My Extraordinary Achievements #Chapter 227 - He Comes at You With Everything - Read My Extraordinary Achievements Chapter 227 - He Comes at You With Everything Online - All Page - FREEWN
Chapter 227: He Comes at You With Everything
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Don't be in such a hurry to hang up."
Mr.Sleepy interrupted Meng Fan. "Are you interested in the manga handover ceremony? If so, I'll arrange for your flight right now."
"There's not much meaning in that right… I'll pass."
Novel adaptations were very different from creating original manga. For the latter, signing ceremonies were a means for interacting with the fans and drive some sales, but for the former… Well, would fans think of coming for the original author or the adaptation artist?
It wouldn't just be awkward for Meng Fan and Mr.Sleepy if Meng Fan showed up. The fans would feel awkward as well.
"Sigh. Alright. I was going to organize a Shanghai signing ceremony, so I could see you… f*ck; he hung up so fast!"
Mr.Sleepy called Meng Fan back. "I wasn't done yet. I need to talk to you about the pay."
The manga for 'There's A Spirit Underground' had uploaded its first 10 chapters on Penguin Animation Network for free. The rest would all be on a paid basis unlike 'Guide To Campus RoMANce'. They hadn't signed a contract for the latter, so they couldn't charge for the manga and ended up making the entire series free.
The manga for 'There's A Spirit Underground' was funded by Mr.Sleepy himself in addition to Meng Fan's operations. Even those who had read the novel before would discover new elements in the adaptation, so it was very popular.
Plus, the artistic style and talent were on another level!
This manga was quite popular on Penguin Animation platform, and with Meng Fan's recent frenzy of updates, a rate of at least once a day or even three times a day… They had dominated the place of top manga for a while now.
Meng Fan could see the figures, and all of them reaffirmed the prowess of Penguin Animation Networks' paying customer base.
"As for the pay, it will be given to you based on the existing ration. Oh, and didn't you say you hired some assistants? I will pay them for you. You didn't receive much last month, but there will be a lot this month although it hasn't been calculated yet. The animation network figured it out with my end, so I'll pay you for the first half of this month."
"The actual publication cost will also be calculated based on the existing conditions, but I should tell you first, the money will take a while to arrive. Basically, only the earliest commission will be fast since there isn't much, but there will be more to come. If you need money, I'll send it to you first."
"Alright. I'll let you know if I need it."
This time, Mr.Sleepy hung up before Meng Fan could do it first. He then sent Meng Fan his portion of the payment from the manga manuscripts and rounded it to the highest number. 100,000 HXB.
This was a fat paycheque. After all, it was divided then got divided once again, and it had only been in stores for a short period.𝔫𝞸𝚟𝖊𝐿𝑛𝖾xt.𝚌𝐎𝓜
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It was just that compared to Meng Fan's commission from hand drawing posters… It was almost too little, but the two were very different; one was a continuous stream of income, the other was a one-time payment.
Of course, if he used the money to pay Chen Da Qiang and the other assistants, it was more than enough to last a few months.
Lou Lan woke up at 8:00 in the makeshift bed that had been set up outside the recording studio. He yawned and headed into the studio's bathroom and took out his toiletries. It took him less than ten minutes to shower, wash his face, beard, and brush his teeth. He then stuffed his dirty clothes into a bag and secured it…
When he looked at the amount of bags stuffed inside the closet, Lou Lan would have an idea of how long it had been since he last went home.
After several years, Lou Lan had long gotten used to spending days at a time in the studio without going home.
Voice actors had a tough job, but the staff assisting them did not have it easy either. It was the same concept as Bear Grylls' cameraman being equally badass as Bear himself by following him everywhere.
"Another night?"
Once he exited the washroom, employees had already begun to arrive. Seeing Lou Lan had spent the night from their WeChat group, they had brought him breakfast.
After Meng Fan left the previous night, Lou Lan had organized his clips and sent them to the contractor. He then found some female characters that were suitable for Meng Fan before more voice actors arrived and worked him until 3:00 am sharp.
"I heard something happened with your previous contract and needed a new role. You said you've asked Tian for the female voice, but once she arrived, the role was gone." The person then asked curiously, "Tian said Meng Fan ended up voicing the role. Is this true? He can dub for females as well?"
Lou Lan nodded as he ate his breakfast. "I asked Tian, but she said she couldn't make it, who knew she was going to be available again? When she arrived, Meng Fan was already done."
"Can he really dub a female? Does it sound natural?"
"You listen."
"… F*ck! Is that really him! He's too powerful!"
"That's why I found some more female roles for him."
"Respect!"
Not long after breakfast, director Charlie arrived. Lou Lan followed him into the office and showed him the female character roles he gathered for Meng Fan to ask Charlie's approval. Although Lou Lan was in charge of distributing roles, some still required Charlie's approval.
"Meng Fan?"
Charlie was stunned for a moment. After hearing the demos Lou Lan handed him though, he seemed convinced.
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He then asked curiously, "How many roles has he dubbed in the last couple of days?"
Lou Lan roughly calculated the numbers in his mind and gave Charlie an estimate.
"This many already?!" Charlie became silent. He then said to Lou Lan, "Then you should prioritize him when you distribute roles. He needs to collect more experience and characters, so he can have the qualifications to voice bigger roles!"
"Oh right."
Charlie took out a pile of papers from his bag and handed them to Lou Lan. "These are the new video game character commissions I just received. You organize them first. Most of these roles are suitable for Meng Fan."
After leaving the office, Lou Lan gave Meng Fan a call, and in 20 minutes, Meng Fan was at their door.
"Why are there so many roles today?!"
Meng Fan rubbed his hands together and excitedly entered the studio.
Another dubbing assistant had already arrived before Meng Fan and had been briefed by Lou Lan on all the roles they just received. He was still contemplating the remaining roles Charlie had just handed out, though.
"We haven't even started discussing roles yet, why is he in such a rush?"
This dubbing assistant had helped with Meng Fan's dubbing process before and recognized his talents, but he just couldn't get used to it.
Lou Lan nodded and thought to himself. To this iron god, a dubbing assistant was just for show. Just based on Meng Fan's understanding of roles alone, he was already at the same level as this dubbing assistant who had experienced hundreds of roles being dubbed.
And reality had proven this to be true. Once Meng Fan entered the studio, he had already dissected completely the role before the assistant was finished explaining it to him. He opened his mouth and met the requirements of the assistants; he even exceeded them.
From 10:00 am until 7:00 pm, Meng Fan remained in the studio aside from a few trips to the washroom. Two dubbing assistants had rotated shifts during this time with Lou Lan subbing in for two hours in between. It was like Meng Fan was on steroids. His voice remained consistent, and so did his emotions. His efficiency was incredible as usual and so was the quality of his work!
After 8 hours, Meng Fan had dubbed over 400 lines and swapped between 37 roles!
"You're done?"
"Done!"
Meng Fan sounded nonchalant while Lou Lan took a deep breath and sat himself down.
Lou Lan had assisted people who had worked for days on end, but he had never seen such power and consistency in just 8 hours as he had just witnessed from Meng Fan.
When other voice actors were dubbing, Lou Lan could slack off and rest all he wanted since they all had to take time to think and develop their voices for the roles, but when assisting Meng Fan, he felt himself falling behind as soon as his mind wandered.
'This guy came at you with everything!'
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Chapter 228: Advertisement Special
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Out of the 37 roles, the System approved 32. This was a decent ratio, especially compared to the B.S. roles from the romance mobile game.
Currently, the System had approved 89 roles, which meant he was getting closer to the goal of 100.
But to fully complete the [Studio Bug] task, he had to remain inside the recording room for 10,000 minutes. He was currently at 2000 minutes, meaning he had only recorded 33 hours.
He took off his headphones and looked toward Lou Lan, who was sprawled on the chair. Meng Fan was a bit embarrassed. "Sorry to trouble you."
Lou Lan sat up. "Everyone's job is stressful, you're efficient, which means I can make more money."
At this time, Charlie entered the room. Seeing Meng Fan leave the studio, he was shocked. "Done already?"
Meng Fan nodded.
"You're really all done!"
Director Charlie knew the number of tasks Meng Fan wanted to do, so he was really surprised.
The dubs Meng Fan did had already been edited in post-production, while some of it had already been sent to the contractor. Quality was guaranteed. This was one of the reasons why Charlie was so willing to give Meng Fan so many tasks. He was fast, and his work was good, so as a profit-driven organization, he was very willing to pour his resources into Meng Fan.
"Then take a break. Meet me at the conference room in 10 minutes."
Director Charlie reminded Meng Fan then he turned to Lou Lan and the other assistant. "You guys come too."
Ten minutes later, Meng Fan and the others entered the meeting room, where several others had already arrived.
They had met before, so Meng Fan was familiar. They were the main CV members of the Chocolate Factory. A few more followed after.
Director Charlie arrived with his assistant behind him. He was carrying an armful of papers that he distributed to everyone present.
"We landed a big commission."
Charlie looked excited. "A job for Xuan Wu animations! Have you guys heard of the web novel "Nine Days"? Written by the god of online novels, Yun Hou. It's very popular, and the manga adaptation sold great too! The TV series and the movie are both in production, so it's a super task. Xuan Wu was tasked with the animation. Xuan Wu had finished the animation already and were in post-production. Originally, they'd already found a voice acting company, but they had already recorded some demos already, but because of certain reasons, Xuan Wu and the voice acting company had some conflict, and they were dropped, so this commission is ours now."
"In the following days, this will be the most important task in our company. You guys are looking at the information for 12 episodes of the first season. If we successfully dub the work for season 1, then the following jobs will go to us, and if our collaboration ends in a success, Xuan Wu's other commissions will be ours as well."
"This is a giant project with a lot of IP. It's very well known and has excellent potential. Please work hard! You guys should all go back and digest this information first. Tomorrow afternoon, we will analyze the script and distribute it accordingly.
In comparison, "Forest Exploration" is nowhere near "Nine Days", regardless in terms of the pay or the benefits that followed.
"Director."
Meng Fan spoke up as he raised his hand, "Uhm, I'm leaving tomorrow for Shanghai, and I'll be there for two days, so I won't be able to join you tomorrow afternoon."
Charlie slightly scrunched his eyebrows. "Is it urgent?"
Meng Fan didn't express that he was going to Shanghai to film a music video with Su Qing Cen and Bai Zhi. "I planned it a long time ago."
"Then what requirements do you have for the roles in this animation?" Charlie asked.
Hearing this from Charlie, the expression of the CVs present collectively sunk. They knew Meng Fan had been crazily recording voice tracks in the last few days and could tell how much Charlie treasured him by the liberty he provided for him. Now, he was directly asking Meng Fan what role he wanted. It must be nice to be a lead CV.
These CVs did not care for the smaller roles Meng Fan had just completed, for these were roles that they could do without. He even took the roles that they didn't want! But they cared a lot about such a big animation from Xuan Wu, so of course, they were going to try for a role!
"Requests?" Meng Fan shook his head. "I have no requests. You guys can separate it first, and leave me some smaller roles."
Meng Fan wasn't trying to be polite. He really needed the quantity for these roles.
The CVs faces all went sullen as they heard this.
Director Charlie was slightly bothered and had called this meeting specifically so Meng Fan could partake. He had wanted Meng Fan to ask for a lead task. He didn't think Meng Fan would give up the opportunity.
If Meng Fan already declined, it wouldn't be fair to the others if he persisted.
Charlie could only keep the disappointment in his heart. He nodded and kept his silence.
Once the emergency meeting ended, Meng Fan hailed a cab and returned home with his documents.
At 9:00 pm, Meng Fan logged into the stream and changed the announcement to "Today is the commercial special, welcome welcome!"
"Poor you! Meng boss finally got an advertisement task!"
"Why do I feel like Meng fatty was scouted by an adult film company!"
"Hahahaha, am I following a business Weibo account?"
"Are you drawing advertisements tonight?"
"It looks pretty good!"
Not long after beginning his stream, the viewers immediately shot up to 10,000. Who was he trying to fool with his advertisement special?
Meng Fan adjusted the camera to face himself. He smiled at the camera and took out the first volume of "There's A Spirit Underground" that he just received. He imitated Jackie Chan's voice and began to speak, "When I first got the job to adapt "There's A Spirit Underground" into a manga, I actually turned it down! Because I felt… Ah… You can't tell me to draw, right away too."
"First, I had to take a look, and I didn't want to say… I adapted a novel into a manga and then added a bunch of extras into it, but the art style is dumb! It's hard! It's exhilarating! And the book fans will roast me since the novel wasn't bad! I said I had to see it first before realizing how badass Mr.Sleepy was. The! Kind! That! Never! Misses! An! Update… I tried it for a few months… But after this month… I feel better. Now… I'm still using it… I even gave it to my friends to try! Come along, come along! Everyone try it out too!"
The stream went silent for a moment before the live comments exploded.
"Hahaha! I'm dumbstruck. He sounds just like him!"
"There was a lot of emphasis on the words 'never miss an update'!"
"I really want to ask what he means near the end. I don't understand anything!"
"Didn't you say you were reading a novel? How did you come to using Mr.Sleepy?"
"I've already guessed you guys had some sort of interaction before!"
At this time, Meng Fan's voice appeared once again. His tone had changed into a low, masculine voice. "After a long day of work, your legs and hips are sore, and your spirit is weak, and it feels like your body has been hollowed out." Immediately after Meng Fan said that, he adjusted his voice to a female tone. "Is Mr.Sleepy withholding updates again?" He changed to a male voice again. "I fear I'll never be able to read a book again."
He then changed his voice again to a very professional commercial voice. "The individual publication for "There's A Spirit Underground" will compensate Mr.Sleepy's remaining work. Nourishment is important to keep up, and you should try to be consistent when taking your supplements."
Meng Fan then began to sing, "I long for steady happiness, to touch it with both hands…" Immediately, he swapped to a female voice. "Try the single volume. It makes me happy."
He wasn't done here. He then immediately followed it with an imitation of Mr. Ge You. "There's A Spirit Underground? Looks good to me!"𝔫𝞸𝚟𝖊𝐿𝑛𝖾xt.𝚌𝐎𝓜
Then, he swapped to Tang Guo Qiang's emperor like tone. "If you need a manga artist for the mystery genre, call Meng Fan, like Penguin Animations did!"
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Chapter 229: Sold Out
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Meng Fan's imitation of Jackie Chan's 'duang' came as a shock to the fickle netizens, but before this, Meng Fan had also imitated Che Guevera, which was also shocking and unexpected, so the netizens didn't think too much, but the wave of changing imitations that followed… It was almost inhuman!
"Meng fatty is a solid dude. This really is an advertisement special 666!"
"These ads are good!"
"It's just a single publication? Buying it!"
"Meng fatty isn't your commercial too late? I already bought it when it was released yesterday!"
"The kidney nourishment ad made me think of watching these commercials as a kid with my parents. I could almost feel the awkwardness!"
"The lines are too flirty, hahaha!"
"Wait! What's with the female voices?!"
"Is this girl chubby too?"
"She appeared again!"
"Is that Meng fatty? Female voice!!!"
"Does this count as a dominatrix voice?"
"His young woman's voice is great too!"
"666!"
"So badass!"
"This scene is too intense to watch!"
"I kneel in respect!"
"Like this if you want to see the host crossdress, hahahaha!"
"Are you crazy?! You want the 188 cm tall Meng fatty to dress like a girl? You want him to cosplay the female Yao Ming from Game of Thrones?"
"Female Yao Ming? Brienne of Tarth is the most beautiful woman in A Song of Ice and Fire! This is wrong!"
"F*ck, he's back to Mr. Ge's voice again. I can't get used to this!"
"Mr. Ge is definitely the only person in the world that can make me collapse with one word!"
"Even the excavator commercial is here!"
"Badass! Can the host please re-enact the disciplining of a disciple!"
Meng Fan decided he needed to beg and scream, "Shut up! You shameless old thief!"*
This is a famous line from the drama, The Three Kingdoms, which featured Tang Guo Qiang, who also endorsed commercials for excavators
His voice still sounded like Tang Guo Qiang, but it was different from his excavator commercial. It was filled with righteousness but not loud. It was deafening nonetheless. "You shameless old thief! How dare you even propose such a hideous request for me to crossdress?! How can a brokeback man like me act so gay, so gay! In front of tens of thousands of army men! I've never seen such a shameless person!"
"Wow he switched roles so fast, this guy's so badass!"
"F*ck, this is definitely the best imitation of the prime minister I've ever heard. He's incredible!"
"Wtf is a broke back man? Hahaha!"
Meng Fan wasn't finished. This time, he raised his voice and entered a youthful role. "Second battalion commander! Where's your motherf*cking Italian canon? Bring it out!"
He wasn't just trying to imitate the role but introducing his own voice acting too. He was confident and even scared some of his viewers. Then he began to laugh loudly. If someone else had been present, they would have been contaminated by his laughter. What? Could a person get mental issues from watching a stream?
This must have been a line from the TV series, "Bright Sword", that had been completely in the tone of Li Yun Long. This was very telling of his abilities.
Immediately afterward, he changed his voice again. "No matter who's buying my book, I'll be on Club358 helping out!"
The voice, the tone… It must be captain Chu!
"Buy buy buy!"
"I already bought it yesterday though!"
"Based on this commercial, I'm going to buy another copy!"
"Meng boss, do another female voice, and I'll buy a hundred more copies!"
Meng Fan fooled around with his voice for another half an hour or so. The object of imitation had been the big guy from 8th Station's ghost and creature genre. As for the celebrities that his netizens had requested, Meng Fan was unable to learn their characteristics. It wasn't just the kind that one could learn from listening; he had to familiarize himself and study the person first.
Meng Fan could totally imitate Jim Carrey, but there was no way he could mimic Justin Bieber.
In half an hour, the effect of his advertisement was pretty good. Once Meng Fan began streaming, he had started looking at the sales experience for the task [Professional Manga Artist].
On the first day, they sold 34,000 copies. There was a pretty big disparity on the second day. From 9:00 pm until midnight, they only sold 3000 copies. Their main market had been targeted at the first launch. The sales were definitely going to fall until they reached a stable number. Later, if they could maintain a couple of hundred copies a day, he would be happy.
Before the advertisement plug, he had gained 7000 experience points. Basically, his half an hour sales pitch and imitations had sold him 7000 copies. This was the second day of their sales and several netizens had preordered a copy already. If he did this on the first day, the numbers would be way higher.
This was the power of advertising on stream!
"That's all!"
"Meng fatty, what kind of website did you give me? It's already sold out!"
"It's sold out on the other sites too!"
"Already?"
Meng Fan confirmed that he had only gained 44,000 experience, but they printed 50,000!
Mr.Sleepy was watching Meng Fan's stream and immediately called to ask. He then sent a message to Meng Fan. "40,000 copies of the first print were sold online, while the remaining 10,000 were sold in physical stores. The 40,000 units online are actually sold out now. I'm going to communicate with the publisher to print some new copies."
Meng Fan immediately played Mr.Sleepy's voice memo to his netizens then spoke with his usual voice, "Sorry, I underestimated your buying abilities! If I knew you guys were this badass, I would have sold it on TV! Uhm, the books are sold out, so I'm gonna pack up."
As he spoke, he prepared to log off. The netizens were not pleased.
"F*ck he's nasty!"
"What a merciless host. He's holding back Mr.Sleepy!"
"Leave your female cosplay first!"
Meng Fan was obviously joking. He didn't dare do such a thing. He sat obediently in his chair. There was no way he could continue spewing his advertisements, and he didn't draw either. He continued the theme of imitation and began to sing a few songs using the voices of various celebrities.𝔫𝞸𝚟𝖊𝐿𝑛𝖾xt.𝚌𝐎𝓜
As for the female voices, he added a few surprises occasionally, but not too much, as it would be too much to bear.
At around 11:00 pm, he ended the stream with a "Let me giao giao".
After logging off the stream, Meng Fan called a takeout and drew as he waited. He sent his finished drawings to Chen Da Qiang and then uploaded the completed late-stage panels to Penguin Animation Network's backstage interface and queued up the update time. He couldn't guarantee if he had time to draw in the next few days.
At 10:00 am on the 24th, Meng Fan arrived at Shanghai's south station.
"Sister Sun, thanks for everything."
Bai Zhi's assistant came to pick Meng Fan up.
Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen needed Meng Fan's help to perform sand art for their MVs, so they had scheduled to meet up together. It was easier to film that way, and it saved Meng Fan, who was still a college student, some time.
They also wanted to gather and talk although it hadn't been long since they last met.
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Chapter 230: Voice Acting TV Show
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The third stop in Su Qing Cen's concert tour was Nanjing. The previous two stops had been a success, which allowed her and her team to breathe a sigh of relief. They were more confident too.
The third stop on the tour was in twenty days, so they didn't need to rehearse just yet, but they had been busy. Her schedule had been packed full, with each day being filled with some sort of promotional shoot, TV show, event, all under the spotlight. Even if Su Qing Cen was a talented idol, she still needed to feed off of popularity. She couldn't withdraw from this kind of tight itinerary.
Su Qing Cen might not have been willing, but her company would have packed her schedule full. For a popularity type idol, their companies would always have an upper hand in their schedule. Su Qing Cen had been treated well too since she had a degree of say in what she did. At least she could reject some arrangements that she did not like—even if the company would replace it with other plans afterward.
This time, Su Qing Cen had asked for two days off to accompany her MV filming. Aside from the film shoot, she was basically taking a short vacation.
Bai Zhi had much more freedom than Su Qing Cen since her company would only arrange for her a large event twice a year or so. Bai Zhi had complete say over the smaller arrangements and events.
In the dozen or so days since she returned from the 11/11 gala, she had attended one entertainment show and picked some scripts and script readings, selected some songs, etc. She was a relatively free artist.
Bai Zhi arrived early at the meeting point and asked sister Sun to pick up Meng Fan. Soon, Su Qing Cen arrived, and the two went together to greet the responsible film crew. Then they headed into a private room and started to chat.
"Did you see Meng Fan's video?"
Bai Zhi asked. As they talked, the topic of Meng Fan came up. Su Qing Cen shook her head, so Bai Zhi immediately pulled out her phone and played the video she saved.
It was a video clip of Meng Fan's spooky imitations from last night's promotional stream. It had stitched all thirty of Meng Fan's celebrity impersonations together, including the song he sang with ten other impersonations.
Celebrity impersonation skits have long surfaced and had been a popular thing. Especially singing impersonations, but there weren't many people who would imitate celebrities speaking, which was much more difficult than singing as well. After all, it didn't have music for back up. Of course, there were speech impersonators too, just very little. However, Meng Fan's impersonations had within them a kind of mystic quality, which was very refreshing and interesting.
The video was uploaded at midnight the night before and was shared and commented on by several people already. Although it didn't make front-page news, the clip had garnered some fame already, especially among the mystical and demon category audiences.
But at 8th Station, Meng Fan's creepy impersonations had been made into a demon/mystical genre video and sound clip.
Su Qing Cen smiled as she watched the entire clip. Afterward, she watched it again then took out her phone and shared the video. "Meng boss, I didn't know you had so many faces!"𝗇𝑶𝔳𝗲𝗅𝗇𝓮xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
After sharing, she continued to laugh. "I didn't think he could impersonate so many voices, and they're so funny too!"
"This kid has some tricks up his sleeves." Bai Zhi scrolled through her phone and said, "Let me show you another one; it's even better."
She pulled up a sound clip this time. It was about five to six minutes long, line after line. They weren't the voices of the same person, and all the content was different.
Su Qing Cen looked confused. "What's this?"
"Voice acting demo." Said Bai Zhi.
Su Qing Cen was puzzled. "You mean to tell me these demos are all… Meng Fan's? No way! There's got to be a dozen roles in here? Men, women, and children too, and their tones are all so different!"
Bai Zhi spread her hands. "I didn't believe it either, but it really is Meng Fan." As she spoke, she scrolled further through her phone and found another short video clip.
"When I first saw this in the group chat, it had advertised him as a voice actor who had dubbed ten roles in a short period of time, all next to each other, even more difficult than the dub clip from Han Xiaoxue. I recently attended a voice acting TV show, and last season, Han Xiaoxue's brain churning performance was extraordinary, so I got curious and took a look and saw that the name of the voice actor was Meng Fan. I thought it was just a coincidence, but after I watched Meng Fan's advertisement stream, I believed it was him. Then I searched and found the source of this short film and got someone to find me a collection of Meng Fan's voice demos."
"I even have a clip of Meng Fan's voice acting, it's a long one too. Listen for yourself!"
Bai Zhi dug out another video clip that was saved as well. This one was of a character in an animation, and the lines had been in the style of a monologue. There was a lot of text, and the content was complex as well, but Meng Fan's acting had been very accurate, and his emotional expression was touching beyond compare!
Su Qing Cen listened to the clip and felt her emotions begin to overwhelm her. She had felt the sentiment just from listening to the script alone. She took a deep breath. "Their family's genetics are a bit too powerful!"
It was a coincidence to be good at impersonations, but this clip really demonstrated a high level of skill and technique in voice acting.
Bai Zhi once again spread out her hands, expressing her confusion in these abnormal things. "Meng Fan has previously asked Meng Cai Wei to help him find a voice dubbing teacher, but I didn't think he was this good, and I heard from the staff members that he had no prior experience beforehand. Maybe you're right, it's all in the genetics!"
Su Qing Cen could no longer contain her emotion. "These siblings are both demons!"
'Not just the siblings, their whole family's like that too!' Bai Zhi thought to herself.
Only, she didn't say it out loud.
Only Bai Zhi knew that Meng Fan was Meng Cai Wei's little brother, but not many people in the industry knew about the rest of Meng Cai Wei's family.
"Oh right." Su Qing Cen asked, "Sister Bai, did you say you had some year end show after that show you were on? You said you needed a guest star. Why don't you just ask Meng Fan?"
Bai Zhi heard this and smiled. "I thought about it. Everyone in the group was saying how busy they were, and their lines weren't good enough, or they were the enemy of Mango TV. I even asked Meng Cai Wei since her enormous presence would definitely be welcomed, but when I told her the time, her crew wasn't able to arrange it, but now the perfect fit has just walked in! I'll go ask him when he arrives."
Su Qing Cen thought for a while, and suggested, "I think you should let the crew at the TV station know first. If Meng Fan agrees but the channel says no, the situation will be very awkward."
Bai Zhi nodded, understanding what Su Qing Cen meant. Although the TV station had asked her to select a suitable person, they still had a requirement for their reputation. No matter how one put it, Meng Fan was no celebrity.
In half an hour or so, Bai Zhi received a call from her assistant, sister Sun. She sounded urgent. "Something happened! Meng Fan hit someone! At the door! It's a foreign celebrity too!"
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Chapter 231: Do You Have A Conscience?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The scheduled film location was to be at a studio near Songjiang film city. Since they had signed with a movie city, the equipment was complete, and everything was accessible, regardless if they were filming a MV or doing post-production work.
When Meng Fan and sister Sun arrived, there was a small crowd of people outside the studio. It comprised mostly of girls and all of them holding excessive glow sticks and signs.
"They aren't here for Shan Jin bro are they…"
"Uhm, it should be for a Korean actor."
"I thought they banned that? Is it resolved?"
"Actually, there wasn't an official ban or no ban. They just have a tacit understanding from top to bottom. But it's been much looser lately, and we've seen many more Korean stars in the mainland. But they don't promote the events they attend, and actors are even more strictly regulated. Even if the ban has been lifted, it's different now. In the last two years, the domestic trainee program that follows the system of elimination has expanded rapidly, and even managed to push out several groups to debut. Plus, due to the existing high-quality idols, it's very unlikely that the K-pop trend will return to the mainland."
"I see. But it seems like this guy's pretty popular."
"That makes sense. Our idols haven't had much time to develop, so their performing abilities and endurance are still being tested, and the operating capabilities of their management companies are also lacking. Therefore, the circle of K-pop fans is still very significant. Habitually comparing, the rate of transitioning fans is not high. Only a few of them would turn their support to stars from other countries. Hence, if they were to completely ban it, everything would really be up in the air. At least, it would be a big test for domestic companies with idol groups. Su Qing Cen's company actually has an idol group of their own…"
The two chatted as they circled around the fans to enter the front gate.
Suddenly, sister Sun saw Meng Fan crease his brows and curiously looked towards him. But she wasn't as tall as Meng Fan, and from behind the crowd, she couldn't see a thing.
Following this, sister Sun noticed that the fan circle had become rather disturbed. She followed the group of fans as they backed up like a tide, which broadened her vision. She saw a girl holding her head lying on the ground, while two burly looking men who appeared to be bodyguards were kicking and punching her.
The K-pop idol's bodyguards were beating her up!
Sister Sun's attitude changed immediately. It's been so long since something like this happened on the news, and right in front of her eyes too.
After her field of vision widened, the two bodyguards also stopped. They scolded her a few incomprehensible words and menacingly looked at the other people present. They turned and headed towards the K-pop star.
The spectating fans were all shocked. They couldn't believe such a thing had just happened in front of their eyes.
"Why did you have to hit her?!"
"Yeah, why do you think you can just hit people?!"
"Didn't you see this dumbass trying to pull at Park Jae Hye?"
"Which fan group is she from, I already said to stay in order!"
"Look what you did, Park Jae Hye is angry now!"
"Yeah, it's not often Park Jae Hye comes to visit, she deserved to be hit!"
