First Kiss Diary - Chapter 07

The air in the dressing room fell silent for a few seconds. Ji Ning glanced at Ji Shiyi, then looked away, only to subtly shift back a few seconds later. The man was still watching her, seemingly waiting for her to explain—what exactly was the deal with sleeping naked.

Unable to play dumb any longer, Ji Ning licked her lips nervously and asked, “Did you… hear it?”

Unexpectedly, she could ask such a question. He chuckled, toying with his ring. “What do you think?”

That meant he heard it.

It seemed the room was too small; even if they lowered their voices, they couldn’t escape the fate of being overheard by the main person. Ji Ning silently lit a candle for herself in her mind.

Seeing her bite her lower lip until it turned white without any other response, Ji Shiyi stopped reading the script and focused on her. “Go on, tell me.”

She desperately tried to stall for time, her eyelashes fluttering anxiously. “Tell you what?”

He answered quickly, “About me sleeping naked.”

It was just getting caught while going back to play with his pet. He didn’t expect it to evolve into a discussion about “girlfriend” and “sleeping naked.”

It sounded like someone was quietly laughing nearby.

Her fingers began to burn, her gaze somewhat evasive. Suddenly, she remembered something and stuttered, trying to sound firm, “Um, that, I was told by a fan in a private message.”

“A fan messaged you about this?”

“Maybe they knew we were filming a variety show together and messaged me to take good care of you.”

After all, before many artists appear on certain variety shows, fans would leave messages under the MC’s Weibo account, telling them about their idol’s taboos and preferences, to make sure their idol doesn’t suffer too much.

So, the fan told her about Ji Shiyi’s habit, which sounded plausible… right?

As for how she knew Ji Shiyi slept naked, as a fan, knowing about their idol’s quirks was as simple as it gets, especially since he was a top star. A friend could casually leak some information, and the whole fandom would know.

Ji Shiyi didn’t say anything. Someone asked in confusion, “If that’s the case, just tell you what he likes to eat or something. Why tell you he sleeps naked? Does he want you to take care of his sleep too?”

Another round of ambiguous laughter ensued.

Ji Ning hesitated, fiddling with her fingers. “Then I don’t know, why don’t you ask the fans?”

The inappropriate topic finally came to a halt when Nuonuo entered. Seeing everyone chatting, she couldn’t contain her emotions and rushed over to Ji Ning. “I suddenly remembered that when I went to get my clothes yesterday, Sun He was also in the changing room.”

Ji Ning had already guessed.

Replica dresses were nothing but trouble, and the team wouldn’t have sabotaged her. If it weren’t for Sun He’s intervention, the things wouldn’t have ended up in Nuonuo’s hands.

“I really don’t understand,” Nuonuo exclaimed indignantly. “She has people supporting her, you haven’t threatened her interests in any way, so why is she so against you?”

At this point, she had come to terms with it; she shrugged lightly. “Maybe I stole her boyfriend in my past life.”

“Speaking of her boyfriend… I heard she got engaged when she was just 17, why hasn’t she married yet?”

Someone explained for Nuonuo, “Her fiancé doesn’t like her, it’s a well-known fact in the industry. That’s why the engagement keeps dragging on.”

“Why get engaged if he doesn’t like her?”

“Children of big companies don’t have that much choice. Business marriages are complicated,” the hairstylist chuckled. “You better just be a good assistant.”

Nuonuo grumbled discontentedly and began her assistant duties. She said to Ji Ning, “We’re trying out for *There Are Stars Here* the day after tomorrow, so why don’t you write character bios at home tomorrow?”

The stylist was surprised, “You’re writing character bios for a screen test? Do you really need to be that serious?”

Ji Ning laughed, “I’m used to it.”

Before entering the industry, she had dinner with Ji Shiyi, who took every role seriously. Even for minor characters, he would write lengthy character analyses, which rubbed off on her.

*There Are Stars Here* was adapted from a popular novel by author Bopi Dahuan, and it had a sizable fan base. Coupled with the likable female lead character, the production team was excellent, so many young actresses were vying for the role.

The day after tomorrow was just a screen test, where actors performed selected scenes from the script, and the director would choose the best one from among them.

With such fierce competition, Ji Ning couldn’t afford to slack off. Tomorrow, she needed to figure out how to perform well and impress the director.

The makeup artist next to Ji Ning waved the blending brush. “Sun He should be trying out for *There Are Stars Here* too. I heard them discussing it yesterday. Her team even asked me to do her makeup tomorrow.”

Nuonuo clenched her fist. “Then make her look ugly.”

“No need,” Ji Ning said, “make her look good.”

Since Sun He was also trying out, Ji Ning had to win this battle.

