She felt as if she had been thrown into a pile of clouds, unable to climb out.
Mo Qingcheng?
The big shot is called Mo Qingcheng?
Mo Qingcheng? Such a... not exactly subtle name? Gu Sheng opened her WeChat, searched for the name, and successfully added it. Then... the other party remained silent, not sending any messages. For a moment, she even wondered if she had added the wrong person. In the end, with great sincerity, she typed out: "Big shot Qiang Qingci, I am Sheng Sheng Man."
Talking to Qiang Qingci so closely felt completely different from the atmosphere in YY Voice Chat.
This one-on-one chat window, along with her rabbit profile picture, made her feel that it was just too close.
Ah, so close it was making her a bit too nervous.
She held her phone and waited, watching the status change to "The other party is typing..." Her eyes widened immediately. Soon, Qiang Qingci sent a voice message on WeChat.
A voice message...
Big shot... couldn't you... start with text and take it step by step...
She silently stared at the unplayed voice message for a while.
Suddenly, she put down her phone, quietly walked to the door, and locked it. Through the door, she listened to the sounds from the living room—her parents were still watching the Spring Festival programs, lively and bustling, and they wouldn't notice her for a while.
After confirming there was no danger, she jumped back onto the bed.
Picking up her phone again, she switched to headphone mode and listened to the message he had sent.
That voice, heard countless times in period dramas and commercials, replied to her very lightly:
"I knew it was you."
...
So... should I reply with text or a voice message?
Since the big shot sent a voice message, I shouldn’t act all aloof and mysterious with text, right...
Gu Sheng gently cleared her throat and whispered a few words to get herself into a better state.
Then, she pressed the voice message button.
Then... she suddenly didn’t know what to say. In her nervousness, she let go of her hand and sent it out T T
She had sent a completely blank message.
Oh no...
Darn WeChat, you can’t cancel a voice message!
Qiang Qingci quickly replied: "What?"
Gu Sheng was almost in tears, feeling that her image in front of the top talent must have taken a hit. She buried her face in her arms in agony, silently muttering, "Gu Sheng, just go die... choose your own way to die..." Did she think the top talent had nothing to do? With tens of thousands of @ mentions and messages every day, he probably couldn’t even keep up, and his inbox was likely overflowing...
After cursing herself out as quickly as possible, she coughed twice. This time, she carefully thought about what to say before pressing the voice message button: "Um... may I ask what you wanted to talk to me about, big shot?"
Hmm? Was that too formal?
She felt a bit uneasy.
"Nothing much. I remember you still owe me a song." His voice was slow and leisurely, as if he were outdoors, with the background noise of the street audible.
"Uh... big shot, do you... want to hear it now?"
Gu Sheng teared up and glanced at the time on her phone—it was already 11:30 p.m.
"Now?" Qiang Qingci’s voice sounded surprised, with a subtle, indulgent laugh...
How did it end up with her volunteering again? Gu Sheng continued to tear up.
She was already reaching for throat lozenges, determined to sing her heart out for the top talent.
Qiang Qingci suddenly sent another voice message: "It’s too late now. Let’s do it tomorrow."
Such a considerate big shot...
Gu Sheng let out a soft sigh of relief: "Thank you, big shot. I’ll prepare well and sing for you tomorrow. Mm-hmm."
"Okay."
So... is it over?Gu Sheng looked at the messages on WeChat, thinking about how to save them, import them into her computer, and edit them into a private, exclusive collection. Later, when Top talent’s voice appeared on TV, she could show it to her dad and mom… Hmm, maybe not. Showing it to… She felt that showing it to anyone would result in being hunted down to death.
Better to keep it private…
While she was plotting, another notification suddenly sounded. Qiang Qingci had sent two consecutive messages—the first one was 60 seconds long, and the second was 20 seconds long.
Two minutes? Two minutes?
She checked the time stamps three times. It really was two minutes…
Hastily putting in her earphones, she lay on the bed and listened to the first one first.
Qiang Qingci’s voice appeared again, so beautiful… it made her want to cry:
“It just occurred to me, it’s been a long time since I told you a recipe.
Black pepper stir-fried ribs, hmm… tastes really good.
These ribs are beef short ribs. Remove the bones from the beef ribs, add cooking wine, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, and black pepper sauce, then add crushed black pepper, chicken bouillon, and cornstarch, and mix well. Finally, add water and knead by hand until evenly combined.
Let it marinate for about… fifteen minutes, then stir-fry over high heat with oil. Once the meat changes color, add scallions, winter bamboo shoots, and bell pepper strips, and stir-fry over high heat until cooked through. Then it’s ready to serve.”
As he spoke, there was the sound of a taxi radio in the background.
But Qiang Qingci’s voice was even more captivating than that of a midnight radio DJ—the kind of captivating that felt natural and unforced…
Gu Sheng didn’t know whether she was dying of hunger or fascination, but her breathing slowed down.
As if afraid of disturbing him while he spoke, she even forgot this was just a voice message.
The voice message automatically switched to the second one:
“Black pepper dishes have a rich, grilled flavor, which is really nice. If you don’t want to use beef ribs, you could use beef tenderloin instead. But… beef ribs are still the best choice for this.
Alright, it’s late. Time to rest.
Goodnight.”
A light, gentle “goodnight,” as if whispered in her ear.
Gu Sheng listened, feeling a bit dazed. Although Qiang Qingci had recorded many clips for his fans in the past, including various goodnight stories and morning alarm sounds, none of them were as heart-fluttering as this live version.
Heart-fluttering.
That was how she felt the first time she heard his voice.
No exaggeration at all.
She remembered the first time she was half-forced to listen to his voice—after just a few words, she could clearly hear her own heartbeat, and then she completely, irrevocably became a Voice Fetishist.
She quickly sent a message: “Goodnight, sir.”
Gu Sheng listened to the messages a few more times and suddenly felt like she needed to eat something… She opened the door, wandered past her parents, then wandered back, thinking that compared to black pepper stir-fried beef ribs, the food at home was just too weak… too weak… In the end, she grabbed a pack of oatmeal and made hot milk.
While the microwave heated the milk, she still held her phone.
Recalling their conversation felt so magical.
Unable to help herself, she opened Weibo and happily posted:
“So happy, what should I do? Oh my, what should I do…”
The microwave soon stopped. She set her phone aside, prepared her oatmeal, and stirred it evenly. When she picked up her phone again, less than two minutes later… there were… there were… over 200 replies…
Since registering on Weibo, she had never averaged more than 10 replies, okay…
She clicked to open them, scrolling through page after page.
She didn’t recognize any of them.
The number was still rapidly increasing. Besides expressions of strange envy, jealousy, and resentment, the most common comment was: “…I didn’t see anything.”Gu Sheng was utterly baffled.
She could only scroll back to see what had actually happened...
Scrolling to the earliest few posts, she finally... saw the origin of the story:
Qiang Qingci: Laughs, as long as you're happy.
Dou Dou Dou Bing: ...I didn't see anything.
Jue Mei Sha Yi: ...I didn't see anything.
Feng Ya Song: ...I didn't see anything.
Fei Shao: ...Holy crap, I didn't see anything.
Passerby A: ...I didn't see anything.
Passerby B: I hate you, Sheng Sheng Man! Biting my handkerchief fiercely!
Passerby C: ...I... didn't see anything.
...
Author's Note: I've never tried cooking this dish before, I'll give it a shot these couple of days... Ouch, I'm hungry... Top talent, Top talent, I'm crushing on you, covering my face and running away~
OpenNovel