Ji Yi could only force herself to endure the uncomfortable feeling inside as she slowly pulled out the chair next to Tang Huahua and took a seat.
Seeing as everyone was there, the class president immediately called the waiter to order food.
Since there were too many people eating tonight, not only did it take a long time for the food to arrive, but the staff also took a long time to distribute the tableware.
Coincidentally, Ji Yi's back was to the doors of the large party room, so all of the cutlery was by her side. As she helped Tang Huahua hand out the tableware, Ji Yi incidentally looked up and caught a glimpse of He Jichen sitting right in front of her.
He sat by the window with his chair turned to one side. There was a cigarette in his mouth as he stared out the window.
The somber expression on his face revealed he was in a bad mood. Despite this, it didn't conceal his air of nobility.
When he raised his lighter and lit his cigarette, the flickering flame illuminated his face and emphasized the frightening good looks of his perfect facial features.
After he lit the cigarette, he pinched it from his lips and held it between his fingers without smoking it.
This guy has so many weird habits - he doesn't smoke, so why does he still light up the cigarette?
After Ji Yi silently cursed at him deep inside, she then realized that she really was caring too much about He Jichen. She then averted her gaze and joined back into the group conversation.
Everyone in the room was cheerfully chatting away apart from He Jichen, who from start to finish, didn't say a word.
After the waiter finished serving the food, the class president dipped the beef into the hot pot water to cook. That was when the man sitting next to He Jichen cried, "Chen Ge, let's eat."
He Jichen tilted his head stiffly but didn't say a word.
But after some time passed, the cigarette between his fingers had burned down to half its size.
Not in a hurry to turn his chair around to start eating, He Jichen nonchalantly brought his cigarette up and swiped the window pane.
After Chinese new year in Beijing, the weather was still really cold. As soon as the hot pot in the room started to boil, the temperature rose, creating a layer of condensation on the window pane.
As He Jichen's cigarette swiped the window pane, it left temporary marks against the dispersing condensation.
At first, Ji Yi didn't pay attention to what He Jichen was writing on the window, but just as she got up to fish out the beef balls from the hot pot, she saw him write "I" on the window pane with his cigarette-wielding fingers. Out of utter curiosity, she looked over at his slender fingers as she sat down.
He looked unusually serious as he slowly wrote stroke by stroke until he wrote the word "love." By then, the first word was already covered by condensation.
Did He Jichen want to write "I love you"?
Before that thought could settle, she caught sight of the third word He Jichen wrote.
Every time he wrote a word, the condensation from the previous word covered up the last.
After he finished writing the whole sentence, the only word left on the window was "lover."
So it wasn't what I thought it was. Then what does he want to write?
Ji Yi stopped eating and stared unblinkingly as He Jichen's cigarette butt burned out.
With her gaze transfixed, Ji Yi stared at He Jichen as she silently read the entire line: "The person I love is not my lover."
What a sad line…
Ji Yi instinctively turned her gaze to He Jichen.
He was still staring out the window with his back against the entire room.