Chapter 11

The cow Yuan Ye had chosen was honestly pretty good. It definitely had enough milk, because he didn’t need to squeeze too hard for milk to come out. But that didn’t make up for the fact that he was the only one working. On the other side, there wasn’t even a drop of liquid in Fang Shaoyi’s bucket. This person hadn’t even reached his hand out. In the end, Yuan Ye was unable to win that deluxe room. He asked Fang Shaoyi, “Why didn’t you help milk?”

Fang Shaoyi glanced at the camera. In a low voice, he said, “I don’t like doing this stuff.”

“Oh, so I do.” Yuan Ye was so angry he started laughing. “So I like to? I enjoy squeezing……cow……milk?”

Fang Shaoyi lowered his gaze. He smiled and said, “Seemed to me that you did.”

Yuan Ye thought to himself What is it that I actually like milking? The cow or something else?

Cheng Xun and Chi Xing got the deluxe room. The two of them had had their heads down the whole time, furiously milking. They had been extremely serious. Yuan Ye scolded, “Didn’t you guys take the cow I chose earlier? You used the cow I chose, so doesn’t that mean you should give me half the gains?”

Chi Xing was now familiar with Yuan Ye. He was no longer as scared of speaking as he had been in the beginning. He held the bucket of milk they had just squeezed in front of Yuan Ye and said, “There’s no way to split the room. You can have all the milk.”

Yuan Ye laughed and turned his chin away. He ignored the other. “Take it away. I don’t want it.”

The two little ones didn’t say anything in front of the cameras, but came looking for Yuan Ye in private. Cheng Xun said, “Yuan Ye ge, you and Shaoyi can stay in that tent. I can tell that Shaoyi ge seems a bit unwell.”

Yuan Ye looked at him, then patted him on the arm. He shook his head and replied, “No need. I’ve received your intentions.”

“It’s nothing. It’s the same no matter where Little Xing and I sleep,” Cheng Xun added.

Yuan Ye smiled at him, but still shook his head. He said, “No thanks. Kind of you, though.”

Yuan Ye had always had a pretty good impression of the two of them. These two little kids didn’t have that many schemes, and also had high EQ’s. They hadn’t offered the room to them in front of the cameras, hadn’t used this as an excuse to gain publicity on screen. This was very endearing. They entirely could’ve announced to everyone during the room-splitting session after milking that they wanted to give the room they had won to Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye. They also could’ve mentioned that Fang Shaoyi wasn’t feeling well to create an image of being polite and considerate. Once the show aired, everyone would be praising them.

But they didn’t. They had always been very measured in their actions. Yuan Ye liked kids like this a lot. At just past twenty, one shouldn’t be so goal-orientated about everything. But if these two had been switched to the type of young people who could put on a show and act completely different on screen, Yuan Ye’s mouth wouldn’t be able to catch a moment of peace. He would definitely continuously criticize them.

Ji Xiaotao hadn’t come along this time. Either way, there was no use in him coming along; he wasn’t necessary during filming. After getting cleaned up that night, Fang Shaoyi prepared for bed. Currently, only he and Yuan Ye were in the tent. Yuan Ye didn’t intend to be the first to start talking, but it didn’t seem right for Fang Shaoyi to just fall asleep like this. The last time after they finished filming, Ji Xiaotao had babbled on and on about this for a long time.

Fang Shaoyi had already laid down. Yuan Ye hesitated, but still walked over. He squatted in front of the low kang and touched Fang Shaoyi’s hair. He called out, “Ey.”

Fang Shaoyi looked up at him, eyebrow slightly raised.

Yuan Ye asked, “You’re just going to sleep like that?”

Fang Shaoyi stared at him. His eyebrow shot up even higher.

Yuan Ye also felt that his question was very strange. How else was he supposed to sleep if not like this? Sounded like the two of them needed to do something or other before bed.

Yuan Ye cleared his throat. He said, “It’s a bit dry here. You’re just going to sleep like that? Without even doing skincare?”

After hearing him finish talking, Fang Shaoyi removed his gaze. He lightly said, “No skincare.”

