CH 15

After eating watermelon, the two people chatted while sitting at the dining table.

Yu Zhou told Xiang Wan about her experiences today, then took out her phone and said, “I’ll register a WeChat account for you. I asked my childhood friend today while listening to the recording; she works at a game company and often deals with voice actors. She said that you could start with small orders.”

“What do you mean by small orders?”

“Just wait a moment; look, your WeChat is logged in, and I’ll add myself as a friend of this account.” Yu Zhou said while operating her phone.

“Alright. Then I’ll add you to this group. See, this interface is the WeChat group chat.”

It was a large group with a full 500 people. The group chat name was “[Apple]Voice Acting Group 2≥10 Yuan/Minute”.

No one greeted the newcomers anymore; it was no longer surprising.

Just after joining, someone in the group released voice acting recruitment.

“Male voice, 20 yuan, ordinary people feel.”

Below was a file.

“English, female voice, 7 lines, 80 yuan.”

Attached was an Excel document.

Xiang Wan didn’t quite understand, so Yu Zhou explained, “There are various companies in the group that will post small orders for voice acting, usually just a few lines, or only a sound. Also, the professional requirements are not too high, so you can practice your skill here. If I see an order, I’ll remind you, then you quickly record according to the requirements and send the file to the person who posted the order via private message.”

“If you think the operation is too troublesome, I can help you send it.”

“You don’t need to sign a contract or something for these small orders, so you can do it even if you don’t have your ID card yet.”

Xiang Wan remembered and nodded while looking at the WeChat interface.

Then the two of them went to the study room, turned on the equipment, and prepared adequately before waiting for WeChat messages.

Not knowing if it was because it was evening, they waited for a long time without receiving any orders. Xiang Wan sat down without daring to breathe, while Yu Zhou stood leaning on the table, piecing together the LEGO pieces that had been knocked off.

Yu Zhou was feeling a bit sleepy when Xiang Wan suddenly touched her arm.

“Got one.”

Yu Zhou perked up and saw a message: “Female voice, college freshman, 30 yuan.”

It was a perfect fit, so she quickly opened the file.

It seemed to be a passerby’s role in a public welfare short film, requiring a young and clear-speaking voice.

There were only three lines:

“Ah, what’s wrong?”

“People are lining up nicely; how can you cut in line like this?”

“We are building a civilized city, so we must keep up our quality as well.”

Yu Zhou read it once, thought about Xiang Wan’s tone and laughed.

Seeing Xiang Wan looking at her, she stopped laughing: “No laughing, no laughing, let’s open this… software.”

Big trouble – they didn’t know how to use the software.

But the order was urgent, and they had already waited for so long. After thinking for a while, she turned the USB condenser microphone to Xiang Wan, then opened the built-in recorder on the computer: “I think it’s fine to record with this, as there are no sound quality requirements.”

“Try to find a feeling for it first.” She picked up Xiang Wan’s phone and added the person who posted the order.

Xiang Wan put on her headphones, cleared her throat. She heard the microphone’s echo in the headphones, even though she had tried it before, she still found it novel.

Xiang Wan clumsily adjusted the pickup knob to 50% and selected the intertwined “stereo pickup” mode. Stopping about two fist-lengths away from the pop filter, she signaled to Yu Zhou with her eyes that she was ready to begin.

Yu Zhou reminded her, “Leave a three-second gap between sentences for easy audio editing.”

She had learned this online, thinking that Xiang Wan might not know what a three-second pause felt like, she added, “Before you start each sentence, silently count to three.”

Then she clicked the record button.

Xiang Wan paused for three seconds and began to open her lips as if unveiling a long-planned curtain.

When she spoke earnestly, it sounded a hundred times better than usual. Unlike Su Chang’s voice, which was luxurious, hers was dignified.

Su Chang’s voice was like Romanée-Conti wine in a crystal glass, while Xiang Wan’s was like… snow water in a white porcelain cup.

It was the first handful of snow water, carefully brushed off the branches with a wolf’s hairbrush on the day of the first snow.

There were only three lines, a bit comical, but watching Xiang Wan’s serious expression, Yu Zhou suddenly felt like crying.

She concluded that the first reason was that her whimsical ideas were treated with sincerity. Xiang Wan didn’t question her or doubt her even once, even though she didn’t understand it.

