A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You - Chapter 450-458
The patient room was engulfed in silence.
Han Zhifan’s line of sight never left Cheng Weiwan, who had her head lowered.
The sunlight outside the window shone unusually brightly. He stared at her messy head for a long time then spoke again with a far more serious tone than before. “Wanwan, I really do like you. I’ve liked you since the first time I laid eyes on you. I’ve never felt so serious about a girl before. This is the first time, so Wanwan… Will you be my girlfriend?”
Nobody had ever confessed to Cheng Weiwan before. Come to think of it, this was her first time.
In the face of his request, she felt a little helpless and held her head even lower. A light red blush swept across her face and neck.
Seeing as she didn’t say anything for some time, Han Zhifan said, “Maybe if you want to find a boyfriend one day, you’ll consider me?”
Because she was nervous, Cheng Weiwan instinctively tightened her grip on her phone. After about three seconds, she raised her head and swiftly glanced at Han Zhifan. Then she put her head down and let out a soft “Mhm.”
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She didn’t wait for Han Zhifan to speak and said, “You haven’t eaten anything after being unconscious for so long; you must be hungry. I’ll go buy you some food.”
After she said this, Cheng Weiwan bolted up and ran out of the patient room.
Soon after the door closed, Cheng Weiwan returned. Without daring to glance over at Han Zhifan on the bed, she grabbed her handbag and ran out of the room.
The patient room fell completely silent. Han Zhifan stared at the seat where Cheng Weiwan was just sitting. He reached for his phone by the bed and made a call.
Soon enough, the phone was picked up. “Lin Sheng, it’s done. Send the money to the guys. Remember, you have to tell them to act as though nothing happened,” said Han Zhifan.
Over the phone, Lin Sheng didn’t say anything for some time.
“Lin Sheng?” prompted Han Zhifan.
“Mr. Han, I…” stammered Lin Sheng before it fell quiet for a few seconds. Then he continued to say, “…Mr. Han, I heard from those guys last night that they took things too far. Just a little bit more and they would’ve really had her… Wasn’t this a little cruel? After all, Cheng Weiguo’s in the wrong, not his daughter…”
Han Zhifan looked like he heard a funny joke as there was a taunting tilt in his brows. “Cruel? That was cruel? Then what about Lili? What do you call what happened to Lili?”
Lin Sheng suddenly fell silent.
Han Zhifan didn’t wait for him to speak as he continued to say sternly, “Lin Sheng, do as I say!”
“Yes, Mr. Han. I’ll handle it.”
–
From Cheng Weiwan’s report, Han Zhifan had already woken up and was no longer in danger. Only then did Ji Yi relax and feel at ease to play games with Tang Huahua.
On the third round, Tang Huahua suddenly put her phone down.
Ji Yi sent her a few messages in the game, but seeing as she was ignored, Ji Yi exited the game and entered WeChat to find Tang Huahua.
Before Ji Yi could send a message, Tang Huahua beat her to it. “Xiao Yi, look! This is definitely explosive news from the entertainment industry!”
Following this, several screenshots popped onto her phone screen.
No matter how big the news, it can wait till after the game’s finished… Ji Yi was just about to tell Tang Huahua to finish playing the game first when she saw the familiar words “YC” on the screen.
YC… isn’t that He Jichen’s company?
Don’t tell me Tang Huahua’s explosive news has something to do with He Jichen?
All of a sudden, Ji Yi couldn’t care less about her unfinished game as she immediately opened the screenshot and started to read.
It was a Weibo post from a verified user who often posted about all different types of entertainment news: “Unofficial news reveals that an unknown female celebrity will become the first artist to sign under YC Corp, the company which was single-handedly founded by the talented director, He Jichen.”
It was just a simple sentence. Below that were comments guessing who the female celebrity signed under YC could be. Ji Yi skimmed through the names of female celebrities; if they weren’t A-list celebrities, then they were famous celebrities or relatively popular celebrities.
She already signed a contract with YC in front of He Jichen long ago when they discussed the contract for “Three Thousand Lunatics” – it was just that this piece of news had remained under wraps until now. Could someone have let the word out and leaked the information?
Ji Yi pondered it for two seconds before she checked Tang Huahua’s other screenshots.
