Chapter 16: The First Time

Translator: Sissy That Walk

There were two sets of photos in the box. One was signed under the name of Di Qiuhe, and the other Childish Di.

With a frown, He Bai collected the photos signed with the name Di Qiuhe in a rage. After that, he bought a new box for those photos and also put in the ones he had once edited. Then, after he had the photos delivered, he sent the buyer a WeChat message, thanking him for the birthday message.

Rather than receiving an immediate response, as was the case last time, he waited for two minutes before putting down his phone. Then, he picked up his phone and put it into his drawer.

After all was done, he finally felt a little bit refreshed. Moreover, having only a few lessons in the afternoon allowed him to review them in advance. With that done, he then turned on his computer to download the new tasks from Saint Elephant Studio.

This time the Saint Elephant didn’t sent him as many photos as before. There were only five sets, each containing six photos, and he was expected to finish them in a week.

All the photos were portraits. Out of five people in those photos, three of them being males and two females, there were two that looked familiar to He Bai. After a while of painstaking memory-searching, he remembered that those two were the up-and-coming hosts of the local TV station of B city. However, right now they were just a couple of new hosts of the TV station.

He then picked out six photos, all featuring one particular person. He zoomed in on that person with the help of Photoshop, and all the while his mind started to wander off.

It’s no wonder that Li Ru would promise him such a high commission. It turned out that the Saint Elephant was cooperating with the TV station of B city. As far as he knew, though the local TV station was not as prestigious as the Central Station, it was nonetheless high on the ranking list with good resources and political support. The most important was that the local TV station would recommend excellent hosts to the Central Station from time to time, so it was usually the preferred choice for most new hosts.

He remembered that Liu Huanhuan, LaoSan’s ex-girlfriend, was also signed by the TV station after pulling a lot of strings… But Liu Huanhuan didn’t last long there and resigned early. After being off the radar for a few years, she married a divorced rich man with a record of domestic violence. In her most desperate times, she once went back for LaoSan, which almost caused his wife to break up with him.

Thinking about the old-time gossips didn’t slow down what he was doing. He skillfully removed some obvious flaws on the photos and readjusted their overall tones. He also zoomed in on the people for more detailed editing and then edited them again so that the people in those photos wouldn’t look out of place with the backgrounds. After all was done, he clicked save and have them exported. Whenever he had an inspiration, he would also make an extra version that was more to his aesthetic taste.

It took him three days to finish all the tasks. Then he sent those edited photos to Li Ru to look over so as to make sure that they were approved before e-mailing them to the company. With all done, he then asked Li Ru for next week’s tasks.

Li Ru was satisfied with the high-quality photos as well as the speed with which he carried out the task and was rather impressed by that extra version of the photos he made. She encouraged him to edit more and be more creative in his future works. Meanwhile, she ordered three weeks’ worth of works to be assigned to him all at once and generously offered to help him with this month’s bonus.

He Bai listened to the commendation carefully, and then, in his moment of joy, blacklisted Di Qiuhe who kept texting him while he was editing!

At the weekend, Di Qiuhe came to Red Guest again, looking through the script with an absent-minded face.

“Here, your gift from that ‘male fan’”. Jiang Xiuwen put down the coffee and the box, and sat opposite to him with a look that clearly read “I want to kick you out”. Impatiently shaking his legs, he asked, “What have you been doing these days? I’ve been calling you to take the box. You didn’t show up. Nor did you discuss the script with my dad. Are you going to let this rare opportunity pass you by and bail on my father?”

Di Qiuhe ignored him and still looked down at the box on the table.

‘Well. What does that mean? Last time, he was so excited when he received a gift from the fan. Are they fighting?’

Intrigued by his reaction, Jiang Xiuwen stopped shaking his legs and tilted his head to steal a few peeks at him. Finally, he leaned over, asking “What’s up? Is there a problem with this gift?”

Di Qiuhe still stared at the box in silence with a poker face.

The sight of his silence gave Jiang Xiuwen the creeps and he boldly reached out to the box, thinking, “Is there something dangerous in it? But it doesn’t make any sense. This box has been here for two or three days and nothing happened….”

“Don’t touch it.” Di Qiuhe grabbed back the box.

Jiang Xiuwen stopped, sweeping a look at the way he grabbed the box into his arms. Then he felt relieved, sitting up straight before immediately falling back into the sofa in a rage. With a slow tone, he said, “Tell me. What the hell is wrong with you?”

The box was very light, but Di Qiuhe felt it’s a little heavy in his hands. Then he replied with a bitter tone, “I was blacklisted online.” For the first time, he was blacklisted online.

“By whom?” asked Jiang Xiuwen with a gloating voice and with a touch of new-found admiration on his face for the one that held accountable.

Di Qiuhe looked up suddenly and fixed his gaze on him with razor-sharp eyes.

Jiang Xiuwen avoided his eyes, coughing in a low voice to conceal the gloat in his tone. With a frown, he said “That’s too much. How dare he! That’s really… That’s really too much!”

There was no worse performance than this.

Curling up his lip, Di Qiuhe put the box into his backpack and then raised his hand to support his face. He tilted his head to look outside the window and said with an uncaring voice, “It’s nothing. Being blacklisted is only temporary. Young men can be touchy sometimes. I get it.”

