Chapter 48

Act VI: The Little Prince (10)

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Xiang Cai looked at the message on the screen and was stunned for several minutes.

Obviously, it was in the simplest Chinese. Obviously, it had the clearest meaning, but his brain was like rust. Even after a long time, he could not understand the meaning of these words.

He read it again, then again, and then again ...

It was as if he read it a few more times, those words would disappear into thin air.

Wang Qingyun must have been hacked, right? Someone must have deliberately started such a prank, right?

Xiang Cai didn't reply, immediately going to Weibo to see any new posts.

But the reality was there—last night, Wang Qingyun had updated a Weibo.

The content was short, with only three words and a picture.

@CV | Wang Qingyun: Thank you, goodbye. [Share Song Meeting Poster]

The poster was simple in style, with a few lines printed on the faint background, giving the time of the song festival and the YY room number.

The name of the song meeting couldn’t be clearer: the word "Farewell" was dazzlingly printed on the top so that no one could miss it.

Xiang Cai: "..."

He opened the poster to enlarge it, then shrunk it until it was hidden. He dully repeated those subconscious movements, his brain blank.

When he reacted, his hand had already entered a string of words into the dialog box.

guess: ...

guess: Why are you leaving the online dubbing circle?

He was confused.

guess: The other big reason to leave is because the three-dimensional life is too busy, and there is no time to touch the mic. But Yun Da's work is related to dubbing. There is no need to step back!

guess: [fierce goose weeping].jpg

He knew Wang Qingyun because of radio dramas, and because of Wang Qingyun, he jumped into the pit of the online dubbing circle. He then joined the community, and began singing theme songs for other radio dramas.

It could be said that if he did not hear Wang Qingyun's voice that day, then he would not have fallen in love with him, and Xiang Cai would have never stepped into the online dubbing world.

But the man who guided him, inspired him, and changed him, had instead so easily retreated...

Tan Yiming just happened to be online at this time.

Seeing the boy's message, he could read his agitation.

Yiming Qingyun: Cai Cai, don't get agitated.

Yiming Qingyun: I know that many online dubbing CVs still use their original id after entering commercial dubbing, and they will also take some online dubbing works in their spare time.

Yiming Qingyun: But my situation is different.

Yiming Qingyun: I’m making my debut in the United States as a commercial voice actor, and I’m also using my real name.

Yiming Qingyun: On the one hand, I don't want people to associate my two-dimensional identity with my identity in real life.

Yiming Qingyun: On the other hand, I really lack energy and can't take care of both sides.

What was the relationship between commercial dubbing and online dubbing? Everyone had a different opinion.

Some people thought that commercial dubbing was more "prestigious" than online dubbing. It was like the difference between a debuted artist and a street singer. The former could outshine the latter several times.

Some people thought that commercial dubbing was full of copper smell. Except for the famous top gods, the other people were just sitting on the sidelines, there was no pure dubbing online.

[T/N: I already mentioned this, but if you forgot, copper smell = the smell of making money.]

However, from Tan Yiming’s perspective, online dubbing and commercial dubbing were unaffiliated. Neither was nobler than the other. These were two very different, yet integrated, circles. Commercial dubbing won in the professional and mature aspect, while online dubbing won in the pure and active aspect.

Of these two circles, one represented his future, and one represented his past.

He harvested a lot of flowers and applause along the way, but now he was going on a new journey alone.

Tan Yiming was afraid that he could not clearly type it, so he simply dialed Xiang Cai's number.

The call took only a few seconds to go through.

At both ends of the radio wave, neither of them immediately spoke.

In their ears, they could only hear each other's breathing.

The boy's breathing was soft; he was worried, yet so inexplicably angry.

Tan Yiming was afraid of Xiang Cai and did not speak. His little swan's personality appeared soft and cute, but in fact was extremely persistent and had a big temper.

"I'm sorry," Tan Yiming said softly, "I didn't intentionally tell you so late. I have been thinking about leaving the circle for a long time."

"Actually, there have been many people coming and going in this circle. I could slowly leave like those retired CVs, who gradually refused new works, then slowly disappearing from Weibo. This is a safe way to fade out of the fans' eyes .... In this way, after many years have passed, when my fans open a certain dusty folder and see a radio drama lying there, they will suddenly remember: ‘It seems that a long time ago, I had a favorite CV called Wang Qingyun'.

Although some fans would joke, saying, "Missing Wang Qingyun on the first day he’s not posting on Weibo; missing him on Weibo the second day; third day he is not posting on Weibo, missing him, thinking of him ..."... But in fact, after a hundred days, after a thousand days, the idol Wang Qingyun would fade away from their minds.

