This was perhaps the first time she'd been invited to a party for the cast and crew since she joined the production team for "Three Thousand Lunatics" over a month ago...
A flash of astonishment evidently crossed Ji Yi's eyes, and after a while, she realized that she hadn't responded to He Jichen. Overwhelmed by his tenderness, Ji Yi looked over at He Jichen and swiftly yet softly nodded her head twice. "Got it."
He Jichen stared at Ji Yi's slender frame for a moment and said, "You better head back to get some rest."
"Mhm," responded Ji Yi as she stood in her tracks for a few seconds before turning to face He Jichen and adding: "Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
When she heard He Jichen's response, Ji Yi didn't hesitate to turn around and walked over to the door. She gently pulled the door open and left He Jichen's room.
As soon as the door closed, the room became quieter with He Jichen as the only one left in the room.
He sent Ji Yi off with his eyes, and he continued to stand there like that for some time before walking over to the sofa. He picked up the phone that Ji Yi had flipped over and placed it on the table. Then he pressed the button for the front desk and called an attendant up to clean up the room.
Less than two seconds after the call ended, a hotel attendant arrived.
He Jichen opened the door for them then walked over to the tall windows.
The attendant moved quietly to avoid disturbing He Jichen. He stared out at the dark night with a hypnotized expression on his face.
He was in a daze for just a short moment then withdrew his gaze from the window. As he weaved twice around the room, he picked up the phone on the coffee table then he found Chen Bai's number and made a call.
The sky was dark and Chen Bai was most probably asleep. As the call was waiting to be connected, it rang a few times before the call went through. From the other side of the phone, he heard Chen Bai's groggy voice, "Mr. He?"
"Mhm..." responded He Jichen nonchalantly then he waited twenty seconds. He figured Chen Bai must've woken up by then, so he got straight to the point, "Book a large party room at the Grand Hyatt for next Friday."
"Next Friday?" Chen Bai hesitated for a moment then continued to ask, "Mr. He, you have a very important dinner in Hangzhou next Friday…"
"Cancel it." In contrast with Chen Bai's hesitation, He Jichen sounded incredibly clear and decisive.
"Cancel it? Mr. He, that's a bit hard. You know there'll be governmental officials there…"
"If it can't be canceled, arrange for someone else to go. I have even more important matters to attend to..." He Jichen didn't give Chen Bai a chance to talk him out of it before he continued to give a series of instructions in a neutral voice.
At the office, He Jichen's instructions were always like gold - he only said them once, and if you performed poorly, you were bound to be lectured.
But today, after he finished giving his instructions, He Jichen added, "You got all that?"
"More or less..."
He Jichen furrowed his brows at Chen Bai's last three words. More or less? Not one item on the list of instructions could be amiss!
A second later, He Jichen cut off Chen Bai, "Turn on your computer now or find a pen and paper. Note down everything I say without leaving a single letter out!"
No way? He usually wants notes taken down for him, but now, he needs notes taken down for a casual party?
Over the phone, Chen Bai was just a second too slow as He Jichen said with a hidden yet immensely oppressive tone of voice, "Ready?"