“The queen of TV dramas, Jiang Xinxin, ended her contract three days ago with Huanyi Entertainment. Yesterday, she had a three-hour-long meeting with the “Three Thousand Lunatics” director, He Jichen, over coffee. They looked like they were discussing signing with YC.”
There were even photo attachments underneath the text. Even if the photo wasn’t clear, Ji Yi could still tell that the man in the picture was He Jichen and the woman sitting opposite him with the baseball cap and remarkable body was Jiang Xinxin.
“During the Anrui Charity Gala, the box office queen, Lin Shiyi, was talking non-stop with the famous director, He Jichen. After the party, the two of them met in the restaurant downstairs and talked for four hours. Reports tell us that Lin Shiyi and her current management contract will end next month.”
There were nine whole photos beneath this Weibo post. Compared to the previous screenshot, these were a lot clearer, which not only caught their faces but also clearly caught He Jichen and Lin Shiyi’s facial expressions.
All but one of the screenshots was similar – this one had a different female celebrity in it. It was Chen Wanlin, the two-time winner of the White Flower best actress award, personally traveling to YC Corp.
The popularity of several of these female celebrities was astonishing. They had enormous fan bases, they usually walked down the red carpet, and a couple casual photos of them would pop up in the top searches list from time to time. Even photos secretly taken of Lin Shiyi without make-up walking down the street would linger on the hot searches for a whole day and night.
Now that these female celebrities were suspected of signing on with YC, it was no wonder Tang Huahua said that it was explosive news… It’d be odd if it wasn’t explosive with so many female celebrities mentioned altogether!
With that thought, Ji Yi immediately exited WeChat and opened Weibo.
It was just as she imagined – the top searches on Weibo were practically all about that news: “Chen Wanlin YC,” “Lin Shiyi, He Jichen,” “Jiang Xinxin New Management”…
Five minutes ago, an insider leaked the fact that YC was only planning to sign one female artist.
It was difficult to not compare when several big-shot female celebrities were bunched together. If their fans weren’t defending their idol, they were replying to haters of their idol. To get involved, some verified users started polls like “Who will become YC Corp’s first artist?” causing fans to participate more fiercely than before. In a moment, was Weibo completely revolving around the topic: “Which female celebrity will be signed by the hottest, talented director He Jichen?”
I’m already an artist signed under YC, but the news that just came out doesn’t have anything to do with me…
Could it be that He Jichen’s recently been planning to sign other artists?
Any one of these female artists was better than she was by a hundred times – no, a thousand times. He Jichen was hot right now, so if he was able to sign one of them, they’d undoubtedly be a strong team… To be associated with YC as a company in addition to He Jichen could provide anyone with the best prospects.
But when he first signed her, he told her she would be the only artist signed under YC…
But that was over two months ago. Aside from learning that she was booked to take on the role as the female lead for the new drama “The Unstable, Grand Tang” that Cheng Weiwan told her about, the company hadn’t given her any other jobs. She hadn’t even met a manager…
Could it be that something changed after He Jichen promised her?
Ji Yi’s mood instantly plummeted.
She stared at her phone screen filled with conversations on Weibo without the least bit of interest and ended up closing the app.
There was a new message notification for her on WeChat.
Ji Yi casually clicked it. It was a whole series of messages from Tang Huahua.
“He Xuezhang[1] is simply amazing! He’s actually going to sign an A-list celebrity!”
“Ah! I like so many female celebrities! One of them is Lin Siyi. I hope He Xuezhang ends up signing her!”
“Jiang Xinxin is good too. What to do? Xiao Yi, I can’t decide!”
“…”
“Xiao Yi, come come come! Log into the game and play with me!”
There were about ten minutes between her final message and her first message. Tang Huahua must’ve already finished going through the latest entertainment news; her excitement over the news must’ve died down and she was now distracted by the game.
Ji Yi wasn’t in the mood to play anymore, yet she was afraid her mind would wander if she had nothing to do, so she logged into the game.
Maybe it was because her mind was preoccupied or maybe she was just bad at the game, but she played particularly poorly. She died a total of eighteen times in one match.
