Li Yifei told Qian Fei that the last day of August was his birthday. Qian Fei remembered that when they signed the rental contract, the birth date on his ID card wasn’t this day. So she thought Li Yifei must be up to no good and talking nonsense, and didn’t take his words to heart.
It wasn’t until the 31st when Li Yifei truly presented himself as the birthday boy, intending to whisk her away to the villa he was renting, that she began to have some doubts.
“Is today your birthday?” she asked.
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow. “When else did you think it was?”
Qian Fei replied, “The day on your ID card!”
Li Yifei exclaimed, “Damn! How could I forget about that? No wonder you’ve always been so indifferent about August 31st! When my old man registered me for household registration, he reported my birth date according to the lunar calendar! He insisted that this way, no one could pinpoint my exact birth time and date, and anyone trying to harm my fate would be destined to become a complete fool! The bizarre thing is, every year after that, he celebrated my birthday according to the solar calendar! I’ll never understand him!”
Qian Fei tried to imagine a parent using the word “fool” and was a bit shocked. “Were those your father’s exact words?”
Li Yifei said, “That’s the gist of it. The exact words, let me think… It should be: ‘Anyone attempting to sabotage your destiny is doomed to waste their efforts.'”
Qian Fei fell silent. She thought Li Yifei probably hadn’t learned synonyms very well as a child.
“Your dad would win if he played mahjong. This unorthodox approach is too dazzling!”
Halfway to the villa, Li Yifei pulled over by the roadside. A cake shop was not far away.
Qian Fei asked why he stopped, and Li Yifei gave her a “can’t you be more thoughtful” look, saying, “Don’t you plan to get out and buy me a birthday cake or something?”
Qian Fei stared at him and sincerely said, “I’ve realized you’re beyond help with your thick skin. Now you’re brazenly asking people for food!”
She rolled her eyes and got out of the car.
After returning to the villa with the cake, Li Yifei started inserting candles while earnestly educating Qian Fei: “You need to remember this day! From now on, buying cakes and candles should be something you do spontaneously! This year is the first time, so consider it me setting an example for you!”
Qian Fei thought this kid must have spent time in a mental hospital when he was young; his skill at talking to himself was truly refined.
With the candles lit, Li Yifei made a wish.
He said loudly, “I wish the business trip sister would move out soon!”
Qian Fei burst out laughing, “Look at you, talking about character, and your birthday wish involves another woman!”
Li Yifei gave her a look and asked her to help blow out the candles.
Qian Fei blew while laughing uncontrollably.
Li Yifei patted her head, “That won’t do! I asked you to blow, not spit all over it!” He then asked, “What are you laughing at so hard?”
Qian Fei said, “Nothing, just a bit regretful I didn’t get you a five-nut or chive and egg filling birthday cake. Also, young master, I want to tell you I like your zodiac sign! Oh, and I have a good friend in Hangzhou with the same sign as you. I think you two would get along well!”
Li Yifei raised his hand and smacked her bottom once, “Don’t talk nonsense with this young master! Hurry up and say happy birthday!”
Qian Fei was stunned for a moment, then kicked at his calf, “I’ll say it, but why are you being so indecent!”
She muttered a happy birthday.
Li Yifei reached out his hand towards her. Qian Fei was confused.
“What?”
Li Yifei raised an eyebrow, “The gift!”
Qian Fei scoffed, “You even ask for gifts directly!”
Li Yifei also scoffed, “If you didn’t prepare a gift for me, you’ll have to pay your debt with your body!”
Qian Fei spat, “You think I’ll indulge your bad habits!”
Li Yifei glared at her, “I think you will!”
Qian Fei was speechless.
“I thought your birthday was the one on your ID card, so I didn’t prepare a gift…”
Li Yifei bent down to get something from under the table while saying fiercely, “Then go wash up and prepare to pay with your body!” He then pulled out a bag from beside his feet, handed it to Qian Fei, and held out his hand, “Fifty yuan to sell it to you, quick, give me the money!”
Qian Fei was forced to take the bag and asked, “What’s this? Why are you forcing me to buy it?”
Li Yifei didn’t give her a chance to look inside, insisting she quickly handed over fifty yuan.
