February 14th.
Qian Fei vaguely remembered that aside from being called “Po Wu” (Breaking the Fifth), this day also had a Westernized name: Valentine’s Day.
Qian Fei thought for a moment, then tentatively asked, “Li Yifei, are you calling me today, making small talk… did you fight with your girlfriend?”
She heard a pause on the phone, followed by an earth-shaking cold snort: “Sanitary Napkin, do I seem that combative in your eyes? Do I have to fight with another woman just to call you?”
Qian Fei could no longer understand his logic and could only blindly agree, “No, no, no, you can also call me before fighting with other women! The order doesn’t matter that much!”
She heard Li Yifei’s breathing slightly intensify on the other end of the phone. An inexplicable sense of joy arose in her heart…
“Sanitary Napkin, with your behavior, I can only wish you a happy single Valentine’s Day!” Li Yifei said gloomily before hanging up. Qian Fei was so annoyed by his harsh words that she wanted to call him back and dedicate the song “Happy Breakup” to wish him happiness.
Later, thinking it was still the New Year and Valentine’s Day, she felt it would be a bit mean to do so. Li Yifei was used to being unkind and unjust; she couldn’t stoop to his level of “cheapness.”
On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, Qian Fei received another call from Li Yifei.
This time, she wasn’t even surprised.
Through the receiver, she heard the sound of running water from a faucet, and it seemed like someone was washing dishes.
Li Yifei started speaking like a leader criticizing a subordinate: “Comrade Qian Fei, don’t you need to come back to work? Other comrades are busy building the motherland, and you’re the only one being a parasite at home. Can you face all the socialist food you’ve eaten since childhood?”
Qian Fei laughed, “Are you itching to argue with someone? What are you doing? Washing dishes with your girlfriend? You two be careful, don’t break all my plates and bowls!”
After a few more words, they hung up.
A hand emerged from the sink, wiped itself on an apron, and Li Yifei disconnected the Bluetooth earpiece on his ear. Then he put his hand back into the sink to rinse off the soap from the bowls and plates inside.
This was a new set of porcelain he had acquired through connections from a senior executive of a listed company in the porcelain capital. These porcelain pieces were said to be specially supplied to certain central leaders.
As he wiped the plates, he thought happily that if the silly girl knew that breaking one of her plates had been exchanged for such a set of porcelain, he wondered if her hands would tremble while holding a bowl to eat.
Just as Qian Fei was about to continue watching the TV drama “Cliff,” she saw the old man floating over like a ghost, standing behind her. Seeing her turn around, the old man hunched over and asked, “Who were you talking to just now?”
Qian Fei was startled, “No one, I mean… Since when did you start eavesdropping on my calls!”
The old man, hunched over and holding his stomach, said, “I didn’t intend to eavesdrop on you. I’ve always been open about listening if I want to. But Little Fei, I think I might have eaten something bad, my stomach hurts a bit!”
Qian Fei, looking at the old man’s pale face, was shocked: “When did it start hurting?”
The old man said, “Last night!”
Qian Fei jumped three feet high from her chair, “You’ve been in pain for half the night and you’re only telling me now!”
She hurriedly put on her clothes and, together with Auntie He, took the old man to the hospital.
The emergency room doctor casually pressed a few times and confidently made a diagnosis, saying the old man had eaten too much during the New Year. He gave him a painkiller injection and prescribed some digestive medicine, instructing, “Remember to give the old man less meat and more vegetables. We’ve had many patients with similar symptoms these days, all caused by overeating during the New Year!”
Qian Fei nodded in agreement, and just as she wanted to ask for more details, the doctor had already gone to attend to the next patient.
Qian Fei and Auntie He supported the old man as they left the emergency room. Back home, after taking the medicine, the old man lay down, groaning. Qian Fei, looking at the old man’s haggard face, still felt a bit uneasy.
She called Auntie He out of the bedroom, “Auntie, I remember you told me that my dad had experienced such pain a few times before. I feel that the emergency doctor was a bit hasty in his examination. Why don’t you take my dad for a thorough check-up at the hospital after the New Year?”
Auntie He was also a bit worried and said, “Alright, certainly,” to reassure Qian Fei.
Qian Fei gratefully held her hand and sincerely said, “Auntie, if it weren’t for you, I couldn’t afford to buy a house in Beijing! Now that I’m not at home, you have to take care of both the house and my dad. You’ve been through a lot! When my dad fully retires, I’ll bring you all to Beijing! Auntie, in the future, I’ll be like your own daughter, I’ll take care of you in your old age!”
Auntie He, with tears in her eyes, raised her hand to touch her face, “Good child, Auntie hasn’t misjudged you!”
Wanting to make her laugh, Qian Fei said, “Auntie, you say my dad’s broken factory is about to collapse, so poor it would rattle even without wind. Why is my dad still insisting on working diligently until retirement? You say he doesn’t know how to enjoy life. It would be so much better if he retired early and came to Beijing with you and me!”
