Stirred Emotions
Isn’t this the audition for Stirred Emotions?
Lu Zhenqiu left the private room with the excuse of going to the toilet, and came face-to-face with Ji Zibo as she went out the door. Ji Zibo asked, “Where are you going?”
“The restroom,” Lu Zhenqiu said. “Teacher Bai has also come.”
Bai Nuannuan stood beside Ji Zibo, sizing her up. She had seen her before in the live streaming room, and had also heard Ji Zibo talk about her later, but she was not very familiar with Lu Zhenqiu. She was usually busy and hadn’t had a chance to properly interact in the group chat, so upon meeting, she couldn’t help but size her up curiously.
She seemed to look a little thinner than during the live stream a few days ago. She had also watched the gala from Sanshui and had remembered Lu Zhenqiu; upon this sudden meeting, she just felt that she had gotten thinner.
It was possible she had been disturbed by recent events. Bai Nuannuan had heard some rumors saying things about her and a Sanshui executive, and countless fans had sent her private messages, advising her not to cooperate with Lu Zhenqiu.
She suddenly thought of when she had just entered the voice acting circle; it had been just like this. At that time, she had no popularity1 and was being mentored by Ji Zibo. Later, she took on a novel by Jin Shuilan, a famous author, and her partner was also a voice acting giant2. A newcomer like her was left with only two words—not worthy.
Everyone said she was not worthy, not worthy of cooperating with Jin Shuilan, not worthy of cooperating with her partner. At that time, her partner also received many private messages from fans every day, advising her not to cooperate with her.
Feng shui turns in rotation3; now it was her fans who felt the person opposite her was not worthy.
Bai Nuannuan ignored it all without exception. Worthy or not, one should speak with their voice, not with their identity, status4, or by echoing what others say. She believed in Ji Zibo, and she also believed in her standards for choosing people, so her attitude toward Lu Zhenqiu was very normal and was not disturbed by outside factors.
After Lu Zhenqiu spoke, Bai Nuannuan nodded and said, “Going to the restroom? Let’s go together, right? I need to go too.”
“Go on, then,” Ji Zibo said. “I’ll take your bag inside for you.”
Bai Nuannuan handed her bag to Ji Zibo and walked toward the restroom with Lu Zhenqiu. Lu Zhenqiu asked, “Are Teacher Bai and Teacher Ji’s relationship very good?”
“It’s quite good,” Bai Nuannuan said. “You could say I was brought up by her.”
Lu Zhenqiu had heard some things and nodded. Bai Nuannuan continued, “The circle back then wasn’t like it is now. It placed special emphasis on a newcomer’s status; as long as you were a newcomer, no matter what kind, you had to start from supporting roles.”
Lu Zhenqiu actually knew about this. She had also come up during that period and knew the chasm between newcomers and famous voice actors.
Bai Nuannuan continued, “But Zibo was different.”
“She found me and said she wanted me to voice the main character.” Bai Nuannuan smiled. “Wasn’t that very bold?”
Lu Zhenqiu recalled that period and felt that Ji Zibo’s decision had been overly bold. But it was precisely because of this boldness, with Ji Zibo forcefully pushing aside the crowd’s opinions, that the present-day Bai Nuannuan, the miracle of the voice acting circle, exists.
She nodded. “Teacher Ji has always been very bold.”
Including letting her voice Lu Yin.
Bai Nuannuan said, “I feel her boldness is based on her understanding of the character and her understanding of the voice actor. When I first accepted that radio drama from her, so many people sent me private messages, telling me to withdraw, cursing that I wasn’t worthy. I really broke down at that time; I would cry every day seeing the private messages. Then Zibo said, ‘What are you crying for? You should be laughing now. Laugh that they don’t understand. It’s precisely because they don’t understand that you have the opportunity to soar to the heavens in a single flight.'”
At that time, she didn’t understand the meaning of that sentence.
Later, when she was standing at the peak of the voice acting circle, dealing with all sorts of production teams, and even going to voice famous characters for television dramas, only then did she understand the meaning of Ji Zibo’s words.
Bai Nuannuan turned her head. “Now, I give this sentence to you.”
Lu Zhenqiu looked at her, somewhat bewildered.
