Chapter 13

In the evening, Fang Jianyuan was reading in his room when he suddenly heard music in the air. He peeped out the window and realised that the music was coming from the floor above.

In the past, no one lived in the room upstairs, and he didn't expect that the music would sound so loud that he wouldn't be able to read anymore, making him irritated and upset.

After a while, Fang Jianyuan closed the book, got up, headed to the door, and went out, going upstairs to have a look, or at least ask the new tenant to turn the music down.

None of the lights in the hallway were on, the door to his parents' bedroom next door was closed, and his mother was watching a dozen episodes of some TV series.

Fang Jianyuan was wearing shorts and a singlet, all the exposed skin appearing fair and healthy. With the springiness and vitality of a teenager, he headed up the stairs, paused, then walked again, looking up, proceeding hesitantly.

On the third floor, there was only the room where Yu Haiyang resided. At this time, the room wasn't visible, but there were lights coming out from under the door. Of course, there was also the slightly noisy sound of music, and by this time, the song had changed, becoming a lot softer.

Fang Jianyuan's sandals would make noise every time it made contact with the floor, so he unconsciously lightened his footsteps. He didn't know why he was being so furtive. He went to the door and gave it a gentle knock.

There was no response.

Fang Jianyuan reached out and pushed the door a little wider, peeking in. He didn't see anyone in the room, but he noticed the CD player on the table by the window.

At that time, this kind of CD player was rare in the small town where he lived.

Fang Jianyuan crept in, aware that it might be inappropriate, but he walked all the way to the table and picked up the empty CD case on the table.

"What are you looking at?" Suddenly, a voice spoke up.

Fang Jianyuan froze, and became instantly frightened when he looked back and saw Yu Haiyang wearing a nightgown, wiping his hair with a towel and walking towards him.

Yu Haiyang had just come out of the bathroom. He had been taking a bath just now, and the sound of music had masked the sound of the water, so Fang Jianyuan hadn't noticed.

Fang Jianyuan was at a loss. He didn't have enough social experience to deal with this embarrassing situation of intruding into other people's rooms. He could only look down at the CD case in his hand and say, "I–"

Yu Haiyang threw the towel that he was wiping his hair with onto the bed, approached Fang Jianyuan, smiled and said, "Do you like this song?"

Fang Jianyuan felt the damp moisture from Yu Haiyang's body that had the faint smell of soap permeating the air. For a moment, he didn't dare to look up and could only say, "Mm-hmm."

Yu Haiyang suddenly reached out.

Fang Jianyuan was startled, and at that moment he thought Yu Haiyang was reaching out to him, yet Yu Haiyang only reached out to the CD player behind him, pressing a button to rewind the song from the beginning.

Then Yu Haiyang and Fang Jianyuan leaned side by side on the edge of the table. The man picked up the cigarette case on the table and asked Fang Jianyuan, "Do you smoke?"

"No," replied Fang Jianyuan.

Yu Haiyang smiled, lit a cigarette for himself, casually sandwiching it between his fingers. He inhaled a puff of smoke, and then slowly exhaled it.

Fang Jianyuan was very uncomfortable, his fingers unconsciously picking at the hem of his clothes.

Yu Haiyang asked him, "How old are you?"

Fang Jianyuan answered, "Eighteen."

Yu Haiyang smiled with a sigh, "Eighteen, what a fun age."

Fang Jianyuan then asked, "What about you?"

Yu Haiyang replied, "I'm old. Thirty-two." He always spoke with a smile and a gentle voice, which made people feel neither solemn nor uncomfortable.

Fang Jianyuan asked, "Why are you thirty-two years old and not married yet?" For the eighteen-year-old, thirty-two really isn't young, and the thirty-year-olds around him already had children who were already several years old.

Yu Haiyang just laughed at the question and didn't answer it.

•••

After shooting, Yang Youming walked away from him, and Xia Xingcheng could still smell the residual smoke in the air. He stayed and leaned against the table, rubbing his nose with his fingers after a while.

The assistant brought his cell phone over and said that there was a phone call for him just now.

When Xia Xingcheng saw the name on the caller ID, he had the feeling of being pulled back into reality in an instant. The caller was Wei Zehui, a C-list male star whose fame was not as great as his, but his family was very rich, so he joined the entertainment circle to mess around.

Xia Xingcheng got to know him when they were filming together, and the two of them got along quite well. He had met his ex-girlfriend Xiao Yu, whom he recently broke up with, through Wei Zehui.

Xia Xingcheng silently held his cellphone for a while, then handed it back to his assistant and said, "I don't want to be concerned with him for the time being."

The filming in the past two days was smoother than how it was at the beginning. He Zheng told Xia Xingcheng that it was obvious that he had gradually found the feeling of being Fang Jianyuan, and that even though some details could be a bit more polished, there was no need to be too anxious over it. But there was one thing that He Zheng was very satisfied with, and that was the fact that Xia Xingcheng's Fang Jianyuan had a very good attitude towards Yu Haiyang.

Xia Xingcheng had thought about it carefully. What was Fang Jianyuan's attitude towards Yu Haiyang? It was probably the emotions of a simple young man who was timid yet curious, and felt a yearning when facing a handsome and attractive adult man. In a sense, this was just like his attitude towards Yang Youming.

He himself has been an idol for so many years, yet he's the same way towards Yang Youming, timid yet yearning. His timidity makes him keep his distance from Yang Youming, yet his yearning subconsciously pushes him to approach him. Especially after listening to Yang Youming's words that night, his contradicting state of mind became even more obvious.

Xia Xingcheng then shook his head and thought: Here, I am Fang Jianyuan, and he is Yu Haiyang.