A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You - Chapter 492-499
Like before, He Jichen silently stared out the window like a motionless statue.
Chen Bai knew He Jichen was waiting for him to finish what he had to say, so he spoke first: “I saw all the shareholders out.”
He Jichen was lost in his own world, thinking about something as he still didn’t respond.
Chen Bai stared at He Jichen’s back and suddenly remembered the chaos from earlier that afternoon.
He thought back to how He Jichen didn’t give in a bit when he was faced with the shareholders’ determination to force Miss Ji to resign.
He Jichen even hurled the words “She and YC die together” at the shareholders.
It implied that if Ji Yi wasn’t with YC, YC would cease to exist in this world.
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What’s more, he thought Miss Ji wouldn’t want to be disturbed by such matters again, so he signed an agreement because he didn’t care about giving away all his shares at YC as a bargaining chip.
If Miss Ji didn’t generate revenue for YC within a year, He Jichen was willing to leave YC with nothing for himself.
YC was something he single-handedly started with an infinite number of sleepless nights. Yet he was actually willing to give up YC for Miss Ji.
Everyone in the conference room had an oppositional attitude toward him. Everyone aside from Chen Bai stood quietly to one side; when Chen Bai heard that He Jichen was going to use such conditions to negotiate with the shareholders, he couldn’t help but speak out. He wanted to stop him and make him think things over.
But He Jichen didn’t give him a chance to speak before he picked up the pen and signed the agreement.
At that thought, Chen Bai couldn’t help but break the silence in the room: “Mr. He, before the shareholders left, they told me a few words to share with you…”
Chen Bai paused for a moment then continued: “Mr. Li hopes you won’t ruin your bright future over a woman.”
“Mr. Chen hopes you stay rational and think about the bigger picture for YC.”
“Mr. Zhang says that the ‘femme fatale’ is a man’s greatest weakness. If you want to succeed, you can’t be too emotional over relationship issues. Mr. Zhang also added that he hopes you don’t become an incapable ruler…”
“Incapable ruler?” Until now, he hadn’t spoken since Chen Bai stepped into the office. He Jichen suddenly spoke with a gentle voice like he was talking to himself. “Actually, I wanted to be an incapable ruler, but she never gave me that opportunity.”
Chen Bai was stunned.
The office fell silent once again.
After a long period of staring out the window, He Jichen spoke again. In his soft, gentle voice, there was evident pain and sadness. “It’s the femme fatale situation as they said; these are all my one-sided feelings. You don’t even realize how she would rather push him away over ever wanting me.”
Because of that night in Shanghai, Ji Yi felt like she would never be worthy of He Yuguang, so she got the divorce.
But she didn’t want the man she liked either, nor was she willing for him to take responsibility.
So, the femme fatale they were referring to was just his misconception of a femme fatale.
He Jichen was slurring his words, so Chen Bai couldn’t understand him. All he could do was remain silent.
He Jichen spoke again: “Chen Bai, do you know why I ignored you when you tried to stop me from signing that agreement with the shareholders?”
Chen Bai shook his head. After about two seconds, he sensed He Jichen turned his back to him and hurriedly said, “No, I don’t.”
“It’s because YC exists for Ji Yi,” replied He Jichen with a dull voice as he stared unwaveringly out the window.
Rippling waves instantly came over Chen Bai’s heart.
That line, “YC exists for Ji Yi,” lingered in his ears for a long, long time before disappearing.
Again, the conference room fell into silence.
Having steadied himself from the shock of hearing what He Jichen said, Chen Bai opened his mouth after a long silence. He wanted to say something, but he didn’t know what to say. Just as he pondered over what to say, his phone rang in his pocket.
Chen Bai hurriedly broke his train of thought and pulled out his phone. He took a glance at the screen to see that it was Zhuang Yi calling. He quickly accepted the call. “What’s wrong, Zhuang Yi?”
The motionless He Jichen turned his head slightly and shot a glance at Chen Bai when he heard “Zhuang Yi.”
Chen Bai sensed He Jichen moving and immediately understood. He hurriedly lowered the phone from his ear and tapped the speakerphone button.
