One Useless Rebirth

The three paused, looking at him at the same time. Then, after realizing the doubts shining through He Bai’s eyes, they couldn’t help rushing to him, and became even more furious. “While we’re scratching our head in anxiousness about how to counterattack the nasty snobs, you have no idea of the ferocious battle online! “Do you want to piss us off?”

He Bai hurriedly begged for mercy, picked up his cell phone at the same time. Then a number of notifications above the screen came to his eyes just as he was about to open Weibo.

“Well, why are there so many unanswered and unread notifications?”

The other three who were rubbing him looked at his screen then. They recalled what the guy here had done, including stayed out while lost contact all night, and how he skipped classes today. Everything he had done had crossed the limits of their endurance. Finally, they pressed him to the ground and hammered him.

How irritating! A workaholic like him, sparing no attention on other matters, should leave school early than others once they got enough credits!

Ten minutes later, He Bai hid in the bathroom with messy hair. First of all, he called Xu Yinrong to justify himself about his work and missed classes. Next, he opened all the missed calls and messages, looking through ten lines at a glance. He was relieved to find it all from his roommates and Di Qiuhe. Finally, he called Di Qiuhe back.

“You are calling back finally?” The call got through at once, but Di Qiuhe was…

“I couldn’t get in touch with you all day and night, huh?”

Di Qiuhe had a soft and pleasant voice, talking in a relaxed and calm tone. And he tended to elongate his last syllable, which made him  sound like he was careless about everything, but that was attractive and seductive…Even Di did not speak out, He Bai knew that this guy was angry, very much.

“Well.” He cleared his throat and softened his voice, explained, “I was busy with my work today, and my phone was in my backpack, that’s why…”

“Saint Elephant.” Di interrupted him.

He Bai was stunned. “What?” Why did he mention Saint Elephant suddenly?

“The person who slandered you online is Huang Wei. He’s your classmate. It’s Jin Cheng, boss of Saint Elephant, who assisted him make the post hot. But this is only the first step. Then Jin Cheng is about to ask one of the receptionists of the Saint Elephant to frame you that once she was sexually harassed by you. They intended to smear you thoroughly.

He Bai was startled. How long had he left the Saint Elephant? Why did the boss who he had never met hate him so much? Why? Just because of the Jia family?

“Liu Huanhuan wants to meddle and intervene in, but I have already let Xiuwen find a way to warn her. She dares not do anything.” Di Qiuhe continued, his voice became fainter and calmer. “You told me to focus on shooting, I obeyed; You told me to keep early hours, I obeyed; You told me not to deliver you anything, I obeyed. Whereas I told you to behave better in B city, you went MIA and played traunt. Pup, I’m incensed.” Di hang up the phone the moment he finished talking.

“Hello? No, Qiu…”

“Du, du, du”

“…”

He Bai stared at the screen of his mobile phone and imagined Di Qiuhe hanging up the phone with a sour face. That was really a headache to him.

“I’m screwed. Childish Di gets angry. It’s my doomsday!” He Bai thought.

There came a knocking sound.

“XiaoBai, are you constipated? What’s taking you so long? Do you need glycerine enema? Niu Junjie said outside the bathroom. He then sighed in earnest, just like a parent who regretted after punishing his disobedient children, “XiaoBai, we’re not bullyragging you on purpose, it’s just that your behavior last night went too far.” Everyone was worried about you. Don’t worry, we will face up to the slanders online with you, those are just rumors, our classmates know you very well. Take it easy.”

He Bai, felt warm in the heart yet speechless at the same time, picked up his phone and opened the door. He took a look at the three concerned roommates outside, sighed, “I’m sorry to have worried you. Don’t care about the slanders. I’ll manage it right away.”

“Ah?” Niu Junjie was stunned. “That’s it? Do you have any idea?

He Bai nodded, rubbing his hands and clenching his fists, and sneered, “Quite a lot.” Huang Wei, Saint Elephant, you were definitely playing with fire with your intrigues and plots.

Turned on the computer, He Bai logged on to the Campus Network first, and checked his academic achievements in each semester and screenshot the records. Then he opened his personal email box, and screenshot the photo-editing correspondence  had sent to Saint Elephant during part-time employment there. Next he turned to the short message page on the phone to screenshot his monthly salary notification text. Finally, he called Xu Yinrong to ask for the roster record of the students’ grade registration, screenshot and pixelated the irrelevant names, and RARed them together with the rest screenshots.

