Mr. Yuan is Always Unhappy - Chap 1
As the autumn wind strummed past the branches, a few pieces of lightly-yellowed leaves resisted against the force, not wanting to be blown off. But in the end, they fell. They flew down like fluttering butterflies, landing one after another on the dark-golden marble step beneath the tree.
Before the poeticness of early autumn could be appreciated by anyone, a black leather shoe stepped right over the leaves heartlessly in a second.
“The magazine is scheduled to be released the day after tomorrow! That cover artist who’s married just had to get exposed for cheating at this time! He’s a scum and he deserves it, but why does it have to affect me as well?! Where am I supposed to find a replacement photo that fits the theme for the cover in this short amount of time?!” The fallen leaves were suppressed underneath Fan Shiqing’s shoes as he complained ragingly into the phone, “The chief editor told me to find someone to do the reshooting immediately if I can’t find one, reshooting my ass! Does he think that there’s no need to schedule with an artist for photoshoots? Will you always get your delivery whenever you want? Who can I fucking pull over for a photoshoot in two days?! AHHHHHH I want to beat that cheating scum to death right now!”
Once Wang Qi heard that he was done venting on the other side, he spoke up, “Do you want me to call delivery for you?”
Fang Shiqing was taken back a little. He said as he didn’t know if he should cry or laugh, “I am angry for real right now, yet you’re still kidding around with me. Watch it, I can bite you to death, Wang Qiqi.”
Wang Qi replied, “That wasn’t a joke. Hearing you angry has me super worried, I’ll find someone to look for which artists are free to save you. What type of model do you need for this week’s magazine cover?”
Fang Shiqing chuckled before saying, “It’s fine. I already found someone who can help me. I’m waiting for him at the photography studio’s entrance right now.”
Wang Qi said helplessly, “What about you ‘being angry for real’ earlier?”
“It’s really boring to just wait, I wanted you to spoil me a little.”
“… You rascal.”
Out of the corner of his vision, Fang Shiqing saw a car stopping by the street that was on the side of the studio. He quickly said, “I have to go now, he’s here. I gotta hurry to start working…get home early, mwah.”
“Mwah.”
Stuffing his phone into his pocket, Fang Shiqing speed-walked over to welcome the other. He bowed with his hands folded in front at the other very exaggeratedly. “Your help has arrived like the water that has arrived to extinguish a fire, there is nothing good enough for me to repay your great kindness with!”
The person who came down the car still had unremoved makeup on his face. Despite how obviously exhausted he was, he responded quickly by waving his hand. “No big deal, don’t be so humble with me.”
Fang Shiqing could clearly see the state he was in. He asked, “Did you just finish recording a show? Pulled an all-nighter?”
“Yeah…” The person blinked heavily. He continued with a bit of hesitance, “Are my eyes bloodshot red right now? What if I just wear one of those bigger eye contacts later? If that still doesn’t work, they’ll just have to carefully edit it out.”
Fang Shiqing furrowed his eyebrows. “That’s not a problem. I heard from your partner that you left for work yesterday morning, recorded a show for over 20 hours, then hurried over here to help me. Is your body going to be alright? Anyway, the makeup artist I appointed for is still occupied by some other matter and won’t get here for a while. You should go take a nap back in the car, the studio’s too messy.”
Then, a young girl came down from the car carrying a huge cosmetic case in her hand. She said with a smile, “Yuan Rui mentioned that you guys’ makeup artist might not make it in time so he called me here to help out.”
Fang Shiqing replied promptly, “Thank you for taking the trouble to come here…Yuan Rui sure acts like an actual brother of mine, he’s so considerate.”
His “actual brother” couldn’t help but yawn. “I’ll go in to get the makeup done first. I’ve got a few outfits in the back trunk, they’re all new products for this season from brand sponsorships. I was afraid you might not have had the time to borrow any. See if any of them can be of use to you.”
Fang Shiqing’s knees weakened to the point that he almost kneeled. He was extremely moved. “This…is really something I could never pay back, how about I sell you my body for it?”
Yuan Rui stilled, suddenly he wasn’t sleepy anymore. He spoke in fear, “No, Wang Qi would beat me to death.”
“Hahaha.”
After a few draining hours, they finally got the photoshoot over with. Fang Shiqing nagged the designer to get it all done before the day after tomorrow, then finally let the weight be lifted off him. He went back to find Yuan Rui slouched over in front of the mirror, sleeping with only half of his makeup removed; there was still a cotton wipe in his hand.
He went over to tap on Yuan Rui. “Hey, wake up. Where did that makeup artist go?”
Yuan Rui sat up foggily. “I told her to go home first. She was also the makeup artist for the program so she had been out the whole night as well.”
“Didn’t your company get you a personal assistant just a while ago? Where are they?”
