He Jichen went straight to the point: "Did Ji Yi contact you?"
"No..." Tang Huahua paused for a moment then replied with more detail: "... Three nights ago, when we chatted over WeChat, she told me she'd be going back to Beijing the day after tomorrow. In the past two days, we haven't been in contact."
"Oh..." He Jichen didn't say anything further.
Tang Huahua waited for more, but seeing as He Jichen didn't say anything else, she asked curiously, "He Xuezhang, did something happen?"
He Jichen came back to his senses and replied flatly, "No."
"Oh..." Tang Huahua wasn't stupid - she knew He Jichen wasn't going to tell her the truth, so she didn't bother probing anymore.
After two seconds, Tang Huahua said again, "... He Xuezhang, how about this... I'll try to contact Xiao Yi. If I'm able to get through to her, I'll contact you right away."
"Thank you," He Jichen politely replied and hung up the phone.
He Jichen stared at the phone screen for a short while then called Ji Yi's phone again. The phone was still turned off.
After hanging up, He Jichen stopped calling Ji Yi incessantly. Instead, he held his phone, walked over to the tall windows, and stared at the glistening sunlight outside.
He didn't know how much time passed before the doorbell behind him rang.
He Jichen turned around and pulled the door open.
It was Chen Bai again. He Jichen didn't invite him in but asked at the door, "So?"
"Mr. He, Miss Ji left the room at a quarter to seven this morning. She headed straight for the elevator, went downstairs and left the hotel. She hasn't come back..."
So, she got up and left at six? That's earlier than I imagined...
He Jichen silently pursed his lips while he listened to the rest of Chen Bai's report.
"... I booked Miss Ji's flight back to Beijing, so I called the airline company to check. Miss Ji's flight was changed from the day after tomorrow to today at half past eight in the morning. That flight wasn't delayed, and the duration was two hours and fifteen minutes, which means that Miss Ji arrived at Beijing Airport at a quarter to eleven..." Chen Bai lowered his head and glanced at the time on his watch. "...It's two in the afternoon now, so Miss Ji has already been in Beijing for three hours and fifteen minutes now."
Three hours and fifteen minutes... so much time has passed, yet she still has her phone off.
As soon as she woke up, she saw me by her side. Yet she left without any hesitation?
Could it be possible that the thing I'm most afraid of is really going to happen?
He Jichen's fingers instinctively balled into a fist.
Having finished his report to He Jichen, Chen Bai couldn't help but cry "Mr. He?" after he remained quiet for so long.
After about five seconds, He Jichen's gaze fell on Chen Bai's face. "Change my flight and I will return to Beijing."
"But the film festival is tonight - you have to be there..." Chen Bai reminded him.
He Jichen instantly fell silent.
Oh yeah, the film festival. He had to attend not only for himself, but on behalf of YC Corp, and most importantly, for Ji Yi's dream.
He Jichen pursed his lips slightly. After a good while, he spoke, "As soon as the film festival is over, we'll head back to Beijing."
Chen Bai knew this was the biggest concession for He Jichen. He replied with a "Yes," grabbed his phone and started to change their flights.