Chapter 6: Audio Copyright — Wearing dull clothes like this, life will also become dull.
Bunny and Tang Zhi’s launched collaboration project sold very well. Jian Yan bustled around for several days before she could finally welcome a rest day.
Well, it was called a rest day, but to Jian Yan, this was merely changing one work for another.
Now that she didn’t need to sketch frantically, she could organise her source material, design scripts, and create her male and female protagonists at home.
In the blink of an eye, it was noon. She stretched her body and walked toward the kitchen with the intention of preparing a meal, as well as conveniently exercising her body.
However, before she could leave the room, her phone, which she had set down on the table, began ringing. Lin Zhen had specifically installed this personal ringtone, just in case Jian Yan refused to answer calls while she was busy.
Jian Yan picked up the phone and continued walking to the kitchen. “Chief Lin, what’s the matter?”
“Today, the magazine hit the stands and are flying off the shelves! This Bunny clothing sale could truly also be considered as a warm-up to the manhua release.”
“Oh, I didn’t get an issue yet. Did you buy one?”
“Bought. Your artwork is being used as the cover. After the issue is edited and sent off to the studio, I will grab one for you. Also, the magazine says that you need to prepare the final volume of your manhua. We’ll also be doing an entire hardback book set. After we settle the contract, I’ll send it to you for you to look at.”
“Mn, okay.” Jian Yan held complete trust in Lin Zhen’s negotiation skills. The studio’s cut would not be completely unbalanced, which was why she could contently follow Lin Zhen like this for so many years with a peaceful mind.
“There’s also one more thing. A company wants to buy the audio copyright for 《 Satisfactory 》. You will definitely be pleased with the price. I already sent the contract to your mailbox. If you think there’s no problems, then we can sign the contract immediately.”
We had an audio copyright? Jian Yan thought for a moment before saying, “I’ll take a look at the contract in the afternoon and reply to you by the end of today.”
“Alright. Are you also working at Starlight General Merchandise today?”
“No, day off.”
Lin Zhen laughed and said, “I think this job is very good. At least, you are unable to forcibly work overtime.”
Jian Yan quirked her lips. “If you have nothing else, I’m going to go cook.”
“Okay, take your time cooking. If you have time, you should check out the manhua publishing site. Your monthly ticket count has already reached third place overall on the rankings. Are you happy?”
Jian Yan rapidly blinked her eyes for a little while. This news truly made her happy.
The internet industry’s development truly brought boundless business opportunities, even to manhua artists. Jian Yan’s early manhua works were all published in magazine issues. When the manhua saw increased viewership on manhua sites and APP, she also received an invitation to publish her works on Manhua Network.
Although a manhua published in a serial magazine couldn’t be classified as VIP and the updates were slower than a magazine, the readers still enthusiastically read the manhua on the site and frequently gave her monthly tickets. Each monthly ticket was worth ¥0.50!
《 Satisfactory 》’s monthly ticket score had always been first on the girl rankings. By borrowing the current momentum of finishing the manhua, it unexpectedly ascended to third place on the overall rankings——that was a lot of premium bonuses!
Jian Yan felt that she could eat well this afternoon.
Specifically withdrawing an expensive steak from her collection, she began grilling it.
As Jian Yan ate her lunch, she looked through the contract Lin Zhen had sent her. A large family corporation wanted to buy the copyright, and the contract that was sent over was fairly standard. Jian Yan read the author’s remuneration, which was printed in thick, bold letters in the column. She choked on her beef.
This company deserved to be called father by all the rich and imposing people. This author’s remuneration made her feel that she was eating an extremely poverty-stricken meal.
Thus, she ordered takeout: two signature dishes from Tian Xia Restaurant.1
After reviewing her highly-prioritized author’s remuneration, she once again carefully read through the contract clauses. It was written in the CV (Character Voice) section that her opinion was highly valued. If she had any dissatisfaction with the script, she only had to mention it, and the screenwriter would amend the script accordingly.
「No problem with the contract, okay to sign.」 She sent this to Lin Zhen before heading to the kitchen to wash her plate.
When she returned, she had received a reply from Lin Zhen. 「OK, then sign the contract ASAP. In a moment, I’ll send your QQ to the person-in-charge over there. If you have any questions, you guys can directly talk about it.」
「Okay.」Just as Jian Yan sent this reply, her takeout order finally came.
