One Useless Rebirth

He Bai nodded honestly. He was totally confused by twists and turns today.

“What an honest boy.” Yu Hui smoothed the cape sent by her assistant and winked at He Bai. Then she signaled her two assistants to block the room from other staff members and said in a low voice, “Qiuhe called me early this morning and begged me to help out a new photographer that might be picked on. I failed to talk him out of this matter. But only on the condition that he promise me considerable benefits, including helping me to cultivate the emerging actors in my studio. So, this is a profitable offer for me anyway.”

“…” Her image in He Bai’s mind cracked a little.

Yu Hui was amused by his expression and deliberately showed a money-mad face. She rolled her eyes and stopped teasing him, continuing, “As for Da Ze and Hua Ding, I don’t know what happened, why don’t you ask him yourself?” Before He Bai could refuse, she took the phone from her assistant and called Di Qiuhe.

He Bai had no time to stop her and stood upright subconsciously. It seemed to be the first talk with Di Qiuhe after they confessed their love to each other.

Di Qiuhe answered promptly and a familiar, mild voice came from the receiver:” Hello? Ms. Yu, how is the shoot going on?”

He Bai couldn’t help scratching his ears… Di Qiuhe’s voice was indeed sweet.

Yu Hui glanced at him with a smile and replied slowly, “It hasn’t started yet. They need to rearrange the set. Oh, and there are many people around me and I’m putting you on the speakerphone now.”

Di Qiuhe paused for a while and said with a more cautious voice, “Many…people?”

He Bai moved subconsciously and despised Di Qiuhe in his heart. How could he be so frightened and cautious? What a shame.

“Yep, a lot of people.” Yu Hui smiled more brightly and deliberately said in a slower tone, “Two of my assistants, one make-up artist, the staff members of C Studio…and your polite, cute little photographer.”

He Bai could almost imagine the awkward face of Di Qiuhe who was teased by Yu Hui’s slow tone, so his face turned sullen. Gutless Di Qiuhe. How did he act so weak to her…Served him right that he was getting teased.

Another short pause and then came Di Qiuhe’s milder voice, “Thanks for your reminder…Xiao Bai, are you there?”

Yu Hui considerately passed him the phone and beckoned him to speak.

He Bai’s eyebrows twitched. Under the witness of everyone, he replied nervously, “Yeah, I’m here. Thanks for your help today, I’ll treat you for dinner when you are back.” Good, normal tone, normal content, which would not make others get suspicious.

Di Qiuhe fell into silence for a while and said in a softer voice, “I’m sorry, Xiao Bai, if it were not me…”

He Bai pretended to hawk to interrupt him. He ignored others’ attention and said stably, “Just focus on your filming and take care of yourself. I will take good pictures for Ms. Yu, don’t worry.”

Another silence and Di Qiuhe restored his normal tone and said with an obvious smile, “OK, I will do my best, and try to go back for you at Christmas. What do you want for Christmas?”

What? How could he say something so disgustingly romantic in front of so many people?

He Bai glanced at Yu Hui and pressed his red ears subconsciously, responding quickly, “Just bring some gifts for Ms. Yu and Mr. Jia. Anything is OK for me. I have to check the arrangement now, I’m passing the phone to Ms. Yu, see you on Christmas.” Then he tried to leave in a not so hurried manner and smiled at Yu Hui and other staff, striding out of the room.

“See you on Christmas.” He replied. Di Qiuhe noticed that He Bai had helped him smooth things over and impressed Yu Hui. He smiled happily and heard that receding footsteps with reluctance.

Yu Hui turned off the speaker and put the phone to her ear. She raised her eyebrows and wore a more meaningful smile, which suited her make-up. She said in a casual tone, “Qiuhe, I don’t think you’ve told me the whole story when you called me before, right?”

When everything was in position, the rearrangement was completed soon. When He Bai was in the dressing room, the backdrop had been covered with black and red chiffons. The overall style of the set was totally different.

