Gu Sheng: ...Right now?
Qiang Qingci: Right now? Wait a moment.
...
Gu Sheng felt that Top talent had misunderstood. She had asked him if he wanted to listen right now, so why did it turn into her demanding that he sing right now? Those were two completely different concepts, okay?!
There were still people in her dorm room right now, and it was none other than the most gossipy Geng Xiaoxing, okay?!
Top talent, don't be like this...
Qiang Qingci quickly replied with a room number.
Of course, she remembered this channel—it was his official channel, with hundreds of people online every day. Even though he often didn't show up for over a month, the administrators would still play his recordings daily and organize small events. It was practically a gathering place for die-hard fans, okay?
Gu Sheng felt that if she suddenly appeared and sang for Qiang Qingci, she would definitely be crushed by rumors and gossip...
She decisively replied: Sir, let's go to my room instead (>﹏<)′~
Qiang Qingci didn't reply.
...
He couldn't have already gone, could he???
Gu Sheng felt like crying but had no tears. She glanced back at Geng Xiaoxing, who was still intently cracking sunflower seeds... She silently turned back, logged into her YY Voice Chat, and with the determination of a hero marching to their death, entered Qiang Qingci's room number. As soon as she entered, she saw countless messages flooding the screen: "The big shot is here!!!" "What? What did you say?" "The big shot is in an Encrypted Room! Can't get in! What to do! What to do!" "Stay calm... The big shot must be waiting for someone..." "I'm flipping the table! Who dares to make our sir wait!"...
Just as she was about to run away, she was already pulled into a small room.
An Encrypted Room, with only her and Qiang Qingci.
She quickly typed a smiley face: Qiang Qingci, sir.
Even with the smiley face, she still felt like she was doomed this time. Although people outside this small room couldn't enter, they could see who was inside... She tried hard not to imagine the consequences and focused on repaying the favor.
"You can speak," Qiang Qingci's voice was casual, "It's just you and me here."
Gu Sheng was utterly speechless. If she went on mic, Geng Xiaoxing would definitely jump up immediately.
But she was here to repay the favor by singing—she couldn't just type the lyrics without making a sound.
Gu Sheng turned her head: "Um..."
"What?" Geng Xiaoxing casually responded.
"I'm going to sing a song."
"Go ahead," Geng Xiaoxing couldn't be bothered, "I'm used to it. Aren't you into cover singing? You always take advantage of when there's no one else in the dorm to torture me."
Gu Sheng silently put on her headset and cleared her throat: "What would you like to hear, sir?"
"What are you good at? Ancient style?"
"Yes, ancient style."
"'Hanging from the Southeast Branch,' then."
"Hanging from the Southeast Branch?..." Gu Sheng was in despair and secretly glanced at Geng Xiaoxing again.
"Yeah, that song is quite fun."
"Okay... Let me find the accompaniment."
Gu Sheng quickly turned off her microphone and looked back at Geng Xiaoxing: "Um..."
"What?" Geng Xiaoxing looked at her strangely.
"I'm going to sing a shameless song in a bit. Don't mind it."
"What song?" Geng Xiaoxing was actually interested now.
"Hanging from the Southeast Branch..."
"Ah, pfft... Are you singing this song for your fans?"
"No... For Qiang Qingci, sir."
...
"Damn... When did you get so close with Top talent..." Geng Xiaoxing's mind wandered, starting to imagine all sorts of scenarios.Gu Sheng was afraid of keeping Qiang Qingci waiting too long, so she immediately downloaded the accompaniment and lyrics from 5sing.
This medley of quirky songs parodying various poems was truly damaging to her image. Once prepared, she felt her heart starting to bleed, fearing that the Top talent would harshly reject her after hearing it. After all, from one perspective, the Top talent was her favorite voice—how had things developed into this?
Really... was she going to "Hang from the Southeast Branch"?
"Big shot, I'm starting," Gu Sheng said, slightly dejected, as she turned on the accompaniment.
Meanwhile, Geng Xiaoxing, being quite the gossip, walked over behind her to become the second listener. She didn't understand YY Voice Chat well, but she knew that two people sharing a room was absolutely comparable to a private meeting.
Gu Sheng distinctly heard Qiang Qingci laugh when she started singing the line "Hanging from the Southeast Branch"... he actually laughed... She really wanted to burst into tears and run away immediately, but she still professionally continued singing.
In the end, she hurriedly finished.
