As they entered the elevator, Li Yifei lowered his voice and said, “You’ve dolled yourself up so extravagantly. Are you off to meet an online friend?”
Qian Fei also spoke quietly, “Online friend, my foot! It’s called an online blind date match! It was a perfectly respectable term until you made it sound so frivolous!”
Li Yifei scoffed and said in a mocking tone, “You’ve made yourself look so provocative and vulgar. Your blind date will think you’re desperate!”
Qian Fei retorted irritably, “Nonsense! Dressing up nicely shows respect for the other person!” She glanced at the elevator, which had reached the ninth floor. “Enough of your meddling. Go find your girlfriend!”
As the elevator stopped on the ninth floor, five or six people squeezed in, pushing Qian Fei and Li Yifei to the back. Li Yifei, being tall, had his head above the crowd and didn’t feel suffocated. Qian Fei, in her high heels, was about the same height as the 5’7″ men who had just entered. Squeezed among the male heads, she felt it difficult to breathe.
Li Yifei pulled her close and pushed her into the corner of the elevator, shielding her with his body, just as he would on the subway.
“We don’t have plans today. How about I tag along and check out your date?” Li Yifei asked smugly, one hand in his pocket and the other propped against the elevator wall, striking a pose.
People in the elevator were looking at them. Qian Fei felt extremely embarrassed and pushed away Li Yifei’s hand. “Don’t you have anything better to do?”
Li Yifei shamelessly put his hand back, “I’ve never seen a blind date before. I’m curious!” The elevator dinged as it reached the first floor. Qian Fei pushed past him and walked out, with Li Yifei following closely, tugging at her arm. “Come on, let me see what it’s like. I’ll sit quietly to the side and won’t cause trouble! Qian Fei, don’t be so inconsiderate. Have you forgotten who took you to see Da Peng’s stand-up comedy?”
Qian Fei was stunned to see the usually self-proclaimed noble, cold, picky, and arrogant Young Master Li acting so shamelessly and impudently in public. “Li Yifei, are you alright? Why are you so keen on butting into my blind date?” She shook off Li Yifei’s hand, adamantly refusing to let him come along.
Checking her watch, she realized she’d be late if she didn’t hurry. She stopped arguing with Li Yifei and headed towards the lobby doors. Just before entering the revolving door, she glanced back.
Li Yifei was on the phone by the elevator.
Relieved, she walked through the revolving door.
Due to the crowded and noisy restaurants during dinner time, Qian Fei had arranged to meet her blind date at Wang Coffee on Dawang Road.
Qian Fei was quite satisfied with her first impression of her date in person. Although he wasn’t as handsome as Wang Ruohai or Hu Zining, he at least appeared steady and reliable. After two painful experiences, she had lost confidence in good-looking men and avoided them like the plague.
Her date seemed equally pleased with her, looking her up and down several times while praising her, “I didn’t expect you to be so beautiful in person! You’re several times prettier than your photos!”
Qian Fei blushed at his compliments.
Her blind date was named Yuan Feng. He worked as a civil servant in Haidian District and, like Qian Fei, was from out of town. However, he hadn’t bought a house in Beijing yet.
Qian Fei’s criteria for a partner differed from some girls. She didn’t require a man to have a house, car, or savings. She only cared about the person. Even if a man had nothing, as long as he was honest, ambitious, and filial to his parents, she would choose him and live a steady life together.
After chatting for a while and overcoming the initial awkwardness of their first meeting, they both became more talkative. However, as they continued talking, Qian Fei felt that Yuan Feng was perhaps being a bit too open…
During this time, she wasn’t sure if it was her imagination, but she kept hearing cold laughter from behind. Twice, she couldn’t help but turn around to look, but all she saw was a plump lady sitting behind her.
She refocused her attention to listen to Yuan Feng’s heartfelt monologue.
“Qian Fei, we’ve been chatting online for so long, and now we’ve met in person. I don’t know what your impression of me is, but I’m very, very satisfied with you! I couldn’t conveniently explain my situation to you in detail online before, so let me tell you now. I was with my previous girlfriend for many years, and we were at the point of discussing marriage. But just after both sets of parents had met, set the wedding date, and even sent out invitations, my ex-girlfriend cheated on me and ran off with someone else! I became the laughingstock of everyone around me! The impact was so heavy that now I’m like a startled bird when it comes to relationships without the guarantee of marriage!”
Qian Fei thought she heard another cold laugh. Ignoring her confused hearing, she responded to Yuan Feng, “Don’t worry, I hate cheating the most. My ex-boyfriend and I broke up because he cheated too. I would never do what your ex-girlfriend and my ex-boyfriend did!”
Yuan Feng shook his head, “No, no, no, Qian Fei, you misunderstood me. I don’t doubt your character, but I have a psychological barrier that I can’t overcome. Without some guarantee, I don’t dare to casually date girls!”
Qian Fei grew more confused as she listened, “Then what do you mean by guarantee?”
Yuan Feng adjusted his glasses and said seriously, “I think we should have a trial marriage first.”
Qian Fei was stunned. She heard another faint cold laugh from behind. Suddenly irritated, she turned around again, but still only saw the back of a plump woman.
She turned back, trying to help Yuan Feng, who had psychological issues, understand her confusion: “But what does a trial marriage have to do with your ex-girlfriend cheating?”
Yuan Feng smiled like a leader about to make an important speech, adjusted his glasses again, and said, “Qian Fei, it’s like this. If we live together, neither of us can hide our strengths and weaknesses. I’ll understand what kind of person you are, and you’ll understand me too. This way, we’ll know if we’re truly suitable for marriage!”
