First Kiss Diary - Chapter 50

The man was remarkably calm, as if he had just been discussing what kind of soup to order.

He flipped a page of the menu: “If you can’t understand plain human speech, fine.”

“What do you mean you like Ji Ning? How do you suddenly like Ji Ning? Filming a variety show didn’t even earn you tens of millions and now you’ve dragged yourself into this too, Ji Shiyan!!”

Agent Jiang, who had been planning a good meal, was completely unprepared; hearing the news, he was stunned, as if he were watching an immortal who’d spent over a decade above the mundane suddenly descend to the mortal realm to undergo a tribulation—and even intended to marry.

Jiang Sheng even forgot to scoop up the abalone; he bent down to look at Ji Shiyan’s expression.

“Are you serious?”

The man frowned impatiently, looking at him as if he were mentally deficient: “Who would joke about something like this?”

From all these years of knowing him, the moment Ji Shiyan looked up, Jiang Sheng knew he really wasn’t making it up.

I thought Ji Shiyan was simply fully committed to filming a variety show, which is why he treated her so well both on and off camera. I never expected he’d actually run headfirst into it.

“Fine, it’s rare to see you fall for someone,” Jiang Sheng rubbed his neck. “Give me some time to process this.”

After fishing the abalone out of the soup, Jiang Sheng thought for a while, stewed on it, then asked the obligatory question friends and family always ask: “When did you start liking her?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you like about her?” Jiang Sheng kept prying.

Ji Shiyan had no hesitation: “Everything.”

Jiang Sheng wasn’t satisfied with his attitude and knocked the table: “I’m asking what you like about her, why are you throwing the question back at me!”

“I said I like everything about her—” the man looked up. “Any problem with that?”

“No, no problem, no problem.” Jiang Sheng scratched his cheek. “How could I possibly have any problems with you.”

“No wonder I asked why you were singing that song today. Just seeing the title, I was completely scandalized by you. ‘I Want You’—what do you want? So shameless.”

Jiang Sheng thought to himself again: “I like her, so… confess? Today’s song and that necklace… are they a prelude?”

Having been prodded about his true feelings, the man’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he gave his tacit consent.

“No wonder you asked me where to order it, and were talking about real-name design,” Jiang Sheng suddenly pieced everything together. “You, Ji Shiyan, actually kept me in the dark.”

Jiang Sheng tugged at his sleeve. “Well, since this is about picking up girls, how could it do without the guidance of relationship expert Jiang Sheng? I’ll help you plan it.”

“You have a lot of experience?” Ji Shiyan frowned.

“Not to mention, I’ve been in more relationships than you’ve eaten…” Jiang Sheng thought for a moment, couldn’t find a fitting comparison, and skipped ahead, “Anyway, I’m more experienced than you, that’s what matters.”

The man snorted with a laugh and nodded, saying, “Indeed, if you’re this muddled, what good is dating?”

“…??”

Your mouth is so vicious—were you sanctified by a poisonous scorpion in a past life?

Manager Jiang lifted his head, not very pleased. “Don’t use your pop-idol ‘fall-in-love-when-you’re-famous’ rules on me. That I can still date while busy with work only proves my own radiant charm has drawn countless girls to swarm me.”

Ji Shiyan tugged at the corner of his mouth. He tried to hold it in, failed, and laughed.

“You look down on me?”

Jiang Sheng turned and began to pack his clothes: “Not talking anymore, I’m leaving.”

Ji Shiyan watched him walk to the door, showing no intention of getting up to stop him — let him be.

Jiang Sheng glanced back at him, and after they stared at each other for a while, Jiang Sheng sat back down.

“Alright, I see a thirst for knowledge in your eyes, and I know you still hope I’ll stay, so I’ll give you this chance.”

“……”

“Wait, let me look up Ji Ning’s basic info for you. Picking up girls is all about the right approach — you need to check her age, her interests, her personality, her—”

“Fuck, she’s a Scorpio?!?!”

Ji Shiyan really wanted to invite this startled person out: “So what if she’s a Scorpio? You still mess with horoscope predictions?”

“No, really, honestly, I’m telling you the truth,” Jiang Sheng said, so excited his sentences were a little scrambled. “I never believed in horoscopes before, but after meeting three Scorpios—damn it, I believe now.”

“You were cheated on?”

“No, not that. How to put it—I can basically describe the Scorpios I’ve met like this.”

Jiang Sheng propped his hand under his chin and slowly summarized: “I like you, you’re great, you like me too, oh, bye.”

Ji Shiyan tilted his head slightly.

“I can’t really say what kind of mindset it is. It’s probably similar to always liking something you can’t have, or maybe it’s just enjoying the feeling of liking someone rather than actually wanting a relationship.”

“Anyway, at first those three girls all looked at me with love in their eyes. Though none of them openly showed it, it was obvious they liked me. In the end, two died after I confessed, and the last one, after three days, told me she was sorry and that we weren’t compatible. I got dumped.”

“The three worst relationships of my life were those three.”

Ji Shiyan fell completely silent, just staring at Jiang Sheng.

