First Kiss Diary - Chapter 04

Falling in love with an idol—what Jingning wouldn’t dare to daydream about even with a hundred guts, was not only happening now but also fate was informing her that this dream would last for three months. Countless complex emotions surged within her, rendering her speechless and motionless.

Ji Shixian, not receiving a response for a while, prompted with a hint of suspicion, « Jingning? Are you there? » She raised her eyes, awakened by the prompt, and hurriedly replied, « Yes… I’m here. » Then she extended her somewhat cold fingers and lightly touched the knuckles of his hand. It wasn’t really a complete handshake, but it felt like the moonlight finally falling in front of her, always maintaining a reserved distance.

Ji Shixian, seeming pensive, flicked his fingertips and saw Jingning’s somewhat absent-minded look, and said gently, « I have a gift for you. » Jingning bit her lip, embarrassedly reaching for her own box, « I have a gift too. » This was prepared by the production team; guests meeting for the first time would exchange gifts, but her gift…

Ji Shixian opened the gift she gave, revealing a green little monster U-shaped pillow with an eye mask attached to the side, incredibly cute. Jingning, the person in question, was now regretting it, regretting it very much. Ji Shixian, the unparalleled idol, the indisputable top in CP videos, actually let her give such a soft and cute gift. If she were Ji Shixian, she might have crushed this thing on the spot.

But Ji Shixian was a calm and cultured man. Faced with such « humiliation, » he still politely smiled, « Thank you, it’s very interesting. » Very sincere, his acting skills were excellent. He then took out something he had prepared from behind and asked her to open it.

Jingning felt something was wrong as she untied the silk ribbon; this gift seemed to be much more thoughtful than hers. Lying in the midst of endless summer flower petals was a red-covered journal, accompanied by a pen. Ji Shixian explained the reason for giving the journal: « I hope it can become a vessel for your beautiful memories, recording the meaningful moments of our journey. »

Look at his level; he even managed to hit her liking for journaling with a blind gift. Even the accompanying endless summer flower petals were her newfound favorite, showing such depth of expression. Jingning suddenly felt that her little monster was several levels lower, so she could only awkwardly add, « The pillow I gave you also has meaning, that… » There was no reason, just saw it while shopping and thought of buying a gift, who knew it would be for you—this kind of truth definitely couldn’t be said.

She licked her lips and cleverly blurted out, « I hope all the dreams it brings you are sweet dreams. » It felt good; she was really good at adding the finishing touch. It seemed that being troubled by unscrupulous media outlets had its benefits; her emergency response ability had significantly improved.

After listening to her, the man chuckled deeply, his magnetic and warm voice acting like a catalyst, causing a faint burning sensation in her ears. Just as she was about to say something, she saw the staff continuously signaling with their eyes; she suddenly remembered that today was supposed to end with the gift exchange, and Ji Shixian would probably have to shoot an advertisement later.

So she smiled at him, lifting her head, as if recording an ending. Just as she lowered her head, she heard him say, « So we… » She thought Ji Shixian was starting to discuss future activities with his manager. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him pick up the awkward little monster, and the contrast between his slender fingers and the cute pillow inexplicably created a harmonious contrast.

She felt extremely embarrassed, raised her hand to signal the end of the shoot, bowed, said « See you next time, » and then ran away in a hurry. It took Ji Shixian a few seconds after she ran away to react, but before he could call her back, the girl’s figure had disappeared at the doorway, and his eager « Let’s exchange contact information » didn’t have a chance to be said.

——

Jingning felt as if she were in a dream. After returning to the hotel, she hesitantly opened Song Yu’s chat box and sent her a message devoid of emotion—

【I’m dating Ji Shixian now.】

A reply came quickly from the other side, and she could even imagine Song Yu rolling her eyes on the other end:

【Haven’t you been married to Shixian for three years? What’s this, ready to play the trendy « marriage after love »?】

« … »

Sure, here’s the text with spaces between paragraphs:

Ji Ning sent a screenshot of his notice and the secretly taken date photo sent over. This time, there was no reply for a long time.

Ji Ning: « Where are you? »

Song Yu: « Just attempted suicide by hanging and was found by the neighbor and sent to the hospital emergency room for rescue. Just got my phone after the anesthesia wore off. What’s up? »

Song Yu couldn’t wait to burst out and bring her to justice: « Is this the main point now? Huh? Why did Ji Shiyin suddenly join this program? Been lonely for too long and want to date?! »

« How would I know? » When she saw Ji Shiyin for the first time, she thought, why would my darling participate in such a program?

