Chapter 7
Act I: The Sound of Music (5)
----------
The animation "Slowly Tune" told how a boy born in the countryside in the 1970s walked out of his mountain village step by step with his own efforts, and said goodbye to his former classmates, relatives, friends, and loved ones. He traveled across the oceans alone and took root in the United States. Numerous days, dreams urged him to move forward; countless nights, nostalgic homesickness entangled him, making him unable to sleep. In the end, when Yi Jin became famous and returned to his hometown, he found that the small mountain village that had supported him through countless lonely days had long since changed. The only thing that remained unchanged was the sound of the bells on the street after sunset, urging him to go home. But ... where was home again?
This was a very literary story full of nostalgia and loneliness. It was in Chinese ink painting style combined with the latest animation technology. Shang Xiaorui and her classmates had full confidence in their work.
However, they had never found a suitable male voice to dub the work.
She did not need the male's English voice to be very proficient and fluent nor very ‘American’, but it must give the audience a strong sense of resonance. It must be like the gentlest sword, the softest stone, and one that could sink heavily into the hearts of the audience.
After getting the script and the demo, Tan Yiming tried to read it several times in the dormitory.
And now, he would present his voice in front of the faces of everyone in this very professional recording studio.
Tan Yiming thought that the uncontrollable tension would continue forever. Maybe he had to look for the right state of mind.
But when he stood in front of the microphone and watched the lights on the wall [On Air] light up, his tension suddenly subsided.
An indescribable icy sensation poured in from the top of his head, spreading around his spine, dissipating the self-doubt that was deep down in his heart.
His hot palms, stiff legs, dry throat ... all these sensations were all gone.
He was no longer himself but the boy in "Slowly Tune", the main character of the animation.
‘He’ had gone through turbulent times. ‘He’ was full of the spring breeze of reform and blooming, and ‘he’ had bravely set foot on another continent. ‘He’ was like a baby bird leaving the nest while thinking of his homeland, yet at the same time, yearning for a new world.
This was a one-man show of the male protagonist, but it was not just a one-man show.
‘He’ experienced parting and suffered hardships. When ‘he’ finally gained a foothold and looked back on his life, all he had left were heavy memories.
‘He’ had met so many people and so many things, but the belief that supported him to move forward had never changed.
It was just... It was time, it was time to go home.
‘He’ also wanted to go back and look at the bird's nest that released ‘him’ and see the one who gave birth to him.
...
For the full 13 minutes and 28 seconds of the plot, Tan Yiming didn't stop, all the emotions poured out in one breath.
He was reading a poem, a poem that belonged to life.
The animation demo on the LCD TV in front of him was simple and abstract, like a silent mime. The voice of Tan Yiming was the only vent of this mime.
When the last syllable fell, and the picture was wrapped in a golden-red sunset, this story finally ended.
Tan Yiming was standing there blankly, as if he hadn't performed yet.
He stared blankly at the screen, at the microphone, and at the script in his hand ... even he didn't expect that his condition would be so good.
For a full 13 minutes of monologue, there were no stumbles, no mistakes. The feelings of each sentence were just so perfect.
It was natural.
He paused quietly, waiting for the turbulent emotions to fade from his chest. He slowly took off the monitor headphones, turned around, and looked through the glass window behind him.
This time, he was no longer a monster hiding behind the mirror and watching the world, but a god standing in the mirror and examining everything.
Outside, Shang Xiaorui covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
George raised his thumb up at him, shouting things Tan Yiming couldn’t hear, flushed with excitement.
And Yao Yin ...
Behind that transparent glass window, Yao Yin's smile was like an elegant water lily, cascading and blooming.
The young man pressed the call button next to him and said something.
Tan Yiming did not hear it.
Yao Yin pointed at the monitoring headphones, and Tan Yiming put it on again.
In the headphones, the youth's cold voice sounded like pouring spring water into a glass, it sounded pleasing to the ears.
"Tan Yiming," Yao Yin said clearly. "Have you considered taking the career route?"