Jiang Sheng choked up a bit, then sat down. “Are you planning to make a move soon? I’d advise against it. After all, the variety show just finished filming—you should give her some transition time. And maybe she only likes you but doesn’t want a relationship, so your confession could become a burden and she might start avoiding you.”

“Not all fans who follow idols are trying to be girlfriend-fans.”

Ji wasn’t pleased to hear that: “Her alt account ID is ‘my secretly married wife.’ ”

“So what if that’s true? Putting aside whether she has the traits I just mentioned, can you be sure she likes you as a person, thinks you’d make a good boyfriend, and isn’t just attracted to your spotlight? That’s really uncertain. Dating and being a fan are not the same thing; a female celebrity needs a boyfriend who is more than just someone she likes.”

“Just because so many people like Mount Fuji doesn’t mean everyone wants to take it home.”

Ji Shiyan pondered for a long moment, picked up his phone and spun it around—clearly he was thinking it over.

“Why should I listen to you?”

Whoa.

Agent Jiang, seeing himself being questioned, immediately took a few quick steps forward, crossed the table, and grabbed for the man’s phone.

“Fine! Then don’t listen to me! Call her right now! Smash her to pieces, catch her off guard!”

“Come on, come on, I’ll dial for you. Do it now! Grab a megaphone and tell the whole world you love her!!!”

The man sidestepped to avoid it: “Get lost.”

“Hah,” Jiang Sheng snorted coldly, “You say you don’t believe me, but inwardly you’re already in awe of my superb pick-up skills, aren’t you?”

After the fooling around, Jiang Sheng began to speak seriously.

“But don’t take my words too much to heart — not all Scorpios are like that. Generally they’re more fond of freedom, and act that way only when they’re not that into someone.”

“So I suggest you still don’t act rashly. Take it slow; that’s the best option. Wait until she knows you better and her feelings deepen before making a move. After all, what she knew before was the you from the fan circle — you’ve only spent a few months together in person, and many things are still unclear.”

Actually, Ji Shiyan didn’t really believe in horoscopes.

But setting aside the filter of Jiang Sheng being hurt three times, some of what the man said did make sense.

He truly couldn’t be sure whether he was a qualified boyfriend, nor could he tell if Ji Ning liked the halo and distance that came with his identity, or if she loved him for who he was after stripping away all the accoutrements.

It was also at that moment that he suddenly remembered a very important issue—her career had only just begun to take off.

She was different from herself, who had long since entered a stable period.

She was in a rising phase; a rising female entertainer has to be extremely cautious about romance.

Although he felt that dating him wouldn’t make much difference, the variety show had just ended, and he didn’t want his confession to add pressure to her during her ascent.

That night the man tossed and turned, and finally tentatively decided to wait until her birthday.

That day’s confession should have been somewhat memorable.

///

Having finished filming the variety show and the web drama, workaholic Ji Ning still felt a little empty.

But just one day into that emptiness, before she had a chance to watch the airing of “First Kiss,” she suddenly heard that the male lead of “Illusion Healing” had been poached by another production at the last minute.

Fortunately, a newly contacted actor stepped in to fill the gap in time, and the whole crew avoided disaster—though they did have to accommodate the actor by starting filming earlier than planned.

By the time they informed her, the male actor had already been completely finalized; she hadn’t even had the chance to experience the thrill of an actor change when she was told to hurry up and get ready for shooting.

At first Ji Ning wondered what level of star this must be, to make a top-tier director bring the crew in early. The day she arrived ahead of schedule at the set and opened her phone to check the broadcast status of the final episode of “First Kiss,” she was suddenly met with an enormous commotion.

She thought she must be hallucinating—otherwise how could she be hearing someone shout “Ji Shiyan”??

Ji Shiyan hadn’t acted in costume xianxia dramas for many years; unless the fee for this role was two hundred million, there was no way…

Ji Ning looked up and saw the man step out of the RV.

A familiar height, familiar leg length, a familiar face.

…?

……………………….Is he for real??

If he’s the male lead, wouldn’t that mean… a collaboration??

Ji Ning stood there frozen, forgetting to move, until the man came up in front of her.

The girl parted her lips: “How come you—”

He had probably intended to greet her, but his eyes landed on her phone screen and caught the zodiac horoscope in the Weibo VIP section that she had accidentally opened.

So the man didn’t even have time to say hello.

He looked into her eyes and said, “When you talk about those detailed explanations of the constellations…”

Ji Ning was even more bewildered by the sudden topic: “Huh?”

“These astrological analyses,” the man took a deep breath and said slowly, “is it possible they’re complete nonsense?”

Author’s note: Four salt questions: If I court you, will you stop loving me? That can’t be, right? How could you do that? Do you have a conscience?

[Salt: I think she wants to be with me.

Jiang Sheng: I don’t want what you think, I want what I think. Stop messing around and listen to me—stay grounded and plan for growth, study hard and work to win a wife.]

Catching her on the first try would be far too easy! You can’t slack off when chasing your wife! Our Ningning isn’t that easy to win! Next up is Salt’s wife-chasing show time!

The song for this chapter is “I Want You.” Highly recommend listening to Li Jian’s version.

This chapter isn’t saying Scorpio girls are bad — both of my close friends are Scorpios!!