Chapter 5

Act I: The Sound of Music (3)

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In the end, Tan Yiming looked at George's face and agreed to dub for his girlfriend, Xiaorui's, work.

It was a Chinese style short animation of Chinese style, called “Slowly Tune”. It was not long, only thirteen minutes and twenty-eight seconds. The final rendering had not been completed yet. Xiaorui could only come up with a demo for Tan Yiming to voice.

Tan Yiming originally thought that the animation dubbing was the same as the radio drama he did. Anyway, he had equipment off-the-shelf, as long as he could complete the recording in the dormitory.

He didn’t think that Xiaorui would borrow a recording studio and send the address to his mailbox.

Tan Yiming was curious and looked it up, finding that it was a well-known professional recording studio in the industry. Many independent musicians and small record companies would record there.

Tan Yiming: "..."

He had only taken this matter casually, but now that it was so ‘serious’, he inevitably became a little nervous.

George was puzzled by his tensed behavior.

George asked, "Don't you usually talk to the microphone in the dormitory and say those very greasy lines? Now you’re just changing places, what's the tension for?"

Tan Yiming asked him back, "The same is with typing code. You are not nervous in the library. Why when you go to the programming contest and are on the scene, you are nervous?"

"... Hey, you can't compare it like this!" George was taken aback by him. "The competition is a competition, and the atmosphere on the scene is very formal. If I'm not nervous, wouldn’t that be ridiculous?"

"I'm the same." Tan Yiming could always talk about this in front of his friends, "You have also seen the situation of my recording: first I pull up the script, and then I dub alone, sitting in front of the computer and speaking the lines into the microphone. However, if I enter the studio, it becomes a 'serious job'. And this time when I am dubbing, I am signing a contract and getting paid, so I naturally want to be more professional."

If Wang Qingyun's fans were to know that the calm and handsome male god in their eyes could be so nervous, they would surely be surprised to death.

George vaguely understood his concerns.

But the more he understood, the more he couldn't figure it out, "Have you never imagined walking into a recording studio and officially recording a work?"

"Of course not." Tan Yiming frowned slightly. "What kind of illusion is this?"

"Ah, Old Tan, in fact, I wanted to talk about it before. You see that you have a base of popularity, or do you just want to take your career path? There are a lot of Internet singers who have gone to draft, signing a strong debut. With your appearance, you can also go this way: 'Idol commercial voice actor’. What do you think of this title? I won't type code at that time, I will be your agent. "

When Tan Yiming heard it, he knew he was joking and didn't take it seriously. "How can you drink Coke? Interest belongs to interest, work belongs to work. My voice is used to balance my work, not to work."

Speaking of this direction, his refusal was plain and clear.

George stopped while he was ahead, raised his hand, and patted Tan Yiming twice on the back, laughing. “That’s right! After graduation, our Brother Ming is going to Wall Street to become a financial elite and earn millions of dollars!”

Tan Yiming was about to graduate in one year. A few months ago, he joined an investment bank as an intern, and because he was hardworking and smart, he was very important to the team leader. Currently, there were four or five other interns in the company who joined at the same time as him, but he was the only one who had a decent job instead of running errands for older employees.

As long as he persisted for another half a year, it would not be difficult to get a formal job offer. Although it was impossible to have an annual salary of one million upon entering the post, with his ability, it was not difficult to get this amount within ten years.

George thought that the glittering avenue was paved at Tan Yiming’s feet, and his future was destined to be glorious and shining. So why should he have to give up his good future and become a voice actor?

...

The recording time was selected to be on the weekend. Tan Yiming entered the address of the recording studio into the mobile phone navigation and drove there.

In the backseat sat George and his girlfriend, Shang Xiaorui.

Xiaorui was still bashful when she saw Tan Yiming. She half-hid behind George and shyly said hello.

Tan Yiming knew that she was embarrassed, adjusted the atmosphere, and made a joke, "It seems I'm lucky, and I met a party who doesn’t dare let me rework."

"If the recording is not good, the voiceover will still have to be reworked!" Shang Xiaorui first raised her voice and lowered it and said, "... After all, it’s two hundred dollars."

Yes, that's right.

Wang Qingyun, with 500,000 fans on Weibo, had played in eight radio dramas, five of which he was the main actor in. Wang Qingyun, who had set the single-episode listening record, could be squeezed into any live feature... His first ‘commercial dubbing’ work was worth only two hundred dollars.