Qian Fei left with no choice, took out a hundred-yuan note from her wallet and threw it at his face, “Take it! Here are two fifties for you! Hurry and buy some medicine, don’t delay! Be careful, one second late and it might turn into late-stage brain damage!”
Li Yifei shamelessly pocketed the money, then took out a fifty and threw it back at Qian Fei: “Who are you trying to insult with money? When others were growing up in honey pots, this young master was growing up in a piggy bank, understand? Quickly take this fifty and buy some books, learn how other women behave as women!”
Qian Fei took the money and threw it back at Li Yifei, “You go buy medicine!”
Li Yifei caught it and threw it back to Qian Fei, “You go buy books!”
After several rounds, the money fell to the ground.
Qian Fei asked, “Should we pick it up?”
Li Yifei said, “Pick up what! Pick it up to keep throwing? I’m almost exhausted! Let’s do something productive! Open that bag!”
Qian Fei opened the bag, took out a box, opened the box, and saw a pair of cufflinks.
“Is this meant to be a gift for me?” But she couldn’t use these…
Li Yifei put on a solemn face: “No, this is the birthday gift you planned to give me!”
Qian Fei: “…”
Li Yifei chuckled: “I knew you might not remember to prepare a gift for me, so being not only handsome but also clever, I prepared the gift you’re giving me in advance, to prevent you from feeling regret and remorse for not buying anything!”
Qian Fei: “…”
Li Yifei held out his palm and shook it up and down, urging: “Quick, give me the gift!”
Qian Fei: “…”
Qian Fei thought that fifty yuan probably wasn’t enough for Li Yifei’s medical expenses.
She looked at the cufflinks and asked, “Is this thing just fifty yuan? Is it a high-quality replica?”
Li Yifei glared at her: “High-quality replica my foot! I gave you a discount, thank you very much!”
After eating the cake, they lay on the floor, looking at the twilight scene outside the window.
Li Yifei suddenly asked, “Jingjing, what exactly am I to you now? I feel like we’re living without any proper status!”
Qian Fei gritted her teeth: “You’re like a pair of wings to me!”
Li Yifei nudged her with his foot: “I’m being serious here, can you be a bit more sincere?”
Qian Fei kicked his foot away: “I am being sincere! Whatever topic you bring up, I follow along. Isn’t that successful topic matching?”
Li Yifei propped up his upper body, resting his head on his hand, and looked sideways at Qian Fei, asking, “Let me ask you, why haven’t you given me a proper status yet? Is there something about me you’re still unsure about?”
Qian Fei looked at him steadily and said, “I’m afraid you’re not settled yet, that your interest in me is just a passing fancy.”
Li Yifei played with her hair with his other hand, “Jingjing, believe me, I’m very serious about you, different from others!”
Qian Fei twisted her mouth: “Zhao De said that at your company gathering last week, you had two company beauties sitting on either side of you, and you three had a very happy threesome all night!”
Li Yifei gritted his teeth: “That idiot Zhao De, I’ll kill him tomorrow! Jingjing, listen to me, they were just asking me about project matters, we didn’t talk about anything else! And rest assured, my tastes have become picky and unique now, only a tomboy like you can attract me. Those delicate and coquettish girls in our company, what are they even! Too cloying!”
Qian Fei pushed his face away, “Get lost! If you like tomboys, go find a man directly!”
Li Yifei seized her hand, “When are you going to make our relationship official? This young master also has a face to save, you keep not giving me a proper status, even if I let you off, my self-esteem won’t!”
Qian Fei shook off his clingy hand and said half-heartedly, “Let’s talk about it after I pass the insurance broker exam!”
Li Yifei squinted at her, gritted his teeth, and said, “Fine! This young master will hurt his little self-esteem once more! I’ll wait until you pass the exam! But let me warn you if you dare not give me a proper status after that, this young master will have to take matters into his own hands!”
Qian Fei laughed: “You’re living up to the saying ‘ten years of grinding made a scoundrel’! Given your age, I think in another two years, you could grind yourself into a triple scoundrel!”
Qian Fei’s seemingly half-hearted response was the result of deep contemplation.
She felt Li Yifei was too attractive, and she didn’t have enough confidence in maintaining a relationship with him as lovers.
Although he had a tsundere personality, his tsundere nature was enough to attract women. Moreover, with his good looks, quick wit, and strong work abilities, who knew how many girls were eyeing him?
