A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You

Chapter 167: Isn’t This How You Like it? (7)

Ji Yi instinctively reached her hand out and pressed against the back of the driver’s seat for support. She waited for herself to regain her balance, then she looked up again to find that the car was already on the road.

He Jichen drove terrifyingly fast. In the back, Ji Yi couldn’t see his expression but she could feel how tense the atmosphere was, since even the air in the car became thinner, making it harder for her to breathe.

He Jichen didn’t say a word. Seeing him like this, Ji Yi didn’t dare to make a sound either.

The silence in the car was frightening.

As Ji Yi thought about where the hell He Jichen was driving her to, the car came to a sudden stop.

Completely unprepared, Ji Yi suddenly hurled forward, hitting her forehead on the back of the car seat.

The piercing pain forced her to crease her brows for a moment, and before she could snap back to her senses, the car door was pulled open. He grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the car.

Before Ji Yi could find her feet, He Jichen had already tossed his keys to the person standing by the car. He silently walked to the revolving doors in front of him while dragging her along.

After this string of He Jichen’s actions, Ji Yi had absolutely no idea where she was.

She turned her head and was about to take a good look around her when a well-dressed man came over. He politely handed He Jichen a key card. “Mr. He, the same old room…”

Just like when they stepped out of Yue Yuan, He Jichen didn’t wait for anyone to finish speaking and rushed forward. He stepped into the elevator with Ji Yi.

The moment he swiped the card and pressed the floor number, Ji Yi glanced over at the words above the elevators. She realized He Jichen had brought her to the Four Seasons Hotel.

The red numbers on the elevator jumped one after the other until it reached “21”. That was when the question popped into Ji Yi’s mind: What did He Jichen bring me to a hotel for?

She instinctively turned her head in his direction.

Before she could ask him, the elevator doors opened and He Jichen, who hadn’t loosened his tight grip on her arm, sped out with her.

After they followed the carpeted corridors and walked hastily for about ten seconds, He Jichen pulled out his key card. He gently swiped the card at the door, which prompted a “Kacha!” sound. He Jichen pushed the door open and dragged Ji Yi into the room.

As the door automatically closed shut, Ji Yi only realized she had walked into a hotel room with He Jichen when she heard the sound of the door locking behind her. In a horror, she cried, “He…”

She wasn’t able to complete her sentence: “He Jichen, why did you take me here?” before He Jichen raised his leg and kicked open the doors into the room.

It was the bathroom… Why is he taking me to the bathroom?

The words in Ji Yi’s mouth paused for a moment as she instinctively turned to look at He Jichen. Before her gaze could reach his face, he had thrown her into the bathtub.

The walls of the bathtub were so slippery that she fell into it without any warning at all.

The shooting pain from knocking her hands and feet on the sides of the tub caused Ji Yi to furrow her brows. Just as she was about to stand up, He Jichen grabbed the shower, turned it to the coldest setting and let it rain over her.

The bone-piercing coldness made Ji Yi shiver and sneeze. She instinctively reached her hand out to cover her head as she tried to climb out of the tub.

Just as she managed to sit up and before she could stand up, He Jichen reached his arms out and grabbed her shoulders, pressing her back down into the bathtub.

Chapter 168: Isn’t This How You Like it? (8)

After drinking quite a lot of wine, Ji Yi didn’t have the strength to push back. Though she forced herself to resist, she didn’t have the energy to fight back. “He Jichen, let go of me! He Jichen, what are you doing?!”

The ice-cold water ran down her face, and just as she was about to speak, it poured right into her mouth, causing her to violently cough from the lack of air. When she settled down, she was completely drenched, and her icy-cold clothes stuck to her skin.

It was the dead of winter in the capital. Although the heating in the room was warm enough, she was so cold that she was trembling.

In that very moment, she didn’t have the strength to talk, let alone fight back. All she could do was let him shower her with cold water like that.

Increasing amounts of water filled the bathtub, and shortly after, Ji Yi’s body was completely submerged. She was paralyzed with coldness in the tub. As her teeth chattered, she lost the ability to move.

She wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but she vaguely sensed that the running water had decreased quite a bit.

She opened her eyelids slightly and looked towards He Jichen through the drops of water on her eyelashes.

The clothes on his body were mostly wet from him fighting with her during their earlier struggle. The lines of his stiff muscles could faintly be seen through his white shirt that was stuck to his chest.

There was a complex glow in his eyes as he stared at her with an icy, merciless expression. Just when she thought he was going to let her go, he caught something in the corners of his eyes as they abruptly fell to her neck.

It was red in that area. It was a mark left from being bitten.

Did Lin Zhengyi do this? She actually let Lin Zhengyi treat her like this?

He Jichen squinted his eyes and stared transfixed at Ji Yi’s neck for about half a minute. All of a sudden, his gaze turned unbelievably stern. It was as though he had been hiding knives, and his gaze tore a hole through her skin.

A second later, he couldn’t hold his temper down as the strength inside him pressed down harder on her shoulder, causing her to drown in the tub filled with water. The alarmingly cold water filled her nose and made her face swell up, but he didn’t loosen his grip.

He looked so vicious and convinced that he wanted her to die like this.

She’d seen before how he looked when he was angry – four years ago, when she confessed to He Yuguang, he showed up instead, completely enraged.

She thought he was already incomparably cutthroat back then, but now she knew that when he was truly angry, he could be this frightening.

Ji Yi couldn’t say if she was scared or if it was because she was choked from the water, but her eyes widened as she stared at He Jichen’s face. She had no other reaction aside from trembling.

Just when she thought she was going to be drowned to death by He Jichen, he suddenly threw the shower head fiercely to the ground. He grabbed onto her arm and lifted her from the bathtub.

He didn’t grab a towel for her to wipe off the dripping cold water from her body, but he dragged her out of the bathroom and casually flung her to the floor of the living room. Then he pressed his body to hers, reached his hand out, and grabbed her collar.

She wore a lace inner top, so how could it withstand his force? All she could hear was the “tssssst” sound of her clothes being torn off.

Her wet, fair skin fell into his field of view.

Chapter 169: Isn’t This How You Like it? (9)

The red areas on her neck looked more obvious under the living room lights. He could clearly see the faint bite marks.

Even though he didn’t personally see how Lin Zhengyi actually left those marks, simply imagining it made He Jichen’s eyes bloodshot.

Several videos on the company’s WeChat group flashed before his eyes.

Her downing one glass at a time… Her smiling sweetly at every man in the room… Her and Lin Zhengyi whispering to one another… Her not avoiding Lin Zhengyi’s hand around her waist… The images he saw were heart-wrenching, but he didn’t believe it.

He raced over to Yue Yuan, yet he didn’t see her at the dinner party.

After he asked a waitress, he realized she was actually alone with Lin Zhengyi in the lounge area… She knew full well that Lin Zhengyi had bad intentions, yet she was alone with him. She was willing to do this… It was just as his secretary described – she realized that “Three Thousand Lunatics” was no longer shooting, so she was holding onto Lin Zhengyi to get a part in “Dust”?

He Jichen’s hand clutching onto Ji Yi’s sleeve started to tremble slightly.

It felt like a ball of fire was burning in his chest, scorching his entire body.

Did she know that he was afraid she’d become like other female celebrities who exchanged things, flattered and fawned over men in the industry to get by? He only gave up the glory of attending a prestigious school, gave up the chance to study abroad, and gave up the He family business after arguing with his family, just to travel all the way to Beijing from Sucheng to give her an easy life… But what about her?

She actually drank with them, she actually let Lin Zhengyi touch her…

He Jichen couldn’t tell if he was actually devastated or enraged as his gaze upon the hickeys on Ji Yi’s neck swiftly contracted and expanded. He wanted to say something, but not a single word came out. The corner of his lips couldn’t help but tighten as she froze there. All of a sudden, he lowered his head and bit down onto the red marks on her neck.

His sharp and hard bite onto her delicate skin caused her to bleed.

