Qian Fei walked unsteadily on the street, tottering in nearly 10-centimeter high heels, carrying a paper bag with her old clothes and shoes, gritting her teeth with each step.
Thinking about how much money she had just spent at checkout made her entire body ache. At the cashier, she wanted to back out and not buy anything, but Li Yifei threatened her from the side, “If you don’t buy, I won’t pay rent!”
She had no choice but to swallow her tears and pay the bill.
Thinking about the lost pink banknotes made her heart ache so much that her steps became even more unsteady.
Li Yifei stood nearby, ready to support her at any moment. “From now on, don’t blindly buy clothes on Taobao. Everything you buy looks like a torn sack work uniform when you wear it. In the future, you need to let me approve your clothes before you buy them, understand? To be blunt, your dressing so shabbily every day hurts me the most! You’re almost blinding me with your ugliness!”
Qian Fei felt her stomach quivering as she balanced on the thin heels. She pleaded with Li Yifei, “Okay, okay, whatever you say! Now that we’ve spent all this money, can we go home? I can barely walk with these thin sticks under my feet!”
Li Yifei gave her a side-eye, “Don’t be ungrateful. Young master here never accompanies women shopping. I’m only breaking this rule because I see you having your period every month yet living like a man, which is just too pitiful. I haven’t even said I’m tired yet, and you have the nerve to whine about going home first!”
Qian Fei was both angry and amused, “Oh! Young master, so you’ve given me another precious first time in life! So what? Should I offer myself to you in gratitude?” She was so focused on arguing that she wasn’t paying attention to her feet and suddenly twisted her ankle.
As she was about to fall, Li Yifei quickly caught her.
“What grudge do you have against me that you want to offer yourself and ruin my life? Haven’t you ever worn high heels before? How can you walk like this? Are you even a woman?” he asked in a string of mockery.
Qian Fei carefully took steps, “Rarely, and the highest I’ve worn was only 5 centimeters. In Beijing, wearing sky-high heels and taking the subway every day, how is that different from self-torture?”
Li Yifei scoffed, “As a woman if you can’t even understand how to wear high heels, how is that different from wasting your life?”
Qian Fei was at a loss for words.
Li Yifei dragged her in the opposite direction of home, saying as they walked, “Since you don’t understand how to wear them, you need to practice more! So don’t rush home, I’ll take you to another place!”
He didn’t give Qian Fei time to speak, pulling out his phone and making a call.
Qian Fei heard him say an English word, “Hi, Steve, are you busy now? I want to bring a friend over to do her hair and makeup, is that okay?”
After saying a few more words, he hung up and continued pulling Qian Fei forward.
Qian Fei stumbled along, trying hard to manage the high heels, and asked, “Where are you taking me?”
Li Yifei said, “To sell you for candy!”
Qian Fei glared at him, “I hope you choke!”
Li Yifei glared back, “You’re not worth that much money, can’t buy too much candy, so don’t worry about me choking to death!”
They continued bickering like this from the street into the taxi, and from the taxi to the entrance of a small hutong.
Getting out of the car, Qian Fei looked at the ancient-style hutong and asked Li Yifei, “What is this place? What’s inside?”
Li Yifei led her in, “The Water Curtain Cave!”
He led her through twists and turns until they reached a wooden door. The door had a charming style, like the grand gates of wealthy families in ancient times. Looking at the wooden door before her, Qian Fei felt as if a pair of delicate jade hands might reach out from inside at any moment and gently open it.
She was lost in thought. Suddenly, as if the illusion became reality, she saw a hand push against the door. The five fingers were fair and slender, with short-trimmed nails, and the white crescents on the nail beds curved like smiles.
Qian Fei thought this hand against this door was truly beautiful.
Suddenly, she heard Li Yifei’s teasing voice, “Had enough of looking? If you’re done, I’ll push the door open!”
Qian Fei snapped back to reality.
She had been staring at Li Yifei’s hand in a daze.
How had she never noticed before that his hands were so noteworthy?
She said gruffly to Li Yifei, “I thought it was some young lady’s hand, that’s why I looked a bit longer. For a man, your hands are so delicate, aren’t they a bit effeminate?”
