Chapter 95: Chicken Soup for the Soul (1)

Having followed closely the crew all the day, He Bai finally got a clear understanding of the working intensity of Di Qiuhe and was softened up when it occurred to him that Di Qiuhe had rushed back to B City immediately to apologize to him the moment his night shooting finished. However, his anger was stirred up within seconds.

“Let’s go out to do late-night shopping!” Di Qiuhe kept clinging to He Bai as soon as he finished a bath, his mind in a whirl, “you’re returning to B city tomorrow, so there’s little time left for us to wander the streets of D Area. The night fair is bustling and lively. You’ll have fun.”

He Bai plucked the card reader off the computer and turned it off. Then he got up, grabbed the pajamas collar of Di Qiuhe and ferociously pushed him to the bed, warning, “Lie still! Tell me what you’d like for dinner, and I’ll have Assistant Wang get it for you.” After one day’s filming, the guy was bound to take a rest instead of going shopping!

Di Qiuhe lay down obediently but jumped out of bed in a flash, “You must be fed up with the box lunch. How about we go for a seafood feast? There’s a century-old restaurant in D District, which serves good seafood. I can ask Assistant Wang to make a booking.”

He Bai stared at him expressionlessly and began to take his clothes off.

Di Qiuhe was dumbfounded and fell backwards on the bed after a slip. Surprised, happy and shy, he shifted his gaze from He Bai and turned his head within seconds. Watching the revealing lines of He Bai’s body, Di Qiuhe stuttered, “What… what do you take off your clothes for? Would… would you like…?”

He Bai threw the dirty clothes at Di Qiuhe’s face, picked up his pajamas and said, “I’m tired and just want to sleep now. Please order a takeaway. I’ll have it after a bath.” Then he entered the bathroom without another word.

A clunk.

He Bai closed the door of the bathroom.

Di Qiuhe held his breath and took the coat and T-shirt away from his face, his ears and face turning red. After a brief hesitation, he quickly buried his head in the clothes, and then got up from the bed, kept a straight face, found out his mobile phone and called Wang Boyi, “Assistant Wang, go and buy some easily digested food.” After hanging up, he glanced at the clothes on the bed, his fingers gripping the seam of his pajama firmly, and rushed to tidy the clothes away in a careful way, rubbing and blinking.

‘Since Little Puppy got tired, maybe… maybe they can visit the night market next time. Today is the last night when he and Little Puppy shared the same bed, of which he must make better use… Wait, last night?’

Shyness, joyfulness, excitement and other emotions disappeared immediately and were replaced by sadness and reluctance to part with Little Puppy.

Di Qiuhe put down the clothes in stunned silence, and in a few seconds his shoulders slowly drooped. He shot a sidelong glance at the half-packed luggage of He Bai, his eyes falling.

Time flied. Little Puppy was about to go back…

He Bai took a bath and walked out, only to find Di Qiuhe who was in high spirit before looked crestfallen, collapsing on the sofa by the window.

Was he dying to go out? Did his words upset him so much?

He Bai raised his eyebrows, put down the towel used for wiping his hair and sighed silently.

Di Qiuhe was, after all, a restless young man. In contrast, he himself was in reality a middle-aged man who didn’t like running around.

“Are you angry?”

He Bai went to the sofa opposite and sat down, leaning forward to take a can of drink and another of beer and putting it on the small table between them. Then he gave Di Qiuhe the drink and picked up the beer himself, shaking and asking, “Have a drink?”

Di Qiuhe cast a glance at him, stretched his arm to snatch the beer away from He Bai and changed it to a juice. Reclining in the sofa, he felt depressed and said, “You have a plane to catch tomorrow, so don’t drink alcohol tonight.”

He Bai tapped on the beverage can, raised his eyes and carefully sized Di Qiuhe’s up. Holding his arm on the table, he asked smilingly, “Don’t want me to go?”

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Di Qiuhe paused and shifted his gaze from He Bai.

How childish he was!

