NOVEL NEXT Chapter 275-285
Chapter 275: You Were Never Alone, You Still Have Me (5)
It felt like a pair of invisible hands were tightly choking his neck, making it hard for him to breathe.
He was the only one in the room; it was so quiet that he could hear his own heart beating. It was slow but heavy, and with every beat, he could clearly feel a bone-piercing pain.
It was so painful that it made his teeth chatter; it drenched his whole body in cold sweats, and it turned the deepest part of his heart cold.
He instinctively raised his hand, put the cigarette to his mouth, and finally took a hard drag for the first time in a while.
Before he met her, he tried to contrast He Yuguang’s excellence by smoking, drinking, fighting… there was nothing he couldn’t do.
After he met her and learned she didn’t like the smell of cigarettes, he forced himself to quit smoking.
He was heavily addicted to cigarettes, so everytime he was in a bad mood, his addiction flared up. When that happened, he lit a cigarette just to relieve himself for a moment, but he didn’t let himself smoke it unless he was particularly devastated.
He knew how to smoke, but after taking just one toke, he forgot to exhale and actually coughed.
He clutched his chest and bent over as he started to cough violently. As he coughed, he emitted a layer of mist from his eyes.
He Jichen wasn’t sure when he stopped coughing, but when he came to, his cigarette had burnt down to this fingers and was about to burn his skin.
He put out the cigarette in the ashtray and slowly straightened up to look for his phone.
After Ji Yi saw that he hadn’t replied for a while, she sent him another message. “Yuguang Ge, are you asleep?”
About three minutes later, she sent another message: “Goodnight Yuguang Ge, it’s late, so I’m going to bed too.”
He Jichen stared at the screen for some time but didn’t send a reply. He put down his phone and lit another cigarette as he stared deeply at the night outside the window. It was like he was caught up in some kind of confusion and distress as he took one drag after another.
He wasn’t sure just how many cigarettes he had, but he knew that in the end, his mouth tasted completely bitter. Yet he still hadn’t reached a decision.
He got out of bed, grabbed a bottle of water and drank over half the bottle before he walked over to the tall windows. He stood there silently for some time but eventually headed back to the bed and picked up He Yuguang’s phone. He opened WeChat and clicked on Ji Yi’s name.
He read her long series of messages and was really tempted to comfort her.
But as soon as he thought about what he wanted to tell her and how he had to use He Yuguang’s identity to say it, he hesitated and felt torn.
He Jichen tapped the keyboard only twice before he came to a stop.
Just like when they were young, she only revealed her true feelings to He Yuguang. If something bad happened at school, if she got into an argument with classmates, or if someone made her unhappy, she would never tell him. Instead, she went back home and only told He Yuguang.
So there were some words of comfort he wanted to tell her, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell her.
He Jichen silently pursed his lips as his fingers moved again. With the “tap tap tap” of the keyboard, He Jichen clearly felt the devastation and helplessness deep in his heart.
After everything, he wished for her to be happy.
Even if he suffered for her happiness.
He Jichen stopped what he was doing and carefully read what he typed before he eventually tapped “send.”
Chapter 276: You Were Never Alone, You Still Have Me (6)
“You were never alone, you still have me.”
He originally wanted to add the two words “Manman,” but after he finished typing, he hesitated for a moment before he ended things there.
He wanted to treat it as something He Jichen would say.
His original draft was: You were never alone, you still have me, Cola girl.
–
Last night, Ji Yi couldn’t sleep because of He Jichen. She just couldn’t get to sleep as she laid in bed, tossing and turning. Then her phone lit up, and she received a message from “He Yuguang.”
Perhaps she was confused, or perhaps it was because she liked sharing things with He Yuguang when she was young, but after she found out that He Yuguang knew about everything that happened on set, she reverted back to how she was before. She typed word after word, spilling all the little things on her mind.
Sharing was a way for her to vent. Even if she typed a lot of words and didn’t get a reply, she felt a lot better. Eventually, waiting for his reply led her to shut her eyes and fall asleep.
The next day, Ji Yi was woken up by a knock at the door.
She groggily went over to the door to see the floor runner standing outside. They told her that her scenes had been pushed back to seven days later and the cast and crew had arranged for other scenes to be shot first.
