NOVEL WEB Chapter 134-142
Chapter 134: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (4)
So he’s in charge of “Three Thousand Lunatics…” He had such a good script for “Three Thousand Lunatics” that she couldn’t miss out.
He did it all on purpose. He waited for her to sign the contract then cast the supporting actress…
Her current value was sky-high, and the cost of breaking the contract was terrifyingly high. As soon as the contract was set, she faced a huge sum of compensation, so she couldn’t break the contract!
So from the moment she had the script for “Three Thousand Lunatics” in her hands, He Jichen already had a ditch dug for her!
She knew Ji Yi would never give up on returning to the entertainment industry. She also knew that He Jichen couldn’t resist helping Ji Yi, but she never imagined that He Jichen would come up with such a plan to help her!
At that thought, a flash of complete disbelief crossed Qian Ge’s eyes as she met He Jichen’s eyes.
Her reaction told He Jichen that she already understood everything.
Since he reached his objective of sufficiently upsetting her, he didn’t need to continue wasting his time with her here!
At that thought, He Jichen let go of Qian Ge’s wrist, took a step back, and without even so much as a glance at her, he headed for the elevators.
Qian Ge stared at He Jichen’s back. She couldn’t help but clench her hand into a fist.
He was right. Ji Yi was born to live a good life because she had him, so she didn’t need to do everything she had to do. To make it in the industry and to stand out, she had to socialize with all types of people every day to have everything go her way.
But what about her? She liked him… She always liked him, but he actually helped another woman and he hated her to the bone…
A waft of jealousy and instability instantly shrouded Qian Ge’s heart and sent her emotions spiraling. The second He Jichen stepped into the elevator, she suddenly got up and cried, “He Jichen, due to what you did three years ago because of her car accident, you sullied yourself, yet she doesn’t even know about it… You say I’m pitiful, but I think maybe you’re even more pitiful. No… even sadder…”
With Qian Ge’s words, He Jichen didn’t react at first. When he heard her final word, his finger over the button to close the elevator doors suddenly paused. Then, he took big strides to stand in front of Qian Ge.
He didn’t say anything but grabbed the car keys from her hand, pressed the unlock button and saw the lights of a nearby car light up. A second later, he dragged Qian Ge’s arm all the way to the car, pulled open the car doors, and shoved her in.
“If you didn’t mention it, I forgot how you worked with Lin Ya to trap her in the abandoned building that day of her audition for ‘The Palace,’ right?”
Alright then! Today he was going to give her a taste of her own medicine!
“Just to make me even sadder, tonight, why don’t I take back what you owe her from that day?”
With that, He Jichen slammed the door of Qian Ge’s car hard, pressed the button on the car keys, and locked her in. Then, without even bothering with Qian Ge who was slapping the windows, he mercilessly turned around to leave.
As the elevator reached the door for that night’s dinner party, He Jichen was in no hurry to go into the party room, so instead, he handed the restaurant manager Qian Ge’s phone and car keys. He ordered him to unlock a car in the underground parking lot in four hours time then leisurely stepped over to the party room doors.
He pushed the door open, scanned the room while ignoring everyone’s greetings, but he couldn’t find Ji Yi.
Chapter 135: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (5)
He Jichen thought maybe Ji Yi went to the restroom, so he didn’t think too much of it. He nonchalantly averted his eyes towards the waitress who brought him a glass of wine before he leisurely clinked glasses with everyone in the room.
After greeting everyone, He Jichen then pulled out a chair and took a seat.
The people in the room endlessly tried to find topics to talk about with him.
He Jichen never liked these kinds of lively situations, yet it wasn’t a responsibility he could avoid. Having to face each person there, he either nodded or said a few polite words in response.
He seemed evidently more distant than the friendly people around him, but that was fine. The livelier the atmosphere in the room was, the less likely it would be silent and awkward.
After a while, everyone’s conversations slowly moved away from his appearance.
He Jichen used that opportunity to pull out a single cigarette, lit it up, and out of years of habit, he didn’t smoke it. Instead, he put it between his fingers and every now and again, he tapped the ashes into the ashtray.
Sitting next to He Jichen was the main actor for “Three Thousand Lunatics,” Lu Nan. After Lu Nan and the casting director finished their conversation, he turned his head and exchanged a few words with him every now and then.
He Jichen only listened but didn’t answer.
