Secretly Captivated: Chapter 10B

During the weekend, Mo Lan, who was anxiously looking for inspiration in front of the computer at home, received a call from An Xiaoluo, asking her to go to the restaurant in the new hundred level mall*, said that she was invited for dinner.

(新百的外婆家 I’m not sure what it means. From what I gathered, it’s a restaurant in the mall but then again, it’s also not that important)

On the other side of the phone, An Xiaoluo was very excited, seemingly a bit shy. Her brain suddenly thought of how previously An Xiaoluo hurried out after receiving somebody’s call at night…

En, something must have had happened. Thinking so, Mo Lan with curiosity started to change her clothes.

The weather recently seemed to be a little colder compared to a few days before, Mo Lan changed to a fluffy pink scarf, and with three outer layers and three inner layers, she wrapped herself closely from her neck to the tip of her nose.

When Mo Lan came out of the elevator and walked into the restaurant, there were still many people waiting in line at the door. She let out a sigh of relief as fortunately An Xiaoluo came early, Mo Lan squeezed through the crowd and went in.

Mo Lan walked all the way in, raised her head, and happened to see An Xiaoluo waved at her from the corner. She quickened her steps and walked towards her.

Just as she was about to sit down beside An Xiaoluo, she looked up, Mo Lan found herself sitting diagonally opposite a man, a stranger.

The man looked about twenty-eight or twenty-nine years old, he wore a gray shirt with two unbuttoned buttons near the neckline. He sat there, without speaking, but inexplicably made one felt safe and reliable.

Mo Lan silently glanced at him several times and gave him a high score in her heart. This time, An Xiaoluo’s vision seemed pretty good.

Opening her mouth, she was about to greet the other party. In the end, the other party looked at her, smiled, and spoke first:

“Hello, it’s our first time meeting, my name is Su Shen.”

The other person’s mouth opened and closed, but not a word went into Mo Lan’s ear. In a flash, the moment he spoke, she was thoroughly shocked, unable to respond at all.

As a veteran voice enthusiast, she couldn’t be more certain that this voice was Su Qingmo’s.

And An Xiaoluo couldn’t helped laughing when she saw her expression.

Mo Lan came back to her senses and felt a little embarrassed, she 囧 for a while, and nevertheless still seek confirmation: “You are Su Qingmo SAMA?”

The other party smiled: “I am, but, you can just call me Su Shen.”

Mo Lan turned her head, saw An Xiaoluo beside her with her whole face smiling, with a rarely seen side of bashfulnesss.

She surely must have opened the wrong door, how did An Xiaoluo meet Su Qingmo, and also met face to face with the other party…

Mo Lan’s heart was still feeling that it was implausible, while Su Shen on the opposite already opened his mouth again: “Are you Ye Lanshan?”

Trying very hard to adjust her heart’s emotion, Mo Lan nodded: “I am.” After thinking about it, she added, “Umm, my real name is Mo Lan, the lan from lán shān* (coming to an end/waning).”

(same as Ye Lanshan 夜闌珊 = late at night)

Su Shen heard her affirmative answer and laughed softly. The deep low voice laughed, where it couldn’t helped but made people felt a little closer: “En, the type that Ah Mi likes.”

Mo Lan lowered her head in embarrassment, she didn’t have the nerve to look into the other person’s teasing eyes.

The first time we met and you just naturally teased other people like that, this wasn’t actually good right…

An Xiaoluo was also laughing next to her, after finished laughing, she asked gossiply: “I also think the both of them feels promising, Secretly Captivated have never treated a fan this well before. In other words, Su Shen, are you quite close to Secretly Captivated SAMA?”

Mo Lan also followed and looked towards Su Qingmo silently, or, should she say Su Shen?

En, it must not be her illusion, when Su Shen’s eyes fell onto An Xiaoluo, it was inexplicably much softer.

“Should be considered as close ba, I will find him whenever I’m in Nanjing on a business trip, and he will ask me out whenever he comes to Shanghai.” Su Shen smiled, then, looked at Mo Lan, and added softly, “Ah Mi is a very good person, and he’s currently still single.”

Currently still single…

Mo Lan 囧, such suggestive words, shouldn’t be meant for her?

