"The next station..."
The standard female voice in the subway announced the station.
Some people got off, others got on. This was a transfer station, notoriously crowded. In an instant, it was packed with people. Fortunately, she was standing in an inner triangular corner, with Mo Qingcheng blocking the outside, so she wouldn’t actually be squeezed.
But he was the one suffering…
She saw the dense crowd behind him and tugged guiltily at the hem of his clothes, looking up to say, "Move in a little…" After speaking, she tried to shrink further inward.
Mo Qingcheng seemed to want to leave her some space, but he was genuinely pushed forward by the people behind him, bringing him even closer.
Qiang Qingci’s voice still lingered in her ears…
And now he was this close…
Gu Sheng let out a soft breath. "Four more stops…"
"Mhm."
T.T…
No more words…
She suddenly remembered a late-night dorm talk during her sophomore year, when the other two roommates had boyfriends. One of them said she first fell for her guy because she saw him biting the straw while drinking a soft drink, chewing the end of a pen while solving problems, and even biting the mouth of a bottle when drinking bottled water. Somehow, she found it cute and was moved… The other three sighed, what a nonsensical start to a relationship.
But now…
Although she had always been a Voice Fetishist and believed that a good voice and clear Mandarin were essential qualities for a future boyfriend… to really… just because of that… start a relationship entirely because of it…
Well, it felt surreal.
So far, it had been over two hours since he asked her to be his girlfriend.
Girlfriend… Qiang Qingci’s girlfriend…
Gu Sheng unconsciously pursed her lips, her gaze still level, passing under his arm to stare at the zipper on the backpack of the person behind him… just to avoid looking at him, to avoid letting him think she was watching him.
But honestly, peripheral vision was impossible to ignore T.T…
Stop after stop… more and more people got on, and Mo Qingcheng was clearly being squeezed uncomfortably. He switched to propping his elbows on either side of her, naturally… bringing him even closer.
His skin… was really good…
T.T… impossible not to look.
"When we arrive, get off and go straight up. Exit 2 is a five-minute walk to the school."
"Mhm." Actually, she knew that well—she’d been at this school for over three years…
"If strangers try to talk to you on the way, ignore them."
"Mhm." T.T… Is he treating me like a child…
"I won’t walk you back. I need to take the subway back in the opposite direction right away."
"Mhm…"
"Will you be upset?"
"Huh?" She looked up, nearly bumping into his nose. There was no room to retreat, so she could only stare up at those eyes so close to hers—those enviably beautiful eyes—and answer, "No, why would I be upset… You have an official event, and being late would be troublesome. Actually, you didn’t need to see me off. I could’ve gone back by myself."
As they neared the station, he finally half-shielded her as they squeezed toward the door.
The two of them practically fought their way off the train, and once it pulled away, the surroundings instantly became much quieter. Gu Sheng hugged her down jacket, said goodbye to him, and quickly walked onto the upward escalator.
As the escalator slowly ascended, the Top talent just walked into the returning subway.
Whew…
Finally… heading back to school.Her eyes glanced at the subway one last time as she took out her transit card from her backpack, still feeling somewhat lightheaded. She wasn’t sure what she was thinking—or perhaps she wasn’t thinking about anything at all.
Back in the dorm, she was the only one there.
Checking the time, she realized there was still half an hour before the competition started. She logged into her YY Voice Chat and entered the competition channel, where the warm-up host was playing music. Even with thirty minutes to go, there were already fifteen thousand people online. Impressive… She randomly pulled a textbook from her shelf and flipped through it.
Mo Qingcheng’s voice and expression kept popping into her mind.
"I really like you."
"Be my girlfriend."
"What if… we’re a good match?"
"If you never start, you’ll never know the outcome, right?"
……
……
No, she couldn’t focus on the book at all T.T…
Fortunately, the competition was about to begin.
When she searched for Qiang Qingci, her private chat window popped up.
Qiang Qingci: Made it home safely.
Gu Sheng: (⊙v⊙) Mm-hmm.
Qiang Qingci: Have fun on your own. I’m starting now.
Gu Sheng: Mm-hmm.
She realized she had completely inherited the Top talent’s habit of replying with "Mm-hmm"… While he did it naturally when he wasn’t fully awake, she… simply didn’t know what else to say.
"Alright, everyone, let me first introduce our four judges for tonight," the host’s voice came through her headset. "They are Mr. Shen Ming, the designer of this game; Mr. Zhao Tianyi, the sound engineer; Mr. Zhang Xiao’ou, a voice actor; and Mr. Qiang Qingci, also a voice actor."
As soon as Qiang Qingci’s name was announced, many people immediately got excited…
But his dedicated fans remained completely calm. Gu Sheng glanced at his fan list on the left side—it seemed… thousands had shown up, with all ten top administrators present, strictly maintaining order among their own fans.
Propping her chin in her hand…
This was the power of personal charisma—never embarrassing themselves in public… no flooding the screen or attracting negativity^^…
She inexplicably began to feel a sense of pride…
But casual fans couldn’t be controlled—they had to let them get excited T.T…
Fortunately, it was a large-scale event, and the host was excellent at keeping the audience engaged. Quickly riding on the lively atmosphere, he smoothly transitioned to the competition segment: "Alright, now let’s officially begin the competition. Please bring our first contestant onto the microphone—"
Gu Sheng instinctively glanced at Qiang Qingci’s ID.
