Perfect Divorce [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 25

That night, Yuan Xingzhou tossed and turned for a long time before finally falling asleep.

The mountain night was chilly, and since he and Ye Huai shared a single quilt, they would roll into each other if they weren’t careful.

Yuan Xingzhou had originally thought that if all else failed, he would just stay up and watch the scenery. However, the romantic glass wall became menacing once night fell; the wind howled outside and dark shadows flickered, making his heart tremble. Speechless, he gave up on the view and closed his eyes to rest his mind.

Fortunately, Ye Huai had already fallen into a fitful sleep.

In the hazy darkness, Yuan Xingzhou turned his head to trace the silhouette of the man’s features. After a long while, he felt a sense of annoyance. Tonight, he was clearly the one being difficult, yet he had made someone else unhappy. But if he were to coax Ye Huai like before, he found it very difficult to do so.

—A young master like Ye Huai was used to being arrogant and took his possessiveness over others for granted. However, it was easy for Yuan Xingzhou to get sucked into that domineering whirlpool and develop delusions.

Li Yu’s reminder had been correct.

Yuan Xingzhou thought to himself that since Ye Huai was angry now, he certainly wouldn’t hide it tomorrow. He would take the opportunity to tell the other guests that it was his own fault. To chase trending topics, the production crew definitely wouldn’t let such a plot point slide. When the show aired, the CP fans should be able to see the signs of trouble.

He drifted off to sleep unconsciously. When he opened his eyes again, birds were chirping outside, and a staff member was already shouting through a megaphone that breakfast was served.

Another opened toiletry bag sat on the vanity, but Ye Huai was nowhere to be seen. Yuan Xingzhou hurriedly got up to wash, put on his makeup, blow-dried his hair, and changed clothes to head downstairs.

Breakfast was provided by the crew: eggs, pickles, and multigrain porridge for everyone. After collecting his portion, Yuan Xingzhou looked around but didn’t see Ye Huai, so he sat down with Li Yi first.

“Are the results out?” Yuan Xingzhou asked. “Who’s doing the official filming?”

“Ma Yin,” Li Yi replied. “You two left too early. Their group fought for a chance to perform again, and Ma Yin completely let loose. Oh my god, she was so strong; I’m totally convinced.”

Yuan Xingzhou was stunned and asked for details. He learned that after they left last night, the other groups had ended in a tie. The beautiful “Big Sister” Ma Yin took the opportunity to perform a segment in front of everyone. With her graceful figure, she was the best fit for the persona, but because she had been too nervous and inhibited during the first performance, she had only tied with Yuan Cheng and the others.

Seeing a chance for the official shoot, she had gone all out.

“Bright eyes, expressive features, that waist, those hips… tsk tsk,” Li Yi shook her head repeatedly and sighed. “This sister is absolutely impressed.”

Yuan Xingzhou’s curiosity was piqued, but he still offered comfort: “You performed great too. Your lines were very stable, much better than when I first started acting. I even took dubbing classes later, and I’m still not as good as you.”

Since everyone was there to compete, even if Li Yi admired Ma Yin, she would surely feel a sense of loss. Yuan Xingzhou sincerely praised her strengths.

Li Yi laughed. “Stop praising me; I still have a lot to learn. Look, the ‘Pretty Sister’ is back.”

Yuan Xingzhou turned around to see Ye Huai chatting and laughing with Ma Yin, Ai Chi, and a few others as they walked up the slope. Ma Yin was wearing a water-blue long dress today with her hair pinned up, speaking softly and walking gracefully.

Ye Huai was in a hoodie and long pants with sneakers. He had one hand supporting Ma Yin’s elbow; he looked like a handsome young man, but his behavior was full of gentlemanly poise.

Yuan Xingzhou glanced over.

Seeing Li Yi there, Sun Kai also brought his tray over to greet Yuan Xingzhou. The others had already settled on the sofas to chat, so Yuan Xingzhou had to retract his gaze and lower his head to peel his egg.

“That hoodie,” Sun Kai suddenly said, looking at him. “It looks like RHUDE.”

Yuan Xingzhou knew nothing about fashion. When attending events, he would spend money to borrow high-end clothes, but his daily private wardrobe consisted mostly of brands like Zara or Uniqlo.

Previously, fashion bloggers had mocked him, saying some stars dressed like a “village cousin” when they had no money, but even now that they were famous and earning so much in appearance fees, they only knew how to wear “copycat” goods—such people simply couldn’t be helped.