It was all Jiang Xiuwen could do not to whistle. ‘Well, well, well. Look at the gritting teeth and twisted face and all the big words he was talking about. It’s so obvious that he is pissed like hell right now. Kudos to the man who blacklisted him!’

The phone beeped suddenly, and immediately Di Qiuhe sat up straight to take out the phone from his pocket.

White and Whiter: Haven’t got a reply from you recently. Are you ok? Have you received the photos? P.S.: I’ve edited a few more photos of Di Qiuhe. Are you in Red Guest? I am on the way to XX Street. If you are keen, I can deliver them to you. ^-^

Di Qiuhe frowned.

‘What’s so funny? Since when you did you become so obliging and start providing home delivery service? Just a buyer. Why are you so eager? Why do you blacklist me, while being so generous to a WeChat friend whom you’ve never met? Do you need a spanking? Man, do you know how I felt when I was told that the number does not exist? Elder Xu could get through it the last minute!’

Looking at his furious face, Jiang Xiuwen took out his phone anxiously and carefully asked, “Qiu.. Qiuhe, have you been under any stress recently? Schizophrenia, brain disease?”

Di Qiuhe was still staring at the phone.

White and Whiter: Hello? Are you online?

White and Whiter: ? ? ?

White and Whiter: @A Bird Born in Autumn?

White and Whiter: Qiuqiu (Qiu means autumn in Chinese)? Hello?

Di Qiuhe’s heart skipped a beat all of a sudden with the furious look disappearing quickly off his face. Curling up his lips, he looked up at Jiang Xiuwen and stopped smiling. “Call me.” said he with eager eyes.

Jiang Xiuwen swallowed while pressing his finger on “1”, asking “Call you? Di, Di Qiuhe?”

Di Qiuhe shook his head. “No, call me by my nickname.”

With finger on “2”, “Qiuhe?”

Di Qiuhe stared at him, “Is that my nickname?”

Jiang Xiuwen took a breath in desperation and moved his finger to “0”. (TN: 120 is the emergency number in China) When he was pressing on the button, he said, “Qiuqiu, I think you need a doctor.”

“No.” Di Qiuhe suddenly raised his voice and shook his head. “No, not this tone.” ‘Little puppy would never call him in such an obedient tone!’

Thinking of that, he couldn’t help but stride away after shoving the script into his backpack.

Jiang Xiuwen froze and pressed on another button, which triggered a beeping, warning him that it was an empty number. He got up to pull back Di Qiuhe, saying patiently “Don’t leave. I think you’ve been under too much pressure recently, so you need a rest….”

White and Whiter: It seems that you’re offline. Well, it just so happens that I’ve got something up right now, so I couldn’t deliver them to you today. Rain check? ^-^

After hearing the beep, Di Qiuhe grabbed his phone and took a quick look at the message. Then he suddenly halted, turning around and striding back to the window.

At the gate of the Saint Elephant across the street, He Bai put the phone into his pocket. He looked at the short guy wearing glasses who poked his head out of a van from the shotgun seat. He searched hard in his memory for his name, and then he put on a friendly smile and said, “Brother Ma, did Li send me to go out with you?”

“Yeah”, said Ma Qun with a sincere smile. He promptly got off the van and opened the back door for him. Wiping off the sweat on his forehead that he had when moving the equipment, he said “The TV station decided at the last minute to take a set of anniversary photos for the newly signed intern hosts. But some of the field crew members were assigned to cover a group wedding, and there are simply not enough men for this ad hoc task. So Li sent in the editing crew. Li said you are good at taking high-quality photos. If you like, you can come with me. You’ll get paid for overtime work plus the allowance for commute and food. It’s not mandatory. Would you like to come? The location is near the Li Hu Park. It’s not far and the view is great. I highly suggest that you come with us if you are free. ”

“Right, you are so young. Spending some time in the field will do you good.” Another member of the editing crew poked his head out of the van. After greeting He Bai, he continued, “Besides, this time Mr. Ma will lead the team. He is Ma Qun’s uncle and the best photographer in Saint Elephant. I always see you carrying a camera, so I guess you must like photography. If you go, you might learn a thing or two from him.”

When they finished talking, He Bai nodded. He thought about how Li Ru had been caring for him all the time, and he smiled. “How can I pass up such a good opportunity? Thank you for giving me this opportunity.”

“We are all colleagues here. No need to thank us.” Ma Qun helped him close the door before going back to his seat and fastening his own seat belt. While signaling the driver to drive ahead, he said, “As long as you work hard, there will be plenty of such opportunities.”

Upon hearing his words, He Bai broke out an uneasy smile and touched the camera strap in his hand.

Ma Qun seemed welcoming and friendly, but the way he looked at He Bai told a different story… This was a little bit interesting.

Di Qiuhe watched He Bai getting on the van and leaving. He tried to hold back his feelings but he failed, curling up his lips with a sneer.

Jiang Xiuwen who was standing far away from him, cautiously asked, “Qiuhe, the hospital is very close. Shall we, shall we go there?”

Di Qiuhe looked back at him and took a step back to the sofa. He put down his backpack to take out the script. Lowering his head, he’s completely absorbed into the script. The elegant posture, and the gentle temperament evident in the way he flipped through the script were in stark contrast to the furious look on the guy standing on the road just now.

Jiang Xiuwen: “… I see… It’s schizophrenia.

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