They heard Zhuang Yi’s voice clearly from the phone. “Assistant Chen, it’s like this… something’s wrong with Ji Yi.”
Chen Bai nodded and glanced over at He Jichen. After he saw a tinge of concern between his brows, he immediately asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Well actually, after leaving conference room two earlier that afternoon, Ji Yi already seemed off. When you asked doctor Xia to come by, she looked calm and no different from usual, but you have no idea… she looked like that all afternoon. Sitting in Mr. He’s office, she didn’t say a word – she was just dazed and she stared without blinking.”
Though Chen Bai was staring at the phone, Chen Bai caught a glimpse of He Jichen’s arm by his side from the corner of his eyes.
He clearly saw He Jichen’s fingers tremble.
Over the phone, Zhuang Yi continued to speak about Ji Yi’s situation: “At eleven something, you asked me to take Ji Yi downstairs to eat, so I told her and she agreed to go. I thought she was hungry. However, when I ordered food and brought it to her, she didn’t take a single bite. I asked her what was wrong. At first, she replied with ‘it’s nothing’ but just now, as I was talking to her, she ignored me. She looked completely dazed, just sitting there, holding her chopsticks in a trance…”
Zhuang Yi hadn’t finished speaking when He Jichen, who was standing in front of the tall windows, suddenly turned around and took big strides over to the office door.
Chen Bai turned his head and glanced at He Jichen. Then he replied to Zhuang Yi: “Got it.” He immediately hung up the call and chased after He Jichen.
They took the elevator up to the second floor.
After coming out of the elevator, He Jichen headed straight for the company canteen.
On a normal day, He Jichen almost never went to the canteen. His sudden appearance today made the chattering canteen fall instantly into silence.
He Jichen stood at the door, staring in all directions for a while. Then, after he spotted Ji Yi sitting on the east side by the window, he immediately walked over under the gaze of every YC employee in the canteen.
Zhuang Yi saw He Jichen and immediately got up. “Mr. He.”
He Jichen ignored Zhuang Yi and stopped right in front of Ji Yi.
He glanced at the table, and it was just as Zhuang Yi described over the phone to Chen Bai; the food on her plate hadn’t been touched at all.
He Jichen furrowed his brows slightly and turned to look at Ji Yi.
She was holding her chopsticks and staring out the window. She was so transfixed that she didn’t even sense him standing by her side.
“Xiao Yi,” cried He Jichen in a low voice.
Ji Yi didn’t react at all like she was completely lost in her own thoughts.
“Ji Yi, He…” said Zhuang Yi intuitively.
Zhuang Yi didn’t get to finish speaking when He Jichen shot her a glance as if to hush her.
Zhuang Yi’s words immediately disappeared from her mouth.
He Jichen shot her another glance. Although he didn’t say anything, Zhuang Yi knew he was asking her to walk away. Zhuang Yi immediately picked up her phone from the table then retreated to Chen Bai’s side nearby.
He Jichen stared at Ji Yi; this picture was frozen still for some time. Then he reached out for her hand and gently removed the chopsticks from her fingertips.
His actions shocked her body into quivering. After a few seconds, she sluggishly turned to look at him.
When he met her eyes, He Jichen curved his mouth into a slight smile. “Why aren’t you eating?”
He spoke softly with a gentle, clean smile, which was entirely different from his usual proud and untouchable self.
No one disliked a person who spoke gently to them. However, at this very moment, He Jichen’s tenderness pierced Ji Yi’s guilty heart, making her feel even more remorseful. A second later, she lowered her head to hide from his gaze.
She didn’t say anything.
He Jichen knew Ji Yi was upset about the series of disputes about yesterday’s variety show recording. He patiently waited for a while and spoke with an even softer and gentler voice, “Is the food not to your taste?”
She still didn’t say anything. She heard He Jichen’s soft voice and felt extremely guilt-ridden and pained deep down inside.
He Jichen didn’t reveal any annoyance with her silence. In fact, he asked again with a good temper, “Then, what do you want to eat? I’ll help get it for you.”
I’m clearly not paying attention, yet he’s still going out of his way to trouble himself. Not only is he not blaming me, but he’s still patiently talking to me…
Ji Yi felt her throat instantly become choked up and she remained silent. However, this time, she shook her head at He Jichen.
