First Kiss Diary - Chapter 54

In the dead of night, Ji Ning looked at these photos over and over again.

She felt somewhat dizzy and feverish, her previously cold body instantly warming up, her back burning hot.

Although she was looking at the photos, none of the repeatedly enlarged and reduced details entered her mind. All her cells were boiling with this intoxicating coincidence.

After sitting quietly for ten minutes, Ji Ning got up and left the room, going to the balcony to call Song Yu.

Song Yu answered quickly: “What’s wrong? Aren’t you filming a breakfast variety show right now?”

“Yeah, but…” Ji Ning tilted her head and got straight to the point, “Did you see the Weibo post from my alternate account? The one asking Ji Shiyan to post a selfie.”

Song Yu said, “I just saw it, what’s wrong?”

Ji Ning pressed her lips together: “It hadn’t been fifteen minutes since I posted, and he really posted on Weibo. The caption said ‘be happier,’ and there were exactly nine photos.”

“Wait a moment.”

Song Yu’s voice faded as if she was checking something, and it took more than a minute before she picked up again.

“Yes, I saw it,” Song Yu exclaimed repeatedly, “He actually posted photos on Weibo this time, he used to only post them on Instagram.”

Realizing that Song Yu hadn’t gotten to her point at all, Ji Ning reminded her, “That’s not the point.”

“Then what is the point?” Song Yu paused for a moment, then slapped her thigh as she suddenly understood, “Oh, I get it—”

“You mean that the super-busy top star Ji Shiyan secretly checks your alternate account every day, and neither works nor sleeps, but at night opens his phone like a magic lamp to explore—what wish did my precious Ningning make today?”

“…”

Ji Ning was silent.

Song Yu snorted: “So you’re a Disney princess who’s fallen into the common folk? Are you filming a treasure hunt or National Treasure? Or have you entered some mysterious kingdom and acquired your own guardian spirit?”

Hearing that Ji Ning didn’t make a sound, Song Yu, with three parts confusion and seven parts contempt, hit her with a soul-searching question:

“Do all you female celebrities excel at flattering yourselves like this?”

“Once would be a coincidence, but he also did it when I was tying up my hair last time,” Ji Ning ignored Song Yu’s sarcasm, resting her head on her arm as she recalled, “During the Spring/Summer show backstage, he did get my phone, and I hadn’t had time to log out of my alternate account yet.”

Song Yu thought for a moment.

“That’s true to say, but how long had you known each other during the Spring/Summer show? He wouldn’t have needed to remember your alternate account, would he? Your relationship was so superficial back then, just business partners.”

“Tying up her hair is a scene that appears in most Korean dramas, right? Such a classic and romantic moment—even if the screenwriter didn’t write it, Ji Shiyan, as someone who’s dating, would naturally know to do it! Besides, I’m sure the screenwriter definitely wrote it in.”

“Even in the unlikely event he really discovers your alternate account…” Song Yu shuddered. “With all those wild things in your posts, there’s no way he’d have zero reaction if he saw them. What would he gain from secretly following your alternate account behind your back? Could it possibly be enjoyable?”

Ji Ning remembered asking Ji Shiyan if he had seen anything, and his answer was no.

He didn’t seem to have any reason to hide something like accidentally seeing her account.

Besides, she probably wasn’t important enough… for him to be keeping an eye on her alternate account, right?

“So don’t overthink it,” Song Yu was still looking out for her, “I’m afraid you’ll get in deeper and deeper with your imagination, and once you’re completely hooked, I won’t be able to pull you out.”

Song Yu was someone with a strong sense of self-protection. Having followed so many celebrities, she could dish out compliments louder than anyone, yet none of it was ever sincere. She had never felt that anyone could be more important than herself, giving her affection carelessly to ensure she would never get hurt and could walk away unscathed whenever the other person pulled away.

“Alright, get some sleep now. Staying up late will make your face puffy,” Song Yu said from her end. “The more expectations you have, the easier it is to be disappointed. Lowering your expectations makes pleasant surprises more likely. Just treat this as a beautiful accident, then wrap yourself in your blanket, close your eyes, and go to sleep. You have to get up in just a few hours, why are you still chatting with me?”

Ji Ning hung up the phone and tiptoed back to her room, pulling the covers over herself again.

