NOVEL NEXT Chapter 735-741
Chapter 735: As It Turns Out, She’s Cola Girl (5)
“That’s when I realized he was afraid I told you who Cola Girl was.”
With that, Fatty picked up the teacup and finished the tea then glanced over at Ji Yi. “Earlier at my workplace, you were right. You’re Cola Girl, you’re Chen Ge’s first love, and you’re the Cola girl who Chen Ge has secretly liked for many years!”
Even though Ji Yi was mentally prepared a long time ago, now that Fatty put the truth out there, her fingers quivered violently on the table.
“Chen Ge liked you before you knew him. Back then, the school was going crazy in search of Cola Girl. We were searching for you! Later, because of this, Chen Ge got punished to clean the toilets. That day, Chen Ge stood by the window and saw you. At the time, he practically leaped downstairs to chase you. It was just a shame that after he made it downstairs, you were already gone.”
“Later, I think Chen Ge met you at his house, but you guys weren’t close and never crossed paths. However, you have no idea… none of us knew you existed!”
“I’ve known Chen Ge the longest. There were many girls who tried to get with him, and every now and then, he would walk around with one or two girls for show, but he never cared about them. In the evening during self-study periods, he made us sneakily follow you home and to the internet cafe in order to protect you. He was afraid of thugs taking advantage of you. He knew you didn’t like smoking, so he forbade us all from smoking around you…”
“He made us be more polite. I’m not exaggerating here! Back then, Chen Ge was supposed to be our boss, but you seemed like our real boss.”
“We knew Chen Ge too well. Chen Ge treated you so nicely, so when you were seen laughing and chatting away with the school council president, everyone thought it wasn’t fair on Chen Ge. Then, we wanted to give Chen Ge a surprise for his birthday, so we brought you over.”
“That day, you slapped Chen Ge right in the face without asking any questions. In actual fact, you shouldn’t have been mad at Chen Ge – he was also clueless. Later, we wanted to explain it to you, but Chen Ge didn’t let us.”
“That day, Chen Ge kicked us all out before we could celebrate his birthday and silently smoked for half a night.”
“Later, because of Sun Zhang’s incident, you and Chen Ge got closer, but there’s something you don’t know. A month before the college entrance exams, Chen Ge began to make preparations to confess to you when the exams were over.”
Confess… So when we were younger, He Jichen thought about confessing to me.
After Ji Yi heard this, she finally realized why he suddenly hated her guts after their one night stand!
It’s because he liked her, but he knew she liked his older brother…
“Later, you both parted ways. You left Sucheng, and Chen Ge started to live a drunkard’s life.”
“For two whole months, Chen Ge was a drunken mess every day.”
“When he was drunk, the two words he mostly said were…” As Fatty said that, his chest suddenly felt stifled. He let out a long sigh and finished his sentence: “…Xiao Yi.”
～
Chapter 736: As It Turns Out, She’s Cola Girl (6)
Ji Yi’s heart felt like it had suddenly been touched by something. She shuddered.
Long before Fatty started talking, the dishes were all served on the table.
After he said this, Fatty didn’t continue speaking but silently kept his silence and ate some rice. Then he looked like he had a thought and said, “On the day we ate at Louwailou, I asked Chen Ge why he wouldn’t let me tell you that you’re Cola Girl. Why didn’t he just brazenly go after you?!”
“Chen Bai remained silent for a long time before he gave me a reply.”
“He said…” Fatty tilted his head like he was reminiscing about that day. Then he copied the tone He Jichen used that day and continued to say, “Chase? You think I want to chase her?”
Ji Yi’s heart suddenly shuddered when she heard this then her fingertips tightly clutched her chopsticks.
“He also said…” Deep in thought, Fatty continued to use He Jichen’s tone of voice and repeated what he said. “I dream about chasing her; all I want to do is stand outside her dorm every day just to give her breakfast; when it’s stormy outside, I want to be able to hold an umbrella out for her; when she’s not feeling well, I want to carry her to the hospital…”
An intense heartache enveloped Ji Yi’s heart, making her body tremble softly.
