Chapter 26: CH 26

[The next time you open your eyes you’ll be able to see me]

[The most amazing A beauty, a double entendre, doge1]

[Guys, you should all write ‘Style’2 and have it displayed on screen!]

[Suddenly coming up close to the camera, I’ve really been bewitched. It’s exactly what the bewitching king of the fishing department should do wuwuwuwu]

[I want to stick close to teacher Ruan, may I ask, if I start honing my acting skills, would I be able to get a grand slam title of the movie emperor just like gege, frantic.jpg]

[If I were to say it, if teacher Ruan were to stop being with my ge, my ge will still be the same (? or maybe he’ll look at us more (???]

[Hahahahaha fuck, a certain puppy: I wasn’t there for a day but not only are you not my fan anymore, you even want to dig in my corner, thumbs up.jpg]

[So who can tell me exactly what kind of job does teacher Ruan have?]

Regarding this problem, the guests who had just finished watching this scene were also mulling it over.

Zheng Qing’s first reaction was to turn his head to look at the director group, then with a quiet voice, asked: “Did you guys already know Xiao Song’s profession so you deliberately did this in order to push his persona?”

Director group: “?”

The chief director immediately exposed an entire face of grievance: “Deliberately?? I was still wondering how I could be this unlucky, I even happened to hit upon his expertise!”

[Hahahahaha, looks like the program team really didn’t set up the script with teacher Ruan]

[Director group: The most important point is, does it look like teacher Ruan is someone who I can move into following a script, frantic.jpg x3]

Based upon the dispute between Ruan Song and the boy, as well as the performance of the relationship between the director and the executive producer, the verdict was already very clear.

Either Ruan Song’s own work was linked to the film and television industry; or Ruan Song simply knew the production team of ‘Blue Lake’.

Directly asking about one’s career right in front of a camera was still not that good.

Qin Sijia tactfully asked: “Xiao Song, do you recognize the producers of this film? Or did you also eat the melons on Douban.”

Ruan Song put down the thermos, then shook his head and laughed: “Is Master3 Jiang the kind of big boss that I can know just because? Of course I don’t know him.”

He just finished saying this when an older man’s voice had already burst out from behind the projector screen, he laughingly said: “But I know you.”

Everyone raised their heads in surprise.

Behind the projector screen, a little old man with white hair and a childlike face walked out. He wasn’t tall, but when he smiled, the apples of his cheeks rose up high. He was wearing a dark red Tang4 suit inlaid with gold and walked with his hands behind his back, and walked leisurely towards them.

The bullet screen and several guests hadn’t reacted to what was happening, when Ruan Song had already sat up with astonishment, then called out two words that caused everyone’s chin to drop with shock: “Master Jiang.”

[?????]

[This is Jiang Zhi??]

Although they weren’t in the same industry, once Qin Sijia and Zheng Qing heard Ruan Song greet him, after a brief moment of blank headedness, they also quickly rose up from the bench to greet the man.

The director group gave a meaningful look at the secretary on stage.

They all thought the flying guest would also be like Wan Qingyue, wherein they would first return to the cabin and then pick them up after being notified.

Jiang Zhi briefly greeted everyone, then quickly turned his gaze back to Ruan Song, half jokingly, half blamingly he replied: “How could a child like you be more forgetful than someone who’s older than an old man. Did you forget that we met before during teacher’s birthday banquet?”

Ruan Song immediately: “I remember, of course I remember. I just thought you’ve forgotten me already……”

This was something that had already happened years ago when he was in his sophomore year.

At that time, he had just entered Yuan Yinhai’s screenwriter studio. He had just happened to bump into Yuan Yinhai who was about to celebrate his birthday, and as Yuan Yinhai’s well-known and beloved apprentice, he was naturally invited to attend.

Yuan Yinhai had not yet exposed his true face, and was as good-natured as everyone believed him to be. With no stinginess at all, he brought Ruan Song to meet many people. Not only did he impart all his knowledge and expertise, he even had the benevolent attitude of sharing his network and connections.

At that time, for an ordinary student like Ruan Song, this could be said to be the greatest sincerity and help. If they hadn’t had an acrimonious falling out later on, then Ruan Song definitely would have treated Yuan Yinhai even more reverently as a beloved teacher than Fang Wei.