Auntie He smiled, “Actually, even if we retire, your dad and I wouldn’t want to go to Beijing. How could it be better than being at home? Here, we can gather for mahjong every day. I hear in Beijing, neighbors might not even know each other well after living there for over a decade!”
Qian Fei thought it was indeed the case. But every year, there were still so many people rushing to Beijing. Even knowing that life there would be tiring, they still gritted their teeth and didn’t want to leave. Why was that?
Before going to bed that night, she mentioned this to Yao Jingjing while chatting on the phone.
Yao Jingjing explained it to her: “Because people believe that after enduring hardships and exhaustion, there will always be rewards. They, including you and me, this group collectively called ‘Beijing drifters,’ are fundamentally ambitious.”
Qian Fei understood.
These people want to live a life different from others, to be immersed in the atmosphere of this city, to accept the civilization of the metropolis, and to ensure that their children won’t have to endure the same hardships they did just to reach the capital. So no matter how tired and bitter life is now, even if their prime years are spent in a corner of a rented room, sharing a kitchen, living room, and bathroom with many others, it still can’t stop people from pursuing their dreams.
This is Beijing. People come in waves, and many leave disappointed and dejected. Those who can stay are the successful strivers; those who can’t can only reluctantly seek life elsewhere.
Qian Fei thought with some panic that she must do her job better and more brilliantly, otherwise one day, she too would be abandoned by this high-intensity city.
On the evening of the ninth day of the Lunar New Year, Qian Fei’s phone rang again. Seeing “Li Jiaoping” displayed on the phone screen, Qian Fei was no longer surprised at all.
“What is it now, Young Master?”
Li Yifei snorted on the phone and said, “What time do you arrive in Beijing tomorrow?”
Qian Fei said, “One in the afternoon, what, are you going to pick me up?”
Li Yifei said, “Depends on my mood.”
“Oh my! How gracious! I say, Young Master Li, you’ve been quite clingy this holiday, you’re not missing me, are you?” Qian Fei teased playfully.
Li Yifei laughed coldly, “Sanitary Napkin, your skin is getting thicker and thicker!”
Qian Fei spat out a “Pah!” and angrily shouted, “Li Yifei, are you tired of living? If you dare call me Sanitary Napkin again, I’ll change my surname to yours if I don’t make you find a house on 58.com!”
Li Yifei laughed coldly again, “I’m waiting for you to change your surname to mine, Li Qianshi Sanitary Napkin!”
On the tenth day of the Lunar New Year.
As soon as the plane stopped, Qian Fei turned on her phone. Just as the signal appeared, the phone started ringing, with “Li Jiaoping” once again occupying the screen.
After connecting the call, Li Yifei told Qian Fei that he was waiting outside the T3 terminal and told her to hurry out to meet him.
“Let me tell you, this young master has never picked up or waited for anyone. You’d better come out quickly. If you dawdle even half a minute, this young master will walk away!”
Qian Fei said only two words into the phone: “So cheap!”
She dragged her suitcase and carried her bag, inching her way through the crowd. When she finally met up with Li Yifei, Li Jiaoping was already looking impatient.
“You appeared just in time. I’m telling you, if you hadn’t shown up in the next second, I would have turned and left!” he said while taking the suitcase and bag from Qian Fei’s hands. As he took them, his wrist suddenly sank, and the bag almost fell to the ground.
“Sanitary Napkin, did you take some strength pills at home?” He was utterly incredulous, looking at how she had been carrying the bag earlier with such ease as if it were a light foam pillow. He hadn’t expected the bag to be so heavy. “What’s inside?”
Qian Fei rolled her eyes, “My dad insisted on bringing some hazelnuts and almonds for ‘Comrade Li’!”
Upon hearing this, Li Yifei’s expression changed, and he cheerfully carried the bag, saying, “How is it that I’m so lovable? Women from 8 to 80 years old aside, now even uncles in their fifties and sixties are starting to like me!”
Qian Fei almost vomited.
Back home, Qian Fei had expected to see a messy and dilapidated scene, but to her surprise, everything was neat and clean, inside and out.
She asked puzzledly, “Did your girlfriend help clean up?”
Li Yifei snorted with a raised corner of his mouth, “I did it myself, thank you very much!”
Qian Fei asked in amazement, “Are you turning over a new leaf?”
Li Yifei answered through gritted teeth, “This is called condescending!”
Qian Fei asked, “By the way, don’t you have to work today?”
Li Yifei said, “So you should deeply appreciate the favor I’m doing you!”
Qian Fei spat out a “Pah!” and went to her room to unpack.
Li Yifei walked into the kitchen and shouted to the room, “I’ve learned two signature dishes, a fusion of Chinese and Western cuisine. Just wait, I’ll show off my skills for you!”
Qian Fei found it quite novel. In one holiday, this fussy prince not only cleaned the room but also learned to cook. Compared to before, he was now industrious to an alarming degree.
It seemed his new girlfriend had quite a positive influence on him.
Qian Fei’s impression of the “advertisement girl” improved significantly.
