Liu Wenping opened her eyes dizzily, pulled off her eye mask, and squinted at her watch.
"It's only eight o'clock..." She had thought they were about to land in Hangzhou, but only an hour had passed. They were probably just over Zhangjiajie.
Their flight had been at seven in the morning. She had woken up at four and was so exhausted that she fell asleep the moment she boarded.
Liu Wenping rubbed her eyes and sat up slightly, glancing around. Most of the window shades were drawn, leaving the cabin as dim as night. The passengers were in various states of sleep, some snoring softly. A few others were awake like her, either looking down at their phones or staring out the windows.
As Liu Wenping settled back into her seat, she noticed that Jiang Siyang, sitting to her right, was also awake. He wore a white cap, his hair pressed down over his eyebrows, nearly covering his eyes. He was silent and expressionless, resting his chin on his right hand while staring at the drawn shade of the window in front of him.
It wasn't that she wanted to boast about her own artist, but Jiang Siyang’s eyes were truly the most spirited she had ever seen; that was an objective fact, free of any bias. Even when he was lost in thought, they held a certain light.
Thinking he had woken up naturally like her, Liu Wenping struck up a conversation in a low voice. "You're awake too."
Jiang Siyang replied, "I didn't sleep."
"You didn't sleep?" Liu Wenping was surprised. Jiang Siyang had gotten up even earlier than she had today; when she went down to the hotel lobby, he was already sitting there waiting for her.
She watched him for a few seconds, then turned to look at Xie Jie on her left. Xie Jie’s head was tilted back, his mouth open, sleeping soundly.
Right, sleeping like a log—that was how a normal person should look.
Liu Wenping asked curiously, "Aren't you tired? You were up at four today, and you didn't even get back to the hotel until ten last night."
Jiang Siyang shook his head. "Maybe it's because my usual wake-up time is quite early, so I don't feel much of a difference."
This inexplicable sense of familiarity reminded Liu Wenping of someone, and she couldn't help but smile. "I have to say, you're really becoming more and more like Zhang Jin'an."
Liu Wenping didn't notice Jiang Siyang’s body stiffen slightly at her words. She only heard him ask, "What about him?"
Naturally happy to talk, Liu Wenping shifted into a more comfortable position and reminisced. "There was a time when he used to get up quite early too. But he wouldn't go out for a walk or anything; he’d just stay home until it was time to leave. I asked him why he didn't go out since he was up so early. Guess what he said?"
Liu Wenping glanced at Jiang Siyang. He leaned in, appearing to listen more intently. "What?"
"He said saving time is equivalent to saving your life. So I asked him, what did you do with all that saved time at home? He told me—" Liu Wenping looked at Jiang Siyang’s expectant expression and enunciated each word, "Play. Video. Games."
Jiang Siyang indeed laughed, his eyes crinkling. "That sounds just like him."
"I didn't stop him, though. Everything you're going through now, he went through too. He was even busier than you back then, so I didn't mind him playing games during his rest time," Liu Wenping continued. "But I left later on, so I don't know what his schedule was like after that. He was already very popular then, so his schedule likely only increased. It was only after he started winning various awards and gained some say in things that the company loosened up a bit."
Jiang Siyang nodded thoughtfully.
Once she started reminiscing, Liu Wenping couldn't quite stop. she shared two more stories from the past, only stopping when her throat felt a bit dry.
Liu Wenping unscrewed a bottle and took a sip of water. "Thinking about it, he’s changed quite a lot."
"Has he?" Jiang Siyang replied.
"On the surface, it seems like there’s no change. But if you had known him a few years earlier, you’d be able to tell. For example, certain habits," Liu Wenping tapped the back of her hand. "Like, he didn't used to like checking his private messages. I always had to call him to get him to look. But look at him now—doesn't he DM you all the time?"
***
"Zhang Jin'an! Why aren't you checking your DMs again?!"
Fortunately, Zhang Jin'an had anticipated Li Qiang’s volume and held the phone away from his ear before the call connected.
Zhang Jin'an sat on his bed, arm extended, letting the person on the other end roar. Accustomed to this, he calmly checked his watch.
8:15 AM.
Not bad; he’d only been playing for an hour.
He felt that this hour had been quite productive; he had caught up on some variety show clips featuring Jiang Siyang.
Once the shouting on the other end ceased, Zhang Jin'an spoke into the phone. "What is it? I was just sleeping."
Li Qiang immediately roared again, "Bullshit! I saw you log into the game!"
Zhang Jin'an felt a twinge of regret. "Sigh, I should have appeared offline. I only just got on."
"Hurry up and send your ID number to Xiao Zhou," Li Qiang muttered, puzzled. "I thought your habit of ignoring DMs was cured?"
Zhang Jin'an exited the game and asked, "It's not cured. Since when was it cured?"
"Don't you DM Jiang Siyang all the time?"
Zhang Jin'an sounded surprised. "You're actually comparing yourselves to him?"
Li Qiang was visibly choked up. "...For a moment, I don't even know how to respond to that."
Zhang Jin'an chuckled a few times. "Fine, I got it. I'll go check."