Although she had just eaten two steaks and a small plate of pasta, eating another two dishes wasn’t a problem at all. Who told her stomach to be 128GB, okay? ?? 2
After she finished eating the food, Jian Yan sent the contract and returned to work until night fell. Only then did she find the time to glance at her little penguin.3 The app showed that she had one message notification from the person who wanted 《 Satisfactory 》’s audio copyright.
She accepted the friend request. In response, the other person sent a message. 「Hello, Teacher Tang Zhi! I am the producer of 《 Satisfactory 》’s audiobook, Sesame Paste ^_^」
Tang Zhi: 「Hello ^_^」
Sesame Paste: 「Chief Lin said that you have already read the contract. This contract is still being processed, but we can discuss the early stage arrangements first. Regarding CV, do you have any recommendations, Teacher?」
Jian Yan thought for a moment, before she replied: 「I do not particularly understand CV, so what are your thoughts?」
Sesame Paste: 「I have interviewed a few CVs already. Female voice lead: Jiang Jiang. Male voice lead: Wang Si. They have a lot of experience with CV.」
Sesame Paste: 「I have recordings of their voices. I’ll send them to you, and you can listen first.」
Tang Zhi: 「ok」
Because Jian Yan was engrossed with her manhua work, she knew very little about CV. At least Sesame Paste gave her these two CV’s recordings for her to listen to. After hearing their voices, she felt that they weren’t bad and replied to Sesame Paste. 「 Very good.」
Sesame Paste: 「 Okay. I have established a small group chat for the cast and crew, which the female and male leads and the screenwriter are a part of. If Teacher doesn’t mind, I can add you. If you have any demands for them, you can chat with them directly.」
Tang Zhi: 「No problem」
Sesame Paste: 「^_^」
After Jian Yan finished eating dinner, she returned to find that she had already been added to the group chat. She skimmed through the chat history before greeting everyone politely. 「Good evening! ^_^」
Jiang Jiang: 「Aaahhh! The Great God Tang Zhi! The Great God Tang Zhi in person!」
Wang Si: 「 Good eveinng, Great God Tang Zhi!」
Sesame Paste: 「Welcome, Teacher Tang Zhi. The screenwriter is not available right now. I’ve rushed him to write the script」
Tang Zhi: 「Haha, you are really efficient, 66666.」 4
Sesame Paste: 「It’s necessary~ Our audiobook is scheduled to be released on Christmas day. A new episode will be released every Wednesday and Sunday, and each episode will be approx 20 min~」
Tang Zhi: 「ok」
Jiang Jiang: 「Great Tang Zhi, a moment ago, I recorded a few test lines with Wang Si. Troubling you to listen and point out where something is wrong please 『shy』」
Tang Zhi: 「Okay. In fact, I had already heard your work earlier 『laughs secretly』」
Jiang Jiang: 「Aaaaaaahhhhhhh so embarrassed!」
Wang Si: 「Aaaaaaahhhhhhh so embarrassed!」
Jiang Jiang: 「Copypaste previous comment, not even a bit of sincerity ←_←」
Wang Si: 「『 voice message 』」
Jian Yan blinked. Just when she wanted to listen to what he said, another person entered the chat and automatically sent his regards.
「Hello everyone. I am Nan Si.」
The group was silent for a second before Jiang Jiang flooded the chat.
Jiang Jiang: 「! ! ! ! ! ! !」
Jiang Jiang: 「Nan Si!!!」
Jiang Jiang: 「Holy shit!!!」
Jiang Jiang: 「I’m sorry, I’m a bit excited right now! Mr. Perfect, why are you here!?」
Jiang Jiang: 「Could it be that you are going to replace that blockhead Wang Si and voice the male lead?!?!?!」
Jiang Jiang: 「Aaaaaahhhhhh! I’m extremely happy!」
Wang Si: 「… … … …」
Wang Si: Already SS ?? 5 Later I will post on Weibo so your fans can see how their goddess is a crazy goddess in private :)」
Sesame Paste: 「Jiang Jiang, calm down, ha. We have asked the Great God Nan Si to sing the theme song.」
Jiang Jiang: 「Can’t calm down! Caught off guard by being in the same group chat as Mr. Perfect! Aahh! I get to eat another bowl of white rice!」 6
Sesame Paste: 「… … You scared away the Great God Nan Si『sweatdrop』」
Nan Si: 「No, I’m still here ?? Good evening, everyone. Good evening, author.」
Jian Yan returned to reality after staring blankly at the computer screen for a while. Her fingers tapped against the keyboard a few strokes. 「Good evening.」
Her current mood wasn’t calm. Because she had been preoccupied with work these past few days, she had gradually forgotten about Nan Si’s voice. She didn’t expect…to suddenly be in a group chat with him.
