I Fell in Love With My Cold-Hearted, Flirtatious Roommate (GL) - Chapter 16

Three days remained until the final assignment deadline. Rong Ting received a message from Chen Saiyu.

【Sorry, I came back a little late and found that Wan Sang had already submitted the assignment.】

Rong Ting: 【Oh, it’s fine.】

Chen Saiyu sent a picture. Rong Ting saw that at the end of the entire textbook, the compilation sequence needed to be clearly listed, and she was put in the very last position. Also, the group leader had to write an assignment grade allocation table, and her score proportion was the lowest among all of them.

Chen Saiyu: 【I truly didn’t know she would do this. The file and the grading allocation have already been sent to the TA’s email. Should I try to recall it?】

Rong Ting was surprisingly calm at this moment. To use an inappropriate metaphor, if a precious porcelain piece was merely chipped, people would rack their brains trying to repair it. If the porcelain was completely shattered and beyond repair, it would instead bring a sense of relief.

Because all she had to do next was to accept the fact that the porcelain was broken.

Hitting rock bottom and embracing it was truly a pleasant feeling.

This was her state of mind. She replied: 【No need. This is fine.】

Chen Saiyu didn’t reply again. Rong Ting put down her phone, her fingers tapping lightly and quickly on the keyboard as she worked on her other assignments.

Finally shedding a difficult relationship. Time to start a new life!

Ran Jiu had been dozing all afternoon. The non-stop rehearsals for the past few days had practically hollowed out her body. When she woke up, she found many missed calls on her phone.

Some were from her studio, a few displayed local Beijing phone numbers, and two were from Guizhou.

Her finger hovered on the screen for a moment, then slowly tapped the number from Guizhou.

The phone rang just twice before the other party picked up, their tone extremely aggressive: “Where are you?”

“Here at the rental house. Haven’t you known?” Ran Jiu walked off the bed in shorts, wearing only a white camisole on her upper body. Her pale, porcelain collarbone was framed by the shoulder straps, clear and prominent. She pulled open the window and leaned against the sill.

The woman’s voice on the phone continued its relentless chatter: “I even searched online for the activities you’re participating in. What kind of things are those, huh? This profession can’t feed you. Is it better than your original major! You dropped out without telling me a word, and now you’re doing this. Is there a future in it?”

“And what do you mean your home is in ‘Mongolian Tent Heaven’s Gate View’? Your home is clearly in Guiyang! Your uncle and I are waiting for you here. You haven’t come home once in four years. Are you being fair to us! We raised and brought you up for so long!”

The voice on the other end was laced with anger and a hint of despair. Ran Jiu slowly waited for her to vent this despair.

Sure enough, after a period of intense output, the woman’s tone gradually softened.

“Xiao Jiu, I’m sorry. Mom was too emotional just now.”

She seemed to be covering her face, sobbing, with a heavy nasal tone and muffled cries transmitted through the phone line.

“I know you were close to your grandparents, but they’ve both passed away. You can’t go back there, can you?”

“You dropped out of school without a word. Mom was very disappointed.”

“Mom once hoped you would finish university and become an excellent lawyer.”

“You are all of Mom’s hope.”

“Xiao Jiu, say something to Mom.”

Ran Jiu’s lips moved almost imperceptibly, “I’m listening.”

She felt there was nothing much to say. People’s destinies had several grades of difference. Some people effortlessly achieved great things, while others had to make flowers bloom from the mud.

Even so, many people would still say you didn’t try hard enough.

Ran Jiu was silent for a while. “Mom, do you truly think I am all of your hope?”

The female voice on the other end choked, as if grasped by the throat. Ran Jiu took advantage of this shallow surge of guilt and hung up the phone.

Her mother then transferred 2000 yuan.

【Your uncle has been sick recently. Mom can’t look after you much. Take good care of yourself. If you need money, tell me. Don’t take on random odd jobs. The industry water runs too deep. I’m afraid you’ll go astray.】

Ran Jiu directly clicked ‘Return.’ She clearly stated that the money she earned was enough, and as for the cost of raising her before, she would save up and repay it all in one go later.