With her fair cheeks bringing a hint of blush, Mo Lan silently changed the subject and asked the question she had been curious since the beginning: “That, Su Qing… err, Su Shen, how did you meet my cousin?”

Su Shen smiled, and his conspicuous grave and stern face also softened: “Our company and Xiaoluo’s company are collaborating, recently there was contract that needed more discussion, so happened that she was sent to negotiate with me, as a result… as soon as we met, she recognised my voice.” When Su Shen reached the last sentence, there was a touch of helplessness, yet unspeakeably made Mo Lan felt, a sense of being pampered.

An Xiaoluo listened to him, and chimed in, “You can’t blame me, who allowed your voice to be so recognisable, even if I didn’t want to recognise it, it’s still difficult you know?”

The development of this plot… was obviously contrary to one’s expectation, but it also seemed reasonable.

Mo Lan was well aware that at work, An Xiaoluo possessed a unique kind of charm. She passed like thunder and moved like the wind*, keeps her word, possessed a one of a kind cold and strict, beautiful but aloof force of attraction, especially towards men. If Su Shen came to like An Xiaoluo through working with her, Mo Lan would absolutely believed it one hundred percent.

(idiom: swift and decisive reaction)

At the table, a few of them were talking, and over there, the waiter was serving them plate after plate.

Looking at the fragrant dishes in front of him, Su Shen paused, then raised his head and looked at Mo Lan. He thoughtfully said, “I heard from Ah Mi, you’re good in cooking?”

Mo Lan froze for a moment, then answered a little embarrassedly: “Not bad I guess.”

“Like that ah, it’s just nice you can quickly rescue Ah Mi from his instant noodles. According to how he eats, his body will have problems sooner or later.” Su Shen said, what was originally a joke yet it carried a hint of concerned.

Mo Lan couldn’t help but sighed softly.

It seemed that… Secretly Captivated was indeed, considerably unlikely to take care of himself.

While An Xiaoluo reached out with her chopsticks to pick up the dishes, she also spoke immediately afterwards, “Xiaolan’s cooking level is especially awesome, will invite you over for dinner one day, and Secretly Captivated SAMA as well.”

“I have no objection, I think, Ah Mi will not have any objection too.” Su Shen appearance was smiling, he quietly replied, in a very mild and amiable tone.

The real person’s voice was really so nice to listen to, Mo Lan thought silently, her heart was about to burst into tears. If she could meet Secretly Captivated in the 3D world, listened to him in person…. just thinking about it, she could feel her happiness just simply bursting out all right!

“Su Shen, I’m actually quite curious, what do you talk about when you meet with SC SAMA ah?” An Xiaoluo asked unclearly with a piece of beef in her mouth.

It felt so natural when An Xiaoluo called him Su Shen, unlike herself, just thinking about those three words, Gu Ye Mi in her heart, she felt that her three immortal souls have lost their seven mortal forms, with the way Mo Lan thoughts were going, she sincerely felt that she was about to lose face T^T.

Su Shen took a sip of water, thought for a while, and spoke softly, his deep voice automatically a bit nostalgic: “Before we’ve talked more about our work, Ah Mi’s job is very exhausting and also stressful. Nowadays what comes up more often would… probably be these three words, Ye Lan Shan.”

Sitting opposite him was Mo Lan, who was just in the middle of taking a sip of her milk tea through the straw, albeit unsuccessfully and almost choked on the pearl in her mouth.

While An Xiaoluo merely nodded thoughtfully: “I just knew he was interested in Xiao Lan. But… what does he really see in our Xiao Lan?”

“Cousin…” Mo Lan said weakly, wanting to refute. Unfortunately, it was probably because her voice was so weak that the two soon ignored her.

Su Shen was silent for a while, and then showed a slightly helpless smile: “I don’t know too, in short, when the name Ye Lanshan first appeared from his mouth, I felt, he was already infatuated. To be honest, Mo Lan, have you or have you not met Ah Mi before in reality?”

Mo Lan, who was suddenly called on, was stunned. Her brain quickly recalled all of the opposite sex’s name that she knew, she carefully combed once through all of them, and confirmed that there was nobody by the name Gu Ye Mi, in addition to her normal place of residence, she rarely had the opportunity to meet somebody from the opposite sex. As a result, she cautiously thought, and carefully shook her head.