"She's definitely a fake fan!"
"Send out a notification, the fans present are restricted from posting videos and photographs and must undergo review before they can be uploaded. You cannot bring any negative comments to Park Jae Hye!"
The fan group sounded in protest. Although some were upset with the violence, a lot of the fans present were from an organized fan club, so their voices were suppressed very quickly.
At this time, the fans saw a shadow brush by them, charging at the bodyguards with both arms open. He passed the bodyguards with deadly speed.
Thump-thump.
This guy was tall and had his arms raised just behind the neck of the bodyguards. His arms were like two rods protruding from a tank, slamming the bodyguards directly into the ground making a soft thumping sound.
If you added a ring rope to this scene, it would be a re-enactment of American style wrestling.
All of this happened even faster and more unexpected than when the bodyguards had beat up the fan. It was even more unbelievable too.
"Meng Fan?!" Sister Sun was stunned.
The spectators did not react in time. In a rush, Meng Fan, who had fallen over, charging the bodyguards on the ground stood up and walked towards the K-pop star.
"뭐공부해요?"*
(What do you study?)
The expression of the idol's manager also changed. She stood in front of the K-pop star, barricading him from Meng Fan, and began to scold.
Meng Fan, who was still burning with anger did not care if this manager was a male or a female, and reached out and brushed her aside. As he did so, he reached for the collar of this K-pop idol, and greeted him with a thunderous slap to the face!
Bam!𝗇𝑶𝔳𝗲𝗅𝗇𝓮xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
His slap was loud, and everyone heard it. The crowd suddenly went quiet.
"You hit me! Why did you hit me?!"
Park Jae Hai was stunned as well. He then began to scream. At first, it was in Korean, then severely mispronounced Mandarin. He grappled like a lunatic at Meng Fan's neckline, almost attacking him with his teeth.
"Why didn't you think of that when you were hitting that girl just now?!"
Meng Fan fiercely turned around and threw the K-pop star beside the two bodyguards with immense strength. The idol couldn't stand straight and landed beside the bodyguards on his bottom with a thud.
The bodyguard raised his head to receive another punch.
"I didn't hit anyone!"
Park Jae Hye shuffled away from the bodyguard. This time, he had brought two bodyguards. In addition to a female secretary and a female manager. The bodyguards had been slammed to the ground once again, which exhausted him of all energy.
Before he'd gotten a dozen or so bodyguards!
Goddamn it!
His eyes continuously signaled his manager and his secretary, asking them to quickly resolve this. The big guy in front of him was a lunatic!
"You didn't hit anyone?" Meng Fan took a step towards him. He then pointed at the female fan, who was still writhing on the floor clutching her head. "I f*cking saw you slap her before pushing her to the ground, and you even told your bodyguards to keep hitting her! She only pulled at you!" He then pointed to everyone present. "There are so many people watching, how can you still say no?!"
Park Jae Hye's eyes lit up as if his energy had been replenished. He stood up and looked at his fans, lamely asking, "You guys saw, I didn't hit anybody right?!"
The group of fans went into silence.
Very quickly, the silence was broken by a girl in a puffy skirt and pigtails. "Park Jae Hye didn't hit anyone, this b*tch didn't follow the rules and approached to pull at him, it's her own fault she got hit by his bodyguards!" She then tried to rouse the rest of the crowd. "Don't you guys agree, Park Jae Hye didn't hit anyone!"
"Yes yes yes, Park Jae Hye didn't hit anyone!"
"Yeah, why would Park Jae Hye do such a thing?!"
"She deserved it!"
"Who the hell are you, why did you hit Park Jae Hye?"
"We must protect Park Jae Hye!"
"Attack him!"
Meng Fan's expression was blank. He looked at the girl with pigtails. "Do you have a conscience?" He then looked at the others who had followed her lead. "Are you guys all blind? Does your heart not hurt?"
The dozen or so fans continued to scream. No matter how riled up they were, nobody dared approach. Meng Fan had been extraordinarily fierce just now, and with his menacing glance, the fans were stunned in their steps.
"I don't care about you, or what country you're from, nor if you're a fan or not. You all f*cking disgust me! I don't understand how a few men would team up and hit a girl, and how people can pretend they never saw anything. And you're even protecting him! Pursuing idols is such a wonderful thing, but look at you guys, how shameful!"
Meng Fan was furious. He turned and kicked Park Jae Hye who had just stood up, back into the ground.
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Chapter 232: Who Will Apologize𝗇𝑶𝔳𝗲𝗅𝗇𝓮xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Whoosh—
Meng Fan took a look at the crowd. He knew there was nothing he could say to them, and didn't want to waste his energy.
He approached the girl who was still clutching her head on the ground and helped her up. "Are you okay? Check if he hurt you anywhere. Do you want him to apologize?"
"No, no, I'm okay."
The girl raised her head. The hand mark on her face was still evident, and she had footprints on her clothes. Hearing Meng Fan talk, she continued to shake her head while retreating at the same time, refusing help from Meng Fan. At this time, Meng Fan looked even scarier than the two bodyguards just now. She was scared and he was there to harm her rather than help her.
"I'm not hurt, I'm not hurt anywhere."
It was unclear if she had felt the menacing glances from the other fans. And the girl immediately spoke up, "I don't need an apology, I don't! It's my fault, I shouldn't have pulled at Park Jae Hye. I didn't follow the rules, it's all my fault!"
Meng Fan was distressed, and his heart ached.
He was also considered a fan and knew the rules of these clubs. He also knew what this girl was afraid of. Although he wanted to slap the other girls awake…screw it. He would be doing her more harm than good if he continued to persist.
Meng Fan did not pay any attention to her, nor check to see what Park Jae Hye or other people were doing. He headed straight towards the studio.
"Don't leave, you hit someone, hey wait, explain yourself"
The person next to the manager must have been his secretary. Her Mandarin was much better as she ran over. Seeing Meng Fan stop, she was too scared to step forward. She wanted to block Meng Fan from leaving, but she was afraid.
"What explanation do you want? I'll be inside, waiting!"
Meng Fan coldly entered the studio and plopped himself on a chair in the lobby.
There was no way Meng Fan was going to find Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen just yet. After sitting down, he sent Bai Zhi a text. "I'm in the lobby. Something happened, don't get involved."
Regarding this, Meng Fan felt no regret. Even if he knew that these people wouldn't be grateful, he wouldn't change the way he acted. He had acted purely on his own accord, and it had nothing to do with receiving gratitude. Even if this had been before his rebirth, Meng Fan wasn't going to let such things slide. However, at that time, he wouldn't have had the energy to treat the issue with such a clean and crisp resolve.
As for what would happen next… Meng Fan was not concerned.
"Meng Fan."
Sister Sun approached, dragging Meng Fan inside.
"Sister Sun, it's best if I don't go in so this doesn't involve sister Bai and Shan Jin bro. I'm not a person in the industry, so it doesn't matter if I get into trouble."
"Trouble who?!" Sister Sun smiled bitterly. "Those two are asking that you enter. We have experience dealing with this kind of thing. Since everyone saw what happened, nobody can do anything to you, nonetheless, those two."
"Alright." Meng Fan followed her inside, still deep in thought. "Sister Sun, that female fan that got hit… I'm worried…"
"Don't worry, I've already arranged for someone to watch her."
Sister Sun brought Meng Fan into Bai Zhi's private room and left.
"Mighty Meng boss!"
"I was thinking just then, why are you so different from your sister? But it seems I'm wrong!"
Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen had heard the news from sister Sun, and as soon as Meng Fan entered, they began a wave of trolling, despite their words being filled with adoration.
Meng Fan was slightly embarrassed. "I couldn't just watch and not do anything."
Su Qing Cen agreed sternly, raising her fist. "Good! If I was there, I would have beat the sense out of him!"
Bai Zhi was slightly remorseful. "I wonder if anyone filmed the incident, I'm curious to see how you hit him. I heard sister Sun say you knocked the bodyguards out in an instant and had the K-pop idol hanging from his collar like a chicken."
She couldn't help herself as she reached out and squeezed Meng Fan's arm. She smiled. "You are strong indeed."
Meng Fan was a bit speechless but loosened up from their encouragement. "I wanted to sit there and see what they were going to do, but you made me come in. You guys have ruined my plans!"
"So what?!"
Bai Zhi's expression darkened. "If that kid comes and apologizes to you, then apologizes publicly, then this will be over. Otherwise… Not only will he never be able to come to China, but he'll also have a difficult time going home too!"
"Yeah, it's already the year 9102, this kind of thing won't slide!"
Su Qing Cen also agreed. The two were very upset when they heard of the Korean idol hitting his fan. If it had happened somewhere else at another time, they would have ignored it and only scolded him a bit, but this was related to Meng Fan… Regardless of Meng Fan's relationship with Meng Cai Wei, Meng Fan was still related to them. And since he was involved, they couldn't stand on the sidelines and not help!
"Don't worry, we've already arranged it!"
"Come on, let's go over the film shoot for the MV, and await his doom!"
…
Park Jae Hye was waiting for people to arrive as he entered another room, fuming as he waited.
Soon, they arrived.
The person from the company responsible for overseeing his presence during this event had told Park Jae Hye to wait here first. One, there were some posters to sign, and two, he had to rehearse his content for a concert.
"Mr. Jiang, you must have heard what happened. Tell me, how are you going to deal with this?! Our Park Jae Hye came here on your invitation, you have to give us an explanation!" The manager's expression had changed from fearful in the presence of Meng Fan to one of sheer arrogance.
Jiang Cheng cursed them in his heart but maintained his cold exterior. "We already know what happened, and we've already contacted that person. He will definitely be providing you with an explanation. But some things I must confirm for myself, so it can ease our communication further on."
He paused, and asked, "First, did Mr. Park Jae Hye hit that female fan or not?"
The manager shook her head with certainty. "Definitely not!"
Jiang Cheng creased his brows. "Please tell me the truth! The handprint on that female's face is way too clear, and there were so many witnesses present, if we announce this situation to the outside and it doesn't add up, it won't be good for either of us!"
"Don't worry, the fans present are being dealt with by special personnel, they definitely won't leak anything negative about Park Jae Hye." The manager said very curtly.
"So it's like that…" Jiang Cheng paused for a moment, then asked another question, "Then what kind of repair are you seeking from the opposition?"
"An apology, and compensation!"
Park Jae Hye screamed. "He must apologize until I'm satisfied! And he has to compensate for my mental health, and another 1 million dollars for medical bills…"
Jiang Cheng once again cursed him in his head. "Alright, I know your demands. I will now let them know."
Jiang Cheng left but returned shortly after. "They don't accept your request and want you to apologize instead. They said if you don't apologize, they will contact the police and expose this event to the public."
"Are they crazy? Police? Even if that's on the table, we should be the ones to call the police!" The manager was fuming. "Publicize? What are they going to publicize? They don't have evidence of Park Jae Hye hitting anyone!"
"What if they do?" Jiang Cheng asked.
"No way!"
"Then, you guys for sure aren't going to apologize, right?"
"Of course! Mr. Jiang, we are the ones requesting an apology from them, how did it end up the other way around? Who's side are you on?"
"Yours of course! Then I will continue negotiating with them!"
Jiang Cheng left the room, but this time he didn't return.
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Chapter 233: Losing Fans
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
On November 24th, at 12:00 pm, the hashtag #ParkJaeHyeGetsHit became a trending topic on Weibo.
Clicking into the header, it was full of content regarding Park Jae Hye being hit by someone in Shanghai. There was one video that had been circulated the most.
The video showed Park Jae Hye receiving a welcome from his fans at first, a bright and warm smile on his face, while his fans were screaming and shouting in adoration. It was a peaceful scene.
Immediately following, a tall shadow appeared in the field of vision and flew towards him, and in an American wrestling fashion, slammed his bodyguards to the ground. The scene was epic. Then, this person approached a horrified Park Jae Hye, grabbed his collar, and swiftly gave him a crisp and clean slap to the face!
Then it wasn't just video as it included some screenshots. There were some terrified fans present, bodyguards lying on the ground, and Park Jae Hye sitting on the ground. There was a photo of the beaten Park Jae Hye, and of course, a photo of his attacker, with a fierce look on his face.
This video had been shared and commented on numerous times already.
"F*ck, this is too harsh!"
"Humanoid tank!"
"Watching this hurts!"
"Triple kill! He's too scary!"
"K-pop idol? Aren't they banned? Why is one in the mainland?"
"What, are people not allowed to be tourists now? Haha!"
"There have been a few K-pop stars here lately though."
"Ah, they're here to rake in money again!"
"What year is it and we're still chasing Korean stars?! Is Liu Hao Ran not hot enough, or is that kid with four letters in his name not good enough for you?!"
"Yeah! There are so many talented idols in the country!"
"Korean idol got hit? Aren't they usually the ones who do the hitting? Why is it reversed?!"
"The earth turns, and K-pop stars get hit too!"
"Hitting people is wrong! But I couldn't help but laugh!"
"This Park Jae Hye had hit one of his fans five or six years ago in Shanghai, this is his own fault!"
"F*ck he was still hit by someone, don't you guys have some compassion?! Don't comment, just like the video!"
"Hitting people! This is against the law! The attacker must be severely punished!"
"These comments are really heartbreaking, this is such a tragic incident, yet so many people are applauding it!"
"Reject violence!"
"Justice for Park Jae Hye!"𝗇𝑶𝔳𝗲𝗅𝗇𝓮xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
"Please put the perpetrator in his place!"
"He's so rough too, he's definitely a bad guy!"
"Give us Hyemies an explanation!"
Comments and the discussion forums were not as one-sided as one would have expected. Maybe it was because there was too much negative news of Korean idols hitting their fans that lead to the polarization of the comment section.
Soon, the identity of the perpetrator was excavated. Technically speaking, he was recognized.
Meng Fan had made the front page a few times, and it happened again today. It wasn't the kind of front page that everyone knew about, but because of his presence, and his appearance, most people remembered him after seeing him or felt familiarity at least. In addition to the 11/11 gala being only a few days ago, many people still had that dreamlike sand art performance ingrained in their minds.
Besides, Meng Fan had a large amount of viewers on his stream, and there were bound to be some of them who browsed the front page and recognized him from the article.
Huh? The attacker was sort of famous.
The news regarding Meng Fan spread quickly among the discussion panels.
Now, the front page was even rowdier!
"F*ck! Isn't this Meng fatty? He's a tank!"
"Meng Fan's nickname is Iron hero, this time, it's proven!"
"Don't you guys know the iron hero crushed a thief by just sitting on him?!"
"I also heard he crushed a pervert as well!"
"Too bad Meng fatty didn't crush this guy with his weight!"
"Meng host is so cheerful and gentle most days, how could he be so violent?!"
"Do you guys think that Meng host only hit this Kpop star once? You guys don't understand his hand speed. It might look like once, but he probably hit him a hundred times!"
"These three are no match for Meng boss!"
"They were struck so fast their legs went soft and they couldn't stand!"
"Meng boss do you have to be this badass? You just sold your commercial to make the front page, and now you're on the front page again for hitting someone. You've been on trending twice today, it seems like you're going to be famous!"
"Are you scumbags not worried about something happening to Meng fatty?"
"Who needs to worry about Meng Fan when he's this kind of player?! Just wait, there might be even bigger news!"
"An internet star beat up a K-pop idol? This is juicy!"
"This clip was obviously edited, if you have real balls, post the full video!"
"Does anyone know why he hit him?"
"The person who posted the video should give us a clear explanation! This kind of one-sidedness is no fun!"
"There isn't even a description of its whereabouts. Guys, don't be so easily persuaded!"
"Indeed! There are so many conflicts of people hitting pregnant women that were turned around, nonetheless an internet star hitting a celebrity! Just be patient and wait for the tea to spill!"
"Gossipers don't take sides, we just wait for updates!"
Park Jae Hye's team noticed something was wrong when Jiang Chen left and did not return. They had secretly left the studio and returned to the hotel, begging their various sequences of contact and operations.
After discovering that they had made the front page on Weibo, the team turned into wax. Because of the current environment, plus Park Jae Hye's reputation for hitting someone in Shanghai five years ago, they were very unwilling for the matter to go public.
There's no benefit at all!
They did some research and asked around, discovering that it had been a fan who had edited a clip and uploaded themselves. They even paid for the news to be on the front page and even said they had done it to help clear Park Jae Hye's name. They were furious.
Useless teammate!
They called the organization responsible for the fan club and unleashed a chain of scolding, then warned them sternly not to release any more photos or videos. They even asked for the video clips to be sent over for unified management.
Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen, who had received Jiang Chen's news that Park Jae Hye's team weren't willing to formally apologize began their operations as soon as they saw his team's suicidal attempt at making the front page.
Jiang Chen was called to meet Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen before even seeing Park Jae Hye. After hearing of the truth behind the incident and realizing which side these two female superstars were on, and based on his existing knowledge of Park Jae Hye's personality, he knew that the fan had been hit, and immediately betrayed the company, giving them all the information required.
Additionally, sister Sun not only sent someone to protect the beaten fan but also sent a person to pay attention to the person on site that was trying to make a profit off the fan club.
Evidence. They had all they needed!
"Don't worry, everything is within our control. We will film the MV and watch the play unfold!"
Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen both harbored a very positive attitude towards this event. Meng Fan wasn't worried to begin since he trusted them and knew that he would be okay if he left it to them. He began to fully focus on filming the MV.
Meng Fan also had a lot of evidence, but hearing sister Sun had already obtained a source, he kept his silence.
At around 3:00 pm, reasons behind Meng Fan's violence began to emerge on the internet. Meng Fan's girlfriend liked Park Jae Hye too much and he'd acted out of jealousy, or he had acted because Park Jae Hye was in his way, he just didn't like the way Park Jae Hye looked, or Park Jae Hye killed a character he loved in a TV show, Park Jae Hye got in an argument with him during dinner the night before, Park Jae Hye privately dissed Su Qing Cen and Meng Fan heard…
In short, all kinds of strange and weird causes to stand the scrutiny. The more these conspiracies surfaced, the more people wanted the truth.
At around 8:00 pm, the news that Park Jae Hye was beaten was still circulating on the internet, while the controversy continued to brew into full swing.
This was naturally the work of Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen's team. They wanted to blow the whole situation up, then destroy Park Jae Hye with cold hard evidence so that he would be ruined in the mainland and foreign countries as well.
He hit his own fan, refused to apologize, and want it to blow over?
No f*cking way!
It was not an overstatement when they had said he would never walk in mainland or easily return to his home country ever again!
Of course, their focus was still to keep Meng Fan from harm. They wanted for Meng Fan to be unharmed, and retreat from the incident with his reputation, so all they could do was hammer Park Jae Hye into his grave.
At around 9:00 pm, Meng Fan had finished filming the first take of his sand art for both MVs. The group happily went off to eat hotpot.
By noon the next day, the incident had been blown up everywhere, domestic and international.
When Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen were about to finish their MV recording at 3:00 pm, things took an unexpected turn for them, and Meng Fan as well.
A user who claimed to be a witness at the scene posted a thread on Weibo: "I began to like you seven years ago, I liked your voice, your smile, your figure, your cheekiness, the way you scratch your head when you're shy… I liked your perseverance to spend an extra hour at the gym when you ate an extra slice of cake… I liked everything about you!
Because I like you, I could forgive you leaving the group, forgive all your negative news, forgive you cheating on your girlfriend and blaming it on her, and forgive you for dissing all your oppas…
But I can't forgive you for hitting your fans, and even more so lying about it in front of us, your fans, and asking us to lie about it for you! Six years ago, the media reported you hitting your fan, but I didn't believe it. However, yesterday I saw it with my own eyes!
Last night, me and a few other friends didn't sleep at all. We could see the doubt in each other's eyes, all questioning if it was worth continuing the charade! It seems that we have an answer after so much doubt!
When I liked you, I will rush to the front line, point my gun at someone else and protect you with my life. But reality proved that I've been deceived by your facade and your lies. You're a scum! So I have no hesitation in turning and pointing my gun against you. I'm so close to you, my lethality should be pretty great, isn't it Park Jae Hye?!"
A video was posted below the post, around seven minutes long.
It depicted the event from the beginning, with fans that greeted him. Very clearly, it depicted a fan who had accidentally been pushed and bumped into Park Jae Hye by accident and pulled on him to prevent herself from falling. Park Jae Hye could be seen with an angry expression as he raised his hand and slapped her across the face, even pushing her onto the ground. Immediately following were his two bodyguards, beating the girl with their arms and legs.
When the crowd dispersed, the bodyguards stopped as well and turned to leave when Meng Fan charged into the scene, knocking the bodyguards down and slapping Park Jae Hye harshly across the face…
The entire process had been filmed, including Park Jae Hye's futility, asking the fans to lie for him, his conversation, and Meng Fan's statement, "How beautiful it is to pursue an idol, yet look at you bunch, you're disgusting." As well as the footage of the fan who got hit being helped by Meng Fan, and her statement proceeding it. It even caught the handprint on her face and the footprints on her clothes!
Encompassed in one shot, everything became clear!
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Chapter 234: Maybe I'm A Fake Fan
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"How's it going on your end?"𝗇𝑶𝔳𝗲𝗅𝗇𝓮xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen said to each other, unanimously. They had looked at the Weibo status and shook their heads at the same time. They then looked towards Meng Fan.
Meng Fan shrugged. "I don't have the tolerance."
"Then is he really losing fans and getting attacked?"
"That makes sense though. I mean, we saw the videos. No matter how much they liked him before, it's hard to not get angry after seeing what he'd done. He will definitely lose fans, but I didn't think they would destroy him so recklessly."
"Call it a profound righteousness!"
"If this is the case, we won't even have to use the tactics we prepared."
"I think this is the best outcome."
"Yes! Meng boss really is a lucky man. Even without our preparations, he would still be okay."
Meng Fan was thinking as well. Could it be his 1 luck in action?
They continued to film their MV as the commotion continued in the discussion boards on Weibo—most of it consisting of curses and scolding—and soon, it became a chaotic scene of the uprising of anti-fans.
This video spread quickly throughout the internet, which was also quick to criticize. Meanwhile, the Korean netizens had gone into silence.
Most of the famous websites and big name accounts on Weibo had all engaged in their trash talking. Naturally, they also commended what needed to be commended. They didn't need Bai Zhi or Su Qing Cen to publicly announce anything. There were already a bunch of public accounts and companies twisting the story to reach a broader audience.
If Meng Fan's "violent beating" had been the case of a regular white knight saving a girl from a male attacker, he would only receive some reposts and thumbs up on the internet. At most, they would commend him. But it would never start a discussion.
Conveniently, he had hit a K-pop star. There was immediately content to discuss.
The netizens took another look. Holy sh*t! The perpetrator already had several discussion points of his own! And thus, he was on the front page.
The reality was so. Shortly after the video, the hashtag #IronHero began trending on Weibo. And not only did the front page featured Meng Fan's attack on the K-pop star and his bodyguards, but it also broadcasted about Meng Fan catching a thief on the bus, and crushing a pervert with his weight.
Violence?
No. Justice!
Even Meng Fan himself felt these words of praise were too exaggerated.
This incident could count as participation in a big event in the entertainment circle. It allowed him to experience rapid changes in the industry and saw how people dealt with public relations firsthand. He'd only heard of it before, but this time, he had seen it for himself.
"All good?"
"All good!"
At 2:30 pm, both MVs wrapped up filming half an hour ahead of schedule. The main content of both MVs featured Meng Fan's sand art, and his efficiency was much higher than what Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen's directors had foreseen. Since he was so efficient, the MV filming process naturally went faster.
This also didn't prevent Meng Fan from browsing Weibo, as Bai Zhi, Su Qing Cen, and their team was collaborating during this time to deal with the incident.
The MV director was a very well known figure in the community. He knew of Meng Fan's 11/11 sand art performance and recognized his abilities. However, he was still worried about Meng Fan's ability to perform on set, so he specifically hired a creative director that specialized in sand art to assist. Reality proved that this money had gone to complete waste.
Not only did Meng Fan demonstrated a very high level of sand art skills, but he also expressed the artistic style of sand art, and even considered the plot, the frame, and the music of the MV. Not to be obnoxious, but the director only needed to point the camera at the sand art table, and mind their own business and they would be A-OK.
Filming two MVs in two days was a hefty workload, yet the director didn't feel troubled at all and even enjoyed the process. He was itching to ask if Meng Fan was interested in collaborating in the future, for he enjoyed Meng Fan's hardworking attitude. However, he thought about the time when Meng Fan rejected David's invitation to the Las Vegas talent show and decided to leave it.
As they prepared to leave, sister Sun arrived from outside. "There's a bunch of journalists outside the studio, and they're all here to interview Meng Fan. I've temporarily blocked the ones from the studio."
Bai Zhi smiled. "If Fan debuted right now, he could count as breaking into the industry, right?!"
Meng Fan smiled bitterly. "Please don't. I still want to peacefully go home and draw my manga."
"You don't want to be interviewed?" Su Qing Cen asked.
Meng Fan nodded. Su Qing Cen asked her assistant to arrange for a car so they could leave out the back.
The group left in two waves. Bai Zhi and the director's team left through the front entrance, while Su Qing Cen and her staff, along with Meng Fan left through the back. A car was already waiting.
"Wait."
After driving for a short distance, Meng Fan suddenly asked the driver to stop.
"Huh?"
Su Qing Cen was curious and looked towards Meng Fan's gaze. A small distance away from the studio, a girl with a face mask was approaching them. She seemed to be in a hurry.
Su Qing Cen was curious. "Who's that?"
"It looks like the fan that got hit yesterday." Meng Fan thought about it and asked the driver to head over. They pulled up in front of the girl and Meng Fan opened the car door. "Are you looking for me?" He asked.
The girl was stunned. She was scared out of her skin and did not expect Meng Fan to appear.
She had arrived early, hoping to find Meng Fan inside. As she hesitated, the journalists arrived, which made her more reluctant to enter. She was also worried that they would recognize her, so she hid.
"We were just planning to find somewhere to eat." Meng Fan smiled at the girl. "Why don't you join us, if you have anything to say, we can chat over lunch."
As he spoke, he moved aside to make room for her inside the car.
The girl was still a bit shaken, but she nonetheless sat down in the car with a blank expression on her face. Seeing Su Qing Cen kindly smiling at her, she felt her accumulated emotions from yesterday erupt, as her eyes began to flow with tears.
The Benz was large, and Meng Fan could see Su Qing Cen's glance, telling him to move to the other side. Su Qing Cen reached out and clutched the girl to her chest, laying her head on her shoulders.
The girl cried the entire trip, thoroughly soaking Su Qing Cen's shoulder with her tears. She stopped once they got out of the car.
They had departed to find food of course. Meng Fan was not joking.
"Thank you! Sorry!"
The girl had a lot to say, but aside from these two sentences, she couldn't utter another word more.
Meng Fan received his pork rib noodle from the waiter and put it in front of the girl. He smiled. "I accept your thanks, but you don't need to apologize. You don't owe anyone anything."
Honestly speaking, Meng Fan didn't know what to say to the girl either. He didn't have a knack for consoling people and seeing Su Qing Cen's pork intestine noodle in front of her, he thought for a second before turning back to the girl. "To be honest, I'll still tell you the same thing. I think chasing idols is a beautiful experience. Like me! I am also a big fan. I'm Shan Jin bro's biggest and most hardcore fan—no, more like an iron fan—and the beauty, as I understand also comes from making yourself more wonderful. There must be some shining points on an idol that fuels you to become a better person too. Fans support their idol so that they can feel motivated by them. I think this is the most healthy, and normal relationship between a fan and their idol."
"So what kind of energy did you absorb from me?" Su Qing Cen interrupted.
Meng Fan thought about it carefully and shook his head. "Nothing really. Maybe I'm a fake fan."
The girl laughed through her tears. She saw the shining point on Meng Fan, like sunlight dispersing a hazy sky.
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Chapter 235: Entertainment Has No Circle
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Where's Fan? Did he leave?"
Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen met up at Bai Zhi's home after finding out that Su Qing Cen and Meng Fan had ran into the beaten fan on the road back. This kind of incident was an emotional subject for the girls.
"Yeah, he said he had to go back, so I sent a driver to take him back to Hangzhou to spare him running into more paparazzi on the train."
After the MV film shoot ended, their small vacation came to an end as well. Tomorrow, Su Qing Cen would have to resume her normal procedures, though she had canceled all her arrangements for tonight. Tonight, she would laze around in Bai Zhi's home.
"Sister Bai, your pajamas are too excessive, aren't they? And underwear too! I feel like I'm bursting from them!"
"There's so many granny PJ's there, why did you pick that one?! Bursting out? Who are you trying to impress?!"
"I want to flaunt it, okay?! But it's a bit empty up here and I can't compare to you!"
The relaxed Su Qing Cen was much more playful as she happily shook her bottom at Bai Zhi. She then waddled over to the home theatre.
"Do you have that movie I told you about last time?"
"Yes."
Bai Zhi inexplicably thought of the day she was at Meng Cai Wei's home when she had left her undergarments in the bathroom when he coincidentally entered the shower afterward. She didn't know if he'd seen anything or not, nonetheless, what he'd been thinking.
Sigh.
Bai Zhi suddenly felt the untimeliness. Meng Fan's personality, as well as his increasingly muscular body, were all her type. Unfortunately, he was too young! And she wasn't into that kind of relationship either.
She sighed and followed Su Qing Cen to play a popular movie. Thinking about it, she hadn't seen it before either.
