Chapter 52
As the first rays of sunlight peeked through the curtains, Jiang Siyi drowsily opened her eyes.
She reached for her phone and realized she had woken up before her alarm.
She had slept well, without any dreams.
Feeling refreshed, she threw off the covers and got out of bed.
The presidential suite was spacious and luxurious, most people would find it comfortable. But Jiang Siyi would rather have a smaller room—she was lazy and didn’t want to walk too much.
She was the only one staying on this floor; the rest of the production team were in regular single rooms downstairs. She had even asked Ah Yun, “Why do I get such a nice room?”
Ah Yun had replied after a while,
“They ran out of rooms, so the hotel upgraded you to a suite for free. Ms. Jiang, you’re the director, you deserve the best!”
Jiang Siyi didn’t understand why the director got special treatment.
But Ah Yun quickly changed the subject to work, so she didn’t pursue it.
The hotel had a breakfast buffet on the first floor.
Jiang Siyi, too lazy to go out, grabbed a few things and sat by the window, eating quietly.
The work group chat was already lively. She opened WeChat to check the messages, but she instinctively clicked on Shen Shiwu’s chat first.
Last night, after rolling around in bed, Jiang Siyi had finally calmed down.
She had burrowed under the covers, almost suffocating herself, before finally replying to Shen Shiwu’s message, pretending to be calm.
“Can’t I just want to talk to you?”
“Of course you can, baby.”
Jiang Siyi had stared at those two words for a long time.
Her face had slowly heated up.
She had sniffed and turned down the AC.
“Why aren’t you replying?” Shen Shiwu had asked.
The cold air from the AC made Jiang Siyi’s hands feel icy. Finding it too tiring to type, she sent a voice message, her voice slightly drawn out. “Where are you now?”
After sending it, she listened to it several times, making sure her tone sounded normal, before waiting for a reply.
“I’m in Qinan, I’ll go to the office first, then home.”
“Feel free to check up on me anytime.”
Jiang Siyi responded with an “Oh,” her mind still foggy from sleep, saying whatever came to mind.
“I’m too lazy to check up on you, can’t you just report to me yourself? Are you driving? Oh, you must be at a rest stop.”
The fifty-second voice message was mostly rambling, or rather, a long, elaborate setup for the last few words—
“Why did you suddenly call me ‘baby’?”
Shen Shiwu had just gotten into her car, the closing of the door shutting out the outside noise. The voice message ended just then.
The girl’s slightly sleepy voice asking the question.
A smile appeared on Shen Shiwu’s lips, her voice gentle. “Okay, I’ll report to you. I just bought a bottle of water at the rest stop, now I’m in the car, haven’t started driving yet…”
She patiently answered every question, including the last one.
“Because you’re my baby.”
Shen Shiwu tapped the steering wheel, her fatigue from the long drive suddenly gone.
She chuckled. “Doesn’t Xiao Si like it?”
Jiang Siyi held her phone, listening to the voice message several times.
Shen Shiwu added, “If you don’t like it, I won’t call you that anymore.”
Her ears felt warm, and she fidgeted with them, arguing with herself inwardly, before finally closing her eyes—
“It’s okay.”
“I don’t… dislike it.”
The sliced bread on her plate had gone cold.
Jiang Siyi reread their conversation from last night, then reluctantly exited the chat and opened the work group chat.
Perhaps because it was the first official day of work, everyone seemed to be full of energy. Before she could even finish reading all the messages, she saw three or four people emerge from the elevator.
The loudest clicking of high heels was, of course, Lin Yusheng’s.
Several voice actors followed behind her.
Although Jiang Siyi was sitting in a secluded corner, her striking appearance made her stand out, and they spotted her from afar.
“Good morning, Ms. Jiang.”
“Good morning.”
“Why aren’t you eating outside? The food here isn’t very good.” After greeting Jiang Siyi, the others went to get their food. Only Lin Yusheng sat down across from her and asked.
“It’s fine, it’s edible.”
Lin Yusheng nodded, then asked, “Are you really feeling unwell?”
“Yes, I’m feeling better now.”
“Tsk,” she clearly didn’t believe her, “missing your girlfriend already? Did you two go on a date yesterday?”
“Cough, cough,” Jiang Siyi, taking a sip of the not-so-good coffee, choked.
Lin Yusheng raised an eyebrow.
The next second, Jiang Siyi, after recovering from her coughing fit, said calmly, “See?”
“What?”
“I’m sick,” Jiang Siyi smiled, “coughing.”
“…”
The arrival of the voice actors livened up the atmosphere. They chatted as they ate, and Jiang Siyi gradually became more familiar with them.
The hotel was close to the office building, only a few minutes’ walk. After breakfast, they walked together, crossing a few intersections, and arrived at the recording studio.
Someone was already there.
A cleaner was cleaning the studio.
