First Kiss Diary - Chapter 03
« Ji Ning? »
Ji Shixian listened to the question from the person opposite without any change in his demeanor, and replied calmly, « Not possible? »
« Possible or not, I don’t know. All I know is they intend to pair Ji Ning with Jiang Chuan, » Jiang Sheng tapped his elbow, « You’re going against the CP, I’m not sure if I can win her over. »
Ji Shixian’s voice remained flat, « If not possible, then I won’t go. »
« Wow, so straightforward? » Jiang Sheng was puzzled, « Why does it have to be her? Do you admire her acting and want to collaborate with her? »
« No, » he lowered his eyes, « She said she doesn’t know me. »
Jiang Sheng chuckled, « There’s still someone who doesn’t know you? Our famous actor Ji, not to mention the audience, half of the entertainment industry is your fan, and there’s still a young actress who doesn’t know you? »
« Not only doesn’t know me, after walking the red carpet and hitting the hot search, she firmly stated that she hadn’t seen me. »
Jiang Sheng burst into laughter, « You actually had no presence in front of her? You were ignored?! »
After thinking for a moment, Jiang Sheng realized, « No wonder you want to pretend to be a couple on variety shows, it must be very torturous to date someone like you, indeed a considerable punishment and show of authority. »
Ji Shixian: ?
The man squinted, « Say that again? »
« Isn’t it true? It’s okay to be picky about work, but surely it’s also dull and uninteresting when it comes to relationships. Who likes to date a statue? »
Jiang Sheng learned behind the scenes, and he was his childhood friend. Due to Ji Shixian’s cold temperament and lack of socialization, Jiang Sheng had been serving as his agent and assistant for so many years.
Ji Shixian was provoked to hook his lips, « Alright, wait and see. »
Jiang Sheng eagerly looked forward to seeing him being trained, « If it’s really Ji Ning, I hope you won’t be ignored too miserably. »
The man then thought of the afternoon, her startled gaze when she found him standing behind her, like a frightened deer.
Suddenly, he wanted to form a CP with her, curious about her expression when she realized he was her boyfriend.
—
« So you saw Ji Shixian naked this afternoon?! »
Song Yu’s voice pierced through her eardrums, Ji Ning pulled her phone away, « Only his back, more or less the same as not seeing. »
Just now, she roughly told Song Yu about the incident, and Song Yu immediately called excitedly.
« But that’s a real person, it’s different from the screen or phone, right? Is he smooth? Tender? Tempting? »
Sure, here’s the text with spaces between paragraphs:
Ji Ning was helpless: « I was busy and didn’t pay attention to discourtesy. »
« Nonsense, you made up the excuse of leg cramps for yourself, » Song Yu was jealous to death. « You said you hadn’t seen Ji Shiyi before, but in these past few days, not only have you been in close contact, but you’ve also played in the changing room? Aren’t you just too lucky? »
« How lucky? I don’t even know how he misunderstood me, » Ji Ning rubbed her temples. « I’m so miserable as a woman. »
« You’re quite fortunate, actually, » Song Yu continued, « By the way, are you really going to join ‘First Kiss Diary’? »
After becoming a couple on the first day, the program will record the daily love life development of the guests, which will be broadcast on a prime-time TV station, and the backstage team is also very good. This type of variety show mainly involves rising artists and is a different form of promoting CP, which can increase discussion.
Ji Ning said, « Of course, it’s work. »
« That’s what you say, but after the guy has taken such good care of you for so long, it’s hard for you to resist, right? I’ve seen many programs where the female side really falls for it, while the male side just treats it as work. »
« That’s just the female audience projecting themselves, can they really tell if someone likes you? » Ji Ning was very confident. « Don’t worry, I won’t. Variety shows have scripts, and I’m very calm. »
Song Yu shook her head, « You’re already setting a flag before it even starts, I’m a bit scared. »
« My flag never falls, » Ji Ning asserted, « if you catch feelings, it’s your problem, not mine. »
« … You’re ruthless. » After a two-second silence, Song Yu said, « I’ll remember that, I hope I won’t fall for it one day. »
—
« First Kiss Diary » is scheduled to start shooting its first episode in two weeks. For the sake of effect, the program team did not tell Ji Ning who her « boyfriend » would be.
