"Even though the first time I met you was at your house in our third year of junior high, I actually knew about you the first day I arrived at Sucheng."
He Jichen looked at Ji Yi with a little disbelief.
Slightly tipsy, Ji Yi didn't give He Jichen a chance to speak as she continued by saying, "My grandma mentioned you. Granny told me that the neighbors were a rich family with two identical twins; the older son was polite and respectful, but the younger one was a devil. If I ever saw the one with the red string around his wrist, I had to stay as far away from him as possible..."
Ji Yi couldn't help but smile at the thought of how she used to sneak peeks and hide far away from He Jichen before they became close. "...I used to really listen to granny, so I immediately blacklisted you..."
Absolutely clueless about this, He Jichen was left a little speechless as he furrowed his brows. "Granny was really scatter-brained. One time she forgot her keys, so she couldn't get into the house. I had to risk my life by jumping into granny's window and helping her open the door."
He Jichen immediately caught onto the three words "risk my life." Ji Yi couldn't help but laugh again as she took another gulp of beer. For the most part, she really had drunk too much. Her vision was hazy and her expression became soft. "...But, He Jichen, Yuguang Ge was the one who told me your name, not granny."
At the mention of his name, Ji Yi suddenly looked like she remembered something important then blinked gently. Without waiting for He Jichen to speak, she continued by saying, "At the time, when I heard your name, I thought it sounded better than Yuguang Ge's name because..."
Ji Yi stopped abruptly and pushed the answer back down and tilted her head. "...He Jichen, do you know why?" she asked.
He also thought her name was unusually pleasing to the ear the first time he heard it because her name had the same "Ji" from his own name.
Even after deep thought, He Jichen really couldn't figure out why Ji Yi thought his name sounded nice, so he shook his head at her. Then he asked with an earnest look on his face: "Why?"
"Because..." Ji Yi stopped for a second, curved her lips into a smile and said, "...Ji."
He Jichen's fingers around his beer bottle trembled for a moment. He thought he heard wrong, so he didn't dare make a sound or flinch.
"The 'Ji' in Ji Yi and the 'Ji' in He Jichen. Don't you think that's a coincidence? Our names both have 'Ji' in them. Because of this, I thought your name sounded especially nice..."
Before Ji Yi could finish her final word, He Jichen suddenly said, "What a coincidence."
Ji Yi suddenly froze as she didn't quite understand what He Jichen meant by those three words.
He Jichen knew Ji Yi didn't understand him, so he looked her right in the eyes and continued to explain with a flat voice, "Me too. Because of the character 'Ji,' I thought your name sounded particularly nice."
Ji Yi's lips gaped slightly as though she was gently stimulated by something. She felt an intense feeling filling up her chest as she stared right at He Jichen. After a while, her lips curved into a smile then she replied, "That's a real coincidence."
He Jichen nodded but didn't say anything. All he did was stare deeply back at Ji Yi.