The third time he raised his hand to flick the ashes, he looked up and scanned the people around the dining table as though he just thought of something. Then he realized that since he arrived about twenty minutes ago, Ji Yi still hadn’t returned.
He Jichen furrowed his brows, shifted over to Lu Nan, interrupted his rambling on how many times he’d read “Three Thousand Lunatics” and said, “How come I haven’t seen the leading actress and supporting actress yet?”
“Qian Ge left long ago since she had something to do at the last minute. The supporting actress…” Lu Nan probably forgot Ji Yi’s name, so he called her by her role. As he replied to He Jichen, he looked around the room like he was looking for her. “…I didn’t pay attention to her. If she’s not in the room then she’s probably in the restroom?”
After he said this, Lu Nan’s eyes hovered over the empty seat next to He Jichen and said in astonishment, “Huh? Mr. Lin hasn’t come back yet?”
What Qian Ge said in the underground parking lot suddenly wandered into He Jichen’s mind. His fingers clasped onto the cigarette, and abruptly trembled for a moment as an awful feeling climbed into his heart.
He had been there for about twenty minutes now, yet the two of them hadn’t shown up. It couldn’t be that Qian Ge’s words to Lin Zhengyi actually worked and messed up thoughts came over Lin Zhengyi?
As the smoke slowly fell, three words slipped from He Jichen’s mouth practically without hesitation as though asking for confirmation, “Lin Zhengyi?”
“Yeah, Mr. Lin went to the restroom half an hour ago, but he hasn’t come back yet…”
Before Lu Nan could finish, He Jichen put out the cigarette in his fingers and suddenly got up.
It was so sudden that it caught everyone’s attention. Someone cried, “Mr. He?”
He Jichen ignored them and kicked the chair back as he rushed out of the private dining room.
Chapter 136: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (6)
–
To attend these types of events, you had to drink. Even though Ji Yi only took a sip each time after clinking glasses with each person, there were over ten people in the room, so she had quite a bit to drink. Not long after Qian Ge left, Ji Yi headed to the restroom.
As she exited the cubicle, Ji Yi walked over to the sink and turned the tap on. Just as she finished washing her hands and was about to wipe them with tissue, she heard someone from behind call out, “Xiao Yi?”
Ji Yi turned to find a middle-aged man walking over to her on his way out of the male restroom.
Though Ji Yi didn’t have a great memory, she recognized him. He was one of the main investors for “Three Thousand Lunatics” at that night’s dinner party. She couldn’t quite remember his name, but she knew his surname. Ji Yi smiled and politely said, “Mr. Lin.”
Lin Zhengyi didn’t say anything but smiled at Ji Yi who stood in front of the sink.
Ji Yi threw a tissue into the bin then prepared to say goodbye to Lin Zhengyi. As Lin Zhengyi wiped his hands, he turned to look at Ji Yi like he just remembered something and said, “If I hadn’t caught you, I would’ve almost forgotten. Now that I see you, I remember. Xiao Yi, do you have some time now? I want to speak to you privately about ‘Three Thousand Lunatics.'”
Ji Yi nodded and said with a smile, “Okay.”
Lin Zhengyi pointed outside the restrooms as he signaled for them to step out together. He started to explain how big the investors for “Three Thousand Lunatics” were.
This was all public information she could find online, but out of politeness and respect, she didn’t interrupt. She listened with a smile on her face, and every now and then, she indicated her agreement by nodding.
By chance, they happened to bump into a waiteress. Lin Zhengyi stopped, called the waiteress, and asked, “Are there any more private party rooms?”
“Mr. Lin, please wait.” Lin Zhengyi was probably a regular at China World Hotel Beijing, seeing as the waiteress recognized him. The waiteress immediately asked the front desk if there were any available rooms over his walkie-talkie.
As the waiteress made preparations, Lin Zhengyi used this chance to ask Ji Yi, “The room we’re in is too loud. If you don’t mind, let’s find a quiet place to talk before heading back?”
Every single word Lin Zhengyi said was about “Three Thousand Lunatics,” so Ji Yi thought Lin Zhengyi genuinely wanted to talk about the series. As the supporting actress, there was no reason to not go along with him, so Ji Yi didn’t think too much of it and agreed.
When the waiteress put his walkie-talkie away, he smiled and made a gesture to welcome them into the room in front of them. “Mr. Lin, please.”