After the floor runner left, Ji Yi was confused as to why the floor runner was personally sent over to tell her… When she returned to her bed, she picked up her phone and checked the time, only to realize that her phone had automatically turned off because it ran out of battery.
After she plugged it in to charge, she checked the time on the hotel clock. It was already eight in the morning.
After going to the bathroom to freshen up, Ji Yi went to the restaurant on the second floor.
She wouldn’t have gone to the restaurant had yesterday’s events not happened because it would’ve been a wasted trip – she’d never have been able to eat.
But today was different. Qian Ge lost so badly yesterday that she would be tempted to get revenge. However, after being exposed by He Jichen, she definitely wouldn’t try anything again.
Just as Ji Yi thought, as soon as she walked into the restaurant, everything went smoothly.
To her astonishment, the waiting staff did a one-eighty degree on her and changed their attitude completely.
While she was eating, after she reached the bottom of her glass of milk, a waiter came up to ask whether she needed a top up.
After dinner, Ji Yi got up, a young man walked over to her and politely asked, “Miss, were you satisfied with your meal?”
When did the cast and crew buy out the restaurant and how was this level of hospitality possible? Ji Yi was stunned for a moment before she smiled, nodded, and replied, “It was great.”
“Excellent.” The man smiled and with both hands, he presented her with a business card from his pocket. “Miss, I’m the restaurant manager. If you have any requests in the future, you can contact me.”
He clearly wasn’t the manager of the restaurant… Ji Yi was stunned again.
The man probably guessed that she was puzzled, so he smiled and explained, “Last night, the manager of the restaurant was changed at the last minute, so I will be in charge of meals for the cast and crew from now on.”
“Oh,” replied Ji Yi as she snapped back to her senses and took the business card. “Sorry to trouble you from here on then.”
Chapter 277: You Were Never Alone, You Still Have Me (7)
Ji Yi took the elevator up to her floor. As she passed room 2020, she realized the door was open and she could hear the intermittent cries of someone inside.
Ji Yi was curious, so she took a peep through the open door and saw a woman crouched on the ground. There were two or three women around her consoling her as she packed up her suitcase.
“Kexin, don’t cry. After you leave here, you can still find somewhere else to work. It’s not like you’re unemployed forever.”
Kexin… isn’t she the make-up artist? She’s leaving the production team for “Three Thousand Lunatics”? From their conversation, it sounds like this make-up artist called Kexin doesn’t want to leave…
Ji Yi furrowed her brows in astonishment as she slowed down.
“You can’t blame anyone for this. Who told you to promise Tang Jie to do those things?”
“Yeah, you have to be careful in the future. Don’t go doing shady things for a little bit of money. Who knows when karma will find you.”
“What’s more, they fired you in private, so it won’t affect your future too much. Don’t cry…”
After Ji Yi heard the last part as she walked past the door, her footsteps came to a sudden stop.
Tang Jie is Qian Ge’s assistant, and Kexin was responsible for applying her makeup every day. Yesterday on set, the wardrobe assistant ousted Kexin to clear herself and told them she was the one who put the laxatives into my water… And today, she’s fired from the team.
As that thought flashed across Ji Yi’s mind, she suddenly remembered how that man at the restaurant gave her his business card and told her about management changing at the last minute… What was odd was that the wardrobe assistant ousted the restaurant manager yesterday too – she said that he arranged for someone to mess with her lunch box.
So, maybe this isn’t a coincidence?
If it’s not a coincidence, then…
Ji Yi pursed her lips and vaguely guessed what happened.
She continued to stand there for some time before hurriedly walking away when she heard footsteps of people coming out of the room. Then she rushed over to her own room.
At her door, she pulled out the room key and was about to open the door. She hesitated for a moment but pulled her key back and walked back over to the elevator.
Ji Yi took the elevator to the first floor where she headed straight for the front desk of the hotel.
A young woman shot a smile at her and asked, “Miss, how may I help you?”
Ji Yi smiled back and said, “I’d like some information. All the guests of this hotel are from our production team, right?”
“Yes,” said the lady at the front desk.
“Then, are there some people checking out and are there new personnel checking in today?”
“How did you know?” asked the lady at the front desk with a shocked expression on her face.