She turned over restlessly, her thoughts in disarray, and saw that Song Yu had sent her a picture.

Ji Shiyan’s super topic was buzzing tonight. Many fans who were about to go to bed had their sleepiness completely blown away by the photos, becoming excited.

And at the center of everyone’s discussion was a Weibo post by one of Ji Shiyan’s major fans.

Ji Shiyan hadn’t posted for so long that this major fan posted on Weibo this morning saying, “If Ji Shiyan posts photos today, I’ll livestream myself hand-copying the ‘Classic of Mountains and Seas’.” Many other major fans also made pledges in the comments section. Unexpectedly, Ji Shiyan posted nine photos tonight, really catching everyone off guard.

Once Ji Shiyan posted the photo, some of his big fans rushed to delete their comments where they had made vows, but it was too late as screenshots had already been taken as evidence.

The fan circle was bustling with activity for a while, and someone even started a trending topic #HasYanGuanBigFanFinishedCopyingShanHaiJingYet#, which was approaching 100 million views.

Yan Guan is the general term for Ji Shiyan’s fan community.

The big fans who had made vows had mixed feelings; some posted their stationery purchase records saying “I’ll start once they arrive,” some simply wrote the three big characters “Shan Hai Jing” to complete the task, and some were honest enough to actually start hand-copying from the first chapter.

In short, everyone was having fun, and some Hai Yan sisters said it was delightful to see their idol being playful occasionally.

Actually, celebrities know more or less about their big fans, and they tend to reply to familiar IDs when interacting. The big fan who posted the first tweet had once been replied to by Ji Shiyan.

Ji Shiyan probably recognizes these big fans. If he accidentally clicked into the super topic and saw everyone doing their “rituals,” it wouldn’t be strange for him to post this tweet tonight. After all, he’s always followed his heart and done everything based on his feelings.

Soon, an insider followed by Ji Ning’s alternate account joined this discussion. He directly screenshotted Ji Shiyan’s set of pictures: [Rare to see him so active, my “Haiyan” (sea salt) sisters in my friend circle are going crazy. Also, the jacket he’s wearing in the pictures is a new style from WR, a brand he just signed an endorsement deal with, to be officially announced soon. This tweet is probably to build hype for the official announcement + brand promotion. The nickname “Ji the Silent” is well-deserved, as he doesn’t post personal content on Weibo.]

The nine pictures were indeed of the same black jacket with the eye-catching logo from WR, which she hadn’t noticed before.

The information from this insider is highly credible, and Ji Shiyan is indeed about to announce a ready-to-wear brand recently, so it’s quite normal for this to be promotional.

Ji Ning was about to continue reading, when Liu Shengsheng on the opposite bed turned over. She was afraid her screen light would disturb Liu Shengsheng, so she simply turned off her phone and rolled over to sleep as well.

The next day, she was woken up at three-thirty in the morning and was too sleepy to have time to think about who Ji Shiyan’s Weibo post was really for.

Everyone set off at four o’clock, and it was already past five when they returned after buying fresh ingredients. Before long, they had their first table of guests.

The filming location was abroad, and only three out of the five people could speak English. Shi Ran cooked inside, while Liu Shengsheng and Ji Ning began greeting customers outside.

The production team only provided one menu, but fortunately Ji Ning had come prepared. She had already printed photos and organized the dishes last night, making three menus.

As guests gradually streamed in, Ji Ning and Liu Shengsheng not only had to find seats and pour water for them, but also had to urge the kitchen to serve dishes for those still waiting.

In the kitchen, two people were cooking, with one in charge of fruit and vegetable drinks and soy milk. Facing a full house of customers and having no business experience, they were in a frantic rush. Unfortunately, steamed buns and dumplings couldn’t be rushed, as they simply wouldn’t cook through if given insufficient time.

Some customers who ordered fried noodles got their food quickly, which inevitably led to earlier arrivals asking Ji Ning why their orders weren’t ready yet. Ji Ning could only explain the reason and apologize, asking the customers to wait a bit longer.

Finally, seeing that people had been waiting for twenty minutes, Ji Ning and his companion had moved past their hunger pangs. Remembering they had brought some noodles with them earlier, they quickly went to the back kitchen, boiled water, and threw the noodles in to cook.

