Chapter 79
Act X: Singing In the Rain (4)
----------
The closer it got to the end of the year, the harder they worked.
Because of the need to tie up loose ends, Blockbuster Studio’s finance department had been too busy lately. The desks of Tan Yiming's and other voice actors were also piled with endless work. Various animation conventions and variety shows had sent invitations, hoping that the voice actors could show their faces.
Tan Yiming went on a business trip that lasted several days, which disrupted his original plan.
After returning to Huacheng, he almost lived in the recording studio. There was a film recording for the Spring Festival that had to be released and reworked. There was also a family festival animation film that just got the dragon mark, and a TV series that was broadcast and cut that needed to be re-recorded…
[T/N: dragon mark = China’s film release license]
Tan Yiming became an overbearing president for a while, an internet addicted youth for a while, and a corrupt official for a while.
Tan Yiming felt that he had never worked so hard as he had now; what a miracle in life.
Given his busy schedule, he hadn’t seen Xiang Cai for several days, let alone transport him to and from work.
On the morning of the 31st, after Tan Yiming worked hard for several days in the recording studio, he finally struggled to have a day off.
He hurried home (Xiang Cai was naturally absent), took a shower, shaved his beard, and rearranged himself to finally look like a human being. He casually took some bread and jam that Xiang Cai left in the refrigerator to pad his belly, and then immediately drove back to his parents' house.
It was obviously the day of a family reunion, but the Tan household was lifeless.
Tan Yiming had called a long time in advance to tell his parents that he would be back today for the holidays. When he hurried home, he found that there were more than just three of them at the table, all his seven or eight aunts had come.
The moment Tan Yiming opened the door, he wanted to turn around and leave. However, his uncle saw him at a glance and forcefully brought him to the table.
Then - the three questions that he had to experience year after year began.
They asked him how much his annual income was.
Tan Yiming gave a fake income. He carefully measured that number to be higher than last year’s, but not so high that it made his relatives jealous.
Second, they asked if he was happy being the boss.
Tan Yiming was not happy at all. There were a lot of things to worry about every day. If one needed to go on a business trip, he must also be on that business trip.
The third question: since he didn’t make much money and was unhappy being a boss, why not ‘return to the right path’, to the financial industry, to make a lot of money?
Tan Yiming: "..."
He replied the same as he did every previous time: "Because voice-acting is my passion. Voice actors do not make money like stock traders, but this is also my own career path. I am already a 30-year-old adult, I hope you can respect this as my decision."
Then this uncalled-for family gathering, like every previous ones, turned into an ‘indisputably hate it’ conference.
Fortunately, Tan Yiming had long learned to let the words go in one ear and out the other.
He worked hard, paid his parents every month, and bought a house and a car by himself, but he was still not good enough in the eyes of his relatives.
But even if he achieved the ‘excellence’ his relatives wished for, what was the point?
After all, this was his life, not the life of other people.
※
"Everyone did a good job," Yao Yin clapped his hands and concluded today's rehearsal. "You have worked hard."
After Xiang Cai sang the last high note, his legs softened and he immediately sat down on the ground.
Although he knew that a one-man show was a big mountain, he didn't really realize how difficult it was to move this mountain until he stood at the foot of it.
He now had twelve hours of work every day, which were split in half. He practiced the choreography for the first six hours, and when he was exhausted to the point where he could no longer lift his legs, he moved to the vocal music classroom to overcome any vocal barriers.
In order to save money, most domestic musicals played accompaniment tapes. However, Waiting for the Midnight Sun used live bands very carefully, in order to express the actor's complex emotional changes with delicate music.
Therefore, he had to re-do, re-do, and re-do things with the band over and over again.
Today was New Year's Eve, and everyone felt like an arrow pointed towards their home, as they all waited to finish work and go home early.
Therefore, as soon as Yao Yin's voice fell, the pianist immediately jumped up from the bench, and the violinists immersed themselves in packing up their instruments, really wanting to leave the rehearsal hall in the blink of an eye. Xiang Cai wasn't worry at all and just sat on the floor to regain his strength.
Yao Yin looked around the rehearsal hall and raised his eyebrows: "When did I say that you could leave?"
The three musicians froze and looked at him with the same gaze that Yang Bailao used to look at Huang Shiren.