It was like a yellowed photograph. Unconsciously, this love would also become a dusty memory in an album.

"—But I don't want it to be like this." Tan Yiming said, "I don't want to leave without any explanation.

"When I first entered this circle, I was a little fresh meat who didn’t understand anything, I only had passion. I didn't become a ‘great god’ on my own. There was the screenwriter, planner, director, post-producer, CVs acting with me, and the fans cheering for me ... Without them, I am nothing." Tan Yiming said with deep nostalgia in his voice, " I want to say thank you to everyone. Because of them, there is Wang Qingyun."

Although this song meeting was called "Farewell Song Meeting", Tan Yiming felt that it was more like a "confession song meeting".

He’d thank them all for giving him so much love in this virtual online world, and leaving him such wonderful memories in this circle.

He would remember the nights of countless pia dramas, he would remember reworking the dubbing over and over, and the tall buildings built for him.

[T/N: Pia plays/dramas = live, impromptu, voice-acting of a script (usually on YY)]

It was them who helped him discover his talent, and it was them who pushed him onto this professional path.

"So, Cai Cai," Tan Yiming solemnly asked, "—Would you like to join me in sending this confession to everyone?"

On the other end of the line, the boy's heart had long since softened into a mess.

Because he was also a person who loved Wang Qingyun; not only was it a fan’s worship of his idol, but it was also the humble unrequited love of a secret crush.

He moved his lips, tears running across his cheeks to finally fall on the corners of his raised lips: "... I would."

He gave his love willingly, with no expectations for reciprocation.

※

Tan Yiming originally planned that the song meeting would be kept short and simple. There was no need to make it too sensational. He was bidding farewell and leaving the circle, it’s not like they were bidding farewell to his dead body.

He wanted to ask three or four CVs that he had good relationships with to dub some classic dialogue on the scene. Finally, he would collaborate with the little swan, Cai Cai would sing while he would be responsible for a recitation.

This should take him no more than an hour and a half from start to end, he was simple and efficient.

But he underestimated his influence.

The news that Wang Qingyun was about to withdraw from the online dubbing circle had what could be called a nuclear-bomb-level effect, which instantly exploded among all the fans.

There were mournful messages in the comment section, and the discussion posts on the forum were all connected to him one by one. His private messages were also full, and QQ kept ringing, almost nonstop.

Wang Qingyun had been active in the online dubbing industry for many years, such a high number of good dramas could not be matched. His gong voice was very textured; he could be mature and steady, and he could also be full of spirit. Who knew how many people were "seduced" by his voice to jump into this circle. Once they entered the pit, it was difficult to extricate themselves.

All the CVs who had worked with him scrambled to leave a message for him, one after another taking the initiative to request a guest spot. They said that they would truly ‘send him off’ if they were guests of the song meeting.

Tan Yiming couldn’t decide whether to cry or laugh. It was not good to reject everyone's intentions. He could only keep cramming people into the club, and the guest list grew awfully large.

Xiang Cai scrolled down the long poster and saw his name, the last one of the show.

The names "guess" and "Wang Qingyun" were so close that they looked nestled together. One font was thin and delicate, and the other font was straight and thick, which looked very harmonious.

This was their first and last appearance at the same time.

Xiang Cai stretched out his hand and touched those words, as if he could touch that person in this way.

At this moment, Xiang Cai suddenly felt sincerely envious of those girls who boldly confessed to him. Their youth was fearless, and they dared to announce their love. Even if they were destined to not receive an equal response, they were not willing to be silent.

But Xiang Cai lacked that courage.

Because the distance between him and Wang Qingyun was too far.

It was not that they were physically far apart, nor was it their distance in and out the network. It was that the man had boarded the stars, but the boy was still wandering on the ground.

The 25-year-old Wang Qingyun had found his future, but the 17-year-old Xiang Cai had just unveiled a corner of his life. He had a long way to go.

This was a distance that seemed he could never catch up with.

He didn't want to easily characterize himself as "inferior", it was more like a kind of love mixed with worship. He knew that he couldn't compare with him right now, and he would rather stay still and look up quietly.

※

The farewell song meeting was selected to be held on the evening of the May Day holiday.

It would start at eight o'clock and end at twelve.

A good solid four hours of farewell.

Generally speaking, the online population of most song meetings gradually increased from a few listeners in the beginning to an exponential addition of more guests as time went on.

But this was not the case for Wang Qingyun's farewell song meeting.

Before eight o'clock, a huge number of people had already gathered in the YY room. They were fans of Qingyun, fans of his guests, and passersby who were simply watching the lively online dubbing circle.

