First Kiss Diary - Chapter 39

Ji Ning didn’t expect to receive so much applause.

Because she felt that this performance was not perfect either, and due to being overly emotionally involved, some small techniques were not used.

But techniques are never as moving as emotions; when the moon is full, it wanes. Some small flaws are actually more precious.

She took a bow and left the stage.

Next was the live instructor’s commentary, and the one mentioned most was Ji Ning.

Ji Ning… you really surprised me quite a bit. I didn’t expect your transition to be so natural. You must have had professional training, right? » The instructor flipped through the dossier, « But it seems like you started acting in college, so you probably didn’t have time to receive systematic training at school?

Ji Ning replied, « Yes, I always regretted not having taken a complete course on lines before, because I really… I think lines are very important for an actor. So recently, I went abroad to train specifically on lines. »

Luckily, I almost slipped and said ‘idol.’

The instructor nodded repeatedly, « Having that kind of awareness is very good. I look forward to your upcoming performances. »

……

The first performance segment ended, and the host began to cue the process: « Alright, after listening to the three actors’ voice-overs just now, everyone should have a clearer understanding of their choices. Now you have ten minutes to change your seat color, please begin. »

After the host finished speaking, it was like a bad boy appeared on a matchmaking show; everyone below started pressing buttons to change their seat colors, and half of the audience changed their color to yellow.

Ji Ning was so moved that he almost wanted to sing his own cheer song.

But upon careful thought, oh, it seemed he didn’t have a cheer song.

The three guests stepped off the stage for a brief break, preparing for the second round of performances.

The other two young actresses seemed to feel that their spotlight was being stolen by the trending star, causing some unease. They had already started whispering with their managers, discussing something.

Ji Ning remained calm and composed, sitting there with a confident look.

It wasn’t anything else; mainly, she didn’t have a manager.

The two officers in blue looked at her warily, coughing a few times as if to boost their own confidence.

In fact, Ji Ning was also nervous. It was clear that the two officers in blue had only been warming up before; once they sensed aggression, they unleashed all their skills. She didn’t know how many people would still be “holding tickets” for her after the two had shown their full strength.

Because she was about to take an unconventional path again.

The two officers in blue clearly had many strategies. Depending on the opponent’s choice, during the second round, Xu Nian also began to play three roles by herself.

Actually, the acting was really good. Ji Ning felt it was a bit more mainstream than her own dubbing method, but the downside was that this performance came after hers, so the audience didn’t have as much freshness. Also, the character wasn’t as rich as hers, and the impact wasn’t as strong. Overall, it still didn’t compare to Ji Ning’s previous one.

Zhao An’an dubbed a very emotional confession, focusing on feelings. By the end, she was crying herself, and some audience members were wiping their tears.

Ji Ning felt it really wasn’t a good time for her to go on stage, but it was truly her turn.

She gritted her teeth and took the microphone, gave an OK hand gesture, and the production team cooperated by playing the background music of… « Peppa Pig. »

She was assigned the part where Peppa Pig whistles in « Peppa Pig, » all in English.

It was all her fault for choosing that segment while Song Yu was watching Peppa Pig right next to her! Why watch Peppa Pig of all things! Now she had to perform a pig whistling in front of a nationwide audience, right after an emotional moment…

The audience would probably leave immediately.

If the show allowed quitting, Ji Ning would definitely choose to leave the stage at this moment.

But she couldn’t; she could only start seriously presenting to everyone how a pig ended a friendship with her sister because she couldn’t whistle…

But the effect was surprisingly good.

When she performed Peppa making all kinds of strange sounds because she couldn’t whistle, the audience laughed intermittently because the visuals were cute, her voice matched the animation well.

When she mercilessly pressed the hang-up button after her friend learned it immediately and added a button sound effect herself, the commotion below became even more obvious.

After Peiqi, the character she played, finally learned to whistle, the audience wholeheartedly applauded her.

In the end, more than half of the lights in the venue turned yellow.

