Chapter 91: Farming

Cheng Ye gave a vivid demonstration of what time management was.

While a soup was simmering, he went upstairs to sort through Jiang Shi’s few boxes of things. When he returned, the soup wasn’t even done yet. He tasted it for seasoning, added a little salt, then covered the pot. Picking up a mop, he cleaned the living room floor that had been dirtied by the movers’ footsteps.

In between mopping, he redid the fruit platter for Jiang Shi, which had been sitting in half a bowl of water, and added some snacks, afraid he might be hungry.

In the time it took for Jiang Xue to blink, he had already finished mopping. He put the mop away and went into the kitchen to start stir-frying.

The frosted glass door of the kitchen closed, allowing only a faint aroma of chicken soup to drift out. The man’s tall figure almost completely filled the doorway as he bent slightly, skillfully flipping and tossing the ingredients in the wok.

Jiang Xue was in a daze. She sat next to Jiang Shi and asked, “Is Cheng Ye always like this when you two are at home?”

Jiang Shi opened a bag of potato chips. “Pretty much.”

The floor was sparkling, and after being mopped by Cheng Ye, it reflected Jiang Xue’s face even more clearly. She reached out and patted Jiang Shi’s shoulder. “You should at least help out a bit. How can you let him be so busy all by himself?”

Jiang Shi crunched on his chips. “I don’t want to move, and Cheng Ye doesn’t want me to, either.”

Jiang Xue said, “A life together is a two-person affair. How can you let just one person do all the giving?” As she spoke, Jiang Xue became a little worried. “Besides, Cheng Ye has money now. He’s no longer that poor kid from before. Back then he had no money, you showed him kindness, and he remembered your good deeds, so naturally, he would do whatever you wanted.”

“But things are different now. As time goes on, the gap between you two will only grow larger. He might remember your kindness, but no matter how great a favor, it can’t be remembered for a lifetime. People change.”

“You have to be considerate of each other for the relationship to last.”

Jiang Shi’s hand, reaching for more chips, paused.

Seeing that he was listening, Jiang Xue prompted him, “Look, it’s almost time to eat. Why don’t you clear the dining table?”

Jiang Shi glanced at the dining table. On it were a few miscellaneous kitchen items from the move. It didn’t look like a difficult task.

He put down the chips, finally stood up from the sofa, and had barely taken two steps when Cheng Ye, whose back was to him, seemed to have grown eyes in the back of his head. With a whoosh, he slid the door open. “Hungry?”

“No,” Jiang Shi said. “I saw there’s stuff on the dining table, so I’m going to clear it up.”

Cheng Ye poured a little water into the wok, covered it to let it simmer, and then wiped his hands and came out.

“I’ll do it.”

Before Jiang Shi could even reach the table, Cheng Ye had already cleared it.

“…”

He stood there, halfway between the living room and the dining room, a baffled expression on his face.

After cleaning up, Cheng Ye went back into the kitchen, only to come out a few seconds later holding a small bowl of chicken soup, which he placed in Jiang Shi’s hands. “Getting bored waiting? Dinner will be ready in ten minutes at most. Have some chicken soup to line your stomach first.”

Jiang Shi had come empty-handed to clear the table, and now, with the table uncleared by him, he returned with a bowl of soup.

Jiang Xue, who had witnessed the entire exchange: “…”

Jiang Shi sat back down next to Jiang Xue. His semi-long, choppy hair slipped from behind his ear, swaying in front of his eyes.

He blew on the small bowl, lowered his head, and took a light sip. “See, you can’t blame me for this.”

What else could Jiang Xue say? Looking at the situation, it was clear that one was happy to give and the other was happy to receive.

Even though it was her own son, she couldn’t help but sigh at how incredibly good Jiang Shi’s luck was.

Who else besides Cheng Ye would worship him like an ancestor?

---

The winter in Jiangcheng this year was warmer than in previous years. The sun even came out during the New Year.

Jiang Shi sat in the courtyard, basking in the sun and memorizing his lines.

Ever since Huai Zhang had terminated his contract and signed with another company, Xinghui had been declining year after year. Jiang Shi had taken some classes at the company, and Liu Heping had found him a few modeling jobs. Combined with the company’s marketing, Jiang Shi’s face slowly began to appear in the public eye.

Over the past three years, Jiang Shi had taken on several scripts, all for insignificant supporting roles with few scenes. However, his performances were considered eye-catching, and coupled with his handsome looks, he had attracted a considerable number of fans through these roles.

