As their passionate kiss intensified, Li Yifei lifted Qian Fei and rolled onto the sofa with her. He pressed her beneath him, leaving no space between them, his lips and tongue enveloping hers in a dizzying embrace. His hands roamed over her body urgently. As the kiss deepened, his hand slid under the hem of her dress, tracing up her leg. When he reached her underwear, he tugged at it without hesitation.
Qian Fei struggled slightly in confusion, but Li Yifei pinned her legs down. She offered only token resistance before yielding to him.
Suddenly, the phone in his shirt pocket began to ring.
Li Yifei’s phone continued ringing, but he ignored it, fully focused on Qian Fei’s body. The ringtone irritated Qian Fei, so she pushed him away, telling him to either answer or hang up.
He finally broke away from her lips for a moment, propping himself up slightly. Through the thin fabric, Qian Fei could faintly see a girl’s name displayed on the lit-up phone screen.
“Jina?” she read aloud. She noticed Li Yifei’s expression change, a flash of wariness breaking through the intense desire in his eyes.
Her heart skipped a beat. She pushed him further away with some effort and swiftly retrieved the phone from his pocket, answering it on speakerphone before he could stop her.
Li Yifei could only stare at her wide-eyed as they both listened to the coquettish female voice coming through the speaker:
“Aubrey, didn’t we agree to have dinner together tonight? Where are you now?”
Qian Fei held up the phone, looking at Li Yifei.
He snatched the phone back, hanging up and turning it off without a word.
They stared at each other in stunned silence.
After a moment, Qian Fei spoke first, her face stern: “Aubrey? Not bad, quite a manly foreign name you’ve got there!”
Li Yifei looked at her, his eyes shifty and voice lacking confidence: “I didn’t know you two would break up so quickly. I thought I had no chance with you! I was feeling down, so Da Jun introduced me to a girl… But I swear on my honor that nothing’s happened between us! Qian Fei, you have to believe me!”
Qian Fei looked at him and chuckled dryly, “How novel, you have honor when it comes to women!” She stopped laughing, pushed him away completely, sat up, and pulled her underwear back up. Standing from the sofa, she looked down at him like a queen, patting his shoulder casually. Glancing at the tent in his pants with composure, she said: “Li Yifei, I’m afraid a tomboy like me can’t handle a young master with ‘honor’ like you. I think we’d better stay just friends! When you’ve gotten rid of that playboy nature of yours, we can consider rolling in the sheets. I’m going to bed now. If you want to stay, sleep on the sofa. If not, please lock the door on your way out.”
With that, she walked back to her room, leaving Li Yifei staring painfully at his swollen lower half.
Back in her room, Qian Fei lay face-down on the bed, burying her face in the pillow as she savored the complex emotions in her heart.
The past few days had been more thrilling than a roller coaster ride.
Her body was still moist, like a parched earth finally blessed with rain, longing for passionate lovemaking. But as she recalled the recent phone call, the unquenched desire in her body gradually subsided.
She couldn’t say if she resented Li Yifei or not. But what right did she have to be resentful? She had told him she was getting back together with Wang Ruohai, so it was normal for him to find a new girlfriend.
Yet she felt unhappy, very unhappy, incredibly sour, and displeased.
Outside, Li Yifei was knocking on her door, explaining with much hemming and hawing that because she had pulled back from her ex-boyfriend in time, he and that girl hadn’t had a chance to discuss any topics beyond life philosophy.
Qian Fei was rendered speechless by his rather shameless explanation. Gritting her teeth, she raised her head and retorted through the door: “Young Master, just leave already! Since you made plans with her yesterday, at least give her an explanation. Don’t hang around here making me look like the other woman!”
Li Yifei was silent for a moment, then said through the door: “Alright, I’m leaving then.”
She heard the front door close. He had left.
Suddenly, she felt an indescribable sense of loss. His role as a fickle man was truly well-practiced – coming and going as he pleased. Why did his personality seem so deserving of a kick?
As she lay on the bed lost in scattered thoughts, her phone suddenly dinged with a message.
It was a text from Li Yifei: “I’ll try to change myself. Also, starting tomorrow, I’m going to start pursuing you seriously.”