There were several movies she wanted to see, but she didn't have many chances to go watch them in theatres. Hence, she renovated one of her bedrooms into a home theatre. It was constructed to a high standard, and its effects were better than that of most ordinary theatres.
"I forgot to pay him for filming the MV." Bai Zhi suddenly remembered. She asked Su Qing Cen how much she had paid him last time to make sure it wasn't too much or too little, then transferred 500,000 HXB to Meng Fan.
"Oh right, did you ask the crew for your voice acting show?" Su Qing Cen asked curiously.
Bai Zhi shook her head. "It's been so hectic lately, I haven't had time. I'm going to explore the territory first, and if they are interested, I'll ask Meng Fan. I think Mango is very likely to agree, but Meng Fan will be very unlikely."
Su Qing Cen was suspicious. It was one more thing that added to her confusion. "Sister bai, do you think this guy wants to become a celebrity or not?"
Bai Zhi was stumped by the question. She thought about it for a long time, then exclaimed. "I really don't know. For him? If he wanted to be famous, he has plenty of opportunities. He's received so many invites from TV shows, yet he even turned down David's Las Vegas talent show. Like this afternoon too, theoretically, it was a great opportunity to break into the entertainment industry if he wanted to debut. But you can't say he's not seeking fame either as he keeps doing things for the sake of popularity and fame; especially his stream."
Su Qing Cen thought about it. "Maybe he really wants to be famous, but we've been too narrow-minded regarding the process, and are only pushing him to become famous through the entertainment circle."
Bai Zhi's eyes lit up. "That actually makes sense. If we ignore the factor of blowing up in the entertainment circle, the issue would be much simpler." She slapped her thigh and began to laugh. "Cai Wei used to always say that she wasn't part of the entertainment industry and that she was no celebrity. She's always maintained that she's an actress. Maybe the two siblings have the same outlook towards this."
Su Qing Cen strongly agreed. She then sighed. "There's no circle in entertainment, but there is a circle in the entertainment circle. The circle can't trap actresses, only celebrities!"
"Oh stop sucking up, you know you're right already, pay attention, pay attention to the movie!"𝗇𝑶𝔳𝗲𝗅𝗇𝓮xt.𝓒𝒪𝔪
"Ah, humans. We all ask for what we can't have!"
…
"This much?"
Meng Fan was already on the road when he received Bai Zhi's transfer.
"It's the same amount as your Shan Jin bro paid you, plus you also guest appeared during my concert, didn't you? Besides, you still owe me some sand art performances, so I won't be paying you from now on!"
"Alright, I'll take it then."
"Since you've behaved so well, big sister will give you a surplus; you can have the photo too hahaha!"
Shortly after, Meng Fan received a photo in his WeChat. He took a look. Respect!
He then secretly put away this photo of Su Qing Cen lounging in excessive sleepwear that Bai Zhi had taken, in the same folder as the photo his sister had sent previously.
Fake fan? No. He was a legitimate leg Fan!
At around 9:00 pm, Meng Fan arrived near the school and bought his driver dinner before allowing him to go back.
Meng Fan didn't return to school though. It wasn't a good time.
Zhang Zhou Wei and the others had already began spamming him with messages regarding Meng Fan's violence towards the K-pop star. Everyone in the academy naturally knew of this news, and even before the truth came out, Zhang Zhou Wei and the others had already spread the news on campus that Meng Fan had done it for a reason. To be honest, their actions made Meng Fan a bit emotional.
Once the truth was revealed, Zhang Zhou Wei informed him that journalists had found them at their dorm, but had been kicked out very quickly and efficiently by the school. After all, the academy was a place of learning. There was no way they were going to let a hoard of paparazzi in.
If Meng Fan returned back to school, he would be blocked at the door; unless he wore his hat.
Then again, he had to wear his hat regardless, as there were also journalists blocking his neighborhood entrance. It seems the journalists had their sources.
But ideally, this kind of incident should blow over in a day or two.
Once he took off his cap after arriving home, a message from Wu Tong came.
"Home?"
Meng Fan was puzzled for a moment. What a coincidence!
"How did you know?"
"Just guessing." Wu Tong sent a playful emoji. "How's everything, are you being overrun by journalists?"
"I actually almost got blocked."
Meng Fan chatted with Wu Tong, went to shower, and continued chatting. As they conversed, he naturally began working on his manga and concluded their conversation.
The next morning, he woke up and habitually went on his run. Fortunately, his commotion wasn't big news, and there were no paparazzi squatting in a bush waiting for him.
He exited the community and headed for the Xizi lake scenic area. On his way back, the amount of pedestrians began increasing.
"Aren't you the iron hero who hit that K-pop idol?"
"Wow! It's really the iron hero, you're up running so early! No wonder you're so strong!"
"Can I take a photo with you? I really like your…fighting skills!"
Meng Fan recognized the influence of this beating incident. If it had been before, even after the 11/11 broadcast, only students from the academy would acknowledge him, while pedestrians would just walk by. This time, he was recognized at least a dozen times during his run.
Jogging back to the neighborhood, Meng Fan could see director Charlie on the ground floor of his unit doing his morning calisthenics. It was evident that Charlie didn't exercise much.
Seeing Meng Fan, Charlie approached.
"I knew I would find you here if I waited. You actually run this early in the morning." Charlie was still stretching. The temperature was low, and you'd get cold if you don't stretch. "Are you heading to the studio this morning?"
After scheduling a time, Charlie took Meng Fan with him to the cultural park. On the way, he began telling Meng Fan of the roles he'd prepared for him from the animation, "Nine Days". They weren't small roles either. He'd saved him the male lead!
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Chapter 236: Lead Roles and Support Roles
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Lead role? Director Charlie, are you joking?"
Meng Fan was shocked. After all, he didn't even attend the meeting for the run-through of the script. He would have been very satisfied if they saved him some side characters and pedestrians. But he wasn't dumb. He thought about it for a moment and realized why. It must have had something to do with the k-pop idol incident.
"Your strong voice acting abilities are evident to all."
Charlie continued to drive until they pulled up at an intersection where he lightly pressed the horn. He smiled. "All you're missing is experience and qualifications. Everyone knows how much work you've been putting in recently, and how high your efficiency is. The post-production team hasn't had an issue with you yet, so you have enough experience. As for qualifications, well, this lead role is perfect, isn't it? Besides, our studio isn't based on qualifications, but on the capabilities of the person."
"And the tonal requirements for the lead role is very suitable for you too, so there's no reason not to ask you. Do you not want to voice a lead character?"
"No that's not it." Meng Fan replied.
Director Charlie smiled. "Are you worried about the other CV in the studio? No worries. To be honest, it wasn't my intention to make you the lead. The producer spotted you on their dubbing list and specifically asked that you voice the male lead."
Meng Fan smiled. "Alright, then I'll do my best to dub this role!"
Of course, Meng Fan wanted to dub a male lead.
Being a voice actor was one of his dreams, and if he wanted to become a famous voice actor, it was important to have all the important roles prepared.
You could be a good voice actor just by doing small roles and passersby, but it was difficult to become a well-known voice actor by doing so.
He thought about it and realized he was very close to completing the roles required by [Studio Bug, but there was still a lot of time left. It's good to play some main roles with more lines.
After going over the logistics, Charlie couldn't help but satisfy his itch to gossip. "Meng Fan, what were you thinking when you hit that Kpop idol? Uhm, I'm just curious, so it's fine if you don't want to answer."
"There's nothing I can't answer, just that when seeing such an incident, anyone with a conscience wouldn't just stand there and watch. I think if you were present, you'd do the same. Who can tolerate watching some men beat up a girl?"
Director Charlie chuckled nervously. "That's what everyone says, but he was a celebrity, so not everyone would have the courage."
Meng Fan laughed. "Actually, I didn't know who he was."
"Now you're being modest, even if you don't know him, you must have known he was a celebrity. Hence, everyone respects you for being a hero"
The two bantered on their way to the studio. As they got out of the car, Meng Fan said to director Charlie, "Director, there might be some paparazzi who have found their way here. When the time comes, can you tell the guards to block them? Tell them I'm not doing any interviews."
He thought about it and added, "Of course, if the paparazzi are curious what kind of work I'm doing here, the studio can tell them of course. Count it as promotional work for our clients."
"Alright alright."
Charlie began to like Meng Fan more and more. He was talented, but understanding and kind.𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
Of course, the paparazzi were going to come!
With his final words, Charlie and the rest of the studio did not care if they interviewed Meng Fan or not.
Who wouldn't want some fame if it came knocking? Otherwise, the "Nine Days" producers wouldn't have asked Meng Fan to dub the main role.
As long as they were competent, they could have just found a famous person to do the voice acting.
"Iron god!"
Lou Lan, who had spent another night in the studio had been eating his breakfast in the lobby, yawning non-stop. Seeing Meng Fan arrive, his half-closed eyes suddenly burst open. His beard flailed as he ran towards him. "My god he is so badass! You're so f*cking manly! You're the number one male god of our voice acting circle! I don't respect anyone in the voice dubbing industry, but I respect you!"
At this moment, Charlie parked his car and entered the studio.
"…And Director Charlie of course!" Lou Lan's tongue was considerably fast. "Director Charlie has eagle eyes, you're so insightful and profound! If you weren't here, I would never have gotten to meet the Iron god in my lifetime, nonetheless, share anecdotes with him!"
Charlie smiled. "How come you've never said this to me before?!"
He gestured to Meng Fan and entered his office.
After he closed the office door, Meng Fan looked towards Lou Lan and beamed. "Did you save me some roles in the last two days?"
"At first we did, only…" Lou Lan was curious. "Didn't director Charlie say you were getting the lead role in "Nine Days"? Do you want more?"
"Of course." Meng Fan responded, "My experience is still severely lacking. I was going to talk to director Charlie about these roles. I think it'll take most of the morning, so I can do some demos in the afternoon. It'll have to be tomorrow or the day after before we start officially recording. I was thinking, could you help me find twenty or so roles? I want to increase my experience."
He was telling the truth.
"Do you have to be so modest?!" Lou Lan thought for a second. "These next few days, all the CVs have been busy with "Nine Days", so the other roles we've accepted don't have any voice actors yet. Why don't you go find director Charlie first, I'll organize the information for you."
Meng Fan thanked him. "Just throw it together, it's fine. Go take a nap and deal with the rest later."
Lou Lan happily chuckled to himself as he went off to make a cup of coffee, while Meng Fan headed to director Charlie's office to discuss his roles.
In the last few days, the studio hadn't taken any other commissions because of the "Nine Days" animation. However, they still had several commissions for video games and cartoon series; video games in particular. They had received even more than before since most of the clients had sent the work after hearing Meng Fan's tonal quality.
Lou Lan went off to ask around and organized everything. Soon, twenty roles had been compiled.
He walked by Charlie's office and peaked in. Seeing they were still discussing the roles, he found an empty room, pulled out a military cot and went to sleep.
Huh? He can't sleep because he just had coffee?
Yeah right.
To people with such a high godlike status like Lou Lan, he could down a cup of espresso and fall asleep on demand.
He chatted with Charlie in his office for an entire morning about the role and the plot. Meng Fan's lunch had been solved at Da Mei studio. Aside from reminiscing Chen Da Qiang's takeout orders, it was more important than the second volume and the reprint of the first volume for "Guide To Campus RoMANce" had officially gone on the market. Meng Fan had to find Qin Jiao and ask her for updates.
Both single publications didn't print much since Meng Fan didn't care for their sales. Before he'd been told they would be released for sale as soon as they were printed, and it was released today indeed. They had chosen a book retailing website as their main platform.
What Meng Fan really cared about was the publication of the third volume. He had sent it in for approval a few days ago, and because volume I and volume II had been processed, the procedure had gone much smoother. Currently, they were on their way to be printed at the publishing house.
"Alright, I'll be sure to advertise it during my stream tonight."
Meng Fan ate lunch there and headed back to the Chocolate Factory for an afternoon of test demos.
The test recording naturally went smoothly, and after going through a program, they were ready to begin official recording tomorrow.
After the test, the glorious times of Meng Fan and Lou Lan began.
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Chapter 237: Sold Out Again
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Ding!"
When Meng Fan was on his 15th role, the system had successfully approved 11 roles. He had completed the 100 roles required for [Studio Bug] and finished task phase 3 of [Studio Bug].
"Ding! You've reached 100 roles, completing task phase 3 of [Studio Bug]; reward: points 100, voice acting skills 1."
Naturally, Meng Fan had to finish the remaining five roles out of the 20 Lou Lan had organized.
"Badass!"
Finishing them all, Lou Lan habitually looked at his time, and habitually gave Meng Fan a thumbs up and a 666. "Iron god, your efficiency is god tier!"
"Thanks for your hard work."
Meng Fan exited the booth and said to Lou Lan, "'Nine Days' begins officially recording tomorrow. I've already asked director Charlie to have you responsible for my recording."
Lou Lan was ecstatic. "Alright, I promise it will be great!"
"You better rest well tonight so you have energy. My itinerary might be a bit packed." Meng Fan reminded him.
Lou Lan pounded his chest. "I'll be aware."
Meng Fan thought about it and smiled. "I sure hope you are aware."
…
At 9:00 pm, Meng Fan logged on stream.
In the afternoon, Meng Fan had already uploaded an announcement.
Before going live, there were already several viewers waiting. At 9:00, they had begun frantically refreshing the page until they could see Meng Fan, who was also aware of the number of viewers online.
"This many viewers?"
Meng Fan saw his stream speedily reach 100,000 viewers in just a short time, and it was still growing. He knew why.
This was the first stream after the K-pop idol beating, and his first time showing his face online.
After seeing Meng Fan's announcement that he would be going live at 9:00 pm, many people logged in and waited. This included his netizens from before, of course, but this time, there were also several netizens who became fans of Meng Fan after the k-pop idol beating, as well as some people purely here for the drama.
There were also journalists who didn't catch Meng Fan.
"Meng boss you're a badass!"
"Meng fatty is heroic!"
"The iron god has arrived, if you're not metal then get the hell out!"
"Hahaha, iron god? Isn't this nickname a bit too metal?!"
"The strongest fighter from the streamer industry is here!"
"Iron hero, Meng fatty, you're so manly! You've done what I've dreamed of doing my entire life!"
"Meng boss you're so respectful towards women, and so protective too. This is what a real man should be!"
"What kind of godlike luck did I have to become a fan of such a man from watching art streams?!"
"Meng host, what do you have to say regarding the violent k-pop idol incident?"𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
"Meng host, can you tell us what you were thinking at the moment?"
"Meng host, were you and the fan who got hit acquainted?"
"Meng host, after the incident was exposed, why didn't you clear your name when all the netizens were criticizing you?"
"Meng host, did you know Park Jae Hye from before?"
"Meng host, can you tell us exactly what happened?"
"Meng host, what happened after you hit Park Jae Hye?"
"Meng host, I heard you were with Bai Zhi and Su Qing Cen at the time of the incident, is this real?"
"Meng host, can we schedule a solo interview with you?"
"Meng host, can I ask…"
The live comments from his netizens mostly consisted of cheering, while the passers-by and the media continued their questioning.
Meng Fan had seen them of course, but there were too many for him to read each one. And he didn't plan on answering their questions, either. Regardless if they were journalists, passersby, or netizens.
"Before I begin my stream, let me plug in an ad."
He pulled out the second volume of "Guide To Campus RoMANce" and put it towards the camera. "The second volume of 'Guide To Campus RoMANce' has undergone individual publication, and the first volume has been reprinted as well. It's already been uploaded onto the DD bookstore platform, and the link is below… You can also search for 'Guide To Campus RoMANce' or Meng Fan in the query."
Putting the book down, Meng Fan continued, "'Guide To Campus RoMANce' has officially been completed, and the third volume will be released soon. Oh, and the second volume of 'There's A Spirit Underground' will also be out soon…"
After squabbling off more commercials, Meng Fan finally concluded, "I know several people are waiting for me to talk about the incident where I hit someone, but there's really not much to say. All the details have been disclosed online, and are also in the video that's been uploaded."
He adjusted his camera so both publications were in the frame, then took out his drawing paper. "I'm going to draw manga now, so I won't be answering any questions. You know who you are, you can leave now."
Just as he was about to begin, Meng Fan saw several live comments saying that the solo publications of "Guide to Campus RoMANce" had been sold out.
"Sold out?"
Meng Fan opened DD and took a look. It was real. He then checked the sales experience from [Professional Manga Artist] had increased to 68,000. Out of this, both volumes of "Guide to Campus RoMANce" consisted of 10,000 units, while "There's A Spirit Underground" consisted of 48,000 units. This was in addition to the 1000 units of physical surplus in bookstores.
He gave Qin Jiao a call.
"Yeah, it's sold out." She said, "Are you streaming? It seems like they sold out at 8:00 pm tonight, the publishing house already called but I didn't have time to tell you yet."
"What? God. I'm still sitting here promoting it!"
"DD bookstore platform had been advocating it as 'masculine iron hero draws intricate love story', so it sold out instantly. You don't say, your title is quite valuable. I've already informed the publishing house to print additional copies, 5000 per volume. I've also added 8000 more copies to the third volume."
Meng Fan absorbed the information and explained this to his stream. He started a lottery to give away the signed copies of volume I and II and began his manga.
As he drew, Meng Fan maintained his old procedure of humming to songs and chatting with his netizens. But this time, his voice would occasionally change between funny and famous tones.
Several people who tuned into his stream because of the incident had chosen to stay. They truly believed that Meng Fan's stream was quite entertaining, as his drawing speed and the quality of his art were top notch. But most importantly, he was very interesting. Nobody knew what kind of voice would appear from Meng Fan's mouth next.
As for the reporters from the media, they had left immediately after hearing Meng Fan wasn't going to discuss the incident.
He logged off the stream at 23:00. About ten minutes after he began his stream, the amount of online viewers had exceeded 1 million. After seeing Meng Fan refuse to explain anything, the number dropped until about 400,000 or so. He had managed to keep a lot of passersby.
Including the stream from tonight, Meng Fan's total stream viewers had reached 88 million. He was only 11 million away from the goal of 100 million.
After logging off, he continued to draw. The next day, he woke up for his jog, drew for another hour, then headed to the Chocolate Factory.
At 8:30 am sharp, he officially began recording the voice clip for Luo Hao, the male lead character from the animation "Nine Days".
Meng Fan and Charlie and the vocal assistant had negotiated the voice quality of the male lead to focus on the theme of "morning sunshine". The sound would conform to the original manga's intent, and would primarily give people a sense of comfort. Of course, under special circumstances, he still had to be affectionate, overbearing, and fierce… These were all talents required of the voice actor, though.
Shaping a character vocally not only meant giving the character life, but he also had to make him memorable. This way, people would immediately think of this character when they hear his voice.
Lou Lan, who finally got his rest, very quickly understood what Meng Fan meant yesterday by "I hope you are really aware".
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Chapter 238: That's A Wrap!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Meng Fan's voice acting was efficient as usual. He was able to seamlessly transition between several roles, so his skill at one role was unparalleled. The first ten lines after the beginning sounded slightly withdrawn, for he wasn't able to let loose, but near the end, he was able to completely let go, even unable to contain his emotion after the recording ended.
In the beginning, it wasn't so bad to be "Frigid seemed the strings uttering notes sounding like springs cold and jolted, Cold and jolted, it came to a halt.", but near the end, it indeed sounded as if "All of a sudden, it was like an exploding water bottle bursting forth splashes and sprays, or like the clanking of crossing swords when the cavalry makes a raid."* Lou Lan, Charlie, and the others were like "apes on both sides of the strait, holding back tears", while Meng Fan seemed like he'd "effortlessly passed the heavenly mountain".
These first two references are lines from a Chinese poem, "Ode to Pipa", used to describe the effortlessness and talent Meng Fan had just completed the voice dub with.
His efficiency was extraordinary, and the results were too!
Meng Fan's expectations of himself were also higher than before when he'd dubbed the smaller roles. From the beginning, he felt as if he wasn't able to completely engage, and requested to restart many times. Even though Lou Lan and Charlie, and even the vocal assistant felt he had performed very well, Meng Fan still insisted. He continued to record until he himself was satisfied.
Once he was satisfied, Meng Fan entered the state completely, his tone and voice all very stable.
Everyone present knew Meng Fan had a broad range of vocals, so they'd been worried about Meng Fan's state would be very inconsistent, as other tones might instinctively emerge and disappear after he was fatigued.
But the reality was different. Not only did Meng Fan refrain from changing his tones, but he was also even able to maintain a state of consistency for a long duration.
Lou Lan understood Meng Fan the most out of all the people at Chocolate Factory and had shared a studio with Meng Fan for over 30 hours. He was very clear about how terrifying Meng Fan's deadly efficiency was. Once a voice actor's efficiency increases, the pressure, and workload on the other staff members would also increase. Hence, he was prepared to give the rest of his time to Meng Fan and heeded his request to get plenty of rest beforehand.
But he only predicted Meng Fan's efficiency, not his physical strength and wild determination.
The morning went relatively well, as they had recorded for three hours before lunch, and even managed to take a nap. But by afternoon, they couldn't take it anymore. After the pressing work from the 3 hours in the morning, he began to dissociate three hours into the afternoon. Nonetheless, Meng Fan continued to record until 5:00 pm.
Espresso couldn't save Lou Lan, and neither could Red Bull.
After pushing himself to stay awake until 5:00 pm, Lou Lan didn't even have the energy to eat. He smashed his head down and began to sleep.
Following Meng Fan for 7 or 8 hours was more exhausting than pulling two all-nighters in a row.
"Are we going to continue tonight?"
Director Charlie and the vocal assistant were okay and were actually more at ease than usual due to Meng Fan's thorough analysis of the character and his high efficiency. But even if they were physically relaxed, they were mentally exhausted.𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
Of course, with Meng Fan's skills, they could not be present and he would be okay, but the role was too important for them to not be there.
They were slightly terrified as they watched Meng Fan wolf down a bowl of food and continue to record.
To be honest, there were several people who were willing to finish a commission in one breath, taking ten or twenty hours, but Charlie and the vocal assistant had never seen anyone with such high efficiency, let alone someone last so long with such a heavy workload.
Iron god?
Was he really made out of iron?!
"There's not much left."
High intensity and high efficiency naturally resulted in fast progress. Meng Fan looked at the remaining script and felt he could finish it in three more hours.
But seeing Lou Lan's ghastly face, he felt bad forcing them, so he said to director Charlie and the vocal assistant, "Uhm you guys take a break, I'll go over the roles again until Lou Lan wakes up."
As soon as they heard this, director Charlie and the vocal assistant immediately turned to leave. Seeing them go, Meng Fan didn't exit the booth. He leaned on a wall and fell asleep.
After napping for an hour, he realized his experience for [Studio Bug] had increased by an hour. He relaxed and continued to sleep.
He wasn't lacking in roles now, just time spent inside the studio.
You can gain experience from sitting in the studio though. This was almost too easy!
But really, it wasn't.
The recording studio had been designed to be very tight, and normal people would only nap in it for a short time. Who was going to sleep there? It was uncomfortable beyond compare.
Most voice actors would leave the studio for fresh air every once in a while.
During the dubbing process, there were directors and dubbing directors who would interfere and correct certain elements, which would lengthen the time. Most voice actors during these critiques would leave the room for some air. Nobody was willing to remain inside the studio.
Meng Fan was only able to remain afk in the room, and even comfortably sleep there because of the metaphysical properties of his black magic tracksuit and headband.
He napped for another hour and felt re-energized. He left the studio for a short bathroom break, then headed to Da Mei studio to force Chen Da Qiang, who had been gruesomely working on his manga's post-production, to order takeout for the Chocolate Factory.
"Huh?"
Lou Lan, who had been deep asleep suddenly woke up to a wondrous smell. He could feel the drool rolling out even with his eyes closed. "What smells so good?"
"Butter bibimbap."
Meng Fan had been enjoying his meal and pointed towards a heat-sealed container. "Saved you some."
"Is this the legendary crab roe bibimbap?" Lou Lan's eyes shot open. He wiped his drool away. "Last year when they aired "Flavor Room", I dreamed of eating this bibimbap. F*ck, just looking at it would break you! But it's just so f*cking expensive, I can't even afford one crab's roe on its own!"
"Mmm—so good! There's so much food, how much crab roe is in here? This is too luxurious!"
Lou Lan opened the box. The color was wonderful, and he'd swallowed back several gulps of saliva already. His mouth was prepared for a satisfying meal.
"Mix it first." Meng Fan pointed in another direction. "There are ginger and vinegar over there, add it yourself."
Lou Lan stirred the bowl until he couldn't contain it anymore. He scooped a spoonful and shoved it in his mouth. His eyes formed into small half-moons with a content expression on his face. He was stunned by the richness and delicateness of the food in his mouth!
Then, he buried his head and wolfed down the food.
Meng Fan managed to finish two bowls by himself. Usually, the food Chen Da Qiang found was already incredible, so naturally, the buttered bibimbap valued at a few hundred HXB was on the spot.
After eating, he picked up a big cup of strong tea and handed another cup to Lou Lan. "This will remove the heavy oil, and remove your fatigue as well. Refreshing!"
After the buttered bibimbap, strong tea, and a two-hour nap, Lou Lan looked to be revived. Three more hours of suffering wasn't a problem anymore.
In the end, he only had to suffer for two and a half hours as Meng Fan was done.
"Is this a wrap?"
After finishing, Meng Fan still had some ideas.
Voice actors used their voices to shape characters, but the characters also bring life to the actors as well. This wasn't much different from acting.
The script for "Nine Days" was already great, to begin with, and the animation seemed to be very well made too. He could say it was one of the better products in the domestic animation industry and demonstrated the recent improvements in national animation.
As long as they don't engage in some ridiculous projects and focus on IP and ignore content, Huaxia's animation industry was able to produce some great things.
"It's a wrap!"
Lou Lan flopped backward and gave Meng Fan a big thumbs up. He had managed to record the lines for all 12 episodes of season one with high efficiency and quality.
There was nothing else he could say aside from a thumb up.
However, if he did have to say something, it would be—
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Chapter 239: AFK in the Recording Studio
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Done?"
Director Charlie and the vocal assistant weren't present for the last two hours of the recording session. Of course, Lou Lan had reassured them by saying that Meng Fan could continue with the recording and they can check in periodically.
Because of Meng Fan's previous performance quality and efficiency, Lou Lan, Charlie, and the assistant were not worried at all. They'd gone off to take a break and return to fix any minor issues later. They didn't expect them to be finished when they returned, though.
They selected a few major plot points, and when the quality was assured, they felt there was no need to check the rest. Immediately, it was sent to the proofreading team.𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
In less than a day, Meng Fan managed to finish most of the major recording for "Nine Days". The most important parts were complete, and with good quality as well. Naturally, Charlie was very happy, for he had finished recording all 12 episodes for season one of "Nine Days" that was scheduled to take a week in one day. Now, there are a few more days to engage in editing and filling. Because Meng Fan had voiced the male lead, they were able to finish everything several days ahead of schedule.
Speedy, but high quality. The client's daddy will be very satisfied! And when such a powerful daddy hegemony like Xuan Wu animation was satisfied, they will definitely give you more work!
"I originally thought it would take you at least three days to complete them all. I didn't think you'd be finished in just one day." Charlie asked someone to send the recording to the editing department before asking Meng Fan. "Then what are your plans now, do you want the studio to find some more work for you?"
"I actually have something I need your help with, director."
Meng Fan had already gone over the sentence several times in his mind. "Before, all my roles were small, and focused on video games, so the roles didn't have that much coherence in the plot. But after voicing Luo Hao all day, I've learned a lot. I felt enlightened, but also found a lot of shortcomings. I understand it's not enough to rely solely on the versatility of my voice and the power of imitation. Voice acting still needs to be studied."
Anyone who heard Meng Fan's words would have thought it was fake beyond compare. How can someone as skilled as you be declaring inadequacy? But if they believed him, then they would respect his modesty, professionalism, diligence, perseverance, and reaffirm the idea that "nobody can just succeed, everyone has to work hard" from the bottom of their hearts.
Meng Fan didn't know which one of the above Charlie was feeling at the moment.
He continued, "So, I want to ask you if I could register a recording studio and keep practicing. Of course, if the studio needs any work done during the process, feel free to let me know too."
There was only a time requirement left to satisfy [Studio Bug]. Meng Fan thought about paying to rent a recording studio since it was a rather convenient thing to find in Hangzhou, but it would be costly. But any problem that can be solved by money is not a problem. Only, it would reward him with 5 voice acting skills and 3 voice appeal, which will come all too sudden. If he could borrow a studio with the excuse of wanting to learn, he could say he'd been buffering during his training. Then, everyone would be surprised at the speed of his progress and have no time to ponder the other metaphysical attributes at play.
Nowadays, everyone thought Meng Fan was a voice acting genius. If they could see his hard work and effort, they would recognize him for his skill.
"That's it? Do you have any other requests? Like do you want an assistant or a vocal technician?" Seeing Meng Fan shake his head, Charlie smiled. "That's all huh, then you can have this studio, you're familiar with it too. Either way, this studio was reserved for you to voice dub Luo Hao anyways."
Just like that, Meng Fan became the CV in the Chocolate Factory that had his own recording studio.
He went home and came back again with his toiletries and art tube.
