Jiang Siyang found Liu Wenping at the rest area. As soon as she saw him, she said, "Zhang Jin’an left."
"Yeah, I know," Jiang Siyang replied.
Liu Wenping handed him a water bottle. Watching him take it, she smiled—an ambiguous, knowing look—and lowered her voice. "You said that was an ad-lib just now, but those were your true feelings, weren't they?"
Jiang Siyang naturally knew what she was referring to. He saw no reason to deny it and gave a simple "Mm" in response. He opened the cap and tilted his head back to take a drink.
Liu Wenping let out a mock sigh. "Sigh—how pitiful, only able to confess amidst the chaos." She patted his shoulder. "But this really is a tricky situation. It’s painful not to say anything, but if you do and Zhang Jin’an doesn't feel the same way, things will be very awkward between you two afterward."
Jiang Siyang looked down at the water bottle in his hand. The streetlights seemed to be trapped within the container, the gentle ripples of the water shattering the reflected beauty.
"I’m not really afraid of things being awkward," Jiang Siyang said slowly. "After all, even if he rejects me, the fact that I like him remains true. That won't change, and I’ll still talk to him just like before. It’s just that he..."
Jiang Siyang didn't know how to explain it, but Liu Wenping understood. She finished for him, "You’re worried that Zhang Jin’an will be too considerate of your feelings? That he’ll become overly cautious around you after rejecting you?"
Jiang Siyang nodded. "Yes."
Liu Wenping thought for a moment. "Yeah, that does sound like something he would do." She glanced at Jiang Siyang. "Actually, when I ran into him earlier, I brought you up."
"What?" Jiang Siyang replied instantly.
"Look at you," Liu Wenping teased, clicking her tongue at his reaction. "Suddenly you're all ears. Tsk."
Jiang Siyang ignored her teasing and gave a sheepish laugh. "What did you two talk about?"
"Just about acting. Since you two were doing a romantic scene, I asked him what he thought of you." Liu Wenping felt a slight pang of regret as she recalled the conversation. "Sigh, I thought he’d have more to say, but it was just a sentence or two. Something about your acting being pretty good, that you're quite nice, and then that was it. Still, it wasn't a low evaluation. There’s some hope, though you might still have a long way to go."
Liu Wenping’s sincere assessment gave Jiang Siyang pause. After a dozen seconds of silence, he finally said, "Alright, thank you, Sister Liu. I appreciate you looking out for me."
"It’s nothing, we’ve known each other for so many years," she said, patting his left shoulder. "I’ll help you where I can, but how it ends—whether the two of you can actually be together—that’s entirely up to you."
"I know," Jiang Siyang said. "A relationship that relies solely on the arrangements of others can't last. The people involved have to take action. I’ll pick a day to make things clear to him. I want to tell him plainly."
***
"Do you think Sister Liu noticed that I like Siyang?"
As soon as Zhang Jin’an returned to the hotel, he called Li Qiang. Before Li Qiang could get a word in, Zhang Jin’an dumped everything he had said to Liu Wenping onto him, wanting him to help analyze the situation.
But after listening, Li Qiang didn't take it to heart at all. "Aren't you overthinking it? You barely said a few words to her; how could she have noticed?"
Zhang Jin’an thought about it. "True."
Li Qiang said grandly, "Hah, don't overthink it. Even if Little Liu knows, I’d bet fifty cents that with Siyang’s straight-as-an-arrow logic, he wouldn't understand even if it hit him."
Zhang Jin’an chuckled.
"And then? What happened next? You had Xiao Zhou rush you over there this afternoon; surely you didn't just talk to Little Liu and come right back?" Li Qiang asked.
"Oh, when I got there, they were rehearsing a scene. They couldn't quite get it right, so Director Tang asked me to demonstrate, and I did," Zhang Jin’an answered.
Li Qiang was quiet for a few seconds before saying, "...That’s it?"
Zhang Jin’an: "That’s it."
"Sigh," Li Qiang’s voice was full of disappointment. "I thought something big happened. I waited all this time for you, and it turns out to be such a small thing."
To Zhang Jin’an, it had been a very big thing.
At the very least, he would remember the way Jiang Siyang looked at him then for a very, very long time. Probably long enough that even if Jiang Siyang rejected him in the future, he wouldn't feel any regret.
Today, Jiang Siyang had returned his love, even if it was just acting.
If only it hadn't been acting. With such a beautiful backdrop, it would have been a perfect time for a confession.
Zhang Jin’an sighed softly.
