“Brother Jiang, what’s wrong?”
Noticing that Jiang Nian’s expression had changed after looking at his phone, Zhang Linyu couldn’t help but ask.
Jiang Nian hung up the call, handed the phone back, and thought of that bastard Huang Lei—he couldn’t help but scratch his head and blurted out, “Nothing, just about to eat shit.”
“Huh?”
“No, I mean—it’s about filming a variety show. Damn, it’s annoying. Go back and pack my things for me. I’m going to let Director Huang and Producer Wu from the other crew know.”
After giving those instructions, Jiang Nian found Huang Junwen and explained the situation.
Learning that he needed to return to the capital for a couple of days to film a variety show, and would be gone for about two or three days—
Huang Junwen understood and wrote him a leave slip.
Wu Yusen from the Reign of Assassins crew was the same.
After all, the filming pressure wasn’t that intense right now.
As long as Jiang Nian didn’t vanish off the face of the earth for a month or two, a few days off was nothing.
They let him go without any fuss.
But the girls from the Sword and Zen crew were a bit reluctant.
“Teacher Jiang, will we meet again?”
“Teacher Jiang, when we meet again, you have to miss me, okay?”
Watching Deng Sha cling to his hand like she’d gone crazy, refusing to let go—
Jiang Nian’s mouth twitched.
What the hell was this, some kind of tearful farewell scene?
“I’m just going to film a variety show, it’s not like I’m dying. What are you even doing?”
Jiang Nian’s face was covered in dark lines.
“I want you to teach me acting!” Deng Sha said, all righteous and confident.
“Didn’t I already teach you before?”
Jiang Nian felt a headache coming on.
Because his acting was so good, people often came to him for advice. Deng Sha was one of them.
He’d never really held back—whatever he had to say, he said.
But…
“Teacher Jiang, Teacher Jiang, the acting techniques you shared are really useful, but they still require too much natural talent.”
“Isn’t there a simpler, more convenient way to improve acting?”
Deng Sha asked.
The moment those words came out, everyone who’d been watching the fun pricked up their ears, looking over curiously.
Clearly, they were all curious about this too.
Jiang Nian was slightly taken aback, and almost instinctively replied, “Yeah, bro, there is. A method this awesome—of course there’s more than one. There are nine in total, all the fastest ways to improve your acting.”
“So what are the nine?” Yang Rong’s eyes lit up as she asked curiously.
Jiang Nian smiled slightly. “Guess.”
Everyone was stunned for a moment, and then—
“Boo—”
The whole set erupted in jeers.
“Teacher Jiang, that’s not cool of you. We trusted you so much, and you’re messing with us.”
“Exactly! I was so serious I even got my phone out to take notes. Teacher Jiang, you’re too much.”
“Mean! I’ve decided I won’t talk to you for three minutes.”
The girls all chimed in, expressing their displeasure.
Jiang Nian just chuckled, not caring.
After all, it was just a casual joke on his part.
How would he know that many ways to quickly improve acting?
If he did, he’d have made it big in his first year in the capital. He wouldn’t have struggled in the entertainment industry for two and a half years and only become famous thanks to the system.
“Alright, alright, I’ll stop messing with you. Anyway, acting—if you study it seriously and think carefully, you’ll definitely improve.”
“That’s all I’ve got to say. I’ve got things to do, so I’m heading out.”
“See you in a few days. Don’t miss me too much.”
With that, Jiang Nian threw out a flirty wink and left. The next day, he boarded a flight to the capital.
Although Back to Field wouldn’t start filming until tomorrow—
As a special guest, Jiang Nian and Yang Mi still needed to prepare in advance.
“By the way, Sister Mi, what’s the broadcast format for this Back to Field?”
Picked up by Yang Mi and sitting in the nanny van, Jiang Nian thought of something and asked.
Hearing that, Yang Mi—sitting in the back row next to him—pulled a bottle of alcohol from the mini-fridge, looking puzzled. “Broadcast format? It’s obviously recorded, edited, and then aired. What kind of question is that?”
“Oh, nothing. Just suddenly felt a bit out of it.”
Jiang Nian was vague.
In his heart, he thought he’d been reading too many novels—he was getting all confused.
It was understandable.
After all, whether in his past life or this one, Jiang Nian had never been involved with variety shows.
It was like people who’ve never experienced certain pleasures—they’re very likely to be misled by movies.