Before the song meeting started, some people with bad network signals got disconnected.

After the eight o'clock song meeting officially started, the number of online users increased sharply, and remained like so, almost no longer changing.

Wang Qingyun's prestige in the circle was evident.

"Hello everyone, I'm Wang Qingyun." The voice of the man on the mic was still mature and gentle. It was like a lazy spring dream, finally and reluctantly ushered to its end.

"Thank you all for coming to my farewell song meeting," he said.

The public screen was instantly overwhelmed with everyone's emoticons. Unlike usual, where a field of flowers appeared when Wang Qingyun was on the mic, now there were countless expressions of tears.

Even if the administrator had restricted everyone from speaking multiple times in one hundred seconds, the public screen could not be rescued from being drowned by tears.

"Yun Da, why should you retreat? 555"

[T/N: 555 = wuwuwu (crying).]

"Can you not leave? The great gods have retreated one by one, I thought you would not leave ..."

"I am crying violently! My only wish was to enter the circle and cooperate with the great god once, but as a result, before I entered Voice of Jiuxiao, the great god left ..."

Before Tan Yiming could take a closer look at a sentence, it swept past his vision.

Behind every sentence were fans who were saddened by his withdrawal.

"I'm sorry." Tan Yiming sighed softly. This sigh passed down the earphones to everyone's ears, "I think many people know that I am now studying in the United States and will graduate this year. In this graduation season, I have found the career I want to do, and work will be very busy. There is really no way for me to continue the activities of the online dubbing circle."

Many people in the online dubbing circle were like this.

Graduation season, weddings, childbirth ... Gradually, the little friends who used to be intimate in the second dimension became further and further apart, and unknowingly dispersing. The memories of the past turned into pebbles. Some people's pebbles slipped through their fingers, while others' pebbles were wrapped in layers, and finally turned into a bright white pearl.

Tan Yiming hoped that he could also become a pearl, leaving a warm light in everyone's heart.

The microphone was close to his lips, and his breathing was clearly recorded.

"Actually, you don't have to be so sad." He said, "Although I’m retiring, I’m not disappearing into thin air. I am still here. My Weibo will not be deleted, my QQ account will not be deleted, and the radio dramas I was assigned to are still lying in your favorites."

"Just because I'm leaving, it doesn't mean I have disappeared."

There were always complaints that the current online dubbing circle was not as simple as before, and that relationships between people were becoming more and more complicated. Someone was picked on every week. Since his debut, Tan Yiming had not been so "innocent", and there would more or less be some pickling things entangling him.

However, no matter how many times he was pinched, no matter how much he was blackened, a CV, after all, still had to speak with their work.

Tan Yiming was very fortunate. In the past few years, he had produced a lot of works. Main character, or a side character; of old age, or danmei; ... These projects were the crystallization of his hard work, he could proudly say that in every performance, he put 100% of his effort into dubbing it.

Each character became alive because of him, and he also became mature and powerful because of each character.

"Thank you for letting me gain so much love." Tan Yiming laughed. "Today, let me give you back your love."

The guests went to the stage one by one, and the program continued bit by bit. Some programs were weird, and some programs were sensational. Every guest who finished a performance always went to the mic to express their final sentiments to Wang Qingyun.

Everyone sent Wang Qingyun blessings, wishing him all the best in the third dimension, and hoped that he would have the opportunity to "come back and see".

“Definitely,” Tan Yiming said. "In fact, I'm very close to you. Maybe we can meet again in the future."

Because there were too many guests, President second son, who served as the chief planner, allowed 12 minutes for each guest. Before everyone went to the mic, the second child gave a thousand warnings not to overtime, because once they overtimed, they would affect the subsequent programs. After all, the fans were mostly students and they will not go to rest until they heard Wang Qingyun's farewell, so the whole song meeting cannot be too long.

However, in this atmosphere, the people chatting couldn't control their emotions at all.

There was a planner that cried directly on the mic. When she was a newbie planner, she had cooperated with Wang Qingyun. At that time, she made a lot of mistakes because of her lack of experience and was severely beaten by the original book fans after the drama was published. At that time, it was Wang Qingyun who patiently enlightened her, and helped her analyze the problem, so that she regained her confidence, finally not giving up.

She had countless words to say, but in the end, she could only utter thank you over and over again.

Wang Qingyun's popularity was so good. He had helped many people, and all those he collaborated with praised him. Everyone would say a few more words, taking them over their allotted time, resulting in less time available for later appearances.