Bai Nuannuan involuntarily laughed; Lu Zhenqiu’s expression at this moment was as if from the same cart track as her own back then5. She couldn’t resist asking one more thing: “Why do you think Zibo chose me back then?”
Lu Zhenqiu didn’t hesitate. “Of course, it’s because Teacher Bai’s performance was good.”
“Exactly,” Bai Nuannuan said without the slightest bit of modesty, speaking righteously and confidently6, “Because my performance was good, she chose me. This same logic applies to you.”
Lu Zhenqiu’s eyes focused.
Because her performance was good, so Ji Zibo chose her.
It wasn’t because of her connection to Jin Shuilan.
Lu Zhenqiu suddenly recalled what Ji Zibo had said when they had just met: “What a pity, ah! I wanted to work with you two years ago, but I heard you had left the circle. You have no idea how much I regretted it!”
“Your voice is especially suited for Lu Yin. Do you want to give it a try?”
After Bai Nuannuan left, Lu Zhenqiu sat alone on the toilet in the restroom. She opened the radio drama’s app. She hadn’t listened to the newest episode yet and looked at the comments first.
The top comment was hung up high: 【A brief talk on my view of Lu Yin. Lu Yin is my favorite character in Teacher Jin’s novels. When I first knew an radio drama was coming out, I was both expectant and nervous, afraid that no one would be able to voice Lu Yin well. But I believe in Teacher Ji; her professionalism has never disappointed me. Sure enough, this time was no exception. When I heard Lu Yin’s vocal color during the character preview, my first feeling was just astonishment. I was astonished that there could be a timbre so suited for our General Lu. After listening to this episode, I completely surrender7 to this voice actor for Lu Yin!】
From beginning to end, there was not a single mention of Zhenqiu.
Yet Lu Zhenqiu’s eyes turned red from reading it.
She scrolled down and saw many comments in agreement.
【The last time I heard Qiuqiu’s voice acting was two years ago, so my memory was still stuck there. I didn’t expect her versatility to be so strong; it feels completely different from her previous roles.】
【I actually still don’t know what the voice actor’s name is. I just heard a clip on Weibo, and her dramatic sense8 is too good!】
【You can really tell the voice actor did her homework. Whether it’s her breath control or her understanding of the lines, the plot, and the emotional scenes, everything is grasped perfectly. For the same line, if you look at her first episode and the sixth episode, there’s a very obvious difference. I don’t even need to go back and read the novel; just based on this segment, I know which chapter’s content it is. Too awesome.】
When Lu Zhenqiu came out of the restroom, her eyes were red. She rinsed them with cold water several times before it subsided a little. When she got to the private room, everyone was already there. Ji Zibo was sitting at the table and said, “Qiuqiu, hurry over, we were just waiting for you.”
“Coming,” Lu Zhenqiu’s voice was clear as it entered Ji Zibo’s ears. She turned her head to glance at Bai Nuannuan. Before she had arrived, she had said to Bai Nuannuan, “I don’t know if she can get through this.”
Bai Nuannuan had asked her, “What’s wrong?”
Ji Zibo said, “The recent events, of course. It was so hard to finally find a suitable role. If she can’t get through this, Stirred Emotions will have to be shelved again.”
Bai Nuannuan turned her head to look at her and, after a long moment, said, “Did you say the same thing to me back then?”
She knitted her brows. “Said what?”
Bai Nuannuan shrugged. “You said that if I couldn’t get through it, you were afraid the entire production team would have to be shelved.”
She nodded. “That’s true.”
Bai Nuannuan said, “When are you going to change this bad habit of yours of pursuing perfection?”
She said, “If I changed, it wouldn’t be me anymore.”
Bai Nuannuan smiled and didn’t say anything. To think she had proactively gone to the toilet with Lu Zhenqiu after coming here. Although she didn’t know what they had talked about, looking at Lu Zhenqiu’s complexion upon her return, it was obviously much better.
She winked at Bai Nuannuan, expressing her thanks.
She received a big white eye9 in return.
Lu Zhenqiu sat down beside Bai Nuannuan. At the table were people she knew as well as people she had just met. Zhen Yuan was at another table; she glanced over and then withdrew her gaze.
Everyone was lamenting that Bai Mao hadn’t come.