Ji Yi stared at her “2.0” score and felt even worse. She rejected Tang Huahua’s next game invite and replied “busy with something” then tossed her phone aside.
The premiere for “Three Thousand Lunatics” was being shown today at eight in the evening.
After dinner, Ji Yi was glued to the TV.
Having gone through post-production, “Three Thousand Lunatics” was aesthetically beautiful and the scenes looked impeccable, the soundtrack was magnificent, and the scenes were edited to be compact yet orderly and logical so the pacing was good. Just two episodes were enough to push the drama to the top of everyone’s minds, grabbing everyone’s attention.
In the evening, Zhang Sao was free, so seeing as Ji Yi was watching TV, she decided to join her. After watching the latest episode, Zhang Sao couldn’t help but ask Ji Yi about the story.
After chatting to Zhang Sao till about half-past ten, Ji Yi drank some hot milk and headed back to the bedroom. She laid in bed and opened Weibo out of habit.
Perhaps it was because “Three Thousand Lunatics” was showing that Ji Yi’s fanbase, which was usually stagnant, actually increased by two hundred percent that night.
The hot searches list was still taken over by the news of YC signing a new artist, but “Three Thousand Lunatics” actually made it onto the list too.
Most of the comments were from fans admiring the female lead, Qian Ge, along with the male lead, Cheng Yi. There were also quite a few random viewers who complimented the story. Ji Yi flipped through about three hundred or so pages before she finally read something about herself. They probably couldn’t remember her real name, so they only mentioned her character’s name when they said: “Princess Qingyang is so beautiful.”
When she closed Weibo, Ji Yi couldn’t help but check a discussion on who might be the next female artist to sign with YC. She glanced at the statistics to see that the total number of voters had reached twenty million.
But underneath the Weibo statistics, the blogger still made a new post.
[1] [Honorific] Older, male school mate
It was twenty-five past nine in the evening.
The post read: “Insider reveals that YC has the copyrights to “Jiuchong Palace” and the TV drama has already started to raise funds. This time, the female artist YC signs will most likely be the female lead on “Jiuchong Palace.”
The female lead to “Jiuchong Palace”… When He Jichen first signed Ji Yi, she saw the licensing contract for “Jiuchong Palace.”
She always assumed that after she signed with YC, her first series would be “Jiuchong Palace,” but two days ago, Cheng Weiwan gave her the script for “The Unstable, Grand Tang” instead. Could it be that the situation wasn’t as Cheng Weiwan described? Ji Yi wasn’t assigned to train her acting skills with another series first, but in actuality, they already had a female lead cast for “Jiuchong Palace”?
Ji Yi was feeling better after she watched “Three Thousand Lunatics,” but now she suddenly felt down.
She was afraid that the more Weibo posts she read, the more upset she’d feel, so she switched her phone off and laid in bed with her eyes shut.
Like the night before, she laid on He Jichen’s bed, tossing and turning for a long time before forcing herself to sleep.
She didn’t sleep well and wasn’t able to wake up naturally like the night before either. Instead, she slept for no more than an hour before she woke up again.
Ji Yi laid in bed uncomfortably then eventually pulled off the covers and hopped out of bed. She wanted to walk to the kitchen to pour a cup of water. When she walked to the door and cracked it open a little, she heard Zhang Sao whispering outside.
Ji Yi couldn’t quite hear her clearly from upstairs. After hearing nothing after Zhang Sao finished speaking, she realized Zhang Sao was on the phone. Ji Yi pulled the door open and quietly crept over.
As she reached the banister, Ji Yi glanced downstairs into the living room. Zhang Sao was sitting on the sofa with her back facing her and a phone to her ear. “Miss Ji went to bed at ten something…” she said.
Miss Ji… is she talking about me?
Ji Yi suddenly stopped in her tracks.
She didn’t know what the person said on the other side, but Zhang Sao respectfully said, “… the wound is healing just fine, but the swelling in her face hasn’t completely gone down yet…”
“…I have. I gave Miss Ji an egg to disperse the bruising… I have. I applied the medicine… Yes, I’ll go into the bedroom to check on Miss Ji later to see if she’s scratched the wound…”
“… Miss Ji’s in a good mood. She slept from last night all the way till twelve in the afternoon. After lunch, she started to play games and watched Three Thousand Lunatics last night… Mhm, Mr. He, don’t worry. I’ll take good care of Miss Ji… Then Mr. He, if there’s nothing else, I’ll hang up first… Goodbye, Mr. He.”