Qian Fei looked at her phone and sniffed hard.
The next day, Li Yifei indeed bravely (shamelessly) embarked on his so-called “formal pursuit.” Qian Fei intentionally played hard to get, not responding immediately.
Yao Jingjing said: “Sis, take it easy. Don’t play too hard to get, or you might push him away if you overdo it!”
Qian Fei replied: “If he’s that easily pushed away, then he was never meant to be mine in the first place.”
Qian Fei laid down three rules for Li Yifei: First, they couldn’t let people from either company know about their budding romance; they had to maintain the appearance of a normal working relationship. Second, he wasn’t allowed to pick her up from the company. Third, if he went to bars or other potentially dubious places, he shouldn’t hide it from her. Also, if he flirted with girls from film academies, dance academies, art academies, or any other academies, he had to be discreet about it. If she found out, she might not be able to resist scratching him out of a sense of justice.
She had seen too many of his bad habits in his interactions with his ex-girlfriend. When he was someone else’s boyfriend, these things were none of her business, and she could laugh them off. But once he potentially became her boyfriend, she absolutely couldn’t tolerate these bad habits.
Li Yifei agreed to her three rules very reluctantly.
“Why can’t people know about us? Why can’t I pick you up from your company? I’ve always walked proudly in the sunlight all my life, how have I suddenly become something to hide? And why are bars considered dubious places? They have proper business licenses! And what can I do if girls from those academies think I’m cool, handsome, and cute and want to look at me? Can you suppress natural beauty through effort?”
His shameless objections were all mercilessly shot down by Qian Fei, and his struggles ultimately proved futile.
Da Jun watched as his friend, who used to breeze through the world of romance without a care for any girl, was now constantly thwarted. He couldn’t help but mock from the sidelines: “You scoundrel, you deserve this! That’s what you get for not introducing me to that tomboy and keeping her to yourself! I told you so, didn’t I? You wanted her all to yourself! It serves you right that the tables have turned, and now it’s your turn to suffer!”
Of course, the rules Qian Fei set couldn’t stop Li Yifei, who was full of crafty ideas.
One day at lunch, Xiao Yuan excitedly gossiped with Qian Fei: “I’ve noticed that super handsome guy from the partnering company has been coming to our office a lot lately! Every time I show him to the conference room, he smiles and says thank you! Oh my, that devastatingly beautiful smile just makes my heart flutter. If there weren’t so many people around, I’d want to strip him and pounce on him!”
Qian Fei choked on her food.
Sister Jin chimed in: “Oh my, isn’t that right! How did that young man grow up to be so handsome and charming? He’s got even me, a mother with a child almost in elementary school, all hot and bothered!”
Qian Fei choked on her food again.
Sister Jin patted her back, “Fei Fei, what’s wrong with your throat today? You keep choking.” Then she turned back to Xiao Yuan and continued, “But come to think of it, he didn’t come to the previous meetings, did he?” She turned to ask Qian Fei, “Fei Fei, are there any problems with your project recently? Why does he keep coming over to discuss things? However, I heard he’s already registered as a sponsor representative! So young, so handsome, and already a sponsor rep. My goodness, his prospects are simply limitless!” Sister Jin’s eyes lit up as she looked at Qian Fei, “I wonder if he has a girlfriend? If not, Fei Fei, you should go for it! Quickly snatch him up! He’d make such a great marriage prospect!!!”
Qian Fei felt like she was about to choke to death on her food.
There were no problems with the project at all. He just kept finding excuses to come over every few days to “discuss” something. He always chose to come after 3 PM, first charming a diverse group of women of all ages, then having a seemingly proper discussion with the project manager, and finally casually asking the project manager to call her into the conference room, telling the manager to go ahead with their work while he and Qian Fei discussed and resolved the remaining trivial issues.
So the conference room would be left with just the two of them. Occasionally, Xiao Yuan would come in to pour tea, giving Qian Fei meaningful looks and silently encouraging her to “take advantage of this good opportunity and pounce on him!”
Qian Fei felt like she, as a proper person, could hardly cope with this licentious society anymore.
