Translator: zhufree
Editor & proofreader: Iori Qurarei
“You mean… Ms. Chao asked you to return the money?”
Peng Xiangzhi heard it clearly, but still doubted her own ears.
“Yes.”
Xiang Wan said gently, picking up the teacup from the table and taking a sip in a poised tea-drinking posture.
At this moment, it was their first gathering after the New Year, held at Su Chang’s house.
Su Chang’s house is a spacious duplex with a living room on the first floor. The furniture has a gray color scheme, complemented by milky coffee-colored walls, creating a cool yet soothing ambiance. Su Chang sat diagonally on the deep gray leather armrest of the sofa, while Yu Zhou comfortably nestled into the sofa cushion, her arm resting on Su Chang’s thigh as she leaned against her.
Yu Zhou hugged a milky white round pillow, still in a half-awake state, “What money are you returning?”
“The money Chao Bei, her daughter, tipped me for my audio drama.”
Xiang Wan sighed, recalling the day Chao Xin invited her to meet up, and the two of them sat in a coffee shop, with Chao Xin ordering an iced Americano.
In the midst of winter, the warmth of the shop was quite comforting. Chao Xin took off her long black down jacket, revealing a well-made white shirt underneath, paired with black jeans and ankle boots.
Her long curly hair still exuded a mature and charming aura, while her slightly drooping eyelashes added a touch of casualness vibe to her.
Chao Xin was a senior figure in the voice acting industry; Even Xiang Wan’s boss, Su Chang, once said it was difficult to get in touch with her.
People in the circle often described Chao Xin as aloof and not easily approachable.
After collaborating with her, Xiang Wan felt that Chao Xin wasn’t as cold as people perceived her to be, she would send New Year blessings and engage in conversation from time to time.
Even Peng Xiangzhi said that Chao Xin, who was known for never praising anyone, had mentioned twice during dinner that her daughter liked Xiang Wan a lot.
Thinking back now, she couldn’t help but wonder whether this “liking her a lot” had any sense of resentment in it.
However, Chao Xin didn’t exactly say that Xiang Wan should return the money; she just asked her if she could negotiate with the crew to see if the reward given by a minor could be refunded to some extent.
When she said this, Chao Xin took her hand off the glass of the iced Americano and unfastened the cuff button on her left wrist.
She looked a bit uneasy, otherwise she wouldn’t have made such a gesture, and Xiang Wan noticed it because Chao Xin’s action of flipping her long hair before whispering “Miss Xiang” further confirmed her unease.
Xiang Wan remembered that audio drama. It was her first popular audio drama, a medium-sized, non-commercial, romance IP. At the time, she had just entered the industry and played the role of the second female lead.
The audio drama became popular and soared to first place on the charts, thanks to a mysterious rich woman who tipped a six-figure amount, which quickly brought Xiang Wan to the public eye as well.
Xiang Wan thought that the mysterious rich woman was Chao Xin’s daughter, but fortunately, it was not; she didn’t reward that much.
But still a five-figure sum.
Xiang Wan pondered before speaking, her voice as sweet as ever, “That was not a commercial drama, so I didn’t receive a single penny for it.”
“I know,” Chao Xin’s voice was very imperial, or rather, it exuded a sense of allure, but her tone remained precise as she spoke rapidly, “Such tips should go to the production team.”
As a senior, She felt a bit discomfort hearing Xiang Wan remind her of the fact, but didn’t show it on her face. Instead, she raised her hand and unbuttoned another button from her collar.
Hot.
“I’m looking for you because I don’t know if you still have contact with the production team. I wonder if we can negotiate and return some of the tips. If I appeal through the platform involving underage tips, it might have an impact on the production team, and on… you.”
It might even make social news.
“Also, I don’t want to make too big a fuss about Paipai’s matter.”
Paipai was Chao Bei’s nickname, who was ten years old this year.
Having donated so much, it seemed that she really liked Xiang Wan.
Xiang Wan pondered for a moment, withdrew her hand from the table and placed it on her lap, “This reward has been more than a year ago, it’s not easy for me to ask, but I can inquire.”
Her tone carried an ancient charm, often making people slightly confused during their first conversation, but Chao Xin was already used to it.
Xiang Wan’s words seemed to be asking why she only came after a year.
“Many thanks.”
“I was too busy and only noticed it a few months later,” Chao Xin frowned, “That money was from previous live streams I did on the platform, after several accumulations of tips, it hadn’t been withdrawn yet and she sent it anonymously.”
The naive behavior of children troubled Chao Xin. But Xiang Wan couldn’t help but laugh, and immediately covered her lips as Chao Xin looked up.
“You…”
“I,” Xiang Wan immediately apologized, “Sorry, I just remembered, I used to have a friend who called this kind of behavior ‘platform porter’.”
Having just earned the platform’s virtual currency only to send it out right away, wasn’t that like being a porter?
The friend who said this was Yu Zhou, who’s currently sitting in front of Xiang Wan. An unknown baihe author of Changpei, as well as the wife of the owner of the well-known SC Voice Studio. She once held the position of Xiang Wan’s best friend but is currently being replaced by a lady named Peng Xiangzhi.
“So she mentioned her daughter liking you before, because she wanted to give you a heads up, then work with you and ask you to return money,” Yu Zhou tried hard to understand the story, “What kind of plot is this?” she said looking up at Su Chang, who chuckled and lowered her head, texting on her phone, not intending to comment.
“This,” Peng Xiangzhi laughed, retracting her foot and curling up on the sofa, “How amusing! A great senior like her is hailed as a benchmark in the industry outside the circle, isn’t she? If Chao Xin went to ask the crew a question or two, wouldn’t they hurry to refund her money?”
Having been a voice acting director at Three Sounds Studio for so long, she had never worked with Chao Xin. However, she was aware of Chao Xin’s well-known reputation in the industry.
“She might be too embarrassed and doesn’t want unfamiliar people in the crew to say that her daughter is ignorant and such,” Yu Zhou analyzed.
“Then why come to our Wanwan? Wanwan can’t exactly go to the crew and ask for money either, can she?”
“If she really wants to leave her daughter out of it, then just forget about it, right? Tens of thousands of yuan shouldn’t mean much to her, I suppose?” Lowering her voice, Peng Xiangzhi whispered to Su Chang.
“I’m not sure,” Su Chang said indifferently.
“Judging from the looks of it, this money seems to mean something to her,” Xiang Wan shook her head.
“What are you planning to do, then?” Peng Xiangzhi asked her. “You can’t possibly go directly to the crew, can you? If you tell them that an underage fan has donated and that their parents are knocking on the door, the crew might not even care about it without knowing the identity of the parent or the child.”
Xiang Wan hesitated.
It indeed was tough.
“Well, just tell her directly that you can’t help. Express your understanding, sympathy and make sure to tell her that you’re incapable of doing anything,” Yu Zhou interjected, shaking her head.
Xiang Wan let out a small sigh, thinking of the buttons on Chao Xin’s opened cuffs.
Such a request must be very rare for her.
The difference from her first encounter was too vast.
Speaking of which, her first encounter with Chao Xin happened a few months ago.
Hello, this is the first chapter of Night Tide, the second book of PatPat Series, story about Xiang Wan and Chao Xin.
If you have read the previous book, then you should be familiar with these two characters. If you are reading this series for the first time, I recommend starting with the first book (which has already been translated here: Pat Me Please) because the first half of it tells the story of Xiang Wan’s background. However, it’s also fine to start from this book. Thank you for your support.
Information page about this book.
CNYuriTranslation 