Yuan Rui continued to remove his makeup as he spoke, “Zheng Qiuyang didn’t like him so I returned him to the company.”
Fang Shiqing was boggled as he said, “You have to cook, do laundry, and do other chores after getting off work. The only thing missing now is you switching Young Master Zheng’s diapers. He doesn’t do anything but step into your businesses, is he shameless or what?”
Surprisingly, Yuan Rui seemed a little shy. “He said the assistant was too handsome.”
“…” He got showed off to just like that without any prior warning.
He asked with his hand on his chin, “The reality show you’re on right now is almost over, right? Would you be able to take a long break after that? Qiuyang had been planning to go on a trip with you for a long while now.”
“I want to go too, but the company got me a role in an idol drama. I’m the second male lead.”
Fang Shiqing laughed. “That’s good, second male leads usually gain a lot of fans.”
Yuan Rui was melancholy about it though. “Sigh, it’s not like I can act. It was alright when I used to play background characters, but reading actual lines throws me off balance completely. So the company signed me up for an acting crash course class. I have to take it right after the reality show is over.”
Fang Shiqing patted his back. “You always belittle yourself when you shouldn’t. You say you couldn’t do comedy when you were recording the shows and now you say you can’t act. Just look at how popular you’ve gotten. If you’ve really got no skills, would you say the audience was blind?”
Yuan Rui was done removing his makeup. Then, he said with a sincere face, “For real, all I have is my face.”
“…”
Yuan Rui stood up, looked down at his long legs, and added, “Also my legs.”
His main job was modeling. He had competed in a modeling show before at 19. Only the top 12 were going to enter the finals and he got 13th place. He stayed overseas for a few years and also attended a few large-scaled shows thanks to the fame he received from the competition. Yet in the end, he wasn’t able to rise to the top of the industry. Later, as he grew older, he passed the golden age as a model so he could only come back to his home country for another opportunity.
His luck was quite good. He was signed into a company right after his return, but the fashion industry in China didn’t have such high ground. Usually, he’d take jobs as a print model while sometimes being the flower vase in the background of some soap operas that were out of their prime age. The company he was signed to didn’t have good resources either. Even if they had the heart to help their artists out, they had no power to.
Mr.Yuan Rui continued to be unsuccessful for over a year until suddenly, one day, a golden meat pie fell on his head. A reality show had given him an opportunity. Somehow, despite how Yuan Rui was usually slow at his other jobs, he seemed to have this job in the bag. With how natural he acted, everything seemed more real and he even won an abundant amount of the audience’s favor. He quickly leaped over the dragon’s gate from a little nobody up to a C-list celebrity. Although he wasn’t suddenly famed to the extreme, it was still a great overnight success.
“For someone like me who suddenly got this much fame, if I don’t properly set my bars higher, I’ll be eliminated sooner or later.” Yuan Rui continued, “Right now the audiences are blinded by my outside for the moment and haven’t realized what a blockhead I am. Once they do, with a bam, I’m out.”
Fang Shiqing couldn’t help but side-eye him. “I never realized, you sure have a strong sense of self-awareness.”
Yuan Rui was finished with the basics of his skincare, as he looked at his face in the mirror, he spoke a little shyly, “Those were Zheng Qiuyang’s words. He said I’m not suited for this type of job, I think he’s quite right.”
Fang Shiqing felt done. “What do you mean it doesn’t suit you? As long as you’re doing well, it’s a match. It’d really be unsuitable if you weren’t doing well. I think he isn’t suited to be a jewelry designer. Don’t listen to his nonsense. He’s just jealous of how many handsome guys are in the entertainment industry, afraid that someone might steal you from him.”
Yuan Rui stilled, then he instantly asked in glee, “Really? He told you that?”
“…What are you being so happy about?”
Yuan Rui was content. “He likes me so much, so of course I’m happy.”
Fang Shiqing rolled his eyes. “He was entirely straight before he met you. Came out to his mom and ended up with her hospitalized from anger. Yet you’re still unsure if he really likes you?”
Yuan Rui sat down next to him, he let out a heavy sigh before saying, “Actually…um…”
“Hurry up and spit it out.”
Yuan Rui spoke a bit awkwardly, “Let me ask you…do you think he’s still straight? I feel like he’s still interested in girls.”
Fang Shiqing hesitated a little before replying, “Why? Did you see him flirting with some other girl?”
Yuan Rui shook his head. “That’s not it. It’s just…that…that…sigh, nevermind.”
Fang Shiqing was irritated from only hearing half of the gossip. “Don’t play with me! You cutting off your story in the middle is going to kill me! Just what happened?!”
Yuan Rui hesitated for a little before lowering his voice, “When we do that, he always rubs my chest.”
