Chapter 96 – Heartache
Later, while filming on set, Xiao Fang happened to hear that Mr. Wu had withdrawn his investment. However, after he left, an even more powerful resource joined, and the treatment of every actor improved by another level. As for Xiao Fang, he was served a different variety of diet meals for every meal, which allowed him to feel a little fuller than before.
Even so, after two months of filming, Xiao Fang had genuinely lost weight—about nine kilograms. Xiao Ma had been with him the whole time, so he didn’t have a strong, direct sense of it, but Fei Xiangnan, who came to pick him up, felt it intensely.
When he saw Xiao Fang flash him a silly smile, he couldn’t even bring himself to say a word of blame. The heartache could only take deep root in his heart. He knew that compared to his concern, what Xiao Fang wanted more was his proud smile when he succeeded.
There was still the final part of the movie to be filmed. To help everyone readjust, Director Zhang took it upon himself to give everyone a two-week break before continuing. In reality, everyone understood that it was to let Xiao Fang recover properly. Watching Xiao Fang’s light fasting these days had been painful for them.
Before taking Xiao Fang home, Fei Xiangnan took him to the supermarket for a major shopping spree. The foods that were usually forbidden to Xiao Fang were now unrestricted. He was in a state where almost every request was granted. Xiao Fang returned home, contentedly hugging his snacks, and first went to see his precious son.
After two months apart, Lang Lang had grown a little more. Xiao Fang had a sweet moment with Lang Lang, and then Auntie Chen had dinner ready.
This was a meal Xiao Fang hadn’t dared to hope for in the past two months, but it was laid out right in front of him, plain as day.
“Eat up, eat more,” Fei Xiangnan didn’t say any other sentimental words, just expressed his most basic wish. It would be best if he could gain a few kilograms more than before.
The sight of the food made Xiao Fang completely forget the word “delicate.” He picked up a chicken leg and started gnawing on it. Fei Xiangnan watched him; this meal was better than any he had eaten in the past two months.
“How’s the movie filming going?”
Xiao Fang’s speech was a bit muffled as he gnawed on the chicken leg, but his tone was filled with an excitement that couldn’t be concealed.
“It’s great. Director Zhang’s guidance is also excellent. I’ve learned a lot of things and many techniques. For example…” Xiao Fang couldn’t stop once he started talking about this. Fei Xiangnan didn’t interrupt, just listened intently. In truth, he was more pleased just watching Xiao Fang eat happily.
He knew that sometimes people who fasted for a period of time could develop anorexia. Fortunately, it seemed Xiao Fang didn’t have this symptom. His desire for food was still there. Xiao Fang’s foodie nature inexplicably put him at ease.
As he talked, Xiao Fang started to feel a bit embarrassed. “Are you really interested in hearing about these things from my crew? Should we change the topic?” As he spoke, his chopsticks picked up a spicy chicken wing and placed it in his bowl.
Fei Xiangnan was delighted to see this. How could he not be interested? “Keep talking. I’m very interested.”
Thus, even though the two of them were in different worlds, they were both happy about their own happy things, and there was no sense of disharmony at all.
Before Auntie Chen left, she couldn’t help but sigh. She hadn’t seen a smile on President Fei’s face for almost two months. Now that Xiao Fang was back, everything was different.
That night, after Xiao Fang finished his shower, he patted his full belly and contentedly climbed onto Fei Xiangnan’s bed. He burrowed into Fei Xiangnan’s arms like a monkey, his face rubbing against Fei Xiangnan’s chest. Unable to take the teasing anymore, Fei Xiangnan lifted him up and they exchanged a deep kiss.
The frustration and irritability of the past two months were finally released through this person.
“Hurry up and succeed. Hurry up and become the person you want to be,” Fei Xiangnan suddenly said.
Xiao Fang tilted his head up and asked foolishly, “Why?”
Fei Xiangnan chuckled, his laughter tinged with teasing and a hint of helplessness. “So we don’t have to be in a long-distance relationship every day.”
That made so much sense!
