Qian Fei was in high spirits and also put down her chopsticks. “What is it, Zining? Tell me!”
Hu Zining reached out and grasped Qian Fei’s hand.
Qian Fei sighed inwardly, thinking this fellow’s arms were truly long. If they were even a centimeter shorter, his attempt at such a heartfelt gesture would have appeared comically awkward due to the effort required to reach her.
“Darling, it’s like this. I have a friend, someone I met when he stayed at our hotel before. He’s in real estate and very capable. He currently has a batch of properties, including a 200-square-meter duplex. It’s an excellent place, and he says because of our good relationship, he can sell it to me at a 10% discount. Darling, I was thinking, since we’re getting married soon, why not switch to a larger place? But I can’t come up with that much down payment right now, so I was wondering if you could sell your apartment. Then I’ll put in all the money I have on hand, and together we can buy that property! I’ll cover the future renovation costs, and we’ll put both our names on the property deed!”
Qian Fei listened in a daze. After processing for a while, she finally understood that Hu Zining was asking if she could sell her apartment so they could pool their money to buy a new one.
She recalled that Hu Zining had mentioned earlier he only had 50,000 yuan on hand.
For a moment, she felt confused and couldn’t quite calculate whether this was a huge loss or a great deal. Unable to bring herself to directly reject Hu Zining, she said to him, “Zining, this is a big decision. Let me think it over!”
Hu Zining looked at her with deep affection and smiled, “No problem, take your time to consider it! Darling, it’s a great opportunity! Once we get the place, we’ll have somewhere to live, and then we can go register our marriage!”
Qian Fei responded with a perfunctory smile. After finishing the rest of her meal, she returned home, her mind burdened with thoughts.
Arriving home, she saw Li Yifei sitting in the living room watching television.
She greeted him and casually asked, “Where’s Gui Lili?”
She couldn’t see clearly, but she felt Li Yifei had curled his lip as he replied, “Says she’s working overtime.”
Qian Fei sensed absolute displeasure in his voice and tone. She thought this young master was oppressively possessive to the point of being abnormal. He could go out drinking happily with his colleagues, yet he was unhappy about Gui Lili working overtime.
As she was about to enter her room, she suddenly remembered Hu Zining’s proposal and casually asked, “Do you know about the apartments in ** Jia Garden? How are they?”
Li Yifei frowned upon hearing the name of the complex, “I think I’ve heard of it. Why?”
Qian Fei said, “Someone recommended a place there to me, suggesting I sell this one and move there. I’m just asking your opinion on what the apartments are like there.”
Li Yifei took out his phone, “I’ll ask around for you.”
Qian Fei stood by, waiting.
She heard Li Yifei call someone named Da Jun, asking if he knew about the situation with that residential complex. She couldn’t hear what was being said on the other end, but she saw Li Yifei’s expression grow increasingly grim.
After a few more exchanges, Li Yifei hung up the phone and turned to Qian Fei, saying, “This complex sold out a long time ago, but the quality is poor. Many people have listed their units with a real estate agency for resale. The agency makes a profit by selling these apartments at inflated prices to unsuspecting buyers, and they give commissions to middlemen who bring them clients.” He paused, then asked Qian Fei, “If the person who recommended this property to you is your friend, don’t hesitate. Pack up and end that friendship tomorrow.”
He then turned back to continue watching TV.
Qian Fei felt as if her heart had been struck by an ice block, a cold, painful sensation.
The next day, during dinner, Qian Fei relayed to Hu Zining what Li Yifei had told her.
Hu Zining’s face darkened as he listened. Qian Fei silently watched him.
Suddenly, Hu Zining angrily slammed the table, startling Qian Fei.
“How could someone do this? And he called himself my brother! Isn’t this just screwing me over?”
Qian Fei looked at his angry demeanor, unsure whether she should pack up and end their relationship.
Over the next few days, as Qian Fei was pondering whether to break up with Hu Zining, he sent her a WeChat message saying he had to go on another business trip for a while.
Qian Fei breathed a sigh of relief. It was just as well. Being apart for a while would allow her to think carefully about whether this person was suitable for marriage.
Recently, she had heard Li Yifei and Gui Lili arguing fiercely, apparently because Li Yifei was upset about Gui Lili frequently working overtime and not being home.
One evening, she bought groceries and was preparing dinner in the kitchen when Li Yifei and Gui Lili came home one after the other.
They went into their room and closed the door, immediately starting to argue. Their voices were so loud and rapid that Qian Fei wished she could deafen herself.
She heard Li Yifei coldly asking Gui Lili, “You’ve been saying you’re working overtime all this time, but what overtime? You think I don’t know what’s going on? You’ve just been out at bars with your boss!”
She heard Gui Lili shriek, “Li Yifei, are you sick in the head?”
She heard Li Yifei laugh coldly and say, “Gui Lili, are you degrading yourself or me? If you want to degrade yourself, at least let me know so I can keep my distance. Don’t wait until everyone can see the green light on my head while I’m still clueless!”
She heard Gui Lili laugh coldly in response, “You’re one to talk! Aren’t you always out bar-hopping with your good-for-nothing friends? Those gatherings are full of heavily made-up women. You think I don’t know?”
Qian Fei looked at the cooking in the pot that she couldn’t interrupt and had no choice but to continue listening to their mutual exposé competition.
“Let me say it again, I’m a man, you’re a woman. Are you seriously comparing your philandering to mine? Are you out of your mind?” She heard Li Yifei asking Gui Lili in an incredulous tone.
Gui Lili’s voice began to carry a hint of tears, “Li Yifei, you never bring me into your circle of friends. Have you ever thought about how I feel when my colleagues tell me they saw you drinking with your buddies and a young girl from the Film Academy sitting next to you?”