“Chen Ge also said he even thought about the whole setting and how he was going to confess. Deep down, he went through his lines an infinite amount of times, but he was afraid… afraid you wouldn’t believe him. He was afraid that after he confessed, you’d have to say farewell. He was afraid he would put you in a difficult position because you liked He Yuguang…”
As she stared at Fatty, Ji Yi listened carefully and instinctively turned her gaze out the window.
Before she came to see Fatty, she had the vague feeling she was Cola Girl.
Even though Fatty gave her a definite answer, she was still shocked by the fact that he had a crush on her all this time. She thought about it repeatedly but had no idea that behind the scenes, He Jichen would actually be so deeply in love with her.
At that thought, a layer of fog clouded Ji Yi’s eyes.
She always thought He Jichen treated her really, really well.
Since he left, she found out from Qian Ge that he only treated Qian Ge like that because of her…
At the time, she already thought he treated her the very best, the very best he could.
But today, she found out that the “best” was just a fraction of how well he really treated her.
For over ten years from the time they first met to this very day, he had persevered in treating her this way.
Fatty stared at the side of Ji Yi’s face silently for a long time then finally said, “Xiao Yi, do you know how Chen Ge reacted the moment he found out about you being in a coma after the car accident?”
“He fell to the ground.”
“Deep down, Chen Ge has always been strong and omnipotent. That was the first time I ever saw him in such a state.”
“You didn’t wake up, so he foolishly guarded your room from downstairs.”
“Later, he got a fever and I had to force him to see a doctor. While he had an injection, he suddenly smiled.”
“To this day, I clearly remember what he said… Well actually, he didn’t say much – just that if worst came to worst, he’d die with you…”
After hearing this, Ji Yi finally couldn’t hold her tears back; they came crashing down from her face.
Chapter 737: As It Turns Out, She’s Cola Girl (7)
What virtues and abilities do I possess for him to treat me this well?
She really wanted to ask him: why does he like me? Why did he sacrifice so much? Why didn’t he say anything and just silently protected me?
She had many, many questions that she wanted to ask him, but she couldn’t see him anymore…
She was too slow-witted and realized everything too late, so now, the heavens could no longer sit and watch. That was why she was being punished to find out everything after she lost him.
“Xiao Yi, there’s something I want to ask of you. If you ever meet Chen Ge again one day, I really hope you can take the initiative a little more.” Fatty was feeling a little down and his voice was quite sad because he’d been talking about He Jichen. “I know you can’t force love, but Xiao Yi, there’s a type of love you can’t disappoint.”
Ji Yi wanted to reply to Fatty, but her voice was stifled like crazy. In the end, she only nodded fiercely.
After a while, she managed to speak: “I will.”
If I ever meet him one day, I’ll take the initiative.
The Yuguang Ge I liked was him.
The He Jichen I deeply love is him.
After waking up from my three-year-long coma, I’ve only been surrounded by the most wonderful things because of him.
So, I’ll wait for him. I’ll always wait and wait to see him again, so I can take the initiative.
I actually hate waiting usually, but this time, I quite like waiting.
I’m willing to start counting down to when we’ll meet again.
At that thought, even though she was still crying, Ji Yi’s lips broke into a smile.
I’ll wait for you.
Maybe when the day comes, I’ll be white and old, my teeth will have fallen out, I’ll slur my words, and I’ll make no sense.
But that’s okay. I’ll still wait for you.
After you show up, I’m going to embrace you tightly and never let you go.
Because I’m the true love of your life and you are the most loved person in my life.
Because there’s a type of love you can’t disappoint.
–
In a small town in France.
At eight in the evening, a taxi stopped in front of a bar.
After about a minute, the door opened and a man stepped out.
He wore a black trenchcoat over his tall and slender body.
It seemed like he had been to this bar many times. After he pushed the door open and entered, he didn’t bother waiting for the waiter; he walked down the familiar path over to an empty table at the furthest part of the bar and took a seat.
The bartender behind the counter noticed him as soon as he entered. After he sat down, he then turned his head and said to the waiter, “Look, that Chinese man’s back again. I’ve been paying attention to him for a long time now. For the last month, he turns up in that seat at the same time. Then he drinks a lot of wine and as soon as he starts drinking, he’ll go all night long.”
The cashier was a Chinese woman. When she heard the bartender say this, she couldn’t help but glance over to where the man was sitting.