After realizing they were talking about him, Yuan Xingzhou had put away his affordable clothes and started buying big brands. However, while he spent more and more money, his fashion resources and reviews didn’t improve. After more than a year of this, distressed by the wasted money, he went back to buying affordable brands.

The few luxury items Ye Huai owned were things he had learned about during that year of shopping, which at least broadened his horizons. But it was limited to the brands everyone talked about; he had never even heard of the one Sun Kai mentioned.

“Rhuigi Villaseñor, you don’t know him?” Sun Kai said. “An Asian designer. His T-shirts and shoes are very popular. It was originally a street brand but later moved toward accessible luxury, hitting the runways in the last two years. I met the creative director when I walked for Dior.”

Only then did Yuan Xingzhou remember that Sun Kai was a model.

“You didn’t buy those clothes for him?” Sun Kai smiled. “But they’re styled well. Maison Margiela pants—low-key and steady.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

If he followed his usual habit, Yuan Xingzhou should have played along, asked about the brand details, and then handed the stage over to Sun Kai to let him talk grandly and satisfy his desire to show off.

But Sun Kai’s behavior made him very uncomfortable. Yuan Xingzhou gave a non-committal “Oh” and said perfunctorily, “Ye Huai has always known how to dress. Thanks for the compliment.”

Sun Kai: “…”

Once Ye Huai returned, everyone was accounted for. The production crew waited for them to finish eating and finally issued the task: they would split into two teams. One team would go into the mountains to work, helping the locals harvest corn. The other team would stay behind to prepare lunch and set up the afternoon filming scene. At four o’clock, the official rehearsal would begin.

The five groups drew lots to decide who stayed. Ye Huai was elected by everyone to cook, so Yuan Xingzhou also became part of the stay-behind crew.

However, when the permanent guests drew lots, the ones heading to the fields ended up being Li Yi and Yin Fei’s groups.

The autumn sky was high and crisp, and the UV rays were particularly strong. The few male guests who stayed behind showed expressions of secret relief at having survived the draw.

Yuan Xingzhou hesitated for a moment and took the initiative to speak: “Director, I want to switch with Yin Fei.”

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

Yin Fei was also stunned. “Are you stupid? It’s so much better to stay at home.”

“There are too many people at home, and I can’t help much.” Yuan Xingzhou smiled, and seeing everyone watching him, he added, “Besides, I’m from the countryside; I’m much more familiar with this than you guys.”

Without waiting for a reply, he went over and picked up the bamboo basket for Yin Fei.

The expressions of the guests were very subtle as they looked at each other. Yin Fei was hesitant, not knowing whether to agree.

“I’ll switch with Li Yi too,” Tan Yanke said, stepping forward with a smile. “How can we let the girls do this kind of manual labor? Just leave it to us guys.”

With him stepping up, Yin Fei breathed a sigh of relief, and after some hesitation, Li Yi readily agreed. Thus, the four of them shouldered their baskets and went up the mountain, leaving Ye Huai with three women and two men to cook.

“Ye Huai is very good at cooking,” Tan Yanke said, walking alongside Yuan Xingzhou on the way. He asked with a smile, “What did he study abroad? He didn’t go to study culinary arts, did he?”

Sun Kai was itching to move forward and join them, but the mountain path was narrow, and Tan Yanke was blocking the way.

“No,” Yuan Xingzhou said, looking down at the path. “He studied design.”

Tan Yanke laughed. “No wonder. Yuan Cheng said Ye Huai is a genius whose career was ‘delayed’ by being an idol.”

Yuan Xingzhou didn’t like Sun Kai, but he was even less willing to deal with Tan Yanke. However, the cameraman was right in front of them with the lens in their faces, so he could only endure it, hoping to reach the destination and get to work quickly.

Seeing that he wasn’t speaking, Tan Yanke took the initiative again: “During that livestream, Yuan Cheng and I had actually just started dating… but we broke up right after it aired and went back to being friends. Thinking about it now, I’ll have to post an apology to the netizens later.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“Participating in this show is a way of returning a favor to him,” Tan Yanke continued. “And I’m also trying for a filming opportunity to see if I can debut in the acting world later. Of course, it would be even better if I met a suitable partner, but those few are all straight men; I’m just too embarrassed.”