Xiang Cai’s program was the finale and so there was not much time left available to him before the song meeting would come to an end.

Before he went to the mic, the second son notified him personally and guiltily that his original 12-minute program time was now compressed to only 5 minutes, she hoped he didn’t talk long on the mic. Anyway, he and Wang Qingyun had a close personal relationship and it was okay for them to talk slowly afterwards.

"It's okay." Xiang Cai replied word by word. "I won’t take five minutes."

"What?"

"I'll just sing a song and then I’m done."

The boy flicked his fingers and typed a string of words on the keyboard—"Because, what I want to say, my song will convey for me."

In order to match the dual theme of a confession and a farewell, Xiang Cai’s final selected song was the very touching song "Puisque c'est ma rose" from the musical The Little Prince.

The song of the rose.

There are tens of thousands of roses in this world, but only one rose is unique to you.

What exactly is this rose? Is it love? Is it dreams? Is it inspiration? Or is it another person? ... There were countless kinds of interpretations, but in Xiang Cai’s eyes, Wang Qingyun was his rose.

And now he was going to dedicate this song to his rose.

The accompaniment sounded, melodious and gentle.

Obviously this was a song, but it would melt gently into your ears, as if you could smell the fragrance of the rose.

The boy sang along with the soundtrack—

"There will be a rose in this world,

That is in the eyes of passersby,

Like other roses.

But I know the difference between the roses:

No one tames them,

They also do not tame anyone.

Only mine is different "

Yes, the little prince was tamed by a rose.

Xiang Cai was tamed by Tan Yiming.

What Tan Yiming didn't know, in the corner where Tan Yiming didn't know, the boy would toss and turn because of his sentence and punctuation.

"It is they that I water,

I protect them.

I like to listen to them, too,

Because they are my rose.

I guard them,

I console them.

I love them,

Because they are my rose."

On another piece of land tens of thousands of kilometers away, Tan Yiming subconsciously pressed down on his headphones with both hands and listened to the flowing singing.

Tan Yiming had heard Xiang Cai sing many times.

His singing voice often carried an incomparable vitality, which was injected into the heart like a clear spring.

But this time, Xiang Cai’s singing voice was different.

There was something inexplicable about the way he was singing, like a spark about to ignite the forest, or like the first ray of light on an overcast day. He suppressed himself, and at the same time indulged himself. Whatever feelings he had were deeply hidden in the song, and he was about to break out of his cocoon.

Tan Yiming: "..."

He hesitantly listened to the singing voice from his headphones, his fingers clenching unconsciously.

He hoped that he had heard it wrong and was thinking too much ... but the emotion contained in the song was surging so that he couldn't ignore it at all.

If he didn’t understand it, it was a waste of an effort.

Just like Xiang Cai said, his singing would convey to him what he wanted to say—those words that he didn’t dare say directly.

When the last note fell, Xiang Cai’s "Song of the Rose" also came to an end.

"On parting,

I want to tell you a secret.

It is the time you spend on the rose,

That makes it so important. "

He sang this song with all his energy. He didn't care if the fans understood it. He just hoped that his singing, his heart, and the emotions he couldn't express clearly, could be understood by his rose.

Xiang Cai did it.

After singing this song, Xiang cai didn't say a word. He hurried off the mic. As he said before, he didn’t need to express any blessings or words, all his feelings would be conveyed for him with the song.

The public screen was full of messages. Many people had never heard this song, but they were all overwhelmed by the romance and sadness that came out of the song.

Wang Qingyun was not just Xiang Cai’s rose, he was the flower in the hearts of countless fans.

They were all tamed by a flower, and would never forget it even if the flower left.

...

After the little swan stepped down from the mic, Tan Yiming wanted to talk to him.

But when he opened the dialogue between the two, he didn't know what to say.

They had known each other for so long and even participated in each other's life for a short period of time.

Xiang Cai witnessed the perplexity of Tan Yiming, and Tan Yiming had heard the fragility of Xiang Cai.

Tan Yiming's fingers were tapping on the keyboard. Every time he wanted to say something, he could only delete it word by word.

He wanted to say thank you to the little swan, and then wanted to say sorry.

He deleted and it decreased, added more and it grew. Tan Yiming laughed at himself for hesitating. Obviously, he only needed to show his rhetoric to the other suitors ... But in the face of Cai Cai, he wanted to minimize the degree of pain.

But before he could organize his language, the second son hurried to find him.

[Voice of Jiuxiao—Second Son]: My day, what are you doing?

[Voice of Jiuxiao—Second Son]: It's time for you to go on the mic, why haven’t we heard anything for a long time!