After listening, George was embarrassed for his girlfriend, "Don't, don't, don't say it Xiaorui! Do you know how much the advertisements that are quoted on Weibo for him are?"

Shang Xiaorui: "Ah? Do you have a lot of followers on Weibo?"

"Don't listen to him talking blindly." Tan Yiming fluttered flashed a warning look at George with a smile. "My Weibo are all zombie fans. It's my turn to advertise, now."

They laughed and soon arrived at the studio.

Although the recording studio was hidden in the suburbs, it looked exquisite and stylish. Many people dressed in ‘artistic’ clothing came in and out. George looked down at his tee with pokemon on it, and felt that he was out of place.

George was taken aback and asked his girlfriend, "Xiaorui, didn't you say that you were short of money? How did you rent such a luxurious recording studio?"

Xiaorui said proudly, "This is not what I’m renting! I asked about the soundtrack in the Chinese group of foreign students before. A senior in the piano department not only agreed to help us with the soundtrack, but also actively contacted his friend's recording studio and loaned it to us for free! "

Upon hearing this, George immediately became vigilant: "What brother? How old, where is he, how does he look, and does he have a girlfriend?"

"Tyrant George, what are you thinking about!" Shang Xiaorui was so angry that she twisted the fat around his waist. "Brother Yao is gay. He only helped me out of enthusiasm. Can you put away your subconscious thoughts?" "

George was violently scolded, and went to chat with Tan Yiming, complaining, "You look at her, she is pampered and arrogant. It's only been a few days of dating, and she dared hit me!"

That being said, George's face was slick, with a layer of greasy happiness.

Tan Yiming could not take his friend apart, because his heart had beat uncontrollably from the moment he stepped into the door. The blood was rushing inside his body, and he clenched his fist subconsciously, only to feel that his palms were hot and humid.

As he'd said, he never imagined becoming a commercial voice actor; but when he stepped into the door, it seemed as if a new world had exposed him to the tip of the iceberg.

He laughed at himself: he had not even seen the microphone, but he was nervous already.

He tried some simple vocal exercises, but his vocal cords were tight and the throat muscles couldn't relax at all.

George asked inexplicably, "What’s wrong with you, what are you doing? ‘Hou, hou, hou’, is your throat getting stuck?"

"..." Tan Yiming said with a headache, "Don’t talk anymore. I'm too annoyed to see you now."

The three registered their signatures at the front desk and received temporary visitor passes.

The receptionist said politely, "Mr. Yao is recording inside and will pick you up in five minutes."

Shang Xiaorui covered her chest, and admired her senior, saying intoxicatedly: "Brother Yao is really responsible! I am so happy when I think of seeing him playing the piano in a moment!"

George: "... hmm."

The little couple quarreled with each other about the vinegar, diluting the tension in Tan Yiming’s heart.

The three waited in the lobby for a few minutes, and soon, a tall figure appeared at the end of the corridor, slowly walking towards them.

The matte texture of the soundproof door opened to the sides, and Brother Yao, who had been verbalized by Shang Xiaorui, finally appeared in front of them.

He was a handsome young man who was dressed fashionably with a cross necklace hanging around his neck. The smile on the corner of his lips was correct: gentle and proper.

Even George, the pure 24k straight man, said that the appearance of Brother Yao really made people feel good about him for the first impression.

"Fortunately, we meet." The young man nodded slightly towards the three of them, and took the initiative to reach out his hand in the direction of Tan Yiming. "I'm Yao Yin. I'm in charge of the piano soundtrack, and I'm also your voice guide."

※

The man's low magnetic voice came from the headphones.

A chuckle, a sigh, a chant, a sigh...

On the narrow single bed, the tall-statured boy wore loose pajamas, exposing his thin waist.

Opening his eyes, Xiang Cai looked at the ceiling of the dormitory. The old electric fan squeaked and turned. When Xiang Cai was seven or eight years old, he had imagined the horrendous picture of the electric fan falling and the fan’s blades flattening his head. Now that he was older, he no longer imagined this kind of unreasonable thing.

The other three roommates ended their day's professional training and were so tired that they fell asleep.

Adolescent boys didn’t pay much attention to hygiene. The smell in the dormitory was a little weird, but what made it even more unbearable for Xiang Cai was their continuous snores.

The dormitory was so hot that Xiang Cai rolled over anxiously and moved the quilt to his feet.

As he moved, his loose cotton sock slipped from his ankle. He stooped indifferently, re-hooked the sock with his fingertips, and lifted it to his ankle.