Qian Fei stirred the food in the pot with her spatula, unable to help but sigh.
It was indeed too much. What kind of boyfriend behaves like that?
She heard Li Yifei laugh as if he was furious beyond words, “Of course, I don’t dare bring you into my circle of friends. I’m afraid you’ll pounce on any rich guy you see, just like you do with your boss! Your colleague told you? What colleague? Isn’t it just your boss? Did he see me taking her to a hotel or bringing her home? He just wants to sleep with you, doesn’t he? Does he need to make it sound like he caught me in bed with someone else? And how does your boss know at a glance that she’s from the Film Academy? He’s so familiar with it, he’s no decent person either!”
Qian Fei felt her heart skip a beat as she listened. She thought Li Yifei’s sharp tongue was both mean and venomous. He was going for the jugular in an argument with his girlfriend.
She heard Gui Lili let out an “Ow!” Her voice turned shrill, “Li Yifei, you’re going too far! How dare you talk about me and him like that! He saw you with your arm around that Film Academy girl!”
Qian Fei turned her spatula, muttering to the food in the pot, “Oh my, what a scumbag!”
Before she could finish her thought, she heard Li Yifei’s counterattack.
“So what if I had my arm around her? Didn’t I have a girlfriend when we were abroad? Didn’t you come over and let me put my arm around you?”
Qian Fei’s hand holding the spatula trembled. What kind of drama was this? They were now digging up each other’s dark history!
She heard Gui Lili crying loudly, almost hyperventilating, “Li Yifei, how can you be like this? How can you bully me like this? You were already breaking up with her at that time!”
Qian Fei was dumbfounded, feeling as if her little heart had received a tremendous shock.
Were these two competing to see who could lose their integrity faster?
However, this dramatic show was not over yet.
Gui Lili continued sobbing, “Li Yifei, why are we like this? How did we end up this way? Why? When we were coming back from abroad, didn’t we plan everything so well? You said we had a ready-made place to live when we returned home, but what happened? As soon as we got back, you had a falling out with your family, and now we’ve sunk so low as to share a rental with a picky landlord! Do you know I don’t even dare let my parents know what kind of life I’m living now? If they knew I was suffering like this with you, their hearts would break!”
For some reason, Qian Fei couldn’t help but shudder when she heard Gui Lili’s lament of a fallen princess.
Picky landlord? Was she referring to her? Was she being caught in the crossfire?
Qian Fei raised her spatula, trying hard to see the blurry face reflected in the stainless steel between the oil stains and chopped scallions.
Such a gentle face, almost comparable to a world peace ambassador, yet she was labeled as picky. It seemed there was no hope for this world.
Qian Fei put down the spatula and angrily stirred the food in the pot.
On the other side, Gui Lili’s lament continued, “You don’t do any housework. At least when we were abroad, you could afford to hire a housekeeper. But now? Not only are we sharing a rental with others, but I have to do all the housework myself! You used to buy me new clothes every month, but now? I wear the same clothes for months on end. Do you know my colleagues are all laughing at me? You can’t even take care of your girlfriend. Don’t you know how useless that makes you? My family might be ordinary, but I was raised as a princess too! My parents were willing to use all their savings to send me to study abroad. You know how much they love me! These past few months have been so exhausting and heartbreaking! Have you ever considered my feelings?”
Qian Fei couldn’t help but shudder again and again. She heard Li Yifei sarcastically questioning her, “Oh! I haven’t considered you. If I hadn’t considered you, why would I be living in Shuangjing with you, nearly getting crushed to death on the subway every day on my way to work? Ha! I haven’t considered you. So you went out to find comfort elsewhere, right? And you dare call me incompetent? When I was spending money on you abroad, why didn’t you say I was incompetent then? You blame me for falling out with my family. Why did I fall out with them? Don’t you know why?”
The cooking was finally done. Qian Fei quickly turned off the heat and looked for a plate, wanting to quickly serve the food and take it to her room. If she continued listening to these two peculiar people argue, she feared she might have a brain hemorrhage.
While searching for a plate, she heard Gui Lili shrieking between sobs, “You said your father doesn’t approve of us being together, that he looks down on me, but why? Is your family so rich and noble? Abroad, apart from being able to hire a housekeeper, your family couldn’t even buy you an apartment! Are my looks and education not good enough for you? If your family looks down on me, I look down on your family too!”
Qian Fei found a plate and began to serve the food while she couldn’t help but reflect.
This child, Gui Lili, didn’t anyone in her family ever tell her that her way of speaking was problematic? Even when she might be in the right, she managed to make people feel annoyed just by listening to her.
She finished serving the food and was about to carry it to her room.
In the next room, Li Yifei was harshly saying to Gui Lili, “Fine! Gui Lili, I won’t stop you. Go find whoever you think is better! My father wasn’t wrong after all. I was the one who was Freaking blind!”
The next second, the door of the adjacent room burst open, and a figure ran out heedlessly, colliding with Qian Fei who was passing by with her plate of food.
The plate in Qian Fei’s hands crashed to the floor with a loud “bang.”
Gui Lili ran out, covering her face in tears.
Qian Fei looked at the spilled food on the floor, heartbroken to the point of pounding her chest and stamping her feet, almost unable to resist the urge to lick the sauce off the floor.
Why did this couple’s argument have to involve her, an innocent bystander? How much negative energy had she absorbed to cook this dish?
She turned her head towards the adjacent room, just in time to see Li Yifei forcefully kick the coffee table.
Qian Fei’s heart trembled at the sight.
Li Yifei looked up at her and coldly asked, “Seen enough?”
The fierce look in his eyes and his ice-cold words made Qian Fei feel as if her liver was shaking.
She quickly laughed it off, “I was just passing by accidentally!” With that, she hurriedly retreated to her room, not even bothering to clean up the mess on the floor.