Night Tide-Chap19

[Warning! Mild implicit sexual content.]

‘Pat Me Please’ had aired two episodes and received a favorable reception. Chao Xin’s first venture into the baihe genre had been well-received and had high recognition. Her chemistry and compatibility with Xiang Wan were excellent, especially considering she used a girlish voice, which caught many off guard.

As a result, her Weibo suddenly became flooded with fans from the audio drama circle, creating a completely different online community compared to her previous fandom.

Her old fans would diligently sort out many works in the Super Topic. They primarily focused on summarizing and collecting her works, occasionally sharing reviews or thoughts on specific works. In addition, they would casually post life photos within the Super Topic as well.

The new fans drawn in were enthusiastic, direct, and unrestrained, often joking under Chao Xin’s Weibo.

Sometimes they’d say, “Sister, you’re my only sister,” or “Hi wife, I came up and directly say it,” or “Husband, speak up husband,” or “Morning, night, noon, all are good, baby Xin.”

The appellations were ever-changing.

During this period, Chao Xin and Xiang Wan led simple and orderly lives, buying groceries, cooking, and enjoying movies at home with snacks whenever they had free time. Xiang Wan’s patience was limited, and she often found herself playing with her phone after watching for a while. Then, she would lift her head and ask Chao Xin, “What part are we at now?”

This habit was formed at Yu Zhou’s house because Yu Zhou liked to spoil all the plots for her.

So, Chao Xin’s summarizing and storytelling abilities significantly improved.

Of course, she couldn’t quite compare to the author.

Occasionally, when their recording schedules aligned, Chao Xin would either drive Xiang Wan part of the way or pick her up on her route. Afterward, the two of them would often take leisurely strolls around the supermarket.

Xiang Wan’s cooking skills had also improved remarkably, at least her braised beef was tastier than Su Chang’s.

After the second episode went online, Chao Xin and Xiang Wan seriously read the reviews together. Then the two sat in Chao Xin’s home recording studio and recorded a new bonus written by the scriptwriter—a goodnight notice of Du Ling and Xu Zhizhi.

This was Xiang Wan’s first time using Chao Xin’s equipment. Although she recorded in front of a computer, the sound quality was particularly good, not inferior to a real recording studio.

After finishing her recording, Chao Xin settled down behind Xiang Wan in a rocking chair, flipping through a book.

“Why aren’t you sleeping yet? Waiting for me to descend from the sky to your house?” Xiang Wan chuckled, “Don’t dream about it. It’s impossible. Go to sleep early, maybe you can see me in your dreams. Everyone… Goodnight.”

The last two words sank into the night like a sunken ship, making people feel they would certainly have sweet dreams after hearing them.

Chao Xin glanced up at her. Xiang Wan clicked the stop recording button in the software, then saved it in the right format. Along with Chao Xin’s recording, she sent both to Su Chang.

“Okay, done.” Xiang Wan shut down the computer, swiveling around in the ergonomic chair, indicating that they could head out.

Chao Xin, however, stayed put, leaning back slightly in her lounge chair.

Because they had come to record after taking a shower, Chao Xin’s hair was still half-dry, resting on her nightgown, dampening a small patch.

“What’s the matter?” Xiang Wan noticed something was off and sat back down.

They faced each other, their eyes meeting.

Chao Xin said, “I see a lot of listeners want me to live stream.”

But she didn’t have much experience.

“Previous live streams were part of ft^[1], with a host guiding the process, and they’d collect questions from the audience in advance, which were then reviewed with me.”

“If it’s a personal live stream,” Chao Xin was a bit troubled, “I’m worried it might fall into silence.”

Xiang Wan understood. She tipped her legs and pushed the chair towards Chao Xin, stopping it in front of her.

“I’ve done personal live streams a few times. Is there anything you want to know, Ms. Chao?” she asked with a smile.

“I know the platform process, that’s not much of a problem, but I’m not very good at responding to immediate fan interaction.” Especially since a bunch of new fans had flooded in.

Although she had participated in variety shows before, they were all competition-based, either as a contestant or a judge, all related to her profession, and even interviews had pre-prepared outlines.

She was concerned that she might not hold up in a purely free talk scenario.

“Well, I can accompany Ms. Chao for a session,” Xiang Wan suggested thoughtfully, tilting her head.

Chao Xin shook her head. “How about this, you ask me questions, simulate it, and let me try.”

If she couldn’t adapt herself, double streaming wasn’t a great solution either. She couldn’t let Xiang Wan do all the talking.

