code. Yuan Ye smiled and shook his head. When you’re out having fun, if you reject someone directly, they won’t bother you anymore. It’s a matter of mutual consent. If you’re not willing, the other person will just shrug their shoulders, retrieve their phone and leave.
When Old Tu came back, he teased him, “Are you done already? After your last one, you don’t even dare to date randomly anymore.”
Yuan Ye lowered his eyes and peeled the fruit, saying, “I’ve never done that kind of thing.”
He had never made plans to appear on the show, he wasn’t that kind of person. On the surface, Yuan Ye seemed carefree and would occasionally crack a joke, giving off the impression that he was quite promiscuous. However, deep down, he was quite conservative in this regard and couldn’t accept doing it without any emotional attachment.
Old Tu clinked bottles with him, took a sip of beer, and asked, “What are your plans for the future?”
Yuan Ye chuckled, “What plans could I have? Same as before, I guess.”
Old Tu nodded and didn’t ask any further, knowing that even if he did, Yuan Ye wouldn’t say anything.
After returning home from Old Tu’s place, Yuan Ye received a message from Ji Xiaotao, asking him in a voice message, “Brother Ye, did that idiot offend you?”
Followed by another message, “Where did this little punk come from, acting like he’s all that.”
Yuan Ye was confused by his message and replied with a question mark.
Ji Xiaotao said, “In the last episode with your group, he said you educated him? What is his apology for! Apologise my ass.”
Yuan Ye: Ah.
Ji Xiaotao: “What’s happened, Brother Ye?”
Yuan Ye replied with a voice message after finishing his shower: “Nothing much, he just had a sour face and I didn’t feel like looking at him. He reported me? Let him be.”
Ji Xiaotao exploded, “Let him be? That’s too bad. Does he think our family has no one?”
Yuan Ye didn’t even know what was going on. Even if he did, he couldn’t solve it. He even had to ask Ji Xiaotao to help him with his Weibo.
Yuan Ye couldn’t handle that kind of thing. He always spoke carelessly. It was one thing if he got scolded, but since he was related to Fang Shaoyi, it would affect him too.
Yuan Ye said to Ji Xiaotao, “I don’t understand these things. You figure it out, I’ll just make things worse.”
Ji Xiaotao replied, “We don’t need you! Go to sleep, Brother Ye!”
Yuan Ye agreed, “Alright, I’ve troubled you, Xiaotao.”
“What are you even saying.” Ji Xiaotao replied, holding a few pieces of herbal patches and sitting in Fang Shaoyi’s room.
Fang Shaoyi had gone to the director’s office to study the script. The director’s habit was to refine the script while filming. Often, he would finish revising the day before shooting and sometimes even make last-minute changes on set. After the actors finished rehearsing, they would immediately memorize their lines. This play was about to be completed, and Fang Shaoyi had two major scenes left. Once those were finished, they would wrap up filming.
When Fang Shaoyi returned and saw that Ji Xiaotao was still there, he asked him, “Why aren’t you sleeping? What are you doing sitting here?”
Ji Xiaotao shook the herbal patches in his hand and said, “It’s going to rain tomorrow, and I’m afraid your shoulder will hurt.”
Fang Shaoyi had old injuries in his shoulder and knee, and they would ache when the weather turned cold. It was inevitable in their line of work. Fang Shaoyi rarely acted in light-hearted films and usually had high demands for action scenes. He said, “Leave it, I’ll put it on myself later.”
“It’s okay, I’m not sleepy.” While Fang Shaoyi was taking a shower, Ji Xiaotao stood at the door and told him about the stupid assistant director’s Weibo drama.
After Fang Shaoyi finished his shower, he said, “Let me see.”
Ji Xiaotao pulled up the Weibo for him to read, and Fang Shaoyi frowned after finishing it before throwing the phone back to him.
The Weibo post was a long apology written by that man. He explained that during the last recording, he was suddenly assigned to a different team and was not familiar with the work. He had limited abilities and failed to communicate effectively, causing a lot of trouble for two of them. However, he was grateful for the guidance given by Yuan Ye-laoshi.