Ji Yi realized it was He Jichen on the other line from the two words Zhang Sao said at the end: “Mr. He.”
She instinctively glanced at the grandfather clock in the living room. It was already almost one in the morning, yet He Jichen wasn’t asleep yet.
From Zhang Sao’s lengthy reply, she could tell that He Jichen was asking about her situation. Was he worried about her?
No, he had Zhang Sao watching over her so she didn’t scratch like crazy after her wound healed. This wasn’t “worrying,” this was “caring”…
So, even after what happened between them in Shanghai, even though she rejected his offer to take responsibility and although they hadn’t kept in contact for a month, he still cared about her…
Zhang Sao hung up the phone and got up.
Ji Yi was afraid Zhang Sao would turn around and see her. She quickly put that thought to rest and retreated a few steps back into the bedroom.
Ji Yi laid back in bed, but she wasn’t sleepy anymore. Staring out at the night sky outside, she eventually did manage to sleep. However, she wasn’t asleep for long when the phone by her pillow started to ring.
She reached for her phone and glanced at the screen. It was Tang Huahua calling.
It was only seven in the morning – why was Tang Huahua calling her?
Ji Yi had a headache from being so sleepy. She swiped her phone screen and picked up the call with a lifeless “Hello” then heard Tang Huahua shrieking from the other side: “Ji Yi! You’re really something, huh?! Something so big happened, yet you actually kept it a secret from me!”
Ji Yi was a little groggy, so she didn’t understand what Tang Huahua was talking about.
Before she even opened her mouth to ask Tang Huahua what she meant, Tang Huahua sounded oddly excited over the phone as she said, “You know… I was gaming all night long then before I went to sleep, I casually glanced at Weibo. Just a glance… then I saw your name right at the top of the hot searches! And to think I even shared such explosive news with you last night… I bet you already knew everything!”
“Stop stop stop …” interrupted Ji Yi, completely confused. “…Huahua, what’re you talking about?”
“Xiao Yi, you’re still pretending now?! I was just messing with you when I said ‘you really are something’! I know you guys had to keep the contract a secret, but now that YC announced it, you don’t have to pretend with me!”
Ji Yi hadn’t quite come to her senses. Tang Huahua’s ecstatic voice instantly softened up over the phone: “Xiao Yi, you’re about to shoot to the top! Don’t forget about me! Even if it’s for a minor role like a tea-serving maid and even if there are no lines, that’s fine with me! You have to remember to support me… Xiao Yi…”
As Tang Huahua acted all cute, Ji Yi slowly came to.
Tang Huahua said YC made a public announcement and that her name made it to the top of the hot searches. That means there’s news about me on Weibo?
A second later, Ji Yi opened Weibo.
It was just as Tang Huahua said – once she opened the hot searches, the first two words to pop into view were “Ji Yi.”
Ji Yi hesitated for a second before clicking it. The topic was: YC official account announces their first signed female artist. It’s not an A-list female celebrity, nor a popular actress, but Princess Qingyang, Ji Yi, from “Three Thousand Lunatics.”
The first Weibo post underneath the topic was from YC’s official account with her headshot underneath.
This topic had been hyped up for a whole day and night and so many famous female celebrities were dragged into it, so there was lots of enthusiasm over it. Now that she’d been officially announced as a signed female artist at YC, she suddenly gained almost ten million followers in the few short hours while she was away. After she refreshed the page, her numbers endlessly skyrocketed, gaining thousands of followers every so often.
“Xiao Yi? Xiao Yi?” cried Tang Huahua over the phone call that was still connected.
Ji Yi snapped back to reality. “I’m not very clear on the details myself…”
She didn’t wait for Tang Huahua to speak before she piped up again. “Huahua, I’m hanging up first. Call you back later.”
After she hung up the phone, Ji Yi reread everything about herself on Weibo then clicked on her own Weibo page.
She rarely posted on Weibo; even when she did post, nobody replied to her.