The other three gaped at him doing all this.

“What else is there online besides revising my grades, vying for scholarships and being a boy toy?” He Bai opened his Weibo, ignored the influx of comments and private messages, and uploaded screenshots one by one, while asking his roommates without even looking back.

“Bullying classmates?” Niu Junjie recalled blankly.

Wang Hu looked at He and added, “Riding on rich classmates’ coattails.”

Chen Jie set right his glasses and said. “Asocial, uncooperative, and immoral. Besides, you skipped classes.”

He Bai nodded to show that he caught on, started typing and humming, “How ridiculous Huang Wei is! No one in our class has not revising the grades of homework, and he has done it twice. In addition, the scholarship is evaluated by our teacher and issued by the school. How can I vie for it? He must have forgotten what the counselor had warned him last time. He doesn’t even know why he doesn’t have scholarship. He deserves to be a cat’s paw.

“Most netizen thought the revision of homework is quite normal, the most talked one is that you’re being a boy toy.” Chen Jiewei frowned and said, “It took only a few months for you from a Saint Elephant’s retoucher to the Yi Ka apperal’s garment photographer, and it happened that both of the person in charge who recruited you were women, thus Huang Wei…”

“Screw him and his dirty mind.” He Bai checked the edited content once, rectified the wrong word, and clicked on Send. Then he looked back at his three roommates and smiled, “Well, the troubles online have been settled. Would you like to have a night snack? It’s my treat.”

They looked at each other and suspended thinking about the annoyances online, nodded and echoed, “Of course, barbecue or kebab?”

During having night snack, He Bai texted Di Qiuhe multiple times, but got no response. He wanted to call but was afraid of distract Di from filming. Gradually, he became restless.

It was strange for him. After all, there were few things in the world could disturb him.

“Ha-ha-ha, now the table has turned for Huang Wei after only an hour or so! It serves him right! “Niu Junjie took his cell phone, laughed and patted on his thigh frantically. He was overjoyed to the extent that he almost overturned the barbecue tray. “You’re a genius! XiaoBai. As soon as your salary screenshot is sent out, comparing with the photo-editing quantity during employment, the netizen are shocked. They express that talented and hardworking like you are, you ought to live like you’re supported by someone!

He Bai widened the distance from Niu with the phone, and then poured him a glass of iced orange juice. “Drink it and calm down.”

Niu Junjie ignored and kept on leafing through the webpage. He was even more hysterical when he saw something else. “Ha-ha-ha, the monitor told Huang Wei to keep his phone on, because counselor would like to have a talk with him tomorrow morning.”

“Let him be.” Wang Hu patted He Bai on the shoulder and pulled the barbecue tray inward. “He has suppressed all day and night. I’m afraid he may wreak Huang Wei if we don’t let him abreact.”

“He gets what he deserves! Sooner or later, I’ll sack him up!” Niu Junjie looked up and responded unexpectedly, then looked down at his cell phone, bursting with laughter. “This netizen are right on! He Bai makes decent money now, and it happens that the client he is working for is a fashion brand. What’s wrong with him wearing some expensive clothes? It’s pure jealousy! How could Huang gossip his own classmate! A skilled liar as he, he would certainly do well if he is a tabloid editor, and he’s definitely a dissipation of national education resources!”

He Bai packed up his phone and decided to invite LaoSan to have a few more night snack, because he was deeply touched by LaoSan’s reaction.

On the filming set, Di Qiuhe finished today’s workload. He took over his personal phone from Wang Boyi on his way back to room. He then opened the door and clicked his screen, looking through casually.

There were more than 20 unread messages from He Bai! Never happened before! An unprecedented grace! It was outright unreasonable!

He stood at the door, keeping the motion of pushing the door with one hand and clicking the phone with the other, numbed for half a minute.

“Childish Di?” Wang Boyi, who lived in the room next to Di’s, seeing him keeping his body unmoved, tempted and reminded in earnest, “You’d better take an early rest as we’ll fly to D zone tomorrow.”

Di Qiuhe was surprised like wakening from a dream. He looked at Wang in an unfathomable expression, nodded and opened the door in a weird and prudent manner.

Bang.

The door was shut.

Wang Boyi frowned with doubts.

The way Childe Di just walked…as though he was strutting?