On the way home, Qian Fei was in a gloomy mood, keeping her head down without saying a word.
Li Yifei walked beside her, hands in his pockets, kicking a stone at his feet. He scoffed, “Well, that was quite an eye-opener. Dating websites are practically becoming hookup havens these days!”
Qian Fei looked up and asked, “Why did you come along?”
Li Yifei replied, “How could I not? With your level of intelligence, you’d be taken advantage of in no time!”
Qian Fei inquired, “Did you know that plump woman sitting across from you?”
Li Yifei answered, “No, I just chatted her up on the spot.”
Qian Fei questioned, “Then what gave you the right to sit at her table?”
Li Yifei responded, “My good looks.”
Qian Fei fell silent, lowering her head and walking quietly.
Li Yifei kicked another stone and said irritably, “You should stay away from those weird dating websites in the future! You’re too naive and practically begging to be scammed!”
Qian Fei stopped in her tracks, raised her head, and looked at Li Yifei without speaking. It wasn’t until Li Yifei became a bit uncomfortable under her cold and somewhat sorrowful gaze that she finally spoke.
“Do you think I’m ridiculous?”
Her words caught Li Yifei off guard.
“I know you think I’m ridiculous, but I can’t help it. I envy the lives of rich people too, surrounded by handsome men and beautiful women to choose from. It must be so damn satisfying! But I don’t have those conditions. I’m getting older, and if I don’t use dating websites to find a partner, what other options do I have? I’m an outsider here, living like a sojourner. Even if I own a house, I still don’t feel any sense of belonging or security. You live life like a game, carefree and unrestrained – that’s your lifestyle. I strive to build a family, to live a stable and secure life – that’s my lifestyle. You might find my approach laughable, but I’m genuinely trying my best to live earnestly and seriously.”
By the end of her speech, her face looked utterly dejected. Li Yifei looked at her, feeling a lump in his throat, unable to utter a word.
After a moment, he spoke with some emotion, “I’m sorry. I did think you were being pretty stupid before.”
Hearing the sincere apology in his voice, Qian Fei suddenly felt her nose stinging as if it were about to melt.
When they reached the entrance of the residential complex, Qian Fei saw a fresh-faced young girl wearing sunglasses waiting there. Upon seeing them, the young girl removed her sunglasses and approached Li Yifei.
Qian Fei thought she looked familiar, like the girl she had seen outside Golden Tripod Restaurant on New Year’s Eve.
The girl came closer and called out, “Yifei!”
Li Yifei seemed a bit surprised, “Why are you here?”
The fresh-faced girl spoke softly with a hint of complaint, “We had agreed yesterday to go to the movies together tonight, but at five o’clock you suddenly called to cancel. I was worried you might be sick. I remembered you saying you lived in First City International, so I came here to try my luck, hoping I might run into you!”
After speaking, she glanced at Qian Fei and hesitantly asked, “This is…?”
Qian Fei looked into her watery eyes, wanting to clarify her identity but afraid of exposing Li Yifei’s poor financial situation of renting an apartment. So she deflected, saying, “Hello, I’m Qian Fei, your boyfriend’s colleague!”
Li Yifei added from the side, “Also my landlord.”
Qian Fei glanced back at him.
He was truly forthright, not afraid that his poverty of renting would scare away the beautiful young lady.
The young beauty hesitantly said “Oh,” still looking at Qian Fei, and with furrowed brows, she pondered, “I think I’ve seen you before, that night outside Golden Tripod Restaurant!”
Qian Fei looked at the expression on her face, a mix of tenderness and melancholy, and suddenly felt a twinge of annoyance.
The young beauty probably thought there was something ambiguous between her and Li Yifei.
She found this possibility laughable. As friends, she and Li Yifei could accept each other, but as a couple, they would have too many mutual dislikes.
For instance, she disliked his laziness, his pickiness, his vanity, and wasteful spending, and how he maintained the airs of a young master despite his humble background. Most importantly, she disliked how incredibly handsome he was, far surpassing Wang Ruhai and Hu Zining by several levels. She simply couldn’t handle a man with such outstanding looks.
She guessed he would also dislike her for being unsophisticated, stingy, too much of a goody-two-shoes, and lacking femininity in her mannerisms. Equally important, judging by his two girlfriends that she knew of, his standards for appearance were impossibly high. He would certainly find her not attractive enough.
She felt the twinge of annoyance in her heart growing.