His interest in her was merely due to spending a lot of time together and developing feelings over time. She always felt she didn’t have any qualities that could attract him for long.
Over the past year, with all the ups and downs, she seemed to have gained a bit more understanding of life.
In the past, she always thought that as a woman, she didn’t need to excel at work. Having a job and an income was enough, as the focus of life should be on family. As long as her man could earn money to support the family, she didn’t need to be too ambitious.
So she gave up many opportunities for better development because those opportunities required business trips, and she focused all her energy on serving Wang Ruhai.
What was the result? Wang Ruhai did become successful, he transferred to Qiansheng, but after becoming successful, she could no longer keep him.
It wasn’t until later when she pulled herself together, forced to strive in her career for the sake of survival, that she discovered she had become more confident than before. At the same time, she paid attention to her appearance, and with this internal and external improvement, she even made Wang Ruhai look back at her with infatuation.
So after this year’s experiences, she realized a truth: attracting men with youth and beauty is always temporary. There will always be a day when beauty fades and men grow tired of aesthetics. At that time, an unaccomplished woman can do nothing but cry and curse the man for changing his heart, without solving any substantial problems. Only by being excellent to oneself, and being beautiful because of confidence, can one attract hearts persistently. And when one is strong, even if one day they part ways, what is there to worry about? An excellent woman will never lack admirers.
Qian Fei felt that Li Yifei was far more excellent than her now, making it easy for her to feel insecure in their relationship. Once she became insecure, she would gradually become mediocre, and once mediocre, she would lose the initial charm that attracted Li Yifei. The final result would be that he would grow tired of her and be attracted to someone else who could attract him.
Only if she became as excellent as him would she not feel insecure due to their gap. She wanted to reach a point where while she worried about other women around him, he would also worry about stronger men coveting her.
What keeps love fresh? It’s when the other person always has a bit of unease, a bit of care, a bit of jealousy, constantly worrying that their partner might be snatched away by someone better. This is what keeps love fresh.
Qian Fei decided to become an excellent woman, a long-haired, white-legged, slim-waisted excellent woman who would make Li Yifei constantly worry about her being snatched away, leaving him no energy to look at other beautiful women.
And right now, she felt that the most powerful way to make herself excellent was to pass the sponsor representative exam in November. Once she passed the exam and could handle projects independently as a business elite, once she became excellent enough, she wouldn’t care how many beautiful women surrounded him “discussing projects”. At that time, he should be more worried about other elite men chasing her to ask “business questions”.
Liu Yifeng had changed jobs, and there was no one to guide her through many things, so Qian Fei had to figure things out on her own again. Fortunately, Li Yifei was also an expert in business matters, and it was more convenient and effective to ask him directly about things she didn’t understand than asking Liu Yifeng before.
To meet the CSRC’s financial audit requirements, securities firms and other intermediaries needed to visit the prospective listed companies’ customers and suppliers. The company assigned this task to Qian Fei. The project leader believed that over the past six months, Qian Fei’s business skills had greatly improved, and her communication skills were outstanding. By leading the team to visit customers and suppliers, she could not only promptly discover any financial issues between customers or suppliers and the company, but also, if issues were found, use her communication skills to resolve them satisfactorily without offending the relationships between the company and its customers and suppliers.
In early September, Qian Fei embarked on her visitation journey. She calculated that she would need to visit over fifty companies in more than twenty cities.
For the next period, Qian Fei was in a new city every day, visiting several companies each day, tactfully asking many questions to suppliers or customers with a smile. Every night, she would check into a hotel very late, and the next morning, she would have to get up early to pack her luggage and set off on a new journey.
Li Yifei would call or message her every day, asking if she had encountered any difficult problems to solve. If she had, he would help her come up with ideas; if not, he would chat with her briefly before letting her sleep.
Along the way, Qian Fei felt very tired, but beyond the fatigue, she also felt that each day was particularly fulfilling. She felt that this journey was especially challenging.
When she arrived in Dalian, after visiting a client, Qian Fei and her team found a hotel to stay in. Then Qian Fei called Yao Jingjing.
Yao Jingjing was extremely excited and insisted on treating her to dinner. Qian Fei was happy to let her treat and shamelessly chose Shangri-La as the dining location.
