Miss Ji looked very young in the photo; she was maybe about sixteen or seventeen years old.
He was afraid Mr. He would suddenly return, so he didn't dare stare at the photo for too long. After just a few seconds, he quickly tried to put it back.
Without permission, he was secretly invading He Jichen's privacy. With a nervous heart, he lost his grip on the photo, causing it to fall on the table.
That was when he realized that on the back of the photo were two lines in black ink.
He first caught sight of the slightly larger words: "Actually, I'm really not so bad. Do you want to try to fall in love with me?"
He'd worked for Mr. He for many years, so he could tell with just one glance that it was Mr. He's handwriting.
Underneath those words was another line of very small words. From the writing, he could tell that those two lines were written at different times.
The first line seemed like it was written many years ago, but the ink for the writing underneath was fresh - it must've been written a few days ago. "YC is the best confession of love I can give to you."
YC... Isn't that his company's name?
Chen Bai had been with Mr. He all the way since he first established YC. At the time, Mr. He insisted on calling the company YC. Chen Bai was confused for a really long time as to why He Jichen chose such a name.
He quickly put the photo back in its original place then waited for Mr. He to return. After he and Mr. He finished discussing business, he thought about the letters YC for a long time. Finally, he understood what YC actually meant.
Ah, YC means "Yi Chen"... "Y" represents Ji Yi, and "C" represents He Jichen... So the real reason why YC exists is due to Miss Ji.
It wasn't until this moment that Chen Bai realized Miss Ji wasn't just an average woman Mr. He spoiled, nor a woman he cared about, nor a woman he liked or was deeply in love with... She was his everything.
Returning to the present, Chen Bai suddenly acted like he had a call as he reached into his pocket for his phone. He made an apologetic gesture to Ji Yi, held his phone to his ear and walked out of the patient room.
After about two minutes, Chen Bai returned with an embarrassed look on his face as he said to Ji Yi, "Miss Ji, there's some urgent business back at the company; I have to go back to deal with it. I'm afraid I might even have to go on a business trip, but if I leave, Mr. He won't have anyone to watch over him..."
After saying this, Chen Bai looked like he had a eureka moment as his eyes lit up. "Oh yeah, how could I forget? There's also Mr. Han..."
As Chen Bai said this, he turned around, acting like he was going to step out of the patient room and call Han Zhifan. However, before he reached the door, he stopped again and started to mumble: "...Look at this memory of mine. Mr. Han is injured and in the hospital too. Even Miss Cheng, who he doesn't have a bad relationship with, is staying with Mr. Han. This time, we're really in trouble. Don't tell me I'll have to put off work? Ahhh, but I really have urgent things to deal with..."
Having heard every word Chen Bai said, Ji Yi glanced over at the sleeping He Jichen and interrupted Chen Bai: "Go ahead, I'll be here to watch over him."
Chen Bai immediately turned around with a pleasantly surprised look on his face. "Really?"
Ji Yi knew full well that she should keep a good distance away from He Jichen, but as soon as she heard Chen Bai mention that no one could take care of He Jichen, she couldn't help but speak up.
===
She just didn't have the heart to sit and watch, so she let out an "Mhm" and gently nodded at Chen Bai.
Chen Bai suddenly smiled. "Miss Ji, thank you so much."
"Miss Ji, remember to get Mr. He to take his medicine..." Chen Bai walked over to the bedside table, took out a sheet of paper from the bag of medicine, and handed it to Ji Yi. "...Here are the dosage instructions."
Ji Yi took it and shot a quick glance at the paper. After she scanned it quickly to ensure she understood it, she gave Chen Bai a nod. "Got it."
"Also Miss Ji, after Mr. He wakes up, make sure he eats something..." Chen Bai was originally worried about getting Mr. He to eat something after he woke up, but now that Miss Ji was here, he didn't need to worry at all... "The doctor said he has to eat and drink on a regular basis and that the drip is only temporary. If he doesn't eat regularly, no matter how many times he's put on the drip, his body will collapse."
