After Our Divorce, I Still Wore Your Jacket - Chap 5
As soon as the sun rose, Yuan Ye got up and finished tidying up Fang Shaoyi’s room. Ji Xiaotao was also there and greeted him, “Brother Ye, you’re up early!”
“It’s alright, I didn’t sleep late last night.” Yuan Ye tilted his chin towards the room and asked, “Has your brother woken up yet?”
“He has, he went out for a run.” Ji Xiaotao replied, then asked, “How are you doing, Brother Ye?”
Yuan Ye sat on the sofa, rubbed his face and smiled, “Just fine, what else can I say?”
Yuan Ye knew what the program for today would be, it was already written in the schedule. They were going to climb a mountain and spend the night up there. The four teams were divided into two groups, with one group staying in a small cabin on the mountain and the other group sleeping in tents.
Yuan Ye felt a bit stuffy at the thought of having a camera following him all day, but he had volunteered for this, so he couldn’t complain.
They drew lots to determine the groups, and Yuan Ye ended up with the two young kids, Chi Xing and Cheng Xun. Each of them carried a backpack and looked ready for the climb. Yuan Ye patted Chi Xing’s backpack and asked with a smile, “What did you pack in there?”
Chi Xing smiled shyly and replied, “We haven’t climbed a mountain before, so we didn’t know what to bring. We just brought some water and snacks.”
Yuan Ye also carried a backpack, but compared to the others, his was negligible. He only brought it to hold things, as today’s game rule was to see who could find the most hidden items sponsored by the company. Whichever team found the most would get to sleep in the cabin. The two teams across from them were a bit stunned when they saw how well-equipped they were.
Lin Tian asked her boyfriend, “Why didn’t you bring a backpack?”
Her boyfriend looked innocent and replied, “Didn’t you tell me not to?”
“You’re listening to me now? How come you’re not usually this obedient?”
Chen Ru was also empty-handed. She gave a signal to her wealthy husband, who immediately understood and winked back at her, then quickly rushed over to grab Cheng Xun’s backpack. “Let me borrow it, handsome!”
“Ah!” Cheng Xun didn’t notice someone coming from behind and was startled when they suddenly pounced on him, letting his bag be taken without much resistance.
Chi Xing protested, “The seniors are bullying the younger ones!”
“You guys are carrying too much,” Chen Ru stood in front of her husband and smiled at Chi Xing, “We’re helping you share the load.”
The two kids didn’t dare to confront their elders, and struggled a bit just for show. They never really intended to take their things back.
They took separate paths up the mountain, with the one chosen by their group looking more difficult to traverse. It wasn’t easy to film on the mountain, as they needed photographers both in front and behind. The photographers had it much harder than they did.
Chi Xing occasionally handed water to the shooting teachers and always said, “Teachers, you’re working hard!”
The two kids had a jam-packed schedule, with singing, dancing, and physical training, as well as filming and variety shows. Their workload was quite intense, but being young, they were the most energetic. However, the mountain road was too difficult to traverse, and after just two hours, they were already struggling.
Looking up, they saw that Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had disappeared without a trace.
Yuan Ye’s nickname “Wild Monkey” was not given for nothing. He grew up rolling around on the rafters since he was a child, and his grandmother’s house was in the mountains. When it rained, he would run up the mountain to collect a bag of mushrooms.
The mountain they were climbing now was not very high, so it was like playing for him. The photographers were extremely professional, but they still couldn’t keep up with him.
If Yuan Ye didn’t want to be photographed, he could easily leave them behind in just a few steps, making it impossible to catch a glimpse of him.
The shooting teacher said to Fang Shaoyi, “He’s running too fast.”
Fang Shaoyi looked up and smiled gently. He wasn’t running as fast as Yuan Ye, just following behind at a steady pace. When the shooting teacher couldn’t keep up with Yuan Ye, he could only take pictures of Fang Shaoyi.
Fang Shaoyi laughed and said, “Let him play, come on, take pictures of me instead.”
The shooting teacher could neither laugh nor cry, “That won’t work.”
Fang Shaoyi joked, “It has to work. Can you catch up to him?”
When Yuan Ye turned around to look for them, he had already hidden a few small wooden boxes sponsored by the sponsors in his bag. Inside were gold coin props. He squatted on an old tree and waved to them, “Here it is.”
He tossed a bunch of bananas at Fang Shaoyi, who caught them and shared them with everyone. He then looked up and said, “Don’t wander too far, we won’t be able to find you without a signal here.”
“It’s okay, I found many boxes with a lot of money,” Yuan Ye replied with a genuine smile. Despite being in his thirties, it was the first time in a while that he had laughed so freely, like a young child. He shook the bag on his back and asked, “Brother Yi, do you want to drink some coconut juice? I’ll pick one for you?”
Fang Shaoyi chuckled, “No need, you can enjoy it yourself.”
Yuan Ye occasionally waited for the two younger ones behind him and threw them a bunch of bananas. Chi Xing was struggling with the difficult mountain path and his face was turning red. He had a towel draped around his neck to wipe off the sweat. Cheng Xun handed him a bottle of water to drink.
Chi Xing took a sip and handed it back to Cheng Xun, who also took a sip.
Yuan Ye smiled, knowing that these two were walking the line of ambiguity. When this segment airs, their fans will probably go crazy again. They are very good at burying these ambiguous points and controlling their intimacy just right. If they become too close, they will really become a couple, and that would not be as exciting for the fans to watch.
Chi Xing asked Yuan Ye, “Brother Yuan, how come you have such good stamina? I don’t even see you breathing heavily.”
When Yuan Ye was with them, he didn’t seem like he did when he was with Fang Shaoyi. After all, he was older now and looked like a cool and handsome uncle. He lifted his chin and pointed to a scar on his neck, then smiled and said to them, “When I was a kid, I was the king of our mountain. This scar is from when I was bitten by a wild dog in the mountains. It almost killed me.”
