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At worst, he would just endure a little longer and quit the industry after filming the movie!

In the novel, The Famous General was He Jinyun's first self-written, self-directed, and self-starring film. It not only won numerous domestic awards, but also swept many international awards that year.

With some anticipation, Ye Zexi continued reading.

But Ye Zexi had never expected that once he started reading, he would become completely engrossed.

The story of The Famous General could probably be summed up in one sentence: "One general's success, ten thousand bones wither."①

Those six short words painted a magnificent yet tragic portrait of life for the audience.

The script, over a hundred thousand words long, slowly told the audience about the three most important stages of the protagonist's life.

From a reckless young man, to a dashing young general, and finally to a great general who intimidated all directions.

It was not about riding high on the wind, pleased with himself, rising through the ranks, and receiving noble titles.

It was about the loneliness and tragedy of setting out with three hundred thousand men and returning to Chang'an alone.②

At the end of the story, the general left behind a peaceful and prosperous age for the world, while he remained alone.

Ye Zexi kept reading until dawn.

It was an exceptionally good script, and even Ye Zexi could not help being deeply drawn in by its characters.

He even had the thought, "The Famous General" seems like a pretty good script.

But Ye Zexi quickly dismissed that thought himself.

Good, my ass.

If it were not for this script, he could have spent every day afterward lying in bed and sleeping until he woke naturally!

Filming was so hard and exhausting.

And over the past few hours, he had even pulled an all-nighter because of the script He Jinyun had written.

He had been reading the script with his life on the line!

Damn it!

The more Ye Zexi thought about it, the angrier he became. He tossed the script aside, pulled the blanket over his head, and went to sleep.

He slept until the afternoon.

Ye Zexi was awakened by his phone ringing.

Without even checking the caller ID, he grabbed the phone and answered. "Hello?"

The man's voice was hoarse and thick with drowsiness. Anyone could tell he had not fully woken up.

Ye Jianbin fell silent for a second before asking in a deep voice, "Why are you still sleeping? What did you do last night?"

Caught off guard by the vigorous voice, Ye Zexi took two seconds to react before remembering that it seemed to be the voice of his bargain-bin father.

"I was reading a new script last night. I didn't go to sleep until morning." Ye Zexi yawned and sat up in bed, becoming a little more awake.

Only then did the furrow between Ye Jianbin's brows ease slightly, and his tone softened as well. "Why didn't you read it during the day?"

Ye Zexi said, "Assistant Gao happened to give it to me last night. I was planning to just skim through it, but I accidentally got absorbed in it."

There was silence from the other end for a while.

Just as Ye Zexi was puzzled and wondering whether the call had dropped, he heard Ye Jianbin's voice again. "Do you have time tonight? Come home and have dinner with us."

The moment Ye Jianbin said that, Yan Man and Ye Haoyan, who were sitting on the sofa, immediately looked over.

Ye Haoyan glanced at Yan Man.

Yan Man gently shook her head, signaling for him not to speak yet.

Ye Zexi had not expected Ye Jianbin to call him just to ask him home for dinner. But on second thought, the original owner had been in Era Idol for nearly two months now, so it really was about time for him to go home.

With that in mind, Ye Zexi agreed without hesitation. "All right, I'll come over tonight."

Hearing Ye Zexi's answer, Ye Jianbin froze for a moment before quickly saying, "I said for you to come home for dinner."

Ye Zexi was a little confused. Had Ye Jianbin not heard him just now? Patiently, he repeated himself. "All right, I'll go home tonight."

A flicker of surprise crossed Ye Jianbin's eyes.

He had not misheard?

Yan Man and Ye Haoyan were even more astonished.

Ye Zexi was actually willing to come back for dinner?

Ever since Ye Zexi had moved out after becoming an adult, he avoided going home whenever possible.

Occasionally, when Ye Jianbin wanted to see him, Ye Zexi would only go to the company, sit there for two minutes, then get up and leave.

Even during the Spring Festival, Ye Zexi would only come back for a meal before leaving. Ye Jianbin had to arrange it with him one or two months in advance; calling him at the last minute was out of the question.

Sometimes Yan Man and Ye Haoyan even had to say a few nice things before Ye Zexi was willing to "honor" them with his presence at New Year's Eve dinner.

So why did Ye Zexi seem like a completely different person this time, agreeing without the slightest hesitation? He had not even gotten angry after Ye Jianbin woke him with a phone call.

Ye Haoyan was not imagining things. He genuinely suspected that Ye Zexi had some ulterior motive for coming back this time!

After hanging up, Ye Jianbin's brows remained tightly furrowed, and his eyes held a strong sense of unreality.

This conversation had gone too smoothly—so smoothly that Ye Jianbin wondered whether there was something wrong with his ears.

Seeing this, Ye Haoyan could not help asking, "Dad, why didn't Ye... Brother get angry this time, even though he was woken up while sleeping?"

Ye Jianbin said nothing.

Ye Haoyan continued, "And why is Brother willing to come back this time?"

Only then did Ye Jianbin glance at Ye Haoyan and say coldly, "This is his home. Why would he not be willing to come back?"

Ye Haoyan muttered unhappily, "But he wasn't willing to come back before."

"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ye Jianbin's voice suddenly rose. "This is his home! I'm his father, and you're his younger brother. Why would he not be willing to come back?"

Ye Haoyan wanted to say more, but the moment he met Ye Jianbin's gaze, he immediately lost his nerve and shut his mouth resentfully.

Yan Man glared at him, blaming him for talking too much.

Still, Ye Zexi's attitude had changed far too much. It was impossible not to be suspicious.

Yan Man looked at Ye Jianbin and said with a smile, "It's rare for Zexi to come back. I'll personally make a couple of dishes tonight."

Facing Yan Man, Ye Jianbin's anger immediately subsided. He nodded. "Sorry for the trouble. You're still thinking about that brat."