Chapter 156 - Extra 3 Part 1 Words Between the Lines
—Break my name apart and you'll find two characters for "word (言 yán)".
If one of it belongs to me, then the other is destined to be yours.
For a long time, he couldn't look at beds covered in white sheets.
For a long time, he continued preparing meals for two every day.
For a long time, he thought that he would wake up and find that the bed in white never existed and the old man had never left. That he would still be standing at the doorway with a gentle smile, calling him to get up so they could go out together to buy soya milk and steaming hot, freshly baked buns.
But four years had passed. If he had woken up, he should've woken up by now.
Since he hadn't, he could only face reality—
"How do you feel now?"
The tip of the pen paused slightly on the medical record. The doctor looked up, carefully observing Shen Yan's expression and subtle movements as he asked.
Shen Yan’s gaze slowly swept over the white bed, lingering for a moment before he blinked and finally responded in a slightly hoarse voice, "I can speak normally."
The doctor acknowledged with a "mhm", and continued writing, the ink from his pen spreading swiftly across the page. "Selective mutism is more commonly seen in children. It's quite rare for adults like yourself to experience relapses after starting to recover through treatment. Most times when it happens, it's triggered by sudden psychological trauma…" The doctor paused here, studying him thoughtfully. "But it seems like you're able to face reality now."
"I watched my grandfather breathe his last breath on a white hospital bed," Shen Yan said in a soft voice, "The shock from that time was too much and I completely broke down… After that, for the next year or two, every time I saw a white bed, I would be reminded of that moment, of him passing away, and I couldn't pull myself together."
The doctor nodded as Shen Yan spoke.
The most common examples of psychological trauma doctors would hear about here often involved losing loved ones.
Four years ago, when this man first came to the hospital seeking treatment, his condition was dreadful. He couldn't make a sound while looking at a white bed, just like a genuine mute—let alone speak. Even the initial consultation had to be done through paper and pen.
Now, even with a white bed in front of him, Shen Yan could speak and converse like anyone else.
"Adults are different from children after all. Our psychological mechanisms are more robust. Once the root cause is found, we can slowly work to overcome it."
"Yes, thank you, Doctor." Today was his final follow-up appointment at the hospital . He was genuinely grateful for all the help the hospital had provided over the years.
"However, given that you have a history of two relapses, it’s hard to guarantee there won’t be a third or fourth… So long-term treatment and reinforcement are still necessary." The doctor rustled through his files for a moment before continuing thoughtfully, "You mentioned voice acting in your questionnaire—you said that you used to rehearse and do voice work with your friends, and it helped a lot with overcoming your condition, is that right?"
"…Yes." Although he could never go back to that now and the team had gradually drifted apart.
Moreover, there was someone in that group whom he no longer wished to contact.
But the doctor wasn't privy to those details. He only knew it was an effective treatment, and from a clinical psychology standpoint, it was worth trying again.
"Mr Shen, you've made great progress with your recovery, but there's always room for improvement. Why not give it another go? Perhaps try voice acting again as a hobby?" the doctor suggested.
+++++
Shen Yan stepped out of the hospital, pausing briefly before descending the last step, then turning around to take one final look at the grey building.
This place had witnessed his four years of living lost and confused, and today… it had finally come to an end.
Wandering in place wouldn't change anything; only moving forward could.
He thought quietly as he stepped off the final stair, passing through the soft morning light peeking through the shades, towards the bus stop.
Spring had arrived late this year. It was already mid-April, yet the row of willow trees lining the road had only just begun to sprout a few tender shoots. Even those were still caught between green and white because of the cold. About two days ago, the weather station had specifically warned citizens about "a cold spell in early spring". Hence, many still layered up with light woollen sweaters before heading out in the mornings.
Every year around this time, the pet hospital he worked at would receive numerous cats and dogs suffering from seasonal colds. Most were either too young or too old to have proper immunity, and with some negligent owners, they quickly fell ill.
The first patient he received today was a fifteen-year-old white Persian cat.
For a cat, that was the equivalent of being an eighty-year-old grandpa. This Kitty Grandpa's medical records had been filled with various ailments since two years ago. Last year, it even went through surgery to remove a skin tumour, and with its worsening kidney function, it had been frail for months. After barely surviving the long winter, the spring chill seemed to be the final straw, and it might not get up again this time.
The cat's owners were a middle-aged couple. The wife had been choking back tears since bringing the cat to the clinic, while the husband could only helplessly comfort her whilst consulting him about treatment options.
As a vet, he would naturally do everything he could to treat his patients.
But sometimes, when a cat reaches that age, no amount of medicine or skill could reverse the inevitable—
"The inflammation in its upper respiratory tract wasn't detected in time and has now developed into pneumonia. Although it can be controlled with medication, it's too old, and its kidneys aren't functioning well. Excessive medication could put even more strain on its body." He gently stroked the limp, motionless Persian cat on the steel table, speaking softly, "You might not accept my suggestion, but I think the best thing for it now… would be to make its passing as comfortable as possible."
As she heard those words, the wife broke down in tears.
The husband couldn't help but sigh as well. "Honestly, ever since it started getting sick more often two years ago, we knew it might not have long left. We've tried everything—high-end supplements, imported medications. We've managed to prolong its life for over a year, but dragging it on any further might just make it suffer more like you said, doctor."
At this moment, the wife suddenly looked up, her eyes red as she stared at him. "We've had it for seven or eight years since we adopted it. I really don't know how I'll cope without it."
The husband hugged her by the shoulders and consoled her, "I saw a two-year-old white Persian cat looking for an adopter on the forum yesterday. It looks exactly like ours. We could go have a look sometime. If it's a good match, we could take it home and raise it like it's this one, how about that?"
