One Useless Rebirth

After returning to campus, He Bai had Yang Fu’s photographs sketchily retouched. Then he asked Niu Junjie out for a late-night snack. “Have you bumped into Liu Huanhuan?” Niu Junjie stopped gnawing chicken wings and emerged grim-faced while asking it. He dropped his eyes and said evasively, “Well, it doesn’t matter. What you need to do is nothing but pretend unacquaintance.”

“I wish I could, but she herself accosted me.” He Bai bought him a bottle of orange juice, took the beer in front of him away and gave a brief account of what had happened today, persuading him, “You hope to have no entanglement with her, while she should bear no grudge and try to strike up conversation with your friend. Today she came across me, and maybe tomorrow she would meet another friend of yours? Your dad has a wide range of business interests, and many of your friends are of great ability. Be on the alert for her, and you can’t go wrong.”

In the previous incarnation, when Liu Huanhuan was reduced to dire straits, she came back to seek Niu Junjie’s help. Good-hearted, Niu asked one of his friends to give her a hand. However, both he and his friend who had a fiancée then were all entangled by Liu Huanhuan, which almost led to the martial breakdown of the two. Therefore, person like Liu Huanhuan was definitely a bomb that would explode at any time, and it’s better to be far away from her.

Niu Junjie frowned on hearing it, and then nodded after some thinking. Giving a self-deprecating smile, he replied, “I get it, thank you for reminding me. As for Liu Huanhuan, I’ll handle her myself. My mind wasn’t in the right place before. Judging from her character, she wouldn’t behave herself until she came to grief and learned a lesson. When she was in a relationship with me, she had two-timed me for many times... Well, let’s drop it. How’s your part-time job? Was she spoiling your work?

“No, she wasn’t.” He Bai narrowed his eyes, smiling, and continued the topic, “I messed her scheme up instead, and her plot to spoil another girl’s photographing had fallen through.” Niu Junjie looked stunned and then burst out laughing, patting He Bai’s shoulder hard, “Good job, my bro! Help yourself and order whatever you’d like–my treat!”

The shooting took two days. Next day He Bai went to the park again and offered his help. This time he got no opportunity to take photographs himself but kept running errands all the while. Standing at the periphery of the crowd, he had been watching Ma Xingtong and his nephew put on an act by displaying their attachment to each other. Ma Xingtong taught Ma Qun something, and the latter flattered his uncle.

Afterwards, he went straight back to campus and hurried a meal. Then he sorted out the pictures he snapped, sent them to Xu Yinrong’s mailbox as his homework, and searched Yang Fu’s photos out for final retouching. At eleven o’clock in the evening, the work was eventually done. Rubbing his eyes, He Bai sent the photographs to Li Ru’s mailbox, climbed into the top of the bunk and reclined on the bed.

As a new week began, the Department of Journalism entered the period of exam preparation. After rebirth, He Bai became poor at study, so he had no other choice but to make every effort to review his lessons, during which he was almost completely unplugged except answering the calls. Throughout the day he buried himself in the reference books to revise for his lessons like crazy.

Di Qiuhe checked his WeChat message for countless times, but still received no reply from He Bai. Subsequently, his excitement and astonishment at the word “blow you a kiss” were all replaced by a feeling of anger.

“I’ll be damned if I send MORNING to you again!” Di Qiuhe stuffed his phone into the pants pocket with a scowl, took out his schedule under the script and circled a variety show. Since the previous contract was rescinded and the lead-up to his film had begun, it’s time to make relevant information public and lay a trap for his step-mother.

A busy week passed. On Saturday, He Bai, with deep shadows under his eyes, was summoned to Shengxiang by Li Ru who returned from a business trip.

“There were two pieces of news, one good and the other bad. Which one do you want to hear first?” Li Ru poured a cup of tea for him and seated herself opposite him.

“Thank you.” He Bai took a sip, feeling him sober-minded a little, and replied, “Bad one, please.”

