Chapter 4

Act I: The Sound of Music (2)

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Xiang Cai was instantly stunned and unconsciously unplugged the headphone’s cable.

His actions were too sudden, and Qi Ji beside him was scared by him. So she asked, “What happened?”

"..." The boy anxiously asked, "Are your headphones leaking electricity?"

—— Otherwise, how could he suddenly “electrify” himself?

When this question came out, Xiang Cai realized how ridiculous his words were.

Because the "electricity" came to him, not through the inferior rustling headphones, but in the deep and gentle male voice transmitted across the radio waves.

Qi Ji had a straightforward personality and really thought that the headphones she bought from a stand were a counterfeit and shoddy product. She said with a bit of anxiety, "Leakage? Then, don't listen."

"... It's okay." Xiang Cai really wanted to continue listening, and could only say, "I can persist even if there is a power leak."

He reinserted the small in-ear headphones into his ears. The headphones isolated all the noise from the outside world, leaving only the voice of the man, like a wave of slowly spreading lake water gently wrapping around him.

...

The Sound of Music was the musical enlightenment of almost every elementary school students. Its positive subject matter had been directly incorporated into music teaching material, and had become one of the must-see works of each music appreciation class.

Compared with the highest-scoring soundtrack "Do-Re-Mi", "My Favorite Things" was not as well known, but its lyrics were romantic and beautiful, and it had a light tune. It could be described as "brainwashing magic" in current words.

It was just that the male voice in the headphones was not singing, but the lyrics were turned into a poem by recitation.

“My Favorite Things——

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens,

Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens,

Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings...

These are a few of my favorite things.

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things.”

[T/N: I changed it a bit to match the length and words of the Chinese version, it’s missing half of two stanzas.]

Xiang Cai had also heard of radio broadcasts before, but in his impression, the host of the radio program either played music or news, or connected with frustrated middle-aged male and female listeners, and repeatedly answered various emotional problems.

Boys his age had always been disdainful of listening to old radio broadcasts. He couldn't stand the remarks of others, and had no time to read the precious love poems regarded by youth as ‘literature’ and ‘art’.

Except for now, except for this second, except for this moment.

This tender poem suddenly slammed into his soul.

He didn't know who the man talking in the headphones was. But in his world, suddenly there were thick colors, strong tastes, and intoxicating sounds.

Was this magic? With only his voice and a poem, he could let him ‘see’ the winter snow in late summer, and ‘see’ the goose in the night sky under the hot sun?

He sat there sullenly, holding the headphones with his hands, letting the voice permeate into his heart.

“When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad...

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad

...

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes,

Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes,

Silver white winters that melt into springs

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the dog bites

When the bee stings

When I'm feeling sad...

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel... so bad…”

The speed of the man's speech was not stubborn. He was clearly reading a poem, but it sounded like he was narrating life. This life was open-minded and quiet, and even if one was weighed down by the heavy suffering, they could continue to laugh and move forward.

When the last syllable of the poem fell, Xiang Cai still sat there idly, unable to escape from the mood of the poem.

Who knew how long it was until the reverie ended? It could have been ten seconds, or one minute when the second person's voice came from the headphones and pulled Xiang Cai out of his intoxicated state.

“Listen well!!!!!” A hearty and brisk male voice spoke, “It is indeed the great god ‘Wang Qingyun’, the goosebumps I got from listening to this poem are about to rise!!! The public screen is flooded with flowers!!!”

In all fairness, the voice of the second young man was also very pleasing to the ear, but Xiang Cai, who had just been immersed in poetry, couldn’t extricate himself. The sound of that sudden intrusion could not be compared to any other noise.

Xiang Cai frowned and, still with that sudden discomfort, continued to listen.

He wholeheartedly hoped that the man called ‘Wang Qingyun’ could speak more, but unfortunately, the man said very little. After reading the poem, he said goodbye to everyone in a hurry and got off soon after saying this:

“Sorry, I am too busy and I am running out of time, so I can’t continue to accompany you.” The man said apologetically, “In the end, I wish everyone can find their favorite things in life.”

"..."

After confirming that ‘Wang Qingyun’ would not speak again, Xiang Cai had lost his last bit of patience and tore out the headphone’s cable.