The pain compelled her to tremble, but there wasn’t the slightest affection and tenderness in his heart. In the end, he took a hard suck and started to tear her clothes off as he ignored her resistance.

He ripped off one item at a time until she was naked. Aside from being wet, his clothes were neat and undamaged.

The stark contrast between them made her feel profoundly humiliated.

She wanted to grab something to cover herself, but he didn’t give her any chances as his hand started to touch her skin.

He was heavy-handed with her, and there wasn’t any hint of warmth whatsoever. He was simply venting.

She shrieked for mercy, but he didn’t show any signs of letting her go.

She felt his hands fall to her hips and make its way downward.

As his palms stroked her thigh, she finally couldn’t help but let out a cry.

When he heard the sound of her cries, his fingers gradually came to a stop.

Seconds later, he clutched her chin and slowly turned her face towards him.

Chapter 170: Isn’t This How You Like it? (10)

Seconds later, he clutched her chin and slowly turned her face towards him.

He stared at the brimming tears in her eyes with the same cold and merciless expression. He didn’t look like he was going to soften up in the slightest as he mocked her, “Why are you crying? Isn’t this how you like it?”

Ji Yi didn’t understand how she angered him from the moment He Jichen turned up without warning at the doors of the Yue Yuan lounge up to this moment. Now that she heard him ask this with such hatred, her eyes upon He Jichen’s face looked confused.

How I liked it? How I liked it?

The woman’s large, pitch black, wet eyes and her puzzled expression made her look completely innocent.

Innocent?

That word flashed across He Jichen’s mind and a cold smile arose from his lips.

He wanted her to be innocent so badly, but those videos, the hickeys on her body, and the fact that she knew Lin Zhengyi was plotting against her, yet she stayed with him… How could he believe she was innocent after her all this evidence?

He Jichen couldn’t help but clutch her chin harder. His voice sounded even more heartless than before as he said even more hurtful and harsh things. “What? You can be like an escort, drinking with Lin Zhengyi and being in the same room as him, but you can’t let me touch you? Do you think I’m lesser than Lin Zhengyi because ‘Three Thousand Lunatics’ stopped production? I can’t give you the role you want now, so you want to climb straight into Lin Zhengyi’s bed and beg him to give you a part in his new drama?”

Escort? Climb into bed with Lin Zhengyi?

He Jichen’s cruel words instantly drained the blood right off Ji Yi’s face. She stared into He Jichen’s eyes first with bewilderment, which turned into an intense look of disbelief.

It wasn’t like she hadn’t experienced He Jichen’s sharp tongue before, but she never imagined that he would actually use such words to describe her.

After some time, Ji Yi slowly understood what had happened.

She wasn’t sure if He Jichen just so happened to be at Yue Yuan, or if someone had told him, but he probably knew she was at Lin Zhengyi’s dinner party tonight to drink. He also must’ve known that she, while a complete drunken mess, entered the lounge with Lin Zhengyi alone… So, he had the misunderstanding that because “Three Thousand Lunatics” was in trouble, she ran over to Lin Zhengyi to beg him for a part in “Dust.”

From the moment he appeared till now, he never even asked her a thing, but he was so adamant that she was the type of woman to give up everything to make it to the top!

Ji Yi’s lips instinctively tightened up as an evident flash of hurt crossed her eyes.

She shifted, wanting to tell him that she was only there because of him!

However, as the words lingered on her lips, her mind suddenly flashed back to that night four years ago. When she realized her first time was with him, she was so shocked and helpless, but what about him? The first thing from his mouth wasn’t “sorry,” or “I’m so sorry, I drank too much that night and made this mistake,” it was “name a price.”

So, no matter if it was years in the past or the present day, he firmly believed she was some kind of dirty woman deep inside.

And what about her? Was she actually going to explain to him?

Chapter 171: A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to Her (1)

If he truly believed her, why would she need to explain herself?

Before she let any words slip out, Ji Yi suddenly realized just how incredibly funny the situation was.

