Chapter 68
Neither Fang Shaoyi nor Yuan Ye liked showing up on news headlines or gossip accounts too frequently. But now that Fang Shaoyi was injured, stories about him incessantly appeared. Fang Shaoyi told Geng Jinwei to do his best to keep the attention minimal. There was no need to use this incident as a way of garnering attention; it was actually best if n.o.body mentioned him at all. Over the next period of time, people were probably going to get really annoyed after receiving numerous news suggestions that had headlines starting with “Post-injury, Fang Shaoyi……” They needed to delete as many of these articles as they could.
Right now, Fang Shaoyi had already turned into a spoiled brat because of Yuan Ye’s indulging. It felt like even his personality had changed because of this incident. He had become clingier and lazier. Regarding a lot of things, he was no longer willing to listen to or think about them.
This accident wasn’t trivial. Two houses had collapsed and four people had gotten injured – one of them had even gotten critically injured. The driver in charge of the car was clearly responsible. The set designer had come to ask Fang Shaoyi to be merciful, but he honestly wasn’t shameless enough to ask outright. If this were in the past, Fang Shaoyi wouldn’t have actually required the other to be held accountable. He would’ve waited until Yuan Ye wasn’t around and said, “Nevermind.” But right now, Fang Shaoyi was holding a gla.s.s bowl and eating fruit. He didn’t even look up to respond to the set designer’s pleas.
Yuan Ye had cut the fruit. These days, Lord Fang only let this one person wait on him. He refused to eat fruits cut by anybody else. He wouldn’t even put them into his mouth. In Ji Xiaotao’s words, he had lost thirty years of age after b.u.mping his head. Fang Shaoyi was acting like a child under the age of ten.
Fang Shaoyi pointed Yuan Ye out to the set designer. He didn’t dare to say anything about this matter. He was also too lazy to bother dealing with it. Thus, he directly pushed it onto Yuan Ye. He told the set designer, “I don’t make the decisions.”
Yuan Ye threw a napkin onto Fang Shaoyi’s lap and said, “We’re not going to make things especially difficult or try to take revenge. We’re just going to do things the way they should be done. We won’t ask for compensation. He wouldn’t be able to afford the compensation anyways. If he deserves to be convicted, he’ll need to be convicted. If he deserves to go to jail, he needs to go to jail. n.o.body’s going to make sure he gets a heavy sentence or anything like that. He can also hire his own lawyer to try and reduce the sentence. Whatever the judge decides is what he needs to accept. That’s it.”
The set designer was honestly too ashamed to say anything else. Though Fang Shaoyi had a great relationship with the film crew, it was also true that he had almost died because of that driver’s bad decisions. Who could provide the compensation for Fang Shaoyi’s life? And this was considering the fact that he was still alive right now. But even though he was alive, that was at the cost of cutting off almost half a lobe of lung and spending several months in rehabilitation.
Yuan Ye added, “Even if we didn’t want to hold him accountable, we’d be acting lenient, but Geng ge at the company wouldn’t let things slide so easily. As a person, he’s……he has dark methods, Teacher Xue. Let things be the way they ought to be.”
The set designer had originally only wanted to try his luck anyways. He hadn’t even been shameless enough to make much of an argument. In actuality, he was really angry about this incident too. He’d been holding his anger in these past couple of days, which had been quite painful. But ultimately, that was someone who had worked with him for so many years. At the end of the day, he couldn’t bear to be so heartless. He decided to try and help the other just once. If things went well, that would be great. If not, the other deserved whatever punishment he was doled. Right now, he was even sighing in relief before Yuan Ye was. He felt a slight sense of catharsis.
In actuality, Yuan Ye honestly couldn’t find it in himself to be forgiving regarding this incident. He wasn’t a bad person. Faced with questions of principle, he could retain kindness in his heart. However, he definitely wasn’t a saint either. From the accident until now, Yuan Ye hadn’t even seen that driver once. It was possible that he would feel murderous if he did see him, especially if he had seen him during the period of time where Fang Shaoyi had still been in the ICU and it had been uncertain whether he would survive or not. Accidents were truly unpredictable, but this accident clearly could’ve been avoided. One needed to pay for their mistakes. There was no such thing as an easy solution – they couldn’t count on the victims to not press charges or for forgiveness.
Later, when the set designer had already left, Yuan Ye asked Fang Shaoyi, “What do you think?”
