As her father spoke, He Jichen turned his head and looked over.
With no warning at all, their eyes met.
Ji Yi"s fingers suddenly trembled. The next second, she furiously tried to control herself and looked over at her dad with the most natural att.i.tude she could muster.
Her dad figured that Ji Yi must"ve been curious as to why He Jichen was at their house, so he explained, "It was your mum. A few days ago, she b.u.mped into Jichen and that"s when she realized he was in Beijing too. Back when you lived with grandma in Sucheng for school, we troubled HeAyi1 quite often. Since I"m back home today, we just had to invite Jichen over."
Ji Yi knew that the "He Ayi" her dad mentioned was He Jichen"s mom, a good friend of her mum.
When she studied in Sucheng, He Jichen"s mum often accompanied her to parent-teacher conferences since her grandma was quite old.
Because of her, the two families became quite close back then.
After she graduated senior-high, she rushed back to Beijing because of He Jichen. After her grandma pa.s.sed away, their family never returned to Suchen, and they only contacted the He family during the holidays.
After rambling on for so long, her dad realized Ji Yi was just standing there on the spot without greeting He Jichen. He couldn"t help telling her off, "Xiao Yi, when you were back in Sucheng, you went over to their house quite often, and if I remember correctly, you and Jichen were even cla.s.smates! Why aren"t you even saying h.e.l.lo now?"
Ji Yi was afraid her dad would ask about what happened between them, so as unwilling as she was, she tried hard to remain calm as she spoke politely to He Jichen, "h.e.l.lo, long time no see."
Perhaps it was because her dad was there, but He Jichen didn"t ignore her this time. His voice was polite, courteous and easygoing, "Long time no see."
He seemed afraid to be forced to have casual conversation with her, so after greeting her, he immediately turned his head towards her dad and continued the conversation from before she came down the stairs.
After being separated for so many years, it was normal for them to be a little distant. Her dad didn"t think much of it as he continued to chat with He Jichen.
Ji Yi, who was being given the cold shoulder, lowered her head and didn"t stay any longer in the living room. Instead, she went over to help her mum in the kitchen.
As she washed the vegetables, Ji Yi suddenly remembered their exchange just now was perhaps the first time they"d spoken to each other since parting four years ago.
She figured if it weren"t for the fact that this was her house and her dad was around, they wouldn"t have even spoken to each other at all.
At dinner, her mum made the seating arrangements—Ji Yi and He Jichen were sat together, side by side.
The two of them were physically quite close, so every now and then, the scent of He Jichen"s body drifted into Ji Yi"s nostrils, putting her under more pressure. She felt a little uncomfortable as she held her chopsticks and tried, but failed, to pick up food a few times.
Thankfully, her parent"s attention was drawn to He Jichen. They didn"t even notice her mishaps as they chatted away with him enthusiastically.
That single dinner practically spent all of Ji Yi"s energy. After the meal, she didn"t stay a single second longer as she lied to her parents about having to help her cla.s.smate out with something. She then hurriedly left the house.
At the residential gates, Ji Yi was about to get into a taxi when she realized she"d left in such a hurry that she"d forgotten to bring her jacket and purse.
[Honorific] Auntie - an honorific for an elderly woman, who may be non-blood related