Ye Cheng picked up Jiang Li at the airport, asking cautiously, “So how did filming the show feel?”
Jiang Li had clearly meant to say “not great,” but seeing the wind chime hanging in the car, he found himself saying something else entirely, as if possessed.
“It was fine.”
Ye Cheng’s raised heart settled back down.
He drove Jiang Li home and prepared to turn on the TV. But unlike everyone else, he was extremely anxious.
He’d only watched the opening of yesterday’s livestream, not because he was too busy, but because he hadn’t dared watch further.
What if Jiang Li said something thoughtless further in, leaving him to clean up the mess afterward again?
There’d been a time when Jiang Li was a judge on a dance competition show, and one classically trained judge made a snide remark, implying Jiang Li’s fame was purely based on his looks.
Most celebrities would just let that slide, and someone smoother might even say “thanks for the compliment on my looks,” but Jiang Li was different.
Right in front of the camera, Jiang Li had asked, with the innocent curiosity of a puppy, whether it was because the judge was too ugly that he couldn’t rely on his looks.
The judge’s face had turned green, crying and threatening to quit the competition, and Jiang Li got dragged onto trending topics, the comments flooded with accusations of cruelty.
Getting criticized was a daily occurrence for top celebrities, the more famous you were, the more you got cursed at. On the surface they wouldn’t say anything, but privately they’d grumble too.
But Jiang Li never seemed to care about public opinion of him at all.
Ye Cheng worried this kid bottled everything up inside, so he paid particular attention to online commentary about Jiang Li.
He’d finally worked up the courage to turn on the TV, just about to watch the show, when the boy said flatly, “I want to watch the news broadcast.”
Who even watches the news broadcast these days!
Ye Cheng took a deep breath. Jiang Li was staring at the remote in his hand, so he had no choice but to play the replay of the evening news.
The boy dragged over a small stool to watch the space news, occasionally furrowing his brow, occasionally relaxing, looking exactly like someone listening to a subordinate’s work report.
Ye Cheng couldn’t understand the boy’s enthusiasm for the news—Jiang Li, usually so indifferent, didn’t even blink watching the rocket launch.
The clock on the wall kept ticking. The show had already started a minute ago, but the news broadcast had barely begun.
After finally enduring the replay to its end, Ye Cheng hurriedly switched to the CCTV channel, while the boy contentedly went back to playing games.
By this point, “Divorce Diary” was already halfway through, with the guests getting off the plane and onto the bus.
It happened to be the part he hadn’t watched yet.
Ye Cheng let out a breath of relief, but seeing Ruan Yan being so proactive on screen while Jiang Li just coasted through everything, that breath caught in his throat again.
Coasting through wasn’t a problem in itself, the problem was the comparison. Even with his manager-tinted glasses on, he had to admit Ruan Yan came across as more likable than Jiang Li.
He hadn’t gone online these past two days, probably full of criticism by now.
Ye Cheng sighed inwardly.
But the next shot left him stunned.
Jiang Li walked into the rainforest and gathered ingredients, filling an entire backpack in no time!
If the boy hadn’t been sitting right beside him playing some brainless game, he might have suspected Jiang Li was playing dumb on purpose, could a normal person actually memorize ten thousand plant species?
At this point, he finally worked up the courage to open Weibo.
These days, people preferred fast-paced content, not everyone had the patience to sit through a 48-hour livestream, so this segment only went viral after the official episode aired.
“Polite question, is this the Jiang Li I know, the airhead?”
“Strictly speaking he’s not an airhead, he at least finished middle school, but this performance was genuinely surprising”
“Am I the only pure looks-fan here? His stage makeup is too heavy, honestly can’t stand it, but he looks really good on this show!”
“I changed my opinion after he brought Qi Hui soup, he didn’t need to ride on her buzz but was still thoughtful enough to bring soup, maybe he’s not as vicious as people say”
Ye Cheng assumed these were fans pretending to be neutral, or bots he’d hired himself. He deliberately clicked into their profiles to confirm the comments really were from ordinary passersby.
You had to understand, every time Jiang Li had appeared on a variety show before, Weibo was flooded with criticism, this time, there had finally been a small shift.
Even if it was just one small step, Ye Cheng couldn’t help thinking: this show was the right call!
The show continued playing. When Ye Cheng saw Qi Hui asking Jiang Li if he’d be interested in Director Shen’s movie, his breathing grew heavy.
Top directors had always shut Jiang Li out. It wasn’t that Jiang Li lacked film offers, but everything he got was garbage-rated trash.
This chance to collaborate with Director Shen was a golden opportunity, even a minor role could potentially turn around Jiang Li’s reputation among other directors.
But the boy on screen came out with an arrogant “depends on my schedule.”
Depends.
On.
His.
Schedule????!
Ye Cheng’s vision went black for a moment. What an incredible opportunity, gone just like that!
Even though Qi Hui had smiled and said she’d be in touch, he didn’t hold out much hope, promises made on camera were rarely meant to be taken seriously.