Xiang Wan nodded, “Okay.”

She then sat up straight, assuming the posture of a little host, while Chao Xin remained casually slouched, her bare legs angled on the lounge chair.

She rubbed her ankle habitually.

Xiang Wan’s eyes crinkled as she clapped her hands lightly as a start, using her sweet girl voice to say, “Good evening, Ms. Chao.”

“I’m the live comments, I’m just the live comments.” She explained earnestly.

Chao Xin, looking into her bright eyes, laughed, “Okay, you’re the live comments.”

“Do I have to keep looking at you then?” She arched an eyebrow at Xiang Wan’s lips.

“Um,” Xiang Wan’s heart fluttered before she said, “Yes, you should always be looking at the live comments.”

Her voice was a bit low, a bit slow, and she moistened her lips after speaking.

So, Chao Xin ended up watching her moist lips, the tip of her tongue that had unintentionally slipped out for half a second before withdrawing. It happened so quickly that she couldn’t get a clear look, then Chao Xin nodded, indicating she understood.

Xiang Wan flared her nostrils, suddenly feeling the temperature of the recording studio a little high.

“You didn’t respond to me,” she said softly.

“What?”

“I said, ‘Good evening, Ms. Chao.'”

“Oh, good evening,” Chao Xin replied with a smile, placing her hand on her knee.

Xiang Wan pondered, “There will be a lot of ‘good evenings’, like this: Good evening, good evening, good evening, good evening, Ms. Chao.”

She varied her voice tone with each repetition, even pulling off a rough and sturdy man’s voice.

Chao Xin couldn’t help but want to laugh, but she hid her amusement in her eyes, still nodding and saying, “Good evening.”

“Have you had dinner, Ms. Chao?” Xiang Wan asked, her right hand resting on the arm of the chair, a bit tired.

“I have.”

“What did you eat?”

“Braised pork ribs with dried bamboo shoots.”

This was a dish that Xiang Wan had cooked, so she asked with a bit of personal interest, “Was it good?”

“Not bad.”

Satisfied with the answer, Xiang Wan finally returned to the main topic, “Why did you decide to start live streaming, Ms. Chao?”

“Um… because some of the younger fans said they wanted to listen.” Her voice was a bit deep. Xiang Wan thought, with the beauty filter of the live streaming app, it should be a little more enticing.

“Did you listen to any audio dramas today, Ms. Chao?” The topics in live streaming were just like this, illogical and random.

“Not yet, I didn’t have time. Did you all find it enjoyable?”

Xiang Wan nodded appreciatively, thinking Chao Xin had correctly thrown out a question and interacted with the barrage.

So she bit her lip, starting the routine of flattering, “Super~~~ enjoyable, Ms. Chao, you are my god.”

Chao Xin couldn’t help it and chuckled. Xiang Wan felt a little wronged, “They really do say things like that.”

“Okay, alright.”

Seeing that Chao Xin did not quite trust her, Xiang Wan decided to ask something related to the show, “Ms. Chao, why did you decide to voice in audio dramas? And a baihe drama at that.”

Chao Xin paused for two seconds, “Because of the money.”

“You can’t say that,” Xiang Wan frowned.

“Then…”

“You can say, you really like the format of audio dramas, or say, the story of the script moved you, or say, you really wanted to collaborate with someone.”

“Oh, I want to collaborate with Xiang Wan.” And then get paid.

Xiang Wan shook her head, “You’d better mention Su Chang.”

“Why?”

Xiang Wan whispered, “Her fans will give you gifts.”

Su Chang’s fans were very wealthy and were nice to her collaborators. This was something Peng Xiangzhi had told her in private.

Chao Xin cleared her throat, “Not quite good.”

“It seems so.” In truth, Xiang Wan didn’t have much live streaming experience either.

So the two of them discussed it and decided to skip that question.

“Ms. Chao, what is your view on the character Xu Zhizhi?” Xiang Wan asked quietly, propping her head with her hand.

“Xu Zhizhi is a very interesting character. She may seem timid, but in reality, she is brave, responsible, and very kind. Even though she often describes herself as an incapable office worker, she has not realized that she is always helping others. She assisted the helpless Du Ling, giving her a home in modern society. She is the type of person that I really, truly like. She is like a spark beneath the ashes.”

A spark beneath the ashes… Xiang Wan had never thought of that description, but it was particularly apt.