While unpacking, she listened to the clanging from the kitchen and anxiously waited for the legendary signature dishes. At one point, she couldn’t resist going to the kitchen to see how Comrade Li Jiaoping was faring, wondering if he had chopped off a few of his fingers. But she was chased out of the kitchen by Li Yifei, who was holding a knife in one hand and a tomato in the other.
Half an hour later, Li Yifei finally shouted, “It’s ready! Come out!”
Qian Fei rushed out of the room, full of curiosity.
However, upon seeing the two dishes on the table, her curiosity turned into utter disbelief.
“This is what you called signature dishes?! A fusion of Chinese and Western cuisine?!” Qian Fei asked incredulously, pointing at the sugar-mixed tomatoes and vegetable-fruit salad on the table.
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow, “Don’t you think so?”
Seeing a hint of disappointment in Li Yifei’s expression, Qian Fei’s heart softened. She quickly said, “Yes! Of course, it is! You’re so thoughtful, knowing I’m tired of the food I’ve been eating at home during the New Year, you’re helping me cut down on oil! So, where’s the rice?”
Hearing her mention rice, Li Yifei’s eyes lit up, and he couldn’t hide his pride, “Let me tell you, I’ve only failed at cooking rice once, and since then, every pot of rice I cook is white and fragrant!”
Qian Fei went to the kitchen to look for the rice and found that the rice cooker was new. She guessed that Li Yifei’s single failed attempt at cooking rice must have been quite disastrous.
She lifted the lid, and indeed, the rice was cooked quite well. She scooped a bowl of rice and noticed how beautiful the new rice bowl was. While eating the rice with the two “signature dishes” of Chinese-Western fusion, she lavishly praised Li Yifei as a thoughtful, hardworking, and handsome young man, against her better judgment. Li Yifei listened with obvious pleasure, but after tasting a few bites of the tomatoes and salad, he furrowed his brow and put down his chopsticks.
The tomatoes were sickeningly sweet, and the salad tasted as odd as if bananas had been mixed with garlic. He couldn’t understand how Qian Fei could eat it.
How could this woman be like this, compromising her feelings just to avoid dampening others’ spirits?
He snatched Qian Fei’s chopsticks, “Stop eating, it doesn’t taste good at all!”
Qian Fei looked at Li Yifei’s face, which seemed to be sulking at no one in particular, and chuckled, “Actually, the rice is well-cooked! If you eat enough of it, you can mask the garlic and knife rust flavors from the tomatoes and vegetable salad…”
Seeing Li Yifei’s mouth still turned down, she put down her rice bowl, stood up, and went to the kitchen to rummage through the refrigerator, “Let me see if there’s anything else we can eat!”
She pulled out a fish from the fridge and turned to Li Yifei, saying, “How about I teach you how to stew fish?”
Li Yifei glanced at her sideways, his face full of disdain as if saying, “Who wants to learn how to stew fish from you?” With this expression, he stood up and followed Qian Fei into the kitchen.
He watched as Qian Fei used the knife to scale the fish, feeling both terrified and amazed. Those delicate hands, holding such a rugged large knife, scraping against the direction of the fishtail bit by bit, making the scales fly off as if by magic.
He became mesmerized without realizing it.
When Qian Fei finished preparing the fish and turned to ask Li Yifei whether he wanted it braised in sweet and sour sauce or steamed, she saw Li Yifei leaning against the doorframe, quietly watching her. His expression was calm and content, like basking in comfortable afternoon sunlight.
Qian Fei was startled and asked, “You haven’t suddenly realized the true meaning of life’s happiness because of a fish, have you?”
Li Yifei, still wearing that calm and content expression, looked at her and said slowly, “Before, I always ate ready-made meals. This is the first time I’m watching you cook like this. Isn’t it strange? I suddenly feel like you’ve been gone for a long time.”
Qian Fei looked back at him.
In the afternoon, sunlight poured through the glass, filling the room. They were bathed in sunlight, with him leaning against the doorframe, lazily and contentedly gazing at her, while she held the fish and knife, returning his gaze.
The air in the sunlight seemed to have become fuzzy.
In this warm and cute atmosphere, Qian Fei spoke, “Young Master, you’re not suited for being sentimental. When I get sentimental, I not only get goosebumps but also have a bad feeling! Come on, tell me, what terrible thing have you done? As long as it’s not too much, I’ll forgive you!”
The warm atmosphere instantly vanished, and even the sunlight seemed to become as ordinary as a winter day, not particularly warm.
Li Yifei stood up straight, expressionless, and said, “I’ll buy you an evening flight ticket so you can go home. You might as well come back after the National Day holiday, so I don’t have to see you and feel annoyed!”
In the end, the fish was braised. When the braised fish was being transferred to a plate, Qian Fei sincerely praised the new plate: “This plate is really beautiful! It should be on display, not used for serving food!”
Li Yifei suddenly decided not to tell her the origin of the new tableware. Because he felt she would say those five words: “This must be a high-quality replica?”
He suddenly smiled.
This Sanitary Napkin was interesting, living like Cinderella from a TV drama, and she wasn’t even doing it on purpose. It made one want to get her a shoe to wear.