Release that Man

After dropping Xu Jian off, Ye Shuang returned to her parent’s home, not her own apartment. Due to the fact that he had failed too many subjects at school, Little Brother Ye was now banned from staying at Ye Shuang’s place. When he was staying at the university dormitory, it had been doing better. Even though there were instances of him skipping out of the dormitory at night to soak himself at the internet café with his dormitory mates, at least his actions were limited somehow. However, when Little Brother Ye stayed at Ye Shuang’s apartment, he was like an uncaged bird, completely oblivious to the meaning of the word ‘limitation’.

Therefore, Father Ye’s stance was very clear. “You are allowed to go visit your sister but not allowed to stay overnight there. If you dare to do that, and are exposed, we’ll break both of your legs.”

Because of that, Ye Shuang’s apartment became quiet again. Even though Han Chu and Anthony were just staying next door, she could not grab the two men to spend time with her simply because she was bored.

After lunch, Ye Shuang left her parent’s home and wandered about the neighborhood. The aunties and uncles were as leisurely as usual. There was nothing weird about this, but the real issue that concerned Ye Shuang was that she ran into Qiu Yu, who was supposed to be on the plane already. She was sitting in a garden situated at the center of the residential area with her head lowered, playing something on her phone.

“Miss Qiu?” Ye Shuang thought about it and went forward to give her greeting. Qiu Yu lifted her head from hearing her name, but she was also quite shocked when she saw it was Ye Shuang.

“Miss Agent?”

“The name’s Ye Shuang.” Ye Shuang made the self-introduction and sat down on the bench next to Qiu Yu. She did not explain why she shared the same name with the male Ye Shuang. “Aren’t you going back to university today? I remember you said you’re going to take the plane that was scheduled to fly this morning, right?”

Qiu Yu was wearing a white wool jacket, and a thick, fluffy scarf was curled around her neck. She was also wearing a faded brown-colored slacks, and her dressing style was casual and clean. Qiu Yu smiled as she put her phone away. Then, she explained in a slight embarrassed tone, “I ran into another university friend at the airport this morning. He invited me over to his home, and I was unable to reject it, so here I am.”

“Him?” Ye Shuang thought about to the information that she got from reading Wang Xueyu’s personal profile and combined that with the gossip that Mother Ye had revealed during their conversations, and it hit her. “I remember there was someone at Block 2D who has made it to Shanghai’s university. The family even had a feast for everyone in the neighborhood to celebrate the occasion. Now that I think about it, the boy should be around twenty-two now… is that your classmate?”

“Yes, that’s him.” Qiu Yu pressed her lips and smiled. “Miss Ye sure has an impressive memory.”

“There are not many from this neighborhood who managed to get into a good school, so it’s normal for me to remember it.” Ye Shuang waved the compliment away. “But if you don’t mind me saying, Miss Qiu, you just broke up with Wang Xueyu, so what is your relationship with this boy?”

Qiu Yu moved her eyes away rather awkwardly. “Actually, he once pursued me before, but I ended up getting together with Wang Xueyu, so… However, this is really just a simple house visit; there is no additional meaning behind this.”

Ye Shuang hesitated before saying, “I hope you don’t mind me saying something more.”

Since Qiu Yu did not stop her, Ye Shuang smiled embarrassedly before continuing. “Honestly, what Miss Qiu did yesterday has left a deep impression on me and my partner. We admire your resoluteness and ability to stick to your guns. However, if I’m not mistaken, Miss Qiu is also the type of person who doesn’t know how to say no, right?”

Human personalities were as varied as the stars in the sky, but mainly, they could be separated into two main types, the active and the passive.

The active type had a stronger self-confidence; they would not be so easily influenced by other people’s opinions. The passive type was the complete opposite; they rarely said no to others and had trouble denying requests even though the request would make them feel very uncomfortable.

