Chapter 13: Longevity Noodles
Chapter 13: Longevity Noodles
Translator: Sissy That Walk
A bird Born in Autumn: But I know that my father shows favoritism only on a temporary basis. When my stepmother comes back and renders a curtain-lecture, I am still regarded as an outsider in this family. After all, such things have happened multiple times.
He Bai sat straight. After a brief silence, he heaved a sigh and then weighed his words to type.
White and Whiter: it’s not hard for me to obtain an autographed photograph of Di Qiuhe. If I give it to you as a present, will you feel happier?
Turning his head sideways, Di Qiuhe looked out of the window and saw Qin Li getting off the car in the yard. A breath of oppression was exhaled from his chest, which had been lingering on his mind since he returned home. With a smile on his mouth, Qiuhe fixated on his phone again and continued typing.
A bird Born in Autumn: I feel blue. Only your hug and kiss can cheer me up.
He Bai raised his eyebrows, staring at the phone screen for a long time with his face expressionless. All of a sudden, he stretched out one finger and poked hard at the keyboard.
White and Whiter: a child who shows ill temper is not a good boy. In most cases, they were just putting on a show. What they need is nothing but a thrashing.
Di Qiuhe was overwhelmed with joy instantly. To imagine the twisted expression White and Whiter had when typing that sentence insjected his body abundant energy again. Hearing the faint sound of door opening, he typed a sentence in a hurry, putting his mobile phone away, and walked over to Qin Li at the door.
Qin Li was a beautiful woman, tall and delicate. Time seemed to have given her preferential treatment, leaving her only maturity and lingering charming. Like a bottle of precious wine, the older she got, the more charm she displayed.
"You already back?" She brushed away a strand of falling hair from her ears, greeting Di Qiuhe in a gentle and natural manner, and then handed the document to him, "The vice president told me your father required your contract hastily, so I cut short the meeting to send it back. But where’s your dad?"
"In Chunhua’s room. She suddenly fell ill and called the family doctor over. Dad is worried about her and has been watching at her bedside". Di Qiuhe also put on a gentle disguise, took the document and replied in guilt," It’s my fault. If I had not suddenly come back, she would not be angry like this. Thank you for sending me the document. Actually, you could have made others do this. Official business should come first."
"Never mind. What’s more, it has nothing to do with you. Chunhua herself is excitable by temperament."Qin Li patted him on the shoulder as a way of comfort, shook her head and sighed, "I also wonder what’s wrong with her. She looks so strange these days that her teachers informed me she often wrangled with her classmates recently. Her mother I am, I dare not to rule her over too hard. Teenagers tend to be overly sensitive, especially girls. I’s so sorry that you are the one who suffered, Qiuhe."
Looking at her perfect-staged expression, Di Qiuhe expressed his approval to her acting skill at heart, and then wore a slightly desolate expression, answering to her after a period of silence, "It doesn’t matter, Aunt Qin… But I have a suspicion that there is someone close to Chunhua having stirred up discord between her and me. Last time we went home together, she suddenly lost her temper, drove me out of the car on the way, and even declared to blacklist me. In case it irritates Dad, I didn’t tell him that. Luckily, Driver Li is a clever man who disclosed nothing to Dad. "
Qin Li knit her brows slightly, shot an unobtrusive glance at the staircase on the second floor, bowed her head and drew a wisp of hair away. A surge of anger emerged on her face when she looked up again with her voice raised, "How dare she make you alight from the car? She is too willful! No wonder you came late last time and were hence scolded by your father. It is really … Oh! It’s extremely unreasonable for her to do so. Let me go upstairs and give her a piece of my mind! "
"Please don’t, Aunt Qin!" Di Qiuhe barred her way swiftly. He looked very restrained, but actually he pulled her hand very hard and then continued to persuade her, "Chunhua was just exploited by someone. Her behavior of calling me bastard or alleging to blacklist me must be the result of the dissension a certain villain sowed behind us. If you fall into rage, things will go as he or she wishes. Nowadays, Board of Directors in Huangdu is in flux, which adds the difficulty for Dad to manage it. I suspect that it is to some extent caused by sabotage of the base person, so our top priority is to smoke out the villain and solve the problem. Chunhua is still young. You have a lot of time to teach her. By the way, you’d better make an investigation of people around Xiasong. Even Chunhua is surrounded by villains, let along Xiasong. He is a candidate the board thought highly of. There must be bad person around him. "
Shocked by Diu Qiuhe’s penetrating words, Qin Li sensed clearly the villain he mentioned was nobody but her. In addition, he talked of the turbulence in Huangdu as well as the strain on Di Bian to manage the
She finally finds that things are quite wrong with the stepson. With her eyes dropped, she examined his facial expressions inch by inch with a critical eye, and drew her hand out, "Qiuhe, let go of me. Where do you hear the rumor? You are as innocent as a child. Be careful not to be taken in by others’ plot of sowing discord."