“I just heard it from someone,” lied Ji Yi.
After a pause, Ji Yi cut right to the point: “Can you tell me who’s checking out today?”
“Please wait.” When the lady at the front desk said this, she looked down at the computer and started searching. After about a minute, she read out a few names.
Ji Yi knew some of the names, and there were others she hadn’t heard of. However, she easily recognized a similarity amongst all those names… the make-up artist called Kexin, and the previous restaurant manager… They were all names that the wardrobe assistant ousted yesterday.
Chapter 278: You Were Never Alone, You Still Have Me (8)
So, it was really just as she thought. Everyone who was ousted by the wardrobe assistant cooperating with Qian Ge was all fired from the team overnight?
Only an important member of the production team with a lot of power could’ve fired people on such a large scale, and on “Three Thousand Lunatics,” that was… He Jichen.
So, this was all his doing?
That made sense since her scenes were pushed back, whereas other actors had their scenes pushed forward. Besides him, the director, there was no one else who had the power to do that.
“Miss? Miss?” After the lady at the front desk finished reading the names, she couldn’t help but call Ji Yi because she hadn’t reacted for some time.
When Ji Yi snapped back to reality, she stared at the lady at the front desk for a while before she realized what happened. Then she swiftly replied to the lady at the front desk: “Thank you and sorry to trouble you.”
“It’s nothing,” said the lady at the front desk.
Ji Yi replied with a smile but didn’t say anything as she walked away from the front desk and headed back upstairs.
Ji Yi, who had no scenes to shoot, wanted to use the opportunity to get some rest and recuperate from being so exhausted. However, since she incidentally learned about what happened, Ji Yi’s mind was rattled again, just like how she felt after Cheng Weiwan left the night before.
With her anxious heart, Ji Yi managed to make it to the afternoon when she finally shook that feeling away and went downstairs for lunch.
Perhaps she was too full from lunch since she felt a little sleepy as she headed back to her room. Ji Yi, who laid there for an entire afternoon, finally managed to sleep.
She was really tired because she ended up sleeping till late in the day. When she finally woke up, it looked like it was late in the evening, judging by the color outside the window.
Ji Yi went to wash her face first then headed downstairs to the restaurant.
She didn’t have much of an appetite, so she only grabbed some salad and fruit before finding a seat by the window.
Before she could start eating, Ji Yi saw He Jichen and the other leaders of the production team walk into the restaurant.
Her gaze was instantly fixed on He Jichen who was so engaged in conversation with the assistant director that he didn’t notice her sitting in the corner.
This string of people probably just wanted to get a quick meal since they didn’t dine in the private room. Instead, they sat at the biggest table in the restaurant.
The casting director said a few quick words to the restaurant manager, and soon after, a waiter carried out dishes of food one after the other.
He Jichen and the assistant director continued their conversation as they ate.
He Jichen’s seat happened to face Ji Yi, so she could see his injured hand.
The wound on his right hand probably hadn’t healed yet since he was using his left hand to eat; it was probably inconvenient for him to hold chopsticks with his wounded right hand. It looked like he wasn’t used to it since he seemed to have trouble picking up the food. Perhaps he thought it wasn’t worth the bother so he didn’t eat a lot and put his chopsticks down.
The group of people looked like they had more to discuss later, so they ate quickly and left the restaurant.
That was when Ji Yi finally withdrew her gaze from He Jichen’s table and started to eat her own food absent-mindedly.
Ji Yi took just a few bites before she put her fork down and watched as the sky outside turned dark. Then she turned her head and called the waiter. “Excuse me, can I please get a portion of egg fried rice?”
The waiter nodded, but before he could leave, Ji Yi added, “…to take away.”
After about ten minutes, the waiter came out with a bag of egg fried rice to-go and placed it on Ji Yi’s table.
Ji Yi thanked the waiter. After the waiter left, she stared at the bag for some time before gently biting her bottom lip. Then she got up and picked up the bag.
Chapter 279: You Were Never Alone, You Still Have Me (9)
After walking out of the restaurant, Ji Yi walked over to the elevator and hesitantly stared at the floor numbers for a moment before eventually pressing the button for the top floor.