Fang Shaoyi had just finished eating his fruit. He handed the bowl over to Yuan Ye; he was a bit tired from eating. After catching his breath, he said, “I think that everything you said was right.”
“I bet that if things were up to you, you’d probably forgive him, right?” Yuan Ye asked while looking at Fang Shaoyi.
Fang Shaoyi truly wasn’t the vengeful type. However, he shook his head. Yuan Ye c.o.c.ked an eyebrow. Fang Shaoyi’s expression was somewhat solemn. He stared into Yuan Ye’s eyes and said, “If I had only broken a collarbone this time, I might’ve forgiven him.”
Yuan Ye kind of wanted to laugh now. He asked, “No forgiveness because your injuries were too severe?”
“Un.” Fang Shaoyi didn’t deny this. He nodded. “I hurt my lungs, got surgery, and stayed in the ICU. Even I can’t be a saint after this.”
At the time, Yuan Ye hadn’t really understood what Fang Shaoyi had meant. He had merely smiled and turned around to wash the dishes. While doing so, he reconsidered what Fang Shaoyi had just said. Suddenly, he understood what Fang Shaoyi was thinking.
The injuries had been too serious. These past few days, Fang Shaoyi had been continuously doing his best to make up for the fear that Yuan Ye had felt. The stress and anxiety of the people around him ensured that even Fang Shaoyi couldn’t forgive the driver either.
Actually, just the fact that Yuan Ye had had a breakdown and cried by Fang Shaoyi’s sick bed that night was enough for Fang Shaoyi to hate this accident for many years.
Yuan Ye honestly didn’t cry too much. Since Fang Shaoyi had first gotten to know Yuan Ye until now, he had only cried that hard twice. Once was the year that Fang Shaoyi had forced him to sign the divorce papers. The other was that night.
His uncontrollable breaths and cries and each sorrowful complaint that defiantly escaped from his throat caused Fang Shaoyi to feel hatred. That ball of flames that Fang Shaoyi had carefully held in his hands all these years had almost gotten extinguished. Yuan Ye’s crying fit after their divorce had only been because of pain, despite its hysterical nature. There had been pain and reluctance, but no fear and despair.
It hadn’t been on the same level as the pain and extreme terror that Yuan Ye had felt this time. How could Fang Shaoyi not feel hatred?
Cutting off half a lobe of lung wouldn’t actually affect life too much. After a good recovery, it was possible that Fang Shaoyi could return to the state he had been in before. However, a good and complete recovery required at least half a year of rehabilitation.
The hospital wasn’t a place that was worth spending a lot of time at. The day the doctor said that Fang Shaoyi could leave, Fang Shaoyi and them headed off to begin the discharge process. Originally, Ji Xiaotao should’ve gone to fill out the necessary doc.u.ments. Before he could even leave, though, Fang Shaoyi had called him to a halt. Ji Xiaotao turned around. “What’s wrong, ge?”
Fang Shaoyi gestured for him to come back. Then, he turned around and told Yuan Ye, “You do it for me.”
Ji Xiaotao was speechless. He had honestly had more than enough of these two the past few days.
Yuan Ye found him troublesome too. “I’m not going. How old are you?”
“No matter how old I am, you still need to do it for me.” Fang Shaoyi clung onto Yuan Ye’s hand and swung it back and forth. “If you don’t fill out the doc.u.ments for me, I’m not leaving the hospital.”
There was no way to stay in this sick room. Ji Xiaotao stuffed his hands into his pockets, lowered his head, and walked out. Yuan Ye honestly couldn’t do anything about Fang Shaoyi. He glared at him for a long time. Eventually, though, he laughed too. He asked, “Aren’t you annoying?”
“Yes.” Fang Shaoyi nodded rather solemnly. “But it’s not the first day I’ve been annoying.”
“So you realize?” Yuan Ye let go of his hand and headed off to find the nurse. He needed to get Fang Shaoyi’s medicine before the other could get discharged.
“Of course,” Fang Shaoyi replied. He didn’t let Yuan Ye remove his hand; as soon as Yuan Ye let go, he grabbed on again. Then, he pulled out a ring from his pocket and very naturally slid it onto Yuan Ye’s ring finger. Finally, he lifted his head up and gently smiled at Yuan Ye. “Sign your name boldly. Write whatever you want in the blank when it asks for your relationship to me. Anything you write is true.”
Yuan Ye looked at him, then looked down at his own hand. There was a lengthy silence. Then, he lifted his hand and held it up to his eyes. His eyebrow slowly raised. “Where’d you get this?”