Di Qiuhe loosened his hand and slightly leaned to one side, with his back against the staircase. The original air of tenderness disappeared from his face, and an abominable smile revealed. With his body askew, he pointed with his finger at the direction of the staircase on the second floor, and then put on a gentle disguise again when Qin Li’s expression changed all at once. He offered his apology, "I know you would say so … I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bypass you and present the cancellation to Dad. I tried to reach your assistant several times but no one answered the phone, so … But there’s no need for you to get worried. After this thing is done, I will try to pay fewer visits to Dad lest the board stirs more trouble. "
When hearing his words, Qin Li’s heart almost skipped a beat. How perfect his trick was— avoiding the focus and then making concessions in order to gain advantages! Her calculation to get sympathy from Di Bian as well as to throw mud at Di Qiuhe couldn’t work at all under his words. In addition, he had also sowed discord between she and Di Bian! What happened to the boy who had been cowardly and timid before? Since when had he become so sharp-tongued!
She subdued her dissatisfactions, lifting one hand to touch his hair, and said in a gentle voice, "You silly boy, how could it comes that I should blame this on you. Leave those of the board alone. They are merely a group of clowns who make trouble. Later on, you are still the legitimate successor to Huangdu."
Di Qiuhe also smiled when he dodged her hand without the least hesitation, with his smile shut off. "You don’t have to lie to me. I understand I have no chance to inherit the company. Saying this is totally not my original intention, but now that I’m leaving, I can’t help worrying about my dad. "
A flicker of anguish gradually appeared on his mouth, "I feel very tired and don’t want to act any more. Eight years ago, I, 15 years old, was almost crippled by a thug outside the school, whose father turns out to be father-in-law of your assistant; six years ago, when I was 17, a rabid dog bit me at the thigh on my way home, and the dog owner is a crack agent working for you now; four years ago, when I was 19, my roommate enticed me to go clubbing and handed me a cigarette mixed with drug. His mother, however, serves as the head of Qin’s Supermarket; three years ago, I signed a contract with Huangdu, only to find that my partner was a gay of disreputable character, nothing but a pretty face. If I had not gone solo in advance, my reputation would have been spoiled since then. In spite of this, his brother, a consummate villain as wicked as one could be, took up the post of hotel manager of Qin’s Hotel at your cousin’s invitation; and one month ago, I unknowingly offended a grandson of one board member and was thus directed against by that person in coalition with other directors. Consequently, my father had to give me up. I am not a fool, Aunt Qin. Everything you did couldn’t escape my attention, but given that you are the person my dad loves, I am willing to make a concession and help you cover up your mistakes. But you really shouldn’t blacklist me or purposely put obstacles in my way and refuse to terminate my contract. What I want is nothing more than being an actor. "
"You …"Qin Li was stunned by his bluntly-honest words. Recalling the vague figure looming up at the stairwell, she had no time to ponder how he knew those things, uttering hastily, "Cut the nonsense, Qiuhe! I swear that I never intend to blacklist you. What you said just now…"
"Now that you say you have no idea, what I can do is nothing but believe that. I acted on impulse just now." Di Qiuhe interrupted her, taking a document out of his bag, gave it to her, and spoke with a hint of sadness, "It’s a document to sever my relationship with Dad, on which I signed my name. But I dare not give it to Dad in person for fear that it grieves him a lot, so I have to bother you with this task. Please help me hand this document over to him and give him a few words of comfort. Besides, thank you for sending my contract back. I will entrust the letter of cancellation to my lawyer, and mail it with the penalty fee to Huangdu. From then on, I hope neither of us will interfere with each other. I will continue my acting career, and you can pay attention to grooming Xiasong for the presidential post of Huangdu in the future. All I ask for is that you could stop making things difficult for me."