Li Yifei let out a cold laugh, picked up Qian Fei’s hand, and looked at it, “As if your hands aren’t manly! Look at your hands…”
He examined Qian Fei’s hand, his voice suddenly trailing off. Several seconds later, he spoke again, “Damn! How did I never notice, you tomboy have a pair of woman’s hands!”
The most feminine part of Qian Fei’s entire body was just these hands. Yao Jingjing envied her hands the most. No matter how much water they touched from washing vegetables or doing chores, after just a bit of moisturizer, they would be smooth and soft. Her ten fingers were long and slender like spring onions, without any knuckles showing.
Qian Fei pulled her hand back, lifting her chin proudly, “That’s right! There’s still a lot you don’t know about me!”
Suddenly, the wooden door was pulled open from inside, and Qian Fei saw a handsome man with shoulder-length curly hair and a beard.
“Yifei, how long do you plan to play this hand-holding game with your girlfriend at the door?” the man asked with a smile.
Qian Fei quickly spoke up, “We weren’t holding hands! And I’m not his girlfriend!”
Li Yifei looked at her, then at the handsome man, “Hey, Steve!” He casually draped an arm around Qian Fei’s neck, pulling her close as he said to Steve, “Please give this big brother a makeover, so she doesn’t look so shabby anymore!”
Steve led Qian Fei and Li Yifei inside.
As Qian Fei walked, she looked around and realized this must be a styling studio.
Once inside, Steve asked them to sit first while he went to get some things.
Qian Fei looked around the room and asked Li Yifei, “This place is so hidden, can it make money?”
Li Yifei sneered at her, “You’re such a bumpkin! The high class of this place is precisely because not everyone can find it, not everyone who finds it can enter, and not everyone who enters will Steve be willing to serve!”
Qian Fei clicked her tongue, “Really? It sounds like some secret organization!”
Li Yifei said, “Of course it’s true. The clients here usually fall into two categories: either they’re rich, or they have power.”
Qian Fei glanced at him, “Then how did you get in?”
Li Yifei looked at her with a serious face and said, “At this point, I might as well tell you the truth. I’m a rich second generation.”
Qian Fei also looked at him seriously and played along, “Yes, I know your family is wealthy, your father is the CEO of a financial group. Because you didn’t date the wealthy young lady he picked out for you, he cut off your financial support, and you cut ties with him. Since then, you’ve gone from prince to frog, ending up on the streets renting a place with me!”
Li Yifei feigned surprise, “So you knew all along!”
Qian Fei looked at him, her cheeks twitching slightly, “Yes, I knew it all! You’re Li Ka-shing’s secret grand-nephew, and I, I’m Qian Xuesen’s distant grand-niece!”
Li Yifei looked at her, his expression gradually twisting.
Qian Fei finally couldn’t hold back her laughter, “Brother, you’re so cooperative! Looks like you’ve watched a lot of cheesy Korean dramas with your ex-girlfriends!”
Li Yifei’s face contorted as he looked at her and said, “Qian Fei, one day I’ll make you willingly admit that I’m your young master!”
Qian Fei patted his shoulder, laughing, “I’ll admit it now, you’re a young master, absolutely a young master!”
Li Yifei glared at her angrily, snorting coldly and saying “You can just die stupid” before turning his head away, refusing to look at her anymore.
Qian Fei looked at his tsundere behavior and thought that besides being lazy, cheap, greedy, tsundere, sharp-tongued, a bit vain, and fond of luxury, he was sometimes quite cute.
As she laughed, she thought that her taste was becoming increasingly strange and perverse, as she was starting to find Li Yifei a bit cute.
While Steve was styling Qian Fei, Li Yifei waited in the outer room, drinking tea.
Steve glanced outside and said to Qian Fei with a smile, “I’ve never seen him be so patient!”
Qian Fei felt there was some deeper meaning to these words. After thinking for a moment, she explained, “I’m different from the girls he used to bring! I’m not his girlfriend, I’m his landlord!”
Steve looked at her through the mirror, “Landlord? Hehe, that’s interesting!” He paused, then added, “With that temper of his, he’s famously impatient. How could he possibly accompany a girl here? You’re the first one!”
