Chapter 22

Act IV: Billy Elliot (3)

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It was not that the head of the department had a big mouth, and would share gossip with everyone she knew; Xiang Cai's story had long been known to everyone. Even if she didn’t say it, it would definitely pass into the director's ears in a few days.

The main creator of Out of My World stayed at Huawu Academy of Dance for a whole week and stood in the back row of the dance classroom every day to watch the students rehearse.

[T/N: Okay, I’m sticking with Academy of Dance.]

They came and went in a very low-key manner, but no matter how low-key, they couldn’t control the rumors in the school.

Within a few days, everyone in the school was discussing the work Out of My World.

——The director was here to choose an actor!

There was no shortage of child stars in Huawu Academy of Dance. Many students had signed to a brokerage company when they were 14 or 15 years old and embarked on a star’s journey. Some people frequently appeared in movies, some people went to commercial shows on weekends, and some even dropped out of school to make their debut in South Korea ... But the work Out of My World was different.

This was a work that was funded by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Culture, and it reflected a life that was closely related to by all dance students in this world.

Who had studied dance and yet never encountered the criticizing eyes of others, and who had not cried or been hurt while practicing in a dance classroom? Now that there was a story that portrayed all their efforts and struggles, they were really happy and crazy about it!

The group of young boys in the Ballet Department all worked hard to perform in front of the crew, and some people deliberately made their own chance encounters, rushing to the office of the head of the department during the class.

People in the other departments looked at them with both envy and jealousy.

In the cafeteria, there was a boy in the Folk Dance Department sitting at a table and muttering, "What kind of shit luck does their Ballet Department have? I thought that ‘director coming to choose an actor’ could only happen in the Musical Theater Department!"

That sour taste ... The school canteen chefs no longer needed to use sauerkraut to make sauerkraut fish, the students themselves could squeeze out that flavor!

"That is to say!" Said another person, "The Musical Theater Department does have that someone ...  Xiang Cai! Wasn’t he a ballet dancer before, so why not choose him directly?"

"His feet are useless, why else isn’t he dancing?" The third person snapped up. "I heard a guy from the Musical Theater Department say that Xiang Cai couldn't hold on for the two-hour basic dance class, and his ankle was always shaking, so he had to rest after a while. In this case, with his situation, if he really became the leading actor of a musical, he would make a fool of himself!"

Several people gradually forgot to control their volume, and the voices became louder and louder.

It wasn't until the person sitting next to them panicked, saw that the protagonist they were gossiping about, actually was sitting at the table behind them!

The distance between the two tables were so close, he definitely heard their hurtful words spraying indiscriminately!

And Xiang Cai? He had no angry or sad expression. He just raised his eyes very calmly and quietly, his gaze like icy water in the cold lake, and the moment he looked at them, he poured them a chill.

"My body doesn't concern you." He said lightly. "Also, even if I can't keep up with my physical fitness, I am better than everyone in the class by skill alone."

"Ha..." The several long-tongued boys shuddered, hurriedly lowering their eyes quietly like chicken, pecking the rice in their dinner plates honestly.

The boy was too beautiful, the kind of beauty that was full of distance and where one could not find any faults. Stabbed with such cold eyes, everyone instantly remembered his glittering appearance on the stage. He was so noble and unattainable ... Which firefly dared to compete with the stars?

He was like a doll carefully crafted by God, with no flaws to be found. But why did he suffer such misfortunes if he was really a treasure favored by God?

...

The group of boys ate quickly and left. Xiang Cai had no appetite. He looked down at the green vegetables on the metal dinner plate, and suddenly wanted to return to the classroom. He grabbed a handful of dried meat and dried fish from Qi Ji and stuffed it into his mouth.

From the moment the crew of Out of My World stepped onto the campus, countless eyes had been staring at him, waiting to see his reaction.

What could he do except ignore those gazes and build a wall for himself?

He pulled out a worn cell phone from his pocket, straightened the headphone cable, and opened one of his favorite radio dramas, putting the white headphones in his ears.

Wang Qingyun's voice came turbulently, like waves from the ocean, enveloping him as if it was a tide, also isolating him from the chaotic environment. It gave him precious breathing time.

He knew that on the second day of his accident, photos of the car accident scene and photos of the ward appeared on the local news. The speed of the circulation of gossip among students should not be underestimated, and soon the explosive news swept the entire school.

Xiang Cai sometimes felt that he was living in a glass fishbowl — he and them seemed to be within reach, but they were in two different worlds. He could not leave the fishbowl, because once he left, he would dry up and die in the sun.