After all, she was too soft-hearted. Seeing how he brought her home that night from Lin Zhengyi’s clutches, she had a change of heart about him. After she heard those stories about his current plight, she was full of guilt and felt sorry for him.

What’s more, she clearly knew Lin Zhengyi was scheming against her, yet she still went straight into the lion’s den with the recordings just to win his investment back.

She never spoke so softly and submissively or let someone force her to drink so much before. After she woke up from the car accident, she never thought of using dishonest methods to return to the entertainment industry. Instead, she patiently waited for over half a year for the right opportunity.

In an instant, Ji Yi’s mood became slightly complicated.

She refused to be taken so lightly by He Jichen. She was upset over being mistaken as a traitor by him, and she felt wronged after being indiscriminately treated like that by him.

The bitterness in her eye grew more fierce, but she stubbornly refused to cry in front of him.

Compared to how flustered and afraid she was when she witnessed He Jichen’s scathing anger in the past, she wasn’t actually that scared at this very moment. In fact, she stared unwaveringly into He Jichen’s eyes that were a thousand times colder than the dead of winter.

In any case, she was already worthless in his heart, so there was nothing to worry about.

At that thought, Ji Yi went ahead and said to He Jichen, “Yeah, since I saw that nothing was happening with ‘Three Thousand Lunatics,’ I went to find Lin Zhengyi to see if he could give me a role. He can give me whatever role I want, so why wouldn’t I look for him?”

He Jichen’s eyes squinted slightly as an aura of violence poured out from his body.

Ji Yi felt his fingers on her chin start to tremble. She knew he was furious, yet she scoffed as she spoke with no hint of stopping, “You asked since I stayed with him, why couldn’t I let you touch me? You can, Mr. He, but I want to know what role you can give me? What perks can you offer me?”

He Jichen was so angry that his lips quivered, but he was also completely paralyzed; he couldn’t say a word.

Ji Yi gave an even more charming and sweet smile as her voice turned gentle. She said, “Mr. He, now we can chat, and once we finish talking, however you want me to be of service to you, I’ll do it…”

All of a sudden, He Jichen gripped her chin frighteningly hard. The pain stopped Ji Yi from finishing her sentence.

In a rage, He Jichen looked unexpectedly emotionless as he stared at Ji Yi with bloodshot eyes. She had no idea what he was going to say as the words seemed to build up in his mouth. Then, as though he was itching to ferociously peel her skin off, he said, “You want to make a deal? Do you really think I care about you? If it weren’t…”

He Jichen paused for a moment, then he had a sudden thought and continued by saying, “… If I wasn’t asked to help you, I never would’ve even bothered with you! I’m telling you, I never mess with prostitutes because I think they’re dirty…”

Mess with prostitutes… think they’re dirty… Ji Yi’s fingers quivered. She didn’t wait for He Jichen to finish before she interrupted him on her own tangent.

Chapter 172: A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to Her (2)

“Oh look at me… How could I forget? Mr. He once said: ‘Wasn’t it disgusting enough to sleep with me?’ We did it once four years ago, and that was enough to make Mr. He vomit!”

He Jichen’s body froze. Seconds later, he realized those were indeed the words he once said to her.

“Mr. He also said that even if I stood barenaked in front of Mr. He, Mr. He wouldn’t be the least bit interested! I was wrong; I shouldn’t have overestimated the power of my words and mocked Mr. He…”

As Ji Yi repeatedly said “Mr. He,” she fired He Jichen’s own words back at him to fatally attack him to the point where he couldn’t say a word.

He Jichen felt the ball of fire in his chest could explode at any time. He was afraid he’d lose his senses as he tried his hardest to control himself. However, he couldn’t control his feelings in the end; his heart hurt and he had to use an infinite amount of strength to force down the words “Shut your mouth”.

Meanwhile, Ji Yi had no intention of stopping, so she kept talking with a beautiful smile on her face. “But don’t worry, Mr. He. Mr. He isn’t the only benefactor in the world. You may reject me, but there’s bound to be someone who will accept me and wants to talk to me. For example…”

Ji Yi tilted her head and appeared to ponder it seriously then she deliberately raised her voice as she enunciated the name one word at a time, “…Lin. Zheng. Yi…”

Those three words were like a live wire, igniting a spark in He Jichen’s body.

