The hotel chairman clasped Qian Fei’s hand, smiling warmly. “Such talented young people these days! Even a young lady like yourself can handle an IPO independently! I can’t help but feel old now! It seems it’s time for me to step aside!”

Qian Fei’s mind wandered and fueled by alcohol, she fell into her usual bantering mood she often shared with Yao Jingjing. “Chairman Lin, you’re too modest! If I live to your age and can own such an impressive hotel in my early thirties, I’d be willing to lie not just on the beach, but even on train tracks!”

Chairman Lin’s crow’s feet spread as he laughed heartily. “Early thirties? I’m well over fifty!”

Qian Fei replied with utmost sincerity, “Really? Chairman Lin, if I could look as youthful as you do now when I’m in my fifties, I’d consider my life well-lived!”

Chairman Lin left, beaming with joy. Before departing, he made sure to ask Qian Fei for her business card.

After Chairman Lin left, Liu Yifeng, the project manager from Qian Fei’s company, approached her somewhat unsteadily. He patted her shoulder and said, “I didn’t know you were so smooth-talking, Little Qian! If we’d known earlier, we would’ve let you handle the drinking. Old Yan and I wouldn’t have had to match the chairman’s drink for a drink! Why are all these hotel owners such heavy drinkers?” Old Yan was the project manager of Li Yifei’s company.

Qian Fei smiled, then turned to see Li Yifei and his colleagues.

Li Yifei smirked at her, making a face resembling a smile. “I didn’t realize you were so skilled at flattery!”

Just as Qian Fei was about to retort, she noticed someone standing not far behind him.

Her vision was blurry from the alcohol, so she squinted to get a better look. Finally, she recognized the person as none other than Hu Zining.

She thought Hu Zining wouldn’t acknowledge her, given that he hadn’t spoken to her for a week. But to her surprise, Hu Zining approached her and greeted her, “Feifei, is your company handling our IPO?”

Qian Fei nodded dumbly.

His attitude was as if the past week’s cold war had never happened, leaving her confused.

Hu Zining smiled at her and asked, “Why didn’t you tell me? Are these all your colleagues?”

Qian Fei nodded again.

Hu Zining greeted the others with a “Hello,” and then focused his gaze on Qian Fei’s face. “Feifei, I have to get back to work now. Drink more water, and wait for me after work. Let’s have dinner together!”

Qian Fei nodded once more, watching Hu Zining leave with a smile.

Beside her, Liu Yifeng teased, “Oh? Your boyfriend? No wonder Director Kong insisted on having you join the team. There’s more to this story! Director Kong is truly a great matchmaker!”

Qian Fei felt her face flush with embarrassment.

As the group moved towards the work area, Qian Fei walked at the back. Li Yifei, who was two steps ahead of her, suddenly stopped, forcing her to halt as well.

She looked up to see Li Yifei staring at her with an odd expression.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, puzzled. “Is something the matter?”

She noticed Li Yifei frown ever so slightly. It was so subtle that she wasn’t sure if she had imagined it.

“That guy just now, is he your boyfriend?” he suddenly asked.

Qian Fei was taken aback but answered, “Yes… why?”

Li Yifei looked at her for a moment, paused for two seconds, then raised an eyebrow and said, “Nothing, just asking.”

At that moment, Li Yifei’s colleague called out to him from ahead. He glanced at Qian Fei once more and said, “First time on a project team, right? Don’t drink too much in the future. If someone tries to make you drink at events like this, just say you can’t and switch to a non-alcoholic beverage. You’re not obligated to drink with business leaders. If you start this precedent, you’ll end up drinking yourself to death in the future!”

Qian Fei felt a warmth in her heart and wanted to say “Thank you,” but Li Yifei had already turned and strode ahead to join the others.

Qian Fei could only let the “Thank you” stuck in her throat dissipate with a gentle exhale.

When would he ever change his habit of not waiting for people to finish speaking?

Before leaving work, Qian Fei had sobered up. Hu Zining came to take her to dinner at a restaurant near the hotel.

As the food arrived, Hu Zining began serving Qian Fei while saying, “This week has been incredibly busy. With the hotel preparing for its IPO, there’s so much work for us to do, so I couldn’t find time to contact you!”

Hearing this, Qian Fei felt he had smoothed over the awkwardness between them quite well. She decided not to push the issue further. Since he had offered an olive branch, she might as well accept it and move on.

She smiled and said, “Of course, we’ve been extremely busy too!”

Seeing her smile, Hu Zining’s enthusiasm for serving food gradually became more natural.

“I never expected your company would handle our hotel’s IPO. This is great; we can see each other every day now!” Hu Zining said jubilantly.

Qian Fei played along with his excitement, “Indeed! We can see each other daily!”

Hu Zining reached out and patted her head, “Feifei, you’re so adorable!”

Qian Fei struggled to suppress a shudder.

He was being overly affectionate again, leaving her swaying between appreciation and discomfort.

