Perfect Divorce [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 21

Ye Huai must have been exhausted. After Yuan Xingzhou shaded him from the light for a while, he began to snore softly. Yuan Xingzhou tiptoed out of bed, pulled the curtains shut on one side, and returned. However, he felt too awkward to sleep facing him, so he quietly nudged himself toward the edge and fell asleep lying flat.

He slept until 3:30 PM, when Li Yi came to wake him up.

“Your sleeping posture is too cute,” Li Yi said, unable to stop herself from laughing. “It’s like you’re performing some kind of ceremony, lying there so formally.”

As she spoke, she mimicked him—lying flat on her back with both hands rested on her stomach, looking completely serene.

Only then did Yuan Xingzhou realize he had forgotten to close the door.

A cameraman stood in the corner filming. He shook off his drowsiness, gave an embarrassed smile, and then froze. “Where’s Ye Huai?”

“A loving couple is truly different,” Li Yi teased. “He’s already at the lobby for the gathering. He asked me to come wake you up just now.”

Yuan Xingzhou hurried up to wash and get ready.

The recording on Friday was relatively light. When Yuan Xingzhou arrived at the Building B lobby, Ye Huai was chatting with the group. To be precise, a group of people was surrounding Ye Huai while he fiddled with his game console, still aimlessly picking up mushrooms.

This man was truly too popular. Yuan Cheng and Tan Yanke were on the periphery of the crowd; it was obvious they didn’t like how everyone revolved around Ye Huai like stars around the moon, but there was nothing they could do.

“It’s a good thing your husband isn’t single,” Li Yi said with a laugh as she walked with him. “If he came as a guest, this show would be too easy—on the first day, everyone would choose Ye Huai, and from the second day onward, everyone would start a free-for-all battle to win the right to pair up with him…”

Yuan Xingzhou didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. He quickly tried to be humble on Ye Huai’s behalf. “It’s not that extreme. You make him sound like a Monkey King.”

“Pretty much.” Li Yi tilted her chin. “And those two on the side are the defeated monkeys stomping their feet.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

Yuan Cheng was actually bouncing his leg; the description was far too vivid.

Even after mocking Yuan Cheng and Tan Yanke, Li Yi maintained a perfectly calm and casual expression. Yuan Xingzhou followed her in, holding back for a long time before he couldn’t help himself. While greeting everyone, he burst out laughing.

“Haha, hello everyone!” Yuan Xingzhou truly couldn’t control it, laughing until tears came to his eyes. “I’m Yuan Xingzhou.”

Everyone: “…”

“What happened?” Ye Huai finally looked up from behind the game console, asking in confusion. “Why so happy?”

Yuan Xingzhou wiped the corners of his eyes and said quickly, “Nothing, just chatting with Sister Li Yi.”

“Xingzhou, look what we brought for you?” Sun Kai was over in the dining area. Hearing him speak, he walked out while making his own “tada!” sound effects. “You must try this! I protected it all the way back.”

Before Yuan Xingzhou could even get to know the others, Sun Kai presented a beautiful crystal cup. However, what shocked Yuan Xingzhou even more was just how gorgeous this ice cup was!

At the bottom was raspberry jam, covered by three scoops of rose sorbet, with two macarons in the middle, topped with whipped cream chantilly and decorative rose petals.

Everyone in the lobby went “Woah” in unison.

“This is too much, right?” A young girl with twin tails immediately wailed. “We’ve been recording for so long and I haven’t even tasted an ice cream. Brother Sun Kai, you’re too biased!”

“Give it to Yin Fei then,” Yuan Cheng said immediately. “Boys shouldn’t be eating desserts anyway.”

Yin Fei hadn’t thought before she spoke, and realizing the situation, she felt a bit awkward.

“That won’t do.” Yuan Xingzhou smiled. “I have to keep Brother Sun’s gift. Xiao Fei, your brother has money—I’ll take you to buy ice cream later.”

As he spoke, he took the ice cup from Sun Kai and sat down next to Ye Huai.

Yin Fei breathed a sigh of relief, nodded, and then asked curiously, “Didn’t the production crew confiscate it?”

“I don’t know, maybe they forgot?” Yuan Xingzhou laughed. “Let’s buy more before they notice.”

The others were both surprised and delighted; having a budget for a show recording was usually a trap. These people were used to spending lavishly; the past few days had felt like labor reform to them.

Li Yi clapped her hands, calling everyone to huddle up secretly to discuss what to buy first.

“It’s not easy to ‘pluck the wool’ from the sheep, and this time we have two fat sheep,” Li Yi said. “Quickly, everyone list what you want to buy!”

Yuan Xingzhou saw them starting their discussion, so he lightly kicked Ye Huai’s foot and handed the ice cup over.

Ye Huai: “…”

“Do you want me to feed you?” Yuan Xingzhou teased. “I saw you swallowing your saliva.”

Ye Huai loved desserts. When Sun Kai first came out with the “tada” sound, the man’s eyes had lit up. While everyone else was looking at the cup, Yuan Xingzhou remembered that Ye Huai might like it; glancing out of the corner of his eye, he had seen Ye Huai swallow.