He couldn’t take it any longer and rapidly shifted his hand from her chin to her arm. He forcefully picked her up, and without so much as a second thought, he swung his hand towards her face. Before his hand reached her face, it stopped in midair.

But it paused there for just a second before he waved his hand and chucked her to the sofa beside them.

The sofa was soft, so Ji Yi didn’t get hurt, but her head was in disarray for a moment as she fell from He Jichen’s sheer force.

Before she could snap back to her senses, she heard a loud “bang!” by her ear.

Her body shuddered in shock as she turned her head to see that He Jichen had kicked the coffee table two meters away.

Her fingertips instinctively grabbed the cushions on the sofa, and just as she wondered whether He Jichen was going to tear her apart, she heard footsteps coming from behind her. Before she could turn her head to look, the hotel room doors were pulled open and slammed shut.

He Jichen left?

Ji Yi was afraid she was hallucinating, so she turned her head and carefully scanned all around the hotel room. When she was certain He Jichen had truly left, she picked up the clothes he tore off her. She was barely able to cover her body before she buried her face into the sofa and started to quietly cry.

Ji Yi’s silent tears went on for some time until her eyes were dry and sore and no more tears were left. She finally struggled to climb up from the sofa and grabbed the phone beside her. She called the front desk to give them her measurements and asked them to bring some clothes up for her. Then she swayed over to the bathroom.

Ji Yi stood under the hot shower for a long time before she heard the doorbell ring. She snapped back to her senses, quickly turned the shower off, and wrapped herself in a bathrobe in a panic. She didn’t even have time to dry her hair as she ran over to the door.

Chapter 173: A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to Her (3)

She was afraid He Jichen had returned, so she peered through the peephole first, only to see a female hotel attendant standing there. She opened the door.

The attendant politely handed her a paper bag with smile. “Miss, these are the clothes you requested. May I ask, will you be paying by cash?”

“Thank you, cash.” Ji Yi took the invoice, glanced at the total, and turned to the living room. She found her purse, counted out the cash, and handed it to the attendant.

Ji Yi waited for the attendant to give her the change before she shut the door, grabbed the bag, and walked into the bathroom.

Just as she grabbed a towel and patted her hair and body dry, she saw in the mirror that her skin was filled with marks all over.

They were all marks left by He Jichen’s fingers and teeth… Ji Yi stopped brushing her hair for a moment as she felt a pulsing ache creeping upon her.

She was afraid she’d cry again, so she hurriedly lowered her eyes, pretending as though she hadn’t seen anything. She patted her hair quickly then used the hair dryer to frantically dry the rest of it before getting dressed.

After she was all ready, Ji Yi didn’t linger in the bathroom. When she got out, she put her ripped clothes into the paper bag that the attendant delivered her new clothes in. Then she hastily grabbed her bag and left He Jichen’s room.

While she took the elevator down, Ji Yi called for a taxi.

In the chill of the winter night, the room was unusually cold. Ji Yi didn’t wait for the taxi in the warm lobby of the Four Seasons Hotel but stood right by the side of the hotel. She found a lamppost and stood under it as she waited.

After about a minute passed, the phone in Ji Yi’s pocket rang.

She thought it was the taxi driver calling to say her ride had arrived. The cold forced her body to shiver as she pulled out her phone to see an unknown number calling. She picked up the call immediately and asked, “Sir, where are you?”

The call was silent for a couple of seconds when a familiar voice was heard, “Miss Ji Yi, it’s me.”

It was Lin Zhengyi’s voice.

Ji Yi was stunned as she realized she’d made a mistake and hurriedly changed her tone, “Mr. Lin, my apologies. I thought the taxi I called arrived.”

“Don’t worry about it, Miss Ji Yi.” After Lin Zhengyi politely replied, he spoke again seconds later. “I’m calling to give you my answer.”

Ji Yi knew this answer referred to the conversation about the recording tonight.