"Done listening?" Qi Ji leaned over and looked unblinkingly, asking expectantly, "Do you also like Great God Qingyun?"

Unexpectedly, the boy suddenly raised his hand and grabbed the fair wrist of the girl beside him.

Qi Ji was caught off guard and her face suddenly turned red.

She fumbled in her heart, wondering if she had transmigrated into a book such as Deskmates at the same table: The Round Little Wife of the Ballet Prince.

She twisted, "You ... you ... oh, our classmates are watching."

The boy's delicate face slowly approached, and his deep pupils were filled with an inevitable light.

She saw him lift the headphones with his other hand and order word by word: "Qi Ji, within three minutes, I want all the information of this man!"

The round little wife of the Ballet Prince: "...?"

On another continent far across the ocean, Tan Yiming wore headphones and jogged around the campus lake. His pace was not fast, and if he met someone who was holding a dog or holding a child, he would stop and say hello.

He was graduating from graduate school this year, and was a legendary figure of the school's Chinese Student Association.

It was said that when freshmen enrolled a certain year, he was in charge of hosting the orientation party for them. As a result, ten younger female classmates took turns inviting him to dance after the opening party that evening, and they all said that they were in love with his voice. However, he only had two hands and a pair of feet, so he couldn’t accompany them even if he wanted to. In the end, he actually caused some schoolgirls to directly fight with jealousy.

His ‘brilliant record’ was like the legend of the slaying dragons, which had been passed on from generation to generation, even to the students’ friends’ schools.

Tan Yiming didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. In fact, it was because he cleaned himself up. Every time peach blossoms came to him, he never provoked the peach blossoms.

If he had to blame someone, he could only blame himself for being too approachable.

He was really excellent, but not the kind of cold, groundless excellence. Being with him always made people have a fantasy of ‘I can touch him if I raise my toes and straighten my arms.’ Therefore, it caused countless people to follow him and want to occupy his gentleness.

His friend once said that he was a ‘central air conditioner’.

Tan Yiming was puzzled, "Is it wrong to be gentle and polite to someone you meet for the first time?"

"Is gentleness and politeness the point? It’s not the point at all!" This friend was actually a computer tyrant, who read until he was bald and came with a pregnant belly full of knowledge. "You see, I'm very gentle, and I'm also very polite, but the school girls don't want to marry me, they just want to ask me to repair their computers. And you, apart from being gentle and polite, look good and have a nice voice. Tan Yiming- do you know, sometimes when you look into my eyes and talk to me, I can't help but want to stir up with you!!"

"..." Tan Yiming felt a little guilty. He bowed his head slightly, looked straight into the eyes of his friend, and said sincerely, "Sorry, if I made you have such a misunderstanding, it is my fault."

"Look." His good-at-studying friend spread his hands, "Man, you are beginning to radiate your charm so that you have nowhere to rest!"

"..."

Every evening, Tan Yiming had to run ten kilometers around the lake if he had no other work. However, today, his exercise plan had not been completed when he was called back to the dormitory by a call from a friend. It was mysterious and he said that there was something to discuss.

Tan Yiming didn't know what medicine he sold in his gourd. As soon as he returned to the dormitory, he was pressed by a friend on the sofa.

His friend's name was George, the same name as his brother’s.

George said, "Oh yeah, Old Tan, what do you say about our relationship?"

Based on the opening remark, this was expected to be bad.

Tan Yiming said, "You can just tell me what you want to say. No matter how good our relationship is, I won't help you if you've murdered or committed arson."

George said, "It's not as serious as killing and setting fire-- hey, I have a favor to ask of you and want you to help."

Tan Yiming narrowed his eyes, "What favor? Pretend to be your boyfriend and go home with you to see my mother-in-law?"

"..." George was stunned, as if he was surprised at the mind-reading skills of the other party, and he could only nod his head and continue to say, "Yes, you remember the last time the Student Association organized an event, there was a female student from the Academy of Animation and Arts who danced in a ballet on stage? "

"Do not remember."

"Long hair, bangs, probably yay high." George made a gesture around his chest height, "And she greeted you."

"I don't remember." Every time the Association organized an event, the female students who came over to say hello to him were about nineteen or twenty, how many could he remember?

George muttered "Die from a drought, water-logging, and flood," and added as the last straw, "It was the girl who cried and ran away after confessing to you and being rejected by you!"

