CH 17

The traffic was a bit congested, so when they arrived at Tianyin Building, it was already slightly past 12 o’clock. Yu Zhou wasn’t used to being late, so she didn’t dare delay on the way. Only when they got off the elevator, she hurriedly briefed Xiang Wan on how to greet people.

“Just call everyone ‘teacher’,” she said. “If someone wants to shake hands, extend your hand to shake theirs. Whichever hand they extend, use the same one. Shake gently to show friendliness, but don’t hold on for too long or just stand there without moving, as both are considered impolite.”

“If no one offers a handshake, just nod and smile.”

Xiang Wan was well-behaved, especially when she saw that Yu Zhou was a bit nervous, so she emphasized solemnly, “Got it.”

“Alright.” Yu Zhou took her into the break room. Upon seeing no one there, she figured they might have gone ahead to the recording studio. So she went to Studio A8 based on her memory.

As expected, a few voice actors had already entered. Peng Xiangzhi and Dian Dian were still in the outer room, while Su Chang, Zhou Ling, and a female supporting actor were rehearsing inside.

Seeing Yu Zhou and Xiang Wan enter, Peng Xiangzhi raised her chin without making a sound, signaling them to sit down.

“We’ll just stand,” Yu Zhou whispered, “Xiang Wan, Director Peng.”

Peng Xiangzhi pulled a corner of her mouth into a generous smile, while Xiang Wan also showed her merit by smiling and nodding her head.

However, she seemed a bit too assertive, as if she was the one receiving guests.

The two didn’t want to disturb their work so silently stood aside, watching the others. Su Chang was dressed casually today, wearing a white short-sleeved T-shirt, jeans. She didn’t wear jewelry except for a simple ring on her middle finger. The simpler the outfit, the more expensive it looked, just like the T-shirt she was wearing, which had a different cut compared to the one on Yu Zhou.

Speaking of T-shirts, Yu Zhou suddenly remembered an important matter.

It was only when Su Chang’s gaze fell on Xiang Wan for the third time that Yu Zhou realized – Xiang Wan was wearing her clothes.

Both the clothes and pants were Yu Zhou’s. Others might not know, but Su Chang definitely knew.

This… was awkward.

It made Yu Zhou’s earlier admonition to Xiang Wan not to reveal that she had been staying at her place seem like a joke.

Fortunately, Su Chang only glanced at her twice before turning her attention back to the script and rehearsing.

The rehearsal ended quickly, Peng Xiangzhi let the voice actors stand in front of the recording equipment, put on their headphones, then began the official recording.

Shen Bai: “You came here without telling me in advance.”

“Stop,” Peng Xiangzhi called out, “the word ‘you’ didn’t come out. Let’s do it again.”

“Okay.” Su Chang nodded.

“You came here without telling me in advance.”

“Wait,” Dian Dian stopped, “there’s a sound from the script.”

Yu Zhou quietly explained to Xiang Wan, “It means the sound of the script was accidentally recorded.”

Xiang Wan nodded.

“Alright, let’s go back to the previous point and record again,” Peng Xiangzhi instructed the sound engineer, leaning her hand on the table as usual.

“You came here without telling me in advance.”

“You, you, you, you,” Peng Xiangzhi emphasized through the microphone, “go back to the previous point.”

“You came here without…”

Peng Xiangzhi signaled Dian Dian to stop, crossed her arms while saying, “Su Chang, come out.”

Su Chang took off her headphones, took a gentle breath, then walked out of the recording booth.

“Chang~~~ What’s going on~~~” Peng Xiangzhi leaned on the table, deliberately using an exaggerated tone, making her blame seem like a joke.

However, those familiar with her working habits knew that when she called you by a single character with a smile, she was genuinely a bit angry.

“Take a break.” She patted Su Chang on the back, leaned in close while lowering her voice, “The author is watching, and you messed up right away. Isn’t that embarrassing?”

If it weren’t for so many people around, she would have punched her.