[T/N: from the story of “The White Haired Girl”. In summary, Yang Bailao is a tenant who owes increasing debt to his mean landlord, Huang Shiren. Because of the debt, Huang Shiren then forcefully takes Yang Bailao’s daughter. Basically a pleading, sorrowful face.]
Today was New Year's Eve! Although they couldn’t take breaks because they had to catch up with the schedule, they also couldn’t continue to rehearse overtime until late at night like other days.
Looking at the pitiful gazes of the three people, Yao Yin's sense of schadenfreude was greatly pleased.
He dragged his voice and asked, "—How can you leave if you haven't gotten your gifts yet?"
He clapped his hands, and several security guards immediately walked into the rehearsal hall, each of them holding several large packages of gifts. From health products that parents could use, to school supplies for children, to electronics loaded with the latest music software... Yao Yin was generous and every gift he gave was something they could use.
The musicians who were dizzied by the luxurious gifts: "..."
Yao Yin smiled and said, "Happy New Year. You have worked hard in rehearsing recently."
The musicians stammered: "No, no we haven’t worked that hard!"
How hard could it be to receive the better end of the deal? And the most important thing was that although Yao Yin was very strict in rehearsal, his foundations were good. It was said that a strict teacher produced good students. Similarly, a strict music director would also produce outstanding musicians.
The three musicians happily left with their gifts.
In an instant, the entire rehearsal hall was mostly emptied, leaving Xiang Cai sitting alone in front of the mirror.
Yao Yin gestured towards Xiang Cai, looked left and right, and suddenly said, "Xiao Cai Cai, why aren’t you asking me what gift I’ve prepared for you?"
Xiang Cai was taken aback and was rather flattered: "I also have a gift?"
"Of course~" Yao Yin rubbed his sweaty hair, "I am so rich, of course everyone has a gift."
Xiang Cai bowed his neck timidly and said, "Thank you."
Yao Yin: "You’re saying thank you now? Aren’t you going to ask what the gift is first?"
"Uh... what is the gift?"
Yao Yin raised his chin: "You know that revolving restaurant in the highest part of Huacheng? Today I will take you there to see the world! It overlooks Huacheng, so we can watch the New Year's Eve fireworks!!!"
Xiang Chai was taken aback and hurriedly declined. Of course, he knew that the revolving restaurant was very expensive, he had only gone there a couple times when he had been invited by Chen Ziran.
Yao Yin said, "Today is New Year's Eve. Are you unwilling to be with a lonely rich man in a revolving restaurant?"
Xiang Cai: "..." Forget about being lonely, what was the matter with him being a lonely rich person?
Yao Yin: "Besides, didn't you say that your roommate returned to stay with his parents? You are alone for the holidays, and I am also alone for the holidays. Why can’t we make up the character '好'?"
[T/N: 好 contains the two characters : 女 (woman/girl/daughter), and 子 (child/son).]
"Melody," Xiang Cai said, "We are both men, so shouldn’t we make up ‘孖’?"
Yao Yin: "..."
In the end, Xiang Cai agreed to Yao Yin's invitation.
He didn’t know what special physique he had; how come he was so poor, but the people around him were so generous and rich?
...
When the two of them walked out of the rehearsal hall, a gust of cold wind rammed into them and the wind was mixed with fine snowflakes.
"It's snowing!" Yao Yin's tone was surprised and delighted.
Dense snowflakes collected on his hair and eyelashes as he opened his arms like a child and happily spun in the snow.
When Xiang Cai looked towards the sky, he just felt so cold.
Xiang Cai suffered from a chill due to his injuries. Especially when it snowed, and the ground was icy and cold, a piercing coldness spread all the way from the soles of his feet to his mouth. He hurriedly retracted the lower half of his face into his collar, and put his hands in the pockets of his down jacket. He didn't wear a hat, so his ears were red from the cold of walking from the SD gate of the theater to the parking lot.
"Aren’t you too afraid of the cold?" Yao Yin complained about him.
Yao Yin was thin and tall, and looked lighter than Xiang Cai, but he had a very good physique. During such a cold winter, he did not wear long trousers or a down jacket. Just a pair of jeans, a sweater and a leather jacket were enough for the winter.
