First Kiss Diary - Chapter 05
Apart from the first piece of trash talk, there were too many rainbow farts and dangerous remarks in her private WeChat. She definitely couldn’t let Ji Shiyi see them. But giving him her artist’s work number would be too official.
She fell into chaotic thoughts and could only divert herself with other topics to buy time. Ah, Ji Ning touched his eyebrows, « Did I draw them crooked just now? »
Ji Shiyi: « … »
The man furrowed his brows imperceptibly.
What did he mean by that? Ji Shiyi asked someone for their WeChat, and it was blatantly ignored?
The man’s voice was deep, « Ji Ning. »
Ji Ning had never heard her name sound so good, and she dumbly responded with an « Hmm? »
He spoke restrained yet bluntly, « This is the first time I’ve asked for a girl’s WeChat. »
After a quick brainstorm, Ji Ning remembered she had a seldom-used account, where the content was suitable for all ages. However, she still needed to check before giving it to him.
She grew up in a girls’ boarding school and had very little interaction with boys, even though she went to a normal high school. Despite collaborating with the opposite sex quite a bit in the past two years due to work, she still couldn’t shake off the personality she developed since childhood. She instinctively felt a bit awkward and shy around them, especially since she didn’t have much contact with them, making her ears turn red out of habit.
Although her secondary account was filled with extravagant praises for Ji Shiyi, she became a coward when standing in front of him.
She didn’t have much skill in communicating with the opposite sex, and to avoid misunderstandings that could distance them, it was better not to reveal her identity as a fan for now.
After a brief consideration, she stopped the makeup artist and looked at Ji Shiyi with her dark pupils, « I was planning to give it to you, but I suddenly forgot the number… Let me go check! »
The makeup artist watched her run back to the car, puzzled, « Can’t she just open her phone? Is her WeChat not on it? »
« Maybe she’s feeling conflicted and needs some time to sort it out, » Jiang Sheng said with a hint of satisfaction as he watched Ji Shiyi kick the iron board.
Ji Shiyi pulled out a chair and sat down, not saying a word, but the aura around him was visibly dark.
In the car, Ji Ning found three posts related to him in her secondary account’s moments. After setting it to only show to friends for three days, she realized that the makeup artist was also added to this WeChat account, probably due to some mistake.
She messaged the makeup artist to confirm, « Can you see my moments? »
The makeup artist quickly replied, « There’s nothing there. »
Satisfied, she nodded, and as the blush on her ears faded, she fixed her mood and was about to leave when her phone chimed, indicating a friend request from Ji Shiyi.
For a moment, she couldn’t tell if she was standing on the floor or on a marshmallow, feeling like she was floating down.
About to agree, Ji Ning suddenly realized the significance of this moment and took a screenshot.
Feeling a bit inflated, she admired it for a moment before hearing the urging voices from outside, « Ning Ning, come out quickly, we’re ready to shoot! »
Ignoring her friend’s reminder, Ji Ning remembered the staff waiting and quickly pocketed her phone, sitting in front of the mirror, allowing the makeup artist to finish the rest of her makeup quickly.
Before the shoot began, Ji Ning took out a small bag from her purse and handed it to Ji Shiyi, who was looking at something nearby.
Ji Shiyi raised an eyebrow, « What’s this? »
« Just… I made two this morning, so I’m giving you one. »
In fact, it was a sandwich made for him because she knew he didn’t like to eat breakfast.
« Bread? » Ji Shiyi paused when he opened it, « I haven’t eaten yet. »
« You have a delicate stomach… »
She realized her presumption was intrusive and stopped herself mid-sentence.
Luckily, Ji Shiyi didn’t hear clearly, « Hmm? »
« I mean… eat it while it’s hot. »
He seemed to notice her awkwardness, couldn’t help but chuckle, and then opened the package, « It’s cold already, how can I eat it while it’s hot? »
Ji Ning pulled her earlobes, feeling embarrassed, and earnestly believed him. With her round apricot eyes, she said, « Should we find a microwave? »
He looked at her with interest for a moment, finally smiled, and then looked down to unwrap the package,
« No need, let’s start shooting. »
Left alone, Ji Ning felt like a cat being teased with a feather toy, just as she was about to swipe her claws, the person withdrew their hand…
In the morning, the shoot took place at an animal protection organization. The two of them volunteered to bathe cats and dogs, and after a busy session, they were both tired and ready to eat. However, when she got into the car, she unexpectedly noticed a cut on his hand. Ji Shiyi noticed her gaze and pulled his sleeve, saying,
« Just scratched by a cat, it’s nothing. »
She pursed her lips, turned back, and asked the staff if the cat they just handled, Sami, had been vaccinated, only then did she relax knowing there was no risk of rabies.