This could be due to shyness, weakness, or something else. In any case, the common trait for the passive type was that they had great difficulty dealing with other people’s negative emotions or even the excitement from overly positive emotions. Perhaps they had their own thoughts in their mind, but once you spoke louder, faster, and sharper, they would lose their will to argue with you because this type of person already saw from your attitude that you were the kind that would not compromise. They did not want to get into an argument, so in the end, they chose to give up.

In other words, she actually did not change her mind—she simply ‘had no choice but to follow’ your decision. Normally, these passive types were the sensitive and thinker types. Aggressive arguments would give them the impression that they were making enemies, and she would not know how to adjust to treating the other after the fact; therefore, they would subconsciously choose to avoid the altercation and let the event die out on its own. For example, Qiu Yu was this type of individual.

Perhaps initially she did not fancy Wang Xueyu’s personality that much, but since the man pursued her relentlessly for a whole year, and probably after a trigger event like an open confession in front of a large crowd, Qiu Yu finally relented and agreed to be his girlfriend.

For another example, when Wang Xueyu decided to fake this socialite identity for Qiu Yu, even hiring a ‘butler’ from Han Chu to help cover up her lies, came up with a whole new identity, and bought many expensive gifts on her behalf… Ye Shuang believed that Qiu Yu had some issues with these actions by Wang Xueyu. She did not agree with them or even felt humiliated by them, but since the man was doing this out of kindness, no matter how disagreeable she felt, Qiu Yu was willing to cooperate.

And now, she had been dragged by another male university mate to come to his home as a guest.

“You’re too easily swayed. Even though you can make resolute decisions when it directly involves the issue of your principles, it is also clear that you will normally not say no to other people’s requests or invitations.” Ye Shuang played with her phone with a bored expression. “However, many changes in life come from everyday occurrences. Things that you might think are not important will often dictate the direction of your life. For example, if Miss Qiu insisted on saying no to Wang Xueyu and held fast to that conviction, today, you would not need to come to us to help you return the stuff to Wang Xueyu, right?”

“You’re right.” Qiu Yu thought about it and nodded. “So, Miss Ye, your meaning is that my acceptance of the man’s invitation to visit his home today will lead to more trouble in the future, correct?”

“I mean, if you do not agree fully with a decision, do not do it,” Ye Shuang commented with a smile. “If you place the resoluteness that you normally reserve for large issues at the front, many things can be avoided. Everyone will be able to save their time and energy; wouldn’t that be great?”

“Many people have critiqued my personality before.” Qiu Yu nodded with a smile. “I’ve never argued with them before and have never thought to change. Do you know why?”

Stubbornness? That did not sound likely. If that was the case, Qiu Yu would not have specified this particular question.

“Because everyone’s attitude was very brash, or to use a more suitable sentence to describe it, it is mostly like… they were too concerned about me?” Qiu Yu tilted her head to the smile and smiled shyly. “I’m not good at countering other people’s opinions, so when other people speak, I do not pipe up, but that doesn’t mean that I’ve agreed to their ideals. I actually admire Miss Ye’s personality more, someone with principles but never once forcing those principles on others.”

Ye Shuang understood everything instantly. The people that advised Qiu Yu before were probably all too forceful. In other words, they did not allow her to argue her case. Perhaps she tried to bring her point up, but she was shut down instantly as they forced her to accept their point of view. People from upper society normally would not have this kind of method of speech that was so disrespectful, but Ye Shuang believed that was the common way for how the everyday people spoke.

“There are as many personalities in the world as there are people; the same method cannot be used for everyone. What works for others might not work for me, and I cannot guarantee that my method will be one hundred percent correct. Therefore, when I make a decision, whether it is because I hold onto my principles or I’m following other people’s ideas, in the end, it is still equally likely for the result to be good or bad,” Qiu Yu explained softly.