Lin Zhengyi booked a new private party room that looked exactly like the one from that night’s dinner party.
Because it was just the two of them, Lin Zhengyi didn’t order any food, nor did the two of them sit at the table. Instead, they sat on the sofa by the lounge area.
Chapter 137: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (7)
Lin Zhengyi didn’t wait for the waitress to hand them the drinks menu, but instead, he asked her to bring him one of the bottles of wine he stored there.
The waitress politely replied with a “yes” then left the room. After a while, the waitress brought a bottle of Royal Salute back with her.
Lin Zhengyi didn’t allow the waitress to help serve the wine but dismissed her.
When the doors to the party room were shut, Lin Zhengyi held the bottle of wine, poured two glasses and handed Ji Yi a glass. After Ji Yi took the glass, he clinked glasses with her and quickly downed the wine.
Seeing Lin Zhengyi do this, Ji Yi couldn’t refuse to give him face, so all she could do was smile, bring the glass to her lips and drink a few gulps of wine.
As Lin Zhengyi poured another full glass for himself, he started to talk about “Three Thousand Lunatics” again.
On his second glass, he didn’t forget to point at Ji Yi’s glass of wine as if to signal for her to drink too.
At first, Ji Yi really didn’t think there was anything wrong. As the bottle of “Royal Salute” emptied little by little, she felt she had to keep her distance from Lin Zhengyi. She started to feel like something wasn’t right, and she slowly backed away. When he raised his glass again, wanting to drink with Ji Yi, the topic changed, “Xiao Yi, I’ve read your profile. It says you’re currently studying at B-Film University?”
“Yes, Mr. Lin.” As Ji Yi politely replied to Lin Zhengyi, she silently shifted back to create some distance between them.
Lin Zhengyi looked up and emptied his glass again. When he reached his hand out for the bottle, he pretended to have had too much to drink and accidentally fell onto Ji Yi.
Ji Yi instinctively wanted to get up to avoid him, but Lin Zhengyi’s reflexes were faster than hers. His hands quickly wrapped around her shoulders, and he put his lips close to her eyes, releasing a strong stench of alcohol. “I also hear many of you girls from B-Film want to become escorts? Is that right?”
When she heard that, Ji Yi finally snapped to her senses. She was too gullible to think that Lin Zhengyi booked a party room just to talk… she never imagined that he’d be like this. Ji Yi used some force to struggle out of Lin Zhengyi’s grip. She pretended she hadn’t heard what he said and shifted onto her own tangent. “Mr. Lin, if there’s nothing else, I’ll head back to the production crew.”
As she said this, Ji Yi stood up.
Before she could leave, Lin Zhengyi grabbed her wrist so tightly that it didn’t seem like he had drunk much at all. “Alright, you don’t have to pretend to be all high and mighty with me. I know just what kind of person you are. Are you just faking this to get more from me? Go on, how much do you want? Or, what do you want?”
Annoyance flashed across Ji Yi’s eyes as she used all her strength to bat Lin Zhengyi’s hand away. Without even bothering to respond, she headed for the door.
Though Lin Zhengyi was already middle-aged and overweight, his reflexes were fast. Ji Yi hadn’t taken two steps before he quickly dragged Ji Yi’s arm again and forcefully pulled her back onto the sofa.
Chapter 138: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (8)
Ji Yi hadn’t completely snapped back to her senses when Lin Zhengyi’s flabby body pressed heavily down on hers as he pulled his arms out and started to rip her clothes off.
Ji Yi reflexively struggled by punching and kicking him.
Lin Zhengyi, whose wild animalistic instincts kicked in, tried to get close to her a few times but never succeeded. He became so annoyed that he grabbed her harder, and the words from his mouth became increasingly hard to hear. “Don’t think that I don’t know just how many people you slept with to get the role as the supporting actress of “Three Thousand Lunatics,” and don’t think that I don’t know how many guys you messed around with. I mean who ‘messed with you’. What’s more, don’t forget that I’m the main investor for “Three Thousand Lunatics,” so I encourage you to know your place. If you upset me, you won’t get anything out of this! So, I encourage you to behave well and let me play with…”
In her ears, Lin Zhengyi’s words became increasingly dirty. Ji Yi had never been so humiliated like this before. Without thinking twice, she reached out her hand and uncontrollably slapped Lin Zhengyi hard across the face.