The person on the other end seemed hurt and did not send any more messages.

Ran Jiu took a pack of slim cigarettes from the drawer.

She hadn’t smoked in a long time. The cigarette filter had a lemon burst bead. As her slender fingers squeezed it, there was a slight popping sensation at her fingertips.

Holding the cigarette in one hand, she skillfully pulled out a lighter and ignited it. Just as she was about to put the cigarette close to the flame, she hesitated for a long time, then released the lighter switch and casually tossed the unlit cigarette into the trash can.

Sleepless night.

The next day, she went to the studio with dark circles under her eyes, but other than that, everything seemed normal.

The voice acting circle was just taking off at this time and was very much driven by fans, showing a trend towards a ‘fandom’ culture, otherwise, they wouldn’t use the voice acting celebration for promotion.

The studio regularly held fan benefit events every week. This Sunday, it was Ran Jiu and Yu Lai’s turn to enter the room and interact with fans.

Logically, live streaming should be better in the evening, but Ran Jiu always said she was busy at night, so Yu Lai cooperated and shifted it to nine in the morning.

A death hour, making it easy to suffer public embarrassment due to a small number of fans.

Ran Jiu seemed listless, and her face was much paler than usual. Yu Lai initially didn’t notice, only thinking she hadn’t slept well. The two still cooperated well. Yu Lai gave her the room number and password.

The studio had advertised this event on Weibo. When Yu Lai entered, there were only 30 fans online. Ran Jiu was drinking water nearby, seemingly deep in thought. When she sat down to join, it was a little later. However, after her ID entered the room, the fan count instantly soared to over 1000.

Yu Lai: “……”

Whether messages were transmitted too quickly or for some other reason, the other people managing the room watched wide-eyed as the 3000-capacity room instantly filled up.

The barrage was frantically flashing with words like “Jiu-da,” “Xiao Jiu,” “Long-legged Goddess,” “Catching a beautiful-faced wifey,” “Wifey, hug-hug,” and other terms that Yu Lai couldn’t bear to look at. Ran Jiu was constant, but the screen barrage was like running water, making it impossible to clearly read what they were saying.

These were all after-effects of the Celebration.

The script prepared for them was an adapted fairy tale, The Snow Queen.

In the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale, the Devil made a mirror that distorted everything. When the mirror shattered, fragments flew into the eyes of the boy Kai, after which the boy’s heart turned icy cold, and he was later taken back to the palace by the Snow Queen.

The focus of the story was on his childhood friend, the girl Gerda, who bravely found the palace, melted the ice in the boy’s heart, and successfully brought him home.

The adapted version set the Snow Queen as the protagonist, emphasizing her loneliness and adding a lot of plot about her attempting to ‘turn’ Kai in the palace. The ending was similar: the Snow Queen failed to turn Kai, and under the punishment of the angel Angelia, she gently melted into snow water. Kai returned home, but his heart always felt a sense of melancholy.

The non-formal segments were merely benefits to reward fans. Voice actors could improvise, and not much preparation had gone into them beforehand.

The Snow Queen’s cold, clear voice was interspersed with Kai’s.

Snow Queen: 【I ordered a servant to bring you radishes, but you didn’t eat them.】

Kai: 【Don’t want to eat.】

Snow Queen: 【Why.】

Kai: 【Because I want to go home. I’m not happy here. I don’t want to eat radishes.】

Snow Queen: 【So it’s not that you can’t smile, just that you won’t smile here. And it’s not that you don’t like radishes, just that you don’t like the ones I give you.】

Snow Queen: 【The devil’s fragments in your eyes and heart will be melted by the right person. I am snow. I cannot melt them for you, nor can I melt them for myself.】

Kai was silent.

The room was initially quiet, but now the barrage slowly started to float by.

