IBFAIBPMSH Chapter 29

After waking up, Bai Gaoxing feels refreshed.

Realizing that "it wouldn't matter even if the fans found out" and noticing that Li Pu’s company hasn't called or texted him at all, he feels invigorated and decides to let loose.

Isn't it normal for a parrot to do live streams?

If the owner is lazy, isn't it normal for the pet to do business for him?

What? You say this is self-hypnosis? No, this is the truth.

Not to mention what he saw before traveling through time—just during the times he secretly plays with his phone, he has seen many streamers leave their equipment on, letting their pets jump around and make noise, yet their viewer counts remain surprisingly high.

Since such a laid-back and carefree style of streaming is possible, wouldn't his diligent and clever approach be even more desirable?

Elated, Bai Gaoxing flies around the living room, then dives into his cage for a hearty meal. Turning around, he sees Li Pu just coming out of the bathroom.

The soft morning light envelops the man, making his hair appear darker and his skin whiter, while his tall and slender figure is subtly revealed under the thin bathrobe, creating a feast for the eyes.

Bai Gaoxing feels even happier and tells him a joke, hoping the man can share in his happiness.

After finishing his joke, Li Pu’s expression freezes momentarily before he walks over to the TV and starts using the remote to search through various paid subscription services.

“What’s wrong?” Bai Gaoxing leans over to look, remembering that he’s been very careful recently while using the remote and hasn’t activated any random services.

Li Pu quickly checks the items on the TV and lets out a light sigh.

Where did Dabai learn all this? Did it watch bad jokes every day at the shelter?

…It’s not impossible.

Bai Gaoxing sees Li Pu turn his gaze to him, his eyes filled with an unreadable emotion.

Then, he is forced to listen to musicals all morning.

Some are soothing and elegant, while others are passionate and stirring, featuring various high notes and beautifully articulated foreign lines.

By lunchtime, Bai Gaoxing can hum a line or two to Li Pu.

He feels his musical skills have elevated!

Perhaps due to the prolonged music, Bai Gaoxing notices that Li Pu’s expression has softened considerably. He even takes the initiative to offer him a piece of green vegetable leaf to eat.

Music truly cultivates sentiment, Bai Gaoxing thinks, feeling quite moved.

A few hours later, Bai Gaoxing suddenly reacts, his eyes widening as he grabs the man’s sleeve and pulls insistently.

Li Pu looks at the suddenly distressed parrot with amusement and gently flicks its beak. "What’s wrong?"

Bai Gaoxing struggles to move his tongue and manages to say, "Telling a joke... You don’t like it?"

Before he can finish, Li Pu reaches out and pinches his beak.

Bai Gaoxing: ? ? ?

Okay, he gets it.

He will go online to collect all kinds of jokes!

After that, Li Pu, as usual, stares blankly at the script while Bai Gaoxing fiddles with the remote, flipping through channels.

Before he knows it, he actually starts getting used to this kind of life. With someone by his side, he can talk, and it hasn’t really affected his mental health. Aside from not being able to go out and not having internet access, everything seems to be getting back on track…

Not really.

Not being able to go out and not having internet access—either one is quite frustrating!

Just when Bai Gaoxing is rolling around on the sofa and Li Pu is living his peaceful life, Mei Youshu, far away at the company, is reporting to Lei Li on the work he gave her the day before.

"I reminded Brother Li," the young man says, opening his mobile phone to check the reply on the screen. "Uh... Brother Li said, 'OK, thank you.'"

It’s a fairly reliable answer.

Lei Li always trusts Mei Youshu. While Li Pu is often unreliable in life, Mei Youshu, as an assistant, effectively compensates for that. Tapping the unlit cigarette in her hand, she says, "As long as he knows."

Mei Youshu nods silently, glancing at his phone again. For some reason, he can’t shake the feeling that Brother Li doesn’t fully understand what he means...

Forget it, I’d better not mention this little thing to Sister Li—after all, he’s witnessed Lei Li's temper when he was a newbie and developed a bit of psychological trauma from it.

After Mei Youshu leaves the office, Lei Li continues her work.

As an agent, her job is to develop the potential of stars and help them find various job opportunities. In addition, external public relations, market development, and internal planning of development routes are all top priorities.

One word: busy.

Two words: going bald.

Three words: want to retire.

Lei Li sits in front of the computer screen, browsing industry news. Soon, the entire office is filled with smoke.

She feels both worried and envious.

The beautiful woman, marked by time, sighs. Why are the stars under other agents so cooperative, doing whatever they’re told, while the one in her hands is so difficult to manage?