Having endured such a hard slap, Lin Zhengyi was stunned for a second before he exploded. First, he swore then he mercilessly slapped Ji Yi’s face back hard!
Lin Zhengyi’s slap was so hard that Ji Yi’s ears rang. When she turned her head, Lin Zhengyi tugged on her hair and forced her to stand up. “You wanted some face, but you didn’t take it! Seeing as you refuse to take it easy, I won’t be polite about it!”
With that, Ji Yi saw him pull out a pill and chuck it into the remaining bottle of Royal Salute which was still half full. Then he grabbed the bottle and put it to Ji Yi’s lips.
Even though Ji Yi didn’t know what the pill was, she knew he was going to force her to down the wine. As soon as the medicine kicked in, she’d be done for.
She used all the strength in her body to resist him, but Lin Zhengyi was a man after all. He quickly held her down, raised the bottle above her face, and forced her to drink.
She struggled like crazy to resist it so the wine poured all over her face. She could feel Lin Zhengyi clutch her face in rage. He pried her mouth open as he shoved the wine bottle over her mouth…
In her struggle, Ji Yi wanted to kick back, but she couldn’t move. All she could do was watch the mouth of the bottle draw closer. The second it touched her lips, she heard a familiar voice from outside the doors of the private party room. “Is Lin Zhengyi inside?”
Before Ji Yi could figure out if it was an illusion or if it was real, the doors to the private party room doors were suddenly pushed open.
From the corners of her eyes, she instinctively looked over at the source of the sound. She hazily saw a tall figure with a ferocious aura instantly come over to where she and Lin Zhengyi were.
She didn’t catch how the person made their move, but Lin Zhengyi immediately fell to the ground.
Chapter 139: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (9)
As Lin Zhengyi hit the ground with a “Bang!” Ji Yi instinctively sat up and immediately glanced down at the embarrassed Lin Zhenyi on the floor. Then she turned her head and looked at the person standing by the sofa.
The second she caught a glimpse of the man’s handsome face, Ji Yi was left stunned then her eyes fell to the man’s wrist.
Under the light, the guy’s skin looked unusually fair, making that red string eye-piercingly evident.
He Jichen… Why’s he here?
Confusion clouded Ji Yi’s mind before she realized something was off with the guy.
She slowly looked up at his face again.
Only then did she realize that he was staring unwaveringly at her. His eyes were frightening like he was going to spit fire.
Ji Yi was so scared that her entire body trembled as she instinctively lowered her eyelids. Then she heard a loud crash—the coffee table in front of her went flying.
The objects on top of the table slid to the ground with successive crashes.
Following that, Ji Yi heard the sound of the man’s footsteps leaving.
He’s going to leave just like that?
The bewilderment in Ji Yi’s mind hadn’t settled when she suddenly heard painful cries. She looked up to see that He Jichen had punched Lin Zhengyi square in the face, knocking him to one side.
Just watching the scene, Ji Yi felt the bone-piercing pain herself.
However, He Jichen looked like he wasn’t finished. He raised his hand and punched Lin Zhengyi twice. Then when he saw the wine bottle in his hand, he connected that to what he saw when he first entered the room. Without any hesitation, he grabbed him and punched him violently in the face.
Bright red blood trickled down from Lin Zhengyi’s head.
After finally realizing who hit him, Lin Zhengyu cried painfully and said, “Mr. He, do you think one woman is worth this? Don’t you know I have a collaboration with your company, YC Corp? Though you’re the director of “Three Thousand Lunatics,” I’m the biggest investor. If I take back my investment, you’ll definitely be…”
Lin Zhengyi couldn’t even finish his sentence before He Jichen grabbed his collar and yanked him up from the ground. Then he raised his leg and sent him flying.
As she watched He Jichen’s frightening fighting form, Ji Yi was left completely stunned when she heard Lin Zhengyi’s words.
What did Lin Zhengyi say? Your YC Corp? Director?
Which means… He Jichen owns YC Corp? He’s the director for “Three Thousand Lunatics”?
That explained the discrepancy when she saw only two empty seats at the dining table but expected three more guests to arrive. She assumed one of them was busy, so they couldn’t make it. In the end, YC Corp’s chairman and the director for “Three Thousand Lunatics” was the same person–He Jichen?
