First Kiss Diary - Chapter 30

After Ji Ning sent that message, she watched as Song Yu’s messages came in rapid succession—

【Am I supposed to see this from you as soon as I happily prepare to sleep at night?】

【What kissing scene? When was it filmed? How was the kiss?】

【Did Ji Shiyu agree? Is it a variety show, TV drama, or advertisement?】

Ji Ning: 【Which one do you want me to answer first?】

【Forget it,】 Song Yu said, 【don’t answer, I don’t want to make myself uncomfortable.】

Just as Ji Ning had come out of the bathtub, she saw Song Yu sending another question: 【Damn, why.】

It was then that she remembered something, sitting cross-legged on the bed, asking the screenwriter: 【Did Ji Shiyu agree?】

【Don’t worry, he’s a professional too. He knows how to make variety shows look good.】

Yeah, Ji Ning sighed as she looked at the moonlight outside the window; he was smart, emotionally intelligent, and knew how to make variety shows look good.

So even if he was reticent, he was still the most captivating one: for crime-solving variety shows, he knew how to control the rhythm and drop clues; for solo parts, he knew how to handle the push-and-pull relationship with opponents; even for indoor interview-based variety shows, he occasionally came up with some innovative jokes.

So, in a romance variety show… his professional habits could attract so many CP fans and make so many people believe they were really in love, it wasn’t surprising.

She felt a hint of pride, but it seemed like there was something, like foam, fragile and about to break at any touch.

It’s best not to think about it, not to touch it; perhaps this way, the ending of the story would be delayed a bit longer.

—

Back to being honest on set, shooting scenes for a few days, finishing the remaining half of the CE advertisement. Three days later, at 8 p.m., was the CE’s new product launch event, and Ji Ning, as the new spokesperson, had to attend.

But she didn’t have to be there for long, an hour would be enough.

Since it’s a launch event, there must be enough gimmicks. Weibo and various platforms had been hyped up for almost a week. CE’s father had arranged for Ji Ning a custom-made haute couture dress, a special design combining T brand dress and CE necklace, tailored for her alone.

The dress hugged her waist, spreading irregular petal skirts below the waist, with scattered diamonds and necklace perfectly embedded, swaying with her steps, as if embracing the stars, shining brilliantly.

Nuo Nuo covered her mouth at the sight of the dress, her eyes straightening, and after a while, she exclaimed, « So extravagant. »

Ji Ning leaned against the hanger: « I think so too. »

« But it’s the kind of extravagance that every girl dreams of, the rich dad is really good, I feel the highest level of pampering for the first time. »

Nuo Nuo gestured with the dress in front of her: « This dad is a good dad. Try it on quickly, I think it will look good on you. »

After changing into the dress, she sat down and waited for makeup. This time, the makeup and hair took a long time, almost three hours.

Nuo Nuo was playing games while waiting for her, but when she saw her makeup done, she looked up and then continued to lower her head to push the tower: « I think this look can also trend, can compete with Ji Ning’s cheongsam picture. »

Today, the stylist tied a small braid for her, trailing down to the back of her head, with mixed-color hair ties in the braid. Paired with this grand dress, it indeed had a sense of grandeur.

The launch event was also getting on track, and Ji Ning was waiting backstage for her turn to go on stage. Suddenly, she felt something loosen on her head, so she reached up to touch—

It turned out that several hair ties had broken, and now they were faintly entangled in the braid, neither neat nor orderly, looking strange.

She tidied up in front of the mirror and found that no matter how she tried to hide them, it didn’t look good. She turned back to look for someone: « Where’s the stylist? These hair ties broke. »

« Wait a moment, let me ask, we’re about to go on stage, we need the stylist right away, » Nuo Nuo said, « I’ll go find her. »

Nuo Nuo went out of the backstage, grabbed a staff member, and earnestly asked, « Where’s the stylist? Did you see her? »

« She left, there’s another event behind, just left. »

« She left?! » Nuo Nuo’s pupils contracted, « How could she just leave like that? Do you have her phone? Give it to me. »

After getting the phone and communicating, Nuo Nuo quickly went to find Ji Ning: « The stylist had something else to do, so she left. She said we should open the drawer and see if there are any spare hair ties. »

Ji Ning opened the drawer and looked inside: « There aren’t any. »

« … »

« Alright, then let’s just take them out altogether, » Nuo Nuo hooked the half of them hanging outside, « They keep falling out even though we’ve woven them in, not good-looking. »

Ji Ning also thought so, pulling out the hair ties one by one from inside, but looking at them, she felt like something was missing.

Just as she was rummaging through the makeup table, thinking about whether she could find something to fix it, there came an urgent reminder from behind—

« One minute to go on stage, get ready! »

« One minute, what are you looking for, » Nuo Nuo poked her hand, « Although it’s a bit imperfect like this, it doesn’t hide your beauty… »

« Nuo Nuo didn’t finish speaking. Ji Ning casually picked up a few bracelets that were lying on the side and wrapped them around in the direction of the newly tied rope. The bracelets are this year’s newly promoted style, so there are many of them on the dressing table.