"..." Tan Yiming first froze, then laughed. He wondered what was going on, and why everyone around him started asking him if he wanted to be a professional voiceover. "Thank you, but I never thought about it."
"Really? You can think about it again." Yao Yin said indifferently. "Your voice is unique. Not only is your voice in good condition, but it is also very contagious. This is a gift that many people can't find. I have a lot of friends in this circle. If you want to take a job, I can introduce you. "
"It's really impossible." Tan Yiming shrugged. "Voicing over is just my hobby, and I'm very satisfied with my current job. I don't need to exchange interests with money."
Tan Yiming's refusal was merciless.
Yao Yin wanted to say something, but George next to him had already jumped over with excitement and snatched the call button.
"F*ck! Old Tan, you’re awesome!" George squeaked. "I only heard you read those nasty love words before. I didn't expect you to be so charming when you take it seriously!!!"
Tan Yiming especially thanked George for helping him to get away from the topic. He followed the other person's words and chatted, diluting the atmosphere that was a little awkward just now.
When George finished talking, the call button was passed to Xiaorui.
Shang Xiaorui finally managed to stop her tears, but her eyes were still shimmering with moisture.
"Brother Tan, you're really amazing!" She looked at him with idol-like eyes, first blowing rainbow farts, then quickly adjusting her status, beginning to use the identity of an animation director. She pointed out a few minor flaws in Tan Yiming’s dubbing.
Normal dubbings were recorded one sentence at a time. Almost no one could do it in one go like Tan Yiming.
The advantage of doing it in one go was that the emotions were continuous and constant; the disadvantage was that the rhythm of some places may be slightly off for a few milliseconds, and the character's mouth might not be aligned with the voice, but that could be fine-tuned by the computer.
Xiaorui also heard three or four wrong pronunciations at the tips of her ears, but the problem was not serious. Tan Yiming re-recorded those words twice, and it was soon done.
He completed the task faster than everyone expected, and since they had a lot of time left, they were at a loss.
When everyone discussed whether to leave early, Yao Yin suddenly said: "Previously, Xiaorui asked me to help write the piano soundtrack but I haven't started writing it yet. Having just listened to Yiming’s voiceover, I got a little inspiration. If you have nothing else to do, would you like to listen to me play the piano? "
Xiaorui's eyes brightened, and she immediately nodded and said, "Okay, okay." She revolved around the rose like a small butterfly.
Yao Yin took them to another recording studio that had a piano.
He sat upright in front of the piano, his wrists raised and lowered, and his ten fingers traversed the keys, sometimes briskly, sometimes lingering. When he was playing the piano, Xiaorui was lying on the piano top, her hands resting on her chin, listening intoxicatedly.
He was indeed very talented, relying entirely on improvisation. He played a tune, stopped, took a pen to record it, and then played another tune.
When faced with elusive rhythms, he would turn his head to the side, talking lowly to Xiaorui. He had a decent and gentleman's attitude, and occasionally chatted with the two men watching beside him, not neglecting them.
But George thought it was weird the more he looked.
He scratched a few hairs on his head, got close to Tan Yiming, and said in a stern voice: "What do you say, isn’t he keeping us here but leaving us out on purpose? If Xiaorui didn’t say he was gay, I really would think he was straight. He’s plotting something bad with Xiaorui. Oh, isn't this the legendary 'want to pick up a girl, pretending to be gay'? "
Tan Yiming gave him a funny look: "Tyrant George, I really don’t see it ..."
George: "You don’t see anything?"
Tan Yiming: "You've said that I have raised you for so long. Why did I not find out until now that you would care so much about your food?"
George didn't react for a long time.
It wasn't until a minute later that he yelled, "F*ck! Who is the dog you are talking about!"
While George Dog was protecting his food, Tan Yiming silently watched the playing video recorded on the mobile phone. His fingers moved, and the video was posted on Weibo.
At this time he didn't know how much trouble this seemingly small act would bring to a small fan on the other side of the ocean.
※
Huawu High School did not allow students to bring mobile phones into the classroom, but if it was secretly used in the dormitory, no one would care.
In fact, Xiang Cai rarely used a cell phone because he didn’t have anyone to contact.