“All right.” Su Shen saw her shook her head, and he couldn’t help but teased a little, “Then the only explanation is because… towards you he fell in love at first sight.”

Love at first sight?

We obviously haven’t met all right.. feeling as if the other party’s hole in the brain was getting bigger and bigger, Mo Lan wanted to just burst into tears.

With an “I have a good feeling about you” demeanour, An Xiaoluo patted Mo Lan’s shoulder, and looked very solemn: “For the past four years, you have always been an avid fan of his, there’s your deep-seated love of him*, it must be the heavens was moved by the degree of your fangirling.”

(粉他粉的熱烈愛他愛的深沉 fen ta fen de re lie ai ta ai de shen chen – just sounds nicer in Mandarin)

Mo Lan turned her head to look at An Xiaoluo, her face covered with black lines and answered: “There are many fans who are his avid fan and who have a deep-seated love for him you know?”

Su Shen suddenly surpressed his smile and answered somewhat earnestly: “That’s what people say, but sometimes there’s no choice but to believe, fate, truly was a very wonderful thing.”

The meal was very lively.

The 3D Su Shen, was the same as the 2D Su Qingmo, doesn’t speak much, but it made people feel very secure, and was very easy-going and not reserved at all.

After the meal, Mo Lan very tactfully said bye first, not wanting to disturb An Xiaoluo and Su Shen who were cultivating a romantic relationship, and headed home in the car under the gaze of those two.

Sitting in the taxi, Mo Lan’s mood was still unable to calm down, her brain couldn’t help but recalled the words that was just uttered by Su Qingmo. He said, sometimes, fate, truly was a very wonderful thing.

Having listened with her own ears how An Xiaoluo and Su Qingmo met, Mo Lan couldn’t help but admitted that at this very moment, probably, this was what an ordinary person would often say, fate was too wonderful for words.

It was just after 9pm when she reached home, Mo Lan walked into her bedroom, took off her down jacket and hung it in her wardrobe. Turning on her laptop, the Ninth Heavens Dubbing’s QQ in the lower right corner was still perpetually lively, and the somewhat bored Mo Lan clicked open the group chat, when she saw the first line, in an instant, she was stunned.

Post-Production-Shui Shui Ruo Er: For Ninth Heavens seventh anniversary celebration, we’ve discussed and planned to have dinner together next Saturday, the children with coordinates in Nanjing quickly look and come over ~PS: Those under the age of 18 should still study first…

Designer-Tasseled Pendant: Coming!

Producer-Honey Lemon: Taking the bullet train from Changzhou will be the least pressure, I haven’t met the real Mi Da Senior, so excited ying ying ying!

Post-Production-In A Flash Rosy Cheeks Becomes Old: Finally I haven’t waited in vain! I just knew that the 7th anniversary would organise a meet-up!

Screenwriter-Ran Ran: Happened to have a business trip that day, don’t stop me, see you on the rooftop. (Waving)

Screenwriter-Bamboo Jade: Not sure if I have the time, very annoyed!

Mo Lan widened her eyes and read the conversation that was going back and forth many times, and finally, she typed still somewhat skeptically:

Ye Lanshan: Meet-up will be in Nanjing?

Screenwriter-Bamboo Jade: Yeah, is Lanshan sister close by? If you’re close then come, I know you have been a longtime fan of Mi Da.

Producer-Honey Lemon: Yay, I just happen to be super curious how you look like! Come come!

After being in contact for two to three weeks, Mo Lan was more familiar with them, and now listening to them, she also couldn’t helped but be emotionally affected. Meeting face to face… implied that, she would be able to meet the real 3D Secretly Captivated Senior? Earlier, she personally met Su Qingmo, now Ninth Heavens also organised a meetup… if today wasn’t April Fools’ Day, the heavens were indeed a bit too good towards her, right?

Despite the turbulence in her heart, Mo Lan tried to control her emotions and further inquired:

Ye Lanshan: Umm… I’m not part of Ninth Heavens’ staff, can I go too?

Designer-Falling Jade Necklace: You are the author of the new drama, you’re considered part of the staff, anyway it’s just an extra person, come ba, having more people will make it more lively ah.