The only thing not hidden is that the program does have a script, but only a part of it, and the guests have a lot of room for improvisation. Each CP pair has a scriptwriter, and the scriptwriter will set suitable plots based on their personalities. There might even be lines, anyway, the arrangements are very flexible, all for the sake of entertainment.
During the two weeks of waiting, Ji Ning didn’t have any major work, so she neatly went to the company. Before going to the company, she prepared everything, but she never expected things to be so mild―― The former agent said while reading a book, « Didn’t anyone tell you? Oh, I also got the notice yesterday, you’ve switched to Huang Miao’s team, I’ll give you her contact information later. »
Huang Miao is also a somewhat famous agent, with good working abilities, and won’t hinder publicity and promotion. This should be good news for Ji Ning, but she still felt something was off, « She doesn’t want to talk to me face to face? Where is she? »
« In the northwest. »
« …What? »
« Tang Fei is filming in the northwest, she’s with Tang Fei. Just add her on WeChat first, and arrange to meet her when she comes back. »
« How long will she be back? »
« Hard to say, it could take up to ten days or half a month. »
Only after asking did Ji Ning know that besides Tang Fei, Huang Miao actually had several other artists under her, so time needed to be allocated again, because agents don’t need to be by the artist’s side all the time, they just follow the schedule.
She talked with Huang Miao on the phone for about twenty minutes. Just as they got into the main topic, there was a commotion on Huang Miao’s end, « Hold on, I have something here. Can you organize your thoughts first, and we’ll talk next time? »
« Let’s schedule a face-to-face meeting, okay? Are you coming back next week? »
Huang Miao pondered for a while, « Then I’ll find time to come back on Friday, and I’ll talk to you then. »
« Okay, bye. »
Certainly! Here’s the text with spaces between paragraphs:
« She’ll probably be back in about how long? »
« It’s hard to say, she won’t be back for at least ten days to half a month. »
Ji Ning only found out after asking that besides Tang Fei, Huang Miao had several other artists under her, so time needed to be reallocated because agents didn’t need to be constantly by the artists’ sides like assistants, they just followed schedules.
She talked to Huang Miao on the phone for about twenty minutes. Just as they got to the point, there was a commotion from Huang Miao’s end: « Wait a moment, I have something going on here, can you organize your thoughts first, and we’ll talk next time? »
« Let’s schedule a face-to-face meeting, are you coming back next week? »
Huang Miao pondered for a while, « Then I’ll find time to come back on Friday, and I’ll let you know then. »
« Okay, bye. »
After hanging up, Ji Ning was about to leave when she saw Sun He push open the door.
As the daughter of the company’s boss, she had good resources and someone else to bear the blame. Sun He lived comfortably, as if she was just passing by at the moment, yet also seemed to be waiting to give her a glance, in any case, her gaze was unkind, even her eyelashes were glaring with resentment.
Ji Ning remembered a recent dinner party where they were arranged to sit together, only to find that this young lady made a face on the spot and insisted on changing seats to the farthest one from her, making the atmosphere very awkward.
But she didn’t know where Sun He’s hostility came from, after all, the only contact between them that could be considered was when she and Sun He’s fiancé filmed a TV drama together when she first entered the circle, and they had very few scenes together.
But she didn’t have time to dwell on these things now, she went straight past Sun He and went home.
Once home, Ji Ning quickly opened her documents and began planning for the future, preparing to have a good discussion with Huang Miao on Friday.
Huang Miao had frontline and quasi-frontline artists under her, and she must have focused all her energy on them. Ji Ning estimated that she wouldn’t pay much attention to her, so she had to take on more responsibility herself.
She tentatively formulated two key words: refutation and data.
Although it was not easy to plan the details herself, she analyzed her own situation while searching for information. She had only slept for four hours for several days, and she didn’t know how Huang Miao would respond —
But no matter what, she could finally start properly.
The first shooting of « First Kiss Diary » also quietly arrived. She received a notice saying that only the initial meeting part would be filmed today because her male guest was particularly busy, and the formal date would be filmed in a few days.