"Not bad," Qiang Qingci said succinctly, his tone lazy and weary.
This... was the indulgent voice that most captivated his fans...
Gu Sheng let out a soft sigh. I'm a noob, I'm a noob. Stay calm, stay calm. Today is about repaying a favor, so I must maintain a peaceful mindset, absolutely peaceful, and absolutely cannot act like a fangirl...
"Do you like eating clams?" Qiang Qingci suddenly changed the topic.
"Yes, do you like them too, Big Shot Qiang Qingci?" Gu Sheng tried hard to maintain her image, keeping her voice steady.
"They're alright."
He chuckled.
Heavens... Gu Sheng clutched her chest.
That indulgent voice, coupled with his occasional laughter—she was genuinely going to collapse.
Who could save this Voice Fetishist...
She was mentally berating herself, feeling restless and uneasy. Geng Xiaoxing couldn't hear the sound from her headset but saw her pained expression and grew worried, patting her shoulder. "Little girl, are you poisoned?"
Gu Sheng waved her off.
It wasn't poison—it was more like being bewitched.
Fortunately, free speech wasn't enabled, so Qiang Qingci didn't hear Geng Xiaoxing's words.
Geng Xiaoxing pouted, feeling bored since she couldn't hear the full conversation, and went back to cracking sunflower seeds by the trash bin.
In the headset, Qiang Qingci said leisurely, "However, there's one way of preparing them that I really like."
"Clams?" Gu Sheng instinctively asked back.
As soon as she asked, she snapped back to reality. Noob, of course it's clams—haven't we been talking about clams all along?
"Mhm."
"Spicy fermented black bean clams—have you tried them?"
"Yes..." Gu Sheng thought for a moment. "But I don't often eat spicy food. With cover singing, I always have to protect my voice."
Qiang Qingci chuckled.
Gu Sheng silently closed her eyes, pretending not to hear that indulgent and enticing laughter.
"I often eat spicy food," he said nonchalantly.
"Uh... Big Shot is naturally gifted... no, I mean, you have a naturally good voice, so you don't need to protect it—it's still great."
Clearly, it was just the heavens showing favoritism.
"The preparation isn't difficult, but the handling process is a bit troublesome."
"Mhm..."
"Soak the clams in lightly salted water for half an hour to let them spit out the sand, then wash them clean and blanch them in boiling water until they open."
"Mhm..."
Gu Sheng listened habitually, even starting to wonder if she should record this to benefit all of Qiang Qingci's fans in the future...
But she would need Qiang Qingci's permission, right? She hesitated, not daring to ask.
"Prepare two sets of seasonings. One is a mixture of light soy sauce, sugar, white pepper, cooking wine, MSG, and broth in a bowl—this is the seasoning sauce. The other is starch mixed with water to make a starch slurry.""What is stock?"
"Stock? There are many kinds. The homemade kind is when you cook chicken soup and save some for stir-frying later, to use instead of plain water."
"I see..."
"Prepare the ingredients, then put a little oil in the pan, add fermented black beans and minced garlic and stir-fry for a while, then add the white parts of the scallions, shredded red peppers, and shredded ginger and stir-fry until fragrant. Then pour in the clams and seasoning sauce, stir-fry over high heat—it must be high heat, otherwise the clam meat will fall off."
"Mhm..."
"When about half the sauce is left, add the cornstarch slurry, stir-fry, then add the green parts of the scallions, and serve."
"Mhm..."
On Geng Xiaoxing's end, all she could hear was Gu Sheng constantly going "mhm, mhm," with no idea what she was doing. It was baffling, and she sneakily peeked at the screen out of curiosity, but there was nothing. Sigh.
Qiang Qingci seemed to have finished.
No, they'd already reached "serve," so he must be done.
Gu Sheng very politely, very politely said, "I've memorized it, thank you, Qiang Qingci."
His voice came through the headset.
First, a light "mhm," then he told her, "I have to go. When will you sing for me next time?"
"Next time?" Gu Sheng blurted out in response.
"There won't be a next time?" Qiang Qingci seemed thoughtful.
"Uh..." Gu Sheng hesitated at his question, feeling as though singing just one song wasn't quite enough to show her gratitude? "Then next time, whenever you have time, just let me know."
"Alright, goodbye."
Qiang Qingci seemed to chuckle again, then quickly left the private room.
Author's Note: Cooked a pack of instant noodles and ate it == so lame. This time I wrote about my favorite shellfish, ahhhhhh
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