IBFAIBPMSH Chapter 17

At that moment, Bai Gaoxing feels very confused. 

He thinks that this man's mind is harder to decipher than Haidilao's menu. One second, he takes him out to play, gives him a bath, and shows an attitude of "I will treat you well in the future"; the next second, he considers giving him away.

So what are you thinking about? Tell me! Let’s see if I can solve it for you!

He avoids all the disadvantages of raising parrots: he doesn’t complain about the noise; he picks up the feathers and throws them in the trash himself; for peeing and defecating, he always goes to a designated spot. It could be said that there is no parrot more perfect than him.

He wants to grab Li Pu’s collar and shake him to wake him up. However, Li Pu is clearly lost in his own thoughts.

Seeing Li Pu’s empty gaze, Bai Gaoxing feels increasingly anxious. The feathers on his head droop unconsciously. He struts back and forth across the coffee table a couple of times before finally poking Li Pu’s palm with his beak.

Li Pu feels the tickle in his palm but remains distracted. He ponders whether sending Dabai away would be a good thing or just another form of injury.

His childhood friend sends him a video showing Dabai at the shelter. The parrot looks listless, its feathers dull, and the bald patch on its chest particularly noticeable, a stark contrast to its energetic and vibrant appearance now.

After finally raising Dabai, does he really have to let it experience separation again? It is said that large parrots are very intelligent and understand what "separation" and "abandonment" mean.

Finally, Li Pu notices the parrot beside him. As soon as he opens his palm, the large parrot curls up within it, looking quite determined.

He instinctively closes his palm gently, feeling the delightful texture of its feathers and a little warmth. It is probably because Dabai has gained weight after being in his care.

Bai Gaoxing snuggles in Li Pu's hand, trying hard to curl himself up while throwing away his excess shame.

He raises his head and opens his round black eyes, attempting to make Li Pu aware of his presence.

Look! How cute I am!

Seeing the parrot act cute, Li Pu can't help but chuckle, and his dark eyes instantly fill with warmth.

It seems that what they say online about pets sensing their owner's emotions is true... or maybe he is just being too obvious?

"Alright, I won’t send you away." With such comforting words, Li Pu scratches the parrot’s face, watching it lift its head comfortably, and decides to put his earlier thoughts aside.

As soon as he finishes speaking, Dabai opens his eyes and looks at him with suspicion.

Does it understand?

Li Pu is amused, his understanding of parrot intelligence deepening. At this rate, he wouldn’t be surprised if Dabai could speak fluently one day.

As night deepens, Li Pu begins to work.

As the time to join the production approaches, he needs to start memorizing his lines in advance.

He prefers paper scripts to electronic ones. Holding a laptop in bed is always inconvenient, and it is difficult to annotate with his own understanding.

Li Pu opens a thick stack of scripts as usual and then feels a tingling in his chest. At some point, Dabai has sneakily jumped onto the bed, as if wanting to squeeze in beside him to read, positioning his head right in front of the pages, looking very focused.

“Do you understand it?”

A slightly teasing voice interrupts him, and Bai Gaoxing glances at the script. It is filled with all sorts of names and brackets; he can certainly understand it.

He just doesn’t expect this costume drama to be so comprehensive—people have lines, and birds have lines too.

Upon closer inspection, this section features a scene where the concubines in the harem frame the empress. The bird the concubines keep around them can mimic the empress’s voice and inadvertently exposes their scheme, igniting a bloody storm in the harem.

In this section, the bird has quite a few lines.

Bai Gaoxing looks at Li Pu with a complex expression. Of course, he can understand it, but Li Pu better take some heart medication.

“Director Sun has high demands for filming; he doesn't like special effects or doubles. If we perform this segment, they might really look for a talking bird,” Li Pu says, rubbing the tuft of feathers on Bai Gaoxing’s head.

There is a similar incident before; for a three-second shot, the director specifically hires a professional dog trainer to train a Border Collie that matches the character’s image. The dog is smart but extremely disobedient, nearly driving everyone mad, resulting in a three-week delay for the scene.

Li Pu doesn’t know why he shares this with Dabai, knowing the parrot can’t understand. Perhaps this is what people mean when they say they want to share their thoughts with their pets?

“Find me! Take me to play!” Bai Gaoxing exclaims, a little excited after hearing Li Pu's words. What is saying lines? He could learn B-Box without any problem!

Li Pu ruffles the distinctive tuft of gray feathers on the parrot’s head again, thinking he understands its enthusiasm, and promptly rejects the idea: “You can’t always want to go out and play.”

But he can’t help but consider it.

Dabai’s involvement might really speed up the filming of this scene. Imagining how quickly Dabai could learn a line with just a few repetitions makes it hard to underestimate the bird’s intelligence.

But...

It has been shocking enough when Dabai snuck out last time. If he takes the bird to the set and it gets scared again… Whether intentional or not, the set can be chaotic during filming, and it isn’t guaranteed that he can keep an eye on a bird the entire time.

He is worried about people he isn’t familiar with; and for people he is familiar with...

Thinking about how his assistant is always so cautious around Dabai, Li Pu feels a bit of a headache.

I know he will reject it.

Bai Gaoxing rolls in Li Pu’s arms, lying on his back in resignation.

Li Pu must be memorizing his lines silently.

He looks up at the man, who has his gaze lowered, calm and focused, reading the script seriously without saying a word.

Bai Gaoxing looks at the clock on the wall, watching the second hand tick round and round. After a few rotations, Li Pu turns a page.

He doesn’t even have time to yawn.

Memorizing this fast!?

Bai Gaoxing’s competitive spirit ignites, and he flips over to read the script carefully. Back in junior high and high school, he is famous for his rapid memorization; when he gets to university, in the first English class, the teacher uses a tactic to intimidate the students by saying, “Whoever can recite this passage first can leave class early,” and he ends up leaving an hour and a half early under the astonished gazes of his classmates.

The price for that, however, is that he catches the teacher's attention, making skipping classes three hundred percent more difficult.

Alright—then—he memorizes it.

Bai Gaoxing easily memorizes his lines as the parrot, then moves on to the other characters’ lines.

Some parts are challenging and complex, but for the most part, they are more conversational and straightforward.

He relaxes completely in the soft quilt, gazing at the lights on the ceiling. After a while, he suddenly says, “I won’t send you away.”

After all, it is Li Pu’s original words.

Li Pu is startled and shifts his focus away from the script

After a few seconds of thought, he recalls the origin of the phrase and is surprised that Dabai remembers it, yet he can’t help but chuckle in agreement, repeating, “I won’t send you away.”

“Won’t... send away, won’t send away.” Bai Gaoxing rubs his beak and deliberately leaves out some words. If they could sign an agreement, that would be best—one with fingerprints.

Li Pu doesn’t respond this time and turns his head back to the script, though his hand continues to stroke Bai Gaoxing. The gentle touch and warmth make Bai Gaoxing drowsy. He barely musters the energy to shift around a bit, preparing to nest and sleep right on the spot.

However, just before he is about to fall asleep, he suddenly feels something shift beneath him, and his claws touch something cold. He instinctively grabs it, and when he opens his eyes again, he sees Li Pu's retreating figure.

Bai Gaoxing stares at the stand under his feet and flaps his wings a couple of times in anger.

Author's words:

Dabai: I always feel like I’m being tossed aside after being used... Is it just my imagination?

Dabai: I’m going to sleep on this bed sooner or later.

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