Satu Miliar Bintang Tidak Bisa Menghitung Anda - Chapter 759-766

“Oh, I forgot to tell you the woman’s name is Ning Shuang.” Tang Huahua peered at Ji Yi in the back seat from the rearview mirror as she drove. “She studied abroad in France for five years. She’s graduated now and she’s older than you by three months.”

“Mhm.” Ji Yi nodded.

The car was silent for a short while before Ji Yi added, “Last year when I went to the American Movie Festival, didn’t we buy a lot of things while shopping with Zhuang Yi? I suddenly remember that I had a lot of unused and unopened products. Where did you and Zhuang Yi put them?”

“Oh, they’re at the office.” With that, Tang Huahua then asked with confusion, “What’s up?”

“When is the dinner date with the fan?” asked Ji Yi leisurely.

“The eighteenth. It’s three nights from now at the revolving restaurant, Lilac. Room No.1.”

“Mm…” replied Ji Yi softly. Then she continued with what she was saying earlier: “…So tomorrow or the day after, whenever you have time, head back to the office and choose one of the decent unopened boxes as a present. Get it wrapped up then put it in the car in advance.”

After Tang Huahua heard this, she understood why Ji Yi asked her about their shopping trip. She wanted to gift one to the fan who she was having dinner with. Tang Huahua quickly nodded and replied, “Got it!”

–

On the evening of the seventeenth, He Jichen got a video call from Ning Shuang.

In the video, Ning Shuang had just finished taking a shower, so her hair was wrapped up in a towel. She held the phone up with one hand while putting on a face mask with her other hand.

He Jichen only glanced at the phone screen for a moment then put it down on the coffee table. He picked up the book he was reading and continued to calmly and elegantly read.

“Do you have time tomorrow?” The hotel room was very quiet, so over the phone, Ning Shuang’s voice sounded quite abrupt.

After He Jichen finished the last line of the newspaper, he slowly flipped the page and replied in a dull voice, “Yes.”

“Then I’ll treat you to dinner tomorrow?” suggested Ning Shuang. She continued without waiting for He Jichen’s reply: “Is French food, alright?”

He Jichen furrowed his brows. He stopped reading his book and looked over at the video chat.

Ning Shuang saw his reaction and knew what he was thinking. He’d lived in France for so long, eating French food practically every day. Now that he was back in Beijing, French food again? But she couldn’t help it – she wasn’t the one who booked the table. It was Huan Ying Entertainment…

Ning Shuang was afraid He Jichen would notice something strange was going on, so she lowered her head to avoid He Jichen’s gaze. “The revolving restaurant, Lilac, is very famous. They say you can see a beautiful night view. I’m not going for the food. I’m going for the view…”

As she said this, Ning Shuang raised her head and snuck a glance at her phone screen. Seeing that He Jichen wasn’t in sight, she knew she was successful. She immediately started to giggle and said, “Remember, it’s the revolving restaurant, Lilac. Tomorrow night at half past six. Room No.1.”

He Jichen didn’t say anything but mindfully let out an “Mhm.” Then he gently turned the page again.

“I have to catch my TV series in a min, so I’m hanging up!”

Ning Shuang had gotten used to He Jichen’s unresponsive attitude a long time ago. When she finished speaking, she was about to hang up the phone. All of a sudden, she remembered something important as her finger hovered over the screen. “Tomorrow, give them my name and phone number at the restaurant. I only left my details with the restaurant.”

This time, He Jichen didn’t even give Ning Shuang a response.

When Ning Shuang heard the soft sound of pages turning, her lips twitched and she mumbled, “Mute Stone Face” then continued to hang up the phone.

–

On the afternoon of the eighteenth, Chen Bai made lunch plans to meet Ji Yi and a reputable and virtuous senior director on the sixth floor of a steakhouse.

The lunch went smoothly, and they could tell that the senior director was satisfied with Ji Yi and was interested in working with her for their next major movie.

The senior director had an afternoon meeting at two, so the business lunch ended after no more than ninety minutes.

Chen Bai also had an appointment to discuss a collaboration, so he had to head back to Huan Ying Entertainment.