Thinking you have to have a certain size and last at least half an hour to be normal.
But in reality, fifteen or sixteen is already impressive, and lasting ten minutes or so can satisfy both parties.
Jiang Nian was pretty much in that situation.
He didn’t understand variety shows—he’d only read variety show novels.
And in those novels, whenever variety shows came up, it was always live streaming, with netizen interaction.
That’s why he subconsciously thought along those lines.
“Strange.”
Seeing Jiang Nian like that, Yang Mi muttered.
Then she grabbed a bottle of alcohol and handed it over. “Want some?”
“Yeah.”
Jiang Nian took it and downed a big gulp, his eyes narrowing in satisfaction.
Although his body had been strengthened through martial arts training, and alcohol had almost no effect on him anymore, he still loved the taste.
After tilting his head back and finishing the wheat juice in his cup, Jiang Nian grabbed another bottle, casually snapped off the cap with a flick of his hand, and asked offhandedly, “By the way, Sister Mi, for the first episode of Back to Field season one, is it just the two of us as guest stars?”
Yang Mi thought about it. “I think Teacher Song Dandan and her son are also there.”
“Oh.”
Jiang Nian responded without saying much more.
After all, in his past life, the guest stars were just those two. It was only in this life that he and Yang Mi were added.
Gotta say, that guy Lei Zi really had some skills—going on the show and getting himself and Song Dandan sent to the hospital in the very first episode.
“Personally, I suggest you don’t eat anything Huang Lei cooks tomorrow.”
Out of kindness, Jiang Nian reminded Yang Mi.
“Huh? Why?” Yang Mi was confused.
Back to Field was a farmstay-themed variety show.
To the audience, it was a warm, slow-paced, down-to-earth show.
But for the guests—
Going on this show meant doing farm work and then eating.
And now Jiang Nian was saying not to eat.
Then what the hell was left? Just the work?
Even a production team’s donkey couldn’t handle that.
“Just don’t worry about it. Listen to me. If you’re really worried you can’t handle it, put some snacks in your bag. If you get hungry, just pull them out and munch a bit.”
Jiang Nian couldn’t explain the details.
Because these days, people hadn’t yet been disillusioned about Huang Lei.
They’d all been fooled by his carefully crafted persona of being a versatile genius.
If Jiang Nian didn’t have memories from his past life—
He’d probably show up tomorrow, get caught off guard, and get screwed over hard by Huang Lei.
“Alright, alright, I got it.”
Seeing that Jiang Nian didn’t want to say more, Yang Mi didn’t press.
She just acknowledged it, then changed the subject, chatting with Jiang Nian about what had been happening at the company lately, and asking how things were going for him on set.
As the two chatted—
Before long, the car pulled up to the entrance of Yang Mi’s company.
Honestly speaking, this was Jiang Nian’s first time here since he’d met Yang Mi.
Unlike the skyscraper he’d imagined—
Yang Mi’s studio was converted from a large villa.
That made sense, actually.
After all, celebrities value privacy above all else.
Rushing in and out of a skyscraper every day, it’d be easy to get targeted and have your privacy leaked.
And buying or renting an entire skyscraper—
Yang Mi didn’t have the financial means for that, and it wasn’t necessary anyway.
After all, her studio wasn’t that big.
A villa, with some modifications, was already enough to meet all daily office needs.
But still—
“Why did you bring me here?”
Jiang Nian asked, confused.
Yang Mi rolled her eyes. “What do you think? You’re an employee of my company now, but you’ve never come to the office even once. You haven’t even registered your face or fingerprint. Do you think that’s acceptable?”
“I mean, isn’t having yours on file enough?”
“Get out, get out, stop with the nonsense.” Yang Mi said irritably, then pulled Jiang Nian into the villa to register his face and fingerprint.
Just as they were doing that—
“Oh! Isn’t this Teacher Jiang Nian? You finally came!”
A crisp, energetic voice came from not far away.
Jiang Nian looked over.
And saw a tall woman with exotic features standing nearby.
Her smooth, neat short hair was pinned up behind her head, with just a few stray strands hanging by her ears.
Her full, round forehead was fair and delicate. Her bright eyes landed on Jiang Nian, full of curiosity.
“Reba? Why are you back?”
Before Jiang Nian could speak, Yang Mi noticed Reba and looked surprised.