“Make her look good?” The makeup artist was close to her, surprised. “Are you sure?”

Certainly, here it is with spaces between dialogues:

She nodded, “The better looking, the better.”

After finishing her makeup, Jining moved to another place to get her hair done. Jishi Yan, who had been eavesdropping on their conversation, turned a page of the script and suddenly smirked.

“What are you laughing at?” Jiang Sheng found it strange.

“I’ve never met anyone who asks their friends to make their competitors look good.”

“Winning against someone with a poorly done makeup doesn’t count. Beating the opponent who usually performs well is the real skill,” the man found it increasingly interesting, tapping the spine of the book with his knuckles.

“Understand?” Jiang Sheng stared at him dumbfounded for a while before finally blurting out, “Why do I feel like you’re so much like that?” Jishi Yan raised an eyebrow.

—

Jining finished styling her hair just in time at seven o’clock. Today’s schedule was full, with filming scheduled until eight in the evening. There hadn’t been many scripts for recent shoots, as both sides were still adjusting, and it was better to let creativity flow freely.

Today’s filming was at the wildlife park, which had only recently been built. Jining had only been there once before during filming. However, during filming, there were staff everywhere, and many animals weren’t released due to the needs of the shoot.

She had over a dozen scenes to shoot in a day, so she didn’t have time to play before leaving. Although filming this variety show was also part of her job, being able to be herself without a script made her feel much more relaxed.

Jishi Yan felt the same way. After all, one of the main reasons he joined “First Kiss Diary” was for travel—given his level of fame, he couldn’t travel normally in China, let alone go sightseeing. Filming a variety show at least cleared out most of the tourists, and the few remaining pedestrians wouldn’t come forward to disturb them.

He quickly got into the zone, grabbing two coconuts at the entrance, inserting straws, and handing the smaller one to Jining. “Have you been here before?” She lowered her head, biting the straw.

“Um… for filming.”

“Then you’re ahead,” the man tilted his chin slightly. “This is my first time.” The three words “first time” made her throat tighten, almost choking on the coconut juice.

She pinched the straw for a while, pretending to nod as if nothing had happened. She actually, finally, somehow, had the honor to participate in his first time.

They hadn’t been in the park for long when they were greeted by the first animal, a monkey. The monkeys here were mischievous, jumping directly onto visitors for food, scratching and clawing, and even stealing people’s bags.

One visitor had been chasing his bag throughout half of the park, exhausted and disheartened, “Big bro, don’t climb the tree, can’t I apologize to you, can’t I recognize you as my ancestor?”

Jining thought about being the next one to pass by, her smile fading instantly, clutching her small coconut tightly. Jishi Yan glanced at her sideways, smiling, “What are you afraid of?”

It wasn’t that she was afraid, she was just cautious, “What if it steps on my coconut and then smears coconut juice on my face?”

“You have quite the imagination,” Jishi Yan took out some cookies to feed the monkeys, “I’m here, there won’t be any problems.” If he said there wouldn’t be any problems, then there wouldn’t be any problems.

The rowdy monkeys behaved themselves as soon as they approached him, shaking hands with him after finishing the cookies. It seemed that Jishi Yan’s charm extended beyond just teenage girls; even animals couldn’t escape his grasp.

After feeding the monkeys and hippos, Jishi Yan turned to the right, and Jining looked at the shaky sign above her head, trembling, “W… where are we going?”

He was very indifferent, “To see the lions and tigers.”

“Should I wait here for you?” She took two steps back, seeming a bit trembling.

“The tigers in the zoo don’t bite people,” Jishi Yan didn’t give her a chance to refuse, pulling her shoulder and leading her forward, not giving her a chance to retreat, “You can even touch their heads.”

“N… no need, right.”

Of course, here’s the text with spaces between paragraphs and dialogue:

The man chuckled softly, “In use.”

Ji Ning lifted her eyes, locking gazes with him for 0.01 seconds. His deep and captivating eyes emptied her mind of all thoughts, leaving only the desire to follow him. It wasn’t until they entered the predator zone that she snapped out of her daze. No wonder during a previous event, he gained attention just by sitting there without saying a word. Fans from other fandoms climbed over to him, jokingly wondering if Ji Shiyang had learned witchcraft, as they were all bewitched by him. Thus, the nickname “Witch King” naturally emerged, and Ji Ning witnessed its truth firsthand today, secretly marveling at his undeniable charm.

It only took a few minutes for the Witch King to approach the tiger, even coaxing Ji Ning to try it out, saying, “Just treat it like a big cat.” While she usually found it cute to call cats big, seeing the imposing presence of the tiger, Ji Ning felt daring just not to turn and run away. But he was suggesting she pet the tiger?