“Of course, like you said, Miss Ye, I have my persistence on things related to principles because everyone has their own bottom line. Things that are not related to principles, things that are trial-based or things that have a result that is arguable, they’re not that important, right? Perhaps, the decision to follow other people will lead to the best result. There are always two sides to a coin. For example, some might call a personality like mine ‘going with the flow’ and others might call it ‘being a doormat’; the main issue is how you see it and how I see it.”

People normally used public opinion as the yardstick to decide whether someone or something was worth complimenting or punishing. If Qiu Yu managed to find her own happiness in the future with her personality, people would praise her for her gentleness, but if she failed to find her happiness, people would sigh and comment on her weakness. However, in reality, when it came to if Qiu Yu could find the happiness that was accepted by the public… one, it depended on her personal ability, and two, it depended on luck. Personality? That was just a very small part of the big equation.

Ye Shuang thought about it and sighed. “I suppose you have a point, but I sincerely hope I will not accept cases related to Miss Qiu again in the future.”

“Other than Wang Xueyu, I don’t think there are many people on the street that will be able to employ your service, Miss Ye.” Qiu Yu was tickled by that. “Even though I don’t quite get the things that are going among the members of the upper society, I heard from Wang Xueyu that Mr. Han Chu’s headhunting service is famed among specific circles, and without certain connections, it would have been a challenge just to reach out to you.”

“Brother Han has already left you with his contact email, right? If you really need our help, do come to us. Of course, I don’t mean with headhunting cases. Other than accepting cases, we have the information of the clients that we have worked with in the past. For example, if you fail to find a company that you’re satisfied with after your university graduation, you can reach out to Brother Han to help find a suitable boss among his list of clients.” Ye Shuang taught Qiu Yu how to make use of resources that she had. “This is something that can be settled through a phone call, and it’ll be able to save so much of trouble on your part. I heard that you are a top scorer. Who knows, perhaps the client might even need to pay Brother Han for introducing him a wonderful talent!”

Qiu Yu could not help herself but laugh. “If I do have the need, then I will definitely reach out to you. However, my friend has already introduced me to an uncle of his… Staying for one more day at his place is actually to get to know the person first. If the conditions are right, perhaps I would stay in San Lin City permanently.”

Ye Shuang was shocked. “Wasn’t your major in translation‽ Technically speaking, shouldn’t your future be brighter at a coastal city or bigger cities? Like Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen… or even Jing Hu City is better than San Lin City. Many foreigners who like our part of the world prefer to move to visit tourist towns like Jing Hu City.”

Qiu Yu shook her head. “You’ve already seen that my personality is not suitable for those companies with a fast tempo working life. Therefore, my initial decision from the very beginning was to join a government department, and the departments are no different across different cities. My friend’s uncle works at San Lin City’s foreign affairs department, and he’ll be able to help me get into the system.”

Foreign affairs department‽

Ye Shuang was suddenly reminded of the blonde beauty whom she had once intercepted at the airport. At the time, even the director of the department had needed to bow down to her to give face to the blonde beauty.

Where did I place that name card? I wonder if I can still find it if I go back to look…

After she recovered, Ye Shuang stood up with a smile. “Then I shall congratulate Miss Qiu for the new job. I still have something else to attend to, so I shall leave now. If your friend is unable to help you, you can try to email me. I’ll see if I can help you connect to the director of the foreign affairs department.”

Qiu Yu thanked Ye Shuang politely, and that was where the two parted. However, after the conversation, Ye Shuang did not feel much better. She had a feeling that Wang Xueyu was not the type to give up so easily.

If Qiu Yu did manage to find a job in San Lin City, perhaps this second-generation rich kid would also move to San Lin City to open his company. In that case, it would be so easy for Wang Xueyu to deal with Han Chu or her. Even though Ye Shuang was not afraid of him and did not think that she had done anything wrong, being under someone’s close surveillance and having the possibility that Wang Xueyu might take revenge on them by handing them weird requests… she could already see how difficult that life would be. Weird requests like hiring an expert at love and relationships or hiring a candidate to befriend Qiu Yu to get close to her. For some reason, when Ye Shuang thought back to Wang Xueyu’s profile history and the weird ways that his family interacted with one another, Ye Shuang had a feeling the fear that she had was not totally unfounded.