The star and moon pendants on the chains echoed with the dress, and there was also a hint of the rose elements from her hit drama, which added a delicate and lively beauty when hanging down.

As she walked onto the stage with the music, Nuo Nuo changed her perspective and looked at her from below. When Ji Ning finished speaking and put down the microphone, she saw Nuo Nuo mouthing to her, pointing at the bracelet she had temporarily tied on: ‘Looks good.’

Shortly after going off stage, Nuo Nuo found that her ‘fairy braids’ had become a hot topic. She enthusiastically showed it to her, and Ji Ning guessed while taking off her earrings, ‘It should be CE buying the hot search themselves.’

Only a few days later did they realize that something was amiss. Some magazines began shooting with the styling elements of braids plus bracelets, and even some female celebrities started doing the same at off-screen events.

Before the official launch of the new products on the CE website, they posted on Weibo, highlighting Ji Ning’s combination of bracelets and braids at the time. Ten thousand bracelets were sold out shortly after they were launched.

The same necklace was sold out within three hours, with the restocking numbers reaching a historic high, and it became a hot search again. In the hot search square, there were fans and passersby.

Fans who got the items were showing off or drawing lots, while also promoting Ji Ning’s new drama – after all, the ratings for « The Rose and the Wind » kept rising and even broke 2 recently, making it the highest-rated show of the year.

Lemon Sister: [Did everyone manage to get the CE two-in-one? Anyway, I got three [grinning] To celebrate Ji Ning’s starring role in « The Rose and the Wind » breaking 2 in ratings, I’ll draw two from the retweets here, requirements: Haven’t criticized Ji Ning before.]

[I got two! Nothing else to say, just showing off. One bracelet, one braid, I can’t bear to draw them, so I’m just letting you guys see them.] [I didn’t get it! But for this one, I’ll draw one fan and give 888 to buy it for you! Hurry!] Those who didn’t get it were participating in the retweet lottery, with some sour remarks:

[I’m so dumb, I saw the hot search last time and thought the small ears and hair accessories were eye-catching, wanted to buy the same style, but when I searched, they weren’t even on sale yet. Seeing that the accounts were all criticizing them as ugly, I let my guard down thinking not many people would buy them. So I didn’t set an alarm! I overslept! By the time I woke up, they were all gone! I hate myself. (Jingtang roaring)]

[Accounts: Ji Ning’s endorsement is really ugly, no one buys Ji Ning’s endorsement, fans don’t have money, and passersby think it’s ugly too. The outside world: The fairy is so pretty, the fairy’s endorsement is even prettier, fans buy buy buy, passersby buy buy buy.]

[Haha, the more you criticize Ning Jie, the more popular she gets.] [Fans are leaving no way out, why are they snatching so much! Passersby couldn’t buy any! I’ll have to wait for the restock, I’m a crying tyrannosaurus.] [If Lemon Sister has money, that’s it, Ji Ning is awesome, that’s it.]

Even some media personnel said that inviting Ji Ning to be the spokesperson was the most correct decision CE has made since defining its positioning. Half of the buyers were fans, and the other half were pedestrians who simply thought she looked good after seeing her photos, but regardless, the sales volume was there, and Ji Ning’s ability to drive sales was recognized by everyone – after all, the essence of having a spokesperson is to increase product sales.

The new style quickly became a bestseller on the official website, and more and more people posted photos of themselves with Ji Ning’s hairstyle on the app. Ji Ning’s email also received more and more endorsement collaborations, covering everything from perfume to skincare to hair care.

Since her debut, this was the first time she had received so many collaboration invitations, many of which were brands she had never dared to think of before. That night, Nuo Nuo looked at her work email and sighed, « I suddenly remembered a saying. »

« What? » Nuo Nuo extended a hand, gesturing outside the window, « The road is winding, but the future is bright. » Her shining moment was finally seen by more and more people.

– The next day, Ji Ning flew to Nara overnight for the filming of « First Kiss Diary. » Today’s schedule was to see the deer in Nara. She had heard about the deer here, some saying they were gentle and docile, while others said they were extremely fierce. She would have to try them out herself to know for sure.