Now the confession was remembered. The little girl borrowed wine to be braver, came over holding the bottle, said nothing before drinking three glasses, and then began a vigorous confession.

The end result was very tragic. Tan Yiming rejected her, and then the girl with a small stature and a big voice ran away and cried like a fountain.

How to say it, Tan Yiming had accepted thousands of confessions, but everyone was mature and gave each other a little face. His bottom line was to not make girls cry. How could this girl make herself cry?

Therefore, Tan Yiming had an impression of her.

Tan Yiming said, "I remember. What happened?"

George was a little embarrassed, and paused for a long time, before saying, "That ... she's dating me now."

"Oh?" The answer was really unexpected. But he thought for a while, and although his friend George was not very outstanding in appearance, he had a good and first-rate mind. He had graduated from a top university in China and received a full scholarship from Ivy League for graduate students, now going for a Ph.D. He had a good personality as well, whether he was a friend or a partner, he was a worthwhile subject of interest. So Tan Yiming said, "Congratulations. What then?"

George said in surprise, "Do you only have a congratulation? I thought you would be as sloppy as everyone else, saying that I ‘had lost my shit’, or ‘Be careful with that girl, maybe she wants to get close to Tan Yiming by dating you.’

Tan Yiming asked, "So is she really dating you to get close to me?"

"F*ck, of course not!"

"It's incredible," Tan Yiming said, "So what did you ask me to come back for? You didn’t talk so much nonsense with me just to feed me dog food, did you?"

So George told the truth.

It turned out that this girl was preparing an animation work and wanted to participate in the National College Student Animation Contest. She heard from George that Tan Yiming had a passion for dubbing, and she hoped that he would dub her work.

The smile on Tan Yiming's face disappeared, "You told her about me?"

"... Hey, that, Old Tan, I apologize!" George folded his hands, his face filled with flattery, "Blame my mouth, everything just comes out! I really didn't mean to gossip about you! But ... But Xiaorui is not an outsider, and she's very anxious. She can’t find anyone to do it. I think she doesn’t sleep well every day in order to finish this work. So I…just…"

Tan Yiming had always clearly distinguished his online identity and his three-dimensional identity. Except for a few friends who were close to him, no one could combine the ‘Wang Qingyun’ on the Internet with the dazzling male god on campus.

He entered the voice network by mistake. In the beginning, he just performed casually. However, others thought that he did have talent, and he gradually gained a certain position in the circle. He also had many genuine fans.

Many CVs paid attention to a ‘personal design’ which gradually make some idols in this circle. It was hoped that ‘Wang Qingyun’ would never reveal too much information on the Internet. Fans knew nothing about his age, looks, school, or major, besides that he was studying abroad.

He had always believed that the internet was the internet, and life was life. He didn’t want the internet to disturb his life, nor did he want his life to affect the internet. He hoped that the two could be clearly separated, preferably without any connections.

So, he specifically told George not to tell anyone about his role in radio dramas.

Tan Yiming asked him, "Did you also tell her my net name?"

"No! Really!" George swore to heaven. "She asked, and I said I didn't know, so she passed over that." He leaned over and said with a tired voice, "Old Tan, Yiming, Mingming, Brother Ming, Great God Wang Qingyun ... can you help me? "

George twisted his three fingers and made a gesture of money, "I asked her a bit about the competition she signed up for. The school has a certain amount of money. They can give you this number for the dubbing. But you need to sign a contract for commercial dubbing. You said that you have assigned so many radio dramas but you’ve always been a free service. You can get money this time."

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The author has something to say:

This growing past is not only related to Cai Cai, but also to Ming Ge. The poem in this chapter has been revised from the original lyrics in order to ensure it rhymes in Chinese. I highly recommend it to everyone, and there are many cover versions of this song.

T/N: I reverted this song back to the English version, it was actually a different order in some parts in Chinese. Ming is short for Yiming, and there are other nicknames given by George in this chapter. Ge means brother, typically meant as older brother.

Comments

  1. hey, this story sounds very interesting and i really want to bring it to portuguese br. would you mind if i translate?? I will credit you as the English translator of course.

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  2. i'm actually loving this so far!! thanks for the translation!

    ReplyDelete

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