The revolving restaurant, Lilac, was near SKP, so Ji Yi didn’t bother rushing home. Seeing as she had no plans in the afternoon and she hadn’t been shopping in a long time, she met up with Tang Huahua, who was waiting at a nearby cafe, to go shopping.

Because it was a weekday, there weren’t many people at the shopping mall. New collections of clothing weren’t released yet and there weren’t many clothes and shoes to buy, so Ji Yi and Tang Huahua shopping in the cosmetics section on the first floor. Ji Yi chose a few hot colors of lipstick then headed straight for the fourth floor.

Ji Yi actually wanted to buy a pair of shoes, so she casually circled the mall, but she couldn’t seem to find a pair she liked. Instead, she spotted a porcelain shop in the far southern part of the fourth floor.

Ji Yi suddenly remembered that the director, who she was filming with a few days ago, invited her to his birthday party in a few day’s time. During the shoot, as they sat together and chatted, the director mentioned he was a lover of porcelain.

She had to bring a gift if she was going to the dinner party and the gift had to be something he liked. Since Ji Yi was already at the mall, she might as well give up shoe shopping and call Tang Huahua to go to the porcelain store.

“All of sudden, you wanna go shop at a porcelain store? I never knew you were interested in those kinds of things,” said Tang Huahua quietly as she couldn’t help but turn her head and look over at the porcelain store.

“It’s Director Yilu’s birthday in a few day’s time. I want to pick one out for him,” replied Ji Yi quietly. She then reached out to touch an azure vase.

“Oh, if you didn’t mention it, I would’ve almost forgotten – Zhuang Yi called me last night to remind me to get Director Yilu a present.” After Tang Huahua said this, she started to look at some porcelain with Ji Yi.

As they browsed, they quietly discussed the porcelain every now and then.

Their focus was on the porcelain, so they didn’t notice that there were two other people also picking out porcelain when they walked in.

Ji Yi and Tang Huahua noted the porcelain they looked at and liked. After they finished browsing the porcelain store, Ji Yi pointed out the ones she liked, compared them, and chose the best one.

The porcelain store wasn’t too big, so after Ji Yi and Tang Huahua finished browsing carefully, they called a customer service agent over.

Maybe it was because it was a vintage porcelain store, but the tall customer service agent was wearing a traditional Qipao dress. After she walked over to them, she asked Ji Yi and Tang Huahua in a low voice if there was anything she could help them with.

Ji Yi pointed at the ones she wanted on the shelf and said, “Could you please bring those porcelain pieces on the table and describe them to me?”

After the customer service agent heard what Ji Yi said, her expression looked a little strange.

Tang Huahua had sharp eyes and noticed something was off. She asked, “What’s wrong? Is there some kind of problem?”

The shop assistant hurriedly said, “Ladies, it’s like this. How about you take a look at other pieces? The ones you just picked out happen to have been reserved by someone half an hour ago.”

All reserved?

Ji Yi and Tang Huahua looked like they heard something unbelievable then they looked at one another with bewilderment in their eyes.

Porcelain wasn’t cheap and the seven to eight pieces of the ten they were interested in came up to several tens of thousands of RMB, yet they all happened to be reserved?! Wasn’t that too much of a coincidence?

At that thought, Tang Huahua added, “Excuse me, who reserved it?”

The shop assistant turned around and walked around the store, pointing at the old wooden chair in the distance. “That lady with the face mask reserved them.”

Ji Yi was the first to look over there. Even though the shop assistant pointed the person out, she was wearing a face mask and hat, so she couldn’t see her face. However, with just a glance at her body, Ji Yi could recognize that it was Qian Ge, who she hadn’t seen for two months.

Even though Ji Yi didn’t personally know what Qian Ge was doing, when she found out it was Qian Ge who reserved them all, she knew what happened. Ji Yi was certain that Qian Ge must’ve seen them come in and paid attention to every piece they liked then stole them all right in front of them!

Of course, buying porcelain was just an act. What she really wanted to do was give her more trouble!

The light in her eyes instantly turned colder. She didn’t say anything but shot Tang Huahua a look.

Tang Huahua immediately understood what she meant and smiled at the shop assistant right away. “Sorry to be a bother. We’ll look at others.”