Xiao Fang himself had become particularly clingy to Fei Xiangnan now. Hearing Fei Xiangnan’s indirect coquetry, he burrowed back into his arms and rubbed against him for a while. In less than a minute, both of them were fired up, and a sweet battle raged until the early hours of the morning before it stopped.
“It’s not comfortable without any flesh on your belly. Hurry up and get fat again.” After they had washed up, Fei Xiangnan tousled the little furball’s head in his arms.
The exhausted Xiao Fang let out a “hmm” from his nose, it was unclear if he understood. The two of them fell asleep, nestled together like that.
The two weeks of rest at home couldn’t be considered a complete break for Xiao Fang. He took the time to participate in several company events, as well as the wrap party for Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Spicy. However, he only made a brief appearance there. Even Xiao Qi didn’t have time to come up and provoke him before he left with his assistant.
As the two of them sat in the car on the way home, Ma Rui was clearly a bit distracted. Xiao Fang had to call his name several times before he snapped out of it.
“What are you thinking about? You’re so lost in thought.” Even the grilled skewers he had specifically asked someone to buy on the way down didn’t manage to get his attention.
A trace of confusion and hesitation crossed Ma Rui’s face, making him look completely dazed.
Xiao Fang had rarely seen Ma Rui act so indecisively. He told him to speak his mind directly, then picked up a skewer of meat and bone and started to chew.
“Brother Xiao, first of all, I’m straight, you know that.” Ma Rui was exceptionally insistent on this point.
Xiao Fang didn’t even want to argue with him. He rolled his eyes. “Fine, fine, you’re straight. Go on.”
It was most likely related to Que Jiang.
“He hasn’t been your assistant for the past two months,” Ma Rui said, preparing to use a slow and steady strategy.
Xiao Fang grunted in agreement. “That’s normal. He wasn’t in charge of me to begin with. It was because I was pregnant before.”
“Well, you should at least contact him, right? You were friends, after all.”
Ma Rui’s words were completely undisguised. Xiao Fang let out a mental “oh” and completely understood what was going on.
He patted Ma Rui’s shoulder with great solemnity and said, “Next time, just ask him directly. Don’t beat around the bush with me. I’ve been through it all. Do you think I’d laugh at you?”
“Brother Xiao, what do you mean? I was just asking you about his situation. Can’t friends ask about each other?” Ma Rui rejected all words that tried to bend him, a truly steadfast and unyielding straight man!
Xiao Fang didn’t want to get into an argument, so he just said, “I only know that Que Jiang took a job. I didn’t ask for details. If you want to know…”
“What kind of job is so busy that he doesn’t even reply to messages?” Ma Rui muttered.
Xiao Fang was about to say something. He of course had an idea. He was aware of the nature of Que Jiang’s work. Que Jiang probably hadn’t told Ma Rui about it. After all, one way to protect someone is to not let them know about certain dangerous things.
“He’ll reply when he’s done with work. The nature of his job is different. You shouldn’t think too much about it.” That’s what he said, but Ma Rui still understood the underlying meaning. It was just that Xiao Fang was unwilling to say more.
In the end, hadn’t he just classified Que Jiang as an ordinary friend?
Suppressing the strange feeling in his heart, Ma Rui nodded and said magnanimously, “Hey, I was just asking. We’re friends, after all. Brother Xiao, you even bought me my favorite pork belly. Thanks.” Ma Rui happily took the pork belly and started to chew.
“I forgot to tell you, last time after the New Year when I went home, my family arranged a pretty good blind date for me. I’ve been chatting with her recently. If it works out, I’ll bring her home to meet them.” Xiao Ma spoke with great excitement, but Xiao Fang inexplicably saw a hint of sadness in it.
It seemed that as a wingman, he couldn’t just sit back and do nothing. This guy couldn’t hide his feelings. He probably really had fallen for Que Jiang, but he just kept stubbornly denying it.
When they got home, Fei Xiangnan was surprisingly not waiting for him in the living room, but was in the study. He rarely sat in the study at this hour.
