On the first day of the due diligence process, as usual, there was a meeting between the company executives and the two sponsoring securities firms.

Li Yifei and Qian Fei, along with their respective securities firm colleagues, arrived early and were led into the conference room.

Qian Fei had been worried that the appearance of the boss would give Li Yifei a greenish shock, but she hadn’t anticipated that the first person to deliver such a shock wouldn’t be the boss, but Gui Lili.

They had just settled in when the secretary led a group of people into the room, introducing them one by one. First was the person walking in front, “Everyone, this is our company’s Chairman’s Assistant!”

There were also introductions for the General Manager, Deputy General Manager, and others, but Qian Fei was no longer paying attention. She was staring intently at the person in front.

It was Gui Lili, radiating with the gleam of designer brands from head to toe.

Gui Lili had also noticed her and Li Yifei.

She only glanced at them briefly before turning away nonchalantly, flashing a smile that revealed eight teeth, and greeting the project team members: “Hello everyone, I’m Gui Lili. I’m sorry to say that Chairman Niu had to leave on an urgent business trip due to some unexpected events, so for this period, the General Manager and I will be primarily responsible for liaising with you all!”

Qian Fei noticed that Gui Lili’s voice seemed to tremble slightly.

The project team members were exchanging business cards with Gui Lili.

When it was Qian Fei’s turn, she smiled apologetically at Gui Lili: “I’m sorry, Assistant Gui, I forgot to bring my business cards!”

Gui Lili smiled back: “That’s alright! May I ask how I should address you?”

Qian Fei was momentarily stunned, but quickly regained her composure and played along with the charade of being strangers. “My name is Qian Fei. ‘Qian’ as in ‘lack of money’, and ‘Fei’ as in ‘Liu Yifei’.”

She noticed Gui Lili’s face turn a bit pale after hearing her introduction.

Suddenly, she felt a twinge of guilt. The words “Yifei” must have struck a nerve.

It was Zhao De’s turn to exchange cards with Gui Lili, and Li Yifei was next. She glanced furtively at Li Yifei. She was afraid that the proud Li Yifei, unable to bear Gui Lili’s pretense of not knowing him, might say something to embarrass everyone.

She kept vigilantly eyeing Li Yifei, ready to “accidentally” twist her ankle and fall towards him if the situation became awkward, conveniently landing on him to shut him up.

But to her surprise, when it was Li Yifei’s turn, he stood up with grace and poise. She wasn’t sure when she had first noticed, but she realized that whenever Li Yifei wore a suit and was seated, he always unbuttoned his jacket. Now, as he stood up gracefully, he smoothed his tie with one hand, then elegantly buttoned his jacket before shaking hands with Gui Lili. This series of movements was fluid and full of aesthetic appeal. Qian Fei felt that at this moment, his demeanor had suddenly changed. He looked just like an elegant and handsome nobleman from a romantic drama.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t bring my card either. My name is Li Yifei. ‘Li’ as in ‘Li Guitian’, ‘Yi’ as in ‘Liu Yifei’, and ‘Fei’ as in ‘freei’ without the grass radical,” he introduced himself with a smile.

Qian Fei almost laughed out loud when she heard his introduction.

This guy was following her lead.

She saw that Gui Lili’s face had turned almost ghostly pale.

Liu Yifeng, standing nearby, seemed to sense the awkward atmosphere and quickly tried to smooth things over, “Xiao Qian, Xiao Li, what’s with these nonsensical introductions? You’ve startled Assistant Gui!” He turned to explain to Gui Lili, “These two are usually very serious and professional at work. They might be trying to leave a lasting impression because Assistant Gui is so beautiful!”

Gui Lili forced a smile and said softly, “It’s alright!” As she said this, Qian Fei noticed her glancing at Li Yifei. The lingering affection in her eyes made Qian Fei lose all sympathy for her.

Qian Fei sighed inwardly.

What she despised most was this kind of unresolved feelings after a breakup. How was it any different from being pathetic?

After a morning of meetings, Qian Fei completely dismissed her worries about Li Yifei. She even found herself looking at him with newfound respect.

Li Yifei behaved exceptionally professionally during the meeting. Qian Fei wasn’t sure if it was just her perception, but she felt that today’s Li Yifei was different from usual. Every gesture and movement seemed calculated, always stopping at the most pleasing angle. Qian Fei suspected he must have studied the suave moves of male idols.

But she had to admit, this smooth Li Yifei looked handsome, exuding a unique charm. She noticed Gui Lili looking at him, her eyes filled with a mix of regret and nostalgia, and suddenly understood something amid her sighs.

Perhaps she had always underestimated Li Yifei’s emotional intelligence, thinking he was just spoiled, willful, and bad-tempered. But in reality, he was more shrewd than anyone. He knew exactly what kind of demeanor would make someone yearn, grieve, and even regret. She could see it now—Gui Lili looking at him with a hint of sadness and regret, a kind of melancholy immersed in his charisma.