“Alright ladies, if there’s anything you need, please call me at any time.” The shop assistant smiled and bowed then respectfully retreated.

After the shop assistant had walked quite a distance away, Ji Yi walked right up to Qian Ge, who was sitting on the chair while playing on her phone.

Before Ji Yi reached her, Qian Ge could sense someone drawing closer. She raised her face and looked over at Ji Yi and Tang Huahua.

Ji Yi wore a face mask just like Qian Ge, but Qian Ge recognized Ji Yi at a glance too. Because of the face mask, Ji Yi couldn’t see the expression on Qian Ge’s face, but she could sense that her lips were smiling in delight. It wasn’t until she walked over to her that Qian Ge put her phone away and sluggishly leaned back in her chair then whispered, “I stole all the ones you picked out to gift to Director Yilu. Don’t you feel especially sad and crushed?”

“That’s about right!” chuckled Qian Ge. She didn’t bother waiting for Ji Yi to open her mouth when she softly added, “I’m telling you, I did it on purpose! From the moment you stepped into the shop, I spotted you and followed you in. I asked the shop assistant to reserve all the ones you picked out. You wanna get Director Yilu a gift? I won’t allow you to get your way!”

After she said this, Qian Ge ignored Ji Yi and turned her head to look over at her assistant behind her. “Say, we picked so many porcelain pieces out. Which one should we give to Director Yilu?”

Qian Ge tilted her head as she said this and repeated what she heard while eavesdropping on Ji Yi. “How about this azure vase?”

“The craftsmanship is really intricate and you can tell with just one look that it’s high class. Also, director Yilu said that he loves azure vases the most…”

“You!” blurted Tang Huahua in anger as Ji Yi cut her off. How could Tang Huahua not know that Qian Ge was deliberately using Ji Yi’s own words to piss her off?

Qian Ge ignored Tang Huahua’s protests and continued to slowly repeat what Ji Yi said to her assistant. “That tall vase isn’t bad. Director Yilu just so happens to have bought a new house, so he can put this in his living room…”

The shop assistant gradually brought out the ceramic pieces Qian Ge reserved and placed them on the table in front of her.

Qian Ge picked up a rather small vase and stroked it in her hands as she cranked it up a notch by adding, “…This one’s not bad. He can put it in his home office as an ornament and the painting on top implies great fortune and longevity, making it a suitable birthday present…”

“She’s just too over the top!” Tang Huahua couldn’t help interjecting.

Ji Yi didn’t say anything but stood on the spot, calm and composed. She stared at the table of ceramic pieces with something on her mind.

The shop assistant worked quickly to sell the pieces. “Miss, could you please inspect the piece you would like? If there isn’t a problem, I’ll wrap it up for you and give you the total.”

Qian Ge turned her head when she heard this and glanced at Ji Yi with a boastful expression. She deliberately raised her voice, “Wrap it right up for me. Thanks!”

After she said this, Qian Ge thought that wasn’t enough to express her anger. “Actually, we can give director Yilu all these pieces. After all, he’s a lover of ceramics…” said Qian Ge as she turned her head towards the assistant.

Before Qian Ge could finish speaking, Ji Yi suddenly bent over and picked up a vase. Without even taking a glance, she smashed it to the ground hard.

The vase shattered on the floor with a “Crash!” Qian Ge jumped up from the chair. “What are you doing?!”

Ji Yi ignored Qian Ge and reached out to pick up another piece then violently threw it to the floor.

“Miss, what are you doing? I’ll call the police!” said the shop assistant.

This time, Ji Yi reached out and pushed the ceramics off the table, smashing them all into small pieces on the floor!

She straightened up and without a single glance at Qian Ge, she walked right over to the tall vase. She raised her foot and kicked the vase hard to the floor, shattering it into countless pieces.

After Ji Yi confirmed that the ceramics were all smashed, she ignored both the fuming Qian Ge and the panicking shop assistant. She turned to look over at Tang Huahua and replied in a cold voice, “Huahua, go pay for all the smashed items!”

“Yes!” exclaimed Tang Huahua as she pulled out a card from the bag then handed it to the shop assistant.