When Meng Fan returned, Charlie was still there. Seeing his equipment, Charlie couldn't help but feel he was going too hard.
Meng Fan was hardcore indeed. Aside from going to the bathroom, he never left the studio. Time is precious! As for what he'd been doing inside… Heh. Drawing of course.
Fortunately for him, nobody came into the recording studio that had become exclusively his own. Only Lou Lan would occasionally come in if he had worked for him. Otherwise, anyone who entered would have to treat Meng Fan like a psychotic patient.
Recording studios are so stuffy, how could someone draw in there?!
He drew until 3:00 am, went to sleep, then went off to run a lap and eat some food before returning to the drawing desk.
But after solving the issue of stuffiness, a closed space like the recording studio was an optimal environment for inspiration and creativity. No wonder authors rushing their work would enclose themselves in dark rooms.
Of course, Meng Fan wasn't drawing manga the entire time. As he drew, he was also increasing his voice acting abilities and continued to stream on time at night. To make it easier, he streamed about his voice acting.
There was a lot of voice acting content in the studio, as there were roles that hadn't been recorded yet and several that have been. The video clips were also much easier to produce. With the help of professional equipment, all the netizens found the new method of streaming very refreshing. It also allowed the netizens to feel the charm and appeal of dubbing more intuitively.
…
"Robin, we're here to get you! Leave the rest to us!"
"We're going to die anyway, I want to die here!"
"Robin!"
"Robin Jiang!"
"Robin!"
"What's going on here?!"
"I finally understand who Robin's enemy is! Usopp go and shoot that flag."
"Yes, sir! The new weapon is a giant slingshot, its name is Dou! Taste its power! Flamingo star has been • slain!"
"The pirates have declared war on the planet ZF!"
"Just as I hoped!"
"Quick, say you want to live!"
"If I could really make one wish, I want to live! Take me to the oceans with you!"
From Luffy's shouting to Robin crying in the end, Meng Fan had dubbed the hottest episode of One Piece in one go, featuring Luffy, Robin, Choppa, Sanji, Nami, Sauron, Usopp, Spandam, and passersby, including the sound effects of the flamingo penetrating the flag, the howls, the cries…It was full of hearty emotion!
And he'd done it all in Japanese too.
"What a f*cking badass, if I haven't been listening to Meng boss's voice dubs recently, I would think this was the original soundtrack!"
"Hahaha, the female voice has returned! The person who betted on no female voices appearing today better give a 1024!"
"How many roles is that in one breath?! I'm suspecting there's a voice acting crew living in Meng host's throat!"
"F*ck, it's so badass to voice a female, but he even managed to dub her crying!"
"F*cker! When I watched this episode, I almost died from crying, now you're here to earn my tears again!"
"Crying from listening 1!"
"Crying from listening 69!"
"I'm used to it, if Meng fatty dubs all the famous characters from Japan, I wouldn't even be surprised!"
"Haha Meng host is brave in his dubbing choices, as long as he continues imitating, I can say that I'll be able to recognize any voice!"
"I just want to listen to his impression of Mr.Ohashi."
"I want to hear Mr.Yoshizawa."
"I'm different from you guys. I want to hear him impersonate Mr. Ogi."
After dubbing this segment, Meng Fan ended tonight's stream.
This was the fifth live broadcast he'd done in the studio. On the fifth broadcast, from domestic to foreign, from TV series to movies, and from animations to the ghost stories circulating on 8th Station, he was unable to count the number of clips he'd dubbed.
After logging off, he checked the time for [Studio Bug]. He was already at 9500 minutes of experience and was only 500 away. In about 8 hours, he'd be done.
He drew until 3:00 am.
Better take a nap. When he wakes up, the experience will be full.
Meng Fan flopped over and prepared for bed, but was woken up by the alert in his mind, signaling the completion of a task.
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Chapter 240: Enlightenment
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Ding! You've reached 100 characters dubbed, and spent 10,000 minutes cumulatively in the recording studio, completing the task [Studio Bug]. You've received the achievement title [Studio Bug] (Voice acting skills 5, voice appeal 3)"
Sleeping AFK, he was able to level up!
This kind of feeling made Meng Fan ecstatic.
After opening his eyes, he wanted to experience the increased attributes for himself and opened his equipment to test the results. He was able to fully transform the attributes the System had rewarded him to facilitate his own ability.
With the increase of his dubbing skills, the enhancements were all-encompassing, so if Meng Fan didn't test it, there would be no other way to fully grasp it.
After testing several classic clips, he would listen to them himself and try to understand the changes and extract an order from them…
"F*ck, iron god, did you just wake up or did you not sleep?"
In the last few days, Meng Fan hadn't received much work, and the ones he'd done were small roles that Lou Lan had found for him. Lou Lan, of course, had his own plans. See now, he'd pulled another all-nighter. It was barely 5:00 am when Lou Lan was prepared to go to bed as he walked by Meng Fan's studio on his way out. Cautiously, he had peaked inside to see Meng Fan still recording.
"You're too hardcore!"
Lou Lan gave him a big thumbs up and yawned as he headed off to sleep.
Meng Fan dubbed for a little while longer and left the studio. As he exited the cultural park, he jogged back to the neighborhood. Now that he'd gained all the experience he needed, he no longer had to suffer inside the studio.
He ran home and took a shower and melted into the bathtub for a bath. With a relaxed expression and loose muscles, he finally managed to fall back asleep.
"It's already December!"
When Meng Fan woke up, he looked at the time. Checking his calendar, Meng Fan finally realized that they had only just entered December, which meant that the days were getting closer and closer to the day of the major accident before his reincarnation.
It's already been two and a half months since he was reborn!
In the last two months, the trajectory for Meng Fan's entire life and his education had changed greatly.
Before he was reincarnated, he was still a person who would occasionally give little spurts of effort to receive a lot of rewards. Regardless if it was in school or in life, he had been a salty fish. Every day he'd swim a little and consider it valiant.*
In Chinese, there's the saying "Xian Yu Fan Shen (salty fish turns over), usually used to describe underdogs or underachievers who turn the tide, or 'turn around' their misfortune.
If nothing unexpected happens and he was able to graduate from the academy smoothly, he could rely on his drawing skills and professional ability to find a decent job. He didn't have to worry about a house, owning a car, or money in general. He could pursue his idols, watch the concerts of the people he liked, and even manage to eat a meal with them with his thick skin.
He could play all the video games he wanted, dub all the shows he wanted, donate hundreds and thousands of HXB to the streamers he enjoyed, and eat what he wanted…Maybe if he really ran into something unexpected, like a girl he liked a lot, or a foreign disease, he would grit his teeth and find a good coach to help him lose weight.
If he wasn't reincarnated, Meng Fan's life would definitely not be bad. You can even say he'd live very well. After all, he was a wealthy idle fish that could also swim for himself. Regardless, he is a small master, who has a better material condition and better life than the 99.999% of people who had struggled their entire lives for similar conditions.
Of course, life was unexpected. Nobody could predict what would happen next. Maybe someone would actually be triggered by such an event, and burn out in the spirit of hard work. Maybe he would succeed in losing weight, and become a famous manga artist. At least, the possibility of the latter is quite large. After all, his foundations were solid.
After being reborn, he had gained the System, a gold finger that could reward his hard work eye for an eye!
This kind of goldfinger was able to make an idle fish like Meng Fan work, and very hard at that.
Everyone on earth knew how to work hard, but too many people had given up because they received no rewards, or given up before they could benefit.
There were two kinds of people on this planet that were badass. One was the person who was rewarded by their hard work, and the other was the person who could quickly reap their reward from working hard.
But of course, the most badass of all were the people who have already received the rewards but continue to work hard.
Because of this, Meng Fan's life saw some drastic changes. He was no longer an idle fish, paddling along. He slept later than a rooster and woke up before a rooster as well. He worked so hard, it was almost like he wasn't from a rich family.
His skin had grown thicker, he'd become braver, and he'd lost a lot of weight and became muscular. He was in contact with people he never thought he'd be interacting with, and to further improve his dreams, he also met someone he genuinely liked…
If you asked Meng Fan if he liked his life before his rebirth, his answer would be yes.
If you asked Meng Fan if he regretted cruising by life before his rebirth, he would say no.
Then would he like the way he's changed after rebirth? The answer was yes, of course!
Would he be willing to give up his current accomplishments and return to the past?
No way!
Hence, Meng Fan had been reluctant to think about his reincarnation, particularly the day it happened.
Not many events had overlapped before and after his rebirth, but there were still some. Like Su Qing Cen's concert, Chen Da Qiang's fight…Especially Chen Da Qiang's incident. Even if Meng Fan already knew it was going to happen, Chen Da Qiang had still been blocked by Wei Zhi Xue's ex-boyfriend. However the final result was better than what it had been, as Chen Da Qiang wasn't beaten as bad, and even ended up together with Wei Zhi Xue.
There were overlaps that made Meng Fan worry that the plane robbery would occur. Chen Da Qiang's improved result gave Meng Fan a sliver of hope that the hijacking would go better too.
Of course, he still hoped for it to not happen at all!
If it did, would he hide, or still fight?
If he hid, what would the result of the highjacking be?
If he ran at them hard-headed again, would he be able to change the situation with the changes to his person?
These were all questions Meng Fan was too afraid to think about!
There was another point missing. That was his cousin, Meng Cai Tang, calling him to go to Singapore!
Before the rebirth, Meng Fan was on the way to Singapore because Meng Cai Tang had received an award. It was also after Meng Cai Tang's award ceremony that he'd returned from Singapore to Japan to attend an anime convention and attend a CV concert.
The hijacking had occurred on the flight from Singapore to Japan.
As for the reason and motivation behind it, Meng Fan was not aware.
"If Tang Tang didn't call me, does this mean that the trajectory of this event has changed?"
"But what if, even if Tang Tang didn't call me, and I don't go there, a hijacking still occurs?"
Meng Fan's head immediately began to throb!
He'd been too scared to think about it before, but looking back now, the issue seems more complicated than he'd thought!
"Mother of God! Even if Tang Tang doesn't call, I still have to go to Singapore. Otherwise, I'll regret it for the rest of my life! With my current stature and abilities, my hat, and my black magic technology, can I really get f*cked that hard again?"
Meng Fan remembered that he had given his life in exchange for a little more time. Eventually, the hijackers had been subdued, and the plane was safe. He could deduce that these hijackers weren't very strong, and felt more confident in himself.
His former self was still able to play a main role, not to mention his current self. Plus, there was also a way to prevent the hijackers from boarding the plane!𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
After thinking it through, Meng Fan's thoughts immediately cleared up.
Buzz.
It was a WeChat message, but not from Meng Cai Tang. It was from Wu Tong.
"I'm returning in the afternoon, and I land around 4:20 pm. Will you pick me up?"
"Do you want me to pick you up?"
"I do."
Seeing these two words, Meng Fan not only felt enlightened. It was as if he could see the universe, break the void, and even see God!
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Chapter 241: Yarn
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The trip to Beijing had been organized by the academy so they could attend a Chinese painting exhibition at the Central Art Academy. It's just that Wu Tong's activities ended up quite differently from the other members of the group.
First, she attended her classes as usual, then scheduled to meet a famous Chinese art professor thanks to her mentor, Hu Hang. After chatting for a while, they decided to head to the Palace Museum ahead of schedule to attend a restoration event. At first, she could only pick up some information on the side, but someone eventually gave her a big task to work on.
After that, the 'Most Beautiful Painting Restorer' began to trend online. She was ultimately brought by the famous art professor to take part in an art restoration TV program on national television.
The school group could only return to Hangzhou ahead of time, while Wu Tong arrived later today after wrapping up her show.
The trip to Beijing had been a dream come true for Wu Tong. She'd gained knowledge and learned several things; she had returned feeling topped up. As for inexplicably being an "internet sensation" and her stint at the TV program, Wu Tong felt these brief episodes in her schedule merely brought unexpected surprises.
"Sis, you're so pretty! My mom says you're the most beautiful art restorer. Is that true?"
"Makes sense she's so beautiful. But why is she called an art restorer, too? Yaya thinks that sis is the prettiest girl next to mommy."
"Sis, what's an art restorer?"
"Is it drawing? Yaya knows how to draw, Yaya can draw Peppa Pig!"
"Can I be pretty if I draw? Really? Then Yaya is going to work hard and learn to draw!"
On the plane, Wu Tong and a small toddler had a cheerful banter.𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
"Hello, are you that most beautiful art restorer?"
"I'm Lu Junjie, and I currently work at XX."
"I just came from Beijing for a business trip and didn't expect to share a flight with you, Miss Wu Tong. I'm so lucky!"
"Miss Wu, can we exchange contact information? Our company has several Chinese art-related projects, so we can stay in touch."
"Let me help you carry that."
"Miss Wu, are you returning to the academy? I'm going there, too. Let me give you a ride."
"Don't just randomly call a cab, Miss Wu. You're so pretty, it's not safe!"
As soon as she got off the plane, Wu Tong was targeted by a decent looking man with expensive clothes who had decided to cling onto her. Although the brand names he wore were subtle, the keys to his Benz hanging around his wrist were still very visible…
"Thanks, but someone's already coming for me."
Wu Tong tugged along her own suitcase as she headed outside. Only, Lu Junjie continued to pursue her, not stopping to discuss the chinese painting related projects from his office. What can you say when someone tells you they are a snack company that uses Chinese art on the packaging?
"Here."
Wu Tong spotted Meng Fan among the crowd from afar. After all, his presence was undeniable as he was flailing his arms around screaming her name. She sped up and walked towards him.
Her attire was relatively simple: jeans, a thick orange knit sweater, solid colored sneakers, basic makeup, and her messy hair behind her shoulders. But even with such a simple getup, her long legs, small waist, golden hip ratio, attractive face, and her elegance, she could have effortlessly been a supermodel.
"Are you tired?"
Meng Fan smiled stupidly as he received her luggage and headed for the door. Then he whispered: "Who's that guy just now? Why does he keep following you, and why did he run when he saw me?"
"I ran into him after I got off the plane. He said he was worried about my safety and insisted on taking me home. Then I guess he saw you and decided I was safe, or he was worried for his own safety," Wu Tong said.
"Am I that intimidating?" Meng Fan asked.
"You don't look mean, but you have a reputation."
Wu Tong suddenly broke into laughter. She pointed to the outfit that Meng Fan was wearing. "Didn't you say it fit fine? Why does it look so weird, is it too tight?"
Meng Fan's entire attire—from his socks and shoes, down to his pants and his shirt—were purchased by Wu Tong on 11/11. He'd worn them specifically to come pick her up.
"They're fine, they're fine." Meng Fan's smile was extraordinarily stupid, and seeing the orange knitted sweater Wu Tong was wearing, he felt his own knitted sweater. "The shirt isn't tight, I just got fat."
"Are you dumb? Want me to exchange a bigger size?"
"Nope."
"Then can I get you a new one?"
"I will accept that."
"Look, it's the iron god!"
"I haven't seen him on campus in ages!"
"He only appeared after Wu Tong returned, heh. What kind of a god is that, he's just a whipped puppy!"
"They're obviously in love, what do you mean a whipped dog! The two internet famous people are now a pair, there's nothing wrong with that!"
"Hahahaha I'll give you one chance, you'll probably be on your knees too."
"No way! I'd rather be forever alone than a whipped pup… Ah ah ah, but why is Wu Tong so pretty!"
"But too bad I'll never have a chance to go after her. The two are already wearing matching outfits my god!"
"I believe in love again! I want to be in love!"
"Life is short, don't hesitate. Go wherever you want to go! If you want to be in love… keep dreaming."
"F*ck, this morning I saw a Weibo from Professor Yin and cried for a long time. Why are you doing this to me again!"
"Hahaha! Most of your wishes don't come true, and most of your worries won't be realized either! Brother Wang said this."
"Heh. You know how to talk."
Wu Tong dragged her suitcase into the girls' dorm while Meng Fan waited downstairs.
The custodian lady was immediately displeased. "Kid, look how heavy her luggage is, why aren't you helping her bring it up? Why are you staring at me? Did I say you couldn't come in? You just have to ask, okay!"
"Aunty, you're right!" the girls on the side were cackling with laughter. "All the girls in the dorm welcome the iron god to come visit. Wow, iron god, are you blushing? Even the god gets embarrassed, that's so cute!"
"Iron god, where have you been lately? Are you not going to come to school if Wu Tong isn't here?"
"Can we take a photo together?"
"Iron god, your outfit looks a little tight! It's so obvious Wu Tong bought them for you, right?!"
As if he was an animal in a zoo, Meng Fan was trapped in the lobby of the girls' dorm, taking photos and having his photo taken. He could only make his smile more appealing and more photogenic to brighten everyone's moods.
After Wu Tong came down, the two went off to eat dinner. They originally planned to watch a movie too, but seeing the fatigue in Wu Tong's expression, he brought her back to the dorm.
Meng Fan headed back to his own dorm for a while before going back to his apartment. He'd just stepped inside when he received the message from Wu Tong. "I bought it."
It came with a screenshot, too. But it wasn't a picture of a sweater, but a pile of yarn.
Meng Fan was shocked. "Huh? You're going to knit? Don't tell me you can knit too!"
"I've learned, but it's been a while, so you might have to wait."
"It's okay, take as long as you need!"
"Either way I'll be knitting, so I'll make you a scarf as well."
Meng Fan immediately broke into stupid laughter. "Okay!"
"What else do you want? I'll try to knit it for you. Do you need some wool long johns? (emoji with the hand its face)"
"Anything you make I'll take, but I don't want to tire you out." Meng Fan said.
"I can probably make you a pair of wool underwear with the remaining yarn. You have to wear it! (nerdy emoji)"
Meng Fan almost spat blood out. "Are you going to check if I'm wearing it?!"
Wu Tong sent an unhesitating gif of manager Jin saying "Here! Take a health check". Meng Fan raised his hand and immediately responded with a photo of the pope…The two began to bicker with their images.
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Chapter 242: Guest Appearance
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
—I have lost.
—You don't know my true power.
Meng Fan, who hadn't updated his image inventory in a while, admitted defeat shortly after. He couldn't win against Wu Tong in memes, but he had discovered a beautiful new world with her. It felt whimsical and beautiful.
"I'm off to bed. See you tomorrow morning."
"Good night."
After chatting with Wu Tong, Meng Fan continued to work on his manga.
"There's a Spirit Underground" was on its 57th chapter update. MrSleepy, under Meng Fan's reign, had reluctantly handed over some more text scripts so they could update all the way to chapter 70 with no problem.
The third volume of "Guide to Campus RoMANce" had just been released, with the previous two volumes being reprinted as well. Meng Fan didn't expect this manga to produce much experience, but in the end, it had contributed 20,000 units of sales. Based on his calculations, the manga had a bigger female audience than male, and there was no other reason than that the drawings were nice.
Plus, the reprinted copies of the first and second volume for "There's a Spirit Underground" had been released. In no time at all, he'd met the 100,000 unit of sales requirement for the [Professional Manga Artist] task. All he needed to do now was release five individual publications.
"There's a Spirit Underground" was on its 57th chapter, so based on the schedule of eight chapters per volume, they could publish seven by now.
However, even if Mr.Sleepy was willing to publish them all at once and had managed to convince the publishing house, the review process still had to commence. Presently, the reviewers were only on the fourth volume. The third volume had already been sent to print at the factory.
Truthfully, this progress was already very fast.
At the moment, [Professional Manga Artist] required 10 individual publications, and Meng Fan had already produced five. The 6th and 7th were almost released as well. As for the three remaining volumes, they should be released within the next week with no issue if it followed the current progress.
Hold on!
Meng Fan was in a rush, and it was urgent enough that he wanted to begin his own original manga. But he still valued the first publication and held himself back, only willing to start once he had reaped all the rewards of [Professional Manga Artist].
"That's good, too! I'll give myself some more time to perfect my set design and scriptwriting!"
Meng Fan drew two chapters of "There's a Spirit Underground" before going off to ponder his original manga. He had drafted over a hundred pages of character designs, scene designs, and storyboards, and had over 30,000 words written for the plot.
"Ah!"
Meng Fan suddenly woke up, eyes wide open staring into the space ahead of him. His breath heaved as he clutched his stomach.
"It was a dream!"
Meng Fan looked at his belly. Although there were no muscles yet, the fat was definitely gone. It felt smooth to touch, and if he pushed down hard enough, he could feel the muscles inside.
Meng Fan hadn't experienced a nightmare after his reincarnation, and he'd never had this kind of nightmare either. He didn't know if it was because yesterday signaled the start of December, and that his death day was looming near. He immediately realized he must go to Singapore and see if his nightmares will still continue.
He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead.
Looking at the time, it was only 4:00 am, but Meng Fan didn't have the heart to go back to sleep anymore. He picked up his live stream assistant and searched up some information and watched a few videos. The bad dream made him want to learn something.
Based on his stature and build now, and with his black magic technologies and his hat, he was way more badass than he had been before his rebirth. Besides, Meng Fan felt that he didn't have to face the hijackers directly on the flight to Singapore. Plus, he could call the police ahead of time and even find evidence before the police arrived.
But he was still nervous.
He felt like he had to learn another skill that could protect him in self defense. Even if he didn't need to use it, it would calm his emotions. It also wouldn't hurt to know another trade.
What would he learn?
He couldn't think of anything and resorted to searching online.
Kung Fu?
Even if Meng Fan believed in Chinese Kung Fu, it was hard to find a teacher who actually knew it well. It was impossible to find information on the internet and learn it by himself, as he was sure he wouldn't be able to find any applicable information.
Taekwondo and karate were more accessible, but when used in actual combat… hehe. They only sound nice by name.
Random punching, boxing, judo, wrestling?
Free combat, combination fighting style?
Meng Fan, whose eyes had already clouded over with options, did not know what to learn at all. Instead, he searched around until he found a martial arts school in Hangzhou that specialized in self defense and combat. It was right next to the Huang Long Stadium. Since he wasn't sure what to learn, he could just go there and see what he liked. He could pick one that suited himself best and even practice it to see what new tasks could be triggered.
Soon, it was almost 6:00 am. Meng Fan put on his tracksuit and jogged outside, arriving at the school track field at 6:00 am sharp. He immediately saw Wu Tong in her exercise gear.
"Didn't sleep well?"
After running, Wu Tong could tell Meng Fan wasn't in his normal state.
Meng Fan smiled. "I slept a bit late."
"Sleep earlier next time. Although you're exercising everyday, you have to get enough sleep. Maybe take a nap when you return."
"Okay."
Meng Fan headed home to shower and took a two-hour nap before leaving the apartment to check out the martial arts centre.
As soon as the elevator door opened, Meng Fan took a step to enter before realizing someone was stepping out. Meng Fan was stunned for a moment. "Sister Bai, why are you here?"
It was Bai Zhi. She was carrying a box in her hands, smiling as she spoke to Meng Fan. "I came to Hangzhou yesterday to attend an event, and came by to say hi. Oh, I saw you usually streamed at home, so I guessed you've been living here recently so I came over."
As she spoke, she headed towards the apartment door, suddenly whispering. "Are you hiding a girl in your mansion?"
Meng Cai Wei often stayed at this apartment when she was in Hangzhou overnight, while Bai Zhi also stayed over twice.
Meng Fan shook his. "No way."𝑛𝒐𝑣𝚎𝓵𝑵𝑒xt.𝗰𝑂𝗆
Bai Zhi handed the two boxes full of anime figures to Meng Fan and hummed. "I thought you were hiding a girl. If not, why haven't you invited me inside to sit down?"
Meng Fan hurriedly opened the door. Women don't make sense.
"You're leaving? Are you busy?"
Bai Zhi had just changed into slippers and went to sit in the living room. "Are you in a hurry? If it's urgent, I can leave."
She even made the gesture as if she was about to leave.
"It's not really urgent…" Meng Fan said.
"Really?" Bai Zhi confirmed once again, this time with an innocent look on her face. "Then sister Bai has an emergency she needs your help with."
"What's wrong? Do you need a sand art performance for your concert?" Meng Fan said. "Whenever it is, just call me. Why did you have to come all this way?"
"I came to see you obviously." Bai Zhi batted her eyes at Meng Fan teasingly. "It's a performance, but it's not a concert nor a sand art performance."
"Then, what is it?" Meng Fan smiled. "Do you want to see me shoot baskets?"
"It's voice acting. I previously participated in a TV show on Mango TV. It's called "Voice Legend", season 2. I managed to make it to the annual show, which is basically the finals. The program organizer requires me to bring a guest, and I couldn't find anyone after looking around. Some people didn't have time, and others just weren't compatible. I didn't want the crew to randomly find someone for me, so I came to ask for your help."
She really couldn't find anyone?
Yeah, right!
But Bai Zhi genuinely felt there was no one more suitable than Meng Fan.
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Chapter 243: Row of Egrets Ascend Towards The Heavens
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"'Voice Legend'? Guest appearance? Sister Bai, are you joking?"
Voice acting has always been one of Meng Fan's dreams. Meng Fan had seen most of the related TV series that are based around voice acting, and he'd seen all of the first season. Afterwards, when the second season kicked off, Meng Fan had been following it religiously as well. He had a good understanding of this series.
The first season of "Voice Legend" had been very popular and well made, too. There were some inevitable faults such as Mango TV's nasty habit of editing out one of the winning competitors from the show and their annual concert completely, or cutting Bianjiang out of the show and being cursed for setting up the winner. But overall, it was a show with a high level of production and looked great, without draining much celebrity time.
Meng Fan was very shocked to hear Bai Zhi offer him this position. The celebrities on this show were all famous actors in the industry including their guest stars. This included the most famous voice actor in the country, Bianjiang. It was a very popular show.
Meng Fan didn't think he was nearly famous enough to be a guest on this show.
11/11?
The fight?𝑛𝗈𝗏𝐄𝓁𝞰𝔢xt.𝓬𝑂𝗆
This kind of fame had nothing to do with voice acting.
Plus, he didn't have a demo of his own. The only important roles he had played were from "Forest Exploration" and "Nine Days", both of which haven't aired yet.
Because of this, Meng Fan had taken Bai Zhi's offer as a joke; but seeing her expression, it didn't feel like a joke at all. How strange.
"I'm not joking with you. I'm serious. I've watched your voice acting stream, and I can see your potential breaking through the roof! I genuinely want to ask you for your help."
"No, sister, are you trying to bring me there so I can be popular?" Meng Fan guessed that this was a possibility. "I'll pass. I'm not trying to get into the entertainment industry. Why do I need popularity? It would be awkward if everyone else brought a superstar, and you bring in me, who is essentially unknown. They might think you're an unsociable person who has no friends in the industry."
"Why would I bring you there to gain popularity? If you wanted that you would have gone on all those reality shows." Bai Zhi said. "I just need you. Okay, okay. Let's just say I have no friends in the industry. One word: Help. Are you going to help me or not?"
"Okay, okay, okay, I'll do it! But will your crew allow it?"
Honestly speaking, Meng Fan had no interest in their previous invites, but he was very interested in this one.
Whether it was popular or not, Meng Fan did not care. Popularity could be converted into stream views, and Meng Fan knew this. Now, he could complete the [Famous Streamer] task even faster.
Thus, Meng Fan noticed that Bai Zhi already had her request approved by the crew, so he hurriedly asked: "Then will the filming take a long time?"
He was still thinking about self-defense classes.
"We'll fly down in the afternoon and wrap up by tomorrow." Bai Zhi responded. "Are you up to something?" She asked.
This was an acceptable answer for Meng Fan. "I am, but it's not urgent."
"So I'll take that as a yes, then!"
Bai Zhi saw Meng Fan nod and immediately got her assistant, sister Sun, to book the airline tickets. After purchasing the next flight out, she told Meng Fan: "The flight is at 11:45 am, so pack your stuff. We're heading for the airport, okay?"
"Alright."
Meng Fan went to his room to pack some clothes since there was nothing else to bring. All he needed was a simple outfit.
Ding Dong.
He'd just finished packing when the doorbell rang. Bai Zhi got up from the living room to peek through the keyhole before smiling at Meng Fan slyly. "And you said there were no girls here!"
She opened the door to Wu Tong, hands full with grocery bags.
"Si…Sister Bai!"
Wu Tong was stunned to see Bai Zhi awaiting her at the door. She'd noticed Meng Fan didn't look too good in the morning, and wanted to cook him a hearty meal. She didn't expect to see Bai Zhi there.
"Ah, Wu Tong is here. Come in, come in! My, my, did you just buy groceries? No wonder I didn't see you when I arrived. Are you the one cooking? That's not okay. Don't spoil this brat. Things like cooking should be left up to the men. Oil and grease is not good for your skin!"
Bai Zhi was an intuitive thinker. Her words made Wu Tong flush red, and also eliminated all possible misunderstandings.
"Sister Bai, you're mistaken. I don't live here," Wu Tong said after being pulled inside by Bai Zhi.
"Okay, okay, okay. You don't, you don't."
Bai Zhi obviously knew what a girl-inhabited apartment looked like, but she couldn't help teasing her a little. "I've known Fan's older sister for a long time now, and I've met Fan's mom, too. Aunty is a very open-minded person and would never think to meddle with Fan's personal relations, especially when it comes to love!"
Meng Fan's eyes almost rolled inside his brain. Sis, I really wish that were the case!
Wu Tong saw Meng Fan's expression and suppressed a smile. Since Bai Zhi continued to mistake them, she had nothing left to explain to her. She took the groceries and headed into the kitchen. Wu Tong turned around and asked: "Sister Bai, will you stay for lunch today?"
