For the show that Yuan Ye was participating in to publicise the program, Guan Zhou was invited to be the guest host. Yuan Ye had never been on this type of variety show before, but after a few hours of recording, he found that it was easy to follow the script that was given to him beforehand.

The show was well-designed with many funny moments, so even if he followed the script completely, he didn't come across as wooden.

After the show, Yuan Ye and Guan Zhou went out to eat together. Guan Zhou said to him, "Your popularity is really high now, according to the feedback online."

"Is that so?" Yuan Ye replied nonchalantly. "Everyone on the show is popular."

"You used to be mysterious," Guan Zhou joked with him. "You should take on more shows in the future, there's potential."

Yuan Ye raised an eyebrow and laughed, "Are you kidding?"

With a smile, Guan Zhou collected his expression and turned to Yuan Ye, saying, "By the way, you two still need to be careful. I don't know if they've told you, but news of your divorce has been leaking out."

Yuan Ye looked up at him and asked, "Wasn't it deleted?"

"It was deleted, but it's still out there," Guan Zhou replied. "The station has been putting pressure on us these past few days, and I suspect that someone is leaking this information. I think Fang Shaoyi and his team know about it too."

Yuan Ye nodded and fell silent, eating his food in contemplation.

Guan Zhou had a serious expression on his face. His relationship with Yuan Ye was good, and he was worried.

"The news of your divorce is no longer a secret in this circle. Many people probably know about it. I don't know who is behind this, it could even be the neighboring station trying to boost their ratings. As long as there's no real evidence, it's not a big deal. But if something really comes out in a few days, it won't be easy to handle."

Yuan Ye looked at Guan Zhou and laughed, "I know, don't worry about me, brother."

Guan Zhou looked helpless and said, "How can you still laugh?"

Yuan Ye shrugged and said, "Whether I smile or not, there's nothing I can do. Besides, there's no movement yet, so why worry?"

Yuan Ye wasn't worried at all. He took the opportunity to take some photos in Inner Mongolia and has been tinkering with them at home during his free time. There are a few that he really liked, including one of Fang Shaoyi standing in the desert, looking back at him. His expression was somewhat cold, and he even furrowed his brow a bit, perhaps from the sun or the wind.

Yuan Ye used this photo as his desktop background, and every time his mouse passes over it, it pauses on Fang Shaoyi for a moment.

He also picked a photo he took of a flock of sheep on the grassland, with one little lamb looking directly at the camera. Yuan Ye posted it on his social media with the caption "Little Yuan Photography."

Ji Xiaotao quickly gave him a like.

Yuan Ye messaged him, "What time is it? Why are you still mindlessly liking posts?"

Ji Xiaotao immediately replied with a voice message, sounding extremely exhausted and weak: "Still working, Brother Ye... We have to shoot overnight again today."

Yuan Ye glanced at the time, it was already 2am. He didn't know what to say, and there wasn't much he could say. In the end, Yuan Ye only sent a message: "Take care."

Ji Xiaotao replied with a voice message again, with a hint of laughter in his voice: "It's not hard, when you guys go out and record the program, I can rest for several days."

Yuan Ye chatted with him for a few more casual sentences before putting down his phone.

In the blink of an eye, they had already finished recording two episodes of the show. With only five locations in total, they were nearly halfway done. Yuan Ye was quite cooperative with the crew, following the program's schedule without any issues. He had thought it would be difficult, but it turned out to be no big deal.

This time, they were headed to Japan. Unlike last time, Yuan Ye didn't go ahead to join Fang Shaoyi's crew, who had already moved on to Shaanxi. Instead, they departed separately and began recording together at the airport. On the plane, the assistant director informed them that there might be changes to the final episode of the show.

Originally, the last episode was supposed to be recorded in Australia, but due to some unforeseen circumstances, they might have to change locations and go to Canada instead.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Ye turned to her and asked, "How many days in advance do we leave?"

The assistant director said, "Normally it should be two days, so everyone can adjust to the time difference. But since everyone's very busy, we may have to consider everyone's schedule to see if we'll move it up by one or two days."

Yuan Ye didn't ask any more questions, just shook his head and said, "No."

The assistant director didn't expect Yuan Ye to refuse so directly. Actually, for them, it doesn't matter where they film, although there may be some last-minute changes, it won't have much impact. It's just a job for them.

"What's wrong, Yuan-laoshi?" the assistant director asked him.

Fang Shaoyi was dozing off with his eye mask on, so Yuan Ye lowered his voice and said, "Let's stick to the contract. We'll go wherever we agreed to go before. Australia is fine, but Canada is not. Or if you want to stay closer, we can go to India, Thailand, or the Arab countries. I can accept those, but those too far away."

The young director was stunned. She thought it was just a simple conversation, but she didn't expect Yuan Ye to react so strongly. She tried asking again, "Yuan-laoshi, may I ask why?"

Yuan Ye shook his head, his expression indicating that he was not interested in negotiating. "There's no reason. I just don't like change. I'll record the contract as it was signed. We agreed on Australia in advance. You can't just change your mind and expect me to go along with it. That's not reasonable, don't you think?"

The assistant director was at a loss for how to handle the situation. She never imagined this would happen. As soon as they landed, she quickly reported to her superiors and relayed Yuan Ye's words. The leaders on the other end immediately contacted him to ask for his thoughts. Yuan Ye spoke politely, but there was no room for negotiation.