All the ceramics were smashed to pieces, so naturally, they couldn’t be sold. Seeing that Ji Yi was willing to pay, the shop assistant didn’t shout for the security and the police. Instead, she immediately brought Tang Huahua over to the cashier’s desk.

After everyone left, Ji Yi glared coldly at Qian Ge.

Qian Ge never imagined that Ji Yi would do that as the expression on her face looked stunned.

Ji Yi stared at Qian Ge for a few seconds then took one step at a time towards her.

Maybe the light in Ji Yi’s eyes was far too cold and gave off an incredibly hostile feeling as Qian Ge’s assistant thought she was going to do something. She instinctively took a step forward. “What are you gonna do?”

When Ji Yi heard this, her eyes swept over Qian Ge’s assistant and before she could utter a word, Qian Ge’s assistant took a step back in fear from her domineering aura.

A cold smile emerged on Ji Yi’s lips as her chilling gaze fell on Qian Ge’s face.

The expression on her face looked a lot calmer than before. Her assistant’s shrill voice probably helped her return to reality.

She looked at Ji Yi drawing closer, step by step, then she took a small step back just like her assistant.

Ji Yi seemed to have guessed she would do that, so while Qian Ge was taking a small step back, she suddenly sped up and took big strides right over to Qian Ge.

Ji Yi was a little taller than Qian Ge since she had a dinner date with a fan that evening, so she was wearing a pair of five-inch heels.

Stepping out of the house today, Qian Ge probably just wanted to go window shopping since she was wearing a small pair of white shoes. Her choice in footwear made it so that Ji Yi towered over Qian Ge by half a head. “Didn’t you want to buy all these ceramics for director Yilu? And didn’t you say he was a ceramics hobbyist? Would you like me to pick up these shattered pieces, put them in a box, and send it to director Yilu with your name on it?” asked Ji Yi as she looked down at Qian Ge with superiority.

After Ji Yi said this, she remembered she forgot to mention an important point, so she added, “Oh, don’t worry. I’ll still kindly add a card for you. On it, I’ll even write ‘Happy birthday director Yilu, from Qian Ge’!”

Hearing this, Qian Ge suddenly lifted her head and met Ji Yi’s eyes with anger. “Quit talking all high and mighty here. Even though you settled on those ceramics, I reserved them first. You’ve already gone too far by smashing them. Don’t push it!”

Ji Yi looked as though she heard something hilarious and let out a chuckle then glared even more coldly at Qian Ge. “You were the first to reserve them, so it doesn’t matter if I saw them first. Even if you used your own money to buy them first, I’d still dare to smash them just to see you pissed!”

“As for ‘taking things too far,’ I couldn’t possibly compare to you. You fully showed me the meaning of that a long time ago. But me? What I did today was barely a fraction of how far you took things. Am I not right?”

“Did you think it’d be easy to steal the things I want? Let me tell you – if there’s something I want but I can’t get it, it’ll be destroyed before you can ever get it! Even if I wanted it at first and didn’t want it later but you did, I would never let you have it!”

“Like…” Ji Yi leaned forward then spoke with gritted teeth: “…that drama, ‘Consort Ning.’ The director begged me, using all kinds of methods to get me to take the job, but I didn’t. Instead, I would rather invest money to recommend a rookie to take the role than give you a chance!”

“Today, I’ll say it right here and now. Between us, I will always steal your roles and it’ll never be the other way round!”

“Don’t tell me I’m taking things too far or going overboard, because I never bullied anyone. Even if I did, they couldn’t be human!”

Qian Ge stared at Ji Yi’s eyes with her face flushed with anger.

Ji Yi didn’t give her any chance to speak and continued to say, “Don’t glare at me with those eyes. You were only picked on today because you were asking for it! For over a year now, you must’ve spent your days pissed. I stole commercial after commercial from you and sabotaged one television series after another. I even stole your site traffic from your live broadcasts…”

“…Let me make this clear, the past year or so is just the beginning. As long as I live, don’t ever count on having a good day’s work. On days when I’m pissed, I’ll take it out on you!”

“So, I suggest that from now on, don’t try to mess with me. If you see me, it’s best for you to hide far away. Who knows – if I’m in a good mood, maybe I’ll let you breathe a little!”