"Look at your ears, they look frozen; will they fall off if I touch them?" Yao Yin stretched out his hand and touched Xiang Cai’s ear. "Oh, they’re really cold."
He simply stretched out both his hands and pressed one on Xiang Cai’s left and right ears. He jokingly said: "I'll help you retain your warmth!"
Just as the two were conversing, a low voice suddenly came from behind them—
—"Cai Cai, I've come to pick you up."
Yao Yin stood very close to Xiang Cai so he could clearly see the subtle changes in every muscle on Xiang Cai’s face at that moment.
Surprise and joy crawled to the corners of the boy's eyes. He pursed his mouth and deliberately kept himself from smiling, but his upturned lips revealed the infinite joy in his heart.
Xiang Cai immediately cast his eyes to a distant street lamp and there stood the figure he had been thinking of but hadn’t seen for many, many days.
"Why are you... how are you..." He was speechless.
Tan Yiming stepped closer to him, walking against the wind and fine snow in the air.
His gentle, intoxicating voice never changed: "Why am I here? Why didn't I spend the holidays with my parents at home? Why did I come without notifying you?"
The questions that Xiang Cai couldn’t ask were all guessed by him.
The surprise in Xiang Cai’s heart needn’t be mentioned. He smiled stupidly, his eyes full of unspoken words.
Tan Yiming felt his gaze and calmed down a lot - in order to give Xiang Cai such a surprise, he deliberately didn't notify him, just waiting in the parking lot to take him home. How could he think that after waiting for over an hour, he would see Xiang Cai and another man ‘cuddling’!!
He just knew that that man with name brands all over him was definitely the music director Melody!
Only Tan Yiming knew that when he had just uttered those words, he actually had naive thoughts of showing off in his heart.
He wanted to tell that unruly Melody, he was the most important person to Xiang Cai!
The cold wind blew against the hem of his overcoat as he approached step by step, until he finally stopped in front of the boy.
"Cai Cai." He asked gently, "Won’t you tell me who this is?"
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Xiang Cai said hurriedly, "This is our music director, Melody Yao. His Chinese name is—"
Yao Yin turned around and the little bun on top of his head shook. He stretched out his hand, and disregarding Tan Yiming's changing face, calmly said: "Yeah, Tan Yiming, it's been a long time since I saw you.”
Tan Yiming: "..."
Tan Yiming: "???"
Tan Yiming: "!!!"
Although he had heard George previously say that Yao Yin returned to develop in China, Tan Yiming never expected that he would actually meet...his acquaintance from five years ago here and now.
Xiang Cai didn't know their previous story at all but was shocked when he heard Yao Yin directly call Tan Yiming's name.
Xiang Cai surprisedly asked: "You two actually know each other?"
Xiang Cai felt that this was a simple question, but in Tan Yiming's heart, this question was clearly sending him to his death.
Tan Yiming chose his words carefully: "...When I was in the United States, I had some contact with him for a period of time due to work."
Yao Yin spread his hands: "Oh, I chased him."
Tan Yiming: "..."
Xiang Cai: "..."
Tan Yiming felt his blood pressure soar and his heartbeat instantly jumped to 180. He stared at Xiang Cai and desperately changed the subject: "Um, Cai Cai, I already bought the vegetables and meat for the hotpot. I also bought the meatballs and prawns that you love. You can't eat spicy food, so I specifically took a mushroom hotpot soup base recipe from the Internet..."
"Wait!" Yao Yin directly interrupted him, "Tan Yiming, I haven't seen you for five years, why have you become so poor? You’re actually eating hotpot at home for New Year’s? I have already booked seats at the revolving restaurant to eat lobster from Boston, Kobe snow beef, cheese from Italy by air and a couple of Lafites from 1982..."
Seeing that the two of them had reached a standstill, Xiang Cai looked here and there, and suddenly spoke.
"Teacher Tan, Teacher Yao, I have no appetite right now." Xiang Cai then asked with a smile, "How about you two spend New Year's Eve together?"
----------
The author has something to say:
Xiang Cai: [Swan Smiling].jpg
----------
The closer it got to the end of the year, the harder they worked.
