Tea of Summer - Chapter 2&3: Summer Tea 1.2 & 1.3

Just so everyone knows, this story isn't broken up into chapters neatly.  Each section is basically labeled with a title like "Summer Tea" and then numbered.  We are essentially making each part a chapter, though some are short so we'll post multiple in each release.

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Chapter 2

Summer Tea 1.2

After about an hour, Xia Liang looked at the time displayed on her cell.  She filled up another pot of tea and brought it to them.  Recording heavily depleted the vocal cords, especially on a hot summer day like today.

They seemed to have just finished recording one section and were playing back the recording.  That young man sat on the desk in front of Zhao Ge.  He was holding an empty transparent plastic cup in his hand.

He smiled.  His voice sounded a little tired, but it was somewhat pleasant to listen to.  “The tea is good.  But it was a waste to use this type of cup.”

Xia Liang stopped walking.  She heard her heartbeat clearly.  There was a tinge of weariness in his voice, but it couldn’t conceal its original deep, magnetic timbre.  Rather it actually added a feeling of laziness instead.   Xia Liang thought she had listened to many good voices on the internet, but she was instantly struck by the quality of his voice.  Xia Liang remained calm after she had seen that handsome face, but after she had heard his voice that truly made her remember this man.

Zhao Ge laughed and stared at him: “You brat, Ah Feng thinks highly enough of you to let you touch his precious tea.  Don’t be so picky.”

He laughed but didn’t say anything more.

Xia Liang moved her feet and quietly went to fill up their tea cups.

She heard Zhao Ge speak again: “So, do you want to continue?”

The man’s voice sounded like it was coming from distance while Xian Liang was pouring the tea, “No, my throat is not in good shape today.  Let’s continue tomorrow.”

Zhao Ge laughed, “It’s up to you.  This time you’re voice acting for the leading character of this video game.  It’s quite a heavy role.  You have to take good care of your throat, young man.”

Xia Liang saw him nod with his lips curled up when she turned around.

Calm down. Calm down. Xia Liang warned herself.  There were many good voices, many many…...

Then she walked back to her own seat.  She put her head down on the desk and wanted to cry --- --- there’s hopelessly no cure for a voice nut.

TL Note: She’s got a real fetish for voices huh?  He must have a pretty good voice.  Like Morgan Freeman level shit.

Chapter 3

Summer Tea 1.3

Xia Liang came to work the next day as usual.  When she ordered lunch for delivery, she thought for a while and went over to Zhao Ge to gossip.

She probed: “Zhao Ge, who was that man yesterday?  Very famous?”

Zhao Ge took a look at her and laughed: “Young lady, are you falling for him?”

Xia Liang stared at him, “Certainly not!  I just felt that he has a very nice voice…...that’s all…...yeah.”

“Why is the cabbage so greasy today.“  Zhao Ge drank some water.  “Hey hey, you are not the first one to fall for that guy’s voice. “

Xia Liang put down her chopsticks and spoke in a flirtatious manner, “Zhao Ge……”

Zhao Ge shook his head, “Hey, now you act somewhat like a girl.”  Then he hurried to answer before Xia Liang exploded, “Song Qiyan, have you heard the name before?”

Sung Qiyan?  Xia Liang seriously thought about it for a while----it seemed familiar?

Zhao Ge grinned after he heard her murmur, “Familiar?  I think you’ve read too many novels.  The name you would possibly be familiar with should be---Bei Yan.”

Xia Liang choked instantly as she sipped her water.  She coughed till her whole face was flushed red.

Zhao Ge giggled and patted her back, “Haha, you are not the first one.”

Xia Liang stared at him mercilessly.  Familiar?  Far more than familiar!  Who, in the world of internet voice overs, wouldn’t know this name, the super famous Bei Yan.

Six years ago, he came to fame in the internet voice over crowd with a classical style audio drama `Mandate of Heaven’.  But he had quietly stepped out and stopped producing any new works on the internet.  He switched to commercial voice overs for large video games and their promotional videos and dubbing for many male actors in TV dramas……

He kept a low profile and made a clear distinction between the virtual and the real worlds; he even used his online name, Bei Yan, for voice acting for TV dramas.  But that still couldn’t diminish the fervor of his hundreds of thousand fans on Weibo, there were always people leaving messages or confessions to him.  Hey, Xia Liang was one of his little fans, too.

Xia Liang almost knocked her head against the desk--- ---She loved his voice so much.  Why didn’t she recognize the voice yesterday?!

Zhao Ge laughed with great pleasure watching Xia Liang wallow in regret so great that she almost wanted to kill herself for making such a grievous mistake. Finally, he found enough goodwill to comfort the young lady besides him who was full of regret and self-loathing.  “It’s normal that you did not recognize it.  Every voice actor has a multitude of voices.  Besides, most of his works are in a classical style.  Of course his normal talking voice would be different…..”

Xia Liang looked at him with a grudge…..

Zhao Ge watched those sorrowful eyes, laughed loudly ,and then turned around to pack and throw away the lunch boxes.  He left Xia Liang there alone as she continued to scratch her hair with remorse.