“I guess so.” Li Ru leaned back into the chair, with a faint smile on her face, “You have received two complaints, one from our customer and the other from a colleague. The customer’s complaint was sent to our group leader Ma Qun, and the latter bypassed me and went to my superior.” Complaints?

It was quite unexpected. He Bai raised his hand to massage his puffy eyes, thought for a while and asked, “Let me guess. The customer complaining about me is Liu Huanhuan, isn’t she? And the colleague... Ma Xingtong?”

“You guess out only half the story.” Li Ru shook her finger and replied, “The colleague who made a complaint of you is indeed Ma Xingtong. He said you were too self-assertive to conform to the rules and regulations of our company as well as to the requirements of the television station and conduct the shooting in the appropriate scenes. He also said you are lacking in team spirit.”

It was quite a groundless countercharge. He Bai completely did not expect Ma Xingtong, a skilled photographer, should spare no efforts to push him aside.

“What shall I do with the complaints?” He asked, with his face hardening.

Li Ru found his childish expression amusing. Shaking her head, she said, “The regulations stipulate that a regular employee, when receiving a complaint from his customer, must apologize to the customer in person, and make every effort to compensate his client for his losses after finding reasons out; when complained of by a colleague, the employee would face dismissal (if his error is of a serious nature) or wage deduction (if his error causes no considerable consequences) plus demerit recording. One who has three demerits shall be forced out.”

It was indeed an undeserved catastrophe. He Bai was neither willing to make apology to Liu Huanhuan nor expecting wage deduction. After all, that’s his hard-earned money ... He Bai was getting desperate.

Li Ru couldn’t help laughing eventually, “But you’re not a regular employee and work on a part-time basis. So it’s me, your supervisor, who needs to make an apology and inquires about the cause. Besides, given that you work part-time and that your superior considers the complaint from your co-worker may be a slander, so the complaint is overruled and you’ll receive two hundred yuan as consolation prize.”

He Bai sat up in a flash and stared at her with joy, “Sister Li ...”

“Don’t look at me this way. It’s too sappy.” Li Ru waved her hand and teased him, “Are you in the mood to hear the good news now?”

One dimple appeared on He Bai’s left face as he smiled. Then he gave a nod, and poured a glass of water for Li Ru attentively.

Li Ru enjoyed his service, and spoke slowly, “As for the good news ... The station personnel were quite satisfied with those refined pictures you had taken. The person in charge happened to hear that you also snapped some pictures of other hostesses to good effect, so he decided to make a sidelight collection with those snaps so as to boost the online publicity of the station’s commemorative activities. You can get a good price for each photo.” She stuck a finger while speaking.

He Bai’s eyes lit up, and his body leaned forward unconsciously, “one hundred each?”

Li Ru shook her head, “Mind you, I myself negotiated the price with them on your behalf. You can add a fourth digit.”

“A thousand?!” He Bai was agape with astonishment, “They... They decide to buy the snaps at such a high price before seeing them?”

“I believe in your capability.” Li Ru put her finger down, and affected by his emotion, her smile broadened, “And the television station believes my judgment as well as the charm that the series of Miss Yang’s photos have displayed. Come on, He. I’ve got your back.”

Breathing a sigh of relief, He Bai stood up, gave a bow to Li Ru and smiled in a radiant but silly way, “Thank you, Sister Li, I will do my best!”

When he left Saint Elephant, He Bai met Ma Qun, with a camera hung on a string around his neck. It seemed that he had become a regular photographer.

“Good morning, Bro Ma.” He Bai greeted him, as if completely unaware that he had just been complained by Ma Qun’s uncle. He Bai looked very happy and spoke to him in a grateful manner, “Thank you a lot for offering me the opportunity last week. The TV station was extraordinarily gratified with my photos and decided to buy the snaps I took that day to make a sidelight collection. Thanks so much for your help, I really appreciate it. When I’m paid, please let me treat you to dinner!”

