By today, the click-through rate for the hundredth episode of *Friday Morning* had surpassed 250 million. Keeping his word, Jiang Yingche invited Zhang Jin’an back, and Zhang Jin’an naturally accepted.
He hadn't told anyone he was appearing on the show this time. When Jiang Siyang saw him, he was so startled that Zhang Jin’an nearly burst out laughing, only barely managing to keep a straight face.
This episode of *Friday Morning* featured a "Script Kill" game, and the recording lasted a full three hours.
Zhang Jin’an was eagerly looking forward to this episode’s broadcast. Because the six of them had operated separately with different tasks, they wouldn't know what the others had been up to until the show aired. According to PD Jiang, the broadcasting format had also changed; viewers would have to choose a specific perspective at the start of the video—one of the six characters or an omniscient "God’s eye" view. It was quite a novel approach.
After the recording ended, the group gathered for another meal. PD Jiang, being a man of his word, had indeed booked out a tea restaurant. Chen Yi polished off several baskets of shrimp dumplings, prompting Jing Shangshu to joke that he was turning into a shrimp dumpling himself. PD Jiang had a bit to drink and nearly fell for another one of Pan Ming’s traps; fortunately, the screenwriters intervened in time, or there would have been another outrageous bet on the table. Everyone was laughing and chatting, making for a lively atmosphere.
Zhang Jin’an, Jiang Siyang, and Jiu Chang sat at a quiet corner table, playing *Despair* together online.
"Push, push, push! Top lane, top lane!" Jiu Chang shouted, clutching his phone.
Zhang Jin’an finally couldn't help but remind him, "Jiu Chang, you’re even more aggressive than Teacher Gu. You’re just charging in without any gear."
"Huh? ...Wait! Where’s my knife?" Jiu Chang maneuvered his character to run back.
"It got knocked away just now. You didn't pick it up," Jiang Siyang said.
Jiu Chang nudged Jiang Siyang with his elbow. "Siyang, that’s not very loyal of you. Why didn't you tell me?"
Jiang Siyang and Zhang Jin’an looked at Jiu Chang simultaneously.
"He did tell you, but you’d just picked up a gun and were having too much fun killing everyone to hear him," Zhang Jin’an said.
Jiang Siyang nodded.
Jiu Chang scratched his head, looking sheepish. "Alright, my bad."
Just then, Pan Ming walked over with a small camcorder. "What are you three playing?"
None of them had time to look up. Pan Ming leaned in to film their phone screens.
"Despair," Zhang Jin’an said.
"It’s almost over," Jiang Siyang added.
Jiu Chang glanced up at Pan Ming. "Brother Pan, are you filming 'Easter eggs' for the show?"
"Yeah," Pan Ming replied, watching them through the lens.
Zhang Jin’an was wearing a plaid shirt and black trousers, while Jiang Siyang wore an athletic headband, a white jacket, and track pants with three white stripes down the side. Jiu Chang was dressed the most casually in a striped short-sleeved shirt and denim jeans.
Pan Ming clicked his tongue in admiration. "Who would have thought? Three people who were tearing each other apart on the show are over here teaming up for a game. Games really do bring people together."
Zhang Jin’an suddenly sat up straight, his eyes lighting up. "Quick, quick, Jiu Chang, come to my position. I’ve got one person on the hilltop and two behind the trees. Siyang, you’re the marksman—circle around the back."
"Got it, on my way," Jiang Siyang responded.
"Coming, coming!" Jiu Chang said hurriedly.
Ten seconds later, as the red word "WIN" appeared on their screens, the three of them set their phones down in unison.
"You three are perfectly in sync," Pan Ming remarked. "I’ll head off now. You guys keep playing."
"Bye—" Zhang Jin’an waved.
"That felt great. Playing with a top-fifty leader is just different," Jiu Chang leaned back. "And Siyang, you’ve improved so much. You even know how to control recoil now. You must have been watching a lot of gaming streams."
Jiang Siyang smiled.
"Still playing? If not, I’m logging off," Zhang Jin’an said, propping his phone up.
Jiu Chang shook his head, grinning like a madman. "No more, no more. If I keep going, I’ll get too cocky... Oh right, I need to post this result to my Moments." He eagerly opened WeChat.
Watching Jiu Chang, Zhang Jin’an whispered to Jiang Siyang, "He’s already cocky."
Jiang Siyang nodded in agreement. "Agreed."
A server arrived with more food, placing two more dishes on the four crowded tables nearby.
Jiu Chang stood up and craned his neck to see, but it was too far away. He said to Jiang Siyang and Zhang Jin’an, "I’m going back to see what else they served," and headed off.
Now that it was just the two of them at the table, Zhang Jin’an felt much more relaxed. He reached under the table to toy with Jiang Siyang’s fingers.
Zhang Jin’an gave a faint smile. "How’s the script selection going?"
"I have three scripts right now. I want to challenge myself and pick something I’ve never played before," Jiang Siyang said.
