Chapter 28
On-site screenwriter.
Fang Shaoyi’s gaze was astounded as he looked at Yuan Ye. He honestly hadn’t expected this. But very soon after, he shook his head and laughed. That was right, too. If you could expect it, then it wouldn’t be Yuan Ye anymore.
Yuan Ye cocked an eyebrow at Fang Shaoyi. “I’m resigning myself to your guidance, Teacher Fang.”
Fang Shaoyi burst into laughter and told him, “Listening to your orders, Teacher Yuan.”
Yang Siran quietly walked over to tell the server by the door to add another set of tableware. Then, he personally brought it over and set it down next to Yuan Ye’s hands. Yuan Ye looked up and smiled at him. He said, “Thanks, little bro.”
“You’re too polite, Yuan Ye ge.” Yang Siran pressed his lips together and smiled back.
In actuality, Yuan Ye had notified Director Jiang early in advance. He had also confirmed quite early on that he would be coming. Jiang Linchuan was always in need of screenwriters when he filmed: there could never be too many on-site screenwriters. This movie had already had eight screenwriters during the preparation period who all wrote their own scripts. In the end, Director Jiang had picked out the parts he liked, then added his own thoughts. This had all been combined to form a single script. There were actually screenwriters on-site too, but they were all apprentice-level. This was because Jiang Linchuan rarely discussed with others after filming started. He had his own ideas. The screenwriters on set now were basically just editing the script according to his intentions.
For Yuan Ye to be an on-site screenwriter, he was actually lowering his own value and finding trouble for himself. Nobody was willing to be an on-site screenwriter. If one encountered a director who constantly wanted to edit the script, they would have to stay up late almost every night to complete the task. It also wasn’t a job that earned much.
At the dinner table, Fang Shaoyi didn’t say much to him. It also wasn’t convenient to.
After the gathering ended and the two of them sat in the car, Fang Shaoyi finally scolded him, “Foolish. Aren’t you scared it’ll be tiring?”
“How tiring could it be? It’s nothing.” Yuan Ye smiled, then turned around and told him, “Besides, even if it is tiring, I’d still be required to come. I still need to ask for love.”
“......” Ji Xiaotao snuck a glance at the two of them through the rearview mirror from where he was sitting in the front. He did his best to hide his presence, not making a sound.
Fang Shaoyi calmly said, “I thought that you had given up.”
Yuan Ye hurriedly wobbled his head. “How could I? I need to come protect you. I heard you two have been bullied by the rest of the crew? Come, Ye ge will protect you guys.”
Ji Xiaotao occasionally peeked behind him, silent the entire time. He had already finished being excited over Yuan Ye coming. Yuan Ye had only called him, asking where he was, after he had checked into the hotel. Ji Xiaotao was also the one who had told him the number of the private room.
Fang Shaoyi inquired, “Where are you staying?”
Yuan Ye rubbed his hair. He tilted his head and looked over to ask, “Is your room okay?”
Fang Shaoyi shook his head. The corner of his mouth gently lifted up a bit. He answered, “Nope. There’s already someone in my room.”
Yuan Ye went pft before shaking his head. “I’m not going to eat this vinegar. It’s not the right taste.”
The entire way back, Ji Xiaotao had worked hard too, being the third wheel. After returning to the hotel, he said goodbye to the two of them before hurriedly rushing back to his own room. Yuan Ye said to Fang Shaoyi with a big smile, “I’ll go sit in your room for a bit.”
While walking, Fang Shaoyi turned to ask him, “Not scared of someone taking pictures of you?”
“Let them take pictures if they want. I’m already like this. Should I really be scared of them taking more pictures?” Yuan Ye laughed again before saying, “Whatever.”
Naturally, nothing needed to be said about the reason why Yuan Ye had come on set. Both knew exactly why in their hearts. He had come for that one person.
But right now, he and Fang Shaoyi truly hadn’t reached that stage where they could directly get remarried. The year that they had spent divorced symbolized all the things that were now different from before. After deciding to start over, there were many things that needed to be reorganized and resolved. Getting back together immediately following a confusing regaining of contact was too irresponsible. It also indicated that previously, they had been very disrespectful towards their romantic relationship and marriage.