But Xinghui was on a downward spiral, and the resources allocated to him were dwindling. Jiang Shi had been without work for nearly half a year. This latest script was secured through Liu Heping’s personal connections.

It was a suspenseful murder mystery, and Jiang Shi was cast as a gloomy painter who wouldn’t survive past the third episode.

Filming was set to begin on the seventh day after the New Year, so he had to hurry and familiarize himself with his lines.

His hair had grown long and kept blocking his vision. As he raised a hand to tie it back, Cheng Ye appeared beside him, holding a hoe.

A shadow fell over his face, and Jiang Shi tilted his head.

Cheng Ye looked at the empty plot of land before him. “We’ll plant corn here, potatoes here, and vegetables here…”

He categorized it strictly, as if deploying troops.

The corner of Jiang Shi’s mouth twitched. “Are you really going to plant things?”

Cheng Ye lowered his eyes to look at him. “You don’t like it?”

It wasn’t that Jiang Shi disliked it; he just thought about what would happen when people visited their home in the future…

At other CEOs’ houses, you open the door to a courtyard full of flowers, and the house is filled with various luxury goods and antiques. Anyone who saw it would praise it for its style.

But at CEO Cheng’s house, you open the door to corn stalks taller than a person, plump and fresh Chinese cabbage, chickens and ducks flying everywhere, and a house full of junk he had scavenged from who-knows-where…

Cheng Ye squatted next to Jiang Shi, his legs spread. He had shaved his hair short a couple of days ago, and it was now prickly.

Jiang Xue was back home feeding her pigs and cows and couldn’t get away, so she had left on the third day of the New Year. With her gone, Cheng Ye was back to wearing his well-worn tank top. The muscle lines on his arms were smooth, glowing with a honey-like color under the sunlight.

He chewed on a blade of grass and thought for two seconds. “If you don’t like it, I won’t plant them.”

Planting flowers would also be nice. When Jiang Shi had nothing to do, he could sit in the garden, and the scene would be like a painting.

Jiang Shi held his script and looked at Cheng Ye squatting beside him like a migrant worker. In the end, he compromised. “Fine, plant them. Plant some cherry tomatoes and cucumbers.”

He could eat them when he was on a diet.

…

Liu Man had become the head of logistics at Cheng Ye’s company.

As the company grew larger and larger, his salary increased, but he knew that if it weren’t for his past friendship with Cheng Ye, he wouldn’t have even had a chance at an interview with his academic qualifications.

Indebted to Cheng Ye, Liu Man hadn’t forgotten the hard times just because life was good now. He truly treated the company as his own and worked diligently.

Today was the fifth day of the New Year, and the company was still on holiday. Because they needed to replace a batch of new equipment, Liu Man personally brought the contract to Cheng Ye’s house for his signature during the break.

He had helped choose Cheng Ye’s villa, so he knew the way and drove right over.

Jiang Shi was now more or less a minor celebrity, so they had chosen this place for its good privacy and strict security.

Liu Man registered at the guardhouse, followed the tree-lined path from memory, and finally arrived at the villa’s entrance.

The sunlight was a bit glaring. He stood at the gate and saw Jiang Shi sitting in the courtyard.

“Xiao Shi…” Liu Man called out. “Is Brother Cheng home?”

Jiang Shi was wearing a collared shirt, his semi-long hair tied back, revealing a slender neck. He turned his head, his pale fingertips holding the script, and gestured with it. “Come in, the door’s unlocked.”

Liu Man pushed the gate open and entered.

Only when he got closer did he see Cheng Ye standing in a corner with a hoe, digging at the ground.

“…”

He was silent for a moment. “Brother Cheng, what are you doing?”

Cheng Ye held the hoe with one hand. “Digging up the yard to plant crops.”

He said, “The weather’s been good these past two days. If I dig it now, it’ll be ready for the rain. Once spring comes, the company will get busy, and I won’t have this much time.”

For a moment, Liu Man felt as if he had stepped into the rural bungalow built by his second uncle back in the village.

Cheng Ye sat down on a nearby step, twisted open a bottle of mineral water he had brought back from a hotel, and took a sip. “What’s up?”

“Oh…” Liu Man snapped back to reality. “Isn’t the company replacing a batch of new equipment? Their company starts work tomorrow, so I plan to go make the purchase then. I need your signature.”

