Chapter 15: CV

As the preeminent leaders of the Capital’s elite circles, the Ji family primarily controlled real estate and entertainment. In contrast, the Bai family’s domain lay in private luxury hospitals and medical equipment.

Aside from these two, the only other titan in the Capital was the Shen Group, a new energy and chemical powerhouse that had risen meteorically over the last five years.

However, new money and old traditions rarely occupied the same social circles.

Furthermore, the founder and CEO of the Shen Group, Shen Yi, had transitioned from the Chinese Academy of Sciences to the business world. She was known for being fiercely independent and seemingly had no interest in integrating into the Capital’s high-society vanity fair.

The Ji family line was thin; in Ji Yan’s generation, she was the only direct descendant. Therefore, even though she had willfully chosen to study the arts, everyone knew that the Ji family legacy would eventually fall into her hands.

The Bai family was different. They had always determined their successor through a “gu-style” internal struggle—letting the heirs fight until only the strongest remained.

And Bai Ran—the youngest daughter with congenital heart disease who had previously been so low-profile she was practically invisible—had somehow moved into the very center of the Bai family’s wealth and power in recent years.

On the surface, she seemed to have done nothing. Yet, the beneficiaries of every major upheaval within the Bai family pointed directly to this frail, sickly young lady who had only reached adulthood two years ago.

No one in the upper echelons was naive enough to think this was a coincidence. They simply marveled at the young woman’s ruthless methods and took the opportunity to curry favor with her early.

The Ji and Bai families were long-standing allies, so their high-profile heirs had known each other for a long time. Though they didn’t get along, knowing someone that long meant they each held certain secrets and weaknesses over the other.

By unspoken agreement, they kept these secrets as leverage, never breathing a word to anyone else.

Specifically, Ji Yan and Bai Ran shared the same sexual orientation. They were both gay. It was even possible that their mutual dislike stemmed from the fact that they “clashed” in their relationship roles—both being the dominant type.

Unlike Ji Yan, who was born that way, Bai Ran was gay because she had someone she loved.

Regarding this “her,” Ji Yan knew nothing other than the fact that she was female and that Bai Ran had been searching for her for years. Bai Ran’s uncharacteristic behavior today immediately made the sharp-witted Ji Yan think of that possibility.

“If I really found her, would I need to go through all this trouble?”

Bai Ran smiled warmly, her expression making it impossible to tell if she was being sincere.

Her response caused Ji Yan to drop her suspicion. After all, knowing Bai Ran’s character, if she wanted someone, she had a hundred ways to get them. There would be no need for such elaborate schemes just to get close.

To be honest, Ji Yan never truly believed that an extreme, unscrupulous egoist like Bai Ran could be a devoted lover. She had always felt that this “search for a lost love” was just another persona under Bai Ran’s gentle mask.

“Do you know Shen Ruoshuang?” Bai Ran asked abruptly.

Hearing that familiar name, Ji Yan’s dark eyes narrowed slightly, gesturing for her to continue.

“The Bai family and the Shen Group have a recent collaboration in biochemical medicine. That’s how I found out she is Shen Yi’s daughter. I’d heard she was beautiful and brilliant, and seeing her at the Opening Ceremony today… she truly is a goddess among mortals.”

Ji Yan couldn’t catch any hidden motive in Bai Ran’s voice or expression; she sounded like she was genuinely offering praise and admiration.

Ji Yan truly hadn’t known that Shen Ruoshuang had such a background.

“She’s actually Shen Yi’s daughter? She kept that well-hidden. You’re interested in her?”

Ji Yan recalled Shen Ruoshuang’s special attitude toward Xu Yinian. Her gaze flashed with a hint of mockery; she would love nothing more than to see Bai Ran crash and burn against that icy wall.

“Our families are having dinner this weekend. Perhaps we’ll have a chance to chat. After all, there’s so much about her I want to know.”

As she spoke, Bai Ran habitually turned the slender white jade bracelet on her wrist. There was something inexplicably dangerous about her tone.

Especially… that half-year during high school when Shen Ruoshuang transferred to that small town, Yuanwu.

Ji Yan’s eyes flickered. She wasn’t sure why Bai Ran was revealing this to her. When Bai Ran told her, “See you back at the dorm,” Ji Yan didn’t even think before snapping back, “Get lost.”

Bai Ran wasn’t angry. She simply smiled and left with her secretary and private doctor.

Without being fully prepared to control everyone’s reactions, now wasn’t the time to enter the fray. After all, Bai Ran knew exactly how beautiful the Little Rose she had lost truly was.

The biggest mistake would be failing to hide her away, allowing others to see her.

***

When Xu Yinian finished her X-rays and came out, she saw a beautiful woman standing across from Ji Yan. They seemed to be talking.

Judging only by the woman’s elegant back and extraordinary aura, Xu Yinian was certain she hadn’t seen her before. Her first thought was: Is this another fish in Ji Yan’s ‘scumbag’ pond?