When Fang Shaoyi wanted to be shameless, he was very, very shameless. He didn’t feel guilty at all as he responded. He even generously announced, “Stole it. You just put it in your drawer. Who wouldn’t be able to see it?”
“You stole my ring?” Yuan Ye’s expression was filled with disbelief.
“Xiaotao stole it,” Fang Shaoyi admitted.
“You told him to steal it?” Yuan Ye inquired again.
Fang Shaoyi nodded. “Yeah.”
Yuan Ye originally should’ve felt touched. But now, he didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. “Can you two have a bit of shame? You guys couldn’t have bought a new ring?”
Not in a rush at all, Fang Shaoyi started feeling around in his other pocket too. Then, he tugged Yuan Ye’s hand over and took off the ring. While doing so, he said, “I was prepared for this. If you want a new one, I have a new one. If you want the old one, I have the old one. Whether you want to reminisce the past or start afresh, I’m fine either way. I’ll give you anything you want.”
“Really?” Yuan Ye smiled while sniffling. He lifted his other hand to rub the tip of his nose. Then, he squatted down and looked up at Fang Shaoyi. He stared at the other’s face that was still incredibly thin but also just as handsome as before. He observed the way the bridge of his nose was sharp and straight before trailing his gaze down to Fang Shaoyi’s thin lips. Finally, he made eye contact with Fang Shaoyi and lowly said, “I want your chopped off lung lobe to return to the way it was before. Can you give that to me?”
Fang Shaoyi couldn’t answer this question. He was speechless. He laughed bitterly and shook his head. Yuan Ye crooked a finger and used it to gently lift up Fang Shaoyi’s chin – he looked like a little hooligan who was flirting with a beauty. After, he quirked up one side of his mouth and gave Fang Shaoyi a wicked smile. He stood up and didn’t say anything before turning around and walking off.
He took a few steps forward before turning back around. Then, he dug the ring in Fang Shaoyi’s hand out and squeezed it between his own fingers. He shook it and said with a smile, “Old or new, they’re both mine.”
Ji Xiaotao didn’t want to bother watching the two sickly sweet lovebirds in the room. He was in the middle of strolling up and down the hallways with his hands in his pockets. Yuan Ye ran into him while on his way to the nurses’ station. While walking past the other, he purposely b.u.mped into his shoulder. Ji Xiaotao took a step back from the impact. He rubbed his shoulder. “What are you doing, Ye ge?”
Yuan Ye waved the ring in front of his face. “You stole my ring, huh?”
Ji Xiaotao more or less felt a bit guilty. “……My ge allowed it.”
Yuan Ye b.u.mped into him again and said, “Okay.” Without looking back, he walked away.
Originally, Fang Shaoyi needed to go home and get some peaceful rest. But it was true that the movie hadn’t finished filming yet. If they waited half a year for him to recover before filming the remaining scenes, the movie was really going to die. Right now, his body had recovered quite well. He could move around normally and could even do aerobic exercises for a short amount of time. However, he couldn’t pick heavy things up or do anything that was too extreme. Under such conditions, Fang Shaoyi didn’t go home. He headed straight to the film set.
There weren’t a lot of scenes remaining anyways. Most of them were shots that displayed the main character’s inner feelings. They didn’t require too much physical exertion. However, there was nothing constant about filming. They could only take things one step at a time.
Yuan Ye didn’t stop him. They honestly needed to finish filming soon. After, Fang Shaoyi would be able to rest more at ease. They first filmed the scenes that Fang Shaoyi was capable of doing. Even if they shot a few less scenes than normal each day, they were at least continuing to make progress. Right now, aside from Fang Shaoyi’s scenes, they had already finished the rest of the movie. The director had even mostly finished editing the film; they were just waiting for this last portion. This was what was holding everything else up.
Yuan Ye’s film crew had already returned to the mainland too. Yuan Ye had called both Director Lin Feng and Feng Leizi. At the time, he had just dropped everything and left. He had truly left very abruptly, but who couldn’t understand these things? Especially Feng Leizi. He had known Yuan Ye for so many years. He knew very well how great Yuan Ye’s relationship was with Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye didn’t say too much regarding his decision and why he had acted the way he had. He also didn’t make any insincere excuses. Each communication, he only discussed official business. Distinctions needed to be made: given the accident, there was no way the severity of these two situations could be compared.
