NOVEL NEXT Chapter 293-299
Chapter 293: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (3)
This was perhaps the first time she’d been invited to a party for the cast and crew since she joined the production team for “Three Thousand Lunatics” over a month ago…
A flash of astonishment evidently crossed Ji Yi’s eyes, and after a while, she realized that she hadn’t responded to He Jichen. Overwhelmed by his tenderness, Ji Yi looked over at He Jichen and swiftly yet softly nodded her head twice. “Got it.”
He Jichen stared at Ji Yi’s slender frame for a moment and said, “You better head back to get some rest.”
“Mhm,” responded Ji Yi as she stood in her tracks for a few seconds before turning to face He Jichen and adding: “Goodbye.”
“Goodbye.”
When she heard He Jichen’s response, Ji Yi didn’t hesitate to turn around and walked over to the door. She gently pulled the door open and left He Jichen’s room.
As soon as the door closed, the room became quieter with He Jichen as the only one left in the room.
He sent Ji Yi off with his eyes, and he continued to stand there like that for some time before walking over to the sofa. He picked up the phone that Ji Yi had flipped over and placed it on the table. Then he pressed the button for the front desk and called an attendant up to clean up the room.
Less than two seconds after the call ended, a hotel attendant arrived.
He Jichen opened the door for them then walked over to the tall windows.
The attendant moved quietly to avoid disturbing He Jichen. He stared out at the dark night with a hypnotized expression on his face.
He was in a daze for just a short moment then withdrew his gaze from the window. As he weaved twice around the room, he picked up the phone on the coffee table then he found Chen Bai’s number and made a call.
The sky was dark and Chen Bai was most probably asleep. As the call was waiting to be connected, it rang a few times before the call went through. From the other side of the phone, he heard Chen Bai’s groggy voice, “Mr. He?”
“Mhm…” responded He Jichen nonchalantly then he waited twenty seconds. He figured Chen Bai must’ve woken up by then, so he got straight to the point, “Book a large party room at the Grand Hyatt for next Friday.”
“Next Friday?” Chen Bai hesitated for a moment then continued to ask, “Mr. He, you have a very important dinner in Hangzhou next Friday…”
“Cancel it.” In contrast with Chen Bai’s hesitation, He Jichen sounded incredibly clear and decisive.
“Cancel it? Mr. He, that’s a bit hard. You know there’ll be governmental officials there…”
“If it can’t be canceled, arrange for someone else to go. I have even more important matters to attend to…” He Jichen didn’t give Chen Bai a chance to talk him out of it before he continued to give a series of instructions in a neutral voice.
At the office, He Jichen’s instructions were always like gold – he only said them once, and if you performed poorly, you were bound to be lectured.
But today, after he finished giving his instructions, He Jichen added, “You got all that?”
“More or less…”
He Jichen furrowed his brows at Chen Bai’s last three words. More or less? Not one item on the list of instructions could be amiss!
A second later, He Jichen cut off Chen Bai, “Turn on your computer now or find a pen and paper. Note down everything I say without leaving a single letter out!”
No way? He usually wants notes taken down for him, but now, he needs notes taken down for a casual party?
Over the phone, Chen Bai was just a second too slow as He Jichen said with a hidden yet immensely oppressive tone of voice, “Ready?”
Chapter 294: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (4)
Chen Bai was so frightened that he stopped breathing for a moment. Then he immediately got out of bed and fumbled over to turn on the computer.
“Ready, Mr. He…”
As Chen Bai said this, He Jichen repeated every instruction he gave over the phone once more.
He Jichen was a little worried and afraid that Chen Bai would miss something, so after he repeated the instructions, he asked Chen Bai to repeat each and every word of his notes. It wasn’t until He Jichen confirmed that Chen Bai hadn’t missed a single word that he put the phone down.
–
Back in Ji Yi’s room, after she finished freshening up, she picked up her phone out of habit and sent a message to “He Yuguang.” With her phone in hand, she browsed through Weibo while waiting for his reply.
It was really late, so maybe “He Yuguang” was already asleep, or maybe he was busy. When Ji Yi ran out of things to read on Weibo, she still hadn’t received any replies from “He Yuguang.”
After returning from Lijiang, she and “He Yuguang” always chatted every night before they slept, no matter the topic. However, there was no reply back tonight. Ji Yi wasn’t used to this, so after she put the phone down, she shut her eyes, tossed and turned on the bed for a long while, but couldn’t sleep.