When she was getting her makeup done, she unexpectedly found that both the makeup artist and the stylist were wearing CE bracelets and exclaimed, « Did you buy them yourselves? »

« Yeah, or else my friend wouldn’t have been able to get them, they were sold out instantly, haha, it’s crazy. »

Ji Ning said, « If I had known you liked them, I would have asked for some. »

« Even if you asked, you might not have gotten them. They say there aren’t many even at headquarters, they’re really popular, » the stylist showed her, « The star and moon one is too popular, so I settled for the rose one, isn’t it nice? »

The makeup artist quickly said, « Can a spokesperson say that their own product isn’t nice? Don’t diss our roses, okay? I got the rose one, why should I praise the star and moon while dissing the roses, our roses are just as popular, it’s the same as the popular drama. »

« Can some rose fans not be so sensitive? It’s the truth that the star and moon is popular, I just said I personally prefer the star and moon a bit more, I didn’t say the rose was ugly, no need to escalate. »

« What’s going on, what’s going on, turning into a fan war, » Nuo Nuo also joined in, « We’re all fans of Ji Ning’s endorsements, roses and star and moon, don’t fight, let’s not air our dirty laundry in public. »

The makeup room burst into laughter. After the makeup was done, the shooting quickly began. Ji Ning felt that something was off with Ji Shiyen today, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was exactly. Maybe she had too many schedules recently and was feeling a bit overwhelmed? So she occasionally spaced out? »

« Ji Shiyan’s daydreaming looks different from that of an ordinary person because of the habits of an artist. So even if he’s lost in thought, it’s not very obvious. It’s just that when he lowers his head to play with something for more than two minutes, it means he’s daydreaming.

This is a little secret known only to fans.

Holding the biscuits she used to feed the deer, Ji Ning couldn’t help but think of the kissing scene the screenwriter had mentioned before… But later the screenwriter didn’t bring it up again, and there was no mention of preparing for it before today’s shoot.

It might have been a bluff.

Just as she was slightly distracted, a deer suddenly rushed up and bit off her biscuit, then grabbed the strap of her bag in its mouth.

Ji Ning was attacked and repeatedly backed away, trying in vain to pull her strap out of the deer’s mouth.

The little deer had just pretended to be harmless, but after revealing its true colors, it turned out to be quite formidable.

She and the deer began a tug-of-war; the deer wanted the biscuits in her bag, but she wanted to give them to another more obedient one—there are thousands of deer in the park, so if one ruins the image, she’ll just switch.

After a while, she was suddenly lifted by the waist, and Ji Shiyan wrapped his other arm around her back, taking her bag down.

« What’s the point of fighting with them? What if you get hurt? »

Ji Ning whispered, « I just want more people to see its true face. »

The man looked at her for a moment, then smiled, « It’s not a person, don’t bother with it. »

Ji Shiyan took out the biscuits from the bag and gave them to the fierce deer, leading Ji Ning inside, saying, « I heard the ones inside are more obedient. »

« Have you done your homework? » She looked up.

He hesitated for a few seconds before replying, « More or less. »

Indeed, there were some friendly deer in the park. Ji Ning could even take selfies with them while holding biscuits and having fun. Just as she was enjoying herself, Ji Shiyan found himself caught up in another tricky situation.

Just an hour before the shoot, the screenwriter said they were filming a kissing scene today and decided not to inform Ji Ning in advance for the sake of authenticity.

No script, no setting, no setup. Everything was up to him to improvise?

How was he supposed to improvise???

As Ji Ning and the deer finished their lunch, they rested in a backyard.

The sunlight was just right, Ji Ning swung on a swing chair, with fruit juice and sweets on the side, everything looked very comfortable.

Ji Shiyan said he would push her on the swing. She held onto the vine and said, « You’re acting strange today. »

« … »

« What’s strange? »

She couldn’t come up with a specific answer again.

Ji Ning shook her head.

After some time passed, just as Ji Ning was lost in her own thoughts, he slowly turned her chair to face him.

They faced each other.

With his hands on her side, he called her name, « Ji Ning. »

She paused, « Hmm? »

The air carried the moist scent of leaves and the sweet taste of the drinks.

Then, unexpectedly, he leaned down.

In that moment, all of Ji Ning’s senses were shut down, only vague memories lingered, like amber and dark wood intertwined.

It seemed like there were faint, fragmented sounds of leaves rustling.

She felt his breath against her cheek, forgetting to close her eyes, consciously calculating the distance in her mind, and almost blankly watching his cheek getting closer.

Just before they were about to touch, the rustling of leaves almost next to her ear made Ji Ning suddenly distinguish between illusion and reality: « Wait a minute! »

« Uh… »

Ji Shiyan seemed to sense something too. They both looked up, and with a crackling sound, the vines on both sides of the swing gloriously snapped, breaking off completely.

The swing chair, without support, fell to the ground and even rolled happily a couple of times.

The accident came too fast, dissolving all the romance in an instant. Ji Ning, on the chair, grabbed onto Ji Shiyan’s shoulder, barely avoiding a fall.

The air seemed to freeze for a moment.

The man narrowed his eyes, turning back unhappily, « Who chose this chair? »

…

When the episode aired, despite the anticipation of the CP fans, the prepared comments like « sweet couple » and « true love » didn’t get used at all. Instead, what trended was the merciless and cold-hearted five-word phrase— ‘Ji Shiyan falls flat.’

Author’s note: Swing: Don’t mess with my Ning Ning. »