Ji Yi hadn’t completely digested the implication of all that explosive information when she heard a “Dong!” in front of her.
She trembled all over as her eyes followed the noise. That was when she saw Lin Zhengyi’s swollen, bruised face spread out beneath her feet.
She instinctively shrunk her foot back, but then she heard He Jichen’s stern and bold voice nearby. It was low but cold: “Apologize!”
Chapter 140: Defamation is a Form of Flattery (10)
“He Jichen, do you have to be like this?” Lin Zhengyi attempted to stand up, but with just one movement from He Jichen, Lin Zhengyi quivered in pain and drew a sharp breath of air. Then he turned his head, looking slightly angry as gritted his teeth at He Jichen standing next to him. He said, “You have to understand. You’re treating me like I’m completely in the wrong here…”
He Jichen impatiently took two steps forward, raised a leg, and stomped on Lin Zhengyi’s left shoulder. He gritted his teeth and enunciated each word: “Do you know how to apologize?”
Lin Zhengyi grunted in pain as his teeth chattered. After a while, he forced himself to finish what he was saying: “…You won’t get anything good out of this…”
Lin Zhengyi barely managed to say “this” before He Jichen used his foot to apply more pressure on Lin Zhengyi’s shoulder. As Lin Zhengyi let out an anguished cry, He Jichen spoke again, “If you don’t know how, I’ll teach you!”
As he said this, He Jichen reached for the back of Lin Zhengyi’s collar.
Before He Jichen could fling him around again, Lin Zhengyi, who felt dizzy from all the attacks, wailed like a ghost and howled like a wolf and cried, “Alright! Alright! Sorry! Sorry! I’m sorry!”
Lin Zhengyi’s cries got louder with each consecutive one until finally, He Jichen slowly released his collar. He gradually stood up, extracted his leg from Lin Zhengyi’s body and stood aside.
He didn’t look at the mumbling Lin Zhengyi on the floor, but instead, his gaze fell to Ji Yi’s face.
The aura of violence around him hadn’t disappeared, and there was an air of arrogance swirling swiftly in his pitch-black eyes.
He Jichen was terrifying and dangerous like this, but in her shock, Ji Yi forgot to fear and avoid him. She responded to the man’s drifting gaze with astonishment.
She still remembered the young man drenched in blood on the school grounds of Sucheng Yizhong from years ago. He clutched onto a boy and threw him on the ground in front of her. He wildly stepped on the boy’s back and forced him to apologize. With each and every “Sorry,” Fatty at the side counted along.
In that moment, Ji Yi couldn’t distinguish between her memories and reality. She was in a complete daze, so when He Jichen stood in front of her, she was completely frozen with no reaction at all.
Once he came close enough, He Jichen saw everything clearly. The clothes on her body were in an array and her collar was ripped, exposing five fresh finger marks on her fair, delicate face.
Before I came, Lin Zhengyi touched her?
A murderous thought instantly rushed to He Jichen’s mind, causing the tender look in his eyes to turn cold and vicious again as he drew closer to her.
Both his hands curled into fists and he tried hard to suppress his heaving chest. After a while, he removed his blazer and covered her up since her ripped clothes exposed her bare shoulders.
Chapter 141: His Story That She Didn’t Know About (1)
He Jichen’s actions alarmed Ji Yi so much that she froze for a moment before instinctively looking down at the jacket covering her body. When she felt the touch of He Jichen’s fingers as he buttoned the jacket up, her lips naturally pursed and her whole body tightened up.
When He Jichen finished buttoning up the final button, he withdrew his hand. That was when Ji Yi finally snuck a glance at He Jichen.
The man’s handsome face lost its violent rage, but his eyes still felt vaguely sharp.
His gaze upon her wasn’t considerably friendly. In fact, it radiated a deep chill.
Ji Yi quickly retracted her secret glances at He Jichen.
It was disturbingly quiet in the party room aside from Lin Zhengyi’s pained grunts.
Just as Ji Yi was contemplating whether to thank He Jichen and leave, he said without warning: “Let’s go.”
Ji Yi thought she heard him wrong, so she looked up at him while she slouched on the sofa. She didn’t move an inch.
He Jichen furrowed his brows in annoyance. Ji Yi thought he was going to get angry, but to her surprise, his tone of voice sounded shockingly calm. “I’ll take you away from here.”
He Jichen then turned around and headed for the door.