“Do you not want to eat, or do you not want to eat here?” asked He Jichen, confused by her head shaking. Seeing as she didn’t make a sound or respond, he continued to say, “Then tell me, what do you want to eat? It doesn’t matter if it’s not here. As long as you say it, I’ll ask someone to make it for you.”
When she heard this, Ji Yi’s fingers suddenly shook and a layer of mist clouded her vision.
She wanted to tell him, “No thanks,” but the bitterness in her throat stopped her from making a sound. All she could do was shake her head at him again.
He Jichen had never cheered a girl up before. This was his first time, so he had no experience. Seeing as Ji Yi still looked sulky after he said so much, he didn’t know what else to do. He stood by her side for some time then he reached his hand out and pushed her wheelchair. He turned her around to face him. He crouched down and gently raised her head. He looked at her lowered eyes and little face for a short while then said, “How can you not eat? I haven’t had lunch yet either. Let’s eat together, alright?”
Alright?
He spoke like he was trying to cheer up a child, making Ji Yi’s eyes fog and well up with tears.
Her eyelids concealed her eyes, so he couldn’t see that the rims of her eyes were wet. All he knew was that she wasn’t saying anything. After some time, he spoke again with a persuasive voice: “I know you’re feeling bad. If you don’t want to say anything then let’s not talk. I’ll tell Chen Bai to call the chef and recite the menu. If you hear anything you want to eat, you can nod, alright?”
He said “Alright” again and this time, it sounded even more gentle and affectionate. Ji Yi’s heart suddenly shook when she heard it as a single tear inescapably fell from the corner of her eye and crashed down heavily.
Even though that tear fell on her fair hands, it felt like it fell on He Jichen’s heart, drilling a hole straight through his heart.
“Why’re you crying?” asked He Jichen naturally.
It would’ve been alright if he hadn’t said anything at all. When he spoke, a single tear fell again.
He Jichen hurriedly reached his hand out and cradled Ji Yi’s face. He used his thumb to gently wipe the tear from her face.
He had wanted to comfort her, but he never imagined that his comforting words would make her cry; her tears fell so suddenly like a collapsed river. The tears started to stream even more fiercely.
“There there, don’t cry…” said He Jichen so quickly that he sounded muffled. He might as well have not said anything and kept his silence as he helped her wipe her tears, flustered. The more he wiped, the more tears there were on her face. He gradually started to feel helpless as Ji Yi let out a gentle sob.
He Jichen’s heart ached. The next second, he withdrew his hands from her face and without any regard for the surrounding employees in the canteen, he got up, reached out his hands and pulled her into his embrace. He carefully placed her head on his chest, gently patting her back and trying to cheer her up.
His shirt was quickly soaked with her tears.
He didn’t say anything but silently stayed with her and let her cry freely on his chest.
After some time, he felt her tearful, shivering body gradually quiet down.
He continued to embrace her for some time before he gently pulled her away from his arms.
Her eyes were red from crying and his heart ached as he reached his hand out to wipe the tears from her eyelashes. Then he said: “Do you feel better now? If you’re a little better, how about we go get something to eat?”
Seeing as Ji Yi didn’t really have an appetite, she shook her head.
It’s definitely not okay to not eat… He Jichen was about to try to coax Ji Yi when he suddenly caught a glimpse of the nearby employees whispering amongst themselves from the corners of his eyes. Then he abruptly stopped what he was about to say.
He was so focused on trying to cheer her up that he forgot they were in a public space.
With both her eyes bright red from crying, he certainly didn’t want so many people watching her.
At that thought, He Jichen changed what he was about to say. “…If not, how about we first get something to eat? After we order, we can go back to the office and let the chef cook our food. We’ll eat when you’re hungry, is that alright?”
This time, Ji Yi didn’t shake her head in disagreement but silently nodded.
Since He Jichen appeared at the canteen, Ji Yi either shook her head or stayed silent. Now that she finally reacted, He Jichen looked like he’d seen the most beautiful scenery. With joy plastered across his face, he seemed afraid Ji Yi would change her mind, so he immediately turned his head and cried, “Chen Bai.”
