Qian Fei wasn’t sure if it was her slap and words that had upset Li Yifei, or if Gui Lili’s cheating had dealt a devastating blow to his self-esteem. Since Sunday, he hadn’t left his house for three consecutive days.

Regarding work, he had asked Zhao De to request leave on his behalf. Zhao De came to her office every day, asking left and right why Li Yifei hadn’t come to work.

Annoyed by his constant inquiries, Qian Fei casually made up an excuse: “He’s sick!”

Zhao De asked, “What kind of illness? Is it serious? Should I buy something and visit him?”

Wanting to tell him that Li Yifei didn’t want to see anyone at this time, Qian Fei said, “He has an illness that can’t be seen by others. You’d better not go.”

Zhao De made an “I understand” face and let out a long “Oh.”

Qian Fei couldn’t be bothered to correct his colorful, wayward thoughts.

With Li Yifei absent, they couldn’t gather enough people to play cards at lunch, and she felt at a loss for what to do.

She secretly hoped Li Yifei wasn’t just staying at home, wallowing in heartbreak, crying over his lost love, brooding angrily over the slap he received, and starving himself to death. So, she impulsively searched online for nearby takeout and ordered a meal. She put Li Yifei’s name as the contact and, after some thought, chose cash on delivery as the payment method.

Feeling guilty about the slap, she figured looking after his survival was good enough. She couldn’t afford to discuss feelings with him anymore; talking too much would cost money.

When she returned home after work, she saw several empty takeout boxes stacked outside Li Yifei’s room.

Qian Fei felt somewhat relieved, seeing that there wouldn’t be a famine-induced fatality on her property.

In the evening, she cooked a pot of rice and prepared two dishes. When the food was ready, out of humanitarian concern for someone who was heartbroken and had received a slap from her, she went to knock on Li Yifei’s door to invite him to eat together. Unfortunately, after knocking for a while, there was no response from inside.

She called out through the door, “Li Yifei, come out and eat together?”

There was no movement inside.

Qian Fei had a sudden thought: could he have become so disillusioned with life that he had ended it all in there?

She quickly continued knocking: “Li Yifei, are you still alive? If you’re alive, make a sound, okay?”

After knocking for quite some time, a low, weak voice finally came from inside: “Check your phone!”

Qian Fei paused, then hurried back to her room to grab her phone.

When she looked, she was startled.

Her WeChat had been flooded with messages from Li Yifei!

“Stop knocking!” sent six times.

“I’m not eating, stop knocking!!” sent nine times.

“I said I’m not eating, can you please stop knocking!!!” was sent eleven times.

“Sister, I beg you, I’ve been up all night and day, can you let me sleep for a while?” sent ten times.

“I give up! Bring it in, I’ll eat, okay?” sent fifteen times.

After reading these messages, Qian Fei almost dropped her phone in shock.

She realized her previous concerns were completely unnecessary. Li Yifei was not suicidal. A person wanting to die wouldn’t have the energy to spam messages like this. His life force was still very, very, very strong…

Qian Fei scooped a large bowl of rice and divided the two dishes in half, placing them outside Li Yifei’s door.

She returned to her room.

She picked up her phone and sent WeChat messages to Li Yifei.

First, she sent: “Food at your door food at your door food at your door.”

After sending it, she realized her format was incorrect. So she resent it.

“Food at your door.” Sent five times.

“Dishes are at your door too.” Also sent five times.

“Get up, eat, then go back to sleep.” Sent another five times.

“After eating, bring the plates out to me, don’t leave them in your room. I’m afraid they’ll grow maggots and mold!” Still sent five times.

After sending, she felt one word coursing through her body: Satisfying!

Who said she couldn’t spam messages too?

She happily picked up her bowl and chopsticks, ready to eat. Her phone dinged.

She picked it up to look and almost cried.

Li Yifei had sent her a screen full of poop emojis…

Qian Fei trembled as she held her chopsticks, thinking: Why was he the one who got dumped, but it felt like she was the one suffering…

Three days passed like this.

Qian Fei thought these three days should have been enough for Li Yifei to wallow. But when she got to work, she found out he had asked Zhao De to request two more days of leave for him.

In other words, he had indirectly given himself a week’s vacation.

Qian Fei felt quite upset. When she had been dumped, she hadn’t enjoyed such luxury. She hadn’t taken a single day off, sobbing into her pillow at night but forcing a smile during the day, claiming her puffy eyes were from drinking too much water.

Compared to Li Yifei, she felt she had been shortchanged!

Seeing her indignant expression, Zhao De came over to ask, “Feifei, what exactly is Yifei sick with? It’s something that can’t be seen and makes you grit your teeth… It’s not some… bad contagious disease, is it? No, you don’t need to tell me exactly what it is, just tell me what usually causes this illness!”

Qian Fei glanced at him and said, “You’re asking about the cause? It’s just that thing between men and women!”

Zhao De again had an “I understand” expression and let out a very long “Oh.”

Two more days passed. It was the weekend, and in the evening, after Qian Fei had prepared dinner, she placed the food at his door as usual. Back in her room, she couldn’t help but ask Li Yifei via WeChat: “When are you finally going to come out?” She was done with him – how could he stay cooped up in his room for so many days? She admired herself even more, tirelessly providing him with food like his mother.

Qian Fei had just picked up her chopsticks to eat when Li Yifei’s reply came: “The dish is a bit salty today.”