Soon enough, more people started to fill up the bar. Everyone started to get busy working, so the bartender and cashier didn’t have time to chitchat, but every now and then, they shot glances at the man.
It really was just as the bartender said – he sat there on his own and endlessly downed the wine.
He was drunk before midnight.
On the way to the restroom, the cashier deliberately walked around the man’s table to see that he was spread out on the table while mumbling to himself.
Chapter 738: As It Turns Out, She’s Cola Girl (8)
The cashier couldn’t help but slow down her footsteps. After she listened for a while, she clearly heard him say in Chinese, “Xiao Yi, Xiao Yi…”
He’s crying someone’s name?
They say the name you cry when you’re drunk is the name of someone you deeply love. So, Xiao Yi is the woman he loves deeply?
Women were naturally curious when it came to love, so the cashier couldn’t help but turn her head and glance over at the man sprawled across the table.
The light at the corner of the bar was dim and pale yellow. She couldn’t see his face clearly, but she could sense that he was deeply sad and hurt.
The cashier quickly walked away and entered the restroom.
When she returned, the first thing she did was glance over at the corner table. The man had already left. His table hadn’t been cleared up yet as it was still filled with empty beer bottles.
The cashier didn’t think much of what just happened; she quickly pushed it to the back of her mind and got back to work.
At two in the morning, the cashier was done for the night. She headed to the break room at the back to change out of her uniform. She waved at the bartender and said her goodbyes before leaving the bar.
Late at night, in the small French town, it started to rain.
The cashier grabbed an umbrella from her bag and opened it. As she took just two steps down the street, her gaze was drawn to a figure beneath a nearby lamppost.
It was just a glance, but the cashier recognized the figure as the man who was sitting in the corner of the bar earlier.
He was motionless and looked as though he couldn’t feel the rain.
The cashier held up her umbrella and stared at the man for a while from a distance. In the end, she gradually walked over to him cautiously.
Maybe the man didn’t hear her footsteps because the cashier stood right in front of him for a while, yet he didn’t react at all.
The cashier cried, “Hello?”
The man still didn’t move.
“Are you okay?” asked the cashier.
After she finished asking, the cashier looked at the man with the same emotionless expression on his face and crouched down. “You…”
This time, she only let out one word when he lifted his head.
Under the street lights, the cashier saw an alarmingly handsome face which suddenly hushed all sounds from her mouth.
The rain drizzled down.
After some time, the man said, “Xiao Yi…”
The cashier snapped out of her shock.
Then she realized the man was staring right at her.
She wasn’t sure if she was seeing things, but she felt like the man wasn’t really looking at her.
“Hey,” she cried out to him again. Seeing as he didn’t react, she raised her hand and waved it in front of his eyes. “What’s your name?”
He didn’t reply to her nor did he even blink when she waved her hand in front of his face. Instead, his gaze remained transfixed in her direction.
The cashier furrowed her brows but couldn’t resist glancing back. Besides the ceaseless drizzle of rain, there was no one else on the streets.
The only person visible was the oriental female celebrity in the repeated advert playing on the billboard above the bar.
There’s nothing to see. Why’s he staring at it non-stop…
The cashier looked back and couldn’t help but ask in curiosity, “What are you looking at?”
The man still didn’t reply, but after she spoke, he shot her a dull look. The gaze clearly carried no emotions, and the cashier still felt like the man was a thousand miles away.
Chapter 739: As It Turns Out, She’s Cola Girl (9)
His icy gaze fell on her face for no more than a second before withdrawing. Then he silently got up from the ground like he hadn’t seen the cashier in front of him at all.
Before he could get up, his body dropped to the ground again.
The cashier let out a shriek and without hesitation, she tossed the umbrella aside and used both hands to prop him up.
He fell quite heavily, causing her to crash to the ground harshly.
“Sssst…” She inhaled a cold breath of air in pain then tried to push him up, but her fingers incidentally touched his skin. That was when she realized that he was frighteningly warm.
The cashier quickly pulled out her phone and called for an ambulance.
When they reached the hospital and checked him in, the cashier pulled out his wallet and found his ID. She read his name: He Jichen.
He Jichen, He Jichen… The cashier repeated his name several times. The more she read it, the better it sounded.