“Yes, I know. You don’t need to worry about this matter. I’ll handle it.”
By the time Xiao Fang came in with a plate of cut pineapple, Fei Xiangnan had just hung up the phone.
“Didn’t your previous work just come to an end?” Sometimes Fei Xiangnan would tell him about the progress of his work. Just like Fei Xiangnan, Xiao Fang couldn’t bear to see him so tired.
“Let’s eat outside. The study feels oppressive. Let’s go to the rooftop. The moonlight is nice tonight.” The weather was gradually warming up, and it was relatively warm outside. Knowing that Xiao Fang didn’t really like the study’s environment, Fei Xiangnan helped carry the fruit platter and took Xiao Fang’s hand, leading him up to the rooftop.
The night sky was full of stars, and the silver moonlight cast a light veil over the city, warm and comfortable. Immersed in this beautiful tranquility, both of their moods changed.
There was no need for Xiao Fang to ask. Fei Xiangnan would always take the initiative to talk about things he wanted to share.
“Fei Yishan is close to finding out about her father’s matter. It’s really beyond my imagination. The Fei family doesn’t have to worry about having no successor.” Regarding this matter, Fei Xiangnan showed an unimaginable tolerance for Fei Yishan, his face even showing satisfaction.
But this sentence also had many other meanings. “That matter, it’s not what it seems on the surface?”
Xiao Fang’s understanding of many things had been overturned here. He knew that many things were not as they seemed on the surface, but as for the specifics, he was still at a loss.
Using a fruit fork, he picked up a small piece of pineapple and put it in Xiao Fang’s mouth. Fei Xiangnan said without any hesitation, “It was all just an act. If the Fei family were all good-for-nothings like Fei Tao, how could they contend with the other two families? They would have been devoured by the other two families long ago.” Fei Xiangnan spoke as if it were a matter of course, without any so-called family affection involved.
Xiao Fang didn’t ask much, just quietly listened to Fei Xiangnan speak.
“The Third Branch of the Fei Family, for three generations… the old one is paralyzed, the middle one’s legs are crippled, and the one from our generation lost an eye two years ago. But they can still stand firm in our Fei family without batting an eye. All the dirty work that the other two branches won’t do, they take it all. They have ambition. They want everyone to be stained with blood. Ten years ago, their first choice was us,” Fei Xiangnan said lightly, but Xiao Fang could almost imagine the bloody storm within.
“Uncle was just making a bet with me, betting that they wouldn’t be able to make a move. In other words, it was killing a chicken to scare the monkeys.” Fei Xiangnan’s simple sentence made Xiao Fang understand many things.
He took a sip of milk tea to calm himself. “If that’s the case, and the time is almost up, are you just going to let Yishan be?”
Fei Xiangnan’s expression didn’t look worried at all. “She found out on her own. She will face more things in the future. It’s not necessarily a bad thing to let her get used to it in advance.”
At this moment, Xiao Fang sincerely felt that no one in the Fei family could really fight against Fei Xiangnan anymore. Those so-called cats and dogs were just shields that Fei Xiangnan used to disguise himself.
Xiao Fang mulled it over for a while, then slowly gave his old husband a thumbs-up.
Fei Xiangnan couldn’t help but laugh. Was his partner’s ability to accept things too good? Seeing him clapping his hands foolishly, Fei Xiangnan almost couldn’t resist ravishing him on the spot.
“Then when do you plan to tell her?”
“Tomorrow, I guess.”
“So soon?”
“Rewards for this kind of thing should be given early.”
“Mmm, then I’ll prepare some food. I happen to have no work tomorrow. My cousin-in-law is coming over, so I should prepare a little.”
For the hundredth time, Fei Xiangnan praised his virtuous wife in his heart.
At the same time, Fei Yishan, who had found half the truth, felt as if she were standing at a fork in the road of her life. She didn’t know how to face it, much less that the truth she had been pursuing would be so easily revealed the next day, accompanied by the smell of fried chicken and coke.