This type of noodle doesn’t need to be cooked for long before it can be scooped out. She added the sesame sauce she brought, ladled some soup, added a few side dishes, mixed it all together, and divided it into more than ten portions.

“Wow, hot dry noodles, where did they come from?” Liu Shengsheng watched Ji Ning put small bowls on the plate, “Did we serve this this morning?”

“I brought them. Several tables of customers have been waiting for twenty minutes, so I just whipped something up to tide them over. Shengsheng, are you free? Can you help me distribute these to the empty tables?”

Her skills were limited, she could only make simple things like hot dry noodles, but fortunately, it was enough for emergencies.

When it comes to hot dry noodles, how can you not have egg wine? Fortunately, she had also bought rice wine to bring along. Ji Ning cracked a few eggs into the pan, added rice wine, and served it to the other customers.

Everyone had a small locker in the back kitchen. Most people filled theirs with snacks and game consoles, but Ji Ning’s locker was packed with emergency supplies specifically prepared for the show.

Ji Shiyan had participated in food shows after his debut, and the first day of opening his restaurant was also busy and chaotic, which was why she was extra cautious this time, even bringing soy sauce and MSG.

She also brought some instant shredded kelp, worried that there wouldn’t be enough cold dishes and that she wouldn’t be able to serve food when busy.

After the customers finished their hot dry noodles, the orders they had placed could finally be served.

After a busy morning, the store closed at ten o’clock.

The group was starving, not getting around to breakfast until ten o’clock.

Liu Yi said, “Three-thirty feels a bit late. We should start at three tomorrow. We need to eat before opening for business. Otherwise, who can stand working for six hours on an empty stomach?”

Wang Mian, who had been in charge of making soy milk, agreed, “This morning was too chaotic. We didn’t have enough preparation time at all. We could only serve two tables, and then so many people came intermittently afterward. We couldn’t keep up.”

“So what do we do?” Shi Ran asked. “Should we just limit the supply of items that are difficult to prepare?”

Ji Ning blinked: “I don’t think we need to limit quantities. If some difficult-to-make items sell out and will take time to restock, we can just inform customers when they order, and they can decide whether to wait.”

Shi Ran nodded: “Okay, when I sell out, I’ll let you and Shengsheng know, along with the estimated waiting time.”

Liu Shengsheng also added: “I think we need snacks too. In case meals are delayed, we can at least serve some snacks to tide customers over.”

“The hot dry noodles in the small bowl that Ning made are quite good. Let them have a little to prevent guests from going crazy from waiting too long. After all, no one refuses small gifts.”

“For example, we can set aside two pieces of the doupi tomorrow morning, cut them into small pieces for guests who have been waiting a long time. It can also promote the food subtly.” Ji Ning said.

“Makes sense, let’s do that tomorrow.”

Everyone had been busy all morning, and after lunch, they started their noon break, sleeping soundly in their reclining chairs.

Ji Ning slept for a while and then woke up. Besides her, everyone else was still in a deep sleep.

She adjusted the curtains and got up to get a cup of hot water from the kitchen. To avoid making noise by repeatedly pressing the door handle and fearing the door might be blown shut by the wind, she propped her foot against the doorway and completed getting water in a difficult position.

After drinking the water, she counted the morning’s earnings and wrote them down in her notebook, then washed the several bowls that had piled up in the kitchen.

By the time she finished, everyone else was also getting up.

It was normal to have problems on the first day, after all, everyone’s main profession was just being entertainers. They didn’t get discouraged. After returning to the apartment in the afternoon, they replanned the menu and tasks, and wrote down the groceries they needed to buy.

In the afternoon, several people went to the supermarket and bought all the ingredients that could be purchased in advance, but some other ingredients still needed to be bought fresh in the morning.

After everything was done, everyone had dinner. The evening activities were board games and karaoke, and after playing until after nine o’clock, everyone rushed to shower and sleep as if they were catching a plane.

After all, they had to get up at three o’clock the next day, so no one dared to stay up late.

When Ji Ning came out after her shower, Liu Shengsheng was already asleep. She turned off the bathroom light, adjusted to the darkness for a moment before entering, and found her own bed.

After sleeping for over five hours, Liu Yi came to wake everyone up.