Yuan Xingzhou felt like crying. The livestream incident was something Ye Huai had used to snub Yuan Cheng, yet Tan Yanke had come to explain it to him. It was suffocating—did the man expect him to say “it’s okay”?

However, hearing the last sentence, he realized the most embarrassed person was Sun Kai.

Sun Kai was participating in the show to form a CP with a female guest, but Yuan Xingzhou had also faintly sensed that Sun Kai wasn’t exactly straight.

A gay man pretending to be straight will get struck by lightning. Tan Yanke, despite his straightforward appearance with thick eyebrows and large eyes, had quietly jabbed at Sun Kai.

Yuan Xingzhou couldn’t help but look back, only to see Tan Yanke smile and raise an eyebrow at him.

Sure enough, until they arrived at their destination and started working, Sun Kai didn’t approach Yuan Xingzhou again.

But the task was much larger than Yuan Xingzhou had imagined. They split up into sections to work. At first, Yuan Xingzhou was very careful not to let the sharp corn leaves scratch his skin, but as the sun rose higher, his knit sweater became too hot, and he had to roll up his sleeves. After working for a while, three or four scratches appeared on his arms.

He sighed, thinking to himself that it was a good thing he didn’t have a scarring physique, or he’d be worried to death.

The production crew was really something—even if they assigned tasks, they should have provided proper clothes and hats. Instead, to see celebrities looking miserable, they were truly as ruthless as could be.

Luckily, Li Yi and Yin Fei had been swapped out. If those young girls had come, carried the baskets, and gotten their faces scratched, they would have cried their eyes out.

Lost in thought, he walked forward a bit faster, and without paying attention, felt a slight sting on the side of his neck.

“Be careful.” Tan Yanke suddenly appeared and pulled away a leaf that had crossed his path.

Yuan Xingzhou was startled and looked behind him.

“I’m almost halfway done, impressive right?” Tan Yanke smiled. “I came in to see if you guys needed support. Be careful.”

Yuan Xingzhou saw that he also had his sleeves rolled up, with several faint scratches on his forearms. He couldn’t help but smile. “I’m more than halfway done. Go help Sun Kai and the others.”

“Helping anyone is the same. I’ll take the left, you take the right. When we’re done, we’ll help those two.” Tan Yanke skillfully snapped off two ears of corn while walking backward, then glanced at Yuan Xingzhou. “You seem to rarely go out to socialize.”

Yuan Xingzhou looked at him in confusion, then nodded. “My friends…” He originally wanted to say he didn’t have many friends so there was nothing to socialize for, but then thinking of Tan Yanke’s overly familiar manner, he changed his tune. “My friends all contact me via phone; we occasionally meet at home.”

“I can tell you don’t like crowds,” Tan Yanke said. “Where is your hometown?”

Yuan Xingzhou said, “Yun City.”

“That place, I know it.” Tan Yanke froze for a moment. “My maternal aunt is from there. I even went there to play when I was a kid. I was on one of those little electric boats and ended up flipping over into the water.”

The Tan family was also wealthy and powerful; Yuan Xingzhou hadn’t expected this man’s aunt to be a fellow local.

“But I have to say, the people from my aunt’s side are all exceptionally good-looking.” Tan Yanke mentioned the name of a village.

This time, it was Yuan Xingzhou’s turn to be stunned.

“What a coincidence,” Yuan Xingzhou couldn’t help but say. “It’s just across the road from our village.”

“Holy crap! No way!” Tan Yanke said in shock. “I used to play at her old house when I was little and even ran across the road to get into fights. Did the two of us ever scrap?”

“Probably not,” Yuan Xingzhou laughed. “I lived with my grandmother and barely left the house since I was a kid. I never got into fights.”

“Oh,” Tan Yanke said, his face full of disappointment.

However, Yuan Xingzhou felt a lot more comfortable with him and wasn’t as repelled as he was at first.

“Work faster,” Yuan Xingzhou urged. “Let’s finish early and go back to rest.”

“Then you should change your clothes.” Tan Yanke went out and came back a moment later with a transparent sun-protection jacket. “You have such delicate skin; one scratch leaves a mark. If you have an endorsement deal later, your manager will scold you to death.”