Cheng Ye rubbed the dirt and sweat from his hands, took the document, glanced at it, and signed it for him.

“What about Xiao Liu?” he asked.

Liu Man said, “He took his girlfriend home for the New Year.”

His own parents were divorced and had both started new families. He wasn’t particularly welcome at either place, so he didn’t go anywhere and stayed in Jiangcheng by himself.

Cheng Ye was silent for two seconds. “Stay for dinner tonight.”

“Well…” Liu Man instinctively glanced at Jiang Shi.

Jiang Shi said, “Why are you looking at me? It’s not like I’m the one cooking.”

Liu Man chuckled. “Alright.”

He put the document away and watched as Cheng Ye stood up to continue digging. He couldn’t help but ask, “Need a hand?”

Cheng Ye seemed to have been waiting for this. He immediately said, “There’s another hoe in the tool shed on the left.”

Liu Man: “…”

He felt like he’d been tricked.

…

Jiang Shi watched Cheng Ye dig for two days before he had to leave for the film set on the seventh day.

As a little-known, eighteenth-tier artist, Jiang Shi didn’t have an assistant. Since Liu Heping had no other artists under him, he often acted as both manager and assistant. As long as he wasn’t busy, he would accompany Jiang Shi to the set.

This time was no exception.

As soon as Jiang Shi got in the car, he noticed Liu Heping’s gloomy face.

“What’s wrong?”

Liu Heping sighed. “Two more artists left Xinghui. It looks like the company is really done for this time.”

“Oh…” Jiang Shi said dryly, completely detached, as if he weren’t one of its members. “So what now?”

What else could be done? Liu Heping said, “We’ll have to find our own way out. I heard the executives holding a meeting this morning when I came in. They’re talking about selling the company. We’ll have to see what the next owner is like. If they’re decent to us old-timers, we’ll stay. If not, we’ll have to figure something out on our own.”

He advised Jiang Shi, “The current company owner is pretty decent. He hasn’t given you a hard time these past few years I’ve been managing you. But we don’t know what the next owner will be like. If you can, you should find a backup plan for yourself, just in case you get screwed over.”

…

Jiang Shi’s first scene was playing a corpse. He died tragically in his art studio, his death so poignantly beautiful it was almost surreal.

He had no idea how a dead person could look poignantly beautiful and surreal, so he just sat obediently and let the makeup artist do her work.

The makeup artist was a young woman. She studied Jiang Shi in the mirror for a long time. “Teacher Jiang, your skin is so good. I don’t even know where to begin.”

In this industry, anyone could be called “Teacher.”

“Teacher Jiang” had woken up at six in the morning and hadn’t slept well to begin with. On top of that, he had just listened to Liu Heping’s “outlook” on the company’s future, and he was so tired his eyelids were fighting to stay open.

He sent a message to Liu Heping asking him to bring him a coffee, then closed his eyes. “Just do whatever.”

Anyway, he was just a supporting character who wouldn’t last three episodes. Who cared what a supporting character looked like?

The makeup artist paused, thinking to herself that this Teacher Jiang was indeed as cold and aloof as the rumors said.

Just as she was halfway through with his makeup, there was a commotion at the door. He was woken by the noise and opened his eyes to look outside.

The person who had arrived was the male lead of the drama. As luck would have it, it was that former top star of Xinghui, Huai Zhang.

The lead actor’s treatment was naturally different from others’. Jiang Shi had been here for almost two hours, but Huai Zhang had just arrived, surrounded by a crowd of people enthusiastically greeting him.

The makeup artist stopped what she was doing, assuming Jiang Shi would go over as well. But instead, after seeing who it was, he simply closed his eyes again.

Huai Zhang walked in and immediately noticed Jiang Shi sitting inside with his eyes closed.

His face was attractive, which was one thing, but the main reason he stood out was that everyone else in the makeup room had stood up to greet him, while Jiang Shi alone remained seated.

Huai Zhang tilted his head and asked his assistant, “Who is he?”

The assistant looked for a good while before recognizing him. “I think he’s playing the painter who dies at the beginning. An insignificant supporting role. He’s…” He paused. “He’s an artist from Xinghui.”

Xinghui…

A flicker of light passed through Huai Zhang’s eyes. “Who’s his manager?”

The assistant quickly searched on his phone and found the information after two minutes.

“I think his name is Liu Heping.”