Post-Production-In A Flash Rosy Cheeks Becomes Old: Exactly, also reportedly, Flower Burial SAMA would be coming too, she’s also not part of the staff. So what are you afraid of, just come boldly.

Screenwriter-Ran Ran: Goddess is coming too? Happy 23333333!

Hearing everyone’s earnest persuasion, Mo Lan couldn’t help but felt a little moved. But… she still dare not agree just like that. After all, compared with herself, all these people were close friends who have known each other for 3 to 4 years, if she just went without careful consideration, didn’t seem too good.

After racking her brains for a long time without any conclusion, finally, Mo Lan bit her lip and took out her mobile phone, it was better to still ask Secretly Captivated through WeChat.

Momo: Male god, Ninth Heavens’ get-together in Nanjing next Saturday, is it true?

Mo Lan waited patiently for a while, after about ten minutes, the other party replied:

GYM: It’s true, if you are free, come ba.

Seeing this sentence, Mo Lan was excited all at once.

Momo: Can I really go? QVQ

GYM: Of course can.

GYM: Going to work first, go to bed earlier.

Momo: Okay! Male god, you go to bed earlier too!

Mo Lan put down her phone, looked back at Ninth Heavens’ QQ group chat, everyone was still continously discussing in full swing.

Post-Production-In A Flash Rosy Cheeks Becomes Old: Just want to say that I’ve never seen Mi Da, I’m now very excited, who can tell me what kind of clothing style does Mi Da likes?

Screenwriter-Bamboo Jade: … practically suffering from a disease, whatever you wear, Mi Da won’t like it anyway.

Screenwriter-Ran Ran: Upstairs +1

Post-Production-Shui Shui Ruo Er: Upstairs +2

Designer-Tasseled Pendant: Upstairs +3

Screenwriter-Bamboo Jade: But, I say, didn’t we say before that our meet-up this time would be in Modu*, how come it’s back to Nanjing?

(Nickname for Shanghai. I never knew.)

Post-Production-Shui Shui Ruo Er: It was Mi Da who discussed the idea of ​​changing it to Nanjing, I’m not sure why.

Designer-Falling Jade Necklace: Mi Da would even care about this kind of thing… hasn’t he always not care about anything else except for his recordings etc?

Producer-Honey Lemon: Don’t try to guess the mind of male god (=?ω?)?

Screenwriter-Ran Ran: Upstairs just acting cute* is sufficient enough (waving)

(賣萌的顏文字 mài méng de yán wén zì. mai meng – slang for act cute. yan wen zi – Japanese-style emoticon, e.g. (≧ ∇ ≦) ﾉ. Putting it together, act in a Japanese-style cute way)

Mo Lan looked at everyone’s enthusiastic discussion and couldn’t help but replied:

Ye Lanshan: Have never seen the real male god, very excited very happy >3<

Post-Production-In A Flash Rosy Cheeks Becomes Old: I totally understand your fangirl feeling! Quickly come and help me think about what we should wear that day!

Designer-Tasseled Pendant: People who have met him before says he’s handsome until face-bleed*, and if combined with his voice, it’s pretty much -100 immunity, remember to prepare your own tissues and ambulance.

(You can read about it here. The author uses face bleed – exagerratedly so handsome)

Producer-Honey Lemon: Xiao Luo Bo is also super adorable, soft and sticky so nice to pinch, blown away until so green and yet very tsundere*, just my kinda dish~

(炸起毛來又很傲嬌 zhà qǐ máo lái yòu hěn ào jiāo – explode/deepfried go fur/coarse come again very tsundere – it was hard trying to make heads and tails out of this. Tsundere is a Japanese loanword which means presented as unfriendly and blunt, but warm and tender inside. I think I found a new meaning to the deep fried hair but I’m currently busy with work so will change it again when I review it the second time.)

After following everybody in the group chat talking senselessly from the heavens to the bottom of the ocean for a long time, finally, they started to discuss about YY activites and guests invitation for the 7th Anniversary, since Mo Lan didn’t really understand, she closed the chat window and mindlessly visited Taobao*.

(Like Amazon, AliExpress)

En… this Totoro’s bolster was not bad, it looked soft, looked as if it would be nice to hug.

Totoro bolster

The mushroom-shaped coffee cup was also pretty good, the shape was very exquisite and beautiful.

