At the second year that He Bai established his own studio, Xu Yinrong’s first disciple, Gu Xifeng who had been volunteering in Africa for three years came back. He Bai had heard so much of this legendary Senior Fellow Disciple from Xu Ying, he was a genius photographer and a senior disciple with some tough love.
He Bai had never met Gu Xifeng, but they had spoken on the phone for a few times, Gu Xifeng had got a nice phone manner and a pleasant voice. He also sent gifts and rare photo albums to them frequently, sometimes they would compare notes on photography appreciation and exchange ideas on how to shoot a perfect photo. They had never had personal contact before due to the distance.
Being Xu Yinrong’s first disciple, for sure Gu Xifeng was a talented photographer, he served the army before so his style was very unique with strong visual impact.
This day, Xu Yinrong took He Bai and Xu Ying to pick up Gu Xifeng from the airport. Professor Xu had not see his first disciple for so long, he was in high spirits to finally see the kid, he told He Bai about Gu Xifeng’s story in details.
“Xifeng is an orphan, he has served the army for a few years. I happen to meet him after he retired from active military service, he was not doing great back then, but he was so willing to go back to school and learn more. So I wrote him a recommendation letter and contacted a few universities for him, after he enrolled our uni he did so well on all the subjects. He was particularly interested in photography, so I took him as my first disciple.”
He Bai felt more respect for his master, Professor Xu, he had been a mentor to all his disciples.
He didn’t know much about Xu Ying, his Second Senior Fellow Disciple’s story, but he roughly knew Xu Ying had a rough growing up experience and thanks to Xu Yinrong who had recognized his talent and mentored him.
Reflecting himself, He Bai felt more connected to his master and his senior disciples.
The flight landed on time, passengers walked out from the cabin in twos and threes.
“Senior Disciple, over here, over here!” exclaimed Xu Ying.
Xu Ying waved at someone cheerfully, He Bai looked at that direction, what came to his sight was a tall and slim man striding to them.
He Bai was a bit surprised, he had always pictured this First Senior Fellow Disciple differently in his mind, maybe more mature and sturdy.
As Gu Xifeng walked closer, He Bai saw his face clearly. He was a good looking man with a nice tan and chiseled features, his eyebrows thick, his eyes bright, his nose prominent. He was gorgeous.
And he had got such a nice posture, man of his height usually tended to have a little hunchback, but probably because he had served the army, his posture was impeccable.
“Hi, Little Ying.”
Gu Xifeng nodded at Xu Ying as a greeting, then he looked at He Bai with great interest and handed him a present, “Here, junior disciple, I’m your senior, so take this as a meeting etiquette.”
He Bai took the present and was loud in his thanks.
“You are welcome.” Gu Xifeng’s voice was even more pleasant to listen to than on the phone.
After exchanging simple greetings with his two junior fellow disciples, Gu Xifeng walked to Xu Yinrong with his arms wide open, “Aiya, master, I’m back! I miss you so much!”
Xu Yinrong hugged his first disciple tightly and patted his back, “This is so great, you are back, look at you, you are more skinnier than the last time I saw you. You gotta eat eat eat.”
“Yes master, I will.” Gu Xifeng laughed and said yes.
He Bai took a glimpse at the present box and he looked at Gu Xifeng who was chatting with Professor Xu, hmm, this First Senior Fellow Disciple was so much more friendlier than Xu Ying had described.
They had a nice lunch and He Bai drove Xu Yinrong and Gu Xifeng back to where they lived, Gu Xifeng bought his house near Xu Yinrong to take better care of Xu Yinrong, what a good boy.
Gu Xifeng had been settling down and taking care of Xu Yinrong since he returned, he didn’t contact Xu Ying and He Bai after a few days.
“Now that we are here, come, lemme see your recent works.” Gu Xifeng asked Xu Ying straightforwardly.
Xu Ying’s face darkened, he knew this was their routine, but he still hoped Gu Xifeng would be busy getting to know He Bai this time he came back, so he was a bit disappointed that this Senior Disciple would check his “homework” again. With that being said, he wouldn’t dare to disobey, he dragged his feet to get his laptop and showed Gu Xifeng his recent works while defending himself, “Senior disciple, as you know, my specialty is portrait and body art, I… this collection is recently done, me personally like it a lot… …”
Gu Xifeng listened to him and nodded with great patience while waiting for him to show him the photos.
This took He Bai by surprise, he thought it was just a bonding session, maybe some lunch and some chatting, he did not expect there would be a session of “checking homework”. He Bai didn’t prepare anything… …
He Bai was so anxious, this was their first official meeting, by no means He Bai wanted to leave his First Senior Fellow Disciple a bad impression.
“Yeah, you’ve made great progress, Little Ying.” Gu Xifeng looked at the photos and said, “You have been working hard, it shows.”
Xu Ying let out a big sigh of relief, he finally cracked a smile and said, “Yes, I have been working hard, Jun Chen, my boss, he is such a diva, whenever my work shows the slightest imperfection, he would give me a piece of his mind. So I have to always work hard to please him.”
“You are working for him, naturally you need to meet his standard.” answered Gu Xifeng with a serious face, but he added, “however, if your boss lashes out on you for no reason, you don’t need to tolerate that, just quit and find a better job.”