Originally, Jin Shuilan couldn’t make it, so everyone had been looking forward to Bai Mao coming, but unexpectedly, Bai Mao had refused flatly.
Although both screenwriters hadn’t come, it didn’t affect the crowd’s enthusiasm for the radio drama. It was probably because it had been shelved for so long that mentioning it again made them even more excited.
“They said it would start production two years ago, I didn’t expect it to be shelved for so long.”
“This is my favorite book by Teacher Bai Mao. The thought of being able to participate makes me wake up from my dreams smiling.”
“Who isn’t like that!”
“Isn’t Teacher Jin your favorite anymore?”
“That’s different, you know.”
The dinner table was full of laughter. Watching them get lively, Lu Zhenqiu’s state of mind also gradually became peaceful. Ji Zibo, sitting to her right, poured her a cup of tea and said, “You’re getting a cold, so don’t drink any alcohol tonight. The beverages are cold too. Have some tea, right? It’ll protect your throat.”
Lu Zhenqiu nodded. “Thank you, Teacher Ji.”
Ji Zibo poured her a cup of tea, then turned her head to ask Bai Nuannuan, “Want some?”
“No, thanks.” Bai Nuannuan opened a can of beer and took a sip without any hesitation. When the others saw her start drinking, they also followed suit. The conversation gradually opened up, and the one topic a production team can never get away from is the radio drama itself.
The girl sitting opposite Lu Zhenqiu said, “I heard that the sales for God Xia’s radio drama aren’t very good.”
“Not good?” another girl asked strangely. “I saw that their promotion was quite big, though.”
“I have a friend on her production team who said it’s because of Lu Yan; the radio drama has also been implicated now.”
Lu Yan was the main character’s voice actor, and with the recent events, it was very normal for the radio drama to be implicated. Someone from post-production said, “But God Xia has a large core fanbase10, so even if it’s implicated, breaking even is definitely not a problem.”
“That’s for sure, ah,” the others discussed. “I heard that the publication for her book has also been settled, and they’re promoting it recently.”
“Which month is the pre-sale?” someone asked curiously. “Teacher Jin’s publication should be coming out soon too, right?”
“Have you guys read Teacher Jin’s new book? It made me cry again!”
The idle chatter had no constraints, jumping from one topic to another. Lu Zhenqiu listened patiently, occasionally responding with a sentence or two. She only spoke a little more when the Stirred Emotions radio drama was mentioned. Bai Nuannuan occasionally fiddled with her phone, likely replying to messages; she was quite busy. Ji Zibo also took several calls during the meal. The surrounding human voices were boiling like a cauldron11, and Lu Zhenqiu sat quietly in her seat. She looked at her phone from time to time. Every time she heard them chat about Teacher Jin, her heart felt as if it had been stung by a bee, both painful and itchy.
When the wine was sufficient and they were full from the meal12, and they were almost done, the girl beside Ji Zibo made a strange “en” sound. Ji Zibo turned her head. “What’s wrong?”
“There’s an alternate account13 saying that Qiuqiu…”
Ji Zibo tilted her head to look and saw the alternate account she was talking about. The Weibo post’s content was very simple: 【Feeling some things about the recent events. Saying this on an anonymous alternate account, certain people should stop trying to build a persona14. I have the video stuff of you and a certain executive【audio】】
It was a sound recording.
Ji Zibo hadn’t listened to it yet, but she saw many jarring comments below.
【Holy shit, this is so explicit!】
【This voice… it’s not who I think it is, right?】
【Uh, what is this? Listening to this made my whole body jolt!】
Ji Zibo clicked open the recording. After listening for a few seconds, her face darkened. Isn’t this the fucking audition for Stirred Emotions?
The author has something to say:
Thirty red envelopes, memeda.
Don’t be anxious, ha. All problems will be resolved.
✨ Unlock Early Access to Chapters! ✨
Choose your perfect membership at bamboopandatl.net:
📚 Full Access ($4.99)
• Advanced chapters of ALL ongoing novels
• Access to complete finished novels
• Ad-free reading experience
📖 Single Novel Access ($1.49)
• Advanced chapters of ONE specific novel
• Ad-free reading for chosen novel
PayPal is the only current payment option!