For the next half hour, Miss Song Yu displayed her envy and jealousy comprehensively, finally leaving a sentence: « Let’s unfriend each other. Winners in chasing stars don’t deserve to be my friends. »

« Okay, before we cut ties, let’s settle the down payment I lent you for the house. »

« ? »

« I was just kidding, darling. I really like you and want to be good friends with you forever. Wishing you and Ji Shiyin a hundred years of happiness together. » Then she sent a picture of a kitten.

That day, she fell asleep in the atmosphere of chatting with Song Yu, and two days later, the long-awaited Friday arrived as scheduled. There were many celebrities under Huang Miao’s name. Ji Ning was supposed to meet Huang Miao at the airport at twelve and fly to City R at four.

Time was tight, so Ji Ning arrived half an hour early at the airport café to wait for Huang Miao. However, after the plane landed, Huang Miao suddenly disappeared, not responding to messages and abruptly hanging up when Ji Ning called.

Ji Ning asked around but strangely, no one knew where Huang Miao had gone. Finally, Ji Ning managed to get an address after wandering around. When Ji Ning arrived, it was already two thirty.

Huang Miao was gone, and in the room was another face—Sun He. « Looking for Huang Miao? » Sun He raised an eyebrow unsurprisingly. « She left early to catch her flight. That flight should have taken off by now. » Ji Ning frowned.

Sun He shrugged, « I’m about to shoot a drama about managers, so I asked her to have a meal with me to find some inspiration. »

« After eating, I let her go directly, there’s nothing else to do anyway. »

« Nothing else? » Judging from Sun He’s tone, how could Miss not know what she had done? Huang Miao came back this time for Ji Ning, so where did this itinerary of finding inspiration for Sun He come from? Miss casually clapped her hands, « I know she came for you, but I asked her to accompany me, so she had to. When I hung up, she didn’t call you back, did she? »

Seeing her silent, Sun He’s provocation became stronger, « Let me tell you a little more. It was me who pushed you to Huang Miao, and I’m following her. She has so many A-list stars under her, no time for small artists like you. Even if she does, those leftovers are all mine. »

« Your resources and management can only take what I don’t want, but I will digest them all. Not leaving anything for you. » Unexpectedly, besides pushing the blame on her for her nightlife activities, Sun He wanted to compete with her in everything else. In this case, the various obstructions encountered when changing teams before were probably also from this Miss.

Ji Ning used to guess that she was blamed for not following orders and threatening Sun He, so Sun He didn’t like her. But now, facing the woman’s blunt and fierce attitude, she realized that Sun He was determined to deal with her with all her might and without fear of difficulties.

Could it be that she had snatched the limited edition bag Miss Sun wanted at the counter?

Sun He spoke again in a condescending manner, « Aren’t you curious why I’m doing this? »

Sun He spoke condescendingly once again: « Aren’t you curious why I’m doing this? »

Originally, she was quite curious, but upon being asked like this, she suddenly felt that nothing mattered anymore. She didn’t want to compromise just to please Sun He.

So Ji Ning shook her head and replied, « It’s up to you. »

Miss Sun couldn’t accept someone not taking the opportunity she offered and was immediately provoked, stomping her foot angrily, « Fine, you just wait. »

« I won’t let you leave, nor will I give you good resources. I’ll watch you slowly become empty and desperate. Don’t come to me for opportunities when you have nothing! » she said fiercely.

Hearing this, Ji Ning replied calmly, « You might be disappointed. »

She thought Sun He probably didn’t know about Ji Shixian, nor did she know that her just-finished filming of « Roses and Winds of That Time » was scheduled to air on a prime-time television channel, and she was also being offered a role in « There Are Stars Here, » adapted from a classic novel. In the second half of the year, her program about dating a top-tier actor would undoubtedly skyrocket in popularity. With each episode airing, her fame would rise, and if she were lucky enough to get the lead role in « Stars, » her popularity would peak. So, instead of losing, she would only gain more attention. With her keen intuition, she knew she was about to face a broader world, not narrower choices. Rapid ascension like this indeed required a good team, but she hadn’t expected Sun He to use her status to obstruct her.

But some things couldn’t be stopped.

« Disappointed? » Sun He laughed, « Why did you change teams if it wasn’t important? Dreaming of fame on your own, you must be delusional. »

« If dreams of dating top actors can come true, why not dreams of success on my own? » Ji Ning smiled faintly, « Let’s wait and see. »

As Sun He watched Ji Ning walk away, she was stunned for a moment, then made several phone calls in succession, finally getting an answer to a certain question. Her eyes widened in disbelief, « What? She and Ji Shixian?! »

—

An hour later, the proactive Ji Ning was already sitting in Song Yu’s house.