After losing a beloved pet, owners would often choose to keep another that looked very similar as a way of consoling themselves.
He stood quietly by the side, listening to the couple discuss their Persian cat's arrangements without commenting further.
If everything lost could be replaced… maybe the four years he’d spent alone in that empty home wouldn't have been so unbearable.
But he understood. No one could ever replace his grandfather.
The couple probably knew that as well. However similar the cat they adopted might be to their current one, it was still a different cat. It could only serve as a form of remembrance.
When he got home, he opened his computer and sat silently in front of the screen for a while, but took no further action.
In the past, when he had voiced characters that needed a grandfatherly tone, he would instinctively use his grandfather as a reference, mimicking the man. Sometimes, even the pace, tone, and the way his grandfather treated younger people would be referenced to varying degrees; they all had traces of his grandfather.
Perhaps… Could this be a way of remembrance for him?
"Huu…"
He sat up straighter, wearily rubbing his face with both hands. Four years of absence wasn't particularly, but it wasn't short either. He understood why the doctor suggested he give it a try, but he knew it wouldn’t be easy to pick up something he’d abandoned for four years as if nothing had changed.
The reason he had started voice acting was largely due to his grandfather’s encouragement. In that case, it was only fitting he started anew in the name of "honouring his grandfather" and recapturing the positive attitude he had at that time in his life… Even though he had no confidence if the current him could still reproduce his grandfather’s voice.
Plus, he had no idea how people did voice acting these days—
He stared silently at the flashing cursor in the search bar. After a long while, he finally placed his hands on the keyboard and typed a few vague keywords based on his hazy memory, searching for relevant pages. In no time, he found the forum he used to visit.
Years ago, the online voice acting scene was starting to grow and take shape, and a forum dedicated to sharing and reviewing voice dramas emerged. Although four years had passed and the layout and moderators had changed several times, the content and style of the productions had become much more diverse, the web address remained the same.
However, there were hardly any posts about live voice acting practice anymore…
As he clicked through the pages one by one, the posts that were once common in the early days of online voice acting, where CVs would ask for partners to record with or to practise with, had completely disappeared from the forums. Now, recruitment posts for voice acting projects usually only require CVs to record their audition lines and send them directly to the producer or a shared project email. Live auditions had become very rare.
According to the doctor, if there was no live interaction, it actually wouldn't be much help for his condition. However, given his current state, he couldn't jump straight to that point, so this format of simply submitting raw audio was more suited to someone like him, who was just getting back into it.
However, he didn't even have a recording software.
Not because he had uninstalled it—he just never had any to begin with.
Back when the few of them had started voice acting together, it was just purely for practice. And since Skype didn’t have built-in recording functions, they didn't keep any audio recordings. No uploads, no productions—just a small group, casually practising together, free and relaxed.
They all knew about the wider online voice acting community and forum, but the only one who actively participated in that while voicing with them was "Five."
"One" and "Two" preferred traditional commercial voice acting and weren't interested in drama production or behind-the-scenes work.
"Three" preferred singing covers to voice acting and that had a circle of its own.
And while "Four" loved the gossip and drama posts on the forum, she mostly just lurked without getting involved. Plus, she was incredibly picky about scripts, so it was destined that there were few groups she would be interested in.
"Five" was the only one who took on more projects outside than within their group, mostly because he loved being part of the action. He enjoyed participating in all the forum events, and his unique voice earned him a fanbase early on, so he found more satisfaction in voice acting on a larger scale rather than staying within their small circle—he was worlds apart from him.
Shen Yan was just a good practice partner, quietly accompanying them during their sessions. But even so, he'd found those days quite pleasant.
If those things hadn't happened later…
He shook his head, stopping himself from going down that train of thought to that thorn in his heart. If left alone, it wouldn't hurt, but once touched, the pain would radiate deep into his bones.
When he reached the tenth page, a post title suddenly caught his eye: "In desperate need of a grandpa voice! A grandpa voice, please! Desperately begging !We’re just short of this one extra! 〒▽〒"
He froze for a moment before clicking into the post. It turned out that except for the bit part of an elderly neighbour, all other voice recordings were ready. They were just waiting for this last bit before sending everything to post-production.
The lady producer said that she had asked all the CVs she knew, but none of them could do a grandpa voice. Left with no choice, she had resorted to posting a recruitment notice on the forum. However, this recruitment post clearly did not garner much attention; it had only been posted a day ago and was already buried on the tenth page.
He silently read through the lines she had posted for the minor role. In truth, the content of the lines wasn’t difficult to perform; the challenge lay solely in doing a convincing grandpa voice.
She seemed pretty desperate… he thought. If he were to offer a helping hand now, it wouldn't come across as abrupt, would it?
Though uncertain about how the other party might perceive it, he ultimately decided to install a recording software based on the recommendations he found on the forum. He recorded all the lines in the specified format three times and sent them to the production email, signing off as "Geese Fly North".
Ugh I love this extra >.< I always love it when we get some insight into the other lead's pov
If you don't mind, it'd be nice if you can rate this novel on NU if you've enjoyed it so far!! ( ̧⸝⸝⍢⸝⸝)ෆ
Please feedback to me in the comments below if you find any typos or
terrible grammar, etc that you think I should change. Or maybe you think
my interpretation is completely off lol Help me help you have a better
reading experience ahahah what a tongue twister XD
Thank yous!! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great day!!
You can support me by sending some love in the comments or through the button below
Thank yous!! (˶‾᷄ ⁻̫ ‾᷅˵)
I hope you enjoyed this chapter and have a great day!!
You can support me by sending some love in the comments or through the button below
peace lilies~