Ji Shiyi repeated, his voice grave,
« Why are you back? I’m fine. »
She cautiously pointed to his wound,
« But it’s still better to put a band-aid on it, right? »
« Hmm, I didn’t bring any. »
Ji Ning often carries alcohol wipes and band-aids with him while filming, so she took one out of her bag and handed it to him. Ji Shiyi thought the conversation was over, but to his surprise, she was already busy on her phone arranging dinner plans. With one hand occupied, she could only slightly lift her injured index finger.
Ji Ning neither held his hand nor withdrew hers, catching a suggestive glance from the director. With determination, she tore open the band-aid and helped Ji Shiyi apply it. Keeping her head down, her face obscured by her hair, she felt unusually hot today. Sensing something being applied to his wound, Ji Shiyi looked down and instead of seeing the band-aid, he noticed a small, cherry-red earlobe peeking out from her hair, discreetly.
She let out a long breath, as if relieved from doing something remarkable, just as Ji Shiyi was about to say something, she preemptively interrupted,
« Is everything booked? Let’s go. »
Ji Shiyi hesitated for a moment before nodding and getting into the car.
Successfully diverting the topic, Ji Ning quietly rubbed her cheek, feeling a bit embarrassed. She had just put on a band-aid, and her heart was pounding like crazy. How would they continue filming?
—
As they moved to the restaurant, Ji Shiyi noticed Ji Ning’s silence and briefly introduced her.
« I often come to this restaurant, the food is good, and the owner donates a portion of the profits to impoverished schools every year. »
« I see, »
she nodded as if enlightened, though she already knew. Over the years, despite not having time to see him due to work, she knew what he liked, and she had been to this restaurant many times.
A young man in a suit approached with a bunch of balloons hidden behind him, smiling, thinking any girl would like such a surprise. Since she had claimed not to know him before, he had even arranged for Jiang Sheng to collect interviews. He had sent her favorite planner and flowers as gifts, but she hadn’t seemed too surprised.
Surely she would be surprised now—finally gaining back some ground, he felt a smug satisfaction. But Ji Ning didn’t seem astonished, instead, she took the initiative to pat the little boy’s head and reached out her hand,
« What’s hidden there? Give it to me. »
Ji Shiyi, seeing Ji Ning take control of the situation, swallowed nervously, unable to speak. The little boy looked a bit dumbfounded but still obediently handed her the balloons. She tied the balloons aside and noticed Ji Shiyi’s gaze, feeling puzzled,
« What’s wrong? Weren’t these balloons for me? »
But every time she had come before, the owner would arrange for someone to surprise couples with balloons. Ji Shiyi cleared his throat and said, « Yes. »
Despite encountering various restaurant specialties later, Ji Ning didn’t show any obvious emotional fluctuations, making Ji Shiyi, who had prepared everything, feel quite troubled.
After finishing their meal and taking a short break, they were ready to go to the art studio. While touching up her makeup, Ji Ning took out her phone and saw that today’s gossip column was quite active—spreading rumors that she and a certain heir had an affair, leveraging their relationship for resources. In reality, they were just socializing at a ball and happened to pick up party favors together.
Her cousin, who had a keen sense of smell, had already noticed this and showed her something she had written:
[How about we control the narrative like this?]
Ji Ning glanced at it and found it too conventional and bland, so she wrote something more interesting herself:
[What about this?]
Her cousin replied, [Wow, this is great.]
Cousin: « Wow, this is good. »
It turned out that what she wrote was really effective. At this moment, the top comment on the rumor Weibo was written by her, with the help of her cousin. The text reads: « The innocent girl has done nothing wrong, Ji Ning is confused and takes the blame. Suddenly being indifferent to the cue, but please know there is no one accompanying. Normal socializing includes dancing, without pollution or waste. Instead of fabricating stories for profit, it’s better to seriously look at the roses. Ji Ning’s new drama ‘Roses and the Wind of that Time’ will premiere on October 11th, please pay attention. »
Following this was a picture of her and the heir of the group parting ways after the event. There were many media present at the ball, so it wasn’t difficult to obtain such photos.
Originally, not many passersby would like or comment on control reviews, but because this poetic form was novel, there were quite a few likes and comments—
« Hahaha, what kind of heavenly rhyme is this, Ji Ning’s fans are so cute. »
« I’m entertained even at this late hour. »
« I used to dislike fan-controlled reviews, but yours is strangely likable…? »
Finally, the passerby comments about her were no longer all mockery and insults, Ji Ning breathed a sigh of relief, and smiled.
After touching up her makeup, she headed to the studio to continue shooting. Although this segment had no script, there were many subtle ideas to create sweet interactions, such as deliberately placing the pencil sharpener high up; the girl’s pencil case was unusually heavy; two positions facing each other, the theme being to draw each other.