“Real... Really? Congratulations.” Ma Qun forced a smile. Seeing He Bai left, he grasped the camera firmly when a button on it dropped all of the sudden.

“My god! What are you doing? This is a new camera that our company has bought recently! There are only several ones! You’ll be complained about damaging the corporate property purposefully!” The receptionist girl who had watched their exchange attentively yelled angrily.

Recovering from shock, Ma Qun clenched the button and rushed to ingratiate himself with the girl.

Having Ma Qun irritated, He Bai strode down the street in high spirits. He sent the snaps to Li Ru immediately when returning to campus. The next morning, Li Ru gave him a call and informed him that the television station selected a large part of his pictures for use and paid the wage into his bank account.

The station staff worked at such a great efficiency that it took them only one day to finish the montage and post the photos along with the sidelights video online via the official Weibo account of B City’s television station, causing a heated discussion among netizens.

“Wow, there’s my photo. My God, I look so good in this suit! I would have thought I must be done for when Mr. Ma showed us his refined pictures. After all, I don’t photograph well in the garment!”

In one of the green rooms, a hostess held her phone tightly and screamed in her excitement.

Another newcomer leaned close to her, with a blush warming her cheeks, “Yeah, yeah, you’re right. I wonder who took such beautiful photos. In his photograph, my thick calves look so charming! I couldn’t love him more!”

“Wow, netizens say the girl in Photo 7 is so cute! It’s me! I am the person in the seventh picture! These snaps prove better than the feature! Awesome! I remember these photos are taken by the young photographer who’s responsible for taking photographs of a newcomer at Children’s Channel. I really envy the hostess for her photographer is of great ability!”Another round-faced hostess holding her cell phone was so excited that she nearly cried out.

“Of course. Among all the newcomers who were sent for photo shoot that day, who wasn’t envious of Yang Fu?”A bob-haired girl came in interrupting them, and scoffed while picking her working card off, “But Liu Huanhuan, the newcomer who has gained major support of the station, must be an exception. After all, she demanded strongly that Mr. Ma serve as her photographer. I also heard that she filed a complaint about the young photographer who took photos of Yang Fu. Hmm, no wonder she doesn’t appear in the sidelights. It’s obvious that her behavior deeply offended the photographer. It serves her right!”

The three hostesses exchanged glances on hearing it and dared not to respond. Everyone laughed at Liu Huanhuan on the quiet when the sidelights came out. It was said that she was rebuked by the head of the television station for spoiling the cooperation between the station and Saint Elephant, and her program was suspended for two weeks.

Seeing them stand in silence, the bobbing girl showed the whites of her eyes disdainfully, “Look at you who are scared stiff. A word of warning: keep away from Liu Huanhuan recently. Someone intends to sort her out.”

Shocked by her words, the three went closer to her and asked out of curiosity, “Who? Who wants to sort her out?”

“The media magnate at Channel 4. Rumor has it that Liu Huanhuan was the girlfriend of his son and two-timed him. It’s too kind of the guy who never brought her to account and let her off, while she should lodge a complaint against one of his best friend. Indeed, she was down on her luck right now. The giant warned that he would stop putting advertisements on the station if Liu Huanhuan continued to work there. There are a large number of TV stations. He could choose any one at will.”

What a juicy gossip!

Excited at her words, the three girls approached the bobbing girl and asked her more details.

Their support gave the bobbing girl a chance to vent her anger at Liu Huanhuan. She simply pulled a chair to sit in and continued her talk with gusto.

Outside the door, a staffer raised his hand to wipe the sweat, looking at Di Qiuhe who stopped for the gossip, and carefully said, “Mr. Di, the program is about to start, you see...” One of his seniors once told him that Liu Huanhuan had had the audacity to seduce the good-tempered idol. Now the situation ... was quite embarrassing.