“Is that OK?” The director asked as he put down a little pumpkin and wiped his sweats.

“Very good.” He Bai handed him a tissue and asked after a thought, “I remember that your last cover adopted the magnificent Tang Dynasty style. At the corner of the backdrop lay an ancient chaise longue, do you still keep that?”

The director was baffled and nodded, “Yes, the props we used last time is all in our storehouse. We have no time to clear it. You need that? But will it be a little bit inappropriate for the last time’s item to appear in a new cover?”

He Bai comforted him with a smile, “Sure it will, so we have to make some change about it.”

The director was confused, “Change? How?”

The set would overwhelm any audience with its extravagant and degraded attraction against the deep-colored rose petals and the little pumpkins with evil faces in the corner further -the chaise longue was entangled with a jumble of black and red chiffons, while the pillows with overelaborate patterns scattered on the ground.

He Bai let Yu Hui lie on the lounge and looked at the lens sideways. Then he tangled the bright multi-colored lights around the feet of the lounge, with chiffon covered on these lights. All the brighter lights on the set went out, leaving the multi-colored lights covered by chiffon glittered, giving out a sense of dimmed light.

Yu Hui’s red-white gradient dress didn’t match the overall vibe, so He Bai just grasped some black chiffon and covered Yu Hui’s body. Then he scattered some petals, making the white color vaguer. When the artificial snow fell, the static, half-covered white would echo with the dynamic and free white of the snow. The whole scene created a vivid visual contrast that could draw audience’s attention instantly.

“That’s so beautiful…” The make-up artist gazed at the mildly smiling Yu Hui lying on the lounge. She was clustered around by chiffons, tinted with a sense of laid-back and glamor. The make-up artist couldn’t help cupping her blushing face in her hands.

Jia Sheng was good at directing literary film. As his chief actress, Yu Hui mainly played angelic and elegant roles. During her 20-year career, she of course had played some villains, but today it was her first time to try such a characteristic villain style.

The visual impact was so strong that the make-up artist could barely breathe.

The director who was also obsessed with that scene heard her murmur and came to himself suddenly. He coughed sideways to cover his faux pas, and then reminded other workers who were dumbfounded as well to do their job, or the shoot might be affected.

People came to their senses gradually and collaborated in a more efficient manner. They looked at He Bai with bright eyes and had never been so desirable to appreciate the final photos. This new photographer definitely lived up to his reputation that he could infinitely magnify beauty! If He Fenwei had come, they wouldn’t have had the chance to witness such a brilliant work!

Yu Hui noticed the change of the atmosphere and looked at that young man who shot the lens at her. She recalled what Di Qiuhe had said on the phone and smiled more wildly. This trip was indeed worth it.

When the shot was finished, it was already dusk. People that had been busy for a whole day weren’t tired at all. Instead, they were quite energetic and jubilant. “Thanks for your hard work, Mr. He. I’m looking forward to our next cooperation!” The director shook He Bai’s hand, thrilled to bits, with his face full of excitement and complicated feelings. His eyes were so bright as if there had been stars overflowed from them. That was amazing work! The pictures without retouching had already been wonderful. No one could imagine how excellent they could be after retouching! This new photographer was a genius, was he really new in the industry? His profession and skills were even much better than many experienced photographers! That was brilliant!

He Bai noticed the director’s tone became more respected. He thought for a while and also smiled, “It’s indeed a pleasant cooperation. I hope I can work with your distinguished magazine next time.”

His humble and modest attitude again deeply impressed the director. His fondness towards He Bai was immeasurable. He couldn’t help communicating with He Bai about more things. He hospitably called for the studio’s car and accompanied He Bai to the car, leaving the set.

Meanwhile at Huangdu:

Di Bian’s assistant was frightened in front of his desk with lowered head. He dared not to watch his boss’s angry and almost twisted face.