Really, Really Miss You

Qiang Qing Ci: Go to the kitchen and get some sesame oil. Swallow just a small amount. It should feel better tomorrow morning.

Gu Sheng: Huh? Does that work?

Qiang Qing Ci: Mm-hmm.

Gu Sheng: *nod* I'm going right now.

To her, the condition of her voice was of utmost importance.

Although singing the occasional song or two in a false male voice was unlikely to cause any serious negative consequences, since this was Toupai's suggestion, she knew it was absolutely, unquestionably going to be effective! She fumbled her way to the kitchen. Since it was so late in the night, she did not turn on any lights and only relied on the moonlight as she felt around for the bottle of sesame oil. She opened one bottle after another, sniffing each one, until she finally smelled the strong aroma of sesame oil. Furtively, she took a quick sip.

Dad, Mom… don't mind me…

When she was finished, she noticed a plate of ingredients on the kitchen table. She leaned forward against the table and examined them for a moment, quickly deducing what was for lunch tomorrow. Satisfied with her conclusion, she slipped back to her own room again.

When she returned, she earnestly reported back to Qiang Qing Ci: DaRen, I just finished drinking some.

Qiang Qing Ci: *smile*

Her mouth right now was filled with the scent of sesame oil, so fragrant it could overpower people.

She thought about her inbox full of singing debts and suddenly felt anxious. Lots of time was required in practicing and singing lyrics along to music until it sounded good, and then she still needed to find a time when her voice was in good form in order to record the vocals track… T T How did she manage to accept more than forty song requests? At this rate, she was going to be paying off these commitments all the way until next year's winter break…

Qiang Qing Ci: Typing's a little tiring. Do you mind using QQ voice chat?

She had still been adding up in her mind how many songs she was going to have to record when this line of text… caused her heart to jump. It was late, but with such a well-insulated room, there would definitely not be any issues with using voice chat. Besides, since she entered into the ancient-style music circle, her parents were used to her recording things in the middle of the night.

But…

Gu Sheng gaped at that row of text again, her breathing still unsteady.

After YY and WeChat… she was now going to get Qiang Qing Ci DaRen's QQ, too?

Why was the world starting to seem so unfathomable and difficult to understand?…

She lightly breathed out and then swiftly added him as a contact in QQ. As she slipped on her headset, her heart inexplicably began to race.

This felt completely different from YY, k?…

In a YY room, even if there were only two people inside, you still felt that it was a public platform. However, QQ voice chat only allowed one-on-one interaction, and no matter how you looked at it, it still felt more personal and private… Plus, in YY, she would always immediately dash off once she was finished singing and would never stay for casual chatting…

In short, this was just very nerve-wracking …

It was like she was waiting for a personal telephone call from Qiang Qing Ci.

Before long, he was successfully added.

And then, he sent over an invitation to start a voice chat.

Gu Sheng accepted and then immediately became even more nervous.

Normally in WeChat, they took turns sending voice messages. That was completely different from the dialogue that was going to happen now…

"You there?" Qiang Qing Ci suddenly addressed her.

"Huh?" Gu Sheng pressed down on her microphone lightly and adjusted its position. "DaRen, I'm here."

"Continue what you were saying."

Huh?

(⊙ o ⊙) ... Continue saying… what?...

"Ah….. I just went and swallowed some sesame oil…" She looked down contemptuously upon herself. She could not think of a topic at all. "DaRen, you're not tired anymore?"

With a nonchalant "mm," Qiang Qing Ci answered, "Just woke up. Looking for something to eat now."

His voice was so clear, like he was standing directly in front of her.

Gu Sheng inwardly scorned herself again. How come she was acting like this was the first time she had ever had an online voice chat? …

It was quiet again.

This wasn't WeChat. Silence was extremely awkward, you know? T T

Gu Sheng was struggling when she suddenly remembered the ingredients she had just seen. "I... Um, just now, when I was in the kitchen, I saw that my mom had prepped some conch meat… I'll probably be eating poached 'pearls' with conch for lunch tomorrow."

Qiang Qing Ci gave an indistinct "mm."

It sounded as if some sort of food packaging was being ripped open. Potato chips?

Alright… And then straightaway came the crunching sound of chips being eaten …

Since DaRen was having a late-night snack, then let her take the lead in the conversation. T T

"I've always liked that dish." Gu Sheng quickly looked up the recipe on Baidu. After finding it, she read it over carefully and processed it into her own words. "You cut the conch into large, rinse them clean in warm water, and put them in a large soup bowl with choy sum that have been blanched in water and Nameko mushrooms. Then you mince some scallions and ginger. After, you add some cooking wine and water to them to make a ginger-scallion liquid.

"And then you prepare the 'pearls.' The pearls are actually just chicken meat.

