He Bai put his phone away and signaled his roommates to ask for their opinions on his proposal. After getting a positive reply, he went to the lawyer sent by Di Qiuhe and told him about his thoughts. Then, he simply went back with his roommates, unwilling to stay and watch that shitty situation develop further.
One day later, after much negotiation, a compromised consensus was reached. Huang Wei was to be punished for his burglary and the amount of indemnity was four times the original value of the computer. As for Di Xiasong, they agreed to settle the matter in private and Huang Du and the Qins would pay double for the lost photos. On top of that, Di Xiasong was to apologize to He Bai in person and took back the screenshots.
No one knew what Di Qiuhe said to Di Bian, but Di Bian wired the full amount of compensation over without receiving any instructions from the Qins. Afterwards, being accompanied by Lawyer Wang, Di Xiasong apologized to He Bai in person in a restaurant near the school.
This is the first time He Bai met this famed second master of the Di family. He Bai had always been curious about what Di Bian looked like. But when He Bai saw him for the first time, he felt disappointed. Di Bian looked nothing like what he had pictured him in his mind, and instead he seemed just another narcissist, presumptuous moron.
“I am sorry,” said Di Xiasong with a gloomy face. He added, “you might have fooled others, but you can’t fool yourself. I guess birds of a feather indeed flock together. He Bai, you are just like my brother, a pretentious, greedy bastard.”
“Well, beats a narcissist loser who tried to screw someone and ended up costing his parents a fortune.” He Bai slowly replied. He looked at that young face and smiled, “Kido, take it from me. You are a mommy’s good boy. Why don’t you stay that way and behave yourself. Schemes and deceptions don’t suit you. You are simply too young for all these.”
“You!” Di Xiasong, being an impulsive young man, couldn’t held back his anger and wanted to throw some tantrums before Lawyer Wang held him down by threatening, “The president said you are not his only son and that he might likely have another one going forward. Second master, I beseech you. Think before you act.”
The color on Di Xiasong’s face turned and he snorted before leaving.
The door of the room was slam shut. As if he didn’t hear anything, Lawyer Wang poured a cup of tea for the composed He Bai and said in a flattering tone, “Your forbearance does you credit, Mr. He. The president said that he loves each of his sons equally and he definitely does not have a preference. As for the magazine cover, it was because of the misconduct of one of our company-sponsored actor and the president has already had that actor reprimanded to ensure that it won’t happen the next time.”
He Bai didn’t buy any of those words coming out of Di Bian, he simply turned over the photos and then said a few courteous words before quickly taking his leave.
Back into the dormitory, He Bai’s roommates filled him in on the development of the burglary. They told him how Huang Wei was publicly reprimanded and expelled from the school. Whatever would happen to Huang Wei was entirely up to the law, and was no longer any of the school’s concern.
In order to console them, the university decided to give them all kinds of support and compensation.
“How about we eat somewhere fancy to celebrate?” exclaimed Niu Junjie.
Everyone was in favor of that idea.
He Bai sat with them for a while, then he looked at the computer which was returned to him by the police not long ago and dialed Di Qiuhe’s number.
“Sorry, the number you dialed is busy now.”
‘Hm? He is on the phone?’ thought He Bai.
Over at the set, Di Qiuhe was leaning against the prop car, “Mr. Di. I have asked my friend to do what you asked of me and now I have only one request, and that is for Di Xiasong to leave me alone. If he can’t do that, then the least he can do is to leave my friend alone. This is my bottom line.”
Hearing that, Di Bian let out a sigh and said with a weary tone, “Xiasongg is going too far this time… He is too young and he just got back. When he heard that He Bai has something to do with my divorce, he just lost it… He’s not targeting at you. You are his brother after all.”
“I am no fool”, Di Qiuhe’s tone became even colder and bluntly replied, “Everyone know why he wanted to poke around He Bai’s Weibo. We no longer have conflict of interest anymore and I don’t want anything from him. But he just won’t leave me alone. What does he want? Does he want to destroy me for good? What does family mean to him?”
Di Bian fell silent, and he started wondering, ‘Indeed, if Xiasongg won’t leave his brother who no longer poses a threat to him alone, what would he do to me? After all, he’s got all the reasons to come after me. Plus, I also have trouble with his mother’s side…”
“Mr Di. I only want to live a quiet life, and so does my friend. You are his father. Surely he would listen to you. I persuaded my friend to go easy on him this time and I don’t expect him to suddenly become a good guy. I only hope you can persuade him and the Qins to leave me alone. Thank you.”
After he coldly uttered those words, he hung up the phone and looked up into the blue sky above the Country K, deep in thought. Afterwards, he called Ke Shi and said, “Di Xiasongg is never the type who will just let it go after being humiliated. He would likely retaliate. I say we use our leverage at the Liu clan to stall him from harassing He Bai.”
“I understand,” replied Ke Shi who was in a good mood after getting compensation from the Qins and Huang Du. He then continued, “That He Bai is one fine young man. You are a good judge of making friends.”
Hearing this, Di Qiuhe’s otherwise shitty mood suddenly brightened up and he puckered up his lips and replied, “Yes, I guess I am a good judge of making friends.”
Ke Shi was rendered speechless. He only meant it as a compliment, and he didn’t expect Di Qiuhe to take it so seriously.