"Is it good?" Zhang Jin'an scooped up a spoonful, letting the chilled jelly slide into his mouth. It was a taste full of nostalgia.
Jiang Siyang nodded. "It’s delicious. Sweet and refreshing—perfect for summer."
They strolled aimlessly until they found Jiu Chang and Pan Ming in front of a clock shop marked with the number "five." The pair was currently attempting a challenge: 180 rope skips in one minute.
Seeing the two approach, Jiu Chang hurriedly called out, "Come here, come here... What are you eating?"
"Found it on the way," Jiang Siyang said, showing Jiu Chang the bowl of chilled jelly in his hand.
Jiu Chang was speechless. "I say, why does it feel like you two are here on vacation? Why aren't you nervous at all?"
Zhang Jin'an shrugged. "Isn't it nice to have something to eat and drink?"
"Have you seen Minister Jing and his partner?" Jiu Chang asked.
"No. You haven't run into them either?" Jiang Siyang asked.
"They couldn't have gotten lost, could they?" Pan Ming suggested.
Zhang Jin'an understood the possibility. Although the main road here was a wide thoroughfare, there were many branches. Some shops were tucked away in those alleys; if you took a wrong turn, you could end up right back on the main road. Without a local to lead the way, it was easy to get turned around.
"We almost got lost ourselves," Jiu Chang said enviously. "It’s good to have a local teammate. You never lose your way."
Jiang Siyang smiled. "How are you guys doing?"
"Sigh, Jiu Chang said he wanted to challenge it directly, so we didn't use a save point. I can't believe I trusted him," Pan Ming said, clutching the jump rope. "I'm getting old; I can't jump like I used to."
"I don't want to drink any more bitter melon juice!" Jiu Chang's eyes darted around before his "evil claws" reached for Jiang Siyang.
He grabbed Jiang Siyang’s arm. Siyang, still with a mouthful of jelly, was dragged before the NPC with a look of utter confusion.
"Boss, can I call for backup? Can I have someone jump in my place?" Jiu Chang asked, sounding bold despite having no logical ground to stand on.
Jiang Siyang: "?"
The NPC shook his head. "No."
"Then how about I give you his jelly, and you let him take my place?" Jiu Chang added.
Jiang Siyang hurriedly swallowed. "What?"
Jiu Chang pointed at the jelly Siyang was holding, his expression dead serious. "Are we brothers or not? What's more important, the jelly or your brother?"
Jiang Siyang looked at the jelly, then at Jiu Chang.
"You actually hesitated!" Jiu Chang clutched his chest. "Siyang, I misjudged you."
"I didn't..."
Jiu Chang covered his eyes with both hands. "Say no more. I understand everything."
Jiang Siyang: ?
Zhang Jin'an: ?
Pan Ming: ?
NPC: Didn't I just say you can't have a substitute?
Zhang Jin'an shook his head. He could guarantee that this kid was no match for Jiu Chang; if they stayed any longer, Siyang really would end up jumping for him. He stepped around the others, took Jiang Siyang by the wrist, and said to Jiu Chang, "We just came by to see what you were up to. If there's nothing else, we're leaving."
Ignoring whatever Jiu Chang said next, Zhang Jin'an pulled Jiang Siyang away without looking back. He only let go after they had walked a fair distance. The two then proceeded to their next destination: the cinema.
They were both extremely certain that the cinema was a key part of the main quest. Since Zhang Jin'an was an actor, anything related to his profession would likely involve a cinema.
Zhang Jin'an also had a premonition that the cinema might be the final stage of this quest line, so they decided to use a save point.
Zhang Jin'an felt like he was becoming immune to the bitter melon juice. He closed his eyes and downed it. After finishing, he remarked, "Today is turning out to be a bit too healthy."
Jiang Siyang handed him some water. "Good job, Ge."
The two then entered a room. The front was stark white, containing only a single table and an NPC dressed in a black business suit. The NPC stood up immediately upon seeing them. "Welcome to the Human Resources Department of our entertainment company. I believe you both must be people who deeply love film and television, which is why you've come here."
Zhang Jin'an and Jiang Siyang understood instantly. The setting wasn't a cinema, but an entertainment company.
This further confirmed that their choice had been correct.
They nodded without hesitation. "Yes."
"Very well. I would like to see how much you know about film and television," the NPC said. "I have five questions. If you answer four correctly, you will be hired."