Today, everyone was more familiar with the process and started preparing over an hour earlier, so they finally weren’t as rushed and chaotic as the previous day.

For certain difficult-to-prepare menu items, Ji Ning would explain to customers in advance. Those who couldn’t wait would choose other items, while those who could wait would place their orders. If the waiting time exceeded ten minutes, they would provide a complimentary snack.

When Ji Ning served the small portion of bean curd skin, the customer was stunned for a few seconds. Just as she was about to explain that it was complimentary, the customer asked why it wasn’t the noodles from yesterday.

Only then did she remember that the customer looked familiar, as if they had come in yesterday and had specifically praised her hot dry noodles as being delicious.

Later, Ji Ning also received various feedback one after another. Liu Shengsheng also came over to tell her that many people were asking if yesterday’s noodles could be ordered individually.

She had really just made them casually, not expecting that they would be surprisingly popular.

During the afternoon meeting, Liu Yi also mentioned this: “Can Ningning’s noodles be made again?”

Ji Ning opened the map to check nearby supermarkets. “I’ll go check that Chinese supermarket later. If they have noodles for sale, then it’s possible. I still have quite a lot of sesame paste here.”

“You know, that sesame paste is really good,” Shi Ran also said, “The seasoning is nice.”

After buying the noodles Ji Ning needed at the supermarket, the restaurant added hot dry noodles to the menu the next day.

They had to record the show for fifteen days, and during this time, they went through all the Chinese breakfast options that suited local tastes. Their operation became more and more skillful, and after completing the tasks set by the production team, they were also taken bungee jumping and mountain climbing.

The only surprise was that Ji Ning’s hot dry noodles, which were initially created just as an emergency solution, actually made it into the top three of the sales chart. It was truly an unexpected success.

Ji Ning’s contract was only for ten days, after which new people would replace her. After finishing the recording here, she had to return to the film set to continue acting.

When leaving, Liu Shengsheng was particularly reluctant to part with her, and Liu Yi also said they would get together again when they had time.

After struggling together for more than ten days, they had actually developed something of a revolutionary friendship.

///

Ji Ning set off to return to the country, arriving just as evening fell.

Her scenes were scheduled for tomorrow, and she had originally planned to report to the film crew then, but she passed by the filming location along the way. Seeing the familiar staff members, she still got out of the car to say hello.

She had made many nougat cookies at “Breakfast Shop,” which she could hand out to the staff to try. They tasted pretty good.

Jiang Sheng was the first to know she had returned, and he rushed to Ji Shiyan’s door, panting.

After knocking several times with no response, Jiang Sheng swiped his card and found Ji Shiyan indeed running on the treadmill in the inner gym.

Old as he was, his stamina was still impressive.

Jiang Sheng looked at his back and made a sarcastic comment in his mind.

The man had a towel draped over his shoulder. Hearing the sound, he turned around and frowned when he saw Jiang Sheng enter: “Didn’t I lock the door?”

Jiang Sheng looked at him in surprise: “You’re guarding against me like this?”

Ji Shiyan nodded, calm and cruel: “Hurry up and leave.”

Jiang Sheng had gone to extreme lengths these past few days to get him to come to his room and appreciate the model he had just assembled, even resorting to absurd lies like “a woman suddenly appeared on my bed.”

Without a doubt, he must be wanted to see the model again today.

Consequently, the man looked displeased and was determined not to move a single step, no matter what Jiang Sheng said.

“I’ve come with some news this time, and this news…”

The man put on his headphones, looking completely indifferent.

“Stop working out,” Jiang Sheng came over and tugged at him, “Hurry up and go downstairs, there’s a surprise.”

Ji Shiyan put on the other headphone as well and added another hour to his running time.

The implication being—he was busy now, had no time, and didn’t want to be bothered.

“Are you not leaving?”

No answer.

“You don’t regret it, right?”

No sound.

Jiang Sheng walked toward the door: “Fine then, I just wanted to tell you that Ji Ning is back and they’re being all lovey-dovey. If you leave now, you might still catch them. But if you’re not interested, then forget it…”

Before the words “forget it” could even leave his mouth, Jiang Sheng turned back to find the treadmill was already empty.

The man put on his coat, fastened his hat, and quickly opened the door.

“Let’s go, where?”