His former classmates and friends gradually disappeared as he dropped out of school. And his relatives ... let’s not mention them.
He used the most common thousand yuan Android phone, which he paid for when he was still engaged in activities.
Such a mobile phone was not smooth when playing games and watching videos. The only use of the mobile phone was for him is to check the time.
If it were not for Wang Qingyun, Xiang Cai would not even download Weibo at all.
Qi Ji was a standard two-dimensional girl, who not only taught him to register for a Weibo account, but also took the initiative to interact with him.
She was not the same as him. She liked too many things, such as network matches, games, and crispy duck literature. She also had to distract herself by listing her favorite boy groups ... She had tens of millions on the wall, and she said that she went online every day. At that time, it felt like he was Wu Zetian first entering the harem. He didn’t know which small fresh meat would be lucky today.
[T/N: Wu Zetian, also known as Empress Wu, was a famous empress consort (and only female empress) who was unofficially the ‘power behind the throne’, living from the Zhou to the Tang dynasty. Thanks, Wikipedia.]
But Xiang Cai is different. Xiang Cai’s special attention was only on one person, and that was the Great God Wang Qingyun.
He had also listened to other people's radio dramas, but their voices lacked the feelings that stirred his soul.
"This is called destiny!" Qi Ji said, "A person can have countless walls in their life, but they can only have one destiny!" She patted him on the shoulder, saying in a weathered manner, “I really envy you. You have found your destiny unlike me- I am among the thousands of ordinary flowers. Who is my Prince Charming?"
Xiang Cai thought her description was a bit weird.
"I like Wang Qingyun and worship him as an idol." He blushed. "Unlike you girls, I don’t want to fall in love with idols."
Qi Ji snorted, feeling that he was suspected of sexism, but was too lazy to refute so she just ignored him.
After turning off the lights every day, Xiang Cai would secretly take out his cell phone in his bed and browse Wang Qingyun's Weibo through the glare of the screen light.
Wang Qingyun rarely posted on Weibo, and unless he was posting about a drama, hardly ever surfaced.
However, Xiang Cai still watched it with gusto- he would follow Wang Qingyun with attention and go to other CV’s Weibos to see. He would also open the Weibo of those who published the drama, and browse the comments one by one.
On several occasions, he was very lucky, and really ‘caught’ the trace of Wang Qingyun's presence under other people's Weibo account.
Even if the Great God just left an emoji with a [like] or a [smile], it made him feel happy.
In this way, Xiang Cai gradually understood the Great God’s circle of friends. He knew which dubbing group Wang Qingyun belonged to, which CVs he had cooperated with, and which plots he had worked on. He could even piece together the image of the Great God in the eyes of others through only the words left by others in the community on Weibo.
Xiang Cai didn't know that his behavior was called ‘stalking’; he also didn't realize that his attention to Wang Qingyun was beyond the normal range.
Wang Qingyun's latest original Weibo was still the piano playing video.
The player’s face was covered with a smiley emoji. The dexterous ten fingers jumped on the keyboard, and the lingering sound of the piano flowed out. It was a song that Xiang Cai had never heard before
Wang Qingyun said that the song was originally created by his friend.
Xiang Cai didn't know how many times he heard this tune repeatedly, as if he listened to it again, he could ‘hear the soul’ of the performer in the video.
But he knew that this was impossible ... Just like Qi Ji said, it was better to hope that he could become a friend of the great god than hope he could play as well as this friend of the great god.
But how could one become a friend of the great god?
Xiang Cai laid on the bed and his fingers unconsciously pulled down the Weibo refresh; with his special attention jumped out new content!!!
@cv | Wang Qingyun: Repost Weibo //
@Sound of Jiuxiao Radio Dramas: Recruiting for a new season of radio dramas!!! Do you want to be a cv and play against the gods? Do you want to be a good screenwriter? Do you want to hone your post-production skills? In your heart, do you want to draw with your own hands? [Sound of Jiuxiao Radio Dramas] New recruits ~ Hurry up and join the group!!!