You mince the chicken until it becomes a paste, add egg white and pork fat to it, and then stir them together until they're well mixed. After that, you can shape them into little balls, maybe one centimeter in diameter or so. Boil some water; then turn down the heat and drop the meatballs in to poach until they're cooked through. After, you add in sesame oil, MSG, and pepper. And finally, while everything is still hot, you pour it all into the soup bowl with the conch… Um, and then it's ready to eat."

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She was done talking.

She clearly heard Qiang Qing Ci chuckle a little helplessly. "Mm-hmm, I know. It's a well known dish in Shandong cuisine."

...Okay. No problem… She would treat this as a chance to learn a new recipe…

Qiang Qing Ci gave a little sigh.

And then… very concisely and to the point, he told her, "I think, I'm even more hungry now."

He was simply saying a casual statement to her.

Oh God… then what was this immense feeling of guilt that was hitting her?…

"DaRen, I was wrong." Gu Sheng felt terribly remorseful and, in a sincere tone, said into the headset, "How about… I sing a song for you to make it up to you?"

It seemed singing was the only thing she knew how to do and that Qiang Qing Ci liked?

"Sure," he laughed.

Gu Sheng's wordlessly closed her eyes.

Late into the midnight hours, having an online chat with her most beloved idol's voice…

She was honestly going to die…

Opening up her folder of music, she slowly and carefully searched through it. Finally, she found a song that was on the more soothing side.

She cleared her throat a little bit. It did seem to feel quite a bit better.

This song did not require a great deal of effort to sing, and listening to it… should be very relaxing as well.

She opened up the BGM (background music), and a very ethereal song gradually could be heard. She hummed along with the introduction for a little while before she began singing in a gentle voice:

"I have taken my sorrows and brewed them into a bottle of wine for parting

In the midnight hours, drifting aimlessly in the rain on the mountain

Past things of the mortal world always shadowing closely behind, leaving behind a song

If one can become a deity, why would one still be unable to let go?

The eaves you once lived under are now drenched by dew

And accompanying the shadows, they seem to be painted into the distant late autumn scene

Shadows cast by candles are agitating, and I mock myself that I am like duckweed swept downstream to the east

Call out to the bright moon, and mix its twilight glow in to dilute the sorrows..."

This was a song that she loved a ton, so she was able to sing it very proficiently. She did not really need to look at the lyrics and still she could smoothly sing it.

Qiang Qing Ci seemed very familiar with this song as well and was able to recognize that it was "Zai Feng Ming Yue Zhao Jiu Zhou" [When the Bright Moon Shines Again Upon the Nine Provinces[1]]. During the interlude, he stated the name of the song and even told her in a gentle voice, "The lyrics of the song contain a poem[2]. I really like it, too."

Such a low, unhurried voice that seemed to possess a magnetism in it, speaking alongside the interlude…

Gu Sheng was somewhat mesmerized as she listened to him and nearly forgot to sing the second half of the song…

Fortunately, she managed to force herself to recover her professionalism in time and was able to complete the song.

Because it was so late already, when she had finished singing, Toupai told her that she should go to sleep.

Gu Sheng did not really want to, but she still obediently shut off QQ and computer and climbed into bed. All wrapped up in her blankets, she was still thinking about her voice chat with Toupai, which had seemed more like a private phone call. So… now, besides his phone number, she actually was so blessed as to have all of his contact details?

She was somewhat in a state of disbelief…

In this euphoric state of mind, she drifted off to sleep…

When she woke up the next day, it was already eleven o'clock.

It was two days before school was to resume again…

As she groggily sat up in bed, she heard the sounds of cooking coming from the kitchen. Swiftly, she washed up and then turned on her computer. She had just logged into Weibo when she noticed bewilderedly that she had been @ several dozen times again.

A wave of apprehension struck her first, but then after looking at the number of @… Hmm… Shouldn't be Toupai's fans…

This was going to turn into a mental sickness soon…

╮(╯▽╰)╭

She opened up the notifications. But she had not anticipated this…

I… I… I… I had my first day of internship at the recording studio today. My first day, ah! And I actually saw my male idol and god, @QiangQingCi! My male god, don't worry; I promised you. I took an oath! I absolutely will not leak any of your photos or info! But can I say something that's true! My male god, you are honestly… TOO! HANDSOME!! K?!!!! T T, Sheng Sheng Man... I… AM… SO… JEALOUS… OF… YOU!!!! #

[1] Orig. 九州or 'Jiu Zhou.' Literally means "Nine Provinces." As early as the Shang dynasty, Chinese historical texts have mentioned the "Nine Provinces," although the actual names of the provinces may differ depending on which text is referenced as they also changed through historical time. However, the name "Nine Provinces" symbolically came to represent China as a whole.