When she arrived by taxi, she found that Lu Ze was also there.
Yao Jingjing said, “If you had said we’d eat a big plate of chicken or something at Dongcai, I would have just accompanied you at the cost of my life. But since you chose this place, I had to bring my wallet too!”
Qian Fei replied, “Oh, I see. Then let your wallet pay first, and then it can leave.”
Lu Ze said expressionlessly from the side, “There’s no third person in this world who dares to ignore me talking like you two do.”
Qian Fei and Yao Jingjing hugged each other, shivering and giggling together. The rich Lu Ze watched them, and amidst his helplessness, he found his lips twitching too.
The three of them spent a very pleasant and noisy dinner time together.
When it came time to pay, Lu Ze miscalculated the money. Yao Jingjing, as if discovering the eighth wonder of the world, pulled Qian Fei and screamed, “We need to hurry and mock him! I’m telling you, this opportunity might only come once in a lifetime. I’ve never seen him make such a numerical error!”
Qian Fei was quick to catch on and immediately started tsk-tsking, “Who would have thought that Mr. Lu Ze, the business leader commanding thousands, could miscalculate the cost of a meal? Life is truly unpredictable!”
Lu Ze’s lips twitched. He held back, but eventually couldn’t resist. Looking at her and Yao Jingjing, he said, “Don’t invite me to your meals in the future. Listening to you two talk for too long makes me dizzy.”
Qian Fei and Yao Jingjing giggled.
Lu Ze raised an eyebrow and suddenly changed the subject, saying to Qian Fei, “By the way, give my regards to Li Yifei when you get back!”
Qian Fei also raised an eyebrow, “I’m not that close to him!”
Lu Ze’s lips relaxed, revealing a smile that was, to some extent, rather strange: “In some ways, you indeed aren’t very familiar with him!”
Qian Fei was a bit confused and asked him what he meant by “in some ways.” Lu Ze returned to his expressionless face and said, “Li Yifei and I are now business partners. It’s not convenient for me to say much. He’ll tell you himself in the future.”
The dinner ended pleasantly. Lu Ze drove her to her hotel before leaving with Yao Jingjing.
Back in her room, Qian Fei posted the photos from the evening on her Moments with a caption: “Had a great dinner with the big demon tonight, very happy! Special thanks to Mr. Lu, the big demon’s living wallet, for his generous sponsorship of the dinner!”
Less than a minute after she posted, she received a call from Li Yifei.
“You had dinner with Lu Ze tonight?” he asked right away.
Qian Fei corrected him: “I had dinner with Yao Jingjing. Lu Ze’s main function was to pay, thank you!”
Li Yifei didn’t argue over words with her and asked, “What did Lu Ze talk to you about?”
Qian Fei asked, “Like what?”
Li Yifei said, “Like life, ideals, his cooperation with me, or houses, things like that?”
Qian Fei caught the last word and asked, “What houses? He didn’t mention houses, but he did say that he and you are business partners, and many things weren’t convenient for him to tell me, so he told me to ask you directly.” She paused, then asked, “Could it be that you’re renting your house from him?”
Li Yifei snorted, neither confirming nor denying, and smoothly changed the subject, asking Qian Fei, “Where’s your next stop?”
Qian Fei said, “Guangzhou. I leave early tomorrow morning, arrive at noon, only need to visit one company in the afternoon, and then fly to Hangzhou in the evening.” She paused, then said, “I heard the glutinous rice chicken in Guangzhou is particularly delicious. If I have time, I’d like to try it!”
Li Yifei expressed infinite disdain: “Can’t you think of anything besides eating!”
Qian Fei said, “I can!”
Li Yifei humphed and asked, “Like what?”
Qian Fei said, “You!”
Li Yifei’s breathing suddenly became irregular on the other end of the phone.
“Wait a second, let me process this. Are you saying you miss me? Oh my, has this young master’s perseverance finally paid off?”
Qian Fei laughed, “I’m just following the conversation. Young master, don’t overthink it too much. If you overthink too much, even the mental hospital won’t be able to save you!”
Li Yifei sighed affectedly, “You’re too stubborn to admit you miss me, but this young master can’t help it, I’m soft-hearted! So I have to say, little Jinjin, I kind of miss you!”