"Leaders, we can discuss other options, but I won't go to Canada. Let's stick to a country closer to Australia."

Just now on the plane, Fang Shaoyi had already fallen asleep and Yuan Ye was speaking in a low voice, so he didn't know what was going on. Later, the assistant director explained the situation to Fang Shaoyi again and he nodded to show that he understood. He looked over at Yuan Ye, who was still on the phone and seemed a bit impatient.

Fang Shaoyi reached out and grabbed his wrist, shaking his head at him.

Yuan Ye glanced at him and repeated into the phone, "Okay, we'll talk about it later."

After hanging up, he returned the phone to the assistant director and Fang Shaoyi advised him, "Restraint your temper a little."

Yuan Ye looked at him and said, "I'm not throwing a tantrum, I just don't want to go."

As there were too many people around, Fang Shaoyi didn't say much. He just pulled Yuan Ye aside when he was walking with his head lowered, to avoid a collision.

"Don't mind it," Fang Shaoyi said to the assistant director. "We'll discuss it later."

"Okay, thank you, Fang-laoshi," the assistant director nodded repeatedly. "No problem, no problem."

Yuan Ye and Fang Shaoyi were the first to arrive, flying in from the north. The other groups were coming from a southern city and wouldn't arrive until the afternoon. Fang Shaoyi was exhausted and needed to catch up on sleep, so he lay in bed while Yuan Ye sat beside him, scrolling through his phone.

Guan Zhou's news sources really did work fast. At noon, he had already sent a WeChat message to Yuan Ye asking, "What's wrong with you? Are you feeling sick?"

"Just a normal bout of craziness," Yuan Ye replied.

"Be careful not to offend anyone, brother," Guan Zhou warned.  

Yuan Ye: "I always speak very politely."

Guan Zhou: "I just heard Director Lin Wei and the producer comment that you were being troublesome, so I mentioned it. If it were someone else, Lin Wei would definitely have cursed them out. He has no filter. But your ex-family's position doesn't have anything to do with you now, brother. You should be more careful."

Yuan Ye clicked his tongue and sent another message: "Go focus on your work, don't worry about me."

Guan Zhou was also busy and didn't reply after those two sentences.

Fang Shaoyi's schedule had been too packed and he didn't know how much sleep he had missed. He lay on his side in bed, breathing steadily and deeply, sleeping soundly.

Later, only Chen Ru and her husband had yet to arrive, while the other two couples had already made it. Yuan Ye checked the time and estimated that the assistant director would be coming to fetch them soon.

He walked over with light steps and crouched down beside Fang Shaoyi's bed, where he lay facing upwards. Yuan Ye opened his mouth to wake him up, but hesitated and didn't make a sound.

Fang Shaoyi's face was truly handsome, with deep-set features and a straight nose. Yuan Ye had always been particularly fond of his nose, and had even nibbled and bitten it before, but never caused any harm to Fang Shaoyi's nose bridge.

He slept soundly and comfortably, with a completely relaxed expression on his face. Seeing how peaceful he looked, Yuan Ye couldn't bear to wake him up.

Feeling tired from crouching, Yuan Ye decided to sit on the floor next to Fang Shaoyi's bed and dozed off as well.

But he only dozed for about eight or 10 minutes before the time was up and he had to wake up Fang Shaoyi. Yuan Ye stretched his arms and stood up, patting Fang Shaoyi's shoulder and calling out, "Brother Yi?"

Fang Shaoyi didn't respond, so Yuan Ye called out again, "Brother Yi."

Fang Shaoyi's eyelashes fluttered, and it took him a few seconds to open his eyes.

He had slept too deeply, and the room temperature was just right, so he might have had a pretty good dream. His eyes were a little hazy when he first opened them, but he didn't frown when he was awakened. Yuan Ye controlled the urge to reach out and touch him, and just smiled and said, "...Don't sleep anymore."

Fang Shaoyi blinked and looked out at Yuan Ye. The two of them locked eyes, and in that moment, there were no complicated emotions, just simplicity and calmness.

Just as Yuan Ye was about to say something to wake Fang Shaoyi up from his daze, Fang Shaoyi suddenly reached out and wrapped Yuan Ye in his arms. Fang Shaoyi had slept soundly, and the dry warmth emanating from his body hit Yuan Ye's nose, leaving him stunned.

Yuan Ye rested his face on Fang Shaoyi's body, feeling a familiar and comfortable sensation from Fang Shaoyi's breath. He didn't say anything, just closed his eyes.

His eyes happened to be at the position of Fang Shaoyi's collarbone, and the hard bone made him a little uncomfortable. Fang Shaoyi's hand was placed on the back of Yuan Ye's head, and the warm palm was touching his scalp, making Yuan Ye feel like sleeping.

Later, it was Yuan Ye who moved first. His posture was a bit tiring for his waist. He took a deep breath, then reached out to remove Fang Shaoyi's arm and raised his face to look into Fang Shaoyi's eyes.

When they met each other's gaze again, Yuan Ye smiled as if nothing had happened and asked, "What's gotten into you?"

Fang Shaoyi stared at him in silence for a moment, then turned his eyes away and pinched his brow, saying, "Nothing, just had a dream."