And Jiang Zhi, Master Jiang, was someone he had met during that birthday banquet.

But in actuality, the two of them hadn’t had much interaction, they had only politely tapped their wine glasses and spoke a few words to each other. Ruan Song had never considered that the other would remember a small fry like him.

After all, if one were to compare to Jiang Zhi, then Yuan Yinhai was a bit inferior.

But Jiang Zhi very familiarly patted him on the arm while saying: “How could you have felt that I wouldn’t remember. I’ve always paid close attention to those who are outstanding in the younger generation, or else how could I have made an exception to help be the executive producer for my student’s film ‘Blue Lake’. Also, out of all the students your professor has guided, you are probably the student your professor is most proud of, it’s also very difficult to forget you, ahahaha.”

Once again, the director group was unprepared for the sudden ‘close relationship’ and carefully intervened: “So Xiao Song, your teacher is……”

Ruan Song knew he definitely could no longer hide it, so with violent waves in his heart, yet with just a pursed lip on his face: “Yuan Yinhai. He was my professor when I was in university, professor Yuan Yinhai.”

Several years had passed, yet when Ruan Song mentioned this name once again, he was still absentminded for a moment.

Jiang Zhi closely followed up, and completely interrupted the calm: “Yinhai is also a revered figure in the screenwriter world. So many people strive and fight to be his student yet will never have that sort of good fortune.”

[!!!!!]

The bullet screen once again felt their pupils shake.

Jiang Qiqi was immediately shocked, and opened her mouth wide: “Wow! Song ge, you’re a screenwriter!!”

But Ruan Song turned to open the door to the van, and changed the subject: “Are we going back? It’s not early anymore, Master Jiang probably hasn’t eaten dinner yet as well.”

As he spoke, he smoothly formed a coherent composition and tossed the topic of discussion back to the director group: “We can’t prepare dinner for Master Jiang today, because you guys didn’t let us know in advance. There’s no problem with just directly using the 1,000 yuan of living expenses that I won from correctly guessing the flying guest to prepare a meal, right?”

The director group was still dazed from the many twists and turns of Ruan Song’s changing identity: “……No problem, of course there’s no problem.”

Even if Ruan Song didn’t tell them, they would’ve prepared it long ago. Ren Qinming wasn’t here, and it wasn’t as if they could always starve this cabin-full of people.

Everyone sat in the car and returned to the cabin. The bullet screen had already immediately peeled apart the name ‘Yuan Yinhai’ clearly.

[What the fuck, he actually wrote my most beloved childhood film]

[Is it just your childhood? He wrote my most beloved film from three years ago, two years ago, and last year. They were all him, goodbye.jpg]

[Is the long list of awards on Baidu/Baike real, I’ve already suspected that I’ve turned blind……]

[‘The Last Sunflower’, ‘I Sent my Thoughts of Love to the Moon’, ‘Journey to Tomorrow’?? There are all kinds of story, and they’re all explosive films with great public reputation. It’s too amazing, my god]

[This person is even the dean of the Literature department at A University, hold my head.jpg]

[Ah, I was just saying, how could he be so amazing, turns out he has a studio in his hands]

[I just went to listen to Dean Yuan’s class! The dean is a really great person 15551, he had no arrogance at all. No matter if we bother him, or ask him questions, he won’t ignore us at all]

[Then the question arises, why have I not been able to search up teacher Ruan’s name!!!]

[Me too, I’m dead. Did teacher Ruan use a pen name? How could you treat us like outsiders, is he afraid of everyone knowing how amazing he is, pitiful.jpg]

[Also, Master Jiang just said teacher Ruan is the student that Yuan Yinhai is most proud of, right? Pitiful.jpg x3]

[No need to say anything else, what kind of person would make Jiang Zhi remember? Teacher Ruan really engraved ‘lowkey’ into his DNA, cups fist.jpg]

[Just teacher Ruan using his professional knowledge to criticize others is too handsome, I can lick it for 10,000 years!!!]