Then, as if thinking of something, she immediately let go of Jiang Nian and grabbed Reba’s hand. “Come on, come on, get inside. Don’t stay here. Wait until I send Jiang Nian off before you come out.”
Hearing that—
“???”
Reba’s face was full of question marks.
Jiang Nian’s face went dark. “Sister Mi, what are you trying to do?”
Yang Mi said matter-of-factly, “Obviously, to protect her from you.”
“I swear—” Her bluntness left Jiang Nian speechless. “No, what are you protecting her from me for?”
“You know exactly what for. Reba, hurry up and go inside. Don’t just stand there stupidly. If Jiang Nian sets his sights on you, you’re in for it!”
Yang Mi urged.
Her tone was dead serious.
Seeing this, Reba was baffled, but she was pulled along into the villa.
Bang!
With a dull thud, the door shut firmly.
Yang Mi walked back, quickly finished setting up Jiang Nian’s fingerprint and face recognition, then without missing a beat, dragged him into the car and headed home.
Seeing this, Jiang Nian was speechless. “Seriously, Sister Mi, is this really necessary? I haven’t even done anything yet. Can’t I just make a friend?”
Yang Mi sneered. “Make a friend? You sure about that? Jiang Nian, don’t tell me you think I forgot what you said back then!”
“Uh—”
That shut Jiang Nian up immediately.
Because he suddenly remembered—last year, before he beat up Liu Kai, he’d mentioned to Yang Mi that he was interested in Reba.
Jiang Nian was internally screaming.
He really hadn’t expected that a casual comment from months ago would come back to bite him like this.
What an ultimate boomerang!
“No way, it’s been so long. You still remember that?”
“Of course! Reba is the pillar of my team. You want to make a move on her—how could I not pay attention!” Yang Mi replied, then warned, “Jiang Nian, I’m telling you again: you can go after anyone you want, but her—you absolutely cannot touch. Otherwise, I’m never letting you off!”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, sure, sure.”
Jiang Nian agreed verbally, but in his heart, he was already scheming about how to get around Yang Mi and get close to Reba.
There was no helping it—that’s just the kind of person he was. Rebellious.
The more you tell him not to do something, the more he wants to do it.
If Yang Mi hadn’t reacted so intensely when he and Reba met—
Jiang Nian might not have been so fixated on Reba.
After all, even though his energy was abundant, it had its limits.
In the first half of the year, he had to practice martial arts, study for exams, and film both Sword and Zen and Reign of Assassins.
In the second half, if he got into university, he’d have to attend classes, film, and practice martial arts.
By then, he’d be so busy he might just forget about Reba.
But Yang Mi just had to do it this way.
So Jiang Nian could only put his hands together in his heart and say sorry.
He was having Reba—not even Jesus could stop him. He said so!
The next day, 6 AM.
Jiang Nian and Yang Mi got up and headed to the filming location.
Although Back to Field was filmed in the capital—
In reality, its location was infinitely close to Rehe City.
Even though transportation was convenient nowadays and high-speed rail was fast—
Counting the time to get to the station, by the time Jiang Nian and Yang Mi got off the train, it was already almost 8 AM.
Luckily, the Back to Field crew had been waiting at the station to pick them up.
Otherwise, if they’d had to call their own car after getting off, Jiang Nian probably would’ve complained the entire way.
On the road, the production team had Jiang Nian and Yang Mi call the Mushroom House to announce their dishes.
Jiang Nian didn’t hold back at all—he directly ordered a portion of snow cotton red bean paste and a portion of green pepper dried tofu.
The former was for entertainment value; the latter was pure laziness.
Because Jiang Nian figured, no matter how abstract Huang Lei’s cooking was, a simple dish like green pepper dried tofu couldn’t possibly turn out that bad.
As for Yang Mi, since Jiang Nian had warned her, she didn’t have high expectations either and just said she was fine with anything.
And so, after a bumpy ride—
Before long, the car stopped at the village entrance, and the driver let Jiang Nian and Yang Mi out.
After all, they needed to film some footage of meeting villagers or guests arriving at the door.
Jiang Nian and Yang Mi had no objections.
So they grabbed the suitcases the production team gave them and headed toward their destination according to the address provided.
Meanwhile, at the Mushroom House—
He Jiong hung up the phone and started guessing with Huang Lei and Dahua about who the guests for their first episode would be.