Qian Fei suddenly realized that men like Li Yifei could be quite terrifying. Even after a breakup, they wouldn’t let you forget their good qualities. And even if you were close to forgetting, they’d find a way to make you remember bit by bit.

She shuddered involuntarily.

If Wang Ruohai had been like him, with such depth, she probably would have been driven to suicide many times over by now, heartbroken and miserable.

She suddenly felt a bit grateful to Wang Ruohai for showing her all the ugly sides she hadn’t seen before after their breakup, making her increasingly disillusioned with him.

At the end of the morning meeting, Gui Lili said, “I’m sorry, I’m not feeling well, so I won’t be joining you for lunch!” She instructed the General Manager, “Make sure to take good care of everyone!” Then she left.

Before leaving, she glanced at Qian Fei and Li Yifei several times.

After she was gone, Qian Fei overheard Liu Yifeng next to her, smilingly asking the General Manager in a low voice, “Old classmate, what’s the deal with this Chairman’s Assistant? She seems young! But it looks like even you have to listen to her?”

The General Manager winked at him and said in a hushed tone, “Ha! She used to be my subordinate, I recruited her into the company! But somehow, she caught the Chairman’s eye! I don’t know if the Chairman was already planning to divorce or if it was because of her, but anyway, her current status is the Chairman’s fiancée! I think they’ll be getting married before long!” He paused for a moment, and Qian Fei strained to hear more. “Hey, Liu, I think your colleague is eavesdropping on us!”

Qian Fei jumped, turned to look at Liu Yifeng and the General Manager, and laughed nervously, “No, no! How could I?”

Liu Yifeng tapped her forehead amusedly, “Are you stupid? You can’t even pretend properly! If you weren’t eavesdropping, how would you know we were talking about you?” He then turned to the General Manager and assured him, “Don’t worry, she’s my apprentice. She won’t gossip about this.”

Qian Fei nodded vigorously.

After nodding, she turned around and saw Li Yifei standing right next to her. She was startled.

After a moment’s thought, she leaned in and asked quietly, “Did you hear that too?”

Li Yifei looked down at her with droopy eyelids, responding indifferently, “Mm.”

Qian Fei looked at him, not knowing what to say, so she made small talk: “You were amazing this morning! It was like you were on another level! With those little mannerisms, it was like Xu Wenqiang had time-traveled to a securities company meeting. You were so cool! I give you a thumbs up!”

Li Yifei glanced at her disdainfully and smirked with endless sarcasm: “You’re so unsophisticated! This little display has you swooning already? If young master unleashed his full potential one day, you’d probably be crying and begging at my feet, pleading for me not to be too handsome because you couldn’t handle it!”

Qian Fei hadn’t eaten lunch yet; she felt that if she had anything in her stomach, she would have vomited it all over Li Yifei’s face right then and there.

After lunch, Zhao De excitedly asked Qian Fei and Li Yifei if they wanted to follow the usual routine and find a place to set up a game of Fight the Landlord.

Both agreed.

And so, their delightful lunchtime card-playing tradition was given a second life.

While playing, Zhao De couldn’t help but ask, “I felt that your self-introductions today were unusual. How should I put it? It seemed like you were in cahoots, presenting a united front!”

Qian Fei asked, “Do you know how to write the characters for ‘hang Xie’ (cahoots)?”

Zhao De played a card and shook his head, “No, but being able to say it is enough, right? Nowadays, we use computers. If you know the pinyin, you can type it out easily!”

Li Yifei chimed in, “In the future, don’t use words you can’t write. What if someone asks you what ‘hang xie yi qi’ means, which ‘hang’ and ‘Xie’ are used? If you can’t explain, it’s embarrassing.”

Qian Fei added, “Exactly. People might say, ‘Your lack of culture is appalling. How can you work in investment banking? What if you make mistakes in writing the prospectus?'”

As the two of them tag-teamed in teasing Zhao De, he became so flustered that he completely forgot about the gossipy question he had asked earlier.

By the time he remembered, he had already lost several rounds of cards.

He suddenly felt a bit off and said mournfully to Qian Fei and Li Yifei, “I think I’ve finally figured it out. You two are ganging up on me!”

Qian Fei rolled her eyes at him, “You’ve lost your mind from losing. Li Yifei is the landlord, you and I are the peasants. He’s the one going against both of us!”

Zhao De let out a pitiful “Oh,” trying to argue back, “But I feel like you, Qian Fei, are a spy among the peasants, actually working with the landlord!”

As the three of them continued playing Fight the Landlord, Qian Fei’s phone let out a “ding.”

Before she could pick it up to look, Li Yifei said from the side, “It’s Assistant Gui.”

Qian Fei was stunned, “No way?”

Li Yifei smirked with a “heh.”

Qian Fei picked up her phone and saw that it was Gui Lili. She looked up at Li Yifei, shaking her head and clicking her tongue in amazement: “You understand her to such an extent!” She held back the second half of her thought: Big brother, are you still not over her?

Li Yifei glanced at her, “It’s not that I only understand her, I understand women!”

Qian Fei tossed her hair, “Come on, you don’t understand me!”