All of a sudden, the messages burst forth, directly causing the bullet screen to boil over. The curiosity towards Ruan Song’s profession that everyone had for a long time was finally uncovered.

The livestream was in the throes of discussion, and it was even less likely to stop in the van.

This was the first time the director group invited such a heavyweight guest, and firmly appointed the chief director to accompany the guests in the same car, who sat next to Master Jiang to chat.

“Although our ‘19 Days of Cohabitation’ has repeatedly invited many other guests, they were basically those who had more popularity in the entertainment industry. This time, we were able to invite Ren Qinming, and I was suddenly inspired. I wanted to borrow the opportunity to try it out, but who would have thought I would have succeeded. Who would have thought that Master Jiang would really give us this face! I’m honored, I’m honored!”

The chief director self-analyzed and flattered the other, and his entire speech was natural and seamless. No matter how one listened to it, it made one feel comfortable.

Liang Yi thought that out of the six guests, four of them were in the music industry. He believed Master Jiang agreed largely to give Ren Qinming face, or perhaps he wanted to cooperate with the other in the future.

But as a result, Master Jiang once again cast his gaze back to Ruan Song, who was specially arranged to sit next to him: “How could it be that complicated. It’s purely because Xiao Song, this child, was hidden too deeply. I wanted to contact him but couldn’t find his contact information anywhere, so I just rushed to come meet him.”

If the program team didn’t wait until Ruan Song appeared in the broadcast to suddenly develop their inspiration, then Jiang Zhi would not have agreed.

Ruan Song who had stayed silent from beginning to end, finally couldn’t help but open his mouth, and he helplessly smiled: “Master Jiang, no need for you to joke, where was I hidden. I’m just not good at social interaction, moreover, I can’t contact the elders of your level.”

[Wow, he really should stop being modest, stop being modest]

[But I think it’s true that teacher Ruan doesn’t like social interaction. He doesn’t even have a Weibo account. Also even now, there’s really no one who has exposed any of his information, doge]

Jiang Zhi immediately opened his mouth to expose the other’s ‘unsavory background’: “What do you mean can’t get in touch. Did you think I was the one that wanted to find you in the beginning? It was my idiot student who was always trying to find you, begging heaven and earth and asking around for your contact information. Finally, he was really at his wits’ end so he begged me, wanting to use me to ask Yuan Yinhai.”

Other than showing off her beauty excessively, Jiang Qiqi was also energetically active in eating melons.

Now that she heard this, she immediately cooperated and took up the role as a supporting character: “Is your student the director of ‘Blue Lake’? Why was he looking for Song ge?”

Jiang Zhi was also not stingy, and had a kindhearted smile on his face from beginning to end: “It’s all thanks to Xiao Song that you are all able to watch the film ‘Blue Lake’. If Xiao Song didn’t rescue my stupid student’s life that year, then it’s likely that the script for ‘Blue Lake’ would never have been brought to my hands, and even less likely that this film would have won awards everywhere.”

Jiang Qiqi once again opened her eyes wide with a ‘wow’: “I think Master Jiang wasn’t wrong at all, Song ge, you were really hidden too well! Before, you first only said you watched this film before, but after discussing it for a while, you’ve even participated in the making of this film!”

Ruan Song denied it on the spot, but no one listened to him.

Zheng Qing also excitedly turned around to grab the back of the chair: “What do you mean by saving his life? Has Xiao Song helped edit the script? I remember you guys aren’t from the same school?”

Ruan Song really reached out to cover the other’s mouth, once again reiterating his innocence: “It’s not a big deal. I didn’t participate in the making, from the conception of the script to the completion of the details, all of it was done by Sun Kaizi, it has nothing to do with me.”

Sun Kaizi was Master Jiang’s student, and was once a poor artist that was now the famous new director of ‘Blue Lake’.

Just that everyone was already used to the concealment of ‘not saying the truth’, and his words went in one ear and out the other, instead, their eyes all gathered on Jiang Zhi.

Jiang Zhi boasted of having a good life, was born in a wealthy family, and his entire family was part of the movies and television industry so he had never been worried about resources or connections. He had just happened to discover some natural talent for this subject, and his fame was also formed when the conditions were right.