Because of the need to tie up loose ends, Blockbuster Studio’s finance department had been too busy lately. The desks of Tan Yiming's and other voice actors were also piled with endless work. Various animation conventions and variety shows had sent invitations, hoping that the voice actors could show their faces.
Tan Yiming went on a business trip that lasted several days, which disrupted his original plan.
After returning to Huacheng, he almost lived in the recording studio. There was a film recording for the Spring Festival that had to be released and reworked. There was also a family festival animation film that just got the dragon mark, and a TV series that was broadcast and cut that needed to be re-recorded…
[T/N: dragon mark = China’s film release license]
Tan Yiming became an overbearing president for a while, an internet addicted youth for a while, and a corrupt official for a while.
Tan Yiming felt that he had never worked so hard as he had now; what a miracle in life.
Given his busy schedule, he hadn’t seen Xiang Cai for several days, let alone transport him to and from work.
On the morning of the 31st, after Tan Yiming worked hard for several days in the recording studio, he finally struggled to have a day off.
He hurried home (Xiang Cai was naturally absent), took a shower, shaved his beard, and rearranged himself to finally look like a human being. He casually took some bread and jam that Xiang Cai left in the refrigerator to pad his belly, and then immediately drove back to his parents' house.
It was obviously the day of a family reunion, but the Tan household was lifeless.
Tan Yiming had called a long time in advance to tell his parents that he would be back today for the holidays. When he hurried home, he found that there were more than just three of them at the table, all his seven or eight aunts had come.
The moment Tan Yiming opened the door, he wanted to turn around and leave. However, his uncle saw him at a glance and forcefully brought him to the table.
Then - the three questions that he had to experience year after year began.
They asked him how much his annual income was.
Tan Yiming gave a fake income. He carefully measured that number to be higher than last year’s, but not so high that it made his relatives jealous.
Second, they asked if he was happy being the boss.
Tan Yiming was not happy at all. There were a lot of things to worry about every day. If one needed to go on a business trip, he must also be on that business trip.
The third question: since he didn’t make much money and was unhappy being a boss, why not ‘return to the right path’, to the financial industry, to make a lot of money?
Tan Yiming: "..."
He replied the same as he did every previous time: "Because voice-acting is my passion. Voice actors do not make money like stock traders, but this is also my own career path. I am already a 30-year-old adult, I hope you can respect this as my decision."
Then this uncalled-for family gathering, like every previous ones, turned into an ‘indisputably hate it’ conference.
Fortunately, Tan Yiming had long learned to let the words go in one ear and out the other.
He worked hard, paid his parents every month, and bought a house and a car by himself, but he was still not good enough in the eyes of his relatives.
But even if he achieved the ‘excellence’ his relatives wished for, what was the point?
After all, this was his life, not the life of other people.
※
"Everyone did a good job," Yao Yin clapped his hands and concluded today's rehearsal. "You have worked hard."
After Xiang Cai sang the last high note, his legs softened and he immediately sat down on the ground.
Although he knew that a one-man show was a big mountain, he didn't really realize how difficult it was to move this mountain until he stood at the foot of it.
He now had twelve hours of work every day, which were split in half. He practiced the choreography for the first six hours, and when he was exhausted to the point where he could no longer lift his legs, he moved to the vocal music classroom to overcome any vocal barriers.
In order to save money, most domestic musicals played accompaniment tapes. However, Waiting for the Midnight Sun used live bands very carefully, in order to express the actor's complex emotional changes with delicate music.
Therefore, he had to re-do, re-do, and re-do things with the band over and over again.
Today was New Year's Eve, and everyone felt like an arrow pointed towards their home, as they all waited to finish work and go home early.
Therefore, as soon as Yao Yin's voice fell, the pianist immediately jumped up from the bench, and the violinists immersed themselves in packing up their instruments, really wanting to leave the rehearsal hall in the blink of an eye. Xiang Cai wasn't worry at all and just sat on the floor to regain his strength.
Yao Yin looked around the rehearsal hall and raised his eyebrows: "When did I say that you could leave?"
The three musicians froze and looked at him with the same gaze that Yang Bailao used to look at Huang Shiren.
[T/N: from the story of “The White Haired Girl”. In summary, Yang Bailao is a tenant who owes increasing debt to his mean landlord, Huang Shiren. Because of the debt, Huang Shiren then forcefully takes Yang Bailao’s daughter. Basically a pleading, sorrowful face.]
