Cāi Cāi

Chapter 79: Act X: Singing In the Rain (4)

The closer it got to the end of the year, the harder they worked.

Because of the need to tie up loose ends, Blockbuster Studio's finance department had been too busy lately. The desks of Tan Yiming's and other voice actors were also piled with endless work. Various animation conventions and variety shows had sent invitations, hoping that the voice actors could show their faces.

Tan Yiming went on a business trip that lasted several days, which disrupted his original plan.

After returning to Huacheng, he almost lived in the recording studio. There was a film recording for the Spring Festival that had to be released and reworked. There was also a family festival animation film that just got the dragon mark, and a TV series that was broadcast and cut that needed to be re-recorded...

[T/N: dragon mark = China's film release license]

Tan Yiming became an overbearing president for a while, an internet addicted youth for a while, and a corrupt official for a while.

Tan Yiming felt that he had never worked so hard as he had now; what a miracle in life.

Given his busy schedule, he hadn't seen Xiang Cai for several days, let alone transport him to and from work.

On the morning of the 31st, after Tan Yiming worked hard for several days in the recording studio, he finally struggled to have a day off.

He hurried home (Xiang Cai was naturally absent), took a shower, shaved his beard, and rearranged himself to finally look like a human being. He casually took some bread and jam that Xiang Cai left in the refrigerator to pad his belly, and then immediately drove back to his parents' house.

It was obviously the day of a family reunion, but the Tan household was lifeless.

Tan Yiming had called a long time in advance to tell his parents that he would be back today for the holidays. When he hurried home, he found that there were more than just three of them at the table, all his seven or eight aunts had come.

The moment Tan Yiming opened the door, he wanted to turn around and leave. However, his uncle saw him at a glance and forcefully brought him to the table.

Then - the three questions that he had to experience year after year began.

They asked him how much his annual income was.

Tan Yiming gave a fake income. He carefully measured that number to be higher than last year's, but not so high that it made his relatives jealous.

Second, they asked if he was happy being the boss.

Tan Yiming was not happy at all. There were a lot of things to worry about every day. If one needed to go on a business trip, he must also be on that business trip.

The third question: since he didn't make much money and was unhappy being a boss, why not 'return to the right path', to the financial industry, to make a lot of money?

Tan Yiming: "..."

He replied the same as he did every previous time: "Because voice-acting is my passion. Voice actors do not make money like stock traders, but this is also my own career path. I am already a 30-year-old adult, I hope you can respect this as my decision."

Then this uncalled-for family gathering, like every previous ones, turned into an 'indisputably hate it' conference.

Fortunately, Tan Yiming had long learned to let the words go in one ear and out the other.

He worked hard, paid his parents every month, and bought a house and a car by himself, but he was still not good enough in the eyes of his relatives.

But even if he achieved the 'excellence' his relatives wished for, what was the point?