Not wanting to walk in on her business for a third time, Xu Yinian immediately stopped in her tracks, intending to observe from a distance.

But before she could watch for even two seconds, the woman began to leave.

The glimpse of her profile made Xu Yinian’s breath hitch. It was a top-tier beauty that rivaled the protagonists, Shen Ruoshuang and Ji Yan. Although it was just a fleeting glance, the woman’s features felt strangely familiar.

It was exactly the kind of gentle look that Xu Yinian was most susceptible to.

She had always been unable to resist gentle, kind people—just as she had instinctively tried her best to reciprocate when Qin Jiashu treated her with warmth and kindness.

This caused Xu Yinian’s gaze to follow the woman involuntarily. Her polite, low-profile conduct and the scholarly air about her gave off a sense of “gentle as jade.”

The reason Xu Yinian had insisted on defying her mother to choose the Department of Chinese was because of her own introverted nature and the “literary sentimentality” that kept her immersed in the world of books.

It wasn’t until the woman’s figure had completely disappeared that Xu Yinian realized she had been staring for quite a while. She tucked away her admiration.

How could such a gentle sister be involved with Ji Yan…

Ji Yan already had her official love interest, Shen Ruoshuang. No matter how peerlessly beautiful this woman was, she was destined for heartbreak.

Just as she was sighing internally, a voice came from behind her:

“What are you looking at?”

Xu Yinian’s hand jerked in fright, nearly exposing her hiding spot. Her voice was soft and incoherent with guilt. “N-nothing… I was… I was looking for you…”

Because of her panic, Xu Yinian didn’t notice that Ji Yan’s index finger was pressed firmly against the green voice message button on WeChat, as if she were recording something.

In fact, Ji Yan had startled her on purpose just to make her stutter.

Seeing her goal achieved, Ji Yan released her finger, and a voice message was sent to the person on the other side.

At the same time, in the “Monologue Studios” recording booth in the Capital.

Lin San sat at her desk, her computer screen filled with the multi-track interfaces of AU and Cubase. Seeing the WeChat notification and the voice message bar, her eyes lit up, and she clicked it immediately.

Monologue Studios was currently the most famous commercial audio drama production house on the internet. Although it was a late bloomer and lacked connections in the traditional voice acting (CV) circles, it had become an unexpected hit.

This success was thanks to the voice director, Lin San, who scouted “treasure” CVs with unique vocal signatures everywhere she went, combined with intense, high-quality adaptations.

With the explosion of their first batch of web novel adaptations, Monologue had established a peerless reputation and popularity in the audio drama world.

Beyond mainstream romance dramas, Monologue’s “Baihe” (Lesbian/GL) dramas were legendary. Aside from perfect casting—where they would rather delay production than use an unfitting voice—the main reason for their success was their most popular ace CV, “Briefly Put.”

“Briefly Put” had once been called “The woman who tops the entire CV circle” and “The CV circle’s only female Alpha” due to her magnetic, commanding, and dominant voice.

Every GL work she starred in perfectly brought the characters to life. Her voice was so sultry and charming it caused a vertical explosion in her fan count.

Briefly Put had no social media accounts and only worked with Monologue. Beyond mandatory studio promotions, she never hosted live streams, let alone showed her face. Once a drama’s promotional period ended, she vanished from the internet as if she’d retired.

No one knew Briefly Put’s true identity, which only added to her mysterious, cold image.

Word had it that Briefly Put was collaborating with Monologue on a new audio drama titled Improper Thoughts. The fans, who had been waiting desperately, were ecstatic, throwing money at promotions and support.

Little did they know, the production had been stalled for months because they couldn’t find the other female lead.

While the public was in the dark, Lin San knew the truth better than anyone: “Briefly Put” was none other than the highly-watched “star second-gen,” Ji Yan.

With such a status, she naturally had to protect her privacy and her secret identity. She wasn’t voice acting for money or fame; it was purely for fun.

Yet, her natural talent and her irreplaceable voice had propelled her from the niche GL circle into the mainstream, making her one of the most followed and sought-after CVs today.

It was a classic case of “the willow planted unintentionally providing shade”—some people simply obtained with ease what others could never reach…

Even though she was the face of her studio, Lin San couldn’t help but feel envious of Ji Yan’s talent from time to time.

Improper Thoughts was the most popular “ABO” GL novel of the previous year. When news of an audio drama adaptation first broke, everyone hoped that Briefly Put, with her perfect Alpha aura, would take the lead role.

Given the unique genre—one that hadn’t been adapted into an audio drama before—the prospects were incredibly bright.

The rights had been bought long ago. It wasn’t that Lin San didn’t want to start production; it was that Ji Yan had a quirk. She was a hardcore “voice-snob” and was extremely picky about her partners.

Furthermore, the other lead in Improper Thoughts was an Omega who had a slight stutter. After auditioning countless voices, Ji Yan remained unsatisfied.

With no other choice, the project had to be temporarily shelved. Seeing the fans begging under the studio’s official Weibo every day, Lin San had been utterly helpless—until now.