Looked down and saw the time on the computer, 22:44.

It’s almost 11pm… no matter how excited she was it was about time to sleep, so Mo Lan silently closed Taobao and planned to go to bed to sleep.

Before going to sleep, it was still the international practice to browse through Weibo, Mo Lan opened Secretly Captivated’s Weibo, not particularly hoping for something, she clicked the right-button mouse and refreshed the page.

But, actually… there was a new Weibo post.

It was an audio PāPā.

Mo Lan couldn’t helped but got excited.

It has been a long time since Secretly Captivated posted an audio PāPā.

Mo Lan put on her earphones and opened the PāPā post excitedly.

The sound in her headphones was a bit noisy, and yet he seemed to be quite relaxed, it was as if… he was walking by himself on the road, neither hurriedly nor slowly going home on foot.

His voice was very light, like the moonlight rippling across the night sky, charming and gentle, with a bit of indolence, which made people unwilling to even breathe.

“Finished reading all the Weibo posts of a girl, wu… suddenly felt very honoured to have always been liked and supported by you all. Seeing how she’s tagged me so many times, I believe, many of you were probably the same as her, sorry, because of my job I wasn’t able to reply regularly to your comments, but, I am genuinely thankful for all of you.”

In her ears the cold wind whistled by, Secretly Captivated’s clear voice was as if it was right beside her ears, Mo Lan listened quietly, so nervous that the atmosphere didn’t even dare make a sound.

In her earphones, he paused, then his low voice echoed once again, somewhat unhurriedly, yet extremely gentle and soft: “Yearning to meet but when, this moment this night emotionally unbearable*… it’s full moon tonight, very beautiful. Good night.

(難為情 nán wéi qíng – embarassed, awkward, shy, bashful, emotionally unbearable)

The somewhat deep and low voice was gentle and soft as well as alluring, so beautiful that it made one had no resistance.

It was just like suddenly hearing the fireworks go BOOM bursting beside her ears, Mo Lan felt that she was dazzledly blown away by his voice, totally incapable of resisting.

Yearning to meet but when, this moment this night emotionally unbearable. Blood trough thoroughly emptied, it was truly… too nice and too gentle.

The mouse scrolled to everybody’s comments below, just as expected, the fans were already flaring up.

“Kneeling begging Mi Da to look at my Weibo ying ying ying“

“Yearning to meet but when, this moment this night emotionally unbearable. Thank you male god for gifting me a new ringtone (tears)”

“Don’t need to thank us, we’re perfectly happy and willing to be your fans T^T”

“Haven’t slept at this late hour? Mi Da rest earlier, good night, love you.”

Mo Lan’s rested her hands on the keyboard, suddenly in this moment, she didn’t know how to reply.

Could “the girl” that he mentioned possibly be herself?

She remembered… Secretly Captivated have told her before, he had seen her Weibo.

But, in the end was it a yes or a no?

In the midst of a chaotic battle between man and heaven in Mo Lan’s brain, suddenly, her phone screen lit up.

Mo Lan opened and found Secretly Captivated’s WeChat message:

GYM: Height 188 you should already know, BWH* haven’t measured before, my birthday is April 17. Go to bed early, don’t reply.

(三圍 sān wéi – abbr. for a woman’s three measurements (bust, waist, hip))

Mo Lan froze.

So… was he now answering the questions she posted on Weibo before?

Mo Lan remembered that Secretly Captivated was once interviewed on Weibo, the host posted a Weibo post, saying that if you commented under this Weibo post and reposted the questions, the host will draw questions from there to ask Secretly Captivated.

At that time, the fans were especially awesome in flooding the comments, fantastically* giving all kinds of questions. Mo Lan’s question was submerged by the crowd as soon as it was posted, even though she persevered and tagged SC three times, but later, she couldn’t even find her own question, and was forced to drop it.

(千奇百怪 qiān qí bǎi guài – idiom – fantastic oddities of every description)

It never occured to her that he would actually tell her in such a way.

Silently reading these few sentences sent by Secretly Captivated, Mo Lan couldn’t help but despised herself, height, BWH, birthday… what in the world was she trying to ask? T^T

But… if this was the case, can she prove, from this aspect, that he indeed was reading her Weibo?

---

Me: *Squeals*

Stay safe.