A Billion Stars Can’t Amount to You

Ji Yi looked back to watch He Jichen climb one step at a time upstairs and disappear around the corner on the second floor.

When the study door closed on the second floor, Zhang Sao smiled cheerfully and said, ”Miss, are you hungry? Let me take you to your breakfast.”

With that, Zhang Sao headed for the dining room and made a gesture to welcome her in.

No matter what happened between her and He Jichen, he did help her out last night, so out of courtesy, she should wait for him to finish with what he was doing and say ”goodbye” before leaving... Ji Yi thought about it then smiled at Zhang Sao. She replied ”Mmhmm” and ”Thank you.”

After they walked into the dining room, Zhang Sao pulled a chair out for Ji Yi. She waited for Ji Yi to sit down then headed into the kitchen and brought out all different kinds of breakfast foods.

Ji Yi lived in Sucheng when she was young, where she often had people serve her congee and hand her chopsticks during dinner at the He Family residence. However, in the past few years after leaving Sucheng, she rarely had dinner like this. She wasn’t used to having someone like Zhang Sao taking care of her, so she couldn’t help but tell her, ”Thank you, Zhang Sao. I can help myself.”

Zhang Sao responded with her mouth, but her hands didn’t stop.

When Ji Yi lowered her head to eat the congee, she saw Zhang Sao standing guard beside her. She instinctively asked, ”Zhang Sao, have you eaten? How about you sit down and eat with me?”

”I ate ages ago,” replied Zhang Sao with a beaming smile. She probably noticed that Ji Yi was uncomfortable, so she found a topic to talk about. ”I’ve worked here for three years now, yet you’re the first woman I’ve met who Mr. He has brought home.”

Rather than focus on the fact that she was the first woman He Jichen brought home, Ji Yi paid attention to the first half of his sentence. She asked Zhang Sao in confusion, ”Three years? He Jichen has had this apartment for three years now?”

”Yeah, Mr. He bought this apartment right when it went on sale. Technically speaking, he bought it four years ago, since it took a year to renovate it.”

Didn’t He Jichen start studying at B-Film only this year? Wasn’t he studying at some prestigious school before? Why’d he buy this apartment in Beijing so many years ago?

For a moment, Ji Yi had an odd feeling inside. Realizing that she hadn’t replied to Zhang Sao, she looked up, smiled, and responded with an ”Oh!”

”In actuality, Mr. He doesn’t come home often. In the past, he only came here once in a while. Sometimes, it’d be once a month, other times it was once every two months. Say... Apartments in Beijing are so expensive, yet Mr. He didn’t stay here often, so why did he buy this place, and why didn’t he stay in a hotel? I was curious, so I casually asked him about it once. Actually, Mr. He didn’t like to talk much, and I never hoped for a proper reply. I just thought I’d ask then get back to work, but I never imagined that Mr. He would actually give me an answer. What he said...” Zhang Sao tilted her head and tried hard to remember. ”...I came to your city, secured a home... does that count as a way of reuniting?”

”I didn’t really understand what Mr. He meant, but from what I saw, He Jichen’s mood was unusually good that day, exceptionally good. As long as I’ve known him, that was the best mood I’ve ever seen him in. About half a year ago, I even saw him secretly smile.”