She said to Li Yifei, “You two talk, I’m heading in first.”
Then, without looking at the young beauty who had reportedly appeared in many TV commercials, she walked straight into the complex.
It wasn’t until she entered the elevator that she couldn’t help but wonder, what did that little starlet see in Li Yifei? Being so beautiful, why choose a poor renter like Li Yifei? Was it really because he was good-looking, or perhaps because of his physical attributes, combining the qualities of a pretty boy and a young wolf?
Her thoughts were heading in an unsavory direction, so she quickly shook her head, stepped out of the elevator, and opened the door to her home.
Outside the complex, Jin Tian said to Li Yifei, “I just came to see if you were sick. Since you’re not, you should go about your business. I’ll head back now!”
Li Yifei felt a bit guilty, “Let me walk you back.”
Jin Tian bit her lower lip, furrowed her brow slightly, and hesitated before speaking.
“Yifei, why don’t you move out? With your family’s circumstances, why do you live like this?”
Li Yifei’s face darkened.
When Da Jun inadvertently revealed his family background to Jin Tian, he had already been very annoyed and angry. Now hearing Jin Tian openly bring it up, he felt like rushing to Da Jun’s place, logging into his computer, and deleting all his game equipment, then beating him to a pulp!
Ever since he went abroad to study, his old man had set a rule for him: “Don’t tell people you’re my son when you’re out there. Once you do, people’s motives for associating with you become questionable.” His old man’s twisted logic always assumed that once people knew their family was wealthy, they would only be friends with him for the money.
Later, when they had a falling out, his old man pointed at his nose, jumping up and down, saying, “If you have any self-respect, don’t tell people you’re my son out there. Don’t use my name to swindle people! You think you’re so capable? Let’s see what you can achieve on your own! When you fail at everything, don’t come crying back to me!”
He had always been angry that his old man thought so little of him as if he couldn’t accomplish anything without him. Regarding his identity, he kept it a secret from everyone, only mentioning it to one person, but that person was so naive they refused to believe it.
He spoke to Jin Tian with a grim face, “You know I don’t like people bringing up my family matters.”
Jin Tian’s brow furrowed even more.
But even now, was she still considered just “people” to him?
Seeing her looking so wronged, Li Yifei’s heart softened a bit. His expression eased as he said, “I’m used to living here now, and I’m too lazy to bother with moving. Besides, Qian Fei is easygoing and easy to boss around. I’m used to ordering her about.”
Jin Tian bit her lip, thought for a while, but ultimately swallowed the question she wanted to ask.
Because asking would only upset him, right?
She had always wanted to ask him why, on New Year’s Eve, he wasn’t with her, but instead was with that landlord named Qian Fei.
Was it just because she had drunk too much and needed to be sent home?
But didn’t he hate it most when women drank, especially to the point of losing composure?
She consoled herself, thinking that perhaps he truly didn’t see that landlord as a woman, and he had always treated his bros better than women.
She felt she had figured it out again. Now it was just a matter of waiting for him to stop being so averse to mentioning his family, and then invest in her to make a big production or something. Maybe then she could use that opportunity to make a name for herself.
In the days that followed, Qian Fei returned to basics, focusing wholeheartedly on learning the business. She no longer thought about finding a partner.
Calls from home came one after another, with the old man becoming more stern and determined each time, interrogating Qian Fei about the progress of her lifelong matters.
The first time, to escape the relentless questioning, Qian Fei perfunctorily said, “I’m in the process of meeting someone!”
The second time, the old man picked up where the last call left off, advancing from “How’s your lifelong matter progressing?” directly to “How are you getting along with your date?”
Qian Fei didn’t want to break the logical flow and completeness of the story, as that would be more troublesome to explain, so she casually made up, “It’s going pretty well, but we’ve only been seeing each other for a short time. Further observation is needed!”
The third time, the old man directly continued from the previous episode, skipping all pleasantries and asking straight away, “How’s the observation going?”
To end the call as quickly as possible so she could get back to her studies, Qian Fei answered, “It’s going well!”
But the old man wouldn’t let her off the hook and fired a series of questions.
“What’s his surname? What does he do? How old is he? What’s his personality like? Where is he from? Does he have a house? What’s his family’s financial situation?”