After taking just two steps forward, he somehow realized she hadn’t moved. When he glanced back, Ji Yi hurriedly got up from the sofa the very moment his eyes met hers. She walked around Lin Zhengyi and rushed over to He Jichen.
He Jichen waited for her to come a little closer then strode off again.
Maintaining a good distance between them, they walked in single file towards the elevators.
When the doors opened, He Jichen headed in first without looking back at Ji Yi.
Ji Yi thought he would stop caring for her after they left Lin Zhengyi’s party room, so she never imagined He Jichen would hold the door open for her. He glanced at Ji Yi who was still in a daze.
Ji Yi felt his gaze and understood what he meant. Seeing as he didn’t say anything, she didn’t either, but she quickly rushed into the elevator.
When the elevator doors opened again, Ji Yi realized that He Jichen had taken her to the underground car park.
She didn’t have a ride since she took a taxi to China World Hotel Beijing. As Ji Yi stood in the elevator contemplating whether to go with him, He Jichen started to walk out of the elevator. As though he just realized her predicament, he turned his head and said, “I’ll take you.”
With that, he swept a glance over her disheveled clothes.
Ji Yi knew deep down what he meant.
Her hair was messed up, and her face still had finger marks. Her skirt had a big rip in it, so it would be incredibly embarrassing to call a taxi…
Ji Yi lowered her eyes but didn’t refuse He Jichen’s offer. She quietly said, “Thanks.”
This is the first time she hasn’t refused me after we met again, right?
He Jichen trembled soundlessly as he stepped out of the elevator.
Chapter 142: His Story That She Didn’t Know About (2)
He Jichen took big strides which quickly created a distance between him and Ji Yi.
When he reached the front of his car, he wasn’t in a hurry to get in, so he leaned against the hood. He kept his head lowered slightly until he caught a glimpse of Ji Yi’s approaching feet then he unlocked the car.
He waited until Ji Yi got into the car then he pulled his car door open and got into the driver’s seat.
He didn’t say anything to her, but he focused on single-handedly maneuvering the steering wheel and skillfully drove out of China World Hotel Beijing’s underground parking lot.
He drove through the midnight roads of Beijing. After driving some distance, Ji Yi then realized that she looked disheveled and was unfit to return to the dorms or back home. Also, she forgot her keys to He Yuguang’s house.
Ji Yi watched the endless rows of neon lights outside the window. She was deep in thought for a while then she turned her head and told He Jichen, who was focused on the road ahead: “You can just drop me off at the entrance to the Four Seasons Hotel.”
The car was silent for so long that when she spoke so suddenly, He Jichen didn’t know quite how to react. After a while, he turned to glance at her and he finally understood what she meant. He didn’t say anything but continued to drive quite some distance. When they reached a red light near an intersection, he said flatly, “You’re probably not fit to go to that hotel. If someone takes a photo and word gets out, we’d have to face endless trouble.”
He Jichen was right. Even though she wasn’t as popular as she was before, she did still attract some attention. If she was recognized by anyone and they took a photo of her looking so disheveled in public, it’d definitely be troublesome.
Just as Ji Yi was feeling torn about what to do, He Jichen figured out a solution and said, “Come to my place.”
Ji Yi was stunned.
The red light turned green, so He Jichen stepped on the gas. The car slowly sped up, and just as they were about to reach another intersection, He Jichen added, “I have other things to do, so I’ll have to go back to the university in a bit. There’s no one at home.”
There’s no one at home, meaning it would only be me at his house tonight?
Ji Yi kept her silence for just two seconds before she thanked him again.
He Jichen didn’t say a thing.
The car drove through the underground parking lot before He Jichen parked right next to the elevators. He didn’t turn off the engine, nor did he get out of the car, before he pulled out a pen from his pocket and wrote a few numbers down on a piece of paper. He handed it to her. “The code to the door, eighteenth floor.”
Ji Yi could tell He Jichen didn’t plan to get out of the car. After he handed her the piece of paper, she said in a low voice, “Thank you.”
He Jichen fell silent again.
“So I guess I’ll get out first,” said Ji Yi.
This time, He Jichen responded with a slight nod.
Ji Yi pushed the car door open and before she closed it, she said, “Goodbye.” She wasn’t sure if He Jichen heard her or not, but as soon as she closed the door, he stepped on the gas and left.