With that, the NPC clapped his hands. Someone walked in with a laptop, placed it in front of the NPC, and left.
"Next, we have five audio clips. You must correctly identify the movie or television drama from the audio to succeed. I'm sure you're familiar with this game, so I won't repeat the rules," the NPC said. "Don't worry, I'm playing things you've seen before."
"Oh no, I haven't watched many movies or shows in recent years," Zhang Jin'an frowned.
"I understand. Once you become familiar with an industry, it's hard to watch your colleagues' work," Jiang Siyang said. "It's okay, I haven't watched much either."
The NPC said calmly, "Question one," and clicked the mouse.
Sound began to play. First came the sound of something shattering, followed by the clatter of many screws and nails hitting each other. Then, a man's ragged breathing could be heard, followed by a low whisper: "...I finally made it..."
Before the sentence was even finished, Jiang Siyang hesitantly raised his hand.
Zhang Jin'an, still completely in the dark, asked in surprise, "You figured it out?"
Jiang Siyang nodded, looking a bit uncertain. "I'm not sure, but I think it's this one."
"Just take a guess, it's fine," Zhang Jin'an comforted him. "We used a save point anyway."
"Okay."
Zhang Jin'an's words seemed to give Jiang Siyang courage, and he raised his hand higher.
The NPC signaled for him to answer. "Please."
"The Best World?" Jiang Siyang said tentatively.
"Hmm?" Zhang Jin'an hadn't expected that answer. Why hadn't he recognized it?
As for whether it was correct, only the NPC knew.
"..." The NPC remained silent for a few seconds under their anxious gaze before finally answering slowly, "Correct."
Hearing it was the right answer, Jiang Siyang stood up excitedly. As if he were watching the movie right then, he fluently described the plot: "Is this the part where the captain of the second team goes to destroy the enemy's main ship to find the long-tube oil device? There's a long take right after—it's not a famous one, but it's very impactful."
The NPC turned the laptop toward them. Just as Jiang Siyang had described, the screen showed a man prying open a sheet-metal window. Zhang Jin'an recognized the man; he played the second team captain in that drama. Afterward, just as Siyang said, the scene transitioned into a long take in a corridor. Because Zhang Jin'an hadn't been in this specific scene, he hadn't been familiar with it.
Zhang Jin'an looked at Jiang Siyang with a mix of shock and delight. "How did you know?"
"I just watch them whenever I have free time. I was quite free for a while and watched them every day," Jiang Siyang said, slowly sitting back down.
Zhang Jin'an gave him a thumbs-up. "Impressive. Didn't you say you rarely watch anything?"
"I don't," Jiang Siyang said, "but I've watched everything you've been in."
Zhang Jin'an's mood couldn't have been better. Even though they had only answered one question correctly so far, he felt as if he had already won.
"Question two." The NPC turned the laptop back and started the next clip.
Zhang Jin'an listened intently. He heard birds chirping in a forest and the sound of a flowing stream. Occasionally, there was a *shing-shing* sound, like someone practicing with a sword. The sound grew fainter, then stopped, as if paused. Zhang Jin'an heard nothing for about five seconds until the sound of shoes tapping on a wooden floor—*tap, tap, tap*—emerged.
This time there wasn't even any dialogue, making it even harder to guess. Zhang Jin'an ran through every movie he had seen in his head but couldn't think of a single one.
He looked at Jiang Siyang. Siyang had his hands crossed under his chin, his lips pursed. Beneath his long lashes, his eyes were fixed intently on the back of the laptop.
After the tapping sound, there was the sound of a sliding door being pushed open across the floor. At that moment, Jiang Siyang's eyes widened. Whether it was the lighting or something else, a spark seemed to flash in his eyes as he raised his hand abruptly.
"The Yamun!" Like the previous question, Jiang Siyang immediately described the following scene. "Qi Weizhi goes into the deep mountains to find Ning He, but the house is empty. The next scene should cut to a dark room where several people are gathered around a body, investigating the cause of death."
Regardless of whether the answer was right or wrong, Zhang Jin'an thought Jiang Siyang was incredible.
He had originally thought Jiang Siyang was only familiar with his lines, but it turned out he knew the entire movies. Just how many people's films had he watched, and how many times had he seen them to know them this clearly?
The kid's claim that he wanted to become like him wasn't just talk; he was truly working toward that goal.