Ji Ning almost thought he was dreaming.

Fortunately, he didn’t leave the stage just now, or it would have been a huge loss.

Most of the judges on the show gave her very high scores.

Although you may be a bit inexperienced in some areas, the empathy you bring to everyone is very strong. This is something more difficult and more natural than technique, but you use it very well. Also, in your two performances, I discovered your infinite potential. The future looks promising, so after unanimous discussion, the judging panel has decided to award you this pass card.

The pass card is a very rare thing, which means the guest does not need to participate in the semifinals and can directly enter the finals for the final competition.

The show was more than halfway through, and she was the second to receive it.

That episode really sparked a lot of discussion, reaching as high as sixth on the trending list, with nearly two million views on Bilibili. Many people were won over by Ji Ning’s pig…?

【You. Damn it, seeing Ji Ning imitate a pig’s call really made me burst out with a « WTF, » I can’t believe there’s actually a young actress willing to imitate a little pig hahaha but it really looks like one, I declare myself a one-day fan mom of Ji Ning, so cute.】

【Not just the pig call, that split personality earlier gave me goosebumps, turns out there are young actors seriously studying acting too.】

【Ji Ning’s facial expression control is so good, how does she do it? Even with such exaggerated expressions, her face never breaks.】

【What expression management? Born beautiful, that’s all.】

【I found myself looking at the face halfway through the dubbing; turns out I’m basically a shallow fan of looks. I don’t deserve to be a fan of the craft, sorry.】

【I’m from the show. Actually, at first, we invited Ji Ning just to bring some traffic to the program, since among the young actresses, she was the only one with decent lines… I really didn’t expect her to perform so well. Honestly, even the director was amazed. Don’t underestimate traffic; it can be impressive too.】

【Ji Shiyan! Give me back Ji Ning!! I can make Ji Ning happy!!!】

After discussing online, later when Ji Ning went to the set, Nono was still talking to her about this matter.

Besides the high views on that dubbed and edited clip, your solo cut of ‘Fireworks Island’ also has very high views on the video app, almost surpassing the script itself…

So, whether you have acting skills or put in effort, even if you keep your mouth shut, the results will speak for you.

Every actor has taken on bad dramas, that’s undeniable, but Ji Ning is not like most actors who fluctuate depending on the director and various factors.

The drama can be bad, but her acting cannot. Facing a bad drama without acting poorly is her minimum standard of responsibility towards acting, and it is also the external evaluation she most hopes to hear.

She cannot change most of the world, but at least she can ensure she herself is not changed.

///

The filming of « Stars » was also nearing its end. After staying a bit longer on set, her scenes would be finished.

That morning, as soon as she arrived at the makeup room, she found Ji Shiyan already sitting upright in his seat.

Ji Ning couldn’t help but step back a few steps and looked at the doorplate above his head.

It really said « Star » and not « First Kiss. »

Arriving this early, anyone who didn’t know would think he was filming a variety show, even more enthusiastic than Zhuo Gong, the male lead.

Noticing Ji Shiyan’s unusual gaze, Ji Ning vaguely felt that he had something to ask him.

So she relied on her sixth sense and asked, « What’s wrong? »

« There’s something on your neck. » The man pointed to her neck.

Ji Ning tilted her head curiously, « Is your eyesight really that good? »

If I remember correctly, it’s only 0.8, right?

Ji Shiyan frowned, « What is it? »

As soon as I walked in, you noticed something on my neck from a few hundred meters away, » Ji Ning said, speaking like a fan, « Can you see it that clearly?

……

The man was silent for a few seconds, then decided to avoid the topic, « But there really is a strand of hair. »

She reached out to touch, but the man’s hand covered hers even faster. His thumb was pressed right against her throat, and she almost thought that the next second he would bare fangs and turn into a vampire to drain her dry.

« Is this how you clamp with pliers? » Ji Ning sincerely blinked her almond-shaped eyes at him.

The man retracted his outstretched fingers, his Adam’s apple bobbing.