Qian Fei was extremely annoyed, just wanting to get it over with quickly. She glanced at Li Yifei, who was leisurely watching TV in the living room and had a sudden inspiration. She blurted out, “His surname is Li, he’s in the same line of work as me, a year older than me. As for his personality, well, there are some flaws, but it’s okay, we can work on that gradually! He’s a Beijing local, but the house belongs to his father. Currently, he’s disagreeing with his father, so he’s renting a place too.”
The old man threw another question at her, one that made Qian Fei break out in a cold sweat.
“Didn’t you say before that the person renting your place was surnamed Li? Is it the same person?”
Qian Fei wiped her sweat and confidently replied, “No, it’s not Li, you remembered wrong. His surname is Huang!”
The old man mumbled, “I could’ve sworn I heard you mention someone named Li something, who never took out the garbage and such. Could I have remembered it wrong?”
Qian Fei, still wiping her sweat, firmly told him, “Yes, you remembered wrong! I’ll mail you and Aunt He some fish oil supplements later. You both should take them to prevent Parkinson’s or dementia in a couple of years!”
Having finally placated the old man and hung up the phone, the young master Li in the living room was not pleased.
“Did you pay me an acting fee for dragging me into your family’s grand drama without my consent?”
Qian Fei said just one sentence that completely quelled his desire to argue.
“Why don’t you look for a place on 58.com?”
By the fourth call, Qian Fei was struggling to handle the old man’s questions.
“Daughter, the Spring Festival is coming soon. Bring your boyfriend home for Dad to meet, will you?”
With sweat beading on her forehead, Qian Fei forced herself to say, “It’s not very convenient. He needs to spend the New Year with his father!”
The old man, since receiving the fish oil supplements, seemed to have an unusually good memory and could no longer be easily fooled. “Didn’t you say he was having a falling out with his father? How can they spend New Year together then? Why don’t you just bring him to our house? Dad has plenty of fatherly love to spare, more than you can use yourself. We can share some with him!”
Qian Fei was at a loss for words. She felt that the old man’s skill in arguing had reached new heights.
“Dad, he’s reconciled with his father, so he really can’t come to our place for New Year this year! Next year, okay? I promise I’ll bring him back next year, alright?”
This time, she managed to get through it, though not without some close calls. Qian Fei thought she wouldn’t have to worry about this issue again before the Spring Festival. However, as the saying goes, what you fear most is what you get. Her father made a fifth call just a few days before the New Year.
“Xiao Fei, if he can’t come to our house for New Year, why don’t you let him talk to me on the phone for a bit?”
This request hit Qian Fei like a bolt from the blue.
She rushed to the living room, covering the mouthpiece of the phone, and begged Li Yifei, “Young Master! Great Lord! Esteemed Ancestor! Help me just this once, and I’ll never ask you to move out again!”
Li Yifei looked at her expressionlessly, side-eyeing her amidst a series of “Hello? Hello?” from the phone and Qian Fei’s face turning as red as a monkey’s bottom from anxiety. He slowly took the phone.
“Hello? Uncle Su? Yes, yes, I know your surname isn’t Qian but Su. Qian Fei took her mother’s surname… Yes, that’s right, I need to spend New Year with my father this year… Yes, yes, I’ll come to your house for New Year next year… Alright, alright, I’ll take good care of Qian Fei, don’t worry… Uncle Su, please take care of yourself, and give my regards to Aunt He!”
When Qian Fei took back the phone, she realized her back was covered in sweat.
She had been so afraid that Li Yifei might suddenly start spouting nonsense…
Fortunately, it was a close call but ended well. The old man hung up the phone contentedly, and the farce that Qian Fei had directed and acted in, with a temporary actor roped in, finally concluded its first half before the Spring Festival.
Li Yifei gloated from the side, “I wonder how you’ll manage next New Year!”
Qian Fei glared at him, “I don’t believe I won’t meet someone suitable in a whole year!”
Li Yifei spared no effort in deflating her hopes, “I reckon you’ll probably have to rent me to go home for New Year next year!”
Qian Fei spat at him and turned back to her room.
Lying on her bed, she felt exhausted all over, as if she had just saved the world.
Initially, she had made up that story just for a moment of peace, but she never imagined that to maintain that lie, her subsequent falsehoods would turn into a whole series.
She covered her face and wailed inwardly.
How important it is to prepare an outline before telling a lie!
If only she had simply said “I’m too busy lately, I’ll consider personal matters after the New Year” during that first phone call! Although she would have been nagged for a long time, at least she wouldn’t have to worry about whether she’d need to rent Li Yifei to go home for New Year next year.