Defeated By Love

Translated by Fairy_Dust

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Shu Nian was very nervous. The room was originally quite small but it was full of people. She had hypoxia and at that moment she almost felt out of breath.

The sounds in the headset ended and the pictures in front of her stopped.
Li Qing’s voice in the control room came through the headset: “Are you ready?”

Shu Nian swallowed and squeezed the paper in her hands: “Yes.”

The beginning stage of the film was silent.

The girl stared at her reflection in the mirror with a dazed expression. Her eyes gradually reddened as she silently cried. Shu Nian, who was on the other side of the screen also had red eyes. It was as if she had entered the scene.

…

After the recording ended, Shu Nian took the initiative to step back. She was still stuck in the play, unable to pull away. A small whimper lingered in her throat.

Shu Nian rubbed her eyes and left the recording studio.

“Alright, you’re selected.” Li Qing seemed quite satisfied. His expression looked much better than before. “Go and freshen up. I’ll give you the script later. There are no scenes for you today, so recording will start tomorrow.”

It was probably just going to be a minor role who frequently appeared in the film. It wouldn’t be very important.

Li Qing directly decided without notifying the producer about it.

Shu Nian pursed her lips and nodded. She said in a low voice: “Okay, thank you, director.”

Because of that, Shu Nian’s mood improved quite a bit.

There was no toilet in the recording studio so Shu Nian had to walk out to find the public toilets on the floor. After walking around a bit, she discovered that every room on that floor was a recording studio.

Shu Nian washed her face and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She hesitated but still took a lipstick from her bag to add some colour to her lower lip. She didn’t have any plans on going back home yet. From habit, she would stay until 12 o’clock in the evening.

Even if she didn’t have a job, she could still listen to the other voice actors to gain experience.

The two girls next to her were touching up their makeup.

One of them suddenly opened her mouth: “It seems that Li Sheng is here to record a song today, should we go and take a look? I really like him!”

“How do we get in?”

“Eh, I was joking. I heard that the song he came to record this time was written by Ah He.”

Shu Nian was walking out the door when she heard that name. She subconsciously turned her head, looking a little dazed. Soon, she recovered and vigorously shook her head without listening any further.

After leaving the bathroom, Shu Nian retraced her steps. She just had to go straight and turn left twice to return to the recording studio.

On the way there, she inexplicably remembered the call from “Xie Ruhe” yesterday.

She couldn’t remember what she had said afterwards. She seemed to have said something but it also seemed like she didn’t. She probably just apologised and then hung up.

But Shu Nian still remembered very clearly what the other person had said.

He said: “You’ve got the wrong person.”

She made a call but the other party didn’t answer. Then, he called back and asked who she was.

She asked: “Is this Xie Ruhe?”

He replied: “You’ve got the wrong person.”

Shu Nian wondered if he was too sensitive.

She felt that if the person on the call was not Xie Ruhe, the normal response from the other party would have been, “you’ve phoned the wrong number”.

As she was immersed in such chaotic thoughts, Shu Nian took the first turn.

Two figures appeared before her sight. Shu Nian raised her eyes and saw two people standing and sitting in front of her.

One was standing and the other was in a wheelchair.

It was that face again.

It seemed that she wasn’t hallucinating that day when she saw him.

Xie Ruhe was dressed casually today. He wore a loose-fitting black jumper and grey slacks. The person in front of him was talking to him but he seemed to be impatient. His expression was sombre and cold.

He looked really unhappy.

Not long after.

Xie Ruhe suddenly curled his lips and his black pupils were heavy with sarcasm. He snorted lightly and said with a smile: “If they can’t sing, can’t I just find another singer?”

“…”

The person standing in front of him continued to look respectful but his tone had become anxious.

Xie Ruhe was too lazy to listen. Suddenly, he noticed her figure from the corner of his vision and he glanced at Shu Nian.

For a moment, time seemed to have stopped.

Shu Nian’s emotions had mostly recovered but her eyes were still red and the corners drooped down. Her complexion was very white so the redness in her eyes was pretty obvious.

Their eyes met.

For less than a second.

That time, it was Shu Nian who looked away first. She silently bypassed them and continued on.

Looking at her back, the mockery that was originally on Xie Ruhe’s face gradually vanished. There was a trace of bewilderment in his eyes. His fingertips moved and his Adam’s apple bobbed.

His hands applied some force and the wheelchair moved a little before coming to a stop.