"I'm afraid I don't have the pleasure."
Bai Zhi looked sullen as she told Wu Tong about inviting Meng Fan to her voice acting show and the time of their flight.
Meng Fan was also solemn. He was even regretful! If he'd known Wu Tong was going to come cook lunch, he would have turned down the offer, or at least requested a later flight.
Wu Tong heard this and smiled. "Then you have to come try my food next time."
Since they were returning in a few days, Wu Tong took out the groceries from the bags and placed them in the refrigerator. She then headed downstairs with Meng Fan and Bai Zhi.
Sister Sun had already pulled up outside, waiting.
"Then I'm off."
Wu Tong just returned, and he had to leave. This significantly dampened Meng Fan's mood.
"Okay."
Meng Fan's subtle change in mood could not escape Wu Tong's eyes. She thought about it and added: "If you run into a celebrity I like, please get an autograph for me."
"I heard prince Zhang Xiao* made it into the annual show, so if you run into him, please get me an autograph! If you don't run into him…Heh. I'll come find him myself."
This actor's name is Zhang Xiao, but because of his domineering and often bold character, people addressed him as the 'young master', or prince
Meng Fan nodded. Waving, he entered the car and chatted casually. Aside from talking about poetry, lyrics, and life ideals, they also discussed movies, songs, and what celebrities Wu Tong liked. Meng Fan knew this, of course.
For example, prince Zhang Xiao. One day, they had discussed dark comedies, from foreign films like "Lock Stock and Two Smoking" and "Get Out" to the domestic "NightClub" and "Crazy Stone". From these films, Wu Tong had mentioned she really liked Jason Statham from "Lock Stock and Two Smoking" and prince Zhang Xiao from "Cock and Bull". Both actors were exemplary at portraying the common tough guy, but with added comedic value. They were all around great actors.
Meng Fan already thought at that moment that he himself was also this trope. To be even more bold, he didn't know if Wu Tong had told him this on purpose, but it made him smile for a long time.
After leaving for the airport, Wu Tong also left the neighborhood and headed back to school.
She had learned a lot from her trip to Beijing, and felt that the experience had been extremely beneficial to her creative process for Chinese painting. If she didn't have to make lunch for Meng Fan to give him more nutrition, she would have been in the studio long ago.
"That idiot, leaving after I just got back. Is he purposefully trying to avoid me?"
Thinking of this, Wu Tong suddenly felt irritated. In one breath, she painted a dozen or so donkeys.
Afterwards, she took a photo of them and sent the photo to Meng Fan. She then changed Meng Fan's nickname to Dumb Donkey, pressed screenshot, and sent it as well.
"I drew a bunch of donkeys, and for some reason they remind me of you, so I changed your name to Dumb Donkey."
I'm a generous girl, but sometimes I have to be sassy too, hmmph!
In 2019, most domestic flights were already equipped with Wi-Fi for mobile devices such as phones. Meng Fan naturally began to message Wu Tong from the plane.
After seeing the message, Meng Fan couldn't decide if he should laugh or cry.
Maybe he was in heaven. Meng Fan's guts swelled as he typed the response: "You should know, the animal I like to draw the most is birds, because they can land on sycamore trees."*
Wu Tong's name is synonymous with the name for Sycamore trees (wutong)
"So you're gonna change my nickname to Dumb Bird? (Angry emoji)"
"Of course not. Do you know what my favorite bird of all time is? The egret."
"Egret?"
"Yes, because I like the line from the poem "a row of egrets ascend towards the heavens". How nice, they can reach the heavens just by flying, and when they descend, they rest on sycamore trees."
"Please, the one that sits on the sycamore is a phoenix okay! You talk big, are you going to change my nickname to Egret?"
"Of course not, I'm going to change your name to 'Beloved Profession'."*
Here Meng Fan refers to a Chinese saying "do a job, love a job", so the nickname is a provocative slang hinting Wu Tong is a 'job' he enjoys doing
"…I'll give you one chance to recall that message! (knife emoji)
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Chapter 244: Run in With A Liar
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The alpaca-shaped building belonging to Mango TV in the Malan mountains was very prominent and visible from a distance.
On December 2nd, 2:00 p.m., Meng Fan, Bai Zhi, and their group arrived at a hotel near the creature-like building. The hotel was well-known for receiving celebrities.
"Tired?"
"I'm okay."
"Get some rest, I'll come find you at three o'clock."
"Okay."
After separating from Bai Zhi, Meng Fan entered his own room. Just when he put down his bags, he received a call. It was from Lou Lan.
"Iron God, You haven't come to the studio in almost 30 hours." Lou Lan sounded upset. "If you don't come, I can't even stay awake. I'm so used to working with you, everyone else just doesn't cut it. We've been recording for 10 hours, and I've had time to nap for five of those. Ugh. How did that saying go, 'Once someone visits the ocean, they will turn their backs on the most charming of lakes!' I've gotten used to your efficiency. When I see other people, it's like they're screwing with me."
"Oh stop. You didn't complain any less when you worked with me, either." Meng Fan smiled. "I'm out right now. If you have any work for me, just give it to someone else. I'll be back the day after tomorrow."
"Day after tomorrow?! Alright. I'll save some non-urgent work for you. Sigh. I have to go, another 30 or 40 hours of suffering await me."
After chatting, Meng Fan hung up the phone a little speechless. The big bearded guy had developed a reliance on him.
After resting for a short while, he heard a knocking on his door. When he opened it, Meng Fan was stunned for a moment. Aside from Bai Zhi, Su Qing Cen was there as well. Apparently, Su Qing Cen was at Mango TV to record an episode of "Happy Camp". She had come to say hi after hearing from Bai Zhi that Meng Fan would be there, too.
After meeting up, the three headed towards Mango TV central. With Meng Fan's stature next to the two celebrities, strangers would most certainly think he was their bodyguard. But of course, with Meng Fan's level of presence, he was not a suitable bodyguard at all.
"I'll be done soon. Once I'm finished, let's go for late night eats!"
After interacting with Su Qing Cen for a while, her cute and playful personality naturally began to come out. The spokeswoman for the 'domineering' older sister trope was nowhere to be found. And she loved to eat. As soon as Changsha snacks were mentioned, it was like she was a machine, listing off all the dishes. Even Meng Fan felt hungry from listening to her.
"I don't think I have the blessing."
This was the second time Bai Zhi said this today. She looked sullen. "You don't know how terrifying 'Voice Legend' is. Don't mention late night snacks, I'll be blessed if I can sleep well before tomorrow. After the script reading and the promotional materials, it will be very late. At night, there's nothing else to do aside from endless practice and rehearsal."
Bai Zhi was already familiar with the strictness of the show from the previous season. The program had selected several clips to dub over, and it took a lot of time to be fully prepared for all of them. Plus, they were working with the number one voice acting assistant in the country, who was extremely demanding. Last time, she stayed up all night to meet his requirements.
She could only sigh sadly at Su Qing Cen's irresistible suggestion. "If you're still here tomorrow, we can grab late night food after our shoot wraps up. Otherwise, you can only go alone. Hmmph. Especially tonight; don't expect to see us!"
"That's so pitiful! Then I can only go by myself. Don't worry, I'll take pictures for you guys."𝑛𝗈𝗏𝐄𝓁𝞰𝔢xt.𝓬𝑂𝗆
Su Qing Cen batted her eyes at Meng Fan and Bai Zhi playfully, then turned towards the recording room of "Happy Camp."
Meng Fan and Bai Zhi approached the set of "Voice Legend". Coincidentally, they just happened to meet Prince Zhang Xiao whose acting skills can be likened to performing plastic surgery.
Prince Zhang Xiao and Bai Zhi had collaborated previously, but there weren't many opposing scenes. The two weren't familiar, and only nodded at most in greeting. At most, they would utter a few words of small talk out of courtesy.
The guest star Prince Zhang Xiao invited was Huang Yi, also known as the National Daughter-in-Law. The two had cooperated previously in some TV series and films, and had a great personal relationship. In addition, she had a great relationship with Mango TV. She arrived immediately after receiving the invitation.
Bai Zhi wasn't familiar with Prince Zhang Xiao, but she was close to Huang Yi. It had been a while since they last saw each other. As soon as they met, they immediately began to chatter endlessly. Their laughter filled the conference room.
Seeing that the two women were not going to stop anytime soon, Prince Zhang Xiao took the initiative and turned to Meng Fan, offering his hand. Smiling, he greeted him: "Hello, I know you, Iron Hero."
"Hello Mr. Prince, I'm your fan."
Meng Fan pulled out the copy of "Unreliable Actors Say If" that he'd asked sister Sun to prepare and handed it over. Smiling, he said: "Can I get your autograph?"
Seeing his own book, Prince Zhang Xiao beamed even wider. He received the pen and signed it in a few strokes, even adding a personalized message.
After the two women finished their banter, the two groups of guests took turns reading their scripts with their assigned producers. The script was simple and only needed a quick run through since there weren't many corrections to make. The errors that needed addressing could be done during recording anyway. Afterwards, they moved into shooting the marketing and promotional materials.
The promotional photos and videos were simple as well. Even though Meng Fan had no experience in acting, he was still able to follow the photographer's guidance. The effect of the shoot had surprised the photographer several times. He'd looked up to analyze Meng Fan several times. For a photographer who was sensitive to subtle changes, Meng Fan was almost mystical. He was way too photogenic!
Regardless if it was his temperament or his facial feature, it's as if they were all levelled up!
"Done?"
"Done."
"Thank you. Sorry for the trouble." Meng Fan had never done such a thing before, and felt out of place. He finally let out a sigh of relief after changing back into his original clothes. He asked for directions to the washroom and hurried over.
"Huh? Fan!"
While Meng Fan was still shaking, a person appeared in the stall next to him. Halfway through his business, he called out Meng Fan's name. He then said "I'm busy" and hung up the call he'd just been in.
Meng Fan turned his head and froze for a moment, too. "How unlucky am I to run into you in the toilet."
"Stinky brat, what are you saying!" Tao Dong Li gave Meng Fan an unhappy glare. "Are you that unwilling to see me?"
"You're a liar, why would I want to see you!" Meng Fan closed his fly and headed to the sink, suspiciously eyeing the guy. "What are you doing here?"
"I came down for a meeting." Tao Dong Li finished up and approached the sink as well. Smiling, he said: "What are you doing here? Let me guess, you're attending some reality show, right? You've been pretty busy lately, huh? Are you trying to break into the entertainment industry? Do you need me to help with anything?"
"Hold up. I'm here to help Bai Zhi, don't meddle with me." Meng Fan immediately turned off the sink and wiped his hands on a paper towel. "You're a liar and that's a fact. I won't forget what you did to me anytime soon."
"You stinkin' brat, why do you have to be so sensitive! It's already been a dozen years and you're still holding onto it. I only sold you a fake anime figurine, why are you so angry?"
Meng Fan's eyes widened. "Fake figurine? Is that really all? Do you know how many people laughed at me when I showed off my Batman figure in Spiderman's underwear? You even told me it was brought from abroad and told me how amazing Batman was! Do you know what childhood trauma is?!"
Tao Dong Li heard this and began to laugh. "Didn't you take it to fool Xiao Shan as well? Count it even!"
Hearing his nephew's name, Meng Fan's face finally cleared up. He asked for some videos and photos from Tao Dong Li, but he remained firm. "Even? Not in this lifetime. The figurine is no big deal, but the most important thing is that you cheated my sister from us. You promised you guys would return to Wenzhou after graduating college, hehe, but the two of you ran off to America instead! I couldn't see my sister for years! And even later, you promised you'd return to Wenzhou again, but you went to Beijing instead. Now, I can barely see my sister twice a year."
Meng Fan had four older sisters in his family and only his oldest uncle's daughter, Meng Cai Ju, was the gentle type. The other three were as crazy and demonic as it got. Meng Cai Ju was almost 10 years older than Meng Fan, and Meng Fan relied on her heavily as a child. When she got married, Meng Fan was still a child. In addition to many things, including the fake figurines, Meng Fan had regarded his older brother-in-law as the biggest liar in the world.
After growing up, Meng Fan naturally learned the way of things. He was now used to interacting like this with him, and nobody bothered correcting him.
"I'm going back to Beijing tonight. You wanna come with me?"
"I'm still busy here. I'll come visit when I'm free."
"Then I'll buy you dinner before you leave?"
"I don't think I can make it. You can go about your own business."
"Wait, take a photo for your sister. You've lost a lot of weight since last time, haven't you?"
"You think I haven't video chatted with her?"
The two left the washroom and chatted for a while before separating. Meng Fan headed to find Bai Zhi. Tao Dong Li turned around to a quieter area to answer his phone call. There were some important issues mentioned before their meeting got interrupted that he had to confirm.
When Meng Fan arrived in Bai Zhi's booth, she was still in the process of filming.
"You're done so fast?"
"Mine was simple."
Ten minutes later, Bai Zhi completely wrapped up her film set. She quickly changed out of her clothes and makeup and was brought to the practice room by a crew member.
They arrived on set, but the voice acting producer hadn't. The editor took out some voice clips and told Meng Fan and Bai Zhi to select one.
The annual finale of "Voice Legend" was organized as a one-on-one showdown, where the eight winning actors and their guests would separate into four groups to compete.
The procedure was simple.
First up was a vocal show of the celebrity contestants. During recording, both of them had to record a dubbing. The final broadcast will be one of the clips, where some of the guest star's clips will not be broadcasted at all. This depended on whether the guest star was famous enough or good enough.
Once the individual voice clips were completed, it would be the contestant's and the guest star's collaboration stage. They also recorded two clips, where the clip that has better overall dramatic effect will be chosen for broadcast.
Lastly, it was the directors test. The two voice clips from each group performed according to the director's request will be edited, and then broadcasted to the audience to determine the winners.
After the four groups compete, the audience will then decide the final winner.
Some of the selected voice clips had been prepared by Bai Zhi herself, while the rest were prepared by the crew. Meng Fan could have prepared his own clips as well, but he arrived too late to do so.
"Fan, take a look. If there's none that you like, or something you really want to dub, you can let the program organizers know."
Meng Fan looked at the prepared voice clips. To him, they were all too easy.
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Chapter 245: Voice Acting Exerpts
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Bai Zhi was aware of Meng Fan's voice clips from his stream and had seen the videos as well. Although he often fooled around, she could tell Meng Fan was a very skilled player in the voice acting realm. He was able to manage all aspects of a wide array of character types.
After seeing the voice clips the crew had assigned to Meng Fan and seeing Meng Fan's blank expression, Bai Zhi questioned: "These are a bit too easy, no?"
"They're okay, I'm just not sure which segment to choose."
It was simple, but Meng Fan wouldn't deliberately select a difficult one either. As a newcomer to the voice acting industry, and as a person who has already done 150 or so smaller roles, Meng Fan was not a picky dubber. Even if it was a simple clip, he was confident he could make it shine.
"You can't decide? Is there any that you really want to dub?" Bai Zhi asked.
"Not really, I've already dubbed everything I want to during my streams." Meng Fan responded.
Bai Zhi rolled her eyes. "You're such a jester."
"I'm actually very Buddha-like, okay." Meng Fan smiled.
"That's the most difficult trope to deal with."
Bai Zhi rolled her eyes again before going into thought. Smiling, she waved a staff member over. "There must be more clips in your library, right? Don't worry about how many characters there are or what genre it is. The difficulty also doesn't matter either."
"There are. Give me a minute." The staff member assumed Bai Zhi was dissatisfied with her compilation of voice clips and hurriedly came over with their newfound clips.
Bai Zhi browsed through the options, circling lines as she spoke. "Either way you can't choose, so I'll pick one for you." After circling it, she handed the paper to Meng Fan and smiled. "I've already informed the crew to check out your voice acting clips before selecting scenes. It seems they still don't understand your abilities, or at least have a grasp of your specialties. They didn't even prepare you a female script!"
"I only play around with female voices on stream. I think I'll pass on doing it on the show." Meng Fan received the list.
Bai Zhi smiled. "What, are you worried that a female voice will ruin your fierce Iron Hero namesake?"𝑛𝗈𝗏𝐄𝓁𝞰𝔢xt.𝓬𝑂𝗆
"Oh, I'm not worried about that."
Meng Fan looked at the lines that Bai Zhi had circled, his expression downcast. "Sis, are you looking for a little sister?"
They were all male and female dialogues; mature ones include some fighting exchange scenes like the famous cold, heartless, and unreasonable arguments from "Princess Returning Pearl". There was also an argument scene with Bai and desk manager Tong. Didn't this also require him to switch between genders?
Bai Zhi smiled. "Don't mess around. I want both little sisters and brothers."
Meng Fan looked at the ones that hadn't been circled and found a few that he wanted to dub. They were not easy either. After circling a few, he then fell into a quandary so he handed it back to Bai Zhi: "I circled a few more, too. Help me pick two."
Bai Zhi took the paper and looked. He had circled a Zhuge Liang monologue from the 1994 version of "Romance of Three Kingdoms," the last scene by Bai Yingyu or Uncle Three from "Da Zhai Men," the dinner scene from "The Message," the banquet scene from "Let the Bullets Fly," the first meeting scene from "In the Name of the People," and the eighth emperor's coronation scene from "Yong Zheng Dynasty"…
"Do you want to dub one of these roles, or… all of them!" Bai Zhi was shocked. It was already very difficult for an individual to reenact a group scene, and even more so for all of these classic group scenes. If there was a ranking system, these scenes would be among Huaxia's top 10 group dialogues!
"I've never tried dubbing any of these scenes on stream, and haven't even thought about some of them. I feel like they will be challenging enough." Meng Fan said. "Uhm, is this too arrogant?"
"Arrogant? Your ego's already gone through the roof!"
Bai Zhi took a closer look and said: "If you can do these well, it would be explosive. But they are a bit long, so some parts need to be shortened. How about… doing the clip from 'The Message' since there are two and a half female voices? As for the other one… If you can't decide, then stick with 'Da Zhai Men'. You're guaranteed to make the audience cry."
"Alright. Then it's set."
Meng Fan nodded. He would have taken half a day just to pick one, and he even had to choose two. It would have been easier if they just tossed him two roles to begin with.
Bai Zhi was already done selecting the two clips she wanted to dub and felt conflicted on which scene to choose for her collaboration with Meng Fan. She was very confident in his abilities since he could adapt to any role. Her main concern was herself.
Bai Zhi suddenly remembered a scene as her eyes lit up. "Hey, how's your English?"
"British English or American English?" Meng Fan responded arrogantly.
"Really?" Bai Zhi pulled out her phone and dug up a video she'd been saving. "Then I'm going to choose this one."
Meng Fan clicked on the video where a girl appeared immediately followed by a male voice over from outside the frame saying "NO". Meng Fan knew immediately what film this was from the first scene, let alone the fact that Benedict Cumberbatch was about to appear.
This was a scene from season 2 of "Sherlock," a dialogue depicting the most classical rivalry between Sherlock and Irene. The most outstanding moment was when Irene needed to complete the phone password set "I'm —- locked". Irene's pulse accelerated during the conversation, her eyes dilating as she came into realization before unlocking the phone with "I'm Sher-locked".
I've been Sherlocked, or I'm in love with Sherlock.
This was Meng Fan's favorite scene from "Sherlock" aside from all the speedy speculation monologues, loving it even more than the dialogue between Sherlock and Watson. He didn't expect this to be Bai Zhi's choice.
"Is this okay?" Bai Zhi asked.
"Yeah, it's fine. But…" Meng Fan thought for a moment, then said: "The collaboration should focus on you as the star, but this scene is clearly focused on the male. The female role is clearly weaker. Maybe you should pick one with a female lead, I'll support you."
"This is where you lack industry experience. The partner in a collaboration must be strong too for the act to stand out. Since you're the one dubbing it, it'll be okay. It's settled then." Bai Zhi genuinely wanted Meng Fan to stand out. "Besides, don't we have to pick another one? I've already selected one. The dialogue between Da Yuer and Duo Ergun from 'Xiaozhuang Mishi,' or the dialogue between Eighth Concubine Mi and Ying Si. Choose one."
Neither of these scenes actually had a male supporting role.
"What do you mean you've already decided! Are these the only options?"
Meng Fan took a look. As a voice actor, he was naturally familiar with both of these scenes. Although Mrs. Ning Jing's performance in "The Qin Empire II: Alliance" was outstanding, it was still a male dominated show. Hence, Meng Fan decided to go with the 'Yuer, you're cursing me!' scene from "Xiao Zhuang Mishi," which was a female lead drama.
"Alright, that's the one. Let's see which segment the production team decides to broadcast."
After locking down the clip, Bai Zhi was exceptionally happy. She loved both of the scenes they'd selected together, which she normally would never get the chance to dub. She counted this recording as completing one of her dreams.
"Then let's practice on our own first, and then do a run-through together."
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Chapter 246 GGain Characteristics by Coincidence, Gain Skills by Force
Maybe because he'd spent too much time in the recording studio, or something else entirely, but Meng Fan had grown accustomed to rehearsing in an enclosed space.
The set was well-equipped for recording and it even had a recording studio — a large one filled with a lot of people. It was not possible to herd everyone else out just so Meng Fan could practice by himself.
After asking an employee, Meng Fan headed inside an empty breakroom and shut himself in to practice.
Although there was no dubbing equipment, Meng Fan had his live stream assistant and black magic earbuds. With them, he could monitor and control the status of his voice at any time.
"The Message" was a group scene. Meng Fan had to dub seven roles: two women and five men.
Meng Fan picked up the live stream assistant and played the scene again. He'd seen the movie before, but that was a long time ago. He had to familiarize himself with the characters so he could find their uniqueness.
Out of the seven roles, six of them didn't use the original audio track. Only Alec Su's role of Bai Xiaonian used the original audio. All six voice actors had been top tier in the industry, and they were able to pick up the attractive qualities of all six actors and their roles. There was a deliberate attempt to imitate the voices of the six actors, which Meng Fan naturally was not able to do. He skipped ahead to look for the distinct characteristics of each role. Although he couldn't imitate their voices directly, he could still rely on the actors' original sound.
Meng Fan was able to capture the beauty of Gu Xiaomeng, played by Zhou Xun, while also incorporating her emotion and malice. Meng Fan also captured the coldness of Li Ningyu, played by Li Bingbing, while adding a hint of patience and wisdom. For Yan Zhiguo, played by Zhang Hanyu, Meng Fan managed to depict an iron-like coldness on the surface, yet a stubbornness emanating from his bones…
Bai Xiaonian, played by Alec Su, was an extraordinary character that was the hardest to grasp. He had to encapsulate his femininity, simplicity, and his rashness, as well as his subtle stupidity. It was slightly difficult. When Meng Fan watched the movie, he had been genuinely surprised by Alec Su's acting skills. Su had successfully performed the fragile role of Bai Xiaonian.
The characteristics of Takeda, played by Huang Jiaozhu, was the easiest to express. All he had to do was use a Japanese accent while delivering the original Japanese lines. As for Meng Fan, Japanese was not an issue.
As for the two roles played by Wang Zhiwen and Ying Da, Meng Fan decided it was best to follow the original script.
After watching the scene once, Meng Fan extracted all seven roles and rehearsed them individually. Afterwards, with his 8 Voice Acting skill and 8 Voice Appeal, he found no problem in the output of emotional energy and consistency. It was simple to just use his vocal range to imitate the original sounds of the actors.
For voice acting, imitation was just the starting point. Sculpting a character with your voice was the ultimate goal.
It didn't take long for him to familiarize himself with all seven roles. He then began to practice transitioning between the characters. When this was done, he rehearsed alongside the scene from the film. By then, it had smoothly flowed out like water on stone.
He was basically done after running through it twice to get used to the technicalities of several characters speaking at once.
Would he remember all the lines?
Meng Fan had a decent memory, but what's more important is that he had his black magic equipment: He didn't have to memorize anything. Of course, there would be a prompt screen on the recording set, and he could even directly read off the script if he wanted.
After running through it again and confirming its smoothness, Meng Fan fixed a few knots and decided to stop rehearsing altogether.
He switched to the scene from "Da Zhai Men" that had several people speaking at once. However, most of the characters only spoke one or two lines and were not important to the main plot. Meng Fan was able to select four characters to dub: Bai Jingqi played by Chen Baoguo, Bai Yingyu played by Liu Peiqi, Wang Xiguang played by Lei Kesheng, and Eighth Uncle Yu played by Li Xue Jian. All of them were well-known experienced actors in the industry.𝑛𝗈𝗏𝐄𝓁𝞰𝔢xt.𝓬𝑂𝗆
There was a lot of pressure on Meng Fan to dub this scene.
It didn't take long for him to complete "The Message," but after an hour or so of rehearsing "Da Zhai Men," Meng Fan was still unsatisfied.
There were a lot of characters in "The Message" but Meng Fan was confident enough to say that his dub could even match the original soundtrack. However, with "Da Zhai Men," aside from Bai Jingqi's clip being a voiceover, the other three all featured the original voices of the actors, including the main character of this scene, Bai Yingyu. The acting skills could be felt deep in your bones. The other two were also overpowered, which made Meng Fan feel awed.
Chen Xin, the voice actor who dubbed Bai Jingqi, was top tier in the industry as well. The roles he'd played could be described in countless ways, having voiced roles such as Zhang Wuji, Ma Yongzhen, Emperor Ba Xian, Lu Zhenhua, Zang Ma, and more. He was also the permanent voice actor of well-known actors like Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Chow Yun Fat, and Ekin Cheng
Now, Meng Fan didn't want to create a version that just basked on the glory of the previous roles; he only prayed that his voice acting would be worthy of these gods. In other words, he only wanted to pay his respects!
He practiced for another hour.
Dong Dong
He heard a knock on the door. Someone pushed it open, and a head peeked in.
"How's rehearsal going?" It was Su Qingcen. "Sister Bai has pulled out most of her hair by now, and you're shut in here. How scary is this
show?"
"Me? I'm okay."
Meng Fan had just been prepared to take a break as he exited the room. "You're done already?"
"Already? It's almost nine!" Su Qingcen said.
Meng Fan checked the time. Counting the promotional photoshoot and the script selection, five hours had already passed. When he realized this, his stomach rumbled in protest.
Su Qingcen held in a snicker. She knew that Meng Fan wouldn't be able to go out in his current state so she teased him: "I was just about to grab some late night snacks. You wanna come?"
"Of course, I'll go!"
Meng Fan had been wanting to get food anyways, and thinking of the delicious food that Su Qingcen had listed earlier, his stomach began to rumble again.
Su Qingcen was stunned. "Huh? Really? Can you even come?"
"Why can't I? I'm almost done with rehearsal. Wait." Meng Fan headed to Bai Zhi's room, and asked: "Sister Bai, how's it going? When do you want to rehearse the collaboration? If you're going to be a bit later, I'm going to leech some food off Shan Jin bro. Oh, and I'm almost done rehearsing."
"I'm not done here. You're really that close? Then go ahead. Come back soon though; I think director Xu and the vocal assistant, professor Di, are going to be a bit late…" Bai Zhi barely uttered the words when she gestured towards the doorway. "What a coincidence. Speak of the devil."
The two who entered warmly greeted Bai Zhi, Su Qingcen, and Meng Fan. After asking how the progress was, they paid close attention to Meng Fan. Surprised and a little suspicious, they inquired: "I heard you chose the group scenes from 'Da Zhai Men' and 'The Message'? These two are very difficult. We selected them last season, but no group wanted to reenact it. And you're going to do it alone? How is the rehearsal going?"
The two had already watched Meng Fan's dubbing clips that Bai Zhi had suggested when she requested him as a guest. Otherwise, no matter how much Bai Zhi insisted, they wouldn't have agreed unless Meng Fan had the same level of popularity that Mr. Wang Jinsong had last season!
Meng Fan was anxious to get food, but if he left now, they would misunderstand Bai Zhi and think she'd found an unreliable guest star. "Rehearsal's been pretty…successful, I guess. How about I do a run-through for you? Maybe you can help me check it."
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Chapter 247 Childlike
"Yes, of course."
Director Xu and professor Di were eager to see the performance. They had watched Meng Fan's voice dubbing clips and recognized his abilities. The two were even shocked by his skills, but they had never heard him live; they wanted a taste of the real thing.
And these scenes were difficult indeed. They wanted to see how well he would perform.
"Let me set the mood."
Meng Fan paced around, running through the seven characters from "The Message." He then approached the microphone and began with Wang Zhiwen's role.
As soon as he spoke, Director Xu and Professor Di's eyes lit up. They could immediately hear the role played by Ying Da, their eyes lighting up even more. When Zhang Hanyu's character came on, they could no longer remain in their seats. When Zhou Xun and Li Bingbing's voices came on, they almost screamed out loud. Eyes wide open, they were in disbelief.
In the end, special agent Takeda's voice, played by Huang Jiaozhu could be heard. There was no questioning the difficulties involved in imitating a Japanese accent speaking Chinese, but to be able to speak Japanese at such an advanced level — although they couldn't tell if his pronunciation was accurate or not — he was utterly amazing.
After "The Message," Meng Fan organized his roles, and took a five-minute break before beginning the dialogue from "Da Zhai Men."
Afterwards, Meng Fan sat down and let out a long sigh of relief.
That was way too hard.