"Don't worry. I'll watch his food intake," said Ji Yi.
With Ji Yi's promise, Chen Bai relaxed. "Then, Miss Ji, I'll head back to the company and get to work. If you need anything, you can call me anytime."
Ji Yi first let out an "Mhm" then said "Alright."
Ji Yi was walking Chen Bai out of the patient room, but before Chen Bai left, he reminded Ji Yi once more: "You must get Mr. He to eat." Then he said goodbye to Ji Yi and left.
After Chen Bai disappeared into an elevator, Ji Yi returned to the patient room.
She first examined He Jichen's drip. She noticed there was a lot of fluid left and his wrists weren't bleeding, which was a good sign. Then she took the chance to give Zhang Sao a call.
Early in the morning, she ran out without saying a word and worried the hell out of Zhang Sao, so when she called, Zhang Sao cried out: "Lord!" Her worried heart finally calmed down. "Miss Ji, I'm so glad you called me. If Mr. He started asking questions after you left so suddenly, I'd be done for... Miss Ji, where are you now? I'll call the driver to pick you up..."
"That's okay..." Ji Yi interrupted Zhang Sao mid-sentence. Then she said with a serious voice: "...I'm with He Jichen..."
After Zhang Sao heard what Ji Yi said, her voice relaxed. "Ah, so Miss Ji, you're with Mr. He."
"Mhm, he's sick and we're at the hospital."
"He's sick? Is Mr. He alright?"
"He's okay for now. I was actually calling to trouble you to make him something to eat and drop it off at the hospital later..." Ji Yi suddenly remembered she didn't know when He Jichen was going to wake up, so she added, "...remember to keep it warm."
"Got it, Miss Ji. I'll get off the phone now and get cooking."
"Mhm..." replied Ji Yi. Just as she was going to hang up, Ji Yi remembered that He Jichen hadn't eaten well for a month, so his stomach probably couldn't take anything overly oily or chewy. Then she added, "...Oh right, Zhang Sao. Cook some congee. He has to have light meals that are easy to digest..."
Ji Yi felt like her description wasn't quite right, so she changed it completely. "Zhang Sao, do you know how to make baby food? Make baby food for him."
Baby food... Over the phone, Zhang Sao hesitated for a moment but eventually replied, "Okay."
===
Qian Ge was clever as always. After losing the battle with Ji Yi during production for "Three Thousand Lunatics," she was upset but she knew to restrain herself.
Half a year prior, she already had a full year's worth of jobs lined up. Once Qian Ge finished shooting her scenes on the same day that "Three Thousand Lunatics" finished production, she got on a flight to Los Angeles without even attending the end-of-production party.
After a month-long shoot without a day of rest, she flew to Paris to attend an exhibition for an international brand and walked the red carpet.
Once it was over, she headed back to the hotel, took a shower, laid on the floor, and did some yoga. That was when she heard her assistant start to talk about how "Three Thousand Lunatics" broke records on their premiere five hours ago. There were an infinite number of positive comments online saying that the title for the Queen of TV was rightfully Qian Ge's!
Qian Ge stretched her torso as she asked sluggishly, "What about the supporting actress?"
The assistant swiped her iPad for a long time before replying, "Nobody really mentioned her."
After hearing this, Qian Ge's hazy mood finally started to lighten up.
So what if Ji Yi's acting skills are good? So what if He Jichen worked hard to land her the role as the supporting actress? Times have changed; I'm no longer the old Qian Ge, but I'm still able to steal the limelight.
The more Qian Ge thought about it, the better she felt. In the end, she started to hum.
After yoga, she noticed it was still early, so she figured she'd go out shopping with her assistant. Considering that Ji Yi hadn't been noticed at all from her first appearance on TV, it made Qian Ge so overjoyed that she generously bought her assistant a handbag.
When women buy buy buy, they feel particularly happy. Back at the hotel, not only was Qian Ge wide awake, but she even called an attendant to send up a bottle of their best red wine.