Prior to leaving, Yuan Ye had called the director to notify him that he wouldn’t be able to continue working with them on set in the future. He hadn’t said anything else, only leaving a, “We’ll discuss everything else later.” Later, though, Yuan Ye didn’t say anything either. He only returned all the draft fees that he had been paid from the beginning of this project. Feng Leizi instantly transferred the amount back to him. Yuan Ye had already finished writing the entire script. In actuality, his work could’ve ended there. Only, the contract had said that he needed to stay on set during filming too. If Yuan Ye had asked for that part to be removed from the contract back then, it wouldn’t have even changed anything. Feng Leizi said over the phone call, “Who are you working with, little bro? You’re creating too much distance between us if you do this.”
Yuan Ye chuckled and answered, “Some things should be considered separately.”
“Even so, they shouldn’t be considered separately in this manner.” Feng Leizi lowered his voice. After scolding Yuan Ye, he said, “Have you become a dumba.s.s? Whether or not you stay on set is just a triviality. How many of the screenwriters who said that they stayed on set actually stayed until the really end? And now you’re returning the money. You think you’re the only generous, glorious, and righteous one? Do you think you’re returning the money to me or the director? That money’s all going back to the investors. There’s water in your brain.”
Yuan Ye wasn’t willing to argue over this topic for too long. After Yuan Ye expressed his determination to act in this manner, Feng Leizi simply deducted the final payment from his overall salary – this was the amount the film crew was paying for Yuan Ye to stay on set. However, even though Yuan Ye wasn’t on set in person, he still had a lot of stuff to take care of. Feng Leizi would occasionally make a video conference call and Yuan Ye would have to stay in the meeting until midnight. After all, this script had been personally written and edited by Yuan Ye. His opinions were the most valuable.
Yuan Ye was worried about disrupting Fang Shaoyi’s rest. He went to Ji Xiaotao’s room to take the call. When Fang Shaoyi woke up in the middle of the night, he hadn’t returned yet. He also wasn’t answering his phone. Thus, Fang Shaoyi walked over and knocked on the neighboring door while still in his pajamas.
Ji Xiaotao was fast asleep in his bed. Yuan Ye stood up from a nearby chair and walked over to open the door. His earphones were still in his ears. He saw Fang Shaoyi after opening the door. Thus, he took out one earphone and softly asked, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Xiaotao had sat up after hearing the sound of the door opening. When he saw Fang Shaoyi walk in, he felt a bit worried. “What’s wrong, ge?”
“Go back to sleep.” Fang Shaoyi didn’t even look at him. “Nothing’s wrong.”
Ji Xiaotao fell back into bed and was asleep in seconds.
Fang Shaoyi glanced at Yuan Ye’s phone screen. There weren’t any human faces at all; everyone’s cameras were pointed at their ceilings. Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. Displeased, he asked, “Have a conference call if you want, but why are you in someone else’s room?”
Yuan Ye thought to himself so even your a.s.sistant is “someone else” now? However, he didn’t actually refute Fang Shaoyi. Instead, he took out both earphones and softly replied, “I was scared that you wouldn’t be able to sleep if I was talking. Okay, let’s go. We’ll go back.”
Fang Shaoyi stole an earphone from him and put it into his own ear to listen. The sounds of a heated argument could be heard. He returned the earphone to Yuan Ye and pulled him back into their own room.
Yuan Ye coaxed this giant manchild who was acting like he was under the age of ten back into bed. He sat next to him, legs crossed as he listened to his phone. Fang Shaoyi lifted up Yuan Ye’s pajama top and rested his hand on the other’s stomach. Yuan Ye glanced at him, but didn’t treat this as a big deal. He stroked Fang Shaoyi’s hand through the shirt. Fang Shaoyi’s brows were still furrowed. He closed his eyes and muttered, “I had a dream and when I woke up, I couldn’t find you. I felt panicked.”
Yuan Ye didn’t have a temper anymore because of how Fang Shaoyi acted daily. He occasionally would even feel pained and acquiescent. It was always a lot more effective when Fang Shaoyi said such things as compared to other people. Yuan Ye’s heart softened considerably because of his complaint. He placed his hand on Fang Shaoyi’s ear and squeezed it. While covering up his earphones’ microphone, he kissed the other on the forehead and very quietly placated, “Okay, stop acting pitiful. Sleep.”
Fang Shaoyi was still dissatisfied and unhappy. “My lungs……”
Yuan Ye immediately cut him off. “I know. Your lungs hurt.”