Now that they were on this topic, Yuan Ye honestly didn’t feel so great. In the past, when the two of them had still been together, Fang Shaoyi often felt tired after a day of filming. He would fall asleep after removing his makeup and washing his face. Yuan Ye would then start playing, sitting near the top of Fang Shaoyi’s head and massaging his face, applying lotion and essence. Many years ago, when Fang Shaoyi had been young, he had never really used such products. But after thirty, everybody, regardless of their identity, succumbed to old age. Though the body wasn’t old yet, the skin definitely wouldn’t be as good as it had been in the past. Skincare was like a mission that needed to be completed every night.

Yuan Ye was still there, squatting. He was in an unusually good mood today. Maybe because he had been able to relax during the horseback riding at lunch, or maybe because he had laughed a lot during milking in the afternoon. Either way, he didn’t feel overly dismal right now. He touched Fang Shaoyi’s head again, a shameless smile on his face. “Yi ge, come wash your face.”

Fang Shaoyi furrowed his brows. He buried his face into the blanket and muttered, “Why are you so annoying.”

Yuan Ye remained smiling. He made to take out the skincare products from Fang Shaoyi’s suitcase. Just as he finished unzipping the suitcase, though, Fang Shaoyi sat up. In a deep voice, he said, “Don’t touch my suitcase.”

Yuan Ye froze. His hands were still on the suitcase, unmoving. He turned around to look at Fang Shaoyi.

Fang Shaoyi was expressionlessly staring at him too. He repeated himself, “Don’t touch my suitcase.”

Yuan Ye slowly blinked. His mouth curved into an angle that could have been a smile or something else. He nodded. “Un.”

Yuan Ye stood up and sighed. He placed his hands into his pockets, then tucked his chin so that only half of his face was visible outside of his jacket. The tip of his nose brushed against the top of the metal zipper. It felt slightly cold. He didn’t look at Fang Shaoyi, only standing there and saying, “Sorry.”

He added, “I’m just used to being so careless. Don’t mind me.”

These words, when spoken, seemed to carry barbs. After they initially pierced into the heart and made holes, they also drew blood on the way out. It was a numbing kind of pain that hurt others but also the self. Yuan Ye walked outside with his hands in his pockets after saying this.

The wind was a bit cold outside. He walked quite a long distance away. With his back to the wind, he lit a cigarette. The smoke entering his throat was dry and consequently stung. It made Yuan Ye start coughing. He used the hand holding onto the cigarette to wave away the smoke, but this only caused more smoke to accumulate. They formed a cloud and drifted around him.

Yuan Ye chuckled. He turned around and cussed at himself into the wind. “……Dumbass.”

Previously, Fang Shaoyi and Yuan Ye had at least been able to act in love in front of the cameras. Even though they didn’t stick to each other as much as the other couples, they weren’t very highkey in real life either. This was how they were normally, so nobody realized anything was wrong. But the next day of filming, even the little director couldn’t help asking Yuan Ye, “Teacher Yuan, what’s wrong with you and Teacher Fang?”

At the time, Yuan Ye had been preparing his grass skis. His head was lowered as he greased his grass ski boots. Without looking up, he asked, “Is there something wrong with us?”

“No, I just feel that both of you seem to be in a bad mood,” The little director carefully stated. “There’s nothing wrong with you and Teacher Fang, right?”

“Not at all.” Yuan Ye stood up and smiled at her. “Don’t worry.”

From the start, Yuan Ye had been the one who was acting more diligently. He was always the one who tried to stick closer to Fang Shaoyi, setting the tone for how the two of them were going to communicate on camera. He did his best to appear natural so that no one would be able to notice the truth. Last night, Fang Shaoyi’s reprimand had affected Yuan Ye so much that even now, he couldn’t get himself into a better mood, much less act.

Why the fuck should he keep acting. In front of outsiders, they seemed sweet and in love, but it was all a farce. A single phrase could reveal the truth behind that layer of intimacy they were faking.

Considering Yuan Ye’s temper, it was already a miracle that he had filmed and kept up the act for so long.