"Forget it, you can't rush these things," Li Qiang said. "Just go at your own pace. I believe he’ll figure it out."
"Mm," Zhang Jin’an agreed.
"Let's drop it so you don't overthink again... Oh, right, did you see the weather forecast today?" Li Qiang added. "I meant to ask you at the start, but you started talking first and I completely forgot. Glad I remembered."
"No, why?" Zhang Jin’an asked.
"Oh, the forecast says a typhoon is coming soon. I heard it’s going to be quite big. You’d better be careful. Don't go to the studio on your days off; just stay in the hotel," Li Qiang said.
"Okay, got it," Zhang Jin’an replied. He felt a pang of regret. Jiang Siyang was set to wrap up filming at the end of October, so their time was already limited. Now with a typhoon coming, they wouldn't be able to see each other for a few more days.
"Where is the typhoon approaching from first?" Zhang Jin’an asked.
"The coastal areas first, surely. I didn't look at the details, but this typhoon is a big deal; everyone on Weibo is talking about it," Li Qiang replied.
"Really? Let me see." As Zhang Jin’an spoke, he minimized the call screen and opened Weibo.
"Yeah, just look at the hot searches. It should still be up there," Li Qiang added.
Sure enough, Zhang Jin’an saw the typhoon Li Qiang mentioned at the number two spot on the hot search list.
Scrolling through the news, Zhang Jin’an said, "It really is a big deal. It’s already second."
"Huh? It’s second already? It was fifteenth or twentieth a few hours ago. Let me check." Rustling sounds came from Li Qiang’s end; he was likely moving around.
Zhang Jin’an read through the news. Experts had predicted a path for this typhoon, moving from south to north, passing through Xiao Nanshan along the way. Fortunately, the eye of the storm would pass over the coastal borders, only brushing the edge of the area.
"Oh, okay, it’s fine. It’s just on the edge," Li Qiang shouted over the phone. "As long as it doesn't move inland."
"But the power of a typhoon shouldn't be underestimated. We still need to be careful. I’ll call my family later," Zhang Jin’an said.
"Sure," Li Qiang said with a laugh. "Do you know what I was just looking at?"
"What?" Zhang Jin’an scrolled down to read the comments.
The comments were full of various opinions. One was particularly funny: "The last typhoon blew my hat away. I wonder if this one can blow it back."
"The comments on other celebrities' Weibo posts," Li Qiang said. "Right now, fans are commenting on the latest posts of every artist telling them to be careful. It looks quite heartwarming, though some artists' accounts are managed by their companies, so those comments don't really reach them."
"Is that so?" This was news to Zhang Jin’an.
"Yeah, it’s like that everywhere. Try searching any artist who posted recently," Li Qiang said.
Zhang Jin’an thought for a moment and searched for Su Zhiyang.
Su Zhiyang posted on Weibo at about the same frequency as he did. While Zhang Jin’an mostly reposted things, Su Zhiyang mostly posted original content, putting up a sentence or two every few hours. Netizens called him a chatterbox.
Thinking back to when Su Zhiyang’s company tried to give him a "cold, aloof god" persona, Zhang Jin’an found it hilarious. Both the company and Su Zhiyang were impressive—one dared to give the persona, and the other dared to accept it.
Su Zhiyang certainly didn't disappoint; his latest Weibo post had been sent only three hours ago.
[@SuZhiyang]: Mm, I’m working very hard at keeping up appearances. [Photo]
The photo was of a recording studio.
Zhang Jin’an remembered Su Zhiyang mentioning in their gaming group that his new drama was in post-production, so this photo was likely taken while he was doing dubbing work.
Zhang Jin’an looked at the comments below. Just as Li Qiang said, the top comments weren't the usual confessions of love; they were all telling Su Zhiyang to pay attention to the weather and be careful of the typhoon.
Next, Zhang Jin’an searched for Gu Yirou. Her last post was from the day before yesterday, but there were still many comments saying, "Be careful of the typhoon when you go out."
Finally, Zhang Jin’an checked his own Weibo. His last post was from yesterday. The first few comments were the same as yesterday’s, but as he scrolled down, he saw a few comments with tens of thousands of likes saying, "Be careful of the typhoon!"
"Why are there so few comments like this on my Weibo?" Zhang Jin’an asked, puzzled.
Li Qiang: "Because it’s common knowledge that you never step foot outside, so there’s no need to remind you to be careful when going out."
Zhang Jin’an: "..."
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Unable to be Arrogant [Entertainment Circle] | Chapter 95 | The Approaching Storm | Novela.app | Novela.app