Chi Xing asked, “Your family lives on the mountain?”
Yuan Ye nodded and said, “Yeah, my grandmother lives on the side of the mountain. I grew up there.”
Cheng Xun had been silent the whole time, but now he whispered, “I know. I read about it in your book. There are a lot of stories about that mountain in there.”
Yuan Ye looked at him, raised an eyebrow, and then asked with a faint smile, “Have you read ‘The Axis’? How old are you?”
Cheng Xun nodded, “I’ve read it and I really liked it.”
Yuan Ye chuckled and didn’t say much. He reached into his backpack and threw two fruits at them before darting off a few steps and running away.
Yuan Ye had a backpack on his back and was running around the mountains. He almost ran into another group and saw a camera in the distance. He quickly turned around and disappeared.
The small wooden box of props he had was packed in his backpack and it was a bit heavy. It had been a long time since Yuan Ye had wandered around the mountains like this, maybe a few years.
Since his grandmother passed away, he hadn’t returned to that mountain or anywhere else for that matter. The things he used to love were now a bit blurry in his memory.
In the past, Yuan Ye wandered aimlessly around the world, feeling like the whole world belonged to him. Later on, his world became smaller and smaller. Looking back now, he couldn’t even remember what he used to like.
That day, it was inevitable that the team led by Yuan Ye would win. The mountain was the territory of wild monkeys, who could possibly beat them?
When the two teams gathered together, the opposing team started counting first. While they were counting, Yuan Ye and Cheng Xun took out boxes from their backpacks. In the end, the opposing team counted 105, and everyone was exhausted. The two girls didn’t care and found a piece of wood to sit on.
Yuan Ye heard them say 105 and took out two more boxes from his bag, saying, “That’s it.”
Cheng Xun also said, “I’m out too, it seems like we don’t have enough, brother.”
Yuan Ye smiled and said, “Not necessarily.”
In the end, they only counted 96 on their side, nine less than the other team. So they had to give up the house and each group had to sleep in a tent.
Fang Shaoyi patted Yuan Ye’s head and asked him, “You wandered around the mountain all day, what were you looking for?”
Yuan Ye shook his head and dodged his hand, laughing a little embarrassedly, “I just kept wandering around and forgot to look for the things.”
“No, it’s our fault for slowing you down,” Chi Xing quickly said, “We’re not very good, so it’s already good that we can keep up.”
Fang Shaoyi shook his head and said, “It’s okay.”
The program was arranged this way, even though there were actually more places to stay on the mountain. In order to capture a good shot, they had to film like this.
After washing up, everyone went back to their own tents. When Yuan Ye finished showering and arrived at his tent, Fang Shaoyi had already set everything up. The production team had prepared enough bedding, including two sleeping bags.
The shooting teacher was still working, so Yuan Ye sat cross-legged inside the tent and let out a sigh, “It’s quite soft.”
Fang Shaoyi stood outside and looked down at him, saying, “Come out and look at the stars. You won’t be able to see them once you go back.”
Yuan Ye crawled out of the tent, spread a sheet on the ground, and lay down, gazing at the stars twinkling in the sky. The night sky was indeed beautiful, and scenes like this were rare.
Yuan Ye sighed, “I didn’t bring my camera.” Fang Shaoyi remained silent and sat down next to him. The two of them silently gazed at the sky, neither of them speaking for a long time.
After a while, Yuan Ye cleared his throat and spoke up, “Last time I came, it was cloudy and I couldn’t see the stars. I brought my camera but didn’t get to use it. This time it’s cloudless, but I didn’t bring my camera.”
He chuckled at his own misfortune and shook his head. “Always one step behind.”
He propped his arm under his head and turned to look at Fang Shaoyi. This man always held himself with such poise, even when relaxing like this. He was always so handsome and dazzling, making it seem like there was always a distance between him and those around him.
As Fang Shaoyi felt his gaze, he lowered his head and met his eyes. Yuan Ye smirked, a shallow smile that held no particular meaning, before turning away.
After the shooting session ended, Yuan Ye walked away to smoke a cigarette. When he returned, Fang Shaoyi was waiting for him by the tent. Nearby, not far from their tent, were the tents of Chi Xing and Cheng Xun. Fang Shaoyi was chatting with them casually.
Without much hesitation, Yuan Ye walked over and climbed into the tent.
With limited conditions, there was no need to be pretentious. They were old acquaintances, so what harm was there in sleeping together?
Chi Xing and Cheng Xun were perceptive and noticed when Yuan Ye returned and they both left to wander around. Once they were gone, only the two of them were left in the vast wilderness.
Yuan Ye’s head emerged from the tent, tilting his neck and calling out, “Come on, Brother Yi, let’s sleep.”
Fang Shaoyi glanced at him and slowly shook his head.
Yuan Ye raised his eyebrows and asked, “What’s wrong? Did I prick you with thorns on my body?”
Fang Shaoyi replied, “You don’t have thorns on your body, but you have them on your mouth.”
“Oh, did I prick you there?” Yuan Ye’s gaze unconsciously fell on Fang Shaoyi’s lips, which were always so sensual.
Fang Shaoyi crouched down and said, “You go to sleep, I can’t sleep with you.”
He finished speaking and moved closer, even kneeling down with one knee on the ground. It was uncomfortable for someone of his height to speak in this position.
He stared into the Yuan Ye’s eyes, their faces only inches apart, and his breath could be felt on Yuan Ye’s face as he spoke.
He let out a cold laugh and spoke in a low volume that only the two of them could hear inside the tent, “If you lie next to me…I just want to f*** you.”