Their mission today was to ski on grass. They were to first practice with an instructor before starting a grass skiing competition. Each person got ready, waiting for their turn to get lessons. Actually, grass skiing was pretty much the same as regular skiing. A majority of the guests probably knew how to do it, but for that variety show effect, they pretended that this was their first time being exposed to this activity. After acting like they weren’t that familiar with it, they could then purposefully fall a few times later on for the laughs.

But today, Yuan Ye wasn’t willing to be a monkey acting for the enjoyment of everyone else. He put on his gear and shot off. He performed a clean skid turn after skiing down the slope, then rapidly disappeared out of sight.

Chi Xing looked completely awestruck. Even his eyes were sparkling. He whispered, “Yuan Ye ge’s so cool.”

“No matter what activity we’re doing, he always manages to vanish in the blink of an eye,” Lin Tian joked. “What a pity that Ye ge isn’t an athlete.”

Fang Shaoyi said, “He’s just never able to stay still. A wild monkey. Let him be.”

Yuan Ye finished a circle by himself. When he got back from behind, Fang Shaoyi was in the middle of slowing making his way down the slope. Yuan Ye had already fixed his mood. He quickly charged in Fang Shaoyi’s direction.

Fang Shaoyi turned around and immediately saw where he was heading. He didn’t try moving away, only bending down lower to stabilize himself more. Yuan Ye didn’t slow down. With his eyes on Fang Shaoyi’s back, he launched himself over. The momentum was a bit strong, causing Fang Shaoyi to lose his balance. The two of them fell down together. Yuan Ye twisted his body so that the two of them would land on their sides. They rolled around once. Disregarding the embarrassment, they landed one on top of the other, which actually appeared quite intimate.

Like a maniac, Yuan Ye cackled for a long time. Fang Shaoyi’s gaze was filled with slight exasperation. He patted Yuan Ye’s arm and asked, “Did you hurt yourself?”

Yuan Ye shook his head. He was slightly panting from how hard he had laughed.

Nearby, Cheng Xun saw the two of them fall and made to come over. Yuan Ye waved, notifying him that it wasn’t anything serious.

The entire morning of filming, the two of them had both had on dark expressions. Now, they were tangled in a ball of limbs, looking much better. The little director exhaled a silent sigh of relief.

Fang Shaoyi patted the leaf bits on his leg and attempted to stand up. Yuan Ye instantly grabbed onto his arm, tugging him close. While Fang Shaoyi was cocking an eyebrow, Yuan Ye had already leaned in.

In all honesty, Yuan Ye had been holding his anger in the whole morning. According to his thoughts, though the two of them were divorced now, they still had a history of over ten years. They were divorced, but neither needed to purposefully give the other attitude. It hadn’t gotten to that point.

Because of the anger in his heart, he couldn’t focus on acting. But just now, he had skied a circle by himself and done his best to remove all those negative emotions. Now that he was back, he needed to properly film again. If he didn’t do his best, the one getting affected would be Fang Shaoyi. After all, the other was part of the entertainment industry.

But this didn’t mean that Yuan Ye needed to keep everything bottled in. He was born incapable of holding his temper back. When he became angry, his heart felt uncomfortably stuffy.

Yuan Ye held onto Fang Shaoyi’s arm. His face was smiling, but his eyes were staring straight into Fang Shaoyi’s, maintaining eye contact. From afar, this scene seemed extremely romantic on camera. Later on, with the addition of some background music, the production team would be able to make this into a teaser for the episode.

No one else could hear what Yuan Ye was whispering to Fang Shaoyi. Only Fang Shaoyi could clearly discern his words——

Yuan Ye had lowered his voice a lot. What he said was, “Yi ge, I don’t owe you anything, so don’t keep refuting everything I say. Let’s nicely finish filming this show. Or, you can just announce that you want to quit now. We can each head back to our own homes.”

“Gutter oil got into my brain at the time for me to agree to finish filming. I took one wrong step and now every step is wrong.”

His tone at the same sounded like he wished he could bite Fang Shaoyi’s ear. “I really, truly had oil in my head, but I didn’t come here to defer to you. I just……wanted to see you.”