CH 16.4

After showering, Ye An used her arm to gently ease herself into bed. As she was about to turn off the light, a voice sounded from beside her.  

“What time is it?”

Ye An looked over; Xie Shuo had woken up at some point.

“One.”

Ye An noted the annoyance in his tone and asked, “Did I disturb you?”

She already was very careful with her actions, but the Eldest Young Master Xie’s sleeping quality was terrible. There was one night where he woke up several times, and any sound would disturb him.

“Sorry, I’ll be quieter next time.” Ye An yawned as her eyelids drooped.

Xie Shuo seldomly got angry, so he only continued to question her, “Are you going to return this late every day?”

Ye An resisted the drowsiness and answered, “After entering the recording studio, it’ll pretty much be the same. Sometimes it’ll end earlier. The schedule was just tight this time.” After a pause, she continued, “Actually, the time I get off work isn’t bad. It’s just that the recording studio is really far from home, and there was some traffic.”

Xie Shuo asked, “Where’s the recording studio?”

Ye An didn’t know why he asked this question but told him the approximate location.

Xie Shuo was silent for a moment before saying, “There’s an apartment nearby under my name. Call Zhong Fu tomorrow and have him take you to see it. In the future, go live there if it gets late.”

Ye An was so surprised by this domineering statement that she was startled fully awake. The most important part was that he couldn’t have stated this in a flatter tone, and his manner of speaking could have been about the weather. His ostentatious action was first-rate.

Ye An’s heart jumped, and she hesitated before giving up the idea. “No, that’s fine. Grandpa and Father wanted me to stay at home and accompany you. If they were to know that I didn’t return home at night, they would disapprove. ”

She suddenly had an idea and took advantage of his offer to make a request, “If you go outside to take a walk by yourself every day for two hours, then I’ll agree.”

Xie Shuo’s expression hardened.

She was the best at taking a mile after being given an inch. Give her one color of some dye, and she could open a clothing mill. Give her a feather, and she’d fly directly in the sky. 

“Whatever.”

Xie Shuo coldly spat and closed his eyes once again. 

Ye An, “…”

How could someone act so self-righteous?

—

In the end, Ye An didn’t choose to live at the apartment near the recording studio and instead continued to leave early and return late every day.

In the first few days, Lu Hong still came from time to time to find faults. After seeing Ye An’s cold behavior, he curbed his behavior since he was afraid of the consequences.

Overall, everything went well.

In the afternoon of the ninth day, Xiang Quan announced the early completion of the project. Everyone let out a sigh of relief and cheered.

On the last day, Shi Shuangshuang also gave a guest appearance.

On the way out of the recording studio after work, she pulled Ye An aside and asked, “An An, have you heard the rumors?”

Ye An: “What rumors?”

She had been busy to the point where she didn’t even have time for meals these past few days. How would she have the time to keep up with gossip?

Shi Shuangshuang looked at her and was about to say something, but Xiang Quan’s voice suddenly sounded.

“An An, stay behind for a minute. I have some matters to discuss with you.”

Shi Shuangshuang turned to see Xiang Quan. She smiled at him and turned back to wave at Ye An. “Then I’ll be going now. I’ll see you next time when we record.”

There were few people in the recording studio. Xiang Quang walked over to Ye An’s side before speaking, “Do you know Yuan He, the CEO of Brilliant Dreams?”

How come it was this question again?

Ye An had an indescribable feeling. “No, why?”

Hearing this answer, Xiang Quan’s suspicious gaze intensified. “Yuan He wanted me to ask you out to a meal when you’re free to discuss the matter of long-term collaboration .”

Ye An had guessed as much. Yuan He had found out the relationship between her and Xie Shuo through Zhong Fu, so only now did he want to have a meal with her to discuss collaborating.

……

The market was currently very competitive. If they could really collaborate with Brilliant Dreams long term, then it would be a good opportunity for their studio.

“You don’t want to go?” Seeing her hesitation, Xiang Quan thought that it was the same situation as with Lu Hong.

Ye An smiled. “No, just schedule a time for me.”

A hint of surprise flashed through Xiang Quan’s eyes, but it was her choice. He nodded and replied, “Okay.”

“If there’s nothing else to discuss, then I’ll be leaving.”

Ye An picked up her bag and prepared to leave. Suddenly, she paused. “Oh right, I want to take a long vacation leave. Don’t give me any more projects for the time being.”

“…” After hearing this, Xiang Quan lost his calm composure. “How long is this vacation leave going to last? After so long, what matters do you still have to take care of? Remember how diligent and hardworking you were before? Look at you now… do you not want to work anymore?”

Seeing him angered, Ye An wanted to laugh. “If I take on less work, can’t you just pay me less? After all, I am not the only one at the studio. Others need work opportunities  as well; otherwise, they would all hate me.”

“They…”

They all aren’t as capable as you… Halfway through the sentence, Xiang Quan swallowed his words and didn’t finish speaking.

He suddenly thought of something and looked at her suspiciously. “Ye An, be honest. Have you come across any troubles?”

“Are you sick?” he guessed. 

Ye An, “…No.”

Xiang Quan was still suspicious. “We’ve known each other for so long. If you have come across any troubles, there’s no harm in telling me.”