Hu Zining suddenly said, “Our Chairman Lin is usually a very serious person. Not a single hotel employee isn’t afraid of him! But Feifei, you’re something. I saw how you made him so happy today!”

Qian Fei chuckled, “It was nothing, I was just talking nonsense under the influence of alcohol.”

Hu Zining said, “I saw Chairman Lin ask for your business card. He’s probably thinking of setting you up with someone! Feifei, if he tries to introduce you to anyone in the future, just tell him you’re already taken, and that person is me!”

Qian Fei felt a bit confused, “I think your chairman only asked for my card because of the alcohol. Once he sobers up, he’ll probably forget who I am, let alone think about setting me up with anyone!” She snorted a laugh, “Zining, I think you’re overthinking this!”

Hu Zining laughed while continuing to serve her food, “Anyway, if he does contact you, remember to put in a good word for me. We’re going public now, right? Many positions will be adjusted accordingly. If things go well, I could be promoted to middle management!” He put down his chopsticks and took Qian Fei’s hand, “Feifei, if I get promoted to middle management, my salary will increase too. Then I can help you pay off your mortgage!”

Qian Fei, who was in the middle of chewing, nearly choked. She looked at Hu Zining, her eyes almost tearing up from the near-choking experience, “Thank you!”

That night, she called Yao Jingjing and recounted the day’s events in detail, then asked for her opinion.

Yao Jingjing summarized two points in her response: “Feifei, do you think that Chairman Lin has taken a liking to you? And do you think Hu Zining has noticed that his boss has taken an interest in you?”

Qian Fei sighed, “You know if Hu Zining only made up with me because he saw his boss asking for my business card, I’d be heartbroken!”

Yao Jingjing scoffed, “Heartbroken, my foot! You’re talking as if you’re deeply in love with him!”

Qian Fei said solemnly, “You don’t understand, you vixen. Someone like me, who’s been deeply hurt by a man before, won’t fall in love again. Liking someone is already good enough! Besides, even though I don’t love Hu Zining that much as a person, I do love his suitability as a marriage partner! Right now, I have a house, my career is improving, and all I’m missing is a man I can marry!”

Yao Jingjing warned her, “Qian Fei, stop right there! I’m telling you, if you’re going to do something as degrading as getting married just for the sake of marriage, I’ll cut ties with you immediately!”

Qian Fei defended herself, “But do you know how lonely and empty I feel in the dead of night?”

Yao Jingjing sneered, “That’s easy to solve! If that’s why you want to get married, it’s unnecessary! Just buy a few vibrators from Taobao, and you can be a new bride every night! I guarantee you’ll be so self-satisfied that you’ll forget what loneliness and emptiness feel like!”

Qian Fei angrily spat out a “Pah!” and hung up the phone.

After putting down the phone, she vaguely heard her neighbors arguing again.

As she listened, for some reason, she suddenly remembered the times she used to argue with Wang Ruohai.

Back then, their arguments were similar to her neighbors’, always about trivial matters, endlessly bickering with neither side willing to back down. Usually, those fights would end with Wang Ruohai slamming the door and leaving, while she sat at home crying, just like Li Yifei and Gui Lili’s routine.

She occasionally realized that in some ways, she had indeed been too sensitive in the past. For instance, bringing up old grievances during new arguments, or crying endlessly, annoying others.

People are often like this. It’s only when we see others in similar situations that we can recognize our own past mistakes. It’s only after a relationship ends that we can see where we went wrong.

But what good does knowing do now? Things have changed, people have moved on. All she could do was tell herself that in her next relationship, she wouldn’t make these mistakes again, wouldn’t be so aggressive in arguments, and wouldn’t say those hurtful words that damaged both parties.

She threw herself onto the bed, feeling irritated.

Why was she thinking about Wang Ruohai again tonight?

When would she finally be able to stop dwelling on her past with Wang Ruohai?

Qian Fei had initially thought Li Yifei was all style and no substance, but she never expected him to be so capable.

Usually, she saw him eating the best food, wearing the best clothes, and enjoying the finest things in life, living so extravagantly that he considered washing his socks beneath his dignity and style. One would think that such a hedonistic person would lack the ability and only get into the project team through connections or sheer luck. But Qian Fei was surprised to find that this pampered prince was extremely proficient in his work. He could recite regulations and clauses effortlessly, knew exactly what steps to take at each stage of the project, and could analyze several key issues just by glancing at the hotel’s financial statements.

His performance at work left Qian Fei in awe. As she marveled at his abilities, she began to feel secretly inadequate. No wonder he was involved in the core aspects of the project, while she was only tasked with organizing work documents.

After comparing herself to him, Qian Fei finally understood the feeling of being “infuriatingly outperformed.” She began to memorize regulations repeatedly, review her CPA course materials, and read a large number of finance books. She felt her studiousness had reached an unprecedented level; even during her college final exams, she had never studied so actively and diligently.

When Yao Jingjing called her, she asked, “Who inspired you to study so hard? Didn’t we burn our books and swear on graduation day that we’d never study again, and whoever studied hard in the future would be a loser?”