She went back home to get online. Even though Ye Shuang had already moved out, there was still a Little Brother Ye who would return home every few weekends, so the internet at home was still on.

She had attended about ten classes in vocal training already. Ye Shuang calculated the progress that would be made by normal people and felt like she could show that she had ‘improved’ already so at class today, she openly showed off the voice line of Brother Shuang. The teacher, who did not see that coming, was shocked beyond belief. She had a hard time believing Ye Shuang would have such a drastic improvement.

Due to limitation of one’s natural vocal cords, when a male mimicked a female voice, they would go for the route of a luxurious madam or the throaty sexy type, while in return, when a female mimicked a male voice, they would go for a young boy’s voice. In other words, there were natural limitations to the types of voices that one could mimic. A small section of people who had talent in this field had better control over their vocal muscles and breathing, so they could mimic slightly more voices, but that came with years and years of training.

When Han Chu first came to the teacher, he had wanted her to teach Sister Shuang to mimic another male voice, one that was magnetic, low, and seductive. Even a man would need some time before they could master a voice like that, much less a sweet, soft voice like Sister Shuang. That was practically impossible. If not for the fact that Han Chu had said that she did not need to guarantee the final result and only try her best, the teacher had half a mind to ignore Han Chu.

But the result was… she had really mastered it.

Ye Shuang obviously did not know about the limitation to a female mimicking a male’s voice. After all, from the online videos that she had watched, she had seen some people manage to change their voice after ten days of classes. Granted, the voice was not exactly beautiful or even convincing, but they did change, so she thought that it was about time, and thus, she managed to give the teacher a fright of her life.

“Not bad.” Listening dumbly to Brother Shuang’s voice on the phone reading a whole passage on the newspaper and even finish singing a song, the teacher was speechless. She coughed twice and could not resist the urge to pull in the talent. “Sister Shuang, do you have any interest in the field of internet dubbing? It’s very interesting.”

Ye Shuang laughed. “For those radio broadcast?”

“There’s also anime dubbing.”

Ye Shuang joked, “Like those web novel animes?”

“…” the teacher.

“How much is the pay?” Ye Shuang asked directly.

“…” the teacher.

“Okay, I understand.” Ye Shuang nodded and rejected it firmly. “Not interested, but thank you.”

The teacher felt like crying. If she had remembered that this was not a normal student but a headhunter agent, she would not have come up with this suggestion to shame her own face—the girl did not have the passion for dubbing! The pay was even worse compared to the pay of an agent—the payment for a dubber was a tragedy.

After asking around, Ye Shuang found out that even if she ended the course earlier, she would not be getting the rest of the fee back, so she demanded to learn something else for the rest of the class. She skipped the animal noises and other sounds of the city. Ye Shuang could learn these on her own by exploring the nuances of her voice. Furthermore, they had no use for her career. She had learned how to switch between the two voices mainly to cover up her tracks, and the other voices were not going to help her with that.

Therefore, after Ye Shuang vetoed all the suggestions that were given by the teacher, she thought about it and demanded rather unreasonably that the rest of the classes should be about dialects.

Yes, local dialects. She did not care whether the teacher went to find help from her friend or found some videos online, in any case, Ye Shuang demanded that there had to be at least two local dialects that she could pick up at each class, and the content could not be repeated nor could the type be repeated. Each dialect would be taught for at least twenty minutes.

The teacher felt like crying again.

…

“I hear you’ve mastered how to change your voice?” Probably because the teacher had reported to Han Chu, Ye Shuang had just passed five rounds of snakes when she received a call from Han Chu. She held the mouse in one hand and used her other hand to pick up the phone and place next to her ear. Ye Shuang mumbled casually, “Yes, Brother Han, I’ve already learned that, so now I want to learn something else.”