The second reason was that she had witnessed the recording process of the most elite professionals in the voice acting industry at that magnificent building during the day, only to then find herself waiting in the WeChat group chat with Xiang Wan, clumsily doing these minor orders after returning home.

People are afraid of comparisons.

Xiang Wan’s voice stopped, Yu Zhou closed the recorder, saved the file in the format of Su Chang’s test audio file, and then sent it to Xiang Wan via computer WeChat.

Then Yu Zhou sent it directly to the client using Xiang Wan’s account, along with the message: “Miss, here’s my audio file, please check it~ [Smiley face.jpg]”

They waited a full five minutes before the other party replied: “I’m sorry, but we’ve already found a suitable person. I’ll announce it in the group now. Sorry.”

“It’s okay, Miss. Please feel free to contact me next time you need something~”

The other party didn’t reply again.

Yu Zhou put down her phone, exhaled, and looked at Xiang Wan: “We were a little slow, since I wasn’t familiar with the process. We’ll definitely do better next time.”

Xiang Wan looked at her and slowly smiled.

Then she blinked and asked her, “Did it sound good?”

She was asking about her voice.

“Ah? Yes, it sounded great.” Yu Zhou said.

For some reason, she felt like crying tonight.

Oh no, could her period be coming?

“After I earn some money, can you share one of those ex-boyfriend masks with me?” Xiang Wan looked at her sideways, seemingly noticing that her mood was a bit off, so asked one more question.

Yu Zhou held back her tears: “Let’s talk about that when you earn it. Besides, you don’t even have an ex-boyfriend.” Why was she so obsessed with that?

“Just in case.” Xiang Wan smiled.

As Yu Zhou was putting away the equipment, she shuddered at those words, so mellow. 

She was a bit speechless: “Take off your headphones and don’t use that recording tone.”

“Okay.” Xiang Wan put down her headphones.

After finishing their diligent yet not-so-diligent work, the two of them took showers, wished each other good night, and went to their separate beds to sleep.

These days, kitten Wanwan seems to prefer sleeping with Xiang Wan, which makes Yu Zhou quite relaxed.

The next day, the two got up early, and Yu Zhou led Xiang Wan downstairs. Xiang Wan casually tied her hair into a ponytail and wore Yu Zhou’s oversized T-shirt, but still looked very girlish. In fact, she was not short at all, standing at around 168 cm, about the same height as Yu Zhou. Her delicate facial features made her look different from the urban office workers nowadays.

Yu Zhou was listening to music with headphones; seeing Xiang Wan’s curiosity, she shared one earbud with her. The two walked side by side to the entrance of the community. Yu Zhou went ahead and noticed that Xiang Wan solemnly lifted her leg when stepping over the entrance, as if stepping over a non-existent threshold.

Yu Zhou laughed at her antics and looked back at her, teasing with her arms crossed, “I should’ve found a skirt for you.”

“Why?”

“So you could hold the hem of the skirt, looking more like a young lady going out.”

Xiang Wan didn’t comment and looked at the street, lost in thought.

Although she had seen the outside world from the entrance of the community and had Yu Zhou patiently explain things to her, without the protection of the iron fence, she still felt a bit nervous.

So, she grabbed Yu Zhou’s hand.

Yu Zhou held her hand back, “What’s wrong? Don’t you recognize it? This is a car, similar to the horses you have.”

Xiang Wan anxiously replied, “There used to be an iron fence blocking me, so I only watched it like a performance. Now that I have stepped out, how do I know it will obey and not crash into me?”

“Well, you don’t see horses crashing into people all the time either.”

“It’s different, people can control horses.”

“People can control cars too.”

Xiang Wan whispered, “Cars are different from what we have. Even on TV, they don’t move as fast as they do here.” She seemed a little unhappy.

“So what do you want? You can stand behind me, and if anything happens, I’ll be the first one to die, alright?” Yu Zhou pouted.

“Sounds good,” Xiang Wan said, moving behind her.

Damn, she’s using her as a human shield without any courtesy.

The two walked along the extended area outside the community for a while. Xiang Wan curiously looked at the dazzling array of shops while Yu Zhou watched her expression and laughed.

Xiang Wan looked at her questioningly.

“You look like Granny Liu entering the Grand View Garden.[1] Hahaha!” She laughed heartily.

“Granny Liu?” Xiang Wan frowned.

“It’s an allusion. Your literary knowledge is lacking.”