Zhang Jin'an felt that this filming session was giving him a whole new perspective on Jiang Siyang.
Unsurprisingly, Jiang Siyang was correct. The scene was exactly as he had described, only more detailed, revealing nuances that the audio hadn't captured.
The following three questions were, as they expected, all from movies Zhang Jin'an had appeared in. However, the clips didn't feature Zhang Jin'an; they were of supporting characters, transitional scenes, or even extras. Yet, no matter what it was, Jiang Siyang answered them all.
When the NPC confirmed the final answer was correct, the two stood up excitedly and shared a high-five.
In his excitement, Zhang Jin'an interlaced his fingers with Jiang Siyang's left hand, feeling no awkwardness at all. He stared straight at Jiang Siyang's face as if looking at a hidden treasure. "Siyang! You're way too strong! If I were doing this alone, I wouldn't have gotten it in a whole day!"
Jiang Siyang waved his right hand bashfully. "No, no, it's all thanks to you, Ge. You gave everyone such great works, that's why I could remember them."
"Alright, please take your clue card," the NPC said, placing a card on the table and bringing them back to reality. "You can use your existing clues to find the final location."
The two immediately took the card. It read: "The place that touches the clouds."
Jiang Siyang laid out all the clue cards they had collected on the table. Zhang Jin'an pointed to them one by one, nodding thoughtfully when he reached the last one.
"I have a bit of an idea," Zhang Jin'an whispered into Jiang Siyang's ear, describing a route and the location he had in mind. Then he added, "You go ahead first. I'm going to go verify if my theory is correct."
"Okay," Jiang Siyang nodded.
And so, after leaving the cinema, the two went their separate ways—one heading forward, the other heading back. It was exactly three in the afternoon.
Jiang Siyang didn't know what Zhang Jin'an wanted to verify, but he knew the man must have his reasons, so he didn't ask.
Jiang Siyang walked in the direction Zhang Jin'an had indicated. Along the way, he encountered things he had seen before and things he hadn't. Eventually, he reached that specific crossroads.
The crossroads was exactly as Zhang Jin'an had described; seeing it in person felt almost surreal.
"It really is a clash of the titans," Jiang Siyang muttered, standing before the intersection and taking a photo with his phone.
Jiang Siyang's looks were naturally eye-catching. Combined with his school uniform, he stood out even more among the varied clothing of the crowd. With a camera crew following him, many people stared.
A few people recognized him and began taking photos. Whenever Jiang Siyang noticed, he would offer a smile to their lenses.
The summer afternoon sun lingered for a long time; the first hints of sunset wouldn't appear until after six. Jiang Siyang crossed Yushu Street. As he reached the end, nearing Little South Mountain, the crowds thinned, and the bustling noise seemed to fade behind him. After crossing one more road, he saw the newsstand Zhang Jin'an had mentioned.
Jiang Siyang recalled Zhang Jin'an's whisper: "Keep going straight..."
Continuing straight led him across a bridge. A river flowed beneath it, leading to some unknown destination. The water wasn't exactly crystal clear, but it wasn't murky either; he could see algae along the banks and the occasional fish swimming upstream.
"When you find a small pavilion, turn left..."
"You'll see the trees where they feed the pigeons..."
"..."
Finally, Jiang Siyang entered the last location Zhang Jin'an had described—a grand, tree-lined avenue.
Looking at the two rows of sycamore trees, their leaves still green, Jiang Siyang could almost imagine how this place would look in late autumn, covered in golden leaves. He could almost hear the crisp crunch of stepping on them. The autumn light would be like it was now, torn into ribbons by the gaps in the leaves and scattered everywhere.
Zhang Jin'an had told him that by crossing this avenue, he would reach the destination.
But Jiang Siyang stopped. He murmured something that the crew following him couldn't quite grasp: "So that's why."
Only Jiang Siyang knew what he was thinking. Looking back at the journey, there were clearly more direct paths to get here. Why had Zhang Jin'an chosen this specific one?
It was because Zhang Jin'an wasn't just giving him directions—
He was telling him that these places were beautiful, giving him the chance to see them and keep them as memories.
It was because Zhang Jin'an knew he loved scenery, and he wanted to ensure this trip left him with no regrets.
***
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Unable to be Arrogant [Entertainment Circle] | Chapter 36 | The Scenic Route | Novela.app | Novela.app