Though Chen Bai had kept a distance from He Jichen and Ji Yi, he heard everything the two of them talked about. When he heard He Jichen calling him, he responded, “I’ll go call the chef now,” and immediately turned around. Then he headed over to the kitchen at the back of the canteen.
Chen Bai quickly brought the chef over to He Jichen and Ji Yi.
The chef followed He Jichen’s orders and started to recite names of dishes: “Boiled Chinese broccoli.”
Ji Yi’s eyes were swollen from crying, so she didn’t want to raise her head and look at the chef. She kept her head down. All she could think about all afternoon was what happened the day before at the recording for the variety show. She just didn’t have the heart to think about food, so she didn’t react as the chef read out the name of a dish.
The chef was uncertain if Ji Yi wanted it or not, so he stopped reading out dish names and looked over at He Jichen.
He Jichen crouched down and looked up at Ji Yi’s lowered little face. He repeated the dish that the chef just called out: “Boiled Chinese broccoli – do you want to eat it?”
Ji Yi looked up as she heard He Jichen speak. She glanced at him then shook her head.
He Jichen shook his head at the chef to indicate “no.”
The chef continued to read out the menu. Every time after He Jichen repeated the name of a dish, Ji Yi made a decision.
Sometimes, Ji Yi quickly nodded or shook her head. Other times, Ji Yi would take a long time to respond.
No matter how quickly or slowly she responded, He Jichen was unbelievably patient throughout it all. Even though the chef was anxious, he didn’t dare show it, so he could only stand by and keep reading out the menu.
It took a whole half hour to place the lunch order.
The chef took Ji Yi’s order and repeated it once over. After he confirmed there were no mistakes, the chef felt so free that he darted back to the kitchen.
He Jichen made Chen Bai stay at the canteen to wait for the food. Meanwhile, he ushered Ji Yi into the elevator and headed back to his own office.
He Jichen’s heart ached, seeing how silent Ji Yi was, so he took the initiative to try to find a topic to talk about.
“Are you tired?”
“Do you want to nap in the lounge for a while?”
“The TV remote is here. Do you want to watch TV for a while?”
“There’s a game console here. What game do you want to play? I’ll play with you…”
The room was very quiet. Aside from He Jichen who spoke every now and then, there were no other sounds in the room.
Chen Bai, who had been left at the canteen, carried two large bags of takeout to He Jichen’s office.
Chen Bai put the lunch down as He Jichen waved his arm for him to leave.
“Are you hungry? Do you want to eat?”
He Jichen waited a while, but seeing as Ji Yi didn’t say anything, he reiterated: “When you’re hungry later on, tell me, okay?”
Ji Yi’s eyes felt sore. She was afraid tears were going to fall again as she bit her lip and lowered her head.
She always hoped she’d achieve great things in showbiz. After such a good situation presented itself to her, she ruined it and she really set herself back.
Having been dismissed by director Lin with such harsh words, Ji Yi must feel really upset… But it’s no plan to stay this depressed deep down.
He Jichen thought about it and said again, “Do you want to walk with me around the park in the afternoon?”
He Jichen thought about it and repeated himself: “Do you want to walk with me around the park in the afternoon?”
“Or how about we go shopping? Where do you want to go? Shin Kong Palace?”
“Or we could go Houhai. It’s so hot – how about we find a bar to sit in?”
He Jichen asked her one question after another with an open, delicate voice. After having had a break from crying for so long in the canteen earlier, Ji Yi’s tears suddenly fell again.
Sometimes, women were strange like that. Even after feeling enormously wronged, Ji Yi only held her tongue, clenched her teeth and endured it silently. However, the tears she forced back suddenly broke out in soundless sobs after she received words of comfort.
She wasn’t actually that weak or that delicate. Three years ago, she didn’t even shed a tear when she faced Qian Ge’s betrayal or when she woke up to realize that Qian Ge sabotaged her while in cahoots with their mutual enemy.
Yesterday, she didn’t cry when her ankle hurt so bad that it was hard for her to breathe after falling from the platform.