She sat in front of the wide, tall windows and stared out at the Parisian night sky. She sampled some top-quality wine and listened to the elegant sound of the piano, enjoying this perfect night.
However, this sense of contentment didn't last more than half an hour. The assistant, who was sitting on a nearby sofa, spoiled her mood when she saw something on Weibo. "Qian Jie, Ji Yi made it to the hot searches list!" she cried.
Qian Ge swirled her glass of red wine as though she hadn't quite registered what her assistant said. Then she curved her red lips to let out an "Mm?"
"Ji Yi's on the hot searches list. Loads of people are starting to notice her, and they recognize her as Princess Qing Yang. There are many people complimenting her acting skills. They say she's beautiful, and there are even some people who dug up clips of her when she appeared on "Palace" as Little Nine for a couple minutes. The posts have been shared among many verified accounts. Someone even..."
As the assistant rambled on, Qian Ge's face grew sullen. Eventually, the assistant was so frightened that she stopped speaking altogether.
Qian Ge furrowed her brows and her tone of voice ran cold and icy. "Even what?"
The assistant clenched her teeth and continued: "People even compared her to you, and many people are saying she's prettier than you..."
The assistant slowly raised her eyes and shot Qian Ge a quick glance.
"Give me the iPad!" cried Qian Ge.
After Qian Ge spoke, the assistant was so frightened that she kept her head down and didn't dare look up. The assistant didn't move.
Qian Ge impatiently reached her hand out and snatched the iPad from her hands. She swiped the screen for a while. A second later, the iPad was tossed from her hands and smashed into the wall with a "Pop!"
==
The assistant was so frightened that she took two steps back, causing the wine glass to fall to the floor. A "crash!" followed as Qian Ge spoke sternly, "Why didn't I catch the slightest wind of YC signing Ji Yi? I pay all you people so much, yet you guys didn't even know about a piece of news like this?"
"Qian Jie, it's not that we didn't know - we knew long ago that YC was looking for artists to sign, but if Mr. He of YC wasn't frequently meeting with Jiang Xinxin, then he was with Lin Siyi. Everyone thought he was going to sign them. Yesterday, there was all this commotion about it on Weibo; everyone was guessing who YC would sign, but in the end, who knew that YC would officially announce that the person they signed was Ji Yi..."
The second Qian Ge heard this, she hurled a half-full bottle of red wine across the room.
The red wine crashed into the wall and shattered, causing the red liquid to splash across the floor.
"Which means it was all premeditated! Which also means that YC wanted to hype Ji Yi up long ago, and this was planned long ago. Whether He Jichen was talking to Jiang Xinxin or Lin Siyi, none of them were important. They were just used to hype Ji Yi up to the max!" Qian Ge raised her chin then clenched her teeth as she spoke: "If they wanted to boost her popularity, they could've done this long ago, but they just had to wait till "Three Thousand Lunatics" was released. They obviously wanted to use the double threat from the news and drama to get that b*tch a following..."
"Ah, He Jichen is truly devious..." A smirk emerged from the corners of Qian Ge's lips. "...But did he think he could actually make that b*tch famous? In his dreams! Every day that I, Qian Ge, remain in the entertainment industry, that b*tch Ji Yi will never become famous!"
Good, really good... but I, Qian Ge, am not a force to be reckoned with!
Qian Ge quickly calmed down and in a short minute, she thought of a plan. Qian Ge turned to look at her assistant then said, "Tell the company that no matter the consequences, go investigate! Find out about all the upcoming jobs Ji Yi has! Steal as many of them as possible, and for the ones that we can't steal, I'll think of another plan!"
In other words, she wasn't going to care about the consequences; she wouldn't hesitate to stop Ji Yi from ever making it big in the entertainment biz!
-
It was eight in the evening when He Jichen woke up.
Ji Yi didn't get much sleep the night before. After they took out He Jichen's needle, she couldn't take it anymore and fell asleep, sprawled out on the bed.