As a senior in the industry who was flourishing, he valued talent from those in the younger generation, cherished talent, but also couldn’t bear to see a pearl covered with dust for a length of time.

“At that time, Kaizi had the conception for ‘Blue Lake’ for several years, and also shut himself in for a while to completely finish writing the script. But because the style was too risky, he had always left it aside indefinitely.”

Jiang Zhi had come to participate on the show to satisfy everyone’s curiosity, and he systematically shared the inside story with great detail: “Later, although these students weren’t in the same school, they were all learning the same subjects. There were many small groups, and in this, there was one forum that was a bit more famous in his school. Everyone anonymously communicated with each other about their thoughts. Because they didn’t have to use their real names, they felt no burden.”

At that time, Sun Kaizi couldn’t stand the disturbance, and really couldn’t bear his inner suffering, so he went on that forum to post a thread.

The replies on that thread were basically divided up into two factions. One was saying to have him look towards wealth and to not act blindly as a demon, while the other was to have him act from his heart, being young was all about the struggle.

You are reading story I Became Popular After Participating on a Dating Show with my Ex-Lover at novel35.com

After all that discussion, it was as if nothing was said, and Sun Kaizi was still at a loss as to what to do.

Until someone with the username ‘001’ sent a private message to Sun Kaizi through the forum.

[001: If you have no issue with it, you can send the script to me and I’ll look it over]

At that time, Sun Kaizi saw this nickname and knew that he could be saved. As if without hesitating at all, he quickly acted as told, and sent the script over to the email tacked on to the end of the private message, then directly returned to his original post to add a comment.

[Thanks to everyone for helping and posting a comment, Boss 001 saw this child. Thank you, thank you. There’s no need for you to reply to this thread anymore. Prayer hands.jpg x3]

After sending this post, a huge swath of helpers were immediately envious.

[Fuck, I’m jealous, so jealous. When will Boss 001 look at me]

[I’m begging you, look at this child too. This child also has a completed script, and I’ve already been at a loss as to what to do with it for 10,000 years (Link)]

[Ahhhhh, no way, first pick me, first pick me!]

……

“So was 001 very famous on the forum?” Jiang Qiqi was immediately entranced by the story.

Jiang Zhi laughed: “He was more than just famous, he was basically a Bodhisattva. From time to time, they would choose a lucky viewer that was pleasing to the eye, read their script and help provide editing suggestions and pointers, and it was even very effective.”

Because it was a student forum, everyone was mostly discussing classwork assignments and graduation projects.

As long as 001 said it was good, or he reached out to help edit it, then the final score wouldn’t be low, and would even be said to be unreasonably good.

Many people benefited from this, and after the deed was done, they would return to the forum to fulfill a promise, thanking 001.

Although 001 does not appear in posts asking for help, nor does he appear on thankful posts, over time, due to public praise, everyone earnestly hoped that when they encountered a problem, they would be able to receive a private message from someone named ‘001’.

It just so happened that on Sun Kaizi’s post regarding ‘Blue Lake’, he became the lucky guy.

Jiang Zhi: “At that time, after 001 finished reading that script, he said four words, and it was these four words that made Sun Kaizi immediately summon up his courage to hand the script to me to read.”

Jiang Qiqi was simply hooked down to her heart and her liver: “Aiya, Master Jiang, you’re really worthy of being called someone who is always in contact with this kind of thing. You telling such a simple story can make my stomach drop. What exactly were those four words? It’s very good? It’s especially interesting?5”

Jiang Zhi smiled: “‘I think it’s good’.”

The bullet screen began filling up with ‘Oh boy’ one after another.

[This is undoubtedly teacher Ruan’s manner of speaking, cups fist.jpg]

[Wasn’t it already said that Ruan Song, that child, has been smart since he was a child, he returns money to its owner, and is willing to help others, none of this was a lie, applause.jpg]

[It’s basically tantamount to bringing about a person’s life, amazing]

[I once again thought of that phone call, and that big boss called to beg Ruan Song to write a script]

Ruan Song really couldn’t stand this group of people: “When all is said and done, I only said four words. Everyone was just mutually helping each other out with homework on that forum. If I couldn’t write it myself, then I would have also found someone to help me out.”