She looked deeply at Chao Xin. Even though Chao Xin repeatedly claimed she was in it for the money, she was eloquent when talking about her character and it was evident that she had truly empathized and understood the character.

“So, Ms. Chao, what designs did you make when voicing this character?”

“Firstly, the voice. I designed a voice for a girl around 20 years old. But to create a sense of chemistry with my co-actor and to help the audience distinguish between our voices, I kept a bit of graininess in my voice.”

“Secondly, to match the colloquial and everyday dialogue, I used less nasal resonance to reduce the grandeur, trying my best to ‘speak like a human.’ As the overall tone of the story is somewhat unreal at the beginning, it requires a very solid and slightly blunt voice interpretation. This would give the audience a sense of faith and make them believe in the story.”

“Then, in terms of the character’s personality, I made a small design. When she is lying or anxious, her speech speed will increase and the end tone will drift a bit,” Chao Xin laughed, “Because maybe at the beginning, the audience might find her a bit gloomy and feel the rhythm of the dialogue is not strong enough. So I needed to adjust the rhythm of the dialogue, making the interaction more balanced.”

She was talking to herself, tapping her fingers lightly on her knee. Her skin was very sensitive and became red easily.

So she rubbed it a bit, then moved her hand down her leg to her slender ankle.

After she finished speaking, she waited for Xiang Wan’s next sentence.

But Xiang Wan pursed her lips, her crystal clear eyes lifted, straightened the knuckles supporting her temples, propped herself up with her fingertips, and then said very slowly, “I want to sleep with you.”

Chao Xin’s heart clenched suddenly, and so did her pupils and calf muscles. She raised her eyebrows in surprise, leaving them hanging there for a long while.

Xiang Wan pondered for a moment. Her features were still innocent and sincere, yet as her lips parted, she spoke in a voice as pure as the first snow, “Can I get intimate with Ms. Chao?”

Staring at Chao Xin, she added, “I want to get in bed with Ms. Chao.”

Chao Xin opened her mouth, unsure whether Xiang Wan’s statements were just fleeting comments or something more.

However, Xiang Wan didn’t let her stay confused for long. She laughed again, sighed, “Some comments can be like that.”

“Ms. Chao,” she said earnestly, “Being close to fans is a double-edged sword. It often makes you feel warm, but occasionally, it can offend sharply. It doesn’t follow any logic. You might have just listened to a few ‘good evening’ messages, and then suddenly such words appear, or even… words I cannot utter.”

“I’m not trying to scare you, but if you really want to interact with netizens, whether it’s live streaming or Weibo, you should be prepared for all kinds of feedback.”

Chao Xin exhaled a steady breath, looking directly at her, “Have you received this kind of harassment?”

“A lot,” Xiang Wan shook her head gently, “A lot in my private messages.”

Because her reputation was not very good and she voiced games and romantic audio dramas, she had listeners of all age groups and types.

Chao Xin allowed some of her emotions to escape with the mimicked motion of exhaling smoke, then she nodded, “I understand, thank you.”

“Let’s stop here, go to sleep early.”

Chao Xin rose to her feet, her skirt brushing against her legs.

After bidding each other goodnight, they each returned to their rooms. Chao Xin thought for a moment, closing the door behind her but not locking it.

Lying in bed, she rested her folded hands on her abdomen, finding it difficult to close her eyes.

She was restless. She parted her pursed lips, turned over before she opened the drawer of the bedside table. Inside was a small box with a black base and a transparent lid, housing a soft, white, egg-shaped object.

It was uncharged, so it couldn’t vibrate.

Chao Xin hadn’t thought about it in a long time. She had bought it when she was about twenty-eight or twenty-nine, when her body was about to cross the threshold of thirty and she felt a restless urge of dissatisfaction. She had discovered it in a Weibo advertisement.

So she purchased it.

But she had only used it once, because its frequency was not suitable for the inexperienced Chao Xin. She placed it externally, against her skin, rapidly reaching a peak, and then she began to hurt.

The machine couldn’t discern whether she was satisfied or not. Its cold, mechanical stimulation was too much for her sensitive body to handle.

And so, it was left unused, quietly lying in a drawer.

She didn’t know why she suddenly wanted to glance at it, nor did she know what she would do if it had any power left.

Chao Xin closed the drawer, pondering. Why?

Closing her eyes, the three words that Xiang Wan said to her subconsciously appeared in her mind.

I want to sleep with you.

1. FT means free talk, it’s a kind of live stream hold by audio drama crew to communicate with audiences. ^{[return to text]}