ATPN Chapter 32
by VolareSong Baiyan glanced at the shimmering light in his cup, recalling recent events. He seemed to be quite drawn to 19-year-olds lately.
If he remembered correctly, Yu Zhanrong was 19, and this little streamer was also 19.
However, the personalities of these two were vastly different. One was a frail, well-behaved student, while the other was rebellious and constantly arguing with people in his streams.
After listening to Xu Yihang’s explanation, Fang Jingtong looked heartbroken, clutching his chest as he accused, “Song Baiyan, none of us can easily get into your apartment. How could you let a strange kid live there?”
Seeing that Xu Yihang was about to join Fang Jingtong, ready to put on a dramatic performance to condemn him, Song Baiyan quickly stopped them with a headache, “Stop acting. He’s a junior brother from Hua University.”
“Oh-ho?” Fang Jingtong stopped instantly, his eyes filled with even more interest. “Who is it?”
Impressive, he actually brought someone home without a word, and from Hua University too.
“Yu Zhanrong. I just took him in for a few days. Can you two stop looking so perverted?” Song Baiyan felt helpless towards his two friends’ teasing gazes.
“That ‘Poppy’?”
“Mm.”
“What ‘Poppy’?” Xu Yihang frowned, looking confused.
But Yu Zhanrong? That name sounded familiar. He felt like he had heard that name somewhere before.
Fang Jingtong enthusiastically explained the so-called “Poppy” to Xu Yihang. The more Xu Yihang listened, the brighter his eyes became. As they talked, they kept glancing at Song Baiyan.
“Are you two done yet?” Song Baiyan became impatient with their stares.
“Alright, alright, we won’t talk about it.” Xu Yihang gave Fang Jingtong a knowing look, then turned to Song Baiyan. “Do you remember the broadcast drama I asked you to dub last time?”
“What? You’re in the voice acting circle now? Since when?” Fang Jingtong was surprised. Song Baiyan didn’t seem like the type of person who would join this circle.
“No, the voice actor for a character in ‘Qingcheng Road’ suddenly couldn’t do it anymore. He was a good fit, so he filled in.”
“And then the main cast didn’t become popular, but he did. Now the fans are clamoring for him and another voice actor who played the receiver role to dub a new drama together, as the main leads!”
“Most importantly, there’s already so much attention on just the trailers featuring them. Once this episode comes out, it’s definitely going to explode!” Xu Yihang couldn’t hide his smile as he spoke about this.
His first drama was going to be a hit.
“Damn, they’re playing lovers? Send it to me, send it to me, I’ll go listen.” Fang Jingtong found it a bit hard to believe that Song Baiyan would dub this drama, and even play lovers with someone else.
Song Baiyan didn’t care. He felt no emotional stirring. To him, it was just helping out. He didn’t care about the outcome.
However, this calmness didn’t last long. It was broken after Fang Jingtong played the broadcast drama excerpt out loud.
“Brother, Auntie told me to come live with you for a while—” The boy’s voice was timid and childish, with a clear tone like a forest spirit, pure and untouched by the city’s noise.
Then came Song Baiyan’s voice. After listening to a short excerpt, Fang Jingtong repeatedly praised it, saying he never expected Song Baiyan’s broadcast drama voice to be like this.
Song Baiyan also didn’t expect his voice to sound like this when paired with someone else’s. The other person’s voice was obedient and familiar, giving him a moment of distraction.
The tone sounded similar to how Yu Zhanrong was when facing him. When did that kid go to dub this drama?
“Who is this?”
Xu Yihang was taken aback by his question. “I sent it to you. Didn’t you listen?”
Song Baiyan shook his head. Xu Yihang did seem to have sent him an audio file, but he seemed to have ignored it completely, never even opening it.
“Someone the author recommended, goes by the online name ‘Little Fish’.”
Little Fish or Little Yu?
Song Baiyan paused and asked, “You haven’t met him?”
