18 Chapter 17 – Yan Du Xian Salted Pork Soup 2 (1/2)
Her unfinished sentence had been sent out already. Surprisingly, Qiang Qing Ci did not reply.
Gu Sheng was truly in shock from the idea. The word, ”meet-up” was floating around in her brain… She had never met-up with any of her friends in the 2-D world before. Even though, this was nothing like the once popular fad of online dating and was just a bunch of friends who all loved ancient style music getting together, recording a song, and having dinner or something…
(⊙o⊙)… Having dinner? That was way too remote to think about…
Oh no. Just even thinking about the word, ”meet-up” and then linking that idea with all those frequently heard names, especially Toupai, in the entertainment circle made her feel awful all over.
For half an hour, she wandered numbly around her room, still unable to settle down.
She decided to go into the bathroom, and there she faced the mirror, staring off into space. Her appearance… Was it really suitable to go see a bunch of superstars in the entertainment circle?
Out in the living room, an alert sound rang out from her mobile phone. She dashed out and picked it up.
It was Toupai's voice message: ”Out of our group of seven, there are four of us who are in the same city. How does tomorrow afternoon at 3 o'clock sound? From what Jue Mei said, classes resume for you the day after tomorrow?”
Tomorrow?!
Gu Sheng felt like she was going to have a nervous breakdown.
What was that looming sense that she was feeling, like doomsday was coming? …
To go see her absolute favourite voice plus a bunch of respected elders who were all her favourites as well and… and … she was not given any time at all to prepare. At the very least, she needed to prepare herself both psychologically and outwardly, you know, DaRen? …
She struggled within herself for a long time, but in the end, said into her WeChat, ”Alright… That time should be no problem for me.”
She could not act all pompous and snooty, right? They were already all accommodating the start of her school term.
After she sent her message, she suddenly was struck with confusion. How does Toupai know he and I are in the same city?
Weibo?
Weibo… Mm-hmm. Her Weibo profile did state her home city, whereas Toupai's was kept private.
Alright. T T It was not unusual at all for DaRen to know.
She and Toupai conversed a little longer regarding the time and address as well as how they were going to work things out with the other three singers who were not in the city. Toupai also in passing reminded her to go to bed early tonight. After that, he did not send any more voice messages. Gu Sheng gazed at her phone, quietly stroking Toupai's profile picture on the screen as she murmured to it, ”Toupai DaRen… How in the world am I going to get through the next twenty-something hours? …”
Gu Sheng was struggling over everything, from clothing to hairstyle, from whether to wear pants or a dress, to debating whether to wear her hair up or down. In the end, she decided to just keep it simple and clean and wear a pair of trousers and her down jacket. With the cold weather, it was best to dress a little more practically; otherwise, it really would be like meeting up with online friends or going on a blind date, and that would truly be awkward. According to what Toupai had told her, of the people collaborating with her on the song, she would be meeting Dou Dou Dou Bing, Fei Shao, and Wwwwk tomorrow. And then there were the two others, Jue Mei and Feng Ya Song, who were coming strictly because they were bored and had nothing to do….
Amongst this group, only Wwwwk and Fei Shao had ever had photos of themselves released on the Internet. This was because, of these two, the former was a radio host while the latter… hmm… he was a voice actor who did not care whether his face was on the Internet. The other people had never been ”seen” before, especially Toupai, who did not ever reveal any personal information, much less have his photograph show up on the Internet.
It would have been a lie if she said she was not excited, but she did not dare tell anyone about it.
People outside of the entertainment circle would not understand, and anyone in the circle would definitely hire an assassin to kill her or try to coerce her, by threat or by bribe, into secretly taking some photographs. As a result, Gu Sheng had no choice but to keep it all to herself from that afternoon until the middle of the night when she was still unable to fall asleep. When she arose the next day, her complexion was paler than usual, and it was apparent she had not slept well. She picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair. While she she was brushing, she suddenly remembered that she had to head back to school today!
In other words, that meant she needed to carry a week's worth of clothing and food to the recording studio… and then after that, go back to school…
Totally destroying to her image…
However, there was no other option. By the time they were done recording, it would be evening already, and the address of the recording studio was not very far from her university. In fact, it was actually on the way. Recognizing that she did not have much of a choice, she faced reality and started to gather up her clothing and food. One at a time, she stuffed them into her backpack until it was bulging. As she threw it on her back and started heading out the door, her mother did not forget to call after her, ”After your gathering with your classmates is done, head straight back to school. When you're back in your dorm, give me a call.”
Gu Sheng guiltily answered with a quick ”mm-hmm.”
She did not dare tell her mother she was going to meet-up a group of 2-D world friends whom she had never met before.
She did not want to spend several hours trying to explain to her mother the difference between online and 2-D world friends… mainly because there really was no actual difference.
After riding the metro, she transferred to a bus and rode for another two stops. When she arrived at the recording studio, it was nearly 2:30 p.m.
(⊙v⊙) Half an hour early.
Should she go up? Or wander around downstairs until three o'clock?… Gusts of cold air slipped in through edges of her scarf. So cold. Why was it so cold today? It wasn't going to snow, was it?
She strolled around and whittled away another twenty minutes before she finally went inside and took an elevator to the fourth floor.
With a ”ding,” the elevator opened.
Her view opened up into a sitting area. Two young women were at what appeared to be a bar-height reception desk. One was pouring a glass of water while the other was on the telephone and taking down notes. The girl who was pouring water noticed Gu Sheng and addressed her with a smile, ”Three o'clock studio? You're Mo Qingcheng[1]'s friend?”
Gu Sheng was taken aback for a moment, but, remembering the pinyin name he gave her in WeChat, she inferred that that must be Toupai's name. She nodded.
”Head inside to the back. It's the room on the left. Several people have arrived already.” The girl pointed at the sterilized cooler next to the reception area sofa. ”If you're thirsty, there's water there that you can help yourself to. The coffee station has instant coffee.” After this methodical and thorough introduction, the girl smiled and went back to drinking her glass of water.
A very professional and speedy string of explanations.
This was Gu Sheng's first time in a recording studio, and she at first had been worried that it would be a posh and serious sort of place. She had not expected it to be so casual and normal. Following the girl's instructions, she walked to the very end of the corridor. On the way, she passed three or four rooms. Some of the doors were open, and she could see the recording engineer staring at a video and syncing audio tracks. Others were closed. Probably in the middle of recording?
She came to a stop at the end of the corridor in front of the room on the left hand side.
She was nervous.
She gave a slight exhale and cleared her throat.
What should she say first? How about just, ”Hello everyone. I'm Sheng Sheng Man”? … Seemed a little idiotic …
Her hand was on the doorknob. Right as she was about to open the door, it was pulled open from the inside, and a very tall man suddenly stood before her. Both of them were taken aback.
”Hello,” Gu Sheng blurted.