Maybe this is the difference, Lei Li thinks calmly, not caring how vain it sounds: after all, she doesn’t need variety shows to boost her popularity, and those other stars wouldn’t be as popular as Li Pu even if they were on a show 24 hours a day.

She extinguishes the cigarette in her hand, closes the news and forums, and opens a new Excel sheet. This year’s plan is settled, and now she needs to start looking for some good scripts for Li Pu for next year.

However, just a few minutes into her work, her personal phone rings.

“Hello?” Lei Li glances at the caller ID and lazily picks up the phone. “How does a busy person have time to call personally?”

“Hahaha.” A cheerful and magnetic male voice comes from the other end, “Aren’t you also a busy person?”

"Okay, if you have something to say, please tell me." Lei Li picks at her nails and turns her ear toward the phone. "It must be a big deal if the CEO of Xinghuo is calling me personally."

"Hmm..." The man on the other end hesitates, then says tentatively, "It is indeed a big deal. It’s quite urgent, and I can only rely on your help for this matter."

"What is it?" Although she asks, Lei Li has already guessed.

"You know that Xinghuo is preparing to expand internationally, right? We plan to officially announce this in two days and hold a press conference for the public at the same time," the man continues. "One part of this is a live interview. I want to invite all your more influential artists, so—"

"You want to invite Li Pu," Lei Li interjects.

"Yes, yes, yes," the man chuckles again. "Can it work out?"

"About ninety percent," Lei Li replies.

"That’s great—"

"But it might not work out," Lei Li adds.

"…Don’t keep saying that!"

Lei Li laughs. "You can figure it out; why ask me?"

"I’m just holding onto a bit of hope," the other party answers. "Even the Best Actress has agreed, so I thought inviting the Best Actor would be even more persuasive."

"Hou Ying agreed, too," Lei Li recalls the young girl; she worked with her for a while back then and saw her potential. Who would have thought her rise would be so rapid?

"Not just Hou Ying. Many well-known names are willing to participate," he says. "They can record from home or come here; either works."

That’s a hint, and Lei Li smiles as she nods. "Okay, then I'll reach out for you."

After ending the call, Lei Li dials Li Pu’s number.

As the phone rings, she recalls the overjoyed voice of the CEO of Xinghuo and secretly thinks that even if Li Pu doesn’t agree this time, he might still make an appearance on their platform later.

Let her keep this "surprise" for now.

Meanwhile, Bai Gaoxing, lounging at home, notices that the phone on the coffee table suddenly starts vibrating.

A call!

Bai Gaoxing immediately becomes alert, rolls over, and looks at the shaking green phone icon on the screen. The caller ID shows: Sister Li.

That name sounds familiar... He seems to remember someone mentioning it... Mei Youshu, perhaps?

The phone keeps vibrating. Bai Gaoxing ponders for a moment, suppressing the urge to answer it directly, and shouts toward the bedroom, "Phone! There’s a call!"

After a moment, Li Pu emerges.

"Why are you so slow to answer?" The woman’s lazy voice comes through the phone, sounding somewhat like a complaint, but with a smile in her tone.

"I was reading the script," Li Pu replies briefly. "I didn’t hear the phone."

"Yeah." Lei Li seems to accept this explanation. "I remember you were about to join a production." Then she shifts topics and gets straight to the point, "Are you going to the Xinghuo press conference?"

"Press conference?"

"I thought you would ask ‘what’s Xinghuo?' Good thing you didn’t forget what this is about," Lei Li jokes. "Yes, it’s Xinghuo asking if you want to go. They said Hou Ying will be there, along with many well-known names."

Li Pu usually has a clear and sincere attitude toward work. For such large events, he typically says, “I don’t want to go,” and Lei Li is willing to help him decline—after all, it’s already difficult enough to get into character, and maintaining a good mood is the most important thing. She doesn’t want to disrupt his rhythm any further.

Unexpectedly, he replies, "I want to go!"

His tone is very positive and sunny—a very un-Li Pu response.

Lei Li almost drops the phone in surprise and instinctively glances out the window to check the position of the sun. Then she hears the sound of shuffling footsteps from the phone, indicating that Li Pu has moved to another spot. His voice comes back, "I don’t want to go. Sorry, Sister Li, that wasn’t me just now."

Lei Li: "..."

After a long pause, she finally asks, trembling slightly, "Li Pu, do you finally have a second personality?"

The concern she’s held for so long has finally surfaced.

Though it’s the same voice, the tone is completely different—almost lively and childlike.