Ji Shiyu moved the boxes for her, then helped her with water, and painting finally began. Ji Ning didn’t know why all her thirty-odd pencils were dull, she hadn’t drawn for long before needing to sharpen them. She looked around and found the pencil sharpener placed in the highest spot.
Listening to the commotion on her end, Ji Shiyu began to contemplate. If she were to ask him for help later, how could he make the girl genuinely feel something towards him, even if it was just gratitude?
Giving him a sandwich was just a gesture, putting a band-aid on him added some warmth to the atmosphere, but so far, she seemed to have no real feelings towards him—
Used to being adored by countless stars, Ji Shiyu was having a hard time with this difficult pursuit.
« Nervous » Ji Ning glanced at him, hearing the sound of the pencil rubbing against the paper. Considering he didn’t like being disturbed while working, she began to think of other ways.
So, just after Ji Shiyu finished drawing the hair, he heard the sound of tape being torn. Surprisingly, she wrapped a piece of tape around the stick and stuck the small knife to it.
« ………… »
The pencil in his hand was snapped uncontrollably— even if it meant not asking for his help, Ji Shiyu began to deeply and rigorously doubt his own charm for the first time.
Half an hour passed quickly, Ji Shiyu had studied drawing for a while in order to play an artist in a movie, so it was easy for him now, drawing while watching her.
But Ji Ning couldn’t concentrate on drawing at all, feeling highly nervous under his direct gaze. She even started worrying if there was a small bump on her chin from a mosquito bite, whether it was red or swollen. Could he accept it? Would he think she didn’t wash her face?
When the time was up, the teacher came to check the finished products and was very surprised by Ji Shiyu’s drawing: « How did you draw so well? »
« I studied for two months for a movie. »
« You’re very dedicated. » The teacher sighed, exchanged their drawings, and said, « This is the second gift you’ve given each other. »
Ji Shiyu’s drawing of her looked very much like her, even with a hint of elegance.
But he himself was very talented, so being too surprised at this moment seemed like belittling him, so even though she was very satisfied, she didn’t show it too much, just smiled with her eyes closed.
Her drawing, on the other hand, was much more childish, with a cartoon-like round face and big eyes, still very naive.
As a fan, painting the idol like this made her feel embarrassed, with no confidence on her face, she quietly asked to leave: « So, is today’s shooting over? »
Ji Shiyu didn’t know how disinterested she was in him… always wanting to leave so early.
Seeing her about to turn around, he raised his chin slightly, « Wait. »
Ji Ning turned back and looked at him, blinking twice.
The man looked down, his Adam’s apple rolling, « WeChat, remember to add. »
Ji Ning stumbled back to the RV, feeling a much stronger sense of reality but also finding everything even more unbelievable. When she opened her phone and saw a friend request, memories flooded back, but her fingers didn’t respond, accidentally hitting… reject? Frantically, she noted down the number, re-entered it, and breathed a sigh of relief only when Ji Shixian’s agreement notification came through.
Inside the RV, Jiang Sheng was nearly laughing himself into a stroke: « Rejected? Hahaha, rejected? You’re really something, getting rejected for the first time trying to add a girl on WeChat. Ji Ning is so adorable, hahaha! »
Ji Shixian, expressionless, tossed him the phone. « She added me again. »
« So? »
« She must have misclicked. »
« Bullshit, man. As an adult, do you think she’d check her phone five hundred times in a minute to wait for you until now? With a screen that big, she’d accidentally hit accept instead of reject? » Jiang Sheng shook his head incredulously. « Hey, do you think you stole her best friend? »
« That’s the thing. Her best friend ignored her because she was pursuing you, so there’s some bad blood there. Now, is she trying to ignore you as payback? What do you think? » Ji Shixian lowered his head. « I think there’s something wrong with your head. »
Jiang Sheng: ?
Finally recalling the unconventional moves of the past few days, Ji Shixian managed to secure her as his CP (Couple Partner) and even gave her a planner, but she didn’t even shake his hand in return. Even after the candlelit dinner he arranged, there was no genuine surprise or appreciation from her. Even when she received his carefully drawn painting, she showed no admiration, just completing the task and leaving, almost rejecting his WeChat again, utterly heartless.
For the first time, Ji Shixian, the pride of heaven, felt a bit defeated. In his twenty-nine years of life, he’d always attracted countless admirers without even trying, but now, unable to make a move, he felt like a failure.
« Find me some interviews, » he compromised. « This can’t go on like this. »
After all, they still had to spend three months together.
Jiang Sheng teased, « What, you want to win her over, make her fall for you? »
« In that case, I might as well go win the Best Actress Oscar. »
« What? »
Ji Shixian said matter-of-factly, « Instead of winning her over, I might as well aim for something more realistic, like winning the Best Actress Oscar. »