Eventually, Ji Yi thought she might as well sit up and turned on the lights by the bed. She got out of bed and walked over to the window.
It was already late at night; everyone in the hotel was probably asleep. Though her windows were closed, it was so quiet that she could hear the faint sound of the sweeping wind outside.
She stared silently out the window at the night as she reminisced about every little encounter between her and He Yuguang from the past up to the present. She thought back to the words she read tonight in He Jichen’s room: “You were never alone, you still have me” and the corners of her mouth couldn’t help but curve into a smile.
No matter if it was in her youth or the present day – Yuguang Ge always made her feel safe.
For example, in senior high, her textbook was filled with highlighted points…
For example, during her three-year coma, he visited her on the eighteenth of every month…
The more she thought about it, the more her eyes filled with joy, and her heart grew warm.
However, this wonderful feeling didn’t last long; just as she thought about He Yuguang, she also remembered where she was when she re-read He Yuguang’s message – she was in He Jichen’s room. Eventually, her mind unknowingly wandered to He Jichen.
What exactly did Han Zhifan tell him to make him so sad? That night, he showed two completely different sides from the He Jichen she’d always known.
Also, he actually had such a pitiful side to him when he asked her for a hug.
Even though so much time had passed since it happened, when Ji Yi’s mind thought back to his request, it still felt like someone pricked her heart; a wave of concentrated pain washed over her.
Ji Yi worked hard to push that unspeakable feeling of hurt down, but she thought back to tonight’s hug between them again.
She had already taken a shower and she even changed out of the clothes she hugged him in, but she could still feel the warmth of his embrace.
Her fingertips suddenly quivered for a moment and her breathing became uncontrollably rattled.
That was weird; that hug didn’t mean anything. It was just meant to comfort him when he was feeling hurt, so why am I so affected by it?
Chapter 295: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (5)
Ji Yi shook her head erratically and pushed all those thoughts to the back of her mind. Caught in a daydream, she took two deep breaths then went back to bed, shut her eyes, and tried to force herself to fall asleep.
Not long after her mind went blank, it suddenly wandered back to what He Jichen said.
“Ji Yi, I’m sorry.”
“Not only for this but also for that night four years ago.”
She never imagined she would hear He Jichen apologize for their accidental night together four whole years ago – one thousand, four hundred and sixty whole days and nights ago. She never thought he would apologize for her first love that ended before it could start…
Once again, her heart became unbelievably erratic.
Ji Yi opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling, unable to sleep.
It was like her ears were bewitched as they rang endlessly with “Ji Yi, I’m sorry” and “Not only for this but also for that night four years ago.”
She wasn’t sure just how many times her mind went over these two sentences. Though she never imagined accepting his apology or forgiving him, after she heard him say those words, her heart actually started to waver.
–
On the fifth day, Ji Yi’s wound more or less recovered.
On the seventh evening, Cheng Weiwan came to her room to help her remove the stitches.
On the eighth morning, Ji Yi returned to the team and continued to shoot her scenes.
Having returned on set after the chaos of what happened, Ji Yi knew her days at work wouldn’t be as painful as before. When she actually arrived on set, Ji Yi realized that not only would she not have to suffer and spend her days being so careful and alert like before, but the change was as different as night and day.
At seven in the morning, she arrived on time to set. She figured that she had to line up to get her makeup done like before, but when she showed up at the makeup room, there was a makeup artist immediately available for her. There were even actors who only had half their makeup done fighting to give her their seat.
As she got her makeup done, the makeup artist’s assistant would run over to her and bring her water or snacks every now and then.
Ji Yi, who had never received this kind of treatment, was a little startled by the attention. When she checked out people in the makeup room, trying to figure out what was going on, whoever her eyes landed on stopped what they were doing and shot her friendly smiles back.
With great confusion, Ji Yi hurriedly ran out of the room with the strange atmosphere right after getting her makeup done. She figured everything would be normal outside, but who knew… When she stepped out, the staff immediately smiled and greeted her one after the other when they saw her. “Good morning, Miss Ji.”
Miss Ji…good morning? Didn’t they always call me Ji Yi or the supporting actress? How come after seven days, all of them are greeting me so politely?
Ji Yi secretly pinched herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. Then she hurriedly smiled back at the people who greeted her.
Who would’ve imagined… when she smiled, they smiled even brighter. All Ji Yi could do was try her hardest to plaster a smile on her face. It was painful, just looking at her face. All Ji Yi could do was rush over to the horse training site nearby where there were fewer people around.