Jiang Siyi, holding a tissue, was about to throw it in the trash can when the cleaner extended her hand. “Miss, give it to me.”
She had wanted to say “Thank you, Auntie,” but she paused as she looked up, seeing the cleaner’s face, and changed her words.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome, it’s my job.”
The cleaner didn’t look old at all, thirty at most. After saying this, she left the room to empty the trash.
Ah Yun was holding the script, about to enter the recording studio.
Seeing Jiang Siyi standing there, she turned and asked, “Ms. Jiang, what’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” Jiang Siyi also picked up her script from the sofa and said casually, “I was just surprised to see such a young cleaner.”
“Oh, her? She came looking for a job.”
“I thought she seemed quite nice, and her salary expectations weren’t high, so I hired her.”
Ah Yun rolled the script into a tube and played with it. “Just call her Xiao Ning.”
Jiang Siyi hadn’t really been bothered by it in the first place.
She nodded and followed Ah Yun into the recording studio to start working.
“Wait, is Ms. Kong not here yet?” Lin Yusheng asked.
Actually, Jiang Siyi had already noticed Kong Yin’s absence, but she hadn’t wanted to say anything.
Now, sitting in the swivel chair, she asked Ah Yun, “Where’s Ms. Kong?”
“She wouldn’t have overslept, would she…?”
“Aren’t you staying at her place? Didn’t you come together?”
Ah Yun was frantically messaging Kong Yin and was about to blurt out, “What? I’m not staying at her place,”
When she realized something was wrong.
Remembering that day, when she had tried to convince Kong Yin to let Jiang Siyi stay at her place, she quickly changed her words. “Ah…”
“Yes, but I was in a hurry to buy breakfast, so I left early.”
Ah Yun made up an excuse on the spot.
She saw that the call had connected and quickly asked, “Hello? Kong Yin, where are you?”
The woman on the other end sounded like she had just woken up, her voice nasally and muffled. “Sorry, I had a fever last night.”
“You guys start recording, I’ll be there soon.”
Kong Yin was always serious about her work.
She tried to get up, but her head felt heavy.
Ah Yun, hearing her voice, sighed. “Forget it, why don’t you just rest at home? We can record your part tomorrow.”
The other voice actors also chimed in, “You’re in no condition to work, take care of yourself first.”
Kong Yin fell back onto her bed.
She heard several voices on the other end, but she didn’t hear Jiang Siyi’s.
She asked tentatively, “Where’s Ms. Jiang? How’s she feeling?”
It was Ah Yun who replied, “She’s fine, doing well.”
“Okay, go back to sleep, we won’t disturb you anymore, bye.”
Jiang Siyi held her pen, her gaze fixed on the script.
She circled a few lines, then, snapping back to reality, she asked the person beside her, “So Ms. Kong is definitely not coming?”
Ah Yun sighed inwardly for Kong Yin—See, she doesn’t even care about you. I was sitting right next to her when I called, and she didn’t even listen.
She nodded. “Yes.”
Jiang Siyi twirled her pen. “Then let’s begin, don’t waste any time.”
Ah Yun felt even more helpless—Kong Yin, look, in her eyes, you’re just a waste of time.
Audiobooks were quite different from audio dramas.
The former was simply reading aloud, no need to create a scene, just clear pronunciation and a complete narration of the story.
Jiang Siyi had removed the unnecessary parts of the script, making the plot more concise and fluid.
The sun rose higher, and it was almost noon.
After several retakes, Jiang Siyi was finally satisfied. She nodded and glanced at the time. “Let’s stop here for now, everyone, lunch break.”
They left the recording studio, collapsing onto the sofas or sitting cross-legged on the chairs.
“I’ve noticed that Ms. Jiang is different when she’s working,” one of the voice actors said, looking at the takeout menu.
“She actually has the potential to be a workaholic,” Lin Yusheng said, slowly sipping her water.
Jiang Siyi looked up. “Really?”
“Yes,” the voice actor nodded, “you’re usually quiet, and when you do speak, your tone is quite gentle. But when you’re working, it’s different.”
“Very serious, so serious that Xiao Xuan and I didn’t even dare to breathe.”
Xiao Xuan chuckled. “You’re the scaredy-cat, don’t drag me into this.”
“Although Ms. Jiang is strict when she’s working, she’s very charismatic.” She crossed her arms, her desire to survive strong. “Just a casual observation, please, your girlfriend, spare me!”
The mention of Shen Shiwu made Jiang Siyi’s mood improve considerably.
A faint smile appeared on her lips. “My girlfriend is very magnanimous.”
Bullshit.
Maganimous? As if.
If Shen Shiwu heard that, they might end up having to find a new location for their activities.
As they chatted, they didn’t notice Gu Ning, the cleaner, who was mopping the floor, listening intently.
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