Back home, she didn’t cry either when she received a call from Qian Ge to show off and provoke her.
Even this morning in the conference room, she never thought about crying when she felt so hurt from director Lin acting so cruel towards her.
In the afternoon, she didn’t want to cry in the slightest even when she felt uneasy after seeing He Jichen so concerned and guilty rather than depressed over the YC employees talking about her and misunderstanding her in the canteen…
But after he appeared, she didn’t know what was wrong with her. She became unbelievably emotional.
He Jichen, standing by Ji Yi’s side, saw her tears fall. His compelling voice suddenly sounded worried: “Why’re you crying again?”
“Don’t cry, it’s in the past. I already resolved what needs to be resolved. It’s fine now…”
She wasn’t crying because of what happened; she was crying because of him.
Did he know that she probably wouldn’t have cried if he blamed her, complained to her, or even lectured her like director Lin? It was just that him acting like this now made her heart feel the worst pain.
“… Really, it’s nothing. It’s in the past now…”
The more He Jichen tried to cheer her up, the fiercer Ji Yi’s throat seized up. She raised her hand and wiped away the tears on her face as she said with a trembling voice, “Don’t say anything. I beg you. Stop talking…”
She was afraid that if he continued to speak, she would lose it and start to cry like she did in the canteen.
“Okay, okay, I won’t talk. I won’t talk anymore.” He Jichen really did shut up.
The office instantly slipped into silence again.
She suppressed the surging emotions in her chest and stared at the bright sunshine outside the window.
He stood to one side, staring at her, silently accompanying her through the pain and sadness.
At that very moment, time seemed to quietly stop.
After a long, long time, the sun descended behind the mountains and night came. Neon lights started to light up, one after the other. Ji Yi’s gaze withdrew from the window and fell on the man beside her, who had silently stayed with her all afternoon.
His patience and indulgence for her emotional states completely softened her heart. She stared at him for some time then remembered that she hadn’t eaten lunch yet. Since he stayed by her side, He Jichen hadn’t eaten either, so Ji Yi said, “I’m hungry.”
Those two simple words were as beautiful as the sounds of nature for He Jichen. “What would you like to eat?” he asked immediately.
Ji Yi was more talkative than before. “Whatever’s fine.”
Their lunch had gone cold long ago and they naturally wouldn’t eat it even if it was heated in the microwave since it had probably gone bad by now.
The canteen chef finished work long ago at six and it was now almost eight o’clock. Most of the restaurants were still open, however…
With that thought, He Jichen asked, “Let’s eat out?”
Ji Yi lowered her head and glanced at her cast. She felt that it was too much trouble to eat out, so she hesitated for a moment then moved her lips. “Can we call for takeout?” she said quietly.
“Sure,” replied He Jichen with no hesitation at all.
He pulled out his phone and opened a takeout app. He crouched down and he was now the same height as Ji Yi in her wheelchair. Then he brought the phone in front of Ji Yi. “What do you want to eat?”
Ji Yi scanned the phone roughly and chose a Cantonese restaurant with rather light meals.
He Jichen clicked it. He browsed through the menu while asking Ji Yi for her opinion.
After ordering some food, He Jichen put his phone back and remembered that Ji Yi hadn’t drunk any water since earlier that afternoon. “How about I go pour you a glass of water?” asked He Jichen.
Ji Yi let out a gentle “Mhm.”
The food arrived forty minutes later. Having rushed back from America overnight, He Jichen hadn’t taken a shower yet. With mild OCD, he’d been feeling uncomfortable for a long time but he waited for Ji Yi to finish her water first. Seeing that she was feeling better, he took her glass and said quietly, “Play on your phone for a while or watch TV. I’m going to take a shower.”
Ji Yi nodded silently.
When He Jichen finished taking a shower and came out of the lounge, his phone happened to ring. It was the delivery boy with the takeout.
He hinted at Ji Yi to wait in the office then he grabbed his wallet from the desk and walked out.
Shortly after, He Jichen brought a bag of takeout back with him.
He casually tidied up the files from the coffee table then randomly tossed them onto the sofa. He placed the takeout neatly on the table then walked over and positioned Ji Yi in front of the coffee table.