----------
The animation "Slowly Tune" told how a boy born in the countryside in the 1970s walked out of his mountain village step by step with his own efforts, and said goodbye to his former classmates, relatives, friends, and loved ones. He traveled across the oceans alone and took root in the United States. Numerous days, dreams urged him to move forward; countless nights, nostalgic homesickness entangled him, making him unable to sleep. In the end, when Yi Jin became famous and returned to his hometown, he found that the small mountain village that had supported him through countless lonely days had long since changed. The only thing that remained unchanged was the sound of the bells on the street after sunset, urging him to go home. But ... where was home again?
This was a very literary story full of nostalgia and loneliness. It was in Chinese ink painting style combined with the latest animation technology. Shang Xiaorui and her classmates had full confidence in their work.
However, they had never found a suitable male voice to dub the work.
She did not need the male's English voice to be very proficient and fluent nor very ‘American’, but it must give the audience a strong sense of resonance. It must be like the gentlest sword, the softest stone, and one that could sink heavily into the hearts of the audience.
After getting the script and the demo, Tan Yiming tried to read it several times in the dormitory.
And now, he would present his voice in front of the faces of everyone in this very professional recording studio.
Tan Yiming thought that the uncontrollable tension would continue forever. Maybe he had to look for the right state of mind.
But when he stood in front of the microphone and watched the lights on the wall [On Air] light up, his tension suddenly subsided.
An indescribable icy sensation poured in from the top of his head, spreading around his spine, dissipating the self-doubt that was deep down in his heart.
His hot palms, stiff legs, dry throat ... all these sensations were all gone.
He was no longer himself but the boy in "Slowly Tune", the main character of the animation.
‘He’ had gone through turbulent times. ‘He’ was full of the spring breeze of reform and blooming, and ‘he’ had bravely set foot on another continent. ‘He’ was like a baby bird leaving the nest while thinking of his homeland, yet at the same time, yearning for a new world.
This was a one-man show of the male protagonist, but it was not just a one-man show.
‘He’ experienced parting and suffered hardships. When ‘he’ finally gained a foothold and looked back on his life, all he had left were heavy memories.
‘He’ had met so many people and so many things, but the belief that supported him to move forward had never changed.
It was just... It was time, it was time to go home.
‘He’ also wanted to go back and look at the bird's nest that released ‘him’ and see the one who gave birth to him.
...
For the full 13 minutes and 28 seconds of the plot, Tan Yiming didn't stop, all the emotions poured out in one breath.
He was reading a poem, a poem that belonged to life.
The animation demo on the LCD TV in front of him was simple and abstract, like a silent mime. The voice of Tan Yiming was the only vent of this mime.
When the last syllable fell, and the picture was wrapped in a golden-red sunset, this story finally ended.
Tan Yiming was standing there blankly, as if he hadn't performed yet.
He stared blankly at the screen, at the microphone, and at the script in his hand ... even he didn't expect that his condition would be so good.
For a full 13 minutes of monologue, there were no stumbles, no mistakes. The feelings of each sentence were just so perfect.
It was natural.
He paused quietly, waiting for the turbulent emotions to fade from his chest. He slowly took off the monitor headphones, turned around, and looked through the glass window behind him.
This time, he was no longer a monster hiding behind the mirror and watching the world, but a god standing in the mirror and examining everything.
Outside, Shang Xiaorui covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face.
George raised his thumb up at him, shouting things Tan Yiming couldn’t hear, flushed with excitement.
And Yao Yin ...
Behind that transparent glass window, Yao Yin's smile was like an elegant water lily, cascading and blooming.
The young man pressed the call button next to him and said something.
Tan Yiming did not hear it.
Yao Yin pointed at the monitoring headphones, and Tan Yiming put it on again.
In the headphones, the youth's cold voice sounded like pouring spring water into a glass, it sounded pleasing to the ears.
"Tan Yiming," Yao Yin said clearly. "Have you considered taking the career route?"
"..." Tan Yiming first froze, then laughed. He wondered what was going on, and why everyone around him started asking him if he wanted to be a professional voiceover. "Thank you, but I never thought about it."