Then, like a casual observer, she listened to one contestant after another perform their assigned lines and chosen dialogues—some nervous, others exuding confidence… Just as she was enjoying the show, she suddenly saw her name being mentioned in the public chat:
"I saw Sheng Sheng Man…" "Where? Where?" "She’s really here! Our Little Patron has arrived, ahhhh…"
Her heart tightened.
In that moment of distraction, a private message from a stranger popped up in her chat window:
Financial Backer, quickly log out and come back with a different username…
But before she could react, it was already too late. A torrent of notification sounds—like a storm—flooded her headset, undoubtedly a barrage of friend requests… Her computer… instantly… crashed…
T.T… It crashed…
She had no chance to log out. Without hesitation, she restarted her computer.Oh no, oh no, being flooded like this... it's definitely going to bring the Top talent some hate. She was so anxious, waiting for the computer to reboot second by second. As soon as it finished, she immediately switched to a small account and quietly slipped into the venue.
Fortunately, it was completely suppressed by the moderators.
And fortunately... her main account crashed, so it didn't cause any particularly bad flooding.
Feeling extremely guilty, she sent a private message to the Top talent:
Sheng Sheng Man: I have no experience... I forgot to switch to my small account... T.T
This is all because of the Top talent effect, okay...
When she used to run around with her main account before, no one would even care, okay...
Qiang Qingci: Pat pat, stay calm.
......
......
T.T I can't stay calm... my heart was about to jump out from fright...
And...
Looking at these words,
Why does it feel like my heart has softened...
Her hands were on the keyboard, wanting to reply with something, but the host suddenly spoke:
"Next, let's invite Teacher Qiang Qingci to comment on the contestants."
Gu Sheng's fingers, which were typing, immediately froze.
Through the headset came his clear and calm voice, completely different from the playful banter within the community or the gentle, doting tone he used during YY Voice Chat fan events. It was still his voice, still the signature voice that could instantly captivate a girl's heart, but it carried a sense of professionalism:
"These are the contestants from the first round tonight. Several of them have a good sense of language, with strong tension and the ability to enhance their lines. But why didn't we see any high scores? The judges all share the same opinion: although everyone's voices are good, their interpretation of the lines is too superficial," he paused briefly. "How should I put it? This competition is about dubbing for a game character. This game character has their own emotions, their own background, and even when speaking, they have their own psychological activities and intentions based on their personality and stance."
"Of course, we may not provide all the background information in detail—that's where you come in. For example," Qiang Qingci's voice carried a hint of laughter, "let me give a small example. One of our character's lines is: 'Just now, when I saw you kneeling in the grand hall, I suddenly felt that I was a coward in my past life.' One of our contestants performed it like this—"
Gu Sheng listened very carefully.
At this point, there was a sudden second of silence.
Then she heard Qiang Qingci imitate a contestant, reciting the lines with a sorrowful and tragic tone, particularly dramatic: "Just now... when I saw you kneeling in the grand hall, I suddenly felt that I was a coward in my past life."
Especially the last two words, filled with extreme grief and delivered with conviction.
It was so similar!
She had heard this contestant's performance earlier. Although the voice was slightly different, his imitation of the tone, the pauses, everything was just too similar...
Qiang Qingci's tone shifted back to his normal voice: "It's very sad, very tragic... but the emotions are too exaggerated, too focused on using their own flair to move the audience. It lacks the emotional depth that could truly touch us judges—the character's own emotions. Believe me, a normal person wouldn't speak like they're performing in a play."
He paused briefly:
"This line can be interpreted in many ways by everyone. You could choose self-mockery, having long since grown to despise yourself."
He recited it in a self-mocking tone, with little fluctuation in pitch, yet it was clear and cool.Instantly, it evoked the imagery of a down-and-out man leaning against the temple hall, coldly mocking himself. Even the look in his eyes and his expression could be imagined—completely despairing of himself and the future...
He cleared his throat and continued:
"You could also be filled with remorse for the past, yet still hold hope in your heart."
He recited it once more, this time brimming with deep emotion.
Now, it was an entirely different scene—a tall man facing the woman he loved, gazing tenderly yet firmly into her eyes... telling her of his remorse... and the unwavering determination in his eyes that promised a future.
T.T...
Truly worthy of... Qiang Qingci, whom I’ve liked so much, and have always admired...
This time, it wasn’t just his fans flooding the screen; tens of thousands of live listeners exploded with excitement.
"This is what professionalism looks like..." "Such a conscientious judge, such a conscientious judge (⊙o⊙)..." "Sir, you’re being too generous to the contestants later on, giving them direct coaching! The earlier ones are so pitiful!" "Top talent is too amazing!!!! When I bloom, all other flowers wither!!!!"
......
......
......
......
Gu Sheng was also utterly awestruck.
Top talent concluded his critique, finally smiling as he delivered his closing remarks in his signature low voice:
"I didn’t provide a specific background because I wanted the contestants to interpret it themselves. Neither approach is wrong, as long as you can move us."
Author’s Note:
T.T I really love Sir’s serious face, what should I do!!!!
P.S. This line is actually from the new extra chapter of Beauty Bone =.= Just picked a random line...
P.P.S. Looks like my cheekiness from the last chapter worked T.T. I have the grand ambition of writing 100 chapters (just an ambition...), so let me take it slow, slow, slow, slow, like writing a Japanese manga—how fun would that be...
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