He'd known of the difficulties during rehearsal, but after performing with everything he had, Meng Fan felt as if his body had been hollowed out; he was empty of energy, and emotion as well.
Especially after Uncle Three's monologue of "refusing to be a slave of the nation" while chewing on a cigar and sipping wine. This segment alone took enough heart-wrenching effort, but Meng Fan had to continue with Mr. Li Xuejian's concluding scream that could induce tears for the next decade: "Hey Uncle Three, a good name will be passed down forever!"
He took several deep breaths before realizing the room had gone quiet. Aside from the sound of his own breathing, the room was silent. He raised his head to see Director Xu, Professor Di, Bai Zhi, Su Qingcen, and all the staff members with tears in their eyes. Either they had been drawn in by the plot as they had sad and dull looks on their faces, or they were touched by Meng Fan's voice acting skills. Or perhaps… they were frozen in time.
"Director Xu, Professor Di, my two clips were okay, right?
Meng Fan knew the result was obviously very good, and after asking, he didn't wait for a response. It would seem too superficial. Instead, he said: "Sister Bai still has to rehearse her individual component, so I'm going to grab some food. I'll come back and rehearse the collaboration with her afterwards."
What else could the director and his assistant do? They nodded, clearly still embedded in the story.
"Bai Zhi, what kind of monster did you bring!"
Seeing Meng Fan leave with Su Qingcen, Professor Di wiped her eyes, a smile finally forming on her face. "He's a reincarnation of some old soul, right? He's so young! His skills are exquisite, full of emotion, and he's already reached a godlike level of vocal intimacy and technicality. You could hear the strengths, weaknesses, thickness, fragility, authenticity, and falsehood… And there's nothing else to say about the flexibility of his voice, ah! Simply formidable! His voice is blessed!"
Professor Di was generally a docile person, but this time she spoke with genuine shock.
She then couldn't help but ask Bai Zhi to show their collaboration scene. The anticipation built up, along with her love for their talent.
After the shock wore off, Professor Di quickly calmed her heartbeat and began to guide Bai Zhi. Based on voice acting abilities, Bai Zhi was the real raid boss of this show!
"Do you want to head to the street food area?"
Meng Fan, who followed Su Qingcen's arrangements, suddenly paused. He was speechless: "Although I really want to eat street food, but you… Bro, if you go, the entire street is going to be congested, ah! What will you eat, ah!"
Su Qingcen glared at Meng Fan. Shan Jin bro is Shan Jin bro, but the audacity to call me bro…"I've never been, but I have an idea. Besides, I have you don't I? It'll be okay."
Shan Jin bro is Shan Jin bro. You have the audacity to just call me bro, ah! Su Qingcen glanced at Meng Fan, glared at him, and explained: "I've never been there, but I have an idea. Besides, I have you, don't I? It'll be okay."
Shan Jin bro is Shan Jin bro. Who are you calling bro, ah! Su Qingcen glanced at Meng Fan, glared at him, and explained: "I've never been there, but I have an idea. Besides, I have you, don't I? It'll be okay."
Shan Jin boss is Shan Jin boss. Who are you calling big brother, ah! Su Qingcen glanced at Meng Fan, glared at him, and explained: "I've never been there, but I have an idea. Besides, I have you, don't I? It'll be okay."
Mountain Bro is Mountain Bro. Who are you calling Big Brother, ah! Su Qingcen glanced at Meng Fan, glared at him, and explained: "I've never been there, but I have an idea. Besides, I have you, don't I? It'll be okay."
Mountain Boss is Mountain Boss. Who are you calling big brother, ah! Su Qingcen glanced at Meng Fan, glared at him, and explained: "I've never been there, but I have an idea. Besides, I have you, don't I? It'll be okay."
"You'll have trouble with me around," Meng Fan responded. "Look at me, I'm a thorn in anyone's eye no matter where I stand. Didn't you say that the entire country knows me? At least, people will recognize me on the way there. Once I draw their attention, where are you going to hide? Don't tell me makeup does wonders? That's a lie. You have so many goddamn fans!"𝑛𝗈𝗏𝐄𝓁𝞰𝔢xt.𝓬𝑂𝗆
"You're so annoying. Listen to me." Su Qing Cen glared at Meng Fan again. "I know I can't hide you looking like that, but because of this, you can divert the attention away from me! And aren't you a streamer? I'll just put on some makeup and a face mask and pretend to be your videographer. You can boldy walk around like you own it. So who's going to notice me, your cameraman?"
As soon as Su Qingcen realized her strategy was solid, her entire person shook with excitement. Thinking of the scene when all eyes were on Meng Fan streaming, she herself could be hiding while secretly watching everyone else. This kind of exhilaration was almost too much for popular idols like Su Qingcen, who was inconvenienced going anywhere!
Meng Fan was dumbstruck upon hearing it. "Wait, your strategy is a bit too naive isn't it, bro? And I want to ask you, how exactly do you plan to eat with a face mask on?"
Su Qingcen paused for a moment and became unsettled. "We can deal with it when we get there… Hey, I finally convinced Sister Jing to let me go out on my own, don't ruin my mood. Just pretend I'm not hungry, and that I'm just here to be your videographer, okay?"
"Well, if you insist. What more can I say?"
Meng Fan looked at the mischief gleaming in Su Qingcen's eyes and felt his head throb. No matter how he looked at it, she was like a caged canary. It made sense if you thought about it. For someone like her, it must have been ages since she last enjoyed the excitement of walking through a crowd. Only this kind of 'talent' would get such a kick from hiding in the dark and watching regular people go about their day. "Everything is fine and well until someone recognizes you."
"What are you afraid of, you're with me! Can't a lad as hardcore as you protect me? Either way, as long as my safety isn't compromised, I'll be OK."
Su Qingcen waved her fists in excitement and dragged Meng Fan into the underground parking lot with a suitcase in tow. Soon, the car pulled out of Mango TV central and headed towards Taiping Street.
When they departed, Su Qingcen looked like a different person. Wearing inconspicuous and low-key clothes that did not accentuate her figure, and equipping herself with a hat, scarf, and a face mask, she had successfully completed her camouflage, Meng Fan had to admit.
"What are you looking at? Start your stream already."
Su Qingcen got down the car and felt the excitement once more. She'd even brought a portable stand and camera, which she connected to Meng Fan's phone. Su Qing Cen was serious about being his videographer.
"I can't tell if you're just childlike or trying to be mature."
Meng Fan saw Su Qingcen fire another glare in his direction and he hurriedly turned on his stream. Smiling, he said to her: "Let's go, don't shake the camera now! If you can't hold it, just use your phone. Holding this thing can be tiring."
Instinctively, Meng Fan gracefully dodged Su Qingcen's incoming kick. Meng Fan smiled stupidly at the camera, speaking to his viewers and Su Qingcen as well. "Come, today, your host will take you on a street food tour. If you're hungry and got baited, don't blame
me!"
He took a look at the statistics for (Famous Streamer). He only needed 4 million viewers to complete the next task. Meng Fan felt a sudden burst of energy. Tonight was going to be the night he will complete the task!
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Chapter 248: Culinary Show
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Meng Fan's streaming "career" had officially taken off the night of the 11/11 gala. His average online viewers had effortlessly reached 300,000. It was considered a famous streamer level on 8th Station as a whole and not just in the drawing category.
8th Station had repeatedly proposed a famous streamer contract with Meng Fan, but had been ignored. After signing on, he would definitely receive a lot of resources and assistance, receive a higher ratio of gifts and income, and even an annual salary. However, he would lose a degree of freedom. Although it was not a big restriction that definitely wouldn't impact Meng Fan's current streaming condition, he still felt it was too restricting.
Most importantly, Meng Fan didn't care that much about money since he was almost finished with the streaming task.
Ever since the K-pop star beating occured, Meng Fan's stream views had reached a peak. The average number of online viewers reached 500,000. Occasionally, it would rise to 800,000, sometimes even one million. He was a rising star on 8th Station.
He may not be the number one streamer, but there wasn't anyone who could rival him directly, either. After all, nobody knew what terrifying content Meng Fan would stream about next in his rising popularity. For example, his voice acting stream had dominated the trending list, as well as reached a peak those few days for the number of gifts received.
The fickle netizens from 8th Station were big anime fans and that naturally included voice dubs as well. In addition, the popularity of season 2 of "Voice Legend" that had been broadcasting lately even led several people to search for the original voice clips that the actors had used in the show. They would then naturally stumble upon Meng Fan's stream and his voice acting demos. This also netted him a large number of viewers.
Was Meng Fan's voice acting outstanding?
That's needless to say!
Still, the most important thing was that he was entertaining. Meng Fan was able to play around with the roles that "Voice Legend" didn't do or didn't dare to try. And he was good at it, too.
Several classic and entertaining scenes had been reenacted to perfection by Meng Fan, and he even managed to link them all together. For example, he used Detective Conan's voice to dub Zorro, used Usopp to dub "The Shining," and even used the original voice of Tang Seng and White Lady to voice the characters' romance in "Roman Holiday." He also used Superman and the Monkey King's voice to reenact "Spirited Away," brought the Avengers into "World of Warcraft," and sent Doraemon, Yi Xiu, Gintama, and Shinchan on a "Journey to the West"…
What was even more badass was that Meng Fan could use these roles to sing as well. Everything else aside, he was able to sing the famous TikTok song, "Desert Camel," using Luffy's voice, which sent his live chat into a frenzy, spamming him with gifts.
Oh, and each time he held a giveaway, he did it in the format of "Dragon Ball Z" and asked you to make a wish!
Yesterday, Meng Fan didn't log into his stream, which worried some of his netizens especially the newcomers. They had cursed him in the comment section. It's fine if you aren't streaming, but at least let us know!
The more seasoned viewers remained calm. They had long gotten used to Meng Fan's breaks from the stream.
Seeing Meng Fan's stream notification, a hoard of people immediately checked in.
"Huh? This isn't the recording studio!"
"An outdoor stream? Did I enter the wrong channel?"
"Isn't it natural for Meng Fatty to stream outdoors?"
"Yeah, we've been lacking outdoor streams lately. Before… heh. He took us on a tour of Xizi Lake everyday. How terrifying!"𝑛𝑶𝒱𝑒𝒍𝚗𝚎xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪
"Late night street food? F*ck, this is poison!"
"Kid, his nightlife has just begun, alright?"
"Come along! Let's rediscover the chubby Meng host again!"
"Hahaha everytime I see Meng Fatty's increasingly handsome face, I just get angry!"
"Don't stream outside! I want to hear your voice acting!"
After connecting to the stream from Su Qingcen's handheld camera, he spoke to the viewers and thought about it before finding a suitable background music to play from his phone. After changing his voice, he began to narrate in a wise and rich tone. "There are thousands of households in Guangsha, and it only takes six steps to sleep at night. The families here are wealthy and everyone enjoys three meals a day! This is China undergoing change. People and food are advancing faster and ever. No matter how busy their footsteps are, whether it's a happy gathering or a sad goodbye, or how involuntary it comes, there always exists a taste — in its own unique way, three times a day — that reminds us from the tip of our tongues. Recognize tomorrow, but do not forget yesterday."
As soon as the voice came out, the stream became lively.
"Ah ah ah, it's the narrator from "Taste of China" and "Flavorful Living"!
"Here it is, the most appetizing voice in the world!"
"I knew it! How could we leave out the 'Taste of China' narrator when streaming street food!"
"I've been waiting so long to hear food-lover Meng Fatty imitate the voice of Mr. Li Lihong. The day has finally come!"
"I was so confused watching 'Nirvana in Fire.' Why did I always feel hungry when Emperor Liang's voice came on? Then I realized, it was because of Mr. Li Lihong's voice!"
"Quick, start ordering takeout now!"
Meng Fan's voice continued like a song. Su Qingcen, who was holding the camera and trailing behind Meng Fan, stifled her laughter. Only this guy could make walking down a food street feel like a culinary documentary.
"Chinese people in different regions use their wisdom to make appropriate and accurate use of nature to obtain simple and delicious food. The attachment to the land and their admiration of the heavens are so closely tied to the world's only agricultural nation. A writer once describes the Chinese's outlook on a simple life: When they have their heads down plowing the fields, or eating their meals, they still never forget to look up at the sky."
Meng Fan narrated as he walked towards a stall that specialized in stinky tofu. There was a line outside the store, but Meng Fan wasn't in a rush. He continued: "In modern day China, the exterior appearance of the cities are very similar. Only eating habits become a label to differentiate different places. Hunan cuisine is spicy, the delightful aroma coming mainly from the oil content…"
Although he could deliver the broadcast smoothly to the stream from his live stream assistant, Meng Fan's voice was quite loud and it attracted the immediate attention of the customers in line. They didn't recognize Meng Fan right away and curiously stared at him and his fully-equipped cameraman, Su Qingcen. "Bro, are you guys filming a 'Taste of China'-related docuseries? Why does your voice sound so familiar? Are you… Are you that voice from the 'Taste of China'?"
The other people in queue soon came over as well. They were already hungry in line, and felt even more desperate now.
"Move, move, move!"
The store owner was a woman in her thirties. She came charging out of the store and stared at Meng Fan. "Hey, little brother, are you guys really from a food show?"
She then pointed to the sign on her store, smiling warmly. "Our store is the most famous stinky tofu vendor on this street! Look, we almost made it on 'Taste of China.' You were right in filming my store. Come come come, eat and film. If you want to know anything, feel free to ask me."
Meng Fan saw the sign and immediately bent over in respect. The sign really displayed "Almost chosen to be on 'Taste of China'"…
He thought she was just boasting.
"We're not from a food show. I'm just a streamer."
"Then why does your voice sound so tasty?"
"…It's an imitation."
"Then can you give my stinky tofu a 'Taste of China' introduction? The stinky tofu is on me, so eat to your heart's content!"
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Chapter 249: Recognized
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
Su Qingcen, still cloaked as a cameraman, felt nervous yet excited at the same time.
At first, she was entertained by her method of wandering around, even finding it invigorating.
Meng Fan boldly continued his stream and several people had recognized him along the way, which meant they would inevitably be swarmed. They were, for sure, being followed and discussed the entire way.
But following behind them and filming the commotion filled her with excitement and adrenaline.
Slowly, Su Qingcen's interest shifted onto Meng Fan.
"This guy is way too entertaining!"
Of course. The entire way, Meng Fan had imitated Mr. Li Lihong's narration. Even if they continued to eat without lining up — and eat for free at that — it was fine. But there were actual store owners willing to give Meng Fan money to imitate the narrator from 'Taste of China' to describe their own food.
Meng Fan cooperated, too. Needless to say, his narrations were stunning; even the description of the dishes adhered to the series.
His incredible voice was a given, but his brain worked so fast, too. Where was he finding these descriptive words? And they came on the spot, too! It was as if an editor had prepared a script for him in his mind.
Alright. Meng Fan's literary abilities weren't that great; it was his black magic devices that were the heroes. He could search any interface and come up with a set of words to swindle people. All he had to do was read off it.
It was entertaining, but Su Qingcen was irritated as well. You can narrate and eat all you want, but why do you have to blindly wave all these delicacies in front of the camera!
All the viewers on stream were cursing him, and Su Qingcen wanted to join them.
She was hungry, too!
Her eyes were crooked from glaring at him, yet this guy pretended not to notice her!
Walking halfway, Su Qingcen finally burst after seeing the pork belly skewer in Meng Fan's hands. After gesturing several times at Meng Fan to no avail, she became impatient. "Save one for me."
As she spoke, she reached out and snatched the last skewer from Meng Fan's hand, pulled down her face mask to reveal her mouth and began to chomp down gluttonously.
She'd been tempted by Meng Fan. This skewer was definitely the best grilled pork belly Su Qingcen had had in her life so far. Afterwards, she pointed to Meng Fan and then at the stall, holding up two fingers, thought about it, then changed it to five instead.
"Uncle, can I get five more skewers please? Yes, they're delicious!"
Meng Fan only had to turn around and ask the boss for five more skewers before taking out his phone to pay with the QR code. Although the store owner had offered them for free, Meng Fan still insisted on scanning. As for the narration requests, he had to confirm that he wasn't the actual narrator from "Taste of China" and happily narrated the dish anyways. There was no way he'd ask for compensation.
Of course, if Meng Fan asked for five skewers and the owner insisted on gifting a few extra, he wasn't going to go back and pay for the rest.
"Huh? Whose voice was that just now? Why does it sound so familiar?"
"Does Meng Fatty have a professional cameraman?"
"I think Meng Fan has a real cameraman with him today!"𝑛𝑶𝒱𝑒𝒍𝚗𝚎xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪
"Shan Jin bro! That voice was definitely Shan Jin bro!"
"I think so, too!"
"Shan Jin bro is Meng Fatty's cameraman? Don't f*cking kill me!"
"Don't lie! If Shan Jin bro was there, how come no one's noticed her yet!"
"Yeah, I didn't hear anyone scream Shan Jin bro this whole stream!"
"Could it be… Shan Jin bro is hiding?"
"Are they role playing at night?"
"Holy sh*t, why do I feel like I'm watching an idol drama!"
"You guys wait and see!"
The viewer count for his stream had exceeded 500,000. Perhaps it was due to Meng Fan's stream being down to earth this time around and, with his mesmerizing voice, several viewers who were not fans of his stream were drawn to it based on others' recommendations. This included several people who were searching for mukkbangs to watch as they ate.
Of course, there were also netizens who recognized Meng Fan's location and happened to be nearby. About fifteen minutes ago, several fickle netizens had already approached Meng Fan for photos, even introducing other great eats along the streets.
Others were on their way.
Aside from the netizens, Meng Fan had been recognized by other pedestrians as well. He was greeted by "Iron God, you're a badass," or "Iron Hero, you're so manly."
Many of these comments came from Meng Fan's genuine fans, the kind who'd send copious amounts of gifts that convert to real life cash. They'd been following Meng Fan, but didn't try to steal the spotlight. They didn't ask for anything else except to watch the live stream from the audience. At most, they just told Meng Fan which store had the best food.
They watched the live stream and they spectated the scene as well. Seldomly, they'd respond to some live comments until they saw the discussion regarding the 'voice' that just appeared.
These people had been focused on Meng Fan and didn't hear what the cameraman was saying. But after taking a look, they couldn't peel their eyes off her.
They could understand the modest clothing and the face mask, but to be wearing sunglasses this late at night… That was a bit strange.
At that moment, the cameraman received the five pork belly skewers and habitually said thanks. This one word, and her cautious gesture to move the mask aside for the food, was enough for anyone that wasn't dumb to realize she was Su Qingcen!
It was as if they just discovered America. Their excitement swelled.
Meng Fan and Su Qingcen instantly realized their actions. Meng Fan hurriedly turned to his netizens and shook his head, gesturing them to stay silent. Surprisingly, the netizens managed to keep quiet, but they couldn't contain their excitement, their eyes gleaming.
This light was because they had just seen Su Qingcen in person and because the 'scene' that was unfolding was exhilarating indeed.
"Shan Jin bro!"
Only, before the netizens could call out, someone else already noticed!
A group of girls who had been wandering around suddenly erupted into a frenzy, jumping as they pointed and screamed at Su Qingcen.
Meng Fan and the netizens were stunned. How the f*ck did they recognize her?!
She's already wrapped up like this and it took the netizens the entire time of close-up contact to realize. How could these girls know from just one look?
"Su Qingcen! It's really Su Qingcen!"
"Look, it's her number one fan, Meng Fan!"
"Ah ah ah ah what!"
As soon as the shouting began, the pedestrians passing by immediately began crowding in.
"Where, where!"
Without the slightest clue of where Su Qingcen was, people started squeezing over.
Soon, they were surrounded by people. All of them had been screaming in excitement at Su Qingcen, who was still wrapped up in her ensemble. With this much attention, the people walking along the street couldn't help but stop to see.
"I'm not done shopping yet!"
Su Qingcen pouted in dismay. She had no choice though; she could only hope for Meng Fan to help her escape.
"Everyone, stay still and don't move!"
Seeing the chaos about to ensue and with a concern for safety, Meng Fan cleared his throat and screamed. He then grabbed the speakerphone from the BBQ store's owner, shouting into it: "Does everyone want a better look at Shan Jin bro? If you do, then remain still. Otherwise, we'll run and none of you will see her! Shan Jin bro is right here, so if you don't push, she won't run. She still wants to eat street food!"
Meng Fan's voice had a certain magic to it as the crowd did quiet down. Although not everyone was standing still, nobody was shoving anymore, either.
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Chapter 250: Are They Dating?
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation𝑛𝑶𝒱𝑒𝒍𝚗𝚎xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪
"Holy sh*t, it really is Su Qingcen!"
At this moment, Su Qingcen had already removed her face mask, appearing on stream. Meng Fan naturally became the cameraman.
"Badass!"
"Wow they really were role playing! 666!"
"I only respect Meng Fatty! Who else could be such a loyal fan!"
"Hehe, there are people more badass than Meng Fan such as Zhu Liqian, Chen Ruoyi, Zhen Yuncan, Chen Huilian, Li Lianglei, Hannah Quinlivan…"
"….Those are all examples of female fans marrying their male idols."
"There are several cases of male fans marrying their idols, too, like Stephanie Sun, Ella, and Guo Jingjing."
"You guys are taking this too far!"
"Are you trying to start something?!"
"Stop BSing!"
"The hole in your brain is too big!"
"Stop trying to start sh*t, take Shan Jin bro away!"
"Stop trying to start sh*t, take Meng Fatty… Wait, I'm bullsh*tting, I can't carry him!"
"…"
Is this allowed?!
After seeing the chaotic situation calm down from Meng Fan's statement, Su Qingcen felt nothing but respect for Meng Fan.
She'd seen way too many chaotic scenes caused by her appearance, but she had never seen a situation calm down so fast due to one sentence. No amount of bodyguards could have stopped it, nor could she have if she were alone!
Was Meng Fan's voice too charming and magical? Or was his tower-like stature too much a deterrent? Perhaps people just feared his reputation?
After all, everyone had seen the video of his fight. He had not been joking; in the blink of an eye, he'd drop-kicked the guy American style!
Maybe it was a combination of all these factors.
However, Su Qingcen had forgotten a seemingly unimportant reason. That was the friend-and-enemy relationship between an idol and her fan.
The standup comedian, Li Dan, once said that the biggest enemy of idols — who constantly thank their fans — are their fans. Otherwise, why would they hire so many bodyguards?
Although he had said this as part of a stand-up sketch, it had inevitably become reality.
Idols couldn't live without their fans, but their fans were also the source of their annoyance and precaution.
Nobody was in the wrong here, but the attributes of the two are just too conflicting.
How can an idol interact peacefully with their fans?
This was a hard question!
The best way, no doubt, was to maintain a safe distance.
Not many fans could reasonably stand in front of their idol calmly without being excited and confused, and not many idols who could be brave and calm enough to approach their fans. On this earth, there were only a handful of people who were powerful yet intimate like Zhou Runfa.
It's not that idols didn't want to approach their fans; they were just concerned for safety. Not just their own safety, but that of their fans as well. There were way too many incidents of chaotic stampedes occuring because of idols, so few idols dared take that risk nowadays.
Of course, there were also idols who wanted to maintain their mysteriousness, too.
Returning to the scene, Meng Fan's bellowing statement had temporarily broken the frenemy relationship between the idol and her fans, informing them to maintain a safe distance, and reassuring them that Su Qingcen was not going to run. There was no need to shove, or chase, or go crazy. You could see her if you just looked.
Let's make another irrelevant example. It was as if Su Qingcen had been spotted by a pack of hungry wolves, and if she had revealed even the slightest bit of fear, the wolves would jump her immediately — including the pedestrian wolves nearby who didn't even know what was happening. It would be a mess.
Even if Su Qing Cen wasn't in a rush to run away, there might still be a wolf from the pack that wasn't thinking straight and jump her anyways. He had probably held in this instinct however, due to there being a 'hunting rifle'— or in this case, Meng Fan — present on site.
Besides, the metaphysical attribute of Voice Appeal also played a large role.
"This trip has got me starved. You guys don't know how annoying this guy is. During the entire broadcast, he used the narrator's voice from 'Taste of China' to introduce everything. I was scared to eat as well, and when I finally couldn't help the temptation and took my mask off to eat, you guys discovered me. Now I feel liberated hahaha, do you guys have any recommendations?"
After the chaos subsided, Su Qingcen also calmed down. Her chill and outgoing big brother personality began to shine through and she actually managed to eat her way through the street.
Seeing that Su Qingcen wasn't going to run, her fans calmed down as well. After calming down, they realized how delightful it was to watch their idol happily eat. It was much more entertaining than running after her screaming.
Normally, you wouldn't even be able to see this kind of interaction on television.
Moreover, some sentimental individuals felt idols were quite pitiful since it was difficult for them to do mundane tasks like shopping or going out to eat.
A girl with an excited yet embarrassed expression approached. "Shan Jin bro, this BBQ store is really good… I just bought this, it's clean…"
"Really?" Su Qingcen did not wait for her to finish before asking with a smile. "Can I have a skewer?"
"Yes yes yes yes!"
The girl was ecstatic, handing the entire bag to Su Qingcen.
"Thanks."
Su Qingcen took the skewer and bit into it. Immediately, her eyes formed into small half moons. "It really is delicious."
"Shan Jin bro, over here!"
"This potsticker is delicious!"
"Shan Jin bro!"
Instantly, the people surrounding them began to offer the snacks in their possession.
This was getting out of control!
"Hey hey hey!"
Meng Fan, who had already returned the loudspeaker, screamed once again from his belly. "You guys are going overboard, hey? I'm still here, and I'm huge. How come nobody wants to feed me? Do I look full to you?"
Everyone heard this and laughed heartily, setting the scene in order again. Of course, some people rolled their eyes internally. Please buddy, who are you? Why should we feed you?
The remaining half of the street would not take much time to eat through, plus every restaurant they wanted to try had food readily available so they were able to finish in a short time.
It wasn't long, but Su Qingcen was very happy. She hadn't been able to shop like this for a very long time. Nevermind domestically, she didn't have many chances to do this even internationally.
Everytime she went shopping, she'd been overly cautious. She felt no different from a thief when making purchases, afraid someone would recognize her.
"Thank you, everyone!"
They had arrived at the last stall on the street. Su Qing Cen finished the last bite of her food, and turned to the fans who were closing in behind her. She bowed and smiled warmly at them. "I loved eating all the delicious food and had so much fun shopping around. Thank you for accompanying me!"
"See you!" She waved.
The driver had already pulled up to the intersection. The two waved and entered the car, which quickly disappeared from the crowd's sight.
"Goodbye!"
"Bye bye!"
"Shan Jin bro, I love you!"
Amidst a sea of confessions and infatuated screams, one particular voice stood out: "Are you guys dating?"
Once this was heard, the crowd went silent.
Yeah, why was Su Qing Cen out wandering alone with this guy!
Her assistant was missing, and so was her manager. It was just them; a man and a woman!
During this hour, and in disguise as well… No matter how you look at it, it was a famous TV idol secretly dating her fan!
This was way too suspicious!
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Chapter 251: [Famous Streamer, Complete!
After getting into the car, Meng Fan checked his stream interface before checking the progress for [Famous Streamer]. He only needed 300,000 views.
Before the stream tonight, he'd needed 4 million viewers. Technically speaking, it would have been very difficult to gain 4 million viewers in one broadcast, so Meng Fan had tried pretty hard to make it happen this time around. Aside from imitating Mr. Li Lihong while he ate street food, he even prepared several other gimmicks to ensure he could gain all the views in one go.
He didn't expect that in the short period after Su Qingcen's 'disguise' collapsed, his live stream had attracted over 2 million viewers, totalling the final number of viewers to be over 3.5 million.
This entire process, including the beginning, only took less than an hour.
Su Qingcen's popularity was terrifying indeed.
He only needed 300,000 more views, and there were still 1.9 million viewers tuned in. It would be difficult to try and attract more attention now, but he didn't want to wait either. He would commence his last ditch plan.
"It's a bit laggy; let me relog. You guys should refresh and join; Shan Jin bro has something to say to you."
He ended the stream and disconnected from the camera abruptly, switching to his phone instead. He then hurriedly logged into the stream and pointed his phone at Su Qingcen.
What do I have to say?!
Su Qingcen rolled her eyes, but still managed to smile at the camera. "I just finished filming for 'Happy Camp' today, and your Meng host just happened to be recording a voice acting show at Mango TV as well. I wanted to grab some late night snacks, and really wanted to go experience the streets myself rather than ordering takeout, so I disguised myself as Meng host's cameraman. I didn't think people would recognize me so fast…"
Su Qingcen had nothing left to say, so she decided to explain the situation.
By then, Meng Fan was already laughing stupidly by himself.
"Ding! You've reached 100 million views, completing Phase Five Task of [Famous Streamer]. Reward: Points 10,000, Charm 1."
"Ding! You've completed the mission [Famous Streamer]. You've been awarded the achievement title [Famous Streamer] (Charm 10)"
Afterwards, another reminder immediately sounded in Meng Fan's mind. His heart skipped a beat. What if it was an advanced task of [Famous Streamer]?
"Ding! You've reached 10,000 points. Commence point redemption function."
After hearing this alert, Meng Fan was stunned. He almost leaped up in joy!
I knew it, I knew it!
Long after he began accumulating points, Meng Fan had already suspected there would be a use for them later on. After all, there weren't that many exchangeable black magic items with the points he received. The requirement wasn't high as well, so there must have been a use for the accumulated points.