"Really? You can think about it again." Yao Yin said indifferently. "Your voice is unique. Not only is your voice in good condition, but it is also very contagious. This is a gift that many people can't find. I have a lot of friends in this circle. If you want to take a job, I can introduce you. "
"It's really impossible." Tan Yiming shrugged. "Voicing over is just my hobby, and I'm very satisfied with my current job. I don't need to exchange interests with money."
Tan Yiming's refusal was merciless.
Yao Yin wanted to say something, but George next to him had already jumped over with excitement and snatched the call button.
"F*ck! Old Tan, you’re awesome!" George squeaked. "I only heard you read those nasty love words before. I didn't expect you to be so charming when you take it seriously!!!"
Tan Yiming especially thanked George for helping him to get away from the topic. He followed the other person's words and chatted, diluting the atmosphere that was a little awkward just now.
When George finished talking, the call button was passed to Xiaorui.
Shang Xiaorui finally managed to stop her tears, but her eyes were still shimmering with moisture.
"Brother Tan, you're really amazing!" She looked at him with idol-like eyes, first blowing rainbow farts, then quickly adjusting her status, beginning to use the identity of an animation director. She pointed out a few minor flaws in Tan Yiming’s dubbing.
Normal dubbings were recorded one sentence at a time. Almost no one could do it in one go like Tan Yiming.
The advantage of doing it in one go was that the emotions were continuous and constant; the disadvantage was that the rhythm of some places may be slightly off for a few milliseconds, and the character's mouth might not be aligned with the voice, but that could be fine-tuned by the computer.
Xiaorui also heard three or four wrong pronunciations at the tips of her ears, but the problem was not serious. Tan Yiming re-recorded those words twice, and it was soon done.
He completed the task faster than everyone expected, and since they had a lot of time left, they were at a loss.
When everyone discussed whether to leave early, Yao Yin suddenly said: "Previously, Xiaorui asked me to help write the piano soundtrack but I haven't started writing it yet. Having just listened to Yiming’s voiceover, I got a little inspiration. If you have nothing else to do, would you like to listen to me play the piano? "
Xiaorui's eyes brightened, and she immediately nodded and said, "Okay, okay." She revolved around the rose like a small butterfly.
Yao Yin took them to another recording studio that had a piano.
He sat upright in front of the piano, his wrists raised and lowered, and his ten fingers traversed the keys, sometimes briskly, sometimes lingering. When he was playing the piano, Xiaorui was lying on the piano top, her hands resting on her chin, listening intoxicatedly.
He was indeed very talented, relying entirely on improvisation. He played a tune, stopped, took a pen to record it, and then played another tune.
When faced with elusive rhythms, he would turn his head to the side, talking lowly to Xiaorui. He had a decent and gentleman's attitude, and occasionally chatted with the two men watching beside him, not neglecting them.
But George thought it was weird the more he looked.
He scratched a few hairs on his head, got close to Tan Yiming, and said in a stern voice: "What do you say, isn’t he keeping us here but leaving us out on purpose? If Xiaorui didn’t say he was gay, I really would think he was straight. He’s plotting something bad with Xiaorui. Oh, isn't this the legendary 'want to pick up a girl, pretending to be gay'? "
Tan Yiming gave him a funny look: "Tyrant George, I really don’t see it ..."
George: "You don’t see anything?"
Tan Yiming: "You've said that I have raised you for so long. Why did I not find out until now that you would care so much about your food?"
George didn't react for a long time.
It wasn't until a minute later that he yelled, "F*ck! Who is the dog you are talking about!"
While George Dog was protecting his food, Tan Yiming silently watched the playing video recorded on the mobile phone. His fingers moved, and the video was posted on Weibo.
At this time he didn't know how much trouble this seemingly small act would bring to a small fan on the other side of the ocean.
※
Huawu High School did not allow students to bring mobile phones into the classroom, but if it was secretly used in the dormitory, no one would care.
In fact, Xiang Cai rarely used a cell phone because he didn’t have anyone to contact.