“But Song ge, your four words gave someone the resolution to become a director! Or else he wouldn’t have been able to win awards!”

As Jiang Qiqi spoke, she once again grabbed Ruan Song’s sleeve and began to shake, and a look of admiration was written all over her face: “I’m really about to become your crazy fan. Song ge, what else do we not know about you, we’ve already gotten this far, tell us!”

Ruan Song was most uncomfortable with flattery, and directly pulled Jiang Qiqi’s hand off and stuffed it into Liang Yi’s hand to hold: “Don’t be crazy about me, when my pen name gets exposed to everyone, and it’s inconsistent with everyone’s expectations then you’ll end up destroying a talent by overpraising.”

The guests in the car heard this and were stunned.

Although they would occasionally also browse Weibo and read the bullet screen, for the most part, they would usually just stand in front of the cameras. They had no chance of monitoring the public opinion, and hadn’t really considered this in detail before.

Of the six guests, five of the guests already had a basic impression on the audience before coming onto the show, and their personal information was nearly transparent.

Only Ruan Song was ‘completely new’ to the audience.

As soon as Jiang Qiqi heard ‘destroying a talent by overpraising’, it was as if the wind flew out of her sails. She immediately screwed her mouth shut and honestly withdrew her hand: “I won’t be crazy anymore.”

As if it wasn’t enough that she wasn’t the only one being crazy anymore, she pressed in close to the livestream camera and spoke to the bullet screen: “You guys also shouldn’t be crazy, it’s enough that Qinming ge is crazy. Everyone is a normal person with blood and muscle, don’t treat us as divine beings.”

The bullet screen once again filled with a wave of ‘oh boy’.

[We also won’t be crazy, but the speed of adjusting your state is both really skillful yet distressing xs]

[If you think about it, whoever is popular in the entertainment industry will fall faster than the price of virtual currency. If you say it’ll collapse, then it’ll collapse]

[For some people, as opposed to writing it themselves, they’re more able to help others find problems, I don’t think it’s a problem at all! Even if teacher Ruan’s own works aren’t good, it also doesn’t affect me from praising him for helping others create ‘Blue Lake’! It’s fine as long as everyone is a bit more rational]

[Our Song ge is really the world’s most clear-headed person, another perfect protection against self-explosion, doge]

“So how did everyone discover that 001 was Song ge, wasn’t the form anonymous?” Jiang Qiqi endured, but really couldn’t help herself.

Jiang Zhi was very patient all throughout: “Someone in the forum searched up Xiao Song’s IP, and it just so happens that Xiao Song was also Yuan Yinhai’s student and his level of achievement was compatible with 001, and everyone basically agreed tacitly.”

But it was also because Ruan Song’s IP was exposed that 001 never returned to that forum again.

Hearing these things was as if Ruan Song was listening to things from a past life, and it was unknown as to which node it began from, but he could no longer return to the simplicity from his student days.

Later, Jiang Zhi also asked what he had been busy with these past few years, saying he heard no news about Ruan Song after he graduated from his master’s program. He was also unable to obtain Ruan Song’s contact information from Yuan Yinhai, and also never saw Ruan Song participate in those student reunions.

Ruan Song only mockingly lowered his eyelashes to laugh: “After I graduated, I was full of confidence and changed my pen name to start over, but as a result, I couldn’t get along well with others and had no face to see my teachers and classmates.”

…

On the other end, Ren Qinming was inside a shed, while Xiao Lu stood outside holding a cellphone to help him monitor the broadcast.

As soon as Ren Qinming came out for a midway break, he immediately reported the ‘destroying a talent by overpraising episode’ that Jiang Zhi brought about.

Actually, he also only knew half of what happened the year Ruan Song and Ren Qinming broke up, only roughly knowing that included amongst this was the instigation of a manager, as well as the fact that Ren Qinming’s schedule was filled to the limit.

After reporting, he first contributed a wave of his own conjectures: “I’ve always felt that that year, there was definitely something between Song ge and those students and teachers from A University, or else why would he have been blocked once he graduated and forced to change his pen name.”