Yuan Ye sat on the sofa in Fang Shaoyi’s room and rubbed his own head. He told the other, “Yi ge, I’ve almost finished figuring myself out. After I completely finish with myself, I’ll start figuring you out. We can start over.”
Fang Shaoyi walked past him, offhandedly rubbing his head. The stubble was a bit prickly. It had been quite long since Fang Shaoyi had felt this sensation. He liked it a lot. Fang Shaoyi chuckled; Yuan Ye remained gazing at him with a smile. His smile was always very captivating. Fang Shaoyi said, “Did I say I want to start over with you?”
“Ah, you did.” Yuan Ye reached out and grabbed his hand. He stared straight into the other’s eyes, then tilted his head and laughed. “Even if you didn’t say it out loud, that’s what’s in your head. If you’re going to be coquettish, do it obviously. Don’t hide it. Be a bit more honest.”
Because of his words, Fang Shaoyi couldn’t help laughing out loud. He couldn’t handle such a direct player. He flipped his hand over and squeezed Yuan Ye’s hand.
Their palms were still filled with that dry, familiar warmth.
Yuan Ye’s room was two floors above Fang Shaoyi’s. He went back after only spending a brief time in the other’s room. A film set was still a film set. It was somewhere where people worked and filmed. Doing so might make others believe that the two of them had come here to blindly fool around, so Yuan Ye couldn’t sleep in the same room as Fang Shaoyi. They also hadn’t reached that stage yet and didn’t want to act so hastily.
Yuan Ye had read the script long ago. He had taken the initiative to ask to come, so had obviously done a lot of preparation. The original on-site screenwriter had already given him the newly fixed sections of the script to see. Yuan Ye asked the other, “How much have we already finished filming?”
The original screenwriter was quite young too. He was very respectful to Yuan Ye. “Just this bit.”
Yuan Ye was quite surprised, “Only so little?”
“Yes. Probably because we haven’t found the rhythm yet. It’s very difficult for the director to pass a shot too. We keep having to repeatedly film each take.”
“Un,” Yuan Ye chuckled and said. “How much money did investors give you guys for you to waste it like this?”
“It’s a large amount for a low cost movie. We’re as willful as can be,” screenwriter Little Gao said.
It was honestly so. Aside from Fang Shaoyi, this film wasn’t using any other valuable actors. Though everyone had great acting skills and were talented, and though there were many old, experienced actors, the only member of the main cast was Fang Shaoyi. Thus, there was only one person who needed to be paid a lot of money. Even so, his rate wasn’t as high as some other people in the industry. There weren’t any extremely grandiose shots in the entire movie, so the team didn’t need to spend enormous sums creating special effects either. Aside from setting up a small film studio, there was nothing else to spend on.
On the first day of filming, Yuan Ye stayed on set the whole day. He wore a hooded sweatshirt and sat next to the director the entire time, watching through the monitor. He wanted to figure out the director’s line of thought. Director Jiang chatted with him quite a bit. He even asked, “Have you noticed anything?”
Yuan Ye smiled and said, “I can’t tell at all.”
Director Jiang told him, “Being unable to tell would be right. I don’t even know what feeling I’m going for. Still looking for it.”
With the script in his hand, Yuan Ye asked, “Director, when are we going to have a meeting?”
The director answered, “If you want to talk about the script, you can come find me whenever you want.”
Yuan Ye nodded and said, “Okay.”
Previously, Yuan Ye hadn’t joined the crew yet. He had read the script and carefully thought about it, coming up with a lot of ideas, but because he wasn’t on set, he had no one to talk to about them. Jiang Linchuan’s thoughts were very difficult to understand. There were several scenes in the movie that Yuan Ye simply could not wrap his head around. Whether he considered deeper or shallower meanings, he still couldn’t comprehend what the director was ultimately trying to express.
It was impossible for movies like these to have even one line of useless speech. Each word carried its own purpose. The reason why Yuan Ye couldn’t tell anything from the scene being filmed today was because in his eyes, this scene was completely useless.
