Perfect Divorce [Entertainment Circle] - Chapter 6

Yuan Xingzhou hadn’t slept in late since joining the film crew. Although he had some talent for acting, he lacked professional training. To keep up with the rhythm of the set, he couldn’t afford to be lazy; to stand out among a crowd of young actors, he needed to work several times harder.

Even though Li Yu had requested leave for him, he didn’t dare to truly slack off. He woke up the next day before 6:00 AM.

There was a new message on his phone from Li Yu: Ye Huai’s contact information.

Yuan Xingzhou hesitated for a moment and didn’t reply. He exited WeChat to check the latest updates on the forums.

To his surprise, public opinion had shifted overnight. The explanations from CP fans had reclaimed the mainstream. In their version of events, Yuan Xingzhou became a “little demon” playing mind games to deliberately provoke his husband, while Ye Huai became the “Number One Jealous King of Asia,” sharpening his blade and preparing to make sure his spouse couldn’t get out of bed that night.

As for Ye Huai’s look from inside the car yesterday, it was naturally dubbed the “Death Stare.” Someone had even stayed up all night to edit a compilation of Ye Huai’s death stares; it had already garnered over twenty thousand views.

Yuan Xingzhou often saw these fan fictions about how Ye Huai was a jealous possessive type. He hadn’t thought much of it before, but now that Ye Huai was living in the next room, Yuan Xingzhou suddenly felt a wave of shame.

At least Ye Huai probably doesn’t watch these things, he thought.

Relieved that things had settled for now, Yuan Xingzhou washed up and went downstairs for a morning run.

The people exercising in the community were mostly elderly men. Although many celebrities lived in this area, most were night owls who lived their lives in reverse. A person with a normal routine like Yuan Xingzhou was rare. The old men greeted him warmly, and Yuan Xingzhou ran and stopped, smiling the whole way.

Passing the breakfast shop in the community, he hesitated before turning back to buy a portion of wild vegetable buns, two boiled eggs, and a serving of soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks (youtiao). Passing a fried food stall, he also bought a few sesame balls (matuan) and sesame pancakes.

By the time he returned, Ye Huai was actually awake.

Four or five suitcases were open in the living room, their contents strewn everywhere. It looked like a landfill.

Yuan Xingzhou’s eyelid twitched.

“Do you want to eat something first?” Yuan Xingzhou changed his shoes and smiled at Ye Huai. “I bought this from the shop downstairs. It has everything, and it’s very clean.”

Ye Huai glanced back at him, then turned around to continue rummaging through his suitcases.

Yuan Xingzhou waited for two seconds. Seeing no intention of a reply, he assumed he was being snubbed and planned to eat it himself. He carefully carried the dozen breakfast items toward his room, dodging various limited-edition sneakers, rare Hermès bags, and unidentified luxury boxes scattered on the floor. He was terrified that if he spilled even a drop of soy milk, he’d have to pay tens of thousands in damages.

Heart in his throat, Yuan Xingzhou tiptoed with his shoulders hunched, finally reaching his bedroom door.

Turning back, he saw Ye Huai looking at him with a bewildered expression.

Yuan Xingzhou: “???”

Afraid of being scolded, Yuan Xingzhou used his eyes to ask if there was a problem.

This time, Ye Huai actually spoke. “What are you doing, acting all sneaky?”

Yuan Xingzhou was stunned. “I’m… going to my room to eat.”

Ye Huai: “Isn’t there a dining room?”

“There is, but this is a common area. I was afraid the smell would linger,” Yuan Xingzhou said.

Ye Huai: “It’s not like I’m not eating. What are you afraid of the smell for?”

Yuan Xingzhou: “???”

Ye Huai spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Yuan Xingzhou was confused. Did Ye Huai just say he was going to eat? Did he? He didn’t, right? Did I mishear?

As he stood there dazed, Ye Huai naturally asked, “Do you have a toothbrush?”

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“I do,” Yuan Xingzhou replied. “I’ll go get it for you.”

Ye Huai’s expression softened slightly. He stood up, extended his long legs, and kicked the items on the floor to the left and right, clearing a path for him. Yuan Xingzhou placed the breakfast on the dining table and went back to his room to find the extra toothbrushes he had stocked. While rummaging, he suddenly realized a detail—Ye Huai had just cleared a “pathway” for him, which meant the man knew he was afraid of stepping on his things. Yet he still called him sneaky?

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

He gave the toothbrush to Ye Huai. Looking at the table, he saw that Ye Huai had already picked out the things he liked—invariably the sweets. The items he wasn’t interested in were tossed aside, still in their packaging.