With so many points remaining, Meng Fan knew they would be useful. Otherwise, the system would have cancelled the point collection rewards.
And alas, he was right! And the rewards were massive, too!
"So I had to save up to 10,000 to trigger a function."
Meng Fan had previously accumulated 8,500 and had gained 10,000 points upon completing [Famous Streamer, putting him at 18,500 points total.
After looking around, he very quickly found where the "point redemption function" was. It looked like a list with several attributes, which were all attributes from the tasks Meng Fan had previously completed as well as attributes that he didn't have yet.
How did the exchange work?
Meng Fan glossed through it and understood quickly.
It was simple. Each attribute could be exchanged, but the more you exchange, the more points it would cost.
For every attribute exchange, the price increased. The first tier of attributes cost 1,000 points and could only be used 1 time. The second tier cost 2,000 points and could be used 2 times. The third tier cost 4,000 points and could be exchanged 4 times. The fourth tier cost 8,000 points and could be exchanged 8 times. The fifth tier cost 16,000 points and could be exchanged 16 times… And so on.
The exchange did not consider how many points he already had in the existing attributes. For example, if Meng Fan's current Drawing skill was at 27, and his Observational skill at 1, both attributes would only cost 1,000 points to convert if it was the first time.
Aside from this, Meng Fan also immediately noticed that the special attribute, Luck, could not be exchanged!
He calculated everything carefully, realizing that the points he'd spent so long accumulating were actually not worth that much and couldn't exchange that many attributes… especially if he wanted to use them to increase one particular attribute. That would be very difficult.𝑛𝑶𝒱𝑒𝒍𝚗𝚎xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪
5,000 points could increase the same attribute by 3 points, but 10,000 points would only get you 4.
Hence, it was worth way more to increase different attributes.
This function can comprehensively enhance all of Meng Fan's attributes, but made it difficult for significant changes to occur.
The difficulty of doing so made it significantly harder than gaining points by completing a task.
He would consider this function as a support system.
After all, it was better to have it than none at all!
"….Then, see you guys."
Su Qingcen looked at Meng Fan. Seeing him in a daze, she reached out and gave him a push.
"Huh? Oh, you're done?"
Meng Fan turned the camera back to face himself and spoke to the stream: "I know you guys probably won't want to see me after seeing Shan Jin bro, so goodbye!"
With that, he logged out.
Su Qingcen glared at Meng Fan, feeling something was off. "You… Why do you look strange?"
Meng Fan heard this and coyishly flipped his hair, flirtatiously raising his eyebrows. "Are you asking why I'm so strangely attractive and charming?"
Of course, it's because he had raised Charm to 11 all at once!
"Ugh!"
Su Qingcen didn't dare admit it, but she did feel that way inside. Her heart had skipped several beats just now!
Could it be because Meng Fan had taken her on a wonderful evening escape to the street food market, and therefore he looked particularly charming — as if a halo had been added? She thought to herself.
This, in fact, was the case. In addition to Meng Fan's 11 Charm, Su Qingcen also gained a lot of gratitude and appreciation for Meng Fan.
Su Qingcen always felt that her biggest fan, Meng Fan, was a talented individual — and an entertaining one at that. Moreover, because of his older sister, Meng Caiwei, she had always been friendly and proactive towards him. However, she never thought that she would find a sense of security from being with him.
Like today. She thought about it for a long time without being able to come up with a second person who could have done the same.
"We're here. You can park there."
Su Qingcen had specifically requested that her driver drop Meng Fan off at Mango TV first before taking her home. Once they pulled up, Meng Fan asked him to pull over and planned to walk in. Once the car stopped, Meng Fan turned to Su Qingcen. "I'm getting off her then. Bye bye."
"Thank you," Su Qingcen replied.
"Cheh!"
Meng Fan 'sliced' the air with his hand and laughed heartily before slipping off.
He entered the Mango TV building and found the room he'd been using. Opening the door to enter, he noticed Bai Zhi still practicing.
"Sister Bai, are you hungry? I brought you some food."
Meng Fan pushed a small table over and set up all the street food he'd brought.
"I guess you're not heartless."
Bai Zhi was ecstatic to hear that Meng Fan had returned with food for her, but as he lifted his head as he was setting the table, she was momentarily dazed. Her eyes were shooting lasers!
"What's wrong, sister Bai? Is there leftover food on my face or something?"
Of course, Meng Fan knew what was wrong.
Speaking of, he'd been awaiting the completion of the [Famous Streamer] task for a long time just for the 11 Charm reward he would receive! It had amplified his existing charm significantly. It was almost excessive!
Strangers might not notice, but Bai Zhi was too familiar with him. It was way too strange for someone to return from eating street food with so much extra charm!
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Chapter 252: Additional Screen Time
"Huh? Oh no, you're fine."
Bai Zhi snapped back to reality as she felt her cheeks burn, but it wasn't because she was feeling bashful as her eyes remained ablaze, glaring at Meng Fan. "Fan, what did you do this time? Why do I feel like you've gotten more attractive!"
She then reached out and squeezed his face. "I don't feel any plastic surgery! It's like you look the same, but your entire person is much more attractive!"
"Sister Bai, your hands are so greasy!"
Meng Fan touched his face, feeling the oil slicked on him. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
He was nervous after all, but not because he was scared of Bai Zhi discovering something; it was more instinctive. After all, Charm was a metaphysical attribute. Even if it was Bai Zhi facing him, he still felt strange. He couldn't describe it, but he couldn't shake off the feeling, either.
"What do you mean got more handsome? Has my attractiveness increased by several tiers so it's like I used to be really ugly or something? Your little bro is charming. Is this your first time noticing?" Meng Fan bellowed with laughter. "Sister Bai, have you gone mad from rehearsing your voice demo?"
"No, wait!"
Bai Zhi was not easy to trick. She shook her head and continued analyzing Meng Fan's face, rattling all the while. "You little brat, you must be hiding something from me! There's a secret inside you, brat — and a big one, too!"
Meng Fan was officially scared by this, but managed to maintain a nonchalant expression. He knew that people would suspect him, but as long as he remains quiet, nobody would actually think twice. Hearing Bai Zhi, he instinctively lowered his head and leaned forward, smiling. "Sister Bai, why don't you check if I have horns on my head?" He then turned around and stuck out his behind. "Maybe there's a tail here, too?"
Bai Zhi was fuming by now as she reached out and smacked Meng Fan on the behind. "Alright, get outta here! I'll find your secret eventually!" She laughed.
Meng Fan clutched his butt. "Sister Bai, you can say this kind of stuff to me, but don't ever say it to another man. Otherwise, they will take advantage of you."
"Get the h*ll out! You dare make fun of your older sister!"𝑛𝑶𝒱𝑒𝒍𝚗𝚎xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪
Bai Zhi gave Meng Fan a glare and continued to eat. She was still pondering how Meng Fan got to be so attractive all of a sudden, even causing her to be stunned for an instant.
Meng Fan chuckled to himself and quickly changed the subject, asking Bai Zhi how the rehearsal for her individual performances was going.
"It's alright, I've gotten a lot better thanks to Professor Di's help. I also started rehearsing the collaboration clips as well so you won't berate me for not keeping up."
Bai Zhi didn't eat everything and split a portion of the food with her staff. This kind of street food was delicious, but for female celebrities, it could only satisfy a temptation; she didn't dare to eat more.
Su Qingcen had let herself go completely tonight and had eaten to her heart's content, but afterwards, she will be desperately compensating for her actions with added fitness exercises and intensive skincare regimens.
After she finished, Bai Zhi took a break before starting her rehearsal with Meng Fan immediately.
From the scripts she had selected, Meng Fan could tell Bai Zhi admired Mrs. Ning Jing greatly. Both film clips she had asked Meng Fan to choose from had featured Mrs. Ning Jing, where she was domineering and seductive, gentle yet bitter… Bai Zhi highly respected Mrs. Ning Jing's acting skills, as well as the complexities and contradictions embodied in her roles. These were aspects that Bai Zhi had been working towards in her television and film career.
Perhaps it was because most of the roles she'd played since entering the industry had been very uniform that crews contact her with an existing trope in mind. Bai Zhi's range of roles had been very tightly restricted and she had only been able to make some breakthroughs in the last two years.
In a way, she had wanted to prove herself and broaden the range of roles she could take on by attending this show again.
With Mrs. Ning Jing's Zhu Yu as a foundation, it would be very difficult to play the role of Da Yuer with the same standard. Evidently, Bai Zhi had been preparing for this role and, from the beginning, her proficiency in practice had shown Meng Fan how hard she was willing to work to understand the character's personality.
"Don't be like this!"
After Meng Fan was able to dissect the role and read the script, Bai Zhi had a breakdown halfway through. She reached out and punched him lightly, visibly upset yet entertained. "Can you be a bit more serious? Are you trying to make me die of laughter?"
Even the staff members standing to the side had been paralyzed with laughter from Meng Fan's imitation of the Pao Xiao Emperor's Hong Kong accent.
"Isn't this a better outcome?" Meng Fan said.
"It's a great outcome, but I can't control myself from laughing!"
This wasn't Bai Zhi being unprofessional. Meng Fan's voice was really just poisonous. He had been purposefully exaggerating a Taiwanese/Hong Kong accent.
"Alright, I'll change it up. I won't try to copy Godfather Ma's voice. Hold on, let me find the feeling."
Meng Fan fooled around a bit and regained his composure. Based on his understanding of the role, he figured out a suitable tone different from Godfather Ma but recognizable enough for people to know it was the ambitious and affectionate Duo Ergun from "Xiao Zhuang Mishi."
Meng Fan let his emotions overwhelm his ambition, so in this 'Yu Er curse me' scene, he managed to depict the repression and pain. Once he got it right, Meng Fan was able to turn the voice of Duo Ergun into a powerful, deliberate, yet careless character who was willing to dig out his heart for the person he loved and completely open up this character he'd created to Bai Zhi.
After finding his direction, Bai Zhi was also able to enter into her zone as well. She was able to express the cruel emotions and the miserable, wounded nature of Xiao Zhuang in this scene.
Whoosh!
In their first run-through, Bai Zhi had been laughing uncontrollably; yet, after the second round, everyone was left crying. They were fully immersed in the scene.
"Let me take a breath."
Bai Zhi rested for five minutes and continued where she left off.
She had already prepared enough for this role, but Meng Fan had never practiced it before. Technically speaking, Bai Zhi should have been the one leading Meng Fan. However, after running through the script a couple more times, Bai Zhi realized that Meng Fan had been the one leading her, even slowing down for her.
Meng Fan was her support throughout the entire scene. From the first reading until the last, he had supported her according to her state and expression. He was able to keep the density of his expression on par with her, like an evenly matched chess opponent. To be blunt, Meng Fan was reducing his energy output to stay in level with her.
"How good are you?!"
After rehearsing several times, Bai Zhi could take it no more. Each time, Meng Fan was able to bring her current state of emotion to a climax, which consumed a large amount of both physical and emotional energy.
Bai Zhi had run out of breath. "Let's take a break, I don't want to try this verse anymore. If we keep practicing it, I'm going to die."
They took a break, but did not continue rehearsing "Xiao Zhuang Mi Shi." Instead, they swapped to the 'I'm-Sherlocked' scene from "Sherlock."
Both of them had to dub this scene in English. Out of admiration for this scene and the series, Bai Zhi had practiced the voice clip beforehand as well. She had considered the characters and the way they pronounce certain words. She even used a very accurate British accent to articulate the script.
Relatively speaking, this series had given Cumberbatch more lines and more drama than Irene. The male role was more significant in this case and Bai Zhi had selected this scene for one very simple reason: It would place the spotlight on Meng Fan.
Cumberbatch's script was terrifying. Everyone who's seen the show — and even those who didn't — would know how charming a tenor voice can be and how incredible it was that he could speak so rapidly. Although this particular scene did not feature many dense monologues, a few lines still required a certain speed in order to complete.
After the first reading, Bai Zhi was stunned. "Why is your English so good?"
Meng Fan had also read the script in a British accent. His pronunciation was flawless — that's a given — but he sounded very superior as well. He was a pleasure to listen to. Bai Zhi felt that he must have lived in London for at least five years.
Meng Fan smiled. "If you asked me to communicate in English, then you'd know how little I actually speak. But to read a script in English, I'll be alright since there are skills I can imitate."
Meng Fan was not being modest. His English skills were actually quite weak, but with his voice acting talent, it was simple enough to just imitate the original audio so that he could grasp the details for pronunciation.
It's like when people choose to sing Cantonese songs at karaoke and sing them accurately with ease. But if you asked them to speak in Cantonese, they could probably only utter a few sentences before revealing their true skill level.
"How's it going?"
Professor Di had been making rounds with the other contestants and their guests to provide assistance. She had made her way back to Bai Zhi's room. She was also very curious as to how Meng Fan had been performing in the other two clips and specifically arrived early to check on them.
After hearing the two rehearse the clip from "Sherlock," Professor Di's eyes lit up once again. She called Director Sun over and discussed it through. She felt it was possible to give Meng Fan some additional screen time once the collaboration segment of the show is finished. "Meng Fan, can you speak even faster? Like Cumberbatch's speedy deductive reasoning in 'Sherlock.' Do you think you can do that?"
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Chapter 253: Gossip
Reading scripts at a fast rate was a level of detail that actors should all pursue since it's very enjoyable for the audience to see.
"Sherlock" could be a representative of this. Once Cumberbatch begins his light speed monologue, the audience would feel like they were watching the climax of the show from beginning to end.
There was also a representative for this from the mainland. Among them, the most famous wasn't an actor but the one deemed as "The Tongue of China"— the TV host Hua Shao. Hua Shao began by hosting a singing competition TV series, yet the first person to become famous from it wasn't any of the contestants but the host himself.
In "Voice Legend," several speedy monologues and clips had been reenacted, and the ones that had appeared most often were the clips from "Sherlock." Two contestants performed it in the first season, and one contestant had already done it in the current season.
However, they had all chosen to dub those that were translated. Even the British national, Zhang Tielin, chose to perform it in Chinese.
To be fair, it was still a difficult script to read in Chinese, but the original was even more difficult.
Regardless if it was Zhang Tielin or another celebrity, they had all done a remarkable job. They had nailed the speed and the tone as well, but this would only seem so to people who hadn't seen the original. Those who had seen it before knew that, despite the perfect speed and voice control, it did not give off the same level of enjoyment.
Earlier, when Meng Fan was dubbing the "I'm-Sherlocked" part, Professor Di was shocked. Although this scene did not have fast monologues, there were still one or two phrases that required a high degree of linguistic knowledge to pull off. Hence, she immediately thought of Cumberbatch's deduction scene.
As for his tone range and pronunciation, it went without saying, Meng Fan was spectacular and surprising as usual.
"Sherlock's deduction scene? Like the one Mr. Zhang did?" Meng Fan had watched both seasons of the show and naturally knew what Professor Di was referring to. He still modestly asked, though: "If it's the translated Chinese version, it will be very difficult. Although the Chinese translation does not take into account the breathing requirements, sentence breaks, and connecting phrases, it will be difficult to achieve the fluidity of the original. I've attempted both the Chinese version and the original English version during my stream; the Chinese version actually has a faster speaking speed."
Professor Di heard this and smiled. Director Xu also smiled and responded: "We want you to try the English one. If it works out, once you and Bai Zhi conclude your collaboration performance and the interview/audience interaction segment, he will send you a cue again. You can just relax. If it doesn't work out well, we'll cut it out."
"Alright, I'll give it a shot."
Meng Fan wasn't being courteous. The interview and audience interaction segment after the collaboration stage required each contestant to have their own tasks. Compared to these formats of interview and audience interaction, Meng Fan was more willing to dub another scene.
"Which segment? The flight scene from the first episode of the second season or 'The Hounds of Baskerville' segment from the second episode in season 2? I'm familiar with both."
Based on speed alone, "The Hounds of Baskerville" episode had a much faster deduction monologue. Zhang Tielin and the others had previously dubbed this scene. Meng Fan was a generous person and did not want people to compare him to others who did the same segment, so he picked a separate clip that also featured a speedy deduction scene, although not as intense as "The Hounds" episode.
"Let's try this one then," said professor Di.
The staff members dug up the clip, and Meng Fan silently read through the script. After entering his state, he began to fire off words like a cannon. From the first ten seconds, he had already captured the souls of the people present. Their eyes seemed to be wider than their agape mouths.
In less than a minute, the output of words from his mouth could not be calculated at all!
Once he finished, Director Xu took several deep breaths until he finally compensated for the air that had left him — he had forgotten to breathe throughout the entire process — and remained silent for a moment. He then smiled and said: "Meng Fan, would you like to try 'The Hounds of Baskerville' clip instead?"𝑛𝑶𝒱𝑒𝒍𝚗𝚎xt.𝒸𝑜𝔪
Meng Fan rested for a moment and read through the script. Director Xu immediately clapped the board: "This is the one!" He then paused for a moment, then added: "The audience are more familiar with this segment, and it's also better for showing off your abilities! And it's obvious you're much more familiar with this scene, too! It's settled then. 'Hounds of Baskerville.' Alright?"
Meng Fan wanted to be kind and not give others the chance to compare him to the other seniors who had previously dubbed this segment as well, but main Director Xu did not think this way.
How can someone pass up such incredible clickbait!
Meng Fan couldn't reject and nodded meekly.
Following this, Professor Di and the Director Xu collaborated on giving some guidance. There was no problem with Meng Fan's performance at all, but Professor Di wanted to give him some emotional guidance and tips on how to cooperate on stage, as well as some stage experience. Despite Meng Fan's current voice acting skills, he was still able to benefit a lot from the lesson. Professor Di was indeed an end-game boss in the realm of voice acting.
After the lecture, Bai Zhi and Meng Fan practiced for a while longer, and seeing the clock hit 2:00 a.m., they paused their rehearsal and headed for the hotel.
The entire way, the two made small talk. Bai Zhi remembered the snacks that Meng Fan had brought her and couldn't help but be curious where he and Su Qingcen had gone for a midnight snack — if she hadn't been mesmerized by Meng Fan's sudden increased charm, she would have asked this sooner — which was when she discovered the crazy events that had happened during their shopping spree down the street food market. She was dumbfounded.
"That works too?! You guys are too brave!" Bai Zhi was curious. "They really stopped moving when they heard your voice? The scene wasn't crazy? They just watched you two wander around and eat the whole time? That's too much!"
After understanding the details, Bai Zhi was even more shocked. She then broke into laughter. "It seems like your fearsome reputation from beating up that K-pop idol finally came into use. The Iron Hero really has a terrifying reputation; you managed to freeze everyone on site!"
Shortly after, she then changed her expression to a serious one. "You and Su Qingcen went a little overboard last night. You can't do this anymore… How could you forget about me? Take me with you next time!"
Meng Fan laughed. "You guys are really using me like a bodyguard!"
"What's wrong with that? I haven't been able to happily go shopping in a very long time! What, you're willing to be a bodyguard for Shan Jin bro, but you won't be a white knight for your older sister?"
Meng Fan obedient nodded. Bai Zhi seemed satisfied enough and turned towards her own room.
Meng Fan took a shower and lay down before habitually browsing the recent news on his phone. He was then unable to sleep. "How is there gossip already!"
It made sense when he thought about it. Based on the scene Meng Fan had described, people could genuinely suspect there was a relationship between them. It was only because he was close friends with Bai Zhi — and they often ate together — so she naturally didn't suspect anything or felt that anything was out of place.
But the media didn't think so!
The internet had already blown up with all sorts of speculations based on Su Qingcen and Meng Fan's night out. They had been desperately relating them to various idol dramas and their cheesy plots and even released the information on their relationship from the beginning. It had become a blockbuster of a die-hard fan trying to court his idol goddess!
Of course, several people also felt that this scandal was being blown out of proportion. It's only that more people were willing to join the bandwagon and weren't afraid of stirring up trouble.
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Chapter 254: Attribute Exchange
"How is there a scandal already?"
"I didn't see it coming either."
Su Qingcen was in Bai Zhi's room, a helpless expression on her face.
It began when several photos had surfaced online of Su Qingcen eating street food. Of course, there were also descriptions of why Su Qingcen was there in the first place and how everyone came to cooperate and watch her finish her food tour. This was no doubt an interesting topic.
And Meng Fan, the Iron Tower who had quieted everyone down, naturally became the subject of discussion. Once they began, everything attributed back to his fierce reputation. According to the netizens, the Iron Tower was like a turret, standing his ground. Who would dare enter his firing range? You'd be greeted by an American MMA body slam!
Then, just like when Meng Fan and Su Qingcen had left the street, some people also began raising doubts about whether the two were dating or not. It really was the plot of an idol drama.
Slowly, the situation had snowballed to where it is now.
"How are you guys going to deal with it?"
"Sister Jing is already dealing with it." Su Qingcen was helpless, but she was relaxed as well. "There was nothing going on to begin with. All we have to do is clarify it."
"That's true. Don't fret about it then; leave it to your management office to provide a statement."
It was senseless to worry, and Bai Zhi was able to breathe a sigh of relief after hearing Su Qingcen's explanation. But then she stared at Su Qingcen, eyes full of wonder. "Qingcen, you quite like Meng Fan, don't you?"
"Of course, I do!"
Su Qingcen then smiled. "Not the kind of 'like' you're thinking about."
"Haha what's the difference between that 'like' and the one I'm speaking off." Bai Zhi wasn't beating around the bush. "I think Fan is a good kid. He's tall and broad, and his features are nice, too. He loves to exercise now and, if he follows this regimen, he'll be in good shape in no time — the kind who will get more handsome, too! Look at Caiwei's incredible facial features, and you'll understand. His personality is also a winner, he's got a great temper and is very manly. Most importantly, he respects women. He's masculine, but not in a toxic way. Plus, he's very talented! I'm not trying to boast about my little brother here. I just think you two would be very compatible."
"Sister Bai, why do these qualities all sound like traits you would like?" Su Qingcen retorted immediately. She glared at Bai Zhi. "Sis, don't tell me you 'like' Meng boss?"
Bai Zhi admittedly responded: "Fan is the type of guy I like, but our age difference is too big. If I was your age, and only five or six years older than him, I'd be pursuing him in an instant. I really think Fan is a great kid, so I asked you. If you like him, I think it's doable! Fan isn't lacking in any category, he'll definitely be good enough for your National Goddess status."
Su Qingcen laughed as she shook her head. "Don't make these random assumptions; Meng boss already has a girl he likes. Sis, let's not talk about this anymore. It's awkward and might cause misunderstandings."
"How do I exchange this?"
Meng Fan took a shower and lay on his bed, pondering how to exchange his points.
Once the point exchange function appeared, Meng Fan analyzed it and then moved onto how he could increase his existing attributes.
The more times you redeem them, the more expensive it gets. He only had 18,500 points at the moment, so there was no way to pour it all into one attribute. It was much more valuable to spread them over multiple attributes.
Meng Fan counted. Presently, the system had awarded him with 18 attributes in total. Subtracting the attribute of Luck that couldn't be increased, he could increase all of them by 1 with 17,000 points. This seemed to be the most valuable route.
But based on a utilitarian perspective, Meng Fan wasn't going to increase all of them. At least, with the premise that he didn't have many points, Meng Fan was going to hold off increasing the attributes he didn't use often. He would also refrain from increasing attributes that are already at a high level, like his Drawing Skills, which wouldn't increase much with 1 added anyways.
It was best to do this from a process of elimination.
Validation, Throwing Precision, and Photogenic Appeal were not very useful to Meng Fan and, even if he did need them, he had enough at the moment.
Drawing Skills, Charm, and Hand Speed were all very useful, but he had acquired enough points in them already; 1 wouldn't make much of a difference.
Strength, Speed, and Endurance were all at 6 currently. Without further ado, he added one point to each, making them all 7.
Context Design and Scriptwriting were related to his manga and were both at 6. He had to redeem them. 7.
His Imagination was at 9. This was a very useful attribute and didn't have a limit to being used. He had to exchange it. 10.𝗇𝞸𝗏𝑬𝐥𝒏𝑬xt.𝓒𝗈𝗆
Smile Appeal, Voice Appeal, and Night Owl capability were all increased by 1 as well to reach 5, 9, and 4.
Voice Acting skill was sitting at 8, and, to be honest, it was more than enough. However, Meng Fan still enhanced it to 9.
There was another attribute he'd gained from [Night Touring God: the attribute of Observation. Currently, it was at 1 but had proven to be very useful.
Meng Fan looked at his inventory. There were 8,500 points left. He then used the 1,000 and 2,000 point redemption functions, and then 5,000 points to turn 1 Observation into 4.
Meng Fan hesitated for a moment but ended up using 2,000 points from his 3,500 to boost his Imagination attribute to 11.
With 1,500 points left and nothing else to increase, he decided to save them.
After the full upgrade, Meng Fan felt invincible, but there was nothing to use his skills on in his room. It was also only 2:00 a.m. and, after adding another point in his Night Owl capability, he wasn't tired at all!
He had no choice; he could only take out his pen, find some sparse papers, and begin working on the character and setting design for his own manga to increase his stock.
Going to bed at half past three in the morning, Meng Fan woke up just two hours later, full of energy. He left the hotel and went for a jog around Yuehu Park. Unsatisfied, he then ran to the Window of the World and ran a half-marathon before returning.
The TV show began recording at one o'clock in the afternoon, and rehearsals began at ten in the morning.
Meng Fan didn't understand how other variety shows worked, but the contestants and the guests on this one had sacrificed a lot. From Meng Fan's perspective, out of the eight teams that had come on set, at least a dozen or so people there were yawning. They probably didn't sleep much last night because they had been training. In comparison, Bai Zhi seemed much better off.
The contestants forced themselves awake to endure the rehearsal before immediately heading back to their hotels to catch up on their sleep. Hopefully, they will be in a good mental state during the official recording in the afternoon.
Meng Fan and Bai Zhi's rehearsal had gone smoothly, and they were able to head back to the hotel immediately after.
As for the scandal that had blown up online, Bai Zhi was able to fill Meng Fan in on the events even if Meng Fan didn't come across it on his own. She had also alerted him that Su Qingcen's management office was releasing a clarification statement.
During this time, Su Qingcen and her team were already enroute to Nanjing to prepare for her concert.
After taking a short break at the hotel, the two shared a fast food meal in Bai Zhi's room before heading off to the film set. After donning their makeup and costumes, they went over the script once more before the official recording began.
Bai Zhi, already a known figure on "Voice Legend," began to chat and interact to stimulate an entertaining mood. Meng Fan and the other guests were waiting backstage in the lounge and would naturally appear once their celebrity contestant needed their help to collaborate.
Bai Zhi had been assigned to the third group. Based on the program's editing, she would have to wait until the second half of the annual show — that is, the last episode of the season — before her voice acting scene broadcasted.
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Chapter 255: Classic Voice
The "Voice Legend" annual show was divided into three main sets. One was the main stage, the other was the voice dubbing studio on the second floor, and the third was the external stage.
On the main stage, the host was on the top area and the audience below. The host was the same person from the first season, the famous TV host and voice actor Uncle Kai.
There would only be two groups of contestants and a voice acting assistant in the dubbing studio.
The external stage was basically a break room where contestants and their guests could go after their dubbing session to relax and chat with the others. In addition, joining their casual banter in the room was the same host from the previous season, Uncle Zhang San.
After group two wrapped up, the third group began their preparations. They were three hours into recording.
The contestant that Bai Zhi would have to PK in group three was another female actress. Bai Yueguang had come into the spotlight from her outstanding performance as the empress from "Yanxi Palace" and had voiced most of her own roles as well. Like the empress from "Yanxi Palace," her voice was gentle and moving, and her performance on "Voice Legend" had been incredible as well. The show had allowed her to demonstrate her versatility and made her very popular with the audience.
Uncle Zhang San, who'd previously played the Kangxi emperor, teased Bai Yueguang: "Daughter-in-law Sun, time to introduce your collaboration guest."*
The empress in "Yanxi Palace" was technically (historically) the grand daughter-in-law of Emperor Kangxi. She was married to Emperor Qianlong, Kangxi's grandson.
Bai Yueguang was warm and gentle, dressed in an ethereal outfit. Hearing this joke, she playfully responded: "The guest I've invited is, hmmm, very handsome, bold, and domineering. And he's related to you, too!"
Uncle Zhang San knew how to keep the conversation going. "Are you saying he's handsome, bold, and domineering like me? Let's invite him out."
The second floor's main doors opened and a person emerged. Of course, it was the actor who played Qianlong emperor in "Yanxi Palace."
"The emperor has arrived!"
"The Royal Couple has emerged again!"
The guests and contestants in the break room all stood up to greet him as they teased.
After a round of jokes, the Royal Couple held hands as they entered the recording room.
Uncle Zhang San then looked towards Bai Zhi. "Bai Zhi, please introduce your guest to us. I heard he's not a person from the entertainment industry."
Bai Zhi smiled. "He isn't. Currently, he's still a student. He's an artist and an online streamer. Voice acting has been his long-time dream. And as for his skill, well, you'll find out soon enough."
"Really? Then let's invite him out."
During the morning rehearsals, several celebrity contestants — including Uncle Zhang San — had already seen Meng Fan's performance. They were all terrified of his skill. Meng Fan had won over their respect with his abilities alone.
