Chapter 2.1 - The Second Sentence Part 1

Translator: tarararawr

The Second Sentence Part 1

Pu Tao didn’t mean to wake her friend up, but if she didn’t know where this voice came from tonight, she might suffer from insomnia for a week.

When the third call was made, there was finally someone on the other end that answered.

Xin Tian’s voice was tired and sluggish. “Hello… Sister, my good sister — you’re still up…”

Pu Tao leaned against her closet and went straight to the point. “Where did the audio you sent me come from?”

When she said this, Xin Tian immediately became energetic and her voice brightened. “That? Didn’t I tell you that it is from the male lead in the radio drama I am producing this time? The words are part of the dialogue in the script, and he says it to the female lead.”

She quickly asked for approval, “It made me so intoxicated, so I intentionally shortened this part to share it with you! Was it extraordinary?”

Pu Tao made a weak “mhm” sound.

“Oh—” Xin Tian ridiculed. “So you were also experiencing su too?”

Pu Tao was not going to hide her intention. “Why do you think I woke you up so late in the night?”

“Ha!” Xin Tian screamed like she was going to excitedly pull a fellow fan around in a circle. “I knew it! When the radio drama is released, I will share the link with you. You can listen to it carefully then and listen to it several times.”

Pu Tao was silent for a moment. “Tell me the name of who this CV is first.”

This time it was Xin Tian’s turn to be in a daze. “Hmm?”

She treated each CV as if she could list all of her family’s valuables 1 . “It’s Susu.”

“Susu? Is this the name of a real man?” This was somewhat different from Pu Tao’s imagination, because she thought his stage name would be more like the light breeze and clear moon 2 .

Xin Tian denied it. “Nonono, Susu is a nickname given to him by his fans. His name is Cloud Dweller. The su from ‘the feeling of home’ 3 — it is said that it comes from ‘so you accompany the other, qin music scores clasped in the left hand, drifting away from this mundane world, to live in seclusion among the clouds’ 4 which comfortably lives up to his name.” 5

This type of bright moon and gentle breeze 6 name was like being scratched by foxtail grass 7 . Pu Tao’s heart began to pound restlessly.

Her finger dug into the closet and she said, “Okay, I got it. I’ll search for him tomorrow.”

“Why? Did you fall for him as soon as you heard it?” Xin Tian was not surprised.

Pu Tao did not have any time to identify and understand these sudden heart palpitations. She could only give a relatively objective answer. “I think his voice is good.”

Xin Tian sighed. “It is far from just good, it is like shock from the sound of heaven 8 . His pronunciation isn’t dry, and is overflowing with emotion. He makes it so easy to feel like a person is just there immersed in it. I’m quite experienced in this space, but this is the first time I’ve come across his work as the main protagonist. Cloud Dweller is a Buddhist player 9 . He will only pick up scripts that suit him. Even though he has not been a part of a lot of productions, each one is really high quality.”

Pu Tao knew a little bit about this circle. “Is he an amazing person?”

“Hm… I wouldn’t consider him to be some kind of super boss, but his skills are almost at a god-like level and he also has a number of loyal fans. I guess this is not what he does as his main job. He is probably just like me, doing it purely because we love it.”

The owner of this voice became a little more concrete based on Xin Tian’s description.

…

As Xin Tian spoke more, the topic became longer and stretched out.

Later, she began to gossip with anecdotes about the circle. Pu Tao managed for more than half an hour without stumbling, and finally waited until Xin Tian made herself sleepy and said goodbye.

Pu Tao also went back to bed. She didn’t want to take off her headphones. She pursed her lips and turned on the audio again.

“Why don’t you go to bed? I won’t call you tomorrow.”

Wow…

For the first time, she realized that there was a screaming chicken living in her body that was no different from a fan girl.

She covered herself even more with the quilt and shamefully listened to it again.

“Why don’t you go to bed? I won’t call you tomorrow.”

Okay, I know.

Sleep, sleep. I’ll go to sleep.

She could not help but want to respond to the voice like she was mischievously flirting.

When Pu Tao became aware of all this, she picked up the throw pillow on the side and buried her face into it. As it turns out, the corners of her mouth were rising out of control as her cheeks ascended to heaven.

Because of a few words, she was completely submerged and sinking into a passionate love.

How could she sleep?

——

The next day, Pu Tao had half the day off. She slept until she naturally woke up.

When it was around the third pole 10 in the sun, the warm midday sun tapped on the window curtains, and the woman opened her sleepy eyes. She leaned over and felt for her phone. Then, she turned it on.

It was past 11 o’clock.

Pu Tao yawned. She made her bed and put her phone back on the pillow.

She closed her eyes again, and sure enough, no one called her. He didn’t call me.

This thought flashed through her mind like ice water poured over her head. It woke her up instantly.

Pu Tao realized that it had barely been one night and a lover was already living in her cell phone. He buried a spring seed in her with his voice. Since then, it had taken root and sprouted in her mind and made her automatically think of his voice.

The wild growth of this realization was unstoppable.

Was this her… falling in love…?

tarararawr’s rararamblings: Just look at how many footnotes I have for this! Hopefully it still reads well if you do skip the footnotes. There’s been quite a bit of pop culture references, slang, and idioms that I end up doing a lot of research to understand them. It sometimes feels like I’m in a literary analysis class, like look here’s a metaphor! Oh, wait, here’s an idiom! There’s also all the ‘su’ incorporated in the novel! And like a literary analysis class, all of these weird connections I make and use footnotes to explain might be total BS, but I’d like to think it’s the author planting her own seed in my mind as a reader…

Footnotes

如数家珍 (rúshǔjiāzhēn) – idiom to say someone is very familiar with something 光风霁月 (guāngfēngjìyuè) – idiom for the bright scenery when the skies have cleared up after it has rained, metaphor for open heart and mind, and another metaphor for peace in a political situation The Susu (素素) Pu Tao says is a different character from the Susu (宿宿) Xin Tian says. They have the same pinyin and tone markers, which is why Xin Tian uses another term (归宿) to let Pu Tao know what character it is. 便相将、左手抱琴书, 云间宿 (biànxiāngjiāng, zuǒshǒubàoqínshū, yúnjiānsù) – The quote is from a poem by a famous Song Dynasty poet named Su Shi (different Su from the CV’s name, but coincidentally the same Su from the ear orgasm Su). Unfortunately, I cannot find an English translation of this poem, so you will just have to go with what I have translated with the help of Lunaie, dreamwithoutadream, and astrid from the Foxaholic Discord (go read their stuff!). To better explain ‘Cloud Dweller’ in connection to the poem line, Xin Tian is trying to explain that his voice is so heavenly that you will find yourself home in the fluffy clouds as you observe mortals. 月白风清 (yuèbáifēngqīng) – idiom for quiet and beautiful night Foxtail grass in flower language is a secret love not understood by others 惊为天音 (jīngwéitiānyīn) – it’s a phrase that means like the shock you get when you see someone so beautiful that only gods can look like that. It can also be interpreted as someone with exquisite craftsmanship. 佛系选手 (fúxìxuǎnshǒu) – it’s an internet term that means you’re indifferent to things and just live life the way you want to 三竿 (sāngān) – sometime between 7-11, but before noon.