After finishing dinner, it was already ten o’clock.
Aside from some workers working overtime, the entire office block was empty.
He Jichen waited until after Ji Yi put her chopsticks down to hand her a glass of water. Then he said, “Get some rest first and I’ll tidy up this stuff. I’ll take you back home afterward.”
Ji Yi, holding onto the glass of water, said “Alright” softly.
He Jichen got up, tidied up the takeout boxes and put them back into the takeout bag. Then he pulled out a few tissues and wiped down the coffee table. He straightened up and walked out of the office holding the bag.
Having just finished eating, Ji Yi felt a little full. After drinking about half a glass of water, she couldn’t drink anymore.
She put the glass of water back down on the coffee table and out of habit, she reached her hand out to grab her phone by the sofa.
As she reached for her phone, she briefly lost focus. When she withdrew her arm, she accidentally knocked the files He Jichen had placed on the sofa to the ground.
The files happened to fall by Ji Yi’s legs. She bent down without a second thought and reached out to pick up the files.
When she put the files back on the sofa, she incidentally glanced over the files. Then, as though all the pressure points in her body had been hit, she suddenly froze.
After about ten seconds, she held the file up…
After about ten seconds, she raised the file to eye-level and scanned the three words “Leave with nothing.” She stared at those words for a long time without blinking before her gaze gradually fell to the bottom of the page, signed “He Jichen” in black ink. Her fingers trembled as her eyes shot up again to the top of the document.
It was there in black and white, clearly printed. Ji Yi skimmed the contents of the file from top to bottom then her eyes locked onto the three words “Leave with nothing.”
The people at the table behind her in the afternoon at the canteen said that He Jichen insisted on keeping her at YC in front of all the shareholders who wanted her out. She overheard them say that they signed an agreement that if she didn’t generate profits for YC within a year, He Jichen was willing to give up his place as CEO of the company.
At the time, it wasn’t like she wasn’t moved by his gesture, but she assumed it was just an informal wager he had with YC’s board of directors. However, she never imagined that behind the wager were three words she knew nothing about: Leave with nothing.
Leave with nothing… This went to say that if she wasn’t able to generate profits for YC within a year, He Jichen would lose everything.
Chen Bai told her before that He Jichen gave up attending a prestigious school, having a great future, and argued with the He family all to create YC. He sacrificed countless nights for YC.
He sacrificed so much for YC including his blood, sweat, and tears. It was his enterprise and the most important thing in his life, but to keep her at YC, he was actually willing to use YC as a bargaining chip.
Even if he did it for her, Ji Yi felt like it wasn’t really worth it…
She had to admit that she felt down from ruining the great future He Jichen and YC set up for her yesterday.
She had to admit that her heart was filled with hatred from Qian Ge’s gloating phone call and Xie Siyao’s takeover of her shoot.
She had to admit that she felt unfairly treated when director Lin lectured her severely in front of all the executives at the office, not to mention when she called her trash and assumed she used He Jichen to make it to the top.
Furthermore, she had to admit that in the canteen, she couldn’t act like all the rumors and gossip were nothing and that she didn’t take it to heart…
So when he appeared by her side and cheered her up so patiently and with such a good temper, she not only felt guilty but also like she was truly a mess.
Yet, he unconditionally indulged her in her acting out all afternoon without the slightest bit of impatience.
Her heart was already warm and moved by all this, but she never imagined that behind her back, he actually made this bet to “Leave with nothing”…
All of a sudden, Ji Yi’s eyes heated up and she instinctively turned her head to look out the window.
Her fingers creased the document as her agitated emotions made her tighten her grip.
The office doors suddenly opened. He Jichen was back from throwing out the trash.
When she heard him enter, Ji Yi hurriedly put the document back on the sofa.
Not having seen her movements, He Jichen walked into the washroom to wash his hands then went into the lounge to find his car keys. After putting his phone and wallet back, he walked over to Ji Yi. “Let’s go.”
He walked around the wheelchair after those two quiet words then he raised his hand. Just as he was about to push the wheelchair out, Ji Yi suddenly reached her hand out and grabbed his wrist.