Ye Huai gave a “tsh,” but didn’t refuse.

Yuan Xingzhou smiled, picked up the rose petal and placed it in his palm, then scooped up a bit of cream and fed it to him.

“I think he’s interested in you,” Ye Huai leaned in for a bite and glanced toward the crowd. “Offering favors for no reason.”

Yuan Xingzhou froze, then said between laughter and tears, “Stop it. Brother Sun is Sister Li Yi’s CP; they’re on the same team right now.”

“They’re all acting,” Ye Huai whispered, then took the cup for himself. “One way in front of the camera, but who knows who they like off-camera. Do you think he’s handsome?”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…” What kind of topic is this? Why discuss if Sun Kai is handsome?

But he also realized that after the crew’s “magical modifications,” the aura of this variety show was completely different from the overseas versions he’d seen. Although cameras were everywhere and no one was guiding their conversation, Yuan Xingzhou could clearly feel that everyone was “posing”—they likely each had their own personas and scripts.

Maybe the overseas versions only looked that way after editing?

Yuan Xingzhou had his doubts again. For his first variety show, he didn’t expect it to be amazing, as long as it wasn’t a total disaster. As for the “self-blackening” persona, he felt that being “narrow-minded” was the most suitable.

Ye Huai was simply too popular. This would give him many opportunities to vividly express how much he cared about Ye Huai, as well as his insecurity, nervous tension, and fits of jealousy.

Yuan Xingzhou regretted sleeping so long; he should have cleared this with Ye Huai before coming over.

Ye Huai had finished off the ice cup. As a cameraman behind them came over for a close-up, Yuan Xingzhou hesitated for a moment and then took the initiative: “He’s quite handsome. What do you think?”

Ye Huai turned his head to squint at him.

“I’m asking you…” Yuan Xingzhou stared into his eyes, asking in a scrutinizing tone, “Do you think he’s handsome or am I handsome?”

He paused, then quickly changed it to, “Are his legs longer or are mine longer?”

The camera indeed caught the topic point; a remote-controlled camera hummed as it turned its head toward them.

Yuan Xingzhou thought, that was close. If he asked who was more handsome, even just out of politeness, Ye Huai would say it was him. But the leg length question was definitely different. Sun Kai was a model, appearing to be over 190cm. He himself was barely over 180cm.

“What do you think?” Ye Huai looked over with a strange expression.

Yuan Xingzhou said shamelessly, “What use is what I say? Of course I want to hear what you say.”

Ye Huai: “…”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“…I’m not blind,” Ye Huai finally replied after a while. “Of course it’s you.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “???”

“Can we stop with the public displays of affection!” someone from the group discussing the shopping list wailed. “It’s bad enough that two major heartthrobs dating is a waste of resources, but why must you abuse ‘single dogs’ in public? What did the dogs do wrong…?”

The others burst into laughter, all turning back to look.

Ye Huai acted as if it were the most natural thing in the world and continued playing his game. Yuan Xingzhou had been caught off guard; no matter how he looked at it, he felt the man must have misheard the question.

Fortunately, Li Yi had finished writing the shopping list. Yuan Xingzhou felt a bit dazed and quickly took Yin Fei out to buy the items.

Although this was called a farmhouse, it was actually more like a boutique homestay, and this village seemed to be a place of “hidden dragons and crouching tigers.” The items in the dessert shop were much more authentic than those in the city.

“It looks like they want to develop this place into a scenic area.” Yin Fei finally got her ice cream and was so happy she practically flew down the road. She kept thanking Yuan Xingzhou before asking, “Brother Zhouzhou, are you and Ye Huai for real?”

Yuan Xingzhou, who was buying things according to the list, froze. “What do you mean?”

“Yuan Cheng said you and Ye Huai are in a fake marriage,” Yin Fei said. “He got drunk that day and said it by accident. The cameras didn’t catch it, so don’t worry.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…” Since Yuan Cheng dared to ask at the press conference, he definitely knew something. They weren’t in the same company and their resources overlapped; it wasn’t surprising at all that he would do this.

Right now, the cameras weren’t following them. Yin Fei seemed carefree, but she was actually quite careful.

“I’m a Huai-Zhou CP fan,” Yin Fei added. “Whether you two are real or fake, I think you’re the most perfect match.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

Yuan Xingzhou hadn’t expected his CP fans to be everywhere; he even ran into one while recording a show. But Yin Fei asking this clearly meant she believed at least half of what Yuan Cheng said.

“What did he say?” Yuan Xingzhou suppressed his anger and tried to act surprised. “Why is he making up stories about us?”

“He seemed to be talking about your past performances,” Yin Fei said. “He said that before your group disbanded, Ye Huai actually had a lover. He heard it with his own ears.”

Now Yuan Xingzhou was truly stunned.

Just that afternoon, he had been speculating if Ye Huai had ever been in love and had thought of beautiful images of sincerely wishing him well—but hearing someone else say it now felt completely different.