He turned up the volume of the audio. In the headphones, Wang Qingyun's voice was tragic and affectionate. Xiang Cai could almost see the bloody eyes and feel the warm and powerful embrace.

“Aiqing …” Wang Qingyun said to the other man, “If there is an afterlife, I don’t want to be the lonely lord in this Grand Palace; I can’t bear to see you fight in the battlefield for me, tolerating blood and pain… I only want to be with you as the most ordinary couple in the world, like the every day coarse tea and light rice. Like the everyday sunset glow.”

Xiang Cai: "... ????"

Wait, something seemed wrong?

Xiang Cai sat up abruptly from the bed and widened his eyes, his face burning red.

He grabbed the mobile phone in a hurry and the light of the screen shrouded his face. He narrowed his eyes, and carefully identified the long string of small characters of the audio title: Send Jiangshan (Original: Mo Wai) | Character voices: Wang Qingyun (Emperor) / Gu He (General) | End of the first part of the annual tear gas drama. Enter this pit of super high scores.

That was right.

Xiang Cai read the long series of phrases on the headline, word by word, in his heart.

‘Wasn’t this a work that described the feelings of the emperor and the general? How could one listen to... The emperor and the general actually started to engage in this subject …’

Xiang Cai was clear and pure, like a white piece of paper. In addition to dancing as a teenager, he had been dancing throughout his childhood. Where had he been exposed to such things? He knew that some people in this world would like the same sex, but ... but ... but why would Wang Qingyun match such a story?

Did Wang Qingyun also like men?

Was he and this ‘general’ a couple in real life?

At the thought of this possibility, Xiang Cai suddenly felt the tip of his tongue tightening, and a strange feeling that couldn't be said surged up.

The radio dramas on his mobile phone were all passed to him by his deskmate Qi Ji. He randomly opened one before going to bed. He had wanted to use it as a lullaby. However, he couldn’t think of sleeping before he was seriously blown up.

He wanted to ask Qi Ji what was going on, but he was afraid that the girl would feel like he was being fussy.

Xiang Cai’s idol baggage weighed a ton, and even if the question in his heart weighed ten tons, he was still afraid to easily remove the baggage.

As he held his cell phone in a daze, Qi's message suddenly jumped out.

It was too coincidental.

Miracle Girl: [Cute] [Cute] [Cute]

[T/N: Miracle is Qi Ji, but with different characters]

Miracle Girl: Would you like to go with me to the instrument class tomorrow morning?

Guess I Guess:……?

Xiang Cai stared in horror at the sentence on his phone screen.

Guess I Guess: Musical instrument class? ? ? ? ?

Miracle Girl: [Squinting] God, do you not know?

Miracle Girl: There are four compulsory courses for the Musical Theatre Department: performance and lines, vocal music and sight-singing, basic dance, and musical instruments!

Guess I guess: ... I really heard it for the first time.

Xiang Cai, 11 years old, stepped into the school gates of Huawu Affiliated Academy, and his life had always centered around ballet. After one year off school, he obeyed the arrangements of the department heads and transferred to the Musical Theatre Department. On the surface, he accepted all this, but in fact, he always treated it negatively in his heart.

Had it not been for Qi Ji’s reminder, he would not even look at the schedule.

Miracle Girl: So you don't have any instruments?

Guess I Guess: ...... Does the harmonica count?

Miracle Girl: Do you think the harmonica counts?

Guess I Guess: I think it's the end.

Miracle Girl: [Smile] [Smile] [Smile]

Miracle Girl: You think it's useless, the teacher thinks it counts.

Xiang Cai: "..."

Guess I Guess: What instrument do you play? Otherwise, I will learn the same as you.

Miracle Girl: [Proud] Learning violin level eight.

Guess I Guess: !!!

Guess I Guess: [Disrespect] [Disrespect]

Miracle Girl: [Inheritance] [Inheritance]

Miracle Girl: But don't worry about the violin. Even if you start to learn it now, it will be difficult for you to meet the graduation requirements after two years.

Guess I Guess: ...

Miracle Girl: Do you recognize clefs?

Guess I guess: Yes, I learned it as a kid.

Miracle Girl: Then I think you might as well learn the piano.

‘Piano……? Can't, it …it sounds so difficult, it’s better to ask him to play harmonica tomorrow.’

Miracle Girl: By the way, Wang Qingyun said that he especially appreciates those who can play the piano.

Guess I Guess: ...

Guess I Guess: [OK]

Guess I Guess: I'll go to the teacher to register tomorrow. 

***

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