Translator: Sissy That Walk
On the same day He Bai got the notification, all the works that had made it to the quarter-final were displayed on the website , He Bai’s work ranked first, which attracted the most hits.
The contest was an international one, it surely attracted the attention world wide, university students from different countries, speaking different languages, growing up in different cultures all left comments in the forum, discussing their opinions on the works on the website, among which, He Bai’s was the most discussesed one.
Fan A : Wow, I used to find Asian men so unattractive, but this photo is definitely game-changer! I’m completely blown away! I think I’m in love with his black hair and his black eyes, look at him!
Fan B: The construction! The lighting! No! Please tell me this photo is retouched! For sure it is, yeah? But I cannot pinpoint which part, I don’t know!
Fan C: In spite of the confusing title of this work, I do get the photographer’s intention, the person in the photographer’s dreams is right there on the other side of the window, he is in the sunlight presenting the photographer a rose which he had kept in his pocket, yet he felt a bit embarrassed when he noticed the rose petals were a bit crinkled. The photographer is so lucky to fall in love with the guy in the photo, getting all his attention. Maybe this glass window is a symbol of the barrier between them, maybe it represents some prejudice, it represents other people’s bias, but all that is not gonna stop my love and yearning for you, I came all the way just for you, I give you not only the rose but also myself… Oh my, I have tears in my eyes! Please be happy, I ship this couple! Just break this damn glass window. Break it!
Fan D: Take it easy, Fan C, you are getting carried away, aren’t you? But I gotta admit, this photo is not retouched, the photographer is the whole package, the construction, the lighting, the timing, the emotion he aimed to capture and convey, spot on! Such a flawless photo, well-deserved a high ranking! Looking forward to seeing his work in the finals.
A random fan: What? Isn’t this Di Qiuhe in the photo? Qiuhe? Qiuqiu? Look at the title, it’s Qiuqiu! But why is he in the photo? What’s the story behind it? Step back, all of you, he is mine! Mine!
This photo raised heated discussion online, soon it went viral online, including the social media domestically, yet the two had no clue about this at all. Di Qiuhe and He Bai were about to head off to pay respect to He Bai’s parents tomb.
He Bai put the invitation to the finals into his bag and walked to the closet room, looking at Di Qiuhe who was so perplexed staring at his wardrobe, “Childish Di, you know the flight waits for no one, tick tock, we are going to miss it if you don’t hurry.”
Di Qiuhe looked at him in a serious manner, “But you haven’t told me what color your parents like the best yet.”
“…… They like all the colors, but what they don’t like is a person who is late.” He Bai pulled his ace card.
Hearing that, Di Qiuhe sprang up from the floor and he grabbed two suits that he recently purchased and carefully packed them in his suitcase. Then he carried He Bai on his shoulder, “Off we go then, we are not going to risk it, what if we really miss the flight, hmm, the price is too high, I don’t wanna be late.”
He Bai did not see that coming, he cried out in alarm when he was picked up from the ground, “Childish Di, put me down! Why are you carrying me on your shoulder? I can walk myself!”
Di Qiuhe patted him on his butt cheek as a reply, then he marched downstairs with a suitcase in hand and He Bai on his shoulder.
The two soon arrived at the airport, and luckily they did not miss their flight to He Bai’s hometown.
“Let me have a look……” He Bai sat cozily covered in a blanket after the plane took off, he was browsing the calender, “We are going to spend a day at my hometown paying respects to my parents’ tomb, but I have three days off, shall we go pay a visit to Zeng Peizhong after this? You and him had cooperated once, it’s not good we are not paying him a visit when we are nearby, right?”
Di Qiuhe nodded in agreement, “Yeah, you have a point, he has been residing in a hot spring villa after he was diagnosed with cancer, looks like we can enjoy the hot springs when we pay a visit to him.” With it Di Qiuhe looked outside of the window.
He Bai noted this on his calender, then he continued, “Then let’s come directly to grandpa’s after we visit Zeng Peizhong, grandpa didn’t mention anything, but I bet he is desperate to pay a visit to your mom’s tomb with you, I was genuinely surprised that grandpa booked us tickets to my hometown first, he wanted us to pay respects to my parents first.”
Di Qiuhe looked at him gently, he reached out to hold He Bai’s hands and explained, “Mom’s tomb is in B City, grandpa visits her tomb every week, but your case is different, you only come back once a year on Tomb-Sweeping Day, grandpa understands this perfectly. Don’t stress, grandpa is doing this because he cares for you.”
“I’m not stressed.” He Bai held Di Qiuhe’s hands too, seeing Di Qiuhe about to turn his head again, he burst out laughing, and reached out to rub his neck, “I’ve noticed this since we got on the plane, you kept looking at that direction, what’s going on? Your neck feels stiff? Did you sleep funny last night?”
Di Qiuhe withdrew his sight, and he leaned closer to He Bai so he could enjoy the neck massage better, he answered with a deep voice, “Yeah, I slept funny last night and now my neck is killing me.”