“No.” Xu Yihang shook his head. “The author recommended him, and the voice director was very satisfied with his voice. I didn’t interfere. I listened to his audio later, and it was indeed good.”
“Damn, what’s with that expression? Don’t tell me there’s a problem again.” Xu Yihang was really scared. Don’t let there be any more trouble. He was counting on their CP to become popular.
“I didn’t say there was a problem…”
“That’s good, you scared me.” Xu Yihang patted his chest, looking frightened.
“I just think his voice sounds a lot like someone I know.”
Fang Jingtong: “Who is it? You know a little boy with such a cute voice? How come I don’t know about it?”
Song Baiyan gave him a warning glance, then looked back at Xu Yihang. “His name is just Little Fish?”
“That’s what everyone in the studio calls him. Wait a moment.” Xu Yihang suddenly remembered that Xiao Yang had sent him an introduction of this little newbie.
“Found it. Tsk, he’s also a streamer, online name is ‘Salty Fish Won’t Flip Over’. What kind of name is that?”
Song Baiyan: “…”
This was truly unexpected.
“I must have misheard. Their voices probably just sound a bit alike.”
After broadcasting for a few consecutive days, Yu Zhanrong had used up all his leave.
Yu Zhanrong obediently returned to living in the dorm. The Tuesday news class had just ended, and it was lunchtime. Yang You pulled him along to eat at the South District cafeteria.
There were many people on the road just after class. As they walked through the crowd, discussing what to eat, the assistant manager sent an unpleasant message.
[Starry Eyes Don’t Blink: Fish Treasure, there are a lot of clips of you and Black and White’s CP. There’s a lot of heat right now, and many people online are shipping you two. Do you want to clarify?]
Yu Zhanrong suddenly stopped in the middle of the road, frowning unhappily.
“What’s wrong?” Yang You pulled him to the side of the road to avoid blocking the way.
Yu Zhanrong showed him the message. He hadn’t dealt with this kind of thing before. Joking around was fine, but now it had become a popular topic on the streaming platform. He didn’t like it.
Yang You was used to it. “What’s wrong with that? Isn’t that normal? It’s not just streaming. There are too many of these situations online, including on our school’s forum. Even if the people involved don’t do anything, fans will find their own ‘sugar’ to ship.”
“Do you want to clarify?” Yang You didn’t think it was necessary, but he could see that Yu Zhanrong didn’t like it.
“But even if you clarify, it probably won’t do much good. Fans will still ship you.”
“There are also a lot of people who are doing business as a CP these days. You…”
“I don’t want to.” Yu Zhanrong shook his head directly without thinking. He wasn’t streaming for this reason. He didn’t want his fish bubbles to be fans of him because they were shipping him with someone.
He also didn’t want to be misunderstood as having this or that kind of relationship with other people.
Yu Zhanrong’s expression was firm. Yang You shrugged. “Then clarify it. Think of a ruthless trick to make it clear in one go.”
Yu Zhanrong nodded and replied to his manager, Xu Chenxing, planning to explain it to his fans during the weekend stream.
After making a decision, Yu Zhanrong stopped paying attention to the matter. However, things didn’t always go as planned.
The CP rumors spread more and more online. Not only did the two attract a large wave of CP fans, but their respective fans also began to visit each other’s streams, trying to find sugar in their stream replays.
Yu Zhanrong looked at the edited videos sent by Xu Chenxing, his frown deepening as he watched. If he wasn’t involved, he might have believed it himself.
The edited videos mostly consisted of dubbing scripts, mixed with conversations from the streams. Their interactions, which were clearly normal, were edited into a daily routine of love.
“Tsk, these people are really talented.” Yu Zhanrong helplessly threw his phone on the table, covering his forehead as he leaned back in his chair, feeling emo.
“With the skills of this editor, I could jump into the Yellow River and still not clear my name.”
Tang Wei watched the videos with great interest, and couldn’t help but refresh them, becoming more and more obsessed. “It’s really good, it makes me want to ship them.”
Yu Zhanrong gave him a cold look, as if threatening to bury him if he said another word.