On her way there, whenever Ji Yi bumped into someone, they would stop and politely say “hello.”
After finding an isolated place to hide with much difficulty, Ji Yi let out a sigh of relief. But before she could have two minutes of peace, the casting director and assistant director’s assistant happened to pass by her for some reason.
Chapter 296: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (6)
When the little assistant saw her, she first shot her a bright smile then walked over and gave a bow of respect. “Good morning, Miss Ji.”
The casting director was responsible for casting, and he was also responsible for future casting for new series under his management, so all the actors on set not only kissed up to him for future roles, but they were also very polite towards his little assistant whenever they saw her. Yet, the assistant was actually bowing to her, a newbie, the supporting actress…
Ji Yi was so stunned that she took a step back. A second later, Ji Yi bowed back at the little assistant and greeted her cheerfully. “Good morning. Busy?”
Seeing Ji Yi bow, the little assistant bowed even lower and replied, “Yes, I’m just checking to see if the set is ready.”
All Ji Yi could do was follow the little assistant’s actions and bow. “You’re working hard, I see.”
The little assistant then bowed even lower. “No, not at all. It’s all part of my job. Miss Ji, I’ll be off to work now.”
“Alright.” Seeing as the little assistant bowed with each time she spoke, all Ji Yi could do was continue bowing too.
“Goodbye.” The little assistant didn’t straighten up at all as she said goodbye then took a few steps back before leaving.
Seeing as she bowed, Ji Yi also followed suit. It was only when the assistant left that Ji Yi straightened up. She reached her arm back and rubbed her waist as her wound started to hurt. Then she patted her chest to soothe her frightened heart.
Ji Yi was afraid there were more odd situations to come, so she glanced left and right, trying to figure out where to hide. Who knew that before she could find a good hiding spot, a young woman holding an umbrella would come running over to her. “Miss Ji, why are you here alone? The sun is too strong, you mustn’t burn. There’s some distance to walk to get to the set, so let me take you to the lounge to get some rest.”
Ji Yi thought her experience from that morning was already too much. She never imagined that several people would surround her the very second after she finished shooting her first scene! Someone handed her water, another held an umbrella for her, another helped retouch her makeup… she was so well taken care of that it seemed like she wasn’t there to shoot but was there instead as an empress.
With the group of people crowding around her, Ji Yi and the production team went to the hotel restaurant together after the afternoon scenes were shot.
Just as she finished placing her order, before she could even choose a seat, someone greeted her enthusiastically again. There were also people who were so over-the-top that they helped her wipe down her table and chair with a tissue, even though they’d already been cleaned.
After her meal, Ji Yi went to the restroom. Since the entire production team was there, everyone was lining up to use the restroom.
Some saw Ji Yi walk in and immediately smiled, bowed, and greeted her, “Hello, Miss Ji.”
As they said this, people who hadn’t noticed Ji Yi all turned their heads, one after the other, just to say “hello.”
Just as Ji Yi’s face started to ache from returning their smiles, one of the cubicles opened. As though everyone in the restroom had made prior plans, they all stood aside and said, oddly in unison, “You first, Miss Ji.”
Ji Yi hastily refused their gesture, but who knew that if she didn’t go in, nobody else would either.
A row of people stood there awkwardly for three whole minutes before Ji Yi gave in. She summoned her courage and forced herself through the crowd and into the cubicle which everyone so modestly declined.
Chapter 297: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (7)
Ji Yi must’ve been frightened by her experience just now in the restroom. She originally wanted to use the toilet, but she had to sit on the toilet for three whole minutes before she could summon the urge to go.
Ji Yi smiled as she stepped out of the cubicle and passed the row of people. When she reached the sink, she turned the tap on and carefully washed her hands. Just as she was about to wipe the water from her hands, a tissue appeared before her eyes.
Having experienced surprising situations early that afternoon, Ji Yi was still truly shocked. She stared at the tissue for two seconds before she looked up as she grabbed it. There was a woman about twenty-five or six years old who was smiling right at her with bright eyes.
Ji Yi gulped hard to steady her pounding heart. She smiled and said, “Thank you,” as she took the tissue.
After drying her hands, she was just about to throw the tissue into the trash can when the woman who passed her the tissue earlier reached out and took the tissue from her. She walked over to trash can and tossed it in.
Having received such overly enthusiastic treatment, when Ji Yi exited the restroom, she didn’t dare return to the restaurant. Instead, she headed directly over to the set.