As the red elevator numbers jumped higher and higher, Ji Yi’s heart grew more nervous. She couldn’t help but clutch onto her bag more tightly.
When she reached the top floor, the door opened with a “Ding――.” Ji Yi took a deep breath then walked out.
Ji Yi followed the long corridor, took two turns and finally saw He Jichen’s room number.
Ji Yi stopped walking and stared firmly at the door to He Jichen’s room for a long time, but in the end, she didn’t have the courage to knock.
She started to pace around the door, and the third time she passed by He Jichen’s door, she suddenly took a deep breath. She took one big step towards the door, looked up, and reached for the doorbell.
Her fingers hadn’t touched the doorbell yet when she felt her confidence slipping.
Would it seem too out of the blue to come to his room, carrying egg fried rice?
Ji Yi withdrew her fingers and hesitated for a moment in front of the door. In the end, she chose to give up, but just as she was about to leave, someone from the other side of He Jichen’s door suddenly pulled it open.
Her entire body shivered in fright as she took two abrupt steps back.
The person at the door probably didn’t expect to see someone standing outside the door, so when he saw Ji Yi, he let out a “Huh?” He got it together and stared at Ji Yi with a stunned expression then said in disbelief, “Miss Ji?!”
Ji Yi forced her racing heart to calm down as she looked up at him.
She knew him. It was He Jichen’s assistant, Chen Bai.
“Miss Ji, why are you here?” Chen Bai spoke again with an evidently more stable tone of voice which didn’t sound as shocked as before.
“I…” Ji Yi, who didn’t have a well-thought-out reason to see He Jichen, blurted just one word and awkwardly stood there.
“You’re here for Mr. He?” Chen Bai didn’t think too much of it, but seeing as Ji Yi stopped talking, he casually continued for her. Without waiting for Ji Yi to reply, he moved aside to let her in and made a hand gesture to welcome her in. “Miss Ji, please come in.”
Having been caught in the act, even if she wanted to run away, she couldn’t now… Ji Yi could only put on a brave face and followed Chen Bai into the room.
He Jichen’s room was frighteningly big. After walking about ten meters, Ji Yi finally saw He Jichen sitting on the sofa in front of the tall windows.
His head was lowered as he used his left hand to unwrap the bandage from his right hand.
He probably hadn’t heard her conversation with Chen Bai, so he didn’t look up even when he sensed Chen Bai coming back. He continued unwrapping his bandage as he asked dully, “Is there something else?”
“No, but Miss Ji is here,” replied Chen Bai.
He Jichen suddenly stopped what he was doing and slowly looked up from his injured right hand for a moment.
His lips twitched evidently. The very second he caught sight of Ji Yi, the expression on his face shifted quickly before reverting back to his usual cold grimace.
He didn’t say anything but averted his gaze from Ji Yi to Chen Bai’s face.
Chen Bai sensed He Jichen’s glare and immediately knew what he meant. Then he quickly exclaimed, “Mr. He, I still have business to attend to, so I’ll be leaving first.”
Chapter 280: You Were Never Alone, You Still Have Me (10)
After seeing He Jichen’s silent nod, Chen Bai then turned to Ji Yi. “Miss Ji, goodbye.”
“Goodbye,” replied Ji Yi so softly that it was difficult to catch.
Chen Bai didn’t mind and he smiled kindly at Ji Yi. He walked around Ji Yi and quickly exited He Jichen’s suite.
As the door shut gently not too far behind her, Ji Yi’s fingers, holding the bag of takeout, shivered instinctively.
It was unclear what was on He Jichen’s mind, but after Chen Bai left, his eyes fell on her face. Yet he still didn’t say anything.
Ji Yi’s heart felt nervous as she hadn’t thought about what she was going to say. Now that He Jichen was looking her like that, she became completely flustered and instinctively looked down at her feet.
Without the secretary, Chen Bai, in the room, it instantly seemed a lot quieter and the atmosphere froze over.
Aside from the sound from the air conditioner, there were no other sounds in the entire room.
Even though Ji Yi didn’t look at He Jichen, she could still sense his transfixed gaze upon her. Her nervous breathing started to grow unsteady, and just when she couldn’t take it anymore, He Jichen, who had remained quiet throughout, suddenly cleared his throat.