Ye An knew that he had conjured a melodramatic cliche in which she was “sick but was desperate to conceal it”. She was speechless.

In the end, she said, “There’s really nothing wrong with me. I just suddenly happened upon a lot of money, so I want to treat myself and allow life to take its course.”

Xiang Quan: ???

The words “Are you kidding me?” floated above Xiang Quan’s head.

Ye An finished speaking and gave a light reminder, “Be careful, overthinking doesn’t do much good for your hairline.”

Xiang Quan: “…”

—

After several days of overtime, Ye An returned home exhausted. She slumped down on the sofa, too tired to even move a finger. 

Xie Shuo was in the house and seemed to be in a worse mood than before.

Ye An didn’t expect him to take on the responsibilities of a dutiful husband. She said hoarsely, “I finally finished with work and won’t have to go to the recording studio tomorrow. If the weather’s nice tomorrow, I’ll go on a walk with you.”

Xie Shuo remained silent and didn’t speak.

Ye An couldn’t resist opening her eyes. “Hey, I’m still your wife. I’m exhausted. Can’t you show some sympathy?”

Xie Shuo had no expression on his face. “Speaking less and resting your throat will be more useful than anything I say.”

“……”

Ye An’s heart immediately felt blocked, and she almost puked blood.

What a cold-hearted cruel man!

She angrily flipped over, closed her eyes, and slept directly on the sofa.

Her breathing gradually evened out in the darkness. Xie Shuo listened quietly for a while before turning to leave the room.

As soon as he left, Aunt Zhou’s voice sounded, “Eldest Young Master.”

Xie Shuo stopped. “What is it?”

Aunt Zhou said, “Madam is back; I’ll ask her what she would like to eat tonight.”

Xie Shuo: “She’s asleep.”

After taking half a step, he turned around and said faintly, “Bring her some soup to rest her throat.”

—

It was unclear whether or not she was busy with other matters, but Shi Shuangshuang didn’t message  Ye An that night.

Ye An was physically and mentally exhausted, so she didn’t take the initiative to contact Shi Shuangshuang. After showering, she went to bed early.

She slept until ten in the morning the next day.

As she woke up and completed her morning routine, she received a text from Shi Shuangshuang.

Shi Shuangshuang: [An An, are you up?]

Shi Shuangshuang: [Last night, I was busy reading novels and forgot to contact you.]

Ye An took out the hairpin of her hair and walked to the balcony while holding her phone. She pressed the audio button with her slender fingertips.

Ye An: “I just woke up; what were you trying to say yesterday?”

Shi Shuangshuang quickly replied with an audio message, “It’s about you. You probably don’t know this, but many people in the dubbing circles have been gossiping about you for the past few days.”

Ye An had a suspicious premonition. “What kind of gossip?”

Shi Shuangshuang: “It’s about you and Lu Hong… they say that you entered an unspeakable relationship with him and are being kept as a mistress.”

Ye An: “…”

“People have even said that they have seen you enter Lu Hong’s car at night… Wait, I’ll send the link to you.”

Ye An clicked on the link to see a popular post on a gossip forum. 

The content was similar to what Shi Shuangshuang had just summarized. It said that she had obtained various opportunities through being an old man’s mistress.

A picture of her at the Voice Actors’ Excellence event was attached below. She wore a red and black hanfu, but the image was grainy.

These kinds of topics were always able to arouse heated debate, regardless of their origins or consequences.

1st commenter: [Eating melon in the front row!*]

吃瓜- eating melon is an internet catchphrase for when people have nothing better to do other than line up to express their opinions on a particular topic in some corner of the internet.

2nd comment: [Is this real? At the Excellence event, I even admired and respected her as a goddess. I’m unable to eat this melon.]

3rd comment: [@2nd comment, it’s completely true! I have a friend that said he personally saw your goddess get in an old man’s car in the middle of the night…]

4th comment: [@3 commenter, you probably have no friends.]

5th comment: [She’s really pretty. There’s nothing wrong with making a living while relying on your appearances, right?]

6th comment: [What’s wrong with the three comments above this? What if the other party has a wife?]

7th comment: [Aside from her visuals, I really like this sister’s voice. She’s my favorite character in animes. Wuwuwu, why would she do this?]

……

Although the dubbing circle could not be compared to the entertainment circle, it was still an active community. There was no shortage of drama. Ye An had attended the Voice Actors’ Excellence event in the past and gained a decent fanbase with her appearance and voice. She had quite a bit of fame in the circle, so when these rumors spread, all the snakes took advantage of the opportunity.

Shi Shuangshuang continued to text her: [An An, the comments are getting more and more outlandish. Do you want to clarify anything?]

Clarify? How? Snap back and tell everyone that she was already married?

Ye An exited the forum post and returned to the chatbox to type her response. Suddenly, there was a noise sounding from behind her. 

She turned to see that Xie Shuo had pushed the door open. He stood at the doorway like a statue, with a dark gaze.

Author’s note: Xiao Xie has a sharp tongue and arrogant personality but would not hurt his wifey in the slightest. He has already started to chase his wife, no assistance needed.(*￣︶￣)

Thanks for everyone’s support, I’ll continue to work hard!