First time, not much experience.

Ji Ning felt he was a bit strange today. A certain thought flashed through his mind—a phrase « Could it be that he wants to buy a necklace » kept surfacing and being swallowed back down repeatedly, until finally, he swallowed it for good.

Better not ask; it would make him seem overly sentimental.

The makeup artist quickly came in to do her makeup, and everything was back on track. When she was getting her hair done, Ji Ning opened Weibo and found that the app kept crashing due to an overwhelming number of comments.

It was all because of that ring.

Ji Shiyan putting the ring on her made it a trending topic. When the ring was lost, it trended again. The super topic points have now surpassed the second place by five times. The CP fans went crazy, tagging Ji Shiyan every day whenever they saw a beautiful wedding ring, asking if he wanted to use that one as a replacement.

Ji Ning had already seen no less than a hundred beautiful rings tagged in the mentions.

There weren’t many other emotions, just purely feeling that everyone was so cute.

After browsing Weibo again, Ji Ning put away her phone and started filming.

After a whole morning of shooting, while Ji Shiyan was discussing with the director, Jiang Sheng quietly came over to Ji Ning and whispered, “I watched the show. Did you say before that Ji Shiyan is old?”

“I didn’t…”

Don’t say things like that in front of him anymore. He cares a lot about his age. Although I don’t know why, he clearly didn’t mind before.

Ji Ning parted her lips: « I really didn’t… »

Does she not think he’s old? An idol is always a spirited young man in the hearts of fans, isn’t he?

Jiang Sheng ignored her reply and just kept saying, « Just think about it yourself from now on, and make sure you don’t show it. »

Too sensitive, old men nowadays are really too sensitive.

……

It seems like you actually said more, right?

///

After finishing filming that day and heading back to the hotel, Ji Ning opened the door and saw Song Yu on the phone.

It seemed like he was scolding someone, yet a bit helpless. Song Yu paced back and forth in the room, his expression unusually serious.

After Ji Ning finished showering, Song Yu finally ended the call and sat on the bed to share with her.

“There’s a sister at home who had a fight with her husband.”

“What about?”

Whose surname will the child take? » Song Yu shrugged. « For the second child, the older sister wants the child to take her surname, but her husband absolutely refuses, to the point of arguing about divorce.

Ji Ning wiped her hair, not knowing what to say. After all, this topic felt a bit too distant for her.

Song Yu originally wanted to have a philosophical discussion about men and women with Ji Ning, but then thought it was too tiring and gave up.

She flopped onto the bed, deciding to stick to a topic she was better at: « What if I marry Pei Hanzhou… »

Ji Ning didn’t wait for her to finish: “Pei Hanzhou already has a wife.”

“Fine, if I marry Ruan Ming.”

“……”

“Things change so fast.”

I haven’t finished yet. If I marry Ruan Ming, there will be no such quarrels at all. » Song Yu showed a polite smile, « Because I will listen to him, take his surname, I’m willing.

« Is Ruan Ming willing? » Ji Ning asked a soul-searching question.

Song Yu: …??

Why do you care??

Ji Ning just sat there for a while, but after showering, his mind and soul, which had begun to run free, were led astray by Song Yu.

She also blurted out nonsensically, « I probably won’t have such troubles. »

After saying that, as if she suddenly remembered something, she took out her phone and started typing.

Song Yu leaned over to take a look; it was the secret wife posting on social media—

【Ji Shiyan, marry me, and the child will take your surname.】

Dream on, and even @ the main character.

Song Yu scoffed, very disdainful: « Is it meaningful? As if your last name isn’t Ji. »

Ji Ning shrugged, not caring about Yu’s words, casually pinned her Weibo post to the top.

Song Yu admired everything in front of her, couldn’t help but cross her legs and sigh: « I think if that profession exists in the world, you could definitely make a lot of money from it. »

What?

Daydreaming, what else could it be.

Author’s note: At this moment, Song Yu had no idea how hard his face was about to be slapped.