The latest Weibo post was still the MVP trophy pic she earned playing with Tang Huahua two days ago. Last night, there were only thirteen comments, one of which was an advert. But now, there were over a million.
Even her “likes” broke five million.
Overnight, she woke up to actually become this famous.
This all came too suddenly. Ji Yi abruptly pinched her thigh and felt a piercing pain. That was when she knew she wasn’t dreaming. This was all real.
She wasn’t stupid; she knew she couldn’t have become famous out of nowhere. If the events of yesterday hadn’t happened then even if YC announced she was the first female artist to be signed, it might not have grabbed everyone’s attention.
Jiang Xinxin, Lin Siyi, Chen Wanlin… someone used their popularity yesterday to stir commotion and arouse everyone’s attention and curiosity, so after the truth came out today in YC’s announcement, Ji Yi became the focal point.
So, those insanely famous A-listers were nothing but floor mats, and the true spotlight really ended up landing on her.
As these thoughts drifted through her mind, Ji Yi couldn’t help but tighten her fingers around her phone.
This meant that He Jichen never intended on signing any other female artist from the beginning. Yesterday, the explosive news on Weibo was just to hype things up for her.
And he purposefully decided to release the breaking news on the same day “Three Thousand Lunatics” was released; it was all to quickly present her to the world and make them pay attention to her performance as Princess Qingyang. This way, if her acting skills were great, it would prevent everyone from remembering the character Princess Qingyang, but instead, they would remember the actress, Ji Yi, playing Princess Qingyang.
Yesterday, when she saw those news articles, she thought He Jichen abandoned her and was going to collaborate with other female celebrities.
So… Not only did he not forget about his promise to her, but he even gave her such an enormous, pleasant surprise!
Because she misunderstood He Jichen yesterday, she felt a tinge of guilt overcome her heart.
She remembered how she incidentally overheard Zhang Sao when she couldn’t sleep and went to get a cup of water in the middle of the night.
Even though things ended badly in Shanghai, he’s still this attentive towards me…
Ji Yi’s heart started to race uncontrollably. She didn’t know what was wrong with her. All of a sudden, she really wanted to call He Jichen.
With that thought, her fingers opened her contact list and found He Jichen’s number. She didn’t realize what she was actually doing as her fingertips pressed the call button.
The phone rang three times before it was picked up.
He Jichen picked up, but it wasn’t clear if he’d been woken up by the call, or if he was thinking about something else as he hesitated for a moment before saying, “Xiao Yi?”
When she heard his voice, Ji Yi turned her head in a daze and glanced at her phone. Then she slowly realized that she actually did call He Jichen.
“What’s wrong? Xiao Yi? Does your wound hurt?” He Jichen spoke without first waiting for Ji Yi to speak.
Compared to the composed voice he had when he first picked up the phone, he suddenly sounded quite impatient.
As his voice dropped, she hadn’t made a peep when she heard him cry “Dr. Xia” from the other line.
“He Jichen…” said Ji Yi hurriedly as she realized that He Jichen misunderstood.
The words in He Jichen’s mouth came to a sudden stop. After a second, Ji Yi realized that he was speaking to Dr. Xia, “Excuse me, please wait…”
Then Ji Yi felt his voice become a lot clearer than before and assumed that he put the phone to his ear. “Mhm?”
“My wound is fine. I was calling you to…” Ji Yi’s voice was soft. She was mid-speech when He Jichen interrupted her words: “Wait just one moment.”
Then Ji Yi heard He Jichen apologize to Dr. Xia and bid him farewell. After a while, He Jichen’s voice sounded clear again. “Go ahead…”
“I…” Ji Yi had called He Jichen too suddenly. She hadn’t even planned what she wanted to say. She merely said one word then suddenly stopped. He Jichen, however, was really patient – he didn’t rush her. After some time, Ji Yi moved her lips and said, “… I saw the top searches on Weibo.”
“Mhm?” replied He Jichen. Ji Yi was speaking so vaguely that he didn’t quite know how to respond. After his confused reply, he realized what she was referring to and let out an “Oh.”
Oh… What kind of answer is that?
Ji Yi made the call instinctively without even thinking about what she was going to say to He Jichen, so as she heard him reply like that, she didn’t quite know what to say.
