My Extraordinary Achievements

Chapter 253: Gossip

Reading scripts at a fast rate was a level of detail that actors should all pursue since it’s very enjoyable for the audience to see.

“Sherlock” could be a representative of this. Once Cumberbatch begins his light speed monologue, the audience would feel like they were watching the climax of the show from beginning to end.

There was also a representative for this from the mainland. Among them, the most famous wasn’t an actor but the one deemed as “The Tongue of China”— the TV host Hua Shao. Hua Shao began by hosting a singing competition TV series, yet the first person to become famous from it wasn’t any of the contestants but the host himself.

In “Voice Legend,” several speedy monologues and clips had been reenacted, and the ones that had appeared most often were the clips from “Sherlock.” Two contestants performed it in the first season, and one contestant had already done it in the current season.

However, they had all chosen to dub those that were translated. Even the British national, Zhang Tielin, chose to perform it in Chinese.

To be fair, it was still a difficult script to read in Chinese, but the original was even more difficult.

Regardless if it was Zhang Tielin or another celebrity, they had all done a remarkable job. They had nailed the speed and the tone as well, but this would only seem so to people who hadn’t seen the original. Those who had seen it before knew that, despite the perfect speed and voice control, it did not give off the same level of enjoyment.

Earlier, when Meng Fan was dubbing the “I’m-Sherlocked” part, Professor Di was shocked. Although this scene did not have fast monologues, there were still one or two phrases that required a high degree of linguistic knowledge to pull off. Hence, she immediately thought of Cumberbatch’s deduction scene.

As for his tone range and pronunciation, it went without saying, Meng Fan was spectacular and surprising as usual.

“Sherlock’s deduction scene? Like the one Mr. Zhang did?” Meng Fan had watched both seasons of the show and naturally knew what Professor Di was referring to. He still modestly asked, though: “If it’s the translated Chinese version, it will be very difficult. Although the Chinese translation does not take into account the breathing requirements, sentence breaks, and connecting phrases, it will be difficult to achieve the fluidity of the original. I’ve attempted both the Chinese version and the original English version during my stream; the Chinese version actually has a faster speaking speed.”

Professor Di heard this and smiled. Director Xu also smiled and responded: “We want you to try the English one. If it works out, once you and Bai Zhi conclude your collaboration performance and the interview/audience interaction segment, he will send you a cue again. You can just relax. If it doesn’t work out well, we’ll cut it out.”

“Alright, I’ll give it a shot.”

Meng Fan wasn’t being courteous. The interview and audience interaction segment after the collaboration stage required each contestant to have their own tasks. Compared to these formats of interview and audience interaction, Meng Fan was more willing to dub another scene.

“Which segment? The flight scene from the first episode of the second season or ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’ segment from the second episode in season 2? I’m familiar with both.”

Based on speed alone, “The Hounds of Baskerville” episode had a much faster deduction monologue. Zhang Tielin and the others had previously dubbed this scene. Meng Fan was a generous person and did not want people to compare him to others who did the same segment, so he picked a separate clip that also featured a speedy deduction scene, although not as intense as “The Hounds” episode.

“Let’s try this one then,” said professor Di.

The staff members dug up the clip, and Meng Fan silently read through the script. After entering his state, he began to fire off words like a cannon. From the first ten seconds, he had already captured the souls of the people present. Their eyes seemed to be wider than their agape mouths.

In less than a minute, the output of words from his mouth could not be calculated at all!

Once he finished, Director Xu took several deep breaths until he finally compensated for the air that had left him — he had forgotten to breathe throughout the entire process — and remained silent for a moment. He then smiled and said: “Meng Fan, would you like to try ‘The Hounds of Baskerville’ clip instead?”

Meng Fan rested for a moment and read through the script. Director Xu immediately clapped the board: “This is the one!” He then paused for a moment, then added: “The audience are more familiar with this segment, and it’s also better for showing off your abilities! And it’s obvious you’re much more familiar with this scene, too! It’s settled then. ‘Hounds of Baskerville.’ Alright?”

Meng Fan wanted to be kind and not give others the chance to compare him to the other seniors who had previously dubbed this segment as well, but main Director Xu did not think this way.

How can someone pass up such incredible clickbait!

Meng Fan couldn’t reject and nodded meekly.

Following this, Professor Di and the Director Xu collaborated on giving some guidance. There was no problem with Meng Fan’s performance at all, but Professor Di wanted to give him some emotional guidance and tips on how to cooperate on stage, as well as some stage experience. Despite Meng Fan’s current voice acting skills, he was still able to benefit a lot from the lesson. Professor Di was indeed an end-game boss in the realm of voice acting.

After the lecture, Bai Zhi and Meng Fan practiced for a while longer, and seeing the clock hit 2:00 a.m., they paused their rehearsal and headed for the hotel.

The entire way, the two made small talk. Bai Zhi remembered the snacks that Meng Fan had brought her and couldn’t help but be curious where he and Su Qingcen had gone for a midnight snack — if she hadn’t been mesmerized by Meng Fan’s sudden increased charm, she would have asked this sooner — which was when she discovered the crazy events that had happened during their shopping spree down the street food market. She was dumbfounded.

“That works too?! You guys are too brave!” Bai Zhi was curious. “They really stopped moving when they heard your voice? The scene wasn’t crazy? They just watched you two wander around and eat the whole time? That’s too much!”

After understanding the details, Bai Zhi was even more shocked. She then broke into laughter. “It seems like your fearsome reputation from beating up that K-pop idol finally came into use. The Iron Hero really has a terrifying reputation; you managed to freeze everyone on site!”

Shortly after, she then changed her expression to a serious one. “You and Su Qingcen went a little overboard last night. You can’t do this anymore… How could you forget about me? Take me with you next time!”

Meng Fan laughed. “You guys are really using me like a bodyguard!”

“What’s wrong with that? I haven’t been able to happily go shopping in a very long time! What, you’re willing to be a bodyguard for Shan Jin bro, but you won’t be a white knight for your older sister?”

Meng Fan obedient nodded. Bai Zhi seemed satisfied enough and turned towards her own room.

Meng Fan took a shower and lay down before habitually browsing the recent news on his phone. He was then unable to sleep. “How is there gossip already!”

It made sense when he thought about it. Based on the scene Meng Fan had described, people could genuinely suspect there was a relationship between them. It was only because he was close friends with Bai Zhi — and they often ate together — so she naturally didn’t suspect anything or felt that anything was out of place.

But the media didn’t think so!

The internet had already blown up with all sorts of speculations based on Su Qingcen and Meng Fan’s night out. They had been desperately relating them to various idol dramas and their cheesy plots and even released the information on their relationship from the beginning. It had become a blockbuster of a die-hard fan trying to court his idol goddess!

Of course, several people also felt that this scandal was being blown out of proportion. It’s only that more people were willing to join the bandwagon and weren’t afraid of stirring up trouble.