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

What a young master.

Ye Huai was clearly starving. He finished brushing quickly and rushed to the table.

Yuan Xingzhou sat down nearby and noticed the man’s mood had shifted from “cloudy” to “partly sunny,” with a chance of clear skies.

Sure enough, Ye Huai picked up a sesame ball, took a bite, and a smile appeared on his face.

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

“Why did you buy so much?” Ye Huai was clearly in high spirits, as he rarely initiated a question. “I didn’t take you for a big eater.”

Yuan Xingzhou’s appetite was indeed not small, but he couldn’t eat these today.

“I bought them all for you,” Yuan Xingzhou said, taking only a cup of soy milk and one boiled egg. “I didn’t know what you liked, so I bought a little of everything. It just looks like a lot.”

He was currently controlling his diet and couldn’t eat those things. But with an extra person in the house, he felt he had to be considerate—it wouldn’t be right to go for a morning run and not bring back breakfast, would it?

To his surprise, Ye Huai said, “Oh. Is this to curry favor with me?”

Yuan Xingzhou nearly sprayed soy milk all over his face.

Ye Huai: “…”

The man didn’t seem to think his words were shocking at all. He picked up a sugar pancake, stuffed his mouth until his cheeks puffed out, and looked at Yuan Xingzhou with an inquiring gaze.

Between laughter and tears, Yuan Xingzhou could only say: “…It’s just breakfast. While I do have something to ask of you, it’s not to the point of…”

Halfway through his explanation, Yuan Xingzhou realized that if Ye Huai insisted on seeing it as fawning, it actually made sense—after all, in the eyes of others, he was a “scheming b*tch.”

He lowered his head and drank his soy milk in silence.

“Then why aren’t you eating?” Ye Huai asked curiously. “Don’t you Northerners love salty food?”

Yuan Xingzhou froze, wondering what kind of bizarre logic this was. “What does that have to do with anything?”

“It doesn’t?” Ye Huai asked seriously.

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

Yuan Xingzhou suddenly felt he had overthought things earlier. He tried to follow Ye Huai’s train of thought.

“Then, the reason you only chose the sweets… was that to save the good stuff for me?” Yuan Xingzhou tested the waters.

Ye Huai looked at him with an expression of pure horror.

Yuan Xingzhou realized this man was indeed too narcissistic. Only he was allowed to say such things; others were not.

For some reason, Yuan Xingzhou suddenly wanted to laugh.

“I’m working out,” he coughed lightly. “I can’t eat starch.”

His menu was set by a fitness trainer. In the past, he might have been able to eat other things, but his character in City of Mystery had high physical requirements—he needed to be lean but muscular. Yuan Xingzhou still had a half-naked fight scene to film, so he had to be strict.

“I see,” Ye Huai accepted the explanation naturally and glanced at him again. “You’re already dieting?”

Yuan Xingzhou nodded. “Yes.”

“You don’t look that thin.” Ye Huai looked at his arm.

Yuan Xingzhou rolled his sleeve up to his shoulder, clenched his fist, and flexed. Sure enough, some muscle lines appeared. Ye Huai didn’t say anything; he just rolled up his own sleeve, bared his arm, and pressed it against Yuan Xingzhou’s.

Yuan Xingzhou wanted to cough up blood.

Ye Huai’s arm was long, well-proportioned, and exceptionally defined—composed of beautiful, lean muscle that radiated power.

“How do you train?” Yuan Xingzhou asked. “Do you have a tutorial for your diet and exercise?”

“No.” Ye Huai retracted his hand arrogantly. “I eat whatever I want. I don’t get fat.”

Yuan Xingzhou: “???”

If not for the fact that he felt he owed Ye Huai and currently needed his help, Yuan Xingzhou really wondered if he would have snapped and jumped up to beat him. This man was beyond narcissistic; besides constant self-admiration, he always carried an “it’s only natural that you like me” look in his eyes that was impossible to dodge.

Though, objectively speaking, he truly was qualified for it.

Yuan Xingzhou remembered how everyone was shaken when Ye Huai first debuted. Ye Huai’s looks had an overbearing sense of beauty.

There were many kinds of beauty in the entertainment circle. In terms of deep contours, mixed-race or ethnic minority idols often had the advantage. Ye Huai’s background was nothing special, yet he happened to grow into a perfect balance.

His forehead was full, his nose bridge straight, and his features were perfectly proportioned. His lips were shaped like Cupid’s bow. This kind of bone structure was naturally high-class and cold. Yet his eyes were clear and reserved, with the inner corners slightly downturned, giving him a unique, indifferent beauty.