Ji Ning arrived at the shooting location at eight in the morning. At that time, the coordinator was setting up the scene, and everyone was busy with their work. Ji Ning handed out the milk tea she bought to the staff and then sat aside to rest her eyes.
« Ning Ning, why don’t you go back to the trailer and wait? It’s probably going to be a while before everything’s ready here. »
« It’s okay, I’ll just read the script. »
Not long after, she heard the lighting technician next to her chatting.
« I found the ticket stub from when I watched Ji Shiyan’s concert before, it’s so nostalgic, it’s been a long time since he had a concert. »
« Maybe there will be one again? I heard yesterday that he was practicing the piano on set, is he going on tour soon? »
« Not very likely. Hey, if only I had money, I would spend a fortune to buy tickets for his solo concert and have him sing just for me. »
« Stop dreaming, do you think such a good thing would come to you? »
Of course, here’s the text with spaces between paragraphs:
—
« Stop dreaming. Do you think such good things would happen to you? » Ji Shiyi, originally an idol singer and dancer, released albums and performed on classic stages. However, after two years of hiatus, he successfully transitioned to acting. Despite rarely appearing in public or participating in promotions, his popularity remained high. Ji Ning actually enjoyed listening to his songs and had many of his performances saved on her phone.
As she thought about this, she found the stage setup somewhat familiar. Before she could think too deeply, she caught a glimpse of a tall, slender figure behind the curtain, leaving her momentarily stunned. Nono nudged her, « What are you staring at? »
« It’s like I saw Ji Shiyi, » she replied uncertainly, « Is he also participating in this show? » Although she had seen materials related to this variety show on the plane, she didn’t think he would be involved – after all, top stars rarely joined dating shows. Their popularity was already high enough; they didn’t need to contribute to the hype through real-life relationships.
The lighting technician chimed in, « It’s unlikely Ji Shiyi would participate, but he might be involved in planning behind the scenes. Maybe he’s just here to take a look? I’m not sure; I haven’t received any news. » Ji Ning nodded vaguely, lost in thought.
An hour later, with the set ready, Ji Ning waited in the dressing room for twenty minutes before the official shooting began. For artists, being in front of cameras was ordinary, even if they spent the whole day under their gaze. They were so accustomed to it that being filmed or not made little difference to them.
Although she had seen the set arrangement before, the actual recording required a certain level of formality and ceremony. She first received an invitation letter instructing her to follow the petals on the ground to the small studio she had just visited. Pushing open the creaky door, she found the venue shrouded in darkness, with only faint blue lights illuminating the stage.
At this moment, she leisurely thought to herself that light blue was Ji Shiyi’s support color, showing a subtle connection between her and her « boyfriend. » The venue was spacious and quiet. Ji Ning asked tentatively, « Is anyone here? » There was no response. She found a seat in the front row and waited, contemplating what to say later.
Just as she was lost in thought, the stage lights suddenly brightened, cascading down like waves, and the curtains billowed softly, bathed in moonlight, reaching her feet. The sound of the piano filled her ears, each note familiar and tightening her chest. This was Ji Shiyi’s debut song!
As the curtains slowly opened, she suddenly remembered that Ji Shiyi’s first concert had the same setup, and the person performing… she blinked in disbelief. Ji Shiyi on stage remained calm and composed, effortlessly transitioning from playing to singing, exuding a stable and charismatic presence that captivated everyone’s attention.
This was his debut song, which had topped numerous charts and was widely acclaimed. In his original plan, Ji Ning was supposed to know about this. Then, as she sang along, he could naturally approach her, introducing himself as the original singer of the song, deepening her impression of him.
However, the girl in the audience was already petrified, as if she had been scared silly, her eyes blinking only occasionally, but shining brightly. The initial interaction was a failure. He had to walk down from the stage while singing. When he stood in front of her, the song happened to end.
Ji Shiyi leaned forward, catching Ji Ning off guard, causing her to instinctively take two steps back. He noticed this subtle detail but merely paused briefly before quickly returning to normal. He calmly extended his hand towards her—
« Hello, I’m Ji Shiyi. » The palm of his hand in front of her was soft and dry, just a little further and she could grasp it.
—
