The moment Lin Xia saw He Bai showed up at her office solemnly, she realized that the parting was finally on the agenda.

“Don’t look at me like that, take a seat.” She greeted He Bai with a smile, motioning with her hand to signal him to be quiet first, then bowed her head to pull out a document from the drawer and presented it to him. She finally started to talk, “I knew the day would come, and I’m grateful that you can stick to your post till now. After all, the workload of Little Mermaid is a bit burdensome for you.”

He Bai froze.

“You have a hard junior year, while Little Mermaid has just hit the market. There are quite many different matters to deal with. And you must be tired of running from both ends.” Lin Xia poured him a glass of water, motioned him to read the document, she sighed and continued, “I’ve seen that you’re in a pickle and exhausted, but it’s too bad to let go of such a talent like you, therefore, I kept playing dumb.”

“No, Sister Lin, thank you for the trouble you’ve taken on my behalf.” He Bai came to himself and replied. He felt even more uneasy and awkward for her consideration.

Little Mermaid, was kind to him, as well. There was no need to clock in or dispose any trifles. The team worked to his schedule to the greatest extent while they gave him the first-class benefit. Today, he had come for a scolding, yet he ended up being comforted instead.

Seeing he was uneasy for that, Lin Xia was more relieved for having trusted the right person. She smiled and soothed, “A photographer like you, who has saved large publicity expenditure for the company deserves that. Without you, the Little Mermaid could not have made a big hit from Jia family’s birthday feast, and even less could we have had the chance to cooperate with the Jun Chen Studio. The invisible interests you bring to Little Mermaid, comparing with the benefits you’ve got, are nothing at all.”

He Bai was ill at ease and didn’t know how to answer, “That’s not the point…”

“That’s what I said.” Lin Xia leaned back in the chair with a smile, was much more relaxed than he was, and she elaborated, “Let me be brutally frank here. Although I consent to your dimission, you have to keep on taking publicity photos for us each issue until we find another qualified photographer. Of course, if it’s possible, I hope you can give some instruction and take a set of publicity photos together with the new photograph if we get one.” Then she raised her eyebrows looking at He Bai, looking like she won’t let him go unless he makes the promise.

She had played both roles of good cop and bad cop, which choked back He Bai’s long-prepared rhetoric. He was moved after being stunned, then bowed his head and opened the file in his hand and read it through. He signed it as agile as when he signed the employment contract at the beginning. Then he got up and reached out to Lin Xia and smiled. “Of course, I won’t let go of such a good chance to make a show of authority in front of the newbie. Sister Lin, thank you and Little Mermaid and Yi Ka for the convenience all the time.”

Lin Xia smiled and got up to hold his hand. “I’d like to thank you on behalf of Little Mermaid and Yi Ka, and wish you a bright future.”

He Bai called Yang Fu after coming out of Yi Ka. He thanked her for setting him up with Little Mermaid, and apologized for his leave.

“Never mind, there are chances to cooperate again in the future, and we’ll be friends all the same.” Yang Fu comforted him intimately and changed the topic, “But if you feel so sorry, there’s a chance to compensate me. Well, Zehang and I are going to advance our wedding date to next year. Are you free to take our wedding photos?”

He Bai smiled and acceded with pleasure, “Of course, it is my honor to be invited by you.”

“Dear me! I’m totally charmed by you. I’m a fan of yours now.” Yang Fu cried exaggeratedly, and then he heard Jia Zehang vaguely, then Yang Fu hastily hung up the phone after an exclamation of laughter.

He Bai, a witness of such a Public Display of Affection, put down his mobile phone laughingly. After exiting the photo call page, he opened the text message page involuntarily, in which he found no new text messages. He then checked the time and speculated that Di Qiuhe should still be filming. He turned off the text message page and put the mobile phone back in his pocket.

After nearly quitting the job, He Bai didn’t need to punch in Yi Ka regularly on weekends and after school. He had much more free time then, and he found that recently Niu Junjie was a bit suspicious.

“He plays basketball every afternoon!”

Wang Hu nodded, “Well, he wants to lose weight.”

He Bai almost spewed the beef jerky out of his mouth in disbelief, “He is not fat at all. Why should he do that?”

Chen Jie looked up from the table, stabilized his glasses and explained, “The ‘lose weight’ he meant, was more like toning up, like an abdominal muscle training, converting the belly into a six-pack. Do you remember? We had a hot pot of high calorie the day you went back to school, God knows, he went to the playground to play basketball for two more hours the next day. He’s resolute to persevere in.”

“It’s good to take more exercise, so as to save him from playing games in dormitory every day.” Wang Hu nodded and turned his head to pat He Bai on the shoulder in seriousness. “XiaoBai, you have to exercise more as well. You backed down half time last time we play basketball. You definitely lack of physical strength and your future girlfriend may look down on you.”

He Bai rolled his eyes. “Who said I should have a girlfriend? How happy I am now. LaoDa, you have a dirty mind.” In his last life, he had no intention of starting a family until he was 33. He was only 21 at present. He still longed to be single. A girlfriend and the like would not be taken into consideration within at least 12 years.

“You won’t say so when you meet someone you’re fond of.” Chen Jie said casually, then turned the topic back and estimated, “LaoSan is suspicious indeed recently. He plays no game, keeps early hours and has physical training. Furthermore, he starts to study in the library.”

He Bai raised his eyebrows, rubbed his snack bag, squinted to recall the words and deeds of LaoSan in these days. Then something came to his mind as his eyes twinkled, he got up and beckoned. “If things go wrong, there always is something behind. Brothers, let’s go and see what LaoSan is up to.”

Wang Hu and Chen Jie looked at each other and got up in laugh.

The three arrived at the basketball court shoulder to shoulder and saw the vigorous Niu Junjie as soon as they entered.

Wang Hu touched his chin: “The hairstyle is new.”

Chen Jie held his glasses: “The shoes and polo shirt are both newly bought.”

He Bai find the key point in a decisive manner and fixed his eyes on a figure he knew very well in his last life on the sidelines. He then squinted. “I’ve got it. Each time LaoSan scores a goal, he will peek at the girl with a ponytail and a brown blouse on the sidelines.”

Wang Hu and Chen Jie looked over and saw the girl and Niu Junjie, then phonated a tacit and meaningful word “ah~”.

For love, the handsome and rich 2G turned out to be a hardworking and good youth!

The three approached with a crafty smile and quickly blocked Niu Junjie off to the corner of the stadium during the half-time, ready to interrogate.

Wang Hu: “We’re lenient to those who confess and strict to those who resist.”

Chen Jie: “There is no forgiveness to the one breaking away from the organization and off the market surreptitiously.”

He Bai hit the point straight: “LaoSan, that girl in brown coat, I want her!”

Niu Junjie retorted at once while keeping his neck up, “No! No! Change one! Not her!”

He Bai grilled, “Why?”

“Be, because …” Niu Junjie lowered his voice down and took a flickering look at the girl there. He was blushed all over from his ears first and then his neck to the whole face. Finally, he pulled up his jersey to cover his face and mumbled, “Any, anyhow, not her. I’m the first one who has a crush on her.”