So, the second personality is sunny and cheerful? Lei Li thinks to herself, wondering how Li Pu would function in this state. Would he be able to convince various directors? Which one would be dominant? Or would it be better for him to retire on the spot?

"No." Li Pu laughs. "It's Dabai."

"Dabai!?"

"Yes." Li Pu stands on the balcony, glancing back at the big white parrot staring blankly at him from the sofa. "It was him who spoke just now."

Lei Li is a bit unconvinced. "Really? What did Doctor An say?"

"...He says I’m in good condition." Li Pu presses his temples. "Dabai can imitate other people's voices. He’s a parrot."

"Oh~" Lei Li sounds slightly convinced. "Can you let him say another sentence?"

Li Pu walks over to Bai Gaoxing with his mobile phone and tries to hold it out. "Dabai, say a few more words."

Bai Gaoxing, sensing he’s in trouble, takes a few steps back. He forgets that Li Pu's response should have been "I don’t want to," and instead shouts, "I want to!"

It’s a pity he didn’t speak a little earlier.

After a moment of thought, he adds, "I'm sorry, I was wrong."

He uses the parrot's original voice.

Lei Li is charmed by the cuteness on the phone. "Li Pu, I didn’t expect you to be good at teaching Dabai to speak."

That was definitely not his doing! Bai Gaoxing tries to prove his innocence. After recognizing Lei Li's voice, he imitates her with about 70% accuracy: "Li Pu, I didn’t expect you to be good at teaching Dabai to speak."

Now Lei Li truly believes it. She pauses in surprise for a long moment before finally realizing why Li Pu chose to use this parrot for his Live streamings.

Thinking that Li Pu has never experienced anything like this before, she decides to check in on him personally. "Did Xiao Mei talk to you?"

"He did," Li Pu immediately realizes it’s about the message from Mei Youshu. "I’ve almost finished preparing." He points to the script he’s memorizing. After all, Youshu directly mentioned "work," and the recent project is that play.

"That’s good." Lei Li nods, not expecting Li Pu to be so ready to reveal Dabai to the public. She realizes she’s been overly worried. "As long as you know what you’re doing, just don’t overexert yourself."

Li Pu’s expression softens a bit. "I’m not tired." His voice also becomes calm. "After all, it’s something I love."

Since choosing the acting profession, he’s never regretted it.

Something he loves? Dabai? Lei Li ponders for a moment. It makes sense, but why does the structure of this sentence feel a bit strange?

However, she doesn’t probe further and maintains her image as an astute and elite agent. "Okay, I’ll help you decline Xinghuo. For now, focus on your own work and don’t overdo it."

Li Pu thanks her as always. "Thank you, Sister Li."

After the call ends, Bai Gaoxing notices a faint look of confusion appear on the man’s face.

What’s wrong? Bai Gaoxing leans over and tilts his head to look at him.

Li Pu holds his phone and rereads the message from Mei Youshu. Why does Sister Li suddenly care about this?

In the past, during holidays, Lei Li either teased him to get back to work or told him to relax during his time off. She’s never said anything like "don’t overexert yourself."

Why does she think I’m tired? And she even said it twice… Li Pu ponders for a while, eventually turning his gaze to the parrot on the sofa. Maybe it’s because I have Dabai; she’s worried I might be inexperienced or overly anxious because of my lack of experience… Sister Li often beats around the bush when caring about people, and I’ve somewhat gotten used to it.

Bai Gaoxing finds this puzzling, but he’s more concerned about another question. He flaps over to Li Pu's shoulder and whispers, "Why not go? Go!"

It would be so nice to go out and play; he could secretly live stream at home again.

Li Pu pats Bai Gaoxing’s head and sits down on the sofa. "There’s no need to go; it’s probably just a live streaming event."

Live streaming.

Upon hearing those two words, Bai Gaoxing freezes.

Although Li Pu doesn’t often participate in such activities, he has some understanding. He explains to his parrot and himself, "Generally, they would have everyone connect through their live streaming accounts... There’s really not much to say."

Bai Gaoxing becomes even stiffer.

Oh right! How could he forget that Xinghuo is the hottest live streaming platform here? They would definitely use live streaming for this meeting! If Li Pu agrees, logs into the app to stream, and then casually browses other apps only to find out he used a different live streaming software—!

Li Pu continues, "But I heard that you can actually do it at home too..."

"No!" Bai Gaoxing stretches his neck and pecks at Li Pu’s mouth. "Don’t do it!"

Author's words:

Lei Li: A sunny, cheerful boy like Li Pu? Shivers

Dabai: Thank you for listening to me; because of you, I can still hang on.

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