Today was New Year's Eve! Although they couldn’t take breaks because they had to catch up with the schedule, they also couldn’t continue to rehearse overtime until late at night like other days.
Looking at the pitiful gazes of the three people, Yao Yin's sense of schadenfreude was greatly pleased.
He dragged his voice and asked, "—How can you leave if you haven't gotten your gifts yet?"
He clapped his hands, and several security guards immediately walked into the rehearsal hall, each of them holding several large packages of gifts. From health products that parents could use, to school supplies for children, to electronics loaded with the latest music software... Yao Yin was generous and every gift he gave was something they could use.
The musicians who were dizzied by the luxurious gifts: "..."
Yao Yin smiled and said, "Happy New Year. You have worked hard in rehearsing recently."
The musicians stammered: "No, no we haven’t worked that hard!"
How hard could it be to receive the better end of the deal? And the most important thing was that although Yao Yin was very strict in rehearsal, his foundations were good. It was said that a strict teacher produced good students. Similarly, a strict music director would also produce outstanding musicians.
The three musicians happily left with their gifts.
In an instant, the entire rehearsal hall was mostly emptied, leaving Xiang Cai sitting alone in front of the mirror.
Yao Yin gestured towards Xiang Cai, looked left and right, and suddenly said, "Xiao Cai Cai, why aren’t you asking me what gift I’ve prepared for you?"
Xiang Cai was taken aback and was rather flattered: "I also have a gift?"
"Of course~" Yao Yin rubbed his sweaty hair, "I am so rich, of course everyone has a gift."
Xiang Cai bowed his neck timidly and said, "Thank you."
Yao Yin: "You’re saying thank you now? Aren’t you going to ask what the gift is first?"
"Uh... what is the gift?"
Yao Yin raised his chin: "You know that revolving restaurant in the highest part of Huacheng? Today I will take you there to see the world! It overlooks Huacheng, so we can watch the New Year's Eve fireworks!!!"
Xiang Chai was taken aback and hurriedly declined. Of course, he knew that the revolving restaurant was very expensive, he had only gone there a couple times when he had been invited by Chen Ziran.
Yao Yin said, "Today is New Year's Eve. Are you unwilling to be with a lonely rich man in a revolving restaurant?"
Xiang Cai: "..." Forget about being lonely, what was the matter with him being a lonely rich person?
Yao Yin: "Besides, didn't you say that your roommate returned to stay with his parents? You are alone for the holidays, and I am also alone for the holidays. Why can’t we make up the character '好'?"
[T/N: 好 contains the two characters : 女 (woman/girl/daughter), and 子 (child/son).]
"Melody," Xiang Cai said, "We are both men, so shouldn’t we make up ‘孖’?"
Yao Yin: "..."
In the end, Xiang Cai agreed to Yao Yin's invitation.
He didn’t know what special physique he had; how come he was so poor, but the people around him were so generous and rich?
...
When the two of them walked out of the rehearsal hall, a gust of cold wind rammed into them and the wind was mixed with fine snowflakes.
"It's snowing!" Yao Yin's tone was surprised and delighted.
Dense snowflakes collected on his hair and eyelashes as he opened his arms like a child and happily spun in the snow.
When Xiang Cai looked towards the sky, he just felt so cold.
Xiang Cai suffered from a chill due to his injuries. Especially when it snowed, and the ground was icy and cold, a piercing coldness spread all the way from the soles of his feet to his mouth. He hurriedly retracted the lower half of his face into his collar, and put his hands in the pockets of his down jacket. He didn't wear a hat, so his ears were red from the cold of walking from the SD gate of the theater to the parking lot.
"Aren’t you too afraid of the cold?" Yao Yin complained about him.
Yao Yin was thin and tall, and looked lighter than Xiang Cai, but he had a very good physique. During such a cold winter, he did not wear long trousers or a down jacket. Just a pair of jeans, a sweater and a leather jacket were enough for the winter.
"Look at your ears, they look frozen; will they fall off if I touch them?" Yao Yin stretched out his hand and touched Xiang Cai’s ear. "Oh, they’re really cold."
