ATPN Chapter 5
by VolareSong Baiyan had just arrived at Xu Yihang’s studio, and before he could even take a sip of water, he was dragged away in a flurry.
“You’re finally here! Hurry, you’ve got to help me out! This is the script, take a look.” Before Song Baiyan could react, Xu Yihang slapped the script into his arms and quickly pushed him into a seat.
Song Baiyan swiftly caught the thing Xu Yihang had thrown at him, frowning as he asked, “So urgent?”
“Extremely!”
Xu Yihang had planned a broadcast drama that was scheduled to go online in a week. This was his debut.
Who knew that at the last minute, one of the voice actors ran into some problems, rendering all of the previous recordings unusable.
With the broadcast drama about to go live, he couldn’t find a suitable replacement in time. Then, Xu Yihang suddenly remembered that this particular character was a perfect fit for Song Baiyan, and his voice was quite suitable too, so he asked him to fill in.
When he first saw the novel, he even suspected that the author was a fanboy of Song Baiyan, writing the character based on his likeness.
This character appeared early in the story, and he didn’t have time to scout for anyone else, otherwise he wouldn’t have been so anxious to drag Song Baiyan over directly.
After all, Song Baiyan was an outsider, unfamiliar with the voice acting industry and having never done any voice work before.
Fortunately, the character didn’t have a lot of content; it was just that the character appeared frequently, ending each appearance with two or three lines.
Song Baiyan roughly went through the plot, flipping to the back to see the actor list. He frowned slightly, pointing to a name as he asked, “Do you know this person?”
Xu Yihang was taken aback, looking over. “Ning Ye? What about him? Do you know him?”
Hearing this, Song Baiyan’s brows furrowed even tighter. He didn’t answer, instead asking, “Have you met him?”
Xu Yihang’s heart tightened, sensing that things weren’t good. “I’ve met him, but not very well. Why?”
This actor had come to the studio himself for an audition, interviewed by the scriptwriter. His voice was a perfect fit for the character, and the director was very satisfied too.
Xu Yihang had run into him once when he came to the studio. His features were quite striking. It was almost deceptive for a guy to look like that, but his voice was unexpectedly clean, not quite matching his appearance.
“What do you think of him?”
Xu Yihang frowned, not speaking.
He’d only met him once, so it was hard to say. But he seemed to be a very cheerful, outgoing, and capable person who probably enjoyed playing around.
“I don’t know if it’s the same person I know. But if it is…” Song Baiyan said, “You might need to find another actor of the same type.”
He flipped through the later sections, finding that this character was somewhat related to his own. “But I see that this character doesn’t appear until later, so there shouldn’t be any rush.”
“Wait, what do you mean?” Xu Yihang was completely baffled. He thought through what he’d just said, and his whole demeanor immediately changed for the worse.
“Damn! Are you saying that this guy might also have problems?”
Song Baiyan nodded.
He’d seen someone named Ning Ye at a wine gathering a few days ago, but he didn’t know if it was the same person. Seeing how much Xu Yihang valued this drama, it would be better to be cautious.
That Ning Ye had come to the wine gathering with a paunchy man, and the two looked very close, like intimate lovers.
The reason he’d noticed was that Guo Xingcheng had complained to him at the time, saying that it was either for money or true love for someone so good-looking to be with a man like that.
There was a lot of sarcasm in his tone, so he took a closer look. He just didn’t expect that, with just those two glances, Ning Ye would actually slip a piece of paper into his hand at the end of the gathering.
Honestly, this action disgusted him a bit.
Song Baiyan objectively told Xu Yihang what he’d seen and heard.
“I don’t really know the standards of your industry. You can judge for yourself whether it’ll have an impact, and prepare early.”
Xu Yihang was stunned, but couldn’t help being curious. “And then? He slipped you his phone number?”
“…” Song Baiyan facepalmed, not quite understanding his train of thought. “At a time like this, your focus is on me?”
“Just gossiping a bit. After all, you’re still a virgin.”
“I’m not so desperate that I’d eat anything I could get. I wasn’t interested in knowing what was written, so I threw it away immediately.”
Guo Xingcheng had excitedly opened it to take a look, and after reading it, he had only sneered mockingly, figuring it wouldn’t be anything good.
With no gossip to see, Xu Yihang refocused on the task at hand, instantly getting into character.
He clutched his hair and wailed, “Damn it, what sins have I committed? *Qingcheng Road* is my debut work! I’ve put so much effort into it!”
“I’ve been working so hard to prepare for so long. Why are so many things happening at the last minute? One wave after another. Fate is so fickle…”
“Enough,” Song Baiyan said.
“I’m already like this, and you’re not even going to care about your brother? You’re cold, you’re heartless…”
Song Baiyan’s expression didn’t change, remaining completely cold. “Stop being unreasonable.”
The sound of fake crying stopped abruptly, and the surroundings instantly became quiet.
Xu Yihang wiped away nonexistent tears, beckoning the planner over. Pointing at Song Baiyan, he said, “Xiao Yang, arrange for him to record Brother’s role. Try to get the first three episodes done. I have to go out for a bit.”
With that, he lifted his foot and left the recording studio, walking with a gust of wind, not showing even a hint of the injured state he’d been in just now.
Xiao Yang, the planner, had watched this whole scene play out, sincerely commenting, “Our boss is just a pure drama queen.”
Song Baiyan agreed, “Spot on.”
After chatting with Song Baiyan for a few words, Xiao Yang’s eyes lit up. Just as the boss had said, wasn’t this the Brother from *Qingcheng Road* himself?
It was too similar. She and Xu Yihang had the same feeling that the author probably knew Song Baiyan, otherwise it was too much of a coincidence.
It was just a pity that the author didn’t come today. If he had, he’d know for sure whether it was true or not.
“Teacher Song, this way please.” Xiao Yang enthusiastically led him to meet the director, and after they chatted for a bit, the director was pleasantly surprised, feeling like he’d struck gold.
He had a heavenly dish top voice.
The boss had finally been reliable for once, not giving him a difficult problem.
The director roughly told Song Baiyan the points he needed to pay attention to, telling him to act according to his usual emotions in life, without trying too hard to act.
Song Baiyan hadn’t been involved in the broadcast drama circle before, and he knew nothing about voice acting. He had originally worried that his lack of experience would waste time.
But now, after reading the script, it was indeed as Xu Yihang had said: this character was quite similar to his own personality. No wonder they said he was acting naturally.
With the on-site guidance of the planner and the director, Song Baiyan quickly adapted. After recording for the whole afternoon, except for the initial uncertainty about the rhythm, everything else went quite smoothly.
“Teacher Song, you’ve been recording for so long, how about taking a break?”
The director asked politely. The boss’s friend wasn’t just some ordinary workhorse; he couldn’t be treated poorly, and he needed to rest.
After all, he’d been recording for so long without a single complaint, much more reliable than his boss.