When Ji Yi heard this, she instinctively looked up and caught He Jichen pointing at the sofa at the side. “Sit.”
Ji Yi quietly let out an “oh” and continued to stand where she was for two seconds before she walked over to the sofa. She found a seat some distance away from He Jichen and sat down. Then she added, “Thank you.”
He Jichen didn’t reply to her word of thanks but raised his chin slightly at the unopened bottle of water on the coffee table. “There’s some water over there.”
Ji Yi knew that he meant for her to drink some water, so she gave him a nod and let out a soft, “Mhm.”
He Jichen probably thought she came to say something really important. With a neutral tone of voice, he continued by saying, “Please wait for a moment.”
Ji Yi let out another “Mhm.”
He Jichen didn’t say anything as he looked down and continued to unwrap the bandage from his right hand.
Ji Yi sat on the sofa obediently and racked her brain over what she would say if He Jichen asked why she was there to see him.
The room fell silent once again.
After about five minutes, Ji Yi furrowed her brows in annoyance as she still couldn’t think of a good excuse. She figured she’d be better off giving up, so she instinctively turned her head to glance over at He Jichen.
He had removed his bandage. When the wound was first wrapped up, it must’ve been bleeding because the long bandage was all red.
The wound in his hand had two deep cuts where flesh was exposed. The sight of it was quite shocking to see.
A new set of bandages, tweezers, cotton balls, alcohol and a few mysterious small white bottles were placed on the table by his left hand. Ji Yi figured those white bottles were probably ointment.
From what Ji Yi saw, it looked like He Jichen was getting ready to change his bandages on his own.
After he threw the old bandages into the bin by his side, he picked up the tweezers with his left hand to grab a cotton ball.
Just like when he was clumsily trying to pick up food with his left hand, he was now trying hard to pick up the cotton ball. He was used to using his right hand, so when he tried to dab the cotton ball into the alcohol, he mistakenly dropped it into the bottle.
Chapter 281: Can You Give Me A Hug? (1)
A slight look of annoyance suddenly surfaced in his eyes as he fished for the cotton ball in the bottle of alcohol a few times, but he still couldn’t manage to get it out. His brows also started to tighten with annoyance growing in his eyes.
With some difficulty, He Jichen tried to pinch the cotton ball again, but in the end, he failed once again. Ji Yi, who became anxious just watching him, didn’t think twice about reaching over and holding He Jichen’s hand that held the tweezers.
Her sudden touch felt like a jolt of electricity to He Jichen, causing his body to tense up. He hesitantly looked up after a few seconds, looking over at her in disbelief.
When Ji Yi met his gaze, she realized what she had just done and pulled her fingers away from He Jichen’s hand. Her eyes suddenly shifted left and right for a while as her face flushed. A little embarrassed, she softly said, “L-l-let me help you.”
He Jichen stared firmly at Ji Yi without saying a word.
Ji Yi couldn’t understand what was going through his mind; she couldn’t tell if he needed help or not, so she didn’t dare reach her hand out again. After some time, seeing as he didn’t respond, she assumed he didn’t actually need her help. Just as she was going to withdraw her hand, He Jichen’s voice floated out: “Thanks.”
Thanks?
Is he accepting my help?
Ji Yi looked up and shot a glance at him then realized he had his arm out, offering her the tweezers.
Ji Yi didn’t say anything and quickly took the tweezers. She swiftly dipped the cotton ball into the alcohol then placed it onto the wound on He Jichen’s palm.
Because it wasn’t easy to disinfect the wound, Ji Yi reached her other hand out to steady He Jichen’s right hand.
Her eyelashes gently trembled the moment their fingers touched, and after about three minutes passed, she forced herself to stay calm. She carefully helped disinfect his wound.
After she finished disinfecting the wound and placed the tweezers down, He Jichen pointed at the bottle of medicine on the table. “That’s the ointment,” reminded He Jichen.
Ji Yi let out an “Oh” then picked up the bottle and read the instructions on it before removing the lid. She poured out a little bit of ointment then gently smeared it onto He Jichen’s palm.
Ji Yi was afraid the medicine would get rubbed away before it could soak into the wound, so she grabbed the bandage and wrapped it around his hand a few times. When she was sure the wound was wrapped up well, she tore off the excess and quietly said, “I’m scared the bandage will fall apart, so I tied a tight knot there for you. When you remove the bandage, just use scissors to cut it.”