Seeing Yuan Xingzhou about to refuse, he lowered his voice. “Put it on so you can work faster. Haven’t you seen that guy surnamed Sun? He’s just dawdling over there…”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

Although Tan Yanke was strong, his proficiency wasn’t as good as Yuan Xingzhou’s. And the man’s skin did indeed seem thicker. Yuan Xingzhou hesitated for a moment before taking off his knit sweater and changing.

By the time they finished and headed down the mountain, it was nearly 1:30 PM. Yuan Xingzhou had done a third of the work by himself and felt like he was about to fall apart. Tan Yanke was also exhausted; he had carried almost all the corn out in the latter half.

Fortunately, having finished the work, they had nothing to do in the afternoon.

Sun Kai started chatting with Ai Chi again about clothing brands, while Yuan Xingzhou and Tan Yanke exchanged a look and walked ahead, utterly speechless.

When they returned to the lodgings, the other team had already finished eating.

Yuan Xingzhou couldn’t stand the smell of sweat on his body. He grabbed a quick bite and hurried back to the dormitory.

Ye Huai was on the bed reading the script. When he saw him enter, he gave a strange look, then snorted and turned his head away.

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

Yuan Xingzhou suppressed the urge to apologize and make up. He acted as if he hadn’t seen him, went to shower, then put on pajamas and lay down for a nap.

When he woke up, Ye Huai had indeed already gone out.

It was close to rehearsal time. Yuan Xingzhou took his printed script from his bag, thought for a moment, and changed into a hoodie and sweatpants before heading straight to the filming building.

The second floor of Building A was originally a hotel restaurant, but after everyone’s careful decoration, it now had a luxurious feel. However, the tables were empty, with no food placed on them for now.

Everyone was busy moving about, making final minor adjustments.

At four o’clock, Yuan Xingzhou saw Ma Yin in a black dress and her partner Pan Yunhai walking over. Following behind was Ye Huai, but Ye Huai had changed into a Panama-colored button-down shirt and matching casual trousers.

“The whole set is Brunello,” Sun Kai remarked. “Being rich is truly something.”

Yuan Xingzhou looked at his own hoodie and suddenly felt a bit of regret.

But it was too late. The director for the short drama had arrived and was calling everyone to their positions to run through it once to get a feel for things.

Li Yi and the others became supporting characters, scattered around as diners.

Yuan Xingzhou adjusted his state and sat down opposite Ye Huai near the food station.

“How is your script memorization?” Yuan Xingzhou had to speak to Ye Huai now, so he took the initiative. “Don’t be nervous later; just say the lines. The audio will be dubbed separately in post-production anyway.”

“Why are you asking me that?” Ye Huai leaned back expressionlessly. “What does it have to do with you?”

“…What do you think?” Yuan Xingzhou was speechless. “…You’re acting opposite me. You tell me if it has anything to do with me.”

“Dissatisfied?” Ye Huai said. “If you want to change partners, just say so.”

Yuan Xingzhou looked bewildered. “When did I say I was dissatisfied?”

“What do you think yourself?” Ye Huai turned his face away, speaking with mockery. “Weren’t you having a great time this morning? You didn’t even want to run lines. Now that we’re filming, you ask if I’ve memorized them. What if I haven’t? You going to change partners?”

“I was out working this morning, not playing.” Yuan Xingzhou had worked himself to death and couldn’t help but get angry hearing this. “If you wanted to run lines, you should have said so. Can’t you just ask me directly if something is bothering you?”

“Ask what?” Ye Huai laughed in anger and stared at him. “Ask why you ate with someone else? Why you teamed up with someone else? Or ask why you came back wearing someone else’s clothes?!”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“I came here just to accompany you!” Ye Huai said, getting angrier as he spoke. “And you just tossed me aside? Is this fun for you?”

His voice was too loud. Yuan Xingzhou was stunned by the shouting, then suddenly realized everyone was waiting for the shoot.

He turned back in panic, only to see everyone looking at them with expressions of pure admiration.

“That’s incredible!” Everyone was gobsmacked. Seeing Yuan Xingzhou look back, they began to applaud. “That’s amazing! You two are like gods—you slipped into character in a split second. It was like it was real!”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“Very good, very good.” The director gave the two of them a thumbs up and said with certainty, “A perfect performance! That’s the feeling! Keep it!”

The filming crew quickly got ready, the lighting and prop teams were in place, and everyone returned to their positions.

“Come on!” The director clapped his hands excitedly and shouted at the two of them, “Argue one more time! Action!”