It seemed like He Jichen knew what she was up to. Ji Yi spent a week going back and forth like that but she still didn't manage to catch sight of him.
Thanks to Tang Huahua, news of He Jichen's appearance quickly got out to Chen Bai and Han Zhifan. The two of them called Ji Yi and got He Jichen's number from her. Like Ji Yi, they also tried to call him and visit him at the hotel he was staying at, but they didn't manage to catch him either.
Ning Shuang, who stayed in the same hotel as He Jichen, hadn't seen him for a few days, let alone Ji Yi and the others.
If Ning Shuang hadn't gone to the front desk every day to check if He Jichen had checked out yet, Ji Yi would've thought He Jichen already left Beijing.
As each day passed, Ji Yi grew uneasy as she wasn't able to catch a glimpse of He Jichen.
Deep down, she knew that if this didn't work out, and she would need to come up with a new plan.
In the morning on the eighth day since she last saw He Jichen, Zhuang Yi and Tang Huahua came to pick up Ji Yi to go to the suburbs for a shoot. The shoot was held at a film studio and it was for a new product endorsement ad which they snagged earlier in the year.
The commercial, over ten minutes long, took three whole hours to finish shooting, so it was one in the afternoon by the time they left the studio.
Back at the minivan, Tang Huahua started the car up. Zhuang Yi put on her seat belt in the front passenger seat as she turned and asked Ji Yi. "Where to?"
Ji Yi didn't give Zhuang Yi a reply.
Zhuang Yi was silent for two seconds before she said, "The Guili Hotel again?"
Guili Hotel was the hotel He Jichen was staying at. For the past few days, whenever Ji Yi wasn't busy, she spent most of her time there, during which she did everything but check into a room.
Ji Yi stared out the window in silence.
Tang Huahua took this as Ji Yi's silent approval. As she entered the words "Guili Hotel" into the GPS and waited for it to finish finding the route, she stepped on the gas and slowly started the car up.
Today's weather was unusually good. The bright, clear sky didn't have a single dark cloud, and the entire city was as clean as a scene from an anime.
In the afternoon, traffic wasn't particularly smooth, so the car went at alternating speeds. Ji Yi stared unblinkingly out at the passing romantic urban landscape through the window. It wasn't until the car passed "SKP" that she suddenly cried out, "Go to SKP."
One after the other, Tang Huahua and Zhuang Yi were left stunned.
What's this?
The two of them shared a look before Zhuang Yi said, "Xiao Yi, are you not going to Guili anymore?"
Ji Yi let out a soft "Mhm" for a few seconds and said, "Let's go window shopping at SKP."
Over ten seconds after Ji Yi finished speaking, Tang Huahua came to her senses and let out an "oh" followed by a hurried "okay." Then she turned the car around under the bridge and headed for the underground parking lot of SKP.
After they took the elevator to the first floor, Ji Yi ignored the luxury brand shops that Tang Huahua and Zhuang Yi thought she would shop at and headed right for a diamond ring shop.
With the shop assistant's help, Ji Yi carefully looked at all the rings. While looking at them, she didn't forget to ask for Tang Huahua and Zhuang Yi's opinions as they followed along beside her.
After over an hour, Ji Yi emerged from the shop with a pair of simple yet elegant diamond rings.