Li Yifei mimicked her action, also tossing his head, “Please, you don’t count as a woman!”

Qian Fei turned away angrily to look at her phone.

Zhao De howled anxiously, “I smell gossip!” But no one paid attention to him.

Qian Fei looked at her phone. Gui Lili had sent her a message asking: “Qian Fei, how is Yifei doing lately?”

Qian Fei felt a faint sense of disgust.

She patiently replied with two words, not even bothering with punctuation: “He’s fine”

The phone quickly pinged again: “But he looks like he’s lost a lot of weight!”

Qian Fei shuddered. What kind of eyesight did she have? Recently, Li Yifei had been freeloading off her, eating to his heart’s content. She had been feeding him so well that he was plump and glowing. Which eye of hers saw that he had lost weight?

She didn’t mince words, tapping out a reply: “Not at all. Maybe you’re used to seeing someone fatter than him day and night, so when you look at him, you think he’s thinner.”

After a pause, the phone pinged again. Gui Lili asked: “Qian Fei, has Yifei mentioned me to you…”

Qian Fei replied: “No”

Gui Lili: “That can’t be!”

Qian Fei ignored her.

Gui Lili quickly sent another message. When Qian Fei read this one, she was both amused and annoyed.

Gui Lili: “Qian Fei, have you fallen for Yifei? Is that why you’re not telling me the truth?”

Qian Fei tossed the phone to Li Yifei, saying with a straight face, “I think she needs to be prescribed some medication.”

Zhao De leaned over, craning his neck to see what Qian Fei was talking about. Li Yifei pressed the phone screen against his chest and pushed Zhao De away, “Sit back down and I’ll let you win a big hand later!”

Zhao De reluctantly sat back down.

Li Yifei looked down at the phone.

He let out a cold “heh,” and then his fingers started tapping rapidly on the phone screen.

By the time Qian Fei realized he seemed to be replying to Gui Lili, it was too late.

“What are you replying to, Li Yifei?” Qian Fei hurriedly snatched back the phone, but it was already too late.

She saw on the screen a line of text Li Yifei had just sent: “It’s not strange to fall for him. He is quite handsome, knows how to buy groceries, wash dishes, do housework, buy clothes, and wears them well, even cheap stuff from Taobao looks great on him. With such a vibrant and charming person around every day, who wouldn’t fall for him~”

He even ended it with a flirtatious wavy line…

Qian Fei read this message and her whole body trembled.

She slowly turned her head towards Li Yifei, gritting her teeth and speaking in a low voice: “Big brother, can you have some shame? Can you not drag me into your affairs? And, if you don’t praise yourself in such a split personality way, will you die?”

Li Yifei glanced at her, “I’m rescuing you! Let her know that what she didn’t let me do back then, you’re letting me do now. See if she still dares to bother you!”

Qian Fei wanted to scratch his shameless face, “Pah! You want her to feel indignant, regretful, and bitter about breaking up with you back then!”

Li Yifei looked up suddenly and asked, “How do you write the ‘die’ in ‘hou hui bu die’ (deeply regretful)?”

Qian Fei was stumped by the question, “It’s… it’s the ‘die’ from ‘diejia’ (stack up), right? No, no, how is it written again?”

Zhao De suddenly called out from the side, “I know! It’s the ‘walk’ radical plus the ‘shi’ from ‘lose’! Qian Fei, it’s terrible to lack culture! And I think I’ve figured out some things!”

Qian Fei, distracted by this random interruption, suddenly didn’t know who to be angry at or what to be angry about.

The phone “dinged” again. Gui Lili said to her: “Qian Fei, I’m giving you sincere advice, to save you from falling too deep and getting hurt later. You need to know yourself. Don’t be too foolish, Yifei won’t like a woman like you!”

Qian Fei looked at the phone, suddenly feeling a bit indignant.

What did she mean by “a woman like you”? What was wrong with her?

Before leaving work in the afternoon, she couldn’t help but call Yao Jingjing, explaining the whole situation and asking the question that had been bothering her all afternoon: “Yao Jing, what’s wrong with me? When we first started university, didn’t I have quite a few guys chasing after me?”

Yao Jingjing let out a long sigh on the other end of the phone, “Feifei, I miss how you were back then! You were so fresh like you’d burst with water if someone poked you! Your mom was still around then, dressing you up beautifully every day! Otherwise, how would Wang Ruohai have put in so much effort to pursue you? But ever since your mom passed away in your senior year, you started down the irredeemable path of sloppiness and mismatched outfits. Your beauty has been completely buried under your hopeless country bumpkin style! That’s why that song is so true: ‘A child with a mother is like a treasure!'” By the end, she had even started singing.

Qian Fei felt a pang in her heart, “Shut up! You won’t be happy unless you hit my sore spot, will you!”

Yao Jingjing quickly apologized, “No, no! Feifei, when I get back, I’ll be responsible for dressing you up! I’ll love you and care for you like your mom did, and make you shine with beauty again!”

Qian Fei was both annoyed and amused: “You’d die if you didn’t take advantage of me for a day!”