Translator: Sissy That Walk
Di Qiuhe inhaled a long breath out of nervousness, and he exhaled reservedly. He released his fingers which were clenching tight on the teacup, bowing deeply towards Xu Yinrong and said reverently, “Elder Xu, thanks for the affirmation, I appreciate it.”
Xu Yinrong leaned askew to avoid Di’s courtesy, shaking his hands as a gesture of “you are welcome”.
Jiang Guanshan coughed and tapped gently on the table.
Di Qiuhe reached for the teapot and poured tea for him, looking him directly in the eye, said in a more reverent tone, “Thanks for the opportunity, Uncle Jiang, and, sorry for letting you down in the past.”
“En.” Jiang Guanshan finally accepted his apology, holding the teacup in the hand, he said, “Qiuhe, you’ve been close friends with Xiuwen for years, I watched you guys growing up together.”
Di Qiuhe’s eyelashes quivered, repressing the excitement of getting what he had long wished for in the heart, lowered his head in silence for seconds. And he raised his head to smile at Jiang Guanshan, relaxing his tight shoulders, “Silly me, it was me who had been tunnel-visioned.”
As a director, Jiang Guanshan had an eye for people. He and Xiuwen had been close friends for years, Uncle Jiang surely knew who he really was. It was ridiculous that he had been approaching Uncle Jiang with a mask on. No wonder when he tried to convince Uncle Jiang for the role of Cheng Jun, he was only told he couldn’t quite deliver for his disguised personality. Now to think of it, Uncle Jiang was doing him a big favor be merely giving him a chance to read through the scripts, a shame that he hadn’t understood Uncle Jiang and almost put Uncle Jiang’s regard down the drain.
“He who was involved can’t see as clear as a bystander.” Jiang Guanshan saw how Di Qiuhe finally came around, he continued straightforwardly, “If you hadn’t visit me today, you wouldn’t get the role of Cheng Jun.”
Di Qiuhe shuddered in the heart, waiting for Jiang Guanshan to continue.
“But you are here, and you apologized.” Jiang Guanshan’s expression turned soft, he looked at Di Qiuhe with complicated feelings, and sighed, “Qiuhe, I’ve heard one thing or two about what happened in your family from Xiuwen, self-protection is human nature, I totally get that. But you are pushing people further when they approach you with good intentions. Qiuhe, you are leading yourself into a dead end.”
Di Qiuhe looked on the ground, feeling his long-closed heart now cracking open a gap. He knew what Uncle Jiang said was right, they were neither relatives or stakeholders, Uncle Jiang could have not confided with him and watching him fumbling in the wrong way as a bystander, but Uncle Jiang not only did the opposite, but also he went so far to organize this meeting, Uncle Jiang must have treated him as an endearing junior. On reflection, he was the one who put on a mask and had misinterpreted Uncle Jiang, which almost cost him this opportunity
“I’m sorry.” He apologized again, full of gratitude.
Seeing Di Qiuhe like this, Jiang Guanshan knew Di Qiuhe had taken in what he said. He nodded in content, said gently, “You are a good kid, just keep this in mind, don’t give negative thoughts the chance to take over your mindset, the best self-protection is strengthening yourself instead of isolating outside world by putting a mask on, it doesn’t matter what you are isolating is good or bad.”
Di Qiuhe nodded in agreement, feeling his prospects that were deemed as negative now unfolding vividly in front of him.
He Bai finally got messages from the buyer just before the afternoon class.
A Bird Born in Autumn: Sorry for the delay to reply. Please send the autograph to XX Street, Red Guest Studio. Recipient: Jiang Xiuwen. Ph: 13xxx. No rush, just send it at your convenience, and WeChat me after you send it.
White and Whiter: Red Guest Studio?
A Bird Born in Autumn: Yup.
White and Whiter: At my convenience?
A Bird Born in Autumn: Yup.
White and Whiter: Do you mind waiting till Sunday when I can deliver it to you in person? I happen to need to go to XX Street this Sunday.
Seeing this message, Di Qiuhe who had drank a bit with the two elders at lunch suddenly sat straight out of nervousness, and soon enough sinking himself into the sofa due to dizziness.
No way could “pup”arazzi [T/N: In Mandarin, the phrase for paparazzi literally means “puppy squad”, which is why I put it as “pup”arazzi as it will be relevant later on in the story] find out it was him who bid the autograph at such a high price, no way! He wouldn’t commit such a stupid thing as bidding his own autograph at such a high price! It was not allowed by his high self-esteem!
He pressed his head, and typed quickly as the dizziness repressed.
A Bird Born in Autumn: No way!!!
He Bai, who saw three exclamation marks on the other side of the screen, touched his nose.
There went his plan of delivery in person.
A Bird Born in Autumn: Xiao Bai.
He Bai glanced his WeChat ID, and replied compliantly.
White and Whiter: Yes, sir.
A Bird Born in Autumn: “Pup”arazzi, not cute.
White and Whiter: If you are against the idea of delivering it in person, how about I post it after school this evening?
Di Qiuhe was still under the influence of alcohol, he shook his head to see the screen clearly with a smile on his face.
A Bird Born in Autumn: Yup, such a good boy Xiao Bai, as an elder brother, imma treat you to lollipops.
He Bai was like “……”. “Did the buyer make a move on me?” Wait, elder brother?
White and Whiter: You are a “he”?
