Poor Relationship - Chapter 11

When Xu Yizhou snapped back to reality, the audio had already recorded a long segment.

He hurriedly hit pause. He didn’t dare record any more. He trimmed the already recorded part and sent it to Yu Xin. Throughout the whole process, Xu Yizhou’s face remained flushed, and it took him a long time to calm down even after sending it off.

His mind was completely filled with the cringeworthy scene from earlier. He went to the bathroom and splashed cold water on his face, his forehead strands damp with droplets.

Only then did the heat on his face subside a little.

“So embarrassing! I’ll never be able to look Wen Jiang in the eye again!”

Xu Yizhou wailed at the mirror. After drying his face, he noticed that Yu Xin had sent him a message, telling him to start the livestream at 7:30 to warm up the audience. But it was already 7:29.

“Damn.”

With no time to complain, Xu Yizhou rushed straight to the recording studio and opened the livestreaming software. After adjusting the equipment, he started the livestream right as the time ticked to 7:30. Not many people were in the livestream at first, and Xu Yizhou felt a bit awkward, unsure of what to say.

After a minute, viewers began trickling in one after another.

“Welcome, everyone, to the livestream. I’m Zhouzhou.”

Seeing comments start to appear in the chat, Xu Yizhou finally began his opening remarks.

【ShiZhou_yyds: Am I too early, or did Zhouzhou just start streaming?】

“Yeah, I just started.” Xu Yizhou picked a few questions and answered them one by one.

Many passersby were also drawn in by Xu Yizhou’s voice and stayed in the livestream.

【CatNotEatingTigers: OMG, I didn’t know An Chen was also voiced by this VA! That’s absolutely amazing!】

【RefinedXiaoNing: Wow, your voice is so nice, VA! Why do you only voice romance dramas?】

【ShiJun: Can you voice a segment as An Chen, VA?】

An Chen was the male lead from a youth angst audio drama he voiced last year. That drama had also earned him a bit of fame in the voice-acting circle. So he still remembered quite a few of An Chen’s lines. Xu Yizhou readily agreed to the chat’s request.

“Let me find the lines, wait a moment.”

To avoid messing up the lines and upsetting the original fans, Xu Yizhou opened a browser and searched for the novel’s classic quotes.

“Xixi, I was born in darkness, looking up at that unreachable starry sky.”

“You are that starry sky, you are my unreachable dream.”

“Between us lies a distance of one billion and thirty million light-years.”

“Do you understand?”

An Chen’s voice was the refreshing yet slightly deep type, so Xu Yizhou lowered his tone slightly to match the voice he had used back then.

【SwallowReturns: Sob sob, my An Chen! It’s too heartbreaking!】

【IAmXiaoShi’sDog: Who understands? That ‘Do you understand?’ really hits my sweet spot!

【: VA, you really brought it back perfectly!】

【FinalExamsGonnaFail: Hey, upstairs, isn’t it possible that Zhouzhou is the original voice actor?】

After Xu Yizhou finished voicing the An Chen segment, the number of viewers had grown significantly compared to before. Among the IDs, he spotted a few familiar ones—colleagues from the studio—who were enthusiastically hyping up the livestream along with the fans.

They were practically the atmosphere squad. Checking the time, there was only one minute left until 8 o’clock, and many fans in the livestream were already expressing their anticipation for the mysterious guest’s appearance.

Suddenly, the entire screen was filled with special effect gifts—a cascade of cherry blossom rain, with pink petals drifting everywhere. This massive special effect couldn’t be blocked; you had to wait until it was over to see the whole screen.

But Xu Yizhou had waited nearly a minute, and the cherry blossom rain still hadn’t stopped.

From the banner above, Xu Yizhou could see that someone named “Qingzhou” had sent several cherry blossom rain gifts in a row.

His livestream quickly climbed into the trending streams, but anyone who entered could only see the special effect gifts.

“Thank you, Qingzhou, for the cherry blossom rain” × N times

Xu Yizhou was tired of saying it, but the person kept sending more. Xu Yizhou wondered if it might be a child using their parents’ phone to send gifts without restraint.

“Qingzhou, are you a kid? If so, please stop sending gifts. Your parents’ money isn’t easy to come by.”

He glanced at the group chat, which had already exploded.

[Yu Xin: Teacher Xu, are you really that charming?]

[Xiao N: I’ve never seen so many cherry blossom rains in my life. Thanks, Teacher Xu, for broadening my horizons.]

[Su Fei: I checked—it’s a brand-new account. If it’s registered by a minor, we’ll have to refund the full amount.]

[Xiao Lu: What about the interaction we planned between Teacher Wen and Teacher Xu?]

[Su Fei: The amount is too large; something feels off. Teacher Xu, end the stream for now. @Xu Yizhou]

Seeing that he couldn’t read the comments either, and considering the possibility of it being a minor, Xu Yizhou knew he’d be in deep trouble if it were. So, following Su Fei’s advice, Xu Yizhou ended the stream. This was the first time in his life he’d seen someone send gifts like this—spending a thousand yuan without even flinching. And from the looks of it, it seemed like they were spamming the gifts.

[Su Fei: Hold off on streaming for now. I’ll let Xiao Shi know we’re canceling tonight’s planned segment. Xiao Lu, check if that account is registered by a minor.]

[Xiao Lu: Got it.]

[Xu Yizhou: Roger.]

Just as they finished discussing, Wen Shi sent him a message.

[Teacher Xu, did I miss it, or did you not start streaming?]

Accompanied by an awkward emoji.

“Suspected minor sending huge gifts, had to adjust and end the stream temporarily.”

Out of courtesy, Xu Yizhou typed a reply to Wen Shi.

[What a shame. This was supposed to be my first collaboration with Teacher Xu]

Wen Shi had probably already received Su Fei’s message, so Xu Yizhou didn’t need to explain further.

“It’s fine, there’ll be chances in the future.”

Xu Yizhou was about to hit send, but then he remembered what Wen Jiang had told him earlier. He deleted the message word by word and simply replied with “Mm.”

[Wen Shi: Teacher Xu, don’t you think it’s a bit of a coincidence?]

Wen Shi sent another message.

Xu Yizhou: “?”

He slowly typed a question mark. To him, it seemed like some kid had gotten hold of their parents’ phone and was randomly tapping away.

[Teacher Xu, think about it. Why exactly at eight o’clock? Why did the cherry blossom rain start flooding the screen the moment I joined?]

At this point, Xu Yizhou also felt it really did seem that way. As if the gifts were timed perfectly to start the moment Wen Shi entered.

“Maybe… it’s just a coincidence?”

Xu Yizhou couldn’t think of anyone who’d have the time or inclination to do this just to prevent the audience from seeing Wen Shi and disrupting the rest of the stream.

[Wen Shi: I hope it’s a coincidence, but to me, it feels more deliberate.]

Deliberate? Wait, Xu Yizhou suddenly thought of someone. Wen Jiang. And today, Wen Jiang had also told him to stay away from Wen Shi. Moreover, someone who could send so many gifts without batting an eye would certainly have the financial means to match.

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