It was still too early to shoot, but she was afraid to bump into more overly friendly people from the set, forced to exchange smiles with them, so she figured that she might as well find a sofa by the window to sit on. She shut her eyes and pretended to sleep.
The warm sun beat down on her body through the window, making her feel unusually comfortable. Ji Yi, who had just been pretending to sleep, actually managed to fall asleep.
When she woke up, the sun was still shining brightly through the window; the brightness made it a little difficult for her to open her eyes. She raised her hand and gently covered her face for a moment before she heard a “ding dong!” from beside her.
She instinctively turned her head and saw that an actress from the production team had received a message. Instead of actually reading the message, she switched her phone to silent in a panic then looked up at the entrance of the lounge area with fear in her heart.
Ji Yi’s gaze happened to land on Chen Bai who was standing at the door, wearing an all-blue suit. He was staring at an actress with a warning look on his face.
The actress looked so fearful that her face was pale white like she’d committed a terrible crime.
Meeting her gaze, Ji Yi furrowed her brows in confusion.
Chen Bai was staring at her, but why?
Confused, Ji Yi thought about it as she glanced up at the clock on the wall of the lounge.
It’s already three in the afternoon?
Didn’t they say they’d start shooting at one? It’s been two hours, so why haven’t they started shooting?
That’s not right… I accidentally slept for two hours? The lounge area’s a public space, so why didn’t someone wake me up in the past two hours?
Chen Bai can’t be staring at that actress just because her phone went off and woke me up, right?
This whole scene was like deja vu… Back at Sucheng Yizhong when she was young, after she fell asleep on the classroom desk in the summer afternoons, Fatty stood by the door to prevent anyone from making a single peep… If somebody accidentally coughed, Fatty would stare at the person with a menacing glare…
As that thought flashed across Ji Yi’s mind, she instinctively looked over at the actress whose phone rang. Then she looked over at Chen Bai standing at the door.
This whole scene was precisely the same as when she was young. Chen Bai was Fatty, and the actress was the senior high student who accidentally made a sound… Even the series of exaggerated events she had earlier that afternoon were incredibly similar to her senior high school days…
Deep down inside, Ji Yi wasn’t entirely sure if she was right, when Chen Bai, standing at the door, said, “Mr. He, Miss Ji just woke up. Can we get ready to start shooting now?”
Chapter 298: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (8)
Deep down inside, Ji Yi wasn’t entirely sure if she was right, when Chen Bai, standing at the door, said, “Mr. He, Miss Ji has woken up now. Can we get ready to start shooting now?”
Ji Yi’s eyes naturally followed the direction of the sound to see that Chen Bai was on the phone.
It was unclear what He Jichen said over the phone, but Chen Bai quickly replied, “Alright. Got it, Mr. He.”
Then Chen Bai removed the phone from his ear. He casually swiped the screen to hang up the call then looked up at everyone in the room. “Get ready, everyone! Be on set in fifteen minutes.”
Before shooting the scene, He Jichen had a lot of matters to attend to. After Chen Bai relayed He Jichen’s instructions, he didn’t stay for long and headed straight out of the lounge.
After Ji Yi woke up and Chen Bai had left, the room full of people who had been prohibited from making a sound started to talk amongst themselves. Soon afterward, the entire lounge became unusually lively.
Ji Yi remained in place, quietly sitting on the sofa. As though she couldn’t hear the chatter around her, she stared at where Chen Bai had been standing in a daze.
So, it really was as I imagined. All the “frightening” things I saw today were all He Jichen’s idea…
Ji Yi’s heart suddenly pounded twice as she felt that time had rapidly turned back that very instant, dragging her back to her adolescence in Sucheng Yizhong.
Every day of summer that year was just as bright and sunny as today.
No matter which corner of the school grounds she was in, people would always smile at her younger self, wearing a school uniform.
She clearly wasn’t someone who had the best relationship with everyone, but the entire school treated her unbelievably kindly.
She was never a princess, but she became the princess of Sucheng Yizhong for a whole year.
That was just like her day on set. She clearly didn’t stand out, but the infinite spotlight on her was greater than that on Qian Ge and the male lead.
She never was a queen, but He Jichen forcibly built her up to be a queen.
–
Because of Ji Yi’s afternoon nap, they hadn’t finished shooting that day’s scenes until the sky outside was completely dark.