The nurse quickly checked him in and returned the ID to the cashier.
The cashier thanked her as she put the ID back into the man’s wallet.
Just as she was going to close his wallet, she realized there was a photo in the card slot.
It was a photo of a woman; her face only peered out of the wallet half-way. She must’ve accidentally pulled it out when she was looking for his ID.
She knew it was rude to touch people’s things without their permission, but she still couldn’t hold herself back from pulling out the photo.
The woman’s perfect complexion fell into the cashier’s eyes.
The woman wasn’t wearing any makeup. Her eyes looked bright and she seemed soft and gentle. She looked clean and eye-catching, a complete beauty.
The cashier thought the woman looked somewhat familiar. It felt as though she’d seen her somewhere before. After thinking about it for a long time, she still couldn’t remember.
Back in the hospital room, since the cashier just finished her evening shift, she felt sleepy and tired. After she forced He Jichen to get off the drip, she sprawled out on the side of the bed and fell deep asleep.
When she woke, the sun outside the window was bright and there was no one on the bed.
That guy didn’t just leave without saying anything to me, did he?
All of a sudden, the cashier was completely awake as she abruptly stood up. Just as she was about to leave the room to ask a nurse where the man went, she saw his silhouette in front of the balcony.
He was leaning against the wall with a phone in his left hand. He had his head down while staring at the phone screen and he had a cigarette with puffs of thick smoke in his right hand.
The cashier stared at the man for a while then walked up to him and softly said “Hi.”
The man looked like he was trapped, deep in thought with no escape. He stared emotionlessly at the phone screen.
The cashier was really curious as she couldn’t help but glance at his phone. She saw that he was staring at the phone number for someone called “Xiao Yi.”
She didn’t disturb him again as she quietly stared at him. She realized that his fingers were lingering over Xiao Yi’s name, wanting to make the call, but every time he was about to make the call, he chose to pull back.
On the ninth time, the cashier watched as He Jichen’s fingers pulled away from the two words “Xiao Yi” and she couldn’t help but ask, “Is that the woman you cried about last night when you were drunk?”
He Jichen raised his head and glanced at her in silence. All he did was put his phone back into his pocket then pulled out a thick wad of cash and handed it to her.
The cashier didn’t take it. “That woman is the person you love deeply?”
Chapter 740: As It Turns Out, She’s Cola Girl (10)
He Jichen furrowed his brows, annoyed at the cashier’s numerous questions. A hint of irritation flashed across his cold eyes then he put the money on the table. He remained silent as he put out the cigarette between his fingers, straightened up, and walked out the door.
As he brushed past the cashier, He Jichen heard her say, “You were just staring at your phone. Did you want to call her?”
He Jichen pretended like she didn’t exist as he continued to leisurely walk away.
“Since you want to call her, why don’t you just do it?”
He Jichen slowly stopped walking as though the cashier’s question struck a nerve.
He didn’t look back at her, but he could sense that she was looking back at him. “Why did your fingers look like they were about to punch in the number so many times, but you kept on pulling back? Why can’t you just follow your heart?”
The cashier asked several questions, but about fifteen seconds after this last question, He Jichen finally spoke with his back still facing her: “I am following my heart.”
His voice was soft like he was mumbling to himself, but the cashier heard him clearly.
Following his own heart?
The cashier furrowed her brows as confusion spread to her eyes. She was just about to ask him, “If you’re following your heart, why don’t you call her?”
Before the cashier could gather her thoughts, He Jichen said, “If I was going to call her, I wouldn’t have left her in the first place.”
So, I got it all wrong? He was just staring at the phone number like he wanted to call her, but in fact, he didn’t want to call her at all?
The cashier was even more curious. “Why?”
As though he hadn’t heard the cashier’s question, He Jichen said nothing more. He didn’t stay in the hospital room for long as he walked right out.
After he walked out of the hospital and onto the road, he came to a stop and pulled out a cigarette. Lighting up the cigarette, he took two drags and stared at the smoke rising while thinking about the question the stranger asked before he left: “Why?”
He knew what she meant. Why does following my heart mean I can’t contact her?
Because you would contact someone if you liked them, but you can stop yourself from contacting someone if you love them.
In the blink of an eye, I’ve already left her for two months now. In the past two months, how has she been?