Before Ji Ning could refuse, Ji Shiyang intervened, “I’ll scratch its chin for you.” So he began to gently scratch the king of beasts under the chin, and the tiger blissfully closed its eyes. Ji Ning’s heart raced, but seeing Ji Shiyang diverting the tiger’s attention, she couldn’t back down. With courage, she followed suit and ran her hand over the tiger’s head.

In the end, nothing happened, but Ji Ning still felt jittery as they left the predator zone. The man beside her was quite pleased, “See, nothing happened.” She couldn’t help but mutter, “Do you all like pushing girls out of their comfort zones?”

“All?” Ji Shiyang paused at a certain keyword, “Who else?”

Back in high school, her male friends would sometimes take her out, and she’d end up in haunted houses and on bungee jumps, only later realizing some of those boys had crushes on her. But that was just a passing comment; she didn’t know if he would actually ask, and she didn’t dare mention other boys’ names now. After stammering for a while, she said, “No one else…”

Indeed, there was no one else. She was focused on studying before her final year of high school, then busy with art exams during her final year, and she didn’t have time for romance. If this show counted as a relationship, it was probably her first love…

After listening to her feeble explanation, Ji Shiyang just smirked.

Later, they went to see the pandas, and Ji Ning showed unprecedented enthusiasm for Fat Da. The keeper suggested a little game: guessing which bamboo stick the panda would eat, with the loser getting their head tapped. Ji Ning guessed left, Ji Shiyang guessed right. In the end, Ji Ning guessed correctly, and Ji Shiyang had to accept the punishment of getting tapped on the head by her.

Idols shouldn’t be desecrated, not even by themselves, so Ji Ning just lightly reached out and stroked his hair instead.

The keeper joked, “Are you tapping him or picking the fluff off his head?”

“I tapped him. Don’t believe me? Ask him,” Ji Ning bravely glanced at Ji Shiyang, “Does it hurt?”

Ji Shiyang glanced at her for two seconds, then suddenly smiled, pretending to touch the spot she had touched, “Hmm, it hurts a lot.”

Later, Ji Ning also lost, expecting him to just lightly pat her, but he actually applied some force to her forehead. Although it didn’t hurt, she couldn’t help but touch her forehead and ask, “Are you serious?”

For some reason, he was in an especially good mood and squinted his eyes at her slightly indignant expression, “Yes.”

As time flew by, they had a candlelit dinner in the tent. The night was perfect, and the person she liked poured her a glass of champagne. She drank it all in a daze. Just as Ji Shiyang was about to fill his own glass, he noticed her empty one and almost dropped his glass.

“… ”

“Have you never drank alcohol before?”

She had only pretended to sip a little at dinner parties before. Strictly speaking, she had never really drank or gotten drunk before, and she didn’t know her limits.

He poured her another glass, and they clinked glasses again. Ji Ning, feeling dizzy, drank it all again.

“You don’t drink alcohol like that; a little is enough,” he chuckled, finding it amusing, then laughed again, “You’re twenty years old and haven’t really drunk before?”

“Besides you, who’s worth me drinking for?” She let out a small burp, “Alcohol tastes awful.”

“… ”

Ji Shiyang pursed his lips, feeling something was off.

Why did it seem like… she was becoming bolder?

After another ten minutes of eating, the plates were made of porcelain and the light was a bit dazzling, so he couldn’t help but look up, “Why are the lights here so bright?”

Ji Ning hugged the champagne, her eyes starting to blur, “Maybe it’s powered by your beauty.”

“… ”

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

The man turned back, somewhat incredulously staring at her for five seconds, observing her flushed cheeks, assuming she must be intoxicated from the alcohol. “Alcohol emboldens the timid, especially after two drinks,” he thought.

Drunk, Jining stood up, taking small steps to the giraffe enclosure, insisting on taking a photo. Jishiyan remarked, “Those are model giraffes; the real ones have already gone back.”

“I don’t care,” the drunken girl persisted, stubbornly handing him her phone. “Take it for me.” Jishiyan reluctantly agreed, lifting the phone, but she was unsatisfied again, coming over to press his shoulder. “You can’t use this deadly angle; squat down,” she demanded.

Jishiyan, who had never been ordered to squat for a photo before, was astonished. After a while, the man chuckled softly, “What if squatting still doesn’t make it look good?”

Unexpectedly, Jining froze at this hypothesis, fluttering her eyelashes like butterfly wings, uncertain of the light shining into her eyes. Her lips, too, were licked, appearing lively and bright.

Immediately after, Jishiyan felt the young woman, who had just been too timid to even flick his forehead, pinch his chin and say casually, “Then I’ll beat you up.”