The recording schedule for *Friday Morning* was usually determined by the specific circumstances of the shoot; sometimes it was at noon, sometimes at night, and sometimes, like today, in the early hours of the morning.
At five o'clock in the morning, foot traffic in Nanshan Park was sparse. The fountains had not yet begun to play. Only the passing wind broke the silence, stirring slight ripples on the pond's surface and brushing against the babbling water of the rockery.
The five of them stood in front of the fountain to record the opening. Everyone’s clothing style was different—some wore matching sets, others wore bright colors. Jiang Siyang wore a white cap, a denim jacket over a white T-shirt, and black knee-length shorts.
These five individuals shared nothing in common regarding looks, height, or age. The only thing they had in common was that they were all bare-faced.
Being makeup-free wasn't a hard rule of the show; it was simply because they had all woken up so early. Furthermore, they were all well-acquainted and lacked any "idol baggage," so whenever there was a morning shoot, they usually met bare-faced for the opening. The production crew would only style them according to the theme later on.
Truth be told, anyone would be sleepy waking up at this hour, especially since they had only arrived at Xiaonanshan the previous night. Consequently, several of them were yawning. Fortunately, they had great chemistry and even made jokes about how tired they were, creating quite a few laughs and allowing the opening to proceed smoothly.
This state lasted until the "Guess the Guest" segment began.
Anyone who watched the show knew that these five were always exceptionally excited during this segment, as if whoever guessed correctly would be the winner of the day's episode.
Originally, this wasn't even a formal segment, just a discussion similar to the opening. However, because their guessing process and the content of their theories were hilarious—and because they had actually managed to deduce the guest correctly through reasoning in several episodes—it had become an independent segment.
Sure enough, as soon as PD Jiang said, "You can try to guess who today's guest is," the energy of the group visibly improved.
One by one, they took their answer boards and began to discuss.
Pan Ming, the only professional host among the five, naturally picked up the director's lead and asked the four people standing on either side of him, "Quick, think. Who is from Xiaonanshan?"
Jiang Siyang stood on the far left, but he was the quickest to answer. The moment he heard the words "Xiaonanshan," a certain person's face instantly popped into his mind. Without thinking, he blurted out, "Zhang Jin'an."
As soon as he spoke, everyone turned to look at him. Their responses were just as quick: "Eh... impossible."
Jing Shangshu, standing next to Jiang Siyang, immediately patted his shoulder and seized the opportunity to shout at the cameras, "Director, look at how sleepy this kid is. He's started talking nonsense again."
"Siyang, look at our show. Do we look like we have that much money?" Chen Yi said with a laugh.
"True, I was overthinking it," Jiang Siyang immediately gave the production crew a fifteen-degree bow.
The production crew: "?"
In truth, Jiang Siyang also felt the answer was definitely wrong, but the first and only person from Xiaonanshan he could think of was Zhang Jin'an.
"Could it be Teacher Gu Qian?" the group continued to discuss.
Jiu Chang, who had been standing on the far right, stepped forward at some point. He faced the camera with his profile, standing in a way that made it look like he was part of the production crew. "I really love the short essays he writes."
"Is Gu Qian from Xiaonanshan? Wow, that's possible. Gu Qian has been very popular lately," Chen Yi, standing next to Jiu Chang, nodded in agreement.
Pan Ming, living up to his reputation as a host, remembered many names. He counted them off on his fingers: "Li Shixiang, Pei Yingying, Luo Jin... they all seem to be from here too."
"It probably isn't Teacher Luo, right? The production crew wouldn't make an elder come out this early. It's definitely a young person," Jiang Siyang speculated.
"Right, right, right," Jing Shangshu nodded.
"Wow, speaking of which, Xiaonanshan really has a lot of handsome men and beautiful women," Jiu Chang remarked.
"Right, right, right," Jing Shangshu nodded again.
"Sigh, Brother Shangshu, you're doing it again," Jiu Chang said with a smile. "Do you know what the viewers called you in the last episode?"
"What?" Jing Shangshu asked.
"The Heartless Nodding Machine," Jiu Chang said.
Before Jing Shangshu could react, the other three immediately mimicked him, nodding: "Right, right, right."
They discussed for a while longer, going through every name they could think of. Finally, PD Jiang spoke up, his expression particularly enigmatic. "Actually, during your discussion, someone guessed correctly. Here's a hint: today's guest is a man."
As soon as those words were spoken, the group, which had just quieted down, fell into chaos again. They all scrambled to change their answers. In the end, only Jiu Chang wrote "Zhang Jin'an," while everyone else wrote "Gu Qian" or "Li Shixiang."
Pan Ming was the first to notice and asked, "Jiu Chang, why did you write Big Brother's name?"
"No, I didn't write Big Brother," Jiu Chang held his answer board high, pointing to the name "Li Shixiang" in the bottom left corner. "I grabbed the wrong pen. This one won't erase. The one I finally wrote was Teacher Li."
"Alright," PD Jiang said, giving them no more chances to guess. "Everyone has finished their answers. Let's invite our guest to the stage."
