“Qing, Wan… cough cough cough.”
Chu Xiaoxiao, who had just woken up in the morning, habitually called out to the maid Su Qingwan.
Only now did she unexpectedly discover that the foreign object sensation in her throat was so obvious; speaking felt like being cut by a knife.
‘Was it because I’ve been voice acting too frequently recently?’
Chu Xiaoxiao gently touched her sore throat with her fingertips.
She immediately remembered that she had felt a dull pain in her throat yesterday, yet she still insisted on practicing the remaining voice acting at night.
Because Chu Xiaoxiao really wanted to prove herself, to let Ling Cheng feel her dedication, and to bring him back to her side.
‘Now that my voice is hoarse, how am I supposed to tell Ling Cheng about this?’
Chu Xiaoxiao clutched her phone and opened the chat with Ling Cheng several times, typed and deleted, but ultimately didn’t dare to send the message—she was afraid of being seen by him as someone worthless.
With a heavy heart, Chu Xiaoxiao headed to the club activity room.
…
“Ah? Your throat is hoarse, Chu Xiaoxiao-senpai?” Hua Manyue’s face was filled with concern. “Maybe you should rest for a few days.”
“That’s right, Chu Xiaoxiao. Take a rest these two days. Let’s slow down the work.”
“Th… thank you.” Chu Xiaoxiao struggled to force out the words of thanks.
“In that case, Xiaoxiao, take a good rest for now. Let me try taking over your voice acting work.” An Xin, who had been quietly drawing beside Ling Cheng the whole time, raised her head and volunteered on the spot.
“That could work. Plus, from An Xin’s trial earlier, the effect wasn’t bad.” Ling Cheng also considered the feasibility of this plan, since Chu Xiaoxiao’s condition seemed serious.
He knew very well that Chu Xiaoxiao’s throat situation was not optimistic. If someone could temporarily share her workload and let her recover properly, that would be for the best.
“No…” Chu Xiaoxiao instantly felt as if she had fallen into an ice cave. She wanted to say something but couldn’t get the words out, and tears swirled anxiously in her eyes.
Chu Xiaoxiao turned around and ran out of the club activity room. She didn’t want to show such weakness in front of An Xin.
Because everything happened in the blink of an eye, before everyone could react, Chu Xiaoxiao’s figure had already disappeared out the door.
“I’ll go check on her.” Ling Cheng looked at Chu Xiaoxiao’s back as she rushed out without a word, feeling somewhat worried.
Just as he stood up, An Xin grabbed his hand. “A Chen, don’t go. Xiaoxiao is too proud; she definitely doesn’t want to be seen when she’s upset.”
“Maybe so, but since this happened because she was helping me, I still can’t bear to let her be sad alone.” Ling Cheng sighed and gently removed An Xin’s hand from his own.
“The senior is right. I’ll go with you to look for her.” As soon as Ling Cheng finished speaking, Hua Manyue picked up her bag and stood up from her seat.
Perhaps it was the few seconds An Xin’s grab had delayed them. By the time Ling Cheng and Hua Manyue chased outside, Chu Xiaoxiao was already nowhere to be seen on the campus paths.
Meanwhile, Chu Xiaoxiao had even skipped her classes and gone straight home.
The maid was also just out buying groceries. Facing the empty house, Chu Xiaoxiao bit her lip and wept silently.
She slumped onto the floor, sobbing uncontrollably. Why was it that just when she finally had a slim chance to get close to Ling Cheng, she was immediately replaced?
‘Can’t I become someone’s irreplaceable?’
At this moment, Chu Xiaoxiao couldn’t even cry out loud, because even the whimpering of tears felt like a knife cutting through her throat.
‘No… way!’
The moment she thought of An Xin’s face, Chu Xiaoxiao couldn’t just sit idly by. She would never let that green tea bitch An Xin take Ling Cheng from her.
Since her throat was hoarse for now, all she had to do was hinder the voice acting progress—make sure no one could record during this time, and wait until she recovered.
With that thought, Chu Xiaoxiao pushed herself up against the wall and stood. A crude plan formed in her mind.
Time passed to eight in the evening. Night had long fallen, and the area near the secluded club activity room was pitch black.
A petite figure snuck over stealthily.
It was Chu Xiaoxiao. She also had a key to the club activity room.
This key was given to her by Ling Cheng in person on the second day after she joined.
Chu Xiaoxiao was determined to make the voice acting work impossible to continue. She absolutely would not let that woman An Xin take her place.
‘Since when does a painter steal a voice actor’s job? How infuriating.’
After repeatedly making sure no one was around, Chu Xiaoxiao tiptoed into the club activity room.
Her targets were the sound card and the monitoring headphones. Without these two items, An Xin wouldn’t be able to participate in the voice acting work for a while.
Both were crucial. Without a sound card, it would be difficult to record normal-quality audio; without monitoring headphones, it would be hard to distinguish the quality of the actual sound during recording.
As for Ling Cheng… once her throat healed, she would make it up to him properly.
That guy had been staring so intently at my panties last time. Maybe on the next date, I’ll let him see on purpose.
Qing Wan had told her that boys this age have nothing but that kind of thing on their minds.
Thinking of this, Chu Xiaoxiao shook her head quickly. ‘How could I have such a shameless thought? If Ling Cheng found out about this, he’d definitely think I’m a pervert.’
But if what Qing Wan said was true—that boys all like that kind of thing—then for Ling Cheng’s sake, it might be worth a try.
Even though many thoughts were racing through her mind, Chu Xiaoxiao’s hands didn’t hesitate. She quickly stuffed two sound cards and a pair of headphones into her bag.
After committing the crime, her heart pounded wildly, and a thin layer of sweat formed on her back. She was terrified that someone might pass by the doorway and catch her in the act.
But when Chu Xiaoxiao walked out of the activity room door with the sound cards and monitoring headphones, the cool evening breeze calmed her down a little.
Even though this was despicable, Chu Xiaoxiao had to stop the game’s voice acting progress. In her eyes, this was her only chance to get close to Ling Cheng.
She didn’t want even her last bit of value to Ling Cheng to be replaced by someone else. She wanted to be acknowledged by Ling Cheng. She wanted to be cared about by Ling Cheng.
However, everything Chu Xiaoxiao did that night was captured by the miniature camera An Xin had set up.
An Xin’s surveillance camera was meant to catch any information about Ling Cheng. Unless An Xin deliberately turned it off, any movement or passerby would trigger its alert and notification, directly uploading the relevant footage to An Xin’s phone.
An Xin was originally bowed over her drawing when she received the notification on her phone. Surprised, she opened the camera feed.
After all, Ling Cheng had never gone to the club activity room so late at night before.
When she saw Chu Xiaoxiao frantically stuffing the sound card and monitoring headphones into her bag, then slipping out the door like a startled little animal, the corner of An Xin’s mouth curled into a cold smile.
After all, Chu Xiaoxiao had handed her the knife herself. It would be a shame not to use it well.