Especially today’s female supporting actress, who was crazy about Su Chang and told Peng Xiangzhi that she must participate in this project to work with Sis Chang. She was so nervous the day before that she couldn’t sleep, but now she was almost taken aback.

Embarrassing. The voice was low enough, but Yu Zhou still heard it.

She pretended to be a little hot, fanned herself with her hand. Xiang Wan glanced at her, wondering what she was doing. Then she saw Su Chang looking over and casually raised her eyebrows at Peng Xiangzhi.

“Oh, the author’s friend, Xiang Wan.” Peng Xiangzhi introduced, and sneakily whispered, “She suddenly said she wanted to come, I don’t know if she’s your fan or not. If she is, then it’s even more embarrassing, hahaha.”

Su Chang didn’t look at her, but reached out to Xiang Wan. Xiang Wan, remembering Yu Zhou’s instructions, immediately reached out with her left hand and placed it on Su Chang’s.

Su Chang was a little stunned, as she hadn’t intended to shake hands.

It was so embarrassing. Yu Zhou covered her forehead, the handshake was a bit like kitten Wanwan putting its paw.

So she quickly pulled Xiang Wan’s hand back, “Wanwan, this is Su Chang.”

“Su Chang?” Xiang Wan frowned, looked at her carefully, and then looked at Yu Zhou, “Your ex-girlfriend.”

The whole room went silent, even Peng Xiangzhi, who was talking to Dian Dian, raised her head, pursed her lips, and then let out a “plop” sound.

Silence for a whole ten seconds.

Su Chang was about to speak when she heard Yu Zhou suddenly burst into a small laugh: “Ahahaha, I’m sorry, I, because, well, I was too infatuated with Ms.Su, and I always call her ‘wife’ at home. You know, like those online infatuations, ahahaha, I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Ms.Su.”

Her eyes darted around, seeing Peng Xiangzhi breathing a sigh of relief while exchanging glances with Dian Dian. 

Phew, but her own scalp was still tingling.

Su Chang looked at her deeply, withdrew her hand, and asked nonchalantly, “Oh, then why is she your EX-girlfriend?”

“Because,” Yu Zhou’s ears turned red, she forced herself to say, “because I later liked many other actors, and then, well, I’m fickle , and then, jokingly said, Ms.Su is my ex.”

Damn it, speechless. She wanted to hammer herself to death in her heart.

Before dying, she would send Xiang Wan to the gallows first.

Lowering her head in resignation, she mumbled, “I’m sorry, Ms.Su.”

Su Chang looked at her, her eyelashes fluttering gently, and then smiled slightly, “It’s okay.”

Alright, alright, Ms.Su has forgiven her, can they go back to recording now? She silently counted to ten in her heart before she heard Su Chang turning around.

She said to Peng Xiangzhi, “Alright, let’s continue.”

She entered the room, put on the headphones, and continued playing Shen Bai.

Shen Bai, Yu Zhou’s favorite character in her writing.

After adjusting, the recording went smoothly. Yu Zhou had to say that her serious demeanor was incredibly charming. The words went into Su Chang’s eyes and were outlined through her voice.

Her voice was so emotional that those words must have also gone through her heart.

What was she thinking when she looked at those words? Was she professionally analyzing the text’s context and emotions, using her voice to interpret them?

Or did she occasionally think about the girl who used to hold a laptop by her side and the emotions with which she wrote those lines?

Back then, when Yu Zhou occasionally got stuck in her writing or her neck ached, she would ask Su Chang to pour her a glass of water.

No matter what Su Chang was doing, she would always get up to pour her water. Sometimes she would even ask, “Do you want some watermelon?”

She had asked before, “Why are you always so good-tempered at this time, letting me boss you around?”

Su Chang smiled and said, “I’ve always had a good temper.”

Whether Su Chang’s temper was good or not was a matter of opinion. But at this moment, watching Su Chang devote herself to her own career, Yu Zhou realized that Su Chang had always reserved an undetectable indulgence for herself when she was writing.

It was as if she was quietly supporting her to do what she loved, even though Su Chang had never said so.