The group fell silent instantly. Their eyes followed the van as it slowly drove toward them from a distance.
"Why do I always feel like this is the most nerve-wracking part of every episode?" Pan Ming couldn't help but say.
"Sigh, who doesn't?" Chen Yi added. "It's like whoever guesses right is actually going to win something."
"He's here, he's here!" Jing Shangshu shouted, raising his voice.
The van stopped three meters away from them. The five of them watched the door open. When they saw Zhang Jin'an step out, the scene descended into utter chaos.
Zhang Jin'an was dressed in a black-and-white tracksuit with white sneakers. After getting out of the car, he immediately gave them a fifteen-degree bow. "Hello, everyone."
Pan Ming was the first to walk over and shake Zhang Jin'an's hand. "Welcome, welcome."
Jiu Chang, being the closest to Zhang Jin'an, held his answer board above his head. "Big Brother! Big Brother! I'm a fan! Tang Junyuan! Professor Luo!"
Zhang Jin'an found it a bit funny. "You've watched them all?"
Jiu Chang admitted immediately, "I've seen those two. I haven't finished catching up on the others yet."
On the other side, Jing Shangshu walked over to the fountain and looked up at the sky. "Damn! I was wondering why the sun hadn't come out yet. Is the sun going to rise from the west today?"
Chen Yi went straight to PD Jiang and asked point-blank, "Did the production crew take out a loan behind our backs?"
The production crew: ?
Jiang Siyang was the only one present who didn't move much. He stood quietly in place. Rather than being quiet, it was more accurate to say he was dazed—he simply couldn't believe it.
This was even more inconceivable to Jiang Siyang than seeing Zhang Jin'an backstage at a commercial event.
Watching Zhang Jin'an greet the others, Jiang Siyang finally realized that when Zhang Jin'an said "see you next time," it had been a hint, a preview. He just hadn't thought that far ahead, simply assuming they would meet at the script reading.
In those chaotic few minutes, Jiang Siyang thought about a lot of things. He tended to overthink when he was nervous.
He had told himself before not to cling to Zhang Jin'an's popularity and to avoid being on the same stage, but what was he supposed to do in this situation? The man was right in front of him. What should he do?
It wasn't until Zhang Jin'an walked up to him, eyes crinkling with a smile as he said "long time no see," that Jiang Siyang snapped back to reality.
"Ah!?" Jiang Siyang instinctively took a small step back. "Long time no see, Brother..."
"Surprised? Unexpected?" Zhang Jin'an said with a smile.
"Of course it's a surprise," Jiang Siyang nodded repeatedly. "You... why are you here?"
"Hmm... guess," Zhang Jin'an winked at Jiang Siyang.
Zhang Jin'an felt this trip was well worth it. The cameras had to capture Jiang Siyang's dazed and surprised expression; he wanted to go back and watch it a hundred times. It was just too much fun.
"Alright, Jin'an, come stand in the middle with us," Pan Ming called out.
Zhang Jin'an walked over to stand beside Pan Ming.
"We're really surprised. Jin'an, don't you usually avoid variety shows? Why the sudden appearance?" Pan Ming asked.
"Before, my work state was unstable and I didn't have the time; I was fully focused on filming TV dramas and movies. Now, my work state is much more stable, and I've had some free time recently, so I've slowly started to broaden my horizons," Zhang Jin'an answered naturally and smoothly.
An outsider might not hear it and would simply think Zhang Jin'an was like a fish in water when it came to interviews. But as a host, Pan Ming greatly admired Zhang Jin'an. The cleverness of this statement lay in the appropriate omission of details; he didn't compare this show to other variety shows, making everyone feel comfortable while providing a good answer to a question that was deceptively difficult.
*Not bad, not bad,* Pan Ming praised him inwardly.
But in reality, Zhang Jin'an hadn't thought that much at all. The only reason he said those words was because he couldn't tell the truth—his appearance on a variety show had nothing to do with whether his work state was stable. It was simply because Jiang Siyang was here, he needed to interact with him, and he wanted to see Tuan Yuan update the fanfic.
***
Chinese | English | Notes/Explanation
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星期五的早晨 | Friday Morning | The name of the variety show.
姜pd | PD Jiang | The producer/director of the show.
潘明 | Pan Ming | The host of the variety show.
景尚书 | Jing Shangshu | A cast member of the variety show.
陈奕 | Chen Yi | A cast member of the variety show.
九常 | Jiu Chang | A cast member of the variety show.
顾迁 | Gu Qian | A famous writer/figure mentioned as a potential guest.
李世祥 | Li Shixiang | A potential guest mentioned.
裴莹莹 | Pei Yingying | A potential guest mentioned.
罗锦 | Luo Jin | A potential guest mentioned.
唐俊远 | Tang Junyuan | A character played by Zhang Jin'an.
罗教授 | Professor Luo | A character played by Zhang Jin'an.
团圆 | Tuan Yuan | The pseudonym of the fanfic author Zhang Jin'an follows.
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Unable to be Arrogant [Entertainment Circle] | Chapter 27 | A Surprise Guest | Novela.app | Novela.app