There went Di Qiuhe’s good mood, he tapped his phone with a solemn face. “What’s wrong with a “he”? Can’t a “he” message you? Yeah, right. Not a “he”. Cannot let him know it’s me who buys the autograph.”
So he kept typing with a bitter face.
A Bird Born in Autumn: No!!!!
He Bai saw one more exclamation marks appeared on the screen, he felt a relif, “Phew, no more fetching hot water.”
A Bird Born in Autumn: I’m a cute girl with a big cock.
White and Whiter: ……
A Bird Born in Autumn: Cute and handsome, that’s what I am.
Seeing the scree, He Bai fell into silence.
He…he couldn’t continue.
The one on the other side of the screen seemed to read him through and didn’t continue messaging. Class bell happened to ring, he quickly put his phone away and opened his textbook, ready to focus on the class.
After class, four boys gathered at the canteen.
“So…what are we gonna do about the bet?” Chen Jie put He Bai’s phone down with a funny look on the face, uttered the question in everyone’s heart, “That A Bird Born in Autumn, a ‘he’ or a ‘she’?”
Wang Hu allocated the chopsticks, said in an uncertain tone, “A ‘he’ I suppose, people blurt outy the truth when they say it inadvertently.”
Niu Junjie (Lao San) kicked those two under the table, still managed to keep a thinking face, and replied, “I think that’s a ‘she’, some girls like to referring themselves as ‘Elder brother’, ‘Daddy’, ‘Uncle’, ‘Grandpa’, etc just for fun, so this is not enough to prove that’s a ‘he’, what’s more, that person made a move on Xiao Bai. Xiao Bai didn’t hide his info on campus BBS or his WeChat profile, do you think a ‘he’ will make a move on Xiao Bai who is obviously a dude?”
“Lao San sure has a point.” Chen Jie got the signal and nodded along, “A ‘she’, definitely a ‘she’. Gotta bet what you bet. Lao San, from now on, you need to stay away from your laptop and video games, we are all your supervisors here.”
Niu Junjie wailed on purpose, he threw himself on He Bai, begging Xiao Bai to care for his endearing laptop.
“Please rest assured, I’ll care for it.” He Bai stroked his chin jokingly, accepted his loot, and said, “Poor boy, I’ll fetch hot water for you before summer holiday, don’t be sad, daddy loves you, daddy will see to it you pass all the exams.”
Niu Junjie’s eyes sparkled, kneeled at He Bai, “Save my ass please. Help me on my professional courses. ”
Chen Jie and Wang Hu snorted at him, calling him spineless. Jollification soon took over.
Later that night, Di Qiuhe woke up from hangover. He cleared his throat, went to the kitchen for warm water, stroked his stomach ached from hunger, and he made an instant noodle from the fridge.
He went to wash his face while waiting for the noodle, and he looked for his phone to chat about their transaction.
Been silent for a day, hoping Xiao Bai was cool with that. Thinking about this, he tapped open the WeChat app with a smile on the face.
The sole chatting frame stood out on the empty screen. He tapped the frame open, skimmed through chat history, only rendering the smile frozen on the face.
A Bird Born in Autumn: I’m a cute girl with a big cock.
White and Whiter: ……
A Bird Born in Autumn: Cute and handsome, that’s what I am.
The last three lines zoomed in greatly in his mind, he grabbed the phone tight, all his thoughts were frozen as if he was plunging into an abyss.
“A cute girl with a big cock…” “What was I thinking? Why on earth would I reply like that? Was I possessed? By a ghost? No, no, no, no way it was me who said such a thing like that, no way. A guy with such a good taste like me would never say such a thing.” Di Qiuhe thought to himself.
And what was the matter with “pup”arazzi’s suspension points? Was he speechless? Was he embarrassed? Or did he find the reply low taste and off-color?
“It is not like that!”
Di screamed in his heart, while he kept his cool on the outside and sat on the sofa, resumed his expressionless face, opened his noodle cup, stirred like a robot, and shoved a big fork in his mouth.
“Ouch.”
It was so hot that he threw away the fork.
“Pup”arazzi’s fake smile with a dimple on the left side of the face seemed to appear in his mind, he sank into the sofa with his eyes closed, and covered his face with a cushion in a self-avoidance way.
The next afternoon, Jiang Xiuwen signed the delivery himself and sent the package only as big as a man’s palm to Di Qiuhe.
“Why the long face? Shouldn’t you be celebrating on getting the role?” Sitting across Di Qiuhe, Jiang Xiuwen stared at his hands busying opening the package with prying eyes, “Who sent you this? It says it’s from Q University. Was it the little anchorwoman who chased you hard? Hadn’t you told me you had nothing to do with her?”
Hearing Jiang Xiuwen mentioning that little anchorwoman, Di Qiuhe’s face pulled longer, replied apathetically, “This is from a fan, a boy.”
Package bag was open wide, a cartoon box with a ribbon bow on it showed up.
Jiang Xiuwen looked baffled, “This is from a fan, a boy, are you sure?” “Can this box be more girlie? A boy? Can a boy fan be so well-informed that he knew this address? Can you please put more thoughts when it comes to lying?” Jiang Xiuwen thought in secret.
Little did Di Qiuhe anticipate He Bai would use such a girlie box, his fingers went stiff, and he put the box in his bag in a self-though casual way, nodding, “Yup, a boy fan who looks up to me, who admires me.”
Jiang Xiuwen squinted, clearing not buying what he said. He wouldn’t hide the box if that was really from a fan from a close friend for year. What has he got up his sleeve?