JI Yi was so angry that she held her breath throughout her entire rant. Without even so much as a glance at Qian Ge, she straightened up, turned around and walked over to Tang Huahua.

After taking just two steps, Qian Ge said with a trembling, angry voice: “Don’t think that I don’t know why you’re picking on me. Isn’t it because I ruined him?”

Even though Qian Ge didn’t mention his name, Ji Yi knew she was talking about He Jichen.

Her footsteps came to a sudden stop.

“Even if you shattered a floor full of ceramics, so what? He won’t come back to your side. Don’t think I don’t know that you have feelings for him now. Last year, I came across you crying over his photo!”

“You say you’re making life hard for me because you’re pissed, but what I did back then never gave you a single day’s happiness. Am I right?”

“So do you really think you beat me? Between us, you’ve always lost to me. Haven’t you?”

With her back to Qian Ge, Ji Yi slowly turned around after hearing her words and looked back at her.

Ji Yi looked far calmer than her righteous, domineering self earlier. In fact, her voice even sounded a lot more composed as she said, “I may not be happy every day because he left, but so what? At the very least, he loves me. He gave up his prestigious university and his duty to take over the family business just to come to Beijing. He created YC for me and to defeat you, and he left for me.”

“Even if he isn’t by my side now, I know he’s the person I hated, I avoided, I liked, I gave up on, and now, he’s still someone I remember. I’m someone he deeply spoiled, got angry over, argued with, sacrificed for, and now, someone he really loves.”

“I can wait for him. As long as I wait for him, we’ll be together someday. But for you? You loved him so much. You used both good and bad methods, yet you were never able to have him. Even if you waited ten years for him, twenty years, or even a whole lifetime, he’ll never be with you!”

“Between us, who do you think won?”

As Ji Yi’s questions escaped her lips, Qian Ge’s arrogant gaze became embarrassed after thinking she had the upper hand.

As Ji Yi’s questions escaped her mouth, Qian Ge’s arrogant gaze became embarrassed after thinking she had the upper hand.

Ji Yi wanted to turn around and leave, but she suddenly remembered the past. Then she brutally stabbed Qian Ge again with her words. “If I remember correctly, you’ve always wanted to speak with him casually your whole life, and the only time he ever did was because of me. You told me before that you dreamed of being alone with him, and the only time that ever happened was when I helped you meet him in the grove during senior high. That was also because of me and back then, after he saw you instead of me, he looked pissed and left without saying a word, right?”

The old saying was right: Don’t hit people in the face and don’t point out someone’s weaknesses in an argument. (There are limits to hitting and belittling others.)

But with Qian Ge, she kept on bringing up other people’s weaknesses, so Ji Yi figured it would be best to retaliate with where it hurt most!

As Ji Yi thought, after she said what she said, Qian Ge’s gaze became unsettled.

She knew she seriously pissed Qian Ge off, and she knew there was a limit to Qian Ge’s temper. They were in a public area but if she continued like this, Qian Ge would go crazy and it would be troublesome if people recognized them.

Ji Yi appropriately stopped while she was ahead then walked off with Tang Huahua without even sweeping a look at Qian Ge. Seeing as there wasn’t a problem with the ceramics bill, she signed for it and left the store.

It was still early and there was still over two hours until dinner.

After bumping into Qian Ge, Ji Yi lost the temptation to go window shopping. Instead, she figured she might as well go to the cafe on the first floor with Tang Huahua to play games, killing time.

The two of them started chatting as Tang Huahua suggested some games to play.

After Ji Yi agreed to play one game and opened it, she realized there was an unread message. After clicking it, she read the message sent by “Young Windchaser”: “Who are you? Do I know you?”

In actuality, Ji Yi forgot about “Young Windchaser” but after suddenly reading his message, she remembered playing a few matches with him two years ago on Chinese new year.

At the time, he tried to hit on her in the game. He Jichen grabbed her phone and pissed him off so bad that he didn’t bother her ever again.

Thinking about the past, a smile crept up on Ji Yi’s lips.

“Xiao Yi, I dragged you into the group chat. Accept it,” said Tang Huahua, who couldn’t help but rush her since she invited Ji Yi a few times.