Although he appeared respectful, he was actually trying to gain sympathy. The young man was called in at the last minute to fill a gap, and he had no prior experience. He even received a scolding from Yuan Ye. Initially, only a few thousand followers saw the post from a small director, but it caught the attention of the head director, Lin Wei, who gave him a like and commented, “Hang in there.”
The comments below were initially split between good and bad, with many following this thread and linking it to Lin Wei’s previous actions. They were all mocking Yuan Ye, who had the least status in the entire program but was acting as the biggest VIP.
However, things had only turned in their favour a litte, when Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi’s fans joined in, and now most of them are cursing the assistant director for being a drama queen.
On the other hand, there was also the detail of Yuan Ye silently helping others during the show. Yuan Ye was the one who understood how to play every task the best, and every time he would quietly help others off-camera.
During the first episode when they were dividing up the housing, Yuan Ye had at least half a backpack worth of boxes that he didn’t take out on purpose, and he intentionally gave the cabin to the two women. The boxes he found were more than just those. There were many moments like this, although they were all off-camera, the attentive audience would still notice the details.
Pushing up on one side and pressing down on the other, in the end there weren’t much waves.
“Hang in there my ass. This show is really choking, how annoying,” said Ji Xiaotao.
Fang Shaoyi wiped his hair and said to him, “This is because he knows that Yuan Ye doesn’t have any backing, and wanted to step on him to move up. There are eight people in this show, except for him, no one else can be offended.”
Ji Xiaotao looked up at him and asked, “Then Brother Ye can be?”
Fang Shaoyi replied, “After our divorce, he’s just Yuan Ye. In this circle, there’s no reason why he can’t be offended.”
Ji Xiaotao muttered under his breath, “That dog thing.”
Fang Shaoyi finished wiping his hair and asked, “Did you have someone go over already?”
“Yeah, it’s almost done,” Ji Xiaotao looked up at Fang Shaoyi’s expression and tentatively asked, “Should I take care of it?”
Fang Shaoyi didn’t say anything, just made a sound of agreement.
Fang Shaoyi messaged Geng Jinwei, asking him to talk to the station about that Lin Wei who seemed to be causing trouble.
Geng Jinwei replied, “I was just thinking the same thing.”
Geng Jinwei called him later and asked how much longer until the filming was finished, and they talked about some other things. Before hanging up, Fang Shaoyi said, “Tell them not to bring up Yuan Ye anymore.”
Geng Jinwei laughed and asked, “Why?”
Fang Shaoyi didn’t answer, only saying, “Just talk to the producer and have him handle it. Don’t look for drama from Yuan Ye anymore.”
Geng Jinwei continued to laugh and said, “I told you two not to break up from the beginning, but you both pretended in front of me and refused to f*cking listen. I think you’re just trying to mess with me, why don’t you just take the marriage certificate back. It’s inevitable that he’ll get criticized on this show. Didn’t I tell you that before?”
Fang Shaoyi remained silent and didn’t say a word.
Geng Jinwei said, “Yuan Ye said that if the news of your divorce really breaks out, just push it onto him, as long as you’re kept clean. He doesn’t want to live a good live himself, and insists on f*cking struggling.”
As his shoulder began to ache, Fang Shaoyi stood up and looked out the window. It was indeed raining.
He stood by the window, watching the raindrops hit the ground with force. He reached back and rubbed his sore joint. The pain wasn’t severe, but it was persistent and uncomfortable. Perhaps it was the discomfort from his old injuries that made Fang Shaoyi feel restless, or maybe it was because he had just read some of the insults directed at Yuan Ye online.
He should have listened to Geng Jinwei and rejected the program. He shouldn’t have accepted it.
Thinking of Yuan Ye also reminded him of the chaos that had occurred during their last encounter.
Yuan Ye pressed against him and asked, “What gives you the right to do this?”
In truth, they shouldn’t have done that, but afterwards, Fang Shaoyi didn’t have any regrets. He figured, what’s done is done.
The monkey had been wild for too long and didn’t recognize people anymore. It needed to be cleaned up a little.