Qian Fei couldn’t help but cough a couple of times, “Ah, he just doesn’t see me as a woman. If he saw me as a woman, he probably wouldn’t have brought me here!”
Steve smiled without saying anything.
Qian Fei asked him, “Steve, how did Li Yifei find your place?”
Steve thought for a moment and said, “Hmm, I remember it was his childhood friend who brought him here! His friend’s mother often gets styled here.”
Qian Fei made an “oh” sound, then asked, “Is his childhood friend the one who’s always topping up his phone credit?”
Steve smiled, pressing his lips together, “Yes, that’s him! He often tops up a lot of credit to play online games! He even told me not to let his mother know about this!”
Qian Fei couldn’t help but click her tongue, “That kid is wasteful!” Then she couldn’t resist complaining, “Li Yifei told me he could come here because he’s a rich second generation, but isn’t it just because of his wealthy childhood friend?” She asked Steve, “Do you think Li Yifei is a rich second generation?”
Steve blinked and smiled, “Interested in him? Alright, I’ll leak some client secrets to you! I only know that Yifei’s childhood friend’s parents run a jade shop, so they could be considered rich second generation. As for Yifei,” he shrugged, “he’s never said specifically what his family does, only that they’re self-employed. But he’s always been very generous, so from that perspective, his family should at least be quite well-off self-employed people! If you get together with him, you won’t have to worry about housing and such, his family should have all that!”
Qian Fei didn’t expect Steve to be so gossipy. She pouted, “He’s not generous at all. He hasn’t saved any money and is still renting a place to live!” Then she couldn’t help but emphasize once more, “I’m not interested in him at all. His fussy nature would drive even the most loving person crazy! I’m just an ordinary person, I can’t withstand that kind of life refinement, so please don’t misunderstand!”
Steve smiled without saying anything.
Qian Fei looked at herself in the mirror and suddenly asked, “Steve, do you think I’m very ugly?”
Steve shrugged, “How could that be? You’re very pretty, just not good at grooming yourself. With a little makeup, you’ll become very eye-catching and outstanding!”
Qian Fei was so excited she almost wanted to become sworn siblings with him, “Really? But Li Yifei said I’m an ugly tomboy!”
Steve winked at her, “Wait until I make you all pretty, and let him slap his face!”
Qian Fei nearly burst into tears, “Don’t forget to help me groom my eyebrows properly!”
Steve burst out laughing.
Two hours later.
Steve placed his hands on Qian Fei’s shoulders, standing behind her as they looked at her reflection in the mirror together.
“How is it? Do you still recognize the person inside?”
Qian Fei looked at the person in the mirror, suddenly unable to believe it was herself.
Her long hair, now permed, no longer stood up messily everywhere. It lay obediently on her shoulders, softly curling at the ends, emitting something she had never had before called “charm.”
Steve had groomed her eyebrows and applied light makeup, making her features suddenly become bright and lively.
Steve looked at her and said with a smile, “See, these features, this figure! If anyone dares to call you ugly again, you should slap them!”
In the outer room, Li Yifei, who had finished three pots of tea, was getting very impatient and kept shouting, “Are you done yet?”
Steve responded, “We’re coming out now.”
He pushed Qian Fei out.
Li Yifei had just poured a new cup of tea and was about to drink it. When he saw Qian Fei come out, he looked up and seemed startled, his hand shaking and spilling half the tea.
Qian Fei saw his gaze and felt so embarrassed she wanted to hide behind Steve.
“What’s wrong?” Steve asked as he pulled her out from behind him.
Qian Fei said softly, “I feel like he’s cursing me with his eyes for still looking so shabby even with makeup!”
Steve couldn’t help but laugh.
He asked Li Yifei, “How is it? Satisfied or not? Give me an answer!”
Li Yifei coughed once, and Qian Fei felt her heart jump to her throat. She prepared herself mentally to hear some harsh words.
Instead, she heard Li Yifei say to Steve, “Steve, give me a set of the makeup you just used on her, and also teach her how to make her face look like this with her own hands!”
Qian Fei was stunned for a moment, then looked up.
Li Yifei was looking at her with an ambiguous expression, somewhere between a smile and not.
“Now you look somewhat like a human being!”