He simply stretched out both his hands and pressed one on Xiang Cai’s left and right ears. He jokingly said: "I'll help you retain your warmth!"
Just as the two were conversing, a low voice suddenly came from behind them—
—"Cai Cai, I've come to pick you up."
Yao Yin stood very close to Xiang Cai so he could clearly see the subtle changes in every muscle on Xiang Cai’s face at that moment.
Surprise and joy crawled to the corners of the boy's eyes. He pursed his mouth and deliberately kept himself from smiling, but his upturned lips revealed the infinite joy in his heart.
Xiang Cai immediately cast his eyes to a distant street lamp and there stood the figure he had been thinking of but hadn’t seen for many, many days.
"Why are you... how are you..." He was speechless.
Tan Yiming stepped closer to him, walking against the wind and fine snow in the air.
His gentle, intoxicating voice never changed: "Why am I here? Why didn't I spend the holidays with my parents at home? Why did I come without notifying you?"
The questions that Xiang Cai couldn’t ask were all guessed by him.
The surprise in Xiang Cai’s heart needn’t be mentioned. He smiled stupidly, his eyes full of unspoken words.
Tan Yiming felt his gaze and calmed down a lot - in order to give Xiang Cai such a surprise, he deliberately didn't notify him, just waiting in the parking lot to take him home. How could he think that after waiting for over an hour, he would see Xiang Cai and another man ‘cuddling’!!
He just knew that that man with name brands all over him was definitely the music director Melody!
Only Tan Yiming knew that when he had just uttered those words, he actually had naive thoughts of showing off in his heart.
He wanted to tell that unruly Melody, he was the most important person to Xiang Cai!
The cold wind blew against the hem of his overcoat as he approached step by step, until he finally stopped in front of the boy.
"Cai Cai." He asked gently, "Won’t you tell me who this is?"
"Oh! I almost forgot!" Xiang Cai said hurriedly, "This is our music director, Melody Yao. His Chinese name is—"
Yao Yin turned around and the little bun on top of his head shook. He stretched out his hand, and disregarding Tan Yiming's changing face, calmly said: "Yeah, Tan Yiming, it's been a long time since I saw you.”
Tan Yiming: "..."
Tan Yiming: "???"
Tan Yiming: "!!!"
Although he had heard George previously say that Yao Yin returned to develop in China, Tan Yiming never expected that he would actually meet...his acquaintance from five years ago here and now.
Xiang Cai didn't know their previous story at all but was shocked when he heard Yao Yin directly call Tan Yiming's name.
Xiang Cai surprisedly asked: "You two actually know each other?"
Xiang Cai felt that this was a simple question, but in Tan Yiming's heart, this question was clearly sending him to his death.
Tan Yiming chose his words carefully: "...When I was in the United States, I had some contact with him for a period of time due to work."
Yao Yin spread his hands: "Oh, I chased him."
Tan Yiming: "..."
Xiang Cai: "..."
Tan Yiming felt his blood pressure soar and his heartbeat instantly jumped to 180. He stared at Xiang Cai and desperately changed the subject: "Um, Cai Cai, I already bought the vegetables and meat for the hotpot. I also bought the meatballs and prawns that you love. You can't eat spicy food, so I specifically took a mushroom hotpot soup base recipe from the Internet..."
"Wait!" Yao Yin directly interrupted him, "Tan Yiming, I haven't seen you for five years, why have you become so poor? You’re actually eating hotpot at home for New Year’s? I have already booked seats at the revolving restaurant to eat lobster from Boston, Kobe snow beef, cheese from Italy by air and a couple of Lafites from 1982..."
Seeing that the two of them had reached a standstill, Xiang Cai looked here and there, and suddenly spoke.
"Teacher Tan, Teacher Yao, I have no appetite right now." Xiang Cai then asked with a smile, "How about you two spend New Year's Eve together?"
----------
The author has something to say:
Xiang Cai: [Swan Smiling].jpg
***
'Oh, I chased him.' Hahahaha, that was too straightforward!
ReplyDeleteTan Yiming's family reunions must be quite uncomfortable...
Thanks for the chapter!!! ^^
Thank you for the chapter! <3
ReplyDeleteHaha I like melody. Such a free and frank character
ReplyDelete