A wall of silence fell on both sides of the call.
After who knew how much time had passed, Ji Yi suddenly remembered that she could say “thank you” to He Jichen. She gulped but before speaking again, she heard a “Dong!” over the phone.
Like something hit the ground?
Ji Yi furrowed her brows and instinctively asked, “What’s wrong?”
She was met with a wall of silence.
“He Jichen?” repeated Ji Yi.
She finally got a reply from the other line but it sounded like Chen Bai’s voice. “Mr. He?!”
His worried voice made Ji Yi’s brows furrow more tightly. She was going to cry “Assistant Chen” when she heard hurried footsteps over the phone. Then it was Chen Bai’s voice that entered her ears. “Hello, hello, 120? Someone fainted here. The address is …” Chen Bai cried, “Mr. He? Mr. He?!”
Fainted?
Does that mean the “Dong!” I just heard was the sound of He Jichen falling?
Ji Yi bolted up from her bed as she intended to politely cry “Assistant Chen,” but the words came out as “Chen Bai! Chen Bai!”
Ji Yi shouted quite a few times, so Chen Bai must’ve heard her from He Jichen’s phone after he hung up his call. Chen Bai picked up the phone and replied to her, “Miss Ji?”
“What’s wrong with He Jichen?”
“Mr. He hasn’t been feeling well lately. I don’t know why, but he hasn’t been home for the past two days and has been staying in the office doing overtime. I came into his office just now to give him breakfast and saw him on the floor…”
He stayed at his office to work overtime? Didn’t he say he was on a business trip and no one was going to be home, so I could stay over?
In just one instant, Ji Yi suddenly understood everything.
He Jichen knew she was afraid that her parents would see her roughed up and worry about her, so she didn’t want to go home. Yet, he was worried about her staying in a hotel alone, so he lied about going on a business trip and took her to his place…
In the past two days, she had been attentively taken care of by Zhang Sao, but He Jichen was in the office doing overtime…
It felt like something had stabbed Ji Yi right in the heart, bringing a heavy yet blunt pain upon her.
She heard a phone go off on the other line which startled her.
Chen Bai quickly took the call. Through the phone, Ji Yi heard Chen Bai reply with “the 28th floor.” Just as she was wondering if the ambulance had arrived, she heard Chen Bai’s voice again. “Miss Ji, the ambulance has arrived. I’m taking Mr. He to the hospital first. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging…”
Ji Yi didn’t wait for Chen Bai to finish speaking and said, “Which hospital are you going to?”
“The closest municipal hospital to the office,” said Chen Bai.
As Chen Bai’s voice dropped, the sound of hurried footsteps and an unfamiliar man’s voice were heard. “Where is the patient?”
Ji Yi knew the ambulance arrived, so she didn’t want to disturb Chen Bai. Instead, she replied with “got it” and put the phone down.
She sat on the bed for a while, holding her phone. The next second, she pulled off the covers and jumped out of bed. She rushed into the bathroom without even putting her shoes on.
After she freshened up, Ji Yi hurriedly changed her clothes, grabbed her purse, and ran down the stairs.
Zhang Sao was already awake and was in the kitchen preparing breakfast. As she came out of the kitchen, she saw that Ji Yi was at the entrance, changing her shoes. Zhang Sao immediately rushed out in a panic. “Miss Ji, where are you going so early in the morning?”
After Ji Yi put her shoes on, she didn’t glance at Zhang Sao and replied, “I have to go out for something,” Then she pulled the door open, rushed over to the elevator, and jabbed the button a few times.
Zhang Sao followed her out and cried her name a few times, but this time, Ji Yi didn’t reply. She stepped into the elevator and closed the door.
Ji Yi ran out of He Jichen’s neighborhood and hailed a taxi for the hospital Chen Bai mentioned.
He Jichen’s apartment was quite some distance from the office. When Ji Yi was about to reach the hospital, she gave Chen Bai a call to ask for He Jichen’s room number.
After she hung up the phone, the car drove for two minutes before it reached the hospital entrance. Ji Yi paid the fare, hurriedly got out of the car and ran towards the hospital without even collecting her change.
There were many people in the inpatient department. Ji Yi waited a few minutes before getting into the elevator.