【Oh, this is Queen’s possessive love, yasss.】

【Kinda feel Kai is a bit ungrateful.】

【Wonder if Queen Jiu’s sexual orientation can be a little broader.】

【This bunny spirit also wants to be fed carrots.】

The Snow Queen forgot that the mirror fragments made Kai cold, not just toward others, but also toward her. She seemed wounded by this coldness, even though she was the Snow Queen.

The Snow Queen told him the way to be free: 【Since you want to leave, spell out the word ‘Eternity,’ and you will be your true master, gaining eternal freedom.】

The later narration was handled by Yu Lai: 【Gerda sang, “When the roses bloom, we see God.” The girl melted the fragments in Kai’s heart. The two lay down, forming the pattern of ‘Eternity.’ The Snow Queen had already melted.】

Fans quickly flooded the barrage.

【I’m broken. I might have wrong values, but I fell in love with the Snow Queen.】

【Wuwuwu my Snow Queen melted. Kai is so stubborn, I’d do it!】

【Something hard in my chest…】

【Upstairs is fierce! Heart ache +1】

【+1】

【+1】

…

Ran Jiu seemed a bit tired. She simply muted her mic and quietly hung out, listening to Yu Lai interact with the fans first.

Fans asked if there would be more events like this. Yu Lai said others did it twice a week, but Ran Jiu did it once a week. Fans asked if the room capacity could be increased because many people in the fan groups still hadn’t gotten in. Yu Lai said the live broadcast was about to end and they would change to a bigger room next time. Fans insisted that they must change it. Yu Lai laughed and turned to Ran Jiu for help.

At this time, some fans noticed Ran Jiu hadn’t been on the mic for a long time and suspiciously asked: “Is Jiu-da still here?”

Ran Jiu opened her mic: “Yes, I am.”

The channel was quiet for a few seconds.

Then a dense screen-full of barrage appeared:

【Ahhh, could you please call me ‘baby,’ great one?】

【Call me ‘little sweetie that drives you crazy!’】

【Jiu, do you have a cold, or are you not feeling well? Your voice sounds a bit hoarse, eh.】

【Jiu Bao, please take good care of yourself. Mom loves you.】

【Jiu-da! Quickly say “It’s time for you all to wake up!” I want my dream female Alpha voice to wake me up every day!】

Then the barrage rolled for dozens of screens before gradually thinning out. One unlucky soul might have just realized, following up the very first question with: “Jiu-da! Please call all one hundred eighty thousand of us ‘baby’!”

Ran Jiu smiled, and a pampered, doting voice transmitted through the mic: “Mm, hello, babies.”

The barrage was more turbulent than before, mostly featuring memes like “intoxicating,” “life is complete,” and “hearing this makes me pregnant.” One fan even said, “I can tell it’s perfunctory, but I’m still addicted to this trashy V.” Yu Lai teased her for a long time.

After two full hours, the two finished the broadcast.

Xiao Zhi came over to find Ran Jiu. Since the last time she showed her face at the celebration ceremony, several companies had extended olive branches—ranging from small-scale audio dramas to supporting roles in TV series, and even film and television companies wanted her to try a few drama OPs and EDs, with offers that were not low.

They all knew how big a step forward this was for the Little Iris Studio. Their initial voice acting rate was about a few tens of yuan per hour, then slowly rose to hundreds, and then to thousands. Ran Jiu was the most expensive among them, but she had never had such opportunities before.

Xiao Zhi hesitated: “Xiao Jiu, my suggestion is that you can choose what interests you, but you should try many things so you can find what suits you best.”

Ran Jiu nodded: “Sister Xiao Zhi, I understand.”

She knew she was lazy and passive, but the studio relied mostly on her to operate in its early stages. Therefore, Xiao Zhi couldn’t figure out her attitude now and didn’t push her too much.

Xiao Zhi specifically mentioned the previous Tianhai Company, the same company Luo Sun was in. Their offer was the highest among all—asking her to voice a female supporting role in a major TV production. The role also fit her persona well. The fee was several times higher than other audio dramas, and the production cycle was short, undoubtedly a great choice.

Ran Jiu’s gaze drifted toward the sky outside the window. She did not give an answer immediately, only saying she would go back and think about it.