He Jichen let out a gentle “Mhm.”
Again, Ji Yi didn’t respond right away. After she carefully secured the bandage, she finally said, “Or you can ask assistant Chen to help.”
This time, He Jichen didn’t let out a peep.
Ji Yi examined his hand to make sure there weren’t any loose ends then she looked up. She was just about to say “all good” when she realized he was staring, transfixed at her.
Ji Yi’s heart fell into a daze as the words she was about to say suddenly vanished.
It wasn’t like she wasn’t aware of how striking he looked, but when their eyes met, she still felt shocked at his stunning looks.
She never realized just how perfect his eyes were and how impossible they were to break free from. There was a clarity in the very depths of those eyes like the vast starry sky and a profound brightness which seduced people easily…
Chapter 282: Can You Give Me A Hug? (2)
Ji Yi wasn’t sure just how long she and He Jichen were staring at each other for. It wasn’t until her legs started to ache from crouching down that she snapped back to her senses.
She was actually still holding his hand. She hadn’t let go…
Ji Yi hurriedly turned her gaze away from He Jichen and awkwardly loosened her fingers.
As the soft sensation of her hand disappeared, He Jichen furrowed his brows and instinctively looked down at his bandaged hand.
He stared at his empty fingertips for some time before he came to his senses.
As she applied the medicine, he stared at that serious expression on her face in a complete daze…
He Jichen secretly took a deep breath as he pushed down the wave of emotions in his chest. That was when he looked up at her.
She seemed embarrassed so her head was lowered, revealing a tinge of light red on her fair neck.
The atmosphere in the room became a little awkward since their eyes just met.
He Jichen lowered his gaze and fell deep in thought for a moment. Then he tried to break the awkwardness. “You…came looking for me?”
“I-I-I-…” Ji Yi, who hadn’t thought of a good excuse, felt even more dumbfounded by He Jichen’s question. She stammered for a long time before her eyes swept over to the takeout box on the coffee table. Just to mask her odd behavior, she handed He Jichen the bag. “…I came to drop off some food!”
“Drop off…some food?” He Jichen was transfixed by what Ji Yi said.
Seeing He Jichen’s reaction, Ji Yi realized what she just said.
Seeing as he hadn’t eaten much for dinner, she uncharacteristically ordered a portion of egg fried rice and delivered it to his room. But because they weren’t very close, she wavered at his door for quite some time, hesitating to knock… In the end, how did she manage to blurt out what she originally couldn’t bear to say…
To not embarrass herself, Ji Yi instinctively started to explain herself: “…In the evening, I saw that you didn’t eat much at the restaurant, so…”
As Ji Yi said this, she suddenly stopped.
Deep down, she was overcome with an urge to bite off her tongue.
She wanted to give herself a way out, to not make herself look so helpless, but how did it become even more of a mess the more she tried to explain…
Ji Yi hung her head down even lower. Not only did her neck turn red, but her ears turned completely red too.
He Jichen stared at Ji Yi as his heart instantly turned soft; he was reduced to a complete mess.
Though she stammered when she spoke, he could still make out that she saw he hadn’t eaten much at the restaurant, so she especially came to drop off some food for him…
Does that mean she was worried about me?
An indescribable sense of joy crept into He Jichen’s heart. He stared at Ji Yi’s eyes with a shocking warmth and said with an unexpectedly soft voice: “You… came here just for that?”
“No, no, no!” With no hesitation at all, Ji Yi denied what He Jichen said with three consecutive “No’s.”
The light in He Jichen’s eyes dimmed slightly.
Ji Yi tightened her balled up fists; she didn’t notice a change in He Jichen’s expression at all. With all her strength, she racked her brain for some time before she finally found an excuse to see He Jichen. She finally cried, “I came to apologize!”
Chapter 283: Can You Give Me A Hug? (3)
He Jichen furrowed his brows as confusion flashed in his eyes.
Yes yes yes, to apologize… this excuse is practically beyond brilliant!