Ren Qinming immediately dragged the progress bar in the video, and rewatched the replay of the discussion in the car. Then, without saying anything else, he immediately stopped resting, stood up, and walked back to the props designer to take back the props needed for the filming.

“Let’s continue.”

The workers looked on in fear and trepidation: “You’re really not going to rest for a bit?”

Ren Qinming: “I’m not tired.”

The workers wiped their cold sweat: “…………”

You may not be tired, but the props are tired. If you continue to torment them, we’re afraid they’ll break apart.

…

That night, after everyone ate dinner and finished exchanging pleasantries and returned to their rooms, Ruan Song also could no longer wait for Ren Qinming to appear.

And even after he finished showering, with no surprise at all, he received Ren Qinming’s “Leave of Absence”.

Just as before, the other was still that string of numbers that he hadn’t saved.

[If you’re tired then sleep first. It suddenly turned foggy tonight and I’ve been blocked on the highway. I’ll probably return to the mountain at one or two in the morning]

Ruan Song originally didn’t plan to respond to this message, but it was just that the sky outside looked very bad from over the tea village. He knew that if he didn’t say anything, Ren Qinming would definitely find a way to rush back.

[Don’t come back. It’s not safe driving up the mountain in the middle of the night when it’s foggy.]

Ren Qinming didn’t say ‘okay’, but also didn’t say ‘no’, just telling him to rest early again.

[The next time you open your eyes you’ll be able to see me]

Ruan Song sneered.

[You still haven’t learned from experience, huh. If there’s any variables then don’t make promises]

Although this variable wasn’t man-made.

After Ruan Song sent this message, he shut his eyes and slept, not checking to see what Ren Qinming replied to him with.

He didn’t know if it was because his index of recalling the past exceeded the standard today, but Ruan Song, a person who usually had excellent sleep quality, actually dreamed for the first time.

In his dream, Jiang Zhi beamed as he stood outside Ruan Song’s room, calling him to pick up a video call, saying that an old acquaintance from the past had called.

Ruan Song subconsciously believed it was the person who persistently searched for him, Sun Kaizi.

But when he opened the door and faced the video, instead, it was Yuan Yinhai, who wore glasses while pretending to be elegant. And he was even just like the past, facing the camera while warmly calling out his name.

“Xiao Song.”

As soon as Ruan Song heard those two words, he practically shot up on the bed.

It was dark in front of his eyes, his chest felt stuffy, and his back felt chilly from the wind blowing and the cold sweat dripping down his back. His temples were dripping wet, as if he had just been dredged out of a pool of water. He sat on the spacious, two-person bed all alone, facing the empty room, coldly and quietly sitting there for a moment.

He even hopelessly thought of Ren Qinming’s message, that was clearly incapable of being fulfilled – [The next time you open your eyes, you’ll be able to see me]

Ruan Song himself was amused by his sudden need to try anything in a crisis.

But in the next second.

The retractable door to the balcony in their room suddenly, yet gently, slid across with a muffled noise, and a hoarse voice suddenly appeared in the gray-blue room.

“……Song ge?”

.

TN: rqm is back!!

1. A bit hard to translate but author writes ‘坠钓 (diao)’ here. The original phrase 坠吊 (zhui diao) is a meme meaning ‘most amazing’. Author changes the second character ‘吊’ to ‘钓’, which is a reference to the hook-and-bait meme that I’ve talked about before, which is to describe someone who is very good at attracting others but isn’t annoying about it. Hence, the double entendre here is RS is a beauty who is the most amazing hook-and-bait. Note: author adds pinyin bc the second character in the OG meme (吊) actually means dick out of context, so oftentimes, when you see ‘diao’ in CN raws, the author is likely talking about the word ‘dick’. If this is confusing feel free to leave a comment and I’ll try explaining again!

2. ‘Style’ = person’s awareness of time and space in which things are located and changes in the future – someone who is magnanimous and calm in work and life

3. Not really ‘master’, author writes 老江 (lit. old Jiang), but the ‘old’ in this case is meant to be a venerable title.

4. Something like this

5. In CN this is actually also 4 characters, but I couldn’t think of an English equivalent for these two phrases that can be said in 4 words.

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