With a mouthful of crushed ice, Song Yu exclaimed, « Can the manager just sit back and do nothing? »

« Surprising, right, » Ji Ning shrugged, « But some things are just the same no matter what. If we handle it ourselves… it’s not that difficult, actually? »

Song Yu blinked in astonishment again, « Are you sure? What do you want to do? »

« I’ll figure it out. »

Since she was still under the company’s name, she definitely couldn’t go out and find another team, and she didn’t have any experience in contacting outsourcing teams; she was afraid of being cheated. With Huang Miao standing on Sun He’s side, and with so many top-tier talents under her, they definitely wouldn’t give her much. But as long as she achieved a certain level of success, the company would naturally start to value her, even if it meant slapping Sun He in the face. After all, no merchant would refuse a lot of money. But before that, she absolutely couldn’t give up on herself. So now… she had to find a way to save herself.

« Without team management, the only option is to organize fan control and reviews, » Ji Ning began to outline logically, « Clarify false information fabricated by fan accounts at the first opportunity, stop the spread of negative information at the source, gradually improve the goodwill of bystanders, and prevent uninformed haters from spreading rumors. »

With the strong output of fan culture nowadays, controlling reviews, topping charts, and fighting back against haters were the « three essentials » of fan culture, probably known by everyone. « Then there’s the data. My data is basically at the bottom among similar young idols, mainly because the previous team didn’t do anything. Other teams would buy water armies for their artists, and fans would also help with boosting. » Data was the backbone of an artist; many popular male idols easily got millions of reposts, mainly because of frequent reposts by some accounts.

The groups organizing reviews and boosting were fan clubs. Ji Ning’s fan club hadn’t posted on Weibo for two months. The studio was managed by the company and rarely operated, not only lacking interesting content but also using outdated language, making people feel like they were back in 2010. No wonder many said she wasn’t deserving of her popularity, with zero active fans online. With the studio and fan club being disorganized and undisciplined, even if there were active fans, they were willing but unable to help, and might even be pushed to a state of indifference. Ji Ning needed to coordinate with the studio and fan club; the person in charge of the official account was feeling a bit guilty and explained that she was busy with her studies. Ji Ning found her secondary account through some clues, only to discover that she had already switched her allegiance to another idol.

« Even the club president isn’t a true fan. No wonder things are so chaotic, » she muttered. True fans were those who only liked one artist; fans participating in official fan clubs had to be true fans, so they could ensure that in case of any trouble, they would think of her first and stand by her side. Her original fan club had about a hundred members, but she didn’t know how many were left now. As she was checking, she found her just-graduated… cousin?

Cousin is her little fan, she has always known, whenever she sees her, her eyes light up, chatting endlessly about her dramas. She thought there was some exaggeration in her affection, but she didn’t expect her cousin to have actually formed her own support group.

Ji Ning opened her private chat with her: [How come you’re in there?]

Cousin: [Didn’t I tell you before the college entrance exam? I’ll come work for you after I graduate!!]

Ji Ning: [……Study well.]

[University is very free, I can chase after you, chase after Ji Shiyi, and still study. It’s enough.]

After some thought, Ji Ning asked her: [Who do you think would be better if we had to choose a new president?]

The previous one has disappeared, definitely not an option.

[Me, me, me!]

[Let’s be serious.]

[I am serious. There were people chatting in the group before, but now no one talks anymore. And I’m your relative, isn’t that great? Always there for you. You can tell me anything, and you can even use my account. Isn’t it convenient for family to work together?]

[More importantly, I can learn how Ji Shiyi’s fan club is managed and apply it here.]

« You’re really good to your sister, » Ji Ning twitched her forehead.

At the moment, there’s no better option, so Ji Ning said: [Then it’s you.]

Choosing her cousin also has its benefits. Ji Ning can directly grasp various trends, and communication would be easier.

After being chosen, her cousin was full of confidence: [Let me come up with a nice name for myself, what do you think, would « Club Good » be good, or « Ah Club, » or « Sister Club, » or « Mixed Noodles Club »?]

Ji Ning: [?]

The name doesn’t matter as much as the code name, but what matters now is what needs to be done.

Ji Ning, her cousin, and Song Yu formed a group and after discussing, they had a unanimous idea: first, establish the support group, because this is the era where data reigns supreme, with data comes opportunities; secondly, establish a studio, which is also part of the artist’s team, to enhance fan stickiness; and finally, focus on forums, forums used to be the holy land for idol fans, although everyone has moved to Weibo now, forums just need to not look too bad.

Ji Ning entrusted her cousin with the task of restructuring the support group, after all, her cousin has experience from Ji Shiyi’s fan club and fan base.

Ji Ning said: [When you’re unsure, you can ask me, we’ll discuss it together.]

Cousin: [Alright, I’ll go recruit new members then.]

To handle vote manipulation and rumor control, manpower is needed, and manpower is acquired through recruitment.