Qian Fei felt dizzy from his convoluted explanation. She felt like she was being drawn into something. However, amid her confusion, she surprisingly found a moment of clarity.
At the same time, she felt her warm, enthusiastic heart gradually growing cold.
“So, to put it bluntly, you just want us to live together, right?” Her smile remained unchanged, but her attitude had done a complete 180-degree turn inside.
Yuan Feng, oblivious to her inner change, nodded repeatedly with a smile, “That’s exactly what I mean!”
Qian Fei asked with a beaming smile, “Then, when do you think we should start?”
Yuan Feng was taken aback, seemingly not expecting such a satisfactory result in such a short time, “You don’t have any plans tonight, right? Why don’t you come to my place to have a look and get familiar with it?”
Qian Fei heard another soft, cold laugh.
She no longer cared about figuring out which spirit or ghost was making that sound.
She continued to smile brightly and asked Yuan Feng, “Have you invited many blind dates to your house before?”
Yuan Feng thought she was jealous and explained with a smile, adjusting his glasses, “Don’t mind that. I’ve been on many blind dates before because I hadn’t found the right person. But now that I have you, I won’t need to use dating sites anymore!”
That hissing cold laugh was so clear it felt like it was slapping her face.
Qian Fei could no longer smile.
She asked Yuan Feng, “When you invite me over to see your place, is it just to see the place?”
Seeing that she was no longer smiling, Yuan Feng thought she was getting serious. He also stopped smiling and said emotionally, “Qian Fei, stay over tonight. Although I’m renting and there’s only one room, the bed is double. We can both fit!”
Qian Fei felt like she would vomit if she stayed any longer. She picked up her coat, preparing to put it on and leave. Yuan Feng’s expression changed, and he grabbed her arm, “Qian Fei, what do you mean by this?”
Qian Fei wrenched her arm free, wiping the spot where he had gripped her with her other hand. Expressionless, she said, “Nothing. I’m just planning to go home.”
Yuan Feng’s eyes showed a hint of viciousness, “Are you playing me?”
Qian Fei paused in putting on her coat, looked at him, and said word by word, “I’m sorry, but I can’t understand your psychological barrier. I don’t think I can cure you. You can try using WeChat’s ‘Shake’ feature; there should be many people who can comfort your psychological illness.”
Yuan Feng’s face darkened, his features almost twisted, “Stop pretending to be a virtuous woman! Are you daring to say you’re a virgin? You were probably slept with ages ago! If you’re such a decent person without psychological issues, why are you on a dating site? Since you’re on one, don’t pretend to be a chaste woman and lead people on!”
Qian Fei hadn’t expected a man could change so drastically and become so despicable and ugly. She was shaking with anger.
As she was taking deep breaths and formulating words, before she could react, a figure rushed out from beside her and punched Yuan Feng in the face.
She focused her eyes and saw it was Li Yifei.
She looked back in confusion. The plump woman behind her was turning to watch the commotion. Through the space under her arm resting on the chair, Qian Fei faintly saw a familiar man’s coat hanging on the opposite seat.
People gradually started gathering around.
She turned back to look at Li Yifei. He was pointing at Yuan Feng, who was scrambling up from the ground and hurriedly wiping his bloody nose, saying, “If you want to trick women into bed, find a more sophisticated excuse. Don’t talk about psychological barriers; it’s easy for people to realize you’re a psychopath. Next time, talk about black holes or something to show how cultured you are! Don’t be such a blatant scumbag with ‘scumbag’ written all over your face. Being so thoroughly disgusting without any suspense, how nauseating can you get!”
Qian Fei found it quite satisfying to hear Li Yifei’s sharp tongue lashing out. Without using particularly vulgar words, he could still infuriate people.
Li Yifei turned to look at her, raised an eyebrow, and said, “Here’s your chance. Say whatever you want to him. If he dares to act up, I’ll make his nose bleed again!”
Encouraged by him, Qian Fei felt her blood boiling. Looking at Yuan Feng’s cowardly demeanor after being punched, unable to even fight back, she felt waves of disgust rising from the bottom of her heart.
“You… oh right! And you call yourself a civil servant! Do your superiors at work know how vulgar you talk and how despicable you are?” She managed to come up with this after thinking for a while.
Li Yifei burst out laughing beside her.
“Can’t you use your brain? You believed he’s a civil servant?”
Qian Fei was stunned. She had never doubted these things; she believed whatever was written in the online profiles. She didn’t know if she was too naive and trusting, or if society had betrayed the trust people placed in it.
Yuan Feng wiped his nose clean, picked up his coat, and said hatefully to Qian Fei, “Don’t accuse others of having fun when you’re covered in it yourself! If you were pure, would you have a pretty boy rushing out so eagerly to fight for you?”
Hearing his foul mouth, Li Yifei immediately clenched his fist, ready to give him another bloody nose.
Qian Fei desperately held him back, “Don’t go over there!” After restraining Li Yifei, she said earnestly, “Don’t dirty your hands! Let me handle this!” Then she picked up a glass of water from the table and splashed it at Yuan Feng.
Yuan Feng was caught off guard, his glasses covered in water. Just as he was about to shout abuse, Li Yifei’s stern voice stopped him.
“You bastard, if you dare to say one word, I’ll knock all your teeth out!”
The onlookers’ gazes grew more intense. Qian Fei couldn’t stay any longer and pulled Li Yifei towards the exit. As they passed the seat opposite the plump woman, she didn’t forget to grab the coat hanging on the chair back.
Behind them, Yuan Feng shouted, “Qian Fei, you’ve got guts!”
Qian Fei turned back, expressionless, and said to him, “Yuan Feng, there are so many people watching. Save some face for yourself!”