He Bai gave a faint smile, clinked glasses with Di Qiuhe and soothed him, “I’ll come to see you when I’m free.”

He thought carefully before adding, “Qiuhe, you’ve been friends with few people, only me and Jiang Xiuwen, which is no good for you. It’s quite rare to find close friends in the entertainment world, but it doesn’t mean there are no sincere and honest persons. You can have a try and make a few more like-minded friends.”

Having been closely associated with Di Qiuhe these days, He Bai came to realize that he had unconsciously developed a shut-in personality, which didn’t mean he suffered autism or other physical or mental illness, but that he had been involuntarily rejecting intimate friendship with others.

Di Qiuhe was indeed popular among the cast and crew. All the staff spoke highly of him, and co-actors always came to chat with him during the shooting. But He Bai observed clearly that Di Qiuhe tended to mask his true feelings and keep them at a distance.

In a word, in Di Qiuhe’s eyes, ‘he can make friends with everyone, but no one is his true friend.’

This kind of life was quite tiring.

He who kept hiding his emotions and giving no vent to his feeling would have psychological problem sooner or later.

Di Qiuhe was in extraordinarily high spirit all the day, especially when faced with him. He Bai noticed that and thus intentionally cooperated with him, letting the man release his emotion. At this moment he was very glad that Di Qiuhe saw him as a bosom friend and had never masked his feelings in front of him.

He really appreciated his trust and sincerity and hoped that Di Qiuhe could live a much easier life.

‘It’s quality rather than quantity that counts, as the old saying goes.’ However, friends few in numbers would also cause a problem. Unlike partner, friend was unable to take into account each other’s emotions constantly. The more relaxed and happier Di Qiuhe became when He Bai came over, the more depressed he would get after he left. He Bai believed that Di Qiuhe would adjust soon, but compulsive adjustment wasn’t a pleasant experience.

He Bai hoped that Di Qiuhe could have more friends, wear less masks and live a more relaxed and free life. He also hoped that after he left, Di Qiuhe would have more ways to vent his emotions instead of suppressing himself.

On hearing He Bai’s words, Di Qiuhe was stunned, his eyebrows frowned again. He stared at He Bai, pinched the drink can and said in a deep voice, “I don’t need more friends.” For Di Qiuhe, considerable uncertainties existed about friendship. Without knowing what his fate would be, he didn’t want to waste his energy on things like friendship. Besides, Little Puppy meant more than a friend to him.

Di Qiuhe didn’t like He Bai’s look or his tone of voice, as if he was nothing but such a heavy burden on him that Little Puppy couldn’t afford to shoulder and wished him off on to others.

He Bai originally planned to share some chicken soup for the soul with him but chocked his words at the sight of his gaze.

He wasn’t Di Qiuhe, thus having no idea what he was thinking and what he wanted. At this moment He Bai suddenly realized that perhaps the life he considered tiring was the safest and most comfortable one for Di Qiuhe.

… It seemed that we could never really put ourselves in others’ shoes. Men tended to make indiscreet remarks on other people’s life on the grounds that ‘I did it for your good’, which was in realty a stupid behavior that would easily cause burdens on others and make them unhappy.

At least for now, he was quite sure that his ‘good-for-you’ utterance put Di Qiuhe in a worse mood.

“I’m sorry.” He Bai touched the can in Di Qiuhe’s hand, looked into his eyes and said, “I was self-righteous. You’re very nice, and thank you for your hospitality. I’ve had a good time.”

Looking at his warm and apologetic gaze, Di Qiuhe felt his sadness and anger disappeared instantly. After a brief silence, he opened a can, gulped down a mouthful of drink, looked out of the window and said, “You don’t need to apologize. I know you care about me.” Soft-hearted but straight-tempered, Little Puppy couldn’t wish him on under the pretext that ‘I did it for your good’ but swiftly blacklisted the guy who he considered his burden.

Little Puppy was genuinely concerned for him and changed his way immediately when he expressed a little unhappiness.

This was the one he loved, a gentle and thoughtful person.