Everyone around him knew what had happened to him, and they would subconsciously look at him with pity mixed with compassion. Even his best friend Qi Ji sometimes showed an expression that seemed like she was looking at a kitten or a puppy.

But he was not a kitten or a puppy.

He was a proud swan.

That’s why Xiang Cai would immerse himself in the virtual ocean of the network, because no one across the network cable knew about his tragic past.

He could fabricate a false identity in the radio drama troupe: he was in his twenties, and he was in college, he would enter a ballet dance troupe after graduation and become the youngest male lead actor in a show... This was what he once thought he was destined to achieve, these dreams were also the sweet dreams he used to deceive others.

He knew it was wrong to lie ... but he couldn't help it.

Especially in front of the great god he admired most, he couldn't help but want to show his most perfect self.

Wang Qingyun believed him.

Even the great god took the initiative to help him with his audio accompaniment, and the five finished audios laid quietly in his mailbox. Xiang Cai listened to them one by one, and found that even some minor flaws in his own voice had been repaired.

He thought for a moment, putting down his chopsticks, and opened Qingyun’s chatbox of Qingyun, and left a message for him.

guess: Yun Da, I've been busy with three-dimensional elements these days, and haven't been online. I just saw your email!

guess: Thank you, it was perfect!!

guess: I had a few vocals where I didn’t sing very well. You helped me correct it, too!

guess: Thank you so much!!!

guess: [Happily spread wings].jpg

guess: [quack laughter].jpg

It was 1:00 in the afternoon, now. Counting the time difference, on the other side of the ocean, it should be early in the morning.

Xiang Cai thought that the great god must be sleeping at this time, he didn’t expect to receive a reply from Wang Qingyun a few minutes later.

Yiming Qingyun: No need for thanks.

Yiming Qingyun: Actually this is not what I did. [embarassed].

Yiming Qingyun: My computer crashed, and I found a professional to help you synthesize it.

guess: !!! Ah ... I'm sorry to let the great god take care of me orz

guess: Did you find a post-production helper in the community?

Yiming Qingyun: No, it was my three-dimensional friend.

Yiming Qingyun: You're welcome. Since I promised to help you, I couldn’t let your trust fail.

Xiang Cai returned with an expression where the swan twisted his long neck and hid his head under its wings. He made this expression with the title [covering face and shy].

He was really shy.

Obviously, he had to fight for this opportunity, and refused to join groups with other students in the final exam, but in the end, it caused Wang Qingyun trouble.

Yun Da actually comforted him in turn, the male god was really the most gentle person in the world.

guess: By the way, it should be past 1 am in the United States, right? Why aren’t you resting?

Yiming Qingyun: It's a long story ... I'm still working.

Yiming Qingyun: [Swan sighs].jpg

guess: ??? Great god, why did you steal my emoji???

guess: But still working overtime so late, so hard.

Yiming Qingyun: Not working overtime, actually making extra money.

A few seconds later, Wang Qingyun sent a photo. In it was an English script stamped in time, and the background was a professional recording studio!!!

Xiang Cai was surprised and sent several exclamation marks in a row.

guess: Yun Da, have you finally started professionally dub?

guess: Ah, ah, is it a movie or a TV series?

guess: Will it be available in China? Can I see it in China?

Xiang Cai had already looked at Wang Qingyun's Super Topic and learned a lot of gossip news. He listened from other little sisters on the Super Topic saying that many game companies had sent invitations to the great god, hoping that he could give voiceovers to characters in female mobile games. It was very rewarding, but the great god declined one by one.

[T/N: Super Topic— a feature on Weibo where people with common interests form a circle, mostly to gossip about idols and stars.]

As a fan, Xiang Cai certainly hoped to hear the voice of the great god on the big screen, so that everyone knew how amazing his idol was!

So when he saw the photo sent by Wang Qingyun, his enthusiasm was instantly ignited.

But it didn't take long for Wang Qingyun to withdraw the photo, leaving only a solitary [shh] expression.

Then, Wang Qingyun sent another voice message.

Xiang Cai quickly turned up the volume of the phone, held the headset tightly with both hands, and then pressed the play button-

"I’m only telling this to you."

"Little swan, remember to keep it secret for me."

In the midst of it, there seemed to be a soft sound — there was another candy dropped into the glass jar in the boy's heart.

...

In the brightly lit recording studio, Yao Yin knocked on the door and handed the American-style ice cream in his hand to Tan Yiming.

"Who did you just speak with?" Yao Yin reminded him of a half-truth, "Phones should be muted during working hours, and no minor infractions are allowed!"

"Working hours have passed." Tan Yiming took a sip of coffee and gradually returned to sweetness after bitterness. He leaned on the handlebar and joked, "Now this is the time to wait for the queen mother’s decree."

