He and I Could Never Happen (7)

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The next day was a Monday. Just like the week before, He Jichen didn't reappear in Ji Yi's world until the weekend.

...

Ji Yi had a classmate from senior high called Li Da who went to university in Beijing. As they were in the same city, the two of them kept in contact.

Li Da was upbeat and witty, and he was quite close with Ji Yi's roommates. On top of it all, he was kind of interested in Bo He, so every so often, he liked to treat the girls out for a meal.

When Ji Yi picked up Li Da's call, she originally thought he was asking them out for a meal like usual. Who knew that he'd actually splash out and treat them all to a stay at a hot springs resort?

The hot springs resort was situated in the northern suburbs. Ji Yi and the girls headed out on Saturday afternoon. By the time they arrived at the resort and checked in, it was about time for dinner.

They first went to their respective rooms to drop off their things and made plans to meet up twenty minutes later at the Peony Pavilion restaurant.

Ji Yi thought she was having dinner with just her roommates and Li Da, but when she arrived at the Peony Pavilion, there he was. Sitting nonchalantly against the back of his chair with his head turned towards Li Da was He Jichen. Ji Yi suddenly felt a little regret for agreeing to meet up with Li Da.

In comparison to Ji Yi's regret, Tang Huahua was filled with surprise as she said, "He Xuezhang1?"

Li Da was left stunned; he was just planning to introduce the girls to He Jichen. "You guys know each other?"

"Of course! He Xuezhang is our Xiao Ya's..." said Tang Huahua without much thought. But before she could finish, Lin Ya, who was standing next to her, suddenly pulled on Tang Huahua's arm and shook her head at her, as if to signal her to not finish her sentence. Then Lin Ya added almost instantaneously, "... He Dage is my friend, so yeah we all know each other."

Though Tang Huahua was a little confused, she didn't say anything.

Lin Ya shot He Jichen an apprehensive look and realized that his facial expression had barely changed. Then she let out a sigh of relief and continued to say, "What a coincidence, so everyone knows each other..."

"Yeah, what a coincidence..." said Li Da, a little disappointed. Seeing as everyone was there, they immediately called a waiter for the menu. He didn't order but handed the menu to He Jichen, "Chen Ge2, you order."

He Jichen wasn't shy about it as he silently flipped through the menu with one hand and pointed at a few dishes with his beautiful, slender fingers every now and then.

"Chen Ge and I are from the same hometown. Chen Ge is like my Laoda3." Li Da was always talkative. Even if no one asked, he started talking about He Jichen's backstory as he sat there. "After so many years, Chen Ge really hasn't changed. You still attract people's attention as always. In the lobby just now, I spotted Chen Ge immediately."

When Lin Ya heard this, her face immediately dropped.

Yesterday, when she called He Jichen to invite him for dinner over the weekend, he said, "We'll see how it goes."

Understandingly, she obediently told him that if he was busy not to worry about it, because she had plans with her roommates on Saturday.

As an excuse to talk to him some more, she even told him that the person who invited them was Li Da, Ji Yi's classmate from senior high who was interested in Bo He. She told them they were going to a hot springs resort.

Over the phone, he didn't commit to my invitation at all, but today, he turns up at the resort out of the blue and just so happened to bump into Li Da?!