Fang Shaoyi walked over after finishing a take. Yuan Ye stood up and scooted over, leaving the little stool next to the director free for him to sit in as he watched the replay. Fang Shaoyi glanced at him. His face was expressionless and he didn’t speak, but his gaze was warm. Yuan Ye smiled at him and stood behind them, listening.
Fang Shaoyi asked the director, “How was that shot?”
The director stayed still for a long time before replying. Fang Shaoyi didn’t know what he was thinking about. A while later, he said, “Let’s do it one more time. Be a bit looser with your acting this time.”
Fang Shaoyi made a noise of acknowledgment and nodded. He didn’t say anything else.
This scene was between Sen Cha and the blacksmith. During a haircut, the two of them shared a strange and illogical conversation. As long as they couldn’t pass this shot, the blacksmith needed to continuously add new hair extensions. Then, he would have to let Fang Shaoyi cut his hair again during each take. When the two of them were acting, Jiang Linchuan very rarely explained the scene to them. He allowed them to bounce off each other. He would only give fairly detailed explanations for Yang Siran and other actors who had just started acting and didn’t have much experience.
Yang Siran was in the next scene, but it was uncertain if they would get to him or not today. Even when it wasn’t his turn, he still needed to wait on set with his makeup on. He stayed seated, watching Fang Shaoyi and them act. His phone remained gripped in his hand; he occasionally glanced at it.
When Yuan Ye returned, he happened to pass by the other. Yang Siran suddenly called out to him, “Yuan Ye ge.”
“Ey, what’s wrong?” Yuan Ye stopped in place and looked at him.
Yang Siran stood up and gazed at him. He lowered his voice and said, “The news before...... You didn’t misunderstand, right? Don’t overthink things, I didn’t......”
Yuan Ye lifted his hand and interrupted the other with a chuckle. “I didn’t think too much of it. You don’t need to, either. You’re only treating this as a big deal because you’ve just entered the industry. Even if we took a million steps back and thought about it, the whole world already knows that we’re divorced. You don’t need to be so nervous and explain to me. This has nothing to do with me. Everybody’s free to do as they want.”
“No, it isn’t important if you and Shaoyi ge are divorced or not. I still have to explain. Shaoyi ge is my boss,” Yang Siran said.
Yuan Ye burst into laughter, “Okay, then I know now.”
Yang Siran nodded and said, “Then I’ll let you get back to your work.”
Thus, Yuan Ye returned to the director’s side and squatted down once again.
Ji Xiaotao had already explained the situation to Yuan Ye. The room in the picture wasn’t even Fang Shaoyi’s. That day, Geng Jinwei had arrived. Fang Shaoyi had gone looking for his manager. Yang Siran had done the same. Ji Xiaotao had been there too. When Yang Siran got there, Fang Shaoyi happened to be the person closest to the door. Thus, he had been the one to walk over and open the door.
Paparazzi companies would release any news for the sake of popularity, as long as the news could cause a splash. Even they themselves knew that pictures like these, ones that had been cropped then edited together, wouldn’t amount to much. As long as Fang Shaoyi’s side posted the security footage, they wouldn’t even need to explain anything. Fang Shaoyi had left the room not even twenty minutes after he had opened the door. He had returned to his room and hadn’t left again. What else needed to be explained? All they needed to do was post a statement for appearance’s sake. Even though this was the case, the company could still gain quite a bit of popularity from simply posting such a piece of news.
Yuan Ye squatted there, thinking unknown thoughts. Someone stood behind him and tugged up the hood on his sweatshirt to cover his head. Yuan Ye actually already knew who this was without even needing to look back. He did his best to lean his head back, but the hood still covered his line of sight and he couldn’t see the person.
Yuan Ye lowered his head and said with a smile, “How old are you? Don’t you feel childish?”
Fang Shaoyi said, “Thirty six. Only slightly.”
Yuan Ye swung his head back forcefully and finally saw Fang Shaoyi. Because of the force of this action, he lost his balance and couldn’t remain squatting. Only after holding himself up with an arm did he avoid landing on his butt on the ground. When Yuan Ye started laughing, his shoulders shook. A while later, he still ended up directly sitting on the ground after laughing.
Fang Shaoyi cocked an eyebrow. “What are you doing now?”
Yuan Ye laughed, “I’ve become dizzy because of how handsome you are.”