Chapter 33: Being Haunted (2)

In the last life, He Bai had reached the peak of photography by taking photos of landscapes, and now, after his rebirth, there was another way ahead.

Excitement stirred inside him, while he still kept a straight face.

He Bai browsed through the file, and then strolled along the castle, tracery walls and swings in the dreamy studio, where he even found several cute rabbits in the corner.

The studio was well matched with the theme of princess series. It must have cost a bomb, he guessed.

Imagining that models in delicate longuette stood in this scene, He Bai stopped at the castle gate, opened the document again and examined carefully the sketches of the princess series.

Lin Xia came in a quarter of an hour. He Bai returned the document to her immediately, let a shallow breath out and smiled at her, “Please start. I’m ready.”

At midnight, Di Qiuhe turned on the mobile phone secretly. After some hesitation he gave up ringing He Bai up and checked WeChat with a rather sour face.

A Bird Born in Autumn: Are you asleep?

He received a reply within seconds.

White and Whiter: No.

Di Qiuhe wasn’t pleased with the reply. Instead, he looked more ghastly.

A Bird Born in Autumn: Is the summer vacation busy?

White and Whiter: Yeah.

The words choked in Di Qiuhe’s throat. Deleting the half-edited sentence “Are you too busy to send me a message when I show no initiative”, he continued to type as his expression changed.

A Bird Born in Autumn: Have you found a new part-time job? Is the work tiring?

When chatting with Xiuwen last time, Di Qiuhe learned that He Bai had quitted Saint Elephant. There was no reason for him to be on the go recently. After all, the photo-taking job Di Qiuhe had introduced to him was quite easy, which could be completed in a few days. Also, the pay was pretty good.

White and Whiter: I’ve found another job. My life is quite full now.

A Bird Born in Autumn: Which kind of job? Photo taking?

White and Whiter: No, my task is to take first publicity photos of the mainstay costumes for a new brand that has yet to be launched. I was originally asked to shoot the costumes, but the person in charge made the final decision to let me take the publicity photographs, which kept me fully occupied recently.

Di Qiuhe sat up from the bed with a frown. He Bai was taking costumes’ publicity photos? Why did he have no appointment? It was close to mid-July, and the birthday celebrations of Mr. Jia Sheng’s granddaughter would be held on July 23rd. Given that birthday photographs were arranged to be displayed during the banquet, the shooting must begin at least a week in advance. However, He Bai said he received no appointment. Was anything wrong? After all, Mr. Jia Sheng tended to fit everything into his schedule. If it continued to drag on, the screens were likely to go blank at the party.

Thinking of this, Diu Qiuhe typed hurriedly to confirm it.

A Bird Born in Autumn: Why do you turn off appointments of shooting? Such a cushy job will get you highly paid. You’ve won favor on the Internet just now. There must be a lot of people who would like you to photograph them.

White and Whiter: 【embarrassed】 You living abroad should be informed what happened on the Internet, fancy that! In fact, it’s a sheer exaggeration. I once worked on part-time basis at Saint Elephant, and the shooting appointment must be made through the company. Now I quit, so people who need me to take photographs have nowhere to arrange an appointment.

White and Whiter: What’s more, the job I’m doing now is in my eyes better and more promising than shooting by appointment. I like it very much. ^-^

White and Whiter: So you see, opportunity could be found everywhere. Keep a good state of mind and work harder, things will get better little by little.

White and Whiter: It’s quite late. Why are you still up? Staying up can damage you girls’ skin.

Di Qiuhe looked sullen, his eyes fixating on the line “the shooting appointment must be made through the company”. The Little Puppy was really vulnerable to bullying, which made him angry. Unaware that his former company had cheated him of a golden opportunity, he also tried to enlighten him, an unacquainted netizen, as to the philosophy of life.

“How stupid you are!” Diu Qiuhe felt like giving He Bai a scolding. He even hoped to drag him over and poke him in the dimple, asking why he was too silly to realize that he had been unfairly treated.

The clock struck twelve when his mobile phone automatically rang the bell “Good night, Dear Autumn. Kiss you”, which was set to remind him to go to sleep.

Affected, he continued to type smoldering with anger.

A Bird Born in Autumn: I’m about to. Don’t sleep late. Good night. Kiss you.

White and Whiter: Good night.

Two minutes later, Diu Qiuhe was sure that He Bai would return no message. With a scowling look, he gnashed his teeth when thinking of Saint Elephant Company. In one hand, he regretted not mentioning He Bai’s name but only evasively telling Jia Sheng the person he introduced was a new photographer of Saint Elephant, in case Jia Sheng got the impression that he pulled strings for He Bai. In the other hand, Di Qiuhe also got angry with Saint Elephant’s cheating!