On the surface, they discussed the project seriously, but under the table, he kept rubbing her leg with his foot like a beast in gentleman’s clothing. He would continue this beastly meeting style until 5:30 PM, then coincidentally leave work and go downstairs with her. Once they were far enough from the office, he would start pawing at her, seemingly intent on public indecency.
Qian Fei felt like she had almost developed her own Qian-style Tai Chi in the process of fending off this shameless rogue’s advances.
She had once protested righteously: “Can’t your formal pursuit be normal, proper, and decent like other people’s?”
Li Yifei asked: “What do other people do? What does normal, proper, and decent mean?”
Qian Fei said: “Other people have meals, watch movies, take walks. Being normal, proper, and decent means not coming to my company under the pretenses of seducing me!”
Li Yifei retorted: “How am I seducing you? When have I ever not been respectful and proper?”
Qian Fei almost laughed coldly: “Pah! Do you have any shame left? You call that being respectful and proper? More like being in heat and not just improper!”
Li Yifei defended himself sanctimoniously: “Qian Fei, let’s be clear about this. I think your logic is flawed. Have you ever seen a man and a woman produce children by just talking under the covers, all normal and proper? That would lead to human extinction! Is that the scenario you want to see? You don’t seem like such an inhumane person!”
Qian Fei was almost floored by his twisted argument. She refused to continue arguing these points that she could never win against this unparalleled master of shamelessness. Instead, she simply slapped her hand over his face and pushed away his annoying and shameless mug.
Li Yifei now lived in a villa complex near Siji Qing Bridge. Qian Fei asked if he was renting or if he had bought it. Li Yifei lazily raised an eyebrow and said: “Renting! Some foolish girl played with this young master’s feelings recently, so in a fit of anger, I rented a big villa to ease my depression. With such a big, cool house, it’s super convenient for throwing parties every day!”
Qian Fei’s face remained expressionless as she snorted coldly.
She knew he had signed a few projects and received some bonuses. She had also heard from Yao Jingjing that he and Da Jun had set up a company doing import-export trade, making quite a bit of money. But she still couldn’t help feeling that he was being too extravagant.
“It would be better to save your money. Why do you have to rent a villa? With that rent money, you could save up for a year or two and buy a house in any area!”
Li Yifei finally found an opportunity to discuss the issue of renting with her. He seized the chance and said: “Then why don’t you get rid of that older sister, and I’ll come back to rent your place!”
Qian Fei said she would think about it.
But a few days later, before she could even begin to consider it, Li Yifei did something else that made her slam the table and beat her chest in frustration.
He got a car, a Cadillac.
Qian Fei nearly exploded: “You’re renting a villa and driving a luxury car instead of buying a house? What are you trying to do, Young Master Li? Is this how a sensible person lives?” Even as she fumed, she unhesitatingly sat in the passenger seat.
Li Yifei helped her fasten her seatbelt while trying to smooth her ruffled feathers: “It’s so hot these days, and your dresses are so thin. How could I, with my pure nature, bear to let you be jostled about in the subway every day?”
Qian Fei nearly regurgitated her lunch all over his face.
Seeing her pout and hold her breath, Li Yifei chuckled: “Alright, I won’t buy things recklessly anymore. From now on, I’ll put my money in your care. You can manage it for me, okay?”
Qian Fei glanced at him and asked: “I doubt you have any money left now!”
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow, “You’re right, I’m even a bit tight on next month’s rent. What should I do? Why don’t you support me?”
Qian Fei rolled her eyes at him, her face full of pity for his misfortune and anger at his lack of self-discipline: “You deserve it! That’s what you get for not being able to hold onto money! Not thinking about whether you can survive and just spending recklessly!” She shifted in her seat, feeling that the car was indeed quite comfortable, certainly much more humane than the subway by countless degrees.
“Why don’t you find another place to live for now to cut down on expenses? I’ll talk to my roommate when her lease is up next month and see if she can find another place.”
Li Yifei beamed like a blooming steamed bun, extremely happy, happy to the point of being almost irritating, “With this face of mine, one month’s rent is nothing! I’ll just wait at Siji Qing Bridge until that cuckoo leaves your nest, then I’ll move back in!”
Qian Fei wanted to slap his shameless face.
Cuckoo in the nest indeed, he thought her place was his own home.