His former classmates and friends gradually disappeared as he dropped out of school. And his relatives ... let’s not mention them.
He used the most common thousand yuan Android phone, which he paid for when he was still engaged in activities.
Such a mobile phone was not smooth when playing games and watching videos. The only use of the mobile phone was for him is to check the time.
If it were not for Wang Qingyun, Xiang Cai would not even download Weibo at all.
Qi Ji was a standard two-dimensional girl, who not only taught him to register for a Weibo account, but also took the initiative to interact with him.
She was not the same as him. She liked too many things, such as network matches, games, and crispy duck literature. She also had to distract herself by listing her favorite boy groups ... She had tens of millions on the wall, and she said that she went online every day. At that time, it felt like he was Wu Zetian first entering the harem. He didn’t know which small fresh meat would be lucky today.
[T/N: Wu Zetian, also known as Empress Wu, was a famous empress consort (and only female empress) who was unofficially the ‘power behind the throne’, living from the Zhou to the Tang dynasty. Thanks, Wikipedia.]
But Xiang Cai is different. Xiang Cai’s special attention was only on one person, and that was the Great God Wang Qingyun.
He had also listened to other people's radio dramas, but their voices lacked the feelings that stirred his soul.
"This is called destiny!" Qi Ji said, "A person can have countless walls in their life, but they can only have one destiny!" She patted him on the shoulder, saying in a weathered manner, “I really envy you. You have found your destiny unlike me- I am among the thousands of ordinary flowers. Who is my Prince Charming?"
Xiang Cai thought her description was a bit weird.
"I like Wang Qingyun and worship him as an idol." He blushed. "Unlike you girls, I don’t want to fall in love with idols."
Qi Ji snorted, feeling that he was suspected of sexism, but was too lazy to refute so she just ignored him.
After turning off the lights every day, Xiang Cai would secretly take out his cell phone in his bed and browse Wang Qingyun's Weibo through the glare of the screen light.
Wang Qingyun rarely posted on Weibo, and unless he was posting about a drama, hardly ever surfaced.
However, Xiang Cai still watched it with gusto- he would follow Wang Qingyun with attention and go to other CV’s Weibos to see. He would also open the Weibo of those who published the drama, and browse the comments one by one.
On several occasions, he was very lucky, and really ‘caught’ the trace of Wang Qingyun's presence under other people's Weibo account.
Even if the Great God just left an emoji with a [like] or a [smile], it made him feel happy.
In this way, Xiang Cai gradually understood the Great God’s circle of friends. He knew which dubbing group Wang Qingyun belonged to, which CVs he had cooperated with, and which plots he had worked on. He could even piece together the image of the Great God in the eyes of others through only the words left by others in the community on Weibo.
Xiang Cai didn't know that his behavior was called ‘stalking’; he also didn't realize that his attention to Wang Qingyun was beyond the normal range.
Wang Qingyun's latest original Weibo was still the piano playing video.
The player’s face was covered with a smiley emoji. The dexterous ten fingers jumped on the keyboard, and the lingering sound of the piano flowed out. It was a song that Xiang Cai had never heard before
Wang Qingyun said that the song was originally created by his friend.
Xiang Cai didn't know how many times he heard this tune repeatedly, as if he listened to it again, he could ‘hear the soul’ of the performer in the video.
But he knew that this was impossible ... Just like Qi Ji said, it was better to hope that he could become a friend of the great god than hope he could play as well as this friend of the great god.
But how could one become a friend of the great god?
Xiang Cai laid on the bed and his fingers unconsciously pulled down the Weibo refresh; with his special attention jumped out new content!!!
@cv | Wang Qingyun: Repost Weibo //
@Sound of Jiuxiao Radio Dramas: Recruiting for a new season of radio dramas!!! Do you want to be a cv and play against the gods? Do you want to be a good screenwriter? Do you want to hone your post-production skills? In your heart, do you want to draw with your own hands? [Sound of Jiuxiao Radio Dramas] New recruits ~ Hurry up and join the group!!!
***
oho, so this is the opportunity~~ yay can't wait!!! thank u for the chapter <3
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