When Ji Yi reached the floor of He Jichen’s room, she followed the signs on the wall and easily found his room.
Through the window, Ji Yi immediately caught sight of He Jichen laying on the bed.
The doctors must’ve examined He Jichen on her way there. There was an IV drip by the bed with a thin needle in the back of his arm.
Ji Yi stood at the entrance watching for a while before she slowed her hurried steps, pushed the door open, and stepped inside.
Chen Bai was probably checking him in because the only one in the patient room was He Jichen.
Ji Yi walked over to his bedside and drew closer. That was when Ji Yi noticed that He Jichen’s face was frighteningly pale; even his lips were drained of blood.
His eyes were shut as he laid there motionlessly.
The dark circles under his eyes were terrifying, and he didn’t look the least bit angry at all. If it wasn’t for his heaving chest, Ji Yi would’ve really thought she was looking at a shell of a person.
It felt like something was clutching Ji Yi’s heart as a dull pain started to surface again. Her breathing started to grow unsteady.
Ji Yi stared at the sleeping He Jichen for some time before the heaviness in her chest gradually dispersed.
The air conditioning was a little strong in the room and one of He Jichen’s legs were sticking out. Ji Yi’s mood improved slightly as she took a step forward and stood by the side of the bed. Then she bent over and pulled the corner of the comforter to gently cover He Jichen’s leg.
Before she could straighten up, the door opened. Ji Yi turned to see Chen Bai walk in with a stack of forms and a bag.
Chen Bai didn’t realize Ji Yi was in the room, so when he saw Ji Yi after nonchalantly taking a few steps into the room, he suddenly came to a halt.
Ji Yi called him on her way over to ask for He Jichen’s room number, so Chen Bai knew she was going to come. After less than a second, he returned to normal and greeted her, “Miss Ji, you’re here?”
Ji Yi gently nodded, straightened up, and took a few steps back. Then she asked in a quiet voice, “What did the doctor say?”
Chen Bai knew Ji Yi was asking about He Jichen’s condition. As he walked over to the bedside, he replied, “He’s a bit malnourished and now he’s burning up pretty badly. The doctor recommends that he stay in the hospital on a drip to get some rest for a few days.”
He Jichen had a servant at home and an assistant at the office. There were people hired to prepare three meals a day for him, so how could he be malnourished?
Ji Yi was a little surprised. “Malnourished?”
“Yeah.” Chen Bai put the medicine and forms on the coffee table. “Last month, when I called you to tell you that I couldn’t find Mr. He, I took him home from the bar later that night, right? The next day when he woke up, Mr. He headed straight to the office. Ever since that day, he’s been like a crazy person, working hard every day. Come to think of it, out of the twenty-four hours in a day, he spends at least eighteen hours at the office. On some occasions he even spends as much as twenty-three hours there; he’s like a tireless robot. His appetite hasn’t been great since he’s barely been eating anything. Sometimes, aside from tea and coffee, he won’t eat a thing. For the past two days, he’s been staying at the office, so this ended up happening today…”
From when Chen Bai went to look for me till now, it’s been almost a month. For the past month, has He Jichen spent every day like this?
Ji Yi listened with a slightly pale face. When she spoke, there was a slight tremble in her voice. “Has he been spending the past month like this?”
“Yeah, like this…”
Chen Bai answered casually, but upon hearing his response, Ji Yi’s body swayed gently.
Chen Bai noticed Ji Yi’s subtle response and glanced over at He Jichen on the bed. His pupils turned bright as he had a sudden thought.
After that night in Shanghai, he didn’t know what Mr. He and Miss Ji talked about in the tea house at the Four Season’s hotel, but he was certain that Mr. He cared about Miss Ji.
In the past month, when he went to the office to get Mr. He’s signature, he often saw He Jichen staring at a photo in a daze. Chen Bai would have to call him a few times before he snapped to his senses.
A few days ago, Chen Bai entered Mr. He’s office while he was in the bathroom. The photo he often held was slipped in the pages of a book on the desk.
Simply out of curiosity, he pulled out the photo and caught a glimpse of it. That was when he realized that the photo Mr. He often stared at was a photo of Miss Ji.