Under the Yao Yin’s guide for dubbing, Tan Yiming's precious first professional dubbing experience was dedicated to a small Chinese fresh meat who came to the United States to be gilded. The little fresh meat’s acting was okay, that is, the level of his line-reading was too poor. Regardless of Chinese and English, he spoke with a strong Northeast accent, which was very dramatic. When he was filming in China, all films used post-production dubbing. This time when he joined the Hollywood movie, the little fresh meat’s voice actor was not good at English and so they could only find someone else. Looking around, they found Tan Yiming here.

[T/N: I think it mentioned ‘gilded’ in the previous chapter, but it means to study abroad and go back to China with a more valued education/diploma.]

The ‘queen mother’ that Tan Yiming mentioned referred to the little fresh meat’s agent. Tan Yiming, such a ‘new and unknown’ voice actor, did not have any representative works. The queen mother was not assured, and so she must stare at them urgently through the 12-hour time difference. What they recorded in the studio, the agent must first approve, if the agent did not nod, Tan Yiming can not leave the studio.

Tan Yiming gave his voice to a film for the first time. In the beginning, he couldn't grasp his emotions properly and couldn't match his mouth shape. However, with the help of Yao Yin, he was quickly liberated from these problems. He was indeed quite talented, and the thin two pages of script were recorded in less than an hour.

Then he fell into a long wait.

The dubbing effect should firstly be sent to the star’s assistant. Then from the assistant to the public relations, from the public relations to the executive agent, and finally from the executive agent to the queen mother ... In this circle, every one put forth their own opinions:  Yiming’s voice was too mature, his mood was not full enough, let him try another tone, let him relax ...and so on....

Tan Yiming had spoken Chinese for more than 20 years but looking at this farce, at this moment he had found that he couldn’t speak at all.

The recording director and the editor who were present were obviously okay, but the little fresh meat was not okay, and Tan Yiming would never be okay. They could only be trapped in the small recording studio of a few square meters and re-record over and over.

He was helpless and asked Yao Yin: "I thought that this kind of mess would only be encountered in the domestic business circle ... Isn't this a Hollywood movie? Why does the film company allow the fifth male lead’s agency team to point fingers?

Yao Yin shrugged: "He may be the fifth male lead, but not only was he represented by the second-largest investor agency in this movie, the logo is ranked second only to the production company. So comes with privileges."

Tan Yiming understood that these privileges was to torture himself.

He spent more than an hour in the recording studio. Finally, the queen mother gave a decree of approval—

"It's finished!" Yao Yin said. "The agent said, ‘It sounds like the first is still the best version’.”

Tan Yiming: "..."

It was already past two o'clock in the morning when they officially called it a day. Tan Yiming was tossed to the point where he lost his temper, especially after thinking that he had a morning class the next day, but also had to go to the company for an internship in the afternoon. He had an even bigger headache.

Professional dubbing was paid, but a newcomer like him had a poor salary and it was not as high as one day of his internship in the investment bank.

The money was not enough for him to take a night train at two in the morning and return to the dormitory from the recording studio.

When Yao Yin saw that he was about to call for a car, he stopped him and offered to send him back.

Tan Yiming declined: "Don't bother, isn't your work not completed? I just heard the editing teacher say that you have to work in the studio all night to catch up."

"It's okay." Yao Yin's attitude was casual. "I've been stuck in the recording studio for so long. I need to go out and let go for a bit. Anyway, there is no one on the road in the middle of the night. I will drive you there and drive back, it will only take an hour and won’t delay much."

Yao Yin's tone was very relaxed, but this means that he had to postpone the time he finished work.

Tan Yiming naturally refused to trouble the other party with his own affairs.

"There’s really no need." Tan Yiming refused again. "I'm a big man, not a girl. I don't need someone to send me home."

It was unexpected when the young man in front of him suddenly raised an eyebrow, and a playful smile bloomed on his lips.

"Tan Yiming, I don't like girls, why should I send a girl home?"

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The author has something to say:

(Many people should have seen Brother Yao's jealousy ...)


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Comments

  1. I hate when people say "it is talent". Doesn't the effort and dedication deserve appreciation?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah. A lot of talent is actually the result of accumulated hard work and improvement. A moment of sudden breakthrough encapsulates all the effort in the past.

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    2. It's very hurtful, jus like when soccer fans discredit Ronaldo over Messi shouting talent talent, so annoying. Hardwork makes talent too y'know

      Delete
  2. I knew it! that yao guy have something for old tang hmmm

    ReplyDelete

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