Recruitment is the eternal theme of all fan support groups. Ji Shiyi’s support group probably recruits new members every three months, because the fan circle is always expanding, there are more and more tasks, and high-quality talent is always scarce, and the old fans who climbed the wall need to be cleared out.

And starting from scratch, what Ji Ning needs most is fans who are willing to work.

The previous work group had over ninety people, with over seventy participating in voting, but because no one organized for a long time, everyone became lax after the initial excitement.

Ji Ning instructed her cousin: [Remember to clean up the group, privately chat with each one and see if they’re willing to stay, those who are willing can be transferred to the new group.]

[I know! Don’t underestimate me!], her cousin replied.

This time, recruitment was divided into two groups: one is the data group, responsible for controlling comments and boosting popularity on various platforms, not only relying on voting to improve her rankings on various charts, but also forwarding, commenting, and liking any Weibo posts related to her.

The second group is the copywriting group, responsible for Weibo posts, announcements, congratulatory messages, etc.

As for design, video production, and graphic design, Ji Ning decided to find people for those tasks herself.

In addition to manpower, the output of the star is also equally important. She is a genuine appearance lover, anything related to herself must be… good-looking enough.

For the sake of her own image project, she went to Bilibili to look for her previously cherished « scissors hand » wives, reviewing their wonderful editing work while sending out collaboration invitations to three of them.

Eye-catching or creatively unique video editing can directly propel an artist into the spotlight, making it one of the low-cost, high-return promotional methods.

In addition to the editors, Jining also found the talented artists she used to follow on LOFTER, preparing to commission five of them for long-term artwork. Anything related to her image must be precise and appealing, so mature artists are the best choice.

Sometimes, for drama promotion, her profile picture, or studio business, some cute cartoons and small comics are necessary. Seeing beautiful images related to herself also improves her mood.

She found one proficient in thick anime-style painting, one skilled in drawing backgrounds and desktop wallpapers, two skilled in chibi art, and one in ink-wash style.

She also found two favorite designers for basic design work.

With all this, her facade was considered well-supported.

After sending out the commission messages, her cousin also finalized the recruitment.

Of course, there are benefits to working for her; the work group occasionally drops various gifts such as tickets and signed photos. To expand her influence, she organized an activity where three people would directly receive ten thousand cash from retweets.

Her cousin also started an anti-defamation station called « @Jining_LittleEarWhiteMoonlightTeam, » recruiting five dedicated fans to manage it, daily seeking out and reporting Weibo accounts that defame or insult her to prevent the spread of malicious rumors.

The anti-defamation station also had activities; retweeting could win one hundred lipsticks for one person, three luxury handbags for another person, and one person would receive a year’s supply of bubble tea. These giveaways were indeed generous, immediately boosting retweets and gradually increasing her fan base. With fans comes assistance; she casually posted two anti-defamation messages, and people began reporting and leaving comments.

【Just a bystander, but some of the things said to Jining are really too much. Little Moonlight Team, keep it up, protect the ones you want to protect!】

【So amazing, dare I ask if there’s a gold mine at home to afford such extravagant giveaways? Are the fans of fairies all fairies themselves? [Sour]】

Watching the growing number of managers and fans, she suddenly felt that she was also worthy of being liked and treated kindly, her eyes suddenly feeling warm.

The original group had more than twenty people left. After a night of recruitment, there were a hundred and twenty-seven people in the group, with the vote casting group accounting for a large portion. She thought as long as everyone worked together, someday this group would definitely grow and develop, like the thousand-member group of Jishi Yan, with more systematic operations in various departments.

These fans truly liked her unconditionally, and she would definitely use her achievements to give them confidence.

When she left that day, it was already three in the morning, and even the sleepy Song Yu was moved by her: « So pitiful, so hardworking, so inspirational, it’s really unjust if you don’t become famous. »

――

A few days later, the first date scene of « First Kiss Diary » finally began filming.

Jining arrived early that day. While doing her makeup, she overheard the makeup artist discussing the other two CP pairs on the show, saying that they got along particularly well in private, with sparks flying.

Jining couldn’t help but envy and sighed, « Some CP pairs have sparks flying, but some people haven’t even exchanged WeChat. »

Suddenly, a deep and steady voice came from behind her, « You’re aware of that, huh. »

Jining startled, turned around abruptly to see Jishi Yan, who appeared out of nowhere. She even forgot she was still getting her makeup done, causing her makeup artist to hastily correct her face with cotton swabs and concealer.

She just stared at Jishi Yan for a moment before blurting out, « Senior, hello. »

Jishi Yan paused briefly, then opened his phone and scanned it in front of her, gesturing for her to add him on WeChat.

It was only then that she had a moment to think about what her first message on WeChat to him would be.

Oh――

No, I can’t die yet. I haven’t slept with Jishi Yan.