Later, the fashion world evaluated him, saying he had “Western bones with Eastern skin”—naturally noble, clean yet reserved, and possessing a strong youthful air. He was a perfect embodiment of contradictions.

The only regret was that such a person could only be viewed from afar; he seemed like something that shouldn’t belong to the mortal world.

Yuan Xingzhou had heard these scalp-numbing praises before, but seeing Ye Huai in person made him realize they were quite apt.

When ST officially debuted, Ye Huai’s individual popularity accounted for half of the entire group. Of course, the purchasing power of his fans was even more fierce. This allowed him to show his displeasure to anyone at any time without needing to care about fan wars.

After all, no one could win against his fans. And Ye Huai truly didn’t care about any of it.

Yuan Xingzhou thought of the “Death Stare” compilation he saw earlier and suddenly wanted to click on it.

After breakfast, Ye Huai went to the balcony to make a call, seemingly asking someone to deliver things.

Yuan Xingzhou put the extra breakfast in the fridge and gave himself a break. He sat on the sofa and watched the “Death Stare” video on silent.

Ye Huai’s call was to Wen Ting. Wen Ting was again trying to persuade him not to go public about his lack of familiarity with Yuan Xingzhou. Killing the CP would be bad for both of them.

Ye Huai got to the bottom of it: “Be clear. Is it bad for him or bad for me?”

Wen Ting struggled for a moment. “It’s bad for him.”

Ye Huai: “…”

Wen Ting: “Xingzhou has worked very hard these past two years. Even though he looks very popular with several hit dramas, he’s navigated it all on his own. It’s been quite heartbreaking. Especially since Li Yu doesn’t like him…”

Ye Huai interrupted: “Who is Li Yu?”

Wen Ting: “…”

“The one from yesterday, Xingzhou’s manager,” Wen Ting said. “As you said, the manager from your old team didn’t like him and made things difficult. Later, Yuan Xingzhou applied to the company himself to change his manager to Li Yu. But Li Yu isn’t great either; he hasn’t made things hard, but he hasn’t helped much. For the past two years, Xingzhou has fought for everything bit by bit.”

Ye Huai: “…”

“He has a soft personality and is quite sensitive. He’s often bullied,” Wen Ting said. “Once this is exposed, who knows how many people are waiting to trample him to death. So I want to discuss it with you—if he begs you today to show mercy and give him a chance, could you reluctantly agree?”

Ye Huai took a deep breath and looked back at the living room.

Wen Ting waited for a while. Seeing he didn’t speak, he knew the man was hesitating and struck while the iron was hot. “Anyway, you just got back. It’ll be a while before we resume work.”

“How long is ‘a while’?” Ye Huai finally found a topic to be indignant about. “What is my future direction? Singing, dancing, or acting? Is there even a lead on what I’m doing? Didn’t you say you had a lead before I came back? Why is there no news? You can’t even handle my affairs, yet you’re busy worrying about others!”

“You’re right,” Wen Ting said. “But I did have a lead. It’s an idol romance variety show. The program crew wants you and Yuan Xingzhou to participate as a ‘model couple’… as guest stars.”

Ye Huai: “…”

“…This…” Wen Ting tested the waters courageously. “I haven’t told Li Yu yet. Whether to participate or not depends on your opinion.”

Yuan Xingzhou was curled up on the sofa watching the “Death Stare” compilation. Surprisingly, the video really was from Ye Huai’s perspective. Using fan-cam footage from their old group activities, the editor had cut out moments of Ye Huai’s “dark face” and slowed them down.

Coincidentally, every time Ye Huai looked unhappy, frowned, or rudely interrupted someone, it was always when Yuan Xingzhou was being put in a difficult spot.

Yuan Xingzhou was dumbfounded as he watched.

The deep gazes, the silent protection, paired with emotional background music… if he weren’t the person involved, he would have “shipped” them so hard he’d get diabetes!

Yuan Xingzhou: “…”

This video served as a response to yesterday’s hate posts. Since Ye Huai had always been cold and aloof, this style of “doing but not saying” actually fit his persona perfectly. Yuan Xingzhou was stunned, thinking that this was high-level counter-PR. Li Yu actually had such talent under him!

With a scholarly intent, he clicked into the creator’s profile to see who else they had edited. Because he was so focused, he didn’t notice someone standing behind the sofa.

Among the creator’s works, the one with the highest views—over five million—had a concise title:

【Erotic Style】 Stolen Love

Yuan Xingzhou hesitated at the words “Erotic Style,” but he was truly curious. With such high views, what could the content be?

As he wavered, his finger hovering over the screen, he heard a cold snort from behind him: “Heh.”