She let out a soft “Mhm”. “Mr. Lin, go on.”

“I agree to all the terms you mentioned tonight at Yue Yuan. I’ll even add twenty percent of my original investment, so…” Lin Zhengyi came to a stop.

Although he didn’t finish, Ji Yi already knew what he meant. “Mr. Lin, about your investment. It’s a collaboration with YC Corp, so you should contact them directly. As long as you re-sign with YC Corp, I’ll hand over all the recordings in my possession. As for deleting or keeping those recordings, that’ll be up to you to decide.”

Upon hearing Ji Yi’s swift response, Lin Zhengyi sounded a lot more relaxed. “Alright, I und… No, I’ll order someone to speak to YC Corp now. When everything is finalized, I’ll contact you again.”

“Alright, goodbye for now, Mr. Lin.” Ji Yi was just about to hang up when all of a sudden, she remembered something and said, “Mr. Lin…”

Chapter 174: A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to Her (4)

Lin Zhengyi was probably about to hang up when he heard her voice and replied, “What’s wrong? Is there anything else?”

“It’s like this…” Ji Yi paused for a moment then continued. “…As for your plans to reinvest, if anyone asks, I hope you can think up an excuse to brush them off. Don’t say you changed your mind after I came to see you.”

“Why?” asked Lin Zhengyi out of curiosity.

He didn’t wait for Ji Yi to answer before he suddenly realized what Ji Yi meant and said, “I get it. You’re afraid if this gets out, I would lose face, right? Xiao Yi, don’t you worry. I’ll think of an explanation. Ah, you really thought things through…”

Upon hearing how happy Lin Zhengyi was, Ji Yi realized he misunderstood her intentions.

She wasn’t afraid of news getting out that she blackmailed Lin Zhengyi with the recordings, but rather, she didn’t want He Jichen to know her true objective for being with Lin Zhengyi. Her objective wasn’t to get close to Lin Zhengyi, but it was all because she was trying to protect He Jichen!

Anyway… He Jichen didn’t believe her, so there was no need to accept his gratitude.

What’s more, she was partly responsible for Lin Zhengyi pulling his investment for “Three Thousand Lunatics” in the first place, so she viewed this as her way of paying him back.

After everything, the two of them were now even.

With that thought, Ji Yi didn’t bother to explain her true intentions to Lin Zhengyi over the phone, but instead, she politely said “Goodbye” and hung up.

A cold breeze rushed in, causing Ji Yi to shiver.

She hugged her shoulders as her neck shrank into her clothes. She continued to wait by the side of the road for a while before she finally saw her taxi slowly driving over.

–

When He Jichen charged out of the Four Seasons Hotel boiling with rage, he coincidentally bumped right into the hotel manager delivering a fruit tray next door.

The manager recognized him, so he immediately stood aside with the tray and was about to greet him politely when he saw his furious expression. He was so frightened that he didn’t dare to speak and held his breath as he stood unflinchingly against the wall.

He Jichen didn’t even shoot him a glance as he brushed right past him with large strides. He headed for the elevator and pressed the button.

When the elevator doors opened, He Jichen stepped in and headed right for the underground parking lot.

The things Ji Yi said in the room just now rang repeatedly in his ears.

“Yeah, since I saw that nothing was happening with ‘Three Thousand Lunatics,’ I went to find Lin Zhengyi… Oh look at me… How could I forget? Mr. He asked: wasn’t it disgusting enough to sleep with me…? But don’t worry, Mr. He. Mr. He isn’t the only benefactor in the world. You may reject me, but there’s bound to be someone who will accept me and wants to talk to me…”

With those words, He Jichen felt his flesh sear in pain with the pain coursing through his blood around his entire body. The pain made his temples pulse and his entire body started to tremble uncontrollably.

No! He couldn’t think about it any longer or he’d really go crazy!

At that thought, He Jichen violently shook his head and hurled the words out from his ears.

He had to find something else to do or else he really would lose control, go back upstairs and beat up the feeble, sharp-tongued little woman to pieces!

That’s right! He had to do something…