–
“Mr. Han, Miss Cheng is here again.”
In the middle of a meeting, Han Zhifan felt his phone vibrating. After he reached out to look at it, he saw that it was a text he requested from the security guard from his residential area.
He didn’t reply to the security guard, but he didn’t delete the message either.
He gently swiped the screen and counted that she’d showed up at his apartment building ten times in two short months.
Seeing Han Zhifan staring at his phone screen in a daze for far too long, his secretary, who was standing next to him, discreetly cried, “Mr. Han…”
Han Zhifan snapped out of it and put his phone away immediately.
The meeting ran till nine in the evening before it came to an end.
As Han Zhifan wasn’t busy, he didn’t head back to his office. He handed his secretary some files and took the elevator down.
The driver was waiting in the car, so when he saw Mr. Han, he immediately helped him open the car door.
As the car quickly drove out of the underground parking lot, Han Zhifan suddenly had an idea then said, “Head to Lin Na’s place first.”
Chapter 741: I’m Not Single, I’m Just Waiting For Someone (1)
The driver replied “Yes” then changed direction.
Han Zhifan reached for his phone and started typing away.
There was no music playing in the car nor was Han Zhifan speaking to the driver, so the car was unusually quiet. The sound of him tapping on his phone’s keyboard sounded particularly crisp.
“Come to my place tonight. I’ll be at your building in twenty minutes.”
Han Zhifan typed slowly and he took a long time to write his short message.
He stared at the words on the screen for a long time before he entered Lin Na’s number and pressed send.
Lin Na was probably playing on her phone at the time because as soon as his phone displayed the “message sent” notification, her reply came through: “Alright.”
Han Zhifan didn’t reply to Lin Na with more details and he put his phone on the seat beside him.
He stared out the window absentmindedly as the car drove quickly down the road.
Lin Na’s place wasn’t far from Han Zhifan’s office, so he reached her residential area not too long after.
As the car drove in, the driver saw Lin Na from afar, standing at the entrance of her apartment building.
The car came to a steady halt then the driver quickly got out and helped Lin Na get the door.
When Lin Na bent over and got into the car, the strong scent of perfume wafted into Han Zhifan’s nose.
Han Zhifan furrowed his brows and couldn’t help raising his hand to roll down the window a little.
“Fan, why did you suddenly ask me to go to your place today?” asked Lin Na with a bright smile as she turned her head.
Han Zhifan stayed quiet for a short while and said, “You called me last night, so didn’t you want to see me?”
Lin Na’s smile grew even brighter as she drew closer towards Han Zhifan. “You haven’t come to see me for a month now, so of course I wanna see you.”
Han Zhifan put on a smile, held his breath and didn’t say a word until he turned towards the rolled-down window. Then he finally started to breathe again.
Traffic was unusually smooth at night. Even though Lin Na’s place and Han Zhifan’s home were on opposite sides of the office, it didn’t take long for them to drive into Yongyi Gardens.
Just as they were about to reach the apartment building, the fast car suddenly came to an emergency stop.
The driver stared at Cheng Weiwan for a while, who was standing in front of them in the distance. Then he turned his head back in hesitation. “Mr. Han?”
Han Zhifan spotted Cheng Weiwan before the driver did. He knew what the driver was asking, so he didn’t need to hear the rest of the driver’s question. Han Zhifan opened the car door and got right out.
He walked around the back of the car to the other side, just to open the door for Lin Na.
“Isn’t there still some way to go?” asked Lin Na in confusion.
“Let’s walk,” said Han Zhifan in a flat voice.
Lin Na didn’t protest and obediently got out of the car then naturally reached her hand out and clung to Han Zhifan’s arm.
Lin Sheng introduced Lin Na to him. She was very passionate and bubbly. The second time they met, she took the initiative and held his hand. At the time, his instinct was to struggle out of her touch, but this time, Han Zhifan didn’t pull his arm away. Instead, he let her cling tightly to his whole body as they walked to his apartment.
Because the car stopped at a distance, Cheng Weiwan didn’t notice that Han Zhifan had returned.
Lin Na talked as they both walked down the road. Although Han Zhifan didn’t participate in the conversation, Lin Na still secretly giggled every now and then.