“Don’t worry,” Yin Fei said. “There are plenty of real and fake marriages in this industry; no one really thinks anything of it. Aren’t we all just acting too? Besides, I’ll cover for you. Brother Zhou, if you need help with a cover story, just call me.”

She didn’t hear a response after she finished. She looked up. “Brother Zhou?”

“Huh? It’s nothing.” Yuan Xingzhou snapped back to reality and quickly returned to normal, smiling at her. “I just got a bit dizzy, thought I saw a snake and it gave me a fright.”

Yin Fei: “…”

“Thank you,” Yuan Xingzhou said. “Do you want another ice cream?”

After finishing the shopping, Yuan Xingzhou carried three large bags of food and daily necessities. He accompanied Yin Fei as she bought a third scoop of ice cream, then chose a remote side path for a very slow stroll back.

By the time they reached the house, someone was already waiting anxiously.

“Why did you two take so long?” Li Yi and Sun Kai ran over together to meet him. Li Yi looked closely at Yuan Xingzhou’s face. “You don’t look well. Did you not rest enough?”

“No, no.” Yuan Xingzhou smiled quickly. “The scenery was just so beautiful, so we walked a bit slower. I bought black peppercorns; shall we have black pepper beef willow tonight?”

“I’ll cook tonight,” Sun Kai interrupted without hesitation. He took the bags from his hand with one hand and reached out with the other to grab his wrist, then slid down to take his hand.

“Hey!” Ye Huai shouted suddenly.

Sun Kai’s movements immediately froze, and he let go somewhat awkwardly.

Yuan Xingzhou looked over. Ye Huai was surrounded by people, appearing to be taking some machinery apart. At that moment, he tilted his head and looked over. Seeing Yuan Xingzhou standing in the courtyard, he jerked his head to the side. “Come here!”

Yuan Xingzhou, however, bypassed him and said to the others who were watching, “Sorry, everyone carry on. I’m going to the kitchen to see if there’s anything I can do.”

He didn’t stop, turning right and going straight into the kitchen.

Sun Kai looked at him, then at Ye Huai, and followed with the bags.

Yuan Xingzhou took the beef out of the fridge and cut it with his head down, his mind a mess. But he forced himself to find comfort: Ye Huai and I only registered the marriage because the company requested it. Isn’t it normal for him to have a lover? Why am I being so sensitive?

“Did you two have a fight?” Sun Kai put the grocery bags on the floor, picking things out one by one to put in the fridge while trying to persuade him from behind. “Weren’t you two all sweet this afternoon? You even fed him the rose cup I spent a fortune on. How did you get angry the moment you turned around?”

He was busy moving back and forth behind him.

Yuan Xingzhou’s mind was in a turmoil. After thinking for a while, he said, “It’s nothing. I’m not angry.”

“If you aren’t angry, why won’t you come over?” Ye Huai asked.

Yuan Xingzhou thought he was talking to Sun Kai. Hearing this voice gave him a fright; he dropped the knife and jumped in place.

Ye Huai was standing at the kitchen door, where Sun Kai had been. Sun Kai was peeking from further away, clearly having just been shooed away.

“…Why did you come over?” Yuan Xingzhou lowered his head, avoiding Ye Huai’s gaze.

“Why can’t I come over?” Ye Huai asked. “What’s wrong with you?”

Yuan Xingzhou picked up the knife and continued cutting the meat. “Nothing.”

“If it’s nothing, why did you wander outside with that girl for so long?” Ye Huai said. “What, are the country paths fun? Is the sunset beautiful? Is the evening breeze very romantic? Was there a herd of cows waiting for you to herd them?”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

The more Yuan Xingzhou listened, the more something felt off. He turned his face and looked at him strangely.

Ye Huai looked thoroughly displeased.

Yuan Xingzhou was simply speechless. Who exactly was being jealous? I’m the one feeling awkward, okay?

He froze at that thought, suddenly realizing that his distress was actually jealousy—jealousy over that “lover” of Ye Huai’s. It was just that he had no legitimate standing, so he didn’t want to admit it in his heart.

Realizing this, Yuan Xingzhou’s face turned red with embarrassment.

Seeing him suddenly flush with red eyes and biting his lips until they were wet and shiny, Ye Huai said without thinking, “Stop biting. What if you break the skin?”

Yuan Xingzhou turned back and buried his head in cutting the meat. Because of his humiliated rage, he used excessive force, and the kitchen knife slammed against the board with a series of loud thuds.

Ye Huai wasn’t scared off. Instead, he walked in and stood behind him.

Yuan Xingzhou could even feel the man’s body heat, warm and solid behind him. He felt increasingly uncomfortable and was about to turn around to drive him away when he heard Ye Huai say, “This meat isn’t being cut very evenly. Did you invent some new recipe? Black pepper meat paste?”

Yuan Xingzhou: “??”

Yuan Xingzhou froze. He looked down at the cutting board, opened his mouth, and was completely dumbfounded.