Ji Yi secretly complimented herself on how quick-witted she was as she continued to tell He Jichen: “Even though Qian Ge’s people used so many cheap tricks on me, I still shouldn’t have gone to such drastic measures yesterday. After all, the production team isn’t my home. To completely readjust the shooting schedule must’ve messed with the actors and troubled the production crew. I’m terribly sorry.”
So she denied me with three consecutive “No’s” only because of this… Joy filled He Jichen’s heart as the dullness in his eyes was instantly swept away. His voice sounded a lot softer as he said, “It’s over now, so don’t worry about it.”
Ji Yi never imagined He Jichen had such a well-tempered side, so she was stunned as she gently said, “Mhm.” Then she quietly glanced up at the man.
With his left hand, he pulled out the box of egg fried rice from the bag she brought.
Seeing how inconvenient it was for He Jichen to use his left hand in the restaurant, Ji Yi hurriedly reached her hand out to grab the spoon she asked the waiter to pack.
She pulled the spoon out from the bag and wiped it with a tissue then loosened up the egg fried rice. After she finished scooping with the spoon, she handed it to He Jichen.
He Jichen didn’t take the spoon after he saw everything she did.
Ji Yi glanced up at He Jichen in confusion; his expression hadn’t changed – he was just as cold as usual, but there was a discreet glimmer of a smile in the corners of his eyes.
Stunned, Ji Yi wasn’t sure if she was just seeing things when He Jichen’s expression disappeared. He finally reached his hand out to take the spoon from her hands.
Ji Yi stayed by his side while he ate.
Seeing how tough it was for him to scoop the rice with his spoon, she reached her hand out and help him stir the rice apart occasionally.
The two of them were in sync. Even though they didn’t really talk to each other, the atmosphere seemed friendly.
When Ji Yi saw the bottom of the box of egg fried rice, she got up and walked over to the bar counter and made He Jichen a cup of coffee. When she carried the cup back to him, he already finished eating and was tapping away at his phone.
As Ji Yi gently placed the coffee in front of He Jichen, he looked up and shot her a glance. He pointed over at the sofa beside him and quietly said, “Please wait.” Then he lowered his head and tapped away on the phone with his left hand.
Ji Yi incidentally glanced over at He Jichen’s phone to see that he was replying to an email. Realizing that he was dealing with work, she sat silently to the side.
When she saw He Jichen on his phone, she remembered that she hadn’t touched her phone all day, so she pulled it out of her pocket.
Ji Yi unlocked the phone screen, opened WeChat out of habit, and noticed a series of notifications. Ji Yi swiped down, and after she finished sending Tang Huahua a reply, she looked down at a familiar name at the bottom of the screen: Yuguang Ge.
There were two unread messages.
The timestamp indicated they were sent past one in the morning last night.
Chapter 284: Can You Give Me A Hug? (4)
Last night when she didn’t receive any reply from “He Yuguang,” she assumed he already fell asleep, so she put her phone down and slept too.
She never imagined that he hadn’t actually fallen asleep yet…
At that thought, Ji Yi tapped into the chat.
Aside from this “goodnight” message, there was another message. The message wasn’t long: “You were never alone, you still have me.”
You were never alone, you still have me… Was Yuguang Ge replying to my message: “I can only rely on myself in this world”?
Ji Yi’s heart suddenly warmed and she stared transfixed at those words.
You still have me… Although those four words were simple and they weren’t some vow of eternal love or a lover’s gut-wrenching sweet words, she still thought they were unusually heart-warming.
Yes… As long as you’ve experienced betrayal, the lowest of the low, have nothing left and have to start life all over again, only then will you know that the words that’ll make you feel the most secure in the world aren’t “I love you,” “I’ll marry you,” “I’ll financially support you,” nor “together”… but they were “you still have me.”
…
After He Jichen finished working, the first thought he had was to look over at Ji Yi.
She was holding her phone, staring tenderly at something on her screen with a smile on the corners of her lips.
What’s making her so happy?
He Jichen was curious, so he instinctively stretched his neck out and glanced over at Ji Yi’s phone screen.
He quickly saw the three words “Yuguang Ge.”
From the conversation on the screen, He Jichen easily recognized that it was WeChat.
Is she reading the chat between herself and “He Yuguang”?
He Jichen’s brows twitched and he stretched his neck out further to get a better look at Ji Yi’s phone.