Mr. Jia never went back on his word, so the reason why He Bai received no shooting appointments was only because Saint Elephant played a dirty trick! When he introduced He Bai to Jia Sheng, his description was as follows: a graduate of Q University and newcomer to Saint Elephant who took commemorative photos for B City TV station recently and enjoyed great popularity online. Throughout Saint Elephant, was there anyone in accordance with these premises except He Bai?

“How dare you cheat my little puppy?” Seething with anger, Di Qiuhe couldn’t help giving a sneer. He picked up the phone and dialed Jiang Xiuwen’s number heedless of the time. On getting through, he spoke bluntly, “Xiuwen, help me inquire about…”

“Di-Qiu-he! We are no friends anymore! I’ve done with this!”

“Beep—”

Di Qiuhe put down the mobile phone, rubbing his ears that were almost deafened by the howl, and searched out He Bai’s photo he had taken the day they had beefsteak with a slight sense of grievance. Having the picture enlarged, he jabbed a finger at He Bai’s face and put on a ferocious act, “Everything I have done is all for you. You heartless little devil, enjoyed my fruit but made no contact with me. I’ll get even with you when I’m back to B City!”

Flipping through He Bai’s sample photos, Lin Xia exclaimed in admiration, “You are right about making less change in their tones. We are selling clothing, not retouching software. The texture and colors of the cloth need to be restored to its original state. You’ve done a pretty good job.”

A dimple appeared on his left face when He Bai smiled. Spoken highly of, he glowed with pride and also got a little embarrassed.

It always worked for Lin Xia. She put down the photos and said, “My original expectation of you is to be a qualified clothing photographer, but you actually gave me a surprise. Thank you for saving the money to hire another publicity photographer for us.”

“You’ve paid me the wage of the publicity photographer, so I just pulled my own weight…” He Bai bowed his head and humbled himself to be the foil to the generosity of the company, speaking, “In fact, I have a lot of shortcomings, and everyone’s experience has made up for my deficiency. I will continue to work hard.”

He was sincere in his last words. Others considered his photographs brilliant, while he knew that he still followed the shooting routine in his last life. Thanks to the meticulous help of other team members who had a deep understanding of costumes, he was able to jump out of his comfort zone and forged ahead to take photographs that satisfied everyone.

“You’re too modest. It’s a remarkable achievement for you to take such great photos at this age.” Seeing him really embarrassed, Lin Xia considerately concluded the topic and got down to business, “Most of the princess series and publicity photos are finished, and the rest are likely to be completed soon according to your efficiency. So it’s time to sign a long-term contract.”

She took out a document and handed it over. Putting a pen on it, Lin Xia said with confidence, “Take a look, and put your signature to it. I would like to treat you to dinner.”

He Bai took the document and browsed it through. He signed it quickly, smiling at her, “Sister Lin, I hope we can have a cordial working relationship.”

Hearing the different appellation, Lin Xia beamed with pleasure. She stood up and reached out her hand, “Wish us a good cooperation, He.”

Having signed for the express delivery, He Bai looked at this familiar box, heaved a sigh and dialed Di Qiuhe’s number.

“Sorry, the subscriber you dialed is powered off.”

The same result.

Putting his cell phone down, He Bai crouched in front of the box and stared blankly, his hands holding up the face.

It was half a month since the phone call. He Bai tried phoning Diu Qiuhe but couldn’t get through all the time. Only the fruit sent on regular basis reminded him of his presence.

It was getting hotter and hotter. He Bai wondered whether the guy in clover could endure the frowst on the border…

The longer they were separated, the more blurred He Bai’s memories for his harshness and childishness were, and the clearer Di Qiuhe’s unpleasant care loomed within He Bai. Strange as it was, He Bai found him slightly anxious for Di Qiuhe.

Unconsciously clicking on the last texts Di Qiuhe had sent, He Bai scanned them through. Suddenly his eyes fixated on one of his messages, which got him puzzled. Pondering it over, he rolled his eyes and edited the reply.

He Bai: You childish, where’s the appointment you said? Are you fooling me again?

Di Qiuhe: I didn’t lie to you.

Di Qiuhe: How dare you wrong me? You’re done, Little Puppy.

Di Qiuhe: I’m leaving for B city right away. Wait and see.

Di Qiuhe: See you tonight.

He Bai: “…”

Isn’t he powered off? Then who returned his texts? A ghost?