Ji Yi snapped back to reality and exited the message room. She clicked “confirm” after receiving another pop up for Tang Huahua’s room invitation.

He Jichen, do you know? When you were here, I never knew how important you were to my life. After you left, I finally noticed the shadow of your existence on every little thing in my life.

…

Her dinner date with her fan was at half-past six.

Ji Yi didn’t want to be late, so she left SKP at six to wait for the fan and headed to Lilac.

When she arrived, it wasn’t even a quarter past six yet.

Ji Yi didn’t want to seem like a diva in front of the fan, so she didn’t ask Tang Huahua to go into the private room with her. Beforehand, she took the gift prepared for the fan from Tang Huahua and walked into the restaurant alone.

Ji Yi thought the fan might not have arrived yet. As the waiter lead her into the elevator and up to the first floor, Ji Yi learned that the fan for her dinner date had already arrived at six.

As she emerged from the elevator, Ji Yi wasn’t sure what was wrong with her but her heart suddenly hastened. She had the faint feeling that something was going to happen.

After following the waiter for a bit, her heart randomly raced as they walked closer to room No.1. Just as she walked over to the doors, her breathing started to grow unsteady.

How strange… I’m just meeting a fan, so why am I so nervous?

Just as Ji Yi had that thought, the waiter pushed the door open. “Miss Ji, here we are.”

Ji Yi smiled back at the waiter then raised her head and looked all around the room. Then her eyes saw a familiar silhouette.

There stood a silhouette of someone dressed in a simple shirt and black trousers in front of the open window with his back to the door.

There was a cigarette between his fingers, which followed the night breeze through the window and scattered both the cloud of smoke and strands of his hair.

After Ji Yi heard what the waiter said and before she could even raise her feet, all the pressure points in her body seemed like they had been pushed. She stood frozen on the spot, motionlessly staring at the figure ahead of her.

Even though over a year had passed, even though he had his back to her and she couldn’t see his face, it took just one second for her to recognize the person she yearned for night and day, the person she had been searching and waiting for – He Jichen.

It was no wonder she felt completely strange after stepping out of the elevator. She thought something big was going to happen… But it wasn’t just something big – the most anticipated event of her entire life was finally going to happen. It had been a year and seven months now, so almost six hundred days and nights later… She finally saw him again.

Ji Yi didn’t know how to describe her emotions right now; she was excited, delighted, moved… All in all, there were all kinds of emotions coursing fiercely through her entire body, wave after violent wave.

With red eyes and curved lips, she stared transfixed at He Jichen’s back.

She wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry or laugh, but the corners of her lips curved even wider as the tears flowed from her eyes.

Time has treated me well. My lover, I finally get to see you after waiting so long for you…

Ji Yi revealed a toothy smile as her entire face was covered in tears.

After the waiter finished speaking, he took a step inside the room first then realized that Ji Yi wasn’t following behind. He stopped, turned his head and said, “Miss Ji…”

The waiter only managed to get those two words out when his eyes landed on Ji Yi’s crying, smiling expression on her face. The waiter’s prompting words to welcome Ji Yi into the room instantly disappeared from his lips.

With his back to the door, He Jichen stood in front of the window, staring out at SPK and thinking about how he once went window shopping with Ji Yi in that very mall. The second the waiter spoke, he stopped reminiscing and brought himself back to the present.

Having not clearly caught what the waiter said, He Jichen brought the cigarette up to his lips as he slowly turned his head and looked back. Then without any emotions in his eyes, he met Ji Yi’s direct gaze.

The fingers he raised to his mouth stopped in mid-air and his tall frame visibly swayed for a moment. Like a statue, his entire body was instantly petrified and his reaction was just as stupefied as Ji Yi’s.

The two of them stared at each other for two minutes before the completely confused waiter added, “Miss Ji, are you alright?”

The second time the waiter spoke, Ji Yi snapped back to reality. Without allowing her gaze to part from He Jichen in the slightest, she shook her head at the waiter. “I’m fine.”

Without bothering to wait for the waiter to speak, she walked into the private room.

When she reached the waiter’s side, her footsteps stopped and said, “You may leave” while her eyes were still glued to He Jichen.

“Yes,” replied the waiter in a soft voice as he swiftly left the room.