Jiang Siyang had always been a man of his own mind, a trait Zhang Jin’an liked very much.
"Good. While you’re young, you should take on roles you haven't tried. Once you get older, you’ll mostly be typecast," Zhang Jin’an said. "So, what do you want to play this time?"
Jiang Siyang looked at him. "A psychopathic serial killer."
Zhang Jin’an: "...That is a bit of a drastic breakthrough."
Jiang Siyang laughed. "I’m joking. I’ve already chosen the role—it’s a doctor."
"Phew, you scared me," Zhang Jin’an said with a laugh. "If you’re playing a doctor, you can ask Zhang Shuyu about the technical knowledge. She’s a professional when it comes to medicine."
Jiang Siyang hesitated. "Wouldn't that be too much trouble for her?"
"Trouble? If you reach out to her, she’ll be over the moon," Zhang Jin’an said. "If she weren't busy working as an assistant on research projects, she would have flown over to take photos of you long ago."
"She’s that busy? Then maybe I shouldn't," Jiang Siyang said.
Zhang Jin’an didn't push it. He simply clasped his hands and joked toward the ceiling, "Well, you heard him, Zhang Shuyu. Don't say your brother didn't try to help. You just can't escape your fate of missing out on your idol."
Jiang Siyang was amused and laughed. "How can someone you're bound to meet sooner or later be considered a missed connection?"
"Hey, that’s well said. If you're bound to meet eventually, it's not a missed connection." Zhang Jin’an picked up his phone. "I’m stealing that for a Weibo post."
Jiang Siyang didn't stop him, smiling as he watched Zhang Jin’an type. He asked, "Has the female lead for *Double Rainbow* been decided yet?"
"Not yet. The production has currently narrowed it down to Ye Xueqi and Chen Yi. The one with the most support online is Gu Yirou. Look," Zhang Jin’an said, handing the phone to Jiang Siyang.
Jiang Siyang leaned in.
Under the official *Double Rainbow* Weibo account, the top few trending comments all mentioned Gu Yirou’s name. The main reasons were that she was good at gaming and her acting was solid.
"There really are a lot of them," Jiang Siyang noted.
"But the production won't hire her," Zhang Jin’an said, scrolling through the comments. "Setting everything else aside, Teacher Gu is indeed suitable. In terms of acting, she can play anything well. But the problem is that I’ve been cast as the male lead. It’s been less than a year since *Moonset Inn* finished. If Teacher Gu and I play opposite each other again, the audience will lose their immersion. *Double Rainbow* would just turn into a parallel universe of *Moonset Inn*."
Jiang Siyang agreed. "True. Having the same pair of actors can easily break the immersion."
"Teacher Ye and Teacher Chen are both excellent actors. As for which one is chosen, that’s up to the production, not me." Zhang Jin’an turned off his screen. "Regardless of who is chosen, I just need to act my part well."
"When does filming start?" Jiang Siyang asked.
"After the New Year." As Zhang Jin’an spoke, he remembered something and sat up straighter. "Oh right, I wrote a script."
Jiang Siyang blinked. "A script?"
"Aren't I going to your house tomorrow?" Zhang Jin’an’s fingers tapped incessantly on the table, a clear sign of his unease. "I’m afraid I’ll say the wrong thing to your parents, so I wrote a script just in case. It’s not long, just a few hundred words."
They had planned this trip to Shanghai long ago. Jiang Siyang’s flight was at nine tonight, while Zhang Jin’an’s was tomorrow morning. It was a stroke of luck that Zhang Jin’an was recording a variety show today, allowing them this brief meeting.
A whirlwind of emotions hit Jiang Siyang as he looked at the man before him. "Ge, you even wrote one for my mom?"
Jiang Siyang truly hadn't expected Zhang Jin’an to prepare something for his mother as well.
Zhang Jin’an, however, remained calm, as if this were only natural. "Of course. I have to take this seriously, or they’ll think we’re just playing around."
Jiang Siyang asked cautiously, "What did you write?"
"I can't tell you. It’s a secret," Zhang Jin’an said.
Jiang Siyang’s mind was so full of Zhang Jin’an that he didn't even process the words properly; he just nodded blankly. "...Okay."
Zhang Jin’an flashed him a smile, and he returned it.
Jiu Chang wandered back over. "Hey, Siyang, aren't you going to eat some more? They just brought out rice cakes and salad over there."
"Rice cakes?" Jiang Siyang’s interest was piqued. He stood up and asked Zhang Jin’an, "Ge, do you want some?"
Zhang Jin’an smiled and waved him off. "I’m full. You go ahead."
Jiang Siyang followed Jiu Chang back to the other table. Watching Jiang Siyang’s retreating back as he picked up his chopsticks, Zhang Jin’an smiled slightly. He then posted the words he had just written in his drafts. Within minutes, there were over two thousand comments.
[@ZhangJin’an]: I heard something wonderful today: How can someone you're bound to meet sooner or later be considered a missed connection?
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