Sesame Paste: 「We specially invited VOICE studio to make the theme song. When the lyrics are written, we’ll send them to Teacher first to look at ^_^」
Tang Zhi: 「Mhmm, okay」
Jian Yan thought to herself, Sure enough, a nouveau riche company!
Jiang Jiang: 「Mr. Perfect, I thought you said you only sing interesting songs?! You have also read 《 Satisfactory 》??」
Nan Si: 「Mn. I mainly look at the clothing. Teacher Tang Zhi’s designs are very wonderful.」
Tang Zhi: 「Too much praise … …」
Jiang Jiang: 「Mr. Perfect is also interested in clothing?」
Nan Si: 「My work more or less has a small relationship with clothing :)」
Jian Yan’s eyes lit up. Related to clothing? What kind of work is that?
Jiang Jiang continued to interrogate him about his work in the group chat, but Nan Si evaded her questions.
Jiang Jiang: 「Mr. Perfect, typing so much is exhausting. You should just speak directly 『sincere face』」
Wang Si: 「→_→」
Nan Si: 「『voice message』」
Staring at that short five second voice message, Jian Yan’s heart skipped twice, just like that night where she listened to his song. Pu-tong. Pu-tong.
She clicked on that digital file. A gorgeous, sexy male voice flowed out from her speakers. 【Wearing dull clothes like this, life will also become dull.】
At this moment, Jian Yan almost began to believe that Cupid truly existed; otherwise, why would she have the feeling that her heart was struck by Cupid’s arrow?
This was the line that the male lead, Yi Nian, said to Shang Ke when they first met.
Shang Ke, as her name implied, had a satisfactory appearance, a satisfactory figure, satisfactory grades, satisfactory relations with others… In other words, she was unremarkable.
Therefore, when a popular male senior from university invited her, Shang Ke was very surprised. That day, she had intentionally wore the best-looking clothes in her wardrobe, but she didn’t expect to discover that these bored seniors had made a bet——a bet on whether or not she would come.
Shang Ke had furiously confronted the male senior. Instead of apologizing, he mocked her for not knowing her place. This was all witnessed by the Yi Nian sitting to the side. He walked up to the emotionally broken Shang Ke, but instead of comforting her, he said this line——
Wearing dull clothes like this, life will also become dull.
This was the exact same line Nan Si had just spoken.
Jiang Jiang: 「Aaaaahhhhh! My Yi Nian Nian!!!! Mr. Perfect and Mr. Perfect fusion!」
Jiang Jiang: 「@Wang Si, I think you have no way to laze around now!」
Wang Si: 「… …」
Wang Si: 「OK, I quit!」
Sesame Paste: 「Don’t——! 『smile-cry』」
Nan Si: 「Haha, My acting skill is no good. Speaking several lines will expose this. I am no match for Wang Si.」
Wang Si: 「『voice message』」
This time, Jian Yan finally clicked open Wang Si’s voice message. He said, 【Brother Nan is being modest.】 His voice was also very magnetizing and pleasant to hear.
Tang Zhi: 「I hope that in the future, everyone will send voice messages in the group chat. Happy you, me, and him『foolish smile 』」
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Author’s Note:
New chapter updates are being uploaded later and later in the evening. [smile-cry] Seriously think back over what happened [clever child.jip]
Thank you sponsors:
[[cue long list that’s not going to be translated]]
Notes:
1. (天下居) Land Under Heaven Restaurant… very fancy name, very arrogant as well. Kept as Tian Xia Restaurant because aesthetics ?
2. Referring to Apple iPhones and the data capacity (128gb). Basically saying that her stomach has a very large capacity. ?
3. Tencent QQ (link on first mention in chapter) has a little penguin as an icon. ?
4. the latest slang meaning of 666 originated from online e-sport games. It became widely used online due to its succinctness and connotation. In Chinese, 6 sounds the same as 溜, which can mean awesome, superb, proficient or highly skilled. ?
5. SS = Screenshot ?
6. Online slang: eat a bowl of rice = eat a bowl of sugar (because rice is composed of mostly carbohydrates, and sugar is basically just pure carbohydrates). Means something along the lines of “I like” or excitement ?