Qian Fei put down her chopsticks with a “thud” and picked up her phone to reply: “Tomorrow, go find your food!” She thought this young master was too picky, eating for free and still complaining.

She picked up her chopsticks and took a big mouthful of the dish to vent her frustration.

Then she quickly spat it out with a “blah”…

It was indeed quite salty…

She recalled that while cooking earlier, she had been distracted by a call from home and might have added salt twice…

Looking at her phone, her saintly halo began to shine uncontrollably again.

She had just said those harsh words, and she didn’t know if the heartbroken young master Li could accept them. Would he fragile-ly think that even his landlord didn’t like him and decide to end it all…

Thinking about this, Qian Fei quickly picked up her phone and sent a WeChat message to Li Yifei: “Well, it is a bit salty. Just eat it like it’s pickled vegetables, a big mouthful of rice with just a tiny bit of the dish!”

After some thought, she couldn’t help but send another message: “Brother, how many days are you going to be depressed? Isn’t it time you came out and faced society? Don’t keep it all bottled up, why don’t you go out drinking with your buddies to drown your sorrows? Maybe you’ll feel better after that!”

After a while, Li Yifei replied: “Not going! I’ve never been dumped by a woman before, can’t face my buddies.”

Qian Fei held her head in her hands.

“Enough already! It’s not that big a deal! What’s there to be ashamed of? If you can’t hold your head up, it’s because your neck is stiff! It’s just being cheated on, who hasn’t experienced that before!”

She started eating her rice. As she was eating, her phone buzzed again.

Li Yifei: “You know?”

Qian Fei didn’t quite understand, so she replied while eating: “Know what?”

Li Yifei: “That you were cheated on.”

Qian Fei: “I’ve known for a long time! My first boyfriend and I broke up because he cheated on me!”

This time it took a while before the phone buzzed again.

Li Yifei: “You have a face that looks like it would fall for the same trick twice.”

Qian Fei: “Li Yifei, you bastard! Can’t you wish me well for once!”

The meal was finished amidst their back-and-forth banter.

As she was about to clean up the bowls and dishes, Qian Fei sent a message to Li Yifei: “Have you finished eating? If you’re done, pass the bowl out to me.”

She took her bowl to the kitchen sink, then went to Li Yifei’s door to wait.

The door slowly opened.

Qian Fei watched the speed at which the door opened and felt so frustrated she wanted to kick it.

What did he think he was doing, shooting a ghost movie or something?

Finally, the door opened wide enough. A hand reached out from inside, placing the bowl and chopsticks on the ground. The door began to slowly close again.

Qian Fei, unable to contain herself anymore, stepped forward quickly, slapped her hand on the door to keep it open, and righteously scolded the person inside: “I’m asking you, how long are you going to hide? It’s time for you to come out and face people!”

She stood fiercely in the doorway, looking up at Li Yifei.

As she looked up, she couldn’t help but pause.

Li Yifei’s hair was a mess, sticking up all over. He hadn’t shaved for who knows how many days, and his eyes were bloodshot, probably from lack of sleep. He looked like a small tree that had just weathered a storm. However, his dejected appearance somewhat resembled Won Bin in “The Man from Nowhere,” which was quite appealing in its way.

Qian Fei couldn’t help but click her tongue: “You’ve nailed this depressed look! So, buddy, after eating my food for free for five days, when do you plan to pull yourself together and start living again?”

Li Yifei looked down at her and suddenly asked, “Can you drink?”

Qian Fei huffed and puffed as she went downstairs and lugged up a case of canned beer.

It was only when she got home that she thought it through.

It was Li Yifei who wanted to drink!

It was Li Yifei who begged her to drink with him!!

Li Yifei was a grown man!!!

So why was she the one who went down to buy the beer???

She felt a bit disappointed in herself. Would she ever be able to see herself as a woman in front of men in this lifetime?

When Qian Fei carried the beer into the house, Li Yifei was sitting on the floor in the living room, leaning against the sofa.

Seeing her return, he patted the floor beside him, “Come, sit here.”

She couldn’t help but tease him: “There’s a perfectly good sofa, why sit on the floor? Can’t feel at ease unless you’re tormenting yourself, right?”

Li Yifei looked up at her, “You don’t understand. This way we’re grounded, and less likely to get drunk. Haven’t you seen those Korean dramas? Whenever something happens, they all sit on the floor drinking.”

Qian Fei dragged the beer over and sat down.

Li Yifei opened a can of beer and handed it to Qian Fei, then took one for himself.

They clinked their cans together and silently took their first sip.

After drinking, Li Yifei wrinkled his face and brought the can close to his eyes to look, “What brand is this? Why does it taste so bad!” After seeing the price tag on the outer packaging, he looked at Qian Fei with disdain, “Just over five yuan a can! Why didn’t you buy something more expensive? How can you drink such cheap stuff!”

Qian Fei was fuming. She reached out to take away the beer from Li Yifei’s hand, “If you think it tastes bad, then don’t drink it! Getting free stuff and still being so picky! You’re acting like a young master! This lady won’t serve you anymore!”

Li Yifei turned his body to avoid Qian Fei, “Aren’t you here to keep me company and cheer me up? Why are you the one with the bad temper!”

Qian Fei looked at his unshaven face and suddenly felt a softening in her heart. Usually, this guy was always well-groomed and spirited, as if he was preparing to compete for Mr. Beijing every day. When had he ever been this unkempt?

As she thought about it, she slowly sat back down.