The first half of the sentence was said in a female voice, but the other half was uttered in Brother Shuang’s magnetic voice.

Han Chu was also slightly caught by surprise. Even though he had already predicted that Ye Shuang should be able to master it with record speed… After all, both sexes share the same body, so with the motor memory of the body and continuous practice, finding the wavelength for the other voice should not be something overly difficult… Even though he had already expected that, there was still a difference between both genders. He had thought that it would be a fifty or sixty percent mimicry, but once he heard it, he realized that it was a one hundred percent reconstruction.

After he overcame his surprise, Han Chu thought about it and said, “So, you requested to learn about local dialects?”

“It never hurts to learn more skills. After all, I cannot let the money to go to waste,” Ye Shuang admitted easily. “When I go to other cities, knowing the local dialect will enable me to endear myself to the local people more easily.”

“What kind of local environment do you intend to endear yourself to?” Han Chu got a headache. “People of the upper class rarely use a local dialect. Yao Zhixing, Lu Shaoyue, Zuo Yuanhang… have you heard any of them speaking in a local dialect before? No! Our clientele are within the upper society, and they are not going to be trapped within a city or a district. Instead, they have to continuously interact with people from over the country or even all over the world. Of course, having a local dialect will not be looked down upon, but it is still considered rude behavior.”

“Well, I can endear myself into environment that is not so high class,” Ye Shuang mumbled softly to herself.

Han Chu coughed. “I’m not stopping you from learning local dialects; I’m just telling you to learn things selectively. Most of the upscale members at the cities in the nation use Pu Tong Hua ¹ to communicate. Only a small percentage of cities are harsh to outsiders or prideful of their local cultures and local development. If you want to interact with people from these places, then you have to use the local lingo. After all, even their leaders have dialect to their speech… I’ve already helped you edited the classes— Lu Yu ² , Xiang Yu, and Yue Yu! Considering the potential of the cases in these cities and the interactivity of languages, you only need to focus on these three local dialects.”

“What about Min Yu?” Ye Shuang asked. Sometimes, she wished that Han Chu would give her more pressure and not let her off the hook so easily. Actually, learning three local dialects was easy as pie for Ye Shuang. Really.

“If you’re interested, then you can go ahead and learn that as well.” Han Chu was feeling speechless. “There aren’t many classes left. You can just understand the basics. After you master the pronunciation and tempo, it won’t be difficult to figure out the rest. I’ve changed your classes to once every week. Focus on one dialect each week. The rest of the time you can use to practice.”

Doesn’t this mean I have to suffer this for at least three more weeks?

Since Han Chu did not hear a reply, so he opened his lips to ask, “Do you have any other questions?’

“No,” Ye Shuang said weakly. After Han Chu said he was going to hang up and go back to do his things, she suddenly remembered something and called the man back. “Wait a minute, Brother Han. I forgot to tell you that I ran into Qiu Yu in my neighborhood earlier.”

Qiu Yu? Who is that‽ Han Chu was silent for three seconds before the face matched this familiar name. “Wang Xueyu’s ex-girlfriend? Hasn’t she flown back to Shanghai?”

“Er… Actually, there have been some changes to that.” Ye Shuang decided to share the bad news with her good friend. “Brother Han, do you still remember Wang Xueyu’s profile? Their current batch has entered the time for their internships. Qiu Yu is classmates with a boy in my neighborhood, and the boy plans to introduce her to San Lin City’s foreign affairs department to work…”

Han Chu was silent for half a minute before replying, “Has Xu Jian delivered the things to Wang Xueyu?”

“Not yet. After getting off the train, he still needs to get on the bus to the countryside. I believe, we’ll only hear from him tonight.” Ye Shuang wiped the sweat. “Brother Han, are you thinking the same thing as me?”

Wang Xueyu would definitely come to chase after Qiu Yu!