Unable to be Arrogant [Entertainment Circle] | Chapter 89 | The Moon on This Side | Novela.app

Jiang Siyang flipped back to the first page and started reading again. By the time Liu Wenping returned, he was already halfway through. A few minutes later, the interview began. Jiang Siyang handed the magazine to Xie Jie and followed the staff out. Interviews were mostly the same, revolving around a few predictable questions, and Jiang Siyang answered them fluently. For him, the greatest benefit of interviews, aside from answering the audience's questions, was learning internet slang. Every host loved to tease him about how he rarely went online, and after the teasing, they would teach him new terms, which truly broadened his horizons. Once the interview concluded, Jiang Siyang went to the company to sign a product endorsement contract. By the time everything was finished, the day had passed. Liu Wenping had already warned him that these few days would be packed and busy. Jiang Siyang understood this well; he also knew it would only get busier, as commercial shoots were scheduled to begin in a few days. Still, this was better than having no work at all—at least he was getting paid. Jiang Siyang spent these days constantly on the move, with very little rest. His only free time was the hour before bed. He usually chose to lie in bed, memorizing scripts or reading, before turning off the lights at a set time. If Zhang Jin'an was online, they would chat for a while about the script or daily life. Chatting with Zhang Jin'an was the most relaxing and pleasant part of his day. He could tell Zhang Jin'an anything—who he met, what happened—and Zhang Jin'an would always respond. Unlike before, over the past two days, he read every message from Zhang Jin'an with intense focus. He wanted to find clues to see if his guess was correct. However, Zhang Jin'an’s replies were perfectly natural; he couldn't find a single thing out of place. Jiang Siyang thought about it; after all, text was thin and couldn't convey the full weight of emotion. He decided to wait until they met in person. He stopped overthinking and stopped scrutinizing every word, simply sending whatever came to mind. [Zhang Jin'an]: That’s actually hilarious. [Zhang Jin'an]: LMAO [Panda laughing emoji] [Jiang Siyang]: I just remembered! [Zhang Jin'an]: ?! [Zhang Jin'an]: What happened? [Jiang Siyang]: I got my photos developed. [Zhang Jin'an]: What photos? [Zhang Jin'an]: Oh. [Zhang Jin'an]: The ones you took on set. [Jiang Siyang]: Yes! [Jiang Siyang]: [Bouquet of flowers emoji] [Zhang Jin'an]: Let me see. Jiang Siyang opened the top drawer of his nightstand. Inside lay the copy of *Precision Creation* and a plain grey notebook with no title. Jiang Siyang took the grey notebook out. This was the photo album Jiang Siyang kept in his suitcase. He took photos often but didn't go home frequently, so he used this travel album specifically to store photos he had developed in other cities. The album could only hold four photos per page. By now, Jiang Siyang had taken at least a hundred, so it had some heft to it. Jiang Siyang flipped to the last few pages, found the first photo from the film set, and held up his phone to snap pictures of the pages one by one. Most were landscape shots. The photos of people were similar—mostly group shots of everyone gathered together at different times. There were certainly more than just these few photos in his camera—probably hundreds—but these were the ones Jiang Siyang was most satisfied with, which was why he had them developed. Looking at these photos, Jiang Siyang could recall the scenes at the time, and the corners of his mouth curled up involuntarily. This one was when they went to the countryside; this one was everyone crowding around a local's husky; this one was... Jiang Siyang flipped to the last page and suddenly froze. He slowly lowered the hand holding his phone. The dim yellow light of the bedside lamp wasn't as bright as the phone screen. After waiting a short while, Zhang Jin'an received the photos from Jiang Siyang. Without even looking at them first, Zhang Jin'an immediately sent the praise he had prepared long ago. [Zhang Jin'an]: These are shot so well!!!!!! Praising him was all that mattered. Why even look? There was no need. Whatever Jiang Siyang shot was the best. After sending that, Zhang Jin'an felt satisfied and finally sat up to actually look at the photos. The heating in his room was turned up high, so he wasn't afraid to leave his arms uncovered. Zhang Jin'an clicked his tongue in admiration as he scrolled. They really were beautiful, perfect for a collection. As expected of Jiang Siyang! Zhang Jin'an reached the last image, which only had three photos on the page. He assumed that was the end. He went back to the first one and saved all of them, deciding to send another fifty-word paragraph of effusive praise. But fearing he would be too obvious, he deleted more than half of it. Zhang Jin'an sighed. He had degenerated to the point where he had to carefully weigh every message he sent. [Zhang Jin'an]: I like the one of the husky. It feels very grounded, full of life. [Jiang Siyang]: That one was taken with a film camera. [Zhang Jin'an]: No wonder it looks vintage. I like it. [Jiang Siyang]: [Big grin emoji] [Zhang Jin'an]: But... [Zhang Jin'an]: Why are they all group photos? [Zhang Jin'an]: Are there no individual ones? [Jiang Siyang]: I'm not very good at portraits, so I didn't take any. [Zhang Jin'an]: Ah, I see. Zhang Jin'an felt a slight pang of regret upon reading this, but when he thought about how everyone else was in the same boat, he felt much better. [Zhang Jin'an]: Do you have the digital versions of these few? [Zhang Jin'an]: [Image] [Zhang Jin'an]: [Image] [Zhang Jin'an]: I want these two. [Jiang Siyang]: I do. [Jiang Siyang]: Okay, hold on. [Zhang Jin'an]: [Panda resting chin on paws emoji] Jiang Siyang found the photos on his phone and sent them to Zhang Jin'an. After a few more lines of conversation, they bid each other goodnight. Jiang Siyang set his phone aside and reopened the album, flipping directly to the last page. The placement of the photos on the last page was different from the start. One photo wasn't aligned properly; it had clearly been pulled out and tucked back in. Jiang Siyang picked up that photo. He remained motionless, staring at it for a long time. Only after a long while did he move—he opened the nightstand drawer, took out the magazine, flipped to the page featuring Zhang Jin'an, and tucked the photo inside. The sunset captured in the magazine unexpectedly matched the warm, dusky tones of the photo. Jiang Siyang’s finger gently brushed over the profile of the person in the photo. This was the only photo of Zhang Jin'an, and the only solo portrait. He still remembered when he took it. He had been holding his camera, standing far from the crowd, watching the person framed by the glow of the sunset. With a heart full of admiration, he had pressed the shutter. And now? He thought it probably wasn't just worship anymore. Worship was the desperate desire to let the other person know you had admired them for a long time so they would notice you. It wasn't like this—hiding the photo away, terrified that the other person might find out. Jiang Siyang closed the magazine, placed it gently on the nightstand, and turned off the light. After lying down, he checked his phone again. Just then, a message arrived from Yuan Yuan. [Yuan Yuan]: You there? [Jiang Siyang]: What’s up? [Yuan Yuan]: Want to grab breakfast tomorrow? I also invited Xiao Gege and Xiao Huahua. Xiao Huahua’s real name was Yu Meihua. She was one of the three screenwriters for *Hidden Shadows*. Jiang Siyang often heard Yuan Yuan call her that on set, though he didn't know how they had met. If the people on set were ranked by social skills, Yuan Yuan would definitely be number one. [Jiang Siyang]: I won't arrive until the afternoon. [Yuan Yuan]: Oh, I see. [Yuan Yuan]: Alright then— [Jiang Siyang]: You could ask Jin'an-ge. [Yuan Yuan]: Big Bro? [Yuan Yuan]: I haven't run into him at all these past two days. Jiang Siyang paused. He remembered Zhang Jin'an was off yesterday. [Jiang Siyang]: Didn't he come to the set yesterday? [Yuan Yuan]: ?? [Yuan Yuan]: Wasn't he off yesterday? Why would he come to the set? [Yuan Yuan]: He had some free time at first, but didn't he say in the group chat later that his schedule was picking up? [Yuan Yuan]: There's no way he'd just hang around the set if he was free. But... why did he see Zhang Jin'an on set so often? And why did he always stay to help him run lines? Something suddenly occurred to Jiang Siyang. After a few quick words to wrap up the chat with Yuan Yuan, he reopened his conversation with Zhang Jin'an. [Zhang Jin'an]: The weather is changing fast lately. Keep warm. [Zhang Jin'an]: Be careful not to catch a cold. [Jiang Siyang]: Mm. [Jiang Siyang]: You too, Ge. [Zhang Jin'an]: Goodnight. [Jiang Siyang]: Goodnight. These were their last messages—perfectly ordinary. The phone screen seemed exceptionally bright in the pitch-black room, but Jiang Siyang didn't find it glaring. He scrolled up, reading through the messages one by one. Finally, he reached the beginning. The conversation started on the day he had cleared his cache—August 17th. Jiang Siyang spoke softly to the phone screen, "Ge, are you like this with everyone else too?" Do you chat with them about trivial daily matters, care about their every move, know the things they like, and patiently respond to nonsense? It turned out that text wasn't thin at all; the emotions were simply hidden between the lines. Fortunately, he had caught them. For some reason, he suddenly remembered the night they went out for barbecue. It wasn't that long ago—only a week had passed—so his memory was still vivid. Seven or eight of them had gone to eat barbecue together, including Zhang Jin'an. That day, Zhang Jin'an had specifically worn a hat and a mask, fearing he would be recognized. As it turned out, the moment he took off his mask to eat, the owner's wife recognized him. She insisted on taking a photo and gave them the meal for free. The barbecue shop was very close to the hotel, just across the street, so they had walked there and were walking back. It was dark then. Everyone was chatting in small groups, while he walked at the very back with his camera. The moonlight that night was truly beautiful; thin clouds drifted around the crescent moon hanging in the sky. He wanted to photograph the moon but couldn't find the right angle. When he finally found a spot and took the shot, he turned around to find that everyone else had already crossed the street. Only Zhang Jin'an was still standing beside him. He had asked Zhang Jin'an why he hadn't gone across. Zhang Jin'an had looked at him and replied—"Because there isn't such a beautiful moon on the other side." Jiang Siyang closed his eyes, feeling his heart thumping hard. He understood something today. The boundary between admiration and love seemed blurred, but it was actually easy to distinguish—admiration isn't afraid of being discovered. He loved Zhang Jin'an. Perhaps because he had long regarded Zhang Jin'an as a light in his life, this love had simply peeled away from his admiration. Thus, it all felt natural; he wasn't even surprised. Jiang Siyang whispered, his voice barely audible to anyone, "Ge, can I 'misunderstand' that you like me too?" If I can, I will walk toward you. If I cannot, then I will run. ***