Descending from the second floor, Meng Fan was wearing the tuxedo that Bai Zhi had insisted he wear. He'd never worn formal wear before since not many suits could fit him. This time, he'd been forced to try it, and the results were quite good indeed. At least, after dressing up, he could see the effect he had on people based on the expressions of Bai Zhi and the makeup artists.
Furthermore, with his 11 Charm, he was quite a formidable force indeed.
"Isn't he handsome!"
Bai Zhi saw that the contestants were all surprised by Meng Fan and felt very satisfied. She couldn't refrain from showing off a little.
"Welcome, welcome."
Uncle Zhang San raised his head. "Holy! How tall are you?"
Meng Fan greeted him and smiled. "Almost 190 cm."
Uncle Zhang San smiled. "You look like you're almost two meters tall. No wonder everyone calls you Iron Tower!"
Shen Haojian, who had been sitting next to Uncle Zhang San as his partner, began to laugh. "We've solved the case! Doesn't the internet say your height has always been a mystery? Well, it's solved now. You're definitely not 182 cm tall."
Uncle Zhang San pointed to Shen Haojian. "Don't you tell people you're 180 cm tall as well?" Then he gestured towards him with a finger hook from one of Shen Haojie's roles in a movie. "Come here!"
The external stage people burst into laughter as Bai Zhi looped her arm around Meng Fan and entered the dubbing studio.
After entering, the two groups greeted each other.
Upon closer inspection, Bai Yueguang was radiating with goddess appeal, but as for the big shot emperor… Meng Fan had a brief impression of him playing a role in "Heroes of the Sui and Tang Dynasty." It's just that Meng Fan couldn't clearly distinguish who — between him and Huang Haibin — had played Qin Shubao and who had played Luo Cheng.
Downstairs, at the main stage, Uncle Kai the host had begun announcing the third group. He then cued towards the guests upstairs and asked the audience to greet them.
Bai Yueguang imitated the character from the voice clip she'd dubbed and sent the audience a flying kiss. When it was the emperor's turn, the audience at the main stage had already exploded. The appearance of the Royal Couple was very satisfying and surprising.
It was Bai Zhi's turn next. Bai Zhi had always been very popular, and her performance on this show had gained her plenty of new fans. Her greeting also drew some passionate screams and applause.
Then came Meng Fan's turn. Based on the script, he had to dub a character before introducing himself.
Uncle Kai said: "Bai Zhi, who is your collaborating guest?"
As soon as the mic went silent, a unified scream was heard from the audience. "Iron Tower!"
This surprised the host as well as the guests on the second floor.
"You guessed correctly that easily?"
"He's popular!"
In the external stage, Yu Xiaoer, a child star who recently made her stunning debut on "Voice Legend" by making it to the finals, updated her seniors backstage. "He's a very popular streamer in the Otaku category on 8th Station. In there, he's probably more popular than you guys are." She then looked towards the actor who played Li Yunlong. "Except for you, Mr Li."
Meng Fan was slightly shocked as well. Did someone hire paid audience members to maintain the atmosphere?
Seeing it was his turn, he also began to dub the original voice track he'd prepared, wailing: "WOOOH! SU——PER! The master shipwright from One Piece, reporting for duty!"
This magical phrase mixed with the tongue rolls was no doubt Franky from "One Piece." He had done so in Japanese as well. He'd chosen this character as his personal introduction because Franky's nickname was the Iron Man, which was related to his own nickname of Iron Tower.
After this dubbing, everyone's eyes lit up — from the contestants, to the host, to the audience members.𝗇𝞸𝗏𝑬𝐥𝒏𝑬xt.𝓒𝗈𝗆
"Hello everyone, I'm Meng Fan."
Meng Fan returned to his original voice. He didn't need the increase in Voice Appeal to be charming.
The contestants on the external stage immediately gave him a thumbs up.
"As soon as an expert speaks, you'll know if they're real."
"I've seen his voice dubs online. He's incredible. He's definitely a professional voice actor!"
"I've seen him, too! Everyone, be careful! Bai Zhi had come with the championship in mind!"
The audience on scene were evidently getting more excited. The applause was also very enthusiastic. Since the audience consisted mostly of young adults, there were several otakus present.
Once Uncle Kai announced the beginning of the "Classic Voice" segment for group three, the first contestant to step up was Bai Yueguang. Following her was the big shot emperor. The two performed incredibly, which caused a burst of applause from the audience.
Afterwards, the two descended to the main stage hand in hand and began their collaboration scene, which was equally wonderful.
It was then Bai Zhi's turn. Bai Zhi was voicing scenes from "Qi Yue and An Sheng" and "Feng Shui." The former had two roles, which was performed incredibly to say the least, while the latter scene brought tears to the eyes of all her audience.
"Next, please welcome Meng Fan and his 'Classic Voice', a clip from the film, 'The Message.'"
"Everyone, please pay attention, ah!" Uncle Kai slyly chided.
In the dubbing studio on the second floor, Meng Fan approached the voice actor's seat. He undid a button on his neckline and exhaled deeply. He would be lying if he wasn't the least bit nervous.
Bai Zhi gave him a big thumbs up. "Relax. You'll be OK."
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Chapter 256: One Person, Seven Roles
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation𝗇𝞸𝗏𝑬𝐥𝒏𝑬xt.𝓒𝗈𝗆
"Wooo, it's coming!"
If you asked whose performance Professor Di was anticipating the most during the annual show tonight, it would undoubtedly have to be Meng Fan's.
Not to say that the other actors were weak, but more because Meng Fan's performance had been full of surprises; he was also very talented.
Based on the voice acting category solely, she couldn't think of anyone else who could rival this young adult. Regardless if it was based on skill or emotion, he had been spotless. Most importantly, he had a versatile voice as well.
She'd been in the voice acting field for decades and had seen the golden age of production in progress. She'd seen all the kinds of strange and whimsical voice actors in the industry since she began producing, but she'd never seen someone so versatile and as well rounded as Meng Fan; he could even do a female voice!
His female voice didn't just specialize in one range either; he did all types, too!
And naturally, his voice was persuasive.
To Professor Di, Meng Fan was definitely the shining star of the annual performance. His performance would even take attention away from the heavily promoted celebrity guests who were attending.
To be honest, amid her anticipation, she was also wiping away sweat for the previous champion. She prayed that the TV crew would be merciful during post editing; otherwise, the audience will easily think the last champion was a poser. Even if everyone knew Meng Fan was a guest contender, it'd be hard not to make comparisons.
At this time, a scene had been projected at the main stage. The screen was split in two: one side being a clip of Meng Fan in the dubbing room, and the other showing the clip from "The Message."
"This was a password intercepted by Huang Jun this afternoon."
In the movie clip, the character played by Wang Zhiwen appeared with a cigarette in his mouth as he spoke. At the same time, the audience could hear a super textured voice that was incompatible with the character. It was very similar to Wang Zhiwen's normal voice.
Following this were two more phrases. They weren't very powerful, but even then, it demonstrated his skill.
They had played this scene because the original segment was too long and had to be clipped. Immediately afterwards, the role played by Alec Su came on, the voice dark but soft. "That's funny. Aside from Captain Li, none of these people are professional telegraphers. What are you doing here? Getting screen time in a hot movie?"
The camera finally pointed at Alec Su after Meng Fan uttered the sentence. To the audience, this counted as them matching the voice to the person. It also made their eyes light up.
One person playing two roles?
This was something that everyone was eager to see.
During the peak of their anticipation, Wang Zhiwen and Alec Su's dialogue ended, and the two voices immediately transitioned to a third voice.
Suddenly, Zhang Hanyu's charming and magnetic voice was heard. "Does our military know about this?"
The audience didn't have time to react before the camera panned back to Alec Su. The complete opposite of Zhang Hanyu's voice came on again, gentle but dark. Then, it switched again to another voice that reflected Ying Da's tone.
Every time he transitioned, he would leave no clue. And the final result wasn't just a voice that matched the role: the script was exactly what the characters would feel, with his emotional performance also on point.
People didn't have to guess whose voice it was. As soon as you hear a voice, you'd know which role it belonged to. There was no need to guess; you didn't even have to separate them into categories to differentiate them. He was basically imitating the original soundtrack to perfection.
The male roles bounced back and forth, facilitating the fast pace exchange of most spy movies. Suddenly, he transitioned to Li Bingbing's character's part. Once the icy and clear voice came on, several members of the audience stood up.
They stared at the screen on the left. Meng Fan's mouth was moving indeed!
Li Bingbing's lines for this segment were plentiful. Even those with a slow reaction rate could tell that Meng Fan was dubbing her!
Does the Iron Hero fit the female role?
Several people among the audience knew of Meng Fan, but they'd only known him because of the incident with the K-pop idol. Not everyone understood Meng Fan, or had bothered to check for his female voice dubbing clips when they found out he would be a guest on this show.
As for the celebrities on the external stage… Most of them were also dumbfounded.
It was easy for women to dub men's voices, but it was way too hard if it's the other way around! He'd nailed each character so precisely, and it sounded natural, too!
"I want to go home!"
When Zhou Xun's slightly drunken, caustic, and bright voice came on, the audience went wild.
Two female voices! And he'd managed to separate them, too!
When Takeda — played by Huang Jiaozhu — appeared, Zhou Xun pointed in confusion: "Who's that?"
Her drunken demeanor could be heard clearly through these two short words!
"Long time no see. No wonder you're a professional. This is the original copy, can we begin now?"
For Takeda's part, he first mimicked the character speaking Chinese with a Japanese accent, then bellowed out in authentic Japanese.
The scene ended here, and Meng Fan concluded his performance.
Meng Fan took off his headphones and let out a deep breath. He was a nervous wreck! His voice had been a bit shaky in the beginning, but thankfully he was able to control it.
He opened a bottle of iced cola. The other voice actors at least tried to protect their throats and would drink mineral water no matter what, but Meng Fan was not like them. In one breath, he downed half the bottle and happily burped. Only then did he feel relieved.
The audience and guests — who were surprised by Meng Fan's voice acting — laughed, intrigued by Meng Fan's actions.
Meng Fan was only thinking about calming his nerves and didn't realize he was still being filmed. He wasn't trying to get attention or be arrogant. This was quite embarrassing.
"Isn't he incredible?"
On the main stage, Uncle Kai had an exaggerated expression of astonishment on his face as he asked his audience: "Just now, I asked everyone to pay attention. Did you notice how many roles Meng Fan was dubbing?"
"Seven!"
"Yeah, he dubbed seven roles!"
Uncle Kai gestured a 'seven' with his fingers and returned to his boastful expression. "He voiced seven roles in one take, and it included two female roles and two languages as well! He matched each voice to its character; this is a difficult feat indeed! It would make people inevitably think of Han Xiaoxue's reenactment from 'Inside Out,' where she voiced eight roles, male and female. But in my opinion, Meng Fan's version was no less difficult than Han Xiaoxue's performance."
He then paused. "Han Xiaoxue's clip had a faster rhythm and more characters, but Meng Fan's clip was much more complicated. However, most importantly, we are all very familiar with the seven actors in this segment, how they sound like, and what their unique characteristics are. But Meng Fan was able to make it feel unobtrusive! This is talent, ah!"
The audience nodded in agreement with Uncle Kai's objective and rational analysis. The contestants backstage agreed as well.
"Have you not heard enough from him?"
Uncle Kai asked once again, "Do you want to hear this clip again? Then please log in…"
Suddenly, an advertisement popped up.
Then, Uncle Kai announced: "Next, please welcome Meng Fan and his 'Classic Voice' segment, a scene from 'Da Zhai Men.'"
He didn't announce it was Meng Fan's second clip, nor did he emphasize the redundancy. This was because once they aired the episode, it would be easier to edit and trim the clips.
Uncle Kai was particularly looking forward to the next segment. State Strategist Zhang, the annual show's big shot director sitting with the audience, was also looking forward to Meng Fan's performance. He also did a cameo on "Da Zhai Men."
'State Strategist' refers to the famous Chinese director, Zhang Yimou
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Chapter 257: Now Cry!
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"Oi Duan, how's it going?"
In the exterior room, Prince Zhang Xiao and Duan Long sat across from each other. The two were collaborating on "Soldier's Sortie,""My Chief and My Regiment," and other television shows in the mainland.
Duan Long was definitely an explosive type actor. He was versatile and had been nominated for the Golden Horse acting award. He also became known as an International Emperor of Acting, winning the Shanghai International Film Festival, Tokyo International Film Festival and other various international film awards. He could play both good and bad roles, and his voice was manly beyond compare. He was charming, and his attendance made them one of the most favored duos to win the championship for the annual show this year.
Prince Zhang had asked Duan Long this question since Duan Long had acted in "The Message," though he never appeared in this specific scene.
"This is definitely some badass acting." Duan Long gave a thumbs up. "Most people wouldn't be able to do this. It's not as easy as switching between a male and female voice. Each voice has its own unique characteristic, and the voices are very theatrical as well. To be honest, Meng Fan's dubbing of this is even better than the original. And it's full of emotion, too. Seeing how young he is, I almost feel like he's an ancient beast."
"I don't know where Bai Zhi found him since you can't even find such a good talent among professional voice actors. And he's really young, too. I guess we can't underestimate the heroes of our world." Prince Zhang had spoken his last sentence with an accented tone.
Beside him, Captain Li threw his head back and began to laugh. "I've heard this kid has even imitated my artful commercials. I have to go charge him for the commercial fee hehe."
Yu Xiaoer smiled. "Mr. Li, do you watch 8th Station streams?"
Captain Li smiled. "It's not a matter of watching it or not, ah. There's so many terrible streams, one can't do anything about. But hey, he's pretty entertaining."
In the exterior room, the contestants and their guests joked around amid their surprise, eagerly anticipating his next performance.
At this time, Meng Fan had already drank all the iced cola he had left over. He let out a large burp. It wasn't because he felt congested this time but to get in the mood.
Burping was a way to open one's throat, except Meng Fan's burp was special.
He paced back and forth a few times and found the state he wanted to be in. He then dragged a chair behind him, signaling the staff member to begin playback.
The duration of the clip Meng Fan was dubbing for "Da Zhai Men" was a long one, much longer than the clip for "The Message." Once it aired, they would definitely have to cut out a few segments. Meng Fan wanted to ask which parts would be cut so he could accommodate, but Professor Di and Director Xu had assured Meng Fan to perform normally. They will decide what's cut when the time comes.
The "Da Zhai Men" dub was the last episode, and he would mostly be impersonating Uncle Three's inaugural speech of Bai Yingyu as he became the president of the pharmaceutical bank and end his life after swallowing some tobacco cream.
This clip had two outstanding parts. One of them was naturally the 'won't be a treasonous slave to the nation' by Bai Yingyu, while the other being the dialogue between Bai Jingqi, played by Chen Baoguo, and Eighth Uncle Yu, played by Li Xuejian.
"Everyone shut up! It's been several years, and the group's been headless…"
The scene began with Wang Xigang, played by Mr. Lei Gesheng. As a traitor, he was also the chairman presiding over this inauguration ceremony.
Mr. Lei Gesheng's voice was very unique. Once Meng Fan opened his mouth, he had stunned the entire audience. Everyone was awaiting his next phrase.
Once he was done with the opening phrase, Meng Fan reclined in his chair and found the proper attitude of Uncle Three. "Don't dare speak. Sorry, everyone. I am old, so I must speak sitting down. Heh, and I can't leave alcohol either. I'm abusing my age, aren't I."
This added phrase was enough to set the foundation for the character's unique attributes.
"You're right! You're abusing your age and even managed to become a traitor out of it!"
At this time, the scene changed. Meng Fan faced towards the guest star, Li Xuejian, and stood up once again. Once his voice was heard, the guest star was once again shocked. Meng Fan's impersonation sounded exactly like Li Xuejian, with a humorous yet scolding tone. He accurately expressed Uncle Yu's characteristics.
"Uncle Yu, do your hips not hurt from talking so big? That's easier said than done."
"Heh? You could tell? My hips don't hurt! At least, not enough to bow down to the Japanese!"
Following this was Mr Li Xuejian and Chen Baoguo's dispute. The skills that these two masters showed during this dialogue segment could only be described as peak acting.
Especially Mr. Li Xuejian, who was also a guest on the show. The actor really brought out each phrases, expressions, and emotions to the extreme. Even his glances were in character, and every frown and expression were textbook performance. With a quiver of his lip, he could make people gasp in shock. His energy was paramount and very emotional!
Based on trending terms now, he would be called explosive!
Meng Fan had immersed his entire person into acting this segment as well.
His voice acting before had relied on his tone and emotion alone. But to be honest, facial expressions were also very important, and once Meng Fan was in the mood, his actions became synchronized as well.
He had no choice. Mr. Li Xuejian was too good an actor, Meng Fan had to mobilize his entire arsenal of skills to match him. Otherwise, he wouldn't achieve the same result.
Once this phrase ended, the audience was dumbfounded!
It was spectacular!
Most people just had to portray the roles well if they were taking on two or more roles in one sitting. Like Meng Fan's clip, they had to be fast at transitioning, and make sure the roles don't clash. However, this scene was a person's inner monologue against himself and the kind that could provoke a fight immediately!
"Are you crazy!"
Some of the audience began to cheer. This phrase used anywhere else would be quite offensive, but this time, the cheers had been encouraging.
"Guys, when you see me, my heart was screaming, heh. This old traitor! How can I not be shameful at such an old age…"
After this improvisation ended, Meng Fan began Uncle Three's scene. His voice continued to follow the character of the role.
"Humans. Once they're wealthy, they think they can do whatever they want… But there's one thing they can't do. They can't be a traitor!"
At this point, the BGM started to play, igniting the scene. The speech began. "….The third rule. I would rather suffer a thousand cuts by a sword than be a mindless traitor to the nation!"
When he got to the part that he wasn't chewing donkey meat but opium instead, the tears began to fall.
"Opium and then wine, your life will be gone in an instant. I'm old and have already enjoyed enough happiness and started enough revolts. I have no regrets dying!"
"Look at the blackhole in front of you. It must be the thief's lair. I can't help but rush forward and give him a clean death…"
The last word didn't finish!
"Uncle Three, a good name will be passed down forever!"
During Mr. Li Jianxue's final outcry, the scene paused when the people knelt to the ground. That was the end of Meng Fan's scene.
Meng Fan was also emotional, sprawled on the ground with tears in his eyes. He lowered his head as tears began to fall.
Once he sat, he had to buffer for a long time before standing up.
He had been deprived of all energy!
The audience also took a while to snap back to reality. The host on the stage, Uncle Kai, took a deep breath before wiping away his tears. He looked toward the audience to see a sea of tears, including Professor Di.
Zhang Guoshi didn't cry, but his eyes were sparkling.
"Badass!"
"He's done it!"
"This is much more difficult than the last clip he did!"𝗇𝞸𝗏𝑬𝐥𝒏𝑬xt.𝓒𝗈𝗆
"How capable is he!"
"It's a good match!"
All the celebrities in the exterior room had given him a standing ovation. Looking at each other, they continuously praised him as their eyes glistened with tears. Several were already crying.
From the second floor, you could hear Bai Zhi's voice. "Can't you get up? I can't lift you!"
"Sister Bai, I really can't get up."
Meng Fan really wanted to cry now. He had sat down a bit too fiercely that his pants tore open.
He looked at Bai Zhi resentfully. He'd already said he wasn't suitable for formal wear. He needed some sweatpants or an elastic waist at least. But no, she wanted the 'form'. But now, it's a 'form'-al trainwreck. He felt like he was being punished!
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Chapter 258: Iron Turret
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
"You can't get up? What's wrong?"
Bai Zhi was a bit startled hearing this. She knew this would be a difficult scene to dub, and it could be counted as the longest voice acting segment out of both seasons. Needless to say, there was a large amount of physical strength that's required, but most importantly, it was emotionally taxing.
She'd heard of some actors being emotionally stuck during a role and unable to withdraw for a long time.
However, when she looked closer, she couldn't contain it and burst into laughter. She couldn't help but punch Meng Fan. What was going on? How is this kid so troublesome!
Although she'd found his outfit last minute, the measurements were very accurate. Mango TV's costume department was supposed to have great quality, how could it rip!
"Uhm, can you stop laughing!"
Meng Fan wanted to cry. He'd seen similar situations happen in various TV shows. It was funny to see it happen to someone else, but when it happened to himself… It's so awkward and very uncomfortable!
Meng Fan took off his blazer and tied it around his waist. It basically covered the rip. He gestured towards the staff to bring him a new pair of pants.
People were all curious as to what was going on upstairs. Although they couldn't see, some voices could still be heard that had the host chuckling from the main stage. "What's going on upstairs? Did something interesting happen?"
The vocal assistant, who could also be considered a secondary host, was also present. Their faces were about to burst from laughing so much. They'd wanted to tell the audience about the entertaining situation, since they would have filmed it anyways. But after hearing the main host talk, they immediately began laughing again. "Meng Fan ripped his pants when he sat down."
With this, the audience erupted in laughter. They, too, could tell that the celebrity contestants and their guests in the external room laughing as well.
They had just been crying, but now this bast*rd had induced a cacophony of laughter.
Meng Fan was innocent; he wasn't trying to be humorous!
He'd originally wanted to hide the tear, but it seemed unlikely now. Of course, it wasn't bad enough that he'd blame the vocal assistant. Only, what the assistant was about to say really made him uncomfortable.
The vocal assistant proceeded with a chuckle: "It's okay, a rip is fine. Don't we have Bai Yueguang present? Her talent is tailoring repairs."
This statement had an origin. There are many clips circulating on the internet of the empress, Bai Yueguang, sewing her dresses and costumes, some even making the news. The articles had expressed this was because Bai Yueguang felt that her formal wear was too exposing, a low V neck or what not, and wanted to sew them up. There was even photographic evidence. Several people had found the news entertaining and had, upon seeing that she was one of the top grossing actresses in the industry, became her fans very quickly.
The vocal assistant evidently saw an opportunity for this joke and reacted fast, too. Without thinking, it had also exposed the criticism she faced regarding her emotional intelligence and stubbornness.
She only tailored her own clothes, okay? And it was on her own clothes. If you want a girl to sew the pants of a man like Meng Fan, and on the behind too… Meng Fan didn't know how other people would take it. He himself felt it would be an awkward situation, though.
The vocal assistant was quite pleased with the joke and continued to press Meng Fan: "How about you ask Bai Yueguang to patch that up for you?"
Meng Fan was speechless. How was he supposed to answer that? Not answering wasn't an option, either. Since he was afraid she'd continue pressing, he hurriedly responded: "Bai Yueguang only tailors clothes for goddess level figures, and my name, Meng Fan, already shows that I'm just a mortal. How could I ask that of a goddess."
The Fan in Meng Fan also means mortal.
He then gestured to the staff to hurry up and find him some pants.
The celebrities in the external stage, including Bai Yuegang and the team that Bai Zhi had PKed during the "Director's Show," all began to laugh. The atmosphere had been salvaged and was no longer embarrassing.
At this time, Bai Zhi lightly glanced towards the vocal assistant. She didn't care if she was trying to be funny or if she succeeded or if it was all for comedic effect. Bai Zhi smiled warmly and spoke: "You can't take your personal issues out in a business setting on Meng Fan because he hit that K-pop idol!"
At that moment, the atmosphere turned really awkward!
Of course, not everyone felt the scope of the awkwardness. Several faces inside the studio felt their expressions go dark.
Some people understood the meaning behind her words and felt that Bai Zhi was very daring. It was so satisfying, though.
"Uncle Kai, hang on! We have a wardrobe malfunction on our end."
Bai Zhi didn't care. She knew that the crew would edit out her retort just now and turned to follow Meng Fan and the staff member to the changing rooms.
He ended up changing into another tuxedo, courtesy of Bai Zhi. She'd insisted that Meng Fan looked best in one. After squatting a few times to test its durability, he gave in. The crew had already begun rushing them to the dubbing studio.
Returning to the dubbing studio, everyone was already acquainted. They pretended that that little scene didn't happen, this 'scene' referring to Bai Zhi's statement. As for what happened before that, Mango TV would most likely broadcast the entire segment due to their history and reputation for making variety shows.
Toward this, Meng Fan didn't feel opposed. Since he agreed to film the show, he had to accept some consequences.
And after the interruption, Meng Fan felt like he'd regained back most of his energy.
Going live again, the two walked hand in hand into the elevator and onto the main stage and began recording their collaboration act.
The first segment of their collaboration was "Xiao Zhuang Mi Shi." It's a classic series where both actors involved demonstrated a high level of acting skills. Da Yuer was played by Ning Jing.
Whether it was her acting skills or her features, she was worthy of the saying, "There can be no more Da Yuers after Ning Jing." Some people even joked that Ning Jing was the only actress who could tame Ma Jiaozhu into submission. Evidently, in this scene, Ma Jiaozhu didn't dare to upset Ning Jing.
"What's wrong?"
"Xu Jiu is missing."
"Empress dowager, what's the commotion that you summoned me so quickly."
"I wouldn't dare to summon the emperor regent. If something goes wrong, two white flags and a yellow one would have killed their way to Beijing…"
After teasing each other in the beginning, Meng Fan and Bai Zhi were able to capture the characteristics of the roles as well as the psychology behind the plot.
Immediately following, the two began the "love to death" dialogue, which demonstrated the ambiguity of the two characters and the results of their choices.
Meng Fan held back tears as he hoarsely choked, a feeling of being wronged in his voice. "To die like this, Yuer, you're cursing me! With our feelings for each other, you're cursing me! For you, I gave up the throne that was at my fingertips. I was willing to dig out my heart for you, yet you curse me."𝗇𝞸𝗏𝑬𝐥𝒏𝑬xt.𝓒𝗈𝗆
Bai Zhi's eyes glistened as she held her ground, lips quivering. "I'm not cursing you, Duo Ergun. You're doing this to yourself!"
Next, there was supposed to be a scene of Duo Ergun returning to his lair and crying amid laughter.
But since that scene didn't contain Bai Zhi, Meng Fan had requested it to be cut, thus ending their performance.
In this performance, Meng Fan's performance was naturally flawless, but Bai Zhi had stood out more. Her voice was very similar to Ning Jing, and her emotional expression was also excellent. It could be described as a three pointer, very tear inducing. Several people in the audience had teared up.
Of course, some people in the industry, including the vocal coach, Professor Di, could tell that Bai Zhi was able to give such an incredible performance because Meng Fan had carried her. It wasn't the type of carry where Meng Fan purposely lowered his skills to match Bai Zhi but because he'd been able to bring out her emotions to their peak by articulating it so well himself. This was a difficult task to achieve.
Their interest in Meng Fan was growing, especially from Professor Di. Last night, she'd learned that Meng Fan was a staff member at the Chocolate Factory and had called Director Charlie to clarify some questions. She even casually mentioned "borrowing" Meng Fan, but now she was sure of this decision.
Meng Fan didn't just do a great job himself; he was also able to amplify the emotional performance of his partner. The latter was more appealing to Professor Di, who frequently assisted on TV series and movies.
After they finished dubbing for "Xiao Zhuang Mi Shi," Bai Zhi adjusted her emotions and began the second clip, 'I'm-Sherlocked,' from "Sherlock."
In this clip, Bai Zhi had less participation, since she'd picked the clip for Meng Fan to stand out.
A deep and charming voice came on. "NO!"
Irene from the film: "Sorry?"
At this time, the camera panned back to Sherlock. "I-said-no. Very, very-close, but-no."
Not everyone had seen "Sherlock" before, but everyone knew the Sherlock Holmes that Benedict Cumberbatch played.
Of course, the scene was hard to understand if you weren't a fan of the show. After all, Sherlock and Irene's emotional encounter at this moment felt a bit inexplicable, not to mention the fact that they wouldn't know what 'I'm-Sherlocked' stood for.
This segment to most people undoubtedly presented Meng Fan's English dubbing abilities. Most people couldn't tell if Meng Fan's accent was American or British, but they could tell his pronunciations were on point. It sounded very comfortable and eloquent. At the same time, Meng Fan's vocal range was very similar to Cumberbatch's. It was charming, and a deep voice was very attractive, too. Explosively crisp!
Of course, some phrases were sped up, which was very satisfying to hear.
"Incredible, incredible!"
Uncle Kai exhaled. He then invited Meng Fan and Bai Zhi — who'd completed their recordings — to the center of the stage and began a series of interviews and interactions. He mostly questioned Bai Zhi and how she felt her performance had gone during the two performances.
However, Bai Zhi continued to divert the topic of discussion to Meng Fan, as if she'd become the guest contestant instead. Uncle Kai saw this and followed the script they had rehearsed. "Meng Fan, your imitation of Sherlock just now, you did it in a British accent, right? Unless I'm mistaken."
"I only imitated the original soundtrack for this scene." Meng Fan was modest and answered truthfully.
"I could tell from a few of the sentences. You're very fast at articulating!" Uncle Kai continued to follow the script, but was curious to find out for himself as well. "Then do you think you could try voicing one of Sherlock's faster deduction scenes?"
"I'll give it a try."
Meng Fan nodded. The scene from "Hounds of Baskerville" began to play.
In the following 60 seconds, Meng Fan's mouth rattled off like a machine gun without pausing. His shots stunned the audience.
"Wow!"
Uncle Kai was mesmerized. "Meng Fan, you're not an Iron Hero, you're an Iron Turret! Your tongue is incredible, it's like you're in a shooter game! Don't you all think so?"
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