[Voice of Jiuxiao—Second Son]: I talked awkwardly until my scalp turned numb!

Yiming Qingyun: ... I am here.

He looked at his and Xiang Cai’s dialog box, looked at those words that hadn't been sent, and eventually turned it off.

He didn’t need to rush for a while. He would wait for the song meeting to end, and then would talk to the little swan.

Tan Yiming was brought to the mic again.

The host changed the background to soft and soothing music, which was woven from the sounds of piano and violin, beating in the ears of every listener.

Everyone knew that the time had come to say goodbye.

It was twelve.

In most fairy tales, twelve o'clock was a time full of magic.

In reality, twelve o'clock represented the end of the day, and a new day was coming.

Tan Yiming said a lot on the mic.

He thanked all the friends who helped him and all the fans who loved him. He recalled his journey in the network distribution circle for several years, and was filled with emotion.

"I met a lot of people, and I was met by a lot of people." The music gurgled, and his voice was like a canoe floating along the music, down the stream, "Thank you for your love, letting me be a better me. "

This was Wang Qingyun's confession to all the fans.

At the same time, this was Tan Yiming's farewell to Xiang Cai.

He never knew that he had once become a beam of light that illuminated Xiang Cai’s whole world.

In a section of the network, in a corner of the land, someone secretly hurt.

The public screen had long been covered by countless sobs, and they all hoped that in the last few minutes, Wang Qingyun could change his mind and stay.

But that was impossible.

Tan Yiming was a determined person, and his decisions were usually final.

He took the few sheets of paper at his fingertips, and the sound of the pages flipping was passed along the radio waves.

"For the last few minutes," he said, "let me read another story for everyone."

Someone asked what he was reading.

"The Little Prince," He replied. "Remember, the little prince eventually left, not died, but flew to the planet he longed for."

What he was going to read aloud was not the original novel.

It was the last song sung in the musical when the little prince and the pilot said goodbye—

"My little prince is from the sky,

Starting from the stars,

He was brought by the swallow.

He let my earthly imagination grow wings."

There was no story in this world warmer than The Little Prince, none more suitable for saying goodbye.

"The little prince is from a place where nothing exists,

From an unknown planet.

He happened to leave here,

But I will never forget his appearance. "

In a different place, where day was night, Xiang Cai held his leg quietly, listening to the sound coming from the headphones.

This was The Little Prince, and the little prince that he had never understood.

He understood the pride of the rose, the gentleness of the fox, the loneliness of the snake, but not the heart of the little prince.

He thought, what was the little prince looking for when he landed on his planet? Was he looking for a partner, was he looking for the meaning of life, or was he looking for another rose?

The little prince ventured in this world. He had seen so many things, but no one could replace the flower in his heart.

Xiang Cai sometimes felt like the little prince.

He had friends who talked about everything, feet that could carry him to fly, and a singing voice that could express his feelings.

But there was someone he was missing in his heart, so even if he had seen infinite landscapes, he couldn't fill that gap in his heart.

The man's voice continued in his headphones.

"We all have a rose in our hearts.

The volcanoes there scare us,

But there are so many sunsets there.

There is a desire to disappear,

And then our good times."

What a magical thing. Obviously, Tan Yiming was far away across the world from Xiang Cai, but his voice could drift across the sea, echoing in the heart of the teenager.

The lyrics of this song were too familiar to Guess.

He opened his lips, and the last lyrics seemed to be printed on his heart, flowing out naturally.

At the same time, the man in the headset read it out.

— "On this vast planet ..."

— "On this vast planet ..."

A teardrop slipped.

In that second when his tear fell, Xiang Cai suddenly understood the little prince.

— "... We will eventually meet again."

— "... We will eventually meet again."

...

The song ended in a lingering voice.

Tan Yiming hurried down from the mic and reopened his chat with Guess.

However, after all the sentences he sent, there only remained a sharp red exclamation mark.

[System prompt: You and the user are not friends, the user settings does not allow anyone that is not a friend to contact]

Tan Yiming suddenly found out that his little swan had just flown away.

—— [End of first part] ——

The author has something to say: After writing this chapter for nearly 20 hours, I have lost the ability to read it. I wonder if I have expressed what I wanted to express.

The first part is finished, everything is left for everyone to judge.

Later, the world will be five years from now.

======

PS: The original version of Le petit prince l’opera is in French. All lyrics involved in this chapter have been modified based on the Internet translation (in order to match the sentiment of the novel), so some words and sentences must be different. Please respect and understand.

[T/N: Sorry for the late update, but this chapter is literally twice as long as usual (and new puppy!)]

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