The page displayed the conversation they had last night.
At the top were messages she sent him, but at the very end were his replies to her.
Is she really this happy over that conversation with “He Yuguang”?
Deep down, He Jichen started to feel an intensely bitter feeling. The next second, with his very own eyes, he saw Ji Yi gently stroke the words “You were never alone, you still have me” on her phone.
So, she isn’t happy because of the conversation between her and “He Yuguang,” but because of those words themselves?
He Jichen’s heart was struck by a piercing sharp pain as he instinctively turned his head and looked out the window.
Didn’t I send those words to her last night to cheer her up?
Now that she’s so happy, shouldn’t I feel happy too?
So there’s nothing to be sad about… I achieved my goal, didn’t I?
He Jichen repeatedly tried to comfort himself for a long time before the pain subsided.
He shifted his line of sight and he silently stared at the reflection of her silhouette through the window for a while. Just as he was about to turn his head and say something to her, his phone started to ring.
The sudden ring woke Ji Yi up.
When He Jichen picked up the phone, he watched through the reflection on the window as Ji Yi’s fingers quivered while grabbing her phone.
He Jichen’s gaze lingered over Ji Yi for two seconds then he looked down at the phone screen.
When he saw the name on his phone screen, he instinctively glanced at Ji Yi.
Chapter 285: Can You Give Me A Hug? (5)
When he saw who was calling, he instinctively looked up and shot Ji Yi a glance.
He wasn’t in a hurry to pick up the call, so he got up and walked further away from Ji Yi before tapping the screen to take the call.
It was very quiet in the room, so even though He Jichen deliberately put some distance between himself and Ji Yi, she still managed to hear him say “hello.” After being startled by his phone ringing, Ji Yi slowly turned her head and looked over towards him.
He stood with his tall and slender back to her.
The dazzling light penetrated through the window and landed on his body as he stood in front of the tall windows. With the radiating light pouring in, it formed a makeshift halo around him, making him seem deep and mysterious.
At that moment, Ji Yi couldn’t quite tear her gaze away, nor could she shake the thought: I haven’t seen him for a few years, and he’s actually grown to become quite charming. There was a distinguishing air about him as bright as the dazzling light which actually adorned him quite well.
As Ji Yi was lost in her own world, He Jichen, who stood far away, spoke quietly again: “What did you find out?”
It wasn’t clear what the person on the other side of the phone said, but after a couple seconds, He Jichen spoke again: “How was it?”
With that, He Jichen remained completely silent.
The person on the phone must’ve been speaking non-stop as He Jichen didn’t for a second remove the phone from his ear.
She wasn’t sure what the other person was reporting to him, but after about two minutes, Ji Yi clearly saw He Jichen’s silhouette shake violently for a moment. With that, his posture became a little tense.
He had his back turned to her so she couldn’t see his facial expression, but she sensed something about him was off in that moment.
He remained silent as he listened to the call. Finally, he spoke again with a little tremble in his voice: “It’s been confirmed?”
Perhaps the person on the phone replied to him because seconds later, his fingers seemed to suddenly tremble for a moment.
He didn’t say anything but maintained his posture as he listened to the call. However, Ji Yi could see how his knuckles protruded while he gripped his phone more tightly.
The person on the phone must’ve spoken for a long time or something triggered He Jichen because his body started to stagger like he’d lost it. All of a sudden, the phone slipped from his fingers and crashed hard to the ground.
With the loud “Pap!” Ji Yi bolted up from the sofa.
Although Ji Yi and He Jichen were some distance apart, Ji Yi could still hear a man cry out in a high pitch, “Chen Ge, what’s wrong?” The man on the phone must’ve heard the phone drop.
He Jichen stood in the distance, stunned like his soul had left his body. He must’ve noticed his phone had fallen to the ground or heard the person on the phone screaming for him as he slowly turned around.
Ji Yi only glimpsed the side of his face, yet she realized just how frighteningly pale it looked.
Her heart thumped “ka-donk!” and before she could ask He Jichen what was wrong, he already ran into the bathroom in a panic.
Ji Yi was left stunned, staring at the bathroom door which was locked from the inside. Then she heard a voice from He Jichen’s phone, “Chen Ge?”