As usual, there were parties in the evening. Today happened to be Friday, the day of the party He Jichen mentioned, so after the scenes were shot, they wrapped things up at work quickly.
The party was held at the Grand Hyatt hotel, the classiest place in the Hengdian area. It took about twenty minutes to get there by car, so the production team arranged for a coach, which had waited early outside their hotel for them.
After Ji Yi headed back upstairs, she quickly put on some makeup and got changed. There were already quite a few people on the coach.
She found a seat randomly. Not long after she passed some time on her phone, the coach was full and the coach driver slowly started the car.
Arriving at the Grand Hyatt, a group of people got out of the car and entered the lobby, one after the other.
Ji Yi followed the group of people to the elevator. As she passed the front desk in the lobby, Chen Bai suddenly called out to her, “Miss Ji.”
Ji Yi came to a stop then walked towards Chen Bai.
Chen Bai waited until she came closer to say, “Miss Ji, how is the wound on your waist?”
Why is Chen Bai suddenly caring about me? Did He Jichen have him ask me?
Chapter 299: Pampered Collectively by the Production Team (9)
Though Ji Yi had her suspicions deep inside, she chose to answer Chen Bai’s question honestly. “It’s more or less better now.”
“Mm…” responded Chen Bai as he looked behind Ji Yi, a little distracted. He then said, “…that’s good, that’s good.”
For him to answer like that, Ji Yi didn’t quite know how to respond. In the end, all she could do was address his concern as she said, “Thank you.”
“It’s nothing,” quickly replied Chen Bai. He paused for a moment then asked again as though he was trying too hard to find something to talk about: “How did you feel during today’s filming? Does the wound on your waist hurt?”
“It doesn’t hurt.” Ji Yi shook her head.
“It’s good that it doesn’t hurt…” Chen Bai didn’t look at Ji Yi, but his eyes kept wandering around the lobby of the Grand Hyatt like he was looking for something.
“Thank you,” said Ji Yi again. Seeing as Chen Bai didn’t say anything further, she thought their conversation was over, so she said, “Assistant Chen if there’s nothing else then I’d better head up…”
“No no no…” cried Chen Bai anxiously as though he was frightened.
What joke is this…?
Chen Bai’s main mission right now was to hold her back so she was the last one to go upstairs. There were still some people in the lobby who hadn’t gotten in the elevator yet and the phone in his pocket hadn’t vibrated to tell him to let her go…
At that thought, Chen Bai quickly improvised. “Miss Ji, though your stitches have been removed, it doesn’t mean you’re all healed… If you have to film tomorrow but you feel unwell, you have to tell me… If you’re in bad shape, the scenes will come out bad too. We must bring our best selves to shoot, that way it’ll move the audience…”
With furrowed brows, Ji Yi stared at Chen Bai talking non-stop.
Why do I feel like Chen Bai’s acting strange? Not quite the same as usual?
Ji Yi racked her brain thinking about it for a long time, but she couldn’t figure what was off about him. Seeing as Chen Bai finally stopped talking, she politely replied to everything he said: “Thank you assistant Chen for your concern. I’ll bring my best self to set.”
“Mmhmm, I believe you.” Chen Bai nodded profusely. After replying to Ji Yi, he clearly felt his phone vibrating in his pocket for a moment. He pulled it out and glanced at it. It was He Jichen calling. Suddenly, he looked like he received the greatest surprise, and a second later, he told Ji Yi, “Miss Ji, there’s nothing else, so please go ahead.”
Ji Yi looked at Chen Bai with eyes filled with suspicion, but she gave him a nod and said, “Then, assistant Chen, I’ll be off first.”
“Alright.” Chen Bai continued to nod profusely as he smiled.
Ji Yi glanced at Chen Bai a few times oddly and said goodbye then turned around and headed for the elevator.
Ji Yi knew that the party was on the second floor.
As she stepped out of the elevator, she was just about to find a sign for the Cladrastis Pavilion when a young waitress in a traditional Chinese dress shot her a beaming smile and walked over to her. “Excuse me, do you need some assistance?”
“Where is the Cladrastis Pavilion?” asked Ji Yi, trying to save herself the trouble of looking for it.
“Miss, please follow me.” The waitress smiled and pointed to the left as she escorted Ji Yi through the hall with the red carpet.
When she reached the entrance to the Cladrastis Pavilion, the waitress stopped. She didn’t help Ji Yi open the door, but she turned around and told Ji Yi, “Miss, this is it.”
“Thank you,” replied Ji Yi politely.