But she was still worried about He Jichen's illness, so Ji Yi didn't sleep very well. After He Jichen woke up, his leg twitched slightly, causing Ji Yi's eyes to open wide. She bolted up from his arm that she used as a pillow. She happened to catch He Jichen as he slowly opened his eyes.
"You're up?" exclaimed Ji Yi.
After He Jichen heard this, his brows twitched; he assumed he was just hearing things. He stared up at the ceiling for a long time before his gaze fell on Ji Yi.
He didn't dare speak in fear that it was all a dream; he was scared that as soon as he opened his mouth, he'd wake up to find that she was gone.
When he caught her gaze, Ji Yi spoke again: "Is there anywhere you don't feel well?"
He Jichen only stared at Ji Yi without making a sound.
Ji Yi reached her hand out and touched He Jichen's head. "Still a little hot..." she mumbled as she got up and pressed the button for help by He Jichen's bedside.
===
The doctor quickly appeared in the patient room.
He Jichen didn't react at all to the doctor as he checked his body temperature, blood pressure, and asked some questions about his comfort level. From start to finish, He Jichen stared right at Ji Yi like a puppet, allowing the doctor to do as he pleased.
"We'll give you a bottle of nutritional fluid then give you a shot to lower the fever..." The resident doctor put his thermometer away and gave instructions to the nurse responsible for He Jichen. After the nurse nodded and said "alright," the resident doctor looked over at Ji Yi. "...You must remember that Mr. He needs to take his medicine on time."
"Got it. Thank you, doctor." Ji Yi smiled politely at the doctor.
The doctor didn't reply but turned to look at He Jichen on the bed then politely said, "Mr. He, I'm going to do my rounds. If you feel unwell, you can call me at any time."
He Jichen was as quiet as before as though he hadn't heard what the doctor said. He stared unwaveringly at Ji Yi without any sign of speaking.
Ji Yi was afraid things would be awkward if He Jichen didn't respond, so she hurriedly said, "Doctor, I got it. I'll call you if anything happens."
The doctor replied with a faint smile and left the room with the nurse.
Ji Yi followed behind the doctor and saw him out of the patient room.
After the doctor left, Ji Yi wasn't in a hurry to head back into the room. Instead, she gave Zhang Sao a call.
Because it was summer, it wasn't convenient to store food at the hospital. Since Ji Yi didn't know when He Jichen would wake up, she had asked Zhang Sao to leave the food she prepared at home instead of dropping it off at the hospital right away.
He Jichen had slept for a whole day before finally waking up now. Having remembered Chen Bai's instructions, Ji Yi quickly ordered Zhang Sao to deliver the prepared food to the hospital.
After hanging up, Ji Yi headed back to the room, shut the door, and turned to glance at He Jichen. Seeing that he still wasn't saying a word, she walked over to the side of the bed.
When she sat on the chair she placed beside the bed earlier that afternoon, Ji Yi noticed that He Jichen still didn't look as if he was going to make a sound. She started to explain why she was there: "I called you earlier today just before you fainted, so I came to see you at the hospital."
When He Jichen heard what she said, his unwavering eyes blinked slightly.
Ji Yi continued to say, "Chen Bai got a call in the early afternoon; he said he had to head back to the office for urgent business. He might need to go on a business trip and Mr. Han is also at the hospital now, so I stayed to keep you company."
Ji Yi's words rang out in the patient room and a hint of anxiety slowly gathered in He Jichen's eyes.
He tightened his hands into fists the moment Ji Yi's voice dropped, digging his nails into his skin. The pain convinced him that all this confusion in front of him wasn't an illusion at all. It was all real.
All of a sudden, his mood instantly changed; he felt disbelief, shock, and delight for some time before he recovered his composure.
He hadn't absorbed what Ji Yi said, but he knew she was talking to him. He gave Ji Yi a gentle nod then looked at her and snapped back to reality.
Even after seeing each other, both of them tactfully didn't mention that night in Shanghai last month. However, the atmosphere was inevitably a little awkward.
Now that the two of them were face-to-face and alone, He Jichen was quiet. Ji Yi felt even more uncomfortable in the silent room.