Just as Ye Cheng’s mood was in turmoil, his phone rang.
The screen showed Director Shen’s number. This renowned director asked, “Do you have time to sign a contract?”
He didn’t expect Qi Hui to actually take Jiang Li seriously. He immediately said yes, yes, yes, and confirmed a signing time for tomorrow over the phone.
Ye Cheng excitedly hung up and shared the good news with Jiang Li, but the boy just stared blankly at the screen.
The first episode was nearly over, and the guests began writing their reflections for this trip.
The reflections were anonymous, even the handwriting blurred out, only revealing printed text, leaving the audience to guess who wrote each entry.
“I gained so much from this trip, my first time foraging in a rainforest, first time starting a fire outdoors, first time setting up a tent… so many firsts, making me realize my own shortcomings. Looking forward to the next trip”
“Because I wasn’t feeling well, I couldn’t help much, thanks to little Jiang Li for the soup”
“Doing something like that, surely he doesn’t think I’m still hung up on him? Can’t be too cold on a show, though”
“Did A-Hui really get sick? Ah, I only just realized, wonder if she’s mad at me”
“Finally over”
“My wife loves me so much”
The show had definitely piqued everyone’s curiosity, even with Ye Cheng’s attention on tomorrow’s contract signing, he couldn’t help guessing too.
The first one was probably Ruan Yan, only Ruan Yan had been this proactive on the show, listing out everything he’d done in his reflection, probably worried the audience would forget.
The second was obviously Qi Hui’s, the fourth, judging by the tone, was most likely An Zhiqing’s, otherwise he wouldn’t have called her “A-Hui.”
No one could quite guess the fifth, but Ye Cheng could guarantee it was Jiang Li’s, only Jiang Li would be this eager for the show to be over.
The third and sixth were hard to guess, though surely that cold, restrained Best Actor wouldn’t be calling anyone “wife” over and over.
Jiang Li had thought of this too, staring fixedly at the third entry, lowering his eyes indifferently before speaking to Ye Cheng.
“Change out the wind chimes in the car tomorrow.”
As Duan Zhihan’s manager, Song Hang didn’t care about the airing of “Divorce Diary”, only a small-minded manager would obsess over a variety show.
Right now, what concerned him was a different question. He looked at Duan Zhihan and asked, “What are you seeing a therapist for?”
Song Hang felt somewhat tense, because Duan Zhihan had indeed been acting strangely lately, like tying on an apron and busying himself in the kitchen.
Duan Zhihan had lived a pampered life since childhood, with seven or eight servants just to look after him.
Even when he’d fallen out with his father over acting and didn’t have enough money to pay rent, he’d rather eat cheap cold boxed lunches than cook his own noodles.
Why was he suddenly cooking today?
Duan Zhihan simply said flatly, “Jiang Li won’t eat what I make.”
So it was an emotional issue that required a therapist.
Although Song Hang had no idea what had happened between Duan Zhihan and Jiang Li, he could relate all too well to the feeling of putting in effort to cook something only to have the other person scoff at it.
He was about to figure out how to comfort Duan Zhihan, considering the man had only ever been on the receiving end of pursuit before.
Until Duan Zhihan brought out the Mexican beef tacos he’d made himself, radiating a distinct burnt aroma.
Song Hang couldn’t hold back his assessment.
“Even a dog wouldn’t eat this.”
He suddenly understood Jiang Li completely. But then Duan Zhihan handed the plate over to him: “Try this for me.”
Song Hang looked at Duan Zhihan’s ice-cold gaze and, under duress, took a bite.
To be honest, it wasn’t bad, but it had nothing to do with being good either. He set down his fork and knife and offered a tactful suggestion: “Don’t you think you’d be better suited to something else?”
Duan Zhihan had been turning down a lot of film offers lately, a completely different man from the one who used to focus solely on acting.
Song Hang had gone from initially saying “well, taking a break isn’t so bad” to now openly hinting he should get back to filming.
“Maybe you should sign up for a bridal cooking class?”
Duan Zhihan pondered this thoughtfully and took off his apron.
Song Hang: “…”
Song Hang felt there was no hope left for Duan Zhihan to win any more major awards. Next time, he’d absolutely refuse to represent married male celebrities, actually, even divorced ones were off the table.
Just as he lamented how the once-proud star had become a cautionary tale, Duan Zhihan glanced at his phone screen and said,
“I’ve agreed to Director Shen’s film.”
Song Hang felt there might still be some hope for Duan Zhihan after all, although in others’ eyes Director Shen was a top-tier director, for Duan Zhihan, he was still only average.
He couldn’t help but ask, puzzled, “Why did you take his project?”
Song Hang hadn’t read the script Director Shen sent over, guessing it was probably good enough, or the role had enough of a challenge, in short assuming it was for career reasons. The next second, his hopes were dashed.
“Worried my wife would be too lonely filming alone.”