The situation took an abrupt turn for Qin Li. The document, which she had been drooling over for a long time, had become a hot potato now. Burning with inveterate hatred, Qin Li had no choice but to continue putting on an act, with her eyes brimming with tears, she explained, "Qiuhe, you have misunderstood me. Just tell me who cooked up the story and cheated you, I guarantee to settle scores with him! As for this certificate, you’d better retrieve it. As a saying goes, blood is thicker than water. Your emotional tie to your dad can never be ended by a piece of paper. I …"
"Isn’t a document enough? I’ve already severed relationship with Dad. What else do you want?" Di Qiuhe suddenly raised his voice to interrupt her. His heart was pounding heavily. It seemed that Diu Qiuhe was trying to suppress some painful emotions, and then he continued in a low voice, "I understand. No wonder you have been persuading my father to send me abroad for study … Aunt Qin, please take good care of my father. It’s time for me to leave. "
"Qiuhe!" Qin Li nearly cried a scream. She stepped forward to hold his hand and shouted at him, "You can’t do this! We are a family. When misunderstanding occurs, what we need to do is to clear it up instantly. You father and I will be heartbroken if you leave in this way!" She was quite clear that Di Qiuhe couldn’t go away before her very eyes. If he did, she could hardly get rid of slanders on her, and the document he left behind would no longer take effect. Even if she finally coaxed forgiveness out of Di Bian, he would be forever extremely guilty of Di Qiuhe, his eldest son who had undergone such grievance, and she could hardly make any issue out of it.
Di Qiuhe halted, turning around after a deep breath. He grasped her hand on his arm, pulled it down slowly, and said with tears in his eyes, "Do you have any idea that I was actually ready to call you mom when I was 15? Unluckily, I overheard your talk with your assistant by phone then … You must have been disappointed at the news that I wasn’t crippled, haven’t you? As to Chunhua, she is still very young. I already renounced my claim to Huangdu and am ready to cut off relation with the family. Please do not teach wrong thing to her. She should have been a lovable girl pure in thought." After that, he shook her hand off and strode into the darkening night.
"Qiu …"
Oh, no! She was done…
Looking at the empty gate and listening to the footsteps from the staircase, Qin Li shut her eyes in a fury.
Di Qiuhe, you bad bastard! ‘As the proverb says, a barking dog doesn’t bite.’ She had to admit that she indeed made an error of judgment!
Early in the morning, He Bai walked out from the dormitory building yawning. Fiddling with the campus card that was re-applied just now, he headed for the canteen.
"I would like longevity noodles of the North Canteen. "
A tall, slender figure suddenly emerged from another pathway and drew more and more closer to him spontaneously.
He Bai dropped his gaze and stepped sideways to draw a line between the two.
Di Qiuhe looked up at the rising sun with his hands in his pocket and muttered, "It’s my 23th birthday today."
He Bai covered his ears with his hands to indicate that he was able to hear nothing.
"Yesterday I was kicked out by my family. Also, Huangdu terminated the engagement with me and demanded a large amount of penalty fee. Sometimes I really feel that life is so boring… Do you know what will happen to people when they die? Is there really Lethean soup for them to drink? "
There occurs a lump in He Bai’s throat as he heard this. Smoldering with sentiment, he turns into the other path at the fork and takes two steps forwards to find that the person who always tags him along does not keep up. Turning his head, He Bai darted a feigning furious look over his shoulders at Di Qiuhe, "Aren’t you the one who would like longevity noodles? Keep up!"
On hearing what he said, Diu Qiuhe was taken aback at the fork, with his expression covered by the brim of his hat. Then he smiled, lifting his hat, and stepped forward, "In return for your treat, I will give you something as a gift. How about one autographed photo of mine? You once said my signature can be sold for 10,000 in the future, let alone my autographed photograph, which will certainly be sold better. Little pup, you are about to make a bundle. "
He Bai:" … "He was so tempted to beat that Film Emperor up.