"Good. Hanging up," Li Qiang ended the call.
***
"For instance, he didn't use to go on variety shows, but now he does, right? Didn't he just appear on *Friday Morning* and *Play a Game*?" Liu Wenping continued. "It shows he’s starting to pay attention to that field. These are all changes in him."
Jiang Siyang nodded. "It seems so."
Liu Wenping smoothed her hair with a hint of pride. "Sigh... a meticulous manager like me is truly hard to come by."
***
Just as Zhang Jin'an sent the photo of his ID to Xiao Zhou, Li Qiang came looking for him again. Zhang Jin'an said goodbye to Xiao Zhou and replied to Li Qiang.
【Li Qiang】: Did you send it?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Done.
【Li Qiang】: What time did you get up? Tell the truth.
【Zhang Jin'an】: Seven, I think.
【Li Qiang】: So early?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Natural rhythm.
【Li Qiang】: I bet you haven't even gotten out of bed.
【Zhang Jin'an】: You guessed right.
【Li Qiang】: ...
【Li Qiang】: I wish I hadn't.
【Li Qiang】: What have you been doing for the past hour?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Catching up on variety shows. I want to watch some of the ones I missed before.
Li Qiang’s eyes widened as he stared at the words "variety shows."
Has this kid finally seen the light? He's actually catching up on variety shows? Is he finally taking that field seriously?
Li Qiang immediately replied.
【Li Qiang】: ???????! Oh?!
【Li Qiang】: You've finally seen the light?
【Li Qiang】: You're finally interested in variety shows?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Not really.
【Zhang Jin'an】: I'm just watching Siyang's cuts.
Li Qiang: "...?"
Before Li Qiang could reply, Zhang Jin'an sent several images over.
When Li Qiang opened them, they were all screenshots of Jiang Siyang on variety shows, along with two GIFs.
One was a picture of Jiang Siyang eating, and the other was of Jiang Siyang turning his head.
【Li Qiang】: ...................?
【Zhang Jin'an】: [Image]
【Zhang Jin'an】: This is a screenshot from *Play a Game*.
【Zhang Jin'an】: I really want to see this in person. I haven't seen him wear this outfit before.
This picture was clearly different from the others; it was obviously a high-definition photo taken by the program crew. Jiang Siyang stood in the center of the stage, holding a microphone and smiling at something off-camera.
Jiang Siyang’s hair was slightly curled. He wore a white shirt with one sleeve rolled up to his elbow and light blue distressed jeans. His difference from others probably lay in his facial advantages.
The photo itself was fine, but what shocked Li Qiang was that out of all the outfits Jiang Siyang had worn, Zhang Jin'an actually remembered which ones he had seen and which ones he hadn't?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Why didn't I go on the show with him?
【Zhang Jin'an】: My only regret.
【Zhang Jin'an】: And this one, this is also good.
【Zhang Jin'an】: [Image]
Seeing that Zhang Jin'an was about to start sending more photos, Li Qiang immediately messaged to stop him.
【Li Qiang】: Fuck.
【Li Qiang】: My mistake.
【Li Qiang】: Stop sending them. I shouldn't have asked.
【Li Qiang】: Jin'an, do you realize? You sound exactly like those fans right now.
【Zhang Jin'an】: Correct. I am now a die-hard fan of Jiang Siyang.
【Li Qiang】: You're practically becoming a sasaeng fan.
【Li Qiang】: Where did you get all these pictures?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Saved them from Weibo.
【Zhang Jin'an】: I found another one.
【Zhang Jin'an】: And this one, I'm jealous again.
【Zhang Jin'an】: [Image]
Li Qiang didn't even bother to click on the images anymore and just replied.
【Li Qiang】: What are you jealous of? Isn't he coming back this afternoon?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Aren't there still over four hours left?
【Li Qiang】: It's useless to howl at me; he can't see it anyway.
After Li Qiang sent this, he waited a full five minutes before receiving a reply.
【Zhang Jin'an】: I understand now.
【Li Qiang】: What do you understand?
【Zhang Jin'an】: Talking to you is useless.
Li Qiang was about to feel relieved when he saw Zhang Jin'an’s next reply:
【Zhang Jin'an】: I'm going to check the Super Talk.
【Li Qiang】: ?
Zhang Jin'an was a man of his word. Having said he was going to the Super Talk, he stopped looking at Li Qiang’s messages.
He opened Weibo and found the #Zhang-Yang Unending# Super Talk.
Today, the Super Talk was different from before. The pinned section, which used to be empty, now had two posts. The cover of the Super Talk had also been changed to the words "Zhang-Yang" written in a flamboyant, elegant script. The number of followers had somehow reached ten thousand.
The #Zhang-Yang Unending# Super Talk now had a moderator, and that moderator was "System Limits Reunion."
Reunion had mentioned three days ago that she had applied for the moderator position. It was officially approved today. Upon learning she had become the moderator, she immediately posted two pieces of writing and a pinned announcement.
Zhang Jin'an chose to read the stories first, then the announcement.
[*Zhang Jin'an never would have expected that such a simple embrace would make him this nervous...*]
***
